Forbidden Places

by Starscribe

Chapter 72: Kaelynn

"Where is the other one?" Red Sky asked, his voice even more annoyed and obnoxious than he sounded last time. There were a dozen different ponies waiting in the room with him, so the pony could be only so sharp with her. This would probably just mean worse food tomorrow, or maybe a longer delay until they got the next page of the songbook.

She swam in a slow loop, barely even seeing the different ponies out there. She could just go back the way she came. But Red Sky kept track of how many times they failed to perform. There would be punishment tomorrow, or reward.

If I can only get her to give us something useful by mistake. So she didn't float away, instead settling by the microphone. "Tellin is tired from answering so many questions," she said glumly. "He asked me to visit with the next group."

"Well." Red Sky levitated his basket, flicking through its contents. He sorted them in his magic, tossing a few out into the bin.

"What is it like to live underwater?" he read, his voice as excited with that question as it had been the first six times he read it. He was doing that on purpose, selecting the worst, most meaningless cards first.

"It changes a lot," she answered, drifting closer to the glass and looking out at the latest group. Most of them probably didn't even care about their answers. They were here to gawk at her, visitors to the world's most exclusive zoo. She had no proof, but Kaelynn was positive some of them knew she was a prisoner. How could they look at this cage and think anything else? You didn't need armed guards and a vault on a guestroom.

"It means no fire, it means we can't eat the same things you can. It means no paper books, and no casting metal."

Thus proceeded another boring half hour or so of questions. A few of the questions had been awkward at first, like how seaponies used the bathroom. But she was through caring what any of them felt by now. If she could make them feel uncomfortable, so much the better.

She was barely even paying attention as they got near the end of the list, and Red Sky read out the next one. "When you're singing about life under the sea, do you ever wish ponies could be part of your world?"

She twitched in the water, spinning around once before finally drifting down to look at the squat unicorn. "Sorry, I... must not have been listening. Could you read that one again?"

He glanced down at it, clearly annoyed. "When you're singing about life under the sea, do you ever wish ponies could be part of your world?"

He tossed it straight into the bin as he finished, making it quite clear just how useless he thought the whole thing was. That probably sounded worse to him than the question about life being different underwater.

Kaelynn searched the room, really looked this time. Who snuck that in? At first she despaired—she didn't see a single familiar face amid so many old ponies. Some sketched, some whispered to each other, but she didn't recognize any of them.

Which means it's Ryan. Among so many watching pony faces, she found a single creature near the wall held up a little piece of paper. She was sketching on it, or maybe just pretending to—but the side that faced Kaelynn had a stick figure on it.

A human stick figure, with a stupid smiling face. The pony finally noticed her, and winked, before hastily settling the sheet of paper down, and looking especially focused on whatever they were sketching.

"I, uh..." She drifted back to the microphone, holding it up to her face. "I think a lot about the poor unfortunate souls who never get to see the ocean. There's so much down there, more diversity than you can find in a rainforest. Thousands of different colors of fish. I hope one day it's safe for seaponies to live there again, but in the meantime you land ponies should see it whenever you get the chance. I think hippogriffs in Mount Aris sometimes take ponies down to look. It's worth going if you can."

Red Sky went back to the other questions, paying no more attention than he had during the rest of the list. Kaelynn answered the rest with as much energy as she could muster. Now wasn't the time to attract attention. Still, she barely took her eyes from that strange mare in the corner. A unicorn, dressed about as fancy as any of the other guests in attendance. Too bad there was no better way to communicate without being seen. You're in here, now what?

Her fins flicked gently up and down, and she had to circle the microphone to keep herself from drifting off completely. Fortunately Red Sky didn't pay enough attention to notice that she was acting strange.

And just like that, she watched the group get up and leave. She floated up against the glass, watching them trudge back up the steps. She didn't call out, though she watched the pony bring up the back, glancing at where she'd been sitting. Trying to show Kaelynn something, maybe?

If the others found out where I was, what would they do?

She stayed in the outer tank, even after the metal door slammed shut, leaving the outside in darkness again.

Except for a tiny, regular flash of red light from the ground. It was so small she wouldn't have noticed it, except that the lights were out. What did you leave down there?

She pressed against the glass, straining to see. She could just barely make out some gray metal down there, reflecting with each flash of light. So that's not anything a pony could make.

She retreated from the glass, muttering quietly to herself. "They must know I'll be moved if they try anything. They wouldn't just come down here to look. There's a plan.” That could mean only one thing: if she was ever going to escape, it would be tonight.

Kaelynn spun in the water, bolting back into the back section. She found Tellin sprawled on his back, sleeping on the patch of spongy material that was his bed. She swam past him, not wanting to wake him yet—but that wouldn't work for long. What she was about to do would make noise... and if she didn't get his help, she wasn't even sure it would work.

She spent a few minutes gathering things up—she attached a "hinge" she'd been working on to the end of a rod, and suddenly she had a spear. She tossed a rounded buckler into the pouch too, with a loop to go around a hoof. Lastly went one of the light crystals of their cave, from the far end where Tellin hadn't noticed it went missing. But what she really needed was her drill, handle and all. She stopped at the opening in the ceiling, swimming directly to where she'd marked. Here the bolts pressed through the stone from the other side, holding the metal door locked overhead. Now or never.

She smacked the drill up against the stone, beating her tail with all her might to put pressure between them as she started to twist. The water echoed with a terrible grinding sound, first of rock, then sharp squealing of metal as her drill bit into a bolt.

Bits of metal showered down around her. It took only a few seconds for Tellin to sit up, groggy. He scanned the cavern, then his eyes found her, and he swam straight up. "Kaelynn!" he sang, furious and panicked. "What the buck are you doing? Are you trying to drain the water?"

She bore her teeth at him, and didn't stop turning until the resistance stopped. When she pulled the drill back, she saw a dark space beyond. No water dribbled down from above. She positioned to the next hole. She'd found four of them, covered with paste that crumbled when she scraped at it. The builders had tried to hide them, but not well enough to stop her from noticing.

"It won't drain out the top, Tellin," she said flatly. "I've been waiting for a chance like this."

“A chance like what?" He watched in horror as she started drilling again, backing away from the little shards of metal as they rained down from around her.

She didn't stop, though her strength was already waning. This was much harder underwater, and it would already have been hard enough. "I've tried to tell you this before, Tellin, but you never wanted to hear it." She stopped drilling, looking him directly in the eye. "I'm a prisoner. Morningtide trapped me, but I have friends who have been looking for me. They're here—I don't know the plan, but I know I won't get a better chance to escape. It's now or never."

Tellin stared back, his tail curling up. His voice was still so strained it sounded like he might start crying any second. "Don't you care about saving seaponies? What if Morningtide is right? My family all died, Kaelynn! You're the last fish in the whole world!"

"We don't know that for sure," she shot back, gesturing with the drill in one hoof. "Maybe it is, but maybe it's not! There's a whole ocean out there, do we really think that the Storm King could've killed all the seaponies?" She didn't wait for an answer. She grabbed him with her free hoof, pulling him close. "I would rather die than be Morningtide's prisoner in this tank. It's nothing to do with you—this isn't your fault. But I'm not bowing to her anymore. Morningtide is gonna have to kill me if she thinks I'll keep my head down."

She started drilling again, more energetic than before. There were only the four fasteners—when she finished, hopefully that would mean she could push the door open from beneath. The real question was how secure Morningtide had made it, and whether anyone in the building would hear it. A party going on upstairs was a good way to drown out the noise, but it also might mean more security. Kaelynn had no way to know which would win out.

"So I'll be alone here," he said, deflating. He sank a little lower in the water, fins hanging limply. There was no song in his words anymore, no melody at all. He sounded like a landpony. "Forever, in this tank. No one to sing with, nothing but questions from strangers outside. When I die, there won't be any seaponies left."

The drill broke through another bolt, and she adjusted it again, pressing it against the final metal fastener. She turned it once, then stopped short. Every limb felt weak, overwhelmed with the strain. She needed a few seconds to catch her breath. But was that hoofsteps in the distance, or just her imagination? Had they heard her already?

"No, Tellin. You can come with me!" She gestured urgently at the exit. "My friends will get you out too. We have an airship, we can sail the world! You could live at Mount Aris, surrounded by hippogriffs. Or maybe we'll get the chance to go down into the ocean and find the survivors! You're a prisoner too, Tellin. Come with me!"

He glanced over his shoulder, at the darkened entrance to the bubble. It would probably be a few minutes until the next group got here. But that bell might ring any second. There wasn't any easy way for the ponies to get in here. "How? It's air up there, Kaelynn. Even if I wanted to try it, even if I forgot every good thing Morningtide ever did for me... there's no way up."

"There is," she said, leaning forward and taking one of his hooves again. "I know a song that can give us legs, a song that can let us walk around and breathe in their world. We can run out of here, and get on my airship." Her song got quieter, more desperate. "I don't think I can sing it alone."

Comments

[katarjin]

Everything will totally run smoothly on this op.

[Level Dasher]

Whoo. Well, Kaelynn knows something’s up. But will her plan make things harder? She wants to go up, but the boys are coming from below…

[minibox]

A lack of coordination will cause problems for the extraction. Still, getting legs will speed things along.

"When you're singing about life under the sea, do you ever wish ponies could be part of your world?"

I probably wouldn't catch that. Not if I was as depressed and broken as Kaelynn.

A human stick figure, with a stupid smiling face.

This on the other hand, is a sure sign that the damned cavalry is coming.

You're a prisoner too, Tellin. Come with me!"

Now is time to actually live for once.

"I don't think I can sing it alone."

It's always hard when a life-changing choice is immediately hoisted on to you with little preparation or thought. Let's see if Tellin is willing to go down the rabbit hole.

[Xander Opal]

11050674
I like to say that the best solutions lift everypony up... but this is not what I mean.

[redmar]

Let's hope that Kaelynn's friends discover her before Morningtide learns of her escape. I like how Ryan was able to tell her he was there.

[Kevin Lee]

The message to the French Resistance has been received and understood!
The Gestapo House is about to go boom.

[Eroraf86]

Let the jailbreak commence!

[Georg]

She better be very careful singing Disney songs. I think even the Mouse can reach her there.

"Ymg' actions ep ah c'thulah.... Ahem. Excuse me."

Kaelyn whirled around on unsteady hooves to look at the small, quiet, somewhat grey-ish pony who was standing in the room quietly, despite not having been there a moment ago. There was really nothing to identify him as anything special except the pinstriped suit, which looked suspiciously like a second grey skin, and his featureless white eyes.

"Sorry about that ma'am. Not used to the humidity here. In any event, you may consider this your one warning before our client issues a restraining order."

"Restraining order?" echoed Kaelyn while carefully backing up, keeping her 'mate' behind her.

"A very restraining order," added the grey stallion. "You have been warned."

With that, the grey stallion faded into the faint shadows of the room, until moments later it was like he had never been there at all. Well, except for the lingering scent of seaweed and an ever-so-faint sound of distant voices that she tried her best not to hear.

"What was that?" gasped Tellin, peering around her shoulder. "Some kind of monster."

"Worse." Kaelyn fought down a shudder. "A lawyer."

[keybounce]

Are you kidding? "Please, extradite me back to earth for my trial".

[FanOfMostEverything]

And here... we... go. This will be a clusterhump to remember.

[djthomp]

She was barely even paying attention as they got near the end of the list, and Red Sky read out the next one. "When you're singing about life under the sea, do you ever wish ponies could be part of your world?"

Nice.

If the others found out where I was, what would they do?

Something crazy.