The Little Mermare

The sea was quiet on that crisp, clear morning. Not a sound could be heard, aside from the gulls high above. Then, coming out of the mist, was the royal ship of the Pony Kingdom. Dozens of sailors littered the upper deck of the ship, pulling ropes to keep the sails taut, and hauling nets up to the deck to observe the catch’s they’d made. The sailors joy resonated throughout the ship, as they sang a delightful shanty. The joy seemed doubled in the voice and heart of the Pony Princess, Pinkie Pie. This truly was where she belonged, out on the open sea. She could breathe, taste the freedom and joy of living. Not like back at the kingdom.

Her three sisters, Maud, Limestone, and Marble had previously been betrothed to neighboring monarchs across the land. So Pinkie, as sole heir, was given full responsibility of it, even when her parents were sick in bed. When they’d finally passed, the kingdom mourned for weeks, Pinkie and her sisters included. But, the pink Earth Pony didn’t want to rule. Many times she tried to pass the burden of ruling to her sisters, and every time they denied it. The three elder Pie sisters felt this would be good for their sister, to teach her responsibility. Pinkie, however, despised it. The stuffy bureaucrats, telling what they felt were the proper ways to rule (most of which involved subjugating the poor. If she decided to become Queen, Pinkie would be fair and just.), the snooty nobles detailing the latest fashion for the royal family (if she had to hear ONE MORE TIME about the practicality of cravat’s, she was going to crack. She was perfectly content in a shirt and pair of breeches. Why did clothing have to be considered so meticulous?), the chefs that insisted she try ‘delicacies’ that nearly made her puke (Apparently, a new chef, Applejack, had been hired, and she prayed to whatever deity listened that SHE wouldn’t feed her food that was liable to make her sick. Seriously, what pony in their right mind soaks tomatoes in GRAVY? They wonder why she has such a strong sweet tooth? THAT! That is why!)

The only silver lining in all of it was her faithful servant and childhood friend, Rainbow Dash. Pinkie and Dash had been inseparable since they were fillies, constantly getting up to pranks and mischief. (She remembered one time when she and Dashie had gathered a bucket of water from the well outside the castle, and with giggles that nearly got them caught, waited for one of those extra-snooty bureaucrats to approach the drawbridge, and on the wall overlooking it, once in position, they dumped the water onto their head!

Ooh, they’d got a talking to that day, but it did not miss the notice of the Queen, who’d figured out why they’d done it. After that day, a few less of those bureaucrats arrived at the castle. Rainbow Dash was loyal to a fault, both to the Royal Family as a whole and to Pinkie Pie. Yet, with the King and Queen gone, even Rainbow knew that the longer the kingdom went without a ruler, the more at risk it could be to upheaval.

“Isn’t this great, Dashie? The salty sea air? The wind in your face? Surrounded by nothing but water!” Pinkie Pie squealed, taking a deep sniff of the air as she leaned over the railing of the ship. Rainbow chuckled, following her Princess in the exact same manner.

“Oh yeah. It’s great, Pinks! You can really breathe out here, just taking it all in in one go!”

“A fine strong wind and a following sea! Queen Celestia must be in a real friendly mood,” one of the sailors said. Pinkie Pie smiled with intrigue at the unknown name. Grabbing a loose rope with her teeth, she swung down to the sailor to assist him in his duties.

“Queen Celestia?” she asked. The sailor chuckled.

“Why, ruler of the merponies, lass. Would’ve thought every good sailor knew of Celestia,” he said. At the mention of Celestia and the merponies, the sailors moved to the next verse in their shanty. Rainbow Dash, however, shook her head.

“Merponies? Come on, Pinkie, don’t listen to this egghead stuff!” the rainbow maned Pegasus scoffed.

“It ain’t ‘egghead stuff’, Miss Dash. It’s the truth. There’s an entire world of merponies under the sea!” the sailor insisted.

“AYE!” another, a mint green Pegasus, called. “Queen Celestia’s their ruler. Quite a temper, she has. When she gets angry, any and all must beware, for many a ship's been sunk at sea from the anger of the Sea Queen."

She had indeed heard legends of the merponies (her sister Maud was more than willing to indulge her in the tales. There was something about Maud’s monotone that made the stories pop to Pinkie.) but, she hadn’t heard of Queen Celestia or her kingdom.

Just then, across the waves, a beautiful sound was heard. It was a sound unlike anything Pinkie’s ears had ever beheld, the feeling it made her feel only equivalent to when she threw her first party ever (a going away/happy betrothal party to her sister Limestone.)

“Dashie? Do you hear that?” Pinkie asked, pricking up her ear to try and hear the sound better. It almost sounded like..singing.

“Pinkie, look. I know that you are averse to ruling, and I can understand why. I’m not judging you, but if the kingdom doesn’t have more than just a Princess for much longer, there’s bound to be massive upheaval!” Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie sighed, leaning further against the side of the ship to try and locate the sound.

“Dashie, you know that’s not the life for me. Maud, Limestone, Marble. They’re the ruling types. All I want is to enjoy life, to be able to bask in the joy that other ponies feel. Not as a Princess. Not constantly being escorted by royal guards through the market where I can’t look at, touch, or talk to ANYPONY! Do you know how hard it is to see a festival, a party, in the village, and I’m not able to partake? It was torture!” Then the sound came back, echoing across the sea. Pinkie grinned widely. It was singing! Somepony was singing in the most beautiful voice she’d ever heard. “There it is again! It’s a voice. There’s somepony out there singing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Princess, no good can come from mysterious voices being heard on the waves. A bad omen, it is. We ought to head back to shore, Your Majesty!” the pony at the helm called.

“Nuh-uh! Not while I’m Captain! Follow that voice, helmsmare! Follow it to the ends of Equestria if we have to!”

“Aye-aye, Cap’n! You heard the Princess, you layabouts! Prepare to follow that voice!” With confirmations ringing, the sailors scrambled across the deck in order for them to properly chase after the mysterious voice.

“I really don’t think chasing this voice to the ends of Equestria is gonna yield anything for us but migraines, Pinks,” Dash sighed.

“Fine. 30 miles at most, Dashie, I promise. Then, we can go home,” Pinkie said. Rainbow smiled, wrapping a foreleg around her pink friend as they set off to try and find that voice. In all the excitement, none had noticed one of the fish in their net slip out of one of the holes and back into the ocean, swimming deeper and deeper until it returned to the mysterious fathoms below.