The Adventuring Type

by Cold in Gardez

Air Whales and Other Cetaceans

It was around dawn when a shift in the Orithyia woke Dash from a pleasant dream of some sort. She couldn’t recall the specifics, but it was warm and soft and playful and smart and smelled nice. She shook away the last foggy relics of sleep and carefully climbed out of the hammock so as not to wake Starlight.

The Orithyia shuddered as something bumped into it. Rainbow blinked at motion. A few feet away, Nutmeg stirred in his hammock.

“M’wha?” he asked.

“I think we’re touching the ‘berg.” Rainbow yawned. “Lemme go check.”

She pulled herself up the ladder and out onto the deck. The horizon to the east was a smudge of gray just beginning to lighten with the arrival of the dawn. She could barely make out the jagged black silhouettes of the far mountains. Overhead, the stars still reigned. The ‘berg was a huge, dark shape to her left, more felt than seen; it leeched the heat from half of her body and caressed her with its breath.

She squinted at the iceberg. It was over a hundred yards away, bobbing gently at the end of the lines they’d attached. Nowhere near the ship.

The hull shuddered again as something struck it. A low, keening moan filled the air, followed by a series of whistles and clicks. Rainbow sighed and trotted to the edge of the ship. Sure enough, there beside her was an adult air whale cow, rubbing her barnacle-crusted hide against the Orithyia’s cladding. It was too dark to see properly, but it looked and smelled like a baleen of some sort, perhaps twice the length of the Orithyia from nose to tail.

Hooves clattered on the deck behind her. She peered over her shoulder to see Nutmeg emerge from the hatch with a lantern dangling from his mouth. Starlight’s disheveled head popped out behind him.

“Are we hitting ice?” he asked.

“No, air whale.” She trotted toward the bow tool locker to get the deck broom. “I got it.”

“What?” Starlight asked. “What is it?”

“Air whale. Don’t worry, they’re not dangerous.” Rainbow jumped up on the rail, then leapt off, her wings snapping out to catch the air. She flapped into position beside the whale and began whacking it with the fuzzy end of the broom. “Shoo! Shoo! Go on! Get!”

It took a while, but eventually the cow got the message. It lowed at her, shaking the hollow spaces in her bones with the sound, and for a moment reared up like it might charge. But it was an air whale, so of course it backed down, and after a few more minutes of encouragement with the broom it began to swim back toward the ‘berg and the rest of its pod. Rainbow could just barely see their sleeping shapes drifting in the iceberg’s lee, awash in the cold air raining down from it like a waterfall.

By the time she got back to the Orithyia, the sun was getting near the horizon. The sky was pinking up nicely, and the stars had fled for the day. All told, she’d lost less than an hour of sleep. Probably there was a nap waiting for her later in the day. Not a bad trade, if she was being honest with herself.

Starlight was waiting by the rail when Dash returned. Her eyes were fixed on the pod of whales, and as soon as Dash landed the questions began. “What was that? Was that a real whale? Why didn’t you tell me there were whales up here! Why did you chase it away? Why was it touching the ship? Was it dangerous? Was it hungry? What do air whales eat? What—”

“Okay, stop.” Rainbow planted her hoof on Starlight’s muzzle. She trotted back to the tool locker, stowed the broom, and returned. “Okay. It’s just an air whale, no need to get excited.”

“Are you kidding? Did you see how big that thing was? It was bigger than the ship! How is it flying?”

“Magic?” Dash shrugged. “They like to hang out around air icebergs. But they’re attracted to the sound the engines make, so you have to be careful steering around them. Sometimes we even have to disengage the propellers or the whales get too close and then there’s whale all over the place. That’s no fun to clean up. Like, you know how ponies all think whales are super smart? They’re not in my experience. Kinda dumb actually.”

“Uh.” Starlight stared at the idling propellers, then back at the whales. “That’s horrible.”

“I know. The smell is terrible.” Rainbow trotted to the opposite rail and peered over. There weren’t any more whales near them. “Hey, captain! We’re clear if you want to start moving.”

Nutmeg waved in acknowledgement from the wheeldeck. A moment later the engines came alive, their hum filling the morning air and buzzing in her chest like a fuze. The propellers began to spin, and the Orithyia strained at her tethers. Behind them, the air iceberg began to slowly accelerate through the air, leaving a trail of snow and fog in its wake. The whales lingered in space for a few minutes, as if caught in their own inertia, but slowly they oriented themselves and began swimming after the iceberg, until finally the Orithyia, the ‘berg and the pod were all in relative stasis again.

Starlight was back at the aft rail, leaning out over the back of the ship as they powered on toward Groveport. The engines were running at close to full speed, and the gale they threw out shook the ship and made normal conversation impossible. Rainbow had to scrunch in beside Starlight and lean over the edge as far as she could just to shout in the unicorn’s ear.

“We’re a few hours out from Groveport,” she yelled. “Do we need to stop there for your secret mission?”

“Maybe?” Starlight tried to pin her longer mane back so it didn’t whip her in the face. “I guess we’ll find out!”

* * *

The next few hours were uneventful. Nutmeg kept them on course from the wheel while Rainbow ran the various errands necessary to keep an airship the size of the Orithyia afloat. She tightened the lines securing the superstructure to the gas envelope; she cleaned out the mercury filters in the gem-fired engines; she scraped air barnacles from the hull with a chisel and collected them in a bag (they could be sold for good money in pegasus cities). When all those mundane chores were complete, she topped off the lanterns in preparation for the evening, then split her time between Nutmeg and Starlight, chatting with each until she got bored and then switching.

It was nice having another crew member (even if Starlight wasn’t technically part of the crew and didn’t perform any duties). It gave her somepony else to talk to.

It was roundabout noon when Starlight tried to get her attention. This was a bit into Rainbow’s mid-day nap, so it took a while for her to catch on. She grumbled, stretched, and jumped out of the crow’s nest atop the envelope and soared down to the main deck where Starlight was waving for her attention.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.” She trotted up to the edge beside Starlight. The engines were just as loud as before, and the whipping winds they kicked out finally started to blast away the grogginess in her head. “What’s up!”

“The air whales!” Starlight shouted. “There’s babies!”

Oh, Celestia. Rainbow tried not to roll her eyes. Of course there were calves – pods always had calves. If there weren’t calves the adults all went their separate ways for the rest of the year. Pods only existed for the calves. She propped her elbows up on the rail and tried to focus on how excited and happy Starlight was, rather than the fact that she could still be napping.

“Babies!” Starlight grabbed her shoulder. “Look! Oh my Celestia they’re so cute! It’s like they’re smiling at us!”

Huh? Rainbow blinked and peered over the edge at the darting, flitting shapes that had Starlight so enamoured. There were at least a dozen, dancing in the wake of the Orithyia, growing closer every second.

Her blood froze. Shock, then terror washed over her. She stumbled back from the railing and scrabbled at the deck for purchase. Her heart panicked. It shook her chest with its frantic beats.

“Those aren’t whales!” she shouted. “They’re air dolphins! Nutmeg! Captain! Air dolphins! DOLPHINS!”

Nutmeg was at her side in an instant. He pulled her up, and spared the pursuing shadows only a moment of attention. Still she heard his breath catch, and felt the cold sweat breaking out on his coat. He was as terrified as she.

“Cut the lines!” His voice was high and choking. “For Celestia’s sake, cut the lines Dash!”

Right. The lines. They had to escape. Rainbow stumbled to the anchor points connecting the Orithyia to the massive iceberg trailing behind them. Her hooves shook as she tried to undo the connections. They were too tight! She fumbled with them in a panicked daze.

“What’s going on?” Starlight asked. She stood just abreast the rail, watching Dash and Nutmeg with a confused look. “What’s wrong? They’re just baby whales.”

Fool! Idiot! Dash would have yelled at her if she had the breath in her lungs. But none remained. She gasped for air. The terror she’d barely held at bay started to wash over her, and she finally pulled out her scimitar and slashed at the ropes. They fell away after two strokes, and she ran to the other side of the ship to do the same. All the while she heard the whistles and clicks of the dolphins growing closer.

“Uh.” Starlight said. “Are we, uh… should I do something?”

“Hide!” Dash shouted around the handle of the scimitar. “Luna’s teats, hide!”

She bashed at the lines with her blade. After several swings the thick rope parted, and they were free. The Orithyia swayed as it suddenly came loose, and Dash nearly tumbled to the deck. Behind them, the air dolphins swooped closer.

“We’re loose!” Dash shouted. “Go, Nutmeg! Go!!”

He heard her. The engines screamed as he pushed them to full power. A giant pressed Dash into the deck as the ship accelerated hard. Starlight screamed and fell over, just barely clinging to the rail. Behind them, the iceberg and the air dolphins receded into the distance. Dash imagined she could hear their angry whistles in the moments before the wind swallowed all sound.

* * *

Later, they went back to retrieve the ‘berg. The dolphins had all moved on, and it was safe for them to recover the lines.

They made it to Groveport the next morning, without any further difficulty. Dash apologized to Starlight for yelling at her. Starlight still didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

“That’s fine,” Dash said. “That’s good. It’s better you don’t know how terrible air dolphins are.”

Comments

[King Kenya]

Those aren’t whales!” she shouted. “They’re air dolphins! Nutmeg! Captain! Air dolphins! DOLPHINS!

“That’s fine,” Dash said. “That’s good. It’s better you don’t know how terrible air dolphins are.”

First they abandoned us to die, and now they spend their days terrifying ponies. They probably can’t get fish out of them...

[Sir Mediocre]

Ooh, look at me, I'm a flippy little dolphin, let me do a flip for ya!

[Scyphi]

Huh. Air dolphins are apparently very dangerous? More dangerous than the aquatic version, at least--they may be predators and there are reports of them occasionally attacking humans, its usually non-fatal and less common than their better known non-aggressive interactions, or so some quick research suggests. Makes me wonder, then, just what the deal is with these air dolphins...so I sort of wish Rainbow elaborated on the details anyway. Oh well.

[artofwar77]

Are they, like... overly amorous, or something?

Or should we just dare not ask?

[Ciber]

I'm just gonna put it out there. Air dolphins will gang rape you to death.
Isn't nature fascinating?

[Always Breakfast]

Air dolphins?

seganerds.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/retro_review_Ecco_the_tides_of_time_flying_dolphin.jpg

[Lurks-no-More]

Those air dolphins were lucky that a) Starlight didn't understand the situation, and b) Rainbow didn't remember they have an extraordinarily powerful and really rather dangerous unicorn mage on board.

I think it's because they're in air, and Starlight doesn't have wings, so she's by default out of her element and sort of useless in Rainbow's mind.

[A_Stupid_Name]

9431569

That plot-twist did raise a lot of questions, and there was no indication that they will be answered.
As someone else pointed out before, why wasn't Twilight blasted away by the love kamehameha? Why didn't Chrysalis notice anything? Why isn't Twilight a "changedling", and so on. And even if those questions will all be adressed in the future, it still doesn't answer why no one asked anything in the story itself.
There is a big changeling elephant in the room, and I don't see why one should come up with elaborate half-excuses to justify its presence.
To me atleast, this sudden reveal felt out of nowhere and rather forced, and I think it could have been handled better so I don't see why someone stating in the comments that they find it ridiculous for that and that reason is somehow making "not meritorious bad criticism" unworthy of even responding.

[Cold in Gardez]

9433879

I'm just amazed people expect rigorous logical consistency in a story about a mare who goes off chasing floating icebergs that just kind of got wished into existence by this story.

But different readers expect different things. If people aren't enjoying this story for whatever reason, they're free to read something else.

[A_Stupid_Name]

9433947

Of course. And just to be clear, I was only bugged by that comment, I don't plan to stop reading and I don't care if you don't care to reply to negative comments or whatever.

Still, being silly and lighthearted doesn't mean that your story didn't make sense until now. This Twilight suddenly becoming a changeling thing has been the first headscratcher so far, so I don't find surprising if someone calls it out.

[pterrorgrine]

Still the best story, even with dolphins.

[Skywriter]

It's funny, and at the same time, I want to know more.

[Sir Mediocre]

9433879
I'm exceptionally late in response, but thanks for the correction. Not sure where I got "meritous" from; although, it is apparently the name of a game.

Many questions worthy of answers go without. Many comments worthy of response go without. We're all shouting on the internet in the end. It is your choice, however, as to how long you shout, and at whom, before you take a breath.