The Lighthouse Keeper
'Watch out for the seaponies.'
Those had been the last words Guiding Light said to him before the old stallion passed his duties on to Beacon Heart. 'Watch out for the seaponies.'
Beacon had just chuckled at the time, believing it to be a joke. Or perhaps the loneliness and isolation of his posting had caused the old stallion to see things? He might have been young, but he was no foal, believing in old mare's tales like mermares and manticores. Nor did he believe that a little isolation would bother a tough earth pony such as himself much.
When the pegasi drawn carriage departed, Beacon was left alone at his new posting. He took a few moments to look around the small rocky island that would now be his home and workplace. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with salty sea air and his soul with determination.
This was his first posting, and he would not fail in his duties. There was work to be done.
A little bit of isolation wouldn't bother him at all.
The bad lands were a strange place for a lighthouse.
Or so most ponies would say.
Ponies thought of the Badlands as hundreds of miles of desert and scrub brush. Nopony gave much thought to the ocean that lay on the other side. Nopony but the sailors that passed the treacherous coastline as they carried trade goods between Zebrica and Equestria.
There were no towns or villages here. No pegasi weather teams to disperse storms or bust clouds. The ships that passed the Badlands passed through rough, wild weather and stormy, dangerous seas.
Those ships needed a lighthouse to warn them and guide them to safety.
And a lighthouse needs a lighthouse keeper.
Time proved Beacon Heart a fool. A fool twice over.
Firstly, because it was lonely enough on his little island to drive a pony to hallucinations. The biweekly pegasi supply runs provided him with fresh food and news, but little conversation. The loneliness was almost unbearable.
Secondly, because the seaponies were real.
Strange, skittish creatures they were. Earth ponies from the flank up, and naught but fish scales and strange, graceful tails below.
Sometimes they would sun themselves on the rocks around his lighthouse. They seemed to enjoy the sheltered waters of a particular small, rocky grotto.
At first he kept his distance. The mermares seemed to have the same idea, as they would dive into the deep waters of the grotto whenever his duties forced him to draw near.
But eventually loneliness got the best of him. As strange and worrisome as he found the creatures, they were somepony to talk to. And as skittish and flighty as they were, they eventually grew comfortable with his presence.
One seapony in particular was braver than most. Sea Foam was her name, and she found the workings of the lighthouse, and its keepers, fascinating. She had lived her whole life in the ocean around his tiny island, and spent every night watching the bright beams of the lighthouse cut through the darkness.
Beacon Heart and Sea Foam spoke of many things. The workings of the lighthouse. The wrecks of ancient ships she found in the depths. The strange things found far inland, or deep in the sea.
They gave each other gifts. Small things. A fresh orange, or a bit of sea glass. A silvered mirror, or a shark's tooth. Bits and baubles from two separate worlds.
Over time they learned much about each other. Peculiar little customs and amusing turns of phrase. Truths that were universal across ponykind and quirks and foibles that were unique to each of them. Small secrets, embarrassing moments and silly dreams, no longer hidden away but entrusted to one another.
And Beacon learned that his lighthouse did more than just warn ships away from the dangerous shoals. To the mermares it was a light guiding them back home. Guiding them to safety.
Time passed, and so did Beacon's loneliness.
Time passed.
Days turned into weeks, turned into months, turned into years.
Occasional visits to the grotto turned into regular visits. Turned into every sunny afternoon. Turned into every day it wasn't storming.
'That strange mermare' turned into 'That strange mare.'
Turned into 'That nice mare.'
Turned into 'That pretty mare'
Turned into 'That beautiful mare with the turquoise eyes you could lose yourself in, orange mane like the setting sun, and lips as red at the most delicious rose.'
Time passed. And after three years, Beacon Heart's calendar had reached its final days.
His rotation was over. He would return to the lands of his birth, and a new lighthouse keeper would take over his duties, as he had taken over from Guiding Light.
The pegasi drawn carriage would arrive with his replacement soon. His final duty was to pass on his knowledge and experience to his successor, as Guiding Light had done for him. He made sure to leave detailed notes and written instructions inside the lighthouse.
He wouldn't be there to speak to them in person.
Watch out for the seaponies Guiding Light had said.
Not 'Beware the seaponies.' or 'Stay away from the seaponies.'
'Watch out for the seaponies.'
For three years he'd done just that. And now somepony else would come to care for the lighthouse.
But watching out for the seaponies was a duty he could not give up and pass on.
Not when there was one seapony that Beacon Heart wanted to watch forever.
Beacon Heart stood upon the rocks of the grotto, looking down at Sea Foam.
The water here was deep. If he jumped, his hooves might never touch the bottom.
If he jumped, his hooves might never touch dry land again.
He was afraid.
He looked into her eyes, and they spoke to him. They said I love you and I will keep you safe.
He closed his eyes, taking one last deep breath.
His lungs were filled with salty air, his heart with love and determination.
Four hooves left the rocks of the grotto.
Two hooves and a tail struck the water below.
The ocean closed over his head with nary a splash.
This story was written for June 2016 Write-Off Event: In Over Your Head. At the time I decided to write in a genre that is somewhat outside my skill set: Romance. Furthermore, I decided to write a story with zero dialogue, because that seemed to work well for me in the past for some reason.
Apparently the combination worked out, because I took first place, and won my first medal!
As an aside, I should note that after turning into a sea pony, Beacon Heart and Sea Foam were married, had a whole school of happy little colts and fillies, grew old together, and eventually swam off to explore the deep ocean in their dotage. Because in a happy fairytale nobody dies on screen, not even of old age. 
I say all this because a popular interpretation of my story was that Sea Foam drowned poor Beacon Heart, because that's what sea ponies do. 
So, my attempts at a romance story are easily mistaken for a dark, twisted tale of homicide. And my dialogue is so bad that my stories do best when I leave it out. Either my writing needs a lot of work, or my audience is insane. Possibly both. 
But hey, this still won a gold medal! So yay! 
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Well this was a nice little surprise.
I like it. Another!
I asumed the warning was meant to prevent the keeper from being seduced/hypnotized by the seamares, who would prefer the lighthouse inactive so the passing ships would crash against the rocks (in folklore, mermaids cause shipwreck to eat the sailors).
This was very good. I liked the unconventional way you strung it together, and I also liked how open-ended it was. It might have been a bit more interesting if you had deleted the last two lines to really open up the possibility space, but that would definitely make it darker than you intended so I can definitely see why you went the way you did.
While I can't speak for everyone, I can at least confirm that I meet this qualification.
This a very nicely done story. I liked the limited dialog and the focus on what Beacon Heart was thinking and feeling. I loved the ending and how you didn't explain too much. For me, that leaves it to my imagination and I rather like that sometimes. One never knows where love will be found or where it will take them. It's nice to know they had a 'happily ever after'.
7418371
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
7418710
Well, while I do have a backlog of stories from the Write Off that I have yet to polish and post here, I'm afraid that none of them are romance. And given the rate at which I've gotten around to publishing them here, it might be a little while I'm afraid.
If you want a proper length sea pony romance story, then I will point you at The One Who Got Away. I (re)read this not long before the write off, which is why when I thought "Hey, I'll try to write a love story!" it was immediately followed by "With Seaponies!"
7418899
Yeah, the original mermaid myths are rather grim... But this is Equestria! Where magic, friendship, and rainbows can turn the most hardened of villains into friends! Or, erm... stone. Or banish you to the moon... You know what? Never mind.
7418958
Yeah, even with those last two lines, lots of people read it as rather grim-dark. It was supposed to be a happy, uplifting love story dang it! This must be why they tell you to write what you know...
7420288
Yeah, when writing in this format you have to leave a lot of it up to the reader's imagination. This story was written for a mini-fic contest, meaning 400-750 words. I actually had to extend the original to meet FiMFiction's requirements. With only 750 words, you really have to be stingy with the details if you want to tell an entire story. No three page long descriptions of individual's Cutie Marks, that's for sure!
This was incredibly sweet. The lack of dialogue is a tough restriction, but your descriptions, and the little details* really sell this for me.
*I particularly love this passage:
I blame the popular siren folklore that saw a resurgence amongst this particular fandom when the only canon G4 seaponies are horrific, unrepentant flesh-eating monsters.
A nice, short little thing that does romantic atmosphere very well, but also accidentally does unsettling horror very well on top of that if you jump to certain conclusions early on.
I loved this! Also, thanks for the note at the end. Preexisting cultural context merits the addendum
I remember this one when I read it for the writeoff. Still a nice after all these times. :3
Badlands yo.
Weird. How did I never get around to reading this until I saw your RCL feature? In any case, as lovely as I remember from the Writeoff, of not more so. Thank you for it.
I swear to god I didn't know this existed when I made that EP of mine. It's awesome. So much more than I could do in those few words.
Shhooooo bedoo shoo shoo bedooo
To quote Peter Paul and Mary:
Oh, me father was the keeper of the eddystone light
And he slept with a mermaid one fine night
From this union there came three
A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me!
No i got it, but how did he become a seapony? He get a trinket from Cadence?
Wow - you managed to generate a comprehensive story in very few words. Well done!
Aaand you zip STRAIGHT into my Glass Case bookshelf!
Sea Foam totally drowned him. That's what seaponies do!
This was very sweet, and works well showing the progression of the romance. I don't think it ever suffered for having no dialogue, either.
8348081
To quote Great Big Sea:
♫ 'Cause her hair was green as seaweed,
Her skin was blue and pale.
Her face, it was a work of art,
I love that girl with all my heart.
But I only like the upper part;
I did not like the tail... ♪
Full(er) review here, but in brief: an impressive illustration that you can write a romance in a thousand words and not have it seem hopelessly rushed. Have a fave.
I'm a former lighthouse keeper, and I very much approve of this story. I especially appreciated the little details, such as the trinkets from the sea, the crushing loneliness, and the fact that you have to make your own fun and take conversation where you can get it. Nice work.
To be fair, you did sort of end the story at the part where Beacon jumped into the ocean. Between that, the added context of the siren myth, and the 'Watch out for the seaponies' message, you did end things just a bit vague. It's almost enough to make a reader overlook the lack of a Dark tag (almost).