Of all the places Twilight had been dropped when starting out in a new story, the depths of the ocean was perhaps the most shocking place to find herself in.
At least, she assumed that was where she had landed when she opened her eyes to find herself submerged in a shadowy place, the pressure of water surrounding her on all sides. Without even bothering to take a breath, Twilight clamped her hooves over her mouth and floundered in the current. When her hind legs didn’t respond the way she’d intended, she became aware of how immensely different her body felt.
Bubbles of air burst from her nostrils as she flipped around and lit up the darkness, thankful that her horn finally responded, although confused when the glow of magic bobbed in front of her like it was bouncing through the currents. What she thought had been open ocean lit up before her and revealed a richly furnished room, with walls and ceilings carved from a pearlescent stone.
Twilight looked down at her back legs only to see the shape of a single tapered tail, with a fin the same color of her mane drifting through the soft light. She turned slightly to observe the fins along her back, and when she thought to “flap” her wings, the transparent appendages at her shoulders unfurled in response.
The setting couldn’t have been made any clearer than if she’d been slapped with the title of the story. Even though her panic subsided at her discovery, Twilight still gasped at the unusual sensation when she pulled her hooves away. Her brain went into a frenzy of both hysteria and relief as the water filling her throat made her feel as if she were suffocating, even while her system filtered it through to create oxygen.
Twilight took another deep breath and patted her own chest in reassurance, taking note of the new layer of scales that ran beneath her fur. She tilted her head back to study the soft orb of magic lighting up the dark water. It hung in front of her like a bulb on a string; Twilight realized she had a lure like an anglerfish instead of a horn.
“Twilight?” a voice called to her through an arched doorway with curtains tied across the opening. “Are you awake?”
“Umm… yes!” Twilight answered hesitantly, slowly floating down to settle atop a spongy surface that she assumed was a bed. Hidden in shadows, another creature squeezed in through the curtains to swim over to the far wall.
“Then what are you doing in the dark? Today’s your big day!” a familiar voice sang out while throwing open the shutters over a window. Twilight hid her face momentarily while her eyes adjusted to the sunlight filtering in from the water above. The darkness of the room faded, and Twilight found herself staring at a version of Cadence with the fins and tail of a seapony.
“Oooh, I can’t believe it’s finally happening.” Cadence darted over and caught Twilight in a crushing hug as she squeezed her. “My little sister’s going to see the surface!”
“Sister?” Twilight pushed herself away from Cadence’s chest to give herself some breathing room. “You don’t have a daughter, do you?” Twilight asked hesitantly, but at Cadence’s blank look, she pretty much had her answer.
“Our youngest sister has reached the age where she can visit the surface.” A voice floated in from the doorway, and Twilight’s heart skipped as she turned her attention to the two figures that had entered without her noticing. Though they had been given the same storybook transformation, Celestia and Luna were still very regal and easily recognizable as they swam into the room. “We’re all so happy for you, Twilight.” Celestia beamed while her powerful tail fin brought her closer.
“Yes, it is high time you had a chance to see the surface world for yourself,” Luna said with a stern expression. “Even if father only allows it so that we may witness the horrors of the land.”
“Life on the surface still offers us beautiful spectacles to behold.” Celestia chuckled as she embraced Twilight in a comforting hug. “Don’t let Luna’s experience cause you to worry about your own.”
“Hmph,” Luna scoffed. “It’s not my fault if you don’t prepare her properly.”
“Come on, Twilight,” Cadence urged as she tugged her leg gently with a laugh. “Father wants to give you one of his speeches before you leave.”
Rather than swimming out into the hallway like she had thought they would, Cadence instead led her to the window and slipped through the opening while Celestia and Luna followed along behind them. She swam over lively coral reefs that had been carved into houses, the water shimmering as schools of fish darted around the depths and other seaponies flitted alongside them.
Her 'sisters' swam back in an arc, guiding Twilight toward the center of the gigantic underwater castle, its surface glistening in the glow of the crystal blue waters. They swam past a pair of stoic guards, through an enormous archway, and down a grand hall that led into a towering chamber with large windows and openings to let the natural light in.
“Twilight!” A quick form darted right for her, and Twilight found herself spinning when a large purple dolphin circled around her.
“Spike!?” Twilight pressed her hooves over her mouth to suppress her incredulous giggle. “Is that you?”
“Of course it is!” Spike slowed to a stop and turned one of his eyes her way. “You don’t recognize me?”
“Sort of.” She drifted closer and reached out a tentative hoof to lightly touch his rubbery skin. “But… you’re a dolphin!”
His long snout broke out in a wide grin and Twilight heard him emit a high pitched clicking. “Now I see how Sombra was a reindeer. The storybook can change us into different things, because you all look like seaponies!”
“Twilight,” a much deeper voice boomed out from the throne at the back of the room, and a seapony with a long, flowing beard drifted closer. Twilight gawked when Starswirl reached out to grasp her leg, a sparkling crown sitting atop his brow instead of his signature wizard’s hat. “Are you prepared for your journey to the surface today?”
Before Twilight could answer, Luna spoke up for her. “We have prepared her the best we can, father. With our advice in mind, Twilight is certain to stay out of trouble.”
“Hmm.” Starswirl gave her a look that didn’t seem too convinced, but he released her hoof to stroke his beard. “I am more reassured knowing that Spike is accompanying you. He will be there to protect you should trouble manage to find you instead.” Starswirl turned around and lifted his gaze. “It is important to remember—”
“Here it comes,” Cadence whispered in Twilight’s ear with a giggle.
Starswirl’s pronounced throat-clearing echoed through the throne room. “It is imperative to remember that dangerous ponies lurk about the surface that will wish to do you harm.” Starswirl turned to Twilight with a frown before shooting Cadence a stern look. “If you ever feel in danger, do not hesitate to dive and just keep swimming. The surface dwellers cannot breathe underwater.”
“Of course, umm… father.” Twilight bowed, nodding her head in understanding while Spike suppressed a chuckle beneath his fins.
Starswirl grunted satisfactorily. “Then I suppose we should all see you off. I already anticipate the time when you return to us safely.”
“Is your shoulder alright?” Spike swam around to Twilight’s front with a look of concern while they moved away from the castle and the lively city beneath the sea. “Last time we started a new story, you were still hurt.”
Twilight stopped in the water and turned her head, having forgotten that she’d been injured in the last fairytale. Her hoof moved along her neck, but she didn’t feel any pain or signs to indicate that the wound had ever been there.
“It’s gone,” Twilight said airily, slightly in awe. “And completely healed. I don’t actually remember feeling any pain after, ah… Thorax kissed me.”
“The… magic of love?” Spike gave her a grin and shrugged his fins. “At least it worked out this time.” He nudged her with a snicker. “Starswirl might have thrown a fit, since he sounds like a pretty protective dad.”
“Stop,” Twilight scolded him, although she had trouble stifling her own grin.
“So, why are we going to the surface?” Spike asked as Twilight started swimming again. The open ocean was calm and quiet around them; the city they had left behind was nothing more than a hazy shape in the distance.
“When a merpony comes of age, they visit the surface to see the world above.” She raised an eyebrow as she looked toward him. “Haven’t you read 'The Little Mermare?'”
“No.” Spike wrinkled his snout. “Isn’t it just another mushy romance?”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at him. “So you didn’t read that book I gave you for Hearth’s Warming like you said you did?”
“Oh, hey!” Spike shouted as he lunged ahead. “There’s uh… something going on up there!”
“Spike!” Twilight cried angrily, quickly flipping her tail fin to chase after him.
“I’m serious, Twilight!” He sped up through the illuminated water and headed straight for the surface. “There’s something up here!”
Twilight followed him with a doubtful expression, but it quickly turned to surprise when the shadow of a large ship appeared through the waves as it sailed above them. While she stopped to watch, Spike swam around and sidled up beside her. “So… umm… what do we do now?”
Twilight sighed with a roll of her eyes. “I have to save a prince, and we… ah… fall in love…” Her voice trailed off when Spike started snickering. “What?”
“The prince isn’t gonna be Thorax again, is it?” Spike failed to conceal his laughter as he 'squee’d' like a real dolphin in his mirth.
“I… don’t know…” Twilight frowned as a slight blush rose to her cheeks. “There’s nothing special between us. It was just because of his relation to Chrysalis.”
“Riiiiight,” Spike said while leisurely flipping toward the bottom of the ship. “It’s got nothing to do with the crush you have on Thorax.”
“I don’t have a crush on him!” Twilight yelled and sped past him, breaking through the surface of the water right as the boat was passing by. She fumed, even while gazing up at the towering vessel as it glided over the water rather gracefully despite its size.
“Sure you don’t,” Spike continued when he floated up beside her. “You two only kissed.”
“It’s not like I wanted to kiss him! I couldn’t even move when he did that!” Twilight shot a glare at Spike before turning back to the massive galleon. “I’ll climb up there and prove to you that Thorax isn’t the prince this time… probably.”
“A-huh.” Spike nodded while she paddled over to a rope hanging low into the water. “And if he is, we’ll have to talk about the obvious connection you two share!”
Twilight groaned, but otherwise ignored him, snapping up the rope in her mouth and testing out her magic. It was a slightly different feeling, but her 'bulb' worked identically to her horn; although she could feel the limitation of the storybook interfering again, at least she had a small reservoir she could still rely on.
She wrapped herself around the rope and used her magic to wind it back along a pulley system that sat above the railing. Lifting herself up to a gunport, Twilight reached out for one of the cannons and climbed on top of it, carefully raising her head to peek over the floor of the quarterdeck. She was able to watch as the ponies on board bustled about and worked the sails while a small group of musicians played a jovial tune near the cabin entrance.
The sailors appeared to be celebrating, watching as a group danced to the tune of the music and stomped their hooves. They were all too distracted to even notice Twilight while she spied on them, searching through the sailors to find one that stood out from the obvious seafarers with their bandanas and vests.
As Twilight watched, some of the ponies looked toward the bow of the ship and cheered; she followed their gaze to see Sombra stroll down the stairs. An elderly pony with a bushy grey mustache shuffled behind him, holding himself diligently.
Sombra wasn’t quite dressed in his own cape and armor, but the tailored cloak that he wore looked like one a prince might own. The gold circlet on his head also suggested royalty rather than a seafaring rank, and as he stomped slowly along the steps, the other ponies quieted respectfully when he simply cleared his throat. It looked as though he were going to give a speech, but an echoing rumble of thunder interrupted him before he could start.
Many of the sailors shouted out a relay of orders that rippled through the boat, and Twilight ducked when they started rushing about, their hooves pounding along the deck above her. Their movements didn’t seem to be in panic, but there was certainly an air of alarm as they tried to prepare the sails. The cloudy sky grew darker as the wind picked up and waves started to lash against the sides with a building fury. Twilight, meanwhile, was simply trying to calm herself down, her mind in a frenzy, but not because of the oncoming storm.
She couldn’t make sense of what she had seen, or rather, didn’t want to accept the fact that Sombra was obviously the prince that she needed to save. She tried to argue with her own thoughts that he might have been a superior officer for the vessel, but even she couldn’t deny that crown atop his head.
Everything so far was lining up to be the story she remembered, which only caused her more frustration. It was a simple story of romance that Twilight was certain would only cause her more grief. Though she doubted Sombra would do so, she felt uneasy about the possible embarrassment of another prince proclaiming his love, even if it was fictional.
A torrent of rain released from the sky like somepony had suddenly turned on a shower, and the growing shadows made Twilight aware of the fact that the daylight had long since disappeared behind the clouds. The boat started to rock as waves crashed into the sides.
A flash of lightning lit up the darkness, and thunder immediately exploded through the air, shaking the very seas and the ship with its rumbling echo. Twilight heard frantic shouts and orders yelled across the deck while hugging the cannon below her.
Another flash, a crack, and something exploded from the deck above, sending a rain of sparks and burning debris over the railing. The shouting turned into terrified screams as the growling creak of splintering wood droned on above her.
Twilight quickly launched herself to the rough waves as the mast crashed into the deck where she had been sitting. She splashed into the current, dodging around objects and wooden beams that floated and bubbled around her. She sputtered back up to the surface at a safer distance and watched as the ship slowly listed onto its side while burning amidst the torrent of the storm.
“Twilight!” She turned as Spike swam up to her. “Are you alright!?”
“I’m fine! But the ship is sinking!” Twilight shouted before spinning in the water when another crash of thunder rumbled from above. There were few ponies still left on board, with the rest already struggling to row away in lifeboats. While she watched, a tall wave slammed against the ship and caused it to capsize, catching one of the smaller boats in the collapsing sails. Twilight could hear frantic cries even above the storm and dove beneath the water toward the sinking vessel.
“Wait! Twilight!” Spike cried out, but she didn’t even stop or slow down. She was concentrating on reaching the area quickly, and only hesitated when she paused to search through the floating debris littering the water. She eventually spotted a dark shape, and when she swam closer, wasn’t surprised to see Sombra sinking into the murky depths.
“Help me get him to the surface!” Twilight called to Spike as she lunged through the water and hooked her legs beneath Sombra’s neck. He was unresponsive, with his eyes closed and meager bubbles of air escaping his snout.
When they emerged into the sweltering waves and pounding rain, Spike helped her drag Sombra through the currents, slowly but surely making their way to calmer waters, and away from the terror of the storm.
Some time later, Twilight huffed and gasped while dragging Sombra’s body through the shallows along the shore, where the sea was at peace and only soft gray clouds dotted the sky. Spike stayed back in the deeper water where she had told him to wait, not wanting him to accidentally beach himself.
With a powerful flip of her tail, she managed to get herself and Sombra onto the sand, flopping over onto her back with a heavy sigh to catch her breath. She opened her eyes to glance at him, knowing full well that as the mermare, she would probably need to leave soon, but she wanted to ensure that Sombra was alright… or at least still alive.
“Sombra?” Twilight quietly called out, leaning over and twisting her ears toward him. He didn’t appear to be breathing, but right as she moved to help him, he hacked up a forceful cough and a mouthful of seawater. Twilight backed away to give him room while he sat up on the sand and took in deep, gasping breaths of air.
“Who...?” he asked with a hoarse voice and lifted his head in her direction. Twilight laid back on the shore as their eyes met, and his gaze froze for a split second before trailing curiously along her body, quiet as he appeared to be slowly processing what he was looking at.
“You’re a fish?” he finally blurted out.
“'The Little Mermare,' actually,” Twilight corrected him.
Sombra snorted out a mist of saltwater from his nostrils and wrinkled his snout. “‘The Little Mermare?’ Are you supposed to be the only one?”
“It’s just the title.” Twilight rolled her eyes, watching as Sombra tugged the soaked cape over his head and tossed it into the water. “It’s a story about a mermare who wants to be a pony.”
“After she rescues a king?” Sombra gave her a wide grin, looking smug with himself.
“You’re actually… ” Twilight’s voice went quiet, again reminded of what his role most likely meant. She felt her heart jolt, but not in some childish anticipation of the possible romance. “The—the prince… and… ah... the little mermare—I mean… well, they—” Twilight ducked her gaze as Sombra eyed her with a suspicious gleam.
“What?” he pressed, stepping over the sand and causing Twilight to scoot away. She was suddenly very aware of how close he was to her.
“Y-you’re the prince…” Twilight stammered, feeling a warmth rise to her face. “And in order t-to remain a pony, s-she has to… kiss him...”
She heard Sombra scoff and looked up to see him watching her curiously. “Is that all?”
“Is that… all?” Twilight parroted back, surprised by his indifference. Her heart felt like it was trying to beat out of her chest, and her mind was racing to think of ways to get out of the forced relationship, so it was a surprise that Sombra appeared to be reacting so calmly about it.
“What?” Sombra chuckled darkly at her bewildered expression. “You think I would be unwilling?”
“Uhm…” Twilight turned her head away, but kept her eyes on him. “Yes, actually.”
“Twilight.” For some reason, her nerves jumped at his tone of voice. Alarms went off in her head as he strolled closer, and all her possible plans scattered in the panic of her mind while her hooves remained planted in the sand. “Do you really need me to explain how pleasurable kissing can be?” Twilight tried to scramble away when he lifted his hoof to her face, but she quickly found her back pressed against a boulder from the shoreline. “If all we need to end this fairytale is a kiss…”
Sombra leaned forward, close enough that she felt his breath warm her face. Twilight squeaked out a gasp, and with a spray of sand, she brought her tail up to slap him clear across his snout. With a furious shout, Sombra splashed into the surf, kicking up a shower of water while Twilight pulled herself atop the rock and spun around to watch him with an intense glare.
“WHAT WAS THAT!?” Sombra roared at her when he had finally pried himself from the waves.
“Y-you were trying to kiss me!!!” Twilight shouted back at him.
“Of course I was!” Sombra snarled, stalking onto the shore and shaking the saltwater out of his mane. “If we kiss, the story will end!”
“It doesn’t work like that!” Twilight yelled, not entirely certain if it was true or not, but after everything she had experienced, something told her it couldn’t be that easy. “I’m not even a pony yet! I’m still a mermare, so... there’s no spell on me.” She managed to settle down slightly, even though every nerve jittered with suspicion as she curled her tail over the rock and watched him carefully.
“Information that would have been less painful, much sooner,” Sombra grumbled while shaking sand off his hooves.
“I… didn’t mean to hit you like that,” Twilight apologized while tapping her hooves together. “You just… took me by surprise. You don’t seem—umm, that is...” Twilight looked at him with confusion. “You aren’t… reluctant?” It wasn’t the exact word she had been looking for, but simply the best one she had settled on.
“Well,” Sombra mused while dusting himself off. “It’s not as if you are an unattractive mare.” Twilight gaped at him while he turned away and continued, “Though I suppose I may have deserved that, if you already have a suitor.”
“I—” Twilight started, but her voice faltered when his words sank in. “What?”
“Your lover,” Sombra said, but she only stared back blankly. “The bird-prince?”
“T-Thorax?” Twilight blinked when she managed to follow his train of thought. “H-he’s not—that was…” She tried to calm herself, but her racing pulse only helped to fuddle up her thoughts. “It-it was only the story.”
“So,” Sombra grunted with a frown, “you just don’t want to kiss me?”
Twilight felt her face grow hot the same moment she heard voices echo further up the shore. She glanced down the beach and saw the approaching figures, feeling a wave a relief at the excuse walking her way. Without giving Sombra an explanation, she darted into the waves and splashed beneath the surface while his startled shout followed after her.
She sped out into the deeper water, putting as much distance between herself and Sombra as she could, only stopping when she reached a jetty of rocks to hide behind. Covering her face with her hooves, Twilight curled her tail over and went limp, letting her body drift through the current as she tried to sort out her thoughts and maybe calm herself down.
Her heart was still pounding at a frustrating pace. It wasn’t as if she hated Sombra, but she wasn’t certain she could make it through a kiss with him without exploding from embarrassment. She had already gone through enough awkwardness after the storybook version of Thorax had caught her unaware.
And his words before she had left him… he had sounded… disappointed? The only conclusion that she could reasonably believe was that Sombra was just teasing her as he had done before. Friendship or not, that didn’t stop him from being cynical and even blind to the feelings of others.
“Twilight?” Spike’s voice echoed through the water as he swam up beside her. “What’s wrong? Did Sombra hurt you?”
“I…” Twilight jerked in surprise. “No, I just…”
“You’re obviously worried about something.” Spike swam closer and nudged her hooves.
Twilight pulled her legs away from her face and hugged him around his dorsal fin. “I have to kiss him, Spike...” She hid her face against his side. “I have to kiss Sombra!”
“What!?” Spike blinked in confusion, curling his body to give her a shocked look. “What are you talking about?”
Twilight drew away, her face still flushed pink as she swam back to the surface. Spike followed after her while she pulled herself up on the rocks, into a hidden spot that had a view of the beach if she wanted to look back. “After I go to the sea witch to turn myself into a pony… in the story, the little mermare has three days to… to get the prince to kiss her... or she returns to being a mermare.”
“That’s it?” Spike dropped his fins with a relieved expression.
“Spike!” Twilight looked at him incredulously. “This is serious! I don’t… I mean… I don’t hate him… but… kissing him?”
“But… you don’t have to kiss him, do you?” Spike said while Twilight quieted, waiting for him to elaborate. “You’ll just turn back into a mermare at the end of the story… and probably be normal again in the next one.”
“You think it could work like that?” Twilight asked quietly, too distracted by her own jumbled thoughts to work out that possibility.
“Well, Sombra’s not still a reindeer, is he?” Spike pointed out.
“No…” Twilight mumbled with a shake of her head.
“So, worst case scenario: you don’t kiss, and turn back into a mermare… but you’ll probably be normal in the next fairytale.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “I… don’t know. I don’t think I can change it. You saw what happened when I tried to fix the tournament in 'Robin Hood.'”
“Well… you could always… not kiss him and see what happens?” Spike suggested.
Twilight tapped her hooves together nervously. “I guess… the worst that could happen is… I’m stuck as a mermare? Maybe you’ve got a point…” She let out a shaken sigh.
“Of course I do!” Spike sidled up next to her and offered a comforting fin. “And I’m pretty sure you can find a spell to turn yourself back once we escape.”
“Right…” Twilight rested her head against the rock face with a sigh, feeling a little better about the situation, or at least reassured by the options for a different outcome. “Now we just have to find the sea witch.”
Spike didn’t answer, appearing to be distracted as he stared at something back at shore.
“Spike?” Twilight lifted her head.
“Ah!” He jolted in the water as if caught doing something wrong. “Umm, sorry. It’s just… Rarity...”
Twilight turned and peeked around the boulder to watch the small figures that stood with Sombra on the beach. She had to squint to see the extravagantly dressed shape, but once she did, she easily recognized her friend, even over the distance.
Spike bobbed in the water next to her, a little less afraid of needing to hide while he pointed an eye in their direction with a far-away expression on his face. “She looks just like a—”
“A princess,” Twilight interrupted him with a grim tone as a terrible feeling fell over her. She wilted against the rock face as her breath caught in her throat, and Spike turned to her with a look of concern.
“Uh, Twilight. Are you okay?”
“It’s… the ending. Maybe it’s just a coincidence… I can’t imagine a children’s book using it, but—” Twilight trembled from the fear that replaced her calm at the possibility that had suddenly exposed itself. “T… the original telling of 'The Little Mermare' isn’t a happy ending, Spike…”
“What do you mean?” Spike splashed his fins in the water with agitation. “I thought you said the prince and the mermare fall in love at the end!?”
“If… if Rarity is playing the other princess…” Twilight began, “then… the prince falls in love with her instead.” Twilight watched as Sombra strolled up the beach while Rarity fell into step beside him. She couldn’t see all the details at such a distance, but she could imagine the eyes that her storybook friend was making at him; she had just rescued a prince, after all. “And when he marries her, the mermare… turns into seafoam…”
“That’s—that’s bad, right?” Spike asked in a fearful tone. “Does that mean that you…?”
“It’s supposed to be happy!” Twilight found her voice cracking at the thought. “She returns to the sea, she finds peace!” Twilight slid back into the water as Spike splashed in beside her.
“We can’t let that happen!” He spun around and made a move to swim back to shore. “We’ll tell Sombra! Can’t he do something? Wait!” Twilight watched while Spike bolted back and forth in a panic. “Starswirl! He can fix this! Or Princess Celestia, one of them must know a way to stop it!”
“Spike, stop!” Twilight took a deep breath and extended her hoof toward him. “Maybe we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet.” Spike turned back to her with an anxious look as she explained a bit more calmly, “The stories in this book haven’t been exact copies of their sources, but not all of their parts are completely unique either. We can find the sea witch first, and she’ll be able to give us the terms of the spell. Maybe we can… convince her to change something if it’s not the ending we want.”
“I thought we couldn’t change things?” Spike asked.
“I couldn’t abandon Sombra in the woods, and I was forced to win the tournament even though I tried to rig it…” Twilight recounted, swimming slowly in the water to try and calm her panic. “But… I’m very sure that the Sheriff of Trottingham was never an ally to Robin Hood.”
“You said it was just the way the story was written,” Spike pointed out, slowly drifting after her. “It’s an old one, so there were too many retellings to be sure.”
“If I had finished reading the storybook myself… I would know for a fact. But no matter how many times I try to analyze it, it just doesn’t make any sense.” Twilight dove deeper through the water and started leading him into the depths. “Maybe the Sheriff did become his ally, so everything might have worked, but the premise doesn’t hold up at all. Sombra rebelled against the king because he wanted to be king. The sheriff was an evil character, but he was also greedy: he was content to serve the king because it got him what he wanted. So why would he rebel? Why would he side with Robin Hood and get nothing in return?”
“So,” Spike began in a hesitant tone. “You’re saying that Sombra changed the story?”
“I don’t think he changed it, really,” Twilight said, flipping onto her back and staring up at the fading rays of sunlight. “Robin Hood escaped from the guards… then rescued Maid Marian and freed the rightful ruler. The Sheriff’s role was still there… just different.”
“Okay…” Spike moved his fins around and rubbed at his forehead. “So… we can change some things?”
“Maybe,” Twilight said with a nod. “We just have to know where the story is going. Maybe it’s the path we take. I couldn’t abandon Sombra in 'The Lost Foals' because it’s the siblings that stop the dragon together, and winning the tournament led to Maid Marian’s rescue.”
“But if the story leads to you—” Spike choked, unable to get out the words. “If you turn into seafoam at the end… how do we stop that?” He frowned at her with a furrowing of his brow. “If that’s how it ends, how do we take another path to avoid that?!”
“We’ll just have to visit the sea witch and make sure.” Twilight smiled softly. “Hopefully that isn’t where this story is leading.”
“Okay,” Spike finally relented. “But you’re not turning into seafoam on my watch!” He straightened up and wrinkled his snout. “Even if I have to… I mean—I guess I can’t replace the prince, can I?”
“Oh, Spike.” Twilight giggled, swimming closer and giving him a soft peck on his forehead. “If not, I still feel better knowing I can count on you.”