Okay, so Guttersnipe’s plan was set in stone. Thanks to one of Terramar’s relatives, Gutsy would be able to hack into the naval mines so that we could figure out the source. I guess they didn’t really have an expert on magical technology down here. Which made sense. Water and electricity usually tended to not mix very well unless fortified by high concentrations of magic. Like Guts’ wings.
So as a result, they needed our help. Who were we to turn a blind eye, right? I just hoped that Guts would be able to figure it out. And just who was going to help us, I wonder…
“Nghh...argh…” I felt a sudden pain rise in my chest again. This stupid curse slowly ruined me from the inside. But I was resilient. I wasn’t going to succumb to something so simplistic. Not yet. Pale would curse me out from the mortal plane if I did…
“Are you alright, Madam Draw?” Terramar asked me in that wonderfully compassionate tone of voice, and swam to where I was.
I had been floating near one of the windows near the edge of the palace that allowed me to get a good view of the swarm of spiky bombs in the distance. “Oh yeah, I just…” To be quite honest, I hesitated because I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. Would he even understand?
“If there’s something on your mind, then please don’t dawdle about it. I can’t help with everything, but if I know something, then I can do my best,” he said to comfort me.
I guess there was no harm in it. After all, this was something important. So I gave him the basic rundown of my situation. Who I was, what had happened, and how I felt at that moment.
“...and it’s because of this curse that I feel this way. I think it has roots in Zebra voodoo. Twilight was able to rescue me from it, but I’m not exactly cured from it just yet. Something about the castor being the only one able to undo it…”
“Ah yes…” he put his hoof against his chin, “Twilight--it’s been a while since we’ve last met. I do recall the fact that she has quite the authority on magic as a concept.” He gave me a concerned, yet confident look, “But don’t assume that her word is absolute. No offense to her--but there could be loads of things developing right beneath her nose that she isn’t aware of. Think about it, lady Draw. Think about how...infinite and vast the spectrum of magic can be. And how many new forms and variants of magic are created with each passing second. Do you think she could realistically keep up with every new possible formation of magic?”
Huh. Well when he put it like that, I couldn’t exactly refute him. After all, there was no real way to keep track of every possible new piece of magic or tech that was formed without some sort of documentation. And without that documentation, not even Twilight could keep track of it all. So even though she knew most things about magic...there was no way she could know everything.
So maybe...was there a way I could rid myself of this curse on my own?
At any rate, I had to thank Terramar for his words. “I see...that makes sense, sir. Thank you.”
“Just Terramar is fine. Now come along. My special guest who’s going to help us with the explosives has arrived,” he turned to swim into the hallway of the palace and towards the main foyer.
With nothing left to do here, I took after him. By the time I got downstairs, I felt a bit silly for not having guessed it sooner.
“...Of course,” I mumbled under my breath, “I should’ve known it’d be Silverstream.”
The siblings greeted each other with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.
“Sis! It’s great to see you!” Terramar shouted as he put a hoof around the pink seapony’s neck.
“Oof!” she was caught a bit off-guard by the hug, but slowly accepted it. She was only a little bit shorter than he was, but it was easy to see she was a bit delicate by the way she recoiled from the hug. “Heh...I keep forgetting the fact that you’re bigger than me, bro. And it’s great to see you too. Though I have to be honest--I’m not really used to my Seapony form. It’s...been a while since I’ve swimmed for a long period of time.”
Terrmar’s voice returned to its usual commanding tone. “Well then get ready. Because we’re going to need your help.”
“Let me guess...the aquatic minefield near the edge of your territory?” she asked with a knowledgeable tone, “Yeah that sounds right. From what I gather, you want me to use my defensive magic in order to keep somepony safe as they go out there and disarm them, right? Thank heavens for that. I don’t know the first thing about nukes.”
Oh? Did they really have their own kinds of magic beyond the Hippogriff/Seapony transformation? I needed to know more. For research. And mainly because I know Pale would ask.
“Wait a second, what?” I interjected, “You have magic? If so, what kind?” Then I realized that my cut-in was rather callous so I took a step--er, floated back and properly introduced myself. “Ahem...apologies. My name is Quick Draw. And I’m one of the two ponies that have been assigned to this operation alongside my friend Guttersnipe Poinsettia.”
“Oh that’s you? Now isn’t that cool!” she floated toward me, and suddenly grabbed my hoof to shake it with her own, “Nice to meet you, Quick. I’m Silverstream, but you probably already figured that out. And to answer your question, yes. We do have magic. Albeit inherited from our parents, they’re still our powers all the same.”
“Indeed,” Terramar added, “For example. I took after mother and inherited her weapon--an ancestral sword that’s been passed down through the family for generations.”
Ooooh. As I previously stated, I was hyped to get to see it. Then I looked at Silverstream. “I see. And you, Stream?”
“I’ve inherited our dad’s...well, you’ll see if I need to use it,” she shot me a wink as if to tease the idea of unleashing her power.
Dammit, both of the siblings were cryptic and it annoyed me.
That’s when Guttersnipe popped into the room with a welding mask on her face. “Ready to roll.”
Mission is a go.