Fuzzy [SPOILERS FOR DAZZLING SUNSET]
Twilight swallowed hard, her eyes widening as the size of the wake coming her way got bigger. The azure blue waters of the East Equestrian Sea turned white when a giant, spined dorsal fin rose out of the water, while underneath, the waters darkened with the main body of the creature closing in on the small fishing boat she’d rented.
Twilight backed away from the railing where she’d been tossing buckets of chum overboard, stepping toward the safety of the vessel's wheelhouse. The boat, stationary in the calm waters, rocked as the creature passed, the fin vanishing for sight a moment later. Twilight paused where she was, uncertain, and then against her own better judgement, she stepped back up to the side and peeked into the blue below.
She gaped at the brief glimpse she got of more fins and flukes, scales and a long tapered form, before it disappeared under the hull. She rushed to the other side of the deck, both hooves on the rail as she peered down for another sighting, but found nothing. Twilight craned her head up, looking around the side of the wheelhouse for sign of the creature, but it appeared to have dived into the deeper murk.
“Dang...I thought for sure I had…!”
Twilight pitched forward when the boat rocked violently, followed by an immense slash from the the rear, when the creature, a pale blue colored siren, breached the surface. She was thrown to the deck a moment later when the siren came down across the railing, gigantic hooves gouging the wooden planks while the railing itself snapped like a twig and shards of it were sent overboard. The boat’s entire frame groaned in protest, the bow starting to point skyward, and cool ocean water sloshed in alongside the siren.
“Holy crap!” Twilight flailed as equipment and gear started to slide past her, rolling onto her back to look upwards. “S-Sonata? Is th-that you?”
“Oh hey, it’s Princess Twilight!” The siren laughed, her voice loud and large, but clearly female and bubbly. “Yep, it’s me! Hey, you gonna finish that?”
“Wha?” Twilight struggled to sit up on the tilted deck floor, and looked at the nearly over ended bucket of chum Sonata was gesturing at. “Ew...no!”
“Mind if I do?” Sonata giggled, her bulk making the small fishing boat shake. She didn’t wait for an answer and darted in, jaws open to pluck the chum off the deck, and tipped it back to fill her maw with it’s delicious contents. She shook it to get as much out as she could and then tossed the bucket out into the ocean, her jaws chomping down. “Mmm...dis ist goo! Habin ha summin dis goo sin I lef de humin world!”
Twilight blanched and looked away while the huge carnivore made short work of the processed fish. “Er...about that...I came out here because we’ve received some reports of siren sightings...and I got a message from Sunset about you disappearing a few weeks ago.”
Sonata nodded, swallowing down her free lunch, her antennae drooping sadly. “Yeah...I bounced on them after a while. We found out about the portal from Sunset, and I was feeling like a fifth wheel between her and Adagio. So I came home. I, uh, haven’t raided any coastal villages or anything! I swear! No using my powers to cause suffering!”
Twilight wobbly got to her hooves, frowning when she heard the boat creak even louder. “I know, Sonata. Nopony has reported anything bad...we were all just kind of worried what happened to you.” Something snapped below decks, followed by the unmistakable sound of water rushing into a small space. “Do you mind getting off the boat? If it sinks, I’ll never get my security deposit back!”
“Oops.” Sonatta grinned bashfully, her ears and flukes held back. She chuckled and then took a deep breath before making a sound like a high pitched whale song, the tips of her spines glowing with power.
The alicorn stared, fascinated by the display of siren magic, until the glow coming off Sonata was too bright to look at, and she shielded her eyes with a wing. It took a few moments for her to blink the after images out of her eyes, but when she could see clearly, Twilight peeked out between her feathers in time to see the giant shape of the perky sea monster shift into the familiar form of a human girl with a massive ponytail in her hair.
“Wozzers!” Twilight smiled, giggling at the thought of the research papers she could write later based of this single display, and wobbled unsteadily when the boat mostly righted itself. “Sonata, that was amazing! You can do whole body transformations like that? I really want to study your magic some...more…” Twilight faded out, her mouth hanging slack. “Why are you naked?”
“What? I’ve been naked this whole time. You just saw my membranes on display for crying out loud!” Sonata threw her arms out wide. “It’s not like I can change shape and make clothes for myself at the same time.”
“Sorry! It’s just...you caught me by surprise?” Twilight grinned nervously, turning away so she wasn’t looking at the girl. “Um...why did you take human form anyway? I thought sirens could turn into ponies?”
“Well, duh.” Sonata rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. “But I’ve had this form for like...a really really long time. It’s comfortable...ya know?”
“Oh. Yeah. I get that.” Twilight frowned, brows narrowing. “So...are you going to make clothes for yourself? Maybe just a bathing suit or...something?”
Behind her, Twilight heard Sonata blow a raspberry that turned into a whistled tune halfway though. There was another flash, much less bright this time, and when she turned around, Sonata was standing there in a two piece suit that humans called a bikini. It still seemed to leave a lot of skin uncovered, but she had to admit, Sonata pulled off the look really well. It even matched her eyes.
Twilight smiled and took a seat, her horn firing up to start pushing water back out of the hold so she could then patch up the damage. “Thank you. It’s a still a little weird, but even spending just a little time in the human world has given me this complex about humanoid nudity. I can’t even look at the monkeys in the zoo anymore without blushing!”
The Princess sighed, her magic starting to gather the debris that used to be part of the boat’s railing. “The real reason I wanted to check on these sightings personally is...because I was worried. After the battle of the bands, we didn’t really have the chance to catch up with you three. Sunset assured me she would help you if you turned back up.”
“She helped herself to my cousin.”
Twilight paused, and looked at Sonata. The blue haired girl was sitting now, on the bench seat connected to the port side rail. She looked distant, and her tone had been flat. It sounded strange coming from the normally cheerful girl.
“Er...well, I guess you could say that, but Sunset told me it was mutual between her and Adagio! They had a rough start and there was the whole incident—”
“With Aria. Yeah, I know.” Sonata looked out over the side of the boat toward the horizon. “I was kinda there, Twilight. I saw what she did and how Sunset and Adagio had to fix it, and I was even there when they dropped off Aria with Fluttershy. Which was your idea.”
Sonata fixed Twilight with a hard stare. “So what is there to be worried about, huh? I’m not hurting anyone. Aria is getting the help she needs. Adagio is off getting horseback riding lessons with Sunset. I’m just the leftovers no one wants around any more.”
“That’s not true.” Twilight stood, putting down the various wooden pieces so she could focus on Sonata. “I want you around.”
“Why? We barely know each other!”
“That is why.” Twilight walked over to Sonata, holding out her hoof to the girl. “I want to get to know you, Sonata. I want to study your magic, your culture, you!”
Sonata eyed the extended hoof cautiously. She knew ponies. She knew that they were usually good, nice creatures. Rainbow colored laser space horses aside. She knew about Twilight too. The Princess of Friendship. If anyone, anypony, cared about what happened to her, it would be this purple colored dork.
Carefully, she reached out and took Twilight’s hoof in her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You want to know about me huh?” She grinned when the alicorn nodded. “Well, first off, you gotta know I like long swims by the beach, cold sushi is my fave food, and it has been a really, really, really long time since I’ve had a hug from a friend.”
Twilight stepped closer and gently encircled Sonata with her wings. “Well I think it’s time to break that streak.” She gasped a moment later when she felt the siren’s arms snake around her shoulders, pulling her into a tighter embrace. It felt odd, to say the least, but good. An odd good. “Well, so I guess I’ve managed to provide you with two of those things you like: a hug and some...I guess you could call it sushi? Not much rice in it, though.”
“That’s fine. I’m not picky.” Sonata sighed happily, nuzzling into Twilight’s shoulder. “Sadly there isn’t a beach near here, or you could try for all three.”
“It’s only a few hours away by boat…”
“That’s a long way to swim.” Sonata loosened her hug and leaned back to look Twilight in the eyes. “Can I catch a ride with you?”
“Sure! Just let me get us started and I’ll patch up the aft end of the boat while we go.” Twilight smiled again and let go of Sonata, trotting into the wheelhouse to start up the engines and set their course. She was just finishing it up when there was another tune hummed and a flash behind her.
Twilight turned around and froze when she found Sonata laying on the deck, a large towel under her and nothing but a pair of sunglasses on her body. “You’re naked again.”
“Gotta work on my tan.” Sonata smirked, tilting her head to look up at Twilight. “Join me for a while? We’ve got the time.”
Twilight stood still, her eyes trying to look at anything except the nude human form in the middle of her rented fishing boat. She sighed. “When in Roan…” Twilight forced herself to look back at Sonata and smiled. She had to admit, the girl looked good no matter what form she was in, clothed or not. And if she’s comfortable without clothes...then I can be comfortable about her comfortableness with nudity...yeah. She settled down next to Sonata, laying on her back and squinting up at the sky.
“Thanks, Twilight...I think I really needed this. Someone paying attention to me that doesn’t see me as a punching bag or an idiot.” Sonata smiled and reached out to take Twilight’s hoof again. “But you know, if you treat me this well, I might have give you something special in return.”
“Like what?”
Sonata grinned. “Like partial transformations!” She whistled again and opened her mouth to stick out her tongue. It reached her chin and kept going until it looked long enough to coil around Twilight’s barrel.
Twilight paled, looking up at Sonata’s snake-like tongue, and then flushed with color, her sputtering and Sonata’s laughter the only sounds as they floated away on the calm azure waters under Celestia’s sun.