The Quiet Kid: Sicut Vult

by aegishailstorm

Friends with Benefits: Part 1

William and Nightshine sat on the porch of the bar right at the end of the grassy knoll that led up to the check in building. William wore a wetsuit with a single red stripe running down the side from his wrist to his ankles, alongside a set of neoprene boots and his usual baseball cap. He rested his head on a fist and looked over at Joey and Crimson's cabin.

"Settling in nicely?" He asked his friend as he bounded ahead of a slightly irritated wolf pony.

"Yep. Thank goodness there's a partition curtain in the bedroom!" He glared over at Crimson Starwatcher. Who smirked back and looked around at the group, then back out at the ocean. William noticed something odd about her.

"Are those... Fins?" Pointing to the pair of long plastic and rubber blades which she carried in a drawstring bag on her back.

"Yep, and a snorkel. Why do you ask?" William scratched his forehead.

"Cool-I didn't peg you a freediver."

"Really?" She asked, shirking back and raising her eyebrow. "You never saw me out by the lake while you were walking around town at 11 in the afternoon?" He stood up and shrugged.

"Nope, never did. Quick question. Couldn't your style of swimming technically be considered doggy paddling?" Joey and Nightshine both chuckled at this remark. Crimson's expression remained the same, she turned and began walking towards the beach.

"I suppose. But say that again and I'll-"

"You'll what?" William asked, setting his hand on his dive belt and patting the grip of a suppressed Glock 43.

"Why are you going swimming with a gun?" Joey asked him. "You should know that I don't like being unarmed out in public. We've been over this." There was a brief pause as the remaining three began to follow behind Crimson. "I find it both unsafe and uncomfortable."

"My thoughts on sleeping in the same room as a wolf pony exactly." Joey grumbled, lowering his head. Crimson glanced back and smiled at him.

"I thought I already told you that I don't bite. At least, I won't bite any of you." William dead panned over at her as the group stepped out onto the sand.

"Just cut it out. I don't wanna hear any more 'bout your infatuation and inability to take a nap in the same room with one another. Look, it's either that or the couch. And I've had about enough of that to last me a lifetime." Crimson drew her snorkel and mask past her ears and mane and onto her face. Joey trotted straight up to the wake and swirled a hoof in the water, then looked back at William.

"Hold on, Nightshine, Joey." He tossed the ponies a pair of goggles. "Trust me, it'll make everything much more tolerable. He pulled a neoprene hood over his head alongside his own snorkel.

"Ok... But you're presuming that I'd even like to go more than knee deep.

"Trust me bud, there's nothing to worry about. Look, if you're really that worried-"

"I can stay on shore?"

"Nope! I refuse to live with the fact that my friend can't swim." Nightshine smiled at him. " It's alright Joey. It really isn't that hard.

"Here, take these." William tossed him a bag, contained within it was a short sleeve wetsuit with blue stripes, alongside 2 sets of short full hoof traveling fins and a mask. The alicorn eyed the pile of items with suspicion.

"You want me to wear... That?" William nodded. "Trust me, it'll make swimming much easier." Joey shrugged and sat down on the sand, then began to awkwardly roll around in an effort to get his wetsuit on.

"Here, I'll help you." Nightshine said, she trotted over and helped the alicorn get his tail and wings through the various cutouts, then zip it up. The fins he was able to get into on his own, although he nearly tripped over himself when he tried to walk in them.

Joey ruffled his wings, and kicked out with one of his hind legs as a sign of discomfort. "This is ridiculous. Do I really need all this stuff?"

William nodded. "Aye, you do. It may seem odd to you. But once you'll get in the water wearing those you'll be able to swim as fast and graceful as you are slow and awkward now." This statement seemed to brighten his friends mood.

"In that case, I'll take a pair as well." William tossed her a set of fins. She pulled them on with some effort. "Hey... Where's yours?" William chuckled, and a pair of black and grey split blade open heeled dive fins appeared in his right hand.

"Same as Crimson. Ours are too long to put on while out of the water. If you think it's hard to walk around in yours. Just try doing the same in 20 inch long freediving fins!"

"It'd be fun to watch though." Nightshine exclaimed. Crimson shot her a deathly glare. "Really, then why don't you go on and pay me the 150 Bit replacement fund... Lieutenant?" Nightshine scoffed. "In your dreams, wolfy."

"What was that!?" Crimson exclaimed, pointing at the batpony with a paw. William sighed.

"Alright, everyone in the water." Crimson extracted her fins from their bag, tossing it aside, she wadded out until the water was just up to her knees. She whipped around onto her back and, using her outstretched wings for support, pulled he fins on over her hind legs. She looked around at the others, then reared up and dolphin dove beneath the surface.

"Where'd she go?" Joey asked, 10 seconds passed, then 10 more.

"Boo!" The wolf pony resurfaced behind them, shooting up into the air with a gust from her wings before diving back down, kicking her fins up in the air as she hit the water again and dousing Joey and William in the process.

"Come on!" Crimson insisted, swimming circles in front of them. "Try and catch me!"

"Oh, it's on!" Nightshine responded, crossing her front legs and gradually pushing off. until her hooves couldn't touch the bottom.

"Y'all have fun." William called out, watching as Nightshine gradually acclimated to her new environment. William pulled on his own fins, kicking them just above the water level to insure they were on properly. Then, to Joey's surprise, he donned a pair of webbed gloves.

"Alright, let's start out simple. Backstroke. Just mimic me." The alicorn fastened his goggles and rolled onto his back just like his friend. He rolled all four legs back and then kicked off in one go, sending him darting through the water for a short ways. William.

"Good job, again! Think of it like flying. Angle your body with your fins and use them to turn. His friend attempted it again, and again, and again. Each time, William swam after him, coming up right beside him and occasionally grabbing him under his forelegs to keep him afloat.

"Now, I'd like to to try and use those fins the way they were meant to be used. Stay on your back, it's is called a scissor kick. He gave the alicorn a quick demonstration, who beamed back in understanding and replicated the movement. Straightening his legs and just moving the ends of his hooves so that the fin blades caught the water just right.

"Hah! It works!" He rolled back over onto his stomach and paddled over to William. Who grinned at his friend. " Told ya, anyone learn to swim. You just need fins and a good friend.

"High fin!!" The alicorn exclaimed. William thought about it for a moment, then brought his webbed glove up to meet his friends fin.

"I see you're enjoying yourself."

"I guess so. You were right man." William kicked away, wanna keep going. The alicorn smiled, and arched his wings downward.

"Sure. Can we be back by lunchtime though? I'm already pretty hungry. I had a very light breakfast." William nodded, and gestured for him to swim closer.

"Of course, we just need to find Crimson and Nightshine." Joey looked down, felt something brush by his leg, the face of Crimson Starwatcher broke the surface less than and inch from his face.

"Gah!" He lost his balance and fell backwards. William dove down beneath the surface and pulled his friend back up. The alicorn coughed, and shook his mane.

"I wasn't ready! Why'd you do that!?" Crimson smiled awkwardly. "Opps." She brought her paws up, took a deep breath, and disappeared below the waves, her fins kicking up right in his face as she swam off.

"Is this normal?"

"Oh, you've got no idea." He responded calmly as he treaded water beside his friend. William glanced down, what he saw put a smile on his face, about 15 feet down, a sandy reef stretched out as far as the eye could see." Hey, follow me."

"What? Where?" William sighed, and disappeared below the water level. Joey lit his horn, and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Where is he?" William thought to himself, glancing around. All of a sudden, the was a burst of light above him, and his friend appeared right next to him. The alicorn looked surprised.

"Mph!" He called out. Quickly shutting his mouth and regretting his decision. William grabbed him and pulled him to the surface.

"I shouldn't have to tell you this, but you can't breath underwater." He laughed, his friend coughed and sputtered.

Joey rolled back and coughed some more, pulling up goggles up from his eyes, "Sorry, I didn't realize that." His voice was full of sarcasm.

"The trick is to hyperventilate at the surface, then, once all the Co2 is gone from your lungs, take some deeper breaths for about 15 seconds. Then take one more breath just before you dive. Make certain your whole body is below the water before you go down so you don't waste energy." Joey nodded in agreement. William kicked away from him for a ways.

"But, most importantly, you've gotta get your body to relax. You aren't meant to be in an aquatic environment. But if you can convince your body that everything is alright, then you'll be less likely to panic from a lack of air down there and end up in trouble. Stay calm, just use your hind legs to kick around and your forelegs to maneuver. This is supposed to be fun after all, not stressful." His friend smiled. " Alright, I'll try it."

"Great, I'll be waiting here for you. I'm going to see if I can't find our other companions." William ducked down and began to look around, he swam forward for about 20 feet, right past a buoy then looked around a coral outcropping and spotted Crimson, sitting on the ocean's sand floor, unmoving.

"What is she doing?" He swam closer, and tapped her on the wing.

She turned and glanced at him, then shook her head and bounded off the ocean floor and swam for the surface. William heard something behind, and turned to find Joey waving at him. William pointed towards the surface, and thegroup broke the waves together.

"What was that about?" William asked Crimson. "I'll do what I please underwater. It's not like I'm-" She paused for a moment, and glanced around. "Where's the bat pony?" William looked around, then straight down, and finally back at Crimson. "I don't know." A wave came up and doused him again. A shadow appeared in the water, the three looked up to find Nightshine, scanning the water with suspicion.

"What are you looking for!?" Joey called up to her.

"I saw something while I was over there!" She called back.

"Was it a weird fish?" She shook her head. "Nope, I barely got a look at it. It brushed right by me, and disappeared into a crack in a rock. It was definitely not a fish." William scratched his head.

"We're too close to shore for any large predator's or sea monsters." Joey's eyes widened when he heard Nightshine's description.

"Do you think it could've been a merpony?" She shrugged, and lowered herself back into the water.

"I don't know." Nightshine responded, folding her wings and paddling over to William and Joey. " I've never seen one in person before."

"Shinny rough skin instead of fur, fins, hind legs compacted into a fish tail... Gills?" They both asked. The bat pony shook her head. "Nope, never."

"Well, what do you guys wanna do? Merponies are usually pretty shy and harmless. Do you wanna stay in the water, or go back to shore?"

Joey pressed the conversation, "I'm curious, let's stay here and find out if there's merit to Nightshine's claims."

"Alrighty then. Stay it is." William continued as storm clouds began to form overhead. "This weather doesn't make any sense. Aren't we still in Equestria?"

"If memory serves me, the archipelago that this island is situated in is Equestrian territory, yes. But the local pegasi opted a long time ago to not follow the same weather patterns as the mainland. They wanted to keep it natural, the way it was before ponies came here." Crimson touted, crossing her paws and smirking at the other 3.

"How'd you-"

"Did you check the back of the pamplet?" Crimson asked William.

"What pamphlet?

" Crimson sighed. " The one's they were hoofing out at the front office? Did you miss 'em?"

"Evidentially I did." William paused. " Well, everyone follow me, we're gonna see if we can flush out this... Whatever it is." The rest of them nodded in agreement, Joey seemed particularly eager.

"What? You've got a fondness for kirins, I've got a fondness for merponies." William chuckled. "That's fine by me, now that I think about it, I might have a present for you once we get back to shore." Joey raised an eyebrow under his mask.

"What is is?"

"I'll tell you once we get back to shore." The alicorn raised an eyebrow. "Ok, now you've intrigued me." William laughed.

"Ok, go on and roll over on your back." His friend hesitates, but then did as William had told him. William swam over to his friend and handed him something. Joey looked down at the weird amalgamation rubber blue rubber and black polymer with a degree of confusion.

"What is it?"

"This," William held it up for the others to see."Is a monofin." Joey looked at the thing William was offering him once more.

"It looks like a mermaid tail."

"That's what it's meant to mimic. I've never tried using one before. But it's yours if you'd like." He passed it over to the stallion, who continued to gaze at the item in amazement.

"This is..."

"You use it just the same way you would a real one." Joey kicked off his hind fins, and replaced them with the pseudo tail. He stayed on his back and flapped it once.

"Yes?" William asked the alicorn stallion.

"Awesome!" A smile crept across his face, he dove below the water, then reappeared by William, looked over in amusement.

"I'm glad you like it bud. I'm glad ya like it." His friend swam closer and grinned, wrapping a wing around William. "I was thinking of a Birthday present to get you. And the thought never even crossed my mind that you'd like something like this. You're welcome." He patted his friend on the back, and kicked away from him.

"Keep in mind what I said before, don't panic underwater." Joey nodded in understanding. "Of course." The four of them dove beneath the surface. William made a circle with his index finger and pointed deeper into the reef. The others turned and swam in the direction he had pointed in.

"Now... Where, and what are you?" William resurfaced for another breath, and dove back down. He could see the rest of the group about 10 yards ahead of him, poking around the bottom. All of a sudden, he felt something brush by his face.

"Just a fish, just a fish. But what are they swimming away from?" He spun around, only to find the reef as it was before.

"Where is this thing?" William resurfaced again, and scanned the waves, then dove back down. He rounded the reef, and spotted his friend. Fighting with... Wait, what?

"Is supposed to be a... Shark pony?" William set his hand on his Glock and swam over to get a closer look. The creature grabbed his friend and wrestled him to the bottom, nipping at his fins and wings. It was a sleek grey, with gills running along it's neck, a mouth full of teeth, and eyes full of anger. It turned momentarily to glance and him, then went back to it's quarry.

His friend. William resurfaced again, and dove back down. He watched as the shark tore off the alicorn's mask. Whose eyes were wallowed and full of terror, he struggled. But the shark didn't let go. Instead trying to tear his fore fins with it's teeth.

William raised his sidearm, and fired one round, which zipped a clean, bloody hole through the shark's dorsal fin. It roared in pain and let go of Joey, who desperately swam for the surface, the creature turned it's murderous gaze towards William.

"Oh no you don't!"

He thought to himself, holstering his sidearm and drawing his dive knife instead. The 2 creatures swam for one another. The shark tried to reach over his back and bite him in the neck, but William was quicker. He thrust the butt end of his weapon against it's right hoof gills, and, with the help of Crimson and Nightshine, gained control over the creature and pulled it to the surface. It grunted in protest and pulled them all down with it, swimming deeper into the reef and out towards open water. William had to put a stop to it before it could get away from him. And so, he did the only logical thing he thought possible.

He pulled on the shark pony's tail with a fin, and sent them both careening into a sand bed. The creature tried frantically to dive back down and get him off, but William held on, knocking the both of them out of the water.

"Don't you dare go!" William cried, holding the creature down.

"You owe us an damn explanation."

The creature remained silent, still not submitting to William's grapple.

Comments

[AmlpfanREADER]

Huh never thought shark pony's existed

[AmlpfanREADER]

Wait friends with benefits? AYO WHAT THE FUCK (I only noticed this just now)