Expanding Horizons

Chapters

2 - Symptoms
3 - A New Mission
4 - Downtime Part 1
5 - Downtime Part 2
6 - Trains, Tricks And Gangsters
7 - The Journey Begins
8 - Turning Tables And A New Kingdom
9 - Deep Visions
11 - Into The Depths (part one)
12 - Into The Depths (part two)
Preview - 7 Years Later
Preview - Mystery Of Noblemat
13 - Friends And Enemies - Part 1
14 - Friends And Enemies - Part 2
16 - True Character part 1
17 - True Character pt 2
18 - What Makes A Nymph, Anyway?
19 - But First, A History Lesson
20 - Yar, 'Tis Fate!
21 - Meanwhile...
22 - Meanwhile - Part 2
23 - Up And At 'Em
24 - The Nature Of Change
25 - Not A Moment To Lose
26 - News Travels Fast
27 - What Came From Sohl
28 - Overwhelming Power
1 - Reenlistment
10 - Introductions And A Reunion
15 - Friends And Enemies Part 3

2 - Symptoms

One cold winter night, two months later...

"Come..." the voice whispered. "Come home," the voice called again. "It is time to come home, my children." Madalah sat up quickly in her bed, her eyes wide with shock. The telepathic communication she'd just received was vivid and shocking. Not because she was unfamiliar with it, on the contrary; it was a voice that she knew well. It was her father's.

It was unusual for Kaysar to call any of his children home that he'd sent out to his brother or sister. Once a trade had been initiated, the trade was almost always permanent. For her to be receiving messages to return home, it must've been urgent...or he'd somehow received word that his sister's hive had been destroyed. Either way, this was not cause for celebration.

After her torn wing's wounds had healed, she could finally enjoy her time with Anorax. The last few days had been hell, the wounds from her ripped-out wings had been gaping holes of terrible pain. Her torture at the hooves of her sister had nearly killed her, had she not had the courage and strength to change her life as she knew it to escape her sadistic sibling's clutches.

Where her wings had once been were now twisted and rough bare skin. Madalah's hard shell now covered the spot were her wings once were, though the shell itself had healed in a way that no one looking at it wouldn't know that something terrible had happened. Her carapace gleaned in the moonlight as she arose from her bed, something she wasn't used to sleeping on. Anorax' kindness had seemed to know no bounds, even taking her into his home. Kecnik had been invited as well, but for reasons he would not disclose to his sister, he chose instead to sleep outside, in the backyard shed.

The wingless changeling sighed as she stared out the window into the cold night. For her, the nights had grown lonely and still. At least while she was with the hive, she never felt alone or cold. The days were full of things to do. And now that she'd fought tooth and nail for her freedom, she felt lonely, so lonely, even though she was here with Anorax.

The moment she'd laid eyes on the halfling, something in her had locked onto him, something primal, instinctual. Changelings often had multiple partners, whether for recreational purposes or if they were simply bored. Madalah was relatively young and had had only three partners, none of which she'd felt any attachment to. Changelings weren't meant to become attached to other changelings, after all. That was a special feeling only for the queen.

With Anorax, it was much different than what she'd experienced. It had been an instant fire in her chest, a longing like she'd been starved for a month and suddenly there was food. Not food in the way that she saw ponies, but in a sense that she'd found something to fill her up for the rest of her natural life. Anorax was, without a doubt, her soul mate. Soul mates was not a concept encouraged among the changelings, it was nearly a taboo. Only a few changelings in history ever experienced it and lived to get away with it.

Madalah sighed quietly and looked back at her bed, her eyes falling on Anorax's sleeping form. As many times as she'd invited him into her bed, he'd chosen instead to sleep on the floor. Such a sweet boy. He'd told her more than once that he would wait until the proper time, something he was very ambiguous about. As much as she wanted to go to him now and seek his warmth, there was something much more important she needed to do.

The changeling crept slowly out of Anorax's home and out into the chill of the night air. The ground was covered with snow, and it was very very cold. On another night, she might've dragged Anorax outside to play, but her thoughts were on her dream. They'd only recently begun two weeks ago, and she'd kept quiet about it until now. She did not want to leave Anorax behind, but the dreams were becoming louder and more invasive. She could ignore the calls no longer, and she needed to speak with Kecnik.

She found him outside already, sitting in the freshly fallen snow, his back to her and his face to the bright moon, which shone on the white snow and made everything shine. It was beautiful, and exuded a feeling of lonely beauty. As Madalah approached, she knew she needed not to announce her arrival. Even without their telepathic bond, their troubles were linked. He was as aware of her dreams as much as she was.

Madalah sat down next to Kecnik, a small frown on her face. The two sat in silence for a moment until she finally turned to him. "You've been having the same dreams, haven't you? Is father really calling us home?"

Kecnik nodded, his gaze never breaking from the sparkling snow on the rooftops of the other houses. "Yes, and yes. He is calling us, and we will have to answer him eventually."

Madalah closed her eyes tightly, and attempted to keep what this meant from reaching her heart. She knew. She had known from the moment that Chrysalis' hive fell that she would have to return to her own hive and leave Anorax behind. The only question remaining was how would she sneak away? She could do it right now, leave in the middle of the night, never to see him again or to feel as happy as she had been with him again.

Her tears had just begun to fall when she felt his presence. She gasped and turned around to see the halfling standing before her, the silver moonlight reflecting brightly off his white shell. The look in his face also reflected how she felt, but there was a determined look in his eyes. "Anorax," Madalah said, trying to come up with some excuse for feeling like this.

Anorax just smiled and rested a hoof on her shoulder. "I know. It sucks, but...we both knew this wouldn't last." Madalah stared at him, feeling her tears building up all over again. She let out a little sob and fell against his chest. Kecnik glanced at the two, a small smile on his face. He was glad that Madalah at least had a chance for true happiness. He was well aware of how rare it was for changelings to find something like this at all. He picked himself up discreetly and headed around the back of the house to let the two have their moment.

Madalah and Anorax were quiet as they sat in the silver snow, clutching each other, as if to keep from falling into a dark, lonely place. Both were on the edge of that pit, both despairing and holding onto the waning light that was the warmth of each other. The moon had moved about about a quarter of the way down by the time Anorax decided to finally speak. "Look, I know this situation is the farthest from what we wanted, but...I want to help you get home."

Madalah pulled away just enough to look up into Anorax's eyes. "But...why? Seeing me go will be hurtful enough, but-"

"I don't care," he told her, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. "If I can help you get home, then I'll have done one last thing to keep you safe. It'll make me feel better, if that makes any sense."

Madalah closed her eyes once more. She loved being close to Anorax, but she didn't want him to see the despair in her eyes. "I understand that, I suppose. But how are you going to do that? The journey is across the sea, you know."

Anorax merely smiled and pulled her closer to him against his chest, his arms wrapped around her tightly. "Well then, we'll get ourselves a boat, and then we'll cross the sea together."

Madalah sighed quietly, feeling warm and safe in Anorax's grasp. She took comfort in the knowledge that she still had some time to be with him, and she wouldn't waste a second of it.

Spark Storm opened his eyes blearily. Despite it being the middle of December, he was very, very warm. His apartment was home to several creatures, after all, and they all liked to share his bed at times. This was of course one of those times. He glanced down at his chest, where Orea was snuggled against him, her forelegs dangling off the side of the bed. He smiled at how cute she looked.

He perked his free ear up, listening for signs that the others might be up. He could hear breathing a bit behind him. He craned his neck to look behind him very slowly until he could make out Amacia's form. She was in a sitting position on the chair beside the bed, though she was hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees, which she kept tucked to her chest. Spark still didn't understand how harpy anatomy worked, but the way Amacia slept looked really uncomfortable.

That just left Ampelus. It was never a good thing when she couldn't be found. Spark Storm very carefully sat up, a little reluctantly leaving Orea's extra warmth. Morning in the winter was always a little unpleasant if one wasn't bundled. These apartments just didn't have the same cozy warmth that a big house did.

After making sure he hadn't woken Orea, Spark cautiously made his way to the bathroom, which had of course been fixed weeks before. He stumbled his way to the sink and began brushing his teeth. It wasn't until he rinsed that he noticed the dark body laying in the empty tub. He turned, a skeptic frown on his face. Suddenly, two whip-line vines flew forward and wrapped around Spark's shoulders and waist, pulling him into the tub and on top of the taller nymph.

Spark tensed as he laid flat-out on Ampelus' side. He felt her vines wrapping more and more around him, and it was getting difficult to move. He spread his wings, preparing to zap the nymph if she didn't let go, but he paused when he felt one of her soft hooves pressing to his lips. "Hush now, or you'll break the tub again," she whispered. "Remember what happened to it last time? I'll play nice if you'll just lay with me for a while, what do you say?"

Spark Storm narrowed his eyes down at the nymph. Ever since he'd welcomed her into his home, she'd gotten bolder and bolder with her advances. Sometimes she was docile and cooperative, at times she was difficult to fend off. He had to be gentle, though. After the exploding bathroom incident two months earlier, Spark tried not to use his wings on her too much. She was much too difficult to hit now that they'd spent more time together. She was learning his moves, exploiting his blindspots.

Ampelus smiled and batted her eyelashes at the pegasus. He hadn't tried to strike just yet, so being true to her word she hadn't done anything untoward to him...yet. Spark slowly lowered his wings to fold them against his back and started to relax. As much as he disliked Ampelus' constant flirting, there was something comforting and even reassuring about her routine.

"There, see? A little trust between the two of us goes a long way. A little snuggling can go a little further," she whispered to him, but as promised she behaved, even if her grasp on him hadn't loosened.

Spark sighed and diverted his gaze from hers. "Why do you have to be so touchy all the damn time? We've been over this a thousand times in the last couple months: I'm not interested in getting...'romantic' with you."

Ampelus giggled quietly. Her grasp on Spark began to shift as she pulled him closer to her, her muzzle situating closer to his right ear. Spark tensed again, his hooves spreading to rest on either side of the nymph to support himself. "Who said anything about romance?"

Spark had had enough. He stood, even as Ampelus clung to him. "Wait! Can't we talk this over?" she begged, clamping her legs tightly around Spark's body. Spark blushed, but it was more from anger than from discomfort. He lifted a foreleg and pushed down on her head away from him. The two struggled quietly for a moment until the nymph finally gave up and plopped down into the tub, a pout of disappointment on her face. "You're no fun. Didn't your mother teach you how to treat a lady?"

Orea shot straight up in bed, an alarming anger from Spark Storm having woken her up. "What did you just say?" she heard him say, coming from the bathroom. She crept closer as Ampelus' voice also sounded from inside. She was annoyed and frustrated, from the sounds of it.

"I said maybe your mother could've taught you a few things! Just how sheltered are you?!"

Amacia stirred in her position on the chair next to the bed. She raised her eyes to glance at Orea blearily. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily.

"Daddy and Ampelus are fighting again," the young nymph replied.

"...Oh, that again..." the harpy mumbled before closing her eyes to return to sleep.

Things had been like this for a couple weeks now. Spark Storm was getting fed up with Ampelus' constant flirting, and the two fought and argued much more than they got along these days. But this time, Orea could tell that her aunt had gone too far; she'd mentioned Spark's mother. Ampelus didn't know about the circumstances of Cherry Joy's death, but Orea knew it all too well. It stung her heart as much as it did Spark's.

There was a blinding flash, and an instant later a smoking Ampelus flew from the bathroom and smashed against the wall and crashed down onto Spark's bed. The impact rained down clumps of wall. Amacia, startled by the sudden violence, reacted merely in shock as Spark Storm followed Ampelus out to the bedroom, his wings ablaze with furious energy.

Orea, easily sensing that this wasn't a simple squabble between her aunt and Spark, stood in front of Ampelus defensively. "Daddy, stop it! You can't act like this, you can't hurt her!"

"Any why the hell not?!" he yelled at Orea, his furious gaze turning down on the little nymph before him. Even Ampelus, shocked but relatively unhurt from Spark's attack, looked up at Spark Storm in uncertainty. Orea's gaze turned bleary as tears threatened to spill from her eyes at her surrogate father's tone. When the first tear fell upon his bedsheets, Spark immediately realized that he'd nearly threatened Orea. He shook his head slowly as if to deny the reality of what he'd done, then turned and headed outside, closing the door behind him quietly.

Outside, Spark stepped away from his apartment for a few steps until his legs gave out. He sat down in the snow, his breath coming in ragged pants and fresh tears of both fear and anger dropping onto the snow covered ground. The stress and frustrations over losing both Sohl and Sapphire Snow had finally gotten him to the point where he was attacking his friends, and as much as he told himself that he hated Ampelus' constant badgering and flirting, he liked her, he really did. Not that way, of course, but she gave him constant attention and affection. He had to admit he would be having a strange day if she didn't hound him once or twice.

Things just weren't working out for him. Life was harder now that he was single, as strange as it sounded. He was constantly angry, he lashed out at Ampelus too much, he pushed others away...he was depressed. Was that it? Spark lifted his bleary gaze from the ground. He needed help. He'd fallen into a difficult to escape pit without Sohl, and even with Orea, Amacia and even Ampelus to keep him company, he kept sinking. He desperately needed to do something, anything, to help him feel alive again, even if it meant travelling for a while.

Maybe I should mention this to Celestia, he thought. Something needs to change. He turned around to face his apartment, and came nose to nose with Orea. The two stared at each other until Orea hopped towards him. He caught her in waiting arms and the two held each other quietly. Spark didn't need to tell her that he was sorry for yelling at her. She knew. She forgave.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Kecnik asked the younger Anorax, a small, thoughtful frown on the changeling's face. "Madalah hasn't been out among the town for some time. The absence of her wings will be immediately apparent. A pegasi's wings do not simply 'fall off', and she was not admitted to the hospital here. Ponies will ask questions, and we do not have time to answer them."

"You worry too much, and completely underestimate the creative mind of this halfling," Anorax said with a cheerful smile. He stepped around Madalah, who was playing the patient game, though she was curious as to how he planned to pull this off. Madalah had spent time some time around Ponyville hidden as a pegasus, so to suddenly appear walking around town as a wingless pegasus was definitely out of the question. So, she wondered, how did he plan to parade her around town without her being noticed?

Anorax stopped and brought a hoof up to his chin as he studied his girlfriend appraisingly. Suddenly, it came to him. With her standing there in her changeling form, it was no wonder. "Madalah, switch to your pegasus form for me." The changeling frowned, but she did as he asked. Her body briefly erupted into that bright blue fire, then revealed the blue pegasus form she'd had before, except...well, no wings, her back having carried the twisted scars from her real body.

Madalah closed her eyes tightly when she saw the look on Anorax's face - a look of trepidation and a little horror. "Now hold on, like I said, I can fix this!" he told her, and went into his living room, then to his bathroom, causing a bit of frenzied clutter from both rooms. When he returned, he held several items up for Madalah to see. He'd grabbed two pillows and several rolls of gauze.

Before either changeling could ask what Anorax was up to, he got to work. It took him ten minutes and two tries, but he finally managed to wrap the two small couch pillows around Madalah's body, situated so that they sat on her back and made it look like her wings had been injured and wrapped to prevent them from moving. Anorax had to admit, it was one of his better plans that didn't get himself sucked into a crazy scheme to get rich, or to get involved in a secret rescue attempt.

Madalah craned her neck to look at her middle back. He hadn't done a bad job at all. Even she was fooled, and could almost believe that her wings were still there. But of course, they weren't. She sighed, just once. She could live without the wings. It was Anorax that she couldn't...This time she sighed a little heavier, and she turned her gaze back at Anorax and Kecnik, a sad look in her eyes.

Anorax smiled patiently as he approached Madalah. "Try not to think about it. This is just another adventure, you know? It'll be fun as long as we focus on the journey. Keep the destination at the back of your mind."

Madalah finally smiled. She closed the distance between the two of them and came to rest against the halfling's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in silence.

Three hours and a redress later, the three said their goodbyes to Anorax's parents and set out down town in their pegasi forms. Madalah got a few looks, but nothing out of the ordinary, and there wasn't a single pony interested enough to ask her what happened. That is, until, Lyra spotted them from her window. The trio were nearly to the road leading to Canterlot when Lyra caught up with them.

"Hey! Hey guys, wait!" she called. Anorax sighed quietly and turned as Lyra approached them. "Where are you guys going? I mean, I can see you're headed to Canterlot, but..." she paused, noticing Madalah's wrapping, a small, unhappy frown spreading over her face. She was Anorax's best friend, although she had to admit she was a little jealous now that Madalah had crept into his life and taken the role that was once hers. Still, it hurt to see Madalah injured. She was the sweetest non-pony creature she'd ever met.

"Oh, uh..." Anorax began, though he didn't know how to finish. He hadn't counted on being approached, so he hadn't bothered to come up with an excuse. He looked to Madalah for help, but she just smiled and nodded, giving him the okay to tell her. Lyra had brave and gone down into the changeling caves to help her kidnapped friend and battled with an alicorn. She deserved no less than the truth.

Anorax sighed and turned his attention back to Lyra. "Kecnik and Madalah have been called home by the changelings, Lyra. I'm...I'm helping them to get home."

Lyra's eyes opened wide in shock. "What?! I thought we killed those jerks! Uh...no offense, guys," she said, directing this last bit to the two changelings. "But...if that's the case, why are you guys headed to Canterlot? The changelings are..." she paused, a look of realization spreading across her face. "Wait. You guys aren't from here, right? So..." she sighed, a look of helplessness on her face. "I don't get it. A little help?"

"Our original hive lies across the Northwestern Sea," Kecnik told the unicorn. "In a gesture of good faith, our father sent the queen here...us. Well, the four of us: Myself, Madalah, Bezzle and Dozix."

Lyra frowned thoughtfully as she thought back. "So that's why you guys looked so different from the changelings here. They're all black and teal, and you guys...well, you're bigger than most of the changelings I saw," she said, gesturing to Kecnik, then turned to Madalah, "and you're a blue changeling. I didn't see the others, though..."

Kecnik nodded, confirming Lyra's speculations. "Yes. No two changeling hives will have the same look. Our specific family all have different looks, several of the older ones have different abilities."

Lyra tilted her head as she looked betwee Anorax and Madalah, suddenly sensing the sadness between them. "But...wait, Anorax, are you gonna stay with her?"

That idea hadn't even occurred to the halfling. If it meant being with Madalah, then - he paused in his thoughts as Madalah touched a hoof to his shoulder. He turned to her in question. The changeling shook her head sadly. "It is not possible, Anorax. You are a halfling. You're...well, "impure" is the word. Our hive would not accept you."

Lyra frowned unhappily at this news, and at the downcast look Anorax took on at hearing Madalah's rebuttal. "Oh, geez, I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to make this situation even more crappy than it already was." Lyra stepped forward and embraced Madalah. "I should let you guys go before I make things worse..." She turned and nuzzled Anorax, then turned and rested a hoof on Kecnik's shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she repeated before running back towards Ponyville.

Madalah watched the unicorn go, then turned to Anorax. "You don't think she'll tell anyone that we're leaving, do you?"

"Naaah..." Anorax said with a light shake of his head. "She won't. Trust me, that mare can keep a secret." There was a brief silence between the three of them, their eyes on Ponyville one last time until Anorax turned and began the walk towards Canterlot. "Might as well get a move on. We'll be there by mid-afternoon."

3 - A New Mission

Anorax and his two changeling charges arrived in the city by four in the afternoon. It had been a cold day, and it had snowed for nearly the whole trip. By now, all six pairs of hooves were chilled to the core. Changelings weren't usually meant to be exposed to the cold. Their kind had spent hundreds of years being in warm, dry and dark environments, not cold, bright and snowy.

"Well, now that we're here, what's the next step?" Kecnik asked. He'd never been to Canterlot before, for obvious reasons. For the last five years, he'd spent his time in the changeling caves, gathering intel on the life forms surrounding the hive. He'd seen the city before, but he'd never been inside. "Is there a place we can rest before we continue?"

Anorax, his right wing draped over a shivering Madalah, put a hoof to his chin in thought. He hadn't really put it all into perspective, this coming to Canterlot thing. Their purpose was to find somepony that could take them to the western shore and ferry them across the sea. It might've made more sense to simply travel to the western shore themselves, but...why hadn't they done that? It suddenly came to him why they'd come this way. Of course! Spark Storm. He was in good with the princess, surely one of them would have some connections to get them across the sea.

"Ok, first thing's first, we've gotta find a place to stay for the night, and I have a pretty good idea where to find a friend who'll take us in."

"Your cousin?" Madalah asked. Of course, this hadn't really registered with Anorax. Of course, Vinyl would probably take them in, but her place was always a mess. Plus, she probably didn't know the princess like Spark did.

"Uh, no, I was actually thinking of Spark Storm. He's probably got the best connections we could hope for on such short notice. His place isn't that big, but we're not really looking to get comfortable, just a place to stay the night and then hopefully get an audience with Princess Celestia in the morning." He paused once more. Now that he really thought about it, a letter in advance probably would've helped. This just hadn't been a month of thinking ahead. He'd spent the whole thing with Madalah and Kecnik, he didn't really think he'd need to keep in contact with the others.

"It's a good a plan as any, I suppose," Madalah said more to herself than to either of her companions. "Really, I just want to get out of this cold..."

"Then we're all in agreement," Kecnic told them, shivering as well. "Let's find Spark Storm and ask if he'd be willing to share his space for the night."

Anorax and Madalah nodded, all three shivering in the cold. Finally, they set out with Anorax in the lead. It'd been a little while since he'd visited Spark in Canterlot, but he was still familiar with the last time he'd been to his apartment, shortly before the last night of the big party.

The trio had barely gotten halfway down the road when there was a flurry of sounds emerging from the gardens in Canterlot. They all stopped and watched as a ball of fire launched into the sky, surrounded by a tall, branching column of lightning. It surrounded the ball of fire, consumed it, then exploded like fireworks over the town of Canterlot. It was an amazing, impressive display of light and power that brought a crowd to watch in the streets, but the yelling and furious screaming coming from the gardens did not leave a positive feeling among the three travellers. They exchanged glances wordlessly, then changed directions and discreetly headed for the palace.

Flash Fire sighed with great annoyance as she glared holes in the back of Spark Storm's head, who sat away from the others in their small circle. Training today, like every day for the last two months, had been so strange and weird for everypony involved. Not only that, but Spark Storm was depressed. He moped about, he didn't put his all into his training, and it was costing the team precious time and effort.

Of course, it wasn't just Spark Storm that was causing problems. Sapphire Snow and even Flash Fire were feeling tense around Spark. Sapphire had very obvious, glaring reasons for not getting along with the big pegasus, but Flash Fire had been the only one of the Fighters to give Spark Storm a 'no' on returning to the team. It was very awkward for her to interact with Spark Storm, and it was awkward for her to interact with the others, as well. It was like voicing her opinion had been the first nail in her coffin in putting her on the outside of the team, as the others had all been for Spark returning. It had been a very bad decision for her to voice her complaints at that meeting first.

"We've got to do something about this situation," Sapphire was saying. All eyes were on her, but more than a few of them were angry. Not just with her, not just with Spark, but for this situation that was costing them all. "It feels like we haven't been a complete team since the night Spark walked out on us and-"

"And that right there is part of the problem," Lemon Pop interrupted, a steely glare on Sapphire. "You can't keep blaming him for that! Things happen, ponies change, they made decisions and they have to live with them. Making them remember those decisions and throwing it in their faces isn't going to fix anything."

Sapphire and Lemon Pop glared at each other for a moment. Ever since Spark Storm's return, it seemed that Lemon had switched sides. At least, that's what Sapphire wanted to think. She thought she wanted to be furious with her best friend, but really she just wanted her best friend to be angry with her at Spark. Lemon had always had Sapphire's back before, and it was killing her to be on opposite sides. It was killing them both.

"Look...we've all got a stake in this..." Sapphire continued, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a hoof. She hesitated a moment longer, then looked beyond the circle, at Spark Storm. "Spark...we need you here...please?"

Spark tensed as he sat with his back to the group, then slowly stood and faced his teammates, revealing his burned face and mane. He wore an angry scowl, and it was directed at Flash Fire. Finally, he made his way over to the group and sat down beside Lemon Pop. "Spark, I know things have been tense between all of us - especially the two of us, and between you and Flash Fire, but we've got to make this work," Sapphire told him, trying to hold in the amused grin at the state of her ex-boyfriend. She let out a breath, deciding this situation called for being serious.

"Hmph. I'm not part of the problem here, it's not my fault he can't concentrate," Flash Fire remarked, not even bothering to lower her voice or hide her distaste for Spark.

Lemon Pop opened her mouth to say something, but Sapphire Snow beat her to it. "Flash Fire, your attitude has..." she paused, hardly able to believe what she was about to say. "...it's been as bad as mine, if not worse, and that's saying something! Lemon Pop's right...our anger and lack of trust for Spark Storm has been tearing this group apart. We're not the only ones suffering...Spark Storm needs..." she turned her gaze on Spark then. "Spark, you need help, and I haven't wanted to help you. Normally I'd say 'for obvious reasons', but...it's been two months and it's time to move on, so...what can we do for you?"

Spark, and the entire group stared at Sapphire Snow in surprise. It was the first kind thing she'd said to him this entire time. It wasn't that she was a bad pony, but her resentment of Spark wasn't something that they just expected her to ignore enough to reach out to him. Spark could feel tears of guilt and relief mixing together, and he didn't know what to say. Before he could put anything intelligent to say, though, Flash Fire stood, a furious look on her face. "You've got to be joking, Sapphire. After everything that he's done to you, how can you just sit there and take his downer crap? This is outrageous!"

"Oy..." Frostbite and Gunslinger said in unison as Spark Storm, Flash Fire and Sapphire Snow suddenly stood, all bristling with anger at each other. Electricity danced and crackled on Spark's back, and a fierce fire spell began building on Flash Fire's horn.

"Enough!" a voice boomed from above. All ponies stood at attention as the princess herself drifted down from above. Her patience regarding this situation had grown thin, and despite her reservations on letting the Fighters sort this out themselves, had given them a chance to. Now it was out of their hooves, and in hers. "My friends, this is unacceptable! Your infighting and grudges have crippled both your judgement and your effectiveness as a team! You must find a way to heal yourselves, or...or I'm afraid that the Fighters will have to -"

Celestia and the Fighters, all suddenly aware of eyes on them, turned in unison to see three figures, having stumbled upon this meeting in the garden. Anorax, Madalah and Kecnik stared at the tense scene. The two changelings quietly took a step back, while Anorax awkwardly continued to stare for a moment longer until he came to his senses. "Uh...sorry. We came looking for Spark Storm," he said, offering a wave to his friend. "We're obviously...uh, we came at a bad time. We're gonna go...catch ya later." he finished, then turned tail and ushered his companions away from the garden.

Celestia sighed quietly, the interruption having broken her train of thought. If only Spark's friend hadn't - wait. Spark's friend! The princess's eyes lit up. Spark Storm hadn't had friends or family visit him this whole time, perhaps this was what he needed to perk up. She turned to the group, her eyes on the pegasus in question. "Spark Storm, we'll talk more later, I promise. Why don't you go see what your friends have come for? We mustn't be rude to guests of Canterlot."

Spark and group exchanged glances, then gave a collective shrug. They'd all been looking for excuses to get out of this meeting, anyway. Spark Storm bowed before the princess, then cantered off after Anorax.

It didn't take him long to find the trio waiting for him, not far around the corner. Spark smiled when he saw his friend, a real, excited smile that he hadn't worn for some time now. "Anorax!" He called, trotting up to his old friend, then gave a warm smile and nod to Kecnik and Madalah. "What are you guys doing here? Do you all have a place to stay?"

Anorax stared at Spark in surprise. If he'd known that Spark Storm was depressed, he wouldn't be able to tell it by the way his friend was acting so enthusiastically. "Well, we were actually going to ask you if you had some space to spare. If you could maybe-"

"Of course!" Spark interrupted. "My home is your home, all three of you, however long you need."

Madalah and Kecnik shared an uncertain smile, the big pegasus seemed a little off. The emotions he was giving off were shaky, at least. He seemed desperate for some kind of change, and there was another, stronger emotion he was doing his best to keep hidden, a heavy, looming sadness. Even now, with his big friendly smile, it threatened to crush him. All three could sense this.

"Well...really we'd really appreciate it if we could crash at your place just until we can hire someone to take us to the western borders and take us across the sea..." Anorax told him cautiously.

Spark's eyes opened wide with surprise. "Wait, what? What's this all about?"

Madalah glanced between her two comrades. They both nodded, giving her the go-ahead to explain. "Spark, Kecnik and I can't stay in Equestria anymore. We've been called home, to our original hive."

Spark Storm stared at the three of them. His brows furrowed as he stared thoughtfully beyond the three of them. This visit was quickly turning into a point of interest. "I...think I can help you," he finally told his friends.

Celestia sighed as she sat at her desk. Politics, nothing but politics, everywhere she turned, and it was all spread out across her desk. Documents, court papers, letters of appeal. Whose idea was it that the princess would oversee 90% of all legal documents? She sighed heavily for the second time as she realized that this was, of course, her fault. She was the one who made the big decisions. She was just about to begin when a knock at the door brought her out of business mode and into 'I'm saved!' mode, even if she knew it would only last for a moment. "Please come in," she called.

However, as Spark Storm stepped inside, followed by her dear subject Anorax, she sat up straight. This was more than just a little break for her - this was probably a full-blown issue. "Anorax, Spark Storm," she said in greeting as she stood and rounded her desk to approach the two. "What can I do for you?"

Anorax cleared his throat quietly. "Uh, your majesty-"

"My friends may call me Celestia, Anorax, you know that," the princess told him with a warm smile.

Anorax smiled warmly and nodded. "Yes...thank you, Celestia. Um...I'm in need of a ship. I apologize if I should've sent this through a note instead, honestly I feel kind of bad about cutting in line..."

"Nonsense," the princess said. She glanced back and forth about her office, making sure there was no others listening, then leaned in and said quietly, "To be honest, I was hoping for a brief escape from that mountain of paperwork over there on my desk. Now," she said, raising her voice to normal volume, "what do you need with a ship?"

The halfling sighed quietly. In truth, he was hoping he would run into some kind of snag, and he wouldn't be able to take his friends home and they'd be stuck with him forever, but this whole trip had been running entirely too smoothly and too quickly. "Well...the thing is, Madalah and Kecnik have been called home...they need to cross the western sea, and...and I'm going to go with them."

"Whoa, what?" Spark interjected. "You didn't tell me that part!"

Anorax frowned at Spark Storm. "Dude, you don't know what it's like to be a halfling, living your life all alone because you can't have a girlfriend. You try, and sometimes she's nice, but you keep sucking up that affection she has for you and she gets sick. Or maybe you get another one and you think she's great, but you can tell she's only faking it! You have no idea what it's like to finally find somepony that's totally honest, and...it was instant. We fell in love instantly, Spark, and that doesn't just happen, not even with ponies. It's an extremely rare occurrence that's so rare it almost never happens, except for queens."

Spark and Celestia stared at Anorax in shocked silence. Anorax glanced back and forth between them, his frown turning into a confused blank stare. "...What? What did I say?"

"Uh, Anorax, repeat what you just said. Just that last sentence," Spark told him.

"I said it's an extremely rare occurrence that's so rare it usually never happens except for queen...queens..." he said, trailing off as he realized what he'd just said. He glanced between Spark Storm and the princess, feeling an unusual heat rising in his chest. "Uh...th-that's not possible, though, I mean, it's not, they can't-"

Spark Storm carefully rested a hoof on his friend's shoulder. "Dude. Think about it. They were sent over here as a treaty, or a sign of trust, right? Why would they send everyday workers that the hive over here had an everyday use for? What if Madalah's hive sent their prince's and princess's, or whatever they use for royalty? It'd make a lot more sense."

During this exchange, Celestia had been thinking. Here, in her castle, was a future changeling queen, and possibly a king. It had been so long since she'd been this close to a queen, and the last time she'd seen one, she had never wanted to see one again. Still, if giving Anorax a ship would take these creatures far away from Equestria, it would be worth the paperwork, not to mention that this situation presented a possible solution to other pressing matters.

"Anorax, I've decided. I'll help you and your friends get over the sea." Anorax smiled gratefully up at the princess, but before he could thank her, she held up a hoof and turned her attention to Spark Storm. "And I want you to help them get there, Spark Storm."

Spark Storm stared in shock up at the princess. Him? A trip across the sea? When he'd seen his friend Anorax, his friends and their plight, he'd felt that heavy feeling weighing down on him lift a little. But the thought of crossing the sea and leaving behind everything he knew suddenly brought that weight down on him again. The stress and the guilt of the past two months was now itself weight down with more stress.

"Dude...calm down, what's wrong with you?" Anorax asked him, unable to help sensing the emotions that Spark tried to keep hidden. Spark ducked his head, feeling exposed by Anorax' inquiry.

Celestia sighed gently and reached down to rest a hoof on Spark's shoulder and turned her attention to Anorax. "Our friend has been very upset these last few months, Anorax. I'm afraid he's been feeling very under the weather, and I think it has to do with the sudden departure of one of his close friends. I believe, Spark," she continued, addressing the pegasus, "that getting out of Canterlot - Equestria, even, could be good for you. Take yourself out of this place, at least for a little while, and take some time to heal."

Spark Storm sighed quietly. The thought of going on this trip scared him, but why would it? He'd been trapped in this heavy sadness for so long now, perhaps it was change he was scared of, scared of getting better. That thought didn't make much sense to him, but it was the only thing he could think of, and if that was the case, then maybe getting away from Equestria would help. "Yeah, I...I guess. That would probably help," he finally said, holding his head up again.

"It's settled, then," Celestia said with a gentle smile, stepping back to give Spark Storm his space. "I will arrange for a carriage to take you and your friends to the western borders of Equestria, and one of the kingdom's own ships will ferry you all to Madalah's home country." She paused, then glanced down at Anorax. "Which I trust she'll provide information for?" Anorax nodded affirmatively. "Good. Then, I suggest, gentlemen, that you both head back to Ponyville."

Before the confused sounds of the two could form into coherent words, Celestia explained, "Well, these orders aren't going to be made overnight, I'm afraid. There are protocols that I must follow - my own rules, of course - and it may be two or three days before this request goes out to the shipyards of Vanhoover. All in all, I'd say you'd have about a week to wait. I apologize for this delay. Spark Storm, this might be a good time to assemble a team."

"A team?" he asked. "Why would I need a team for this? I thought you were sending me on vacation."

"A vacation that will take you to unknown places, Spark Storm. If my suspicions are right, and you're headed to the Northwest, then you're headed for the land of Breen. It's a dangerous, brutal place that has been home to some of the most blood-thirsty creatures in the history of the world. The military of that country is very ambitious. It is a place I've had to keep my eyes on for some time."

Spark stared up at Celestia, a surprised look in his eyes. "...So I'm going on vacation, but it's not so much a vacation as it is an armed escort to protect my friends from an entire pony army?"

Celestia chuckled quietly, then shook her head. "Of course not, Spark Storm." Spark sighed with relief. "It's not a pony army."

Spark frowned, a hoof brought to his chin in thought. "...Griffons?" Celestia shook her head, which baffled Spark. If they weren't ponies, and they weren't griffons, then...

"They're kirin," the princess told him. Both Spark and Anorax glanced at each other, and both shrugged. Neither had heard this name before. "They're dragons. They take the form of equines, unicorns, actually. Their magic is very powerful, Spark Storm. Their abilities vary, but one thing they all share in common is their affinity for water magic. The country of Breen is mostly temperate, and water is abundant throughout. The country is renowned throughout the world for having the most pure water anywhere. If only they could learn to use their abilities to help others..." she trailed off, then shook her head. "Anyway, my friends, as I said before I think you should head back to Ponyville, all of you. I will send a carriage to you when everything is ready."

Spark and Anorax glanced at each other, then turned to Celestia and bowed respectfully. "Thank you, pr-Celestia," Anorax said, then turned to leave. Spark Storm hesitated. He was starting to feel a little better at this point, and questions he hadn't bothered to ask earlier in the year were beginning to surface. Something told him he wasn't quite ready to ask them, though. He gave the princess another nod before he followed Anorax out the door.

"So what happens now?" Madalah asked the two as they emerged from the castle. She and Kecnik turned to walk on either side of them.

"Well, we've got ourselves a ship, but it'll take about a week for the order to get processed and sent to the west coast. Do you think you can wait that long?" Anorax asked her. She was quiet for a moment, a thoughtful look in her eyes as she walked. Finally, she nodded. "Oh, good. Uh...I think we're gonna go back to Ponyville. The princess has arranged it so that a carriage'll come for us when it's time."

Before the group got much further, a carriage being pulled by two large white pegasi pulled up before them. "Sirs, ma'am, we're to take you to Ponyville, by request of Princess Celestia." The pegasus on the left announced.

Spark thought for a moment, then waved a hoof dismissively. "Anorax, why don't you guys go? I have some things to take care of before I go. I'll just wing it from here and I'll see you guys later, probably tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah, all right. You gonna be ok?" Anorax asked him as Madalah and Kecnik stepped into the carriage.

"Yeah, no, it's fine," Spark told him. "I need to talk to some ponies, and...non-ponies." This statement gathered the attention of all five present, though none said anything.

"All right...See you there, then," Anorax said with a final wave, and got into the carriage. The pegasi guards took off, and Spark Storm finally made his way back to his apartment. He had to tell the nymphs and Amacia what was going to happen. Now that he thought about it, he still hadn't apologized to Ampelus for attacking her earlier.

A knock at the door told Celestia that her guest had arrived. A small grin of anticipation crossed her lips before she put on her serious discussion face and called, "Come in."

The door opened, and the unicorn Flash Fire stepped inside, closed the door, then approached and saluted. "Ma'am, you called for me?"

Celestia smiled warmly and nodded, a small file with the title 'Mission To Breen' sitting on her desk. "Yes, I did, Flash Fire. I have a very special assignment for you, and I do believe it will be very good for the team..."

4 - Downtime Part 1

Flash Fire stared at Celestia in horror and dismay, her jaw practically on the floor. Finally, she pulled herself enough to argue. "Princess, please, you can't be serious! Spark Storm gets a vacation and I have to tag along to protect his..."friends"?

"This isn't about anypony going on a vacation, Flash Fire," Celestia told the unicorn, the barest of glares on her face. She'd only just told Flash Fire her role in Spark's journey. The two mares stood opposite one another in Celestia's office. "This trip will also serve as a means for you two to start getting along. The Fighters have been suffering from your anger and Spark Storm's condition."

Flash Fire nearly sneered at the princess. Nearly. "Sorry, Spark Storm's "condition"? I understand I have some anger issues, but if it were up to me, Spark would've been booted from this team the second that he bolted two months ago! "Condition"..."

Celestia very nearly lost her temper. Her glare seemed to darken the room. The pressure in the room seemed to intensify, the wood in the room creaked. Flash Fire's gaze widened with fear, and she took a step away from the alicorn. Celestia paused, then took a deep breath. The light returned to normal, as did the atmosphere. "This isn't an option, Flash Fire," the princess told her. "Regardless of who is at fault, the Fighters need to heal. It's sink or swim, understand?"

Flash Fire sighed quietly, both in relief and in resignation. She still thought this was a bogus assignment, but...the princess had a point. That, and Celestia scared her. "Yes, ma'am," she replied, and quickly slipped out of the room and closed the door. She stood outside the princess' office, staring at the opposite wall quietly. She nearly jumped when a small folder slid under the door. She lifted it to her eyes with her magic, then pulled out the message inside. It was an official document, stating that she was to report to Vanhoover immediately. She grumbled irritably before walking off to prepare for her journey.

Spark Storm opened his door slowly. His room was a mess, just the way he'd left it. His bed was covered with bits of wall from when he'd thrown Ampelus into it - something he had to apologize for. As usual, the floor was littered here and there with tiny brown and red feathers, evidence of Amacia's presence. This reminded him that he really needed to vacuum. Something was off, though, because none of his three roommates were here. Orea usually came to greet him by now, whether or not she'd been asleep. Ampelus too, though the greeting wasn't always consensual.

Spark frowned as he looked around the house. Nothing had been picked up, nothing had been placed back after Ampelus' body hitting the wall knocked a book or two off their shelves. He got the impression that the house was emptied rather quickly, and nopony had been home since. He stepped back outside and looked along the ground. The snow was fresh today, and fortunately, some tracks had been made.

He followed the tracks, which consisted of three different types of hoof-print - well, two hoof-prints, and one pair of harpy foot-prints. It looked like Ampelus had gone ahead, and the other two followed. The tracks lead into the Everfree, towards Ponyville. Spark sighed as he picked up his pace. He had a whole week before he had to leave, but he wanted to fix this situation with Ampelus just as soon as possible.

As Spark ran on, the track marks gained space inbetween steps, indicating an increase in speed. Finally, the tracks appeared to have taken off at a run for all three of them. Soon, Ampelus' marks disappeared. Spark frowned as he stopped at this point. He was deep in the Everfree forest, and the sun had gone down. Thankfully, Spark Storm never did have a problem with seeing in the dark. He glanced around for other signs of tracks, then finally looked up into the trees and saw tell-tale signs of Ampelus' vines gripping the trees. She'd gone into the treetops, and without more snow to track her...

Spark sighed, then continued to follow Orea and Amacia's tracks. He followed them for hours, even past the rising of the moon. Finally, after following the tracks for four hours with no results, Spark Storm sat down in the snow, terribly frustrated. He craned his sore neck to the sky, catching sight of the half-moon. It stared down at him through the trees. He'd always found the moon a beautiful and mysterious thing, but something about it tonight was immensely enticing. He climbed the nearest tree, made his way to the top, and finally broke the canopy.

The moon was much brighter here. The silver light bounced off the snow that sat on the canopy, making it shine and sparkle up at the top and at the bottom of Spark's view. It'd been a rather long time since he'd had a moment to himself like this. Even during his depression, Spark was surrounded by his friends and his comrades, the nymphs and Amacia. When was the last real time he'd gotten to himself?

Spark looked up at the moon, and the moon seemed to stare back at him. You wish for space. I wish for a companion. Must we be so far apart?

Spark stared up into the bright moon. Had he just imagined that voice? It was so familiar, but he couldn't place it. It was starting to freak him out a little. Spark tore his gaze away from the moon and closed his eyes, only now becoming aware that his heart had been beating a mile a minute. Not wanting to dwell on this any further, he ducked down under the canopy and returned to the ground. His head swimming with the memory of that voice, that...beautiful voice, Spark continued tracking Orea and Amacia.

It took him another two hours, but Spark soon found the tracks leading to the Apple farm. He sighed softly to himself, a relieved sigh. At least the two had gone somewhere familiar, someplace warm and safe. Relatively safe, at least. Spark was pretty sure that Applejack hadn't met Orea, or Amacia for that matter. She'd been upset as it was with Sohl. This thought made him frown, but he quickly shook it off. Now wasn't the time to get all mopey. He hurried on towards the farm.

Spark followed the tracks through the frozen, barren fields until the farm came into sight. Some lights were on in the farm house, and he could just barely make out a figure standing outside, a figure wearing a Stetson. He could see the figure turning in his direction, then he made out a familiar voice yelling at him. "Spark Storm! You git over here, y'all got some explainin' to do!" Spark paused, and he couldn't help but laugh at the indignity in her voice. He sighed gently and hurried to meet her.

"Spark," Applejack said angrily as he came within speaking distance, "This is gettin' ridiculous. Ya gotta stop lettin' these things on my farm! I swear, if Granny Smith saw these things, there'd be trouble!" Without giving Spark Storm a chance to explain, she turned him to the barn and pointed at it. "Now git in there and sort yer business!"

"It's nice to see you too, Applejack," Spark called over his shoulder as he hurried on to the barn. A stern 'hmph' was all he heard in return.

Spark made his way into the barn. It was quiet and dark, and he couldn't see the tell-tale signs of either of his friends. Spark frowned as he stepped deeper inside, his ears tilting in different directions, hoping for some kind of noise. Then, he heard it. The soft sound of breathing, and it was coming from the loft up above. Spark made his way up the ladder leading up, and immediately found Orea and Amacia huddled together for warmth in the cold darkness of the loft. He sighed and approached, a hoof reaching out to wake up little Orea, but her open eyes revealed she was waiting for him.

"You found us!" she said in a hushed voice, rushing forward and tackling Spark Storm. He caught her and held her in his arms, a relieved sigh escaping his mouth in a cloud of cold.

"Of course I found you. Orea, I've been worried about you," he told her, glaring at her gently.

Orea ducked her head slightly with guilt. Spark raised her head gently to have her look at him. "I'm sorry, daddy," she told him. "Ampelus left. We didn't know what we should do, so we tried to follow her, but she...she really didn't want us to follow her. She's mad at you for hitting her."

Spark nodded quietly, a brief glance at the floor his only sign of guilt. "I...I know she is, and I don't blame her. I haven't been very patient with her lately, either, I shouldn't have reacted that way to her."

Orea frowned and reached up to frame Spark's face in her hooves. "Daddy, you forget...I know what you're going through. You've been sad...so sad it hurts me sometimes. I didn't want to say anything, I didn't want to make you feel worse..."

Spark had forgotten. In that tiny universe he'd kept himself locked in, he hadn't thought of anypony else, not even Orea, who was psychically linked to him and felt the things he felt. He'd been so selfish. "Shh", she coo'd, stroking his face gently. She pulled him down and took his face in her forelegs and kissed his forehead. "It's all right, daddy. I'm here for you."

Spark Storm closed his eyes tightly. Two tears slipped from his eyes and plopped quietly on the floor, where they splashed and lightly touched his hooves. Dammit...he thought. This is so backwards. I have to stop this. I've grieved so much...I've let others take care of me and take the brunt of my aggression. I don't want to hurt them anymore. Spark pulled away from Orea enough to look down at her. She tilted her head, sensing a change.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he told her, shushing her when she tried to respond. "I'm sorry I haven't been all there lately, I really haven't. I'm gonna try to be better...I've got a new mission, and I think it's really going to be good for me." Orea smiled and climbed into Spark Storm's forelegs. He held her close as he repositioned himself, leaning against a hay bale. "I'm gonna be going away for a while, in a week."

Orea was quiet for a moment, for the moment content to listen to Spark's heart beating against her chest. She lowered her head and rested it on Spark's shoulder, then said, "Do you want me to come with you? Or Amacia? You won't be alone, will you?"

Spark Storm took a moment to answer. Honestly he wasn't sure what he wanted right now. There was just too much to think about, and he had a week to think it over. For now, he could spend a few days relaxing. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe this was what Celestia wanted him to do. She wanted to give him time to heal, and this was a good time to do it. He had ponies to see, to talk to. Maybe a week wasn't long enough, but seeing all of his friends and his sister in this time would probably do him some good, and not to mention this, with Orea. Neither spoke again, instead falling asleep together in their loving embrace.

Spark Storm woke up to the sound of laughter and talking. He groaned with displeasure at being woken up, but his non-committal complaint was ignored. The pegasus sighed and opened his eyes, first sight his eyes caught being a lack of nymph, and then harpy. He frowned and listened to the talking below - that was definitely Applejack. He crawled to the edge of the loft and stared blearily down at a strange scene: Amacia, sitting on a stool, milking one of Applejack's cows. Spark stared at the most bizarre scenes he'd ever witnessed for a moment, while Amacia and Applejack chatted.

"Well I'll tell ya what," Applejack said, sitting beside Amacia and watching approvingly. "I've never seen anypony milk a cow as fast as you're doin'. It's a mighty strange sight, but darn it if ain't gettin' the job done."

Amacia smiled shyly, continuing her stroking motions. She leaned towards the cow's front end and rested a clawed hand on the cow's shoulder. "How's it feeling, Ms Brynlee? Are my hands too rough?"

The cow shook out her head and moo'd pleasurably. "Ohh no, dearie," the cow replied in the usual Northern accent. "Your hands are just fine, they're nice and warm, ya know. Are ya sure this isn't your first time?"

"As sure as it is my being on a farm, Ms Brynlee."

Spark raised a brow at this odd scene, but it seemed so natural. So natural, it's weird, he thought. He sighed quietly and switched positions so he could head down the ladder backwards. He finally dropped to the ground and turned to see Applejack fixing a glare at him. It wasn't a look he was expecting, and he found himself taking a single step backwards. "What?" he inquired.

"Now why in tarnation didn't you tell your friends you were feelin' down?" Spark made to respond, but the farm pony pressed on. "We care about ya, Spark! Ya shoulda come home! We woulda thought of somethin', 'stead of you mopin' around and sinkin' deeper into that there hole ya dug."

Spark sighed and glared at the ground, then glanced at Amacia, who had been watching him. She quickly turned around and began milking again in silence. "It wasn't her," Applejack told him a little more gently. "Your daughter told me. And don't think I'm gonna be lettin' you off easy on that, either, ya never told me you had a kid!"

So much for keeping my secret life a secret, Spark grumbled inwardly. Applejack approached him and put a hoof on his shoulder. "Spark Storm, seriously, ya gotta learn to trust your friends. I understand ya got some secrets, and I promise I'll keep 'em. But ya got a lot on your shoulders, and I don't wanna see ya collapse 'cause it's too heavy. Share the load. Ya know I love ya like a brother, so don't forget that I'm here, okay?" Spark's eyes filled with tears at Applejack's words. Speechless, he lowered his head. He felt unworthy of Applejack's love and care. Applejack just pulled him close and held him.

Applejack leaned back after a few moments to give the pegasus some space. "Now - Orea told me some things I still ain't clear on. What's goin' on? You're goin' somewhere?"

Spark nodded. "Yeah...I'm..." he thought for a moment. Applejack knew Anorax, but probably not Madalah or Kecnik, and he still wasn't sure what Anorax' final decision would be, to stay or to return home. "...I'm going on vacation."

Applejack gave Spark Storm the evil eye. "I don't buy it. Vacation? You?"

Spark Storm held his head high and nodded once. "That's right," he said more confidently. "I'm going on vacation. I'm going to the country of Breen, by boat, on vacation."

Applejack leaned closer, fixing Spark with the stink-eye. "Vacation?" she repeated.

"Vacation."

Finally, the farm mare seemed to take his word for it. She smiled and clapped Spark on the back. "Well, all right. S'long as you're takin' it easy, I guess."

Let's hope, Spark thought. He felt bad for twisting the truth, even if Celestia had told him it would be a vacation, of sorts. Thinking back earlier in the conversation, he remembered that he still hadn't seen Orea. "Hey, uh, where is Orea?" he asked, directing the question to both Applejack and Amacia, who by now had finished and was currently returning from stocking the milk. Brynlee had wandered off quietly, leaving considerable more space in the barn.

"She went looking for Ampelus," Amacia told him, lightly grimacing at the look Applejack gave her, which the farm mare then gave Spark.

"Another thing ya "forgot" to tell me about," she said chidingly.

Spark just rolled his eyes and looked out the open barn door, towards Ponyville. Now that he was awake, he had a chance to go and see his friends, maybe his sister, check up on Anorax and the changelings.

Rarity.

Spark's heart thumped harder in his chest, and he couldn't help but let a small, goofy smirk grace his features at the thought of the unicorn. Seeing her out and about in winter, in the white snow, probably dressed up in boots to keep her hooves from getting wet...

"Whoa-ho!" Applejacks' exclamation brought Spark out of his thoughts quickly. "What's got you thinkin' there, Spark? Ya had a mighty goofy grin just now. You thinkin' 'bout a girl?"

Spark smirked, a shy blush spreading across his face as he intently avoided the farm mare's eyes. "Shut up. Ugh. I need some air." He started for the door, but paused and turned to Amacia. "Amacia, I'm going for a walk to town, what do you want to do?"

Amacia shook her head politely. "I'd rather not spend the day cooped up like a chicken on your back, no offense. I'd rather spend the day here and help out on the farm. It's an exciting experience, feeding the chickens instead of spending the day as one of them."

Spark chuckled and waved goodbye. He ran across the snow-covered fields, just to get his blood circulating. It felt amazing, especially with little flurries of snow rising up to meet his face. The sun was out, the snow on the ground was thick, and it was a cool, beautiful day. He already felt more alive, and the sight of Ponyville getting closer made him smile.

Spark finally started to slow as he came to the town's border. He sat down, despite the cold snow, and just watched. Ponyville was alive and full of bustling ponies, going about their lives and routines, getting things done and having fun. All ignorant of the things that had happened here just over two months ago.

Spark thought about his own experiences, the battles he'd been through, the things he'd seen, the creatures he'd met, having been ignorant of their existences early in life. Maybe that was a big problem with his depression, he'd seen so much, much more than any normal pony would ever know about.

Less introspection, more healing, Spark told himself. It was time to go say howdy.

Spark stood and made his way into town. Wondering what to do first, he decided he was hungry, and made a beeline for Sugarcube Corner. When he stepped inside, he took it nice and slow, remembering how Pinkie Pie could be. He was completely dumbstruck when he saw not the familiar pink, but a lustrous brownish earth mare whose physical beauty might've rivaled Rarity's. She seemed to be surprised to see him, then she fixed him with an angry glare. "You..." she hissed.

"Me?" Spark asked as the mare sat behind the counter, somehow patient through her anger. "Uh, wh-where's Pinkie Pie?"

The mare narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Don't you know? She's been in Canterlot for an apprentice-trade. She's learning my secrets, I'm learning hers. Didn't she tell you?"

Spark thought back to the last two months, being plagued by the earth pony several times a week when he wasn't with the Fighters. It made sense now, but..."Well, no! I just thought she was coming to town to stalk me!" Spark let out a chuckle at the thought, then more chuckles and laughs erupted from him. The concept of Pinkie Pie stalking him in the big city was just too funny, and even the pretty mare couldn't help it.

After a few moments of hysterical chuckling, the earth mare introduced herself to Spark as Choco Swirl. She revealed to him her role in Ponyville for the last two and a half months, and that it had been she that had calmed Lemon Pop and made her feel confident enough to go get the Fighters' help in dealing with Shimmering Oasis. If it hadn't been for Choco Swirl, that day would have gone very, very differently.

"You know," he told her as they sat at a table together, the store having fallen into a lull after the breakfast rush. "If it weren't for you being here for Lemon Pop, a lot of ponies probably would've died that day."

Choco Swirl stared at him with disbelief. Then again, she'd seen the video of Spark Storm's personal stalker, Laser Reflex. There had been many crazy things on that video, including a disembodied creature that was in turn stalking Laser. Finally, alone with this 'animal control' friend that Lemon Pop spoke of sometimes, maybe she could get a straight answer. "Spark Storm, I have to ask, because nopony else seems to know...what happened that day of the explosion? I get the feeling that something huge happened. How does an entire town sit in darkness about that, and about everything you do?"

Spark frowned thoughtfully at Choco for a moment. She didn't really need to know, and most ponies were better off not knowing what happened. Choco sighed, feeling perhaps there wasn't much of a chance of him telling her. "It's all right, I guess. If you can't tell me because of your job, I understand."

"It's not that, Choco Swirl, it's...most ponies are just better off not knowing the truth. There's a much bigger world outside of Ponyville, and it's a lot bigger than Canterlot. There are things out there that-"

"Spark," she interrupted, the shortening of his name catching his atttention. "Isn't that my decision? Come on..."

The pegasus sighed. She had a point. She deserved that much, and she'd already seen Ampelus. "...An alicorn. From Neippon. Her name is Shimmering Oasis, and she has strong psychic powers. She was there that day of the explosion. A whole mess of ponies saw her, but for some reason she erased everypony's memory of seeing her..." he trailed off, his eyes on Choco's to watch her inevitable disbelief.

Instead, she seemed thoughtful, her own eyes on the table in front of them. Finally she nodded and raised her eyes to his. "But what about the explosion? A psychic alicorn doesn't explain why the town cafe's outside dining area was ruined."

Spark chuckled, closing his eyes to remember. "That...that was my pal, Gunslinger. See, there was a unicorn that was being controlled by Shimmering Oasis, and he had turned into this teeny tiny black hole in the middle of the Ponyville market, and Gunslinger fired this gun that's usually meant to take down manticores, and -"

"OK!" Choco suddenly yelped, her hooves brought up in a signal to stop. "Ok. That's...wow. That's way too weird. It's too out there, I can't..." she shook her head and sighed. "I mean...I know it's probably what happened, but who the hay is going to believe that if they haven't actually seen it? Just...no."

Spark frowned with some indignity. Here he was, telling her the truth after she'd asked him to respect her enough for it, and -

"I"m sorry, Spark Storm," she apologized, realizing what she'd done. "You're right...the truth is better left unknown, I'm sorry for throwing it back in your face."

The pegasus nodded sympathetically, an understanding smile on his face. "It's all right. It is a lot to take in..." The two sat in companionable silence for a moment or two until the door opened and an older couple entered. With some customers needing some attention, Choco Swirl got to her hooves.

"I should get this. Spark Storm...thanks."

Spark stood as well, but looked confused. "Thanks for what?"

"For telling me the truth - or trying to, anyway. You're a sweet boy, I can see why she likes you," she replied with a wink as she stepped behind the counter to take the couple's order.

Spark blushed and glared at her for not bothering to tell him who liked him. In the last two months if somepony had told him that, it would've made him more miserable. But he was feeling better lately, and hearing that actually felt pretty good. A few more ponies were coming into the shop, so he waved goodbye and set out again into the town.

He'd barely gotten out of the shop when he was tackled by a blur of pink. "Spark Storm!" it cried. The two tumbled in the snow for a moment and finally ended up with Spark Storm on his stomach in the snow, with his assaulter on his back. "Oh, I've missed you..." she told him and hugged him tight. Spark looked down at the forelegs holding him and recognized Cheerilee's darker berry color.

"Oh, hey!" he exclaimed and sat up to hug his older sister. "I've missed you, too." The reunited siblings nuzzled each other happily before she pulled away and beamed at him, a bigger smile on her face than he'd seen in a while. "You look like you've got something to tell me."

"I've got something to show you, and you're not going to believe it. I was going to come to Canterlot to show you in the spring, but since you're here, come on!" she said, taking his hoof and dragging him off.

5 - Downtime Part 2

Spark Storm followed Cheerilee into her home. She pulled him further inside, barely giving him a moment to look around at her new place. It was darkly lit, but the room they were walking into was very bright. It was a small room, but the space was utlized well. There was a single dining table, some chairs, a big blue map - no, blueprint. Cheerilee sat at the table, then pulled out a chair for her brother, which he took, his eyes never leaving the blueprints.

Spark glanced at his sister, then settled in and took a look at the plans. He'd never been one to know how these things worked - in fact, he couldn't remember a time when he had to look at one. Nothing really made sense to him. It was plans for a house, sure, but...he finally gave a resigned shrug in Cheerilee's direction. "I don't get it. What's this for?"

"It's for a house," Cheerilee told him, a warm smile on her face, her chin propped up with her hooves.

"Well...yeah, I got that much from looking at it," Spark replied, a small smirk of amused annoyance on his face. Cheerilee's eyes closed as she sighed. When they opened again, they shone with tears.

"Spark Storm...these plans...they came from Mom."

Spark stared at Cheerilee, not sure he'd registered what his sister had just told him. He looked down at the plans again, wondering if perhaps it had her signature on it, or something. However, the longer he looked, the blurrier the plans became. "Um...I can't...I can't make it out, um, where?" he stammered. He could feel his very core start to shake. Cheerilee stepped down from her chair and approached Spark from behind, gently wrapping her arms around him.

"Before Mom...before she died, Mom bought a plot of land, and hired someone to make a house for us."

Spark stared down at the plans, barely aware of Cheerilee's embrace. Suddenly, he looked up, a word Cheerilee had uttered a moment ago having caught his attention. "'Us'?"

Cheerilee nodded, a hoof reaching up to stroke Spark's mane. "Yes, that's right. Mom ordered a house to be built for us. But..." she trailed off, prompting Spark to turn and look at her.

"But...?"

Cheerilee smiled at her little brother and sat down before him. "Spark, it's all paid for. We just have to wait for it to finish. But when it does...I want you to have it."

Once more Spark just stared, shocked into silence before the first shock was over. "I...you want me to...to have Mom's house? I'll have a house in Ponyville? That's mine?"

Cheerilee's happy tears spilled down her face as she nodded. "Yes, Spark. I want you to have Mom's house, just for you. You deserve to have your own house in our town."

Spark Storm, who had faced his mother's death, who had joined a monster-hunting squad, had traveled across the world, fought assassins, survived lightning strikes, fought with an alicorn and collapsing caves filled with murderous changelings, fell into Cheerilee's arms and cried like a child. Cheerilee cried with him, and when he was done, they spent the next five hours talking, catching up on each other's lives, crying a little more. Spark and Cheerilee spent the whole day together in that house, and finally, after midnight, they turned in for the night.

The next morning, Spark Storm woke up bright and early. He stepped outside into the cool air, and stood at the door, looking out at Ponyville. His eyes scanned around the white-blanketed village, the memories of the day before playing back in his mind, causing a smile to spread across his face. Nearly four years after the passing of his mother, and she was still looking out for him. She'd made sure that this village would always have a place for him. This was his home again.

A sound behind him alerted him of his sister's presence. He turned, and Cheerilee greeted him with a smile. Slowly, the sun broke over Spark's head, illuminating his mane and back. The confident, happy look on his face surprised her - he hadn't looked nearly this alive when she'd run into him the day before. Cheerilee approached him, and the two embraced. After a moment, she pulled back. "You're leaving in a week, right? What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I've got some catching up to do around town, some ponies to see before I go," he told her. He hugged his sister one last time, then set out. He didn't really know where he'd be going this early in the morning, so instead of heading into town, he ran back for the farm - surely Orea would've found her aunt in the day he'd been gone.

Spark was nearly to the barn when he saw a bounding blur of pink bouncing past him, headed for Ponyville. He stopped, and made sure that was...it was. Pinkie Pie? She giggled and waved to Spark when she saw him watching her. He frowned with concern, then headed into the barn to see Big Mac, Applejack and little Applebloom playing with Orea, the two little ones chasing each other around the barn. Spark smiled at the happy little scene, until Applebloom made a beeline for him, followed by Orea. He held up his hooves in defense. "Uh, wait! No-" He didn't finish as the two bowled into him and pushed him into a sitting position against the hay behind him.

Spark laughed as the two batted at each other with their hooves and giggled, then d'aww'd as they laid together, then sighed with resignation as they began to nap together on his chest. Spark glanced over at Applejack, who was staring at him intently, while Big Mac had seen enough. He nodded his greeting to the pegasus and shuffled off. Spark turned his gaze again to Applejack, who still hadn't taken her scrutinizing eyes from him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he finally asked.

"Just what did you do last night?" she demanded, an amused yet somehow annoyed look in her eyes.

"What?"

"Ya look different, Spark Storm. Yesterday you were a sore sight - no offense, sugarcube - and today ya look like...well, ya look new, ya look alive. What happened yesterday, where'd ya go?"

This actually came as news to Spark. He hadn't realized that he had'd had a 'less alive' look. Then again, he'd seen others pull out of depression; there was definitely a distinct difference in appearance. "I went to see Cheerilee. Spent the day with her..." he trailed off, a small smile on his face. He wasn't sure if he should start spreading the news of his future home just yet, so he decided to leave it out.

Applejack nodded approvingly. "Family's the way to do it, Spark, you can always count on family to come through in the end."

Spark smiled warmly and nodded at the truth of this statement. Suddenly remembering the bouncing ball of pink, he asked, "Applejack, what the heck is Pinkie Pie doing here? Isn't she still...?"

The farm mare rolled her eyes and shook her head. "She came in 'bout thirty seconds before you did, babblin' about a "surprise" goin' away party for ya. Heck if I know, though. I try not to get too involved with that crazy mare, I got too much stuff to do to pay much attention."

Spark shrugged, then looked down at the two sleeping fillies on his chest. Only they weren't sleeping, they both had one eye open, both pretending so they could listen in. Applejack noticed this too. She swooped in and grabbed Applebloom in her forelegs, tickling the little filly into shrieks. "All right, little'n, it's time to go and get breakfast, go on!" she said, closing with a little swat to the filly's behind as she set her sister on the floor. Applebloom ran off, still giggling madly. Applejack watched her with a smile, then glanced at Spark, then Orea, then left without a word, leaving the two to talk.

Orea turned after a moment to face Spark, a hesitant, sad look in her eyes. "So. She's still mad at me?" he guessed.

Orea nodded as she snuggled closer, easing her muzzle under Spark's chin. "She told me to tell you, 'Go on your little trip. You can think about what you did, then maybe I'll forgive you when you get back'."

"Ouch." Spark sighed and wrapped his forelegs around Orea. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn't've-"

He paused when Orea covered his mouth with a hoof. She looked into his eyes, and she smiled. "You're different, daddy. You're better, so don't fall back in that hole you've been in. Ampelus will come around, and she'll let you apologize to her...or she won't, and she'll regret not coming back to let you apologize and she'll regret every second you're gone, 'cause she really likes you."

Spark stared off into space at this - just for a moment. When he returned his attention to Orea, he smiled and hugged her. "Since when did you get so wise? That was very insightful."

Orea smiled happily and grabbed one of Spark's hooves, clutching it to her and snuggling it. "It rubs off on me from you, daddy."

Spark chuckled and turned on his side. Orea snuggled closer against him, and the pair fell into a nap for a little while.

Spark Storm narrowed his eyes against the strong winds, the blinding white snow, the biting cold. He pulled a foreleg over his head to shield his eyes, though it was pointless against this relentless snow storm. He slowly lowered his foreleg, attempting to see the great wall in front of him. It was like a gate, a great white gate that spread from horizon to horizon, endless and ageless.

Suddenly, the gate sprung open, the door lifting to reveal a figure standing there in the snow, tall, regal, and as ageless as the gate itself. The body was somehow engulfed in shadow, and the snow storm seemed to be coming from the figure itself.

Spark felt his chest clench tightly with fear at this tall figure. It seemed to loom closer, and closer. Spark felt a pressure in his head, and suddenly...the figure threw a snowball in his face.

Spark let out a gasp and jumped from his spot in the hay, landing on his butt to the sounds of girls laughing, one such laugh easily recognized by the scratchy voice. Spark narrowed his eyes and started wiping the snowball from his face, then frowned as he spotted his cousin and a maroon pegasus mare sitting behind a snow drift from outside the barn. The two stood up and clopped hooves together before taking off into the air. Spark was pretty sure he recognized the other mare from a few months before when he'd gone to take Turbid to the Ponyville hospital. What was her name? Lightning Squeeze or something?

Spark sighed and rubbed his temple. What was up with that dream? It was so vivid, and it had been so glaringly real. It stuck in his mind even as he sat awake, unlike most of his dreams. He shook his head free of those thoughts and looked around for Orea. Once again, she was nowhere to be found. Thinking he hadn't seen Amacia in some time, he looked around inside the barn until he spotted her nearby in her tiny, fluffy red and brown chicken form, nestled in a warm corner, asleep.

Deciding it time to head outside and face whatever was coming his way today, Spark stepped out of the barn, watching specifically for two trouble-causing mares. Not seeing either of them, he frowned. Both of them should be easily spotted against the white snow, but he wasn't seeing them. Then again, they were both pegasi.

Spark took a few steps further, then he heard it. He leapt to the side to avoid the maroon mare's tackle. He immediately shot forward into a run, but Rainbow Dash's tackled turned into a full-on chase. "Nowhere to run, Spark, prepare for 'Operation White-Wash'!" she yelled as she got closer.

There was no way he was going to outrun his cousin, that was for sure. He had just seconds before she'd catch up. Getting an idea, he flapped his wings, catching the snow with the tips and sending flurries back into RD's face. "Ah! Hey, that's cold!" she complained, and predictably raised a foreleg to wipe her eyes. Spark jumped into the air, turned, and caught his cousin in mid-flight. They both went down, tumbling end over end in the snow.

As Lightning Twist caught up and came down to look for Rainbow Dash, said mare burst out of the snow, shivering and covered from head to hoof in it. Spark Storm burst out of the snow laughing like he'd just experienced fun for the first time, barely able to contain his laughter at all. Rainbow Dash just glared at him, completely unamused at having being caught in a tie. She grumbled and got to her hooves, and glared death at Lightning Twist, who snorted as she tried to keep her laughter in. It didn't work. The maroon pegasus fell to the snow-covered ground and guffawed in complete and utter mirth.

Spark finally calmed down enough to say hello to the two. "Oh wow that was fun. You should try 'Operation White-Wash' more often! Oh hey, Rainbow Dash," he called as his cousin turned to leave. "Have you seen Pinkie Pie today?"

RD rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes. She's fixing up a party for you for some reason or another. Don't ask me, I thought she was supposed to be in Canterlot."

Lightning Twist turned and flicked a small ball of snow at Spark with her tail, a wiggle in her behind as she walked. Spark rolled his eyes at her flirtatious efforts and pulled himself out of the snow. Now that he thought about it, when was this going away party supposed to be, and who was Pinkie inviting? This was just getting more and more frustrating, thinking about why she was here. Aside from the party.

Feeling that he'd relaxed enough for one day, Spark headed back out to town. By the time he arrived, it was nearly noon, and lunchtime was looming closer. As he walked through the market, he was greeted by several ponies, some old friends he hadn't seen since the last of his school days.

Some of them he'd kept in contact with, others he hadn't spoken to since the day he'd left. One face stood out from the others - a beautiful white face framed with an elegant purple mane. Spark stared at Rarity with what was probably the most intense stare that any passing pony had ever seen. Rarity was dressed in a humble white coat, the sleeves and collar lined with beautiful brown and black fur - synthetic, of course. She wore matching white boots on her hooves, also laced with the same decorative material.

The unicorn was talking with a friend, but Spark realized that she wouldn't be talking forever, and eventually she'd see him staring at her. Quick, you've gotta hide! he told himself. Looking around frantically, he found a choice barrel and ducked behind it, his back pressed against it vertically. Ok, good. Wait, why am I hiding from Rarity? Oh...because...some stuff happened between us. The kind of stuff where you talk and then you shouldn't talk again until something big happens, otherwise it's gonna get awkward really quick...

Spark frowned to himself. He was a proud Fighter, not some silly twelve year old colt with a crush whose tongue turned to sponge when he ran into the mare he was crushing on. He stood and turned to look where Rarity had been, only to come face to face with the fashionista, who looked as surprised to see him as he was her. "Oh! Spark Storm, you're in town! Oh, does anypony else know you're here? Have you just arrived?" she asked. She spoke like their last conversation hadn't happened. Maybe she forgot? Not likely, he told himself, but it would be easier to talk to her this way.

"Oh, I've actually been in town for a couple of days, but-"

The indignity of Rarity's gasp turned several heads their way. "Really! Well! Were you even planning on telling me?" Both Rarity and Spark were suddenly aware of eyes on them. The unicorn daintily cleared her throat and stepped closer to Spark and lowered her voice. "I-I'm just being dramatic, darling. But seriously, you've been here two whole days and you didn't drop by to say hello?" she said, putting on a cute, teasing pout.

Spark found himself blushing, and he knew she'd notice that. He sighed and took in a deep breath, and took a half a step closer to her. "I'm sorry, Rarity. I've just been working on getting my skies cleared. I've had a lot on my mind."

Rarity narrowed her eyes at Spark. Confound it if he wasn't good at this. "I see. And how is that working out for you?"

Spark smiled at her, no longer caring about the blush on his face or the goofy grin he was probably wearing. "It's an on-going work in progress, but I'm definitely making headway."

Rarity stared up at Spark Storm, the tiniest of blushes gracing her cheeks.

"HI!" Both Spark Storm and Rarity jumped as Pinkie Pie popped up between then. "Hey you guys whatcha doin'? You know there's gonna be a party tonight in honor of Sparky? Oh did you know that he's leaving Equestria to go on vacation, that or he's going on adventuuure!" Spark and Rarity both stared as Pinkie Pie moved down the street, now assuming a pirate personality as she grabbed half a nearby fence post and using it as a sword prop. "Arrr! Sailing the high seas, avast ya cotton swabs! I'll make ya trot the plank!"

Nopony was safe as the pink mare chased or otherwise terrorized the market, her voice eventually moving beyond earshot. At this point, Spark was too embarrassed to continue this conversation with Rarity, Fortunately, the fashionista was a patient mare. "I do so hope to see you before you leave, Spark," she told him, accenting her speech with the lightest of touches to his foreleg. "I'm sure we'll see each other at the party tonight, wherever it is. Ta, darling."

Spark watched Rarity go, a small crooked smile on his face. He'd only been single for two months, was he really ready to start serious flirting again so soon? Then again...this was Rarity. She was different, and she was worth living for. He sighed quietly, reminding himself that he would be leaving in just under six days. Spark frowned - this made four of five close friends that he'd seen. There was one left to see before Pinkie threw her party.

Spark Storm made his way towards the cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was such a beautiful day out that he took his time, the snow-covered trees and gently rolling hills made for a beautiful walk. As he topped the last big hill, he saw her - that butter yellow pegasus that he hadn't seen since...

Spark paused and closed his eyes. He remembered. He and Fluttershy had just made it out of that hole in the ground, only to be ambushed by changelings. Spark defended Fluttershy, but the mare was afraid that Spark had killed them. Telling her they were only stunned, she was overjoyed that Spark had had mercy. Next up the hole in the ground was Ampelus, carrying a wounded Fire Lotus, with another horde of changelings on their tails. It was too close, and Fire Lotus ditched the nymph to save herself, resulting in the nymph staying behind of her own will, and told Spark and Fluttershy to flee while they could, but that was something Spark wasn't willing to do.

He turned to Fluttershy, and the look in his eyes scared her. He told her to go, to leave, and to not dare look back at him while he savagely killed those changelings. Fluttershy was terrified of that look. She ran, and she didn't look back. She hadn't looked back since. She hadn't visited, sought him out or even written him in the last two months.

Spark came out of his thoughts to see Fluttershy staring at him. Seeing his chance, he raised a hoof to call to her, but she turned tail and shot into her cottage, slamming the door behind her. It didn't look like he was going to apologize today. Spark sighed and turned around, heading back the way he'd come and feeling less hopeful.

That night, the ponies gathering into town hall was a dead give-away on where Spark needed to go. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by the loudest collective "AAARR!" he'd ever heard. Looking around, he noticed that Pinkie Pie had gone to extreme lengths to make it known that Spark Storm was going to be traveling by ship. The entire place had been set up to look like the deck of a ship, there were life floats decorating the walls, and almost everypony was sporting a black pirate's cap or captain's hat. Some had even dressed up in sailor outfits or pirate costumes. Spark walked in very slowly feeling more embarrassed than he'd ever felt. He loved it.

As Spark walked further into the room, he received warm greetings, and sometimes farewells for his big trip. More than once he was tempted to tell them that he wasn't going to be leaving until next week, it only being Wednesday night. What was Pinkie Pie thinking, throwing this party in the middle of the week? Honestly.

After a good fifteen minutes chatting it up with random ponies, Spark found himself a nice pile of big wooden boxes in the corner to sit on, a good meter or two above the crowds, just watching his friends talk and play and laugh. It wasn't that he didn't feel like joining them - just watching them live made him feel alive. It wasn't long before he found himself in familiar company - Emerald Skies and Laser Reflex flew over to sit beside Spark. "So, a new adventure, huh? Well aren't you lucky," Laser said with the usual pessimism. Spark frowned. Ever since the incident with the changelings, he'd been dying to get back into a new scheme.

"Y'know...I'm kinda taking applications," Spark said, his tone ambiguous.

Laser arched a brow, not sure if Spark meant what it sounded like what he was saying. "Hahah...no thanks," Emerald said, holding his hooves up chest-level. "The last time I went for a boat ride with you, dragons nearly sank our ship. And knowing you, this trip isn't going to be a vacation so much as a thrill ride. I think I've had my fill of those, thanks."

Spark let out a laugh that shook the box he sat on. When he looked down again, he saw that Russet Hearts had approached, his eyes wide. "Did...did you say that you're recruiting for a mission?"

Spark, Laser and Emerald stared down at the unicorn in surprise. Two months earlier, Russet Hearts had been the target of changeling kidnapping, then upon rescue, had to help support a collapsing cavern, then tunnel his way to the surface. He had extraordinarily strong earth magic, with specific ties to wood. His manipulation of tree roots had been key to surviving that terrible ordeal, and after all was said and done, he'd seemed so insistent on returning to normal life. Why was he so interested?

"Well...yeah, Russet, but...are you sure?" Spark asked.

"Yeah, you used to yell at me for ever bringing up anything that was more exciting than going to the market!" Laser added accusingly.

Russet ducked his head for just a moment, the guilt of his mood over the last two months having weighed on his conscience. But...it was time to move on. Russet had been stuck in the same place since back then. He'd insisted he'd hated the action, that he hated having that secret world thrust on his life, but in secret he craved more. He wanted to be part of that secret world, he wanted to be what Spark Storm was - a hero. He wanted what Laser Reflex had shown him - selfless courage. "I'm ready for it, Spark Storm. I want to be with you when you sail those seas and see the world!"

Laser Reflex, before his run-in with the changelings, before Rarity pointed it out, had no idea that Russet Hearts was gay. Now that he knew, he was able to catch those little things that stood out, those little things he said. He grinned and nudged Spark in the side until the dark pegasus clocked him on top of the head. "Not. Funny." Spark told him.

Russet suddenly realized how he'd made that sound. "Oh, uh, n-not like that, Spark..."

Spark smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, I know what you meant, Russet. It's ok. And if you're really serious about coming with me, then you'd better get ready after tonight, because I'm leaving on Monday."

Russet's face lit up with excitement. Without another word, he nodded and headed out. He was done for the night, he wanted nothing more than to go and prepare.

Spark glanced between his friends, then shrugged. He looked out over the crowd, and eventually spotted Rarity. It looked like she was having an animated conversation with Choco Swirl. He watched intently, wondering they were talking about.

Spark had grown up with two mares, his mother and Cheerilee. He'd spent enough time around mares to get body language, and from the way those two were talking, it looked like they kept trying to look prettier than the other. The constant hair tossing, slight posing to the side...were they competing? Spark shook his head, thinking that was ridiculous. Rarity already had his vote.

Spark finally spotted the one mare that had been getting him more frustrated that day than any other - Pinkie Pie. It was time to get this whole thing straightened out. It was nice that she was throwing him this party, but she was supposed to be apprenticing in Canterlot! He hopped down from the small box tower and approached her as she was acting out a scene from an old pirate film.

She was completely dressed up. She wore a wide-brimmed pirate's hat, complete with dreadlock wig, eyeliner and a belt that held a fake pistol. She held a jar of crushed cookie bits over her head. "I've got a bottle of dirt, I've got a bottle of dirt, and guess what I put in it!" she yelled, garnering applause from her audience. Spark stepped close and cleared his throat.

"Pinkie Pie, a word?" he said, getting sour looks from the three or four mares and stallion that had been watching.

Pinkie Pie sighed, set the jar on the ground, and hopped over. "Hey, Sparky! Having a good time tonight?" she asked.

"Of course I am! Your parties are the best, Pinkie. I'm just wondering, I mean I appreciate everything you're doing, but aren't you supposed to be in-"

Pinkie couldn't stand it anymore. She glared off in an odd direction and threw her hooves up in the air. "Are you kidding me?! Seriously, I haven't featured since chapter five of Legends Of Ponyville™, I had to get in a chapter before-"

6 - Trains, Tricks And Gangsters

The next four days were a blur. The days came and went. Ponies came to visit, or Spark did the visiting. Ditzy had been doing well. She still held a special place in her heart for Spark, but had accepted a long time ago that she probably couldn't have him. That was ok. She'd started setting her sights on other ponies, something Spark had encouraged her to do. It seemed she'd been hit on several times by Laser Reflex. She wasn't too sure, but after seeing how well he naturally got along with Dinky, she'd been considering it.

Lyra, after discovering that Bon Bon had been lying to her the earth mare's encounter with Sohl, had cut things off between them. After Ditzy warned Bon Bon to stop treating Lyra so harshly, she'd tried to fix things with her ex, but it was too late. Her efforts to make Lyra appreciate her had backfired horribly. After all this time, it seemed that Emerald Skies had his shot to swoop in and have his shot with the unicorn, but he held off, ever the gentlecolt. He told Spark that Lyra wasn't some prize he'd been fighting for; she'd become a very close friend in their adventures together. Moving so soon after her grueling break-up wasn't on his mind. Helping her to heal was.

Chrome made up with his mother, something that Spark was grateful for. It meant less time for him to babysit. Of course, Spark's little brother had asked to come along on this trip. Of course, Spark had to tell him no. The older pegasus didn't want his little brother anywhere near his secret life. It was much too dangerous, and he didn't want to be held responsible for the safety of his own brother if something were to happen.

Anorax and his changeling charges hadn't been seen at all in the week Spark spent recovering and visiting. It made sense; they just wanted to be left alone and spend the rest of this time together.

Sunday came and went. Spark spent the night with his sister again, talking animatedly about their week. Cheerilee was close to finishing her studies, she'd probably be an official teacher by this time next year. It made Spark proud, and it was such a similar role to their mother's, taking care of children and making sure they were educated and loved, though Cheerilee insisted that Spark's role was much bigger than hers, something he refused to believe.

That night, Spark hardly slept at all. He'd be setting out on a brand new adventure in the morning, and he felt bad that Ampelus probably wouldn't see him until it was all over. Finally, he fell asleep in his sister's guest room around three in the morning. The strange dream he'd had of the gate in the snow storm had not repeated itself, and did not plague him that night, either.

Finally, Monday morning had come. Spark got out of bed, showered, then gathered the few things he was taking with him, namely some blankets and a pillow that Cheerilee had given him as a very early house warming gift. He set it all near the door, then glanced outside. Yesterday evening, he'd spoken to Orea, and they'd come to the agreement that she would stay. She'd just become friends with Applebloom, and wanted to stay on the Apple farm for a while. Amacia, however, expressed a desire to go with Spark on this trip. The harpy was currently situated on Spark's bags, waiting it out in chicken form. She'd been warned, though, that travelling to Vahoover would be a long trip.

Spark made one last check that all his things for the trip had been gathered, then left it all inside Cheerilee's foyer and stepped out into the cold morning. It was only seven, but his eagerness to see this through wouldn't let him sleep past six. It was a cold, overcast day, and it had just begun to snow. Spark smiled as he looked out at his town. Had it really been four years?

Spark suddenly noticed it get a little darker. He looked up, and was immediately covered in a thick blanket of snow. A chorus of the most beautiful, tinkling laugh hit his ears as he pulled himself out of the drift that had been dumped on his head. He shook his coat out and shivered, but he couldn't be mad. He looked around until he found her: that beautiful white unicorn had come to see him off.

Rarity smiled and closed the distance between the two of them from across the street, a look in her eyes that told Spark she was trying not to laugh. He found himself wishing that she would. She didn't seem to notice the warm stare he was giving her. Instead, she looked him up and down appraisingly, using her magic to casually brush snow from his shoulders. Those big, sexy shoulders...Rarity tittered, then turned and sat next to Spark, both facing the Ponyville market.

"So," she said, offering her observing partner a casual smile.

Spark took that to heart before sighing quietly. "Whatever is the matter, Spark?" she asked, turning to face Spark gingerly. Spark turned as well to face her, with less than a foot between them. The two of them had been closer than this before, much closer, but this was the first time it was...like this.

"So, I'm leaving soon. I'll have to pause certain things in my life until I can get back here and resume my work," he told her.

Rarity laughed softly and shook her head slowly. "Oh, Spark Storm, and I thought I was dramatic," she said, lightly touching the end of Spark's nose. "I'll still be here when you return."

Spark didn't look convinced. Rarity's smiled deepened, and she swished her tail 'round until it brushed against his. "And I'll wait for you."

Spark felt himself blush at Rarity's gentle and sincere statement. Just then, a shadow from above moved over the two, and Spark looked up to see a graceful Lemon Pop gliding above. While Rarity cast her gaze to Spark's friend, he got to thinking: If Lemon Pop was here, did that mean that...no. He wouldn't think about Sapphire Snow. Not now. He looked for her, but all he saw was an approaching coach carried by large, pristine white pegasi.

Spark sighed. He'd been hoping for more time with Rarity before he had to leave, but like she said...she'd wait for him. "I'd...better start packing," he told her. Rarity smiled patiently and stepped aside to make room. Spark turned and headed back inside the house, grabbed his things, and headed for the coach.

After packing his things, he turned to see Russet Hearts hurrying along down the street, carrying some luggage behind him. "I'm coming, wait for me!" he called, his voice echoing in the street.

Spark rolled his eyes and made a slowing motion with a hoof. "Easy, Russet, they just got here. They won't leave until we're ready."

Russet hurried along anyway. The unicorn magic'd his luggage into the baggage section, then relaxed for a moment and glanced between Spark Storm and Rarity. It only took him a moment to think that he'd barged in on a private moment. Before he could say anything about it, Lemon Pop landed next to Spark and clapped him on the back. "Hey, Sparky! I came with the escorts. I wanted to say goodbye, and I really hope you..." she trailed off, moving to stand in front of Spark with wide eyes. "Well, geez, you look better already! What've you been doing here that's got you feeling all better?"

Russet cleared his throat in a manner most indiscreetly, and when Lemon Pop looked his way, he inclined his head towards Rarity, who modestly set her eyes on the falling snow. "Ohhhh, I get it," Lemon said as she returned her gaze on Spark.

"I, it's not-" Spark started to say, but was shushed with a hoof-full of snow, which Lemon Pop packed neatly into his open mouth.

"Spark, it's ok. Take things however fast or however slow you want, and with whoever you want. As long as you're happy again." Spark swallowed the fresh powder and ignored the small brain freeze it gave him, as Lemon Pop's declaration made him feel plenty warm. Lemon smiled and hugged him, which he reciprocated with a warm smile.

"Gentlemen, ladies, it's time," one of the escorts said, having waited for an opportune moment to announce their departure.

Spark sighed, then glanced at Russet. "I'm ready," he told Spark. He smiled and waved at the two mares, then stepped into the cab.

Spark gave Lemon one last big hug, then turned to Rarity. Lemon Pop grinned, then had the good sense to step around to the other side of the carriage. Spark turned to the unicorn, who stared up at him for a moment, both unsure of how to proceed. Should they kiss? Should they hug? Should he just wave and get in the carriage? Sensing he had only one chance to get this right, he leaned forward and pulled Rarity close. She complied and pressed herself to him, leaning up a little to wrap her forelegs around his neck.

They stayed like this for a minute or two, until Spark's escort quietly cleared his throat. Behind Spark's back Rarity threw the escort a glare that made him shiver and turn away. Finally, she pulled away and held him at hoof's length. "Just come home again, Spark," she said softly. She reached for his cheek and pulled him in, planting a single kiss at the corner of his mouth, then stepped away, both of them blushing softly.

Spark turned to get in the cab when he heard a soft voice calling. "Wait!" He turned, and to his shock and surprise Fluttershy touched down. She looked like she had to say something, then realized that she and Spark weren't alone. They had a crowd. She began to pull away, then stopped. It was now or never. She stepped closer to Spark, her ears pinned back, accenting the apologetic look in her eyes. "Spark, I...I'm so sorry. I was so angry at you for...for helping your friend...in the way you did. I might not agree with your methods all the time, but you value life and if you had a choice, you wouldn't have taken their lives. I'm sorry for being so mad at you for not having a choice...I hope you can forgive me."

Spark could hardly believe his ears, or his luck. This was one more thing he wouldn't have to worry about on his trip. He smiled warmly at his friend and stepped close to hug her, which she readily accepted. "Of course I forgive you, Fluttershy. Thank you, this means a lot to me."

Fluttershy, having spent more courage today than she usually did in a month, stepped back until she felt a hoof on her back. She smiled at Rarity, then laid down in the snow and hid her face in her bangs. Spark smiled at both of them, then stepped into the carriage, which was smaller and probably wouldn't fit all five travellers, which lead Spark to the conclusion that Anorax and the changelings would be getting to Vanhoover in their own cab.

The ride out of Ponyville was quiet, for a while. A good ten minutes after they'd left Ponyville, Russet turned to Spark. "Spark Storm, I've been wondering - how often does your team deal with changelings?"

This question didn't surprise Spark. With Russet's personal experience with the creatures, it was only natural he had questions about them. "Not often, Russet, but I've been running into them since I was eleven. They're a persistent bunch."

"And...Anorax, Kecnik and Madalah are all changelings?"

Well...yes, mostly," Spark told him, feeling a little concerned about where this was going. "Anorax is only half. His mother is a pegasus."

Russet frowned to himself and grew silent. For a moment, Spark wondered if he was going to change his mind and tell the drivers to take him back, or maybe even let him off here. Instead, he smiled at Spark. "I hope there's something we can do for them, and not just just take them home. I'm coming on this mission not just to help out a friend, but to see if I can grow a little more."

Spark smiled in quiet admiration. Russet was a really good guy...suddenly there was a thump on the roof. There was a bit of shouting overhead, then the door on the right opened and Laser Reflex hopped inside. "Woo! It's cold out there!" he exclaimed. When he got nothing but stares from the other two stallions, he shrugged. "What? Didn't think I was going to miss out on this adventure, did you?"

"You're late," Spark told him with a grin.

"Yeah, well..." Laser trailed off, an awkward blush on his face. He was silent for a moment, then crossed his forelegs defensively. "Dzy md hm shay g'by," he mumbled unintelligibly.

"Sorry?" Spark said with a snarky look on his face, in fact having gotten what Laser had said. Russet just stared, clueless.

"I said Ditzy made me say goodbye!" the powder blue pegasus yelled, blushing furiously. "I really just wanted to get out of town and have an adventure, but noooo, I had to..." he paused and sighed, a thoughtful hoof pressing to his cheek. "Well, I mean it wasn't so bad saying goodbye to Ditzy, but I'm really gonna miss Dinky. She's the best little filly ever."

Spark laughed and reached over to pat Laser on the shoulder. "You did good, buddy."

Russet, in the meantime, looked away, finally turning to look out the window. As happy as he was for Laser, it still hurt. For the longest time, Russet had had a crush on Laser Reflex. He never did get to tell him, even if Laser found out when Rarity mistakenly told him. Of course, Laser wasn't gay, and Russet learned that the hard way.

The rest of the trip was made in awkward silence. Thankfully, it wasn't going to be much longer, as in an hour the coach came to a stop. Russet pressed his face to the window, his tail suddenly swishing back and forth with interest. "Oh, it looks like we'll be making the rest of the trip by train! I love trains."

Russet waited just a moment longer, then stepped out of the cab just as the escort was coming 'round. "Gentlemen, you will board the train for the remainder of your trip. The train will you get there much faster, and won't wear us out." The pegasus saluted, then returned to his post at the front of the carriage.

"Wish they'd told me that to begin with," Spark muttered as he disembarked. The stallions got their luggage (including one sleepy chicken) and hopped on board the train from the small station. The train was full of ponies, but the three travelers quickly found some seats, stashed their luggage, and settled down for the remainder of their trip. Spark very well couldn't stash Amacia into the luggage compartment, so she was stuck sitting out. After a moment, she hopped up onto Spark's back and snuggled inbetween his wings.

Fixing Spark with a deadpan glare, Laser asked, "Dude, what's with the chicken?" It was at this moment that Spark realized he hadn't told either of his traveling companions about Amacia. Oops.

"Oh, uh...I really like eggs?" At this response, Amacia opened her eyes in a panic, softly clucking in a wary tone. Sensing he needed to reassure the harpy, Spark added quickly, "Heh, just joking. I just...I..." he paused, and unable to offer a solid response, simply said, "...I couldn't just leave my chicken behind, she'd get lonely...or something."

Laser stared at Spark for a good minute before turning away to look out the window. "Ok, weirdo."

Russet, however, looked intrigued. He crossed the car and stood before Spark, his eyes shining with interest. "She's one of them, isn't she?" he asked in a hushed voice. "You know...one of those monst...sorry," he told the chicken. "Creatures that you hang around with, right? They all seem to be able to blend in somehow. I mean, if you ask me, this isn't really blending in so much as standing out, no offense."

Spark sighed and nodded with some resignation. "Yeah, she is. Honestly, I just didn't plan this out as much as I should've...she's a harpy, by the way."

Russet stared at Amacia for a moment, just to see if she'd do something. He shook his head after a moment when he reminded himself that they were on a train full of ponies. "What does she look like when she's not...this?" Russet frowned at the way he was talking about her, like she wasn't sitting right there. "Uh, sorry, miss. I don't mean to talk about you, and you're standing right there, that was very rude of..." he paused, noticing the passenger closest to the three of them staring at Russet as he apologized to the chicken.

Spark and Russet both flushed with embarrassment. The older pony continued to stare, causing Russet to look away with embarrassment. Spark, though he was blushing, said, "Look, the chicken is very sensitive. Do you mind?"

The older passenger shook his head and returned to his paper. Spark held his mouth shut tight. However, even though he felt embarrassed by that situation, 'the chicken is very sensitive' line finally got through to him. He let out a chuckle as he looked at Russet to see if he was thinking the same thing. He was, it seemed, as both unicorn and pegasus broke out into uncontrollable chuckles and mirthful giggles.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Just once, though, Spark had to go on a hunt for some fruit and grains for Amacia. It wasn't big trouble, but it left the poor harpy hungry for an entire day, the first day of travel. After three whole days on the train, Vanhoover was finally in sight. Spark got up and stretched. He felt stiff and tired from sitting for nearly three days straight, even if he did get up and wander around at times. He'd even gone looking for Anorax and the changelings, but apparently they'd come a different way. At least he hoped so, anyway.

Spark, Laser and Russet, with their luggage, all stepped off the train station and onto Vanhoover soil. It was a bustling town, and with not nearly so much snow as Ponyville. It was a large, sprawled out city, one that spoke of older buildings that needed to be either repaired or simply replaced. A good deal of the city seemed to be slums, a city with a poor section that probably hid many, many secrets.

The walk downtown was a slow one, with many a pony's eyes on the three, especially the chicken on Spark's back. Wary glances between the three told them they were all thinking the same thing: 'Watch your back'.

"So, Spark," Laser said with more than a hint of nervousness. "You know where we're going, right? I mean, it's not that complicated, I'm sure," he said, pausing to point out at the sea, "pretty much just head that way, right?"

"I've gotta hope so," Spark replied. His ears began to twitch as he heard a voice from up ahead. It sounded like a sidewalk attraction, the kind of show they had in the big cities where performance artists showed off their talents, hoping for a big crowd. Unfortunately, this was really the wrong time of year and definitely the wrong city to be doing this in. Spark glanced off to the side, mildly interested as he walked. There, up on a small stage that looked like it had seen better days, was a pretty azure unicorn.

Slowing down, Spark watched as she created a light show with her magic. It wasn't anything particularly flashy, but it wasn't that bad, either. Still, she wasn't really getting the crowd's attention. There were two or three small children watching, but the adults supervising the kids mostly talked among themselves, rather than watch the show. She definitely could've done better in Ponyville.

Trixie sighed. Today's earnings had been so poor, she wouldn't be able to pay off the tabs from three days ago, let alone feed herself today. She'd been traveling for days, trying to find just the right city to perform in, a place that would happily accept her. She'd begun to think that performing in the cities furthest from Canterlot was the dumbest idea she'd ever had.

She was just finishing up her act for the children when she saw three stallions around her age walking past her show, at least until the biggest, a dark blue pegasus, paused and watched. She thought maybe he'd come by and at least give her something for her performance, but...no. He kept walking after a moment. She sighed inwardly. Just another day of work, another day of being ignored. That is, until she saw five well-known gangsters following the three younger stallions. Trixie quickly closed up shop and cantered to the end of the sidewalk to watch the three stallions being followed. If she could prevent this mugging, maybe they'd help her out!

Laser Reflex stepped a little closer to Spark as they walked downhill towards the pier. "Spark, don't look, but-"

"Yeah. I know," Spark said without looking back. "They've been following us since the train. Don't look, Russet," he instructed as Russet started to look behind him. "Actually, come here and take Amacia off my back, would you?" The unicorn did as asked. He got close and held out a hoof. Amacia quickly sprinted across and held on to Russet's mane.

The trio kept walking as calmly as possible, keeping quiet. Soon, they had to make a turn as the street turned right. Spark glanced at a large window, seeing not five figures, but six in the window's reflection. The show-mare from before was following. Now what was she up to? Spark, Russet and Laser turned the corner much quicker than a normal turn, giving the gangsters reason to believe they'd been made. They hurried around the corner as well, only to find that the trio had broken off at a run and had already made a good distance down the road. They were already more than halfway to the pier by now.

As Spark ran, he chanced a glance behind him. It looked like the gang had given up. "All right, guys, I think we're in the clear."

As the trio came to a stop, Laser turned to face Spark. "Dude, what was that? I can scrap as well as any pony, and I know for a fact that you two are mutants with superpowers..."

Spark nodded. He could understand Laser's point of view. "Yeah, I get it, but we're not trying to stand out or make waves here. That's a big part of what the Fighters are, we work in secret. Try to, anyway." Spark took one more look, and saw something he knew might lead to trouble. That showmare had no tact. She'd just hopped around the corner and come face to face with the gangsters. She was backing up now, making apologetic body movements, then ran. The gangsters seemed to consider what to do, then started running after her.

Spark sighed and glanced at his comrades. Without a word, he started running back uphill, Russet and Laser following.

Oh what was I thinking?! I knew better! I-I was hungry, that's all. Ohh I won't be hungry again if they catch me, Trixie thought. She was panicking now, and she could hear those thugs right behind her. If she didn't find a way to escape soon, she'd be caught, and she didn't want to think about what came after that. Panicking too hard to remember where to go in this city, she made a turn into a long alley. She flew down it, only to find that she'd run down a dead end. She skidded to a stop and, hyperventilating, turned to see the thugs enter the alley slowly, taking their time as their prey had nowhere to run anymore.

Trixie tried the brave card. She took an offensive stance, her horn lightning up in a sheen of light blue magic. "You're all better off just turning around, and walking away," she told them, her voice hard and confident.

"Hey, that's pretty good," the unicorn at the front of the group said. He was a dark red color with a strawberry blonde mane in his late teens, maybe early twenties "I'm almost convinced that you're not scared."

"I'm a little scared," she admitted. "...for you. You're going to regret this."

"Then show me," he said, stopping in his tracks a good twenty feet away. "Show me what you can do. Toss me out of the alley, set me on fire, or even call for help. You know what? That last part sounds pretty good to me, I like it when they scream."

This finally unnerved the showmare. She could feel herself tremble at her core. Her illusion magic was sub-par, and what could illusions do when you were surrounded with no way out? Better do something, Trixie, it might be the last thing you do! Trixie's horn illuminated the dark alley, lights shimmering like the reflection from a pool. Suddenly, it seemed like the area had become a pool as illusioned water began spilling over the tops of the buildings. It would've been rather impressive if the water could be felt.

The lead unicorn shook his head. "It's pretty, and that's all it is. You're pretty, darling, and I'm afraid that's all you are. Boys? Let's have some fun."

Trixie shook her head in disbelief and panick. "No! You stay away from me!" she shrieked, her magic bursting like fireworks from her horn. The area lit up like lightning, striking the walls of the alley in a long, thick ribbon. One of the thugs in back fell over, a good chunk of brick having fallen on his head.

"Uh, Strike?" one of the gangsters in back said. "I think that one was real."

"I'm afraid it is real," a voice from the back said. Trixie and the thugs still standing turned to see the dark blue pegasus they'd been following just moments before. "Now get your sorry asses out of this alley and walk away while you still can," he said aggressively, his wings lighting up with electricity.

Strike glanced back at Spark, utterly unimpressed. "Oh hey. Nice of you to come back, I was afraid I'd missed an opportunity. Now you can-" Strike was interrupted as a loud groaning sound erupted from behind him. He whirled around to see Trixie shriek and lose her balance, falling on the top of a gigantic root rising from the ground, lifting the showmare over the rooftops and leaving the unicorn screaming in panic.

"Hey!" Trixie looked up to see a powder blue pegasus offering her his hoof. "Come on, don't be frightened. We're here to help you."

"H-h-help?" she said. Who were these three? She reached out and took his hoof, then he helped her over to the roof. "Wh-what about your friend down there? There are five of them and one of him!"

Laser grinned and looked over the side of the building. "Trust me...one of him is like fifty of them."

Trixie didn't watch. She heard the sound of yelling and scuffling, and quite suddenly the area lit up like the fireworks on a Hearth's Warming Eve celebration in Canterlot.

As Laser helped Trixie to the ground, she saw the brown unicorn emerging from the alley...with a chicken on his back. Then the dark blue pegasus, who was sporting a bloody lip emerged. "Geez, Spark, why didn't you just blast them from the get-go?" Laser said, knocking him on the head.

"I'm not a bully," he retorted, shoving Laser good-naturedly. "Never play an ace if a two will do."

"Looks like you needed an eight," Laser shot back with a laugh.

Spark fixed Laser with a sour look, then turned his attention to Trixie. "Are you all right?"

Trixie felt relieved, but she still didn't like the idea of looking weak or unconfident. "I-Trix is...I..." Dammit...she thought. She was still shaking. She sat down on her haunches and lowered her head, her whole body trembling. Not only was she nearly raped, but she'd failed to put these three in her debt so they'd help her. She was at her wit's end.

Russet frowned and looked the unicorn over. She was dirty, she looked tired, and she was so thin her ribs were showing. This just wouldn't do. "Miss, can we help you? Can we get you some food somewhere?"

At the mention of food, Trixie started salivating. "I...I'd really appreciate it," she said, smiling warmly at Russet.

He smiled and held out his hoof. "I'm Russet, by the way. Russet Hearts."

"I'm Laser Reflex," Laser offered.

"And I'm Spark Storm. Come on, we're headed to the pier. We'll get you some food on the way."

Trixie smiled happily as the group headed downhill again. "Oh, thank you! I don't know how I'll ever thank you..." she said as she fell in line beside Russet Hearts a little closer than the others. Noticing this, Laser met Spark's eyes. Both shrugged. She'd learn.

7 - The Journey Begins

Spark, Russet and Laser couldn't help but stare as Trixie devoured devoured her third helping of boiled, stuffed cabbage. They'd all gotten the same thing at a small but popular dine-out place. Halfway through her third meal, Trixie slowed, then stopped. She shifted her plate across the table and slid down into a slouching position, a napkin pressed to her lips to clean them. She magic'd it onto the remains of her food and smiled with sleepy satisfaction. "Ohhh that was wonderful. I...I can't thank you enough, boys..." she said, glancing at each of the stallions in turn. "Really, thank you."

"It was no trouble at all," Russet told her with a smile. Russet's meal was only half eaten at this point, but he'd eaten quickly, his cabbage still steaming. Laser Reflex had eaten everything, leaving not a single bit leftover. Spark's meal was mostly eaten at this point. He and Russet had been fascinated with how fast the mare could pack away that food.

"Glad you're feeling better," Spark told her, and continued eating his food.

Trixie sighed, feeling more full than she had in days. What a feeling! She sat up at the table and crossed her hooves in a relaxed position. "So, where are you boys headed?" she asked. "You said you were headed to the pier?"

Laser nodded, mirroring Trixie's posture. "That's right. We're taking some friends of ours along with us on a vacation out along the sea."

Trixie thought for a moment, a hoof on her cheek. Let's see...headed out west, except they can't be headed south, it gets colder south. They must be headed straight west, or north to Breen..."So, you're headed out to the islands of Sun Ferry?"

Russet and Laser both looked at Spark for confirmation, but Spark hadn't heard this name before. He had no idea that there were islands out on the sea on the way to Breen. "Uhh...Uh, actually..." he fumbled, ultimately failing to come up with a proper answer.

Trixie stared at Spark skeptically. How did they think they were going to go out on a vacation if they didn't know where to go? "Well, I think it's obvious that you're in need of guidance. I, the..." she thought for a moment. What had Foggy told her? "...the great and powerful Trixie, shall be your guide."

Laser and Spark exchanged glances. They couldn't take on another passenger...could they? Regardless if they had the room, she wasn't involved in this. "I'm afraid we'll have to decline your generous offer," Spark told her, trying to hold in his annoyance at her having just invited herself to a mission, a mission that she would most definitely run from if she knew what it was for, and he couldn't just tell her. "You know what? We're kind of late as it is."

Spark stood and pulled out a bag of bits, depositing enough for his check, then generously slipped some more out for Trixie. Russet and Laser did the same, offering the mare enough to live off of for at least a week. "Really, thanks for the information, Trixie, but we have to go, and we can't afford another passenger."

Trixie watched in dismay as the three stallions got up to leave. Not ready to give up just yet, she magic'd the bits left for her into a pouch she kept hidden at her side through an illusion trick, then ran to catch up with the stallions leaving the restaurant. "Wait! I-I can help you! You obviously didn't know about the islands, I doubt you know exactly where you're going. I can guide you, I've studied the area!"

Spark shook his head, keeping a tight lip. It made him feel sour inside, rejecting her when she clearly wanted and needed help. "I'm really sorry, Trixie, but it's best if you don't come with us." Laser and Russet kept their heads forward, but Russet was having a hard time not turning to Spark and begging to let her come. He hated seeing others in need. Even Laser looked worried for the mare.

"Oh I see," Trixie said, changing mood and tactic. She darted past Spark and stopped in front of him to face him. "So did you kill them? The thugs, did you kill them?" she said quickly, not even giving him a chance to respond. "Because if they're still alive, then they're very angry and they're going to come and look for me. Understand? They're going to find me and you're not going to be around a second time. I need you! I'm barely surviving here, I won't last once that money you gave me is gone. Please! I need to start somewhere fresh, and at least if I fail in Sun Ferry I'll be on a nice beach! Please?"

Spark tensed, his patience thinning. Who said they were stopping at the islands? This mare was being such a pain! Still...he sighed heavily, visibly drooping. He glanced at his comrades. Both of them nodded, Russet with an encouraging smile. "Fine, fine...you can come with us." Trixie hopped into the air and squealed. "But only as far as the Sun Ferry islands! After that, you're on your own."

"Oh, thank you thank you!" Trixie exclaimed, trotting around the trio happily. "I promise, you won't regret this!" Spark sighed. He felt he probably would in the end, but seeing Trixie this happy after seeing her completely miserable felt pretty good. The four walked on, finally arriving at the pier. Finally, Spark thought as he took in an excited breath. But wait...which one? The pier was stocked with five large ships, and worse, they all looked alike. Spark started to panic until he caught sight of a certain white-furred, orange-maned pegasus waving to him from the bow of the second ship.

"Oh, thank Celestia," Spark said under his breath. "This way, guys, come on!" Spark took off at a run, followed by Trixie, Russet and Laser, in that order. The group made their way down the boardwalk to the ship, which was a two-masted brig. It was a beautiful bright white with red lining. The sails were in good working order, if a bit worn, but very sturdy.

Spark had nearly made it onto the ship when a bright yellow figure stood in his way of crossing the threshold: Flash Fire. She narrowed her eyes down at him, then let her eyes wander over the others. "Who is this?" she demanded more than asked, her eyes on Trixie. The azure unicorn returned the glare. Neither mare was going to make this any easier, Spark could tell.

"She's a traveler, just like all of us. We're going to help her as far as the Sun Ferry islands, then we continue to Breen."

Flash Fire arched her brows, looking like she was ready to say something, then shrugged and stepped away, giving the group their space. "All right. It's not my money you're wasting."

Spark rolled his eyes and stepped on board the ship, the others following after uncertainly. "Dude, who's that fire cracker?" Laser asked in a hushed voice. "She's pretty hot, but she's kind of a bitch..."

Spark narrowed his eyes at Laser. "Aren't you with Ditzy?"

"I am not with Ditzy, I'm with Dinky!" Laser retorted, instantly regretting his choice of words. "Ooh, um...that didn't come out right. Anyway, I'm not dating Ditzy. I might be in a little while, but-"

"Dude. You're either with her, or you stay the hell away from her," Spark growled, accenting this warning with a poke to Laser's chest.

Trixie, having watched this with interest, approached Laser slowly. "I take it this 'Ditzy' you're dancing around is somepony important to him?"

Laser, still nursing the poked area of his chest with his own hoof, nodded. "Yeah...he was almost Ditzy's main squeeze, but he kinda dropped the ball on that one. Her daughter likes us both pretty well, and lately I've been thinking of hooking up with her."

Trixie let out an insulted gasp. "And here you are just ogling the first lady you s-" she paused. Laser stared at her, actually backing up a bit. "Well - I - never. So she's good enough for you to eye-cheat on your girlfriend, but I'm not?! Outrageous. I am disgusted, sir." She snorted and held her head high as she stepped away from him.

"I - I didn't do anything! I literally didn't do a damn thing!" Laser protested, and sat down facing way from the others, his forelegs crossed over his chest.

Spark sighed as he approached Flash Fire. Celestia, he wished he didn't have to deal with her. He'd received the news via mail the day before the coach came to get him, an official royal seal stating that Flash Fire would be partnered with him and whoever else he decided to bring. The unicorn was back at the stern of the ship. Up above, about fifteen ponies, earth, pegasus and unicorn alike worked to get the ship ready to sail.

"So. When do we leave?" he asked her, standing a good distance from her.

"We would've left about two hours ago if you'd gotten here on time," she told him, the distance between them just fine with her.

"Yeah well, we ran into some trouble getting here from the train..." he trailed off, then turned to look at her. "Plus, that only set us back forty five minutes. The rest wasn't our fault, it just happened that way."

"Whatever. We're leaving as soon as the ship is ready to leave. The captain told me we'd leave as soon as you got here, so it should be any minute."

"Fine."

The two stood there quietly for a moment. Spark wanted to say something, anything, really. After a moment of coming up with nothing, he turned and left Flash Fire to her own thoughts. Back at the bow of the ship, Trixie had wandered off, and met Spark Storm halfway. "Oh, Spark, do you have any idea where I can get some shut-eye? I'm very sleepy. All that delicious food just filled me up, and I..." she yawned, covering her mouth with a hoof. "...well, you know."

Spark actually had no idea where the rooms would be. Come to think of it, he hadn't really thought that they'd be sleeping on the ship. "I'll help you look, come on," he said, heading to the central structure that lead into the cabin quarters. It was a nice, clean place that opened up into a living space - a kitchen, a lounging area with potted plants, then a hallway that held about twenty small rooms. Spark paused at the beginning of the hallway and nodded to Trixie. "Looks like this is it."

Trixie smiled happily and cantered past him, then stopped at a door, staring at it thoughtfully for a moment. "Mm...Spark?" Spark's eyes widened. Oh, please don't do this, he thought, feeling a brief anxiety rise in his chest. The mare turned to him and took a few tentative steps closer. She had that look in her eyes, lightly biting her lip, that soft, petite giggle. "Um...is Russet...seeing anypony? He's really cute."

Spark let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, uh..." he started, rubbing the back of his head. "Um, I...I wouldn't count on anything happening with him, Trixie, he's...he's gay."

Trixie stared at him for a moment, contemplating this statement. "...Is that why he's carrying around that chicken? No - sorry, dumb question. Uh, good night," she said, ducking her head with an embarrassed blush before ducking into a room. Spark sighed and shook his head before returning to deck.

By the time Spark made it out into the open air once again, Anorax and the changelings had found Russet Hearts and Laser Reflex. While Kecnik kept the usual distance from the others, Anorax and Madalah were openly talking and laughing about something with Russet.

"So you seriously just...whacked poor Turbid in the head, right there under a hundred feet of mud?" Anorax was saying. Russet's face was a beet red, but he was smiling and enjoying himself.

"Oh, yes. I quite seriously thought I was going to die from embarrassment before suffocating!" The trio burst out laughing, a scene that warmed Spark's heart. Seeing Anorax and Russet get along so well was something he'd been hoping for. For now, though, there was something else that needed to be tended to.

"Russet, hey. Sorry to interrupt, but I really think Amacia needs some attention," Spark said. Russet blinked in confusion for a moment, then smiled and held out a foreleg for Amacia to climb down. The hen clucked softly, then stepped down his leg and looked up at Spark expectantly.

"Don't worry, Amacia. We're all a little different, you can be yourself here," Spark told her gently. The hen clucked apprehensively, unsure. After a moment, she turned around slowly, glancing at the others. Russet stared with great interest. He'd wondered for three and a half days what she looked like. Anorax and Madalah took a step back. They both knew that some transformations needed space.

After a moment, Amacia suddenly popped up, causing Russet to gasp and fall back on his haunches. Before him stood a five foot tall harpy. From the bottom, she stood bare-legged, her feet rough skin with sharp, short claws. Spark had come to know her as a sprinter, her land speed was considerable and much faster than the average pony. Above the knee joint she sported thick, reddish fur, which disappeared under brown and orange shorts. How she changed with her clothes on was a mystery to Spark, but after Sohl's blunt nudity, it was welcome.

She wore a white undershirt, and over that a brown and orange vest made of the same sturdy material as her shorts. Her arms were thin and graceful, and along them spread out dense feathers that started out a soft cream color and deeped into reddish brown at the tips. Finally, she sported a head full of thick, blonde hair that fleshed out into reddish brown along the ends, kept in a pretty, single braid. As far as harpies went, Spark had only seen two of them, so had had no basis for beauty among them. But compared to Sohl, whose features were sharp and angry-looking, Amacia's face had more of an oval shape, round cheeks, and large friendly orange eyes.

Russet stared at Amacia for a moment before he stood again, his eyes turned up as he smiled. "Oh, wow. Amacia, you're beautiful!"

The harpy blushed shyly and kicked at the deck. "Thanks, Russet, you're too kind."

At this, Russet's eyes widened. "Oh, I...I completely forgot to expect you to speak. I've not heard you speak in the entire time I've known you, it's strange. You have such a pleasant voice!"

Amacia blushed further, actually feeling a little embarrassed with all the praise. Spark smiled and patted her on the back, then glanced over to see Madalah leaning against Anorax. She looked exhausted, and the sun was getting lower in the sky. Suddenly, a whistle came from above. "She's all ready, captain!" a pegasus called to a tall unicorn near the back.

"Then let's get this seabird out!" the captain answered. He was a sea-green unicorn, fitting for his role. He stepped into the main cabin and started the motor. The ship came to life with a dull roar, then began to pull out of it's place in the pier. Finally, it was ready. The ship pulled forward, away from land. Spark and Laser both moved to the stern to watch the city getting further away.

"This is it, finally," Spark said with a sigh. Amacia, Laser, and Anorax came to stand at his side. Laser seemed stoic, while Amacia and Anorax both looked concerned. Glancing at his comrades, a thought that had been nagging at him since arriving came to the surface again. "Anorax, how did you guys get here ahead of us?"

Anorax sighed quietly, quiet for a moment. Finally, he looked at Spark and said, "We came early. We didn't really want to stay in Ponyville. Didn't really make sense, I guess. After meeting Madalah, it just didn't feel like home. She does, though. I just want to be with her, and if she couldn't stay in Ponyville, then we didn't want to be there any longer than we had to."

Spark and Laser frowned sadly at this. It was a heartbreaking thought. Anorax jumped when he felt Amacia's clawed hand brushing against his mane. He turned to look at her oddly, having never been touched by anything resembling a hand before. She turned to him, knelt down, and wrapped her arms around him silently. Anorax sighed heavily, this sudden show of sympathy both surprising and comforting. After a moment he rested his head on her shoulder and slipped a foreleg around her.

After a moment, the two separated, both with tears in their eyes. "Thank you," Anorax told her, a grateful smile on his face. He watched with a warm grin as Madalah approached, leaned up on her hind legs and wrapped Amacia up in a warm hug, which the harpy reciprocated with a laugh.

Spark turned and began to walk away from the scene, pausing only to wipe away the emotional tear threatening to fall.

The talking and getting to know one another went on for several hours, well after the sun had set. By the time ten o' clock had come around, Spark was more than ready to retire. Ten of the crew had gone to bed, leaving five to take the first watch.

Spark yawned as he headed into the cabin quarters, past the lounge area, then paused at the bedroom hallway. Something seemed off. He glanced back, feeling something was missing. Before he could figure it out, he yawned and turned back to resume his beeline for a room, hopefully an empty room. He hadn't noticed that the plants from before were missing.

Spark yawned once more as he stopped at the second door he came to. He raised a hoof to enter, but something stopped him. He felt compelled to choose a different door. To sleepy to argue with this strange feeling, he walked down the hall until he came to the second to last door. This was the one he needed to enter. He stepped through it to a thankfully empty room with four beds, a bunk set-up on both sides. Thankful for some peace and qiuet, Spark took the left bottom bed, too tired to pull the covers over himself, and quickly nodded off to sleep.

Almost two hours later, Spark awoke with the need to relieve himself. Feeling much warmer now than he remembered before going to sleep, he tried to sit up and felt something wrapped around him, almost like he'd been tied up. He started to panic, and lurched forward, pulling himself onto the floor with whatever large body that had entangled itself to him. Spark heard a soft moan in the dark, and a familiar, mature feminine voice whisper, "Not so rough, Sparky, you'll bruise me."

Spark's eyes opened wide with shock and anger as he held out the larger body up so he could see it better. Beautiful blue eyes and grassy bangs looked down at him, followed by a sheepish grin. Ampelus. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he shouted. "I outta-"

Spark's shouting was silenced as hoof pressed itself delicately to his mouth. "Hey, hey! You want to get everybody out here to this room? I want some peace and quiet! You know, with you..."

Spark's wings spread, electricity dancing through his feathers. Ampelus looked down at him, her eyes expectant with a touch of fear in them. After a moment, Spark let it go, leaving the two of them in darkness again. Reaching up, he gently removed Ampelus' hoof from his mouth. "Ampelus, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?"

Ampelus huffed at her bangs and removed herself from Spark's chest to lie down beside him, a small pout on her face as she trailed a circle on the floor with a hoof. "Well...I was really angry at you for hitting me a few days ago. I still haven't forgiven you for that, you know," she said, pouting angrily at him.

"I'm not getting the impression that you're all that mad," he responded as he sat up on his haunches and frowned down at her.

Ampelus frowned, then lurched forward over Spark, bending him back against the opposite bed. She hissed, her vines spread out over him, brandishing sharp thorns threateningly as five tendrils snaked out of her mouth, each dripping with a sweet-scented sticky substance that looked like honeysuckle. "Would you like to see me angry?!"

Spark's wings spread wide, ready to defend himself if he needed, but again he folded them after a moment. Ampelus stared at him for a moment, then pulled the tendrils back inside her mouth and wiped at her chin. "You're awfully patient with me. What's gotten into you?" Seeing that she'd gotten her saliva all over Spark's chest, she gleefully leaned down to start lapping at it. Spark blushed brightly and gently pushed her head away.

"Geez! Ampelus, pay attention. Seriously, why are you here?" he asked, brushing at the sticky clear fluid on his chest, which only got more sticky and made his fur stand up. He glared at her, thoroughly annoyed.

The nymph sat back and stared at him. Something had happened while she'd been avoiding him to make him much more tolerant, like he was before he became depressed. It was almost vexing. "All right, fine. I was angry, but I missed you." She started pacing around in the room. "I wanted to come back and be with you and Orea, I did, but I was mad. I was furious! When that moving...'thing' came to get you, I knew I'd missed my chance and I wouldn't see you again for days and days, and that wouldn't set well with me. So, I followed you to that large moving 'thing'-"

"Train," Spark offered.

"...Train, then followed you through the town, snuck onto the big floaty thing and waited. I kept others away from this room and lured you here so I could sleep with you," she finished with a happy smile.

"Wait, 'lured me'?"

"Yes, you know...pheremones," she said. She raised a vine in front of Spark and made it twitch. It exuded a small, nearly invisible cloud of moisture. It was too close not to inhale it. He shivered and closed his eyes, feeling his body need...air? He lurched forward, nearly knocking Ampelus over as he ran to his door and made his way out to the deck of the ship. He stopped once he got out of the cabin and took in a deep breath of fresh air, and suddenly the urge for fresh air was gone. He looked around, having forgotten why he'd come outside.

Ampelus emerged from the door and sat beside him, grinning in in the light of the waning gibbous. "See? Pheromones. I could make you do so many things..." she whispered to him, then walked around him in a tight circle, her tail flirtatiously brushing under his chin.

"So why don't you? Why go through all the trouble you do?" he asked her, stepping away from her and towards the side of the ship.

"It's a game, Spark, and I don't cheat when I want to win," she responded, then came to stand beside Spark and look down at the water. The nymph took in a deep breath, then let it out in a luxurious sigh. "I think I could get used to being out here in this giant lake. It's very windy, and the smell is glorious." She reached down with a vine and cupped a good amount of seawater into it and brought it to her lips. Spark watched with amusement as she drank it slowly, then spat it out furiously.

"Wh-what?! I can't drink that! This isn't pure lake water!" She turned to Spark, her eyes dilating. "Spark, where is the water that I can drink? There is water, right?"

Spark smirked victoriously. Finally, finally it felt like he had the upper edge in this game that Ampelus kept making him play. "Well..." he said, tipping his head up and tapping his chin with a hoof. "...there might be water on the ship, but I dunno. There are a lot of ponies here that need to drink too, and you soak up water like a sponge. We might need to throw you overboard so we don't run out of water."

Ampelus stared at Spark in utter dismay. Unlike Spark, the nymph was taking this seriously. "Hey!" a voice called from above. Several ponies came down above. Spark and Ampelus both glanced upwards as the five crew members left awake came down to the deck, either with ropes or with wings. "This is an undocumented traveler, sir," the one pegasus crew member told him. He was a tall adult, with ivory fur and a black mane. "We do not tolerate stow-aways, you'll be thrown overboard, you...you..." he trailed off, now close enough to see that Ampelus was indeed not a pony.

Thrown overboard? Ampelus' vines stretched out over her head. Multiple snapping sounds indicated she'd pulled out her thorns, ready to tear flesh to shreds. The crew backed away from the nymph in horror. "Ampelus..." Spark said carefully. "Just take it easy. I was not being serious when I said we'd have to throw you overboard. Are you listening to me?"

Ampelus let out a loud, rattling hiss. Her survival instincts had taken over, and she would not listen to reason. Luckily, Spark had experience. Standing very still, he called to the crew, "Listen to me. Do not move. Just let her cool down for a second. No sudden moves, no loud noises. Just stand there for a minute."

The crew did exactly as instructed. None moved, none spoke. Then, after a good two minutes of holding her threatening position, Ampelus began to calm down. She lowered her vines, and her thorns retracted. She looked inbetween the crew, then glanced at Spark Storm. "So...you're not throwing me overboard?"

Before Spark could answer, the worst possible thing happened: "Hey! What was with all the shouting a minute ago?" Flash Fire called as she stepped from the cabin quarters and approached the group. "That was really..." She paused when she saw Ampelus, her eyes widening in horrified recognition. "What in Celestia's name is that thing doing here?!" she screamed.

"Oooh!" Ampelus coo'd. "I remember you!"

Spark Storm brought a hoof to his face as he saw Flash Fire's horn lightning up the night air with a furious fire. Could this get any worse?

8 - Turning Tables And A New Kingdom

Ampelus wiggled her rump in excitement and cantered straight up to Flash Fire. The once-violated mare's horn and even her mane was starting to catch fire, so great was her anger. Ampelus looked her over once, then reached out with a vine to brush under the unicorn's chin. "I never did get to finish with you, did I?" she asked her in a soft, flirting voice.

That did it. Flash Fire would take no more. She let out a scream of rage as her horn shot out a stream of fire at the nymph. Ampelus deftly dodged the deadly spray, which hit one of the crew members. His whole front on fire, he let out a panicked and pained scream as he ran around the deck, blinded by the fire. Meanwhile, the deck where the fire landed was beginning to melt.

"Get that stallion in the water!" shouted one of the remaining crew. The pegasus of the group grabbed the one that had caught fire and dragged him over the side, then flew down after him so he wouldn't be lost in the dark night.

Spark barely had time to react as he ducked and rolled out of the way of another stream of fire, another fire to put out. He looked out across the deck to see Ampelus deftly dodging the fire attacks, but if this didn't stop now, the whole ship would do down in flames! He took a running start, then jumped just as Flash Fire threw another fire spell. He connected with the unicorn hard, a foreleg hooking around her waist. He spread his wings, and the two of sailed over the side of the ship and into the water.

Spark sputtered to the surface of the dark ocean, and immediately felt a hoof connect with his nose. "You idiot! You ass!" She paused, shivering in the ice cold water. "You brought that thing on the ship, knowing what it did to me! You are-"

"No! You listen to me!" Spark shouted, rubbing his sore nose where the unicorn hit him. "Do you have any idea what kind of damage you just caused? Did you see the crewman that you set on fire? You hit his face, Flash Fire! You burned him, you set the ship on fire. I didn't know-" Spark paused as he felt a thin rope around his waist. He looked up to see Ampelus at the stern of the ship, her vines reaching out for him. A shriek from Flash Fire told him Ampelus managed to grab her, too. "-I didn't know Ampelus followed us on the ship. I was just as surprised as you were. But that, that up there?" he pointed to the deck as Ampelus dragged them up on the deck where they collapsed on the hard floor. "Inexcusable! You could've killed somepony, maybe you did!"

Flash Fire hurriedly removed Ampelus' helping vines from her waist and stood angrily, soaking wet, the fire still burning brightly in her eyes but no longer in her mane or horn. "You know I have a temper, Spark Storm, you seriously can't put this on my...head..." she trailed off, staring beyond Ampelus as two crew members slowly brought the burned crew member closer, who was mumbling and sobbing quietly. Flash Fire brought a hoof to her mouth to keep herself from breaking into audible sobs.

The stallions' face had been badly burned. He would have scarring for life, and his sight was probably gone. "You see this?" the captain said. He and all the other crew and passengers had gathered outside to see the commotion. "I trusted you, Flash Fire. You seemed like the level-headed one, yet you made him," he pointed at Spark Storm, "to be the trouble-maker here."

Flash Fire was quiet for a moment, then glanced at Ampelus. The nymph remained silent, but sent an inquisitive glance at the captain. He returned that look, then resumed his quiet glare at Flash Fire. "My men tell me that she surprised them, maybe was even a threat. Spark Storm quieted that situation, but then you came out and started setting everything on fire! I don't care what this creature is, you're the one that acted like a monster! Rolling Waves will be lucky if he can ever see again!"

By now, Flash Fire couldn't stop the tears from falling. She sat down on her haunches, a hoof covering her face. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." she whispered.

The captain scowled furiously down at the younger unicorn, but he said nothing further. He nodded to the other crew. The others helped the incapacitated Rolling Waves down into the cabins quarters to help dress his wounds, leaving Spark and his company left up top, minus one harpy.

Rolling Waves moaned as he felt himself being carried. The wonderful outside air, the only thing granting him any reprieve from his burns, disappeared as he was taken inside. He heard the echos of his fellows' voices now that they were inside. It seemed that beside his screaming sense of touch, hearing was all he could muster. His eyes...he wasn't even sure what had happened to his eyes, the skin around them was blistered and swollen.

He could feel his burns all down the front of his body. His forehead, his face, and his chest had gotten the worst of it. He wasn't sure, as the top half of his burns kept his attention, but he felt that his forelegs had been damaged as well. Concentrating on being able to feel his legs was all he could do to keep from screaming.

"Let's get him in here," he heard the captain say. Rolling Waves felt himself being lowered, his back meeting a familiar feeling, one of the cots, a random room. It wasn't his, he could tell; there was no smell of the strawberry candles that his wife made him take on his voyages.

"Get some bandages."

"He needs some salve!"

"Oh, Celestia, I...I can't."

Rolling Waves heard so much and saw nothing. He heard one of the crew leave, he couldn't tell who it was. His body was screaming in the most awful pain he'd ever felt. He felt like he was dying.

"Excuse me?" a soft feminine voice called. All the noise in the room went quiet. "I'd...like to help, if I could."

"Oh, not more monsters! Get out! Haven't your kind done enough?!"

"Easy," Rolling heard the captain say. "She was with the Spark lad. Who are you? What can you do for my man?"

"My name is Amacia...I'm a medic. Please, I can help him."

The word 'medic' was whispered around the room. Rolling could hear the anger disappearing from the voices of the others. "Rolling? Rolling, did you hear that? She's a...I don't know, a big bird...thing. What do you think?"

Rolling Waves, despite his burns and the intense pain he was in, managed to nod. "Ok. We've got...uh..." Rolling heard the sound of the emergency first aid kit they had open. "Ah, crap, I don't know what -"

The voice and the sounds stopped. A soft, steady clicking noise came to Rolling's ears, getting closer until they stopped right next to his cot, and suddenly the girl's voice was much closer. "I know what to do. You should all leave."

"You're-you're gonna need some help. None of our unicorns know medical magic, but you're still going to need-"

"I know medical magic." The silence in the room was palpable. "It's my specialty. Go on, shut the door," she said. Her voice was gentle, but her directions had a firmness to it that made Rolling slightly worried.

There was silence for a moment. The only sounds were his own soft cries of pain. When the female spoke again, he almost jumped. She'd been so quiet that he thought she'd left. "What's your name, sir? Can you still speak?"

It vexed him to have to speak. He wasn't sure if he still could. "Roll-" he started, his trembling form making it difficult to form coherent syllables. "Rolling...Waves."

"I'm going to help you, Rolling Waves. I know you're in pain, and I know you're scared. Please just try to trust me." Rolling Waves felt a burst of emotion burble from deep inside him, rushing up his throat and escape his mouth in a trembling whimper. "Sshhh. Try to stay still."

Rolling Waves kept as still as he could, though he shivered and trembled as his body attempted to deal with the horrible pain. He felt an outside warmth, and felt her move closer, close enough to feel her warm breath on his face. What was she doing? The warmth of her being so close was making it worse.

The sound of her voice changed when she suddenly spoke. Her voice was tinny and hollow, and the words were unfamiliar. "Frigus...stragulum," then she began to blow air upon his body. It wasn't her warm breath, but a sudden cold. It was the most intense relief that Rolling Waves had ever felt. It was like a soothing blanket that she blew upon his body. It wasn't just cold; it tingled his burned skin, and while he still felt that intense pain, it felt somewhat muted, like the pain was being put somewhere in the back of his mind.

The earth pony let out a long, slow sigh. If his eyes hadn't been burned shut, he would've been crying. Not from the pain, but from the kindness and the magical abilities that came from the female's voice and breath. "Th-thank you...I can...actually think now. Thank you..." he whispered.

"You won't be thanking me when I begin disinfecting your wounds and bandaging them, Rolling Waves," she responded with just a touch of bitter mirth in her voice.

Rolling Waves took a moment to think that over. "...Oh, horse feathers..."

Flash Fire stood at the bow of the ship. She stood on her hind legs, her forelegs draped over the railing. She stared out over the sea, tears trailing down her cheeks. She barely noticed when Spark Storm came to stand beside her. Ever since Spark's departure of the team over Celestia's decision, she'd been furious with him, so furious that even being in his presence was a task. But now, now that she'd hurt somepony terribly, and damaged the ship, she was starting to realize that Spark wasn't the only one with issues. She'd always been aware of her temper, but tonight she saw what kind of terrible damage she could do.

She'd burned Laser Reflex' house down on the day she met Ampelus, and again the nymph had provoked her into attacking once more. Only this time, she'd managed to horribly burn an innocent bystander. He was possibly crippled for life. He certainly wouldn't be be sailing again anytime soon after he'd gotten proper medical treatment.

The two sat in silence until Flash Fire finally noticed Spark standing there. His eyes were also cast out to the ocean, the moon's reflecting in the water making it look like a rippling black canvas with silver light peeping trough holes in it. "Spark, I..." she started, then paused and looked down at the water again. "I'm sorry..."

Spark was silent for a moment. He wanted to yell more at Flash Fire, but he could tell she was already shaken up and punishing herself with guilt. Yelling at her now wouldn't help her, or this situation. "We all make mistakes," he told her, turning to face her.

"I'm...not particularly talking about tonight. I am sorry for tonight, but," she turned to him. Her face looked heavy, like she was having trouble holding herself up. "I mean...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being so hard on you. If I'd just gotten over my anger and let myself deal instead of letting it build up, I might've prevented this, probably would've saved Laser's house, too. But now, I...I could've killed that poor guy, Spark..." she trailed off, her voice hitching. She trembled, the guilt of her actions over the last few months finally revealing their consequences to her.

Spark turned to her, but she wasn't finished. "I mean, I'm the newest member of the team, but I'm the first to judge, like it's my Celestia-given right to always be right, and -"

"Hey." Flash Fire looked up at Spark. "Don't beat yourself up over this. It was a big mistake, yeah, but if you let this get to you, well...you remember what happened to me."

"How could I forget," Flash Fire told him more than asked, a slightly sour tone in her voice. She sighed and lowered her head again, then turned to look out over the ocean, then up into the sky. Her ears perked with interest, she turned back to Spark. "We're still going in the same direction. I'd have figured we'd go back to the mainland and get that pony some medical attention."

"I had a talk with the captain a moment ago. He tells me that at this point, the Sun Ferry islands are closer than the mainland. Besides, Amacia's one hell of a medic. I'm sure she'll treat his wounds enough so that he won't be in terrible danger."

Spark and Flash Fire both frowned at the pegasi's wording. Before either of them could say anything or get any more uncomfortable, they were joined at the railing by a tall green figure. "So! I'd say it's getting warmer, wouldn't you?"

Flash Fire turned sharply to face the nymph, her horn blazing, a furious look in her eyes. "You! You've caused me enough trauma to last me a lifetime!" Ampelus stared down at Flash Fire, unimpressed and somewhat amused. Flash Fire finally turned to Spark, her horn still blazing. "I still don't understand. Why is she here?!"

"Take it easy, Flash Fire. Ampelus," Spark said, his eyes shooting the nymph a warning glare. "-just come over here, on my other side." Ampelus did as instructed with a roll of her eyes. When Flash Fire continued to stare at Spark expectantly, he sighed. "Ampelus...this is Flash Fire. She's one of my team members. I shouldn't have to tell you not to target her, but don't target her. Flash Fire, this is Ampelus. Fluttershy and myself both owe our lives to her. If she hadn't decided to try and sacrifice herself in the changeling caves, I might not be here right now, and I trust her with my life...in most situations," he added.

Ampelus stared at Spark in surprise, but when Flash Fire caught that look, the nymph looked away with a decided 'I don't care' look. "Really?" Flash Fire said, looking at Spark again, unconvinced. "This bitch nearly rapes me, and suddenly she's your best pal?"

Spark sighed and held a hoof to his forehead. He glanced at Ampelus, half-expecting her to jump in and make things worse, but the nymph was being strangely quiet. The look in her eyes told him that she was leaving this up to him and staying out of his way...she trusted him to defend her and calm this situation. Thinking back to earlier, she had flirted with Flash Fire before she went beserk, but she didn't attack the unicorn. The nymph really had changed since the changeling caves. "...Something like that."

Ampelus and Flash Fire both looked at Spark like he'd said something crazy, and both thought that he had. Spark blushed with a bit of embarrassment as he avoided the gaze of the two mares. "You're...you're joking, right?" Flash Fire asked. "Spark, she's a nymph! She's a monster, they're not capable of l-well, affection, not like ponies do, she's got you under some kind of spell!"

Spark rounded on Flash Fire, an angry look in his eyes. "No, she doesn't! You're the one under a spell, Flash Fire, by whoever taught you to be so narrow-minded that you can't believe somepony can change! Ampelus might be a nymph, but she's not a monster. She's not the same pony-"

"Not a pony," Ampelus confirmed for him.

"-that she was before. When I first met her, yeah, she tried to kill me, and...other things," he said, glancing back at Ampelus a moment. The nymph actually blushed as their eyes met before she had to look away. "...but now?" Spark turned to look back at Flash Fire. "She's different now. I'll take full responsibility for her, same as I told the princess before we left."

Flash Fire narrowed her eyes, barely able to believe her ears. She didn't want to believe that Spark was of his own mind, or that he was serious, but...after that, how could she doubt? She reminded herself again that she'd spent the last few months just as angry and intolerant as Spark had been depressed. She slowly backed off, a look of resignation in her eyes. "I guess...but...before I go, I need to hear-"

"I'm sorry for touching you," came Ampelus' voice from behind Spark. Pegasus and unicorn turned to look up at the nymph in complete shock. "...And for burning that house down, and for hurting your cousin, Storm." Ampelus sniffed once and looked away, then slowly turned her back to the two and sat in silence.

"Uh..." Flash Fire muttered. Spark tore his gaze away from Ampelus long enough to see if that was what the unicorn was waiting for. She nodded solemnly before slinking off towards the cabin quarters. By now, the others had gone to bed, leaving just Spark and Ampelus alone on the deck.

Both nymph and pegasus stood quietly, both stiff-legged and unsure of what to say to each other. Ampelus had once again been surprised and frankly shocked that her once-enemy thought so highly of her, and went to such lengths to ensure others of her loyalty. She wasn't sure she wanted to be thought of this way. Seven hundred years of isolation had made her cynical and aggressive, how in the world did three years of knowing this pegasus change her so much?

The nymph finally made to return to the cabin quarters - she was ready for this awkward moment to be over. After a moment, Spark turned and called to her. "Ampelus."

"What?" she returned, pausing but not turning.

"You wouldn't let me give up. You kept pushing me to keep moving. You never let me just sit there and feel sorry for myself. If it hadn't been for you, I probably wouldn't feel quite so...myself right now. I owe a lot of my recovery to you...thank you."

Ampelus stiffened at Spark's heartfelt thanks. Not quite ready to let a mushy moment between them be mushy, she turned and stalked back to him, her mouth curved into a disapproving frown. "You mistake my boredom for caring. You're only interesting when you're moving, and it vexed me to see you sitting so still."

"Uh huh. Sure it did," Spark dared to tell her with a small smirk on his face. Ohh, how she wanted to slap him right then and there. Maybe even make him scream. Her limbs twitched with the desire to do so, but he removed the smirk and put on a smile that made her want to do something else to him. "You know-"

Ampelus wrapped a vine around Spark's muzzle and waist, and promptly turned him around to face the sea. "We're apparently having a moment. Shut up," she told him before releasing him. Pegasus and nymph sat side by side under the moonlight, both taking some awkward comfort in each other's presence. Ampelus' eyes were drawn to the water, curiously watching as a small, dark shape sped just under the surface, heading in the same direction towards the Sun Ferry islands.

Under the water, the shape wriggled along like an eel, except there was a disproportionately major difference to this eel - there was a pony torso attached to the front of it. She was a slim and attractive creature, bondi blue, with a bright green mane of what appeared to be seaweed, her eyes a deeper strain of the color. This strange, beautiful creature swam with purpose, a certain drive in her movements that pushed her forward with great speed.

It wasn't long before she was joined by a second, larger creature. This one had all four legs of a pony, but with a long, thin shark-like tail. It's skin was smooth and green, with darker green splotches on it's hooves and flank, while it's knees were decorated with white stripes. An unmistakable masculine figure, it also sported a light blue mane and fin.

The eel creature let out a squeal of joy as she noticed her companion. She swam around him in a clockwise pattern, circling his back and stomach - she knew better than to swim in front of his mouth. "Oh! Oh! Did you see? Did you see that ship, Lusus? I want to go see it. Let's go see it," she said in an excited, childlike tone filled with wonder, and just a hint of an unnerving smile.

"No, leave it," he responded in a tone that commanded respect, and her silence. "We're on a mission, Seaweed, you know that." Seaweed Cyanide pouted at this denial. She had a feeling that that ship would be important, but sadly Lusus was usually much too serious to let her have much fun. Besides, the real fun was soon to begin.

Some distance away, a good half-day's journey by current, lay the foundations of a new kingdom, barely out of the legal process. It had taken a hundred years of debate, court dates, refusals, and incidents for the work to finally go through. In the next month, the Seabed of Undercari would become the Kingdom of Undercari. There would still be many years to go before a kingdom could be established, not to mention the building of the palace, the zoning laws to be discussed.

The queen-in-waiting, Princess Pearl Depth, aged twenty three, sat at her vanity in her room. Well, makeshift room, anyway. There were no actual homes, yet. Her family had taken to a nice, vacant hollow spire until such arrangements could be made for separate housing. Watertight magic seals had been placed on all the openings - most sea-folk liked to have a nice dry place to sleep, along with protection from predators while they slept.

Pearl Depth was a beauty. The sea-mare had a rare seapony body type - the look of an earth pony. Her coat was a light blue, which grew darker on her legs. Her eyes were large and blue like the water on the surface, and she had a mane as yellow as the surface sun, though the ends were a deep blue, both on her mane and tail. The single sapphire jewel in her silver tiara stood out on her forehead, and only added to her great beauty. On her flanks shone a single drop of water, unlike most denizens of the sea, who usually didn't have a cutie mark.

The young mare sighed as she paused in brushing her mane, her eyes alight with magic the color of her mane. It was unlike a unicorn's magic in that instead of a magical haze, hers was more of a bubble, with small trails of watery yellow magic wisping off from the main shape and dissipating. She set the brush down and stepped over to the clear magic separating herself and the dark waters of the ocean floor. It was always a bit unnerving to look outside and not be able to see - the lights of a localized seabed usually took care of the darkness and made her feel safer.

Pearl Depth closed her eyes, then slipped out into the darkness. Immediately her eyes lit up. Magic rushed out from every pore in her body, countering the crushing pressure of the depths. Her whole body enveloped with a shimmering yellow and blue light, illuminating the face of a monstrous creature that laid on the ocean floor, great and tall, grey-scaled and with teeth as tall as the princess herself. Pearl Depth let out a gasp as the creature opened it's eyes at the invading light and pushed itself off the ocean floor and leered closer.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bartholomew, did I wake you up?" she cooed softly to the family guardian. She swam closer to the grumpy behemoth and scratched under his chin. The giant creature blew out a rush of water and tossed it's glance elsewhere. "Oh, come on, I'm sorry!" The princess giggled and started rubbing lower under Bartholomew's chin, closer to his neck. The monster finally relented, let out a contented groan that echoed for miles, and turned in the water until he landed on his side, creating a quiet tremor that probably woke up half the undersea valley. "There's a good boy. Go to sleep," she whispered, before leaning in to kiss his chin.

The grumpy beast soothed and complacent, the princess turned back towards the tall spire that was her temporary home and swam. Her movements were very subtle, most of her big movements coming from her long, graceful tail. As she approached the room up above that was occupied by her parents, she frowned sadly. The rooms grew larger the further down near the base of the spire, and her parents, the king and queen, had taken one of the smallest rooms and given her the largest. She'd been dead set against it, but her parents had insisted she accept their sacrifice of comfort for hers. It worried her because she had wanted the room given to her, but had not asked for it, and she was concerned that she could not be so charitable were the situation reversed.

The illuminating light the princess shone with slowly dimmed. As anxious as she was, she didn't want to put her concerns on her parents. Soon, in a few days time, in fact, Princess Pearl Depth would become Queen Pearl Depth. The coronation would be the first new coronation in the family for hundreds of years, and then Queen Pearl Depth herself would have hundreds and hundreds of years to rule, to find her mate, and continue the line. It was the most daunting thing to bestow upon one so young.

Of course she wanted this - her parents had given her everything over the years. She loved her parents dearly and they trusted her to do the right thing. But what if she couldn't make them proud of her? What if she failed in the first two hundred years? The king and queen were not young anymore - they had perhaps two or three hundred years left to go. What if she didn't succeed before their time came? What if they never saw her shine? Her greatest fear - disappointing her parents, grew with each passing day, and the darkness of the ocean, the fact that their new kingdom had yet to come to life, grew less and less helpful.

As usual, Pearl Depth was unable to slip inside her parents' room and voice her concerns. The princess swam down below to her room once more, and slipped inside. The magic bubble separating the dry room and the ocean slipped over her body, removing every last trace of ocean and salt from her body and rejecting it back into the sea. She stepped over to her humble low-set bed with blue covers and plopped onto it without a drop of water on her. She closed her eyes and waited for her fitful unrest to give way to sleep, unaware of the trials and tribulations that were speeding towards her at that very moment.

9 - Deep Visions

A bright, warm morning welcomed the locals of the Sun Ferry islands. The largest island, Sunanwaves, was a star attraction year round. The island climate was always warm and refreshing, and this kept the place open for tourism all year 'round. Legend said that hundreds of years ago, a wood spirit, running from a terrible conflict, drifted over the ocean and landed on the islands. Happy to have found a secluded place from war and strife, it bent the climate to it's will and created a tropical paradise for others to enjoy. A silly legend, but it entertained the masses.

At seven in the morning, the air was perfect, filled with the scent of salt, water and tanning lotion. Even at this early hour, the beach was already occupied with dozens of ponies, even a few griffons, almost all of them come for vacation. This, of course, was why many of the locals chose a different spot for their fun. One such island local lived out that way, in a treehouse that he'd build with his own hooves, situated not far from the beach.

The house itself was made from sturdy bamboo, which grew on the small island south of the big one. The house was small, but welcoming, and had a nice draft through some large windows that were filtered with mosquito net material, as was the door. This kept the house nice and drafty in the warm nights. Seashells and tiki ornaments littered the walls, just the way the owner liked it. He was one of the most eccentric and strange pegasi anywhere, as anypony who ever him could tell you, despite his young age.

At age 18, Deep Surf was one of the wisest pegasi anywhere. His knowledge of the sea and how to survive in it rivaled that of the most seasoned explorers. At least, he seemed wise. One could listen for days of Deep Surf's exploits. Hero worship was not out of the question, as many tourists had even come just to meet him, yet many left the island completely baffled and sometimes disappointed, because talking to him meant madness. The truth wasn't nearly as dramatic as it sounds, of course, but talking to the pegasus directly was often more trouble than it was worth - the pegasus talked using analogies that made absolutely no sense to anypony but himself.

Deep Surf emerged from his home and spread his wings, gliding down to the ground and hurried to the shore. He stepped out into the sun, which reflected off his bright, triple-toned mane of blue, silver-ish blue and white. The sun had a particular glint in the goggles that he constantly wore on his forehead. The pegasus spread his wings and stretched them, then knelt down and started some basic yoga. Deep Surf was well-toned, and from a mare's point of view, easy on the eyes. His body was an easy aquamarine color, with more blue than green. His eyes were a handsome color, a bright orange that went well against his coat. His cutie mark was a single palm tree amidst crashing waves.

After a good fifteen minutes of stretching, the pegasus shook his wings free of the sand he'd accumulated in his stretching and preened for a moment, then stretched his now moist wing tip to the air to identify the direction of the wind. He frowned. Something was off today. "Strange things are a-hoof at the Sun Ferry," he muttered in deeply accented Dude. This is what locals called his bizarre speech patterns, which were often either started or finished with 'dude'.

"Dude!" a male voice called. Deep Surf glanced back towards the trees to see his best friend, Shell Tide, approach. Shell Tide was a usually shy and introverted earth pony. At 16, he was a dashing young stallion with seaweed green fur and mottled grey-blue mane and tail, a single seaturtle gracing his flanks. "Howzit. Thought you'd be out on the waves at this hour. Everything all right?"

Deep Surf frowned once more as he looked out over the waves. That strange feeling still hadn't left the waves. "Dude. The deep is calling. It has not yet revealed her mischief, but soon to be revealed. It will be a day long remembered."

Shell Tide glanced sideways at his friend, then shrugged. Deep Surf was always saying things that didn't make sense. The younger pony stepped off to the side where a tarp had been placed over two tall objects, making it look like a two-headed teepee. He pulled up the metal stakes anchoring it down, then pulled the tarp down to reveal a pair of surf boards that'd been stuck vertically into the sand. "Whatever, I guess. We getting wet, mang? It's epic."

Deep Surf made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat before turning back to grab his board. It was a simple white board, with the image of a beautiful creature that resembled a pony on it, a mare. The creature was a beautiful tan color, with a long, blonde mane. Thin, spidery tendrils seemed to drift from her head. Down her back, she bore a pair of wings that resembled soft, translucent seaweed. While she was built with forelegs, the rest of her body tapered off into a long tail, with a small pair of flippers 3/4 of the way down.

Shell Tide grabbed his board, also a white board. It held a tasteful drawing of a majestic sea turtle drifting through kelp. He glanced at Deep Surf's board and shook his head with an amused smile. "I still don't get what you see in carrying a siren on your board."

The pegasus grinned as he stepped out to the water and held his board out to look at. "She's good luck, dude. Sirens are your lifeline when you're lost out there on the sea."

The earth pony stared at his eccentric friend incredulously. "What? Dude, sirens eat ponies when they're lost out there, how do you figure they'd help?"

"Just speaking from experience, dude. Now come on. The magnitude of the day's waves will flatten us in ways we cannot possibly comprehend," Deep Surf said in his usual confusing flair. The two stepped out into the water, mounted their boards, and began paddling out. Deep Surf and Shell Tide pulled out at the same time. They pulled into beginning of a strong wave, cresting the top of the water as they pulled themselves up into a standing position, balancing on their hind legs. Both ponies pushed their balance forward, and began the descent.

Deep Surf smiled as he pulled down into the well of the wave. As he sped along, beads of water at his back, something caught his attention, a strange shape in the water, in the corner of his eyes. He turned and could swear he saw a shark-like figure moving through the wave. He turned on his surf board to stare intently as the figure started thrashing around. A thick red hue took over the wave, as if the water were filling with blood. A new figure began to make itself known in the water, a figure that he had seen several times before - the princess of the deep.

"Dude!" Deep Surf opened his eyes to the haze of his hut. He coughed once and rubbed at his reddened eyes. He stumbled off of his couch and crossed the bamboo floor and opened the curtain flap that served as his door, releasing a thick cloud of mist and smoke billowing forth into the fresh air. The pegasus looked down at his friend, Shell Tide. "...You're tripping at this hour? Come on! We've got a perfect day to cruise on the coast."

Deep Surf coughed once and shook his head. "It's called cry...scur...scrying. It's an ancient medica-er-meditation technique passed down from people n' stuff."

Shell Tide stared at his friend and shook his head. "Ok...you see anything weird today?"

Deep Surf closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The vision he'd seen just now had been a most disturbing vision. Princess Pearl Depth, who he'd met once or twice in the last year in her diplomatic missions to secure relations with the islands, had been torn to pieces by a shark in his vision. These 'visions' as he called them were often right, or at least partially accurate. The special wood chips that he burned for this process came from a special place deep in the woods of the island, a place where mimosa grew abundantly. This was not a vision to be taken lightly, he'd have to go there today and ask his friend about it.

"Yeah. I saw a death in the family, and it struck my soul chords, man." Deep Surf spread his wings and glided down to the ground below beside Shell Tide. "A vision most foul that gave me shrinkage of the mind."

Shell Tide stared at Deep Surf, unsure of what to make of that statement. "Um. You should probably douse your dosage, dude," he offered, gesturing to Deep Surf's still smoking home.

The pegasus glanced back up at his home, a hoof absently pushing his goggles further up his forehead. "...Nah. Leave it on, I'll need some schnoz meds when I get back."

"Back?"

"Need to see an ent about this nebulous nightmare."

"I really wish you wouldn't call him that. He's a botanist, a scientist. He's a productive member of society, you shouldn't use names like that!" Shell Tide chided with a frown. He was referring of course to Mimosa Palm. He was a peculiar earth pony, deep green with a vibrant pink mane and tail. He lived deep in the jungle at the center of the island. He had the strangest quirks, like talking excitedly to the plants that he took care of while he worked. He talked like they all had their own things to say. And, despite knowing every last citizen on the island, none of them knew how long he'd been on the island. He just was, and had been. He also had a keen enjoyment of smoke inhalation sessions, like Deep Surf had been involved in.

"Dude should know, he knows his stuff," Deep Surf insisted as he rose into the air and waved goodbye to his friend and blew straight up into the air past the canopy. completely missing the dark dot on the horizon that was steadily approaching.

Trixie stepped out of the cabin and into the fresh, warming morning, yawning for what was probably the twentieth time during her five minute trek from her room to here, at the left side of the bow. Despite the excitement of the night prior, she'd missed every last second of it. As she drowsily picked her hooves up over several spots of melted plastic floor, she noticed Russet already outside here, his unmoving gaze on the steadily approaching island.

"Mm! Oh, Trixie has not had a night of sleep such as last night in months," she said in the cutest voice she could muster as she sidled up next to him. She gave Russet a dazzling smile, but when the stallion flashed her an uncomfortable glance, Trixie remembered the last discussion she'd had with Spark the night before. The cute unicorn was gay, and her efforts were futile. She deflated her charms and cleared her throat. "Ah-hem. Um...Lovely morning," she offered weakly.

"Oh, it is!" Russet responded, his cheerful demeanor returning. "It's like we've left that horrible cold behind us. This tropical weather is incredible, I still can't believe it took only one night for it to change."

"Mhm. It's one of the wonders of this world of ours," Trixie told him, feeling a little more comfortable, glad that Russet was so easy to talk to.

"Um, Trixie..." Russet began, garnering the mare's attention as he turned to her. "I hope you don't mind me prying, and I'm not trying to be rude, but I've noticed you using your name in the first-person, and you seem to switch between that and...well, talking normally. I-I'm just curious, why do you do that?"

Trixie blinked in surprise at this sudden question. She'd expected somepony out there to catch on to this thing that she was trying to get into at some point, she just hadn't expected it to be so soon. "Oh, well..." She sighed and turned to Russet, deciding to take this as seriously as possible. "It's a state of mind, Russet. When I refer to myself as Trixie instead of 'I', it makes me feel important. 'I' just feels too normal for me, too...underachieving. N-not that anypony else using 'I' isn't, um..." she paused, blushing with embarrassment that she couldn't even finish her explanation. She hadn't completely figured it out yet, after all, and she didn't want to make Russet feel like she was insulting him.

Russet smiled, despite Trixie's seeming failed explanation. "I get it. It's a confidence thing. You're still working on developing the personality that you want others to associate you with, right?"

Trixie stared at Russet. He understood? And so easily? Noticing the mare's look, Russet smiled patiently, though a faint glimmer of pain betrayed that eternally optimistic face. "You're developing that for your stage confidence...I developed it to keep myself from showing the bullies that they hurt me when they called me terrible things when I was younger."

Trixie frowned sadly at this. Such cruelty, and this unicorn deserved none of it. He was too sweet, too gentle to deserve such treatment. Trixie stepped closer to Russet and turned, gently pressing her side to his. Russet turned as well to accommodate her, for once comfortable with her closeness. Trixie closed her eyes and rested her head on the stallion's shoulder. After hearing of Russet's torments from his own lips, she'd finally come to terms with the fact that she'd get nowhere with him. She was ok with it, as long as she could give him some small comfort in her friendship.

From the living quarters doors, Spark and Laser watched quietly, a look of sad pity on Spark's face. Laser seemed to get what was going on, though. He patted Spark's shoulder and stepped back inside to get out of the crew's way as several stepped outside to prepare the ship to pull in to the nearing island. Spark followed suit, revealing a familiar green wrap around his chest and waist. Suddenly reminded of what it was, Laser eased himself away from Spark. "How can you..."wear" her and not feel completely violated?"

Spark turned to Laser to reply, but fell silent as Ampelus' head formed from the wrap around his chest area and glared at the the dark pegasus. "And why did you have me change when we're not nearly to the island? Everyone on this ship has already seen me!"

Spark scowled and pressed down on Ampelus' head. "Get back down there! Look, Trixie hasn't seen you, and I'd like to spare at least one pony the trauma of seeing you. The island is going to be a whole different bag of trouble - there are tourists here! We'll get you some water, get that poor guy some medical treatment, then we're out of here and back on track to Breen." Ampelus scowled at Spark, a look that quickly changed to a flirtatious smirk as she slowly slid back onto Spark's body.

"Ampelus?" Spark inquired, suddenly suspicious. "What was that look for? Ampelus?!" The dark pegasus glanced at Laser, a look of apprehension on his face. When nothing happened, he sighed with relief. Down the hall, several doors opened. Spark and Laser turned their heads to see the ship captain and Amacia emerge from the door Amacia had disappeared into the night before, the room where Rolling Waves had been taken. Spark and Laser stood at attention as the captain stepped past, who rolled his eyes good-naturedly at their insistence of respect.

When Amacia stepped closer to the two, it was apparent that she'd hardly slept, or not at all. The dark circles around her eyes were telling enough, but her movements were also sluggish. She stared at Spark as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing. Spark frowned and reached forward to rest a hoof on the harpy's shoulder. "Amacia, were you up all night?"

The harpy nodded and sat down on the floor in front of Spark. "Yes. I'm afraid Rolling Wave's burns were extensive. He's going to be all right, but he's much too damaged to be moved from the island. The captain said we'll need to stay here for at least a week while Rolling gets proper medical attention..."

Amacia sighed quietly, her eyes drifting closed. She slipped forward into Spark's waiting forelegs, who smiled warmly as he held her up. "I'm real proud of you, Amacia," he told her. "You saved that pony's life. You still with me? You should revert, so we can carry you around, ok?" he told her quietly. The harpy made the barest of nods before shrinking down into her hen form. Spark lifted the chicken carefully onto his back, where she groggily nestled inbetween his wings and hunkered down for a rest.

"Geez..." Laser breathed, having watched the scene in awe. "I swear, I'll never get used to that."

Spark rolled his eyes and stood, then made his way to the outside. "I'm gonna go see how close...oh." The dark pegasus stepped out into the warm morning sun to the sight of a lifetime: a large island, beautiful, tropical, inviting, dead-ahead a mile away. From this close, the island was massive, at least twenty miles wide, and surrounded by beach. Palm trees littered the landscape, while further into the island was thick jungle. Beautiful homes and buildings littered the coastline, and off to the side a small village was built over the water via wood bridges that held many hospitable-looking huts several feet over the clear water below.

"Geez..." Spark whispered to himself. "Maybe a week here won't be so bad."

"It is beautiful," a feminine voice that Spark wasn't immediately familiar with said behind him. He glanced to the side as Madalah approached and stood by him. Her presence had, for the last few months, gone largely unnoticed. She'd kept herself in isolation with Anorax for so long, it was surprising to see her out and about, even on the ship.

Spark frowned to himself. Looking at the island, it was easy to forget the harsh reality of why they were travelling - Madalah and Kecnik had been called back to their original changeling hive in a country called Breen. More than that, Madalah had a horrible responsibility to face: she was a changeling princess, at least, if Spark's theory was true. Anorax had yet to divulge any new information on this subject.

The halfling made his presence known as he came to stand beside Madalah. The two of them looked terrible; it seemed as if neither of them had slept in quite some time. Spark frowned disapprovingly at his friends, a face that Anorax returned to him. "C'mon, Spark, don't look at me like that. These are our last days. Who knows how long it'll take us to get to Breen from here, and then..."

"Dude. We're staying at the island for a week so we Rolling Waves can recuperate and get some professional medical attention. We're not going anywhere for a few days. You guys should rest up when we get to the island. It looks like a nice place to relax and maybe forget your troubles for a bit," Spark told him.

Seeing as this was news to the couple, they turned to look at each other in shock and excitement. The two embraced, Madalah actually breaking out into quiet sobs. "Oh, Anorax...I want to explore this place for a while. It'll be my last chance to have an adventure with you...please?" she whispered to the halfling.

"Of course. It'd be my honor," he answered.

Spark smiled, albeit a bit sadly. He stepped away to give the two some space. Halfway towards the stern, a twitching at his chest told him that Ampelus was trying to get his attention. Glancing about to make sure that Trixie was still with Russet, and after finding her still at the bow, he glanced down at his chest to see a face forming in the green section of his chest. "Ampelus? What is it? We're almost there."

"Something about this island is familiar," she told him.

Spark looked down at the little face on his chest as if he'd found what she'd said to be crazy. "...What? Ampelus, you've never even been out to the ocean before, how could this place possibly be familiar to you?"

"Well I don't know, Spark, how can it?" the nymph replied crossly. "It just feels familiar. I'm...smelling things that are bringing back old memories."

Spark made a face at this. He turned to look at the island, giving Ampelus a view as well. "What are you thinking?" the nymph asked him quietly after a moment.

"I don't know, Ampelus, but I've got a feeling that this 'vacation' is about to get a lot more interesting," Spark told her before lightly patting her face and pressing it down. It was time to get ready to land.

The greenhouse. It was more than just a building, it was it's own ecosystem, and it stretched for several miles in random directions, looking more like a pile of broken glass than an actual organized structure from overhead. It was a sight that Deep Surf had come to appreciate: a bit of genius, a bit of eccentricity, like him. The pegasus came in for a landing, a graceful dive that turned into a clumsy stumble that ended in ramming into the front door with a bang.

Deep Surf groaned quietly as the doors opened. Mimosa Palm poked his head out of the doors, a jovial grin on his face. He wore a white lab coat and thick plastic goggles with red tinted lenses. "That sounded like it hurt, my boy! Come in, come in."

The pegasus shook his head, a little dazed as he pulled himself from the doors. He lightly knocked at the framework, admiring it's sturdiness. "Dude, did you get new doors?"

Mimosa chuckled as he stepped further into his over-heated home. "Got a new frame just for you, Surf. You're certainly more at home in the sea than you are on land, my boy." He paused, sniffing at the air, then turned to Deep Surf, pushing his goggles up his forehead, mirroring the way Deep Surf always wore his. "You've been sight-seeing this morning, haven't you?"

The pegasus nodded sagely. "Indeed, my friend. I have seen a most heinous crime before my eyes. I needed a second opinion."

Mimosa stared at his friend for a moment before turning around and ushering him inside. "Tell me all about it, but I mustn't stop working." The earth pony shuffled along as Deep Surf followed him, who took a moment to appreciate the glass house from the inside. It never failed to amaze him. The environments set up inside this place were immense, dense, and warm.

Different ecosystems had been set up and separated, with different trees and plants and animals occupying different sections, all separated and contained. The rain forest of course was the first one would see upon entering. Giant ferns, thick mosses, poisonous frogs and hundreds of insects occupied this place. Off towards the left about a mile away, laid the desert, filled with sand and a varied selection of animals and plantlife could be found here. The glass overhead in this section had been filtered to let the harshest of sun overhead in.

In the very center of this place were grasslands. A heated and dry environment, it held all kinds of life that constantly fought for survival in everyday life. It lacked sentient life, though. Only the basest of creatures were allowed to take refuge in this place - Mimosa was loathe to use sentient creatures for his collection of plants and herbs that he used in his everyday experiments.

Several other ecosystems thrived in this wondrous place of science, including an access route to the sea under the island, which let all kinds of creatures, sentient and otherwise, enter the compound. How the botanist kept the sea from overflowing into the place and sinking the whole island was anypony's guess. Of course, this was a big reason why Deep Surf had come to tell Mimosa about his vision; both had met the undersea royals as they'd gone through heartache and royal pains to set up an official kingdom by the island, and these meetings had been done in the fantastically huge greenhouse.

As the two approached a row of trees that had been tapped for sap, Deep Surf began to recount his tale. He told Mimosa of the vision he'd seen in the waves, the shark-like creature, the blood-filled wave, and finally the princess' body torn to shreds. While Mimosa had been listening, he was taking measurements of the rich, raw sap emerging from the trees. He seemed to be lost in the viscosity of the different sap as it flowed like molasses into the buckets strung under the taps, until he finally turned to Deep Surf.

"This vision is most disturbing, my boy. Remind me, how often do your visions come to be?"

The pegasus thought for a moment, his head tilted as he tapped at the side of his head. "...All the time?" he finally said.

Mimosa nodded gravely for a moment, the motions of his head and neck continuing for a moment before he finally seemed to snap out of his constant bobbing. He stepped over to Deep Surf and clapped him on the back in a cheerful manner as he lead him back towards the entrance. "My boy, this is grave news indeed," he reiterated. "The fact that your vision occurred on the young princess' coronation can be no coincidence. Go on back home, I'll think of something to take to the royal family in these matters. And son..." he paused, turning to the pegasus and knocking on his head three times. "...go easy on the smoke. All that inhalation can't be good for your brain."

Deep Surf merely smiled and pushed the doors open before leaping up into the sky, taking up the half-hour flight back to the beach with gusto. Mimosa sighed and made to close the doors when he stopped. With the door half open, he closed his eyes and inhaled. He sniffed with more excitement, then stepped outside. He turned to the tree on his right, an ash tree, riddled with vines and kudzu, which stood out like a sore hoof among the jungle trees. "Do you smell that?" he asked it, getting no more response than one would expect from a tree. "Do you smell it? Ohhhh, this is going to be an interesting day, my friend! Most interesting! Hahahaha!"

He laughed once more, a jovial hop in his step as he slipped back into his gigantic workshop.

11 - Into The Depths (part one)

Deep Surf looked down at the crowd slowly leaving the beach. And was that a ship at the harbor? The pegasus banked down low and came in for a landing along the pier to get a better look. It had a royal crest emblazoned on the front. Celestia's sun? Deep Surf rubbed at his chin thoughtfully for a moment before turning away. Apparently he'd missed something during his visit to the sagely Mimosa Palm. Perhaps the visit had been ill-timed.

He turned to resume his view of the beach. As the pegasus scanned the treeline, he caught a flash of reflective eyes in the bushes, just seconds before it disappeared. Someone had tried to hide themselves, but it was too late - Deep Surf knew those eyes well: Lusus, a well-known predator of ponies. The surfer pony had run into the big bully on several occasions, and none of those situations had been cases of mere bullying - all of them had been Lusus trying to kill somepony.

His train of thought was broken when he heard the rustling of wings behind him. He turned a casual eye to be pleasantly surprised. His occasional pegasus marefriend, Breezy Plume, stood there. The mare was a beautiful tan, almost brown color. Her hair and tail were a striking blonde, long and sultry, the color complimenting her sky blue eyes. The mare was never seen without beautiful pink plumeria blossoms in her hair.

Deep Surf turned to face Breezy Plume. The mare stood waiting for him with a winning smile, but the thoughtful look in his eyes betrayed the calm he attempted to portray. "Uh oh," she began with a sigh. He often took on this look when something was bothering him. There was simply no avoiding getting caught with Breezy. "What is it now, stud?"

Deep Surf made a soft, barely audible thoughtful whine, a hoof raised to clasp his chin, his eyes to the boardwalk at his hooves. Finally, he raised his eyes to the mare, a steely stare in his eyes. "Tonight. It happens tonight. That's why you've journeyed this far off from your wandering cycle, isn't it?"

Breezy's eyes widened slightly, surprised that he would bring that up in broad daylight, in front of everypony. She frowned and glanced around the pier to make sure no one else was listening, then leaned forward a bit to close the distance between them. "Well...yes. The coronation of the new princess is tonight...the wandering cycle isn't due back to this island for many days. Surf...what is going on?"

"A most heinous suspicion, Breezy," he told her, his face darkening as he lowered his head in an extremely rare show of seriousness. "Mine eyes have seen Lusus on the island. There will be no rest for the wicked this night, and it intends to spread it's sickness to the depths."

Breezy Plume stared at Deep Surf for a moment before breaking out into a derisive grin. "Lusus? Really? He's a bully and a jerk, perhaps, but to interfere with the coronation...are you sure you haven't been smoking too much? Are you getting enough oxygen?"

The stallion turned stoic as he raised his head to display his full height, a completely unamused air about him. "Mock me if you will, Breeze, but check," he said, reverting to an unsusually straight line of talk. "Check around down there and see if anything is unusual. Look, just once." Deep Surf turned away from her, despite the fact that they had plans to walk together until the coronation later that evening and took off into the air, leaving Breezy Plume to pout.

"Of all the..." she muttered irritatedly. She looked around again. There didn't seem to be anyone around, the crowd having left the beach to follow the newcomers. Very well, she thought. It couldn't hurt to see what's happening below. I'm due a little face time with the royal family, anyway. Damn politics.

Breezy Plume, now certain that she wasn't being watched, stepped over to the end of the dock and slid into the water, then dipped below the surface. She swam deeper and deeper down into the bright blue water. A light began to emerge from her body, and it began to elongate. Her rear legs began to pull together, and she grew fins on her hips. Her wings thinned out and grew soft veil-like appendages that looked like seaweed. Thin, delicate tendrils extended from her mane, which were used to capture the slightest vibrations in the water. Sirens needed them to keep track of their prey. She'd lost the flowers in her hair - instead one had remained, now affixed to her tail. In reality it was a small anemone that had grown attached to her.

Deeper and deeper the siren swam. Her eyes were already adjusting to the darker water, though it being the middle of the day, the sunlight actually reached quite far down. Creatures of the deep swam out of her way as she approached - tiny fish, bigger fish, sharks - none wanted to be in her path. The sirens were well known for having voracious appetites, and could lure creatures much bigger than themselves to death.

They weren't wanton killers, though. They might well be, if not for the treaty they'd signed with the masters of the deep. The sirens were allowed their fill, but only as long as they remained in their own territory. Of course, the sirens, being clever creatures, put a spell on their home years and years ago, even before the Sun Ferry Islands had been named - their home traveled. It was a wide outcropping of rocks that could hold twenty or more sirens at once. Their tiny island home now floated, traveling a specific circle around the ocean that repeated itself in the course of a month.

The cycle brought the siren home close to Sunanwaves - five miles off shore. It was during this cycle that Breezy Plume, or Leucothia as she was known in the under world, met Deep Surf. He'd been lost at sea one dark night after a powerful storm , and had wandered into siren territory. He'd found himself a small island to find shelter on, one that Leucothia had also been resting on. It was an unlucky night for the pegasus.

Or was it? When the siren found Deep Surf nearly passed out on the sand, she considered devouring him then and there. And yet, she was curious. The young stallion had just made it through a vicious storm and survived, all alone and with nothing but a long board. He seemed to possess a very strong will, and it made her more curious to see how long he could resist the siren's call. Would he even be fearful of her aquatic form? So she waited until he awoke, and sat there observing him in her fully unhidden glory.

The young pegasus had sat up slowly, his eyes on the siren, He'd known instantly what she was and what she intended to do. He'd simply sat there and smiled at her, an adoring look. She hadn't even used her siren charms on him, and he was already staring at her the way the idiot ponies always did when she charmed them. They'd always screamed in terror when they'd seen her, or tried to swim away. This one..."Why?" She'd asked. "Why do you sit there staring at me like that? Don't you know what I am?"

The pegasus had simply nodded and positioned himself into a relaxed pose and said, "I have survived the onslaught of the mother river; to be gifted with such a beautiful scene at the moment of my death, what reason do I have to fear?"

The words had struck deeply into the heart of the siren, and though she be loathe to admit it, she had fallen in love with his words. They were poetic and insightful, and she wanted to hear more. The two struck up a conversation that lasted for hours. It seemed like days had passed before they came to the conclusion that Deep Surf would have to live - he was far from done entertaining his lady siren. There were far too many tales to be told, and in too many different ways to tell them, and hearing the pegasus speak gave the siren chills.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Leucothia had Deep Surf sit on his long board in the water. She pulled him the now ten miles back to Sunanwaves, and later cast a spell on herself to adopt a land form, that of a beautiful pegasus. But because of the siren's returning the pegasus to land, her home was a long way off, and finding it's exact location while it was this far off would've been a long task. So instead, the siren took up temporary residence on Sunanwaves and hid among the populace as the pegasus who would become known as Breezy Plume.

The two spent the next month together. Deep Surf showed the siren the whole island, who had never seen the depths of the woods, though she met Mimosa Palm on more than one occasion. The dryad had opened his biodome for all, after all. Leucothia had traveled inside to the center of his welcoming home several times, but had never stepped hoof outside of the dome. That month had given her something she never thought she could possibly have - a romance. She and Deep Surf grew enamored with each other, and before the end of the month, had begun a relationship.

Of course, she was not allowed to stay on the island - it was outside of the rules written and agreed upon by the sirens. It was found that no rules were violated this time, because she was in fact helping a citizen of the islands return home, trapping her there for the month. She would no longer be permitted to stay that long again, though, and patrols were soon put into effect around the islands to ensure it would not happen again. The patrol - that's who Leucothia was on her way to see now. If anyone knew about Lusus and any reason he might interfere tonight, they would know.

The waters had begun to darken even more, more so to the point that it was becoming difficult to see. Leucothia had entered the dark belt - a thick blanket of black current that served to separate the surface world from the under water regions. The surface dwellers weren't meant to know of this place, after all, and only a few even knew that a world existed at all under the black murky waters of the dark belt.

The siren was nearly halfway through the blackness when she nearly collided with another body, a seapony. "Whoa!" the seapony cried. The two swam around each other warily, both taking a moment to look each other over in the darkness. "...Leucothia? Why are you coming down this far, at this time? The coronation isn't for hours..."

Leucothia regarded the seapony for a moment. She was familiar, but her name escaped her for the moment. Regardless, she was a beautiful creature. She greatly resembled a lionfish. That was it! "Ah, Volita. Not that it's any of your business-"

"It is my business," Volita interrupted. "I'm a close friend of Pearl De-I mean, the princess. I take it upon myself to be aware of the comings and goings around this area, and-"

"'This area'?" the siren interrupted this time, a mischievous smile crossing her face. She swam around the seapony carefully - one wrong touch could poison her. "Your 'area' is down below," she said, indicating below the dark belt with a hoof. "The black belt is no-pony's sea. What are you doing this far up? Sneaking around behind the royal guards' backs?"

"I..." Volita paused, a look of nervous apprehension spreading across her face. "I-I'm just making sure to cover more water...I'm looking out for my friend!" she shouted, adopting a more aggressive stance towards the siren. The lionfish was a dangerous species to mess with, and she knew that Leucothia kept this in mind. The siren backed away slowly, as she thought she would. "This will be the most important night for Pearl Depth for years and years to come, and she deserves to have someone she can rely on to have her back!"

"And what can you do?" the siren asked in a cruel voice, her mouth twisted in a sadistic grin. Her eyes lit up the dark water around them, causing Volita to recoil in terror. The damage was done, though. She'd been caught in the siren's hypnotic gaze. Only the strongest of wills could even function under it's power. The seapony felt her lungs seize up, as well as her body. She simply froze in the water. "You're a powerless little fish in this great big ocean. You couldn't lift one little fin to help the princess in her dire hour, let alone stand up to..."

The siren drifted off in thought. She was wasting time here; she hadn't meant to stop here and torment Volita, she had more important things to do. She immediately released her captive, who immediately coughed and gasped for breath. Being stuck in a full-on siren hypnosis was not a fun experience. "Wha...what are you...?" she asked as the siren began to swim down towards the cities below.

"Nevermind that. Why don't you go play somewhere for a while and stay out of my way?" the siren called derisively. She tried to play if off as casually as she could, but there was now a definite purpose in her speed and movements - something had grabbed her attention.

"But what...?" Volita trailed off as the siren plunged downward in a display of surprising speed for a creature of her build. The seapony frowned with concern and followed the siren down into the abyss. By the time she'd cleared the dark belt, the siren was out of sight.

The cities below, however, were luminous. Light poured down on them from above, and from her position Volita was blinded. She swam down further to avoid the sunlight bearing down on her. The valleys of the ocean floor were lit with light from the sun itself - magically enchanted to bear down on them from the ceiling that was the dark belt, set up hundreds of years ago by the masters of the sea, ancient wizards. Or gods, depending on who was telling this tale.

The seapony frowned in concentration as she looked down at the massive cities and towns below, hoping to locate the image of the siren before all hope was lost of finding her again. Her gaze swept over the valley of the sea bed, eventually coming to rest on the gigantic spire at the end of the valley, where the royal family was currently occupying until their kingdom could finally be established. With a heavy, resigned sigh, Volita gave up. The sea was simply too vast to locate the siren, and Leucothia was simply too fast. She swam on down below, her mind occupied with thoughts of the sirent's last words. 'Stand up to...' Stand up to who?

After a moment's pause, Leucothia emerged from the dark belt. She'd made her escape by swimming back into the murky current and hiding. The siren smirked at the fact that her simple tactic had worked, then swam down to the streets below and made her way through the shadows of the bustling city below. Sirens weren't warmly welcomed on the bottom of the ocean, so keeping a low profile was mandatory. She could've just snuck along through the dark belt, but she wanted to have some fun, and hiding along the bottom was more of a challenge.

The city sprawled out in every direction. Most of the buildings were made from coral stone, ancient fossilized material that had been dug up from the under the ocean floor. The structures were usually never tall, and were single-level. Houses were small but efficient, and usually consisted of five individuals or less. The population was controlled, both by careful monitoring, and by popular consent. The denizens of the ocean knew that keeping their numbers consistent was a smarter idea than breeding beyond control.

The ponies of the ocean were a vast variety - it was difficult to keep track of the different species that had evolved over hundreds of years. There was a 1000 percent increase of variety on the ocean floor then there was on the surface. As many different variety of aquatic life one could think of, there was a seapony version of it somewhere in the ocean: sea slugs, hermit crabs, jelly fish and sharks - they all existed and lived together in the vast oceans. This one city was but one of thousands that laid at the bottom of the ocean around the world.

It wasn't long before Leucothia spotted the royal family guardian, Bartholomew. He actually wasn't that hard to spot - he was half as tall as the spire itself and a nearly pure black color, nearly impossibly to miss during daylight hours. The behemoth was up and about, trailing slow, lazy circles around the giant spiral tower at the end of the valley, keeping watch on this day of days. The siren brought a thoughtful hoof to her chin - she really hadn't planned this out. The sirens weren't supposed to be wandering the town, they were supposed to announce their arrival and have a monitored gathering. Swimming about the city unchecked had not been a good idea.

Leucothia wasn't much farther away from the tower, just another mile as she slipped along behind some coral houses when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned cautiously and found herself in the company of Choral Abyss, one of the royal family's most trusted soldiers, along with a small company under her command. Choral Abyss herself was quite a beauty. Her body was mostly white, with splotches of orange outlined with black. Her orange mane, bright at the head and nearly white at the tips, started out bushy and turned into a long, short dorsal fun all the way down to the legless portion of her lower body, which simply ended in a tail.

Choral's soldiers varied in species, but they were all what were called Current Racers - creatures whose bodies ended not in legs, but thick, muscular tails. These were the fastest swimmers in the oceans, and were often employed as body guards and soldiers. Choral Abyss, however, was a special soldier: she was also horned. She had powerful magic that she used for combat, and for singing - her favorite hobby to practice whenever she had free time.

The siren suddenly found a bident pressed against her chest and thrust against the building she'd been hiding behind, and a spell to cover her eyes with a dark garment. "Wh-hey! What is this meaning of this?!" she screamed. The siren fought against her bonds, but both were futile, held in place by stronger magic than her.

"Siren Leucothia, you are breaking the rules set forth by our respective peoples," the siren heard Choral Abyss telling her. "You are trespassing and have hereby forfeited your rights to be heard or seen. The kingdom of Undercari will tolerate no spies and no terrorists. No predators without the explicit permission of the King or Queen to traverse in this area. Leucothia, you are hereby under arrest for treason against the royal family and their subjects -"

"Funny...too funny!" Leucothia interrupted. She'd long since ceased struggling, and had allowed one of the other soldiers to bind her front hooves together. The bident was removed from around her, the soldiers now awaiting orders from their superior. "You keep talking like this is an established kingdom...it's not. It's still the Valley of Undercari, and the king and queen are not actually king and queen...they're in waiting."

"Not after tonight. It's too close to the official proceedings to not accept this as truth. Did you come here with some foul intentions to make sure it doesn't happen? Just what I'd expect from a back-stabbing siren!" Choral shot back, tugging Leucothia closer to shove her down on the sea floor.

Leucothia took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She was bound, she could not use her hypnosis, and she was being thrown around on the sea floor like a rag doll. Technically she didn't have to warn anyone about Lusus. This wouldn't affect her at all if it turned out that he was planning something...would it? Then again, Deep Surf would let her have it for not doing anything, and she would almost always do anything for him if he'd just ask, and she'd mocked him for wanting her to do this, so..."It's not me," she finally muttered with an air of resignation.

"Say again?" Choral Abyss said. She glanced at her soldiers, signaling two of them to come forward and hold the siren down. She leaned down to Leucothia once this was done and tapped her cheek to let her know of her proximity. "Speak up, siren, you don't have a lot of time before we put you away until after the coronation, and that's if our new queen is feeling generous."

"It's Lusus, all right?" the siren told her with an angry hiss. Deep Surf was going to owe her for this humiliation. "I received a tip from a very credible source that Lusus may be planning something..."villainous" tonight."

The guards glanced at each other, then to their commander, who remained suspicious. Still...Lusus. That whale of a bully had been in everyone's manes for years. Always a trouble maker, but especially these last five years. He'd really been stepping up his game, actually attacking the royal family on more than one occasion. The fact that a single seapony could cause so much mayhem and mischief...that, and his assistant, Seaweed Cyanide. What could those two possibly be planning?

"Well..." Choral mused to herself after a moment's deliberation. "It sounds plausible...I wouldn't put it past him, but you had no right to sneak into the city and try to sneak straight into the palace, if that's indeed where you headed. You should've made an appointment with the-"

"Made an appointment? What would be the point of that, you idiot?! Appointments take time! I just got this news twenty minutes ago, and you expect me to wait up to a week to get that approved?! Just how little do you care for your princess' safety?!" Leucothia yelled harshly. Even she would've figured the soldiers to take this more seriously.

Choral Abyss visibly flinched at the tone, at the accusation. She glowered at the siren for a moment, then reached down and eased her up to balance on her tail. Leucothia and the soldiers all looked confused at this action. "Captain?" one of them inquired.

"We'll be escorting Leucothia to the royal family," she responded as she slowly removed the bonds from the siren, who turned to the captain expectantly. "...Your blinder will remain. I'm sure you understand."

Leucothia scoffed in disgust and turned from Choral, but she made no protest. It was indeed understandable. "Fine, I guess. Let's just get this over with." She pushed herself upwards into the water slowly, loathe to move too fast. She met no resistance, so she continued to swim upward. After a moment, she felt a gentle magical pull urging her vertically, so she followed it slowly towards the spire, no more words spoken between her and her escorts.

12 - Into The Depths (part two)

"Oi!" Scriven called from the railing of the Sea Pearl. The black griffon was calling to his shipmates as the ship settled some ways off the coast of Sunanwaves. When several of his pony comrades joined him, he leaned in and whispered, "...Are we really about to send our mate down there? We don't know if there is such a kingdom down at the bottom of the sea. 'Undercari'? What kind of terrible pun is that? Sounds like a child's book!"

The tallest among them, a red unicorn mare with a flowing blonde mane and tail smacked the griffon upside his head. "What-a you talkin'?" she said in an Istallian accent, though she'd spent years trying to rid of it, with little results. "You show some respect - that's the royal family you mockin'."

"Ai, Rossa!" the griffon complained, rubbing his head where he'd been struck and sending the leggy unicorn a glare. "I'm just talkin', no need to take it so seriously!...gigante," he muttered, the last word under his breath.

Rossa Bellezza glared down at the shorter griffon, her eyes blazing with loathing and consternation. "If you gonna insult a lady in different languages, make sure it's-a not the same word in both languages, pendejo!"

"It is a real place, Scriven," came a gentle male voice from the back of the group. The small gathering turned to look back at Dascyllus, one of the seaponies that served as part of the crew. He was small for a seapony, a little smaller than the average earth pony, which he greatly resembled. At least he would if it weren't for the colors. He was a brown color, with a long section of white that started at his muzzle and went up between his eyes and down his back. His mane and tail were blue, dotted with bright yellow spherical patterns that somewhat resembled eggs. The backs of all four legs had the same protrusions, extensions that helped him to swim.

Dascyllus didn't really stand out among the crew in terms of personality - he was actually quite the opposite. He tended to keep to himself as much as possible. He never had a whole lot to say, but when he did, others listened. This being a pirate ship that sailed the oceans, listening to the seapony when he spoke of the ocean was almost always relevant.

With the attention suddenly on him, the seapony lowered his head in embarrassment. "The valley of Undercari isn't quite a kingdom yet, though," he said, determined to carry on the information he'd dared to supply. "The crowning ceremony for the princess is tonight. That's why we're sending 'the messenger' down there, so he can offer greetings and respect and our word of honor to never bring them harm."

"Oh yeah?" Rosso said a tone more gentle than she'd been using with Scriven. "And how's-a he gonna get down there? You gonna take him, Dascyllus?"

This, much more than having the attention turned on him, seemed to frighten the seapony. He lowered himself slightly and shook his head vehemently. "O-oh, no, not at all. I can't...I can't go down there again. It's too...dark."

"It's not dark at all!" a cheerful voice erupted from behind him. The other seapony on the ship, Scaled Melody, jumped out in front of Dascyllus, much to his relief. Melody, as she preferred to be called, was much bigger than her male counterpart, nearly as large as Scriven. Her body was a bright green, while her mane was a striking pink with yellow highlights. Her tail was short but thick, and sported a massive fin that ran on either side of her tail, and resembled a great pink and yellow fan.

Melody was like a ray of sunshine for everyone on the ship. She was eternally happy and joyful, and while certainly not annoying, she was loud and spread her cheer to all those in hearing distance. It wasn't just her demeanor, either. It was said that somewhere in her bloodline was the blood of a siren. While Melody herself was not a predator, she seemed to have a power that could sap away sadness and spread good feelings to others.

"The bottom of the sea is so bright, it's like the sky up here!" she exclaimed, gesturing with her hooves up at the sun. "Once you get past the dark belt, which is completely black and creepy, the bottom of it is enchanted to send the suns rays down onto the bottom of the ocean. All the sea ponies get as much sun as we do! It's like..." she paused and jumped over the side of the ship and into the water below. She flew back up into the air and began spinning, sending water and rivulets of reflected rainbow light over the crew, then landed on the railing and looked down at the others. "- like that!"

A chorus of good-natured groans rose from the ranks of the group as they were splashed by the seapony's antics. One might've thought they were annoyed at Melody, but the seapony heard nothing but comradery and affection in their voices. It was enough for her. She hopped down as Scriven shook himself off and returned to his original position of looking down into the water. "Still...to send Gabriel down into the water..." he said, shivering. The idea of going so deep down into the depths and into the blackness of this 'dark belt' made his heart quake.

"Don' worry about the deep," Rossa said as she peeped over the griffon's shoulder at the water below. "You won' have to leave the safety of-a your ship," she said with a mocking grin as she ruffled his crest. "You can stay on the surface and help clean up!"

A slow, long sweeping sound from behind the group could be heard at that moment. Rossa and the others all put on smirks and grins in Scriven's direction before turning to see the largest creature on the ship, the kirin known as Vara. She was a majestic creature: her body was a deep pea green, and from her neck down her chest and along her belly were light tan scales so hard that the sharpest spear would be broken against them. The same scales ran from her nose and along her forehead, ending in a tall, bent horn. A pair of whiskers grew from her muzzle and flowed nearly all the way back to her rear.

Vara's last and most striking feature was her mane and tail. The hair on her head was jet black and so long it could cover her whole body, so she kept it braided and bunned neatly and elegantly against the back of her head. Several blue beads decorating her mane were of a lighter color than her deep blue eyes. Her tail was very long, longer than her whole body, and along the bottom of it flowed more of that glorious black fur. It, too, was long, and was braided twice. There were beads in the braids, as well as one bead at the end of her tail. The backs of her legs also boasted more of the beautiful, shiny black fur.

The kirin acted, willingly, as the ship sweeper. Not just the deck, but all of the ship. She was so very skilled at keeping the ship clean that even if the others didn't pitch in to keep the ship spotless she could still do it herself. While all kirins had magic that acted much like unicorns, Vara's magic was not wielded through her horn, but through her long whiskers. It was a mysterious magic that purified and cleansed. Foreign objects simply vanished when she touched them, thus ridding the ship of grime and dust so fast that the other crewmembers wondered why they ever bothered to clean before she joined them, which had only been three years ago.

As the large kirin swept around the crew carefully, she turned and cast the griffon a small, kind smile, plastered over a hint of derision. "I'm almost done, Scriven. Perhaps you'll have time to go into the deep, after all."

Scriven glared at Vara, his feathers bristling and his fur standing on end, a bruised ego showing through the blush on his face. "That's not even funny!" he shouted.

"But it is humorous!" called the youngest of the crew. Scriven sighed inwardly as he and the others turned their attention to their youngest crewmate, a young zebra mare. She sported beautiful violet eyes, as well as stripes of dark purple in her mane and tail. Her cutie mark was the shadow of a sextant, superimposed over a map of the world. Like her cutie mark suggested, the young zebra, at fifteen years of age, longed to see the world, and make maps of the places she visited.

The young mare of course hailed from Zebrafica, a land of dry plains, deadly desert and treacherous mountains, a land of wild creatures and little pity for those who didn't know what they were doing. Ramani Ya Dunia, a family name, had been taught from the day she was born how to survive there. She'd always yearned to see what else there was to see, to travel, and to make a log of her travels.

With her were her guardians, a pair of oryx siblings, friends of her parents. The two were older, in their 30's, and much more experienced than the young zebra. The male, Xennen, was slightly taller than the average pony stallion. His colors were white, a dark, almost black brown, and a lighter shade of brown. The colors were interspersed yet layered, making him an elegantly furred creature. His horns were long and pointed, making his head a very fast and very powerful weapon.

Dendalla, his sister, bore the same colors, though they were much brighter than her brother's. Both oryx were very stoic creatures, and seldom had anything to say, though Dendalla was slightly more talkative than her brother. When she was talking, the time was usually spent bonding with Ramani.

The two were hardly ever seen apart from their charge. The three had been travelling together for a few years now, and had joined the ship on the pretense of seeing the world. Unknown to the young zebra, however, the two had a much more focused reason for the three of them leaving Zebrafica: their country had been leaning more and more towards civil unrest - Ramani's parents didn't want their daughter to be caught up in the imminent violence, and granted their daughter's wish to travel, sending their closest and most trusted friends to protect her.

Ramani giggled again and poked the griffon's beak. "You are not so rushing to swim, yes? But you are given the time to do so, so you are afraid!" she said in broken Equestrian. Her accent was almost perfect, but she hadn't quite gotten the words to string together as they should. Scriven was tempted to point this out to her in annoyance, but he managed to keep his beak closed. Xennen's even stare at him from Ramani's side was indication enough not to retort.

"Now now," came a gentle, yet strong male voice from the back. The group parted as to allow a tall pegasus stallion approach Ramani. He was a light tan color, almost cream. "Scriven is no scaredy kitty. He's the bravest griffon I know." Ramani giggled and nodded in agreement, actually moving forward to receive a hoof as it brushed through her mane. Gabriel smiled down at her, an approving gaze in his eyes. The fact that Xennen didn't seem to mind the other "captain" spoke volumes.

The white-haired pegasus was a sight to see - as a Saddle Arabian pony, he was taller than most Equestrian ponies, at least a head taller than the average stallion. His mane and tail were a pure white, an exotic shade to go with his tan coat. "You sure I ain't just the only griffon you know, amigo?" Scriven asked his best mate, more than a hint of amusement in his inquiry.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and patted his friend's head in mock condescension. "Quite sure, old friend. You and I both know Jorden, of course."

Scriven made a face and waved the intruding hoof away. "Ehh, not much good from knowin' that alborotador. She's in a league of her own when it comes to bein' a "stand-up griffon". Ya can't lump me in with her, so it don't count."

"Mm..." Gabriel muttered in reluctant agreement. Before he could ruminate on this much, though, hoofsteps approaching from behind caught his and the others' attention. Vara resumed her sweeping, Xennen and Ramani resumed sight-seeing, and the two seaponies resumed their posts nearby. Scriven stood at Gabriel's side as the captain of the ship approached.

Orland, the Sea Pearl's captain, was an older stallion, approaching middle age. It didn't show, though the unicorn had seen some days. He wore his grey mane in dreadlocks over his cream coat, both of which set off his deep blue eyes. The pony skull and cross-bones were prominent on his flank, as well as on Gabriel's, though there were minor differences. While Orland's cutie mark's sword were long and thin, Gabriel's cutie mark swords had wings on the handles.

Gabriel turned to face his captain, and offered him a light bow that nearly brought his chest to the deck. "Captain," he gave in greeting, then stood back up to his lofty height over the unicorn. Orland rolled his eyes and put a hoof on Gabriel's back as the two turned nearly as one to look down over the ship and into the glimmering ocean. "Are you so sure it should be me, captain?" the Saddle Arabian asked, displaying the usual self doubt in the face of being tasked with something important. "I mean, I'm not-"

"You're our messenger, Gabriel," the shorter unicorn told him. "You have a gift - ponies trust you, and you've earned this."

Gabriel, too humbled by his captain's words to respond immediately. After a moment, he smiled down at Orland, but before he could respond, there was a call from down below. "'Hoy!" the voice called, a young, cheerful female voice. Gabriel and Orland glanced at each other - it was time. They both looked over the edge to see a beautiful magenta mare in the water, a long, thick tail just visible under the water - a seapony. "Good morning! I've come to escort the one called Gabriel to Undercari, and-look out!" she cried, pointing with a hoof up at the railing, just under their points of view.

Gabriel and Orland both looked down in alarm. Both were too late as a lithe form pulled itself up onto the railing. It appeared to be a simple mare, pale blue in color with a deeper blue mane and intense green eyes, yet the long, thin tendrils that waved about from her mane was most telling. It was too late to look away or prepare themselves as the light from the siren's eyes captured their gaze.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" the siren said breathily as she pulled herself up onto the railing, her long body trailing behind her as she reached forward to touch a hoof to Gabriel's chin. He and the captain stood there in a partial retreating position, frozen, their eyes wide. "It's the good captain of the legendary Sea Pearl, and his little pet, the good angel messenger...this is a rare opportunity."

"Mariasha!" The siren looked up in time to see a figure practically dancing in the air, and coming down fast. She let out a growl and dragged herself onto the ship, flipping end over end until she came to a stop some ways to the side of the two, now freed from the siren's hold as Melody dropped to the deck from above before her shipmate and captain, both of whom stumbled backwards, now able to move. "You know better!" Melody scolded, an unusual venom in her eyes and voice as she turned to face the full-blooded siren before her. "Tonight is too important a night to cause such trouble."

Mariasha made a face and held a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, weighing her options. She didn't have a whole lot of time to give it thought as she found herself surrounded on all sides by at least a dozen pirates, blades drawn and horns lit with spells. "Oh my. Have I been a bad girl?" she said saucily, glancing around at the angry ponies and griffon, a hoof poised at her lips innocently. "Maybe I need to be spanked."

"You be 'shanked' if you don't behave, coño!" Scriven growled.

Rossa bonked him on the head with a steady glare on the griffon. "Language!" She faced the siren, who looked genuinely curious at the foreign word. Smirking slightly, the tall Istallian mare smiled kindly at Mariasha. "Coño...it means 'beautiful in his language. You should pass it around to your sister sirens."

"Easy! Back off, give her room," Orland called. The angry group parted slowly, though wary eyes all around were centered on the siren as the captain approached. Mariasha smirked and bowed mockingly in a show of clear disrespect.

"Captain Orland of the Sea Pearl. How doooo you do?" she said, her voice soft and silky, yet there was a strain in her voice. The voice of a siren was naturally attractive - the fact that one could hear the tension, perhaps malice in her voice, was a clear sign; she wanted him in a violent way.

Orland, however, kept his cool a little easier than Gabriel, who stood behind the captain with an air of indignation at being caught by surprise. "I'm doing fine, thank you. It's a wonderful day for a trip into the deep to world of Undercari. Ah..." he paused, holding a hoof to his chin thoughtfully. "I'm aware there was to be a siren among us on this trip, yet I think it was not meant to be you, but a siren we're more familiar with...what was her name? Leucothia?"

The siren shook her wet mane and laughed mockingly. "Leucothia can't grace herself with her presence today...she's busy spending the day with her boy toy. She would've been here, but I guess she forgot how 'important' it was to come say hello. Well, ladies and gentlecolts. I think it's about time to go give our respects to the lords down below." Mariasha winked at Gabriel, a welcoming gesture that she used her whole body to articulate. "Well? Are you going to take me down below?"

Gabriel cleared his throat when the captain gave him a look that told him flirting in this situation was a bad idea. "Of course...it'd be a pleasure to see the world below, and offer my respects."

Mariasha pouted; she was hoping for more sport from the famed messenger. Well, there was plenty more time for that. "I'm coming, too." Or maybe not, the siren grumped to herself as Scaled Melody, a creature well renowned for her siren bloodline, stepped forward, a stern look in her eyes. "Not that I don't trust you to get the job done, Gabriel..." she commented, looking to her shipmate with a tentative and mildly shy gaze.

"No, I understand," Gabriel told the seapony as he turned to her. "Your help is most welcome. I feel safer already."

Melody gave a little happy squeak as Gabriel patted her on the head, her big tail swishing back and forth joyfully. "Wonderful," Mariasha said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "If we're prepared then I suppose we should get going already." The siren pulled herself awkwardly over the side of the ship, creating a great splash down below.

The crew, the members that were on deck anyway, gathered around Gabriel, offering words of encouragement and praise. "I have much envy!" Ramani called from her place at the side of the ship. "The bottom of the sea...if only to see it..." she said with a sigh. As Gabriel approached her, she turned and put her front hooves on his chest and stared up at him with a stern look in her big eyes. "You must make memories down below! Return and tell us all that you see, I must know!"

"You got it, kiddo. I promise, I'll tell you everything when I return," Gabriel told her, bowing his head lightly in respect to the young zebra. She gave him a winning smile before backing up as he made his way to the edge of the ship and took one last look at the others, a brief moment of nervousness entering his eyes that only the captain might've seen. Orland gave Gabriel a firm nod and a stern smile from the back of the group. You've got this son. Now go, his eyes seemed to say.

Gabriel sighed, throwing off a bit of stress in his shoulders. He'd been through many ordeals, but diving down to the bottom of the sea - this was new. He'd been diving down before, but even the dark belt was much too far down to see. This was going to be a new experience. Finally, he was ready. He leapt off the side of the ship and down into the water below. As he surfaced, he was met with the seapony from before, the magenta mare who'd initiated contact.

She frowned sheepishly at him, her forelegs tucked under her chest, her chin held low apologetically."I'm so sorry for the trouble I caused. I completely forgot to warn you about our siren..."ally". I hope you can forgive me."

Gabriel shook his head lightly as he kicked his legs in the water, attempting to keep above the surface of the water. "Think nothing of it. Nopony was harmed. Now, let's..." he was cut off as he found himself pulled under the water and into the forelegs of the siren. Even under the water, her face was clearly beautiful. He might've been charmed if he wasn't panicking and struggling to free himself and return to the surface.

Gabriel felt his lungs burning for air when there was an impact, too fast for him to make out. He tumbled end over end in the water, his body sailing into the deep. He found himself falling, falling into darker water. Suddenly he stopped, and a gentle, melodic voice entered into his mind, as clear as if it were coming to him from above the water, I've got you, Gabriel! The pegasus felt hooves at his side, and he could swear it was Melody's voice he heard. He finally opened his eyes to see it was indeed her.

The Saddle Arabian narrowed his eyes skeptically. Had he really heard her in his head? Yes, of course! her voice came again, though she hadn't moved her mouth. How was this possible? She'd never done this before on the surface...That's because a seapony's ability to communicate with other creatures telepathically is greatly strengthened in the ocean, silly, she said in his mind again, as if reading his. Now listen, I need to help you breathe, but it's going to hurt...I'm sorry. Just hang on!

Gabriel didn't know how she was going to do that, and he was running out of air - the pull under the water had been too sudden, and the impact that he'd suffered, which he'd guessed had been Melody to free him from the siren, had also been taxing on his breath. He was starting to return to that panic when Melody kissed him. So she was going to breathe for him? Well, that'd be fine, he guessed...and then it happened. She opened her lips, her kiss tantalizing and sensual. Without warning, she started to suck.

Gabriel panicked as he felt the air leave his lungs. It felt like he was being compressed from he inside out, and so he was, with Melody acting like a vacuum, taking all his air and making his body start to collapse on itself. He would've let out a scream if he'd had any air left. Suddenly, it was over as quickly as it began, and his body snapped back into shape after having been dangerously close to breaking. He doubled over and coughed, thrashing about in the water as Melody moved away from him with a light giggle that rang clearly in his ears. "Are you crazy?!" he yelled. "That could've killed...me?"

Gabriel opened his eyes and looked around, easily spotting Melody floating about in the water in front of him. A cursory glance above him gave him a good view of the Sea Pearl above him, as well as the siren and the seapony pacing back and forth nervously in the water. He also noticed that there was a flow of water rushing into his body, and out of it. His lungs seemed to have stopped...was he dead? "What...Melody, what did you...?"

Melody giggled once more and swam closer to him, then put her hooves on either side of his neck, blocking a pair of protrusions on his neck he was sure weren't there earlier, and suddenly he felt his breath cut off. Gills! He backed away from her, eyes wide with disbelief. "I...How...?" he stammered, his voice carrying through the water as if the water were air.

"Magic," she said, waggling her hooves at him in a mystical fashion. "Some seaponies - not all, though - have the ability to grant others the ability to breathe under deep water. You'll need it, Gabriel...if I tried to take you down to the bottom of Undercari in a bubble, you'd literally compress like you did before, except it'd hurt a lot more and you wouldn't survive."

"I...wow," Gabriel muttered. And I thought the surface was rough, he thought to himself. You haven't seen everything yet, sweetheart, came Melody's voice in his head, a grin spreading on her face. The sea is much more dangerous below the surface, but it's sooo beautiful, too! Gabriel stared at her a moment, then cleared his throat. "Uh, Melody, can you just communicate with me with your voice? I'm not always thinking the nicest things and I wouldn't want you to overhear something you wish you hadn't been listening to."

Melody frowned, an apologetic look in her eyes. "Oh, uh...I don't really have control over that right now, Gabriel. I could remove the psychic link between us, but...you'd drown."

"It's one of those, huh? The whole package or nothing at all?" Gabriel sighed, his wings flapping once in the water. He found that they had little resistance under the water, much like he would in the air. This whole underwater change was pretty cool. He 'flew' around her a few times, finding that he could move in the water like never before. "I guess this isn't so bad..."

"Wait till you return to the surface," Mariasha said cruelly as she swam down to the two, accompanied by the magenta seapony. The siren floated lazily around Gabriel, her tail running flirtatiously under his chin. "Don't think you'll just reinflate like a balloon just like that...the decompression process is much more painful, but I guess you can thank your friend here for putting you through that."

Gabriel ignored Mariasha for the moment, and cast his gaze down into the blackness of the ocean below. He could see a pitch black coating far, far down below, something he wouldn't have seen before this change. Even now he could feel an apprehension of going further down below than he'd ever gone. He could feel his heart start to beat faster. It was so loud, he wondered if the three mares could also hear it.

The pegasus felt a hoof wrap around his. He turned his head to see Melody smiling comfortingly at him. She leaned in to kiss his cheek, then looked down below once more. "Well...this is it, Gabriel. Are you ready to see my world?"

Gabriel took in a deep breath, then let it out hard, sending up a collection of bubbles towards the surface. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be...let's go pay our respects." Mariasha rolled her eyes, but said nothing as the group slowly began to descend towards the pitch black that was the dark belt.

Preview - 7 Years Later

"Would ya just get in there, Twi? Work those legs, girl, and move!"

Twilight Sparkle's legs would not move. She willed them not to, or they were stuck. She could not think straight enough to figure which of these were true. Applejack's constant shoving against the unicorn's back wasn't helping Twilight to decide which, either. "A-Applejack, stop pushing!"

This prompted the farm pony to ease up just long enough for her to give Twilight a stern glare. "Y'all better get it together, Twilight Sparkle. It ain't like he's gonna bite. So y'all knew each other in Canterlot n' there were some words between ya that hurt. How long ago was that?"

"It wasn't long enough to make me feel comfortable talking to him again so soon!" Twilight shot back, turning to look at her friend with a mix of anger and pleading to understand. However, Applejack had gone beyond understanding. Two weeks of waiting for the two of them to talk had been long enough.

"Six years, wasn't it? Or was it seven years?"

"It...it's been seven years..." Twilight trailed off. Hearing her own voice confirm the length of time since she last spoke to Spark Storm sounded very different than it did in her head. The unicorn took in a deep breath, and finally let it out as she slumped over in defeat. Applejack was very patient as her friend took her time to let this set in.

After a moment's deliberation, Twilight set her eyes in front of her. It was time to send these long-buried feelings of rejection and sadness to pasture. She'd spent too many years ignoring the need for closure, and she'd ignored every chance she'd had to talk to him. It was the best thing for her, especially if she was going to be staying in his hometown. "I guess it's time to just go in and get this over with," she told Applejack, as well as herself.

"That's right, Twi. G'wan in there and rip that bandage right off the wound. Ain't no sense if takin' it slow. Just grab that thing with your teeth an'..." Applejack winced as Twilight turned to glare at her. "Uh...you know what Ah mean, heh heh..."

Chrome Spectrum paced about the floor of the Sugarcube Corner impatiently. His pacing was getting on his older brother's nerves, who was already nervous about his long-awaited reunion with Twilight Sparkle, who was due any minute. He and his cousin Rainbow Dash sat at the table, watching their little brother and cousin display his distaste for standing around and waiting for things to happen. Pinkie Pie stood behind the counter, content to simply watch Chrome; it was making her a little dizzy, which made her giggle periodically.

A hoof slamming down on the table where the two cousins sat made all but Rainbow Dash jump, for it was her hoof that had met the table with such a loud noise. "That's it!" the mare yelled and began to hover in the air with an accusing hoof pointed at Chrome. "Dude! Sit down, would you?! You're driving me nuts, and that's saying something. I thought I was the impatient one!"

Chrome sighed and stepped over to the table next to his older brother and settled with his forelegs on the table and nestled his chin on his hooves. "Sorry. It's just this is taking forever! All this for that bookworm that dumped you when you were what...fourteen?"

Spark Storm narrowed his eyes at Chrome and shook his head. "She didn't dump me, and I didn't...there was no dumping involved! She had a crush on me and I didn't feel the same way, so she told me not to bug her anymore. It wouldn't matter much now if the Princess hadn't sent Twilight here to hang out with my best friends. I can't not run into her now, so we might as well make up and get that out of the way."

"I still can't get over the fact that all our bestest best friends are the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, helping herself to sit beside Rainbow Dash at the table.

"The elements of what-now?" Chrome asked, throwing his question to the other three sitting beside him.

"I don't know," Spark said after Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Chrome stared at him to answer. Neither of the girls were eloquent enough to thoroughly explain the whole ordeal two weeks earlier in which Nightmare Moon had captured and imprisoned Princess Celestia and attempted to keep the sun hidden forever. At that point, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle had risen to the challenge and faced the goddess and returned sunlight to the world.

"I just know that things are way too complicated to try and understand it. I mean, it's weird how all my closest childhood friends and...her are all the Elements," Spark said almost dismissively. He had been thoroughly confused by the whole thing, and while he'd attempted to be there for his friends that night, there were moments that he'd lost and couldn't remember, a fact that plagued him. He'd tried many times to remember what had happened, but every time he came up blank.

"Dude. You don't know about the Elements?" Rainbow Dash demanded to know, another hoof pointed accusingly at her younger cousin. "The Elements-"

Spark Storm rolled his eyes as Dash began to explain, but her rant was cut off as a sound cut through the air like a - well, a bell. All four turned their attention to the door as it chimed, signaling the entrance of a potential customer. Of course, Spark had been expecting the entrant, and dreading her arrival, at that.

Twilight Sparkle stepped through the crack in the door. Signs of apprehension were clearly written on her body, from her upturned eyebrows to the pensive hoof held upwards under her chest. She scanned the room, finding two of her new friends, a new face that resembled an old one, and the pony she dreaded seeing the most. A forced swallow made it's way down her throat and into the pit of her stomach as she and Spark Storm made eye contact.

Both Twilight Sparkle and Spark Storm felt years of memories return to them after hiding them in their own secret places for so long. Their initial dislike of each other, avoiding each other, exchanging their friends/assistants on Celestia's orders, the long trip to Neighppon. Their sharing the stars, tolerating each other, and finally the crush that Twilight developed and sent her into a panic, this being her first, something alien and new.

It hadn't been but a day when Twilight found out that Spark didn't feel the same. While she was panicking and trying to figure out her feelings, if she even had the time to act on them, or the inclination even, Spark Storm had his feelings elsewhere: on Sapphire Snow. Upon learning the truth, it shattered Twilight's hopes. Celestia had hoped that by getting the two to know each other better, Twilight might finally make a friend, but instead the friendship had pushed the unicorn farther away from friends than ever before, and had convinced Twilight that friends were just a hinderance.

Spark's family and Applejack, who had snuck in behind Twilight, looked between the two, each one feeling the intensity of the situation. One could cut the tension in the room with a cake slicer.

Chrome finally broke the silence on Spark's side as he leaned in to whisper to his brother. "Dude, she's cute!...for a bookworm, y'know. Hey, do you think-" Chrome Spectrum's whispering was cut by a two-sided glare, aimed from his older cousin and brother. The metallic-maned pegasus winced at the stares earned with his poorly timed inquiry.

Pinkie Pie sighed and began to nod her head sagely at the pleading glance she stole from Spark Storm. "C'mon, 'Chrome Dome'," she said as she stepped around the table and put a hoof around Chrome's shoulders, who let himself be lead toward the kitchen. "This isn't our business. Our business is to go into the kitchen and get busy...with cakes!" Pinkie's voice tapered off as the two stepped into the kitchen, an exasperated sigh leaving Spark's lips.

"Applejack, I-I don't think I can do this," Twilight whispered behind to the farm mare standing guard at the door. "First there's the crush, then I have to make up, and now I think he has a brother he never bothered to tell me about!"

Applejack cleared her throat nervously, idly tugging at the brim of her hat. Twilight craned her neck back to look at her new friend suspiciously. So Applejack knew this...great. "Uh...look, Twi, it just hadn't come up, y'know? It's been a busy two weeks..." the cowmare told her apologetically, her Stetson pulled down and held over her chest.

While Applejack apologized, Rainbow Dash and Spark Storm sat at their table, somehow patient as Twilight took her time to further her agenda: to move on and earn her mentor's approval. After a moment of silence, Rainbow poked her cousin. "So, uh...really, you know Twilight better than me, Spark. How much of a hoof-full are we talkin'?"

Spark shook his head ambiguously. "Honestly, Rainbow, I couldn't tell you. She's changed since I last talked to her. See how well she's getting along with Applejack? You'd almost mistake those two for friends...maybe she's finally given in and just did what Celestia told her to." Spark paused and ran a hoof through his mane, a small hint of jealousy playing in his eyes. "She brushed me off for so long and all it takes is-"

A hoof on the stallion's shoulder and a smoldering glare from his cousin made him pause. "Look, I don't know the whole story of what you went through, with you and your Fighters, but the girls and I faced a lot the other night with Nightmare Moon. Don't downplay it like it was nothing, 'cause it wasn't."

Realizing what he'd nearly said, Spark inclined his head to his cousin apologetically. If he remembered correctly, Rainbow Dash had received the Element of Loyalty. She certainly seemed worthy of it. "You're right. I'm sorry, Rainbow." A small grin and a clap on his back told Spark he was forgiven.

Just then, a small "Ah-hm...ahem," gathered the attention of the cousins from the other side of the table. Twilight and Applejack had both approached quietly, and it wasn't clear how long they'd been standing there. In Twilight's case, she bore a look in her eyes that had been similar to Spark's in his moment of jealousy. Not only did he already know each and every one of the Elements, but he was cousin to Rainbow Dash. It made her wonder - there had to be some connection. She needed to talk to the princess about this. She neatly tucked that matter to the back of her mind for later.

Finally, Twilight made the first move, and sat down at the table opposite Spark Storm, albeit nervously. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, both sharing a knowing glance, made to leave, despite the pleading faces of their respective escorts. Don't leave me alone with him/her! And yet, both Spark and Twilight knew they wouldn't be able to sort through their differences and years of catching up without doing this face to face, and on their own. They soon found themselves alone in the shop lounge. It was time.

Author's Note

Hello, dear readers! I've been in a bit of a slump lately, and I haven't been able to get far in my newest chapter. But I'm determined to push on, so I'll be doing a few previews like this to get me back into my game. Sorry for keeping you all waiting, and thanks for sticking with me.

Preview - Mystery Of Noblemat

"Oh, please please please? Can I? Please? I won't be in the way, please?"

Applebloom's constant pleading went largely ignored as her big sister lead her towards the school. Applejack was in the middle of getting ready for a big trip across the country with Big Mac, this being the last little chore to take care of before leaving - making sure Applebloom got to school. Some of the family was still around from the family reunion, and had agreed to take care of the farm until the two got back from their week-long trip. Applebloom of course was loathe to sit this one out.

"I'll be good!" the little filly promised. She pulled around in front of her sister and put on the biggest puppy-dog face she'd ever given. "C'mon, please? Ah don't have anypony to keep me company..."

Applejack let out a snort, then sat down, deciding to humor her sister, if only long enough to explain. Before she could begin, though, her little sister began her explanation. "The only family we got left at the farm is Apple Fritz, Danish Dumplin', Braeburn and Fritter Blitz. Ain't one of 'em gonna wanna play with me, Applejack. They're too old!"

The older farm mare huffed at Applebloom's excuse. "Too old?! Now listen here, Applebloom, yer just gonna have to hoof it, lil sis. Them's family, and they'll take care of you. I know we ain't got a lot of family yer age right now, but that's the way it is. Ya gotta stay here and mind your elders, 'cause this trip ain't for fillies like yerself."

Applebloom hung her head and sighed with a great deal of rejection. "Ah hate this. Ah can't even play with Orea. When's she gonna be back?" the little filly asked, raising her head to loop hopefully up into her sister's eyes.

"Ah can't rightly say, little'n," her sister told her a little more sympathetically. The elder sister brought Applebloom in for a warm hug. Spark Storm's little one, who was on occasion described as Spark's daughter, had gone missing the night that Nightmare Moon had returned, and had not been seen since. Her elder, Ampelus, had gone searching for her, with no results up to now, three days later.

Finally out of options, Applebloom turned with great hesitancy towards the school, then snapped back around with such enthusiasm and excitement that Applejack had to take a step back. "Cheerilee! She's Spark's sister, right? Ain't she goin' on this trip? No school?"

Applejack just set her eyes on her younger sister with such disappointment and incredulosity that her younger sister tucked her tail under her legs and bowed her head apologetically. "Applebloom! If yer gonna keep tryin' to get outta stayin' here and gettin' to school, at least try an' come up with a smarter excuse! That's just desperate."

Applebloom, finally defeated and out of options, turned right around and headed onwards to the school. Her elder sister watched her departure, only slightly pitying her younger sister's situation. Just a little. After seeing her sister enter the schoolhouse, Applejack let out an enthusiastic "Yip!" and turned around on her hooves and ran back towards the farm. This was going to be a trip to remember.

It was quiet in the small house, save for the sound of a shower running. Lightning Twist crawled slowly out of the vents, which were usually reserved for the nymphs. The mare was lithe enough to squeeze through them, though, and popped out into the foyer with little trouble. She spread her wings as she fell and dipped into the kitchen, having decided she could help herself to the stallion's last few plates of hay fries - he wouldn't be needing them.

As the red mare chewed on the cold, stale fries, she took the moment to step around the house and look at all the souvenirs and keepsakes that Spark Storm had acquired and collected over the years, reminders of battles and friendships. Hung carefully over the sink was a mask. It was a brilliant white, and kept immaculately clean, although the red marks around the eyes had faded a bit. Lightning wasn't completely sure of the story behind it, but apparently it came from a place called Breen.

On a long, high shelf that ran from the kitchen into the foyer (no separation here whatsoever) were some memorabilia. There were pieces of coral and stones found at the bottom of the sea. There was a plaque made from smooth, black stone with words etched into them, though they were written in a language that Lightning didn't understand.

Next to the plaque was a full-sized surf board. It was high quality, and made in Spark Storm's signature colors - black and blue, with gold lining.

The pegasus paused and let out a laugh at what she saw next. Sitting on a mantlepiece near the door was a griffon claw. Years ago it had been given to Spark Storm by it's owner, a griffon named Havet. It had been ripped from him in battle with other griffons, though thankfully his whole claw had not been ripped from it's roots.

The claw's base was orange, but the rest had been enchanted by a unicorn. The colors split down the middle, red and azure. After returning from Breen, Spark had overslept on the train home and had gone straight past Ponyville and into the mountains. Lightning Twist had gotten onto the train looking for him, and had decided to tag along until he woke up. Trixie had been on the train as well, and the three of them fell into an adventure involving a treaty between griffons and harpies.

Before Lightning Twist could continue recounting the story in her head, the sound of water dripping on the floor and a small cough caught her attention. A small grin of anticipation lit up her eyes as she turned to see a wet Spark Storm standing at the door to the bathroom from which he emerged.

"Oh. Hey there," Lightning said seductively as she let her eyes wander along the stallion's body. Spark took it in stride - even before they started dating, Lightning Twist had made every attempt to make her attraction known. She'd flirted at every chance she'd gotten. Of course, sometimes it was hard to tell what she wanted, as her flirting wasn't limited to just him. Trixie, for example, had gotten her share of suggestive flirting and personal-space-invading nuzzles.

"Lightning, hey. Did you change your mind?"

Lightning Twist shook her head and gobbled up the rest of the fries before turning away from him and returning her eyes to Havet's claw, her mind wandering. "Naw. I just came to see you before you left. You know I'd lose my mind out there in..."pasture land"." Although Spark had been hoping that Lightning would come with him for the week, he understood completely. Lightning was much too spontaneous and fidgety to sit still for a whole day on a train. She'd been several hooffulls trying to keep her entertained on that first train ride years ago.

"Heh, I guess you're right..." Spark sighed. He'd been hoping that he might get to spend a little more time with Lightning, but she was difficult to pin down and get a solid reading off of her at times. It wasn't always hard to get out and do things with her, but there seemed to be a limit, a wall that Lightning kept up at all times. He could only get so close, it seemed, though being with her was fun, and could make him forget about such things, for a time. "Well, you're welcome to hang out here whenever."

"Uh, not likely." Lightning began to step around Spark, her tail curving under his chin the way she did when she felt like flirting. "I don't mind Orea so much, but you remember what Ampelus did when we met - I really don't want to sit around and wait for her to come back and give me a surprise in this enclosed space."

"Heh, yeah..." Spark replied with more than a hint of a blush. He quickly turned his head to keep those thoughts to himself. Although the two of them had been intimate before, Lightning Twist was not very fond of her encounter with Ampelus, who had immediately pounced upon the mare upon meeting her. The act of presumed affection had reminded Lightning of horrible boyfriends past, and the things they attempted to do to her. The fact that Spark was obviously reminded of this was not lost on his marefriend, and was not appreciated.

"Uh huh..." Lightning Twist set a glare on her boyfriend. "Aren't you supposed to be going on a trip right now?"

Spark winced at the tone in her voice. It wasn't easy to get in trouble with Lightning Twist, but when he did, it felt that much worse for disappointing her or getting her angry. "Yeah...I better be going." The stallion sighed inwardly and turned to grab the saddlebags that had been prepared before his shower and slipped them on, the feeling of his girlfriend's eyes boring into his back.

A moment before getting to the door, however, Spark felt a nudge at his side. A glance at Lightning found her smiling, surprisingly. "Hey. Bring me back a souvenir or something, ok?" Lightning cemented her affection with a light kiss to Spark's mouth as she stepped out the door before him, leaving him no room for reaction or response. She looked over her shoulder and winked at him, giving him one more playful flick of her tail before taking off into the air and leaving Spark behind with a small smile on his face.

Before taking his leave, Spark turned back into his home and let out a series of three high whistles. A moment later amid the sound of scurrying, a small fox-like creature emerged from his brick-laden room that hung above the first floor. Slightly bigger than a newborn filly, Risa bore a soft pink color. Her tips of her wings were a solid purple, and her the tips of her ears were striped, with the very ends steeped in a soft yellow color, as were the tufts of her cheeks. She bore two antennae that stretched from between her ears, and curved along the back of her head and jutted out gently around her shoulders and curved along her chest.

The strikingly beautiful fox-like creature had been found in Breen - well, more along the lines of she'd found him. In Breen, the mulfoxi kits were sacred animals, and the only place they could be found. According to ancient lore, the mulfoxi brought joy and luck wherever they went, and very, very rarely attached themselves to anypony. But the moment Risa happened upon Spark, she had become so attached to him that no amount of shooing or pleading her to leave him alone would help (it didn't help, either, that mulfoxi don't speak).

Risa, as Spark so named her for the sound of laughter she made when she barked, was very intelligent. She came from a litter of nine, all of whom ignored the pegasus, save for Risa. Having heard curious squeaking noises in a hole in a hill, Spark had gone to investigate, and had come out with the young mulfoxi attached to his muzzle. Spark had spent a full hour trying to get her to go back into her home, and had even taken to shove her - gently, of course - back into her home, only to have her climb back out and reattach herself to him.

His guide, a kirin named Fox Fire, had told him that once a mulfoxi attached itself to somepony, it was no use trying to get rid of them. It was very rare, but once a mulfoxi chose somepony, they stuck with them for life. Risa had been a constant companion to Spark ever since. Not as a pet, though - Risa was too intelligent to be called a simple pet. Once home from Breen, and with very little prompting, Risa had helped Spark with many things. Breakfast, sending messages, somepony to talk to (even if she didn't talk back), training, and even breaking the ice with new friends (or help with repairing friendships with angry friends). She was always by his side, and although being in his space at all times was sometimes vexing, he was always grateful for her constant affection and attention. Spark's little companion, who had grown with the stallion over the years, was now the size of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and fully grown as an adult. Spark didn't know how old she would live, but Fox Fire had assured him that they would be together for a very long time.

The mulfoxi flew down, lit on Spark's back, then hopped over his head and turned to face him. Is it time to go? Are we leaving? her face seemed to say. The two had been together for so long now that Risa quite often made herself understood without the ability to speak. The pegasus smiled and nodded his head, bumping his friend playfully with his muzzle. "That's right, Risa. It's time to go catch that train."

The mulfoxi let out a peal of what could've been mistaken for laughter. She circled herself about Spark Storm twice before coming down to light inbetween his wings, tucking herself into a little ball as his wings tucked over her; her favorite spot. It was Orea's, too. The thought of his missing daughter made him frown. Ampelus will find her, he thought. Or maybe Forest will. His thoughts kept him rooted to the spot, hesitantly staring at his home. She'd be here when he got back, right? He just had to trust that she would.

He couldn't sit this one out, either. This was an official diplomatic mission delivered to him by Celestia herself. Now that her sister had come home (another mystery in itself - she'd never mentioned a Princess Luna to him), several neighboring nations had called out in anger and fear. What had happened with the moon three days ago, why hadn't the sun come out? With all the talk of Nightmare Moon, these nations had demanded answers, and Spark Storm, Applejack and Big Mac had been asked to handle the situation. As the newfound Element of Honesty, Applejack was a good candidate for this situation, that and the fact that her farm often delivered their wares out to country of Noblemat.

As Spark pulled the door closed and headed out on his way, he quietly turned his thoughts to a day earlier, when Celestia had called Spark Storm and Applejack to the castle to brief the two on their mission, and the dark possibilities that may wait for them...

Spark Storm stood at the entrance to the palace as Applejack approached, flanked on all sides by Celestia's guard. The apple farmer looked more than a little annoyed at the prospect of being delivered, but she had enough tact to keep her complaints to herself. As she drew closer, it became more and more evident that the two old friends were growing increasingly excited of seeing each other and talking about the last few days.

Spark Storm and Applejack were close, thick as thieves, and had grown up through their school years and beyond, both facing their own ordeals and hardships, eventually coming to see each other as family. With Spark Storm's job as part of Celestia's secret monster hunter 'police' and Applejack revealed to be an Element of Harmony, the two suddenly had a whole lot more to talk about.

Spark could feel his everything jumping with excitement, and if it weren't for the guard standing about his old friend, he might as well have jumped about and shouted like a colt at how awesome this whole thing had become. As it was, he gave Applejack a polite nod as she came to stand before him. She, however, couldn't stand the stiff act that her old friend was putting on for diplomacy's sake, and pulled him into a tight hug and declared, "I do declare, Spark Storm, yer stiffer'n a flag pole stuck in a winter storm! Ease up, partner."

The pegasus was so caught off guard that he felt himself blushing from the looks he received from the guards, most staring at the outburst and some chuckling. When he caught one in the back staring at Applejack's flank as she brought herself back to all fours, he set an intense glare at the unicorn. When the other guards took note of the direction Spark was glaring, the captain of the group turned around and smacked the offending starer upside his head. "Star Barge! You know better than to ogle civilians. That's ten laps around the city, and don't let me catch you slowing down. Now move!"

Star Barge let out a groan as he obediently turned and began running in the opposite direction. The captain, a bluish white pegasus, nodded his apologies to Applejack, who had found the whole scene more amusing than insulting. "Spark Storm, miss Applejack, we'll leave the rest to you. The Princesses...Princess awaits you." The small flub made the captain flush for the briefest of moments before he turned and departed, taking his company with him. Spark sighed; he felt the captain's confusion. Having an extra princess in the castle made things a little difficult, a little confusing. Most of today's ponies hadn't even been aware that there was a second princess hidden in the moon until two days ago.

The two friends turned after a moment and headed into the castle. When a moment's silence had passed between them, Applejack could stand it no longer. With a light shove with her whole body, she knocked into Spark with a big grin on her face. "Well? Don't keep me waitin' in suspense, talk to me, Spark! Ah keep hearin' you were in town that night. Can't trust Ditzy to see ya and not say anythin'."

When Spark caught his balance, he frowned and set his eyes on the carpet as they walked. That night was so very confusing. He remembered watching that starry mist heading off into the Everfree, he remembered running after the girls as they chased after it, but so much of that night was a blur. Mostly he remembered emotions, emotions that seemed to have been separated from the visions that went with them. He'd felt, surprisingly, a lot of affection. Something had happened in those woods that made him feel warm and happy. He couldn't explain it to himself, let alone to Applejack. Then there was the fact that whatever had happened had freaked Orea out so badly that she'd fled and gone into hiding. It was too much.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Applejack. I really don't remember anything, at least not anything helpful," he told her with a bowed head. After being a monster hunter for so long, after serving Princess Celestia for years, it turned out that his closest friends had a lot more in common with him than he thought, and on that very night of enlightenment, he couldn't do anything or remember what had happened. It made him frustrated that he hadn't been able to help.

The farm mare frowned at Spark sympathetically before clapping his back comfortingly. "Aw, don't worry about it, sugarcube. You'll get those memories back if ya just give it some time, I'm sure of it." The two turned to face each other, a comforting hoof now placed on Spark's shoulder. They stood there and smiled at each other, taking strength in each other's presence before they turned to face the doors they'd arrived at. The hallways empty and devoid of guards, they slowly pushed open the huge double doors and entered into Celestia's audience chamber.

Spark Storm wasn't entirely sure what to expect. He'd seen Princess Luna once in the two days she'd been back, and that was the morning after the girls had defeated Nightmare Moon and brought Luna back to her senses. She was frightened and unsure of this new world, and she'd had no time yet to adjust, so Spark wasn't too surprised to see that Celestia was alone to greet the pair. She looked tired, something Spark hadn't seen the world summit meeting a good five years ago.

Celestia stood from her throne and waited patiently as Spark and Applejack approached, then bowed before her. "Applejack, Spark Storm...I'm so happy to see both of you. After the events of the last few days, it's certainly comforting to see your faces."

"Your majesty," Applejack said with the most careful of tones. "It's a pleasure bein'-er, be-being of service to you." Spark winced at his friend over-pronouncing her words. "What is it that we can do to help you?"

Celestia also took note of Applejack's honest attempts at being careful and polite, though her tact was greater than Spark's show of chagrine. "Please, Applejack, speak to me as you would your friends and neighbors, there's no need for formality when it's just us. Now, I've called you both here for a matter of great importance. Our country of Equestria was not the only place in the world affected by Nightmare Moon's return - our neighboring countries have been sending messages to me, non-stop, since the sun made it's way back to warm the planet.

I have received many different kinds of messages - some of them fearful, some of them angry, some of them demanding that something be done to make sure this doesn't happen again..." the princess trailed off, a sad, distant look pulling over her eyes. "My poor sister has shut herself up in her old room, refusing to come out. Some of these messages were quite hateful, and I'm afraid a great guilt has befallen the princess of the night. It may take some time to alleviate these feelings. In the meantime, my friends, I ask that you go to one of these neighboring countries, to Noblemat, the land of rams and sheep."

"Well, land sakes, why aren't we already on a train to tell 'em we got things under control?!" Applejack burst out. "Now hold on, Noblemat? I know them fellers. Our farm sometimes ships out products to them out in the country. Isn't their country called Rouffle, or somethin'?"

"It is indeed, Applejack," the princess told her, a dark look coming over her face as she stepped a little closer to the two. A small, serious frown was plastered on her face as she leaned in as if to bequeath a terrible secret upon both of them. "Rouffles is what the country was renamed, after an event that occurred many, many years ago, before my sister was even born. My parents, the rulers of Equestria before my sister and I, battled a creature so evil, and so powerful that he and his entire vast country had to be sealed away. This country is the vast empty plains of Noblemat of today, located within Rouffles.

The name was changed, switched around, after the sealing of the villain and his land. Not all his people were evil, though a great many of them who swore allegiance to him quickly denounced their loyalty when faced with punishment. The name of that land was cursed, enchanted by the foul wizard himself. Please, be careful," the princess warned them. "Even speaking the name is dangerous. Put it together in your minds, but do not speak it...saying it could weaken the barrier keeping him from returning to this world." Spark Storm and Applejack, both having gone deadly quiet at the mood Celestia was setting, turned to stare at each other. Both had the word turned around in their heads, neither dared to speak, should they accidentally speak the cursed word. Instead, it rang, loud and clear like a bell, in their heads...Tambelon.

13 - Friends And Enemies - Part 1

Gabriel had to close his eyes as he emerged under the dark belt due to light. Bright, undulating light. Had he slipped into the dark belt, been turned around, and resurfaced? He swam a little lower in the water and looked above, a hoof shielding his eyes. He was still under the surface, quite a bit under actually, and yet the sun bore down on him as if he were right under it.

"Careful!" Melody scolded him. The mare pulled his hoof away from his eyes and guided him down further, away from the underwater sun's glare. "You can easily blind yourself staring at it here as it is on the surface."

Gabriel's eyes opened wide as he stared down at the perfectly clear view of the Seabed Of Undercari. It was an enormous valley, filled with what looked to be homes, homes made of stone and coral. The houses were all cluttered together, though sometimes spaced apart, and had the most colorful palettes. How? Gabriel thought to himself, becoming more perplexed by the second. Wouldn't the paint just wash away? Just...just how?!

"Not when you have magic," Melody said with a giggle, reminding Gabriel that for the moment they were psychically linked.

"This is all very nice," Mariasha quipped in a bored tone. "I think it's wonderful that you found the sun, can we move on now?" Gabriel, Melody and the other seapony all agreed silently to the siren's inquiry, though all three found her to be completely unpleasant. Since she'd found that she couldn't seduce the pegasus in their group, she'd given up all pretenses of niceness and merely assumed her currently bitchy attitude.

Gabriel turned to look at the seapony. For the first time he noticed what type she was - she looked like a normal mare from the chest up, complete with forehooves. She wore half a small seashell for a necklace. From the waist down, she was all tail. She was magenta, grey-eyed, and her long mane was striped with a nearly white cream-ish color. Almost looks like a beta fish, he thought, frowning as he continued his downward spiral into confusion. But aren't beta fish fresh water...?

"Best not to think about it too much, Gabriel," Melody told him with a pat on his shoulder. "Trying to make sense of this place could give anypony a headache!" The pegasus frowned at this bit of advice, but he didn't have much time to complain or ponder the situation, as it appeared they would soon have company. From the tall citadel-like tower at the back of the valley, he could spot ten or more seaponies coming their way, and they would be arriving quickly.

It didn't take long for the platoon of seaponies to arrive. Melody gave Gabriel one glance, a warning look. Do as I do, and be quiet unless spoken to...these are the royal guards. On this day they will tolerate no unrest, so be polite, he heard in his head.

"Laria!" the guard at the front shouted. Gabriel's escort smiled and waved a greeting as the platoon approached.

"Hello, Choral Abyss! Fine day we're having, isn't it?" she responded as the soldiers approached, forming a vertical line in front of the quartet of travelers.

The orange and black captain of the guard stared long and hard at the four silently. Gabriel got the feeling that something was wrong - there was a look of uneasiness in the mare's eyes, a look that said she didn't like what she was seeing. He was itching to fidget a little, the captain's stare so distressing. Finally she nodded her head and her stare became much more relaxed. "Fine then. I assume that you," she pointed at Gabriel," are our pirate ambassador? Belonging to the Sea Pearl, if I'm not mistaken?"

Gabriel nodded. Almost inclined to offer his hoof in greeting, Melody caught the intention and cleared her throat. The pegasus took a breath to calm himself - it wouldn't do to mess up his first impression. "Yes, that's right. I represent my crew. We wish to offer our friendship to the new kingdom, as well as our solemn promise to support the kingdom and it's new queen, in all things."

"Hm," the captain murmured. She seemed to approve, but she also seemed very distracted. She passed Laria with no more than a cursory nod, stopping instead in front of Mariasha, a stern look in her eyes. Gabriel's knowledge of the world under the dark belt was limited, but he knew that sirens had a bad reputation, both for exposing themselves to the surface world, and for eating those on the surface. A siren's nature was as such, though, so the sirens in turn held a grudge against those trying to impose their laws on them.

After a long, awkward moment, Choral Abyss slowly backed up, giving the siren her space. "All right...We will escort you to the royal family so you can all pay your respects...but you," she gestured to the siren. "I want you in front with me. I don't trust you."

This situation perplexed Choral's soldiers - this wasn't protocol. Sirens weren't that out of control, plus she'd be easier to watch from the center. Still, these were the captain's words and could not be ignored. The soldiers took their place, forming a loose sphere around Laria, Gabriel and Melody, while Choral Abyss and Mariasha took point, slightly ahead of the group.

As Choral Abyss swam side by side with Mariasha, she tossed the siren a glare of disdain. It was returned with a small smirk of satisfaction. The siren loved seeing the underworlders' distaste for her kind; she didn't care either way, she just liked seeing the looks on their faces. Mariasha's confidence and derision were rocked, however, when the captain of the guard spoke. "You sirens are going to foil the plan if you keep nosing around before tonight..."

Mariasha was quiet for a moment, giving the captain a long, pointed stare until she finally decided to speak. "...You? You're...with 'us'?"

Choral Abyss nodded solemnly. "I am your contact at the palace. Everything is ready for tonight."

"Huh. Didn't peg you for the betraying type. But tell me, what did you mean, 'you sirens are going to foil the plan'...?"

Choral Abyss narrowed her eyes at the siren. Did she really not know? "Leucothia was sneaking around the city earlier," she said, watching Mariasha's reaction closely. The siren did not look happy.

"What?! Why-"

"Watch yourself," the captain warned, her eyes subtly darting to the group behind them. Some of the soldiers already looked suspicious, some of them looking anxious. Mariasha took the hint and lowered her voice and controlled her body language as she swam.

"Why? What happened?" she whispered quietly, though the tone in her voice was still harsh and angry.

"She said she'd received warning of Lusus, and that he possibly was planning an attack on the royal family tonight..."

Mariasha became deadly silent at this. If Leucothia messed this up, there would be all kinds of Tartarus to pay…

The spire could be a lonely place. The giant cone-like structures had many rooms, but were bare save for some paltry furniture. Leucothia had been taken to the lowest level of the spire, the widest part of the whole structure. In their spare time, the family had put together a small but impressive labyrinth of coral walls. While the walls did not reach to the ceiling of the first level, it was extensive enough to get lost in it. The first few weeks of occupying the spire had lead to great boredom, thus great inspiration.

Leucothia had been through the maze three times now, and was beginning to feel cramped so deep under the sea. The siren was almost always above the surface, like most of her kind. While she had occasionally been under the dark belt, she preferred the feeling of the wind on her skin. Also, Deep Surf was up there, but if asked she would of course deny this being a reason why she preferred the surface world. Leucothia, loafing atop one of the maze walls, had finally had it. She'd been waiting in the spire for the last hour. She flopped down to the floor, finding the dry atmosphere had run it's course. With anxious hooves she cantered to the magical field keeping the inside of the spire dry and promptly banged her head against what should've given way to water.

"Ow...what the...?" The siren frowned, casting her gaze up along the invisible field. There didn't seem to be anything different. She could see out into the bright water, lit up by the artificial sun's reflection at the bottom of the dark belt. Pressing a hoof against the barrier, she found that it did not give way as it was supposed to. Beginning to panic, the siren struck the invisible wall keeping her in. This wasn't right - the soldiers that brought her here told her to wait for the royal family to see her, they didn't say she was a prisoner! "Hey! Let me out of here!"

The sired had had enough of being jerked around for one day. Her eyes darkening as she sat down to transform, she opened her mouth and let out a high pitched tone. The spire itself reverberated with the sonic scream, the barriers themselves wobbling into visibility. Leucothia had transformed completely, her eyes shut tight with concentration as she continued to scream when the barriers let slip a form into the massive room. The siren was still screaming when she felt a hoof press against her chest. The scream ended and she opened her eyes to see an unimpressed princess standing before her. The fact that the princess' eardrums had not shattered upon entering caught Leucothia off guard. "That's...interesting. Why aren't you...?"

"Dead? Deaf?" Pearl Depth inquired coldly. "Magic. Your scream couldn't break the barriers of this room, same as it couldn't break the spell I put around my head so it wouldn't explode upon coming to see why you're throwing a tantrum."

"A...tantrum?" Leucothia sat up on her forehooves. As much as she'd been looking to get out into the water, she was already transformed. She wouldn't further her indignity by returning to her pegasus form just to see eye to eye with the princess. "Your soldiers put me in here and told me to wait for you. I waited for you, and then I found that I was a prisoner! They could've at least told me I wasn't to leave, or that you've be taking forever! I don't have to be here, you know. I could've just minded my own business and let Lusus-"

"I'm sorry."

Leucothia stared at the princess. Did she just apologize? The siren cast the princess a doubting look. There was little Pearl Depth could do to convince her she wasn't just trying to shut her up and shoo her out the door - if she was allowed to leave at all this point. But the princess surprised her when she got down on the floor and bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she repeated, "for your treatment today. Please understand that this day is very important and there are many issues to be seen to. I-"

"Yeah okay," Leucothia interrupted. The princess' bowing was making her very uncomfortable. She leaned close and, gently as she could (which meant roughly) got the princess to her hooves. "I get it, you're forgiven, stand up already."

Pearl Depth stood again, as requested. Leucothia, being so close, realized just how taller than her the princess was, so the humble look she was trying to give the siren didn't come off quite as well as she wished. The two regarded each other awkwardly for a moment. Leucothia began to feel her cheeks burn. This was embarrassing. After a good two minutes of either staring at each other or looking around the room, the princess blurted out, "So...Lusus?"

"Oh!" The siren had been so lost in her own thoughts that she'd completely forgotten why she'd come down here in the first place. "My boyfriend thinks that Lusus is going to attack you, or something."

The princess frowned. This wasn't going to do. The siren was being dismissive, she wasn't taking this seriously at all. "Would you mind elaborating, please?"

Leucothia scoffed and threw her mane back. Like she wasn't being generous enough already. "Fine...My boyfriend, thinks that something is going to go down tonight at your silly little celebration tonight."

"Involving Lusus."

"I guess."

Pearl Depth sighed as quietly as she could. Why must the siren be so difficult? "Do you have anything else to go on? Any specifics? Please. This is a very serious allegation. We know well how dangerous Lusus can be, but...if you have anything..."

Leucothia rolled her eyes and made a show of looking like a victim. Here she was, stuck in a prison, and being demanded to spew all her secrets - at least, that's what she wanted Pearl Depth to see. In reality, she just wanted to get back to the surface and - wait. There was something else. The princess could see that something had registered in the siren's eyes. "What is it?"

"Well...He - Deep Surf, that is...mentioned that he'd seen Lusus on the island..."

"What?!" Pearl Depth snapped. "Why didn't you mention this to begin with?" The fact that Lusus had been sighted on land was a very pressing matter. The great shark pony was a water creature. While he could change forms and assume the appearance of a land pony, he was almost always in the water and rarely went on land. The only reason he would have to go on land was either to threaten or to make deals, and both of these situations would have pertinence to tonight's coronation.

"Your high-uh, princess!" Both Pearl Depth and Leucothia turned to the far barrier as a soldier slipped through and plopped to the floor with a thud. "As per orders, I am here to inform you that captain Choral Abyss is on her way with guests. The surface ambassador, sent by surface pirates, will be arriving momentarily along with the siren Mariasha." With that, the soldier turned, and promptly ran his head into the barrier. "Ow! Oh no," he moaned. He planted his hooves against the barrier and pressed his head against it. "Am I...Am I in trouble for entering and speaking out of turn? I did it again!"

The soldier continued to pout and moan while Pearl Depth frowned. Something the soldier said was taking the forefront of her thoughts. Another siren? She turned to question Leucothia, but the siren before her had turned rigid and pale. Pearl Depth studied Leucothia's face. She looked scared, and she could almost hear adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her breathing had increased, and there was a sense of extreme urgency about her. "...They don't know you're here, do they?" the princess asked.

Leucothia gave no answer but for a stare. Her eyes were angry, but her body trembled. She was frightened to the point of snapping, like a feral creature. Pearl Depth smiled; there was no guilt in this siren. For whatever reasons she had, she had gone behind the other sirens and risked her safety. She knew the sirens had a close-knit community. If they knew she were here... The princess sighed and stomped upon the floor. Almost immediately the still-wailing guard fell through the barrier and into the water outside, letting out a grateful sigh as he swam off to other duties.

Leucothia snapped her head back to the barrier, and immediately jumped out headfirst. Released into the water, she paused, and turned to look back at the princess with questioning eyes. Pearl Depth nodded, as if to affirm she'd meant to release her. "Go on, get out of here before they see you. Thank you for coming to see me, now go." Leucothia frowned thoughtfully. Surely the princess knew that if she'd been caught messing about behind the other sirens' backs she'd be killed. Was the princess truly trustworthy?

There wasn't even time for that. She shot off through the water in the opposite direction that that guard had come from, and was gone in a moment's notice. Seeing that her 'guest' had fled, Pearl Depth sighed with some trepidation. If Leucothia's word were to be trusted, was it possible that the other sirens had something to do with Lusus and a possible attack on the crown tonight? If it were indeed possible, then she was about to have a meeting with the enemy. Was the pirate involved? Was it even safe to meet with them right now? These and a dozen other questions ran through her mind even as the four travelers came to a stop just outside the barrier. She put on a smile, ignored the screaming urge to flee, and stepped forth to greet her guests.

14 - Friends And Enemies - Part 2

Princess Pearl Depth watched as four figures stepped through the barrier. Well - one stepped, one slithered gracefully to her belly, and the third, tallest figure lost his balance once through and tumbled gracelessly onto his face. The siren beside him let out a snide laugh and pushed the stallion's rear forward, toppling him into a forward somersault. He flipped over and ended up giving the princess a very clear shot of his rear. Both Pearl Depth and pegasus blushed a bright red.

"I-you-why-" Gabriel sputtered. He scrambled to his hooves and turned to face the princess, downright embarrassment in his eyes. He knew from the very beginning he wasn't fond of Mariasha, and now she'd given him a reason to resent her for the rest of his life - full-on accidentally mooning a princess before he could even give her his name. This meeting hadn't even begun and he'd already humiliated himself and the very name of pirates everywhere. Perfect. "Wonderful first impression..." he muttered to Melody, who had gone rigid during the whole debacle. She merely smiled and patted his back.

"Forget it. Let's move on." The seapony told him, and gave him an encouraging smile. It made Gabriel smile as well. Melody always had been a ray of sunshine, and even under the sea her smile shone like the sun. It was hard not to feel better around her.

Pearl Depth was very calm and quiet while the four made ready to speak to her. While she discovered that she hated the new siren, she hadn't made up her mind about the pegasus. He certainly did have a pleasing posterior, though. She filtered that thought out as the Saddle Arabian stepped forth and gave the princess an elegant bow. "Princess Pearl Depth, my name is Gabriel, messenger of the Sea Pearl, and the ship's first mate. I wish to gi...to convey to you our warmest thoughts and hopes to you on this very imp...on this grandiose day." Crap. Even more humiliating, he thought. Keep going, you're doing fine. Gabriel glanced back at Melody, having forgotten once again the psychic link between them.

Gabriel turned his attention to the princess. She stood there with a patient smile on her face; she knew he was having trouble, but she was being very gracious. He liked that about her. "And...you have our loyalty, and our support. We believe that your new station here will be a prosperous one, and that you will lead the kingdom for many years to come with wisdom and kindness."

The princess smiled. He had given her a short speech, and had had trouble at the beginning, but finished admirably. Now if only the rest of her meetings could go this smoothly - and quickly. "Thank you, Gabriel of the Sea Pearl. You may tell your shipmates that their ship and her crew will be ever watched and under the protection of the kingdom of Undercari." She stepped forward, and had to look up at Gabriel as he stood to his full height. She cleared her throat with a small chuckle and beckoned him closer with a hoof. Then, with his head bowed, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his daintily.

The action didn't exactly surprise Gabriel. After all, he was a sexy pegasus, and would often have romps at the drop of a hat back on the surface. So, without really thinking about it, he returned the kiss, the kiss that was supposed to last just a second, and neatly got his tongue into her mouth. While the princess gasped and blushed from the intrusion, Melody and Laria visibly shook with shock, both too surprised and panicked to stop this. Mariasha gaped in the back, then stared with interest. A tense and awkward moment later, Princess Pearl Depth pressed a hoof against Gabriel's chest and pulled her mouth from his. Her cheeks were hot, and she fought to keep an excited grin from giving away the fact that she'd enjoyed Gabriel's kiss. "Uh...w-well then. Thank you very much, Gabriel. I-I have things I must attend..."

"Like my business here?" Mariasha offered with a lightly sour tone. She was annoyed, plus a little hot and bothered by the kiss shared between them. The event had made her agitated.

"Uh, yes. Of course." Pearl Depth composed herself and nodded for the siren to step forth, then turned her attention to Gabriel. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She couldn't speak to him so directly after...that. After a quick hiccup of sense and confidence, she turned to Melody. "Please escort Gabriel back to the surface. Uh, if there wasn't anything else, that is-"

"No of course, my lady," Melody told her. She smiled diplomatically and dipped into a bow. "We need nothing else. Thank you for your time." When Gabriel did nothing more than grin at the princess, Melody smacked the back of the pegasi's head. He quickly dipped into a bow, and was then unceremoniously dragged from the tower, and back into the water, even as voices between Pearl Depth and Mariasha began to rise.

Gabriel blinked as the sea surrounded him once again. It had just occurred to him that there seemed to be no difference between being under the sea and into that air pocket in the tower. "So, why wasn't the air down here and the sea water I'm breathing have any difference?"

"It's magic, I don't gotta-look." Melody swirled around to face him. Her expression was livid. "What did you think you were doing back there, kissing her like that?! She's the princess of Undercari, you can't just make out with her!"

"Wh...what?" Gabriel frowned, confused. "Why not? I mean I know she's the princess, but...but she kissed me first!"

Melody groaned loudly and put her face in her hooves. "That was a charm, you romanticist idiot. Why do you think she said we're under her protection now? That kiss was to let her know if we're ever in trouble! If we're attacked by her enemies, then she has every right to protect her interests and send her army to defend us. That's what that was. You...arrgh!"

Gabriel slowed his movement as realization dawned on him. She wasn't trying to have a little fun. She was giving him a beacon to call her in case of emergency, and in return he slid his tongue down her throat. "Well..." he started, a grin spreading across his face that Melody wanted to smack. "Seems I'll have a story to tell when we get back. I made out with a princess!"

Leucothia's heart beat loudly in her chest. In the quiet of the dark belt, it beat especially loud in her ears. The crushing, lonely sensation of being in the dark belt was severe, and only served to fuel her panic. She wanted to get back to the surface, she wanted to see Deep Surf and have his bizarre speech calm her. At this point, it was the only thing that would. There - the dark belt was ending. She could see the sunlight of the surface above, and - she came to a sudden stop to keep from hitting the muzzle of the last seapony she wanted to see right now. She'd come face to face with Lusus, who seemed to have been waiting for her just above the dark belt.

The siren's blood ran cold at the sight of him. He wasn't much bigger than the princess, but there were certain things about him that made him terrifying. His cold blue eyes were one of them. They told her he'd been expecting her. "Ah. I'd been hoping to run into one of you." Leucothia was silent as Lusus turned in the water, swimming with such slow purpose that she dared not move. "We need to go over the plan for tonight. We're so close, we can't afford any screw-ups."

Lusus continued, his movements weaving him slowly back and forth in front of the siren. She wanted to flee, to swim far, far away from these islands, but she saw no openings. She knew how fast Lusus could travel in the water, and the way he passed back and forth in front of her was so careful and patient that she was too chilled to try. "We wait until after the coronation. It won't matter; there won't be any royals after our attack. When I'm given the signal, I'll rush down into the courtyard and cause some chaos and general panic. Then, the royal family will take their leave and be escorted by their guard...that's when the trap is set."

Lucus turned to Leucothia. The seapony's mouth had widened into an excited grin. "The traitors within the guards ranks will turn on mama and papa and stall them long enough for me to engage them. Then, you, the sirens, make your move. You'll distract the populace and make sure they don't see the final blow. We want this to be seen as an accident."

Leucothia, thoroughly chilled to the bone, seemed to have gotten lucky. She was mistaken for just another siren, one that had actually been in on the trap. The truth of the matter was that she was the odd one out. She didn't hate the royal family, and she enjoyed her time on the surface with Deep Surf. All she had to do was play along and she'd get out of this. "I see. And what will the signal be?"

Lusus stopped in his pacing, and turned to face the siren with a grin that spread impossibly wide. "...You're supposed to tell me."

Leucothia couldn't hide the fear in her eyes, or anywhere else for that matter. She simply stayed there in that spot in the water, trembling. "Uh...I..."

"You're not part of the sirens in my employment," he told her, drifting closer to her her, close enough for her to see her reflection in his eyes. "Truth be told, I knew that already. I wanted to see what kind of trickery you could come up with to save your hide. Frankly, I'm disappointed."

The siren blinked back tears of fear. This was it. She was going to die here. Still, something nagged at her. Something told her to press on, keep moving. She had to stall her death. "Wh...why? Why tell me all that if you knew who I was?"

She stared as the seapony Lusus's face began to stretch. It stretched further and further, until she no longer recognized his face as his mouth opened large enough to swallow her. It wasn't just his face - his entire body had changed and stretched until he was longer than the average schooner and almost as wide. "Because," he said, his voice booming and echoing under the depths. "you'll not live long enough to tell of your last encounter."

You will. And your name will shine like the sun and be remembered as long as the depths have darkness. Deep Surf's voice rang in the siren's mind. He might not have the telepathy to tell her this himself, but he might as well have. Ever since meeting him, Leucothia's inner voice was his. She flipped in the water as Lusus snapped, barely missing the gaping maw. She smacked her powerful tail against his cheek and dove down into the dark belt.

Birds sang. Insects chirped. The air stank, ripe with fallen fruit and the waste of large animals. Ampelus' senses were on overdrive. She rather preferred the cool air of Eqeuestria to these dank jungle temperatures and smells. "Ugh. This place reeks." She turned and gave Mimosa a face.

The dryad patted his daughter's head, something only he could get away with without losing a limb. "Now now, stop being so spoiled. I remember Equestria as well as you do, and I know it's different, but this is the reality of the world. The climate-controlled world over there is still young, clinging to it's beliefs that magic can fix everything. Come along."

Ampelus made a long, drawn out groan, but followed obediently. The last couple hours had been so boring. When she'd first arrived at the biodome, she had of course been interested in seeing everything, and perhaps doing some hunting with her long-lost father. But there had been no hunting. Heck, there'd hardly been any father-daughter bonding, not that she was really into that kind of thing. She'd been without her father for hundreds of years, she could do fine without him again. All this talk of nature and science coming together was technobabble and made little to no sense to the nymph. Structurally speaking, the place was a paradise. Despite the five different domes, the area was a perfect circle. If one traveled to one end of the bio dome to the other, they would have traveled forty miles.

Traveling inbetween was no so simple a task, however. Not without switching regions and climates. There were six different climates and areas for the five domes: desert, polar, mountains, jungle, and the center, which housed two climates. The center, which was also the base dome, was mostly temperate, rich with green trees, moderate weather, and excellent hammock options. In the center of the dome, just slightly left of the center of the island itself, was a massive aquatic area. Lakes and ponds were strewn around the temperate dome, but this was a salt water area. It was beautiful and blue like the sea, and there was a small tunnel deep inside. The average seapony had no trouble swimming through it, which is what it was used for.

Mimosa Palm's biodome was a neutral zone. Politics for all races were erased once inside, and the dryad had absolute authority, by his law. His word was reinforced by the greatest force this side of the world, and that was himself. It was never questioned, it was never tested. It was just understood. This of course was why Mimosa was greatly trusted by the royal family, who visited him often via the underwater entrance several times a month. Lately it had been a weekly visit, even the princess had come to see him. These times of stress took their toll on the princess. Seeing Mimosa Palm's safe and secluded world had been an excellent stress reliever.

It was near this area that Mimosa brought his daughter. The central aquatic area was in view, and it brought with it a pleasant aroma of salt and a wonderful cool breeze. "Ah...I do so love the smell of the sea. It's probably best we can't drink from it, the sea would shrivel in a few mere centuries." Something about the way he said this bothered Ampelus. She couldn't quite figure out why, but before she could, the ground before her opened. Roots from below twisted up before her and slowly formed into a complicated mass that shaped into a moss-covered chair. Ampelus eyed the thing warily. Her view of the earthy cushion was blocked as her father sat in it, and turned his gaze to her expectantly.

What was this, a test? Ampelus narrowed her gaze at her father. He wanted her to grow things...He was like this back before he disappeared. She remembered him saying that he had great expectations of her - something about returning life and magic to the world. It was pathetic and so not worth her time. The nymph sniffed and brought her head high. As if she'd stoop so low as to actually please her father. What a notion! ...Of course she'd never say this to him. She wasn't crazy.

After a moment or two of silence, Mimosa's face turned to one of agitation. "Now, dear. We've talked about this. Nymphs are supposed to grow things. They bring life to the world. They create."

"No, you talked about this, and that was over four hundred years ago."

Mimosa scowled at Ampelus and slipped off his chair to face her. "Ampelus, really? This is what nymphs and dryads do. The forests of the world depend on us for their vitality. It's your responsibility-"

"'Responsibility'?" Ampelus' tone and anger gave Mimosa pause. He found himself staring down his muzzle as the smaller nymph nearly butted heads with him as she spoke. "The world and it's forests have done nothing but take from me ever since I was born. It took away my friends and it took you away from me when I was just a child." The nymph fought back tears as she glared at her father. "I owe this world nothing, and you owe me-"

Ampelus and Mimosa both gave pause in their argument as a peculiar sound erupted from somewhere nearby. It was unlike anything Ampelus had heard before. It was an odd, drawn out chirp, low in pitch, and...what was that sound? Mimosa scowled. Of all times...ah well. He knew better than to have a family squabble in his own biodome. "What is that horrible sound?" Ampelus' annoyed face more than matched how the dryad felt right now.

"It's a proximity alarm that tells me -"

"'Proximity'?"

"Don't interrupt me. Proximity, it's-ugh. It deals with distance. If a creature of intelligence approaches the alarm, then the alarm goes off." Ampelus frowned as her father turned to step towards the aquatic area. "This particular alarm tells me that we're having unscheduled visitors from the sea. Not too surprising, considering the date, but..."

Ampelus didn't know what he meant by that. She shrugged to herself as the alarm went quiet, and followed Mimosa. There were a series of stepping stones that lead out over the water, and a few outcroppings of coral or large stones to rest on as the water lead far out towards the center. The two were nearly to the center when there was a tremendous tremor that shook the interior and left ripples in the water near the stones. "What...in the world?" Mimosa marveled.

The two wood spirits were very near the center now. Coral, shells, sponges and all kinds of smaller tropical fish littered the pool below. The water was crystal clear and very beautiful. Ampelus could see the entrance now. It looked like a small cave entrance, some thirty for forty feet below the surface of the water. She watched intently, the artificial sunlight creating undulating patterns of reflected light against the rocks as more tremors could be felt.

Ampelus and Mimosa watched the entrance intently. Something was coming that way from under the island. Mud and debris blew violently into the pool, and finally the figure came into view: it was something that Ampelus had never seen before, but she instantly recognized it as non-pony. It was a monster, like her. The creature darted through the hole haphazardly, striking her head on a rock just outside the entrance. Something had chased her in here, filling her with such fear that she had no sense, and whatever it was was not done.

16 - True Character part 1

Trixie sighed. A sigh of bliss, of happiness. If someone had told her two weeks ago that she'd be living it up on the tropical islands of Sunanwaves, feeling happier than she'd had in years and full of good food and dancing with a gorgeous stallion, she would have laughed. And then probably cried simply because the proposed situation would've made her sad and lonely. And yet, here she was. Steel drums and the strumming of a lively guitar led her and her dancing partner to a brisk beat, and it was the most amazing feeling in the world! She could stay here forever. Why would she ever leave this place to try her luck as an illusionist again?

Sunny Waves danced closer to Trixie, not a single bead of sweat accenting his fur as he swayed and dipped. It might've occurred to the mare that he danced with mares often, but she was much too entranced by his moves and his close proximity to care. She herself had never danced with a stallion like this, and it was exhilarating! Even though she found herself slightly short of breath and her passions high, her partner seemed none the weary. A brief thought of Spark Storm and his friends crossed her mind. If it hadn't been for them, she'd still be in Vanhoover, earning enough money to eat twice a week, three if she worked all day. Yet here she was, in a place where the weather was warm, even if it was raining! A place where friendly faces were aplenty, the food was better, and much more readily available simply because you were new to the area.

A cursory glance towards the stallions across the open dance floor gave told Trixie that the others had gathered at a table, and were watching, mostly. The mare that had decided to group with them looked anxious. Seaweed, as she'd introduced herself as, seemed to have stolen Laser Reflex's heart. That, or one of those two main functions that mares said stallions only had room enough for. As the pegasus talked her ear off about everything and nothing, Seaweed kept glancing about. Was she looking for a way to get out of this situation? Or was it that she was waiting for someone else, someone that should've been here long before? In fact, this was the case. Lusus had gone down below to check on things with the sirens, but even that shouldn't have taken this long. He should've been here by now, and it was beginning to bore her having to listen to this bonehead prattle on.

Feeling more bored than she ever felt, the mare sighed and glanced sideways at the other stallions she was accompanying. The unicorn stallion looked about as bored as she felt. He sat at a square table alone, simply watching the dancing. Beside him sat the big blue pegasus, and adjacent him sat the female unicorn. She appeared uncomfortable and impatient, like she was wrestling with some inner thoughts. Meanwhile, the pegasus called Laser still hadn't let up. What was he talking about, anyway? Seaweed returned her attention to him, only to remember why her attention had bottomed out before: he was still talking about change...something or others. With a roll of her eyes she turned her gaze back towards Spark Storm, only to notice something odd. She saw a vine reach out from the bushes behind him and poke his shoulder. When he turned, the vine whipped out, grabbed him low around his neck, and pulled him into the shrubbery. Her curiosity peaked, she politely excused herself and made to follow.

"Ampelus! What the freakin'-" Spark's mouth was pulled shut tightly as he glared up at her from his position on the ground. The nymph glared down at him with an unusual amount of urgent panic, a hoof pressed to her lips.

"Shut up, shut up right now!" Spark did as he was told, and simply stared up at Ampelus as if she'd lost her mind. She was quiet a moment longer, her gaze going from him to the bushes. Spark was the only one, pony or monster or otherwise, that she trusted with what she was about to tell him. She didn't need the others getting into her personal business. Finally, Ampelus released her hold on Spark's mouth. "I uh...need you to come with me."

Spark stared blankly up at the sky for a moment as Ampelus left him lying there. Her actions had been so sudden, and strangely non-violent. "Ampelus? What's-"

"Less talk, more walk."

Spark Storm frowned as he got to his hooves and stared after the nymph as she continued to make her way back into the woods, away from the village. Something had happened while she was away, something big enough to change her usually crabby/grabby mood, and it had started back while they were still on the boat. Ampelus had mentioned she'd felt something familiar about this place, hadn't she? Well, it wasn't like he was missing a lot back with the others, and he'd gotten his fill of food. He could spare the time, but he wanted answers.

Spark Storm made to catch up with his friend. His inquiring stare was ignored for a moment or two, but it was apparent that he wasn't taking silence for an answer. The nymph finally sighed in defeat and returned Spark's stare with reluctance. "My father is here."

Spark couldn't hide the shock on his face even if he had a bag over his head. "Wh...what? Your father? Orea's grandfather? I-I mean, older Orea, not...whatever."

Ampelus made a face at Spark. "I am still upset that you named her after my sister. It's confusing in conversation."

"You're the one that doesn't even want to know her," Spark reminded her.

"Didn't...want to know her. Now I am not so sure."

This new information made the pegasus smile, but it quickly gave way to thoughtfulness. Ampelus' father? So many questions were running through his head right now. and there probably wasn't enough time to ask them all before they reached their destination. Speaking of which... "Uh, so...where is he? What's he been doing here on this island? Why did he come here, and when?"

Ampelus glared at Spark Storm and his questions. "Must you ask so much? I only just now discovered his presence here! I didn't even know he was alive..." The nymph sighed and turned her attention to the forest around her. Spark's gaze was embarrassing. "He has made his home here. It's a "bio dome", apparently. He created what he calls an "artificial environment" and put different parts of the world inside of it. As for why he came here to do this," she continued, an angry sneer on her face, "I imagine he was too busy abandoning me to really think about why. And...it was a long time ago. My sister hadn't even been born."

Spark made a face. If older Orea hadn't been born when the father had left, then how...? Ampelus must have heard the wheels turning in Spark's head. She rolled her eyes and said, "He left a supply of his seed for my mother...in case she ever wanted to breed again."

Spark's face turned a little green. "Oh...that was nice of him. Also, I probably would've been just fine not having an answer for that thought." The two walked in silence for a moment, but something else was bugging the pegasus. "Uh...aside from coming to get me to come back with you, you don't really seem all that thrilled to have found your dad again."

Ampelus' vines began to vibrate violently. Usually when this happened, it meant an attack was coming, so Spark was surprised when his friend simply continued to walk in silence. The sour look on her face spoke volumes, though. After a moment, she relented and cast a sideways look at Spark. "My father is...difficult to understand. He has always been different. He is compassionate...curious. Far too friendly with our food. He has always questioned his place in the world. He questions everything!" Ampelus had stopped now. She was too angry to keep moving. "And...I have always been frustrated with his way of thinking. I have sought out his favor in the past, I-" Ampelus stopped. She realized now that she was exposing herself to Spark Storm, her food, her rival. This was embarrassing!

She turned to glare at him, sure that she would see him smirking, reveling in her pain, laughing...but the look in his eyes was worse. He was pitying her. She'd gone too far and revealed too much of herself. The rage building up inside of her at this insult was reaching dangerous levels. And then...it petered out. She visibly deflated a little. Wasn't this the kind of thing that her father looked down on? So it was true...she was still seeking her father's approval. Mimosa had told her time and time again to find a pony to befriend, to learn from them, grow and mature from, and never once had she listened. That was starting to change. Spark was still standing there with that patient look when she resumed.

"I just...I just wanted my father to l...to love...me," she whispered, practically choking with emotion. She'd never spoken of this to anyone, not even her mother. She sat down on the bare ground and covered her face. She couldn't bear to look at Spark, lest she see him with that face, that pitying face. Despite this humiliation, she pressed on, each word more difficult to express than the last. "Nothing I did was good enough for him! He was always looking down on me, on the things that I did. We are nymphs! We are predators of your kind, we're not supposed to be friends!"

Ampelus let out a warning hiss as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. With a jolt her head shot forward and butted against Spark's, putting them face to face. The two stared at each other, neither moving a muscle. To Ampelus' surprise, the pitying look in the pegasi's eyes had left, and in it's place was a simple smile. "You're really tall, Ampelus," he noted disarmingly.

"And you are very stupid...and short," she shot back.

This seemed to be what Ampelus needed. Her own comment threatened to make her laugh. She avoided this by holding her mouth shut very tightly. Next came her eyes, and finally, she snorted a light chuckle. She sighed, and pulled her head away, but not before nudging Spark's forehead in a gesture that he could've mistaken for a nuzzle. The nymph turned and continued towards Mimosa's bio dome, feeling fresher than she had in hours.

Lusus burst from the bushes along the treeline and headed for the ocean. The beach was deserted, as it should be. Ponies just knew to stay away from the south-east corner, it being the most shark-infested side of the island. There were no predators in this area now, though. They all knew better than to swim here when Lusus was upset. And he was very, very upset. Just moments ago he'd failed at killing both a siren, and that damned Mimosa Palm. The siren had betrayed him. Her kind was supposed to aid him in killing the entire royal family down before the coronation tonight, but as things were going now, his plans would be foiled, and...and...

The shark pony stared in horror down at the water's reflection. There was a bright, shiny point there, and it was not the sun. Oh, no...no no no no! he thought as he backed up. The shiny point quickly became a solid, dull color as that point turned to ice. Despite wanting to turn tail and run away and never look back, he knew that if he did his life would be forfeit. He shuddered in terror as the familiar ghost-like creatures that served his master swam in the image that slowly raised up, positioned not unlike a full body vertical mirror.

"My...my lord," Lusus said with a respectful bow as his master finally appeared before him in the mirror. "Everything is going according to plan..."

"That's not what your pulse is telling me, Lusus." The voice was deep and powerful, the tone polite. "Why don't you elaborate for me, please?"

Lusus felt a chill racing down his spine. He checked behind him, just to make sure there wasn't one of those abominations actually touching him. When he found there wasn't, he felt no relief. He wasn't safe. "There were a few...minor complications, my lord..." he said, returning his stare to the mirror. This was not enough of an answer, as his master's silence proved. Lusus continued shakily. "Uh...the sirens...one of them has betrayed me, master. I don't know how much she revealed to Pearl Depth, but the siren must have told her something. They were speaking in the spire before my loyal agent got there."

"I see...and you dealt with her, I assume?"

Lusus again felt that chill. This time, it hurt. "I...I tried...she was faster than me, lord...! She made it to..." he paused. He was certain there wouldn't just be a call to settle his punishment for revealing what came next. "She made it to Mimosa's place. He prevented me from killing her. Mimosa's power is too great, master! He played me like a clownfish...and threw me out like it was nothing..."

The shark pony stared at the mirror image, waiting for his punishment to come, his mind racing with ways that his master could kill him. Instead, his master kept that same polite, gentle smile that he always wore. "Anything else I should know? Anything at all?"

Lusus frowned. What was he getting at? This was a horrifically huge issue, what else would matter?

"Where is Seaweed Cyanide?"

That was it; that's what was missing. The shark pony almost dared to smirk as he spoke. "It's fine, master. She's spending the day 'entertaining' some guests."

"Oh? Guests?" The tone in his master's voice made Lusus believe he'd made a terrible mistake in leaving out this detail. "And where did these 'guests' arrive from? The island wasn't supposed to have any unscheduled visits for quite a while."

And there it was. The question that might just be the last nail in his coffin, because Lusus did remember where that ship had come from. It was a bright, shining symbol on that ship, a shining sun. Princess Celestia's mark. "Celestia's seal...the ship was sent from Canterlot."

"Celestia...?" The master's voice was curious, the patient tone still in effect, if not a little tense. "Curious. Perhaps she's intending to break the treaty. And if that is true...then Equestria may soon know the truth of it's neighbors." The tone in which the voice spoke gave Lusus a ray of hope, forgetting for a moment that he should be terrified of his impending punishment. He was cautiously silent as he waited for a sign that he might have been forgiven. Finally, the voice spoke again, the curious tone gone. "Proceed as if nothing has changed, Lusus."

"...Master?"

"You know what is to be done. There is little chance that the royal family will be able to stop what has been started. The coronation is not for a good while yet. If you can, kill the strangers. If not...it doesn't matter. They're likely not here to interfere with the royal family at all; I suspect they're on their way to someplace much bigger, a place where my influence will be felt. This situation will be dealt with, one way or another."

Lusus let out a quiet sigh of relief, even though his master's last words were a bit chillingly ambiguous. Still, he was past his lord's anger; that was the important part. Nothing else mattered, and he could get back to the task at hand. "Understood, my lord. I will have Seaweed Cyanide assist me in exterminating these guests from Equestria before the coronation tonight. You needn't worry yourself about them." The mirror stood cold and quiet as Lusus bowed respectfully before it, and turned to make his way back to the village to find his little protégé.

On the other side of this frosty transmission, a great, vast valley of white lay. The mirror used to convey a recent message now lay dead, and reflected it's tall and slender user. He was handsome, and had an impressive build, as most male alicorns went. There was something supernatural about this one, though, and it might've had something to do with the otherworldly glow that illumined his body and the surrounding cold. His body was ice blue, save for the whiteness around his mouth. The tufts on his hooves and even his mane and tail ended in wisps that broke apart from the body like vapor.

The alicorn let out a soft sigh as he turned and looked out at the night sky that was his domain, his eyes on the stars and the moon, the only bodies in the sky that ever offered this land any comfort from the cold. "He comes, mistress of the night. He is coming. Will you be ready for him?" he whispered. He turned his gaze to the moon, his sharp blue eyes reflecting the shape of the mare in the moon. "Or will this just be one big disappointment that's cost you a thousand years of vain hope?" For a moment, he could feel the intense hatred, the impatience...the raw indignity. How dare he question her choice?!

"There, there, my dear princess. I assure you, I will not kill the boy. There is no challenge there," he said to no one in particular. "...Or honor. Not that I have any." The moon was silent as the alicorn smiled with earnest sarcasm and turned his attention to the rolling white clouds approaching him. It rumbled with a sound unlike thunder. It was the impatient roar of something alive, something that hungered. It, too, shone with a ghostly blue light as it's master. "There, there, Umbrage," he coo'd, as a mother would to an upset infant. "I knew you've been stewing for some time, but you've been very patient. Go now. Watch for the signs. Should Lusus lose to these miscreants...kill them all." The roiling cloud's light seemed to explode, releasing another roar from somewhere inside. "And should Lusus succeed...kill him anyway."

As the roiling, angry cloud drifted off into the horizon, a harsh light fell over the dark lands, as if a great, seething gaze had fallen over the tundra. The one called North Wind, his eyes on the departing Umbrage, grinned. "Don't worry, darling. I won't forget about my promise not to harm the Storm Bringer."

17 - True Character pt 2

Spark Storm stared at the huge building before him. Huge? he thought. Huge doesn't even begin to cover it...this thing is so big I doubt I'd see the whole thing from the air! "Ampelus...what did you call this thing? A bio dome? What does your father do here?"

The nymph shrugged with a lightly soured frown. "I don't really know. He grows things in there. So far as I can tell, he's, uh..."cultimated" different places of the world and keeps them inside this building somehow. There are different places inside, like mountains, deserts, tropical forests...some places with temperatures I've never even felt before." Her tone had gone from frustrated and disgusted to awed in a single sentence, something that Spark tried not to notice, for her sake. Ampelus was trying not to be impressed, and she was failing.

Spark glanced at his friend. Wait, friend? Had the two of them really come this far? Time and again this question came up in the pegasi's head, and even though he still had to think about it now and then, he always came to the same conclusion: Ampelus was his friend, and his friend looked like she needed support. "Ampelus, are you ok? Do you need more time before we go in?"

The nymph, broken from her thoughts, stared at the doors as a new one entered her mind. Time? Time for what? Her gaze fell on Spark Storm, the look in her eyes clearly indicating that she had no idea what he was asking. Spark sighed. It was frustrating communicating with a creature that didn't think the same as a pony. Emotional concepts were lost on a nymph. Were they lost on dryads? Come to think of it...why was Ampelus taking him to see her father?

As if reading his thoughts, Ampelus sighed and sat down. This one might take a little while to explain. "...My dad wants to meet you, Spark Storm."

"Me? Why me?"

Ampelus frowned and glared at the pegasus. He wasn't going to make her say the whole thing, was he? She was starting to feel embarrassed again. If only she could curl up and hide...if only. "Look, it's...complicated to explain. Can't you just go in and find out for yourself? Go on in and find my father, he'll tell you everything."

Spark turned to face his friend. She wished he wouldn't, it was getting more and more difficult to avoid his gaze. "Well, you're coming in with me, aren't you? You didn't drag me ten miles through the forest just to drop me off." It was more a command then a question at this point, and Ampelus was running out of excuses here.

The nymph growled quietly, the vines littered around her body beginning to quiver and rattle with anger. This time, it was for real. Spark was pushing her, and she didn't like being pushed when it was serious like this. "Back off, Spark Storm. You're making me angry, just go inside!" Spark wasn't listening now. Ampelus shivered - not from anger, not from frustration, but from fear. If Spark didn't leave her alone, then she would undoubtedly attack him, and she didn't want that. Wait...she didn't? The nymph stared at Spark Storm with a mix of fear and realization: she didn't want to hurt Spark Storm. It was quite the opposite.

Ampelus closed her eyes tight. She knew. From the time that she wandered into Ponyville to exact her revenge against Spark, she knew that he was going to play a significant role in her life, and now she knew what that role was, and it scared her. To think that she was going to show him that...

Spark Storm was being quiet. He was being patient, he was being considerate, and she hated when he did that. It almost felt like pity, but over the last few months Spark had made it clear he understood the difference between pity and genuinely caring. Ampelus slowly came back to her senses, an odd look in her eyes as she returned to her hooves. "All right. Sorry about that...let's just go inside together, ok?" Spark made to say something. He wanted to know what had been going through her head, but he quickly closed his mouth. Whatever it was could wait; he'd pressed too hard already.

The room smelled odd to Spark Storm. It was a familiar smell, and it reminded him of something that he couldn't quite put his hoof on. And there was also an unusual sound, a constant, soft hiss. If Ampelus could sense these things, she didn't seem to take notice. She seemed too preoccupied by other things. The room they'd just entered was dark, carpeted, and cold, almost like a walk-in freezer. The Cakes had one, though it was very small, nothing like this large room. The room was very sparse, no furniture, no wall decorations, just another set of doors at the far end. Ampelus bade him follow as she stepped towards the doors.

As they approached, a small light lit above the doors, and a voice spoke through a round speaker just below it. "Hey there!" Ampelus jumped with some alarm. It wasn't the light or even the fact that a disembodied voice was speaking to them. It was a voice she'd never heard before, and having assumed that her father was the only one here, it surprised her. "Welcome to the bio dome of one Mimosa Palm," the young male voice said. "If you'll just stay in that room for a further minute, we'll gladly welcome you both to visit and explore. The gases in that room are currently sterilizing you and making you safe to enter."

"What nonsense is this? Mimosa didn't "sterilize" me when I came in the first time!"

"It's not for you, miss Ampelus, I do apologize. It's for your friend. I'm sure a nymph wouldn't have to worry about being sterilized, they don't carry diseases. But your friend might, and we just want to make sure that he didn't bring in anything from outside that could complicate our work here."

"Like a hospital," Spark muttered. He'd finally remembered where he knew that smell. It was like getting a cut sterilized to protect it from infections.

"Yes, like a hospital! I'm happy that you understand, sir." Spark made a face at the title. He wasn't even old enough to be called that, and even the sound of it being said sounded too informal.

Spark Storm shrugged it off, then sat down. He immediately wished he hadn't, as the floor was cold. Very, very cold. He sat up with a gasp, a little bit louder than he'd intended. "Are you ok, sweetie?" The sweet, syrupy sarcasm in Ampelus' voice made the pegasus blush as he glared at her, but the longer he glared the more his chest threatened to squeeze out a laugh. It'd actually been a long time since the nymph had made any attempt at humor or made a jab at every little thing he did. "Did you want mommy to - stop looking at me like that, you idiot!"

Unable to keep it in, Spark let out a barking laugh, and it was Ampelus' turn to glare. She let out a growl and turned her head back to the doors. What was taking so long? "Heh, you two seem to turn the tables on each other quickly. You must be very close." The comment from the intercom made Ampelus that much more furious. Her insides churned and seethed. It was fine if it was just Spark Storm; no one else needed to know about their chemistry!

Ampelus groaned and practically bounced where she stood. She was quite impatient to get through this awkward moment of waiting. It was taking forever! Luckily enough, Spark didn't seem too keen on getting into the conversation, which was just fine with the nymph. It was bad enough that this voice coming from somewhere thought that she and Spark were 'close', she didn't need him getting that idea, either. Even if it was true. Finally, the constant hissing noise and the vapors from the floor receded, and the doors opened. "Sterilization complete! Please proceed to the tram and ride to the center of the bio dome to meet with Mimosa Palm."

"Tram?" Spark's eyes opened wide as he stepped through the doors and laid eyes on the sleekest, most technologically advanced train he'd ever laid eyes on. The station itself was all dark metal, and the train itself looked the same, sleek and shaped like one of Gunslinger's bullets. A tunnel veered off to the right, disappearing into darkness, save for the soft blue lights that were illumined just enough for the train to be seen by. "Holy...What kind of technology is this?"

Ampelus rolled her eyes, having already seen this. "Come on, just get on the thing so we can get this joyride over with." Spark was still standing where he was by the time Ampelus had gotten onto the train and took a seat. "Would you hurry up already?" After a moment, the pegasus crept forward and inside. It was immaculately clean, brightly lit, and was equipped with two very long seats on either side. Soon after, the doors hissed closed, and the train began to move, the soft lights on the tunnel walls drifting past overhead.

The two rode in silence for a good five minutes, Ampelus impatient and grumpy while Spark Storm sat at the window, catching sight of every light as it drifted past. "Do you get enjoyment from watching those lights? They're all the same," Ampelus said, breaking the silence only to alleviate her boredom.

"It's just...I've never seen any kind of train like this." Spark turned and smiled like a child in a toy factory. "I dunno, it's just awesome!"

"Yay, we're moving!" Ampelus mocked, waving her hooves in the air. Spark turned to give her a sour look, but said nothing. He'd had a mind to ask her again why she was so grumpy, but he'd already gotten that answer. He sighed in resignation; he'd just deal and let her be. This line of thinking was, of course, getting on the nymph's nerves. She hated having someone be so patient with her. Finally, the train came to a stop. The ride was so smooth, Spark could barely tell the difference between movement and the lack thereof.

Ampelus and Spark both slipped out of the butterfly-opening doors and stepped out into a warm, sunny temperate area full of tall trees, areas with varying lengths of grass, large boulders, and...pine needles. Pine needles everywhere. There was also a lingering scent of pollen, which started to tickle Spark's nose. "Ugh, spring...I thought it was summer here?" The pegasus felt his face burning with embarrassment as Ampelus gave him the most annoyed, sarcastic look she'd ever given him. "R-right...bio dome, controlled environments..."

From somewhere in the woods came the sound of something that made Spark cringe: feminine giggling. A glance to the side told him that Ampelus found it just as annoying. Having no idea what else to follow, Ampelus and Spark Storm headed in the direction of merry giggling until they came to a clearing. It was a beautiful place, a small, grassy area with a humble little waterfall that dribbled into a small pool that disappeared under the ground. Surrounding the water were three creatures of such natural beauty that it almost made Ampelus sick. In Spark's case, situations like this usually meant trouble.

The closest to the waterfall was an earth pony. She was a light, festive green color, and her mane was a striking white. It was a fanciful fluffy style, and her natural red highlights only strengthened the festive colors. What really sealed the look was her red eyes. They were very deep and rich, striking pools of bright blood-red. The pony next to her was a pegasus, and everything about her just seemed to scream "summer". She was a rich tan color, with a flowing blonde mane. She made Spark think of the ocean, the way she moved, like the ocean itself...hypnotic and sensual. Ampelus recognized her from before, having nearly died meeting her.

The third figure seemed to both the pegasus and the nymph to be the most feminine of them all, and by that logic, the most annoying. She was a griffin, but not just a griffin - she was a stunningly beautiful griffin. While her body was a tawny tan, her head, shoulders and wings were a brilliant sapphire, her hair tied back with a scarlet ribbon. Much to his chagrin, Spark couldn't stop staring at her. Why couldn't he stop? Something about her was very, very familiar...

A sudden smack to the back of his head brought him out of his thoughts, and he sent a glare at the perpetrator. "Ow! What'd you hit me for?"

"What do you think it was for?" Ampelus retorted. She looked more jealous than he'd ever seen, and he didn't know how he felt about that. Luckily, the pegasi's name being squeaked pulled his attention to the griffin.

"Spark Storm!" she squeaked in an all too adorable high-pitched voice. Both Spark and Ampelus turned to face her as she approached the pegasus, standing just two inches taller and slightly longer. "Do you remember me?"

Spark had to think back. He knew she was familiar...had he met her somewhere, sometime earlier in the year? No...no, this was back, much much further back, before his mother had died. He'd met her the same time that his cousin had tried to introduce him to Gilda. There had been two griffins there, and one of them was..."Callie!" Spark exclaimed. Behind his back, Ampelus glanced at the female pegasus. They shared a brief look of mutual disgust before returning their collective focus on the two old acquaintances.

Pegasus and griffin met, legs and arms enfolding as if they'd known each other their whole lives, wings beating the air with excitement.

"Like wow! Look at you, you're so big now!"

"You look beautiful, Callie!"

"You look beautiful too! I knew you'd grow up to be gorgeous."

Ampelus watched with morbid curiosity as the griffin's comments did little more than make Spark Storm happy. There was no blushing, there was no awkwardness. Was this what it was like to be part of his past?

Spark Storm smiled and stepped back, a more calm look in his eyes stating he was ready to move on. "Wow! So...what are you doing here? And who are your friends? Uh, answer the second one first." Callie opened her mouth to speak, but a curt sound from behind the pegasus drew his attention behind him, and he realized with some slight horror that he'd forgotten Ampelus entirely. "Uh, annnd...this is Ampelus. She is my friend and uh...yeah," he offered, feeling more nervous than he thought he'd ever been. Why? Why was she making this so weird?

Callie stepped in, diplomatically dipping her head in reverence. "It's an honor to meet you, Ampelus."

Spark and Ampelus exchanged glances. Did Callie know of Ampelus' lineage? It probably shouldn't have been such a surprise, considering the location, but..."You know what I am?"

"Well sure!" Callie announced with a broad grin, and turned to the others, gesturing grandly. "Lookie over there. That's Breezy Plume. She don't look it right now, but she's a bonafide siren. She's got a alternate form, you know, like a transformation. Oh, you should see it - she's so gorgeous." Callie only grinned more when the siren rolled her eyes. "Oh ok ok, now, this is Bombyx, and she-"

"-Is very happy to meet you both," Bombyx interjected quickly. She stood and bowed her head to the two newcomers. Ampelus frowned at her; something just seemed off about that one. Something both familiar, and very vexing. Where Breezy Plume was stand-offish and quiet and Callie was talkative, Bombyx seemed to be inbetween. She hadn't said much, but she'd been very attentive and curious, her body language open and friendly. "I've studied here with your father," she said, continuing very slowly and carefully, as if one misspoken word could cause a fight. "...extensively. I've learned a lot about his research. And his family..."

Ampelus made a face. She definitely did not like this Bombyx character, not one bit, especially with the way she spoke about Mimosa. "Ok. That's nice," she retorted, in one of those I-hate-you-so-much-I-won't-even-hide-it kind of ways.

The earth mare froze for an instant, a brief look of sadness in her eyes before she smiled patiently and turned her gaze to Callie. "Perhaps you should continue. I'm sure they'd like to hear it from you."

The griffin nodded enthusiastically and stepped forward, hoping to diffuse some of this tension. "Spark Storm...you remember that day we met, right? Me and Gilda, comin' by to meet you and your cousin. But...I bet you remember what happened later that afternoon even better." Ampelus sighed and lowered herself to the ground. This was sure to take a while, but she refused to let this story escape her concentration, so she paid rapt attention as Callie spoke of Spark Storm's past.

Five years ago

Callie sat in the darkness of a cold, wet cave. The heavy rainfall outside paralleled the disillusionment that the griffin felt, and hung heavy both over the griffin, and in the air. Just earlier that morning, she and her tribe sister Gilda had gone - without permission - to meet with Gilda's friend. She'd had fun of course, and meeting new friends had been an exhilarating experience. She'd never made friends with ponies before, and having always wanted to meet one, she'd spent that morning feeling fulfilled and happy.

That all changed, of course, when she'd been found out. While Gilda had slipped away to play with Rainbow Dash, Callie had been left alone with Spark Storm. The two had simply been talking together when two older griffins came out of nowhere. The female grabbed Callie, while the bigger male rushed Spark and threw him to the side. Callie was much too panicked to see what happened, but she was sure she could see him getting back up and calling for her as she was whisked away.

The next thing she knew, she was being deposited on an outcropping of rocks at a mountain base. The two griffins, Freja and Siljo, were perhaps the worst griffins for Callie to face. They were both hardcore griffins, a part of the tribe that believed ponies had no place in griffin society - not as friends, not as political partners, not anything. But food? Sure. Hunting near pony civilization was prohibited, of course. No one wanted to start a war.

"Callie, Callie," Freja chastised her. The griffin's canary-like crest bobbed up and down with agitation as she paced before Callie. The younger griffin had always been prettier than Freja, but beauty was in the eye of the beholder among griffins. Freja herself was considered attractive, in a dangerous-to-the-touch kind of way. She was dark, had the body of a sleek panther, which contrasted nicely with her head and tail, which was white and yellow. The ability to hunt and kill was, in the inner circles, more valued than looks. "You know better than to give yourself that kind of false hope. Ponies will only get you into trouble."

"See, what you don't understand is-" Siljo began, but the big red male was cut off with a quick swipe to his face as Freja knocked him over. The bigger male probably could have fought back, but he'd already been 'claimed' by the smaller Freja.

"You keep your beak shut, no one asked your opinion!" she screeched, and bit down on his neck, her claws digging into his chest and wing where she pinned him down.

Siljo bit back the pain as he tensed, his blue eyes filled with panic and fear. "Right...I'm sorry..."

Callie watched in horrified silence. She knew better than to butt in, but not even Siljo deserved this kind of cruelty. He had asked for it, though, when he'd lost his bid for dominance over Freja in their pre-courting ritual. In griffin society, there weren't many paths to take in life, at least in the harder circles. You had one chance to stake your place in the tribe, and if you messed that up, then your place was set in stone for life. Siljo was big and strong, but he was not clever like Freja. She had bested him in battle and secured her right to dominate him in any way she wished. And they were mated, at least for now...while he still amused her.

Freja grinned down at Siljo with a mouth full of her lover's flesh, satisfied with the level of obedience and fear she had instilled in him. He wasn't much use, really, save for satisfying those particular itches that popped up now and then. He was a good scratcher...and a good scratching post. She rolled her eyes as she pulled herself back to the situation at hand, and released him. Her lover rolled quietly away as the smaller female approached the sinner. "Now then...I'm sure you know how this works, little girl." Callie nodded quietly, not even bothering to remind herself that Freja was only five years older. "Your parents are highly respected in the tribe. They're part of the inner circle, which means there's no room for dreamers like you."

The younger griffin scowled and closed her eyes. Why did Freja have to bring up her parents? They were within the inner circle, yes, but her parents had always taught her to think outside the box. They wanted her to have friends, they wanted her to be happy, but most of all they wanted a different life for their daughter. And so they taught her to be different, to think different. They'd made plans for her to move to a better place, but right now things were tense. There was a war brewing between the ancient harpy tribes from the west and the griffins, and this made it difficult to do anything other than perform the tasks given.

"...What's the harm?" Freja's ears craned towards Callie, the question had been that soft. "Wh-what's the harm in it? One griffin makes a friend with one pony. How could one friendship bring down the whole thing?"

Freja kept an intense gaze on Callie, eyes wild and hungry. Her beak, tense and angry, slowly formed an odd 'oh'. "Two, Callie. Two griffins. You came here with Gilda because she's already got that little rainbow brat. That makes...two. And if you can't work that out already, it means that the "thing" is already damaged. It's in danger of becoming corrupt. You're poisoning our way of life."

Callie had had about enough of the same talk, over and over and over again. It was getting old, and she wasn't going to listen to this anymore. She made to stand, and suddenly found herself tackled hard onto her back. She felt sure that Freja was going to rip out her throat here and now, but she was ready to die for what she believed in. "Do it!" she coughed, her voice barely a whisper from the wind having left her chest. "If I can't be myself, then I'd rather die!"

Freja stared down at Callie, tensed, afraid, and yet she was more willing to die than to abandon her ideals. The older griffin was beginning to like her. "You're brave. You've got guts, and I can respect that. What I can't respect, though, is your thick head, so let's try something else." Callie opened her eyes, only slightly trembling now, face to face with Freja. "If you don't stay away from your little friend, I will kill him."

Every fiber of fury that laid within Callie suddenly exploded. She didn't see the sky disappear or the earth rush towards her. She barely felt their bodies collide, but now she had Freja on her back, a claw grasping the older griffin's neck. "Touch him and I'll rip your wings off!!"

Freja grinned up at Callie, a claw held up to keep Siljo away. The big griffin looked ready to rip Callie to pieces, but he knew better than to do the opposite of anything that Freja told him. "Ok, you're really making this difficult not to respect you, kid. You've got some serious fire in you, real passion. You really like this one, huh? But...he's just one pegasus, Callie. Is he worth it?"

"Of course he's worth it..." Callie growled, bearing further down on Freja. "Friendship is always worth it!"

"Friendship?" Freja chuckled, her eyes boring into Callie's. "Who's talking about friendship? I'm talking about the war that you're going to start."

War? Callie felt her grip loosen slightly. It would've been a perfect time to rest control from the younger griffin, but Freja was busy making a point. "Yes. War. Because when I kill him, here in Equestria, it's going to start a war, nevermind what you think you can do to me. There will be civil unrest. There will be inquiries, and fights, and deaths." Freja smiled quietly as her words went straight to Callie's heart. She was passionate all right. Her heart was too big.

Callie felt any control of this situation slowly unraveling, yet still she held Freja down. She wasn't ready to lose this fight. "So...is one friendship worth that, Callie? Are you ready to accept responsibility for war, and the deaths of hundreds, just so you can have one dead friend?"

That was the final push. Callie's body shook as she quietly sobbed, her surrender made clear. Freja, with a surprising gentleness, pushed Callie off of her. There was no more need for violence or aggression, her message had finally gotten into the younger griffin's head. With a nod, Siljo quietly took flight, followed by his lover, leaving the young Callie to wallow in her defeat. The two left and disappeared into the darkening skies. After a few moments of grieving, Callie turned and looked back at the valley. She could barely make out a dark form headed this way; Spark Storm was coming for her, and she couldn't bear the thought of having to say goodbye to him. She wasn't sure she could if they spoke again, and she could never live with herself if she got him killed. She thought no more on this, and left. She never looked back again.

"Anyway...that's why I never saw you again," Callie told him, wiping away the tears that had forced their way from her eyes. "I know I didn't know ya longer than an hour or two, but I couldn't've lived with myself if our friendship had gotten you killed. So I flew away 'n never looked back...and now you're here!" She punctuated this by placing her claws on Spark's shoulders.

The pegasus, having paid rapt attention and filled with emotion at her tale, suddenly snapped back to the present with a bewildered smile. "Yeah, but I think you're leaving out a few details, like...I dunno, five years worth?"

"Oh who cares about the past," she replied dismissively. "We're here now!" The griffin smiled and stepped back, sweeping a claw grandly at the forest behind her. "Lookit this place, Sparky. This place is wonderful. There are no rules that keep folks like us separate. It's a giant neutral zone that accommodates all walks of life. There're no wars here. There's only one in charge here, and that's Mimosa Palm. He created this bio dome to preserve rare kinds of life, and to make it a political dead-zone. It's thanks to him that I got to meet you here again, after so long!"

Spark Storm only smiled. He didn't know what to make of this news. Rare creatures? Were these three simply visiting then? They didn't seem that strange, especially Callie. Ampelus knew better, though. The griffin might've been commonplace, but she knew for a fact that the pegasus was a siren, a monster of the deep. And the earth pony? She was no earth pony. A closer look at the ribbon in the white mane wasn't fabric, it was an organic substance. An impossible organic substance. Bombyx met Ampelus' eyes, and knew she'd been found out. Ampelus knew she was a nymph.

18 - What Makes A Nymph, Anyway?

Callie cocked her head as she caught the look between Bombyx and Ampelus. It made her curious, at least until she remembered the festive nymph's request; she'd asked her not to reveal what she was to the guests. It made her cringe a little to remember that she almost had. Well, it wasn't surprising. As Breezy Plume had said, 'it takes a monster to know a monster'.

The look on Ampelus' face was not a look to be ignored. It made Bombyx nervous, to the point that her breathing had become erratic. The three others not glaring at her turned to stare at her. It took just a moment for Spark Storm to realize that Ampelus was the only one trying to kill her with her eyes. "What the - Ampelus! What is your problem?"

"...She is a nymph."

Spark nearly replied with an angry 'so?', but the news of another nymph quieted him. Could this possibly be one of elder Orea's children? No...not possible. This nymph looked to be at least Ampelus' age, perhaps younger. Didn't that take hundreds of years? His own little Orea looked far older than she was, but that was due to...well, things. Could something similar have happened here? "Ampelus, are you sure? I thought the changelings wiped you guys out to near extinction." Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the nymph in question, his eyes ablaze with curiosity. "Are you one of Orea's kids?"

Spark's enthusiasm irked Ampelus, but she, too, was curious, if not morbidly so. She had an inkling about how this one came about, and if it were true, well...she wouldn't be held liable for what happened next. The mere thought sent waves of rage through her; it was all she could do to just sit there and listen.

Breezy Plume and Callie shared a glance. For the first time since this encounter began, the siren looked concerned. She'd barely gotten to know Bombyx over the last hour or two, but she'd already started to like her. Bombyx was quiet and sweet, as well as a bit introverted. She was also very accommodating, and had revealed her unique gifts by producing a healing silk that wrapped up her wounds. She'd been healed since shortly before Ampelus and the pegasus arrived, and she'd gained respect for Bombyx for being so efficient. Now, the poor nymph looked terrified to be in Ampelus' presence.

Bombyx was perplexed. Should she run? She felt like she should be running right now. Still, she was nothing if not helpful, and the pegasus had asked a relevant question. Risking Ampelus' wrath, she turned her attention to Spark Storm. "No...No, I am not one of Orea's line. I am..." she swallowed hard, her eyes darting back to Ampelus. "...something else."

"Go on," Ampelus dead-panned. "Enlighten the rest of us."

Bombyx shuddered and appeared to shrink just slightly. She partially hid her face in the crook of a leg, a single eye remaining visible. "I...I am...Mimosa Palm's progeny."

Spark Storm's eyes lit up with both shock and joy. Ampelus had a sister?! He turned to look at Ampelus with the very picture of happiness, and realized that this was a mistake. The nymph looked like she was about to explode with anger. The tall nymph shook from top to bottom, vines writhing about over her body and producing such a shrill hiss that Spark winced with pain. "Ampelus! Knock it off! Calm down! What's wrong with you?!"

Ampelus did not answer. Both Callie and Breezy Plume had instantly created an obstruction between the two nymphs, both ready to fight if need be. "Spark Storm, if you don't get her out of here, somebody's gonna get hurt," Callie told him coldly.

Everybody's gonna get hurt if something doesn't change, Spark thought. Not ready to up and leave just yet, he turned to Ampelus. He'd been able to talk her out of rages before, it could certainly work now. "Ampelus, I don't get it! Why does this make you so angry?"

Spark should've known the answer to that one, and he realized that as tears had welled up enough in Ampelus' eyes to drop to the ground. He was reminded of his own little Orea's tears as fresh patches of the greenest moss began forming where they dropped. "Why? Why? I spend almost four hundred years wondering why my father left us, wondering if maybe it was my fault, only now to discover that he had me replaced! Gee, I wonder why that makes me angry!!"

The silence between the five was so loud, one could hear the water trickling down into who knew where in that little pond nearby. For a moment, Spark felt relieved. Ampelus had gone and gotten this little temper tantrum out of the way, perhaps now they could move on. The silence was broken, though, and not from the nymph he'd expected. "Go ahead, you're on a roll," Bombyx told her sister. The smaller nymph looked like she could cry, but there was almost something like anger in her eyes, a furious courage. She was terrified, but determined to have her say. "Tell them."

Ampelus balked at her new sister. She wanted to bring that up? How dare she...how dare she! She must have some kind of death wish! "You...you want to talk about that?" Ampelus strode forward slowly, head and neck nearly level with her spine. Spark Storm had never seen her looking more dangerous. She didn't blink an eye as the two guarding Bombyx stepped forward and were gently moved to the side by the one they sought to protect. "You really want them to know what you are?"

"Not them. You. I want you to say it. We both know you're dying to say it."

Spark and Callie both stared in surprised sadness at Bombyx. She looked so scared, yet she refused to yield to her emotions. What was this all about, anyway? The answer to this question came from Ampelus herself, her voice dripping with hate. "You're not a natural nymph. You're an experiment, a violation of nature, a freak!"

It took every ounce of restraint in Spark's body not to zap Ampelus then and there. He hadn't heard her speak with so much pure vulgarity and hate since the time they first met. "Ampelus..." he said with a quiet, threatening tone. "What are you talking about?"

"She wasn't born or grown like I was." Ampelus continued to stare at her "sister" with dripping enmity. "She's just another of my father's experiments, like this bio dome. She's less of a nymph and more of a tool for his amusement."

It was Bombyx' turn to be angry. "That's not even remotely accurate! Mimosa Palm, he...you don't understand, he treats me like..." The nymph faltered, the truth of Ampelus' words threatening her with more accuracy than she was prepared to admit. Tears of frustration swelled in her eyes as the derisive smile on her sister's face grew. "H-he doesn't see me as just an experiment. I am his-"

"What?" Ampelus inquired. "You are what - his "daughter"? You are as much his daughter as he is proud of having me as his family...and that's next to nothing. Mimosa Palm might work miracles of science and nature, but he knows nothing of matters of the heart and spirit. He made you with no love; he made you with the intent of making something uniquely different."

Bombyx stared at Ampelus in silence. She was terrified, both of Ampelus, and the possibility that she might be right. Her two new friends, stunned into silence by Ampelus' aggressive and poisonous speech, simply glanced at each other, both hoping the other could have some argument to help lift Bombyx' spirits. None of them, most of all Ampelus, could have predicted what happened next. The sound of Spark Storm's voice was at once comforting and terrifying, depending on who was recounting the moment.

"And what makes a nymph, Ampelus?" Said nymph turned to the pegasus, a look of shock on her face. Wasn't Spark Storm supposed to be on her side? For a good long while, she'd come to expect nothing else. This of course was a situation that she'd never expected, yet still she had trusted him to back her up. "What exactly makes her different from you?" Ampelus wanted to answer him, but the look on his face, that calm, quiet and disappointed look...nothing else she'd ever experienced had made her chest hurt like this before.

"She's made of something else," she heard herself say after a brief moment of trying to get her mouth to move. "She's not a pure nymph. You know how important that is to me!"

"And what about Orea?"

The question caught Ampelus off guard. She hadn't even considered Spark's role in this. As far as she'd been concerned, at least until now, he was separate from this. He had no place in this argument, but she was wrong. He had a very significant role to play here, and she was stepping all over it. Ampelus now realized she may have just terribly insulted the one pony in the world that might want her around. "Spark, I...I didn't mean..."

"No, you've said enough. Earlier, when you said you weren't sure how you still felt about Orea, I thought maybe there was some hope for you. I thought maybe your hate had fallen enough that you might even like her, but after this display here I think it's just wishful thinking." Ampelus' heart sank as Spark Storm walked without so much as a glance at her to stand beside Bombyx. He turned and fixed Ampelus with a cold stare. "You're in the wrong here. I don't know what it is that makes Bombyx different, and I don't care. Nopony deserves the kind of reckless hate that you hold in that diseased heart of yours."

Her breath halted, her heart hurt like never before. Even her mother's death hadn't stung this much. Spark Storm's betrayal had been at the top of the list of things she never wanted to happen, and just like that he'd crossed it off. This was maddening, it was sickening, it was...her fault. The nymph drew in an unsteady breath, raised a foreleg, and stretched it out to strike Spark Storm across the cheek and turned to run into the woods, the air echoing with her indignity. "We are not diseased!"

Spark rubbed at his cheek lightly, taking a glance at the few drops of blood on his hoof. "Thank you," he heard Bombyx say. "Are you hurt?"

"Not really. Her heart wasn't in it. If it had been, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He turned to the new nymph and gave her a small smile. Like Ampelus' strike, his reassuring smile was lacking in confidence. Had he also not meant what he said? He was already starting to feel bad about it. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something soft on his cheek, something light and warm and...silky. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see Bombyx approach. What he saw when he turned surprised him, even though he'd seen this once before, with his little Orea.

There were five of them. Long, slightly thick tendrils that were sticky and covered with what looked like viscous liquid, and they emerged from Bombyx' mouth. One of them had lightly slathered some of that liquid against his cheek, which quickly turned into a soft, silky solid. Silky? That's what this was...it was silk. Don't nymphs make plants? Spark thought, and that's when he realized where Ampelus' anger stemmed from. Bombyx was indeed different from the few nymphs that he had met.

Bombyx soon realized that Spark was staring at her. She quickly pulled the tendrils back into her mouth, embarrassment blazing on her face. "Forgive me, I should've asked."

"It's fine, it's just...it's not that different."

"What do you mean?"

"You and Ampelus. The silk...thing. You don't look different, and the nymphs that I've met have the same...uh, things...that come out of your mouth..." Spark managed to fumble, but he kept going. "You're not that different, so I don't know what Ampelus was getting so upset about. You're every bit a nymph as she is."

Bombyx smiled happily. "Thank you."

"Well said!" All four turned as Mimosa Palm finally decided to step out of hiding. Spark Storm was almost certain that the new figure before him had been waiting for the opportune moment to make an entrance. None of the girls seemed surprised either, yet they all looked equally relieved to see him. "And welcome to my home. So you're the one, eh?"

Spark Storm nodded. "I am. Uh...I think. What did you...?"

"I mean the one that brought my daughter to me. You...did bring her here with the intent of finding me, yes?"

"...No. We were actually on our way to Breen..." Spark frowned. Should he really be discussing this with a complete stranger? He was Ampelus' father, yes, but this was a completely unforseen event. Telling this new dryad their business could complicate things. "We have business there," he added lamely.

"Oh? Breen? Well, that's...interesting..."

Spark watched with growing concern as Mimosa mumbled to himself. The dryad seemed to have gone into a distance staring trance, a stare aimed right at the pegasus. The stare intensified as he drew closer to the young stallion, a hoof tentatively reaching out to lightly poke Spark in the chest. "Uh..." Callie and Breezy Plume both stared in wide-eyed shock when Mimosa suddenly pushed Spark over and stood over him, a hoof pressing and prodding over the stunned pegasus.

"Breen? Breen? What lies in Breen pales in comparison to the secrets you hold, boy!" Mimosa told Spark loudly as he leaned in and sniffed Spark's mane. "Oh hoh-hoh, yes!"

Spark had had enough. He pushed the much-too-eager Mimosa aside and stood to his hooves, every hair on his body feeling more violated than Ampelus had ever made him feel. "What-is-wrong-with-you?!"

"What? Everything is right!!" the dryad told him, wide-eyed and dancing about with excitement. He paused. "Well, not everything is right, there's plenty wrong, but you, my boy, have made things clear! More clear than they have been in centuries!"

After a moment of the two staring at each other, both waiting for some kind of reaction, Spark turned to Bombyx. "Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" A glance at the two in the back indicated they knew nothing.

"I'm afraid I don't. Doctor?"

This only served to confuse Spark. Doctor? What doc...oh. He returned his gaze to Mimosa, a small frown grazing his mouth. He was starting to see some of what Ampelus had been talking about, and it made him want to ask Mimosa's view on his relationship to Bombyx.

Mimosa grinned broadly, totally oblivious to the look in Spark Storm's eyes. "Answers, eh? Yes, yes we need some answers, don't we? Well..." he turned and began to walk away from the group. "...I do have answers, but I'm not sure you'll like what you hear. Ladies," he paused and turned his gaze on the two in the back. "I'll have to ask that you two find something else to do for a while. This is business."

Breezy Plume shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. This is getting weird."

Callie, however, protested. "Wait a tic! Sparky n' I just found each other after a good ten-"

"Seven."

"...Seven years!"

"And you'll have plenty more when I'm done with him." Spark shuddered. "Please, Callie, I understand, but this is very important. Why don't you go see the sights in the other domes? Frankie, would you be so kind?"

Frankie? Spark looked around the area. Was there another dryad in hiding? His curiosity, instead of being sated, was only peaked when yet another new and unusual creature flitted down before Callie. It was difficult to describe what he was seeing, but Spark could only figure he was staring at the smallest griffon he'd ever seen...and the most unusual. It was a small ruby-throated hummingbird...mouse. With a wrench. "Hey there, doll! I'm Frankie."

Callie stared at Frankie with the same amount of morbid curiosity as Spark did. It took her a moment to come to her senses, then lightly poked at his little green chest. "Call me 'doll' again, lil' guy, and we're gonna have words. Aren't you a lil' young to be an escort?"

Frankie rubbed where he'd been poked and grinned. "You can trust me, I can take care of myself. Been running this place almost single-handedly for fifteen years!"

Spark Storm knew he'd heard this little guy's voice from somewhere, it was so familiar..."Wait. You're the one that had Ampelus and I stand in that room, to get cleansed, right?"

The tiny griffon turned to Spark and saluted. "That's me! Thanks again for being so cooperative."

Spark resisted the urge to salute back. "Uh, no problem."

"So!" Frankie turned and swatted the wrench, which was almost as big as he, in his palm. "Ready to go? We'll have a great time." He lifted the wrench in both hands and stood with a slight tilt. "It'll be superrrr!"

When no one had made a move to react, Frankie sighed and lifted into the air with a slight sulk. "Nobody ever gets that...C'mon, I'll get you there in one piece."

Spark Storm sighed as he watched the others leave. His mind was elsewhere; his mind was on Ampelus. He'd really let her have it. Had she deserved it? Yes. Had she deserved everything that he'd said?...no. No she hadn't. She'd been angry, furious even, and she didn't think clearly when she was that upset. Spark Storm had also been very angry, he'd said things that he certainly didn't mean. He needed to apologize...

"Son, you look like you've lost your most precious possession in a swamp," Mimosa said quietly. Spark's glance back at the dryad told him he wasn't far off. "Ah...your little tiff with my daughter has upset you?" Mimosa smiled approvingly. "She is important to you, as you are to her. I've never heard her defend anyone in seven hundred years. She's quite difficult, I know. I can only imagine what she's put you through."

Spark let out an exasperated breath. "She's tried to kill me a couple times. Came pretty close too, once."

"I don't doubt it, though how you eluded your death from a nymph twice intrigues me." The dryad put a hoof around Spark's shoulder and guided the uncomfortable pegasus as they moved towards the center of the forest where a larger tree stood, hollowed out and set up as a lab. He bade Spark sit and rest while he went about gathering strange equipment meant for tests. Spark was made only more uncomfortable. "So, do tell me how you managed this."

"How?" Spark frowned as Mimosa went about his tasks. How did one explain? Well, he knew how...he just never knew why. He shrugged and stood, spreading his wings out. "I don't really know how, but I can show you." Mimosa paused in the middle of filling a syringe long enough to pay attention as Spark's wings lit up with brilliant blue electrical lights, building up with small crackles and pops to full-on high voltage, arcing over the pegasus with near-deafening fizzles. As quick as it had begun, it was over.

During the spectacle, Mimosa's face had gone dark, almost angry. This certainly hadn't been a reaction that Spark had been expecting. It almost looked like Mimosa had seen something like this before. "Uh...what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"So that's what happened..."

Mimosa's murmured response almost went unheard, it was so quiet. Spark did hear it, however. "...What? What happened? Would you just say what's on your mind?"

Mimosa idly licked his lips, lightly chewing on his tongue for a moment before shaking his head. "I can't."

"What do you mean, 'you can't'? Do you know something I don't?"

"A great many things, little foal." Mimosa's strange and quirky attitude was gone. In it's place was an all-too-serious demeanor that Spark found intimidating. "There are things in this world that you don't understand...can't understand...at least, not until you understand what happened in the last world."

"The...last world?" Spark made a face and began to pace back and forth with agitation. "Now you're making less sense than you started out with when I met you, and that's saying a lot!"

"Anyone ever tell you you were special, son?"

This question made Spark pause. What could this possibly have to do with anything? "Yeah, I guess...my mother told me that many times." Spark rolled his eyes and sat facing away from Mimosa. Being made to think about his mother made him a little misty-eyed, and he didn't feel like sharing that with this stranger.

"Of course she did, what mother doesn't tell their children that? I mean anyone else...someone of more value than your mother!"

"No one...is more important than my mother," Spark growled warningly.

"They are if they're the leading figure of an entire country," Mimosa responded cooly.

Spark frowned and thought for a moment. Did he mean Celestia? "You...you don't mean the monarch of Equestria? Princess Celestia?"

"Who else could I possibly be speaking about?"

The cross tone in Mimosa's voice grated on Spark's nerves, but they were both agitated. He let it slide. "Well..."

"You know her personally, don't you? I'd imagine that the ship you came on, branded with her mark, had brought you here on some mission specifically at her request."

Spark Storm sighed. Not much point left in hiding it. "Yeah...I know her pretty well. I'm a monster hunter, part of a group that's been hired, trained and cared for by the princess herself."

Mimosa chuckled lightly, for a moment giving Spark hope that he had pulled himself out of the darker mood he'd been exhibiting. This, too, quickly changed. "So the princess still has hopes to fight the inevitable. It'd be cute, if it wasn't so pathetic."

"I beg your pardon?" Spark said, mildly offended.

"Hm? Oh I didn't mean you, per se. I was actually quite impressed. I'm certain you'd be able to handle yourself quite well in the previous world."

"That's that...'before' thing again. What are you talking about?"

Mimosa sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid there's something else you'll need to understand before we go into that, but I can't be the one to show that to you." The dryad glanced up into the tree overhead and stepped over to rap on it's trunk several times. "Ampelus, it's time."

Spark looked up in surprise at hearing the nymph's name and followed Mimosa's gaze, only to feel confused. He couldn't see her in the darkness of the giant tree's branches. "It is not. Go away, both of you!" her voice called, it's echo sounding from nearly every direction. It served to make things much more confusing.

"Ampelus, don't make me come up there." There was silence, and for a moment Spark was sure that Mimosa would make good on his threat. Instead, he saw that Ampelus had already complied. He could see the bark stretching, sliding...and changing color. The nymph had hidden herself in plain sight by covering the tree with her flat shape-shifting. Soon, she'd reformed herself and sat at the base of the trunk, looking as offended as she had when Spark had yelled at her. She seemed less angry, though, and more anxious. It made Spark anxious as well. What could this 'time' be?

"I'm still mad at him for the things he said."

"Perhaps you should've been watching your tone with your sister."

"Pfft. Yeah right. "Sister"".

"See? That's what I'm talking about."

"If you'd just treat me with a little more-"

"Enough!" Spark yelled exasperatedly. The two ceased their feuding to turn their attention to the pegasus. "You've got some problems, I get it. We'll fix it later. For now, will someone please tell me what's going on with this "world before" crap?"

Ampelus' sour mood turned to one of quiet despair. She really didn't want to feel like this when she showed this to the one pony in the world she could trust. Couldn't it wait? Mimosa shook his head as if hearing her question, and merely gave her a stony stare. Fix it later, his look said.

Fix you later might've gone through Ampelus' mind at any other time, in any other situation, but right now, she couldn't think of anything other than what Spark Storm might think of her after seeing this. His eyes hadn't left her in some time, and she was more aware of it by the second. "Fine," she whispered. She was going to show him anyway, but that tiff...that's right. It was just a tiff. They would both get over it, they'd apologize, make up, and go back to Equestria and grow old together. Yeah, right.

Spark watched, transfixed, as Ampelus stepped closer to him. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like she was shrinking...she was. She was getting smaller, more compact-no, she was collapsing in on herself. Her vines disappeared, her mane slipped into her skull, her legs pulled themselves into her body. He'd seen similar transformations, but something about this was different. There seemed to be something at the center of her body, pulling her body into itself, something circular in shape.

Finally, the object made itself known as the remnants of Ampelus' green body slithered into the circular object. It was about the size of a dinner plate, greyish in color, and resembled some kind of stone. No...a shell. Spark stepped closer, and with a trembling hoof, he nudged the shell, noting the surface of this thing had many, many smooth openings, all slanted in the same direction. "I...I don't get it," he said lamely after a moment of quiet.

The pegasus stepped closer, peering down into the slanted openings, and noticed a pair of eyes, shining and bug-like, staring back at him. These weren't the pretty blue eyes that looked down on him when annoyed. This wasn't the sensual, alluring stare that Ampelus might give him if she had the opportunity. Was this thing even a she? As if feeling his thoughts, the small, reflective eyes turned downcast, and Spark realized that this was, in fact, Ampelus.

"Ampelus?" Spark's gentle call pulled the eyes upward again. "Please. Show me."

The eyes were hesitant, refusing to move. Slowly though, they began to slide upward, further, and further, until Spark could clearly see what appeared to be the strangest little creature he'd ever seen. It bore eye stalks, two of them that were bunched close together. The face was adorably alien, with small mouth parts that were slanted like the shell, with tiny claws under the slants that reached and grabbed at the air. Was Ampelus some kind of...snail lobster? The shell itself made Spark think of the nautilus sea creature. Was that what this was?

"So...you don't look anything like a pony at all. You're much smaller, yet I've seen you swallow...really big things," he told her. "And it all goes into this?" The adorable, insectile face only chittered quietly. There was almost a sense of disdain in it's body language. The thing that was Ampelus seemed distraught, the eyes switching from Spark Storm to Mimosa, who had resigned himself to simply watching. "Can't she talk?"

"No." Mimosa shook his head, a curious look in his eyes. "We lack the vocal chords necessary to speak in our primitive beginnings. We studied intelligent speech in the worlds before, and began to mimic those capable of using it. This is just the latest "model"."

Spark frowned and turned to Mimosa. "What? Worlds plural? Model?"

Mimosa grinned with glee at Spark's questions. The boy was proving to be more intelligent than he'd hoped. "The world that came before this one was not our first. We have been here for much longer than most life forms on this planet could calculate. Why don't you take a seat, and I'll spin you a tale much grander than any you've heard before!"

Spark thought he heard the mollusk-like Ampelus let out a groan. He could only guess that Ampelus' father had a dramatic streak a mile wide...probably bigger. He sat down beside the circular nymph, or whatever she could be called, and returned his attention as Mimosa dusted off an old film projector. "A...a movie? Tell me you didn't..."

"I most certainly did. There are books here within the bio dome that could tell you everything - and other ways and persons, I'm sure - but I think you'll find that this will be the quickest way to bring you up to speed."

19 - But First, A History Lesson

Callie huffed quietly, eyes darting back and forth between the slowly fading forms of Spark Storm and Mimosa Palm, and her guide, Frankie. Having been reunited with a long-lost friend, the griffon had wanted nothing more than to catch up with him. It wasn't to be, though, since apparently Mimosa Palm had more important things to show Spark Storm. What was up with the way he'd been acting towards the pegasus, anyway?

The pretty griffon's thoughts drifted back to the conflict between her newest friend, Bombyx, and her sister. Today was all about reunions and making new friends. Why, just a few hours ago, she'd experienced a first: meeting a harpy! Griffons and harpies had just recently gone to war with each other, though they'd kept the fighting out of Equestria. That place was strictly off-limits, and was mostly unaware of politics outside it's own country.

Callie had long since abandoned her tribe, and she was especially happy about that now that war had broken out. The harpy she'd met was at the center of efforts to end the war, a role the griffon understood as a derisive one. She'd been tasked with babysitting an unusual and unique hybrid monstrosity, born of both harpy and griffon. Everything about the little creature's existence was considered hideous, including it's conception. Still, the fact that the creature existed proved that both sides in the war wished for an end to the fighting.

Little Cyno, despite being a total freak of nature, was surprisingly adorable. The little baby...thing...had the most striking markings - the markings of a bluejay. It would've made for an excellent griffon, but with the nightmarish shape...she shuddered. The pretty harpy hadn't been very specific, but apparently little Cyno was supposed to represent some kind of treaty between their peoples.

Callie continued after Frankie, completely lost in thought, until the bigger griffon finally came to notice that her guide had been speaking to her for some time. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but as he turned to her to explain something he'd mentioned ten minutes ago, he caught that slightly panicked innocent face one makes when caught not listening.

"Aaand you weren't listening."

"Aw, I'm sorry, Frankie. Was it important?"

Frankie stared at her. "Was it import - only if you love engineering!" He huffed and let his own words sink in, then shrugged dismissively. "Well of course you wouldn't be interested, why would you be?"

The little griffon immediately regretted his words as Callie cocked her head, a crooked smirk playing at her beak. "And just why wouldn't I be interested in engineering?"

Frankie froze in a panic. He was sure that no matter what answer he could possibly give her, it wouldn't be a safe one. Callie could easily tear him apart, if she'd been so inclined. She wasn't, though. The menacing look on her face melted, as she found the panicked little griffon adorable when frightened. "Careful with your words there, Frankie. You're liable to dig a hole a lot bigger than you're able to handle." She giggled softly, and proceeded past him with a little swat from the fluffy end of her tail.

Obviously not about to be torn in two, Frankie sighed with relief, and proceeded on to business. "Uh, so where would you like to go?"

Callie thought for a moment, then clapped her paws together. "I know! Let's go see Cyno."

Frankie rolled his eyes. "Again?"

"Yes, again." She stopped in her tracks, then peered back at the smaller griffon. "And what do you mean, again? We just met. Have you been following me?"

"Uh, yeah," he told her, as if it should have been completely obvious. "Do you think we just let anyone come in here and not monitor them?"

Callie opened her beak to respond, then closed it. "I...I guess that makes sense. But if you're not up there monitoring everything, then who...?"

Frankie let out a chuckle from deep in his throat. "Yeah, like a little griffon like me is all the security a massive complex like this needs."

"Okay, no need to get snarky."

"You asked."

Callie frowned. He was cute before, but the excess in snark was getting on her nerves. Sensing that this was the case, Frankie added, "Anyway, I saw those two just a few moments ago, before Mimosa called me out to help you. They're up in the command center, not too far from the doc's theater."

"Theater? He has a theater? Uh, I mean...the command center?! You just let some random harpy into your command center, just like that?!"

Frankie coughed and stood straighter, a little taller, which wasn't by much since he didn't even make it up to Callie's chest. "I'll have you know that we can trust this harpy, both with the compound and with Cyno. We may be different species, but there are a few harpies out there that have done more than enough to earn our trust."

Callie made a face and poked at Frankie's belly. "You're an odd one to talk. 'We'? You're a completely different species on your own."

Frankie frowned and rubbed at his belly absently as Callie turned and made her way to the command center. "I'm a griffon, too," he muttered under his breath.

She sat with her back to the wall. It would've been cold, save for the greyish shirt she'd started wearing after leaving Equestria. Among harpies, most wore clothing only when grieving. It was common to fly around naked, as most were comfortable doing so. Very few harpies ever wore clothing, save for the extremely few who felt uncomfortable in their own skin. This one even wore a skimpy sort of loin cloth, which she found itchy and uncomfortable, but again, she was in mourning.

One wouldn't think so, at least not with the way she held the little hybrid in her arms. Cyno was only a few years old, barely old enough to speak, and completely dependent on whatever creature was with him at the time. For the last two months, it had been her. Cyno was never with anyone long enough to really get to know them, and neither griffon nor harpy had wanted to get to know him.

There wasn't much to know at the time, really. Cyno was just a toddler. Despite the enormous amount of hate for him, he still wasn't aware of it. He was bright-eyed and curious, and often needed physical contact to be reassured that he was being paid attention to. He was doing this now, resting his pinion claws against the claws of his caretaker. An action like this might've made any other harpy shudder; it was like having hands on one's elbows. She didn't shudder.

Sohl sighed as little Cyno smiled and played with her claws, comparing and contrasting the differences in size. He really was tiny. She couldn't help but wonder how long he'd be alive. While his existence held the temporary peace treaty together, there were many, many harpies and griffons who didn't want peace. One day, they all might come for him, and to prove the treaty broken with his blood. Well, they'd have to get through her, first. The little tyke might be a freak, but for now, he was her freak.

Holding the little tyke in her arms, Sohl couldn't help but feel that familiar, heavy sadness that threatened to push emotions from her eyes. She was reminded of Orea, the one creature in the world that had truly understood her, had never judged her, and had known her inside and out. It was the little nymph that had established a connection between the two of them and the pegasus Spark Storm that was stronger than anything she'd ever felt before, or since. It had been several months now, and she very rarely felt anything from Orea. By now she'd just assumed that the psychic connection had been severed by the distance she'd put between the three of them.

Cyno stared up at her, almost as if he could sense the sadness overtaking the harpy. Not that it was difficult to see; Sohl was already crying. Cyno did his best to show he cared by poking at her cheeks. It made her chuckle. "I'm surprised I made it this far,'" she mused, deflecting Cyno's claws from her eyes. "If I'd been this broken up when I faced my sisters, we'd both probably be dead by now. Crying is an unforgivable weakness, you know."

Cyno didn't know, nor could he articulate that he didn't. "Wet," he told her as he displayed the tears that he'd taken from her face. His guardian nodded.

"That's right, it's wet, and if you ever tell anyone, I'll have to hurt..." Sohl paused. Even if it was just in jest, she couldn't finish that sentence. Even just joking about hurting Cyno felt very, very wrong. "Ugh. Spending time with ponies has ruined me."

"Po-pony?"

Cyno's inquiry brought Sohl's palm up to her face. This was a conversation she wasn't ready to have. "I'll...I'll tell you some other time, kiddo. For now..." she paused, her stomach rumbling for effect, "I think I need some food."

"Pony?" Cyno asked as he scrambled around to nestle between the harpy's wings as she stood. He always loved being up high, and Sohl was the perfect mountainous height.

"No!" Sohl chuckled, unable to keep the laughter from bubbling out. "No." The harpy lightly patted her charge on the beak and made her way towards the kitchens, only to pause near some monitors on the wall. "Meh...looks like Callie is making her way back here. You've got no end of cuteness, it seems." A different monitor caught Sohl's attention as she continued. At that moment, everything she'd worked for for the last half a year came crashing down.

For the last four months, she'd spent almost every waking moment trying to get rid of the squishy, warm feelings she'd acquired after living with ponies. It had taken some getting used to, but raising another monster had been something akin to fun. Orea had been both a blessing and a curse, more so the latter since the little nymph psychically linked herself to Sohl. Orea's mind almost wasn't even her own, since most of her experience and knowledge of the world came from her father, the very pony on that monitor.

Spark Storm...why? Why was he here? Sohl could feel all the pain returning. It had nearly broken her to leave, but the decision was easy to make. She'd had to leave when she'd been called back to assist in the war against the griffons. She'd dropped everything that she'd come to love in order to protect it. Her claw trembled as it was pressed to the screen, blotting out the pegasus from her view. "Why are you here?" she asked the monitor. She shuddered, as if hearing her own voice made the whole situation real. "Damn it...now I have to start over. Stupid pegasus..."

Spark Storm sat in the center of a large, circular room. Sounds echoed as Mimosa Palm dug through a box near the only door, over which a red neon sign explained that it was, obviously, the exit. "I swear, every time..." The dryad mumbled. It wasn't often he had visitors, and even more rarely did he feel so inclined to share such important history. The box itself wasn't very big, but there were others. Perhaps the film had been borrowed? The Wollypogs were often in here, using the dryad's blank film to document. Only recently had they begun to open up to the idea of using film to record.

Well, this is going nowhere fast, Spark thought, stifling a yawn. "Long day?"

The voice had come from nowhere. An older female, gentle, and perhaps more understanding of an annoying situation than most were capable. It certainly wasn't Ampelus, she couldn't speak at the moment, still hidden inside that shell that had gone quiet just a few feet behind him. No, there was certainly none here that could've spoken to Spark Storm, not that he could see. There was just an enormous frog sitting in an empty theater seat to his right. That couldn't have been what had spoken to him.

As if the notion of a talking frog weren't odd enough, this creature, almost half as big as he was, had a tree growing out of it's back. The plantlife took almost half of it's mass, and rose up about eight inches over it's head. Spark was very tempted to poke at it. He opened his mouth to speak, then very slowly brought his lips together a little tighter than he meant to. Tempting as it was to speak to what looked like a gag statue, this thing also looked very real.

The frog rolled it's eyes and reached forward to pat Spark on the back. "It's alright, dear, seeing a Wollypog for the first time is a bit daunting." The pegasus froze. Not because the frog had spoken, but because her touch was like ice.

"...So you're real. You're a real frog, and you speak, and I assume that's a real tree growing out of your back."

The amphibious creature smiled, a look that seemed to tear her face from end to end. "My my. You're not a screamer, I take it?"

"Uh...Not really." Spark shifted slightly in his seat. This creature's smile unsettled him more than anything else about her. "I've seen a lot of strange things in my lifetime, and you're certainly not the strangest. Almost normal, by my standards. Uh, no offense."

"Oh, think nothin' of it." She waved a pad at him dismissively. "If you'd allow me, though...I am not a frog. I am a Wollypog. We're a little like frogs, I suppose...although we're 'like' frogs about as much as you're 'like' a giraffe. The tree is real, though."

Spark stared at her for a moment, a question hanging at the tip of his tongue. Should he...? Would he dare? Ah, what the heck. "So...are you 'pollywogs'...Mimosa's mad scientist experiments...?"

The frog reared her face to the ceiling and sputtered madly. For a moment, Spark Storm feared he really had terribly insulted her. The noise even grabbed Mimosa's attention as he peered at the two from a box, film reel wrapped around his head. Finally she calmed down and slapped her knee with a generous squelch. "Heavens, no! The Wollypogs are among the oldest races on the planet, spanning back to the first age. Experiments...hah!"

"The first age...? Mimosa's mentioned these ages before. He's looking for something to show me, but...what can you tell me about them?"

"Ah-ah!" Mimosa chimed from his box. "That's my story to tell."

"Oh come off it, Palm." The Wollypog waggled a foot dismissively. "You always take forever to find your film. A little tidbit won't hurt the boy, and you always tell your stories so uniquely. It'll be completely different!"

The dryad made a noncommittal grunt and disappeared back into a box, but he didn't say no. The large tree frog, or frog tree, smiled amicably as she set herself down on the floor before the curious pegasus. "My boy, the world you know is so, so young, and the same goes for the princess that rules your people." Spark nodded quietly, and with respect. Something about this Wollypog just demanded it. "For as far back as anyone has bothered to record history, there have been certain points of time where the planet...changes. All at once."

"Changes? What, you mean like...?"

"Everything," she confirmed, and shushed him politely. "The planet itself goes through minimal change, perhaps some climate change, magnetic polarization, enough to help whatever changes occur. By and by, the largest changes are political."

Spark Storm tried and failed miserably to look like he understood, his response delayed far too long to suggest anything else. "...Political. Right."

"Really? 'Political'?" Mimosa emerged from his box once more. "Could you dumb it down any further?"

The frog's tongue darted out of her mouth, a gesture of derision that passed over Spark's head. "I don't think it could be, dear. You did seem to want to tell the whole story yourself."

"I'm not even remotely ready to put this film into motion." The dryad let out a bleak sigh. "It seems to have hit it's limit of being stored improperly."

"And here I thought you preached technology over nature, tsk."

"This technology is extremely outdated. Digital is where it's at, just ask the diamond dogs."

"Guys?" Spark Storm's patience had been slowly filing down to it's core, and this little discussion was going nowhere. "Can we get back to the story?"

Mimosa finally emerged from the now-ruined box, spilling it's contents over the floor like an exploding intestinal film. Before either of his guests could speak, he let out a loud breath. A haze erupted from his mouth, spreading across the floor like a blanketing fog. Spark watched this show of mist and soft light for a moment, confused. What was he supposed to be seeing? A soft gasp of awe to his right escaped the Wollypog. "So you're starting from the beginning? I haven't seen this in an age."

Spark continued looking for something substantial in the fog when shapes began to appear. Light waves of shapes, almost like water, began to undulate around and around, and a sphere began to shape in the center. "In the beginning, as I'm sure you've heard somewhere or another, there was nothing. A vast, great emptiness in the blackness of space." The pegasus barely noticed the Wollypog's narrative, simply accepting her speech as part of the show. "The gods saw fit to place a world here, simply choosing this random little place to begin life."

"Wh...what?" Spark frowned and resisted the temptation to laugh. "You make it sound ridiculous, like the planet's creation and everything on it was...random, and..."

"And what?" she asked curiously, a small smile born of amusement, half at Spark's question and half at Mimosa's bemusement at having his show interrupted.

"Well...I mean...'gods'?" Spark flushed with embarrassment. "You don't mean beings like Celestia, do you?"

The pegasus nearly jumped out of his seat as the fog light shuttered violently, temporarily blinding him and the Wollypog. "Get a hold of yourself, Mimosa!" she cried, shielding her large eyes in vain. "He's just a boy, he doesn't know any better, now does he?"

"In my day, a boy like him could be sacrificed to greater slugs than Celestia for such sacrilege!" The light seemed to grow in intensity for a moment, but like a cloud drifting over the sun, it was muted back to the gentle foggy light cast on the floor. "No, boy, the creatures you know as alicorns did not create the world. Far from it. About as far as you can possibly get. If you took - "

"Hush, Palm, and tell your story!"

"Hmph. You were telling it, weren't you?"

The Wollypog sighed. "As I was saying, the gods created this world, and everything in it. But the world you know now did not exist in the beginning. There were others, far older than your Celestia. She is quite new. No, at the beginning, creatures like her, beings with intelligence, were very, very rare. Many of the creatures that first came into being were so monstrous and wild...it was complete chaos. For those of us that had been gifted with intelligence and self-awareness, we survived by going into hiding."

She paused, seeing a questing in Spark's eye. "...'We'?"

"Yes, my boy...we were there, at the beginning. Well, not me, of course, that's silly. I'm not that old."

"And...how old is that?"

A look was exchanged briefly between the two storytellers. "Nine billion years...roughly."

Spark stared at her, the numbers sinking into his head. The world was close to ten billion years old. Was that even possible? Even the history books he'd read in his school days hadn't gone back more than one, maybe two hundred years into the past. Was the whole kingdom that much out of touch?...No. No, that wasn't possible. If recorded history had omitted that much, then certainly someone in Equestria was aware of how far back everything went, and the only one he could think of was Celestia.

And what about outside Equestria? He could only think of one individual that might be that old. Spark's gaze turned on Mimosa, who smiled quietly at the attention. "Yes," the Wollypog whispered. "He was there. He was among the first."

There were many questions in Spark's mind, but a new one began to form. "So...if the gods gave you life...then what does that make you?"

"A guardian, I suppose. After the creation of all, there were no instructions, there were no clear paths. We simply...knew. With intelligence came the knowledge that we were gifted more than others, that there were roles to fill. We had lesser beings to rule, to guide, to help evolve, though our own evolutions were incomplete. It was a humbling and...a rather terrifying time to be alive."

Spark wanted to close his eyes and imagine what it was like so long ago, but first..."So...what kind of life inhabited this first age?"

"Well, there were the giant rocs, and-"

"'Rocks'?"

"Not rocks, boy, rocs."

"Uh...?"

Mimosa sighed, and again released the shape-showing mist, revealing massive bird-like creatures. To compare, a single pony was created next to one of the rocs - it was like a stone standing next to a mountain. "They were huge, like mountains," Spark whispered.

"They are as big as mountains. At the end of the first age, they relinquished the skies and the ground to the others to follow. Many of them became mountains, slowly turning into rock, petrifying, and forming much of the land."

Spark stared at the giant creatures for a moment longer. He was sure he'd read something about them in the library in Equestria. Myths, legends, rumors. "What else?"

"Well, there were the Wollypogs, of course," Mimosa said and nodded warmly to his companion. The shapes in the mist changed again, resulting in a frog shape that was quite large, with the pony to scale beside it. "Originally the Wollypogs were giants compared to your species. They were there in the beginning as well, I might add." Before Spark could question this, the Wollypog chimed in.

"Oh, we were predators, originally. It wasn't until Mimosa's intervention that my ancestors saw the errors of their ways, and became observers. Up until that point, the Wollypogs were among the largest consumers of most forms of life." She sighed, eyes cast to the dimmed green of the tree growing from her back. "It took us a long time to come to our senses, and let evolution take over. Since that time, we have been keeping record of the world as it develops...We have quite a library, as you can imagine."

"I...guess you would," Spark muttered. He couldn't help look between the Wollypog sitting beside him and the example in the mist, easily five times bigger than the scale pony. There was more, so many more questions to ask, but something particular had been bugging him, and it sat right next to him. "So, uh...how did...this," he said, lightly knocking on Ampelus' shell, "turn into a nymph?"

Ampelus' eyes popped out of their hiding place, staring first at Spark Storm, then at her father. Not now, not now! they pleaded. Mimosa regarded that desperate look and sighed. "Evolution," he said proudly.

"Uh huh. And come to think of it, why is she showing me this now?"

"Oh, well that's quite a simple reason. You see-"

Before Mimosa could get started on another lecture, Ampelus' shell convulsed violently. Green erupted from the spiral in all directions, reforming the pony-like creature that Spark Storm originally met. He was unaware that she could move at such speeds. "Oooooh-kay. Isn't that enough history, father?" Her face burned red, something Spark had only seen once. Mimosa pursed his lips and said no more.

"Uh, nice to see you again."

Ampelus turned on Spark Storm to shove a hoof against his mouth, her nervous energy gone and replaced with ambivalence. "Shove it! I'm still angry with you for what you said!"

"No you're not." Ampelus gasped with feigned shock when the pegasus casually slapped her hoof down. The two of them continued to banter back and forth. It made Mimosa smile; his daughter had finally found someone that could tolerate her.

A subtle cough caught the dryad's attention. The Wollypog smiled at him from her seat and offered a helpful shrug. "So..." Her voice caught the attention of the two bickering friends as well. "What about continuing that history lesson?"

Another small cough from the doorway sounded. Bombyx smiled with some trepidation, followed by Callie, who wore an even more nervous smile. "Perhaps you could all use a break, hm?" Ampelus muttered quietly under her breath as her sister approached, her teeth actually grinding when Spark left her side to meet Callie.

"What is this about, Bombyx? We were in the middle of an important discussion."

The nymph coughed discreetly, eyes on Spark Storm as he stared wide-eyed at the little creature nestled inbetween Callie's wings. "Oh, I see you've met Cyno and So-"

Mimosa stared at the hoof that had been placed not-so-gently over his mouth. Never had he been silenced so roughly, and certainly not by his own creations! Bombyx pleaded quietly for the dryad not to take offence. He wasn't so sure he'd take this lying down, but his anger quickly fizzled when she whispered in his ear, "It's him, sir...Spark Storm is the pegasus that Sohl is so broken over. She asked me to come down here with Callie and make him leave, and..."

"Oh..." Mimosa nodded quietly. It was a shock, of course, when the harpy had arrived some time ago seeking asylum. It made sense, the bio-dome was a political neutral zone. Cyno was the key to peace between the harpies and the griffons, many lives were hung in the balance over the life of the hybrid child. Keeping him here was the safest thing for him. But Sohl herself was a wreck. She had arrived a broken harpy, cold and detached, like a harpy was supposed to be, but Mimosa had sensed there was great personal loss inside her. It had taken many days of coaxing, but she'd finally told her story.

"Yes, I...I see. How strange that he should come here...quite an interesting situation, isn't it?"

Mimosa's near-flippant response was nothing new; he hardly ever took anything seriously. Bombyx had come to know Mimosa as something of a mad scientist, but with a heart...sometimes. "S-sir, there's more..." The dryad's attention was no longer with her. New life was being discovered by one of the most interesting creatures he'd ever met.

"He's...uh...definitely something else," Spark was saying. Little Cyno it seemed had crawled up his chest and grabbed the back of his neck. His claws had somehow missed gripping into his flesh, and now stared into his eyes. The pegasus missed the tone of recognition when Cyno smiled and proclaimed:

"Pony!"

"Uh huh, I'm a pony." Spark smiled as Cyno squealed shrilly. "Geez...Easy kid, my ears..."

Off to the side, Callie fidgeted nervously, eyes darting between Spark and Ampelus, who had chosen not to approach the child. If she did, it was likely that she would undo all of Sohl's hard work. Ampelus had known Sohl as well. Surely her senses would tell her that Cyno had been in the arms of a harpy not five minutes ago...

Bombyx on the other hand, had other pressing issues. While she and Callie had been in the control room (where Frankie had stayed to observe - new guests were arriving after all), it had come to their attention that another group was approaching, and from the looks of it, they were - "Pirates!"

All chatter in the room ceased, all eyes on Bombyx from her outburst. "...Pirates, sir."

"What in the blazes are you talking about, Bombyx?"

"I meant to tell you earlier, sir, when I mentioned the other...thing. We have guests arriving, and it appears they may be here about the festivities tonight."

Mimosa stared blankly at the nymph. Festivities? What festivities? Oh...right. "Hah! Where have I been this last hour? So much time can be lost when something so...interesting," he said, eyes gliding uncomfortably over Spark Storm, "falls into my lap." Spark shivered.

"The what-now?" Spark asked, hoping for a change in tone.

"The coronation!" The Wollypog exclaimed from behind Mimosa. She made Cyno jump with shock when she leaped onto Mimosa's back. "The kingdom will finally be made official!" She amicably slapped the dryad's neck. "You've been guiding them in their efforts to establish that kingdom for how many generations?"

Spark made a face. "Kingdom? I thought this was a neutral zone?"

"It is," Mimosa said with no small ounce of restraint. "The kingdom we are referring to is the Kingdom of Undercari, and it is located at the bottom of the sea. They've had no small amount of troubles with governmental laws, threats of war and too many other troubles to number. Many of the undersea citizens wish to remain apart from any single government, but they're finally ready to unite under one single kingdom. Well, in that level, anyway. Anything deeper than that, and it's Luminous territory."

If Spark Storm could've massaged his temples, he would have. "This is...all very interesting. And I mean, all of it. It sounds like a million things are happening at once. So, you guys are having company...should we skedaddle on out of here?" It wasn't something Spark was looking forward to. As confusing and sometimes uncomfortable as this was, the history of the ages before was fascinating. A forlorn glance at the bouncing historian was not lost on her.

"Don't worry, boy. I imagine you're not here for just today? Why not come back tomorrow and we can catch you up, or...try to, anyway?"

"Uh...yeah. Definitely. We're here for about a week, actually. Plenty of time." And I've got to see how Amacia and the gang are doing. I guess I can come back tomorrow and see what else can complicate things...

"I'll come too!" Ampelus was finding it more and more difficult to tolerate Spark Storm's griffon friend. Callie was looking more relieved to be leaving as she helped Spark pry Cyno loose from his wings. "Yanno, we've got stuff to talk about, Sparky. It's been too long!"

Still many questions burning in his head, Spark welcomed Callie's intentions with a smile. It would be good to get back to the gang. Maybe Trixie had found somepony to keep her company for awhile. They'd be leaving her here, at the end of their stay. According to Celestia, Breen wasn't going to be a safe place for the unicorn to wander. The trio said their goodbyes, and left through the indoor forest to take the tram back to the main entryway.

"Hm. About time to get this place cleared up," Mimosa told Bombyx. The nymph obediently began the process, clearing away Mimosa's tables, replacing odd potions and mixtures that the dryad had thankfully not gotten around to using on the poor pegasus.

"So," the Wollypog croaked from her seat. "He made things...'clear'. What did you mean by that?"

"Do you suppose he forgot about that?" Mimosa chuckled. "That boy may the heart of many, many secrets, things that were plunged into darkness for an entire age...and it seems that he himself has created an entirely new secret, something never seen before."

The Wollypog was well versed in the darkness Mimosa spoke of, but this new secret that he teased with intrigued her. "What? Something new?"

"Yes...it appears that I have a granddaughter. By his own life force."

She sputtered. "How? He's just a boy!"

"I...don't know. But she is new. A new species." Bombyx gasped quietly, barely pausing in her work. Something new? Like her?

"A...a new species of nymph? How in blazes is that possible?"

Mimosa smiled. "I'll be quite pleased to discover that myself."

20 - Yar, 'Tis Fate!

"...Anyway, that was it for me. I didn't finish school and I missed out on a lot of stuff..." Spark trailed off distractedly. He'd spent the last fifteen minutes getting Callie up to speed, at least up to the end of his school days, and of his mother's death. The griffon stared at him, tears in her eyes, claws gripping the steel floor under her feet. Even Ampelus, who had never heard this story before, looked like she wanted to rip something apart.

"That little 'lake' brat! If he were here, I would remove his spine and feed it to him!"

This outburst made Callie turn a shade lighter. "Thanks for the image...whatever happened to him, Sparky? D'ya know?"

Spark paused as the trio neared the exit of the bio dome. "Can't say that I really know...I heard once that he'd been sent to some kind of military camp, but that hardly seems fair after what he did...anyway."

Callie frowned, and took a moment to reflect on her own situations, which seemed rather tame compared to what Spark had been through. Though she and a few others had either been cast out or simply left their tribe, both of her parents were still alive back home. It seemed almost trivial to think that she'd ever felt sorry for herself.

"So Callie," Spark began, startling the griffon back to the present. "What are you doing here?"

Callie smiled and rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Well...to be honest, I'm tailin' a coupl'a harpies that came this way. Supposedly they're here to maintain a peace between the harpies and griffons."

Spark and Ampelus shared a glance. "And they're going to maintain peace by doing...what? Squatting in a greenhouse?"

The blue-feathered griffon bristled slightly. The question seemed to bother her, but she maintained her composure. "It's actually kinda private, I don't think they'd appreciate strangers knowin' what they're doin' here. They're kinda hidin' here, and if either griffon or harpy tribes knew where they were, there'd be trouble..."

Ampelus felt a twinge of anger. She already didn't like Callie simply for the fact that she was already closer to Spark Storm than she was comfortable with. "Excuse me, do we look like a couple of blabber mouths?"

Callie turned to the nymph, a look of calm sass in her eyes when Spark Storm intervened. "Hey hey, it's all right." He looked to Ampelus and back cautiously. "If we don't need to know, we don't need to know. I'm not really in the mood to discuss the harpies, anyway." Ampelus sighed and shook her head at the pegasus before moving on silently.

"Spark Storm!" Callie squeaked. "You talk like ya know the harpies..."

"Yeah, I know a couple..." Spark Storm cleared his throat and glanced at Ampelus. "So Ampelus, I actually have been wondering. Was there a specific reason you haven't shown me that before?"

Callie frowned, not particularly liking Spark's deflection, but this question was quite vague. What had happened when Mimosa asked to see the pegasus privately? And why had Ampelus been there, and what had she shown him? She watched with interest as the nymph's face grew quite red.

"Spark Storm, that's not for others to know..." she growled through clenched teeth. The pegasus looked like he wanted to pursue the matter, but an elbow from Callie interrupted him. He seemed to understand, now walking with the same air of uncomfortable silence as his old friend. Ampelus trudged along, now understanding that Spark Storm had not understood the reveal of her true form. Even more, she needed to speak with her father now. Today was shaping up to be the most uncomfortable day in her life.

Touchy, Callie thought to herself with a roll of her eyes. She paused, having caught sight of a familiar color that flashed in her vision. Having just exited the facility into the jungle, pink wasn't the sort of hue you'd expect. Pink and yellow. There - she spotted a large bird in the trees. She'd been expecting something - or someone - else, but the bird caught her off guard. It seemed to be eying the group with what appeared to be a look of anger. Some creature that escaped from the biodome, maybe?

"Hm?" Callie gasped as she was brought back to reality. "You alright there, Callie?"

She shrugged a shoulder towards the bird. "See it, Sparky? I think one a' Mimosa's birds flew the coup..."

"A bird? Where?" Spark Storm eased his gaze towards the trees, but without a clue of what to look for, he couldn't locate Callie's bird.

Ampelus did. Bird and nymph glared at each other. Deep inside, Ampelus remembered what horrible damage Sohl's departure had done to Spark Storm. It had taken him months to get better. Of all the stupid, selfish... Birds flew up into the canopy in panic as Ampelus lashed out suddenly, snapping a vine at the large bird. It disappeared into the foliage, angry but compliant.

"Geez, Ampelus, what'd ya do that for??" Callie demanded, rounding on the nymph.

"She looked at me wrong..." was her response, cold and barely composed. She continued quietly between the two, determined to keep her friend in the dark. He did not deserve to have his world turned upside down all over again. It might be inevitable with her here on the island, but this particular disaster wouldn't happen on her watch.

Birds burst out of the canopy, catching the gaze of the pegasus hovering in the air over his fellow pirates. Rising Mist normally acted as his crew's lookout, but on this particular trip onto land this was his secondary role. Today, he was lookout for a particular mare. The assassin Fire Lotus, as only he truly knew her to be among the crew. Here she was known as Steel Scabbard, an expensive concubine. How her reputation had not preceeded her out on the sea, neither of them knew. Mist figured it had something to do with the fact that she wasn't that well known outside of Neighpon, where they were both from.

Fire Lotus preened her dark reddish mane vainly. Her usually straight hair refused to obey her commands. It was this horrible humidity that did it, she told herself. She usually liked to keep herself looking perfect - one never knew when a good shagging could be had, and sometimes it all came down to appearance. Of course, right now she wasn't really free to sleep with just anypony. This trip she was acting as escort to the esteemed Gabriel, the "second Captain" of the Sea Pearl. What was the point of having a second captain? She didn't understand it, but she didn't need to. She wasn't here for him, or his crew.

This mission had not started as a vacation. In the weeks before this point, Fire Lotus had been preparing for a voyage to the nation of Breen. A great revolution had been stirring for many years in the military nation, and the royal family wanted it gone, as they had enough problems already within their own ranks. Several important family members had gone missing recently, and it was becoming difficult to keep order.

The red mare was pulled out of her thoughts when what she knew to be a brief shadow signal fell over her eyes from above. Rising Mist had signaled to her, and only her, that there appeared to be a disturbance in the woods just ahead. She pulled herself together and tugged her hair back into a bun, setting it in place with a senbon, which in itself was impressive considering her limp. No one in the crew was expecting trouble, Gabriel had said, but you could never be too careful.

Up ahead walked Gabriel, chatting it up with the crew's burly chef, Cinnablock. Shorter than Gabriel, the cinnamon-colored earth pony had a chin like a mountain and a stomach like an iron pot. Behind her strode the two mares Fire Lotus most wanted to avoid. One was Cinnablock's wife, Bertha, who boasted the greatest physical strength on the ship. There were legends about her prowess in battle, some the assassin had seen for herself. The other was Rossa Bellezza, the tall red beauty. Not just beautiful, she was highly intelligent, and far too nosy for Fire Lotus' liking.

She sang. She sang and ran among the tall, shady palm trees. A song played in her heart, the same song that had been playing there for many years. The joy in her heart allowed no words, for there were no words to describe it. Ramani Ya Dunia dashed and bounded from bush to tree to clearing, her hooves sinking in the dirt and the sand. It was almost too much for Dendalla, but the oryx had a few years of practice. She never let the little zebra out of her sight.

"Little one, not so fast! This island is strange to all of us," she called.

"Yes! Strange, and new!" Ramani giggled at Dendalla's reaction when she slid under her guardian's legs from behind. "It is an 'experimence!'"

"Experience, little one," she corrected, and neatly settled on top of the zebra's back, like a hen with her chicks. It had come to be an understanding between the two that when this action was necessary, it was time to calm down. The young explorer sighed, but relented. She knew better than to get on Dendalla's bad side. A few head butts on her posterior was more than enough incentive to behave.

"...I am still," Ramani offered after a moment, and remained so to prove that this was true. The older oryx smiled as her charge demonstrated that she could, in fact, listen to unspoken instruction.

"Very good, young one." Dendalla stood straight, allowing the zebra to crawl out from under her with an excited snort. This forest had so many interesting sights and smells! It was very difficult to contain herself. Even back in her home, Zebrafrica, things that she had seen and done every day for years still held excitement for her. No task was too mundane, no routine was too common. Life was full of excitement and wonder!

The two had gone on ahead of the others. Dendalla and her brother Xennen, who had remained on the ship, were both world renowned scouts, and were often tasked to gain intel on new places. As Oryx, they were well-equipped to tackle any terrain, especially vertical areas. Though the humid jungles were far from Dendalla's favorite, it was no more difficult to navigate than any other place she'd been. Judging by this place, the potential for hidden dangers and secrets appeared to be very high.

She had been informed of course of where they were going and who awaited them - a long-lived guardian of the planet, one of the first known Dryads. He was a local legend here on the island, his exploits and long-life disregarded or simply explained away by the fact that he was simply very creative and looked quite good for his age. Whether there was some kind of spell over the island or willful ignorance, that didn't matter to the oryx. What mattered was Ramani's safety, which she had been tasked to protect at all costs. There was so much here on this island that could threaten it, she could sense it. And no, it was most certainly not the hussy "Steel Scabbard" as the assassin she knew her to go by. She was not here for Ramani, or any of them. No...something was waiting nearby, a much more apparent threat...

Spark Storm squinted as he stepped out into the sun. How long had it been since he and his team had arrived on the island? Two, three hours? There was still Trixie to think about. The plan had been to anchor here just long enough for Rolling Waves to get properly treated. The ship and all it's crew would be stuck here for an entire week. Wouldn't that make it a little awkward to share the island with the showmare, whom they had agreed would simply stay on the island if she couldn't make good here? From the way she'd been enjoying herself it hardly seemed like she was going to even try. Whatever. It was her choice to come here and party instead of trying to earn bits.

"Few bits for your thoughts, Sparky?" Callie's ribbing, metaphorical and literal, poked Spark Storm out of his thoughts.

"Oh...sorry. I was thinking about one of our unintentional guests. She's a street performer, and she wasn't doing too well in Vanhoover, so she bummed a ride with us to the island. I don't know how much better she's doing to do here, but like she said, at least if she fails she'll fail at a nice beach. And I guess that reminds me, there are others to think about, too..."

"Uh huh," Ampelus chimed in grumpily. "Let me guess, you're worried about your little love bugs."

"Don't call them that," he returned chidingly, avoiding the curious look in his griffin friend's eyes. "...but yes, I am worried about them.

"Love bugs, huh?" Callie said with a grin. "Sparky, if I didn't know the kinda company you keep, I would go so far as to assume that you're travellin' with changelings."

Spark and Ampelus shared a glance. The nymph's already sour expression turned even more sour. This griffin was far too smart...and nosy, for that matter. She'd just mentioned that she was holding secrets for a friend, and was even offended at the idea of sharing them. Did she think she was going to get what she wanted by batting her pretty eyelashes at the pegasus she'd met just once when they were children?

"...Yes," Spark said after a moment. Ampelus began to formulate different ways to strangle a griffin. And possibly a pegasus. "That's the whole reason I'm here. Well, there's...a whole different reason why we're here on the island, but that's a whole other story...I'm helping a pair of changeling friends get to Breen."

"Breen??" The look of shock and and aversion in the griffin's face gave her friends pause. "What in the name a' all things good and just do y'wanna go there for??" Callie's accent was cute and light when she normally spoke, but it came out in spades now, complimenting the look of horror in her eyes.

Spark Storm frowned. Again, it seemed like Celestia had thrown him headfirst into a dangerous situation with next to no information about where he was headed."Uh...why? What's wrong with it?"

Callie brought her paws up onto the pegasi's shoulders, practically shaking him. "You'd have better results asking what's NOT wrong with i!! The whole country's full a' bigots! What's worse, they're bigots with POWER! Th' kirins there are conquerors, and wanna force their own twisted 'peace' onto the "lower life forms" that share the country!"

Ampelus rolled her eyes before politely putting some distance between the two. "Look, this is all fine and well, but it's not like we're going over there to...restore order, or whatever it is you think Spark Storm does. We're going to Breen to drop the kids off at the murder continent and then going home."

"Goin' home, huh? Well ain't that just nice...for you!" Callie sat up and crossed her paws over her chest. "Those changelings won't have a home to go to - the only hive in the country was decimated three weeks ago!"

Spark Storm felt a cold, empty wave, like chilled liquid metal sloshing around in his insides. Could this be true? Had they come all this way for nothing? "I...is that true, Callie? Anorax told me Madalah had been called back very recently. I guess there hadn't been an update for a while, but...wouldn't she be able to tell if...?" He trailed off, casting a hopeful glance at Ampelus until he realized she wouldn't know, or care.

"I don't know where you're gettin' your information, Sparky, but it's really outdated. You're just gonna have to tell your friends to stay in Eques..."

Callie's sudden silence caught the attention of the two as a few familiar faces popped through the bushes nearby. "...Anorax? Madalah? Uh...hey..." Spark began awkwardly. There was no way to tell how much they had heard...

Another head popped out from behind them. Kecnic, tall and blue and looking quite panicked, though silent. "Oh good, you all found each other, listen, uh...uh..." Spark trailed off this time as two more faces popped out of the brush. Neither were hiding their true forms, both changelings he had never seen before. One had a luminous green glow about her, two antennae instead of a horn. The other was taller, and while he resembled the average changeling, he had large circle patterns over his body, somewhat resembling...something familiar, that that the pegasus couldn't quite put a hoof on.

"Uh...Heeeey, Spark..." Anorax began slowly. "Look, we know about the Breen hive, you don't need to tell us. Actually...it's these two that called us a few weeks ago..."

Spark Storm could feel a headache coming on. "Wh...what? Why the heck did they meet us here? Do we still need to go to Breen??"

Ampelus made a face. She hadn't seen this many changelings together for...how long had it been? Since an entire hive had tried to tear her apart? She felt a rumbling deep inside her, an anxiousness that had been building inside of her the second she'd stepped onto this stupid island. It leapt to new heights when the new female changeling set her sights on the nymph. "Oh...my gosh..." she whispered, stepping towards Ampelus, antennae twitching. "Is that what I think it is??"

"Oookay..." Spark put himself in the changeling's path. "Can we not aggravate the nymph, please? Let's stay focused! Why did you call your friends back, and what happens now that you're already here?"

The two newcomers shared a glance, then looked to their new changeling friends. Anorax smiled encouragingly. The male sighed and turned to Spark Storm. "Well, it's kind of a long story, but-"

"Just over there, my lads!" a new voice called. Spark, Callie and Ampelus collectively groaned in frustration. What now?? Suddenly a blur of black and white jumped out of the woods, a creature that Spark was sure he'd spotted once or twice in the Everfree. She was a young creature, probably younger than him. She pranced about and stuck her nose into personal space all through the crowd, even into the changeling's faces before the two newcomers slunk back behind the bushes with wide, surprised eyes.

"Ramani!" a female voice called. The zebra gasped with an air of disappointment before she turned her gaze to Callie, nose inches away from beak. The griffin smiled amicably, but found herself easing away from the invasion of privacy.

"I like you," she told the older griffin before bounding away just a brief second before Dendalla rushed out of the brush, head lowered threateningly at the present company. Ramani leapt to her side, a bright smile on her face. "It is fine, Dendalla! We have found safe friends."

"Not everyone that we meet is a friend!" the oryx chided, eyes darting between pony and his creature company. She had seen many varieties of creatures roaming the planet, but to see such variety here, in one place...

"Sheesh, so much noise..." a male voice said, nonchalant and relaxed. A stallion, at least as tall as Celestia herself, with a coat like cream and a brilliant white mane stepped into the clearing. A Saddle Arabian, Spark noted. His gaze glided over the growing crowd, a brow arched. "Not exactly the crowd we were expecting, but..." he paused, eying Callie. "...certainly not unwelcome." When the griffin's plumage puffed with indignity, he chuckled and laid eyes on the blue pegasus. "...Definitely not unwelcome."

Spark Storm felt his fur stand on edge. He'd never been flirted with by another male before, it left him feeling open and awkward, especially since the tall pony kept his eyes on him. Since coming to the island, all these weird things kept happening! What else was going to come out of those woods? His thoughts were answered almost immediately when Anorax threw him a look of horror and panic, an approaching presence that alarmed him. Even Ampelus looked like she was ready to murder, vines curling out from her shoulders and corkscrewing into points.

"Gabriel," a familar voice called. Spark felt his nymph friend's body tensing, the ground beside her trembling. "How long are we going to be in this awful humid jungle? My mane is a mess..." Fire Lotus stepped out of the forest into the clearing, messing with her mane. She was so preoccupied that she didn't stop until she'd passed the others, now halfway inbetween the pirates and Spark's friends. She looked up to see the new figures and immediately froze.

Fire Lotus had an instant to move as two sharp vines shot down at her. She spun as the vines twisted to avoid the ground and followed her. With no time to think of a plan, and having had no time to set up traps, the earth mare did the only thing she could think of - she quite literally danced, twirling to avoid the vines until she came to rest right before Spark Storm. Though wary of his ability to shock, she had to take a chance and say: "My old dance partners! Still as spry as ever, I see!"

The pegasus glared at her grin, her eyes pleading 'please please please play along...' She glanced back at the crew she was traveling with - they all looked ready to jump in and help, especially Gabriel, and Rising Mist overhead. How had the birdbrain not seen this?? Perhaps he had, he had warned her of something. These were the last two she ever hoped to see again, but to meet them here, of all places?

Spark Storm looked ready to speak when Ampelus finally caught the mare around the neck and middle, squeezing. "Aaughcc...y-you're so good...(cough cough)...at hugging!" she rasped, still trying to diffuse the situation. The stallion regarded her for a moment, watching his enemy's face getting darker. He winced when Callie nudged him harder than he was expecting, and finally signaled for Ampelus to drop her, which she did abruptly. Fire Lotus barely caught herself, breathing as quietly as she could. Stupid nymph had nearly broken a rib...

Gabriel, unsure of what had just happened, stepped forward slowly. "So...no feuds, here?"

"No," Spark Storm said with a grin. "After all, we're all old buddies here," he said, putting a leg over Fire Lotus' shoulders amicably.

"We used to work together," she told them all rather quickly. "Steel Scabbard and the Angry Flowers." Spark Storm glanced at Fire Lotus, grasping at her words. She did not go by Fire Lotus here. She had gone under cover, apparently, but coming to visit the island? He needed to know what she was doing here.

"Don't sound like any group I ever heard of," chimed Rossa Bellezza from the back of the group, a small smug look in her eyes.

"Not all performance artists come from Istalia, my dear," Fire Lotus retorted with forced charm.

"Sure don't take a talented puttana to poke around and discover new talents to stuff between your legs," Rossa shot back with no shortage of hostility.

As the pirates chuckled at the cattery, Spark Storm snorted, earning him a threatening smile from Fire Lotus. "You're making new friends all over, aren't you?" he said with a grin, daring her to strike at him.

"Look..." she started, whispering and closing the distance between the two. "Let me make this clear. I don't trust you enough to turn my back on you, and I'm sure you feel the same way. We're heading inside to give Mimosa Palm our respect, we're anchoring here to celebrate some...thing happening in the ocean, new princess or some such. I'm not here for that. I've been hired for some business in Breen. Why are you here?"

Spark had to admire the earth mare's sudden trust in the why she was here. Could he really trust her? Did he have a reason not to? She was as surprised to see him as he was to see her. Then again, if she was headed to Breen, this couldn't just be a coincidence. "Well...that might be a problem. We're also headed to Breen."

Fire Lotus scowled. She couldn't believe her luck! Or lack thereof. This mission just kept getting more complicated. "I swear to Tartarus, you better not be on your way to help some princess overthrow some rebellion I don't know about...!"

"No, not this time. It's a transport. I'm taking some clients to Breen." He paused, an idea coming to him. "You wouldn't happen to know about the changeling population there, would you?"

Fire Lotus blinked, ignoring the impatient looks the two were getting from their comrades. "I've heard that the kirins aren't nearly as peaceful as they could be, and go around 'cleansing' any cultures that don't bow down to theirs. The changeling hive there was recently destroyed, thoroughly wiped out. Why?"

So at least that confirmed what Anorax and Callie had told him. He needed more information on what to do next. If the changelings that had called Madalah to come home were in fact here on the island, was it still necessary to go to Breen? There were a great many other questions to ask, and some of them were in fact intended for Mimosa. They had a week to go before Rolling Waves would be ready to leave, whether for Breen or back to Equestria. "All right," he said. "Look, for right now, the mission to Breen is in question. I need to speak to my changeling friends and get back to the rest of my party in town. I think we'd both like to know what our intentions are before we decide it's safe to go our own way, so meet us back there tonight."

"Spark Storm, we can't trust this bitch-"

"Ampelus, trust me. And get those tendrils away from her limper."

Fire Lotus glanced back at the vine creeping up her leg towards the entry point of the needle that Ampelus slammed her on back in the caves and winced. She'd had quite a lot of pain inflicted on her, but that four inch needle going straight into her glutes was very unpleasant. She turned again to Spark Storm. Had the kid been this in charge before? She'd thought that the alabaster unicorn was the smart one. "Fine. I'll find you."

Callie sighed, her head all a-flutter with so many sudden new faces. She didn't know this Steel Scabbard that Spark seemed to be so familiar with, definitely a story to be had there. She watched as the earth mare seemed to usher the large group she'd come with into the biodome, then turned to see the five new faces emerging from the bushes. The female changeling gave the griffin a smile, antennae reaching forward to lightly tickle her face feathers. Callie giggled and shook her head. "Love bugs! You weren't kiddin', Sparky!"

Anorax, Madala and Kecnic all looked offended at the term, but the two new changelings seemed to shrug it off. "Well this has all been very interesting to witness," the male said, looking warily back into the woods. "If it's all right with you, let's get back to this village you mentioned and allow us to regale you of our journey. There's something in these woods that makes me rather uneasy."

"It's that girl," Anorax told Spark. "When we were getting off the ship, remember? The one that gave everybody chills. She followed you, and I'm not getting a sense that she's handled those issues. She's blood-thirsty, and something's off with her mind."

"Is that what that is?" the female chimed in. "I've been receiving a crushing sense of guilt, and anger..." she trailed off, her gaze going to the canopy in the distance.

"Heh, if I didn't know any better I'd say that feels an awful lot like-" Anorax did not finish before Ampelus shot him a look, coupled with an emotion screaming for silence. It was very loud and intense, and it was the first time the nymph had tried to communicate with him or any other changeling in a way that only his kind could understand. "Uhh...well, I guess I couldn't place it..." he trailed off awkwardly.

Spark Storm sighed and shook his head, not about to ask what that was about. There was too much to catch up on at this point, and everypony had questions. "Okay, well...let's head back to the bay before something else happens." He groaned and shook out his mane. "Seriously, does nopony else feel that bloodlust? Fire Lotus went inside already..."

"Fire Lotus?" Callie asked. As Spark Storm explained, Kecnic took up the back, frowning intensely as he cast his gaze back towards the biodome, his eyes scanning the forest. The girl that Anorax had mentioned was definitely here somewhere, hiding quietly and assessing, waiting...

21 - Meanwhile...

Russet Hearts watched Trixie dance her heart out. While he hadn't known her longer than this brief trip, he was quite sure that she hadn't had this much fun in a very long time. He felt a little jealous; there she was, dancing to her heart's content, sidled up with that gorgeous stallion. Russet could tell he was an athlete in every move he made, from how little he sweat despite his constant moves, his curves...

No! Russet chided himself, shaking his mane and finding something else to look at. Spark Storm had mentioned this was a vacation of sorts, but the unicorn had not signed up for relaxation and playtime. He was here on a mission, to help get Spark Storm's friend and his newfound family to Breen, and maybe to challenge himself to become stronger, more mature, and maybe find himself along the way.

Finding myself...didn't I do that a long time ago? he asked himself as he picked himself up to move away from the others and hopefully away from the crowd. I decided who I wanted to be when I was very young, despite everypony else telling me that's not what other ponies generally liked. There's only really one other in Ponyville that might understand, and even he's a little too weird. Russet sighed as he let his thoughts drift of the one stallion in Ponyville that might have understood what it was like to be...different.

Russet Hearts chased after the olive green stallion just ahead of him, his eyes always on the luscious blonde mane and tail of his friend. "Charming! Wait up!"

"No way!" the then-twelve-year-old colt shouted with a gleeful grin. He didn't stop until he came to one of the prettier yards near the outskirts of the town, overgrown with kudzu. A hide-out had been cleared out underneath and hidden by the overgrown plants by stallions generations passed, complete with an assembled ground floor fort. The owners were a new couple who liked to explore, so they usually weren't home, and had invited the neighborhood children to use the area outside. Charming Reflection stuck his head underneath the overgrowth, then disappeared inside.

Russet Hearts slipped inside as well, his heart pounding, but not from exertion. For the last few months, he'd gotten to know Charming Reflections. He was the only stallion that even remotely accepted the unicorn for what he was - different, unstallion-like. Russet Hearts, from a very young age, decided that he liked other stallions. This set him apart from the other stallions in Ponyville, for there didn't seem to be a single male in the whole town who felt the same as he did. And then, he met Charming Reflections.

Charming Reflections was the kind of stallion that made Russet Hearts feel comfortable. He was very effeminate, kept his mane and tail long, shiny and fluffy, and most of all he went out of his way to make Russet feel like he belonged. Charming Reflection himself wasn't very popular, and had quite a sad past. His parents were so fed up with him, that they actually gave him up for adoption. He would see his parents in town now and then, but they ignored him and pretended not to see him. Charming Reflection taught himself not to cry.

Charming's caretaker had been a blessing to him. Though his stay with Cherry Joy was very brief, she taught him that nopony could tell him how he should feel, or how to look, or what he should be doing. She taught him to embrace what his inner voice told him, and that was to be a mare. Charming Reflection became what he desired to be: transsexual, and he owed his wonderful caretaker for being able to bring so much of his true personality to surface. While he was only at the orphanage for a few months, it was a time that he never, ever forgot.

Charming turned to Russet, both colt's hearts pounding. This was it, this was what both of them had been waiting for! No adults leering at them with hatred, telling them that what they felt was wrong and under threat of punishment. Russet smiled at Charming, eyes darting from his locks of mane, to his feminine eyes, to his lips. Charming leaned in slowly, eyes closing tighter, and tighter, a subtle look of...regret?

"Wh..." Russet whispered, backing off just slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Charming Reflections let out a breath of quiet relief. "I'm sorry, Russet. I can't do this."

Russet felt his heart sink, felt his stomach try to implode and stick to his spine. "Why?"

Charming sighed and tossed his mane. "I can't do this to you, Russet. It's not right, I don't want you getting caught in my game after all...I shouldn't have lead you on."

"L...lead me on? What??"

The green stallion sighed again and sank to his haunches, his mane spilling over his face in a look of guilt. "Russet, you're not the first stallion I promised a kiss to...it's...kind of like a game to me. I like boys, but I like tricking them into thinking I'm a girl. I'm not honest with them the way I am with...mostly honest, the way I am with you."

Russet still wasn't catching on. "I don't understand. If you were honest with me, doesn't that mean that it's different with me?"

"Well..." Charming Reflections was very seriously regretting his actions. "It is different with you, Russet! You're so pure, I couldn't lie to you...not about that..."

"About...'that'? You mean you lied about something else?" Russet asked. He stepped closer as Charming stepped back, the green colt's rear finding the side of the house.

"Yeah, I...I lied about...liking you." Charming braved a glance at Russet through his curtains of mane and wished he hadn't. Russet's tears fell freely, but a look of understanding was missing in his eyes, his stare blank. "Russet, look, you're a pretty stallion and I think anypony would be lucky to be kiss you, but...it's all a game to me. I like to trick stallions into kissing me, and I thought it would feel the same, but with you it just...it feels like I'm cheating. I'm cheating both of us."

"Russet?"

The stallion practically jumped at the sound of a mare calling his name. He turned, shaken from his memories to find Trixie standing next to him, her eyes filled with concern. "Uh...hi. What happened to your dance partner?"

Trixie smiled gently. "I can dance anytime I want, but I think my new friend could use some company. You looked so sad just now. I could not in good conscience just keep dancing after seeing that, now could I?"

Russet tried not to force a smile, and managed to partly mean it. "Thanks, Trixie, but I don't want to be the reason that you miss out with your-"

Trixie smirked and touched a hoof to his mouth. "Oh stop, he's not 'my' anything, I just met him. I met you over a day ago, and that gives you priority. You're my friend, right, Russet? I know I won't ever have your heart like the boy I was dancing with, but I can still give you my hoof in friendship."

The stallion stared, tears welling in his gaze. "You...know? And you don't care?"

Trixie mirrored Russet's expression. "Well...no, I don't. Haven't you ever met a girl like that?"

"Some, I suppose, but all of the mares that were interested in me became disgusted when they found out, or thought it was a waste of time to be friends."

The showmare felt an expression of disgust pulling at her features, but she quickly shrugged it off with a flick of her tail. "Well they just don't know what they were missing, or doing, which was hurting a pure soul." She smiled and flicked under his chin with the tip of her nose. "Such ignorance is beneath ponies like you and me. Forget the insults, remember the compliments, no matter how unequally they come. Just remember the ones that stay even when you ask them to leave. It's hard to get rid of me, you'll see."

"I...didn't ask you to leave," he responded, a grin starting to tug at the corners of his mouth.

"You implied it, didn't you?"

Russet frowned as he thought back to when she'd approached him just now. He hadn't directly asked her to leave, but...yes. He had implied he was asking for solace. His realization of this was caught in Trixie's eyes, an intelligent gleam in her eye as she gently poked his chest. "See? I may not know you very well, sir, but I think you'll see the Great and Powerful Trixie sees all."

Russet laughed and clapped his hooves delightedly. "Very good! You've definitely been practicing with your confidence."

"Speaking of confidence..." Flash Fire spoke slowly, approaching the two with a dry look. "I'm not holding much for Spark Storm getting back anytime soon, and I'm just starting to realize how little preparation was actually...prepared for this trip."

Trixie did her best not to show the disdain for this unicorn. While she'd missed the whole setting the ship (and ponies) on fire the previous night, she just didn't like the firey mare. "If you're wondering about what, if any plans that Spark had shared with us before he up and left, I'm afraid we're as in the dark as much as you are, ma'am," Russet told Flash Fire.

Flash Fire sighed, ears pinned back with a thankful bow of her head. "Yeah, I was afraid of that. Thanks, Russet." She turned and glanced back at Laser Reflex. Seeing he was now alone, she waved him over. She smirked as he approached. "Well, well, did your new lady friend get bored of you already?"

Laser sat up stiff. "Sheesh, what is it with you? You could feel that...weird, angry energy she was giving off, couldn't you? I didn't want her anywhere near me, so I did the only sensible thing I could think of and tried to talk her to death." The three unicorns stared, dumbfounded. He shrugged and sniffed at the indignity Flash Fire had attempted to hoist on him. "Worked, didn't it?"

"Yes, perhaps a little too well," Trixie said, her voice dripping with disdain. Still a little sore about me digging Flash Fire and not her, huh? he thought with equal distaste in the showmare.

Russet and Flash Fire shared a look that told them they were picking up the same dirty vibes from the other two. "Right, well...I think I'm going to see if I can find the Captain and maybe get an update on last night's...incident." The firey unicorn blushed with embarrassment and swiveled her gaze away from Trixie's inquisitive look. She had apologized enough to last a lifetime, and she answered only to Celestia. She paused. Why did she have to bring Celestia into these thoughts? Now she would be thinking about that report for days...

Amacia let out a sneeze and shook her head, willing this feeling to go away. Had she just been dusted? She waved a clawed hand before her face before realizing she was no longer in chicken form. She sat up in alarm, her heart pounding. She was in a dimly lit room, and she was alone. "Hello? Spark Storm? Russet?" she called. She stood from the comfortable bench she'd been laying on, finding herself in a small room.

Upon exiting, she discovered a similarly dimly lit hallway. On the door side, charcoal black hallway stretched seemingly endlessly. On the opposite side was glass, and inside the glass area was...jungle? These weren't the same island trees, either. They belonged in much hotter and more humid atmospheres. The harpy frowned in thought. What had she missed while she slept? Had the boys dropped her off in this strange place?

Amacia let out a small yelp as she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned quickly, her feathers bristled with fright. She let out a breath as a bright green figure stood before her, with a mane of white with red streaks. "Hello, I am Bombyx, please don't be frightened," the nymph said gently. "You're safe. This is Mimosa Palm's bio dome, and it is a completely neutral zone. You won't find any politics here, regardless of species. We apologize for removing you from Spark Storm's person, but we had to be sure. Why are you on the island?"

The timid harpy rubbed at her temple. So this was why she wasn't still hidden in Spark's feathers? "Um...because Spark Storm asked me to? I feel like I may have missed something. I was..." she paused, collecting herself. "I had spent the entire night assisting that pony who'd been burned. What a mess that was. Um...next, I fell asleep and nestled onto Spark's back. I remember sunshine and being quite warm, but other than that, it's a bit of a haze. When did you take me from Spark...and for that matter, how??"

"Oh honestly it was about twenty minutes ago, and, well..."

Bombyx hesitated as a small sound came from behind her. A creature came into view that sent Amacia's instincts on full alert. "What...what is that??" she demanded. Was that her voice? She'd never imagined that she could be angry and fearful at the same time!

Cyno took a step away from the bigger harpy. Even without the ability to form sentences yet, the young hybrid had heard enough of lines like that to recognize hatred. He took a step back, winged arms raising to brace for what was sure to be violence. One could imagine his surprise when instead he felt arms encircling around him, and the harpy's voice shushing him gently.

Amacia ran her clawed fingers through Cyno's blue crest. Her heart ached; his initial reaction to hers had been heartbreaking. He'd expected nothing more than hatred and aggression from her, hadn't he? This was unacceptable in a child. And it was unacceptable that this had indeed been her initial feelings for him. "So, you found little old me sleeping in Spark's feathers, huh?" she spoke him, her voice soft and soothing. He chirped in response, bright sapphire eyes opening to look at her. "I'm...sorry. I don't normally act like that. You surprised me, is all."

Bombyx fought back tears. Little Cyno had done nothing but exist, and that was often enough to spark all different kinds of negative reactions from griffins and harpy's alike. Only one harpy and one griffin had been kind to him so far. And now, two harpies. "So, this is where Sohl came."

"Uh, u-uh, wha-who?" Bombyx fumbled in a panic.

Amacia chuckled as Cyno reached up to touch her face. "If Sohl came here, then she must have told you about Spark Storm, Equestria, his friends, maybe what it is that he does." She looked up at the nymph. "I was the one that traveled to her home and delivered the news that she had to return to the Heldren cliffs. According to Orea, her leaving was the worst possible-"

"Wait," Bombyx interrupted. "I apologize, but when you say Orea, do you mean my sister, and Ampelus' sister?"

"...No. I guess I don't really know how it all works, but the Orea I speak of is Spark Storm's daughter. I believe he named her after her mother, and..." Amacia brought a claw to her chin. "Again, I don't really get how it works, he's way too young to be an actual father! Hold on, you're Ampelus' sister??"

"One thing at a time, please!" the nymph pleaded, before turning around and picking up a strange-looking device on the wall, attached by a coiled wire. "Franky? Find Mimosa...I think we've discovered another of 'those'."

Amacia stiffened as Bombyx set the receiver back on the wall. "I beg your pardon? 'Those'?"

"Yes. You're not just a companion of Spark Storm's. You know Sohl, don't you?"

Amacia froze as gears began turning in her head. Spark Storm - Sohl - Cyno - and now this place. "Sohl is here. She wasn't called back to Heldren to fight...she was demoted." The harpy reached down to gently place her claws on either side of Cyno's face. "You're the key, aren't you?"

Bombyx watched sadly as Cyno climbed into Amacia's arms much the same way he would crawl into Sohl's. "Yes, he is. He is the truce between harpies and griffins. So long as he is alive, there is a ceasefire between them. Griffins and harpies both detest peace so much, that they created something they would equally hate to keep them from wantonly attacking each other. It's...it's the most barbaric thing I've ever heard of."

"It is barbaric. I can't stand being there." Amacia bit back tears of remorse. "It's why I elected to stay in Equestria and never went back. I wasn't very welcome there, anyway." The harpy stood, taking the child with her. "My skills as a healer were unappreciated, and very rarely used, and I'm...a coward."

"Coward!" Cyno parroted happily.

"Not from what I've seen."

Amacia smiled grimly at Bombyx's comment. "Thank you, but I know what I am. Spark Storm might not agree with it, but he hasn't known me long enough to make that assessment, either."

A sudden cacophony of voices and laughter put the harpy on alert. Bombyx turned to face the voices, a stressed sigh escaping her. "I can't believe I forgot...! The crew of the Sea Pearl has come to visit. When I was alerted to your presence I asked Franky to see to them. He better not have lost them..."

Franky had indeed not lost them. He appeared around the corner, speaking animatedly with the tallest unicorn Amacia had ever seen. The mare was at least as tall as Big Mac, a little taller, not counting the horn. She was lean, bright red, and sported a mid-length blonde mane. She was quite dazzling to look at, and Amacia suspected that was quite deliberate. Along with her good looks she seemed to be holding her own with Franky, speaking about gears and devices that the harpy couldn't make sense of. The tiny griffon broke off suddenly when his eyes fell on Amacia.

"Oh my lord!" he yelled obnoxiously, taking off into the air to flutter before the two females. "Bombyx, please don't tell me that you've adopted another harpy. We've already got one and that little half-pin-" Franky found his mouth sealed shut with a squirt of cottony silk from the nymph. He let out a muffled shout before ripping it off himself, spitting the remnants that had gotten inside his mouth. "Don't do that!! Why did-"

Franky turned around, a sense of dread filling him. Why hadn't he noticed this feeling before? Rossa frowned where she stood and turned to look behind her as the smaller red pony in the group filed towards the front, her eyes having fallen directly on Cyno. Amacia shuddered, her eyes filling with recognition. She had never met the assassin, but had heard of her and her description. Whether for her own protection or some motherly instinct, she wrapped her arms around the toddler. This feeling, this...absolute bloodlust was centered on Cyno for some reason.

Gabriel rounded the corner in the next moment, eyes falling upon this strange scene. He approached the mare he knew as Steel Scabbard, wings flapping once to get her attention. The light breeze against her body registered, and the bloodlust simply disappeared. She smiled and centered her attention on the pegasus. "Not a fan a' harpies, eh?"

This question delighted the assassin. "No, not really, can't say that I have a lot of...squishy feelings for 'em," she said with a giggle.

"Heh, no surprise there," he replied. He squinted, peering at the four across the hall. What was that smaller, blue creature? It looked a bit like a griffon, but it also reminded him of a harpy -

"So! Are we going sight-seeing before we speak with...'Mimalta'?"

Gabriel chuckled and shook his head. "You mean Mimosa? I suppose that depends on our guide...guides? How many of them do we need?"

Fire Lotus leered at the tiny Franky over there arguing with the green earth pony. She was getting impatient, and if they hung around too long, some of her companions might actually start asking questions, like why had she gotten so interested in the appearance of that freaky little child in the back? She hadn't been expecting that she would find him so soon. After all, Mimosa's dome was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress! To think that she would find one of her most important marks with so little effort...of course, there was the issue of making her way to Mimosa with the others and then leaving unharmed. This could prove to be tricky, after all.

"What in the name of the CLIFFS did you bring in here, Franky??" Bombyx hissed when the red mare turned her attention elsewhere.

"Probably something I'll regret," he responded honestly, and more than a bit fearfully. He hadn't thought much of the red concubine, but that look, that horrible desire to kill...he had never sensed something so dreadfully malicious, not even from a harpy, and he'd met plenty.

"Well you're going to get it if she tries something, she's on your watch! And find Mimosa like I told you, please!" The nymph scolded him mutely a moment longer before turning her attention back to Amacia, who held Cyno tightly after that mare glared at him. "I'm sorry about that. Please trust, we will not allow any harm to come to you or Cyno."

"While you're here," Franky mumbled before flitting off back to guide his group, for the moment ignoring that last bit.

Amacia took the tiny griffon's remark to heart, her heart thudding in her chest. "R...right. While I'm here. Speaking of which, am I a prisoner?"

Bombyx looked at the harpy in shock. "Certainly not, we don't take prisoners!" After the concerned look on Amacia's face, the nymph chuckled nervously. "That is...we don't imprison any person or creature here in the dome, or anywhere on the island. I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I daresay that Mimosa will probably want to speak with you."

"With me?" Amacia made a sound of discomfort as Cyno had grown bored of being held and was now trying to climb to the top of her head.

"Yes. I believe you are at least a little acquainted (we hope) to Spark Storm's little...well, we don't want to say daughter, because we don't really know how or what methods he-"

"No," Amacia said sharply. Her tone surprised Bombyx. Hadn't the harpy expressed she was a coward? "If you want to ask Spark Storm about Orea, you may do that yourself. I will not speak of others behind their backs, especially Spark Storm."

"I see." Bomby smiled appreciatively. "I do believe I am beginning to understand you, Amacia. I appreciate your honesty and fierce loyalty, and you must be truly brave to say no to-"

Amacia let out a shriek of panic as something much bigger than her lifted her up off the floor. Bombyx stared in surprise as the chicken harpy shook in fear as she was held a full five feet off the floor by a bigger, angry harpy. Cyno, unable to read the room, simply climbed down onto Sohl's arms and climbed onto her back like a feathery parasite. "You...little...shit!" Sohl's voice echoed in the hall. "Why are you here? Why is HE here?? Did you bring him all this way so he could find me? I will rip your little throat out!"

"No you will not," Bombyx interjected. She immediately wished she hadn't, with the glare Sohl sent her. "Um, please."

"Ahh...no-no, it's n-not about you!" Amacia stuttered, her feet starting to wave about. "Spark Storm is on his way to Breen. His friends need to get there to see about some changelings!"

The anger in the taller harpy seemed to dim somewhat, though she still held Amacia aloft. "What? What changelings? Didn't you hear? The kirin completely decimated their hive. Breen is crumbling under those monsters, and the last havens don't have long."

Amacia let out a pathetic whimper, tears filling her eyes. "And the griffons? Can they still help?"

Sohl narrowed her eyes sympathetically. "I don't know. A few tribes split off and got separated. A bunch of the "aberations" were seen in the valleys at the mouth of the cavern falls, but I don't know much more than that. I know a few of them came here to get away from the cruelty." Sohl sighed and slid Amacia down to her clawed feet again, towering over her. The sharp-faced harpy clenched her hands, almost touching the smaller harpy's hair, then pulled away quietly. "I don't want Spark Storm here. You know why by now. But I really don't want him going to Breen, either. He's the toughest pony I've ever met, but what's going on in Breen is too big for him."

Amacia sighed and ran her claws through her braids. "Wait," she said after a moment. "What about the Delkano?"

"Ooh," Bombyx whispered and hissed for dramatic effect, eyes darting away from the chicken harpy.

"The Delkano?" Sohl asked, as if Amacia had broken a sacred vow of silence. "Don't mention those barbarians! They were almost as bad as the kirins!"

"They're...not...now," Amacia struggled to articulate. "They've turned over a new leaf, I've seen it! They try to help others see what they themselves had become! No longer carrion and flesh hunters. The last I saw they had fled to the valley across the Phantom Mountains. I'm sure they're still there, well-hidden and protecting-"

"Shut up!" Sohl hissed threateningly. Amacia huddled accordingly. "The Delkano broke ages ago. They're farmers now, barely, if that. And those whelps they're hiding are as good as dead."

Amacia wrapped her arms around herself, head lowered. The thought of children being hunted and killed chilled her. They might have the best hiding spot in the world, but nothing could hide from the kirin forever.

Sohl rolled her eyes at Amacia's demeanor. The thought of younglings being slaughtered didn't rest well with her, either, but there was very little to be done about it. What could a handful of mismatched creatures do against an army of oppressive hatred? Never mind the fact that she had to make sure Cyno was protected, and jumping into a highly volatile situation wasn't going to help things. And to make everything a hundred times worse, she couldn't just come back into Spark's life, not after how she treated him, especially when he needed her the most. She had heard of his narrow victory against the psychic alicorn Shimmering Oasis, and the fight had left him vulnerable and weak. If only she'd stuck around...

Of course, if that had happened...Sohl gasped as she snapped out of this line of though to discover that Bombyx had apparently wandered off. How long had she been lost in thought? She glowered down at Amacia, who still stood in a position of mourning. "Hey!" she barked, hiking up the smaller harpy's blood pressure once more.

Sohl's face took on a thoughtful and sad countenance Amacia didn't know she was
capable of. "...Is he okay?"

Amacia's eyes darted back and forth, unsure if seeing the vulnerability on Sohl's face could worthy of violence. She willed herself to stare into Sohl's eyes, and found herself miraculously unharmed. Had the taller harpy let her into her circle? "He was broken for a few months. I've never seen anyone as emotionally hurt as he was."

Sohl lowered her gaze, guilt shadowing her eyes. Tears fell, plopping quietly onto the floor. "But he came back from the dark place. His heart is much stronger than it was, and I think he's just happy to be doing something for someone else."

"And...Orea?" Sohl whispered hoarsely, her voice trembling.

"She's okay. I think she was more worried about getting Spark Storm back to where he was. She misses you."

Sohl leaned back against the other wall and slid down it, hands covering her face. She let slip a quiet sob, shoulders shaking. Amacia felt shame run through her body, as harpies never cried. Seeing one weep felt like a horrible violation. "I can't feel her in my head! She's gone and it's so fucking quiet!"

Amacia rubbed at her own eyes, this moment of despair starting to overwhelm her. Her eyes snapped open as something occurred to her. How was Sohl leaning so flat against the wall? She lunged forward and shoved Sohl forward to peek through her feathers. "Hey! What are you-"

Sohl pulled away from Amacia, fully incensed, and threw a punch. Amacia caught the punch and leaned in with a glare that pushed the bigger harpy against the wall. "Where is Cyno?"

Still in a state of surprise, Sohl managed a shrug. "I dont know, he wanders off sometimes."

"He cannot wander off here!" With a feat of strength that would've shocked her if she weren't on an adrenaline kick, Amacia threw Sohl into the air down the hall. The bigger harpy twisted in the air and landed facing her assailant, poised and ready to counterattack. "Fire Lotus is here!"

"Who the fuck is that, and why are you attacking me?!"

Amacia was almost screaming now, her voice rocking the hallways and vibrating the glass separating the environments. "She was with Shimmering Oasis! She almost killed Spark Storm and his friends! And I think she wants to hurt Cyno!"

No further persuasion was necessary. Sohl turned right around and leapt into the air, wings propelling her like a dart down the hallway. Amacia turned and ran in the opposite direction, her shorter clawed feet finding the carpet provided excellent traction.

Romani let out a little yelp as she felt a pair of claws fumble at her backside. She turned, wide-eyed to look as little Cyno chirped up at her. "Who are you, naughty thing?" she asked with a giggle. She crouched down, letting the hybrid put his claws on her face. She giggled as he rubbed along her striped face. Suddenly, the two were not alone. Cyno let out a squeak of panic as another figure stepped in before him.

"Romani, how many times must I tell you to exercise caution?" Dendalla chided, offering a snort when the toddler lifted his claws to her. "Not everyone-"

"-We meet is a friend," Romani mocked, then smiled and nuzzled Cyno. "He is a child, not a predator. Children are friends!"

"Hey, who's kid is this?" Gabriel joked as he approached the three. The group was milling about in the jungle dome, near the ponds in the center. The ground was still a bit ripped up from an earlier altercation. Cyno even began playing with a few sharp shards of ivory teeth before a red hoof gently patted them out of his claws.

"Now now, little one," Fire Lotus whispered gently to him, drawing him a little closer. "You mustn't play with sharp objects..."

22 - Meanwhile - Part 2

Cyno looked up at the red mare, the one that looked at him earlier. The stare had frightened him, but her voice wasn't so scary. Inviting, even. Maybe she was nice! He dropped the bits of teeth obediently and took her hoof in his claws, holding it like a child walking with their parent to school. "What do you say we go exploring, huh?"

Fire Lotus suddenly felt something hit her cheek, quite hard. She recoiled, with a great effort to not spook Cyno away from her. She turned her head, a hard glare at the one pony she knew would have the guts to attack her in broad daylight. Rossa Bellezza approached her, magic still enshrouding her horn as she reached down and pulled Cyno away from the smaller mare. "Yeah. Sorry, on my list of appropriate baby-sitters you don't even feature. Why you wanna walk off wit' a kid anyway?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a challenge.

"He looked lonely," Fire Lotus answered, trying her damnedest to keep up appearances. That Istalian mare could strike a rather hard magical slap..." "..though perhaps not as lonely as you've been these last six weeks, Rossa," she added cheekily. This last bit caught the attention of the others. It hadn't been the first time these two had come to blows, but to use the fact that Gabriel had preferred the shorter mare to Rossa this whole time? That was a sore spot. Rossa's indignation allowed the assassin to pull the child closer to her once more.

But to the assassin's surprise, Rossa threw her head back and laughed in a way that told her she did not have the edge. "Is that the best you got? I've heard better insults from whores half-passed out an' drunk protecting the outhouse she decided to sleep in!"

The entire crew present broke out into laughter, even though Ramani did not understand the context. She always did enjoy the banter between the two red mares, like it was some kind of popularity contest. While Fire Lotus' cheeks turned red, having been taken by surprise at the crushing blow she'd been dealt, the young zebra quietly stole away with the young griffon hybrid. Whatever the crew was about to share with Mimosa wasn't going to interest her, anyway, and she'd been looking for an excuse to get out from under Dendalla's watchful eye, as well.

Hooves clopped quickly through the heavy rainforest. A few hundred yards back, Ramani could hear the arguing and fighting. Ramani and the others had gotten used to the regular verbal baiting between the two, but rarely had it gotten so personal. "Red and taller red should just kiss and get married!" she joked to Cyno, who chirped in response and clung to her mohawk-like mane. In truth he was quite uncomfortable around 'red', but he still wasn't sure how to articulate this. Getting kidnapped by the stripy one was a much preferable alternative.

The two hadn't gotten very far when a bright blue light flitting through the trees caught Ramani's attention. She skidded to a stop, and the two approached the darkness in the heavier branches where the light had darted into. Hybrid and zebra peered in together. What had that light been? Some luminous bug or bird? They saw no trace of it, until there was an odd chuff behind them. They turned, and came face to face with a ghostly equine face. It reared back with it's half torso body, and let out a loud, angry cry. The two young explorers screamed, and fell back away from the creature. By the time they'd managed to scramble back to their feet, the beast had gone.

Ramani's heart raced in her chest. Had she seen what she thought she saw? Ghostly white visage, half a body, and enough horrible vibes to chill her to the bone? If she was right, she'd just seen a Windigo! Creatures manifested through intense feelings of hatred and leaving behind deadly cold in their wake. But what could possibly...Wait. The gears in Ramani's head began spinning in overdrive. Well, they always were, but this? This was truly eye opening. Could the feud between Red and Taller Red be intense enough to summon a Windigo here? But what if something else, something much bigger was at work here?

Cyno seemed to catch on to the zebra's trepidation. He clung to her and buried his face in her shoulder fur. "Is alright, baby," she said comfortingly. She pulled him up onto her back with a leg and smiled at him. "Windigos are bad news. Mimosa should know he is host to bad juju!" With that, she took off back in the direction she'd come at full speed, which was a little faster than the average pony. She returned to see Tall Red half sitting and half lying on the ground with a trail of blood down her forehead, but she wore a smirk. A few feet away from her was Steel Scabbard, nursing what looked to be a black eye and a bloody mouth.

Mimosa Palm stood between them, looking quite angry. "I told you pirates, fighting here in my home is absolutely off-limits! Gabriel, I will speak with you and two others, but the rest of you, especially you two," he gestured to both Reds, "out! If you want to explore the biodomes you may do so at a later time, but my patience for stupidity has reached it's end for today!"

"Of course, Mr Mimosa," Gabriel said with a sigh, then turned to the others as Dendalla appeared behind Ramani suddenly.

"Cannot take you anywhere!" Dendalla thundered, a brazen glare settling on Cyno. "And take off that th-"

Ramani shook her head and settled a hoof over Cyno's head. "No. Don't speak badly, Dendalla, they will come and freeze everything!"

"What? What are you babbling abou-"

"You two," Gabriel called. The group made an opening for Gabriel's lofty form to step closer. "Dendalla, Ramani, I'd like you with me while we speak with Mimosa. The rest of you clear out of here...and maybe steer clear of each other, Rossa?"

Rossa got to her hooves proudly and shook out her blonde mane. "That's all right with me. I'm-a gonna find me some food. Look for somethin' with a little taste for once."

Steel Scabbard got to her hooves a bit shakily and wiped at her mouth. She glared once at Gabriel, then turned and hobbled quietly towards the exit. The crew watched her go for a moment. There would be different accounts of what happened there just moments before, but they could all agree: Steel Scabbard wouldn't be returning to the ship with them.

"Now, if you'll come with me, 'captain'," Mimosa motioned, deeper into the jungle.

Gabriel sighed and nodded to the two Zebrafrican natives, with Cyno hobbling along at her side. He glanced backwards, noticing 'Red' watching him go with the barest of scowls. He let out a chirp of panic and scrambled onto the zebra's back, eliciting a series of squeaks and giggles from the girl. As Mimosa began speaking of things the hybrid wouldn't understand, he spotted a familiar face in the trees. The nice bird woman, shorter than his normal caretaker. She smiled at him and waved, content to see him safe.

Ten minutes later, the pirate group emerged, laughing and jeering at Steel Scabbard's expense. "What a joke! Takin' a beating from the navigator, no less!" Rossa crooned, garnering laughter from her shipmates. Fire Lotus followed after quietly, Rising Mist coming to walk beside her.

"How humiliating," he said, boldly risking injury.

Fire Lotus smirked humorlessly. "It certainly was difficult, having to throw that fight. Rossa has a mean hook, but she has bad timing. I had to put myself into the path of her blows to make them halfway effective. I swear, if I didn't need the ride to Breen I'd've killed her happily."

"Yes, about that..."

Fire Lotus stared at her old companion, her eyes narrowing. "Do not tell me that I'm out. I have one contract to carry out here, but at least half a dozen in Breen! I need that ride!"

"You should have thought of that before picking a fight with Rossa at every opportunity! You couldn't even win those fights without giving yourself away!"

The mare scowled and stomped her bum leg to feel the pain dealt to her by Ampelus months earlier. "It's the principle of the thing..."

Rising Mist continued, disregarding his companion's anger. "You cannot expect to act so recklessly and without consequences. You have probably ruined your chances of sailing with us, and I will be unable to intervene on your behalf. It's bad enough that we speak like this, the others are already suspecting our little talks. I am the crew's lookout, not yours. You made your bed, Fire Lotus." The pegasus wisely took off into the air and resumed his post to watch out for the others, leaving the assassin to stew.

She grumbled to herself. Did she really have to be so competitive with the Istalian native? Sure she was a pain in the ass, but she was also highly intelligent. She knew Fire Lotus was trouble, and kept picking fights in order to eventually get rid of her. If she'd just played it cool there wouldn't have been a problem!

She stopped in her tracks. Somewhere in the woods, she felt an unmistakable thirst. It was like her own, thick, intense. But for Fire Lotus, there was always a mix of sensual violence in her bloodlust. There was none of that here. Just a pure, intense bloodlust. She hadn't even felt something like this coming from Shimmering Oasis. "All right," she called, hooves digging a little into the earth in preparation. "I know you're watching, show yourself."

"Hm..." a quiet voice said, soft and feminine. A figure seemed to slither from the bushes. She was a pony, at first glance. On second glance, her appearance was off. She was a blue color, somewhat like the sea, with a hint of green. Her mane was much too solid to be a mane, it resembled a thick, solid wave of seaweed, and her ears were long, flat, and with little ridges on the end. And that was there the pony resemblance ended, because the back portion of her body was long and winding, like a snake. She gently grasped her chin in a foreleg as she studied Fire Lotus. "You come with the pirates, who are neutral...but I saw you speaking with the dark pegasus like you're friends, and he's definitely an enemy, so you must be one, too!"

Fire Lotus couldn't really say she was wrong, but there was no time to refute this as the snaky mare dashed forward. The assassin just made out the shiny tip of a needle before striking out with her own hidden kunai. The elongated pony paused halfway back into her hiding place and turned around, eyes wide with surprise. "Wow. You're fast! You should totally be on the ground by now, flopping like a fish and gasping for air." She spoke without an ounce of sarcasm or mirth. Something about her irked Fire Lotus, but she would need to stay on her guard. This creature was very fast, and she couldn't even see where the needle had come from or where it had gone. Her hooves were empty!

"Uh, look, I'd appreciate it if you left me alone. I'm a little stressed right now, but I'll do you a favor." Fire Lotus whipped her mane back out of her face, noting that the long pony's body was curling under her, preparing to strike again. "I am not in any way affiliated with the dark pegasus Spark Storm. He's my enemy, but I needed him to play along so that my plans wouldn't be ruined. I need the pirates to get inside here and take care of...something."

"Mimosa's place? Take care of something?" The creature grasped her chin again in thought. "Hm, no, I like the idea of fighting you better. You seem plenty strong and fast, and I'll bet you're going to be a threat to my plans, sorry." The creature zipped at Fire Lotus once more, the assassin prepared. But...where was the needle? The mare jumped over her assailant, but the long pony stopped just under her and thrust her long tail upwards. Fire Lotus slashed at the tip, which pulled away at the last second and zipped out again, catching Fire Lotus' leg under the pit. She felt a pull, and quite suddenly was back on the ground on her back, the long tail wrapping around her torso and squeezing.

The flash of metal came quickly, aimed at her neck. She had only a second to act and flipped the knife to hold it in her teeth and interrupted the needle, which was held in the elbow of her kidnapper's foreleg. The long pony was taken by surprise once more as Fire Lotus managed to change the direction of the needle with her knife and pushed the tip into the long body. "Ouch!" she cried, but only seemed to wear a disappointed expression. "Aw, I only brought the one vial, too. I'm immune to my own poison, see," she said, knocking away her prisoner's knife with the long, fan-like tip of her tail.

"Sorry..." Fire Lotus croaked, struggling to get free of the surprisingly moist coils around her middle. She let out an involuntary squeak as the coils began squeezing inbetween her rear legs. "D...do you mind? That's...kinda turning me on..."

"Ugh. Why is it always sex?" The long pony seemed perturbed and turned her back to her prey. "All the time, it's 'ooh what a pretty body', 'Hey, what can those coils do?' 'Do you have any oils for prolonged sexual pleasure?' Rrrgh!" The coils moved faster against Fire Lotus' thighs, who squirmed, helpless as the eel-like creature rattled off her problems. "My body is not your plaything, my body is your death. I don't like romance, or "touchy-feely" stuff, but every time I've got my coils around someone, it's 'Fuck that's hot' or using my naturally moist curves to get off and I hate it! I'm trying to kill you, not gratify you!"

"You don't say?" Fire Lotus coughed. As the long pony squeezed harder, the closer those coils came to actually slipping inbetween in...and suddenly, there was a pinch on the inside of the assassin's thigh. She let out a yelp and fell over as the long creature released her to the ground. "Ow...why? You were so close! What did you...?"

"Cyanide," she told Fire Lotus. The assassin got to her hooves, eyes wide.

"...What?"

"My name is Seaweed Cyanide, and there's a good reason." Fire Lotus watched, wide eyed, as the long body slowly shrank and an average-sized pony with four regular legs stood before her. She patted her hip, to which was strapped another needle. As her name suggested, her cutie mark was a clear bottle with a cork stopper in the midst of seaweed. "Anyway, I think my job is done here. Whether you're a friend of the dark pegasus or not you're still a threat. Were. Good luck finding an antidote to that poison I just hit you with, it doesn't grow on the island. You've got about twenty minutes, I guess. I need to go find your friends and put them down, too, so Lusus can kill that princess."

Fire Lotus' head was swimming. She teetered back and forth, finally falling on her side. Was it her side? She couldn't tell, because her world was turning over and over. She gasped and flailed her legs, making it worse. "Wha...w-w-what...d-d..done...you...m-m...meee?" she managed. Seaweed peered down at her and waved a hoof in front of her eyes.

"Don't worry, the spinning will be over in five minutes. Then everything gets a bit numb after that. It's not painful...I don't think. Maybe the others were just a bit too sleepy to scream? Anyway, I respect your battle ability, so I gave you something that won't make a big mess."

Fire Lotus closed her eyes, but that didn't stop the spinning. Shit...shit, shit! she thought. It was difficult to even think. How was she going to survive this? There was so much more she needed to do! So much death to cash in on! But more than that, she needed to find Shimmering Oasis and kill her for trying to bury her alive with all their enemies!

In her despair, Fire Lotus did not notice the rhythmic flopping sound approaching. "Ohhh dear," an older female voice said, garnering the assassin's attention. "Seaweed's at it again, is she?"

Fire Lotus let out a groan not unlike something out of an undead film as she tried to focus on whatever had found her. It was...some kind of enormous, fat frog? "Whaaaafug?"

"Wollypog, actually. We've been monitoring Seaweed Cyanide's presence on the island. She and Lusus keep pushing boundaries, testing limits. Lusus actually attacked us earlier today, of all things!" As she spoke, the wollypog reached up into the branches that grew out of her back and withdrew a handful of leaves, or padful, or whatever counted as fingers on her oversized dextrous feet. She put them in her mouth and chewed for a bit, then pulled out the slimy wad and pulled open Fire Lotus' mouth and stuck it in. When the mare made to spit it out, the wollypog clamped her mouth shut with a foot. "If you don't want to die in twenty minutes like she said, I'd chew that if I were you. Swallow the juices, don't eat the leaves. That'll kill you, too."

Fire Lotus dry heaved, resisting the urge to vomit, but did as she was told. She let out a long, irritated groan as she felt the amphibian grab her around the middle and start dragging her into the bushes.

The sun bore down on the forest at it's zenith. It was hot, and quite humid. Eight figures strode in between the trees, seeking shade, especially Spark Storm and Callie, the two heaviest on account of their fur and feathers, and Spark's dark colors absorbing the sunlight. The pegasus turned to the two new changelings, Echo and Light Fire, still awaiting an explanation. The female, Light Fire, gave him a look of mock exasperation. "All right, you're right. You've been very patient, Sparky."

"I didn't say anything..."

"You dont have to." Her antennae twitched as she offered him a smile. "...yes, I can read your thoughts. A little. Not just your feelings, either. Changelings from Breen are...a little different."

Spark's eyes widened. "I, uh, thought you only picked up on feelings..." Ampelus also perked at this information.

"Oh please," Light Fire giggled. "I can tell all three of you are hiding things from each other, but you don't need to be telepathic to pick out your cues! Animalistic lust is kind of hard to hide!"

Even Callie turned to look back at the changelings, but it was clear that she was listening. Spark Storm and Ampelus both looked annoyed, but the nymph looked ready to strike. Sonar took a step forward to stand in front of Light Fire, but the female changeling darted forward, almost nose to nose with Ampelus. "Well?" the changeling asked cheekily.

Spark stared at the two, wings twitching nervously. Ampelus had not had a good day, though his opinion was a tremendous understatement. Finally, Ampelus sneered and turned away from her, and continued walking. "Its not lust," she said under her breath.

"No, it isnt." Ampelus growled, but continued. She could already tell that having these two around would be a tremendous pain in the ass.

Spark storm sighed as Ampelus passed him by. Danger averted. "So," he began casually.

Light Fire nodded after a moment, her whole body seeming to dim. "Of course. So yes...the hive has been destroyed. A few of us remain behind, hiding. They wait for us, hoping that we'll have found our old comrades."

Spark Storm frowned, then shook his head in Anorax's direction. "I think you mean, hoping you'll find the princes and princesses that were sent to aid the Equestria hive."

Echo and Light Fire stared at the pegasus. Even Callie, who seemed to know more than most, looked shocked. "You...didn't read that?" Spark asked.

Light Fire shook her head. "That must've been a deeper memory. I can't dig that deep, just surface thoughts."

I'll have to keep that in mind.

Light Fire let out a peal of laughter. "Good! You're catching on."

Spark managed a grin that confused Ampelus and Callie. He had a feeling that he was going to like these new changelings, at least Light Fire. He couldn't get a read on Echo yet. "Okay, so...Madalah and Kecnic are next in line for the throne..." Spark Storm frowned thoughtfully as he turned to Anorax. "I think I can piece it from here. The Breen changelings need to get home and continue the line, but...where does that leave you, Anorax?"

The white changeling, who refused to change back to pegasus form for now, looked away distantly. Madalah sighed and gave her lover a comforting nuzzle. "Anorax is, of course, welcome to stay with us in Breen. But...I'm afraid he'll be required to take on a less...involved role. The others waiting for us are on a higher tier than Anorax, who literally has no standing..."

Spark Storm felt himself getting angry. "...So? Change the rules!" He continued despite the dirty looks the changelings gave him. "You're going to be the new Queen of the Breen hive, aren't you?? Change the rules, make an exception!"

"Dude! These are their rules and traditions going back hundreds if not thousands of years!" Anorax chided loudly. "Show some respect!"

"What about you, Anorax?! You risked your neck for these guys and the girl you love, now she's gonna shack up with some other changeling and let you hang around and watch her rebuild the hive with some other guy?!"

"That's my choice to make, Spark! And don't say it like this isn't difficult for Madalah, either, because it isn't!" The changelings were quiet as Anorax railed into his friend. There was a quiet, sad reverence about them. "Yeah, it's not ideal, but Madalah wants me there, and as long as she does she has my support, no matter what has to happen. I promised that to her, and I'm not going to take that back."

Spark Storm fumed, regarding his friend for a moment. Finally he sighed, willing his anger to slowly deflate. "Ugh...I dont know, Anorax. I dont think I can appreciate the situation, and I dont agree with it." He held up a hoof when Anorax looked ready to argue again. "But...you are my friend, and if this is really what you want to do, I'll support you a hundred percent, 'cause that's what a good friend does." Callie smiled, impressed with Spark's resolve. She was starting to rethink her trip to Sunanwaves.

"Thank you. I know this difficult to understand. I just want to help them rebuild, in any way I can."

"I guess we can work on understanding each other at a later time." The others smiled at him, most admiring his loyalty to his friend, even if he didn't agree with his friend's choice. Ampelus rolled her eyes and peered sideways at the changelings. Their legs were the same, though with less holes. Light Fire's mane was actually hair, unlike the fin mohawks most changelings boasted, though Echo was all about the fins. He had blue circles all over his body, the larger shapes on his torso. They grew smaller on his legs and horn. He looked like the physical manifestation of what echo location might look like.

"But..." Callie chimed in, for the first time since the discussion began. "What about the kirins?" All others present turned their eyes on the griffon. "Well," she continued when no one questioned her question. "...the kirin came and destroyed your hive, forced ya to flee and hide an' regroup...so, where're you gonna rebuild, an' what's to stop the kirin from attacking you again? The kirin'll hear about ya again at some point - an' they'll come lookin' for ya when they do..."

"As good a question as that is," Spark interjected," and I'd like to get back to it." He turned to the changelings, who already looked nervous at Callie's question. "Why did they attack your hive in the first place? Why are they attacking anyone?"

Kecnic strode forth this time. "We'd have to things back a bit for that one. The kirin used to be peaceful creatures. Breen was once a paradise, full of creatures who valued creativity and intellectualism, and the kirin were no different. This all changed about fifty years ago. Quite suddenly the kirin called their people back to their capital city. All other races were cast out and prohibited from returning, even longtime citizens were suddenly homeless."

Spark Storm frowned, and Callie looked quite sad. "That's where my folks were from. They lived in Phear when they were kids."

"They lived in fear?" Spark almost immediately regretted asking.

Callie shook her head patiently. "No, the city is called Phear. It was called somethin' else a long time ago, though..."

"It was called Wellos," Madalah said. "It was such a beautiful place to be, especially since it all made sense. The kirin were healers."

Anorax coughed nervously. "Uh, what? Just how old are you?"

Madalah held a hoof up to her chin thoughtfully. "Hm...I think I'll be ninety-five this year."

The white changeling seemed to pale a bit, however improbable that seemed. "Nu...ninety-five? I'm only fourteen!"

Madalah smiled and patted his head consolingly. "I'm royalty. I'll live to be well over a few thousand years old, ninety-five is still quite young. I'm at least your age in maturity!"

"Yes, anyway," Kecnic continued, hiding his amusement. "Wellos suddenly closed up and kept other races from coming back inside. Within the next five years they launched a campaign of conformity. They announced themselves as a military might, attacking other cities and settlements that did not immediately acknowledge the kirins as sovereign. It was so out of the blue and such a ridiculous concept that many of Breen's citizens tried to laugh it off. They were boiled to death."

Spark, Ampelus and Anorax were deathly quiet at this. "What do you mean?" Anorax finally said.

Echo spoke now. "All kirin have two major magicks that they excel in. Their secondary magic might be something silly, like the ability to paint a masterpiece, dusting the mantelpiece, or flying a kite. Their primary magic is something far more useful and versatile. At least...it's supposed to be. Every kirin, large and small, are able to generate infinite amounts of endless boiling water in the depths of their stomachs, which they used to spew out for their tea. Nowadays it is used for terraforming - and for punishing those who do not conform. It is...a terrible way to die." Echo sighed tearfully and rubbed at his eyes.

Callie looked like she could also cry. Before she could say anything, a distinct dragging sound could be heard. The group turned to look back at the way they'd come, and beheld a strange scene. An enormous frog with a foot-tall green bush growing out of it's back, dragging along a red mare. Spark Storm recognized both. "You! Uh...sorry, I didn't get your name..."

Callie let out a sound like a strangled squeak when she noticed the creature. "Ooh, we've got polite youngin's in our midst!" The wollypog joked, continuing to drag Fire Lotus towards the center of the group. "The name is Melba. And you-" she said, unceremoniously dropping the red mare at Ampelus' hooves. "-are the only one here who can save her life."

23 - Up And At 'Em

"Hrm?!" came the assassin's inquiry.

"Well you didn't think my spit was going to cure you, did ya?" Melba patted the mare's head. "It slowed the effects of the poison. Like Seaweed said, the antidote doesn't grow on the island. A nymph, however…”

Fire Lotus looked like she was going to puke from nervousness. She peered up first at Spark, then Ampelus. Her breathing quickened just a pace, then looked away, eyes closed. "What's with her?" Callie asked.

"She almost killed Ampelus last year. Now her life is in her hooves," Spark replied simply.

"She waf a pain...in my AFF." Fire Lotus spoke with a muffled grunt.

"Yeah, well you kidnapped our friends, tortured others, and helped Shimmering Oasis put the entire kingdom of Equestria in jeopardy."

"Oaaarghmygaw," she groaned. "Jus' pu' me underalreay!"

Callie balked. "Just who is she, Sparky?"

He sighed and glanced at Ampelus, who looked like she still hadn't made up her mind on strangling Fire Lotus or letting the poison take her. "She's a world-class assassin that's been our enemy for the last two years. When I met her she was profiteering off a war in her home country. She kidnapped and tried to kill two of my friends. Then, she came to Equestria, kidnapped more of my friends and nearly killed me and another friend. I gather that she's here to kill someone else on the island."

Callie gasped and took a few steps away from Fire Lotus. The changelings themselves looked about ready to put the assassin out of her misery themselves.

"Heheh...is that all you've accomplished?" All eyes turned to Melba. "I've seen court jesters with more ambition than you accomplish ten times as much, and with much less talent than you've got."

Fire Lotus glared at the wollypog. Melba grinned back at her, offering a shrug. "You haven't done a whole lot with your life, have you? You've gotta be...what, early, mid twenties? You've seen blood and wars and maybe a few monsters. But have you ever tried kindness? There's a whole other side to life that you don't know about, and it's a lot bigger than what you know."

The assassin just stared at the wollypog. For a moment, it seemed that she was actually considering her words. Finally, she rolled her eyes. "Shtufit."

Melba turned to Spark Storm and shrugged. "Well, that's about it, I guess. It's up to her, now."

The group settled their collective gaze on Ampelus. Her expression had been unreadable, until now. She looked as if she were about to make the most important decision of her life. Suddenly, her mouth opened and out spewed five honeysuckle-like tentacles. They picked Fire Lotus up gently, pulled out the mess of chewed leaves, and proceeded down the mare's throat. Fire Lotus choked, and began to writhe violently.

The whole group with fixed expressions, mixes of horror and trepidation. It took a moment, but a purplish trail of dark liquid began dribbling down the assassin's thigh. Finally, the tentacles retracted and Fire Lotus sat up, coughing and hacking up saliva that probably wasn't hers. She turned to glare at Ampelus, her fur practically standing on end. "You...I know what you did!!"

"She saved your life, is what she did!" Spark yelled at her, taking a step closer.

"No, she sent some of those tentacles into my brain stem!" Fire Lotus seethed.

"Uhhh she what?" Spark said, turning to balk at Ampelus.

"Yeah. I wanted to see what you're doing out this way. You weren't likely to tell us, were you?"

While Fire Lotus seethed at the nymph, Spark Storm stepped closer to Ampelus. "Uh...look, I can appreciate this now, but...maybe in the future-"

Ampelus rounded on the pegasus, real anger in her eyes. "Hey. I'm just trying to get some results here, Spark Storm. Things have been moving a little too disappointingly slow and we're not getting anywhere."

Callie let out a tiny gasp at those key words. Any female could've picked out the nymph's phrasing in a crowd. Spark's ears pulled back as he felt something he'd never felt before, something like guilt, but worse. "Wait...are you mad at me?"

Ampelus stared at Spark as if he'd asked her the dumbest question in the world. In some perspectives, he had. "Are y...am I m...am I MAD??" Ampelus began to shake, vines sprouting and making that dry rattling the changelings hated so much. Spark himself looked like he would need to defend himself. Fire Lotus took a step back from the nymph. She didn't want to know what an angry nymph looked like, but that's when she noticed - her pain was gone.

"Did you heal my butt wound?"

Despite the deafening rattling, the question was heard. Ampelus' mood fizzled out, which the changelings were quite thankful for. The nymph sighed and slowly turned to Fire Lotus. "Yes. I did. We're probably going to need your fighting abilities in Breen. Oh, and you're going to need us, aren't you?" The assassin scowled and diverted her eyes. "Because somebody couldn't keep their mouuuthes shut!" she said in a sing-song tune.

Spark Storm watched Ampelus with a mix of confusion and sadness. What was happening to his friend and ally? And when did she suddenly have the ability to read minds or expel poison or heal wounds? And for the love of Celestia, why was she mad at him?? And...wait. Hold up. "Uh, excuse me, but it sounds like you just invited a deadly assassin to sail with us to Breen, Ampelus."

"Yes," she turned to him, a concerned expression know her eyes. "Spark, things are going to get a lot more difficult from here on out. We're going to need as much help as possible."

Fire Lotus, who hadn't agreed to anything, glared at Ampelus with a side glance. If anything, she was using them. What was that nymph thinking? "How can you be sure of that, Ampelus? How can you do any of this? You - you're showing abilities I've never seen before. What's happening with you?"

Instead of answering immediately, Ampelus approached him slowly. The expression on her face was gentle, but her eyes were sad, so very sad. "Oh Spark," she whispered as she tenderly rubbed his cheek with the inside of her leg. It was an intimate touch, one that made Callie blush from watching. Even Fire Lotus had to admit, it was an intriguing show. Spark Storm had frozen. She'd never touched him like this before, not even to tease. This lacked a sense of sensuality, or roughness, or aggression. Frankly, it scared the pegasus.

Ampelus brought his chin closer to hers, their muzzles close enough to feel their breath on each other's lips. For all this intimacy, though, Ampelus could still feel the tension in Spark's body. This isn't what he wanted. The sting of this feeling was something she would never forget, even long after the fourth era had passed. "Spark Storm, I..." she paused, lowering her head into his shoulder. She pressed herself against him gently, taking a moment of silence. Finally she pulled away from him, leaving a cold space on him where her body had been. "It's time to grow up."

Spark Storm remained frozen in place for a moment as Ampelus turned to Fire Lotus. The assassin frowned, and peered sideways at the nymph. "You've got issues. He's a-"

"Shut it." Ampelus wrapped a front leg around the mare's muzzle. "Couple things. You're going to abandon the hit on the child. You're going to do whatever we need or ask of you. You're part of our mission to get the changeling royals to Breen, and whatever else we're going to have to do there." Fire Lotus glared at her, but there wasn't much to do without proper preparation. "When we're done in Breen, feel free to pursue those other contracts. They have nothing to do with us." She released the assassin without waiting for confirmation. There was no room for argument.

With that, Ampelus turned to the changelings. "You'll need to get back to the beach. Go together. There's a psychopath in the woods looking for us." Fire Lotus perked up at that. The beach? That was in the opposite direction she'd come with the pirates. Looking thoughtful, then mischievous, she rushed towards the beach alone.

"And you?" Melba asked Ampelus. She wore an impossibly wide grin, apparently impressed with the changes in the nymph.

"I'm going to put down that little worm so can move freely and safely, so we can sail to Breen when the week is up." Without another word. Ampelus tried to keep the dark green liquid in her eyes from hitting the ground with her mane vines.

The changelings had left shortly after Fire Lotus, so that left three figures, Callie, Melba, and Spark Storm. The wollypog looked up at the pegasus, a look of stalwart pride in her eyes. It earned her a look of reproach from Callie as she stepped over to her old friend. "Sparky? You ok?" She grasped his shoulder in her claw, giving it a light shake.

He gasped, as if he'd been in a trance since Ampelus had broken their embrace. He looked at Callie as if she'd just popped into existence. "Uh..." He looked around for a moment, then brought up a hoof over his eyes. "Well yeah, of course I am," he said entirely unconvincingly. The wollypog shook her entire body back and forth, her eyes downcast. Callie frowned and sat up on her hind legs, both claws clasping his shoulders.

"Spark, you n' Ampelus been through some stuff together, I can tell. You're really, really close, right?"

Spark shuddered. He felt all kinds of deep, horrible feelings, some feelings he couldn't explain. "I...I feel like...I think I messed up..." he mumbled. As much as he wanted to open up more to Callie, there was something else in his chest, in his eyes. He couldn't look in her eyes.

But Callie was an experienced griffon. She continued, speaking to him quietly. "...Do ya got a girl back home, Sparky?"

And there it was. His truth exposed once again. He let out a sob and lowered his head, his tears hitting the ground, some on Callie's rough claws. "I...think so. She...she's waiting for me back home. And she's not the first that got in Ampelus' way, either. Ampelus, she...she's been waiting for me, too...and..."

Callie reached down to gently cup his chin in her claw and raised his head to look into his eyes. "Do you care for Ampelus at all the way she does for you?"

Spark drew in a slow, shuddering breath. Did he? Ampelus kept trying to throw herself at him. It happened so many times that he'd basically tuned out the attempts. Even the last few weeks, as he'd tried to recover from his depression, had been getting a little more desperate. But to actually express that she was tired of him, tired of the chase...did he want her to stop? Did he want to abandon Rarity and let Ampelus have him...? No. That little voice in his head spoke gently at him. No. I never wanted her. But her routines, her actions, the reliability of it all...I needed her to fill the space that Sohl left...

Spark gasped and pulled away from Callie as if she were a banshee from Tartarus itself. She recoiled, afraid she'd hurt him. But for Spark Storm, it was the opposite. She had forced him to finally, finally dig deep within himself and discover what it was that truly tied him to Ampelus. "Aargh..." he sniffled and wiped at his eyes. "...no. no I dont. I...I used her. She was like a crutch, Callie. She held me up when I couldn't, and I expected it even when I didn't need it. I've taken her for granted. I...I think she's...done with me..."

"Now, Spark," Callie chided gently. This confession had thoroughly impressed her. No male had ever had the balls to admit these things to her before! "D'ya think if she were done with ya, she'd still be helping ya?" She crossed her claws over her chest in thought. "If anythin', she's probably just trying to focus on somethin' other than you. You're kinda distracting!"

"Ugh. Don't you start," he groaned, shaking off those deep feelings. It was time to get back in the game, with a fresh start and a freed conscience. "The last thing I need is a different crutch."

"Well, if you need me," she said gently and returning to all fours. "I'm a pretty good crutch."

Spark Storm gave her a grateful smile, then looked down at his hooves. Then at Callie again, his eyes getting wider. "Shit."

"Spark, what is it?"

He turned to Melba, his wings rubbing together lightly, then spreading, then gave them a broad flap. "Shit! Where's my chicken?!"

Flash Fire sighed as she sat by a large pool in the afternoon sun. It was sooo boring waiting for Spark Storm to return. It was just him, wasn't it? No...apparently Ampelus had gone out into the forest before him, then came back and took him. That was...four hours ago. She was tempted to go visit Rolling Waves and the crew, but chances were they would not be happy to see her. She looked out across the pool and noticed a mare in her late teens. She was an absolutely gorgeous earth pony, a coat of dark orange that turned a rich cream further down her legs. She had a long, shiny blonde mane that was braided in places, and grinned at the males around her with bright teal eyes.

Ugh. The unicorn rolled her eyes. Did this place just have to boast the most attractive ponies in the world? Everywhere she looked, the local life here was completely stunning, not an average-looking pony in sight. Well, besides her. Blegh. Did she really just get sent on this dumb mission so she could get all her body issues thrown at her? Her mane wasn't particularly girly, she hadn't really trimmed her hooves in a while and her coat wasn't too flattering - PLEASE stop.

Flash Fire's self confidence was rooted in her abilities. In terms of power and her control over her firepower, she was in the top three of Celestia's class, right beside Spark Storm and Frostbite. In terms of mental health, she was in therapy. At least, she would be if she could tolerate "shrinks" being in her head and poking around.

She cut a most imposing figure: she was loud, aggressive, and callous in matters that required more decorum than she would normally care to present. On the battle field, she was fierce, unforgiving, sometimes reckless, but she always made sure to get the job done. She was reliable under most conditions, but if she were angered, then woe to those that stood too close, friends or foes. Her confidence was bright and dangerous, threatening to topple even the bravest and the strongest of her opponents. And yet off the field, she was fragile. Being away from battle meant that the only fights she still had to deal with were the ones in her head, the ones that whispered that fighting was all she was good for. She would never have a real relationship, because she kept practicing her greatest skills while trying to socialize, and that was burning bridges.

She shook her head of these intrusive thoughts and stood up. She really had to get away from the beach, it just kept making her angry. She would need to talk to Spark Storm about keeping the others waiting. She took another glance at Laser Reflex, who was off chatting it up with a stallion about Celestia knew what. Trixie had returned to dancing to the square music, though she'd lost her handsome partner from before, and Russet seemed content to just sit by himself and watch the others. Ugh. Who had time to relax?

Taking another look around at the village, it seemed that the party never stopped. Ponies and sometimes a griffon came to eat, relax, get back up and dance. It almost seemed too weird until a few of them had packed up their things and started walking back towards the west, where the village stretched out for a while before disappearing into the woods. Just how big was this place? Flash Fire decided that if Spark Storm was going to take the whole day doing his thing, she might as well, too. She slunk off into the woods in the direction he'd gone.

She hadn't gone too far when there was a commotion on her right. It sounded like multiple ponies running. There was a lot of splashing, too. She missed who had gone by, but it was a much bigger crowd than just Spark Storm and the nymph. She stopped and looked at the tracks in the mud. One, two, three, four, fi...how many? The tracks were very tight together and -

Flash Fire's horn lit up as something shiny flew at her. She leapt back with a small but powerful gust of steaming fire blazing from the tip of her horn. The object fell to the forest floor, smoking and neatly melted into a shapeless blob of metal. "What the..."

"Another one?" The voice crept out from the darkness of the surrounding trees. Had Flash Fire stepped into just the right amount of dense foliage to prevent the sun in here? The unicorn cast a small ball of firelight to hover just over her head.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

"My name isn't really important. What is important is that Lusus doesn't have any surprise guests at his party tonight. I mean, it's at the bottom of the ocean, but we've got business up top here, too."

Flash Fire didn't understand any of that. "Uh huh. I don't care. I do care that you seem to be hunting my friends." The unicorn took a few steps to the side, ears craning to try to catch where the voice was coming from. She felt wetness on her hooves, and realized she'd taken a step into the mud. Great. One wrong step and she'd get stuck and get one of those metal things in her face.

"Well, it's just a little inconvenient, is all. We just want to have a little fun, a little party. You know, dancing, food, a little...regicide."

Regicide? That fat unicorn this morning hadn't mentioned there being royalty on the island...did she say something about the bottom of the ocean?? "That regicide is your business, I'm not here to stand in the way of that. So how about you mosey along and quit bothering ponies?"

"Ooh, I do like your attitude, but you've got it all wrong. You being on this island means you are in our way. You weren't supposed to beeeeee heeeeere..." the voice sang.

Flash Fire's ears twitched as she heard another whistle. She leapt to the side, her tail losing a hair nearly at the base. "You are quick! A lot quicker than the red one, but I think she probably had a gimpy leg."

The unicorn struggled to pinpoint the voice. It seemed to be moving back and forth, and very quickly. And there was an odd slithering sound that was unsettling her. There was mud wherever it was coming from, she could hear it sloshing around. Wait...the mud! She turned her eyes around the woods, pretending to still be confused. "I don't recall having a red companion..." she glanced down at the mud, noticing that it trailed into the woods up ahead to the left. She shot a beam of concentrated fire into the darkness, and watched as a large serpent figure dart around the fire for just a second. What in blazes??

The eel-like Seaweed Cyanide could waste no more time. This one was a clever fighter. She would need to distract her in order to get close. The unicorn had used the mud against her, well, two could play at that game...Flash Fire stepped carefully around the mud, trying to be as careful as possible. She could hear snapping sounds in the darkness, like twigs breaking off from branches. The first thorn came at her, dark and barely perceptible. It scratched her cheek just next to her eye, nearly leaving her blind. This monster was throwing thorns at her, hard enough to pierce her skin! What kind of monster was this?! And where was she finding the four inch thorns??

The thorns came too quickly. Flash Fire didn't know how she kept throwing the thorns this hard, but it would be impossible to avoid if she didn't do something fast! The trajectory of the thorns could not be pinned down, she was too busy dodging. She could always try that Flash Burn spell, but...no! This was an island with living things on it! She could not just set the forest on fire! She had to do something, she was getting tired of jumping sideways. Wait...sideways? She gasped and tried to stop her last jump, but it was too late. She landed in the mud and skidded down on her stomach. She knew she'd been outsmarted here, and waited for the thorns.

Instead, she felt an enormous weight jump in the mud beside her and a thick coil wrap around her middle. She let out a growl and tried to get free, her horn starting to flare up with steam. "Let me go, you-"

Before she could finish, a pair of hooves grabbed her head and dunked her face in the mud, pushing it under the wet earth. She pushed back up, and immediately released her angered fire spell. What she felt was immense, unrelenting heat, and she couldn't breathe!

Seaweed Cyanide laid beside Flash Fire's body. The mare yelled, muffled by the thoroughly baked mud mask now adorning her face. She would suffocate like this. The eel mare propped her head on an elbow, watching her unicorn adversary thrash and writhe in her coil. "So angry. Maybe you should try to have some fun? Cootchie-coo!" she giggled, the tip of her tail spreading her legs and tickling her stomach. The mare shrieked in that muffled way of hers, too enraged at the thought of again being helpless and being toyed with. She could not breathe, could not see, and was beginning to black out.

"Still, it certainly was entertaining to fight someone as clever as you. And fire??" She sighed. "What I wouldn't give to have your powers! With that much heat and steam at your disposal, I could whip up so many different poisons. Ah well, I am sad to see you go."

Quite suddenly there was the sound of a cracking whip. The mud mask cracked open, leaving Flash Fire barely breathing, but breathing. Vine-like whips wrapped around Seaweed's body, easily removing her hold. Flash Fire was carried over to the waiting Ampelus, while the sea creature was tossed into a tree. "Amp...Am..." the unicorn coughed, her vision still clouded from asphyxiation.

Ampelus looked down at the unicorn, giving her a look that Flash Fire might have mistaken for...concern? Her vines suddenly whipped around, catching several long, sharp thorns in them. She bled, a little. "So...you are...what?" Seaweed Cyanide asked from the safety of the trees.

The nymph brought the thorns closer to her for inspection. She rolled her eyes, then closed them. The trees seemed to close all around, and then...separated. Sunlight spilled down from every leaf parting at her command. The eel balked. How was there a creature of this strength on the island? Mimosa never meddled in affairs that weren't his! Yet this was not Mimosa. She knew, suddenly, that she was in trouble. She abandoned the battle, long body racing through the trees, and her last thoughts on that fire maiden. Perhaps they could be friends after all?

Flash Fire coughed, her heart hammering in her head. "Go...go after her," she mumbled.

Ampelus looked down at her incredulously. "Yeah right, Spark would have my head if I left you like this." The nymph gathered the unicorn onto her back and stabilized her with a gentle but tight vine grip. "I'm taking you to the beach with the others. Did you see them come this way?"

"Think so...maybe five? Didn't have time..."

"Mhm." Ampelus concentrated as she walked quickly through the trees, trying to see the serpent creature through the forest. She could faintly pick up a large figure slithering along the forest, but...it was too much, too quickly. She wasn't as ready to pick up this new mantle as she wished she could be. She could already feel new, untapped powers awakening inside of her, but she wouldn't have full mastery over the woods for a long time. Her father's words to her before she brought Spark Storm to him returned to her.

"Now Ampelus, you need to learn to start growing things. One day you will take over over my role as guide for this world. As such, you have an awful lot of catching up to do. Once you begin, you will start a chain reaction of-"

"I already told you I am not interested!

"Why am I such a brat?"

"Uh...not sure I'm qualified to answer that...?"

"Oh, right, you're here." Ampelus broke through the trees at last, finding herself not far from the village, and the beach in view. She was confident that the long slithery creature wouldn't have tried to sneak up on her, so she strode slowly towards the big area where she could smell the changelings had gone. It only took a moment for ponies to start taking notice of a tall plant creature with an injured unicorn in its grasp.

"Just put me down, I can walk from here, and...thanks, Ampelus." Flash Fire got to her hooves slowly and turned to get a look at Ampelus' face. She smiled gratefully at the nymph, but before the two could have one of those 'moments', a black figure flew up into the air and landed roughly between them.

"'Ay! You leave the chicka alone, monster!" Scriven's presence had been a surprise, but given that there was now a generally alarmed populace at Ampelus' appearance, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a white knight would throw himself at Flash Fire's defense.

The unicorn scowled and waved a hoof at him dismissively. "Knock it off, she's my friend!" Ampelus looked at Flash Fire, surprised.

The black griffon paid no attention to this, though, and whirled on Ampelus. "What you do, put some kinda spell on her, huh??" He reared up on his hind legs, branding his claws and snapping with his curved raven beak. "G'wan, get outta here!"

"Listen here, you little shit..." Ampelus stood up to her full height, only a couple inches shorter than Scriven on his hind legs. Suddenly, her back seemed to open up, like a bug's wing sheath. The wings that she normally kept hidden rose up, hardened to a neat shine, suddenly beat. Her whole body shot forward, taking Scriven with her. "SHHHIIII-"

Flash Fire watched with wide eyes, having dashed to the side to avoid being taken with the two. Since when could Ampelus fly??

24 - The Nature Of Change

"¡Dios mio! ¡Perra malvada!!" Scriven shouted as Ampelus propelled them up and over the beach.

"What the hell did you say to me?!" Ampelus shouted over the roar of the wind. How did they end up in the sky?! She pushed his claws out of her face and looked back, shocked to see that the two of them had rocketed forward...because of her?! Her wings were never meant for flight! Why had they come out now?! "Oh right...because of my...thing..."

"I called you a wicked, heartless, evil, maniacal villain!" the griffon shouted at Ampelus as he began clawing at her face. His talons raked down her cheeks, leaving bloody marks. The marks quickly healed themselves, and left him with a furious face glaring at him. "Ay carumba..."

"You did not say all those things with four words, you little jerk!" Ampelus wrapped her vines around the offender and threw him into the air. The griffon stretched out his wings and flew after her.

"You ain't gonna terrorize nobody else while I'm around!" he shouted.

"WHY are you following me?? She told you down there that I'm not a threat to her or you or anybody!" Ampelus swerved up and down, starting to feel nauseous. What was the point of flight if it was going to make her sick?

"Like I'm supposed to take the word of a monster...!" Scriven grabbed onto the nymph from behind. She didn't seem to have a lot of control up here. If he could just...yes! There it was! His ship was in view, just over there on the opposite side of the forest from the beach. He needed to get her away from there, anyway, away from innocent folks. If he could just get this creature to Vasha...

On out the water, away from the village and prying eyes and ignorance, Deep Surf paddled on his board. He stopped as he began to feel something on the wind. "Again? Like the ever pulling tide calls to the dude, the wind also calls to me on a fell...uh, wind." He lifted his muzzle and pulled his goggles off his face. He pulled his white-ish blue mane out of his eyes and smelled the air. Across the ocean, an unnatural darkness had begun to spread across the horizon. The black clouds had an almost ghostly, ethereal blue hue to it.

"A heart of darkness. Like the hamsters of old lore, their hammers bring their sandwiches to swift justice." Far over his head, he spotted two figures neatly entwined in flight, yet desperate to separate. Their arguing voices reached the pegasus on the water, which caused his ears to pin back as he watched them soar gracelessly towards the pirate ship about a mile off west of him. "A paradigm of dimpled dollops departs the flow of peace...a super-heated dawn of daimons!" With that, Deep Surf abandoned his board and flew in pursuit of the two squabbling fliers.

"Would...you...get your claws out of my face?!" Ampelus growled, vines frantically trying to pry this creature off of her without hurting him. She had to make a good impression, after all. Finally she threw him off again, only to have him latch on again and pull her off balance. She ran into something very big and thick, something tall and round. She fell to the floor. Floor? I thought this was the ocean!

Ampelus pulled herself up to her hooves only to get shoved off of them again, and by something quite hard and hitting fast. She landed on her face, growling and thoroughly pissed. "Hit 'er again, Xennen!" she heard the griffon call. She shot to her hooves in time to see a tan and brown figure run at her head-first with a nasty set of horns. Ampelus met the headbutt with her own. The nymph skidded back a few inches before she pushed forward and threw the oryx off his hooves.

"Whoa!" Scriven helped his crewmate up. "She really is a monster!"

"It is a she? You are sure?" Xennen's question irked Ampelus, who was sure this horned creature had never even seen a female before.

"WHY are you idiots attacking me?!"

"Nobody insults my friends!" A new vexing voice called from the port beam. Ampelus turned just in time to receive a massive, wet slap as a figure dropped in from the water. Scaled Melody turned to hit the nymph again with her body, only to find the bigger creature stop her with a soft but firm hoof.

"Knock. It. Off," Ampelus growled, staring down the sea pony.

"Move, friends." The crew made way as one of the biggest creatures Ampelus had ever seen made her way onto the deck. The kirin had much more mass than the nymph. She stood at least as tall as Celestia, maybe even taller. "Let us see her stop me."

Ampelus groaned impatiently. These jerks were just not getting it! Whatever. Once the big fluffy brute failed to hurt her, they might give up and just let her leave already. She huffed her mane out of her eyes and spread her legs wide in a defensive stance. The kirin wasted no time and inhaled, releasing a sound not unlike a hidden brook disappearing into a dark underground whirlpool. The sound raised in pitch, faltered, then cresendo'd into a roar as the kirin spewed a heavy stream of boiling hit water onto Ampelus' face and body.

"Rrrraaaaauuuuugh!!" Ampelus screamed. The stream ended, leaving the nymph slumped over, body steaming. The kirin's crewmates gathered around her, congratulating her, when the steaming body got up, groaning painfully. "Ow ow ow, hot hot!" She sputtered, and shook her mane out. She examined herself, apparently as baffled as the pirates, every last one of them staring slack-jawed. "Hey...can you do that again?" she asked the kirin.

Vasha stared at the creature before her. Never in all her travels had she seen anything that she had boiled asked her to do it again. Was this a nymph like Merope? She let her magic swell up like before, then released it again, dowsing the beast.

Ampelus sighed and opened up her pores, letting the hot water pour over her insides. "Aaaaaahhhhh...this feels soooooo good. I was so thirsty."

"Thirsty?" Vasha balked politely.

"This water...is the BEST water I have ever tasted. Even Celestia's mountain and river waters have too much sediments. But yours..." Ampelus shook out her mane again, this time steaming heavily. "Yours is the absolute purest water I have ever had."

Vasha frowned, then turned her head to look down with disdain at Scriven and Xennen. "Why are you IDIOTS picking a fight with a forest spirit?!"

Xennen snorted at the kirin. "Forest spirit?" He regarded Ampelus for a moment. "That would explain her strength, and impossible durability...plus, I was defending Scriven..."

The griffon coughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well...she looked suspicious!"

"Feather brain!" Scaled Melody accused as she hopped over to Ampelus to offer her apologies. Ampelus waved her off. What had she been doing here again?

"You hit her too, jellyfish!" Scriven countered, then sighed as the others ignored him and offered their apologies to the nymph. After a moment the passing glares of the others finally got to him. "Ugh...fine, fine...madre de dios! I am sorry for thinking you were una villaina."

"...And?" Vasha offered.

"...And...trying to hurt you. 'Cause obviously I didn't."

"The only thing you managed to hurt was your pride, numb nuts." Ampelus' comment caught the griffon off-guard and caused his comrades to break out into laughter. Clearly, someone of her humor would've fit right in. The nymph scoffed and looked back towards the island. "Oh. Gods. I was supposed to find that friggin' worm in the woods!" Ampelus leapt to the side of the ship and raised her wings, managing little more than flittering in the wind.

"Didja forget how to fly already, amiga?" Scriven's question grated on the nymph. How did she manage to get so chummy with a bunch of strangers in less than ten minutes? And when did she ever get chummy with anyone? This wasn't like her, and yet...it felt natural. Was all her practice with Spark Storm starting to pay off? Or was this the result of accepting her fate?

Ampelus frowned. All this excitement and meeting new ponies and managing to not kill them had made her forget about the thing with Spark Storm, and the reason that she'd showed him her true, tiny form. Only a nymph that intended to claim another being as her soul mate, her property, and spend the rest of their lives with that creature, would show them their true form. She'd done that for Spark Storm, but...was she really ready to accept that this was possible? She had smelled the auras of many ponies there in Ponyville, and even in Canterlot. The inconvenient truth to be found was...she had competition.

And not just in the form of other females, no. Spark Storm himself had always been resistant to her. True, he was still young, and his sexual desires would only increase as he got older. Romantic desires, however, he was quite open to, now. He was very interested in the alabaster unicorn, Rarity. She didn't need to see any residual energies for that. And there was that red pegasus, the one that had met him twice and had flirted with him strongly. There was...something about her. Something that could potentially threaten Ampelus' place in Spark Storm's life. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but...

That, of course, was if Spark Storm even wanted her at all. She had felt his hesitation...wait, hesitation? Ampelus shook her head and closed her eyes tight. This was more than hesitation. She had bared her soul to him, offered it to him, practically begged him just to acknowledge this action, but his body language told her that he did not want to. She let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding in. Was Spark Storm the only thing she had left in this world without giving into her father's demands? Would it be so easy to just forget how she felt about him and just...

"Whoa, hey..." Scriven's voice brought her back to reality. "Looks like you just took a trip somewheres far from here, linda dama."

Ampelus glanced at the griffon sideways. "My name is Ampelus."

So similar to Merope. I wonder if they'll meet. Vasha thought with a smile. "Ampelus, are you going to Breen?"

Ampelus gave Vasha a playfully suspicious smile. "Yeeees...why do you ask?"

"I just wonder if you know many other nymphs. I am curious...does the name Merope mean anything to you?"

Ampelus turned the name over and over in her head. For some reason it felt very familiar. Finally she shook her head up at the big kirin. "No. It does sound like a nymph name, though. I do wonder sometimes how many nymphs there are left in the world."

"Hey!" a voice called from the water. All hooves and claws on deck looked down from port side to see Scaled Melody. She had gathered some rope and attached it to some floating debris. "If you can't fly back to the island, maybe I can pull you!"

Ampelus sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, thank you." She paused. Had she just made her first friends besides Spark Storm? This sudden encounter had not been altogether unpleasant, and she did not know if she would see them again. She wanted to. These new feelings she could tend to later, she told herself as she leapt down, too engrossed in these new emotional sensations to calculate her drop. She plunged into the sea, immediately disappearing into the water.

Had she been swimming before? Her memories told her that she had, but this was seawater, infinitely open and immense. She could see under the water as clearly as she saw above it, and what she saw terrified her as there was nothing but blackness far below. Hundreds of lifeforms swam around her, things she had never seen before, and one of them was staring right at her, far below her. It was massive, just drifting there in the water, long tail swishing back and forth. Why was this creature familiar?

The massive beast opened it's jaws wide in what must have been a smile, bearing hundreds of razor sharp teeth, and then Ampelus recalled where she had seen that face. Inside her father's biodome. Lusus, her father had called him. The massive tail shook back and forth behind him, propelling him towards the nonbuoyant nymph. Ampelus panicked; not only had this creature overpowered her in the bio dome, but he had completely terrified her. She let out a scream and began paddling, far from the necessary speed to out swim the shark. Ampelus shook as the massive Lusus drew his mouth open to swallow her, every last detail down to the dark hole at the back of his throat visible to her. She did the only thing she could think of at the moment: she stretched out her vines as far as they could go, preventing him from straight out swallowing the nymph as he collided with her.

Ampelus felt the rough skin pressing against her as Lusus picked up speed. She felt the water rushing past her, could feel the suction from his open mouth, could feel her heart pulsing in every inch of her stretched out body. Terror pulled at her every muscle, and...she felt something new, something that came with this new fear. Something that compelled her to transform, revert to the smaller size that only her life partner should know about. She could feel some embarrassment, but if she couldn't get out of this now she knew she'd never see Spark Storm again. The long, stretched out vines shot back into her body and her sight momentarily went blank. Ampelus, tucked neatly into her shell, shot directly into the black abyss of Lusus' mouth.

The giant shark slowed, a small grin crossing his massive mouth, until he felt a tickle in his throat. He let out a cough, and Ampelus' shell slipped out through the gills in the giant's throat. Ampelus' eye stalks appeared at the base of the shell, her vision even more clear in this form. She felt other things, water flowing through her entire body. She hadn't wanted the seawater before, on the ship. It had tasted foreign and nasty, but now that it was running through her lungs it felt like the most natural thing in the world, like breathing in fresh air. Appendages she never knew she had fluttered out of minute holes in her shell and set her off away from the beast, leaving him to search for her. It wasn't long before he spotted her swimming away behind him. He lurched forward again, quickly overtaking the small-shelled creature.

Deep Surf watched as the green-surely-not-a-pony plunged into the ocean, watched as the siren-looking pony gasped in alarm. This felt like an important event, but something else was more important, something happening in this exact spot. But it wasn't happening now, no. He would need to wait...

Spark Storm let out a groan as he paused in his search for Amacia. He felt heavy with sweat, deep inside his dark fur coat. Why was this jungle so humid? He glanced at Callie, noting that she did not seem to have the same problems. Noticing his look after stepping out from under a low-hanging willow branch, she burst out into a grin. She puffed out her feathers, revealing she could air out her plumage at will. "I'm always air-conditioned."

"Ugh...that's hardly fair..."

"You'd be wasted in a desert, Sparky. Why are we walkin' back inside, again? You...lost yer chicken?"

Spark Storm rolled his eyes at the griffon. "No. Remember you thought maybe I knew some harpies? Well...I do. One of 'em came with me here to the island. I think I might've lost her in here, she was sleeping under my wings for a good long while, and now she's not here. I'm...fairly sure she was with me when I came in here."

Callie arched a brow as she approached the pegasus and casually raked a claw between his wings down his spine. It sent chills down Spark's back until he lifted his wings for complete perusal. "Do you mind? I'd know if she were there..."

The griffon blinked in surprise, not at his reaction, but in something she felt on his back, beneath his fur. "Sparky...these marks..."

Spark Storm pulled away from her touch, a frown on his face until he remembered that Rarity had also made this observation, though under different circumstances. "Uh, yeah, that's...I was hit by lightning. A few times."

Callie stared at her friend. "Really? I realize it's not unusual for a pegasus to take a beatin' in the air now and then, but...a few times? Like, over a few years?" She approached him again, her claws reaching beneath his wings to find and trace the marks. "Spark, those marks...did they all hit ya at the same time?"

"Yeah...one after another," Spark told her, tensing a little bit at Callie's articulate paws tracing the marks hidden under his fur. "Probably ten or twelve strikes in all."

"How?" she asked, finally giving him a bit of space.

Spark chuckled lightly. "Dragon attack."

"Dragon attack?? Why in the world would you be under a dragon attack?"

"It's...a long story," he told her. He paused once again. Was he hearing voices? He pushed through some massive low-hanging leaves and happened upon Mimosa Palm and two of the pirates from before, the tall pegasus and the zebra mare, with the little Cyno clinging to her.

"...Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, this is far too complicated to get into. I'm sure you'll have a chance to speak with her eminence sometime tonight, possibly tomorrow, and..." the dryad stopped, noticing Spark Storm. "Ah, Spark Storm! I thought you'd left. Have you met our new friends, crew of the Sea Pearl?"

Before Spark Storm could answer, there was a sound like a panicked shriek in the trees and a rustling of feathers. A flash of yellow and pink fell from the branches above and flapped like mad, leaving the scene. Spark felt a flash of everything in his chest, panic, hope, fear and anger. Anger won out in an instant as he let out a wordless yell as he made after the bird.

Cyno let out a squeak and leapt into the branches and into Amacia's arms, where she'd been hiding alongside Sohl. "Oh - Aaaaah!!" she shrieked and leapt up into the branches as Spark passed underneath. She'd seen Spark angry before, and she did not like being in his path. She knew he would never hurt her, but seeing him angry always set her on edge.

Callie ran after Spark Storm, her heart beating a mile a minute. Earlier, along with Bombyx, she had learned about Sohl's role in Spark's life, and had learned that if Spark knew that Sohl had come here, he might just lose it. Now, she was quite scared that Spark might hurt the harpy, or visa versa. "Ramani, get back here!" she heard behind her, as well as the sounds of quick hooves.

Spark's breath came in too quickly as he chased the bird flying frantically before him, headed towards the north-east of the dome. Branches smacked him in the face as he passed, feeling aches and burns, but pushing them to the side. His mind was buzzing with anger. He had no coherent thoughts as he pushed himself further and harder than he had ever before. The chase through the woods gave way to an open area, where a tram sat ready for use. The bird slipped past it and shot down the tunnel at breakneck speed. Not to be deterred, Spark Storm skidded into the tram's front car. Looking around with barely a moment to think, he hit the button that displayed an arrow in the direction Sohl had gone. The train hissed, and began to move as Callie and Ramani arrived, too late to board.

The tram ride was smooth and quiet, the silence interrupted only with the sound of Spark's post race breathing. He trembled with anger and impatience, the dark lights of the tunnels illuminating his eyes with light and shadow. Neither did much to soften the look on his face. A good five minutes later, the tram stopped. The locale had changed entirely. Where there had been a dense jungle, there was now a blinding white snowscape, filled with mountains, harsh winds and few trees. Had Sohl actually stopped here? Spark disembarked and felt his breath stolen in the cold. He looked around, his heart still thumping in his chest.

It wasn't long until he spotted her, far off in the distance. He took a few steps forward when a squealing metal sound stopped him in his tracks. The tram was leaving, hurrying forward into the snow and disappearing. He took a breath and continued forward, much too angry to worry about freezing to death.

Way up on her perch, Sohl returned to her harpy form. The wind rushed through her wings and down her body. She crouched, wrapping her arms around herself. The cold was formidable, even colder than her home, the Heldren cliffs. She thought of home, of the hell that was growing up in such a place. Even the shape of the cliffs was much like that of a hole in the face of the planet, an outcropping of rock that opened up into a pair of cliffs. Ocean water drifted down into the massive, endless hole. The harpies' home was inside, where they nestled along the walls. This place was their home, their sanctuary, and also it was a place that they jealously guarded. It was also here that the harpy's originated from, an old, old tale, their darkest secret.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard hoofsteps in the snow. He'd found her already?! She turned towards the sound, only to duck as a strike of electricity whizzed past her and struck a mound of snow next to her head. She rolled forward and took off down the hill she was sitting on, on all fours. Flying was a terrible idea in this cold. She was no Amacia, but her speed was considerable on the ground. She bounded forward, running just as fast as four limbs could take her. Spark Storm in hot pursuit.

Mimosa frowned, watching ponies, griffons and harpies run off into the woods. Well, this was a long time coming, and Sohl was a powerful harpy. She could handle herself. He turned to Gabriel and offered a shrug. "Don't fear, my boy. Callie will keep an eye on Ramani, I'm sure. She knows her way around here, and I'm sure the other two won't cause too much trouble."

Gabriel sighed with a little nod. "Well. Ramani's always been way too nosy for her own good. I'm sure the pretty griffon will take care of her, but that pegasus...there have only been a few times in my life that I've seen pure, unbridled fury in somepony's eyes. His were full of it..."

"Hm. Well, his friend has been...absent as late, I'm sure he just wants to talk with her."

Niceties over with, Mimosa returned to the command center, which required a unique code entered into the tram that took him towards the top of the bio dome, a place that was unavailable to all not in the know. He sat down before the monitors, watching his pirate guests congregate near the exits, all save for the oryx and her younger zebra charge. Where had they all gotten to, anyway? It took him a moment, eyes trailing over the environments, until he found Callie and Ramani on a tram, heading to...the tundra? "Haven't those two made up already?" he muttered.

Leaning forward, the dryad switched the view to the tundra fields. Peering closer, his eyes dilated as he realized what was happening. He lurched forward and grabbed the universal mic and switched it on, in too much of a panic to localize his voice to just the tundra. "SOHL!" he yelled. "SOHL YOU TURN AROUND AND FACE YOUR PROBLEMS PROPERLY!! DO. NOT. ENTER. THAT PORTAL!!"

Spark Storm's ears pinned back as Mimosa's voice nearly deafened him. He was going to have a talk with Ampelus' father if he knew that Sohl was here! He let out a snarl as Sohl suddenly stopped in the middle of the field, turned around to face him and...disappeared. The pegasus skidded to a stop mere yards away. How? Sohl wasn't some sorcerer, she didn't know how to magic herself away! He let out a howl into the cold air, too angry to notice several ghostly figures floating around overhead, the creatures giddy over the anger floating around.

Spark Storm stepped closer to the place where Sohl disappeared. Maybe it was the snow, but was that area shimmering? Spark clenched his teeth, still shaking with fury. He wasn't about to turn back now! He stepped into the shimmering, undulating circle where Sohl had disappeared and...nothing. He could feel energy buzzing all around him, but still, nothing happened. No Sohl. No vindication. No vengeance. He didn't want vengeance on his closest friend, did he? No...No, he just wanted...

And suddenly, it got a lot colder. The snow hit harder, stole his breath deeper, and he saw Sohl, huddled on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees. She looked up at him, eyes wide and afraid. He approached her, feeling his anger running new and hot. "You..." he finally managed. He glared at her, teeth bared, wings twitching, ready to strike. But looking at the harpy, looking afraid and vulnerable...He scoffed and looked away from her. He immediately wished he hadn't. Suddenly, he wished he hadn't come here at all.

Standing before them was the gate from his nightmare. He felt cold. Not from the wind and snow, but something deep inside, a fear, a primal instinct. It wasn't just the endless gate that shook him, but the figure just beyond. Was it...was that...an alicorn?! The gate opened slowly, metal shrieking as it rubbed against ageless ice. The alicorn watched as the two standing before his gate could naught but stare and freeze as he approached. Through Spark Storm's utter fear he wondered if Sohl had been rendered helpless from him, or from HIM.

"So...you finally wander in my direction. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever even see you myself," the alicorn said, his voice booming through the winds. "Fate has brought you...back to me."

Spark stared at the ghostly alicorn. Back? Did he mean the dream? Had it not been a dream, but some kind of connection between them? He sniffled in the cold, feeling his fear start to wane. He glanced at Sohl, who still sat there, shivering. She seemed to have gone catatonic almost. He reached over and popped her in the side of the head. "Ow! Knock it..." she began, turning to throw a punch until she realized she was still in this situation. She turned her gaze to look upon the daunting figure. "Oh gods...King North Wind. What the shit..."

"Who?"

North Wind peaked a brow at Spark Storm's question. Who? WHO? "She...dares?" Spark Storm turned his attention on the alicorn, his wings charging threateningly. "She DARES to mock me by keeping her greatest crimes a secret?!"

"Who the fuck are you even talking about?" Spark shouted over the wind. "Look, I just came here to kick my friend's ass. I don't know who you are or why you think you know me. We're just leaving..."

Sohl turned to look at Spark as if he were crazy. "Spark...this isn't the time to get all crazy macho, all right? That's the lord of the windigos, King North Wind! I don't care what weird transformations you can do, you're not a match for him!"

"Transformations?" The alicorn stepped closer, a mixture of curiosity and derision in his eyes. "That sounds promising...tell me, have the voices begun yet?"

Spark Storm didn't have time to answer when snow erupted behind him. Harpy and pegasus turned to see Mimosa standing behind them, directly facing the alicorn. "Mimosa..." North Wind began with a small grin. "You humble me with your presence...in MY domain."

"Yes well...wasn't exactly my idea," he returned, turning to glare murder at Sohl. She cleared her throat and looked away from the dryad.

"And what is your...idea? Hm? Is it to...look the other way?" North Wind spat venomously.

"...It was never my intention to get involved. You know my rules. I do not interfere, no matter how egregious the crime. And -she- has held up her end-"

"S-sheee," North Wind drawled, his hatred of the subject barely contained. "-is sending her children outside of her end of the bargain. They are no longer protected, and they have come here, so -"

"Against my better judgement, I allowed the harpy Sohl to come here and keep the child Cyno in her care. I did not expect her to run from her problems and come here. And the boy," he paused, glancing at Spark Storm. "Well, I don't need to tell you that he will be returning safely to my island. They are both under my care." Spark Storm and Sohl both glanced at each other, both resenting feeling like children being dragged back home.

"I think you'll find that you're at a bit of a disadvantage," the alicorn told Mimosa. "You may be the oldest thing on this planet, but my domain holds little for you to use against me. If I want them to stay and die here, I don't think you'll be able to do much against my will."

Spark Storm shivered. He knew almost nothing about Mimosa, and even less about North Wind, but his simple declaration just now filled him with terror. Shaken to his core, he felt the child that he still was take over. He let out a quiet whimper and let his gaze fall. And that's when it happened. The air shimmered before the four of them. Mimosa took a step back, and even North Wind frowned, holding his horn before him at this mysterious energy. Suddenly, a thunderous crack in the air from overhead came down, like a lightning strike. All four shielded their eyes, and when the light was cleared, all were silent with complete shock.

The little life form standing before them looked almost the same as Spark Storm. Her body was blue, like his, save for the leafy bits that hung from her wings, which were displayed threateningly at the much bigger alicorn. "You leave my daddy alone!" she cried.

25 - Not A Moment To Lose

Spark Storm. Sohl, Mimosa and North Wind all stared down at the little nymph hybrid that had ridden lightning from halfway across the world. How the hell had she done it? Not even Spark Storm could do that! The alicorn before the quartet frowned. Riding the lightning...this was no ordinary creature. It appeared to be a nymph, but no nymph in the entire world could do what she had just done. His gaze turned to Mimosa, who looked completely shocked and...a little happy?

Sohl suddenly broke the silence as she lurched forward and snatched the little nymph, who squeaked in alarm. "Mine!" the harpy called. She stood back to her full height, winged arms encapsulating Orea. "Anyway, sorry to disturb you, your Majesty! We'll just be on our way..." Mimosa stood perfectly still as Spark Storm and Sohl slowly backed up. "Think of where you want to be, Spark..."

"You are going nowhere!" the alicorn bellowed angrily, his horn lighting up with a shining, aurora-like light. Mimosa leapt backwards, shoving the three others back towards the shimmering portal. Spark tumbled in the snow, taking Sohl's advice to heart. He didn't want to be anywhere near this place. There was a buzzing energy rifling through his fur, and suddenly the biting cold was gone, replaced with a less dangerous cold. He, Sohl and Orea had reappeared back in the tundra dome.

Spark Storm picked himself up, barely registering a crying voice. He turned after a moment to see Sohl consoling a distraught nymph child. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Sohl whispered, quietly kissing Orea's face. She turned to look over at Spark Storm. His gaze was still angry, but the pouting look on the harpy's face, and what they had just witnessed...he threw his muzzle to the sky and let out a long, drawn out sarcastic groan.

"We're gonna have words, Sohl. Mark me," he told her before she reached up and pulled him into the huddle, her clawed hands running through his mane as she planted a kiss on his forehead. He blinked and stared at her. She was never this...gentle.

Orea giggled and held her legs up to her father until he crouched down and lifted her into his forelegs. She squealed with happiness, prompting Sohl to let out a quiet groan. "Ugh...there it is..." As annoyed as she sounded, the smile she sent Spark Storm told him that she was happy to have the psychic connection between them again.

"Orea," Spark said after the trio had settled down in the snow. "What was that? How did you-"

Spark could not finish as Mimosa finally returned through the portal, but barely alive. His whole body appeared to be frozen, smashed and frozen again. He toppled forward, shuddering and twitching. Sohl let out a yell of panic as she rushed to him. "Shit! Spark, get Orea away from here. Take her back to the command center, find Frankie or Bombyx, and...probably Cyno." She picked up Mimosa's body and took off running. "Don't worry about North Wind following us, he won't!"

"How the hell do you know that??" Spark yelled after her, but decided he didn't want an answer. He threw a look to Orea that said 'follow', and ran off. The two ran for a good ten minutes before they found tracks in the snow, and came face to face with Callie and Ramani. "No time!" he yelled as they ran past the two. "Follow us, we have to find Bombyx right now! Mimosa's hurt!"

"How th' dickens did Mimosa get hurt in his own sanctuary?!" Callie called, running after the two. She set her eyes on Orea, immediately noticing the similarities between the two. "And when were you gonna tell me you got a kid??"

"Much drama here, I am having fun!" Ramani announced. Spark threw her a brief look, then stopped to catch his breath once they reached the tram.

"Ok. Callie, do you know where to go?"

"Uh...yeah..." the griffon paused, glancing at the company. It was probably ok. She slid her claws under a panel that was meant to blend in with the console, revealing a single green button. She pressed it and replaced the panel. The train warbled, and seemed to lift off of the tracks. In fact it was turning, and attached itself to a new set of tracks that ran up the walls. "Hold on..."

The train ran up and up, forcing it's occupants to hold tightly to the seats as it eventually moved upside down along the ceiling, where it eventually disappeared into a large compartment that opened up and swallowed the train, then sealing shut again. The ride had now gone dark as it moved along a tunnel. The tunnel opened up into a small train station that had six other tracks that disappeared down into their respective tunnels, other routes for the trains to escape into the ceiling.

As the four of them disembarked the train, Spark Storm let his eyes wander around the big station. So they were somewhere just inside the ceiling of the dome? How was there sunlight underneath them when this place was covered with solid metal? And..." Callie, how come you know so much about this place?"

Callie lead the small group towards a dull grey office, a large room filled with monitors and other technology that Spark didn't even know existed. "I told ya, this is one of my favorite places to be, Sparky. Not just 'cause of the company, I'm kinda an intern, jus' learnin' the ropes. If there's ever an emergency, and I'm guessin' there is, I can help out. Sometimes I'll take a week an' just be here." The griffon switched on some lights and sat at one of the consoles, flicking some switches. Images appeared on a few of the monitors, showing different spots within the biodome.

"What imagination!" Ramani gushed as she looked around the room, her tail flicking back and forth with fascination. "Such genius to collect and display!" She looked around the room, spotted some blank papers, picked up a pencil made from charcoal that was lying around, and immediately began drawing.

"Ok, now can ya tell me," Callie said, turning to Spark and Orea. She paused, again almost seeing double. She opened her mouth to continue until she noticed that Orea didn't just have Spark's colors, but..."Hooooly mmmff...Spark! She's a nymph! Did...did you an' Ampelus..."

Spark Storm raised his eyebrows with a deadpan stare at his old friend. Beside him, Orea giggled and shook her head. "Ampelus is my aunt! Her sister was also named Orea. She is the one that gave me to daddy!"

Before Callie could have another crisis, Spark sighed and began, "'Gave' as in she literally gave me Orea. She slipped her little seed into my mane and she kinda...popped up like this overnight."

"Riiiiight..." Callie frowned and turned to look back at the monitors. She flicked another switched and grabbed a mic, switched it on and spoke, her voice blaring throughout the entire dome, "Bombyx. Frankie. Come to command immediately for report on an injury incident. Top priority." She switched off the mic and sighed, turning to Spark Storm. "Now...how th' heck did Mimosa get injured? There's nothin' in this biodome that could hurt him."

"Unless...we stepped through a portal in the tundra zone."

Callie's eyes bulged, her feathers billowing out from her body. "What?! Why would anyone go through that portal!!" She turned from them, lightly chewing on a claw. "How...how?!" She turned to face him again. "Only someone who knew how to use it in the first place could do it! Don't ya know what's on the other side?!"

"I do now!" Spark frowned. "I was...trying to talk with my friend Sohl, and-"

"Oh. There's that."

"...You knew she was here?"

Callie balked, then cleared her throat uncomfortably. Spark sighed and shook his head. "I guess I'm going to have to get comfortable with more of my friends keeping secrets from me. It keeps happening."

"I...knew, yeah. Sohl's been...under a lotta pressure, Spark Storm. You remember Cyno? Well...she's been protectin' him. He's really important. Harpy and griffon tribes...they're at war, but they declared a stalemate. Lotsa bad blood goin' on in Breen right now, as you mighta heard, Sparky. So...they declared a truce. Cyno is a physical representation of that. So long as he's alive, neither side is allowed to attack the other."

"I've heard of the war here and there...what's the fight about?"

Callie sighed and glanced at the monitors. "Its over the Heldren Cliffs."

Spark frowned in confusion. "...The what?"

"It is the end of the world!" Ramani chimed in.

The other three turned to stare at her and her growing pile of drawings. She rummaged through her pile and brought a page to Spark. It was a highly detailed drawing of a split in the ocean, a split that ran for miles. Jagged rocks could be seen on either side, and figures that appeared to be harpies flew about the area. "Geez, kid...this is really good," Spark told the zebra. "But...what do you mean 'the end of the world'?"

"There's a lotta speculation about what it means, but Mimosa's the only one that really knows the true meaning...so I'm told," Callie said, stepping over to take a look at Ramani's drawing of the cliffs. She smiled and patted the zebra's shoulder. "This is really impressive!"

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" Bombyx asked quietly as she appeared in the doorway.

"Mimosa's been injured, I don't know how badly..." Spark told her. "Sohl and I went through the portal in the tundra zone. We came face to face with an alicorn called King North Wind..." Bombyx and Callie both went slack-jawed. "Mimosa sacrificed himself to get the three of us to safety."

"You actually met North Wind? And you lived? Sparky, you don't know how lucky you are!" Callie told him, looking thoroughly horrified.

Bombyx had a similar look on her face until she noticed little Orea. "Uh...uh...Um..." she fumbled, still shocked from the initial news. She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. "Mimosa...is he alive?"

"I believe he is, if just barely. Sohl picked him up and told us to find you or Frankie. Bombyx, who is he? Who is North Wind? Is he so powerful that he could actually kill Mimosa?"

The nymph let out a sob that she'd been holding in. Spark and Callie made to go to her, but she held up a hoof for them to stop. "King North Wind is..." Bombyx said with a trembling voice. "...he is the physical manifestation of anger and hatred. He creates creatures called windigos that feed on negative emotions and can create horrible cold. To be in North Wind's home...Mimosa stood little chance..."

Spark Storm shuddered. "What kind of hatred could be strong enough to harm the oldest dyad on the planet?"

Bombyx stifled another sob and turned to face Spark Storm, a mix of silent horror and...what with that look? Pity?

Before he could ask her about it, another voice called from outside the office. "Okay, who jumped onto the magma dragon this time-" Frankie was saying. He stopped when he saw the small group standing around. "Sheesh, looks like a funeral in here."

Spark and Callie both winced audibly at this. Bombyx, however, let out a choking sob. The tiny griffon rubbed his scruffy mane awkwardly as Bombyx approached the console and pushed a button with a trembling hoof until the temperate woods came into view on the screen. They could just make out Sohl, carrying Mimosa's prone body. "Holy beans!!" he exclaimed, staring at the harpy in the monitor. "Why didn't you start with this?!!

The water churned, bubbled, and finally a massive shape erupted from the water. It flew straight up the side of the cliff, thirty feet into the air and landed halfway up the bank among a heavy cluster of trees. Ampelus, in her nymph form, with all four feet planted on the ground, struggled to keep the monster from closing his jaws around her, vines wrapped around his massive nose and mouth. The monster's fins, tipped with poisonous spines, dug into the earth, pulling himself closer. "You plant people are a joke! You've done nothing but run from me. I swallowed you once, but this time I'll chew you to pieces first!"

"Mimosa handled you like a minnow in a little pond..." she replied, straining just to speak.

"Mimosa isn't here, and you're no Mimosa! Daddy isn't here to save your weak ass," he said with a laugh. He flipped his tail roughly, pushing himself further inland. Ampelus let out a grunt of effort. She could feel herself losing ground, could feel the air displaced every time Lusus snapped his jaws at her face. She felt tears of fear stinging at her eyes. She strained again, feeling her grip losing strength. Was this it? Would she die here, never to see Spark Storm again? Or her father?

Her father. The billions-year old dyad, who had said that she would eventually take over the mantle of overseer of the planet from him. Ampelus could handle you easily... Mimosa's words echoed in the nymph's head as she realized what had been happening to her today. She had been internalizing and hiding from what she knew to be the annoying truth: Mimosa was right about her, and about everything. This was...infuriating. She let out an angry growl as she suddenly felt everything: the island, the soil under her legs, the roots and minerals and all the trees they were connected to.

Lusus was so close now. One more push and he'd have that little bitch in his jaws! He made to bite, only to find that new vines had slithered in a circle around his nose and upper jaw, likewise around his lower jaw. And not just vines, they were so strong that he found his jaw in danger of unhinging. "...Is this it?" He heard. He struggled to free himself, even as he felt his body further constricted around his dorsal fin. He groaned wordlessly as the nymph came into sight at his left side. "This is all I had to do?"

"Gaagh...gghhhaaaaagh!" Lusu complained wordlessly. What the hell was this? Just seconds ago she was struggling to keep out of his jaws! What the hell was going on??

"Yes, I feel that way too, sometimes," Ampelus said conversationally, experimentally tapping at one of the massive shark's teeth. She smirked a little as his mouth twitched, and his whole body shook, trying to free itself. It was no good at all, as her vines, stronger than ever before, held him tight. "Hm..." The vines wrapped around his body snapped with sound, thick thorns appearing to scratch at his body. It did little more than drag small bloody lines across his back.

"Y...yoooouuu...bith! Ouuu can' scrath me!"

Ampelus grinned up at her captive, a most mischievous glint in her eye. "So your skin's super tough." Her own vines began to grow out of her body, mixing with the soil. She raised them up so Lusus could see them, bits of iron from the ground and mixing with long-hidden volcanic glass lining her thorns. "I wonder how easily you'll tear up from the inside?"

A look of abject horror passed over the monster's eyes. Mimosa had been terrifyingly strong, but he wasn't sadistic! The beast immediately shrank, his pony form granting him escape of the vines. Ampelus let out a gasp, she hadn't expected this. The much smaller Lusus turned and ran, his pony form diving off the cliff and back into the sea. He was an excellent runner, but running from a nymph into the trees was suicide.

The nymph let out a sigh. She was too surprised to try and grab him, but she supposed she'd have more opportunities to get rid of this Lusus. She looked down at her vines, still holding onto the hardened minerals. So this was the kind of thing she could do now? Her father had been alive for much, much longer than she, had had his entire lifetime to hone his abilities. What would she be able to do in a few thousand years?

She frowned. Where would she be in a few thousand years? What would she be doing? Would she be guarding the planet like her father had always done, or keeping to the shadows and minding her own business, like her father had always done? And...who would keep her company? Everyone that she knew or loved would be gone. Spark Storm had been in Ampelus' life for a few years, not even five years, yet in that amount of time everything would be different, wouldn't it? She sighed and shook her head of these thoughts as she turned and headed back towards the beach, and towards the others. There was still one more snake to deal with.

Flash Fire watched Ampelus take off into the air, fending off a crow-like griffon. What the heck was going on? She thought for a minute of going after the two, but after just a few seconds they'd gone out of sight. She looked around until she caught sight of Russet Hearts and Trixie. The two of them were engaged in a game of volleyball with that stallion from before, the cute one that looked like the sunset. Another glance along the beach and she found the ones she was looking for. Only now, their numbers had increased. Two new ponies to look after?

The male was a gray unicorn with an electric blue mane, a bit of a mohawk that seemed to travel from his head all the way down his back to his tail. She made a face at him, and glanced at his female companion. She stood out even more than he did. Her body was an intense yellow-green, while her full, voluminous mane was a dark blue. Were they actually trying to blend in, or were they completely inept changelings? She approached the two, a sarcastic lop-sided glare in her eyes. The male glanced from Kecnik to Madalah nervously. "Uh...hello, there...firey...madam..."

"Seriously?" she dead-panned. "This is the best costume you could change into? Also...when did we get five changelings?" she added to Anorax.

"It's...a bit of a long story," he said apologetically. "And ease up on 'em. The island doesn't have changelings...usually, anyway. And they don't need to hide who they are on Breen."

"Must be nice," Flash Fire drolled, and immediately wondered why she said it like that. "Um. What's it like over there? I've never even heard of Breen before a few days ago."

The changelings looked between each other for a moment. "Well, there's so much...Breen is larger than Equestria," Madalah told her after a moment. "It is spread out over a massive continent that keeps traveling north and connects with the frozen wasteland at the planet's northern most tip. Most of Breen is temperate, though. It's a bit chilly sometimes, and if you're not among trees, you're among cliffs. Vast, tall cliffs with plunging waterfalls. There are many places to hide in Breen, if you know where to look."

Flash Fire took a moment to take this in. She had never even seen all of Equestria. Breen was bigger?? The very thought was staggering. "Hm. Ok. I have a rudimentary idea about the life forms we'll likely encounter. Kirin, changelings, I imagine some pony villages, griffins..."

The Breen changelings looked between each other. "You really don't know much about it, do you?" Echo asked her carefully.

The unicorn let out an exasperated sigh. "No, I do not. Celestia didn't go into it with a lot of detail..."

"There are many dangers in Breen, many of them hidden. Many of them...not so hidden. Our biggest issue is with the kirin, of course. The next biggest threat after them, though, are the sub kirins."

Flash Fire blinked with a blank expression. "The...what?"

Light Fire shook her head and approached Flash Fire, her antennae twitching and lowering to dangle in front of the unicorn's face. "It'd be better if you could see it for yourself. Is it alright?"

Flash Fire again blinked blankly. What had happened to the changeling's disguise? She had been opposite colors just seconds before! And she was in full changeling mode! "Wh-what did you just do??"

"I told you she wasn't ready..." Echo said with a sigh. The unicorn glared at him. He was still a unicorn, so why...?

"Y'know, I might be 'ready' if somepony would just explain to me what's going on!"

"She's got a point," Anorax quipped. "You can't just keep secrets and then get annoyed when they're not in the know."

"Thank you," the unicorn said with slightly less agitation.

"All right, I'll explain how my powers work before I show you the sub kirin, because that's not as important..." Light Fire said with a roll of her eyes. Her yellow mane billowed with magic, her green eyes glowing. "As you may have heard, changelings in Breen are...different. Instead of a hive-like behavior, each changeling is unique...we all have different strengths and abilities. Mine is two-fold. I can affect the minds of others, either influencing them, or reading their thoughts on a surface level. I can gleam information that you may be thinking of on a whim, but I can't pull secrets from deep in your head."

"Soooo...by influencing others, I'm guessing you've got some kind of cloak on you. You're...not changed at all, are you? That's why your disguises are so bad! Ponies can't see your true forms until you get close!"

Light Fire nodded appreciatively. "Yes. Like Anorax said, we're not used to having to be transformed. If we can help it, I just hide us. It's a lot less demeaning. Oh, and..." She grinned and twitched her antenna again. A small ball of flame materialized before her. Flash Fire could actually feel it's heat. "I'm also a bit of a pyro. I like it's warmth."

Flash Fire bit back a grin. "Kinda there with you. Ok, so...thanks for filling me in...now, would you kindly fill me in the rest?"

The changelings let out a collective sigh as Light Fire nodded and closed her eyes, her antenna lightly brushed against the mare's face. So this was why she was asking permission...

Immediately images drifted across her eyes. Images of pony-sized creatures, mostly dark in colors, walked before her. Flash Fire had seen images of kirin before, but this was different. They were much shorter, had odd-shaped horns, their manes and tails were extremely voluminous, and were often in direct contrast to their dark bodies. Some had red markings, and all had serpentine eyes. She watched as they shot spells at some unseen enemy, balls of magical light, often wrapped in electricity.

She gasped as she heard Light Fire's voice in her head, echoing quietly. "The sub kirins are an example of cruelty. Long before the kirins began their barbaric campaign, the kirins began experimenting with other races. They wanted to create a sub class of their species, perfect for combat and security measures. They eventually succeeded. The sub kirins are resilient soldiers, obedient to a fault, and are produced en mass."

En mass? The unicorn thought. Like they're weapons. Like they don't matter, she heard the changeling in her head. The kirins have become cold and cruel. They no longer invite other races to see their great cities. They no longer partake in societal practices. They force other races and other cities to submit to rule, submit to their barbaric ways. It's an erasure of culture, and a spreading of blind hatred.

Flash Fire let out an audible sob as she was given a vision of this. Streams of boiling water cutting through buildings, cities crumbling. Creatures that she had never seen before ran from their towns, only to be herded carefully. Survivors were enslaved, at least, those that wanted to live under rule. Others were slaughtered. The land became stained in blood, then washed clean by the kirin themselves, creating sloping canyons and waterfalls, descending down into darkness. She saw the kirin city, standing pristine from atop a massive plateau, with the other regions now positioned beneath it, some below sea level. Beneath the kirins' feet.

"This...this is what Breen looks like, now?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes. They terraformed a large portion of Breen this way," Light Fire said with her own voice, the images fading. The kirin city, Phear, stood as an enormous monument, basking, it seemed, high up in the sky. Every other Breen city for fifty miles were forced to look up at the city in order to see it. Every city in that range, of course, were kirin survivors, cities that had been subjugated.

Flash Fire frowned and shook her head. "Ok, so kirin cities bad, very bad...but Breen is much larger than Equestria, you said, and Equestria itself is no little sandbox. What else is there to be concerned about?"

"Well, there's the delkano; they used to be carnivorous, but after a while they became farmers. This all happened way before the kirin thing. They're currently hiding a big group of children beyond an inaccessible mountain pass."

The unicorn made a face. "Hiding from the kirin?"

"Yes," Light Fire answered. "It's possibly the biggest and maybe the last resistance group against the kirin within two hundred miles of Phear. The kirin keep trying to get there, but they're constantly blocked and thwarted by a small tribe of griffons."

"Griffons??"

"Yes,"Echo said with some pride. "They're not normal griffons, either. They're known as 'aberrations'. Griffons are normally part predatory bird and part cat. No one knows how that came to be, but that's how it is. The aberrations are...a little unorthodox. Take...what's her name? The duck."

"Mallory," piped Madalah.

"Ha-ha," Flash Fire chuckled with oozing sarcasm. "I get it, mallard duck, Mallory. It's so stupid!" She laughed again, and found herself at the end of five disdainful glares. "Uh...oh. that...that wasn't necessary...sorry," she muttered with painful awkwardness. "S-so, about the duck-uh, Mallory?"

"She's...an aquatic griffon," Light Fire said with a small smirk, trying to hide how physically painful that had been for Flash Fire. "I certainly don't know many griffons that live in the water, but she's...unique. Her physiology is unique as well, not just the places that she thrives in." The changeling again touched the unicorn's face with her antenna. The unicorn saw the image of a brilliant green griffon, with yellowish green undertones, and...an actual bill. "Her bushy tail also hides a hidden poisonous barb."

"Well, uh...very unusual," Flash Fire said when she'd regained her personal space. "I didn't know that kind of thing could happen."

"She's probably the most unique of the griffons, but according to their tribal laws, she's not what they consider the most...offensive."

Flash Fire waved off the images and frowned at the changelings. "Wait, wait. I get they're different, but they're considered offensive?"

Anorax looked at the others, also in the dark about how griffons treated those they found different. "Yes..." Madalah said sadly. "The 'aberrations' are shunned. They're either made to live apart from other griffons, or chased out of their villages, or at worse...killed."

"What? That...doesn't make sense," Anorax's sentiment was shared with all present.

"It has to do with bloodlines and purity," Light Fire said with a sigh. "Most griffons are very obstinate in the purity of their blood. 'Aberrations' are an insult in their eyes, and they don't tolerate impure blood."

Flash Fire tried not to let her temper flare. Instead, she pressed once again with her curiosity. "So...what would classify as the most offensive type of griffon?"

"The kind that implements canine characteristics." Light Fire's antenna once again touched Flash Fire's face, and she saw a griffon whose colors may as well have been ice. Her body color was white, the fur on her back and head a blueish green color, her wings bluish white. Her eyes were striking against her white and dark colors, deep pools of crimson red. Her most distinguishing feature, however, was her clearly canine tail. Flash Fire could barely comprehend how anypony could hate her - she was stunningly beautiful.

"Griffons...hate this?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion.

"Yes...unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it - griffons have a different concept of beauty. And while Crista here is, by many definitions, quite beautiful, she is ostracized for simply looking like this."

"I don't get it. I've met griffons before. They didn't seem nearly so...I don't know the word for it - racist? Specist?"

"Of course, you may have noticed that there are different griffon tribes around your kingdom, strewn about far and wide. This is because they have decided to leave the brutal griffon tribes that boast such pure bloodlines. As such, many griffons have very little concept of being kind or friendly."

"That's very informative!" a new voice chimed in. All eyes turned to it's source, a nearby bush. Six thin needles shot out from the bush into the necks of each changeling and unicorn, each one falling to their sides with a gasp. Seaweed Cyanide crept closer, now in her pony form as she stood over Flash Fire, an unnerving grin on her face. "I'll have to add that to my information on certain species. Might come in handy later. For now, though, I really need to have a private discussion with you, little fire sprite. Don't worry - I didn't just kill you guys. I mean, I'm supposed to, but I need to know something first..." And with that, the bubbly, yet somehow empty seapony hauled Flash Fire up onto her back and left the beach, leaving the changelings immobile and helpless.

26 - News Travels Fast

Sohl's breath came in short gasps as she finally came to the place of healing. Not used to running on the ground like Amacia, she had run over ten miles from the tundra into the forest. Come to think of it, why hadn't she taken the train? Panic, she told herself. That, and technology never did really suit her. She slowed and took a few deep breaths as she laid Mimosa's prone body down on the ground. Was this really his plan? This place? The sounds of birds calling in the air kept this place from being too quiet. She sighed, and began to dig through the kudzu-covered ground.

She hadn't dug very deep when she felt tendrils around her shoulders. She gasped and pulled away, only to find the forest gone. She sat in a small, dark place, alone. She felt a presence, a familiar aura. "...Mimosa?"

"Forgive me, Sohl. I feel that I don't have very much time, and there are things that...that I need to tell someone. I had hoped it would be Ampelus, but this will have to do...Do you trust me?"

"I do..."

"I sense that you already know some of what I need to say. The rest is...complicated. I'm afraid that what I about to bequeath to you will change you...forever."

"I'm ready."

A few moments later, Sohl opened her eyes in the forest and stared down at Mimosa's prone body. The earth had already begun to repair some of the damage done to him in the icy tundra, but it was likely too late for him. She went over what had been done to him, what he had said, and what she would now need to do, and it would indeed change her life, and what she had wanted to do. She buried her head in her claws and wept.

Sohl peered through her claws as a sound in the distance started to annoy her. It came as an infrequent, but rhythmic squawking. Not now...she sighed inwardly as the one creature she did not want to be dealing with landed in front of her. Ridge was one of the few male harpies that existed. As far as eye candy went, he was...not great. While he wasn't a tub of lard, he wasn't toned and hard the way she liked. Still, if Zeff or Ranth wasn't around, she would definitely antagonize the little red-head into fucking her. Other than the occasional itch, she tended to stay away from him.

The harpy, which looked like a man with a bushy head of red hair that trailed down his neck and back like an out-of-control mohawk, sat down on a log next to Sohl, his red feathered hand clasping his chin. "So, this is where you got to. Where's the freak?"

Sohl let that pass, a small scowl written on her face. "He's safe. What do you want? Why are you here?"

"I was curious. Kinda itchy...if you know what I mean."

"Not in the mood, skid-mark. Seriously, why are you here?" She frowned and looked around. Were there others?

Ridge sniffed and held his nose high with pride. "I ain't no skid mark. Ew..." He reached down and rubbed at the brush over Mimosa's hole. "Is that Mimosa...?"

Sohl slapped at his claw, her gaze on Mimosa as it dawned on her. "Oh my gods. They're here, aren't they? How do they know already?!" She stood up, suddenly wary of the ceiling. She should have seen this coming. She didn't see Ridge slip behind her and grab hold of her, his clawed feet grabbing hers and holding her still as he nipped at her neck. "Get offfff...uuugh..." She moaned and struggled against the smaller male. Had she been thinking of preventing an attack, she might have held him off. Grabbing a harpy from behind was almost always a sure way to seal the deal.

"Yeah, we're about to have some guests," he whispered, one hand wrapped around her left breast, the other massaging between her legs from behind. Sohl whimpered, her sexual urges blinding her in ways that removed her senses. Her body bent, legs quivering under her weight and his touch. "I promise I'll make this a day to remember, and it'll be quick for the kid."

Sohl growled, her muscles tightening, her teeth clenching. All her good feelings were gone, but her will to resist wasn't working. It never did, not for any harpy that was caught in a sexual trap. "Aaaaaa...rrrrnnn...!" was all she could manage as he slid several claws inside her, further enveloping Sohl in physical ecstasy. Help...me...

Ridge was nearly ready to mount the much bigger harpy when a massive shock ripped through the red-feathered harpy and knocked him to the ground, where he skidded, still under electric shock until he ran into a tree and knocked it over. As the dust settled, Sohl slowly got to her knees, finally free. Her claws dug into the ground as she let loose a low, guttural growl. She took off through the air towards Ridge and disappeared into the dust cloud. "Oh - oh shit!" Ridge shouted. There was a sound of a heavy hit and the male sailed out of the dust cloud and rolled to a stop before the hooves of a very pissed off pegasus.

Ridge got to his feet, still reeling from Sohl's fist as Spark Storm turned in a snap maneuver and bucked the harpy off his feet, where he landed on his back. The harpy started to crawl away from the pegasus when Sohl landed directly onto the harpy's back, holding him down. Her clawed feet grasped tightly, one of those long talons piercing his shoulder. As the harpy screamed, Spark Storm approached, wings alight with thick blue threads of electricity. "Easy, Spark Storm. He's done."

"Done?! He was...he was fucking raping you! I'll tell you when he's done!!"

Sohl tucked away the feelings of pride in her heart and turned to Spark Storm before stomping Ridge into unconsciousness. She sighed when she saw Bombyx, Orea and Callie had come. Each of the girls had various levels of absolute horror on their faces. "I'm...there's no time to explain, at least not in a way that you'll understand." She turned to Spark Storm and gingerly cupped his chin in her claw to get his attention. "There are harpies on the way, Spark. News of Mimosa falling have spread, a lot fucking faster than I would've thought possible, and he was pretty much the only thing keeping griffons and harpies from trying to sneak in here and kill Cyno. Spark, if he dies, full out war between our tribes will break out. It will spread. Everywhere. We have to keep Cyno safe."

"W-what about this jerk?" Callie said, kicking at the prone Ridge. She shivered at the thought of angry, brutal harpies. Just how many?! Even one or two was more than any here could handle, save for Sohl...

"Please leave this to me." The group turned to watch as Bombyx approached the male harpy and spat out thick strands of silk around him, and used her delicate hooves to spin him around until he was completely cocooned. "That will hold him after it dries. Much stronger than steel."

It wasn't a metal that Spark Storm had heard of, but questions would have to wait. He looked around the enclosure until he spotted what he wanted to see. There, in the trees, he could see the tell-tale signs of brick red chicken feathers. And inside the plumage, he could see little Cyno, fast asleep. How he had slept through all this was beyond him. "Ok. Sohl, what do we need to do? Can the harpies get in here?"

As Sohl turned to him, Orea crept closer to the two. She was hunched over, filled with emotion. On the one hand, that harpy had been hurting what she considered the closest thing to her mother. On the other hand, she had seen in Sohl's mind that this was..."normal" in their culture. The females were completely at the sexual whims of their male counterparts, unable to resist. And yet...it wasn't that the male harpies had some kind of spell over them, in fact, it was the opposite...feelings from Sohl's own heart started flooding hers. Memories? Arrin...?

"Hey!" Orea jumped as she felt Sohl's claws lift her up to look into her eyes. "You're digging, kiddo. Trying to make sense of...what you just saw. I don't want to go into details..."

"I wouldn't mind one." Sohl scoffed incredulously at Spark Storm. "He had a glass jaw! A kick from a pony shouldn't have floored a harpy like you. He's weak! How did he..."

"If I didn't know any better, Sparky, it sounds like you're kinda jealous."

Spark Storm, Sohl and Orea turned their heads to stare at Callie. "I'm not jealous! He was all over my best friend, and she was helpless! She's like two heads taller than him and he went down way too easy!"

"It's a sexual tick, okay!? Female harpies are completely helpless if another being initiates sex. They totally collapse and literally have no choice. Doesn't matter if another harpy does it, male, female, genderless beings, it can be anything as long as that harpy doesn't have a chance to retaliate. There. Does that make you happy? Does it??"

Spark Storm backed away from Sohl as she got in his face. "No! I just...I never...would've guessed...Or...how it works. I'm sorry."

Sohl's thin mouth allowed for a smirk. "Guess it was a bit of a surprise for you. You never wanted to fuck me."

Callie's feathers ruffled as a visible blush ran over her body. Spark Storm himself looked quite nervous, looking from the girls back to Sohl. "Yeah. Well. I, uh, still don't. I'm...kinda seeing Rarity."

"The white chick? The archer?" Sohl set Orea onto the floor, where she settled down next to Spark Storm. "She's a hard warrior, I can respect that. What I can't respect is how we went from 'harpies are coming to kill us' to 'what's your sex life like?!' Why are we sitting here talking about this??"

"'Cause Sparky's jealous," Callie said with a giggle.

"I. Am. Not. Jeal-y'know what? We're done talking about this." Spark grumbled and looked down at the ground, noticing the mound in the dirt. "...Shit. Is he really..."

"We can all sit around in a group and talk about how sad we are later," Sohl said with a meaningful stare at Bombyx. "We need to get Cyno to a safer place."

"Wait, what about portals?"

Every last head turned to Spark Storm. "I mean...the tundra is obviously out of the question, but is that the only one?"

"Mister Spark, I admire your resourceful thinking, but the portals aren't a good idea. Technically speaking, the biodome is the safest place on the planet," Bombyx told him.

"Safe enough for him to get inside?" Spark deadpanned, gesturing to the captive Ridge.

"It's...safe when..." the nymph faltered, willing herself not to cry, just barely.

"...It's not safe here anymore," Spark told her gently. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Bombyx, is there a portal to Breen somewhere?"

Sohl turned to Spark with a frown, preparing to argue, when there was a loud scream that shook the biodome, a sound that originated several miles of forest away. "Shit. We don't have time to deliberate, kids. The harpies have breached the dome. Good thing it's a true neutral zone with -no- reason for defenses!!"

Spark Storm turned to Callie. "Callie, I want you to take Orea back to the command center, wait it out with Frankie and the other kid."

"But-" Orea began, silenced as the griffon took the nymph in her claws.

"Ok. But you better come back to us. You got some 'splainin' to do, 'Kidd Thunder'." Callie winked, then shot up towards the ceiling, disappearing into the track trail.

"Bombyx, I want you to grab Amacia and Cyno," he gestured to them in the trees behind her. "Get the two of them to a good hiding place. I don't know how long this is going to take..." The pegasus trailed off as he noticed Sohl glaring at him.

"Spark...as much as I like seeing you take control (like...really good), I'm gonna have to steal your phrase, I think it goes, 'I don't want you anywhere near this'."

Spark Storm scoffed and approached the harpy. "I don't think so. You and I both know I'm the only one in this little group that can take on a harpy-"

Spark Storm found himself unable to continue as Sohl grabbed his muzzle with a clawed foot as she drew him in. "Listen to me, you idiot. You've only seen a little bit of what a harpy can do. Every last harpy coming here looking for Cyno has at least a hundred different ways to kill him, and most of those ways will kill you, too. Do you really think I ever fought you at one hundred percent of my intent to harm you?"

"...You weren't there, Sohl. I took on Shimmering Oasis by myself. And...something happened. I think I changed. I felt... something powerful inside me, like it was coming out, and for a brief moment, I knew she had nothing on me. I was going to kill her, and she was powerless to stop me."

Sohl stared at him. She had seen what he had just described, once. A little over a year ago, in that big warehouse in Canterlot. She'd never seen him so angry, and she knew he had a right to be, after that little unicorn prick almost raping Sapphire Snow. Spark Storm had very nearly transformed there into something she'd never seen before, but he was oozing black energy, energy that made her think of the black sky at midnight. After what Mimosa had just told her on his dying bed, she knew this wasn't a coincidence. Spark Storm was exhibiting horrible power he shouldn't be capable of.

"Spark...even if that's true, what makes you think you can control it? Have you even practiced to bring it out?"

The pegasus frowned at this question, as in truth he had not. He simply hadn't had time, and..."...No. Been kinda depressed lately. I haven't thought about it."

The rustling of leaves and chatty squawking was now close enough so that Spark could make out three figures flying overhead. Sohl sighed and ran a claw over her face. "Spark Storm, if we survive this I will tell you anything you want to know, okay? That's a big if."

Spark Storm was quiet as three harpies landed before them. All three were shorter than Sohl, but each one looked just as deadly. The harpy in the middle's feathers were black as midnight. Her face was longer than Sohl's, whose features were more vertically shaped. On the right was a harpy who looked like she could've been Ridge's sister, but short and squat and red. On the left was a harpy that looked like a bird Spark had seen earlier, yellow as a banana with black markings. Each of them were naked, breasts sagging near their waistlines.

That was an odd thing to be different about them. Spark made a quick glance at Sohl, and quite suddenly it made sense. Though she was wearing that little half shirt, Spark knew the difference. She was much younger than these harpies standing before them. He frowned and turned his attention back on the three. "Sohl," the black-feathered creature spoke in greeting.

"Shrike," Sohl returned conversationally.

"News travels fast," Shrike said with a grin. She kept her body bent low, as if preparing to strike at any given second. "Mimosa has fallen, and his biodome is no longer a place of protection. Cyno will have to find...other means of survival."

"Cyno is still under my protection, Shrike." Sohl took a single step forward, her claws gripping a large stone jutting out of the earth. "You three may be older, but you're strikers. Hit and run. Cowards. I'm the best hunter this side of Relmstin. I hit harder, I'm faster, and let's not forget, I'm a better spellcaster than all three of you combined. Just turn around and go back where you came from."

Shrike smirked as the red harpy shuffled her wings in front of her chest. "You've got a lot of nerve for someone on the test."

Sohl frowned, the statement making her hesitate. "What test?"

Spark's question made all four harpies suddenly look in his direction. "Oh. I almost didn't spot the little morsel beside you, Sohl. How delicious he looks..." the canary-ish harpy cackled, taking a single step forward.

"Ah-ah," Spark chided. "Don't come any closer. You're all in my trap, and I won't hesitate to harm you."

Sohl hissed quietly at Spark's insistence that he be seen and heard. It was bad enough that he wouldn't run and hide. This was so beyond him that it wasn't funny, unless he could access those powers sleeping inside him at a whim...

"You're a funny little pony," the red harpy said gleefully. "What exactly kind of trap have you laid for us?"

"You'll get a shock when you find out," he teased.

"I think we'll take our chances -" she began, all three stepping closer. Suddenly the area lit up. Spiderweb-like patterns in the air erupted in crackling light. Sparks flew everywhere as the harpies received dozens of shocks at once. All three screamed and fell to the ground, stunned.

Sohl turned to Spark in utter surprise. "How the fuck did you do that?? I didn't even see you setting it up!"

"I uh...spent a few weeks honing a few of my skills, just to give me something to take my mind off of you," he said with a prideful sniff. He frowned as the harpies stirred and got back up slowly. "Uhhhh..."

"This is why I wanted you to run, you goddamned idiot! Harpies are element resistant! Have you ever hit me hard enough to draw blood?"

"Lyra did."

"Lyra is a crazy strong unicorn with human magic, you ding dong! Plus, she hit me with a huge fucking non-elemental tree!"

"Oh."

Spark Storm backed up a few feet as Shrike spread her wings, dropping a blob on the ground. It seemed to undulate, ripples in it's dark body. Sohl stared at it, backing up slowly before she turned to Spark Storm. "You need to get out of here, or they'll kill you!"

"Soooohl," Shrike called as the blob thing began to vibrate. "It sounds like you've made an ally with our food. If the mimic deems you've gone soft, we will not hesitate to call the full hunt down upon you!"

"Spark, get your ass out of here, now!!" Sohl yelled, turning to the pegasus with the most panicked look he had ever seen in her eyes. He didn't want to question her or leave her behind to the four of these enemies, but he would respect her wishes. He turned tail and ran into the woods.

"The island is lawless," Shrike announced, the dark blob making for Sohl slowly. The canary-like harpy took off into the air, headed after Spark Storm.

"Gravitas circulus!" Sohl shrieked at Spark's pursuer. She immediately dropped to the ground as she was surrounded by a black circle, pulling her down against the ground by immense gravity.

Sohl turned back to the other harpies just in turn to grab the red harpy's face in her foot and slam it down onto the hard rock she was standing on. "Assula!" Shrike screamed. The rock Sohl stood on cleaved in two, upsetting her balance. Sohl took off into the air, but found herself snagged as the red harpy grabbed her around her thighs. "You're done, you-" Shrike started, claws outstretched and reaching for Sohl's throat. The lead harpy found herself anchored to the ground she stood on, a thick weave of white wrapped around her feet.

"No," Sohl whispered as Bombyx began leaping to and fro behind Shrike, each movement wrapping the harpy in thick strands of silk. She reached down and grabbed the would-be-Ridge behind her neck and freed her legs before pounding down on the smaller harpy's shoulders. She fell to the ground with a hefty 'oomf!'

"Seriously...my name is Aves..." she muttered to no-one in particular as the chase continued.

"You-will-die!" Shrike screamed as she pulled at the sticky strands holding her captive. Bombyx had captured her arms, legs and chest to the mass holding her legs together. Shrike opened her mouth to scream, but found her mouth suddenly covered with the silk, as well, enraging the harpy.

Bombyx leapt away from her, not entirely convinced she was harmless. She yelped as she was grabbed into the air by another harpy. "Where is Cyno?!" Sohl hissed into her ear.

"He-he's safe!" Bombyx muttered nervously. "I herded him and Amacia up to the command center. This isn't so hard, they're pushovers!"

Sohl made a grim face as she pointed down. Shrike was ripping up Bombyx's silk, Aves was flying up to meet the two of them in combat, and the canary colored harpy was no longer a prisoner of the gravity trap. "Oh. Uh oh."

"You think?!" Bombyx leapt from Sohl's arms, wings spluttering to life. She flew down under Aves, attaching a thick rope of silk to her legs and continuing on down, attaching the other end to a tree. It snagged the harpy long enough for Sohl to knock her down into the ground again. Sohl turned and growled as Shrike managed to plow into her, the two grappling in midair.

Shrike grabbed Sohl's face as she opened her mouth to scream, then turned and called, "Gravitas circulum!" in Bomby's direction. The nymph found herself plummeting down to the ground, pulled against gravity. Sohl grabbed Shrike's fist as she attempted to strike, but found herself pulled in the other direction as Aves pulled Sohl backwards. Aves ducked as Sohl threw a punch and wrapped Sohl's wing in Bombyx' own silk. Shrike grabbed Sohl from behind, a claw clamped around her mouth and legs wrapping around Sohl's waist, Sohl's other wing trapped between the smaller harpy's thighs. Aves grabbed Sohl's ankles with her own feet, the three plummeting down to the ground.

With Sohl on her back on top of Shrike, Aves grabbed Sohl's knees and struggled to hold them. Sohl strained against her captors, slowly beginning to free herself despite the two holding onto to her with everything they had. Sohl was bigger, and quite a bit stronger. It wasn't enough though, as Sohl had not seen how close the mimic blob had gotten. It crawled onto her wing, oozing between her feathers. She let out a muffled growl, still held shut by Shrike's claw. She attempted to roll away, but Shrike's legs and Aves holding her knees wide kept her from escaping. The mimic suddenly shot straight up, and came down like a drill over Sohl's heart. The area exploded in a cloud of pink and yellow dust.

Spark Storm dashed through the woods, unsure of where he was headed. He could hear the canary harpy just behind him, having escaped the gravity trap and caught up with him. Sohl had told him to escape, not to fight. Just how strong were harpies when they absolutely intended to kill? How strong were his abilities against a murderous harpy? Spark Storm couldn't hold back any longer. He opened his wings and leapt up into the air, gliding for just a moment, long enough for the harpy to get close.

He closed his wings and dove, leaving the harpy to swipe at air. Spark struck at the harpy with his strongest lightning strike, earning him a stunned harpy. He wasn't done. He struck out at several trees, getting at least two of them to fall on the harpy. The ground trembled and the sound crashed through the forest dome. When the dust cleared, Spark approached the yellow harpy, who indeed only looked angry. She was, however, struck under several tons of tree. She pushed up against the bark on her back fruitlessly.

"Ugh...nice...trap..." she said with a groan. "I can see why Sohl keeps such a strong pegasus at her side. But I think she had a griffon with her last time when we sent her to speak to the dryads...did she trade in for a younger model?"

Spark frowned at the audacity of the harpy. "No. The changelings butted in and killed him."

The harpy grinned at the simplicity of his answer. "Do you know why we're here, boy? We're here to see if Sohl has...softened. If she has, we're going to rip her apart little by little, and we're going to make you watch."

Spark felt his anger rise, but a small smile pulled at the edge of his mouth. "Do you want to know what happened to Ridge?"

The yellow harpy gave Spark Storm a furious glare. "Not really..."

"After I caught him trying to rape Sohl, I knocked his teeth out. Then, I plucked his feathers out. Always was curious what harpies looked like without feathers..."

Spark's confidence in this taunt unnerved the harpy. Were ponies normally this brutal? And yet..."I see, little morsel. You're smarter than you look. Unfortunately you also smell very clean. Much too clean to be a brutal murderer. Inhaere!" Her last word came as a scream as she aimed it at the trees. The scream split the trees directly above her, granting her her freedom. She took off into the air and turned to fly at the pegasus, only to be met with a ball of electric energy that shot her back into the woods.

After hitting her with that last concentrated bolt, Spark had run out of options when fighting the harpy. Sohl was right, these creatures were just too tough to beat. The canary harpy caught up to him again as he was approaching some hollowed out logs on the forest floor. She was just about to grab him when other claws grabbed him from below and pulled him into the logs. Spark felt himself being carried quickly through the logs as the harpy dug into the fallen trees and tore them apart.

"Oy, set him 'right, why dontcha?" Spark heard, his eyes covered. He threw off the wing and found himself face to face with three griffons, two males and a female. The biggest, which loomed half a head taller than Spark Storm, reminded him a little of a feline, and at the same time a bird of the sea. The other male looked like a black bird mixed with a smaller wild cat. The female, the most annoying-looking, looked to be crossed between a cardinal and a tiger.

Spark's wings popped to life, casting strobing lights over the four of them. "Hey, knock it off!" the female growled. "We just saved you from that harpy, do you want her to find us??"

"You saved me, huh?" Spark Storm hissed. "I suppose you expect me to stand down when you try to kill Cyno?!"

"Hey, take it easy!" the serval griffon laughed nervously. "We're not killer predators..."

"There ya go, Twig, that'll convince 'im." The big male spoke in an accent Spark didn't recognize, but something in his eyes told Spark that he meant well. "Let's just calm down. I'm Havet, this is Twig, that's Jorden," he gestured to the female.

"Names I should recognize?" Spark asked with clear hostility.

"Callie would. You know her?" Jorden replied, still warily glancing from their hiding spot.

"Oh yeah? How do you know her?"

"We're her friends," Twig said.

"Her tribe," Jorden corrected. "That makes four of us, and me the leader."

Twig groaned, and Havet shook his head with what appeared to be mirth. "Nobody's the lead here, Jorden, 'cept maybe captain thunderbolt, here." He turned to Spark Storm, a patient smile on his face. "I've a feelin' you haven't hit lady banana slug out there what for."

The griffon's way of speaking confused Spark, the look on his face evident. When he looked to Twig for answers, Jorden butted in. "He's saying he thinks you might have what it takes to beat banana beak."

Spark sighed. He probably did, but..."Yeah. I might have a move that could put her down, but I'll need at least 30 seconds of charging up to make it happen. Once I start, she'll know where I am. If we want to put her down...I'll need you three to distract her."

"Uh...you want us to fight her? For thirty seconds??" Twig asked nervously.

"Its all I've got right now."

Havet raised his brows and looked at the other griffons. "Well? Three griffons to one harpy. We've had worse, eh?"

Jorden shrugged, her eyes on the harpy who had landed on the ground and was currently throwing entire smaller trees out of her way. "I guess there's a first time for everything...hope you're worth it, 'sparkler'!"

"I'm Spark Storm," the pegasus told them quietly. "Just keep her off my back." He crawled out of the hiding place, which turned out to be a heavily bushed pile of logs. He jumped down to the ground and immediately started charging up energy, casting strobing lights that caught the harpy's attention. Before she could scream in his direction, the three griffons slammed into her from behind. It wasn't enough. She turned and took a swipe at Jorden, who deftly ducked and scratched at the harpy's long ankles. The harpy screeched in annoyance and tried to kick her, which she also avoided.

"Ya like that, ya banana bitch?!" she taunted. As the harpy returned her foot to the ground for balance, Twig shot underneath her, pushing that foot backwards. Havet shot around and slammed into the back of the harpy's head, sending her tumbling to the ground, face first. The three griffons pinned her to the forest floor, each taking an arm and holding it down. Jorden held the harpy's neck in her massive paws. "Was this so hard? Hah!"

The harpy growled and began pushing up against her would-be captors. None of the three were strong enough to keep her down. Finally, all three had to abandon the capture to avoid her claws and teeth. "You idiots! What exactly were you hoping to accomplish?!" She frowned as she saw the flickering lights coming from her first prey. What in blazes...? Above him floated two angry, buzzing orbs, swirling with what looked to be electricity swirling with furious energy. "I don't think so! Inha-"

Before she could finish her scream, Jorden's big paws rammed into her face from the side, Twig and Havet ramming her legs from the opposite side. The harpy twirled in midair before falling to her side. The griffons weren't strong enough to do much damage, but they sure were annoying! Before she could get up to try again, a blinding pain shot through her entire body. The force of Spark Storm's bolt threw her into an old oak tree, where her body collided with such force that she went right through it, bringing the tree down.

The harpy coughed and sat up slowly, clutching her ribs. How? Just how?? The pegasus wasn't capable of such power, ponies didn't come this strong! She looked up to see the dark pegasus, lit up by his own floating orbs over his head that seemed to carry a massive weight. "W...wait! Don't kill me! I'm not that bad..."

"Bad enough to murder a child to incite war." Spark Storm's voice was angry. "They don't come much worse than you." The bolts struck the harpy again and again, lighting up the whole forest. Finally, he stopped striking her once she was a smoking mess. He was sure she was still alive, harpies were resilient like that. For now, that was one threat down. As the griffons landed down beside them, they gave him a nod, though all three kept a good distance from those orbs, which didn't seem to have lost any energy. It was time to put an end to this harpy threat once and for all.

The pool felt much cooler today. Perhaps it was just the coronation being hours away that had made her on edge, but being here on her days off was usually so peaceful. Pearl Depth swam gracefully to the surface of the pool, near the outcropping of stepping stones. As she took her first breath of fresh air, something seemed...off. There were too many smells in the air. Smoke? Fresh earth that had been flung into the air? And...was that a massive abundance of plasma? The princess shook her head to help with the overstimuli. Perhaps Mimosa would be able to explain all this when she found him.

27 - What Came From Sohl

Wind whipped through the sails of the Sea Pearl. There was a foul wind blowing in the breeze, something that Vasha would know anywhere. She had smelled it many times when she still lived in Breen. It was everywhere over there, and she knew what it was. She looked out portside and spotted that blue pegasus on the water, like he was just waiting for something. Well, she wasn't waiting around for this. Wordlessly she headed to the main cabin. It was time to move the ship.

Trixie paused where she was on the beach, even as a beach ball bounced off her head and rolled into the water. She glanced at Russet as he came over, an inquiring look in his eyes. "Russet, do you...hear that?"

Russet tilted his head, an ear upturned to the sky. "Um...I don't know? I think maybe I smell something more than hear."

"Well, what do you smell?"

"It smells...like a storm. But there's something being carried in the wind, too, something...that doesn't feel right."

About half a mile down the beach, five figures laying in the sand began twitching and straining to move. Echo, nearest the water, stared at the waves for a moment before sending out a rippling signal from his horn, directed into the water. He gasped and immediately started straining harder, his efforts coated in panic.

Beneath the waves, Lusus fumed as he paced the waters underneath the island. His efforts to capitalize on Mimosa's weakness (and apparent death) had ended in abysmal failure. Sure, it wasn't absolutely necessary to kill the dry-landers for his underwater coup to work, but the fact that his every attempt to do so had failed irked him. To be bested by both father and daughter was inexcusable! He hadn't been commanded to kill the interlopers, but it was implied. He could not fail, especially with having been thwarted twice. Perhaps the mortals would be easier. He turned to face the island, intending on locating Seaweed Cyanide, but something stopped him. There were whispers all around him, and a sickly light coming from below.

"The beast..."

"He cowers..."

"He has met defeat..."

"Look at him sulk..."

Lusus' great mouth turned in a sneer as dozens of small, black-skinned figures swam around and past him, headed into Mimosa's underwater entrance. He let them pass; he wasn't interested in them. Into his view swam a creature he had only seen twice. Queen Lomiphora was a sight to behold; while she wasn't very big, she was larger than the average pony and boasted an eerie beauty with the green phosphorescent lights that her grey body gave off. She wore a golden crown with an enormous red jewel in the center. Her body resembled a pony's front end and tapered off into a thin, delicate tail.

"Lusus...heard you were running into trouble."

"News travels quickly...too quickly," he snorted, loathe to think that a creature this small could get away with talking to him like this. He wouldn't have put up with it if King North Wind himself didn't recognize her officially as Queen of the Deep. Her kingdom laid at the bottom of the ocean. Not at the upcoming King and Queen's depth, no, nothing so paltry. Her kingdom was miles and miles beneath that level, and her kingdom stretched in many directions, even going so far as to cover some of the new kingdom's territory. It had finally been made legal to take that territory over, and that was as good a reason as any for the Queen to take offense.

"And what are you planning on doing? More of your people does not equate to being equal to the task. There are powerful creatures that have come here. Mimosa's own daughter has proven that she carries his strength."

"You're behind the times, Lusus," the queen said with a giggle, her back half wriggling in mirth. "I have word from lord North Wind that Mimosa has fallen. He is dead, having wandered into that wonderful wasteland our king calls home. What a fool. And...your quarry has slipped past you. Hah...you!...and has sought Mimosa out for counsel. You might feel like chasing her, but don't you think it's about time for others to take over...I mean, help?"

Lusus stared at the queen as she drifted upwards without waiting for a response. Mimosa? Dead? By King North Wind's own hooves?? That must mean that the biodome came equipped with portals. He tucked this information away quietly as he swam past the queen into the underwater tunnel entrance into Mimosa's tomb.

Spark Storm and the three griffons approached the place where Sohl had been. They could hear the sounds of struggle, grunting and quiet swearing. There was some kind of powdery mist floating around, and it smelled...like a pony? Spark frowned as he shifted the weight on his shoulders. Those two angry orbs he had created were just as heavy as they were last time against Shimmering Oasis and Shadow Heart.

"Uhhh..." Twig uttered as the four came upon a strange sight. The three harpies were entwined, each holding or being held against their will. Shrike held Sohl's neck in her long toe talons, Sohl held down Aves on the back of her neck, and Aves pitifully held one of Sohl's legs. All three turned to look at the four, and the two enormous balls of electricity.

"Tricks!" Shrike squawked. "Where is Belaff?"

"Banana beak?" Spark shrugged and cocked his head behind him. "She might be alive. You can take whatever's left of her when you leave."

"They can't leave, Spark, we have to kill them!" Sohl yelled. Had Spark done it? Had he really unlocked his powers? Those orbs he held over his head looked new. She could feel the hairs on her body standing up from their power from here. But the look in his eyes was soft and the inky power from that night wasn't present.

"Why is that necessary?" Spark insisted. "I understand they're dangerous, but I've got it...handled..." He paused as a fourth figure entered his peripheral vision. It looked like a pony, but it had fangs that protruded from it's mouth, and it's sclera were jet black with pink irises. It's body was blue, it's feet were claws, and it's head, wings and tail were yellow and pink...like Sohl's. "...what the hell? Sohl??"

"Now the moment of truth!" Shrike announced. "Sohl, your judgement is at hand!!"

Sohl growled and grabbed Shrike's knees, bending her close so she could grab her neck and shut her up. "Kill it, Spark Storm! Kill it now!!"

Spark frowned as the creature resembling Sohl jumped up to Spark Storm's perch. While it definitely resembled a harpy in pony form, nothing about this thing made him think it was dangerous, especially when it smiled happily and hopped closer to him, then planted herself up against him and nuzzled under his chin.

"Aaaaah!!" Shrike gurgled with triumph, though she strained just to breathe under Sohl's grasp. "Sh-she has chosen death! Sohl, you have gone soft, and you will be-" Sohl squeezed Shrike's throat harder, resounding in a muffled, sickening crack as the smaller harpy's neck was snapped.

Aves gasped at the revelation. "Sohl! Sohl, you will be torn apart by the Council Of Hatred when they hear about this!" Aves leapt up, barely avoiding Sohl's claws. She screamed as she was met with a bolt of lightning far stronger than anything she'd felt before and went sailing into a mossy boulder, where she collapsed with unconsciousness.

"If you make it out of here alive..." Sohl said with finality, then turned to Spark Storm, completely enraged. "You idiot!! I told you to kill that thing!!"

The griffons wisely stepped aside as Sohl leapt up to Spark Storm, claws bared. The creature squeaked and leapt behind the pegasus fearfully. "No." He said with a glare, stepping forward with a challenging stance. "What is she? Why does she look like you?"

Sohl huffed and glared at the creature. "She's...she's me, if I had the intelligence of a turtle. She's meant to embody my deepest emotions. The mimics are used to expose a harpy's heart. You can't lie to a mimic, no matter how hard you-"

Spark let out a yelp and lurched forward, having been bitten on the butt. The creature giggled and buzzed it's wings playfully. "What the crap! Sohl!" he glared up at the harpy accusingly.

"I did tell you to kill it..." She sighed. "If you want to take care of it and deal with that, that's your call."

Sohl turned and leapt over to the prone Aves, a claw held over the smaller harpy's heart. "Sohl..." Spark said, some small hope in his eyes.

"You wanna do this again? With a hundred harpies instead of three? You think either one of us will survive that?"

"Yeah I'd just as soon jump over to Breen than be present for that..." Twig whispered.

Spark sighed and turned his back to Sohl, finding himself staring into the other Sohl's eyes. As he tried to ignore the sound of claws rending flesh, he tried to work out the pros and cons of keeping this creature around. For all he could tell, it just looked like Sohl and possessed her playful nature and...affection for him? It cuddled him, nuzzled him and bit his ass...he turned to Sohl as she approached and fixed her with an incredulous stare. She grinned and licked at the blood running down her claws. "Mmm...in about five years..."

Spark Storm had nothing to say as Callie's voice called down from above. Spark sighed with relief, actually quite glad he wouldn't need to come up with a response to that. Suddenly aware that he felt much lighter, he glanced above him to see his orbs had likely dissipated. He chalked this up to good luck. "Daddy!" Orea called from her perch in between the griffon's wings. She hopped off and was suddenly tackled by the mimic mimicking Sohl.

Sohl growled at the scene as Orea let out peals of joyful laughter. That happiness coming from Orea should've been coming from her...

"Right, so she's not dangerous, then," Havet commented. "All right there, Callie? Did ye miss all the action?"

"No, I actually saw a bit," she told her friend and greeted Twig with a head scratch. "Jorden, you're being uncharacteristically quiet..."

The cardinal/tiger griffon huffed and smoothed her crest down her neck. "Yeah, guess I'm just not really used to seeing a pony knock around a couple'a harpies like that, like they're not impossible to hurt without 20 griffons attacking at once."

"He is unique," Bombyx told them as she approached. She looked quite rough, having spent the last few minutes trying to escape the gravity trap she'd been caught in. "Please remember this. If you can, protect him. He is important."

Spark Storm frowned. Was he? He realized he had quite a bit of power, but...important? Mimosa certainly seemed to think so. And Sohl...she was hiding something - again. He could tell by the way she was looking at him. And what was the deal with Orea - without a moment to gather his thoughts, Frankie's voice cut in through the intercom.

"Uh, guys, I know we've just gotten through, like, three or four jams, but I think we're about to run into a few more."

"Ugh...now what?" came more than a few voices.

"I'm picking up multiple life forms inside the compound. And I didn't see any of them come through the front doors. One of them is right on top of you!"

Sohl turned her back to the others, the snapping of branches alerting the group. Whoever it was didn't seem to have a care in the world, the way they were pushing aside branches. "Uh...hello?" a lone voice called from the brush. Sohl frowned, but untensed. She reached forward and pulled the branches back, revealing a tall earth pony, with a sky blue body, and a massive, long-flowing blonde mane that trailed off into deep blue colors, almost green at the tips, the same for her tail. The circlet around her forehead somewhat resembled a royal crown, with a large blue gem situated above and between her blue eyes.

Bombyx let out a gasp and cantered over to her, taking the branches from Sohl to let the mare into the clearing. "Thank you, Bombyx. I wanted to...t-" she faltered, seeing the carnage. Sohl sighed and took a seat on the ground, followed by mimic Sohl and Orea. "What is going on?" The mare's eyes trailed over the four griffons, and then on Spark Storm. They lingered there longer than he was comfortable with.

"Not that I don't always cherish your visits, your grace, but what are you doing here now? It is mere hours before your coronation tonight."

Coronation? Spark thought. He was already identifying several of the creatures that Frankie had just warned them of. As of a few weeks ago, Spark Storm had improved his electric webs. It took very little effort to activate them and spread them out in an area, and he had learned to do it subconsciously. He liked to know about a new area as much as possible, and he hadn't used all of his webs to shock the harpies. These creatures were wet, soaking wet, like they had just crawled out of the ocean.

There was no time for further thought as perhaps a dozen of the creatures leapt out of the trees. None of Spark's comrades were ready as light erupted all around them, shocking every last of the creatures, who fell to the ground, twitching with their last breaths. Whatever they were, they weren't nearly as resilient as the harpies, probably because they were soaking wet.

The princess didn't even have time to recoil in horror at the creatures, or at their deaths. One fell at her hooves, and it was with shock that she recognized them. But that pegasus! She looked up at him, even as the griffons and the nymph let out yells of shock. Again, though, Sohl smirked with admiration at her friend, and with great pleasure that Orea had leapt into her arms. "What are those things?!" Orea cried.

"They're from the deep, much, much deeper than our kingdom," Pearl Depth offered breathlessly. "They must have followed me here, but...I thought it was just Lusus who was following me...Bombyx, this is getting terrifying. Please, where is Mimosa? How are the bird demons and Lomi's cretins getting into his dome so easily?"

"Spark...get on..."

"I-I'm sorry, your grace," Bombyx stated, trying not to stare in Spark's direction. She felt a deep blush rush through her body when she did glance over at the pegasus. "Mimosa is...has..."

Spark blinked when he felt all eyes in the area on him, then suddenly became aware of the Sohl impressionist huddled before him, her rump in the air in invitation. "Spark, get on..."

The pegasus started as if he himself had been shocked. He looked from Sohl to the griffons for help. Was this really happening? He glanced at the tall earth pony who apparently was a princess from the ocean and felt his ears burning. "Uhh...this...she isn't...I'm not with her."

"Mimosa's biodome has come under attack by harpies, griffons and denizens of the deep, and you wish to fornicate in my presence?! Bombyx, please walk with me away from this den of filthy passion and tell me what's going on!" Bombyx trailed behind the princess, casting Spark Storm a look half of disdain and half of curiosity before rushing ahead to catch the princess up on everything that had happened.

"Am I going to have to find you a frickin' muzzle?!" Spark hissed furiously down at the mimic as Sohl snickered at the pegasi's humiliation.

The creature's ears pinned back, lightly pawing at Spark's hooves imploringly. "I just want to have a good time..."

"You're...intelligent?" Spark felt a burning sense of guilt at even having asked that question. Of course she was intelligent. She was, in essence, based off of Sohl.

"That's a dumb thing to ask," she responded. "Now, can we-"

"Not done with the encounters!" Frankie's voice boomed overhead, thoroughly annoyed. Spark Storm growled at the constant action. When was he going to get a break and have a moment to breathe?!

"Yeah, so...this isn't helping my decision not to completely fry you," Flash Fire said with annoyance. She had just been whisked away, once again in the coils of this monstrous eel pony that seemed Tartarus-bound to speak to her. The unicorn found herself delicately deposited onto the sandy ground, where she spun to her hooves, still slightly unsteady from the poison, feeling nothing more than dust under herself. Dry dust; no mud this time. She held a good bit of fire magic at the ready, though Seaweed seemed more apologetic in her body language.

"Hey...I'm sorry," the seapony began with a winning smile. "I had orders to kill all of you with poisons that would've turned you inside out, but you're all so strong! I...wanted to ask you some questions first."

"First??" Flash Fire yelled, nearly coughing from the abundance of dust swirling around her. She thought the seapony had brought her to some random point on the island, but she seemed to have a good bit of advantage in picking where to confront her in this dry, sandy area.

"Can we stay focused?" Seaweed asked, looking genuinely hurt. "Look, you're all way too interesting to kill! You generate fire, I believe you're running with a nymph, and the dark pegasus...I can tell that he's putting out a power he's even barely aware of himself. Being an eel," she gestured to herself," I can feel a lot of electricity flowing through his body. I felt it when you all came off the ship earlier. And that other unicorn, the laughably cute stallion. He's...got something in him, as well. I've never felt anything like when your group came here. Who are you?"

The unicorn frowned, suspicion stretching her features. Was this creature here to kill them or not? Her words betrayed her actions, and her actions betrayed her words. How was she expected to have a civil conversation with somepony that had just tried, and very nearly succeeded, to kill her?

"We're...hunters. Monster hunters."

Seaweed frowned, a hoof dabbing at her chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I've definitely heard that term before, but only above water. It's...isn't that a..." she paused, giving Flash Fire a look of pained understanding. "...A slur?"

The unicorn felt her heart drop at the look in the sea pony's eyes. She knew, she understood. "Yeah. Sometimes...ponies can be really cruel if they don't understand something. Especially if that something can be really dangerous."

"Dangerous," Cyanide parroted with a nod of understanding. "Yes, you are...we are dangerous..."

Flash Fire sighed. She knew all too well the pain of being different, of the looks that others gave her when she discovered that she had greater control over fire than any other unicorn she'd grown up with. She remembered her family's looks of disgust and fear when she burned up that group of timberwolves to ashes. She remembered being ostracized just for being stronger and born equipped with stronger spells than most. Seaweed Cyanide undoubtedly had gone through similar experiences, being told she was nothing more than a monster. How much did she have to go through to become...like this?

"...A fire can be dangerous," the unicorn began slowly. "But it can also save lives. With the right amount of heat, it can keep a cold pony alive. It can cook food to feed hungry ponies and...other things. It can keep the truly dangerous creatures at hoof's length." Cyanide gave Flash Fire a hurt look. "...And it can be a beacon in the dark, to help those who have lost their way, find their way in the dark again, and come back to the light."

Seaweed presented such a pained, yet hopeful look in her eyes for just a brief moment that Flash Fire thought the eel was going to hug her.

She might have, had the ground not begun to shake, stirring up dust. Both girls looked around in alarm until roots began to erupt from the ground. Seaweed darted to Flash Fire's side, coughing as the dust traveled up her nose. The unicorn beside her flared up her horn, ready to release a fire spell when a familiar blue eye formed along the top of one of the roots to stare at the two of them.

"Oh please tell me that's not...Ampelus??"

The eye stared angrily up at the unicorn, glancing between her and Seaweed Cyanide. "And here I was thinking you'd gotten yourself hurt, and what do I find? What the hell are you doing with that thing?!" Flash Fire and Seaweed Cyanide stared at the vine eye. Where was the voice coming from??

"I'm not doing anything! She's just - we're just talking! And...and what the hell is this??" Flash Fire countered, gesturing to the bizarre sight in front of her. "Why are you an eye, and where's the rest of you?"

"'Talking', eh? Maybe you can 'talk' about why a hundred different things are happening all at once around the island, and under it! I can feel things crawling up onto my island from under the ocean, Spark Storm is throwing a fucking storm around in the biodome, and...this one might just be because I'm hungry, but I'm feeling some nasty stuff in the air, like...a storm made of nasty stuff is approaching from the north. I'm kinda freakin' out because I have no idea how I know all this stuff, and I'm...well, doing this! Find Spark Storm and get some answers before things get even weirder, please!"

Ampelus because to sink back into the ground before what was able to be seen of her rose again, the eye appearing angry. "And do something about this. Spark Storm might have successfully adopted a few friends, but I don't think this one is going to go so well for you."

Even before Ampelus' eye had disappeared into the ground, Seaweed turned to Flash Fire and tilted her head in a way that almost made the unicorn forget about the eel's homicidal intentions. "I'm not up for adoption, by the way."

Flash Fire adopted a grim smile instead. "Look. You heard, I have to get going. If you're not going to kill me, I'd appreciate it if you left the others alone, too. I'm assuming you're not just here working by yourself, I heard you mention 'Lusus' earlier. Maybe you could take this Lusus character and swim off somewhere for a while. We've got work to do." Having turned to go, Flash Fire glanced back at the eel, not entirely convinced that she had gotten Seaweed to leave well enough alone. "I mean...if you can behave yourself and not attack my friends, I'd be willing to let you tag along..."

Seaweed Cyanide tilted her head at the unicorn, her expression unreadable. "I...forgot about Lusus for a minute," she said with a chuckle. "Ah well, it was nice while it lasted."

Flash Fire was ready this time as Seaweed Cyanide slithered into her eel form. Apparently she had not been thinking clearly when she brought the unicorn to this place as Flash Fire clearly had the environmental advantage. It was dusty, the dried pebbles on the ground made it unsteady ground, rolling her long, thick coils and making it difficult to propel herself forward. Seaweed was battered by waves of heat from Flash Fire's magic, just enough to keep her from getting close.

Flash Fire kept this up for several failed maneuvers on Seaweed's part, until the eel pony had to pause and catch her breath. The unicorn backed up slowly, her horn aimed at Seaweed's chest. "Sorry, eel girl. I think maybe you want to be friends, but this Lusus guy is in the way. Either you want friends or you don't, 'cause it sounds like he's just using you. I hope you figure it out." With that, she turned and dropped a spell on the ground that ignited a four foot wall of fire behind her. When Seaweed tried to follow, it burned her and didn't disappear until Flash Fire had returned to the trees and escaped.

Princess Pearl Depth nodded her head as Bombyx relayed the events of the last few hours to her: Deep Surf's visit and warning, Mimosa's glee at the smell in the air, Ampelus' visit, and finally Spark Storm's visit, leaving out the really juicy bits that Mimosa tended to keep to himself (though he always had a habit of talking to himself and spoiling secrets). Finally, she told the princess about what had happened with Lusus.

"This is...unprecedented," Pearl Depth murmured. "Things are happening so fast. Too fast! Just an hour ago or so I was visited by pirates from the surface. And...a siren. She claimed that Lusus has been planning an assassination on the new kingdom. And yet, he seems to be struggling to deal with interlopers here on the surface. And dear, sweet Bombyx," she said, turning to the nymph and reaching to rub her friend's cheek with a hoof. "...it feels like you're hiding something, as well."

Bombyx had not been looking forward to saying this part out loud, not to anyone, and not to herself. She heaved a big quivering sigh and said, "Princess, Mimosa has..."

"DEAAATH!" a voice cried as a dark form leapt out from the bushes, teeth aiming for the princess's throat. Pearl Depth turned just in time to see a flurry of black and white rush in front of her.

"Judo chop!" a female voice announced as a hoof found the back of the neck of the offending mouth, slamming it shut and costing it several teeth. The princess gasped as the body of a deep sea pony dropped at her hooves, and standing before her was a young zebra with a grey and purple toned mane with violet eyes look down at her victim before turning with her back to the sea mare in a defensive position.

"Goodness!" Bombyx exclaimed in shock. She glanced down at the prone sea creature. "This is...this is Lomiphora's, if I'm not mistaken. With Lusus swimming around and trying to mess with things, I think it's a safe bet that he's working with the Queen of the Deep..."

"Thank you," Pearl Depth said quietly with a hoof on the zebra's back. The younger mare let out a combat yell and kicked another attacker back into the bushes, startling the princess.

"Maybe run and find shelter, big lady?" Ramani offered. She let out a gasp as a third creature darted out in her blind spot, an attack that was thwarted big a big blue and tan blur. The dimunitive creature let out a snarl, then a yelp as much bigger claws than it's own threw it headfirst into a tree and remained on the ground. "Oh, Callie! You are saving my behind!"

The griffin gave her new friend a wink as she landed and peered up Pearl Depth, nearly half a head taller than her newest rescuer. "Oh, h'llo!" she announced. Pearl Depth smiled politely, for once quite glad to meet new creatures that didn't know she was a princess, or at least didn't seem to.

"Bombyx, I've never seen nothin' like these guys," Callie told the nymph she examined the small black pony-like creatures from the deep.

"They're from deep in the ocean," Pearl Depth said quietly, a frown plastered upon her face. "Queen Lomiphora maintains a vast empire down there under the crushing blackness at the very bottom. She was very upset at the thought of us expanding our borders, but to think they would rise all this way to try to kill me -" she paused, her eyes widening. "A...all the way up here? Why would they come here when-"

Princess Pearl Depth suddenly looked and sounded like she was choking on something, her breath stuck in her throat. A light shone on her face, a peculiar blueish green light from over Callie's shoulder. "Wha?" The griffon turned with wide eyes to see the aforementioned queen. She stood nearly as tall as Pearl Depth, skin grey and mottled, though her beauty was undeniable. Also undeniable was the light coming from the tip of the bulbous appendage that grew out of her head, flanked by flowing muted teal hair.

Callie tried to make sense of what she was seeing, but her head had become fuzzy. She could feel her mind trying to shut down, her breath catching in her chest. She shook her head and looked to Bombyx to help, but the nymph was taken in as easily as the other three. Little Ramani was asleep sitting up, a line of drool escaping her mouth. "Interesting that of the company present, you're the last to succumb," Lomiphora mused as she approached the griffin. "A natural resistance, perhaps? I've never met a creature like you. Don't come to the surface that often."

Callie shook her head again, trying to get that feeling out of her head, and found that shutting her eyes blocked it out. After a moment of silence, she dared to open her eyes once more, casting her gaze to the ground. Finding the light unable to control her from this angle, she raised her eyes until she could see the creature's feet. "Ahh, you are intelligent, and resourceful, too. This might help you escape, if I wasn't alone." The griffon felt new fear rise in her throat as heavy hoof-falls approaching could be heard nearby. "Anyway, it's a shame things must end for you now. Lusus, they're all yours."

28 - Overwhelming Power

"I'm not trying to escape," Callie muttered as the heavy footfalls from before approached. She thought quickly - if the creature brandishing this light she was trying to avoid wasn't moving towards her, then she wouldn't be expecting a direct attack. With no more time for deliberation, she shot forward, her wings propelling her into a flying tackle.

Her tactic worked, catching both creatures off-guard. Callie's tackle earned her an armful of a slimy, somewhat spiny, screeching monster. "Put me down!" it screamed, wriggling with indignation. The griffin and deep-sea beast were nearly the same size and weight, though Callie could tell she was a bit stronger than her.

"Little thing like yous in charge, huh?" Callie taunted, her claws finding their way around her wriggling opponent's mouth so she couldn't bite. She could feel the beast growling in anger, but there was something else, something vibrating deep within this thing's body. She didn't have time to think about it when her captive suddenly changed shape and managed to whack her hard upside the head with a new appendage. It felt like a hardened, wet tail, and it nearly knocked her out. She fell to the forest floor, her captive rolling free.

Callie grunted as she got to her feet, her head ducked down to avoid getting struck with that hypnotizing light, though for the moment it seemed to have gone out. She whipped her head around until she caught sight of her opponent, who was now getting back up off the ground. Her tail was gone, replaced by back hooves. There was a single appendage that grew from her head, almost like a small tail that ended in a small, fleshy bulb. Was that were the light had come from?

"Ugh. You'll pay for that..." the creature hissed as she got to her hooves. Callie could feel the ground vibrate under her paws, the sickening green light beginning again.

"Probably. Say, does that light need to be seen to work?" Callie asked with dripping sweetness.

"Of course it does - ohhh. You mean your friends back there?" Lomiphora laughed bitterly. "Don't worry. I left them with Lusus. They don't need to be captured by my light to be killed, sweetheart. They don't stand a chance, and neither do you." Callie massaged her paws into the ground, her eyes averted from the light and preparing another strike when the Queen reared her head back and shrieked, "BABIES!!"

The griffon was unprepared as eight black-skinned, slippery and wet creatures leapt out of the bushes and dog-piled her. They wriggled around her, grasping at her wings, pulling at her feathers and giggling. She fought them blindly, finding that they were much too slippery to grab on to. Instead, she found she was being held tightly after a moment, with their bodies pressed tightly against hers, lanky arms and limbs holding her down. One webbed hand grasped her chin and forced her to look up, for a brief second seeing the approaching royalty. She closed her eyes, only to have them forced open. She let out a final scream as she felt her mind numb, and she succumbed to a deep, wide-awake sleep.

"Poor little griffon," she heard the queen say as she felt a pat on her head. She could feel and hear and think, but she could not move. She was trapped inside her own body! "Now, I need to find Mimosa's grave, so I may spit upon it. Yes, I think after all the grief he's caused me, that should-"

Callie heard the queen go quiet. She felt her captors slowly remove themselves from her body. Suddenly she heard the queen shriek, she felt the ground tremble slightly as the small black creatures suddenly began moving chaotically, as if they had been terribly spooked. "Where is it?! Where is it coming from?!" she heard them scream. She heard the sounds of whipping, branches reaching out, big pieces of wood crashing into the invaders. Callie suddenly found her eyesight returned, and she could move. She beamed happily as she looked around for Ampelus. Surely this was her work, right?

She could not have been more wrong. She saw the little black creatures scrambling to dogpile another fighter, but their efforts were in vain. The creature they surrounded moved like an exotic dancer with hard-hitting tactics, tumbling and turning in the air and on the ground, grasping heads with thighs and introducing said heads to the ground. The pony Callie knew to be Steel Scabbard danced inbetween the dark creatures, fighting them off with nothing but her hooves and kicks and turns.

The sickly green light of Lomiphora's antennae flickered into view, approaching the dancing pony from behind. The queen let out a soft whooping sound, grabbing the pony's attention. As she turned to face the queen, a blue and tan streak ran into her from the side and rammed her into a tree, where she slumped and fell over unconscious. With their leader out cold, the little black creatures scampered in a panic back into the bushes, abandoning their queen.

'Steel Scabbard' grinned as she watched the creatures flee, then turned to the griffon. "Thanks. I probably wasn't prepared to avoid your fate and get captured. You're pretty brave to just tackle a sea pony alone."

Callie rubbed her at the shoulder that would most definitely be sore later. "Thanks for rescuing me. Ya got some pretty killer moves…”

Fire Lotus smirked at Callie’s chosen words. “Oh yeah. You were there for the lowest point in my life recently.”

The griffin frowned and turned to face the assassin. That didn’t sound too promising. Had Fire Lotus taken offense at Callie being present for said situation? The possibility of this seemed to flash in the mare’s eyes. She chuckled and tossed her mane aside. “Relax, Ms Griffon. If I wanted you to be dead, I would’ve killed you along with the minnows.”

“That’s…reassurin’,” Callie responded, the exact opposite still lingering in her eyes. “Can ya help me protect the others back there?”

The earth mare sighed dramatically, eyes heavenward. “I…guess. I don’t have much else to do, and I am trying to stay in Spark’s good graces. I have business in Breen.”

‘I bet I know why you’re here,’ Callie thought to herself, her face darkening with intensity. With a rare creature born specifically to signal a cease-fire between two warring races, what else would bring an assassin to Sunanwaves? It was too great a coincidence to ignore. She kept this to herself as she followed the older mare back to the princess and the others.

Pearl Depth took in a deep, gulping breath of air as Lomiphora's hypnotic paralyzing spell wore off. Without her in proximity to maintain it, the spell was broken. But as the griffon flew off carrying the queen, the king still stood opposite her, bearing his teeth.

"Bombyx!" she cried as Lusus charged. She realized with horror that he wasn't coming for her, or for Bombyx: he was making his charge at the young zebra, aiming to pick off the smaller, weaker ones first. Lusus leapt through the air, jaws reaching for Ramani's neck, when a sudden burst of air pressure popped between his jaws and threw him back. He growled and rubbed at his jaw when he landed on his hooves.

"That's an unusual power you have there. Wish I'd known about it earlier..."

Pearl Depth's mane swirled around her head, her mane glowing like a unicorn's magic. "You'll find me full of surprises, you wretch. And not so easy to kill, nor my family."

"You've heard, then." Lusus began to pace around before the princess as Ramani came to, immediately darting to hide behind Pearl Depth and Bombyx, who now stood beside the royal mare. "This is...quite an unusual day for me. For you as well, I'd assume. You...did tell your parents where you were going, didn't you?" Lusus asked with barely restrained glee. "Did you get a chance to tell them that you loved them? You're not leaving this island again, just so we're clear."

Pearl Depth stared at Lusus with a steely air, undeterred. "So was this your plan? Separate me from my family, take the young monarch out of the way before her parents?"

"Not at all, to be honest. Nothing has really gone according to my plans...not since Celestia's ship came to port. I will need to deal with Mimosa's guests. They all seem to be a bit stronger than we'd thought. I assume their coming here was your idea?"

Images of the dark pegasus came to mind. He had powerful, unknown abilities. He was also a complete pervert. But perhaps a highly useful ally, considering his powers were her enemies' weakness, and Bombyx had made it clear he could be trusted, and that he was of great interest to Mimosa Palm, though the nymph hadn't really gotten to that point before they were attacked, so..."Yes. I knew I would need extra reinforcements, so I asked Celestia-"

A peal of horrid laughter erupted from Lusus. As his chuckles subsided, he grinned at the princess. "A bluff, I knew it. You don't know anything about them or why they're here, do you? Celestia agreed a long, long time ago not to interfere with the outside world. She turns the sun and the moon for our world, and nothing more. Her politics got her in trouble a long, long time ago. No one outside of Equestria turns to that kingdom of fools for anything."

"Then we both know what that means," she returned without hesitation.

This caught the greenish pony off-guard, a guarded look of anger in his eyes. "...Yes. It means she fully intends to break peace with the rest of the world, after all this time. This will almost certainly take war to Equestria."

"If that is what she intends," Pearl Depth offered. "Who knows what her intentions are? Did she really mean to send them here to interfere with your plans? Or was this just a mad coincidence?"

"...Breen," Lusus said softly. His master had said so, mentioned that the travelers probably had no business on the island. But, that changed absolutely nothing. If they were indeed heading to Breen, chances were they intended to meddle with someone else's affairs, and most likely his master's. They still needed to be dealt with.

The shark pony came to a sudden realization that the other two creatures had crept away from his view, leaving him and Pearl Depth alone. He let out a laugh and shook his head. "I must be losing my edge to let you get to me like this! While i was thinking you allowed the other two to escape. What a fix I'm in..." He leered at the princess, bearing his pointed teeth.

"Well, that, and gave us all precious time..." the princess said with a cool smirk as she turned to leave.

"You have no more time!!" Lusus shouted as he suddenly leapt towards the taller mare. He let out a grunt as something bigger than himself and the princess came down on top of him, hitting him hard enough to bounce off the ground, his vision a blur of pink and yellow feathers.

Something bit down onto his ear as he tried to get to his hooves. He started to shake his head to free it when he heard the mouth bite harder and heard a voice inside the mouth mutter, "Tremo!" He let out a panicked yell of pain as his ear and part of his head vibrate violently. Finally the mouth released him, and as the vibrating came to a stop he felt a sudden jolt of powerful pain, a pain that wracked his entire body that pulsed, then finally released him. He let out a cough of smoke as he fell to his knees, his breath coming in gasps as three figures stood between him and the departing princess.

The one that had bitten his ear, a cross between a pony and a frazzled pink and yellow griffon, grinned at the second, a big pegasus, who's colors reminded him of an angry sky. The pegasus glared back at him, his back and wings seeming to blink to life with strobing electricity. If the pony was anything like Seaweed, this could be a little troublesome. Where was that blasted eel, anyway?

Lusus had no more time to think as the third and biggest figure, the bipedal bird, let out a scream that rocked his senses, even worse than that muttered spell from moments ago. He felt his body ripple with the force of her scream. He closed his eyes as he felt his body lifted off his feet and was thrown, skidding to a halt some fifteen feet back. His head still ringing, he got slowly to his hooves, his chest heaving.

"Hey. Heard you were having a bit of trouble," Lusus heard. Another pony come to mess with his plans? Like things weren't bad enough already. He opened his eyes to see one of the mares that had gotten off the ship earlier, a unicorn that looked like the sun, yellow body and fire in her mane.

"You heard...something like that," the dark pegasus told her. "So far these sea creatures have been total pushovers."

Pushovers? Lusus growled, his sharpened teeth bearing in a wide frown. Pushovers?? "Not really...I ran into one in the forest, some kinda eel. She was not a pushover, Spark, she almost killed me! If Ampelus hadn't found me..."

That was the last straw. Lusus let out a roar as he grew, his tail slapping the ground as his poison-tipped fins ripping up the ground as he pulled himself toward the four of them just talking amongst themselves. How dare they ignore him! "You'll regret underestimating me!!"

"Will-"
"You-"
"Shut-"
"Up!"
Four voices said in unison. Lusus let out a yowl of pain as he was shocked, burned, shouted and tingled as one attack. His massive body was flung backwards, breaking through at least three trees and toppling a fourth over his head. He pulled himself up slowly, body trembling specifically from the shock. He had spent months getting used to shocks from Seaweed, but this pegasus was on a whole different level.

"Well, that was...unexpected," he heard one of them say. "Never saw a pony able to change size, or shape for that matter."

The pony shark growled and pulled himself upright again, sharpened teeth gnashing in fury. He would not be brushed aside like this! He pulled himself toward them again when he heard it: a voice calling to him, a voice that filled him with terror. "Theeeere you arrree..." He froze. He knew this voice, though he had heard it for the first time today. Vines completely armed with volcanic glass and jade-like, jagged stone began to fill the jungle surroundings, slithering around trees and harmlessly around the four standing there watching him.

"No. No! This isn't supposed to happen - I was supposed to kill the princess, eat her family, claim their territory! How is this happening on the surface??!" he yelled, his heart pumping in his chest. Ampelus had come to find him, and she had proven that she had inherited her father's power. And at least two of the creatures that had pummeled him proved too strong to handle alone. Just what kind of power was Equestria hoarding?!

"Well...I think you're so far in over your head that you're sinking like a stone," Ampelus said, finally appearing before the four of them in a mass of green leaves and grass. She shook her head out with a sigh, casting a glance at Sohl. "Nice to see you stopped hiding, bitch."

"Fuck you," the harpy retorted, actually making a move on Ampelus before Spark's wings spread out between them.

"Can we just get rid of that thing, please?" Spark sounded like he'd need a few minutes before the next crisis.

"Sure, now that I know the little pest can change shapes." Ampelus grinned like sadistic fiend that she was as her vines surrounded Lusus, more vines behind them in case he changed. He backed up against the tree behind him, teeth bared, which chattered in terror.

Thoughts of terror, entire monologues of vulgarity and despair ran through Lusus' head. To be killed like this, when he was so close! The princess had just walked away from him two minutes ago!! This wasn't fair! This was -

His thoughts were interrupted as the biodome's light went out. Sounds of falling debris were heard all around him, sounds like falling and shattering glass. What in the world? When lights came on again, the others in front of him looked bewildered as well, but none more than Ampelus. Her vines had been disarmed, so to speak. Dirt began to fall from her body, falling like fine powder. When it had finished, she stood about six inches shorter.

"Uhh. Um." The nymph looked around, stunned and at a loss for words.

"Well this is a fine mess you've made," a voice boomed, seemingly coming from everywhere. Every last head in the biodome raised, looking for the source of the voice. "I take a nap for TWENTY minutes and all hell breaks loose!"

"...Dad?" Ampelus said, a single brow arched. She looked at Spark Storm, flapping her wings from under their hidden flaps, with no results.

"Uh..." Spark looked from her to Lusus, who had shrunk back down to size. "You...you know how your dad died, and-"

"MY DAD DIED AND NO ONE TOLD ME?!"

"Well you were -"

"Ohhhh my god, please can we just-"

"Spark, who died??"

"My fish fillet!!"

The mimic's outburst brought the yelling to a halt as Spark looked back to where Lusus was no longer waiting. He was indeed gone. He turned to give chase when Ampelus grabbed him with her vines and turned him towards her. "Spark Storm!! My dad died?!"

"What's wrong with the shouting?!" Mimosa's voice called once again, this time close enough that he didn't have to yell. He came through a patch of trees, dusting himself off. He had been covered in dirt not too long ago, similar to Ampelus when her powers wore off. He sighed and looked around at the devastation, irritation in his gaze.

Ampelus unceremoniously dropped Spark Storm to the ground, vines twitching in agitation. "Dad!! Why aren't you dead? I-I mean...did you die? What happened to me while you were 'napping'?"

"Hmph. I suppose I 'died' a little," he responded, helping Spark Storm back to his hooves. He gave Sohl a single glance before locking eyes with the mimic, who was also 'helping' Spark to his hooves, her head propping him up under his tail with a lecherous grin. The pegasus jumped away from her when he realized what she was doing, then glared at Flash Fire at the look she was giving him.

"Uh...look, I'd rather not explain this one," he told her, then withered at the look Ampelus was giving him.

The nymph sighed and turned her gaze to her father. "So...about the powers? I've never had that kind of strength before."

"As well you shouldn't," he replied. "But...you did do well. Whilst I was incapacitated, my strength was needed elsewhere. It left me and came to you so you could protect my home long enough for me to recuperate. And while there is much to repair...you kept my home and myself safe enough for me to return and retake what is mine." He turned, giving Ampelus a little kiss on her forehead. "Thank you for saving my home, dear."

Ampelus seemed to shrink, unsure how to take this gesture of affection. It may well have been her first from her father. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Anytime, dad..."

"Now, there's quite a bit to clean up. I'll see if I can find Bombyx, there's still a bit to do, and...do you taste something...ominous?" Ampelus watched her father walk off, mumbling to himself about a bad taste in the air before seeming to collapse in on herself.

Sensing her needing a moment, Spark turned to Sohl and her mimic. "Thanks, girls. I'm sure we're going to see more of these guys today, but I'm hoping we'll have some time to talk later. Right now..." he paused, glancing at Ampelus.

"Uhhhh no." Spark found himself picked up again and slung over Sohl's shoulder, where he watched Ampelus giving him a sour but defeated look. "You need a rest. I'm picking all kinds of tired from Orea, and I think you could both use some alone time together."

"Oooh, he needs some rest?" the mimic inquired, hopping along around Sohl's legs. "I know a quick way to get him to sleep..."

"You're not thinking..."

"What? We just hit him really hard!" she said, her wings carrying her around Spark's level with a loud buzzing. "Or, y'know, I could suck his..."

"Y'know, I think I'd rather you hit me," Spark droned as the three of them disappeared into the woods.

"Uh..." Flash Fire uttered quietly, alone at Ampelus' side.

"I don't want to know what the hell that is all about. I'm...I'm so tired," Ampelus said, sitting down and slumping against the unicorn.

Flash Fire bristled at the touch, but slowly leaned into it, helping to hold the nymph up. The last few hours had really helped to solidify a trust between the two of them. "So...what happened with that griffon?"

"There was a griffon? Oh, right, the...bird thing. It's kind of a long story, though it only happened like...an hour ago. Let's go make sure we don't have any more invaders and I'll tell you all about it..."

Spark Storm, once again finding himself in Sohl's grasp, found it a good time to wriggle free and walk beside her, feeling fifty different kinds of tired, and annoyed to boot. "Okay. So Ampelus and I could use a little more time apart. But I still - "

"Daddy!"

Spark Storm sighed and practically deflated as Orea dashed forward from the trees, followed by Cyno and Amacia, who looked absolutely frazzled. "Sheesh...what happened to you, chicky?"

Sohl's question, an odd little nickname, went completely over the shorter harpy's head. "Spark Storm! I was so worried." The pegasus, his 'daughter', the hybrid and the short harpy collided into a warm embrace, leaving Sohl and her mimic to sulk outside the circle. "All that action, all those different creatures. It was actually kind of terrifying."

"I'm glad that you managed to keep these two safe, thank you." Spark's words warmed Amacia's heart, as well as the other two currently nestled in her lap between their two elders. It wasn't long before Spark's head came to rest against her shoulder, and the two younglings had to move to make room as Spark's big body came to rest against Amacia's chest as he sank into her wings, completely exhausted from the day's events. The mimic watched with envious eyes as Amacia stood, easily carrying Spark's prone form.

"Whew," Orea whispered as Spark's thoughts became restful in sleep.

"About time," Sohl sighed. "He's been nonstop worried about everything."

"Con...cerned?" Cyno quipped.

"Yeah. He's got just about everything on his mind. I mean...I think? I don't have the same connection to him as those two do. I still don't understand it..."

"It's not really something that harpies were meant to understand, Amacia." Sohl sat down cross-legged and ran a clawed hand through her hair wearily. She looked down at her thighs, a frown crossing her face, shades of anger in her eyes. "Ugh...shit."

Amacia gasped, a flash of anger in her eyes as she covered Spark's ears on instinct. "Language!"

"Yeah, no. I...I've got some trash to throw out," Sohl replied as she stood back to her full height. "I'm sure Mimosa could take care of it, but this one's personal. Amacia..." she paused, glancing at the shorter harpy. "...Thanks for watching Cyno and keeping him safe. He's in good claws." Orea frowned as her tall friend made her way through the bushes.

Cyno made a little squawk of protest as the nymph stood and made to follow Sohl. "I don't...uh, what?" Amacia fumbled in slight panic.

"You don't want to know," the little nymph replied in a somber tone as she slipped out of the bush cover. "I wish I didn't."

Amacia sighed, left alone with Spark Storm and Cyno. He shuffled around in the bush, somewhat agitated at the lack of interesting things happening. With the pegasus left in a deep sleep, Amacia let her thoughts drift for a while, barely aware of the scuttling about. She thought of the last time that Spark had been asleep next to her - weeks ago in his little apartment back in Canterlot.

She had only known him for a few short weeks. Her reception in Canterlot had gone a lot better than she'd thought: She'd been welcomed by Celestia rather easily, citing her gentle disposition and her history with medical knowledge and spells. It made her think of Rolling Waves. She'd done everything she possibly could, right? Maybe she could go check on him -

And that's when she realized that she'd been alone with her thoughts for only twenty seconds, but it was enough for her to not realize that Cyno's shuffling had stopped. Spark Storm was lowered gently to the mossy ground and left there.

After a few seconds of brushing some low-hanging branches to the side, she found a panicking griffon, hog-tied and her beak wrapped shut with a thick twine. She pulled her break free and immediately recoiled as she started screaming. "FIND HER!! SHE TOOK CYNO, SHE'S GOING TO KILL HIM!!"

1 - Reenlistment

Spark Storm laid on his bed, a quiet, almost dead scowl in his eyes. He'd had a rough week, and being back in his old Canterlot apartment just didn't feel right anymore, and most of this was coming from Sohl's absence. That, and he'd been dumped, but of course he'd been expecting that. Sohl, one of his most trusted confidants and closest friends, had been acting strangely the day Shimmering Oasis attacked. That day, both alicorn and harpy disappeared without a trace.

Spark was due in Celestia's audience chamber in ten minutes, but he'd scarcely moved after the third day of waiting for Sohl to come back. It was all too apparent by now that she wasn't, and it was affecting Spark so negatively that even Orea couldn't move him.

A gentle, almost timid knock on the door perked Spark's attention. It wasn't a hard, hoof-on-wood knock. It had a high, almost tinny sound to it. It was a sound that he recognized, a sound that made him very angry. It was a harpy's knock. He didn't bother to respond. He simply rolled away from the door as the sound of scratching at the door could be heard. "Oh, this is so strange...how do you ponies open doors?" Amacia's voice sounded from outside.

Spark sighed heavily and waited a moment. Amacia was still having trouble two minutes later. Finally, he said, "Push in on the circle, hold down, then push in."

There was quiet, and finally the door's inner latch clicked as the harpy did as she was told. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her, eyes wide with anxiety. She'd spent the entire day walking here from the royal gardens - as a chicken. She'd had way too many close encounters with random ponies for comfort.

Amacia frowned sadly down at Spark Storm. He must've been really attached to Sohl...but Sohl is a monster, like the rest of them. What does that say about him? she thought warily as she approached his bed slowly.

"What do you want?" Spark asked, breaking the quiet in the room loud enough to make Amacia flinch. She continued on after a moment, and finally sat down behind Spark. She rested a hand lightly on his back between his shoulder blades.

Amacia closed her eyes to concentrate. While Spark's angry attitude scared her a little, her motherly instincts overrode her fear. Amacia was a true coward in most situations; when it came to her own safety and mortality, she came first. Self preservation was usually her first instinct in dangerous times. But when it came to others' pain and safety, her instincts as a medic kicked in, and that included the ones that were too depressed or angry to think straight.

"Mister Storm, you can't stay here. There are politics involved with your return," Amacia told him, meeting his annoyed gaze as he glanced back at her. "...s-so I'm told. I get that, and times like these, it's important not to fall behind. Not just for others around you, but for you. I realize you're mourning the disappearance of your friend, but the more you let yourself sink into this depression, the harder it'll be to pull yourself out of it."

Spark's gaze narrowed, an angry glare that he fixed on Amacia. He knew she was right, but right now he was just too hurt and angry to try picking himself up again. "...I don't care," he told her.

Amacia steeled herself to get intense, but a new presence made itself known in the room. "Oh, that's it," an angry feminine voice said from the darkness of the other side of the apartment. Amacia jumped in surprise, being unaware that Ampelus was already inside. The nymph strode forward, the vines around her body writhing with agitation. "Storm, you're the single bravest, most stubborn creature I've ever met. I don't care if you are still just a child, this behavior is embarrassing! Now get your ass out of bed and get all clean and shiny for the princess!"

Spark tensed at the look in the nymph's eyes, completely different from the look she'd given him in the caves. Even if they'd achieved a respect and trust for each other, that apparently didn't mean that she would be compliant and gentle. This would probably have significant positive influence on him at a later point in time, but right now it was just making him angrier. "Nopony asked you, Ampelus. Just leave me alone, I'm warning you!"

Ampelus stopped approaching when she got to the foot of Spark's bed, a look in her eyes that told him she wasn't playing around, either. Suddenly, she grinned a most evil grin and reached down with her vines to wrap around his waist and lower legs. Spark immediately set his wings ablaze with electricity and struck down at her vines, quite ineffectively. By now, Amacia had reverted to her little chicken form and hid under the bed.

Spark looked on in shock as his attacks, which were usually very effective against Ampelus, were now rendered moot. In the darkness of the room, he could barely make out long, black shapes along her vines. His wings were tied together, and that's when he felt it; the smoothness of his captors, the cold surface. Nymphs weren't cold, so..."Rubber? Are you kidding me?!" he yelled at her.

Ampelus grinned, quite pleased with herself. "After our encounter with that Lotus mare, I figured if it worked for her, it could work for me. Ingenius. Someone somewhere is probably wondering where all his rubber went to, and you can't make me take it back, now that I know this works."

Spark Storm, his control over the situation taken completely from him, roared with anger. "You put me down right this instant! Right now!"

Ampelus shivered with delight at Spark's indignity. "I'll have to remember this for later. Right now, I'm doing this for your own good. You need a bath, stinky."

Spark glared down at Ampelus with intense anger as she pulled him close and walked off with him to the bathroom. "Ampelus, I am warning you-"

The pegasi's threats and protests fell on deaf ears. Amacia peeked her head out from under the bed, her beady eyes curious, and in awe of how quickly the nymph had taken control of the situation. She stood in rapt attention, listening as the shouting from both parties escalated until there was a splash, then quieter, more subdued arguing. Suddenly, Amacia heard Spark shriek. Not scream or yell, but shriek. Immediately following, there was an explosion from the bathroom, a great splash of water, and then quiet.

The harpy watched as water seeped out under the doorway, then the door opened as Spark Storm walked out, looking frazzled, violated, angry and embarrassed, but he was spotless and smelled fresh and clean. Behind him, Ampelus walked out looking more pleased than she had any right to be. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it? Your princess can buy you a new bath, right?" She paused and looked back into the bathroom, now too dark to see as the light had malfunctioned due to getting wet. "...you might need a whole new bathroom, come to think of it."

Spark Storm stopped at the door as he glared silently back at the nymph. Ampelus turned back to look at him, a hoof brought up to her mouth to hold in the laughter at the look she was giving him. "Don't look at me like that, I am what I am. And you discovered that you can't shock yourself in water, that's bound to be useful, right?"

"I kind of hate you right now," Spark told her, still holding that glare.

Ampelus grinned gleefully and stepped towards him, her vines retreating, leaving the coils of rubber to fall on the floor. "I know. So do I have to march you down there, or are you going to be a responsible pegasus and get to your meeting yourself?"

Spark snarled and fled the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. Ampelus grinned and hopped onto the bed where Spark had previously been laying, rolling on her back. She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly and smiled to herself. Amacia poked her head over the top of the bed, having returned to harpy form, a questioning look in her eyes. Come to think of it, she hadn't noticed Spark Storm having an overpowering odor at all. Ampelus winked at her.

Spark Storm heaved a great sigh as he stepped away from his apartment. He slowly came to a stop, his eyes closed. He took a few deep breaths, listened to the sounds of the city, felt the wind in his mane. He really did feel a little better out here, even after Ampelus had just treated him. He supposed he owed her a thanks for getting him off his ass, but that bath was completely uncalled for. Still, he smelled like roses and sweet smelling stuff. Now that he thought about it, he definitely needed to talk to Ampelus about using his bathtub. Well...when they got a new one. Not a conversation he was looking forward to having with the princess. Speaking of which, he was late for a meeting with her. He took off at a run towards the palace.

Now that Spark Storm was out of his apartment, a real sense of urgency started to rise in his stomach. He hadn't cared about being late, or even going to this meeting. He hadn't deemed it important. But now he ran as fast as he could. As he approached the gate leading into the palace, a pair of pegasi, white and adorned with golden armor, stepped in Spark's way. "Meeting with the princess, gotta go!" he called, and leapt up into the air, his wings giving him extra boost as he sailed over the guards' heads.

The two started to pursue, but stopped when a big white unicorn stood in their way and smiled down at the two good-naturedly. "At ease, you two. He's one of 'them.'"

The guards, both of whom were new, stared up at their lieutenant in awe. They'd heard of Celestia's Fighters, but had never seen one. They returned to their posts, both looking a little perturbed. After a moment the guard on the right learned towards his partner. "So...did you know that they came that young?"

Spark flew down the hallway leading to Celestia's audience chamber. Finally, he came to a stop before the great double doors, a frown on his face. The last time he'd been in this room, the manure had figuratively and almost literally hit the fan. A terrible fall-out had occurred between him and Princess Celestia, and things hadn't looked too good between her and Sohl, either. Or Orea, for that matter. Still, if he was going to move past that incident, he needed to grab the minotaur by the horns. He took one more deep breath, then pushed the doors open slowly.

Spark Storm took in the scene before him, a small knot already forming itself in his stomach. The entire Fighters team had been assembled, something he'd hoped wouldn't happen for his first meeting with the princess. The last thing he needed was his very recent ex-girlfriend sitting there judging him while he began this meeting. There was no helping it now, though. He stepped down the red carpet, sighing once more as he contemplated his fate.

"Spark Storm, it's a pleasure to see you again," Celestia told him in that too-pleasant voice she used when she was trying to hide annoyance or anger. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't be making it this morning."

Spark's ears flattened, inclining his head ever so slightly in apology. "I'm very sorry, princess," he told her, already feeling the glares of his comrades. "I found it a little difficult to leave the apartment today. I apparently needed some...'help'."

Celestia regarded Spark Storm for a moment. Finally, she nodded her head, apparently accepting his answer. "I suppose it's all right, Spark. This hasn't been the most pleasant month for anypony. Now...you know why you're here, Spark Storm. Please, if you would?"

Spark let out a sigh of relief at the princess' forgiveness and dismissal of him being late. He was grateful for a break for once. Now, the hard part. He took a moment to look over the faces of his comrades. At least, they had been. This meeting would determine if they would be his teammates again. Finally, he spoke. "We are all gathered here to determine my immediate future," he began. "Certain events in the past month have left my reliability in question. I need your help in determining my reenlistment with the Fighters, whether it is to be so, or if I am to be relieved of my standing, and removed from the princess' service."

Celestia smiled approvingly at Spark. He'd been practicing his speech. She was worried that he wouldn't be prepared, but apparently he was willing to take this meeting seriously. "Well spoken, Spark Storm. Now, the rest of you: I need not tell you what has transpired over the last month. Spark Storm, while separated from us, has gone through several ordeals, including life-threatening situations that could've gone very differently had he not been involved. His presence in these matters helped to save many lives, even though an entire race of creatures was obliterated in the process." Celestia held a hoof for silence when Spark looked like he had something to say. "Entirely not your fault, Spark. Nopony is blaming you for that."

"What we are blaming you for is ditching the team!" Heads turned, including Celestia's, to watch Flash Fire step forward, her famous temper flaring up. "Look, I stood behind you when you demanded that we all step up and choose between you and Sapphire for our leader. It was bad enough that you made that scene, but then you went and ran off. You ditched us, Spark Storm. We needed you and you ran off with your tail between your legs."

Spark winced at Flash Fire's words. It was true, it was very true. He nodded quietly in agreement. "Thank you for your input, Flash Fire," Celestia's voice seemed so loud in the silence following the unicorn's accusation. "This is what I am looking for; input from all of you. Flash Fire has gone first, and does not need to add anything else." Flash Fire winced at the princess' tone, then sat down quietly.

Gunslinger stepped up next. He and Spark locked eyes for a moment, then the unicorn took his turn. "I agree with Flash Fire." What? Spark thought, panic and a bit of hurt tightening in his chest. "I think what happened the night of Sapphire's party was overly dramatic and completely unnecessary. A lot o' drama coulda been avoided if Spark Storm had just accepted his role with some dignity." Spark sighed quietly and lowered his gaze. Things were not looking good for his return. "But..." Gunslinger continued, "Spark Storm demonstrated extreme valor, courage and leadership in his role against the changelings and the alicorn Shimmering Oasis.

"Thanks to his quick thinkin', he and I were able to put a stop to Shimmering Oasis' attack on Ponyville. It was only thanks to our combined efforts that no single pony died in town that day. Not only that, but it was thanks to him and that fancy white pony he arrived with at the changeling caves that the unicorn Russet Hearts and the pegasus Fluttershy were rescued. I'm told it was no easy feat, neither, in their battle with the unaccounted-for Fire Lotus. I'm castin' my vote a 'yes' for his reenlistment."

Spark Storm gave Gunslinger a small appreciative smile, then turned his eyes to Lemon Pop. He's already done wrong by her, so he was expecting her to go hard on him. However, the red pegasus simply smiled at him. Her decisiveness had quickened since a month ago, her confidence no longer in question. "I am all for Spark Storm returning to his duties." Lemon Pop stepped towards Spark Storm, then sat down at his side, facing her teammates, a hardened look in her eyes. "Now I ask you all to think back, and I mean think reeeaaally hard. How many times have you all screwed up? Made a mistake that made others question your judgment or your loyalty? Because I tell you all right now, the night that Spark Storm left I made a choice that should've put me in the same situation as Spark Storm is in.

"That night I chose Spark Storm over my best friend." Lemon Pop's speech, from the beginning, had grabbed the attention of the others from the start. Lemon Pop wasn't normally this serious, and she wasn't normally one to make speeches, or to take charge. She was a silly pony that was much too hyper and had a mean kick. Only Sapphire Snow knew her to get like this, having experienced Lemon Pop's more serious and actually wise words herself. Sapphire found herself frowning; not from her distaste for Lemon Pop's support, but from being under her best friend's scrutiny.

"I know that I ended up backing up Sapphire that night instead of Spark Storm, but I had already made my choice, and I still stand by it. Spark Storm has been a bigger influence on this team than any other pony in the history of Celestia's Fighters, and I believe that his choice to leave the team might have been the right thing to do."

The entire team of pegasi, earth pony and unicorn stared at Lemon Pop as if she were crazy, Spark Storm included. Celestia herself seemed speechless as she looked down at the two pegasi standing together. Lemon turned to Spark, a determined look in her eye. "Spark Storm, you've been such a big influence on all of us. You've been brave, smart, and you've put your life on the line for us so many times that I feel it's a crime that we're even having to make a decision on whether or not to keep you on. I'd follow you into Tartarus if you asked me to...you've always believed in me and you never questioned my judgment," she paused, then turned to look at the rest of her team. "And if any one of you questions my judgment, I won't forgive you!"

Celestia smiled warmly. She was very happy that Spark Storm had found such a loyal friend. Lemon Pop's speech had struck a chord in the rest, it seemed. The doubts and misgivings that the rest of the team had held in reserve seemed to melt away with the red pegasi's testament. The ponies remaining glanced at each other, each daring the other to have a negative word to say about Spark.

After a full minute's pause, Sapphire Snow stepped forward, an angry but tired and resigned look in her eyes. "Well Lemon Pop, I think you broke the possibility of Spark Storm being sent away. I, for one, wanted Spark to stay. My...personal feelings aside, I think that he's completely reliable, honorable, intelligent, and more than worthy to stay with the team. Just don't expect me to welcome him back with open arms or a friendly word," she said, fixing Spark Storm with a furious gaze. "You won't get any forgiveness from me anytime soon, so just stay away from me. Welcome back to the team," she finished coldly, then made her way quickly out of the room.

The room was silent and awkward until Sapphire disappeared down the hall. As soon as she was gone, though, the room erupted into cheers and elated 'whoop's. Lemon Pop was the first to hug Spark Storm, since she was the closest, nearly bowling over the bigger pegasus. She gave him room as the others came close to give their congratulations, all except Flash Fire. She didn't really care about Spark's broken relationship with Sapphire, she had her own reasons to disagree with the now-unanimous decision to keep Spark Storm on the team. Her attitude was closely monitored by the princess, who was starting to suspect that these issues between Spark Storm and the team were far from over.

Spark was in the middle of receiving noogie from Frostbite when the princess cleared her throat to catch the ponies' attention. "My friends, thank you all for coming and lending your opinions and honesty. This meeting is adjourned. I would ask that you all prepare for a new meeting in two days. In the meantime, I must ask that you all find time to extend a welcome to the newest possible member of the team, Shadow Heart." Celestia turned her attention to Spark. "Spark Storm, you know where he is, if I'm not mistaken? Please prep our new friend for what is to come, as our newest member the routine is freshest for you. See that he gets the proper welcoming from our other members."

Spark Storm nodded, then managed a respectable bow of his head. "I will, princess."

Celestia paused as she remembered something else on her list. "And I think it's about time that we discussed your two new companions..."

Spark sighed quietly and gave a nod to his friends and teammates. Understanding that this was going to take a while, Lemon Pop bounced her way out of the audience chamber, followed by the others. As soon as the room was opened, Celestia closed the doors across the large room with her magic, then smiled patiently down at Spark Storm. "Spark, I think it's obvious that you've proven that you're trustworthy. All of your companions thus far have also been trustworthy. I...I had my doubts about Sohl," she paused, noting the frown now developing on Spark's face, "but even she proved herself, despite her apparent disappearance.

"I still have yet to meet this Amacia, but from what you've already told me she seems to be harmless. A bit of a coward, from what I've seen, though little Orea informs me that she's quite practiced in medicine. This might prove useful, and would be most welcome. Now...your association with the nymph Ampelus concerns me. I have heard disturbing things about her, specifically from Flash Fire and Frostbite, both of whom fought with her after she violently violated poor Flash Fire." Spark had gone strangely quiet during this, and had fixed a frowning gaze upon Celestia's throne beyond her. "What have you to say about this, Spark Storm?"

Spark finally glanced up at Celestia, his gaze confident and hard. "I know she's not the best choice on whether or not to keep around. She does have a hunger and a certain intent on making others uncomfortable, and she can be dangerous. But Ampelus chose to sacrifice herself so that Fluttershy and I could escape with our lives. I chose to remove that choice from her. I believe that in doing so, I earned her trust and her respect. I believe that in doing so I've earned her obedience. She's still a bit...touchy now and then, but so far she hasn't endangered anypony or given me reason to think that she might hurt any others in any way. I owe her my life, as she owes me hers. I'll take full responsibility for her."

Celestia stared down at Spark in slight surprise. This change in the nymph had come quite suddenly, and Spark Storm was quick to change his mind about her. Then again...a small smile spread over her face, lighting up her eyes. She was very proud of how far he'd come. Spark Storm was already starting to heal..."I see. I shall trust your judgment, Spark. Please, keep her in line, at the very least away from Flash Fire. I don't want there to be any reason to confront her."

Spark Storm smiled and nodded his head in agreement. Suddenly remembering this morning, Spark paled just a little. "Uh, Princess," Spark said cautiously. "I forgot to mention something that needs immediate attention. Uh...could I possibly have you send somepony out to fix my bathroom?"

10 - Introductions And A Reunion

Anorax stood at the bow of the ship as it drew closer to the old wooden docks at the pier. Despite knowing that this could be his last chance to have fun and relax with Madalah, this last hour had been exciting for him. He could go with Madalah alone into the woods, explore for a few days, relax, and forget about this whole thing for a while. This thought made him smile, made him relax a little, even excited. He decided that, least for now, he would just concentrate on her. He smiled reassuringly for her as she emerged from the cabins, a smile that she met with a little less enthusiasm, but the same eagerness for a reprieve was there in her eyes.

"Hey, guys!" Laser Reflex called from the right side of the ship. Spark, the changelings in their pegasi forms, Russet and Trixie stepped over to see what he was calling about. It seemed that there was a gathering at the pier to meet the ship. Dozens of earth pony, pegasi and a few unicorns had made their way from their island homes, all carrying various gifts, a welcoming tradition. Laser turned to his friends and gestured to some of the flower leis that the pretty island girls had brought. "Hey everybody!" Spark winced, readying himself for what was sure to be a terrible joke. "We're all gonna get lei'd!"

There was a collective groan as Spark's fear was affirmed. It was a terrible joke, with even less class than he was expecting. "Ugh. Cute, Laser, really cute." Laser shrugged and looked down at all the mares. Many of them were in their mid-teens, slightly younger than him. This was his kind of place! Now if only Trixie's nagging words from the other day weren't now actively running through his mind. He sighed dejectedly and slumped onto the floor. Meanwhile, overhead, the crew worked fervently to prepare the ship as it came in to the piers, readying ropes to the tie the ship to the harbor.

Near the back of the crowd, a hefty burnt-orange unicorn stallion with messy, short brown curls in his mane and an even shorter tail fidgeted, his dark aquamarine eyes darting left and right. Where was his contact? After another minute or two of waiting, a tall green earth pony, sporting a short light blue mohawk stepped up beside him. Despite him being an earth pony, there was nothing earthy about him. He looked more like he was made for the sea, and his slanted shark-like eyes didn't really help his look. "Mayor Sandy Sunset - you're looking nervous," the tall pony more warned than told him.

The mayor let out a yelp as he turned to the earth pony. "Oh, Lusus! Don't scare me like that, you know my blood pressure is already through the roof here, I-" he trailed off as the one called Lusus held up a hoof for silence. One did not just keep talking when Lusus wanted quiet.

"I was told there would be no more island visitors until later this week - after tonight's festivities. Who are they and why are they here?"

Sandy swallowed hard as he looked up at the bigger pony. "I-I haven't the faintest idea, Lusus. I assume they're more tourists. I...I could try sending them away..."

Lusus frowned and glanced at the ship. He had a peculiar feeling about this ship and it's contents, but he couldn't just send them away, it would look suspicious. Best to keep them occupied at the other side of the island, maybe mix them up with the locals. "No. We can't do that now. Have your son show them around and introduce them to some of the locals. Maybe...Deep Surf. He can keep things interesting...it'll be best to keep his nose out of my business, as well."

Sandy nodded obediently and stared at the group of girls waiting at the pier. Was that Seaweed? She was bouncing and giddy and yelling at the males in greeting as well as any of the other girls. "...Since when does Seaweed fall in line with the other girls? She's always been so...disturbingly quiet," the mayor mused.

In a rare moment of going along with unnecessary conversation, Lusus looked over to see the pretty blue earth mare with the wavy green mane and tail shrieking and waving excitedly. "It's a little something she's been getting into lately; trying to fit in, blend in with the crowd. Method acting, I think she called it. She can mimic most any attitude and social activity and seem like a normal pony, but...she doesn't understand the reasons for others' actions. She probably never will. She'll never be normal."

The mayor wasn't sure what to make of this information, he just knew he needed to get over to his guests and play his part. Now where was Sunny Waves? Sandy spotted his son in the crowd, smiling excitedly. He followed his son's gaze at the two females on board the ship - both unicorns? A small, almost hopeful smile pulled over the older unicorn's face. Maybe, just maybe, there was some small chance of happiness for his son. There was nothing left but to pray that these strangers managed to stay out of Lusus' way tonight.

Flash Fire frowned unhappily at Spark Storm's side. She might've been able to enjoy herself at the fact that the group was staying here for a week if she weren't burdened with the guilt of horribly burning one of the crew. Rolling Waves, completely covered in bandages and laid out on a cot, had been set beside the unicorn. It was bad enough that she put him in that state, but the ship's crew was hell-bent on reminding her of it every step of the way.

She nearly jumped when she felt a hoof on her back, prompting her ears to pin back. Her gaze narrowed but not did swerve to put her glare on the perpetrator. "Spark...not to be pissy or anything, but I don't want your sympathy."

"It's not sympathy, Flash Fire, it's a light prompting, more like a request, to have you calm down. You're too tense," the pegasus replied, and after a moment removed his hoof.

"You try relaxing when you have a ship's crew staring at you and muttering curses behind your back!" she hissed in reply, now turning to glare up at Spark. The sound of a throat clearing caught the two's attention as the captain sidled up between them and waved down at the crowd below on the piers.

"There'll be no arguing or fighting or speaking of our business while we're on this island. We keep to ourselves, we tend to our own, then we leave when Rolling Wave's wounds have had a chance to heal a little," he said, glancing inbetween the two of them, surprisingly his gaze off of Flash Fire when he mentioned the burn victim. "Am I understood?" he added, this time a stern glare on Flash Fire.

"Yes, of course," she told him.

"Understood, sir," Spark affirmed.

"Then let's get off this ship and get busy laying low. I don't want any trouble, not from you, not from the locals. Stay close to each other, don't get lost," The captain gave both Fighters a stern gaze before stepping on a switch that revealed a set of stairs that slowly emerged from the ship that would connect it to the pier. As the ship's captain turned to help his crew get Rolling Waves hoisted down the ramp, Spark and Flash shared a look. Their sponsor had given them an awful lot of rules for a simple rest-up. There was more to this situation than he was telling them.

After Rolling Waves had been carted off the ship, the group was ready to disembark. Flash Fire went first, a bit nervous at all the teenage colts crowding around her. Trixie, however, was ecstatic. All the cute stallions, and even some of the entranced girls who 'ooh'd and 'aah'd at her looks. Some "I love your coat, it shines like the sun!" and "I really love your mane!" and "Marry me!"'s were dropped on her, leaving her both blushing and happy at all the sudden attention.

One unicorn in particular stood out to the showmare. He was a tall, bright orange unicorn with a gorgeous brown mane that had orange and cream streaks in it. She had to stare at the stallion's aquamarine eyes, and soon found herself standing before him, transfixed on the young colt's athletic body. "Hi there. Welcome to Sunanwaves," he told her with a lazy but confidant smile. "I'm Sunny Waves."

"Sunny Waves?" Trixie repeated, a flirtatious smile in her eyes. "Like Sunanwaves?"

The stallion rolled his eyes good-naturedly, flashing the pretty mare a brilliant smile. "Well, yeah. My dad's the mayor of the island. He thought it'd be funny to name me after it. Pay it no mind - please. The locals bug me about it enough." This brought Trixie to giggles, and the two proceeded to walk slowly together ahead of the group.

"Man..." Laser said as he received a lei and a kiss on the cheek from one of the local mares, a pretty blue mare with a mane and tail that looked like the most beautiful bright green seaweed. "The islanders really know how to make a stallion feel welcome."

Spark rolled his eyes as he made his way slowly past the same mare. The two locked eyes for a moment, and immediately the pegasus began to feel uneasy, as if expecting the mare to lash out at him any moment. She smiled prettily enough at him, but it felt like she was waiting for him to turn his back. It felt like she wanted to pounce on him and rip at his wings and throat...

Nothing happened as he turned his eyes, and the earth pony turned away from him to greet the others as they stepped off the ship. He shivered and ruffled his wings, a relieved sigh escaping him. He hoped he wouldn't be running into her again. An audible shudder behind him prompted him to glance behind to see all three changelings, in their pegasi forms, hurrying to catch up. "Anorax, did you feel that?" he asked.

The white pegasus nodded and shivered once more. "Yeah. That was...disturbing."

"What did you feel?"

Anorax and Kecnik stared at each other a moment, while Madalah remained quiet. Finally, the tall blue pegasus shook his head slowly. "It was...a mess of thoughts and feelings. That mare back there, she's not right in the head. She wasn't there to greet anyone, she...she wanted to please someone. She was hiding in plain sight, waiting to jump at any one of us and..." he shuddered as he trailed off. "Whatever it is she wants, it's not pleasant."

Spark frowned thoughtfully to himself, almost bumping into Flash Fire just ahead of him, who had stopped in front of a portly orange unicorn who greatly resembled the young unicorn who was currently engaged in conversation with Trixie some ways ahead on the beach. "Welcome, travelers!" he said with a cheerful, booming voice. My name is Sandy Sunset, I am the mayor of Sunanwaves. I've already had a talk with your captain, I know why you're here. Let me just welcome you to our island, how do you do?" He held out a hoof, a slightly nervous glance drifting inbetween Flash Fire and Spark Storm.

Spark's partner smiled most humbly and gestured her head at Spark, indicating that he was the pony to talk to. She stepped back as the bigger unicorn shook hooves with the pegasus. "Thank you for the warm reception, Mayor," Spark said, glancing at Flash Fire out of the corner of his eyes. He shrugged and swept his eyes over the beach and the forest beyond. "This is really a beautiful island - can I ask what we can expect to find here?"

This question caused the mayor's left eye to twitch. "W-well, we have many fine tourist locations, of course. We have some of the finest establishments that are fun, safe and...entertaining. Uh, we have many surfing opportunities. My son can show you around, I believe one of your friends is talking with him now," he said, indicating Trixie as he seemed to pick up some confidence.

The mayor sighed with relief. His meeting with Lusus had unnerved him, but he was slowly picking up his game. He'd have this particular situation handled in no time, but he needed something else to keep the group occupied. Oh, that's it! he thought to himself. "Oh, and before I forget, I would direct you to the center of the island. We have a marvelous facility, a biodome. Our local scientist and wildlife fanatic runs the place, Mimosa Palm. I would suggest that you stop by and see the massive habitat he runs."

Spark smiled at the idea of this. Suddenly, the green 'jacket' around his body ruffled, as if the entire surface began to quiver. The mayor, Flash Fire and the changeling stared at him a moment. Spark glanced between them after the quivering came to a stop almost immediately. He coughed and held a hoof at his stomach. "Uh...haven't eaten since yesterday," he told the group nervously, though this was only for the mayor's benefit. "Probably need to get some food in me, heheh..."

"Well..." Sandy said, glancing about for a moment until he faced the pegasus once more. "Why don't you all head into the village and grab a bite to eat before beginning your adventures? Our local eateries include magnificent pizza and all kinds of different foods. Sweet breads, ripe pineapple, and...I don't suppose any of you would be open to fish?"

Spark's eyes widened with excitement at this prospect. "Your island sells fish?!" This was all the prompting that Spark needed. He grinned and waved goodbye to the mayor, who stared after him in surprise.

"He really likes his fish," Anorax explained as the trio followed along behind him. The mayor stared after the group for a moment, then sighed with relief. Their dark blue pegasus seemed a little unusual, but so far, the group offered nothing to worry about...right? His cursory glance at the brush behind him revealed a pair of slanted light blue eyes that gave him an affirming nod. Nothing to worry about.

Spark Storm's mouth was watering at the prospect of fish, his favorite food. After learning how to survive on fish in the wilderness, it had quickly climbed the ranks of his most-sought after foods. None of his friends shared the same desires when choosing what to eat. The eager pegasus followed the pattern of coming and going to a clear in the trees that opened at the right-hoof side of the beach that lead to a sand-covered sidewalk, which in turn followed a gently down-sloping hill that eventually opened up into a quaint, relaxed-looking village.

The buildings were all old wood, but sturdy. The colors of the village seemed to be mostly brown, with white rooftops. The ground was littered with sand, even though most of the ground here was black asphalt. He had just begun to smell the glorious scent of grilled fish when he felt himself being pulled into the bushes. He hadn't seen anypony beside him, so he pulled away and back onto the sidewalk, his head snapping in the direction his unseen assailant should've been, but there was nothing.

A second pull revealed that Ampelus had wrapped a vine around a passing tree and was pulling him towards it, as she was still anchored to his body in the "jacket" around him. The pegasus sighed and stepped into the brush and made sure that nopony was watching. He sat down and waited as the nymph finally emerged from his body, leaving him bare, a feeling most welcome as wearing the elastic body had felt overly warm. Spark shook himself off with a sigh of relief.

The now revealed Ampelus slowly pulled herself into shape with a few groans and plenty of stretching. Staying in a mostly flat shape was tiresome, but at least this time she wasn't as hungry as last time. The nymph turned to revere Spark, but something other than the pegasi's body was on her mind for once. Her thoughtful glance was not lost on him. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "Ampelus? What's going on with you? Ever since earlier on the ship, you've been acting strange."

Ampelus set a pair of angry blue eyes on the pegasus, her vines rattling loudly. "I don't recall inviting your concern!"

Spark backed off a step, surprise in his eyes. Ampelus almost never snapped at him for showing concern, and it was even more rare for him to be concerned about her in the first place. Thinking that perhaps she was still tense about his aggression in the apartment, he pressed further with more caution. "Ampelus, talk to me. I care about you and you're acting a little different from usual. Please?"

Spark's gentle words took the nymph by surprise. Again, like he'd done on the ship, he was being much more patient and inviting than he had been in the last few months. He was returning to the way he was, before the caves, and this new turn of events was inviting all new kinds of situations between them. She wasn't sure how much more niceness between them she could tolerate. In the time she'd spent with Spark, she'd gone from hating him, to tolerating him, and to respecting him. Since when had they gone from respecting each other to caring about each other as friends?

Ampelus frowned thoughtfully and began pacing about in front of Spark, her concerns and thoughts now doubly heavy with this new development between the two. "Spark, I...I don't know how to say this without throttling you. There's something on this island that's very familiar to me. It's...it's everywhere, in the air, on the trees, in..." she stopped at the nearest tree, a bamboo tree. Beyond it, nothing but bamboo for miles. She scratched at her chin thoughtfully, becoming silent.

"Uh..." Spark began. "what does this familiar feeling have anything to do with throttling me?"

The nymph turned back around and glared at him. "It has everything to do with that!"

"You mean it's just convenient for you, because you're angry about what you can't figure out and I'm right here?"

"That's exactly it, thank you for saving me the trouble of demonstrating that fact, Sparky," Ampelus told him sweetly as she approached him and lightly pressed their muzzles together and gave him a seductive, bedroom-eyed stare. When he gave her no more response than an inch of space between them, she scowled and turned away from him. Before, she could get such reactions from him, and now he refused to give her a proper response like he used to. It was beyond frustrating. She'd had enough.

"Look, go find some food. Your belly was making all kinds of weird sounds, it's hungry. I'm going to go explore the island for a bit, see if I can't find what's bugging me," she told him without looking back at him.

Spark watched her go silently for a moment, then shrugged and turned to step out of the bushes and back into the crowd. With his business with Ampelus concluded for now, he could concentrate on what he really wanted - a nice grilled fish. Glancing about at the open market ahead, he frowned as he saw Laser Reflex chatting it up with the pretty blue mare from before. Something told him that even talking with her was a bad idea. For now, he kept a safe distance from her, though he would keep his eyes on her. Laser obviously wasn't getting the same homicidal vibes from her, it was best not to let either of them get too far off.

Ampelus slipped inbetween the trees stealthily, keeping to the shadows. Not a difficult task, considering the island was mostly comprised of trees, and every last one of them had a familiar scent to them. The problem was not knowing where this scent came from or what it meant to her, in fact it was the opposite: she knew exactly what this smell was, and it annoyed her to no end.

The walk towards the center of the island was a long one, mostly because there were many settlements and villages to avoid. The deeper she traveled, though, the more sparse the population became. Within a few miles the settlements disappeared altogether.

The wildlife was fairly basic, consisting of the usual bugs - dragonflies, butterflies, bees, spiders, ants. The one thing that really threw her off, however, was a roadrunner that she spotted dashing about. She'd never seen one of these birds before, but she just knew that it didn't belong in the jungle. Nowhere in her race memory did a bird that looked acclimated for dry conditions would belong here. So why...? Oh. Pausing in a clearing, she came to the edge of a massive building that seemed to stretch for miles, made of thick glass.

There was a small panel missing from the building directly in front of her, letting out an intense heat from inside, something that made Ampelus cringe in displeasure. This heat was an unwelcome sensation. Glancing once more at the small bird scuttling around on the ground, she approached it slowly. The roadrunner hopped towards her, it's head tilting this way and that as it got a good look at her, apparently not deeming her a threat. She smirked at this and shot a vine out from her mane and picked up the bird. It screeched in panic as she brought it closer to her. "That's the sound you should be making, little one. Now get back in there."

With a careful toss, the roadrunner was deposited back into it's habitat. The nymph frowned; without a panel to plug up the hole, he would just escape again, and die out here, out of his element. She shrugged and ripped up a good sized chunk of earth and stuffed it into the hole until it was impossible to escape from again.

Ampelus, satisfied with her work, sighed and shook her head as she slowly turned to look at the stallion that had been following and watching her for some time. Mimosa Palm approached her, then sat down on his haunches and clopped his hooves together joyfully. "Wonderful! That was truly compassionate of you. I have to say, though, you're certainly different from the last time I saw you, you must've been..." he paused and brought a hoof to about half-way down Ampelus' shoulder. "-this tall last time I saw you."

Ampelus frowned and slapped his hoof away from her. He wasn't going to get away with pretending like nothing happened between them. "What is your problem? You disappear for four hundred years and you think it's ok to just up and talk to me after all this time?"

"Well, technically, sweetie, you came to me," he pointed out as he rubbed his slapped hoof. She'd gotten stronger too, gods!

Ampelus hissed at Mimosa for even implicating such a thing. She stared at him a moment, then reached out and dabbed at the white coat around the stallion. "What is this?"

Mimosa glanced down at his coat and shrugged. "It's a doctor's coat, I guess. I don't know, I just like it, but if you prefer-" he paused and began taking off his coat. Ampelus rolled her eyes and sat down to watch him. The coat was placed on a branch, and Mimosa's body was revealed - a strong back, insect-like wings unfolding as the dryad stretched them out. "Ohh, my. That feels wonderful. I should take that coat off more often, I don't know if my wings even work anymore." Mimosa turned back around and smiled at Ampelus. "So? How does your old man look?"

Ampelus shook her head, completely unimpressed. "You look the same as always, daddy. You look ridiculous."

15 - Friends And Enemies Part 3

The rumbling continued, something Mimosa now recognized as impact tremors, and he had a good idea of what was making them. "Ampelus, be a dear and scoop out that poor siren, would you?"

Mimosa's daughter stared down at the limp creature laying at the bottom of the pool. Did she really have to? She turned a look of distaste at her father. "But...that's salt water. I don't like salt water."

Mimosa sighed. Had his daughter really never touched sea water before? There were going to be many, many lessons in the near future. "Really, Ampelus...the salt won't hurt you if you don't drink it. We are perfectly capable of touching it, even swimming in it, so long as we don't drink the water. Now bring her up."

Ampelus grumbled quietly as she approached the water amid the tremors underwater, her hooves nearly slipping as she neared the edge of the rock. Tentatively, she dipped her vines into the water, remembering bitterly how awful the water had tasted when she'd tried it back on the boat. The water was cool and pleasant, and she was tempted to drink from it. Thinking better on this, she stretched that pair of vines down into the depths of the rocky pool, and entwined them around the siren and pulled her up.

Suddenly, the tremors ceased. Both dryad and nymph glanced at each other, caution written on both their faces. As Ampelus pulled the siren's body up onto the rock she perched on, both pairs of eyes were drawn down below as a new figure emerged from the tunnel. Mimosa's face drew up into a smile, his eyes wide with recognition. "Ah. I thought so. Lusus." The figure down below was indeed Lusus, no longer in the enormous, frightening form from before, but barely bigger than Mimosa himself. The dryad was quiet as the seapony swam cautiously to the surface, aquamarine eyes focusing first on the siren, then on Ampelus, then on the dryad.

"Mimosa..." Lusus said quietly when he surfaced. His eyes darted back and forth between dryad and nymph, the latter of whom carried his prey. "...you're breeding."

Ampelus made a face at this, but Mimosa seemed to find the comment amusing. "Oh, Lusus, my boy...I bred quite a long time ago." Ampelus nearly gagged. "This is my daughter, Ampelus."

"Fascinating," the shark pony deadpanned, his eyes settling on the siren in Ampelus' grasp. "Would you mind returning that siren to me? I'd greatly appreciate it. No trouble, mind you. I was simply trying to have a word with her."

"From one predator to another - that's bullshit." Mimosa made no comment as Ampelus gave hers with a light sneer.

"It's really not your business." Ampelus grinned challengingly down at Lusus. He had moved slightly closer in the water, his expression unchanged. "She and I will finish our discussion, and I'd thank you to keep out of other's affairs."

"Well, I might've been willing to step back and let you have her," Mimosa began diplomatically. "...buuut, I'm afraid I'll have to deny you your wishes. See, she entered my domain in quite a panic. I know Leucothia, and she's not one to usually panic. I've never seen her so frightened."

"It's none of your concern," Lusus growled warningly. His tail thrashed about lightly in the water, clearly agitated. "Just give her to me and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened..."

"It's not your place to decide that, boy." Ampelus stared at her father. She'd never heard him speak in such an authoritative tone. It almost scared her. Lusus looked like he'd had enough. He dipped below the surface of the water, then shot upwards again, his powerful body thrusting upwards. He broke the water and sailed into the air, his body transforming quickly. The giant shark came down headfirst, the massive jaws opened to swallow siren and nymph both.

Ampelus stared in shock and fear. She'd never seen a creature transform from something as small as Lusus to something as massive as he was now. She stared up into the massive maw, down that dark throat, and actually heard his heartbeat, the gurgles in his stomach, and...wasn't he coming down? Apparently not. The jaws snapped at her from several feet up, water and saliva dripping down from above. She came out of her stupor to see that an even more massive tree had sprouted from where her father stood. The tree - no, her father, had himself increased his size and changed his shape into that of a massive tree that dwarfed even the shark and grabbed hold of it.

Lusus' massive form thrashed about in the great tree's grasp violently, scratching at the tree's branches with his pectoral fins and tail. It didn't seem to make sense to Ampelus how he could do this, but a closer look at the fins and tail revealed short, sharp spines, slightly hooked for grasping. "Mm, poison," the tree muttered in a deep, guttural voice. "That might've done the trick if it were beyond my biological sciences. And quite weak, at that. It's not your first choice of attack, it seems."

"I don't need it to chew you up, Mimosa!" the shark announced in that booming voice. The echos of his anger reached the ears of the unconscious Leucothia, stirring her into a panic. She wriggled free of Ampelus' grasp and fell to the ground. Finding herself out of her element and exposed, she stared up in horror as the strangest sight she'd ever seen played out.

Lusus wriggled until he caught the branch that held him in his fins, the spines grasping firmly as he bent his body quite suddenly, the large form more flexible than it looked, and latched onto the branch with his enormous jaws. Bark crunched loudly as teeth ripped through hardened flesh, branches snapping off and falling to the ground. The shark bit once more, snapping off bigger and heavier branches. Mimosa seemed to recoil, having been unprepared for such an onslaught. This drove Lusus to continue his assault, his jaws making quick work of the dyrad's branches.

Finally, Lusus had chewed through enough branches to escape. He fell to the ground with a whump, then dragged himself around until he faced Ampelus and Leucothia. The shark's grin stretched across his face as his pectoral fins pulled the giant body much quicker across the ground than one would think possible. "Three birds with one stone! Why didn't I try this earlier?!" the shark laughed, taking a moment to lean up and stare down at Ampelus and Leucothia, savoring the fear and helpless looks in their eyes. Leucothia, having been too horrified to move, curled up into a little ball, while Ampelus stood there, frozen on the spot. This wasn't an enemy she could beat - if it beat her father, how could she hope to?

Before Ampelus could react in defense, Lusus jumped. This time, Ampelus' vines shot forward, wrapping around the shark's nose. Though the nymph was still afraid, she would not die cowering on the ground. Lusus stared in surprise as the vines emerging from the nymph, who was so much smaller than himself, further wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving further and supporting his weight. "Not bad, kiddo. You're stronger than you look." Lusus' spined fins grasped at the ground below. Grasping at the dirt, the shark began to pull himself forward, despite Ampelus' efforts, and brought the massive jaw closer. "When you see your old man in the afterlife, you can blame him for your weak genetics."

"Our genetics are just fine." The voice of Mimosa Palm surprised both combatants. Ampelus looked overhead as the massive tree rose once more and reached for Lusus. As the branches from the bigger creature overtook the shark, Ampelus relinquished the sea monster. "Ampelus could handle you easily if she paid attention to the lessons I gave her when she was young. Still, it is good to see she faced her impending death with courage."

"You're deluding yourself if either of you think you could handle me," Lusus growled angrily as he turned in the tree's grasp, again grasping his captor with his fins. "Your flimsy branches can't hold me!" The shark bit down into the branches once more, but this time instead of a great creaking of wood, a terrible whining sound could be heard as tooth met stone. The horrible clacking noise turned into a shattering clatter not unlike broken glass. Lusus' scattered teeth fell to the ground, broken and cracked.

"My 'flimsy' branches, as you call them, as well as I, are able to adapt to certain situations. This petrified wood, as I'm sure you'll find, is difficult to bite through...as I'm sure the pain you're experiencing is now telling you." Lusus let out a roar of pain, his mouth dripping blood from where his broken teeth were jammed into his gums. "Now I'll have to ask you to leave. I imagine that you might need some help with that, though, I'm only too happy to oblidge." The tree reared up, it's shape changing to that of a massive bipedal form. An arm reached up and easily lifted one of the ceiling panels, giving way to the sky outside. "I trust you'll have more respect for my domain, sir, and I bid you a good day!" Lusus let out a roar of anger as he was flung out of the bio dome's ceiling.

There was silence as the bio dome's panel was replaced. Leucothia and Ampelus both just stared as the gigantic tree shrunk. The siren herself had never seen such a transformation before, Lusus being the biggest transformation she'd seen prior. Finally, the dryad returned to his pony form. Slightly bigger than the average stallion, bug-like wings, and the dorkiest pink mane a stallion ever did have. Mimosa sighed as he laid eyes on the tattered remains of his lab coat. "I lose more lab coats that way," he muttered before glancing at the girls. "...Not really. Doesn't happen often. I think that one was my favorite, too!"

"Um." Leucothia sat up slowly. What had she wandered into? She'd met Mimosa a few times before, this being a safe place to come to for whatever reasons, but she'd never seen him like this. Was it still safe? Her instincts told her it was.

"Well. Now then, Breezy Plume, would you care to tell me what that was all about?"

The siren made a face at her alias. The only name she'd given Mimosa was Leucothia. How did he...? Probably Deep Surf. Mouthy little...well, he's my mouthy little...whatever, she told herself. She stretched herself out, her tail pulling itself straight and rigid as her body began to transform. Within a moment, she'd regained her land legs and hidden her long, powerful tail. She looked like a pegasus again. "Not that it's any of your business-"

"You're welcome," Ampelus interjected. Pegasus and dryad turned to look at her. "Mimosa spared your life. He didn't have to, and I certainly don't see why. Be grateful, you little sea worm."

Leucothia drew herself up in proud defiance, ready to offer a scathing retort when Mimosa approached her and rested a hoof on her shoulder. "Now, now, Ampelus, don't be rude to my guest. She's a friend." Ampelus balked at her father's reproach. She should've known. It was as if he'd never left the forest. Leucothia's rude gesture to the nymph didn't help. Ampelus was finding herself further and further pushed away from her father, who always seemed to find more interest in other things and creatures. She was never good enough for him. She was as tired of it now as she was before he left.

Almost as if sensing his daughter's anger, he turned to her, a look in his eyes not unlike curiosity. "Daughter, I'll be taking Leucothia on a walk. Meanwhile...I'd like to meet the ponies that brought you here. You quite obviously didn't cross the ocean by yourself. Do they even know what you are, dear?" Leucothia winced at the withering glare Ampelus gave her father. Mimosa continued seemingly unaware of the nymph's ire. "Are there any among them that you feel you can trust?"

"N-" Ampelus frowned. She'd been too quick to answer to realize that yes, there was one. She sighed thoughtfully as she thought of that one. Spark Storm. He really had found a way to get in good with her. Was that all he was doing? Just getting on her good side?...No. No, it was more than that. He was her friend. He defended her. He trusted her with his life, after everything she'd done to him. The two of them had been down into the pits of Tartarus and back, had protected one another. They respected one another. So..."Yes. There is one."

This, at last, made Mimosa turn his attention on Ampelus. The way she answered him gave him hope. "I see. Then, Ampelus, why don't you bring them here? I'd like to get to know the individual that has managed to get past that wall you built so long ago. Maybe they can get you to grow something for once." Mimosa's daughter ground her teeth together as the dryad took Leucothia deeper into the woods. With the two conversing companionably, Ampelus took her leave with reproach gnawing at her stomach.

Pain. Exploding pain. Gabriel broke the surface of the water screaming, his entire body wracking with the worst, suffocating pain he'd ever felt. It was over in an instant, and a new sensation came over him: the first gulps of air he'd taken in some time. Water purged from his system, making way for the air that he'd not breathed since he'd taken to the water. As he floundered about in the water, he thought about how long he'd been down under the sea. It felt like hours, but in reality it'd only been about twenty five minutes. The pegasi's perception of time had been radically altered since his brief journey, and so much had happened in so little time.

Gabriel's body was quite weak from his trip. His flailing slowed, his head dipping below the surface of the water. It resurfaced, followed by Melody's, her hooves wrapped around him for support. "Easy, Captain, I've got you."

The Saddle Arabian gave her a gentle glare as he rested in her embrace. His lungs still burned from being reintroduced to the air, though it was the retraction of his ability to breathe water was what had caused the intense pain. "I thought I...told you guys...not to call me that," he rasped. Gabriel might've held the crews' respect to be elevated to that title, but he hated being called that, especially since the actual captain still held that title.

"Oh hush. You've earned the title of Captain...second Captain, whatever," the seapony said with a smile. The smile turned to a frown of concern as she looked him over. "Are you all right?"

"I'll live..." Gabriel sighed and closed his eyes, only now noticing how truly bright the sun was on the surface. "Mariasha wasn't lying when she said that coming back to the surface would be much...much more painful."

"Yes it is. I'm sorry."

"It was worth it. I'm certainly not going to make a habit of going down there, though."

Melody's giggle tickled Gabriel's senses. He opened his eyes enough to stare at her suspiciously. "You're pretty cute when you're all tuckered out, like I've said multiple times."

Before Gabriel could comment, a thick shell of golden magic surrounded the two. "'Hoy!" The two looked above to see that the ship had approached, with Rossa's magical grasp surrounding them. "It's about time, amici! Cosa è successo?"

"Long story, bella signora," Gabriel answered as he and Melody were brought back on board. The seapony shook herself off and sighed contentedly. It was good to be back on the ship. "Suffice to say, mission was successful. Let me rest a bit, I'm sure Melody can fill you in on everything that happened." Melody nodded enthusiastically at what was more a request than a statement.

Rossa beamed down at the second captain and helped him to his hooves. "Well, come on then. I'll get you to bed. And-a you-" she said, towering over Melody with an accusing hoof. "Don't you start without me! There'll be hell to pay if you do."

The seapony just giggled in response and kept watch on the two as they stumbled together towards the cabins, then bounded off to gather her shipmates. It was going to be an interesting tale.

Rossa opened the door to Gabriel's quarters. The room was dark, and as usual smelled of cinnamon and other earthy spices. The second captain liked to keep his room well scented. It kept things smelling nice, and the scents made things interesting whenever he had 'guests'. Being a tall unicorn, Rossa had a good view of the room: the room was a large open space. His bed was a queen size, and lacked a large decorative frame. The walls were sparse, save for a single large picture frame that displayed all current members of the crew.

In the humble bed, however, was a figure. The form of an attractive mare rose from a prone, relaxed position. She was lithe, with an athletic build, and was adorned with curtains of long, black mane. Her coat was a deep crimson red, a few shades darker than Rossa's, a fact that the tall Istallian resented. "Gabriel," the mare called in a seductive, sing-songy voice. "Come to bed and tell me all about your trip into the darkness."

Rossa held her tongue as Gabriel eagerly stepped past her into his room. This new mare had been a thorn in the Istallian's side for several weeks now. She was the average mare's height, and her mane was constantly bedazzling in the sunlight. She was sweet, hard-working, seductive, and far too nosy. Something about her had set Rossa on edge the moment she'd arrived on the ship asking for work, and she never stopped asking about Breen. The knife cutie mark didn't help matters, either. They were Eastern weapons...what was a Neighppon mare doing way out here on this side of the world?

Whatever. Rossa rolled her eyes and stepped out, pulling the door closed behind her. There was no reason to be jealous. This ship ran on free love, after all. There were no relationships. Relationships made things complicated, and with the way that Gabriel went after both mares and stallions, he needed that freedom. They all did, even though several crewmates were married and were off-limits to the others, which was well respected. No, Rossa was bothered by something else about that mare. From the slight limp she walked with in her hindquarters, to the way she could smooth-talk any of the crew...she was trouble.