How I Became the Sea

I stand still in a daze. I can faintly hear voices over the ringing in my ears as they crowd in to hug me. Somepony wraps a blanket around me. There's a wooden spoon put to my mouth; somepony's trying to get me to drink.

"The poor dear is on the verge of dehydration!"

I am? I don't feel thirsty.

"Oh Rainbow, we're so happy to see you alive and safe!"

"We've been searching for over a year! Thank goodness you found your way back to Blaze's home."

A year? But I was only in the mist for a few minutes. I haven't even aged. Have I?

"Rainbow Dash." My eyes focus on the relieved faces of my friends. The ringing dies down.

"What's up?"

"'What's up'?" Rarity scoffs. "Darling, we had almost given up on you! Do you have any idea how much we went through trying to find you? We were just about to circumnavigate the globe again; it was by mere coincidence that Applejack was even docking where she found you."

I lick my lips. My tongue is parched, so it doesn't really do anything. "I'm... I'm sorry, girls."

"Rainbow," Twilight steps forward. "We are going to get you back to your family. Your parents have been heartbroken over your disappearance, and your brother practically drowning in guilt. But after that, you have to tell us what happened to you."

My parents. My brother. A year? How can I...

"Who was with you?"

I look over at Applejack. "Huh?"

"Ah saw somepony with you down on the beach. They done took off faster than a coyote gunnin' fer a plump bite in the desert."

Can I tell them? I want to. Will they believe me? Does it matter?

"Uh... nopony," I swallow. "I was alone the whole time."

"I missed ya, kid." Blaze's voice cracks as he hugs me. He has never been one to maintain personal hygiene to professional standards (but then again, neither do I), but I am shocked when I see him. His rainbow mane is long and frizzed from moisture. His face normally boasting a fine amount of stubble, is hidden away by rugged, untrimmed facial hair.

He has been looking for me all this time.

"I... I missed you, too." I don't want to cry. I don't. But Celestia help me, when that great lug turns on the waterworks, it's hard for me not to join him.

"Mom and Dad were ready to de-feather me if we didn't find you," He laughs. "So, thanks for showing up in the nick of time."

"Yeah," I smile thinly. "You're welcome."

I stumble when the boat rocks again. Twilight flattens her ears in annoyance.

"The water is level. Can somepony explain to me this incessant swaying?"

"Our fishing net's caught," One of Blaze's deckhooves mutters as he peers over the edge. "Probably the reef. We really should have drawn it in before getting this close, cap."

Blaze gives me a noogie. "Nets are replaceable. My sister isn't."

"Whatever the matter, can we please see to it that it's solved quickly?" Twilight asks as her legs wobble.

Two crew ponies begin to work the net in, while a third dives in the water to untangle and salvage what he can. I think to myself for a moment. It's taking me a while to process that I've been missing for over a year. My thoughts are interrupted when Pinkie Pie wraps me in another possessive hug.

"Sorry," She laughs, eyes still damp. "We've got a lot of missed time to make up for."

"Yeah." I nod.

"Hey! Cap, get over here!" One of Blaze's buddies, a blue Unicorn shouts. Hurriedly, he moves over to the side of the ship where the two stallions stare bug-eyed down into the water.

Blaze's face soon mirrors their shock. What are they...?

My stomach lurches when I see the fishing net drawn in and swung onto the deck. Inside the tangled mess, between small amounts of seaweed, a half-pony figure with the yellow top of a mare and green fish tail.

The net is lowered until it drops on the deck. Fluttershy, who has been struggling to get free, now remains still.

"Hey, move that net!" Applejack shouts as she stomps over to it. "There's somepony in there!"

She grabs a portion with her teeth, and tries to work a way to get it off of the "pony" underneath. Rarity rushes off, then returns hastily carrying a first-aid kit. Twilight rubs her chin, eyes narrowing.

Oh no.

All of us stand around her, with the net completely uncovering her. Applejack backs away, mouth agape. Fluttershy's eyes dart from pony to pony. After several long moments, she hurdles for the side.

Using her tail, Fluttershy launches herself up to vault completely over and land in the safety of the sea. I wince when she's caught in a field of violet aura. Twilight's horn glows as she brings Fluttershy closer.

"Fascinating..."

"Twilight, no," I cough. "No, no, no. I know what you're thinking. Bad idea."

Fluttershy looks over to me in worry. She has stopped her futile efforts to wriggle away. Twilight shoots me a curious look.

"This is... this is a hippocampus. This must be the scientific discovery of the century!"

I hold up a hoof. "Yes, yay, cool. All that fun stuff. Just... let her go, okay?"

"Let it go? Are you kidding?" Twilight beams. "We have to get this to Canterlot!"

"Are you insane?" I screech at Twilight. "This is her home!"

Fluttershy watches me, once again, from behind the glass of a large tank. Twilight looks me up and down with that analytical expression.

"How do you know this hippocampus?"

I rub my foreleg. "I... met her."

"I see," Twilight deadpans. "And how did you meet her? Were you with her this whole time we've been looking for you?"

"I just found her by the beach," I answer. "And yeah. Technically."

Twilight sighs. "Tell me Rainbow, are you intimately familiar with the lore of hippocampi?"

"...No."

"Well, thanks to years of full access to the Canterlot archives, I am," Twilight straightens, ready to go into lecture mode. "Hippocampi, in almost all depictions, are sneaky, self-serving tricksters. They are notorious for luring innocent ponies to the water, and subsequently making them disappear forever."

Looking offended, Fluttershy shakes her head to dispute this.

"Judging by the look of things," Twilight continues. "We were very lucky to have found you. That thing likely would have drowned you if we hadn't arrived, first."

"That thing," I growl. "Is a person. Her name is Fluttershy."

"Twilight," Applejack pipes up. The rest of my friends had stood silently to the side, watching everything unfold. "I'm not so sure about this. I mean, this kinda feels like, ponynappin'!"

"While this creature may resemble a pony in certain aspects, rest assured, this is an animal. And it is most likely the one who ponynapped Rainbow in the first place."

"No she didn't!" I snort. "Why do you even believe those old books anyway?"

"While I was positive that hippocampi died off ages ago," Twilight raises a hoof. "Those books are based on factual accounts of encounters with them. Their stories are rife with descriptions of heartbroken ponies never seeing beloved friends or family again, all because a hippocampus took them away. That could have been you, Rainbow Dash."

I grumble in return. "Fine, egghead. Believe what you want."

"I believe in facts."

"How about," Applejack interjected again. "We all just calm down? It's been a stressful afternoon for everypony. Let's just go get some sleep. We'll talk all about this once we're nice and rested."

The girls all nod in agreement. They look back at me in concern when I don't follow them. I walk over to Fluttershy's tank.

"Darling, whatever are you doing?" Rarity asks.

I shove the lid off, and hoist myself up, while Fluttershy stares in curiosity. With a carefree smirk, I allow myself to drop back, and splash into the water. Outside, the girls trot closer, worried faces blurred in my vision.

If they want to stay and make sure I don't drown, they better pull up a chair. I grin as I press my lips to Fluttershy's. I'm going to be here for a while.