Deviation Actions
Literature Text
It’s a bit late for me to be out like this, but I just have to get to the market, or at the very least get as close as I can; I want to be there right in the morning when they open! If there goods are as good as the sailors said, then it’d be worth the extra traveling. I look up to the sky, realizing that I had been walking all day which explains the numb feeling in my legs. I pull out my box of matches and some spare wood from my cart and start a small fire, then I took out some left over bread and some water and my cloak which I laid over my tired body. A yawn soon slipped out as I felt my eye lids close despite my stomach’s protests. I took a few bites of the bread and a few sips of water before I closed my eyes and put my head down. It feels so nice to relax once again, nightfall seems to be the only time when I can.
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” I lift my head up quickly, my ears perked and at attention. What in the world is going on?! “PLEASE, SOMEBODY, HELP ME!” I tore my rapier from my cart and ran in the direction of the screams. Soon, voices from the dark pierced my ears.
“Calm down little miss, we just want to have some fun is all.” The not so friendly sounding pony said.
“We don’t bite.” Another not so friendly pony said.
“Get away from me!” The distressed pony said.
“Aw, come now.”
“You’re only going to make things worse for yourself.” I burst out from the shadows to see a horrible scene. There’s a pony with a long, brunette mane and tail, her coat a soft, peach, color, surrounded by hooligans baring knives, small swords, and wearing ragged clothing. The pale coated pony was being held in the air by the tail by the use of magic. “It seems we have another-” I bucked the nasty pony in the face, kicking him into a nearby tree. They attempted slash at me with their swords and threw their knives about as I smacked and slashed at them, taking them out one by one; they made it very clear that they have received proper combat training making this an easy battle. The ponies soon found themselves out matched and ran off, dropping the helpless pony onto the ground. I walked over to the dazed pony, tears staining her face.
“Are you alright?” I asked. She looked up at me, frightened. “It’s ok now, they won’t be bothering you for tonight.” She then began to shuffle away from me, her body shaking with every small step she took. I walked right in her path. “I don’t think you should be walking home alone.” She then began to cry uncontrollably, tears pouring down from her eyes as she sobbed into her legs. “Ah! I’m sorry, was it something I said?!” She continued to cry. Not sure how to handle a situation like this as I have yet to encounter such a sad pony, I nuzzled under her belly and moved her onto my back as I carried her back to my small camp since I don’t know where she lives; she’s seems to have calmed down a little. I bowed my head and slid her down onto the ground. I went to my cart and pulled out the rest of my left over food and water and nudged it to her. She looked up to me, surprised, then looked down at the food. “It’s ok, you can have it; I’m not too hungry.” She sniffed the bread and then took a bite out of it. The pony then began to cry once again. “Do you not like bread? I can get you something else if-”
“No.” The pony finally spoke to me. “This is good.” I sigh with relief.
“How are you feeling, you’re not too shaken are you?”
“I’m fine….”
“My name’s Azure, by the way. What’s yours?”
“I’m, Scallop.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Scallop!” She flinched at the sudden volume increase of my voice. “Sorry, I got a bit excited.” I brought my voice level down. She took a few more bites.
“Do you think you’ll be ok to walk home tonight?” She didn’t answer. “You can stay with me if you feel more comfortable that way.” Scallop looked up to me, a look of surprise and relief on her face.
“You, wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all.” She turned her gaze away from me.
“I don’t want impose on you or anything.”
“Don’t worry, I just want you to be safe.”
“I’m just a little frightened, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”
“Maybe you should find another way home, or learn how to fight, maybe.”
“No, it doesn’t happen that often. I usually leave for home before dark, but I got held up.”
“By what?”
“A customer.”
“Oh, you’re a shop owner?!”
“No, I just sell my necklaces on the streets.”
“You make necklaces?! What do they look like, what kind of charms do you use?!”
“I don’t make those kinds of necklaces.” I looked to her, confused. What other kinds of necklaces are there?! “Here.” She pulled out a necklace from her bag. On the string were an assortment of different kinds of seashells, beads, and other objects that didn’t seemed to come the local area.
“This is what seashells really look like.” I looked at it intensely.
“You can keep it if you want.”
“I can?”
“Sure, think of it as a way of saying thanks for saving me.” I took it in my hooves and went to put it around her neck, but I couldn’t fit it over my massive mane. Scallop laughed quietly as the necklace hung from my face.
“Now what?”
“That’s it, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“Well, it’s supposed to go around your neck.”
“So, you wear it for fun?”
“In a way, yes.”
“That’s so nice!” Scallop chuckled a little.
“You’re very strange.”
“So are you. Necklace making, is that an important job for ponies?”
“No, not really.”
“And they let you do it?!”
“Why wouldn’t they?” The necklace slid down onto my nose. I took it back into my hooves and looked at it.
“Where I come from, you have to have a job or talent that is helpful to the community.”
“Well, I think necklaces can be important.”
“How?”
“They can make you happy.”
“Is the obtainment of personal happiness important here?”
“Yes, I would think that’s important wherever you go.” Personal happiness. They told us that happiness comes when it benefits the largest group, that being the whole Empire. It’s not that we didn’t or couldn’t find things that made us happy, but still…. I looked to Scallop who looked to me with concern.
“Where do you come from?” I felt a chill run down my spine. Can I tell her? That one pony was nice to me, and it doesn’t seem they remember the war….
“I come from a small kingdom of cartazonons!” I quickly said.
“Cartazonons, is that what you are?” Scalloped asked.
“Yes….”
“So you’re not a pony?!” She said with excitement.
“Yes…?” She seemed to relax a little.
“No wonder.” I looked to her with concern. “It’s just, I feel so comfortable around you and normally, I don’t feel comfortable around ponies.”
“Why not?”
“I… uh….” She has a very nervous look on her face and appears to be trembling slightly.
“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t feel comfortable.” She relaxed once again, only slightly. We were silent for a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the crackling fire. I yawn, my eyes feeling heavy once more. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to get some sleep.” I put my head down and closed my eyes.
“Azure….” Scallop said. I open one eye to look at her.
“Hm?”
“If I tell you about myself, will you tell me about you?” I smile at her.
“In the morning.” She smiles back at me. “Get some rest, ok?” Scallop nodded, she lies down and closes her eyes as do I, but not before I cover her with my cloak. We laid there for the night and were not bothered by anymore thugs. At day break, we had a small breakfast together and it was then that I learned about Scallop.
“My story begins in the ocean for I was not born as a pony, but a seal….”
* * *
Though you can’t see it, down in the depths of the ocean is a small village filled with sea creatures of all kinds like hippocampus which are ponies that have a fish tail rather than hind legs; selkies take up most of the population though. Selkies are creatures that can take off their seal skin and become ponies, some prefer to be ponies, others stay under the waves as seals, but even then, we must always be by the water otherwise we’ll dry up and turn to dust. Down in our village, like most selkie communities, we have this special device they allows us to breath underwater so we do not need to be near the surface all the time, and we don’t want to. I live there with my mother and father. My mother owns a collection shop where she sells all kinds of trinkets and items that she finds, buys from above, or makes. My father is the owner of a family restaurant and it has quite the reputation. I do have a brother… but he is no longer lives with us. He never believed that the ponies were evil.
You see, the ponies above are not so kind to us selkies. Many years ago, we once had a friendly relationship with them. We traded goods, gave them protection when they set sail, they helped us from time to time, it was nice from what I understand. Then the tables turned when the sailors demanded more from us than we could provide and then they stole our skins and locked us in cages until we told them how to use the skins. They tried to explain that only selkies have the magic to turn from seal to pony, but they wouldn’t listen. Ponies can’t be trusted, they will only steal your skin and turn you into a slave; that was what we are taught. My brother would always insist that ponies aren’t evil that we can be friends. He would go around trying to show the other selkies that they are kind, but he was shunned by all he tried to speak to, so he would go to the surface to be with the ponies all day, he said the ponies understood him better. I remember those nights when my brother would stay out later than he should and how my parents would worry.
“Where have you been?!” My mother would scream.
“Out.” My brother would respond.
“One of these days you’re going to get killed!” My father would claim.
“How do you know?! Ponies aren’t what they used to be! They are kind and friendly, we have to give them a chance!”
“We did that years ago and what did they do, they locked us in cages forcing us to answer their impossible questions, and then forcing us into labor!”
“Times have changed!”
“Couldn’t you at least come home on time so that we may be at peace?!” My mother would plead. My brother would always swim vigorously upstairs and slam the door in their faces. For a time, I believed him. Whenever he came home, he always brought all these amazing pony things and he would tell me the tales the traveling ponies told him; it all seemed like a dream. Our father would always try to get him into the family business, he had hoped that my brother would take his place when it came time just as his father did, and his father before him, but he never did, he didn’t even give it a chance. Personally, I wanted to take over my mother’s collection shop, but I felt it would be more appropriate if I took over my father’s restaurant. I don’t really mind as I really do enjoy helping him and learning what I need to know to run it, I do a good job as my father says. One day, my brother and my parents had a very bad argument and my brother left the home and never returned. We don’t know what happened to him as he never sent us any letters or note, he never came back for a visit. I did my best to be more accepting of the ponies on my brother’s behalf… but I just couldn’t.
Before my brother left, I had a bad encounter with some thugs in the forest. My mother would sometimes bring her shop above the water and sell things to the ponies as she needed bits to buy the things she couldn’t get from the ocean. She would always bring me along as I wanted to take over her shop when I grew older so I could learn about management and how to barter. On that day, it was getting late and my mother was dealing with a rather tough costumer. We wanted to settle it in the morning, but the costumer was fickle and demanded we stay until the transaction was finished. By the time we were able to go home, it was getting really dark and the quickest and more efficient way to get back to the ocean was through the forest. My mother kept me close by in fear of bandits and thugs and, for a time, we thought we were safe, but we weren’t. By the time we got near the exit, they struck. We were surrounded fairly quickly, and they demanded that we give them everything we had. My mother tried to fend them off throwing them all the bits we earned that day, but it wasn’t enough as they demanded more and more from us. I tried to act strong and attack them, and they laughed…. They… they picked me up with their magic and I felt tremors of pain rush through my body. All I remember afterward is my mother holding me and crying. She had given everything but her cloak and my own, at the very least, we could go home.
For the next few days, I stayed home from school and my parents stayed by my side, telling me everything was alright. At night, they would yell at my brother more and more. He claimed that not all ponies were like the thugs that we encountered, but his voice wasn’t as confident as it was before. After another week, he came to see me in my room and he told me goodbye and left; he has yet to return home. Since then, I couldn’t go above the surface with my mother and my mother had to force herself out from the ocean because she needs materials from the surface. It took me some time, but I eventually got comfortable enough to come back up here. I didn’t really talk to any p=of the ponies in the market like I did before when I went to join my mother, I just couldn’t at the time. Then one day, one of the shop vendors came to me and showed me how to make a necklace; I remember the vendor asking my mother what was wrong and why I was so shaky before she talked to me. She showed me how to make small holes in the seashells and how to engrave symbols and words on them without breaking them, and she showed me how to thread the beads and other objects onto the string.
When I made that necklace, I felt so happy. I remember a warm feeling in my whole body and a feeling that I had found what I wanted to do with my life. My mother quickly pointed to my flank and I saw that I had gotten my cutie mark; I went and showed it off to all my friends the next day. Soon enough, I began to collect seashells, coral, anything I could use to make necklaces which also means I had to begin earning bits to get the materials I couldn’t from the ocean, so I began to help my mother sell her trinkets and other materials. I did want to completely take over my mother shop, but my father needed me to work the restaurant. He showed me how to cook, how to manage seating, how to take customers’ orders, how to maintain a restaurant, any job that could be taken in a restaurant, I did. My father’s father made him do the same so he could better lead those he hires as he would be able to understand what was needed and expect from each position and the work that went into it. That’s what I’ve been doing since, and then, I meet you….
* * *
“It’s so odd.” Scallop said as she helped me pack up my cart.
“What’s so odd?” I asked.
“I feel so comfortable around, like I can tell you anything.”
“That’s what a lot of ponies have said to me.”
“They have?”
“I think it’s because I have a fluffy mane unlike other ponies.” Scallop began to laugh.
“That’s probably part of it, but I think, it’s because you’re a good listener.”
“Well, how else would I get to know other ponies and creatures?” Scallop laughed softly to herself.
“You’re one of a kind, Azure.”
“So, which way to your home?”
“This way.” Scallop took the lead as we made our way to the beach. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me more about yourself?”
“Sure!” I then began to tell her my story how I travel about and collect the stories of others. I left out and change a few things because, well, I’d rather she not know.
“I’ve never met any creature who does that.”
“That’s too bad, I would like to meet another creature who collects the stories of others; we could swap stories and share our own.”
“And, I’m assuming, you will want to write out mine?”
“Well, if you feel comfortable with it. I would like to share it, but if you don’t want me to, I will keep it stowed away and I won’t show it to anybody.”
“I’d prefer you keep it to yourself, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all!” We walked out of the forest and into the open. “What is this place?”
“The beach, the part the locals don’t usually visit.” The air smelled of salty water which was being carried about by the gentle wind, the sand felt strange in my hooves, it is grainy, soft, and warm, it feels oddly good, the water moves against the sand at an even pace as the tides ripple upon the vast surface of the water. “What do you think?”
“This place, it’s wonderful.” I ran around the beach feeling the wind really begin to blow through my mane and the sand bend to fit the form of my hooves. Scallop ran after me as we played along the edge of the tide. I then went to jump in the water and felt the sand squish under me. It felt a bit odd at first, but I soon learned to love it. I dove right into the water and swam about and, on the occasion, dunked my head under and saw all the little creatures that inhabited the sea. They were all so colorful and their movements so graceful and smooth. Scallop then showed me how to build these sandcastles which, to me, didn’t look well-constructed, that seemed to be the point though. After that, I took the time to write out Scallop’s story and showed her where I would be putting it. Unfortunately, it soon became time for Scallop to go home as the sun was setting.
“Thank you again, Azure. I’m not sure what I would have done if you hadn’t come along when you did.”
“I’m just glad you’re alright.”
“If you ever do come around here again, just wait for me in the market place, I will be there at some point I can assure you.”
“And you be careful in the forest, or at the very least learn how to fight, maybe even get a body guard.”
“I don’t think there are many selkies willing to-”
“Then get a pony body guard.” Scallop had a nervous look on her face. “Not all ponies are bad, Scallop, but not all are good. If you don’t go out there and start talking and meeting other ponies, then you’ll never be able to grow. I’m sure, out there, there are many ponies who know how to make necklaces and I’m also sure they don’t have the same method of creating them. I want you to try and speak with some ponies, especially traveling necklaces makers, and I want you to learn more about your craft. You can’t just learn everything on your own, you have to go out there and find it. I never would have learned about sandcastles and necklaces by staying home, but because I went out there and was then able to meet you, I was able to and I’m happy I did. It’s the same with how you would have never met me and you would have never known cartazonons existed. I don’t expect you to start right away or being able to speak to ponies calmly, but at the very least, I’d like to hear that you’ve tried. Can you promise me that?” Scallop looked to me and gave me a big smile.
“I will.” Scallop put on a strange necklace, threw her cloak over her body, and whispered some strange words. She began to glow brightly causing me to shield my eyes until the light faded away. Where a pony once stood now lies a seal with a brown coat and a small patch of peach on her back that slightly resembled a seashell, specifically, a scallop. She drove right into the water, peeked her head slight above the surface, and waved a final goodbye before dipping below the waves. I waved my last goodbye before moving on, my direction, the market place in hopes that I could get there in time to at least see one shop. If not, I still need to get myself a room to stay in. I just hope what the sailors said was true.
