Star Dasher and her friends were not making any headway at the Castle of Family. They could not understand the guards’ language, and by all appearances the guards could not understand them. The guards firmly stood at the gate, barring the entry of the newcomers. Star and her friends had withdrawn a few paces away to discuss.
“What do we do?” Star Dasher said.
“We could walk along the outside and look for other entrances,” Kimono said.
“Or should we wait and see if the guards will fetch an interpreter?” Cheerilee suggested.
“But we don’t know if anyone here speaks our language,” Kimono said. “We’ve traveled hundreds of miles.”
“Then what will you do if you get inside through another entrance?” Cheerilee said. “Either way you can’t speak to anyone.”
“That’s a good question,” Kimono said thoughtfully.
They hadn’t come to any conclusions when a group of perhaps two dozen earth ponies exited through the gate. They followed a stone path that led to a bridge off the island. Razzaroo went up and tried to talk to them, but they didn’t seem to understand. They looked at her, confused, and seemed to pick up their pace. It was as though nopony here wanted to interact with them. Star Dasher noticed a lot of similar colors amongst the ponies, silvers, whites, and grays. She saw several cutie marks that had to do with wind or clouds.
They were all so distracted with the leaving group and the guards that nopony noticed a stranger approaching them until they were quite close. Star saw an older colt trotting towards them, or perhaps a young stallion. His appearance was striking, with a light blue coat and flame-orange hair. Red tinsel streaks ran through his mane and tail, their shine in the sun giving the impression of fire. At the moment, however, his hair and coat were dripping wet. He wore a conical straw hat and had red goggles around his neck. He had a mesh saddlebag filled with a brown grass-looking stuff that was shiny and dripping wet.
“Hello, I zpeak Ponish!” he said, stopping in front of them. All of Star’s friends turned at the sound of familiar words. “Who are you?” Star had never heard her language referred to as “Ponish” before, but he was definitely intelligible. He spoke with an accent, his “s” sounds being notably off.
“We’re visitors from Unicornia, Joyville, and Ponyville,” Kimono said. “I’m Kimono.”
“I’m Razzaroo.”
“Silly Lilly!”
“Wondermint, at your service!”
“Star Dasher.”
“I’m Cheerilee.”
“And I’m Rarity!”
“You’re going to have to tell me those again,” the colt said. “That’z a lot. I’m Waterfire. I’ve never heared of those plazes before.”
“We came a long way,” Kimono said. “We’re here to make new friends and explore the Castle of Family.”
“The Cazle of Family?” Waterfire repeated, thinking. “Oh, that?” He gestured to the orange structure that took up most of this island. “Is that what you call it in Ponish?”
“At least that’s what it is on our ancient map,” Kimono said.
“You can’t get in,” Waterfire said. “You have to make a… date? Appointment? Yeah. And very few ponies here zpeak Ponish. You should come with me. My parentz will be happy to have you, and I can show you around and zpeak for you.”
The ponies turned to discuss. “This seems like our best option, for now,” Kimono said.
“None of the other ponies even stopped to try to talk to us,” Razz said.
“Then perhaps this is where we will leave you,” Cheerilee said. She and Rarity had to take the Crystal Carriage back and attend to their duties in Unicornia.
They agreed to follow Waterfire, and Cheerilee and Rarity parted with them. They walked back to the carriage. The birds at its front took off, carrying it dizzyingly fast. White light trailed behind it, and in a flash of yellow, it was gone. “Huwah!” Waterfire exclaimed. “That was amazing!”
“It’s a spectacle,” Razz said. “I wonder why more ponies didn’t notice it?”
“Ponies no wait outzide the… Cazle of Family, right—very much,” Waterfire said. “They are inzide, and maybe they can’t zee you, or they are in their hometowns. Ayy, are you five following me?”
“Lead the way, stranger with dazzling hair!” Wondermint said. Star felt a spike of jealousy, although she knew that Wondermint’s compliments were not reserved for herself.
“Oh…” Waterfire said, a blush appearing on his blue cheeks. “Thank you. Yez.” He trotted off towards one end of the island, away from the sea. Still dripping wet, he left a little trail of wet sand behind him. Star and her friends followed him. “Zilly Lilly, I have to azk, what are you?” Waterfire said.
“I’m a breezie!” he said, landing on Waterfire’s hat.
“A breezie?” Waterfire said. “I thought they were juzt a legend!”
“No, I think we’re real,” Silly said.
Thick vegetation—trees, shrubs, and grasses—lined the waterways that separated this island from the next in the river delta. Waterfire led them to a wooden bridge where the vegetation was cleared. As they came closer to the bridge, they saw a group of ponies ahead. “Waterfire, how do I say ‘hello’ to them?” Wondermint asked.
“In their language it’s gjane,” Waterfire said.
“Gyana,” Wondermint said as they passed, her pronunciation off. A couple of the passing ponies nodded to them, but they didn’t stop to talk. This was certainly different to how ponies had reacted when Kimono, Razz, and Silly arrived in Joyville. But there was only one town near the Castle of Happiness, so it was easier for everypony to know everypony. Here they had seen several towns from the air. Maybe ponies didn’t know that they were new?
Waterfire led them across several islands. These were all farmland, lined with crops that Star didn’t recognize. Irrigation channels from the river ran through the fields. The heat had her sweating buckets. At the end of one island, they didn’t go to a bridge. There was a narrow path where the vegetation had been cleared, allowing easy access to the water. Waterfire hopped into the water, confidently wading across the narrow channel.
Waterfire was a little shorter than the rest of them, and the water didn’t quite make it to his withers. Star figured her pack would stay dry if she didn’t splash the water around. The others hesitated at the bank, so Star went in first. The water was warmer than she expected, but still refreshing in this heat. She walked carefully, trying not to splash the water around with her movement. She crossed without a problem.
Wondermint went next. It was now that Star noticed that Razz was shorter than the others except Waterfire. “Razz, I can take your pack,” Star said, setting down her pack and jumping back into the water.
“Yes, yes yes!” Razz said. “Thank you.” She loaded the pack onto Star, whose legs and barrel were wet, but her back was still dry. Star and Razz crossed, then Kimono last. Star thought that in this sun she would dry pretty quickly.
“Welcome to home!” Waterfire said. They were on a tiny island covered mostly in gardens. In the center was a small wooden house. Two ponies were tending the garden, a pale blue stallion with pale orange hair and a sunrise cutie mark, and a blue mare with blue, purple, and yellow hair and a sea star cutie mark. They looked in surprise as the group of strangers approached.
Waterfire spoke in a language that Star couldn’t understand. Then he added, “Ayy, could you all zay your names again?”
They all repeated their names. “These are my parentz… I guez Zunrise and Zeazpray, is the way I tranzlate their names,” Waterfire said.
Waterfire discussed something with his parents. Star wished she knew what they were talking about, as the discussion seemed to get a little heated. Seaspray and Sunrise seemed to disagree on something. Eventually they resolved it and Waterfire said, “They’ve agreed to let you ztay here for a while, if you help uz with the garden and zome other things. We not have room for all of you to zleep, though. But it not rains much thiz time of year, and while the days are hot, the nightz are nize and cool.”
“We have tents,” Kimono said. “We’d be happy to stay with you and sleep out here.”
“Perfect!” Waterfire said. “Zet up your tentz, then come inzide.” They did so, leaving their packs in the tents. While they set up, Waterfire hung up the strange grass in his mesh bag to dry in the sun on a line. They followed Waterfire into the little house, glad to get out of the sun. Star noticed a few brass instruments on the outside of the house, with clock-like faces and words that she couldn’t understand. She also saw a wind sock on a pole. They crowded in a central room with a table and chairs, which Waterfire had to push into a corner just to have standing room for them all.
“You willn’t be able to make an appointment in the Cazle of Family alone,” Waterfire said. “You will have to go with one of the Clans. My parentz are from the Zun Clan and the Zea Clan. I can take you to both of their zities. You should know, those two Clans zpeak different languages, neither of them being Ponish.”
“How do you know Ponish?” Kimono said.
“I love languages!” Waterfire said. “I’ve ztudied zeveral in my zpare time. I’ve been using these.” He pushed past them and ran into one of the bedrooms. He came back out with two books. “Ponish to Cantor, and Ponish to Riverine.”
Kimono looked at the Cantor one and said, “Wait, this is the language that’s in the old libraries up north! I saw these same symbols in Ponyville and Unicornia!” Razzaroo curiously looked through the pages of the Riverine book.
“Cantor is the language of the Empire,” Waterfire said. “They alzo zpeak it in the Zea Clan zity… ayy… Aquaria, I zuppose? Is how I’d zay it in Ponish.”
“The Empire,” Kimono said. “Cheerilee mentioned an empire. Is it still around?”
“No,” Waterfire said. “Ayy, I not think zo. I not know much about it, but there are other ponies who know.”
“One of our purposes in coming here is to learn more about pony history,” Kimono said. “I’d like to meet any ponies you know who are knowledgeable on the matter.”
“Perfect, we should go to Aquaria firzt, then,” Waterfire said. “You’re going to love it!” His blue eyes beamed brightly, seemingly reflecting a hint of orange fire. Star checked behind her, half-expecting something to be on fire. But there was only one of those shiny brass instruments behind her. “We’ll have to zwim to get there, and you’ll need goggles. My family has three. I think I can find my way without the goggles, but ztill, the breezie and one other will have to ztay behind.”
“What?” Silly said, sounding upset.
“Zorry, we not have goggles that will fit you,” Waterfire said.
“I’ll stay!” Razz said eagerly. “I, um… don’t do well with water.”
“Perfect!” Waterfire said. “We eat a znack, then we go.”
The snack turned out to be more of the strange plant Waterfire had brought home, which he called seaweed. Star didn’t like its taste much, but she was still grateful for the hospitality. With much drama, Wondermint parted with her accordion, which she could not take into the water. She gave stern words to Waterfire’s parents about how it must be untouched when she returned, which she made Waterfire interpret. Then they set out.
Waterfire led them to the same beach where they had first landed. At the water’s edge, Waterfire said, “I need to find zomething for you. Wait here.” He leapt into the water and disappeared. Star got nervous, watching for him to come up for air.
“Do you think he’s okay?” she said. “How is he breathing?”
“I think he’ll be fine,” Kimono said. “It seems like he’s done this before.”
“That is one mysterious colt,” Wondermint said.
Several minutes later, Waterfire returned. Star whinnied at his appearance, rearing back. He had a red star right over his face, covering his mouth and nostrils. He took off the star and said, “Calm down, it’z juzt me!” He had more stars stuck to his back. He stood in water up to his barrel. “Come in the water.”
Star bounded forward, splashing in the water. It was much warmer than she had expected. It felt lovely. A wave crashed against her cannons as she walked deeper, making a mellow, soothing sound. The breeze coming in from the sea was cool and refreshing on this hot day. This is a nice place to be, she thought. “What are they?” Kimono said, looking at the stars.
“Magic zea ztars,” Waterfire said. “You’ll need them to breathe. Who is mozt lezz zkittish?”
“Pick me!” Wondermint said eagerly, a moment before Star could speak up.
“Perfect!” Waterfire said. “Put your goggles on. When I put thiz over your mouth, hold your breath for a moment. When I’m done, ztick your muzzle in the water and breathe. It will make you breathe in the water, but you will not can breathe in the air. Do you underztand?”
“Um, that’s uh… Star, you like new things,” Wonder said. “Do you want to try it first?”
Star chuckled. “The least skittish, right?” she said, stepping up to Waterfire and fastening her goggles. She took a deep breath, and Waterfire raised the star to her face. It was squishy as he put it on, and Star realized that it was some kind of creature. It stuck to her face, blocking her nostrils and holding her mouth closed. It felt so wrong. She raised a hoof, almost wanting to tear it off. She controlled herself, just touching it for a moment but not interfering as Waterfire carefully adjusted it. She noticed that the other side of the star was hard and bumpy.
“Perfect, put your muzzle in the water,” Waterfire said. Star carefully did so. For a moment she stood there, head down, holding her breath. Inhale, with her face in the water and this sea star choking her? It was so contrary to her instincts that she hesitated. Finally she forced herself to breathe in. Fresh air rushed through her nostrils.
“Are you good?” Waterfire said. “Take your faze out of the water if you’re having problems.”
Star was too distracted to pay him much heed. She was breathing underwater! She could see the sandy floor beneath them, beat into a little wavy landscape by the action of the water. Sunlight shimmered on the floor, bent by the surface of the water. Bits of grass rose up around their hooves, and tiny silver fish she had missed before swam around. This was so bizarre! Soon the others had their stars on their faces. Star stared at Wondermint, her hair billowing in the water, eyes behind red goggles, and that red star square on her face. It was such a weird look, but somehow it suited her.
Waterfire pulled his head out of the water and spoke. Star’s ears were still above water, so she heard him clearly. “We’re going to zwim to Aquaria. The water is deep enough that we should be careful. We’ll go down zlowly. Not take the zea ztar off underwater, no matter what. If your ears feel ztrange, ztop and move your jaw to fix thiz. If you want to turn back, point towards the zurfaze, and I’ll go up with you, but zlowly. Raise a hoof if you underztand.” They all raised a hoof out of the water.
Waterfire swam off, gesturing for the others to follow. Waterfire moved with incredible grace in the water, seemingly expending very little effort to move great distances. He soon realized that the others had no hope of keeping up and slowed down. Is this what it’s like? Star wondered, thinking of her ability to move so quickly on land.
At first they stayed near the surface, but as the ocean floor descended, so did they. Star looked up at the shimmery, sunlit surface growing more distant. The air was up there! This experience was so surreal. Star found it thrilling. Her ears hurt for a moment before popping, and the water became cooler.
Tall plants grew from the floor all the way to the water’s surface. Star realized it was the seaweed Waterfire had fed them earlier. They swayed in the currents, harboring countless colorful fish. Waterfire stopped at the edge of the seaweed forest, waiting for the others. Star realized she had kept up with Waterfire but left the others behind a little. Kimono and Wondermint caught up with them, and Kimono held up a hoof, signaling for them to wait. Star could see that Wondermint was breathing heavily. Fortunately, she didn’t look panicked, just tired.
After they caught their breath—weird to be doing so far underwater—they continued into the seaweed forest. Star tried to follow Waterfire, but it was hard to see him past all the seaweed. She could only hope that the others managed to follow her. The seaweed closed in all around her, brushing past her face and tangling in her legs as she tried to paddle. The sound of it rustling surrounded her.
Suddenly she came through the forest and saw Waterfire off to her left. But she didn’t look at him for long, for her gaze was drawn ahead. On the ocean floor was a sprawling city. The buildings were organized into a number of neighborhoods, each surrounded by a dome-shaped bubble of air that could only be magical. There were various bubbles of different sizes, all close to each other but not connected. One bubble in the middle was by far the largest, the city center.
Waterfire glanced at Star and smiled. He had a star like everypony else, but no goggles. Kimono and Wonder burst through the seaweed forest. Wonder in particular seemed elated at the sight of the underwater city. She kicked excitedly in the water and hummed a fanfare tune.
They swam for the biggest bubble. Star saw that a structure of maroon coral grew at the bottom of the bubble, making the start of a hemisphere shape. They went to the bottom of the bubble dome, at the edge of the city center. Waterfire swam right through the edge of the bubble, standing in the stone street beyond and taking off his sea star. Ponies came and went at various points around the bubble. A few ponies in the street watched as Waterfire and the others arrived.
Star followed Waterfire’s lead. Surprisingly, she felt completely dry as she came through the bubble. Even her mane wasn’t wet. The air stopped flowing to Star’s nostrils, and her eyes widened. She moved to tear off the sea star, but Waterfire stopped her with a raised hoof. “Careful, you don’t want to damage it as you take it off,” he said. Star hadn’t deeply inhaled before the air stopped, so she waited quite impatiently as Waterfire gently worked off the sea star. Star took a big gasp of air, and Waterfire put both stars in a stone basin full of water on the side of the street.
Wonder and Kimono followed them, and Waterfire helped them remove their sea stars. “This place is amazing!” Wonder exclaimed. Star looked up at the edge of the bubble above and around them. What was holding up all that water? Could it all come crashing down at any moment? They were deep enough that the light was a little dimmer, but still bright enough to see comfortably. The air was humid and salty, and the temperature much nicer than the baking surface. The surreal city was filled with all sorts of urban sounds, the clop of hooves on stone and the chatter of dozens of conversations. There was also a faint musical sound, a distant string instrument of some sort.
“What do I hear now?” Wonder said. “It is the call of my kind! I must respond.” She had a chain necklace, and turning it she revealed that it tied a harmonica to her neck, which had previously been tucked away in her mane.
“You always come prepared,” Star said, giggling.
Wonder played out a minor-key, fey-sounding tune on the harmonica. Star sat and listened to her, heedless to her other surroundings. Wonder finished her song and said, “I wrote that during the swim.” A few ponies had gathered around to listen, and they stamped in approval.
“So quickly?” Star said in amazement.
A pony stepped forward to speak to Wonder. Star stared in amazement at her. Two magnificent, feathery wings sprang out of her back, dark blue at the tips and fading to pale blue at the base. Star looked around to make sure; nopony else had wings like that. She also had a blue gem in the center of her cutie mark, which depicted a sea star and shell. Her body was light blue, her mane pale pink and periwinkle, and her tail aqua. She spoke in a language unfamiliar to Star.
Waterfire jumped in to interpret. “She zays ‘you show great underztanding of… ayy, artiztic expression,” he said. The winged pony spoke again. “You muzt be new here. A pony of your… clazz? Would enjoy the art exhibit in the town zenter.”
“Thank you,” Wonder said. “My name is Wondermint. What’s yours?”
Waterfire interpreted this, and the winged pony responded. “Aurora Mizt.” Star Dasher and Kimono introduced themselves as well. Aurora Mist walked off and looked behind her, saying something. “Are you coming?” Waterfire said.
“Yes, let’s!” Wonder said, looking at the others.
“I was going to take uz to zee zomepony who knows about the hiztory of the cazles,” Waterfire said.
“I think we should do this first,” Kimono said. “We want to make friends and learn more about this place, as well. We’re in no rush.” Star nodded in agreement.
Waterfire spoke in the foreign language, presumably Cantor, and they followed Aurora Mist. Aurora spoke in a soft, smooth, welcoming voice. Star Dasher was grateful to Waterfire, but she imagined that Aurora was more eloquent in her native language. “Our zity, Aquaria, is a zity of artiztz. Artiztz of every kind—poetz, musicians, danzers, writers. Of courze, zome ponies work other jobs, but we all love and appreciate art. Although…” Aurora chuckled in a way that cascaded. “I may be biazed, zince I am a painter, myzelf.”
Indeed, art was all around them. Nearly everything was made of stone, and Star noticed things carved into doors and walls. Etched patterns, shapes of undersea creatures. Statues often awaited them at corners of streets, elegant statues of ponies or other beings. Star noticed that nopony else had wings besides Aurora. They did get some surprised glances from other ponies. Perhaps, like Joyville, they didn’t usually get visitors here.
Eventually they arrived at an open plaza where dozens of stands had been set up. Aurora spoke again, and Waterfire interpreted. “We hold the Grand Art Feztival here onze a week to zee the latezt workz of our great artiztz, and to review old favoritez.” Artists set up their works on easels. Most were on canvas, done in paint, oil, pencil, or ink. Some artists presented sculptures, instead. Star saw distinct styles from every artist. Gentle colors at one stand, harsh shapes at another, realism and other things that Star had no words for.
Aurora spoke and gestured at one stand, proudly flaring her blue wings. “Thiz is my art,” Waterfire interpreted. Her art was done in watercolors, some of them notably thinned out to make a pale shape on the canvas. Star didn’t understand the images; she only saw vague shapes and colors.
Wondermint gasped. “Oh my stars, it’s like modernist abstractions of scenes,” she said excitedly, running in place. “This one is the seafloor seen from somewhere inside the city, so the view is distorted by the water. Oh, and that’s why you use watercolors, because these are all seen through the water! Gah!” Waterfire seemed to struggle to keep up as Wondermint went through each painting and showered praise on it. Star couldn’t tell what any of them were supposed to be until Wondermint commented on them. The moon seen below the surface of the water, a pony swimming with a sea star to breathe. How was Wondermint figuring these out?
In any case, Aurora’s pale cheeks had turned red, and she was smiling bashfully behind her hair. When Wondermint finally finished, Aurora spoke and Waterfire said, “Thank you.” Aurora stuttered in her native language. “You really underztand my art!” Aurora surprised them all by stepping up to Wondermint, pressing her cheek to Wondermint’s, and kissing in the air. Star immediately felt jealous, but she told herself that was probably a normal way of showing gratitude here. Wondermint responded in kind when Aurora did it on the other side.
She spoke again, and Waterfire interpreted, “I was looking for lunch when I heared your music. Feel free to explore, but I muzt excuse myzelf.”
“Wait, can I ask you a question first?” Wondermint said.
“Yez, of courze,” came Waterfire’s interpretation.
“I hope this isn’t a sensitive question, but I noticed that nopony else here has your,” Wondermint’s voice dropped to a whisper, “beautiful wings. I’ve never met a pony with wings before. Where are you from?”
Aurora laughed. “I’m from Aquaria. But my grandparentz moved here from Zanta Amoroza.”
“Is there a castle in Santa Amorosa?” Kimono cut in.
“There is. We call it the Cazle of,” Waterfire paused here, “Amity.”
“Or Kindness?” Kimono said to Waterfire.
“That’z a pozzible translation,” he acceded.
“We’d like to visit Saint Amorosa after we’re done here,” Kimono said. “But we have only a vague map.”
“Marvelouz, I can take you there!” Aurora Mist said. “I’ve been meaning to make a trip to visit my extended family. When are you planning to go?”
Kimono glanced at the others. They weren’t really clear on how they could get an appointment to visit the Castle of Family, or how much they would be able to uncover about the history of this place. “We’re not certain,” Kimono said. “Perhaps a few weeks?”
“What is your businezz here, if you not mind me azking?”
“We found a map in our city with seven ancient castles, and we set out to find them,” Kimono explained. “Our city had lost contact with all these locations, so we wanted to reestablish contact, make new friendships, and try to discover the origins of these castles and why the various cities drifted apart.”
“Zo you like hiztory? You should meet with Aquamarine. She knows all there is to know about our zity’s hiztory. You can usually find her in the zentral plaza.” Waterfire paused as Aurora continued to speak. He responded to her in Cantor, and she spoke again.
“What are you two saying?” Star cut in impatiently.
“She offered to take uz to meet Aquamarine, but I know where she is,” Waterfire said. “I don’t want to keep her from lunch.”
“I want lunch,” Star said with big eyes. She was hungry, and after traveling with Wondermint and Kimono on rations through the wilderness, she knew her metabolism was higher than theirs. She had to call for meal breaks, otherwise the others might put it off until Star was practically starved.
Waterfire said something to Aurora, and she responded cheerfully. “Then we’ll eat together!” Waterfire interpreted. “Follow me.”
They ate at a restaurant that served food unlike anything Star had tried before. She didn’t have names for almost any of the plants—or whatever they were—that were served. Some were green, others brown or red. Some were squishy and slimy, others were brittle. Curiously, it was all served on one big, rotating platter, enabling them to take servings of every dish. The only thing Star recognized was the seaweed she had eaten with Waterfire earlier, although its flavor was far tangier here. But they all had some hint of the same flavor, tasting like the sea smelled.
They made conversation as they ate. “Aurora, can I ask about your cutie mark?” Wondermint said. “Star and I come from Joyville, where everypony has a jewel in their cutie marks. We thought all ponies had jewels until we met Kimono, in fact. But you’re the first pony we’ve met outside of Joyville with a jewel. Do you also trace your ancestry back to Joyville?”
“I’ve never heared of it,” Aurora said, with Waterfire interpreting. The poor colt hadn’t gotten to eat much. “They’re not common, but there are a few ponies with jewels in their cutie markz here.”
“There are two in Ponyville, in fact,” Kimono said. “Gem Blossom and Valenshy. Perhaps Joyville is the ancestral home of the jewel ponies, but some migrated when these lands were all in contact?”
They finished their meal, and Aurora guided them to the central plaza. It was in a busy part of the town. Star noticed that the buildings became increasingly big and elaborate, and the streets were broader. They came upon an open stone square. There were statues and intricate fountains with complex flow patterns. For example, in one the water spilled out of a fluted shell in dozens of different locations, each one running down a different stone channel before joining together. There were even stone basins filled with water and growing things in them.
Some ponies walked through the area. Others came in and out of the various important looking buildings. Some stood around chatting with friends. It seemed that few were giving heed to the sight that immediately caught Star’s eyes. In the very center of the plaza was a slightly raised stone platform with a pony standing on it. Her appearance was unlike anypony Star had seen before. Her coat was a sea blue-green, but all along her body were designs, images of seaweed and fish. Her tail was green and her hair was seafoam. Most striking were her eyes, blue orbs with no pupils or whites. She stood on the platform looking up, perhaps at the air bubble that held back the water over their heads.
Aurora led them to the pony on the platform. She flared her wings and spoke in Cantor to the pony. “These three rezently arrived in the zity,” Waterfire interpreted. “Their names are Wondermint, Ztar Dasher, and Kimono. They not zpeak Cantor, but Waterfire zpeakz their language.” Aurora turned to the newcomers. “Thiz iz Aquamarine. She is rezponzible for holding the air bubble around our zity.”
Aquamarine spoke in a voice that seemed to reverberate as if heard through water. “Welcome to Aquaria,” Waterfire said. Perhaps she was looking at the newcomers, but Star couldn’t tell. Her eyes were rather unsettling.
Aurora spoke again. “Wondermint is a musician. They showed good tazte in art.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Aquamarine said.
“It’s an honor to meet you,” Kimono said after Waterfire’s interpretation. “We come seeking to learn about the past of your city, and the Castle of Family in particular.”
“I zee,” Aquamarine said. “Let uz leave thiz crowded plaza.” She stepped off the platform and led them towards one of the nearby buildings.
Aurora spoke to the travelers, and Waterfire interpreted, “I muzt leave you now. I muzt be with my art at the Feztival.”
“Thank you for welcoming us!” Star said. She pressed her cheek to Aurora’s and kissed in the air. She hoped she had correctly interpreted that as a sign of gratitude. Aurora didn’t seem dismayed and kissed in return on both sides. Aurora Mist spread her blue wings and took off with a great rushing sound and a burst of air.
* * *
Waterfire followed Aquamarine down a narrow passage between two buildings. Behind those buildings was a small building made of gray stone that appeared to be a house. It had a little courtyard in the front with water gardens, stone basins full of seawater and various ocean life. Sea flowers, pink grass, sea stars, anemones, and other such things. They stopped in the courtyard. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Waterfire,” Aquamarine said.
“You’ve never invited me to your house before,” Waterfire said guardedly. “But I suppose I’m welcome as an interpreter, if nothing else.”
“You’re welcome in Aquaria anytime, as long as you don’t cause trouble,” Aquamarine said. Waterfire didn’t interpret any of this for the newcomers. Aquamarine looked at them and said, “What would you like to know?”
Waterfire interpreted for them. “Most of all we want to know the history of the Castle of Family,” Kimono said in Ponish. “Do you know why it was built?”
After Waterfire intepreted, Aquamarine responded, “The history of the castle is tied to the history of the city. So I will tell you that first.” Waterfire noticed that Star turned to look at the water gardens. She didn’t seem as invested in the history lesson as Kimono.
“The Riverine ponies lived here for a long time,” Aquamarine said. “The Sun and Flower clans belong to that group. More recently, within the last thousand years, Cantor ponies started migrating here from the north. They liked the warm weather here. Eventually they founded Aquaria. It was originally a tourist attraction, if you can believe it. By the time the United Pony Empire was formed six hundred years ago, the Riverine ponies had had so much contact with the Cantor ponies that incorporating these lands into the Cantor-led Empire was a natural decision.” With Waterfire interpreting, this tale was becoming long to tell. He knew his interpretation was rough. He loved languages, but this day was testing his abilities and exposing the gaps in his knowledge.
“Four hundred fifty years ago, the Empire was in its zenith,” Aquamarine said. “To celebrate and to ensure the continued unity of these dispersed lands and diverse cultures, the empress of the time decreed the construction of castles in seven of the Empire’s cities, each one to celebrate a positive ideal which made that location special and which brought ponies closer together. Ponies here tended to have large families due to their agrarian lifestyles and the abundant harvests from the river delta, so the castle here was named the Castle of Family.”
“Interesting,” Kimono said. “And whatever happened to this Empire?”
“It fell apart,” Aquamarine said. “Ponies stopped coming from the Capital. They say it happened slowly. No new laws, gradually reduced travel. Whatever went wrong, it originated from the Capital, not here.”
“What castle did they build in the Capital?” Kimono said.
“The Castle of Music,” Aquamarine said.
Kimono asked for a few more details, but Aquamarine had told the basics of the whole story. Eventually they got on the topic of how the air bubble around the city worked. “Oh, that’s my job,” Aquamarine said. “I maintain the bubble. It’s a magical skill that’s been passed from one pony to another since the Imperial days.”
“Interesting,” Kimono said. “I know a—” Kimono spoke a word that Waterfire didn’t know “—that might be similar to yours. I would love to see how you do it.” Waterfire did his best to interpret given the context.
“I practice here,” Aquamarine said, looking at the water gardens. She effortlessly lifted some of the water into the air, moving them in loops like a fountain. Waterfire stared in shock. Aquamarine never let him watch when she used her powers.
“It is the same power!” Kimono said. “But you’re much stronger than me.” Waterfire felt a sudden gust of air, very unexpected in this underwater city.
Aquamarine smiled. “We should meditate together sometime. Being from different lands, our techniques may differ. We could learn from each other.”
Waterfire felt his cheeks flush with anger. He had pleaded to learn with Aquamarine for years. And now she was speaking to a total stranger and foreigner about her powers? “Why her?” Waterfire said. “And never me?”
Aquamarine looked at Waterfire suddenly, as though she had forgotten he was here. “Child, your powers are dangerous,” she said. “Nopony would be safe if you were even stronger with them.”
“Your powers are stronger than mine, but you’re not dangerous. I just need help learning to control them.”
“What are you saying, Waterfire?” Star Dasher said.
“You need to learn to control yourself,” Aquamarine said sternly, ignoring the foreigner. “Your emotions. Once you can do that, you can learn to use your powers.”
“I know what this is really about!” Waterfire said. “It’s my parents. You don’t like that I have fire powers as well as water, because it reminds you that I have mixed lineages.”
“They upset the peace between the clans. They let their emotions get the better of them, just like you do, when they fell in love.”
Waterfire felt like his blood was boiling. “So you admit it! It’s about my parents, not me. I didn’t choose how I was born! And in any case my parents’ love is none of your business. Why do the old traditions matter so much to you, anyway?!”
Waterfire heard a pony whinny in terror in the streets outside. He felt water drop on his face like rain, and he looked up. The air bubble was wavering, its dome shape distorting. Water fell from it in drops all over the city. Water swirled all around his head, and he realized that the water gardens were dry. His powers had activated. He hadn’t even tried to do this, and he didn’t know how to make it stop.
“Enough,” Aquamarine said in a commanding voice. She looked up, her mane flipping behind her head. The water bubble slowly returned to its original shape. As for the water that Waterfire had taken from the gardens, it went out of control, moving erratically before splashing all over the courtyard. Aquamarine turned to him with a dripping mane and cold, empty eyes. “You can’t be here.”
“I’m sorry,” Waterfire said. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
“Go,” Aquamarine commanded. Rather than argue further, Waterfire turned and walked down the alley, head hanging.
* * *
Waterfire seemed reluctant to explain to Star Dasher and the others what had happened with Aquamarine as they walked back to his parents’ house. All he would say was that it was his fault and he should have stuck to interpreting. But Star had seen the water spinning around Waterfire’s head. She thought he had similar powers to Aquamarine and Kimono.
The sun was getting low and the heat was oppressive as they arrived at Waterfire’s house. They found Silly Lilly helping Waterfire’s mother, Seaspray, with the garden. Indoors Waterfire’s father, Sunrise, was cooking, but he kept looking over at Razzaroo, who sat on a table with books and pages of notes. “What’s up, Razz?” Star said.
“Sunrise has years of meteorological data,” Razz said. “I’m using a dictionary to try to understand it.” It was written in a very different script from what Star had seen in Aquaria. Riverine, she supposed.
“Dad loves… ayy, meteorology, that’z it,” Waterfire said. “But he’s never been able to organize the data and analyze it. We never have enough time, zince we have to take care of ourzelves here out on thiz island.” He still seemed glum.
They discussed their plans for the next day. Waterfire agreed to take them to Astral City, the home of the Sun Clan. “I think I’ll stay behind,” Kimono said. “Razzaroo has the right idea with that dictionary. I’d like to study and learn Cantor as quickly as possible, especially if…” she glanced at Waterfire, “if Waterfire is unwelcome in Aquaria.” He hadn’t really explained why he had left the city, but they had no choice but to follow him, as he was their interpreter. “Besides, this is the same language as what’s in the ancient library in Ponyville. We could learn much if one of us could understand it.”
They agreed to this, and Sunrise invited them to eat dinner with the family. They ate, thanked their gracious hosts, and prepared for another eventful day tomorrow.
* * *
They walked to Astral City on a humid, hazy morning. Star’s mane and tail were dripping after crossing the stream to get off Waterfire’s tiny island, and it felt like she would never be dry again. They crossed several more islands on the way to the city, but the others all had bridges, at least. Most of these islands seemed to be covered in farmland. The haze was thinning out as they walked.
It seemed that the haze cleared out and the sun shone through right as they arrived on the island of Astral City. Before them stood a city with several structures taller than any Star had ever seen. Most striking was a tower with a dome roof that looked to be made of copper; its pinkish-orange surface shone in the sunlight. A shorter but still impressive clocktower was also visible. An arched entrance made of brass awaited on the road they followed. Star looked around, full of wonder. Ponies trotted with purpose here, many dressed in fancy clothes like nothing Star had seen before. Some ponies did stop to stare, primarily at Silly Lilly, who flew alongside the group. Probably they had never seen a breezie before.
They were clearly walking down a commercial street. Every storefront vied for Star’s attention. She saw rows of magazines with a young, pink mare in striking makeup. She saw jewelry, hats, bows. Almost everypony had a bow in their tail. She smelled fresh bread, more appetizing than the strange, salty seafood of Aquaria. Many things, however, Star didn’t understand in the slightest. Charts, devices with gears and springs, numbers and dials. Wondermint dashed to a particular storefront, gasping. Star followed her curiously. The window of this store was open, and they had set up a device with a painted ballerina pony who spun. Silly landed and inspected the figure, which was only a little smaller than him. It played a cute song on what sounded like tiny bells.
“They have devices that play music automatically?” Wonder said enthusiastically. The store owner gave Wonder a friendly smile and said something in a foreign language.
“I not think we can get anything here,” Waterfire said. “Ponies here will share their wares with anypony who workz and contributez zomething to the economy of the zity. That wouldn’t be uz. We’d have to trade something of greater value.” It worked similarly in Joyville, Star thought. Not that they had visitors, but some shops would only give out a certain amount to a single pony or refuse service to a pony who was known not to work. “Zo unlezz you’re looking to part with your… inztrument, what you call it?”
“My accordion?” Wonder gasped, stepping back. “Never!”
“Then let’z move on.” Waterfire said something to the shopkeeper in their language. “The zame thing almozt happened to uz in the reztaurant in Aquaria, but Aurora Mizt perzuaded them to zerve uz with her.”
Waterfire led them through the city until he stopped at a poster on a wall. He read it and said, “Oh, that’z lucky. Doctor… ayy, how to translate it… Ztar Tail is giving a lecture thiz morning at the… ayy… planet model? She always ztays afterwards if ponies want to azk her queztions. She zpeakz Ponish.”
“Will Star Tail’s lecture be in Ponish?” Razz said.
“No, it will be in Riverine,” Waterfire said. “But you’ll have to zit through it if you want to meet her without me translating.”
“Um, sitting through lectures might be kind of hard for me,” Star said. “Especially if I don’t understand anything.”
“She willn’t zpeak to you if you not attend the lecture,” Waterfire said. “She’s very passionate about inzpiring young minds. She can be ztern to those who appear not interezted.”
That didn’t put Star’s mind at ease. “Maybe I should stay behind then?”
“She is an important profezzor,” Waterfire said. “She might be able to get you to the Cazle of Family. But it is your dezision.” Star didn’t respond, as she needed to weigh those options. Would she be able to stay focused, or at least fake it for long enough? She felt apprehensive about it.
That feeling dissipated as they approached the tower with the copper dome. All around it, the grounds were landscaped with decorative plants. A stream that looked like it ran through the whole city was split here into channels to keep the decorative plants alive. Most of the ponies here looked like young adults. Star guessed that they were now on the campus of a university. The tower had an extremely fun rotating door, which Wonder and Star went around an extra time before entering.
The sight which awaited them was perhaps as bewildering as the air bubble holding up an entire sea above their heads in Aquaria. A giant device of clockwork occupied the center of the spacious room, at least five ponies tall. It had a number of brass spheres slowly rotating around a larger sphere in the center. The various rings on which the spheres traveled were marked with foreign inscriptions and lines. The ceiling was domed, and although several stories high, Star figured it was nowhere near the top of the tower. It was marked with constellations that somehow seemed to be part of the display.
This piqued Star’s foalhood interest in astronomy, making her quite excited. She noticed that although the stars were arranged in familiar patterns, the ponies had drawn different constellations from them, forming unfamiliar shapes.
Seats were arranged around the mechanical centerpiece. “We’re a little early,” Waterfire said. “I’ll introduce you.” On the other side of the centerpiece was a small stage and a chalkboard. Standing there was a pony of striking colors. Her body was pink until the legs, which shifted from pink to orange to yellow in a gradient. Her cutie mark was a star, but a tail ran from it all the way down her leg. Her shiny, perfectly combed hair was pink with a golden streak. Star was suddenly conscious of her own hair, messy and still wet from crossing the river. Star couldn’t guess the pony’s age, for she appeared at once mature yet young and beautiful. She had fetching gold eyeliner and a golden tail bow. She was strangely familiar… The magazines! She was on the cover of fashion and beauty magazines in the city.
She saw Waterfire approaching and said something in Riverine. They exchanged a few lines, then the pony said in Ponish, “Welcome to Astral City. I am Doctor Comet Tail.”
“Ayy, I translated her name wrong,” Waterfire said. “Zorry.”
This was Dr. Comet Tail? Star Dasher was caught off guard. For some reason she had expected a wrinkled professor whose hair had dulled with age. Instead they were standing in front of an actual model. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Razz said. “I’m Razzaroo.” The others all introduced themselves. She looked at Silly strangely when he introduced himself, but she did not interrupt.
“I suppose this is your first time seeing the Orrery,” Comet Tail said, gesturing to the giant contraption in the center of the room. “I hope you find it impressive.” Her Ponish was clearer than Waterfire’s.
“I love it!” Star said.
“It’s amazing!” Wonder said. “So artistic!”
Comet looked at Wonder, seeming surprised about something. Before she could speak, however, Razzaroo cut in. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how did you learn Ponish? We’ve met so few ponies here who speak it.”
“I have a colleague from a Ponish neighborhood in the Capital,” Comet Tail said. “We were roommates in university, and we’ve published together a few times. I’d love to chat more, but it’s nearly time for the lecture to start. I’m sorry, but it will be in Riverine.”
“Do you mind if I translate for them?” Waterfire said. “I’ll speak quietly.”
“You can try,” Comet said. She gestured for them to take seats. There was a small crowd of ponies, but many seats were still empty. Perhaps this room was used for some bigger events?
The group filed to the nearest seats. They put Waterfire in the center, with Wonder below and Star and Razz on either side. Silly just sat on Waterfire’s withers. “Why is everypony we meet here so pretty?” Wonder quietly said. Star looked at her for a moment, but she had a point. Comet Tail, Aquamarine, Aurora Mist, even Waterfire were all physically striking.
Comet Tail began her lecture, and Waterfire quietly interpreted. Comet explained how she and a group of other scientists had used gravity to discover a new planet, which they had named Chimera. The lecture quickly became more technical, and Waterfire struggled to keep up. He would pause in the middle of a sentence, listen to Comet, then pick back up on a different thought. He seemed to lack the vocabulary needed to explain complex mathematical concepts, as he would explain an idea in simpler words, mash words together into one phrase, or even use words that didn’t sound like Ponish at all.
Soon Star found it hard to focus. This dense math stuff was what had driven her out of astronomy when she was younger. She had to lean close to Waterfire to hear him, and her neck was getting uncomfortable. She started looking around the room to distract herself. She noticed that Razzaroo was taking notes. She watched the Orrery. It was hard to focus on it for long, as it moved too slowly. Star felt the need to move, to run. How was Silly holding up through this? Oh, he had fallen asleep on Waterfire’s back. Star wished she could do that, but she had too much energy. She looked at Wondermint on the seat below, appreciating her silky, beautiful violet and lavender hair. Star started fidgeting in her seat, flicking her tail and tapping a hoof on the stone between her cushion and the next.
Maybe she could get away with a little conversation with Wonder? She tapped Wonder’s shoulder. Wonder looked at her with a glazed expression. She was clearly bored, too. Star leaned over to her and whispered, “How long do you think this is going to last?”
Star’s attention was yanked back to Comet Tail when she heard her name. “Miss Star Dasher!” the professor snapped in Ponish. “If you’re not going to pay attention then why are you here?” Students in the room looked around, confused, but Comet’s eyes bored into Star. She looked away, embarrassed, clueless on how to respond. She decided the best thing to do was leave.
She got up and walked down the rows of seats, her head hanging. “I’m sorry, Dr. Tail,” she said. She briskly trotted past the Orrery to the door. Every eye in the room followed her as her hooves clacked against the tile floor, echoing. Her cheeks flushed. She took off at a flying pace as soon as she passed the door. She didn’t know where she was going, just away. She had made such a fool of herself!
* * *
Comet Tail finished her lecture, and Waterfire finished interpreting a few sentences behind. “I’m going to find Star Dasher,” Wondermint said.
“I’d like to ask Dr. Tail a few questions,” Razz said, looking at her notebook. She had enjoyed the lecture, but there were a few things she hadn’t understood. She was hoping to hear the professor explain it in Ponish.
“I… I’ll go with you, Razzaroo,” Waterfire said. “I would like to learn the words for some of these concepts in Ponish.”
“We’ll meet outside the doors,” Razz suggested. Silly looked unsure where to go, but he didn’t fly after Wonder. He, Razz, and Waterfire took their place in a little line that had formed to speak with Comet Tail. They didn’t have to wait for long.
“I was hoping you’d stay afterwards, Silly Lilly,” Comet Tail said in Ponish. “I didn’t have time to ask before the lecture, but I’ve been wondering this whole time: What are you?”
“I’m a breezie,” he said.
“A breezie…” Comet Tail said pensively. “So they’re not just legend. I wonder what other legends may be true? You must have come from far away.”
“Well, I’m not really sure, because we rode this magic carriage to get here,” Silly said.
“About two thousand miles, according to our map,” Razz said.
“I’m afraid I’ve never heard of that unit of measure,” Comet said.
“It’d be about… two months walking on even ground in a straight line,” Razz said. “Although I doubt the way would be so easy on the ground.”
“Razzaroo, I saw you taking notes. I hope Waterfire’s interpretation was adequate?”
“I did have a few questions, actually.” She asked for some clarifications. She noticed that Waterfire listened attentively as Comet explained the mathematical and gravitational concepts of her lecture in adept Ponish.
When Razzaroo was satisfied, Comet turned to Waterfire. “Hello, Waterfire,” she said, not too warmly.
“You not had to critizize Ztar Dasher like that,” Waterfire said. Razz and Silly looked between the two nervously. They had some history, it seemed. “All she had to ztay engaged in the lecture was my imperfect translation.”
“That was enough for Razzaroo, evidently,” Comet said. “I have little patience for ponies who aren’t here to learn. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand what it is to have a passion for science.”
“What you mean by that?”
“I can’t hold you accountable for taking after your father.”
“Excuse me?” Waterfire said, enraged. Silly hid behind Razz, who looked around uncomfortably. “Zunrise loves zience!”
“Really, is that why he quit college at the top of his class?” Comet said. “Are you implying, then, that she was a scientist?”
“He quitted because ponies ztarted refusing him zervize after the marriage,” Waterfire said hotly. “Not a day goes by that he not look wishfully at his weather data, but he had to stop to build a houze and grow food for his new family!”
“Imagine throwing a bright future away for a Sea Clan filly whose head is full of arts and crafts,” Comet Tail said.
“He only had to throw anything away because of how ponies like you reacted!” Waterfire shouted.
Razzaroo leapt back as streaks of fire appeared around him. To her horror, the flames caught on her saddlebag. She immediately rolled on it to put it out. She gingerly looked inside. Her notebook was scorched! Whole pages were illegible! The map was damaged as well. A few tears leaked from her eyes.
The fires around Waterfire disappeared, and he bolted out of the building.
* * *
Wondermint had spent the second half of the lecture filled with worry for Star Dasher. She had almost left to go after her, but she didn’t want to cause an even bigger scene. Now that the lecture was over, she rushed out the door and took a look around. She didn’t see Star Dasher in the grounds outside the tower. She wasn’t sure which way Star might have gone, and she couldn’t speak Riverine to ask ponies where a running purple jewel pony might have gone.
So what could she do? If she picked a direction and left, she could miss Star. It was possible that Star was going back to Waterfire’s house. Wonder wouldn’t be able to catch up with her, if that was the case. Did Star even know the way back? Wonder wasn’t sure if she could remember, herself. No point in trying and getting lost, then. Star could be wandering the city, but Wonder didn’t like the odds of just randomly bumping into her on the street. So her best chance at finding Star was to hope she would come back here.
Maybe she could help that process along? She sat on a bench in the middle of the grounds and took the accordion off her back. “Sapphire Shores’ Silver Sonata” seemed like the right mood. Hopefully she could remember it… She stuck her forehooves into the rotary slots at each end that selected the notes, and she started to play. It was an enchanting, melancholy song. Wonder didn’t maintain a lot of awareness of her surroundings while playing. Her soul was absorbed into the accordion and the music, her mind focused on the technical side and her gem engaged in the emotions the music portrayed. Still, she managed to notice after a few minutes when a purple pony lay in front of her on the stone and attentively listened. Wonder finished the verse she was on and stopped the song.
“Hey, Star,” she said. “Are you okay?” She noticed that ponies around the square had stopped to stare at her, but not in a warm, appreciative sort of way. When she looked at them, they turned their gaze and hurried along.
“No,” Star said flatly.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Wonder said.
“You saw what happened.”
“Yeah. I just want to know what’s specifically bothering you, so I can try to help.” Wonder felt great concern for Star. It contrasted to her normally carefree attitude. Her mind went back to the journey to the Castle of Rainbows, where Star had comforted Wonder after she had slipped and almost fallen down a waterfall. Maybe she could comfort Star and return the favor?
“I feel embarrassed,” Star said with a sniffle. “And I feel like I can never show my face to Comet Tail again.”
“Well, you don’t have to, then,” Wonder said. “If we interact with her again, you don’t have to get involved.”
“But without her, how will I ever get into the Castle of Family?”
“Sh, shh… you’re thinking too far ahead. As long as Kimono and Waterfire get in, they can tell us what’s in the library there. And honestly, we learned more about the past from Aquamarine than we had from anywhere else. Don’t worry about it.”
“But… why can’t I sit still and listen?” Star said. “Is something wrong with me?”
“You’re sitting still and listening now,” Wonder said.
“This isn’t the same.”
“Maybe not. But there’s nothing wrong with you. Maybe university lectures about gravitational and mathematical principles aren’t your forte. But there are lots of other things we—I love about you.” Star looked up at Wonder’s wording. What Wonder had said in the tent that night was true: She thought Star was cute. Sure, she found lots of ponies physically attractive. Star was on that list, with her glossy purple coat and her athletic build. But there was something else. Wonder liked her personality. “You’re the fastest and strongest of us, but you’re always willing to wait for or help us weaker ponies. Plus, you’re really brave. I haven’t forgotten how you comforted me at the waterfall. And the way you’re always willing to try new things without fear or hesitation—I love that. I admire that. You’re wonderful.”
“Really?” Star said, starry-eyed. “You admire me?”
“Of course I do!” Wonder said, jumping off the bench. “Why don’t you stand up?” Star did so with a sniffle. Wonder nuzzled her cheek warmly. It felt so nice…
Wonder remembered Star’s crush on her. How much did she reciprocate, really? In that moment, it felt like a lot. But there was also January Joy. Wonder really liked January Joy. What to do?
Wonder pulled back. Star was smiling. “Let’s find the others and discuss what to do next,” Wonder said. Star nodded. They returned to the tower, but before they could enter, Waterfire came barreling out of the door. “Waterfire, where are you going?” Wonder said. He ran past them, looking every bit as distressed as Star had been half an hour ago. “Not again…”
“I’ll follow him,” Star said. “Let’s meet back at his parents’ house.”
* * *
The group separated into a long chain as they followed Waterfire back to his home. Each pony stayed in sight of the pony in front of them in this flat landscape. Razz was in the back, walking slowly and without purpose. Silly Lilly had flown back a few times to check on her, apparently forgetting their previous conversations. “Are you okay?” he said again.
Razz shrugged. “Were you hurt by Waterfire’s magic?” Silly asked.
Razz hesitated. Her body wasn’t damaged. Just her most valued possession. “No, no, no,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“If you say so,” Silly said. He buzzed alongside Razz for a while before landing on her back.
At last Razz arrived at Waterfire’s house. Her thoughts turned to him. She was feeling mopey about her notebook, but he was probably pretty upset, too. She entered the house and saw Waterfire in the bedroom, lying stomach-down on a mat on the floor. “I’m not upset at you,” Razz said at the doorway of the room. “It wasn’t your fault. It was just an accident.” At least, so she assumed. Waterfire didn’t respond, but his ear flicked, so at least he heard. With that, Razz stepped out of the house and to her tent. She put down her saddlebag and crawled into her sleeping bag.
Reaching over, she looked through her saddlebag again. It had a hole in it and would need to be replaced. That wasn’t catastrophic. But the notebook… The fire had hit the front cover. It and several of the front pages were completely incinerated. After that were more scorched pages, which Razz carefully flipped through. The text wasn’t legible until they were on the journey from Joyville to Unicornia. Even after that, the top right corner of every sheet was burnt until the empty pages. Months of her notes were gone. It would take her weeks to record it all again, and there was no way she could remember everything. The damage to their ancient map from the Ponyville castle was the bitter icing on this metaphorical cake.
She heard hoofsteps outside her tent. “Razzaroo, can we talk?” It was Kimono.
“Yes,” Razz said unenthusiastically.
Kimono opened the door of Razz’s tent. “Silly told me what happened. How’s your notebook?”
“Scorched. It’s all illegible until a few weeks ago.”
“I’m sorry that happened.” Her eyes settled on the scorched map on the tent floor. “Don’t worry about the map. Aurora Mist was going to take us to the Castle of Kindness. And if not, we can find a new one in one of the cities.”
“It’ll take me weeks to write all my notes again. And there’s no way I can remember every detail. It won’t be the same.”
“It’s a loss, to be sure.” Kimono hesitated. “But you know you’re worth more than just your notebook, right?”
Razz mumbled, “Notetaking is the only thing I’m good at,” but she wasn’t sure if Kimono heard.
“I’m afraid you’ve been defining your value by the things you have or don’t have, rather than by the things you are,” Kimono said, voice full of concern. “Your notebook, the party business in Ponyville. You’ve been too hard on yourself. Everypony in our group adores you for who you are. Your charm, your optimism, your organizational skills. None of those are dependent on whether your notebook is intact.”
Razz hesitated. Kimono’s words couldn’t instantly change her mood, but she saw what Kimono was saying. “Uh, thanks,” she said. “We’ll just have to go into town and get a new saddlebag and notebook—oh, we can’t get stuff from town! Not without Waterfire. How is he?”
* * *
Star Dasher and Wondermint were out gardening with Waterfire and his parents. They had time, and it seemed like Sunrise had insisted on him coming out to help. Waterfire hadn’t said anything after interpreting Sunrise’s instructions. Wonder had tried to make small talk with Waterfire’s parents a couple of times, but he wouldn’t interpret. Star wasn’t quite sure what to do next, besides garden to show gratitude for their hosts. They all had conical straw hats, which made the blazing sun more tolerable. They were digging up deep-rooted weeds.
After a while, Seaspray started to sing. Star thought it was in Cantor. She didn’t know much about music, but it sounded to be in some strange, foreign key. Seaspray’s voice was rich and fey, like no kind of music Star had heard before. Seaspray finished singing words after a few verses, but she continued humming the tune. “What’s that song about?” Wonder said.
Seaspray spoke to Waterfire. It sounded like they were arguing for a bit, then Waterfire said, “It’z about Aquaria.”
“Why is it so sad?” Wonder said.
Waterfire seemed reluctant to interpret, but his mother prodded him again. They exchanged a few lines and Waterfire said, “Aquaria was her home. And now it’z not.”
“I’ve been wondering, why do you three live out here by yourselves?” Wonder said.
“We have to talk about thiz?” Waterfire said.
“If Seaspray wants to,” Wonder responded.
Waterfire reluctantly interpreted again. This time Sunrise responded. “To understand that, you’ll have to hear our family’s whole ztory. It’z a long tale, and a bit zad. But we’ll tell it if you want.”
“Yes, please,” Wonder said. “We have time, and you’ve been such gracious hosts. We would be honored.”
Waterfire looked unhappy about this, but he didn’t resist his parents further. Seaspray spoke, and Waterfire interpreted. “I was born in Aquaria—Zeazpray, not me, Waterfire. Zunrise was born in Aztral Zity. We were both pretty typical members of the Zea and Zun Clans. I was a zinger, and he was ztudying to be a meteorologizt.” That explained her enchanting voice. “Our ztory really begins on the beach near the Cazle of Family. I zwam up there zometimes to compose zongs away from the crowded zity.”
Sunrise spoke. “I had come to the Cazle of Family to do zome rezearch in the library. I had been ztuffed in there for hours, and I dezided to take a break and walk on the beach.”
Star pulled up another weed and said, “I noticed the beach was empty when we were there. It seemed like everypony walks to and from the castle without ever loitering on the island.”
Seaspray responded. “A good notize. Ponies like to ztick to their clans, here. Even inzide the Cazle of Family, they have it all zplit up zo the clans not have to meet.” Star remembered seeing curtains during their aerial view from the carriage. “Because of that, the beach was a good plaze for me to come and almozt always be alone.”
“As for me, thiz was my firzt time walking that beach,” Sunrise said. “Mozt of my rezearch was in Aztral Zity, but for one clazz I had to find zome hiztorical records from the Cazle of Family. Zo there I was, walking on the beach, when I heared a… zeleztial zound. I thinked for a moment that I had falled into a dream. It was coming from behind zome crezcent leaves, zo I quietly walked pazt them and…” Waterfire made a repulsed face and protested to Sunrise in their language. Was it Cantor or Riverine that they spoke at home? Seaspray was blushing the whole time.
Eventually Waterfire acceded and continued to interpret. “I zeed—zaw… a ziren. A beautiful blue mare lying halfway in the water, waves washing over her hair, bitz of zeaweed tangled in her tail. She was zinging with the zame magical voize you juzt heared. She was zo, ayy, charming and ztrange that I thinked she would lure me and drag me in the zea. But I wasn’t afraid, because I was too… dumb? Ztunned, with her beauty.”
Seaspray cut in. “I not heared him, and it was a while before I opened my eyes and zaw him. I ztopped zinging now, and I almozt jumped back into the zea to zwim home. But he called out ‘wait!’ in my language, Cantor. I zaw zomething in his eyes. He thinked I was beautiful. He admired me, even adored me. My mother always telled me to find a stallion that looked at me like that. Zo I waited. He introduzed himzelf. I holded back my name, at firzt. He telled me all about his rezearch. It was zomething about long-term climate trendz. I telled him my name, and he zuggezted that we should meet again zometime.”
Sunrise continued the story. “Zo we did. We keeped zgeduling times to meet on the beach. We falled in love. We both knowed that we shouldn’t. We dezided to tell the whole truth to our clans and try to plan a marriage. Nopony with authority would do the zeremony for uz. And without a marriage in the Cazle, we couldn’t get housing in either zity. But we loved each other, and they couldn’t ztop that. Zo we moved out here. We builded a houze, growed our own food, and raised our own child, Waterfire. That answers your queztion?”
Seaspray added something. Waterfire hesitated. “She zays that I’ve never been welcome in either city. My lookz remind them that I am mixed blood. And once I got my cutie mark and choosed my name, Waterfire, ponies dezided to interpret it as defiant. Ponies liked me even lezz onze I ztarted showing the elemental powerz of both clans without ever being trained. But my parentz aren’t trained in magic, zo they can’t help me control it.”
“Wait, there was one part I didn’t understand,” Star said. “You said you knew you shouldn’t fall in love. Why? It sounds like ponies aren’t happy that two clans would mix. What’s the big deal?”
Waterfire responded without interpreting it back to his parents. “You muzt be from far away. Here, everypony ztickz to their clan. They make it zound reasonable, zaying things like ‘loyalty to your family.’ But really, it’z juzt a tradition. There’s no reason. That’z juzt the way it is.”
“I’m sorry,” Wonder said. “That sounds awful. Maybe there’s something we can do to help. I want to talk to Kimono about this.”
Waterfire sniffed and said something to his parents. Their reply was short, and then Waterfire trotted away, crossing the stream and leaving the island. “I guess he needed a break,” Wonder said. “You three can finish this, right?” She gestured to the garden. It looked like Star was the only one who had kept working through the story. “I need to think. There must be something we can do to help Waterfire.”
“Uh, yeah, we got this,” Star said. It might take a while, but Waterfire’s troubles seemed more pressing. “Good luck.”
* * *
Waterfire trotted towards the castle’s island, tears streaming down his face. Having to translate that conversation had reminded him of all the things that were broken about his life. Previously he was just upset because he had offended Aquamarine and Comet Tail back to back. Now he remembered that it was all part of a larger problem that had been going on his whole life.
He arrived at the island and headed for the beach. He lay down at the water’s edge, letting a wave wash over him. He soaked in the sun and the sea, trying to forget his worries. But they wouldn’t leave him. He had no home. He was welcome nowhere. Everypony thought he was some little monster. And they were absolutely right.
After he had been there for a few minutes, watching the waves, he heard a small voice behind him. “Waterfire, you were crying.” He turned and saw Silly Lilly hovering.
“Leave me alone,” Waterfire snapped.
“When you’re crying is when you need others the most,” Silly said with simple confidence.
“I’m sorry that the first pony you met had to be me,” Waterfire said. “I hope you can find a translator who’s not useless. Maybe you could ask Comet Tail for help.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Silly said. “You’ve been a great help to us.”
“Comet Tail and Aquamarine have a lot of respect and authority in their cities,” Waterfire said. “You should get on their good sides if you want to be welcome in the cities and get an appointment in the Castle. Which means you shouldn’t be with me.”
“I bet Kimono will figure something out,” Silly said. “But whatever happens next, you aren’t useless.”
“It’s not just what happened today and yesterday,” Waterfire said. “I can’t control my powers. I can’t control my emotions. I’m not welcome anywhere. When I was younger, I thought if I studied languages I could go anywhere and be welcome. But I don’t belong anywhere. I have no home.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that’s like. I have a home, and I feel like there’s a piece of me missing without it. That’s why I’m here. To figure out who I am besides just my friends, family, and town. At least you know that.”
“And who am I?” Waterfire said. “I’m just a little—”
“Don’t say anything mean about yourself!” Silly interrupted with surprising sharpness. “You’re a great translator. You’ve been incredibly generous with your time, food, and space. You’re an amazing pony.”
“I… thanks.”
“As for your powers, I was also born with magic that I never trained to use,” Silly said. “But Kimono knows how it works. Maybe she could help you. Or maybe even we could help each other?”
Waterfire looked at Silly, hovering above the waves, his wings glinting in the sunlight. His tiny eyes watched Waterfire eagerly. “Why… why are you so nice?” Waterfire said.
“Uh… am I?” Silly said.
“It seems like it.”
“Oh my glitter, maybe that’s part of who I am! Thanks for pointing that out.”
“Wait, what are your powers?” Waterfire said. Silly flew to the dry sand. He pranced over an area, and a patch of grass sprang up before Waterfire’s eyes. “Huwah, you created that?” Waterfire gawked.
“No, the seeds were there,” Silly said. There was similar grass elsewhere along the beach. “But I helped it grow.”
Waterfire stood up and walked over. He nibbled off a few blades. Yes, it was real grass. “That’s cool.” Waterfire looked back towards his family’s tiny island. “I guess I should get over my fit and go back home.”
“We’ll figure everything out,” Silly said. “Don’t worry.”
When they arrived, Kimono, Wondermint, Razzaroo, and Star Dasher were all outside, sitting and talking. “There you are,” Razzaroo said. “We were just talking about you.”
That was rarely a good thing to hear, in Waterfire’s experience. “Oh?” he said, stepping back.
“Kimono thinks if we wait here for another few days, she can learn enough Cantor to communicate with Aquamarine,” Wondermint said. “She thinks she could persuade Aquamarine to forgive you.”
“I doubt she’d hold onto a grudge; you are still a child, after all,” Kimono said. “And I’ll inform her that I intend to teach you how to control your powers. If you’re willing to learn.”
“Of course,” Waterfire said.
“We can all talk with Comet Tail,” Wondermint said. “I haven’t figured out who should lead, though. Kimono hasn’t even met her.”
“Razz really hit it off with Comet Tail,” Silly said.
“Is that so?” Kimono said.
“Yes yes yes!” Razzaroo said. “Her lecture was so interesting.”
“Well, then, you can talk to Comet Tail first while I continue to learn Cantor,” Kimono said. “But we’ll only go forward if you want to, Waterfire.”
“Of course I want to!” Waterfire said.
“This will only work if you hold back any outbursts against Comet Tail or Aquamarine,” Kimono said. “It’d be best if you keep your anger in check in general. And if you can sincerely apologize to them yourself, should you get through to them.”
Waterfire wanted to object. They owed an apology to him as much as the other way around. But maybe he needed to make the first move. “I, I understand,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
* * *
Wondermint, Razzaroo, and Silly Lilly walked—or flew—down a hallway in Solar University, the same campus with the observatory tower and the Orrery. Waterfire followed them reluctantly. Razz had suggested visiting Comet Tail’s office rather than talking to her after a lecture, hoping to get a more private setting. Wonder wasn’t certain if Comet Tail would see them, as they weren’t students. But they had all agreed to let Razz lead on reconciling Comet Tail and Waterfire, so the four of them approached her office. The door was open. Razz knocked at the frame.
“Oh, Razzaroo,” Comet Tail said. “I was wondering if I’d see you again. Come in.” Wondermint and Silly Lilly followed her, but Waterfire hung back. “I have something I’d like to give you.” Comet searched the drawers of her desk and pulled out a notebook. She passed it to Razz.
“This is for me?” Razz said, amazed.
“Yes, I felt bad after provoking Waterfire,” Comet said. “So I got this at a bookshop, in case you came back.” Wonder glanced over at the door. Waterfire wasn’t visible from here, but he must have heard that.
“Thank you,” Razz said. “I came to talk to you about just that. I want to tell you that Waterfire is sorry for yelling at you and losing control of his powers.”
“If he’s apologized to you, then it’s in the past,” Comet said. “He didn’t hurt me.”
“Well, yes… but no,” Razz said. “There’s clearly some tension between you two, and I’d like to help fix it.”
“I’m afraid that’s beyond your power. It doesn’t involve you.” Waterfire stepped into the room. “Oh, you’re here,” Comet said unenthusiastically.
“I am zorry,” Waterfire said. “I juzt want to be welcome here.”
“I’m sorry for insulting you. I never should have brought up your parents the way I did.”
An awkward silence filled the room. It didn’t seem that anything had been resolved. “You don’t seem too happy with him, though,” Silly said.
“I believe this conservation is done,” Comet said.
Wondermint felt that they needed to do more, and Razz seemed at a loss for words. It was time for a little improv. What did Comet want? She loved science; Wonder had gotten that during the lecture. She was dismissive of those who didn’t want to learn. “He’s a good student, you know!” Wonder blurted. Comet looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “He’s never been to school, but he knows so much. He learned Cantor and Riverine from his parents, and he learned Ponish and a couple of other languages all by himself. And he’s not even an adult yet. Imagine that level of internal motivation to learn for learning’s sake. Language may not be science, but I don’t see why it should count for less.”
Comet paused. “An astute observation, Wondermint. Thank you.” She hesitated and looked at Waterfire. “If you truly are interested in learning, you are welcome to use the library, the Orrery, the observatory, and any other resources on this campus.”
“Thank you,” Waterfire said. Yes, that feels better, Wondermint thought.
“Was there anything else you wanted?” Comet said.
“I think that’s all,” Razz said. “Thank you.” They nodded, as ponies often did here, and left. “That went pretty well,” Razz said. “She even apologized to Waterfire. We didn’t ask for that.”
“And she said he’s welcome on campus,” Wonder said. “Now we can only hope that Kimono gets through to Aquamarine.”
* * *
Kimono passed through the air bubble into Aquaria. The air stopped flowing through the magic sea star over her face. She pulled it off and took a gasping breath. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to that. Star Dasher and Wondermint followed her, their hair already magically dry, and they put their stars in the water basin.
The other two had come for moral support, but they hardly spoke a word of Cantor. It all fell on Kimono. She had spent a week learning as much Cantor as she could, both from the dictionary and Waterfire’s family. Given how potentially dangerous Waterfire’s powers were in Aquaria, Kimono had decided it best that he not come at all for this first attempt at apologizing to Aquamarine. If she wanted an apology from Waterfire himself, she would get it after Kimono had cleared the air between them as best as she could.
The three of them returned to the plaza where they had first met Aquamarine. Unfortunately, she was not there. However, Kimono suspected that she came here often, as it was a central location from which to observe by far the biggest air bubble that Aquamarine had to maintain. It wasn’t long before Star and Wonder excused themselves to explore the city. Kimono locked her legs and closed her eyes to meditate. The plaza was busy but somehow still peaceful. Underwater, the lighting and air seemed subdued. Ponies here weren’t in a hurry. They liked to stop and think. Kimono wasn’t so badly out of place.
She felt Aquamarine’s presence enter the plaza. Kimono looked and said, “Good afternoon, Aquamarine,” in Cantor.
Aquamarine responded in Cantor. Kimono had to guess her meaning, recalling everything she had tried to memorize. She took Aquamarine’s meaning to be, “I didn’t know you spoke Cantor.”
“I learned this week,” Kimono tried to say, although she knew she had done the brief nicker sound in the word for “week” wrong.
Aquamarine’s next sentence was more difficult. Kimono heard the words for “come,” “home,” and “magic.” Kimono nodded and said, “I wanted to… do magic with you.”
“Come,” Aquamarine said, walking towards her house. She asked a question. Kimono thought it meant, “Where are your friends?”
“Star Dasher and Wondermint are… in town,” Kimono said. She didn’t try to translate their names.
They went through an alley to the small stone court outside Aquamarine’s house. Aquamarine said something, which Kimono understood to mean, “I want to see what you can do.”
Kimono hoped this wasn’t about to turn into a competition. She wanted to gain Aquamarine’s trust before bringing up Waterfire. She closed her eyes and felt the air around her. It was different from the air on the surface. More purified, probably filtered out of the water. She reached out with her thoughts and moved the air in a little vortex between her and Aquamarine.
Before Kimono let it dispel, she felt Aquamarine reaching out with her own magic. Kimono opened her eyes to watch her. Water lifted from the water gardens and joined the vortex. It sprayed around and became foamy. Then, as the two ponies felt each other’s mental presence and became united in purpose, the water and air united into a vortex of mist. Then it flowed around the courtyard, making playful tendrils and waves. Next it coalesced into a shape. It took the form of a pony. His conical hat and the goggles around his neck were familiar. His face was recognizable; they had made Waterfire.
The water rushed back to the gardens, and Aquamarine said something. Kimono didn’t understand the words, but she felt that Aquamarine had learned that the true purpose of her visit was to talk about Waterfire.
“I want to say sorry for Waterfire,” Kimono said, laboring through the words. “He is sorry. I will teach him to… use his magic. Safe… safely. He is not a bad colt. He is… alone. He wants to be welcome here.” Kimono was certain that her grammar was atrocious.
Waterfire said nothing at first. Aquamarine searched Kimono with her solid blue eyes. It was hard to tell where she was looking with no pupils, but Kimono got the impression that Aquamarine was searching Kimono’s soul. She was evaluating the merit of Kimono’s word and the strength of her character.
Aquamarine said a short phrase that Kimono didn’t understand. This was followed by, “He is welcome in Aquaria.” Kimono sighed in relief.
* * *
Wondermint and Star Dasher came looking for Kimono in the plaza where they had met Aquamarine the first time. They had spent a lovely couple of hours exploring this beautiful city. Fortunately, Kimono was waiting for them. “How did it go?” Star said.
“Rather well,” Kimono responded. “She said that Waterfire is welcome in Aquaria.”
“Great!” Star said. “So… what now? We still want to get into the Castle of Family, right?”
“I’ve been thinking…” Wonder said. “Yes, I’ve been known to do that from time to time. While Kimono was cramming an entire language into her head, I thunk a thought. I thunk that we can do more.”
“I’m listening,” Kimono said.
“We didn’t really address the core problem, which is the contempt that the Sun Clan and the Sea Clan have for each other,” Wonder said. “Waterfire struggled to fit in because of it. His parents are practically exiled from their hometowns because of it.”
“Yes, it’s a problem,” Kimono said. “But what can we do?”
“You two have noticed, surely, the passion that ponies have for art down here?”
“Of course,” Kimono said. Star nodded.
“Razz and Silly could tell you how much they love science up in Astral City. That’s the common ground; they both have a passion for something, and I think they could learn to have respect for each other that way. Comet Tail warmed up to Waterfire when I pointed out his passion for languages. Imagine how she’d react to learn just how much the ponies here love their crafts. Or imagine Aurora Mist’s face when she sees the artistry of the Orrery.”
“Perhaps,” Kimono said thoughtfully. “How will we get them to see each other’s point of view?”
“Oh, we won’t,” Wonder said, smiling. “I know the perfect ponies for that.”
* * *
The next day, Waterfire went to Aquaria with his father, Sunrise, and Wondermint. Sunrise had been to Aquaria before, but not since Waterfire was old enough to remember. He looked around in amazement. They went towards the city center, looking for Aurora Mist. If Waterfire saw Aquamarine, he wanted to apologize, as well. “How are we going to find Aurora Mist?” Waterfire said. “The art festival isn’t until later this week.”
“I had an idea for that,” Wondermint said. She stopped at a street corner in a busy part of town and sat on a bench. “Last time this worked…” She had a harmonica hanging on her neck, and she raised it to her lips and started to play. Waterfire locked his legs to stand and listen, and soon a small crowd had gathered. Wondermint finished a song and started the next before a pale blue pegasus came swooping down. It was Aurora Mist.
Wondermint finished her second song to stomping applause. “Wondermint, it’s so nice to see you again!” Aurora said in Cantor. “And hello Waterfire.”
“Good morning, Aurora,” Wondermint said.
Aurora turned to Sunrise and said, “You’re new here, aren’t you?” Waterfire guessed she could tell that he was from the Sun Clan.
Sunrise responded in Cantor; it wasn’t his native language, but he had learned it well enough from Seaspray. “I came here a few times many years ago. But I’m practically new.”
“My name is Aurora Mist. It’s nice to meet you.”
“This is my father, Sunrise,” Waterfire said.
“So you’re the one who married Seaspray. Hmm… I miss her voice.” Aurora sounded wistful. That was better than hostile. “Would you like me to show you the town center? We’re holding an art festival there in two days.”
“Actually, we had something else in mind,” Waterfire said. He looked nervously at Wondermint, but she gestured for him to go ahead. Why couldn’t she do this? She and Aurora were instant friends, but she had insisted that Waterfire lead the conversation, as he was “the bridge between two worlds,” or something. “We were looking for you, because we know you love art, and we thought… you might like to see Astral City,” Waterfire said.
Aurora raised a confused eyebrow. This conversation was all in Cantor, so Wonder couldn’t jump in now. “There’s actually a lot of artistry there,” Waterfire continued. “They make their machines and instruments with great care. And you must see the Orrery. It is basically a giant piece of art, although they call it science.”
Aurora bit her lip, thinking. “Wondermint, have you been there?”
Waterfire translated, adding a bit of context. “Yes,” Wondermint responded.
“You’re an artist,” Aurora said. “A musician, granted, but a type of artist, with a good artistic eye. Is he right about this? Is there artistic merit in Astral City?”
After the translation, Wondermint said, “Definitely. But there’s so much more than just art! Their love for science is inspiring. You’ll see.”
“Well, then,” Aurora said. “Perhaps I can broaden my horizons. I will come and see Astral City.”
* * *
Aurora Mist seemed to have had a fun time in Astral City, but Wondermint didn’t think she had been properly blown away yet. She was sweating profusely, seemingly unable to handle the heat of the surface. The times Wondermint had gone, it had always been pleasantly cool in Aquaria. But Sunrise, who was leading their little tour, had saved the best for last. The sun was setting as they came up to the Observatory Tower on the Solar University campus. The golden light glittered off the copper dome at the top of the tower, which seemed to glow with its own, independent light now that the rest of the cityscape was in shade. They came up to rotating doors, and Sunrise proudly spoke in Cantor. Waterfire interpreted it for Wonder. “Welcome to the Orrery!”
Wonder did an extra round in the rotating door, of course, but after coming through, she saw Aurora looking starry-eyed. Her gaze swept over the various features of the Orrery—the slowly rotating planets, their lines of travel with inscriptions, and the constellations in the ceiling. The rhythmic movement of the clockwork created effortless, untiring music. Aurora spoke, and Waterfire interpreted. “I like to underztand art. What does it all mean?”
Sunrise happily dove into an explanation of the planets, moons, and comets represented by the Orrery. Waterfire struggled to keep up with interpretation, but Wonder didn’t really need it. She could see that Aurora was engaged in the moment, and that was what mattered. Maybe these two estranged clans really could be reconciled. Aurora asked a question. “What do the markings on the zeiling mean?”
“Those are conztellations,” Sunrise responded.
Aurora gasped. “They’re beautiful. We never zee the zky in Aquaria. When we do come up to the zurface, all we really notize is the zun and moon. I know zo little about the ztars and planetz.”
Sunrise smiled. “Would you like to zee them up close? Follow me!”
They took a lift to the top of the tower. It was a slow, noisy ride. “We zgeduled an appointment to use the observatory,” Sunrise said. They entered a door that opened up into a large room with a dome roof. A massive telescope sat in the center of the room, aimed upwards. Clockwork enabled it to move in any direction.
“What is thiz?” Aurora said.
Sunrise put his eye to the eyepiece and adjusted the telescope. “Hold on juzt a moment… There. Put your eye here, and you’ll zee.” Aurora looked into the telescope. “That’z the planet Manticore. Itz clouds, rings, and moons are visible. For zcale, the biggezt moon is about a quarter the… width of Ponyland.”
Aurora was silent for several minutes before she finally whispered something, which Waterfire interpreted as, “Thiz is incredible. Thiz is… I have no words. I… is thiz zience?”
“Yez,” Sunrise said. “Thiz is what we do here.”
Waterfire gasped after interpreting that. He leaned over to Wondermint and whispered, “He zaid ‘we.’ He hasn’t zaid that about the Zun Clan in years.”
Aurora spoke again, and Waterfire interpreted, “It’z beautiful.” Aurora pulled away from the telescope. Tears were in her eyes.
Wondermint’s curiosity was burning her up from the inside. “Do you mind if I take a peek?” she said. Waterfire interpreted for her, and the others stepped aside. She put her eye to the eyepiece. She saw a disk, or probably a sphere. Bands of color streaked across it, pale blue and white. Vortices of white swirled, reminding Wonder of storms. A magnificent, dark ring circled around the sphere, and numerous smaller spheres were visible in orbit around it. The planet dwarfed them by comparison.
The numbers of distance and size that Sunrise had said earlier had seemed impossibly large until Wonder saw it herself. But somehow she grasped the impossible scale of it, now that she saw it herself. She was looking at an entirely different world. She didn’t even know how big her own world was, really; a month ago, she had never left her tiny town of Joyville. This beautiful blue disk was so massive that Joyville probably wouldn’t be visible, even with this powerful telescope enlarging it to fill her whole vision. It made her feel tiny, but it also inspired her and filled her with energy. “Wow,” Wonder said. “Just wow.”
They all took turns looking at it, and then Sunrise took over and showed Aurora a few more things. Wonder was jealous that she didn’t get to see everything, but she understood why Aurora was the priority. Eventually their time was running out. “Thiz plaze is magical,” Aurora said. “Thank you zo much for inviting me.”
“You’re welcome,” Sunrise said. “I needed a reminder, myzelf.”
They heard a knock at the door. Comet Tail came in and looked at Sunrise in surprise. She spoke, and Waterfire interpreted, “Sunrise, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you here.”
“It’s good to be back,” Sunrise said.
Wonder and the others hadn’t talked about how to persuade Comet Tail to come to Aquaria yet, and probably the plan would have involved Razzaroo. But this opportunity was too serendipitous to refuse. Wonder nudged Waterfire and mumbled, “Invite her to Aquaria.”
Before Waterfire could make good on that, however, Aurora Mist spoke. It seemed that she and Comet Tail understood each other, so Waterfire was free to keep interpreting for Wonder. “These three have juzt finished showing me the zightz of Aztral Zity. And beyond, I zuppose. Your zity is wonderful!”
“I’m zo glad to hear it,” Waterfire interpreted for Comet.
At this point, Waterfire jumped in and Wonder lost her interpreter. He and Comet discussed something for a while. Sunrise and Aurora jumped in at points, and Wonder got the impression that all three were trying to convince Comet of something. At last, Waterfire turned to Wonder and said, “She’z agreed to visit the art feztival in Aquaria.”
* * *
Waterfire passed through the bubble into Aquaria. Wondermint, Seaspray, and Comet Tail were behind him. Seaspray helped Comet take off her sea star. Comet looked around with wide eyes. “This is incredible,” she said in Riverine. Waterfire interpreted for Wondermint. Comet stuck a hoof out of the bubble. “The pressure down here should force this air to compress, but it doesn’t feel that way. And if it’s not compressed, how did we not get decompression sickness when we came through?”
“Sadly, I don’t have the answers, besides magic,” Seaspray said.
“I’m also curious if these sea stars work that way naturally, or if ponies have changed them,” Comet continued.
“I’ve heard that ponies found them and bred them to be more effective,” Seaspray responded.
Comet marveled at the entrance to the city, then they continued on. Seaspray led them towards the plaza with the art festival. She stopped occasionally to point out the significance or certain statues or etchings in walls. The seahorse, said to have descended from sea ponies. An anemone etched onto a house door, symbolizing a safe place. Comet Tail seemed disinterested, unfortunately. She kept asking to press onwards to the art festival.
They arrived at the art festival. Seaspray showed Comet one stand after another, each one featuring a different style. Cubism, impressionism, surrealism, and so forth. Comet seemed politely interested, but she suddenly broke off from the group. Waterfire and the others followed her, surprised, and she stopped at a stand. The art here had detailed, almost anatomical sketches of sea creatures and vegetation. “What is that?” Comet said, pointing to one of the drawings. She switched to Cantor, which she was quite adept with, Waterfire had found.
“A sea lily,” the artist said. Waterfire didn’t know how to translate this, and he didn’t have time to explain as the conversation shot off.
“The detail in these drawings is impressive,” Comet said. “You have an eye for anatomy.”
“Thank you!” the artist said. “I believe that nature itself is the best artist. I’m not the only realist artist here, but the others are more focused on beautiful landscapes or portraits. My sketches don’t get a lot of appreciation here.” Indeed, Waterfire didn’t find them particularly beautiful. They looked like they belonged in a textbook.
“I see your point of view,” Comet said eagerly. “Biology is exquisite. It never occurred to me that an artist could capture that.”
“Finally, somepony who understands!” the artist exclaimed.
“Tell me more about this drawing,” Comet said. “Why did you pair these two creatures together?”
“These are actually two stages in the life cycle of the same organism, the violet tunicate…” Waterfire didn’t even hear all the conversation as he tried to keep up with translating for Wondermint. He didn’t have the words in Ponish to explain everything, and he didn’t even know what some of these words in Cantor meant. But Wondermint probably got the point that things were going well.
Eventually they wrapped up at the art festival. Comet was rather reserved with her emotions, so Waterfire couldn’t tell if she was blown away at the same level as Aurora Mist. On their way out, they ran headlong into Aquamarine. “Good afternoon,” she said, looking at Comet Tail.
Waterfire panicked about the idea of the two sternest ponies in his life meeting. He tried to cut between them, saying, “Hey, Aquamarine. We’re just finishing up here.”
Aquamarine paid him no heed and said to Comet Tail, “What brings you to Aquaria?”
“I came to visit the art festival,” Comet Tail said. “Seaspray has been showing me around.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Seaspray,” Aquamarine said.
“Thank you,” Seaspray said.
“My name is Aquamarine. I assume you came from Astral City?”
“Yes,” Comet said. “My name is Dr. Comet Tail.”
“What’s happening?” Wonder whispered to Waterfire.
“They’re either about to become best friends or worst enemies,” Waterfire said nervously. He missed part of the conversation, there. It sounded like Comet Tail had included her profession in her introduction.
“I maintain the bubble around the city,” Aquamarine said.
“Oh, how fortunate,” Comet said. Waterfire was trying to pick up on their moods, but their conversation was quite polite and dry. “I’ve been wondering about that bubble since I got here. Would you mind explaining to me some things about how it works?”
“What would you like to know?”
“My first question is about the pressure,” Comet Tail said. She and Aquamarine started discussing the details of how the bubble worked. Once again, Waterfire missed bits as he tried to keep Wondermint up to speed. Comet Tail was surprised to discover that the air was indeed pressurized down here. She had expected to notice it more. Seaspray interjected that it made a difference for breathing while singing. They were quite engaged in their conversation now. Waterfire hung back and kept Wondermint updated.
“This city is a marvel,” Comet Tail said. “Living underwater lets you experience a whole different world. The different perspectives in the art festival were impactful. Strangely enough, it reminded me of the annual science fair at Solar University.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Aquamarine said. “Aurora Mist told me how much she loved Astral City. Our clans have more in common than I thought.”
“Indeed,” Comet Tail said. “In fact, I’d like to suggest a combined fair displaying the greatest talents of both our cities.”
“And where better to hold it than the Castle of Family?” Aquamarine said. “That is what it’s supposed to be for, after all.”
Waterfire was astonished. “Wait, like for real?” he said. They looked at Waterfire, and he blushed immediately. Why had he said that?
“Of course, for real,” Comet said dryly. “I can pull the strings to make that happen on our end.”
“Aurora Mist is a respected artist,” Aquamarine said. “She can probably stoke up some enthusiasm for the idea. How long do you need to put everything together?”
“Probably about a month,” Comet Tail. “I’ll have to look at the university’s schedule to see what day would be best.”
Waterfire couldn’t believe his ears. His parents’ clans were going to hold a joint fair in the Castle of Family? This was the sort of stuff he dreamed about. “Huwah!” Waterfire yelped in elation. He pranced ecstatically. Flashes of sparks appeared at his hooves with each leap.
“Waterfire!” Aquamarine snapped.
Waterfire held still, front hooves crossed, blushing. “Sorry, I’m calm,” he said.
* * *
While the fair was organized, Waterfire insisted that the newcomers take advantage of the opportunity to study Cantor, as they would need it if they were going to travel farther north to the other castles and eventually to the Capital. Kimono also started teaching Waterfire to control his powers. Razzaroo spent many hours writing what she remembered from the burnt part of her notebook, and Comet Tail helped her get a new saddlebag from Astral City. Eventually, the day of the fair arrived. Waterfire’s family and guests were invited, at last giving them the opportunity to enter the Castle of Family.
They passed through the bright blue gates, Waterfire’s first time in years. Normally the courtyard was sectioned off by curtains, but for once it was all open. Crowds of ponies—Sun ponies with their warm colors and Sea ponies with their cool greens and blues—had gathered. Smells of seafood and the grain-dominated Astral cuisine filled Waterfire’s nostrils. Luckily, the sky was overcast, so the Sea ponies weren’t overheating.
Artists from Aquaria had set up their stands here in place of this week’s art festival. Sun ponies had posters displaying their research and little machines and devices they had brought with them.
Waterfire accompanied his friends from Ponyville and Joyville as they visited the various stands. He wasn’t paying too much attention to his interpretation duties, however, as he was trying to absorb what was happening around him. Ponies mostly stuck in groups of their own kind, but he noticed a few groups visiting the stands of the other clan. He even overheard a mixed-ethnicity conversation in Cantor, which Sun ponies often learned in school but rarely used unless they traveled. They had a long way to go, but this was the most united Waterfire had ever seen his parents’ clans. It was like a dream come true. It made him think about how they might extend friendship to the other clans that lived around here.
Waterfire’s friends went to the food stands for a snack, so he got a break with no interpretation. His heart skipped a beat when he turned and saw Comet Tail and Aquamarine approaching him. “Waterfire,” Aquamarine said in Cantor. “My friend, Comet Tail, mentioned that she had apologized for speaking poorly of your parents. I owe you an apology, too. I was wrong to treat you as I did. Not just the day you got upset and nearly collapsed the bubble. I’ve treated you as lesser for years. I’m sorry.” Waterfire’s cheeks blushed. Where had this come from?
“If she can do it, so can I,” Comet said in Riverine. “I’ve held a grudge against you and your parents for years. I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you.”
Waterfire didn’t know how to respond, or even in which language. “I… I…” he mumbled in Riverine, the language he had heard last. At last he put together a response in Cantor, the language they both spoke. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
Comet nodded to him, then turned to Aquamarine. “Where to now?”
“Now that we’re near the food, I smell a scent I’ve never experienced before,” Aquamarine said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s driving me ravenous.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never had sourdough bread before!” Comet said. “We must rectify this!” The two of them trotted off, leaving Waterfire somewhat shocked. All the walls that he had been born on the wrong side of were coming down.
He shook his head and rejoined his friends from Ponyville and Joyville. They were talking among themselves in Ponish. “I’ll take a look at the library,” Kimono said. “But we’ve lingered here for quite some time, and I’d like to press on towards the Capital. Aquamarine’s story of the castles’ creation was fairly complete, but if there are more answers to be had on the collapse of the Empire, they’ll probably be at the Capital.”
“So you five are going soon?” Waterfire said.
“I think so,” Kimono said. “We should visit Aurora Mist’s stand and see if she’s still willing to take us to the Castle of Kindness.”
“I have to thank you all for doing so much good here,” Waterfire said. “This fair never would have happened without you working to unite everypony.”
“We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without you,” Wondermint said. “Not just because you interpreted for us, but you showed us what makes both cities beautiful, and that was the key to bridging the gap.”
Waterfire wasn’t ready to say farewell to these ponies. He had barely started training with Kimono. Maybe he could persuade Aquamarine to train him? But years of hurts didn’t just disappear overnight. He wanted to see if this change of attitude would last before he got all cozy with ponies from Aquaria and Astral City only for them to turn against him again. “How are you going to communicate once you travel farther north?” Waterfire said. “You were lucky to meet two ponies here who speak Ponish, but it’s rare.”
Kimono fidgeted and said, “We’ll have to rely on the dictionary and what we’ve learned so far.”
Waterfire had lessons with Kimono, and while she was learning quickly, a month simply wasn’t enough time. She spoke well enough to pick up groceries, probably, but not a lot more. As for the others, Razz was the only one who was close to Kimono’s level, but she had a late start because at first she had worked to learn Riverine before switching to Cantor because Riverine wasn’t really spoken beyond the river delta. “What if I… ayy, came with you?” Waterfire said quietly.
“No, no, no, we couldn’t ask you to do that just for us,” Razz said. “You’ve been so generous to us already, and you have your own home and life.”
“Well… is that true?” Waterfire said. “I don’t really belong in either city, and my life has been basically growing or gathering food and learning languages in my spare time. Maybe now I can finally do something with that skill. I won’t miss home much, and we will come back eventually, right? I want to come with you.” He said that last part with conviction that surprised himself.
“We don’t know what we’ll find on the way, or even at the cities with the castles,” Kimono said. “It could be dangerous.”
This didn’t phase Waterfire. It maybe even made him a little excited. “I could help, if I learn to use my powers safely. Plus I’m a good swimmer, if you ever need that.”
“You could be gone for several months,” Kimono said.
“It won’t bother me,” Waterfire said.
Kimono sighed. “We won’t try to stop you coming if you want to.” The others nodded in agreement. “But you absolutely won’t come with us unless both your parents give you permission.”
Waterfire paused. He wasn’t sure how they would feel about this. They were here at the fair, but he figured he’d wait until they were home. “Before that, let’s ask Aurora Mist if she can come with us, and when,” Star Dasher said.
They headed to Aurora’s art stand. Wonder gestured at a painting and said, “That one’s new.” Waterfire interpreted for her. It was a watercolor painting of a blue circle with white streaks across it. A dark ring circled around it, and there were a few smaller gray circles here and there. Waterfire didn’t understand what it represented.
Aurora smiled and said, “I knew you’d notice.”
“It’s the planet, Manticore,” Wonder said.
“That was a lovely night,” Aurora said.
Kimono spoke in rough Cantor. “Thank you by help us. You… are very nice at us.”
Aurora gasped and said, “Oh, your Cantor has grown so much!” Waterfire interpreted this into Ponish, just in case.
Kimono stuttered for a moment, then switched to Ponish. “Would you still be willing to take us to the Castle of Kindness?”
After the interpretation, Aurora said, “Yes, I’ve been meaning to make a trip to visit my family there.”
“How soon could you be ready to set out?” Kimono said.
“Immediately,” Aurora said. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“You’re too kind!” Wonder said. She kissed Aurora’s cheeks.
“I suggest we leave at the end of the week,” Kimono said. “That should give me some time to look through the library.”
The others nodded in agreement.
* * *
“Absolutely not,” Seaspray said.
“What?” Waterfire said. “Won’t you at least consider—”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” Seaspray said. “You don’t know what’s out there or when you’ll come back.” Waterfire was trying to convince his parents to let him go with his friends to the three remaining castles. They had met in their bedroom with Kimono.
“But he’ll be with Kimono, Razzaroo, Wondermint, Star Dasher, and Silly Lilly,” Sunrise said. “They’ll take good care of him.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust them, but they don’t know what’s out there, either,” Seaspray said. “They’re still learning the language, too.”
“All the more reason to go,” Waterfire said. “I’ve never felt welcome here, and I’ve studied languages all my life. This is perfect for me. It’s almost like it was meant to be. I was the first pony who saw them land, remember?”
“But it looks like things are changing with the Sea and Sun Clans, now,” Seaspray said. “Don’t you want to be here for that?”
“Wounds don’t heal overnight,” Waterfire said. “If they’re still getting along when I get back, I’ll know I finally have a place to call home. But I don’t want to watch it fall apart, if things go bad. In fact, I could mess things up if I stick around.”
“This could be a great opportunity for him,” Sunrise said, “to learn to control his powers and to use his language skills.” It sounded like he was on board.
“This is crazy,” Seaspray said. “It’s so far. Nopony’s heard from Laughton or the Capital in ages. And how will you get back? Not all by yourself, surely?”
“I… don’t know,” Waterfire said. Aurora Mist was only going as far as Santa Amorosa, and the others’ homes were even farther north. He turned to Kimono. He wasn’t sure how well she was keeping up with the conversation, so he explained in Ponish.
Kimono paused. “Our homes are north of the capital. Yours is south. But we’ll make sure that at least one of us accompanies you back.”
Waterfire interpreted for her, and added, “There you go. I told you they’d look out for me.”
Seaspray looked at Kimono. “You’ve been wonderful guests, and you’ve done so much for our son and both of our cities. But taking care of a child is a huge responsibility. Especially since he forgets that he’s still a child.” Waterfire interpreted this reluctantly.
“I will protect him with my life,” Kimono said firmly. “We all will. And I will help him to control his magic.”
Seaspray hesitated, and tears welled up in her eyes. “I just… I can’t bear the thought of something happening to you, Waterfire. Stay safe, and go before I change my mind.” She reached to hug Waterfire, and she started sobbing. “I love you,” she said, choking. She ran out of the house.
“I love you, too!” Waterfire called after her.
“You’ll do great, son,” Sunrise said. “I believe in you. Mom does, too.”
“Thanks,” Waterfire said. He packed quickly, but Aurora wasn’t meeting them until the next day. He had one last night with his parents. They didn’t interact with the guests much. They reminisced on stories from Waterfire’s childhood. They sang a few of Seaspray’s old songs. They hugged and cried.
Morning came. Waterfire met Razzaroo, Kimono, Wondermint, Star Dasher, and Silly Lilly outside. Aurora Mist flew in a few minutes later. His parents came out to say goodbye again. After that, Wondermint said, “Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?”
“I’m so stoked!” Waterfire said. “Let’s do this!”