Chapters Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. The next morning, Blue Shell woke up at his usual time to get ready for his dive. Using his magic, he steered his boat to the spot he was, at last, anchored the boat, prepared himself and went for his dive. The water was peaceful and clear, but Blue still made it a point to watch out for sudden undercurrents or anything else that could drag him down. He swam out and searched as far as he had gone yesterday, but had no luck. ‘Maybe she was spooked off by me after all. There’s no chance of me finding her in the same place twice.’ He thought. He searched for the mysterious mer-pony until close to the end of the day and every day after that. He searched for almost a month had no luck. All the while, he continued to collect shells. ‘It’s no use, I’m sure I scared her away. I should just go back and tell the princesses that she’s no longer here.’ He thought and was about to head back to his boat.
As soon as he turned around, he was met with a sudden rush of bubbles and a flash of red and blue. At first, he thought it was his mane, but that was too short to rush in front of his face, let alone stir up as many bubbles as he saw. He looked around almost frantically, hearing and seeing bubbles rush around him like he was being stalked. It was only when he turned around for the fifth time that he was met by a pair of light red eyes very close to him. He was about to scream, but doing so would cause him to lose his air mask. He backed away and was able to see who the eyes belonged to. It was the mare that now made him more restless than a herd of cattle after getting spooked. Her eyes stared deeply into his and Blue was so entranced, he didn’t dare look away.
The mare circled him twice before floating in front of him again. He looked her over a little, admiring her features. The shimmer of her body was like clouds in the sky, her mane simply danced in the gentle waves and caressed her face, the necklace, and bracelet she wore lightly bobbed with the current, the gills on her neck gently opened and closed as she breathed, and her tail simply swayed lightly to keep her in place. ‘Ok, I found her…or rather she surprised me…now what do I do? I can’t very well talk to her underwater. Can she even go up to the surface? Oh geez, I really didn’t think this through!’ He thought.
“It’s ok, you can talk to me underwater. I can hear your thoughts. And as long as we’re together down here, you can hear mind” She said, stunning Blue with her angelic voice.
“So, is that why you turned to look at me the other day? Because you heard my thoughts?” He asked and she replied with a nod. “That’s amazing. I-I have so many questions…but I don’t know where to even start.” His thoughts became slightly jumbled and chaotic.
“Please calm down” She moved closer and gently placed her horn on his, making his heart skip a beat. The mare closed her eyes and focused a little, sorting through his chaotic thoughts. “You wish to know my name and how I’m still around though my species is thought to be extinct. You also wish for me to meet these Princesses you serve” She said and opened her eyes. “Well, to answer your two questions, my name is Sea Dancer. With my magic, there are plenty of things I can do, especially use water to watch the events going on everywhere.”
“Sea Dancer? That’s a lovely name. And my name is Blue Shell; it’s very nice to me- wait! You can watch what goes on everywhere? Through water?” Blue felt like he was thrown for a loop. Even the oldest history books never mentioned the Mer-ponies having magic. In fact, all the pictures from the history books simply had them as the fishy version of normal Earth ponies, and in this case Unicorns.
“Well, I can only use that ability as long as there is water around and only when the sea tells me of events that are causing an interference with the harmony here. Like simple tremors that alert me to danger above.” Through the deep blue of her muzzle, Blue saw her nostrils flare a little. “Furthermore, I think I’m the only pony left of my kind. I haven’t seen any pony else like me.”
“You must be quite lonely if you haven’t seen any other mer-ponies like you. I’m really sorry. We assumed there were no mer-ponies left at all since the Great War. History said seeing a mer-pony was a rare sight, but after the Great War, there were no sightings at all. We thought you participated and were wiped out or simply went into hiding” Blue explained.
“That makes sense since that’s what history said. Many of us didn’t have any kind of magic to defend ourselves. But we sensed the danger and from the war and fled. But the war still affected us and there was great unrest. Everyone started to fear the worst and began to turn on each other. I was just a very small sea-filly so I didn’t understand what was going on. When things got bad, I fell asleep one day and woke up to find myself all alone. That’s when I also noticed that I had grown up. So I guess I was asleep for a very long time. One day, the water tasted weird. I looked for the cause and saw a town called Ponyville where the water was all brown and yucky. I also saw the clouds were pink.” She explained.
“Pink clouds and brown water? Oh, that must’ve been around the time Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends stopped the Draconequus spirit of Chaos, Discord. He caused all kinds of havoc. But now I guess he’s a good creature now because he hasn’t been causing much trouble.”
“Dra…Draco…Dracone-huh???” Sea Dancer tilted her head. “Wait, you mean the mysterious mish-mash creature I see occasionally? That’s what he’s called? Discord?”
“Yes, he’s quite a force of nature. But Princess Twilight’s friend, Fluttershy who’s the Element of Kindness, seems to have reformed him somehow. So I don’t think we can expect him to cause much havoc any time soon.” Blue Shell smiled and checked his oxygen gage, noticing he only had about ten minutes of air left. ‘Oh man, I only had two questions answered. I have so much more I want to talk about. I guess I’ll have to wait another time’ He thought sadly.
Sensing his sadness and slight urgency, Dancer smiled and touched his hoof with hers. “Blue, I’d be happy to meet the Princesses. In your world, from what I saw in your thoughts, your Princesses have horns and wings. They’re very beautiful. It seems to be very important to you that I meet them.” Blue’s face lit up a bit but then his smile faded as he thought about how he would get her to Canterlot Castle without hurting or possibly ending her life. To these thoughts, Sea Dancer nuzzled her nose against his, making Blue’s face turn a little red. “Leave it to me. I will be able to go. Now please go home before you have no air left.”
With curiosity and happiness, Blue Shell swam back to the surface and to his boat. He took off his mask and gasped a little. “Made it with three minutes to spare. That was a close call. But at least I got to see her again. Sea Dancer…such a beautiful mare.” He smiled and started his boat, heading home.
****
Upon returning home, Blue worked on the jewelry and accessories for the princesses, unable to contain his happiness of the day’s events. He could hardly wait to see Sea Dancer again. Blue worked into the late hours of the night and fell asleep at his work desk.
The morning came and Blue Shell was up before the sunlight broke through his window. He paced around his room, and occasionally tapped his hoof on the floor, trying to figure out how he was going to get Sea Dancer from the sea to the Canterlot Palace. He thought of different magic spells that might work, but transporting a large amount of water would be difficult and there was no giant fishbowl lying around to put her in. “Leave it to me. I’ll be able to go.” Her words echoed in his head, but it still puzzled him as to how she’d be able to come on land to meet the princesses. Just then, there was a soft knock on his door. Blue stretched and went to the door and opened it only to be greeted by a ruby red unicorn mare with a red and black mane curtaining part of her face, a splash of blue decorating her nose, a blue and black tail, and large mesmerizing eyes.
“Hello, can I help you?” He asked politely.
“I suppose you wouldn’t be able to recognize me in this form since you’ve just met me in my other form and it’s the first time you’re seeing this one” The mare smiled. And upon hearing her voice, Blue’s eyes widened in amazement.
“Sea Dancer? Is that really you? How did you turn into a pony?” He asked.
“Well, I am a unicorn. I do know magic and I’m, of course, able to use it. But really, unbeknownst to your history books, mer-ponies are able to change into regular ponies to walk on land even if they aren’t unicorns. We just never do this often. And no one would even know we were different since we look like every pony else.” She smiled.
Blue was shocked by this new discovery but was mostly still in awe at Dancer’s beauty. It’s as if nothing really changed, she just has four legs instead of two. ‘She’s gorgeous. I don’t think any other mare has really captivated me as much as she has. Dancer is just amazing…with an aura equal to the Princesses’ He thought and two claps from Dancer’s hooves snapped him out of his trance. “Oh! Um, I’m sorry for staring so much. I guess we should get going.” He chuckled nervously. “I just hope we’ll be able to get in and see the Princesses.” And with that, Blue packed the recently finished commission in his napsack, met Sea Dancer outside, and walked to the train station.
*****
“This train is loud and shakes a lot. Watching it and being on it is much different than I thought. But it’s nice.” She smiled, laying her head on her forearm and letting her mane lightly curtain her face. Her hind legs hung off the seat and moved in sync back and form as if she still had her tail. Soon she almost looked like she was asleep. Blue watched her and tilted his head curiously, not questioning it since it might be something comfortable for her. He simply smiled and watched the scenery go by.
“You’re going to love Canterlot. It’s beautiful there, though sometimes the ponies there can be a little…too high class,” He said, remembering when he first arrived there. He had received an invitation to the palace to have an audience with the Princesses. After arriving in Canterlot, he was a little lost and trying to get some directions to the palace from any pony that passed by. He, unfortunately, had an encounter with a pretty stuck up couple who said a “common pony like him has no place in high society”. It took him a while to learn to ignore comments like that. “But with how beautiful you are, I doubt any pony will be like that towards you.”
“Ponies like that exist? I really was asleep for a long time. When I was a sea-filly, I would practice my magic and saw ponies and other creatures existed in harmony together” She said and sat up on her front legs.
“That must have been before the war. I don’t know all the details about it, but I bet Princess Twilight Sparkle does. She’s very interested in reading anything she can get her hooves on, especially if it pertains to magic. She used to be Princess Celestia’s pupil. She and her friends are quite amazing. They’ve saved Equestria many times with the magic of their friendship and the six Elements of Harmony.”
“Elements of Harmony? What’s that?”
“According to what I’ve been told during my chats with Princess Celestia, she and her sister, Princess Luna, once used to be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and used them to turn Discord to stone. But after some time, Princess Celestia had to use them to banish her sister, who had turned into an evil mare called Nightmare Moon, into the moon for 1,000 years. When Nightmare Moon returned, Princess Twilight and her friends: Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity used the Elements to defeat Nightmare Moon and change her back to Princess Luna. I guess with their personalities, they were the new bearers of the Elements.” Blue explained.
“That’s quite amazing. But what are the six Elements of Harmony? You keep mentioning them.” She asked.
“The Elements of Harmony are Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, and Magic. I did mention before that Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie represents Laughter, Rarity represents Generosity, Applejack represents Honesty, Rainbow Dash represents Loyalty, and Princess Twilight represents Magic. Princess Celestia said when she and Princess Luna used the Elements they were stones. But in the capable hooves of Princess Twilight and her friends, they became pendants and a tiara that matched their cutie marks.” Blue said and pointed to SeaDa’s tri-bubble cutie mark.
She looked at it. “Oh, so that’s what those are. I often wondered when I saw them in use. But this Princess Twilight, she wasn’t always a Princess, correct?”
“No, she was a normal unicorn once and, as I said, Princess Celestia’s pupil. She became a Princess about a year ago now. She’s the Princess of Friendship and her castle is located in Ponyville. It’s large and beautifully made out of crystal.” He said as they pulled into the Manehatten station. He offered her a snack, which she accepted. The train continued on until they reached Canterlot station. They stepped off the train and the sights dazzled Dancer. Canterlot was different than she imagined. As they walked through, many stallions did approach Dancer because of her sheer beauty and store clerks approached her. In fact, she seemed to fit right in with the posh, elegant ponies of Canterlot. Even when passing by Rarity in her store, Dancer was approached and practically rushed in to try out the fashionista pony’s latest design, an elegant satin dress with light gold trim. Rarity almost fainted from how perfect Dancer looked in the dress.
“Blue Shell, darling, who is this fabulous mare accompanying you? She’s an absolutely perfect model for my Canterlot Boutique spring line! Do you think she would be interested in the job?” Rarity asked, obviously very excited.
“Model? Job?” Sea Dancer tilted her head questioningly.
“Rarity, this is Sea Dancer. She’s…um…new to Canterlot. I’m sure she might be interested in the job. But you should ask her, not me. But…can it wait? We have to meet with the Princesses.” Blue said politely.
“Oh my, wouldn’t want to keep you from that. Uh Sassy Saddles, be a dear and set this outfit in the reserved bin for this charming pony.” Rarity said and Sassy escorted Dancer to the changing room to help her.
“Blue, where ever did you find such a charming companion?” Rarity asked.
“For now, that’s a secret. But she is perfect, isn’t she?” He smiled, his smile getting brighter when Dancer returned to his side. “Anyway, we better be on our way.”
Author's Note
Note: I'm still developing the story, so it could take some time before it's finished
Chapter 1
It was an ordinary day for Blue Shell when he was down at the Equestrian seaport. Blue was following his task of collecting beautiful seashells to make jewelry for the Princesses. Getting on his scuba gear, he prepared to go out to his usual spot. He started the boat with his unicorn magic and checked over his equipment a second time before arriving. Blue anchored the boat then put on his scuba tank, mask, and goggles before diving.
Swimming down to a reef, Blue found a few varieties of shells, mostly looking for oyster shells since many had pearls used to decorate the Princesses hair and accessories. Looking around, he found more than he normally found within thirty minutes. He had just found another oyster that was ready to open when something shimmered in the water. Blue looked around, wondering if he had gotten a glimpse of a luminous Dolphin-Shark or even a mischievous fox-fish. Swimming in the direction of the shimmer, Blue Shell looked around, always turning his head when his red and blue mane covered his view.
Venturing further out, he saw the shimmer again and followed it. Getting close enough to hopefully not frighten away what he saw, Blue’s jaw almost dropped. The source of the shimmer was a mer-pony, a breed of pony thought to be a myth. The unicorn mer-pony had a medium red coat with a blue pattern on her back extending down to her transparent tail along with a matching blue spot on her nose, slender arms and dark red hooves with a heart-shaped birthmark on the left hoof, dazzling light red eyes, and a tri-color mane consisting of dark red, blue, and black which gently caressed the gills on her neck. She was also wearing a matching tiara, necklace, and bracelet set and Blue also swore he spotted a tri-bubble cutie mark on what should be her flank. Seeing this mysterious beautiful mare gracefully swim around the gently rolling waves left him in complete awe. It was as if he had found the most unattainable treasures of the ocean. ‘So…beautiful…’ was all he could think as he watched her.
The mare turned her head and looked in Blue’s direction. Blue became startled and his cheeks turned as red as the highlights in his mane and tail. He swam up to the surface and back to his boat as fast as he could, accidentally dropping his bag of shells. “Oh no, the shells! I have to go back, but how can I go back after running away like that!” He climbed into his boat and removed his gear before shaking out his frost blue coat. “Aw man, I can’t believe I embarrassed myself like that in front of such a beautiful mare…and on top of that lost my bag down there too. I guess I’ll have to go back empty hooved to the Princesses.” Blue sighed to himself and was about to start his boat when he heard something drop into his boat and a splash. He looked back and saw his bag behind him with more shells than he had while down there. Some shells he had not seen before. Looking back out into the water, he felt a small grin grow. “Thank you.”
Starting up his boat again, he rode back to the docks and took his precious shell stash home to clean and inspect them. He also took a bath and had a meal before finishing up and going to bed. The next morning, he went to the train station and boarded a train for Canterlot and went straight to the palace to see the princesses. Being escorted by the Royal Guard, Flash Sentry, Blue made his way to the throne room where he was met by Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight. He bowed and greeted them.
“Blue Shell, it is nice to see you. I see you have been successful with your collecting” Princess Celestia said with a bright, approving smile.
“Yes, Your Highness. But this time, I must admit that…it was not done alone.” He said, showing them the shells.
“What dost thou mean? We can see thou hast collected twice thine usual bounty” Princess Luna said in her usual manner.
“Your Highnesses, there was another pony out in the sea with me. A mare. She was…not your usual pony though.” He admitted, walking a little closer. “She was…a mer-pony with the horn of a unicorn.”
Twilight audibly gasped. “A-A mer-pony? A real true mer-pony?! But I thought they were just a pony tale.”
“There are some pony tales that do tend to be true. Mer-ponies are quite rare creatures. They used to appear occasionally. But then when the Great War broke out, it was assumed they sensed the danger and went into hiding. Or maybe even participated in the war somehow and all died. But if you saw one, can you describe her to us?” Celestia insisted.
“She was quite a sight. She had a unicorn horn, a medium red coat with a blue pattern on her back extending down to her transparent tail along with a matching blue spot on her nose, slender arms and dark red hooves with a heart-shaped birthmark on the left hoof, dazzling light red eyes, and a tri-color mane consisting of dark red, blue, and black…and she wore a matching tiara, necklace, and bracelet set. She also looked like she had a tri-bubble cutie mark.” Blue found himself blushing, remembering her. But he shook himself out of it quickly. “But when she spotted me, I didn’t want to startle her, so I swam back to the surface and to my boat…and I accidentally let go of my bag. I didn’t think I should go back down to get it, but before I started my boat, I think she came up and dropped my bag into the boat. And that’s why I have more than what I usually come with.”
“Hm, quite interesting, a unicorn Mer-pony with a tri-color mane, blue markings, and a cutie mark. I wonder if it’s possible that she could be the only one of her kind here. Blue Shell, do you think you can find her again? Perhaps try talking to her?” Celestia asked.
“A fine proposition, sister. Speaking with such a mare would be interesting. But wouldn’t it pose a problem since the mare would need a substantial amount of water to speak with us?” Luna said.
“Hm, we might be able to figure something out. Of course, we can’t rush it. Doing that could frighten her away. So I propose there be no time limit on how long before we meet her. We should allow Blue Shell to as much time as needed to earn her trust.” Twilight suggested, trying hard to hide her excitement and utter urge to do a research paper on Mer-ponies.
“That’s a splendid idea, Twilight. That way she won’t feel threatened or anxious about leaving her home for an unfamiliar land” Cadance smiled. She had watched Blue Shell’s movements and expressions when he spoke about the mysterious mare and she could tell it was small sparks of love.
“Then it is settled, you shall find this mysterious mare and get to know her before we meet her.” Celestia smiled. “And as for the shells, I believe taking some to the Canterlot Boutique for Rarity. I’m sure she can make a dress with them.”
“Of course, Your Majesty. And with the celebration of Princess Flurry Heart’s birthday coming up, I’m sure Rarity will make beautiful dresses with these shells that would only be outshined by your beauty, Your Highnesses.” He smiled and bowed politely. “And I will make a tiara that would be sure to garner everyone’s adoration. A tiara with small pink shells and a pearl.”
“Oh, that’s a beautiful idea. I cannot wait to see it.” Cadence clapped her hooves happily. “She’s going to love it.”
Bowing once more, Blue picked up his bag and escorted himself out. He made his way to the Canterlot Boutique and met up with Rarity. Showing her the shells, she immediately saw the rare quality in them and didn’t spare a moment taking half of the shells. Blue could see the gears turning in her head as she trotted off to the back room mumbling different patterns and ideas. “Well, I’ll leave her to it. I doubt she’ll even realize I’m gone.” He chuckled a bit and left.
