//------------------------------// // Wet Your Fins // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Champagne sighed and fidgeted on the sand. Rainbow Dash and that siren had been gone for a while now, and she was starting to grow worried. Well, she’d been worried since the moment Rainbow hopped in the siren’s mouth, but it’d only gotten worse in the passing minutes. On the bright side, if that siren had eaten Rainbow and wanted another snack, she’d come back, right? No matter what she said, there was no way in Tartarus Champagne was going to let herself do something as stupid as willingly step into a carnivore’s mouth. Once more, she found herself wondering if she should just fly back and get help. At what point did she accept Rainbow was probably siren food? That friendly siren deal had to just be a ruse, a façade to make her hunting easier. Champagne didn’t exactly want to look like an idiot, and it was looking more and more likely that her best bet to not look like one and escape with her life was to leave and hide now before that sea monster came back. She was just about to get up and take a brief flight around the island when the water rippled and bubbled. Her body froze in place, halfway standing, halfway sitting, wings outstretched, as a scaly green figure broke the surface of the lagoon. For a brief moment, emerald eyes rested on Champagne, and the Prench mare felt like a statue, unable to bring herself to move or flee. The siren could have lunged at her and Champagne didn’t know if she’d be able to move in time. Instead, the siren’s eyes bulged, and she hunched over by the water’s edge. Her massive beak opened, and a slimy blue pegasus tumbled out. Rainbow immediately stood up, the sand from the beach sticking to her saliva-covered coat, and splashed into the water to wash it off. Even the siren herself seemed like she needed to clean her tongue of Rainbow’s taste, and she dunked her beak into the water and spat it out in a violent spray. Still, the sight of seeing Rainbow Dash alive and unharmed finally broke the spell on Champagne. Her wings and shoulders sagged, finally letting go of their tension. “Rainbow Dash?” she asked, trotting across the sand towards the pegasus. “You’re… alive?” “Alive and slimy,” Rainbow said through a grimace, shaking her wings out. Once she’d decided she was sufficiently clean, she turned around and nodded to the siren. “Thanks, Melody. I’ll go let the others know.” “Right. Don’t forget the statue,” the siren said, pointing to the obsidian figurine sticking out of the sand. “Wouldn’t want to forget it now after all this.” “Oh, yeah, that’d be friggin’ awful.” Rainbow stooped over and snatched the idol, cradling it between her wings. Then, smiling up at the siren, she safely tucked it against her side. “Take care of Rares for me. Make sure she doesn’t get too attached.” “I don’t know,” Melody sung. “I think she already likes it more.” Pushing off from the lagoon, she briefly paddled her tail to stay in place above the underwater cave. “I’ll see you in a bit.” With a flip of her fins and flash of her tail, the siren disappeared back beneath the water, leaving Rainbow and Champagne standing on the beach. Champagne blinked and slowly swiveled her head over to Rainbow, who watched the siren go and sighed. “What… what happened down there?” Champagne asked her. “Where’s Rarity? And… what is that?” Rainbow blinked and glanced down at the obsidian unicorn statuette. “It’s… it’s a really long story,” she said. “But Rarity’s fine. I know because we had sex. I’ll tell you all about it on the flight back.” Champagne’s face paled. “Just because I’m Prench doesn’t mean I’m interested in that…” “What? I—oh, for Celestia’s sake, that’s not what I meant.” Rainbow shook her head. “Forget it. Let’s just get our stuff and fly. I’ll tell you the whole story on the way.” ----- Rarity couldn’t stop tonguing the swords sticking out of her gums. She couldn’t believe teeth could be shaped like this. They were so sharp, she was afraid she’d slice her tongue open on one if she wasn’t careful. How did carnivores eat with these? There were a lot of questions she had about her new siren body. Swimming would be simple enough with a little practice; she could already move her tail about as she desired, and she’d even wetted the fin a bit to get a feel for the water. It felt just as natural to her as the air did, and despite sirens being aquatic creatures, she felt like she was thriving in the air. Her lungs were each as large as a pony, and they supplied her scaly body with enough oxygen to survive out of the water, and enough air to sing her songs. Which she’d spent a few minutes experimenting with. Her voice sounded crystal clear and perfect, and she didn’t think she could hit a flat note if she tried. She merely had to think about what pitch she wanted to hit, and she hit it perfectly, without fail. But she could only go through a few scales before she felt tired and drained, like she’d just run a marathon on two hours of sleep. Melody was right; she had almost no magic, and trying to move what little motes she had in the heartstone was exhausting. Maybe she could sing for the survivors when she got back and recoup some magic. But then again, she hoped she wouldn’t even be a siren for that long. Melody returned with a splash a few minutes later, water dripping off of her fins and beak. “Rainbow Dash is safely back on the beach,” she said. “Her and that other pegasus she flew over with are gonna fly back to their island and make sure everypony’s ready for when we get there.” “She remember to take the figurine with her?” Rarity asked. “Yeah, she did,” Melody said. “So, what, we’ll have three gathered there now? You got the one from the minotaurs’ island?” Rarity nodded. “That was quite an adventure,” she said. “Though what happened on the archipelago surpasses it in every single way.” “I bet those minotaurs weren’t too happy to see ponies,” Melody said. “Or maybe they were. I don’t know exactly how they get along with your kind. There haven’t been many pony visitors to these islands since I’ve been here.” She gestured to the lagoon and backed up a bit to make space for Rarity. “Come on in. Let’s get you used to your body before we go exploring. Just remember, you have gills, so you can’t drown!” “But I take it inhaling water isn’t the same as breathing it,” Rarity said, putting her hooves in the pool. “How’s the best way to do this?” “Draw water in through your mouth or nose and pass it through the gills in your neck,” Melody said. “It’s almost like swallowing it, but not really. Don’t worry, it’s an instinct we all have. You’ll be fine.” “An instinct I only picked up a few minutes ago…” Swallowing hard, Rarity slid forward on her belly and looked down at the water. “Here goes…” With little ceremony, Rarity slid off of the rocks and into the water. The cool liquid surrounded her, soaking her scales and moistening the flesh underneath. The salt stung at her eyes, but when she winced, she realized she had a clear eyelid she could flick up in front of them to protect them and allow her to still see her surroundings. Her tail wriggled a few times, each undulating motion pushing her a little farther into the water. Melody dropped down with her, her forelegs outstretched to grab onto Rarity in case she needed it. “How are you feeling?” she said, her voice remaining clear in the water despite the different medium. “Just talk. Our voice boxes can handle both water and air.” “I’m… okay,” Rarity said. “I… think I’m going to try to breathe, now.” Melody snickered at her. “You just did, while you were talking to me,” she said, brushing one of the gill fins at the base of Rarity’s jaw. Rarity blinked. “I… did?” Surely enough, as she talked and moved about in the water, she could feel water moving through the slits in her neck. Her diaphragm could move the water through her gills instead of pumping air to her lungs, keeping her chest movements almost to a minimum. But without the great rise and fall of her chest as she inhaled, it didn’t feel like she was breathing… but neither did she feel like she was suffocating. “Those are your instincts taking over,” Melody said. She patted Rarity’s shoulder. “Now, come on. I’ll lead the way, you just try to keep up. I promise I won’t go too fast.” She turned about in the water, her slender form moving like a dancer’s as she effortlessly changed her orientation. Rarity tried to study her movements as she swam down and out through one of the doors, pausing only long enough to beckon Rarity on with her tail. Sighing, Rarity set her features into a determined frown and began to mimic Melody’s swimming motions, swiftly catching up with the siren’s tail. It was awkward and clumsy, and she didn’t exactly know how to control her orientation, but she could move, and she knew she’d swiftly get the hang of it. “Alright,” she muttered to herself, watching Melody dart off ahead again. “This isn’t so bad…”