第七章
第 9 章
4 年前
281小蝶用平静的声音说道：“我不是来这惹麻烦的，我找不到我的朋友湛蓝了，我正在找她。你知道她在哪吗？”她露出了最灿烂的笑容，希望这笑容能迷倒沙龙，但他的表情却始终眉头紧锁。
“唉，我也找不到我的朋友们了！”沙龙在她旁边走来走去，海洋里大部分的生物几乎都是漂浮失重状态，但沙龙却能像大石头一样笨拙地走来走去。他每走一下都能踢起周围沙子和贝壳。为了不让那些碎片砸到她脸上，小蝶不得不一直扇着她的翅膀。沙龙继续咆哮道：“就连布里蟹们也全都抛弃了我！现在又怎么能吃得饱呢？”
小蝶吞咽了一下。“布-布里蟹？我知道他们——”
“所以我留下你们那边的一只海马又能怎么了？”沙龙打断了她，凑近了小蝶的脸，甚至都能让小蝶看到他的牙齿黄得像香蕉一样。但实际上，那看起来确实有几百个月都没好好刷过了。“现在就剩我一个在这，你还能指望什么啊？你知道的，只剩自己一个在这，沙龙也是会发疯的。” 他叹了口气道：“我只是想和她聊聊天…”
“等等！”小蝶举起了她的蹄子。“所以你根本没吃湛蓝？”
一个卫兵从远处喊道：“她刚刚说它吃了湛蓝吗？”
“不！”海盐立刻就冲了出来，示意卫兵们攻击。但问题是，小蝶就正好在他们和沙龙之间，大多数海马卫兵们都停下来避免伤害到她，但海盐却是很坚决，她飞速游上前，把长矛直接插到沙龙的尾巴上。
“你在干什么！”小蝶喊了起来，但已经太迟了。
沙龙咆哮起来，他猛地转过身，那巨大的尾巴离海盐的头很近，她不得不低头躲避以免被击中。沙龙直接挖了挖沙子直接带着小蝶钻了沙子底下。上面卫兵们的喊叫声逐渐越来越远。
沙洞里是一片漆黑，只有几条鳗鱼在洞穴顶部游着，在洞壁上投下了又长又诡异的影子。小蝶之前也去过一些恐怖的地方，但也从来没有这次的恐怖，现在的情况比她想象得还要糟糕。海蜘蛛从洞穴的角落还有四周窥视着她，好像它们随时都有可能把她包围一样。
湛蓝就在前面，她的鳍还被一些长长的海带绑着。
“小蝶？”湛蓝兴奋地叫了起来：“海盐在哪？拜托告诉我她没有去做什么鲁莽的事——”
“她用长矛戳了沙龙的尾巴，他只是在向我解释他的难处，应该是她听错了，你没事吧？”
湛蓝点点头，她看起来很震惊，小蝶想再去问问她时，她听到沙龙朝她们走来的巨大蹄步声。
沙龙出现在不远处，他哭着用爪子抓着他的尾巴，笨拙地走到旁边的一把大椅子上扑通一声坐了下来。他一坐下，就开始发出可怕的咆哮哭泣声。它吹开了拿翅膀扑腾的小蝶，震得整个洞穴开始摇晃起来，那个长矛依旧还插在他的尾巴上。
“至少现在我又多了个海马朋友，”他抽泣地咆哮道：“让我猜猜…你身上也没带什么吃的东西吧。”说到这他肚子就发出一声巨响，他用自己的爪子捂了捂，掩饰着自己的尴尬。
小蝶回答道：“只有一些海藻蛋糕。”她在鞍包里翻找了半天拿了出来。
沙龙瞬间就精神了。“你是说‘海藻’吗？你怎么知道这是我最喜欢吃的！”
“我并不知道，但几乎所有的海马们都喜欢吃。”她解释道：“在海马国无论哪个地方，都有很多的海藻可以吃！”
沙龙眯了眯眼睛。“所以这就是为什么食物都跑那去了？”
湛蓝看出小蝶并没捋清楚是什么情况，跟她解释道：“海藻田那被海马们收获完了现在是光秃秃的，通常格尼和他的伙伴们从冬眠中醒来后，布里蟹会为他们一起收割海藻田，并一起举办盛大的宴会，来恢复损耗的体力，并且他们会在沙谷这玩上好几个月。”
“哇哦！”小蝶惊叹道，并想象着这些。“这与海马们的想象是如此地不同…”
格尼皱了皱眉头：“他们是怎么想的？”
“呃…这个…”小蝶几乎不想去告诉他之前从卫兵们那听来的那些可怕的传说描述。“沙龙去撕海星是为了好玩吗？你会用偷来的小马鬃毛剔牙吗？还是呃…总是跺脚去寻找那些叽叽喳喳的螃蟹来吃？”
“但我根本不会去做那些事啊！”他绝望地喊了起来：“这不公平！”
小蝶承认道：“确实。”她也不禁在为他感到难过。“但这些都是因为很多生物都在惧怕他们没接触过、不理解的陌生生物，如果你能让我和湛蓝回到同伴那的话，我们可以向他们去解释这一切。”小蝶也在用同情的目光看着他。“这样他们也就不会再去惧怕你了！”
格尼想了想，在她们面前踱来踱去，又坐到了地上。“可以保证他们不会再用矛来刺我了吧？”
“不，他们不会的。”小蝶同意道：“这些都是个天大的误会，而这个问题现在必须要解决。”
“好吧，但他们不能再来布里蟹这边的海域了！”格尼叫了起来，他的鼻子立刻就红了。他开始喘起粗气，好像气得要爆炸一样。“我的伙伴们还有龙马们呢？我现在都找不到他们的洞穴了！自从这个海马国建立在这里，一切都变得不一样了！”
“我们不知道这是他们的土地，”湛蓝反驳道：“他们的洞穴都在地底下。”
格尼咬牙切齿道：“我们就应该把那里全都摧毁！”
“你不能这样！”湛蓝的声音逐渐变得尖锐。“我们整个种族都在那里建了家！”
小蝶再也受不了了，照现在这样，他们可能吵上几天都不会完。
她试着劝道：“如果沙龙们把他们的家全都建在地底下，那么你也不能指望海马们会预先知道这些，毕竟海马们是海洋的新成员，他们并不像你们一样已经在这里生活了好几个世纪了。”
格尼没有回应，他好像在仔细听，但小蝶不敢肯定。他又开始咆哮起来，嘴里吐出了一些泡沫。
“想想他们为什么会离开艾里斯峰——他们的家园被坏蛋们摧毁了，”她继续说道：“如果你威胁要去毁掉他们的新家，你觉得他们会怎么想？”
“就像我醒来的时候发现一切都变了一样，”格尼恼怒道：“非常可怕。”
小蝶继续道：“没错，那你们为什么不去试试和对方交朋友呢？告诉他们哪些地方是沙龙的海域，你们可以一起去收割海藻田——这样无论是海马们、沙龙们还是布里蟹们都不会再挨饿了！”
“我饿啊！”格尼咬牙切齿地怒吼起来，小蝶又递给他一块海藻蛋糕，然后静静地漂浮到一边，默默看着格尼吃完了蛋糕，慢慢平静下来。估计花了一分钟才让他渐渐理解小蝶说的那些，他现在看起来都明白了。“现在我能思考了。”
小蝶看了看湛蓝问道：“你觉得这办法可以吧？”
“当然，”湛蓝同意道：“在这片海洋里我们还有很多地方没有去探索明白，如果你能带我们更好地了解作为我们家的海洋，我们会非常感激的。我们大家也可以去帮你们找到更多同伴们的沙洞，也许我们也可以试着一起去做一个巨型海藻蛋糕，这样等沙龙们醒来后就可以享用了…”
格尼看了看尾巴上的长矛。“不会再用长矛吗？”
湛蓝回道：“当然不会！”看起来弄得场面有点尴尬。“我们会帮你把它拔掉的。”
格尼同意道：“好吧，”他解开了绑在湛蓝鳍上的海带，叹了口气：“我想你们俩可以离开了…”他突然坐在地上，看上去很伤心。“但我希望你们能回来看我。”
“朋友是不会让对方失望的！”小蝶毫不犹豫地回答道：“我们很快会再见面的，但我们不能再等下去，海盐她现在肯定吓坏了…”
格尼点点头，打开洞门，让小蝶和湛蓝游出去了。她们转着圈游了游，正为重获自由松了口气，湛蓝展开翅膀，欢快地转起圈来。
小蝶又往回游了游，正想去感谢格尼和湛蓝的互相理解，这时她听到背后传来些声响，她转过身就看到海盐在主洞穴里盘旋着，她的脸都被鳗鱼的光芒照亮了，卫兵们就在她身后，他们的长矛都对准了格尼！
小蝶的心瞬间就沉了下去，他们这简直是想来开战的。她还没来得及去阻止他们，海马们就已经全冲了过来。
“进攻！”海盐边喊边扔出另一支矛，向格尼的头飞去。
英文版：
I'm not here to cause any trouble,” Fluttershy said, voice steady. “I can’t find my friend Cerulean. I’m looking for her. Can you help?” She smiled her biggest,brightest smile, hoping it might charm the Sand Dragon, but his expression was fixed in a frown.
“Well, I can’t find my family!” The Sand Dragon stalked around her. Most creatures under the water seemed weightless, but the Sand Dragon clomped around as if he were made of stone. With each hard step, he kicked up sand and shells. Fluttershy had to keep moving her wings around to keep the debris out of her face. “And even the Beezlebugs have abandoned me! How am I supposed to feast now?” the Sand Dragon growled.
Fluttershy gulped. “B-b-beezlebugs? I know where—”
“So what if I kept one of your Seaponies?” the Sand Dragon interrupted, and leaned in to Fluttershy’s face. Up close, she could see that his teeth were the color of bananas. But to be fair, they hadn’t been brushed in hundreds of moons. “I was all alone out here, what did you expect? A Sand Dragon can go crazy by himself, you know.” He sighed. “I just wanted to talk to her....”
“Wait!” Fluttershy held up her fins. “So you didn’t want to eat Cerulean?”
“Did she just say he ate Cerulean?!” a guard yelled out.
“Nooo!” Immediately, Salt Air snapped into action, motioning to the Seaponies to charge. Unfortunately, Fluttershy was still in the way. Most of the Seaponies stopped, unwilling to accidentally hurt her. But Salt Air was determined. She swam forward and lodged her spear into the Sand Dragon’s tail.
“What are you doing?!” Fluttershy cried, but it was too late.
The Sand Dragon snarled. Then he whipped around. His giant tail flew so close to Salt Air’s head she had to duck to avoid being hit. The Sand Dragon pushed through the sand and dove below, taking Fluttershy with him. The shouts of the guards above faded as they swam deep into the sand.
Everything was dark inside the sand burrow. It was lit only by a few eels who glided along the ceiling, casting long, creepy shadows on the walls. Fluttershy had been in scary places before, but nothing like this. It was worse than she’d imagined. Sea spiders peeked out from its nooks and caverns, as if they might swarm her at any moment.
Cerulean sat in front of her, her fins tied together with long pieces of kelp.
“Fluttershy?” Cerulean asked, perking up. “Where’s Salt Air? Please tell me she didn’t do anything rash—”
“She jabbed the Sand Dragon with her spear,” Fluttershy exclaimed. “He was only trying to explain his woes to me, and she misheard. Are you okay?”
Cerulean nodded, but she looked quite shaken. Fluttershy wanted to ask her more, but then she heard the loud, clomping steps of the Sand Dragon coming toward her.
The Sand Dragon appeared in the far doorway, crying and clutching his tail in his claws. He lumbered over to a big chair nearby and plopped down. As soon as he sat down, he let out a horrible roar. It blew back Fluttershy’s wings and shook the walls of the burrow. The spear was still stuck in his tail.
‘At least I have another Seapony friend now,” he cried out through his sobs. “Let me guess... you don’t have anything to eat, either.” At this, a loud rumble came from his tummy. He put his claw on it, embarrassed.
“Just some seaweed cake,” Fluttershy replied, digging around in her bag until she found it.
The Sand Dragon perked up. “Did you say ‘seaweed’? How did you know that’s my favorite?!”
“I didn’t. But it’s pretty much all the Seaponies like to eat, too,” she explained.“Everywhere you go in Seaquestria, there’s more seaweed to eat!”
The Sand Dragon narrowed his eyes. “So that’s where all the food has gone?”
Cerulean could see that Fluttershy was having trouble putting it all together. “The seaweed fields are bare,” she explained. “Usually, when Gnash and his buddies wake up from their hibernation, the Beezlebugs harvest the seaweed fields for them. They have a big feast together to regain their strength to spend a whole moon above the sands.”
“Wow!” Fluttershy gasped, taking it all in. “That’s a very different idea from what the Seaponies think....”
Gnash frowned. “What do they think?”
“Oh... well...” Fluttershy almost didn’t want to tell him the horrible things she had heard the guards saying earlier. “That Sand Dragons rip apart starfish for fun? That you floss your fangs with stolen pony hair? That you, um... stomp around the sea looking for crabs to crunch?”
“But I don’t do any of those things!” he cried out in despair. “It’s not fair!”
“No,” Fluttershy admitted, feeling sad for him. “It isn’t. But lots of creatures are afraid of what they don’t understand. If you let me and Cerulean go back to our kind, we can explain everything to them.” Fluttershy looked at up him with sympathetic eyes. “And then they won’t be scared anymore!”
Gnash considered this. He paced in front of her, then dropped back onto his front legs. “They wouldn’t try to spear me again?”
“No, they wouldn’t,” Fluttershy agreed. “This has all been one big misunderstanding. And it needs to be resolved right now.”
“Okay, but they have to leave the Beezlebug fields alone!” Gnash cried out, seemingly out of nowhere. His nostrils flared. He started breathing heavily, as if he was so angry he might explode. ““And where are my friends and family? I can’t find any of their burrows! Everything is different up there now with this Seapony kingdom built on our land.”
“We didn’t know it was their land,” Cerulean shot back. “Their burrows are underground.”
“We should knock it all down!” Gnash suggested.
“You will not!” Cerulean said, an edge to her voice. “We have built our whole lives there!”
Fluttershy couldn’t take it any longer. The way things were going, they’d be arguing for another century.
“If the Sand Dragons build their homes underground,” Fluttershy tried, “then you can’t blame the Seaponies for not knowing where they were. After all, they are new to Seaquestria. They haven’t been here for centuries like you have.”
Gnash didn’t respond. He seemed as if he was listening, but Fluttershy couldn’t be sure. He snarled again, letting out a flurry of bubbles.
“And just think about why they left Mount Aris—their home was destroyed by their enemy,” she continued. “How do you think they’d feel if you threatened to destroy their new home?”
“The same way I felt when I woke up to find that everything had changed,” Gnash said, annoyed. “Terrible.”
“Exactly,” Fluttershy said. “Why don’t you try to become friends with one another? Teach them what land is Sand Dragon territory. You can worktogether to harvest the seaweed fields—that way no Seapony, Sand Dragon, or Beezlebug will go hungry again!”
“I’m so hungry!” Gnash roared. Fluttershy passed him another seaweed cake and floated quietly. She waited, watching as Gnash ate the treat and slowly calmed down. It took him a minute to absorb what she’d said, but he seemed to understand. “Now I can think.”
“Does that sound okay to you?” Fluttershy asked, looking to Cerulean.
“It does,” the Seapony agreed. “We have yet to explore a lot of the sea. It would be an honor to have you show us more about our new home in the ocean. We can help you find your other sand burrows. And maybe we could even make a few giant-size seaweed cakes that the Sand Dragons can enjoy once they wake up....
Gnash glanced at the spear in his tail. “And no more spears?”
“Of course not!” Cerulean said, looking a bit embarrassed. “We will even help you remove that one.”
“Okay, then,” Gnash agreed. He untied the kelp around Cerulean’s fins and sighed. “I guess you two can go....” He slumped down, looking sad. “But I hope you do come back.”
“Friends don’t let one another down!” Fluttershy replied without missing a beat. “We’ll see you soon. Let’s not wait any longer. Salt Air must be quite scared by now....”
Gnash nodded and opened the door to release Fluttershy and Cerulean. They swam in circles, relieved to be free again. Cerulean spread her fins and did a quick, joyful spin.
Fluttershy swam forward, about to thank Gnash and Cerulean for their understanding, when she heard something behind her. She turned to see Salt Air hovering in the main burrow. Her face was lit up by the glow of the electric eels. The Seaponies were right behind her, their spears aimed at Gnash!
Fluttershy’s heart sank. They had come to fight. Before she could stop them, the Seaponies charged forward.
“Attack!” Salt Air yelled. Then she launched another spear, hurling it toward Gnash’s head.
“唉，我也找不到我的朋友们了！”沙龙在她旁边走来走去，海洋里大部分的生物几乎都是漂浮失重状态，但沙龙却能像大石头一样笨拙地走来走去。他每走一下都能踢起周围沙子和贝壳。为了不让那些碎片砸到她脸上，小蝶不得不一直扇着她的翅膀。沙龙继续咆哮道：“就连布里蟹们也全都抛弃了我！现在又怎么能吃得饱呢？”
小蝶吞咽了一下。“布-布里蟹？我知道他们——”
“所以我留下你们那边的一只海马又能怎么了？”沙龙打断了她，凑近了小蝶的脸，甚至都能让小蝶看到他的牙齿黄得像香蕉一样。但实际上，那看起来确实有几百个月都没好好刷过了。“现在就剩我一个在这，你还能指望什么啊？你知道的，只剩自己一个在这，沙龙也是会发疯的。” 他叹了口气道：“我只是想和她聊聊天…”
“等等！”小蝶举起了她的蹄子。“所以你根本没吃湛蓝？”
一个卫兵从远处喊道：“她刚刚说它吃了湛蓝吗？”
“不！”海盐立刻就冲了出来，示意卫兵们攻击。但问题是，小蝶就正好在他们和沙龙之间，大多数海马卫兵们都停下来避免伤害到她，但海盐却是很坚决，她飞速游上前，把长矛直接插到沙龙的尾巴上。
“你在干什么！”小蝶喊了起来，但已经太迟了。
沙龙咆哮起来，他猛地转过身，那巨大的尾巴离海盐的头很近，她不得不低头躲避以免被击中。沙龙直接挖了挖沙子直接带着小蝶钻了沙子底下。上面卫兵们的喊叫声逐渐越来越远。
沙洞里是一片漆黑，只有几条鳗鱼在洞穴顶部游着，在洞壁上投下了又长又诡异的影子。小蝶之前也去过一些恐怖的地方，但也从来没有这次的恐怖，现在的情况比她想象得还要糟糕。海蜘蛛从洞穴的角落还有四周窥视着她，好像它们随时都有可能把她包围一样。
湛蓝就在前面，她的鳍还被一些长长的海带绑着。
“小蝶？”湛蓝兴奋地叫了起来：“海盐在哪？拜托告诉我她没有去做什么鲁莽的事——”
“她用长矛戳了沙龙的尾巴，他只是在向我解释他的难处，应该是她听错了，你没事吧？”
湛蓝点点头，她看起来很震惊，小蝶想再去问问她时，她听到沙龙朝她们走来的巨大蹄步声。
沙龙出现在不远处，他哭着用爪子抓着他的尾巴，笨拙地走到旁边的一把大椅子上扑通一声坐了下来。他一坐下，就开始发出可怕的咆哮哭泣声。它吹开了拿翅膀扑腾的小蝶，震得整个洞穴开始摇晃起来，那个长矛依旧还插在他的尾巴上。
“至少现在我又多了个海马朋友，”他抽泣地咆哮道：“让我猜猜…你身上也没带什么吃的东西吧。”说到这他肚子就发出一声巨响，他用自己的爪子捂了捂，掩饰着自己的尴尬。
小蝶回答道：“只有一些海藻蛋糕。”她在鞍包里翻找了半天拿了出来。
沙龙瞬间就精神了。“你是说‘海藻’吗？你怎么知道这是我最喜欢吃的！”
“我并不知道，但几乎所有的海马们都喜欢吃。”她解释道：“在海马国无论哪个地方，都有很多的海藻可以吃！”
沙龙眯了眯眼睛。“所以这就是为什么食物都跑那去了？”
湛蓝看出小蝶并没捋清楚是什么情况，跟她解释道：“海藻田那被海马们收获完了现在是光秃秃的，通常格尼和他的伙伴们从冬眠中醒来后，布里蟹会为他们一起收割海藻田，并一起举办盛大的宴会，来恢复损耗的体力，并且他们会在沙谷这玩上好几个月。”
“哇哦！”小蝶惊叹道，并想象着这些。“这与海马们的想象是如此地不同…”
格尼皱了皱眉头：“他们是怎么想的？”
“呃…这个…”小蝶几乎不想去告诉他之前从卫兵们那听来的那些可怕的传说描述。“沙龙去撕海星是为了好玩吗？你会用偷来的小马鬃毛剔牙吗？还是呃…总是跺脚去寻找那些叽叽喳喳的螃蟹来吃？”
“但我根本不会去做那些事啊！”他绝望地喊了起来：“这不公平！”
小蝶承认道：“确实。”她也不禁在为他感到难过。“但这些都是因为很多生物都在惧怕他们没接触过、不理解的陌生生物，如果你能让我和湛蓝回到同伴那的话，我们可以向他们去解释这一切。”小蝶也在用同情的目光看着他。“这样他们也就不会再去惧怕你了！”
格尼想了想，在她们面前踱来踱去，又坐到了地上。“可以保证他们不会再用矛来刺我了吧？”
“不，他们不会的。”小蝶同意道：“这些都是个天大的误会，而这个问题现在必须要解决。”
“好吧，但他们不能再来布里蟹这边的海域了！”格尼叫了起来，他的鼻子立刻就红了。他开始喘起粗气，好像气得要爆炸一样。“我的伙伴们还有龙马们呢？我现在都找不到他们的洞穴了！自从这个海马国建立在这里，一切都变得不一样了！”
“我们不知道这是他们的土地，”湛蓝反驳道：“他们的洞穴都在地底下。”
格尼咬牙切齿道：“我们就应该把那里全都摧毁！”
“你不能这样！”湛蓝的声音逐渐变得尖锐。“我们整个种族都在那里建了家！”
小蝶再也受不了了，照现在这样，他们可能吵上几天都不会完。
她试着劝道：“如果沙龙们把他们的家全都建在地底下，那么你也不能指望海马们会预先知道这些，毕竟海马们是海洋的新成员，他们并不像你们一样已经在这里生活了好几个世纪了。”
格尼没有回应，他好像在仔细听，但小蝶不敢肯定。他又开始咆哮起来，嘴里吐出了一些泡沫。
“想想他们为什么会离开艾里斯峰——他们的家园被坏蛋们摧毁了，”她继续说道：“如果你威胁要去毁掉他们的新家，你觉得他们会怎么想？”
“就像我醒来的时候发现一切都变了一样，”格尼恼怒道：“非常可怕。”
小蝶继续道：“没错，那你们为什么不去试试和对方交朋友呢？告诉他们哪些地方是沙龙的海域，你们可以一起去收割海藻田——这样无论是海马们、沙龙们还是布里蟹们都不会再挨饿了！”
“我饿啊！”格尼咬牙切齿地怒吼起来，小蝶又递给他一块海藻蛋糕，然后静静地漂浮到一边，默默看着格尼吃完了蛋糕，慢慢平静下来。估计花了一分钟才让他渐渐理解小蝶说的那些，他现在看起来都明白了。“现在我能思考了。”
小蝶看了看湛蓝问道：“你觉得这办法可以吧？”
“当然，”湛蓝同意道：“在这片海洋里我们还有很多地方没有去探索明白，如果你能带我们更好地了解作为我们家的海洋，我们会非常感激的。我们大家也可以去帮你们找到更多同伴们的沙洞，也许我们也可以试着一起去做一个巨型海藻蛋糕，这样等沙龙们醒来后就可以享用了…”
格尼看了看尾巴上的长矛。“不会再用长矛吗？”
湛蓝回道：“当然不会！”看起来弄得场面有点尴尬。“我们会帮你把它拔掉的。”
格尼同意道：“好吧，”他解开了绑在湛蓝鳍上的海带，叹了口气：“我想你们俩可以离开了…”他突然坐在地上，看上去很伤心。“但我希望你们能回来看我。”
“朋友是不会让对方失望的！”小蝶毫不犹豫地回答道：“我们很快会再见面的，但我们不能再等下去，海盐她现在肯定吓坏了…”
格尼点点头，打开洞门，让小蝶和湛蓝游出去了。她们转着圈游了游，正为重获自由松了口气，湛蓝展开翅膀，欢快地转起圈来。
小蝶又往回游了游，正想去感谢格尼和湛蓝的互相理解，这时她听到背后传来些声响，她转过身就看到海盐在主洞穴里盘旋着，她的脸都被鳗鱼的光芒照亮了，卫兵们就在她身后，他们的长矛都对准了格尼！
小蝶的心瞬间就沉了下去，他们这简直是想来开战的。她还没来得及去阻止他们，海马们就已经全冲了过来。
“进攻！”海盐边喊边扔出另一支矛，向格尼的头飞去。
英文版：
I'm not here to cause any trouble,” Fluttershy said, voice steady. “I can’t find my friend Cerulean. I’m looking for her. Can you help?” She smiled her biggest,brightest smile, hoping it might charm the Sand Dragon, but his expression was fixed in a frown.
“Well, I can’t find my family!” The Sand Dragon stalked around her. Most creatures under the water seemed weightless, but the Sand Dragon clomped around as if he were made of stone. With each hard step, he kicked up sand and shells. Fluttershy had to keep moving her wings around to keep the debris out of her face. “And even the Beezlebugs have abandoned me! How am I supposed to feast now?” the Sand Dragon growled.
Fluttershy gulped. “B-b-beezlebugs? I know where—”
“So what if I kept one of your Seaponies?” the Sand Dragon interrupted, and leaned in to Fluttershy’s face. Up close, she could see that his teeth were the color of bananas. But to be fair, they hadn’t been brushed in hundreds of moons. “I was all alone out here, what did you expect? A Sand Dragon can go crazy by himself, you know.” He sighed. “I just wanted to talk to her....”
“Wait!” Fluttershy held up her fins. “So you didn’t want to eat Cerulean?”
“Did she just say he ate Cerulean?!” a guard yelled out.
“Nooo!” Immediately, Salt Air snapped into action, motioning to the Seaponies to charge. Unfortunately, Fluttershy was still in the way. Most of the Seaponies stopped, unwilling to accidentally hurt her. But Salt Air was determined. She swam forward and lodged her spear into the Sand Dragon’s tail.
“What are you doing?!” Fluttershy cried, but it was too late.
The Sand Dragon snarled. Then he whipped around. His giant tail flew so close to Salt Air’s head she had to duck to avoid being hit. The Sand Dragon pushed through the sand and dove below, taking Fluttershy with him. The shouts of the guards above faded as they swam deep into the sand.
Everything was dark inside the sand burrow. It was lit only by a few eels who glided along the ceiling, casting long, creepy shadows on the walls. Fluttershy had been in scary places before, but nothing like this. It was worse than she’d imagined. Sea spiders peeked out from its nooks and caverns, as if they might swarm her at any moment.
Cerulean sat in front of her, her fins tied together with long pieces of kelp.
“Fluttershy?” Cerulean asked, perking up. “Where’s Salt Air? Please tell me she didn’t do anything rash—”
“She jabbed the Sand Dragon with her spear,” Fluttershy exclaimed. “He was only trying to explain his woes to me, and she misheard. Are you okay?”
Cerulean nodded, but she looked quite shaken. Fluttershy wanted to ask her more, but then she heard the loud, clomping steps of the Sand Dragon coming toward her.
The Sand Dragon appeared in the far doorway, crying and clutching his tail in his claws. He lumbered over to a big chair nearby and plopped down. As soon as he sat down, he let out a horrible roar. It blew back Fluttershy’s wings and shook the walls of the burrow. The spear was still stuck in his tail.
‘At least I have another Seapony friend now,” he cried out through his sobs. “Let me guess... you don’t have anything to eat, either.” At this, a loud rumble came from his tummy. He put his claw on it, embarrassed.
“Just some seaweed cake,” Fluttershy replied, digging around in her bag until she found it.
The Sand Dragon perked up. “Did you say ‘seaweed’? How did you know that’s my favorite?!”
“I didn’t. But it’s pretty much all the Seaponies like to eat, too,” she explained.“Everywhere you go in Seaquestria, there’s more seaweed to eat!”
The Sand Dragon narrowed his eyes. “So that’s where all the food has gone?”
Cerulean could see that Fluttershy was having trouble putting it all together. “The seaweed fields are bare,” she explained. “Usually, when Gnash and his buddies wake up from their hibernation, the Beezlebugs harvest the seaweed fields for them. They have a big feast together to regain their strength to spend a whole moon above the sands.”
“Wow!” Fluttershy gasped, taking it all in. “That’s a very different idea from what the Seaponies think....”
Gnash frowned. “What do they think?”
“Oh... well...” Fluttershy almost didn’t want to tell him the horrible things she had heard the guards saying earlier. “That Sand Dragons rip apart starfish for fun? That you floss your fangs with stolen pony hair? That you, um... stomp around the sea looking for crabs to crunch?”
“But I don’t do any of those things!” he cried out in despair. “It’s not fair!”
“No,” Fluttershy admitted, feeling sad for him. “It isn’t. But lots of creatures are afraid of what they don’t understand. If you let me and Cerulean go back to our kind, we can explain everything to them.” Fluttershy looked at up him with sympathetic eyes. “And then they won’t be scared anymore!”
Gnash considered this. He paced in front of her, then dropped back onto his front legs. “They wouldn’t try to spear me again?”
“No, they wouldn’t,” Fluttershy agreed. “This has all been one big misunderstanding. And it needs to be resolved right now.”
“Okay, but they have to leave the Beezlebug fields alone!” Gnash cried out, seemingly out of nowhere. His nostrils flared. He started breathing heavily, as if he was so angry he might explode. ““And where are my friends and family? I can’t find any of their burrows! Everything is different up there now with this Seapony kingdom built on our land.”
“We didn’t know it was their land,” Cerulean shot back. “Their burrows are underground.”
“We should knock it all down!” Gnash suggested.
“You will not!” Cerulean said, an edge to her voice. “We have built our whole lives there!”
Fluttershy couldn’t take it any longer. The way things were going, they’d be arguing for another century.
“If the Sand Dragons build their homes underground,” Fluttershy tried, “then you can’t blame the Seaponies for not knowing where they were. After all, they are new to Seaquestria. They haven’t been here for centuries like you have.”
Gnash didn’t respond. He seemed as if he was listening, but Fluttershy couldn’t be sure. He snarled again, letting out a flurry of bubbles.
“And just think about why they left Mount Aris—their home was destroyed by their enemy,” she continued. “How do you think they’d feel if you threatened to destroy their new home?”
“The same way I felt when I woke up to find that everything had changed,” Gnash said, annoyed. “Terrible.”
“Exactly,” Fluttershy said. “Why don’t you try to become friends with one another? Teach them what land is Sand Dragon territory. You can worktogether to harvest the seaweed fields—that way no Seapony, Sand Dragon, or Beezlebug will go hungry again!”
“I’m so hungry!” Gnash roared. Fluttershy passed him another seaweed cake and floated quietly. She waited, watching as Gnash ate the treat and slowly calmed down. It took him a minute to absorb what she’d said, but he seemed to understand. “Now I can think.”
“Does that sound okay to you?” Fluttershy asked, looking to Cerulean.
“It does,” the Seapony agreed. “We have yet to explore a lot of the sea. It would be an honor to have you show us more about our new home in the ocean. We can help you find your other sand burrows. And maybe we could even make a few giant-size seaweed cakes that the Sand Dragons can enjoy once they wake up....
Gnash glanced at the spear in his tail. “And no more spears?”
“Of course not!” Cerulean said, looking a bit embarrassed. “We will even help you remove that one.”
“Okay, then,” Gnash agreed. He untied the kelp around Cerulean’s fins and sighed. “I guess you two can go....” He slumped down, looking sad. “But I hope you do come back.”
“Friends don’t let one another down!” Fluttershy replied without missing a beat. “We’ll see you soon. Let’s not wait any longer. Salt Air must be quite scared by now....”
Gnash nodded and opened the door to release Fluttershy and Cerulean. They swam in circles, relieved to be free again. Cerulean spread her fins and did a quick, joyful spin.
Fluttershy swam forward, about to thank Gnash and Cerulean for their understanding, when she heard something behind her. She turned to see Salt Air hovering in the main burrow. Her face was lit up by the glow of the electric eels. The Seaponies were right behind her, their spears aimed at Gnash!
Fluttershy’s heart sank. They had come to fight. Before she could stop them, the Seaponies charged forward.
“Attack!” Salt Air yelled. Then she launched another spear, hurling it toward Gnash’s head.