//------------------------------// // Book 4: Aqua // Story: Writing Future Pages // by River Road //------------------------------// On my travels I have seen many things and many ponies. Still, one of the strangest sights must have been a little filly I saw on my way to Manehattan. Pages put up his hoof as a newspaper tried to hug his face. Creators knew where it came from, the next town was miles away. The cold wind was his only company on his way to Manehattan, and it continued to whip his mane around, apparently rather irritated that Pages wasn’t wearing a hat to have blown away by the storm. Grey clouds hung in the sky, turning the day into a dark and depressed afternoon. Pages could see a certain beauty about it, as long as it didn’t start raining. It was that ambiguous kind of weather were you couldn’t tell if it already qualified as a storm, or if it would turn into a storm at all. The kind of weather that even the pegasi who controlled it couldn’t fully predict. It was the kind of weather that made parents hesitant to let their kids play outside. It certainly wasn’t the kind of weather that would have a young filly sit on a beach in the middle of nowhere, staring out at the sea. Pages rubbed his eyes, then looked down at the beach again. The filly was still there, seemingly oblivious to the world around her as she watched the waves and the clouds. She was a unicorn, sea green with a two-toned, blue mane. She didn’t appear to have a cutie mark yet and Pages couldn’t see much of her face. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned, though, not because of the storm, nor from being alone out here. Pages parked his cart at the side of the road and started to make his way down the short slope that lead to the beach, but hesitated. He had a feeling that he should wait, rather than going over to the filly. Pages always trusted his feelings. He stood there, halfway down to the beach, for what felt like minutes, watching the filly. The wind continued to howl all around them, picking up for a moment, then getting weaker again. The blanket of clouds drifted by overhead, making it impossible to tell how far the sun had moved. Pages had just lifted his hoof to walk the rest of the way down when the filly started to sing. Her voice sounded clear and bright over the sound of the waves and the wind, even though it didn’t seem loud at all. If she used words, they were in a language he had never heard before. He sat down again and watched, listening as the filly sang to the water, singing about the sea and the land, about worlds she lived in and worlds she wasn’t allowed to even see, about the wind and the sun and the clouds and the sand and about her family… Pages couldn’t understand the words, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand what she was singing. Music was a strong power amongst ponies. If he wanted to, he felt like maybe he could even sing along in this strange language. After a while the song came to an end, the filly sitting on the shore again to watch the waves try to reach her hooves. Pages considered going down to talk to her, but turned around and walked back to his cart instead. The filly seemed fine on her own, and he didn’t think talking to her would help anypony. Besides, good stories always had some mysteries left. I don’t know if she really was one of the legendary merpony folk. Even if she was, I still have to wonder what she was doing all alone on that beach. But I have a feeling she’s just fine. Maybe I’ll meet her again, and I can actually try talking to her. ~~~~~ Pages walked around the city, looking around and watching the ponies. He had reached Manehattan without any more problems or strange encounters, and had checked in to his hotel shortly after sunset. He stepped to the side just in time to avoid bumping into a tall mare. The clean white unicorn with the tri-colored mane gave him a glare, then turned back with a haughty huff and continued to walk, ignoring him.” Pages stared after the mare for a while, tilting his head. He recognized her as renowned fashionista, but there was something else about her that seemed familiar. He shook his head for and continued to walk, looking down in thought. After a moment he stopped and looked up, a small grin on his face. “Oh, no way!”