//------------------------------// // Ocean Crossing // Story: Out of her Element // by Sintakhra //------------------------------// The Pegasus ran. By Celestia she galloped as hard and fast as she could. Her turquoise eyes remained locked ahead of her as she bounded onwards with no intent on looking back behind her. Her body was so full of adrenaline even her wings were flapping to increase her momentum. The corridor she was running down was opaque. Little detail was able to register in her brain as she sped on by countless mahogany doors. The corridor stretched on infinitely, and that infinite point dead ahead of her was the only source of light. “Head towards the light, Fluttershy” she told herself. “Nothing bad can happen in the light” Her brain argued the logical fallacy with her mouth. She knew it wasn’t true, but the less time she spent focusing on that the better. Intertwined ivy arms of darkness grew upon the walls, shimmering like oily shadows amidst a pensive breeze. She continued to gallop. Her mane billowed behind her in its silken glory as hoof-fall after hoof-fall drummed out a rhythmic beat which on the hard stone floor. The medley of pants and clip-clops etched its way into her mind as another means of distraction. Perspiration built up on her less-than-athletic body as she continued to work muscles she hadn’t stress tested in countless weeks. She felt pain building up in her hind legs as the lactic acid built up within her body. Surprisingly quickly, the small bead of hope that she had been dashing towards began to increase before her. The small Pegasus quickly discovered as it engulfed her vision that it wasn’t the end. “Another corridor? That isn’t fair!” she complained, inwardly at least. She had naught the breath to make such an exclamation aloud. The wall to the left opened up and she quickly angled her body and dashed around it, maintaining her momentum. Alas, it was this which prevented her from stopping once she rounded the corner. All too late the Pegasus noticed the floor just stopped, but once after her left foot discovered that she couldn’t rectify it and was sent head over hooves into the ominous darkness. Her wings flapped desperately as she tumbled out of control. Up was down, north was west. All her Pegasi-gifted co-ordination was thrown for the loop as she plummeted. She could do little more than shriek out one word as she sank into the abyss. “Rainbow!” ----------------------------------------~~------------------------------------ “Rainbow!” The panting Pegasus sat up in her bed, her eyes wide and a thin layer of perspiration coating her fur. She drank in several deep gasps of salty air as she remained locked in utter darkness. Not a single thing stirred – and most surprisingly – not even the cerulean Pegasus who continued to snore loudly above her in the bunk bed. “What a horrible dream” she soft-spoken mare mumbled. “Fluttershy you must not eat something before you go to sleep which will give you nightmares!” She swung her hooves out from beneath the itchy blanket and over the edge of the bed before dropping down onto all fours. She glanced up at the bunk bed, smiling slightly as even in the darkness of night her friend’s brightly coloured tail was still visible as the tip dangled off the edge. The Pegasus moved to the drawers in the room and pulled out the beautiful blue with white trim cloak Rarity had made for her. Pulling it overhead and the hood up, she tugged the white ribbon clasp in place and left the room with barely a sound. Emerging onto the desk of the ship had been easier than she thought; and as she stepped out into Luna’s embrace – she finally began to relax. The twinkling stars which shone down from on high were the only witnesses to the canary yellow pony’s journey to the bow of the ship as it was carried across the Eastern Sea in blissful silence. As she faced the breeze head on, she let out a soft sigh. Her cloak billowed behind her dramatically yet the hood remained steadfast and unwavering around her pink locks. Fluttershy gazed out into serenity, her pools of aqua passed over every wave and splash of light in the ocean as it danced beneath the moon. “Why would such a dream want to happen in some place so beautiful?” she remarked aloud to herself. Her voice was as ambient as the water continued to break against the wooden hull of the boat. “It is so out of place. So… alien” She turned her head to look back down the abandoned deck of the ship, eyes focusing on the door she came out of. “Rainbow always told me when I’m scared, to shout her name and she would come save me” she continued to monologue. “I guess it did work. The dream did end…” She felt the gentle pull in the direction of the bow by her heart and resumed to gazing ahead. Settling down on her haunches and pulling the cloak around her body, she shivered. “It’s not even that cold” she mumbled. “So why do I feel so?” She held up a hoof and watched as the breeze trickled through her fur like miniscule water droplets, parting the hair this way and that in a chaotic yet perfect pattern. She stood there for what could’ve been minutes or hours in silent observation of the most simple and complex of things. “I wish I could be like the wind” She said aloud, a smile adorning her features for the first time of the night. “Fly where I please. Scared of nothing” She returned her hoof to the ground. “Even in the face of that big dragon on the mountain, the wind continued to blow. It wasn’t scared of him.” “Neither were you” a raspy voice came from behind her. The Pegasus squeaked and span around – all tranquillity in her mind vanished as she feared the prospect of being overheard. Her best friend stood there on all fours, her own Blue cloak adorned although without the hood up which let the symphony of colour dance in the ocean air. Her friends cloak was so much more fancier than her own modest one, and it suited Rainbow’s personality as she trotted forwards to take a place next to Fluttershy and stare out to where the timid flier had been gazing so wistfully. “You weren’t scared of the dragon – at least not at the end!” she continued on, drawing Fluttershy’s attention away from her cloak and back onto the Pegasus proper. She turned back around sat next to her friend. And together the two ponies gazed out into the horizon. Fluttershy didn’t reply and Rainbow didn’t push the topic any further, they just sat together in complete silence Fluttershy let her eyes wander to the left where her friend sat seated, gazing ahead in complete calm. She didn’t bat an eyelid to the oncoming breeze, not like Fluttershy had to. “Of course she wouldn’t need to. She’s a brilliant flier!” she kicked herself in the rump mentally. Eventually she was caught gazing at her friend who in turn returned the glance. Before giving a cocky smile and returning to sightseeing. The two sat there for hours. It was almost uncanny to see the Rainbow Pegasus stationary for so long. Rarity struggled even to get her to sit still for a minute to model a dress. But the silence couldn’t last as the two watched the moon finally yield to Sun, the orange hues of warm radiance raining down upon them in solar showers. Dash sighed. “Are you going to talk about it?” she finally conceded, turning to face Fluttershy. “T-talk? I’m not sure I understa-“ Fluttershy began, before a blue hoof met her lips to stop her. “I heard you. I saw you” the magenta eyes which pierced into her soul were full of nothing but uncertainty and concern. “This is the second night you’ve woken shouting my name and then snuck out here.” Fluttershy flushed a deep red then turned her gaze from the rising benevolence of Celestia’s star to the water-worn floorboards of the magically preserved deck. “I… I…” the mare mumbled, not really eager in any way to think of the cause of her solitary moments. “It was just a bad dream.” Rainbow snorted, and turned to gaze eastwards. “No. If it was a bad dream you’d have stayed in bed. I know you, ‘Shy. You’d have stayed where you knew your friends were rather than go for a leisurely stroll” Fluttershy sighed and looked up from the floor, scratching her right hoof but not answering her friend’s logical statement. Such an astute observation from the aerial flier was not expected. It was more something she would think Twilight would have been able to notice. But then Rainbow had been spending a lot of time at the library around Twilight as she read those Daring Do books – maybe some of the librarian's analytical traits had rubbed off on the brash pony. The two fell back into another silence, this one far more uncomfortable now that unanswered questions lingered in the air. ----------------------------------------~~------------------------------------ “Flutters” she heard a voice mumble into her ear. It felt loud, too loud. She curled up around her blanket and pinned her ears back to block out the noise. But the noise didn’t yield. “Fluttershy, c’mon. Wake up” She reluctantly opened her eyes and stumbled instantly away from her friend. Rainbow was sporting a deep blush on her head as she struggled to wake the yellow Pegasus curled up against her hooves and using her cloak as a blanket. Her eyes remained skyward as she tried to relax and return her body temperature to normal. The last thing she had expected when she came out here to check on Fluttershy was to end up having the girl fall asleep against her and then cuddle up at her feet. “She did look adorable though” she snickered to herself. But then Fluttershy was adorable in every aspect of what she did. It was like one of Twilight’s silly laws of Swirlbeard the Starred, or whoever he was. “Gravity makes stuff go down; Impact onto the ground at thirty miles an hour hurts; Fluttershy is cute.” She was pretty sure that was the order of all things in Equestria. Sighing, she shuffled her wings uncomfortably before pointing forwards. “I wanted to wake you for that, Flutters.” She gestured ahead. Fluttershy turned her head to follow Rainbow’s gaze. At some point whilst she slept her hood had fallen down and she once more had to brush the pink curtain away from her eyes to see exactly what Rainbow had sighted. And what a sight it was. The flawless blue ocean stretching as far as the horizon had given way to a small cliff which stretched along the whole horizon. The cliffs were pearly white and gleamed in Celestia’s sun which now hovered just above the shore which the boat continued to sail towards. As before, the deck was still completely barren of anypony so it was only the pair of best friends who were privileged to see the illustrious silver cliffs ahead as they slowly grew in size. “It’s so big!” she whispered as she gazed at the coastal wonder. Rainbow grinned, her complexion having returned to pure blue. “It sure is! I remember Gilda mentioning she came from this way. I think the Griffon Kingdoms are a little ways north from here” she recounted her surprising knowledge. The mention of her old friend left a sour taste in her mouth but she quickly threw that aside. It had been years since she saw the offending animal and she had no intention of bringing up bad memories. “Oh look, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy exclaimed loudly, her gaze torn from the cliffs and instead drawn to the water directly below them. The yellow Pegasus had climbed up onto the railing and was peering over the edge excitedly. Rainbow walked over to the other side of Fluttershy and as she peered over the edge, the first thing she got was a face full of water. She shrieked and fall over onto her rump, before letting out a groan. “That wasn’t very nice,” Fluttershy admonished the dolphin who was leaping in and out of the water ahead of them. Each time it dived back in it would deliberately splash its tail to send more water up into the air. The prismatic Pegasus quickly righted herself and dashed forwards to the guard rail and pouted down at the offending marsupial “When I get my hooves on-“ Splash. Another cascade of water soaked her. She didn’t even dignify it this time with a response as she merely shook herself silly until all the annoying liquid had been scattered onto the deck. “And people wonder why me and animals don’t get along” her voice game out low and dark as she stalked onto Fluttershy’s other side. The two remained on deck some more whilst Rainbow dried out under the dawn heat. As the ship became sheltered within the shadows of the giant cliffs both Pegasi were dry and snug as a bug in their cloaks. The boat began to pitch right and the journey turned southwards. As they skirted the crystally-clean beachfront on the ever increasingly busy deck, finally civilisation came within sight. “Look! Look Rainbow! We’re here” Fluttershy squeaked excitedly as a small harbour wall became visible. As they drew closer the luxurious purple tinted marble glistened and shined in perfection, a perfection Rarity would be enviable of. “Maybe we should invite her next time we come here?” Fluttershy said to herself. As the boat arced around the walls and approached the bay entrance, both Pegasi’s eyes went wide at the beautiful stunning town built into a small gap between the cliffs, which stretched all the way up to the top. Even Canterlot paled in comparison to the unique architecture which was thrown at them. Intricate pearly white houses decorated with lush purple roofs snaked up a small cobblestone road which stretched up from the level of the pier all the way to the top of the one hundred metre cliff face. Ponies of all colours and races are bustling along the waterfront and roads. Canterbury seemed to be built on two levels. One level was the water-front level. It stretched deep into the canyon the town was built and had a beautiful city-scape despite the crowded positioning. The upper level was less uniform and felt more homely; reminding both Pegasi of Ponyville. As the boat they were perched upon slowly glided towards the pier, both anticipated the coming adventure in and around this strange new town.