The Sun had forsaken her.
Clutching her hooves to her skull and whispering to herself, Golden Oak sat in her cabin as her ship drifted aimlessly through the eternal night. The only source of light in the small space was a sickly and pale glow from her horn. Sweat beaded on her brow and her eyes were bloodshot.
“Cowards!” She spat. “Cowards all of them.”
A slight glimmer from the window caused her to shriek in terror. Two orbs stared at her stared at her from the darkness beyond the glass.
“You won't take me!” The unicorn cried out. “I will not fall like my crew!”
She shivered uncontrollably when the light outside faded from view. Although she couldn't see anything outside, Golden Oak knew that the creature was out there watching her, mocking her.
The ship rocked slightly, causing Golden Oaks to clutch at the wall until the ship settled.
“They won't come inside the ship.” She muttered over and over, trying to convince herself of the lie.
The wall she was huddling next to suddenly thumped, causing her to scream in fright and scramble to the other side where she resumed her mutterings.
Golden Oaks couldn't remember how long she had been alone, or when she had last eaten. Oh, how hungry she was and yet the mare would not set one hoof outside of her cabin. The cook had been one of the first to go missing, so there was no way she was going near the galley.
Uttering curses upon her crew, the ship, and most importantly, the darkness, Golden Oak finished off her batch of curses with herself. As much as she hated to admit the truth, the captain of the Sun's Glory had no other creature to blame for her troubles other than herself. It was enough to drive her insane.
“Stupid trade routes. Stupid glowing things! STUPID COURSE CHANGES!” The unicorn screeched at her cabin.
Before she could say another word, the sound of a distant horn froze her mid breath. It was mournful and lonely, but to her it was the most beautiful sound she could ever have heard. Without thinking, she sprang to the door and threw it open before rushing to the deck. In the darkness above was the gas envelope, still floating with a ship beneath it despite the neglect it had suffered.
Golden Oak clambered up the stairs to the top of the pilothouse and looked around. In the distance, she could see a set of lights that looked suspiciously like another airship.
“Help!” The mare croaked, suddenly realizing that the gnawing hunger had not only eaten away at her stomach but also her voice.
Thinking quickly, she turned the ship's spotlight towards the distant lights and tried to light the wick inside, but it merely sparked in irritation rather than delivering a bright flame. Her frustration mounting, Golden Oak jumped from the pilothouse to the deck and found a lantern hung by the side of the ship.
The wick burst into fire with barely any trouble and Golden Oak held the lantern up and began to wave it back and forth.
“Help!” She called, licking her dry and cracking lips trying to will herself to be louder. “Help me!”
She wasn't sure, but it looked as though the lights might be getting closer.
“Over here! HELP! HELP—”
With a sudden crack, the piece of railing she had been leaning against snapped and Golden Oak felt herself fall forwards off the side of the ship. Together, she and her lantern fell into the dark, inky blackness beneath the ship without a sound.
The mare arched her neck so that she could look up her ship as she fell, her mouth open in a noiseless scream. Like a candle being snuffed out, the lights that had taunted her outside the relative safety of her cabin vanished into the dark, leaving her alone in the vastness of the shadows.
A clang and crack announced the arrival of the lantern on the rocks far below the ship, but Golden Oaks lifeless body never touched the earth.
Like moths drawn to flame, creatures of all types drew themselves to the dockyards to watch the latest spectacle. Although most were there for the entertainment, a select few bullied their way through the crowd to the front in order that the master of ceremonies might see them better.
“Mares and stallions, may I please have your attention!” An elderly stallion called from an elevated stand in front of the crowd.
The roar of the multitude did not diminish in the slightest, causing a massive female minotaur standing to the stallion's side to bellow out loud enough to shake any nearby glass.
“QUIET!”
One could have dropped a pin and it would have sounded deafening in the silence that followed. The stallion on stage, having had the foresight to plug his ears prior to his companion's roar, stood up a little straighter and cleared his throat.
“Hear ye, hear ye.” His voice drifted out over the crowded wharf. “As of seven o'clock on the seventeenth day in the month of Mourning in the year nine-hundred ninety-eight, the Annual Ship Auction of Port Willow Glen has commenced. During this auction, there will be no false bids or price gouging, all sales are final, all ships sold as is. Any failure to comply with the rules set forth is considered a crime under article one-hundred and seventeen set forth in the court of Empress Nightmare Moon in the year five-hundred and eighty-two.”
Having recited his speech in the span of a single breath, he paused to refill his lungs before continuing.
“First we have the deed to a river steamer, Gala class. . .”
As the stallion continued to describe the various ships and prices haggled and bid upon them, two creatures watched the proceedings with distracted interest.
“What's with the big turn out?” A pegasus stallion asked his companion.
“Every creature is here to look at that ship from the Sun Lands, whole bunch of theories going 'round about her arrival.” His companion, a thestral mare, explained.
The pegasus looked into sky at the large ship in the distance, the only ship not illuminated by the large lanterns of the city.
“Strange.” He remarked.
The thestral nudged him with her shoulder. “Don't bother thinking about it, that's a fully fledged warship up there. Ain't no way in Tartarus we could ever afford somethin' that big. Let's just focus on gettin' the Grasshopper and gettin' out of this city.”
“Next up, a Rigger's type freighter, the Grasshopper.” The auctioneer called out.
“Oh! This is it!” The mare all but squeaked.
“Shall we start the bidding at—”
“TWO-THOUSAND!” She yelled out, attracting the attention of the majority of those present.
The auctioneer recovered from the interruption seamlessly. “I have two-thousand, who will make it two-thousand and five-hundred?”
“Three-thousand.” Called a griffon.
“Three five!” The mare called out again.
“Thirty-five hundred, do I have four-thousand?” The auctioneer continued to rattle on.
“Four-thousand five-hundred.” The griffon answered, glaring at the thestral mare as if daring her to bid again.
“Oh no!” The mare squeaked to the stallion next to her. “We've only got four-thousand! What do we do?”
The stallion frowned, but took a breath and yelled at the auctioneer.
“Five-thousand.”
“Five-thousand five-hundred!” The griffon yelled out, growing a little red.
The thestral buried her muzzle into the pegasus's shoulder, stifling a sob. He patted her mane to console her as the griffon paid for the ship and the dock handlers moved the ship to the other side of the harbor.
“Well, that's that.” The mare said through clenched teeth as she blinked back a few tears. “We'll try again next year.”
“Wait.” The stallion held her in place.
“Huh?” She blinked questioningly, but the pegasus beside her remained stoic for the remainder of the time.
It was nearly noon by the time it was almost over with only one ship remaining.
“May I please have your attention.” The auctioneer said needlessly as the crowd grew to contain a somber mood. “This last ship is a derelict, found drifting near the Gardner's Lighthouse. According to the captain's log, the last entry was made over two years ago.”
There was murmur through the crowd as they gasped in shock.
“The ship is from the land of Sun, we believe to be one of Daybreaker's own fleet, and is armed to the teeth.” He continued. “All items aboard her now are included in the sale, she's just as we found her. Every last cannon, engine, mattress. . . curse.”
The murmur in the crowd grew louder to the point where the stallion could not be heard anymore, so he simply gave the signal to some workers to turn on a pair of illuminators. Instantly, the ship above them was bathed in light. Wheels squeaked and ropes creaked as the ship was turned around by a system of pulleys to show the port side to the crowd.
In one instant, there was respectful silence. Many in the crowd bowed their heads while others began to openly weep. On the side of the ship was a crude, red hourglass shape etched into the very woodwork.
“There is no love lost between our people and theirs.” The auctioneer dared to break the calm. “But no creature should ever suffer such a fate.”
After a suitable time had passed and no other creature was willing to speak up, he stepped forward and looked to the crowd.
“Will there be any bidding on this ship?” He asked with no reply.
“Scrappers?” The stallion looked to a group of burly ponies who ran the scrapping yard. “She has a lot of fine metals on her.”
Again, there was no reply.
“Very well then, if no creature wishes to purchase this ship, then I see no other—”
“Fifteen-hundred!”
Dozens of heads turned to look at the young pegasus stallion who had spoken up and the threstral mare who had fallen over in surprise.
“Are you nuts? That ship's cursed!” An earth pony yelled.
“Blimey, 'e mus' be insane, 'e is!” Remarked a hippogriff.
The insults started to flying in faster, with chantings to lock the stallion up or banish him. Although the stallion was trying to calm them down, the creatures around him began to work themselves up into frenzy. However, before the crowd could turn into a full on mob, again the minotaur onstage silenced them with a massive roar.
“Young stallion, are you sure that you wish to purchase this vessel?” The auctioneer asked cautiously. “You realize what that mark means, do you not?”
The stallion nodded confidently. “The risk I am taking is my own, I'm not afraid.”
“Very well then!” With a stamp of his hoof, the stallion on stage sealed the deal. “Sold, one derelict warship to the yellow pegasus with blue hair. May the Empress have mercy on your soul, young colt.”
The ship had been hauled down from above the harbor to the jetty to allow a ramp up to the deck. It was up this ramp that the young stallion climbed onto his new ship, one that he looked over with pride. The paint was worn and peeling, a fine layer of dust covered most surfaces that were not disturbed by the wind, and there were a multitude of other problems just waiting to be fixed. However, the ship was his, and his alone.
“ARE YOU BUCKING NUTS?”
His first mate, however, did not share his sense of pride. The thestral stood on the jetty next to the ship, not even daring to set hoof on the ramp.
“YOU BOUGHT A CURSED SHIP! . . . WITH OUR MONEY!”
The stallion sauntered down the ramp with a grin on his face. “Technically, it was my money, I only paid fifteen-hundred for it.”
“It was our money!” The mare shouted in his face. “You and I, the money we've been saving all our lives so we could buy an airship and start our own shipping company! AND YOU JUST BLEW IT ON THIS?”
He looked at the ship, his smile a little less vibrant than before, but still there. “You just don't see it? We would have paid more than twice as much for the Grasshopper and now we've got a ship more than twice the size for half the price!”
“Yeah, a bucking warship! We agreed to bid on the Grasshopper 'cause she was a freighter, something small with which we could start off with.” The mare practically sobbed before pointing at the ship. “Do I need to make a list of why this is a bad idea? It's too big for us to handle, it's a bucking warship, it's one of Daybreaker's ships, and, oh! Not to mention, IT'S BUCKING CURSED!”
“Yeah, but it's a ship!” The stallion retorted. “You and I both made a promise that today was the day! Not next year, not tomorrow! Today, we would buy a ship and make a name for ourselves. Well, now look, I'm probably the most famous creature in all of Willow Glen.”
“That's not the type of attention that we want.” The mare growled.
The stallion shrugged. “So what? What do we care what this town thinks of us?”
“A lot!” The mare protested.
“Really?” He accused. “Name one friend in this town apart from me!”
“Gilda!”
“Gilda?” The stallion laughed. “The griffon that threw you off a cliff for fun? Right.”
The mare puffed out her cheeks. “Well what does it matter? That ship—”
“Is a ship!” The stallion cut her off. “Plenty big, plenty strong, and most importantly, it's taking my flank out of here! I don't care if I have to work that whole thing by myself, it's leaving this harbor today! Go wait tables for the next ten years if you want to, I'm out of here.”
“Hey wait!” The mare protested, but it was to late. The stallion was already running up the gangplank to the ship.
“Ooooh!” She danced on her hooves for a few minutes.
“Oh what do I do?” The mare asked herself over and over.
With a acrid belch, a thick puff of smoke wafted from the smokestack in the middle of the ship, soon followed by a steady cloud of thinner smoke that rose into the darkness. Without a second thought, the thestral mare raced to the edge of the jetty where she had left her few belongings and a sack of money before scrambling back to the gangplank.
“Hey! Wait for me!” She yelled at the ship despite it's lack of movement.
She tripped at the top of the ramp and landed on her chin, accidentally dropping her things as she did.
“Ouch.” She winced as she rubbed her chin.
A yellow hoof offered itself to her and she looked up to see the stallion's smiling, soot covered face beaming down at her.
“Ready for an adventure?”
She took it and let him pull her up.
“You kidding me?” The mare chuckled. “That gangplank was an adventure, going out in this thing is suicide.”
The stallion laughed. “Well, at least nopony will miss us when we're gone.”
Author's Note
Starting a new story featuring a much darker setting if you couldn't tell by the prologue. Still working on Crew of the Marblehead, just had to take a long break from writing. Also, I'm canceling The Guard's House because I had planned an ending that hit too close to home for me.
Anyways, Melody of Darkness is heavily inspired by a small game called Sunless Sea and I've drawn a lot of inspiration from that addicting little game. I've thrown my own twist on the story and I hope that you, the readers enjoy the world I've been building. Thanks for reading this far and feedback is always appreciated.
With a final stroke of her bow, Octavia's cello sounded out it's last note in her solo, a signal for the rest of the orchestra to begin playing along with her. Ten minutes later, the symphony itself was finished allowing the crowded theater to erupt with applause. The grey earth pony mare stood and bowed with the rest of the musicians, but wasted no time in putting her instrument in its case and making a break for the door.
She just had to make it outside before—
“Oh Miss Melody!”
“Rats.” Octavia whispered through clenched teeth before putting on her best smile and turning around. Trotting towards her was a white unicorn mare with a blonde mane and tail, an equally fake smile matching Octavia's own expression.
“That solo of yours was simply divine, but I'm afraid it's just not good enough.” The mare said dramatically. “I needn't remind you that tomorrow night several members Canterlot's upper crust will be attending. I would hate for them to be disappointed in the orchestra because of a single earth pony's skill level was not up to par with the rest of us.”
Octavia's smiled strained slightly.
“Why, but of course.” She gritted her teeth. “I will be sure to spend extra time at practice tomorrow, if only to ensure that I am fully prepared for the performance.”
“Mmmm, see that you do.” The unicorn smirked, flipping her mane and walking away.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Octavia spat out a few choice words in her direction before turning once more towards the door. A brown unicorn with a blue mane stood nearby looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Ah!” Octavia jumped slightly. “Mr. Mint, I didn't see you there.”
“I know you didn't.” He smiled softly. “That is why you should be more careful with your words, you never know you is watching.”
Octavia's false smile fell and she looked at him pleadingly. “I am so sorry, I didn't mean what I said about unicorns!”
Mint chuckled and shook his head. “I know you didn't, Miss Songs can bring out the worst in anypony. She gives a bad name to unicorns.”
Octavia smiled in relief, but felt a pain in her heart. She knew it wasn't fair to judge all unicorns by just one bad character, but it didn't help that nearly all of the orchestra was made up of the more magically inclined ponies. Only a few non-unicorns had been able to succeed where so many others had failed, and it made many of the unicorn musicians bitter.
Not all of them were bad, Octavia had made friends with a few of them, Mint included. However, it had made those that associated with the lesser races social outcasts among the orchestra.
“Mint, I need to tell you something.” Octavia said, stepping closer to the stallion.
His ears perked up and his small smile grew a little. “Yes?”
“I really appreciate all that you have done for me, I probably wouldn't have made it this far if you hadn't stuck up for me, but. . .” Octavia bit her lip. “I fear that if you keep trying to help me out, it's going to hurt you in the end. Daybreaker knows, you're on thin ice already. I feel that unless you spend some more time with the unicorns, Mister Bags is going to find somepony else to fill in your position.”
Mint's ears drooped and he dropped his gaze. “I know, I overheard Miss Songs complaining about me yesterday. I don't care, I don't want to be part of that crowd anyways.”
Octavia's heart dropped and she walked up to him. “Mint, that really means a lot for me to hear, but I don't want you losing your job over this. Just make sure you're careful, please?”
The stallion met her gaze and his smile returned. “Okay, I will do this, but only because you asked me to.”
Octavia gave him a quick hug before saying good bye and quickly trotting out the doors, relieved to be outside away from the other musicians. Shielding her eyes for a moment to allow them to adjust for the bright sun, she set off towards her apartment a few blocks away.
She had just reached the first street corner when the sound of a loud engine caused her to look around before turning her gaze to the sky. Passing overhead was a large airship, trailing a thin column of smoke and steam. The thing looked rather shabby, it's brown, unpainted hull had several large spots of rot and patches, several ropes hung uselessly from the air bag above the ship and only one of the propellers was spinning, the other being covered in a ratty tarp. Behind it trailed two of Manehattan's Port Authority gunships, lazily following in it's path not as to intercept the ship but merely escorting it.
Octavia wrinkled her nose in disgust. Manehattan may not be as clean of a city as the capital, but this ship made even the slums look nice. And why was it a steam engine? Every other ship that Octavia had ever seen was power through magical crystals maintained by unicorns.
Watching the ship for a moment before it vanished over the top of another building, obviously heading for the docks, Octavia shook her head and banished the spectacle from her mind. The business for ships was not her business, so she paid the strange ship no more thought.
Her apartment was located only a few blocks from the theater, a small place that offered the basic comforts of home. Ordinarily, even this small place would have been a bit too pricey for Octavia given that her paycheck was substantially smaller than most due to the fact she was an earth pony, but there was no extra charge for a roommate. Thus a tenuous friendship had been born out of necessity.
“Ergh, Vinyl!” Octavia yelled at the door. “I told you not to block the door anymore!”
The door to the apartment would only open an inch before it hit what Octavia could only guess was a magical speaker hooked up to another one of her roommates contraptions.
With a sigh of frustration, Octavia reared back and slammed her shoulder into the door. The speaker gave way and toppled forward allowing the door to open far enough for her to squeeze inside and drag her cello in behind her.
“Vinyl!” She called. “Vinyl, where are you? We need to talk!”
There was no reply and a search of the apartment revealed that her roommate was not home.
“Ugh, Vinyl!”
The exasperated mare flopped onto the couch with a growl and reached inside her instrument case for a magazine. Octavia had lain there not five minutes reading before a familiar voice attracted her attention from the hallway.
“You got it dude!” Vinyl's scratchy voice said from the hallway.
Octavia quickly rolled onto her hooves and stomped to the door.
“Vinyl, do have any idea what time it is?”
Yanking open the door, the grey earth pony was surprised to see another pony standing out in the hallway with her roommate. The dark grey coat and a lighter grey mane was a bit of an odd color scheme, but what stopped Octavia cold were the eyes and ears of the pony next to her friend. The golden irises with slitted pupils looked at her in surprise as tufted ears swiveled back and forth. She couldn't see what the rest of the pony looked like due to the over-sized coat he was wearing, but Octavia could only guess at what it was hiding.
“Yo, Tavi, meet my new friend!” Vinyl exclaimed happily.
Octavia was at a bit of a loss for words.
The stallion seemed to notice this and used it as an opportunity to make a subtle exit.
“Thank you for your time, Miss Scratch.” He said, his accent only smoothing out his words. “It is always wonderful to see you.”
Turning to Octavia, he grinned allowing a pair of fangs to glint in the hallway. “And it was wonderful meeting you as well, Miss Melody.”
Octavia blinked twice and he was gone without a trace, her only clue that what she had witnessed was not a dream was Vinyl standing in the hallway looking at her with a confused expression.
“Uh, Tavi?” She said, waving a hoof in front of her. “You there? You know it was kind of rude of you not to say 'hi', you know?”
“Vinyl, who was that?” Octavia all but demanded.
“Mister Shadows, you remember?” Vinyl said dismissively. “You know, the guy I met in the club last month—HEY! What happened to my speaker?”
The white unicorn yelled out in anger upon pushing past Octavia and into the apartment only to find her damaged speaker face down on the floor.
“You left it in front of the door!” Octavia said defensively.
“Oh yeah.” Realization dawned on Vinyl's face. “Forgot that I left through the window.”
“The window?” Octavia asked. “What in Equestria possessed you to leave through the window?”
“Uh, that's where Mister Shadow made me leave through.” Vinyl chuckled. “Said he couldn't come in through the front door.”
“He what?”
“Yeah, I wasn't paying to much attention to what he was saying at the time. Do we have anything to eat?” The unicorn asked while walking into the kitchen.
Octavia chased after her. “Vinyl, are you dense? All of this is sounding highly suspicious! How can you be thinking of nothing but food right now?”
“I'm hungry!” Vinyl snapped, opening the fridge and levitating out a carrot. “Not my fault your concert ran so long!”
“My concert? You mean the two of you were attending my concert?”
“Yeah!” The unicorn explained through a mouthful of carrot. “Got to say Tavi, you sound pretty good on stage. I mean, I loved it but you should have seen Shadpone, poor guy could not take his eyes off you.”
Octavia shivered. The idea of that creepy. . . thing staring at her throughout her entire performance made her shudder.
“Wait a moment!” Octavia sputtered. “You hate attending of my concerts! You say they're boring, which they are not, but my point stands! Why did you suddenly attend this one with a complete stranger?”
“Iunno.” Vinyl shrugged.
“Oh for bucks sake!” The grey mare muttered. “Vinyl, I swear one of these days you will land me in an insane asylum or jail! At this point, I'm not sure which I would prefer!”
“Mmm?” Vinyl looked over to her friend, her mouth stuffed with food.
Octavia stomped towards the kitchen exit, intent on going to bed for the night when she tripped over one of Vinyl's speakers. Why it was in the kitchen, the grey mare would never find out. She forgot to ask about it when her muzzle met the ground.
“Oof!”
Vinyl was by her side in an instant, holding the mare in her forelegs and using her magic to stop Octavia's bleeding.
“Tavi, omygosh, are you okay?”
“I dink so.” Octavia answered with a hoof holding her injured nose and tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “Ish it bad?”
She saw Vinyl wince when she pulled her hoof away.
“No, no, it's not too bad!” The unicorn said unconvincingly.
“Oooooh no!” Octavia groaned. “I've go' 'oo pway tomo'wo nigh'! I canw pway wif my nose aw swo'wen!”
“Don't worry Tavi!” Vinyl sputtered. “I can fix this! Just let me—”
“You've done enuff awready!” Octavia roughly pushed the other mare away from her, causing Vinyl's head to bump against the counter.
“Jus' weave me awone!” She yelled angrily as she slammed the door to her bedroom.
Vinyl rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head while staring at the bedroom door.
“Tavi, I'm sorry!” She called pleadingly to the closed door. “I—It was an accident! Please don't be mad!”
Vinyl walked up to the door and tried the handle. It was locked, and although Vinyl could have easily unlocked it with her magic, she decided that Octavia did not need her messing things up anymore than she had already.
Turning around, she saw that Octavia's cello case was laid out casually by the couch. Gently lifting the instrument in her magic, she set her roommate's treasured belonging upright in the corner. When she did, a hastily stuffed magazine fell out of an open pocket, attracting Vinyl's attention.
Levitating the colorful paper up so she could read, the unicorn was stunned to see that it was a magazine for real estate with several pages marked. Inside the marked pages were advertisements for cheap, single room condos a little farther to the country, perfect for a single mare to get away from the city.
Vinyl let the magazine fall to the floor and look at Octavia's bedroom door, realization dawning on her features.
“Octavia?” She called, her voice catching slightly. “Please come out.”
She knocked on the door and called again.
Octavia either didn't hear her or refused to answer. With no explanation to satisfy her rising panic, Vinyl left her roommate alone and ran out the door, leaving behind a few tears on her way out.
Author's Note
So I am terrible at writing these two, but you seem to have made it this far.
Feedback is always appreciated.