Oceans of Deceit
Chapter 1: Waves of Memories
The young pegasus stared out over the glistening sea, the crashing waves calming her high-strung spirits. A gentle breeze blew her mane behind her. It danced in the wind, shining with all the colors of the waves below. The sand beneath her hooves felt warm and soft. Surely she could rest for just a short while, couldn’t she? She had been travelling for days, looking for any signs of her parents. Even a complete stranger would have been a welcome sight to her tired eyes as darkness started to fall.
She laid down in the warm sand and curled her forelegs under her. Her pale green eyes slowly closed as the last rays of sun faded from sight. She placed her muzzle on her hooves and curled her tail over her body for warmth as another sea breeze whispered a lullaby to her. She sighed contentedly before drifting off to sleep, her mind finally slowing in its frantic thoughts. As her mind stopped buzzing, a gray haze prepared her for what lie ahead in her dreams.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Racing Waves looked down at her glittering cutie mark. Two waves in the different hues of her mane and tail with a soft green sea-foam that matched her eyes forming a swirl at the crest of each one. She remembered the lonely night she had received it and shuddered. The waves lapped against her hooves as she looked at her dim reflection in the calm water.
Many years ago, she had been on this same beach resting in the beautiful darkness that seemed to make the waves shine brighter than the day. She was on a mission to find her parents, find out where she belonged. Or at least, she had been then. Now she knew who they were. But she wasn’t satisfied like she thought she’d be.
A cool breeze blew back her long mane and tail and they billowed out behind her, flowing like waves. How had she ended up back here? She had wanted to stay far away from the ocean, far from her parents and the world they knew. But she was drawn to the very beach where she had received her cutie mark.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The young filly blinked her eyes open as the first golden rays of sunlight bounced off the water to the beach where she lay, warming her white coat as she stretched out her wings. She stood slowly, yawning loudly. She stumbled forward as she slowly walked towards the calm blue water, her hooves slipping out from under her in the sand. With one more unsteady step, she reached the cerulean water.
As the waves lapped the shore, they pulled the sand from under her hooves. She felt herself falling and was surprised when she didn’t land in the water. Looking up, the filly saw deep blue eyes looking down at her. She lifted her hooves and placed them on the icy blue hoof of the pony that was staring down at her.
“Wh-who are you?” asked the filly.
“All in good time, my dear. Now, come with me.” said a soft and alluring voice.
The young pegasus simply nodded and backed away from the hoof that had steadied her. The pony smiled down at her before turning away and walking off. Slightly afraid, the filly followed the mare on shaking hooves. As the sand slipped from under her hooves once again, she threw out her wings to steady herself.
The mare looked back and smiled at the filly. Her blue eyes shone with delight as she watched the young pegasus making her way across the sand. Not much longer until she knows who we really are.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Racing Waves leaned into the breeze as it grew stronger, her wings outstretched and her footing strong. Over the years she had grown accustomed to the sandy shores she often walked. She opened her sea-green eyes as she forced the memory away. It was just too much right now. She took a step forward into the salt water that splashed around her hooves as it lapped against the shore.
The breeze grew stronger as it whipped her mane around her. The way it was flowing like the ocean reminded her once again of that dreadful night. She took another step forward, plunging her white hoof into the sea. Her outstretched wings seemed to grasp the air, willing her to just jump into the breeze and race the waves that crashed onto the nearby rocks.
A whirlpool of thoughts, memories, swarmed her mind as she stood facing the wind. She took another step forward, the water rippling as she plunged her hoof into the crystalline surface. With a deep breath of the sea air, she launched herself into the sky. Her wings caught a current in the breeze and she glided along it, enjoying the gentle spray of the ocean waves as she soared past them.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The icy blue mare led the white filly to a cave that anypony would’ve missed if they hadn’t been looking for it. “Wh-what is this place?” the pegasus asked, her voice quiet.
“This is our home, you silly filly.” replied the mare.
“What do you mean, our home? I don’t live here with you. This is your home, not mine.”
“You may not live here, but I do.” replied a deep voice from the shadows.
The filly watched nervously as a pegasus stallion walked out with wings outstretched. His eyes were a steely gray and his coat as black as night. His mane was royal blue and fell into his eyes as he walked. He brushed it aside with a white-speckled wing and looked straight at the shaking filly. She stared, looking at the odd pegasus with a terrified look on her face. “Wh-who are you? What a-are you going to d-do to m-me?” she stammered.
“We’re not going to do anything, little one.” said the mare, looking right into the filly’s light green eyes.
“Besides, we thought you wanted to find your parents.” added the stallion, bending down to the filly’s level and folding his wings to his sides.
“I-I do. What do you know about them?” asked the filly, folding her own wings against her sides.
“First of all, we’re your parents. Second, welcome home Icewing.”
The stallion laid down in front of the young filly and the mare watched her curiously, waiting for a reaction. “So, my name’s Icewing?”
“Yes, little one. Your name is Icewing.”
The filly looked up into her father’s gray eyes and stared at them for a moment, trying to take it all in. “Can you tell me everything about you?” she asked quietly.
She listened intently as her father told her of how he and her mother had met. He told her of their lives before she came along, leaving out the part where they ‘abandoned’ her for the filly’s sake. He told her of their journey to this cave. “But, why did you leave? Why didn’t you bring me with you?” asked the filly when her father was done speaking,
A loud sigh echoed in the cave and he turned to her mother before looking back into her eyes. “Your mother and I were banished because...” he looked down, ashamed at what he was about to say. “because we’re... murderers.” he finished softly, so quiet that Icewing could barely hear him.
The filly stood and backed away from her father. No, not her father. He was just some random pegasus. She didn’t believe for one second that this was her father. Her hooves left the hard rock floor of the cave and touched sand once again, something the filly was glad for. She was no longer inside the horrible place those evil ponies thought of as home.
She spread her wings and launched herself into the early night, grateful for the darkness that was falling around her. She flapped her wings as quickly as she could, retreating to the ocean. As she flew, a breeze whipped through her mane. She lost a bit of momentum, her hooves skimming the tops of the waves as she flew over them. Wanting to get rid of her fury through flight, the young filly tirelessly raced the waves to shore until she finally collapsed on the beach.
“I’m no longer Icewing. Now I will be known as Racing Waves.” said the filly as she looked down at her flank on the edge of sleep. Two waves were there in the colors of her mane and tail, sea foam the color of her eyes on top.
2 - A Sudden Change of... Weather?
Oceans of Deceit
Chapter 2: A Sudden Change of... Weather?
The waves grew larger as the sky darkened prematurely. Racing Waves paid no mind to the growing anger of the sea and sky as she flew over the water. The constant churning of the water below her helped her clear her thoughts. She flew as fast as she dared, the city lights in the distance blinking out at whatever lie behind her.
She didn’t care. The wind whipping her mane around her helped calm her, helped her forget. Each ‘thwack’ of her mane hitting her sides slowly tore her attention from the painful memories that battered at her much like the driving rain that now fell. The water poured down in sheets and stung her skin under her thin fur as she flew along.
Her feathers grew heavy with the weight of the water despite her having flown in storms many times before. Nevertheless, Racing Waves pushed on. She performed flips and barrel rolls over the waves, skimming the crests with her wingtips. Lost among her thoughts, the snow-white pegasus didn’t see the swirling clouds gathering in her wake until it was too late.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In semi-consciousness, Racing Waves only felt the wind whipping her mane and tail around her furiously and pulling on her wings that were still outstretched behind her. She tried desperately to fold them to her sides. With all the strength left in her worn out body, she struggled against the wind. Her wings snapped to her sides just as everything faded to black.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Earlier that day in Los Pegasus...
“Did I really have to come along, Rainbow?” Fluttershy whimpered. “You know I don’t like crowds.”
“Yeah, I know. But I really need someone to watch Scoots here, who just insisted on coming along to my first show as a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow Dash replied, ruffling said filly’s mane with her hoof.
“What about the other girls?” whispered the shy yellow mare, hiding behind her mane.
“They were all busy.” said the cyan pegasus, groaning. “I thought we went over this. It’s Applebuck season, so Applejack has to be at the farm. Pinkie Pie is busy helping out the Cakes like always and is probably planning a party as we speak for my return to Ponyville. Rarity is just as busy as ever with her fashion, plus she probably needs a break from Cutie Mark Crusaders after their last sleepover at the boutique.
“And then there’s Twilight. She’s always so busy with her studies and other egghead stuff. The only time she pulls her nose out of those dusty books is when the Princess needs us to wield the Elements.”
“Rainbow, that’s not true. Twilight always helps us out when we need her. She’s gotten better about always studying and you know it.”
Fluttershy’s head shot up and her wings flared in anger. She wasn’t usually one to get angry, but her assertiveness lessons from Iron Will had taught her to stand up for herself and her friends. Scootaloo craned her neck to look back at Fluttershy. The pegasus simply ‘meeped’ and hid behind her mane again. She didn’t want to set a bad example.
“It’s okay.” Scootaloo put in.
“I think I’d rather be with Fluttershy than Twilight or Rarity. I mean, Applejack would be a little cooler. But Fluttershy's still great!” the filly caught herself quickly.
A small smile teased at the corner’s of Fluttershy’s mouth and she lifted her head slightly to see a large stadium looming above them. “Wow. Are you really going to perform there? With all those ponies watching you?”
“Yep! Isn’t it awesome?”
The cyan wonderbolt leapt into the air to get a look from above. Her rainbow trail billowed out behind her as she flew overhead. Eyes wide with excitement and (even though she would never admit it) nerves, she made one final lap before going into a dive towards the ground. Mere seconds before impact, she pulled up. The pegasus’s hooves landed one by one on the cobblestone path leading towards the huge stadium.
“So, who wants to see the inside?”
“I do, I do!” cried Scootaloo, wings buzzing rapidly in excitement. Fluttershy just nodded, her light pink mane hiding over half of her face.
“Alright, then. Let’s go!”
Rainbow turned towards the stadium, her hoofsteps echoing on the cobblestone. Scootaloo hopped along behind her idol, wings lifting her a few extra inches off the path. Fluttershy simply followed along behind meekly, eyes squeezed shut against the crowd. The shy pegasus did her best to go unnoticed by anyone, until the wind suddenly picked up. What had started out as a gentle sea-breeze was now quickly turning into gale-force winds.
Fluttershy’s head shot up in panic, her pupils pinpricks among her teal irises. Ahead of her, Rainbow had a wing draped over a shaking Scootaloo. Never before had the winds changed so suddenly in Ponyville, and none of them were used to it. Sure, the strong wind was something they were sort of familiar with, but such a sudden change in the wind scared even the locals.
All around the three pegasi, ponies were galloping to the nearest shelter to hide from the wind. Store doors were slammed shut as they filled to capacity. Homes were filling up just as fast. The closest place for the trio that they could guarantee shelter in was the stadium. Fluttershy galloped over to Rainbow and came to a screeching halt. “We need to get to the stadium!” she shouted over the winds.
Rainbow nodded and lifted the frightened filly onto her back. Wings outstretched, she launched herself into the air and bolted towards the stadium with Fluttershy close behind. Mere seconds after Rainbow had landed and set Scootaloo down, she was almost bowled over by the frantic buttercream mare.
“Rainbow, do you have any idea what’s causing this?” Fluttershy shouted, picking herself up from her rough landing.
“Not a clue. Just follow me.” replied the cyan mare, ducking into one of the stadium's passageways.