Indomitable

by Slendy

Bonus Chp. - Water Dance

"I said I'm fine..."

"No, you're not, relying on that healing constantly will have adverse effects."

"Since when did you know so much about magic?"

*Thwack*

"Ah! Okay-Okay, you win!" I gently rubbed the lump on my forehead as I sat rigidly before Yui, her hooves moving carefully to replace my bandaged wounds, some lingered from our battle with Narga roughly a day ago. We made steady progress but this forest has been adamant about not letting us out

For the longest time, we sat in silence, I had to sit awkwardly as she mimicked my medical work though she was by far more accustomed to it. After a second to check she sat back with a sigh. "Well, on the bright side your body is healing faster, even without that 'Life Dew', you should be back to one hundred percent in a day or two."

I nodded then picked out some dry branches I had. "I'll start a fire then, doubt we'll get much farther with the sun this low." I saw her nod while tugging her hood closer for a second. "Say, why do you always keep your hood up?"

Her head bobbed. "Huh?" She put a hoof to her chin before replying. "I just prefer it that way, when I'm around a lot of ponies I can get really flustered, but when I wear this I feel confident, and sort-of like the real me." Her voice was very lost in those words, shaking her head. "Sorry, not really the best answer."

"No-No, you do you," I returned to the fire, carefully placing the materials away from the trees. "Want to see if there's a spring nearby, could use a refill?"

Now her smile was back. "Leave it to me, be back in a few." With a bounce, she hopped up and over a fallen log and out of sight

~---~

"Hey! Zen! Come see this!" Her voice carried through the trees and without a moment to lose I grabbed my hatchet and propelled off the trees, crossing through the thicket in a matter of seconds toward the blue flame

"Yui, what's up?" I came to a stop, just as a blue cloth blinded me, a small trinket falling from a hidden pocket. I grumbled through the fabric before I tore it off, finding it to be Yui's hood, this was immediately followed by a splash. Ah yes, I to love no explanation as to this outcome...

From where I stood my feet were before a bank overlooking a large pool of steamy water, and from how damp the air was I assumed it was a natural hot spring, there were a few other pools with a river leading off in the direction we strolled. Must be an active fault nearby, otherwise, I'd be seeing a lot more cooked fish right about now.

"Ah! Hahaha, this is amazing~!" Yui flew out from the water, smiling blissfully as the last rays of sunlight painted quite the sight of her mane flowing through the air with the droplets. "Zen?"

"H-huh, uh, y-yeah?" I quickly recovered and used her hood to purposefully cover my redden face as I noticed the item from before. Plucking off the edge of the spring, I noted that housed in a brass cage was a strange, multicolored crystal, an imperfect sphere that was about the size of a golf-ball. The light wasn't refracting through it, these colors were directly infused into the stone. "What's this?"

"Aah! I forgot about that!" Yui swam up to the edge, looking moderately panicked with her hoof swaying back and forth. "Don't worry about it, gimmie-gimmie-gimmie!"

My sly smile formed. "Oh, is it that important?" Her head vigorously nodded, and I looked to it with a keen eye. "You know I swear I've seen this before... but where?"

"Not important! What are you, a dragon?" She huffed, I just chuckled

"Lucario."

"Don't you 'Lucario' me, dummy, hand over my gemstone," Her hoof continued to prod between us. I knelt down, setting it back on her hood

"What is it? I've never heard of an ore that looks like hardened rainbows?" Now that my teasing was over she smirked and immediately pulled me under, my yelp drowned out as I sunk into the warmth of the spring

My body soon sat down at the bottom, my legs crossed with my arms as I narrowed my eyes in a deep sense of concentration.

...You know something, this is a new feeling... should have seen this coming, well played... Bubbles ejected from my mouth and I dove back up to meet the laughing Bat-Pony, her amusement soon transferred to me as the two of us played off the incident with ease, though sadly my bandages had become damp so they'll need replacing later

For a few minutes we either floated or sat by the edge of the hot spring, the first real, warm bath I have gotten since arriving in Equestria, and I had to admit it was worth the long wait, all those weeks of back-breaking labor, the catacombs, and two monsters suddenly meant so little in the face of just feeling clean and stress-free.

"It's a gift from my grandad," Yui broke the silence, her body floating as she kept her eyes to the sky. "The gemstone was his last major discovery as an archeologist, and the only mystery left unsolved in his career, he's the reason I am who I am, he was my hero... and I wanted to be an even greater explorer," Her smile grew with pride. "I do this for a living, so money is a necessity, but I primarily do this as he would, the ponies of the past can't tell their stories, and some are lost forever, so I want to find them, to give their memory a sense of value again, that's why that archive was my goal."

Her ideals were certainly ambitious. "If I ever meet him, I'll be sure to tell him you're the best explorer there is," That made her sink, her muzzle beneath the water, words muffled by water. "I mean it, and... to be frank, I'm glad it was you I ran into first," I smiled earnestly at the flustered Bat-Pony. "Thank you for being my friend."

Yui nodded sheepishly beneath the water, so with a concealed paw, I flicked a tiny aura sphere her way, letting it erupt under the water, spraying her face with a wave as I burst into a fit of laughter. "Haha, now we're even!"

"Grah, now you've asked for it!!" She bellowed, grinning cunningly as her hooves swept a wave toward me, but I dived, appearing to the left. "I'm not done yet! You're not the only one with special moves..." Yui went full chuunibyou, laughing maniacally. "Behold the forces of nature at my disposal! Dark Wave!"

Her wing tore through the water, creating a larger wave than the previous, so with both paws, I pushed them under the water, pulling them upward and apart, a large mound of water dividing the rouge wave to either side. When the steam cleared Yui was gone. Where did she...? My tail swished. With a Quick Attack I spiraled downward, the strong current pulled the sneaky Bat-Pony into view as she threw her head above the torrent, in time for my left-palm strike, a narrow wall of water drenching her again.

Spitting the warm water out she dove backward, her tail and hooves kicking three consecutive waves that I had no momentum to avoid, each drowning me in time for her laugh to cross the gap.

This game continued until nightfall, suffice to say we were furrowly cleaned. I totally won, by the way, don't let anything she says fool you.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

Just a short, but sweet chapter during the duo's travels. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

Hmm, I wonder what that stone is... guess we'll never know
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[tsaukpaetra]

Yay more artifacts to keep track of !