//------------------------------// // The Kelpies of Charybdis // Story: Comparative Mythology // by Flashgen //------------------------------// It took about a minute of Silverstream’s jubilation and celebration for her to glide back down towards an empty log, hover and then turn back to the others while landing. “I’ve got just the story!” “Try not to make it too happy,” Gallus deadpanned, which got him a sharp elbow in the side from Smolder. “Oh, no, it’ll be tooootally spooky and scary and terrifying and terrific. Why doesn't terrific mean the same as terrifying? Anyway, it'll be great, promise!” Silverstream cleared her throat and did her best to imitate Yona or Smolder’s booming, strong storytelling voices. The effort was less than effective. “It was a perfectly normal day on Mount Aris… Every hippogriff was enjoying themselves, doing what we normally did. Flying around; playing games; Collecting shells on the beach; making jewelry out of shells and metals and gems and minerals; celebrating with feasts. Then, a terrible wind blew from the east, out over the ocean. It was a stronger wind than anygriff had expected for that time of year, and there had been not a cloud in the sky for weeks as far as the eye could see. Nonetheless, the sounds of thunder echoed from the east, and dark clouds began to fill the air. Lightning struck with a thunderous crack near the high cliffs of the mountain and the peaks of the castle. Debris fell and hippogriffs ran for cover, clutching their young to them. Suddenly, one of the clouds parted, and a massive ship came out from— “The Storm King?” Smolder interrupted, though Ocellus noticed that Gallus’ beak had opened a second too late to do it first, and Sandbar had only started to open his jaw. Silverstream gasped and twirled in the air to face Smolder, putting a claw to her beak. “Shh shh shhhhh! Don’t ruin the suspense!” “Sorry, I just…” Smolder rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s not really a legend… or an old story, is it?” “But it’s scary!” Silverstream retorted, floating over the fire to get closer to Smolder as she held a talon out accusingly. “Hey, hey, come on,” Sandbar said, galloping over to stand between the two. Smolder, however, hadn’t shown the least bit of aggression. “No offense, Silverstream, but Smolder’s kind of right. I wanted this to be about learning some of everycreature’s culture, you know? The Storm King is important, but… he invaded kind of recently, didn’t he?” “... Yeah,” Silverstream relented, her wings flapping slower and slower until she landed with a thump on the ground. “I just… it’s all hippogriffs talked about the whole time we were seaponies hiding away." She started to count on her talons. "We had stories about the invasion, about the Storm King finding us in Seaquestria, about wandering too far into the ocean and being stolen away, about the Storm King invading nightmares, about him sending terrible sea creatures to attack us!" Her voice raised with each story she summarized, until her voice cracked with the last shriek. Ocellus noticed her wings shivering. "There must have been some other stories, from before you had to go into hiding?" Sandbar asked while rubbing at one of his ears. Silverstream scratched at her chin. "Well, my mom told me some once." “And what did your mom tell you?" Gallus asked with a smirk. "Besides to lay off the sugar.” “We couldn’t have sugar in the sea, silly. It all dissolved.” Silverstream replied with a giggle. “She just told me some stories that she said her grandmother told her when she was young. Really, really old ones.” Sandbar trotted back over to his seat and sat down. “Well, tell us one of those.” Silverstream nodded, and flew back over to her spot in the air, facing everyone else. She cleared her throat, and rather than trying to imitate Smolder or Yona again, spoke in a quieter tone, one that subdued her normal bubbly personality. “Before the Storm King, we were only hippogriffs, and Mount Aris was our home. We would venture out into the seas by ship, or sometimes fly across them to reach nearby mainlands. However, the waters around us were home to strange creatures that we had to be cautious of. A lot of those turned into Storm King stories, but my mom told me one she said was really important. It was about the Kelpies, and a strange place they lived, a village called Charybdis. Long ago, there was a young hippogriff named Meadowcreek. She lived down by the seashore, in one of the tiny villages at the base of Mount Aris. However, she was a lonely soul, spending her evenings alone on the beach, away from others her own age. She wanted to make friends, but every attempt she seemed to make was met with nothing but failure. One evening, skipping stones into the sea, she wished for things to change; she wanted a friend, someone to confide in, that would love and trust and welcome her with open arms. She was about to toss another stone, but was thrown off as a sweet voice called out from behind her, “Hello!” She whirled around, and came face to face with another hippogriff. Her coat was the color of the foam of high tide, and her mane was a light green. Meadowcreek stammered out a greeting in reply. The hippogriff took flight and came closer. “My name is Ocean Foam. Are you lonely?” Her voice was sweet and calming to Meadowcreek, and she let her heart open to Ocean Foam. She told her about how lonely she felt, and how there didn’t seem to be anyone that would be her friend. Ocean Foam simply smiled and hugged her. "I'll be your friend!" They talked for hours, until the sun began to set, and Meadowcreek asked Ocean Foam to come back to her home for the night. Ocean Foam declined, saying that she had her own home to return to, but promised that she would come back the next day. Ocean Foam was true to her word, and every day when Meadowcreek was done with her work or chores, or just feeling alone, she would come to that stretch of beach away from the village, and find Ocean Foam waiting for her. They talked and bonded and became close. One day, Ocean Foam asked Meadowcreek if she would come to her home. Meadowcreek had her own family, and little siblings that she had to look after now and then, but she was certain that her family wouldn’t miss her if she went to spend time with her friend. Enthusiastically, Meadowcreek agreed, and as the sun began to set on the horizon, the two took flight out over the sea. At first they seemed to be flying for one of the near mainlands, and Meadowcreek asked if Ocean Foam lived in Maregara or Callcis across the strait, but Ocean Foam shook her head. "No," she said, "we only need to go this way to catch a current." And so, halfway across the channel, they turned towards the north and the open sea. Meadowcreek was not familiar with the small island settlements that lay to the north of Mount Aris, but she trusted in her friend. An hour passed, and they were still over open water. Meadowcreek asked if they were getting closer, and Ocean Foam laughed sweetly and said that it might take awhile longer. Meadowcreek tried not to mind the ache growing in her wings, and continued to fly. There was nothing she could see in any direction except for the ocean on the horizon, and the faint outline of Mount Aris to the south. Another hour passed, and Meadowcreek was starting to grow tired. She asked, again, if they were almost there, and Ocean Foam smiled and said that they were very close. Meadowcreek strained to see any sign of land close. She spotted an island off to the west, but they were not headed towards it. They only flew north, where there was no sign of anything but waves. Even those slowly began to vanish beneath her, along with the light of the day. Before another hour passed, Meadowcreek stopped flying. She had put her trust in Ocean Foam, and had not wanted to ask her exactly where she lived before seeing it. However, so far from home, with no land in sight, she couldn’t hold back the question any longer. Ocean Foam continued to smile, and floated over to Meadowcreek. They hugged, and in the moonlight, Meadowcreek noticed for the first time that Ocean Foam’s mane didn’t really look like hair anymore. It seemed like seaweed. “I live in Charybdis. It’s very close, and I’m sorry for not telling you. I didn’t think you would come with me if I told you how far it was. But everygriff there will love to meet you!” Ocean Foam’s tone and cheer was infectious, and Meadowcreek felt her strength return to her. The ache in her wings faded just a bit. It was only a few minutes more before the land seemed to come from nowhere beneath them. On the flat island was a small village, of a dozen simple houses. The sea around it was calm and still, making a perfect reflection of the moon above. As the two glided down, Meadowcreek couldn't see anyone else. She asked where the other villagers were, but Ocean Foam said they were all busy, getting ready for a ceremony, something special they did to welcome newcomers. They went towards a small hut near the shore, Ocean Foam's home. Inside, they ate, talked, and laughed. Ocean Foam’s hair seemed like hair again, and Meadowcreek was certain it had been a trick of the moonlight. Then, there was the sound of a horn being blown, and Ocean Foam said that the preparations were done. Meadowcreek followed her out the back door, her body and wings still aching a bit, and saw a crowd of hippogriffs standing at the edge of the island, looking out into the ocean. They had coats the colors of the ocean, but their manes were all the same as Ocean Foam’s. In the moonlight, their manes looked like seaweed again. Everyone was quiet, and when they turned to look at Meadowcreek, she began to hear the sound of rushing water past them. Everyone stepped out of their way as Meadowcreek and Ocean Foam walked to the shore. Ocean Foam said that when newcomers came to Charybdis, they were allowed to see into the whirlpool, and that it would show them a vision of their futures. The sound of rushing water grew louder, and as the crowd parted at the shore, Meadowcreek beheld the sight of a great whirlpool in the ocean. It was easily fifty feet across, and it swirled away, not even disturbing the water about it. As Meadowcreek looked deep into it, she began to feel even more tired, as if the long day were suddenly catching up to her. She felt like she hadn't slept for days. Still, she couldn't tear her eyes away. Her head filled with visions of her living on the island, friends with everyone there. She was respected and loved and cherished. She even saw her family living there as well, and everyone's hair had changed to match Ocean Foam's. Slowly, the waters sank, the whirlpool growing deeper into the ocean. It sank far deeper than should have been possible with how close it was to the shore. The sounds of rushing water slowly gave way to a groan, muffled by the waves, and then that soon gave way to an ear-splitting cry. Meadowcreek saw something come into being at the center of the whirlpool, down where it seemed like she could not hover without the water swallowing her up. Eyes. A beak. Writhing tentacles. A voice in her head called for her to join them. To become one with Charybdis. Panicking, her heart pounding, Meadowcreek backed away from the shore. She turned around when she came into contact with someone behind her. It was Ocean Foam, but not her. Her hair was seaweed. Her face and body were scaly. Her talons came out from fins and there was a strange webbed tail behind her. All of the others looked the same. Ocean Foam’s voice, sweeter than it ever was when it made Meadowcreek feel like she finally had a friend, called for her to become one with Charybdis. The crowd joined in, their voices like a chorus. For a moment, it reminded Meadowcreek of her mother singing her a lullaby. All of those images of her there, happy, played over and over in her mind, even as she tried to forget them. Meadowcreek took to the air, and flew as fast as she could. The chorus of voices called to her. Her wings ached. Her body felt drained of all energy. Still, she flew and she screamed, her voice going hoarse as she called for help. She was a mile from the last island she passed when her wings gave out, and she fell into the waves, splashing about and crying for help. She awoke on the shore, coughing up salty seawater, surrounded by hippogriffs. They weren’t the inhabitants of Charybdis, and when Meadowcreek asked about the place, no one knew of it. The next day, they took her back to Mount Aris on a boat. Meadowcreek never went to the shore alone ever again. Silverstream landed back on her seat, and Ocellus felt an odd sensation. It wasn’t like noticing that she had been holding her breath, or the times that her wings had fluttered to verify that she could still spread them, sitting on the log in a clearing too far from the woods to be claustrophobic. Instead, it was a feeling in the back of her head, trying to grasp at something that was on the tip of her tongue, hazy yet familiar. At the same time, her entire body seemed tense and stiff. “So were kelpies like… seaponies?” she heard Gallus ask as she reached for the book of terrifying tales and began to flip through its pages, eyes scanning as quickly as she could. “I don’t really know,” Silverstream replied, her tone sounding more somber than her chipper demeanor seemed capable of producing. “My mom never really said. I think she was worried they were out there, and dangerous while we were hiding from the Storm King. It wouldn’t have been that odd for someone to have seaweed in their hair or to look, well, fishy…” Ocellus's grasp on the flow of conversation fell away as she flipped through the pages and continued to reach for that flickering flame in her mind. Past stories on banshees, strix, basiliks, the Headless Horse and others. Soon their names blurred together, until she suddenly stopped on the entry about the Shadow Walkers. “Ocellus?” someone asked, but she was reading it over again. A creature that dwelled in the woods, stayed out of sight, ran ponies around for hours and exhausted them. It tried to draw them deeper, away from their homes. It was just like Große and Tsasan and the kelpies. It drew them in circles and tried to exhaust them, like whatever was in the Hollow Caverns, or the kelpie. It horrified; a lot of things did that, but it was still something. Most of all, though, in all of the stories, they let them go. Word spread. Fear spread. Still, there was something more connecting them, linking them. Ocellus still couldn’t grasp it, even as she closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her hooves on her temples. She took slow, steady breaths, and tried to ignore Yona’s sudden shaking of her shoulder. She could remember, she just had to focus. The flame went out every time she looked within, but the smoke it left behind was taking shape. If she could just concentrate and— Ocellus’s eyes shot open, and she moved them quickly in every direction. Her slow breathing gave way to sudden gasps for lungfuls of air, though her throat did its best to try and keep her quiet. Flashes of green magic tinted her vision as her form shifted, outside of her control. Each shape was accompanied by shallow rationalizations in her mind. Fight it. Bear. Bugbear. Hydra. Wyrm. Dragon. Roc. Manticore. Outnumber. Wolf. Lion. Hyena. Fly. Hawk. Eagle. Phoenix. Owl. Ambush. Cobra. Panther. Tiger. Run. Cheetah. Gazelle. Hare. Falcon. Hide. Chameleon. Mouse. Ant. Hide. Hide. Hide. Hide. Finally, Ocellus managed to wrest control of her reflexes and shifted back to her natural form. Her vision came back into focus, and she saw that she was away from the fire, closer to the Everfree. All of her friends had gathered closely around her, looking concerned. "Are you okay, Ocellus?” Sandbar asked, reaching a hoof out to her. Ocellus felt sick to her stomach, a side effect to rapid transformations, but managed to keep herself from vomiting. She nodded her head and was aware that she was on her back. “I-I’ll be fine, I just need…” she said as she got to her hooves, and then suddenly failed to hold back her stomach any longer. She could hear them whispering to each other. "What was that all about?" "Maybe she just got freaked out." "Was my story that scary?" "Yona hope Ocellus is fine." Once she was finished expelling the contents of her stomach, she headed back to her seat. Her recollection was suddenly clearer, the image she had tried to grasp before taking a clear shape. The others quieted down and went to take their seats as well. Before they could sit down, Ocellus cleared her throat and spoke up. “I have a story now. It’s about all of yours.”