The Sun and Moon Under the Sea

Chapters

Prolouge: Planning for a Vacation
Chapter two: Captured By Pirates
Chapter three: The Sea king
chapter four: Secrets of the Sea King
chapter five: The Kraken
Chapter One: Welcome to Seaequestria

Prolouge: Planning for a Vacation

Celestia awoke, no device or spell required, her mind simply knowing what time it was to raise the sun. The mare sighed stretching her wings and slowly got out of bed, finding herself more groggy than usual, a byproduct of being stone not too long ago.

As she rubbed her temples in an attempt to shake off her exhaustion, a quick glance as her bag filed, bloodshot eyes caused a thought to enter her mind. “I could use a cup of coffee right about now.”

Letting out a yawn, the Princess quietly made her way through the still empty and dark halls. A glance here and there allowed her to observe many of the night shift workers,busy repairing the damage to the palace from the Storm King’s assault. In particular, several ponies were working to seal up an especially large crack in the ceiling. Honestly she was amazed the ceiling hadn’t already collapsed given the size of the crack.

Celestia then turned her attention to one of the architect ponies. Said grey colored stallion was in the midst of looking some blueprints, while ordering the other construction workers to both seal the crack as well as repair some of the broken windows. Once his orders were given, he took a moment to sip the cup of coffee situated near him, before his eyes, covered by a pair of sleek glasses, finally noticed the Princess’s presence. For a moment he looked ready to choke, keeping his mouth shut as he coughed, hoping to avoid spraying coffee all over the floor. Once his throat was clear, the architect quickly ran up to the princess smiling as he stammered, "Go-go-good morning Princess Celestia.”

Princess Celestia gave a sleepy smile and giggled.“Hello as well, Perfect Angle. I see the repairs are going rather smoothly?”

He sighed as he adjusted his glasses. “Smooth but slow I’m afraid. It’ll be a week or two before the palace will be finished and then there’s the damage to the rest of the city. I’m sorry we can stay on schedule, but there has been so much damage and we haven’t even gotten started repairing the towers yet.”

The architect spoke with almost a sense of panic, hesitant with each word he spoke, likely fearing backlash from the Princess. However, said royal was actually feeling rather relieved. Truthfully, she was almost grateful for the delay, as it meant all of her normal duties that took up the bulk of her day had been cut in half. In fact, Celestia blinked with surprise as she realizes in almost a two hundred years she’s kind of on a break. Celestia continued, “Well that’s unfortunate…but it’s an understandable problem. Regardless, there is nothing to worry about Perfect Angle, just keep up the good work.”

Perfect Angle asked, “Uh, Princess Celestia, since we’re rebuilding the palace is there anything you want to add.”

Celestia blushed as she immediately knew what she wanted to ask for, “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, a hot tub upstairs would be nice and a bigger oven in the kitchen also.”

Perfect Angel simply nodded, not wanting to argue with the princess before going over the blueprints and adding Celestia’s details. Celestia continued her way out into the front and gave a long sigh as she looked into the night, seeing that the moons were slowly lowering in the sky, followed slowly by her sister. The Princess of the Night was in a similar state to her sister, exhausted from their stone imprisonment, made worse by her own nocturnal nature. Celestia looked up with a sheepish smile and asked, “Good morning Luna, have a pleasant night?”

Luna sighed, “I...I feel...my tower is still gone…I don’t know I just feel...stressed.” The princes let out another yawn, the dark bags hanging underneath her eyes.

Celestia sighed and nodded as she continued and thought to herself. “I think that we could use a vacation or something…you know while the castle is still being rebuilt.”

Luna seemed to perk up at the idea and chuckled as she looked up. “An intriguing proposal sister, but where would we go?”

Celestia tapped a hoof on her chin and giggled as she asked, “Why don’t we go to the beach?”

Luna blinked a she looked up confused. “The…beach? But we don’t know how to swim.” Then the two princesses burst into laughter and Celestia scoffed, “We’re over a thousand years old and we still never learned how to swim.”

Luna paused and asked, “What about the hippogriffs? I mean they have that pearl that can transform us into sea ponies.”

Celestia blushed, embarrassed she hadn’t considered that as a possible option. “T...that doesn’t sound like a bad idea. I mean we would need to find somepony to control the sun and moon for a few days and just make sure things don’t fall apart here…”

Luna sighed rubbing her forehead then she looked up and ask, “We could ask Twilight. After all, she has shown her capability in managing such a task. Though I do feel wrong in asking such a thing from her, especially given how much she’s already done for us.”

Celestia nodded and replied, “Yes, it seems that she would be the only pony I would trust to watch things over while we’re gone. Though I also agree that it would feel wrong to ask something of her simply so that we may have fun on our own. “

Luna sighed and shook her head. “No it’s a stupid idea, I don’t think we can put all that stress on Twilight. She did enough saving Equestria and our rumps.”

Celestia sighed and gave a sigh nod realizing that Luna was thinking the same thing on how they felt so useless. There was a long pause between the two sisters and Luna looked up and smiled, “It was a good thought, but I don’t think it’s possible. I’m going to go get some sleep.”

As she slowly walked off to the castle mumbling about missing her tower. Celestia tapped a hoof to her chin. “You know maybe…maybe Twilight will agree…”

Later that morning Celestia had Twilight come to Canterlot, and to her surprise she was quite nervous waiting in her room for her former student. Despite being the ruler of the entire kingdom for many years, she felt almost uncomfortable asking her student what she was about to. Regardless, she’d need to burn that bridge as Twilight eventually walked into the room with a big smile on her face. “Celestia!”

She ran into the solar princess as she wrapped her giant wings around the purple alicorn. “Hello Twilight, how are you doing?”

She sighed. “It’s going well, I’ve working to get Fizzlepop adjusted to living in Ponyville at the moment. Though, there are still a few rough patches to work on.”

Celestia nodded, maintaining her usual smile., “I’m glad to hear that Twilight. It’s such a wonderful thing to hear that you're still making friends.”

Twilight giggled, ”Well, I am the Princess of Friendship.” They broke their embrace, and the purple alicorn asked, ”So what’s up, I’m pretty certain you didn’t just want me to come just to talk?”

Celestia sighed as she explained, “You’d be correct. You see, Luna and I, things have been especially taxing on us after the attack by the Storm King and we need a vacation. I was hoping maybe if you could take care of things for a few days.”

Twilight squeaked as she clapped her hooves in excitement. “You mean I get to raise the sun and moon!?”

Celestia chuckled, “Well yes, and you need to make sure that daily life in Equestria goes well, things are still settling down since the events of the Friendship Festival.”

Twilight smirked as she rubbed her hooves together. ”Alright, well looks like Spike is going to have to work overtime...” She paused for a few moments and asked, ”So, uh, where are you and Luna planning to go?”

Celestia smirked, “I thought we could go see Queen Novo and well…become sea ponies and enjoy a few days exploring the ocean. Luna and I rarely left Equestria since we became rulers and I think it would be interesting and relaxing to see Equestria’s oceans from a new perspective.”

Twilight smiled. “That sounds like a great idea. Queen Nova seemed like a real patient and kind ruler…” she quickly sighed as she recalled her past meeting with the Hippogriff queen.”Let’s just hope I didn’t ruin our relations…I’m not a hundred percent sure she trusts us since I…did something…”

Celestia nodded knowingly and replied, ”It’s alright Twilight, I know you tried to steal their Pearl of Transformation to save us. Queen Novo told me everything already.”

Twilight turned her head down in shame, yet relaxed when she felt Celestia’s wing on her shoulder. “Twilight, there’s nothing for you to be ashamed about. It was reckless and a poor judgment on your part, but your intentions were noble. I already wrote to her about the situation and our relationship is still strong.”

The purple alicorn perked up, her smile immediately returning “That’s good to hear, thanks...I won’t fail you again.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Oh Twilight, you’re too hard on yourself. Everypony makes mistakes from time to time, even me. You know that, don’t you”

Twilight nodded as she sighed in relief seeing that Celesta was right, she’d learned from her failure and wasn’t angry at all about how she tried to steal the heirloom.

Celestia continued, “Now, as for your duties, I have them all written down on a scroll and it lays out, in detail, all you’ll need to do. We’re going to be gone for five days, and Luna will be back on the fifth night to raise the moon.

Twilight, having moved past her prior concerns, was tingling all over with anticipation to raise the sun and moon again. ”Don’t worry Princess, no matter what you need I can assure you I’ll handle everything and more!”

Celestia smiled, “Oh, I have full confidence in your ability my dear student. Though I must admit, Luna and I were at an impasse when I spoke earlier, she didn’t think this would work. I’ll go tell her the good news.

Twilight quietly nodded, doing her best to hide her anticipation. “Oh, this is going to be so cool! I’m going to get to raise the sun again and this time Equestria isn’t in crisis for a change!” She let out an excited squee that could be heard throughout the castle, Celestia merely chuckling as she walked down the halls.

It took three days for Luna to finally be convinced that the two rulers needed a vacation, Luna falling asleep while lowering the moon and nearly crashing it into a mountain certainly helped. Thus the two planned their trip out. They would leave that Monday and be back by Saturday. By then the palace would be entirely rebuilt, and the two could continue their duties after a few days of rest.

Twilight herself was looking over the scroll Celestia had left with all her assigned duties while Spike was busy stacking books on diplomacy and politics in Equestria.

Luna, despite originally objecting to the idea, was in the room chuckling at the sight of Celestia pacing back and forth, trying to think of anything she forgot before they headed off. “Sister, is there something troubling you?”

Celestia promptly stopped her pacing and chuckled, trying to shake off any laboring concerns. “Yes, everything's fine, it’s just been awhile since I left Equestria.”

Luna smirked and gave Celestia's mane a pat. “You worry too much, we have Twilight holding down the fort and you know better than any pony her organizational abilities are without question.”

Celestia sighed and nodded, taking a few deep breaths before looking at Twilight, who was busy reading her list of instructions.

Celestia chuckled again seeing how deep in focus Twilight was and did her best to regain her attention. “Now Twilight, I’ve already handled many of the more taxing assignments over the last few days in preparation for this little vacation, so things should be quite easy for you.”

Twilight managed to look up from the list and nodded, “I noticed, I actually read the list over one hundred times and have already created a perfect schedule to make sure everything will goes along fine while you’re gone.”

Luna smirked at her sister’s student.”Is that so? Then Twilight, you do remember at what time to raise the sun and moon, correct?”

Twilight again nodded, almost robotically at the question, eyes zeroing in on a specific part of the schedule. “Of course, the sun is to be raised at approximately six am while the moon is to be raised at precisely eight pm.”

The princess both nodded in approval as Celestia continued. “Now, I told Spike that if things get out of control to send me a direct message and we’ll return immediately.”

“Don’t worry about that Princess Celestia. I promise things we be completely in order while you’re gone and there’ll be no need to stop your vacation.” Twilight spoken with clear confidence in her voice, as sure of herself as usual.

Luna chuckled at the young alicorn’s expression, and gave Twilight a pat on the head. “Alright well, good luck and again if you need anything let us know.”

The two then both strode through the room, before Celestia paused turned.“ Twilight are you certain you can handle things?”

The Princess of Friendship merely offered another confident nod. ,”Princess, with all due respect, I think I’m more than capable of handling this. Just put your concerns at ease and enjoy your trip, you have nothing to worry about.”

With one last look the white-coated alicorn nodded as she left with her sister. Luna turned a playful smirk on her face. “So, you sure we won't come back to find Canterlot ruins?”

Celestia blushed at her sister’s joke, taking another glance back. “I’m sure things will be fine, I’m sure Twilight is up to the task.” They continued their way through the ruined great hall, now filled with the construction workers going about and the sound of power drills and Perfect Angel,irritated and barking orders. The sight actually made Celestia laugh while Luna looked on perplexed.

“What pray tell is so amusing sister?”

“It’s just that, normally the castle always feels so formal, composed and elegant. But right now, you’d swear we’d just walked into Manehattan.”

Luna scoffed, “Uh, do not remind me. Between everything that’s happened and all the noise going on throughout the day, I’ve barely been able to get any sleep and I still need to adjust my own internal clock to try and stay awake during the day.”

Celestia blushed, ”Sorry, I know it’ll be hard for you to adjust."

Luna quietly hushed her sister with a hoof.“It won’t be the first time I’ve had to do such a thing, nor the last. Let us focus on more pressing matters. I hear that Queen Novo has arranged a little welcoming party for us when we arrive and I’d like to arrive sooner rather than later.”

Celestia lost in thought squealed as her wings spread out. “Your right, we're going to be late!” She grabbed Luna by the hoof as they flew out the doors and into the air. Luna sighed thinking to herself.

“She really isn't sure about this either. Hopefully, we can relax without worrying about the fate of Equestria for a few days.”

Chapter two: Captured By Pirates

Celestia awoke some time in the morning, still a little exhausted from her experience with the whirlpool.she looked up and around at everything trying to figure what was going on.

As she attempted to move her body around she quickly felt restraint against her body. Quickly looking around, she found that her body had been tightly strapped to a pole of some kind. Expanding her line of sight, she found that the post in question was connected to the top of some kind of ship. More perplexing and perhaps more frightening though, the ship appeared to be helmed by a collection of skeletons.

Truly there was no more accurate way to describe them, though stranger still is that there was no one consistent body type between the many moving piles of bones. She recognized some as minotaurs, centaurs as well as some gryphons, while others were shapes she’d never seen before. Other than being skeletons the only thing that was consistent about them was they were all garbed in rather filthy looking attire, befitting of stereotypical pirates.

Another glance up above her head and the sight of a black flag with a skull and crossbones all but confirmed what she had expected and fear….she was currently trapped on a pirate ship.

If nothing else, it at least helped explain the rather grim company she found herself in, all peering at her with vicious grins etched into their bones. Their grins however quickly dropped as they slowly spaced themselves out, allowing one particular skeleton, in the form of a griffon, to make its way towards Celestia, staring at her with the two empty, black voids it had for eyes. And despite its lack of well….anything, he still was able to make out what sounded like sinister chuckling.

“My my, and here we thought we’d never catch anything today, lucky us. Sorry missy, but there ain’t no leaving anytime soon.” His claim was met with cheers from the many other skeletons on the ship, all jeering with excitement at the Princess’s capture.

Celestia, managed to maintain her composure, but kept her expression harsh and serious as she spoke with the obvious captain of the ship. “I’m afraid that you don’t quite understand the situation you are in sir. I’m not someone who can be easily caged!”

Closing her eyes, the white pony princess tried to focus her magic into her horn and free herself from her bonds. Yet, despite focusing with all her might, not even a single spark appeared, much to her surprise and horror.

The skeleton pirate could only laugh at her effort, before pointing towards the metal chains wrapped around her body. “Give us some credit, just cause we’re skeleton doesn’t make us boneheads. Those chains there are made from an ancient metal, said to be capable of blocking even the most powerful magic. Long as you’re wrapped up in them, you’re powerless.” Before Celestia could say anything further she also felt the presence of something cold and metallic on her horn.

“Heh, yeah can’t be too careful with you magic users.” The gryphon captain continued to chuckle as lightly tapped his bony claw on something attached to Celestia’s horn. “A special ring, made from the same metal as those chains. Figured better be safe than sorry, especially since we know some of you ponies have an especially high amount of magic.”

Pulling back for a moment, he grabbed Celestia by her snot and pulled her in close, allowing her to see the many grooves and cracks in his bony body. “So, now that we have your undivided attention, I’ll only ask this once, who are yee and what are yee here?”

Celestia only growled, half tempted to spit in the face of her captor….except she was underwater so she settled for a simple response.“I never will!”

The pirate practically roared at the act of defiance, harshly slapping the princess across the cheek with a skeletal wing. “Shut it!”

Celestia again let off a growl, being the only course of action she had, only to now found a saber pointed directly at her throat, the captain looking more angry than before. , “Now then, thee will tell me about your kingdom and where thee comes from or yer blood will stain these nice clean waters, while your skeleton roots down here with the rest of us!” Just to emphasize his point, he pushed the blade’s tip closer to the princess’s throat, enough to sting, almost like being poked with a sharp needle.

In spite of her situation, Celestia’s expression of confidence and fearlessness didn’t waiver. While she didn’t want to die, leaving her sister and her student, simple fact was there was no other choice she could in good conscience make.

“If those are truly my only options, then I will accept death gracefully and without complaint. Better that than forsake my kingdom and its people.”

The entire crew stood in silence at the end of the Princess of the Sun’s speech, the captain scanning her expression for even a sliver of doubt or hesitation. Yet none could be found, she was truly committed to death.

After a few moments of silence, Celestia’s seemingly unbreaking visage pretty much shatter when a large grin broke out on the pirate captain’s face. Yet it wasn’t a sadistic one, rather...almost friendly.

“Ah hahahahaha,now there’s something I never thought I’d see down in this abyss. Such fire in the face of death, and loyalty to others. That be something I can respect.”

He quietly removed his blade from her jugular and sheathed it, while the rest of the crew sent the bound princess looks of admiration and respect. Though their attention quickly shifted to the captain, who had quickly perched himself on the steering wheel of the ship, using it like a makeshift podium.

“My crew! It has been almost thirty years since our ship was sunk and we were cursed to live the rest of our days as dead souls, forced to forever wander the depths of the oceans. But now, after so many years, we’ve finally found our salvation.”

The captain quickly reached into a nearby bag and without missing a second, pulled out a very familiar looking orb. “Ya see this? It’s the legendary Pearl of Transformation! With this, we can transform anything into anything else we want, with no limit to the possibilities. With this pearl’s magic, we’ll finally rid ourselves of this wretched curse, return to the surface world and finally reclaim all that we have lost. Our time in this undersea prison is at an end.”

The crowd of pirates raised their rusty sword shouting with triumph as their leader raised the pearl for all to see. The captain then turned his attention back to the princess, who did her best to hide her frustration at what was transpiring.

“And to make things even better, we’ve got ourselves a audience to see our rise to the land above.”

His grin quickly turned sinister as he advanced. “Of course, we need to be sure this Pearl is the real one and what better way than with a perfectly willing volunteer.” The rest of the crew jeered in excitement while Celestia quickly realized what they planned to do.

“Wait, you can’t….” The captain quickly silenced the princess, placing the pearl directly on her body, causing it to glow with almost blinding light. Celestia could only watch in horror as her body quickly became stiff and slowly turned to wood. The change quickly covered her entire body and her lungs and vocal cords changed before she could even manage a single cry.

The captain laughed at the sight of their prisoner. “Well, seems like it’s the real Pearl alright. And quiet fine woodwork to. Perhaps we’ll use her as the figure head for our ship once we get above water.”

“Uh captain.” One of the crew quickly called out, interrupting the griffon’s speech.

“What is it you pest, can’t you see I’m having a moment right now.”

“I was just wondering captain, did you intend for the ship to transform along with the captive.”

The captain’s eyes registered confusion at the question. “What in blazes are you….talking...about?”

His words slowed to a crawl as he took a closer look at the ship and realized just what his crewmate was asking about.

The once old and rotted ship had been completely changed. It’s dark brown hull, covered in barnacles and seaweed, looked now almost pristine, aided by its new pure white paint job. Similarly, the once tattered and torn sails, we now replaced with similarly new white sails, emblazoned with the symbol of a bright orange sun, the steering wheel matching the new symbol adorning their ship.

The captain and crew could only gawk at their newly transformed ship, confused and unable to process what had happened. Though, eventually one of the crew members finally decided to chime in.

“So, was it supposed to do that?”

“I’m pretty sure only the one using the pearl can decide how it changes.”

“So did the captain want this to happen? I mean I’m not exactly complaining cause the ship was falling apart but….”

“WILL YOU BELLIGERENT BAGS OF BONES SHUT UP!” The captain roared, effectively putting the conversation to an end. Quickly taking a hold of the wheel as the ship rose through the waves and he shouted loudly, “Who cares what the ship looks like, all that matter is the pearl works and we’re on our way above water. For now, we focus on the path ahead...TO THE SURFACE!”

The crew raised their swords and clung to the ship as rose faster and faster, till it finally burst through the top of the ocean, the crew cheering louder than ever at the sight of the night sky before them.

“What’s that sound….The pirates?”

Celestia’s eyes opened, getting a clear view of the crew and now the open sky before her, making it clear the crew had succeeded in breaching the ocean. “Wait, I thought they used the Pearl of Transformation on me. So how am I able to think….and was this ship always white?”Celestia’s thoughts quickly became diverted as she felt an odd sensation, almost as if somepony was running their hoofs or claws through her wings, trying to spread them out.

Another sound caused her attention to drift to the sails, now fully opened with the wind blowing into them and moving the ship forward. “Good work lad! Now let’s keep our new ship clean and ready for land! Just cause we be pirates, doesn’t mean we can’t practice decent hygiene.”

The skeleton crew saluted and quickly went about their various tasks, with Celestia immediately being bombarded with sensations on all sides. It felt as though her entire body was being touched, petted, scrubbed and many number of other odd sensations.

“Just what did that Pirate do to me….Wait a moment.”

Taking another glance at the ship, she quickly noticed the all too familiar mark adorning the sails and the wheel, along with the color scheme of the ship, from it’s white body to it’s mast, now painted a mixture of green and pink. And right then, it all clicked.

“I’ve become the ship itself.”

Any sense of composure she was maintaining all but disintegrated as she went into panic mode, with only one thought present in her mind.

“Sister, where are you?”

Luna found herself confused, slightly frustrated, but above all things, elated. Having found herself inside a large dark cave upon awakening from her earlier experience, the Princess of the Night was quick to try and gather her bearings regarding the area around her. And to her immense surprise/joy, she’d somehow managed to come upon a massive treasure horde.

From what seemed to be a rather large series of small chasms, about the size of a large pool, each fill with vast stores of treasure of every type. Gold coins littered the ground with strange glass orbs thrown throughout the piles, gold and jewels flowing from countless treasure chests like blood from a wound.

“Tis possible I have stumbled upon the den of a dragon. Or perhaps something else….I do hope it’s the later.”

Taking a moment to think about something other than the treasure, another quick scan revealed something more pressing. “Where is my sister?”

As if to answer her, one of the strange glass orbs began to glow with bright blue light, prompting the princess to pick it up, ever curious. To her shock upon contact the scales on her skin quickly began to change into a slippery skin while her body shrank.

In seconds the transformation gracefully stopped, leaving Luna staring at her reflection in the orb. Where once she was a seapony, now there was a dark blue dolphin, complete with slippery skin, blow hole and everything. Even her cutie mark could be seen near the base of her tail.

“Oh, my goodness.” Luna muttered loudly to herself as she looked over her newly transformed body. Taking a quick glance at the orb she’d touched, a thought quickly entered her mind.

“I wonder.”

Hesitant at first, she picked up another orb and squeaked as the magic spilled over, causing her body to become bigger while her teeth grew long and pointed. A quick glance at her reflection revealed she’d transformed again, only this time into a large shark.

Luna’s concern effectively melted away and she started jumping up and down like a happy little filly, clapping her fins with joy.

“How wondrous. It would seem fate has decided to grace me with a new form of fun to enjoy.”

She swam around, admiring the speed at which she could move in her new form, before she came to a stop at the sight of black flag with a skull and crossbones, laid out almost like a blanket on some of the treasure piles.

”This, this is a pirate’s hoard!” He joy quickly turned to shock and surprise at the only revelation

She then heard a strange noise and turned to see a boat rise from the depths that look oddly like her sister.

A few hours upon rising from the seas,the captain was standing before the front of the ship, gazing straight into the horizon of the sea stretched out before him. His cloak flapping under the breeze of the open air, his mind set on course to find where their captive had come from and most importantly, seek plunders once again. After all they might have been skeletons but they were still pirates.

Still, despite all the good fortune he and his crew had been met with, he couldn’t help but growl in anger as he recalled what had put them in such a situation before. Even after all the time that had past in the depths, he’d never forgotten the Storm King or how he’d destroyed their ship and the crew, before casting them to an entirely below the waves.

Yet, most of all, his anger was replaced with regret and sorrow at what he’d lost personally, that he wondered if he’d ever reclaim.”I’m so sorry Celeano. Hopefully you’ve been living a happy and fulfilling life.”

Quickly shaking his thoughts clear, he returned his attention to his crew, still hard at work He swabbing the decks, while his navigator manned the wheel and his look out scanned the seas from the crow’s nest. As he approached, the navigator, gave his captain a quick glance, keeping one eye on the sea in front of him.

“So, what be the plan captain. Head for the closest land or do you have a specific destination in mind?”

The Captain’s expression hardened….or atleast the holes that were his eyes narrowed in a way reminiscent of a glare. “Aye, now that we’re free, first thing we’re gonna do is hunt down that bastard Storm King and pay him back in full for all the pain he caused us all.” His gaze turned to the bow of the ship. “Perhaps we can use his bones as a new figure head, little touch of irony ought to make things even.”

The crow of skeleton’s cheered and jeered at the idea of punishing their tormentor….all except one party on the ship seemed to agree.

“Revenge will do little to amend the pain the Storm King has caused all of you.”

The Captain immediately looked down at the deck of the ship and shouted.He grows snapping. “Shut it boat, I don’t need your input.”

Once Celestia had realized she’d been transformed into the ship itself, she’d made attempts to speak with the crew, who to her surprise could actually hear her. And after they got over the initial shock of having a talking ship, seeing how little control she actually had, made her little more than an annoying voice they most opted to ignore.

“I understand your anger towards the Storm King, truly I do. My home was also attacked by him and my people very nearly conquered and enslaved.

The Captain, intrigued, opted to continue listening turned “Did he now?”

Celestia...tried to nod or atleast they assumed she nodded in response.“Yes, he attacked our country's capital, placed countless citizens in chains and imprisoned it’s rulers.” The Princess made a point to avoid any mention of herself being a monarch, not trusting her captor which such information yet.

The Captain sighed. “I see,is that why you turned yourself into a sea creature, to escape him? Like those other creatures?”

”You know about the hippogriffs?” The captain only laughed.“Of course, did you think after being trapped under the ocean for so long we’d never seen or even heard of them? I know how the Storm King ravaged the south of the badlands and carved it into an enormous empire. Back when I was still flesh and blood scourged the skies, destroying his trade routes and making him pay anyway I could.”

Celestia could only feel sympathy for the pirate captain, yet another life ruined by the Storm King’s tyranny.“Well, you’ll be happy to know that the Storm King is dead. He was killed by his own servant known as Tempest Shadow.”

The pirate looked completely stunned by the revelation, though it was only a momentary pause before his face morphed to one of rage. “Curse that wretch! Destroying that heartless beast was my mission, my duty, and she took it away from me!”

”I don’t understand, surely you can’t still be angry over this. The Storm King is gone, you should be happy about that.”

The captain scoffed.“Hah, I’m not going to reward some pony for defeating my sworn enemy. But in any case, at least he’s gone. However, that leaves one question.”

Celestia eyed him as he smiled suspiciously at the ship. “You said that the land you hail from was Equestria is it not? I heard rumors it was of a land of ponies. But now that you just confirmed my suspicions I guess it’s ripe for the taking!”

The crowd of skeletons raised their swords in agreement and Celestia shifted into complete and utter panic mode.“No you can’t!”

The captain only laughed at the ship’s cries, “Yes we can, and seeing as we’ve heard you ponies are all about kindness and friendship, you’ll make a perfect bargaining chip that’ll allow us to get anything we want. Maybe even a way to reverse the curse upon us!”

Celestia roared, all pretense of composure gone as she tried in some way to manipulate her new ship body, but found no success of any kind despite trying every feasible option. The captain continued to cackle madly along with his crew as they resumed their actions.

Celestia was left alone and now all but crushed, knowing her citizens were in trouble and there was little, if anything she could do to save them.

“Luna, where are you?”

Just as these thoughts entered her mind, a strange, dark blue shark pulled up along her starboard side, waving one of its fins trying to get her attention.. “Sister, it’s me,how did you become a boat?”

Celestia looked down and gasped. “Luna!? Thank Laura Faust you’re alright!”

Luna giggled as she swam backwards through the water and smirked. “Well, I suppose if you consider being shark can count as alright….Which I most certainly do.”

Celestia giggled at her sister’s childlike display, before shifting back to a serious tone. “Luna, we don’t have much time. Do you have someway to change us back to our original forms or atleast into seaponies. We need to stop these pirates before they reach Equestria.”!?”

Luna stopped and nodded. “I found some orbs that can transform ponies. Hopefully one will get you out of this, though I have no control over what you’ll transform into.”

Celestia paused, frightened by the unknown but quickly steeled herself., “It’s worth the risk, just please move quickly!”

Luna made a salute with a fin. “Very well sister. I shall return quickly!”

Luna quickly dove beneath the waves and returned to the treasure horde. Quickly she began digging around, looking at all the random orbs. However, in her haste, she accidently touched one of the orbs and found herself turned into a rather small blue crab. ”Drat, cursed orbs!” Quickly sliding over to another orb, she was again transformed, this time into a slippery eel. “Come on! One of these has to turn me back to a seapony!”

Finding another orb, she silently prayed that if nothing else, the orb would turn her into something useful. A single touch and her body began to transform, this time growing larger and larger in size, actually threatening to fill the entire cavern.

A quick glance at her reflection revealed her new form to by that of a giant octopus, with giant thick tentacles and her cutie mark adorning her now bulbous body.

“’Not exactly the most flattering form I could have assumed, but ll at least I can stop the pirates.” Thanks to her now boneless body, navigating out the caves was rather simple and she quickly made her way out of the ocean’s depths and towards the ship.

Back on the ship, the captain was laughing with his crew as they sailed,singing a sea shanty together in chorus while Celestia groaned, beyond the rather poor singing of the pirates, she also felt something starting to cling her body. “Are those barnacles?”

The captain laughed even harder at her complaint. “Aye, better get used to it! Your hull is going to be covered in them by the time we reach shore.”

Celestia cringed feeling the odd things clinging to her bow and groaned. “Even though I’ve endured much in my life, this is a feeling I would like to have purged from my memory.”

The pirates only continued to laugh at their ship’s continued misery, until the boat started to shake violently, as the sound of the waves below started to become more violent.

“What in the world is that?”

The captain quickly found his answer upon seeing a giant blue coated tentacle filled with pink suction cups burst from the ocean below.

“KRAKEN!”

The rest of the crew quickly rolled into action, rolling out the cannons while the captain took out his sword and aimed it straight at the writhing tentacle and shouted, ”Ready...Set….FIRE!”

The cannon exploded with fire as their projectiles of iron soared towards their target, only to be swatted back into the ocean by another tentacle appearing beside the first. Quickly more followed suit, with one coming around the boat and knocking many of the skeletons into the water.

The navigator at that wheel groaned as he tried to turn. Knowing what may come, Celestia quickly focused her mind as much as she could on the wheel itself.

“STOP!”

To the navigator and Celestia’s surprise, it worked, as the wheel was now firmly locked in place, the navigator unable to move it no matter how much he tried. Thankfully he wasn’t able to for long as another tentacle quickly smacked him and several more crew members into the ocean.

The captain growled angrily at his crew. “You worthless fools, if cannons don’t work, then stab the darn thing!”

Sadly, while the crew seemed to get the message and draw their swords, all eight tentacles had risen out of the water and few members of the crew were still on the ship. It only took a few seconds before the remaining crew found themselves joining their comrades back in the depths below, leaving only the captain behind.

Said captain quickly turned his attention to the ship itself. “What in blazes are you even doing, why are you allowing this thing to attack you. Don’t you care if you sink?”

Celestia only mockingly gasped in response. “What? Let a kraken attack me? Why I’d never allow such a thing to happen.”

The captain seemed to smirk at this revelation, only to immediately change his tune as Celestia spoke again. “Of course, it’s fairly easy not to worry about such a thing when the Kraken happens to be your sister. Isn’t that right Luna?”

The massive head of the octopus quickly surfaced, appearing as tall as the ship’s masts, with two very large dark blue eyes the only thing present on its face. The symbol of the moon easily visible right below the two orbs.

“Indeed it is true sister. And I do believe it’s time this captain and I had a talk regarding your current state.”

The previously brave skeleton captain now found every bone in his body visibly shaking as he took a step back towards the cabin of the ship, as the many tentacles cut off every possible escape route he might have had.

Celestia only laughed at his predicament. “Now then captain, about the matter of my current state.”

Chapter three: The Sea king

The captain looked up at the enormous dark blue kraken with his empty eye sockets full of anger, growling to where if he had flesh he’d be almost frothing.“It doesn’t matter what abomination you turn yourself into, I won’t be swayed by petty, idle threats! Do your worst, there’s nothing you can do to me!”

Luna was quick to respond, angrily raising one of her tentacles to strike, only for the sea to suddenly rock and wave violently, even more so than when she had arose from it’s depths. The waves foamed and roared, as a massive Dark Blue figure rose, towering over both the ship and Luna. His form still dripping with water as some of the rays from the sky revealed his form in full. At first glance one would mistake him for simply a giant seapony, however, his appearance included what appeared to be a large horn and finn like wings, more akin with Alicorn, with a long gold scaled tale around his body. Upon his head was a long, fluffy white mane that swirled around him, almost looking like raging sea foam, a long golden trident within his forefins.

While both Luna and Celestia looked merely in awe of the stranger, the pirates reaction was fair less pleasant, gasping and some cowering at his appearance, some even moaning as one of his eyes glared at them harshly. Every pirate gasped as he held his trident up and shouted with a voice that sounded like raging thunder.

“You pirates! Seems you still haven’t learned your lesson from the last time we met. And here I thought spending a few centuries trapped beneath the waves would finally set you straight.” His trident quickly began to glow bright yellow as storm clouds and lightning appeared above him, the flashes making his glare look even more terrifying. “Guess I’ll need to try and be a little more creative.””

The pirates were all but reduced to quivering wrecks, the sound of their bones jingling like wind chimes echoed across the ship, even the captain, for all his bravado, looked about ready to fall to pieces. Luna and Celestia meanwhile, simply looked up with disbelief and wonder, all but ignoring the possible risk the stranger posed to themselves.

Thankfully the sea king seemed more focused on the pirates, directing his pulsing weapon towards them as he made his proclamation“I gave you a chance to make up for your misdeeds! Again you have yet to prove that my mercy was justified and now my patience has run out.”

With a thunderous cry, a burst of power shot from his trident, enveloping the entire crew with it’s glow. The flash only lasted for a moment before the once firecesome skeleton crew had been now reduced to a collection of small sea creatures, from crabs, to fish, to tiny squids. Some helplessly flopped around the deck, panicking as they made their way to edge of the ship before finally entering the waters below. The crew now dealt with, the sea pony turned to his attention to the captain and the princesses.

“Now then, for you three.”

With another burst, a series of magic tendrils swirled around Celestia and Luna, quickly returning them back to their Seapony bodies.

The captain however, wasn’t so lucky, as his otherwise firecesome body was shifted into that of a yellow and blue striped flounder, which the Sea King proceeded to shove into a small jar, chuckling the entire time. “And that ends that scourge of the seas.” With another flash, the jar disappeared, to where nopony knew and he returned his attention to the still stunned princesses, his expression quickly shifting to concern.

“Now that that is all settled, are you two alright?”

Both princesses were confused and blinked at the question, but Luna was able to regain her composure quickly. “Ahem, yes we are otherwise unharmed and we are grateful for your assistance, we’re both just a tad confused as to who you are good sir?”

The Sea Pony quietly bowed. “Ah, where are my manners, please forgive me. My name is Neptune, the Lord of the Oceans.”

Celestia, now opting to speak,seemed confused by his statement. “Really, I wasn’t aware the oceans had a ruler.”

Neptune gave a deep chortle and boomed, “Ha, yes I wouldn’t be too surprised if you didn’t know me. I tend to be a bit of a shut in and keep to myself most of the time. Still, you’d think after 1000 years, somepony would at least remember me from a legend or two.”

Luna gaped with a look of awe, “A thousand years!?” Now she felt even more shocked that neither she, nor her sister had even heard a mention of one who ruled for so long. Then again she at least has the excuse of being on the moon for 1000 years.

The giant sea pony nodded and raised his trident, attempting to make himself look more regal as he offered the pair a confident smirk. “Indeed I have, and I must say, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been in the company of such, an intriguing pair of mares. Might I have your names?”

Celestial bowed, immediately returning to her normal posture and royal tone. “It is a pleasure to meet you Lord Neptune, I’am Princess Celestia, Princess of Equestria and the Sun.”

Luna blushed a little at Neptunes compliment but followed her sister’s lead. “And I am Princess Luna, fellow Princess of Equestria and of the Night.”

Neptune's eyes glowed with delight and clapped his hooves. “My word, this truly is an auspicious occasion, I’d never dreamed of meeting fellow rulers. In truth I’d heard tale here and there of ponies who ruled upon the land, but to think you command both the moon and sun, it is truly amazing.” He lead the way through the waters, attempting to guide the duo back below it’s waves.

“Please, permit me to show you some hospitality to make up for the rather rude company you were forced to endure. I’d very much like to learn more about your world and its rulers.”

Neither princess seemed inclined to argue, while apprehensive to an extent, they gratefully nodded and followed him below.

The trio of royal continued their descent, made relatively easy given the speed their new forms afforded them and the two alicorns quickly found themselves grateful for accepting Neptunes offer, as they found themselves awestruck by the sight before them.

Before them sat another undersea castle, not unlike the Hippogriffs, but seemingly constructed entirely out diversely colored coral, with many towers spiraling and coiling up high towards the surface, with a rather large town of similar coral shaped buildings of various sizes below.

The two princesses swam through the streets amazed at all the seaponies that floating about. They were smaller than the Hippogriffs and were actual sea ponies with small fish like bodies going about their business, though some stopped to gape at the princesses but the majority seemed more interested in cheering for and waving to their king, which he reciprocated.

Neptune calmly spoke as he noted some of the reactions from his citizens “Please don’t be alarmed, they mean no offense, it’s just nopony here has ever seen an alicorn before.”

Both princesses gave each other odd looks and Celestia, a bit curious asked, “How do you know about alicorns, you said you’ve never been to the surface?”

Neptune snickered and turned around. “Well, that’s simple I am one or at least I was one.” Both Luna and Celestia had to fight to urge to drop their jaws at this revelation.

”You were? But, that’s impossible? True my sister and I had heard tale of other alicorns existing, but until Cadence, we’d been led to believe such rumors were false.” Luna spoke, her attention centered on the king.

He only chuckled. “Yes, well, it’s a rather long and complicated story and I fully intend to explain everything to you. However, I feel such discussions should be done in a more private setting.”

The trio of ponies finally arrived at the massive sea palace, standing in front of it’s massive, silver doors, guarded by two seaponies covered in plate armor, wielding tridents instead of spears. The two quickly parted, allowing the three inside and allowing the Princesses to gaze upon the main throne room. It was beautifully decorated in a the same silver metal as the gates, with a lovely red, sea sponge carpet rolled down the main aisle. The throne sat above, made of the same gleaming gold as the tridents.

Most enticing however, was the chandelier, for in the center was a massive golden orb filled with bioluminescent lights that circled around giving a beautiful aurora. Neptune turned and laughed seeing Celestia and Luna both practically drooling at all that was before them.

The king crossed his fins and smirked, a touch of smugness in his eyes. “I see you are quite taken with my throne, but I assure you there is much more to see here. However, for now, my maids will escort you to the guest rooms. Surely you’d like to freshen up and relax after all you’ve experienced. I’ll call you down when dinner is ready, until then, please enjoy your stay here.”.”

The two rulers remained star struck for a moment before bowing their heads again in gratitude to the king of the seas. “We cannot thank you enough for all that you have done, and we look forward speaking with you soon.”

The Sea King merely waved off the overwhelming show of gratitude as he sat upon his throne, the fish bowl containing the captain plopped on a pedestal nearby, leaving the flounder swimming cursing angrily at the king. “Please, raise your heads, you are my honored guests and I’m not one who feels the need to stand on ceremony. Your thanks are all I need.”

He then gestured over to some of his sea pony maids, all dressed in elegant clothing of fabrics neither princess could identify, and with scale covered bodies that shined like polished jewels. “Once you’ve relaxed and regained you strength I will answer any questions you may have. Till then, I bid you good day.”

The maids quietly guided the two ponies towards one of the many doorways in the throne, leaving the Sea King to watch them, smiling happily as they exited.

Both Princesses quickly realized how true the King’s words regarding his castle were. From the elegant throne room, they were led to a bathroom made entirely of white marble, with a massive tub of warm water and soap in the center. Things hadn’t been perfect however, as the maids had originally been insistent on scrubbing their scales thoroughly, though with some push back they were able to get them to settle on cleaning their manes and fins.

They proved to be especially gentle and respectful, allowing the Princesses to do most of the cleaning themselves and in no time both sisters sparkled, not unlike the floors they were on.

“We shall notify you when his majesty is ready to dine. Please, if there is anything you require from any of us, please do not hesitate to ask.” The maids quietly exited the room, leaving Luna and Celestia alone, finally able to speak privately after all that happened.

“Well, this certainly is not how I expected our vacation to turn out sister.”

“Yes Luna, being kidnapped by pirates and then meeting another alicorn certainly didn’t cross my mind when I planned this excursion.”

Luna gave the room a once over, again admiring the beautiful architecture and material used to create it, though couldn’t help but look uneasy about their situation. “Sister, while the idea of conversing with another Alicorn intrigues me to no end, I’m concerned. Queen Novo is likely worried sick about and has everyone of her subjects looking for us. We really need to head back to Seaequestria.”

Celestia nodded quickly. “And I agree, however, we have no idea where in the ocean we even are nor do we have a way to navigate these waters properly or regain our original forms. For now the best course of action is be cordial with King Neptune and hopefully he’ll be able to lead us back to Queen Novo.”

Luna expression turned sour, not happy with being so relatively powerless in their current situation, yet she let out a sigh, knowing that what her sister suggested was their best option.“I suppose you are right sister, I just hope we don’t run into anymore conflicts while on this trip.

The two Princesses sat and chatted for a little longer before they received a knock at the door, inviting them down. Taking a moment to look over themselves in the mirror, both headed down to the stairs, eventually reaching the entrance..

Before the two stood a pair of massive and ornate doors which the maids quickly opened, revealing a long beautiful dining room. The long golden table was adorned with little lanterns glowing with bioluminescence, plates made of coral laid upon each seat down the table and two massive chandeliers lit by the same bioluminescence hung over head with two beautiful seaponies playing on harps, whilst an underground lava flow, blocked only by a glass like rock underneath them. The two princesses were beyond amazed, completely dumbfounded at the beauty of the place.

Taking a seat at one of the plush seats alongside the table, the two let their eyes wander along the walls and ornaments adorning the room. “Even after all we’ve seen so far, this castle continues to amaze me with how beautiful it is.”

“I should hope it looks atleast moderately exquisite, given I had a hand in designing everything.”

The Princesses looked to the entrance of the hall and found the king floating towards them, their eyes immediately growing wide with surprise and shock at his appearance.

In their first encounter the King had been bereft of any kind adornments befitting his position. Now however, he was clad in a series of robes that was regal seemed a tad….out of date, heavily resembling something like a costume from an old fashioned theater troupe, yet he didn’t seem to notice this, still carrying the same confident smirk he’d had when they met.

Celestia whispered quietly to Luna. “The room may be beautiful but those clothes have been outdated for a thousand years.”

Luna chuckled “Indeed, I have to say this king is really old fashioned. I’m certain Rarity would have a fit and a half if she saw these.”

Neptune however, seemed to ignore their actions and instead spread his arms wide in a grandiose gesture. “So, be honest, what do you think of my castle and kingdom.” He quickly took a seat at the table, eager to hear their thoughts.

Another glance further, the dual monarches saw the walls adorned with many paintings of various seaponies, several clad in armor and jewels, all with beauty that rivaled anything they’d seen.

“It is quite impressive, almost reminds me of our palance in Canterlot, though the lava flow I’ll admit is unique even compared to all we’ve seen.”

Neptune’s grin seemed to grow brighter at this. “Yes, I’m quite proud of that little detail, some said it was too much but I find it to really help tie things together.”

Celestia gave a nod looking around the hall and through one of the nearby windows to the city below. “Your kingdom is quite beautiful, if we weren’t underwater right now I’d swear we were still in Equestria.”

“You have no idea how happy your words of praise are to me. But, that’s enough admiration for now, I promised you a feast and I’m nothing if not a pony of my word.” With a light clap the table was quickly adorned with plates containing rich looking seaweed wraps, filled with various cooked sea vegetables of some sort, and glasses of enchanted wine sitting near each plate. They both ate without a word as classical music filled the air.

As they ate, Neptune’s eye remained trained on Luna, and her posture quickly reflected her unease at his gaze, missing a few bites of her food as she tried to maintain her composure.

Thankfully, Neptune was quick to pick up on this. “Oh, please don’t be nervous Princess Luna, I meant no disrespect, I’ve just been rather eager to speak with you.”

“You have?”

“Why yes, after all it is the moon that controls the waves of the sea, why wouldn’t the Ruler of the Seas wish to speak with the Ruler of the Moon.” Luna didn’t quite know how to respond, though she started to theorize what he wished to discuss. “Ah, I sometimes forget about that particular detail. I do hope that my control of the moon hasn’t caused your subjects any discomfort or trouble.”

“Not at all, certainly there is the occasional disturbance, but nothing that has caused any kind of harm. Please, do not worry yourself about such matters.”

Celestia quickly chimed in, wanting to raise a few questions that had been on both Princesses minds. “I have to ask King Neptune, does your rule extend to all the oceans? If so, then that is rather impressive.”

He blushed at the flattery and replied with a hint of pride, “Well, it’s hardly as impressive as controlling celestial bodies like the sun or moon, but I do control the waves and currents of all the oceans, I mostly keep them tame and assure things like tidal waves and hurricanes don’t occur. And while I’m not one to boast, I believe I've been doing a pretty good job as long as other magical creatures don’t interfere.

Celestia blinked. “That is impressive, and you’ve been doing so for a thousand years? I still can’t fathom how we haven’t heard of you until now.”

Neptune scratched his beard and explained, “Well it has been a long time since I started ruling the true seaponies and in fact I didn’t know of any other sentient life existed until I saw the hippogriffs by mere chance. Of course I’ve maintained contact with the Hippogriffs and helped them when I could, even providing them with the Pearl of Transformation.”

”So we have you to thank for saving the hippogriffs. I wonder why didn’t they mention you?” Luna inquired, taking another bite of her food.

He sighed, his expression showing exhaustion. “I had thought about revealing myself but I was concerned what would happen if the rest of the world knew. Many I feared would come and try to steal or control my power, can you even imagine what would happen if they succeed?”

Celestia now looked confused at his phrasing in regards to his power. “You say, control your power. Are you saying it’s not your natural skill?”?”

The sea king smirked, his eyes turning to his trident. “Yes and no I suppose, I am naturally in tune with the ocean and have great power over it, but unlike you, my magic alone is not enough to wield all the oceans of this world.” He grabbed his trident and allowed it to glow with power. “I discovered this trident during my wanderings of the sea and found it granted me power unlike I had ever experienced before, enabling me to control all the waters of the sea. Of course such a matter is a relative secret and I’d prefer it stay that way.

Luna decided to speak, “Well, we can promise we will keep your secret. Though I do hope that it would be possible to connect our two kingdoms together.”

The king seemed interested as he stroked his white beard and asked, “I think that would be a splendid idea, though how would you propose we do so? Are one of you planning to wed me?”

Both princesses blinked and burst into laughter, breaking the king’s composure as he stammered out angrily. “I’m serious, for our kingdoms to unit one of you must wed me? Is that not the tradition of royalty?”

Celestia smirked and explained, “That might have been true centuries ago, but things have changed where we live and traditions such as that have long since died out.”

The king quickly regained his posture and tried his best to shake off his embarrassment. “Well, that’s fine, though the offer will stand if you change your mind?”

Celestia chuckled at the king’s attempts and returned to the topic. “I’m sure we can reach an agreement that is beneficial to all parties.”

”Very well, though is there anything you want in return for this arrangement?”

Luna decided to chime in and shook her head. “Of course not, our nation is about expanding alliances and forming friendships with other nations. Having you as an ally is more than sufficient.”,”

Neptune smiled and raised a glass. “Alright then, a toast, to your good health and may our alliance be fruitful.”

They all raised their glasses and drank the wine as he gave a smirk, unnoticed by either princess.

Later that night the two princesses were in soft beds made of bouncy sea sponge and draped over in soft blankets crafted from kelp. While the beds themselves felt wonderful Luna had been feeling queasy for some time as she groaned, feeling odd, like something came over her.

She turning to an open window, she quietly swam outside eventually finding a forest of kelp not far beyond the castle. Looking up to the night sky, she felt her unease settle and now found herself in awe looking at the night sky she’d treasured through a new perspective..

“ Beautiful.”

“Indeed it is.”

Luna’s face quickly turned red and she found the king, lacking his formal robes, floating behind her with a calm smile on his face. Stuttering and bowing her head embarrassed, she tried and failed to say something to the king, only for him to laugh heartily at her panic

“My you land ponies are quite something I must say. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about my dear, I myself enjoy a good night swim every now and again, so please raise your head.”

Luna looked upon the king, her blush remaining as the odd feeling return, though instead of nausea, she felt a sense of warmth as her heart started to race. “What is this?”

Neptune didn’t seem to notice her state, simply admiring the many stars in the skin above the waves. “It is breathtaking, I’ve spent many a night simply staring at the stars above me, glimmering like jewels more wondrous than the treasures of my kingdom, however...” His gaze then shifted to the moon, full and bright, shining its light down near the pair. “I’ve always found the moon to be the most alluring, like the most perfect pearl ever crafted, forever beyond my reach, only to be admired from afar.”

Luna’s face continued to grow redder with each word of praise for the sky she helped create, words she’d remember longing to hear so many centuries ago. Her heart only continued to beat ever faster as the King shifted his gaze to her.

“And now, I find myself in awe once again, as if the moon itself were brought to life and all it’s elegance and beauty were personified in a single pony.”

Luna’s heart now felt as though it were moving at lightspeed as her as Neptune moved closer to her. “The Pony of the Sea and Pony of the Moon, bound together by nature itself. Like something out of a story book.”

For a moment Luna thought Neptune was about to kiss her and for a single instance, a part of her welcomed it. Yet, perhaps thankfully, it never came as the King merely pulled back, continuing to admire Luna.

“I am truly grateful to have you in my kingdom Princess, and I hope to know you better during your time here. Though for now, I will settle for admiring you from afar.” He slowly drifted back towards the castle as Luna tried to muster up a response, yet nothing came, leaving her floating under the star, bathing in the light of the moon.

chapter four: Secrets of the Sea King

Celestia awoke with a turn the next morning, finding that Luna was strangely absent from the room. Normally it wasn’t uncommon for her sister to sleep in well passed sunrise, having a more nocturnal sleep schedule, and that was even more likely during vacations.

“Now where is she?”

The princess swam through the room, searching for any indication of Luna with little success, that is until she came across a set of ornate doors leading to a large dining room.

Tempted, the princess pushed open the doors, only to gape in surprise upon seeing Luna sitting next to the Sea King, now with a large golden tiara on top of her head.

Interestingly, despite having only just met the day before, the princess was laughing and chatting with the sea king, acting unusually friendly with the monarch.. Yet, despite the seemingly warm and friendly atmosphere,Celestia felt concerned, there was something off about the whole discussion.

Deciding to, test the proverbial waters, the mare swam over to the two and chirped. “Hello Luna, you’re up early this morning.”

Luna turned around and responded back cheerily. “Oh, hello, dear sister, Neptune and I were just having a wonderful conversation. We were debating over our kingdoms and which one is better.”

Neptune looked over at Celestia and asked, “Yes, she told me that you have ponies called pegasi that controls your weather, is that true?”

Celestia gave a nod, slightly surprised the king hadn’t atleast heard some mention of what was common knowledge in Equestria. ”Indeed, it is quite true. Granted, Pegasi mainly use weather factories to monitor and control the weather in Equestria, they do have some natural abilities such as moving clouds and limited control over storms.”

Neptune scoffed and crossed his fins, unconvinced by the Princess’s proclamations. “I don’t see how that works with hundreds of pegasi controlling your weather works?”

Luna burst into fits of laughter and explained, “Oh come now! I told you, they have a factory that makes the weather and they run it seasonally, it’s not like they make it snow in the summer after all.”

Celestia shrugged, still a little stunned at how familiar the two seemed to act around each other, but put it out of her mind. “Well, I’m glad to see you too interacting so well. I do hate to interrupt, but would it be possible for me to…”

Neptune, quickly raised his fin and stopped her sentence midway. “Not a problem your highness. What kind of ruler would I be if I didn’t offer breakfast to my guests.”

Neptune clapped his fins and the chair was pushed out and Celestia swam over and sat just across from her sister as a plate with fish eggs and cooked seafood. While initially hesitant of the odd food selection, perhaps because of her transformation, Celestia found the food rather tasty and indulged herself for a moment whilst watching her tablemates continue to chat. However, as she looked closer, she noticed a rather odd looking crown currently situated upon her sister’s head.Celestia taking a sip of some, what she assumed what a type of juice, to wash down her meal, she coughed to get the pairs attention.

“Pardon me for interrupting, but I could help but notice that odd crown on your head dear sister. Care to explain?”

The lunar princess blushed, looking a little embarrassed and nervous as she squeaked. “Oh, well it’s because I’m the Queen of the Sea ponies, Neptune and I are getting married.”

Celestia’s glass immediately dropped, followed quickly by her mouth, were it not for her gills still moving one would swear she’d suffocate. Still she was unable to form any coherent words, only a light hiss as she tried to speak.

Neptune meanwhile, nonchalantly gave a nod and continued to explain things as if it was casual conversation, “Indeed, that is true, we are going to get married this week. Actually, we were discussing the wedding planner when you arrived.”

Luna squeaked in surprise and chirped, ”Really!? This week!? I was hoping we’d have atleast a month or two!”

Neptune turned to the princess and merely smiled at her. “Why wait my precious Luna! The sooner the better I say!”

Luna blushed, her concern quickly forgotten and couldn’t help but hug the king but the tender moment was broken when Celestia reared up and shouted, “Seriously!? Luna, how you could you commit to this!”

Luna turned around towards her sister and scoffed, “Hey, I fell in love what’s wrong with that?”

Celestia eyes furrowed and growled, “I don’t mind you falling in love, but getting married in less than a day is suspicious. As I stated, if this relates to the trade agreement, we don’t live in the classical era anymore, that isn’t necessary. And have you forgotten your responsibilities to Equestria? You are the Princess of the Moon, you can’t just up and leave like that.”.”

Luan crossed her fins in agitation and snapped back, ignoring her increasingly fuming sister, “You’re just jealous that I’ve managed to finally find a husband while you haven’t even gone on a date in 1000 years.” For a moment Celestia’s anger was replaced with outrage and mild embarrassment at the claim while Luna continued. “Now you need to go to queen novo and tell her were okay, I’ll stay here.”

Celestia roared in frustration, practically leaping out of her seat...as much as being underwater would allow, and retaliated, “Absolutely not! I’m not leaving you here! I’m staying until I figure out what’s going on!”

Neptune rose up with his full height and roared, “That’s enough!”

The two princesses turned around to the sea king, Luna looking more nervous while Celestia still had a stern expression, not willing to back down.Thankfully, the king quickly calmed himself before he continued. “Princess Celestia, while I understand that you care for your sister, are you so certain with your decision. Luna told me all about how you forcibly banished her to the moon for a thousand years. While I can understand to an extent it might have been necessary, it was also quite cruel of you. And now she is truly happy and you want to ruin that. ”

Celestia narrowed her gaze at the king, her usual decorum quickly melting away with each passing second. “While I do concede that my decisions in the past may have been harsh, that doesn’t change the fact that my sister wouldn’t just agree to this out of the blue. I may not know why exactly she is like this, but I can assure you there is something amiss. For now however, my sister and I will be leaving this place, we have other matters to attend to.”

Luna however, shook her head and turned towards her sister, “ Sister, I know you're concerned about me, but honestly there is nothing amiss here. I genuinely love him and wish to stay here,.”

Celestia felt some of her conviction wither, surprised by the amount of certainty that Luna spoke with. ,“Luna, I can understand that you feel very strongly about this. Perhaps would could discuss this back in Equestria before we make any final decisions.”

Luna looked at her sister and was going to say something but Neptune flew over towards Celestia and boomed, “I won’t let you! If you are determined on leaving then go, but Luna will stay here until the wedding is done.”

Celestia stared down the sea king and crossed her fins and exclaimed, “If Luna is staying then I’m staying. After 1000 years I swore I would not abandon her or leave her side.”

Neptune gave a sinister smirk and scoffed, ”Then, to make sure you don’t sabotage the wedding I need to make some adjustments until I can trust you won’t try anything.”

Celestia snapped, “What!”

Sadly, before the Princess could even get up, Neptune’s horn erupted with blue light, encasing Celestia in it’s glow. In a flash,Celestia found herself transformed into a small, sea pony body, clad in of all things, a maid’s outfit t. Celestia blushed to see the black dress covered in white frills now covering her tiny body, and prepared wg to snap at Neptune but only to find her mouth wouldn’t open, as if a hand was forcing her to be silent..

The King meanwhile, simply continued to smirk at the demeaned and diminished ruler.“Now, my new maid, go clean Luna’s room, and make sure it’s spotless.”

Celestia was going to snap back but all she could do was make a curtsey before swimming off to do as she was instructed, leaving the king and Luna alone, with the Princess not even raising an eye or a fin to what she just saw.

As the day went by, Celestia cleaned Luna’s room without any visible argument. She swept, mopped, dusted, fixed the sheets, scrubbed the bathroom and fixed up the vanity table. All this done without a single complaint to the absurdity of it all, atleast not one she could make by choice.

As Celestia was finishing up drawing the curtains overviewing the rest of the kingdom, Luna came in, impressed by how clean the room was.

“My, my sister. And here I had always assumed the reason you left the cleaning to the servants was because you couldn’t handle it yourself.”

The only response she got was an angry frown from her sister, who continued to clean in spite of things..

Luna sighed at her sister’s hostility, taking a seat on the bed as she watched her. “Celestia, I’m sorry that all of this has happened and I understand you are just looking out for me, but I can with certainty your worry is misplaced. Neptune and I are in love, I don’t see how you can’t understand that.”

Celestia turned around to face her sister, frown still present. “I just don’t understand how you could fall in love so fast with the master?” Celestia blinked as she realized what she’d just said, almost horrified at the implication.

Luna snickered and continued, again ignoring her sister’s odd behavior, “Well, it started last night. I had gotten up just to get some fresh air and I went out to admire the moon. But out of nowhere, Neptune came out and we talked for a little. Then as the night dragged on I followed him to his chambers and we talked some more, soon we started I don’t know…connecting…it felt like we were tied together, like the moon and the ocean.”

Celestia sighed at her sister’s nativity, “Luna, the master put some spell on you just as the master has one me. The fact he could even do something like this to me, shows that he posses extremely potent magic. We need to get out of here now.”

Luna shook her head and growled, “You still don’t understand! You’re just jealous of me!”

Celestia snapped back, “Luna stop this! You’re making a big mistake!”

Luna who had enough and now just irritated barked out an order to her sister. “Just leave and scrub the throne room.”

Celestia simply did a curtsey and whispered almost painfully, “yes mistress, at once” and promptly swam off slamming the door behind her.

As Celestia was grudgingly polishing the floors of the palace with a rag, she continued to growl and rage internally, yet could not do anything to fight off whatever spell was controlling her.

“There has to be some way to make Luna see reason. Yet as I am now, I’m completely powerless. What can I do?”

So distracted by her own inner monologue, she didn’t notice a familiar yellow flounder swim up beside her. , “Psst, hey come over here.”

Celestia, now broken from her thoughts, looked up and turned around. Spotting the fish, she hesitated for a moment, before checking to seeno pony before finally she swimming over.,“What do you want, need me to clean something for you too?”

The flounder flinched slightly at the Princess’s irritated tone, but shook it off quickly enough. “Okay, I understand you’re not exactly in the best of moods, but please listen. I can help you and your sister if you just listen to me.”

But before he could continue some guards swam by and Celestia quickly resumed cleaning the floors, doing her best to look busy to. Once they were gone, Celestia quickly turned back to the Flounder.

“Now, you need to understand that you’re right, Luna is under the control of Neptune. He did the same thing to me when he turned me and my crew he into his own soldiers.. I was able to get us free and we escaped with his stupid transformation orbs. But then he sent a storm crashing our ship and cursing us. He didn’t save you out of the kindness of his heart, he’s using you.”

Celestia looked at him and growled, “So why should I trust you, especially after everything you put myself and my sister through?”

The flounder sighed and continued, “Just listen, all we need to do is steal the trident. Once we grab that the spell he placed on Luna will dissipate and we can all escape, all I ask in return is to use the trident to turn me and my crew back to normal.”

Celestia was still suspicious of the pirate captain and asked with a suspicious tone, “So are you going to backstab us once we leave?”

He shook his head and explained, “I don’t have a reason to, I just want to get off here so I can see my daughter again, please.”

Celestia paused, knowing that she only had one chance to steal the trident or be transformed into something worse. Reluctantly, she gave a nod the former captain. “Alright then, I’ll do it tonight, I’ll ask to polish the thing and steal it once I’m alone, be ready.”

Later that evening, as planned, Celestia had asked to polish the trident and was quick to get to work, though was kept under the eye of Neptune, still looking as smug as ever r. “You know, once you accept our union I can turn you back to normal.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “I’d rather clean and cook then be subjected to you. Besides, I’m Luna’s older sister, it’s an unwritten law that I be overly suspicious of anyone who even tries to date her. Have to make sure you’re not evil or anything.”

He looked up and scoffed, ”I’m not evil, I’m just protecting my kingdom. How can I be sure that you and Luna aren’t evil? Besides, from what Luna was telling me I’m not sure I can trust you either.”

Celestia stopped polishing for a moment and turned to the king. ”Yet, you’re the one who cursed those pirates to roam the seas forever? Are you honestly telling that I’m worse than you?”

He scoffed again, “Are you honestly saying they were innocent? If I just left them to do what they want then my kingdom could’ve been razed to the ground.”

Celestia replied, ”That’s what happened with Luna when she transformed to Nightmare Moon! If I left her to do whatever she wanted, I would be dead and she would’ve completely taken over Equestria! I know it was a horrid thing to do and I’ve regretted it everyday for 1000 years, but I had no choice.”

Neptune paused, trying to find a proper argument. “Right…well…” he looked down as Celestia swam over and explained, “Listen, you may be lonely and I’m not here to judge you, but you are taking things too fast. Please, let us go back to Queen Novo to let her know we’re okay. Then we can come back and discuss trade and if Luna decides to be your wife, then she will in a formal fashion.”

The sea king paused and scratched his chin with a fin unsure of what to say. However, the moment of reflection quickly ended, as he slammed exclaimed loudly, “No, that won’t do. I need her to stay here until the wedding is done. I have to assure the future of my kingdom. Now continue your duties and we will speak of this no more.”

Celestia begrudgingly went back to sweeping the floor as the Sea king continued to read. She eyed the trident just a few feet away, unsure of how to steal it. But just then, Luna came in wearing a long white flowing wedding dress. “Oh, thank you, I love it!”

Neptune swam over and gave a nod of appreciation. “I knew you would, you look positively radiant in that dress.”

Celestia saw her opportunity and quickly swam across the room, taking the trident and before Neptune could say a word aimed it right at him. “I tried to do this the civil way, but you’ve left me no other alternative. You’re going to release my sister and I or so help me I will turn you into krill!”

The sea king stepped back knowing Celestia wasn’t bluffing. Luna,concerned, swam over and whispered, “Celestia what are you doing?”

The mare growled, “I’m saving you that’s what I’m doing!” As expected, her sister didn’t look convinced, only bringing a greater sense of anger to Celestia, who lift the trident higher, magic beginning to glow from it’s tip. “Now take the spell you have put on my sister off, NOW!” Her last word was accented by a yell and a spark from the trident.

Shaking slightly at the threat, the king complied and fired a beam of magic at Luna. The momentarily stunned princess blinked for moment and shook her head, before regaining her senses., ”Celestia, what….what are you trying to do, you’re going to ruin this beautiful dress.”

Celestia gaped as Neptune smirked floated over her. ”You see, you were wrong Celestia, her love for me is genuine.”

Celestia looked up and growled, “No, you have something forcing her to love you. I know it.” She forced the trident and pointed at the sea king. “Now release her.”

Neptune smirked, ”Transform me into whatever you want but I swear I have nothing to do with your sister’s love.”

Celestia, now completely out of patience, was going to but something was stopping her. She knew she wanted to transform him into shrimp but her muscles didn’t seem to want to comply with her mind.

He flew up and took the trident from her fins and pointed it at her. “It’s a shame, but I don’t think you’re cut out to be a maid. Perhaps I might have to force you into fish or a dolphin, you might make a good little pet for us to keep around.”

Celestia was unsure of what to say or do she couldn’t help but be compelled to bow and wait for the king to do his work. But Luna swam over. “No! Even if we are in love I can’t betray my sister.”

The king eyed her harshly. “She’s trying to destroy our love, we can’t let that happen.”

Luna snapped back, “if you harm her in anyway then it’s over.”

The King paused for a moment, before growling as he aimed the trident at Luna, ready to use it on her. However,Celestia, despite her composure, managed to fight off the influence enough to grab the trident and as the two fought for control, Luna slammed Neptune into the wall, smashing the necklace she was wearing.

In an instant, Luna stopped moving for a moment as her eyes started to blink, as if she was trying to adjust her sight after being blinded. She quickly scanned the room, before looking at herself and an expression of shock grew. “Why...why am I wearing a wedding dress?””

Celestia smiled seeing her sister back to normal, yet didn’t let go of her hold on the trident. “It’s a long story, but right now we need to get a hold of this trident.”

Luna, quickly pulling off the dress, turned her now angry glare at the king, who flinched in fright, now finding himself confronted with two, very angry princesses. Getting to Celestia’s side, the pair were able to rip the trident from the king’s fins, pointing it at him ready to fire.

The frightened king held up his fins in defeat, now quivering in terror. “I surrender, please no more.”

Luna growled before taking another look at Celestia. “We’ll deal with you in a moment, first things first.”

Taking the trident in her own fins, Luna turned the trident on Celestia and without a word, shot a beam at her, quickly returning the Princess to her former state.

“Ah, that’s much better.” Celestia muttered to herself. “And I now have a new appreciation for the castle servants. I should probably do something for the when we get back home.”

“Later sister, for now we have another fish to fry.” Luna put emphasis on the word, “fry” as she pointed the trident back at the king. “Now then, why exactly did you try to force me to marry you and turn me against my own sister?” The trident started to glow again with bright light as she spoke.”

The Sea King looked down and explained solemnly, “I…I apologize for my actions. I truly thought it was destined for us to be together. You the moon, me the sea. I thought it was meant to be.”

Celestia glared at Neptune and continued the interrogation. “Don’t try and lie to us. I spoke to the pirate captain. He told me that you caused the storm that separated my sister and I from Seaquestria. Then you sent those same pirates to capture us. Is that all true or not?”

He grumbled and kicked the a small pebble and sighed, “Fine, no point in keeping up the charade. Yes, it’s all true.”

Luna angrily growled, placing the tip of the still glowing trident directly at Neptune’s throat, who could only whimper and cry in response. However, instead of attacking, she simply lowered the weapon and turned to the discarded wedding dress. Quickly levitating it, she tore the garment in half before shredding it further and finally destroying the remains with the trident.

Celestia meanwhile, glared down at the fallen king, her fury on full display. “Now, my sister and I will be leaving and you will promise not to harm any pony ever again and we shall do the same. However, it is clear that we cannot trust you to do any kind of trade with our kingdom, and until such times as we determine you are trustworthy, we shall hold onto the trident, lest you go back on your word. Is that clear?”.”

The last part she spoke with the Royal Canterlot Voice and it sent the king crashing back against the wall. Shaking himself off, he looked down and saw he had no choice but to accept and growled. “Fine.”

Celestia and Luna then took off and swam through the halls and found the pirate captain floating about.

The flounder looked at the pair with a knowing smirk. “I see you managed to get through to your sister.”

Celestia returned the smirk in kind. “Indeed, and we have you to thank for that.” She then turned the trident’s point on the captain. “And I believe we have an agreement to fulfill.”

Without another word, the magic of the trident surrounded the captain, quickly returning him back to his original form. The trio quickly exited the castle, where the remains of the pirate crew were waiting and Celestia follow through to help them as well.

Their business concluded, the group quickly left the undersea city, and hoped to put the memory of what they had experienced behind them.

chapter five: The Kraken

Having finally escaped from the corrupt Neptune’s kingdom, Celestia and Luna quickly found themselves once again lost at sea, though now in the company of the captain and his crew, finally returned to their previous skeletal, seapony forms.

Regrettably, despite their prior victory over the Sea King and returning to the crew’s ship, they quickly found themselves without any form of navigational equipment, whilst being tossed around by the harsh currents of the ocean. The simple concept of trying to get back to Seaquestria had effectively turned into a battle against the ocean waves, whilst also being hopelessly lost in the middle of a vast, empty abyss. The lack of any distinguishing landmarks didn’t help, with every direction being little more than miles of sand and dark ocean corners. All in all, it seemed like they were better off in the King’s castle.

The group had been left in this situation for some time and Celestia, still less than chipper after all that had transpired, had become rather vocal in her frustrations. “Captain! You said you knew this waters like the back of your hoof, why are we having so much difficulty navigating?”

The captain just shrugged, more interested in enjoying his freedom and sucking down on a bottle of rum...with the liquid immediately leaking out of his exposed ribs and lack of a neck. Yet, he continued in spite of this, all the while scoffing at the Princess’s anger.

”For someone whose been a ruler for over 1000 years, you whine like filly. I’ve sailed these waters my entire life, I know the seas better than most ponies, it’s practically my life’s pursuit. So, you can trust me when I say you and your sister will be fine, so just relax. Also stop calling me captain! My name is Nemo!”

At the mention of his name, Celestia’s expression immediately shifted from frustration and anger, to barely contained mirth, practically holding her breath as she tried not to laugh, only to immediately fail and let out a snort and chuckle. Captain Nemo immediately growled in response.

“And what in the seven seas is so funny?”

Celestia tried to recompose herself, letting out a few more snort filled chuckles before she managed to collect herself. “Apologies captain, it’s just that your name sounds like something out of a little filly’s story.

Luna, who’d been listening not far away, nodded in concurrence. “Indeed, I do believe I recall hearing a name similar to that one in a particularly engaging tale. Though I also recalled it involved fighting a giant squid. Captain, will we also be fighting a giant squid?”

Captain Nemo merely offered flat gaze at the Princess’s question, not the least bit amused. “I’m almost wishing a giant squid would attack us if it would quiet you two,” He said quietly as he swam across the deck. “You two should be a little more grateful, I’m trying to help you get back after all.”

Celestia in turn offered a dull thanks, “And we appreciate it, and will happily thank you in kind when we finally reach our destination. Assuming we ever arrive.” She quietly muttered out the last part.

Luna meanwhile, in spite of her earlier jab at the captain, had long forgotten the conversation and turned her attention to the night sky, still visible through the otherwise inky depths of the sea. And it was during this brief reprieve that she remembered something and her eyes zeroed in on a particular location.

“The North Star! I see it! All we need to do is follow that and we’ll be fine!”

Both Nemo and Celestia turned to Luna, now pointing up towards the skies above, only for the captain to immediately break out into laughter.“What a load of nonsense! We were heading in the opposite direction. We don’t need a North Star to tell us where to go.”

Luna immediately huffed at the captain’s rather obvious insult and was quick to fire back. “Nonsense? What kind of captain doesn’t even know the most basic part of navigation and cartography?” Her expression turned a little smug as she got closer. “Also there’s only one North Star, even fillies still in school know that much.”

“Why you arrogant little stargazer. Don’t you be getting a swelled head just because you’re a princess. Down here, that title don’t mean nothing to me or my crew. Far as I’m concerned you just excess baggage with a smart mouth that’s already wearing out its welcome.”

Both Nemo and Luna were practically on edge, faces mere inches from each other, each trying to tower over the other as a sign of intimidation. It almost looked like a fight would break out, before Celestia got between them.

“ENOUGH! You are both adults and we have enough issues without your childish bickering.” She first looked to Nemo. “You should take my sister’s advice, no pony knows more about the stars in the sky than she does, so get over your ego and do you job.” She then turned to Luna.

“And sister, I’d like to think that after all the time you spent in Canterlot you’d have learned how to compose yourself around others, even if they are occasionally unpleasant.”

Both the Princess and Captain looked down shamefully, though more Luna who looked like a child just scolded by their mother as Celestia continued.

“Now then, the best thing we can do is work together and use our respective talents to navigate back to Seaquestria. As such, there will be no more arguing from this point forward. Is that understood?”

The captain, not wanting to argue, promptly turned the ship around, quite grumbling in annoyance at being basically usurped as the main authority on the ship.

“Fine, I’ll listen to the Stargazer. If it means being able to see my daughter again, I suppose my pride can afford to sit this one out.”

“You have a daughter?” Luna asked, Celestia similarly intrigued, walking up to the captain who remained focused on the wheel.

“Aye, had to leave her back when she was just a little thing, Not quite sure how long it’s been but I’d wager she’s probably fully grown by now.” Despite not seeing his face, they could hear the sorrow and regret behind each word.

“Does she know you’re….”

“A pirate, not likely. Neither she nor her mother had a clue what I do and it’s best it stay that way.”

Luna took another step forward, trying to get the captain to face her. “Are you worried? About whether or not she’ll forgive you after leaving her alone for so long?

The captain let out an empty chuckle as he kept on steering. “Guess we’ll just have to wait until we get there. Best I can hope for is that she atleast doesn’t hold a grudge like her mother.” He let out another cold laugh at his joke, leaving the Princesses without a word to offer in reply.

For a moment, Luna attempted to offer a comforting hoof to Nemo, but Celestia quietly stopped her. While her interest in helping the captain was admirable, trying to force it would likely prove more damaging than doing nothing at all. Best either could hope would be if the captain wanted to explore the issue further, he’d come to them.

Thus the princesses simply sat on the ship as it continued to rock and shake against the waves of the sea, Nemo taking Luna’s advice and using the North Star as suggested. Much to his own embarrassment and detriment of his self esteem, Luna’s advice proved fruitful and in another two days the group had managed to enter smoother waters and seemed to be on the right track.

Which was a huge relief to the weary travelers now gliding over the ocean like a school of dolphins. Sadly, this momentary victory only lasted a day, before it appeared they were lost again, having not seen a hint of land for what felt like days. Yet, despite the signs, they continued onwards, hoping for a glimmer of Seaquestria on the horizon and for another week, this sense of confidence quickly dried up.

By the eighth day, Celestia had grown slightly restless, concerned both for Novo and Equestria in general, both wondering when, if ever, either ruler would return.

Hoping for some good news Celestia approached her sister, still on deck looking to the skies and stars for answers.

“Sister, while I know the night sky is your domain and I have complete confidence in your abilities, I feel a bit concerned about our situation. Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”

Luna gulped, now being unsure whimpered, “I…I don’t know…”

Celestia quickly got into her sister’s face, her normal composure threatening to break. “What do you mean you don’t know! I thought you were taught astronomy by Starswirl!”

Luna moaned sadly as she tried to avoid her sister’s judging gaze. “He did sister, it’s just that I didn’t pay attention to everything he taught us. Even you must admit for as wise as Starswirl was his lectures were rather long winded.” .”

Celestia groaned, though silently agreeing with her sister describing the ancient wizard as boring. Truth be told, there were times when even she almost nodded off in his lectures.

Sighing angrily as she knew what was next, approached Nemo, who was singing a tune of some sort.

“Captain, it would appear that Luna may have been mistaken about following the North Star. I fear we may have gotten even further off course than before.”.”

Celestia have expected the Captain to either yell in anger or respond with a salt laced remark, but instead he simply shrugged indifferently, like it was no big deal. , “I had a feel something might have been wrong with her directions, and getting angry about it wouldn’t do us any good now anyway. Best we can do is try to figure something out.”

His eyes turned to the cabin for a moment as he recalled something. “You still have Neptune’s trident right? Maybe we can use it to help us out, figure if anypony knows how to navigate the ocean it’d be the King of the Seas.”

Celestia almost looked stunned at the rather obvious logic, momentarily questioning why she hadn’t thought of something similar before rushing inside to retrieve the item.

Returning to the deck a moment later, she pointed the weapon at the sea and for almost immediately the ocean glistened as it sent a pulse across the water, visible above the waves. The others watched and waited before another pulse followed, the trident glowing bright when the wave contacted with the ship. For a brief moment Celestia’s eye shined bright with yellow light before she pointed the trident due east.

“There’s something in that direction, I don’t know what exactly but it’s large enough to where I think it could be land.?”

Destination now in hand, the ship continued its trek across the ocean until it finally reached the source of the pulse, a rather huge and ominous cave. The opening was huge, adorned with countless enormous stalactites and stalagmites, jetting both upward and downward like rows of gnashing teeth.

However, while some of the crew found the sight terrifying, the captain simply clapped his hooves together excited.“Well, it might not be Seaquestria, but it’s land all the same. And how fortunate for us, caves like these tend to be havens for other pirates to store their treasures. A perfectly find side trip before we reach our destination, don’t you think?”!”

Both of the sister’s wanted to argue, but it was the first piece of land they’d seen in a while and with the trident it was likely they could find land again, thus against their better judgment they followed the captain as the ship docked and the all stepped upon the moist stone floors, leaving the rest of the crew behind to guard the ship.

The cave was even more massive than they thought, with the sea water covering most of the ground with only a small pocket of actual air visible above them.. However, as they swam further, they came upon another, smaller cave, and once inside they found something that left all three gasping in astonishment.

Inside there was hundreds if not thousands of transformation pearls, practically covering the floors and even some of the walls.. The two sisters gazed upon the riches with wondrous awe, Celestia looking upon the massive treasure trove with curiosity.

“It truly is impressive, though strange, I was led to believe there was only one Pearl of Transformation, that’s why Queen Novo was so protective of it. And yet,” She paused as she swam closure to the massive pile of pearls. “Now we find there’s an entire room filled with them.”

The Luna nodded and added, ”Indeed, it seems odd that there would be so many of them and they’d be left just laying here for anypony to find.”

However, neither princess had much time to contemplate what they had found, as a loud roar was heard that shook the cave around them, before going silent.

The three looked about the cave, Luna and Celestia on guard with their magic ready to react, while the Captain just stood close to them.

“What in the name of Equestria was that?” Luna question, eyes scanning every dark corner for the source.

“I don’t know, and don’t think we want to know. Let’s forget the treasure and just get out of here.” Nemo spoke, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Celestia nodded as the group made a move to leave and exited the cave of pearls. However, just as they exited, both Luna and Celestia let out a terrified scream as a pair of massive tentacles appeared out of the dark above them, constricting the two princesses before dragging them deeper into the cave, Nemo only having a chance to scream out for them before they vanished.

The two sisters eventually awoke, finding themselves no longer constricted by tentacles but now locked in a cage, with their own bodies held to the nearby wall with some kind of foul smelling slime. Their heads were just above the sea water as the looked out, spotting the body of their attacker and much to Luna’s own amusement, found it to be a giant, blue and green squid, seemingly in the process of moving several objects just below their field of view.

Celestia, offered a dry look of annoyance to Luna at the sight before them. “Well Luna, you wanted a giant squid to attack us and it seems you got your wish.” All pretense of composure and etiquette was effectively gone from the Princess, now content to go full blown snarky.

“Is now really the best time for that Celestia. Perhaps we should wait until after we’ve escaped from this creature before lashing out at each other.

While Celestia was in agreement, she was far from hopeful. “I agree, but how can we escape. That massive beast is blocking the only exit out of here and if we try to use our magic to free ourselves it’ll just attack again.”

As if to emphasize the hazard of the creature attacking, they both looked over to see the skeletons of numerous other creatures within the cave. Though this also left them with another issue, namely that the creature was likely planning to eat them soon anyway, thus they would need to break out somehow.

Looking around for a possible solution, Celestia’s eyes widened in amazement upon spotting a pair of transformation pearls nearby, having rolled up near the cage entrance. .

Quickly nudging her sister with her head, Celestia directed her gaze to the pearls. “If we can free ourselves from this slime, we can use these orbs to our advantage and escape.”

Luna however, looked apprehensive at the idea. “Sister, you know those pearls transformations are at random. We won’t have long before that creature notices us, what happens if we turn into something that makes our situation worse?”

“If we don’t do anything we’ll be eaten regardless and we can’t allow that to happen, no matter how hopeless things may seem.”

Luna flinched slightly at the stern tone of sister, but still didn’t seem convinced. “Look, I know you might be mad at me for getting us lost, but this is still a massive risk we’re taking here.”

Celestia quickly snapped back at her sister. “Can we please focus on the situation at hand and not on assigning blame right now?”

Luna however, didn’t look convinced. “Oh don’t try to divert the issue. Ever since we left Neptune’s kingdom you’ve been losing your patience with me more and more. I know in some way you blame me for everything that’s happened right now.”

Celestia looked like she wanted to argue but a part of her stopped herself as she looked rather guilty at what she was thinking, which was all Luna needed.

“As I thought, you do blame me for this.”

Celestia however, was quick to rebuff. “Not, entirely everything. What happened with Neptune wasn’t your fault, you were under his influence and I’ve long accepted that fact. However, getting us lost because you couldn’t admit your lack of navigational skill was a blunder on your part sister.”

While Luna quickly began to look downtrodden, Celestia’s face and voice softened as she continued. “I know that we’re Princesses and certain things are expected of us, but you should remember even we make mistakes and there’s nothing wrong in admitting that. If we’re confident in your navigational skills you should have just told me.”

Luna looked at her sister, looking like she would’ve started crying, but smiled instead as she looked down at the pearls. “Thank you sister, I suppose I was a tad bullheaded earlier.”

However, even as she looked at the orbs, she took another glance at the squid below, gulping as she levitated the pearl towards her, Celestia following suit. Once the pearls were close, the two princesses offered each other one last look.

“On the count of three...one...two...THREE!”

They both shot beams of magic at the pearls, leading to a massive flash of light engulfing the two. Much to her surprise, Celestia was suddenly morphed into a giant white whale with a giant sun on the side of her body while Luna was transformed into a long black sea serpent that stretched out a few hundred feet.

Needless to say, the cage couldn’t hold bear their combined size and exploded outwards instantly, getting the attention of the squid. Said beast looked at the pair angrily, it’s pitch black eyes glaring at the two as it lashed out with all eight of its tentacles. The two shot forward at the magical beast,Celestia slamming her massive frame into the squid, sending it colliding hard against the cave walls. Stunned, Luna quickly wrapped her body around the beast, tightly constricting its arrow shaped head and tentacles.

The deep sea beast struggled to get free, only for Celestia to quickly bit down on the tips of its tentacles, not enough to break them but enough to stop them from moving. For a moment it seemed like they had one, only for the beast to turn it’s head slightly before two massive jets of thick black ink flew out, covering the area and sending both Celestia and Luna back.

Neither transformed pony could see anything in front of them, only the brief sound of something swimming away before the ink finally cleared, the squid long gone.

“I guess it must have fled, cowardly beast.” Luna muttered, swimming near the exit of the cave.

“Well, what’s important is it’s gone, now let’s find Nemo and get out of here.” Luna nodded to her sister’s suggestion and despite their size, both were able to exit the cave, quickly finding Nemo swimming towards them.

“Are you two alright!?”

The two transformed sisters merely offered a wave and a smile in responseas the captain came closer, taking another look around the cave.

“I’m guessing Neptune probably was the one storing all these transformation pearls here and used the Squid as a guard for it. Though why he’d want to I have no idea.”

Celestia shrugged. “I haven’t a clue either, but it doesn’t matter, we need to put a end to this.”

The trio quickly swam out of the cave before Luna and Celestia turned to the cave entrance. With a nod, they both slammed their giant bodies gaianst the rocks, causing a mountain of stone to fall onto the entrance, sealing it shut. Captain Nemo's mouth dropped as he whimpered, “B...but…”

Celestia turned around. “I’m sorry captain, but those pearls are too dangerous. We can't let them fall into the wrong hooves, one pearl is more than enough. Now, let’s get going.”

With Nemo taking one last glance at the cave, they all began to swim off, drawing close to Nemo’s own ship, they were about to board when another ship appeared on the surface of the water above. In a matter of moments Twilight of all ponies, was levitated down into the water, protected by a bubble of magic.

Upon seeing the Princesses, she immediately let out of a sigh of relief. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, thank Equestria I’ve found you. Queen Novo contacted me and said you disappeared, so I’ve been searching all across the ocean for you.” Her eyes drifted to Nemo, who only offered a casual wave, which Twilight awkwardly returned.

“Twilight, while it’s wonderful to see you again, perhaps we could continue this conversation back in Seaquestria?”

Luna nodded eaggerly. “Yes, while this excursion has been enjoyable, I’d much prefer to be back on dry land and in my own body. ”

With Nemo and the Princesses following her, Twilight quickly lead the group back to Seaqestria, earning a few surprised looks from some of the inhabitants due to their new forms.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long before Queen Novo appeared, trying to offer the pair a hug but due to the size difference was met with little success. B “My friends, I’m so happy to see you two are okay! I was worried that you two had perished and I was to blame!”

“It’s not your fault Novo, that distinction lies with King Neptune alone. He was the one who forcibly brought us to his world and all but enslaved the both of us. A situation I hope will not happen again.” Both Celestia and Luna shared glances and grimaces, recalling their experiences with the Sea King. ”

The queen nodded.”Indeed, as much as I appreciate him who helping save my kingdom in the past, I can’t forgive him for what he did to you.”

Luna shared her sentiment. “True, though he shouldn’t prove to be much of a threat now. We relinquished him of his trident and will make it a point to keep a close eye on him.”

Captain Nemo, in turn swam in, carrying the Trident in his forehooves, laying it down on a nearby table allowing Queen Novo to look at it. “My my, never thought I’d see him relinquished of his greatest treasure. Hopefully some time away from this will teach him some humility perhaps.” Turning her attention back to the princess, she swam out of the room for a moment before returning with the Pearl of Transformation.

“Now then, let’s get you two back to your original bodies. Kind of hard to run a country when can’t breathe on dry land.”

With a nod, Celestia placed her fin and Luna her long snake tail on the orb and in a bright flash of light the two were transformed once again to their seapony forms. Then without warning the Queen poked the orb at the skeletal pirate Captain,transforming into a black silky seapony. His new state actually ressemble a hippogriff, tall and nights with silver fins and a white hair going down his muzzle. Looking at ihs fins and tail for a moment, before letting out a content sigh of relief. “Finally, after all these years. I’m truly free.”

Smiling at the restored captain, Queen Novo turned back to Celestia and Luna, both giving the other a brief hug they’d likely been holding in for some time. “My friends, once again I can’t help but say how sorry I am for what happened. You can here to relax and enjoy yourselves, but because of my negligence you went through so much trouble. I only wish I’d done more to help you.” The Queen of the Hippogriffs lowered her head in shame before the two Princesses, yet was quick to find both Luna and Celestia’s fins on her shoulders. “

“You have nothing to apologize for Novo, inspite of a few issues here and there, my sister and I are perfectly fine. Besides, we’re kind of used to this sort of thing happening.”

“A little too much if you ask me.” Luna chimed in, recalling their experiences with Discord, Tirek, and most recently the Storm King to name a few.

Celestia only laughed at the memories and smiled back at her friend. “Now then, I think maybe it's time all three of us returned dry land, I feel our holiday has gone on long enough..”

Queen Novo nodded. “Right, of course.” The group quickly swam upwards until the reached the surface of the water, just outside of Mount Aris.

“Okay then, I guess this is goodbye...” She looked down in disappointment as she held the Pearl out to them, saddened their time together was cut rathert.

Celestia swam over and hugged Queen Novo. “It’s alright, you don't need to worry about anything. I'm sure we can find a way to set up another vacation soon enough.”

Luna smiled and chriped, “Indeed, don't worry about it. Besides I’m sure Captain Nemo could keep you entertained with some stories of his own deep sea exploits.”

The pirate captain just rolled his eyes as they were escorted to the surface and they all touched the orb at the same time.

Back on Captain Celeano's ship, Celestia and Luna we're discussing what happened, now finally returned to their normal alicorns selves a again.

Meanwhile, Captain Nemo stood before his daughter in his full land Griffon form still nervous over being reunited with her after so long. Of course any kind of ambient silence between the two was drowned out by Twilight all but geeking out about the sister’s exploits. Still, that didn’t help make Celeano’s glare any less intimidating to the old captain, before she turned her back to him. It seemed like an eternity before she finally let out a growl and spoke to him.“So...you were a prisoner of Neptune all this time?”

Captain Nemo nodded. ”Yeah, we were working for him until he decided to kill me and my crew when were no longer useful to him. Those two saved my life and got me back here.”

The younger captain turned,her eyes furrowed as she approached, before harshly slapping him. “You have no idea what my life was like without you! Mom and I had to fight for our survival without you. Heck, I became a pirate just to make sure I had food on our table.”

Captain Nemo slowly came over to his daughter. “Your right, there’s no way you could forgive me for leaving. But, I have to say you turned out pretty well considering everything that’s happened, you even helped destroy the Storm King. From one captain to another, that’s quite impressive and I’m proud that you’re my daughter.”

The griffon teared up, gritting her teeth before wrapping her father in a hug, which he returned, the pair not saying anything as they stood there.

Back in the bottom of the ship, Twilight, stunned over what she’d been told, clearly ha something she wanted to discuss with the two. “Well I’m glad you both are back safe and sound, things in Equestria have been a little more difficult without you two around.”

Celestia only chuckled in response. “Oh, come now Twilight, even if we were indisposed a little longer than we planned, I’m sure you were able to handle everything on your own.” Twilight blushed, embarrassed over something she wasn’t saying. “Well, um, funny thing about that. While you were gone I did almost everything you told me to while on your vacation.”

Luna eyed her suspiciously as did Celestia, and asked, ”What do you mean almost?”

Twilight gave a sheepish smile and threw out a long scroll and sisters groaned. Celestia turned to her younger sister with a deadpan expression. “If I ever mention taking a vacation again punch me in the face.”

Luna looking over the scroll, nodded quickly “I can agree to that.”

Chapter One: Welcome to Seaequestria

Having departed from Canterlot, the two Princesses found the start of their vacation to be on the dull side. The pair had been flying for several hundreds of miles over the vast terrains of Equestria.

It was only when they reached the Badlands that they finally descended to the ground below, landing in the ruins of what was once the prosperous city of Hippogiffia. It was a grave walk for the two princesses mostly for Celestia who looked up the vacant roosts of the hippogriffs still underneath the sea. Princess Luna whispered, “I don’t know much, but this is where the hippogriffs used to live.”

Celestia nodded and explained, “I came here a few times...after your banishment, Novo and I I stayed in regular contact as she became queen. But then, only a few years ago, everything went silent…”

Luna eyed her suspiciously. “Why didn't you investigate?”

Celestia sighed. “Things were difficult during that period, in addition to just a general running of Equestria, I also had to make preparations for your eventual return. Though I know that is hardly an excuse..”

Luna nodded, being reminded of how much of a burden Celestia was forced to carry with her unable to bear some of the weight. Shaking off some of her negative thought she took another glance around, noting many of the destroyed buildings, as well as a few scorch marks. ”So this Storm King...he did all this. It’s almost like having another Tirek, though atleast he didn’t have an army.”

Celestia nodded, looking sullen and useless as they continued through the empty city to the small pool where the Mane Six once stood. Princess Luna look apprehensively into the pond, staring only at her own reflection. “Well, this is it. The strange pool Twilight and her friends spoke about.”

Celestia similarly looked into the depths of the water, barely able to see but a few feet below it’s depths. “Yes. So, I suppose we just jump in?”

Her sister only to immediately jump several feet into the air when a yellow-headed creature with blue fins breached the surface. Celestia managed to maintain her composure thankfully as the stranger turned to the two princesses and chirped. “Hey there. It’s about time you guys arrived!”

Celestia, getting a better look at the stranger, immediately smiled.“Hello, you must be Queen Novo’s daughter, Skystar.”

The now identified princess nodded eagerly, practically fluttering about in the water. “Yep, yep! And you must be Celestia and Luna, Twilight mentioned you two the last time she was here and it’s soo great to finally meet you officially. Every hippogriff has been just dying to meet you.” .”

Luna, having finally recovered from her scare, returned to the ground, trying her best to play off her earlier reaction., “Ahm, yes, so I assume that everything is set up below.”

Skystar again nodded as eagerly s she had before. “Of yes, my mom is so excited to see you and all she did setting up Sequestria for your arrival.”

Princess Celestia blushed. “Oh my, I hope she didn't go overboard.”

The hippogriff laughed. “Oh, you’ll see, now come on!” The two princesses gulped as Skystar moved further out into the water while the two regal ponies waded into the water. Both immediately started to shiver and shake about, struggling to stay afloat with their wings.

Princess Skystar all the while burst into laughter. “Oh wow, you two look like swans! So pretty.”

Luna and Celestia both blushed hard, paddling about with their hooves and flapping their wings. treading through the cold water towards the hippogriff, thanking every lucky star that no pony was around to see their rather undignified display. Thankfully, their moments of shame were brief, as once they were out far enough, Skystar pulled out an all too familiar pearl, a sight which left both monarchs a tad awestruck.

“So this is the fabled Pearl of Transformation. Hard to imagine such an object even exists.” Luna eyed the orb while Celestia chuckled at her younger sisters almost childlike wonder.

“Indeed, I’d be lying if I said I had a similar reaction when I first saw it. Though I never had the pleasure of experiencing its effects.

Skystar’s grin grew ever larger as she held the pearl within arms reach of the ponies. “Whelp, now you both get to experience it. Though, it might seem a little weird at first, it’s pretty amazing.”

Both pony monarchs took another glance at the pearl before giving each other a nod and placing their hooves on the glowing jewel. Upon contact, a massive burst of light lit up the entire area, as the two princesses began their transformation.

Slowly, their back legs merged together as scaled formed over the fur and skin while their manes and tails turning into long flowing fins, same with their long wings. By the time it was over the now former alicorn princesses were now a pair of winged seaponies, much like Skystar.

Once the surprise of the initial transformation wore off, both found themselves staring in surprise, first at each other and then themselves. Each princess gave their new fins a few test movements, trying to get a proper feel for them. However, Luna, ever the eager one, immediately dove into the water, before quickly bursts back to the surface, twirling around gracefully as if skating on ice.

”Oh, my goodness, I feel so..so…”

Celestia laughed, twirling around her sister. “As if you were reborn!” The Princess of the Sun seemed to match her sisters mirth, jumped through the top of the pool and splashing back down, laughing with joy.

Skystar all the while looked at the pair with a mixture of surprise and awe. “Wow, you guys are practically naturals at this. Took Twilight and her friends a few minutes to atleast get swimming down.”

Celestia blushed at the praise as she twirled around,her long light rainbow colored tail fin fanned around her like a sash. Luna’s tail was smaller, but it sailed behind her like a blue swirl with a graceful hue of silver stars mixed into the dark bluefin.

Celestia asked, “Well, now that we’ve gotten this out of the way I suppose we should get going. I would hate to keep Queen Novo waiting after all she’s likely done to prepare for this.”.”

With a nod from both Luna and Skystar, the trio promptly dove down below the depths of the pool and into the ocean. As to be expected, it proved to be rather dark below, though Luna seemed to find the sight rather enjoyable, swimming faster and with more vigor that her sister.

The trio continued for what seemed like several minutes, before several lights managed to penetrate the dark depths they were in, eventually revealing their intended destination. The princesses found their senses met with the bright sight of a beautiful undersea city, filled with seaponies of all sizes and colors, all clapping and cheering eagerly at the two royals.

As the princess moved in closer they were surprised by the sight of a banner made of seaweed, covered in many beautiful shells, spelling out “Welcome to Seaequestria!”

Both Princesses barely had a chance to process all that they saw when several large horn shaped shells began bellowing throughout the kingdom. With the sounds echoing, the crowd wordlessly parted enough, offering a pathway to what appeared to be the main throne room of the kingdom.

The twin princesses made their way along the path, offering smiles and waves to the admiring crowd before them, until finally entering and spotting a large, white scalled seapony with purple tipped fins and a long pink tail. While Luna had an idea of who this pony was, Celestia look of joy and excitement made it all the more clear, this was Queen Novo.

Said queen quietly drifted down towards the ponies, at first seeming like she would maintain her expected royal demeanor. However, that was broken as she immediately flew into Celestia’s arms and wrapping her in a tight hug, sobbing lightly at the return of her friend.

Celestia was stunned at the embrace, but was quick to offer her friend a return hug. “It’s good to see you again Novo, I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner, especially after all the Storm King did to you and your people.””

Queen Novo shook her head, “No it’s better you stayed away. The Badlands are dangerous enough, but if the Storm King had managed to get his hands on you then, I dread what would’ve become of Equestria had that happened.”.”

As the two finally broke apart, Novo finally turned her attention to Luna.“And this must be your sister Luna. I’m so thrilled we can finally meet, face to face.”?”

Luna bowed her head a little, maintaining her own royal posture. “It is an honor to meet you as well Queen Novo.” Said posture was immediately broken by a tight hug from the sea queen. “Oh, you don’t need to be so formal around me dear. We’re all friends here.”

The Queen finally released Luna from her grip and clapped her fins getting the attention of the other sea ponies. “Alright, now that we're acquainted I'm sure you two must be starving. Come, we shall dine on the wonders of the sea tonight.”

She wordlessly led the two through the waters, across the homes of the sea, eventually arriving at a large banquet table made of coral, with the cushions made of the sea sponge. Once the Princesses were seated they were immediately served what appeared to be long strands of kelp with a side of fish eggs.

While doing their best to be respectful to their host, neither Princess could look upon the meal as something they’d normally considered appetizing, Luna herself having a hard time containing a slight look of disgust. Queen Novo however, merely laughed heartily at their reactions. “I almost forgot how funny it is watching land dwellers react to our food. Though please, don’t worry, the eggs are unfertilized and taste no different from the no chicken eggs you’d find on land.”

While that helped served to put their minds better at ease, both Princesses were still apprehensive at eating what was before them. Celestia was the first to take a bite and her eyes almost immediately lit up.“My goodness, it's delicious.”

Luna was next in starting to eat her fish eggs and gasped, “You’re right sister, it’s simply amazing.” Celestia laughed and nudged her sister, “Perhaps we should inform Twilight on what she missed out on.”

Luna laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so, she’s liable to throw a fit trying to figure out what we’re eating.”

Queen Novo, having already eaten her food, opted to continue their conversation. “Now that we are tell me, Celestia, how are things in Equestria?”

Celestia, wiping her mouth clean, waved a hoof in a general gesture. “Overall, I’d say things have been going quite well. Believe it or not, this encounter with the Storm King was far from our first 1st world ending disaster.” For a moment Celestia shuddered recalling every danger and threat that seemed to appear before her nation. “Between Spirits of Chaos, Malefic Unicorns and armies of Changelings, you could say we’ve be come quite adept at defending ourselves in times of crisis. Though I should say that much of the credit goes to Twilight and her friends.”.”

Quee Novo’s smile grew larger at the mention of the purple unicorn., “I see that Twilight has quite the reputation, that would certainly explain why she was so adamant to get our help.””

The queen’s mind flashed back to when the Mane 6 first came to their undersea city and how desperate the young pony was. Looking back at it now, brought a a deep frown to her face. ”I fear our first meeting was not on the best of terms. I was quite....disrespectful to her, and I apologize for my behavior.”

Celestia shook her head. “It’s okay, given what I’ve been told about the situation, I know Twilight was hardless blameless herself. Thankfully she has learned much from the experience and is a much better pony for it and for that I thank you, Novo.”

Queen Novo practically let out a laugh that shook the glasses on the table as she struggled to maintain eye contact. “I nearly threaten your pupil for stealing our most sacred treasure and you’re thanking me for teaching her a lesson. Oh, you truly are a treat to have around Celestia.”

“Indeed, I admit my methods are a little odd, but I’d say the results speak for themselves.”

All the while this was going on, Luna merely sat silently, enjoying the conversation between the two queens, finding it rather intriguing to see the less regal side to her sister and not wanting to interfere in her rekindling her friendship with the Sea Pony Queen.

“So Novo, with the Storm King defeated, do you have any plans to return to the surface? It would be wonderful to see you on a more regular basis.”

The hippogriff shook her head. “No, as much fun as that sounds I don’t think we will. We’ve grown rather accustomed to this way of life and we’re doing quite well for ourselves.”

Luna smiled looking around, “Indeed, I must say have to say this entire kingdom is a truly breathtaking site, but don’t you miss living on the surface?”

Queen Novo nodded, “Of course we do, but we’ve just come to enjoy our lives down here.”

Celestia seemed to share some of the sentiment, swirling her tail around in child like amusement., “I can understand why, this new body is quite a treat I must say.”

Novo laughed. ”Oh trust me, you will have a lot of time to do that. Come now, if you're done with your food, I’ll lead you to your rooms.”

Celestia and Luna swam into a sea castle, and again found themselves stricken silent, this time by the sight of a massive and beautiful bed, with a mattress made of sea sponge while the headrest and frame were made of well polished coral The rest of the furniture was equally mesmerizing, made of various types of coral with a light produced of bioluminescent bacteria that actually made the ceiling entire glow.

Finally, adorning each wall were many different but equally beautiful pictures of various sea life, structures and even a few beaches. In short the entire room seemed as though it was the pinacle of luxury and neither Princess could be happier.

Queen Novo however, didn’t seem to understand this, sighing as if she was ashamed of the accommodations. “Yes, I know. It’s probably nothing compared to you usual accommodations, but I hope it’s at least satisfactory.”

Celestia immediately cut the queen off with a tight hug that cause her by surprise. “It’s absolutely wonderful, thank you for everything.”

Luna smiled and nodded. ”Indeed, I dare say these rival the finest rooms in Canterlot.”

Queen Novo’s smile grew at the praise, any concern she had immediately melting away. “I’m glad to hear it. Well you two should get some sleep., we so many things I want to show you.”

Once Novo was out the door, both princess again marveled at the bed before them, Luna herself practically leaping onto it, bouncing up and down more than a few times, while she chuckled with child like amusement.

“Tis truly a bed worthy of the Princess of Dreams. Is it not sister?”

Celestia placed a hoof onto the mattress and marveled at how it easily sank into the spongey surface. “I dare say I’ll have the best sleep I’ve had in centuries on this bed.”

Both, now more eager to sleep than before, quickly dealt with the issues of hygiene by brushing their teeth before Luna again swam under the covers, Celestia quickly following suit, snuggling next to her sister.

“Sister, while I have worked to grow close to you and rekindled our family bond, we have two beds for a reason!”

Celestia responded by giving her sister a light bop on the nose, with her sister rolling her eyes at her sister’s immature antics.

I can see arguing with you would be pointless. Very well, we can sleep together...it has been a thousand years since we did such a thing and I suppose there’s no harm in it.”

Celesta quickly took advantage, snuggled herself underneath her sister’s fins and nuzzled her belly. Luna cuddled back as they gently fell asleep in the comfy bed and let the sounds of the sea soothe them to a long deep sleep.

When the next day came, the two princesses, hesitant at first, left the comfort of their bed and after a quick breakfast, made their way out onto what appeared to be a volleyball court on the seafloor, with shifting sands poles made of coral and a net made of long strands of moss.

Novo quickly greeted the two princesses. “Good morning to you. I hope you know how to play volleyball, otherwise this part of your vacation won’t be much fun.”

Celestia and Luna both laughed as the princess of the sun smirked, “Well, it has been some time, but I believe I still remember how to play.”

Luna meanwhile, simply waved a hoof. “Oh don’t worry about me. I used to play volleyball when I was younger. Come on, let’s do this!”

Novo quickly swam over and hugged Celestia close to her chest. “Fine then, then Celestia and I will be on the same team.”

Skystar quickly joined Luna on her side, giggling at her mother’s display of affection. “Looks like we're going to be playing together.”

Luna smiled and nodded, turning her attention back to her sister. ”So how are we going to decide who serves first?”

Quen Novo took out a sand dollar and proclaimed, “Heads.”

Skystar laughed, “Tails.”

The queen flipped the sand dollar in the air, and it fell on the sand with heads showing and Celestia did a somersault in the water. “Looks like we go first.”

Luna scoffed, “Please, winning something as trivial as a coin toss does not assure victory. Come, let us commence with the game.”

The four sea ponies then swam on the opposite sides of the net. Luna floated a little back as she was going to play defense with Skystar swimming close to the net. Celestia, however, moved up to perform offense with Novo swimming back to play on the case.

The four stared at each other with Queen Novo holding a ball made of soft sea moss as Luna and Skystar shouted, “We're ready when you are mom!”

Queen Novo nodded and then spiked the ball across the water like a jet. It sailed over the net as Skystar swam up and smacked the ball with her tail, sending it right back over. Celestia quickly returned fire, slapping the ball with her head, sending it straight for Luna who eyed the ball carefully. Like a rocket, she swam right at the ball and headbutting it back. However, she seemingly miscalculated the trajectory as ithit the net and plopped on the ground. Celestia and Novo both cheered as Luna stared at the ball in shock.

“That’s one to zero sister.”

Luna only managed to growl in frustration. “This is far from over.” Skystar meanwhile looked simply more excited that the game had begun, quickly passing the ball back to her mother.

The queen quickly picked up the ball and launched it back with a definite hit from her tall, yet Skystar was able to send it right back with another tail shot, this one managing to completely go over the Queen’s head and land right in her territory.

Several onlookers, as well as Luna herself, cheered loudly at the action. “It would appear that the score is now one to one sister.”.

Celestia rolled her eyes as Novo threw the ball to Luna who held the ball of moss in a fin. Skystar shouted, “Come on, you can do it!”

Luna rolled her eyes at the support as she tried her best to concentrate before serving the ball, clumsily slapping it...directly into the net a second time. Both Celestia and Queen Novo burst into laughter, as the ball plopped back onto the sand.

As Skystar, after offering Luna a supportive hoof, picked the ball up eager to continue, a storm started to brew as the water stirred with thunder being heard throughout the areaNovo stopped the game, swimming up and exclaimed, “Seems we need to cut this game short, this storm looks pretty bad.”

Celestia nodded as she flew over. “Well that’s alright we have plenty of days left to enjoy ourselves.” They begin to swim off only for a sudden, strong current to send Luna practically flying surface as lightning and thunder exploded across the sky. Celestia shot herself along the current shouting. “Luna come back!”

Luna tried to swim against the flow of water, but found her efforts in vain as she was quickly carried by the current, directly into the path of her sister.

Celestia, caught off guard by the sudden change in her sister’s momentum, was unable to move out of the way in time and found her sister slamming directly into her, causing everything around her to turn black, while the only sounds heard being the thunder and what she assumed were screams from Novo and Skystar.