Sovereign returned to Ponyville the next day feeling significantly more subdued. The wound was closed, but it was never pleasant recalling loss.
Age-old weariness rivaled only by the likes of perhaps Celestia’s weighed him down, each step feeling heavier than the last.
He was almost too wrapped up in his thoughts to stop when a little filly ran into his path, only stopping in time to prevent squashing the tiny pony.
She bore a large bow on a larger head, and didn’t even notice she had been at the risk of his hooves as she ran excitedly ahead.
A familiar face followed, wearing a sheepish grin and a wide-brimmed hat. Applejack trotted up to him, glancing at where the filly had gone.
“Sorry about that, Sovereign, that’s my sister for ya, ain’t a thought behind those eyes other than getting her cutie mark.”
Sovereign gave her a look. “Her… I apologize, but I have not caught up on modern Equish, surely I misheard-”
Applejack cut him off. “A cutie mark? But they’ve been around since ponies themselves, I don’t think they had any other name on ‘em.”
Sovereign blinked, and blinked again. “And what, if you have no issue explaining… is a cutie mark?”
Applejack paused and then proudly turned around to show her behind. Sovereign balked and looked pointedly up, pretending to observe the sky. Were ponies really this forward? Even Rarity hadn’t attempted such a thing.
“Get yer mind out the gutter, Sovereign, I’m showin’ you my flank, not my rump, that’s just foul.”
Sovereign hesitantly looked back down to see Applejack gesturing to the mark that adorned her flank. “See, this is a cutie mark, I’ve got one, you’ve got one, most ponies get em at some point.”
Sovereign looked to his own flank, blinking in surprise at it. He had never looked at it before, but looking now, he realized that he did in fact have a mark of his own. Golden kelp and sea grass surrounded an ever moving orb of water that sloshed in time with his heartbeat, just as his real heart of magma and ice pumped with the tides.
He was brought out of his observation when the little filly from before galloped back to them. “Applejack, you’re slower than a mule, how am I s’posed to get my- oh, hello, wow yer tall,”
Sovereign blinked down at the filly who was staring up at him in amazement. Applejack groaned and put her face in her hoof. “Apple Bloom, be a bit more respectful, this is Sovereign Seas, he’s ah, king of the oceans, and you nearly tripped him a minute ago.”
Apple Bloom’s look of awe promptly vanished with a sheepish expression that her sister had worn a moment earlier.
“Sorry about that, mister king sir, I didn’t mean ta- hey, your cutie mark moves!” Apple Bloom immediately abandoned her attempt at politeness in favor of trying to look close to Sovereign’s flank.
Even though Applejack had assured him otherwise, Sovereign very much did not like ponies staring at his rump, and levitated Apple Bloom gently away, turning to face her completely so his flank was out of sight.
“It does, and it’s a preference that you do not… do that again.” He said slowly.
“But I wanted to see your cutie mark-” Applejack suddenly swooped in, placing her hat atop the filly’s face to silence her.
“Apple Bloom, respect his boundaries, we raised ya better than that, imagine if Granny Smith were to see ya like this!”
Sovereign momentarily wondered who ‘Granny Smith’ was before bending to talk to the young pony once Applejack took her hat back. “No worries little one, though I would think it would be common sense to not get close to a stranger’s rump without permission-” he allowed himself to grimace, “-even if you want to see their cutie mark.”
Apple Bloom looked properly chastised. “Sorry, sir, I’ve just never seen a-” she gasped, horror on her face. “Sweet Celestia, my cutie mark, I’m gonna be late!”
With that, she sped off once more. Applejack frowned. “See? Not a thought behind those eyes of hers.”
Sovereign hummed. “What is it that she’s doing to achieve her mark?”
Applejack shrugged. “There’s this fake scuba competition, the foals are s’posed to dive and look for the treasure ponies put in the pond. She thinks she’ll get her cutie mark in diving, I bet.”
The subject interested Sovereign. “Do you mind if I come and watch? I haven’t seen such a competition before.” Among ponies, anyway.
Applejack beamed. “Sure, plus it’ll be nice to have another pair of eyes watching just in case. You know how to swim, right?”
Sovereign stopped walking and glared at her, stopping when she burst into laughter before taking off, telling him she would… turn him into a rotten egg if he was the last one there? Perhaps the earth ponies had learned more magic over the years of his absence.
Not wanting to find out (though he doubted she could), Sovereign galloped, long legs catching up to her quickly. Unused as he was to running like a pony, the apple farmer beat him by a few seconds.
Applejack laughed heartily. “Now I can say I beat a king in a hoof-race, look at that!”
Sovereign rolled his eyes but smiled dryly, deciding he liked this pony more than the others he had met. She wasn’t complicated, and was honest and hardworking. He respected that.
The two looked over to the pond, where a pony with a red something was monitoring the pond as they prepared for the competition.
Apple Bloom was on the docks, along with a hoard of other colts and fillies. She was talking to a pink and purple-maned unicorn and one other who they couldn’t see.
“Well, I guess we just gotta wait for it to begin now.”
Apple Bloom beamed at her friends. “Sorry I’m late, y’all, I got caught up talkin’ ta the new guy. Have you seen him? He’s-”
“He’s so tall, and handsome, and has the prettiest mane, I know,” Sweetie Belle groaned, recalling her sister’s rants about that Sovereign Seas.
Apple Bloom wilted for a moment. “He is…” she grumbled, kicking the dirt. As one, they turned to their third member.
“Scoots, have ya met him yet?” Scootaloo hadn’t even heard of the guy, and helplessly shrugged.
“I don’t think so.” She said, happy for the distraction. The competition had both the prize of a cutie mark and fifteen bits, but the idea of staying underwater for any prolonged amount of time gave Scootaloo the chills.
For as long as she could remember, she had felt the safest on dry land. She couldn’t go up into the clouds like Rainbow Dash, and the last thing she wanted to do was become some sort of diver.
Obviously, she didn’t voice her concerns to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, as she didn’t want to be seen as some sort of baby who couldn’t take a dive.
“I can do this.” she said to herself, whispering low under her breath and staring fearfully in the water. If anything happened, the lifeguard would be sure to save her. She was going to be fine.
“What if we find treasure?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly from beside her. Apple Bloom ‘ooh’ed at the idea and started talking about how cool it would be to have a treasure finding cutie mark.
Scootaloo surprised herself at the enthusiasm that flooded her at the idea. Something about finding treasure, finding something special that nopony else could, made her feel more sure of herself than before. Like it was what she was meant to do.
When the whistle blew, she took a deep breath through the snorkels they had given her and took a big dive into the water.
The pond’s surface enveloped her and everypony else, and she blinked behind her goggles, squinting through the water to find treasure. Bright objects were very obviously placed in different spots, and after bringing one to the surface, Scootaloo found that she wasn’t satisfied.
She wanted something pretty, something that would get everyone’s attention from how cool it was.
Yeah, her mind whispered, determined and centered, forgetting all about how scared she was less than an hour ago, I’ll get something cool!
Taking a big breath once she broke the surface, Scootaloo dove down with renewed vigor and single-minded focus. Her wings subconsciously began to flap, propelling her deeper.
Bird-like eyes scanned the depths, ignoring that she was now deeper than everypony else.
There was just sand and rocks and-
There!
Something glinted just barely, submerged half-way in the dirt. She couldn’t tell what it was, but there was a part sticking out that she could definitely grab if need be.
Her short limbs wrapped around the part that stuck out, and Scootaloo began to pull, bubbles of air escaping her lips with the effort. It barely budged, but what mattered is that it did.
She yanked it harder, wings flapping in earnest to pull back with more force. She was running out of air, but she could feel it loosening, surely it would be wrenched free in time for her to pull it up and return victorious to the surface.
Her chest felt tight, and she felt her grasp slipping.
No! She thought angrily, heaving with all her might (which, unfortunately, was not that much) and yanking the heavy thing out of the ground. Finally! She grinned, accidentally letting air out from behind her lips and taking in water instead.
Panicking, she took a breath, coughing and taking in more water as a result. Mission abandoned, she flailed, wings propelling her in the wrong direction. Which way was up? Was it night already? It was getting dark…
Sovereign and Applejack were discussing Apple Bloom’s finds (simple toys and objects that were easily produced) when Sovereign suddenly cut himself off, ears flicking towards the water before he sped to it at a gallop.
Applejack frowned. “Hey, what’s the-”
Sovereign dove into the water, speeding through it with practiced propulsions as his body shimmered and turned streamlined once more. That sound, he hated that sound more than any sound he had heard in his life, he didn’t want to hear it again and he refused to let that sound go on for any longer.
That sound was the sound of water sloshing around tiny lungs in a body not meant for the water.
Finding the source immediately, a tiny little pegasus, he took the sinking foal in his hooves, rocketing to the surface in a geyser of water to the shock of those who had seen him dive in.
The water carrying him gently deposited him on the banks, retracting and going back to normal once its use was no longer needed.
Sovereign placed the filly on the sand, kneeling and bending his head to place his ear over her chest, horn beginning to glow.
There was something so tragically ironic in the fact that he learned how to do this after Orek had died. Still, the water in her lungs disappeared, joining the body of water it hailed from as the filly coughed and sputtered awake.
Violet eyes opened, and Sovereign felt himself closing his eyes with relief as well as the need to get the image of another foal with a stubby horn instead of tiny wings out of his head.
“Sovereign!” “Scootaloo!”
Applejack and Apple Bloom rushed over, followed by a host of other ponies that had come to watch the competition.
Scootaloo stared in shock into nothing, barely comprehending that she wouldn’t be alive if not for- wait, who saved her?
She turned, not listening to the various ‘is she okay’s and ‘how did you know?’s as she finally looked at whoever saved her.
Huh, she thought as the exhaustion caught up with her, staggering back to the sand after trying to stand, he’s tall.
Miss Cheerilee, who had been monitoring the event as well, immediately swooped down on her.
“What were you thinking!? You were told not to go deeper than the lifeguard could see you, do you have any idea how badly that could’ve-”
“That would be enough.” Sovereign cut in, standing in front of the pony. “I’m quite sure she understands. There is nothing to do about it now. It is over.”
And it was. It was over and Scootaloo had only gotten one thing, a measly and cheap toy that would do her no good. Plus, she had nearly drowned, so not cool.
“My treasure…” she whispered, forlorn at the loss and useless effort.
Sovereign looked back at her after scolding Cheerilee, who he knew was only concerned, tilting his head and kneeling next to her, allowing his body to somewhat shield hers from the lingering ponies’ stares.
“The skillet?” He said carefully, not letting any pity show. Children either loved or hated pity, and he sensed that this one would be something of the latter.
“The what!?” Scootaloo yelled before catching herself and ducking her head. “Sorry.”
Sovereign hummed, looking back to the pond. “The object you were attempting to retrieve was very heavy, wasn’t it?” Scootaloo’s face heated at the implication that she was weak but gave a jerky nod, unconsciously shifting closer when she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon nearby.
Sovereign continued. “That skillet was pure iron, and decades old. It probably weighed much more than a skillet made now. I find it surprising you even managed to budge it.”
Scootaloo felt herself relax, appeased by the admittance. “But I didn’t get anything, what am I supposed to do?”
The pony, Sovereign Seas if she remembered Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom’s stories right, tilted his head as though seeing her for the first time. She realized with shame that he was glancing down at her wings.
“Gonna call me a freak?” She spat, ducking her head to hide how her face flushed red.
“No. Scootaloo, was it? I have something for you.” She glared up at him, lessening when she produced something round and metal, holding it in front of her face. She felt inexplicably connected to the object and blinked at it, unsure what to make of it but knowing somehow that it was meant for her.
“What is it?” She asked quietly, enraptured as violet eyes ran over its surface, stopping at an L and two O’s that adorned the side. Loo, like her name…
“I came to Ponyville with the goal of returning this pocket watch to the pony who was a descendant of its owners, and now I’ve found them. You may leave it or have it polished if you’d like.”
He allowed her to grab it, hooves running reverently over its surface. His words suddenly caught up with her.
“I don’t… I don’t have the money to get it cleaned…” she said sadly, looking up at him with shame. “I don’t mind leaving it though, did it really belong to someone in my family?”
Sovereign looked up, a far-off look in his eyes. “Yes. They had wings like yours and were very brave.”
“Did you know them?” Scootaloo asked excitedly, clutching the watch closer to herself.
Sovereign shook his head. “I don’t, but I do know how it came to be in my cl- my hooves.”
Scootaloo nodded up at him expectantly and happily. “Where?”
Sovereign grinned down at her. “The palace of Atlantis.”
Scootaloo frowned. “What? That’s not a real place,” anger colored her tone, indignant at being lied to after discovering the tiniest fact about a family she knew nothing about.
Sovereign blinked. “It is, and your ancestors wished to prove it. They wanted to find something of value from my palace to bring back, and they… they left their watch.”
Scootaloo still looked doubtful but held the locket tightly. “I wish I had enough money to have it polished,” she mused sadly.
Sovereign frowned, feeling a bit of guilt. He knew it was his subjects’ faults that the watch had become so tarnished, and felt responsible.
“I can have it cleaned for you, if you’d like,” he offered. Surely he could grab some gold from the serpents’ offerings to him and have the watch returned to its former glory.
“Can I come with? I mean- if you don’t mind, I promise I’m not gonna bother you, I just don’t want-”
Sovereign patted the filly on the head to sooth her awkwardly. “No need to worry, but I do not have your parents’ permission to take you.”
Scootaloo’s face fell, and Sovereign winced at his mistake. “You can keep it for the time being. Is there anyone in Ponyville who polishes metal?”
Scootaloo looked unsure. “I don’t know.”
Sovereign stood, offering a hoof to Scootaloo. “The day is still young, I’m sure I can find one soon.”
Scootaloo took it hesitantly, shakily standing and walking with Sovereign, who had slowed his pace to match her own. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon suddenly approached them, leading her to wince and unconsciously press into Sovereign’s side. Unfortunately, he was very tall and his legs were taller than her whole body and then some, so she only managed to make Sovereign stop in order not to knock her over.
“Hey, Scoota-loser, heard you almost drowned in a little pond during the contest!” Sovereign frowned, looking down at Scootaloo, who had hung the pocket watch around her neck. She was fuming, and her wings twitched with anger.
“Shut up, Silver Spoon, at least I was brave enough to swim, you both couldn’t even get your fur wet!”
Sovereign felt an odd sense of relief and pride when Scootaloo shot back, glad that she could hold her own.
Orek was always too polite for his own good, even in the grizzly depths of the sea where the inhabitants had no qualms of baring teeth at strangers.
Sovereign blinked. Orek? Where had that come from?
Scootaloo stomped her hoof, bringing him to his answer. She reminded him of his son. That brought him to more realizations as well, and he blinked as he recalled both saving her life and returning the watch. Those two alone should have been enough for him to leave and return to the sea, but he was still here.
He had one more realization, accidentally speaking aloud. “Your parents chose to name you Silver Spoon?”
The grey filly paused. “Yeah, what’s it… to you..?” Somehow having ignored him throughout the entire encounter, the two fillies looked up at him, backing up in order to take in his height.
“Nothing. You shouldn’t be ashamed of your name, even if other ponies are mean about it,” he attempted to salvage the situation, as being mean to children wasn’t one of his favored skills.
“Other- what are other ponies saying about my name!?” The grey filly burst out, glaring up at him contemptuously.
“Pay no mind to what other ponies think, there will always be those who are mean-spirited who like to make fun of things,” he tried again, not noticing the gleeful look on Scootaloo’s face as she began to giggle.
Silver Spoon began to fume, turning red beneath her grey fur. The other filly turned to her nervously.
“It’s okay, Spoons, he’s right. Just because ponies make fun of it doesn’t mean you should feel-” she was cut off by Silver Spoon turning tail and galloping away, yelling angrily as she went.
Diamond Tiara abandoned the prospect of bullying the Cutie Mark Crusader in favor of chasing her only friend, shrieking out unhelpful reassurances.
Once she was out of sight, Scootaloo collapsed with laughter, pounding at the ground with her hooves. “That. Was. Awesome!” She said, howling with glee.
“I don’t understand.” Sovereign said dryly.
Scootaloo calmed down and grinned up at him. “Those girls have been bullying me since I started school, and I’ve always tried saying something about Silver Spoon’s stupid name.” Sovereign didn’t feel the need to tell her that that was mean. From the look on her face, she knew.
Sovereign looked around, heading towards the center of the village. “I suppose I will find you again tomorrow, if you’re sure about getting the watch polished.”
Scootaloo nodded, a hoof resting against the watch that dangled in front of her chest. “Fine by me.”
She looked back at Sovereign with a grin, eyes straying to his- Sovereign needed to find another some for it- cutie mark, eyes widening.
“Hey, your cutie mark moves.” Scootaloo said bluntly, peering at it closely. Sovereign levitated her away.
“I discovered that same fact this morning, actually.” He remarked, walking into town. A few ponies turned and stared at him, something Scootaloo seemed to find uncomfortable.
“So what’s it like where you’re from? Is everypony as tall as you?” She peered up at him, and even though she would rather die than admit it, his mane was pretty. It was what she imagined the ocean would look like, not that she would ever go in.
Sovereign looked down at her momentarily before looking around. “No. As a pony, I am actually smaller than a lot of the residents of my home.”
Scootaloo gaped, barely catching herself in time when a rock caused her to stumble. “You- huh? You’re small? How big are the ponies there then?” Sovereign replied with a mysterious grin.
The two stopped at a blacksmith, Scootaloo frowning when she read the sign. “It says ‘out for the week’, bummer.”
Sovereign sighed. “That is unfortunate. I suppose I’ll have to look elsewhere. No worries, there are a lot of metal workers around big cities, if I remember correctly.” Scootaloo didn’t comment, not knowing that Sovereign’s knowledge was a few hundred years out of date.
“Can you tell me more about where you’re from?” She asked, not wanting to leave for the foster home just yet. Sovereign was a cool adult, almost as cool as Rainbow Dash. In the back of her head, she pictured what they looked like together, walking along the paths like everypony else and their parents. He would definitely keep her safe, considering-
Scootaloo shook her head and pawed at the ground. “I mean, you don’t have to.” She reminded herself to stop being so sappy.
Sovereign looked down at her before humming. “I suppose we have time. I’ll start with the shallows.”
Luna scrambled out of bed, this time feeling deeply invigorated. Her horn lit up and her rapidly filling diary appeared, along with a quill and a pot of ink.
She had remembered something about who she had talked to during her banishment. Dipping the quill in the inkwell, she began to write.
For some reason, Luna hadn’t really thought her sister would do it.
She hadn’t believed for a second that Tia would do something like banish her to her own moon despite knowing to her core that the alabaster alicorn was far more powerful than her.
But it had been a full two months. She had been observing the world from the sky for weeks as the outrage in her bones simmered into lonely acceptance. Was this her fate? Was she doomed to stay, orbiting Equus with nopony but the stars to keep her company? She knew that the only pony with the power to even communicate with her had placed her on the moon in the first place.
“Why are you up there?”
And with that, Luna met the Sea, tides reaching up to her through magic and gravity. The Nightmare hated him and tried to convince her that he was useless, spitting insults and trying to get Luna back to her original plan of revenge.
Not that the Sea always tried to talk to her anyway, especially not talk her out of it. In fact, the first time she mentioned she was a pony, the violent voice had ignored her for a month before gravitating back to her.
Had Luna been anypony else, she might’ve acquiesced, agreeing and pretending that she believed ponies were pathetic and useless and cruel and wasteful.
Unfortunately for that hissing, crashing, rumbling voice, she was Luna, and Luna was proud, making sure to emphasize how good the ponies were, telling the stories from an outsider’s view without revealing her identity.
She taught him Equish as well, seeing as his speaking was like that of a foal’s. In return, he tried to scare her at first, telling tales of brutal traditions involving teeth and meat and blood before relenting, rambling about how things glowed without the sun in order to make up for it, glittering fish and coral and plankton that didn’t need the sun.
Those were her favorites, and she asked him again and again to tell her about the forming civilizations of squids who had never seen the sun and didn’t need to, along with the way the sea depended on the moon to pull the tides and stimulate the environment.
He asked her things, too. He asked how she knew about the moon princess, and she hedged, lying and saying that she was the moon itself, and that the alicorn shared its plans with her. The voice had fumed at that, claiming that ponies were still as cruel as they were with his… abomination?
Luna paused, ink starting to flood the spot where her quill rested. She made a note to correct that later and continued writing, hesitating when she realized the Sea was violent enough to lack any qualms with her plan of revenge, not realizing ponies worked far differently than his own subjects.
She recalled his retellings of how he earned respect through showing his strength and using it for good, establishing order in a chaotic world and upholding it with his endless power. The difference between his world and hers was the distinct lack of violence ponies held. How was she going to explain that her plan was to cause discord in an ordered world? Surely he’d disagree, so she didn’t tell him that.
Luna stopped writing when she heard steps outside of her door, a polite knock sounding out before her sister’s voice greeted her behind the door.
She welcomed the pony in after stowing away her diary. Celestia smiled warmly at her, beckoning for her to join her for breakfast, or in Celestia’s case, lunch.
Celestia pretended to ignore the ink stains on Luna’s hooves while they ate, explaining to her what the Grand Galloping Gala was and that she could attend if she liked. Luna had mixed feelings about it, and pushed around the food on her plate.
“Tia, after the Gala transpires, we plan to visit the oceans.”
Celestia paused before smiling at her sister. “We can have a beach trip if you’d like, surely we both deserve a bit of a break. We can visit one of the coastal towns near the Jagged Rocks!”
Luna hesitated before nodding, something in the description of the town feeling familiar and unwelcome. She figured she could try and talk to the Sea at the coast anyway.
“After the Gala.” She confirmed, smiling when Tia grinned back at her, happy that the introverted princess finally decided to get out of the castle.
“I don’t suppose I can have you attend?” She teased. Luna laughed softly.
“Perhaps we will, sister, perhaps we will,” she acquiesced, privately knowing she would only be there for a bit before retiring if only to appease her sister.
Surely, an hour or so would not cause her trouble? It wasn’t as though their subjects aimed to talk to her.
With that, Luna continued eating, listening with half an ear as Celestia told her about her star student and her plan to invite her.