Caravel

by Odd_Sarge

Equipped

The wet leaves crunched beneath my hooves as I trotted after Heavy Keel. We had rowed out here on a small landing boat, though I did most of the rowing, mostly because Keel was insistent about getting me prepared for “the next leg of our adventure.” Obviously, that was just a load of hay; it was all just Keel being too lazy. If I had asked him why he was being lazy, he probably would have replied with something about “using too much magic” or whatever.

“Come on, Blue! We’ve got to find my stash so we can get you properly outfitted before you head on down to the seaponies!” Keel spoke up from a bout of dense jungle foliage ahead of me.

“Oh, is that what we’re doing now? Why didn’t you tell me when we were back on the ship? You said it was a, and I will quote, ‘a super special secret surprise.’” Yet again, Keel was getting on my nerves.

“Well that would take the fun out of it, wouldn’t it?” I rolled my eyes.

“No, it would make things a whole lot easier though, because I’m pretty sure that the ship had some diving gear I could use.” I smirked in silent victory as the griffon’s voice stopped responding. Then I paused, he should’ve replied with his annoying brand of old sage wisdom.

“Heavy Keel? You over here?” I cut some leaves aside with my sabre, brushing them out to take a step into an open clearing. I took a quick look around. There was a beautiful clear pond in the center, with a small group of turtles relaxing on a log near the edge, enjoying their private sunbathe in the middle of the jungle. The already thin canopy cut loose at the edges of the clearing to reveal the sun, almost in the center of the sky.

That was strange, it had been near midnight when we had entered the jungle. Why was the sun out? It should have been half past midnight at this point— Wait, why is the moon out again? Before I had even a chance to look around for more sudden changes in the surroundings, I heard a quiet splash. My head shot over to stare at the group of turtles now escaping from me. The moonlight glistened off of their wet shells as they swam to the center of the pond, disappearing beneath the surface one by one. I blinked slowly.

That was something different… but it didn’t help me find the captain in the slightest.

But that giant wooden chest soaring out of the water right at me might have to do with him.

My eyes widened as I ducked for cover, sand and mud following me as I dove behind a nearby rock. The chest landed on the edge of the pond with a loud thud, mud flying everywhere in the process. I sat still behind the rock for a time, my breathing heavy and uneasy. Carefully, I took a peek over the rock.

The chest was muddy, but even through the debris, I could tell that the container had been lovingly crafted and appraised by its carpenter. It was huge, and well designed for aesthetics. Small specks of gold shone moonlight along their homes as the trim on the sides and lock of the chest. Two silver dragons curled into two beautiful handles. Perhaps this was the captain’s stash? I made my way out from the rock and cautiously through the mud and sand to the chest, sabre at the ready.

I wiped away a smudge covering the front of the chest, revealing a beautiful gold insignia in the form of a ship with its sails at full mast. It seemed familiar, somehow. If a captain was looking for a chest to store their valuables and personal accessories, then this was the place. It was apparent that there had been a key in the lock on the chest at one point, but all that remained was a broken rust pin that I discarded beside me. I brought both my hooves to the latches on the sides and heaved the container open.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from a buried treasure chest, but what was inside at first glance almost threw me off. A pair of rotten captain’s garments lay on top of a huge pile of items inside the chest. The garments bore the insignia of the same golden vessel on the front. This time, however, I recognized the details fully; it was the symbol of the Royal Equestrian Navy. I moved the garments aside and almost gasped in shock. There was no treasure to be found in the chest, but there was one beautiful piece of hardware still left inside.

“You look like a chick who’s going to their first day at the arena.” I looked up at Keel in surprise. He tossed a large, wet piece of limestone off to the side, mud flying off of it in the process.

“Oh, I’m sorry, this yours?” I smiled cheekily at the old captain who simply shook his head at me.

“Judging from your surprise, I’d say you found my favorite little toy.” I nodded dumbly. He motioned towards the box with his head. “Well? Go ahead, take a look at ‘er.” I nodded again and focused my attention on the chest.

With my telekinesis, I brushed the captain’s cloak aside and lifted out quite a lofty crossbow, bearing the same REN insignia. It too, like the chest, was trimmed with silver. Hanging from the bottom of the foregrip by a tiny hook was a closed bag, labeled in faded embroidering, “Bolts.”

As I resumed my search, I took notice of a large bag at the bottom. A very, very large bag. My telekinesis struggled to keep a hold of it as I lifted it out. I set it down with a huff and smiled up at the captain.

“Now that right there, is the gear you’re going to need for going to seapony depths.” Oh. It was diving gear, of course. No wonder the bag had been so stupidly heavy. I took a deep breath and opened the bag.

“... What the hay is this?” I pulled out a small black cube, proudly displaying a red button on top of it.

“Just press it,” he smiled at me. I glanced suspiciously between him and the cube and shrugged. I pressed the button…

… And stood there awkwardly as a simple transparent bubble appeared around me. I poked it experimentally. This was the gear he had? It was just a cube that weighed like a thousand tons and gave me a bubble? I looked down at the cube, and was surprised to see it was gone.

“You are standing in a MK IV Ballast Underlain Beryllium Bubble Leveled Environment, or B.U.B.B.L.E. for short.” I glanced around me warily.

“Isn’t beryllium… You know, a metal?” He beamed at me, happy with my knowledge.

“You would be correct! You are actually standing inside a transparent case of beryllium-aluminium alloys. The fuel for the B.U.B.B.L.E. is taken from the water around you, where oxygen is removed, and the excess hydrogen is used to power a built in propulsion system within the casing!”

Sweet Celestia…

“This is awesome!” I jumped happily and went zipping about, the mud simply sliding off of the bubble as I ran in circles around the chest. I slid to a stop and turned to the griffon, a little confused.

“But how do you know so much about it? And how did you have this kind of stuff years ago? Because that’s some pretty futuristic sounding stuff.” Keel laughed at my amusement and smiled wholeheartedly.

“A griffon’s gotta know what kind of equipment he’s working with, especially the experimental stuff.” This stuff was experimental too? This was getting better and better!

“So I get to use this stuff when I meet the seaponies?” He raised a claw and continued laughing.

“Slow down there, chick. Yes, you will be using it, but first, we’re going to have to go through some training so I can teach you how it really works.”

“Awesomeeee!”

The curious and excitable side of me had taken hold, and my serious facade would have to return at a later time. After all, science is cool.

Now I just had to get through this training and then I would finally be able to meet those seaponies.

Author's Note:

“You are standing in a MK IV Ballast Underlain Beryllium Bubble Leveled Environment, or B.U.B.B.L.E. for short.”

This was an awesome chapter to write, especially at the end there. I was going to for a more traditional atmospheric diving suit, but the more nerdy side of me decided to take hold. This story wasn't set place in the exploration days of Equestria, after all. We needed a little bit of awesome science to make a place in the story.

So yes, it is basically futuristic transparent sphere made up of a beryllium-aluminum alloy. I don't know how that would work, but it sounds amazing to me, and this is a story that I'm writing for fun, not realistic accuracy.

Comments

[Ice Star]

Hell yeah, I wanna see some sea ponies!