Swallowed in the Sea

by FoolAmongTheStars


iv. charm

“All mortal girls were shadows, all earth-life but a mist,
When deep beneath the maelstrom,
The mermaid's heart I kissed.” ―Vachel Lindsay


Shining Armor opened the door with his magic, his face strained as he balanced a couple of heavy boxes in his magic aura, they were heavier than he expected and he was more than glad to drop them unceremoniously to the ground. The cardboard boxes hit the hardwood floor with a loud thud that Sunburst barely noticed, surrounded by a fortress of papers and books scattered on his desk and onto the floor.

“These are the last ones,” he announced with a relieved sigh, slumping on the couch after Sunburst hummed distractedly in agreement.

He rested his back legs on a pile of boxes, crossing his forelegs behind his head, and took in the mess of the room, not that it was ever an organized space, to begin with. Books and other knick-knacks lined the walls from floor to ceiling, the bookshelves tall enough to demand a rolling staircase for each wall. Thankfully there was a large window on the far end of the room that provided much necessary light, just behind the Duke’s desk, that gave a fantastic view of the bay and the gardens of the estate.

“I didn’t realize there were so many pirates in custody, no wonder we sent them to Canterlot, they wouldn’t have fit in the jail.”

“And those were the ones we caught, it’s hard to tell how many are on the loose and hidden in other ports.”

“Hopefully not too many, they aren’t enough rooms in this house to accommodate so many criminals.”

Sunburst dropped the paper he was reading to glare at him. “She’s not a criminal.”

“Don’t count your eggs until they hatch, or until you find them.” Shining Armor picked up one of the books in the boxes, leafing through the pages disinterestedly.

Hundreds of names and other details flashed before him written in neat but small cursive, the letters melting into incomprehensible smudges the longer he stared at the yellow pages. It would take him hours, perhaps days just to read through one of the records and Sunburst wanted to review them all? It was excessive, even for an avid reader like his friend.

“That’s why I’m looking for them,” said Sunburst, tossing him a pile of papers. “Take a look at this file and guess who it belongs to.”

The captain caught it in his magic and he read through it quickly. A picture of a grizzly-looking griffon glared at him, next to it there was his name, age, height, weight, and other details. The next pages detailed a list of his crimes and charges, which went on and on with every turn of the page.

“One of the captains of the crew?”

“That’s actually the cabin boy.”

The white stallion gaped, looking at Sunburst and then at the hefty file in his grasp. “Alright, so the Storm King doesn’t just hire any creature.”

“Exactly,” Sunburst said with a nod, “so far every creature in the Storm King’s crew had some kind of bounty on their head, even those that didn’t have some record or petty crime to their name. With those standards, why would he add a mute mare to his forces? He didn’t strike me as someone desperate for recruits.”

“Or it could mean that even though she was the cleaning lady she’s probably convicted for murder somewhere.”

“Then why wasn’t it stated in her sentencing? Why was she to be executed here instead of Canterlot or wherever she was from?”

His questions hang in the air, unanswered and buzzing in their minds like flies.

“There were a lot of arrests that night,” Shining said, “it would be easy for some of them to get lost in the shuffle...or to toss someone undesirable in the mix without any creature realizing. But why would anyone go through the trouble? And the ponies who have the power...”

Sunburst nodded but his face looked troubled. “Let’s hope this was just a mistake from Chancellor’s Neighsay part.”

Shining looked at the file in his hooves. The thought of the straight-laced Chancellor involved in something shifty put him on edge. The Captain never had to personally deal with the old stallion, mostly because the chancellor was always in Canterlot on the pretense of representing Sire’s Hollow in the royal court. Whenever he did come around it was the Duke that dealt with him, though Sunburst always looked frustrated and angry after talking to the Chancellor, quelling any desire he had to get to know him.

Those visits became more frequent when Sunburst came of age and Duchess Stellar Flare decided to move permanently to the capital. Shining Armor only heard rumors of what the chancellor was actually doing in Canterlot, and none of them were good, but there must have been some truth in them if the Duchess had to step in and put the chancellor on a short leash. With the Duchess breathing down his neck the Chancellor had more work than ever before, going from Canterlot to Sire’s Hollow and back again as a glorified gopher.

He couldn’t imagine the Chancellor was happy about being demoted in such a way, but enough to murder some creature? What did she have to do with this? His mind was filled with several possibilities as to why, but with no way to prove them, they just filled him with uncertainty.

“Alright, that’s a start,” Shining Armor said, pulling out a book and opening it on the first page. “I could write to one of my buddies in Canterlot if we don’t find anything here.”

The Duke looked up from his papers again, this time with a look of surprise. “You’ll help?”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean I trust this mystery mare of yours,” said the captain, cutting off the Duke’s remarks. “The chancellor was trying to get rid of her for a reason and until we know that reason, I think you shouldn’t get too attached to her.”

“I’m not growing attached,” Sunburst said with a frown, “I haven’t seen her since the night we rescued her.”

Not a lie, but not the truth either. He hadn't technically seen her since the night she told him she was mute, but she was never far from his mind. Goldie didn’t let him see her, claiming that she was sleeping most of the time and should not be disturbed, so he hovered over his old nursemaid instead and bombarded her with questions about the mare’s wellbeing (Was she eating well? Should he call a doctor? How were her wounds? Did she need anything?) until Goldie had enough and had to chase him away with her trusty broom or sick one of her cats on him.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Goldie’s judgment—she would call him if something were to happen—however, the anxiety sat on his chest like a heavyweight. No matter how much he wished for it, the words of his old nanny weren’t enough to calm him. The mute mare looked so battered and lost when he brought her to his home, her sad eyes made his heartache whenever he thought about it, and then it turned to anger when he realized that somepony had put her there on purpose.

Whatever crime she had committed didn’t warrant such harsh punishment.

“I’m just helping her, she deserves a fair trial like the others captured that night.”

Shining Armor hummed in agreement, but his face was skeptical. He kept his comments to himself though and simply asked, “What’s her name? I could write a letter to my Canterlot colleagues and get a headstart on the investigation.”

The silence continued long enough for Shining Armor to look up. Sunburst was hiding behind the book he was reading, the tip of his ears going crimson.

“I...I actually don’t know her name…”

Shining Armor looked at him skeptically. “How were you ever going to find her file if you didn’t even know her name!?”

“Most of them came with a picture so…”

Shining Armor covered his face with his hoof, resounding in a loud smack.


“Hold still, dearie, just a little more and...there!”

Starlight’s head slipped through the hole of the material and Goldie was right there to smooth out the wrinkles. “See, I told you green was your color! I’m not sure what young mares wear these days, but a good cotton dress never goes out of style, along with this white apron you all set!”

Starlight shook her withers, still not used to the way the soft material clung to her skin. Goldie bustled around her, closing buttons, tying strings around the skirt, and fluffing Starlight’s tail until she was satisfied. “Look at you! Cute as a button!”

The young mare smiled at Goldie’s reflection. A small strand of her hair fell over her face and she frowned, grabbing a nearby brush with her hoof to put it aside.

“Hmm, dearie, I hope you don’t mind me asking but, is something the matter with your horn? I noticed you haven’t used it that much since you got here.”

The mute mare stopped her brushing and stared at what Goldie was pointing at. She touched her horn gently; there hadn't been much use for it back at home, just like clothes and bathtubs, but she heard the stories of landlubbers using magic for other things besides looking for food. She frowned and tried using her magic in the same matter, focusing her attention on the brush. It glowed with a turquoise hue, shuddering for a moment before it flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall with a clatter.

Starlight winced, looking at Goldie apologetically.

“Oh, well, it’s quite alright dear, magic is not the end-all-be-all like everyone says, but maybe you should tell—err—let the young lord know about this when you see him.”

Starlight nodded and followed Goldie around for the rest of the morning. Goldie was patient with her and had no qualms of answering every questioning glance that Starlight made at various things, and Starlight had a lot of questions. Even without her voice, Goldie had no trouble understanding her, saying that she had a lot of experience with ponies that spoke only a few words.

The old mare was explaining to her the difference between red apples and green apples, pointing at a still-life portrait of fruit, when the young lord and his guard walked in.

“Good morning, gentlecolts!” Goldie said and turned to Starlight. “Now, like we practiced.”

Starlight nodded and bowed, low and graceful, towards the approaching stallions that looked impressed.

“You thought her that?”

“Not really,” Goldie said, pausing to put a hoof under her chin pensively. “She knows more than she lets on, she just needs to be reminded.”

Sunburst grinned. “I’m glad she’s feeling better.”

“Yeah, me too,” Shining said, suddenly all business as he approached the mute mare. “Miss, if you would be so kind as to come with us and answer some questions—”

“Papa!”

A small ball of white tackled the stallion from the side of his neck. He let out a strangled huff and stumbled, pushed by the momentum as he swung around slightly in place. The ball of white giggled, climbing onto his withers with a triumphant grin. “I found you, papa!”

The little pegasus filly ruffled her feathers, sitting on the captain’s back like she was a princess on her throne, her wild pink and blue curls messy from her race, and waved at the group. “Hi Sunburst! Hi Goldie!” She paused when she got to Starlight. “Hi, stranger! What’s your name?”

“Flurry Heart, sweetie, what are you doing here?” Shining Armor said once he recovered his breath.

“School’s out! We got out early because the schoolyard was full of rubble and we couldn’t play. Featherweight tripped on them and cut his hoof! You should’ve seen it, there was blood everywhere!”

“Alright, but why are you here? Where’s your mother?”

“Mama’s still at the hospital! Duh! She has a twelve-hour shift today and told me to go to you instead because today is your day off.”

Shining Armor sighed. “I know, but daddy is busy with...something that came up.” He made a vague motion towards Starlight, who looked a little offended by his choice of words.

The smile on the little filly’s face dropped, her lip trembling and eyes shining with unshed tears. “B-But dad, you promised to hang out with me today.”

The captain winced, knowing that tone full well, and tried to calm her down before she made more of a scene. Sunburst stepped in before he could make more than a few shushing noises.

“She’s right Shining, it is your day off!” Sunburst said with a nod. “I’m very sorry, I shouldn’t have kept you for so long, you’re free to go now.”

Flurry cheered, but Shining looked suspiciously at the Duke. “Are you sure? We have a lot of work to do and you've been distracted lately.”

Sunburst’s expression was pleasant and blank. “I can handle this.”


Sunburst took her to a gazebo hidden in the estate’s gardens, but it was a slow process. Starlight stopped and stared at anything remotely interesting in their path, be it a plant, a flower, a rock, or a bird. She liked the birds the best for some reason and she watched them until they flew away, startled by their presence or after he gently insisted on continuing.

He chose this spot for the privacy it offered. Located in a secluded area of the estate garden’s, surrounded by rose bushes not yet in bloom with a spectacular view of the South Luna Ocean, he deemed it the perfect place to talk about delicate matters, though he underestimated just how far it was and how out of shape they both were.

By the time they reached it, they slumped into the stone benches with a sigh, sweaty, and tired by the unexpected hike.

“I’m so sorry,” Sunburst wheezed, adjusting his glasses from slipping further down his muzzle. “I forgot how far this place was.” And that they were both technically wounded and in the process of recovering, he shouldn’t have pushed her this far.

She shrugged and offered a small smile. A breeze entered their space and Starlight took a moment to look around, the gazebo was made out of old and weathered wood, the vines crawling around the structure holding it together and acting as a covering, offering protection from the summer sun and the elements.

Her eyes quickly fell on the statue in the center and stayed there.

Poised on a stone pedestal, the small statue was made of the same weathered wood as the pavilion, but despite the moss clinging to the cracks, it depicted a beautiful and dainty mare standing on a seashell. Her long mane and tail were carved to look like it was swaying in an invisible wind, along with the piece of silk that wrapped gracefully around her, covering her shoulders and curling around her forelegs in gentle waves. She was smiling softly, looking demurely to the side like she was dreaming, a hoof raised like she was stepping out of her shell, perhaps even the ocean from where Starlight was sitting.

“That’s Aphrodite,” Sunburst said when he noticed her staring. “My grandfather had it made in honor of my grandmother. She was from the island of Cythera, where the goddess was born. From this point, if you take a boat and sail west for thirty days you’ll arrive there, so for my grandmother, this was the closest she could be to her home country without leaving Sire’s Hollow.”

His tone was so genuine that it prompted her to look at him. Studying his profile, his long orange hair was ruffled by the cool ocean breeze, the shafts of light from overhead twinkling merrily on the rim of his glasses. Their eyes met and she admired the bright blue of his eyes, the kind of blue she only ever saw in the sky, so warm and open when compared to the depths of the sea. His body wasn’t as toned as the other stallion that followed him around, neither was he as tall and imposing, but the way he carried himself commanded attention, along with the unusual shade of yellow and white in his coat it was difficult not to stare at him. He couldn’t be much older than her and yet he was knowledgeable and dependable.

Sunburst was about to talk more about the goddess but froze when he caught her staring at him so unabashedly. His mouth opened and closed, looking like a fish out of the water, the words forming on the tip of his tongue only to disappear at the last minute. Then, finally, he managed to utter a phrase.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, turning to look at the blue ocean in the distance. “A-About the other night...I shouldn’t have barged into your room like that, it was rude and disrespectful, especially since you were…” his cheeks burned at the memory of her dripping wet mane and soaked coat, “It won’t happen again, I promised.”

She had forgiven him days ago, even though she hadn’t been sure what the problem had been. It must have been bad because when Goldie walked in on them she’d been furious, practically kicking the poor stallion out of her room and berating him for his “poor manners” and yelling about how “she thought him better than to barge into a lady’s room.” He tried to defend himself but in the end, he was forced to retreat when Goldie started waving a broom, nearly hitting him in the head a couple of times.

She was so confused by the spectacle then, but now she couldn’t help but laugh. Her shoulders trembled as she giggled silently, only to flinch when the wound on her neck flared up with pain.

Sunburst noticed and he asked gently. “Are you alright? Does it hurt too much?”

Starlight shook her head, but her smile was gone. In just a few short days she was introduced to the best and the worst things that this world had to offer, the pain reminding her just how much it cost her, and she was starting to wonder if it all had been worth it. The wind blew, rustling the branches overhead and they scratched the wood of the gazebo, the wood groaning and creaking in the breeze, like the broken shipwrecks on the beach when she washed onshore, clinging to his shivering body as the water lapped at their legs and covered them with seafoam.

She studied his features again, a feeling of familiarity growing stronger the longer she stared, but the reason eluded at every turn. There was something about him, a reason she couldn’t put her fin—or hoof?—on, that compelled her to save him that night. There was a connection, however murky it was now, and without her voice, she couldn’t ask him about it; though she wondered how she would broach the subject, even if she had her voice. She looked away with a sigh.

The silence stretched for an uncomfortable minute before he spoke up again, his tone hasty. “Where are you from?”

She blinked and her mouth opened reflexively, then she closed it with a snap and pointed at the sea.

“Are you from Cythera Island as well?” he asked, part of him not surprised by the revelation. The mares of that island were said to be the most beautiful, thanks to their connection with Aphrodite.

But Starlight shook her head and pointed at the ocean with more insistence.

Sunburst paused, thinking of any other island that could be in the direction she was pointing at. “Hmm, Cape Horn? The Shrieking Reefs? Sandy Shoals?”

She shook her head again, her expression annoyed and exasperated when she stood up, walked over to the statue, and stood next to it, pointing at the ocean again, but lower this time, pointing at the water instead of the horizon.

“You came from...the water?”

She nodded in affirmation, but added a plunging motion and lifted her forelegs, drawing peaks and valleys with her fetlocks in a wave-like motion, making swimming strokes.

“Deep underwater?”

She nodded again, her eyes glinting eagerly as he got closer to the answer.

“You came from the ocean?”

She nodded, practically jumping with the force of her excitement.

“Oh, now I understand!” He said suddenly like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You come from Sapphire Grotto, the hippogriff colony that’s twenty miles from here! How could I have forgotten? But I thought they were a hippogriff exclusive on account of it being underwater, are they opening up to other creatures nowadays?”

Starlight’s excited smile fell and she sighed, smacking a hoof to her forehead, exasperated. He was so close!

She looked around, fumbling for ideas on how to answer him with only her body language. Her throat throbbed and it only added to her frustration. She never realized just how dependent she was of her voice until it was taken and she scratched her head wildly in frustration, cursing her luck.

“Hey, it’s alright.”

He came up to her and gently pried her hooves from clawing at her scalp, smiling softly as he tried to calm her down. He laughed as she resisted and tried to pry her fetlocks from his grip, she looked at him with a scowl that quickly turned into a laugh, her shoulders shaking with her silent mirth. His gentle grip lingered on her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder with a sigh. Sunburst was taken aback by the gesture and he hesitantly put a hoof on her shoulder, rubbing her withers in gentle, comforting motions.

“I have never been good with charades,” Sunburst said apologetically, frowning for a moment until something clicked in his mind, causing his eyes to widen. It was a long shot but…

“Are you familiar with the Equestrian alphabetic system?”

Starlight looked up, giving him a blank look that dashed his hopes, he almost gave up but he didn’t. She knows more than she lets on, she just needs to be reminded.

“Here, it’s something like this.” He looked around and picked a fallen stick in his magic, clearing the dirt floor underneath them of leaves and loose stones with a swipe of his hoof.

Starlight watched fascinated as the glowing stick scratched the ground, forming symbols—letters! She recalled the word—that she understood. It was just one word and she read it out loud, mouthing the syllables silently. Sunburst.

She looked up with a smile and pointed at him, then at the word written in the dirt.

“Yes, that’s my name,” he said with a grin, then handed the stick to her. “Do you know how to write yours?”

This time she nodded, her hair bobbing around her with her excitement. He handed her the branch and she took it with her mouth—much to Sunburst’s confusion—she angled her head so the tip was on the ground and began to write. With her brow furrowed in concentration he didn’t dare ask her about her horn, just added it to the long list of mysteries that surrounded her, but his eyes did linger on it as she moved. Was it broken? Was she ill? Or maybe...she didn’t know how to use it? She needs to be reminded.

Once she was done she pointed at her writing, looking pleased with herself. Her writing was wobbly and she used lowercase and uppercase letters in the wrong places, he had to squint to make sense of the words she put down on the dirt. Underneath his neat writing, her penmanship looked childish.

stArlighT gLImMer

“Starlight Glimmer? Is that your name?”

She nodded, the stick still in her mouth. He smiled and repeated her name a couple of times, testing it on his tongue, a sense of rightness coming to him as he pronounced her name, a missing piece finding its place.

“Starlight. That’s a beautiful name,” he said with a nod. “I think it suits you.”

She looked away, hiding her blush with her bangs, and carved another word in the dirt. She wrote the letters as large as possible so it was legible.

“Wa...Water?” He looked up and she nodded, spitting the stick to the side. “Are you thirsty?”

She shook her head and made another swimming motion with her hooves. She thought about writing her answer on the ground but decided that the only way to get through to him was to show him what she truly was.

His gaze was downcast as he paused to think, he could see from his peripheral vision the look of frustration overcoming her again.

“You want me to...take you to water?”

She nodded and clapped her hooves together, making him realize that she wanted to go swimming.

“We shouldn’t go into town right now, and the beach is too far from here...but there’s a lake close by, will that be alright?”

She smiled with approval and started to march out of the gazebo.

“The lake is this way, Starlight.”

She turned around and walked towards the other exit, ignoring the blush on her cheeks as she motioned for Sunburst to hurry up. He was wise enough to hide his snickers behind a cough.

Starlight grinned when the lake came into view, she never thought she would feel so much happiness by just staring at the still body of water. The lake was small, nestled in a small valley surrounded by weeping willows, when they stepped through the greenery they felt like they passed through a portal into a place that was out of time. They walked towards a small pier, the wood groaning slightly with their added weight, the water gently lapping at the wooden posts that kept it above the surface.

“Well, this is it. I haven’t come here since I was a kid, but this place hasn’t changed one bit,” he looked at the sky and the big, white clouds rolling overhead. “Let’s not linger here too long, I think it’s going to ra—”

His face was covered by a white chemise. The sound of galloping hooves passed him by, and he took off the light material from his face just in time to see a splash in the water.

He rushed after her, stopping at the edge of the pier and looking down at the ripples in the water. Panic seized his throat like a vice when she didn’t resurface and the water grew still with every second that passed. His heart raced and his stomach churned; he didn’t know how deep the lake was, only having swum in the shallows during his childhood, under the close supervision of his nursemaid. Were there parts of the lake deep enough for a pony to drown? He didn’t know and he regretted not stopping her sooner.

“Starlight!” He shouted, desperation lacing his tone. “Starlight!”

The ripples were faint now. He could almost see his reflection.

He quickly disrobed, tossing his mantle to the side and uncaring of where it fell, and he undressed as many articles of clothing he had that could drag him down. His dark blue waistcoat followed, along with his white dress shirt, and he was left with nothing except his silver glasses. He dove in without hesitation into the murky water.

The dream came to him vividly, but instead of floating peacefully, he was swimming frantically, looking around the dark water for any sign of her. He felt a tug on his left back leg and he turned around as quickly as he could underwater. Dark blue eyes stared at him, a spark of mirth in their depths, and he didn’t hesitate as he snatched her by her fetlock and dragged her to the surface.

He gasped when his head broke the water, slicking his hair back to keep his bangs from his eyes. She appeared shortly after, grinning and splashing water at his face playfully.

But Sunburst wasn’t laughing.

“What were you thinking!?” He grabbed her by the shoulders, resisting the urge to shake her, and brought her so close that their noses pressed together and she had no choice but to look at him. “You can’t just run off like that without warning, I thought you drowned! Don’t you ever do that again, promise me!”

Her ears folded against her head, her shoulders rising to make herself small while she looked at him with wide eyes. He felt a tinge of remorse and he slowly relaxed his hold on her, giving her as much space as he could without letting her go entirely. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled, but I was...no, there’s no excuse, I’m sorry.”

Starlight put a hoof on his chest, right over his stuttering heartbeat, and he looked up. She was so close to him that Sunburst had no choice but to study her features, not that he minded what he saw. Her dark eyes, her delicate muzzle, her lips, he became mesmerized in a second. At that moment, she could’ve asked him to do anything and he would have done it with a smile.

But she didn’t, she just lowered her dark eyelashes and moved closer, the water rippling around her with barely a sound, something possessed him then and he placed a hoof under her chin, bringing their faces closer. He’d been dreaming about her lips for weeks, and now that she was this close he could no longer hold his fervor. The dark, twisted hunger burned brightly inside him and ran through his veins like liquid fire, consuming everything in its path, her breath on his lips fanning the flames of his desire, and she all but doomed him when she closed the gap between them.

He returned the kiss without hesitation. He never kissed a mare like this before, societal norms never permitted more than a kiss on the hoof, or a kiss on the cheek if he was feeling especially bold. But all those tokens of affection were hollow and dead when compared to her embrace. Her lips were soft and he pressed his mouth hungrily against hers, she returned his eagerness by biting his lower lip roughly. His mouth opened at the unexpected pain and she wasted no time in exploring his mouth, the intensity of the kiss growing with each shallow breath. His hooves tangled in her mane as he let her do what she pleased with him.

A small thought in his head told him that he should stop, that she probably didn’t know that this was wrong, that this behavior was inappropriate and unwarranted, but he couldn't bring himself to care, not when Starlight cupped his cheek and trailed kisses down his jawline. After all, there was no one to witness this indulgence, and there were a lot worse things that nobles did behind closed doors that made this encounter almost innocent in comparison. His mouth twitched with the beginning of a smile before Starlight kissed him again.

Sunburst was so lost in the pleasure of their kiss that he failed to notice how Starlight had changed when she went into the water. Bright pink scales adorned her body from her neck to the tip of her tail, the dark purple and turquoise fins swaying lazily underneath the water and keeping them both afloat.