First Ode: Chapter 1 – Where The Sisters Forbode...
I woke with a groan. I had not been awake in some time. Not since those ponies had been here. A smile grew on my face. And it seems more have found their way to me.
Something had entered my domain, at long last. I could feel their presence. What they held. What they felt. What they were.
I wanted them.
I have grown terribly bored of my current possesions.
I need something new.
And these sailors will do just the trick.
And after them...
The WORLD.
"Captain! There's fog up ahead!" informed a lookout, dutifully pointing out the new predicament on the horizon from her perch.
"Aye! I see it, Sea Worthy! Steady as she goes!" the captain replied. The coxswain followed the order and kept the ship on it's path. The crew grew anxious as the fog enveloped them completely, making visibility impossible. The crew could barely even see a few meters in front of them, it was so thick.
They all knew the dangers of being out here, in this cursed sea. They had heard the tales. Of the disappearance of ships, of the fabled Island that lived on in only old mares tales. And yet, here they were. A crew of pony explorers, sent by the Princess herself to find out if the rumours were true. Sure, they were all scared witless, but they steeled themselves with the thought that their crew, their ship, the Wayward Siren, had faced much worse in the name of the Princesses. Nay, the name of Equestria.
But that still didn't change how positively scared they were. Oh, they hid it well, but to the trained eye, one could see the anxiety in their actions. Nervous glances. Stiff, tense postures. Fake prodding at one another for being wimps. It was all there.
The silence was the most crushing thing for them. The water was calm. No tide, no wave, nothing. Just the sounds of the ship creaking and groaning. Then, suddenly, there was a loud CRASH, breaking the silence, and the ship shook, causing a number of the crewmembers to stumble or fall over completely, though a scarce few managed to grip onto the railings to keep from falling. And then, the ship stopped moving completely.
"Is everypony alright!?" the captain, a grizzled stallion by the name of Silver Morning, asked. A number of affirmations sounded out among the crew. The captain sighed in relief. He slowly stood back up after stumbling over, and shook his head to compose himself. The stallion himself was a very rough looking pony, with scars all over his face. One over his eye, that had made it go blind, three under his other eye, and one just skating over his lip. His mane and tail were graying with age, but still managed to maintain a very light amber color. His coat of fur was silvery, though his officer's uniform covered most of it. His Cutie Mark was that of the sun rising over the horizon, but silver instead of the range of yellows and reds and oranges. "Somepony find out what we hit!" he barked. A number of the crew snapped a salute and an 'Aye, Captain!' before setting about doing just that. Not too long after, a mare approached the captain.
"Sir, it appears we have hit the rocky shores of an island!" she informed.
"Well, let's see if the tales are true..." he muttered. He shook his head. "Tell the crew to weigh anchor. We might have found it." The mare nodded and did as asked. The gangplank was lowered, and, with great hesitance and trepidation, the crew disembarked from their ship.
Looking around, they could see it was still quite foggy, but they were able to make out the clouds in the sky, as well as a long, rocky beach stretched out before them. Just ahead, near a number of fallen weapons that had been thrust into the ground, was a tall, hunched over figure in ragged robes with a staff. It was unlike any creature they had seen before, and it made them all the more nervous. The captain was the first to approach it.
"Hello?" he greeted as he drew closer, allowing him to make out the long, messy black beard and pale, furless skin and flat face of the tall creature. The creature regarded him with it's small, beady eyes that still seemed to shine with mild amusement.
"My my, I haven't seen one of your kind around here for a long time," he glanced to the ship behind the captain. "You survived a shipwreck, didn't you?" The captain nodded. "This island is full of shipwrecked sailors like you. I stand here on the beach. I see many drown, I see many survive, but I never see rescue."
"And you just sit and watch all that happen?" the captain asked, appalled. The creature, a male, if the deep voice and beard were anything to go by, nodded.
"I'm just an old man. Do you really expect me to be able to jump into the waters and save everyone? No no, my days in the sea are long gone. I'm much too old now," the so called man replied.
"I...suppose that makes sense," the captain conceded, though he was still quite averse to the man's reasoning and ways. "What island is this?" he asked finally, just to confirm his suspicions. The old man waved an appendage dissmissively.
"Oh, this island's name was lost long ago, much before even I was conceived. Though I believe those other sailors call it, 'The Island of the Saltborn'," the man explained. The captain grinned. So they had really found it. It wasn't just an old mare's tale.
"Thank you, Mister...?" the stallion began.
"Gudrun," the wizened man finished for him.
"Thank you, Mister Gudrun. Can you tell us anything more about the island?" the captain asked eagerly.
"I'm afraid not. As I've said, I'm just an old man. I don't really get out much. These old bones of mine don't really allow it. So, no, I cannot tell you more, as I know just as little as you do. I barely leave this part of the island," the man said apologetically. "And I'm afraid it's high time I got back to my abode. It's been...interesting."
And with that, the man left. The captain wanted to go after him and question him more, but decided against it. After all, he was just an old stallion, or man, as he called himself. The stallion turned to his crew.
"Alright ladies, listen up! It's been confirmed that this is the island of legend, so be careful! We have no idea what could be out here, and if the tales are anything to go by, most of it is nothing good! So! Everypony stay at the ready for any trouble!" he ordered.
"Sir yes sir!" they replied, saluting crisply. They all drew their weapons and got ready to face whatever horrors lay before them.
"Move out!" the captain instructed. And so they did. They marched for a very short while, before the stench of rotting flesh burned it's way into their nostrils. Before any could ask what could have caused it, they saw exactly what did. An unconceivable number of shambling, rotting, groaning, and bloodied corpses not unlike the old man in figure greeted their eyes. Salt had sunken deep into their skin, producing the smell of sod. Flies flew around the walking corpses, and a number of the ponies lost their lunch.
And before they could even recover from that, the corpses were upon them. Many of the ponies were bitten, rotting canines sinking into their flesh, while other corpses fired volleys of arrows, decimating the ranks of the ponies. When the equines finally came back to their senses, half the crew had already been lost, while those remaining tried to push back against the tide of undead. The captain was fighting valiantly, along with his first mate, New Dawn, a pegasus mare, but both knew that they couldn't keep the fight going for much longer before they would be overwhelmed.
With this in mind, the captain tried to find a place they could retreat to and barricade themselves in. His first mate found it first.
"Sir! There's a building just over there!" New Dawn pointed out before bucking the legs off of an undead and slicing the head off another with her wing blades.
"I see it! Everypony, follow us!" Silver Morning barked, before knocking another undead away. "CHARGE!" He bellowed, and the others quickly followed him as they barreled through the mob of undead. Soon, they reached the safety of the building and broke down the weak wooden door, having no time to open it properly. As they all piled in, a number of unicorns grabbed a boulder in their magical grasp and closed off the entrance.
"Alright, Dawn, give me a headcount," Silver ordered. The mare nodded and started counting up how many were left in the crew. She turned her cerise eyes to him after a bit.
"Ten left, including me and you, sir," she reported, the barest hint of sadness in her voice.
"Dammit," Silver cursed. He rubbed his forehead with a hoof before sighing. "Alright, everypony look around, see what you can find. In the meantime, Dawn, get out that bottle of dragon fire, we need to send word to the Princesses." The mare nodded.
"Aye, Captain."
Celestia rubbed her forehead as she finished reading the report from Silver Morning. This wasn't good. Not in the least. If what he said was true, then that island had more surprises then she expected. She had only one choice. The Elements. They were the only hope she had in getting rid of that monster and it's underlings. As much as she didn't want to send them into a real fight, she had no choice. And so, with that thought, she summoned a piece of paper and an ink and quill, and started writing.
Intermission: A Thing Unattainable...
A man walked among his fellow peers, though his stature made him stand out much more than the others, added to by the foreboding costume. The most prominent feature was the large candelabra strapped to his back and seeminbgly fused to his 'armor'. This man was dressed as none other than The Nameless God of Salt and Sanctuary. However, one piece was missing from the costume; the helmet. So, the man's face was left open to the light of the convention center, his face a typical young visage of a twenty year old man, just another face in the crowd. As he walked, he grumbled, not very pleased, since he hadn't had the time to finish the helmet for the costume. He had everything else, the sword, the candelabra, the cloak, everything. But not the helmet.
The man sighed, resigning himself to his fate. He sat down upon a conveniently placed bench, placing his plastic sword beside him, he gripped his neck, staring downwards at the floor in disappointment. It was then, that a voice spoke to him.
"Oi! Stranger! Over here!" cried the grizzled voice of an old codger. The man raised his head to see just such a crony shrouded in black robes, manning a stand chock full of various wares from various franchises. "Come here!" With a curious look, the larger man complied, walking over. "I see you're missing a crucial piece of your costume. Let's make a deal," the man offered. The costumed man raised a brow, urging the elder to continue. "I happen to have just the piece you need," the robed man said, producing just the helmet the costumed man was needing, and with very accurate detail, as well. "And, since you're a fellow fan, and one with such a good eye for detail, I'll give you a fifty percent discount! How does eighty dollars sound?"
"Deal," the cosplayer said after some quick consideration, fishing out his wallet and handing over the required amount of compensation and then placing the helmet on.
"Well, good luck, have a nice swim!" the elder said eerily. Before the man had time to react, he felt his lungs fill with water, and yet also felt a strange warmth from his back, faint, but there. He struggled and struggled, and, panicking, thrashed about, desperately clawing for air, before he felt his vision begin to fade, and all he heard was the sounds of the depths of the ocean.
High above the sea, a blue moon hung in the sky, shining it's beams down upon the water, some of it's rays managing to pierce through to the drowning man.
Author's Note
Sorry for the short ass chapter guys, just wanted to get it out of the way and show that this is, in fact, a Displaced story. Sorry for those who don't like 'em. In which case, go ahead and leave now, since I doubt you'll wanna read more. Anyway, the next chapter is coming soon, not sure how long it will be though. I'm aiming for two thousand at least, but we'll just have to see.
