//------------------------------//
// Chapter Six - A Fish Story 
// Story: My Little Pony: Shadows of the Setting Sun 
// by Starswirl the Beardless 
//------------------------------//

“And...voila!” said the mayor, throwing open the door and pressing the light switch just inside it. On the other side of the door was illuminated a relatively small room, furnished with two beds, a nightstand between them, a dresser on the opposite wall, and a rocking chair in the far corner. The walls were covered in a soft blue wallpaper, reminiscent of clear ocean water. A large window on the far wall showed the dark night sky beyond, and the deep blue bay beneath it. Mayor Akoya stepped into the room, followed by Sunset and Nova. 

“The royal suite,” said the mayor. “Best hotel room in town, or so I’ve been told. I know it may be a bit...cozier than what you’re used to, but the beds are soft, the room has been freshly cleaned, and the view is gorgeous.” As she said this, the mayor opened the window, letting in a cool, gentle breeze that smelled of the sea. 

“It’s lovely,” said Nova, always the polite one. “I’m sure we’ll be just fine, mayor.”

“Of course,” said the mayor, looking relieved. “Well, I know you two have had a busy day, so I’ll go ahead and take my leave now.” She placed the keys to the room on the dresser as she headed towards the door. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask the staff. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to accommodate you. And if you need to reach me for any reason, don’t be afraid to send for me.”

“Thanks, mayor,” said Sunset, giving her a smile. 

The mayor’s smile faltered momentarily. “And...Madam Ambassador,” she said sheepishly, “once again, I apologize sincerely for the confusion earlier. It really wasn’t my intention to scare you. Most ponies enjoy the experience much more going in blind.” 

“Mayor, I told you, it’s alright,” said Sunset. “I was just being jumpy, that’s all.” Apparently, the mayor had been even more worried about Sunset’s reaction to the creature than Sunset had been about the creature itself. 

“Ah, yes. So you did,” said the mayor, recovering from her embarrassment slightly. “Well, goodnight you two. Sleep well; pleasant dreams. I’ll be back to check on you first thing tomorrow morning.” The mayor gave them a deep bow as she finished. 

“Goodnight, mayor,” said Sunset, Nova echoing her. 

The mayor backed out of the room, giving them both one last smile before gently closing the door. When Sunset could no longer hear her hoofsteps walking away, she let out a long, drawn-out sigh, her polite smile vanishing and her shoulders slumping. She walked over to the nearest bed, throwing herself upon it face-down. The cool fabric of the pillowcase felt wonderful on her skin and helped calm her down. 

Nova, who had just begun to unpack the belongings they had had brought from the ship, looked over at her with a pitiful look on her face. “Are you feeling alright, Sunset?” she asked.

“Yeah,” replied Sunset, her voice partially muffled by the pillow. She rolled over onto her back, pulling the pillow down and holding it in a tight embrace. “It’s just been a long day.”

“It sure has,” said Nova. “A long day with an exciting conclusion.” Sunset uttered an affirmative grunt, a lackluster response that prompted Nova to examine her more closely. She recognized the thoughtful expression on her childhood companion’s face. “Do you want to tell me what you’re thinking?”

“It’s just...” began Sunset, rolling onto her side to face Nova. “How did they do it? A huge sea creature just wanders into town one day, and somehow they figure out how to tame it? Did you see that thing, Nova? I mean, of course you saw it, but...” She let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s just hard to believe. I’ve never even heard of a creature like that!”

“Neither have I,” said Nova. “Although, I don’t know nearly as much about magical creatures as you do.” Nova’s comment only reminded Sunset that she was expected to be the resident expert on the issue. While she was probably more educated on the subject than ninety-nine percent of Equestria, even she was at a loss. Earlier, she had been excited at getting the chance to study such a rare creature, but she had not anticipated the situation would be as bizarre as it had turned out to be. 

In the aftermath of that evening’s performance, after the creature had slunk back beneath the waves and the audience had given their final applause and left, Sunset had attempted to get the full story from the mayor. After spending quite a while convincing her that she hadn’t been upset by the creature’s sudden appearance, Sunset had managed to get what little information the mayor had had to give. Apparently, the town had been as surprised as Sunset had been when the creature had first been seen in the bay. It wasn’t until word had gotten around and the sightseers had started pouring in that the town had realized how they could take advantage of the situation.

Of course, the biggest boon to the burgeoning tourist trap had been the discovery of how to control the creature, which had happened largely by accident. It had been thanks to a young musician named Clarion Call, the unicorn Sunset had seen at the performance, that the creature had been tamed. He had been the one to recognize the creature’s response to his music, and had used it to train the creature to perform simple actions on cue. Beyond that, the townponies had done nothing else to try to understand the creature or its origin, not wanting to look a gift sea monster in the mouth. 

Sunset had restrained herself from further questioning, as she had realized that the mayor had told her all that she could. The pony she had most wanted to talk to had been Clarion Call himself, but he had already gone home for the night, so she had resolved to call on him the next day. After the questioning had ended, the mayor had escorted them to the hotel where their lodgings had been prepared for them. On the way, Nova had spoken with the mayor to arrange for their belongings to be brought to their room from the ship. Because of this, Sunset had finally gotten a moment to talk to Olive Ridley, who had been acting even more distant than he had been earlier. 

“In all my years, I’ve never seen such a beast on land or sea,” had been the captain’s thoughts. “Just goes to show you: there’s always somethin’ new to see out there, even for an old pony like me.” The captain had chuckled to himself. “I guess I’ll have a new story to tell the next time my old pals and I meet up.” After having seen the situation firsthand, and realizing how under control it already was, he had told Sunset that he would feel comfortable letting her and Nova go off on their own while they were there. Sunset, having had similar thoughts, decided to take him up on his offer, and had let him return to the ship. 

Sunset thought about his characteristically nonchalant reaction as she lied there on the bed, staring up at the ceiling above her. Perhaps she should follow his example and try to have a more positive outlook on the situation. She could sit there, lamenting that fact that she was again faced with a task that befuddled her, or she could rise to the challenge and tackle the problem head-on. It didn’t take her long to make her decision. “Nova,” said Sunset, looking back over at her companion, “did you bring that book we have about—“

She stopped short when she realized that Nova was levitating the book in question out in front of her. “Uh, yeah. Thanks,” said Sunset, giving her a grin. 

“No problem,” said Nova sweetly, sending the book gliding over to Sunset. 

Sunset sat up in her bed and took hold of the heavy book. The Extraordinary Beasts of Equestria was a tome Sunset was intimately familiar with, having spent many long hours during her youth poring through its pages. The book contained detailed descriptions of all of the strange, abnormal, or outright magical creatures known to pony scholars, including their appearances, behavior, and territories. Sunset always found it funny when she remembered just how scared she had gotten as a filly, staying up late and gazing at the illustrations of the creatures under the covers of her bed. This time, however, she gazed at its pages with a scientist’s eye, desperately hoping to find an answer to her questions. 





Sunset grumbled as the bright morning sunlight streamed through the window of the room and onto her sleeping face. She rolled over to escape the light, but Nova was not about to let her sleep through the morning. “Sunset, you need to get up now. The mayor’s waiting for us,” she said, gently but sternly. 

“Tell her to come back later,” Sunset grumbled, still half-asleep. 

“I did. It is later,” said Nova flatly. After a significant amount of prodding and bartering, Nova managed to get Sunset sitting up in bed. “I warned you not to stay up too late reading,” said Nova as she brushed Sunset’s hair. 

“Didn’t even do any good,” remarked the grumpy Sunset. She had looked through hundreds of pages and hadn’t managed to find even a single reference to a creature of the sort she had seen the day before. While she had been excited at the prospect of getting to discover a brand new type of magical creature, part of her wished it could have been something a bit more mundane. 

When Sunset had been suitably groomed, she and Nova made their way out of the room and downstairs to the hotel’s lobby, where they found Mayor Akoya waiting for them. “Good morning, Madam Ambassador, Madam Secretary!” said the mayor cheerfully, giving them a deep bow. “I trust you slept well.”

“Good morning, mayor” yawned Sunset, Nova echoing her.

“Well, now that we’re all together again,” said the mayor, rising, “I thought we might head out and get a bit of breakfast in us. There’s a terrific little stand down the road that sells the most delicious crepes; you simply must try them.”

Sunset’s stomach grumbled quietly at the mention of food. “Breakfast sounds like a great idea right about now,” she said.

Mayor Akoya led Sunset and Nova out of the hotel and onto the main drag, which was already bustling with traffic. As they weaved their way through the tourists milling about, they stopped to sample the treats offered by the many food stalls scattered about. Sunset got to try a warm, buttery crepe drizzled with blueberry sauce and whipped cream, a savory panini with grilled tomato and melted cheese, and a breakfast burrito, a food which Sunset had never gotten a chance to try living in Canterlot Castle. 

While the mayor seemed like she would gladly have dragged Sunset all throughout town on their culinary excursion, Sunset was eventually forced to put an end to it in as polite a manner as she could. She thanked the mayor for the food, which had again been on the house, and told her that she really needed to be getting on with the work she had been sent there to perform. She asked the mayor if they could go and meet with Clarion Call, so that she could begin her study of the creature and begin to unravel the mystery she was faced with. The mayor was very willing to oblige her, seemingly relishing any opportunity to show off the creature to an audience, and led them off toward their destination.

The three walked along the same path they had the day before, heading to the performance area at the edge of town. As they approached, Sunset saw Clarion Call sitting in his spot on the shore, playing a song on his trumpet. The music was slow and melancholic, and was played with a skill that was impressive for someone of Clarion’s age. Sunset might have easily been enthralled by it, if she hadn’t taken notice of the other member of the musician’s audience, which was currently floating in the water before him. 

The creature was almost completely submerged, only its head visible above the waves. It floated in place with its eyes closed, almost as if it were asleep. Low rumblings could be heard coming from its throat; as Sunset listened, she noticed they seemed to be in line with the notes, accompanying the music like a member of a duet. 

When they had gotten close, the creature’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and its vocalizations stopped. Its head rose out of the water several feet and turned to face the newcomers. Sunset breathed in sharply when she saw this, but her step did not falter. She wasn’t going to be caught off guard this time, she thought. The creature watched their approach, but made no threatening moves. When he noticed the creature’s actions, Clarion paused his playing and turned to look at what had drawn its attention. 

“Good morning, Clarion!” the mayor called out, seemingly unaffected by the creature’s gaze. “How is my star doing this morning?”

“He’s doing fine, mayor,” Clarion responded flatly, not even looking at her. 

“Good, good,” said the mayor. “Now, Clarion, I have somepony here I’d like you to meet. This is Sunset Shimmer, the royal ambassador.” She put particular emphasis on her last two words. 

“Oh, right!” said Clarion, springing up from his seat and looking like he had suddenly remembered something. “It is an honor to meet you, Madam Ambassador,” he said stiffly, giving Sunset a deep bow. 

“This is Clarion Call, our resident musician and, lately, our show’s choreographer,” said the mayor. 

“It’s nice to meet you Clarion,” said Sunset as he rose back up. 

“The ambassador has traveled all the way here from Canterlot to see the Beast,” said the mayor to Clarion. “While she’s here, I want you help her out in any way that you can. Answer her questions, assist her in her work, and do whatever she asks of you. Understand?”

“Yes, mayor,” said Clarion. The forced smile on his face gave one impression; the unhappy look in his eyes said something else entirely. 

“Excellent,” said the mayor. “Now, Madam Ambassador, I realize that you have important business to attend to while you’re here, but the Chamber of Commerce has planned a meeting for this morning to discuss marketing strategies, and we would be absolutely delighted if you could attend. The perspective of a pony of your station would be a tremendous boon to our community. Perhaps you’d be willing to...postpone your work and come join us?”

“Oh! I...uh...” uttered Sunset. Sitting and listening to a bunch of old ponies talk about business was the last thing Sunset wanted to do at that moment. She had just been getting herself ready to face the creature; having to go to that meeting would be a tremendously boring anticlimax. “Could you...give us a moment, please?” Sunset quickly pulled Nova a few steps away from the others. “So, Nova,” said Sunset quietly, “I...”

“You want to stay here with the creature, don’t you?” asked Nova, a knowing smile on her face. 

“I do,” Sunset admitted. “I really, really, really do. Is there any chance you could...take care of this for me?”

Nova chuckled softly at the pleading expression on Sunset’s face. “Alright, Sunset,” she said. “I’ll cover for you this once, but you really have to get used to doing things like this. You are a dignitary now, after all.”

“I know,” said Sunset guiltily. The two turned back to face Mayor Akoya.

“Mayor Akoya,” began Nova, “while the ambassador would love to join you and the Chamber, she feels that her investigation requires her immediate and full attention. However, she has directed me to accompany you to the meeting as her representative.”

A flash of disappointment passed over the mayor’s face, before her normal, cheery expression returned. “Ah, yes. Of course, Madam Secretary,” said the mayor. “We would be delighted to have you join us for our proceedings. I certainly wouldn’t want to keep the ambassador away from her work.” She looked over at Sunset. “Please take all the time you need, Madam Ambassador. And if you need any assistance at all, just ask Clarion. Or send for me at town hall and I’ll be here in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. And if you change you mind, feel free to stop by and join us; we really would love to have you there.”

“Thanks, mayor,” said Sunset, somewhat guiltily. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for us while we’ve been here. If I finish up here quickly...then I’ll try to make it to your meeting. I promise.”

“Oh, there’s no need to be so humble, Madam Ambassador,” said the mayor. “You’re our guest here; there’s no need to worry about inconveniencing us.” The mayor then bid Sunset goodbye, giving her another bow. Sunset said goodbye to her and Nova, and the two walked off back to town, the mayor talking Nova’s ear off along the way. Sunset silently wished Nova strength for what she had coming to her, before turning her attention to what she had come there to do. 

The creature seemed to have lowered its guard, as it was once again submerged up to its head, but kept its eyes open. Clarion Call was sitting in his spot again, fiddling with his trumpet. Sunset walked over and stood next to him, staring down at the creature. Looking at it from so close up, and when it wasn’t jumping around, Sunset could really get a sense of its enormity. “It’s incredible,” she said.

“Yep,” said Clarion tersely. 

“You’d think a creature this big wouldn’t be able to hide from all of Equestria,” said Sunset, “but I’ve never even heard of something like this. I don’t think anypony has. Is it possible you could...get it to come closer?”

“Yeah,” replied Clarion, but made no visible move to do anything. 

An awkward silence passed between them. “So...could you do that?”

Clarion gave a heavy sigh. “Yeah,” he said, raising his trumpet to his lips. He blew a short, soft note, then stood. The creature seemed to respond to the sound, a similar-sounding grumble coming from its throat. Slowly, it rose from the water, moving its head over to the shore. Sunset and Clarion stepped back to make room as the creature gently lowered its head onto the ground. 

Sunset approached the creature, but before she could get close, it let out a sharp, loud growl and turned its head toward her slightly. Sunset recoiled slightly and froze where she was. “He doesn’t like strangers very much,” said Clarion matter-of-factly. He raised his trumpet once again and blew several gentle notes. Afterwards, he moved closer to the creature and raised a hoof, stroking its skin softly. The creature grumbled lazily and moved its head back to where it had been. 

“So it’s true,” said Sunset, amazed. “You really can control it.” 

“He’s a living creature,” said Clarion. “I don’t control him. I just...talk to him, and sometimes he listens.”

“Amazing,” said Sunset. She tried walking up to the creature again, more slowly this time. The creature watched her, but made no aggressive moves. Hesitantly, she raised a hoof and placed it on the creature’s face, as Clarion had done. Its skin was warm, much warmer than Sunset would have expected of a creature that lived its life in the cold waters of the sea. Its fine scales linked together tightly, creating a texture that felt soft and smooth. Sunset gently caressed the creature, as if she were stroking a household pet. 

Remembering why she was there, Sunset stepped back and withdrew a pencil and a notebook from her saddlebags. Like a good scientist, she began taking notes as she studied the creature. She made note of its dimensions, its bizarre physiology, and its strangely musical vocalizations. “Normally, creatures like this would stay as far as possible from populated areas,” said Sunset, mostly to herself. “To think that it would just wander into a place like this...”

“Is that what she told you?” Clarion scoffed. 

Sunset paused and looked up from her notes, confused by his remark. “Is that what who told me?” she said. 

“Akoya,” said Clarion. “She give you that spiel about how he just showed up one day and started hanging around for no reason at all?”

“Well...yeah,” said Sunset. “Why do you ask?”

“Nevermind,” Clarion grumbled, shaking his head. 

Sunset always hated it when ponies acted evasive when they clearly had something on their minds. “What is it, Clarion?” she said sternly.

“It’s nothing. Just forget it,” said Clarion in a tone that indicated that it definitely not nothing. Sunset noted how much easier her life would be if she could read minds.

“I don’t know why you’re acting like this,” said Sunset, irritated. “I came here to help you, to help all of you, but you’re treating me like I just shaved your tail off.” 

“Exactly!” said Clarion, looking her in the eye. “You came here to help the town. You came here to rub elbows with the mayor and help her figure out how to sell more shirts and keychains. I bet you never even thought about helping him,” he said, gesturing toward the creature. 

“Help...the creature?” said Sunset. “What in Equestria are you talking about?”

“You really want to know? Look out there and tell me what you see,” said Clarion, pointing out towards the mouth of the bay. 

Sunset was puzzled, but did as he asked, gazing out in the direction he had indicated. The light of the morning sun reflected off the sea, making it shine brightly. Sunset squinted and held a hoof over her eyes to try and see through the glare and identify whatever it was Clarion wanted her to see. “What am I supposed to be...?” she began. Suddenly, she saw something where the bay opened up into the sea, where the land on both sides rose into short cliffs. It was long, stretching out between the cliffs, and rising up from the water for what looked like quite a ways. “Is that...a net?”

“Yeah,” said Clarion. “It covers the whole mouth of the bay. It’s two stories tall above water, and goes all the way down to the seabed underneath.”

“But...why would you need a net that big?” Sunset asked. “What’s it supposed to catch?”

“I’ll give you three guesses,” Clarion said flatly.

It finally clicked in Sunset’s brain; she realized that the answer to her question was literally staring her in the face. “The creature?” she said, looking back at it. 

“Bingo,” said Clarion. “Certified one-hundred percent secure sea monster net, courtesy of Her Honor, the Mayor.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“You’ve trapped it here,” said Sunset.

“Of course,” said Clarion. “Can’t have the star of our show swimming away, now can we?”

The situation was making more and more sense in Sunset’s mind. She had found the mayor’s claim that the creature had started hanging around the bay of its own accord to be unbelievable, and now she knew that her feelings had been justified. It was no wonder that the creature had never left if it had been prevented from doing so. The only question that remained was how they had managed to find it and trap it in the bay in the first place. She very much doubted that a town such as Pintada Bay would have the resources, ponypower, or even a good reason to hunt down a giant sea creature. 

“Clarion,” said Sunset gravely, “tell me what happened...what really happened. How did the creature get here?”

“I shouldn’t,” said Clarion, looking away. “I’ve already said more than I should have. Akoya’ll be furious if she finds out I was talking to you about this.”

“Do you really want me to help you? To help the creature?” Sunset said. “Because if you do, you need to tell me the truth. Otherwise, the mayor’s word is the only thing I’ll have to go on.”

Clarion said nothing for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh. “Alright, fine,” he said. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. “One day, a few months ago, I was out at the beach, practicing a new song. I like to go out there to play when I can; it’s quiet, and they can’t hear me all the way back in town, so I can play as loud as I want. Anyway, I was sitting out on the beach after dinner, just like any other day, when I started to hear something.”

“What did you hear?” asked Sunset.

“Well, as I was playing, I started to hear a sound coming from the sea,” said Clarion. “It sounded almost like an instrument, like a trumpet, or some sort of horn. It was so far off at first that I couldn’t hear it well, but I could tell that it started and stopped with my playing. I thought it might have just been an echo, but I’d never gotten echoes playing there before, and I realized the sound kept going for way too long after I stopped for it to be that. 

“I got curious. I tried playing a few notes, and I heard the sound again right after I finished. I did it again, and the same thing happened. When I realized it was happening in response to my playing, I tried to respond back. I listened to the sound, and I tried to match it as closely as I could with my trumpet. And as soon as I started doing that, I noticed the sound started getting louder, like it was getting closer to me.

“As it got closer, I could hear it a bit better, so I was able to adjust and match the tone more closely. But that just made the sound get louder. I kept at it for a minute or two, just going back and forth like that, and then I saw it. I saw what was making the sound. I saw it rising up out of the water, way in the distance, sounding off loud and clear. It was him.”

“You saw the creature,” said Sunset, her eyes wide. “You managed to call it to you with just your music. That’s incredible! What did you do when you saw it?”

Clarion blushed slightly. “Well...I, uh...I...,” he began, before sighing. “I ran away.” Sunset snickered unintentionally at his embarrassment. “Hey, it’s not like I’d ever seen a sea monster before!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” said Sunset, catching herself and putting on a straight face. “Please keep going.”

“Well, like I said, I grabbed my trumpet and ran back to town,” Clarion continued. “I’d never run so fast in my life.”

“Did you tell anyone?” asked Sunset.

“Tell them what? That I saw a sea monster at the beach?” Clarion said. “Nopony would have believed me. I kept my mouth shut about it and acted like nothing had happened. I stayed away from the beach for a few days; I didn’t know what would happen if I went back. But eventually...I don’t know. I guess I got more curious than I was afraid. Whatever it was, I went back to the beach later that week to see if he would show up again. 

“I couldn’t see him out there at first, so I tried doing what I had done before. I played the sound I had heard him make, although, I don’t even know if I wanted it to work or not. Nothing happened right away; I would play and then listen, but all I heard was the waves. I tried over and over again. I don’t know how long I stood out there, but it must have been a while. I was about ready to throw in the towel, but then I heard it. I heard him again, way out in the distance. 

“I’ll admit, I was a bit scared when I realized he was real, and I hadn’t just imagined the whole thing. But I think I was also kind of excited, too. I kept playing and listening, just like before. And just like before, he started coming closer to the beach. When I saw him come up out of the water again, I got the urge to bolt, but I stopped myself. Somehow, I held my ground and kept going. He kept responding to me, and he kept coming closer. He got pretty close to shore, close enough that I could get a good look at him, but he wouldn’t come all the way.”

“He was scared of you, wasn’t he?” said Sunset. “In fact, I bet he was just as just as scared of you as you were of him.”

“I think you’re right,” said Clarion, a small smile appearing on his face. “I kept playing his sound, but he held his ground, er, water I should say. When that didn’t work, I tried something else. I started playing some simple melodies, just to see what he’d do. At first, he didn’t do anything, just sat there and listened. But then, he started singing again; he started copying the notes I was playing. He would copy them, but he would also remember them.”

“The creature was able to comprehend and reproduce complex patterns?” said Sunset, scribbling in her notes. “Amazing. Go on.”

“Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool, too,” said Clarion. “I must’ve sat there with him for hours. I would’ve stayed out there even longer, but I had to head home eventually. I managed to pull myself away and walk back to town; he watched me go, but didn’t do anything. My mom sure gave me a hard time for being out so late, but it was worth it.

“I started going back every day to see him. I think he started expecting me, ‘cause he showed up much quicker from then on. I kept trying to get him to come to the shore, but he just kept dragging his hooves. Or should I say fins? Anyway, he stayed out there, but I noticed he would get closer every day before stopping. It took a long time, but one day, he came about as close as he could without getting stuck in the shallows. I was feeling brave that day, so I decided to take a risk. I tried to wade out into the water to get even closer to him. 

“I went slow, so I wouldn’t startle him. I could tell he was still a bit scared, I was too, honestly, but he didn’t run. I went about as far out as I could without having to tread water. I looked up at him, and I tried playing something I’d taught him, thinking it might get him to lower his guard. I guess it must have worked, ‘cause he sang it back to me, then stretched himself closer. He was right in front of me, close enough to reach out and touch him, so I did. He let me pet him, just like you were doing. I thought it was so cool to be able to touch a creature like him...but then I saw it.”

“Saw what?” asked Sunset.

“Well,” said Clarion, “the big fin on his back...”

“His dorsal fin,” said Sunset.

“Uh, yeah,” said Clarion. “Well, he’d hurt it pretty bad. He’d kept it underwater up till then, so I hadn’t been able to see it from far away. Made me sick just to look at the thing.” 

Sunset looked over at the creature’s large dorsal fin, which she hadn’t been able to see up close the day before. The fin looked largely intact, but upon closer inspection, she did notice a long scar tracing its way down the fin almost all the way to its body. “Oh, wow,” said Sunset gravely, “that must have been bad. No wonder he was so cautious of you.”

“It was pretty bad,” said Clarion. “When I saw it, I got scared, not scared of him, scared for him. I didn’t know what happened to him, but I thought that there was no way he could get by on his own like he was. I wanted to help him. I didn’t have to; nobody else knew about him. I could have just walked away and pretended I’d never met him, but I could never have done that. After all that time we’d spent together, I felt like we’d bonded; I felt like we were friends.” He gently stroked the creature’s face, eliciting a soft rumble from the creature, almost like it was purring. 

“But I didn’t know anything about fixing injuries, especially not the kind he had,” Clarion continued. “I knew I needed to get help if I wanted him to get better. I was really worried about telling anypony else about him, but I figured it was worth the risk. Ideally, I would have liked to have gotten a vet to come out and look at him, but we don’t have any of those in town. Closest thing we have is an old doctor who’s lived in town for years. I managed to get her out to the beach by telling her that somepony had gotten hurt out there. Of course, it wasn’t really ‘somepony’.

“After the doc got over the shock of seeing him, and I managed to get him to come close again, the doc was able to get a look at his fin. She was really reluctant; she kept saying that it was way out of her league and that she wanted nothing to do with it. I guess I must’ve begged pretty hard, cause she caved eventually. She did her best, I’ll give her that. But when she’d finished looking at him, she told me she thought he’d need a lot of work and a lot of time to recover afterwards before he went out on his own again. She said we’d need to bring him into the bay where we could tend to him more easily and the water was calmer.”

“That makes sense,” said Sunset. “If it were swimming around in open water, its wound would’ve taken forever to heal, if at all.”

“I knew that,” said Clarion. “I knew that’s what he needed, but bringing him into town was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t know what the townsponies would do if they saw something like him, but I could imagine. I wanted to keep him safe, but I also wanted to see him get better, so I let her talk me into it. But if we were gonna bring him in, I knew we had to throw secrecy out the window. There was no way we could hide something as big as him from the whole town. And if they were gonna find out about him, then I wanted to do whatever I could to prevent any panic.

“For better or worse, I decided to get the mayor involved, thinking that she’d be able to help keep everypony under control. I had a hard time getting her to believe me, but the doc’s word helped a lot. When we finally managed to get her out to the beach and let her see him for herself, she almost fainted she was so scared. She didn’t want anything to do with him either; she wanted me to get him to go away so he wouldn’t scare anypony or get in the way of their pearling. 

“But when the doc pointed out that he wouldn’t be able to get very far away from town with his fin being the way it was, she started to reconsider. I told her that if she let us bring him into town, he could heal up and be gone quicker than if we just left him on his own. I don’t think she was completely apathetic to him, at least, not back then. She’s not a bad pony, she’s just scared of something bad happening in town on her watch. I don’t know whether it was because of what we said, or because she really did care, deep down, but she finally agreed to let us do what we needed to do.

“The next day, we made our move. I went out in a dinghy with one of my friends to lure him in; he rowed, I played. I was able to get the big guy into the bay pretty easily with the usual call, but it took a lot of cajoling to get him close to town. The mayor had agreed to let us put him in an old boathouse on the other side of the bay where the doc could work on him. We were able to get him over there without too much trouble, but we’d attracted a lot of attention doing it. 

“A big crowd of ponies came to the boathouse, demanding to know what was going on. I thought they were about ready to riot, but luckily, the mayor was there. She managed to talk them down and convince everypony not to panic; I was really grateful for that. The town was on edge for quite a while after that, but thankfully, we didn’t have any major incidents. We managed to keep him in the boathouse most of the time, and even when he went swimming in the bay, he never got in anypony’s way. 

“After the doc got him patched up, I spent as much time as I could with him. I made sure he got plenty of rest, I made sure he didn’t mess with his fin too much, and I made sure that nopony came barging in to do something stupid. We kept him there for a few weeks, though it felt like much less than that. Before I knew it, his fin had gotten better, and he was able to get his stitches out. When that time came around, I started to feel sad, knowing that I’d have to say goodbye to him soon and let him head back out to sea.”

“But that didn’t happen, did it?” said Sunset.

“No,” said Clarion, “but in hindsight, I wish it had. You see, even with me keeping an eye on him, we still got a lot of unwanted attention. At first, it was just from the townsponies, but they got over it eventually. But word travels fast in this part of Equestria, and soon, we had ponies from nearby towns coming here just to get a glimpse of him. It was only a few ponies a week in the beginning, but that changed fast; you’ve seen how busy it is around here these days. I ignored them for the most part, but a certain somepony suddenly got very interested in the whole thing when she realized how big of a draw he was.”

“The mayor,” said Sunset, who was able to guess where Clarion’s story was going. 

“Yeah,” Clarion sighed. “I’d been too preoccupied to notice, but she and the Chamber of Commerce had been doing a lot of planning. It didn’t hit me until the day I woke up and saw the workers putting up the net in the mouth of the bay. When I saw what was going on, I went straight to the mayor and demanded an explanation.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “You have to understand, I really didn’t want to have to say goodbye to my new friend.”

“When I went to the mayor, she told me what she was doing,” said Clarion. “She didn’t even lie about it, which just makes it worse. She told me that she was having the net put up to keep him in the bay. She told me about how many ponies were coming from all over the place just to see him. The local businesses were getting lots of new customers, and were starting to make a lot of bits selling those stupid knick-knacks. She told me that even my family could get in on it if we wanted to.

“She asked me to go along with it; she asked me to help out. She knew that I had learned to communicate with him with my music, and that I could get him to make appearances. She also knew that I had gotten close to him, and guessed that I wouldn’t have wanted to see him go. I could spend a little more time with my friend before he left, she told me. I’m not proud of it, but that got to me. I walked into that office ready for a fight, but she’d beaten me without even breaking a sweat. By the time I left, I’d agreed to help her. 

“You can probably guess the rest. More ponies came every week to see him, the townsponies embraced the tourism business more and more, and I became Pintada Bay’s resident sea monster trainer. I had him start small at first: just a swim across the bay and maybe a growl or two every once in a while. But one thing led to another, and before too long, we had a whole choreographed show going on every night. He’s never seemed to mind the exercise; I never would gone along with it if he had.”

“I can’t believe it,” said Sunset when Clarion had finished. “You took an injured creature into your home, and then you trap it here and exploit it for a quick bit!”

“I’m not proud of what I did!” said Clarion. “It was a mistake; I realize that now. I was selfish and weak, and I made my friend suffer because of it. He doesn’t want to be here; I know that. I’ve seen the way he looks out at the sea with those big eyes of his. He’ll look out there and he’ll make that same call I heard him make when I first met him. I still don’t understand him a hundred percent, but I think I know what he’s saying when he does that. He’s saying, ‘Here I am! Come to me!’ He’s calling out to his friends, somewhere out there, and he wants to get back to them.”

“So that’s what you meant,” said Sunset. “That’s what you wanted me to do. You want me to help you free him.”

“I can’t stand up to the mayor on my own,” said Clarion. “She doesn’t care. And neither does the rest of the town, not as long as the bits keep pouring in. You’re the only one who can do something about it.”

Sunset thought hard about what Clarion was asking her to do. She had come to Pintada Bay to save the town from a monster, but now, she was being asked to save the monster from the town. This was way beyond what she had been instructed to do, and more than she had been prepared for. All Sunset really needed to do was to study the creature, then write a quick report to Celestia about the situation, as requested. She would face no repercussions if she simply ignored the creature’s plight and left as soon as her task was done. 

There would even be certain benefits to doing so, Sunset realized. She had the perfect opportunity on her hooves to study a brand new type of magical creature in a conveniently controlled environment. With her connections, she could easily get her findings published in the most prestigious academic circles in Equestria. An image flashed in her mind of a new page being added to The Extraordinary Beasts of Equestria: the “Sunset Serpent”, named for its discoverer. All she’d have to do is look the other way, ignore Clarion’s plea, and join the townsponies in exploiting the creature for profit and fame. 

She looked over at the creature, staring deeply into its eyes. Those big, black eyes, which had seemed so lifeless and scary to her before, now gave her another impression entirely. She was reminded of a fish that had been plucked from the water, dragged up into the dry air, and was desperately yearning for something, anything that could help it escape its predicament and return to its home. She could only imagine what it might be like to be separated from one's home and friends, trapped in a strange place, just like the creature was. She felt profound pity for it, which tipped her over the edge of her indecision. 

“You’re right, Clarion,” said Sunset. “This is wrong. He shouldn’t be here, and I can’t just sit by and do nothing while all this is going on. You want my help? Well, you’ve got it. I promise you, I’m gonna do whatever I can to stop this and make sure he goes free.”

Clarion’s face lit up when he heard this. “You...you mean it?” he said, chuckling. “You’ll help me? That’s...that’s great! Thank you! Thank you so much, Sunset! Oh, I mean, Madam Ambassador.”

“Just ‘Sunset’ is fine,” said Sunset, smiling at him. 

“Oh, alright...Sunset,” said Clarion. “I wasn’t expecting this. When I first saw you with the mayor, I thought you were just another Canterlot snob, here to see the show and gawk at him. I feel so stupid; I shouldn’t have been such a jerk to you.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” said Sunset. “I get why you were upset, and honestly, I probably deserved it a bit. I shouldn’t have let myself get swept up in it all. I knew something was off about this whole thing, but I let my guard down. I won’t make that mistake again, you can count on it.” Sunset looked back at the creature, admiring it like a work of fine art. “It’s a shame. I really would have liked to spend more time with him.”

“I know what you mean,” said Clarion, a wistful smile on his face. He looked down near Sunset’s hooves, noticing her notebook, which she had set down on the ground. “You’re...some kind of scientist, aren’t you? That’s why you were so interested in him.”

“‘Scientist’?” said Sunset, amused. “I wouldn’t go that far. I’m just a...passionate amateur. I love magic, and I love magical creatures like him. There’s a lot of amazing things in this world, and I’m grateful every time I get to see one of them.” 

Clarion looked away, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Y’know...he’s been here so long already,” Clarion began. “I don’t think he’d mind sticking around just a little while longer. Especially if its for somepony like you. How about I show you what he can do? And I don’t just mean a bunch of cheap tricks. It’s the least I can do to thank you for your help.”

Without waiting for a reply, Clarion stepped back and raised his trumpet to his lips, blowing a short, clear burst. The creature reacted, slowly raising its head back up into the air as Sunset moved out of the way. Clarion sat down and got comfortable, looking back over at Sunset. “This is something we’ve been working on for a while. You’ll be the first one to hear it; I guess you’ll also be the last.”

Clarion looked up into the eyes of the creature, which was looking down at him and waiting to see what he would do. He raised his trumpet and began playing. The music was slow at first, but loud and clear, full of strength and energy. Sunset sat down and listened, letting the notes wash over her and fill her mind. They conjured up images in her mind’s eye, creating a story that she could see as clearly as if they were illustrations on a page. She first saw the sun, burning brightly in the sky, covering the world in light and warmth. 

The music grew quieter, its power diminishing; the sun that Sunset saw sank lower in the sky, casting long shadows on the land. It was at this time that the creature opened its large beak and began vocalizing. It sounded like it had before: deep and animalistic, but distinctly musical. This time, however, the creature did not merely sound off a few cries designed to shock an audience. A stream of notes flowed from its throat, rising and falling in time with those coming from Clarion, creating a true duet. The creature’s music started low and subtle, but rose over time; as the sun set, Sunset saw the moon rising from beneath the horizon. 

Darkness spread as the last rays of the sun faded away, leaving only the pale light of the moon. Clarion’s music had diminished significantly, but never completely went away. It continued to weave back and forth with that of the creature’s, which had become the more dominant of the two. Despite overshadowing its rival, the creature’s music felt sad, empty, even lonely; the moon sat alone in a world of night.

The lonely moon called out to the sun, straining to hear the gentle notes it heard in response. As Sunset listened, the sun grew louder once again, following the cries of the moon back up into the sky. As it rose above the horizon, it cast its light upon the dark landscape, the bright yellow mixing with the pale white of the moon. As the sun joined its partner in the heavens, their music swelled and mixed, fitting together in perfect harmony. As the music came to an end, the two floated together peacefully in the bizarre, but beautiful twilight they found themselves in.