Tide grumbled in sheer, absolute, boredom. Being stuck in hospital observation with next to nothing to do was really starting to get on his nerves. None of the books really appealed to him, the food, while healthy, was incredibly bland. His saving grace from 'death by boredom' was his sister showing up.

"Hey bro." She began. "I got those notes you asked for." She held out his new notebook, which he eagerly took. "I know I already said I'm sorry but-"

"Sis... I'm not mad anymore, but I am still disappointed. But for the record, I forgive you." He said, looking into her eyes. "How's Levi holding up?"

"He's alright. Seemed a little annoyed at the doctors poking and prodding at him though." She smiled. Tide, for his part, smiled as well.

"I don't blame him. The docs here are still trying to figure out why I have super charged healing." Tide grumbled. "When he looked at me yesterday, he said this kind of wound takes a minimum of eight weeks to heal, and that I was at what should be week 3. Today, I'm at week 5! It's only been fifteen hours!"

"Sweet Luna... " Delta gasped. "Do you think it might be permanent?"

"I sincerely hope not... I don't want to be a freak of nature." Tide sighed gently to calm himself. "Thanks, sis. I was almost positive that you'd just, throw another party back at the house."

"My friends tried to talk me into it... but... I realized how much you mean to me little bro." Giving Tide a hug, she continued. "And how badly I messed up." Delta leaned in to nuzzle her little brother. "Maybe you can teach me some stuff about the ocean next summer?" The though alone gave Tide a smile.

"Definitely."

The sound of the door opening, startled the two siblings. The doctor walked in, calmly, reading his clip board. Looking up, he gave the two siblings a smile.

"Okay, Sorry Tide Pool, but I got to look under your bandages again. And I may need another blood sample." He explained, walking up to the young colt.

"What's wrong with my blood doc?" Tide asked.

"Nothing at-" The doctor began, before being interuppted.

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't have drawn my blood five times in twenty hours. What's wrong?" Tide grumbled. The doctor grumbled. Usually on adolescent ponies, a comforting lie was sufficient to placate them. This colt was clearly to smart for that. Must be a prodigy in school.

"Okay. Something has gotten into your blood and has accelerated your healing. I'm trying to get samples at various stages of healing to try and figure out what it is." He explained, calmly. The two siblings looked at each other, each with concern on their face. Without interruption, the doctor checked the wound. "Remarkable, yet frightening." He said quietly.

"More blood?" Tide asked plainly.

"I'm afraid so." replied the doctor. "You know, it occurs to me, I know your name, but you don't know mine. I'm Doctor Stable."

"Pleasure, doc." Tide responded in kind. He felt the pinch of the needle sinking into his skin again. Looking to his sister, She had apparently blanched at the sight of blood flowing into the vial. "You okay there sis?"

"S-sorry... Just... the sight of blood makes me... urp!" She suddenly flew out of the room to the nearest restroom.

"Huh... Didn't know seeing blood did that to her." Tide remarked. "That a common thing?"

"Patients being sick at the sight of blood?" Doctor Stable asked.

"Yeah? You see that alot?"

"You'd be surprised. It's usually Unicorns that are hematophobic, but it's not that uncommon." He explained.

Tide continued to sit, patiently. Until an(admittedly pretty) Earth pony nurse stepped in.

"Excuse me doctor?" She started. "Tide here has a new guest."

"His mother?" Doctor stable guessed.

"Actually, It's - " She said, before the guest made their voice heard.

"If I have to wait, I will." Came a familiar tone from outside the room.

"P-Princess Celestia!?" The doctor gasped. "P-please, do come in!" He said, before quickly bowing.

"Please don't do that. I'm retired, and no longer your ruler. I'm just 'Celestia. Please." The sun alicorn explained. "And I'd like a word with Tide Pool, in private if that is okay?"

"Oh! Of course ma'am. I'm just wrapping things up." The doctor said, a bit too quickly.

Tide simply sat still. Awaiting whatever came next. Before too long, Doctor Stable, and his nurse both left the room, leaving Tide Pool alone, with the former ruler.

"Good morning Tide." She began. "I've heard you rediscovered a lost species?"

"Yes, I did. By accident, but yes." He responded.

"Tell me everything." Celestia said, as she sat next to his bed.

"Well... It all started about... A week and a half ago..."

~~~~***~~~~

"For the LAST. TIME. NOVO. I am not giving in!" Twilight shouted, the canterlot voice echoing in her throne room. "This young leviathan has done nothing wrong, and does NOT deserve the actions you wish upon him!"

"It's not about what he HAS done, but what he WILL do!" Novo shouted back. Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She got better arguments from brick walls.

"Like what?! Swim by and disturb your Spa day? Snore too loudly? Your acting like a petulant foal Novo, And I'm about at my wits end." Twilight growled.

"Is this a bad time?" came a new voice. Both turned their heads, to find a smug looking (former)Princess Luna.

"Hello Luna. Glad you could stop by. Um... Where is Celestia?" Twilight inquired. Finally a reprieve from Novo being a speciest!

"She's at the hospital, talking to the colt. Tide Pool was his name, yes?" Replied Luna, her head tilting slightly. After getting a nod, she continued. "Candidly speaking, I'm glad you are still hear Novo. I'd like to talk to you too."

"About how that monster must be exterminated?" Novo growled.

"No. About your past mistakes." Luna responded, her face taking on a neutral facade. "But for now, I'd like to see the specimen, Levi. If I may?"

"Guards, Keep an eye on Novo. Do not let her-" Twilight was about to order.

"Actually, I think it would be best if she came with us." recommended Luna. "Without her guard of course." She amended.

"May I ask why?" asked the arcane alicorn.

"Call it a demonstration."

~~~~***~~~~

These doctors... They just won't leave me alone! Ever since they arrived, I have been run through so many tests, I'm beginning to get frustrated. My wounds still haven't healed up completely, and they're wanting to test the 'efficiency of my swimming'... whatever that means.

One of them at least wants me to slow down and rest. Doctor Coral... She, or her son, Sandbar come in from time to time with some food for me. They always get a thank you from me. I've... never been treated so nicely. Aside from Tide Pool of course. Stopping for a rest, and after the Doctors left, I launch myself out of the water and on to the pool's edge.

"Nice breach dude!" Sandbar smiles.

"Thank you?" I'm kinda sure he meant my little jump out of the water. Laying on one of the beach chairs, I let out a squeaky yawn.

"So, dude- "He begins before I stop him.

"Why do you keep calling me 'dude'? That's not my name." I grumble, not opening my eyes. Sandbar chuckles, as a new voice appears.

"No, no. It's a word that, depending on how it's used, can mean 'good looking', or 'friend'. The way he's using it, it means friend." Terramar explained.

"I think understand... dudes." I chuckle at him.

"So, you used to live in an undersea volcano huh?" Terramar asks. They're clearly trying to make conversation. "What's it like?"

I admit, I wasn't ready for that.

"It's... very warm. The glow of the magma really... lights the place up." I answer, unsure of what they wanted to know. Terramar chuckles awkwardly.

"Okay... See anything interesting in the deep water?" He asks. Lifting my head, I look at them.

"Depends on what you would call 'Interesting'." I say.

"Like, some freaky new kind of fish, or something?" Sandbar offers. Thinking back, I remember one strange animal.

"I don't know if it's a new animal, but I remember seeing once, an animal, four flippers, long neck, and three horns on it's head." I describe.

"A tri-horned Bunyip." Terramar exclaims. "They're harmless. Unless they feel threatened. Anything else?"

"How about... an air breather, black and white color, tail like mine, Tall fin in the middle of it's back." I describe.

"An Orca! They're a type of dolphin. They're the biggest of the dolphins actually." Sandbar exclaims with a smile. This has turned into something amusing.

"Okay... Deep water fish... About three or four times as long as I am, grey or white body, red spines from the top and bottom of it's head."

"An Oarfish." smiles Terramar. "They're the biggest bony fish in the ocean, and only live in the deep. They don't come up to the shallows unless they're about to die."

Not only is this sating my curiosity, but those two are seeming to relax even more around me. This goes on for a short while, before the purple pony, Twilight, walks in with two others. One I instantly recognized. Hopping off my beach chair, I 'instinctually' take up a defensive posture, and begin to hiss and growl.

"I understand your animosity towards Queen Novo, young Levi." The dark blue pony says to me. "But she's here for a very good reason."

"Such as...?"

"Learning what she did wrong." She states simply.

I only slightly lower my position as Twilight approaches.

"Levi, please. Luna here is a friend, and she has a story to tell us." Twilight says, trying to calm me.

"Such as...?" I hiss back.

"What happened to your kind, and how my sister and I realized that it was such a big mistake." Luna says, hanging her head.

~~~~***~~~~

Tide walked quietly next to the former princess. He had told her his full story about Levi, and she had requested he be released. Doctor Stable, at first was hesitant; But when he got the explanation as what got into young Tide, he relented.

"So... Celestia. What did get into my blood?" Tide asked.

"When your friend Levi was impaled by that hippogriff's spear, some of his blood leached into yours. It was the original ingredient in our early healing potions." She explained, sadly. "Once we learned how effective it was, we went from culling them, to harvesting them."

"What?! Culling? Harvesting?!" Tide all but shouted.

"Please, Tide. Let me finish. When we first heard about it, my sister and I were much younger then. We took what the sailors all said at face value and thought they were like the Dragons of old. Just attacking ponies because they thought they were prey. When a sailor as young as yourself got hurt during one such skirmish, it was certain he was going to die. She even did die that very night. But something from the Leviathan she speared also got all over her. We were days away from land and had prepared her burial at sea, when she got up, took off her bandages, as was completely healed. That was when we learned of their healing abilities." She told.

"So what started as a culling to prevent attacks, evolved into harvesting so we can create a revolutionary new medicine. And it worked beyond our wildest dreams. Cancer became a memory for a time. Ponies with weak immune systems became athletes who never got sick. Potions like that became as common as apple cider and you can buy six from an everyday market stall, and was as cheap as dirt. Take it from an old mare who was there."

Tide was... unsure of what he just heard. Princesses Celestia and Luna both ordered and even participated in a culling of a species?

"What changed?" Tide asked, hesitantly.

"Population. We didn't realize that they don't breed every year like we or almost every other species does. So we ended up all but wiping out the species before the next breeding season... I, myself was about to strike one down when I learned that. My sister and I then realized how badly we messed up. An entire species on the edge of extinction, and the oceanic ecosystem thrown for a loop." Tears were flowing all but freely down Celestia's face. "All the animals they were prey for the Leviathan, suddenly grew out of control. Certain whales ate too much plankton, plankton became scarce, whales died of starvation, suddenly the scavengers had an abundance of food, and bred out of control. The ecosystem is a fickle thing. Not unlike a house of cards. Remove one, and the whole thing comes tumbling down."

Tide suddenly stopped, short of the Friendship University. Looking at Celestia, he saw her in a new light. Before her retirement, she always seemed like the nigh untouchable deity who could do no wrong. But not only does she freely admit such wrongs, she regrets them.

"However, the opposite can happen too. If you leave the ecosystem alone, then animals can go through whats called 'Wasting Away disease'. I've seen Tuna, Salmon, all kinds of sea life suddenly look like zombies. Pieces of flesh missing, muscle and bone literally exposed, scavengers feasting on animals literally still alive. It's a delicate balance Tide. Levi and his kind are essential to that balance."

They walked the remainder of the way in silence. Tide waving to his sister, who was now sitting in a diner, sipping at a milkshake to ease her still unsettled stomach. Looking up and seeing her brother waving at her, she waved back lethargically. As they entered Twilight's school, they began to hear Luna telling the same story.

"And now we come to you, Novo." Luna said.

~~~~***~~~~

I couldn't believe my ears... I... I just couldn't...

"And now we come to you, Novo." Luna kept on. "You have continued hunting them, relentlessly. You have even gone so far as to destroy any egg clutches you find. Haven't you noticed that the massive whales were getting scrawny? The plankton is rare? That fish are looking sick? Even the reefs, kelp forests are all either wasting away, or growing out of control? YOU have thrown balance and harmony off Novo. YOU. Not him!" Luna ranted... Was... was she fighting FOR me? I couldn't take it anymore. I dove to the deepest part of the pool... and screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. The water around me, and even the floor beneath me seemed to vibrate for nearly a minute. That was when my strength had all but left me... I didn't even hear the splashes into the pool.

"Go... he'll trust you more than me." I heard.

A small fin was placed gently upon me. I tried to shrug them off, but they didn't stop. I was crying and I knew it. I truly was the last of my kind... What future is there for me? To wander the seas... alone... I though I would some day meet up with my pod... but now... I knew it was impossible. I felt a small fin lift my head and hold it close to the owner's body. The texture of bandage rubbing against my face. Tide... I began to hum what had to have been from my mother to try and calm myself down.

Tide seemed to join in. Adding a part and making it sound more whole. Then I heard a voice from behind me.

"Chase the dog star
Over the sea
Home where my true love is waiting for me
Rope the south wind
Canvas the stars
Harness the moonlight
So she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso

Red the port light
Starboard the green
How will she know of the devils I've seen
Cross in the sky, star of the sea
Under the moonlight, there she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso
Valparaiso

And every road I walked would take me down to the sea
With every broken promise in my sack
And every love would always send the ship of my heart
Over the rolling sea

If I should die
And water's my grave
She'll never know if I'm damned or I'm saved
See the ghost fly over the sea
Under the moonlight, there she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso
Valparaiso
Valparaiso
Valparaiso"

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw everyone in the pool with me. All looking at me with varying degrees of sadness. Novo, in her sea-pony form, couldn't look directly at me. At least, until Luna nudged her. Then she slowly swam up to me.

"I... Words cannot express how sorry I am for all I have done to you. Sincerely. When we get back to the sea, I'll gladly set aside some coral for you, if you want a place to stay that is." She said, gently, and without hostility. I was... struck speechless. She continued. "I was... I was so wrong... I should have listened to Celestia and Luna when they said your kind weren't a threat... I understand if you don't forgive me... but... know you have a friend with Sea-questria, and Mount Aris." She finished.

I was so choked up I couldn't even whimper right. I just... wanted to be alone... I must have said that last part out loud.

"We're not going to leave our friend." Tide began.

"Not a chance in tartarus." Chimed Sandbar. "And I'm sure my other friends would gladly be here with you."

"A shark's feeding frenzy couldn't keep us away!" Terramar added with finality.

I... I had actual friends... they may not look like my kind but... they were still friends... My crying began again. But this time a mix of pain, and relief. Time became a blur to me as fins would pat, or rub me. Before long, I look up to the surface, and begin to slowly swim up. As my head broke the surface, I noticed that the windows in the pool room were horribly cracked. Twilight must've seen where I was looking as they all returned to their normal above water state.

"Quite a sound you've got. Those screams would have shattered them if we didn't hold them together. But we'll worry about that later." Twilight said with a small smile. "If you'd like, you can join us for dinner later. Same with everyone in this room."

"Princess? Is everything okay?" One of her guards asked.

"Everything is fine. I do apologize If you gentle-stallions are having trouble hearing right now. Your welcome to see an Otologist at the first opportunity." She replied.

"Yes Ma'am." He said as he turned away.

I followed them through the halls of the school quietly, trapped in my own head. Where do I go from here? My entire race, all but wiped out as far as I know. Do I just... wander the seas? Stay put? Or let myself wither away and die? What are my other options? It's then that I realize Tide was trying to talk to me.

"I'm sorry... say that again?" I ask.

"I said, turns out when we were impaled, some of your blood got into my body. I'm healing as fast as you are." He told me. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad... Now that I think about it... Tide doesn't smell like a pony right now. Well, that's not right either. He does smell like a pony, but... he smells... tainted.

As we enter a brightly lit room, I'm still looking down at Tide. I then notice his eyes go from a typical round pupil, to a slit... just like mine... I found this quite alarming, and grabbed the young pony.

"Whoa, hey what are you-" He starts as I move his head around to see what else is different. I only see the eyes are different, but its when one of my claws brushed his ear that I notice something else. Turning his head again, I move his ear, and brush his fur away. I found myself gasping at what I saw.

"Tide Pool... I am so sorry..." I say quietly.

"What? What is it?" He asks, suddenly scared.

"You've gotten my eyes... and... gills." I whimper.

Tide's and Terramar's friends and family, having apparently been invited by Twilight, all stood up. I heard who I believe is his family screaming out.

"WHAT?!"

"Worry not. It's not permanent. Just temporary. They'll fade after a time. It depends on how much blood leached into you." Celestia said. "I've seen this before. Remember that young mare I told you about? The one who actually died at sea, only to wake up the next day as if nothing happened?" Tide Pool nodded, his mother holding him close. I won't lie, I was a bit jealous of that little pony. "Well she developed the same. Gills, slit like eyes, an increased affinity for water? They all faded after about two months, and she was a regular pony again."

"Give it time, and It'll fade." Added Luna. "Now come. We have something for everyone. Novo, I hope you especially learned something today?" Novo suddenly looked nervous.

"Indeed... I did. I made a horrible mistake, and I intend to make up for it... However I can." She replied with finality. "And I'll be sure to pass it on to my guard, that you are not to be touched, or harassed in any way Levi. You are now a friend of ours."

"I'll.. try to make myself known more often then... I guess." I'm still unsure of how friendships work. Before long, There was food all over the table. I figured the best thing I could do was follow their example, and eat the same way they did. These ponies, I will admit, sure do know how to add flavor to bland fish.

Dinner went on, we ate, spoke, some told jokes, and more apologies were exchanged. I was beginning to grow tired of those... That was, until one of Twilight's guard came in.

"Yes, Captain Silver Sable?" She asked.

"Ma'am, normally I would have figured this letter to be a joke, given current circumstances... well... You want to read this." She said, holding out a scroll for her.

"Thank you Captain Sable." She remarked, as the guard turned, and walked out. "Dear Princess... RES Horizon... Lunar Sea... Confirmed Leviathan sighting!?" She exclaimed loudly.

Author's Note

I was going to have Celestia and Luna be as biased against Levi as Novo, but decided against it, as it was contradictory to their character. And no, I didn't want Tide to 'mutate', but not without some side effects.

Song was Sting's Valparaiso. Credit to them.

Now I do hope this chapter is received well. Our little trip MIGHT be close to an end. We'll see how we all feel. As usual, feel free to be critical of my punctuation and grammar, etc.

And yes. That is my stance on Eco-fanatics. They are right. We are the stewards of the world, but they have the roles wrong. We are a predator species, and as a predator species, we are a part of the ecosystem. Normal predators only hunt for food(as I, myself do), and as ancient humans have. But these fanatics claim that people are the worst possible thing to happen to our world, that hunting, logging, etc, should be illegal. And that's where 'Wasting Away disease' comes in. The animals are too abundant, the preadators can't keep up, and the animals are running out of food. If loggers were allowed to do their thing, then the wildfires wouldn't be as big as they are now.

However, too much intervention, can again, cause trouble. Species wiped out. It's a delicate balance. Neither too much, but not too little. The loudest tough guys, are the biggest cowards. Those who scream the loudest about pollution, are often the worst offenders(Just look at how your Prius, your windmills, solar panels are all made. Its toxic as F**k. More than the problem they're trying to eliminate.).

Probably rustled some jimmies there. That's just my thoughts and beliefs. I honestly didn't intend for this fic to become... this... but, that's how it turned out. I really do believe in ecosystem conservation, but I also think controlled harvests to maintain a constant balance is a necessity. Take too much, and everything dies off. Don't take enough, and everything runs out of control. Balance, and Harmony.