Aquatic Autumn Paradise

Chapters

Sealife is Not a Breeze...But it is the Bee's Knees!

Sealife is Not a Breeze...But it is the Bee's Knees!

Aquatic Autumn Paradise - Autumn x Terramarr; - bold, italics, underline.

...

Pop!

The bubbles quietly burst, reaching the end of their lifespan. They started dispersing into tiny particles of soap that wafted away into the cool, quiet, and fresh breeze.

The trees bent and shook in its strength, the evergreen leaves bending in the powerful seasonal wind, kicking up leaves that were beautiful shades of red, orange, green, and brown.

There were small ripples being created upon the water, the salty air carrying a hint of humidity and mossy debris that signaled the coming of autumn in all its magnificent glory.

The miniscule scratches that the bay had acquired over the few years spoke well of the newfound use of the Seaquestrian swim-off point. The enchanted logs of the bay looked as strong and illustrious as ever, the fact of weathering and constant assault from the water crashing into the poles did not cause the pier's planks to wane - despite the years it lacked in use until recently.

The uplifting scene could calm every soul that looked upon its visage, could quell every inner storm that attempted to rise up in defiance of the natural serenity and pompous sight.

However, the scenery before him was nothing compared to the mare lying in front of the bubble-blowing, strapping young lad of a stallion...fledgling?

The youth gazed at the lovely creature in front of him. Her happy-go-lucky and loving personality radiated from her sweet smile, regal visage and elegant beauty. Her leonine body, curled tail with its puffy tuft of mane, scaly back and green scaled fur accents, fluffed hooves; and brownish-red horn with bi-tips that adorned a v-shape accent that glowed when her icy-blue magic was in use. The icing on the appearance cake was her lion-like mane, a fiery orange - the color of blazing sunsets and her tough lime green scales the color of the prettiest autumn leaves. With a heart like honey and a prance like silk, her name perfectly described the delicate yet flamboyant image of the Kirin. Autumn Blaze. The cherry on top was her beautifully sweet, soft, and melodic voice that could melt the hardest hearts.

She reminded him of the precious personality of his sister and cousin, with all the happy-go-lucky, sunshine in a bottle, aloofness, adorableness, her excitable and loving aura; and finally, the funny and sweet quirks.

Despite the guards wanting to keep the hippogriff safe by being visible at all times since he was in line to the throne, Terramar had asked Stratus to keep his troops at bay unless something went wrong. They hid in places nearby but did not reveal themselves, though the couple did feel a little awkward about it on the first few dates, but at least the guards kept the romance a secret like they had wanted.

Despite the fact that Terramar was nigh royalty, his relationship was mercifully hidden from public view. Heaven knew mischief and rumours could be spread by royal paparazzi if that little fact had gotten out of hoof.

...

The mess had begun with the dating of Gallus and Silverstream, but turned into a media circus following the Seapony, Mermare, Griffon, and Hippogriff royal families when Gilda - being trained by Grampa Gruff to become the new royal leader of the Griffons - quietly proposed to a "lowly" baker by the name of Gustave le Grande last year. Once her third best friend (other than Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie) Greta approved, Gilda found her song and squawked to the heavens about her relationship, no longer afraid of what her species thought. This was the same for Gallus, who's also attempting to teach their species more about friendship and rekindling the family bonds that they know Griffons have, deep down inside them.

Unfortunately, the still-in-friendship-training Griffons still lach onto gossip. the news of the had caused a scandal in Griffonstone, with Griffons grasping at the juicy news due to their up until recent friendship delegations - boring lives, and the fact that the previous year, Silverstream and Gallus had revealed themselves to be dating as well - as immediately as they had began did not help the gossip that the birds were tweeting like high school eaglets part of the biggest school in the country.

Queen Novo and Mr. Gruff, after yelling and arguing with each other on why their previously isolated societies (one from homeland destruction and fear of the world, and the other from homeland destruction and anger at the world; were suddenly being forced...erm...brought together by their respective wards, finally calmed down after seeing the little birdie couple's young love. Although, they did have to have the idea of the interspecies relationship of Gallus and Silverstream smoothed over to them because they did not like the other species mixing...especially if it was more than friendships being made. They were honestly just warming up to the idea of these kinds of friendships when these romances were announced. The two of them thought that the melding pot of other creatures Equestria was becoming would put their lands in danger, as well as their long-lived cultures to disintegrate. They only just swallowed their pride and wish to parentally control their niece and adopted nephew/child and welcomed the heroes into the respective families.

Princess Skystar of course, only added to the stress after hearing about the distant country of Aquastria, apparently traveled back to visit it for the second time, not only reveal but force herself to confront a crush she had formed on a slightly older Merpony named Arrow, that looked like a seahorse. Skystar (heavily blushing with a puffy face) pronounced her liking to the guard and in a weird twist of fate, got the guy to become enamoured with her on the spot and they are now courting each other, full of bliss! Another princess with a royal guard - a Seapony and a Mermale...at least those species, as well as Griffons and Hippogriffs are genetically similar and may get less talk about them. Terramar wants to marry a mystical unicorn with ancient dragon blood. Huh.

Skystar getting the guts to get the guy was not only inspired by her friends and family members, but also due to the relaying and romanticizing of the Professor's (the Mane Six's) old seafaring tale where they had helped out a pony sea captain named Hoofbeard had just been married to an aristocratic merlady...Pearl? No...Jewel! The brutish stallion had searched for the hen and her school of ladies in waiting, a rock-hard and cruel heart, softened up the strings of romance and a perilous journey to find the personal treasure that was the wandering "X" of the Mermare migration. Princess Twilight gave the captain gills and the soon-afterwards newlyweds still enjoy a pleasurably rich and comfortable life together under the sea.

Such a sweet underwater love story, but yet again, everyone was looking for Terramar to come out with dating someone else that was not his species. Oops.

Even Gabby the Griffon had many eyes on her relationship with the top Griffon Boofyball coach named Klaus since she, Gilda, Gallus, and the hatchling Gavin; all lived as surrogate siblings and are technically heirs to Grampa Gruff's knowledge and estate. Despite Gabby and Gilda going for guys that were extremely successful in their fields (a top pastry chef and a top sports coach/player), as well as the "slim pickings" and non-existence of any other "royal" Griffons, many of their species said they would have preferred them to hit on other species with high ranks...in order to keep the "high quality breeding" in the adoptive family. Apparently, everyone's either a hypocrite, or very fickle.

So between Gilda, Gabby, Gallus, Gavin the Fledgeling (who has yet to get a hatch-friend), Terramar, Silverstream, Skystar, and the remaining Young Six, everyone was paying attention to who the near-royals would date.

Basically, there was not much to talk about during the peaceful years of the world, and everyone is so antsy without conflict that they had decided to create conflict where it did not exist.

All of this was small fry on the nigh-royal's head because he had his own interspecies relationship to worry about. Autumn Blaze was already high up on the food chain of Kirin command, even before she bravely dared to break the spell of eternal silence, so at least they were both close to being royalty, so that would decrease the amount of stress the adolescent foal would face.

Especially being the one of the only upper class Seaponies/Hippogriffs to be learning to lead both worlds, a lot of eyes were on him, his sister (as part of the Young Six heroes) and his cousin (a princess who had saved the lives of the Mane Six and taught them Seapony culture); Terramar just wished he and his family could just be normal guppies for once, while they still had their remaining childhood to look forward to. Maybe someday they could at least get a break...

Many relationships such as the ones of the Mane Six (like Rarity and Spike), Cutie Mark Crusaders, Young Six (such as Sandbar and Yona's blooming romance with each other), reformed villains and royal creatures were being watched closely whether or not it was everycreature's business or not to know who everyone was dating or about to marry. A more peaceful species such as the Hippos would mind their business and their manners more often - they would cheer the couples on and spoil them with lavish gifts (unless the either the couple or half of it turned out to be evil or destructive animals), not jeer, be mean, petty or inquisitive to the point of stalking!

Being born into the public eye was as bad as earning the right to be in it - the world is too dang nosy!

Pop! Bloop-bloop-bloop-blub...Pop!

Breaking Terramar out of his thoughts, he heard more aquatic popping. Autumn was now catching up to him, having learned to hold her breath for longer to really have enough air to softly blow bubbles for longer, farther distances - true bubbles, not just a geyser of liquid soap. She ended up building enough volume in the bubbles to create bigger ones, and he had to catch up to her in the bubble-making scene, lest she catch onto his fears.

It was nice to be quiet and peacefully relax with her, and he fervently hoped the daydream would last, and that autumn would not be snuffed out by the cold of winter coming that was the bid to reveal of their time dating.

The fact that relationship news among heroes, royalty and near-royalty spread like wild fire whether the news of the official couple was hidden or not had previously scared poor Terramar into hiding their dates further.

Understandably paranoid, he asked the guards to clear areas, shoot down attempts at flash photography, shoo away any passers by, and prevent stragglers from straying or loitering near their date locations.

After years of swimming away from the inevitable, Terramar had only just revealed his special somekirin to most of his family last night; which his parents, Silverstream, and his possibly future brother-in-law approved of and accepted with open hooves/claws.

The two stopped blowing bubbles from their respective soap bottles and sat in contemplative silence.

The young buck had a heightened aura of energy that day, and the deer-like kirin beside him could feel it. She snuggled up close to him and let him pet her mane with his muzzle. They were comfortable in each other's embrace, his mane smelling like cooked seaweed, hers smelling like the fragrance of rich cinnamon.

They snuggled closer, feeling the warmth of each other's embrace and nuzzled their muzzles, feeling content and light, and free as the wind.

They shared breath together, as equines do, his breath cool, breezy, and smelling like fresh fish and sea salt, hers smelling like smoked autumn leaves and feeling like a soothing, controlled fire.

The love between them blossomed like a voluminous rose...he felt like he was ready to propose.

Now at the cusp of the seapony marriage age, he hoped that all would be well; he had a feeling that one of his family members - the most powerful one - might not approve of his choice of future mate...only time would tell.

Eventually though, because they two did not fully accept the more their species started mixed with others in romantic relationships, the more it upset the two - especially Queen Novo. Most of the time, Hippogriffs, Griffons, Seaponies and Mermares mated for life from teenagehood, so whoever their kingdoms would come out and say they were dating, they would definitely be married. Truth be told, they did not trust other species with their younger charges and thought the latter species would be hurt by their future spouses' or even their spouses' species's flaws.

Annoyingly though, they did not voice this as the reason why they were such stick-in-the-muds about these relationships - without even trying to meet their wards halfway - and preferred to let their species distrust fester further.

The royals were not even upset that most of these relationships - nay, proposals even - had been hidden from them for months or even a few years, with some of the date mates being a few years older than the creatures in their care. (The leaders knew that they scared their Hippogriffs and Griffons from revealing their future mates, even if Griffons did not want to admit it.)

Novo and Gruff were upset because they were being forced to see and commune with either interspecies or plebian individuals they could care less about.

However, they did not say much about their distaste in private because they knew they would likely be hated for it, as the future mates were either well-respected or well-chosen (not the plebs...um... commoners); and did make their creatures happy. Gruff and Novo were happy for them as well, due to their miserable upbringings, they had terrible ways of showing it. And sadly, Queen Novo was about to reach her limit on who Terramar would bring home that night, at the last night of the Three Days of Freedom festival.

Pop, pop, pop!

Finishing the water of the soap bottle he had been blowing bubbles with, he first set it down then mentioned to Autumn that he could blow whole jet streams to cute bubbles from his mouth while in his Seapony form. She finished her own bottle off while blowing the farthest bubble. Terramar clopped his hooves at her win and she put both the bubble wand and bottle down. She giggled and replied:

"Hee-hee, that's funny...when I am in my Nirik form, my name and tail can even burn underwater and I can also blast a bit of fire; as strong as you can shoot laser beams of bubbles!"

"Wow, cool! That's so interesting!"

"I know, right?! Major radicalness!"

The pair kept giggling - with their hooves to their mouths in a polite manner at first, their tails swishing and wrapping around each other in merriment. Surprisingly though, after a minute of this joyous laughter, their pupils constricted as they both thought of a personal inside joke they thought up together, and all bets were off.

The politeness was done away with as they rolled around on the logs in mirth, the raucous laughter surprising the birds from their trees and even the guards that had been assigned to protect the couple and though they had watching over them the whole time. The men snickered to each other quietly, as they noticed that the tail-holding was still continuing, as strong as a sting of love tied around both rambunctious lovers' hooves.

Captain Stratus smiled to himself and nodded approvingly in the direction of the silly far off half-ponies. (Though they were seemingly in front of him due to the bird's eye view of his magnifying eagle vision.)

"Ah, young love..."

...

Today was the day - Terramar would reveal his marefriend and future mate to his fellow birdies and fishies, his cousin Skystar, and his Aunt...Queen Novo.

Uh-oh.

That was the only hippogriff that he feared how she would react. This would be a royal problem.

Terramar stopped laughing, becoming dead stiff, as if he had been stabbed through the heart. Autumn finally noticed the distress her coltfriend was in, stock still and with his claws to his mouth.

Although she had had a sneaking suspicion that something was off all day, the sudden evaporation of playfulness, and fact that her Terramar looked as if he had been turned to stone was the confirmation that she had been correct; and she needed to act.

Feeling the male's excitement and the aura of their romantic bliss had definitely died down, Autumn Blaze instinctively sensed that Terramar was more worried than she had thought so she put on her sweetest smile and took his claws in her scaled hoof; away from his lips and physically shushed him with her other hoof to his mouth.

"Shhhh...shhhh...do not worry, my lovely small fry. Whatever it is that is troubling you, you have no need to fear. I am with you in your time of need, and I will be here to help. This is about your Queen-Aunt, isn't it?"

"Mmm-hmm..." Terramar hummed, tears rolling down his face, with his head in Autumn's hooves, in a pitiful, closed-eye expression.

It was as if he was a seven-year-old sea-foal with his parents Sky Beak and Ocean Flow once again, after his tail had been sprained after being caught on the rusted, abrasive surface of a pirate's fishing net, his parents shushing and hugging him - his mother telling him to calm down, and that everything would be OK, to be careful next time; and his father kissing his head and and telling him he was strong, and to not hate the ponies that created the net and avoid the area he had explored that day until the net was disposed off and it was safe to play again. They would pass him his pet baby shark for him to cuddle, and let him sleep in their shell-bed that night. There was no baby shark to cuddle, so Terramar sniffed and started to wring his tail with both hooves for comfort.

"How did you know? That I was specifically worrying about her, I mean."

"Aw, you lovely little colt, Kirins can sense feelings! Not to the same extent as Changelings, but just enough. How else do you think we managed for years without our voices and the easy meanings wrought from words? Tic Tac Toe and char-ades aren't THAT entertaining ALL time. I am not a silly filly. I could tell that something was wrong since your aura was off and after getting so close to you today, I could even feel that you were feeling worried about being a possible ruler to both of your realms, as well as how much responsibility it all is. I also only just picked out the true reason for your sorrows, The reason is that you were fretting about your Queenie-Auntie, worried that she would be a meanie-tail about our relationship."

Terramar smiled and sniffed. "That sounds about right."

"Uh-huh." Autumn deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "Tut-tut-tut. How many times can I keep telling you to not worry about the future?!"

"I know, but-"

The older Kirin grabbed his cheeks, forcing him to turn his head back to her. She then kissed him, both shocking him and shutting him up.

"Mff! Mff! Mmm?! Mmm...Mmm!"

After giving her future fiance the peaceful endorphin-giving smack-a-roonies, the naturally-occurring hybrid sang deep and low, as to distill happiness and friendship within him, both platonic and romantic.

"I am the sun and you are the rain that joined to create the rainbows. Clear away the cobwebs and the clouds to deplete your sorrows...~"

She finished the dittie with a flourish, smirking. Terramar finished snuffling, happy that he had chosen a good one. He was glad that he was her mans.

"Not to worry, honey. Let go of the pain and let life sort itself out. If we really get married like we have been meaning to, I will stay by your side forever. For however long forever lasts. We will work hard for our half-ponies. Expect the unexpected, and prepare for what you can. Do not blame yourself for every tragedy and, please stop bottling your emotions up inside, alright, Birdy?"

"Ok sweetie-kitty," Terramar smiled at the saltwater wake-up call, ready to let in the rain, and let go of the pain. He was begining to accept the next world and species he is about to walk into; Kirin culture.

"I like you for you, Fluffy," Autumn continued, I love your multicolored screwed mane and tail, and the fact that you are both a fish and a bird, as well as the fact that you are a scruffy boy with big dreams!"

"Wow, thanks!" He giggled.

"You put up with my occasional mispro-noun-chiachuns, my constant jibber-jabber and nonsensical vocabulary, my comedic tangents, you love that we can both sing with naturally beautiful voices even though I am a Kirin, not a Seapony. You don't mind my inanimate objects, such as my shadow and hoofsies, my college studies on ideas and philosophies, you always give any creature a chance to prove themselves to be better, just like me and how I forgave my Leader and species for letting me be exiled for my rambunctious chatterbox-ness; and just like from me to you, you leave a natural enchantment and attraction towards yourself.

Yet you also tell me when to use my silence when it matters most. Our love is indomitable, though some creatures think it is abominable, but I think it is a wild ride into the deepest freshwater springs. They can be dangerous if too deep, too hot, or too cold, but they are beautiful and feel wonderful if you follow the safety rules. Though sometimes in life, you have to create your own safety in situations when there is none, or it does not seem like there is, like with ruling two nations. Our dutiful and boundless love and friendship will keep us tightly wound and ready to spring into action! Now, let's get going to the festival, Preeny!"

She beamed, and Terramar's face went pink and his tail wagged profusely, his tailfins swishing from side to side uncontrollably. "Swishy" - as Autumn called "him," was excited at the prospect of dating at the festival as well!

The lion-like Kirin continued: "I can't believe that it has been a few years since we met, it seems like just yesterday, I went to your annual summit to meet other creatures and bumped into you. It was love at first sight, do you remember that?"

"Haha, yes, I do! Of course!" Terramar exclaimed, Swishy wagging behind him.

"Yep, well, I sure do! We didn't want to wash our manes after smelling them, huh?!"

"Nnnnnnope...the cinnamon and seaweed are just too delectable for me to forget!"

"Delicate, deletable, delights. So scumyumcious! Tee-hee!"

Autumn grabbed him and kissed what passed for a royal duke once again for good luck. Autumn's breath smelled like cinnamon and cherries, while his smelled of lemons and limes. Fantastic! Terramar blew her a kiss that turned into a giant, hard-to-pop air bubble and Autumn shoved her head through the liquid to catch it. Terramar smiled with his eyes closed, content and humming to himself and what a great job he did on the bubble. Autumn excitedly grabbed him, hoof to claw, and harshly pulled him into the water with an almighty splash; him screaming, thrashing, wings kicking, necklace activating late - quite a way underneath the water due to the exertion being pressed upon the Hippogriff. It seemed that Autumn really was like his big sister and cousin.

Captain Stratus rolled his eyes and mentioned with his claws to alert his guards that they would be submerging into the waters for the summit, as well as to follow the youths that had gotten a head start.

Soars of couples either passed by any land and plummeted strait into the ocean, or they approached the drop-off point of the bay's logs, and whole convocations of Hippogriffs managed to land and transform in time to be early for the last night festival's activities that year. Mates and formels covered their little eaglets with their wings when arching downward at the speed of Peregrine Falcon, using the kinetic energy to dart underwater as quickly as a river rapids.

They and the guards looked ahead and channeled their magical necklaces, changing shape and forming their Seapony bodies before jumping off of the bay and landing gracefully inside the water, splashing it everywhere on the forest, ferns, reeds, and dive-off dock nearby. Along with a pleasant-sounding cacophony of diving Seaponies, they plummeted and plopped with amazing finesse and perfect form.

Ten out of ten, would rate again.

Bllllllll...!

Under the sea and near waterfalls and underwater volcanoes, whose power reached a long way down, Silverstream and Gallus were having their own bubble blowing contest. The pun-named ice cream shop-bakery that tripled as a restaurant was known as "The Tectonic Plate."
Their competition was to see who could blow the biggest seafoam milkshake. Most drinks and foods had bubbles surrounding them with dense bubbles that stayed in the tables or stuck to Seapony hooves and fins so they could hold them without the food and drink evaporating or floating away, much how ponies had magic in their hooves that allows them to do the same thing with their food and drink - hold them. The activity and Silver was winning, having learned to time when to use her straw to blow bubbles from the frothy liquid and whipped cream the farthest from her coral drink bowl - utilizing the natural soapy and gaseous nature of the phenomenon to her advantage, causing a helium-like floating to occur and create bigger, rainbow branded bubbles.

Gallus snorted and gave Silver an irritated side eye.

"Do you give up, or are you thirsty for more?" Silverstream taunted, egging him on. For once, it did not work.

"Ugh I give up," he said, throwing his clawed paws up in defeat. He folded his forelegs and huffed like a nestling. Silverstream, used to this behavior, paid no mind and closed her eyes and smiled with a look of sheer determination. She blew bubbles through the straw in her drink until they were three quarters taller than the milkshake and whipped cream they had started. Once they could rise no further, she channeled her inner Professor Pinkie Pie by then proceeded to make an obnoxiously loud, never-ending slurp sound, signifying that she had taken the sip of victory; downing the shake so quickly, Gallus feared she would choke.

Just because he knew CPR and the Swinelich maneuver, didn't mean that he had to USE these tactics when there was no reason to. His self defense classes would have come in handy if she had choked, but he would have been annoyed that she had created the situation and not looked out for herself.

Slllllluuuuuuuurrrrrrrp...!

...

Definitely undignified behavior, but she was having fun, and the beverage was delicious.

Silverstream had seeked out conquest and won, beating her mate-friend by a landslide. Like a sea Quarry Eel in the trenches, she had overwhelmed her foe.

Gallus snatched her cherry off the table (where the apple-sized fruit had fallen due to the bubble blowing bigness test.) After that snap decision and the heat of the moment had passed, Gallus pushed forward and looked at the snack hungrily with stars in his eyes. Now that he had taken the food away, he dangled it in front of her face, her drooling slightly, with a puppy-dog look on her face. She wined, but growing up in Griffonstone made him have thicker feathers than that. Made of sterner stuff, he opened his mouth wide open and stuffed his face full of cherry; (the berry passing through the magical air bubble) and he bit down on it greedily - fully enjoying the sweet yet spicy taste.

"(Num!) Mmm, (chew,) mmm, (chew,) mmm! Your victory tastes sweet! Mmm!"

"Awk?!" Silverstream squawked in mournful disbelief, reflections of the eyes warbling, and wings flared in shock with mouth agape, ready to swallow a whole seagull.

"What...?!?!?! BETRAYAL!!!"

How could her boyfriend do that to her??? She guessed it was revenge for winning and ribbing him earlier. She should have known not to mock him, as he always got her back in the most redonk-ulous ways!

"Well...!" She thought, resisting the urge to lunge at him with her claw for stealing the best part of her drink. Despite the carnage of the cherry she was saving, she reached across the restaurant table with a paw and tucked her claws in as to not accidentally slash him. "Don't get mad...get even...!"

She swooped in and pecked out half of Gallus's own milkshake and whipped cream, with the evidence of the measly and weak attempt at blowing the best beverage bubbles he could. Guppy's play! He had no coordination with his breathing or his timing, and had barely utilized his twisty straw to create the best bubbles! At least right now, he would be a powerful contender one of these days, she knew it well. He could do almost whatever he set his mind to, and he would be catching up to her soon...

But not today.

Gallus had taken "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" to heart and had adorned his own mouth's "awk?!" That was big enough to swallow a whale with no escape.

The smirking Seapony giggled at the shocked Griffons expense, face still above his drink-bowl. She plucked up his own cherry and gulped it down, almost choking, so I'm doing so, she had coughed it back and she chewed her food in a less barbaric manner. After blushing, she swallowed the produce down triumphantly and sat back upright in her chair. The Griffon shook his head to make the remaining shock wear off, then he slowly licked the remaining amount of his delicious milkshake, not caring for the straw, table manners, or the fact that his girlfriend's face had been in it twenty seconds ago. After finishing, he rested his forelegs behind his head in his common lazy fashion.

"Wow, good going, you got me back, good!"

"It's "well," and thank you," Silver replied, puffing up the fluff on her chest.

Absentmindedly, Gallus suddenly had a ear itch and lifted his hind leg (which phased though the air bubble,) and scratched the place in a cute and endearing way that reminded Silverstream of a fluffy kitty cat.

"At least the seafoam is not your ancestors. It would be yucky to drink the ghost of your long-gone ancestor, haha. How crazy would that be?"

"Yeah, that's a myth and an old mare's tale. Or at least, it is now. Thankfully, when we pass on after decently long lives, the frothy bubbles disappear so it would be impossible to drink the essence of the previous generations."

Gallus fluffed up and puffed his chest out, then slumped back into the chair again. He smiled, both confidently and contentedly, resting his head in his paw, his claws stroking his chin in thought.

"Oh that's good!"

Silverstream cutely smiled with closed eyes and stuck her tongue out innocently.

"..."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

Gallus adopted another gaping maw as he shot a glance at her beaming face. He looked at her HARD. She was sincere. She was not lying.

Changing the subject, Silverstream rejected more table manners by purposely resting her elbows on the table (ugh).

"After being a lowly sea creature for so long, I am glad that you found me, my prince. I am pleased to be a part of your world."

"You watch too many fairy tales and too much Trotney. But cute."

"Underappreciated creatures like Minotaurs, Donkeys, Mules and Everfree Forest creatures, especially things like Timberwolves and Cockatrices need more love," Silver said ecstatically and philosophically.

Gallus, stunned silent and still, sat up straight, eyes wavering in awe, her nest-friend could the subject at the drop of a hat!

"They need to be shown as Hippogriffs...um...Seaponies...uh...living creatures that can think feel, and love, too! Just like how us Griffs and even Dragons are not all greedy, mean, war-driven, and money-hungry, money-grubbing beasts and meanie-weanies or fearful, isolated, only stair-loving weenie-beanies either! Just like the fact that I will show more love by not snitching on you to mom, the Queen, or your adoptive Grandpa by telling them how you treated a lady at a quality restaurant today! Ungentlemanly! (Gasp,) scandalous! Hee-Hee!"

"Haha, oh yes, and don't neglect to mention that you got me back in an unladylike fashion! Ha!"

"Oh no, hee-hee, I won't...I won't forget, haha!" Silverstream nickered, with her fin to her grin.

"Good. Heh-heh."

Both Griffs erupted into laughter, and Gallus thought to himself that the girl in front of him was a little cray-cray, but she was his cray-cray, that could be as smart or silly as she wanted to be. He swore she planned it sometimes to catch him off guard.

A school of Seaponies swam by, floating above the kids. - After sighting the two lovebirds, everyfishy smiled and the bucks and the hens led their fry away to go past the nobles and not disturb them.

"The seafloor's a geyser!" One of the children screamed, the sea-foal being chased by his friends near the volcanic sand, hot springs and geysers, soon be warned to stay close to their parents, as molten hot seafloor was no playground. Despite this though, the little ones had fun playing around the room-temperature water of the geyser's bubbles.

Blub-blub...bloop!

*The night of the night three of the Three Days of Freedom Celebration*

After the celebratory events and fun activities of the day, Terramar spoke through a coral mic toward the different species that had attended the event. The congregation included ponies and other creatures. The families, friends, children, datemates, or spouses were either in sea creature form or with magical oxygen air bubbles - courtesy of either his species' Transmogrification necklaces or bubble-blowing magic breath. As the ones that were royalty, heroes, or nobles sat in the best seats, bellies full of seafood, Terramar completed some breathing exercises - then announced to the crowd that he had an announcement to make.

Maybe it would go well, maybe not. Maybe it was a lost cause. A case for concern! Let's hope that bridges will not burn...

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, Griff and Foals, I have something exciting to proclaim tonight!"

Autumn swam up to him and took his finned hoof in her scale-tipped hoof.

"Tonight, I would like to introduce you guys to somepony...somecreature...new. A lovely Kirin from the name of Autumn Blaze, who almost single-hoof-edly saved her hidden village from her species' anger and destructive power! I would like to reveal that she is my girlfriend of a few years, and I love her very much!"

Everyone clapped or stomped their hooves and limbs in excitement for the couple.

"Harrumph."

Oh no, the moment of truth, the future groveling for the royal blessing. Hopefully they would be allowed to date and that Terramar would not have to pine for a romance he could not have.

"No. No, you will not date or marry her," Queen Novo said, shaking her head fervently, confirming Terramar's worst fears and the declaration of love was put to the test.

The crowd gasped and some creatures scoffed. Most of the Seaponies were face-finning, knowing the problem.

Here we go again.

Queen Novo was irked that Autumn Blaze, a Kirin, was in love with her nephew. She had no qualms with Autumn, truly, but she did have beef with Rain Shine, the leader, even Queen of the Kirins.

They used to be best friends when they were little; before Kirins' anger destroyed their village and fear took hold of the Hippogriffs and Seaponies after the Storm King destroyed theirs.

When they closed their borders due concerns for their safety, the rebuilding of their homes and general mistrust for ponies' xenophobic behavior, they were not thinking about each other and how they would miss each other during their double self-exile.

By the time they realized they had individually snuffed out their fires of friendship, they felt like it was too late to go back on their sister-like bond.

There was a lack of discrepancy between each other's accounts - they made giant mistakes while trying to do their best for their ponies, and they stubbornly followed their plans to the letter. They had learned to apologize for this behavior, although it seemed that Queen Novo had to relearn that lesson.

After recently learning to accept and care for Griffons and Merponies, a race of Kirins was another story. She was still intolerant and contemptuous of the majority of other creature-races, and she did not want a Nirik rampage destroying her homes or attacking her one and only nephew.

"Wait...why not?!" Terramar protested, mouth popping open and closed like a fish.

"Yes, please allow us to be together!" Autumn begged. "If this is about my Nirik form, I promise I am doing my best to control my emotions-"

"-No, I do not think so," the taller Seapony interjected, standing up and floating above her throne. She glanced at Princess Skystar at the corner of her eye, sensing that the child wanted to say something, but even that slight motion shut her daughter up before she even opened her mouth to say or reveal something personal that both of them would regret.

Unfortunately, the Queen had a bad habit of not wanting to explain herself. Truth be told, she knew that her philosophies of "don't ask questions, I am the Queen here," and "listen to me because I said so," did not age well, but she was adamant on her decision. She did not want to change how things had been done in the old days, even if her mindset was fermenting chaos among the future heirs to the thrones.

Having a bit too much respect for the old ways, she was willing to appraise their future mates in the way she saw fit. If she did not, who would? And what would she be teaching the next generation of foalfry?!
Conceding meant confessing her fears and traumas. No way, she would hide her flaws with a mask of harsh honesty, threats, and a "what I say goes" mentality. She needed to save face. No need to change. Her word was law and everyseapony knew her averment was to be followed at all costs.

"I have no need to explain myself to you," she helpfully clarified without clarifying. "Know your place." Using her status and height as a clutch, she started rose off her chair and circling like a vulture around the pair of young'uns. The cultured and high class Hippogriff/Seapony's bout eyes settled on the crowd before her, and rested upon the teenagers in front of her. Everyone nervously shifted in the equally blank and gorgon-like glares she gave. The cut eyes seemed to shoot through souls like a laser.

"In time, you will possibly know why I am guarding my heart. There are rules set in place for a reason. For now, follow my laws and know your place.

"Um...Auntie...I know that you are irritated, but isn't this a bit too far? Didn't you already learn to trust other creatures and not judge them based on stereotypes?" Terramar asked, slightly moving forward. He closed his mouth from the surprise and shock of the conflict.

Novo stopped moving, thinking of returning from the safety of her throne without making it too obvious she wanted to swim, fly, or run away. The seamare bit her lip and chewed her cheek, looking away sheepishly. If it was possible to sweat under the sea, she would be. Thankfully, nofishy was close enough to see anyway. She was grateful for the dark lighting and shadows partially cast across her face. Novo hated seeing Terramar in such conflict and pain, but she would not let the mask drop, would not let in the rain.

"I apologize for the intrusion, dear Queen," Autumn Blaze piped up, floating forward and vehemently squeezing Terramar's finned hoof in her own. This time, the scale of unfinned appendage shone in the natural lighting of the translucent coral around them, shining a light on the hoof-holding.

"But...this is unfair, please at least give me a chance! I promise I won't make you hate me afterwards!"

Queen Novo folded her forelegs and silently sat back on her throne, remaining adamant in her detest for the interrogation of the cretins in front of her, no matter how much everyone pleaded, whether they were judgemental, annoyed, terrified, or reluctant at the outcome. They were her Seaponies, and they needed to obey her, as well as everyone else that had been invited down there; as long as they remained in her waters or skies.

She suddenly started a shouting match between herself and the Kirin, and the stunned mare met go of Terramar's hoof, leaving him dumbly staring at the empty spot the courage-building closeness had given.

"I do not know why you even like talking so much - Autumn, and with such bliss and merriment, too. I have not had the time to see much of Kirins' trademark kindness and honesty within anyone other than you. Why are you so happy? Weren't you exiled by your own queen because you tried to free your kind with the foal's breath flower tea - to have the ability to talk again? And you, Applejack and Fluttershy had to convince your kind as well as your leader to live normally, even if they had to take deadly anger along with it?"

"Didn't you force your own kind and your own daughter to stay under the sea in fear of what might happen, and did not even try to trust the ponies who were trying to save you from the same threat of the Storm King that you were trying to avoid in the first place? And didn't you finally accept them after they coaxed you to help them save the world? Why are you so mean?"

"Oh yes, but then I was betrayed by royalty and yet again, a different species to mine, one that overfished, creates boats and ships that capsize and pollutes the waters with fishing nets and other ugly knick knacks."

She shot a dark look at Princess Twilight Sparkle, singling her out immediately despite the crowd of hundreds.

Hearing and seeing the fact that she had been spotted, Twilight coughed into her finned hoof nervously, the bangs covering her bowed face and shamed appearance.

"Sorry about that, I should not have betrayed your trust and stole your Pearl of Transmogrification, especially after Princess Skystar and Pinkie Pie had sung a beautiful and fun song, working so hard to convince you of our goodwill and want for the safety of the world from the Storm King. It was shameful, foolish and mean, I should not have done that. And I am sorry for all we ponies have down to your kind. I would be happy to ban fishing or seafaring in your waters if that will prevent overfishing, trespassing in your homes, as well as carnage against your species."

"Hmf. Fine, that might do. And ships and boats could possibly be allowed to say as longs as they respect our waters."

Queen Novo nodded her head, showing her first inkling of being amicable since the announcement.

Queen Rain Shine blushed furiously, turning her head and covering her face with her hoof while trying to hide it in her mane at the same time.

"...I...um...er...I apologize as well. Well...my actions were as rash as Queen Novo's and the other royal creatures such as the Yaks that shut off the borders to Equestria, even if it was for understandable and justifiable reasons. I understand now that everycreature has issues and times of being species-phobic and that voices should not be suppressed just to avoid emotions such as anger that are, or may seem unfavorable. Please allow Autumn to date your nephew. I know he is like a son to you, and I can be sure that she will not hurt him in her scary second form, and neither will he in his sharp-clawed and sharp-taloned Hippogriff one. Do not take out your anger on her; your quarrel is with me, not my friendship philosopher. Please, we could try to become friends once again and forget this whole conflict."

The Kirin Queen, who had no problem with the relationship, congratulated the duo.

"Three cheers for the newest almost-royal couple! Hip-Hip...Hooray!"

"Hooray!" The crowd wholeheartedly agreed, conceding to the tension breaker. Now that the kids related to the Hippogriff/Seapony and Griffon royal families had almost been hitched, it seemed that everycreature would calm down and just be happy for them in their love lives.

"See, they apologize!" Autumn yelled, pointing a hoof at the crowd. Perpetually confused at the turn of events that day.

"Siggghhhhh..." Queen Novo groaned, "That still does not undo the past! I am just trying to do the best for my sea-griffs! Even if that means trapping them under the ocean - which was only done for their protection mind you - and I will never do it again, but I will not encourage another interspecies romance, not another!"

"What are you so afraid of?" Autumn cried, fed up.

Currently full of contempt for the Kirins as well as the nosy crowd she was being embarrassed in front of, her face darkened and she scoffed, but did not clarify further, turning her back and moving away from the teenage couple in front of her.

"Sigh...you talk too much, you know that, small whelp?"

"Take a look around you," Autumn said simply.

Queen Novo quieted down for a second to take in the beautiful underwater scenery of her Seaponies, who could also transform into Hippogriffs and take in both the worlds of the sea and the sky - something she had not thought possible while in hiding.

She looked at the crowd of happy friends and families of different species, including but not limited to: Changelings, Dragons, Ponies, Buffaloes, and Yaks. The current Equestria had dissenting opinions on interspecies mixing, such as the white unicorn-turned Seapony that was holding tails with a tiny purple pufferfish next to her. The blowfish looking for all the world like it has been the best day of his life despite the circumstances of the current dilemma. Queen Novo's predicament of her conflicting morals was also stoked like a fire when she noticed that Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour, a normal pony, were cuddling their precious baby filly named Flurry Heart. The alicorn baby in question was also nuzzling Pound, a cream pegasus foal who also was being snuggled in the forelegs of him and his twin sister Pumpkin Cake's parents, two earth ponies of differentiating body types.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was sitting next to a yellow plebian - another common pony guard, same with Thorax, who was with a commoner of a changeling mare, was babysitting a small swarm of tiny reformed, permanently love-filled grubs, and they were crawling around on his head and antlers in glee. The buff pegasus Bulk Biceps was sweating due to the indicating height of Discord the Draconequus, who was hugging their crush Fluttershy like a plushie at the suspense; although he was sitting partially close to Princess Celestia as well. Princess Luna was floating next to a bony guard; the species no longer in hiding, just like her own two cultures.

Everypony...everybody... was happy and content at the cultural progress and intertwining of the love and friendship of different species. Different types of ponies - nay - creatures of all ages, royal, near-royal and non-royal statuses...had all come together willingly to share the Seapony-Hippogriff culture, celebrating her species's freedom from the evil Storm King - barely fitting in the previously roomy throne room. This was now Equestria, but despite it all, the royal Seapony, still as stubborn as a lot of the rulers around the globe, such as Queen Chrysalis; was not quite ready for it. Not ready to accept the change, either for worse or for better.

Pulling out her trump card, Autumn busted out the foaly-doll eyes and clopped her hooves together in a disarming and charming manner.

"Everycreature is happy at Equestria's new species inclusion...at least give this a chance! Please...?!"

Novo wanted to protect, worrying that Terramar would upset Autumn and accidentally cause her to go on a rampage and hurt him, but her kindness often came out as outbursts of anger and extreme stubbornness.

"Insolent child. You do not understand these things. I do not have to explain myself to you. I am the adult here, the most knowledgeable here, and the Queen here - not you."

"Are you though? I'm not sure if that whole statement is true," Terramar whispers darkly, questioning the validity of the verbal exchange. Depressed and angry, he started to tear up, but no-on say; he was bowing his head low and causing it to be cast in shadows like his dear old aunt had previously done. "But feel free to ruin your relationship with two entire realms; causing them to fear and hate you even more. I know I should have told you about my relationship before, and we apologize for that, but I really think you should give Autumn a chance!"

Terramar breathed a deep, long sigh.

"Well, if you do not want to change, you might as well continue to push your daughter, niece and nephew away...since you know best, don't you? Auntie knows best. Listen ma'am, even the wisest creatures make mistakes, you know. The dumbest teenager to the most long-lived alicorn. You could tell us your fears and doubts, but instead, you hide them and put on a mask of meanness and rudeness, when we could help! Does this have anything to do with why Skystar does not have a father?"

"That is a personal topic and you know it."

Terramar had hit the nail on the head. There was a reason why there was no King of the Seaponies, and it was a harsh one at that. Despite the sensitivity of the subject unfortunately, coming this far meant that Terramar was done with treading around the situation lightly. He huffed and puffed.

"But please, suffer in silence when everycreature can soothe your nerves and at least attempt to pacify your heart. Feel free to continue to ruin your mighty kingdoms...your majesty."

Novo snorted bubbles from her nose, running about of patience, about to unleash a terror in front of everyone.

"Eek!" Autumn Blaze squeaked, flinching and rushing over to her coltfriend. She was worried that the stand-offish face-off was about to become high class bout! "Ok, uh...let's not go too far now!"

"-...I can...tell you what's wrong...As well as what happened to Daddy..."

Everyone, stunned silent from the verbal exchange, turned towards the small, shaky voice of a newcomer, a shy and scared-looking Princess Skystar, looking sheepish and raising a fin in the air, holding Arrow's seahorse-like tail in the other. He stood over her, ready to protect her from her aunt, but she waved a hoof and got him to physically fall back and stand down.

"Skystar, don't-" Queen Novo protested, her fin outstretched; her true stress visibly showing for the first time that night. But just like before, begging would not work.

"I'm sorry, but everyone must know the truth, Mommy."

"But, sweetie, please don't tell them-"

"Shhhh, it'll be OK...there is nothing to be afraid of."

Skystar rose above the throne, propelling herself through the dense water and rising bubbles with her tail so she would float above everyone else - towards the ceiling of the throne room's cavern, illuminated as if a spotlight had been placed upon her. It was a sight that was frighteningly off, the cheery, silly Skystar holding her sand against her mother. She was prepared to turn the tide of the conversation.

Still fearful and shaky, she inhaled and exhaled loudly, her chest arose and declined visibly as she did so. Taking another deep breath, she prepared to drop a huge backstory bombshell on everyone's heads.

"My mom has a bad history of horrible things happening to her," Skystar explained, violently fiddling with her hooves, her fins getting temporarily bent and squished at the action.

"When my mom was little, both her and my daddy lost all four of my grandparents to a common sealife flu that they had caught because their bodies had not adapted to Seapony life yet. Hippogriffs mostly lived in the air, but a lot of them experimented for how long they could survive underwater without missing their talons or wings - just in case of an emergency such as the invasion we all know of. My grandparents took the gamble and lost...a bug affecting only the eldest of aquatic life ruined everything; with both royal families being devastated at the loss of their kings and queens. The Hippogriff kingdom would have crumbled in despair if mom had not swam up to the plate, and battered up, swinging a home run for her species and coaxing herself and dad to learn strict policies; as well as ingrain and devour knowledge of how to run a kingdom (what would someday become two of them.) There was no pandering to appeal to the Hippogriffs and the Seaponies. They were thought of as being the same species, even more than now. There was definitely no hint of an identity crisis back then! Hee-ha!

As one of the minorities in Equestria, whenever the two species' tried to connect to ponies in the past, disenfranchisement due to the differences and gerrymandering was common, especially because some of the wanted to catch or hurt elusive Hippogriffs and pretty Seaponies for their magic and good luck. We had become a part of myths and sailor's tall tales, as if our existence meant nothing. At the same time, our quiet, stand-offish lives caused us to be hidden under the radar of the Storm King for a long time before he spotted our power. This is why I did not like politics for a long time, it can be uninteresting and too complicated as well as favor and lift up one species' superiority over anothers."

Skystar pondered for a moment, tapping her fin to her chin, trying to her best to get the disheartening details correct before she relayed them. She knew her mom would feel too emotional to help her with this endeavor, and she did not want to ask Captain Stratus; this was her time to remember details correctly, despite her occasional scatterbrained behavior.

"Hmmm...oh, yes! Orphaned, coral-crowned and betrothed at seven, my parents knew that their kingdoms were depending on them and that their hatch-hood was effectively over.

As life went on and mom grew up, apart from losing her parents, including what would have become her parents-in-law, mom was doing OK for the moment.

Despite the tradition of royals marrying someone they were barely interested in, to band together to make life, her love with dad was blossoming like a rose. The same went for her loyal best friends - her sister, Auntie Ocean Flow and Uncle Sky Beak; two nobles who shared the night mom and dad's wedding.

Both couples loved each other dearly, and that night, King Nebula reverently carried Queen Novo, her clinging to his neck and both of them in pure joy and immeasurable glee. They were making their way to their room though in Mount Aries, and had just passed the door's threshold, bobbing up and down in the air, (and for my aunt and uncle, it was the water since they stayed in Seaquestria for their honeymoon.)

Tinsel-like seaweed and underwater jewels adorned the both of them, the sunshine gleaming off their freshly preened feathers. Both were chocked full of crabfish-crawfish cake, and mom began their first night of marital bliss by...being unceremoniously plopped onto the bed, causing her to be swallowed up the covers. Dad was a joker like me, and he decided to start off their marriage by being silly. Though mom was annoyed, she smiled and they both laughed at the spur-of-the-moment prank dad successfully pulled off. So fun!

That was her happiest moment, apart from getting both me and my cousins a few years after the double marriage.

No wonder she misses him so much, he is awesome, haha! *Was* awesome...heh-heh.

...Sigh...

I think she sees dad in me, which is another reason she is so protective of me. I do not remember much about him since I was little when we lost him, but I cling to what I know, such as my love for him, the softness of his mane, scales, and feathers, the fun I had being rolled around in his tail; as well as his laugh and kind smile. Even if she is a bit overprotective, I know mom loves me, and I definitely still love her. Excluding my cousins, Aunt, Uncle, and the datemate newcomers to the family, we were all we had up. We are each other's crutch in the hard days. Like...on Hearth's Warming, or Heart's and Hooves Day!...or his birthday...or even...Father's day..."

Skystar remembered being little and seeing everyone one else with loving fathers and feeling left out. She had realized on thing though. A wonderful thing that made her clung to Queen Novo even more:

"Sniff...I don't even have a dad...but I still have mommy! I have the memories of daddy and I am going to look after mommy for the rest of my life!"

After hearing the whispering and seeing the joy depleted in the young Seapony, a lot of creatures started to cry and sniffle softly, wishing that tissues worked underwater. Skystar continued recounting the hopeless sorrow which felt like a fishing rod dipped in pain, the line reemerging from the water, only for the fish of love to be snatched by a bird of prey. Either that, or the line coming back up with a confusing lack of fish caught on the hook - despite the lure being devoured.

"She learned to distrust outsiders such as Kirins and Hippogriffs and Ponies for good reason. Despite that she needs to learn not to blame the majority of creatures; most of them have good characters!

However, I understand her pain because a lot of unfortunate events have occurred, especially after father passed. Firstly, that happenstance occurred because when I was a baby that was happily playing with my mother in this very castle, blissfully unaware that while she was keeping me safe inside, dad's food-gathering trip would be his last.

A trespassing Siren, likely one of the parents of the three femme fatals stuck in the human world, purposely sang a fatally loud note and the power of the blast caused a cave in that dad got his tail stuck in, buried under the falling debris."

At the saddest part, she grabbed and held Shelly and Sheldon for emotional support, then used them as puppetry to give her story visuals, rolling her fins to mimic the treacherous waves, even clicking and clacking the pet clamshell duo like makeshift castanets to imitate crashing lightning stikes.

"Before it could bite him and feed off of his fear and magic, the mean creature was chased off by the guards, but it was too late for daddy. Mommy's hubby was gone, and the interloper; traitorous to fish-kind was exiled back to the other side of the world, where it came from. The giant Sea serpent-like thing had come all the way from the Siren Empire just to make trouble; and between that powerful royal Siren and his or her family, they gave all Sirens a bad name, as their fish are suppressed under the awful royal family's tyranny.

It had turned out that the reason the guards were too late to save the King was due to the Siren Queen, after being invited as a guest from a neighboring royal kingdom - was full of delicious Seapony food, drink and love, and decided to cause hardship and fear. She had attempting to make off with the Pearl, and though she had been able to pour some of the transformation and projection magic into the crowning jewel that was her magical red gem that all Sirens have, and was able to pass along the power to her daughters who were trapped in another world by Star Swirl the Bearded. She had gotten caught, which is why an alarm system was later added to prevent easy thievery of bandits. The Siren Queen swam away faster than they could detain her, and that was when she came across the King, who had been searching for food for his family, going on his daily food and shell hunt that many royals participated in.

That night, there was a thunderous and powerful storm above the waves, and mighty wails of sadness underneath the waves.

This was partially due to the clouds and sea gaining some sapience and moving of their own accord, and partially because of the winds and rain being created from the grief of Seaponies and Hippogriffs below.

Mom held me, a tiny child that was terrified of rain and the storm's "ka-booms!" She comforted me, becoming my anchor in trails and troubles. Sadly, the storm of mistrust had been planted within her soul, growing like a weed because of the disbelief in her spirit. The brokenhearted, lonely widow of a Queen cried and wailed. I actually remember that happening, as I squinted to sneak a glance at the either waning or waxing moon peeking from behind the clouds, shedding hopeful light on our tragic life."

After retelling the story of her beloved father, Skystar wiped tears from her eyes as the crowd looked on, either tearing up (which was a problem for the creatures with head-bubbles), or having jaws open wide enough to catch whole schools of crawfish.

"That circumstance, I think, was truly when mother started fearing for my safety, and I just made it worse down the line."

The story was depressing, but it also showed the bond that Skystar had with her mother, and that Queen Novo was not so bad after all.

She went on to explain that in the same year that a pink dolphin had brought young Terramar home after getting his tail hurt and tangled in a pony net while exploring in what had been a safe place to play and seek out saltfish snacks dolphins, Skystar got had her own life-threatening adventure.

Queen Novo had been strict on Sky ever since because the young one had been caught in a rip current and taken away from the guards, far away from the Seaquestrian kingdom and had ventured too far to the badlands of the water, and from behind a magical gate that blocked intruders.

"Hello little one. I see you are in dangerous territory, reserved for inmates and mere trespassers to your kingdom. Mind helping a gal out?"

She found that the raspy voice belonged to a shadowy fish pony had been forced to stay behind the barrier of the two lands, and that even though she was safe for the moment, the figure could speak behind the bars, as if in a jail. The creature spoke in a coaxing voice, begging to be let free. What Skystar did not know was that the monster could smell a resemblance between Skystar and her father, King Nebula and licked her chops.

Even though she did not remember everything that was said, the naive and trusting Sky was almost misled into using her voice to open up the lock of the gate; only a Seapony's song could do so. Just as Skystar made up her mind to want to help (she has been nervous before then,) music flooded her senses; the offending party was singing a mystifying song. A wisp-like physical manifestation of the magic poured from a jewel of her chest and flew into the child's ears and wrapped around the kid's brain. After the song had gotten in, the power of suggestion started agreeing with Skystar's most recent thought - the thought of wanting to rescue and save the straggler in front of her from the seeming jail cell.

"Ahhh-ah-ah...ah-ah-ah...Ahhh-ah-ah...ah-ah-ah...."

Surprise, surprise, the creepy old woman mind controlling the princess ended up being the same bold Siren who had offed her father! She opened her mouth to bite the filly and cause the little girl to open the gate-.

"-She's over here, your majesty!"

Thwack!

Queen Novo's strong tail wacked the gate and the giant Siren felt the force through it, effectively punching out her eye.

"Owwww!"

"That's for my husband!" The queen yelled, grabbing her daughter with her tail, hiding her on the other side of its fins.

She then roared and blasted a laser beam of light from her anglerfish-like mane protrusion, permanently breaking half one side of her jewel and temporarily frying and the witch-like fish woman.

"And that's for my daughter! Now, leave!"

"Urgh! Ok, ok, I'll go! You'll never see me again! Ah!"

The stunned and half-blind Siren mare fled deep into the dark lands, crashing into everything rock, stalactite, and stalagmite that was nearby - swimming away back to her home to cry to her husband as fast as she could.

After their collective hearts stopped beating like drums, the triumphant, yet scared mother-daughter duet smiled at each other and hugged. The guards that had come with had not even needed to use their spears; their queen's motherly instinct and fight or flight response had been enough to protect the sweetheart of a princess.

"Thank you, mommy! So much!" Skystar hopped up and down, not helping the heavy breathing of herself and her tired mother.

"You are welcome, my little Seapony. I know you like helping others, but Sirens are not cute little sea animals or sweet little Seaponies. Use your wits and and act on your fear to save yourself next time. I know you have them! Sigh...I love you my little clam pearl...Please never do that again."

With tears in each other's eyes, Sky was yelled at to never venture too far into badland territory again - even by accident, which Skystar fervently agreed to, nodding her little head vigorously. It was the easiest rule from her mom she ever had to follow.

Of course Skystar ended up breaking this rule when she got older, but for an understandable reason.

Skystar told everyone that she and her cousins were in elementary school - almost middle school when the Storm King attacked Mount Aries in the night, adding their land to his hit list of conquest.

The Hippogriffs had to fly from their homes and were forced to become Seaponies, stuck under the waves. In disguise, Tempest Shadow and Grubber also tried stealing the Pearl of Transmogrification - more bandits, again! And this time, the high-ranking servants of the King himself.

"Haha," Skystar giggled uncontrollably, interrupting her own story. The sound of levity in her voice obliged her to continue her quick tangent.

"The Pearl of "Transmo-GRIFF-ication," so that's why we change from birds to fish and back again! I sea...Tee-hee!"

"Skystar, clam shell, focus." Queen Novo helped out and got her daughter back on topic. The task at hoof was important, there was no time for monologuing!

"You have to finish airing my dirty laundry."

...

After everyone - including Novo - burst out laughing (which was healing therapy from the previous traumatic reenactment of royal Seapony history,) Sky continued the tale of the Storm King's defeat. Curiosity calling her, she had ventured above the surface to explore and saved, entertained, and showed the Pearl to previously drowning ponies who were thankfully trustworthy. They were the heroes of the world and in the near future, were going to save everycreature from the Storm King, but it was still not a very smart decision on Skystar's part.

Novo had thought her daughter was almost demented, trusting the ponies that had hurt them so much, indirectly or otherwise, especially when the Pearl had almost stolen by Twilight Sparkle, someone else that had betrayed the peaceful Seapony's trust and stabbed them in the back. Someone else who tried to harm them after being taken in and rescued from drowning; another bandit in her midst.

It all worked out in the end, but boy, Queen Novo was getting tired of the disobedience and life-threatening events concerning her daughter. Not wanting to remarry, as the wounds cut deep and most Seaponies and Hippogriffs mate for life anyway, she seeked her little one's companionship. That being said...her daughter was the one to give the Queen constant migraines and heart attacks with her naive personality.

...

She learned to not trust for anyone other than Seaponies and Hippogriffs, who had not betrayed her, because everytime she had, everything went wrong. This meant that the irritated attitude concerning other creatures was not ever truly resolved. At least could be, that night of the fifth annual Freedom Festival.

"That reminds me," Sky thought, smiling to herself, "Happy belated birthday, Dad!"

Skystar continued, feeling less sad, and perking up in hope every sentence.

"Her very name, Queen "Novo" means: (uncountable) new ideas or things, but life had turned her mind cold and numb to that fact, causing a one-eighty degree turn in her current mindset. Please do not blame her too much for her reluctance to let you too date, pay no mind; she is just grieving for her husband and mourning the previous loss of her kingdoms due to the conquering and subsequent identity crisis between them; and the possible dilution of the culture she has been working so hard on preserving. If it seems that her distaste for other species is palpable, that means she is just hurting deep inside. We all still forgive and love our mommy, um, our Queen mother, right?"

"..."

"Ugh, did you really have to tell them everything?!" Novo asked, facehoofing to cover her tears as her sheepish daughter turned around and looked down at her mom with a reassuring smile. Arrow floated upwards and rested his head on hers, the seahorse-like Merpony showing support to Skystar.

"Great job, honey! I did not know how much your mother was struggling and I had just assumed she was mean. Oops. Thanks for opening up my eyes to the truth and relaying those details. If I had been in your position, I could not have said it better myself."

"Thank you!" Skystar declared jubilantly, giving an exuberant smile more befitting of her personality. "That was hard, especially with all those eyes staring at me, whew! And sorry for exposing everything like a shining pearl in the blackest sea, I just wanted everyone to be understanding towards you and love you just as much as I do you, and you do me."

The little seamare then clapped her fins together in a pleading smile in the direction of the crowd; a bid to understand her mother and forgive. She and Arrow then rushed towards her mom and hugged her.

Rocking back and forth, with a hoof to her head, Novo felt like fainting - conscious that everyone could tell that she was unbearably embarrassed and worried about what the others in the room might think. The throbbing was holed up within herself; her heart's open wound had its bandages ripped off, and it still hurt.

To her surprise, everyone was understandable and "awed" in sadness, some creatures reaching out to her, apologizing for and speciesism they may have previously adopted, or giving her reassuring words. Despite her gratitude and the calling on her heart to thank everyone for how blessed she was for the crowd and her half-ponies, she did not voice her gratuity. After making up horrible heart-breaking scenarios in her head for so long, she had deluded herself into thinking it was too late to go back on her word. The sensation of aching embarrassment was almost too much to bear.

Against her will, the mask was off. Her daughter and this newcomer had conspired against her and had made her feel exposed, weak, and unworthy of her thone - the exact opposite of what they had meant to convey.

"See, everyone loves and appreciates you. If you want, Terramar and I can stay friends for now until you get to know me. There is no reason to fear. Let go of your anger, worry and hatred, and we can help you! Rainbows won't light up the sky unless you let in the rain!"

She gave Autumn a scornful, yet uncaring glance downward, snorting. She was even more furious due to the embarrassing scene that had exposed her well-kept secret. It proved to everyone that the Queen had not been corrupted by power, but suppressed by the blight of fear. Something she did not want anyone to know.

Now that her daughter had told the whole story, the Queen had felt like she had been put under a spotlight and no longer hidden from view.

"No, I have made up my mind, and that's final."

"What?! After all of that?!"

"Auntie...pleeeeeease..."

Caught off guard, the Kirin apparently decided to house and adopt another gaping maw. Autumn started to tear up, Terramar grunting in fear and hugging her back. Inadvertently stomping her hooves in a child-like temper tantrum, she tried one final time to tip-hoof around the delicate subject.

"Are you sure madame? Can we not at least try to prove that we are a safe species?"

"To quote someone I met once...nnnope!"

"I...I can't beeleaf you! After your daughter poured her heart out and everything! Sniff."

"There is no use in those crocodile tears; they never solved anything. I still do not trust you with my nephew. Since the festivities are over, you and your explosive kind will be escorted out before you can do damage to this great hallway. Thank you for coming, bid farewell to Terramar, and goodbye."

She waved a fin in a shooing motion, wanting to be done with it all.

Having held the anger back for a bit too long, Autumn's floating tears started to bubble and steam, and her air bubble popped with her exposed head and mane dry despite the water and pressure surrounding them.

Bwooosh!

Everyone gasped, having to either squint or had to close their eyes. A bright pillar of white, orange, and red magical fire had appeared, ready to cause destruction and chaos to anyone or anything nearby. Thankfully there was no one to hurt and nothing to ruin, even Terramar was safely behind his girlfriend...although he was close enough to feel the searing heat that was engulfing Autumn in a ball of cinders inside of it and the flame tower. Things were about to get heated.

Tired of being portrayed as the villain, her body started its transformation. She shook, thrashed her tail back and forth, and even let out growls and hisses reminiscent of a dragon. Her gloriously bushy mane fluffed up in rage, then it was a flame-licked mane. Finally, it became more and more like a wildfire, stretching and burning despite the fire-depleting water. It even grew a little, cracking and hissing at the edges. The fire kept on burning, using the oxygen in the water to its advantage, the unnatural fire's thirst for revenge and need to protect Terramar was quenched using the negative words and rude comments like venom that had previously come her way. Fuel for the fire, so to speak. Premium rage, just what worried Terramar.

Thankfully, Autumn was still able to breath despite the philosophical and psychological change.

"Ahhhh, no, calm down, ah!"

Terramar screamed in shock and protest, but other than that, could not voice his concerns in time - her fire was unsuppressed like an underwater island-creating volcano in the deepest trench. The air molecules in the water's atoms heated up and it felt like electricity in the room, charged for release ready for action.

Seeing Autumn upset like this hard pill to swallow, more trouble than it was worth. Evidently, not much had been accomplished that day if this was how things were turning out now, without Novo turning the other leaf. It was hard to win with her! They had lost the quarrel of verbally saving the relationship, but the Kirin was not going down without a fight. Literally.

The tension could be cut with a knife...if the knife had not gotten stuck deep in it. Any hypothetical weapon could not have made it through the steel-strong atmosphere!

"You know what your majesty?" Autumn shouted, muffled, "I do not care that we are different species, in fact, most Kirins and male so we would have breed with other species regardless! I am happy that we got to meet you, too see how mean you are. I think that we will just elope and ignore the inheritance of the throne since you don't seem to be coming off your lazy, superstitious tail anytime soon. You are not the only one who had bad things happen to them. Grow and learn to be kind, for your species' sake!"

It was too late to quell the best within. Queen Novo was merely interested in seeing the monster she unleashed. She knew this would happen! She was not right for her Terramar, and likely never would be.

"Petulant child, how dare you verbally assault me in my own kingdom...my own two kingdoms!"

The convention of herd and other gatherings of creatures waited with bated breath at the outcome. They knew that if they intervened now, they might get caught in the literal crossfire. Some of them were devising a plan to help stop the fight and disperse the face-off. The confrontation would have to be dispelled before someone would tread water too close to the fire and get burned.

The predicament was his aunt's fault, but while flinching, he was not doing much to deescalate the situation either, being stuck like stone in primal fear and terror. Pieces of the corona that bounced away from the ball of flame caused Terramar to maneuver like a gazelle to avoid them. He was just grazed by a few of the tiny spits that turned into coals on impact, but it hurt like the Dickens.

It was time. Time for the fireworks show.

With this explosive, fiery temper, she really was an autumn blaze when it came to standing up for who she loved. Her body became ash colored, her mane, tail, and tufts of fur became as an ethanol fire, blue with red highlights, and her scaled shell became smoke colored. Appearing as eyebrows that floated like helium, her eyes - now white, and unnerving now took on a blue highlights. In her vision, it was as if she had heat vision goggles or sunglasses with tinted lenses equipped, and the heat signal caused Queen Novo to appear extremely red at that horrendous moment. She had been playing with fire, and it was time for her to get burned. Naturally.

Her new fangs glimmered in the magnificent light of her glowing eyes, and she flashed them menacingly.

The end of the transformation made the light glow blue and red; glorious heat poured forth as lava and turned into volcanic ash that would dissolve if anyone was scarred by the molten heat whizzing around in the water. Didn't mean that the slight, few second scorching did not hurt though.

The smoke dissipated as the transformation completed itself. Autumn could finally hear things other than the anger ringing in her ears and the dying down of the magical wind's whistles.

The Queen exhaled sharply, a small jetstream if bubbles streaming out, the bubble jet dissipating into steam in frustration.

"Sugar, please...do me a favor...and get out of here! I might just banish you and your kind from my realms to punish you for your rudeness!"

The two of them really irked each other and provoked each other. The cat fight then started.

The atmosphere in the ruinous cavern shifted towards the Queen, and everyone could tell that despite her grace and poise, the Queen wished to square up against the offending Kirin.

"Your majesty, should I remove her from the castle as you wished?"

Sensing the oncoming train that was the future clash, her loyal royal guard named Stratus, (who had been floating next to the Queen's throne,) lifted a finned hoof to assist her by calling the guards to remove the "attacker"; but she smirked and set it down with a waving hoof in a bid to show that she did not need help to resolve the calamity.

"It's ok, I'm ok. I can handle her, stand down."

Unmovable, Novo was not messing around. She could handle this frenzied filly herself. Even if her power burned like a methane fire. Autumn was cowardly enough to think she could fight her. This petulant intruder was HERS. Her quarry. Her prey.

"No actually...this will be so much more interesting..."

Blankly, Novo taunted, riling the younger natural half-breed up. She could feel the sadness, anguish, distain, disgust, mistrust and distrust, off of her. She wanted to see how far she could push her buttons, and finally get really see the power Kirin-Nirik fury for what it was worth.

"Please let go of your pain and let in the rain; it can wash away the fear stains!"

Novo wanted everyone off her back, and Autumn's song did not yet did break the curse of resentment in the queen or warm her heart.

If she continued to press Autumn, not only would Novo witness the rage again, but the queen wanted to make sure this sniveling whelp could protect and stand up for her nephew, for all she was worth. She would witness if the mare would truly cared about him and whether she would hurt him in such a state. The expression on her face could freeze life and was almost saber toothed as a scared Autumn yelled on in a tone that was like a boomburst, shaking the royal hall and wabbling the stalactites above.

"Get off of your rocking horse and come down to us mortals! Swish your tail off your throne and fight me like a mare!"

"No, you are not right for my nephew, and I will not give you a chance. I do not trust you, and I do not think you have the strength or the wits to protect Terramar. You will hurt him, like everyone who has betrayed our kind. I am the only one that can protect him. I have put up with letting others choose who they like for long enough. I have already let Silverstream and Skystar make their own decisions, but knowing Kirins' history - and for Terramar's safety - I am putting my fin, claw, and hoof down on this one! I will not argue with you again, leave."

"Open your heart or there will be no tomorrow, with loving friends, this is no place for sorrow~"

Queen Novo did not answer, wanting the dogfight to continue.

Having enough of being argumentative, Autumn finally lost control of her emotions. The water around her mane boiled ferociously and she maneuvered her hooves in a "put 'em up" position, fed up with the unrelenting cattiness of the queen.

With the rage of a mistreated wild animal, and her scales glowed as magic once again started to run rampant. A powerful manifestation of fire appeared in front of her mouth, it was easily formed with the Kirin's prestige and practice. Without even looking, she and shot fire at the Seapony; the fireball hurling towards the throne.

Ka...boom!

The disturbingly powerful blast was not for the faint of heart. Talk about a walk on the wild side; literal shots fired!

As the smoke cleared, she realized that Novo was unharmed, and neither was her coral throne. Even the rocks surrounding it did not harbor any demolition - not even a slight burn. In fact, the throne shone in a magical aura, standing proud and tall in the midst of the perceived demotion.

The previously riled up and bratty Autumn started to cower. Losing the motivation to solder on, her other-worldly flame-mane fizzled out a smidgeon, losing a bit of luster due to being throne into the zone of fear. She thought she would have at least made light work of the throne, if not the Queen. Not even any burn marks...now that was scary! The Queen's seat had kept her safe, though Autumn could tell that she would not have been effected by the fire regardless; even if it was a fire that burned underwater.

She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not hallucinating, watched as glittering coals glinted off of the reflected light of the barely-illuminated water. The shimmering elements were glinting harmlessly around the Queen as she sat proudly on her throne, both it and her untouched, smirking.

It seemed that in actuality, not only was only was the multi millennia-year old woman unfazed, her royal chair seemed to harness some sort of Seapony magic that saved it from being effected by outsider magic, just like Queen Chrysalis's one. Even if the whole of Seaquestria and Hippogriffia were to fall, the throne would remain - no matter which kingdom it had been place in.

"Huh?" Autumn blinked surprised at the her own aggression and the fact that the attack did not work. She defined wanted to back out of the the grave she had dug herself in.

Ignoring the smoldering bubbles around her, the Queen chuckled, scarily calm.

Novo decided to put her full intimidation skills to work. She floated upwards - she literally rose to the occasion. She swiveled right in front of the Nirik's face in an instant, clearly smelling the drake-equine's underlying fear. The glaring expression on her face could freeze life and was almost saber toothed in spite of her lack of sharp teeth. Her bared flat teeth shone in the iridescence of her anglerfish-like mane protrusion, making a deep gutteral growl.

"Your majesty, I am so sorry; I take it back! I apologize for aggravating you further!"

Autumn swam backwards, wishing that she could have taken back her words, shaking in fear rather than anger. She accidentally made eye contact with Novo and sensed the danger. Shrinking back further, Kirin...Nirik...tried to apologize to the queen again, but she was cut off with a tsk. It was too late, the Queen had felt her wince, and she shot another disdainful glare around the protesting crowd. Anyone that was caught under the gaze felt they would turn to stone, much less be stuck in fear.

"You are so cowardly. Don't start a fight you cannot finish."

Sadly, it was too late to beg for mercy and be rewarded with a verbal recall, and Autumn got roared at, all the way out of the throne room, spinning away. Thrown upside down then knocked onto her body, she hit her head on the back wall of the cave, and was seeing the stars of Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark swiveling around her noggin.

"AUNTIE NOVO, HOW COULD YOU?! I TRUSTED YOU! I know Autumn was out of line, but she apologized!" Terramar screamed, at the end of his rope, patience thinning.

"Gee, you magical Seaponies sure do fear the future," the mare in question remarked, dizzy and flipped over but not badly hurt.

The Seapony with alicorn strength to her full height and intimidation tactics exhaled sharply.

"Your voice is irritating, and not melodic at all," Feeling as if she had won a trophy, she then sang at Autumn, threatening:

"Get out of my head, get out of my face, flop away child, you are a disgrace. I have never seen such a flip-flop, your presence I will have to erase...~"

"Wow, this is fun! The roaster just got barbecued! It may seem like I love to build up and tear down, but I am simply doing what is best for my birds and ponies."

The remembrance of her offensive yet beautiful solo reminded her of when she used to let go and sing into sea-shell mics with her daughter, with not a care in the world. The remembrance of the happy memories caused Novo to put her fin to her mouth and chuckle, no-one else seeing the joke. She cleared her thought to move away from the reminiscence. She opened her eyes, figuratively roaring fire burning within them. She sneered:

"Take your filthy hooves off my nephew or else you will never see this kingdom again, and he will never have a chance to become king. Would you really deprive him of that luxury?"

Autumn responded to the threat by her jaw hitting the floor, ready to invite any giant water beetles, shrimp, or prawns to float inside. She tutted, her pupils constricting, she was opposed to the evicting.

"Harrumph! I cannot believe you! I AM a suitable beau for Terramar, and he is a subtitle suitor. I want to be his beau, and I want to be his muse. We are sweethearts that are soon to marry. No matter what you say, I will keep trying to prove that I am right for him. He is my swain, and one day, I will show you that we are perfect for each other despite this chat!"

Autumn turned her head and floated up conspicuously. Queen Novo raised a suspicious eyebrow at the girl, not interrupting for once.

"You know what, I did do not want to be part of these crummy kingdoms, away! Since I am not welcome here, I am going to run away with Terramar and elope without inviting you to the wedding. I'm not going to stay, good riddance and good day!"

Novo's anglerfish-like light glowed brightly and she shot magic out of it, though the Nirik was mostly unfazed, also showing her physical toughness and mental capacity. It was just a warning shot, but Autumn could feel the malice off of the magic.

They got floated to each other and got into each other's faces. The audience and the guards wanted to intervene, but they were fearful of Queen Novo's rage at not being able to tear Autumn a new one. Though it seemed like Autumn could handle herself in the royal's menace, they did not want the confrontation to go on further. The mare's continued to glare at each other, not backing away. Just as everyone was getting antsy and about to say something, someone broke the silence.

"Autumn, Auntie, calm down! Please stop this!"

Terramar's worst fears were confirmed - it felt like he was alone, abandoned, and stuck dealing with problems by himself. What was next? Not being able to choose his both forms for himself whenever he wanted?

Terra, peeved, concerned, he thought that even though Autumn and Novo were fighting, anyone's anger had the potential to be dangerous no matter what the creature. Both of them must have cared about him somewhere, which was why they were fighting over him so viciously. He sighed, tired of doing nothing to break up the irate brawl in front of him, finally decided to stallion up.

"Look at this!"

He flung his tail upwards and flicked in-between the two females.

"Swishy!" Autumn exclaimed, hugging Terramar's tail; almost coming to herself. The crowd held their breaths as Raine Shinee tried to help Autumn calm down by vocalizing a melody. "Oh dear...my more Terry, I almost hurt you!"

"Tch, you named his tail? Pathetic."

"Be quiet, Auntie!"

Hearing another of Novo's irate snorts, Autumn once again shot fire without looking and almost hit Terramar, but the action of realizing her folly caused her current breath to run out, causing the heated stream to fizzle out; becoming a jet stream that emerged as fluffy, light, and harmless bubbles that bounced off of Terra's fish scales.

Fssshhhhh!

Seeing the soft smooth and squishy scales almost get fried or worse, she came to herself. She was finally able to cease fire, neglecting to attempt to barbeque anything else further.

Terramar calms Autumn followed the leader Kirin's advice and vocalized a tune, sounding like the popping mouths of happy fish and the screeching of happy eagles.

"Pop-pop, scree!"

He hugged and calmed Blaze down with his own soothing voice and comforting presence. Autumn turned away, embarrassed.

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Another light show occured, the flash returning Autumn to Kirin form.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief for the outcome, the ones with air bubbles started rising to the surface. There sure was a lot of drama in the deepest darkest regions of the ocean!

"I...I am sorry...everyone, Queen Novo. I'll just go..."

"We'll just go," Terramar concurred.

...

Taking Terra's fin, Blaze rushed up out of the water and out of the kingdom, not only to escape the crowd's eyes, but to and breath air. Her air bubble had popped earlier, and even thought Terramar would have gladly made a new one, he could tell that she wanted to be there no longer. Good thing she was a good swimmer with powerful endurance!

Everyone glowers at Novo, her vindictiveness gone for the moment. Truthfully, she was worried for the couple and upset at shooing her nephew away, but she did not like to admit when she was deathly incorrect. She smiled nervously.

"What?"

(Having a chance to tear her a new one, there was a huge uproar in the place; the Kingdom was shoot by the rising octaves! Novo's ear-fins were chewed off and out by the yelling crowd, causing her to concede and apologize. As the water's heat cooled down from the ex-Nirik's presence, she felt like she would shrink, no escape in sight from the spiralling emotions.)

...

Sealife is not a breeze!

"Blub, blub, bloop!"

"Ugh, seriously?! Can you believe her, Blaze?!"

"(GASP! Cough, cough!) Yeah, after all that..."

Back at bay's dock, the couple rested. An upset Terramar was pacing and grizzling like a filly who had stayed up past her bedtime. He was at his wit's end. The two remained silent for a while, tears streaming like the river nile, crying in frustration at the events of the night.

Shoom!

Terramar turned back into a hippogriff, looking shiny and handsome despite his wet downy feathers.

"Oh, oh, no...I blew it...I blew your chance of a happy life with me as your wife, along with ruining the chance for your Auntie's marry-tol blessing!"

"No you did not!" Terramar reassured, patting the crying's Kirin back with his claws. She wracked with sobs, covering her face with her hooves. He took her hooves in his claws, gently enough to not accidentally scratch or slash her. "I think you did a great job standing up to her and surviving her attacks. I'm sure we will be forgiven soon enough, and earn the kingdoms one day; especially if I am needed to lead the creatures into a fearless future, which Aunt does not seem to be doing anymore. Poor unfortunate souls...Just be patient, she'll come around!"

She was audibly upset, sad and feeling like she messed up. Her face burned bright red, as the embarrassment stung. She was sniffling and cringing at her mistake, wallowing in the horrible news of Terramar's possible detachment from the throne.

The creatures lay on their backs, contemplating life. Their minds sneaked back to the creatures that cared about them, but they decided to stay in the cold darkness for a little longer. The cold breeze snapped them both back to reality, and the duo cuddled for warmth, snuggling into each other's yummy-smelling manes for comfort. They realized that the autumn breeze felt cold and bitter in the dead of night, the pretty leaves falling the leaves off twirled like flying seed pods. It whistled in a creepy falsetto and softly slapping their bodies in the way that reminded them of mouse jumping on things in the night. The scenery was no longer pleasant, as it had once been before, just like Terramar's life now.

He had no hard feelings. Terra knew Blaze had been trying to fight for him and thought that her fiery temper and Nirik form were pretty swell. She had some neat tricks up her sleeve. He just wanted to forget the night and move on with his life.

Fed up, Terramar takes off his Transformation Pearl necklace and flung it away without thinking. He stayed where he was, not wanting to move from that spot.

Fwip!

"Ack, stop polluting the oceans with important trinkets!" Blaze scolded. "That could be your lifeline, boy of the land, sea, and air! To begin with, that might conk the head of a sleeping predator down below."

"Oops! I didn't mean to do that."

"Ah..."

"I guess it's not just Kirins that can have deadly bursts of anger!"

"Mmm-hmm." She nodded enthusiastically, nuzzling into him. "We'll get the necklace back."

"Eventually."

"Oospy doopsy."

"Oh dear."

Sploosh!

It splashed into the water with a plop - an almost fatal error.

By and by, the necklace fell deeper, although still in the shallow waters. It continued, hitting something big.

Plonk!

In the dark waters, someone or something stirred. A thing that decided that the nigh-royals were a delectable seven course meal.

...

A few minutes later, Terramar was being shaken away. Autumn was scared for some reason, and she did not feel comfortable with being there.

"Terra, Swishy, honey..." Autumn softly cried, "Please wake up and say his to our visitor."

Her light tone was at variance with her sudden trembling. Their guest was a shadowy figure. Terra squinted and looked closely at the lump. It was...a giant fish. With sharp fangs.

Just before Autumn could plead to 'em and smooth things over, and get it to become docile it attacked the pier.

Bam!

It shook and barely held itself together, wobbling precariously for a second.

It was living vicariously, the hungry beast throwing itself full force into the wood. Even the magic retracted itself for a few seconds.

Still groggy, Terra ould not understand the pressure they had been pushed into...yet.

The fish was trying to select the couple as its prey, holding the necklace that had been chucked on it in its mouth and it growled, threatening to to shatter the necklace onto smithereens. The safety magic activated in time, glowing and blocking the bared fangs from turning the chain into splinters.

In the water vs on the pier, the behemoth of a shark towered over the pair regardless of the land height measurements. The enthused shark pounced barely grazed the two's back legs. Unable to assuage the attack, they had bruises from the rough skin thumping hearts and disheartened egos.

What was worse though, was that the scathing attack hit hard. The nigh-kids wanted the scoop on my a fish in Novo's kingdom was not peaceful and docile.

Nope, the fish was not a siren, but it sure was something that was almost as scary.

"Ha! At least you tiny morsels are more food than what I normally get! You are going to go swimming with the fishes, kid."

"Awww, but I like my life!" Autumn folded her forelegs. "I have so much to do, yet me continue it!"

To begin with, the shark spoke. It bothered to stretch it's vocal cords. Both ponies hybrids, being so close to nature, understood him. They took in the details of the great white shark, ready to gnash teach and scare the two like young guppies. They also understood that the giant fish had the dossier on them concerning the previous under water argument and had swum up for some peace and quiet.

"Psh!" The shark scoffed. "Pish posh, be quiet, it will all be over soon. You are just fresh meat for the grinder. Also, aw what a cute couple, you think you can fight me and survive this! You have no idea what's coming, even if I can sense that you two are no pushovers!"

Angry and hungry, hangry even, the predatory creature struck the dock again, aiming for them. They dogged the attacks, jumping and diving out of the way. Each bash felt like it dislodged the logs, but thankfully, it stayed strong. Along the way, the fish gave snide remarks, sly comments, and derisive "complements" condescending tone. As he mentioned mean words with condemning finality, Terramar, through the loud monologuing and mockeries, realized that the fish looked somewhat familiar. Terramar used to be quite the aficionado of the creature when he was a guppy. The two half-ponies were suddenly knocked into the water, the menace slinking around. The Hippogriff realized that the creature was now feral, no longer tamed. Full of ire, the lively shark had scars branded into it's sides, a trace of dark magic hidden in the exposed flesh. It burned Terramar to not know where the predator had gotten them from. He would have to know it later as the shark would not listen to his attempts to talk.

The shark was not not listening to T in his partially griffon form - impervious to his master's authority he would have had in his sea hippo form. The fish form could communicate and reach out to the hearts of all kind of sea animals. This was the consequence of being a hippogriff and not being able to change back!

Stuck in the predicament, Terramar growled and tried to get the magically talking animal to see sense anyway. Lives and the happiness of the two kingdoms were at stake here! Nothing would stop him from saving himself and Autumn.

The shark wacked its body into the Kirin in question and she cried out in pain when she hit the strong oak trees of the forest behind her. She would have been more hurt if she had not turned her back for her scales to take the full force of the blow, though she was still injured slightly, blown away from the force of the impact.

"Oopsy daisy," it "apologized," not really sorry. It waving a fin carelessly, not truly caring for her safety, rolling his eyes at her misfortune.

Chewy had always been granted the ability to speak to sentient, talking creatures, but now it finally had to learn to listen and take instructions and orders when it came to being kind and gentle to others.
Terramar had to turn its attention away and distract the thing from hurting his mare. He was a future husband after all, and maybe a future pet owner if all went well...he had to reach out!

He gulped, taking in the sharp, throat-stinging fresh air as liquid courage. He then piped up, almost squeaking.

"...Chewy, Chewy! Is that you? Oh my gosh, it IS you!"

"What...?" The fish stopped trying to bash her, turning to face Terramar. His tone of voice changed into a quite hush as if he realized he been caught doing something wrong. "How do you know my name?"

"It's me, Terramar...your owner!"

That caught its attention.

"Terry?"

"You know this geezer?! Hey, only his aunt and I am allowed to call him 'Terry'!" Autumn yelled, wincing at the small bruise she sustained. "(Chf...ah...ow...) Now even his parents, cousin and sister call him that!"

The animal did not hear her. It squealed like a cub, its mind flashing back, cutting to the visage of a tiny crying shark pup - the runt of his litter that had been kicked out for being the weakest. It was being saved by a small fry Terramar that was cradling him. He had freed the little shark from a shark hook that had nipped at his dorsal fin. The shark peeked it's fin above the surface of water and had been mistaken for one of the common fish in the area with the same color fin. The pup got hooked, but it had been too strong for the fisherman - the whole fishing line had been wrenched from him into the bottom of the sea; the fish had ran away to find a new place to live - coming across Seaquestria. Terramar took out the pony-made object of Chewy, leaving a small hole that was his first scar. As the shark got into the Seapony's mane, it licked his face and sighed, solemnly chewed on the fishing line that was now it's accidental consolation prize. Terramar named him and offered to keep him and teach him to fight and be strong. Terramar was already cuddling it, and he could tell the the sniveling shark did not want to go. As Terra cradled it, he cooed...

"Shhhh, shhh, it's ok, it's out now. You'll heal, and I am sorry for what happened to you, both how your mother treated you and how the fisher tried to catch you for a meal, thinking you were a normal fish. He catches fish for food and sells them to make a living, just like how you hunt meat everyday. Please don't blame yourself or the pony for what happened. It was an accident, and not all ponies are bad. All the same, I am glad that these circumstances brought us together, little one. I can sense that you want to stay in the kingdom, so I promise to look after you for however long you will have you, for however long we remain together. My name is Terramar, and I can be your owner and big brother. I will always comfort you if you ever struggle in life, just come to me. Does that sound alright to you, Chewy?"

"Fangs, Tewwy."

He kissed the fin of the shark, the wound was nearly throbbing now, and she shark cub pressed into the boy's chest and sighed in relief and comfort in Terramar's returning embrace. Chewy nuzzled snuggled and licked Terramar, happy to be safe and part of a family again. Its face would be adorned with a big smile when Terramar would shockingly ask his parents to keep the shark fry. They would faint, but ultimately say yes to the low-maintenance pet that certainly did not lick other guppy-foal's pets when it wanted to eat them. Chewy's life had been rescued - he would have self restraint and eat only wild animals!

"Bess fwens?"

"Best friends."

"Oh, no..."

He turned around, shocked. The lemon-lime fur matched his scales, and though he was fluffier, and certainly branded huge wings rather than fins that for his body size, the undeniable two-toned seaweed mane was unmistakeable. It was definitely Terramar as a little Birdy! Well, BIG Birdy, but now Chewy was taller and bigger than even him. Maybe that's why Chewy had been drawn to him after the necklace splooshed in the water - he must have had a gut feeling that he has found his abandoning owner and decided to inadvertently seek revenge and catch a meal at the same time!

The two half-ponies danced around the bullet-like shark, feeling the wind of his jabs go by. They twisted and turned around him, and Terramar jumped into the water, stirring it up a bit in the commotion. He dove a little into the water, using his guile to make a sharp turn to cause Chewy to scream as it bashed its head. Still tough and not ready to give up, it tried to turn, but got caught in a rip current. Swimming both above and beneath the swirling shark, Terramar loopdy-looped his way his way around the shark, leaving a stream of water that rotated around the fish, causing his to spin until the water forcefully ejected him away.

Splish! Splash!

Terramar came up for air, flying tiredly into Autumn's hooves, being caught by her as she had timed just when to pull him in after hearing his emerging. They both hugged, huffing and puffing and regaining stamina for the next fight, though they did not relax - knowing it wasn't over just yet.

After a little while recuperating, the submerged shark rose to the surface again, tired form the hunt for the first time in a long time. He had been full outmaneuvered, and almost outmatched. It would not happen the next time! He did NOT give up!

Bloop Bloop!

Chewy did not want to admit it, despite the battle the just underwent, it felt like if given the chance, Terramar would accept it into his open hooves...fins...claws...whatever. It knew he had made a big mistake and felt an attachment deep inside, niggling at his brain and consuming every thought and pore until he snapped and screamed at Terramar.

"It's funny that you say you love me...but in the end, you abandoned me."

"What, I did no such thing!"

"You promised that you would look out for me and that you would always be there to be my owner, my best friend...my BROTHER. But noooo~you left me to be sucked up by a rip current tunnel and never see you again! Then I was scared and manipulated by a pair of Sirens to do there bidding, only breaking free a few years ago, living lonely in the shadows; still following their advice to be mean to anycreature, everycreature - to not let this hostile world break me! Where we you, Terry?!"

Terramar covered his mouth with his claws.

"First if all, I am so sorry, my little fry. I never meant to harm you, and I did not leave you, I searched for you for years and cried over you, thinking you had been eaten of offed by some manner of sailor's object like another hook - perished somewhere...alone. Also, you misheard me and my promise: I said that I would do my best to be there for you, as long as I would have you and as long as we were together, since I knew something like this could happen. I am sorry that both a deadly rip tide tunnel and Sirens - I bet I can guess who they were - found you first.

As for where I was, I was right here the whole time...living in two worlds, then terrified for my life because of a wicked tyrant that ruined our homeland. I was living lonely in shadows too; even with my family there, since I love alternating between both Seapony and Hippogriff forms, despite everyone's insistence that I should have picked one over the other. All things considered, I do not think you grew up too badly. I am sure the guilt is gnawing at your soul. I am sure you can break and prove them wrong; you can live and lead the world with kindness. I apologize for nor being there, and I give you my word - I WILL take you back and raise you again, and we can do our best to not get separated this time! Please, little guppy, please?"

The crying shark really wanted to believe his words. It really did. It tried its hardest, but it realized that though was functionally immortal, he could still pass on due to a sickness or by the flippers of someone else, like it had planned to do. Chewy was not immortal either, just a ridiculously long-lived species of shark. One of them would likely out-live the other; not being there for each other forever....leaving the other alone...forever. At least his ex-owner might not move when he got married to the fiery chick he had bucked earlier.

Though...Terramar's words were right - at the very least, they could be separated from each other again. Doomed to have no part in each other's lives anymore. The future was not concrete - and since one of them was going to be gone anyway, he decided to continue with the hunt. They were two different species. Terramar was its prey, and that is how it was going to stay today.

"N...no...no, Terry...I don't believe you...we live happily together...one of use would pass away anyway, and I cannot abandon what the Sirens have taught me. I'd rather cry at your funeral with you as my quarry - it will hurt less for both of us. Even if I found a lovely female like you have, I would still have to bury her, or the ocean would claim her back, or vice versa; it would behove me to take this offer. Besides, seeing your wonderful the unicorn with the interestingly gnarly horn, I would feel even more so if I had to share you with...HER!"

It gave Autumn a cut-eye that scare an alicorn, but she leered back at him. Recovering, she stood up on all fours in defiance and snorted.

"Wow. You are what you attempt to eat, sweetie."

"How's that? In what way?"

"Lonely." She stated simply. "Or at least, he used to be. But it doesn't have to end like this! Enjoy the time you'll have with us no matter the outcome!"

"Yeah," Terramar backed her up, holding Autumn's hoof. (He had run to her when Chewy was having his internal conflict.) "I know that you just need food; and you know we have meat right here! Lots of wild animals, even ones as big as whales below in Seaquestria! I know that you are angry, confused, feeling betrayed and are trying to eat, but you do not have to let your emotions dictate you, my little Guppy!"

Thump! Wack! Splash!

Crying and conflicted, Chewy had wacked Terramar with its tail point-blank into the the water. It had hit him again for good measure, wanting him to be knocked out. It wanted the Hippogriff to feel the same pain. It even pulled the guy down from his tail with its teeth. Terramar, barley conscious, missed his gill-like scaled tremendously. Chewy just wanted this mess over with, it just wanted to get on with the pain! Though, Chewy did not think it would ever forgive itself for what it had done. It knew it had do too far.

"Sniff, sniff, don't call me your little Guppy! I am NOT a Seapony and I am not your friend! I know we are predator and prey, but I'm sorry it had to be this way...sniff, sniff."

...

After Chewy wiped its eye with a fin, it heard a "hiiiii-ya!" From behind him, and it felt a strong kick to the head. It blacked out for a second, feeling stunned. It landed on that steadfast, magical pier, slightly shaking it. It could barely turn its head to see a dark pony with a fully fleshed out, literally fiery maned Kirin - a Nirik!

Thud!

The want for justice burned hot like a contained fire; not like a wildfire this time. She attacked just enough to knock it off balance, but she would make it white-out completely if need be; keeping the rage and power of her Nirik side at bay, controlling it properly this time. There were going to be no first fires to day, nor a skewered shish kabob with shark meat.

It was time for the fish to be schooled! It wasn't over till the marefriene became engulfed in flames!

"Hello, my name is Autumn Blaze the Kirin. You hurt my Terry. Prepare to fry."

During this time, the half-drowned Terramar knew this had gone too far. His wings and tail made of hair could barely propel him though the water, much less eject him out of it. His eyes burned from the salt, and he was getting tired. He called for help, his voice gurgling due to how far he had been pushed down.

"Ahhhhhhhhhgggggrrrrlllluuuuuhhhh!~"

Despite the vocals being ruined by good ol' H2O, he knew it would work. He also blew the blew a jet of bubbles. It was nothing special, except for the use of the Seapony SOS call. He swished his tail in the same manner for good measure.

Seeing a faint but familiar ball of light in the almost vantablack waters, he knew that help was coming. The Seapony Morse Code worked for Hippogriffs! He did know know he had the magic within him to do so, but it turns that he mercifully did.

Once again, the guards had been stalking the couple for safety reasons, and Stratus, after hearing the plop in the water, had caught the necklace. Before the Festival though, Terramar had made the mistake of ordering Stratus and everyone else to not come up to the surface to interrupt the couple unless it was a emergency. After hearing the giant splash and realizing it was Terramar sinking, that was all the invite Stratus needed to signal to his co-workers to get help, and for he himself to rush up to the nigh-prince and catch him in his forelegs, just as he did when Terramar, Skystar and Silverstream were little and their parents were either working, or he had taken the kids out of the kingdoms to go camping in the area between Mount Aries and Seaquestria.

"Gaaaaaaaasp! Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh...! *Cough cough cough, hehe, thanks."

"You are welcome, sire."

After scooping Terramar up out of the water, turning into a Hippogriff and putting the boy's necklace back on, both guys could see that Autumn had slingshotted herself into him used the splintered tree from earlier to fire herself it at breakneck speeds. She had thoroughly kicked the shark's tail.

That was what her introduction had been. She had introduced herself with some Kung-Fu, and for the finishing move, had used her tail to slam him down back onto the dock. The shark, found out to be male and not genderless like Autumn had thought for some reason, was our for the count.

Missing the memo, more help appeared. Suddenly, Silverstream, Gallus, Skystar and Novo appeared with their head above the water.

"Bombs away!"

Silverstream threw seafood flavored milkshakes at the shark's mouth, giving him enough food to eat. It turns out though, that she was defeating him with kindness - buttering for what was to come.

Skystar threw her seashells, who nicked and nipped at him. Gallus flew into the shark and full speed, and Chewy saw stars, feeling dazed and ready to get out of there.

Ugh...OK, you guys win...I give up. I'm crying uncle, I'm sorry for attacking Terramar and the lady who's name is apparently Autumn. I give! N...no...more...please...ugh."

Bam!

Now he had been thoroughly beaten. He slammed to the ground, knocked out cold, landing in the steel-strong pier again.

The tide has been turned!

After a few minutes of poking, prodding, and getting him into the water to breath again, he woke. He felt then felt a menacing shadow from somewhere on top of him.

"Uuuuuh, sorry guys, big mistake! I'll g-get out of your manes now!"

Sensing the incoming danger, he tried to speed away backwards. Big mistake.

"I'm sorry everyone, I'll just go!"

Thump!

"Oof! Ack! Huh? Oh."

The shark gulped and turned around slowly to see what it had just bumped into. It was something heavy and clearly taller than it. It also smelled like it had an air or regality to it. It was too late for it. It hurt the object suck in a deep breath and exhale. The shark wanted to turn tail, but it was trapped.

"Oh dear."

Locking eyes, Queen Novo gave one Kraken-like, Cockatrice-esque glare, not needing to do anything else to scare the previously ferocious beast. She did not grab it despite every fiber of her of her being telling her too. She was going to use mercy; she had already busted out the big guns. The scary look felt like physical strike that almost broke its mind. It went glazed eyed and tried to look elsewhere, but she then shook it to force it to look back at her.

"Don't. Touch. My. Awesome. Nephew. Or. His. Powerful. Mare."

"Mane, if looks could krill...I'd bet in Davey Jones' locker!"

With merely her glower (and not magic either, despite the bright glow of her lit antenna), she scared it into moving where she wanted it to go. She chased off the shark right into bubbling circle where a surprise for him was about to surface.

Her armored guards floated up to the surface in their Hippogriff forms, (having just transformed) - and grabbed the shark; five guards needing to hold its back down. Stratus threw up a spear in the direction of the giant fish.

"You're coming with us!"

"Ah! Don't hurt me; I'm sorry! I'll never do it again!"

Chewy started struggling, worried that the troop would hurt him. He stopped when he heard his owner's voice.

"Go willingly," Terramar said, "everything will be alright."

Chewy nodded his head, and before he was taken back to, he stopped moving and said:

"I am sorry, Terry, Blay-Blay...I apologize for everything, I know that we can co-exist together. Fish are friends, not food. Same with birds and lizards...sorry, Seaponies, Hippogriffs, Kirins, and everypony else...everyspecies else...!"

Terramar laughed, "Yes we really can co-exist. I know you- you CAN be better. And I forgive you. In fact, our very own Princess of Equestria used to have a crush on a human (she now has a crush on his pony form,) and raised a dragon that likes a pony! Predators and prey can co-exist sometimes! I'm glad you finally learned this lesson, my big-little guppy!"

Chewy chewed his lip and laughed nervously, bowing his head in submission, going willingly with the guards by spearpoint. For some reason, during the deep dive and swim of shame, he found the kid in himself randomly wishing for chocolate fudge, though he knew he could not get any until his punishment was over.

Terramar hugged Autumn, Stratus, Silverstream, Gallus, Skystar and Novo, thanking them for their help - effectively saying: "thanks everyone, you are awesome! You are my heros! Especially you, my lovely inferno!" They in turn said "you're welcome sweetie," or "no problem," or this is my favorite family!" The Queen kissed him on the head and told him how proud he was of him, as well as everyone else that took the initiative to help when she had been locked in fear. So much so that she had neglected to help Terramar until ehe very end.

After blowing up air bubbles for Gallus and Autumn, the Hippogriffs turned into Seaponies, jointing the guards. Chewy looked up lime fish-pony swimming up to him.

"Even though I was almost sharkbait, I know you can be good! You are a formidable foe, you know, know matter what your mom or the Royal Sirens said. Remember Chewy, I still love you!"

"Ha. Thanks, brother, I love you too. Let's try not to get separated again." Chewy smiled.

What a perilous journey and adventure chocked full of intrigue! Their friends, family, Autumn's fiery temper and Terramar's wits had saved the day! Yay!

Back underwater, the shark was captured by Stratus and his mer-men and brought before the Queen. Before she judged it, she put her the light of her antenna to its head and she saw a vision as to where the bite scars and hoof slashed had come from. The royal Siren couple, the same ones that had caused caused so much destruction along with their daughters, had captured the poor fish when he ended up on the wrong side of the underwear sand bunker. As a child, he had been stuck in other side of the Equestrian sea from the rip current he was washed away in - one that was worse than the one Skystar had gotten caught in. When the Sirens found him, they realized they could use his strength to bully others when the other Sirens did not obey the royal couple. He tried to escape, almost succeeding, but he was bitten and scratched by them - then mond controlled into doing their bidding until he escaped a few years ago, trying to swim back home. He had to escape detection and hide since the land had been destroyed and attacked back then, only coming back now that the place had been resurrected and was lively again. It was by chance that the necklace had been thrown up on the weary beast; he never wanted any of it to happen.

Queen Novo vocalized this tale to the audience and she turned back to the shark, raising her eyebrows.

"Is this true? Do you truly repent of your sins against my family?"

"Yes. I am sorry. I will never try to do that kind of thing ever again. That would have been scary if I had been in their hooves. Next time, I will hunt mean animals and give a warning when I am about to hunt."

Seeing the animal that was sweating bullets, Queen Novo sucked in her breath instead of letting it huff out this time, and gave her decree;

"For high treason, betrayal and near-execution of a royal noble, I hereby sentence you to friendship counseling. And a few months of incarceration with parole for good behavior, but nothing more."

"Th...thank you!" Chewy replied, perking up with tears in his eyes, almost struck dumb. He was sure that he would have been punished severely, blacklisted from Seaquestria or executed for his crime. "I...I really appreciate it. I don't let you down!"

That factoid of the ex-evil shark's horrible past and bad upbringing caused Queen Novo to calm down, showing mercy and giving a chance for reformation, something she never would have done before. As per her laws, still punished the shark as the shark as she saw fit: a few months in prison and remedial friendship classes (with a chance of parole to become Terra's beloved pet again; his loyalties back with her beloved nephew!)

Everyone cheered for the safety of the couple! Phew!

...

Now that the shark was in jail, detained for taunting and hunting what was considered royalty, it puffed up its cheeks and gripped the bars with its fins but did not complain. Knowing that it was the one in the wrong, it took the judgement of the crowd around it, as well as the condolences received for what happened to it in the past. Terramar, with Autumn in his forelegs (her taller height no longer mattering since everyone was floating,) struck a pose and taunted.

"I both sympathize and emphasize with what you went through. However, I can feel annoyance at the turn of events; it is almost palpable. This will teach you a lesson in the future - if you can't do the time, don't do the crime."

"Yes, yes, you guys are great. And what a good lesson you taught me. Wow, good going, you showed me a world of hurt! I know now that just because a Siren couple kidnapped me for years and I was brainwashed by them, it does not give me the right to continue being a jerk to others just because something bad happened to me in the past when I was little."

Watching the proceedings, Queen Novo blushed, feeling eyes on her. Chewy then continued speaking:

"You guys really did teach me a hard lesson and saved me from my delusions that I was the king of the sea. When I get out in a few months, I will apologize to the sea creatures I was mean to. Your whipped cream-topped clam and kelp milkshakes taste better and healthier than most of the meat I have to eat, so I am happy to stay with you guys and come back to my real home. I am sorry for everything I did. You guys really have me my comeuppance and just desserts. I would be my pleasure to follow you two with compliance!"

"Well, duh! Haha, and thanks for the remorse," Terramar hoof-bumped his future mate with a fin. She giggled and pointed to their new pet, boasting.

"Uh-huh, that's right, don't underestimate us!"

Autumn and Terramar gave each other a high-fin; feeling chuffed aft having survived a high seas stakes hunt and gained a new pet.

...

Back in the royal throne room and dining hall, everyone unwinded, making new friends and giving condolences to the future therapy the couple would have to go through after such a frightening event. Everyone had gotten zero winks of sleep that night, but were as excited as a sugar-rushed foal regardless. Queen Novo rose a glass salt water, and clinked it with a golden fork to get everyone's attention.

"Clink, clink, clink, clink!"

"Well, you passed," she calmly announced, nodding her head to the shock of everyone present. "Autumn faced an an opponent who she had no hope of winning against - me - and she stood up for and defended Terramar, against me and the shark. With a little help, she subdued her Nirik form, and held back her power as to not hurt my nephew. After the powerful yet baby-like temper tantrum show, Terramar and Autumn told me off in my very own castle when before anyone else had the bravery to do so. The couple had the determination to deny living in my magnificent kingdoms, having the gall to want to run away together and start a new life in the face of my impudence. She taught me more about courage and love than I care to admit, and she, Skystar, Gallus, Terramar, and Silverstream showed me the strength of friendship, romance, familial love, repentance, and mercy; especially against those that trespassed against me and my kingdoms. Most of all, they saved my nephew when I was so concerned with being worried for him and acting xenophobic against Kirins. Autumn's actions were a slap to the face and the kick in the teeth that I needed to move forward for my creatures. She indeed proved that she will be a good wife for my little Terra... That's right, yep, I'd say that she is right for you, Terry. Good job Autumn Blaze, you are in the family!"

Wait...the confrontation between the Queen and Autumn had all been a convoluted test?! What in the sugar apples?!

Novo clapped her fins and cleared her throat, tears streaming. The shock in the crowd was a loud silence.

"Yes, I apologize for what you went through. I am very prideful, but thank you for not breaking as badly as you could have due to the mistreatment. Thank you for saving saving my blessed nephew, you all! I hope my heart can heal after this and I cannot wait to beckon you as my niece. Same with my new nephew, son and...and niece."

"Auntie! So there really is a soft heart under there!" Terramar exclaimed, bursting with hope.

"Haha, yes there is my child...my...children..."

"Gasp, did she really just say "children?!" Autumn replied, gleefully.

I guess so, Terramar replied, "Unless there is kelp in my ears again."

He scrubbed both his finned ears with his fins at the same time in a comedic manner - and empty, clean bubbles floated out.

"I really did say that, sweet pea," the Queen explained.

"Oh, I see. I guess you did, haha, thank you!"

"-I am grateful, happy, and pleased at everyone who supported me today and will continue to support me despite my fear and bad manners directed towards my guest, my crowd, my family, and my species."

"Gee wiz and gee willikers, you mean it?!" Autumn beamed, hugging Terramar. He blushed, but he was ecstatic to be there with her. He was wrapped around her lil hoof, fully living in the analogy.

The misunderstood Queen sang, no longer restricting herself from letting others into her heart, accepting the love, joy, and comfort around her. The goodness of others truly did astound her. She would learn to stop maligning others. She would stop her bad habits, including but not limited to her harmful attitude and prejudice. There really was peace for the sea-griffs! She smiled and winked at her daughter, who had shown everyone the broken yet healing queen behind the thone. Skystar winked back.

"Hee-hee! Now that your story will be shared, everyone can help you live and learn in accepting others!"

Everyone cheered, showing elation towards the royal family despite the darkness and drama that had gone before. Phew, what a long two days!

Friendship did abound and was profound across the Equus.

The next day, after everyone had a chance to calm down from the attack and scare that had happened the night before, they were eating and drinking things such as tofu seaweed smoothies with anemone bits and eating shrimp bites with coral jelly. Everyone had stayed over because Terramar had announced that he would propose that day so everyone was either staying a week or a month for the after-party.

Wanting to be a "big gull" and join the rest of his adoptive family in finding a mate, Gavin the Griffon fledgeling worked up some courage, and looked across from him and piped up with a cute peep. "Um...on the topic of romance I like Giselle over there. She's a cutie."

"Woah, I um, thanks kid!" Giselle blushed and her face with her wings. "I um...like you too, but please wait a bit before declaring a proposal or yearning to date me, OK?"

Gavin smiled and pointed a claw at Giselle.

"Ok, I can wait! Just you wait, little lady, prepare to be swept off your talons!"

Everyone laughed heartily and Queen Novo cleared her throat audibly.

"Ahem! Sigh...another age gap...oh well, I am sure you too will be happy. As for the Seaponies and Hippogriffs, I...I am sorry. I am sorry for my stubbornness and fear I put upon everycreature. I realize now that I acted irrationally and irresponsibly. You are free to date each other, and the same goes for everycreature under my care, including their your spouses. Please...forgive me."

After Novo apologizes, everyone cheers.

Autumn Blaze started singing, and everyone listened to the joyous, yet calm melody that was rest and peace for everyone there.

Novo realized she should not be feared or hated, and that she would have to forgive the past...she decided to change and rekindle her friendship with Rain Shine and maybe even learn to get along with Gruff.

She would start to have no more supercilious thoughts, imperious and domineering demeanor, contumelious thoughts. Her withered heart would no longer look at anything other than her domains...with disdain but with divergent interpretations of life, looking forward to tomorrow, years of fear and hatred could finally leave her tormented being, freed and pierced through the steel with new love.

Even without regaining a mate, she felt the familial love blossoming and swelling within her weary soul and heart. She understood that she needed to relax more often - planning to journey to Aquastria to visit King Leo of the Merponies, As well as Silver Shoals to visit her cousins Celestia and Luna.

"Now that you have let in the rain, the double rainbow can let its true colors shine...!~"

"That girl has a powerful voice and soothing singing voice that can even melt the hardest hearts. Her power is similar to the voice of a Seapony! I am glad you chose her. Welcome to the family, Autumn Blaze."

"Yay, thank you, I'm glad that you are going to be my new mom!"

Novo giggled and pulled her Terramar in for a hug, then she lifted him up and they nuzzled foreheads.

"Thank you, Auntie...for everything...for trying to keep us safe and wanting me, Skystar and Silverstream to have the best life possible."

"You are welcome, my sweet nephew. Sorry for all I put you guys through. I did not truly want to hurt you, but I wanted to keep you and my creatures safe in my own way, for my own sake. And I think that the royal leaders in the crowd can agree."

Many of the royal creatures there, such as Grampa Gruff, General Pharynx and Ex-Dragon Torch, King Rutherford and Leader Rain Shine either nodded solemnly, or shifted uncomfortably under the watchful eye.

Queen Novo turned towards her daughter, niece, nephew, and their lovers.

"To you, Skystar, I thank you for getting our story out to the others and talking them what was eating me up all this time. And, to the three...uh...six of you, I sincerely apologize for causing so much trouble; I give you my blessing to marry each other...especially to Terramar and Autumn."

"Awwwww, so sweet!" Terramar and Silverstream's parents vocalized in unison.

...

Finally, Queen Novo, and even Grampa Gruff (who had become mean after living most of his life alone and without respect in such a cold and unforgiving land - that lacked of the Idol's wealth) learned to accept their cultures and differences; Autumn Blaze became added to the list of near-royalty that was next in line 2 throne, along with Arrow and Gallus on the Hippogriff/Seapony side, including Baker Gustave and Coach Klaus.

Autumn, who had been talking cheerily to Applejack and Fluttershy (who were proud of Autumn for standing up for Terramar regardless of the circumstances,) felt a hoof-fin tap her back. She turned around, still giggling, only to stop when she saw what had happened behind her, blocking her mouth with her scaled hoof once again.

Gasp!

This was it!

Terramar was behind her, multicolored mane hastily yet beautiful curled. His tail was swishing nervously as he subtilty, awkwardly, and quietly, hopped in place on his tailfin. It was curled frontwards as a seahorse's tail would be. He had one hoof-fin outstretched towards her in earnest, and the other was holding a beautiful clamshell, one that boasted the colors of red, orange, green, and yellow. As is the Seapony custom, he would hoof over only the most beautiful clamshell in his collection. The one that she loved the most. The one that reminded him of...her. He had picked out her favorite one, the one she admired the most out of them all...the one she had named "Jack-o'-lantern."

The happy moment was secured when Terramar unshelled the clam to reveal the its's contents - a beautiful translucent pearl resting on a two-toned piece of glowing, iridescent seaweed (that reminded the Kirin of her own coltfriend before her), with a transformation necklace wrapped around it. When the guy in question opened it, it made the sound of yet another-

Pop!

"Miss Autumn Blaze, my fiery bush whose warmth and love is like a summer breeze. Your mighty courage spreads like a wildfire...it is contagious. Throughout the seasons you do not change, you stay as sweet as sugar, as delightful as cinnamon and as feisty as a dragon. You ambushed my life just as I was feeling lonely and wallowing in my occasional identity crisis. You picked me up and ran with me into the unknown and taught me to enjoy life and, learning to let my fear go. I...I love you, and I really want to spend the rest of my life with you...whether that be...while swimming on the ocean, soaring through the skies, or even while trotting and galloping on land. Please make me the happiest royal half-breed and join our species in holy matrimony. As is the custom for Seaponies and Hippogriffs, please accept this engagement pearl and this Transmogrification necklace and carry me away into the gorgeous sunset. My lovely Autumn, will you please marry me?"

Stunned at the serenity of the proposal, the half-dragonet had her mouth agape, almost wide enough to catch passing krill.

He had mustered up the courage to do it! Terramar had proposed in front of everycreature! Including his queen!

Just as the youth was starting to feel a little silly, puzzled, and worried at the sight of the freeze-frame in front of him, suddenly, Autumn shot like a bullet towards him.

"Jack! You rascal! Oh-aw...you remembered!"

The drake-like pony had flown like Cupid's arrow and instead of shooting though his chest, she had wrapped around it with her forelegs and squeezed him tightly.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squeaked and squealed with excitement like a schoolfilly on Hearth's Warming.

"Eee-hee-hee! You even proposed in front of all these creatures...and your AUNT, too! I am so proud of you, now you can face your life and both of your species forms with boldness! Yay!"

"Y...yeah," Terramar stuttered. "I guess I did! And I know that you usually make the first move, but I'm going to kiss you this time. I almost lost you, so I will kiss the girl before it's too late! Pucker up, Buttercup!"

"Hey, how'd you know mah mom's name?" Applejack piped up, comedically and accidentally interrupting the moment.

"I-I think that's a figure of speech, Applejack..." Fluttershy answered, diffusing the confusion in the farmer.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Ignore them kiddo," Rainbow said to Terramar.

"Yes, I love how this real-life romance novel is ending!" Rarity winked.

"Yeah, it's smooching time! Mwah, mwah, mwah!" Spike concurred.

Smooooooooch!

After a minute-long, innocently passionate kiss, the disconnected lips and sniggered, blushing profusely. Terramar looked over at the throne with a shy expression plastered across his face. His aunt and cousin were quietly snickering.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

Terramar winked at Queen Novo, and she nodded, smiling.

Everypony clapped and clopped their hooves or claws together for the lovely couple.

"About time! I predicted this from the start!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"Yeah, we had to sit through a whole adventure just to get that happy ending!" Cheese Sandwich, her fiance added, both ponies crossing their legs and pouting like children, huffing and puffing with comic strip-like clouds floating above their heads.

"What are you two on about, Professor?"

"I know right?! We are finally tying the knot? Woohoo! Great job facing your fears!"

"Cough, cough! Um, t-thanks..." Terramar agreed, winded from the crushing hug Autumn gave him as he tried to speak. "Tee-hee...anyway..."

In a similar way to the apple and pear tree and represented the combination of the Apple and Pear family, the Hippogriffs and the Seaponies had an interwoven union as well. And now, Kirins were to be added to the twisting, turning, and winding family tree!

"By the way, how are your sister and your cousin? Apart from happily dating I mean," the now loyal pet shark asked. "Is Sky still getting into trouble?"

"You know it," Terra replied, winking.

"Haha, figures! If I had a gold doubloon for how many times your cousin's antics scares the ever-loving daylights out of her mom, I'd have my own chest of pricey, buried treasure. No need to pirate and pillage, I would just be swimming in a dragon's horde!"

"Hey!" Skystar yelled, turning pink. "Silverstream has a similar personality to me too; it's no just meeeee!"

"Awk! Betrayal!" Silverstream clucked at her cousin, putting a fin to her chest.

...

The two flashed back to the time when Chewy and Terra were little, looking left and right between the two seafillies. They usually acted as mediators, but were enjoying the chaos of the silly argument, watching both comedic and excitable Seaponies duke it out not-so-calmly.

"No way! You ate all the cookies!"

"Nu-uh! No, you all the cookies!"

In actuality, both squeaky-voiced fillies ate the marshmallow-seaweed cookies without thinking and were trying to blame it on each other. They had gone back to the jar and had found it empty. The cute girls were taking turns pointing accusatory fins at each other's chest with the other throwing her fins up in the air in outrage. They were flailing about in an un-mare-like and un-princess-like behavior.

Chewy started at the floor towards the empty jar, his face plastered with a morose look. He turned up to Terra with that puppy-dog, kitty-cat look in his eyes, ready to cry...teary eyed at the lack of food and his hunger; it was only made worse from the fact that the boys' cookies had been purloined, pilfered, and snatched in the first place.

"It's OK Chew," Terramar patted his pet on the back. "I've gotchu. Once Aunt Novo knows that the girls are *our* cookies, they won't get any sweet treats for six months. And we'll get all of theirs."

...

Queen Novo sighed, fin to her head. She wondered why her daughter and niece were once again floating guiltily in her presence.

Chewy and Terramar were stuffing their faces full of caramelized popcorn; their faces could burst at both the amount of food in their mouths, and the amusement of the situation. The film was getting to the good part - the girls had just been punished!

"This is all your fault, birdbrain!"

"No, it's yours - shark-nip head!"

The bow-wearing girls started fin-di-cuffs, slapping each other sillily. They were throwing shade and fins at each other, kicking up the dust of a scuffle.

Floating beside the throne and their sitting sister/sister-in-law, Sky Beak and Ocean Flow looked at each other in confusion. What was this all about? What was going on here? Was this all over cookies?

The girls had been grounded for half a year, and their dessert privileges were also gone. So cruel, the girls had been placed under house arrest, and had to eat healthy slop?! Oh, the equine-ity!!

They call unfair treatment! This was all the boys' fault! Wait...the snack was the theirs in the first place...that's why the fillies had gotten in trouble. Even the baby shark had done nothing wrong...it was all on them! The GIRLS were to blame! Tsk, oh, bother! They couldn't even blame the stinky, cootie-filled opposite gender! Aw, phooey!

Fugget about it! They were having fun together, even if at the moment they were tearing out the frills of their hair! It was much more fun ruining the maid's hard work on their mains today! Haha, take that you meany-tail! Take that, and that...and tha-!

The girls suddenly heard a haughty sniff that shut them both, stopping their grunting and overdramatic and weak slapping.

The slap-fight was gone like the wind, the first graders stopped smiling, paying attention to their mom/aunt. Them giving their full attention was a far-cry from the fin-fight earlier. Good thing they were not that strong; they could have gotten hurt!

Novo cleared her throat, the cough scratching it due to all the jabbering she had to do in court earlier. This irritated the Queen even more, and somehow held a migraine off and kept it safely at bay.

"Ahem! Girls, girls! Sigh...cripes...all this over BISCUITS...I worry for the next generation of un-lady-like royals and nobles, even when young, you have to act your age! Think of Terramar and Chewy! You are supposed to be teaching them; a gauge for what to do correctly! You don't see them doing these kinds of things. They always share their blessings; they are happy to share even so. You are so happy all the time except when it comes to taking each other's food, something as simple as the last peanut, mind you. Yikes...All this jibber-jabber and physical force over sugar. Sure, I make the best cookies all of the world of Equus, but geez louis, calm down. You should know better, and don't steal the younger boy's food next time, unless I explicitly tell you all to share! Gosh, I already have to deal with two high-blood sugared girls already, don't ram food in like that. Oy vey, now I have to deal with the sugar rush of two girls who already have a natural one based on their personalities. I am a broken record and I am fed up with this. You are always going like the speed of a pony's train...constantly...24/7.
Let me rest for at least an hour...."

"Ok Auntie No-No, I apologize sincerely."

"Yeah me too, I am so sorry, mommy."

"We did not mean for this to get so out of fin and claw," they said together.

"Haha," Terramar smiled, stroking his happy little pet. Chewy's owner was the good kid in these kinds of situations. Though, he was enjoying the movie theater flick a bit too much. "Serves you right. Don't steak from my sharky, and you won't get the bite."

Novo rolled her eyes at the schoolcolt and turned back to the sheepish younger family members, babies-nay-unborn eggs compared to Novo's age and life-given wisdom.

"Now don't do that again, or you won't be getting any more of your snacks, not even Auntie's galaxy-flavored biscuits. For *real* this time."

"Eeeeeeeew!"

"Eeeeeeeek!"

The girls shrieked and gasped in horror, looked at each other, turned back, and nodded their heads vigorously - their messy manes a blue blur.

Their heads would be shaken off if their noggins were not firmly attached to their necks, gosh! They were lucky they did not hurt themselves that way. They would leave their brains behind in the rip currents, that's for shore!

"I just can't with these two. I don't even know how YOU manage these manes of fluff. Not even on a so-called ordinary "good" day with their impolite excitable behavior, personal bubble-popping...obliterating... personalities! It's like they are constantly on the same wavelength, in sync until the very end!"

Queen Novo turned to Ocean Flow and sighed at her sister.

"You just take it as it comes, haha?"

"You'll get used to it, Starshine, hee-hee!" Her brother in-law added.

"No I won't. That's probably a fact. It's like Skystar came from you instead of me!" Novo protested - eyes on the younger Seapony adults, "It's as if they were sisters and not cousins...TWINS even!!! Ay-yi-yi! I have to deal with such nonsense from these two."

The two fillies flinched at the same time.

"Oh no, I still love you, but you are getting on my last nerves...I suppose I will have to get used to it. Ugh. On that note, let's go out to dinner."

She girls gasped in delight.

Quick to stop them, the Queen shot down their request.

"Feh. Not for you, and especially no dessert for you. You two are staying home with the maids and you two are eating your greens...only salads for dinner...with broccoli and onions...with NO dressing. Or sauces of Any kind."

The girls gasped in fear.

As Queen Novo gave her nephew and his pet a pick-me-up, carrying them; Terramar was wrapping his tiny little finnies around her thicker adult-sized neck, cooing in pleasure. The cuteness of the schoolfoal almost made Novo squee.

As the girls protested, being left with the head mer-maid attending to them, Novo hoped to the door with her child in her arms. The rest of her family were at the door already, snickering at their young one's misfortune. It honestly felt like the cousins had three parents by with one being called "Auntie" - their family was so close.

"Told you so~!" Ocean and Sky trilled like songbirds. "You should have listened to Auntie No-No! Of course you got in trouble; it's in her name~!"

Queen Novo scoffed mild mannerly at the ridiculous nickname the kids had for her. She guessed that she did say "no" a lot, though.

"Nooooo...Mommy...!"

"Auntie...come back!

Kapum!

The door-like shell shut the cave closed, muffling the desperate glubbing of hyperventilating guppies as if they were white noise.

The family started making their way to the Seaside restaurant. Novo knew the girls would not and could not follow. Even if they snuck out from under the maid's noses and did not get caught, be stopped by the guards and would be asked questions, much less the need for money to buy food and the threat of being caught at one of the dining tables. Even if they could beg for food or ask a kind small for morsels of cake and pie at one of the restaurants, everyone would recognize them as the future leaders and either kick them out per Queen's orders or send them with only bites of food - a failed mission.

Cradling her tired nephew and the fry's coddled shark, she kissed the heads of the wiped out kids. Novo then motioned to her sister to come closer so she could whisper. She chuckled heartily.

"Woo-hoo, hee-hee-hee-haa! The girls are even more happy-go-lucky than you two are, even more than my own husband. Hmmm...maybe we have some really excitable ancestors in our history. It really does feeling like the two girls are two halves of a whole. Like they are twin sisters from the same brood."

"Technically they are," Ocean replied, matching the quiet tone. "You might be right on the ancestry bit, that might have something to do with it. Especially as we barely remember our parents and parents in laws, that might have something to do with it. But also consider: I think that they get it from each other. Since they have the same upbringings, same birthdays, personalities, hobbies, talents' likes and dislikes; AND were brought into the world by two sisters, I think the cousins just feed off of each other and share each other's energy.

"Ain't that right," Auntie Novo nodded, her head bobbing lightly.

"Sigh...and it's going to drive you up the walls..."

"Ugh..." Novo likely shoved her nephew back to her, forcing her baby sister to carry her son and her snoring pet in her forelegs.

"Woah!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Oooh, good idea," Ocean beamed, her husband laughed in the background."

"I bet you won't last their teenagehood! I'd bet my most precious gems on it!"

"Haha, good one, Sky Beak! For me, I would bet on the same thing but from my own stash! Or if you do survive, it will be with a lot of headaches and the loss of your singing voice!"

Queen Novo rolled her eyes, thinking that the wager did not really affect them because not only were they royalty, but they had a special talent for finding diamonds and minerals anyway. And her two closest Seaponies other than the children were laughing at her.

"How would I put this dear brother, and my especially conniving sister, um, how about you put your money where your mouth is...and SHUT IT!?!"

At the recollection, Silver, Sky, and Terra's datemates laughed at the funny show being on by their loved ones. They were happy to be sharing a funny memory with their new family. Gallus especially laughed and smirked at Skystar and Silverstream's expense, earning twin glares from the girls. Not much had changed since then. This conversation sure was wonderful, and there was more to come! Soon everyone would be married; the fun was only just beginning!

Terramar chuckled and smiled, knowing that his mom, Ocean Flow had won the bet.

He then gestured to Autumn to bow her head to seal the deal and complete the ceremony.

Terramar reverently placed the new necklace onto Autumn's neck, and she picked it up with her hoof to examine it. It was pretty; complete with a whistle and both a green and orange maple leaf on either side of it, matching his own, closely.

"It would be my pleasure to let you join our species and become...a Seapony."

"I am glad that you finally let in the rain so that the rainbow can shine. It would be my pleasure to marry a dashing Seapony."

After Autumn responded and accepted the proposal, her air bubble burst loudly and both white transformation magic and rainbow colored love magic sprung forth from the necklace and spread themselves outward, and flowing forth. They covered her body in a glowing bubble that popped when she had finished transforming. As a seapony, she now had green hoof fins that made it look like her scaly talon had elongated herself, she had a light on her red horn (with her magic aura permanently glowing despite the nonuse); and her new form also included and extra-bushy tailfin (that still smelled of fresh dirt and cinnamon underwater), and finally, her scaly back had scaly wing-fins extended out of it.

"I look SO COOL! So pretty and much-much scalier!"

"YEAH, YOU SURE DO!" Terramar exclaimed back.

Autumn still felt to have a comfort bubble around her head for oxygen, but she knew that her new magical fish-like scales would provide her with it. The necklace had turned into a clown-like tuft of fluff around her neck, and she cuddled the engagement clamshell close to her chest. She was so happy to be a part of the family.

"Good job, kid," Fin said from his jail cell, giving a fins-up.

Everyone gathered around, and the Mane Six, the CMC, and the young six threw the couple up, and down while cheering.

"We are so proud of you!" The Mane Six shouted.

"Great job, brother and future sister!" Silverstream and Gallus yelled.

"Hooray best friends, we are so happy for you!" The rest of the Young Six vocalized.

"Autumn and Terramar floating in a clam! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Yay!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders (including Babs Seed, Discord, and Gabby Griffon) screamed.

The couple hugged each other and held each other's hoof and tail fins, despite the uproar and the changes to gravity, and sighed. Such a cute couple - the chatterbox and the transforming, terraforming loyal steed!

"Into tomorrow and forever, right Blaze?!"

"Yeppers," Autumn nodded to Terramar.

Gosh, they loved each other's smiles! Boy, what a great ending to such a dramatic day!

"Yeah, Blaze, let's visit Mount Aries soon. I miss my wings and me, a fish, is feeling seasick and like I am on a hook and need water as my oxygen. I am even getting tired of breathing underwater. I long to spread my wings and file down my claws in the grassy fields, flying above the water with you into the beautiful sunset!"

"Aw, Terry how...sweet! I feel you, my legs are cramping, and my hooves are shriveling. My body is done treading water - it is aching for sweet solid ground and running in the dirt. Yeah, let's! Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh! Our species' tribes and troops will become friendlies!" Autumn mused, still talking. "I can't wait for the embarkment of seafaring adventures! I want to have a huuuuge ship! I would like to explore Equestria and all over the Pony Nation! Ooh~sounds like so much fuuun! Eee!"

Terramar watched his loved one clapping hastily, then he was caught off guard when he found we was once again, yanked into a crushing hug, then he was then ferociously shook by his betrothed, feeling dizzy. He was reaching his limit her randomness, but did not voice his concerns out loud, knowing the night would one day end, that peace from the misery of the growing migration would come. He had nearly enough of Autumn's insatiable personality for the day. He wished to rest his head on a plush pillow. He just wanted to sleep in their beds, hoof in hoof with her being silent. He would soon await the sound of silence, thank you very much.

"Wow, it is so interesting that I became next in line to the throne, I bet we can have a big wedding! I can't wait to have loads of kids, I'm sure you will be great as a daddy!"

"Yes, and you will be a wonderful mommy!" Her fiance agreed, nodding but sweating. Although, he was a little worried. After such an intense and fun adventure, he could sense that the ex-silent Kirin was going to say something that would go a bit too far.

"But aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here?-"

"-Lots of 'em!" The mare with the burning bush of a mane interrupted - "It would be interesting to see if the kids would be Seapony, Hippogriff, or Kirin...all three at the same time! Maybe I will give birth on land, in the ocean, or even in the air, somehow! Maybe we could have them at the same time! Maybe even...sextuplets!!!"

"Say what now?!"

The end. :heart:

Author's Note

If there is enough demand for it, I will separate the story into chapters.

Character Age Headcanons:

Gallus (15), Silverstream (15)
Terramar (14), Autumn Blaze (18) (Autumn is four years older by one month.)
Gilda (18), Gustave Le Grande (21)
Skystar (16), Arrow (19)
Gabby (16), Boofyball Coach Klaus (21) (Klaus is five years older by one month.)
Gavin (11), Giselle (16) (not dating until Gavin is older.)

...

This story takes place three years after Twilight's Sparkle's second coronation.

I have never written either Terramar nor Autumn before so I am sorry if I write them out of character/without enough detail on their specific species.

Species gender names in this fic:

Male fish: buck. Female fish: hen. Kid fish: fry/guppy.

Male eagle: male/mate. Female eagle: formel. Kid eagle: hatchling/fledgeling/eaglet.

Male horse/pony: Stallion. Female: mare. Kid: foal/filly.

Group of: Fish: school; Eagles: soar/convocation; Pony/horse: herd.

Hatch-friend= young girlfriend or boyfriend of a hatching. (Young Griffon like the background Griffon Gavin.)

Seaponies and Hippogriffs in the same category - "sea-griffs."

...

I usually ship Terramar with Gabby Griffon rather than Autumn, but that ship is a common one; I thought this ship would be unique enough for the May Parings contest.

Since Queen Novo acts like an (understandably) overprotective mother hen in this fic, you can think of it as a belated Mother's Day fic, as well as this long fiction having most of the storyline of a Silverstream x Gallus fic I had been going to write (that will be coming next year.)

I have another story on the works as a Father's Day fic. Look forward to that by the end of June! I will post a link here when it is published!

As I said above, I had planned to write a Gallus x Silverstream story - independent of the Parings contest, but I ran out of time to finish it and wrote this instead. Please enjoy this story, I hope it made you laugh and think and hopefully, it tickles the senses! Sea you peeps soon! :heart: