Chapter 111 – A Day of Fun
"CANON BALL!" Pinkie shouted as she and Breeze launched themselves from a rather large protruding boulder, curled herself into a ball, and let herself splash into the ocean below. She was dressed in a wild, pink, blue and yellow frilly bathing suit made for ponies while he wore a black bathing suit with a blue stripe going down the sides and a pinstripe design of a flower printed on the left side. She giggled with glee as she popped back up from the water and surprised everyone by spinning her tail like a propeller. Rarity sat on a beach towel under an umbrella and dressed in fancy light blue summer attire and sunglasses, preferring to enjoy the beach while relaxing as Spike and Lau both in green and purple bathing suits that were inverted from each other built a sandcastle nearby with Twilight reading a book under the same umbrella and dressed in a dark purple bathing suit. Piks and Phis sat nearby with the twins while the baby wiggled in her grasp. Applejack and Rainbow Dash however had joined Pilit and Kklement, on a team to play a game that involved two large, curved walls of soft sandstone with baskets and a ball made from thin rubber. Rainbow Dash was obviously forbidden from using her wings as she had a strap wrapped around them to keep them close to her body. Blade, wearing an ocean-patterned swimsuit, and Fluttershy, in a long green beach dress, had chosen to walk along the beach and talk while Writch and Tusks sat in beach chairs near the door of the garage, a large skewer of what looked like onions and another kind of fruit that smelled sweet but looked rancid.
"That's something you don't see every day." Blade suddenly said as he looked out to the ocean. Fluttershy turned her head to glimpse what he was looking at, her loose green beach dress hanging from her shoulders and flank. Out there in the waves, Pinkie was once again going as fast as she could with her tail as a motor, only to have a full-grown Hylop woman keeping up with her as the two raced through the water, "Somepony who can give Pinkie Pie a run for her bits."
Fluttershy giggled a bit as she watched, Image floating to be next to them wearing a pair of long patterned green shorts and a teal beach towel around his neck, "I do believe she has finally met her match." he told them, next to him, held up by magic, floated a plate of strange food.
"I wouldn't count her out just yet." Fluttershy said calmly. The three of them were surprised when Pinkie and the Hylop stopped, turned, and began swimming back only to have Breeze pop out of the water in front of them and do a front flip before diving back down into the depths.
"I thought his Air Flash couldn't be used underwater." Image commented in confusion.
"It can't, that's why he trained himself to swim efficiently." the dark-furred pegasus said and placed his hoof to his chin in thought, "Though he had to start over when he became a pony, so I'm not sure how he's doing so well."
"Magic?" Image asked getting the two ponies to shrug in response.
Tusks and Writch both laughed for a few seconds as the spectacle played out and heard a familiar beeping noise from inside the garage. "I'll get it." he said as he lifted from his chair to make his way inside.
"So." Image asked as he turned back to the two ponies, "I've been very curious as to why Hylops love to swim so much, but I guess I'm even more curious as to why they can swim so well. I've never seen anypony who can match Pinkie in the absurd like that."
"It's because of the way their hands and feet develop." Fluttershy said, "The webbing in between their fingers is less pronounced than their toes because it only goes up halfway, but it makes swimming much easier for them. Also, I've been told that most Hylops can hold their breath for up to two hours with how their lungs develop and because of the oxygen glands that grow in their neck, alongside their trachea."
"That's impressive." Blade said with wide eyes.
"Hey." the team heard Tusks call out from the garage, "Team meeting, {snort} NOW!" and he disappeared back into the garage.
"Must be important." Image said as they trailed behind the rest of the team.
The moment he entered the room, he looked up to the console, seeing a very stern-looking Tusks standing in front of a worried-looking Honor and Chivalry. Honor's hand rested gently on the shoulder of a Hylop who looked like she had recently gotten done crying. Image looked directly into Honor's eyes and focused, "What happened?" he asked quickly.
Honor didn't even flinch, "Is she o.k.?" Twilight asked to echo Image's concern.
Chivalry looked down, being the closest to the console, and began typing. "She's the sole survivor of Kkelmar's garage?" Pinkie read out loud.
"Sole survivor?" Blade asked, "Did she tell you what happened?"
Again, Chivalry began typing, "Wait." Twilight said, catching everyone in confusion, "We need to get Tri-Tiner in this conversation." When everyone gave her a strange look, she explained, "We promised we wouldn't leave him out again, and he needs to know."
Tusks sighed deeply, "She's right." he said, "As much as Meltackains and Hok-Sai fight, we can't leave one of them out. We need to keep our promise." As soon as he was done talking, he turned and typed the information into the computer, getting another box to show up on the screen. It took a few rings, but eventually, a Hok-Sai appeared on screen.
"One moment, Aie?" he said, "Ah'll go get Tri-Tiner for yah." He jumped down from the seat, walked off the screen, and shouted, "OI! Teh ponies are on teh talker, Aie!"
Tri-Tiner's voice echoed from out of the speakers, catching the jovial laughter that turned into banter, "So, they decided ta call and check up on us, Aie?" he asked in a grand bellow, "Let's see what teh newcomers have ta…" he paused when he finally sat down and looked at the screen, his smile faltering into a worried frown, "WHAT ON MELTACKS CORE HAPPENED TA HER?" he almost shouted, "What's wrong with her neck?"
"Ok Chivalry." Twilight said softly, "We're all here now."
The female Meltackian narrowed her eyes a bit at the sight of the Hok-Sai, but then inhaled to calm herself and began typing again. "They still haven't gotten much information out of her, but she seems to be traumatized by Sunik's in general." Pinkie read as the words appeared.
"Hm." Tri-Tiner hummed and began typing.
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked.
"Getting answers, and Ah think Ah know just who ta ask." he said, and once he was finished typing, he glared at Chivalry, "And did ya just give me teh Mad Eye?"
Chivalry then looked confused, before a shocked expression enveloped her features. She began typing. "Apologies. Old habit." Pinkie translated.
"It's Alright." Tri-Tiner said and then turned to Pinkie, "Ah can read Pinkie, Aie?" The second he spoke these words, another screen appeared with the name Ssalikka flashing on it.
"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked, "Because that name says…" she never got to finish, because the Sunik lady appeared on the screen.
"Yes?" Ssalikka asked.
"Ssalikka!" Sselekk growled.
"Ponies!" she responded then added with little care, "And Sselekk."
"Excuse me?" he responded angrily, "Nice to know my own little sister cares so little."
The entire group glanced at him with surprise, "Oh don't be like that." she said with little feeling, and then smiled, "I learned it from you!"
"When were you going to tell us that Ssalikka was your little sister?" Rainbow asked in shock.
"When you asked." he said, "Have you talked to Dad yet?"
"Yeah." she said, "He took a vacation to Bacromus a few days ago for some reason, the first time he's done anything like that Didn't mention Mom at all though."
"Good." the large Sunik man said and turned to reach behind him, pulling his mother forward.
"MOM?" she asked, "What happened?"
"First, you tell us what happened to that Hylop girl with Honor and Chivalry." Twilight demanded.
The Sunik girl squinted, and let her eyes open in a glad surprise, "Oh good." she said, "She made it out safely."
"What are you talking about?" Applejack asked directly.
"Honor, Chivalry." Ssalikka said solemnly, "I owe you both an apology, you were right. Law Keeper Kkelmar did that to her. She alive because I distracted him long enough for her to get away."
"Thank you." the Hylop girl said as her shock subsided at the sight of the Sunik who had rescued her.
"Wait, your Law Keeper tried to damage the oxygen glands on a Hylop's neck?" Hulon asked in disgust, "That would be painful. If they don't heal properly, she'll have a hard time holding her breath at all."
"We'll get her under the healing lams quickly." Chivalry typed out, "But why would your Law Keeper do this to such a peaceful race?"
"I'm still trying to piece that together." Ssalikka said.
"It's because the guy is a bloodthirsty maniac." her mother suddenly said catching the attention of everyone there.