//------------------------------//
// Chapter the First: Afloat 
// Story: The Bigger Pony 
// by Kiernan 
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Rainbow swam as hard as she could, propelling herself toward the surface. She had to breach. She was running out of breath, and she refused to drown here. Not if she could avoid it. She ripped through the surface, and flew into the air, taking a deep breath as she soared. 

The ship was in two pieces, the many waving tentacles of the kraken splashing wildly. There was no way she was making it home the way she'd come. She'd have to hop one of the lifeboats when they were all free.  She needed to buy some time. She swooped down and grabbed some debris, chucking it at the giant creature that had caused all of this ruckus. "Hey, ugly!" she called, trying to draw its attention. "Come this way, over here! Bet ya can't catch me!"

The kraken turned its attention to Rainbow, giving the sailors more time to launch the lifeboats and row off. The captain had doubled back, having his rower circle the beast while he helped Rainbow to distract it, lobbing whatever flotsam he could grab and shouting for its attention. 

It was the first mate who now led the crew, drawing in the lifeboats by waving flares over his head as he was rowed away. To his credit, most of the lifeboats were following him, as that was the direction that would take them away from the kraken. It was a smart move.

Rarity was one of the last ponies remaining on the ship, making sure that everypony made it to the lifeboats. She had just finished as the forecastle dipped into the black waters below. With a bit of magic, she fired red and green sparks into the air and leaped onto the last boat, rowing after the rest of the escapees.

That was everypony. The captain called out to Rainbow to let her know that the crew was cleared and retreating before he began to retreat himself. 

"I'll keep it busy for a minute more!" called Rainbow after him, dodging a tentacle. "Then I'll fly out of his reach and follow after you!"

As the captain rowed off as quick as he could, trying to reach the front of the lifeboats, Rainbow kept pelting the kraken with little chunks of wooden debris, which kept flying up with every splash. It was almost over. She just had to keep going unti--

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Suddenly, Rarity began flying through the air, her lifeboat hit by one of the kraken's tentacles.

"Rarity!" called Rainbow, dashing toward her, intending to catch her out of the sky. It was going to be close, as Rarity was already at her apex when Rainbow started after her, and she had to dodge the frenzy of tentacles whipping at her. 

All at once, the three of them collided. Rarity, unable to control her spin in the air, landed headfirst on Rainbow's back, putting lateral pressure on her horn, just enough to crack it, but not enough for a hard break. At the same time, the directed pressure of Rarity's body against Rainbow's wing caused a similar crack. Both were made worse by the impact of a tentacle spearing out of the water, smacking them both aside, landing them on a broken-off section of hull. The impact knocked them out, and before they could check to see if they were still being pursued, they were drifting away.





Rarity was the first to awaken the next morning, though it wasn't long before Rainbow perked up, as well. They found themselves on the sandy shore of a small island in the middle of the sea. It was tiny, just big enough to supply a very small ecosystem. If any creatures lived here, they would have to be partially aquatic. There was no way this island could support larger life on its own. On top of that, a brief scan of the horizon told them that there were no islands nearby. They were stranded here.

"Where are we?" asked Rainbow, stretching her left wing. Her right was in pain due to the damage done to it in the fight, and as a result, she was unable to fly. 

"I think this is that one sandbar that grew into an island," Rarity answered. "The waves carrying sand onto the pile of rocks, turning into a bigger and bigger landmass. Kind of the reverse of what's happening to Vanity Harbor. I heard it from the captain." She put her hoof to her chin. "Or perhaps this is one of the ones that formed around an underwater geyser?"

"We'd better hope that this is a geyser one. We can't stay here without fresh water."

"Stay?" scoffed Rarity, "Oh, no, no, no! We can't stay here! We simply must go home! If you wish to come back after we return to Ponyville, I will not stop you, but at this juncture, I believe that what we need is to go home and show Twilight that we are well. She'll be horrified when she finds out that our ship sank!"

"I'm not staying any longer than we have to," grunted Rainbow, "but I figure it'll take a week or so for Twilight to hear about the event and gather the necessary supplies to come out and find us. Or at least a few days before another ship sails by close enough to spot us. Be reasonable; we have to at least survive until help arrives. That means we need fresh water."

"Well, I am quite parched," reasoned Rarity, "And I highly doubt we're going to have a big crate of bottled mountain spring water wash up unexpectedly. I suppose we'd best have a look around."

With moderately stiff joints, no doubt made worse by the salty breeze, the two of them trotted inland. The island had seemed small from the beach, but unable to fly up and scout, Rainbow couldn't be sure. She was sure that the island wasn't particularly tall, with the highest point visible from the beach being about fifteen metres, and that was one of the palm trees. Even though that was short for a palm tree, it did give her some hope. After all, if there was plant life, there was certainly a good chance that there was fresh water. If it was all saltwater, the plants would not be so dense.