Author's Note

Special thanks for Miles Skywalker for editing this first chapter for me

Where am I?

I slowly open my eyes, hearing the sounds of the beach. I blink a few times, seeing dark clouds above me, ready to rain at any moment. I lean up, feeling a sharp pain on the right side of my stomach. I look down to the source, seeing a large cut, leaking little of blood from where my jacket has been torn. I look around my surroundings, seeing nothing, but ocean. I slowly stand up, placing my right hand onto my wound.

I look to my right, to my surprise, it was my boat, the Mermaid Whisper, halfway gone. The upper half is all that's left, the rest is torn off and scratched from the jagged rocks beneath it.

"Damn it!" I shouted. "How the hell am I gonna get home?!"

I didn't carry a phone with me, usually I have a radio to communicate with everyone, but with the boat destroyed, there's no hope for me leaving.

I turn around, seeing a large mountain of some sorts, with a large tower above. Looking at it is as though I discovered Mount Olympus and going in a zig-zag motion are what I believe are stairs. I question whether I'm a spirit or still alive, seeing a mountain that looks like it could pierce the heavens could mean that I'm dead and should make my way to the stairway to get there. But due to me bleeding, I can admit that I'm still alive and kicking.

"I wonder what's up there," I said to myself. "Is it heaven? Mount Olympus? Some sort of forgotten city?"

I take a wobbly step, then another, making my way towards the mysterious mountain. I make my way along a small stone stairway, making my way up towards a path that leads me to where I need to climb up.

It's been thirty minutes, as I make my way up the mountain, feeling exhausted, my brown hair getting onto my face and pushing it aside a few times as I continue. The cut on my right side throbs, making it nearly impossible for me see clearly. I settle myself down, taking a breather. I wipe the sweat from my brow, breathing heavily from walking up so much than I ever done in my life.

"My God," I let out, looking out to the ocean. "What a walk. There better be water when I get up there."

As I look toward the ocean, I couldn't see a boat in sight, not one speck of smoke or even a horn blowing. I began to feel a loss of someone looking for me. If I can't go back, I guess all I can do is survive in this mysterious place. Hopefully I don't die from a wild animal. It's eat or be eaten when it comes to living in the wild, the strong live and the weak die, that's the law of nature. If I want to survive out here, I need to stay strong and not lose hope.

Somehow, a shred of hope came back to me and it grew a little than I ever felt before.

I bring myself up, feeling another sharp pain from my side, as I continue my way up to the top.

"N-not... gonna die... here..."

Eight more minutes up the path and I can see it, a light shining down to show me that I'm very close. A smile comes to my face, as I rush up to see whatever I can discover. When I came to, I was standing in front of the entrance that has two bird-like creatures looking down at whoever enters or leaves the place. Around the manes are some vines and some moss placed in a few cracks.

"Something tells me that no one is home."

I walk towards the mysterious entrance, feeling a twinge of curiosity grow beside my hope. As I walk beneath the statues, I see rather bizarre looking houses. All around are birdcage-looking houses, covered with plants and moss, due to it being God knows how old. I make my way towards one of the houses, curious to know what's inside. Before I could even look inside, a noise caught my attention. I turn around, hearing the sound of someone singing. The song sounded beautiful; it was heavenly gorgeous to my eardrums.

"Hello?" I call out.

No response, but the singing continued its tune. I followed along a path, trying to figure out where this is coming from. Suddenly, a thought came to me; I never thought about it until now, but what if whoever is singing is a siren. Could it be a siren? Many years ago, as grandpa told me when I was a kid that sailors are brought to their doom by the song of a siren. Their music will tempt men and drown them in the sea. But... if there's a siren here, how could it be all the way up this mountain? No way a siren can fly, they swim.

I continue towards the source, looking around my surroundings, wondering if something is gonna come out and surprise me. I have no weapons to defend myself, all I have is my will to survive. Ahead of me is what appears to be an entrance, with rubble surrounding it. However, I'm certain to whoever is singing is through that entrance.

"Hello?" I call out again.

The singing continued, making me guess that whatever is singing can't hear me or it's some sort of record player that's been playing on loop. Walking up to the rubble, I look around, seeing if there's a way in. I did find a hole to crawl into, feeling a cool wind blow through. I got down on my knees, listening to the singing clearly, along with the sound of rushing water. I go down to my fours and crawl inside, making my way slowly underneath the rubble.

It takes me a minute to reach to the other side, as I get back on my two legs, dusting the dirt from my clothing. The singing sound louder than ever, as I walk along a rocky path and into this large room. It a cave with two statue heads of horses with water flowing down like a mane. The strangest part of these statues are the beaks, whatever is up with that. Between them is a little pond, I guess, with a large pink flower in the middle that glows with a faint light. The light in the flower moved a little, as the singing went up a bit, then the pitch goes a little lower like before. What I see before me is a singing flower, almost like the ones from Alice in Wonderland.

"Uh, excuse me?" I called out.

The singing stops, as a gasp escapes from the flower.

"Hello?" I said. "Is there anyone there?"

The flower rustles, as the light from within it jumps up and down into the water, fading deeper down. I walk down some steps, but slipped on the fourth step, making me fall to my side, hitting the side of my head, making it to the bottom. My vision goes blurry, my head spinning.

I close my eyes, resting them on the rocky floor, knowing that no one is going to save me. I guess this is it... I'm gonna die here because curiosity killed the cat.

"I'm sorry... looks like this is where my life ends... I feel so sleepy..."

"Hello... hello, hello? Can you hear me?"

I weakly open my eyes, feeling banged up from my tumble. Above me is a blur, but right next to my left is something I can't make of. Above the figure shines a dim light, on its head was like a long light-blue sail. The head of the figure has pointy light-blue ears with what I guess is a pink flower tucked between her left one.

"Are you okay?" it asked in a female voice.

"Am I... dead?" I asked.

"You're not dead, silly," it giggled.

My vision slowly comes back to me, as I begin to see clearly that I was face-to-face with something of possible myth. It looked like a horse, but with fish qualities. It has brilliant cyan eyes, freckles, and a collar of some sorts with a pearl in the center. With all my strength, I jumped to my feet and had my back pinned to the wall. My heart races, seeing this creature that somehow brought me back to life.

Now that I'm up, I notice that the lower half of it is that of a fish, making me question if its a siren. How can it be a siren though? I never heard of a siren with the upper half of a horse. Another thing to add are the what I believe are supposed to be aquatic wings that are see-through.

"What's wrong, silly creature?" it asks in a bubbly tone. "Why're you so frightened?"

"Are y-y-you a s-s-s-s-siren?"

"What's a siren?" she asked. "Is that what you creatures call us? I want to know who and what you are."

"I'm... uh-"

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm princess Skystar, daughter of queen Novo, ruler of Seaquestria."

"Seaquestria?"

"It's our underwater kingdom underneath Mount Aris."

"Mount Aris?"

"Yeah. How did you get here? I've never seen a creature ever make it here at all."

I can't believe I'm having a conversation with whatever this thing is. This thing sounds like a chick who doesn't know when to shut her trap, yet this thing seems very friendly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Are you gonna... eat me?"

"What are you talking about?" asked the Skystar, cocking a brow. "I'm not gonna eat you. We seaponies are not barbarians. What made you think that?"

"I'm a fisherman. Since I was a kid, my grandfather told me about sirens who lure men to their deaths by their beauty and singing."

"Never met one. We seaponies don't do that. We are a hidden race from your world to avoid being killed or captured. A few of my kind have been killed by creatures called humans, which I grew up learning that they are dangerous."

"I won't harm you, if you don't harm me."

"Wait!" shouted Skystar in shock. "You're human."

"I am, but don't worry. I have no intention of killing anyone. There was a storm out there and my boat crashed here. I got cut on my stomach and I feel very weak, hungry, and thirsty."

"I noticed. You poor human, you must feel alone out here."

"I do. I can't go back and nor can I find a way. I can't swim either, I'll drown. I'm not a very good swimmer."

"So, you're stuck here?"

"I am. I have nowhere else to go."

"Mind if you stay here alone for a second? I'll be back. I'm gonna heal you."

"Why would you help me? Aren't you scared?"

"Well, I learned something new today. Not all humans are scary, judging by you."

"I had no intention of killing any seapony. I just want to live."

"You stay right there, human. Oh! Before I go, could you tell me your name?"

"My name is Travis. I'm thirty-one-years-old."

"Very nice to meet you Travis. I'll be right back. Don't you pass out on me, okay?"

"I'll try."

She smiles back at me, before sliding her stomach across the stone floor with her half flipper, half hoof arms and slips into the water. I relax my muscles and rest my back to the rocky walls. I can't believe it, I discovered a creature that has been hidden from us for many years. What if the stories of sirens are wrong? What if these seaponies are the true sirens, but are told to scare fishermen. Did grandpa somehow saw a seapony? If they're meant to be hidden from us, how come we fishermen have have spot them? I have quite some questions, but I'll have to wait for her and see if she can answer them.

Four minutes pass, as I felt a chill crawl all over my body. I wrap my arms around myself, hoping the thick jacket I have on will dry soon. My teeth began to chatter, feeling cold all over. Suddenly, Skystar returns, holding something wrapped in seaweed between her teeth. She brings her hoof-flippers back onto the rocky ground, on the left was a cup and the other is a small sack.

"I'm bhack, Travish," said Skystar, mouth holding onto whatever is inside the wrapped seaweed.

"Hey there, S-s-s-skystar."

"My goodnessh," she says with worry. "you don't shound too good."

"I'm c-c-c-cold."

She waddles up to me, placing the wrapped seaweed on my lap and placing the other items to my right. She then takes the wrapped seaweed and unwraps it, showing green mush inside.

"Wh-what's that?" I asked.

"It's medicine. This will heal that wound in just a few hours."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Whenever somepony gets a scratch or a gash, this always works."

"I hope you're right."

"I wouldn't lie to you. Now let me deal with that wound of yours."

I lean to my left, letting her look down at my wound. She takes a hoofful of the stuff and spreads it gently on my wound. It stings a little, but it then cools down.

"There you go, Travis. You'll be healed soon."

"Thank you very much, Skystar. You're too kind."

"I'm such a bubbly princess. I don't have much friends because I talk too much, but I have Shelldon and Shelly. My clam friends."

"How can no one be friends with you? Sure, you talk to much, but your a nice sea pony.

"You really think so?"

"Of course. It would be an honor if I can be your friend, princess."

"Oh you," she giggles.

"Can I ask you somethings?"

"If you answer mine."

"Sure."

"What's your heritage?"

"Well... my father's name is Jackson. He is the one who taught me how to be a fishermen, due to his father, and his father's father, and his father's father's father being fishermen. We catch fish and crab, which is what I was doing before I got here."

"Oh, wow. Didn't know you humans love crabs. We do too. Their insides are delicious."

"Heh... And my mother, Diane, she used to work as a waitress and is now working for a computer company."

"What's a computer?"

"Machines used to get info, watch silly videos, talk to people from distances, and more."

"Sounds neat. Quite a heritage."

"It's nothing too interesting, really. We're not like royalty or anything. We're an average family."

"Well, your family sounds interesting to me."

"Now, tell me, have your kind ever encounter any humans and lived?"

"There have been, but they were luckily gone before the humans could attack."

"My grandfather met a seapony before. Where we're from, your kind are known as sirens, but the difference is that your kind are described as female and upper half of a human."

"Interesting, but that's very weird that you humans think of us with an upper half of a human."

"It's weird, but I guess they assumed you do."

"Can I ask another?"

"Sure."

For the past thirty minutes, we talked to one another about ourselves and differences. She's quite a chatterbox, but I don't mind. My friends talk a lot and I don't mind hearing what they have to say, even if it's five minutes long. During the time, I forgot about thirst, but hunger came hard, as my stomach growls.

"Looks like someone is getting hungry," she giggles. "Luckily, I brought along some sea salt taffy."

"Sea salt taffy? You seaponies have that?"

"Yeah," she said, reaching into her sack and pulling out three pieces. "You know of it?"

"Yeah. When I was six, my mom would let me go to the candy store on Friday and I'd buy me a few pieces of sea salt taffy."

"Want to remember those days?"

"Sure."

She places the other two pieces in her sack, before unwrapping the blue piece. She places the wrapper into her sack and brings her flipper-hoof close to my face.

"Say 'ah'," she says in a motherly tone.

I open up, as she plops the piece into my mouth. It was sour, but sweet. Tastes like blueberry.

"This is delicious," I said, chewing on the piece.

"Blueberry is my favorite."

Swallowing the piece, I look over to the empty cup, sitting on its own.

"Skystar, do you have any fresh water?"

"Fresh water? Yes, we have that."

"Do you think you can give me some? I can't drink sea water."

"Sure."

She grabs the empty cup and waddles over to the entrance of what I learned, leads to Seaquestria, where her kind are dwelling. From what I learned, they were something called Hippogriffs, part bird and part horse. I did tell her that her kind were mentioned in Greek Mythology, by a man named Virgil, a latin poet. A Hippogriff can also represent a symbol of love, which I guess can be true, these once hippogriffs don't sound so bad and dangerous. Another thing to add is why they're not on the mountain and in the water; you see, because humans change over time, they saw the hippogriffs now a days as monsters and because of that the hippogriffs changed their anatomy and hid beneath what was once their land kingdom.

"Here you go," said Skystar, bringing me the cup. "Should be enough for you. You must be thirsty after walking up here."

"It felt like a long walk, but if I weren't injured, I guess I would walk up it without a problem. Good exercise though."

I bring the glass to my lips, gulping down vigorously, until there wasn't a drop of water inside.

"You sure must've been thirsty."

"Haven't really drank anything when I arrived here. I only had sea salt taffy and this drink of water."

"If you'd like, I can get you some more food and water."

"Do you have any fish? I'm down with seafood if that's all I'm gonna have while I stay here."

"We do have fish. Sardines are a good snack."

"Oh! I love sardines. Can you get me some, please?"

"Sure. I'll be right back in a bit."

"Please take your time. No rush."

"Don't worry, Travis. I'll be back in a flash."

And just like that, she slips into the water, leaving me alone yet again. She's such a nice creature, pretty even, for a seapony. In just one minute, she comes out of the water, holding three sardines in her mouth. She waddles up to me, bringing her muzzle close for me to reach. I grab ahold of the slightly wiggling sardine. My mouth waters, as I rip off the head, chewing slowly to savor the taste.

"These are delicious, Skystar," I said, still chewing. "Better than the ones I find at the store."

She drops the rest on my lap, seeing them still have a little of wiggle in them.

"Glad you like them," she smiles. "These are the best the ocean provides for us."

"Here." I grab ahold of one of the three sardines up to her. "Have this one."

"You really want me to have it?"

"Sure. Think of it as payment for taking care of me. I don't have much, but this is all I can do."

"You're too kind."

She brings her mouth towards the sardine, grabbing its tail and flinging it up in the air, landing perfectly into her mouth.

"Good catch," I said, taking another bite into my sardine.

"Thanks. I practice."

Time flies by, as princess Skystar continues to have a conversation with me. This time, I told her about some of my fishing trips, where myself and a few other guys caught fifty crabs. She seemed interested, but nearly anything I say catches her interest. Never have I met someone who actually enjoys what I do at work, besides something stupid I did at some certain point, like falling face first onto a pile of fish.

"Say, Travis?" asked Skystar, rating her head on her flipper-hoof.

"Do you know any fairy tales?"

"Well, there are. There are Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and The Beanstalk, The Little Mermaid, and others."
"What's The Little Mermaid about?"

"It's about a mermaid who fell in love with a human. A Mermaid is like a siren, half human, half fish. So, there's this mermaid who is the daughter of the sea king. She is the youngest of her sisters, who were born a year apart. It was her sixteenth birthday and she is allowed to see the surface, to find the prince, who she fell in love at first sight."

"How romantic."

"Suddenly, a storm came and she luckily saved his life. To be avoided of being seen by other humans, she left him at the beach and goes back to her kingdom. To see him again, she goes to the sea witch, who gives her a potion that will turn her into a human, but she won't be able to speak. Another thing is that she must kiss the prince in the next three days because if she doesn't she'll turn into sea foam."

"Yikes. What a sacrifice."

"She accepts and eventually meets the prince. Things were going swimmingly, until the prince met the princess from the temple, who he believed saved his life. He saw her when he woke up from being saved by the mermaid. The prince declares the princess and himself to be married. The mermaid felt heartbroken, as she joins the celebration on the wedding ship. It was near dawn as her sisters came out of the water with shorter hair. The sea witch made a deal with them and gave them a knife in exchange for their long hair. She was to use the knife to kill the prince."
Skystar gasped, covering her muzzle.

"With the blood of the prince," I continued, "you'll turn back into a mermaid and live your life as you once did. She snuck into the chambers where the prince and his bride slept, preparing to do the deed. However, she couldn't do it. Deep in her heart, she still loved the prince. Instead, right at the crack of dawn on the third day, she falls from the ship, dissolving into sea foam. It is said that the mermaid went to heaven, due to her being selfless."

"What a great story," said Skystar, tears going down her eyes.

"Poor mermaid, not being with the prince."

"It's a sad fairy tale, but it's one of my favorites. The film from the seventies was close to the original compared to that Disney flick."

"Huh?"

"Nothing... nothing at all."

"Say, um, Travis," said Skystar, wiping another tear from her cheek. "Mind if I come back here tomorrow? It's sunset and I need to be home soon. I also need to get ready tomorrow for my performance."

"Performance?"

"I'm gonna be performing a song. A bunch of seaponies are gonna be there and I'll be singing to them."

"Wow! I'd like to see that."

"You would?"

"Sure. You have a nice singing voice. That's how I found you and this cave."

"Do you think I sound... good?" she asked, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "I don't know, but I was thinking my voice sounded shaky during some of it."

"You sounded great to me," I compliment. "Not gonna lie, but you have a great voice."

"Th-thanks."

"I wish I could go down there with you, but I won't be able to breathe and I can't swim."

"Well, I don't mind swimming with you. I'll let you ride on my back. I should introduce you to my mother."

"Well, about that. Don't you think she would dislike me? Your kind have been killed by humans and me being there could cause quite a scare."

"Don't worry, Travis. Not all humans are as cruel as we thought. Like you. Who knows, mom may let you stay here."

"Well, let's just see."

"Can you stand?"

"I think so," I said, lifting myself up slowly.

As I stand up, I take a wobbly step, then another. I make my way to the edge of the entrance.

"Don't worry, Travis," said Skystar, waddling up to my right. "I'll be by your side. Also, I can make air bubbles. They'll help you breathe."

"I hope this works," I worried.

"I'll be with you all the way. Now jump in there."

"Ladies first," I said, letting her pass.

"My gosh, you're such a gentlecolt. Or in this case, a gentleman."

She slides into the water, leaving me by myself at the entrance. With all my courage, I make a leap and plopped into the cool water. I was expecting the water to be freezing, but surprisingly, it was as cold as the cave. In front of me is a bright light, coming from Skystar herself. Before I could gasp for air, a bubble forms around my head, allowing me to breathe. It was as though I was wearing scuba wear, but without the equipment on my back.
I can now see clearly see Skystar in front of me, smiling, as I flail back and forth, trying to keep with her height. She swims behind me, then between my legs, letting me sit on her back.

"Feel okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, giving her a thumbs up. "Hear you clearly as well."

"Well," she said, her tail wagging behind me like a happy dog.

"Here we go."

She quickly swims forward through the water, rocks around us, but there was a clearing for us to go through. I look above us, seeing a school of butterfly fish.

"Wow!" I said, looking around the underwater cavern, seeing coral and sea sponges.

"We're close," she said, swimming forward, then lower.

She turns up through an entryway that gives off a faint pink glow from the other side. When we reach to the other side, there it was. Ahead of us about a mile away, stood the kingdom of seaponies. You familiar with the film The Abyss? Where Bud meets the alien and it takes him to its ship? I'm getting that vibe right now."