//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Journey to the top of Mount Aris/Seaquestria // Story: A Place in Equestria V: The Storm Awakens // by GoebelTron //------------------------------// Meanwhile, after crashing into the bottom of Mount Aris earlier, and as the waves were crashing back and forth, the Mane 8 went up to the mountain to see the hippogriffs by taking the stairs. “We had to crash the balloon at the bottom of the mountain! That's it! I simply... cannot... even! I have nothing! The bad guys have won! I'm so sorryyyyyyyy-y-y-y!” Rarity dramatically whined. “Pull yourself together, Rarity! We're almost there!” Rainbow Dash said. Rarity growled, “Will you stop saying that?!” “No, really! We're actually here!” Rainbow Dash said, as they all saw the gates of Hippogriffia. Twilight gasped, “This is it!” “Ooh!” Pinkie Pie said. “Well, I'll be,” Applejack laughed. “Hippogriffs, here we come!” Rarity sighed, “Time to rest my hooves!” They then went through the gates, until there were suddenly quiet strings and woodwinds from a distance, as they saw that the place was abandoned and looked gloomy, including the abandoned ruins. Thomas suddenly got nervously scared until he hid underneath his mother’s mane just to be safe. “Are we sure this is the right place?” Rarity asked. “Hello?! Is anypony home?!” Applejack asked. “Pinkie Pie looked around, “No Hippogriffies here! Or here! Or here! Or here or here or here! Waaaaaiiit! Nope! This place is emp-ty!” Twilight was confused, “But... Celestia... The map. They have to be here. Let’s keep looking.” “Something bad happened here. Something that turned this whole place into a ghost town,” Spike said. Fluttershy started to panic, “A g-g-g-g-ghost town?!” Thomas then whimpered and brushed Fluttershy’s mane all over himself, as he felt her hoof stroking his hand while seeing the scary dead trees. “This place feels kinda freaky,” Starlight said. “Tell me about it,” Sunset said. Thomas suddenly heard distant humming, “I hear something!” Twilight gasped, and saw the Hippogriffia cathedral sealed by big rocks, “It’s coming from over there!” The Mane 8 went to go see after going . The humming continued to grow louder as they carefully entered and crawled through the debris and followed the light from Twilight’s glowing horn as they walked through the rocks and while Thomas popped out of Fluttershy’s mane and then sat down on her back. After they got through the tunnel of rocks, they saw a huge red lily flower floating in the stream of inside the Hippogriffia cathedral. As they carefully got closer, a rock accidentally crumbled from the stairs after Pinkie Pie took a step. The humming stopped, until she gasped, “What was that?!” The figure jumped into the water by diving like a dolphin. “Hey! Wait up!” Pinkie Pie said, while trotting and jumping down the stairs, “Cannonball!” She then landed into the water. “Pinkie!” Twilight said, as the Mane 8 followed her into the stream, while Thomas stayed on Fluttershy’s back. Pinkie Pie suddenly swam over, popped out of the water, and sputtered the water out of her mouth, “She's gone!” The water started flushing. “Now what?” Twilight asked, until there were bubbles everywhere. “Huh?” Pinkie Pie looked, and then the Mane 8 started screaming as the whirlpool spun around and dragged them inside. “Oh, boy. I hate epic adventures,” Rarity said. They all kept screaming and tried to talk, until they were brought underwater in another tunnel. Twilight then gasped for air, until she saw a bubble around her head. The Mane 7 then started gasping for air as bubbles were formed around their heads. “Way to leave it to the last minute, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said. “I didn't make these bubbles!” Twilight said. “Then who did?” Fluttershy panted. Thomas then saw something swimming towards them, “It’ll eat us! It’ll eat us! RUN!!” Fluttershy hugged her son closer to her chest and then shushed him softly as the light came closer towards them, but it revealed herself as a seapony with light gambogeish gray scales, light arctic blue mane and tail fins, and brilliant cyan eyes. “Hello? We're looking for the Hippogriffs,” Twilight asked. “How do I know I can trust you?” Princess Skystar asked, until she saw Thomas hiding behind Fluttershy, but then got all excited. “OH MY GOSH!!! WHO’S THIS LITTLE GUY?! HE’S SO ADORABLE!!!” The seapony then spun around with Thomas in her hooves and then brought him towards her chest for a tightly gentle hug. “And I’m serious! You really are adorable I could just smother you in my arms! Oooooh!” Thomas whimpered for air as his bubble felt like it was about to pop, so Skystar handed him back over to Fluttershy. “I’m glad you enjoyed hugging my son,” she said. “He’s your son?! That’s twice as adorable!” Skystar said. “If you don’t mind, we’re in desperate need of help. Somepony’s trying to steal my magic for some kind of weapon for the Storm King, who’s taken over our land and captured our princesses,” Twilight said. “Ah! I'm so glad I saved you guys! I'm totally taking you to my mom! I’m sure you’ll be safe there,” Princess Skystar said. Twilight gasped, “Does your mother know where they are?” “Can you take us?” Sunset asked. “Oho! She might have an idea!” Princess Skystar replied in singsong, then giggled. “Hoo-hoo!” Twilight chuckled excitedly, and then they all followed Princess Skystar as she lead them ahead, after Fluttershy put Thomas on her back so he wouldn’t drift off accidentally. “Don’t worry, honey. Everything’s gonna be fine, okay?” Sunset said. Thomas nodded, and then held onto his mother’s neck while they continued to journey on ahead. “We're almost there!” Princess Skystar said, and when she and the Mane 8 got across the tunnel, they saw the underwater continental kingdom of Seaquestria. “Wow!” The Mane 8, Spike and Thomas said, as they continued to follow Princess Skystar inside. As they entered the place, the Mane 8 and Spike gazed in awe while Thomas saw another female seapony, but she was queen sized and had light fuchsiaish gray scales, her mane and tail fins were a gradient of brilliant fuchsia to strong mulberry, and strong magenta eyes with lighter eyeshadow. “Mother, look what I found!” Princess Skystar said. “Is it another shell?” Princess Skystar shook her head, “Mm-mm.” “Because I am telling you if it is another shell, I am—“ Queen Novo then gasped loudly after seeing their guests. “Princess Skystar, what have you done?! You know surface dwellers are forbidden here! Guards! Seize them!” The guards grunted as the Mane 8 gasped, and Thomas whimpered while hiding underneath Fluttershy’s tail. Princess Skystar swam up to Queen Novo, “No no n-no! M-M-Mom, please! It is so not like that! They mean no harm! The Storm King is trying to destroy their land!” Queen Novo looked at the Mane 8 with a sternly confused look. “We need to find the Hippogriffs. Do you know what happened to them?” Twilight asked. “Well, of course I know. I'm the queen. I know everything,” Queen Novo said. “Oh, oh, it's such a great story!” Princess Skystar said. “Don't you dare tell them!” Queen Novo said. “Once upon a time, like, a while ago, the Hippogriffs did live on Mount Aris,” Princess Skystar said, as the Mane 8 were amazed. Queen Novo grunted, “Did I not say don't tell them? But hey, I'm just the queen. Don't mind me.” She then gave a dismissed look and swam away unapproved. “Fine! I can't tell you! But if I could tell you, I'd say that that horned beast did show up to steal their magic! But, to keep it out of his clutches, Queen Novo, hid them deep underwater where he could never go! But I can’t tell you how or why because it’s a big secret, so sorry,” Princess Skystar said, looking away, until winking at Thomas, before he giggled. Queen Novo suddenly saw him hiding behind Fluttershy’s tail, and then smiled warmly at him before swimming over to the group. “Hello there, little one,” she said in a motherly tone. Thomas then nervously hid underneath Fluttershy’s tail again. “Thomas, it’s okay, sweetheart. She won’t hurt you,” Fluttershy said. Thomas then came out nervously and then smiled softly at the seapony queen. “Thomas, is it?” Queen Novo asked, until Thomas nodded. “My, you sure are young. But don’t worry, honey. There’s no need to be afraid.” Thomas then hugged her neck and then Queen Novo hugged him back with her hooves and then handed him back over to Fluttershy. “Well, I guess the pearl is out the oyster now. I am Queen Novo, of Seaquestria and the hippogriffs,” she said. “Hold on now. Lemme get this straight. When the Storm King came, you just abandoned your entire city and fled?” Applejack asked. “We didn't flee! We swam! Y'know, in order to flee,” Princess Skystar said. “But... how?” Sunset asked. Princess Skystar then got excited, “Oh! Can we show them? Huh? These are the first guests we've had in, like, foreveeerrr! Can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we?” “Well, I suppose I should make sure it still works,” Queen Novo chuckled, and then she and Princess Skystar swam around a huge jellyfish that had a blue flower underneath, revealing the Pearl of Transformation. Princess Skystar giggled excitedly as Queen Novo held the pearl in her hooves. “Careful, now,” she said, and then when she placed her other hoof on top of the pearl, activating its metamorphic magic towards the Mane 8, causing Princess Skystar to excitedly squeal. The Mane 8 looked at the magic from the pearl showering around them, “Huh?” Suddenly, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Starlight and Sunset were starting to magically transform into seaponies. “Oh!” Twilight and Starlight said while laughing in amazement as they gazed at their new body features, including Sunset. “Ooh! Oh!” Fluttershy laughed while gazing at her transformation. “Oh. Wa-wa-whoa!” Applejack laughed and loved her seapony tail. The Mane 8 gazed at their new seapony looks with awed reactions and laughs of amazement. “This is amazing!” Sunset said, touching her seapony tail. “Wow!” Fluttershy laughed. Rainbow Dash laughed in amazement. “These fins are divine!” Rarity said. “Hey, Applejack, I'll race ya to that coral!” Rainbow Dash said, swimming on ahead. “You're on!” Applejack replied, swimming up towards Rainbow Dash. “Woo-hoo!” Pinkie Pie giggled, doing a double flip with her seapony body. “Ooh! Try it, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy giggled, until she caught her tail, “Yay.” “Guys? Guys? What is...” Spike, who was now a blowfish, puffed like a balloon. “...happening?!” “Aw, so cute!” Fluttershy said. “Momma?” Thomas said, nervously but softly smiling at his new look. They all gasped and saw that he had small gills on his lower face, piranha fins on his arms and his hands were webbed like a frog, and his legs had tail fins. “Is this normal?” “Ooooh! The little cutie’s a seapony, but he’s a human along with it! He’s a seaman!” Pinkie Pie said, until the girls laughed at her comment, but Thomas started to break down. “Girls! Girls! You’re scaring the poor thing,” Rarity said, until she brought him over for a hug. “Don’t worry, precious. You’re still the same adorable and darling little colt we have ever met.” Thomas nodded and then rested himself against his aunt’s chest. “This is amazing! With this, you could easily transform everycreature here into what they are now?” Starlight asked. “How do you do all of that?” Twilight asked. “It’s easy. Just like I showed you,” Queen Novo said. “I just hold it carefully like this, and here you are. A seapony. We also didn’t want this to end up in his greedy claws.” “So, is that a bad thing?” Sunset asked. “Yep. And to be absolutely clear, the pearl... is not going anywhere,” Queen Novo said. “But we've come all this way. And you can't just hide down here! Trapped forever! There's so much you're missing!” Thomas said. “Thomas, calm down,” Twilight said. “We are one hundred percent okay with that. It’s my duty to protect my subjects from the likes of him,” Queen Novo said, until she heard Jamal chattering next to her holding some seaweed. “Oh! Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my seaweed wrap. Mama needs her massage too as well.” She then swam away. “So that's it? We left home for nothin'?” Applejack asked. “You mean... we’re not... we’re not going back?” Thomas asked, until he felt his heart and spirit breaking. “No, no, no, we’ll find a way,” Twilight said. “Hey, don’t lie to him! He’s very sensitive!” Rainbow Dash said. “He’s scared! It’s okay to lie to somepony if they’re scared!” Twilight said. “Twilight, calm down!” Sunset said. “I’m sorry! I’m doing the best I can to save all of us from extinction! I’m the one Tempest wants, and the last princess! I thought she was going to help us, but without her help, there’s no way to save Equestria or the princesses now!” Twilight said. “Y-YOU... YOU PROMISED!!!” Thomas said, until his heart and spirit were completely broken. “Is something wrong, precious?” Rarity asked. “I trusted you. I can’t b-believe that you lied to me,” Thomas replied. “Thomas? Sweetie, what is it?” Fluttershy asked. “No! Just... please! Leave me alone!” He said, until he swam towards them with a broken heart and continued sobbing. Fluttershy was worried about her little colt, so she decided to give him some time to cool off. “Oh, my gosh! Best... idea! You can stay with us! Forever!” Princess Skystar laughed. “There are so many things we can do! We can make friendship bracelets out of shells and... picture frames outta shells and... decorative wastebaskets out of shells... Oh, I have so many projects that involve shells, haha! Now I have someone new to share them with! I mean, aside from my friends, Shelly and Sheldon. Right? "Shelly"? And "Sheldon"?” She then nervously chuckled, “Get it?” She chuckled, and then snorted. “That sounds lovely, darling, but you must realize, we can't stay,” Rarity said. “We've gotta get back to our families,” Applejack said. “I know we have to go, but you guys saw how nice and friendly Princess Skystar was. Couldn't we stay for just a little longer?” Pinkie Pie asked, until Sunset replied, “Pinkie, we just don't have time for—“ Twilight then cut her off, “No. I think Pinkie's right.” Rainbow Dash and the other 6 were confused, “Say what now?” “Well, we still need to come up with a plan to get back. A few minutes or probably an hour or two... or three won't make a huge difference. And if there's anypony who can cram a lifetime of fun into a blink of an eye, it's Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie Pie made a beaming smile with a squee. “So, let’s go ahead and show Skystar the best time ever!” Twilight said until Pinkie Pie saluted her. “We won't let you down!” “I'm counting on it,” Twilight said, worried about her nephew, but she knew that he’d come around later, while she and the rest of the Mane 8 were giggling while swimming over to Princess Skystar. Princess Skystar was playing a sad harp, “It's probably for the best.” She kept holding back her tears until she saw Pinkie Pie imitating Shelly and Sheldon. Hey, now, don't be sad I know we cannot stay But we've got a couple minutes And a little time to play I know you have important things So it's okay, just go But we can still pick one small, little thing To do with you, y'know! One small thing doesn't seem like a lot One small thing, work with the time you've got Soon, one small thing becomes two After two, perhaps another few Then one small thing is not so small One small thing can be the biggest thing of all All right now, since you're here Let's see what we can do Swim with the flow until you go Together, me and you I've got necklaces for everyfish So what else do ya got? Well, we could play the bubblefish You'll like this one a lot! One small thing, it's a good place to start Just one small thing One small thing, and we don't seem so far apart Don't seem apart Soon, one small thing leads to more It's so much more than there was before Just one small thing, and you will see The start of something big for you and me One small thing Just one small thing Or a tall thing Just one tall thing Or a sing thing Just one sing-y thing Or a bling thing Just one bling-y thing A conga thing Yeah, a conga thing Or a longah thing Just one longah thing A blue thing, true thing, you thing Oooh-oooh A whee thing, sea thing, me thing Oooh-oooh-oooh! So many things and everything until our time is done There's one small thing for each and everyone! One small thing, so much we can create You and me, we started something great It's so amazing, look around At all the happy sights and sounds One small thing is big, it's true You did this all for us I just wish there was one small thing An extra special kind of thing That we could do for you... One small thing! “Woo!” Queen Novo laughed. “Hmm?” Princess Skystar asked as she saw her mother feeling like she enjoyed the celebration. Pinkie Pie giggled, and then the rest of the Mane 8 laughed. “Thanks for cheering me up, guys. I really appreciate it,” Princess Skystar said. “Aww, don’t mention it! We’re just glad you’re smiling again!” Pinkie Pie said. The other mares nodded in agreement, and then they went back with Queen Novo and swam back to her throne room. Meanwhile, Thomas was still crying over the invasion from before and missing all of his friends from school, as he curled himself up and sat in a rock. He suddenly saw his aunts and mother coming back with Princess Skystar and Queen Novo and heard the Mane 8 laughing with Princess Skystar, until he saw Queen Novo sitting back on her throne with a warm sigh. Thomas then gulped nervously, and then swam over to the queen. “Excuse me?” Queen Novo looked at the little boy with a soft look of concern, “Yes?” “Can... Can I please talk to you?” Thomas asked. “Of course, dear child,” Queen Novo said, as she motioned her hoof on her lap. “Here, why don’t you come sit with me?” Thomas nodded, and them swam closer towards the queen until he lowered himself carefully on her lap, and then Queen Novo wrapped her hooves around him for a hug, but to keep him comfortable. “Now, what’s bothering you?” Thomas sniffed, “Well, for starters, I was an orphan back in my original home, my birthplace where we humans live, but the kids didn’t like me and the adults wanting children would never pick me. I then wished for a new home that I thought was a star, but it was Princess Luna’s moon, so she brought me to Equestria, and after meeting my new family and friends, my Momma adopted me and gave me a better life I always wanted.” Queen Novo smiled warmly and then nuzzled her head onto his, “I’m glad she did, honey. Anything else you want to add?” Thomas nodded, until he leaned closer towards her chest, “Well, the other thing is... the r-reason why we’re here is... is because of the Storm King, but a pony named Tempest Shadow turned ponies into stone, including Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, and the ponies back home are now imprisoned. The Storm King also wants Auntie Twilight’s magic for something bad, but I don’t want to lose her! I don’t want to lose my Momma either!” Queen Novo realized how scared he was, so she brought him closer towards her chest and belly for a hug and then lowered her head onto the top of his, “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry about your home. I truly am. I never even knew how scared you were, but still it’s my duty as queen to protect my subjects.” Thomas whimpered and then leaned closer towards her chest and continued to cry, as Queen Novo gently patted him on the back of his head and rubbed his back at the same time, “Shh shh shhhhhh... It’s okay, little one. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” While she continued to hug the poor boy, Queen Novo then thought of an idea, since she saw the pearl hanging, “Wait here.” Thomas nodded and then Queen Novo swam up to the pearl and carefully held it in her hooves. She then turned to the Mane 8, “Princess Twilight?” The Mane 8 looked and saw Queen Novo, and the pearl. Twilight gasped in excitement, “Does this mean?” Queen Novo nodded, “You... and your friends... have my permission... to use the pearl against the Storm King. It should come in handy.” Twilight and the girls cheered in excitement. “Thank you, Queen Novo! We’ll bring it back, or if you come for it at our Friendship Festival, that’s fine.” Queen Novo nodded, and then pointed it at the group, “Good luck, and take care of it. Cause once you return, you should see it with you.” She then casted the spell to return them to the surface.