Chapters The sea was quiet on that crisp, clear morning. Not a sound could be heard, aside from the gulls high above. Then, coming out of the mist, was the royal ship of the Pony Kingdom. Dozens of sailors littered the upper deck of the ship, pulling ropes to keep the sails taut, and hauling nets up to the deck to observe the catch’s they’d made. The sailors joy resonated throughout the ship, as they sang a delightful shanty. The joy seemed doubled in the voice and heart of the Pony Princess, Pinkie Pie. This truly was where she belonged, out on the open sea. She could breathe, taste the freedom and joy of living. Not like back at the kingdom.
Her three sisters, Maud, Limestone, and Marble had previously been betrothed to neighboring monarchs across the land. So Pinkie, as sole heir, was given full responsibility of it, even when her parents were sick in bed. When they’d finally passed, the kingdom mourned for weeks, Pinkie and her sisters included. But, the pink Earth Pony didn’t want to rule. Many times she tried to pass the burden of ruling to her sisters, and every time they denied it. The three elder Pie sisters felt this would be good for their sister, to teach her responsibility. Pinkie, however, despised it. The stuffy bureaucrats, telling what they felt were the proper ways to rule (most of which involved subjugating the poor. If she decided to become Queen, Pinkie would be fair and just.), the snooty nobles detailing the latest fashion for the royal family (if she had to hear ONE MORE TIME about the practicality of cravat’s, she was going to crack. She was perfectly content in a shirt and pair of breeches. Why did clothing have to be considered so meticulous?), the chefs that insisted she try ‘delicacies’ that nearly made her puke (Apparently, a new chef, Applejack, had been hired, and she prayed to whatever deity listened that SHE wouldn’t feed her food that was liable to make her sick. Seriously, what pony in their right mind soaks tomatoes in GRAVY? They wonder why she has such a strong sweet tooth? THAT! That is why!)
The only silver lining in all of it was her faithful servant and childhood friend, Rainbow Dash. Pinkie and Dash had been inseparable since they were fillies, constantly getting up to pranks and mischief. (She remembered one time when she and Dashie had gathered a bucket of water from the well outside the castle, and with giggles that nearly got them caught, waited for one of those extra-snooty bureaucrats to approach the drawbridge, and on the wall overlooking it, once in position, they dumped the water onto their head!
Ooh, they’d got a talking to that day, but it did not miss the notice of the Queen, who’d figured out why they’d done it. After that day, a few less of those bureaucrats arrived at the castle. Rainbow Dash was loyal to a fault, both to the Royal Family as a whole and to Pinkie Pie. Yet, with the King and Queen gone, even Rainbow knew that the longer the kingdom went without a ruler, the more at risk it could be to upheaval.
“Isn’t this great, Dashie? The salty sea air? The wind in your face? Surrounded by nothing but water!” Pinkie Pie squealed, taking a deep sniff of the air as she leaned over the railing of the ship. Rainbow chuckled, following her Princess in the exact same manner.
“Oh yeah. It’s great, Pinks! You can really breathe out here, just taking it all in in one go!”
“A fine strong wind and a following sea! Queen Celestia must be in a real friendly mood,” one of the sailors said. Pinkie Pie smiled with intrigue at the unknown name. Grabbing a loose rope with her teeth, she swung down to the sailor to assist him in his duties.
“Queen Celestia?” she asked. The sailor chuckled.
“Why, ruler of the merponies, lass. Would’ve thought every good sailor knew of Celestia,” he said. At the mention of Celestia and the merponies, the sailors moved to the next verse in their shanty. Rainbow Dash, however, shook her head.
“Merponies? Come on, Pinkie, don’t listen to this egghead stuff!” the rainbow maned Pegasus scoffed.
“It ain’t ‘egghead stuff’, Miss Dash. It’s the truth. There’s an entire world of merponies under the sea!” the sailor insisted.
“AYE!” another, a mint green Pegasus, called. “Queen Celestia’s their ruler. Quite a temper, she has. When she gets angry, any and all must beware, for many a ship's been sunk at sea from the anger of the Sea Queen."
She had indeed heard legends of the merponies (her sister Maud was more than willing to indulge her in the tales. There was something about Maud’s monotone that made the stories pop to Pinkie.) but, she hadn’t heard of Queen Celestia or her kingdom.
Just then, across the waves, a beautiful sound was heard. It was a sound unlike anything Pinkie’s ears had ever beheld, the feeling it made her feel only equivalent to when she threw her first party ever (a going away/happy betrothal party to her sister Limestone.)
“Dashie? Do you hear that?” Pinkie asked, pricking up her ear to try and hear the sound better. It almost sounded like..singing.
“Pinkie, look. I know that you are averse to ruling, and I can understand why. I’m not judging you, but if the kingdom doesn’t have more than just a Princess for much longer, there’s bound to be massive upheaval!” Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie sighed, leaning further against the side of the ship to try and locate the sound.
“Dashie, you know that’s not the life for me. Maud, Limestone, Marble. They’re the ruling types. All I want is to enjoy life, to be able to bask in the joy that other ponies feel. Not as a Princess. Not constantly being escorted by royal guards through the market where I can’t look at, touch, or talk to ANYPONY! Do you know how hard it is to see a festival, a party, in the village, and I’m not able to partake? It was torture!” Then the sound came back, echoing across the sea. Pinkie grinned widely. It was singing! Somepony was singing in the most beautiful voice she’d ever heard. “There it is again! It’s a voice. There’s somepony out there singing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“Princess, no good can come from mysterious voices being heard on the waves. A bad omen, it is. We ought to head back to shore, Your Majesty!” the pony at the helm called.
“Nuh-uh! Not while I’m Captain! Follow that voice, helmsmare! Follow it to the ends of Equestria if we have to!”
“Aye-aye, Cap’n! You heard the Princess, you layabouts! Prepare to follow that voice!” With confirmations ringing, the sailors scrambled across the deck in order for them to properly chase after the mysterious voice.
“I really don’t think chasing this voice to the ends of Equestria is gonna yield anything for us but migraines, Pinks,” Dash sighed.
“Fine. 30 miles at most, Dashie, I promise. Then, we can go home,” Pinkie said. Rainbow smiled, wrapping a foreleg around her pink friend as they set off to try and find that voice. In all the excitement, none had noticed one of the fish in their net slip out of one of the holes and back into the ocean, swimming deeper and deeper until it returned to the mysterious fathoms below.
The Daughter’s of Celestia
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HASN’T SHOWN UP?!” Sunburst yelled! The orange crab was currently rehearsing with Queen Celestia’s daughter’s for the upcoming concert they’d be holding in their mother’s honor. Or at least, he was rehearsing with SIX of her daughters. (The eldest of all the Queen’s children and the only son, Shining Armor, watched from afar.) Her seventh and youngest daughter was a no-show. This wasn’t a surprise, the filly had a tendency of being late and sometimes nearly missing rehearsal. This was the first time she’d been absent ENTIRELY and Sunburst was nearly at the end of his rope. Moondancer, the eldest of the daughter’s, looked to the crab.
“She just hasn’t shown up. We’ve had Cadence on lookout, but she hasn’t seen hair nor tail of Twilight. She hasn’t even seen Spike either,” the yellow mermare said.
Sunburst sighed, smacking his claw to his face and dragging it down. This filly was going to be the death of him, he just knew it.
“We need Twilight here! She has the big solo number at the end! It’s extremely important!” Sunburst said, exasperated.
“Sunburst is right, girls. How do you think Mother will react if Twilight isn’t here for the performance?” Octavia, the third youngest, asked. Sunburst squeaked with fright at the thought. There was a reason Celestia was known as ‘Queen of the Sun’ as her fury could often match the heat of the yellow star. If there was one thing Sunburst DID NOT want, it was to be fried alive. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he turned to the six girls.
“Okay. Do any of you have ANY idea where your sister might be?” Sunburst asked, trying to keep his tone even and not crack. But the daughter’s shook their heads. The only one who would know would be their Aunt Luna and she was currently meeting with their mother. “Alright. Okay. We can fix this. Your sister always has a tendency of being...very late, so we’ll just continue on with the rehearsal and hopefully, Galaxia willing, Twilight will come back before we’re done,” Sunburst said.
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Sunburst was exhausted. Surprisingly, Twilight HAD made it to the rehearsal (with only an hour to go, but she still showed up) and had performed her solo flawlessly, not before being given a scolding by the crab. The young mermare had apologized profusely, (she’d gotten caught up in a book she’d found in the castle library and had lost track of time) and gave her word that she would be there for the performance.
Sunburst was momentarily reassured, but something was nagging him. This concert was to honor Celestia, and Twilight was being given the most important part. If Twilight missed her solo, it would not only reflect badly on her mother, but the whole kingdom. Suffice it to say, it was all hinging on Twilight. No pressure, or anything.
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Things seemed...off. It was the first time in a while that Twilight hadn’t been consistently tardy, Sunburst noticed. She’d shown up to rehearsal on time, she’d done her solo perfectly, she’d even helped some of her sisters with their harmonies. Now, while Sunburst was not one to look a gift squid in the mouth, the normalcy of Twilight’s tardiness made these recent arrivals disconcerting to the crab.
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The day of the performance had finally come and Sunburst was less nervous than usual. Celestia and Luna had already made it to the concert hall to the sounds of applause from the audience and now, the royal announcer was calling him!
“And now, introducing the royal composer and advisor to her royal majesty, Queen Celestia, I give you our conductor, Sunburst!” The crab was greeted by..less applause than the two royal sisters, and where they had received fanfare, he’d received...a kazoo. But it didn’t deter him. He was high up in the royal family, but the Queen and her sister deserved the fanfare. Sunburst was fine with the kazoo. At least it was in tune.
Taking his place at the music podium, Sunburst tapped his baton and then, with a flourish, began the concert. With voices ringing, Celestia’s daughters ran through their beautiful melody, harmonizing here and there, with nary a break nor pitchy voice to be heard. It seemed as if this was going to work, as the sister’s began to hype up Twilight’s solo. Sunburst smiled. This was it!
As the music reached a crescendo and the voices slowed down, the shell where Twilight was stationed rose and opened up to reveal....nothing. It was empty. Completely empty. Gasps ran out from the sister’s to Sunburst, Luna, and the audience. But Queen Celestia had a different reaction. Her eyes beginning to blaze, and her horn beginning to glow, the Sun Queen bellowed through the hall, sending her daughter’s, Sunburst and the audience fleeing the Queen’s wrath. Luna was the only one left, having to eventually calm her sister down. But Celestia’s yell reverberated from the halls of Canterlot, to the depths and beyond.
“TWILIGHT!!!!”
Princess Twilight grinned, gripping the seaweed satchel that was wrapped around her chest. She’d discovered a new wreck and, from the state of the hull, it looked like there would be many intact artifacts, which tickled the purple mermare with such delight. As she kicked her tail fin to get closer, she heard a huffing and puffing behind her. Turning her head, she rolled her eyes with a smile. Her very best friend, Spike, a purple and green scaly fish, was trying to keep pace behind her, while also darting his head from side to side.
“What’re you doing?” Twilight asked with a chuckle.
“Looking around for any sharks. This is dangerously close to their territory,” Spike said in a low voice.
“Sharks don’t come around at this time of day, Spike. They’d only ever come around if there was blood in the water. You’re not bleeding, are you?” Twilight asked. Spike frowned.
“Sharks don’t sleep, Twilight! They’re just constantly swimming around! Which means they could wander here!”
“Spike, you are such a guppy,” Twilight giggled. The purple fish flushed a bright shade of purple.
“I’m not a guppy,” he grumbled as he and Twilight swam into the wrecked ship.
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The purple mermare immediately set her sights on a chest situated on the far wall. She frowned as she got close. Just more useless coins. What was it about these chests that possessed surface sailors to stuff them with currency? Swimming on, Twilight was surprised to see just how intact the ship was from the inside. Waterlogged though it may have been, most of the furniture and trinkets looked intact. But, she couldn’t see anything that would’ve been small enough for her collection. Spike’s eyes were darting back and forth, as his tail hit one of the wooden dresser drawers. Out of it popped a strange item. Bent in an odd shape, and widened at one end, it was brown in color with part of it that thinned out being dark brown. With a smile, Twilight placed it in her knapsack and continued deeper into the wreck.
“Twilight, I really think we need to get out of here. My gills are telling me this is not good,” Spike said, his voice quivering.
“Oh, you’re being over dramatic, Spike. There’s nothing out there,” Twilight said, as she made it to what may have been the living area for the pony who ran the ship. It was then, that she saw it. Shining brightly was a small three-pronged metal object, which almost resembled the trident Twilight’s mother carried. Her purple eyes widened in happiness at the sight of the little object. “Spike! Look! Have you ever seen anything so wonderful?” she asked, levitating the tiny metal trident with her magic. But, Spike wasn’t listening, he was too busy shaking in fear at the silhouette that passed overhead.
A huge red shark passed over the ship, it’s eyes scanning this way and that for any wayward fish that had wandered off. It had gotten the scent of what might be one of the merponies, but wasn’t quite sure yet. Twilight gasped, as the shark passed overhead. Motioning for Spike to stay quiet, she quickly swam for an exit hole in the ship, with the purple and green fish in tow. Just as they seemed safe, the red shark charged them from behind.
“SPIKE! Watch out!” Twilight yelped, just in time for the little fish to swim away from the fast approaching set of jaws. The shark whirled around in a fury, as Twilight and Spike flipped their fins as fast as they could to get away, but the red beast was persistent. It charged again, it’s jaws wide and gleaming with sharp teeth. The mermare and the fish swam through the graveyard of ships, hoping to lose the shark, but it chased them still. As they came to a dead end, Twilight could see one of the treasure chests perched above the hole the two of them currently were in.
“SPIKE! When I say so, swim as fast as you can out of here!” Twilight said, as the shark encroached on the little purple fish. Swimming as fast as she could away from the snapping jaws of the angry shark, Twilight pushed with everything she had on the side of the treasure chest. She pushed with grit teeth, as the chest teetered on the edge of the hole above Spike and the shark. “Now, Spike!” Twilight yelled! The purple and green fish swam as fast as he could up and out of the ship before the shark could clamp down on him. With a sigh of relief, the mermare and her friend swam away from the wreck that housed the shark.
“Cheese has to know what these are, Spike! Come on!” Twilight said with a giggle, kicking her tail fin faster as the little fish followed with a groan.
“Twilight! Can’t we just go home? You know your mom doesn’t like you talking with Cheese,” he said, his heart beat finally slowing down and coming to the side of the mermare Princess.
“Don’t worry, Spike. We’ll be back before anyone misses us,” Twilight said with a smile.
Perched atop his nest laying on a rock, Cheese Sandwich, the seagull, was preening himself, and humming. The sun shone high over the bird, as his beak thread through his yellow feathers.
It had been a pretty uneventful day for Cheese. He’d woken up, flew to the Pony Kingdom to snatch his breakfast, screamed at a diving bird that came too near to his nest, and began preening. As he moved to his other wing, a voice called out to him across the water.
“CHEESE?!” The gull’s head shot up, with a smile. He knew that voice. Grabbing the device that the pony’s used to look far away, Cheese chuckled.
“WHOA! Mermare off the port bow! Twilight! How’re you doing, kid?!” he shouted, not realizing till he pulled the device away from his eye that Twilight was right in front of him. “Heh, now that was a doozy of a swim, Twi!”
"Cheese, look at what Spike and I found in a new wreck!" the Little Mermare said with delight, dumping her satchel onto the seagull's rock.
"Hey! Surface pony stuff, huh? Well, why didn't you say so! Let me take a look," he said with a grin, rifling through the contents from Twilight's satchel.
Aside from the items she'd taken from the latest wreck, she also had picked up many more that day. It had been very productive. Cheese sifted through the miscellaneous items, until his feathers gripped the small, metal trident. His beak fell open in a gasp and his eyes widened as he gazed at the mini trident. "Great Googly Moogly! I haven't seen one of these in years! Whoo-hoo-hoo! This is a doozy!"
"What is it, Cheese? What?" Twilight asked in excitement. The gull's reaction made her even more overjoyed about her find.
"It's a dinglehopper," Cheese said with a chuckle. "The surface ponies use these things to style their manes and tails. Watch!" Gripping the dinglehopper tight in his feathers, Cheese lifted it to the top of his head where a tuft of brown feathers sat, and twirled the dinglehopper through it, as if the feathers were spaghetti. With a hard yank, Cheese freed the dinglehopper from the feathers, resulting in the top of his head resembling that of a bush. "Voila!"
"A dinglehopper," Twilight said with astonishment, gazing at the little metal trident as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Carefully placing it on Cheese's rock, the purple mermare reached back into her satchel and retrieved the bulbous, curved object. "What about this one?" Twilight asked.
"Shut. My. Beak! Is that what I think it is? A bulbous banded Snarfblatt!" Cheese said, taking the object from Twilight and spinning it around. "Oh, these things are incredible. They date back to olden times when ponies would do nothing but sit around and stare at each other all day. It got very, very boring. So the ponies invented these in order to make beautiful music. Allow me." Taking a deep breath, Cheese blew hard into the curved end of the Snarfblatt. Out of the bulbous end came a coagulated mix of seaweed, sand and water. Cheese wheezed and choked, coughing hard.
"MUSIC?!" Twilight gasped, gathering up the dinglehopper and every other item and shoving them into her satchel.
"Blegh! It's stuck!" Cheese coughed, before Twilight pulled the Snarfblatt away from him with her magic.
"Oh no, the concert! My mother is going to KILL me!" she yelped, placing the Snarfblatt back into her satchel. Finally, she and Spike pushed away from Cheese's rock, waving goodbye to the bird. "Goodbye, Cheese, and thanks a lot!" Twilight said, before she and Spike dove back under the sea.
"Anytime, kiddo! Anytime!" Cheese called out to the empty sea, before returning to preen himself.
Twilight swam home, as fast as her fins could carry her, unaware that she was being watched. Two sets of eyes, glowing with malicious intent, beheld the Little Mermare, with the spikey purple fish following close behind.
Aria and Sonata, the Sirens, grinned as Twilight and Spike swam away. Each were of sinister countenance in their own way. Sonata, the blue one, was less mature than Aria, but no less evil. She possessed a childlike demeanor, but underneath simmered a mind of cunning. Aria, the magenta one, by comparison, was more akin to anger and rage-fueled emotion, and as such was less apt to fully concocting her schemes.
But the two of them, even combined, posed little threat to Twilight and Spike. No, the two of them were merely a looking glass for the true terror of the sea.
The estranged younger sister of Celestia and Luna, Adagio.
The three royal sisters, when they were growing up, lived together in harmony. But once grown, Adagio became ambitious, eager to assert her independence from both of her sisters. The biggest example being her unwillingness to conform to the visage of a merpony. She found her natural Siren form to be beautiful, but Celestia disagreed. Luna, fortunately, was more willing to give her younger sister the acceptance she desired. But it wasn’t enough.
Eventually, Celestia and Adagio’s relationship deteriorated, leading to Celestia issuing an ultimatum to her youngest sister. Either Adagio would conform to the visage of a merpony or she would be forever banished from the court. With that, Adagio’s hatred for her elder sister nearly filled her inner being, along with disdain for Luna for not standing up for her. But, Adagio reluctantly conformed as Celestia wished, and the three sisters returned to their joint rule. That is, in public. In private, the story was different.
As the years wore on, while she was blessed with her children, Celestia’s temper grew. Her patience, in turn, began to wear thin. As such, Luna was always needed to keep her sister in check, as well as to mentor her nieces and nephew. But, Adagio followed a different pastime. If she could not be happy in her natural form, then she would seek another way to gain her happiness. And she did, in the practice of black magic.
It was this practice which sealed her fate.
It was on the day of the celebratory banquet for the birth of, ironically, Twilight. All the creatures of the sea were in attendance, paying their respects to the little sea poppet.
Adagio, too, was scheduled to be in attendance. But she arrived late, and not alone.
Flanking her were Aria and Sonata, shocking Luna and enraging Celestia. It was clear to the Sea Queen that her younger sister had used the black arts to split herself in thrain to create the other two beings. Adagio, Aria and Sonata, however, did not see fault in their arrival, and as such, proceeded to try and bless Twilight as everyone else had. But Celestia denied them, ordering Adagio to destroy the other two or face banishment.
Finally, the youngest royal had had enough. Her hatred had grown steadily through all the time she continued to spend in Celestia’s court, and now, it was full to boiling. Not only did Adagio refuse to follow Celestia’s order, but she, in fact, attempted to attack her sister, with Aria and Sonata’s assistance. Adagio had decided that if they could not rule jointly, then she would rule alone. But, with Luna’s assistance, Celestia was able to defeat and banish all three Sirens, and there they remained, in the hollowed-out carcass of an ancient sea beast, deep in the depths of the Dark Waters.
Adagio watched through Aria and Sonata’s eyes, sneering at the sight of her youngest niece. The pain she’d endured at the celebratory banquet had not yet left the lead Siren.
“Yes, hurry home, Princess. We wouldn’t want to miss Mummy’s celebration now, would we, hmm?” she snarled to Twilight’s image. “Ha. Celebration, indeed. Please! In my day, we had grand and fantastic feasts, when I still lived in the palace.”
Unfurling herself from within the shell she called a bed, Adagio slithered to her vanity.
“Now look at me. I’m wasting away to nothing out here! Banished, exiled, practically starving. Shining Armor and the girls have all been forbidden to even speak about me, and the last time Luna came around, well, I can barely remember. While Celestia and her sycophantic subjects celebrate her continued rule. Ugh! They’re all deluded! They cannot see her for what she is, and yet I’M labeled as the monster! If they want to celebrate, I’ll give them something to celebrate!”
Flaring up her magic, she levitated a tube of lipstick and applied a thick layer of it to her lips, before turning back to Twilight’s ever-retreating image.
“Aria! Sonata! Follow my dear niece. I want you both to keep a very close eye on her, understand?” she barked to her sisters, before a grin filled with nothing but pure evil stretched across her face. “She may be the key to Celestia’s undoing.”
"I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young filly!" Queen Celestia said, shaking her head in exasperation. She sat on her throne, with Luna beside her and Sunburst perched upon her crown.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I just forgot," Twilight said.
Celestia sighed at her daughter's excuse. "As a result of your careless behavior.."
"Careless AND reckless behavior!!" Sunburst snapped from within the prongs of Celestia's crown.
"Yes, careless and reckless behavior, thank you, Sunburst. Anyway, as a result, the concert was..." Celestia began again, before Sunburst swam straight toward Twilight's face.
"IT WAS A DISASTER! That's what it was!! Completely and utterly ruined!! This concert was supposed to be the pinnacle of my distinguished musical career. Now, because of YOU, I'm the laughingstock of the entire kingdom!" the crab howled at the Little Mermare. Luna frowned at Sunburst's behavior, before Spike swam straight up to him in anger.
"LEAVE HER ALONE! It wasn't her fault!" he shouted. Sunburst paddled back in shock until he bumped into Celestia. The little fish gulped at the glare the Sea Queen shot at him, before swimming back to Twilight's side.
Luna looked from her sister to her niece, before she turned her gaze to the purple-and-green fish. "Well then, proceed, Spike. Give the explanation as to where you and Twilight were during the concert," she said kindly, before looking at her sister and raising her brow.
"Yes, Spike. Proceed," the Queen said, sitting back in her throne.
Spike gulped, looking from the solar monarch to the lunar monarch, before nodding fast. "Right. Right, um, well...it's easy to say where we were and what happened. First, this shark chased us. Yeah, yeah. And we tried to..." he said, breathing hard to demonstrate the frantic swimming that he and Twilight had to do. "But, we couldn't, and then he..." Spike continued, growling loudly and pretending to be Garble the Shark.
Celestia and Sunburst looked at each other with skeptical eyes, where as Luna kept her gaze solely on the little fish.
"And...And we...WHOA!" Spike hollered, spinning around for emphasis. "And then we were safe," he sighed happily. Luna smiled warmly, until Spike continued. "But then, there was this seagull! He came down and was like, "This is this, and that is that, and..."
"Seagull?" Celestia asked, sitting up in her throne. Spike gasped, clamping his fins over his mouth before hiding within Twilight's mane. The lavender mermare gave him a look, as Celestia swam toward her daughter, Luna behind her.
"Oh, you went up to the surface again, didn't you? Didn't you?" Celestia accused. Luna's eyes darted to her niece's, as she sighed.
This wouldn't have been the first time Twilight had gone to the surface. Luna had to partly blame herself for Twilight's fascination with the surface world, as she had brought her her first book from there. Where exactly she'd got it from, Celestia never found out and Luna never told, but regardless, it was that first book that expanded Twilight's mind, referencing places such as Manehattan, Fillydelphia and places such as that, exotic and strange places that the Little Mermare could only dream about. After that, Twilight started venturing out herself to the different sunken wrecks that were scattered around to find different pony oddities. Of course, she was never sure what they were, and so she would always bring them to Cheese for appraisal.
"Nothing happened," Twilight said reassuringly. Unfortunately, it did nothing to ease her mother's mind.
"Twilight, we've talked about this. You could have been seen by one of those barbarians, those surface dwellers, those Ponies!" Celestia said. Twilight frowned.
"Mom, they're not barbarians! How can you say that?! You barely know them!"
"I know enough about them to know that they're dangerous, Twilight!! Do you think I want to see my youngest daughter ensnared by fish-trapper's net?!" Celestia asked, placing her hoof under Twilight's chin.
"Mom, I've been alive for 16 moons now! I'm not a foal anymore!" the lavender mermare glared, pulling her head away from her mother's touch.
"Do NOT take that tone with me, young filly! As long as you live in MY ocean, you will abide by MY rules, do you understand?!" Celestia snapped.
"But Mom..."Twilight protested.
"And that is FINAL! I do not want to hear another word about the surface ponies and I NEVER, EVER want you to go up to the surface world again. Is that clear?!" the Sun Queen bellowed. Twilight's eyes watered, and her bottom lip quivered, before she swam away crying.
Celestia's eyes widened at the reaction, a pang of guilt hitting her heart. Sunburst, however, simply scoffed.
"Hmph! Teenagers, Your Majesty. Give them an inch and they will swim all over you," the crab said.
"SUNBURST! That was uncalled for," Luna barked at the crab, who jumped in shock. Then, she turned to her sister. "That was quite a display, Tia. Well done," she said sarcastically. Celsetia sighed, slumping into her throne.
"Do you think I was too hard on her?" she asked to both.
"Of course you were," Luna said as Sunburst, in unison with her, said, "Definitely not."
Celestia looked at her two advisors and sighed, motioning for Luna to explain her point.
"Tia, Twilight is young. Not just that, she's also smart. Very smart. Yet you still wish to have her partake in the concerts when you're not even sure if she enjoys it," the lunar monarch began. Suburst spluttered at her words, but Celestia simply motioned for Luna to continue. "How is she supposed to open up to you when you are so quick to lose your temper. Besides, you never have taken any time to learn what interests she has. You are the Queen, Tia, I am not denying that, but you could learn something from your daughter. Why are you so afraid to let Twilight grow how she wishes?"
"I am afraid that she could turn into Adagio, Luna. You remember the day of the banquet! The atrocities that Adagio created," Celestia replied.
"Twilight is NOT Adagio, Celestia. Our sister was troubled, more troubled than Twilight is. Twilight simply wishes to be happy and live her own life, Adagio was jealous of you. They are two very different things, Tia. I understand Adagio's fall still weighs heavy on you, but if you keep looking around expecting another version of her to appear, you will only serve to hurt your children and yourself," Luna concluded.
"Thank you, Luna. Truly, your wisdom is unprecedented. Suburst, your point?" the solar monarch asked.
"It's simple, Your Highness. If Twilight were my daughter, I'd show her who's boss! No more flitting up to the surface, no more of this fascination with surface ponies. She needs round the clock surveillance, constant supervision, someone to watch her," the crab said simply. Luna frowned, shaking her head. That was the exact OPPOSITE of what Twilight needed, but Celestia smiled and nodded her head.
"You are absolutely right, Sunburst! Twilight needs someone to watch out for her," she said.
"Absolutely she does," Sunburst agreed.
"She needs constant supervision," the Sun Queen continued.
"Yes, constant," the crab replied.
"And YOU are just the crab for the job! You keep an eye on Twilight and make sure she stays out of trouble!" Celestia chuckled. Sunburst paled, but bowed and nodded, swimming away from the two royals.
"Tia, did you not hear a word I said?" Luna sighed.
"Every word, Luna, but you must understand. Twilight is my child, her safety is my priority. I understood your point perfectly, but the risk is too great. I'm sorry," Celestia said.
"And you believe Sunburst can do the job?"
"Sunburst is my most loyal advisor, second to you, Luna. He will do as he's told. I'm sure of it."
Luna frowned. Something in her gut said that this was only going to get worse before they got better.
Sunburst swam away from the Sea Queen and her sister, muttering to himself.
"For the love of the Sun, how do I get myself into these situations? I should be writing symphonies, not following after some headstrong teenager!" As he lamented to himself, Sunburst noticed Spike and Twilight seemingly conspiring together. The crab's brow raised, as he saw them swim off faster than normal. "What is that girl up to?" he asked, following behind them as best he could. Easier said than done, however. The purple mermare and the spikey swam at a pace that Sunburst was not used to. He was thankful, after about a half mile, that they finally stopped. Catching his breath, he saw Twilight and Spike pull away a rock leaning against the base of a larger rock. Spike swam into the now revealed hole first, before Twilight followed him.
The yellow crab gasped, having to speed toward the rock before it plugged up the hole again. He was lucky he got through right before the rock slid back into place or he might have lost a leg, or three. Taking a deep breath, he ventured deeper into what had now been revealed to be a grotto, before his mouth fell open in shock.
The entire grotto, from top to bottom, was FILLED with surface pony trinkets! Sunburst couldn't even identify them, but he knew they'd come from the surface, nothing of their sort was found below the waves naturally. On a small outcropping, in the center of the Grotto, was Twilight with Spike above her. He looked on in sadness, as the Little Mermare stared at the Dinglehopper. Her satchel lay on top of a round metal object, that looked much like a sand-dollar, next to her. The Snarfblatt hung out of it. Directly in front of her was a large object with 3 prongs, where a small angled object made of metal sat on one side. On the other side, a similar small metal object, with a round head, sat on the other side.
"Twilight? Are you okay?" Spike asked sadly.
Twilight sighed, twirling the Dinglehopper slowly in her hoof. "If only I could make my mother understand. I just don't see things the way that she does, Spike. I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad," she said wistfully. Sunburst frowned from his hiding place, as he watched Twilight pine for the surface world.
"I mean, look at all of these things, Spike! Aren't they incredible? In all the sea, you'd have to say I'm the only mare who has everything. Somepony could look around and think my collection was complete, couldn't they?" she asked, placing the Dinglehopper in the empty center prong, creating a beautiful display with the other two.
"I mean, so many of these treasures, so many strange and wonderful things and all of them serve a different purpose! Like this one!" she said, pulling down a circular object attached to a string.
With a flourish, Twilight popped open the lid, revealing the white face with two black arrows. "Cheese called this a gizmo! Apparently, it's supposed to bring the surface ponies good luck when the two arrows are in the same position! Then there's this one!" she said, holding up a long metal rod that was round at one end, with gems encrusted into it. "Cheese says this is a whatzit, a surface pony weapon from old times! They apparently used it to bludgeon their enemies. Thank goodness they don't use them anymore, huh?" she said with a giggle, placing the whatzit down.
Sunburst rolled his eyes, as Twilight continued to gush.
"Then there's my thingamabobs! Cheese says they were given out as party favors at surface pony parties! I've got 20 of them! See!" she said with a smile, opening a wooden box to reveal that she did indeed have 20 thingamabobs. Then, her face fell in sadness, as she closed the box and placed it down. "And, don't get me wrong, all of these things are great, but...it's not enough. Scavenging through wrecked ships has become stale. I want more!"
Sunburst watched cautiously, as Twilight's desires grew.
"I want to be where the ponies are! I want to be able to see them dance, like in the performances described in the book from Aunt Luna," she giggled, taking Spike and spinning him around in giddy happiness as the hidden crab harrumphed
"You can only get so far with a tail and fins, Spike. Hind legs are needed for cantering, prancing! Even going for a casual walk down...what's the word? Oh yeah! Down the street! "
"The surface world! Up there! That's where I wanna be. Where the ponies run, and walk and play. Just to be able to wander, to roam, to be free! That's what I want! To be part of that world!" She looked up wistfully to the opening in the grotto, the moon shining above the waves.
In that moment of bliss and dreamlike wonder, Twilight let her imagination run wild. She let it carry her above the waves and onto the surface. She could almost feel the wind on her face, and the grass between her hooves. She let her desire carry her up, up, up toward the hole in the top of the grotto. It was so close! So close she could nearly taste it. To be able to live out of the water, to lazily spend a day laying warm on the sand, oh, what she would give for that.
"Oh Spike! I'm ready! I'm ready to know what everypony else knows! I want to ask them my questions and get actual answers, answers from creatures who really understand! To learn, Spike! That's what I want! To learn! Learn what a fire is, and why it burns, learn what a 'windmill' is, all of the things I read from the book Aunt Luna brought me!"
In a flash, she grabbed the very same book and flipped through it, giggling. "Just look at all of it, Spike. All these wonderful things, and they're all up there, while I'm down here!"
With a sigh, she closed the book and placed it on the shelf with a bunch of other books, as she began to swim toward the hole up above once again, her desires now coming out as pleading. "When will it be my turn, my chance? To be able to finally explore the land above! Just to be out!! That's what I want, truly! To be out of the sea!" she yelled out, raising her foreleg up through the hole and toward the waves. Out of reach.
Sunburst gasped. Twilight slowly began to float back down to the floor of the grotto, her eyes tearing up. "I just wish that I could be...part of that world." Even in soft tone of voice that came from her throat, her natural, beautiful singing voice carried those last four words up through the grotto and out, out through the hole at the top of the grotto, up past the waves and finally, finally dissipated high above the clouds of the Pony Kingdom. Silence reigned, as Twilight and Spike simply sat in her grotto, surrounded by her trinkets, her surface pony collection. To the Little Mermare, it would be the closest she felt she would ever get to truly be part of that world.
Pinkie Pie and the Storm at Sea
KRA-CRASH!
Twilight and Spike gasped, as the sound of a bunch of trinkets falling off the shelves shocked them. The two looked to see Sunburst glaring from within a bunch of them!
"Sunburst!" Twilight gulped, as the crab began freeing himself, throwing the trinkets this way and that.
"TWILIGHT! What are you...? How could you...? What in the name of the Sun is all this?!" he asked, still wrapped up in thread with a fishhook clutched in his claw.
"It's, um, just my collection," Twilight said, sheepishly.
Sunburst chuckled, nodding and rotating the the fish hook. "Oh, right. Of course, I see. Your collection, hm?" There was a pause, before the court composer began pulling the thread off of him and throwing the fish hook in a rage. "IF YOUR MOTHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE!!!"
"You're not gonna say anything to her, are you?" Spike asked, shooting a slight glare at the crab. The purple fish may have been a bit timid, but when it came to Twilight, he became a shark.
"Please, Sunburst. She'll never understand," Twilight pleaded desperately to the crab. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to find this place.
"Twilight. Twilight. You're clearly under a lot of pressure down here, I get that. Come on. Let's head back home and get you something hot to drink," Sunburst said with a smile, taking the lavender mermare's hoof into his claw as he began leading her away.
Just then, a muffled thud resonated above the water. Twilight turned her head up in confusion, as she saw a large dark shape obscure the moonlight for a few seconds. Her eyes widened, as she pulled away from Sunburst and swam toward the light, almost in a trance.
"What do you suppose...?" she asked more to herself than her friends, as she slowly ascended toward the surface. She saw the same dark shape slowly moving below the waves, which she recognized as the bottom of one of the surface pony ships.
"Twilight? Twilight?!" Sunburst called to the ever retreating mermare, as he and Spike swam after her.
Breaching the surface, Twilight was assaulted with bright, flashing lights and thunderous sounds. Her eyes adjusted, as she saw a large, three-mast ship moving ever so slowly across the surface of the water, shooting off brightly colored fireworks. Giggling, Twilight simply stared in delight at the surface pony ship. She'd seen many below the waves, after they'd long been wrecked, but seeing one intact with the sails unfurled, was truly a sight.
Spike and Sunburst breached on either side of her a moment later, but Twilight paid them no mind.
"Twilight, what are you...?" Sunburst started, before one of the flashes from the fireworks alerted his attention. He turned and gasped at the sight. "Sweet Sunfish! It can't be!"
Without a moment of hesitation more, Twilight dove back under the waves and swam straight for the large ship! Spike followed beneath the waves, as Sunburst simply tread water, calling back to the Merpony Princess.
"TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT! Please, come back!" he yelled, but Twilight did not heed his calls, getting closer and closer to the ship. Finally, she was right below it, and could see that it was lit by many brightly colored lanterns, giving the upper deck a golden glow. Slowing down her flipping tail, the Little Mermare could hear laughter and music from the top of the deck and used her magic to slowly pull herself up the side until she could see from an opening on the side. And what a sight she did see!
The sailors played various instruments, many Twilight did not know the name of which only intrigued her further. The ponies were all clearly merrymaking, and she smiled in delight at the festive nature, her head turning this way and that to take it all in. Suddenly, she saw a small, green scaly creature waddle across the deck. His elongated snout, that reminded Twilight of a dolphin, was bumpy and his large eyes that sat squarely on the top of his head were purple, almost a similar purple to her mane. The ponies all laughed, playfully dancing around the green little creature, who simply flicked his long pointed tongue along his snout. Then, one of his purple eyes turned to Twilight.
Making a vibrating noise from his throat, the little creature waddled to the opening on the side of the ship. Twilight gasped, attempting to obscure herself in the darkness of the side of the ship and hoping the little green creature would move away. Slowly poking her head back out, Twilight came snout to snout with the little creature. She gulped, worried at what he would do, before his long pointed tongue simply shot out and landed right between Twilight's eyes, below the base of her horn. Twilight giggled at the feeling, before a high-pitched voice called out.
"Gummy! Here, Gummy!"
The little green creature, Gummy, blinked his eyes one at a time, before bounding toward the pony who'd called, making small squeaking and vibrating sounds at them. Touching the spot where Gummy's tongue had hit, with a small smile, Twilight moved back toward the opening on the side of the ship. That is when she saw her.
"Come on, you silly gator! What are you doing, Gummy? Huh? Hehe!" Twilight gasped at the sight of the pony that Gummy had started playfully gnawing on.
Her coat was a beautiful, bright pink which almost seemed to glow in the light of the lanterns. Her big blue eyes shone with mirth and laughter, and her curly mane was of a darker pink, but it seemed to bounce around on top of the ponies head like it had a life of it's own. She was dressed in a puffy white shirt, a red sash, and grey trousers. Twilight was in awe at the mare she beheld, and a feeling unlike anything she'd felt before began to well up inside of her. With a small smile and her eyes shining, she simply watched as Gummy and the pink pony began to dance around, the pony herself beginning to blow into a long slender instrument.
"HEY KIDDO!"
The bliss was momentarily broken by the sudden arrival of Cheese, who flapped close to Twilight with a chuckle. "Quite a show, eh? I tell ya, these surface ponies really know how to throw a party!" the seagull said.
"Cheese, be quiet! They'll hear you!" Twilight hissed at the bird, before returning to watch the pink pony and the little green gator.
"Oh. I got ya, I got ya! We're being intrepidaceous, huh? We're out to explore and discover!" he squawked, before Twilight clamped his beak shut.
"I've never seen a pony this close before," Twilight said wistfully, as the pink pony bounced across the deck, still blowing into the long Snarfblatt. "Oh. She's very lovely, isn't she?"
"I don't know, Twi. She looks kind of green and slimy to me," Cheese said, as he watched Gummy's tongue flick out and hit his large purple eye.
Twilight giggled. "Not that one! That one!" she said pointing at the pony. "The one playing the Snarfblatt," she continued dreamily.
Suddenly, the music began to stop, as a blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane approached. Twilight was astonished. Aunt Luna told her of the Pegasi, they were distant cousins of the Surface Ponies, but she'd never seen one before.
"Okay! Okay! Settle down, everypony! Settle down! It's now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Princess, and my very best friend, Pinkie Pie, with a very special, very expensive, very awesome and very large birthday present!" the blue pegasus said, motioning to a large tarp covered object wrapped in a red bow.
Pinkie Pie giggled, and hugged the blue pegasus tight. "Aw, Rainbow Dash, you old soft serve! You shouldn't have," she said.
The pegasus, Rainbow Dash, scoffed and rolled her eyes before pushing Pinkie off of her.
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, happy birthday, Pinks," she said, as the tarp was removed to reveal a large marble statue in an...exaggerated likeness of Pinkie Pie, posed on a rocky outcropping. The statue wore a very poofy tunic, with a cape draping down her back. One of her forelegs was propped up on the stylized 'P' near the very front of the pedestal. The head was angled toward the sky, and in her other foreleg she held a large broadsword. The real Pinkie Pie took one look at the statue and was filled with confusion. Gummy's eyes narrowed and hissed at the sight of the marble likeness, or lack thereof, of his mistress.
"Uh, gee, Dashie...ha!" she giggled, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's, uh...It's really something."
"Yeah, I know. Didn't I tell you? Isn't it awesome? I had it designed myself," Rainbow Dash smirked. "Though, I did initially commission it to be a wedding present," Rainbow Dash frowned.
"Dashie, come on! Don't start!" Pinkie laughed, slowly approaching the side of the ship. "You're not still sore that I didn't fall for the Princess of Saddle Arabia, are you?"
"Pinkie, it's not just me. The entire kingdom wants to see you happy and settled down with the right pony. Doesn't even have to be a pony. A griffon, a kirin, anything!" Rainbow Dash said in exasperation.
Pinkie sighed, sitting on the side railing, as she looked out to sea. Unbeknownst to her, Twilight and Cheese were sitting right under her, the former staring up at her with eyes full of wonder and affection.
"She's out there somewhere, Dashie. I know it. I just...I just haven't found her yet," Pinkie said.
"Well, maybe you just haven't been looking hard enough."
"Oh, believe me, Rainbow, when I find her, I'll know. I won't even have to rely on my Pinkie Sense. It'll just, bam, hit me, like lightning!"
Almost as if willed by her words, Pinkie's hindlegs began to twitch, and her tail began to shake, and then a crash of lightning rang across the sky!
"Hurricane coming!"
Twilight gasped at the sky being lit up by the lightning, as the wind began to pick up, until it blew furiously, pitching and yarring the ship violently. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash rushed across the deck to help the sailors, as Gummy shuffled in place, unsure of what to do and scared.
The waves roiled below the ship, moving Sunburst and Spike back under the waves. Cheese tried to hold fast to one of the ropes on the side, but the wind wouldn't have it, pulling at him harder and harder.
"WHOA! The wind's on the move all of a sudden!" he squawked, before being flung into the air and sent spinning away, calling out Twilight's name as the wind pulled him up and up and up.
Aboard the ship, the Captain attempted to right it, but to no avail. The wind howled and roared, as a large amount of sea water soaked the deck. Pinkie raced to the helm to grab the wheel, trying to hold on with all of her might. A mighty wave manifested directly underneath the ship, before the wind threw Twilight back into the water and away from the large vessel. Not wasting anytime, she swam back toward the surface of the water again, her heart filling with dread at what might happen.
Just then, a large lightning bolt struck one of the sails and set it ablaze! Twilight gasped in horror at the sight, as the bow of the ship neared ever closer to a set of jagged rocks.
"EVERYPONY LOOK OUT!" Pinkie yelled too late, as the hull of the ship hit the rocks. It rumbled and shook, before Pinkie and the rest of the crew members, along with the statue, fell over the side.
Rainbow Dash breached the water, before Pinkie, inside one of the freed longboats, pulled her in. "Don't worry, Dashie. I've got you," she said.
"Thanks, Pinks," Rainbow said with a cough.
Just then, a set of multiple squeaks came from the broken hull of the burning ship. Gummy bounced up and down, his purple eyes darting this way and that.
"GUMMY! Oh no! Hold on, I'm coming!" Pinkie shouted, leaping into the water and swimming to the side of the ship. She climbed up and leapt back onto the splintered deck, before the mast with the burning sail above her began to creak. She gasped, as it toppled, and the flames traveled below decks to where the chests of extra fireworks were stored. Gummy jumped up again, squeaking in fright, as Pinkie stood up on her hindlegs and held her forelegs up to the little green gator. "Come on, Gummy! Jump! You can do it, I'm right here!" Gummy's tongue slid over his muzzle before he galloped close toward the edge of the wood and leapt into the air, straight toward his owner. Pinkie caught him with ease, giggling a little and kissing his head. "Good boy, Gummy." With Gummy on her back at a quick pace, Pinkie raced toward the side, but the wood gave and her right hind hoof fell through. Gummy flew off her back and toward the surface of the water. "OH NO! CATCH HIM, DASHIE! HE CAN'T SWIM!!"
Rainbow Dash set her brow and opened her wings, quickly catching Gummy in her forelegs. "Got him, Pinks! Now it's your turn!" she yelled up! Pinkie yanked at her hind leg, trying to free it. The flames surrounded the barrels of pop glitter, a special glitter Pinkie herself had made that was highly flammable and explosive. Within a fraction of a second later, the entire ship exploded!
On the lifeboat below, Rainbow Dash and the crew watched in horror. Just beyond, unbeknownst to them, Twilight matched their expression. She frantically searched for where the pink mare could have gone, finding her unconscious over a piece of soaked broken wood. Another swell of waves pulled Pinkie under, and with a speed that she did not realize she could achieve, Twilight dived down to save the Pony Princess. With a firm grip around Pinkie's barrel, Twilight carried them both to the surface of the water, as the wreckage of the ship burned behind them. In the distance, Gummy's squeaks echoed across the waves, as Twilight carried Pinkie's unconscious body toward the shore.
Author's Note
Next chapter done and, wow, was this a wringer of a chapter. I wanted to get most of Twilight's first glance at Pinkie done, and then began the beginning of the storm at sea. But, I didn't like the idea of splitting it up, as I wanted the 'Part of your World' reprise to be it's own chapter. So, I decided to try and write the whole thing, and this was the result. Honestly, I think this came out really good. The next chapter is the reprise and that's gonna be pretty short. Until then, everypony!