//------------------------------// // Subject 188: Underwater Mission Part IV // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// Just as I expected. It wasn’t very long before they caught up to me. Quick Draw swam up to the surface and approached me. All I could recall was that I hyperventilated at a rapid pace before I heard her voice. “...Guts! Gutters!” the voice was muffled until I turned my head and saw her. My yellow friend put her hoof on my shoulder, “Are you alright? What happened down there?” It took me a while to reply because of how completely frazzled I was. But I slowly worked up the courage to tell her what had happened. “It was...weird. I felt like...I had been poisoned with fears from my past. Thankfully, I’m alright now. I made it out okay.” “So long as you’re sure...did you happen to get an idea of where the source of the magic powering them is located?” she asked. Quick was always laser-focused on the job, so I was glad that I could convince her that I was alright for the time being. Oh yeah! That was what I was down there for in the first place. To figure out the origin. Okay...now where was it? “According to what I found, the magic that powered those mines is coming from a location that I was able to triangulate.” I pointed my hoof towards the east, “A few hundred yards that way. If we head out now, we can--” All the sudden, I saw the royal pair fly up and out of the water in their Hippogriff forms. Terramar specifically was just as cool-looking with wings and feathers. But the dude interrupted me before I could finish my sentence. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lady Gutters. If you’re not feeling well, then I won’t blame you at all for sitting out of a skirmish. Things could only get rougher from here.” Silverstream jumped in. “Listen to him. Trust me. There’s no way in Tartarus’ name that he’s just gonna let somepony who can’t fight force themselves to.” She gave her brother a playful nudge with her claw, “He’s too stubborn and would be guilt-ridden if he let it happen on his watch.” Terramar rolled his eyes. “That isn’t the most accurate representation of my ideals, but you’re close.” He looked at me, “Now isn’t the time to be foolish. Take a break, and allow us to handle this situation. Alright?” I suddenly felt a surge of pain in my chest. It wasn’t guilt or anything like that. But for some reason, the way Terramar spoke reminded me of someone. Someone pretty close to me. Someone I lost my wings to protect. Needless to say, I was physically unable to refuse the guy. He was too nice, and had done a lot for us in the past few hours. “...Understood, Terramar. I need to chill for a bit.” Quick Draw was swift to point out that Vinyl was still on the beach. “Go hang with Vinyl for a bit. We’ll handle...whatever the heck this is.” “Okay,” I replied as I got out of the water as a regular pegasus again, “I’ll be here if you need me.” “You’ve done more than enough, Gutsy,” Silverstream praised me, “None of us could’ve done what you did. Now go get some rest.” She looked at her brother, “Come on, Terry. Let’s handle this.” The white Hippogriff nodded, and sniffed the air. “I can smell it...an abnormal presence among the water. Not too far from here. Come along, now.” The Hippogriff pair flew off, and Quick took one last look at me. “You gonna be alright?” “Yeah. Go ahead,” I flicked my tail to get rid of the excess seawater, “I’ll be here. But how are you gonna keep up with them?” I was curious since Quick couldn’t fly. She shot me a small grin. “Oh...I think I’ll be fine.” Out of nowhere, she jumped out of the water and reverted to her usual earth pony self. But what happened next nearly made me jump out of my skin. Quick started to run across the surface of the water! Without sinking! “I--wh--how?!” There were no words for it, but for the moment, I needed to relax. After what I had endured...that was enough action for me for a bit. “Yo!” I heard a familiar mare’s rowdy voice call out from the shoreline. It was Vinyl who offered me a seat on the beach chair next to her. I trotted over. I guess I had no choice but to relax. So I dashed across the ocean, and--oh. I suppose it was a good idea to explain how it worked. My name was Quick Draw for a reason. I wasn’t exactly the fastest pony in the world. Far from it. But I was agile enough to make use of my earth pony magic in order to manipulate the water so that it’d be solid enough to support my weight for very small instances of contact. In other words, I had mastered it and become the pony-equivalent of a basilisk lizard. But anyhow, I followed the royal siblings until we were a significant distance away from the shoreline. That’s when I heard Terramar shout. “I can smell it. It’s here!” he turned his head to his sister, “Silverstream, go for it!” The pink Hippogriff smirked, and dove under the water… There was a calm silence for a few moments...until… “AH!” Silverstream cried out as she flew back out of the water, “Get back, you guys!” “What? What’s going on under there?!” Terramar came to a dead stop in mid-air. The ocean roared. Howled even. A rumble took place that was so powerful, so forceful that the waves became more and more restless and explosive by the second. I immediately turned tail and fled. “Move it!” And we were lucky beyond belief. Why? Because as soon as we got out of the way, we were face-to-face with one of the largest, deadliest creatures of the Grogar Era. Thousands of dark blue scales encased its tubular body, rows and rows of demonic teeth filled its mouth, and it was complete with a pair of dragon-like horns that capped off its appearance. “OHMIGOSH!” Silverstream screamed, “It’s--” Terramar pulled her out of the way of its dagger-like tail strike. “A Leviathan! Impossible! Those are beyond extinct!” It let out a roar that made the ocean cry out in agony. “EEEEEEEEAAAHH!” This was officially not my day at all.