//------------------------------// // Time and Tide // Story: Time and Tide // by Autumn Wind //------------------------------// Sunny crashed down the beach, hit her head against the cave entrance on the way in, and galloped down to the tide pool. Rain and grey sky be darned, she’d missed her surfer stallion these last few days, and there was so much to catch up on. She hoped he hadn’t worried too much. Between Izzy coming to town, visiting Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood, helping reunite the tribes, and bringing magic back to the world, It had been a complete whirlwind of an adventure. Through all of it, Sunny hadn’t had a chance to let him know what was happening. He must have been worried sick! Sunny was panicked. She was amazed. She was worried. She was frantic. She was beside herself with worry, and beside that Sunny with excitement. “Sandbar! Sandbar! I’m so sorry I’ve been gone these last few days! You won’t believe everything that happened!” There was no answer. The cave didn’t react to her exuberant entrance. The moss didn’t react to her exuberant entrance. Sandbar didn’t react to her exuberant entrance. The tide pool was empty. No! That couldn’t be right. It was morning. The tide had to have come in by now. No! No! No! Her hooves crashed against the empty tide pool. Maybe something was obstructing the water. “Sandbar!” Sunny slammed her forehooves into the empty pool. Nothing happened. “Sandbar! Please! Do you hear me!?” She spun herself around. Her hind legs were stronger. She stomped at the rocking ground repeatedly. Nothing. “Please! Where are you!? What’s going on!?” The rain outside was growing louder and heavier. It couldn’t be over, could it? No. No! It doesn’t make sense. Magic just got stronger! The pool should have grown stronger too! Sunny frantically searched the cave from end to end, from side to side, from top to bottom. Maybe the water had leaked out elsewhere. She had to find it. C’mon, c’mon! It has to be somewhere. He has to be somewhere! Thunder roared outside. It was a good thing Sunny had brought a flashlight. With the sky growing increasingly overcast, the cave was getting dark. Rainwater gathered in the tide pool, but it quickly drained away, flowing down into the depths of the earth and taking Sunny’s hopes along with it. Retrograde. The thought hit Sunny like a runaway delivery cart. How did we miss that? All this time, she’d been assuming that the tides were rippling forward from the past. That something big in Sandbar’s time had flowed forward. Nightmare Moon’s defeat, maybe? Discord’s return or his defeat? Tirek being forced to return Equestria’s magic? No! No! No! All this time, it was rippling backwards. Equestria’s magic had just returned. That was the cause of the Temporal Tide. What they’d been seeing weren’t aftershocks. They were beforeshocks. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Sunny slipped against the cave’s mossy floor and slumped to the ground. She pounded an impotent forehoof down as her eyes welled with tears. Oh… Sandbar, what should I do? I’m so sorry! Would the tide pool come back? Could there be tides after the wave? Sunny tried to will herself upright. Tried to gather any remaining little hope. She tried to lift herself off the ground. The moss was slippery with rain, her hooves slipped apart. She tripped back down, desperately reaching for the cave wall for support, only to find it surprisingly slippery. Her hoof scraped right down, taking a streak of moss with it. Still wobbling, Sunny slowly, gently picked herself up, one gentle move at a time, careful not to slip again. Doing her best to suppress the desire to cry with a sniffle, she resolved to make her way home. She needed to be alone. She was getting soaked to the bone. As she took the first deliberate step back to the lighthouse, however, something caught her eye. There, where her hoof had scraped the moss off the wall. … since the last … … didn’t come … Faint lettering, scratched onto the stone, almost, but not quite, illegible. Had that been there all along? Intrigued, Sunny hurriedly scraped more moss off, uncovering the words. Dear Sunny, it’s been two nights since the last time I saw you. Today, for the first time since that first day, the tide pool hasn’t filled in. The glowy tide didn’t come tonight. I hope you’re okay. I’ll continue checking. -Sandbar. Oh. Sunny sighed. He hadn’t given up on her. Is there more? The storm was getting violent. Heavy winds rushed through the cave. Sunny kept scraping. Her hooves were starting to hurt, but she had to know more. Dear Sunny. It’s been a week since my last message. There was a big storm and a huge wave in the evening after I wrote that one. I guess it was the Temporal Wave after all. I’ll keep checking every few days, just in case. I miss you. Sandbar. She was pretty sure one of her frogs was bleeding, but she kept scraping anyway. Dear Sunny, It’s been a month. I don’t want you to have to wait the way I have. The tide pool doesn’t come back. I’m sorry. I won’t forget you. Sandbar hadn’t signed that one. Judging by the writing, he’d struggled to finish it. He was running out of wall, too. That time, she couldn’t hold back her tears. The last length of flat stone looked to have been much more deliberately carved like someone had taken a sculptor’s chisel to it rather than a sharp rock. The letter had been waiting there for her to see it, centuries later, lurking under the moss for the time to be right. All this time, all this hope, all just for her. Dear Sunny, it’s been a little over half a year since we first met. I miss you. I hope whatever caused the Temporal Wave didn’t hurt you. I hope you’re still doing okay. It’s been a strange six months since we last spoke. I can’t stay in Summertide Bay anymore. I need to go out and make something out of myself. I think I figured it out. What you couldn’t tell me. I realized everyone you mentioned was an Earth Pony. Your dad, your childhood friend. Your other childhood not quite friend. That nag at the factory. The ponies you deliver for. Even the most remote earth pony towns here have weather teams or unicorn specialists. The tribes have split, haven’t they? I remember something you told me like it was yesterday. About how you thought it was important to keep reaching for what you think is right even if no one else will hear you out. I’ve been thinking about that. Thinking about leaving town. About a week ago, someone very special flew into Summertide Bay. Her name is Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. Some of the turtles here were very sick, and she came to help us locals get them feeling better. I think she understood how I felt, how I needed to move on from my little town. She invited me to come and study at Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship. They’re trying to bolster good relationships between the many species of Equestria. I want to do my part. Until a few months ago, I’d have thought it wasn’t my place. That I was just some little town pony who knows nothing. You showed me otherwise, Sunny. You showed me I could matter to someone. You taught me to follow what I think is best. I don’t know if I can stop the tribes from splitting, but I know I want to do what I can to help everypony everycreature be happy. I’m going to be leaving Summertide Bay next week, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m leaving something here for you. I hope it makes it all the way to you. I won’t forget you. Please don’t forget me. Keep dreaming big, little seapony. -Sandbar. P.S. I never got to say it, and it probably doesn’t matter now, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t get it off my chest. Sunny Starscout, I love you. A particularly deep-carved arrow crept its way down to the foot of the wall, where Sunny noticed a glint of light. After uncovering a small recess, she found a familiar crystal seashell necklace, barely tarnished by the ages. Its string, of course, was worse for wear and snapped almost immediately after she pulled the shell from the wall, but that could be re-strung. Sandbar’s necklace. Somberly, Sunny tucked the shell away into her saddlebag, and re-read his final letter. He’d been okay. She read the letter again. He’d found his way. She read the letter again. He’d gone on to meet the legendary heroes and Princess Twilight Sparkle. She felt herself swell with pride, and read the letter again. He’d loved her. She’d loved him. They’d never gotten to say it. Sunny sullenly walked out of the cave. Overloaded by a cacophony of conflicting feelings, her heart had collapsed into a cold silence. There was a loud crack of thunder, and she barely reacted. Her sopping wet coat and mane hardly slowed down her mindless walk. During her extended time in the cave, the storm had roused itself to a frenzy and the ocean had grown deeply agitated. In the distance, heavy waves laden with starlight crashed and roared. It was here. The Temporal Wave. It was growing and, soon, it would wash off to Sandbar’s time. This all had started at the beach, with her looking through the sand for answers, and it would end at the beach, as she watched the distant waves. She was powerless to stop any of it. Sunny recalled the mustache mousse. It had washed up from the past, hadn’t it? Then maybe, just maybe… Sunny whipped her wet mane over her right shoulder and tugged her scrunchie free. It was green, just like his eyes. Without a word, she whipped her head towards the ocean and let the band fly free, releasing it to the wild currents Her drenched mane, wild and undone, smacked her in the face. She barely noticed. Paradoxes be damned, if the tide had brought something from the past, maybe, just maybe, it could bring something back to Sandbar. A gift of her own for him to remember her by. Sunny watched her memento slowly float away until it was swept up by the welling of a great wave. It was a lovely storm to behold. So mysterious and full of possibilities. She thought of Sandbar. The time they’d shared. The joys and the frustrations. The cute pet names. Sunny watched the ocean churn about for a while. She was cold. She was tired. It was time to go home, she told herself. She turned tail to the ocean and took one step forward, then a second, then a third. As she was very deliberately taking the fourth, a low wave crashed against the beach, and the ocean lapped at her rear hooves. Sunny stopped in her tracks. She took another look at the star-filled waves. Another chance to hope for a glimpse of Sandbar. Another moment to think about going for a swim.