Expanding Horizons

by mechafone

9 - Deep Visions

A bright, warm morning welcomed the locals of the Sun Ferry islands. The largest island, Sunanwaves, was a star attraction year round. The island climate was always warm and refreshing, and this kept the place open for tourism all year 'round. Legend said that hundreds of years ago, a wood spirit, running from a terrible conflict, drifted over the ocean and landed on the islands. Happy to have found a secluded place from war and strife, it bent the climate to it's will and created a tropical paradise for others to enjoy. A silly legend, but it entertained the masses.

At seven in the morning, the air was perfect, filled with the scent of salt, water and tanning lotion. Even at this early hour, the beach was already occupied with dozens of ponies, even a few griffons, almost all of them come for vacation. This, of course, was why many of the locals chose a different spot for their fun. One such island local lived out that way, in a treehouse that he'd build with his own hooves, situated not far from the beach.

The house itself was made from sturdy bamboo, which grew on the small island south of the big one. The house was small, but welcoming, and had a nice draft through some large windows that were filtered with mosquito net material, as was the door. This kept the house nice and drafty in the warm nights. Seashells and tiki ornaments littered the walls, just the way the owner liked it. He was one of the most eccentric and strange pegasi anywhere, as anypony who ever him could tell you, despite his young age.

At age 18, Deep Surf was one of the wisest pegasi anywhere. His knowledge of the sea and how to survive in it rivaled that of the most seasoned explorers. At least, he seemed wise. One could listen for days of Deep Surf's exploits. Hero worship was not out of the question, as many tourists had even come just to meet him, yet many left the island completely baffled and sometimes disappointed, because talking to him meant madness. The truth wasn't nearly as dramatic as it sounds, of course, but talking to the pegasus directly was often more trouble than it was worth - the pegasus talked using analogies that made absolutely no sense to anypony but himself.

Deep Surf emerged from his home and spread his wings, gliding down to the ground and hurried to the shore. He stepped out into the sun, which reflected off his bright, triple-toned mane of blue, silver-ish blue and white. The sun had a particular glint in the goggles that he constantly wore on his forehead. The pegasus spread his wings and stretched them, then knelt down and started some basic yoga. Deep Surf was well-toned, and from a mare's point of view, easy on the eyes. His body was an easy aquamarine color, with more blue than green. His eyes were a handsome color, a bright orange that went well against his coat. His cutie mark was a single palm tree amidst crashing waves.

After a good fifteen minutes of stretching, the pegasus shook his wings free of the sand he'd accumulated in his stretching and preened for a moment, then stretched his now moist wing tip to the air to identify the direction of the wind. He frowned. Something was off today. "Strange things are a-hoof at the Sun Ferry," he muttered in deeply accented Dude. This is what locals called his bizarre speech patterns, which were often either started or finished with 'dude'.

"Dude!" a male voice called. Deep Surf glanced back towards the trees to see his best friend, Shell Tide, approach. Shell Tide was a usually shy and introverted earth pony. At 16, he was a dashing young stallion with seaweed green fur and mottled grey-blue mane and tail, a single seaturtle gracing his flanks. "Howzit. Thought you'd be out on the waves at this hour. Everything all right?"

Deep Surf frowned once more as he looked out over the waves. That strange feeling still hadn't left the waves. "Dude. The deep is calling. It has not yet revealed her mischief, but soon to be revealed. It will be a day long remembered."

Shell Tide glanced sideways at his friend, then shrugged. Deep Surf was always saying things that didn't make sense. The younger pony stepped off to the side where a tarp had been placed over two tall objects, making it look like a two-headed teepee. He pulled up the metal stakes anchoring it down, then pulled the tarp down to reveal a pair of surf boards that'd been stuck vertically into the sand. "Whatever, I guess. We getting wet, mang? It's epic."

Deep Surf made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat before turning back to grab his board. It was a simple white board, with the image of a beautiful creature that resembled a pony on it, a mare. The creature was a beautiful tan color, with a long, blonde mane. Thin, spidery tendrils seemed to drift from her head. Down her back, she bore a pair of wings that resembled soft, translucent seaweed. While she was built with forelegs, the rest of her body tapered off into a long tail, with a small pair of flippers 3/4 of the way down.

Shell Tide grabbed his board, also a white board. It held a tasteful drawing of a majestic sea turtle drifting through kelp. He glanced at Deep Surf's board and shook his head with an amused smile. "I still don't get what you see in carrying a siren on your board."

The pegasus grinned as he stepped out to the water and held his board out to look at. "She's good luck, dude. Sirens are your lifeline when you're lost out there on the sea."

The earth pony stared at his eccentric friend incredulously. "What? Dude, sirens eat ponies when they're lost out there, how do you figure they'd help?"

"Just speaking from experience, dude. Now come on. The magnitude of the day's waves will flatten us in ways we cannot possibly comprehend," Deep Surf said in his usual confusing flair. The two stepped out into the water, mounted their boards, and began paddling out. Deep Surf and Shell Tide pulled out at the same time. They pulled into beginning of a strong wave, cresting the top of the water as they pulled themselves up into a standing position, balancing on their hind legs. Both ponies pushed their balance forward, and began the descent.

Deep Surf smiled as he pulled down into the well of the wave. As he sped along, beads of water at his back, something caught his attention, a strange shape in the water, in the corner of his eyes. He turned and could swear he saw a shark-like figure moving through the wave. He turned on his surf board to stare intently as the figure started thrashing around. A thick red hue took over the wave, as if the water were filling with blood. A new figure began to make itself known in the water, a figure that he had seen several times before - the princess of the deep.

"Dude!" Deep Surf opened his eyes to the haze of his hut. He coughed once and rubbed at his reddened eyes. He stumbled off of his couch and crossed the bamboo floor and opened the curtain flap that served as his door, releasing a thick cloud of mist and smoke billowing forth into the fresh air. The pegasus looked down at his friend, Shell Tide. "...You're tripping at this hour? Come on! We've got a perfect day to cruise on the coast."

Deep Surf coughed once and shook his head. "It's called cry...scur...scrying. It's an ancient medica-er-meditation technique passed down from people n' stuff."

Shell Tide stared at his friend and shook his head. "Ok...you see anything weird today?"

Deep Surf closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The vision he'd seen just now had been a most disturbing vision. Princess Pearl Depth, who he'd met once or twice in the last year in her diplomatic missions to secure relations with the islands, had been torn to pieces by a shark in his vision. These 'visions' as he called them were often right, or at least partially accurate. The special wood chips that he burned for this process came from a special place deep in the woods of the island, a place where mimosa grew abundantly. This was not a vision to be taken lightly, he'd have to go there today and ask his friend about it.

"Yeah. I saw a death in the family, and it struck my soul chords, man." Deep Surf spread his wings and glided down to the ground below beside Shell Tide. "A vision most foul that gave me shrinkage of the mind."

Shell Tide stared at Deep Surf, unsure of what to make of that statement. "Um. You should probably douse your dosage, dude," he offered, gesturing to Deep Surf's still smoking home.

The pegasus glanced back up at his home, a hoof absently pushing his goggles further up his forehead. "...Nah. Leave it on, I'll need some schnoz meds when I get back."

"Back?"

"Need to see an ent about this nebulous nightmare."

"I really wish you wouldn't call him that. He's a botanist, a scientist. He's a productive member of society, you shouldn't use names like that!" Shell Tide chided with a frown. He was referring of course to Mimosa Palm. He was a peculiar earth pony, deep green with a vibrant pink mane and tail. He lived deep in the jungle at the center of the island. He had the strangest quirks, like talking excitedly to the plants that he took care of while he worked. He talked like they all had their own things to say. And, despite knowing every last citizen on the island, none of them knew how long he'd been on the island. He just was, and had been. He also had a keen enjoyment of smoke inhalation sessions, like Deep Surf had been involved in.

"Dude should know, he knows his stuff," Deep Surf insisted as he rose into the air and waved goodbye to his friend and blew straight up into the air past the canopy. completely missing the dark dot on the horizon that was steadily approaching.

---

Trixie stepped out of the cabin and into the fresh, warming morning, yawning for what was probably the twentieth time during her five minute trek from her room to here, at the left side of the bow. Despite the excitement of the night prior, she'd missed every last second of it. As she drowsily picked her hooves up over several spots of melted plastic floor, she noticed Russet already outside here, his unmoving gaze on the steadily approaching island.

"Mm! Oh, Trixie has not had a night of sleep such as last night in months," she said in the cutest voice she could muster as she sidled up next to him. She gave Russet a dazzling smile, but when the stallion flashed her an uncomfortable glance, Trixie remembered the last discussion she'd had with Spark the night before. The cute unicorn was gay, and her efforts were futile. She deflated her charms and cleared her throat. "Ah-hem. Um...Lovely morning," she offered weakly.

"Oh, it is!" Russet responded, his cheerful demeanor returning. "It's like we've left that horrible cold behind us. This tropical weather is incredible, I still can't believe it took only one night for it to change."

"Mhm. It's one of the wonders of this world of ours," Trixie told him, feeling a little more comfortable, glad that Russet was so easy to talk to.

"Um, Trixie..." Russet began, garnering the mare's attention as he turned to her. "I hope you don't mind me prying, and I'm not trying to be rude, but I've noticed you using your name in the first-person, and you seem to switch between that and...well, talking normally. I-I'm just curious, why do you do that?"

Trixie blinked in surprise at this sudden question. She'd expected somepony out there to catch on to this thing that she was trying to get into at some point, she just hadn't expected it to be so soon. "Oh, well..." She sighed and turned to Russet, deciding to take this as seriously as possible. "It's a state of mind, Russet. When I refer to myself as Trixie instead of 'I', it makes me feel important. 'I' just feels too normal for me, too...underachieving. N-not that anypony else using 'I' isn't, um..." she paused, blushing with embarrassment that she couldn't even finish her explanation. She hadn't completely figured it out yet, after all, and she didn't want to make Russet feel like she was insulting him.

Russet smiled, despite Trixie's seeming failed explanation. "I get it. It's a confidence thing. You're still working on developing the personality that you want others to associate you with, right?"

Trixie stared at Russet. He understood? And so easily? Noticing the mare's look, Russet smiled patiently, though a faint glimmer of pain betrayed that eternally optimistic face. "You're developing that for your stage confidence...I developed it to keep myself from showing the bullies that they hurt me when they called me terrible things when I was younger."

Trixie frowned sadly at this. Such cruelty, and this unicorn deserved none of it. He was too sweet, too gentle to deserve such treatment. Trixie stepped closer to Russet and turned, gently pressing her side to his. Russet turned as well to accommodate her, for once comfortable with her closeness. Trixie closed her eyes and rested her head on the stallion's shoulder. After hearing of Russet's torments from his own lips, she'd finally come to terms with the fact that she'd get nowhere with him. She was ok with it, as long as she could give him some small comfort in her friendship.

From the living quarters doors, Spark and Laser watched quietly, a look of sad pity on Spark's face. Laser seemed to get what was going on, though. He patted Spark's shoulder and stepped back inside to get out of the crew's way as several stepped outside to prepare the ship to pull in to the nearing island. Spark followed suit, revealing a familiar green wrap around his chest and waist. Suddenly reminded of what it was, Laser eased himself away from Spark. "How can you..."wear" her and not feel completely violated?"

Spark turned to Laser to reply, but fell silent as Ampelus' head formed from the wrap around his chest area and glared at the the dark pegasus. "And why did you have me change when we're not nearly to the island? Everyone on this ship has already seen me!"

Spark scowled and pressed down on Ampelus' head. "Get back down there! Look, Trixie hasn't seen you, and I'd like to spare at least one pony the trauma of seeing you. The island is going to be a whole different bag of trouble - there are tourists here! We'll get you some water, get that poor guy some medical treatment, then we're out of here and back on track to Breen." Ampelus scowled at Spark, a look that quickly changed to a flirtatious smirk as she slowly slid back onto Spark's body.

"Ampelus?" Spark inquired, suddenly suspicious. "What was that look for? Ampelus?!" The dark pegasus glanced at Laser, a look of apprehension on his face. When nothing happened, he sighed with relief. Down the hall, several doors opened. Spark and Laser turned their heads to see the ship captain and Amacia emerge from the door Amacia had disappeared into the night before, the room where Rolling Waves had been taken. Spark and Laser stood at attention as the captain stepped past, who rolled his eyes good-naturedly at their insistence of respect.

When Amacia stepped closer to the two, it was apparent that she'd hardly slept, or not at all. The dark circles around her eyes were telling enough, but her movements were also sluggish. She stared at Spark as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing. Spark frowned and reached forward to rest a hoof on the harpy's shoulder. "Amacia, were you up all night?"

The harpy nodded and sat down on the floor in front of Spark. "Yes. I'm afraid Rolling Wave's burns were extensive. He's going to be all right, but he's much too damaged to be moved from the island. The captain said we'll need to stay here for at least a week while Rolling gets proper medical attention..."

Amacia sighed quietly, her eyes drifting closed. She slipped forward into Spark's waiting forelegs, who smiled warmly as he held her up. "I'm real proud of you, Amacia," he told her. "You saved that pony's life. You still with me? You should revert, so we can carry you around, ok?" he told her quietly. The harpy made the barest of nods before shrinking down into her hen form. Spark lifted the chicken carefully onto his back, where she groggily nestled inbetween his wings and hunkered down for a rest.

"Geez..." Laser breathed, having watched the scene in awe. "I swear, I'll never get used to that."

Spark rolled his eyes and stood, then made his way to the outside. "I'm gonna go see how close...oh." The dark pegasus stepped out into the warm morning sun to the sight of a lifetime: a large island, beautiful, tropical, inviting, dead-ahead a mile away. From this close, the island was massive, at least twenty miles wide, and surrounded by beach. Palm trees littered the landscape, while further into the island was thick jungle. Beautiful homes and buildings littered the coastline, and off to the side a small village was built over the water via wood bridges that held many hospitable-looking huts several feet over the clear water below.

"Geez..." Spark whispered to himself. "Maybe a week here won't be so bad."

"It is beautiful," a feminine voice that Spark wasn't immediately familiar with said behind him. He glanced to the side as Madalah approached and stood by him. Her presence had, for the last few months, gone largely unnoticed. She'd kept herself in isolation with Anorax for so long, it was surprising to see her out and about, even on the ship.

Spark frowned to himself. Looking at the island, it was easy to forget the harsh reality of why they were travelling - Madalah and Kecnik had been called back to their original changeling hive in a country called Breen. More than that, Madalah had a horrible responsibility to face: she was a changeling princess, at least, if Spark's theory was true. Anorax had yet to divulge any new information on this subject.

The halfling made his presence known as he came to stand beside Madalah. The two of them looked terrible; it seemed as if neither of them had slept in quite some time. Spark frowned disapprovingly at his friends, a face that Anorax returned to him. "C'mon, Spark, don't look at me like that. These are our last days. Who knows how long it'll take us to get to Breen from here, and then..."

"Dude. We're staying at the island for a week so we Rolling Waves can recuperate and get some professional medical attention. We're not going anywhere for a few days. You guys should rest up when we get to the island. It looks like a nice place to relax and maybe forget your troubles for a bit," Spark told him.

Seeing as this was news to the couple, they turned to look at each other in shock and excitement. The two embraced, Madalah actually breaking out into quiet sobs. "Oh, Anorax...I want to explore this place for a while. It'll be my last chance to have an adventure with you...please?" she whispered to the halfling.

"Of course. It'd be my honor," he answered.

Spark smiled, albeit a bit sadly. He stepped away to give the two some space. Halfway towards the stern, a twitching at his chest told him that Ampelus was trying to get his attention. Glancing about to make sure that Trixie was still with Russet, and after finding her still at the bow, he glanced down at his chest to see a face forming in the green section of his chest. "Ampelus? What is it? We're almost there."

"Something about this island is familiar," she told him.

Spark looked down at the little face on his chest as if he'd found what she'd said to be crazy. "...What? Ampelus, you've never even been out to the ocean before, how could this place possibly be familiar to you?"

"Well I don't know, Spark, how can it?" the nymph replied crossly. "It just feels familiar. I'm...smelling things that are bringing back old memories."

Spark made a face at this. He turned to look at the island, giving Ampelus a view as well. "What are you thinking?" the nymph asked him quietly after a moment.

"I don't know, Ampelus, but I've got a feeling that this 'vacation' is about to get a lot more interesting," Spark told her before lightly patting her face and pressing it down. It was time to get ready to land.

---

The greenhouse. It was more than just a building, it was it's own ecosystem, and it stretched for several miles in random directions, looking more like a pile of broken glass than an actual organized structure from overhead. It was a sight that Deep Surf had come to appreciate: a bit of genius, a bit of eccentricity, like him. The pegasus came in for a landing, a graceful dive that turned into a clumsy stumble that ended in ramming into the front door with a bang.

Deep Surf groaned quietly as the doors opened. Mimosa Palm poked his head out of the doors, a jovial grin on his face. He wore a white lab coat and thick plastic goggles with red tinted lenses. "That sounded like it hurt, my boy! Come in, come in."

The pegasus shook his head, a little dazed as he pulled himself from the doors. He lightly knocked at the framework, admiring it's sturdiness. "Dude, did you get new doors?"

Mimosa chuckled as he stepped further into his over-heated home. "Got a new frame just for you, Surf. You're certainly more at home in the sea than you are on land, my boy." He paused, sniffing at the air, then turned to Deep Surf, pushing his goggles up his forehead, mirroring the way Deep Surf always wore his. "You've been sight-seeing this morning, haven't you?"

The pegasus nodded sagely. "Indeed, my friend. I have seen a most heinous crime before my eyes. I needed a second opinion."

Mimosa stared at his friend for a moment before turning around and ushering him inside. "Tell me all about it, but I mustn't stop working." The earth pony shuffled along as Deep Surf followed him, who took a moment to appreciate the glass house from the inside. It never failed to amaze him. The environments set up inside this place were immense, dense, and warm.

Different ecosystems had been set up and separated, with different trees and plants and animals occupying different sections, all separated and contained. The rain forest of course was the first one would see upon entering. Giant ferns, thick mosses, poisonous frogs and hundreds of insects occupied this place. Off towards the left about a mile away, laid the desert, filled with sand and a varied selection of animals and plantlife could be found here. The glass overhead in this section had been filtered to let the harshest of sun overhead in.

In the very center of this place were grasslands. A heated and dry environment, it held all kinds of life that constantly fought for survival in everyday life. It lacked sentient life, though. Only the basest of creatures were allowed to take refuge in this place - Mimosa was loathe to use sentient creatures for his collection of plants and herbs that he used in his everyday experiments.

Several other ecosystems thrived in this wondrous place of science, including an access route to the sea under the island, which let all kinds of creatures, sentient and otherwise, enter the compound. How the botanist kept the sea from overflowing into the place and sinking the whole island was anypony's guess. Of course, this was a big reason why Deep Surf had come to tell Mimosa about his vision; both had met the undersea royals as they'd gone through heartache and royal pains to set up an official kingdom by the island, and these meetings had been done in the fantastically huge greenhouse.

As the two approached a row of trees that had been tapped for sap, Deep Surf began to recount his tale. He told Mimosa of the vision he'd seen in the waves, the shark-like creature, the blood-filled wave, and finally the princess' body torn to shreds. While Mimosa had been listening, he was taking measurements of the rich, raw sap emerging from the trees. He seemed to be lost in the viscosity of the different sap as it flowed like molasses into the buckets strung under the taps, until he finally turned to Deep Surf.

"This vision is most disturbing, my boy. Remind me, how often do your visions come to be?"

The pegasus thought for a moment, his head tilted as he tapped at the side of his head. "...All the time?" he finally said.

Mimosa nodded gravely for a moment, the motions of his head and neck continuing for a moment before he finally seemed to snap out of his constant bobbing. He stepped over to Deep Surf and clapped him on the back in a cheerful manner as he lead him back towards the entrance. "My boy, this is grave news indeed," he reiterated. "The fact that your vision occurred on the young princess' coronation can be no coincidence. Go on back home, I'll think of something to take to the royal family in these matters. And son..." he paused, turning to the pegasus and knocking on his head three times. "...go easy on the smoke. All that inhalation can't be good for your brain."

Deep Surf merely smiled and pushed the doors open before leaping up into the sky, taking up the half-hour flight back to the beach with gusto. Mimosa sighed and made to close the doors when he stopped. With the door half open, he closed his eyes and inhaled. He sniffed with more excitement, then stepped outside. He turned to the tree on his right, an ash tree, riddled with vines and kudzu, which stood out like a sore hoof among the jungle trees. "Do you smell that?" he asked it, getting no more response than one would expect from a tree. "Do you smell it? Ohhhh, this is going to be an interesting day, my friend! Most interesting! Hahahaha!"

He laughed once more, a jovial hop in his step as he slipped back into his gigantic workshop.

Comments

[shade_taDark_Phoenix]

loving it so far keep up the good work

[mechafone]

2258506 =D Thanks so much, I appreciate that ^_^