The Little Seapony

Far out in the ocean where the water is as blue as the petals of the finest cornflower and as transparent as the purest glass, within the deepest depths of the sea, there lived a very peculiar pony known to ponykind as seaponies. They are ruled in judicious grace by King Igneous, the most benevolent king to ever live under Equastria’s seas. For many years, he lived in a grand castle in the deepest part of the ocean with his four daughters and lovely wife, Queen Cloudy Quartz. She was a kind mare with bright blue eyes and long blue-gray hair that she wore up in an elegant bun. At times she would journey with her husband to the surface where they would often have trade and diplomatic meetings with the nearby kingdom of Equestria. During one such trip, however, the Queen was killed by a wicked sailor. Angry and heartbroken at the loss of his beloved queen, King Igneous isolated himself in his castle and cursed the land that had stolen his love away from him. All travel and communication between the undersea kingdom of Aquastria and the landponies in Equestria was forbidden, and the once happy kingdom fell into a gray darkness. For many years, almost nopony smiled and laughter was something of a forgotten past that the youngest seaponies had never heard and the oldest ponies could only distantly recall. The King’s daughters especially were very young when the queen died and so were taught for much of their lives to hate landponies and all that they did. They were forbidden to ever go to the surface, lest they be seen by a passing sailor and captured, never to return to the sea again just like their dear, dear mother. Being the obedient children that they were, they obeyed their father without question. All save for one daughter, that is.

The youngest daughter, Pinkamena Diane Pie, was not like her older sisters. While they were calm and docile, completely content with their lives the way they were, Pinkamena, or Pinkie as she was often called, couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to life than the gray, dull existences that the seaponies now lived. As a child, she would often go to see her Nana Pinkie who lived on the outskirts of the kingdom. She would tell her tales of the kingdom before the Queen’s disappearance, when seaponies would often go to the coasts of Equestria and visit the landponies there. She told her of creatures called birds that would sing lovely tunes in the large coral-like plants called trees and how, when the sun set in the sky at night, the sky would be painted with the deepest purples, oranges, and even pinks. The thing she most loved to hear about, however, was the grand parties that would be held to celebrate such small things such as birthdays and even sometimes to welcome a new pony into a town. During such parties there would be music, dancing, games, food, and, best of all, laughter.

Pinkie had never heard laughter before, but her Nana Pinkie told her it was one of the most wonderful sounds in the world. It was the sound of pure joy that ponies made when they were filled to the brim with happiness. Pinkie wanted nothing more than to hear a pony laugh. On the day that her eldest sister Maud was to turn nineteen, she built up the courage to throw something her Nana Pinkie had told her was called a surprise birthday party. While the rest of her family was busy at court, Pinkie snuck away to the castle ballroom. No balls or any other parties of any kind were ever held there anymore, but her Nana Pinkie assured her that at one time parties were held there almost weekly. She looked around the once brightly colored coral pillars and marble dance floor that she had been told had come from the land above long ago. Pinkie could almost feel the happiness this room had once brought to ponies, and despite the fact that the decorations and furnishings had now all turned gray and dull from lack of use, she knew that this room could bring happiness to ponies once again.

She knew her sister was fond of rocks, so Pinkie swam out to the garden and the nearby kelp forest to find rocks of every shape and color one could fathom. There were little blue rocks and big pink rocks, quartz and sandstone, dark black obsidian and the most delicate of crystals. She decorated the ballroom with the rocks, placing them on tables and chairs made of coral and stone. She was even able to convince a local musician to play at the party and the royal chef to cook Maud’s favorite meal. By sunset, everything was ready. She approached her family just as they were closing court for the day with a large smile on her face.

Already her father was suspicious. Although his youngest daughter was the one most prone to foolish flights of fancy and more likely to smile than others in his kingdom, a smile that large was still a very, very rare thing. After all, without the Queen, what was there to smile about? Nothing in his opinion. The sooner Pinkie realized this the better off she would be. She needed to know the truth of life as a dull dreary place full of unhappiness and loss. He and his other daughters followed Pinkie at her behest. As they drew nearer and nearer to the ballroom, he grew more and more worried.

“Oh you guys are gonna love it! I just know it!” Pinkie said as she threw open the doors to the ballroom. “Happy Birthday Maud!” Bright, bold, colorful rocks and lively music filled every corner of the room. A table with every decadent dessert one could think of stood against one the walls. Pinkie stood in the middle of it all, waiting anxiously for her family’s reaction. For a moment, no one did anything but stare, but then her sisters’ lips began to twitch. Pinkie held her breath. The twitching turned into an awkward grimace and might have twitched all the way up into a smile if it was not for her father.

After getting over his initial shock at seeing what was obviously a party (one thrown by his daughter no less!) he immediately narrowed his eyes at the small hopeful seapony before him. “Pinkamena Diane Pie! What is the meaning of this?” he growled. The music stopped abruptly and the musician quietly slunk out a nearby window. He knew this hadn’t been a good idea. Best to duck out now while he still could.

Pinkie flinched at the king’s tone. “It’s a party Daddy.”

“I can see that,” the King said. “What I want to know is why you thought it would be a good idea to throw a party?”

“I thought it would be fun,” Pinkie said softly.

“Fun!” King Igneous shouted. “I knew that those stories mother told you would one day lead to no good. This kingdom and especially this family has no use for fun! Fun is merely used as a foolish distraction from the atrocities of life. It helps nothing. It fixes nothing. It is worthless. Fun leads to smiling and laughter. It makes you think that maybe life isn’t so bad, but we know the truth Pinkamena! Life is nothing but hardship and strife. Everything else is a lie. It is about time you realize that and move on from this foolish fixation you have with happiness. True happiness does not exist in this world!”

Pinkie glared at him. “You were happy when you were with Mom. Nana Pinkie told me! She said she had never seen a happier pony in all her life than when she saw you with her. Can you really tell me that what you felt back then wasn’t true happiness?”

“How dare you bring her into this! I thought I was happy then, true, but whatever I had felt back then was quickly stripped away from me when your mother died. I realized the truth then. It’s about time you did too. You’re sixteen now. You need to grow up and stop living a fantasy.”

Pinkie’s lower lip trembled and she felt her throat tighten. Unable to face her father anymore, she swam out a nearby window. She didn’t know where she was going, but neither did she care. She passed the garden and the kelp forest where she had carefully gathered the rocks for the party. Soon she had gone farther than she ever had before. She didn’t stop until her fin was too tired to move and the night was so deep that the ocean was too dark to see. She lowered herself to the seafloor and huddled into a ball, but she did not cry, for seaponies cannot cry, which makes their suffering all the more unbearable.