Gillian

by kitten_girl86

The Guys and Preparation

The next morning, Gillian met with a lawyer to set up the trust account for Orchid Bouquet and then with a realtor to sell his house fast. Cora might have been helping (with her magic) because Gillian got an offer on the house within hours of posting it and he took the first offer. A condition of the sale was that he still had the house for three days; until the day after the full moon and he could get the boat away (while wearing a disguise) so he had witnesses to his leaving.

This dusk saw Gillian back in merpony form on the rocks outside of the cave. He leaned back on his hooves as he looked out on the last rays of sunset. Sitting up, he stroked his hoof through his long mane. Even as a teenager, his mane had never grown that long. He still marveled at the fact that he no longer suffered the hacking cough every time he breathed in deeply.

Cora had gone to prepare things for the full moon ceremony so Gillian felt a little lost and lonely. He had no inclination to return to the house or his boat. All of the stuff he was taking with him (laminated photo of him and Orchid taken when he surprised her on her birthday just a few months after she earned her cutie mark, small box of a land outfits [shirts, vests and a couple of jackets] and all the blankets, bed sheets and towels in the house) was already loaded on the boat.

Gillian debated about going back to the bar when two large tails broke the surface nearby. His heart racing, Gillian wasn’t sure if he should swim away or wait and see.

Suddenly, two heads appeared and somehow Gillian knew who they were: Raevon and Adney.

“I thought Cora said I would not meet you until after the ceremony,” Gillian said as he slid down the rock for a more comfortable spot. Raevon motioned for Gillian to follow and he did.

They swam together to the rock cave. Raevon -also an earth pony- sported a deep red tail, short black mane and wore a spear attached to a belt crossed over his bare chest. Adney -a pegasus- had a deep green tail, shoulder length strawberry-blonde mane and carried a messenger bag on his left hip. When they arrived at the cave, Raevon dragged himself up onto the beach, presumably to transform back to land pony. Adney stayed in the water with Gillian as they kept the tails in the water and leaned on either side so they faced each other.

“What did Cora tell you about us?” Adney asked. “I know that Raevon is one of the pod’s best hunters and you turned your money into an island so the pod had somewhere to grow land food.” Raevon seemed proud at Cora’s description of him; Adney only nodded.

From there, the three sat for hours talking about what would be expected of Gillian. Raevon, having reverted back to land pony, raided another depression in the rock – a closet sized one this time – and let Gillian his choice of weapon to learn and carry. Gillian chose a trident-spear since he already had plenty of experience using one as a fisher pony.

Finally, while Raevon poured them each a small glass of brandy from a secret stash, Adney broached on a subject he had been delaying for quite some time. “You do understand that Cora is your mate, right?” he asked. Gillian more surprised by the change in topic than the implications of the words, spat out the sip of brandy in a spray, luckily away from Adney. “Try....*cough* Try that one again?” Gill coughed out as he took a scoop of water to clear his throat.

“Since Cora is the one who transformed you, she is to be your girl,” Raevon said in simpler terms. “Cora had to endure a lot from the pod to be chosen for such an honor... and the fact that she's unicorn doesn't hurt either. She’s actually the youngest in the history of the pod to do it and you’re the youngest male we’ve had. I was 73 when my Ophelia came for me,” Adney said. “I got you both beat! I was 86 when my girl Pearl chose me. My pegasus wife, Nadine, had just passed away and with no other family left, I was happy to leave that terrible retirement home,” Raevon boasted as he downed the glass of brandy and set to work sharpening Gillian’s spear head.

They sat together for a long time, talking about the ocean and Gillian’s plan to sink his boat. Raevon & Adney agreed to help him and they knew of a few young sharks that would love the chance to purposefully sink a (former) fisher pony’s boat.

A little while later, Cora returned to the cave looking exhausted. Raevon & Adney said their good byes’ and left the two alone. As they snuggled together, Gillian leaned up on his left fore arm and looked right at Cora. “The boys told me that since you’re the one to transform me, we are to be married.” Cora knew the term of ‘married’ to be the pony’s equivalent to mating. “Does that upset you?” she asked. Gillian leaned forward and kissed Cora on the muzzle. “Not one little bit, my sweet,” he said.

The next morning, Gill was back on his boat, building a Princess-sized rope hammock in the biggest room of the lower decks. He had already gone to the local hardware store to get a pair of wall mounted tie rings but left them in the packaging until after the sinking.

As he heard the pattering of multiple hooves, he was surprised to see Cora walking on four hooves into the room. She must have seen his look of surprise because she laughed. “Remember what I said? I have the power of land pony legs for the day before, day of and the day after a full moon each month,” she said sweetly. “It’s not that, my sweet.... you’re not wearing anything,” said Gillian as he hurried to pull out a full length dress he had picked out (from a thrift shop) for her. “I figured that if you and I could go for full moon walks on the beach, you’d might like something to wear,” Gillian laughed as he watched her twirl around. The dress was a wrap summer dress of blue tie dyed patterns and Cora loved the flow of the skirt.

Gillian was quiet for a moment, thinking about the upcoming ceremony. “How exactly will this full moon ceremony happen, Cora?” he asked. “That’s why I'm here. Traditionally, the inductee gets to decide where the ceremony takes place. The only requirement is that you and I must stay in merpony form for the whole of this full moon, from rise to fall. We don’t have to be together but that makes it easier.”

Gillian knew exactly what they should do. “I will move the boat to the back of the dock here, towards the shore and we can be underneath the dock! We can decorate the pillars with plants and aquatic flowers, to make it look like a flower arch. I take it that once I'm permanent that we will be married at the same time?” he said. Cora smiled & nodded. “So the pillars will act as the altar for the wedding. I got something I thought you’d like to wear,” Gillian said as he retrieved a beautiful white lace veil from a closet. The headdress that the veil was attached to was already decorated with natural sea shells of various types.

Cora had seen pictures of land ponies brides and loved the idea of a veil for the ceremony. Most merponies would wear a headdress that was passed down the family line but when Cora’s sister got mated, the headdress was broken and not salvageable. Cora had been wondering what she’d do for this one and had resigned herself to not wearing one at all. But here was Gillian, providing her with a wonderful alternative. “Oh Gillian! It’s wonderful,” Cora whispered as she hurried to embrace him.

With the help of others in the pod, the pillars of the dock were wrapped and decorated with lengths of kelp and freshly picked aquatic flowers. Gillian guided the boat to the shore beside the dock, doubling the land ties to make sure it did not get loose during the ceremony.

An hour before sunset, Gillian was on the underside of his boat, preparing himself for the ceremony. Raevon gave Gillian a pair of black arm band bracelets to wear while Adney brought a gift from Cora’s family: a length of white pearls to wrap around the base of his tail. Adney explained how the whole ceremony would work: Cora & Gillian would arrive to the pillars at moon rise; no one else would show up until just before the moon’s apex; the leader of the pod would assist Cora in the incantations for Gillian’s permanency; Gillian & Cora would then be pronounced mated/married by the leader and then everyone else would leave; Gillian & Cora would remain at the pillars until moon set. “Whether or not you consummate the mating at the end is up to the two of you,” Raevon added just before he swam away, leaving Gillian blushing profusely.