//------------------------------// // i. vision // Story: Swallowed in the Sea // by FoolAmongTheStars //------------------------------// “You can search the world for pretty girls Til your eyes grow weak and dim, But don't go fishing for a mermaid, son If you don't know how to swim." ―The Mermaid Song  It took him a moment to realize the time. He stared at the contraption with an exhausted look. Long orange hair covered his left eye, shielding him from the light of his desk lamp, shining brightly at the pile of papers and books laid out in front of him. The glare of the light reflected on the glass of the clock, making it hard to make out the numbers with his tired eyes. Leaning back in his embroidered seat, he exhaled ever so slowly, legs splayed out underneath his wooden desk. His neck was stiff, his hooves were numb, like hundreds of ants crawling underneath his skin, and the tightness of his bandages and the sting of his barely healed wounds made it hard for him to breathe. He squeezed his eyes tightly, shutting out the world, and he shook his head to clear his jumbled mind. But all it did was spike his already racing heartbeat, he gritted his teeth as he breathed shallowly and white stars began to burst behind his eyelids― ―like the flash of fire spells and the shattering of magic shields, the smell of burning wood, the smoke, and the seaspray on his muzzle as he shouted orders, his throat raw from screaming, the boat rocking and shuddering dangerously underneath his hooves, the sound of the mast splitting in two resounding like a clap of thunder and drowning out the shouting, the icy water enveloping him and the burning wood pummeled him down, down, down― The legs of the chair scratched the wooden floor in his haste to stand up, his forelegs grasping his desk as he stood, hitting the wood with a bang and rattling the objects in his desk. His glasses slipped and fell to the carpeted floor with a muffled clatter.  On the wall, the clock continued to tick the time away, out of synch with his labored breathing. “Lord Sunburst, is everything alright?” He took a moment to clear his throat before answering. “Y-Yes, everything is fine.” A lie. He hasn’t been fine in a long time now, ever since they found him on the sandy shore.  Like many others that night, he’d jumped from the burning ship before it crashed and while all of them managed to escape to the lifeboats, Sunburst never resurfaced. He read many reports recounting how the burning mast fell on top of him, the countless hours they spent searching among the burning shipwreck, how the mission turned from rescue to search and recovery of his body.  Clearly, he remembered the shouts and the shocked expressions of the soldiers when they found him on the beach, very much alive but wounded, the chaos had awoken him from an uneasy slumber, the pain of his wounds making him scream as they moved him back to the castle.  A miracle, they said, a miracle that he managed to survive, burned and bruised and delirious, but alive and recovering. He’d fallen in and out of consciousness the first week of his recovery, and it became clear to him that he’d been saved from drowning, even if he didn’t have the faintest memory of how it happened, he was sure of it. He wanted to thank his savior somehow, but...           His tantrum had aggravated his wounds and he bit back a hiss as he sat down. He looked down and sighed, relieved that he hadn’t reopened them.  “Spear Head,” he called and the door opened, the soldier standing to attention. “Could you tell one of the maids to prepare a bath?” “Yes, sir!” He put on his glasses and prepared to leave, putting on his cape over his back and covering his scars. With a flash of his horn, he turned off the lamp and walked away, plunging his office in darkness. The clip-clop of his hooves on the marble floor was the only sound in the hallway, lamps placed strategically on the walls lighted his way along with the moonlight and he nodded at some of the guards posted there. It was times like these that his mind tended to wander and, like scratching a wound that had barely healed, he recalled the dark blue eyes that have haunted him ever since the shipwreck. He tried his best to ignore them by working and reading as much as he could, hoping that giving his mind something to work on would deter the idea of her. But now he was free and his mind reverted back to its favorite pastime.  The blue eyes came with a delicate-looking face, her fur a light pinkish color, plump lips full and...sultry? No, that wasn’t right, he might not recall the details of her face, but he would never forget the feeling of her mouth on his and the way the sun filtered through her dark purple hair, the saltwater that sparkled on her skin like diamonds. However, nothing could compare to those blue eyes that stared back at him softly, glittering with warmth. He shivered just thinking about it.  He was entranced by everything that she was, shackled against his will as she bestowed her kiss on him. And in a wicked, twisted way, he yearned for more. He sent out a group of his best scouts to search for any mare that matched her description, and while some came close in appearance, it only took one look to know that it wasn’t her. Their eyes would be the wrong color, their manes too short or too long, their fur the wrong shade of lavender, heck, even the names were all wrong, it was something like...like... Sunburst blinked, the sudden intrusion jolting him out of his reverie. He was in front of his bedroom door, where Spear Head was standing guard, the soldier gave him a concerned look. The guard hesitated before asking: “Lord Sunburst?” Sunburst interrupted in a rather hasty tone. “Did you say something?” “No, my lord,” Spear Head said, straightening up and his armor clinked together nervously. “Yes, you did.” Spear Head stayed silent.   The duke pushed his glasses up his muzzle, staring at the anxious pony with furrowed brows. Eventually, he realized that he was making the guard uncomfortable with his insistence, he mumbled an apology and entered his room. The bath was steaming when he stepped in. He dipped a hoof to test the temperature and the rest of him followed shortly, and as the water touched his wounded back he hissed but pressed on and soon got used to it. A grateful sigh escaped his lips as his muscles relaxed in the scented water.      The water felt good, heavenly even, his troubles melting away in the warmth of the water and the silence of his surroundings. The porcelain basin was deep and full enough for him to sink even further until the water went up his barrel, his neck, past his ears, his eyes, and his chin. The water level rose and threatened to spill over as he went under, the heat stung momentarily as he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again... A forest of kelp surrounded him on all sides, the tide made them sway in a hypnotizing manner as schools of silverfish darted from between the greenery. The small little animals glowed in the dark waters, leaving trails of light as they swam away. Moonlight shined down on him as he sank lower and deeper into the kelp.              A large fish was approaching from the corner of his eye, swimming in lazy circles, hidden in the long stalks of seaweed. Glimpses of its long flipper would appear from the greenery, catching the moonlight and making the turquoise stripes on its fin glow. It got closer until he saw its profile, too similar to a pony to be a simple fish, muzzle too small to be male, a horn on its forehead, ears perked in curiosity.     He nearly choked when the shadows around her face vanished. Dark blue eyes, pink scales covering her from head to hoof, full lips shaped in a surprised “o” came into view, along with the rest of her body, a long tail that swayed gently behind her, easily twice as long as his body, it’s purple fin the exact same color as her hair.  She stared at him with the same look of disbelief that was surely on his face, extending a hoof (or a flipper?) in a swift motion as she hurriedly swam to close the gap between them. Sunburst tried to reach her, but his body felt sluggish, and he reached uselessly as he sank further into the darkness. She wore a strange expression, and he wondered what the worried lines on her face could mean. The beautiful creature finally closed their distance, and her distress was clearly visible, she looked like she was about to cry. His anxiety grew as he watched and he extended his hoof towards her again. They were only inches away, he could almost feel her touch, see the hope in her eyes, and it was all ripped away by the tide, sending them both in opposite directions, she was flung towards the moonlight and he was cast away into the bottom of the sea.         Sunburst! He panicked, his mouth opened, and soapy water rushed in. His whole body jerked as he sat up, grasping the edges of the bathtub as he spluttered and coughed. He opened his eyes and was about to dive in again when he recalled where he was. The vision vanished, the mare was gone and there was nothing but him in the shallow bathtub.