• Published 20th Apr 2016
  • 13,195 Views, 2,320 Comments

Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky - David Silver



She can swim far and wide across the waters of Equestria, but it's not enough. There are places above those waters, places she plans to reach. Where biology failed her, her mind would succeed. Equestria better be ready, because she plans to visit!

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3 - Where Surf Meets Sand

Spike approached the strange pony despite the obvious bewilderment on his face. His strong claws grabbed at the net and he began tearing with them and gnashing teeth.

Twilight was a little more doubtful. "Um, hello? What's... your name?"

"Most ponies call me Cherry." Cherry flinched back as a claw came close. "Please tell me your friend is a nice kind of dragon?"

"Oh, Spike?" She waved a hoof through the water dismissively. "He wouldn't hurt a fly. Oh, he's Spike, and I'm... running out of breath."

"Running out of breath?" The idea seemed alien to Cherry, but Twilight was already ascending as quickly as her awkward hooves could carry her. What good was four hooves anyway? They were lousy for swimming, that much was sure.

Spike nodded at her. "I'll be right back too. Don't worry, we'll get you out of there!" He darted up after her. His claws seemed superior to hooves for propulsion, but he was a dry creature too. What were they even doing in the water at all?

Cherry swallowed quietly and gave a pull. The net had been compromised by the dragon's tearing and she had enough room to at least get her limbs in order instead of awkwardly tangled. Should she trust these strange creatures? Trusting or not, Spike had given her a good idea and she sank her sharp fish-eating teeth into the ropes binding her, worrying it diligently to work through it thread by thread. Freedom no longer felt miles away.

Above, Twilight broke the surface with a loud gasp of air even as her spell collapsed and allowed the stale air to escape. "Spike?"

He popped up a moment just beside her. "Right here."

She grabbed him at the shoulders. "Did you see that?! Was I just, was it really? I mean... A hippocampus!"

Spike couldn't get a good response while he was being shaken by the overly excited alicorn. "Calm... down... Twi... She seems nice, but she needs our help." He pointed down into the water. "She's gonna drown if we don't move fast." He dove down without even a fresh bubble and was lost to Twilight's sight.

Twilight made a bubble for herself before she submerged after him. "Spike! You're not going to help her if you go drowning yourself trying to help her." She paddeled after him, but he was going faster than her. She wasn't even sure her words could reach him with no air around him. It was probably a garbled mess, or so she figured, though the hippocampus had understood them quite well.

Cherry heard the two noises of her would-be rescuers approaching. The dragon didn't have a bubble that time. He was completely submerged. He opened his mouth but nothing but bubbles came out instead of words. With a look of pure determination, he started working at her, but he was clearly getting slower, and weaker.

Was he sick? Maybe dry creatures shouldn't be all the way wet, or so she figured. She pulled and gnawed at the ropes, squirming her way to freedom and grabbing the limp dragon. She shot right past his friend towards the dry above-ocean. If wet creatures did well in the water, surely a dry creature would do better in the dryness.

She broke the surface of her home and water flowed through her fur, running free of her and leaving her feeling wet and cold. She wasn't thinking about the strange sensation of the salty breeze playing across her, but to the small form of the brave dragon in her arms. "Come on, be alright!" She shook him a little and held him up in the dry air, propped up in her hooves as if the water as a whole were poisonous to him, which may have been the case for as little as she knew.

Twilight broke the surface as her bubble popped. "Spike! Um, Cherry, was it?"

Cherry turned in place to look at her other would-be rescuer. "Oh, uh, he was like this when I got there, I swear. Is he alright?"

Spike suddenly convulsed and spat up some water before taking a ragged breath. "W-what happened?"

Twilight drifted closer to the two with a relieved smile. "Sounds like he's alright. Set him down, please." Once Spike was put back in the water, he was hugged by the thankful Twilight. "You're a very brave dragon, but please don't do that again."

Spike pointed a claw at Cherry. "But she musta been drowning too."

"What's drowning?" Cherry tilted her head. The above really was dry! She dunked under the water before coming back up with a little sigh of relief. "Is it like the opposite of dry? I mean, what dry creatures feel in the water?"

Twilight raised a hoof from the water to tap her chin. "That's actually fairly accurate. Can you breathe in air?"

As if to demonstrate, or test, Cherry took a big breath of the dry air. Her face contorted with distaste. "Ugh! It's dryer with every breath. How do you stand it?"

Spike shrugged a little. "It's pretty damp here near the beach. Uh, so, hi! How'd you get caught in that net."

Cherry suddenly started. "Oh no! I left my thingie below. Be right back!" She dived beneath the waves gracefuly.

Twilight raised a brow curiously. "Thingie?"

Spike shrugged. "I learned not to get between a mare and her things, whatever they are."

"Excellent advice, more often than not." Twilight raised a brow lightly before she suddenly vanished beneath the surface of the water with barely a squeak.

They weren't entirely out to the ocean, but they were far enough out for some creatures to be drawn to them. Lashed around her hind right leg was a slimy tentacle as an octopus reeled in its curious catch, perhaps for a taste. Thinking quickly, Twilight looked over her shoulder and let loose a brightly-colored bolt of force.

The creature gave a warble of pain and released her, only to snag her other hindleg with another grasping feeling, and a front leg an instant later.

Spike gave a bubbly war cry as he charged the watery beast with his claws at the ready, only to be swatted aside with another tentacle. It seemed to have countless many of them to confound the two.

With a rush of water, Cherry charged onto the scene and crashed into one of the tentacles grabbing at Twilight. It recoiled with an angry roar, but she was already diving at the other that held her new friend. "They aren't fish, leave'em alone!"

It grasped for her, but she dove around it, curling even as it did to do a graceful loop just out of its reach. "Surf off!"

What had seemed to be an easy snack was turning into a significant effort. The octopus glared balefully at the kindred creature of the waves before it drifted away from the scene.

Twilight quickly paddled to the surface beside Spike, with Cherry popping up an instant later. With a loud huff of breath, Twilight smiled. "Is everypony alright?" That's when she saw it. Cherry was wearing an odd thing around her waist. It was made of metal and had two hooves coming out of it. "What is that?"

"You don't recognize it?" Spike pointed at it. "It's a part of that stupid robot."

"What's a robot?" Cherry tilted her head. "I found it! It's mine now." She put her hooves over the belt protectively.

Twilight waved her forehooves in the air, dripping water. "Nopony is trying to take it away from you. Look, can we get out of the water? All this swimming is tiring."

Cherry looked left and right before her eyes settled on The Dry. "On there?" She shrank away a little with obvious fear.

Spike put a claw on her shoulder. "It's not so bad. You're not a fish. You'll be alright for a little while. We'll stay by the water, promise."

She followed after them as they began to go closer and closer to The Dry. "Look, I saved both of you once, so if I start dying, you'll throw me back in the water, alright? I'm not scared or anything!" She glanced around as she made her bald-faced lie. "I'm just playing it safe, you know?"

Twilight gave a gentle smile. "Don't you worry. We're friends now. Oh! Silly me. In all that excitement, I neglected to share my name. I am Twilight Sparkle, and it's nice to meet you."

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," corrected Spike as they swam.

"Princess?!" Cherry stopped a moment, though catching up with her new friends was easily done. "You're a princess?!"

Twilight flushed lightly. "I didn't want to intimidate you. Please, just consider me a friend. You're not even a citizen of Equestria, technically, so I'm not your princess."

"One thing." Cherry thrust a hoof out of the water. "If I can swim in here, I always thought dry creatures swam in the above-ocean. I've seen dry creatures doing it before. Why aren't you two?"

Spike looked dumbfounded and clammed up, but Twilight frowned sharply with obvious thought. "What did you see that 'swam' in the air?"

Cherry looked around before she spied a seagull and pointed at it. "There! See, it's swimming through the above-ocean quite well. You even have parts that look like its flippers." She reached out and brushed a hoof along one of Twilight's wings. "See? Why aren't you swimming? Spike doesn't have flippers, so I guess I understand him."

Twilight giggled a little at the confusion. "Oh! We call that 'flying'. I never got the hang of taking off from water before, but I can 'swim' in the air."

Spike snorted softly. "Some dragons have wings. I'm not just any dragon though."

Cherry flashed a sharp-toothed smile at him. "You're a hero dragon, the best kind."

Her statement quickly mollified and brought a burning blush to Spike's cheeks. "Aw, I was just doing what I had to. Anypony woulda done the same."

Twilight reached with a wing and hugged Spike close briefly. "You can be so modest sometimes. I can count on Spike when things get really chancy." She put down her hooves and rose from the water as they got into shallow enough water to stand. She was a tall pony though, growth encouraged by her ascension.

Spike quickly paddled another foot to find his own footing, but Cherry wasn't so fast. She could feel the ground beneath her, and the water... It was so shallow. It was truly The Dry. She was facing it. Her breathing felt raspy, but she was breathing. It was uncomfortable, but... She licked her lips anxiously. "Can we talk here? I'll stay in this little water and you can sit on your dry not-ocean."

"Hey!" came a sudden agitated voice. A unicorn stallion approached them from the boardwalk with a scowl. "Who's that, and why do they have a piece of my machine? Where's the rest?! Did you damage it? That cost no few bits, I'll have you know!"

Author's Note:

Time for a convention! Meanwhile, somepony's a bit miffed to see his machine in pieces.

Somepony's gonna have to pay for this!

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