//------------------------------// // The Ocean's Voice // Story: Pieces of Eight // by GhostQuill //------------------------------// Far, far away to the south, on the shores of the ocean, were a rare family of bat ponies. Usually, like any flying creature, bat ponies hated water. Oceans, lakes, rain. They preferred to avoid it. But this colony of bat ponies, had grown near the water, living inside a sea cave. For years they lived there, longer than the township of ponies that had grown nearby. But while the bat pony’s presence was known, their home was not. So attempts to drive the bat ponies away had all failed. The bat ponies had learnt to stay away from the towns ponies. To keep to themselves and stay out of sight. It had been this way for many years, until one bat pony jeopardized paradise. Calypso was a carefree soul, she enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest. Every moment she got she was out flying over the ocean, through the waves and over air. The spray biting into her skin the faster she flew. But for all her love of life, she held a selfishness about it. Her family and colony had warned everyone about leaving the cave during the day, to stay away from the towns ponies or anywhere they could be seen. It was their highest priority to protect the colony. But Calypso, she didn’t care, she just wanted to fly and be free. To kick the water as she flew over. To have fun. Their colony had survived this long, so what was flying during the day going to change? Another pastime Calypso enjoyed, was messing with sailors. Their ships would sail far out to sea to fish, and she would sneak up next to the boats. Her blue mane/tail and wings blending with the ocean. Her dark coat working to blend with the ocean just as well. Once she was next to their ships, she would sing. She had a talented voice, not only could she sing; as though she were a ghost from the sea, like a siren for the sailors, but she could throw her voice, making it sound like it was coming from all around the ship. A disembodied ghost, singing for the sailors. This game was just some fun for her, to waste the day and mess with the ponies. One of her favourite times to do it was when the fog was thick, and she’d fly quickly around the ship, only a dark blur to the ponies as her voice chilled them to the bone. The different pitches and things she did with her voice, didn’t seem possible, but it helped when your cutiemark was a sound wave. *** After an eventful day of messing with the sailors, Calypso started heading back to the sea cave. Pushed up against the ocean, was a huge cliff face, it had many gigantic rock islands standing like pillars in front and around it. Calypso always found a thrill flying through them at speed. There was a few different methods to enter the sea cave, her favourite was the underwater one. Going to the bottom of the cliff-face, there was a hidden cave that could only be found by diving under the water’s surface, and swimming under the wall of the cliff. She came up in a gap for air and climbed to the shore. Within the hidden cave, she took flight once more and made her way to the top of the cave. A tunnel that lead to the colony’s centre was there and she touched down in it. Shaking herself free of water, she was then greeted by a very familiar face. “Calypso! What do you think you’re doing?!” A young bat pony colt, a few years younger than herself, jumped out of the shadows to stand in front of her. His coat was a dark brown with a green tail and mane on top of his head, his bright green eyes glowed in the darkness. “I’m heading inside, obviously.” She passed by him and started walking down the pitch black tunnel, their night vision coming in handy. “You weren’t flying near the sailors again were you?” He asked catching up to her. Calypso looked at him and replied with a smirk, “No…” “You can’t keep doing this! They might kick you out of the colony! You’re putting everyone in danger!” “Pfft, oh come on Limestone, we’re fine. There’s nothing this colony can’t handle, they’ve got me after all.” She puffed out her chest, the smile never leaving her lips. Limestone glared at her, “That attitude of yours is going to get us found out by the ponies. I like living here Calypso, it’s our home. Why can’t you stay away from the ponies. They’re getting anxious with you scaring them more and more. Dad said he saw ponies along the cliff side trying to find our home again. If they find us, we’ll have to leave.” “They won’t find us.” Calypso said rolling her eyes, “Your dad’s just paranoid. Besides how are they going to get here? Only the pegasi can fly, they can’t see in the dark, and there’s no way they could force us out. There’s far too many of us for them to fight.” And to prove her point, they had just reached the end of the tunnel where they looked out over a huge underground cave. Glow stones gave off some light, and huge stalagmites and stalactites pointed from the ground and roof. What was even more impressive, was the amount of bat ponies that could be seen. There were quite a few flying around the cave, heading from place to place, but a lot could be seen sleeping. Platforms that jutted out of the walls had hay and other bedding on them were they slept peacefully. Others were in caves dug into the walls. It was one huge community. “So you see Limestone, there’s nothing to be worried about.” Behind them, they heard something like a stone that was kicked, echo through the tunnel. “What was that?” Limestone asked. Calypso however stayed silent, her ears searched for any sound back through the tunnel. Upon hearing another suspicious sound, she took off and flew to find the source. Reaching the end of the tunnel, she peaked over and saw a pegasus with a unicorn who was illuminating the cave. “Any idea where that bat pony went?” The pegasus shook his wings and tried to look around the cave in what little light the unicorn could provide. “It must be here somewhere, maybe there’s a secret passage?” “Whatever, I just wish I didn’t have to get my wings wet. They’re going to puff up and go all fluffy when they’re dry now.” Calypso heard a small gasp behind her and saw Limestone had finally caught up. Instantly he started flying back down the tunnel, no doubt off in search of his father. The unicorn was much happier than the pegasus, she was giddily looking around the cave and said, “Everyone’s going to be so excited when they find out! We’ll finally be able to get rid of those pests.” “We have to find them first.” Calypso couldn’t believe this, ponies has found their way to their home, this had never happened before. She couldn’t let them get away. In a flash, she jumped down and flew towards the unicorn aiming to ram her down. The pegasus must’ve heard her or something, because she found herself slammed into the cave wall suddenly. Her head hit rock and something was on top of her. She couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t figure out what was happening. Everything was fading with the darkness. “Oh my! A real bat pony! I’ve never been this close to one.” She heard the unicorn gasp. What she could only assure was the unicorn’s hoof, touched her face brushing her still wet mane off it. “Yeah, a couple more seconds and it would’ve killed ya. What do you want to do with it? I think it’s still awake.” “We could take it back with us! Wouldn’t this be great? We could learn so much about them and how to fight them!” Calypso did not like that plan, but she couldn’t move, the pegasus was holding her down and her head hurt so much. Just staying awake was an effort. She tried to flap her wings, only one was free and it couldn’t do much on its own. “Fine.” Something hit the back of her head and everything went dark. *** Calypso awoke sometime later, she didn’t know when. She was lying on a hard surface, it felt like rock, but was too even. Opening her eyes, she recognised nothing. Her head shot up in shock, but a dull pain at the back of it made her stop and wait for it to pass. Looking around, she saw she was enclosed in a perfect square room with perfect corners and perfect walls except one wall was made from many bars that reached from the ground to the roof. All of it was stones, many stones all piled on top of each other, but the bars were made from something different. Fear coursed through her when she realised she was in one of the buildings within the pony town. She tried to flap her wings but they were tied down with rope, and when she tried to bite the rope off, she found her mouth was tied shut, she wanted to scream. Using her hooves, she tugged on the rope around her mouth and head until it finally came off. Instantly she called out for her colony, she used a high pitched scream that was above normal pony’s hearing, but one her colony would hopefully hear if they were close enough. She waited, hoping for any reply, but heard none. A door on the other side of the room beyond the bars keeping her here opened, and in came the unicorn, the pegasus, an earth pony wearing a large hat and gold star on his shirt, and another earth pony with a red tie around his neck. “We put it in here Mister Mayor.” The unicorn said smiling. “Very good.” The pony with the tie answered. They all walked towards Calypso who stood there trying to be confident, but her body trembled. “Looks like it got the bridle off.” “Don’t worry none Mayor, even if it does get the rope off its wings, there’s nowhere for it to go. These cells have stood through rowdy sailors, they can handle one little bat pony.” The officer said. “Still, it’s dangerous to keep it here. Those bat ponies already destroyed the entrance you two found. Probably won’t be long before they try to get this one back.” “We’ll be ready. Those vermin won’t know what hit them.” “We are not vermin!” Calypso couldn’t take this, they were going to harm the colony. All of the ponies present turned back and stared at her in shock. The officer looked back at the Mayor and said, “Did it just talk?” The unicorn was staring at Calypso in awe, “I didn’t know they could do that.” Her eyes wide with intrigue. “I’m not an idiot, I can talk.” Calypso glared back at the far too happy unicorn. “Can other bat ponies talk?” The unicorn asked. “Of course! We’re ponies, not wild animals. Just like you.” “Pfft, yeah right. We don’t eat ponies and drink their blood like you do.” The pegasus said angered. “You idiot, we are not vampires! We don’t drink your blood. In all the years that this town has been here, how many ponies have died because they lost all their blood?!” “Why do you have fangs then? What other reason than to suck out our blood, would you need them for.” “These?!” Calypso points to the fangs in her mouth, “All these are good for is scaring away predators. We have a lot more problems to deal with at night than you do. If a manticore saw two ponies, and one had fangs and the other didn’t, who do you think it’d go for?” “She has a point.” The red tied pony said. “Mayor?!” The pegasus stared at the Mayor confused, he couldn’t believe he had started to believe this monster. “Well she’s clearly not a mindless animal like we thought the bat ponies were. Perhaps there is some truth in what she says. Perhaps we can figure something out with the bat ponies so we can live in peace.” “Will you let me go then? I want to go home.” “Let you go?!” The pegasus exclaimed, “No way, you attacked my sister for no reason, you’re staying in there.” “I didn’t attack her for no reason, I was trying to get you two to leave! What do you do when someone invades your home?! Besides, I didn’t even get the chance! You attacked then foalnapped me!” “That is true…” The unicorn said. “Sis?! How can you side with her?!” “Oh come on Cardinal, this is a great opportunity! If we become friends with the bat ponies then think off all the things we could learn!” “I don’t like this.” “Have an open mind for once.” Cardinal sat away from them but kept a steely gaze on Calypso. She however had her attention on the Mayor who had asked the Officer to open the cell. “You’re letting me go?!” “Sort of. I wouldn’t mind talking to the bat ponies, but I need your help to do that.” Calypso wondered something, “This isn’t just a trick so I’d show you where the colony is? Because if it is, you’ll be sorely disappointed. I can get in touch with them without going near the colony.” “I promise you, this isn’t a trick. Our two towns need to sort out this business and put it behind us.” “…Okay.” Calypso walked out of the cell with them, they didn’t remove the ropes on her wings, so she was forced to walk most of the way. Before they got too close to her home, but close enough that she knew the sentries would be able to find them, she called out with a sonic scream. This was a scream in their hearing ranch so they had to quickly cover their ears. They waited a little while until bat ponies appeared behind them. Calypso knew they were there, she just didn’t want to give away where they had come from. They group turned around and were greeted by ten bat ponies all stoically looking at them. Calypso noticed Limestone in the group as well, he looked relieved that she was alright. “Commander Lamp Light.” Calypso said bowing her head. “What is the meaning of this Calypso? You have lead these ponies near our home.” “They wanted to talk to you. After they captured me, I explained that we aren’t a threat to them. Their Mayor wants to discuss peace.” “And yet they have you tied up.” “Well they didn’t want me flying off on them. But it’s okay.” The Mayor took a step forward and said, “Please Commander, we don’t want to fight. Our knowledge of your kind was limited and so we were scared you. But after talking with Calypso, I believe we can all live peacefully.” The Commander stared at the Mayor for a while, thinking things over, before finally nodding. “If it will keep your kind from hunting ours, I think peace would be very beneficial.” “Wonderful!” The earth pony Officer released Calypso and she started happily trotting towards the bat ponies. But was halted by the Commander’s hoof. He glowered down at her, “I need to speak with Calypso for a moment. If you wouldn’t mind waiting Mayor.” “Not at all.” The Commander pushed Calypso over to the side with his wing and stood in front of her. “Umm, so what did you want to talk about Commander?” “Calypso, myself and the other council members have been discussing your behaviour lately. It is appalling.” “What?” Out of all the things for Commander Lamp Light to talk to her about, she had not expected this. “You are reckless, arrogant, and have no care for our rules. You have put the colony in danger multiple times and it has been decided that you are hereby banished from the colony.” “What?” Her voice small, her eyes wide, and her heart pumping. She couldn’t believe what he’d just said. “From this day onward, you are not to have contact with anyone from the colony or to go near the colony. You are exiled and forbidden to return.” Taking the saddle bag he had on his back, he dropped it on the ground in front of her. “Any belongings you owned have been put in here with some provisions. Your exile begins immediately. Leave.” He said grinding his teeth in anger. “But-But you can’t do this!!” The Commander flared his wings and yelled, “We can and we have! You’ve put our home in danger too many times! This is just the latest!” He pointed back the group of ponies watching them awkwardly. “But they aren’t a danger! I’m the reason our homes will be in peace now!” “They could have been a danger, all a trick to find the colony and kill us! But you weren’t thinking about that were you?!” “But-“ “Enough! The Council has spoken and the choice made. Take your things and don’t return.” Tears built up in her eyes, she couldn’t stop them. The Commander turned and walked back to the group of ponies. Calypso looked to all the bat ponies, none of them looked to her. Her eyes met Limestone’s though, but he looked away, pain in his eyes. Tears fell down her face, grabbing the saddle bag, she sprinted away. Away from her home and away from the bat ponies. She wasn’t sure how far she’d gone, but looking back showed her the town in the distance, the cliff face where her home used to be, and the ocean reaching until far into the horizon. She loved the ocean, but right now, it only brought pain. It was the reason she had always left the seacave when she shouldn’t have, just to fly over it and dive in it. All the memories burned her mind, anger built up inside and she screamed. A rage and sadness filled scream that echoed down to everypony down near the sea. Sailors thought the ocean was crying. *** Weeks had passed since the day she was banished. At first she had flown further down the coast, making camp near the shore. But she found it impossible to sleep with the rolling waves crashing on the beach. She tried taking a flight over them to clear her mind like she used to, but her stomach was filled with guilt as soon as she was over the water. Her eyes would become hot and threaten to fill with tears. Annoyed at the feelings and memories the ocean gave her now, she flew back to shore and didn’t stop going until she could no longer see or hear that infernal ocean. Further inshore now than she had ever been, she was wandering aimlessly over the land. Paying no attention to her surroundings, or where she was going. The only thing she made sure of, was that the direction was away from her home. *** Alone, cold, hungry and tired; she fell unconscious by the bank of a river. By chance or luck; three lone bat ponies found her. They checked to see if she was okay, and waited for her to wake up. Hours passed before her eyelids fluttered open. A large yawn escaped her. “Guys, she’s awake!” A noise passed through her ears. Lifting her head, she looked around and suddenly became still upon spotting the source. Three bat ponies; all by themselves, were walking up to her. What did they want? Could she trust them? “Hello,” the biggest one said. “Do you feel okay? We tried to wake you earlier but you wouldn’t get up.” “… Um, yeah. I’m fine.” She started scooting away from him but stopped when she realised something was on top of her. Looking back, she saw a blanket was over her. Had they put it there? Her stomach growled fiercely, as it had been doing so for the past couple of days. What she had been able to gather for the past days just wasn’t enough to feed her. Embarrassed, she covered her stomach and said; “I should be going.” “Hey wait,” One of the others called; the shorter stallion. “Are you hungry? We have some food to share.” Calypso stood there uncertainly, mid-way between flying off and sitting back down. “Come on, have some.” He said, pulling out a big juicy apple from his bag. He threw it towards her and she awkwardly caught it with her arms. Greedily she bit into it without a word, tasting it’s sweet apple-y goodness. “Are you headed anywhere?” He asked. Calypso paused her meal, before slowly shaking her head. “No, just trying to get away.” “Oh, did you leave home too?” Looking up at him to meet his eyes, she saw him gesture to the other ponies of their group. “We’ve all left our homes. We’re on a search for a new and better one. You can join us if you want?” “But I’m a complete stranger to you all.” Cheerfully, the larger stallion stepped up and said, “Well then, we’d better change that. Tell us about yourself Miss?...” “Calypso. The name's Calypso”