Wartrace

On this day, contrary to custom, only a single small boat ventured into the sea near Horseshoe Bay. For one, Equestria had not yet recovered from the blow dealt by the Storm King’s Armada a week prior. For another, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Ms. Berrytwist, known as Tempest Shadow, were embarking on an important expedition — one that might determine the future of Equestria. The fact was, not all of the Storm King’s ships had attacked Ponyville and Canterlot—several had scattered toward other cities. While the residents of Appleoosa and Las Pegasus had fled to the capital, offering no resistance, the skies near Manehattan had given the invaders a truly stormy reception. Three or four of the “stormguard” ships had been shot down and fallen into various parts of the Celestial Sea; their crews had been safely retrieved and sent to Canterlot to determine their fate… But one ship had behaved very strangely: despite taking several lightning strikes and losing altitude, its captain had steered not toward shore, but further out to sea, as if trying to hide something in the impenetrable depths. The plan had half-succeeded — the ship hadn’t made it to deep water, but the crew had escaped before Equestrian sailboats reached the crash site. Even though a week had passed since the victory over the Storm King, Horseshoe Bay had not yet returned to its original state. Here, a squad of Equestrian pegasi had used a magical storm to bring down several of the “flying irons” that had hoped to avenge their defeat in Canterlot. Fortunately, the storm had scattered the ships, and the ponies had quickly fished the furry warriors of the fallen King from the water — but removing the ships themselves had proven difficult. The “Azure Sky,” even with the support of several dozen pegasi and unicorns, had only managed to tow one ship away in the past few days. Another still stuck out half a kilometer from shore, and a third remained entirely underwater… along with all its secrets. After all, it was on this ship that the commander of the “avengers” had been stationed, and he had done everything in his power to ensure the ship fell where nopony could reach it. “I wonder who these ‘avengers’ were avenging?” While Berrytwist stood at the motorboat’s helm, Sparkle stood at the bow, squinting against the headwind, trying to spot the bottom through the shimmering reflections. “Storm waged wars of conquest; he wasn’t trying to reclaim something that was taken, nor was he venting his rage, as you once did… Sorry if that was offensive…” “Forget it,” the unicorn with the broken horn replied calmly and phlegmatically. “I already have. And they’re called ‘avengers’ because the horned king read a book as a foal where the heroes were called that. ‘The Unstoppable Avengers.’ My boss’s imagination was as barren as a desert is of grass.” "Slow down!" Twilight asked, still feeling awkward. “It should be right below us… There, yes.” The purple unicorn nodded to the lavender one and peered into the water’s depths. Shimmering with sunbeams, it looked utterly peaceful and calm—one would never guess it concealed a massive vessel that had once spewed fire and smoke, and now sheltered marine life and artifacts of the recent past! “Well done!” Twilight checked off an item on the list pressed to the boat’s hull with her hoof. “We’re here. Next step—suit up. To speed up our movement underwater, we need to increase the surface area of our limbs to make them more like fins. Specifically for this, I borrowed last year’s flipper collection from Rarity. They’re a bit out of fashion now — ‘frog’ styles are more popular than ‘barracuda’ — so Rarity let me have them for free, but in my opinion, they…” “Skip to the lecture about how if I don’t wear the scuba gear, water will get into my lungs and I’ll drown,” Tempest interjected. While Sparkle had been pontificating, she had already donned all the necessary equipment, including the mask with the hose leading to the tank on her back. This didn’t stop Twilight—she continued her safety briefing. Tempest just sighed, pressing a hoof to her forehead—who was she to talk! She could dive for ten minutes even without such tanks; what was there to fear with scuba gear? Besides, she knew perfectly well they wouldn’t be staying inside the ship for long. Their goal was the control room and possibly the captain’s quarters — that’s where the things that interested them might be: intel, maps, maybe even magical artifacts. Anything that could help the ponies learn more about the Storm Empire — it may have been decapitated, but it hadn’t collapsed yet, and before offering friendship to foreign lands, they needed to know what else to expect from Storm! Or rather, from whoever would take his place — the kirin folk were cruel and willful, and now they had a reason to seek revenge against the ponies who had not only defended themselves but also freed all the colonies Storm had captured — from the lands of the cats to the territories of the hedgehogs. Twilight fell silent only after putting on her own mask. Or not — now she was speaking in sign language, advising a careful descent, tracing a smooth arc with her hoof over the side, and insisting on monitoring the remaining oxygen supply by tapping the pressure gauge — both outside and inside the tank. “Two hours!” Shadow replied with military signs. “Mission — half an hour!” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, and a pink cloud appeared before her, flashing with the words: “You can never be too cautious!” Tempest’s tail shot up at that. Staying on the surface was utterly impossible; now Twilight was going to give her a mental dictation! So she quickly rose onto her hind legs and waved her hooves, signaling that enough talk—it was time to act! The valves were already open, and Sparkle was about to burn through all the air mixture on the surface. Tempest, not waiting for approval, leaped into the sea, barely making a splash. Already below the surface, she straightened her tucked forelegs and worked her hind legs energetically in the finned hoof-wear, diving downward to meet the military airship from her own past. The ship looked utterly unnatural on the floor of Horseshoe Bay: seaweed grew everywhere, rocks rose covered in corals and sponges… And now, all of it was crushed by a hulking, ugly monstrosity, assembled for evil and still serving it even now, resting in the sea’s depths. Tempest herself didn’t understand why she felt such disgust for this ship, but compared to Equestria’s airships, it really did look very, very unattractive. For the same reason, Berrytwist had tucked her armor and steel horseshoes far into the closets of her new home—they now felt as heavy as old sins. But she hadn’t gotten rid of them entirely, even on Twilight’s strong advice. The past and memories, experience and lessons — they were all part of who ponies were. But the marine life had already begun colonizing the unexpectedly sunken airship. Fish darted here and there, from porthole to porthole; crabs carried debris away for their homes; several anemones had relocated to the hull and were sifting the water for plankton. Though nature had proven stronger than the war machine, just as friendship was stronger than hatred, Tempest felt sad that nothing would ever be the same again, that the harmony of the landscape had been disrupted, and the rusting metal would become a scar on the dear face of ocean nature. Unless, perhaps, the seaponies dragged the hulk away to their trophy museum, an analogue of Storm’s “Conquest Park.” Twilight swam closer, touching the pony with her hoof and reminding her why they had come. Tempest turned to the alicorn and nodded in response to the questioning look: they could go diving later — right now, they had a different task. The unicorn, twisting slightly in the water, headed toward the stern, the wheelhouse, and the captain’s bridge. She paddled smoothly, evenly, and moved quickly; her mane, even tousled in the water, resembled the head fin of a seapony, and now it was Twilight who admired her friend, barely keeping up. Tempest was, after all, an excellent warrior and kept herself in good shape. On land or in water, she moved smoothly and quickly… And now, Twilight had just swum up to her friend when the latter was already circling the wheelhouse glass, trying to find some opening to get inside. Using electrical magic underwater wasn’t the best idea. After tapping on the armored glass — unscratched despite all the ordeals — Shadow gave a powerful thrust with her hind legs in the fins, which first tucked and then straightened, pushing off as she swam over to the hatch, dogged shut with a large wheel. Tempest gripped it with her hooves, but the jammed mechanism wouldn’t budge. Bracing her hind legs against the wall, the dark-furred pony yanked the latch again — muscles tensed under her coat, a distinctly un-pony-like growl cut through the bubbling exhales, and her angry green eyes with fiercely furrowed brows frightened Twilight, reminding her of that bitter episode when Tempest had tormented the sad alicorn, locking her in a cage. But then Twilight imagined Tempest herself in a cage. How she thrashed like a wild beast, how her eyes mixed despair and hatred, how her hooves clanged against the bars, and her mouth was contorted in fear and rage. Then the winged pony imagined that cage underwater — maybe the seaponies would have caught Twilight for stealing a pearl… But the metallic grinding snapped the purple mare out of her strange, mesmerizing thoughts, which made her chest tremble and her hooves shake. Tempest had managed to open the hatch, and she immediately swam into the control cabin. The princess followed her — the ponies’ eyes met complete chaos, but what else could you expect from a fall from such a height? Tempest, however, knew her way around: swimming past the helm, she hovered before a wall where a map of Equestria and the lands beyond was spread out. Tapping it with her hoof, the unicorn waved with the other, calling the pony over. It was getting harder to think, and it was getting harder to coordinate their actions. Flippers slapped against the pipe, and with growling moans, Shadow exhaled more and more frequently, pounding her hooves on the rim of the pipe. And finally, the hoof pressed a button, and the hatch swung open. Tempest, who almost lost her head with joy, rushed forward. Her hooves slipped on the floor, the mare strained with all her strength, and was already out of the hatch when the lid went down... And suddenly she pinched the tip of her tail. The turnip twitched, as if a bully colt was tugging at Berrytvist's tail. The hoof extended to the scuba tank stopped near the breathing apparatus, unable to grasp it. The hind legs twitched in panic, flexing their flippers, Tempest poured out her last reserves of air in a scream. Having already overcome a serious tantrum, Tempest took off the knife attached to her leg, cut off her tail - and nothing prevented her from grabbing the bell and inhaling. She almost drowned because of her own stupidity! Tempest never imagined that the end could come so easily and so silly! Well, no, now she's a scientist-if she's going anywhere, it's with someone who can pull you out if anything happens... Without such sacrifices, Tempest's tail now looked so shameful that it would definitely not work to return to Ponyville without visiting a stylist! However, when she only cared about it... How much had she picked up from cute ponies? But there was also a lot left of the past in her - she calmed down quickly. Faster than Twilight had floated down the hall to her friend. From the frightened eyes of the alicorn, Tempest realized that Twilight saw at least how she rushed to the scuba tank. It was difficult to explain what had happened underwater, and I didn't want to go up to the surface right now. The unicorn had completely regained control of herself. She couldn't convey the whole essence of the mysterious room with signs - only point to the hatch, paying attention to its small size, the stairs, and that you can't scuba dive there. Twilight, in turn, studied the hatch carefully and watched as Tempest raised and lowered it, demonstrating the mechanism that worked. The scarlet hair of her ponytail flew around, floating past the thoughtful princess. Suddenly, she joyfully clapped her hooves and her horn glowed with bright magic. The flash grew quickly, but not instantly, like a camera's. And in the "next frame," both ponies were in the same room - Twilight was lucky to be transported to the right length, or maybe she managed to calculate correctly. Tempest felt much more confident now that the light from the alicorn's horn allowed her to see the cabin's surroundings. She floated past an overturned table, next to which lay glued and now completely unreadable books. Twilight picked up one of them and pressed it to her heart with an expression of indescribable sadness on her face. "Did you find out something familiar?..' Tempest found out too... Yes, this cabin belonged to another pony in the service of the Storm. Shadow wasn't the only one attracted to this trickster at the time. But if Berrytvist only wanted to regain what she had lost, those who were attracted by ambition, thirst for power, money and revenge joined the King. Touching Twilight's shoulder with a hoof, the mare tore her away from the book (glimpsing that the inscription "Fundamentals of High Magic" glowed on the cover. Edited by Arthur Margus") and pointed with a hoof to the far wall, which may have had a table knocked off its place by the concussion during the fall. The picture was slightly askew, but all the same, the princess almost screamed when she saw the features of a face so familiar to her - and at the same time completely different. Bright pink fur, feathers, the color of which turned into lilac, yellow-lavender tail and mane... There was no doubt about it. Erased from memory, the pony legend, the offspring of the magic of Love and Hate, nevertheless retained the majesty that Princess Skyla received from her father, and the light smile with which the nanny could both cheer and comfort little Twilight. Tempest frowned a little at the portrait. She's always envied the alicorns, and this mare flaunts her heritage at every opportunity. In the mania of self-glorification, she was almost equal to the Storm - otherwise there was no need to hang her portrait in the bedroom instead of a mirror. But Tempest tried not to cross paths with her kinsman, a temporary ally, and the horned King, not being a complete idiot, did not give his servants any reason to meet once again. Tempest was tasked with conquering Canterlot, while Skyla was tasked with attacking the Crystal Empire... But I never got to her! Now it was possible to understand why the ship had fallen so far, because the unfortunate guards were practically doomed- but not Skyla, who could fly! So she had escaped, and now Equestria was in danger again. The love inherited from Cadence did not completely turn Skyla to evil, but she was in no way inferior to Sombra in strength - and Celestia and Luna could not completely defeat him even together. It was impossible to delay with these news, the alicorn decided. Twilight frowned again, trying to teleport out of the cabin, but the horn only started blinking - something was blocking the movement outside. Skyla took care of the magical protection of her cabin, but either she couldn't put a block against teleportation from outside, or she didn't want to for some reason. We'll have to get out the old-fashioned way - through the shaft, opening the lever... But you can't get through it with air ballons! Tempest also realized that there was only one way out of this situation. Touching Twilight on the shoulder, she showed her the way back, and the alicorn nodded understandingly - she needed to swim first, otherwise the lid would jam again. The only magic that allows you to breathe underwater is the magic of hippogriffs... But Twilight didn't have it. The mare's body shuddered with horror as she imagined what a long way she and her friend had to go to the surface. Exactly... The teleportation spell required incredible concentration, and Sparkle would not have been able to cast it without calm breathing. But what if you take off the cylinders and drag them up the stairs? Will you have the strength and dexterity to pull a load in a narrow space, and then squeeze through a rapidly closing hatch with it?.. Unlikely. What if we try to pull out one ballon together? Twilight was completely nervous, so she tried to distance herself from the problem and calm her breathing. It will be possible to put the ballon next to it, cope with the lid of the shaft and go down, breathe in one and swim, replaced by the other... But while she was thinking, Tempest had already acted - stupidly, perhaps, but decisively and without panic. She removed the straps from her body and, while still holding the mask in her teeth, began to unhook Twilight's scuba girths. Taking the cylinders in their hooves, the ponies swam towards the shaft. Twilight fired her magic into the horn again, illuminating the narrow walls, and both mares felt claustrophobic. What a bad time! I couldn't get through the shaft with a bulky load in my arms - I had to push them in front of me. The journey slowed down a lot, but at least I didn't have to fight suffocation. But when Twilight reached the very top, it turned out that the ballon didn't allow her to reach the hatch lever, resting against it, and the lever didn't respond to magic. Twilight poked the ballon into the lid and strained her whole body, trying to lift it - but the result was the same when Tempest Shadow tried to get out alone. To make matters worse, the ballon didn't allow her to see the lever from the cabin, which meant she had to get rid of it and pull the hatch with her hoof. With a growl and a tug on the winged leg, Tempest began to descend back down, even slower than she had climbed, due to the flippers clinging to the ladder. There remained the last, most direct and most dangerous way to get out - to surface directly, without a breathing apparatus. It was only a matter of minutes to get rid of the cylinders, but the ponies were still sitting at the bottom of the shaft, breathing for a long time. Then Twilight forcefully pulled the mask away from her face and floated up, almost hitting the stairs. Almost growling almost like a fighting friend, the princess shook her head, flashing her horn indignantly, and pressed her wings to her body, shrinking as best she could. And then she began to pull herself up the stairs in front, hypnotizing the distant hatch, glinting in the violet glow. Tempest stuck her head through the hatch, leaning against the tank and watching the mare rise. The bubbles that escaped from her mask floated past Twilight, forcing the unicorn to make unnecessary efforts. They seductively stirred her body, making her feel unnaturally envious of the fact that her friend was breathing now, but she wasn't. But it was impossible to be distracted and delay! The Friendship Princess had to save herself and the other pony! Twilight almost bumped her horn into the lid, bracing her front hooves against it, using her wings to help herself. The lid began to open - but how slowly! And how she resisted, pressing down on Twilight, as if trying to push her back into the mine! It was very difficult for the untrained mare to strain her muscles while holding her breath - bubbles immediately began to squeeze out of her mouth and nostrils. But her mind saved Twilight even now, in an exhausted and air-thirsty state - by pushing the lever with her horn, the pony was finally able to open the door wide and get out into the corridor. Tempest swam after her, moving as fast as she could, and managed to swim out just before the hatch slammed shut. For a second, both mares looked into each other's eyes, and then they silently decided that it was not worth trying to get the cylinders, and they began to work with their flippers. The ponies found themselves in the exact position Twilight had been so afraid of - trapped in an underwater trap. Terrible visions, twisted inside a troubled mind, came true. Their whole bodies ached, especially tummies, chests and legs, heads were spinning, and the previously steady light of Twilight's horn began to tremble. Looking back at Shadow, Twi subconsciously noted that the unicorn hadn't lost the smoothness and grace of her movements, and with a slight tremor of suffocation, with desperate determination and fear in her eyes behind the glass mask, with hot bubbles escaping from her nostrils, the mare even became more beautiful and lively. At death's door... They had just sailed out to sea, and everything in the pony's chest had already burned out, and she could barely hold on, so as not to take a sip of water. The surface was too far away... Unattainable! Twilight's hooves trembled, and her wings, instead of rowing rhythmically, twitched like those of a caged bird. Tempest had a little more strength, as well as consciousness, but she still had the guts to grab Twilight, hugging her under her wings, and, straining herself to the limit, beat off the water with her flippers, frantically surfacing, bubbling in her voice from the stuffiness and excitement... From rubbing against a trembling friend. Twilight was thrashing fearfully in her hooves, and her friend's involuntary trembling fueled Tempest even more than the tightness in her chest that had begun to feel. Partly yielding to this impulse, partly hoping to somehow help her friend, Tempest turned her face to herself and pressed her lips tightly to hers. The remnants of the stale air from her lungs could not alleviate the suffering of the mares, but, biting into the offered mouth with a kiss, sucking each other's lips, the mares held on so as not to suck in water. The fire in her lungs and under her stomach merged into one, curled into one hot thread, disturbed by the friction of her sunken bellies and the tender skin beneath them, squeezing charming moans, wheezes and gurgles from the drowned women who had gone mad. Twilight's hoof touched Tempest's belly while her wings gently hugged the unicorn, wrapping her in a feathery cocoon. Out of fright, fear, and desire, Tempest only dug into Twilight harder, frantically kicking her hind legs and waving her stumpy tail. Sparks began to fall from her horn, quickly fading into the water. Her body was tearing and thrashing frantically when Twilight was already limp, twitching rarely but heavily. The eyes of both ponies were glassy, rolling up and hiding behind their eyelashes, but it burned, warmed and stormed between their legs, especially with involuntary touches. One particularly sharp friction made both friends lose their temper, forcing them to vent their pent-up passion. The chipped horn rested against a smooth and long one, scratching it, knocking out a whole bunch of sparks from itself and a steady stream of magic from the princess's horn.