//------------------------------// // Paradise // Story: H2O: Just Add Friendship // by Burning Sunset //------------------------------// For the first time since Christmas, Sunset couldn't hold back a smile as she looked around her at the beautiful yet deserted island off the coast of Dolphin City. The island was beautiful, extremely so, and if she heard right the only wild animals that called the place home was birds. Unless you counted the multitude of species of oceanic life surrounding the island as Dolphin City was a wildlife sanctuary for aquatic creatures and levied very heavy fines to anyone daring to spoil the beauty of the beach and water. The water itself was so clear that you could clearly see the reef and fish swimming just feet under the surface though it seemed blue the farther out you got as it got deeper. The view from where Sunset stood was breathtaking and she couldn't help feeling as if she made the right choice. Not that she had much choice concerning Canterlot after she was wrongfully expelled over the Anon-A-Miss incident. With nobody believing her and no place to stay, Sunset took off from her home in an abandoned house that was condemned and was slated for demolition soon because the roof caved in even more from the last heavy snowfall when she was still there. For several months Sunset just kept on the move, sometimes hopping on the back of trucks to get over longer distances quicker. She wanted away from the pain that she felt back in Canterlot as she learned that no matter the world, Celestia would always throw her away. There was no point staying there as her so called friends taught her an important life lesson: never trust people. They may be your friends through good times, but as soon as the shit hit the fan they would turn their backs on you in the blink of an eye. Mako Island was the promise of a new start, even if she did have to resort to stealing. Not something she enjoyed doing, but as she pulled the small boat farther onto the shore and tied it to a tree to make sure it stayed in place, she couldn't help thanking her luck finding the boat packed and ready to go while nobody was around it. It would give her some shelter as well as give her some food for at least a couple of days. After that she would have to figure something out, but for now she had time to think things over. At least she was alone though which was what she wanted most, just some peace away from the pain of being around others who she knew would only end up hurting her even more. It took awhile to find a nice clearing among some trees that thankfully had bananas growing on them which would offer her some source of food. Maybe there would be other trees on the island growing other food which would help fill her food supplies. She found out that setting up a tent was harder than it looked though as she had no idea what she was doing. She managed though and by the time night fell she had the tent set up with a sleeping bag inside and another outside next to the small ring of rocks she gathered to contain her campfire with one extra one in case something happened to one of the others. Thankfully there was a lighter in the camping supplies she found on the boat that she used to light the fire. With the light of the fire and the full moon above, Sunset sat on the sleeping bag before the fire nibbling on a peanut butter sandwich from the picnic basket. She was dead tired, but felt good seeing how she had shelter and food and finally had a place all her own. Nobody around to bother her or make her feel horrible over something she didn't do. Of course that also meant that she was alone, but that was what she wanted. Wasn't it? Looking up she noticed a cave a little way up the dormant volcano lit up with a blue light that made Sunset growl in anger. She was supposed to be alone here, she didn't want to have to deal with somebody else invading her space. Maybe it was nothing though, but she needed to look into it and make sure that it wasn't something or somebody that would hurt her. It would really suck going to sleep and waking up tied up in some creep's power. Carefully making her way through the trees Sunset mentally marked out where an orange tree was that she passes on the way to the cave. The climb up the side of the volcano to the cave was easy with all of the footholds and almost step like path. Peering carefully inside she couldn't see anybody or hear anything so she took a step inside the cave to see if there was anything she could see deeper. As soon as her foot fell on the cave floor she regretted it. With a loud shriek, Sunset found herself slipping uncontrollably down a slippery shaft that was almost like a very steep slide. FInally she hit the bottom and rolled across the cave floor. Her ankle was killing her a sshe sat up, gasping in pain as she tried to turn it. "Damn it!" Sunset swore as she gingerly pulled her boot off and probed the painful throbbing in her ankle. She didn't believe she broke anything, but it was most likely sprained. There was no way she was getting back out the way she came either as it was steep enough as it was, but with a hurt ankle it would be impossible. On the bright side she found out that the light was actually coming from the glowing moss lining the caves walls. Looking up she could see the clear night sky above as it looked like she was either in the center of the volcano or there was just a shaft high above. The moon was just starting to peak over the pool in the center of the floor which showed it was clear just like the rest of the water surrounding the island and thanks to that she could see the tunnel under the water. Maybe it connected to a water source outside? "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Sunset asked herself, looking around to see if there was any other possible exits from the cave and seeing none. Just the slide like path she fell down and the underwater tunnel before her. And she really didn't want to be stuck in there when the sun passed completely over the hole overhead as she wasn't sure if the moss would still glow without the light of the moon shining down over it. It was almost fully overhead which meant it was now or never. Pulling her other boot off and stuffing her socks in one of them, Sunset crawled over to the pool and dangled her feet into it and moaned in delight. The water felt so good on her ankle, feeling almost as if it was healing it as she slid into the water and let herself float there a few moments as the moon finally shone directly overhead lighting the entire cave up. "This isn't good." Sunset gasped out as she looked back and forth in the cave seeing light particles seeming floating off the moss around her. She could feel magic surging all around her and it was frankly scaring the hell out of Sunset. This world wasn't supposed to have magic, yet she could feel it pushing itself into her as the water started churning around her. With a scream of shock as she started feeling her body changing, Sunset tried to get back to the shore, but her thrashing around caused her to hit her head sharply on the rock and start to sink in the water as her eyes slowly closed. Fluttershy stared at the current entry in the magic journal that Sunset had left behind. The shy girl had begged Sunset to borrow it to write to Twilight before Christmas as the girl wanted to find the perfect present. She wanted to ask for Twilight's opinions on what Sunset may like since they were both from the same world and maybe there was something that would remind the displaced girl of home while at the same time letting Sunset know that she had a home here as well. Sadly it didn't work out that way as they had turned their backs on Sunset who disappeared after Celestia called into the office to expel her as this was the troubled girl's last chance. Unfortunately they had all caused the biggest FUBAR (fucked up beyond any repair) in history driving away such a good friend when it was in reality the three younger girls who made up Canterlot Mercenary Club after seeing that weird anime where the school had a mercenary club that helped all the other school clubs when needed that had been behind Anon A Miss. They didn't hate the girls for it as two of them was Rarity and Applejack's sisters while the third may as well been Rainbow's kid sister. They were angry with them, and hurt as Sunset was missing and nobody could find her. And with Summer vacation just beginning it meant that it had been months since nobody had seen the missing girl and they knew she didn't return back to her home world. Twilight kept a close eye on the portal and she was beyond pissed off with all of them for letting this happen. Her last entry warned them that she was coming once again to try to help find the girl, but Fluttershy was scared. The last time Twilight was here she tore into all of them going as far as slapping Rainbow Dash when she said something stupid. Closing the book Fluttershy climbed into her bed, a part of her wondering if Sunset had a bed wherever she was, and once again cried herself to sleep. "I didn't do anything!" Sunset screamed, shooting up in a sitting position as she slowly realized that she was having one of her dreams again. Actually they were more memories than dreams as it really happened and as much as she tried to forget it, she couldn't. Something was weird though, felt off as she looked around her feeling as if she was soaking wet. It was weird, how could she feel this wet and have been sleeping? Blinking as she noticed her hair float in front of her face Sunset's jaw dropped open as she realized something very important, she was sitting at the bottom of the pool in the cave she stumbled into! Trying to gather her feet under her she realized that they to felt weird, longer and somehow fused together. Looking down she found that instead of legs she had a fish like tail which once again earned another shriek. "What the fuck!?" Sunset cursed in pure shock seeing her new appendage as another realization dawned on her as her hands went to her throat wrapping around it. She was breathing normally despite being submerged in a pool of water. She couldn't help crying as once again her body changed and this time there wasn't really much of an explanation for it. The last time she crossed over a portal and became human, but why did she turn into this half fish creature that reminded her of a humanized version of the Siren's astral forms. "I refuse to be like that!" Sunset hissed out as she pushed off the floor, finding it almost natural as she swam through the tunnel leading from the cave and out into the ocean surrounding the island. It scared her some as she swam around until she found her boat and climbed out of the water onto the shore. It was harder than she would have thought, but she had to admit the sun felt good as she turned over on her back. Looking down at herself she had to admit that she looked strange, yet beautiful. Her hair was the same, but her clothes were gone. She had on some kind of bikini top made of red seashells that seemed to glitter in the light and molded perfectly to her breasts. Her legs was not a long, elegant looking red tail that also seemed to glitter in the light with bands of material similar to her top around her wrists. Gasping in shock as she felt magic surging around her as light particles started to surround her body before leaving her back in her dry clothing with her legs intact. Sadly she left her boots behind and she wasn't so sure she wanted to go back for them and risk being turned back into that fish like thing even if she had to admit was beautiful. "My dad said he's going to keep an eye out for our boat." Cleo said as she looked out over the water as she rested on the large towel on the beach next to the only boy who knew their secret and her two best friends. "I can't believe somebody would do something like that." Rikki growled out as she glared out over the water, a little pissed off as their campout on Mako Island had been ruined by some thief. "It was probably Zane being an ass as usual." Emma said, watching all of her old old friends from the swim team having fun in the water. Something she could no longer do because of her secret and she dearly missed it, but after the short time where she lost her powers she learned that while she did kind of missed her old life, her new one was just as important. "I don't know girls, this isn't really Zane's usual MO." Lewis said, stealing a glance at Cleo with a little blush. He had a huge crush on her and loved seeing her in her exotic one piece while the other two wore bikinis. It was hard not thinking about her when she was just inches from him and he could almost feel her up against him as he wore a pair of loose trunks. "I don't know who did it, but if I ever find them I'm going to pound them." Rikki grumbled, "I was looking forward to hearing Carlotta's new song." "Well we can still head out to Mako if you girls want." Lewis said, perking up a bit as he loved seeing the girls in their other form while he dived with them. He couldn't understand the creatures that swam around them like the girls, but he could appreciate the friendship that girls seemed to have with them. "My dad told me to stay away from there until we find out what happened with the boat. There might actually be somebody dangerous that stole it and might not hesitate to hurt us if we come across them." Cleo sighed. "My dad actually suggested that it might have become untethered and floated away from the port." Emma replied with a roll of her eyes, "He said we shouldn't have left it alone if we had it packed and ready to go." "We had to go help the twins though, what else were we supposed to do?" Cleo mumbled. "Not much I guess, but I'll tell you one thing I am going to do." Rikki said as she sat up, "I'm going to Mako! Whose with me?" "Let's do it, I'm getting tired of just sitting around here." Emma cheered, pumping a fist in the air as she sat up as well. "I'm in if you want to go to Cleo." Lewis said as he sat up, adjusting his glasses as Cleo looked uncertain as she pushed herself up. "Well, I guess if all of you want to go then I'm in also." Cleo said softly, not as excited about going as the others, but also not wanting to be left out of things. Surely they could take care of themselves anyways.