Barnaby Beach
As Twilight sat on the train seat, her head swam with possibilities of what was to come. She stared outside the window with a worrisome look up at the passing landscape. Her sister in law was also in a similar state, the only sound the mares and Shining heard was the low rattling of the train. The metal snake tread across hill and valley on its grim journey to seek the dark king; Sombra.
The memories of his terrible deeds still burned in Twilight's mind. She decided to turn her fear to anger, and amplify it onto the grim unicorn upon arrival. The royal couple huddled together, Cadence rested her head on her husband's shoulder. All of Twilight's friends seemed toned down, even Pinkie Pie was mellow. A day passed of straight travel and the tension only grew, it was a sudden surprise to all aboard when the train screeched to a halt. A conductor entered the train car and nodded leave for the ponies. They all grabbed their bags and left the train. Overhead the Applewood sun shown brightly in a pale blue sky.
The train picked up a few passengers heading east and lumbered off, leaving Twilight and her friends alone in the bright, cheery environment. Around them was a slew of ponies, griffons, zebras, and even some diamond dogs. All wearing Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses and swim suits. The sheer mass of the crowd filled the area and streets leading to the station. In the distance the ocean could be seen. It had several sail boats of all sizes. Even a cruise ship was in port.
Rarity was the first to speak,"So are we staying at a hotel or are we meeting somepony who has a place for us to stay?"
Twilight's and Cadence's face went blank, did they reserve a hotel? Neither could remember.
"Spike, I need you to send a message-" Twilight said then trailed off," Spike?"
"He ain't here, 'member?" Applejack said," He's back at the Crystal Empire."
Twilight blinked for a moment. She threw her bag at the ground," Cheese and sprinkles Spike! The one time I actually need you and where are you?! Sitting on your patooky in some castle!" She landed hard on her haunches. She sat fuming as ponies stared in confusion.
"I know your upset..." Fluttershy offered," but is this the place to talk like that? And...um...those were some mean thing you said about Spike..."
Twilight sighed heavily," I...I'm sorry everypony. First things first, we need a base of operations."
She stood up and brushed herself off, clearing her throat she continued," So I'm going to need some of us to ask around for information about Sombra's whereabouts and others looking for a place to sleep."
"I shall look for a hotel," Rarity announced," I have an eye for detail. Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, will you accompany me? Having royalty would get us a nice suite!"
The royals walked along side the Unicorn and all of her luggage as she headed off into the crowd. Applejack offered to talk to the locals for information about the shadowy king. Dash and Fluttershy went of in another direction with the same mission, leaving Pinkie and Twilight at the foot of a palm tree in the Applewood station.
"Hey, Twi." Pinkie asked quietly.
"Yes? What's your plan?"
The usually upbeat mare seemed regressed somehow, Twilight had rarely seen Pinkie like this. Pinkie limply leaned over to Twilight and hugged her tight. Twilight was confused for a moment, then hugged back.
"I know how you feel, this is a very important mission," she made a reassuring laugh," Oh, don't cry Pinkie! We beat Sombra before, we can do it again!"
"No, that's not it," the pink mare whimpered.
"Not it?" Twi asked aghast," Then what is making you so upset?"
"I...I...," Pinkie began bawling,"I forgot to bring the party cannon!"
Twilight was half surprised and half relieved, that thing was helpful only some of the time. She patted Pinkie's shoulder along with a caring smile,"Don't worry...we may not be here too long. You'll be fine Pinkie Pie."
"Okay," Pinkie said suddenly," I'm gonna go to the beach and see if there's a party!" She bounced off into the crowd.
Twilight now sat alone in the train station. She sighed heavily and decided to see if there was a book store of some kind that my help her, he really didn't know what else to do. Twilight gazed at her surroundings; the palm trees lining the streets, how happy everypony looked in the sun light and the warm sea breeze flowing through her mane.
"I have to end this once and for all," she though to herself," I can't let Sombra' evil taint another innocent place."
Sitting next to a cafe was a short little griffon that , as some would say, 'flipped their lid' when she saw twilight. She buzzed over to the alicorn and promptly blocked her path. Her appearance was different then most griffons Twilight had met. Instead of an eagle front this one looked more like an albatross with a tabby cat rear.
"What is an alicorn doing here?" the odd griffon asked rudely.
"Excuse me?" Twi had been taken by surprise at the Griffon's sudden entrance.
"Royalty neeeever comes out here," she said rolling her eyes," It's to 'rustic' or 'uncouth'."
Twilight thought for a moment, should she tell the civilian the real reason for her visit? Twi popped her head to the side,"Do you have a problem with me being here?" she asked defencively.
The griffon began sweating," N-no..not at a-all," she said nervously,"Its just that...your kind never did like Applewood very much..."
"Well, I'm here aren't I?" Twilight said triumphantly," So I'll put in a good word over east for you guys, okay? Now shoo."
The griffon looked relived, and with a happy nod flew over the low skyline. Not to far down the street was a store just to Twi's liking, a book store. She trotted carefully over in case Sombra struck out from the shadows. She arrived at the entrance and opened the door quietly. The air was sweet smelling and hazy. The sun shown through the thatch curtains giving the whole room and all of it's shelves a warm yellow glow.
At the side of the room putting books on a shelf was a creature Twilight had never seen. It had the back end of a zebra and the front end of something resembling a deer. Twilight moved quietly over the counter, while the strange creature became blocked from view by a book shelf.
She reached for the bell on the counter and once she rung it, a voice came from behind the book shelf," Ja, I'll be there in a moment," With a voice that sounded similar to Zecora's, save the rhyming.
The creature moved behind the counter slowly and the entire time she did so, Twi stood frozen. Once their eyes met, Twilight flinched slightly.
"Yes? May I help you?" The creature asked with a dry tone.
"Ummm...uhh," Twilight was at a loss of words. She had never seen anything like this before.
The Book store owner raised an eyebrow,"Can you speak?"
While Twilight fumbled miss matched syllables in her nervous state, the entrance door opened. The alicorn didn't look behind her, she was already to preoccupied with the stranger in front of her.
"Hey Afua," the voice said in a peppy girlish tone," There are some new ponies in town. Two of them are the royals from that Crystal place. And Swish saw an alicorn too, can you believe it?"
Afua, leaning onto the counter, responded dryly,"I think this one here is new too. She's never seen me before."
The voice belonged to a earth pony who moved up next to Twilight," Yep, never seen her before," She grimaced when she saw Twilight's numbed face,"...is she okay?"
Twilight stopped mumbling randomly and looked at the pony. The earth pony was sky blue with short curly blonde hair. Her grey eyes studied Twilight.
"Hey, you alright?" the blue mare asked worriedly,"You aren't sick or something, are you?
Twilight leaned over to her and whispered," What is that?"
"I'm an Okapi, thank you," Afua said sharply," Brook, can you...educate her? I've got a new shipment of novels coming in and I can't chat."
"Sure can Jail Butt," the blue mare giggled," Come on pilgrim, lets go."
Twilight apologized to Afua for not knowing what an Okapi was only to be met with another annoyed look. Twilight then rushed to the door where Brook was waiting. With an awkward smile the alicorn followed Brook down the palm lined street.
"So, what brings you to Applewood?" Brook asked.
"Well..." Twilight wasn't sure if she should let anypony know about her mission," On vacation," she said.
"Ohh, sorry," Brook said," There's a big boating convention going on this weekend...all of the hotels for twenty miles are booked."
Twilight thought about Rarity, wouldn't she like to hear that? So...is there anyplace my friends and I can stay?" Twilight asked.
"Hmmm...there's my place...but first," Brook raised an eyebrow,"How many friends did you bring?"
"Oh...there's eight including me,"Twilight said looking at the shops and ponies they passed," Is that too many?"
"We could go down to Barnaby Beach. I have some friends there who may have some room, that is...if they like you anyways..."
"Thanks, Miss Brook," Twilight smiled,"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Twilight Sparkle."
Brook nodded,"No, please. Call me Bablin' Brook-" the blue mare stopped in her tracks. Twilight gave her a puzzled look.
"You're Twilight Sparkle?" Brook gasped," THE Twilight Sparkle?"
The alicorn lifted her wings with a bashful smile,"That's me."
Brook danced in a circle with fan-girlish glee," ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! You're Twilight Sparkle!!"
"You seem excited...not everypony get's like that when they see me," Twilight said sheepishly.
"Whaaaaaat? How dare they!? You're the princess who saved Luna from being Nightmare Moon, reformed the spirit of chaos...like a bunch, saved the Crystal Empire from the Shadow King Sombra, and not to mention the butt-kicker of that giant demon monster!" Brook somehow said in one breath.
Twilight blushed slightly," Oh, it wasn't just me. My friends helped me out."
Brook began pacing around on the side walk. Several ponies walking by made some judging glances,"You said eight ponies were with you," Brook inhaled sharply,"Dose that mean you and the Dream Team are here!?" she asked bright eyed.
"Yes, I guess. My Ponyville friends are here along with Cadence and Shining. Dose that count?"
Brook hopped in a circle and squealed. Twilight was used to being the 'Door Mat' princess, as some ponies said. Always going after something and doing a job for somepony else. Seeing this much excitement almost embarrassed Twilight. She tried to gain Brook's attention but the mare was to busy with her enthusiasm.
Brook gasped and grabbed Twilight's hoof quite suddenly,"Princess! There's someone you just have to meet!"
With that Twilight was dragged to a smaller street that led to the beach. The street ahead of them faded into the white sands where tents and all sorts of Equestrians were gathered. Sail boats could be seen on the hill they were on and the sound of the boating crowd was audible from where the two mares were.
Twi looked at Brook with a bashful look,"We're not going into that are we?"
Brook giggled,"No your Highness, were going somewhere else," She turned quiet all of a sudden. She had a heavy blush on her cheeks, causing Twi to raise an eyebrow,"Ummm...could you..." Brook stuttered.
"What is it Brook?"
"Well...the cove I wanted to take you is quite a way's away, and I don't want to interrupt or be rude or anything. It's just that well, you have wings and...I've always wanted to fly..." Her voice trailed away as her hoof scuffed the ground timidly.
"So, you want a ride?" Twi asked casually. Brook's ears shot up.
"Y-you mean it? I-I get to fly?!" Brook asked with a big smile.
"Sure," Twilight agreed.
She hoisted Brook with her magic as the alicorn flew into the air. Brook covered her eyes and peeked every once and awhile. Twilight pulled Brook beside her like a balloon as she circled the ships over the water.
"Bablin', you can't enjoy flying if you don't look around, come on." Twilight smiled.
A few minuets went by as Brook became accustomed to the height, she even held her forearms out like wings. Twi was enjoying the flight as well, but she soon became impatient,"Now, Brook. Where is that beach you told me about?"
"Oh, oh, my bad. I almost forgot! It's ummm..." She scanned the low buildings, dense port and stuffed streets.
A few kilometers down the coast and away from the city was a large rock surrounded by tropical trees.
Brook swung her hooves it's direction,"There it is! Barnaby Beach!" She cried triumphantly.
Twilight flew over and tried to play along with the upbeat pony. Her mind was still focused on Sombra and how she planned on defeating him. Babblin' Brook spun and twirled mid-air in the magic cloud that surrounded her.
Twilight rolled her eyes with a playful smile,"So, tell me Brook. Why's it called Barnaby's Beach?"
"Oh, that's simple. That's the name of the big, blue-white shark that lives there," The blue mare said matter-of-factly.
Twilight's eyes widened. She tried to keep her voice from shouting in response,"You said...s-shark? As in a Carcharodon carcharias? A-a g-great white shark?"
"I think that's what he is, but don't worry," Brook grinned," He's got no teeth."
Twilight's nerves calmed,"So he's friendly?"
"Kinda...only me, Swish, Afua, and Summer know that he can't eat ponies. Barnaby still goes around and scares swimmers and even boaters out of that beach." Brook spoke about a great white shark as if he was a big stray dog.
Twilight noticed that they were very close to the small patch of trees...and the beach,"H-he wont try and eat me...will he?"
"Nah, and if he dose just poke him in the eye then run for shore. He hates that." Brook smiled as she floated upside down.
Twilight cautiously flew past the trees to see the beach, from what geography she knew it looked more like a small gulf then a stretch of sand touching the water. The sand was white with palm trees leaning over to the water, and in the trees was a sturdy thatch hut with several surf boards next to it. The water in the gulf-like space moved in in large, even paced waves that rolled over themselves as they graced the sands. She scanned the water nervously for Barnaby, no silhouette or fin sticking out of the water.
"Good," Twi thought to herself,"I only need one dangerous creature to worry about."
She landed on the sand and planted Brook softly next to her. Twilight looked around at 'Barnaby Beach' while Brook got to her hooves and trotted over to the hut.
"Suuuuuummer?" Babblin' Brook called,"Summer, there's somepony important here. She needs a place to crash for a bit...Summer?" A soda cup rolled past her on the empty gulf like a tumble weed. She trotted back to Twilight,"I don't think he's here. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we hung out here though."
Twilight placed a hoof to her face,"Thank you Brook. Now that I know where my base of operations is, I need to find my friends."
"Oh, oh, oh, can I come?" Bablin' clapped her hooves in anticipation.
"Could you wait here, its still noon...I'll bring them all here before dark okay?" Twilight said hurriedly.
Brook's smile became crestfallen,"Oh...I see. I'll let Summer know about you if he shows up."
Twilight patted her on the back and thanked the helpful blue mare before she took off into the air. As she neared the city Twilight scanned the streets to see her friends. Outside of the more fancy buildings near the beach Rarity could be seen with a pink face shouting at a diamond dog in a suit. Cadence and Shining were a few feet behind her, acting as if they never knew the irate mare. Once Twilight landed Rarity turned her focus towards her.
"Where have you been?" Rarity grit her teeth," These...characters say the whole hotel is booked. Absolutely no room for any more guests, even with three members of royalty here! This is simply...uncouth." She said with a venomous look to the bouncer, who buckled slightly under her glare.
"Rarity, it's okay. I found somepony named Brook who was willing to let her stay at her place. Come on Shining, Cadence, I'll take you there."
The white unicorn flicked her mane,"I hope it isn't to close to the ocean. The sea breeze is beginning to friz up my beautiful hair!"
Meanwhile; Applejack had now given up talking to the Applewood Ponies, they simply didn't want anything to do with her. For what reason she didn't know. As she walked slowly down a stuffed street she received nothing but unpleasant looks but catching a glance of a rainbow mane lifted her spirits. She squeezed through the crowd and found Rainbow dash and Fluttershy at a street corner, they waved her over when they saw the cowpony.
"Found out anythin'?" Applejack asked the two pegsi. The both shook their heads regretfully.
"The whole place is crazy right now,"Rainbow Dash scoffed,"Something about this egghead boat convention."
"Ah know, all of these folks aren't payin' any attention to nothin but themselves an their boats," Applejack crinkled her nose at the crowd.
"So...what are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked,"Nopony will talk to us, wait..." She looked off down the street,"Is that Twilight?"
Sure enough, there was Twilight with the other horned ponies of their party. They met half way through the street and greeted one another. Applejack was the first to bring the crew on track.
"So...any new on you-know-who? We haven't found 'anythin" Applejack said dejectedly.
"Sorry, no news over here," Cadence said,"But Twi found a place for us to stay, isn't that right?"
Twilight nodded. She led them through the crowds into the outskirts of the town. Now their surroundings were more of big houses and trees then two story shops and offices. The houses became smaller and smaller as they walked further, soon only trees were around them on a sandy path. The path led to a clearing and a sign to their left which read;
BARNABY BEACH
...beware of sharks, okay?
Everypony besides Twilight read and reread the sign. They were about to protest when Pinkie's distinct laugh could be heard, along with another. It sounded like something rather large.
"...and I said oatmeal? Are you crazy?"
"Bwahahahar," the big voice chortled,"Ya know, fer a little horsey ya sure are funny!"
"Thanks B Man!" Pinkie said.
Twilight and her friends couldn't imagine what was going on so they tip-toed (or hooved, because ponies don't have toes) though the last bit of foliage to see the 'shark infested' beach. There was Pinkie sitting on top a beach ball in the water with a great white shark swimming in slow circles around her. Twilight and the rest panicked and raced to the shore to save their friend but the two in the water laughed.
"You all can't go swimming yet," Pinkie called atop the beach ball,"You don't have any swim suits on!"
"What about you?" Dash asked,"You're right next to a shark! I think you need to get out of the water instead of us getting in!"
"You should see the look on your faces!" the pink mare giggled,"Don't tell me you're scared of..." She pulled the side of the sharks mouth," Barnaby? He's just like Gummy, no teeth!" The shark groaned as he indirectly spun the ball and Pinkie in a circle.
"But he's a shark," Fluttershy said quietly," You shouldn't be playing with him, they-"
"Lookie here little little yeller thing," the shark barked. Sadly his harsh tone was ruined by the fact that he had to constantly move in a circle and had no teeth to growl through," I haven't eaten somthin' with legs in over twelve years, so hush yer grass eatin' mouth."
"Barnaby!" a mare's voice said. Twi turned around to see it was Babblin' Brook,"Now, Barnaby. What have we talked about?"
"But, Brook!" the fish whined,"They were talkin' as if I was gonna eat em!"
It took awhile for Twilight and her friends to grow accustomed to the shark, but Pinkie's enthusiasm and Brook's reassurance helped them settle down. They asked Brook about the Boating convention as well as Barnaby. The mare said it was to see which rich pony had the fanciest boat, on the other hand, Barnaby said it was all a big headache. Twilight asked her Ponyville friends to gather at the thatch hut. Brook's prying ears were politely shoved away from the A.S.M. (Anti-Sombra meeting)
"Alright, so everypony has their element right?" Twilight checked. Her friends nodded.
"I think our best option is that we should set up some sort of bait for him," Shining suggested,"We could use a growing spell on a crystal or a gem of some kind. He'd probably follow that like a moth to a flame."
"I think we should just hunt that poor sap down," Rainbow Dash smirked,"After all, he's a lot weaker then he was, right?"
While the Equestrians were debating, Brook sat near the shore and watched the sun as it began to set. The shark had left awhile ago and the beach seemed surprisingly lonely. Out of the pathway, a dark grey unicorn stallion with a dull red Hawaiian shirt walked towards Brook with a pair of grocery bags in tow. When the mare turned around to see him and her heart lit up.
"Summer! You're back...with groceries?" Babblin' looked puzzled.
The unicorn laughed, it was warm and twangy sound,"I needed some tofu for the party were going to have this weekend, don't tell me you forgot."
Brook rolled her eyes,"No...cors' I didn't...but hey, there's some ponies from out of town that you should meet."
"Huh, the whole town's crowded isn't it?" Summer said, his mood matching his name,"So how far out of town are they?"
"Well," Brook held her excitement,"It's the gang from Ponyville, and...and the Royal Couple from the Crystal Empire! Isn't it great?"
Summer broke into a sweat, he darted his eyes around in half panic. He put the groceries in front of the blue mare and backed away nervously, "I...I forgot...something...carrots! Yes, I forgot to get those...and bananas!"
Without another word, he darted down the sandy path into the trees. Brook peeked into the bags and in them she found Cider, tofu, carrots, bananas and paper plates. She looked back up to where Summer diapered to with a look of suspicion. She heard a splash and there was the shark.
"Heheheh, what a weenie!" The fish chortled.
Brook's sat on her haunches atop the sandy beach. She watched him dart away, wondering why such a mellow guy would act like that. Summer had just shown up at Applewood after she hit some rocks while surfing, he dived into the water and pulled Brook to safety on the surface. She overheard that the infamous Sombra was still alive and in the area but...that couldn't be true. Could it?
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summers huh, well nice cover story sombre .... how long do you think you'll be able to hide though, got to be some potential link in your house. though I guess you could use disguise magic, shame your friend knows what you look like though so he'd comment on your missing horn.
might be time to hide in some under water caves for a while, shame it'll raise questions on where you went... good luck sombra.
lots of spelling mistakes, you might want someone to go over it.
the formatting is also all over the place, either indent everything or nothing.
5619244 Zel, I really do appreciate when you guys...proof read I guess? I'm sorry there's some errors in this, a lot has been going on with classes recently. I'll try to keep future chapters free of errors...
So... the same errors as the first chapter are still present. I like the story so far, but most of the dialogue is paced awkwardly to the point where i have to re-read it several times to figure out what goes in the quotation marks. Also, Sombra is usually misspelled as Sombera.
Also a random occurrence of the word "diapered". I think that's supposed to be disappeared, but i had to have someone else tell me.
I probably only have the mental fortitude to read one more chapter if these errors are still present in the next one. They really break the flow of the narrative for me. Please either re-read what you write or hire an editor or two. It will greatly improve your final product.
Dun, Dun....... DDDDUUUUUNNNNN!
Sombra.... Really?
Can you not spell Sombra?