I woke up on my couch, in the living room. A slight pitter patter could be heard on the windows, as water droplets tapped it gingerly. Sea Foam stood next to me, concern etched into her soft face. “Dami, you awake?”
“Am now..” I mumbled, sitting upright and coughing as I did so. The blood rushed from my head and made me feel dizzy, also resulting in a throb behind my eye. “What, what happened..? All I remember seeing was water, and, shiny turquoise scales.. Then you..?”
I saw a tinge of panic in her eyes, which set in very quickly for her. “H-hah, scales? Must have been a fish that came in.” Another excuse. Why would she need one though if she weren’t related to it? This raised my suspicion again, but this time, I wouldn’t let on. I had a plan.
“Must have been. Is, is the storm over?” I asked, trying to balance on my hooves.
“Yeah, you got hit bad by the water, had to go in and save ya” she said this, poking my chest.
It took me a moment, but I remembered some words she said. “Hey, what did you mean when you said that you could breathe underwater, earlier?” Shock and fear ran up her face again, and she stumbled and stammered.
“U-uh, nothing, I just meant that I could hold my breath for a while. I was scared so, I, said it wrong?” Another excuse. Alright, I thought, I’ll have to do this the hard way. I got up, and went over to my front door. I locked it. “H-hey, what’re you doing that for?” She asked, clearly frightened by the connotation of locking a door.
“You know how after a storm people love to loot homes, thinking nobody’s in them? I wanna keep you safe. Sorry.” I told her, and walked over to my kitchen. “Want a drink?”
She seemed suspicious, but she didn’t seem to pry. “Sure, what do you have?”
“Water.” I said, with a slight undertone of mischief. However she didn’t panic at me saying it, she just took out a straw and some napkins. I smiled genuinely at this, because it was actually kind of cute. It seemed she had a backup plan for everything to avoid getting caught with whatever ailed her. But not for long.
I poured two very tall glasses of water, filled them with ice to keep the condensation going, and handed her one while I sipped from the other. Loudly. “Thanks for saving me from the water though, Sea. I appreciate it.” I got my lips nice and wet, and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She almost didn’t catch what I meant to do, but at the last second she got distracted by a thunder crash outside. Damn.
“O-of course, Dami, I wasn’t gonna let you drown on me.” I appreciated her helping me for sure, even if she was hiding things from me. I was frustrated at that, but, I felt a slight affection for her, and no matter how small, I couldn’t let the frustration get to me. However..
I sipped loudly, and took a step towards her, and faked a stumble. “Oh nooo!” I fake yelled, and tumbled into her, spilling a full glass of water all over her. “Oh my, I’m so sorry, lemme go find a towel!” I ran over to my bathroom, with her struggling to break my grasp on her hoof, yelling to please let her out.
It was about seven seconds, before she suddenly went dead heavy. It stopped me in my tracks, for the most part, and I looked back at her. What I saw, shook me up at first. Her legs had morphed together, shimmering as they turned into what appeared to be a very large fish’s tail. So, this was what she had to hide from me.
I stuttered, staring, unable to react. She looked up at me for a moment, saying nothing. I gazed back, into those eyes, just as she broke down and started to cry, sobbing loudly into her crossed forelegs, her hair now hiding her face. The tail that had replaced her legs was now curled around her, keeping her in a nice ball. “I, I’m sorry. I just wanted to know what the problem was. Never would have thought you’d be.. Whatever this is.” I said this quietly, not really able to form words.
No response came from her, just more light sobs and hiccups. I reached my hoof out to her, but she gasped and held herself tighter, saying no under her breath. “S-sea Foam, I’m not going to hurt you.. I-I mean this is.. Wow. But, I accept you for you..”
She just kept shaking, not replying to me. I threw a towel on her so she could dry off. After a time, her magic faded and her legs came back. As I’d expected, immediately after she was normal again she tried to sprint off, barely giving me enough time to grab her hoof to keep her here. Struggling still, I pulled her towards me, squeezing her in a tight hug. “Shh, shh.. I’m not going to hurt you, Foamy..”
Burying her face in my chest fluff, she sobbed a bit harder. “Y-you, you’ll tell ponies my s-secreeeet..” was all I could make out. It was muffled, and interjected with stutters and hiccups. I smiled and softened up my expression, running a hoof through her mane.
“No I won’t, sweetheart. I would never. I know that would destroy you and your trust for me. I promise, from the bottom of my heart, to never let anyone else know about your secret. Ever.” A small giggle came from under my fluff, and she looked up at me like a puppy, wiping her eyes.
“R-really..? You’ll protect me..?” “It’s what I was hired to do,” I replied, “And now is my sworn duty for you, I will never leave your side.”
That seemed to cheer her up a bit, and she hugged me. “P-please don’t let anyone know.. Wh-what if they cut me up or study me, you know..?” I pet her again, slowly down the length of the hairs, and whispered my next words.
“Promise you. Nothing bad will ever happen to you.”
She snuggled deeply into me again, and sighed. “Thank you.” I resolved to deal with this revelation tomorrow, for right now, she needed me more than I needed answers. And that was okay.
Cuddling with her for a while, a thought ran in my head, and I thought to ask her. “So, uhm.. If you can’t walk in water, how’d you get me to the couch?”
“Oh, uh, I.. Uhm.. Wow, uh. I guess I kind of, inchwormed it? Like, held you by a hoof and kept hopping my own butt forward and pulled you.” She poked my soft stomach, and giggled. “You’re heavy you know. Guess all that muscle just adds on a few hundred pounds?” Her smile glowed through her still shaken attitude, and she nuzzled me.
“Well, again, thank you.” She said it was no problem, and we sat in front of the porch window for a while. I stared out as lightning darted through the greylit sky, thunder coming in for an encore not a second later. It was startling every time, but beautiful. She clung to me further with every strike that passed by, and we stayed like this for hours, just talking about life, our aspirations, old dreams, our pasts, and watching the day go by.
“Sea Foam?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad I took this job.” I smiled brightly at her, and kissed her cheek.
“I’m glad I hired you!” She giggled, kissing my cheek in return and snuggling me closely. “So Dami, what made you start out as a knight?” She asked this question earnestly, watching me intently as I thought about what began my career. I thought of either the meeting with the changeling employer, but that’s the beginning of the career, not what made me want to start. I thought..
“You know, most likely it was once in high school, where a young pony had been having troubles with some pretty nasty mares. They would constantly harrass this poor girl, they were pegasi as typical, and they would not let up. So I stood up for her, I wore a heavy jacket at the time, and I threatened them within an inch of their life that if they did not cease messing with her, they’d meet the edge of my blade. At first they laughed, then, using my magic I pulled a statue’s spear down in front of them. The lass thanked me kindly, and paid me some bits in return, and I decided to stay with her for a while. Keep protecting her. After a while, we had solved her issue and she had a protector, someone to look up to and who would look out for her. It was a solid two-year deal, me and her. She was great, and I think I may have started to have feelings for her at the time. Funny thing is, she looked a lot like you back then, slightly off color blues, but she had a ponytail and star hairpins. Maybe that’s why… Ah, nothing.” I went off into a spiel, seeing her listen very closely, and smile. At the very end, she perked her ears up.
“Maybe that’s why what?” She asked, squishing my face in what seemed to be anticipation.
“Nothing, nothing,” I gave, “Maybe that’s why I just thought you were someone I met before, when I first met you.” May also be why I’m starting to love you. Maybe that’s why I gave you a discount.
“Aw, how sweet. So after you helped this mare, you went out and helped other mares? Or stallions even?” My smile grew just a smidge, and I breathed in sharply.
“Yeah, I’d say that’s what sparked it. Afterwards ponies heard how good I was at keeping nasties at bay. So they started hiring me, getting me more and more money with each go, getting me a set of armor after a year of saving. I did a lot of guard jobs, bouncer work, protection, babysitting.. The sorts.” I used a foreleg to pull her closer. “You’re the first job I’ve done voluntarily in a while. Also the smallest headache.” I said the second part with a sweet, joking tone, and she caught on. Her smile was striking, every time I saw it, I couldn’t help but flush at least some.
“What about your job, Foam?” I asked her. “What started you up?”
“Hmm..” She paused for a while too, and finally spoke up. “Well, I don’t remember if I told you, but I used to live on a houseboat with my family. My mom and dad loved the sea, so before I was born they bought the boat, and lived out as vagrants on the ocean for as long as I can remember. We would always dive into the waters, play with fish, swim through kelp, all that kind of stuff. Well as a little girl, I loved shells and pearls, so I started collecting them. Then one morning, I got my hoof caught in kelp, and it wouldn’t stretch or pull or break until I uprooted it. So taking it with me, I had an idea.. If the seaweed didn’t break with full force, then maybe it’d be a good string substitute. Then I had another idea.. Necklaces! I made my first one with daddy, since he had drills to open up clams and stuff, and to fix the boat. It was this pretty one made of the regular white shells and pearls.”
I didn’t respond much, but I grinned at her, and looked her in the eye. “Cute, and now that small spark as a little girl sent you to a future of promise. Didja ever think you’d be here now?”
“I did, kind of. I had -hoped- I’d be here now, with my craft, on a beach. Never, ever thought I’d be bunking with a knight in a forest though, hmhm.”
The moonlight that had recently shown its silver glow had illuminated her now, softly lighting her features. Her eyes were low, showing she had been tired, and her laugh lines ever so slightly creased, accenting the tiniest smile I could muster. A red flush came over her cheeks, and she looked away briefly. “What?”
“You’re pretty, you know that?” I blurted out, unexpectedly. I didn’t hide my mouth though, or widen my eyes in surprise. I let it happen, because I knew by now she’d enjoy the compliment.
“Oh, thank you, Dami! You’re a handsome pony yourself, you know?” Nodding, I booped her nose tenderly. A yawn escaped from my mouth, causing her to let one out as well, and I picked her up. She didn’t seem to mind though, as I brought her to my bed, and laid her down. The noise she made was adorable, a mixture of pleasure and happiness. A squeal if I’ve ever heard one.
I made a gruff, but pleased noise in return, and pulled her close with the blankets in my hooves, encompassing her in a blanket hug. She made little ‘ooh’ noises, and nuzzled her face deep into my fluff, rubbing in as much warmth as she could. I guess mermaids liked warmth and softness. Or maybe she’s just never felt it, due to that blocking innocence?
Too tired to think on life again, I simply cuddled her, and let sleep take me with her. I hoped dearly to dream with her, and have little adventures in our sleepy heads.. It was what me and my aunt used to do when I was a kid. She told me, no matter where she was, or where I was, no matter how far apart we were, to always think about her as I fell asleep, and she’d answer my call. I’d hoped to introduce Foam to her.
I fell, down into the realm of sleep.
I stirred awake in the late hours of the night, hearing a dreadful sound. It was not unlike the howling of a cat, however not from outside in the forest where the animals’ call was natural and expected. No, this sound came from the innerworkings of my closet door, half cracked open and beckoning my eyes to peer in. I resisted, paranoia of the unknown seeping in, and turned to face directly into Foam’s chest. However, she wasn’t there, nor was the fleeting warmth that should have remained from a pony having slept there not but an hour or two ago. There was no trace of her scent, no indentation, no evidence of her stay.
But not only was she missing, the whole abode felt off. Something was amiss, the house seemed unsettled, by either something physical or metaphysical, the latter coming into my head as a fleeting thought. Metaphysical? I’d not even understood fully what that word meant but, I assumed it was something otherworldly. Spiritual maybe?
I used my horn’s abilities to close the closet, for fear of upsetting whatever resided within. The plan had failed, since the being now emanated a low growl, that deepened ever-so as it continued.
A shiver ran down my spine, and I sat up, coming face to face with her. But, at the same time, it wasn’t her.. Not the same her. Darkness was apparent, so much so that not even the moonlight could touch her. She was shrouded in shadow, just staring deeply into me. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could do so, a piercing shriek shot through her gullet and into my ears, shocking me awake.
Another nightmare, this one realer than the last. And more intense.
Sea Foam poked my chest softly, during that greylight of the early morning, and called my name sleepily. I was tired, I didn’t want to get up, but I instead mumbled to her and turned towards her. “Mm..?”
“I, had a nightmare..” She said, snuggling deep into me and squeeing with all her might.
“You.. Did? Strange.” There was a silence from her, and I looked into her eyes, expectant of clarification. “I did too. Of you.” The dream, frightened me deeply, and made me.. Think of loss, for some reason. I moved to snuggle her deeply, and keep her close. “Don’t, don’t leave me, please..” I begged, calmly.
She hugged me back, and cried her own soft tears, that I felt roll onto my shoulder. “I-I won’t, Dami.” She replied, shaking at the final vowel. Whatever her dream was, I imagine it was just as bad, if not worse. I didn’t know what was going on, I used to have lots of good, happy dreams, and all of a sudden they’re nightmares. Maybe I’ve been reading too many horror stories.
Neither of us really wanted to get up and do anything, not today, so we snuggled in bed for a while. I soothed her from her nightmare, and she did the same, and eventually we fell back asleep. No dreams this time, not enough time to allow for one, and we woke up at around noon together. She rushed to get her shells and necklaces ready, put on her satchel, and rushed with me out the door to the beach. Time for another day of guarding her, even moreso now.
Today was cloudy, or just overcast. The sun shone through a tiny crack in the clouds, and reflected off the ocean, making it look like glitter on a blue landscape. The beach wasn’t as active as usual. Less ponies in the market, less ponies in stalls, and next to no lifeguards around. Multiple yellow tapes were put around the boardwalk, behind them, holes that revealed the white sands below.
“That, storm really wrecked this place, didn’t it?” I thought aloud, scoping out the beach. I told her that we should probably just leave, due to there being nobody around, and the clouds were looking blacker down the way.
“What do we do today, then?” She asked, and I merely suggested a walk in the main town, for lunch. She didn’t catch on to my ulterior date motive, which I was glad of. “Oh, that sounds like fun!” She replied, smiling and nodding her head.
Taking her by my side, I walked towards the city with her, planning on taking her to this nice Italian place where you can eat outside, and there are umbrellas above the tables to keep her dry. Then, I suggested a donut shop slash coffee shop on the way home for a dessert type thing, hoping she enjoyed sweets as much as I did.
The city immediately assaulted my nostrils with the scent of cooking meats for the gryphons, the Chinese food stores all around’s smells, and other anonymous scents. Honestly I loved the city, despite the sewage vents all over blasting me with hot smelly gases, but I could get over that. On my little tour with Foam, I was happy, and from what I saw, so was she, taking in the sights of the huge towers and skyscrapers prominent in the place. She particularly liked the Grand Equine building in the center, that rose taller than any building anywhere else.
It was nice. After a walk around town we ended up at the restaurant, and took a seat at any of the tables. The owner, who ran the mom-and-pop joint, was a heavily Italian unicorn who was very cheerful and complimented the lady I’d brought with me. It went over her head, but she thanked him anyway.
“So, how can I-a help you today, ah?” He opened up, and placed two menus in front of us.
“I’ll just have a water, and she’ll have?”
“Oh, I’ll have this milkshake thing!” She seemed excited about it, so I let her get it, despite it being a dessert item. The owner smiled and wrote it down, and went back into the kitchen, rather giddily. I knew him for a while, as I was partially a regular here, and we got along very well. He loved to look at my armor and loved cooking up any food ideas I came up with, he even bought some spices from me that I grew in the garden. We had a pretty good friendship, despite us not seeing each other too often.
“Wait, waiter! Can, can I have some extra napkins?” She suddenly blurted at the unicorn, to which he agreed and brought some extras with our drinks.
“Got enough napkins there?” I joked at her, as she sipped from the metal cup. She nudged my leg with hers, and I realized what she was getting at. “Oh right, eheh..”
“Any food you’d-a like today, madame?” The owner suddenly piped in, gesturing at the menus. “The special today is-a spicy eggplant catonata!” I never heard of it before, but Sea Foam seemed to be willing to try anything, and piped up to try it. I just ordered my usual tomato pesto noodles, and he happily obliged, leaving us alone again.
“Sorry, I keep forgetting about the whole water thing. So, how do you get around morning dew? Or fog? There’s water in the air almost constantly.”
“I just tend to stay inside and hide on days where it’s that humid, honestly. If I’m gonna change I’d at least like it to be at home where I’m safe, you know?” I nodded, smiling, and chugging my water. It’d been a long day and the heat was starting to get to me again, as it was a midsummer afternoon.
He brought the food swiftly, he was always known for his speedy cooking, and set it down for each of us. Digging in, I chatted and laughed with Foam, enjoying her company. I never thought I’d have a mermaid girlfriend, if that’s what she considered us, but I was happy I did. I don’t even know why, honestly, normally I disliked ponies, I really did. I usually scared them but, she seemed to be okay with me. Barely turned an eye to my armor or threats, which was a nice change.
We’d finished the food, both of us apparently being starving, and thanked the owner. He smiled and bid us a good day, and we left, Foam taking her milkshake with her. She made a happy face every sip she took, and I wondered what was in it that made her love it so much.
The city took us again, keeping us enthralled for a while in the multiple stores and food stands. Gryphons loved taking up residence in parks with their churros and their steak kebabs. And while I was an herbivore, it’s honestly a really delicious smell, despite my instincts telling me to avoid it. Cows were people too once, I think. Very stupid people, that is.
We came across a sushi stand, run by a gryphon from Nipon, and the smell made me retch internally. However, Foam seemed to enjoy the smell, even took two of the free samples of whatever they had. She took them into her mouth, while me and the other ponies around gave her strange looks, and her expression went from struggle to pure bliss. The gryphon in charge got giddy in response to this impromptu advertisement, saying that even ponies loved the taste of his sushi. Some changelings in the crowd took the plunge and bought a few sushi rolls, and left, presumably to eat the meat and vomit all over the place if their stomachs couldn’t take it. I didn’t know much about changelings, so I assumed they were herbivores much like us.
I shooed Sea Foam out with me quickly, hoping not too many ponies suspected anything of her. I wondered why she would almost blow her cover like that, but I guessed she just assumed they’d think she was eating to try it out.
“You should be more careful,” I started, but she waved me off.
“It’s okay, he sells vegan sushi too, nobody’ll suspect anything. Who thinks mermaid when a pony tries meat anyway? Plenty of ponies try meat at that place every day, I bet!” She had a point, so I let it slide. Her being the mermaid in question, I didn’t doubt her at all, considering she knew way more about being subtle than I did.
“Hmhm.. Okay.” I took her in my arm and led her to the way home, which led us to passing the coffee shop. I bought myself a small coffee, and she bought her own little treats, cutely giggling as she strapped the bag to her satchel. We made quick work of this place, not dillydallying at all; rain was on its way towards us. Black clouds formed in the sky behind the building line. We were practically out of the city by now, the coffee shop-cum-bakery being on the edge of it.
Loud thunder crashed behind us on the way home, and while it was three in the afternoon still, the clouds made it as dark as nighttime. Foam was sprinting towards the forest, with me barely keeping up in my clanky armor.
Lightning smacked the earth behind me, almost singeing my tail. I looked up, trying to find a single pegasus responsible, but none seemed to be present. What in the everloving hell was going on with this weather? Storms like this were a once a month type thing, never so close together. Most of the storms came from the west, near the Everfree.. Is something going on with nature there?
Lost in thought, I slammed my face into the door of my cottage, apparently Sea Foam had gotten in already and closed the door behind her. I quickly grabbed the doorknob with my magic and got my way in, just barely missing a torrent of hail and rain. Something was extremely wrong about this, but I couldn’t place it at all. Just, something about it felt off, but I had to ignore it. Sea Foam needed my help.
I found her in my room, under the covers, shivering. “Hey, sweet pea, you okay?” I called to her, her response just being more low moans and groans. I went behind her in the bed and held her close, rubbing her fluffy chest to try and calm her down. “You’re safe you know, the storm’s outside.”
“I-I know, but.. I saw something in the clouds.. I-It.. I..” She couldn’t place any words to it, so instead of pressing, I just offered to take a bath with her. She worried about the water, for a moment, hesitating, but I reminded her I already knew about the mermaidness. “N-no, I mean.. Electricity..?”
“Aw, don’t worry, it can’t get into the tub from here. We’re inside, lightning doesn’t travel that far.” I took her up in my magic, bringing her alongside me, to the bathroom. I ran some warm water, and put her inside softly, leaving some room for her tail to grow in. She sighed happily as the water enveloped her, and she splashed around a bit. I got in with her after a while, though she covered herself a little bit out of embarrassment. I mentioned that it was perfectly innocent, that she was also always naked.
I slipped inside, after slipping off all my armor, and let the water take me as well, squeezing myself under her tail, and kicking my hooves up near her head. She batted me softly with her tail, and I flicked her with mine. We relaxed in the bath, cleaning ourselves and letting the heat reduce the tension we felt from the day. At one point, I ran my hoof along her tail, which tickled her greatly, but wasn’t something she objected to. She truly was the most pure and innocent lady I’ve ever met in my life.
The scales were smooth, but at the same time hard enough to be almost like carapace. They had a shiny turquoise hue to them, shimmering beautifully in the bathroom’s yellowed candlelight. The power had shut off at some point, as I heard the air conditioner’s engines slow to a halt out of nowhere, but it hadn’t interrupted the bath session, because of the candles already in there.
I leaned up, and cupped her face in my hooves. “You know, Sea, you’re really, truly a great pony. The best I’ve ever met. I want to thank you.” I pulled her face close to mine so our noses touched, and I kissed her tenderly, and pulled back swiftly. She seemed to blush, but I couldn’t tell. I saw a smile form there, I thought, and I myself was happy.
The bath was nice, and long. We spent an hour or so in there, her splashing around and being in her element. I almost felt bad having to take her out of the bath, listening to her pouty noises and sad groans, but my legs were pruning up. So after I’d dried her off and gotten her back to normal, I took her to the bed and simply laid with her, letting her take in the warmth of my fur. She nuzzled in deeply, and kept very close. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to make a move or if it was just innocent cuddles, but knowing her I went for the latter. I didn’t mind anyway, just being with her was nice.
After a time, sleep took me and her, and I hoped I’d see her in my dreams. Just.. Less scary this time.
I felt like I said I love you in my sleep, as those were the last words I heard as I finally lost consciousness.