King WaveRacer was surprised. He saw Baby Sea Princess coming down the hall and asked her, “What’s gotten into your sister this morning? I expected that she would still be angry with me, but...” He was obviously bewildered.
Sea Princess smiled dreamily as Sea Shimmer came up beside her. “Isn’t it obvious, Daddy?” Shimmer asked.
“What?” WaveRacer asked again.
“Pearly’s in love!” Princess sighed. “It’s so romantic!”
WaveRacer raised his eyebrows. “Pearly? In love? With who?”
Shimmer shrugged. “Don’t know. Pearly wouldn’t tell us anything about it. But trust us, Daddy, she’s in love with somebody!”
“Hmmm...” WaveRacer mused as his other daughters swam away. “I wonder, who could the lucky MerPony be?...”
Sebastian, meanwhile, was consumed by nervousness and worry. What if the king found out about Pearly’s little adventure? The crab spied on her all morning while he tried to decide how to keep the situation a secret. Pearly had to understand that she belonged down here under the sea, not in the Little Ponies’ river, or, even worse... On land.
She had been unable to find Flounder, so she had settled down in a patch of kelp to wait for him. She was passing the time by picking seaflowers and plucking their petals off one by one while chanting, “He loves me!... He loves me not, hmph... He loves me!” Sebastian decided to try and talk to her, to calmly reason with her. “Pearly-”
Before he even said another word, Pearly’s eyes lit up with an idea. “I’ve got to see him again! Tonight!” she squealed. “Duck Soup knows where he lives!”
“Pearly!” Sebastian exclaimed, forgetting his plan to be calm and agreeable. “You have to get your head out of the clouds and back into the water where it belongs! You can’t see him ever again!”
Pearly ignored his warning. “Let’s see... I’ll swim up the river to the Paradise Estate... Then Flounder will splash around to get his attention and then I’ll-”
“Down here is where you belong!” Sebastian hollered.
Pearly glared at him in exasperation as Flounder swam up next to her. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded in excitement, and both of them swam off in the direction of her secret grotto. Sebastian sighed and went to follow them, but he was stopped by one of the king’s pages. “Sebastian! I’ve been looking for you! King WaveRacer wants to see you right away! He said it was something about Pearly.”
Sebastian gasped. “He knows!” Reluctantly, he followed the Paige back to the palace.
King WaveRacer was sitting on his throne, waiting. Sebastian tried to compose himself before approaching him. “I mustn’t over-react,” he muttered. “I must remain calm.” As best he could, he silenced his knocking knees and approached the king.
“Sebastian,” WaveRacer began, thoughtfully studying his trident, “have you noticed anything strange about Pearly lately? Hasn’t she been acting a bit peculiar?”
“Oh, um...” Sebastian stammered, “Peculiar?” He shrugged his shoulders and held his claws up to show that he didn’t know what the king was talking about.
“You... Haven’t noticed?” WaveRacer pursued the topic.
“Well, I, uh...” Sebastian began.
“Sebastian.” The king’s tone was almost mocking. “I know you’ve been keeping something from me.”
Sebastian gulped. “Keeping something?” He smiled his widest, most innocent smile.
“About Pearly?”
“Pearly?”
“In love?” The king pressed.
Sebastian’s entire form had begun to tremble uncontrollably. For a second, he bit his lip as he tried to decide what to say; then the entire story began to pour out in a jumbled confession. “I tried to stop her, Sir!” he moaned. “She wouldn’t listen! I told her to stay away from the Little Ponies, they are bad, they are trouble!-”
“Little Ponies?” WaveRacer roared, his eyes flashing. “What about Little Ponies?”
Sebastian immediately realized his mistake. In an attempt to cover it up, he laughed and said, “Little Ponies? Who said anything about Little Ponies?” while scuttling as quickly as he could toward the hallway. He wasn’t fast enough, however, and he soon found himself pinned to the floor by WaveRacer’s fish-tail. The king was eager to hear the entire story.
“Flounder, why can’t you just tell me what this is all about?” giggled Pearly as she pushed back the rock with her hooves and exposed the entrance to the grotto.
“Because it’s a surprise!” Flounder laughed.
Pearly shook her head and they both swam into the grotto. When Pearly saw what Flounder had wanted so badly to show her, she gasped. “Oh, Flounder!... Flounder, you’re the best!” She hugged her friend and then swam over to the picture frame that the Sea Pony had proudly displayed in the center of the cave. It was Clever Clover’s birthday present to Lucky, the picture of the two of them that had been kicked into the river. Sometime during its underwater trip, the glass of the picture frame had been cracked, and the white lines and splinters had spiderwebbed over Clev’s face, obliterating his image. Fortunately, the cracks had not spread to the far side of the photo, and Lucky’s picture was still quite visible.
Grinning, Pearly picked up the frame and gazed at the photo. “Why, Lucky!” she murmured, as if she were addressing the pony and not his image, “Run away with you? Wow, this is all so... So sudden!” Placing the picture back on the rock ledge where it had been displayed, she giggled and did a double somersault out of pure happiness.
That joy was cut short when she glimpsed an imposing figure watching her, concealed in the shadows near the entrance of the grotto. She recognized the form even before it came out into the light. “Daddy!” she gulped. Next to her, Flounder yelped and quickly hid.
Trident in hand, WaveRacer glared at her. “I consider myself a reasonable MerPony,” he muttered, making an obvious effort to keep his voice steady in spite of his rage. “I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed!” Back in the shadows, Sebastian cringed as he listened to the king’s tone.
“But Daddy, I-” Pearly began, picking up the picture again.
“And now I find out not only about this wretched collection of yours, but also that you saved a Little Pony from drowning?”
Pearly clasped the picture tighter. “Daddy, I had to.”
“Contact between the MerPonies and the Little Ponies is strictly forbidden! Pearly, you know that! Everyone knows that!”
“He would have died!”
WaveRacer threw his fins in the air. “One less pony to worry about!”
Pearly’s face darkened. “You don’t even know him!”
“Know him?” The king had given up trying to control his temper, and his voice had risen to a howl. “I don’t have to know him! They’re all the same! Untrustworthy, callous, land-dwellers, incapable of any feeling-”
Clenching the photo of Lucky as tightly as she could, Pearly cried, “Daddy, I love him!”
WaveRacer was taken aback with total shock. “No,” he murmured. When he regained a little of his composure, he growled, “Have you lost your senses completely? He’s a Little Pony! You’re a MerPony!”
“I don’t care,” Pearly muttered, staring at the ground.
The king was beyond any rational reasoning. This was disobedience he would not tolerate, even from his beloved daughter. “So help me, Pearly, I am going to get through to you! And if this is the only way...” -- his trident began to glow menacingly -- “So be it.”
Pearly saw what her father meant to do, and she exclaimed, “No, Daddy, don’t!” in panic and dismay. But her plea fell on deaf ears, and WaveRacer proceeded to use the magic of his trident to destroy every pony treasure she had managed to accumulate in the grotto. One by one, old saddles, bridles, trophy-cups, brushes -- even Clever Clover’s hat and sunglasses -- were obliterated, reduced to tiny fragments of their former shapes. In utter despair, Pearly swam to her father to get him to stop. She accidentally dropped the picture frame in her haste, and WaveRacer’s eyes focused upon it. Pearly realized her mistake and protested, “Please, no!” But the trident had already been turned upon the picture, and all that was left of her beloved portrait were a thousand little shards of wood and glass, and snowy pieces of paper that slowly settled to the floor of the grotto. Pearly wailed and threw herself onto the rock where she usually sat to admire her collection. Sobs shook her small shoulders and her cries filled the grotto with sadness. WaveRacer, his anger gone, now instantly regretted what he had done. Shaking his head, he left his daughter alone and went back in the direction of the palace.
Only now did Sebastian venture out of the shadows, wringing his claws in guilt. Timidly, he approached the distraught MerPony, while Flounder crept out of hiding and swam toward his friend. “Pearly, I-” the crab choked out.
“Just go away,” Pearly interrupted him in between sobs.
Sebastian’s face fell, and he and Flounder left the grotto so that Pearly could be alone with her grief.
For a long time, the little MerPony’s crying continued. Then her sobs began to lessen and she was able to breathe more deeply; still, she kept her face buried in her hooves. She couldn’t believe her father could act so rashly and destroy all that was so important to her, and she was devastated that Sebastian, whom she had considered to be a friend, had betrayed her.
“Poor child.” The serpent-like voice came from high above her.
“Poor, sweet child.” It was joined by another, equally smooth voice.
Still blinking away tears, Pearly looked up to see two gray-blue Sea Ponies circling over her. They weren’t nice-looking like Flounder; rather, their fins were ragged, their manes were tangled, and their faces were set in disconcerting leers. And their eyes were strange -- on each sea pony, one eye was normal while one was a bright, glowing yellow.
The two Sea Ponies came lower and lower, until they were level to her, and the first one spoke again. “She has a very serious problem.”
The second one nodded. “If only there were something we could do...”
“But there is something!” The first one exclaimed.
Apprehensively, Pearly gazed at the mysterious intruders in her grotto. “Who... Who are you?”
The first Sea Pony began to speak again, while the second spiraled around her, making her quite nervous. “We represent someone who can help you,” it explained in its menacing purr. “Someone who can make all your dreams come true.”
“Just imagine,” the second one added, moving back beside its friend, “you and your Little Pony... Together forever.”
The offer sounded wonderful, but Pearly shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Ursula,” the first Sea Pony hissed, “has great powers.”
“The Sea Witch?” Pearly’s voice constricted with fright, then exploded with anger. “Why that’s... I couldn’t possibly! No! Get out of here! Leave me alone!” Emotionally, she buried her face in her hooves once more.
The second Sea Pony shrugged. “Suit yourself,” it sighed. “It was only a suggestion.” The two swam toward the entrance to the grotto, but before they left, the first made sure to flick a certain scrap of paper toward the devastated MerPony. The paper flittered through the water and landed on Pearly’s tail; she looked down at it, then lifted it close to her face. The tiny scrap was the part of the photograph that had been Lucky’s face; she could still see his kind expression, his beautiful violet eyes...
“Wait!” she cried, with reservation, to the two sea ponies.
“Yessss?” they both answered at once, turning back to her eagerly.
Outside the grotto, Sebastian shook his head. “Flounder, I didn’t mean to tell! It was an accident!” The little yellow sea pony nodded his head in understanding. Sebastian was just about to speak again when three shadows passed over him in quick succession. He looked up to see two ugly, grayish Sea Ponies leading Pearly out of the grotto and into the deeper seas. He didn’t like the looks of the Sea Ponies at all, and with much effort, he managed to swim up to the princess. “Pearly, what are you doing here with this riffraff?”
Pearly barely even glanced in his direction. “I’m going to see Ursula.”
Her explanation caused Sebastian to gasp. “The Sea Witch?” he coughed. “But she is evil! She-”
“Why don’t you go tell my father?” Pearly snapped back, her eyes narrowing in anger. “You’re good at that!” Then she and the gray Sea Ponies sped away, leaving the confused crab in their wake.
Flounder came up beside Sebastian. “Come on!” Sebastian cried, grabbing on to his mane, and the two followed the MerPony. If she was going to invite trouble and disaster by visiting the Sea Witch, she would probably be needing her friends for help soon.
Ursula’s Sea Ponies led Pearly directly to her undersea lair. Her cave was a gruesome sight -- the entrance to it was the fossilized skull of some long-extinct breed of giant Sea Pony, and underwater vents surrounded it, filling the water with streams of bubbles and phosphorescent inks. Pearly carefully avoided the vents and followed the Sea Ponies through the skull into the cave itself. She caught sight of the plastic pony toys, some of which looked vaguely familiar -- hadn’t she known a MerPony who’d looked just like that one? -- and the possibilities that popped into her mind made her shiver. Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe she should just leave...
“Come in, Princess, come in!” came a serpentine voice from deep within the cavern. “One shouldn’t lurk in doorways. It’s rude. One might question your upbringing.” The voice chuckled, and Pearly forced herself to pass the staring toys and see where it was coming from. She had never before caught a glimpse of the Sea Witch, and when she now did, it was a bit of a shock. It wasn’t every day that she noticed a creature that was half pony, like herself, and half octopus. Ursula was waiting for her, her long black mane drifting in the currents, her red eyes glittering. Pearly gulped.
Ursula could easily see the princess’s nervousness, and she was pleased. An uncertain MerPony was usually quite easily tricked into entering a bargain. “Now,” the Sea Witch said, “you’re here because you’re in love with a Little Pony. This “Lucky” fellow, right?” She laughed again. “Not that I blame you. He is quite a catch, isn’t he?”
Even in the midst of her uneasiness, Pearly smiled slightly at the mention of Lucky. She nodded.
Even better, thought Ursula. She’s obviously fins over hooves in love with that pony. This should be like taking seaweed from a baby. “Well, Angelfish, as far as I see it, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want... Is to become a Little Pony yourself.” She let the last words flow quite slowly, and was tickled to see the MerPony’s entire face register surprise and hope.
“Can you do that?” Pearly whispered.
“Of course, Dear!” Ursula exclaimed. “It’s what I do! What I live for!”
Now it so happens that I know a bit of sorcery,
Which could benefit a princess in her quest
To win a pony’s heart --
My spell could be the start
So that “happily ever after” you are blessed!
Poor, unfortunate soul!
You’re not the first!
Everyday I see MerPonies
Who come crying to my cave
And I help them, from the best ones to the worst!
Those poor unfortunate souls!
They’re all the same!
So unhappy, discontent,
They complain and they lament,
And I always do my best to heal their pain.
Now of course I must still live,
So I ask these souls to give
Something as a special payment for my spell.
Yes, it’s true, there is a price,
And certain goals which will suffice,
But pay and try your best and you’ll do well!
From behind a small rock, Sebastian and Flounder had been listening to the Sea Witch’s pitch. They had arrived soon after Pearly, and Sebastian had heard all he wanted to hear. “Pearly, no!” he cried, jumping on top of the rock. Instantly, Flotsam was holding his mouth shut, while Jetsam was tackling Flounder, just in case he decided to speak up as well.
Pearly glanced at her friends, but her attention was recaptured by Ursula with the question “So, have we got a deal?”
“If I become a Little Pony,” Pearly mused, “I’ll never see my father and sisters again.”
“That’s right!” agreed the Sea Witch, as if she thought this was a serious problem. “But... You’ll have your Lucky. Life’s full of tough choices, isn’t it?”
Pearly only shrugged. Her indecision was still strong, but Ursula was presenting a good case, and this was not an opportunity to be taken lightly or wasted.
“Oh!” Ursula exclaimed suddenly, floating over to the MerPony. “I almost forgot! We haven’t discussed the subject of payment!”
Pearly’s face fell. “But I don’t have anything-”
Ursula interrupted. “I’m not asking much. Just a trifle, a token! You’ll never even miss it! All I want is... Your voice.”
“My voice?” Pearly gulped.
“That’s right. No more talking, singing, anything like that.”
Pearly frowned. “But then, how do I-”
“You use your other qualities! Your looks, your pretty face!”
You’d be a quiet, shy, intriguing creature,
And Lucky would soon fall head over hooves!
Don’t throw away this chance --
You could walk and trot and dance! --
Princess, make your choice, for it’s your move!
So now, you poor unfortunate soul,
Shall I cast the spell?
Will you go now to your Lucky, make him fall in love with you,
Or will you simply turn your back and say “oh, well...”
You poor unfortunate soul,
Remember this!
You’ll never have another chance
At a happy life on land,
You’ll never have another chance
To walk upon the sand!
So come now, sign this contract!
Build the flame that has been fanned,
You poor unfortunate soul!
“Sing!” she instructed Pearly.
Pearly began to sing a wordless melody as the mass floated closer to her. It entered her throat, then pulled back out with a tiny, golden, sparkling orb. Pearly realized her singing was no longer coming from her, but from the orb, and she clamped her mouth shut in shock. Ursula caught the orb in a little, leathery sack, then waved several tentacles over the cauldron. A large bubble began to grow from its simmering depths. The bubble drifted to Pearly and caught her inside of it, and suddenly she felt an odd sensation as her tail split into two legs. But there was no time to marvel at the transformation, for the bubble burst and she realized she could no longer breathe underwater, nor could she swim.
Flounder and Sebastian saw her struggles and immediately began to propel her upwards away from the Sea Witch, who was still cackling away and cradling the pouch. Just when Pearly was sure her lungs were about to burst, her head splashed above the surface and she was able to take in a deep, gasping breath. Then, slowly, her friends helped her paddle in the direction of the river.
Lucky sighed and kicked a small stone into the river. He had been trotting along the bank for hours, trying to remember more of what had happened after he had fallen into the churning water. It was all so cloudy, so incomplete. He’d been standing on the rock, then suddenly he was on land again, and someone was singing... The plop of the stone tumbling under the waves distracted Brandy from her game of chasing butterflies. She ran up to Lucky and whined.
“That voice,” Lucky muttered. “I don’t understand it, Brandy. I can’t get that voice out of my head. I’ve looked everywhere... Who was singing, and where is she now?”
He couldn’t realize that “she” was lying on the bank a short distance from him, hidden from his sight by the curve of the river. Sebastian was nearby on the sand, and Flounder bobbed up and down in the water, as close to the shore as he could get. Pearly coughed once, then sat up and shook her head to remove her mane from her eyes. For a moment, the recent events were a confusing jumble in her mind; her head soon cleared, though, and she looked down with wonder at her legs -- all four of them -- and at her beautiful long, silky tail, the same pink hue as her mane. Also, her whale symbol had relocated itself to her rump like a normal Little Pony symbol.
Duck Soup, ever the curious and gregarious fellow, soon came waddling up. “Well, who do we have here? Look at what the catfish dragged in!” he quacked, studying Pearly. “Look at you! There’s something different! No, wait, don’t tell me...” He scratched his head with one wing.
“She’s got four legs, you idiot!” Sebastian cried. “She traded her voice to the Sea Witch and got turned into a Little Pony!”
Duck Soup took another look at Pearly and grinned. “Oh, I knew that!”
From the river, Flounder explained the situation to the duck. “She’s gotta make Lucky fall in love with her, and he’s gotta... He’s gotta nuzzle her. And she only has three days!”
Pearly, meanwhile, was busy trying to stand on all fours. It was a different perspective than she was used to, and the stance made her a bit dizzy. Every time she thought she had managed to find her balance, she ended up tumbling back onto the bank. Determined to make her new form work, she tried again and again. Soon she was standing relatively confidently, and even taking small steps.
Sebastian groaned. “Look at her!” he wailed. “On legs -- on Little Pony legs! What will her father say? I’ll tell you what her father will say... He’ll say he’s gonna kill himself a crab, that’s what he’ll say!” He held his head in his claws. “My nerves are shot... This is a catastrophe! I’m going to march straight home right now and tell WaveRacer everything-” He was instantly blocked by Pearly, who put herself between him and the river. She was shaking her head desperately at him, but he was not about to be manipulated by her. “Don’t you shake your head at me, young lady! Look, maybe there’s still time. If we can get that witch to give you back your voice, you can go home with all the normal MerPonies and just be...” His voice trailed off when he saw her devastated expression, the sadness in her eyes. “Just be... Totally miserable for the rest of your life.” He sighed and threw his claws in the air. “All right, all right! I’ll try to help you find Lucky.” She grinned at him in thanks, then returned to her walking practice, leaving him to lament, “Boy, what a soft-shell I’m turning out to be.”
Pearly was interrupted in her practice by an excited barking that got louder and louder. Alarmed, she stared at the spot where the river switched direction. After a moment, Brandy appeared around the bend, barreling toward her, yapping in delight. Flounder dove under the water, Duck Soup waddled back several feet, and Sebastian quickly hid himself in Pearly’s thick mane. There was nowhere for the former MerPony herself to escape to, except a small boulder which sat half-submerged in the sand near the water’s edge. She climbed the rock as best she could, then giggled when Brandy followed her. The puppy happily licked her cheek, then jumped back down to the bank at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Brandy? What’s wrong, girl? Where did you-” Lucky rounded the bank in pursuit of the fleeing pup and caught sight of a bewildered baby pony sitting on a rock beside the river. Brandy was dancing around the boulder, still yapping. “Oh... Oh, I see,” Lucky said softly. “Excuse me, Miss...”
As he approached the boulder, Pearly made sure to flash her most endearing smile. Actually, she couldn’t help but grin; seeing him again made her so happy.
There was something familiar about the little pink pony, Lucky realized. “I feel like I recognize you from somewhere,” he said when he reached her. “Do I know you?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
His eyes lit up. “Then it is you!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! What’s your name?”
Pearly opened her mouth to tell him, but no sound came out. She remembered her deal with the Sea Witch and frowned.
“What’s the matter?” Lucky asked worriedly.
She gestured with one hoof toward her throat.
“You can’t speak?”
She shook her head sadly.
“Oh.” The disappointment in his voice was obvious. “Then you couldn’t be who I thought.”
Pearly sighed. How else could she communicate? Suddenly, an idea presented itself to her and she immediately began to gesture toward Lucky with one front hoof, barely keeping her precarious balance.
“What is it?” he asked, slightly panicked at her sudden movements. He watched her point to her throat, then to the sky. “You’re hurt?” She shook her head, then pointed to her back legs, and then to the river. He was lost. “You... You need help?” She shook her head again, and her frustration caused her other front hoof to slip. She tumbled off the rock. Thinking quickly, Lucky managed to break her fall and to help her find her balance again. “Whoa, be careful.” She was still a little unsure about her equilibrium, and when she tried to take a step she almost stumbled again. “You must have really been through something,” he said as he quickly moved beside her to give her something to lean on. His eyes were both confused and concerned. “Don’t worry... Come with me; I’ll help you.” As he carefully began to lead her away from the river and toward Paradise Estate, Pearly managed to turn her head and grin back at Duck Soup and Flounder, who had both been watching her first interaction with Lucky. So far, so good...
Pearly stared in wonder at the front gates of Paradise Estate as Lucky pushed them open. He ushered her into the Estate itself, and when he saw a pink pegasus trotting by he said, “There’s NorthStar. She’s really nice; she’s one of the friendliest ponies I know. If it’s all right, I’m going to ask her to help you.” Pearly nodded, and Lucky called out to the pegasus. “NorthStar!”
NorthStar turned at the sound of her name, and smiled when she saw who had been calling. “Hey, Lucky!” she greeted him. “And who’s this with you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before.”
“This is, well...” Lucky began. “Actually, I don’t know who she is, but she needs help. I found her down by the river, and she looked like she had been in the water for awhile. I guess she’s from another part of Ponyland.” He leaned in closer to NorthStar. “I would have just asked her where she’s from, but she can’t speak.”
“Can’t speak?” NorthStar asked, looking at Pearly. “Why can’t you speak, dear?”
Pearly could only smile apologetically.
NorthStar thought about her question and laughed. “Now, how are you supposed to say why you can’t speak if you can’t speak? Silly me!” She turned back to Lucky. “Well, aside from the verbal issue, she seems fine to me. I think I will help her get cleaned up a little, though.”
“That would be great, NorthStar,” Lucky replied. “Listen, I’ve got to run to the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe. Clev’s meeting me there, and I’m already ten minutes late. You know how Clev is about waiting. When she’s ready, maybe you could bring her there and I’ll treat her to an ice-cream soda.”
“I’m sure she’d love that, Lucky. We’ll see you there in a bit.”
Lucky nodded. “Bye, NorthStar, and thanks!” He looked at Pearly. “Bye! See you in a while!” Then he galloped away.
“Come on now, dear,” NorthStar said, leading Pearly toward one of the many bathrooms in the Estate. “You must be a little waterlogged. Let’s get you all fixed up.”
A half-hour later, Pearly was admiring herself in the full-length mirror in NorthStar’s room. NorthStar had washed and styled her mane, and it fell in loose curls down her neck. A dark peach ribbon adorned her shiny tail. Pearly turned and grinned at her new pegasus friend.
“You look lovely, dear,” NorthStar assured her. “Now, let’s head on over to the Sweet Shoppe.”
Sebastian had jumped free of Pearly’s mane when they had gotten to the Estate. Now, he hid behind a dresser and nervously watched the princess follow NorthStar out of the room. It had been hard enough watching her in the ocean; how was he supposed to keep an eye on her on land?
“Look, Lucky, you can’t spend your entire life searching for a pony who doesn’t exist! Nice little ponies don’t just swim about in the ocean waiting to rescue unfortunates like you, and then flitter off into oblivion.” Clev paused to take a sip of his milkshake and to adjust the brim of his new cap, which he had purchased to replace the one lost off the side of Salty’s ship.
Across the table, Lucky sighed. “Clev, she was real! I wasn’t seeing things! I’m going to find that girl... And I’m going to ask her to the Spring Celebration Dance.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the jangling of the bells over the front door. “Looks like NorthStar just came in,” Clev observed. “With a baby pony I don’t recognize.”
When she saw Lucky again, Pearly suddenly felt a little reserved. She looked at NorthStar. “Go on, dear,” the pegasus gently encouraged her. “Don’t be shy.”
Lucky stood up as Pearly approached him. “Hello,” he said, his voice slightly hushed with surprise. “You... You look wonderful.”
Pearly smiled, her eyes shining.
Clev watched this little exchange with growing interest. He could see that his friend had lost all recollection of manners, so he rose and guided Pearly toward a third chair at their table. “Come, come my dear. Have a seat. You must be the lost pony Lucky was telling me about.”
Lucky blinked and came back to reality. “Thanks for bringing her over, NorthStar.”
The pegasus laughed. “Anytime, Lucky. Now, I’ve got to get going, but you three have fun!” She waved at Pearly, then left.
Lucky went to the counter and ordered an ice-cream soda from Scoops. When it was ready he brought it back to the table, placed it in front of Pearly, and sat down beside her.
Clev spoke up. “Well, Lucky, it isn’t very often that we have such a lovely guest for ice-cream is it?” All the while, he couldn’t help but feel that the little pink pony was staring intently at him. Suddenly, she reached over and snatched his hat right off of his head. “Hey!” he cried. “Be careful! It’s brand new!”
Pearly admired the goopimacallit, turning it over and over in her hooves. She didn’t understand why this Clev fellow had been wearing a food container on his head. Perhaps he was trying to be funny? But now it was time to impress both him and Lucky with her Little Pony knowledge. Proudly, she picked up her ice-cream soda and dumped it into the goopimacallit.
Clev hollered, seized the hat, and plopped it back onto his head before he could think about what he was doing. Globs of ice cream and rivers of gooey soda ran down his face and neck and tangled his mane. Lucky burst out laughing at the sight, and even a harsh glare from his friend couldn’t make him fully stifle his chuckles.
Pearly didn’t understand what had gone wrong. She had done just what Duck Soup had said, yet Clev seemed so angry with her. Then Scoops, who had been observing the scenario from behind the counter, said, “Why, Lucky, it’s good to see you laughing again! I hadn’t seen you smile all afternoon.” When Pearly heard this, she grinned. Whatever she had done wrong with the goopimacallit, she knew now that she had done at least one thing right -- she had made Lucky smile.
Clev stormed off to clean up. When he returned several minutes later, he had managed to get most of the ice cream out of his mane, but his new cap was a sopping-wet, chocolate-stained mess. He sighed and dropped it into the Sweet Shoppe’s trash can before sitting back down. Fortunately, he didn’t seem too angry anymore. Still, he moved his chair just far back enough that Pearly wouldn’t be able to reach him if she had any more bright ideas.
Lucky had been staring at Pearly for several minutes. He realized Clev had been saying something to him, but he had no idea what it was. “I’m sorry, Clev, what was that?”
“I said you have to stop moping about over that imaginary pony and get out sometime! This new friend of yours is obviously not from around here; perhaps tomorrow you could take her on a tour of Dream Valley.”
Lucky nodded. “Great idea, Clev!” Then he turned to Pearly. “How about it? Would you like to join me on a tour of Dream Valley tomorrow?”
Pearly nodded enthusiastically. There was nothing in the world she would rather do than spend the entire day with Lucky.
That night, NorthStar showed Pearly to one of the guest bedrooms in Paradise Estate. “I’m sure you’ll be very comfortable here,” the pegasus assured her. “If you need anything, let me know, okay?” Then NorthStar left, and Pearly was free to explore the room.
It was a very nice little bedroom, with a soft, comfortable bed against one wall, and a dresser and a mirror against another. There was also a window that faced out onto one of the wide fields that surrounded the Estate. Pearly peered out at the moonlit grass and was surprised to see Lucky and Brandy playing fetch some distance away. She watched them until Lucky happened to glance over and notice her. He smiled. She was surprised to be discovered and smiled back quickly before ducking away from the window. It was then that she heard a faint scratching coming from the other side of the closed bedroom door. When Pearly opened the door to discover the source of the scratching, she found an impatient Sebastian waiting for her.
The crab scuttled indignantly into the room. “Finally, I found you!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, young lady!”
Pearly wasn’t about to let the grumpy crustacean ruin her happy mood. She only shrugged apologetically.
“Now,” Sebastian continued, “we’ve got to make a plan to get that boy to nuzzle you. I overheard him talking in the hall; he’s taking you on a tour of this place tomorrow, right?”
Pearly nodded and climbed into bed.
“Good. When you go on that tour tomorrow, you’ve got to look your best! You have to bat your eyes and smile... If only you could talk! Let’s see... What else can you do to charm him?” The crab looked over at Pearly and realized that she wasn’t listening anymore. She had fallen asleep, snuggled up in a warm bed for the first time in her life. Smiling, he shook his head. “You are hopeless, child. Completely hopeless.”
In the throne room of AquaMarine Palace, King WaveRacer was worriedly swimming back and forth. When a Paige entered the room, he looked up eagerly. “Any sign of them?”
The Paige shook his head regretfully. “No, Your Highness. We’ve found no trace of your daughter... Or Sebastian.”
The king’s face fell. “Well, keep looking,” he ordered. “Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored. Let no one in this kingdom rest until my Pearly is safe at home!”
The Paige bowed his head. “Yes, Sire.” Then he quickly swam away to deliver the new order.
WaveRacer sank down onto his throne and rested his face on one hoof. “Where could she be?” he asked the water around him in desperation. “Oh, where could she be?”