//------------------------------// // Lost at Sea // Story: Time and Tide // by Autumn Wind //------------------------------// Please don’t be too late! Please don’t be too late! Sunny tripped over her own hooves on her way down the cave path. After a clumsy stumble forward, she came to a stop at the edge of the tide pool, just sort of getting an impromptu bath. “Um, hi?” she asked, her words exactly as steady as her steps. Across the pool, Sandbar looked mesmerized by whatever he was seeing. Sunny braced herself for his reaction. This was the moment of truth. Just what was he looking at? “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sandbar suddenly erupted, motioning with a hoof for yesterday’s Sunny to slow down. He, too, was just getting used to the one-day delay. She’d really been frantic, hadn’t she? What would that even look like to him? “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he cooed to what must have been her distraught image. “I don’t think a changeling would have reacted like that, and those pictures are really impressive, too. I believe you.” He offered a cute little smile and adopted what Sunny assumed was an intentionally relaxed posture. “Sunny Starscout, right? I’m sorry, I… I was scared. I didn’t want to upset you like this.” Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh… Thank you, Sandbar. “ Delay. Right. Good thing he was taking a deep breath and she could keep going. “I’m so happy you believed me yesterday,” she clarified. He’d need the context. Sandbar stood up straight, probably steeling himself for what was to come. “It’s nice to meet you, Sunny. Is it okay if I call you Sunny? My name is Sandbar. Just Sandbar. I live near the beach outside this cave, in Summertide Bay. I have a small apartment attached to my family’s house. Needed a little space, you know?” Sunny sat down. He clearly had a lot to say. She’d have to ask about his hometown. After all, Maritime Bay was right around the corner. If there was another town so close, there’s no way she would never have heard of it. Note to self: add that new piece of potential evidence for ‘alternate universe’ in my notebook. “Changelings, well, they’re these mean pony-like bug creatures who impersonate ponies. I hear Canterlot dealt with most of them, but there’s still a few of them out in the wild making problems.”  Sandbar paced back and forth as he talked, and his cutie mark caught Sunny’s eye. Three turtles. She’d never seen a mark like that. Another question for the notebook. “A few months ago, one of my aunts had a run-in with a suitor who turned out to be a changeling, and my dad had to get the guard involved. I think that’s why I was so worried.” Canterlot? Pony-impersonating bugs? Every answer raised even more questions. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask, too. That… that little flippy box with the photos. I’ve never seen one like that. What’s that? It’s smaller than any camera I’ve ever seen, and yet you can just… store photos in there? How’s that work?” Huh? Had he never seen a cellphone? Wherever Summertide Bay was, it had to be very, very remote. “Also…” Sandbar paused for a moment, flicking his head to the side to clear a wayward strand of mane out of his eyes while nervously tapping his seashell necklace. “I’m sorry if this is a touchy subject. It’s just… I’ve never seen somepony like you.” Sunny tilted her head in confusion. Sandbar scraped at the cave floor with a forehoof. “Y-your Cutie Mark. It’s only on one side, isn’t it? What’s up with that?” A couple of days went on. They continued to meet in the mornings. As it turned out, Sandbar was just as curious as she was about this whole phenomenon. On his side, the tide was glowy, rather than glittery. He said it came every day at sunset. That first day, he’d been trying to take a shortcut home after surfing, he’d accidentally fallen into that cave through the hole in the roof while distracted by the glowing tide. They were getting used to dealing with the delay. They’d make sure to remind each other of their questions from the previous day. They were careful to allow each other to speak before the tide pool drained for the day.  Sandbar insisted Summertide Bay was just around the corner. He insisted even harder that he’d never heard of Maretime Bay. He and Sunny were still figuring that part out. She explained about her ‘little flippy picture box’. That seemed to confuse him more than anything. Wherever he was, they had no concept of a portable phone. He said phones stood on the tables of rich ponies and you called other houses with buttons or dials, not on a pocket device. Everypony he’d met had cutie marks on both flanks once they got theirs. Wherever he was, it had to be a very different place. Were there different kinds of earth ponies and she didn’t know? After all, if there could be three tribes, why not more? How exciting! They discussed a few of her theories. There were too many differences for them to be alternate universe selves. He knew things she didn’t, things that held up to serious amounts of scrutiny, so he couldn’t be a figment of her imagination. Also, it had to be the same world, since he also knew about Twilight Sparkle. “Isn’t she that new alicorn?” he’d said. “News travel pretty slowly here. I’ll let you know if I hear more.” “I shouldn’t be keeping you from your friends like this,” Sandbar said one morning. “We don’t even know where each of us is. For all we know, we might never be able to meet.” “I don’t mind,” Sunny answered. “Truth be told… I didn’t have a lot going on before I found, well, all of this. And you, especially you. I don’t know what it’s like over there, but I’ve been kind of alone since… well… anyway. I don’t want to give up until you and I can determine what’s going on. Finally, one morning, Sunny worked up the courage. She was going to admit to Sandbar she was trying to find unicorns and pegasi. She’d been afraid to bring it up, afraid he would judge her for it like everypony else. It needed to come out. Maybe he’d heard something. Maybe he knew something. Maybe he’d seen something. Before she could figure out how she’d ask, he stormed into the cave wearing some blue saddlebags and brandishing a big old book full of worn pages. He excitedly muffled her name and half of a frantic sentence through a mouthful of book before realizing the futility of that and setting it down.  Thanks to very bold lettering, Sunny was able to make out the tome’s title. Lesser-Known Magical Phenomena and Theory of Equestrian Thaumic Events Yeesh, heavy title. How’d Sandbar even find that? He didn’t seem like the bookish type. Just how much time had he spent digging answers? “Sunny! I-I-I found something at the library! I think, no, I know what’s going on.”