In Equestria, the Earth Ponies and Unicorns use the land, and the Pegasi soar through the sky! So who occupies the sea? Enter Syren, a young mare who belongs to the equine species of (The) Capricore. Follow her as she lives her life in the abyss of the ocean, being told that the land Equestrians won't welcome her species. And she believes it, until she meets a meek, animal-loving Pegasus.
Thank you Ice-tea for editing and proof reading! And thank you Doodle Drop for the fantastic cover art!
The great and peaceful Equestria has been ruled by the majestic Princess Celestia for as long as anypony could remember. She solemnly reigned over the three species of ponies that inhabited the lands, the unicorns, the Earth Ponies, and the Pegasi. But before the rule of Celestia, before the very founding of Equestria, there were other ponies that existed. Not on the land or in the sky, but in the sea. The Capricore have lived, undetected, in the seas and lakes of Equestria as long as ponies have lived on the earth. They still exist in the expanses of the abyss to this day, observing the actions of the three other species of equine dissent. Currently the land ponies are unaware of the existence of the Capricore, not even the powerful alicorns know of the existence of the sea ponies. The Capricore truly want to coexist with the land ponies, but they fear exclusion from society, even war! So they remain hidden in the depths, planning how they want to make themselves known to the Equestrians.
"Let me sail, let me sail, let the Orinoco flow. Let me reach, let me beach on the shores of Tripoli. Let me sail, let me sail, let me crash upon your shore. Let me reach, let me beach far beyond the Yellow Sea."
Syren then hummed the beat until the next verse came up.
"From the North to the South, Ebudae unto Khartoum. From the deep Sea of Clouds to the Island of the Moon. Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been. Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never seen. We can sail, with the Orinoco flow. We can sail... sail away... We can steer, we can near with Rob Dickins at the wheel. We can sigh, say good-bye Ross and his dependencies. We can sail away..."
When she was done singing the song her fellow classmates clapped for her, however, her teacher gave her a stern look.
"Now, Syren, you know how I feel against land pony music."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Trench. Its just that this is such a magical song!"
He sighed and said, "Alright, you pass this one, but from now on, no more land pony music."
"Yes sir!" replied Syren
The school gong sounded, signaling the end of school.
"Now remember class, those who haven't sung yet must have their songs by tomorrow, or they will get a zero. See you all tomorrow."
The students got out of their seats and headed either towards the exit or towards Mr. Trench to talk. Syren swam to the exit. She swam through the circular doorway and and stopped just outside the classroom. She let her turquoise hair wave in the soft current. She glanced up at the shimmering surface.
Syren felt that she needed some clean water in her gills, so she decided to head towards The Reef.
Using her Capricorn magic, her tail slowly enveloped her hind legs, until her entire lower body was that of a fishes. She then swam towards The Reef.
When she arrived she sat at her favorite spot, on top of the red brain coral. She watched as a school of colorful fish swirled and undulated around her, smiling gleefully. But her observation of the fish was interrupted when she saw... him.
Ray wasn't very popular at school, but he did have a lot of friends. He was swimming through The Reef with to of his pals, chatting.
Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched by an extremely love-struck mare. Syren had hidden behind the brain coral when he drew near enough to see her.
When Ray and his friends left, Syren ascended from her hiding place, and sighed in obvious affection. She sat and hummed the chorus to "Orinoco Flow" while fantasizing about Ray and herself.
"Whelp, better head home." she said to herself
She swam out of the park and headed towards the pod that she and her mother shared. When she opened the door, she was greeted by Jet, her pet Batray.
"Hi, Jet! It's nice to see you, too!" she giggled as he swam around her in delight. He was full of abnormal energy today, and Syren knew what that meant.
"Ugh, did Mom forget to feed you, again?" she asked the Batray. At the words "feed you", his tail started swishing around.
"Well I guess I'll have to fix that, Hm?" she said to Jet, rubbing his sleek, frictionless back.
He flipped in mid-water, turned and glided into the kitchen. Syren swam in and pulled out a jar full of sliced shrimp. She unscrewed the lid and let the contents float out of the jar. Immediately, Jet zoomed around and ate the pieces of meat, one by one.
Syren swam to another cupboard and pulled out a container of Sargason Weed, her favorite after school snack. She headed to the table and started munching, until the door opened.
"Hi, Mom. You forgot to feed Jet again," Syren said with a mouthful of kelp.
"Chew with your mouth closed, dear. Honestly, were you raised in a grotto?" asked Remora, her mother, paying no attention to what her daughter actually said.
She went to the chilled box and pulled out a Fresh Water Fizz and undid the cap.
"So how was your day at school?" asked Remora after taking a sip of the drink.
"Good. I sang my song in choir today."
"Oh really? What did Mr. Trench say about that?"
Syren looked down at the table and said, "He said that I ONLY passed because I sang it perfectly."
"Why'd he say that?"
"Because the song was the land pony one."
Remora sighed and said, "Honestly, I don't know why you even use their songs in the first place."
"Because they're beautiful songs, Mom!" Syren was getting annoyed about how everyone thought about the Equestrians, "What's the deal with everypony not liking the land ponies!"
Her mother threw her hooves in the water and said, "Aw for the love of Prince Pisces, Syren! There you go using that word, "everypony", how absurd."
Syren had had enough. She got up and flung open the door to the pod. She them swam out as fast as she could. Jet followed behind her. She heard her mother calling her name but she didn't stop or look back. She was heading to her place of solitude.
Syren swam towards the shoreline. She saw the lone rock that she loved to lean against and sing by. Her head broke the surface and she closed her gills, pulling air into her dormant lungs. She swam to the rock and put her back against it. She thought about what her mother had said.
"It's not about the songs, it's about the land ponies,"thought Syren, "It's just so frustrating always being scolded when you associate something of your life with them."
She glanced down at her cutie mark. At the music note that symbolized her special talent: singing. She was always complimented about how good she is at singing. Even her friend, Ripple, said that she was the greatest singer in the city of Aquarius. Oh, how desperately Syren wanted to live up to that name.
She let out a soft sigh and glanced at the far horizon. It was a somewhat foggy day on the surface. She felt a tapping down by her leg and looked down. Jet was there, looking at her pleadingly.
"It'll be okay, Jet." said Syren, not entirely sure herself.
"What'd you say?" said a voice ON the shoreline.
(The name of the song is Orinoco Flow by Enya on Watermark.)
Syren nearly shot out of the water in surprise. She stuffed a scaly hoof into her mouth as to keep herself from screaming. To make herself reassured, she also put a hoof on Jet's mouth. He looked at her in annoyance.
"I didn't say anything." replied a quieter voice from the beach
"Oh I thought you said something. Must have been those pesky gulls."
"Pesky?!"
Syren glanced around the rock, just enough so she could peek out without being seen. On the shore she saw two ponies. They were both Pegasi! One was cyan with rainbow colored hair, and the other was yellow with pink hair.
"Anyways Fluttershy, I need you to take over cloud control while I'm gone." said the cyan one
"I'm not so sure, Rainbow Dash... You know how much trouble I've had with clouds in the past." replied the yellow one shyly.
"C'mon! It'll only be for a week. I can't trust Thunderlane to do it. He'd probably just blow it off."
"Oh, um...ok."
"You will? Thanks Fluttershy!" the cyan one hugged the one named "Fluttershy"
They were sitting on a red and white, checkerboard blanket. They had a basket that was overflowing with food, LAND food. Not the moist slimy kelp that the Capricore eat. Sandwiches, pasta, berries, it took all of Syren's self control to keep herself from walking up there and chowing down. She shook herself back to her senses and continued watching. Food was one of her weak points.
Syren had heard all about the land Equestrians in school. They were rumored to be...unpredictable. Unstable. Although Syren didn't believe in these claims, she'd never seen a real land pony in real life before, so she had no knowledge of these visitors except for the inferences of the Capricore. Syren had seen the surface land before, through an observational telescope. She had watched the great castle known as Canterlot. It appeared that the citizens had some zany traditions. Syren observed a pink sphere encircling the castle, and dark colored ponies bouncing on the sphere. She also observed a rainbow colored pulse followed by an arching rainbow, itself.
Syren continued to watch the two Pegasi as they chit chatted. The subject of the conversation often shifted, going from "...Need a turtle care book from Twilight..." to "...Angel hasn't been feeling well...". Syren didn't know what they were talking about, but it was still interesting to watch two fellow equines conversing. She felt a squirming under her hoof and looked down. Her hoof was still on Jet's sucker like mouth. She mouthed an apology as she removed the hoof. His eyes would've lit on fire if he wasn't a sea creature.
Syren's attention returned to the Pegasi. It appeared that they were getting ready to leave. They shoved the stuff into the basket and then went off, the cyan one flying while the yellow one walked. She let out her breath, apparently she had been holding it. She had a sudden wave of excitement.
"I've actually documented how land Equestrians converse, in the flesh!"
As she normally did when she celebrated a victory, she began to sing.
"This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE success. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction."
She was about to sing the second verse when something fell into the water next to her with a splash. Upon closer inspection, the object was a picnic basket with a red and white, checkerboard blanket on the top. Syren looked up at the top of the rock.
Standing there, mouth open in shock, stood the yellow Pegasus, looking at Syren.
Syren sat there for a moment, staring back. Her face probably mirrored the shock of the Pegasus.
Then she turned and bolted, diving into the deep blue sea. Her salty tears mixing with the salty water.
(The song is Still Alive by Jonathan Coulton)
Fluttershy returned home with many questions on her mind.
"What was that?" she thought to herself
When she and Rainbow Dash left the beach after their picnic, Fluttershy had realized that she had forgotten her sunscreen. She said goodbye to Rainbow Dash and trotted back to the beach. She was walking up to where her sunscreen sat, when she heard somepony singing. It was coming from the other side of a rock that was sitting by the shore. Fluttershy hopped on top of it and peered down at the singer. Her jaw went slack and the picnic basket slipped from her mouth, falling into the water. This caught the...pony's attention. She turned and made the same expression as Fluttershy. And then she dove into the water, revealing a fish like tail. It appeared that there was a Batray that followed her.
Fluttershy was extremely curios as to what what this creature was.
"Does it-she need my help? Is she alone?" Fluttershy needed answers.
She walked over to Twilight's house. As she swung the door open, she was greeted by her unicorn friend.
"Hello there Fluttershy! What brings you here?" said Twilight with polite enthusiasm.
"Um, I'd like to borrow a book, if that's, um, alright with you..." replied the meek Pegasus
"Well of course you can! What book would you like to borrow?"
"Um I'd like one about sea creatures."
Twilight's horn glowed as a book floated into the air. "Here you are, "Creatures of the Abyss"."
"Um not to be rude or anything but, um could I actually have a book about mythical sea creatures? Or sea monsters...if that's alright with you of course."
Twilight was puzzled about her friends choice of literature, "Are you sure that's the kind of stuff you want to be learning about, Fluttershy? We know more about space then we do the sea, you know."
"Oh yes. I'm positive."
"Ok then." Twilight retrieved the book and handed both to Fluttershy.
"Thank you so much Twilight! I'll return these as soon as possible."
"No problem. Don't be a stranger!" she called after the Pegasus after she left.
Fluttershy hurried back to her cottage. She flung the door open, dropped the books onto the carpet, and then sprawled onto the floor. Her animal friends came to observe what she was doing, but she paid them little attention. She began on the first page of the mythical creatures book.
Fluttershy vowed to herself that she would see this creature again, even if she died trying.
(AN: I added a part of the story in on chapter 2. If you haven't seen it yet, please go back and read it. Thnx!!<3)
Chapter 3: Transfer Student from Heaven
Syren was daydreaming during her Capricornian History class. She was thinking about the events of the previous day.
When she had returned home after her encounter with the Pegasus, she went straight to her room. Her mother wasn't home. She got into bed, and Jet curled up on the covers that were made of woven sea silk. Syren tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. She was to busy thinking about the Pegasus.
She'd probably tell all her friends about Syren. Then news would spread through all of Equestria about the "Mermare". Then mobs of land ponies would swarm the beaches and lakesides and other places of water. The land Equestrians would probably capture the Capricore and experiment on them or something. Syren put her hooves on her forehead and rolled around with eyes closed.
"What have I done?" she thought to herself
Her bedroom door opened and her mother walked in. Jet opened his eyes and swam to greet his other owner. Syren pretended to be asleep. Her mother sat on the side of the bed and began rubbing her back.
"I love you Syren. And I only want what's best for you." she said.
Remora was getting up to leave when Syren said, "Then why don't you want me to sing land pony songs?"
She sighed and turned around, "It's just that I don't want you becoming obsessed with them. You've seen how the ponies at the observation center act. Like the world revolves around the Equestrians."
"Technically it does, mom. Because the two alicorns move the sun and moon."
"You know that's not the point Syren. Look, I just want you to be happy with your dream. To sing. And I don't want you to fall into a pit because you're singing these land pony songs, do you understand what I'm getting at?"
"Yeah..." said Syren as she pulled the covers over her head.
"I want you to promise me you won't sing anymore land pony songs."
She sat up, "But mom!-"
"I don want to hear it. Do you promise or not."
Syren looked at her mother sourly, "Fine."
"Good. I love you Syren. Goodnight." her mother said as she closed the door to Syren's room.
"Miss Syren! Please pay attention!"
She was jolted from her thoughts because of the teacher's command, "U-uh, Yes ma'am!"
She was now focussing on how the famous explorer, Finnegan McGill, discovered the founding place of Aquarius. After settling, he began constructing inns and houses for other travelers. As more travelers appeared, the town became a boomtown for its production of coral structures and-
The lesson was cut off when the end-of-the-class gong sounded. Syren got up and headed to her choir class. She swam in and took her seat, as the rest of her classmates filed in or lingered at the doorway. As the passing period gong rang out, the rest of the students went to their seats. Mr. Trench called the attention of the class.
"Class, we have a new student who is transferring into this class. I want you to welcome him and help him with his singing if needed."
Whispers rippled across the classroom.
"Now let me introduce you to...where is he?" said Mr. Trench, looking around.
The door opened and a student walked in. Syren nearly fell out of her seat.
"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Trench. I got lost on the way here." said Ray as he swam into the classroom.
"Well I guess that's a possible explanation for being late." said the tea her as he scanned the room, "Why don't you sit right there, next to Syren."
"Sure thing." he replied as he swam over to his seat.
Syren could barely contain herself. Her crush was sitting next to her, in the class that she was most open. It seemed like fate had decided to shake things up a bit. Add some spice to Syren's life. She was alright with it, it was just that it was quite overwhelming.
"Hi there! I'm Ray." he said with a warm smile.
"Uhh... I'm uh, S-Syren." she stammered.
He laughed tenderly and then asked, "I'm kinda new to this, so I might ask you a lot of questions. If that's not any trouble to you, of course!"
"N-not at all." she replied, still stammering.
Mr. Trench called the attention of the class, "Now class, we're going to get back to where we left off from yesterday. So we'll begin with-"
He was interrupted when a student called out, "Hold on a sec! The new guy needs to sing first!" Many other students agreed with the opinion.
There was no way around it, "Well Mr. Ray... I guess you gotta strut your stuff first."
"Oh, okay then." Ray said, getting up
He swam up to the front of the classroom and began tapping out a beat with his hoof. He took a deep breath of water into his gills, and then let the first few lyrics of the song flow from his lips.
"You want me to come over, I got an excuse. I may be holding your hoof, But I'm holding it loose. First we talk, then we choke, It's like our neck's in a noose. Avoid the obvious, We need to face the truth. I start to think it could be fizzlin' out Kinda shocked, cause I never really had any doubts Look into your eyes, imagine life withoutcha..."
He paused and then looked at Syren with a fierce look of concentration.
"And the love Kickstarts again."
His classmates clapped profusely, in a frenzy from the smoothness of his singing voice. Mr. Trench approached him.
"Good job, Mr. Ray. I must tell you though, I have a strong feeling against land pony songs."
"Oh, ok sir. I'll take note of that for the future." said the Capricorn, returning to his seat.
For the rest of the class period, other ponies got up and sang. But Syren wasn't focusing on them. Instead she was thinking about the mastery that was Ray's voice. His somewhat higher pitched voice made the song a perfect match tone wise. The dynamics of his voice shifted perfectly with the song, and his vibrato was unreal.
Syren felt a tap on her arm. She turned and saw Ray lean in to whisper something into her ear.
"Would you mind meeting me in The Reef after school? I need some help with my voice."
The shock of what he just said stunned Syren for a moment. Then she looked at him and nodded.
(The song is Kickstarts, by Example on Won't Go Quietly)
"Prancing Prince Pisces, Syren! That's basically the equivalent of a date, there." exclaimed Ripple
Syren had met with her friend shortly after the end of class to tell her the news.
"It's not a date! It's a vocal training session, that'll increase the volume and intensity of the trainees voice!" Syren flustered.
"Ooh, sounds sexy." replied Ripple with a wink.
Syren blushed and became even more flustered with her arguments.
"Alright girl, calm down. You just gotta play it cool." Ripple grabbed her best friend's shoulders, "That's it. Breathe in. Breathe out."
Syren proceeded to inhale and exhale a gillful of water as her BFF continued.
"Just be nice and become friends. You can slowly work your way up from there. Just take it nice and slow, and don't lose your head."
Syren sighed, "Thanks Ripple. I needed that pep talk." She sort of bowed to her friend.
"That's what friends are for, girl. Now get on over there. You don't want to keep Mr. Ray waiting." she said in a sly voice.
Syren turned to leave, but was stopped when Ripple said, "Oh. And if you guys start flipping around, (flipping=f*cking in Capricore slang), just remember that I called it."
Syren turned and swam of towards The Reef, her cheeks red from the thought.
Ray was waiting by her usual red coral spot. His back was to her, as he was admiring a school of red and yellow fish. When she swam up, he turned and smiled.
"Hey. I thought you'd forgotten."
"Sorry, I was just, uh, um...just uh..."
"C'mon. Play it cool. You can do this." she willed herself.
"I was letting my mom know where I was. Yeah! I was doing that. Heheh, yeah..."
He nodded. But neither talked for a while.
To break the awkwardness, Syren said, "Well, let's hear what you've got."
"Oh. Okay." he said, "Um you don't mind if the fish do some background music, do you?"
"The fish? I guess not." she said, confused.
He smiled and motioned for the school to come towards him. They swam behind his head and assembled in a slope, like a hood.
"Alright. Here goes." said Ray with a small exhale
One of the fish began a soft piano melody. Others put in a beat. One was doing a sort of staticy sound, like waves crashing onto a shore. The sound increased and then faded as Ray began to sing.
"Lookin up, There's always sky. Rest your head. I'll take you high. We won't fade into darkness, Won't let you fade into darkness. Why worry now? You'll be safe. Hold my hoof Just in case. And we won't fade into darkness, Fade into darkness! No we won't fade into Darkness, Fade into Darkness!"
The fish then conducted a strange synth conduction, that melded the original piano tune with some white noise and kick-and-snares. Ray did a little dance as he waited for the second verse.
"This world can seem Cold and gray, But you and I Are here today. And we won't fade into darkness Fade into darkness Nothing to fear, But fear itself. We'll be okay Just keep the faith. And we won't fade into darkness Fade into darkness! No we won't fade into Darkness, Fade into Darkness!"
The fish continued with the electronic sounds. Ray began the finale, singing some dispersed "Ooooohooohoh's" and "Fade into Darkness's"
And then as the song ended he stomped his forehooves on the ground and panted from his dancing and singing.
"Well? How'd I do?" he gasped
Syren hadn't realized it, but sometime during the song, her mouth had gone completely slack and had fallen open. She quickly shut her gaping mouth and shook herself back to reality.
"How'd you do that?..." she said after a long time of awed silence.
"What? The fish? Oh, that's just a thing I can do." he said, trying to sound as modest as possible.
He showed Syren his flank. She blushed a little bit from the exposure but then focused on the marking on his hip. It was a picture of a stingray gliding with many fish swimming around it.
"This symbolizes my special talent. I have a deep connection with sea creatures."
"I know of a sea creature that could use a deep connection." she blurted, "My pet Batray, Jet."
"I'll have to meet him some other time, I have to go." he said, noticing the time.
"Oh, ok then."
Ray smiled warmly at her, his short green mane shifting in the soft current, "Thanks again for the training! Maybe we could do it again sometime..."
"Ah, uh...sure!" she stammered
"I'll see you tomorrow, Syren!" he said as he swam away.
She watched him until he was no longer visible. Syren sat on the red coral and then began processing the events of the afternoon.
"Wait til Ripple years about this...!" she chuckled to herself.
Fluttershy zoomed through the cloud, disintegrating it. She then spiraled up and bucked another cloud into oblivion. She had to get this job done fast if she wanted to get to the beach early. She spun around a cloud, making it send its contents into all directions. She misjudged her spin and slammed into the side of a cloud, causing a shower of rain to fall down onto a small filly with a tiara in her mane.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry!" Fluttershy called down
She didn't have time to hear the fillies response, so she shot away and cleared away the rest of the clouds. After the last cloud dissapeared from the sunny sky, Fluttershy flew towards her cottage. She opened the door and cantered into her house. She headed into her room and pulled out a large bag. Angel hopped through the doorway and jumped up to examine the bag.
"Oh, hello Angel." Fluttershy said, "Can you find me my binoculars please?"
The bunny gave her a scowl and crossed his small arms in defiance.
"H-huh? You won't?" Fluttershy was shocked.
"Why am I shocked? He's always this stubborn." she thought to herself, regaining her composure.
"Pretty pleeeease." she said, batting her eyelashes.
When he continued to ignore her, she added, "If you do, there'll be an extra carrot in it for you."
He perked his ears and hopped away. A moment passed and he returned with the pair of binoculars. Fluttershy grabbed them in her mouth and then carefully placed them into her camouflaged saddle bags.
"Thank you Angel." she said while grabbing a carrot and dropping it in the bunnies outstretched arms.
"Alright, I just need to grab some water bottles and then I can head to the beach." she thought to herself
Fluttershy walked into her kitchen and pulled out a pitcher of sunned tea. She pulled out a aluminum water bottle and began pouring the tea into it. When the bottle was full, Fluttershy capped it and placed it in her saddlebags.
"All set!" she said happily as she slipped the leather bags onto her back.
And with that she headed out of her cottage, towards the beach.
Syren was at her house, lying on her bed. Jet was sprawled out on the bed, sleeping soundly next to her. She was staring at the ceiling of her room, looking at the Blue October poster above her. She was imagining one of their songs. One of her favorites. She got up and swam to a shelf filled with records. She slowly skimmed through them until she found the one she was looking for. She slid it out and blew of the soft sand that had accumulated on it.
Syren took the record and placed it into the slot on a nearby gramophone. She wound the box up and placed the needle on the record, the point fitting into the grooves on the disc. Sound began to escape the speaker at the top. She swam onto her bed and stood on it with all fours. Jet opened one of his eyes at the disturbance. He irritatingly got off the bed and swam to the floor, curling up into a small, brown pancake. The intro came to a close and Syren began to sing along with the copy in the record.
"I'm just a normal colt That sank when I fell overboard My ship would leave the country But I'd rather swim ashore
Without a life vest I'd be stuck again Wish I was much more masculine Maybe then I could learn to swim Like 'fourteen miles away'
Now floating up and down I spin, colliding into sound Like whales beneath me diving down I'm sinking to the bottom of my Everything that freaks me out The lighthouse beam has just run out I'm cold as cold as cold can be Be..."
Syren took a deep breath as she prepared to project the chorus as loud as she could.
"I want to swim away but don't know how Sometimes it feels just like I'm fallin' in the ocean Let the waves up take me down Let the hurricane set in motion, yeah Let the rain of what I feel right now, come down Let the rain come down..."
She pretended she was holding a microphone in one of her hooves. Her face scrunched up from the concentration she was putting into the words. She always sang like this when she had something stuck on her mind. In this case, it was Ray.
"What am I supposed to do? How can I impress him? Should I ask him of we can hang out some time, or let him make the first move? What if he doesn't make the first move?!" these questions raced through her head all at once.
Without realizing it, her vocal cords and mouth had gone onto autopilot, and continued singing the song perfectly while she thought about her crush. She pulled herself out of her thoughts and began singing the end of the song.
This was Syren's favorite part. In the background, a mare began quietly whispering "into the ocean, end it all". She always loved to whisper along with her while the main singer continued on. While some would think that this would be unsettling or a sign of instability, Syren finds a strange calm when she sings this part. Like a strange nirvana.
"Into the ocean, end it all. Into the ocean, end it all. Into the ocean, end it all. Into the ocean, end it all..."
She sang these last parts as her mother opened the door to her room. Jet opened his eyes and began swishing his tail in happiness.
"Syren, can you keep the singing on the low volume setting? I can hear you all the way in the kitchen." Remora said with a small frown
"Sorry Mom. I'm actually done now, so you won't be hearing any more singing for the day."
"Glad to hear it!" she replied with a smile. Syren's mother then turned and left the room.
Syren sighed as she swam over to the gramophone and pulled the needle off of the disk. Jet looked at her in curiosity. She turned to her pet Batray and gave him a weary smile
"C'mon. Let's head to the shore."
She swam out of her room towards the front door of the pod, as Jet loyally followed.
Syren called out to her mother, "Hey Mom! I'm heading out to meet up with Ripple! I'll be back in a little while!"
Before her mother could answer, Syren was already out the door. She swam around the house and headed of towards the shore.
(Song is Into the Ocean by Blue October)
Fluttershy stared intently at the shoreline. It had been a few days since she'd began her reconnaissance of the beach, searching for the Seapony she'd seen. She was beginning to lose hope that it would return.
She pulled out her bottle and unscrewed the lid. She then took a sip of the plain water inside. She hadn't bothered to make any sunned tea. She was to preoccupied with her current task.
After downing the water, Fluttershy returned to her binoculars. She skimmed the shoreline, looking for anything that might be a Seapony. She particularly observed the rock where she had first seen the Seapony.
Fluttershy's stomach growled, and the yellow Pegasus responded by reaching over to her saddlebag and pulling out a sandwich and a small parfait. She delicately unwrapped the sandwich. Out of habit, she glanced around her, to make sure nopony was around. If somepony was around then she would have to not do that thing that she does.
Satisfied that nopony was around, she opened her mouth and brought the sandwich forward.
"Ohm nom nom..." Fluttershy hummed to herself as she chewed on her sandwich.
"If anypony finds out that I make that sound when I eat, they'll probably laugh at me! Or shun me! Or laugh at me and shun me!! Eeeeep!!!" she thought to herself as she continued to "nom" on her food.
She was about to eat her parfait for desert, when something caught her eye. A bit of blue appeared around the rock near the shoreline.
Fluttershy slowly sat the parfait down and crept out from the tree line she'd been spying in. As she quietly made her way to the rock, she began to hear a voice from the other side of it. It sounded female. It had a very prideful yet caring edge to it. Like Rarity's voice, only without the formality.
Fluttershy reached the edge of the rock and peered around the edge. She almost gasped at what she saw. A pony was sitting in the water. She appeared to be murmuring to a brown animal in the water.
"Oh my goodness! Is that a Batray? I've only seen those in books!" Fluttershy thought as she continued to stare at the pony.
Fluttershy couldn't completely make out the ponies complexion because of how she was looking at her out of her peripheral vision. The only way to get a good look at the pony was to step out into the open. She didn't have much choice. Fluttershy silently inhaled and then stepped out from behind the rock.
"Um, Hello."
The pony in the water tensed at the sound of Fluttershy's voice. She slowly turned and revealed her face to the Pegasus. Fluttershy, again, could barely contain a gasp.
At first, Fluttershy thought that this pony was just a regular pony, randomly sitting in a small tide pool chatting with batrays. But upon closer inspection, she saw that this was no ordinary pony. Rather than having a deep blue coat of fur, her entire body was covered in scales. Her long turquoise hair was still wet from the sea water. Mossy green eyes stared at Fluttershy in shock. Fluttershy saw that the mare had a cutie mark of a music note. A fish tail covered the lower half of the mare's body. It curled around her as she sat in the tide pool._
Fluttershy noticed the fear and shock of her sudden appearance.
"It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." she said calmly and soothingly.
"I didn't expect you to in the first place." said the...Seapony.
Fluttershy was caught off guard by the response of the mare.
"Um, my name's Fluttershy." she said somewhat awkwardly
The Seapony was still in shock, but was relaxing slightly, "Uh, hi. I'm...Syren."
"Syren, it's nice to meet you." Fluttershy extended her hoof so they could shake.
When Syren didn't shake, Fluttershy placed her hoof on the ground and said, "Um, not to be rude or anything, but, what are you?"
Syren looked like she didn't know how to respond, like something or somepony was stopping her.
"I'm, uhhhh..." she sighed, "I'm a Capricorn."
Oh! Here we go! This is where the drama and character developement begins!
I felt that there needed to be a space at the bottom of a chapter for some author notes, so I'm going to be doing that from now on.
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I've been pissing around on other stuff for a while and my ADD is keeping me from getting back onto writing these chapters. I'll try my best to get these chapters out ASAP.
Also, I'm looking for an editor for this and possibly other stories. If you're interested, PM me!
