//------------------------------// // Never Easy Casting Off, Is It? // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Ask him, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Yes, darling,” Rarity likewise insisted. “Do ask him.” Rainbow Dash fidgeted from where she hovered. Before her stretched a tiny inlet of water that had formed into the body of land that made up the eastern strip of the Nealend Atoll. Several boats were moored tightly together, and all of them were in disrepair. Several Continentalists—and a few native Nealend assistants—were busying themselves with the task of patching up the damaged ships' hulls. A few boats had been fixed already, and these were being piloted out into open water so that the crews could test their seaworthiness. One by one, the foreign ponies who had been stranded there by Ultimo's “reign of terror” reclaimed their freedom, and there was no shortage of cheer or merriment in the warm tropical air. “What are you waiting for?” Twilight asked as she and the other spectral unicorn orbited their companion. “If we wait too long, he might shove off!” “I... I dunno...” Rainbow bit her lip. “You've seen the maps that Sinrar's given you!” Twilight exclaimed. “There's far, far too much open water for you to fly before you even reach another sliver of land! No living pegasus can flap her wings that distance and not risk drowning!” “I know that, Twi...” “Then what is the problem?” Rarity remarked. She pointed at a dark-blue yacht about twice the length of the Swan Song where Theanim Mane could be seen rigging a freshly patched sail. “Your friend here is heading eastwards along with his companions anyways. Surely it would be very little of a burden to tag along.” “It's... j-just that I'm not quite used to the end of something being an easy thing,” Rainbow's voice cracked. “Nick found love and Sinrar found a new calling. Good for them and all, but most parting-of-ways is a lot more headachy... and heartachy. She gulped. “Kinda makes me hesitant to gain yet another traveling buddy.” She looked at Rarity and Twilight. “You know what I mean?” The two ghostly mares glanced at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads in Rainbow's direction. “Uh uh.” “Not at all.” “Unnngh...” Rainbow face hoofed. “Why do I even bother...?” “I think you're dwelling a bit too much on your experience with the Novel Jerky, darling.” “Noble Jury,” Rainbow said with a frown. “I do beg your pardon,” Rarity uttered with an arched eyebrow. “I think I'm doing remarkably well for how little time I've been given to digest all of this information.” “What I think Rarity's trying to say, Rainbow, is that you shouldn't expect every pony that you motivate into helping you to turn into a heavy or intense experience.” Twilight bore a hopeful smile. “I mean, learn from Sinrar and Nick! They helped you... er... get your hooves wet and now look at them! They're going back to live their lives! Why, even better lives!” “Yes! Twilight's right! Besides...” Rarity waved a gracious hoof. “It's better to think of this as some sort of business arrangement. After all, you've given Dr. Mane the means of releasing himself from the bonds of this archipelago. It's only fitting—and profitable—that the handsome stallion provide you transportation to your next engagement.” “Yeah. Sure.” Rainbow nodded. “That's a cool way of looking at it.” A few seconds passed, and she blinked pointedly in Rarity's direction. “...'handsome stallon?'” “Oh, yes, well... ahem...” Rarity toyed with her mane, looking over her shoulder with a rosy smile. “You have to admit, those blue eyes of his are rather striking—whenever he's not obscuring them with those dreadfully tacky goggles, of course.” Twilight giggled while Rainbow groaned. “As a matter of fact, I'd say he was somewhat familiar,” Rarity remarked. She squinted in the yacht's direction. “Yes... yes, he bears a rather striking resemblance to another gentlecoltly doctor who used to frequent the Boutique.” “Oh really?” Twilight remarked. “Yes, he was rather fond of neckties—that one.” Rarity tapped her chin as she continued gazing. “This specimen? Why, he strikes me as a bit of a dandy. I imagine a nice woolly scarf would do a number on his learned complexion. Oooh! Blue as the sea! It would match his eyes!” “Alright, buck it.” Rainbow cracked her neck joints and flew forward. “Let's get things over with.” “Rainbow, stop expecting the worst!” Twilight exclaimed. “Just go up to him, ask him if he knows about Shoggoth, and ask if he'll help give you passage there!” “What's the worse that could happen?” Rarity asked. “You guys don't get it,” Rainbow Dash muttered while floating forward, approaching the busy inlet full of boats. “I rarely ever... straight up ask ponies to join me in my... erm... east-feathering.” Rarity asked, “Then how exactly did you go about recruiting your prior companions? The ones whom you and Twilight keep referring to?” “I dunno.” Rainbow shrugged. “I kinda sorta got slaughtered by a dragon, then preserved in chaos form, then fought my way tooth-and-hoof out of a giant military basement.” “Uhhhhhhhhhhh...” “Oh! Greetings!” Theanim Mane swiveled about, waving at the approaching mare. “A blessed morning to you, Rainbow Dash! Verlaxion's Sleet!” He took a deep breath. “You smell that air?! I absolutely can't wait to get back out into the open ocean again!” “Yeah. Uh huh.” Rainbow cleared her throat. “Say, Doc, I was wondering—” “Isn't she an absolute beauty?” Theanim said, stretching a forelimb out. “Squee?”” Rarity's face brightened. Twilight leaned in to whisper in her ear. “He can't see us, Rarity. Rarity's face and ears drooped. “Squee...” “What, the boat?” Rainbow remarked. “The Midnight Dreary, thank you very much!” Theanim sighed with a proud smile. “I mean, I didn't build the thing like your Kihutajan friend, but I'm still quite fond of the purchase. And it didn't take nearly as long as I thought to put her back into shape! Whew! Isn't life good?” “Sure. Why not. Look, Doc...” Rainbow flew closer. “...while you're in such a chipper mood, I was wondering if maybe... just maybe... you would down with—” “—providing you deep passage into Continentalist waters?” Theanim Mane adjusted the goggles over his mane and smiled. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Miss Dash.” The pegasus and her ghostly companions blinked. “Wow... that was easy,” Twilight remarked. “That was easy,” Rarity said. “You can say that again,” Rainbow muttered towards them. “Hmmm?” Theanim leaned forward. “What was that?” “Er... uhhh...” Rainbow cleared her throat. “You... sure you can say that?” Rainbow remarked. “You don't even know where I want to go.” “Does it matter?” Theanim said. Rainbow's teeth showed. “... … ...doesn't it?” she eventually squeaked. “My good mare...” Theanim strolled towards the edge of the boat. “I have already spoken with Sinrar. He made it quite clear that you'll be needing a fresh boat to continue on your journey. And, quite frankly, after all that I've witnessed... it would be outright sinful to my scientific career to not allow myself a chance to observe more.” “Observe... more...?” Theanim's eyes narrowed. “You still remain a mystery, and yet... the picture is becoming clearer and clearer, Miss Dash. It is a picture of a world that... exists beneath this one! Or even within this one. Verlaxion hasn't spoken of it, but...” He slowly shook his head. “Surely that doesn't mean that it's forbidden. Perhaps—just perhaps—it is merely another path by which we mortals can more properly understand her! Who would I be to give that up?” Rainbow tilted her head back until she was squinting at him through the corner of her eye. “... … ...even if it means going to a super sketchy underwater destination?” Theanim's muzzle scrunched in thought. In very little time, he pronounced, “Shoggoth?” “Uh huh.” “Is that your next destination?” “Is that a problem?” Theanim leaned back with a smirk. “If you had ask that of the Doctor Theanim Mane who existed a week ago, he would surely refuse, considering the quest to be far too costly and foreboding.” “And... what about the Doctor Theanim who's smirking at me now?” “I'd follow you to the neverending falls if you let me.” “How... could you be so gung-ho all of the sudden?” “You want to know why? I'll show you.” He reached into the spacious cabin of his yacht and pulled out several sheets of photographic paper. “These... I developed them just this morning.” He tossed them onto the edge of the deck before Rainbow. “These are why.” Rainbow Dash touched down, glancing at the images. Rarity and Twilight hovered lower to get a better lock. “Oh hey.” Rainbow exhaled. “There it is.”