-TERRARIA, UNKNOWN CAVERN-
A blue portal with grains of sand acting as its outer ring was currently positioned within a cavern. In addition, there was a large pool of water in its epicenter with a depth that was reminiscent of a dark abyss.
Standing before the portal was the very same group from Anubis’s throne room. In addition, Tanner The Guide was currently rubbing the back of his head as he comments:
“He didn’t have to throw me in there…”
“Join the club…” Jeremy The Angler responds.
“Where da’ hay are we?” Applejack inquires which causes Echo Silhouette to respond:
“See that pool in the middle of the room? It serves as the entrance to The Sunken Sea. I personally have the means to breath underwater, but did the rest of you-”
“I can handle that,” King Amidias interjects as The Sea King then starts to perform a spell by clasping his hands together all while a green/blue aura surrounds his body. He then shoots out both of his arms which causes a pulse of energy, along with droplets of water, to engulf the entire cavern. Everyone present, aside from Echo, King Admidias and his guardsmen, were now surrounded by this aura as it then seeps into their bodies.
With a confused expression, Terralestia comments:
“I… I feel different? It’s hard to explain, but, what exactly did you do, your majesty?”
“I have given you all my blessing. It will allow you to breath underwater and you’ll be able to traverse The Sunken Sea without issue. In addition, I have taken into account the darkness of those depths so your eyes have also been, let’s just say, adjusted.”
“Mighty kind of ya, yer’ majesty!” Applejack exclaims thankfully as she then comes to a realization. “Oh, one moment everybody. Lemme just take mah’ hat off and send it to mah’ inventory.” Performing the action, the cowmare takes off her apparel as she then sends it away by placing it into a small vortex that was currently formed before her. The anomaly dissipates as she then swings her mane from left to right. However, unbeknownst to the cowmare, Rainbow Dash’s cheeks were reddened as she watched
the cowmare’s mane sway to and fro. The cyan pegasus became absolutely entranced as she says internally:
-Awesome~-
Echo Silhouette, taking notice of the love energy that was currently emanating from the pegasus, walks over to the pegasus as he then leans into her and says with a hushed tone:
“Hmmm, judging by your love energy and your heat signature, you wish to mate with that mare.”
Upon hearing those words, Rainbow Dash instantly snaps out of her trance as the redness that was once etched onto her cheeks was now covering her entire face as she replies with a small growl:
“Keep your voice down and stop doing that thing you changelings do. Besides, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Right… you do realize that you just admitted it, and then tried to deny it, right?”
Rainbow Dash started to fidget nervously as the pegasus knew that she couldn’t hide this from a changeling. Despite being a humanoid version of the ones she was all too familiar with, Echo’s kind still worked fundamentally the same. The cyan pegasus then sighs and replies:
“Ok, fine… you were right. Look, just do me a favor and don’t say anything to her, ok? I want to do this right, not just spring it on her out of nowhere.” Echo simply nods in understanding before he says:
“I can do that. However, take it from someone who literally lives off of love and has been alive for over two thousand years as an immortal... you’re going about it the wrong way.”
“Wait, what do you mean by that?”
“I’ll just say that you shouldn’t wait before it gets too late, and leave it at that.” The humanoid changeling comments as he then walks away and goes to join everyone else at the pool; leaving behind a conflicted pegasus who sighs softly, lowers her head to the floor of the cavern, and says:
“I’m so lame… I don’t even have the guts to tell her straight to her face.”
Some time passes by as the group prepares for their spelunking. Various individuals of Amidias’s guards were checking their equipment all while Terralestia, Sai Sahan, Echo, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Tanner The Guide and Jeremy The Angler did the same.
The King Of The Sea suddenly stands proudly before the group as he declares:
“Attention, my dear friends and allies!” This causes everyone to turn and focus their gaze upon Amidias. “We are so close to our objective and The Sunken Sea awaits us! However, I surely don’t need to tell you about the dangers that we are inevitably destined to face. Creatures that even I have no knowledge of could be lurking within these waters. Despite that, I am confident that so long as we remain united as one and watch each other’s backs, we will prevail over any sunken foe that stands in our way!”
“Raaaawwr!”
“For The Sea King!”
“For the glory of Atlantis!”
“Princess Skystar shall be saved!”
Amidias’s men roars out while the rest of the group takes on determined expressions and gives celebretal exclamations of their own.
“Let’s move out!” King Amidias declares as he and a duo of his men are the first to leap into the waters of the entrance to The Sunken Sea. More and more of his men followed suit as even Terralestia and Sai Sahan were among them. Tanner The Guide turns towards The Angler, in addition to the two ponies and Echo, as he says:
“No time for hold ups! Here we go!” The ‘terrarian’ then dives enthusiastically into the pool, followed closely by Echo. All that remained in the cavern was two ponies, one of whom was about to hop in next, before they were stopped by the cyan wing of the other.
“Wait, A.J.” Rainbow Dash comments with her left wing places onto the cowmare’s back. “There’s, uh, s-something I have to tell you.”
“What is it, Rainbow?” Applejack inquires with a raised brow.
Rainbow Dash oh so desperately wanted to take Echo’s advice; to just come out and say the words that represented the feelings she had deep inside. Alas, this sadly would never come to pass as the pegasus hesitates and says:
“I just, uh, wanted to say that… I’ve got your back!”
Applejack chuckles in response and replies:
“Ah know you do, sugarcube. That’s why ah’ know that mah’ back will never be taken by some no good critter. Now come on, let’s go catch up with the others.” The cowmare nods contently before she then runs full speed towards the pool, hops high into the air, and shouts: “Yeehaw!”
A loud splash emanates from the cowmare’s actions as Rainbow Dash says one final thing before she in turn hops into the aquatic abyss and joins the rest of the group:
“Smooth, Dash… real smooth.”
-TERRARIA, HOME TOWN-
Within Helena The Nurse’s nursery were two individuals. One, a yellow and conscious pegasus while the other was a certain bandit terrarian, who still remained unconscious. They were both currently positioned on two separate beds as the yellow pegasus looks at her left forehoof and comments:
“W-why do I feel so… broken? I seem to be ok, physically… b-but inside my soul, I feel like pieces of myself are gone,” Fluttershy then covers her face with her forehooves and with tears forming in her eyes, she continues: “I-I’m so sorry, I’ve failed you… Crimulan… Ebonian…”
“You didn’t fail them,” A new and familiar voice injected which causes the shy pegasus to shoot her gaze towards a certain werefox, who was currently standing by the entrance to the nursery. “Based on what the others told me, The Slime Gods wanted to do it. You are not to blame for what happened at The Dungeon.”
“Ritsu,” Fluttershy responds as she then wipes her tears before she continues: “A-are you here to check on me?” The werefox nods happily in response. “Thank you, I really appreciate it,” Fluttershy then takes on a saddened expression. “But you’re wrong… I did fail them-”
“Fluttershy, stop it,” Ritsu interjects sternly as she starts to approach the bed of which the pegasus was laid upon. “I’ll repeat myself a hundred times if I have to, just to get you to understand this: It. Wasn’t. Your. Fault.”
“It was though! If I wasn’t so weak, then they would never have to do that!”
“Fluttershy, you’re thinking all about this the wrong way.”
“Am I?!” The pegasus roars out as a red and purple aura momentarily flashes and consumes her body before it then dissipates. “No! It’s the truth, Ritsu. They never would’ve had to sacrifice themselves if I had just been able to-”
“What could you have done Fluttershy, huh?” Ritsu responds with a stern tone as she was now positioned alongside Fluttershy, just to the side of the bed. “Please, enlighten me with this master plan of yours, that you feel makes you responsible for what happened. Besides, we don’t even know If they’re dead. They are keeping Greed sealed up within The Dungeon, no one said anything about them dying. There’s a difference, Fluttershy.”
“B-but, I could’ve-”
“Fluttershy,” Ritsu interjects. “You love animals just as much as I do, right?”
“Wait, what does that-”
“Answer the question. I’m sorry for cutting you off, but I need to be rough with you.”
The shy pegasus’s ears noticeably flattened against their head in response before she says:
“Yes, of course I do. But, um, what does that have to do with this?”
Ritsu then grabs the shy mare’s hoof as she comments:
“What happened in The Dungeon is comparable to any animal, a mother, who does everything within her power in order to ensure that her young will survive. No, that doesn't include the creatures who eat their own young when in the face of danger. What The Slime Gods did for you is the exact same thing, not the eating their own children part, but the first one,” Fluttershy’s features starts to lift upon hearing those words, which prompts Ritsu to continue: “It’s not about being strong enough. In fact, there will always be a bigger dog out there, metaphorically speaking. We will encounter powerful foes on our journey and we will have to resort to drastic measures in order to ensure that our friends and loved ones will survive. Sometimes, that’s just the way life is,” Ritsu then lifts herself up and joins Fluttershy on the bed as she caresses the pegasus’s mane with her right hand and continues:
“I would’ve done the same thing for you,” This causes Fluttershy’s gaze to shoot towards Ritsu with widened eyes and an expression of realization. “So would Twilight. And Rarity. And Applejack,” Ritsu then smirks as she notices the shy pegasus was starting to truly comprehend her words. “Now, do you see where I’m going with this?”
Fluttershy was momentarily stunned as she truly thought about the werefox’s words. Slowly coming to the realization, the pegasus thought back to how she and her friends practically threw themselves at Razeem, The Moon Lord, in an effort to protect their homeworld; along with everyone they loved.
“I… I,” The pegasus says as she stutters her words, but the expression of realization is starting to take over as she then recalls the actions of Princess Pinkie. In an effort to save Fluttershy’s life, The Slime Princess begged the slime deities to save her friend, thus turning the shy mare into an immortal in the process. This in turn also allowed Fluttershy to do everything in her power to save her friends and allies.
With a satisfied smirk and a raised brow, Ritsu chuckles before she comments:
“You’re starting to get the jist of it now, eh?”
“Th… They did it to… save me.”
“Finally!” Ritsu exclaims as she boops Fluttershy’s nose with her right index finger; causing the pony to scrunch in response. “Duh! You silly mare. They wanted to protect you and your friends because they love you. For what greater sacrifice is there than to do it for the ones you love? Just like I’m sure that you would do the same for any of us. Now let me ask you, Fluttershy. Would you want for us to feel like it’s our fault that you sacrificed yourself to save us by your own will?”
The pegasus’s features instantly morphed into worry as she replies:
“No, of course not. I would want you all to live your lives and go on… just like… Crimulan and Ebonian did for me, for all of us,” Fluttershy’s realization finally dawns on her as the pegasus’s widened eyes start to shrink before she continues: “Oh, oh my gosh, you were right, Ritsu. I was looking at this the wrong way. I thought that they, well, did what they did because of me, but now I realize that they did it for me.”
“There’s a good pony. Now, tell me with your own words and prove to me with your own actions, what you’re going to do next.”
The shy pegasus’s face then shifts into determination as she gently pulls away from Ritsu and comments:
“First thing’s first, I’m getting out of this bed,” True to her words, fluttershy lifts herself up and stands on top of the bed on all four hooves before she then hops off and lands onto the nurseries’ floor, which results in the sounds of clopping hooves. She then turns towards Ritsu, who in turn was still positioned by the bed, and states: “I’m going to get stronger so that I can one day go back there and free them. I’ll improve on my strength as both a summoner and a ranged fighter.”
“That’s what I like to hear. And I know just where we can go to improve your abilities. Once everyone returns from their objectives, we should all go there.”
Perking up both of her ears and with a slightly confused face, the yellow pegasus inquires:
“Oh, um, where are we going?”
“To Camelot, the capital of Terraria.”