Songs of the Siren

by Silver Inkwell

The Lakeside Bath

Chapter Six: The Lakeside bath

“Oh Sebastian, I am truly in love for the first time in my life.”

"Yes, sir, that you are," Sebastian said, straightening out the bed in front of him.

“Have you ever been in love before?” Forrest asked.

"Only once, sir.”

“Whatever happened to her?” he asked.

“Our love just wasn’t meant to be, that’s all. Just as yours and that Seamare in my opinion,” he said.

“Oh, come now, our love can work out well enough.”

“How, though? She’s part of the sea, sir, and I mean no disrespect, but you're not.”

"True love will always find a way, or do you doubt that as well?”

“I don’t doubt it, but I am very quickly losing faith in many things, including some of my oldest, strongest beliefs, sir.”

“Well don’t, please don't, you have to stay strong for me, you’re the only real friend I have left after mom and dad…” he began.

“After they left, sir. I don’t think that they’re dead yet, just hiding. Not because they don’t love you, but because of the Seaponies, because of their love for each other.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Forrest said, walking to the balcony and leaning over it. “Do you think that she’s out there somewhere trying to look for me in my castle, or do you think that she will just stare out at the moon?”

“I really don’t know, sir. but King Cosmos sure does his job well, and I think that anypony given enough time will look at the moon.”

“Thank you. For your words, and support... it means a whole lot to me.”

"You are very welcome, sir. But for now, we'd best be off to bed."

“You are right, for tomorrow will bring me more hope and joy if I see her again. And yet another chance to sing my songs, and speak in words that together form the most beautiful poetry.

She walks in beauty, like the night, of cloudless climes and starry skies, and all that’s best of dark and bright. Never seek to tell thy love, love that never told can be; For the gentle wind doth move, silently, invisibly. I told her my love, I told my love, I told her all my heart, trembling, cold, in ghastly fears, Ah! She did depart! Soon after she was gone from me, a traveler came by, silently, invisibly, he took her with a sigh,” Forrest finished softly with a very heavy sigh.

“I sense that you are sad sir, but why?" Sebastian said.

“Because I cannot see her,” he answered.

"Well then, why don’t you get into your bed, and if you're lucky, maybe you will get the chance to see her tomorrow.”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Forrest said while climbing into his bed, where Sebastian then gently tucked the blankets in and dimmed the lights. But before he left, he spoke one final thing in a soft voice, “Good night, my friend."

---

Forrest, as per an unofficial tradition, was awoken the next morning by warm rays of light when the curtains were drawn back by Sebastian.

"Good morning, Forrest," Sebastian said. "Lovely day outside, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Forrest replied in an unusually awake manner. For you see, Sebastian quite often compared Forrest's distaste for mornings to that of a vampire, or sometimes a zompony, and Forrest being awake in the morning was often reserved for important holidays, birthdays, and parties.

"Is there anything special you would like to do today, or should we begin working on the usual chores?" Sebastian asked.

"Let's go down to the lakeside for a bath as usual, but after that how about we walk to the beach? I would like to see Lily this morning

And so it was that they went down to the lake for Forrest's bath. But what they saw on approach was quite shocking. For there, in their usual spot, they saw Lily bathing. [New Paragraph] Sebastian, unlike Forrest who struggled with whether or not it was alright to watch a mare bathe right in front of him, quickly averted his eyes.

Sebastian, while waiting for Lily to be done, distracted himself by commenting on various aspects of nature. Forrest, however, decided to alert Lily to their presence.

"Hello there," He said. "It's nice to see you, not that I like seeing naked mares or enjoy watching them, I'm just saying that it's very nice to see you even if you just happen to be naked and bathing at the moment." He silently cursed himself, why did he ever say something as stupid as that? Why didn't he just shut up when he still had the chance? But now it was too late, and he would have to wait for whatever punishment she gave him.

Much to Forrest's surprise, Lily laughed and flashed him a smile.

"You're funny, I like that about you, " She said. "But, as I'm almost done, if you would be so kind as to look away for a few minutes..."

"Of course milady," Forrest replied, turning slightly red in the face as he turned to face Sebastian.

After a few minutes, they heard Lily call out, "Alright, I'm done now, you may look."

As they were turning around, Forrest asked, "Do you ever think it silly that ponies care more if you see them bathing than in public since we all walk around naked anyway?"

"No, I don't," Sebastian replied. "And that's because ponies usually reveal more parts while bathing then when they go to the market 'completely naked,' as you say."

"Oh, that makes sense," Forrest said.

And it was now that they got their first good look at Lily. Her mane was black as ink, while her coat was a purer white than even Princess Celestia. And her eyes were the deepest shade of green that Forrest and Sebastian had ever seen.

“Oh my gosh, hot hell and heaven damn me to hell for my lust right now,” Sebastian said.

“Uh, yeah, what you said,” Forrest said gawking at her.

Lily giggled and smiled at this, but they lasted far too short of a time for Forrest. “Now then boys," She said. "You don’t need to stare at me all day.”

"Oh, right. But if you don't mind my asking, why are you here? Not that you can't be here, I'm just curious." Forrest asked.

“Well, I don’t mind you staring, in fact, I rather like it. But I’m here partly because I’m bored and partly my father says I should either put an end to your grand illusions of your shot at love with me, or I should instead take it seriously. And depending on your actions, I’ll better know which one to lean towards as time goes on.”

"Would you like to hear more poetry now?" Forrest asked.

"Oh, yes. That would be lovely," Lily answered.

“Yes please,” she said.

“Very well then, as you wish.

One word is often too profaned, for me to profane it, one feeling too falsely disdained, for thee to disdain it; one hope is to like despair, for prudence to smother; and pity from thee more dear, than that from another. I can give what ponies call not love, but wilt thou accept not the worship the heart lifts above, and the heavens reject me not, of the night for the morrow; the devotion to something afar, from the sphere of our sorrow?”

"That was very beautiful, thank you." She said once Forrest finished.

"You're quite welcome, milady, but I have done nothing worthy of praise for I am only using the words of those before me."

"Well, may I at least commend you on your excellent re-telling of those words?"

"I suppose that's only fair. And in that case, thank you."

"I get the feeling this relationship could work out, and yet..."

"Well, I would hate for it to not work out."

"I, too, would hate for it to fail," Sebastian chimed in, disrupting their solitude.

"Sebastian, is that really you? How have you been doing?" Lily asked, turning to smile at Sebastian.

"I am doing well, thank you. Life on the land is working well, and I find myself enjoying it here," Sebastian responded.

"Excuse my interruption, but Lily, how do you know Sebastian?" Asked Forrest.

"He hasn't told you? Well, he's sort of an ambassador between our two races," Lily answered.

"Sebastian, why haven't you told me this? Oh well, no harm was done, I know now anyway." Forrest said.

"I have been in your family line longer than you think. Actually, as long as your family has ruled this land," Sebastian added.

"So, you're super old then..."

"Compared to you, yes. But in terms of seapony life spans, I'm still very young, especially for an ambassador, but they thought I would be right for this family. And it turns out they were right, or, at least, they turned out to be right in the end. Also, if you ever ask what my real age is, I won't tell you. If there's one absolute for a seapony, it's that they will always lie about their ages. This is because they look young no matter how old they are, and that just causes ponies to become confused. Maybe one day I will tell you, but not for a long time."

"Alright, I'll just call you old until then," Forrest joked. [New Paragraph] "Well, that's a bit rude," Sebastian retorted. [New Paragraph] "Hey man, you gotta do what you gotta do. And if that means being slightly cold to you, then so be it."

"Ah, but can also be kind to get what you want, for a much better price, too," Lily commented.

"Yes, you are right my dear. But please, do tell about your kingdom. What are its secrets? Does it have any problems? What’s the currency and exchange rate like? Do you have a national flag? Do you purchase things with currency or is it just a direct trade?”

“Woah, calm down there, that’s just a few too many questions to answer right now. But don’t fret, you will have your answers soon.”

"I guess I should start with currency. We have many valuable gems, crystals, gold, and the like, along with swords, cannons, and other such weapons since so many ships sink when there's a storm. And even though we often try to help keep it afloat, it often sinks anyway, in which case we just try to save as many ponies as possible. For trading, we normally use whatever we have, whether that be gems or something else, it doesn't matter. For our flag, I think we technically have one, but we do live underwater. Whatever problems we might have either take too long to explain or are none of your business..”

"I've always loved the technicalities of royal matters," Forrest said, clearly egging Lily on.

At this Lily sighed and said, "Very well, I shall tell you. Our only major problems are because of the sirens."

Once she said that, Forrest was reminded of the warning provided by Mortimer: "Someday, you'll meet the sirens. Be sure to wear wax then." Although Forrest wasn't sure what this meant yet, he was sure he could figure it out. In the meantime, he figured it would be good to learn more about them: "Why are they a problem? [New Paragraph] "You see, they sing in such a way that it lures sailors into rocks or coral, which sinks their ships. Another way, is that they often trick ponies, no matter what kind, into giving them their souls and put them in a garden which we, very fittingly if you ask me, call the Garden of Lost Souls."

"Wait, how can anything use singing to bring ponies to their deaths? Furthermore, how do they trick ponies into giving them their souls?" asked Forrest.

Well, the singing is an easy explanation, magic. A magic of such kind that nopony can resist it. As for the second question, let's just say they can tell what others want and they trick ponies into trading their souls for it."

"And where is this Garden of Lost Souls?"

"Down in a cave under the ocean. And don't even ask me to bring you there, because I won't."

"So you know where it is, you just won't take me there because of safety reasons, right?"

“Well yes, that’s exactly right,” she said. “Look, just take me there.”

- "Yes..." She said hesitantly.

"Just take me there, please."

"I won't. You could get hurt, or worse..."

"Don't worry, I know how to avoid their spells. I'll put wax in my ears," he said.

"Oh? And how do you know of that solution?" Lily asked.

"Well, um, Mortimer told me when I was asking him for a flower."

"Of course he did, I mean, why wouldn't he?"

"So are you going to take me to the garden or not?" Forrest asked, a grin on his face.

"Fine, I will take you there." Lily said, but upon seeing the victorious grin on Forrest's face, she added, "Just not today."

"Then when?" Forrest asked, his smile fading slightly.

"I'll let you know if it comes up," She said, clearly enjoying his dismay.

"Fine, be that way, it's not like I care."

"Forrest, the sirens are no laughing matter," She said with a slight frown.

"And I'm not laughing. Do you see me laughing?"

"You just can't take anything seriously, can you? You always have to make a joke out of it."

"Why so serious, Lily? Life is better when you're laughing at it more."

"If you truly believe so. But until next time we meet, I wish you good luck," She said before diving into the water and vanishing.

"And to you as well, my fair lady." Forrest replied with a sigh.

“Come on sir, let’s get you back to the castle,” Sebastian said.

"Yes, let's," Said Forrest, with a sad tone in his voice as he realized he might not see Lily again for a long time. {New Paragraph] Later that night when he went to bed, Forrest laid there letting his mind compose wonderful things to say to Lily when he next saw her until he drifted off to sleep. Sebastian, however, did not get much sleep that night, but, then again, he never did get very much.

Author's Note:

Bonus points to any who can name all the poems used!!!