Songs of Innocence

Chapter 56: Helter Skelter

Fluttershy's cottage, many moons later

"But Laguna wasn't the only one hoping to uncover the cave's secrets. Sun, me, and our friends were, too. Now, that may sound odd, but it was because it was Captain Celaeno's idea. Rainbow Dash wanted some action, and since Celaeno was already going to go looking for treasure, the captain decided to kill two birds with one stone... Not literally, of course. It was supposed to only take a few hours at most, because not all of us were up for a new adventure when we were supposed to be relaxing, and only had half a day to do so so far. But as we soon found out while we were on the way there... wherever we turned, we just so happened to find ourselves in danger... like the world's hardest game of D&D... er, O&O. I forget, but it doesn't matter. Anyways... Have you ever heard of a duppy before?"

The deck of Captain Celaeno's ship, many moons ago

"What are duppies, you ask?" Celaeno scoffed at Cozy's question. "Well, to put it short and simple: they're ghostly horse monsters, and no one really knows where they come from. But if one thing's for certain, it's that they're stubborn as mules." Her tone began to gradually turn into a tone more like she was telling a rousing speech - clearly exciting herself. "We'll probably run into them at one point or another, and you'll know why they call 'em 'sea flies'. I prefer 'sea mule flies', because like I said, they won't back down, and there's more of them than you'd ever imagine... But luckily for us, those bugs are small, since they've just been born. THEY WON'T STAND A CHANCE–!" 

Suddenly, Aello interrupted, "Great job. You've got her ranting." she giggled. The captain suddenly snapped back to reality. Focus now broken, Celaeno blushed a little, embarrassed by the realization that she raised her voice in her excitement. She groaned, trying to put aside that minor embarrassment by putting her focus into steering carefully through the ocean of clouds, keeping an eye out for any duppies while her passengers relaxed. However, it soon became obvious that Sun never stepped hoof outside of the very center of the ship, likely because of that very specific kind of fear of heights that she had. She tried again and again to reassure herself that Rainbow could rescue her if she somehow fell from the ship, but she still remained a little fearful. She also made sure to keep Cozy close to her.

"Aello." Celaeno called. 

"Yes, sis?"

"Make a note." 

Aello took out a notepad and a pencil, and awaited her sister's next words. 

"Once we enter duppy territory, we'll have to sacrifice one of our own crew to them to keep them off of us. As captain, my first choice is Aello." 

Aello suddenly stopped her scribing upon hearing her name, and angrily glared at her sister. "Hey...!"

Celaeno laughed, "Relax. I'm just joking. Seriously though, we're about to cross the duppy's territory."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We're going THROUGH it? Why can't we just go around it?" she asked. 

Celaeno raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait... I thought you asked for something exciting. Is this not it?" she questioned, to which the pegasus just face-hooved. The captain was now struck with a realization that she had done what Rainbow asked, but in a way that gave her more than what she wanted, and the captain's wide-eyed expression put it on full display for all to see. If that didn't make her realize her mistake enough, she recognized an unusually dark cluster of storm clouds that brimmed with lightning, and called out to them with booming crashes of thunder. Right below the clouds were a large family of duppies waiting in the distance, but speedily approaching them. 

They were creatures of the sea, somehow infesting the skies. Their looks were something to be admired in their haunting beauty, and feared, being ones of a frenzied, feral Appaloosa. Their frail bodies were formed of kelp and seaweed, with vaguely vine-like green things wrapped around their hooves, making up their hair, and their hinds, which were made entirely of them. They snarled viciously and their teeth gnashed, growing hungrier and hungrier as they dashed through the sky towards the ship.