The Quiet Kid: Sicut Vult

by aegishailstorm

Fins to the Left and Fins to the Right

"Hm... Curious..." Fluttershy raised the shark ponies mane, and tail, and semi webbed hoof, and simply murmured the same phrase over and over again. To the point that even the weird hybrid pony she was examining was beginning to look at himself strangely.

"Ummm.... What are you looking for?" Fluttershy backed away and smiled at Greytail with her head lowered.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that I've never seen a pony like you. Umm... Forgive me, but, where do you live?" The Sharkpony grinned back with his toothy smile that made the yellow pegasus nervous to the point of almost quivering. Greytail rolled his eyes.
"The ocean? It's that way? Big, blue thing? Cold, warm? Sandy bottom with assorted reefs?" He looked back and over at Joey, Lt. Nightshine, and Luna.

"Why did you bring her here? Because I don't think she's the brightest scale on the fish." Joey giggled and smirked at William's new play on words, an act which drew in only confusion from the trio of ponies standing around him.

"Really? I'm the only one who thought that was funny? Seriously? That- Really?" William knocked on the door to the cottage, two knocks, followed by three in quick succession. Both alicorns in the room breathed out through their noses and opened the door for one very happy looking Quiet Kid.

"Hey guys, they make some awesome grilled Onion stacks over at the bar!" William paused, and peered over at Greytail.

"How's it going?"

"Good...?" The sharkpony responded with an awkward pause. "What's an Onion?"

"Oh, it's a-" William held up his hand in an attempt to quiet Fluttershy." It's better consumed then explained." Luna raised an eyebrow, and shifted her forehooves on her couch. Which she had gleefully taken from Joey after a hard fought verbal argument. Relegating the other alicorn to sitting on the hardwood floor beside it.

"Ah, well?" William pressed Fluttershy, sitting down next to Luna, who begrudgingly moved over for the human. William grinned briskly and crossed his legs.

"I've never seen anything like him. I've never even heard of a shark pony before. And the seaponies never mentioned it to me, or Twilight when we went to visit." William rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

"Pray tell, how is Twilight acclimating to her new throne?" William facepalmed.

"Like she of all the six would know..." He thought to himself, tapping his foot. Fluttershy beamed with sudden joy.

"Oh, she's doing great, maybe just a few hiccups..." William buried his face in his gloved palms and asked himself, " Just a few? My friend tried to kill me just a little while ago? I believe it. That is completely and utterly believable." William rose from his seat.

"Alright, since all the lot of you seem incapable of asking the real questions, let me ask one." He pointed down at Greytail. "How many more sharkponies are there out there, and if so, what do they want?"

"I- You're serious?" Greytail awkwardly walked around in a circle until he had comfortably sat himself down, nudging his massive tail off to the side. " Well, it's hard to tell. Hundreds, thousands maybe?" William smiled.

"Let me guess, they reside in some magic underwater city. Please tell me you don't have an annoying little... You know, of a Queen that hates Surfacers?" The sharkpony shrugged. "I have no idea. It's been so long since I've been out in the deep ocean, I already told you the reef around this Island is my home. I live in an underwater cave just a quick swim away from shore. Oh I did, until all of you started bothering me." William shrugged. "Eh, the lady at the head of the resort should have warned us. But it's too late now, and besides, don't worry. You're in good hands... And hooves I suppose."

Luna glanced out the oceanward window. "If it would be possible, I would like to visit this city of yours."

"Are you sure?" Greytail asked her. "They aren't exactly friendly towards outsiders, especially Surfacers." William facepalmed.

"Look, I don't care." He responded, setting his hands back in his pockets. "We're on vacation, the least we could do is make something fun and interesting out of it. The good kind of interesting, not Pinkie Pie interesting." Fluttershy looked at William strangely.

"Why not?" The Quiet Kid sighed again. "Look, Fluttershy. You haven't really made any progress of any sort since we called on you. Do you wanna head down to this aquatic city with us or not?"

"William- Will, hey, can I call you Will?" The sharkpony asked. William scowled at him, and quickly shook his head.

"Nope. Not a chance, what is it?" Greytail sighed. "Even if I wanted to bring you down there, how'd you breath? You don't have gills, and-" William held up a webbed glove.

"Trust me, I've got that covered. Don't worry." Joey's facial expression fell. "Ok..." He whispered to himself, staring ahead at William and Greytail, who stared back at him and nodded with varying levels of confusion.

"Alrighty then! Everyone good!?" William suddenly stood up and clasped his hands together, looking around the room once more.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked him. "We cannot make a journey to another kingdom based solely upon a decision made in an instant." William, not knowing what else to do, taped the floor with a boot and chuckled.

"We've been friends near two years now. You've seen into my head! How- We're going! It'll be a fun add on to our vacation! Right bud?" He patted Joey on the back, who looked over at William and smiled awkwardly.

"Everyone settled with the idea? Great." Luna almost facehoofed.

"Fluttershy, you didn't answer my question." William insisted. " Do you wanna come with us or not?"

"Um... Thanks for the offer William, but I'm afraid I've got things to do back in Ponyville... With Twilight gone, some pony's got to help run the School of Friendship. Would you mind sending me back?" Luna nodded.

"Thanks' for the help." Joey told her. "It's always a joy to have you around." William grunted.

"Luna, mind taking her back outside and teleporting her back? I'm gonna get changed, and then we'll head on out." William motioned for the two mares to leave, and when they had left. turned towards Greytail, pausing to glance out the cabin window for a moment.

"Well? Everyone out! Joey," He tossed his friend his wetsuit. "Suit up, I'll be out in a moment." His friend quickly nodded and left with the others, an awkward sharkpony in tow.

"Well, it's not like you weren't asking for it." The voice in his head told him. "You wanted excitement, and now you have it!" William chuckled.

"Yeah, if only I knew what kind of exciting this would turn out to be.

After about 20 or so odd minutes of preparations and debate with his friends, William had finally managed to find a rowboat which him and his friends could take out to the, 'underwater city' that Greytail was talking about. There were still a few uncertainties here, namely it's depth from the surface, and the hostility or otherwise apathy of its residents to allow non-sharkponies within their walls. But William, being William, figured he'd figure all of that out once they were out at sea, and, if things went south. They still had Joey or Luna to teleport them away and out of a precarious situation in an instant.

"You're sure you can recall where this place is?" William asked Greytail. "Because I'd rather not waste my time on the ocean if I can help it. I've got things back on shore I'd like to do, I heard there's a pretty cool zipline up in the mountains above the resort. " Joey turned and glanced over at William with concern.

"I thought you hated ziplines?" Joey said with an arched eyebrow, readjusting his wings at William peered over the edge into the deep blue water below.

"Are you... Sure about this?" Crimson Starwatcher asked Greytail, perking up over his neck and almost looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sure, I'm sure." Greytail insisted, pulling himself towards the boat with his webbed forehooves.

"He better be." A slightly discontent William responded as he checked his scuba gear and modified hydrodynamic Kevlar helmet and helped Joey and Nightshine out with theirs. He recalled how to do it for himself with ease, but found it ever so slightly more difficult for the equine figures of his three companions.

Out of a flash of blue light, Luna appeared above them and settled down on the already overcrowded boat. "He isn't lying, I can sense it." William rolled his eyes and smiled unenthusiastically at the alicorn. "What? Can you read minds during the day now as well?" Luna simply smiled, shook her head, and was about to leave when William insisted that she stay behind and guard the boat.

"We still borrowed this thing, and I'd like it to come back in one piece." He afixed his helmet and mask to his face, and then helped out his friends with theirs, but when he shimmied over to help the other alicorn, he found his friend backing away into the corner of the boat with a nervous expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to get in the water with him, must less hundreds like him." William heard a quiver in his friends voice, and set a webbed glove on his shoulder.

"Are you sure? I went though all the trouble of gearing you guys up, I'd rather my effort not be wasted." He gestured a thumb back at the water. The alicorn simply shook his head, "I'm sure bud." William smiled at him, and then donned his mask.

"Sounds like a case of thalassophobia, hey, don't worry yourself over it- right guys?" He turned to hear three splashes, followed by a rocking boat a moment later.

"And... They're gone. I'll come up in about... 20 minutes, and see if you've changed your mind, ok?" William asked his friend, his voice muffled by the respirator. Joey nodded, and patted his friend on the top of his helmet with an outstretched wing. Resulting in a rough hug from the waterproofed Quiet Kid. Who tapped his fins against the wooden hull of the boat, nodded and waved to Luna and Joey, and then pushed himself off and into the crystalline water below.

Splash!

William dove below the surface, looking down at the deep blue tinted darkness below. He glanced around to find himself face to face with Crimson Starwatcher, who tapped him on the shoulder, and then pointed down. Greytail swam up to him.

"It's down there!" William froze for a moment. "How is your voice so clear!!?" Greytail shrugged, and pointed to his throat.
"What!?" He shouted, his voice muddled by his mask and the salt water.

"Magic!" Greytail replied as he swam circles around William, gazing curiously at his equipment. Crimson Starwatcher spun around to greet Nightshine, who furrowed and squinted her eyes beneath her mask. "I can see why you like this! It's awesome!" She called out enthusiastically, being barely audible to William. Both the wolf pony and bat pony had taken to using their wings like giant paddles, making it hard for William to keep up as the descended deeper, and the water around them got darker.

"Great, now I'm almost hopping Joey stay's behind!" He thought to himself. "If it's this deep, I wouldn't want him trying to dive down and getting lost in the process." William tapped his helmet mounted Flashlight, illuminating his friends ahead of him, who noticed the ray of light and turned back to wave to him. Nightshine gestured a fin towards her eyes, and then pointed downwards at a roughly 60 degree angle. William checked his depth gauge, with read exactly 110 feet, deeper than he had ever gone on any other excursion. He was wondering how his friends were holding up to the pressure.

"It's down there!" Greytails voice carried itself through the water. William waved at the sharkpony.

"Where!?" He shouted back as loudly as he could.

"It's right there!" Greytail swam up to William and tapped him on the shoulder with his dorsal fin, he pointed down with a hoof towards a large, black mass below them. It took him a while to realize that what he was looking at, was a massive stone spire. A massive stone spire which began to shimmer with blue light. Blue light, which cast an eerie glow over dozens of forms of creatures. Creatures, which William realized were none other than sharkponies, clad in grey and dull green armor and brandishing teeth and tridents.

"Well, it looks like we found it!"

Comments

[Daniels6323]

"Why did you bring her hear? Because I don't think she's the brightest scale on the fish." Joey chuckled at this new metaphor, which drew in only confusion from the trio of ponies standing around him.

Here, not hear. Just had to point that out otherwise it would get on my nerves

[aegishailstorm]

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Nevermind! It's been fixed!