Many years ago, a once-thriving kingdom lived on a set of islands. It was made up of Hippogriffs, creatures with half the bodies of eagles and half the bodies of ponies. They lived in peace for many generations, until a group of innocent-looking visitors turned into a full-scale invasion, lead by the power-hungry Storm King. The invasion became so dire that their leader, Queen Novo, used her magic pearl to transport as many hippogriffs down into the depths of the ocean below and transformed them into Seaponies.
They lived in isolation and fear, until a group of ponies and other creatures defeated the Storm King, therefore removing the fear and replacing it with freedom once more. It was as soon as the end of celebrations for their newfound peace that Queen Novo wished for Seaponies to return to Mount Aris as Hippogriffs, but their islands had become derelict and uninhabitable.
As such, she made a decree for restoration to be underway so that the islands can be returned to their former glories. The restoration of largest of the islands, home to the Hippogriff’s monarchy and capital city, was being led by her brother-in-law, Prince Sky Beak.
For months, he would travel between Mount Aris and his home in Seaquestria, where he would talk about how the work is going in Mount Aris. It was a particular topic of awe and intrigue for his two children, both of whom had lived their entire lives in the coral reef of Seaquestria. One morning, the whole family had just finished having their usual breakfast.
“Okay, I’m off to work!” proclaimed Sky Beak.
“Be safe, dear!” his wife responded the cautious younger sister of Queen Novo, Princess Ocean Flow.
“See you later, Dad!” their young son, Terramar, followed. But before Sky Beak could get another word out, he was suddenly caught in a hug by their elder and enthusiastic daughter, Silverstream.
“Hey Daddy! Can I go up with you today? Please?” she asked as eager as ever as she hooked her arms around his head. Before he could get an answer, he could see Ocean Flow was not keen on the idea, placing one of her finned arms on Silverstream’s shoulder as she slowly shook her head with a worried look.
Not wanting to cause an upset, all he could do was return an apologetic smile.
“Uh…sorry sweetie” he answered, as carefully unhooked himself from his daughter’s grasp. “Maybe another day, when work isn’t so busy.”
The last thing he sees before leaving the house was Silverstream’s smile start to turn into a disappointed frown, and as he swam away, she remained floating in-place as Terramar started to clear away the table. As her mother, Ocean Flow felt compelled to talk and reason with her.
“Silverstream, could you help your brother with tidying up?”
Silverstream turned around, revealing a peeved stare directed towards her.
“Moooooom!” she started to complain. “Why won’t you let me go up to Mount Aris with Dad?”
“Silverstream, you must understand that your father is doing a lot of work to make the whole island safe, and it is not ready yet.” Ocean Flow answered, remaining calm as she made her attempt to reason. “You should wait and spend quality time here where it’s safe, like all the other Seaponies.”
“But I’ve been waiting for months,” she whined “and I’ve seen everything down here, so I wanna see everything up there! I wanna be a hippogriff!”
Although it was getting on her nerves, Ocean Flow managed to control her tone.
“You just have to be patient,” she spoke assertively, “we can talk about this later tonight, okay?”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to settle the situation. Silverstream fumed and swam straight past her mother and brother directly to her bedroom in a sulk and slammed the door so no one could enter. Ocean Flow let out a deep sigh, bothered by the heated exchange and needing to calm her building nerves. She turned to her son, who was left frozen still holding a plate during the ordeal.
“Terramar, I need to speak with your Aunt Novo at the palace” she calmly informed him. “Make sure you both stay inside and don’t let anyone in unless they are family, understood?”
“Yes, mom,” he answered, not wanting to make a fuss as he returned to washing the dishes.
As Ocean Flow departed her home, she notices a necklace hanging on the wall. It was no mere piece of jewellery, but an old family item that featured a tiny shard of a magic pearl like the one that could transform hippogriffs into seaponies.
She contemplated taking the necklace with her, as she usually would when travelling out, but ultimately decided not to. After all, her only plan was to meet with her older sister.
It didn’t take long for Ocean Flow to swim through Seaquestria, down in the coral reefs of the ocean. While as dark as the area was, the homes were often bright enough during the day to give it a constant twilight aura, and the brightest place was the palace itself.
The guards recognised her upon her arrival, and after politely asking they directed her to the throne room. Queen Novo was a huge fan of the purple, which was reflected in the room surrounded in anemones and corals of the regal colour. The only light source was a humongous jellyfish that shone down onto a golden throne and resting on its dark purple cushions was none other than Queen Novo herself.
Her majesty was occupied reading an unfurled scroll, before peering over to see who had recently entered her chambers, smiling as she recognised the pale olive seapony with her bright orchid mane.
“Ocean Flow! So nice to see you!” she calls out, gesturing her younger sister to come closer.
“So nice to see you too!” replied Ocean Flow, as she approached and hugged her sister, before proceeding to sit beside her. Novo moved her scroll to the side, eager to catch up and start talking.
“So, tell me, how’s the family doing?”
“Oh, they’re doing great.” Ocean Flow answered with optimism. “Sky Beak is working hard on bringing back Mount Aris to its former glory while keeping the kids entertained at home, Terramar is a little quiet as usual but he works hard and keeps himself well-behaved, and Silverstream is hyperactive as ever…”
Her voice trailed off and expression soured the moment she uttered her daughter’s name, quickly being reminded of the heated exchange the two had moments earlier. Novo was quick to notice and showed concern as she rested a fin on her sister’s shoulder.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well Silverstream wasn’t happy with me today…” Ocean Flow began with a sigh. “She keeps wanting to go up to Mount Aris, even though it’s not ready for a seapony like her to fly or wander around up there...”
“Well it’s not like we can blame her, it’s been a long time for many griffs to go above the surface.” Novo remarked, “I’m looking forward to exploring Mount Aris for the first time in over a decade, and you can’t deny that you’re looking forward too.”
Ocean Flow couldn’t hide her agreement, but she couldn’t shake off her worries either.
“Maybe but can’t Silverstream wait?” she asked. “She never seems to stay still, if a whole school of seaponies were supposed to hold on until the right moment, she was always the one who swims out in front.” The analogy would have been amusing to her if it couldn’t be reminded of the protocols that were in place to ensure no other creatures could find them.
“It was manageable when she was a little fry when her little curiosity could run wild under supervision, but as time has moved forward, she’s remained just as wildly curious but more insistent on doing it further and further away from us.”
Novo felt like it was her turn to bring reason to her sister’s concerns, as she was a mother herself to a daughter only a couple years older than Silverstream was.
“Well, she is reaching an age where a seapony wants to be more independent, I know that from experience with Skystar.”
“I guess so…” Ocean Flow gave a mildly frustrated sigh at the thought “but it still feels like she isn’t ready just yet…” It was at that point that Ocean Flow turned to Novo, only to spot her expression change from concern and reason to a smirk of amusement.
“What?” she could only raise an eyebrow at what was going through her older sister’s mind at that moment.
“It just occurred to me that this kind of situation reminds me of when I used to talk with mother and father” answered Novo, although it wasn’t an answer that brought clarity or amusement for Ocean Flow.
“What are you implying?”
“Oh, nothing. I just remember how our parents would complain that you would go on and on about wanting to go out and about without any supervision from them or royal guards…”
That was when it dawned on Ocean Flow that her own daughter’s fuss-making and sullen attitude was being compared with her own teenage attitude. She recalled having arguments with her parents about wanting to go out and around Mount Aris on her own, and not just around the upper-class and reserved areas of the island.
“As much as I loved them, they wouldn’t let us go anywhere. We always knew there was plenty of fish in the sea…”
“…and yet our parents only let us visit the fish in the shallow pond, believe me, I know.” As Novo cut in, finishing off an analogy that Ocean Flow often used when complaining to her about the kinds of places and Hippogriffs they could visit.
“While I found Skystar’s father and friends of my own from that ‘pond’, you didn’t seem to like any griff, yet our parents insisted you go along like the rest of the family. At some point, I could tell you had enough because on some days you seemed to go missing…”
There was a pause as Ocean Flow stared at Novo’s meaningful gaze and tried to piece together what she was insinuating. When it dawned on her, she did not like it one bit.
“Are you suggesting that Silverstream is sneaking out?” she asked with some hostility, “I think I know my own daughter enough that she wouldn’t do something like that.”
Novo remained unphased, acting nonchalant towards her sister’s sudden defensiveness as she argued her reasoning.
“I’m not going to doubt that, but I know from experience that if you keep preventing a young sea pony or hippogriff from being independent, they’ll find some way of getting it themselves.” To provide some ease, she offered to show an ounce of humility to her point.
“Not to mention that sneaking out kind of runs in the family, considering that my Skystar snuck out to help the ponies that defeated the Storm King and set us free, and a certain little sister of mine snuck out regularly when she was Silverstream’s age.”
Ocean Flow pushed herself up off the throne in the response of her sister’s suggestion and teasing.
“I need to head back home, BOTH of my children are waiting for me,” she told Novo, looking down with a judgemental glare before swimming her way out of the throne room, a palace guard instinctively rushing to help escort her out.
She continued to hold her frustration as briskly swam back home, paying no mind to any seapony on her way. It was only when she arrived at the front door of her home did she pause to take deep breaths, the calming ocean helping her relax her nerves as she assured herself that both of her children would definitely be where she left them.
“Silverstream! Terramar! I’m home!” she called as she opened the door and poked her head through. Terramar poked his head out of his room, giving her some more relief.
“Hi mom! How is Aunt Novo?”
“Ah Terramar, Novo is doing well” she answered as she made her way inside and closed the door. “I hope you’ve been keeping yourself occupied while I was gone.”
“Mhmm, just been working on my homework.” He answered with a mild tremble as he started to make his way towards her.
“That’s good to hear, and how about Silverstream?”
That was when Terramar stopped, his face could have been completely white to go along with his wide eyes and shakiness.
“O-oh, she’s… around…” he answered. Ocean Flow raised an eyebrow as she knew something was up, being able to see through his apprehension and nervous grin.
“…Terramar, where is Silverstream?”
“She’s… in her room?”
She slowly makes her way to Silverstream’s bedroom, a few taps on the door yielded no response, neither did calling out to her. Once she carefully opened the door and had a peek inside, she knew what was going on when the contents of her room were there, but not Silverstream herself.
“She snuck out, hasn’t she?” she asked Terramar, turning back to see him still holding onto his nervous smile, but after a moment, he caved in.
“I tried to stop her!” he answered with his head hung in shame.
Queen Novo turned out to be right, much to the chagrin of Ocean Flow. After a frustrated sigh, she started to make her way out of the house once more.
“I’m going to see your father, you stay here inside, and don’t let anyone else inside…”
“…unless they are family?” Terramar finished, catching Ocean Flow off guard.
Knowing Sky Beak would already be working on Mount Aris, she made her way up to the side of the door where she had left her pearl necklace, only to find an empty hanger instead.
“Have you seen my necklace, Terramar?” she asked, but as she turned back to see Terramar giving another nervous smile, she did not bother to wait for an answer. Now both frustration and nerves started to fill her mind. “She is gonna be in so much trouble…”
She took no time to stop as she swam up to the surface as quickly as she could, the oceans were clear save for a few harmless fish, but no sign of a bright pink seapony or hippogriff that she could recognise. Her next course of action was to go to the beach and find Sky Beak, yet with the lack of her necklace, she couldn’t fly up onto the island to do so.
Her hopes were then to find a hippogriff to call and send him over, but coincidence ended up being on her side as she immediately recognised the sapphire hippogriff with a striking white mane near the edge of the stone wall.
“Hey! Sky Beak!” she called out to him, and in response, he turned around and caught her immediately.
“Ocean Flow!” he called back, flying over to the edge of the ocean to meet her. “Fancy seeing you up here! What’s up?”
“Have you seen Silverstream anywhere?” she asked with some hope.
“Uh… no?” he answered with a tilt of his head. “I thought she was back home with you and Terramar.”
“She snuck out of the house while I went to see Novo, she even took my necklace” she explained, and the somewhat unsurprised Sky Beak tried to process the situation.
“Hmm… well there aren’t too many places she would want to go.”
“I know she really wanted to go up here with you,” she followed with a sigh “but instead of waiting for us to talk about it, she decides to sneak out and go by herself. I thought we taught her better than this…”
Seeing his wife’s frustration, he tried to show some reason with a hint of an optimistic sense of humour.
“Well to be fair, she’s always been our little wild explorer. Plus, she’s getting to that age where she’d want to be a bit more independent.”
“Novo said something like that.” Ocean Flow muttered in frustration.
“…and sneaking out does kind of run in the family.”
“She said something like that too…” she muttered again in further frustration.
“I mean, if you didn’t sneak out of the palace on occasions, we’d likely never met let alone hung out when we were teenagers.”
Sky Beak’s reminder of their past was able to bring a smile to Ocean Flow, as she remembered some of the early times that they were together. It helped that Ocean Flow could be snarky towards her husband’s behaviour in return.
“Fairly sure you had snuck out of your house to hang out on this beach the night we first met,” she opened and proceeded to giggle. “You spotted me swimming underneath the pier, and when I was caught by surprise, I managed to splash water in your face and caused you to fall off into the water.”
“Heh, good times,” he remarked while trying to hide his blushing. “We had a bunch of good times during those days, right? Browsing through the markets, playing games at the fairs, relaxing at the Harmonizing Heights, and all those times you had to hide from guards and dignitaries.”
She quickly got defensive, enjoying the trip down memory until Sky Beak said the last part.
“Hey! Those moments were not good times.”
“It was cute though!” he hastily tried to argue, “I would spot one march by, and turn to find you either hiding behind walls, or trees, or bushes, or myself…”
“You never found it cute at the time” she uttered with a pout.
“Okay sure, I did think it was strange and suspicious, but at that point, I didn’t even know what your actual name was… ‘Flow’”
“You promised never to call me that anymore!” she called through her teeth, blushing profusely at the sound of the old nickname she used when sneaking out.
“I’m sorry, Princess Ocean Flow Poseidon Hemera Ooranus Eurybia of the Lands of the Hippogriff.” Sky Beak responded smugly. It caused Ocean Flow to glare more through a rosier face, so Sky Beak tried to calm her down. “Ocean Flow, I’m only teasing.”
She knew he was only teasing; it was one of the things she loved about him. He was someone who didn’t just shower her with compliments because of her status, but someone who would have fun with and didn’t feel afraid around her because he liked who she was. Those feelings only reminded her of the only thing that she worried about if she got caught at the time.
“The reason I was hiding was that if I got caught, we would have both been in serious trouble…” she said as she looked downcast. “and if you found out I was a Princess, you’d go away…”
Then Sky Beak moved one of his talons underneath her chin to lift her head up to see him, smiling back at her only inches away.
“Well, I don’t remember going away when I found out…”
She smiled back and leant forward, giving him a kiss on the tip of his beak. Sky Beak was glad to accept it and tried to depart memory lane to reassure her about why she went to see him.
“The point I was trying to make, we’d snuck out lots of times and they were good times, no one was harmed…”
Although it didn’t seem to work as planned, as Ocean Flow started looking down again, both sad and with worry.
“Not all of them were… I don’t want my history to be repeated.”
Feeling bad and concerned, he tried to reassure her once more.
“Hey, look. I’ll let the guards and crew know that my daughter is around, and so they should keep an eye out. If a hippogriff finds her, we’ll take her home safely. It’ll be fine!” feeling confident in Sky Beak’s work, she nodded in agreement.
“All the workers are careful, we have plenty of safety measures in place and round the clock inspection, it’s not like she’ll get into trouble or anything.”
Meanwhile, back when Ocean Flow and Queen Novo were having their conversation together, Silverstream had departed her home with her mother’s necklace around her neck, ignoring her brother’s pleas not to leave.
She paid no mind to other seaponies as she was determined to visit the island she had been wanting to see with her own eyes since she first heard the stories about it. As she swam higher and higher towards the surface, the ocean around her appeared brighter and brighter, until she felt herself break through the ceiling and the bright light of the sun could finally her line of sight directly.
As Silverstream’s slowly adjusted to the natural light, she could finally witness the island in all its glory. What was small when looking downward, such as on a map, looked ginormous when looking at the island head-on.
Much of the island was taken up by the tall mountain filled with a long winding road that connected the city building by building, tree by tree, and at the very top was the old palace with its tall spire. The most striking feature of Mount Aris was the patterned wall that encompassed it, almost as if a giant pair of wings were covering the city.
“It is as beautiful as I imagined it would be!” she told herself, struck in awe as she took in the beauty and strength of the island .“I wanna take a closer look,” she proceeded to look down at the necklace that was resting on her chest, “now how do I get this magic pearl to work?”
She remembered a story from long ago when their mother would talk about the necklace as a way to swim under the ocean for fun, long before it became their lives. Ocean Flow would hold onto the necklace and think as hard as she could about how she wanted to swim, and the pearl shard inside the necklace would transform her into a seapony. If she wanted to change back into a hippogriff, she would think as hard as she could about wanting to fly.
The recollection gave Silverstream a sense of guilt, knowing she took the necklace and went against her mother’s wishes of leaving out on her own. Although her mother’s refusal to let her even go up was what made her change her mind, she wanted to go to Mount Aris even if she had to do it herself. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, slowly repeated what she wanted to her necklace to do.
“I want to fly, I want to fly, I want to fly, I want to fl-eaurgh!”
Whatever she did must have worked, although she didn’t anticipate her lower fin to stop working against the current of the water, causing Silverstream to drop back below the surface. In a panic, she flailed around with any and all body parts she could possibly think of and managed to feel herself moving upwards until she was above the surface, urged to cough and splutter out water as her body suddenly would not accept it.
Her eyes had remained wide shut, only occurring to her to open them to check her surroundings as she could no longer feel herself being surrounded by flowing water. Sure enough, her first sight was back on the ocean and Mount Aris, although she felt much higher above than usual.
“Wait? Am I flying?” She looked behind and gasped in awe at a pair of large oscillating feathered fins that are attached to her back. “I have WINGS!” She then quickly looked downwards to see how high she was above the ocean, only to notice that her large tail had now split off into two stubbed legs, adding to her excitement.
“I have HOOVES!” This led to her eyes changing their focus to her arms, where she noticed her soft and scaley fins had been replaced by sharp pink claws.
“I have TALONS!” Finally, she used these newly found talons to caress her face, until coming across her nose, which had turned from its firm and yet squishy form to a solid bone-like structure with a smooth curve. She gasped in excitement until she could breathe in as much air as she could upon realising that the transformation was completely successful.
“I AM A HIPPO-o-wo-woah!”
Her excitement was cut short by her loss of balance, not having been accustomed to flying meant her flight pattern quickly became chaotic. Her wings flapped maniacally as she desperately tried to reorientate her body towards the island so she could at least aim for dry land. Her speed ended up going faster and faster as she could no longer control it, her vision becoming a blur until… CRASH.
The next thing she could remember was sitting on a soft grassy field, recovering from a dizzy spell. As she regained her senses, so did her excitement as a newly found Hippogriff.
“This. Is. AMAZING!!” she elated as she used her new wings to give herself a massive hug and rolled around in the field. She only managed to calm down once she could overhear the soothing sounds emitting from archway and birds that resided in where she was lying, the Harmonizing Heights.
“Aww the sounds are as beautiful as I remember” she softly remarked, taking in the fast field’s beauty and serenity. In her mind, she could imagine the fun she would have with her brother and cousins in these fields together, which then led to a thought. “Hmm… Daddy should be around here somewhere…”
She began her search for her Dad out from the Harmonizing Heights and into the main city, where she noticed numerous hippogriffs working on the array of architecture: the stone pathways, the smooth spiral slopes, the fountains, the statues and the hollow trees with luminescent windows that left silhouettes of the creatures inside.
Not wanting to get caught, Silverstream remained as quiet as she could as she snuck around and hid behind anything and everything in order to not get caught, but still took in every opportunity to enjoy what her dad had been busy on, and how the beauty of it all matched the exact detail that he described, even if she could recognise the work in progress.
However, she could find no sign of her dad as she travelled down the mountain to the bottom of the island. Her exploration stopped when an unusual structure caught her eye, a large flat stone platform, on top of which was a large stone house-like structure much different from any of the houses she saw inside the city, and emerging from the other side were a set of parallel bars that spanned outwards from the mountain on a long naturally formed bridge that went out to the ocean. She looked up to see a long arching sign above the entrance to the bungalow.
“MOUNT. ARIS. RAILWAY. STATION” she slowly read aloud. “Are these those trains Dad told us about?”
She hopped up onto the slap and snuck around the bungalow, and noticed on the other side were a bunch of smaller creatures, no wings or beaks but with four hooves instead of two, sitting around and chatting amongst themselves, figuring that these were the ponies her cousin described encountering.
On the other end of the platform was a series of coaches attached to a large machine with wheels and a funnel. Silverstream could only realise what these could be as she quietly gasped to avoid being heard.
“These must be trains!” she whispered in excitement.
Sneaking past the station’s construction workers, she made her way onto one of the coaches with an open door. Everything about the inside of the train was brand new to her, from the narrow corridors, the felt carpet, the sliding doors, and the cosy seats within each of the compartments. She even found the small compartments for baggage and the ways the seats could be adjusted into cushiony beds with sheets adorable, as she lied on one of them and took full advantage of how relaxing they were.
She could imagine spending a whole day on one of these train things, but her imagination was cut short by the deep sound of someone clearing their throat, and a stallion appeared standing outside the compartment she was resting in looking at her blankly. The moment startled her as she pulled the sheet up to her beak, leaving her wide eyes.
“Excuse me, miss?”
“Oh, hello!” responded Silverstream, as she quickly jumped out of the bed. The pony remained surprisingly calm at the sight of a young hippogriff.
“Do you have any reason why you need to be here?” he politely asked as he raised one of his eyebrows. Silverstream nervously attempted to improvise an excuse.
“Uh… I just needed to check the seats! Reeeeeeeally comfy, good for a long train ride home, don’t you think?”
As she held an uncomfortably wide grin, the pony was not buying the excuse, as he expressed impassively.
“Miss, you need to leave the train” he ordered, stepping away from the compartment entrance and raising his hoof to point away from the entrance. Silverstream decided to make it easy for the stallion, walking out of the compartment and towards the exit of the coach.
As she jumped out of the coach and back onto the station platform, she felt her head bump onto something metal. She looked down to see a pair of talons, and as she slowly panned her sight upwards, she could see it was another Hippogriff looking down at her with a fixed stare, wearing a purple plate of armour and donning a metal helmet.
“Oh no…” she thought, the recognition of the armour was enough to give her a sense of dread at what was about to happen. The stallion behind her was surprised at his presence.
“Princess Silverstream” the hippogriff guard stated sharply. “We have been informed by your parents that you are to return home immediately. Come on, let’s go.”
Back at the house, Ocean Flow was pacing around, her mind racing at what could have happened to her daughter. Knowing she had never been a hippogriff before gave some haunting ideas of how she could handle flying or swimming, and even if she managed to fly to the island, the danger and trouble she could cause around the construction sites even with Sky Beak’s reassurances.
The moment she caught sight of a seapony guard in the distance from the window, she swam briskly towards the door in the hope of good news.
“Princess Ocean Flow” addressed the guard, “I’m glad to let you know we have found your daughter, Princess Silverstream.”
Ocean Flow breathed a long sigh of relief as the guard swam to the side to reveal a guilt-ridden Silverstream, no scruffs or injuries but uncomfortably rubbing one of her arms in the sense of not wanting to be in the situation she was currently in.
“We found her at the construction site of the island’s railway station, wandering through one of the trains.”
Ocean Flow knew about the railway development being associated with the nation of Equestria, she gave a directly heated stare in Silverstream’s direction as she wondered what trouble she could have gotten into with the ponies had they not found her at the station. Silverstream tried her best to avoid eye contact with her mother during the revelation.
“No harm, however,” the guard continued in assurance, oblivious to the tension building between both Princesses, “a little bit of concern considering the ponies didn’t want an international incident, which apparently, they deal with A LOT. It’s just “teenagers being teenagers”, wanting to explore and have fun on their own for the first time because they’re-“
“That’s enough soldier, thank you for bringing her back safely” Ocean Flow cut into the middle of his description, polite yet sharp in her tone at the same time, catching the armoured seapony off guard. “You can return to your usual duties…”
“Uh… have a good day, Princesses” he hastily replied, providing a sudden bow before slowly making his turn and swimming outwards. Ocean Flow moved her attention towards the saddened Silverstream, who continued to avoid looking at her own mother in the eyes and extended her arm out towards her.
“I would like my necklace back, please.” Ocean Flow’s tone was serious and direct, Silverstream had no choice but comply as she took off the necklace and slowly moved it away from her, leaving it hooked around her mother’s extended arm.
“Thank you, now I want you to go to your room and not come out until I say so, understood?”
“Sorry mom,” softly spoke Silverstream. “I just wanted to- “
“Silverstream, your room, now.” Ocean Flow ordered sharply, pointing her arm towards the inside of the house. “We can talk about this when your father returns.”
As she was told, Silverstream made her slow entrance into the house, and made a direct path towards her bedroom, keeping her head down. Ocean Flow remained outside to calm her nerves, relieved that her daughter is back safe and sound, although her anger had not subsided as she held her previously stolen necklace and had to comprehend the ordeal with the train station.
Her anger occupied her mind, even when a familiar-looking seapony arrived at the home with concern.
“Ocean Flow, is everything alright?” asked Queen Novo. “I wanted to pay a visit after our conversation and saw one of the royal guards swimming away from your home.”
“Silverstream is back home” replied Ocean Flow with a low angered tremble, “she snuck out of the house just like you predicted, so I hope you’re happy.”
Novo tilted her head at the response, her concern having shifted from Silverstream.
“…why would I be ha-?”
“What’s worse is that she stole my pearl shard necklace so she could try out being a Hippogriff, despite never being prepared to do so, and made her way around the development sites on Mount Aris before being caught wandering around inside one of the ponies’ trains!”
Queen Novo was taken aback at being cut off but decided to continue in the hopes of easing her frustrations.
“Is she hurt?” she asked calmly.
“Oh no, she’s totally fine!” Ocean Flow answered, rolling her eyes. “Just a “teenager being a teenager”, just exploring like there isn’t anything to worry about.”
“Then you must be glad that she is okay.”
Ocean Flow did not take the statement well, as she started to point daggers at her older sister with her eyes.
“Glad? Glad?! How in the depths of Neptune’s sea can I be glad at what has happened today?” she asked rhetorically in a raised voice. “All I wanted Silverstream to do was give some time so she can travel around Mount Aris with her family when it is safe to do so, and she went completely against me. Do you know what could have happened? She could have drowned, seriously injured herself, or be sent off to a country none of us has ever been to and caused an international crisis! She’ll have to think again if I ever allow her to spend a second above the surface.”
Queen Novo started to get worried as listened to her younger sister’s rant, in her mind the scenarios being conjured up felt far too exaggerated knowing her niece as old and smart enough to handle such a situation of changing to a hippogriff, even for the first time. She also knew ponies well enough to be careful and calm enough to cause a political uproar over a potential stowaway. Then the last part started to raise concerns, was her sister considering such a harsh punishment after all her daughter has already been through?
“Ocean Flow, you are starting to overreact, you should calm down and think about this.”
Queen Novo attempted to reason, resting an arm on one of her shoulders, but Ocean Flow pushed it aside.
“I’ve been trying to remain calm for hours not knowing what could have happened to her, I should probably keep a watch on her at all times since that’s the only way I can surely remain calm.”
“You know that’s not going to work” Queen Novo pushed back, as she started to get cross with her, “nor is it the best for either of you. Remember that when you were her age- “
“I don’t want to hear another hippogriff or seapony remind me of how I behaved as a teenager!” snapped Ocean Flow. “Did I complain about not doing things on my own? Sure. Did I sneak out a lot? Yes, I did. That didn’t mean I never got into trouble or make mistakes that I needed to learn from, or that I can’t prevent my own children from making the same mistakes I did!”
“No one is saying- “
“Maybe YOU need to remember what happened the last time I snuck out without anyone knowing! How the Storm flew over the island, their soldiers dropped down to attack our kingdom, our soldiers failing to fight back while hippogriffs were being chased or taken away…”
“Sister…” Novo called calmly, her voice softened as she began to witness her sister starting to crack, bubbles starting to form at the corners of her eyes and her voice starting to break, as it became clear what horrible date she was reliving.
“In the midst of all that, our family had no idea where I was because I was stuck in the middle of the city, trying to escape and worrying if the hippogriff I loved was in danger when I should have been with them. And to this day I can’t stop thinking about how if I wasn’t so stupid and careless than maybe mother and father- “
Before Ocean Flow could finish, Novo pulled Ocean Flow towards herself and held her in her arms.
“You were not at fault for what happened that day,” Novo told her sister, her own voice starting to tremble herself, “you never were.”
At that moment, Ocean Flow broke down, hugging her sister tightly as she was crying her eyes out. Her anger had dissipated, leaving only her fear, and so Novo did what she could to help her dear sister. They remained in that embrace while Novo stroked her sister’s back, speaking softly to allow her sister to feel calm and safe once more.
“I do remember it, thinking we could trust a few creatures only for them to betray us, thinking we could fight against an invasion only to be overwhelmed. We lost more than islands that day, our mother, father, my husband, and for a while, I thought I lost you” she explained, holding Ocean Flow tight. “That is why when we reunited under the ocean, I cared more that you were safe than the fact that you snuck out in the first place.”
Ocean Flow had begun to calm as Novo’s comfort was having its effect on her, recalling the time they first saw each other as seaponies, being found through a crowd of panic and confusion amongst the recently teleported and transformed citizens.
“I even cared more that you were able to reunite with that hippogriff you loved, than the fact that you were secretly seeing a common hippogriff without anyone in the family noticing,” Novo remarked, smirking with a sly gaze towards her sister.
That was Novo’s reminder of the day Ocean Flow found Sky Beak days after the invasion. On sheer impulse, she called out and swam towards him, barely giving him time to brace for the hugs and kisses that ensued, while her brothers, sisters, and cousins, looked on in sheer surprise. As Ocean Flow remembered that moment, both for the joy and the embarrassment it brought, she started to laugh.
“That was a bit awkward at the time…” Ocean Flow remarked, and Novo giggled along in agreement.
“But no longer do we have to be afraid like we were that day, we can trust other creatures again, we don’t have to be trapped anymore. I can give my daughter the life she deserved ever since she was little, and you should give your kids the lives they deserve too.”
“I just don’t know how…” Ocean Flow responded, her smile fading back to nerves, “she’s still my little wild explorer. I just don’t want her to go so far that I can no longer reach her…”
Novo moved out of the hug so that she could rest both of her fins on Ocean Flow’s shoulders to look straight into her eyes and smile with reassurances.
“Silverstream will understand, she knows you care. Though, I do have something for you to think on, perhaps a solution that can help you both reach a middle ground?”
Ocean Flow raised one of her eyebrows, unsure what her sister could provide to be used as some sort of compromise. That was when Novo showed her sister the scroll, she was reading earlier that day.
“Something from Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle in Equestria, I had been thinking of some way of offering it to another young hippogriff, but ultimately, I think it will be perfect for your daughter.”
As Ocean Flow read through the scroll, the details seemed like it would provide a perfect opportunity for Silverstream, although whether it was right, she would need to think about.
“Are you sure?” she asked, and Novo gave a confident smile in return.
“As sure as I’ll ever be.”
That was the moment when Sky Beak arrived, having already been informed that Silverstream had returned home safely, he had relief drawn on his face when he saw his wife and sister-in-law smiling back at him. For Ocean Flow, it now meant that they would have to go inside and confront their daughter together.
“Silverstream, you can come out of your room now” she called as she entered their home.
Silverstream peaked out of her bedroom, the scene she saw felt unsettling, her mother was looking at her with a serious look, with both her father and her favourite aunt stood behind her, neither having upbeat or positive looks on their faces. Terramar was also witnessing the scene from his own room, as he saw Silverstream slowly approach their mom looking down with guilt.
With Ocean Flow looking down on her, Silverstream was expecting harsh punishment or yelling at the least, that’s what the rest of the family in that room were anticipating would happen. As such, it took everyone by surprise when Ocean Flow pulled her daughter in for a hug instead, at least everyone except Novo who just smiled in relief.
“I’m so glad you’re okay…”
“Sorry for sneaking out and taking your necklace,” Silverstream told her mother.
“I know, you wanted to explore Mount Aris and didn’t want to wait. At least now you know what could happen if you go out on your own, right?”
Silverstream nodded in agreement.
“Maybe we can arrange a little visit up there together for some other time…” Ocean Flow suggested. Silverstream smiled at the idea, but she knew it didn’t seem right for it to happen so soon after she got into trouble.
“How long will that be?”
“Let’s say after two weeks of being grounded, with good behaviour…”
Silverstream felt that was fair.
Silverstream did her best to be on good behaviour, helping around the house whenever she could, it wasn’t like she could go out anywhere other than school for two whole weeks. It was all worthwhile as Ocean Flow kept her end of the bargain, as Ocean Flow, Terramar, and herself, all got a personal tour of Mount Aris from Sky Beak as it neared completion. The family felt lucky as they got to see the festivities and decorations for the islands opening before anyone else.
As for what was on the scroll, it took Ocean Flow a lot more time to think it through than Novo had hoped. In the month that went on during Mount Aris gradual re-emergence of civilisation, Sky Beak and Silverstream felt more inclined to live on the island full time, while Ocean Flow and Terramar preferred the tranquillity of the sea.
Ocean Flow was still met with love from regular visits of her husband and daughter, but the decision to let Silverstream explore above the surface became tougher because of their living situation. It took a serious discussion between her, Sky Beak, and Novo, to will her into bringing Silverstream along to the discussion. As such, on the beach at dusk, with Sky Beak and Novo at her side, Ocean Flow described what the pony Princesses of Equestria had written in that scroll:
“In the next summer, there will be a school in the middle of Equestria, run by Princess Twilight Sparkle, where it will teach students about many lessons and values around friendship. Unlike other schools in Equestria, this one is opening to creatures from all the allied nations such as the Dragon Lands, Yakyakistan, Griffonstone, the Changeling Hive, and our own. Princess Celestia wrote to your Aunt asking to send a hippogriff over to become a student on the school’s first year.
We’ve talked it over, and we were wondering, and there’s nothing wrong if you say you don’t want to or later change your mind if you would like to go to this School of Friendship as a student. It’ll mean you’ll be away in Equestria for months at a time, but you’ll get to socialise with ponies and other creatures and get to experience the sights and scenery that their country has to offer. Would you like that?”
Silverstream could feel her heart race with joy and her jaw curve upwards with glee, an opportunity to learn new things about ponies, make friends with different kinds of creatures, new sights, sceneries, towns and cities, deep down she would love nothing more than that. Of course, in her head, she didn’t want to be too forward with her decision, so she attempted to give her answer in a calm and subtle manner that she could provide.
“THAT WOULD BE AMAZING! I’D LOVE TO GO TO EQUESTRIA! I WANNA LEARN ABOUT FRIENDSHIP! I WANNA MEET SO MANY DIFFERENT CREATURES LIKE PONIES AND DRAGONS AND YAKS! CAN I GO? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!”
It was enough convincing needed to finally get Ocean Flow on board, but in those previous serious discussions, the three were able to agree on Silverstream going on a few conditions.
A few were already put in place thanks to Queen Novo’s efforts to arrange her departure well in advance. On the day she was set to leave that summer, the train station was filled with the entire family, including grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and close friends, no other passengers apart from train and station staff. She was also set to ride the train in a special carriage, arranged for royalty, just for her and her royal escort.
Speaking of her royal escort, he was also specially chosen for the role, much to his dismay as he felt inclined to raise it as an issue even during that day.
“Prince Sky Beak, as a military official who works closely with the monarchy, I firmly agree that any and all members of the royal family should be protected when travelling to other territories.” He spoke with a high-class demeanour, expressing his respect and empathy for such a demand. “But I do believe it’s a bit excessive to make ME go along as your daughter’s royal escort.”
“Well, Queen Novo is busy with a diplomatic mission to do it, I’m needed here, and Ocean Flow wanted Silverstream to have the best protection the kingdom has to offer.” Sky Beak tried to explain. “I don’t see what the issue is when that happens to be you.”
“My duty is to look over the work of every hippogriff in Her Majesty’s Navy, including yours. I am a military commander, not your daughter’s bodyguard!”
“You are also her Godfather,” Sky Beak remarked, providing a smug grin as the stout hippogriff felt defeated by his counter. “Besides, this includes interacting with representatives of other nations and territories. Don’t tell me, General Seaspray, that diplomacy isn’t part of your job reperture.”
“That’s repertoire.” Seaspray grumbled.
Meanwhile, Ocean Flow was checking to make sure Silverstream had everything ready as bags were being loaded onto the train by the helpful pony train staff. As much as Silverstream accepted her mother’s need for double-checking and triple-checking, she was waiting impatiently for the time to get on the train.
“Now understand that you’re at this school to be a good student and set a good example, so I don’t want you to be skipping classes, or causing a panic amongst the other students, or disappearing entirely and causing the teachers to worry,” she explained slowly and clearly, ensuring Silverstream caught every word she was telling her.
“Okay Mom, I won’t!” she answered, rolling her eyes as if it were ridiculous that was going to happen. Seeing the last bag enter the train, Silverstream started to make her move towards the carriage when Ocean Flow held onto her shoulder.
“Oh, and one more thing!”
“What is it?” asked Silverstream, turning back to her mother.
“Let us know how you get on, okay?” Ocean Flow answered with an endearing smile. Silverstream smiled back in return.
“I will, I love you mom” she responded before giving Ocean Flow a hug.
“I love you too.”
Ocean Flow gladly accepted the hug in a full embrace, savouring as much as she could, any sights and sounds were no longer present, just her and her daughter.
“Uh, mom? I think the train is about to leave…”
She did have to break back into reality, witnessing an impatient General Seaspray waiting at the side of the carriage as whistles blew to signal the train’s scheduled departure.
“O-oh, sorry” she apologised frantically. “Better not be late!”
As Silverstream rushed into the carriage, General Seaspray made his way on board, the doors closed, and with a whistle from the train’s funnel, it all left the station. As the train moved further and further away from the station, Silverstream made one more surprise appearance by poking her head out of the window and waving goodbye to everyone.
Everyone else waved back at her as the train rode into the distance, although Ocean Flow was the only one to shed tears as she smiled.
“She’ll be alright, won’t she?” asked Terramar, as he approached to hug her. Ocean Flow looked down at him, then turned to look at Sky Beak, before looking back across the skyline where the train rode through, keeping her smile the whole time.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine.”
