The small beach on the outskirts of Las Pegasus is a secluded location, but never really saw much attention due to its proximity to a small forest that connects to a mountain range. It was mostly uninhabited and had no outlying villages or cities. Because of this, anything entering the forest would have to go around the mountain to reach the nearest civilization, Tall Tail, nearly fifty miles away. Thankfully, for Daring and Tide, their pursuers believed them to be heading in that direction. In truth, they both waited just outside the forest, watching as a small contingent of unicorns began making their way into the forest.

Tide watched as the group filed into the forest, following the decoy she’d sent out. She was feeling particularly proud of that. “Simple enchantment to make the shawl into the world’s best dead end,” Tide mused to herself. She then looked to the pegasus beside her. She seemed focused and fairly bright. Tide wasn’t sure how that tracking spell had gotten on her, but it must have been applied without her knowing, if her look of surprise was anything to go by.

“Okay, we need to get out of here, get back into the city, then catch a ride out of here,” Daring explained. “I got a friend who can put us up for a bit.” Daring then pulled out a piece of parchment and seemed to scribble out a quick note before wrapping it in a ribbon.

“What is she-” Tide began to ponder before the ribbon caught fire and disappeared into it’s own smoke. Tide blinked in surprise as she watched the smoke speed off into the distance. “Huh, they have magical message transits. Interesting.”

“Okay, I sent a message to my friend. Hopefully, he’ll respond quickly. Until then, we lay low until we can get past these goons,” Daring explained.

Tide nodded as she continued to watch unicorn after unicorn began to arrive at the beach, each wearing the same uniform. “These assholes just don’t give up!”Tide cursed to herself. After escaping from them once, Tide was a tad reluctant to be put in a sack again, or worse. As the two mares continued to watch the group file into the forest, Tide noted that one particular unicorn seemed to be barking out orders. It was a tall light blue unicorn with a pitch black mane and what appeared to be a map for a cutie mark. He looked fairly old, maybe in his late sixties. Tide had seen this unicorn before. He was the one that had helped shove her in a sack and had no doubt applied a few bruises to her ribs.

Tide tapped Daring then pointed to the unicorn in question. When Daring acknowledged she saw what Tide was pointing out, Tide held up her two fore hooves before using one hoof to hit the other before pointing to the unicorn again. Daring cocked an eyebrow at this. “He do something to you?” Daring asked in confusion.

Tide pointed to her mid section in response, drawing Daring’s attention. Just along Tide’s abdomen, near the light blue band, there were a few scales that were clearly missing or discolored. Daring seemed to understand. “Wait, for the right opportunity. We go now and we’re screwed. Just wait for now.” The pegasus’ calm but understanding tone convinced Tide to wait, but she was already planning to get a few good shots in if she could manage it.

The two mares continued to wait in the bush until a small piece of parchment appeared in front of the pegasus. She quickly unfurled it and scanned through it before giving an affirmative “Okay”.

“My friend has sent a carriage to wait for us just outside the city. We just have to get there and wait for it to arrive.”

“A way out, huh?” Tide thought to herself. She looked to the unicorns still filing in, fewer and fewer had been arriving. Either the last of them had arrived or the rest were taking a different route. Either way, there was an opportunity to leave. Tide was honestly looking forward to some time not spent running, swimming, hiding, or in a sack. She made a quick mental estimation of the distance between her position and the beach, it was... roughly thirty feet. If the two of them moved quickly, they could make it to the shore, and she could swim them away from the group. She just had to add one more variable to her estimation.

Tide tapped the pegasus with a hoof and pointed towards the beach. She then put a hoof to her nose and blew out her cheeks before pointing to Daring. The pegasus scrunched her face for a minute before she caught on. “I can hold my breath for about a minute or so. Think you can make it far enough away in that time?”

Tide gave Daring an unamused look before holding her black and neon fins up in front of the adventure’s face. Daring’s ears flattened and her cheeks reddened slightly. “Oh, right.” Daring took a quick glance at the unicorns before checking back toward the beach. “Okay, we’ll go on three.”

Tide nodded and prepared to move.

“One”

Daring got into a sprinter’s pose, as Tide flattened her fins.

“Two”

Daring took a final glance toward the unicorns one last time as she made an opening in the bush. Tide poked her head out slightly.

“Three, go!”

The two mares made their way towards the beach, Tide taking the lead with Daring close behind. They ran full force until the reached the beach. Tide halted waiting for Daring to catch up and the two slipped into the water. Daring wrapped her forelegs around Tide’s waist and once they locked tightly around, Tide put her powerful tail to work and shot across the shore. She used her smaller fins to give additional bursts. As they crossed the shore line, Tide made quick glances at her “passenger” to make sure she was maintaining her breath. She seemed to be doing alright. As the two continued, Tide had a burning urge to halt and get at least one good strike in on that unicorn. One magically powered water bolt straight to the head. Oh, the idea alone was tantalizing, but she knew if she did... they’d be spotted for sure. “One day, asshole.”

Tide continued to speed her way through the shore until she received a tap on her chest. She shot a peripheral glance at her passenger, Daring was pointing up feverishly and seemed a little frantic. It was clear what the problem was. Tide slowed slightly and allowed herself to rise toward the surface just enough for Daring to get a quick breath. After another tap to the chest, Tide dove under again and pushed toward with as much force as she could muster.

After traveling for a few more miles and making at least ten more air breaks, the two mares arrived at the last strand of beach before it lead into a delta. Tide hoped this would be far enough away from the unicorns that they couldn’t see her and Daring . Tide let herself and Daring float to the surface just enough so she could get a good look at her surroundings.

She saw the opening of an estuary along with the forest her pursuers had gone in. Thankfully, the forest was on the left side of the estuary while the city was on the right. This could be their chance. She just had to hope none of the unicorns were hanging around the edge of the forest. It’d have to be worth it. At least, they had some clearance should any of them attempt to chase them or use a spell. Tide nudged Daring and pointed to the shore. Daring nodded her understanding and the two mares made their way to shore. Daring shook the water from her coat upon getting out of the water. Tide was mostly unconcerned and just let herself stay damp.

After Daring finished getting herself semi-dry, she began to head toward the city with Tide trailing behind.

The outskirts of Las Pegasus are mostly dirt paths with a few scattered patches of trees and shrubbery. A railroad track lead into the massive city as it was the most common way into and out the city. For most, the path leading out of the city was mostly to get to the beach. Meaning it was often a high traffic area with tourists entering and leaving the city regularly. This particular issue became a problem for Daring and Tide as they approached. Daring got Tide to halt by putting out her wing and coming to a complete stop herself, causing Tide to follow suit. “It’d probably be bad if anypony saw you and I leave in my friend’s carriage... or saw you in general. We’ll need to hide until the carriage arrives arrives.”

Tide nodded as the two took cover behind a pair of trees and some shrubs that overlooked the path. “This will do for now, but if I walk out there I’ll be easily spotted. Hmmm,” Tide then began to go through her repertoire of spells. She did know a type of disguise spell, but it would only clone the image of the source... unless. “If I can augment the image maybe I can pass myself off as somepony else!” Tide then looked to Daring, who was gazing at the entrance to the city. “First, a sample. Hope this works with fur.” Using a bit of magic, she grabbed ahold of a tuft of fur near Daring’s flank and a little more to get a strand of her mane. Daring was instantly made aware of this new sensation, but before she could voice her confusion on why something was simultaneously grabbing her mane and flank, the fur and strand of mane was quickly ripped from their positions.

“Ow!” Daring whisper-yelled in an attempt not to draw attention. “What the hell!?” She then whipped around to see what Tide was doing only to see her holding a strand of her mane and fur, but she was also pulling leaves from the bush they were using for cover. “What are you-” Daring began before Tide put a hoof in her mouth again and made a “hush” motion.

Daring obliged but she was getting tired of having the taste of fish in her mouth. Tide got to work crushing the leaves in her hooves before adding Daring’s fur and mane pieces. She then took the odd mixture and apply her magic to it before applying the brownish green mixture to herself.

Soon the spell took effect, the fish-pony’s body became encased in her neon blue magic. Tide’s jet black scales were replaced with an olive green colored fur and her neck fin became a veridian colored mane. Her fins disappeared under the new fur and even her massive muscular tail turned into a long haired tail more commonly seen on most ponies. Then the final feature to make her look like any other pony, a set of ears on her head. To anypony passing by, Tide looked like a regular olive colored earth pony. Needless to say, Daring was a bit impressed. “Impressive, I didn’t know you could do that. Can you talk now?”

Tide shook her head dismissively. She slowly approached before turning slightly, as she did her tail swished by Daring, however; rather than being graced with fine pieces of hair, she was graced with a light slap to the face by an invisible flat surface. It didn’t take Daring long to determine what Tide had done. It was a cover, a facade. “Okay, I get it. Will it last long? I’m not sure how far away the carriage is.”

Tide tapped her chin lightly before scrawling “~20 min” in the dirt. Daring was impressed by the time frame they had, but also worried it might not be enough. “Hmmm, can you cast the spell again, if needed?”

Tide erased her previous note before scribbling, “Maybe once more. Draining spell to maintain.”

Daring quickly swore under her breath before searching the sky for any sign of the carriage. Unfortunately, all she could spot were a few birds. “Well... at least, we don’t have to worry about ponies spotting you. So, I guess that’s something.” Tide nodded with a light smile, showing off something the disguise didn’t cover. Her canine and incisor teeth. Daring was actually surprised to see those on a pony, but didn’t react too much to them. Her nemesis had a better set than Tide and Ahui definitely had more. Considering they had some down time and they had, for a time, evaded their pursuers, Daring decided it would be a good time for some questions. “Okay, mind if I ask you some questions while we wait?” She asked while she searched through her satchel for a replacement for the shawl she lost . While Daring was in private she prefered to have her alter-ego’s image still intact. The closest she had was a simple green rain poncho with a hood, but she figured it’d be better than running around with her wings and cutie mark exposed. She removed her cloche hat and glasses and put the poncho on in their place.

Tide gave a simple nod of affirmation when she saw Daring was done putting on her new disguise.

Daring smiled and began with the first question she had had since meeting Tide, “So you’re a pony but you’re also part fish. Is that natural?”

Tide looked reluctant to answer this and was clearly debating what to say. After some time she scribbled, “I was born this way. Most of my people are.” in the dirt.

Daring cocked an eyebrow. “Sooo, you’re like a hybrid or something?”

Tide was contemplatively silent before and continued writing. “Complicated story. Will explain later.”

Daring sighed but accepted the response. “Okay. What about those guys chasing you? What’s their deal?”

Tide scowled at this question. It was clear she held some disdain for her pursuers, so much so that her disguise faltered for a moment before she stabilized it once again. After a few calming breaths, Tide began to write again. “They’re trying to get into my home. Tried to stop them from taking friend, but got captured instead.”

Daring looked at the message and her brow scrunched. “‘They’re trying to get into my home’?I’d wager it’s underwater but why are they after it?” Daring thought to herself. “Unless...” Daring recalled what her friend in Canterlot had said about the organization’s desire for artifacts. This prompted her next question, “Why are they after your home?”

With another message erased, a new one took it’s place. “I’m unsure, all I know is they've been outside our city. Testing our security and our protective wards. They’ve been ramping up their-” She stopped to take a step back so she could continue, “Efforts. I attempted to stop them from doing more damage and got captured myself.” Tide glowered as she wrote the message continued to look perturbed that she had to admit it.

Daring gave a sympathetic smile. She’d worn a similar look once before when she, herself, had first started adventuring. It was the look of hurt pride. Whether it was getting captured or failing whatever duty she had been charged with, it was clear she was still sore about it. “I see. Well,I learned a little about them since last night. Apparently, this group that is after you has a thing for collecting magical artifacts, and considering what they were planning to use on you, they’re not afraid to use their collection.”

Tide broke out of her prideful pout to give Daring a confused look. Daring took this as a sign Tide was unaware of what her fate nearly was. She dug into her saddlebag again and produced the collar she procured the night before. “This is a serviance collar. It was created by a dictator who lived far north of here a thousand years ago. When it’s attached to the victim, they are forced to do whatever the owner says. If the victim does not comply, they are painfully coerced into doing the demand. I suspect they wanted to use this on you. Probably to get into your home,” Daring kept it direct to the point. She gave no hint of happiness in explaining the collar to the disguised fish-pony.

Tide listened intently until Daring got to explaining the collar’s purpose. She then began to lose all the color in her fake face. Her gaze immediately fell on the collar before her and a sense of dread fell over her. “Tho-those... they wanted to make me into a slave?! That... I... they’d-” The dread Tide felt began to give way to a mounting rage. Part of her felt like she dodged a horrible fate, but that idea only lead to her imagining one of her own people. What if there were more of these collars? Would they use them on others? How far were they willing to abuse life just to achieve their goals? Tide kept on this line of thinking until Daring interrupted her line of thinking.

“What are you doing?!” Daring asked in a hushed urgent tone. “Your disguise is gone!”

Tide halted her internal struggle and looked down at herself. Sure enough, her disguise was gone and her natural form was exposed for the world to see. She had to let go of her thoughts for a bit so she could reapply her disguise, this time with Daring offering the components rather than them being taken forcefully. After reapplying her disguise, with a slight variance in her coat and mane color, Tide took some time to collect herself both from her anger and from casting her disguise again.

Daring was quick to inquire to her acquaintance's state, “Are you okay? You looked seriously pissed a second ago. At least, I’d think so with how mad you looked and all your... fins flared like that.”

Tide swore under her breath, but to anypony who didn’t understand her language, all they’d hear was a low moan with an accentuated squeak in the middle. With a small sigh, she erased her previous message and began writing again. “Worried about my home. I don’t want them to do what they almost did to me. It’s barbaric.”

Daring nodded solemnly as she read the message. “Yeah... even here, we consider it a horrible device. Probably going to turn it over to the princesses to dispose of it... or whatever they see fit. It doesn’t belong out in the world, that’s for certain.”

Tide nodded her agreement as she eyed the unlatched collar in Daring’s hoof with new found disgust. Daring opted to put the collar away for the time being. Just as she finished stowing the artifact away, she noticed that Tide was looking at something off into the distance. When Daring turned to look herself, she was delighted to see two armored pegasi pulling a fairly regal looking enclosed carriage. “Ah, that’s our ride,” Daring stated with some relief. She pulled the hood over her head and motioned for Tide to follow. The two slowly began to make their way out into the open and toward the predicted landing site of the carriage.

Within a few minutes the circular sky carriage landed on the ground, which garnered a bit of attention from a few of the beach goers. Thankfully, Tide’s disguise was still active and all that was visible was a mustard yellow pony and a yellowish-green earth pony heading towards the carriage. Not that it wouldn’t stop a few rubber-neckers from having a look or a few gossipers to guess who the two mares might be. Daring ignored the hushed whispers of the gathering crowd and went up to the nearest pegasus at the front of the carriage. As she approached the pegasus on the left side of the carriage turned to face her. “Name please.” The armored pegasus requested.

“A.K Yearling. The other mare is my plus one,” Daring replied.

The pegasus nodded before telling Daring and her guest to get in. Daring obliged and called for Tide to join her in the carriage. Tide obliged and hopped into the carriage with Daring. The inside of the carriage was quite fancy compared to most. The inside was covered in a lush velvet cover and was relatively fluffy to sit on. The curved sides held two slightly curved windows with shutters that could be pulled around for privacy and there was even to be a small bar toward the front. For Tide, it was a welcome change from hiding at the bottom of the bay the night before. She nestled herself into the carriage as Daring closed the door behind her.

As the door closed, Daring found herself a nice location to lay down for the duration of the trip. The carriage lurched slightly as it began to prepare for take off again and Daring braced herself for take off. Tide looked to her compatriot and tried to mimic her as best as she could. When the carriage eventually took to the sky, Tide’s mimicking only helped so much, as she still landed on her back from the initial lurch. Once the carriage leveled out, she was able to get back to her hooves, albeit shakily.

“So... I better prepare you for where we’re heading and who we are about to meet,” Daring stated as she pulled the poncho hood down. “Do you know about Equestria’s capital?”

Tide let her disguise drop as she contemplated the question proposed. She gave a “kinda-sorta” shake of her hoof as her response.

“Okaaay... uh. I’ll just give you the quick important bits,” Daring said a little hesitantly. “We’re on our way to the capital, Canterlot. I have a friend there with a bit of status to get you an audience with the princess. He can be a bit of an ass from time to time, but he has mostly good intentions. Only suggestion I have is, when you meet him... try not to buck him in the face.”

Tide cocked an eyebrow at this. “Trust me, it’ll make sense once you meet him.”
Tide shrugged slightly, but accepted the advice regardless. The two spent the rest of their trip in relative silence until Daring made an obvious state, “When we get to Canterlot, we are going to have to devise a better way for you to talk.” Tide offered no rebuttal.

When their carriage began to arc down, Tide stole a peek out the right side window. She was astonished to see the regal city of Canterlot coming into view. The pristine alabaster whites and mixed with golden yellows gave the city a wondrous and welcoming feel. As the carriage banked toward a tower near the outskirts of the city, Tide noted the many citizens roaming the streets below. She even caught sight of several stores and restaurants Looking upon them gave her a sense of longing, but her determination to help her home and her people urged her to stay focused.

“Yeah, it is something,” Daring said with a nostalgic smile. “I don’t get up here often, but it’s always a wonderful sight to witness.”

Tide didn’t give a physical response, she just kept looking at the city with an analytical eye. “Strange, they’d build this on the side of a mountain. While I can see the strategic value of it, there is little escape for those without wings. However, if the city has grown this much they must not be subject to many assaults. Curious.” Tide continued to watch and wonder until a final bank and a loss of momentum indicated that they had arrived. They landed on a small platform that connected to a fairly large tower with a spiraling gold and black top. The tower was partially isolated from the other buildings but there were two separate pathways leading to an adjacent castle with some stain glassed windows and the other pathway lead to a slightly smaller tower that was a short distance away from the one the carriage had landed on.

Daring was first to leave the transport. Tide hung back so she could observe until Daring called for her. As Daring left the carriage, she was greeted by a voice calling out, “Ms. Yearling! A pleasure to have such a famous writer such as yourself in Canterlot.” The voice was sophisticated sounding. Daring immediately recognized the voice and looked to see a white unicorn stallion with a golden blonde mane that was immaculately styled standing at the end of the landing platform. He was wearing a formal black pinstripe collar accented with golden buttons and the ensemble was completed with a simple blue bowtie.

“Prince Blueblood,” Daring replied in a more high class tone. “Always a pleasure to be greeted by royalty, and thank you for agreeing to help with my latest novel.” Tide cocked a confused eyebrow. “Novel? What novel?”

Blueblood gave a haughty chuckle. “Oh, anything for you, my dear.” Blueblood stole a glance at the carriage and noted the absence of a second member. “I thought you said you’d be bringing an associate.”

Daring shot a glance over her shoulder and gave a sheepish laugh. “Oh, she’s my new assistant and she’s a bit nervous to meet you,” Daring said aloud before hushing her tone. “Can you dismiss the guards so she can come out?”

The prince barely hesitated. “Of course.” He turned his focus to the two pegasi, “Gentlecolts, your services are no longer required you may take your leave.”

The two carriage pullers looked at each other before shrugging and unhooking themselves from their harnesses. The guard on the right took off without further coercion. The guard on the left prepared to take off as well, but halted before he could take flight.

“I said you were dismissed, guard,” Blueblood repeated a bit more forcefully.

“I-I understand, your majesty. I was... just wondering if I could ask a favor of Ms. Yearling.”

Blueblood gave an annoyed half-lidded gaze and looked like he was about to say something, when Daring intervened. “What can I do for you, sir?”

The guard looked a little uncomfortable, but he managed to get his request out, albeit shakily. “My daughter i-is a big fan. She has all your books. Would it be too much trouble to... get an autograph?”

Daring gave a smile and rummaged through her satchel for a spare piece of parchment, some ink, and a quill. She found them all and quickly wrote her name in her best penmanship. Once the autograph was made Daring passed it to the guard. He happily accepted it and thanked the writer for her time, then took his leave.

“Ugh, that must be quite annoying at times,” Blueblood said with a hint of annoyance.

“It’s humbling, you could learn to be a bit more humble,” Daring countered, now in her normal serious voice. She turned her attention to the carriage and called out, “Tide, you can come out now.”

This comment got Blueblood to shift his attention to the aerial transport. As Tide slowly emerged a look of awe began to grow on the prince’s face. By the time Tide had strolled up to Daring, Blueblood was hardly coherent as he attempted to contemplate the odd figure before him. “Prince Blueblood, I’d like to introduce Tide. She needs Equestria’s help.”