Gillianby kitten_girl86ChaptersPrologIn The BeginningKnowledge and ChoiceThe Guys and PreparationPermanencyProlog Three o'clock in the morning, and he was already at sea. As he was every morning fishing for fish but the net stayed empty this time; not a single fish at all, no crab, not even those tiny mackerels, which used to fill the nets and on the top of it all, the net was torn apart. What was happening? He was fishing for his entire life, since he first was at sea as a very young colt, but something like that never happened before. He went down to the lower deck and searched for his diving equipment and for that old bottle of rum he buried together in the ship to get calmer. When he was young he used to dive with nothing more but a snorkel, but times have changed. So he equipped himself with a heavy coat of mail, which was supposed to protect him from shark attacks. Once in water he sank pretty fast, almost too fast. He arrived at the bottom of the sea pretty quickly; well, the water was a mere 50 meters deep. He saw an entrance which led to some kind of cave. Suddenly a little tremor, water began to move him up and down. Some stones, big stones, accidentally hit his head and he became unconscious. He found himself alive on board of his ship. The sea calmed down and all he saw were a few fish scales on his arms. In The BeginningTen years later, now in his mid- 50’s, Sea Trident found himself on the same beach as that day. He had no idea of what had brought him there, so early in the morning. This was a Sunday; the one day he did not fish. As he stood there, staring at his boat, he thought back to that fateful day; the day the fish scales appeared. They served no real purpose, other than to make the other fisher ponies on the docks talk. He used to smile and wave them off but each time they teased him, he felt sad and lonely. He started wearing long sleeve shirts, even in the heat of summer, just to cover the arms. His unicorn doctors were mystified as to their presence and nothing they tried would make them go away. By now, Sea Trident had finally learned to live with them and did not bother to cover his fore legs. In fact, at that moment, he wore no shirt at all. No shirt, no shoes... nothing at all as he walked with a purpose down to the beach; not even his normal fishing boots which he used to put on habitually as he left his home. Cora watched from offshore as the fisher pony walked down to the shoreline. Her magic was not as strong where he lived, upon the top of the slope. She had to rest for a long time to gain enough magic for her song to reach him, but even then, it was only a feeling; not the compulsion it was supposed to be. The closer he got to the water, the stronger her song became. Cora hated to use the Siren’s Song on this pony but he had shown a good heart, even for being a fisher pony. She would watch as he only ever took the really big fish and threw all the little ones back in. She knew that he lived alone, practically shunned by the fish scales on his fore legs, as was their intended purpose. He was considered old by the ponies but to her, he was practically a foal. That was the reason why she had not taken him when she first saved him. Cora knew she could wait a little longer for him; there was no rush. She made sure that he’d only scrape by a living on the fishing boat, and thus give him more reason to stay with her. “He’ll want to stay after I'm finished with him,” Cora said quietly to herself; then she sang louder than ever, directing her voice to the pony now belly-deep in the ocean. Before Sea Trident could stop himself, he was in belly-deep water, standing there just waiting. But waiting for what? He had no idea what was to come. He just knew that he had been “called” to the ocean and he must not ignore it because it would mean something new and wonderful. Cora waited until he was in belly-deep water and swam up to him. Her magic was still weak and he seemed to be completely aware of what was going on. He looked right at her, with the look she had seen on many stallions long before him. They were all the same; they did not accept the changes and they drowned themselves before she was finished. Cora hoped that this one would be different.... she hoped that he’d be the one for her. Cora worked quickly with her magic, her unicorn horn glowing like a full moon, swimming around Sea Trident swiftly enough to form a whirlpool around him. Her magic kept the pool going when she stopped swimming; then her magic descended upon Sea Trident. Sea Trident’s fur fused with his skin, transforming his hind legs into one smooth and powerful tail of multi-toned blues. Large, translucent fins appeared at his hips and his whole body sunk into the water. Air bubbles poured gently from his mouth as the weight of the tail dropped him further, into deeper water. He marveled as the pony years melted away from his torso, hooves and arms. Feeling his face, he knew he looked like his 20-year old self again; his hair thickened and grew very long in length. Actual gills appeared behind his ears, not quite hidden by the mane. The sensations he felt, when the change was complete, were amazing. He could see & hear further underwater than ever before. As he breathed in the water, he could taste the salt on his tongue and it was pleasant rather than bitter or strong. With the transformation complete, Sea Trident experimented with his new tail and found it easy to control, with some practice of course. He marveled at the speed he could swim, how far he could breach on the surface; he loved the coloration of his tail and the youthfulness he felt; he was no longer gasping for breath, even when on the surface breathing air. Cora watched Sea Trident swim and explore from a large growth of kelp near the shore. He seemed so happy and accepting with the transformation, Cora had great hope for Sea Trident to stay with her. She knew that once she told him of the side affect, he might not want to stay all of the time but since he was born land pony, he had to retain some of that despite her magic. Knowledge and ChoiceOnce the novelty had worn off, Sea Trident began to wonder who had caused the transformation. He did recall seeing somepony or something in the water with him but now he saw nothing. He began swimming along the sandy bottom, searching the plant growth and nearby rock formations. “Hello? Is anypony there?” he called as he searched. Cora waited until Sea Trident was facing her and a couple of body-lengths away before coming out of hiding. Sea Trident was surprised and mesmerized by her beauty. Blue color, like Sea Trident, the fish scales of Cora’s tail continued up her stomach. Her really long navy blue hair kept its natural curl, even under water. Her cutie mark was a piece of pastel blue coral over a white crescent moon. She had no hip fins because those were specific to stallions only. Her striking bright blue eyes gave Gillian the feeling of great age despite her 20-year-old youth. She approached him carefully as she did not want him to bolt. “Don’t be afraid. My name is Cora and it was my magic that changed you.” She reached out and took his unresistant hoof. Sea Trident was so enchanted by her voice, he wanted to hear more. She guided him to a nearby stretch of sheltered sandy beach, hidden inside a rock formation. There, she showed him how to crawl up onto the sand while she stayed partially in the water. “Your name is Sea Trident, right?” she asked. He nodded slowly, wondering how she knew. Cora reached over to a small depression in the rock wall and pulled out a few scraps of paper. As she spread them out, Sea Trident could see that they were various newspaper stories about him, from the time when he had first operated his fishing boat to a direct quote he gave on behalf of the local fisher ponies about a bad storm. He even spotted the photo ID fishing license that had gone mysteriously missing the day of his strange fall & fish scales appearance and a crumpled up discarded business report he had tossed overboard two weeks prior. He quickly realized that she had been watching him for a long time and he was ‘chosen’. Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his tail. He looked down in time to watch his tail transform back into hind legs and he completely turned back to his old wrinkled self. “What in the world?” he yelled, his voice echoing painfully in the small space. He looked up at Cora. “Will I always be this way?” he asked. Cora wrinkled her nose before shaking her head. “This ability to change back will only last 3 days... long enough for you to conclude your affairs on land before taking on your merpony form permanently on the next full moon. My magic is not strong enough to do that without it [a full moon]. But if you so choose to not accept... if you wish to remain land pony, you only have to stay in land form during the full moon and the previous 3 days will be just a dream. But at any time while you are on surface in land form and you touch any kind of water in any amount, you will revert back to merpony until you are dry.” Cora carefully scooped a small amount of water. Two small droplets later, Sea Trident was back in his youthful merpony form. Cora hesitated a moment longer. Sea Trident noticed and encouraged her to continue. “There’s one more thing Sea Trident. Even if you do decide to take on the merpony form and go through with the full moon, after that time, you will still be able to turn into a land pony in the same way.... just not to your old form. You would take on a land pony version looking like you do right now. I can only do the land pony transformations on the day leading up to, on and day after a full moon because I am merpony-born. You are land-born, thus still able to revert back. And ageless youth can be a wonderful thing and a curse; I am nigh on 94 years old but I'm still considered a filly in my pod.” Cora smiled as she thought of the pod and hoped that Sea Trident would stay. So far, he was doing much better compared to the others. “Your pod?” he asked as he slid into the water, not wanting to change back. Cora nodded. “How many are there? Any of them like me?” he asked. “My pod is about 150 strong but there are pods all over the world. You won’t meet any of them until the full moon ceremony, if you decide to stay. Currently there are two others like you; Adney, chosen about 60 years ago and Raevon, chosen 17 years ago. When Adney, raised in Fillydelphia, put his affairs in order, he sold his business and bought an island near Haywaii and made it a protected sanctuary site. He built a well hidden farm on the island and he does the land farming for us. Kind of ironic since his name means ‘an island dweller’. Raevon is Manehattan born & raised; now he’s one of our best hunters and mentor to our merpony-born boys, which are few and far between. That’s why we must seek out male ponies like you every once in a while. There have been many, many others but not all accept that the full moon will turn them land pony if they stay dry and they drown themselves by accident. A few were saved by placing them here on the land for the 3 days, trapped in a magical coma, kept dry until after the full moon and then returned to land.” "Those are very strange names, Cora; what kind are they?" Sea Trident asked. "Well, merponies have more plain names and when a land pony comes to the sea, he takes on a merpony name." Sea Trident drifted out to a little deeper water and floated on his back, his tail moving ever so slightly to keep him in place. He knew that this was his best chance at a better life. His fishing only barely kept his head above water (he smirked at the pun) and his only family left wanted nothing to do with him; they would not care if he disappeared.... well, except for his sweet niece, 6-year old unicorn filly, Orchid Bouquet. She was the only one who mailed him a card at Hearth's Warming each year. He’d sell the house ; put all the money in a trust for her so she could go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns when the time came. It was the least he could do for her... maybe write a letter for her to read, explaining why he had to go away. The guys at the shipyard would not miss him much either and he had that tab to pay off at the local pub. Suddenly, Sea Trident realized he had already made up his mind to stay and he was now making a list of what he’d have to do to put everything in order. He also knew that he’d have to be careful... he didn’t want to rouse suspicion. He’d tell people that he was sick of staying in one place; he wanted to do some global travels on his boat while he still had enough youth to enjoy it with. In actual fact, he’d take the boat with him and get the pod’s help to sink it, thus turning it into his new home! Turning to Cora, he took a deep breath. “I don’t need any time to think about it, Cora. I'm staying with you and I know how to do it,” he said. "And I want my new merpony name to be Gillian." Then they spent the next hour discussing his ideas and how to make them work. Dusk saw Gillian walking out of a second hoof shop, having sold all of his furniture except for one small three drawer dresser which he planned to take on the boat with him and his land bed’s mattress (only because he thought it would seem suspicious if he sold that prematurely). He had a huge wad of cash in his vest pocket; more than enough to pay off his bar bill and give a round to the other patrons. The transformation back to land pony came with a little complication that Cora failed to mention. The fish scales on his fore legs had returned but now he also had some on his hind legs. Thankfully, it had been a chilly night so he could justify the long, baggy torn jeans and old forester jacket he was now sporting over his fishing vest. As he entered the bar, many of the conversations stopped. He noticed that there were more patrons than usual for a Sunday night, including a table of griffons, but Gill ignored them; he harbored a secret that made him so giddy, nothing could spoil the moment. The bartender, Mythic Brew, looked up at Gill and noticed the change in him. “What’s got you so happy, Trident? I’d ask if you made a record-breaking catch but you don’t fish on Sundays,” Mythic Brew said and Gill laughed. “Yeah, you could still say something like that. Sundays are good for me to think. And I've decided to get the heck out of Dodge. I'm an old coot... no one cares for the likes of me around here and fishing has been terrible lately anyway. I'm selling my house and taking the boat on a global cruise; maybe try my fishing luck elsewhere. I'm leaving the money I make from the house in a trust for my Orchid and I'm here to pay my bill.... and drinks for everyone!” he hollered the last little bit which was met with a chorus of cheers as he handed the wad of cash to Mythic Brew. As Gill got up to leave, Mythic Brew put a hoof on Gill’s fore leg. “Are you sure everything is ok? You’re not... you know?” Mythic Brew asked. “No, Brew; nothing of that sort and if you knew me, I’d never leave my Orchid like that. If you must know, I've met someone who shares my adventurous spirit and she wishes to accompany me.” Gill knew it wasn’t a total lie but fibbing to Mythic Brew was sour in his mouth. “I've sent Orchid Bouquet a letter telling her that I’ll be away traveling but she can still send her Hearth's Warming card here, if that’s ok with you. I’ll make sure to be in the area during that time to come get it or I’ll send my companion, Cora.” Mythic Brew hoof-bumped with Gill, promising to hold onto any mail from Orchid and see to it that it gets to him. As Gill left the bar, he knew that it could never be himself to collect Orchid’s letters. He and Mythic Brew knew each other from their school days; Mythic Brew would easily recognize him even in Gill’s youthful land pony form and be freaked out by the whole thing. “Maybe someday I can trust him with the truth,” Gillian said to himself as he walked back to his empty house. He bypassed the house, went right for the dock and jumped in without any hesitation. Cora was waiting for him near the pillars of the dock. They returned to the beach cave for the night sleep. They laid tails in water, land pony on sand and slept snuggled together. The Guys and PreparationThe next morning, Gillian met with a lawyer to set up the trust account for Orchid Bouquet and then with a realtor to sell his house fast. Cora might have been helping (with her magic) because Gillian got an offer on the house within hours of posting it and he took the first offer. A condition of the sale was that he still had the house for three days; until the day after the full moon and he could get the boat away (while wearing a disguise) so he had witnesses to his leaving. This dusk saw Gillian back in merpony form on the rocks outside of the cave. He leaned back on his hooves as he looked out on the last rays of sunset. Sitting up, he stroked his hoof through his long mane. Even as a teenager, his mane had never grown that long. He still marveled at the fact that he no longer suffered the hacking cough every time he breathed in deeply. Cora had gone to prepare things for the full moon ceremony so Gillian felt a little lost and lonely. He had no inclination to return to the house or his boat. All of the stuff he was taking with him (laminated photo of him and Orchid taken when he surprised her on her birthday just a few months after she earned her cutie mark, small box of a land outfits [shirts, vests and a couple of jackets] and all the blankets, bed sheets and towels in the house) was already loaded on the boat. Gillian debated about going back to the bar when two large tails broke the surface nearby. His heart racing, Gillian wasn’t sure if he should swim away or wait and see. Suddenly, two heads appeared and somehow Gillian knew who they were: Raevon and Adney. “I thought Cora said I would not meet you until after the ceremony,” Gillian said as he slid down the rock for a more comfortable spot. Raevon motioned for Gillian to follow and he did. They swam together to the rock cave. Raevon -also an earth pony- sported a deep red tail, short black mane and wore a spear attached to a belt crossed over his bare chest. Adney -a pegasus- had a deep green tail, shoulder length strawberry-blonde mane and carried a messenger bag on his left hip. When they arrived at the cave, Raevon dragged himself up onto the beach, presumably to transform back to land pony. Adney stayed in the water with Gillian as they kept the tails in the water and leaned on either side so they faced each other. “What did Cora tell you about us?” Adney asked. “I know that Raevon is one of the pod’s best hunters and you turned your money into an island so the pod had somewhere to grow land food.” Raevon seemed proud at Cora’s description of him; Adney only nodded. From there, the three sat for hours talking about what would be expected of Gillian. Raevon, having reverted back to land pony, raided another depression in the rock – a closet sized one this time – and let Gillian his choice of weapon to learn and carry. Gillian chose a trident-spear since he already had plenty of experience using one as a fisher pony. Finally, while Raevon poured them each a small glass of brandy from a secret stash, Adney broached on a subject he had been delaying for quite some time. “You do understand that Cora is your mate, right?” he asked. Gillian more surprised by the change in topic than the implications of the words, spat out the sip of brandy in a spray, luckily away from Adney. “Try....*cough* Try that one again?” Gill coughed out as he took a scoop of water to clear his throat. “Since Cora is the one who transformed you, she is to be your girl,” Raevon said in simpler terms. “Cora had to endure a lot from the pod to be chosen for such an honor... and the fact that she's unicorn doesn't hurt either. She’s actually the youngest in the history of the pod to do it and you’re the youngest male we’ve had. I was 73 when my Ophelia came for me,” Adney said. “I got you both beat! I was 86 when my girl Pearl chose me. My pegasus wife, Nadine, had just passed away and with no other family left, I was happy to leave that terrible retirement home,” Raevon boasted as he downed the glass of brandy and set to work sharpening Gillian’s spear head. They sat together for a long time, talking about the ocean and Gillian’s plan to sink his boat. Raevon & Adney agreed to help him and they knew of a few young sharks that would love the chance to purposefully sink a (former) fisher pony’s boat. A little while later, Cora returned to the cave looking exhausted. Raevon & Adney said their good byes’ and left the two alone. As they snuggled together, Gillian leaned up on his left fore arm and looked right at Cora. “The boys told me that since you’re the one to transform me, we are to be married.” Cora knew the term of ‘married’ to be the pony’s equivalent to mating. “Does that upset you?” she asked. Gillian leaned forward and kissed Cora on the muzzle. “Not one little bit, my sweet,” he said. The next morning, Gill was back on his boat, building a Princess-sized rope hammock in the biggest room of the lower decks. He had already gone to the local hardware store to get a pair of wall mounted tie rings but left them in the packaging until after the sinking. As he heard the pattering of multiple hooves, he was surprised to see Cora walking on four hooves into the room. She must have seen his look of surprise because she laughed. “Remember what I said? I have the power of land pony legs for the day before, day of and the day after a full moon each month,” she said sweetly. “It’s not that, my sweet.... you’re not wearing anything,” said Gillian as he hurried to pull out a full length dress he had picked out (from a thrift shop) for her. “I figured that if you and I could go for full moon walks on the beach, you’d might like something to wear,” Gillian laughed as he watched her twirl around. The dress was a wrap summer dress of blue tie dyed patterns and Cora loved the flow of the skirt. Gillian was quiet for a moment, thinking about the upcoming ceremony. “How exactly will this full moon ceremony happen, Cora?” he asked. “That’s why I'm here. Traditionally, the inductee gets to decide where the ceremony takes place. The only requirement is that you and I must stay in merpony form for the whole of this full moon, from rise to fall. We don’t have to be together but that makes it easier.” Gillian knew exactly what they should do. “I will move the boat to the back of the dock here, towards the shore and we can be underneath the dock! We can decorate the pillars with plants and aquatic flowers, to make it look like a flower arch. I take it that once I'm permanent that we will be married at the same time?” he said. Cora smiled & nodded. “So the pillars will act as the altar for the wedding. I got something I thought you’d like to wear,” Gillian said as he retrieved a beautiful white lace veil from a closet. The headdress that the veil was attached to was already decorated with natural sea shells of various types. Cora had seen pictures of land ponies brides and loved the idea of a veil for the ceremony. Most merponies would wear a headdress that was passed down the family line but when Cora’s sister got mated, the headdress was broken and not salvageable. Cora had been wondering what she’d do for this one and had resigned herself to not wearing one at all. But here was Gillian, providing her with a wonderful alternative. “Oh Gillian! It’s wonderful,” Cora whispered as she hurried to embrace him. With the help of others in the pod, the pillars of the dock were wrapped and decorated with lengths of kelp and freshly picked aquatic flowers. Gillian guided the boat to the shore beside the dock, doubling the land ties to make sure it did not get loose during the ceremony. An hour before sunset, Gillian was on the underside of his boat, preparing himself for the ceremony. Raevon gave Gillian a pair of black arm band bracelets to wear while Adney brought a gift from Cora’s family: a length of white pearls to wrap around the base of his tail. Adney explained how the whole ceremony would work: Cora & Gillian would arrive to the pillars at moon rise; no one else would show up until just before the moon’s apex; the leader of the pod would assist Cora in the incantations for Gillian’s permanency; Gillian & Cora would then be pronounced mated/married by the leader and then everyone else would leave; Gillian & Cora would remain at the pillars until moon set. “Whether or not you consummate the mating at the end is up to the two of you,” Raevon added just before he swam away, leaving Gillian blushing profusely. PermanencyGillian & Cora met at the rock cave just after sunset. Gillian helped Cora into her veil, which they kept as a surprise to her family. Gillian was sure that if he were above water, he’d be sweating bullets and his hooves would be clammy (again, smiling at the pun). As he held Cora’s hooves, he could feel the tremor in her body too. Gillian embraced Cora. “Don’t worry my sweet. You’ll do fantastic and we’ll be together forever,” he said gently. As the full moon rose into the clear night sky, Gillian & Cora made their way to the pillars of Gillian’s dock. The flowers used turned out to be bio-luminescent and so they gave off a soft, beautiful glow. Time seemed to be going super fast because before Gillian knew it, the pod had assembled for the incantation. Two of Cora’s older sisters stood behind her to offer their support; Raevon & Adney stood behind Gillian in case he passed out. Everyone remained quiet as a beautiful light blue, white/silver haired unicorn merpony approached the arch. She introduced herself as Lorelye, leader of the pod. Rumor was, Lorelye was beyond 250 years old but she appeared just as young as Cora. Her fish scale covered her stomach like Cora’s and her eyes were so big that they had very little white left in them. The gold necklace she wore held a small scallop shell locket containing a real moonstone, which would aid in Cora’s incantation. Lorelye stood under the arch and carefully removed the necklace with her magic, and transferred it to Cora’s neck. “I love the veil,” Lorelye whispered in Cora’s ear as she leaned in for a friendly kiss. Cora smiled as bright as the full moon as Lorelye took both Cora’s & Gillian’s hooves and held them together. Lorelye nodded to Cora at the apex of the full moon and Cora began to sing the Siren’s Serenade, the merpony song of final transformation. The moonstone inside the locket glowed as bright as the flowers while Cora sang the most beautiful song Gillian had ever heard. Gillian felt like the song was washing over him, peeling away the old land pony form and leaving him only the new one he now fully embraced. Time seemed to slow down now as he closed his eyes and simply listened to Cora sing. He did not even notice when the majority of the pod left. When Cora finished singing, Gillian knew there was no turning back and he could not be happier. Lorelye pronounced them mated for life and they shared a very mushy, passionate kiss. Gillian managed to keep a clear head until Lorelye and all of Cora’s family had left but the changes finally overwhelmed him and he passed out into a deep sleep, Cora catching him and slowly lowering him to the sandy floor beneath the dock. Gillian woke with first light and remembered everything. He quickly realized that he had fallen asleep in Cora’s lap and she had slept leaning against the pillar, still wearing her veil. He took her hoof and kissed it lightly to wake her. When she opened her eyes, she smiled down on him. A couple hours later, Gillian was in his youthful land pony form for the first time and in the house, dressed in costume to make him look like his old self. His long hair was stuffed up under a large hat, pair of sweaters made him look fat; any distance observer fooled into thinking it was him. He left the house keys in the mailbox as instructed by the realtor and carried the last box of stuff down to the boat, using an impersonation of his old swinging gait. As Gill loaded the last box on the ship, his neighbor Ocean Techie (latter for short), came out of his own modified steam fishing boat after having loaded it with supplies. Techie only ever fished for prawns and shrimp so the two never had any animosity between them. However, Techie was also such a nosy neighbor; he was the last person Gill wanted trapped in a conversation with right now but Techie saw Gill and waved. “Rumor on the street says you’re out of here, Sea Trident; any truth to it?” Techie hollered. “Nothing like that stays quiet in this town, Techie! I'm off to waters unknown,” Gill replied in a deepened voice. Bare hoof-steps on the dock turned his attention back the way he going. There was Cora, dressed in another of the gowns from the boat walking towards him. She hooked her fore arm into his and pulled him toward the boat. “Come along, my darling! If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the tide!” she said hurriedly. “Is this the companion I heard mentioned?” Techie asked. “Nothing gets past you Techie. This is my new lady, Cora. Say good bye to my former neighbor Ocean Techie, Cora,” Gill said to her. Cora seemed surprised but hid it well while she waved good bye and practically dragged him towards the boat. Cora stepped aboard first and hastened to the steering wheel while Gillian cast off the lines and took a running leap into the boat; something he had not done in years. Gillian was sure that Techie would share that little miracle with everyone within hours of his leaving but he frankly did not care. They could tribute it to his new found love; and Gillian smiled up at Cora, who was now driving the boat. They drove the boat out of the cove and out around to the far side of the rock cave, to the 100 km deep waters off the coast. A group of young sharks waited with Raevon & Adney; Cora could tell the sharks looked very excited to tear the ship to pieces. Cora ditched her dress and jumped back into the water to take control of the sharks while Raevon & Adney took the starboard and port ropes so to guide the ship down to the ocean floor right to where Gillian wanted it. Gillian had already determined where the holes needed to be made and had scored an X in the bottom of the boat with his new spear. Quickly, he set to work tossing the valuable stuff into the water, to awaiting members of the pod. When everything was taken out, Gillian ditched all of his clothes and jumped back into the water. His transformation back to merpony only covered his waist down since it no longer changed his upper half and took half the time. At Gillian’s cue, he watched as the group of sharks tear into his beloved ship and took another lead rope on the left side while Cora and another sister took the right side. As the ship sank slowly into the water, more of the pod came to take up the lead ropes. They all took the strain as the ship dropped suddenly down deep, completely flooded now and falling fast. Sharks used their bodies and dolphins grabbed the ends of the ropes with their teeth to add their strength to the effort of sinking the boat safely. “When land ponies sink old ships to make new reef points, they use magic. This is slower but far safer & greater precision,” Gillian observed; those within ear shot laughed. After what seemed like forever, they were finally ready to drop the boat in place. “Slowly.... slowly.... easy does it... a little more to your right, Raevon.... and.... DROP IT!” hollered Gillian as they all let go at the same time and the boat grated to a stop on the sandy bottom. It was a perfect drop; the shark’s hole in the starboard(1) was right at sand level and the ship leaned slightly on the left. The sharks left satisfied the moment the ship landed. The rest of the pod congratulated each other before departing. “See you bright and early tomorrow, Gill. I'm taking you hunting with the pack and Adney is taking you to our nearest farm in the afternoon,” Raevon hollered as they left with their mates. “I'm really going to enjoy this new life!” Gillian said excitedly as he swept up Cora in his fore legs. The End Author's Note (1) Sailing term, "right side" of ship; "left side" is port. Easy to remember because both "left" and "port" are four letter words. The reason for the prolog being in bold is because that was the original inspiration for the whole story. Someone else had written it for an art piece but I no longer remember who it belonged to. All I did to it was fixing the grammar errors and make it fit the rest of the story. I still wish I could give credit where it’s due and I hope to find the original artwork some day. The name of Gillian in this case, is not pronounced as ‘Jillian’... it's pronounced as if you were saying gills, as in, "Fish have gills".... thus, gill-ian.
Prolog Three o'clock in the morning, and he was already at sea. As he was every morning fishing for fish but the net stayed empty this time; not a single fish at all, no crab, not even those tiny mackerels, which used to fill the nets and on the top of it all, the net was torn apart. What was happening? He was fishing for his entire life, since he first was at sea as a very young colt, but something like that never happened before. He went down to the lower deck and searched for his diving equipment and for that old bottle of rum he buried together in the ship to get calmer. When he was young he used to dive with nothing more but a snorkel, but times have changed. So he equipped himself with a heavy coat of mail, which was supposed to protect him from shark attacks. Once in water he sank pretty fast, almost too fast. He arrived at the bottom of the sea pretty quickly; well, the water was a mere 50 meters deep. He saw an entrance which led to some kind of cave. Suddenly a little tremor, water began to move him up and down. Some stones, big stones, accidentally hit his head and he became unconscious. He found himself alive on board of his ship. The sea calmed down and all he saw were a few fish scales on his arms.
In The BeginningTen years later, now in his mid- 50’s, Sea Trident found himself on the same beach as that day. He had no idea of what had brought him there, so early in the morning. This was a Sunday; the one day he did not fish. As he stood there, staring at his boat, he thought back to that fateful day; the day the fish scales appeared. They served no real purpose, other than to make the other fisher ponies on the docks talk. He used to smile and wave them off but each time they teased him, he felt sad and lonely. He started wearing long sleeve shirts, even in the heat of summer, just to cover the arms. His unicorn doctors were mystified as to their presence and nothing they tried would make them go away. By now, Sea Trident had finally learned to live with them and did not bother to cover his fore legs. In fact, at that moment, he wore no shirt at all. No shirt, no shoes... nothing at all as he walked with a purpose down to the beach; not even his normal fishing boots which he used to put on habitually as he left his home. Cora watched from offshore as the fisher pony walked down to the shoreline. Her magic was not as strong where he lived, upon the top of the slope. She had to rest for a long time to gain enough magic for her song to reach him, but even then, it was only a feeling; not the compulsion it was supposed to be. The closer he got to the water, the stronger her song became. Cora hated to use the Siren’s Song on this pony but he had shown a good heart, even for being a fisher pony. She would watch as he only ever took the really big fish and threw all the little ones back in. She knew that he lived alone, practically shunned by the fish scales on his fore legs, as was their intended purpose. He was considered old by the ponies but to her, he was practically a foal. That was the reason why she had not taken him when she first saved him. Cora knew she could wait a little longer for him; there was no rush. She made sure that he’d only scrape by a living on the fishing boat, and thus give him more reason to stay with her. “He’ll want to stay after I'm finished with him,” Cora said quietly to herself; then she sang louder than ever, directing her voice to the pony now belly-deep in the ocean. Before Sea Trident could stop himself, he was in belly-deep water, standing there just waiting. But waiting for what? He had no idea what was to come. He just knew that he had been “called” to the ocean and he must not ignore it because it would mean something new and wonderful. Cora waited until he was in belly-deep water and swam up to him. Her magic was still weak and he seemed to be completely aware of what was going on. He looked right at her, with the look she had seen on many stallions long before him. They were all the same; they did not accept the changes and they drowned themselves before she was finished. Cora hoped that this one would be different.... she hoped that he’d be the one for her. Cora worked quickly with her magic, her unicorn horn glowing like a full moon, swimming around Sea Trident swiftly enough to form a whirlpool around him. Her magic kept the pool going when she stopped swimming; then her magic descended upon Sea Trident. Sea Trident’s fur fused with his skin, transforming his hind legs into one smooth and powerful tail of multi-toned blues. Large, translucent fins appeared at his hips and his whole body sunk into the water. Air bubbles poured gently from his mouth as the weight of the tail dropped him further, into deeper water. He marveled as the pony years melted away from his torso, hooves and arms. Feeling his face, he knew he looked like his 20-year old self again; his hair thickened and grew very long in length. Actual gills appeared behind his ears, not quite hidden by the mane. The sensations he felt, when the change was complete, were amazing. He could see & hear further underwater than ever before. As he breathed in the water, he could taste the salt on his tongue and it was pleasant rather than bitter or strong. With the transformation complete, Sea Trident experimented with his new tail and found it easy to control, with some practice of course. He marveled at the speed he could swim, how far he could breach on the surface; he loved the coloration of his tail and the youthfulness he felt; he was no longer gasping for breath, even when on the surface breathing air. Cora watched Sea Trident swim and explore from a large growth of kelp near the shore. He seemed so happy and accepting with the transformation, Cora had great hope for Sea Trident to stay with her. She knew that once she told him of the side affect, he might not want to stay all of the time but since he was born land pony, he had to retain some of that despite her magic.
Knowledge and ChoiceOnce the novelty had worn off, Sea Trident began to wonder who had caused the transformation. He did recall seeing somepony or something in the water with him but now he saw nothing. He began swimming along the sandy bottom, searching the plant growth and nearby rock formations. “Hello? Is anypony there?” he called as he searched. Cora waited until Sea Trident was facing her and a couple of body-lengths away before coming out of hiding. Sea Trident was surprised and mesmerized by her beauty. Blue color, like Sea Trident, the fish scales of Cora’s tail continued up her stomach. Her really long navy blue hair kept its natural curl, even under water. Her cutie mark was a piece of pastel blue coral over a white crescent moon. She had no hip fins because those were specific to stallions only. Her striking bright blue eyes gave Gillian the feeling of great age despite her 20-year-old youth. She approached him carefully as she did not want him to bolt. “Don’t be afraid. My name is Cora and it was my magic that changed you.” She reached out and took his unresistant hoof. Sea Trident was so enchanted by her voice, he wanted to hear more. She guided him to a nearby stretch of sheltered sandy beach, hidden inside a rock formation. There, she showed him how to crawl up onto the sand while she stayed partially in the water. “Your name is Sea Trident, right?” she asked. He nodded slowly, wondering how she knew. Cora reached over to a small depression in the rock wall and pulled out a few scraps of paper. As she spread them out, Sea Trident could see that they were various newspaper stories about him, from the time when he had first operated his fishing boat to a direct quote he gave on behalf of the local fisher ponies about a bad storm. He even spotted the photo ID fishing license that had gone mysteriously missing the day of his strange fall & fish scales appearance and a crumpled up discarded business report he had tossed overboard two weeks prior. He quickly realized that she had been watching him for a long time and he was ‘chosen’. Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his tail. He looked down in time to watch his tail transform back into hind legs and he completely turned back to his old wrinkled self. “What in the world?” he yelled, his voice echoing painfully in the small space. He looked up at Cora. “Will I always be this way?” he asked. Cora wrinkled her nose before shaking her head. “This ability to change back will only last 3 days... long enough for you to conclude your affairs on land before taking on your merpony form permanently on the next full moon. My magic is not strong enough to do that without it [a full moon]. But if you so choose to not accept... if you wish to remain land pony, you only have to stay in land form during the full moon and the previous 3 days will be just a dream. But at any time while you are on surface in land form and you touch any kind of water in any amount, you will revert back to merpony until you are dry.” Cora carefully scooped a small amount of water. Two small droplets later, Sea Trident was back in his youthful merpony form. Cora hesitated a moment longer. Sea Trident noticed and encouraged her to continue. “There’s one more thing Sea Trident. Even if you do decide to take on the merpony form and go through with the full moon, after that time, you will still be able to turn into a land pony in the same way.... just not to your old form. You would take on a land pony version looking like you do right now. I can only do the land pony transformations on the day leading up to, on and day after a full moon because I am merpony-born. You are land-born, thus still able to revert back. And ageless youth can be a wonderful thing and a curse; I am nigh on 94 years old but I'm still considered a filly in my pod.” Cora smiled as she thought of the pod and hoped that Sea Trident would stay. So far, he was doing much better compared to the others. “Your pod?” he asked as he slid into the water, not wanting to change back. Cora nodded. “How many are there? Any of them like me?” he asked. “My pod is about 150 strong but there are pods all over the world. You won’t meet any of them until the full moon ceremony, if you decide to stay. Currently there are two others like you; Adney, chosen about 60 years ago and Raevon, chosen 17 years ago. When Adney, raised in Fillydelphia, put his affairs in order, he sold his business and bought an island near Haywaii and made it a protected sanctuary site. He built a well hidden farm on the island and he does the land farming for us. Kind of ironic since his name means ‘an island dweller’. Raevon is Manehattan born & raised; now he’s one of our best hunters and mentor to our merpony-born boys, which are few and far between. That’s why we must seek out male ponies like you every once in a while. There have been many, many others but not all accept that the full moon will turn them land pony if they stay dry and they drown themselves by accident. A few were saved by placing them here on the land for the 3 days, trapped in a magical coma, kept dry until after the full moon and then returned to land.” "Those are very strange names, Cora; what kind are they?" Sea Trident asked. "Well, merponies have more plain names and when a land pony comes to the sea, he takes on a merpony name." Sea Trident drifted out to a little deeper water and floated on his back, his tail moving ever so slightly to keep him in place. He knew that this was his best chance at a better life. His fishing only barely kept his head above water (he smirked at the pun) and his only family left wanted nothing to do with him; they would not care if he disappeared.... well, except for his sweet niece, 6-year old unicorn filly, Orchid Bouquet. She was the only one who mailed him a card at Hearth's Warming each year. He’d sell the house ; put all the money in a trust for her so she could go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns when the time came. It was the least he could do for her... maybe write a letter for her to read, explaining why he had to go away. The guys at the shipyard would not miss him much either and he had that tab to pay off at the local pub. Suddenly, Sea Trident realized he had already made up his mind to stay and he was now making a list of what he’d have to do to put everything in order. He also knew that he’d have to be careful... he didn’t want to rouse suspicion. He’d tell people that he was sick of staying in one place; he wanted to do some global travels on his boat while he still had enough youth to enjoy it with. In actual fact, he’d take the boat with him and get the pod’s help to sink it, thus turning it into his new home! Turning to Cora, he took a deep breath. “I don’t need any time to think about it, Cora. I'm staying with you and I know how to do it,” he said. "And I want my new merpony name to be Gillian." Then they spent the next hour discussing his ideas and how to make them work. Dusk saw Gillian walking out of a second hoof shop, having sold all of his furniture except for one small three drawer dresser which he planned to take on the boat with him and his land bed’s mattress (only because he thought it would seem suspicious if he sold that prematurely). He had a huge wad of cash in his vest pocket; more than enough to pay off his bar bill and give a round to the other patrons. The transformation back to land pony came with a little complication that Cora failed to mention. The fish scales on his fore legs had returned but now he also had some on his hind legs. Thankfully, it had been a chilly night so he could justify the long, baggy torn jeans and old forester jacket he was now sporting over his fishing vest. As he entered the bar, many of the conversations stopped. He noticed that there were more patrons than usual for a Sunday night, including a table of griffons, but Gill ignored them; he harbored a secret that made him so giddy, nothing could spoil the moment. The bartender, Mythic Brew, looked up at Gill and noticed the change in him. “What’s got you so happy, Trident? I’d ask if you made a record-breaking catch but you don’t fish on Sundays,” Mythic Brew said and Gill laughed. “Yeah, you could still say something like that. Sundays are good for me to think. And I've decided to get the heck out of Dodge. I'm an old coot... no one cares for the likes of me around here and fishing has been terrible lately anyway. I'm selling my house and taking the boat on a global cruise; maybe try my fishing luck elsewhere. I'm leaving the money I make from the house in a trust for my Orchid and I'm here to pay my bill.... and drinks for everyone!” he hollered the last little bit which was met with a chorus of cheers as he handed the wad of cash to Mythic Brew. As Gill got up to leave, Mythic Brew put a hoof on Gill’s fore leg. “Are you sure everything is ok? You’re not... you know?” Mythic Brew asked. “No, Brew; nothing of that sort and if you knew me, I’d never leave my Orchid like that. If you must know, I've met someone who shares my adventurous spirit and she wishes to accompany me.” Gill knew it wasn’t a total lie but fibbing to Mythic Brew was sour in his mouth. “I've sent Orchid Bouquet a letter telling her that I’ll be away traveling but she can still send her Hearth's Warming card here, if that’s ok with you. I’ll make sure to be in the area during that time to come get it or I’ll send my companion, Cora.” Mythic Brew hoof-bumped with Gill, promising to hold onto any mail from Orchid and see to it that it gets to him. As Gill left the bar, he knew that it could never be himself to collect Orchid’s letters. He and Mythic Brew knew each other from their school days; Mythic Brew would easily recognize him even in Gill’s youthful land pony form and be freaked out by the whole thing. “Maybe someday I can trust him with the truth,” Gillian said to himself as he walked back to his empty house. He bypassed the house, went right for the dock and jumped in without any hesitation. Cora was waiting for him near the pillars of the dock. They returned to the beach cave for the night sleep. They laid tails in water, land pony on sand and slept snuggled together.
The Guys and PreparationThe next morning, Gillian met with a lawyer to set up the trust account for Orchid Bouquet and then with a realtor to sell his house fast. Cora might have been helping (with her magic) because Gillian got an offer on the house within hours of posting it and he took the first offer. A condition of the sale was that he still had the house for three days; until the day after the full moon and he could get the boat away (while wearing a disguise) so he had witnesses to his leaving. This dusk saw Gillian back in merpony form on the rocks outside of the cave. He leaned back on his hooves as he looked out on the last rays of sunset. Sitting up, he stroked his hoof through his long mane. Even as a teenager, his mane had never grown that long. He still marveled at the fact that he no longer suffered the hacking cough every time he breathed in deeply. Cora had gone to prepare things for the full moon ceremony so Gillian felt a little lost and lonely. He had no inclination to return to the house or his boat. All of the stuff he was taking with him (laminated photo of him and Orchid taken when he surprised her on her birthday just a few months after she earned her cutie mark, small box of a land outfits [shirts, vests and a couple of jackets] and all the blankets, bed sheets and towels in the house) was already loaded on the boat. Gillian debated about going back to the bar when two large tails broke the surface nearby. His heart racing, Gillian wasn’t sure if he should swim away or wait and see. Suddenly, two heads appeared and somehow Gillian knew who they were: Raevon and Adney. “I thought Cora said I would not meet you until after the ceremony,” Gillian said as he slid down the rock for a more comfortable spot. Raevon motioned for Gillian to follow and he did. They swam together to the rock cave. Raevon -also an earth pony- sported a deep red tail, short black mane and wore a spear attached to a belt crossed over his bare chest. Adney -a pegasus- had a deep green tail, shoulder length strawberry-blonde mane and carried a messenger bag on his left hip. When they arrived at the cave, Raevon dragged himself up onto the beach, presumably to transform back to land pony. Adney stayed in the water with Gillian as they kept the tails in the water and leaned on either side so they faced each other. “What did Cora tell you about us?” Adney asked. “I know that Raevon is one of the pod’s best hunters and you turned your money into an island so the pod had somewhere to grow land food.” Raevon seemed proud at Cora’s description of him; Adney only nodded. From there, the three sat for hours talking about what would be expected of Gillian. Raevon, having reverted back to land pony, raided another depression in the rock – a closet sized one this time – and let Gillian his choice of weapon to learn and carry. Gillian chose a trident-spear since he already had plenty of experience using one as a fisher pony. Finally, while Raevon poured them each a small glass of brandy from a secret stash, Adney broached on a subject he had been delaying for quite some time. “You do understand that Cora is your mate, right?” he asked. Gillian more surprised by the change in topic than the implications of the words, spat out the sip of brandy in a spray, luckily away from Adney. “Try....*cough* Try that one again?” Gill coughed out as he took a scoop of water to clear his throat. “Since Cora is the one who transformed you, she is to be your girl,” Raevon said in simpler terms. “Cora had to endure a lot from the pod to be chosen for such an honor... and the fact that she's unicorn doesn't hurt either. She’s actually the youngest in the history of the pod to do it and you’re the youngest male we’ve had. I was 73 when my Ophelia came for me,” Adney said. “I got you both beat! I was 86 when my girl Pearl chose me. My pegasus wife, Nadine, had just passed away and with no other family left, I was happy to leave that terrible retirement home,” Raevon boasted as he downed the glass of brandy and set to work sharpening Gillian’s spear head. They sat together for a long time, talking about the ocean and Gillian’s plan to sink his boat. Raevon & Adney agreed to help him and they knew of a few young sharks that would love the chance to purposefully sink a (former) fisher pony’s boat. A little while later, Cora returned to the cave looking exhausted. Raevon & Adney said their good byes’ and left the two alone. As they snuggled together, Gillian leaned up on his left fore arm and looked right at Cora. “The boys told me that since you’re the one to transform me, we are to be married.” Cora knew the term of ‘married’ to be the pony’s equivalent to mating. “Does that upset you?” she asked. Gillian leaned forward and kissed Cora on the muzzle. “Not one little bit, my sweet,” he said. The next morning, Gill was back on his boat, building a Princess-sized rope hammock in the biggest room of the lower decks. He had already gone to the local hardware store to get a pair of wall mounted tie rings but left them in the packaging until after the sinking. As he heard the pattering of multiple hooves, he was surprised to see Cora walking on four hooves into the room. She must have seen his look of surprise because she laughed. “Remember what I said? I have the power of land pony legs for the day before, day of and the day after a full moon each month,” she said sweetly. “It’s not that, my sweet.... you’re not wearing anything,” said Gillian as he hurried to pull out a full length dress he had picked out (from a thrift shop) for her. “I figured that if you and I could go for full moon walks on the beach, you’d might like something to wear,” Gillian laughed as he watched her twirl around. The dress was a wrap summer dress of blue tie dyed patterns and Cora loved the flow of the skirt. Gillian was quiet for a moment, thinking about the upcoming ceremony. “How exactly will this full moon ceremony happen, Cora?” he asked. “That’s why I'm here. Traditionally, the inductee gets to decide where the ceremony takes place. The only requirement is that you and I must stay in merpony form for the whole of this full moon, from rise to fall. We don’t have to be together but that makes it easier.” Gillian knew exactly what they should do. “I will move the boat to the back of the dock here, towards the shore and we can be underneath the dock! We can decorate the pillars with plants and aquatic flowers, to make it look like a flower arch. I take it that once I'm permanent that we will be married at the same time?” he said. Cora smiled & nodded. “So the pillars will act as the altar for the wedding. I got something I thought you’d like to wear,” Gillian said as he retrieved a beautiful white lace veil from a closet. The headdress that the veil was attached to was already decorated with natural sea shells of various types. Cora had seen pictures of land ponies brides and loved the idea of a veil for the ceremony. Most merponies would wear a headdress that was passed down the family line but when Cora’s sister got mated, the headdress was broken and not salvageable. Cora had been wondering what she’d do for this one and had resigned herself to not wearing one at all. But here was Gillian, providing her with a wonderful alternative. “Oh Gillian! It’s wonderful,” Cora whispered as she hurried to embrace him. With the help of others in the pod, the pillars of the dock were wrapped and decorated with lengths of kelp and freshly picked aquatic flowers. Gillian guided the boat to the shore beside the dock, doubling the land ties to make sure it did not get loose during the ceremony. An hour before sunset, Gillian was on the underside of his boat, preparing himself for the ceremony. Raevon gave Gillian a pair of black arm band bracelets to wear while Adney brought a gift from Cora’s family: a length of white pearls to wrap around the base of his tail. Adney explained how the whole ceremony would work: Cora & Gillian would arrive to the pillars at moon rise; no one else would show up until just before the moon’s apex; the leader of the pod would assist Cora in the incantations for Gillian’s permanency; Gillian & Cora would then be pronounced mated/married by the leader and then everyone else would leave; Gillian & Cora would remain at the pillars until moon set. “Whether or not you consummate the mating at the end is up to the two of you,” Raevon added just before he swam away, leaving Gillian blushing profusely.
PermanencyGillian & Cora met at the rock cave just after sunset. Gillian helped Cora into her veil, which they kept as a surprise to her family. Gillian was sure that if he were above water, he’d be sweating bullets and his hooves would be clammy (again, smiling at the pun). As he held Cora’s hooves, he could feel the tremor in her body too. Gillian embraced Cora. “Don’t worry my sweet. You’ll do fantastic and we’ll be together forever,” he said gently. As the full moon rose into the clear night sky, Gillian & Cora made their way to the pillars of Gillian’s dock. The flowers used turned out to be bio-luminescent and so they gave off a soft, beautiful glow. Time seemed to be going super fast because before Gillian knew it, the pod had assembled for the incantation. Two of Cora’s older sisters stood behind her to offer their support; Raevon & Adney stood behind Gillian in case he passed out. Everyone remained quiet as a beautiful light blue, white/silver haired unicorn merpony approached the arch. She introduced herself as Lorelye, leader of the pod. Rumor was, Lorelye was beyond 250 years old but she appeared just as young as Cora. Her fish scale covered her stomach like Cora’s and her eyes were so big that they had very little white left in them. The gold necklace she wore held a small scallop shell locket containing a real moonstone, which would aid in Cora’s incantation. Lorelye stood under the arch and carefully removed the necklace with her magic, and transferred it to Cora’s neck. “I love the veil,” Lorelye whispered in Cora’s ear as she leaned in for a friendly kiss. Cora smiled as bright as the full moon as Lorelye took both Cora’s & Gillian’s hooves and held them together. Lorelye nodded to Cora at the apex of the full moon and Cora began to sing the Siren’s Serenade, the merpony song of final transformation. The moonstone inside the locket glowed as bright as the flowers while Cora sang the most beautiful song Gillian had ever heard. Gillian felt like the song was washing over him, peeling away the old land pony form and leaving him only the new one he now fully embraced. Time seemed to slow down now as he closed his eyes and simply listened to Cora sing. He did not even notice when the majority of the pod left. When Cora finished singing, Gillian knew there was no turning back and he could not be happier. Lorelye pronounced them mated for life and they shared a very mushy, passionate kiss. Gillian managed to keep a clear head until Lorelye and all of Cora’s family had left but the changes finally overwhelmed him and he passed out into a deep sleep, Cora catching him and slowly lowering him to the sandy floor beneath the dock. Gillian woke with first light and remembered everything. He quickly realized that he had fallen asleep in Cora’s lap and she had slept leaning against the pillar, still wearing her veil. He took her hoof and kissed it lightly to wake her. When she opened her eyes, she smiled down on him. A couple hours later, Gillian was in his youthful land pony form for the first time and in the house, dressed in costume to make him look like his old self. His long hair was stuffed up under a large hat, pair of sweaters made him look fat; any distance observer fooled into thinking it was him. He left the house keys in the mailbox as instructed by the realtor and carried the last box of stuff down to the boat, using an impersonation of his old swinging gait. As Gill loaded the last box on the ship, his neighbor Ocean Techie (latter for short), came out of his own modified steam fishing boat after having loaded it with supplies. Techie only ever fished for prawns and shrimp so the two never had any animosity between them. However, Techie was also such a nosy neighbor; he was the last person Gill wanted trapped in a conversation with right now but Techie saw Gill and waved. “Rumor on the street says you’re out of here, Sea Trident; any truth to it?” Techie hollered. “Nothing like that stays quiet in this town, Techie! I'm off to waters unknown,” Gill replied in a deepened voice. Bare hoof-steps on the dock turned his attention back the way he going. There was Cora, dressed in another of the gowns from the boat walking towards him. She hooked her fore arm into his and pulled him toward the boat. “Come along, my darling! If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the tide!” she said hurriedly. “Is this the companion I heard mentioned?” Techie asked. “Nothing gets past you Techie. This is my new lady, Cora. Say good bye to my former neighbor Ocean Techie, Cora,” Gill said to her. Cora seemed surprised but hid it well while she waved good bye and practically dragged him towards the boat. Cora stepped aboard first and hastened to the steering wheel while Gillian cast off the lines and took a running leap into the boat; something he had not done in years. Gillian was sure that Techie would share that little miracle with everyone within hours of his leaving but he frankly did not care. They could tribute it to his new found love; and Gillian smiled up at Cora, who was now driving the boat. They drove the boat out of the cove and out around to the far side of the rock cave, to the 100 km deep waters off the coast. A group of young sharks waited with Raevon & Adney; Cora could tell the sharks looked very excited to tear the ship to pieces. Cora ditched her dress and jumped back into the water to take control of the sharks while Raevon & Adney took the starboard and port ropes so to guide the ship down to the ocean floor right to where Gillian wanted it. Gillian had already determined where the holes needed to be made and had scored an X in the bottom of the boat with his new spear. Quickly, he set to work tossing the valuable stuff into the water, to awaiting members of the pod. When everything was taken out, Gillian ditched all of his clothes and jumped back into the water. His transformation back to merpony only covered his waist down since it no longer changed his upper half and took half the time. At Gillian’s cue, he watched as the group of sharks tear into his beloved ship and took another lead rope on the left side while Cora and another sister took the right side. As the ship sank slowly into the water, more of the pod came to take up the lead ropes. They all took the strain as the ship dropped suddenly down deep, completely flooded now and falling fast. Sharks used their bodies and dolphins grabbed the ends of the ropes with their teeth to add their strength to the effort of sinking the boat safely. “When land ponies sink old ships to make new reef points, they use magic. This is slower but far safer & greater precision,” Gillian observed; those within ear shot laughed. After what seemed like forever, they were finally ready to drop the boat in place. “Slowly.... slowly.... easy does it... a little more to your right, Raevon.... and.... DROP IT!” hollered Gillian as they all let go at the same time and the boat grated to a stop on the sandy bottom. It was a perfect drop; the shark’s hole in the starboard(1) was right at sand level and the ship leaned slightly on the left. The sharks left satisfied the moment the ship landed. The rest of the pod congratulated each other before departing. “See you bright and early tomorrow, Gill. I'm taking you hunting with the pack and Adney is taking you to our nearest farm in the afternoon,” Raevon hollered as they left with their mates. “I'm really going to enjoy this new life!” Gillian said excitedly as he swept up Cora in his fore legs. The End Author's Note (1) Sailing term, "right side" of ship; "left side" is port. Easy to remember because both "left" and "port" are four letter words. The reason for the prolog being in bold is because that was the original inspiration for the whole story. Someone else had written it for an art piece but I no longer remember who it belonged to. All I did to it was fixing the grammar errors and make it fit the rest of the story. I still wish I could give credit where it’s due and I hope to find the original artwork some day. The name of Gillian in this case, is not pronounced as ‘Jillian’... it's pronounced as if you were saying gills, as in, "Fish have gills".... thus, gill-ian.
