Author's Note

I'm rating this fic PG13 for suggestive themes! Be warned!

Spiral Shell is Rain Puddle's second eldest sister, and this story takes place during Rain Puddle's engagement to Bird of Paradise.
Starfish's love of the ocean was written before I saw Moana, but as I was finishing this fic it was hard not to think of the ocean from the movie. I tried to keep whether the ocean was sentient or not up to you the reader in this story, though. Is Starfish crazy? You decide!

-Illustrations to be added at a later date.-

Spiral Shell, Starfish, and the Sea

By Daisy Daedal

Ever since the sea nearly took me away as a foal, it was everything to me: my family, my home, and my love. I had toddled into the water in a moment of inattention from my parents, and found myself floating in water deep enough that my hooves couldn’t touch the ocean floor. The sea could’ve capsized me and dragged me to it’s dark depths, but instead I rode on top of it gently to shore.

I wanted to repeat the rush of riding the waves again and again, but no amount of salty tears added to vast amount of salt water next of us would keep my parents from taking me to the place they called “home”. I demanded to be taken back to the beach again many times in that dull dwelling, but my desire fell on deaf ears. They thought a sandbox and a wading pool could placate me, and though I did enjoy playing in them, it wasn’t the same.

Eventually, I started school, and saw that we passed the beach on our way to the school house. When they trusted me to be able to walk myself to school, I cut class and played in the waves all day. I did this every day for a week before my teacher came to my parents’ house to ask after me.

I was grounded, accompanied to and from school, and trapped behind a desk even when I was at home to catch up on what I missed. It felt like decades, with my heart and mind constantly drifting longingly to the sea, unable to focus on letters and number that held no meaning for me.

So one night I ran away. I packed three PB & J sandwiches and my favorite blanket into my saddlebag, and day dreamed about my life on the beach. I’d build a gigantic sandcastle to live in, live on coconuts and seaweed after the PB & Js ran out, and get to body surf all I wanted. I spent the rest of the night playing in the ocean, and didn’t have the energy to build my dream home after I wanted to decided to sleep at dawn. Telling myself I’d do it later, I laid two large pieces of driftwood against each other and slept under it like a tent.

Panicked distant cries woke me up hours later when the sun was high. When I stretched out from my curled up position my hooves brushed against cold water that jolted me awake. Somehow, I was laying across one of my driftwood walls on top of the bottomless sea. Far, far in the distance I could make out ponies racing back and forth on the beach, waving their hooves and shouting at me, although their shouts made no more sense than the gulls in the sky.

The wind picked up, and the waves rippling with the driftwood arched bigger and bigger. Maybe I should’ve been afraid, but a thrill ran down my spine, filling me with excitement. I felt my body move with the shaking board under me instinctively: I could use more than just my body to surf.

A sudden wave rose under the back of the driftwood, tilting me forward to tumble into the sea. But I leap to my hooves and leaned back, levelling my dangerous position and glided on top of the waves, euphoria overwhelming me. Nature had given me the speed and power to overcome it.

I was almost to the shore when I wiped out, salty water filling every pore of my body. It made me laugh out loud while coughing. My sobbing parents dragged me out of the tide, but I didn’t care what they thought. I wanted to do it again.

It wasn’t until I was in my bath tub back at home that I noticed a starfish and a surfboard on my flanks. It seemed fate was on my side, and in the face of my special talent my parents would no longer keep me from the sea.

They made me take surf lessons and advanced swimming classes for my safety, but they merely honed my talent. My teachers called me a prodigy, and my talents only grew as I came into stallionhood. Many of my fellow surfers were jealous of my talent as I won surfing contest after surfing contest- I was an unstoppable tidal wave!

I didn’t worry about making friends among my rivals, as in addition to the sea, I had waves of fans. They loved my talent, my dark purple coat, and long persimmon mane. For me, beach bunnies were plentiful, and I shared my body with them as long as they understood my heart was not theirs to take- the ocean was my only love.

I was laying between two mares on an early morning outside my beach hut home when I saw a mare that I had never seen before. Between sleepy eye blinks the movement of the seafoam green unicorn caught my focus. She had a sandy-colored mane and tail with blue streaks in them, and deep blue eyes that made me feel the ocean itself was staring down at me.

“Who are you?” I asked in wonder.

“Shouldn’t you give your name first?” the mare answered cooly, appearing as if the basket she carried in her blue aura was more interesting than I. I gently uncurled myself from the embraces of the sleeping mares, stood to face the pretender, and gave her a dazzling smile.

“I assumed every pony knew me.”

“Wow, how egotistical,” she replied, appraising a shell on the ground before adding it to her basket. I frowned at the mare. I had heard my rivals call me that, and while I didn’t know it’s meaning, guessed it was a bad thing. What reason would she have to insult me? I hadn’t done anything to her. I thought of other mares who had been angry with me and thought I had the answer.

“You don’t need to be jealous of my friends here. There’s plenty of me to share.”

The mare grew bright red and sputtered nonsense- shy mares often behaved like that around me. I licked my lips at her suggestively

“You… you… PIG!” she finally spat. I was shocked- no mare had ever rejected me with such venom before.

“What’s going on, Starfish?” one of my mares murmured sleepily.

“Stay away from me!” the ocean-eyed mare shouted at me as she stormed off. Celestia help me I still wanted to know her name.

“Yeah, bruh, that’s Spiral Shell,” the teal and blue earth pony stallion replied. Spring Splash was the only stallion in Equestria that wasn’t jealous of me, and probably the fact that I was one of his best customers at his surfing supply store was a major reason he held no grudges against me. Spring Splash was a very laid back pony to boot- his getting upset about anything seemed impossible.

“Shelly makes sea shell jewelry. Y’know, like that old saying? By the sea shore? Well, on the pier, but that’s not as tongue-twister-y,”

“Is it a new shop?”

“No, dude, she has way different hours than you. She’s up before the sun to collect shells on the beach, and is already back in her shop before you get up at noon.”

“You make me sound lazy,” I pouted.

“To each his own, dude. Won’t get to closer to Shelly, though.”

“Who says I want to get closer to her?”

“Well, you’ve never asked me for a chick’s name before, bruh.”

Flinging my glorious mane around, I stomped out of the store. I wanted to forget the whole thing, so I made my way back to the beach. The ebb and flow of the tide always cleared my mind into serenity, which helped me focus on the waves. I levitated my surfboard to me, waded into the chilly blue green sea, and climbed on top of the board as the salt water became too high to stand in. As I floated on top of the ocean, the rest of the mundane world drifted away.

As the sun began to set, I eyed the beach bunnies that had gathered during my hours of practice, wondering if any of them had brought offerings of food for me. Among them I spotted a yellow-maned mare, and found myself disappointed that it wasn’t Spiral Shell. I waved goodbye to my bunnies and left for the pier, wondering if the mare on my mind would like to grab dinner with me.

It had taken more time to find the jewelry shop, as I ran into many more fans of mine on the way who wanted my attention, and shaking them off so I could be alone had turned me around. It was a relief when I finally stood in front of it.

It was a small shop shoved between two larger stores. An awning hung over the front of the store, and above that was probably the name of the store spelled out in shells. The front door was a glass door right between two large windows. I pushed it open, and the bell attached to the door jingled.

The shop was barely bigger than my childhood bedroom- and that barely had enough room to fit a single bed, dresser and toy chest. From the store’s ceiling hung wind chimes made up of sea shells. Shell-decorated chests and lamps sat on shelves on the walls, and a long glass counter filled to the brim with earrings, necklaces, broaches, and all other matter of jewelry masterfully crafted out of various shells. Behind the glass counter was more shell-related knick-knacks, and a door that must’ve led to a back room.

“I’m sorry-” a voice called from behind the door. Spiral Shell’s face tightened as she opened that door and spotted me. “Can’t you read? I’m closed.”

“Why bother reading when I’m all the entertainment you need?” I said, flashing a flirtatious grin.

“So do you look in a mirror to entertain yourself?” she quipped back.

“You’re missing the point. How about I take you out to dinner, and I can explain?”

“How about I let my hermit crab pinch you?”

“Hermit crab?” Sure enough, the little cone-shaped shell sitting on top of the register I had thought was just decoration had a little claw stretching out of it that was reaching towards my shoulder. I stepped back out of reach, and it withdrew back into the shell.

“I’ve seen those on the beach before!” I said, my awe slipping past my cool exterior. “Mother never let me bring one home, though.”

“You still live with your mother?” she asked with a smirk.

“No… but I have other interests besides hermit crabs now,” I replied, wiggling my eyebrows at the mare. Spiral Shell sighed.

“I’m not interested in sleeping with you,” she told me outright.

“You don’t find me attractive?” I asked forlornly. I noticed her eyeing me up and down, but she refused to make eye contact with me when she replied,

“I want a relationship, not a one night stand.”

“Who says I would be?” I replied without thinking. Her frustrated blush was a pleasure to see. “You know where to find me when you change your mind,” I said as I left, winking at her. It wasn’t until I was outside that I realized what I had done. How could I share my heart with a mare and the ocean? The ocean might take away her favor, and that terrified me. I ran back to the beach, my heart beating faster for multiple reasons.

“You must’ve used magic to stay balanced just now,” my rival and petite mare Orange Zest accused.

“The only magic here is my connection to the ocean,” I declared. She snorted at me. We were on the beach’s shore after having rode a large wave under the last rays of sunlight. Orange was, of course, soaked due to having wiped out, but I had only been lightly drizzled under the curl of the wave.

“Whatever, I’m going home. Don’t drown before I beat you, ya beach bum.”

“Name calling? You’re just jealous the sea likes me best,” I yelled after her retreating form. Oddly alone on the beach, I stared into the endless blue sea and couldn’t help but picture Spiral Shell’s eyes gazing back at me. I shook my head to try to dispel the image, and levitated my board to me, charging back into the foamy waves.

As the ocean rose beneath my board, lifting me higher towards the blood orange sky, I paddled into position. Pointing toward the beach, my gaze fell on the mare that wouldn’t leave my head, and our eyes locked. I tried to spring to the standing position too late, and for the first time in what felt like forever I fell into the cold embrace of the sea.

It took a moment to orient myself and push myself through the thick pressure of the dark water to the surface, forcing out salt water from every orifice to breath. Treading in place, I scanned the rippling horizon for any trace of my surfboard.

But first I saw Spiral Shell, earnestly paddling towards me with a speed I hadn’t seen a mare achieve before.

“Are you alright?” She asked as she drew closer.

“Not if I can’t find my surfboard,” I snapped irritably. I hated that she had seen me wipe out, and that she thought she had to rescue me added insult to injury. She didn’t say anything else, only treaded in place and scanned the horizon with me. After a minute of silence, she asked,

“Don’t surfers tie themselves to their boards somehow?”

“I don’t need that: the ocean always brings my boards back to me,” I told her. I disliked how dark it was getting, how the tide could be drifting my board away and I’d never see it again. At least I knew it wouldn’t sink, since it was buoyant. But it would be the first time I lost a surfboard. The ocean was punishing me for my disloyal thoughts, I just knew it.

“You’re a famous surfer in these parts: don’t you have more boards?”

“You have a lot of shells in your shop- would it matter if someone stole one?”

“Point taken. But since it’s getting dark, I thought maybe we could get to know each other over dinner?”

I stopped looking for my board and stared at Spiral Shell, unsure if her flushed face was due to the exertion of paddling in place or her question. A wave crashed over my head, and the brief disorientation it caused reminded me of the ever-present sea I was swimming in. This mare was making me forget it, and I couldn’t have that.

“No,” I said, and began to swim for shore.

“What a child,” I heard her mutter. I spun around, splashing towards her.

“I am a stallion. Just because I rejected you doesn’t make me childish!”

“What, and flirting with me and then rejecting me after it was clear you’d won me over isn’t?”

“I decided you were too much trouble!”

“Because I wouldn’t sleep with you?!”

“Because you’re too distracting! Out of all the mares on the beach, your eyes are the most captivating, and I can’t focus on riding the waves when you’re around!”

“My eyes are captivating?” her voice had softened, but I was too upset to notice.

“Yes, they’re lovely,” I told her matter-of-factly. “So you can see why-”

Her hooves lashed out of the water, grabbing my face to lower it to hers. Her lips met mine hungrily, and everything else around us disappeared. To this day I’m not sure how we made it too the shore, but a foamy wave lapping over our entwined bodies brought me back to the present. All colors except for navy blue had been banished from the sky, as the moon and the stars shone down on us. I hadn’t noticed the change. I pushed myself away from the mare beneath me.

“My heart belongs to the sea. I can’t give it away to another,” I explained. Spiral Shell rolled her eyes at me.

“There are different kinds of love, you know. And I’m sure you have more room in your heart than you think. But if you want to be with me, I’m only willing to share you with the sea. No more beach bunnies.”

“I don’t want to get married.”

“Me either, ya weirdo. We only met, like, this morning. Listen- why don’t we try a date, and if we’re not compatible, you can go back to this odd sea-priesthood thing you have going on and forget about me.”

“But could you forget me? I’m pretty awesome,” I teased.

“Likely you’re the one to end up in tears,” she quipped back. I smiled, and kissed her again. It’s true that the sea could’ve drowned us, so maybe it approved. All I knew was that presently, I would enjoy this mare’s company.

The End