Bilge. An ugly name for an ugly town. Flash didn’t like it, but he didn’t hate it. It was a ramshackle coastal town designed solely with fishing in mind. It had its charms, mostly amongst the populace, and a bar to drown time in.
He was the Captain of a crew of two. Considered one of the best in the fleet. One of the only ships that went out into the farther reaches of their corner of the sea. Him, Tree, and Coco.
Flash loved his crew. He loved the people of Bilge. He was a pillar of the community, assisting anyone that asked and listening to everyone’s woes. If there was trouble, ponies knew to go to him.
But whom did he go to when he was troubled? No one.
Being attracted to stallions could be a problem. Not because the townsfolk were against it, but because the dating pool was nonexistent. He wasn’t judged for his tastes, but no one could sate them. Stallions would hook up with him, comment that he was a fantastic lay, then tell him they weren’t interested in a relationship with him.
Then Cobalt came to town. Blue like the sea with the clean look of a scholar and fashion of a stripper. A look from that stallion felt like having every layer of your body peeled back until there was nothing but your organs spilled out on the ground. All the singles wanted closer to him. He ignored them.
A week after his arrival, Flash caught his eye from the docks. Cobalt immediately trotted up to him. Said that he liked him. An interesting catch. He asked if Flash wanted to spend the night with him.
Flash said he did.
Cobalt was a researcher directly under the employ of the Princess. He was there to investigate a dangerous entity that the Princess was worried about. He had regaled Flash with this information while entwined in his hooves, a tangled heap of lust and affection.
He wanted Flash to lend him his boat and crew. Flash readily agreed. He tried to ask for details, but Cobalt replied that it was confidential.
Dropping the subject, Flash nipped at Cobalt’s neck. Asked if he was up for another round. Cobalt laughed. It was sharp, like a fish hook, ensnaring any that heard it. Said that he would love to. Told Flash that he was a catch worth keeping.
They were in the Depths. A dark cavernous expanse few were willing to enter. His crew had been against it, but Cobalt had asked to go and Flash did what Cobalt told him to do.
Nets were cast. They waited. Around noon, they reeled in what Cobalt had been looking for.
Coco killed it with a knife.
The second, they managed to keep long enough to properly see. A guppy. Covered in boils and pustules that leaked onto the deck of the ship. It gasped. A mouth filled jagged teeth.
Cobalt had an expression on his face only Flash could recognize. Pure bliss. The kind he had experienced only when Flash had ‘hit the right note, catch’. He told them to hold it in the cargo. The crew was against it, but Flash was Captain.
And Flash did what Cobalt told him to do.
Days bled into weeks. Abomination after abomination was reeled in. Night after night was spent with Cobalt nestled between his hooves.
A shark with an open chest cavity, its tainted heart spilling green blood.
He said that he loved him. He didn’t feel alone anymore.
A grouper with its back birthing more groupers. Even more from its mouth.
They made love constantly, even when he didn’t want to, but Cobalt asked and Flash did what Cobalt told him to do.
An eel with a head for a tail, constantly snapping at each other.
Cobalt needed his wings. Two bloodied heaps on the floor. He needed to know that Flash listened. Cobalt gripped the back of his head tightly. Flash looked up at him in pure adoration. He got caught on Cobalt’s laugh.
He asked if Flash wanted to be together forever. Flash said yes. He would never have to be alone. He would always be loved. Cobalt’s grip tightened.
Flash was the best catch he’d ever caught.
His crew had begged him not to go out to sea alone with Cobalt. Flash refused. They gave him a knife. Told him to hold onto it. He did because Flash loved his crew.
They sailed out to sea, just him and Cobalt.
When they came back, they brought with them a waterlogged coffin.
They were floating in open water, Cobalt inside the coffin, wood pierced through his body, Flash atop him. Cobalt whispered a name. Flash couldn’t speak it, but he would always remember it. His beloved smiled rapturously.
Cobalt’s chest was open, his beating blue heart within. He told Flash to eat it. Flash did what Cobalt told him to do.
They’d be together forever.
It was bitter. The sea swelled beneath them. Tears fell from Flash’s face. His lover, the liar, laughed, splitting his face in two. He had been caught. Cobalt would be the vessel for the entity with a name Flash couldn't say, and he would be the conduit to anchor him. Together they would consume the entire sea, just as that entity had intended before Celestia had sealed him.
In his darkest moments, he remembered his crew.
Flash drew the knife they had given him. He stabbed his own and Cobalt’s hearts with their love.
A shriek followed by a curse, both spoken and cast.
Flash woke up on the shore. His hearts bled onto the sand. He knew instinctively what had happened. He and the town were immortal, doomed to suffer eternally together.
Two hooves wrapped around him. The solution was whispered in his ear. He wanted to listen to it. Do as he was told.
But Flash didn’t listen to Cobalt anymore.
He returned to Bilge, utterly heartbroken.