Epic Pony: Friendship is Legend

Part 1: Equestrian Secrets
Chapter 11: Journey to the Sunken Temple

The girls exited the tunnel into the open seafloor, the entrance sealing behind them.

“Alright, then,” Kelpy uttered, looking around, “We begin by going… that way.” She pointed in a direction, and they took off, beginning their journey.

At first, their trek was relatively uneventful. They moved along the ocean floor, making their way around rock formations and marveling at the marine creatures they spotted passing by. None of them were dangerous, as Fluttershy or Kelpy would explain each time, and some came over to the girls for a closer look. One particularly interesting creature was-

“The Wisdom Fish!” Fluttershy breathed, enthusiastically examining the creature in front of her. It was a minute fish with a long, billowing tail and fins, and even longer whiskers. Its body was a magnificent violet with a curious red hue to it.

“Is it… glowing?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Sort of,” Kelpy explained, getting closer to the fish, “This fish is known as the Prophet of the Sea. It changes color when it senses something in the near future. Red means it senses danger. Hippocampus leaders often keep one as a sort of consultant. Oh, it’s so rare to see these guys out in the open,” she added, patting it with one hoof. The fish, its appendages billowing majestically, paid no mind.

“If it senses danger in the near future,” Rarity pointed out, “Then we should keep on our toes from here on out.”

“Right,” Kelpy agreed, and led the girls away from the Wisdom Fish, which continued swimming slowly along to nowhere in particular.

After continuing on for some time, the girls stopped abruptly as Pinkie Pie suddenly gave a violent shiver.

“Are you okay?” Kelpy asked cautiously.

“It’s her Pinkie Sense,” Twilight answered worriedly, “Oh, please tell me it’s something good. This is not the time for anything bad to happen.”

“Hm? Oh, it’s not my Pinkie Sense,” Pinkie Pie responded gleefully, “I just suddenly felt cold, that’s all.”

“That must mean we’re getting close to the Gaping Chasm,” Kelpy concluded, turning around. The girls again proceeded, and, sure enough, they all began to feel a chill. As they went around a large hill of moss-covered rock, they saw a giant black mass just up ahead. Though at a distance it looked like some sort of dark substance, when the girls came up to it, they could clearly see that there was nothing at all; just a dark, ominous gap that seemed to go on forever in both length and depth. Luckily, it wasn’t as immensely wide, and the girls could see that the other side wasn’t too far off.

“Whoo! That there is one heck of a hole!” Applejack burst out.

“It’s so big,” Twilight commented nervously.

“And dark,” Rainbow Dash added in awe.

“And scary,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“And hideous,” Rarity scoffed.

“It’s the Gaping Chasm, alright,” Kelpy stated, “We can go over it, but you have to keep swimming, otherwise you’ll be pulled in,”

“Pulled in?” Rarity questioned uneasily, “By what, might I ask?”

“Well, not really pulled in, but that’s what it feels like,” Kelpy clarified, “Y’see, the pressure and gravity are more intense here, so you could sink right down if you're not careful. You just have to swim really hard, and you’ll be fine.”

“Well, here goes,” Pinkie Pie declared, and kicked off the edge over the chasm. Paddling her hooves vigorously, she was able to hover safely above it.

“Come on, everypony!” she called excitedly, “Easy peasy, rice and- whoa!” She suddenly began descending towards the darkness, but lifted herself back up. The girls, at first anxious, laughed a bit, dispelling some of the tension. One by one, they leapt off of the cliff and followed Pinkie Pie as she made her way to the other side. Kelpy went last, and gradually passed everyone else. Within a minute or two, she had reached the other side, and so did the girls.

“Phew,” Pinkie Pie panted, plopping down on the ground, “See, girls? That wasn’t so tough, now was it?”

“It sure was frightening,” Applejack remarked, “Is ev'rypony alright?" she stopped and looked around. "Hang on, where's Fluttershy?" she asked.

The girls heard a panicked whine and turned around. Fluttershy was still above the chasm, and she was gradually sinking, despite her frantic kicking.

“Fluttershy!” The girls cried out in despair.

“Help me!” Fluttershy shrieked, as her paddling began to slow down, causing her to sink faster.

“Don’t worry, I’m coming for you!” Kelpy shouted, diving after her. As they plunged further, the two of them faded into the darkness. The girls stood on the edge, gazing apprehensively into the pit. Almost immediately, they spotted a silhouette moving towards them. Kelpy faded into view as she rose from the trench, carrying a paralyzed Fluttershy with her. Once they were safely on land, Kelpy placed Fluttershy down and lay next to her, exhausted.

“Now that was close!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“I think we should take a little break before we move on,” Twilight suggested.

Agreeing, the girls edged away from the chasm and then stopped to rest.

They rested for a few minutes, had a snack and a drink, and were once again on their way. As they ascended a small hill, Kelpy warned, “We’ll be entering the Noiseter Beds pretty soon. Watch your step; since the place is simply packed with them, startling one might cause a very… unpleasant chain reaction, so we have to be very careful.”

Once they reached the top of the hill, the girls could see what Kelpy meant. The hill stretched outward in a wide U-shape, with the inside of the curve dipping down steeply to form a sort of trench. Multitudes of smooth, multi-colored objects were strewn about everywhere, covering the floor of the trench, the bottom of the slope, and even each other.

“That’s a lot of Noiseters,” Twilight observed.

“Couldn’t we just swim over all of them?” Rainbow Dash asked skeptically, pointing over the trench.

“Well, if we do, then other marine creatures, including the dangerous ones, will be able to see us,” Kelpy answered, “It would be best to lie as low as possible.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “The hard way it is, then,” she moaned disapprovingly, and began down the slope, with the girls following behind her. The slope was so steep that, after only a couple of steps, they found themselves sliding downward. In an instant, they went from sliding to rolling, and tumbled ungracefully towards the floor of the trench. Luckily, they managed to regain their footing right before the first Noiseter. They stood tentatively, not moving, until Kelpy swam up to them and beckoned them to proceed. One by one, they kicked off from the ground and began swimming just above the Noiseters.

They managed to make it halfway across the Noiseter Beds without any trouble. Suddenly, an earsplitting shriek burst out from behind, startling everyone. The girls turned back to see Fluttershy looking down at a Noiseter that had its mouth wide open. Pinkie Pie, startled by the noise, flailed and upended.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash muttered harshly.

“I’m sorry!” Fluttershy squeaked, “It’s my tail! It brushed up against it! They’re apparently very sensitive to touch.”

“Pinkie, look out!” Twilight quickly shouted.

Pinkie Pie, who had been slowly sinking in her daze, was a hoof’s distance from a handful of Noiseters. She attempted to turn herself around, but only caused herself to ram down onto the creatures. They responded with the same deafening sound, propelling Pinkie Pie upward. In the confusion, the rest of the girls forgot to keep themselves adrift, and landed on a cluster of Noiseters each. Now, the whole trench was filling up with their clamor, as, true to Kelpy’s word, the surrounding Noiseters began going off in turn.

“Ugh, what an unheavenly sound!” Rarity shouted over the din.

“Swim for it!” Rainbow Dash declared, and the girls made for the other side, followed by the Noiseters’ shrieking. Once they were far enough away from them, they stopped and looked behind them.

“Better to lay low, huh?” Rainbow Dash repeated, looking at Kelpy, who shrugged nervously. When she turned to look in front of her, she gasped. What lay ahead of them was a wide valley, stretching as far as the eye could see, though one couldn’t see too much of it on account of the forests of seaweed that dominated it. In contrast to the trench behind the girls, the valley was filled with an eerie silence. The subtle sounds of the ocean were seemingly magnified, increasing the eeriness.

“That’s-” Rainbow Dash began, too overwhelmed to say anything more.

“Yup,” Kelpy added, “Dangerous territory.”

A distant moaning sound echoed from a valley, almost in response. For a moment the girls stood rooted to the spot, staring fearfully into the valley. Then, Pinkie Pie started walking forward, looking around.

“If we stay around the seaweed, then we won’t have to worry about anything seeing us,” she explained optimistically.

“Let’s hope,” Kelpy uttered, as they proceeded.

After Celestia sent her letter, she and Luna waited for what felt like hours for the reply. Finally, a wisp of green flame whizzed out of the mail chute, danced over to Celestia, and transformed into a rolled-up scroll. Celestia immediately opened it up and began reading out loud.

“'Dear Princess Celestia,’” she began daintily, but her smile slowly lessened as she continued. “‘This is Spike. I’m afraid Twilight is out at the moment. She left this morning, and hasn’t been back since. I’m not sure when she will return. Can I take a message?'”

When she finished, Celestia halfheartedly let the letter drop to the ground.

“Fine time to be out, I must say,” Luna commented dismissively.

“But, where is she?” Celestia asked incredulously, “What is she doing? What if she’s in trouble? Oh, this isn’t helping.”

Luna stared at her sister bemusedly. “Celestia, my dearest sister,” she addressed, “You are running yourself ragged. That night, when we had the nightmare, I was scared out of my wits, but now, it is you who are doing the panicking.”

“I suppose I am letting this get the best of me,” Celestia sighed, “It’s just that, since the chat we had that night, I’ve realized a few things. These realizations have made me restless. I’ve never paid more attention to anything before, but now I realize that I should have, in all of my duties as ruler of Equestria… Co-ruler of Equestria.”

“Listen to me,” Luna commanded, turning Celestia’s head with her hoof, “You are not a bad ruler.”

“But I could’ve been better,” Celestia argued despondently, turning away, “All this time, I’ve been too confident in myself to worry much about anything. Every problem I’ve faced, I’ve been able to make it through, but when I think of this… this shadow, I feel so…” she hung her head, “…hopeless.”

Luna’s expression turned to worry. She stood watching Celestia, unable to find anything to say. Finally, she gave her a nudge, and stated, “The best thing to do now would be for you to take a load off. You’ve had enough stress, so you are in dire need of some rest and relaxation.”

As Celestia rose to her feet, Luna continued, “Say, I do believe there is a great spa in this wonderful city, is there not? We should go there and rest our weary souls. What say you, sister?”

Celestia nodded feebly in reply. Luna headed for the door, and as she opened it, she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

“Luna?” came Celestia’s voice from right behind her.

“Yes?” Luna answered kindly.

Celestia paused for a moment before uttering, “…Thank you.”

Luna put her hoof on her sister’s. “You don’t need to thank me,” she humbly replied, “We’re sisters. It’s what we do.”