The Ballad Of The Righteous Sun

Many ponies may think of me as a hero. But I assure you that is far from the truth. My life has been long and it has been difficult. I wish I could say that I was a hero. I wish I could lie and tell you that my life was a glorious escapade of valorous battles between the forces of good and evil. But the truth is far more sinister. My history is a violent one. My life has been a constant battle between me and my sins.

I was a filly, I was a captain, I was a traitor, a pirate, an adventurer, a ruler, a God. But most important of all. I was the sea. I was the waves, the wind, the water. I was the black depths and the clear blue shores. I was the storm and I was the calm.

I was, and still am. Captain Lightsail, and this is my story.

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The skies above the ocean were clear. Various fluffy clouds adorned the vast expanse of the open blue. It was warm with a slight breeze that lightly played through the red strands of a young filly's mane and she slept on her canoe that sat a great distance from the beach. Her grey-blue coat was frizzy. Adorned with variations of color from the childhood in the sun and the salt, her white freckles were covered with sand and dirt from her busy day. She laid on her back in the canoe gently snoring as the waves rocked her back and forth.

Slowly her eyes flickered open as she let out a yawn and sat up. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. Gasping she realized that she had been adrift all afternoon. Luckily for her it was a calm day. She put a hoof over her eyes to block out the sun as she scanned the horizon, the shore was still visible, but it would be a long row home.  The sun was high in the sky. The filly assumed it was around mid day. "I couldn't have been out for long. The sun hasn't even moved." She mumbled to herself as she gathered her oars and set them up on the rowlocks.

She rotated the oars and dipped the blades in to the clear blue water. she pulled back and the canoe began moving. She was breathing heavily, trying to get the small craft up to speed. She adjusted her heading towards the shore and continued working. Lightsail finally got the canoe up to speed when the sky suddenly went black. She stopped rowing and looked around the boat, confused.

The little filly turned her attention skyward and found the source of the sudden nightfall. The sun was completely blotted out by the moon. She was in the umbra of an eclipse. She shielded her eyes from the rays of light that passed around the outside of the eclipse. She turned and looked down again at the water when she felt her canoe begin rocking. The wind and waves were beginning to pick up. She grasped the oars again in a panic and began rowing with all of her strength.

The sea was in a rage. The waves were picking up at an abnormal rate. They threatened to capsize the filly at any second. Lightsail had just about made it to shore when a wave knocked her ship to the side and another came directly after and broke over her starboard side. The wave rushed over her and flung her in to the sea.

The filly was pushed and pulled by the riptide. She thrashed her hooves about, attempting to get herself upright as the water threatened to consume her. The wave that took her in did dot do her the luxury of allowing her to get one good breath in before she fell. She was quickly running out of oxygen. Desperately, she thrashed about, trying to fight her way to the surface.

Bubbles erupted from her mouth as she screamed in panic. This caused her to sharply inhale and take in a mouthful of water. She was choking and coughing underwater as her vision slowly faded. Lightsail was slowly slipping in to the the icy black. Before her eyes shut, she caught a glimpse of a dark shape of a pony underwater, staring at her. It's eyes were yellow and it's mane seemed to blend in with the water. It flowed like water. The pony effortlessly moved through the water as it rushed toward Lightsail.

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At that moment I thought that death was coming to take me. But I was wrong. The figure I saw was much worse than death. I do not remember much after seeing the figure in the water. But I do remember waking up on the beach. My canoe was sitting in pieces next to me.

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Lightsail turned over and coughed. Salty water and bile erupted from her mouth. She tried to make herself stand up but could only manage to get her forehooves extended. She coughed and gagged again as more fluids erupted from her. She took a sharp inhale and her coughing fit began to subside. The wooden canoe sat several yards from her, it had been crushed and torn by the rocks and the waves. She slowly pulled herself up and shook some of the sand from her mane.

She hobbled over to the canoe and put a hoof on it. "Father is going to kill m-" She silenced herself suddenly as she noticed that somepony, or some THING was watching her. She looked toward the ocean and say the head of a pony sticking out of the waves a hundred or so paces from her position on the shore. The head did not seem to move with the waves. It sat completely motionless. The color matched the dark blues of the ocean. The yellow eyes seemed to glow. Lightsail took a few steps back.

"W-WHO ARE YA!" She screamed out at the pony. "WHY DID YA SAVE ME?"

The eerie creature blinked twice and spoke with a voice that rang like choir chimes. It echoed through the water and caught Lightsail off guard by it's calming beauty. "My name is Calypso. As for my actions. They will be answered in good time, little one." The shape melted back in to the water and disappeared. Lightsail ran to the edge of the water. "H-HEY! Ya never let me say thanks!" Lightsail looked around and noticed that the sky was still dark. She scanned the horizon and noticed that all throughout the ocean, the waves were unruly.

After Calpyso disappeared, the waves near shore began to pick up as well, the wind had started to howl again and thunder crashed in the distance. Lightsail turned and ran towards higher ground after a particularly large wave threatened to drag her back in the ocean. She left the pieces of her canoe behind and hopped up the hill at the end of the beach. After cresting the dune, she made off towards the tree line to find a trail back home.

Lightsail's mother, Quill, sat on the back porch of her home that sat atop a hill. The view from the back of the home usually held a beautiful view. From the vantage point you could see the large rock formations that sat on the western end of the long beach and the palm forest that began halfway down the hill and continued to spread for as far as you could see. On a clear day you could see the curve on the horizon in the distance. Quill was much too troubled to be bothered with the view. She scanned the beach. Her eyes darting back and forth. She was muttering prayers to Celestia and Luna under her breath as she fiddled with a dish cloth. Tears stained the dark orange fur on her face and her black mane was unkempt, hastily pulled back with several pins in to a sloppy braid.

"MOM!" Lightsail's voice came from the trees.

"Lightsail?" Quill stood up. "Darling! Where have you been?!" She took a few steps off the porch as Lightsail emerged from the trees, covered from head to hoof in sand, dirt and leaves. "Did you try to climb the rocks again? No! Was it those kids from the cove? I told you I didn't like you spending time with them!" Quill was storming toward Lightsail now, her fear replaced with loving anger.

"Mom, i'm fine. I ju-" Lightsail muttered.

"Have you SEEN the ocean today! This weather came out of nowhere! I thought you were out in your canoe!" Quill hugged her daughter. "I was worried sick!"

"But mom." Lightsail said, trying to push away from her mother. "I WAS in my canoe!"

Quill lightly smacked the back of Lightsail's head. "You! I- Do-" Quill put a hoof over her eyes. "Did you NOT pay attention to the weather?"

"Mom! It was different this time! I was asleep in the canoe and the tide rolled in and pulled me out a bit. But th-" Lightsail was interrupted once more.

"Oh dear merciful Celestia child! Did your father teach you nothing? Where was your anchor? why didn't you tie it off to a tree or-"

"Mom! Can I finish?" Lightsail blurted out. Quill stopped speaking and nodded her head after taking a deep breath. "Ok, when I woke up there was an eclipse! And then the waves started getting choppy so I tried to row back in to shore but everything was CRAZY! My canoe was tipped over and I fell in, but I was saved by this, pony like thing. An-"

"'Pony like thing'? What in Equestria are you talking about?" Quill gave Lightsail a confused look.

"She was all dark blue, her name was Calypso! She saved me so I- HEY!" Lightsail was being dragged back to the house by her front hoof. Quill was shaking her head.

"Your father needs to stop telling you all of these stories." Quill shook her head. "You need a bath young filly! And then straight to bed with you!"

Lightsail sighed in defeat and did as she was told.

After a very vigorous and thorough cleaning from her mother, Lightsail was laying in her bed and looking out of her window next to her bed that looked out over the hill and the ocean. She turned over and stared at her ceiling. The little filly was mentally going over the events of the day. She vividly remembered the mysterious blue pony named Calypso. She thought about the eclipse and the storm and the crazy unpredictable weather. She rolled over to her side again and gazed out at the ocean again.

She sat up when she heard the front door open. Her father must be getting home. Gladius worked in the Equestrian Navy. He was a first mate on a battleship that mostly sat anchored at the docks at the Northern Naval Base that was located several miles down the road near Maryville, a large shipping city that delivered massive amounts of goods directly to Canterlot. It was a city that Lightsail had only seen a few times. Her father wasn't around that much because of his job.

Lightsail got out of bed and walked over to her bedroom door. She made sure to avoid the crayons and wooden toys that were sitting on her floor. The little filly cracked the door open slightly and peaked out in to the main room. She could head the clopping of hooves on the wooden floor and her mother informing him of what Lightsail had done that day.

Gladius removed his Equestrian Naval armor. A sleek, all white affair adorned with gold trimming, colors that matched his fur and mane, and a black anchor on the breast plate. It was constructed of extremely fine steel created by hoof in Marechester. Lightsail always admired it. The finish was matte as to not cast a glare and the helmet sported 3 small spikes arranged in a mohawk pattern instead of the usual plumes found on Equestrian guard's armor. He set his armor down on the table and sat down.

Gladius hung his head and Quill stopped talking. Lightsail could just make out what was being said.

"Quill, sweetheart. The ship is being activated." Gladius' voice was low and rough. "Something happened today."

Quill sat down across from him and extended a hoof and gently placing it on top of his. "Gladi... What is going on."

Lightsail's father looked back up at his wife. "The Equestrian military is mobilizing to defend the homeland, just in case." He sighed. "I'm sure you noticed the eclipse and the weather today?"

"Defend from whom? Why would we need to worry about our defense? No one would dare attack Equestria with Celesia and Luna in ch-" Quill's eyes widened with worry. "Are the princesses ok?"

Gladius placed his other hoof on top of his Wife's.

"Princess Luna attempted to assassinate Celestia."

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Now i'm sure this may come as a surprise to whomever may be reading this. Yes, I was but 12 years old when the great division took place. Now I sit here, writing my memoirs at the age of  988. I have lived for a very long time. I have seen many things. I have done many things and many ponie's lives were cut short because of me.

Shortly after the Great Division, my father was killed in an attack on his ship by Lunar rebels. A small faction of ponies in Equestria remained loyal to Luna and attempted to overthrow the princess. This has since become known as the Celestial Civil War. Years later I had decided to join the Equestrian Navy and follow in my father's hoofsteps.

I wanted to be a captain. I wanted my own vessel. I had already made a name for myself due to my natural talent for sailing. I became one of the youngest captains in Equestrian naval history. I was given a crew, a ship and a mission.

This is where I made the biggest mistake of my life.