I had to get over there as fast as possible. I flew with reckless abandon over the ocean with the silhouette of the serpent growing ever-larger toward me. Was I afraid? Most definitely. My past had come back to haunt me full force over something I did to save my friends long ago.
But I...I wasn’t going to let that hold me back. No one was going to suffer any fatal injuries today. I swore it on...well, you know.
It took a while, but I was finally on the scene. The royal siblings were flying around and attacking the giant water snake. But Quick...wait, where was she?!
“Guttersnipe? What are you doing here?!” Silverstream called out to me, “I thought you were busy resting up!”
CLANG!
That was the sound of Terramar blocking the serpent’s jaws with his sword. I was amazed at the fact that he was able to struggle against a monster that was easily one-hundred times his size!
“Quick Draw has fallen into the ocean, rggh…” he muttered in between his grunts of force, “Are you alright? You’re not unfit for the battlefield, are you?”
“Well...I was but...then I realized--” I was about to go on about how I felt at that moment, but all of the sudden, the Serpent’s tail snapped at me! “ACK!” I zipped to the left to avoid it just in time. There was absolutely no time left to worry about that. I needed to go save her. “Gah! Forget it! Just keep that thing distracted while I save Quick!”
Before Silverstream could respond, I dove into the water. The Seapony spell from before was no longer active, so I had to make haste as I swam through the water with my breath held.
But I had to be honest, I was terrified. Terrified of the potential worst-case scenario involving Quick’s body. She could drown, be eaten by a--no...don’t go there, Gutsy. It’s just some underwater depths. Nothing bad will happen, right?
Well, I was in luck. I didn’t have to search that far or for that long before I came across air bubbles that floated up to the surface. That meant that Quick hadn’t fallen very deep yet and that there was still a good chance for me to save her.
Unfortunately for me...things got worse. Why? Well, the closer and closer I got...the more I heard rapid biting noises.
“!”
I started to panic. I was instantly reminded of those demonic bite-acudas that tore my wings off when I was younger. It was an eerily similar scenario as well, what with the fact that I was trying to save a friend.
...Needless to say. I was hesitant. Do I risk it? Did I want to risk it? Was it something I--gah! Stop that! You idiot you...your friend is drowning!
I stowed my fears and dove in. There was a bunch of wreckage with wooden slabs all over the place. It was like a ship had been wrecked here in the past or something. But I was able to move the wood out of the way fairly easily. And there I found her.
Quick Draw lied on the floor of the ocean. Unconscious and still breathing, but very slowly. But there was something wrong. Those noises...those damn biting sounds. My tail flicked, and I could feel my internal anxiety brew faster than I could keep track of. I just wanted to let out a scream and run away as fast as possible, but I knew I couldn’t.
My hooves shook as I neared Quick’s body. Is this what they called having a panic attack? If so...I certainly felt it. My eardrums rang with soft white noise that muddled my sense of hearing. It was like constantly radio static that filled my head as I got closer. My heart raced, ready to jump through my chest…
But I got her.
I...I did it. Somehow. I managed to grab ahold of Quick’s body and pulled her with me up to the surface. Wow it...it looked like I would be okay, right? Everything seemed just fine, and I was on my way up.
“Gah!” I shouted as I reached the surface, and flew into the air. “WOAH--!” I just barely managed to dodge a swipe of the leviathan’s tail, and Silverstream nearly lost her mind when she saw us again.
“Guts! Are you alright?” she shouted as she flew over to me, “Is Quick alright?!”
“Yeah…” I looked at the unconscious mare upon my back, “But she needs immediate medical attention! And I feel like there’s more at stake here than we realize…” I looked back down at the ocean water. There was nothing there that was after me. Was it all just a hallucination that was specifically crafted to make me freak out? If so...that’s utterly sick of someone to do. But at the same time, I couldn’t deny how effective it was. I nearly lost my mind down there.
That’s when Terramar popped up, having dodged another attack from the giant sea snake. “I’ve dabbled in medicinal magic before. I could take care of her. But will you two be able to handle this thing?” His sword had disappeared into a flash of light.
“...I know we can,” I said in response.
There wasn’t much of a choice to be had here. Quick would go nuts on all of us if she knew that she caused an impediment towards an operation via incapacitation. So we made the hand-off as quickly as possible. I offered Quick’s body to him, and he took hold of her with his claws.
“Do what you can, bro,” Silverstream assured, “We’ll take care of this…”
Without hesitation, Terramar fled the battlefield with my friend in his care.
Now it was personal.