Overcoming Oceans

The next morning is kind enough to you, considering what you’d been drinking last night. Your first feeling upon waking up is the soft, hot air drifting across your neck and jaw; Twilight’s sweet, gentle breath as her head nuzzles your shoulder. The scent of lavender emanating from her mane.

Your second feeling upon waking is her upper hooves sleepily wrapped around your shoulders, enveloping you in a tight hug. The rest of Twilight’s body is draped over your side, her hind legs tangled around your own. You can feel her heart beating, her chest rising and falling with each breath, her bodily heat radiating, pressing up against you.

Your third feeling upon waking is the eager… stiffness between your legs. This feeling is totally expected, due to the purple personification of beauty and sexiness sharing the bed with you.

Right there. Under the covers with you. Breathing. Nuzzling. Embracing. Hot.

Oh gods she’s hotter than Celestia’s sun during an Appleloosan heat-wave. You can hardly take it! Maybe if you give her a gentle prod a few times, she’ll become aroused too.

“… … …”

“Nnnnostoppokingmewithyourpenis. Ihaveahangover.”

Damn. You totally thought that would work. Luckily, you know just what to say to wake her up properly.

“Want something nice for breakfast?”

That certainly gets her attention. After a moment of silent thought, she replies; “Dandelion sandwich. No, wait… toasted dandelion sandwich.”

“With extra butter melted into the toast?” you ask.

She responds by dozily smacking her lips and making adorable ‘num num’ sounds. You’ll take that as a yes.

You decide it’s within your best interest to wear a dressing gown while fixing up breakfast; you wouldn’t want Twilight’s brother or the renowned princess of the Crystal Empire to see how… attentive your undercarriage is this morning.

Sliding the bread under the grill, you think back to the previous night. At least, what you can remember of it. Okay, now retrace your steps from that restaurant… you remember Twilight’s butt (duh), sitting on the beach with Shining Armor… and fighting a sea monster? That can’t be right.

What else happened? You went back to the villa with Shining Armor, didn’t you? Then just collapsed next to Twilight and drifted off to sleep? No, there’s something else that happened between those events, and you can’t for the life of you figure it out…

“Oh, good morning.” Princess Mi Amore Cadenza voice breaks your attempt to recall the rest of the night. “You wouldn’t happen to have any cleansing wipes nearby, would you?”

“I think there are some in the bathroom,” you reply, turning around from the grill to meet her face to face. “But why would you need cleansing wi-?”

Oh yeah. THAT’S what you did before falling asleep. Mystery solved.

*******

Cadance is surprisingly forgiving to you, considering that you’d been defacing said princess's face with a marker pen. “It’s the first time anypony’s dared to do such a thing,” she explains. “It kinda made me feel like a normal pony again, back before I earned my horn.”

You guess she’d have a very different outlook on the situation if the ink hadn’t have washed off so easily. Lucky you.

After Twilight had been successfully lured out of bed by the scent of hot, buttery toast and dandelion, the four of you gather in the main dining area to plan out the big day. Shining Armor, you discover, is wearing a dressing gown too. Knowing the unspoken language of stallion-wearing-clothes-in-the-morning, you decide not to chase the idea any further. He’s probably thinking the same thing about your own concealing attire.

“I hope you’ve all remembered to bring goggles,” your lavender lover grins. “As soon as we’re ready, we’re heading to the beach!”

Shining Armor and Cadance are can’t help but applaud the up-and-coming trip. You try to feign excitement too, but the itch of unease, that hot feeling in the back of your head, makes it hard to sound convincing. You aren’t certain, but you could’ve sworn Shining picked up on it. Twilight doesn’t notice, however; she’s too busy double-checking her list.

“Goggles? Check. Towels? Check. Vinegar? Check. Bottled water? Check. Snacks? Check. Sunblock Spell?”

Shing… fwash!

“Check. And away we go!”

*******

Celestia’s sun does a wonderful job lighting up the whole of Horseshoe Bay. Families of ponies, griffons, donkeys and all sorts dot the golden shoreline. Laughing. Sunbathing. Knocking bright, bouncy beach balls to each other. Snacking on ice creams and sipping drinks from ice-coolers. Splashing about in the cool waters lapping the sand.

There’s no way the sea could be as scary as you think, right?

Right!?

With each step you take towards the endless expanse of green-blue before you, the more your confidence shrivels. You don’t even notice the way you’re edging closer to Twilight Sparkle for moral support.

“Are… are you okay?” she asks. “You’re shivering, surely you can’t be cold in this weather..?”

Uh oh.

“I’m just a little nervous is all,” you shrug. “It’s been a while since I’ve last been in the sea.”

What, just a little nervous? No mention of it being your number-one life-long paralysing fear? Suit yourself, idiot.

“Ah,” your girlfriend’s voice adopts a very… contemplative tone. “I get it. I’m a little anxious too, to be honest.” She shakes the contents of her saddlebag. “That’s why I brought goggles; I heard seawater’s bad for the eyes. And this vinegar’s just in case we get a jellyfish sting. And I packed extra towels too. Gotta take all these precautions!”

D’aww. That’s the Twilight Sparkle you know and love; prepared for anything. Or at least, anything that she’s made aware of.

Twilight’s eyes glance briefly towards the royal couple a few paces ahead. The unicorn stops in her tracks, giving them a second or two to walk even further away… just enough distance for her voice to remain out of earshot. That’s when she leans closer to you and whispers in your ear;

“And if you’re still a little worried, I think I know just how to… relieve the tension.”

“Oh?” you have to admit - that sentence piqued your interest.

“Think about it,” she continues, her voice ever-quiet, ever-sultry. “The sea’s just one huge lake for us. And remember what we do whenever we’re alone in a lake..?”

“I see where you’re going with this,” you draw yourself closer to her, almost to the point of sharing her breath, “and I like it.”

“We’ll wait until Shining Armor and Cadance have had their turn swimming under the Lover’s Arch,” she explains. “We’ll wait until they’re gone, then we’ll do the Arch together. And while we’re down there, we’ll…”

Twilight Sparkle whispers a few ideas in your ear. A few suggestions. A few positions. To sum it up in two words? Aquatic intimacy. You agree with every little thing she suggests.

Or at least, you would if you could convince yourself that a dip in the sea isn’t going to kill you.

*******

You look down.

Water and sand flows between the cannons of your legs. Each underhoof pebble, so hard to see thanks to the light-distorting waves, has the potential to hide something bitey. Or stingy. Or perhaps both.

You look up again.

Twilight’s a few feet in front of you. She’s genuinely confused; you’re only a few inches deep in water, while she’s wet to just short of her barrel. You should have warned her about this long ago… but you were too afraid to let her down. You’re her boyfriend - the water-loving stallion. You couldn’t possibly spoil her idea of you just because this particular water is saltier than what you’re used to.

Behind the purple unicorn’s back, a good number of yards away, you see two specks - Shining Armor and Cadance’s heads bobbing on the water‘s surface. They seem to be treading water near what looks like a small pillar of natural rock. It doesn’t take much guesswork to know they’ve found the Lover’s Arch.

A short splash later, they’re gone. Looks like they’re already taking the plunge. Best of luck to them, you suppose.

But… you and Twilight Sparkle are still in the shallows. Exchanging awkward, fearful glances.

No. You can’t let her down like this. You won’t. You’re going to show the sea who‘s boss. You’re going to dive underwater with her, and you’re going to swim under that maybe-magical-maybe-not hunk of rock with her. And it’s going to be the best thing ever, and it’s going to be one of the best memories in your life.

Twilight also promises submerged sexy times once Shining and Cadance leave, but y’know, that’s more of a bonus against the whole “true love persevering over fear” thing.

Do it for her.

Taking one slow, cautious step at a time, you wade through the briny waters towards the mare of your life. You tell yourself that each pebble, each grain of sand, each tickle of seaweed is harmless. Because they are.

You finally come within reaching distance of Twilight. Just as you’re about to give her a relieved smile… something brushes against your leg. Your heart stops. Your mane feels like it’s standing on end.

Oh thank goodness for that. It’s just a tiny, silvery fish. So small. So harmless. A second later, it scurries away.

“See?” she reassures you, “There’s nothing to be scared of at all!”

“I don’t even remember why I was afraid.”

It’s true; you can’t remember why were you ever fearful in the first place. Odd. You’d think it would be at the forefront of your mind by now. But as long as it isn’t, you may as well strike while the iron’s hot.

You take Twilight by the hoof, as a gentlecolt should. “Let’s do this. Together.”

Just as you take a few more steps towards the ocean blue, you spy two familiar faces paddling for the shore.

“That… was a close call…” gasps the pink-coated alicorn, a faint tinge of red glowing behind her cheeks.

“I… I…” her white husband tries again and again to finish his sentence between ragged breaths, “I was worried too. Thought you’d… you’d at least cast a gill-giver spell… or… or at least a bubble-head charm!”

“Didn’t want it to… interfere with the Arch’s love-magic…” Cadance responds, “…if any.”

“Yeah, well… oh, hey you two!” Shining’s hooves finally make contact with the sand beneath the waves, “I guess you guys are up for it next?”

Twilight confidently nods, “We’re ready now, sure. What’s it like?”

Cadance catches up just in time to reply between each breath; “It’s… wonderful! A little… dangerous if you’re not using… a breathing aid, though.”

You share a knowledgeable smirk with your lover. Like that’s ever stopped you two before.

“Aside from that, it’s awesome,” Twilight’s brother adds. “Just a warning though; Cadance and I saw a whale as we were leaving the Arch. It could just be lost, but I wouldn‘t wanna get too close to the thing. Looks like it could swallow a pony whole.”

“Whoa, a whale? Really? What did it look like? I might‘ve read about it!”

“Geez Twily, we were underwater without a breathing spell. We didn’t really have time for a polite conversation with it…”

A whale? Strange. What would a whale be doing this close to shore? But then again, you guess it’s not the first time that’s happened-

I can’t breathe! Where’s the surface!? Where am I!?

-could just be lost-

What the heck is that!? Somepony! Anypony!

-could swallow a pony whole-

Help me!

You remember now. Oh Celestia, you remember everything. The very water you’re standing in grows cold when you realise the horrible truth.

“I can’t do this.”

You don’t know what’s worse - the creeping sense of fright crawling up your spine, or Twilight’s sudden recoil at your words. “Wh- what? What do you mean, you can’t do this?”

You don’t answer. You don’t waste any time at all. Every second spent in the water is a second that… thing could just snap you up at a whim.

“Wait! Come back!”

Too late. Twilight’s desperate calls for calm fall upon deaf ears as you turn around and wade for the shore. You don’t stop upon reaching dry land either - like you’d want to stay on the beach after letting Twilight down like that.

The other three ponies, still chest-deep in the sea, just stand and stare.

“Please… come back.”

Behind the lens of her goggles, a single tear rolls from her eye.

“We were so close.”