Without a Trace

Old Folktales
The Disappearance of Ship's Anchor
Without a Trace

The small wooden house was dark, shadows creeping around in each corner, ready to pounce. Darkness swelled in its small kingdom, concealed in a mere box of lumber, tossing the residence into a gloomy look. A spider scuttled over the floor, miraculously avoiding a flake of dusk, lit up by a lone spark.

It danced down a set of stairs, only lightly illuminating the grey coat of its bearer as their hooves collided with the ground in constant creaks.

Then they stopped.

Setting down this light, the carrier began to gather more and more, allowing the first to light the rest of its kind, until they showed what they were placed on: an old, worn table, supporting the steel plates on which the candles were stuck to.

Finally, the one responsible walked forward, dropping several papers and equipment on the part of the table which wasn't occupied by stearic sticks, the dancing flames revealing him as a muscular equine with a dusky blue mane, and an equally dusky grey coat. It seemed that all the light in the room was drawn into his deep eyes, surrounded by a ring of green.

"Map, hat, proof that I'm an Equestrian citizen... ah!" The pony muttered to himself in a lighter voice, perhaps unexpected of one with such a body type. His eyes scrolled over the items he was using for a scheduled trip by tomorrow, realizing that there was a scrap of paper he'd left there. Probably from last week. When he flipped it over, however, even the light of the fires wouldn't allow him to see what was scribbled there. Light, he needed light. Glancing up, he made his way towards a set of curtains, merely inching them apart.

The evening's luminosity flared into his vision, chasing away more of the shadows in the room, cleansing it of their darkness.

Dear Ship's Anchor

As you have been trusted with this very important task both me and Coal Coat

The pony growled under his breath.

are expecting you to prepare your men for the trip a few days early. You must be there on time. We do not want Emperor Belligerent to catch us late. While I understand that the next week will be stressful, I hope you understand how important this is for us all.

Best of luck,

Princess Celestia

Heaving a sigh, he glanced at the sky. It was still light, so he wouldn't have to make it home during the dark if he did this as quickly as possible.

"Yep, still time." Stretching his sharp wings, he twirled around, trotting over to the door to his cottage, slapping a pair of saddlebags on his back, moving to place all the items in them. It was a fairly quick process, and he went straight out the door, slamming it behind him and locking it instantly.

He walked a path down his village, the only sound being the howling winds and his own hoof-steps. The sun was already beginning to sink, despite his hurry to get out to his workplace before it set. Walking over there was always boring, but passing by gardens and flowers allowed for some nice sightseeing, vaguely reminding him of one of those shows he'd gone to. The actors were amazing. Something other than just wind snapped him out of his thoughts. Commotion, hooves hitting wood. He stretched his neck to get vision on the source of the sound, despite already knowing where it came from. The boatplace. Increasing his speed, he let out a shout to allow the ponies by the ships at the doc to hear him. One of them, a dark maroon unicorn turned his head and waved.

"Hey, captain!"

'Captain.' He loved that word. His reaction when Princess Celestia personally appointed him to be the leader of a ship which would be the first of all Equestrian crafts to dock on griffon land had apparently been priceless, according to most of his crew who were present that day. When a pony called him captain he remembered that moment, and relived it.

"Hey, team! Packed your stuff for the evening?" Ship's Anchor called out, stopping right next to them, happy to smell the salty seawater up close and personal.

"Yeah, quite a big load we're getting over there, don't you think--"

"Ship's Anchor." A gruff voice called.

A tall, muscular pitch black pony was walking towards him at a moderately fast pace. Turning his head, Ship's Anchor watched him as he approached. Coal Coat. He was the boss around here. That guy didn't care if the pony he was talking to was captain over one of the most important ships or not. The docs were his, and he wanted to make sure everybody knew that, like any good boss does.

"Here already, hm?" Coal Coat asked, a slight mocking tone to his voice, "Well, scrub. Gotta brave the waves. No turning back tomorrow."

"If you think I'm scared, Coal Coat," Ship's Anchor began, turning his head and giving the earth pony an arched eyebrow, "then perhaps it's better if you rethink your words and come back once I'm the one who gets all the boats here."

"Good to know I have competition." He snorted, turning around and trotting away, just like that.

Ship's Anchor kept a completely emotionless face, despite already fuming on the inside. He hated that guy. Despised him. Spited him. Any words to prove how much he disliked him would do justice.

"Captain, you doing okay?" The same unicorn who had waved before asked, flicking an ear with a worried expression.

"Fine. I'm going to unpack the things for tomorrow's trip." He replied, brushing him off immediately. The better he got away from the scorching gaze of Coal Coat, the better.

"No conversation?" The unicorn gave him a fake 'hurt' look, placing a hoof to his chest.

"Sorry, I want to be home by tonight. Not really looking forwards to walking home in the dark." Another attempt at brushing him off.

"At least you have the luxury of being within walking distance. I have to come all the way from Canterlot, you know." He pointed out, frowning.

"Yeah, and we're lucky to have you."

"Thanks."

"Can I go now?"

"I guess so..."

Faintly hearing hoof-steps tread away from the docks, he once again headed into shadows. Not his house, but the darkness of the ship. Swiftly drawing a match that was right by the entrance on a conveniently placed table, he began to light the candles, knowing their placements by heart. Now he could finally move around without stumbling over that forsaken net like he did every single time during ship inspection.

He directed himself straight towards the section of the craft where he'd be standing, leading all of his men in their journey. There wasn't much to do other than slam his saddlebags down, pick up the map, and make sure the room-like space was clean enough for many ponies to stand in at once. Most of them were large and muscular, anyway.

What would that do, anyway? That king, emperor, ruler, whatever, would find some way to hate ponykind and launch an all out attack. Heck, might as well eat him and his crew first.

"Stop being so negative..." He grunted to himself, finishing off by placing the captain's hat on the table, where he'd find it by tomorrow. They were well stocked. Candles, extra sails, lots of food, anything to help a sailor do his job.

Turning around, he placed his hoof where he'd meet the leather band of his saddlebags, but something took the young captain by surprise.

They weren't there.

Looking around frantically, he noticed a dark sunset shadow, flashing golden eyes at him.

Then it laughed.

"This is no place for you!" Ship's Anchor called, getting his hooves on the move, gently walking towards what he assumed was a filly, since the shadow didn't know better.

Another laugh, and the strange pony ran away from him, out into the light.

"Wait-- somepony stop the one with my saddlebags!" He called out, emerging into the light as well as she had. However, the only light was the glimmer of the stars as they shone down in his face. The sky was pitch black. The moon was covered by dark clouds.

And nopony was there.

Dead, desolate, the docs didn't even have a trace of a sailor being there.

Frowning, he began to look around for the thief, but they were gone.

Horseapples! He kicked the wooden bridge, sending a spasm of pain through his leg.

As if to mock him, the wind began to dance in his ears again. But this time, it didn't sound like wind. It was... it was... the sound of somepony singing! Oh, Celestia, it was beautiful. Forgetting about the theft, he rounded the corner, only to realize what was going on. The pony with his saddlebags, that was her! At least, the way she constantly laughed was the same.

She rested on a rock which was a bit further out, probably jumping length from the bridge if you had strong legs. She gave him a flash of her golden gaze, singing an even stronger song.

"What... are you doing here?" Ship's Anchor questioned, walking forward until he was on the edge of the bridge.

"Nothing, really." Breaking her song, she ran her hoof through her golden locks. "I wanted to sing, and I saw you there. Thought I'd get you out here to listen." Her voice was... strangely mature for such a young looking stature. It only made her seem weird to him.

"Sure, but I'd like my saddlebags back." Right now, he was anything but amused.

"Oh?" The strange pony let out another laugh, however nothing like the childish giggle he'd heard before, "you won't be seeing them again."

"What!?" By now, the stoic mask which he always bore had broken off, and he let out growl of frustration.

"Might get them back if you listen to my performance." As she spoke, she gave him a smirk.

"Fine. Just give them back afterwards." He didn't like where this was going, but he was capable of tuning ponies out, this shouldn't be so bad.

"Deal." A dark grin fell upon her lips, but it disappeared at soon as she'd created it, and she gently tilted her chin upwards, a long drone coming out of her open mouth.

A light flooded into Ship's Anchor's eyes, and he looked up, realizing that the moon was shining down on her as she sat there. Her voice was beginning to change in pitch. High to low. Loud to quiet. The waves gently foamed against the rock, droplets splashing around her and reflecting the stars. She looked like she was shining. Her voice combined with the gentle hum of the wind in the background with the scenery of the sea acting like a mirror was beautiful, he had to admit it. But there was one problem which the captain noticed after a while of listening.

He was unable to tune her out.

Lifting her head, she stared straight at him, her golden coloured eyes momentarily breaking to red. She reached out a hoof, and with one single motion, he felt himself drawn to her. He wasn't controlling his legs, but she was still beckoning him. He was a moth drawn to her flame.

"How are you... doing this?" Ship's Anchor could feel his voice fade out, becoming weaker. As he walked closer, he truly noticed how beautiful she was. Bracing himself, he hopped over the crashing waves, landing on the surface that she'd left for him.

The golden pony didn't reply, and flopped on her belly, going backwards down the rock so that one half of her was below the water.

"Come." She whispered.

"Okay..." He also plopped down on his belly, grabbing her hooves in his, and locking gaze with her. A large wave slammed over him, heaving his entire body down, and placing it under a lot of weight.

"Come..." A strange echo had appeared in her voice, which turned cold, and perhaps cruel.

Ship's Anchor opened his eyes and stared at what was in front of him. The pony raised him an eyebrow, having stopped her singing. But she flashed sharp teeth, and grabbed his hooves even tighter.

"Come on..." She urged him on, everything turning into stillness. The waves stopped, the wind, even the moon shied away under the cover of some clouds.

"No, what are you doing!?" He strained away from her, hind hooves slipping against the slimy surface of the boulder.

I'm trapped! The pegasus realized, attempting to flap away with his wings, which were soaked to the bone with water, barely even getting him lifted off. Several feathers were torn away by the vicious seas.

"There's no escape." Once more, the... creature began to sing, it was only a faint hum this time. It floated straight into his ears. Staring into her gaze once more, he watched her eyes flicker from gold to red.

Gold to red.

Then she pulled them under the water. As he submerged, he heard her voice even clearer than before. It seemed to echo through every single part of the water that surrounded him. She just continued to beckon him. Closer and closer, until they were muzzle to muzzle. The breath was being pulled from him, but he didn't care now, not never. He was with the most beautiful creature in the world. He closed his eyes, listening to her song as they sunk deeper and deeper.

"You're a fighter. Of course, you're a sailor..." She was muttering to herself. He had no idea what she was talking about, her music was still echoing deep in his head.

Sand gently touched his flank, and the echoes of the hum died out. Ship's Anchor let his eyes fly wide open, met with the stinging saltwater that was strangely clear for, well, water. It burned away at his eyes, but despite the pain to use his vision, he could still feel something wrapped around his hooves. Looking down, he noticed a pair of front legs, adorned with shining fins. Following this trail, he saw belly scales that surrounded a beautiful gem entombed in the flesh of whatever was holding him. Upwards. The creature had its head pointing downwards at him, its muzzle strangely long, neck sporting the same beautiful fins, only larger. He leaned back in shock only to feel something touch him. Twisting as best as he could, he noticed a scaled tail gently wrapped around his body.

"Oh yes, you're mine now." The feminine voice hissed, flashing razor sharp fangs.

He knew that voice. The pony from the bridge. Her song.

"It seems like you've noticed your mistake just a little bit too late..." Smirking, she opened her mouth again, flashing her teeth threateningly, and serenaded him once more.

His eyelids suddenly felt heavy, and began to close over his eyes, the last thing he saw was the sick grin of a beautiful sea creature, strange looking magic being absorbed right into the gem on her chest.

The last sound he heard, her flute-like voice.

Author's Note:

I wrote this on a Tuesday night hoping it would be cool.
Pfff

I do like the idea of the sirens having properties that are a bit like the ones from Greek mythology.

Anyway, I put a bit more effort into this one. Since most people do human sirens, I thought I'd just... sneak in their normal selves into the flood of people.

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