Gillian & Cora met at the rock cave just after sunset. Gillian helped Cora into her veil, which they kept as a surprise to her family. Gillian was sure that if he were above water, he’d be sweating bullets and his hooves would be clammy (again, smiling at the pun). As he held Cora’s hooves, he could feel the tremor in her body too.
Gillian embraced Cora. “Don’t worry my sweet. You’ll do fantastic and we’ll be together forever,” he said gently.
As the full moon rose into the clear night sky, Gillian & Cora made their way to the pillars of Gillian’s dock. The flowers used turned out to be bio-luminescent and so they gave off a soft, beautiful glow. Time seemed to be going super fast because before Gillian knew it, the pod had assembled for the incantation. Two of Cora’s older sisters stood behind her to offer their support; Raevon & Adney stood behind Gillian in case he passed out.
Everyone remained quiet as a beautiful light blue, white/silver haired unicorn merpony approached the arch. She introduced herself as Lorelye, leader of the pod. Rumor was, Lorelye was beyond 250 years old but she appeared just as young as Cora. Her fish scale covered her stomach like Cora’s and her eyes were so big that they had very little white left in them. The gold necklace she wore held a small scallop shell locket containing a real moonstone, which would aid in Cora’s incantation.
Lorelye stood under the arch and carefully removed the necklace with her magic, and transferred it to Cora’s neck. “I love the veil,” Lorelye whispered in Cora’s ear as she leaned in for a friendly kiss. Cora smiled as bright as the full moon as Lorelye took both Cora’s & Gillian’s hooves and held them together.
Lorelye nodded to Cora at the apex of the full moon and Cora began to sing the Siren’s Serenade, the merpony song of final transformation. The moonstone inside the locket glowed as bright as the flowers while Cora sang the most beautiful song Gillian had ever heard.
Gillian felt like the song was washing over him, peeling away the old land pony form and leaving him only the new one he now fully embraced. Time seemed to slow down now as he closed his eyes and simply listened to Cora sing. He did not even notice when the majority of the pod left.
When Cora finished singing, Gillian knew there was no turning back and he could not be happier. Lorelye pronounced them mated for life and they shared a very mushy, passionate kiss.
Gillian managed to keep a clear head until Lorelye and all of Cora’s family had left but the changes finally overwhelmed him and he passed out into a deep sleep, Cora catching him and slowly lowering him to the sandy floor beneath the dock.
Gillian woke with first light and remembered everything. He quickly realized that he had fallen asleep in Cora’s lap and she had slept leaning against the pillar, still wearing her veil. He took her hoof and kissed it lightly to wake her. When she opened her eyes, she smiled down on him.
A couple hours later, Gillian was in his youthful land pony form for the first time and in the house, dressed in costume to make him look like his old self. His long hair was stuffed up under a large hat, pair of sweaters made him look fat; any distance observer fooled into thinking it was him. He left the house keys in the mailbox as instructed by the realtor and carried the last box of stuff down to the boat, using an impersonation of his old swinging gait.
As Gill loaded the last box on the ship, his neighbor Ocean Techie (latter for short), came out of his own modified steam fishing boat after having loaded it with supplies. Techie only ever fished for prawns and shrimp so the two never had any animosity between them. However, Techie was also such a nosy neighbor; he was the last person Gill wanted trapped in a conversation with right now but Techie saw Gill and waved. “Rumor on the street says you’re out of here, Sea Trident; any truth to it?” Techie hollered. “Nothing like that stays quiet in this town, Techie! I'm off to waters unknown,” Gill replied in a deepened voice.
Bare hoof-steps on the dock turned his attention back the way he going. There was Cora, dressed in another of the gowns from the boat walking towards him. She hooked her fore arm into his and pulled him toward the boat. “Come along, my darling! If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the tide!” she said hurriedly. “Is this the companion I heard mentioned?” Techie asked. “Nothing gets past you Techie. This is my new lady, Cora. Say good bye to my former neighbor Ocean Techie, Cora,” Gill said to her. Cora seemed surprised but hid it well while she waved good bye and practically dragged him towards the boat.
Cora stepped aboard first and hastened to the steering wheel while Gillian cast off the lines and took a running leap into the boat; something he had not done in years. Gillian was sure that Techie would share that little miracle with everyone within hours of his leaving but he frankly did not care. They could tribute it to his new found love; and Gillian smiled up at Cora, who was now driving the boat.
They drove the boat out of the cove and out around to the far side of the rock cave, to the 100 km deep waters off the coast. A group of young sharks waited with Raevon & Adney; Cora could tell the sharks looked very excited to tear the ship to pieces.
Cora ditched her dress and jumped back into the water to take control of the sharks while Raevon & Adney took the starboard and port ropes so to guide the ship down to the ocean floor right to where Gillian wanted it.
Gillian had already determined where the holes needed to be made and had scored an X in the bottom of the boat with his new spear. Quickly, he set to work tossing the valuable stuff into the water, to awaiting members of the pod.
When everything was taken out, Gillian ditched all of his clothes and jumped back into the water. His transformation back to merpony only covered his waist down since it no longer changed his upper half and took half the time.
At Gillian’s cue, he watched as the group of sharks tear into his beloved ship and took another lead rope on the left side while Cora and another sister took the right side. As the ship sank slowly into the water, more of the pod came to take up the lead ropes. They all took the strain as the ship dropped suddenly down deep, completely flooded now and falling fast.
Sharks used their bodies and dolphins grabbed the ends of the ropes with their teeth to add their strength to the effort of sinking the boat safely. “When land ponies sink old ships to make new reef points, they use magic. This is slower but far safer & greater precision,” Gillian observed; those within ear shot laughed.
After what seemed like forever, they were finally ready to drop the boat in place. “Slowly.... slowly.... easy does it... a little more to your right, Raevon.... and.... DROP IT!” hollered Gillian as they all let go at the same time and the boat grated to a stop on the sandy bottom. It was a perfect drop; the shark’s hole in the starboard(1) was right at sand level and the ship leaned slightly on the left.
The sharks left satisfied the moment the ship landed. The rest of the pod congratulated each other before departing. “See you bright and early tomorrow, Gill. I'm taking you hunting with the pack and Adney is taking you to our nearest farm in the afternoon,” Raevon hollered as they left with their mates.
“I'm really going to enjoy this new life!” Gillian said excitedly as he swept up Cora in his fore legs.
The End