//------------------------------//
// Queen of the Seas 
// Story: Tetralogy of Transformation 
// by The Blue EM2 
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Tom was now on the coast of England, a long way away from Nottingham. Today he was a long way south, at one of Britain's greatest naval bases. Portsmouth was one of the largest docks, harbours, shipbuilding yards, and command centres in the country, and the home of the Royal Navy's surface fleet, with two thirds of its ships being maintained there. The naval base also proudly hosted the Historic Dockyard and the Museum of the Royal Navy, which was home to (amongst other things) HMS Mary Rose, lost in a freak wind in 1545, HMS Warrior, the first ironclad, and HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship and the oldest warship in service with any Navy anywhere (although that was an interesting description since it sat permanently in a drydock). Tom was here to see the history of the Navy, as well as survey the fleet. The annual Naval Regatta was today, and was being led by HMS Queen Elizabeth II, the first of the Elizabeth class supercarriers. Other notable ships taking part included the Warrior, recently restored to full working order, HMS Belfast, fully refloated and operational, and HMS Cavalier, leased from Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent. In all, it was lining up to be an historic day.

Tom had secured his place along the seafront and sat in his chair to watch the spectacle unfold. The event would open with a flyover from the Fleet Air Arm, followed by the combined might of the Red Arrows and the Blue Angels. Then the many ships assembled for the action would sail through the English Channel, in all 40 vessels of varying ages and sizes from 10 different nations. Tom relaxed in his chair and watched as the events unfolded.

"Quite exciting, eh?" asked a fellow next to him. Tom glanced over to see an older man standing there. "Nothing stirs the heart of an Englishman like the might of the Royal Navy."

"If the Queen Elizabeth ever stops leaking, that is!" joked another, much younger chap. The older man looked at him in a disapproving manner. "Eh, it was a joke!"

"And it should stay that way, you scallywag!" The older man looked to Tom. "Apologies about him."

"Well, it does leak, sort of," Tom explained. "Water displacement has a tendancy to do that."

"So I see," the older man sighed, before sitting down in his chair. "I served for 20 years in the Navy, most of it on patrol in the Far East after the war. It was a dark and tragic time, so much uncertainty."

"So I've read," Tom said, looking on as the first ships sailed into view. "Magnificent sight, eh?2

"There's no doubt about that!" said the young man again, as the boats rolled by, the water crashing against their bows. Nothing, it seemed, would even slow their advance in any way, shape, or form. It was marvellous, sea spray if you will. Tom relaxed again and looked onwards when he suddenly noticed something very odd sitting there before the portable chair he had.

Sitting before it was a pink feather that was unknown and yet somehow familiar to Tom. He bent down, and picked it up with a surprised look on his face. It was then the massive pulse of energy hit him, and he knew he had to run. Run as far as he could to ensure that nobody could see what was happening to him.

"Excuse me a moment, but my bladder has chosen the worst possible moment to need to be relieved. I'll be heading there now." Tom got moving before anybody could question the fact his voice had started to shift in pitch as he went away, shifting from his usual gruff Midlands tones to a voice of regal slendour with a fair amount of sass in there as well. As he continued on his way, his left hand (still gripping the feather) began to shift, his pinkie finger retracting into his hand. As it did so, the thumb shrank back to become a much smaller digit, and his nails sharpened into claws. This was repeated on his other hand, so he now had claws where his hands had once been. His legs gave way beneath him, so he flew through the air and behind a building as it continued apace.

His back cracked forward and reshaped as his pelvis and shoulders reshaped to accomodate bipedal movement. His clothes were ripped to shreds as this happened, and fell to the floor as a pair of giant, regal wings sprouted from his sides, flailing out into the air, and folding up by his sides as his feet morphed into hooves. His knees snapped backwards, and his elbows inverted too to create forelegs. The claws had, of course, reshaped to make moving about on four limbs practicable and comfortable.

The strange human hypogriff hybrid was about to get a lot more hippogriff, as his manhood was sucked inwards. Her ears moved up her head and flared outwards. Her eyes turned purple as they grew in size and were surrounded by purple eye shadow. Her mouth and nose pushed forward into a beak (itself slightly yellowed), as a golden crest appeared atop her head, from which light pink and deep purple plumage sprouted, followed by a tail in the same hues from her rear. Atop that tail appeared turquoise things that looked like tentacles. Blue feathers attached themselves to the top of her crest, inset with white, as her entire body was covered in pink fur and feathers, with blue fur emerging around her shoulders, and running around her front too.

Turquoise feathers emerged from the backs of her lower legs as the process completed itself, and Tom looked over herself in shock. "What is this?" he asked. "A hippogriff?"

She then noticed a lot of people looking at her. "What are you lookin' at?" she asked. "I'm just the Queen, don't mind me!"

What she had just said caught her own attention. "Wait, Queen? I must be Queen Novo!"

Unfortunately, she was not paying attention to where her back legs were, and she slipped off the dock and fell into the water, descending into inky blackness as she did so.





"Novo! Novo!"

Novo slowly regained consciousness on a beach and shook her head. "Wha- what happened?" she asked as she got up.

"My queen, you're alright!" Novo suddenly saw the hippogriff in front of her. He had dark blue fur and a turquoise mane and tail.

Novo smiled. "You don't need to call me that, sweetheart. We're equals, you know?" And she gently hugged him whilst he nuzzled her chest. "You mean the world to me, Kainos."

"Of course," Kainos replied. "I'm just relieved you're alright. Admiral Seaspray's been looking for you everywhere! The great naval exercises are about to start!"

"Oh, Seaspray, that bore," Novo sighed. "Here I was hoping I could get this day off for just you and me."

"Ah, Your Majesty!" said Seaspray. "There you are! The exercises are about to start, and we need you to announce the festivities."

"It would be my honour."

"Prince Kainos?"

"Yes?"

"A matter of import. We have been unable to locate Princess Skystar anywhere in the viscinity."

Novo tuned out the conversation between Seaspray and her husband and walked to the water's edge. In the distance, many ships of varying sizes were lined up for the exercises and naval parade. It was certainly set to be an interesting day, if nothing else. Being a Constitutional Monarch, she tended to delegate most daily tasks to elected officials. She was merely the figurehead of the hippogriff civilisation.

As she watched the water, her sister, Ocean Flow, suddenly popped out of the water. "Queen Novo! I bring dreadful news!"

"What's going on?" Novo asked, suddenly confused.

"I've found Skystar! She was playing in the coral reef and got her tail snagged on a net!"

Kainos looked horrified. "But that's right where the exercises are! The Valiant's leading that exercise. Her wake is go powerful it'll kill her!"

Novo made up her mind that instant. "Seaspray, get the captain on the horn and try to slow him down. Kainos, take to the air and patrol the air. Keep any and all hippogriffs off that area. The last thing we need is any interruptions."

"What about me?" asked Ocean Flow.

"We take to the water," Novo replied. She jumped forward, and with a blinding flash from the Pearl, switched to a seapony. The Queen and her sister swam through the water, determined to save Princess Skystar no matter the cost.