It quickly became apparent to us that Seaquestria’s capital was as big a city as its counterpart above the waves, and just as well populated. With so many seaponies around us, this compromised my secret alter-form, but as the marine forms of the hippogriffs were apparently just as big a secret, I reckoned that the knowledge would not spread far. Consequently, I got to enjoy my Celestial form’s greater strength and coordination while taking in the scenery with my wife.
Trixie positively gushed over the undersea realm with Novo as the queen showed us around before a servant came along to remind her that her regularly scheduled massage was due. The queen once more turned over sightseeing duties to her daughter which Skystar enthusiastically undertook after showing us her shell collection. They were pretty, but who gives pet names to seashells? That’s when I noticed one of them was trying to crawl away from me! The seapony princess tut-tutted, picked up the shell to reveal the mollusk inhabiting it, and gave it a stern talking to. Soon, she gave the little pet a few gentle strokes on its eye stalks then fed it a tiny sliver of fish that she apparently kept on hoof for just such occurrences. Because I remembered that some species of cone snails had highly toxic venom, I demurred when Skystar offered to let me play with her collection. I had no idea which ones had their own built-in booby traps—an idea that made Skystar and my wife laugh to no end.
The Princess took us out of the city and we encountered a huge school of tiny silvery fish. As we swam through their midst, I discovered to my delight that if I gently pushed water to the left or right, the whole school responded in a rippling wave, following the direction of my hoof. Trixie giggled as I orchestrated an entire impromptu dance of the shimmering fishes.
We got to see the kelp farms and oyster fields as well as a demonstration of how the seaponies caught fish in nets pulled by a team. It left no doubt in our minds that they were more than capable of feeding their entire population with seafood, but it begged the question – why? When Queen Novo rejoined us later, I sought to get an answer.
“Your Majesty, I believe that I speak for Trixie when I say that we’re extremely impressed with your undersea realm and we’ve seen how it can be self-sufficient. In fact, the entirety of your surface city could be evacuated down here without undue stress. Is this deliberate?”
The queen’s expression grew serious. “Indeed, you have guessed it. While we have been able to live both above and below the waves for much of our history, Seaquestria has long served as our defense against invasion. No hostile force can reach us down here. In fact, without the magic that I bestowed upon you with my necklace’s link to the Pearl of Transformation, even our close allies cannot visit this city. Our farms feed us in either form, so they are always ready to serve our needs if we are forced to take refuge down here. And that may be sooner than you think. Have you heard the reports of disappearances in the South lately?”
Trixie replied, “Yes, and they have been troubling. My husband has been working with the Royal Guard, the E.U.P. armed forces, and the Empire Guard to develop strategies to deal with potential threats. In fact, we were hoping that you might wish to join us in these efforts.”
Novo frowned. “My first duty is the defense and safety of my subjects. If we can offer help that won’t compromise our neutrality, then it may be possible. I know my friend, Princess Celestia, would do the same for us.”
I said, “That’s all we could ask for, Your Highness. I’ll arrange for somepony to come here to negotiate mutually agreeable terms after we return to Canterlot. Meanwhile though,” I gave Trixie a smile, “my wife and I are still on our honeymoon and we’ll put all that aside for the moment.”
Novo nodded. “I have arranged for a feast in your honor this evening. If you’d like to indulge yourselves until then, Skystar will ensure that you will not be late.”
“Sounds good to me although I have to ask if it’s going to be held down here or up above?” I inquired.
“I will be entertaining my Equestrian guests as Queen of the hippogriffs. It would seem odd if you both disappeared for the entire day.”
I chuckled. “Not to mention giving my personal bodyguard a heart attack. Since we effectively ditched her by coming down here, she’s going to be really pissed at me.”
Novo laughed and handed her necklace with the single pink pearl to her daughter. “Princess Skystar or I will be sure to transform her as well next time… if you survive her wrath.”
We put off the inevitable for as long as we could. Trixie enjoyed entertaining the foals (minnows?) with her magic while I played the part of her lovely assistant. Hey, if I had to be a mare down here, I might as well! Skystar led us deep underwater where the light from the surface could not reach. After teaching us how to dim the glow that our seapony bodies gave off, she carefully led us through a narrow sea cave. Several types of bioluminescent crustaceans scuttled out of our way as we traversed its length. The Princess was excitedly giving us a lecture about the little creatures with only the occasional one being snatched up and tossed in her mouth. It was both fascinating and a bit disturbing to witness how the live snacks barely slowed down Skystar’s bubbly commentary. In fact, a few small and not-quite-fast enough eels only caused a brief exclamation of “My favorite!” before her lecture continued.
After returning to the surface, Trixie and I got to race some friendly dolphins and following their example taught us how to breach the surface in long jumps. As we swam back to shore, Skystar promised more activities that we could indulge in tomorrow and we made a point of scheduling an early start to the day to squeeze as much in as possible.
Penumbra started to give me a blistering earful the moment my head poked above the surface. She must have been preparing the whole time we were gone because her language was much more colorful than usual. We might still be there except Skystar ‘helpfully’ turned Penny into a seapony as she was hovering above us while haranguing me. She fell into the sea with a squawk of surprise. Penumbra rose to the surface, sputtering in indignation.
“This is no place for a bat-pony!” she protested, struggling to keep her armored body at the surface.
“Well, if you insist on shadowing me, you’re going to have to live with it,” I told her smugly.
She narrowed her eyes. “I suppose somepony will have to help keep the stallions off you, Princess Mark.”
I poked my tongue out at her and replied, “I have a very possessive wife and I’m not afraid to use her.”
My spouse smirked. “Trixie’s husband better be a stallion again tonight or else she may trade him in for another.”
Penny gave her a fanged grin and said, “I might take you up on that. I always thought Mark looked hotter as a mare anyway.”
I rolled my eyes. If she was back to taking digs at me, she obviously had calmed down. I swam closer to the shore. “Can I have my legs back now, Skystar?”
The hippogriff princess transformed us all back into ponies and we stepped out onto the beach. Skystar then flew off to the palace to inform her mother that we were on our way. I was still in pegacorn form, but as a large proportion of the hippogriff population had already seen me in the seapony version, it didn’t bother me. Instead, I took advantage of it to carry Trixie quickly back to our suite before switching back to my normal form. We washed the salt from our coats, groomed each other, and prepared for dinner. With her secret already revealed, Trixie chose not to put on the artificial wings which Penumbra had rescued from the sea.
I insisted that Penumbra go off duty for the duration of the meal. Only after I gave a direct order did she finally relax and allow herself to enjoy the exotic dishes that were worthy of the royalty of any kingdom! A fatty piece of something resembling tuna wrapped in seaweed, raw oysters (including one suspiciously large pearl each found by Trixie and Penumbra), sliced and buttered crustacean steaks over bread (I didn’t want to think how huge the tail or claw was that it came from), a rainbow-hued caviar over sushi rolls, and a white fish that had been marinated in a salty dark sauce then brushed with a sweet glaze for the last few minutes on the grill. Penny was effusive in her praise, declaring each successive dish as the best seafood she had ever eaten. By the end, she lamented that it would be impossible to enjoy the once-frozen dreck that was the only moderately affordable option available in the capital of Equestria. Her mood brightened when Princess Skystar promised to give her bottles of the marinade and glaze.
I was a bit worried that my unicorn wife would not find the fish palatable, but she genuinely enjoyed each mouthful. Trixie insisted the castle’s Head Chef, named Butter Filet, come out to receive her justly deserved adulation. Privately, I wondered if Trixie’s former profession as an entertainer affected the choosiness of her palate. A performer just scraping by on the passion to follow her dream didn’t have the option to turn up her nose at any kind of food. And if a patron offered to buy the magician a meal, she had to make it disappear or risk upsetting an admirer and possible financial supporter.
Trixie offered Butter Filet the Royal Chef’s position in Canterlot, declaring that what the castle ponies needed was a break from their boring sense of culinary normalcy. Here, I had to put the brakes on my wife’s plans. Just because she loved seafood didn’t mean that every other pony in her employ would do the same. Queen Novo looked on in bemusement while my wife and I debated. This went on until the chef gently but firmly announced that she was very happy in her current position but would be open to doing an exchange at some point with her Equestrian counterpart. After Butter Filet left, I had a suspicious thought. “Trixie, this wouldn’t have anything to do with our co-regent’s opinion on seafood, would it?”
My wife’s eyes went wide and her smile grew three sizes that day. “Oh, Trixie had forgotten! Yes, an exchange program is an absolute must. But don‘t worry, Shark Farewells; Trixie knows how to keep our poor, gastronomically-deprived Princess distracted. She won’t think to ask what it was she ate until the meal is done.”
Wonderful. Somehow, I knew I would be taking the blame regardless of how this turned out.
After dinner, we all sipped a delightful sweet wine and sampled a fudge recipe that Princess Skystar herself had prepared. I tried very hard not to think about the food preferences the Princess had demonstrated and how that might have affected the ingredients used. Over dessert, I retold an edited version of the trip through alternate timelines and worlds that Twilight and I had endured. I spent the most time on the plague dimension where we had learned of the connection between seaponies and Queen Novo. As I related the percentages of males that survived for each species, Princess Skystar visibly wilted, her happy mood leaving her like a leaky balloon. For her part, the Seapony Queen was very upset at the prospect of her counterpart ruling over a devastated kingdom and began pacing.
“This is awful! The sheer virulence of the disease! I had no idea the scale of the disaster!” She took a couple of deep breaths and sat down. “I have Equestria to thank that the same will never happen here. By this time next week, the vaccines that you provided will have been given to all my subjects.”
Princess Skystar spoke up. “This portal you helped make from that dimension to the gender-swapped one – do you know for certain that seaponies exist in the second one?” I said that was what that realm’s Princess Trixie had told me.
Queen Novo nodded approvingly at her daughter then looked back to Trixie and me. “I will give you a scroll to be delivered to the Queen Novo of that unfortunate realm. Our nation will not allow them to go extinct for lack of virile males. Could Princess Twilight provide our realm with a portal to Mount Aris or their equivalent in that world?”
Here I had to check with Trixie. I didn’t feel comfortable making that call. She tapped her chin thoughtfully with a forehoof. “Given the gravity of the crisis, Trixie doesn’t have an objection, but Princess Twilight is the expert on portals and how to safeguard their use. For instance, how to secure against an invasion by a third party from the other dimension. Regardless, Trixie will open a dialog with my counterpart in the plague dimension to ensure your scroll is delivered.”
Probably not Trixie’s first choice of mare to speak to, but I knew she would follow through. Another reason why I loved my wife – she always put the needs of the common pony first, even if they weren’t under her rule.
While there was plenty of lighter after-dinner conversation, Trixie and I nevertheless elected to turn in early so that we could make the most of the next day before we had to start our journey back to Canterlot. Our honeymoon was drawing to a close soon, so we had to make the most of it. However, we took our time making love that evening. The night was balmy and the sea breeze was welcome as we reaffirmed our bond with each other.
The next day was filled with underwater activities, this time with Penny keeping us company. She had to leave behind the majority of her equipment and armor, but she still had a short sword strapped to her barrel which didn’t seem to slow her down at all. Skystar guided us to a couple of shipwrecks which we explored, swimming through the rents in the hull that had been their downfall. Because much of the ships’ contents was of no interest to the hippogriffs/seaponies, they were largely untouched since the day they sank. We found wooden furniture and tableware stacked in a hold of the second ship. The origin of the goods was solved when I found a Zebrican mask staring up at me from the ocean floor. I tried putting it on and turning to my companions but was disappointed by their reactions. Penny declared the nightmarish visage to be a marked improvement and Trixie said I looked exactly like that every morning. Even Skystar couldn’t keep a straight face… well… to be fair, she was almost always smiling, so it was just a matter of her giggling a bit longer than usual.
Diving into deeper and darker waters, we were shown vents that were spewing hot, mineral-rich clouds into the sea. Just like in the documentaries I’d seen back on Earth, they were a haven for a rich variety of lifeforms. Thankfully, Skystar didn’t eat any of these – tasted too strongly of sulfur, she said.
Back at the surface, we got involved with one of the local sports – dolphin racing. This particular type called Hackamore Dolphins had been bred specifically for the activity, and while there were professional jockeys, amateurs loved to hire dolphins and run races of their own. It was a lot more chaotic than horse race meetings on Earth, but a lot more fun. More so for Trixie though because, unlike me, she managed to stay on her mount.
After some lunch to stoke up our energy – fresh seafood, of course – we explored a coral reef and braved the perils of a deep-water canyon. Apparently, the giant moray-type eels there liked the taste of seapony, or so I was told. Not sure if I believed that or not, but we didn’t take any chances thanks to a contingent of guardsponies that kept us in the center of their formation. Although we saw some large eyes reflecting light back to us from nearby caves, they did not show themselves further. I guessed that the beasts were wary of the sparking bidents carried by the soldiers.
After that, it was back to the surface and a change back to our normal forms. We then did some windsurfing as the afternoon wind-shift became favorable for that activity. A couple of hippogriffs instructed us on technique. Trixie caught on immediately – clever mare. I found that being a pegasus gave me a great sense of the wind, but I was poor in putting it into practice. After Penny taunted my inability to travel more than a few yards without landing in the drink, I switched to Marklestia in frustration. I soon showed her how quickly and spectacularly I could crash in that form as well. It seemed that the sea might have been Celestia’s bane too because Queen Novo nearly died laughing when she witnessed me struggling to stand upright again on my board. I only succeeded in getting water shoved up every orifice as I was unceremoniously dragged across the surface. She practically fell over when I pulled my disheveled form out of the waves. Lesson learned – my alter ego wasn’t better at everything.
Trixie and I lounged on the beach afterwards and drank exotic concoctions while chatting with Novo. Then we took a dip in the sea to cool off before heading to the castle. As much fun as this had been, it was time to pack and say our farewells. There was a specially scheduled train arriving soon to take us back to Canterlot, and while it couldn’t leave without us, the train’s crew would not appreciate it if we delayed their departure.
Queen Novo invited us back when we could find the opportunity, and I hoped we would be able to take advantage of that someday. Trixie and I extended our wish that she and Princess Skystar would visit Canterlot in the near future so we could return their hospitality. The citizens of this realm truly had a wonderful lifestyle here, although I’d probably get a bit bored with it eventually. I needed the challenges that my role in Equestria brought. It sobered me to think that those responsibilities were now greater than ever since I had been elevated to the rank of prince. Fun-time was over and it was nearly time to get serious again. Fortunately, the trip back to Canterlot was long and Trixie and I could indulge in a lot of private time before being thrown back into the public eye once more.
We arrived in Canterlot around mid-morning on Monday. That gave my wife and I a chance to refresh ourselves, get updated on the week’s significant happenings, and have lunch with Twilight who had overseen the morning session of Day Court. We learned that Thorax had not yet emerged from his cocoon, but a visiting red changeling doctor declared him to be in good health and his re-emergence set to occur any day now. That’s when we gave Twilight our gifts for watching over Equestria while we were gone. I presented her with a signed copy of the hippogriff scientist Ebony Deep’s magnum opus ‘Exhaustive Compilation of Equus Sea Life Research,’ which wasn’t due to reach stores for another month. Trixie gave Twilight six flawless daggertooth scales from Princess Skystar’s personal collection; each was the size of an Equestrian bit and dwarfed any that Twilight and I had received from the plague dimension. It was very hard to tell which made the alicorn more excited as she hopped, pronked, and pranced around nonstop in her adorkable way. After the Princess left with her newfound loot, Moon Dancer thanked us profusely as the week had been much more stressful for Twilight than she would ever admit.
I had a present for Steady Flight too. I presented him with a bottle of a thousand-year-old Royal Reserve Crystal Berry Liqueur. Okay, technically it was only aged for eight, but you still wouldn't find anything like it elsewhere.
Then it was our turn to do the afternoon session. Stepping into the throne room, it was quickly apparent that one significant change had been made. There were now two thrones on the dais. I had always stood beside Trixie while she held court, but now I ranked equally with her. This hit me harder than anything else up until now as the real world pushed aside the surreal feelings I had been experiencing. Then the Sergeant-at-Arms made the announcement that sealed it.
“Day Court is now in session! Princess Trixie Lulamoon and Prince Mark Wells presiding!”
I gulped. It was just like my first day as Trixie’s Grand Vizier – sink or swim, Mark! I gave the first supplicant my best smile but let Trixie take the lead. As it turned out, we both fell back into our normal roles with Trixie skillfully extracting the relevant details while I analyzed them and offered her my recommendations. Our lifeline Raven Inkwell looked even more fashionable with her new pearl-encrusted mane band. As always, she supplied us with critical background information on the case before us. Trixie then pronounced the decision on our behalf. I started to relax – nothing had changed… wait… no, that was wrong. One important thing had changed. My wife’s promise ring glinted in the sunlight streaming through the stained glass, affirming our everlasting bond. As Trixie and I shared a quiet smile as the petitioner left, we both knew that we were now and forever a team and we were proud to show that to all of Equestria.
“Love you, my Princess,” I whispered to her before the next supplicant stepped up.
“Love you, my Prince,” she replied, her eyes sparkling with joy.
We turned our attention back to the Court. Our Little Ponies awaited us.
The next morning’s schedule was slightly different. It was finally time to put Starlight Glimmer on trial. Because I was now a Prince of the Realm, calling in Cadance to fill the third judge’s position for the Supreme Court was unnecessary. Considering how busy they were with their young foal, I had no doubt that this was a welcome relief to her and Shining Armor. So, a third throne was brought in and Twilight, Trixie, and I occupied the dais while desks had been set up for the prosecutor and defender. Twilight had asked Moon Dancer to represent Starlight Glimmer and the mare had agreed. It turned out that Moon Dancer received a Doctorate in Juridical Science among her twelve degrees. Various royal legal departments were still trying to resolve the over two thousand contradictions and over seven thousand deficiencies in the Equestrian Legal Code that the unicorn mare had uncovered for her doctoral thesis. The Royal Counsel , an elderly unicorn stallion named Full Accountability, would represent the Crown’s side.
Starlight was brought into the court by two Royal Guards and led to a chair next to Moon Dancer’s where she was told to sit. Her guards then took a pace back and remained on alert for trouble from their charge. When everypony was settled, the Sergeant-at-Arms announced, “Court is now in session! The trial of the Equestrian Crown versus Starlight Glimmer will now commence! Prince Mark Wells, Princess Trixie Lulamoon, and Princess Twilight Sparkle will be presiding in judgement!”
“Thank you, Sergeant-at-Arms,” Trixie said. “Prosecutor – please read out the charges.”
The unicorn stallion stood up, lifted a scroll with his magic, and commenced reading. “The defendant is charged with treason, attempted regicide, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, ponyslaughter, attempted murder, multiple counts of theft of cutie marks, attempted brainwashing, enslavement through illegal cult activities….”
The pony droned on and Starlight visibly wilted the longer he spoke. While it would be next to impossible to prove some of the accusations, it was felt that Starlight needed to appreciate the full weight of her wrongdoing. In fact, I expected Moon Dancer to argue that all charges committed in alternate timelines and worlds should be thrown out for occurring outside of the space-time boundaries of Equestrian jurisdiction. The actual amount of culpability would be determined by this trial. We anticipated that this was going to require at least a week of two-hour hearings each weekday.
The prosecutor hadn’t quite finished reading all the charges when Moon Dancer suddenly spoke up.
“I beg the Court’s pardon, but my client’s cutie mark is doing something very strange.”
All eyes turned to Starlight who in turn craned her head around to look at her flank. Her cutie mark was visibly pulsing. She said, “What in Equestria…?”
Twilight gasped. “That’s the signal from the Cutie Map! Starlight has been summoned to deal with a Friendship Problem!”
“Aren’t there always at least two ponies assigned to those?” Trixie asked.
“Yes, but who’s the other?” Twilight replied.
I scratched at an irritating tingle in my haunches. “And why did it have to be now?”
Trixie turned to respond to me, stopped and stared, then snorted as she tried to contain a laugh. “Trixie thinks you may have to find that out for yourself.”
“What are you talking about…” I stopped as a horrible thought crossed my mind. Slowly, I turned my head to look at my cutie mark. It was pulsing in synchronization with Starlight’s. “Oh, you have got to be bucking kidding me!”
“That’s not appropriate language for a Prince of the Realm,” Trixie reproved me even as she tried unsuccessfully to smother a smirk.
Twilight said, “It doesn’t matter when it happens – you have to answer the call of the Map, Mark.”
“Seriously?” I groaned. “Me with her? Could you possibly think of a worse mismatch?”
“I have to disagree,” Twilight insisted. “You two fought well as a team in the zombified dimension. Lighten up, Mark! I don’t think the friendship problem will be anything that dangerous.”
My wife nodded. “The Great and Wise Trixie agrees. This trial is hereby postponed until the fulfilment of the Friendship Mission. Trixie wishes you good fortune, Bulwark Tramells.”
“Traitor,” I muttered sullenly as I got up to head over to where Starlight sat with a stunned expression. I had grabbed my folder with the trial materials so at least I’d have something useful to do. “Come on, Glim Glam. You and I have a date with a carriage to Ponyville.”
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