//------------------------------// // Making a Splash // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// As Tidal Wave swam further into the depths of the tunnel system, he could feel himself becoming more and more attuned with the water itself. Every second that passed, every breath he breathed beneath the surface seemed to make him forget that he was even submerged to begin with. In fact, it almost felt like the open sky he once coveted. He barely even realized at first that it was getting darker……and darker…….and darker without even having an idea of where he was going. “Wh-Whoa…” The aquatic colt found himself slightly panicked when he realized that he was surrounded by a void. He couldn’t see anything or even tell which way was up. Without any apparent provocation, his water crystal began shining, and his vision suddenly became…..enhanced. He could suddenly see around him, but it felt as though he was….dreaming his surroundings. “Huh?” He swam down to touch the bottom of a tunnel to make sure he wasn’t going crazy, and sure enough, his new trinket seemed to be helping him in more ways than he’d realized was possible. He could even tell which tunnels he needed to take specifically to get to his destination, as if a mental path had been laid out for him to follow. “Man! This is cool!” The tunnels themselves were a sight to behold. Small signs of the weak volcanic activity within the Great Horn Summit popped up on occasion in the form of vents spewing heat that warmed the swimming colt as he passed by, and around them were strange plants that seemed to have no issue being around these natural heaters. Tidal Wave had no idea such life could even exist. The planet itself truly was alive. At last, Tidal Wave could feel currents running in the tunnels, and that’s when he knew he was on the right track. Sure enough, the tunnel he was in spilled out into a mouth-like cave where vast more gallons of water joined him. At the end of the flow was the visual majesty accompanied by the roar of a waterfall. There were no edges for him to jump onto so that he might scope his surroundings, so all he could do was take a leap of faith and hope that nopony was down there waiting to see him and think that he was some suicidal maniac or something. Thankfully, this was not the case; the land below him held only Mother Nature’s embrace, and unsurprisingly, it was the very same spot where he and the other foals had fought the hydra; its corpse still laid on the riverbank in a heap. Tidal Wave jumped from the height of the falls and glided down gently into the lake below. He glanced over at the fallen hydra as he made his way into the river. “Heh. Maybe I coulda made that thing my pet…….Although, 1. How would I take of it, and 2. Is it even technically a water creature?” Swimming with the flow of the river made the trip pretty easy, and Tidal Wave made it to another lake that was centered within a circular valley between each mountain. Looking up, he could see a series of bridges obviously constructed as roads between the mountains for non-flyers, which made him wonder how anypony who couldn’t fly even got up there in the first place. Eventually, he noticed a tall mechanism that extended along one mountain all the way up to a plateau. Upon closer observation, it seemed to be an elevator, so he swam towards it. As he got closer, however, he began hearing some commotion on the shore he was approaching. “Argh! Now you li’l bastards better quit it right- Oof! Did ya mums forget to teach ya to respect ol’ geezers like me!?- ACK!” It turned out to be an elderly male griffon being harassed by four pegasus foals, two colts and fillies. They were repeated ramming into him or poking him with wooden poles that looked like they were supposed to have broom or net heads on them. The bullies snickered and laughed maliciously as they taunted and tormented the old man. “Haha! Why? What’s an old featherface like you gonna do?” one of the fillies sneered. “Tch! Yeah! You can barely lift your wings to fly! What are you doing besides just being a weight, huh?” one of the colts sneered. The old griffon held his own as all he could do was endure and wait for them to get bored. “Ugh! It’s nasty tykes like you that make me wish I wasn’t a dern pacifist!” Having experienced more than his fair share of bullying in his lifetime, Tidal Wave immediately felt for the old griffon and charged through the water to his aid. When he got close enough, he leapt out of the lake fast enough to actually tackle one of the colts off of him, who was holding a wooden pole. The pole flew from his hooves when Tidal Wave shoved him away, and the young lancer caught it. He poised it aggressively towards the bully. “Lay off of him!” he commanded. Both the colt and the elderly griffon were caught way off guard by Tidal Wave’s sudden appearance, and the other bullies went to their friend’s aid. “Ow! What the heck!?” the colt said as he got up. He and his companions glared at Tidal Wave. “What’s your problem, dweeb?” the other filly demanded. Tidal Wave wasn’t having any of it and just mock-jabbed his ‘spear’ at them as he glared back. “I said GET BACK!” The bullies flinched back in fear that they tried to hide beneath angry glares. “Eh, screw this! We were getting bored of this old fart anyway.” The other colt said before they all flew off. Tidal Wave put the wooden pole down and looked at the old griffon, whom he could now get a better look at. His fur and feathers had dulled in color significantly from the weight of the many years he must have lived, and had quite the sagely beard. Tidal Wave helped him stand back up. “Are you ok, sir?” The old griffon stretched out and let out a caw of relief. “Hoo-wee! Cheers a bunch, laddie! I was worried the little flippin’ buggers wouldn’t let up this time!” he cheered. His thick accent through Tidal Wave for a little loop, but he certainly seemed nice enough. “S-Sure! Wait…They do that all the time?” The old griffon sighed. “‘Fraid so, lad. Don’t know what kinda leprechaun-lickin’-loads o’ lard manners they were raised on, but they can’t just let an ol’ griffon like meself harvest some lake lettuce in peace, now can they!?” he ranted. He picked up a bag he had dropped that Tidal Wave could see a little chunk of the mentioned vegetable peeking out of. “Dang…..sorry, dude….” Tidal Wave said. “Ah, time marches on, right lad? Well…..except for me. Then time just limps like it’s dehydrated in a flippin’ desert! BAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Haha…….Whoo….” The griffon cheered. Tidal Wave wasn’t sure whether his enthusiasm was infectious in a good way or bad way, but it was clear that this was somepony…er….griffon to talk to. The old man then noticed Tidal Wave’s fins. “Huh….Can’t say I’ve ever heard o’ wings like that. New trend with you pegasi r’ somethin’?” Being a little sensitive about his fin-wings, Tidal Wave couldn’t help but to feel slightly upset. “Eh….N-No….I…..was just born with them…..somehow…..” he mumbled. “A-All I can do is swim…..a-and glide too, I guess….” The griffon’s cheery smile disappeared when he saw Tidal Wave’s mood slump down. “Aww. Sorry there, lad. Didn’t mean to touch a nerve. Just curious is all.” He lightly nudged the aquatic colt. “If it makes ya feel better, me own wings r’ too flippin’ wrinkled like me late wife’s face to send me soarin’.” He said as he spread his frail, aged wings. Tidal Wave’s mood was restored a little upon seeing this. “R-Really?” he asked, but then a thought crossed his mind. “Wait. Then how do get back up to town?” The old griffon let out a hearty chuckle. “Ya see that beauty there, lad?” he said as he pointed to the mega structure that drew Tidal Wave over here to begin with. “It’s a two way elevator meant fer the folks here that can’t safely fly up r' down here. Well….I mean unless they wanna make a death-defyin’ leap from the bridges up top! THAT’D MAKE THINGS A WEE BIT EASIER! BAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!” Tidal Wave was starting to let the old griffon’s cheery personality grow on him, and he cracked a little smile as the crazy coot just guffawed his breath away. “Say, what’re a doin’ here? Don’t think I’ve seen you ‘round b’fore, and I’ve lived in Yodelneigh fer most o’ me life.” “Oh! Umm…I-I came here for a school project actually! I wanted to write a paper…..on griffons, and I-I thought it’d be interesting if I talked about the cohabitation between ponies and griffons here.” Tidal Wave said hesitantly. The old griffon seemed to perk up upon hearing this. “That so, lad? Well, that’s awful tenacious o’ ya! Props.” He said. “Let me give ya the grand tour! Me treat fer swattin’ those flippin’ flies off me feathers.” “O-Oh! Uh…really? Ok, sure.” Tidal Wave stammered. The old griffon chuckled. “No need to be shy, laddie! C’mon then.” He motioned for Tidal Wave to follow, and the two hopped onto the mountain elevator, and the elderly avian hit the button to go up. There was a bit of a thunder that startled Tidal Wave, but the view he eventually got of the lake below as they ascended was breathtaking. “ I know, lad. If this ain’t a more beautiful sight then a red sunset over the waves, I’m a monkey’s uncle.” “Yeah, really….” Tidal Wave muttered. It almost made him wish that he could share the views that could be beheld below the surface with his new friend. “Flippin’ hay! Did I drop me manners down the toilet along with me breakfast this mornin’!? Name’s Aesir. What’s yer name, lad?” he asked. “Oh, yeah! My name’s…umm…” Tidal Wave realized that he had neglected to come up with a pseudonym to use for his covert operation. He fumbled over the stormy seas of his racing thoughts to salvage something. “Er…Aquabolt!” “Pfft! Loud n’ clear, laddie!” Aesir joked. “Still a relief though.” He leaned in to whisper. “I was worried yer name would be Pegasushi!” he fell to pieces, laughing his feathers off. “BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!! OOOOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! Aha! Aaahhh” After his laughing and eventually coughing fit ended, Aesir looked down at Tidal Wave to see that he wasn’t so amused with that comment. “Aww, don’t be so salty there, seadog. I’m just funnin’ with ya!” He ruffled Tidal Wave’s mane, who couldn’t help but to crack a little laugh. Thinking more about it, Tidal Wave was pretty surprised to see a griffon that wasn’t grumpy or anything like that. Granted, he didn’t know the old bag of feathers, but so far, he liked him. They finally reached the top and stepped out of the elevator. The lower air pressure reminded Tidal Wave of Cloudsdale, so he was right at home. Looking around to observe the town before him, it was a very traditional-styled place. Buildings were constructed of wood native the summits of the mountains, and most of the non-griffon population was pegasi. A few unicorns and earth ponies could be seen, but this place was clearly meant to accommodate those that could embrace the sky. Regardless, everyone seemed to be getting along fine, but those bullies from before still lingered in his mind. Could there be more ruffians like them in town? Did they take after the griffons that were jerks here? It didn’t seem to matter much as Aesir began leading him through town. Back At The Temple.... “Hmm…..perhaps………No, no. That wouldn’t work….Oh! I could probably-……No, not that either. Let’s see…..If these crystals respond to certain genetic codes, then we simply need to…..well, that would risk altering one of for life should somepony volunteer as a guinea pig….” Quantum Tech was mulling over any way to circumvent the pony/griffon lock placed on the portal, but she wasn’t having any luck. However, her high intellect made her too stubborn to admit defeat to any problem, and she continued to push the limits of her powerful mind to its limits “Quantum Tech?” a voice called out. She snapped her head up to see that it was Fire Fight. “Oh, uh….Are you busy right now?” “If by ‘busy’ you mean busy fumbling over every trivial little solution one could come to when getting past this accursed magical lock, then yes.” She said with some spite in her tone. Fire Fight’s expression warned her of the unhappy air she projected. “I’m sorry, Fire Fight. I didn’t mean to sound angry. Is there something you need, darling?” “Yeah, uh….Did you ever figure anything out about why Tidal Wave’s wings are the way they are?” he asked. “Oh! Yes! Thank you for reminding me. I was going to share the details with you, but then this nuisance just had to occupy my attention.” She said as she glanced back at the portal. “That said, I must remind you that any conclusion I can come to at this point is not absolute. There may be a variable that I’m unaware of or the like that prevents me from attaining the full truth.” Fire Fight nodded. “I know, but I trust your brain!” Quantum giggled. “Well then, there’s a strong theory amongst the scientific community that in primordial times, ponies were once an aquatic species of currently unknown form, and we eventually evolved into the land equine forms we see today. Some of the strongest evidence outside of fossil of this theory include observed fetuses having noticeable gill ducts within the first month of development that disappear with time, and dormant within our collective gene pool exists highly recessive codes associated with the development of icthyological organs such as air bladders and fins.” She explained. “So….those traits just so happened to pop up for Tidal Wave?” Fire Fight asked. “Not….necessarily. What makes those traits highly recessive is a sort of….how should I put this?.....anti-gene that prevents the fish genes from being expressed. I suspect that early in Tidal Wave’s development, those gene either failed to fire off correctly, or even fire of at all for one reason or another, causing his wings to take on a more primitive form.” Quantum explained. “If that’s the case, then not only is he living solid evidence of the theory of us evolving from an aquatic species, but he would also be the first recorded case of primordial traits being expressed. If we weren’t on the run, I’d present my findings to Canterlot University posthaste!” “Even though that might get him a lot of unwanted attention?” Fire Fight said. “Eh…….a point well made…..” Quantum said. “So, his mom wasn’t a…..merpony of something?” “Pfft! If she was, then it would’ve been reported and recorded for coming generations without hesitation.” Quantum said. “With how many books my mind has devoured in the short time that I’ve lived, I surely would have read something at all about a case as big as that would be.” Fire Fight shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I think he’ll sleep better knowing more about his wings.” Quantum nodded. “I agree. Though it does leave me to wonder what could have caused the anti-gene to misfire…” “I think we should worry about that once we’re safely through the portal, so let’s hope Tidal Wave comes back with at least something.” Fire Fight said. Quantum Tech nodded impatiently. “Ugh! Anything at all would be better than dealing with this blasted thing!” She went back to fiddling with the seemingly impossible challenge before her….