Canterlot Academy Trials

“I refuse! Where is…where…” Mio hissed as he looked into the air for answers, and screamed to the heavens, “SPITHA!”

Just as Mio yelled, Rudy was pulled into the water, dropping into the sea with the steel harpoon spear weighing him down and preventing him from swimming back up. All Mio could see were air bubbles as the cable was reeled in, the tom’s eyes darting repeatedly in a breathless panic as he stared helplessly.

Nearby, on Gwin’s boat, he snickered as he watched the Rex tom cling for dear life to the boat while speared with the harpoon the former fired off. “Looks like your time is up, little brat…”

SNAP!

In a near-instant, the harpoon’s cable was snapped in twain by a blur of red that swooped down from the heavens. Gwin’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he clutched his right arm.

“W-what?! How --?!”

Moments later, the red dragoness, Spitha, had landed on the deck and spat out the cables that were used to pull Rudy into the water.

“Surrender now and I might resist cooking you to death,” she huffed with smoke coming out of her nostrils.

“...well fuck me,” Gwin grumbled as he got down on his knees, “...you’re already too late anyway. Our boss has already gotten what he wanted from us…and you.”

Spitha picked up the panther man and blew smoke in his face with a snarl, “We’ll see about that.”

Back on the boat Mio was on…

The tom had removed his suit and glasses and dove into the water to save his friend, swimming as fast as he could with his breath held. Through the empty, white noise of the ambient water, Mio dove deep and eventually bypassed some fish on his way to see Rudy who had continued to sink further and further into the depths of the water.

“...!” With a panicked flinch, Mio hastily swam deeper, ignoring the force that the water put on his body, nearly grabbing the rex tom…but narrowly missing him as Rudy sank beyond rocks into the depths of an underwater trench.

“...”

His breath threshold had run out and Mio couldn’t withstand it any longer. The tom swam back up to the surface with a regretful sob as he wiped his face. “...god…dammit. How could I let this happen?”

But just then…

“Yer friend here needs help!” a Trotland-accented voice called out from behind Mio.

The tom turned around to find that Dewdrop had swam underneath and recovered Rudy from the depths, but the harpoon spear was still lodged in his body along with the fact that he was unconscious.

“...thank you, miss. However, we’re at a bit of a crossroads here,” Mio explained as he took hold of Rudy from the water-pony, “Odu isn’t present among this fleet at all. We need to round up whoever we can and hurry back to the City Hall immediately.”

“Oi! I can push us all back to the harbor!” Dewdrop proclaimed proudly.

Mio raised a brow. “...you what?!”

“Get back on that vessel, laddie. I got this!” And with a backflip, the glashtyn-pony dropped back down into the water with her seapony tailfin allowing her to dash through like a speeding bullet.

Mio climbed back onto the nearest boat and placed Rudy on his side to avoid harming him further with the harpoon lodged in his shoulder. “...dammit. We need to get you back to the infirmary as soon as possible. No idea how they’ll get this thing out of you, but…”

“Archk!” With a mewl and sniffle, Rudy coughed up a fish and shook his head, indicating that he was alive…but the blood rushing from his arm continued to make him weak.

“Here,” Mio clawed the arm of his suit off in order to make a quick splint to stop the blood from leaking out. “That should buy you some time until we can get back. Just gotta hope that that water-pony knows what she’s doing…”

At the same time on another boat nearby…

“Why are you working with them?!” Luster Dawn yelped as she rose to her hooves and got a better look at the diamond dog man. “This gang is trying to eradicate diamond dogs! Your own kind! What’s wrong with you?!” she stomped her hoof, unable to comprehend what his idea was.

It was a dalmatian to be exact. Dressed in casual jean shorts and a camo tank top, he pointed to his forehead and snickered with an unhinged tone in his voice. “...Nyheh! You think you know us all, eh? Likes youse some kinda expert on all things friendship just cuz youse the Princess’s puppet.”

Such a thing caught her off-guard, and caused the mare to stutter, “...w-what? I am…” Dawn cleared her throat and spoke coldly. “I am no one’s puppet. I’m in charge of my own life. Nobody else. But that doesn’t explain why you’d turn traitor to your own kind!”

“Guess I may as well let youse in on a secret,” the dalmatian man leaned forward with his hands in his pockets, “I’m lookin’ta cause a bit of a revolution let’s say. Caninia is ruled by bitches--”

“...how could you say that about your rulers?!”

“Uh, no, theys literally bitches,” he deadpanned as he scratched the top of his head, “Don’tcha know what the word means? Caninia’s ruled by queens ya dope. Bitches, dames, ladies--same thing.” He rolled his eyes, “I’m sick of ‘em. A real man needs’ta take charge’a that place. I’m simply expeditin’ the process.”

Dawn raised a hoof and turned her head before faux-gagging out of disgust from what she had just heard. “...so you’re just sexist. Blech…I don’t even know how to tackle that.”

“Pfft,” the dalmatian scoffed and waved his paw dismissively, “Not like youse understand. You ponies are ran by dames.”

“Now hang on a second!” Dawn snarled as she stomped up to the spotted canine who continued to stare at her with a smug grin on his face, “Not only is that incorrect, but you’re also disgustingly incorrect!”

And yet, the dog man simply shook his head in a patronizing manner with a sigh. “Ah, you guys are pitifu--!”

FWOOSH!

The entire boat--and all of the other boats on the water--started to rock as Dewdrop manipulated the waves to push everyone back to shore. Both Dawn and the dalmatian were flung across the boat until the latter grabbed ahold of one of its flags

“What in the fresh hell is--?!”

“...the failsafe!” Dawn yelped as she teleported away with a magical pink poof!

Which left the dog man to deal with a giant wave that loomed over the boat he was on as it was forced to the Abyssinian coast. His blank expression pretty much said it all…

“...fuckin’...”