Once upon a time in a mysterious kingdom underneath the cool blue sea, their lived a beautiful young seapony named Flutter-Pearl. She was the daughter of the King of the Sea as well as a curious soul who loved to explore the ocean she called home, but the place she longed to explore was the world and the ponies and other creatures above the water. She always wanted to know what it was like to live on land, but she was usually too afraid to go against her father’s wishes… until one fateful night, all of that changed.
One night while everyone was asleep, Flutter-Pearl thought that this was the perfect opportunity to go to the surface without getting caught. She slipped out of her room undetected and swam up until she finally reached the surface world. When her head broke through the waves, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She was immediately met with the most beautiful night sky she had ever seen in her life; the sky was a clear black with little tiny stars scattered across it for as far as the eye can see and a full moon was its grand centerpiece.
Flutter-Pearl was so entranced by the scene that she began to sing to herself in the most beautiful voice anypony would ever hear. Unbeknownst to her, a small ship was sailing her way and one of the ponies that were on the ship heard her singing. It was an Earth pony stallion with a red coat, orange hair, and green eyes. He gazed off the side of the ship to see if he could find the source, but he could see no sign of anypony.
Just as Flutter-Pearl was about to begin her second verse, she saw the ship and she dove back into the water in terror. The stallion on the ship was disappointed that the singing stopped, but then he saw something in the water. It was a silhouette of Flutter-Pearl. He looked at her with wide eyes before Flutter-Pearl finally took notice. When she met the pony’s eyes, she couldn’t turn her gaze away from him, her eyes transfixed on his calm face. The stallion felt something pulling at his heartstrings as he looked at the mare; she felt the same way towards him.
“Who is that?” Flutter-Pearl wondered aloud, her eyes wide with wonder.
But soon, their mysterious and romantic moment was abruptly interrupted by a loud rumble of thunder and an enormous crash of lightning. There was a huge thunderstorm coming and fast. Flutter-Pearl was terrified; she didn’t know what to do in a storm. But then she saw that the ship was being tossed around by the roaring waves and soon enough, it was hit by an enormous rock and she saw that it was beginning to sink. She turned tail in fear and resolved to swim home when she heard a mighty crack of thunder followed by a loud splash. Flutter-Pearl looked in horror to see the same stallion from before sinking in the ocean.
“Oh no!” She cried, swimming after him.
She didn’t hesitate, scooping up her Prince in her hooves and attempted to keep his head above the water. Shouldering his weight, she swam towards the nearest beach she could find. By the time she reached it, she slumped the Prince’s body on the sand and tried to catch her breath.
“Hello! Hello, stranger?! Can you hear me?! Wake up! Please, wake up!” Flutter-Pearl whispered, unsure how to help him breathe. She shook him gently once, then again, pleading for him to open his eyes.
Then she had an idea; she decided to sing to him to see if he could hear her. She sang a slow calming tune to the stranger and just as the sky was beginning to clear up from the storm, the stranger coughed and sputtered the water that had been in his lungs. Flutter-Pearl kept on singing, this time in a happy tone and the stallion finally noticed.
“Wha-what? Who… who are you… so… pretty…” The pony mumbled in a voice barely over a whisper.
“Prince Mac! Where are you? Mac, answer me!” An unfamiliar voice called from somewhere unknown. Flutter-Pearl gasped and dove back under the waves, not wanting to be caught.
“Oh, Mac! Hang on, I’m coming!” A young Alicorn mare cried with a mixture of relief and panic in her tone. She ran down to the beach near the Prince and pulled him further away from the water.
“Who… who was that… that mare… she saved me…” The pony now dubbed Prince Mac said muttered.
“Hang on, Mac! You’ll be alright.” The mare said, pulling the Prince onto her back. With some struggle she spread her wings and flew off towards the palace.
Flutter-Pearl watched the exchange just below the water a few feet away. Her mind was buzzing with the words he had said.
“He said I was pretty, he looked so… happy. Even though he almost died he… he looked at me like… he loved me.” Flutter-Pearl said with a mixture of happiness and sadness in her tone as a blush crept its way into her cheeks.
With a small frown, she swam back home and back into bed without being seen. While unknown to the young mermare, the local Sea Witch Starfish Glimmer took notice of the merpony Princess’s romantic interest. Unlike regular merponies, this mysterious creature harnessed a strange magic that allowed her to do anything. She lived in a part of the sea where nopony dared enter nicknamed the Graveyard of Ships.
The witch usually kept to herself and did not converse with many sea creatures; only those who dared to enter her domain. Her magic allowed her to keep an eye on both pony and merpony worlds. Until now, her efforts to achieve her goal had been futile. However, Flutter-Pearl’s newfound feeling for Prince Mac gave the witch an opportunity too perfect to resist.
“A merpony in love with an Earth pony? What are the odds?” She chuckled, gazing into an enchanted globe that reflected an image of Flutter-Pearl daydreaming about the Prince while at home. “This is perfect… and I believe I just know how to help this poor little soul get what she wants.”
Starfish then went to her desk, wrote something down on a piece of kelp, gave it to an eel and said, “I want you to take this to Princess Flutter-Pearl, post haste.”
At the palace, Flutter-Pearl was slowly swimming through the gardens when she met the eel. She saw the parchment in his mouth and cocked an eyebrow.
“Hello there, little friend. What have you got there?” She asked, taking the parchment in her hooves and reading it to herself.
After she finished reading the message, Flutter-Pearl felt her stomach drop and her eyes widen in terror; she couldn’t believe it. When she saw the eel indicating her to follow him, she realized that this was no joke. Burning with her natural curiosity, Flutter-Pearl reluctantly followed the eel until she was finally out of sight.
Then Flutter-Pearl finally made her way to the Graveyard of Ships, her eyes cautiously looking around the area for any dangers. She soon found herself in one of the enormous sunken ships when she heard an unfamiliar voice call out,
“Come in, Princess.”
Flutter-Pearl looked and saw the Witch Starfish Glimmer herself sitting at an old desk in what used to be the captain’s quarter’s of the ship.
“Starfish Glimmer?” She asked nervously as she swam closer to the desk.
“That’s right, child. It’s me.” Starfish said calmly. “I hear you have a bit of a problem.”
“…Yes, I do. How… how did you know?” Flutter-Pearl asked.
“I have my ways, but that’s not important. Tell me, what brings you to my humble abode?” The Witch asked with a friendly yet still sinister smile.
“Uh… I hear you have magical powers. And I was hoping you would be willing to help me, I mean if you don’t mind.” Flutter-Pearl said shyly.
“Of course I don’t mind. I love helping other creatures with my magic. What is it you need help with?” Starfish asked.
“Well, I saved an Earth pony last night and now I think I’m in love with him. And I really want to be with him, but I know we can’t be together. That’s why I came here; I was hoping you might have a spell that might turn me into a real pony.” Flutter-Pearl blurted out.
“Oh, is that all? Don’t worry, dear. I know just the spell.” The Witch began, flipping through the pages of a nearby spell book. Soon, she stopped at the right page.
“Aha! Here it is; a spell that will turn a mermare into a real pony for three days.” She explained. “Listen closely, dear, this part is very important. Before the sun sets on the final day, you have to get this stallion to kiss you. Not just any kiss, mind you; the kiss of true love. If he does, you’ll be a real pony permanently. If not, you… oh, how do I put this? Um… you turn back into a merpony and you will work for me as my slave for all of eternity. Do we have a deal?”
The Witch offered her hoof to the frightened merpony. Flutter-Pearl was about to shake her hoof until she thought of something else.
“Wait. Do I have to pay you anything?” Flutter-Pearl reluctantly asked.
“Oh, yes! You’re right, I almost forgot! My fee.” Starfish exclaimed.
“I don’t really have any money with me…”
“Oh! I don’t want money.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I’m not asking for much, just little thing. You’ll barely even miss it. What I want from you is… your voice.”
Flutter-Pearl’s eyes widened in fright at what she had just heard.
“My… my what?” She asked, touching her throat with her hoof.
“You heard me, fish cake; I said I want your voice in exchange for my magical services. But if you succeed in getting that pony to kiss you before the third sunset, then, and only then, you can get it back.”
“But… if I don’t have my voice, how can I tell the Prince who I—”
“Let’s not go into details here; you’ll think of something… So, do we have a deal now?” Starfish muttered.
“Oh… well… I don’t know.”
“The clock is ticking, Flutter-Pearl. This offer won’t last forever.” The Witch said, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes.
Flutter-Pearl bit her lip and mentally weighed her choices. She heaved a sigh and nodded softly. The two creatures shook slowly hooves and Starfish soon activated her magic. Then, a magical aura surrounded Flutter-Pearl as she was lifted up off of the floor. Her horn glowed and a beam of light hit the Princess directly in the chest and traveled up to her throat.
“Wait! I don’t know if I—” She started, but the magic has already pried the voice from her body before she could finish.
Starfish smiled, engulfing the magic with her own and directing a second beam of light towards the mermare’s chest. In a blue flash of light Flutter-Pearl’s body began to change. The magic from the Witch’s horn let out a final burst of light and Flutter-Pearl re-appeared. Somehow in the transformation her mane and coat color had changed along with her body. Her once fair yellow complexion was now a grayish purple with a long and flowing purple, pink, and white mane and tail. She didn’t have long to admire her new flank and hooves however, before she began to choke on the lack of oxygen.
“If I were you, I’d high-tail it up to the nearest piece of land you can find before you drown.” Starfish cackled as she placed Flutter-Pearl’s voice into a tiny glass jar. “And remember, I’ll be watching you…”
Starfish glanced over at a glowing crystal ball and smiled wickedly after Flutter-Pearl swam out.
With all her strength, Flutter-Pearl swam up to the surface as fast as she could and she washed up on a small beach before passing out from exhaustion. When she woke up, she saw her new second pair of legs. She gasped with delight as she smiled, but then she realized she had no idea how to stand on four legs. She struggled to make her way to the beach but failed miserably.
Meanwhile, Prince Mac and the purple mare from before were wandering the beaches near his castle in search of the mysterious mare who had saved the Prince’s life. The mare was unconvinced that such a pony existed, claiming that she was a figment of Mac’s imagination.
“I’m tellin’ ya, Duke Sparkle, I KNOW that mare is out here somewhere… there’s no other way I could’ve survived that storm without her.” Mac said.
“Wait… is that her? Over there?” The mare dubbed as Duke Sparkle asked in shock, pointing a hoof at a clumsy-looking Earth pony mare who couldn’t seem to walk straight.
“Don’t know, but it looks like she needs help.” Prince Mac noted, walking to help the poor filly.
Flutter-Pearl didn’t give up trying, keeping her sights set on the castle ahead. She didn’t realize Mac was coming to her aid, and before the Prince could say a word Flutter-Pearl collided into him. The pair of them tumbled to the ground.
“You okay, miss?” The Price asked, getting back onto his hooves.
Flutter-Pearl looked up and she smiled; she had found her Prince at last. She nodded her head vigorously while still smiling; Mac smiled back at her. She tried to stand up again but she stumbled once again and fell, only to be caught by the Prince himself.
“Nice to meet ya.” He said. “What’s your name?”
Flutter-Pearl moved her lips to respond, forgetting that she was without a voice. The Prince looked at her both confused and slightly worried.
“What’s wrong? Ya can’t speak?” Mac asked before Flutter-Pearl shook her head sadly.
Even so, Flutter-Pearl’s shy nature struck a chord with the Prince. He gave her a sympathetic smile before noting the calm cyan color of her eyes. This mare was so close to the one he was seeking that her felt drawn to her.
“You’re new around town, hmm?” Mac asked.
Flutter-Pearl nodded.
“Do you… need any help? My friend, Duke Sparkle, and I saw ya struggling to walk. Here, take my hoof, we’ll get ya back to the castle so you can get cleaned up.”
Flutter-Pearl’s heart leapt and she reached out her own hoof to his. However, she failed to remember how to keep her balance on three hooves and toppled over again. Prince Mac laughed as he helped her back onto her wobbly hooves.
“You certainly know how to surprise a pony. You’re almost as delicate as a wisteria flower.” Mac said before getting an idea. “Since I don’t know your name, can I call you that? Wysteria?”
Flutter-Pearl smiled and nodded, happy just to be in her Prince’s presence again. For the next two days, things went rather smoothly for Flutter-Pearl and Prince Mac. They talked, laughed, and played together, their feelings for each other seeming to grow stronger. Flutter-Pearl was becoming more and more excited; if she and Mac kissed before the third sunset, then she would get her voice back and she would be a pony forever.
The night before the third day, Flutter-Pearl was so excited that she almost forgotten about the deadline. The pair of them were snuggled on a blanket atop the sand of the beach. Prince Mac had wanted to watch the sunset with her and reminisce the fun and frivolity of the time they had spent together. Flutter-Pearl had had the time of her life with Mac and each day her love grew stronger… much to Starfish’s disdain.
“You know… a couple days ago I would have done anythin’ to find the mare who saved me. But… but I don’t think I’ve ever met anypony like you, Wysteria. You’re the kindest, sweetest pony I’ve ever known.”
Flutter-Pearl smiled and blushed at his words; Mac reached out his hoof and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.
“Ugh, this is so sweetly sickening.” Starfish gagged at her crystal ball. “I can’t stand this any longer. If I’m going to carry out my plan, I need to do this right.”
Starfish then looked at the jar containing Flutter-Pearl’s voice and sneered; she began to formulate another sinister scheme.
Finally, it was the third day. Flutter-Pearl was walking through the castle gardens when she heard a small number of servants talking amongst themselves. One of them mentioned the Prince and she couldn’t help but overhear.
“Did you ponies hear about the Prince?” One maid said.
“About his new lover? Of course I’ve heard! Who hasn’t?” Another maid cried.
‘New lover?’ Flutter-Pearl thought.
“I heard that the mare the Prince is planning on marrying is somepony he just met!” A third servant added.
“Who?” The first maid inquired
“Is it that Wysteria pony?” A butler asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her.” The second maid said.
Flutter-Pearl’s eyes brightened at the mention of her alias; she smiled to herself and felt like jumping up and down right there when she heard Duke Sparkle’s voice say,
“Hey, what are all of you doing here? Get back to work. And NO more gossiping”
“Yes, Duke Sparkle.” The servants said before running off in different directions.
“Now as I was saying, I’m so happy for you, Your Highness.” Duke Sparkle said.
Flutter-Pearl peaked out from behind her hiding place and saw Duke Sparkle talking to Prince Mac… who was standing with a pink unicorn with a poofy purple mane.
‘Who is that?’ She thought, raising a curious eyebrow.
“I must say, I was wrong, Your Highness. This mysterious pony you spoke of does, in fact, exist.” Duke Sparkle continued. “Congratulations, Miss Sugar Belle.”
“Thank you so very much, Duke Sparkle.” The pink mare said in an overly sweet voice.
“Yes, we wish to be married as soon as possible.” Prince Mac said in a monotone voice.
“Yes, of course.” Duke Sparkle said to the Prince. “But these things do take time, Your Highness.”
“This afternoon, Sparkle.” The Prince said. “Right at sunset.”
“Sunset? Um, well…”
“Do as I say!”
Flutter-Pearl’s eyes widened in horror at the mention of the sunset and her entire demeanor changed. She took another look at the mare dubbed as Sugar Belle and squinted her eyes. She saw there was something off about that mare, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. Then she noticed Mac’s eyes; something about them didn’t look right. They seemed almost glazed over, like he was in a trance. Then Flutter-Pearl saw the necklace Sugar Belle was wearing; to her, it looked more like a little glass jar on a string and was it… glowing? But before the mare could do anything, Sugar Belle darkly glared at Flutter-Pearl and gave her a sinister smile.
‘Oh no, Starfish Glimmer!’ Flutter-Pearl screamed in her head before running away.
“That took care of her.” Sugar Belle muttered to herself.
“What was that?” The Duke asked.
“Oh, nothing. You’d better do as my fiancé says, or else.” Sugar Belle said in the sickeningly sweet tone from before.
“Um… as you wish.” Duke Sparkle said, bowing her head.
Hours had passed and it was the time of the wedding; Sugar Belle was in her dressing room, getting herself ready for the ceremony.
“Oh, this is PERFECT!” She squealed. “That brainless stallion is under my total control. And soon enough, I’ll have that pathetic little mermare and the ocean will be mine!”
She laughed wickedly as she looked into the mirror, revealing Starfish Glimmer’s own reflection. Unbeknownst to Sugar Belle, a little bird was perched in the porthole of the room, watching and listening to everything.
Then, the ceremony began. Sugar Belle walked down the aisle in a beautiful white gown with Prince Mac standing at the altar with Duke Sparkle presiding over the ceremony.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this stallion and this mare in marriage.” She declared.
As the Duke spoke, Sugar Belle kept looking at the sun as it was slowly setting.
“Do you Prince McIntosh take Sugar Belle to be your lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both shall live?” Duke Sparkle asked.
“I do.” Prince Mac replied dully.
“And do you Sugar Belle take Prince McIntosh to be—”
Before Duke Sparkle could say anything else, everypony else heard a strange sound. They looked up and saw that it was a large swarm of all kinds of birds… and they were flying towards the ship; Sugar Belle screamed as the birds swarmed around her. Then suddenly a bunch of animals from land and sea made their way onto the ship and started attacking Sugar Belle as the guests tried to get away.
It was then that a figure descended from a scoop of pelicans, it was Flutter-Pearl. Sugar Belle looked from her attackers and glared at the mare.
“YOU!” She screamed as she ran over to Flutter-Pearl. “You did this?! You’re smarter than I first thought, but that doesn’t matter. You are NEVER going to be with this spineless fool.”
“Spineless fool?” A deep voice said.
Sugar Belle and Flutter-Pearl looked and saw Prince Mac approaching the two mares.
Flutter-Pearl smiled; she quickly pulled away from Sugar Belle and went to hug the Prince.
“Wysteria? Are you okay? What… is going on?” Mac asked before noticing the chaos happening around him.
“Mac! Get away from her!” Sugar Belle shrieked. “She’s almost out of time anyway!”
“Out of time?” Mac repeated.
Flutter-Pearl looked and saw that the sun was about to go all the way down. She put a hoof on her chest, then pointed to Mac. She did the same to him, trying to get him to understand what she was trying to say.
“Wysteria? What are you doing? What’s wrong?” Mac asked alarmed and dumbfounded.
“How pathetic…” Sugar Belle chuckled, putting her hoof over her face.
Flutter-Pearl continued the cycle, touching her chest then the Prince, touching his chest then herself. Unfortunately, the Prince wasn’t catching on. After several failed attempts, Flutter-Pearl’s eyes began to fill up with tears before she vanished into thin air along with Sugar Belle, leaving a confused Prince behind.
“Wysteria! What happened?” Prince Mac asked.
“Looking for somepony?” A new voice said as Starfish Glimmer emerged from the sea. Her horn was glowing and a trapped yellow mermare hovered above the water beside her.
“Let her go!” Prince Mac demanded, attempting to run to Flutter-Pearl’s aid but was instead repelled by the Witch’s magic.
“Not on your life, McIntosh.” Starfish said, holding the jar containing the mermare’s voice in her hoof. “As of now, Flutter-Pearl here is going to fulfill her end of our little bargain.”
“Bargain?”
“That’s right. This spineless little wretch traded her voice to me so she could become a pony for you. I was wondering how long it would take you to finally figure it out. Ready, Flutter-Pearl?”
“Flutter-Pearl? That’s your real name? Then it was you who saved me!” Prince Mac exclaimed happily as Flutter-Pearl nodded her head.
His excitement was short-lived, however, realizing the danger Flutter-Pearl had gotten herself into on his behalf. He turned to face the Witch with a dark glare.
“What do ya want?” He demanded.
“All I want total control of both land and sea. I thought that would’ve been pretty obvious.” The Witch said.
“Like I’m gonna give into those demands.” Mac said, scrunching his nose.
“So that’s how you wanna play it, hmm? Fine. Have it your way.” Starfish said before the Prince reared up and kicked his front legs at the Witch.
Starfish cried out in surprise before she landed in the water in a daze, Mac running over to Flutter-Pearl’s aid.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you outta there, I promise!” Mac said, putting his hoof against the bubble, Flutter-Pearl doing the same.
Unable to pop the magical bubble on his own, Mac refocused his attention on the Sea Witch who quickly recovered from Mac’s first attack.
“It is on.” She growled in anger.
The two charged at each other before Prince Mac smacked his large hoof at the yellow crystal that was encased in Starfish’s magic. The crystal fell out of the jar and it landed with shattering crash on a nearby rock. He saw as a pale yellow light escape the shards of crystal and fly towards Flutter-Pearl; it flew directly at her, bursting her bubble prison. Flutter-Pearl splashed back into the sea, and when she emerged her voice had been fully restored.
“Flutter-Pearl! You’re okay!” Mac cried, running into her open hooves.
“I’m fine, Mac… but I think we have a big problem.” Flutter-Pearl stuttered in fear, shakily pointing her hoof at Starfish who was approaching behind them.
“You’re mine!” The Witch screamed, her eyes like burning embers.
“I don’t think so!” Duke Sparkle called out, running into the water and blasting Starfish with a beam of magic.
Duke Sparkle’s horn glowed and she bound the Witch in her magical embrace. And with a flash of light, she teleported Starfish Glimmer to the farthest corner of the ocean where nopony would ever find her again. Flutter-Pearl and Mac hugged each other before realizing something; there was now no possible way for them to be together.
“Now what?” Mac asked, looking at the mermare before him.
“Maybe I could help?” Duke Sparkle asked before her horn glowed again. “I know a thing or two about magic. And don’t worry, Miss Flutter-Pearl. This won’t hurt a bit, I promise.”
Flutter-Pearl was confused and frightened as she was lifted out of the water and up into the air. Prince Mac was confused too, but he watched in awe as his new lover’s form began to change once again. In a burst of bright light, Flutter-Pearl reappeared as a yellow Pegasus mare and she safely landed in the hooves of her Prince.
“Duke Sparkle?” Flutter-Pearl began. “Thank you so much.”
“Eeyup.” Price Mac added with a nod.
“No problem, you two.” Duke Sparkle said before giving the couple a wink. “I may not know a lot about love but I do know one thing: you kooky lovebirds truly deserve each other.”
Prince Mac looked into Flutter-Pearl’s eyes longingly and smiled before he asked, “Flutter-Pearl, I know it might be a bit sudden but… will you… will ya marry me, darlin’?”
“Yes! Yes, of course I will!” Flutter-Pearl cried with tears of joy in her eyes before pressing her lips against his.
And so, Flutter-Pearl was wed to Prince Mac that very day. The wedding celebration was both grand and small with the members of both families attending, both from land and sea. Flutter-Pearl had learned that if you want something enough, it’s worth doing it for yourself and in time, it will come to you. And in the end, Princess Flutter-Pearl and Prince Mac all lived happily ever after.