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Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky

by David Silver

Chapter 51: 51 - Dancing

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They stood before a somewhat rundown house. Spike gestured at it. "Moon Dancer." He knocked softly on the door. "Excuse me?"

The other three glanced to one another. Was the great and powerful horny pony that would enchant their train really there? Shoot, they needed more than one horny pony if they were going to get the party going properly.

"Moment..." A glow was visible before it opened, revealing the horny pony that lived there. Moon Dancer perked an ear at all three of them before settling on Spike. "Oh! It's been a while, Spike. How are you? How's Twilight?" Her dour expression had brightened like the sun bursting through some thick clouds. "Who are your friends?"

Spike hiked a thumb at the dumbfounded seahorses. "This is Cherry, Berry, and Indigo. They need your help."

"Oh?" Moon stepped out of her house, her magic closing the door behind herself. "What sort of help? In fact... what are they?" Her eyes focused on their unusual anatomy, following the lines of powerful tails that led to flippers. They were more like dolphins than anything else, or so Moon Dancer decided. "They seem clearly aquatic in nature."

Cherry shook off her surprise. "Oh, yes. We're from the ocean. Hello, dryland pony." She thrust a hoof forward. "We were told you are a very skilled horny pony."

Moon went a dark red in her cheeks. "W-what?"

Spike snickered and fished out the letter that Twilight had sent him with. "Here."

Moon Dancer's magic wrapped around it and her eyes quickly swept back and forth, rapidly absorbing the contents of the letter. She relaxed a little. "Oh... Oh! I see... I think? You need a heavy duty thaumic integration process on a heavy metallic shell with complex mechanical parts." She nodded. "It's going to need high heat and water resistance, not to mention tolerance for sodium." The letter vanished with a puff as she sat and looked thoughtful. "This will be quite a challenge."

Indigo leaned forward a little. "Can you do it?"

"No."

Berry reddened with sudden fury. "No?! We came all this way so you could just tell us you can't do it?!"

Moon held up a hoof. "That is correct. I will require some assistance. Another school friend of mine has some talent that would be complimentary to mine."

Spike raised a brow. "Really? Who?"

Moon blinked at Spike. "You should know her. I hear she ran into you and Twilight in Ponyville, twice at least." She lowered her head a little and a colorful flare of magic revealed a holographic horny pony.

"Trixie?!" gasped Spike, pointing at the image. The pony wore a pointy hat, and was gazing at the three as if she were very confident indeed.

Cherry clopped her fore hooves. "She looks like she could do it. How do we get her to help?"

Moon nodded. "Therein lies the challenge. Trixie Lulamoon is a talented spellcaster, but her methods are... unconventional, and she has a few... beha... She has a few..." She kept tripping over ways of explaining it.

Spike rolled a claw. "She has a few issues, to put it mildly. Still, she, uh, seemed to be doing alright, last time she came through. She even made friends with Starlight Glimmer."

"Oh, that's nice." Moon nodded. "Forging beneficial co-relations is quite conducive to efficiency both in and out of duty."

Indigo took a step forward towards Moon. "So you will be helping?"

"Of course." Moon dusted off her fluffy-looking shirt. "Twilight has requested it. I simply cannot proceed without undue difficulty without this assistance."

Berry let out a powerful sigh. "Alright, that's getting somewhere. So where is this 'Trixie'?"

Spike shrugged.

Moon pointed into the city. "Her tour should be taking her through the city in a short time. Tonight, we will attend and, I propose, we approach her after the show concludes."

Cherry brightened at the news. "What sort of show does she do?" Whatever display came from a horny pony, she could only imagine it'd be fantastic to see. "Can we watch?"

Berry tapped Cherry on the nose. "That's what she just said. We'll watch this 'Trixie' and ask her to help afterwards."

"Correct." Moon nodded. "Until then, do you require anything?"

Indigo pointed at Moon Dancer's house. "Do you have a... tub I think it's called?"

Moon blinked. "Yes?" She sounded unsure of why anypony would even ask her about that, at least until all three ponies charged past her into her home. She looked at Spike, befuddled. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Nah." Spike waved his claws. "They're just eager to take a bath and get their fur wet. They are sea ponies, after all."

Moon tapped her chin. "I wonder if they require a specific level of salinity."

Spike assured her that they'd be fine. The splashing and giggling coming from the bathroom didn't sound like anypony having a bad time.

Moon peeked down the hallway towards it before looking back at Spike. "Do they often perform communal bathing ceremonies?"

"Uh."

"With two mares and a stallion... Are they related?"

"I don't think so, no."

Moon frowned with thought, trying to apply the friendship lessons she'd learned. "They must be very good friends." Possibly they'd advanced to levels of friendship she hadn't even dared to consider yet. She began to daydream a moment about some of the books she'd read.

"Moon Dancer?"

She started from her fantasy and shook her head. She was assuming things. "Yes, right. We'll proceed when the time is correct."

Some time later, three dampened sea ponies, a dragon, and a bookish horny pony set out into the evening light.

The city was bustling, as it often was, drawing the eyes of the seaponies this way and that way and every other way to see the sources of curious sounds, admire the bright colors, or follow teasing scents. Every sense was assaulted with something they wanted to know more about, but Moon Dancer and Spike kept them pointed approximately in the correct direction.

Berry veered off from the school and snatched up a small shiny bauble. "This is very nice."

The mare who ran the shop she had picked it up from nodded at Berry. "It would go nicely with your pelt. Would you like to have it?"

"Can I? Thanks." She moved to walk right past the shopkeep without a moment of hesitation.

Spike hurried up to the confused shopkeep. "They're not from around here."

"You don't... say?"

"I do say." He fished out a few bits and slapped them down to cover the price of the bauble. "I hope that makes up for it. If not, send a bill to Princess Twilight Sparkle."

She blinked down at Spike. "Oh! Of course you're that dragon! I will, thank you. I hope she enjoys it, but do try to stop her from just picking up things without paying for them."

Moon Dancer moved to do just that. She tapped Berry on the shoulder. "I believe Spike is handling it for you, but you should refrain from stealing."

"What?!" Berry recoiled at the accusation. "I didn't steal anything! She gave this to me."

Spike hurried up towards the two. "It's alright, Berry, just a misunderstanding. See, when a shop pony asks if you want something, they mean to ask 'do you want to buy this?' She's not mad, you can keep it."

"Oh.." Berry gave the bit of jewelry a guilty look. "I didn't know."

Moon Dancer nodded. "We all make mistakes. As friends... we help each other learn."

Spike bobbed his head in kind. "Exactly. Huh, Twi's gonna be happy to hear how much progress you've made."

Moon blushed at the idea. "You don't... have to tell her." Though maybe that would be nice kinda? "Look, there's the show."

There was a slowly thickening crowd of ponies around a stage. Banners nearby announced that Trixie would be performing and showcasing a brand new feat of reality shattering magic for those lucky enough to be in attendance.

Despite all that focus, one small land filly thought the three aquatic ponies were more interesting. "Hullo." She had to raise her voice to be heard over the crowd. "What kinda ponies are you?"

Indigo looked down at the smiling little horny pony. "Hello there," he greeted in kind, offering a hoof. They met in a soft clop. "My name's Indigo."

"Nice to meetcha Indiwo," she tripped over the word even as she soldiered on by repeating her question. "What kinda pony are you?"

Berry threw a leg over either, drawing her companions close. "We're sea ponies." She wagged her tail for emphasis. "You're a horny pony."

"I'mma unihorn!"

"Corn, dear." her mother corrected, turning to see who her daughter was speaking to just to start at the sight of the three sea ponies. "Oh! Um, hello?" Defensively, she put a leg in front of her daughter. "Nice to... meet you?"

Cherry mouthed the word. She was sure she'd heard it at least once before. "Unihorn?"

The mother gave a sympathetic smile. "Unicorn. That's what we are." She pointed a free hoof up at her horn. "I hope she hasn't caused you any trouble."

Berry waved it off as she got her legs back under herself. "It'll take more than that to rattle me. Nice to meet you, Unicorn."

The filly tilted her head. "I'm Amber Streak. Thas my name. I am a unicorn." She pointed at Indigo. "He is Indiwo, a sea pony. Sea ponies are pretty."

Indigo giggled a little. Being called pretty by a mare was good, but she was a bit young to count. "Thank you, Amber."

The lighting suddenly dimmed, the street lamps lowering in intensity as a booming voice announced, "Welcome, one and all. Fillies and Gentlecolts. Prepare to be amazed! Trixie has a feat of magic for you today that not even the stupendous Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Element of Magic, could master. But first..." Fireworks exploded in a sudden colorful spray, a blue-furred unicorn appeared in the center of the stage. "The show begins!" A fresh wave erupted to some curious clopping and stomping by the crowd, ready to see the feat of magic.

With scintillating lights and dazzling displays, Trixie kept the crowd hooked as she practically danced across the stage, a perpetual nova of activity. A few minutes into the act, it seemed to die down as she looked out over the crowd. Her eyes widened a little at the sea ponies. "Perfect. You there!" She thrust a hoof at them. "Yes, one of you, with the flippers. Come up to the stage."

Berry moved first, boldly and confidently making her way to the stage. She hopped up onto the stage, a feat she had only recently gotten down. "I am here, Trixie. What do you want?"

"Oh ho! Such confidence... Trixie admires it." She gestured at Berry. "Behold this exotic example of pony kind. Trixie will perform her nigh-forbidden magic on her!" The combination of exotic pony and forbidden fruit had their attention, and Trixie savored every wide eye in the crowd. She loved it. As she looked over Berry, she remembered Starlight mentioning a sea pony. Was this that one? Whether they were or not, the show had to go on. "This is your last chance, if you're scared, to run away, sea pony."

Berry blinked and puffed out her chest, standing defiantly. "What, me? Never! Do your worst, Unihorn."

Was that an insult? Trixie decided to pay it no mind as she focused on the spell, arcane power gathering dangerously as a headache bloomed. The immense force required for that trick always left her dizzy. She didn't have the thaumic reserves to pull it off seamlessly, but a seam nopony else ever saw may as well not be there. She kept a pristine look of showmaresmanship as she focused the beam on the sea pony, bathing her in bright and strobing light. Bright wooshing sounds announced something incredible was happening in the light.

Author's Notes:

Surely this can't possibly go wrong!

Right about the time I stop harping about typos.

Next Chapter: 52 - Horny Estimated time remaining: 23 Minutes
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