June 7th, 2015 @ 11:50 pm, still at Farmville
Dear Journal,
And here I thought my day could not get any stranger... it just got insane!
Shortly before six in the evening, Kathryn and Raea made their way back to the community pool for Eddie’s Welcoming party. Kathryn still found that she was apprehensive about being around so many ponies, especially those with magic but quickly realized how hypocritical those thoughts were.
And so she shoved them into the back of her mind again and prepared to enter the pool enclosure. She could not help giving an old “No Dogs Allowed” sign a good enough kick to knock it over. Raea then proceeded to pee on it. “Good job, Raea. Mamma's so proud,” Kathryn crooned as she petted the dog’s head before going in the gate.
As soon as they entered the pool area, they were assaulted by the bright party lights and loud upbeat pop music from a large set up of speakers that had not been there earlier in the day. A pair of strobe lights lit up the night’s sky and the cloud cover bounced said light back down on the area. Kathryn was sure that if any new ponies appeared in the area, Farmville would be easy enough to find by following those lights.
All along the side of the pool, every cabana and shade umbrella hosted groups of ponies mingling while others took turns on the diving boards and swimming lengths or bouncing beach balls across the way. Tables were piled with all kinds of foods from granola bars, fruits & veggies, and even salads made from garden flowers! At one end of the tables, ponies could take their produce choices to a BBQ and have them grilled while a second had been set up in the farthest back corner; Kathryn could smell the offensive odor of meat cooking, which struck her as odd until she saw a group of the bat-ponies bear their fangs.
Raea took off like a shot for them, in hopes of begging. Kathryn could only chuckle at her dog’s continuing antics.
Kathryn walked over to the food table, taking a few carrots, a couple of apples and a choice piece of corn on the cob for the pony on the BBQ to grill, she walked over to take a place in line. Her eyes wandered the area; she saw Amy sitting with Sarah under one of the umbrellas, former laying on the patio, latter in the water leaning on the edge almost like a human; she saw Eddie standing with a bunch of other unicorns, showing off his newly acquired levitation skills with an apple from his plate on the ground. Kathryn watched as he lifted the apple to his mouth and took a bite, a blissful look on his face.
For some inexplicable reason, her eyes continued to watch the crowd; almost like she was suspecting something to happen. Her instincts were on heightened alert and she could not explain why.
At first, journal, I thought it was because of my extreme dislike for the obvious ‘magical’ abilities of the unicorns but I had this overall feeling that something was just.... I don’t know; something felt “off” to me and I could not shake it. It was not like ponies were staring at me or anything... most ponies’ attention was on Eddie, as since this was HIS party and all. Word had spread quickly that I was not sticking around but was to keep going east. I did, however, have a few approach me and thank me for bringing Eddie along with me and asking me to pass along the word of Farmville to any others I might find along my way.
But no matter what I tried, I could not break that feeling... until it was finally my turn at the grill....
Kathryn stood at the front of the BBQ line and had just asked that all the carrots and the corn be grilled, about to take a bite out of her first apple when she was hit with a wave of nausea. She managed to suppress it with a tiny grunt and turned her entire focus to the pool.
Her eyes locked onto a very small unicorn colt wearing an over-sized life vest, just about to jump off the diving board. The pool in that spot was easily 9 meters deep; acceptable for a human child but not for a fully grown pony and certainly not for a small colt!
Kathryn’s senses ignored everything else around her as she watched the colt bounce twice before jumping into the pool. She watched in slight horror as the vest slipped off the colt just as he hit the water. She could even see the look on his face when he realized the same thing.
Without a second thought, Kathryn left her plate, dropped her apple, and ran for the pool. She had already reached the edge before others had realized what had happened; the life vest now floated, empty, aimlessly on the surface where the colt had disappeared.
Kathryn leaped into the air; her magic taking over long before she ever touched the water. Her instincts took over and zoned in on the colt that was now sinking deeper, struggling to swim with tiny legs. Her tail fully formed even before touching the surface, Kathryn did not take any last breath.... she did not need to as she began to breathe underwater.
Two powerful kicks with her tail, she reached the struggling colt. She quickly locked her lips on his and breathed out into his mouth. He nearly freaked out but she grabbed him and looked into his eyes. *Calm down, little one. I got you but you need to calm down. I'm gonna help,* she said underwater without knowing she could do it.
Instantly, the colt calmed right down and nodded. She grabbed him under his front legs from behind and she swept her tail in smooth, even strokes to bring him to the surface.
When they broke, both took a huge gulp of fresh air before swimming to the side. As soon as Kathryn boosted the colt up onto the deck, her magic took over and turned her back into land pony even before she climbed out of the water. She quickly spat the last of the water from her lungs well past the colt and sat down with him, to make sure he was ok. When his senses returned to him, he sprang up and hugged her. “You’re my hero!” he cried in a voice only a child saved from certain death could use.
The sound of silence greeted Kathryn in the moments after the colt’s proclamation. Then a small sound began somewhere and like a wave, it got bigger and bigger until she realized that every pony around her who were standing, stomping their hooves on the patio or clapping with hooves if they were sitting. A young unicorn couple ran from Eddie’s group and grabbed the colt in a family hug. “You saved our son, miss,” said the mare in between the tears that ran down her face. “That. Was. Aaaaaamazing!!” screamed another voice, followed by a splash.
Kathryn found herself knocked over and embraced by Sarah. “Oh my gosh! That was incredible Kathryn!! How did you know? How did you do all of that?” Sarah asked breathlessly.
Kathryn’s instincts finally shut off and her brain quickly got itself caught up on events. She was shocked that she had reacted like she had and on instincts alone. “I.... I don’t actually know how I did that... I just knew that something bad was happening. I zoned in on it and I guess... my magic took over,” she said stammering slightly.
She suddenly turned back to Sarah. “I transformed out of water! How the heck did I do that??” she exclaimed, jumping to her hooves. Her thoughts rolled around in her head for a moment, trying to remember every little detail as she paced. Then she turned to look back at her flank mark; a few seconds later, she made her tail appear & disappear at will.
Then the thought hit her like two ton of bricks. “Land-to-Underwater-to-Land pony rescue!” When she said it, her flank mark glowed gently in the shape of the mark, flashed to the merpony coloration and back, but nothing more.
Kathryn suddenly turned to Sarah. “That’s what my mark means! This is who and what I am. I am a rescue pony! Like... like that prince from England... what’s his name? Harry? He is... or was... a helicopter pilot who would fly and rescue people right? Well, I'm one of those who would be dropped from the ‘copter into the water and prepare the people for being hoisted up! Except that we don’t have ‘copters anymore, I guess a pegasus could carry me and fly me out to the ship’s wreckage or the life boat; I could transform myself, and then swim the life boat to safety!” Kathryn’s mark continued to lightly glow as she eagerly talked through her explanation.
When Sarah’s mind finally caught on to what Kathryn was saying, she simply hugged the pony again. As they split, Sarah looked Kathryn in the eyes. “I’d be honored to joining you to the ocean, Kathryn. I feel that your talents would best be served there.”
Kathryn squeed with delight and hugged Sarah again.
Then Eddie’s voice broke the silence as he ran to Kathryn. “Is this a party or is this a PAR-TAY???” The music started blaring again as every pony cheered, clustering around the two merponies and the saved colt, who was still being hugged by what appeared to be his adoptive parents.
Another pony had come forward, offering to modify all of the life vests so they would better fit the fillies and colts so that future accidents would not happen again, asking the colt to be a model for her. The colt gladly agreed, with permission from his parents.
Kathryn turned to Eddie. “I'm so sorry for not telling you the truth from the start, Eddie. Can you forgive me?” she asked. Eddie’s horn lit up – and this time Kathryn did not flinch – and a white lily floated from the nearby table and gently placed itself in the crook of Kathryn’s exposed ear. “You have nothing to apologize for, Kathy. I over-reacted,” he said gently before giving her another hug.
When they both reached the grill, Kathryn’s original plate had been left to the side; both carrots & corn burnt to a crisp in the excitement but a fresh plate had been prepared for her. The pony on the grill blushed as he passed her the plate; Kathryn and Eddie simply laughed.
The rest of the party went on well into the evening. The young colt she had rescued, who's name turned out to be David, returned with a small group of other fillies & colts, carrying a woven flower wreath to place on Kathryn’s head. The flowers were clearly silk-fakes, probably acquired from a dollar store & some specialty stores, like Michael’s or some such USA equivalent. Surprisingly, they were all water plants: lotus, kelp, seaweed, coral, papyrus, water clover & hyacinth, and even a tiny toonie-sized sand dollar & star fish!
Kathryn found it really sweet and so she accepted it as graciously as possible. Eddie & Sarah, who were sitting with her in a cabana at the time, gave a few “D’awww’s” that set Kathryn blushing.
A few hours later, as exhaustion began to settle on Kathryn, she excused herself to head to bed. “Tomorrow, we’ll figure out a wheeled set up for you, Sarah, and then we’ll hit the road,” Kathryn said as she downed the last of her apple juice. “I’ll come around the RV after I help with the clean up,” Eddie said as he dumped the paper plates & cups into a trash bag, to be taken to the town’s incinerator later on. Kathryn let out a long yawn as she walked for the RV in another parking lot, making a mental note to move it all to the community center first thing in the morning.
She wasn’t long in going when she realized that Raea was walking with her, carrying a t-bone in her mouth. Kathryn, too tired, could only chuckle again.
Getting back to the RV, she barely had the energy to write again in her journal but she felt the extreme need to get this all down.
Journal... I am a rescue pony. Sure, I dabbled as a lifeguard as a teenager for summer holidays and I loved watching the water rescues on TV but I never expected this all to happen. Now, in this new world we ponies are to carve out of it, my place really IS the ocean, where my abilities can do the most of good... especially if ponies start to appear while out at sea on abandoned & lifeless ships!