Little John Bottlejohn said, "Oh yes! I'll willingly go with you,
And I never shall quail at the sight of your tail,
For perhaps I may grow one, too!"―Laura E. Richards
Page 136. Ningyo...in a serious conflict of interest, anyone who eats the flesh of this creature
is said to be granted eternal youth and beauty—but catching one is said to bring misfortune…
He slid his hoof over her back, feeling the soft skin and tracing her shoulder blades with delicate motions. Her fur was smooth and he was fascinated by the way her muscles quivered under his touch, he could almost feel the hidden strength coiled under her skin, but he was too preoccupied with the way Starlight was ravishing him to give it much thought. She pressed kisses on his neck, his jawline, going as far as his collarbone where she gave him a gentle nip, causing him to groan and hold her tighter. In his trance his hoof ventured lower down her back, tracing the gentle rise of her spine and making her shiver until he reached her waistline.
His eyes snapped open when he felt something placoid, similar to fish scales, but smoother and much more slippery, and it moved under his touch as if responding to him.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her away, his eyes widening with horror when he saw the shimmering purple scales adorning her chest. He lowered his gaze and gasped when he saw more scales. They started at her barrel and grew more prominent around her waist, from there they extended to the rest of her lower back, and while Sunburst couldn’t see anything below the surface, he could imagine that the peculiar dermis continued through the rest of her body.
“Starlight...w-what are you?”
She stared at him anxiously, and she slowly swam away from him, putting some distance between them. Steadily, something broke through the water’s surface, causing gentle ripples in the lake, the water falling unhurriedly from the purple and turquoise fin that glimmered in the sunlight—in the same lovely colors of its owner.
Page 141. Selkie...their stories usually end in tragedy...their coat is stolen and they are forced
to marry the stallion that took it, only for the Selkie to find it later and return to the sea…
He swam to the edge of the lake and scrambled to the bank, leaving the water in less than two seconds. He scooted backward in the sand, too startled to even think about standing up, crawling away like he was being chased by a vicious hound ready to rip him to pieces. He pointed a shaky hoof at her, his mouth opening and closing unattractively, his breaths coming out in shallow pants and his heart raced like he just swam a mile.
Starlight followed suit, swimming to the edge of the water and pulling herself out of it. For a moment she just sat in the bank, her long tail curling around her, and he could see where the fur turned into shimmering scales above her hips. The sun outlined her body, her wet hair clung to her neck and shoulders, and she stared at him with an imploring expression in her dark eyes.
His accusing hoof lowered and his heartbeat slowed. His eyes traced her body and, while it still freaked him out, he was...starting to get used to it, he supposed.
The fishtail looked more natural the longer he examined it—like it was part of her, instead of two different pieces fused together unnaturally—her dorsal fins delicate and translucent, the edges dyed in a brilliant teal color before fading into a dark purple. He noticed the same type of fins on her forelegs and fetlocks, but smaller and with a gossamer quality to them, and he briefly wondered what function they served, and why he didn’t feel them when they were…when she was...
There was a rippled in the air around her, like a heatwave or a mirage in the desert, and the tail disappeared, replaced by two shapely legs and a long tail—a normal tail, with hair instead of scales.
Page 155. Rusalka...the mythology has a darker side...thought to be the spirits of mares that died
violently, and thus they frequently lure stallions and children to their watery graves…
They sat in silence for a while. Starlight unable to speak and Sunburst unable to find the words to say. A cool wind blew into the glade, thunder rumbled in the distance and it snapped them out of their stupor. Sunburst stood gingerly, picking up her green dress and walking towards her slowly, extending the garment towards her like a peace offering.
She followed his every move, looking at him with the same apprehension he saw on the day he rescued her, except he was the hangman and she was waiting for his judgment. And just like that his fear vanished, the dreadful substance exited his pores and disappeared in a puff of smoke, like magic. He sat in front of her and gave her a genuine smile, one which she slowly returned.
The storm crept closer, the wind blowing and making them shiver as they dressed. Sunburst wound up helping her into her clothes when it was clear that she wasn’t familiar with the buttons and the ribbons that held it in place, her cluelessness making perfect sense now. His nerves steadied slowly but surely, and he sighed in relief when he helped her tie the ribbon of her apron in place, finally gaining control over his momentarily distraught mind.
Starlight turned to him then. She didn’t look as scared, but there was a dark shadow under her eyes, a stiffness in her jaw that filled him with shame for his behavior. Starlight approached him carefully, extending a hoof to cup his cheek and caressing it tenderly, relief washed over him when he found no resentment or displeasure in her gaze.
He leaned into her touch and spoke softly. “Starlight...please be patient with me, this is a lot to take in.”
She nodded in understanding.
“What you did just now, what kind of magic was that?”
She paused, but shook her head in the end. She pointed at her throat, mouthing words that were indiscernible to Sunburst, and she proceeded to make a ripping gesture, the motion quick and almost violent. Then she pointed at her horn, making a few sparkles that died as soon as she cast them.
“You’re saying that...some creature stole your voice?” Starlight pointed at her horn with more insistence. “With magic?”
She nodded firmly.
Page 160. Finfolk...considered to be nomads that can live on both land and sea...they often abduct
ponies to make them their spouses, but treat them more like servants than partners...
His hooves shook. He pressed them hard against the paper, creating creases and perfect impressions of his horseshoes on the pages. Heat coiled in the pit of his stomach and spread through his body. His teeth clenched and he had the greatest urge to punch through a wall.
“Why do all these stories end in tragedy!?”
He slammed the hardcover shut. The papers unhinged from its spine and scattered, floating aimlessly in the air and descending slowly to the floor, specs of dust permeating the air. He hunched over the large table, bare of anything else besides the old book, and he pressed his white hooves to his temples and felt the beginnings of a headache.
The bitterness of betrayal coated the back of his throat as he stared at the old tome, glaring at it and faulting it for not having the answers to his problems. All it had were sad stories of seaponies, none of which described or applied to Starlight’s situation, he had no answers or spells that could help her. He owned the most extensive library on this side of the South Luna Ocean and all of his books were useless, how could he face her now?
There was a knock on the door, and Sunburst was tempted to tell them to go away, but he resisted the urge and called for them to come in. The handle rattled for a moment and Flurry Heart flew in, a saddlebag strapped to her back.
“I got the books you asked for,” she said and dropped down to the table, giving him a curtsy, “my lord.”
Sunburst lifted his downcast gaze, smiling slightly at the young filly. The hooves that were gripping at his orange hair slipped away, his anger abated for the time being.
“Thank you Flurry, I’m sure Starlight will appreciate your help.”
Flurry nodded and looked at the pile of books in her bag with skepticism. “May I ask why you need my books? Don’t you have a lot of books already?”
“I’m afraid all my books are old and dull”—and useless, he thought to himself—“Starlight needs something more colorful so she can learn how to read and write.”
Though, by the way she was progressing, it wouldn’t be long before Starlight could pick up one of the books in his library to read if she wanted to. Often he found her sitting in the sunshine and reading one of the lengthy novels from Goldie’s collection, her eyes lighting up in wonder at the happenings of the story. He would sit with her then and she would point out all the idioms she didn’t understand, Sunburst did his best to explain them but with Starlight’s lack of understanding of Equestrian culture, he wasn’t sure she understood most of what he was saying.
When it came to her writing, Sunburst and Goldie were reminding Starlight—like Goldie liked to put it—how to do it. Starlight knew all the letters, punctuations, and exclamations marks well enough, but she had her own way of using them. She liked to put lowercase and uppercase letters where they didn’t belong, and she insisted on using the “J” where the “H” was supposed to be—like writing “jouse” instead of “house” or “jorse” instead of “horse”, for example—not to mention that she put accents or other symbols over the letters that he only saw in Andalusian or Prench, none of which were commonly used in modern Ponish.
At first, he thought it was just a bad habit of hers or a form of dyslexia, but then he wondered if that was just how she was taught. Maybe the seaponies had their own writing system that just happened to borrow heavily from Ponish. They were lucky then that Starlight understood modern Ponish as well as she did, but how? And why would she be so fluent in it? He had to stop thinking about it before he drove himself crazy and just added his questions to the long list of things to ask her later, once she had a better grasp of their writing system.
“I hope she likes them, they’re my favorite stories!” Flurry Heart glanced over the table ready to hop off but stopped when she saw the loose pages littering the floor. “Hmm, my lord, is there something wrong? You don’t usually treat your books like this.”
Sunburst chuckled at her decorum. “Flurry, I’ve known you since you been in diapers, there’s no need for decorum around me.”
Flurry huffed and rolled her eyes. “I know! But Papa says I have to practice in case some important ponies come around, and I rather not get in trouble for something so lame.”
Flurry Heart was only nine years old but she had enough sass and wit to drive her parents crazy. Her light violet hair and pinkish coat turned quite a few heads, but her brash attitude and strong head nature made sure you never forgot her. She was in training to be a handmaiden for his future wife, but Sunburst could see that her heart just wasn’t into it, since she looked more interested in her father’s armor and sword than the dresses and books she had to read. Not even the recent pirate raid dampened her dreams of becoming a warrior. If anything it just added fuel to her fire.
Sunburst would’ve loved to encourage her dreams, but knew that Shining wanted his daughter to have a safe and stable career, and would probably be against the idea of his child following his hoofsteps; so instead he occasionally let her hide from her teachers and taught her a little of what he knew about warfare and battle. Sometimes he let her swing her wooden sword around his office, pretending to be his bodyguard, and it was on one of those occasions that she saw the Storm King’s ships in the horizon and alerted him before the guards did, giving them the time they needed to prepare for the attack.
“You just seemed so stressed lately,” Flurry said, hopping to the floor and picking up one of the papers. “I don’t like seeing you sad, I want to help.”
“Thank you, Flurry, but you’ve done enough already,” Sunburst said, smiling patiently at her and picking the scattered pages with his magic, placing them in a stack on the desk. “This is just boring, grown-up stuff, I’ll handle it somehow.”
“You’re reading about seaponies right?” Flurry said, puffing her chest slightly when Sunburst gave her a surprised look. “You’ve been reading about magic creatures lately, particularly those of the sea, have you talked to Mr. Stygian about them? Mom says he knows a lot about the sea.”
He looked up immediately, staring at her with wide eyes.
Stygian Styx was the local hermit of Sire’s Hollow, as the town's ponies like to call him, since he lived on the edge of the town, deep in the woods in a little cottage that few ventured to. Sunburst was one of those few and had established a friendship with the reclusive unicorn thanks to their shared love of magic and history. Sunburst didn’t know what Stygian did before he came to Sire’s Hollow—he heard rumors ranging from him being a disgraced sorcerer to a scholar expelled for his questionable research—but nowadays he was a writer of moderate success, penning novels and short stories with dark undertones.
Sunburst thought about the walls of his home lined with books that Stygian didn’t let him touch, each nook and cranny filled with curious artifacts like turtle skulls and seashells the size of his head, and the dark green buoys hanging from the ceiling, shining with a soft light in the afternoons. But more importantly, he thought about the quiet nature of the stallion, the kind of silence that hovered around him that told him he knew more than he let on.
Stygian was just eccentric enough to have an answer. He had to.
A spark of hope lighted his blue eyes and he stood up from his chair. “Flurry Heart, you’re a genius!”
He gathered the mess of papers from the table and tucked them carelessly into the book before placing it back on the towering bookshelf behind him. He approached the young filly to ruffle her hair affectionately, causing her to squeal with delight.
“Could you tell Captain Armor to meet us after sundown at the entrance of Hollow Shade woods?” Sunburst said and lowered his voice. “And make sure no one else hears you, this is a secret and important mission.”
Flurry Heart nodded with a serious expression and they both left the library, once at the exit they went in opposite directions. Flurry Heart walked with determination, anxious to accomplish her goal, and Sunburst walked with a brisk pace, excited to give Starlight the good news, eager to see the glint of hope in her eyes as he was to hear the sound of her voice.
The sun lowered into the sea in a blaze of magenta and gold, the clouds painted with dark purple and the sky with deep blues. The half-moon grew brighter as it took its place in the heavens, surrounded by the stars that twinkle into existence one by one as the sun disappeared into the water. The sight usually took Starlight’s breath away, but she missed it today, on account of following Sunburst through dark, small corridors that were dusty enough to make her sneeze.
His horn lighted the way, silhouetting his body in harsh golden light while the rest was covered in shadows. He promised to take her to a pony that could help her, but she didn’t understand the need for secrecy. When she asked he just smiled patiently and told her to trust him, that it would be better for them if no one else saw them leave or knew where they were going. Not even Goldie was to know of their outing.
He came to a stop in front of a small wooden door, and she almost collided with him but managed to skid to a stop at the last minute. He pulled a ring of keys from his robe, the metal ringing merrily in his magic as he searched for the correct one. He put it in the lock and twisted it gently, opening the old door with excruciating slowness, a sliver of light poured through the corridor, lighting up the dust spores and shining over his face, the irises in his eyes contracting with the sudden intrusion of light and he blinked.
Sunburst looked through the crack for a moment that stretched to eternity for Starlight, and she let out a breath when he opened the door more fully, stepping cautiously outside before motioning for her to follow.
They sneaked around the garden like thieves in the twilight. The shadows grew darker as they moved, giving them much-needed cover from the guards patrolling the grounds. It was then she realized just how noisy the surface was with the incessant breeze, the chirping of crickets, the cries of the owls and other animals she couldn’t name.
Starlight’s heart hammered with every little noise and she suddenly missed the encompassing darkness of the sea, how she moved so silently and gracefully in the water, unlike now with her clumsy legs that seemed to stumble with every little stone and branch in the way. To her, her every breath came out in loud and annoying huffs of air as she followed behind Sunburst, tiptoeing around bushes and distracted guards, fearing that her harsh breathing would give them away at any second. But she let out a quiet sigh of relief when they managed to leave the last line of manicured bushes undetected, making a dash to the wild tree line up ahead.
By the time they reached the edge of the woods the sky was blue and purple and filled with stars, the edges of the clouds painted pink and red with the last rays of the sun that were fading quickly. They hid behind a large tree, Sunburst peering behind the bark to make sure they hadn’t been followed.
She heard abrupt hoofsteps up ahead and she picked up a fallen branch with her teeth, ready to swing it. Sunburst noticed and stood in front of her, stopping her from bringing the branch down on Shining Armor’s face. The captain swore, taking a step back, and Starlight would’ve probably done the same thing if it weren’t for the branch in her mouth, and her muteness.
Sunburst chuckled, reaching for the branch and lowering it gently. “This is the only time I’m glad for your lack of voice.”
“Yeah, me too.” Shining Armor quipped. “Mind telling me why we’re out here and sneaking around like common criminals?”
“We are taking Starlight to see Stygian,” Sunburst said after a pause, “the forest is dangerous at night and I need your help escorting her there.”
Shining Armor didn’t look convinced. “Couldn’t you have done this during the day?”
Sunburst looked at Starlight for a moment, she stared back with uncertainty but she nodded as if asking him to continue. If Sunburst trusted Shining Armor, then she would trust him too. He gave her a small smile before turning towards his friend, giving him a serious look.
“Starlight’s been cursed, that’s why she can’t speak.” He let the statement sink in before continuing. “I’m not sure of the nature of the curse, but it’s not a simple hex or jinx, I need Stygian’s help to figure it out and break it without hurting her.”
“Are you suggesting that it could be...dark magic?”
“It’s a possibility, yes.”
The captain’s eyes grew wide and he put a hoof over his chin, thinking hard. He heard whispers of ponies using whatever it took to obtain power, unhappy with their current level of magic and talent, and they would often resort to dark magic to get it. Dark magic alone couldn’t give its user what it wanted, though it did give them the tools to take it from someone else. If you wanted beauty you took from someone more beautiful than you, if you wanted power you took it from someone more powerful, if you wanted someone to be silent…
...you take their voice.
“Damn,” he mumbled, looking at Starlight with a tinge of pity. “You’re just one mystery after another aren’t you?”
“Oh-uh, Papa said a bad word.”
All three unicorns whirled around at the young voice, staring at Flurry Heart with wide eyes.
“Shining, what’s she doing here?!” Sunburst said with a harsh whisper.
“She insisted on coming,” Shining Armor said, but the frown on his face said he too was displeased with the arrangement. “Cadance has the night shift at the hospital, and her babysitter bailed on me.”
“I don’t need a babysitter! I’m nine years old and I can take care of myself!” She said resolutely.
Before anyone could argue further they heard the loud laughter of an approaching guard. Shining Armor grabbed his daughter and ducked under the bushes, while Sunburst took hold of Starlight and pinned her against the tree, shielding her with his body, his dark cloak draping over them like a curtain, blending with the night. There was a minute of tense silence as they waited for the guards to pass by, they walked slowly and talked about mundane things. Starlight’s heart pounded in her ears, Sunburst's face just a few inches from hers as he crouched over her, and she could do nothing but sit there as still as stone.
No one dared to move until the guards disappeared behind a bend of rose bushes. Sunburst stepped away slowly and the captain lifted from the ground as silent as a shadow.
“Stygian’s hut is far from here and it will take longer to get there now that it’s dark,” Sunburst said, taking Starlight’s hoof gently as he walked ahead. “Let's go.”
Shining Armor put his daughter on his shoulders and followed without complaint.
The woods were dark—though not as dark as the bottom of the sea—and once Starlight got used to it she walked more calmly, staring at the tall pines, the labyrinth of maple trees, and the prickly bushes that lined the unseen path Sunburst were guiding them through. The only witness of the strange procession were the owls and the foxes hidden in the woods, their eyes glinting mysteriously by the light of the unicorn's horns.
Sunburst didn’t let go of her hoof the whole time, and Starlight didn’t pull away. She liked how close he was and the way she felt around him. She couldn’t remember a time she felt this...content? Peaceful? She didn’t know enough words to describe the warmness inside her chest, the sudden quietness in her restless soul. She would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all if it weren’t happening to her, but a smile did find its way into her face as she walked, hoping that the darkness hid it from view.
She heard a flapping overhead and Sunburst grunted a little when something fell on his withers. He turned and gave a fake pout to a grinning Flurry Heart. “Hey there, how can I help you?”
“It’s boring back there,” Flurry said. “I wanted to see how you guys were doing!”
Sunburst glanced behind them and saw the sour look on Shining Armor’s face, looking pointedly at the way he was holding Starlight’s hoof. Don’t get attached, his earlier words rang through his ears. Starlight noticed this too, and hastily withdrew her hoof from his, but he only held her tighter, squeezing it in a way that told her it was alright.
“I understand, the captain can be a bit of a party pooper,” Sunburst said, loud enough for Shining to hear.
Flurry laughed, but then her eyes rested on Starlight and her tone was gentle as she spoke. “Is it true that you’re under a curse, Miss Glimmer? Does it hurt a lot?”
Starlight blinked, taken aback by the young pegasus concern for her, but she nodded and reassured her with a wide smile. The pain in her throat had lessened in the past few days, though it flared up on occasions. Like it was reminding her of the crucial piece of herself that she was missing, the part of herself that had been so cruelly stolen.
“If you need anything just let me know,” Flurry Heart said with a nod, “I’m training to be a knight you know? I can help you and protect you at the same time, don’t worry, I have plenty of practice taking care of Sunburst, I can’t look after you as well.” She leaned in and whispered in Starlight’s ear. “Just don’t tell my papa, he wants me to be a boring handmaiden instead.”
Starlight pretended to zip her mouth shut and threw away the key.
Sunburst led them through a bend and they stepped into a clearing in the woods, where a small cottage stood in the moonlight, a stream flowing next to it and murmuring as it trickled over the rocks before disappearing into the forest.
The tiny house was old but sturdy, made of thick slate-colored rectangular stones, which were neatly arranged into a dome. Checkered shape stained-glass embellished the windows with its rainbow colors, and yet the entrance was only a simple wooden door, held together with simple iron bolts. The turf-style green roof was very steep, protruding downward like a slippery slope, but the bird's nest sitting atop it planted its home firmly to the sod.
Sunburst let her go and climbed the three steps that led to the front door, knocking three times and calling out loudly. “Stygian! It’s me Sunburst, could you open up!”
Starlight looked at the cottage, taking in the strangeness of the structure. She was sure she had never seen a house like this, not in the sea or in the town, and yet something about it stirred her thoughts in the back of her mind, like a dream she had forgotten and was suddenly remembering. The memory was covered in a fine blanket of smoke, but she heard the voice clearly, saw the outline of a hoof hovering over the page of a storybook, pointing out a cottage similar to this one drawn on the paper.
...she sailed by a large cherry orchard, where there was a little cottage with curious red and blue windows; it was thatched, and before it, two wooden soldiers stood sentry and presented arms when anyone went past...
The door to the cottage opened slowly, the creaks singing in a crescendo, and a blue eye peeked out through the crack, taking in the group waiting at the porch. The memory went back to where it came from.
“Stygian, I’m sorry for intruding but we need your help!” Sunburst pushed the door firmly.
Starlight heard a low cry of pain, and a thin unicorn appeared at the doorway. There was a deep scowl on his face, but his small size just made the gesture look comical. His dark blue hair was cut in a bowl-cut style, the dark blue mane slightly frazzled like he just stumbled out of bed. His gray coat was covered by a light brown cape that had seen better days, held together by a rough-looking cord on his neck.
“I’ve brought some friends,” Sunburst said with a guilty smile. On top of his head, Flurry Heart waved cheerfully at the grumpy stallion.
“Sunburst, I have a deadline and a manuscript that’s nowhere near finished,” Stygian said with a sneer. “I have no time to entertain guests or to talk pleasantries.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know that this isn’t a house call,” Sunburst said and stepped in, the rest following behind him, much to Stygian’s chagrin. “My friend here needs your help, the sooner you help us the sooner we’ll be out of your hair.”
He looked confused for a moment before his face cleared with the realization. “Sunburst, I haven’t dabbled in magic for a long time, you should talk to an actual wizard instead of bothering me.”
“But no wizard in Equestria knows the sea as you do.”
Stygian opened his mouth with a retort on his tongue but stopped when the words registered. His eyes took in every guest before they settled on Starlight and stayed there. She tried to meet his gaze but found that she couldn’t. She felt woozy all of the sudden, her throat ached and throbbed with each dull beat of her heart, her hackles rising the longer Stygian stared. She wanted to leave, to be anywhere but near him.
He approached her and Starlight took a step back, lifting a hoof to her throat protectively. He took another step and her lips curled into a snarl as she glared at him. Starlight's teeth turned sharp and they gleamed in the warm flicker of the candlelight. Her pupils blew open wide, the darkness drowning out the color of her eyes until only a thin ring of blue remained. She would have growled if she had the voice to do so.
Shining stood between Sunburst and Flurry, using his large body to shield them and to push them away from her, but Stygian stood where he was, not at all faced by Starlight’s aggressive display. His irritation was gone, replaced by a contemplative look like he was staring at a puzzle and was figuring out the pieces he needed to finish it.
“Hmm,” Stygian said calmly, ignoring Starlight’s rigid posture, “that’s quite the curse they put on you.”