//------------------------------//
// With friends like these... 
// Story: Sage of Harmony (Season 2) 
// by Eon Seb 
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	Midnight stared at the kelp surrounding her. Her air bubble was currently tethered to the seabed waiting to be introduced to the leviathan. Apparently the sea tribes had been dealing with groups who worshiped the great beasts (AKA 'Kraken' and 'Leviathan') for years.
This particular  group decided that sacrificing the delegation from the land tribes would gain the favor of their 'god'. She had no idea why they thought they could get favor with this creature. It was strong - incredibly so - but it was still an animal. For all of its impressive strength, its intelligence was not even on the same level as the dumbest dragon.
She was reminded once again of why she hated the main rule of future sight -  one cannot see their own future.

Earlier that week.

Midnight had been dealing with a case of EDS (encroaching doom syndrome) for the past week, she could not, for the life of her, figure out the cause.
That was until she answered the door one day to see Lyra sitting in a water bowl in her true form grinning like a shark.
This was not good.
"Hi Lyra. What's up?"
Spectrum was still at school and they had a plan ready for when Midnight had to go to see the other tribes. So that was already taken care of, thankfully.
"I'm your guide to Coltlantus. Just let me know when your ready to go."
That settled it. She was going to drown (not that it would be permanent, but dying sucked).
She took a calming breath. No need to freak on a friend who was just trying to help. "Lyra, has it occurred to you that as a timber pony I need to be VERY careful around water? and on an unrelated note, how did you get here in a water bubble without causing a panic!?"
"Midnight, I'm one of the weirdest ponies in town (which is saying A LOT for THIS town). No one is surprised by anything I do anymore."
The facehoof that comment produced was loud enough to be heard at Sweat Apple Acres. -
"Besides I know how to make an air pocket big enough for you to stand in we can get there no problem."
Well that definitely made her feel better, and would only make Lyra feel worse when some form of disaster stuck. "So any advice on what I should do when meeting with the leaders? I used the books you gave me to cross reference everything else I found and they were the only things not outdated."
The sea tribes were ruled by a monarchic, but the rule for secession was odd. The title of king was earned at the death of the previous king by means of a bizarre trial. Whomever could produce the most controlled and creative display of explosive destruction was chosen as the new ruler.
"King" was the title regardless of the leaders gender.
"Well nothing I can think of. Leo is quite calm for a King so you should be good.  Just be ready to deal with things going boom Also, be prepared. because Queen Marina is like an underwater Pinkie. That means that she most likely has a party planned for your visit, with a fire works display of course."
Lyra blinked when she saw the look of horror on Midnight's face. Going over her explanation, she could only wince (The thought of there being 2 Pinkies was cool to her but, for Twilight, it would be a nightmare). Twilight was currently devising a plan to make sure that, if the two ever met, the damage would be mitigated.
They had made it all the way to the coast and into the water with no trouble (other then ponies staring at Lyra, but she was used to that). Things seemed to be going well.
Then the cultists arrived.
Lyra, bless her, was not a fighter. She had the voice of a siren and all the skills there of, but her talent was entertainment not battle songs.
Twilight, on the other hoof, could fight on land but here, under the water, she'd get soaked through and be about as helpful as a piece of paper. Being made of wood and plant fiber was not always a good thing.

So here she was. Vines stretched out of her air pocket, trying to pull something anything from the kelp to help her get away. The only upside she could see was when the leviathan ate her wood pulp body, it would not be happy. When giving your enemy indigestion is your battle strategy, though, it's safe to say you are boned. She was meditating when one of them returned. he swam around her bubble ignoring the plants
"Welcome. I hope the accommodations are to your liking, miss mudpony."
His voice was obnoxious and syrupy, like he was talking to a child or somepony who was rather slow.
This was not surprising. Ponies of all kinds were quite xenophobic by nature,  so racism and tribalism were common issues. While Equestria proper had made great strides in removing any problems between the pony tribes, the problem was still there. Case and point  
"No. They're not."
Midnight could feel the magic of the ocean. It was wild and unyielding but she could not sync up with it. Her own magic; while wild in nature; was too different. What she needed was something to bridge the gap.
"Well good news you won't be staying long."
and this jerk just volunteered to be her test subject.
"You got that right."
With one swift motion, she brought her vines together, trapping the unsuspecting cultist and dragging his head inside the bubble. Before he could react, she sunk her teeth into his neck, pulling on his magic and blood. In under a minute, she had ejected the now unconscious seapony.  While her body convulsed, her black coat became tinged with green and her back legs twisted and unraveled merging with her tail to create a large fin of wood and - kelp - by the looks of it.  She stuck her head out of the  bubble and found that the water did not start making her fall apart. With a slap of her new powerful tail, Midnight the seapony shot off back the way she had came. Hopefully, she would run into Lyra before to long.

Lyra had been searching for what felt like hours through the kelp beds when a dark green mermare smacked into her. She was about to demonstrate why the term 'curse like a kelpie' existed when she noticed the solid purple eyes of the other pony "Twilight? What happened to you?"
"I'll tell you later. We need to move now .I don't know how long the guy I knocked out will stay out for and I know neither of us want to deal with those guys again. So what's the fastest way to Coltlantus?"
Lyra still had questions but, fortunately, she agreed with Midnight. They could deal with that when they were safe.  With no futher talk, they swam as fast as they could to the city. This was going to be quite a story.