Spike and Swift decided to begin their search for titanium inside of the nearby Kelp Forest. It seemed like the logical option because if the resident fish chewed on metal, it would make sense that they would store some of that very metal in and around their territory. It had a bit of risk, with these fish being very territorial, but the potential reward was greater than the danger. That is, of course, if they actually did store metal in their territory. This plan was mostly speculation and not based on real facts, but that's all they had to work with right now.
Spike started the Seamoth while Swift started the Seaglide, and soon enough they were at the Kelp Forest. They parked their vehicles outside of the forest so they didn't have to worry about getting stuck in the kelp and letting the resident fish take a few bites out of their vehicles. When they swam in and started exploring, they noticed just how dense some areas could be, even blocking out the sun with how close together some of the kelp was. While it wasn't an issue for Spike because he could move the kelp and keep swimming, it was a problem for Swift because he could only do one or the other.
They decided that they could save time if Swift kept a lookout for fish while Spike dove down and collected metal scrap. While Spike was scanning the sea floor, he noticed what looked like a couple of big, sharp teeth sitting next to a small pile of salvage near a small cave entrance. He quickly scanned a tooth and promised himself he would read the entry when he got back to the base, but in the meantime he was going to take the salvage and teeth back to the Seamoth. As he picked up the salvage and teeth, a huge cloud of sand was produced, leaving Spike almost completely blind. Spike began swimming upwards to get out of the cloud so he could get to the Seamoth to drop off the stuff when he heard Swift shout, "Behind you!" through the radio.
Spike quickly turned around with a decently sized piece of salvage in his hands and thrust the metal forward, eyes shut tight. What Spike didn't realize was that it wasn't a metal eating fish chasing after him, but rather a small red, ball shaped fish. When Spike thrust the metal at the fish, it launched the fish backwards and caused it to explode far enough from Spike that he only heard the boom from it's explosion. When Spike heard said explosion, he opened his eyes in surprise and saw a large amount of bubbles slow rising to the surface. He sighed in relief, knowing how painful that would have been.
"... Well then. I think I just started playing tennis with an explosive fish, but thanks for the warning." Spike jokes, but slightly shaken. He was a little concerned about how the fish exploded when he hit it, but remembered that that particular fish would explode while attacking other creatures, though they only seemed to target him, which seemed a little rude.
Swift barked out a laugh. "It's only tennis if somepony can serve it back, and besides, if I didn't call out a fish chasing after you, I would be pretty bad at the only job I've got." They then began to load what salvage Spike had found so far into the Seamoth so Spike could search for more without having to carry it. Over the course of the next two hours, Swift and Spike only had one encounter with a metal eating fish, which was resolved by giving the metal, but they had found plenty of other chunks of salvage. Soon enough, they were on their way back to the base so Speedy could modify the Seamoth.
After returning to the base, Swift and Spike brought the salvage inside to start deconstructing it into raw titanium so they could further craft it into bars. Speedy happened to trot into the room just as Spike finished making the bars. "Great!" Speedy said, "Now I can get to work on that armor plating." Speedy took the bars and exited the base to get straight to work on the extra armor plates. Spike and Swift stopped to get some lunch, then went back out to look for some kelp and lead. They decided to split up this time, thinking it would be smarter to have Swift look for lead and Spike collect the kelp.
As Spike began to approach the Kelp Forest, he decided to get kelp from the edges of the forest instead of risking going inside. He pulled out his knife, wary of cutting his suit, and held it against the stem of the kelp, ready to get the job done quickly. He suddenly cut the stem as he flinched at the sound of an unusually loud roar, this one unlike any of the others he had heard so far. Spike froze, terrified of the sound, yet curious of what kind of a creature could make such a loud noise. Spike then grabbed the kelp and started swimming back to the base, curious if anypony else had heard it. As he began to get closer to the base, he noticed that the Seamoth was floating barely above the seafloor with a few large, black, partially welded plates of metal on and around it. Once he climbed inside the base, he saw everyone else gathered on the beds, with Speedy and Fluttershy looking at Swift with concern.
After they had departed, Swift had even less of a distance to travel than Spike, so he reached the Sandy Plateau before Spike was even out of sight. He knew from Spike that sandstone deposits would form on the sides of the pillars. He found a couple of deposits soon enough, but only one of them contained lead, so he had to keep searching. While searching, he heard a faint roar that chilled him to the bone. He was familiar with the roar, but was unsure what it was doing anywhere in hearing range. With a bit of worry, he started to search faster, scared that the creature the roar had come from would find him. After his first, and hopefully last, encounter with that beast, he knew no creature would want to come face to face with one.
He got a bit luckier later on his search and was able to find the rest of the lead he needed. He then began heading back to the base quickly as he could so he could warn Speedy and the others that one of those beasts were nearby. He made it back to the base before Spike did and immediately after he arrived, he forced Speedy into the base. "What is going on?" Speedy asked while Swift was retrieving Fluttershy.
"Hold on. We're gonna wait for Spike to get back before I explain." Swift then had Fluttershy sit on her bed while Speedy and himself got situated on Spike's bed. A minute or so after they all got situated, Spike climbed back into the base, a look of confusion on his face. "Good, you're back. Come sit down." Swift motioned for Spike to sit on the other bed with Fluttershy. Spike sat down ready to ask a couple of questions, but as he opened his mouth, Swift cut him off. "Now I'm sure you're all confused about this, but the most important thing is that we stay calm."
Speedy turned to her brother and cut in. "Okay, would you just tell us why we are all here? I kind of need to get back to adding the plates onto the Seamoth." Swift looked at her with fear clearly visible in his eyes. Speedy seemed confused about what could be scaring him so badly, but she seemed to understand why he was scared after a moment. "Wait, it didn't… follow us, did it?" Swift was about to answer, but then Spike cut in.
"Ok, something is bothering you two, but what is it? What is this it you're referring to? Why should we be concerned about it following you? You tell us to stay calm, but I'm more worried because you're avoiding telling us what is scaring you." Spike ended his little rant with a little frustration in his voice, but soon calmed himself down. Everyone seemed a little bit taken aback by Spikes outburst, but Swift quickly snapped out of his stupor so he could answer Spike.
"Okay, so there's this beast of a fish out there and this thing is easily twice as long as our base with both rooms. I've seen this thing tear apart one of those floating reef fish things like the fish was a cracker. It has these four large hooked mandibles on its face that it uses to latch onto prey with, not too different from how an ant uses their mandibles. It has a huge mouth full of teeth that are sharper than your claws. It has four large black eyes that are like soulless orbs. The most terrifying part of it is the enormously large roar it gives off when hunting. I heard it while looking for lead and decided against staying out much longer. The last thing we need is for that beast to make one of us it's next meal."
Spike seemed to pale more and more with each passing detail while Fluttershy had already passed out after the connection was made between ant mandibles and its mandibles. Swift and Speedy were obviously scared of this thing, and Spike was too, but Fluttershy was obviously downright terrified of it. With this a crude depiction of the creature burned into his head, Spike knew he would be paranoid anytime he even left the base now.
"Um, okay then. Well, now that we know this, um, thing is and what it looks like, we can be more careful while exploring. Do you know anything else about this creature? Areas it frequents for food? Preferred food? Any possible predators?" At the last one Swift Sweep barked out a laugh.
"Ha, like anything could eat one of those. That beast was almost as big as the ones in that dragon migration from last year." At the comparison to a creature he had seen before, Spike knew that this creature meant business and would probably be able to eat them in one bite. Still, he knew that if they lived in fear of this thing, they would never get back home.
"Well regardless of how mean this thing is, we still need to complete our mission. Get to the ship, repair the long range comms, get back here, and wait for help to arrive." Spike only wished he was as confident as he had hoped he sounded saying that. They all heard a light groan coming from next to Spike and looked over to see Fluttershy starting to wake up. Spike moved to comfort and help her as she started to sit up.
"W-what happened? Oh dear, I didn't fall asleep while you were talking, did I? Oh I'm so sorry." Fluttershy was stammering out until Spike stopped her. He explained how she had passed out after Swift described how terrible the creature was and that they kept talking about what they had to do. "Well, um, I agree with Spike. We do need to fix the long range communications, if that's okay with you."
"Ok, well now that we know a little bit more about what's out there, how about we go and finish getting ready? The sooner we leave, the better." Everypony agreed with Spike, so they all went their separate ways. Speedy went back out to finish the modifications to the Seamoth, Fluttershy went back to preparing rations of food for everypony and Spike started making the other two radiation suits with some help from Swift.
Not long after they parted, Fluttershy went outside to help with the Seamoth because she had nothing else to do. As she got out, she looked over and saw Speedy struggling to hold one of the plates in place as she tried to weld it. Fluttershy swam over and pushed the plate over the spot Speedy was trying to push it to, surprising Speedy in the process. "Weren't you making the rations?"
"Oh, I finished that already. I thought I could help you, but if you don't want me to, I'll go." Speedy shook her head and thanked Fluttershy for the help. They continued welding the plates into place and making small talk, like what their lives were like back in Equestria.
Turns out that Speedy and Swift were from Manehattan and grew up helping out the family restaurant. Swift would usually handle the cleaning of the floors, such as sweeping, mopping, and getting scuffs out. Speedy had always had an easy time understanding how to fix something, so she would help fix the blender, sinks, and oven. Of course, she only fixed these with one of her parents present.
Soon enough, they were finished welding the plates on the Seamoth. They swam back a little to admire their work, noticing it still looked a little crude, but it was the best they could do with limited tools and supplies. They swam back inside and saw that Spike and Swift were sitting on the beds, with all of the rad suits folded next to them. "Okay," Spike said, "If you're done with modifying the Seamoth, I think we should head out and explore the Aurora.