Ponyville Noire: Misty Streets of Equestria

by PonyJosiah13

Case Sixteen, Prologue: Hidden Beneath

The setting sun sparkled over the azure waters of the Maresippi River, golden sparkles dancing over the waves that lapped against the sandy beach.

Beneath the water, the sunlight played amidst the swaying reeds that grew from the sloping sands, fish darting in and out of the green leaves in a prismatic display of colors.

A green earth pony clad in a black neoprene wetsuit glided through the water, hovering just beneath the surface, studying the world around him through a set of goggles. Taking a breath through the snorkel in his mouth, he dove down to the riverbed, sending fish scattering before him as he studied the sands beneath him for treasures amidst the shells, rocks, and discarded trash.

“Sandbar, over here!” a voice called, carrying impossibly clearly through the water.

Turning, the earth pony spotted a pink seapony waving enthusiastically at him with a flipper, her aqua fins waving about in the currents, a carved pearl necklace bouncing against her chest. Twisting about, Sandbar swam over to her, moving as fluidly as any fish.

“Look what I found!” the seapony cried, thrusting a shining white shell into his hooves, the sun illuminating the smooth white surface accented by streaks of silver. Sandbar turned the shell over in his grasp, admiring the perfect natural craft.

“Silverstream, there’s more over here!” a green seapony called, waving enthusiastically from a slope in the bank. The pink seapony darted back over to him, gasping in delight.

Briefly floating back to the surface to take another breath, Sandbar descended again, parting the seaweed aside to reveal a cluster of the shells, cluttered among the sands.

“Oooh, I should send some to cousin Skystar!” Silverstream squealed, gathering up a bunch of the shells.

Sandbar grinned and began to prowl the riverbed for other treasures. He parted the reeds, sending a school of minnows scattering in panic, then poked thoughtfully around the lichen-coated ribs of a rowboat’s fossil that jutted out of the sand but found nothing of interest.

A blaze of bright color caught his attention. There, amidst the forest of waving seaweed was a bouquet of water canna with long thin verdant stems, the vase-like petals atop colored in twisting crimson and golden colors, like miniature underwater flames.

Sandbar glanced over at the two seaponies, watching as both mares currently studied a sunken jewelry box, trying to figure out how to open it. He hesitated for a few moments, then shook his head and pushed himself forward. He gently took one of the flowers by the stem and plucked it from the sand, admiring the way the sunlight filtering through the water made the petals glow. Kicking to the surface, he floated beneath the top of the Maresippi, taking deep breaths through his snorkel as he watched the green seapony, admiring the way she flapped her tail to keep up with her friend, the way her pink fins swayed in the underwater currents like waves, the excited gleam in her cyan eyes.

Sandbar tucked the flower into a pocket on his wetsuit. This would probably go better if he could speak.

The green seapony looked up from her task of trying to open the box, frowning in thought. “Guys, sorry, but I think I’d best get going,” she said regretfully. “Mom will be worried.”

“Aww, do you have to?” Silverstream whined. Sandbar felt his heart sinking into his chest as he himself sank back beneath the surface.

“You know how my mom is,” the green seapony shrugged regretfully. “Let’s get back to the dock.”

The trio swam sullenly against the current, reaching a set of wooden pillars that supported an old, crumbling dock. Sandbar swam up the bank and breached the surface to see that the litter-strewn beach in the shadow of the dock was devoid of any other creatures.

“All clear,” he called back to the mares as they breached the surface.

Silverstream touched the pearl around her neck and golden light swirled around her body. A moment later, when the light faded, the seapony had been replaced by a hippogriff, shaking water out of her blue mane as she climbed out of the water.

The other mare poked her head out of the water, checked around to make sure that they were alone once more, then closed her eyes. A moment later, her body was enveloped in a spiral of blue flame that cleaved through the water. When the fires faded, the seapony’s fins were replaced with a short pink mane and tail, her tail had separated into two hind legs, the image of a ladybug had appeared on both of her flanks, and feathered wings had sprouted from her sides, beating the air to lift her up above the river.

Silverstream cleared her throat sharply, giving Sandbar a meaningful look. Sandbar blinked and tilted his head in confusion, then gasped, his mouth hanging open.

“What?” the pegasus asked, fixing him with a querying look.

Sandbar opened and closed his mouth a few times like a beached fish, then gulped. “Uh...Ocellus, you sure you don’t want to dance with Silverstream and the others tomorrow?” he asked through a forced grin. Next to him, he heard a light smack as Silverstream’s claw met her face.

“I told you, I don’t like dancing in front of others,” Ocellus replied, shaking water out of her coat. “And besides, I…” She frowned and shifted in midair, an odd chirping noise escaping her throat.

“Ocellus, you’re a great dancer!” Silverstream protested, flapping up to her and placing a claw on her shoulder. “And I’m sure no one will care if you’re a changeling! We don’t!”

“And your mom’s gonna be dancing with the others!” Sandbar added. "I bet that you two would make a lot of ponies happy; think of all the love that you could get from that!"

Ocellus made a low moan of uncertainty. “I-I know...and I’m glad that she’s doing something besides…” She coughed and cleared her throat, her cheeks coloring. “You know...but not everypony’s gonna be as open-minded as you two.”

“I mean, I kinda get it,” Silverstream confessed. “When Sandbar and I accidentally walked in on you while you were trying out other manestyles in your room, it was kinda weird seeing you on fire, and just when I was thinking I’d have to get a bucket of water, you came out looking like a bug crossed with a pony, and then you saw us and you were like ‘Aaaah!’ and we were like ‘Aaaah!’ and then you--”

“I think she gets it, Silver,” Sandbar interrupted with a chuckle.

Ocellus gave a slightly nervous chuckle and gently brushed off Silverstream’s talon. “I’m glad that I can trust you two…” She frowned. “But I still remember Mom and I having to hide from everyone, running from city to city.” She shook her head. “I’m just not ready. Now, I’m sorry, but I really do have to go now. Say hi to Lighthoof and Shimmy for me.”

“Bye, Ocellus,” Silverstream waved as Ocellus flew out from beneath the dock and shot up into the air, heading north.

“Ocel--” Sandbar started to say, but the mare was gone before he could form the word. He sighed despondently.

Silverstream shook her head at him, clicking her tongue disapprovingly. “You really need to say it someday, dude,” she scolded.

“I know, I know!" Sandbar grimaced. "I keep trying, but every time, my tongue gets all tied up and I can't say anything!" He sighed. "Sucks how the popular pony in high school who's friends with everypony can't just say that he likes a girl."

"From what I hear, that's pretty normal with boys," Silverstream giggled. Sandbar sighed and hung his head.

“Hey, there’s always tomorrow,” Silverstream replied. “Need a lift back home?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Sandbar nodded, allowing Silverstream to pick him up beneath the forelegs and carry him northward, carrying him on the warm zephyrs that were lifted up by the setting sun.

---

“Thanks, Tart,” the pegasus grinned, placing the bag in her saddlebags. “I can always count on you for my sugar dose!”

“Any time,” Sweet Tart replied, waving goodbye to her customer from the other side of her humble bakery stand. As she watched Clear Skies fly off, the baker that everypony thought was merely a blue unicorn with a fluffy white and orange mane and the cutie mark of a steaming pie took in a deep breath, inhaling not just the scents of the baked treats displayed on her colorful stand, but also the soft, tangy odors of Clear Skies’ love: her love for the treats that she always bought here, for her brother Open, for her job, for flying. Every love a different flavor, all of them warm and soothing, like a bowl of soup on a cold morning that she imbibed happily.

As soon as her customer was out of sight, Sweet Tart allowed the smile to drop off her face and started putting her wares into the totes behind the stand. Just like selling baked goods at a stand didn’t give her much for bits, eating up the scraps of love that she got from customers just barely got her enough to get by. The occasional one-night stand gave her a quick boost: she licked her lips as she thought of later tonight, when she’d get some time alone with Smokey Coat, the cute stallion from the grocer’s. The taste of his crush on her was a particularly deep, sweet flavor; she bet that having some of his lust would be outright ambrosial.

And of course, having some extra love would be helpful for her mission: who knows how long she’d have to keep his form...but if it worked, she’d be set in bits for years, and love would come after that.

Sweet Tart finished packing the baked goods into the backseat of the battered yellow pickup truck parked on the corner, then folded up her stand and carefully maneuvered it into the bed. Grunting, she began strapping the stand into the bed.

The hot, biting malodor of rage alerted her to a new presence a moment before she heard the rapid hoofsteps. Turning, Sweet Tart spotted three ponies stalking towards her, their bodies covered by dark sweatshirts with the hoods up. Even without seeing their eyes, she could feel the hate burning from their gazes.

Shit. Reflexes took over and already Sweet Tart was turning to run, planning to duck into the alley up ahead, swap her horn for a pair of wings, and dart away before her attackers had a chance to catch up.

She didn’t get a chance. A low buzz sounded through the air like an angered hornet’s nest, and then pain spread across Sweet Tart’s entire body. Her muscles seized up, her jaw clenching so tight that she couldn’t scream, and she fell to the hot, hard asphalt, twitching violently.

The hooded ponies stood over her, glaring down at her with hooded eyes that glowed with contempt. “Changeling scum,” one of them snarled in a raspy voice, the unicorn’s face lit purple by the light of his horn.

Sweet Tart drew in a breath, trying to scream, to fight back, but a hoof crashed down onto her head and all went black.

Author's Note:

It's finally time to introduce these three!

This is a story I've wanted to do for a while, but could never quite fit it in. Now I have that chance! I hope that you are you looking forward to it, reader!

Comments

[DragonKnight521]

And a new case opens. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Uh oh...

[BirdsBooksBrownies]

Hey, it's Ocellus and company! This ought to be interesting.

[dystopia8]

Out of curiosity, whats the scoop with hippogriffs in this universe? Clearly they're not in hiding anymore, but were they ever? Was the Storm King a thing? If not, why can they become seaponies? I ment to ask this ages ago, but it slipped my mind.

[PonyJosiah13]

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The Storm King is a god worshipped by the hippogriffs. They have used the pearl to move between the sea and and for centuries, both to explore and as a way to hide from attackers.