Mare-On-Sea
"The Elements of Harmony are not the only elements. Consider the alchemical quartet - Earth, Air, Fire, Water. The symbolism is obvious, but with it the imperfection. The Earth Pony race, strong and durable. The Pegasi, of course. And the Unicorns in whom the spark of magic is kindled to a blaze. Robustus, Pegasus, Monoceras. What, then, of Hippocampus?" - Ivory Tower, page 274 of the Neighcronomicon
***
The two ponies clung to the ledge outside the hotel window. The night wind, sharp with chill and the stink of seaweed, whistled past them and over the rooftop below. "You know," said Lyra thoughtfully "If we had hands we could climb down that drain-pipe."
Bon-Bon gritted her teeth and pressed herself against the wall behind her. "If we get out of this, Lyra, you're never picking our holiday destination again."
*** Two Weeks earlier ***
"Canterlot?"
"In Gala Season? It might be a little expensive, Bonnie. Everypony tries to be there for the Season." Bon Bon reached for another brochure from the pile on the breakfast table, as Lyra Heartstrings sipped at her drink and studied the map of Equestria.
"How about the Mango Madness Festival? That looks like fun. And it might not be as crowded as Canterlot." The unicorn looked up at her marefriend hopefully.
Bon Bon sighed. "It would have been fun, but they had to cancel it this year. Parasprite outbreak."
"Oh..." Lyra shuffled through the stack of tourist information, and paused. "How about Mare-on-Sea?"
Bon Bon looked up from a Pony's Guide to Los Pegasus. "Mare-on-Sea? Where's that? I don't think I've heard of it."
Lyra smiled and pushed the little pamphlet across to the earth pony. "It's a new resort down on Mahogany Bay, it looks really nice. And we can stay there the whole week at that price, easy!"
Bon Bon looked up over the pamphlet a little sceptically. "It won't end like that trip to Seaddle, will it, sweetie? I don't want to spend another week clambering around in a redwood forest looking for footprints."
Lyra looked a little hurt. "Anomaly Hunter said that humans had been seen around there, she'd even found hai-"
Bon Bon smiled, and reached across to touch Lyra's hoof with hers. "I'm teasing, sweetheart - the redwoods were very pretty, even if you didn't find any big-footed biped things." She looked back down at the pamphlet. "Mare-on-Sea looks very pretty too."
Lyra beamed. "And lots of things to do! They've got an Aeolian Harp we can see..."
"Sunbathing..."
Lyra leaned across to Bon Bon and nuzzled her lovingly. "Saltwater taffy..."
Bon Bon looked deep into her marefriend's eyes and murmured "Long romantic walks on the beach..."
They giggled. "Mare-on-Sea it is." said Bon Bon. "I'll go book our tickets this morning."
***
The little train puffed up over the last waving line of hills, dragged itself over the crest, and turned to follow the contour along the coast. Below, the countryside glowed under the perfect blue bowl of sky, and beyond that the shimmer of salt marshes stirred by the breeze, the brilliant white of surf, and the vague blue line of horizon. Lyra hung her head out the window, eyes bright. "...It's beautiful... Just like I imagined it."
Bon Bon smiled indulgently, sharing her partner's joy. "Imagined, sweetie? Haven't you seen the sea before?"
Lyra shook her head, seriously "No, Bonnie - I don’t think I have, anyway. Oh! Look! That must be the resort!"
The train was rattling over a trestle bridge, and the ponies could see the distant tips of rooftops peeking over the low wind-pruned trees between them and the coast. Bon Bon frowned, very slightly. Even from here the roofs seemed to sag, to sink into the landscape, to gather the trees and marshy ground around themselves like a disguise. But the train line continued, never deviating from its course, not turning to follow the river down to the buildings.
"Um?" Lyra pulled her head in and consulted her map. "That must have been the River Hinny... I wonder why the train isn't... Hey! Bon Bon, look at this! That town isn't even on the map!"
The earth pony blinked and helped her marefriend spread out the paper. "Huh. That is funny. Maybe it was a big farm? Well, we can’t be far from Mare-on-Sea anyway. Time to break out the sunhats!" They beamed at each other, and stuffed the map and brochures back into their saddlebags.
***
Lyra and Bon Bon stepped down onto the little platform, the unicorn looking around with excitement and the earth pony checking that all their luggage was unloaded. Further down the platform four hefty stallions were unloading crates of fruit and vegetables from the freight car, and onto a cart pulled up alongside. The engineer-pony pulled the whistle-cord to hurry them up, so he could continue down the coast to his next destination. A younger roan stallion in a blue cap smiled at the two mares, hopefully. "Guests for Mare-on-Sea?"
Lyra nodded. The stallion gave them a little salute and clicked his hooves together. "Sweet! Um, I mean..." he sent slightly cross-eyed as he followed a mental script "... ah, welcome to Mare-on-Sea, I’m Tidy Tipper, I'll be your porter today." His face fell when he saw the size of the pile.
***
As Tidy dragged himself up the stairs behind them, Lyra and Bon Bon trotted forward to the front desk, both grinning like loons. The Mare-on-Sea hotel and grounds were as beautiful as they could have hoped, and the scenery even more stunning. Even with the areas left aside for future buildings, the gardens swept back up the slope towards the train station as though they'd grown that way, and the colour of the hotel roofs and walls had been picked out to perfectly complement the rocky cliffs and outcrops that punctuated the shore. On one side, the hotel overlooked a quiet lagoon, and on the other Mahogany Bay proper, with long sweeps of beach and endlessly rolling surf across the shallow turquoise depths.
The pony behind the desk, an older green-and-white mare with a knife, fork and plate cutie mark smiled at their excitement. "Good morning!" she chirped, as the porter leant against the doorway and wheezed. "Welcome to the hotel. We hope you'll have a lovely time here."
Lyra giggled. "Thank you, I'm Lyra, we booked a room for six days?"
"Ah! Of course, Miss Heartstrings - I hope you both enjoyed the trip down. From Ponyville wasn't it?" They nodded. "I'm told it's a lovely town."
Bon Bon smiled at the compliment "Thank you, ah, Miss..."
"Just call me Bibi, dear, everyone does."
"Bibi?" Lyra giggled. "Bibi, this is Bon Bon.”
Bon Bon smiled, and gushed "Your hotel is just amazing! Everything is so lovely!" Lyra had found a sidetable with a collection of shells on it, and was marveling at the colours.
"Thank you, dearie - I'm glad you think so. I've put a lot of work into it. With any luck it'll be the most talked-about seaside resort from here to Portmareon."
Bon Bon smiled and nodded. "We'd better check in so we can enjoy it all then. Come on Lyra, let’s get unpacked - I want see what the restaurant's like!"
***
Their porter wheezed at he collected his tip, and staggered away. Lyra was already unpacking. "What do you want to do after lunch, Bonnie? Sunbathe? Or see the Aeolian harp?"
Bon Bon thought it over. "Well, we were on the train all morning - a walk would stretch our legs. And we'd see more of the grounds. Is it far to this harp thing?"
Lyra shook her head. "It's up on top of the hill." she smiled. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Bon Bon nuzzled the unicorn’s cheek. "It certainly is, sweetie - I'm so glad you picked it." They walked side by side down to through dining room, pausing now and then to coo at the view from one window or another, or admire the carving on the staircase rails.
***
The view from the top of the hill, mixed with the sting of the salt breeze, and the pungency of the low shrubs pruned Lyra by the wind into naturally fantastic shapes, almost stunned the two ponies into silence. Lyra in particular stood silent for over a minute, staring out into the blue opalescence of the sea, as above them the Aeolian harp sung a low and mournful serenade to the ocean beyond. "It's ... It's so..."
Bon Bon stared at her marefriend "Lyra honey? Are you crying?" She reached across to touch the unicorn's shoulder.
Lyra wiped away a tear. "It's okay, Bonnie, really, it's just..." She looked up. “Ooh!"
They both looked up at the harp, and the figure that held it. It was carved from the rock, and was about twice the size of a pony. The forelimbs cradled the metalwork of the harp in a tender embrace, and the eyes were closed in a perfectly carved expression of sorrow, softened by years of erosion. Its mane swirled back in billows and curls, but the hindquarters narrowed into a long spiraling tail instead of hind limbs. Bon Bon tilted her head. "What's it supposed to be?"
"Seapony. It's a Seapony." breathed Lyra, as the harp sobbed and wailed oh-so-softly and the breeze plucked the strings.
Bon Bon looked at her. "Am I going to regret asking?"
"They're ocean ponies. Nearly everypony thinks they're a myth, but Anomaly Hunter says one was sighted in Lake Windimare just last year."
Bon Bon mulled this over. It was marginally more sensible than bald bipedal monkeys, but... "Hang about - Lake Windimare is five years old. How did it get there, fly?"
Lyra wasn't listening - she was rearing up on her hind legs and leaning on the stone as she examined the harp. "These strings are going to need replacing before too long. The salt can't be doing them any good. This is a really nice piece of work though - I wonder who made it?"
Bon Bon walked around to the other side of the carving. "There's an inscription here – Ad Perpetuam Memorium"
"That's Old Equestrian isn't it? 'In memory something'"
"To the perpetual memory' maybe. Lyra, I think this is a grave monument..."
***
They asked Bibi about it at dinner. "No, I don't know who made it. It was here when I picked the site for the hotel. I did have the harp restrung though."
"Is it a monument for something? Did somepony die near here?"
Bibi shrugged. "I couldn't even find that out."
"Did you ask at that farm back up the coast? They’re pretty close by, maybe they know something."
"Farm?" Bibi looked puzzled, and then frowned with evident disgust. "Oh. You mean Hinnysmouth, don't you? I shouldn't have even tried - honestly, it's easier to get a straight answer from a Canterlot bureaucrat then from one of those ponies."
Lyra made a quizzical noise.
"You know I wanted to build the hotel up near the River Hinny first? With the railway coming through, and the town close by, it would have been great for everypony. I could have bought food from the Hinnysmouth farms, hired staff from the ponies there; they'd have their own train station... And you know what they did? They turned it down. They even complained to the railway ponies when the line went through where it did. They said it spoiled the view. You can't even see the line unless you're standing on a roof!"
Bon Bon stared. "That's a bit odd."
Bibi nodded. "That's not all, either. They won't sell me any produce, at least not at any reasonable price. I have to have half the food shipped in on the train, at least until I can get the hotel vegetable garden really going – that ends up cheaper. I don’t mind them trying to charge me more, that’s good business, but you’d think they’d lower the price once I called their bluff. You'd think they wanted my hotel to fail."
Lyra bit her lip. "That's a bit short-sighted of them. Wouldn't it be easier to make a living with the train and the hotel nearby?"
"You'd think so. I don't know what they do for bits over there. And as for their weather pony... Let's just say I'm glad the weather is naturally good here, usually."
"We didn't see Hinnysmouth in the map, either."
"They probably like it that way - I've never met a more insular bunch of ponies."
***
Lyra woke up. For a moment she was confused by the unfamiliar room, and the noise filling it, until she remembered where she was. She lifted her head and tried to figure out what had woken her. Bon Bon stirred against her. "Mmrmph?"
Lyra nuzzled her ear. "It's nothing, Bonnie - go back to sleep." The other mare mumbled, subsided, and snuggled back against her mate. Lyra gave her a little hug, and went back to listening. The windows were open, and the breeze had picked up. There was something else, beyond the susurration of the surf ... oh, of course. The wind harp was responding to the increased breeze. She could hear it humming and moaning from on top of the hill, a melancholy but somehow soothing noise. She lay awake listening for a long time, then closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
She dreamed of the sea.
***
"Really, Lyra? You heard Bibi - they don't like visitors up there."
"But I really want to find out who made that statue and harp, Bonnie. And we're going home tomorrow."
"Yes, I know, but-"
"And we could take a packed lunch, and have a picnic on the way. We could walk there and back before dinnertime, easy. Pleeeeeease?"
Bon Bon sighed - she never could resist Lyra's expression when she got like this. "Well, okay. I'll see if Bibi can lend us a hamper." Lyra gave a happy little squeal, jumped off the bed, gave her marefriend a peck on the cheek and skipped off to get her biggest sunhat and towel. Bon Bon looked up at the ceiling. "Now why do I think I'm going to regret this?"
***
"You want to visit Hinnysmouth?" The two earth ponies were giving Bon Bon a very strange look.
"Lyra does. Either way, it'll be a nice walk."
The stallion, Surfin' Turf, run a hoof through his sun-bleached mane. He did double duty as Mare-on-Sea's gardener and sail-boarding instructor, and Bon Bon had nearly laughed herself sick at Lyra's - and her own - initial attempts at the sport. "Well, I can pick you some food from the garden easily enough, ma'am..."
"And I can make you up a packed lunch" said Bibi "but..."
"You really want to visit Hinnysmouth? The ponies are weird up there."
Bon Bon started to feel a little uneasy. Maybe she should talk Lyra out of it... But here she was now.
"Hey, Mrs. B, Surfin'. Been hanging two?"
The stallion nodded. "Good waves today, Miss Heartstrings." He paused, and stared at a little badge on the Lyra's enormous hat. "'Ask Me About Humans'?"
Bon Bon winced. "Lyra..." she warned, but it was too late - she'd already launched into her well-practiced Cryptoanthropology spiel. Bon Bon sighed, as a familiar glazed expression came over the hotel staff.
"Actually, forget what I said about Hinnysmouth." said Surfin'. "You'll fit right in."
***
In the end, it really was a very nice walk. There was a wildness to the landscape that made it feel very different to the countryside around Ponyville (the Everfree notwithstanding) and Lyra was practically bouncing with excitement as she ran in and out of the surf, or examined the neat little balls the waves fashioned from sea-grass, or stalked the ghost crabs that glowered at her from their burrows. She was panting with exhaustion by the time the earth pony called a halt. She was barely winded herself, but it was obvious her unicorn partner needed a break. Lyra chilled two bottles of fizzy drink with her magic and sucked gratefully at the contents, as the two of them sat on their beach towels and stared out at the sea. "You really like it here, don't you?" said Bon Bon.
Lyra nodded. "I can't believe I've never seen how awesome the sea is before." She held up a brilliant pink seashell for her marefriend. "Isn't this great?"
"Well, I'm glad you never seen it before."
The unicorn looked at her with confusion and a little hurt "Bonnie?"
"Because if you'd found it before you moved to Ponyville, I might never have met you."
Lyra blushed, and looked down at her hooves. "Bonnie... the sea is awesome, but you know I'd never leave you, right?"
Bon Bon smiled, and kissed her. "I know."
***
They heard the Hinny before they saw it. A different note from the roar of the surf, and a scent on the breeze different to the pungency of the salt marsh behind the dunes. The two ponies climbed up the sand, and onto one of the steep-sided outcrops that broke up the shore into beach and headland. Beyond them lay an inlet, and the river, tumbling through a steep gorge it had carved into the steps of limestone. And crouching in the natural amphitheater, near the bank, where the white water churned before reluctantly joining the sea, was Hinnysmouth. The open land around the town was broken into uneven fields, barely partitioned by crude driftwood fences. Some were abandoned, overgrown with weeds and low wind-carved thickets, and the farmhouses were little better. The nearest had been boarded up, any paint it once had peeled off by years of salt wind.
And the village itself... "Wow. They really do need the bits, didn't they?" said Lyra. Neither mare had ever seen an Equestrian town so run-down. Some of the buildings, crowded close together to allow, Bon Bon guessed, maximum room for the fields, gaped windowless, holes in the shingled roofs open and black. Others had already collapsed from neglect, or had been torn down and the lumber left as firewood. Only a few still stood high enough to protrude above the walls of the cove.
"Lyra..." Bon Bon touched her marefriend's withers. "I really don't like this. These ponies must have had some reason not to work with Bibi or the railway."
The unicorn looked at the other mare. "Maybe they just like their privacy?"
Bon Bon nodded. "So isn't that a good reason to leave them to it? I don't think we're going to get a Pinkie-style Welcome Wagon if we go down there. I'm not sure what kind of welcome we'll get if we go down there."
Lyra turned to her, and turned on her pleading expression “Bon Bon, we’ve already walked all this way – can’t we at least say hello? I promise we’ll turn around and go back to the hotel if they ask us to leave.”
The other mare dithered. “Well... if you promise.” She tried to remember more about the ‘Sunk Cost Fallacy’ that Twilight had once lectured her on, but Lyra was already trotting down the path towards the village, tail swinging. That was always distracting.
Closer in the town wasn’t, perhaps, quite as dismal as it seemed from a distance. Some of the buildings were clearly cared for, or at least maintained. One or two even had little gardens of anemone and dune flowers in front, bordered with cockle shells. But the streets were still almost empty. Lyra and Bon Bon didn’t see anypony until they reached a sunny square near the edge of the river, with benches positioned to catch on the sun. A half-dozen ponies were resting on them, enjoying the warmth.
“Oh no...” breathed Bon Bon.
Every single one was seated with their back vertical, and hindlegs hanging off the edge.