CYOA: A Day in Ponyville

Wasting no time, or thinking beyond that moment, you dive into the water with a splash. You kick furiously as you descend deeper into the lake. Bubbles dance up past you, popping out and rising to the surface.

At first you see nothing. Just muddy darkness. But then, movement. The slightest shimmering in the murky water. A single pale red eye pops open, hovering near the bottom. A muffled roar echoes from the depths, but you don't slow down. The eye twists to look at you, an eel-like tail flickering below it. It seems quite content with its place in the muck.

You make a flurry of bubbles as you circle around it. You try to grab onto the tail and pull it out, but it doesn't budge. You want to scream at it, but you need what little air you have. You bump into its scaly body, bouncing off as your tail twists and kicks furiously.

That eye gazes at you, studying you carefully. Its mouth is set in a frown that only deepens when you push off it to return to the surface.

You hit the surface with a great gasp for air. Your legs kick up water, your heart pounding with fear and adrenaline. You tilt your head back to see the gathered crowd staring at you. "She's down there! There's a monster! Help!" You dive right back down.

The monster watches you approach again, still frowning. It shakes its head, hair whipping in the water as you grab hold of its tail again. You attempt to wrestle it out of the lake, but its suction cups help it stay where it wants to be.

"You are stubborn," it speaks with surprising clarity. "Let go, before you drown." Its tail shimmies, breaking your grip. "I don't wish to harm anypony." It rises up from the mud, coming closer to you. You can see scales shimmering all across its body.

You clench your jaw, frustrated and determined. You swim forward again, grabbing onto its neck. With one hoof, you point at the bottom of the lake, trying to shout about Rainbow, but that's hard to do while keeping your snout shut.

The red eye narrows. "Stupid pony." It turns its head towards the surface. "Very well, let's get this over with." It takes off with surprising speed, moving like an eel through the water. Its tail pushes it up faster than your kicking could ever hope to match. You gasp for air, startled by the sudden rush to the surface.

While happy to have some air, you're too focused on your mission. "Rainbow is down there!" You point downwards. "A rainbow-colored pegasus. She's in the water! If you don't want to see any ponies hurt, help us get her."

The beast of a serpent stares down at you, frowning deeply. "I see no pony. Only mud."

"Well, check the mud. We know she's in there." You dive beneath the surface, kicking with all you have towards the bottom. The monster follows along behind you, barely moving its body as it keeps pace. You think you can see the bottom, or some dark shape lurking there.

You look up, unsure how far you have left to go. With a rush of water, the eel-thing rushes past you and lashes up the mud with the ease that you'd roll out of bed. The water becomes cloudy with it, but that also makes objects hiding in the muck visible, including one desperately thrashing pony.

You are relieved to see Rainbow Dash struggling against something around her legs. You swim faster, propelling yourself towards her and trying to break through whatever was holding her. Her wings flap, the clumps of mud flying off as she beats them against you. You close your eyes, thankful she was still moving. You're running out of air though, and your limbs begin to tire from all this work.

Whatever it was, it finally snaps free of Rainbow Dash, just as things start to fade.

You wake moments, or hours? You're not sure. But you wake up on the lake's shore with Rainbow Dash over you with her usual cocky smile. "You okay? Wow, that was intense. What were you thinking, diving in like that? Not that I'm not grateful, because that was great, but uh." She shrugs and helps you sit up.

You shake your head, trying to clear away the cobwebs.

Rainbow explains how some old junk got tangled up in her and pulled her down. "What a way to end a little dip."

She doesn't seem at all that worried about it, but you've gained a friend, or at least a few special points. You've had far worse days in Ponyville.

The End.