Strange Islands and Mares
The ocean, the ocean was the first thing Melodic Notes heard as her mind and body awakened. The ocean blue mare let a smile spread across her face at the sound of the waves, despite the loud pounding in her head. She lay on soft sand, but it was uneven and made her back bend uncomfortably. She twirled a hoof softly on top of the sand, getting a feel for it.
This is... nice.She thought. But... how did I get here? Her smile lessened in her confusion and her eyebrows furrowed. I was... home, in Manehatten. Her wings twitched, I'd just taken my nightly flight and... I collapsed in my bed... now I'm here... Where is here?
The pegasus cracked open her eyes slowly, her head exploded in pain at the blinding light and she immediately brought up a hoof face.
Stupid sun... She thought bitterly. After a couple minutes of recovering and cursing light she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
She brought her hoof back down to the sand and braced herself. She sat up slowly, eyes still closed, until she sat on her rump squarely. She breathed slowly through her nose once more and carefully opened one eye.
She was met with less blinding light than before but it still made her eye water, she held it open until it was adjusted and repeated the process with her other eye. Both her light green eyes were fully open... and staring.
Endless water against a cloudless blue sky. Pegasi had naturally sharp eyes and the fact that she could see nothing but water unsettled her.
Flying away is out, I can only stay in the air for about an hour... I never was the strongest flyer... And swimming against those waves and currents? I wouldn't last long. She concluded with a sigh.
She blew away a lock of dark green hair and twisted the front half of her body around too look behind her. About ten feet behind her the sand turned into a dense jungle with shadows obscuring the inside.
She stared for a moment, trying to keep control, before tearing her attention forcefully to the right and left of her. The sand continued on with a slight curve in the shoreline until the jungle obscured the rest.
She got to her hooves and stretched each of her legs slowly. She shook most of the sand off at first but she had to wipe the rest with a hoof. Her smile returned slightly as she wiped the sand away from her cutie mark; a trio of sixteenth notes. She let the memories flow before turning back to the problem.
She looked back and forth between the dark jungle and the sunny beach. Grudges with light from earlier forgotten, Melodic Notes started trotting across the shoreline.
Melodic Note's trot had slowed to a trudge. Her head hung low in the heat and the occasional drop of sweat dripped off her muzzled and disappeared in the sand below.
Yeah, my back is going to hate me for the sunburn... She shielded her eyes with a hoof as she stopped and took account of the sun's position, it was about noon. She then looked behind her and followed her hoofprints in the sand with her eyes until she couldn't see them anymore. I've definitely walked a long way... She paused,Way to state the obvious Melodic. She thought with a sigh and then smacked her cracked lips and fairly dry tongue.
She briefly imagined dunking her head beneath the waves and swallowing as much water as she could, but quickly decided against it. It would only cause more problems. She shook her head vigorously and forced her legs to continue walking. She kept her eyes locked with the sand below for the most part, only looking up when she got too close to the lukewarm water.
Her sluggish mind tried to piece together why she was here and how, but the headache and the heat were doing no favors. She only took a break when the sand in front of her looked a little...redder. She looked up and silently gasped.
The sun was setting, quite a normal occurrence of itself, but this one was different. Growing up in a big city like Manehatten had it's ups and downs, and a down she hadn't considered until then were the sunsets. Unless you lived high enough, which she didn't, you couldn't see it.
She smiled at the reds and oranges reflecting off the waves of the never ending ocean... that's when she saw the shape ahead. She blinked and squinted her eyes at the shape on the sand. It vaguely looked like a pony but she couldn't be sure.
She started trotting towards the shape... and then galloping, her curiosity overpowering her sense of caution. In the last tens of feet she took flight, coming upon the shape in a slight gust of wind.
It was a pony... an earth pony to be exact. Melodic Notes turned the mare that was laying on her side to her back and felt the mare's neck.
Thank Celestia, she's alive. She thought with a sigh of relief, drawing her hoof back. She took a moment to examine the unconscious mare.
Her coat was a light gray while her mane and tail were jet black, it looked like it was styled elegantly before she was apparently sent here. She wore a tattered purple bow tie the same color as her treble clef cutie mark.
Her special talent is also music... weird.
She looked up at the setting sun and around the beach. She grimaced as her eyes fell upon the now even darker jungle, she swallowed dryly and looked back down at the pony.
We need shelter but... She let out a shaky breath and clenched her eyes shut. Dammit you're not a foal anymore! She opened her eyes quickly and gently draped the pony over her back. Her legs almost buckled under the weight of the earth pony but she did her best to ignore it. She marched towards the edge of the shadowed jungle, paused, and then walked slowly into the tall and dense undergrowth.
Melodic Note's eyes darted from shadow to shadow, her fear growing every minute that crawled by. She often paused and took deep breaths, though it didn't help much. The shadows kept creeping in on her vision. The sun had completely set by then and the light of the stars couldn't breach the thick canopy of flora above her head.
Her search for shelter was becoming more and more hopeless.
Too many predators that could get us if we camped under a random tree... She shivered and continued her search with a little more fervor.
After a couple minutes her leg caught on something hard and hollow by the sound it made, with a loud snap the thing disappeared and she fell forward. She flared out her wings in an instant, at least, she tried to. Her wings hit the legs of the earth pony on her back and with the added weight her momentum pulled her into the partially covered hole in the jungle floor.
She twisted and clenched her eyes shut as she held onto the pony as they fell. Seconds later her back hit a slanted cold surface and bounced. She let out a hiss of pain as her sunburned back hit the rough surface and another as she rolled to a stop on a flatter surface. She stayed there for a couple seconds before letting go of the mare and opened her eyes, not that it made any difference. The cave was pitch black, she waved a trembling hoof in front of her face and gulped audibly.
Her heart pounded in her ears and her breathing became ragged and desperate as the panic began to set in.
Calm, calm... She thought with no avail. She hugged her forelegs to her chest, closed her eyes tightly, and whimpered. Inside she felt a surge of shame and set her jaw, determined not to let any more degrading sounds out.
Tears leaked out of her eyes against her will and eventually, after who knows how long, cried herself to an unrest full sleep.