How I Became the Sea

Sploosh

Dripdripdrip

Sploosh

Dripdripdrip

We've gone back and forth like this for about an hour. We'll bob our heads to the surface so I can speak, then we go back down so Fluttershy can. This allowed us to have our first full conversation. I mean, I thought it would do us some good.

She's scared. I would be. But once the girls get back, I will convince them to let Fluttershy go free. And if I don't, well, I don't need their permission. She'll be home before we even break a league.

In the meantime, I decided that we should get some things out of the way. I half-expected her to whip me with her tail, or even just shut me out, but she agreed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

She doesn't look fine to me.

"What was that all about? On the beach? You looked surprised, and the Siren... where did the Siren go?"

"Rainbow... the Siren was dying. But it had enough strength to use just a bit of magic on you. It tried to take you away, and it nearly did."

"I don't get it."

"Rainbow Dash, believe me, I am sorry that this happened to you, but... you were lost in Bermudan Mist. Most ponies, when they get lost in that, they don't come out for decades, or even centuries."

"What? It was only a few minutes!"

"For you. A year passed while you were held in there."

"...Why did you wait, then?"

"What?"

"If I could have been gone for that long, why did you wait for me? I would have had to leave, anyway."

"W-Well, I'm over 200 years old. That beach has been my home longer than you've been alive."

"Whoa. Looking good, old lady," There's my smack. "But still, you looked... I dunno. Happy to see me."

"It's a big ocean. I get lonely."

"There's plenty of fish in the sea."

"You aren't a fish."

"What am I to you? And don't just say, 'Super hot'."

"I'll tell you what you're not. You are not the first pony that I found tolerable ever since..."

"...The Sirens?"

"..."

"Why do they have it out for you? I get that they're bad, but why? They can't be doing all that just for the sake of it. Nopony is that evil."

"Yes they can, and yes they are," Fluttershy snapped when she said that. "Sirens are the demonization of everything I stand for! They have no respect for the world, the sea, or its travellers. Centuries ago, there were scores of them spread across the ocean, and they terrorized ponies for game."

"...What about you? What Twilight said, is any of that true? About Hippocampi taking ponies-"

"No."

"Okay, it's okay. I was just asking."

"I'm sorry. It's just that Hippocampi aren't born; they're made. There are only ever two Hippocampi in the world at any given point."

"So you really are the last."

"...Yes. The Sirens took Ash away from me a long time ago. I hoped that if they thought I had left, they would stop coming back for me. Once they got rid of me, the ocean would have been theirs again. Sirens are destroyers. That is all they have ever known."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know. For everything."

"Well, we're alive."

I don't really know what to say after that. Fluttershy's spent over 200 years hiding from monsters that wanted her gone. Who knows how much of that time she spent alone.

Being a hippocampus must suck.

"That's... wow. I don't know what to say to all that." Applejack takes off her hat to scratch her mane awkwardly.

I shrug as I float on my back. I would probably have a hard time believing it. I'm glad that they only sent AJ to ascertain the truth from me; she's a good, honest pony, and she can tell when somepony's winding a fib.

Fluttershy is drifting right next to me. Her cheek rests on my chest as she nuzzles under my chin, probably pretending to be asleep.

"So, she's like a pony?" Applejack asks. "She thinks like one, I mean?"

I nod. "She used to be a pony."

"Golly. You suppose?"

"Mhmm. Fluttershy," Her ear twitches as she recognizes the sound of me murmuring her name. "Sounds like a Pegasus, for sure."

Applejack stares at me. "Ah hope you ain't just runnin' yer gears because y'all are gettin' too attached."

I wrap a hoof around Fluttershy. "So what if I am?"

Applejack shifts uneasily. "Even if she doesn't go to Canterlot, which believe me, Ah hope she doesn't, she belongs in the sea. Ah just don't see the point of gettin' close if ya can't be together."

I raise my eyebrows. "You're not more concerned that I have a crush on a pony-fish hybrid to begin with?"

"Ah had a weight lifted off my shoulders just knowin' yer alive. You can marry a coconut, as far as Ah'm concerned."

I chuckle. "So, you won't stop me if I decide to take Fluttershy up and out?"

Applejack shakes her head. "None of us should have been okay with lockin' her up and shippin' her off to be studied by a bunch of high-nosers."

"Thanks, AJ."

She tips her hat at me, then turns to go down below deck. I give Fluttershy a little shake.

"Hey, come on. Time to get you home."

I'm nervous. I'm really nervous. Fluttershy takes my hoof, guiding my movement. I hope my letter will be sufficient. It was all I could leave to let them know I'll be okay.

I wanted to explain everything, but all I could force myself to write was Gone. I'm sorry. Tell Mom and Dad. I'll be by the lighthouse. I love you guys.