She Shells Sheshells

The beach was lovely and relaxing today. The tide was slowly reaching up the shore, the large expanse of flat wet sand reflecting the sun in an ethereal glow. Sea birds chattered overhead and the gentle distant roar of the ocean filled the ears of the boucles trotting down the strand. Rubeus led the way, the black and rouge stallion, followed by two voile-finned mares. The first of the mares was black as night, with red fabric billowing in her wake. The second was a pink, cream and baby blue mare with matching voile tails. Their names were Leia and Nikki, and an afternoon down at the beach had sounded like an excellent idea when Rubeus suggested it, so they’d come along for a bit of sun, sea and sand. The boucle’s gemstone hooves cut into the wet sand, and their trail painted a picture all the way from the dunes to the surf.

Nikki fanned out her fabric fins, and nickered happily. “Let’s go down to the rockpools, see what we can find there,” she suggested, trotting on past Rubeus without waiting for a response. The stallion had no objections, of course, and followed the lion-maned mare’s retreating rump. Leia sped into a trot, and splashed along in parallel in the edge of the water, kicking up a spray that put little diamond water droplets over her legs and belly, and darkened her fins where it soaked in. She was watching her feet so she didn’t see the oncoming boucles until they were thundering past her.

A steely grey stallion was thundering through the surf, algae and mussels encrusted under his body as if he had been stood in the sea for decades. With his tail picked up aggressively, head lowered and ears pinned back, he raced by chasing after a second boucle. This one was a deep blue, and he looked rather concerned about the angry stallion on his tail. Also concerned was the purple octopus clinging to the blue stallion’s horn, some tentacles flailing out behind him while his body occasionally fell over the boucle’s eyes.

“Can’t we talk about this!? Like rational unicorns?” The blue boucle called over his shoulder, shrieking and flapping his tail  when he saw the grey was gaining on him with barnacled teeth aimed as his rump.

“Rargh!” Replied the angry stallion, and the two of them galloped on past the startled beach-goers.

Sighing, a mare with a watery mane and glistening rock pools all over her flanks came stepping out of the sea. “Dad! Daaaad! Leave Polpo alone he was just being friendly!” She called after the swiftly disappearing pair to no avail. She shook her head, and turned her golden glowing eyes on the strangers. “Hmm, don’t mind them. Dad doesn’t like Polpo much...”

Nikki’s fins were fluffed up in surprise from the sudden appearance of the nautical boucles, and she was watching after the disappearing pair of stallions with wide eyes. Rubeus was blinking in disbelief at the filly before him, having never seen a boucle with hair made of water before. Leia however was watching the surf behind the rockpool filly, as two more boucles were stepping up out of the water as if they belonged there. One was a buckskin stallion with a glowing horn that matched the first filly, and the second was a deep green mare with tentacles slowly undulating between her seraph mane and tail bones.

“Well, that’s not something you see every day,” she muttered, squinting at the odd group. Boucles didn’t typically live in the sea, but looking at this lot, it made sense. Most of them were encrusted with living sea creatures and looked more at home in the surf than on the sand.

The buckskin stallion snorted. “I bet you two pearls that Polpo won’t make it to the dunes.”

The filly beside him snorted, “I’ll take that bet, brother, Polpo has more talents than you and father give him credit for.”

The stallion rolled his eyes. “You would say that, Sandy, you fancy him. Gods know why, he’s a ridiculous creature.”

“Lucern! I do not! He’s just a friend...” She protested, though the starfish clinging to her shoulder gave a bashful wiggle.

“Do too,” the green mare chimed in, “Can’t blame you though, sister, there is a little something special about him.”

“Ergh,” Lucern huffed and pinned his ears. “Mares,” he shot a glance to the black and rouge stallion, “Am I right?”

“Uh,” Rubeus floundered at being addressed directly by the sea boucle. “Right.”

“Oi,” Leia nipped the chimera’s rump, and the buckskin laughed.

“Kraken, would you mind?” Sandy flicked her eyes at her brother, and the grey-green mare sidled up to him, reached out a tentacle and stuck it right in his ear.

“Argh!” He tossed his head and squealed, kicking out in the surf while the two mares snickered.

“That’ll teach you. Oh hey and look, you owe me two pearls. Polpo made it over the dunes,” Sandy added smugly, gesturing to the grumpy grey visage of her father coming back down the beach.

While Lucern was shaking his head, trying to dispel the feeling of wiggly tentacles in his ears, Kraken and Sandy stepped out of the surf and eyed up the band of visitors. “Welcome to the Shellsands, home of Davey Jones and Co,” said Sandy, with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Kraken giggled, “That’s Sandy, I’m Kraken, he’s Lucern, and that,” she gestured at the older grey stallion that was picking up speed down the beach, “Is Davey.” She winked at Rubeus, “I’d get a head start if I were you. Let’s just say he’s not a fan of little boys talking to his beloved daughter.”

“I’m not little, I’m twenty five!” Rubeus protested petulantly.

Lucern had finished itching his ear in time to splutter a laugh. “Come back in a hundred years and try that again, dad’s been around a while longer than you, mate,” he glanced over at the rapidly approaching stallion. “Oops, better get a move on.”

Rubeus looked nervously at the angry looking stallion, the thunder of his hooves on the soft ground making his heart pick up pace to match. Bravely he managed to stand it for another few seconds until his resolve broke and he wheeled on his haunched and set off at the dead gallop back up the strand.

Sandy and Kraken nudged the two voile-finned mares out of the way as the barnacle-encrusted stallion came racing by, the spectators watching as Rubeus’ patchy rump became increasingly distant with the foaming Davey in hot pursuit.

“... Bet you two pearls he doesn’t make it to the dunes,” Said Leia with a grin.

Sandy snorted, “I’ll take that bet.”