//------------------------------// // Don't Let the Al Bheds Bite // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “You're sure of this, Land Walker?” Kaji said, blurring his wings as he pushed the fishing raft out onto the rippling blue surface of the Atoll's lagoon. “I've seen the shade your feathers turn at the mere mention of fish meat.” He grinned slyly. “You favor only the greens, yes?” “Dreit. I mean...” Rainbow bopped her head, teeth gritting. “Yes. I just wanna see the source of the whirlpool up close.” “Uhhhhh...” Flare looked back from the front of the boat where she and her wings provided extra steering. Several other rafts full of mane-less ponies were skimming out onto the waters beyond them. “You do realize that the whirlpool is gone, right?” “Yeah.” Rainbow nodded. “But there's a Shard of Verlax...ion down there somewhere, right?” “She wants to see the Shard!” Silver grinned, telekinetically untangling a fishing net with his horn. “Hah! Why didn't she say so from the beginning?!” “Maybe she's nervous about basking in the glow of Verlaxion's righteous might!” Sora said, sharpening a spear. “Who can blame her, really?” He chuckled. “Silly land walkers...” “'Dreit...?'” Twilight mouthed, floating alongside the raft. “Stuff it,” Rainbow muttered. “I got my wires crossed.” “Huh?” Kaji looked over. “Ahem.” Rainbow leaned forward in her seat. “No. It's not that I'm... tickled pink to be in the presence of one of Verlaxion's gift. I just... uh...” Rainbow Dash looked over the boat's edge, nearly blinded by the whiteness of the glowing Yaerfaerda symbol in her vision. “...I just have a major interest in what's at the bottom of this lagoon.” “Well, good luck with that, girl!” Flare said with a wicked smirk. “I doubt you have the gills for it!” “Eh?” Rainbow blinked. SPLOOSH! She winced from a sudden spray of water. Rubbing her muzzle dry, she looked all around. “Hey... uh... where did Sora go?” “Where else?” Silver gripped a spear and some netting, took a humongous breath, and plopped backwards into the lagoon. Both Rainbow and Twilight leaned over to look past the edge of the boat. Silver and Sora were mere dots at that point, disappearing beyond the murky depths. “Holy smokes...” Twilight's muzzle hung wide open. “Look at them go...” “That's... pretty cool,” Rainbow said. “They're the best at it,” Flare said. She smiled sheepishly, her feathers twitching. “The... uh... the wings actually get in the way.” “You don't say?” “Yup!” Kaji leaned back, kicking his legs up in a lazy fashion. “But we definitely make up for it with the sporting! Isn't that right, Flare?” “Hah! Ultimo can never shake us!” Kaji reached across the boat to brohoof the stallion. “Like barnacles!” “Like barnacles! Hah hah!” “Whoop!” “They've been down there an awful long time,” Twilight murmured, her eyes still squinting to see beyond the blue depths. “They'll be coming back up, right?” Rainbow asked. “Eh... sure...” Flare stifled a yawn. “A few minutes from now.” Rainbow did a double-take. “A few minutes?!” “No point in stabbing fish if you can't make like fish themselves!” Kaji said. “Takes years of practice to hold your breath like we do! A land walker like you is welcome to try... but... heheh... don't blame us if you take on more water than your friends' ship earlier today!” Rainbow Dash clenched her jaw, eyes hard. “Rainbow...” Twilight gulped. “Don't get ahead of yourself...” “I'm not one to back out of a challenge,” Rainbow stood at the edge of the boat, cracking her joints while also coiling her wings tightly by her side. “Especially when Yaerfaerda is right there.” “You speak a strange mantra to prepare yourself, landwalker,” Flare said. “Maybe you'll be wanting to take your jewelry off?” She pointed at Rainbow's pendant. “Those shinies are only going to way you down.” “Yeah. Not happening.” Rainbow gasped and took the plunge. SPLASH! Rainbow lasted for a full thirty seconds underwater. She immediately splashed her way to the surface, wheezing and sputtering—much to the chuckling observation of the Nealenders seated in their boats all around. Rainbow watched with a sullen expression as they waited and waited. At last, their companions returned, complete with rows of twitching fish skewered along the lengths of their spears. Silver alone had no less than eight skewered on his metal pole. Now that the first group of divers had surfaced, the second set leapt out of their boats, plunging deep into the lagoon's blue depths. After sharing a mute glance with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash leaned back, inhaled as heavily as she could, then dove again. She lasted longer this time, mostly because she wasn't trying so hard to kick or thrash about beneath the lagoon's surface. Two or three more dives into the water, and she was able to last about a full minute. She'd start by kicking herself in the desired direction, then she relaxed her straightened body so that she glided forward at a slow, manageable rate. This way, she was able to observe the sunken landscape around her without too much stress or struggle. What she saw was a delightfully uncanny scene, even for a pegasus with as many aerial miles below her belt. There was no discernible “bed” to the bottom of the lagoon, for the bottom was everywhere. A vast arrangement of coral structures stretched upwards, with jagged and eroded limbs coated all over in vibrantly colored life. Gazing at the bottom of the lagoon felt like staring into a glittery paintbucket that had been swirled and swirled beyond easy recognition—and then doused with a thin blue dye. All throughout the erratic coralscape—the craggy promontories and peaks and bridges—countless tiny fish swam in flurrying, scurrying schools. Most of them were tiny specimens, but there were a few larger creatures shambling through the thicker swarms. For a brief moment, Rainbow panicked—fearing that something rather large and toothy might be gliding beneath her at any moment. Rather than panic, the pegasus followed the dramatically swooping movements of the Nealenders. Not until she was underwater with them did Rainbow Dash finally understand the beauty and physique of these ponies. They swam over coral, under coral, and in and out of deep trenches with incredible ease. The way they twirled and curved their bodies for better speed made them all look like expert pegasi—putting even the Wonderbolts to shame. The fact that they accomplished all of this underwater was a great shock to Rainbow. She was far too awestruck to develop even a drop of envy. “I can't tell how far down the lagoon goes,” Twilight Sparkle's voice said. “Can you?” The sheer clarity of the phantom unicorn's speech startled the last remaining bubbles of oxygen out of Rainbow's lungs, and she kicked and thrashed her way to the surface while a wincing Twilight loosely followed. SPLASH! “Duaaaaaaah!” Rainbow inhaled upon breaking the water, then fell into a fit of coughs and sputters. “Hah hah hah hah!” Sora continued pulling fish off his spear and bagging them in their boat's net. “Not so easy, is it, Rainbow?!” “Keep at it, girl!” Silver winked, moisture still dribbling off his shaved head. “You've got siren blood in you! I know it!” “Yeah?!” Rainbow coughed and sputtered some more. “I wanna see a siren do a sonic rainboom in ten secondsssrkkkt!” She went cross-eyed and hacked up more water. “Easy! Easy!” Sora smirked while Flare and Kaji swam back to the surface, carrying fresh spears of fish. “You can't grow gills overnight!” “She's not half-bad, actually!” Flare said, her lithe body dribbling with moisture as she slowly climbed onto the boat. She gave her tail-less flank a shake, then smirked back at Rainbow. “The mare learns fast! I can tell! I've been watching her!” Rainbow Dash blinked. “Hah!” Kaji laughed, hoofing Sora a clean spear. “You'll never dive deep with wings that stiff, girl!” “Hah hah hah hah!” “Whoop!” Rainbow winced. She exhaled, relaxing her wings just in time for when Twilight surfaced. “You okay, Rainbow?” “Uhhhh... uhhhh-yeah!” Rainbow nevertheless coughed once or twice. “Never b-better!” “That was completely and utterly my fault,” Twilight said, ears folded back. “I didn't mean to startle you like that.” “Hey. No sweat.” Rainbow Dash treaded water. “I just... y'know...” Her ears twitched. “...didn't expect to hear you that well.” “Well, I'm phasing through the water just as much as any other solid surface,” Twilight said. “It's not like the pressure is restricting me any. Plus, who knows?” Twilight shrugged, her form looking dry as a bone. “Maybe you hear me on a different level, just like you can see me on a visual spectrum that other ponies can't.” “Yeah... too bad I can't talk to you back,” Rainbow said. “While we're underwater, that is.” She blinked, thinking of something. “Say... any chance you can be my wingpony?” “Heh...” Twilight smirked. “In this case, don't you mean fin pony?” “Cement ant ticks, egghead,” Rainbow muttered. “Yaerfaerda and—presumably—the Shard are both down there, and I gotta get a good look at it. But I'll bet my eyes don't work down there as well as yours can, and I certainly can't give a shout for when I see something like a tunnel entrance.” “Right!” Twilight saluted before the bobbing mare. “I'll be our eyes and you be our ears!” “Cool.” Rainbow smiled. “This could totally work.” “Uh oh...” Sora glanced over at Silver. “She's talking to herself again. I wonder if she's got the bends.” “Good for her.” Kaji winked at Flare. “It means she's not so stiff anymore.” “Ha ha ha!” “Stiff?” Twilight's face scrunched. “What in the hay do they mean by that—?” “Down ponyscope!” Rainbow's voice cracked upon the cusp of an inhale and— SPLOOSH! She dove deep, yanking Twilight straight down with her.