Having departed from Canterlot, the two Princesses found the start of their vacation to be on the dull side. The pair had been flying for several hundreds of miles over the vast terrains of Equestria.
It was only when they reached the Badlands that they finally descended to the ground below, landing in the ruins of what was once the prosperous city of Hippogiffia. It was a grave walk for the two princesses mostly for Celestia who looked up the vacant roosts of the hippogriffs still underneath the sea. Princess Luna whispered, “I don’t know much, but this is where the hippogriffs used to live.”
Celestia nodded and explained, “I came here a few times...after your banishment, Novo and I I stayed in regular contact as she became queen. But then, only a few years ago, everything went silent…”
Luna eyed her suspiciously. “Why didn't you investigate?”
Celestia sighed. “Things were difficult during that period, in addition to just a general running of Equestria, I also had to make preparations for your eventual return. Though I know that is hardly an excuse..”
Luna nodded, being reminded of how much of a burden Celestia was forced to carry with her unable to bear some of the weight. Shaking off some of her negative thought she took another glance around, noting many of the destroyed buildings, as well as a few scorch marks. ”So this Storm King...he did all this. It’s almost like having another Tirek, though atleast he didn’t have an army.”
Celestia nodded, looking sullen and useless as they continued through the empty city to the small pool where the Mane Six once stood. Princess Luna look apprehensively into the pond, staring only at her own reflection. “Well, this is it. The strange pool Twilight and her friends spoke about.”
Celestia similarly looked into the depths of the water, barely able to see but a few feet below it’s depths. “Yes. So, I suppose we just jump in?”
Her sister only to immediately jump several feet into the air when a yellow-headed creature with blue fins breached the surface. Celestia managed to maintain her composure thankfully as the stranger turned to the two princesses and chirped. “Hey there. It’s about time you guys arrived!”
Celestia, getting a better look at the stranger, immediately smiled.“Hello, you must be Queen Novo’s daughter, Skystar.”
The now identified princess nodded eagerly, practically fluttering about in the water. “Yep, yep! And you must be Celestia and Luna, Twilight mentioned you two the last time she was here and it’s soo great to finally meet you officially. Every hippogriff has been just dying to meet you.” .”
Luna, having finally recovered from her scare, returned to the ground, trying her best to play off her earlier reaction., “Ahm, yes, so I assume that everything is set up below.”
Skystar again nodded as eagerly s she had before. “Of yes, my mom is so excited to see you and all she did setting up Sequestria for your arrival.”
Princess Celestia blushed. “Oh my, I hope she didn't go overboard.”
The hippogriff laughed. “Oh, you’ll see, now come on!” The two princesses gulped as Skystar moved further out into the water while the two regal ponies waded into the water. Both immediately started to shiver and shake about, struggling to stay afloat with their wings.
Princess Skystar all the while burst into laughter. “Oh wow, you two look like swans! So pretty.”
Luna and Celestia both blushed hard, paddling about with their hooves and flapping their wings. treading through the cold water towards the hippogriff, thanking every lucky star that no pony was around to see their rather undignified display. Thankfully, their moments of shame were brief, as once they were out far enough, Skystar pulled out an all too familiar pearl, a sight which left both monarchs a tad awestruck.
“So this is the fabled Pearl of Transformation. Hard to imagine such an object even exists.” Luna eyed the orb while Celestia chuckled at her younger sisters almost childlike wonder.
“Indeed, I’d be lying if I said I had a similar reaction when I first saw it. Though I never had the pleasure of experiencing its effects.
Skystar’s grin grew ever larger as she held the pearl within arms reach of the ponies. “Whelp, now you both get to experience it. Though, it might seem a little weird at first, it’s pretty amazing.”
Both pony monarchs took another glance at the pearl before giving each other a nod and placing their hooves on the glowing jewel. Upon contact, a massive burst of light lit up the entire area, as the two princesses began their transformation.
Slowly, their back legs merged together as scaled formed over the fur and skin while their manes and tails turning into long flowing fins, same with their long wings. By the time it was over the now former alicorn princesses were now a pair of winged seaponies, much like Skystar.
Once the surprise of the initial transformation wore off, both found themselves staring in surprise, first at each other and then themselves. Each princess gave their new fins a few test movements, trying to get a proper feel for them. However, Luna, ever the eager one, immediately dove into the water, before quickly bursts back to the surface, twirling around gracefully as if skating on ice.
”Oh, my goodness, I feel so..so…”
Celestia laughed, twirling around her sister. “As if you were reborn!” The Princess of the Sun seemed to match her sisters mirth, jumped through the top of the pool and splashing back down, laughing with joy.
Skystar all the while looked at the pair with a mixture of surprise and awe. “Wow, you guys are practically naturals at this. Took Twilight and her friends a few minutes to atleast get swimming down.”
Celestia blushed at the praise as she twirled around,her long light rainbow colored tail fin fanned around her like a sash. Luna’s tail was smaller, but it sailed behind her like a blue swirl with a graceful hue of silver stars mixed into the dark bluefin.
Celestia asked, “Well, now that we’ve gotten this out of the way I suppose we should get going. I would hate to keep Queen Novo waiting after all she’s likely done to prepare for this.”.”
With a nod from both Luna and Skystar, the trio promptly dove down below the depths of the pool and into the ocean. As to be expected, it proved to be rather dark below, though Luna seemed to find the sight rather enjoyable, swimming faster and with more vigor that her sister.
The trio continued for what seemed like several minutes, before several lights managed to penetrate the dark depths they were in, eventually revealing their intended destination. The princesses found their senses met with the bright sight of a beautiful undersea city, filled with seaponies of all sizes and colors, all clapping and cheering eagerly at the two royals.
As the princess moved in closer they were surprised by the sight of a banner made of seaweed, covered in many beautiful shells, spelling out “Welcome to Seaequestria!”
Both Princesses barely had a chance to process all that they saw when several large horn shaped shells began bellowing throughout the kingdom. With the sounds echoing, the crowd wordlessly parted enough, offering a pathway to what appeared to be the main throne room of the kingdom.
The twin princesses made their way along the path, offering smiles and waves to the admiring crowd before them, until finally entering and spotting a large, white scalled seapony with purple tipped fins and a long pink tail. While Luna had an idea of who this pony was, Celestia look of joy and excitement made it all the more clear, this was Queen Novo.
Said queen quietly drifted down towards the ponies, at first seeming like she would maintain her expected royal demeanor. However, that was broken as she immediately flew into Celestia’s arms and wrapping her in a tight hug, sobbing lightly at the return of her friend.
Celestia was stunned at the embrace, but was quick to offer her friend a return hug. “It’s good to see you again Novo, I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner, especially after all the Storm King did to you and your people.””
Queen Novo shook her head, “No it’s better you stayed away. The Badlands are dangerous enough, but if the Storm King had managed to get his hands on you then, I dread what would’ve become of Equestria had that happened.”.”
As the two finally broke apart, Novo finally turned her attention to Luna.“And this must be your sister Luna. I’m so thrilled we can finally meet, face to face.”?”
Luna bowed her head a little, maintaining her own royal posture. “It is an honor to meet you as well Queen Novo.” Said posture was immediately broken by a tight hug from the sea queen. “Oh, you don’t need to be so formal around me dear. We’re all friends here.”
The Queen finally released Luna from her grip and clapped her fins getting the attention of the other sea ponies. “Alright, now that we're acquainted I'm sure you two must be starving. Come, we shall dine on the wonders of the sea tonight.”
She wordlessly led the two through the waters, across the homes of the sea, eventually arriving at a large banquet table made of coral, with the cushions made of the sea sponge. Once the Princesses were seated they were immediately served what appeared to be long strands of kelp with a side of fish eggs.
While doing their best to be respectful to their host, neither Princess could look upon the meal as something they’d normally considered appetizing, Luna herself having a hard time containing a slight look of disgust. Queen Novo however, merely laughed heartily at their reactions. “I almost forgot how funny it is watching land dwellers react to our food. Though please, don’t worry, the eggs are unfertilized and taste no different from the no chicken eggs you’d find on land.”
While that helped served to put their minds better at ease, both Princesses were still apprehensive at eating what was before them. Celestia was the first to take a bite and her eyes almost immediately lit up.“My goodness, it's delicious.”
Luna was next in starting to eat her fish eggs and gasped, “You’re right sister, it’s simply amazing.” Celestia laughed and nudged her sister, “Perhaps we should inform Twilight on what she missed out on.”
Luna laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so, she’s liable to throw a fit trying to figure out what we’re eating.”
Queen Novo, having already eaten her food, opted to continue their conversation. “Now that we are tell me, Celestia, how are things in Equestria?”
Celestia, wiping her mouth clean, waved a hoof in a general gesture. “Overall, I’d say things have been going quite well. Believe it or not, this encounter with the Storm King was far from our first 1st world ending disaster.” For a moment Celestia shuddered recalling every danger and threat that seemed to appear before her nation. “Between Spirits of Chaos, Malefic Unicorns and armies of Changelings, you could say we’ve be come quite adept at defending ourselves in times of crisis. Though I should say that much of the credit goes to Twilight and her friends.”.”
Quee Novo’s smile grew larger at the mention of the purple unicorn., “I see that Twilight has quite the reputation, that would certainly explain why she was so adamant to get our help.””
The queen’s mind flashed back to when the Mane 6 first came to their undersea city and how desperate the young pony was. Looking back at it now, brought a a deep frown to her face. ”I fear our first meeting was not on the best of terms. I was quite....disrespectful to her, and I apologize for my behavior.”
Celestia shook her head. “It’s okay, given what I’ve been told about the situation, I know Twilight was hardless blameless herself. Thankfully she has learned much from the experience and is a much better pony for it and for that I thank you, Novo.”
Queen Novo practically let out a laugh that shook the glasses on the table as she struggled to maintain eye contact. “I nearly threaten your pupil for stealing our most sacred treasure and you’re thanking me for teaching her a lesson. Oh, you truly are a treat to have around Celestia.”
“Indeed, I admit my methods are a little odd, but I’d say the results speak for themselves.”
All the while this was going on, Luna merely sat silently, enjoying the conversation between the two queens, finding it rather intriguing to see the less regal side to her sister and not wanting to interfere in her rekindling her friendship with the Sea Pony Queen.
“So Novo, with the Storm King defeated, do you have any plans to return to the surface? It would be wonderful to see you on a more regular basis.”
The hippogriff shook her head. “No, as much fun as that sounds I don’t think we will. We’ve grown rather accustomed to this way of life and we’re doing quite well for ourselves.”
Luna smiled looking around, “Indeed, I must say have to say this entire kingdom is a truly breathtaking site, but don’t you miss living on the surface?”
Queen Novo nodded, “Of course we do, but we’ve just come to enjoy our lives down here.”
Celestia seemed to share some of the sentiment, swirling her tail around in child like amusement., “I can understand why, this new body is quite a treat I must say.”
Novo laughed. ”Oh trust me, you will have a lot of time to do that. Come now, if you're done with your food, I’ll lead you to your rooms.”
Celestia and Luna swam into a sea castle, and again found themselves stricken silent, this time by the sight of a massive and beautiful bed, with a mattress made of sea sponge while the headrest and frame were made of well polished coral The rest of the furniture was equally mesmerizing, made of various types of coral with a light produced of bioluminescent bacteria that actually made the ceiling entire glow.
Finally, adorning each wall were many different but equally beautiful pictures of various sea life, structures and even a few beaches. In short the entire room seemed as though it was the pinacle of luxury and neither Princess could be happier.
Queen Novo however, didn’t seem to understand this, sighing as if she was ashamed of the accommodations. “Yes, I know. It’s probably nothing compared to you usual accommodations, but I hope it’s at least satisfactory.”
Celestia immediately cut the queen off with a tight hug that cause her by surprise. “It’s absolutely wonderful, thank you for everything.”
Luna smiled and nodded. ”Indeed, I dare say these rival the finest rooms in Canterlot.”
Queen Novo’s smile grew at the praise, any concern she had immediately melting away. “I’m glad to hear it. Well you two should get some sleep., we so many things I want to show you.”
Once Novo was out the door, both princess again marveled at the bed before them, Luna herself practically leaping onto it, bouncing up and down more than a few times, while she chuckled with child like amusement.
“Tis truly a bed worthy of the Princess of Dreams. Is it not sister?”
Celestia placed a hoof onto the mattress and marveled at how it easily sank into the spongey surface. “I dare say I’ll have the best sleep I’ve had in centuries on this bed.”
Both, now more eager to sleep than before, quickly dealt with the issues of hygiene by brushing their teeth before Luna again swam under the covers, Celestia quickly following suit, snuggling next to her sister.
“Sister, while I have worked to grow close to you and rekindled our family bond, we have two beds for a reason!”
Celestia responded by giving her sister a light bop on the nose, with her sister rolling her eyes at her sister’s immature antics.
I can see arguing with you would be pointless. Very well, we can sleep together...it has been a thousand years since we did such a thing and I suppose there’s no harm in it.”
Celesta quickly took advantage, snuggled herself underneath her sister’s fins and nuzzled her belly. Luna cuddled back as they gently fell asleep in the comfy bed and let the sounds of the sea soothe them to a long deep sleep.
When the next day came, the two princesses, hesitant at first, left the comfort of their bed and after a quick breakfast, made their way out onto what appeared to be a volleyball court on the seafloor, with shifting sands poles made of coral and a net made of long strands of moss.
Novo quickly greeted the two princesses. “Good morning to you. I hope you know how to play volleyball, otherwise this part of your vacation won’t be much fun.”
Celestia and Luna both laughed as the princess of the sun smirked, “Well, it has been some time, but I believe I still remember how to play.”
Luna meanwhile, simply waved a hoof. “Oh don’t worry about me. I used to play volleyball when I was younger. Come on, let’s do this!”
Novo quickly swam over and hugged Celestia close to her chest. “Fine then, then Celestia and I will be on the same team.”
Skystar quickly joined Luna on her side, giggling at her mother’s display of affection. “Looks like we're going to be playing together.”
Luna smiled and nodded, turning her attention back to her sister. ”So how are we going to decide who serves first?”
Quen Novo took out a sand dollar and proclaimed, “Heads.”
Skystar laughed, “Tails.”
The queen flipped the sand dollar in the air, and it fell on the sand with heads showing and Celestia did a somersault in the water. “Looks like we go first.”
Luna scoffed, “Please, winning something as trivial as a coin toss does not assure victory. Come, let us commence with the game.”
The four sea ponies then swam on the opposite sides of the net. Luna floated a little back as she was going to play defense with Skystar swimming close to the net. Celestia, however, moved up to perform offense with Novo swimming back to play on the case.
The four stared at each other with Queen Novo holding a ball made of soft sea moss as Luna and Skystar shouted, “We're ready when you are mom!”
Queen Novo nodded and then spiked the ball across the water like a jet. It sailed over the net as Skystar swam up and smacked the ball with her tail, sending it right back over. Celestia quickly returned fire, slapping the ball with her head, sending it straight for Luna who eyed the ball carefully. Like a rocket, she swam right at the ball and headbutting it back. However, she seemingly miscalculated the trajectory as ithit the net and plopped on the ground. Celestia and Novo both cheered as Luna stared at the ball in shock.
“That’s one to zero sister.”
Luna only managed to growl in frustration. “This is far from over.” Skystar meanwhile looked simply more excited that the game had begun, quickly passing the ball back to her mother.
The queen quickly picked up the ball and launched it back with a definite hit from her tall, yet Skystar was able to send it right back with another tail shot, this one managing to completely go over the Queen’s head and land right in her territory.
Several onlookers, as well as Luna herself, cheered loudly at the action. “It would appear that the score is now one to one sister.”.
Celestia rolled her eyes as Novo threw the ball to Luna who held the ball of moss in a fin. Skystar shouted, “Come on, you can do it!”
Luna rolled her eyes at the support as she tried her best to concentrate before serving the ball, clumsily slapping it...directly into the net a second time. Both Celestia and Queen Novo burst into laughter, as the ball plopped back onto the sand.
As Skystar, after offering Luna a supportive hoof, picked the ball up eager to continue, a storm started to brew as the water stirred with thunder being heard throughout the areaNovo stopped the game, swimming up and exclaimed, “Seems we need to cut this game short, this storm looks pretty bad.”
Celestia nodded as she flew over. “Well that’s alright we have plenty of days left to enjoy ourselves.” They begin to swim off only for a sudden, strong current to send Luna practically flying surface as lightning and thunder exploded across the sky. Celestia shot herself along the current shouting. “Luna come back!”
Luna tried to swim against the flow of water, but found her efforts in vain as she was quickly carried by the current, directly into the path of her sister.
Celestia, caught off guard by the sudden change in her sister’s momentum, was unable to move out of the way in time and found her sister slamming directly into her, causing everything around her to turn black, while the only sounds heard being the thunder and what she assumed were screams from Novo and Skystar.