The next morning.

The sun is blazingly hot today. Its powerful rays of sunlight dance off the surface of the waters that surround you. A few seagulls can be heard here and there, their calls accompanied by the sloshing of the sea against the side of this wooden row boat, just big enough for two.

A pair of swimming goggles dangle loosely around your neck. Your fore-hooves are dutifully working one of the oars. The other is being elegantly handled via the magic of the mare sitting alongside you. Occasionally, she looks over her shoulder, back towards Horseshoe Bay’s beach. It’s easy to tell she’s mentally calculating your nautical whereabouts.

Suddenly, Twilight stops paddling. You follow suit, taking the time to wipe the sweat from your brow. “I think this is the place.”

You look up from the rowboat’s wooden boards, taking in your surroundings. Deep seawater glistens on every side of you. The bay’s shoreline stretches all around you, except for the area dead ahead; where it opens up to the vast ocean. As far as you can tell, you’re in the centre of the bay itself.

“So this Lover’s Arch should be right beneath us?” you ask. A sudden splash from behind you causes you to whip around in alarm. It was just a wave hitting the boat. Paranoid much?

A gentle hoof reassuringly places itself on your leg. This simple action is all it takes for beautiful mare to calm your nerves, at least a little bit. “You don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to. I won’t think any less of you if you wanna turn back.”

You scratch away the apprehensive itch at the back of your head. Your eyes nervously drift towards the steady waters.

“I’ve already come this far, Twilight. I’d be a fool to turn back now. Besides, it was my idea to borrow a boat this time. It’ll be easier than wading through the shallows and swimming all the way out there from the beach.”

To punctuate your point further, your slap the goggles over your eyes and tighten the band with dexterous hooves. “It’ll be like ripping off a band-aid; a quick jump into the water and I’ll have done it.”

Twilight Sparkle looks you in the eye. Those amethyst gems of wisdom and beauty push aside your lingering fears once and for all.

“In that case,” she says, carefully fastening and adjusting her own goggles with magic, “I’m ready when you are.”

Both oars are retired to the wooden boards. The two of you stand up in the boat, trying to ignore the resulting sway. Your head cautiously leans over the side. The water’s deep, but clear; you can see right to the bottom.

And by extension, you can see that there’s nothing in the water that can eat you. That’s good.

“On the count of five, okay?” Twilight says. Your heart rate quickens at the thought.

Nonetheless, you take a deep breath, placing one fore-hoof onto the boat’s edge, readying for the jump. Your other foreleg wraps around Twilight’s shoulders for support. “Yeah. On five.”

Twilight’s forelegs mimic your own; one on the wooden boat, the other around your shoulders. You’re both in this together. You’re both going to step off the edge. You’re both going to hit the water.

“One. Two. Three. Four. Fi-!”

“No-wait-Twilight-stop-for-a-second!”

The wooden vessel wobbles above the waves as Twilight catches herself in mid-step. “What, what is it!?”

“Nothing, just… gimme a minute,” you breathe. “Need a minute to prepare.”

“Take your time.”

After a few huffs and puffs, you resolve to try again. “On three this time? Just to get it over with quickly.”

“No problem,” Twilight nods, reassuming the stance to jump into the water. All hooves redouble their positions both on the boat and on each other.

“One. Two. Thr-!”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-wait!”

“Oh, what now!?” Twilight’s ears flop disapprovingly.

“Sorry, I thought I saw something creepy under us,” you double- and triple-check the perfectly clear and harmless water below. Then you shrug. “False alarm, just some orange fish.”

Twilight heaves a sigh, but quickly perks up after a single moment of her mind whirring; you could tell by the glint in her eye. Or perhaps that was a trick of the light via her goggles?

“Okay, this time we’re definitely gonna dive into the water,” she declares.

You nod. “Definitely.”

“We’re gonna jump on the count of three again, alright?”

“On three, gotcha.”

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Three.”

“Wha-? Oh-sweet-Celestia-no-Twilight-noooo!”

Before you can comprehend what’s going on, Twilight tightens her hoovish grip and throws herself at you, full force.

In the space of a second, you both tumble to the side, your forelegs being thrown out of control. Your clumsy rear hooves quickly trip over the boat’s edge, and you’re struck with a sudden sense of vertigo as you fall backwards, face towards the cloudless sky.

You hear the lavender pony clinging onto you sucking in a deep breath, preparing for what’s next. Your instincts find it best that you do same.

Gasp…

Splash!

Your face is hit by the wet rush of coldness. Your eyes automatically scrunch shut, trying to block out all the salty water that already invades your taste buds. Your ears rapidly plug up, that familiar thumping inside your skull telling you with each passing heartbeat;

You’re underwater. You’re underwater. You’re underwater.

You’re underwater in the sea and you’re not dead. That’s a good thing.

Your mind finally starts working again; don’t forget, you’re wearing goggles! Your eyes flick open, their first sight being the swirling light of the ever-shifting water’s surface above you. Any thoughts involving malevolent sea-creatures seem to wash away. That once infallible wall of oceanic phobia crumbling away forever.

You mutter to yourself in disbelief - “Huh,” - but it manifests as a formless cluster of bubbles that lazily drift toward the surface. Meanwhile, the two love bound ponies sink ever deeper into the water’s depths.

The soft unicorn, attached to you throughout the whole drop, still clings tightly to your body, a solid reminder that you’re both in this together. Your hoof gently lifts her outward, a sign to let her know everything is alright with you. There’s no panic here.

Her own fore-hooves remain on your shoulders; not in support this time, but in the genuine affection that only Twilight Sparkle could show. Her mane and tail dance the surreal, dreamlike trail of beauty that you had missed since those days back of the old lake. Behind the clarity of her goggles, her captivating eyes of violet meet your own, a backdrop to a solitary trail of bubbles escaping her adorable snout.

This is the mare that makes it worth getting up in the morning. She’s the reason you’re drifting under the sea’s clutches right now, free from the prison you called fear. She’s everything you’ve hoped for in a mare, and more than you even knew you needed.

Your hooves gently embrace Twilight, her eyes locked with your own. Eyes that become half-lidded as her lips part. She knows the best course of action right now.

Letting your sense of passion take over in this wonderful moment, you pull her beautiful body towards you, closing the gap between her face and yours. Slowly, romantically, you savour the moment leading up the a loving, submerged kiss- whoa!

There is no such hesitation from Twilight Sparkle, however. Instead, the mare throws herself forward in a fit of enthusiasm, the warmth of her lips meeting your own without warning. You’d vocalise a mild muffle of astonishment, were it not for being underwater. Besides, you rather like this surprise.

Your mouth kisses her in return, your fore-hooves stroking up and down her silky wet body. A stray hoof even lingers around her rump; you hear the sound of her giggle despite the enveloping water, a brief rush of bubbles escaping from her busy lips.

There. An opening. You take full advantage by cautiously pressing your tongue forward, caressing the edge of her lips. Her tongue emerges in response, eager to dance with your own. The heat and sensuality of her hot kiss far surpasses the irritation of salt water. You feel Twilight squirm in pleasure, even going as far as wrapping her hind leg around yours, her body pressed tightly against your torso.

You wish these kind of moments would last forever. Twilight no doubt wishes it too. But you feel the faint twitching of her stomach against your body; the periodic convulsions that betray the tight, familiar nip of yearning lungs.

Against your primal desires, you feel it best to pull out from the kiss you were enjoying so very much. You make a gesture towards the surface, offering Twilight the chance to catch her breath. She responds with a faint smile, pointing her hoof towards something just over your shoulder.

A quick turn of the head reveals a naturally-formed cluster of rocks, shaped strangely like a heart. The Lover’s Arch. Of course, you were too… distracted to notice that before now. It seems like she has enough time to make a quick trip under the rock formation before heading back to the surface. No time like the present.

Your foreleg entwining with hers, you take her by the hoof like a true gentlecolt. And with the warmest feeling brewing within your heart, you both swim for the Lover’s Arch as one.

You don’t know whether the “magic” of the Lover’s Arch is real or not. It doesn’t matter. You are, and always will be, in love with Twilight Sparkle. This, you know. And she will be forever in love with you.

Author's Note

(Spoiler; you now have an appreciation for Whirring Gears, who made the beautful underwater Twilight picture you see above! Go thank and +follow him, all the cool bronies are doing it.) - Crowley