Hi, everypony, and welcome to another episode of Twilight Tries!
In today’s episode, I’m going to try and conquer another one of the biggest fears that I’ve had since fillyhood. And just what is this fear that I’m going to attempt to conquer, you may ask? Well, the answer to that question is…s-shark cage diving!
*GULP*
Sorry if I seem a tad nervous, everypony. But like I said, this is something of a fear of mine that I’ve had since I was a filly. And despite my willingness to finally try and face that fear I’m still feeling a little uneasy about doing this episode.
Though I promise you, no matter how much I may have second, third, or even fourth thoughts about trying shark cage diving I will see it through to completion today!
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W-What are you talking about, Spike? I didn’t say that last Thursday when we were here at the marina.
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Well, y-yes, I know we did some recording that day, but it wasn’t because that was when I’d originally intended to film this episode. All that recording was solely for, um…scouting purposes! Yeah! I was just, you know, doing all of that to make sure that this particular marina would be a suitable location for the episode.
Heh heh.
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Okay, well, all of that is irrelevant anyways, Spike. We’re here at the marina and I’m doing this, that’s all that matters. Now can you please finish unloading the equipment so we can get started soon?
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Thank you.
So anywhoo, everypony, at this point you may be wondering why it is that I’ve had a fear of shark cage diving since I was a filly. Well, funny thing, the reason for that is the same reason why I became afraid of quesadillas; because of a movie that I watched with my big brother.
Yep, really.
For those of you who might not have seen the episode of this vlog where I watched horror movies, allow me to explain. See, my somewhat infamous fear of quesadillas came as a result of watching a horror movie called Attack of the Killer Quesadillas with my brother Shining Armor when I was very young. It was a pretty low-budget and overall bad movie that Shining found more funny than scary, but being the young and impressionable filly that I was back then I found it to be more scary than funny. Far more scary than funny. So much so that I was afraid to even think about quesadillas until I finally decided to face my fear of them here on Twilight Tries.
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Yes I know I’m still not completely over my fear of quesadillas, Spike. But conquering fears is a marathon, not a sprint. And at least now I can be in the same room with a quesadilla without freaking out.
Provided that the quesadilla and I aren’t together in said room for more than five minutes.
But getting back on track, when I was a filly Shining Armor also let me watch the famous shark movie Maws with him, and it was thanks to that movie that I developed a fear of shark cage diving. Though oddly enough, it's kind of more the cage diving part than the shark part that frightens me the most.
Go figure.
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For the last time, Spike, this fear has nothing to do with claustrophobia.
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Because I’m not claustrophobic! If I were, I would have freaked out that time when Pinkie shoved us both into a closet on Pie Farms to hide us from her sister after you touched Holder’s Boulder.
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Spike, you were the one hyperventilating in there, remember? You said you were afraid of, and I quote, ‘Limestone’s iron hooves of doom’.
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*SIGH*
Look, it doesn’t matter. We’re getting off-topic again, so let’s just agree that claustrophobia isn’t the problem here and move on, alright?
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Thank you.
Now then, everypony, if you’ll follow me over to the boat real quick I’ll show you all of the equipment we’ll be utilizing for this episode – and of course the boat itself.
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Yep, looks like everything is on-board: wetsuit, mask, oxygen tank, booties, weight belt, towels, and of course, the c-cage.
It, uh…sure looks small up close.
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N-Nothing, Spike. Let’s just get aboard and get out to sea so we can get this episode underway.
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Okay, the propeller is trimmed down, the boat’s in neutral, and we have our lifejackets on. Let’s set sail!
So to speak.
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Oh, I almost forgot. I wanted to play this once we started heading out to sea.
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Oh come on, Spike. Doesn’t hearing this just fill you with a sense of nautical adventure? Like there’s nothing more exciting than sailing out to explore the sea?
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Well I like it, so it’s staying on until we get far enough out to sea.
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Da-da-daaa…da-dadadada ~.
Alright, I think we’re far enough out now. Let’s drop the anchor, Spike. And can you get the cage assembled while I get all of my gear on?
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Thanks.
One moment, everypony, while I get suited up.
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Oof.
Darn slippery wetsuit.
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Okay, almost done. I just need to cast a quick spell on my oxygen mask so that you all can still make out what I’m saying after I put it on.
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Let’s see if it worked.
Hey, Spike, can you still understand me clearly through the mask?
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Great!
And great job getting the cage assembled. Now help me get it into the water.
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*SPLASH*
O-Okay, this is happening. This is really happening.
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Yeah, I’m okay, Spike. I can do this.
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You’re probably right, I doubt I’ll even see a shark while I’m down there. And even if I do, I doubt it’ll be one of the more aggressive species like the bull or great white.
Now remember, you bring me up when I pull on the rope three times or after ten minutes, whichever comes first. I know this tank is capable of supplying me with enough oxygen for about 60 minutes but I really don’t want to be underwater that long.
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Alright, here we go.
Be strong, Twilight. Be strong.
*SPLASH*
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Okay, I’m underwater…and in the cage. I’m officially shark cage diving.
*HEAVY BREATHING*
Keep calm, Twilight. You don’t want to use up all of your oxygen too quickly by letting your nerves get the better of you.
*DEEP BREATH*
Okay, why don’t we take a look around us and see if there are any s-sharks nearby?
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Ooh, look at that school of neon damsel that just swam by! Oh, and over there are some mono argentis!
I don’t think I’ve seen any mono argentis outside of the aquarium at my dentist’s office before.
Let’s see what things look like behind us.
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Whoa! Are you all seeing the coral reef down there?! It’s so…magnificent!
And look at all the sea creatures swimming around the coral. There’s a few yellow tang, some clown fish, and I think I even see a sea turtle off in the distance.
This is all just…wow.
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You know, this really isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I have to admit, I might have been feeling a teeny tiny bit claustrophobic when I first jumped into the cage, but once I took a deep breath and calmed myself I started to feel okay. And once I started to take in all of the beautiful ocean life around me I started to feel, well…better than okay. In fact, I’d say I feel pretty good right now – and a little silly too to be honest.
*SIGH*
I just can’t believe that I let my imagination get the better of me all because of a movie…again. I mean, you’d think that after I semi-conquered my fear of quesadillas that I’d have figured out that my fear of shark cage diving – which shared the exact same root cause – was utterly unfounded, but nope. Instead, I let myself continue to believe that if I ever got into a cage that was underwater I’d inevitably be attacked by a - WAH!
SHARK! SHARK!
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O-Oh. It just…swam right by us…like we weren’t even here.
I think that might have been a leopard shark.
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Yep, I definitely let my imagination get the better of me on this one.
Well then, everypony, since we’ve seen a shark I guess we can call it a day. Now just let me pull on the rope three times so that Spike can –
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C-C-Cragadile. A great b-big cragadile just swam right p-past us and then ate the l-leopard shark.
Pull, pull, pull!
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Hurry up, Spike.
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*GASP*
On my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. Did you see that huge cragadile, Spike?!
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Scared? I’m not scared, I’m excited! I mean, have you ever heard of a saltwater cragadile swimming this far out into the open ocean before?!
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Me neither! Everything I’ve ever read about them has said that they primarily reside in either brackish wetlands or freshwater rivers, and that when they do venture out into the ocean they stay close to shore. But we just captured one on camera swimming around in the open sea!
This…this is unbelievable! We have to get back to shore and show this footage to the Equestrian Oceanographic Institute immediately!
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Oh, yeah.
So, everypony, it seems like this is a good place to end the episode. So as always, thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time on Twilight Tries!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go report what could very well be the biggest oceanographic discovery since the espial of hydrothermal vents!
*SQUEE*