“Hold on, everypony!” Rainbow Dash hollered. This was an important thing, for the waters hadn't finished bursting apart on all sides of the Swan Song.
Off the port bow, something was continually surging. Row after row of glistening scales ripped through the surf, trailing water and sediment as it performed a grand, rolling arc through the morning air.
“Is it just me, or did the ocean just defecate in our direction?!” Sinrar hollered.
“Let's not get close enough to smell it!” Rainbow swung around the mast and perched along the starboard side. “Nick?!?”
“I'm... tr-trying to steer away!” The stallion squeaked, struggling with the rudder. No matter how hard he turned the ship, it was still being dragged towards the inexplicable maelstrom to their left. “I could use a boost!”
“On it!” Rainbow Dash held her breath, twirled about, and planted her forelimbs against the port side of the vessel. Flapping her wings, she pushed as hard as she could into the ship's side. “Rrrrrnngh!”
“Mon dieu!” Sinrar hollered, pointing up as his body—and Nick's—were swallowed up in shadow. “Look at the size of it!”
“Rnnrnnnghh... the s-size of what...?!” Rainbow sputtered.
“Rainbow!” Twilight hollered, pointing up at the sky. “Look out!”
Rainbow turned to look up—
POWWWW! A ginormous webbed fin slammed into waters right next to her. From the sheer impact, it may just as well have been a three-story boulder impacting concrete. The concussive blast from the event sent Rainbow toppling into the drink.
Splasssh!
Rainbow Dash dropped like a cannonball. Spitting bubbles, she glanced around with twitching eyes. A pulse of ruby light emanated from her pendant, piercing the salty depths. Over the course of several suffocating seconds, she saw undulating scales and massive spines slicing through the waters.
Something the size of a small peninsula was swimming past her... past all of them. Rainbow Dash tried swimming up to the surface, but the sheer drag caused by the hulking beast kept sucking her in. A lavender figure hovered in front of the pegasus, unaffected by the elements. With a desperate hoof, Twilight Sparkle pointed past Rainbow Dash, but the mare was currently incapable of making out her words.
Just then, a dull brown beret floated past Rainbow's vision.
With a muffled gasp, the mare twirled around. Looking past bubbles and brine, she saw Sinrar flailing helplessly underwater. Rainbow threw her lower legs through swift kicking motions, and she propelled towards the unpside-down professor. Once she grabbed him, she felt that she was significantly far away from the drag to swim to surface... so that's exactly what she did.
“Guaaaah!” Sinrar wheezed for breath, eyes bulging, as soon he broke contact with dry air. Rainbow treaded alongside him, looking all around. “Heaven hump me!” the old stallion exclaimed. “My maps! Where did they go?!”
“Calm down, Dr. Dude!” Rainbow stammered, gazing past the churning waters. “I think we have more to worry about besides...” A chunk of shattered hull floated past her, bearing the words “Swan Song.” She blinked. “...your m-maps.”
“Zut alors...”
“Nick?!?” Twilight hollered.
“He can't hear you, Twilight,” Rainbow sputtered.
“He can't hear what?” Sinrar asked.
“NICK?!?!?” Rainbow hollered.
“Aaaaugh!” Sinrar winced, clinging to the mare. “Can I please not go deaf before I drown?!”
“Over here! Over here!””
Rainbow Dash and Sinrar twirled about, gazing across the rippling waves.
Miraculously, the trimaran was mostly in one piece. A good chunk of the port side float had been broken off, and the ship awkwardly reeled towards starboard. Nick was visibly panicking, galloping left and right across the hull as he fought to give the thing balance.
“Look what that thing did to my ship!”
“What in blazes is that thing?!” Sinrar stammered.
“It's everywhere.” Grunting, Rainbow flung Sinrar onto the ship's side. The old, shivering stallion clung to the hull while Rainbow Dash climbed up. “We gotta outrun it before it comes about for another strike!”
“But that thing's so big!” Nick's voice cracked. “What's stopping it from gobbling us whole as we speak?!”
“A little less speculating and a little more sailing, please!”
“Easier said than done!” Nick tugged on several ropes, trying to keep the mast straight as the ship wobbled. “I couldn't get us to cruise straight now even if we were being pulled by a dozen siren!”
“Well, better think faster, larva!” Sinrar hollered. “We don't pay you to bitch!”
“You don't pay me anything, you big bag of jerk and boogers!” Nick yelped.
“What did you call me?!”
“Everypony just stop!” Rainbow shouted, stomping her hoof down. She inadvertently caused the hull to split a bit further beneath. Nevertheless, she spoke past her own wincing: “Luna Poop! If the Noble Jury was at each other's throats like this whenever manure hit the fan, we'd never have made it past Gray Smoke!”
“Stop comparing us to your previous lovers,” Sinrar grunted.
“Oh for Celestia's sake, they were not all my—”
Twilight Sparkle shot up from the waters like a torpedo.
This stunned Rainbow, who stumbled back, nearly falling off the ship's edge.
“Rainbow...” Twilight murmured.
“Did... did you see it?” Rainbow cocked her head aside. “Did you see what it looked like, Twilight?”
Sinrar and Nick leaned in, breathless.
“Mmmmmm...” Twilight's eyes glistened as she whimpered. “I'm t-too scared to describe it.”
Rainbow bit her lip.
“Well?!” Sinrar rasped.
“What are we dealing with?” Nick asked.
Rainbow turned and looked behind her. Almost instantly, her ears folded back.
The ocean was boiling... frothing between every wave. Something massive had spun about, spilling water high into the air with the force of a waterspout. Right now, a massive line of muscle mass was cruising towards the battered Swan Song at an alarming rate. Shattered bits of coral and dead fish blanketed the ocean's surface in a straight line, and as the waves churned thicker and whiter, Rainbow swore she could see a pair of hideous, glowing eyes.
“Quick... Quick!” Rainbow hovered up and pointed dead ahead. “Get her inside the Nealend Atoll!”
“But we'll never outrun—”
“You just worry about the Swan Song!” Rainbow Dash twirled about, planted her hooves against the mast, and kicked off. “I'll worry about our welcoming party here!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Nick protested, gawking over his shoulder.
“Non! You will not survive!” Sinrar hollered, waving his water-soaked cane. “It is a hundred times your size!”
“I've fought dragons in the air!” Rainbow snarled, skimming the surface as she charged the thing head on. “You've seen one serpent, you've seen them all.”
“Rainbow...” Twilight panted, floating effortlessly alongside her. “It's one thing to be brave, but don't be suicidal!”
“It's been a long time since you've seen me do something awesome,” Rainbow spat, brow furrowed. “Close your eyes if you're squeamish.”
SPLASSSSSSSSH! Just then, dead ahead, a herculean set of jaws opened wide, emerging from the sea. An eerily glowing throat with row after row of serrated esophagal muscles loomed before the pegasus, filling the air with the rancid smell of gutted fish and feces.
Rainbow grimaced.
“You were saying...?” Twilight squeaked.
“Hckkkk!” Rainbow twirled to her right at the last second, drawing the massive serpent's lunge.
The world exploded all around. Noise and water drowned Rainbow's figure, nearly plowing her under the waves while she narrowly avoided the enormous snapping jaws. She desperately flitted away from the Swan Song, and the monstrous might of the ocean roared after her.
...Okay, definitely NOT like Stephen Magnet.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/11/27/165439.jpg
...aaaaand 5937657 is destroyed. gg~
What the hell is this thing?
ep.yimg.com/ay/wackyplanetshop/monty-python-i-fart-in-your-general-direction-t-shirt-5.gif
Spoken like a true french
manpony.Wow, that didn't take long. They haven't arrived at their destination yet, and already the ship is on the verge of sinking.
Oh, and what's up, guys?
Yup, you're definitely going to need a bigger Rainbow.
...
inb4 chaos RD
-spirit
So ... Sonic rainboom headshot?
5937657
Were it so easy . . .
Really!? No ones going to say it?
Fine...
I think they're going to need a bigger boat.
Back to the meat. Kicking dragons in the face.
I'm wondering if being a Pegasus Dash must have phenomenal lung capacity, although I'm not sure how well pegasi deal with oceanic pressures ... We may find out soon
Welp.
I almost thought we lost the boat there for a second. Rainbow has dealt with much worse before so this shouldn't be that hard for her to tackle.
Beware the Depths.
God, I fucking hate underwater creatures. Never actually seen them and hopefully I never will, but if the blurry videos or whatever fan-art there is are any indication, they're true nightmare fuel.
5937660 Kraken's second cousin.
5937657
Well, not all is lost. Perhaps they will be saved by a dashing pirate ship's captain named Swan Song.
Jaws reference: Going to need a bigger boat.
Say what now?
Oh, wow! Sinny managed to hold onto his stick!
I'm impressed.
He must have a death grip on that thing from all his rampant noggin-whacking.
5937707
Its so strong it doesn't need teeth to chew.
Ah, Twilight doesn't know about stupid plans yet, does she?
5937707
I feel stupid for not noticing/reading the chapter titles and just diving deep into the content.
nature.ca/notebooks/images/img/248_p_846_2_p.jpg
5937729 But how can muscles be serrated? You know, like have sharp pointy bits.
All I can think of is
stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/3355808/aang-runs-from-unagi-o.gif
5937711
He's got to keep it at the ready at all times now that he's with Nick.
5937735
Fine muscle control.
: /
5937735
Maybe the muscles are covered in scales, which happen to be very sharp? Or maybe ):( is complimenting the toned physique of the . . . whatever that was.
For right now, I'm going to name her Nessie.
5937735
don't know, but it sounds dangerous. Like, swallow anything and woops, cutting up my own esophagus here, momma nature kinda screwed me over. Not very efficient, though dowm right terrifying.
A giant...sucker fish? Am I the only one thinking that?
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
GAH FISHH!!!
5937747
Too bad Dashie doesn't still have her sword.
They could put THAT in Sinrar's grip and he would most likely slice the serpent to ribbons!
5937657 From somewhere distant, the sound of Taps drifts through the air.
5937792
Yes, he'd become a cranky old samurai. And with that prospect, I really, really want to see this happen.
5937657 Your ship is sinking... much like all of the other ships you've piloted.
It was nice knowing you Swan Song
5937778
I'm thinking Sea Turtles mixed with a sea serpent (like Seadramon)
images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110109175853/poohadventures/images/4/49/Seadramon.jpg
c1.staticflickr.com/3/2745/4017659229_6071c47c88_z.jpg?zz=1
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i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/532/332/176.png
Good night and pleasant dreams
5937822 It's gonna take loads more than that to unnerve me.
I can only say one thing... You're going to need a bigger boat.
*edit* Dammit, someone beat me to it.
It's also very apparent that the point they're trying to reach is inside this damn thing. Kinda remind me of Rhaknam from Skies of Arcadia, except more horrible death serpenty.
5937804
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Okay, I really tried to contain it (probably to seem cool or something, I don't know), but dammit, I'm too happy to keep it in. I finally caught up. Upon the release of this story, I finally took it upon myself to get to this point, and after 37 days of toil and dedication, I've made it passed the 837,000 barrier, and . . . well, here I am.
So thanks for being awesome, guys. Although I understand why knighty did it, he really needs to get rid of the thumbs limit because there aren't enough thumbs for me to give. There are too many awesome people following this story now, and it takes me longer to read through all the comments (due to me laughing, contemplating, or thumbing up at each comment) than it does to finish the chapter itself. And honestly, that's how it should be. This story has always been driven by those who read it.
And with that, I now focus on getting caught up on the rest of the things I'm sorely behind on . . . namely, all of them.
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5937885
That's glorious. But one cannot forget the badassery handled by the great Andrew Jackson, my friend. He might as well be just as magical as Gandalf, seeing as, you know, his assassin had two misfires with two perfectly working pistols.
slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/news_and_politics/history/2014/01/140130_HIST_AssassinationJackson.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg
The best part is he didn't need a sword.
5937665 At the moment? Doomfish over here.
5937735
Something like a lamprey, maybe? Or the pictures in Thunderhalk's post.
5937957 But those have teeth.
Holy Shit! I think we've found why the natives aren't coming out to mingle.
There's a big ass sea monster!
5937954
Meh. Rainbow's got it. She's fried bigger fish.
5937927
Sure, but his assailant wasn't a peninsula-sized sea monster.
5937895 Welcome to the Jury! Or, prehaps, the Noble Remnants.
5938033
Hmm . . . you do have a point. However, history is filled with secrets. Seeing as Andrew Jackson was so unanimously against the Federal Reserve, I could say that he was battling an unknown evil and attempting to protect the United States from it. Or maybe he was simply insane.
At the end of the day, Sinrar is still a cranky, magical samurai cartographer.
5938045
The Jury lives on in spirit. It's the crew that makes the ship, not the ship that makes the crew. Besides, I'm sure that Floydien will show up in his Noble Jury 2.0 somewhere along the line. I'm predicting a super meetup of every single friend and ally that Rainbow has gained towards the end of this series. At least, the friends and allies made from Eljunbyro on. It'd be a fitting end for a big damn hero.