//------------------------------// // Chapter 4.3: Currents // Story: Secrets of the Mane Six // by Starscribe //------------------------------// In less than a week, Twilight had seen all kinds of incredible places, all a half-step away from the reality she knew. But the ocean was no foreign realm—pony ships could be passing above them right now. A diving bell might drop, or a unicorn with the right spells could visit for brief periods to study undersea life. This was no underworld, or spirit realm. Like the vampires that stalked Canterlot, this was real. If it were possible, Rainbow Dash swam even better than she flew. Her fins cut through the water with the precision of a lifetime of practice, circling around Twilight and leaving a trail of bubbles where she passed. If I thought being an Alicorn would let me outfly her, that’s not happening. Something told her that Rainbow would’ve already been in the Wonderbolts if swimming had been an option. “Why are we hugging the ground so much?” Twilight asked, gesturing up with one of her fins towards the vast expanse of open water above them. The sun stained it all blue, with shafts of light visible from where it occasionally peeked through. “Because that’s open water,” Rainbow answered, zipping down past her towards the rocky ground. This was no tropical ocean, so there weren’t a thousand different colored corals as she had occasionally seen drawn in wildlife portraits. “There’s so much of it in the ocean that most of it’s empty all the time. Booor-ring.” “That’s just rock down there, it’s not any dif—” Twilight trailed off abruptly, following Rainbow down only with difficulty. At a glance, she’d seen only stone. But now that she looked… There was life here. Those prickly spheres weren’t rocks, they were urchins, surrounded by starfish and mussels. Fish darted between huge sea-cucumbers, picking the algae from the rocks. As Rainbow got close, lots of little fish scattered away from her, moving in schools of silver or gray. Twilight kept up with her, but only barely. Swimming was easier than flying, since these bodies seemed naturally built to maintain neutral buoyancy in a way that didn’t happen in the air. But that didn’t mean she could match her speed. “If you want to look for life, look for where it’s living,” Rainbow said. “And if we get separated, that’s even more important. You aren’t going to catch a meal in the open ocean, it’s all too fast. You have to take advantage of the terrain.” She gulped. Realizing she was breathing the same water that fish and all other sea-creatures used for… all their biological functions—that was hard enough. But eating them was a bridge too far. Right? Thank Celestia I didn’t come down here hungry. “We’re just going down to the Tehuti Ruins, right? Find some old metal, help Sweetie Belle, and everything is perfect.” “Uh… yeah,” Rainbow said. “Except no. We can’t just ‘go’ to Tehuti. The ruins are at the bottom of Kumari. It’s all connected, see. We’ve been building the same place for… I have no idea. I don’t even know any fish who are old enough to remember. It’s closer than you think, though. Princessport had to be close enough that we could go back and forth, that was the point. Another… half hour of swimming or so. Mostly down.” “And you aren’t worried about ponies discovering you?” Twilight asked. So long as Rainbow didn’t go too fast, she could keep up. Of course, she did seem like she wanted to speed away, but she would always circle back. She wouldn’t leave me behind. She’s too loyal for that. “Uh… no,” Rainbow answered, as though the idea was absurd. “Twilight, how many pony explorers do you know?” “Daring Do!” she answered reflexively, stopping in the water and floating vertically again. It was the closest to the way she would’ve held a conversation if she were a pony above the water. “Great.” Rainbow circled around her. “You mean a fictional explorer whose adventures happen in books. The awesomest books ever, for sure. But books. Can you name anypony real?” Twilight opened her mouth to respond. She held it that way so long that a little fish almost swam inside, and she had to shut it again. She grumbled, folding her forelegs. “Just because I can’t remember anypony off the top of my head—” “Oh, I’m sure there are others,” Rainbow agreed. “But not many. Kumari isn’t easy to find. We’re far enough out to sea that most unicorns would run out of magic before they got to the bottom. We’re far enough that no diving bell can get there.” “That might change one day,” Twilight argued. “Maybe we’ll build… airships that can swim! Like that novel, umm…” “Maybe.” Rainbow shrugged. “But probably not. And even if ponies do, nothing says we have to hide forever. Maybe you’ll be ready for us by then. Not… you personally.” She swam a flip in the air, drifting down again. “Look, can we get moving again? Staying in one place makes me nervous.” They did. Twilight ran through a dozen different objections in her head, but couldn’t bring herself to actually make any of them. “You really think… ponies are too afraid to know about you? That you have to keep hiding?” “Uh, yeah,” Rainbow said. “Individuals are smart, Twilight. You’re the smartest creature I’ve ever met. Smart enough that you even became an Alicorn. But herds aren’t… They’re dumb. They jump to conclusions. They do things that hurt themselves. We have to keep hiding, until it’s obvious to everypony in Equestria that we’re not dangerous. Maybe that’s just a comparison… if there are really vampires out there, we’d seem pretty safe by comparison. Your foals might have fins one day—that’s not so much to ask.” How long had they been swimming? The continental plate was sloped, and they were swimming along it. Apparently far enough now that they’d reached the shelf. It was like any cliff she would’ve seen above the water, except instead of birds there were fish. Fish, and water that was only faintly lit with deep blue. There was almost no difference between her own scales and Rainbow’s now—no other colors of light could reach this far. “And they’re not going to do anything creepy to… try and keep me from leaving, after I know the secret?” “Oh yeah…” Rainbow stopped abruptly. “Uh… hmm. Yeah. I think whenever ponies make it here, they aren’t technically supposed to leave. If you have your own fins that’s different, since protecting Kumari helps you as well as us. But you should, uh…” She shrugged. “How about… don’t talk about coming from Equestria? You should say you’re from… Mount Aris? That’s in the southern ocean, it’s a—” “Mythical mountain city of the hippogriffs?” Twilight asked, indignant. “You must be joking. They’re not going to believe that.” Rainbow glared at her, expression intense. “What, because you don’t look enough like a hippogriff?” She held out one of her hooves, frowning. “Good point. You can be from… Lemuria instead. Tropical colony, real pretty. You flew here with me.” “Except that’s not true,” Twilight said. “And there are ponies on the surface who know it isn’t. Can’t we just say that Celestia sent me? It’s… not exactly a lie…” “She does know about us,” Rainbow admitted. “Guess that works. Just try not to answer any political questions. Say you’re here to… meet all the Equestrian subjects or whatever. It’s a pleasure trip. If it gets around there might be more treaty negotiations, then you’ll have fish swimming up to you from the reef all the way down to the abyss, and you’ll be answering petitions you don’t understand for three days.” “My, uh… my spell won’t last three days.” “Exactly. And if it wears off down here, you won’t drown… you’ll be crushed.” She swam up close, lowering her voice to a serious whisper. “Ponies have air cavities, Twilight. Lungs, sinuses, a few others. You know what happens at these depths?” She made a gruesome face. “It’s… horrible. How about we don’t let that happen.” “Sure,” Twilight muttered, flicking her tail in sudden fear. A tail she would only have until sunrise. A sunrise she couldn’t even watch for. Celestia I am in over my head this time. “I’m still going,” Twilight declared. “I know it would be… smarter… to come up with a better spell. Maybe enchant something to carry it, so it wouldn’t wear off unexpectedly. But I might not get another chance. Next time I come to Princessport, they might just use the memory stuff and send me out. I’ve got to go now.” “That’s the spirit!” Rainbow zipped around her again, leaving a thin trail of bubbles and spinning water. Then she turned sharply, straight over the edge. “Come on! I can smell lunch from here!” As far as secret settlements of long-extinct races went, Princessport had been a disappointment. But as Twilight approached Kumari from above, following just a few steps behind, she almost stopped breathing to stare. All the color that had been missing from water going increasingly black with depth sprung back abruptly, lighting twisting spires of crystal. In many ways it reminded her of the Crystal Empire, if the city had been built in three dimensions instead of two. There were no roads, no bridges or paths between buildings—what was the point, when everyone could swim? Huge spotlights cut through the dark water above her, lighting the way down the rocks towards the city. Evidently Rainbow had been right about just how unafraid of discovery these fish were. What buildings weren’t made from crystal had evidently been carved directly from the black rock that surrounded them on all sides, and these were overflowing with life. A reef grew here, of hard corals in reds and yellows and oranges that seemed grown like parks and flowerbeds on the surface. She couldn’t even guess at how many seaponies she saw, floating outside buildings, watching performances far below, or swimming between structures in complex patterns outlined with little glowing spots. “Kumari,” Rainbow said from beside her, seeming pleased with Twilight’s appropriately shocked reaction. “Not some birds hiding, or a little colony. The last proper city.” And you put it right beside Equestria, because without us you can’t have foals of your own. There were terrifying projections to be made about that—what would happen if they kept breeding forever? Would there be any ponies left? But Twilight hadn’t come to solve all the world’s problems, or even to identify this as a problem. Celestia obviously knew about Kumari and Princessport on the surface, they had treaties and everything. Wish I wasn’t questioning her judgement so much lately. “So, if we’re going down to the Tehuti Ruins, we should… get some food first, obviously. Then we’ll visit my place, grab some of my awesome adventuring stuff. After that… guess we should go straight there. You’re running out the clock, after all. Good thing you’re with the fastest fish in the ocean.” Twilight didn’t doubt that, and she wasn’t disappointed. As they got closer, she realized that the water was moving on its own—there were currents, not the turgid flow of surface rivers either. Kumari did have roads after all, they just weren’t visible until you got too close. As soon as they entered, they were swept away. Twilight had to hold on to Rainbow at first to keep from getting flung out into the water, attracting annoyed glances from the other fish they blocked. It was a good thing the currents had glowing points to mark their borders, given how close many of the buildings were in places. Sometimes solid walls ran almost right along the side of the water. And if I smacked into one of them… But was this more dangerous than flying? “I know somewhere vegetarian we can go for lunch,” Rainbow said, once they’d transferred from the central thoroughfare and down a much-slower flowing “road.” The city loomed above Twilight now, with many of the crystal structures above replaced with the carved stone variety. Rainbow had been right, it really did seem like Kumari was just one layer built on another, and they’d already dropped down from the heights. The equivalent of a suburb, if the small families and little groups of fish were any guide. But there were no young foals, and most of the groups had only a single adult. Because the other parent is on land. “Here, this is it.” Rainbow looped her foreleg through Twilight’s, yanking her out of the water in a single decisive tug. There was an open section of rock, with a painted green sign on the wall showing a bowl of salad. “Lots of newbies come out here, I know I did.” They swam inside, and the uncanny resemblance to Equestria proper only got stronger. A white glow overhead, squares on the wall with “windows” that were really just paintings of equestrian scenery. A huge map of Equestria was on one wall, with stylized depictions of landmarks. Living green plants grew along the ceiling as well, though Twilight didn’t recognize them. More like a thick, leafy seaweed than grass. “Welcome to Dinori,” said a smiling gold and blue fish behind the counter, nodding politely to them. “Back again, Rainbow? Why would a fish your age be feeling nostalgic?” “I’m not!” Rainbow defended, removing something from around her neck and setting it on the counter. It was a shell made of gold, incredibly small and with a little hole in the center. “For both of us. My friend hasn’t adjusted to real food yet. I’ll have what she does.” “Oh, sure,” said the fish. “Blame your friend, I see.” But she was grinning. “We hope you enjoy your time at Dinori,” she said, nodding to Twilight. “I can see from your expression you have no idea what any of these are. How about I just serve you something, and you tell me how great it is?” “That… sounds great,” Twilight said, already liking this pony. Or… was she even a pony? She looked so young, why did she talk like she’d been working this place for so long? Twilight wasn’t brave enough to ask. She watched as the mare coated an ordinary plate with some kind of slime from a covered dish, then served the various plants atop it. She saw instantly why—the various baskets and containers of fresh green plants were covered because their contents drifted as soon as they were opened. Once settled onto the plate, the food stuck. “There.” The mare offered it to her. “If you’re ever feeling nostalgic, Slow Simmer here at Dinori won’t judge you for it. Unless you’re too proud to admit it like her.” Rainbow grumbled something from behind her, then took her plate. The shop even had tables, though they had to tuck their tails under just to stop from floating away. “I’m beginning to see why you might not do things the same way we do,” Twilight said, after picking a few bites at the tossed seaweed salad. She couldn’t identify almost any part of it, and it certainly had a “wild” taste. But nothing she couldn’t get used to. As for the implication of everypony here eating fish… For her part, Rainbow scarfed her lunch down as quickly as she did anything, even licking up whatever sauce they used to hold it together. “I’ve got some stuff at my place we might be able to use; we should probably stop there after. It’s just… a little way down. Not down into the Glooms, so don’t ask. I’m new here, and I gotta work my way up like everypony else. Even if I’m kinda a big deal in Equestria.” Twilight rolled her eyes. But the more of this world she saw, the less afraid of it she became. These didn’t seem like the type of ponies who would be plotting to overthrow Equestria. “Do you think anypony will mind if we go… where we’re going?” she asked, keeping her voice down. “You said it was close to here…” “They’d tell us we were being stupid,” Rainbow said. “And they’d be right. I wouldn’t do it with any other fish, or for a worse cause. But I know you. If I sent you back to the surface, you’d come right back, alone. Tell me I’m wrong.” She couldn’t. Twilight ate the rest of her meal, listening to the conversation between the group of fish one stall over. They were talking about the city—about how amazing it was, but... “I wish I didn’t have to go home in a few days. It’s not fair that the old fish get to live here, and we can only swim for a few days a year.” Her friend, a stallion, seemed more reserved. “I’d rather be in Equestria. Three days… is more than enough. Listen to them, Scarlet. They all say you only wish to be down here until you can’t go topside anymore. Enjoy it while you can.” “Finished?” Rainbow asked, before she’d finished. “I know Kumari must be really interesting to you, but… you’re kinda on a time limit here, remember?” “Yeah.” Twilight pushed the plate aside. “I’ve had enough. Let’s get… whatever you said.” Rainbow’s house proved to be more or less exactly the same as the cloud she lived in above Ponyville. There were similar piles of junk, the same magically waterproofed Wonderbolts posters, along with some of her trophies. Some of them showed distinctly aquatic themes, along with little bronze seaponies. She was the same pony no matter what she was flying through. She didn’t have an impressive armory of enchanted artifacts like Fluttershy did, or even carefully constructed tools like Rarity. She did have an oversized breastplate, made of woven metal scales of something almost weightless. “Before you ask—” Rainbow said, as she slipped it on and tightened the straps. “Yes, it’s real mithril. And no, I don’t have another one. It was a gift for saving the magistrate’s… forget it.” She settled a trident in beside the armor, wrapping it into the straps where it wouldn’t move while she swam, and the sharp bits would be pointing down. If someone bumped into her by accident, they’d only hit a metal rod, instead of the dangerous prongs. “This is a crime,” Twilight said, circling around the little supply room. Seapony houses were tiny, vertical spaces, with little separation between rooms. But she hardly felt trapped—if anything, having a ceiling over her head was a relief. “Separating magical knowledge like this. You have enough mithril down here that you’re making it into clothes? Do you have any idea, any conception how rare that is? Or… Orichalcum, so rare that ponies don’t even think it exists. Imagine what Equestria could’ve accomplished if we were truly united. All our tribes, all of them, working together. I bet your city could really use some unicorn enchantments.” Rainbow made a noncommittal sound. “We have plenty of sea-unicorns…” But it wasn’t an argument. Like Twilight earlier, she couldn’t honestly object. “It’s not up to me, Twi. If you want to go to the temple, meet the magistrate… we could do that instead. Just as much of a waste of time, but… at least we won’t get attacked. Not that I’m afraid.” She drew the trident in a single quick stroke, slashing forward a few times in the water. “I’d like to see them try and hurt us.” “I’ll… talk to Princess Celestia about it,” Twilight said. “A week ago, I would’ve trotted right in to try and change their minds. But now… there’s more going on that I don’t understand. Celestia might have a good reason I just don’t realize.” “And that is the smartest thing you’ve said since you got here,” Rainbow declared, stowing her weapon back in its holster. “I wish you were smart enough to give up on going down to Tehuti, but… I’m not expecting any miracles today.” “And you won’t get one,” Twilight said, turning her back on her. “Come on. Let’s see this place everypony is so scared of.” Can’t be worse than anywhere I’ve been lately.