[ prp ] Spelunking (Persephone Pyrefly & Seastone Ember)

[medigel]

Persephone loved to explore and was (thankfully?) too naive to understand when a place wasn't worth the risk. A cave in Spring Rain that held a secret hot spring? Healing waters? Why wouldn't she want to go check it out?? Especially because the rain was playing havoc with her extra fluffy bits and wings. (Not that she begrudged the weather - that was sort of what Spring was all about, she quickly learned: lots of rain, lots of flowers, and even more rain.)

The Cave of Lakes was huge. She...probably should have suspected as much given the name, but Persephone's imagination was quickly outdone as she wandered through tunnel after tunnel, eyes wide and shining with wonder at each body of water passed. This one was green as an emerald, that one a soft pink that reminded her of liquid candy...She tapped a hoof into each she passed, all pretty but none quite the hot spring she was looking for.

"Where aaaaaare youuuuu?" she asked the stone as she moved along, her voice echoing further on in ghostly whispers. It never occurred to her that at some point she'd need to find a way out sooner or later. Right now, her mind was all about the hunt.

 

[houllow]

Someone had happily found the hot spring and was already soaking when they heard a voice start to echo in. Carefully a small head poked itself through the surface of the water, careful to keep only the tips of their ears and eyes visible. It was a bit stuffy to be fully in the hot water like that, even for someone as "hot-blooded" as Seastone Embers was described to be.

She of course was incorrectly understanding the meaning of hot-blooded but no one was around to fully correct her, so.

Points to her.

The aquatic filly had thought she would be alone here, save for her Papa who was wandering around somewhere else, so the strange voice caught her attention like a hammer to a gong. Who was coming? Who were they looking for?

"I'm over hereeeeeeee." Carefully moving so she could speak, Seastone loudly shouted a reply that would echo through the caves. Shortly after, she giggled and dove back beneath the water's surface. Let the game begin.

@medigel

 

[medigel]

Oh!! Were the hot springs talking to her? That occurred to Persephone first over, say, another pony, and it was exciting to think the caves could actually speak. They were supposed to be magical after all! "Comiiiiing~!" she called back as she did her best to follow the echoes, though...her yelling hadn't exactly made that easier...Oops. But she could feel the heat and followed it through the tunnels.

Some turns later, Persephone skittered to a halt near the end of a naturally formed diving board, a tongue of limestone that jutted out over a sparkling pool that bubbled and steamed like a cauldron she had seen once in Fall's Harvest. These had to be the hot springs! It was definitely a lot warmer here at any rate.

"Hi!!" the foal chirped, waving a hoof down at the water. "I hope you don't mind taking a little dip? I gotta be careful with my wings n' all." And she also couldn't exactly swim. Persephone looked about for a way down. "Just gotta find me a beach. Is it still a beach if it's inside a cave? Like with stones instead of sand?" This might be harder than she thought...

@houllow

 

[houllow]

From beneath the surface, Seastone looked up at the new filly who'd arrived. All she could really see was....purple, since the water made everything sort of blurry, so she needed to find a way to get out and get a better peek without being spotted. It was all about being sneaky, after all. Thankfully she did notice the pony was standing on the rock ledge and there was a space right beneath that she could surface and continue the spooky game.

Taking advantage of the steam she moved until she was semi-submerged, able to cast her voice in the same spooky was she had before. This was entirely too much fun to stop now and getting caught would make it stop. "You have to juuuuummmmpppp."

There was also no beach, so she added that in. "The only way iiinnnn is to juuuummmpppp......."

@medigel

 

[medigel]

Persephone cocked her head down at the springs thoughtfully. "I have to jump," she echoed, considering it. Maybe the springs were testing her? Maybe the healing only happened if she followed directions? She wasn't hurt, but she didn't want to offend it either...At the same time, if her wings got wet, it'd take forever to be able to fly again...And what if the water was deep?

...Well, she trusted the mysterious voice not to drown! Nobody ever drowned in places of healing anyway, right?

Nodding to herself, Persephone said aloud, "Okay, I'm coming in!" Backing up a few paces, she took a deep breath and then charged off the lip of the limestone, closing her eyes and splashing butt-first into the springs.

It only occurred to her as the water enveloped her wholly that maybe she should have tried something gentler. Her wings felt like wet paper, dragging behind her loosely and trailing pixie dust that quickly pooled out. But at the same time, it felt nice in the hot springs. A little hotter than Persephone was used to, but not in a bad way. She kicked her hooves in a vague attempt to swim to the surface -

- and hit the rocky bottom.

Uh oh.

@houllow

 

[houllow]

She was jumping she was jumping she was - oh no. Seastone at first had been completely excited that she'd managed to convince the other filly to jump in and have fun, but seeing her sink down and not exactly come up had the fun turn to fear. She was gonna get in sooooooo much trouble if someone died because of her antics!! Most ponies she knew (read: her family only, really) never listened to her suggestions so the fact someone was willing to do so had her stunned.

Stunned long enough that the purple filly was now at the bottom and probably wasn't going to get to the surface without help.

Thankfully Seastone Embers could help and the little aquatic dove down on an absolute mission. Moving through the water like a...well, pony who could move through water really well, she got to where the other mare was and managed to get enough of a hold on her to pull her up. It was really lucky that everything weighed way differently underwater or else Seastone wouldn't have been able to do anything conductive, and a kick of her hooves off the floor had them pushing towards the surface.

The water wasn't that deep to begin with, just deep enough to be considered deep for young foals, so it didn't take long before the pair broke through and hopefully the purple filly could take a breath. The brown filly moved so the pixie could lean over her back, with Seastone treading water to keep them both afloat until they were okay to move. "Um, please don't die. I don't want to be grounded."

@medigel

 

[medigel]

It didn't really terrify the young pixie so much as make her feel silly as she was saved. Of course, Persephone also knew the hot springs would send her some help, too! A few bubbles escaped her lips as she tried to thank them underwater (another oopsie), and then without warning her head was above water again and her body supported. She shook her head to get hair out of her face and blinked several times before she could properly get her bearings.

Only then did she notice that another pony had saved her. Maybe the hot springs were attended by a guardian? Although she was sort of small for a guardian and around her age...But who was Persephone to judge?

"Oh, thank you!" she said, smiling sheepishly. "I'm not really a swimmer...or really good with water in general...I sorta came in to avoid all the rain." With the intention of checking out a different body of water, but shh! "S'this the hot springs? It feels like the hot springs. Are you the guardian?"

@houllow