A tiny unicorn watched as the weather team pulled the last of the thick, grey storm clouds into position; despite the sun blazing fiercely overhead, none of its heat was reaching the snow-laden ground thanks to the efforts of the pegasi.
The beach was normally a popular tourist destination, or simply a place to go when bored, but when blanketed by a thick layer of frost such as it was now it was bereft of life; apart from the lilac filly crunching merrily through the flurry without a care in the world, red scarf fluttering excitedly behind her, there was nopony to be found nearby.
Most ponies would have found the emptiness depressing, but Sea Swirl wasn't most ponies; growing up in a small seaside village that was only busy during the height of summer, she quickly learned that her imagination would have to provide the stimulation that the lack of amenities in her homestead couldn't.
She found it easy to pretend that she was in the midst of some epic quest and her pace quickened into a canter as she picked a direction that would, hopefully, lead to adventure; the wind sweeping across the coast obliterated Sea Swirl's hoofprints in seconds, but that didn't matter: this was her well-traversed domain, and even sheathed in endless white, there was no facet of it that she couldn't recognise with only the slightest of glances.
For a moment, she wasn't Sea Swirl; she was Sea Swirl the Bearded, using her mighty spells to fend off threats to Princess Celestia and Equestria! She scampered excitedly across the chilly dunes, igniting her horn and engaging in combat with Nightmare Moon who had cunningly taken on the form of a bare, trembling oak tree to confuse her. Nightmare Moon's branch-like tendrils snaked out to grab her, but Sea Swirl was too quick, too agile, and she moved out of their desperate reach easily. A surge of magic flowed through her horn and she unleashed a shower of deadly sparks at the demonic entity.
The only sound, other than her own playing, was that of the water lapping against the shore; others couldn't bear the crippling loneliness, the all-consuming bareness, for very long before they went mad, but this was where Sea Swirl thrived.
Cold never bothered her.
Isolation was a blessing.
Her mind was her best friend.
Before she even realised what she was doing, Sea Swirl forgot about her battle with Nightmare Moon and was yanking her scarf free, casting it to the rising gust without a second thought; her rain boots went next, impulsively tossed aside as she heedlessly dashed toward the frigid stretch of ocean before her.
She was dimly aware that her horn was glowing of its own accord, and she wondered what it could mean; her magic had never been especially powerful, even at such a young age, and it usually took an incredible effort of will to perform the simple spells that other unicorns took for granted.
Some mad drive was pushing her onwards; a second before reaching the water, Sea Swirl leapt into the air. Her graceful arc came to an abrupt halt when her forelegs breached the glassy surface with a heavy thud, and a stinging, icy shock thrilled through her body forcing a gasp of alarm from her as she realised what a monumentally foolish thing it was that she'd just done.
It seemed that Sea Swirl would have very little time to regret her rash actions, however. Cold was one thing, but this was cold. Ice water pressed against every inch of her small body; the air was forced from her lungs, and she felt numbing fingers encircle her legs and drag her downwards to the murky void far below.
Sea Swirl kicked. All the energy had been sapped from her body just trying to stay warm, and her legs were heavy and tired; her head eventually broke through the cloying liquid, and she sucked in a grateful, though stinging, lungful of breath. She wiped her clinging violet mane from her eyes and tried to puzzle out what had possessed her to do such a silly thing. Rational thought was slow to return.
A shrill cry interrupted her speculation.
Seeking out the origin of the plaintive wail gave Sea Swirl a renewed sense of vigour, and she swam in the direction that she guessed the noise was coming from; there was a small – normally enclosed and safe when the tide was out, but treacherous in conditions such as these – rock pool that foals liked to play in, and for a moment, she was worried that somepony had become trapped, entangled amongst the ferns and reeds. There weren't that many families around these parts, and while she hurried to the pool, she tried to think who it could possibly be.
No, not somepony, something. The encroaching darkness as the sun was hidden from sight by the pegasi's fog, as well as the snow-laden vegetation it was mired in, made it difficult to work out exactly what the beast was, and Sea Swirl approached the odd creature hesitantly. It was rather short and stubby, barely larger than a foal, with a rounded head and blunt muzzle. Its leathery hide was a lustrous silvery-grey. Its eyes were intriguing, glittering black jewels; narrow and onyx-like, they stared out at her apprehensively.
When Sea Swirl was upon it, it rocked and quivered from side to side, trying to loose itself from its unplanned entrenchment. It only succeeded in becoming further ensnared in the briar.
“Hey, hey,” Sea Swirl said, trying to speak soothingly regardless of how much her teeth were chattering. “I'm not going to hurt you, little one.” Her own discomfort was forgotten as she saw the state that the creature was in. Judging by the way that the vines were digging into its soft under flesh, it had been stuck here for some time. If she hadn't wandered by when she did …
Sea Swirl wondered how it was that the animal had become trapped here. Had it been swimming along with its family and got swept off course by a strong current? Were they still out there somewhere, looking for it? She hoped so. She didn't like the idea of releasing it only for it to be lost and alone in the vastness of the ocean. Maybe it had come to this place looking for adventure, too?
Once more, the creature flailed about as Sea Swirl got closer to where it was trapped. She was practically brushing against its hide now and it wasn't the least bit happy about that. “I'm sorry,” she said through gritted teeth as the animal bucked against her, a blow from its powerful fluke almost sending her back into the deeper water, “but I need to cut away these reeds or you're not gonna get out of here.” Whether it somehow understood her words, or was simply reacting to her reassuring demeanour, the creature began to relax and allowed the filly to work.
With some brisk hoofwork, Sea Swirl was able to snap, pull and twist at the plants, reeds and assorted other plant matter trapping the animal until it was able to wiggle the rest of the way out of the gunk by itself; with a mighty beat of its fins, it cleared the rock pool and was once more back in the open sea.
The creature was happy to be free of its confinement, if the way it frolicked was anything to go by; it darted through the water like a missile, occasionally launching itself into the air, before crashing back down and sending icy droplets scattering everywhere. Sea Swirl couldn't help but giggle at its antics, and she wondered if it had been the creature itself that, somehow, compelled her to come here, disregarding her own safety in order to rescue it.
Sea Swirl was about to make her way back to the shore now that the strange animal had disappeared from sight, but she was halted in her tracks by two graceful forms cutting through the surf; she moved away slowly hoping to avoid their attention, treading water as her weary legs worked to get her to dry land in one piece, when she realised that they were quickly approaching her location. They were similar in appearance to the creature she'd just helped, only several times larger. At least twice as big as a fully grown stallion, Sea Swirl swallowed nervously when it dawned on her that there was no way to make it to the safety of the beach before they reached her.
They stopped no more than twenty feet away; the smaller creature, their child, continued in an almost bashful fashion toward her. Sea Swirl stayed rigid, not daring to move a muscle; she figured that it was probably best to let whatever was going to happen happen. She didn't sense any malice from the animals, and she doubted there was a whole lot the smaller one could do to her given how easily it had been defeated by some overgrown flora.
Right. And the water around her was turning yellow because of sea ponies.
The strange animal drew its snub-hosed head level with Sea Swirl's and … nuzzled against it softly. No more than a few seconds elapsed before it swam back to its parents and they departed to the ocean depths together.
Sea Swirl stared at them, her eyes going wide; it took a few moments for it to register with her what had just occurred, and when the realisation hit, she burst out laughing. It was something she'd been told off herself for so many times by cranky relatives.
The ill-mannered child was leaving without having said thank you and its parents were making sure it remembered to be civil when somepony did something nice for it. “You're welcome,” Sea Swirl said quietly to the withdrawing family.
By the time she made it back to the bank, the surge of adrenaline that had kept her going while she rescued the animal was finally beginning to wear off and the exhausted filly slumped, too tired to even think about limping to the warmth of home, into the snow. She was so faint she didn't even notice how cold it was. She just wanted to sleep.
“Sea Swirl!” a voice called as if from a great distance. “For Celestia's sake, what the hay were you thinking going swimming in this weather?” It was at once scolding and concerned, and Sea Swirl guessed that the pony it belonged to was her father, Tempest.
“It's-” she struggled gamely to her feet, but to no avail. “It's a long story.” No doubt, she was going to suffer a heavy cold after this ordeal, but Sea Swirl smiled contentedly all the same.
“I bet,” her father replied, leaning down to scoop the filly up in his forelegs. He paused, noticing something unusual. “Did you dye your mane?”
“Huh?”
Tempest plucked at the crest of her hair, bringing it into Sea Swirl's field of vision. There was a streak of light blue running through the formerly unbroken violet strands. “It's the same on your tail, too,” he added. “And-”
“And what?” asked Sea Swirl, swaying in his legs slightly as her father's dramatic pause left her feeling uneasy about what he'd possibly found.
“You have your cutie mark.” Just the faintest note of pride laced his voice.
“What is it?”
“It looks like two dolphins to me. They're the same colours as your mane.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I've never heard of anything like that happening before. It must mean-”
“Mean what?” Sea Swirl asked, struggling to keep her heavy eyes open.
“What I've always suspected,” Tempest replied, tenderly touching Sea Swirl's nose with the tip of a hoof, “that you're a very special filly.”
