Chapter 11
Dark Waters
Wake awoke in the early hours of the morning with the sun just starting to rise over the horizon. The blue stallion slowly sat up making sure not to wake the cyan mare sleeping next to him. The stallion let out a sigh as he got o his hooves and trotted downstairs making sure not to wake the other five mares that occupied his home. The stallion walked onto the balcony and saw the waves crashing against the shore.
Tides coming in. He thought as he saw the blue ocean before him. The stallion let out a sigh and walked back inside and trotted over to a closet. He reached his hoof inside and withdrew a long surfboard. The blue stallion balanced the board on his back and trotted down to the beach. He swam out in the middle of the cove and sat on his surf board as he stared up at the sky. The stallion dove off the board and went into the dark depths of the ocean.
Wake heard a faint voice coming from the surface. He looked up to see the six mares staring out onto the water. Wake grinned and started to flap his webbed wings rapidly. The stallion shot towards the surface. As he broke the water line, the mares yelped in surprise as the stallion flew up with a torrent of water behind him. The sea water completely covered the mares and they glared at the stallion.
“Heh, heh. Sorry.” He said as he rubbed his head with his hoof.
“UGH! I just did my mane!” Rarity whined. Wake landed in front of them as Dash walked up and lightly punched him in the ribs.
“Ow!” He said in a weak tone. “Why do you hit me like that?”
“It’s fun.” She teased. The mares shook themselves dry while Rarity summoned a comb and ran it through her mane.
“So what should we do today?” Pinkie asked.
“Beach?” Wake said with a shrug,
“Sounds good to me! Let’s just get some food first.” Dash said with a smile. Wake nodded and led the mares inside. As Wake trotted into the kitchen he face hoofed.
“Crap. No food.” He said with a groan. “Guess we’re eating out.” He said as he trotted out of the kitchen. He grabbed a bit bag and held the door open for the mares. As they made their way towards town Twilight trotted up next to the blue stallion.
“Hey Wake, can I ask something?”
“Sure.”
“How did you afford that place?” The other mares then turned their heads towards the conversation. “I mean, it must have cost a fortune.”
“It did.” He said with a grin. “Remember how my mom was a marine biologist?” The mares nodded as they remembered the conversation. “My mom is Shell Diver.” Twilight’s eyes lit up and her jaw hit the ground.
“THE Shell Diver!” The lavender mare said with a shocked look on her face.
“Shhh!” Wake said as he covered her mouth. “I don’t need any more publicity.”
“Sorry, it’s just....wow!” The lavender mare squealed in delight. “I’m such a huge fan! I’ve studied her exploits extensively!”
“Okay, who’s Shell Diver?” Dash asked.
“She’s the pony that discovered the one hundred foot squid five years ago!” Dash made the connection and let out a gasp.
“You mean the Unicorn that swam with all those whales and dolphins!” Fluttershy said in excitement.
“That’s mom.” Wake said with a smile.
“That pony has some guts!” Dash said with a smile. “That just only makes you cooler!” Dash said as she hugged the stallion.
“Twenty percent cooler?” Wake said with a smug grin across his face. The cyan mare then slugged him in the side.
“That’s MY line.”
“Why do you hit me so much? This is starting to become abuse.” He said in a whining tone.
“It’s not abuse if you like it.” Dash teased as she pecked him on the cheek.
“C’mon you two. I want to have breakfast first before ah lose it.” The farmer said with a groan.
“Fine. There’s a nice little restaurant that serves....wait, you guys are okay with eating fish right?” He asked. The mares all gave him a nod. “Good.” The blue stallion the stopped in front of a building with a wooden shark out front. The ponies walked inside and sat down in a booth. Soon, a light orange Earth pony mare carrying seven menus walked up to them.
“Morning everypony, welcome to Shark Bait Cafe. My name is Angel and I’ll be your waitress for today.” The ponies gave her a nod as she handed them each a menu. “Can I start you off with some water or coffee?”
“Coffee for me.” Wake said with a nod.
“I’ll take some tea.” Twilight said with a smile.
“Water for the rest of you?” She asked. The mares nodded and started to look at the menus. The ponies scanned the menus until something caught the cyan mare’s eye. She waved over the waitress who quickly trotted over to the cyan mare. “Ready to order?”
“Kinda, I was wondering about this one here down at the bottom. ‘Shark Wake Special.’ What is that?” The cyan mare asked.
“Oh, that’s our signature hay pasta served with our prime grilled shark meat. It’s based off a recipe a local made.” The mare said with a smile.
“Who made this?” Twilight asked.
“It be that blue stallion right there.” The ponies turned their heads to see a middle aged grey stallion with a brown mane and beard sitting in a corner smoking on a pipe. His dark coat covered most of his body as he sat up.
“Captain Cutter. Thought I smelled something in here.” Wake said as he got up.
“Must be the fish.” The older stallion said with a chuckle.
“Still smells better than your breath.” Wake said as he walked up to the stallion with a stern look on his face. The two chuckled and gave each other a hug. “How are ya you old sea dog?”
“About as fine as a chest full of gold.” He said with a smile. “Who are these fine young lasses?”
“Oh right.” He said as he put a hoof around the cyan colored mare. “This is my mare friend Rainbow Dash.” The Pegasus smiled at the old sea boat pony.
“Hi.” She said with a smile.
“Well, ye always did have a fine eye for things.” He said with a nod. “I’d shake your hoof Ms. Dash but-” The stallion pulled back his coat to reveal a stub of a right hoof.
“Cutter, what the buck happened to your leg?” Wake said in shocked tone.
“Which time?” The stallion said with a grin.
“This one.” Wake said as he face hoofed.
“There be a new monster in these waters me boy.” The stallion said in a low tone. “The beast took my hoof when I last tangled with it!”
“What is it? Hydra?” Twilight asked.
“Shark.” The captain said with a sigh.
“You’re an expert shark hunter. What was it? Mako? Hammerhead?” The blue stallion asked.
“It be a monster like I never seen before. As big as a humpback it was.” He said in a scared tone. “Go meet to the town hall. Those plot holes are talking about it as we sit here gabbing our gums.” He said in a rough tone. Wake nodded and stormed out the door, not before leaving a few bits for the drinks that had just gotten to the table. The group of mares gave chase and galloped after the blue stallion.
“Wake hold up.” Dash said as she ran up next to him.
“Sorry, there’s something I need to hear.” He said as the group approached a large building that was in the shape of a scallop shell. As they entered he heard voices coming from the mayor’s office. Wake walked over to a yellow earth pony stallion who was moping the floor in front of the rest rooms. A grey hat sat atop his red mane. “Excuse me sir.”
“Yes, how can I help.....” He was cut off as he looked at the blue Pegasus stallion. “Y-You’re Wake Breaker!”
“Do I know you?” The blue stallion asked as he cocked an eyebrow.
“Dude, you pulled my flank out of a riptide three years ago!” He said with a smile. Wake thought for a moment and finally connected the dots.
“Crab Cruncher correct?”
“Yeah bro, that’s totally me!” He said in amazement.
“Mind if I ask something?”
“Anything man!”
“Can I borrow your hat for a few minutes?” The janitor looked at the stallion in confusion. “I promise I’ll give it back.”
“S-sure man. No problem.” He said as he handed it to him.
“Thanks.” Wake said as he put it on his head. The stallion pulled the brim down to cover most of his face in shadow. He walked passed the janitor towards the meeting room. He turned back to the five mares who were still following him. “You guys wait out here. I’m going to sneak in and find out what they’re doing.”
The mares nodded and walked back to the main lobby. Wake turned and faced the brown wooden door. He gently turned the knob and made his way inside unnoticed. He took a seat in the far back of the room. He looked ahead to see several familiar faces conversing with one another.
“Order, order!” Wake looked ahead to see a grey Unicorn stallion with a brown mane and mustache wearing a tie with sail boats on it holding a gavel. “Now I know that everypony here is concerned about the little issue we’ve been having of late.”
“Little issue?” A stallion blurted out. “Three boats destroyed and two dead! How does that qualify as little?”
“Now calm down everypony, we can be reasonable.” The mayor said as he stood on his hind hooves and held his fore legs in the air. “I’m placing a five thousand bit bounty on the creature and-”
“That’s not good enough!” A mare yelled. “Cutter is the best shark hunter on the island and even he couldn’t kill it! We need to get the Coast Guard down here!”
“No! This place doesn’t need that type of publicity.” The mayor said in a rough tone. He slammed his hoof against the bulletin board that had a picture of a shark on it.
“We need to worry about out lives more than your bucking standings!” Another pony yelled. Wake got to his hooves and walked over to a table that had a few bagels and muffins on it. What caught Wake’s eyes was a butter knife next to the bagels. He took the knife in his hoof and sat back down in his spot.
“We need an expert! Somepony who knows about sharks!” A red Unicorn stallion yelled.
“Yeah, we need somepony who isn’t afraid of them!”
“Good luck with that one.” A light orange pony said. “There hasn’t been one around here for years.”
“Quite, that coward fled years ago.” The mayor said in a rough tone.
“Fled? You drove him out!” A mare yelled.
“Yeah, Wake saved countless lives.”
“Not enough in my opinion. He’s probably dead.” The mayor said in a rough tone. A small glint of silver caught his eye. A small butter knife spun end over end until the blade found it’s resting place in the drawn shark’s eye. The ponies all let out a gasp and turned their heads to the back corner of the room.
“Dead am I?” Wake said as he got to his hooves and removed his hat. “I think not.” He said as he focused on the mayor.
“W-Wake, I didn’t know you were back.” The pony said in a nervous tone.
“Decided to drop by for a visit. Now I hear you guys got a shark problem.” He said as the group of ponies gulped. “You all know me, or have at least heard of what I can do.” He said as his eyes scanned the room. “No offense, but I value my skin a lot more than five thousand bits. I’ll fight him for five, but I’ll catch and kill him for ten.”
“Ten thousand? Be reasonable Wake!” A pony yelled. Wake held up his hoof in a dismissive manner.
“However, for old times sake. I’ll settle for a public apology from Mayor Squid Ink.” He said as he pointed at the grey stallion.
“I’d rather die.” He said in a spite filled tone.
“Okay suit yourself.” Wake said with a sigh. “This is what I get when I try to be reasonable.” He said as he turned to leave. One of the ponies sitting next to the mayor stood up.
“You’ll get it Mr. Breaker. Anything else?” He asked. The ponies all let out a gasp at the orange Pegasus.
“What are you doing?” The mayor yelled as he grabbed the orange stallion by his chest.
“What you should be doing. Caring about these ponies instead of lining your pockets!” He said as he pushed the grey stallion off him. “He has done more for this place than you ever had!” Wake trotted up to the stallion and stuck out his hoof.
“Thank you Scallop. Nice to see that there’s still order in this court.” Wake said with a smile.
“Nice to see that you’re back.” The orange stallion said with a smile as he shook his hoof. “So do we have a deal?”
“One giant fish for one apology.” He said with a smile.
“Done. Is there anything you need?”
“Remains from the victims and wreckage from the boats.” He said in a serious tone. “I need to analyze them and talk to anypony that may have seen this thing.”
“I’ll get the paperwork ready for you pronto.”
“Thanks. I hope to end this quickly.” Wake said as he exited the room and tossed the janitor his hat. As he walked outside he was soon surrounded by reporters and camera’s.
“Mr. Wake, Mr. Wake!” A mare wearing a fedora with a slip of paper sticking out the top saying Press yelled. “How does it feel to be back after your humiliation years ago?” She asked as she held a microphone in his face.
“No comment.” He said in a flat tone. As he walked towards the lobby the five mares were stampeded by reporters and photographers. He walked over to them and motioned for them to leave.
“What the buck happened in there?” Dash asked as the two galloped away.
“I’ll explain later.” He said as Twilight’s horn flared and she teleported the group away from the mob.