[Hoofington] Good Day for a Dive [OPEN]

[MyLittlePonyTales]

[colour=#400000]Piper the Dragon was spending a lazy day near the Barrelfloat River, just outside the city of Hoofington. She was a rather good swimmer, and the ocean offered a great opportunity to test how long she could hold her breath and how deep she could dive.

As a young Dragon, she was about the size of the Princess Celestia, though having never met the monarch, she wouldn't be aware of that. Her sleek black body slid smoothly into the water, and she quickly disappeared under the waves before reappearing minutes later. If nopony had seen her go in, they would have no idea she was lurking under the water until her head broke the surface.

The cool water was soothing to her scaly skin. It was nice to relax and practice her swimming skills. There was nothing really better for her to do, anyway. She had even begun to collect a pile of fish and set them on top of a large rock, to eat when she was finished exercising and had worked up an appetite. Though she wouldn't really call it exercise herself, seeing as it was pretty fun and she normally had plenty of energy to spare.[/colour]

[ThunderCrash]

It was a fairly lazy day for Thunder Crash. The dry dock was under construction, the ship was stuck in the sand, and there was little for him to do in terms of directing his crew. Really, honestly, what was a Captain good for if the ship couldn't move and everything could be handled by his officers? The answer was... sadly... absolutely nothing. Thus, he'd headed away from his ship and the bend in the river, away from the Everfree Forest, and across the lakes as fast as his wings could carry him. Maybe what he needed to avoid becoming a sad sack was to just have a day out to himself. He probably could have flown to see Electric, but he didn't want to feel like a burden today. He was a pirate captain, not some whimpering school-colt.

Shaking off the thoughts before he worked himself into the beginning stages of depression, he surveyed the lake from the skies above. Thus far he had seen nothing in the way of his father's flagship, or the vessel that his mother captained. Neither ship had made it thus-far, and he was feeling greatly pleased by this. Maybe they'd had trouble in the same manner as he had - after all, their vessels were even larger than his. He had the smallest vessel of the three, just a sloop, but he'd not sailed upriver on his own before. His mother and father had done so many times, but usually in the ship that he now captained, and thus might not be experienced in using the larger ships in the same way. Perhaps he was in luck and wouldn't look a fool after all!

He'd very much like not to look one.

It was starting to be about time to head back when he spotted a patrol flying over the lakes and he cursed his luck. Snapping his wings he rolled and dove for the lake below - only opening them again just before the surface of the water and rocketing along over it. He headed for shore figuring that he would have to wait until the skies cleared before heading back.

"Perfect." he muttered to himself. "I'll end up not getting back until after dark." Though, he didn't mind that. Flying by starlight was never a bad thing.

As he began to near shore though, he noticed a large rock that had fish piled on it and couldn't help but be curious. Hovering near it for a moment and then landing, he stepped close and then looked around.

"Well someone's good at fishing..." He tilted his head. "...But where in blazes are they...?"

[MyLittlePonyTales]

[colour=#400000]When Piper first caught a glimpse of blue as she dropped off another mouthful of fish, she paid not attention, assuming it was just a wave. She dove again directly after dropping off her catch, but when she came back up again, she paused to survey her current hoard and catch her breath. She looked up, her eyes roaming the yellow beach, before she actually caught site of the pony that was almost directly in front of her. Well, there had been water in her eyes!

“Back off!” she hissed, pouncing atop her pile of fish and giving a loud hiss. Her body sparkled in the sunlight, her scales dripping salty seawater. She bared her teeth at the pony, probably looking quite menacing even though the stallion was full grown. Piper then recalled that ponies weren't actually meat eaters, so he likely wasn't after the fish. Then again, if he knew the right buyer, there might be griffons in the area willing to pay for fresh seafood.

She slicked her head scales back with a claw, standing on her hind legs with her fish in front of her. She picked one up with her mouth, keeping her eyes on the blue stallion, before tossing it into the air and catching it in her open mouth, letting the morsels slide down her throat. She looked down at him again, giving a low growl. Piper really had no reason to be hostile, but she was cautious around strangers. “Can I help you?” It sounded better than what she had originally considered, ”What do you want?” At least she was making an effort to be nice, in her own way.[/colour]

[ThunderCrash]

Thunder Crash blinked rapidly as the dragon popped her head out of the water. That was something he certainly hadn't expected. He'd heard of dragons, seen them in books and from afar, watched them in flight... but never had he seen or heard of a dragon swimming before. It seemed odd, but not the bad sort of odd. Instead, it was the interesting sort of odd. That sort of odd that made you want to study and learn and figure things out. It was the type that made things happen, really.

When she pounced onto the pile of fish and hissed at him, he did something akin to the opposite of backing off. Instead, his eyebrows rose and he sat on his flanks abruptly; wings ruffling just slightly. He'd never heard of a dragon that couldn't breath fire, and though she'd just come from the water she didn't seem to have gills - thus, she'd probably been holding her breath, and could still breath fire... if she was capable of doing so. This in mind, his wings were ready to carry him away at a moment's notice if she decided to barbeque his hindquarters. "I can assure you, I mean your lovely pile of fish no harm."

Watching her before she asked her question, he shrugged a bit. "Oh, I don't know. The ability to help assumes that help is needed, and currently it isn't needed, so logic would thus dictate that you can't help me." He paused shortly. "Apologies, I've recently read a lovely little detective novel." He smiled a bit then. "I take it that either the fish here are plentiful, or you're very good at fishing. Perhaps both?"

[MyLittlePonyTales]

[colour=#400000]Oh, what a cheeky stallion he was, Piper thought to herself, as he sat down instead of backing off like she'd expected. A swift flick of her tail could easily knock him into the water, but there wouldn't be any point. She wanted to stay and enjoy her fish, and the blue Pegasus hadn't actually done anything threatening—just annoying.

She ducked her head, her reptilian eyes scanning the Pegasus as she reached down with her large teeth and tore into one of the fish. She made extra sure to tilt her head sideways, opening her jaws a little larger than need be to show off her collection of sharp ivories. Sure, there were various Dragons that lived among the ponyfolk, but that was no reason to think that every Dragon was a softie who lived in a house and slept by a fire. She was certainly not one to be trifled with.

“Good to know.” she said, as he confirmed his lack of interest in her seafood. “Well, ponies don't eat 'em. All they have to do all day is breed in the wide wide ocean.” Feeling a little more relaxed, she curled up on the rock to sun herself—but not before stretched, including her claws, wings, and tail spikes. Grabbing a fish with a claw, she popped it into her mouth, easily crushing it in her jaws.

“What's your name then?” she asked idly.[/colour]