//------------------------------//
// The Crash, Part Three 
// Story: Aperture Science Otherworldly Exploration Initiative 
// by Swordoath 
//------------------------------//

	"Man, this is so boring." Said the adventure sphere. Or at least, he tried to. He was under about three feet of water, and being surrounded by a school of curious fish. He'd been there for hours. At first, he was grateful for the water for putting out the post-atmospheric entry inferno. Then he became bored by the same sight of fish and distorted sky. This took only eleven-point-five seconds. "Hey. Hey! Scaly! What're you looking at, huh?"
Then there was a ripple in the water, a yellow shape reaching toward the sphere. It grabbed onto his protruding top handle and pulled him free with a wet sucking sound from the silt. 
"Ah, thanks there. I could've gotten my self free, but I was making sure those fish were- huh?" He stopped. His rescuer was... a horse? No, a pegasus. It had wings. "So, uh, not that I have anything against animals, but why did you pick me up little fella?" 
She frowned. "I'm a mare!"
"Oh, sorry babe- wait, you're not just a dumb animal?"
She continued to pout, her bottom lip quivering. "You think animals are dumb?"
"Well, no, I-"
"Oh thank goodness," She said, the seeds of a tearful moment vanishing. "The animals here are my friends, and I don't think they'd like you calling them dumb. What kind of animal are you?"
"I'm a lion, low in the grass, waiting to pounce," Said the sphere in a suave manner. "Or a panther, stalking it's prey like a ninja. Which I also am, by the way."
"You're a lion or a panther? Which one?"
"Well, technically I'm not either. I'm an Adventure Sphere. Name's Rick. And what, may I ask, is this pretty lady's name?" He said in a voice smooth as velvet. For a robot.
The yellow mare giggled. "My name's FlutterShy."
Rick snorted, but then said, "A name as beautiful as any rose."
She giggled again. "Oh, I should bring you to my friends! I bet they'll like you."
"If they're anywhere near as beautiful as you, we'll get along just fine. Say, why did you pick me up?"
"Oh, the fish told me you were there making lots of noise and complaining about being bored."
"Oh, well, uh, yeah. I was pretty bored down there. Just the fish, and the, uh..." he trailed off. "Hey! How about on the way over I tell you about the time I rescued a fine lady- though not as fine as yourself- from a giant robot who was trying to blow her up?"
"What's a robot?"
"Ooh boy, we've got a lot to cover here, don't we?"
"I guess?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you about the time I rode that shark off a volcanic island instead."
"Oh, wow! That sounds amazing!"
"Yeah, I know."




(This is unrelated to the story: DUN DUN DUN NA NA NA!)