//------------------------------//
// Ship On The Horizon 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

The first one to notice the university ship was the brood beast.

It had been loafing around, ignoring the guards and content to let the guards ignore it. But several hours before noon, it grew edgier and more restless, never dipping its head below the water and looking jumpy and annoyed. That, in turn, put the guards on edge, who had debated endlessly whether to kill it and be safe or spare it in case it became a necessary contingency. Valey suspected at least some of the guards who wanted to keep it were the ones who had been on the bridge with the sound stone, but their motives were much less interesting now that she could see what the beast had heard.

A trail of disturbed water rippled along the sea like a wake with no boat, moving faster than she could fly and covering a large, dark shadow beneath the waves. It slowed quickly as it approached, reaching them from the horizon fast enough that she had to yell at a guard to find her friends rather than look away to fetch them herself.

The waters were cleaved by a metal fin, and as the thing drew to a stop, it surfaced. A huge, horizontal obelisk broke the waves, water pouring off its metal sides, more than half the length of the Immortal Dream from tip to tail. Devices and sensors built into the monolith softly flickered, and one of the Equestrians wiped his brow appreciatively. "Now that is a research sub."

"A what?" Valey was only half paying attention. The thing had a short tower on its back, and as she watched, the top unscrewed and slowly swung open.

"Hail!" a voice called, and a unicorn and an earth pony climbed out, balancing fearlessly on the ship's slick surface. A pegasus hovered behind them, and they were followed by an older-looking unicorn who didn't come all the way out of the hole.

Valey almost flew out to greet them, her mane perking in relief, but the Equestrians had it covered. "Hey," Amber said, strolling up beside her on the deck. "Looks like our help has finally arrived?"

"About time." Valey blew on her bangs, deciding she needed a trim. "Only question is, how will they get us back? You think we can all fit in that thing, or are they towing us?"

"I'd reckon it'll depend on what they think of our injuries," Saffron Sunflower said, limping up as well. "Kinmari has a hospital as part of their medical program. Doubtless they'll all want to get us patched up."

Valey bit her lip. "You think they've got anything for cracked horns?"

Saffron shrugged. "I've only been there once. Couldn't say. But it is a school, so new or unusual injuries are things they'd probably take an interest in."

"I could care less about their hospital as long as the accommodations are in order," Felicity sighed, joining them. "Not to complain, but my needs are... delicate."

Shinespark and Harshwater drew near as well, but neither got a chance to speak before the pegasus from the university ship soared over and landed with an acrobatic flip. He brushed his mane out of his eyes with a wing. "So," he greeted, his voice sounding like his purpose in life was to hang out on beaches. Given his cutie mark, that might not have been far from the truth... "I hear you all are refugees from the far, far north."

Everyone slowly nodded.

"You've got the castaway look going on!" He pointed his wings in feather-guns and winked. "Except this is real. And your ship isn't just trashed to look like a setpiece in a movie."

"You're observant, kid," Shinespark remarked, her mane showing clear signs of not having been cared for in a month.

"Uh... heh heh... yeah." The pegasus rubbed his sand-speckled mane and blushed. "Anyway! On behalf of Professor Sea Star, since she doesn't feel like making the jump... welcome to Equestria?"

Valey glanced over to the other ship. The older mare, presumably the professor, was deep in conversation with the Equestrians. A white unicorn with a pink mane and huge yellow bow, however, definitely was looking ready to jump the gap between the ships... and it was wide enough Valey wouldn't even trust herself to do it if she didn't have wings.

"Ahem, thank you for the courtesy, but..." Felicity made a show of daintily clearing her throat. "We've been welcomed harshly enough by the land already, and would severely appreciate knowing how we're going to get somewhere safer and more civilized."

Splash!

Valey had looked away just long enough to miss the mare jumping and apparently falling in the ocean. "Yo, hold up one-"

Before she could even lift a hoof to get over the intact section of railing and attempt a rescue, there was a ripple of bubbles and the unicorn flung herself out of the water like a dolphin, grabbing the ship and using the damaged areas on the hull to haul herself upwards with the speed of a professional athlete. The drenched mare reached the railing and tossed herself over, sending a spray of droplets everywhere before looking at the assembled ponies with a breathless stare.

"I am so sorry," she panted, not even bothering to shake herself off. "That's Ebb, and I'm his sister Flow, and he probably made this real awkward already because we're students, not rescuers, and you're you, haha, so how would we know how to deal with a refugee situation right now and Ebb stop freaking out!" She grabbed the startled pegasus and shook him.

"But I didn't do anything!" Ebb complained, struggling.

Flow dropped him and turned back to the group with an incredibly forced professional smile that utterly failed to contain a mix of shyness, awe, curiosity and embarrassed glee. "Please forget about that, please! We'll be here to help you get rescued or anything else you need! Right!?"

"Bananas, girl," Valey said, her attention having completely skipped Flow's outburst. "You can really climb a boat."

Ebb winced. "I don't think we have any bananas. This was a research trip, and we only brought grub for three nights..."

Valey's brain skipped another notch. "We're trying to reach your school," Shinespark said, taking over for her. "You've had contact with the guards. How are you planning on getting us there, along with our ship?"

Both students glanced at each other, Ebb with a furrowed brow and Flow with a slack jaw. "We... might need to ask the professor on that one," Ebb admitted, ears back. "That griffon ship we ran into didn't give us a whole lot of time to talk, and we guessed at a lot while planning."

"Works for me." Valey shrugged, finally catching up. "Take your time. Now that we're finally getting somewhere, I think we can be a little more patient."