• Published 20th Apr 2016
  • 13,194 Views, 2,320 Comments

Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky - David Silver



She can swim far and wide across the waters of Equestria, but it's not enough. There are places above those waters, places she plans to reach. Where biology failed her, her mind would succeed. Equestria better be ready, because she plans to visit!

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1 - Star Gazing

The cool rush of the waters flowed in a dull roar around her ears as she propelled herself through the sea with powerful undulations of her tail. Her hooves were pulled up close to her barrel to keep the drag down as she picked up speed. Light filtered in from above, waving and sparkling with the enchanting effect of the waves on the moonlight that offered some illumination in the night.

She pulled up and suddenly she breached the surface. She was wet. Before, everything was wet, so nothing was. As she soared through the air, she was properly wet. A new chill stung at her even as she willed herself higher, but her momentum only carried her so far. She could see lights from the dry place, sparkling and twinkling like little stars. What were they? She fell back into the embrace of her ocean home, answers denied.

Her restless energy got her moving quickly, but she didn't make a loop to try again. She made her way swiftly into the depths. Her large eyes swept carefully. Though it was her home, the ocean had many dangers. A careless hippocampus such as herself could become many thing's snacks. As if in response to her thought, a shark made an almost idle grab at her with a sweeping lunge and terrible teeth. She did a quick roll out of its way and it swam off, looking for less attentive food.

Bioluminescent algae grew in thick clumps, cultivated and held close to their houses to keep their little village lit at all times. She swam past the first batch and felt relaxed. Attacks beyond them were quite rare. This was their village. She reached out a hoof and trailed it along some of the sparkling corals that made up their city. "I'm home!"

A head poked out of one of the little rocky houses. "Cherry! I made dinner, come inside." The older hippocampus beckoned with a hoof before darting back inside with a flash of her own tail.

"Coming, mother." Cherry followed the mare, even if her name wasn't really 'Cherry'. It was Cerulean, but Cherry was a cute pet name, and her mother wouldn't be shaken from it. "I was just looking at the above-ocean."

Her mother rolled her eyes. "You need to stop doing that. What good's the above-ocean? We can't swim in it. There's no food up there. It's dry. It's got everything we don't need." She ladled out some tasty smelling stew, some of it spreading out through the water even as she tried to move it. She set the bowl before Cherry. "Eat up before it scatters."

That was no idle threat. Uneaten food was gone food. Cherry grabbed her bowl in her hooves and began slurping/gulping the delicious mixture into her eager mouth. "You're the best, mom."

"I'm glad you think so, so no more above-ocean, right?"

"No promises." Cherry stuck out her tongue and set the empty bowl aside, her hunger abated. "I'm going to do one little look around before I come to bed, alright?"

"Make it fast. You have school tomorrow."

Cherry made a quick noncommittal noise as she darted right back the way she came, leaving her slightly frazzled mother behind.

Her mother shook her head. "I have to keep reminding myself I was just as bad..." She let out a little sigh, bubbles drifting from her snout before she got to cleaning up after dinner.

Cherry swam to the edge of her town and did a slow spin, looking for her friends, or anything else. That night, it would be anything else. A faint glint reflected off the glow of her town's lights and drew her eyes. She focused her blue eyes on the tiny speck and took off like a torpedo towards it curiously. The ocean flowed around her, retreating smoothly across her aerodynamic form as the light drew closer. Though it wasn't so much as a light, as it was just a dim reflection up close.

She reached out a curious hoof and tapped at it. It gave off a low odd noise, tink tink tink it went with every touch. She hadn't had many metal things in her life, but that's what this was. She pushed and pulled and slowly worked out the tangled mess from the seabed where it had gotten mostly buried, but not very deeply. It seemed... new. Where had it come from? It was a mess of connected parts and little bits and bobs.

She had no idea what it was, but she wanted it. She began collecting every fragment she could find. Every little shard was quickly scooped up and put into a makeshift basket of seaweed to keep them together, then she hefted up the large main bulk of the device and slung it over her shoulder.

Whatever that thing was, she was going to find out. With determination, she darted back home and showed off her find to her confused mother.

"Just keep your head on your grades. I don't want to see them falling." Her mother gave her a soft hug. "Please."

She may as well have asked Cherry to not be wet. Her grades fell, but she was learning. She was learning something her school couldn't offer her.


Spike raised a brow. "Is it supposed to do that?"

Twilight scowled at the console, her wings fidgeting anxiously. "No, it's not supposed to do that." She tapped at the console with a hoof. "Maybe it'll recover..."

Spike pointed where she was looking. "The dot is where it is, right? It's only going down, that can't be good, can it?"

Twilight sagged a little. Spike was telling the truth, as painful as it was. "They promised it would work. I was going to look at the bottom of the very ocean! Nopony's ever been that deep! Just think of what sorts of wonders await us?"

Spike shrugged a little. "Nothing, apparently. At least not with this thing." He hiked a thumb at the screen that reported the still sinking device.

Twilight spread her wings wide in sudden fury. "You could at least try to be supportive."

Spike held up his claws. "Hey hey, I didn't mean anything by it. Say, I heard this town has a really big telescope, one of the biggest."

Twilight perked at that. "You don't say?" She glanced at the console before reaching to flick the view of the doomed machine off. "Well, let's not cry over spilled milk. Stargazing is one of my favorite things to do this side of books." She flashed a bright smile, her funk fading away quickly.

He let out a little sigh of relief that he'd avoided Twilight's short-lived fury. "Let's go!" He had no special desire to look at the stars, but it was far better than watching Twilight be angry at the failing gizmo. "I bet I'll pick out a constellation before you."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "As if. I've already picked out four while we were waiting here." Despite that, she smiled and walked with him side-by-side. "Thanks, Spike. Maybe next time it'll work."

Spike smiled at that. "I bet it would've worked if you made it."

Twilight tilted her head a little. "You know what, it probably would have, but that's not really my specialty... There are only so many hours in a day. I'm a princess after all, so I can't be a perfect machinist on top of all my other hobbies and duties."

They went to the observatory and enjoyed watching the depths of the night sky instead of focusing on their doomed machine. Perhaps another day. Perhaps...


Cherry turned a wrench held in her jaw and a limb of the curious machine twitched spastically before she quickly turned it the other way. Every thing she had, she had to make herself, or enlist her friends to help make or even find. It wasn't unknown for alien objects to turn up closer to the dry land, and some of them seemed to fit the great metal thing she had quite well.

"Watcha doin'?" asked a high-pitched male voice.

Cherry looked over her shoulder to see a blue and soft orange hippocampus. One of her friends. "Oh hey there, Indie. I can get it to move, look." She pressed the wrench onto the nut and turned, making it wriggle and dance before she pulled it back. "I think I'm getting closer."

Indie raised a brow at her. "How do you know you're getting anywhere at all? Do you even know what it is?"

Cherry tilted her head to the left and right quickly. "It's... Well look." She thrust a hoof at one of its limbs. "Look, it has a hoof, Three even. I think it used to have four but one broke off.

Indie shook his head. "What's anything need four hooves fer?" He spread his two hooves wide as his tail fidgeted through the water. "Maybe the third hoof's an extra. You should take it off and see if it works better."

Cherry frowned at the thought. It was true. There was really no good reason for anything to have more than two hooves. Maybe her machine had a lot of extra parts... "I'll give it a try. Thanks, Indie." She gave him a quick peck and darted off to get more parts. She'd need more than her wrench to enact the next part of her plan.

Author's Note:

What's this? A new story?! Canary in the Coal Mine convinced me to give this adorable tale a try. The trick was he just showed me the picture you see above for the story picture. After that, it's all up to my muse!

My muse is a dangerous thing. It makes typos for breakfast and plot holes for dessert!

Like, hate? Let me know either way. I know we haven't arrived at the 'meat' of the plot yet, so I hope folks will subscribe to the story and take this journey with me and your fellow readers.

Do comment, I love comments!

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