//------------------------------// // Episode 140: Things Long Buried // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 140: Things Long Buried Celestia was old, but rarely did she let herself feel the fact. She’d always tried to tackle life with a certain, relentless enthusiasm and poise. In her youth, that had just been the norm, later on, it had been a matter of trying to set an example and maintain the image she believed would best serve the well being and happiness of her people.  But she was old. Not in the way her little ponies would feel old as their flesh gradually failed over the years. No, as an alicorn, her flesh remained vital, and would remain so for... who knew how long? But in her gut, her soul, she felt the weight of years like a heavy blanket of snow might weigh upon the mountains. Protecting her realm, her country, the ten or so million ponies and other assorted creatures that called the land of Equestria home, was a mantle she’d worn for a long time. And she wasn’t fully proud of every moment of it. At times, protecting the realm had required risks. Sacrifices. Luna understood, to a degree... But Twilight was still young, and was an alicorn only in body, not truly in mind and heart yet. Twilight didn’t know in full the gravity of the responsibilities her position meant. Certainly Twilight had saved the world from numerous threats alongside her friends. In truth, facing down blatantly evil and villainous foes with the power of friendship at one’s side was the... easy part. When one knew who one’s enemy was and what needed to be done to win the day, life was simple. Twilight hadn’t reached the point where things weren’t simple, and “winning” sometimes meant having to put the safety of the whole nation over the lives of the few, or the “calculated” risk of sparing one potentially redeemable villain while “calculating” that another was too risky to try and reform, or even leave alive.  Celestia had spent her whole life of over a millennia “calculating” risks, making hard decisions on what was or wasn’t an “acceptable” risk in regards to ensuring the continued safety and prosperity of an entire nation.  Now, Starlight Glimmer, the human invader of Celestia’s world, had done much to throw all of Celestia’s calculations into proverbial chaos.  She and Luna had faced two of Starlight Glimmer’s minions, and the result had been a disappointing draw in which Luna had suffered grievous injury, and still their two foes had escaped. Luna had been injured before, but never lost a limb, and in her heart Celestia knew she was shaken by the event. Both of them were. They had faced grave threats in the past, but in some ways the one represented by the human Starlight Glimmer was the worst one yet. Not because Starlight was more powerful than those previous threats. If Celestia was giving an honest assessment of strength the danger Starlight and her allies represented wasn’t any worse than Discord or Tirek had been during their rampages... but Celestia and Luna had never defeated either of those foes through their own power, they had relied on the Elements of Harmony.  In an honest fight, unrestrained, Celestia was confident in her abilities, but there was still “risk” involved, and Celestia detested “risk”. She despised “risk”, because within that irritating word was an endless string of dire probabilities, and Celestia often refused to gamble the well being of her people on any damned numbers game. She wanted assurances. Certainties. Guarantees. That was the whole point of the Elements of Harmony in the first place. A guaranteed, surefire, one-hit-win weapon that would theoretically never fail. It was why Starswirl and the Pillars had planted the seed of that power, and Celestia and Luna had ensured its growth over the course of centuries. It was meant to ensure that the protectors of Equestria’s peace never have to contemplate making use of other options. But the Elements of Harmony were out of play, contained by the Tree that certainly hadn’t been a part of any of Starswirl’s calculations. Even if Celestia felt comfortable removing them, Twilight and the Element Bearers were far away now, and with Starlight Glimmer becoming an ever greater problem Celestia was left with looking at other options.   She stood in an unused hallway in the depths of Canterlot Palace. It was tucked far back in the north quarter, two levels down from the surface level where the throne room and audience chambers were located. To anypony, such as the Royal Guard who patrolled the halls, this area would look like little more than a dusty, empty hall leading to a dead end. A dead end that Celestia approached and placed a hoof clad in her golden regalia to a stone on the wall. A gleaming imitation of her hoof print flared with yellow light as the defensive spells on the wall recognized Celestia’s magical field, and the wall shimmered with light until the solid illusion transformed into an open, spiral staircase leading down. She descended, the illusionary wall reappearing behind her as she went down the long stairwell. Magical lights flickered to life at the lone alicorn’s passage, lighting her way and casting it in a looming growth of shadows as she continued down for at least a hundred feet. Finally the stairs ended in a tall, arched opening into a wide chamber, a rectangle about the size of a modest mansion and lined with numerous, sealed doorways of thick metal. Celestia ignored most of the doors, each one covered in magical markings. Each contained a wealth of treasures, artifacts, and gathered magical items from both her and Luna’s long lifetimes of adventure and hard work defending Equestria. Any one of those sealed rooms contained riches that would set anypony up for several lifetimes, or contained magical books and artifacts that would make even the most astute of unicorns near faint from the power contained therein. But none of those doors mattered today. Celestia passed them all, until she reached the very end of the room, and stood before a set of stone steps leading up to what looked like a large chest of iron. The chest was covered in chains and runic sigils, all protections against any would-be thief. She stared at the chest, considering that she could still decide against this. The risks... “My my my, I always wondered what might bring you down here, but never thought it’d be something as simple as Luna getting hurt.” Celestia scowled at the voice and shot a heated glare at the ceiling, “Of course you’d follow me. I thought I told you to go scour Ponehenge for any signs that Starlight Glimmer might arrive early before the arranged date to set up traps.” Discord peeled himself off the ceiling and did a swan dive through the air, hitting the ground in a literal liquid splash before pulling himself together in a flash and whipping out a telescope to poke through a window he literally summoned from thin air. The window showed the sight of Ponehenge, hundreds of miles away. “Oh do keep your tail straight, I’m watching it like a hawk,” Discord said, “Our precious human visitors haven’t shown, yet, so don’t worry your pretty little head, Celestia.” “You can hardly blame me for being cautious,” she said, brushing past him and slowly ascending the steps towards the large, metal chest. “I learned from you never to underestimate an enemy.” “Oh? Is that what we are?” Discord said, casually tossing aside his telescope, although he kept the floating window to the vista of Ponehenge open as he turned and leaned against it while giving Celestia a remarkably shrewd stare, “I thought we were long past that. I’m reformed, haven’t you heard? A model Equestrian citizen, past slip ups with Tirek aside.” Celestia paused in front of the chest, then glanced back at him flatly over her lowered wings, “You have changed Discord. I don’t deny that. In fact, it does my heart good to know someone like you can change. There are times...” She sighed, looking away, eyes now locked on the box of chains and iron in front of her, “Times I do wonder if the world really has the ability to grow beyond its conflicts. If it’s not you, Discord, it was Tirek. If not Tirek, Chrysalis. If not Chrysalis, Sombra. If not Sombra, Charbydis. It just... never ends. Even if we save some, others fall, or become even worse. It’s as if...” “History repeats itself?” Discord offered, and Celestia looked back at him again, a glint of old anguish in her eyes. Discord’s joking tone softened and he shrugged his arms helplessly at her, “Is this why you’re considering opening that box? Because if history is doomed to repeat itself, may as well embrace it?” “I don’t know,” Celestia admitted, her voice drained, but somehow coated in an iron resolve, “I just know what matters to me most is protecting the peace of as many lives as I can. That’s all I desire, Discord. Peace. Whatever that peace may cost.” “You’ve always been a very determined mare,” Discord admitted, “And practical. I know you released me from my stone prison not out of any altruism, but because you believed I’d be ‘useful’ to you. I know you let Sombra and Radiant Hope go their merry way after that whole fiasco in the Crystal Empire because you think they might be useful, especially if they succeed at restoring Amore. It’s why you never bothered tracking down and finishing off Chrysalis, or stuck Tirek in Tartaros, too, isn’t it?” Celestia shuddered slightly, thinking back over her long history of careful choices. “You’re partially right. I had faith in Fluttershy’s ability to bring you around.” “Well chosen,” Discord said, smirking, “She really has carved out a special place in my heart. Pray that you never let anything happen to her, otherwise you might find me...” a darkness momentarily flashed around him, as if all the room warped with a malignant madness for just a second, “Very cross.” “Trust me, Discord, the last thing I want is for anything to happen to any of my ponies.” “Oh, I know, but you’re pushing your luck, letting her gallivant off with Twilight.” “You know I had no right to stop her, and neither did you, hence why you didn’t try. Besides you should know by now that those mares, including Fluttershy, should never be underestimated,” Celestia said, and Discord paused, then shrugged, conceding the point.  “As for the others,” Celestia went on, almost feeling a hint of calm at being open with Discord, after so long a time spent on word games, “Sombra’s lost too much of his power for me to consider him a significant issue, even if things turn sour with Radiant Hope. If they can restore Amore, it’s worth whatever minimal risk is involved in leaving them be. Tirek is contained, and remains stubbornly unreasonable to any of my attempts to turn him over the centuries. But I’ve always considered his magic absorbing abilities a potential trump card if I could ever discover leverage to use against him to secure cooperation. As for Chrysalis... I didn’t ‘let her go’, I was simply too drained at the time to prevent her escape. I’ve kept a search for her from commencing because I’m not about to waste my Royal Guard trying to find a creature that can decide to look like whoever or whatever she wants. She’ll rear her head again, no doubt. When that happens, we’ll see how things go. Unlike Tirek, I can’t think of a use for her that isn’t presently filled by already reformed changelings.” “How sad for her,” Discord said with a hefty dose of sarcasm, “No second chances for the unuseful, hm?” Celestia shot him a sharp look, but he just pointed at the metal chest in front of her, “But then I wonder, what will happen if you use what’s inside that? Chrysalis is an Inheritor, just like us. Do you think she knows that?” “Doubtful,” Celestia said, “If she’d known, she’d have spent more of her resources looking for Relics attuned to her. As far as I can tell, only you, I, and Luna know the truth.” A questioning light flickered in her eyes and she tilted her head towards him, “Since we’re on the topic, I never did get a chance to ask you... why didn’t you seek out your own Relics, either the first time you tried to take over this world, or the second?” A light, snickering laugh came from the Lord of Chaos, “What would I need with those dusty old things? They’re more trouble than they’re worth. Which brings me to the question of the hour; do you really want to use what’s in that box?” “There may be no choice,” Celestia replied, “Even if we defeat Starlight Glimmer, she represents a larger problem. Our world and the human world are growing ever more connected, and the powers of that realm will inevitably set their sights on us. We alicorns and old spirits like you may have the strength to match some of our potential foes, but by Sunset’s accounts there’s more of them than there are of us. I can’t afford to ignore any potential edge, despite the possible drawbacks it entails.” She reached out with a hoof and touched the first set of chains upon the chest, and with a mote of golden magic from her horn, shaping itself into the form of a key, she inserted that key into an ethereal lock that appeared in the air before her.  “For thousands of years we’ve ensured some things have stayed buried. Now may be the time for that to change.” The draconequus rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic about it. These are weapons, nothing more, and you’re only willing to use them now because seeing your little sister get hurt has spooked you, Celestia.” Celestia paused to shiver slightly before resuming removing ethereal, magic locks upon the chains, causing them to fall away one by one, “I suppose you may speak the truth. I can’t lose her again, Discord. I can’t let the peace I’ve struggled to create in this world fall apart. Too many are counting on me.” With the last chains gone, Celestia opened the chest’s lid. Within was a dark blue velvet padding upon which rested two objects wrapped in pristine white cloth. The cloth itself was covered in protective symbols, while the objects themselves appeared to be the broken remnants of ancient weapons, one a fragmented tip of a sword, the other the broken handle of a bow. Celestia lifted both of the eons old artifacts in her magic, feeling a leaden weight in her heart as she did so. “You do intend to clue Luna in on this, or are you intending to go behind her back?” “Of course I’m not going behind her back!” Celestia snapped, losing a portion of her characteristic poise and calm as flickers of fire appeared in her mane, if only for a moment before she cooled her temper. “I wouldn’t do this without Luna’s agreement. If need be I can put these back, but...” “Easier to convince her if you’ve already taken them out, eh?” Discord rubbed his scraggly beard and floated over Celestia, peering at the two wrapped objects, “Rather unimpressive looking things, for what they actually are. Do you honestly think you’ll need this against Starlight Glimmer?” “I believe I can face her with my own power, but just in case I’m wrong, I’m hedging my bets. As I said, I’m more worried about what comes after we deal with her, because I sincerely doubt our problems will end there.” Discord gave her a straight-on look, the seriousness of his features juxtaposed with the fact that he was floating upside down in front of her, “And Twilight? You didn’t tell her anything, did you?” “I was hoping it wouldn’t be necessary. I still am.” Discord ‘tsked’ at her, shaking his head, “I will never understand why you insist on taking the worst of the burdens on yourself. It’s quite self-destructive, Celestia. If I didn’t think I knew you better I’d say this is some kind of masochistic streak you have, a personal obsession with martyrdom.” Celestia gave him a withering look, but one that lost much of it’s punch as the bone deep tiredness overtook her once again, and she also noted the sympathetic streak in Discord’s voice. She carefully tucked the wrapped artifacts, the Relics, inside the crook of one wing. She’d place them in a magically created pocket space before leaving the vault, but for now she’d carry them. With a steadying breath she said, “I’m no martyr. Martyrs get to eventually rest.” ---------- “Feeling better?” The question caused a reflexive scowl to touch Chrysalis’ face, but the changeling soon settled for a proud if somewhat childish look as she glanced away from Starlight Glimmer’s concerned features. “Your healing magic is impressive, but I could have healed myself if I’d only had some love to consume. In fact I could have beaten that monstrous imposter myself if-” “If you’d ‘fed’ properly,” Starlight finished for her with a wave of her hoof, “Look, if our partnership is going to work you really need to get over the other Chrysalis. Trust me, I know she’s a pain in the butt, you don’t need to convince me of anything on that front.” Chrysalis folded her forehooves, still impressed she barely felt any lingering ache from the beating and broken bones she’d received. She’d been flippant about it, but she was rather impressed by this healing ‘Kido’ that the one named Platinum had used upon her. Chrysalis hadn’t been lying when she said she could have healed herself if she had enough love to feed upon. Nothing nearly as impressive, or outright frightening, as her counterparts' regeneration, but just as Chrysalis could transform her body into different shapes, she could restore injured parts of her body to their prior, uninjured state. It was just incredibly costly in terms of magic and rarely worth the trouble save for grievous harm... like what her counterpart had done to her. The memory was still painfully fresh in her mind. They were in the same medical room that the unconscious Firefly was set up in. Platinum had healed Chrysalis’ wounds and then retreated from the room, saying she was going to check on her son. This left Chrysalis and Starlight there, with Chrysalis sitting in one of the beds adjacent to Firefly while Starlight stood between them. “Why do you keep that creature around if you can barely control her?” Chrysalis asked, “I never keep anyone near me who isn’t someone I can control. It’s asking for trouble.” “I don’t have the luxury of being too choosy with my allies,” Starlight replied with a self deprecating smile that Chrysalis found most irritating, “The Chrysalis from my world is dangerous, but she wants the same thing I do, at least to a degree. Enough so that we can use each other without having to like it.” “Hmph, I suppose I can understand that position, although it’s still foolish,” Chrysalis said, then with a spark of curiosity added, “How did you even come to meet her in the first place?” “Ugh, I prefer not to think about that too much. When I went on the lamb from Soul Society I spent some time with a group called the Quincy. Helped them with some jobs in Hueco Mundo, the realm Hollows like your counterpart come from. Let’s just say I ran across her there after some... messy Quincy shenanigans. Honestly wasn’t too different of a meeting than what you just had with her, only me and Firefly... I suppose we impressed her, or at least got her attention. She let us go, then not long after I parted ways with the Quincy she contacted me again. We got to talking, and when she found out about my goals, she was the one to suggest an alliance.” Chrysalis snorted, “Convenient. And this ‘goal’ of yours? What is it? I know you seek to plunder magic in this world, but what is it all for?” “Why do you care?” Starlight shot back, and Chrysalis found she didn’t have an immediate answer to that. Considering, she found herself almost sick to find that she was simply asking out of a desire to keep the conversation going. This was the first time she’d talked with anyone in some time who wasn’t trying to kill her. She was a manipulative, arrogant, and tyrannical person, but Chrysalis was a social creature and had lacked that component in her life since losing her hive.  “I don’t care,” she said defensively, not meeting Starlight’s inquisitive gaze, “I am merely vaguely curious what would cause a fool like you to run to another world with such untrustworthy allies at her side. So what is it? Are you seeking to conquer your own world with the magic you steal here? Or is it a revenge quest? Someone you seek to destroy who’s wronged you?” “Yeah, no,” Starlight said, shaking her head as she plopped down on her haunches, “Conquest? Please, I don’t want to rule anything. You have any idea what a nightmare it is to actually try to rule the world? I’ll leave that to some other idiot who wants the job. As for revenge... perhaps a little, but that’s secondary to what I’m really after. I’m trying to undo the wrong that was done to me, not avenge it. At the same time I want to break the system that created that wrong in the first place, and stop those doing it, because what they’re up to is going to flush my whole damn world down the drain... and possibly yours, too.” That got Chrysalis’ attention, “What do you mean by that?” “You really want to know? Might take a while to explain everything,” Starlight said, and Chrysalis looked at the bed she was in. Platinum had insisted she stay there and rest for at least a half day to ensure the Kido healing took full effect.  “I don’t appear to be going anywhere,” the Queen of the Changelings said, “And since I’ve tentatively agreed to this partnership, I may as well know the full scope of the idiocy I seem to have landed myself into.” A quiet chuckle escaped Starlight and she raised her hooves in a defeated shrug, “Suit yourself. Settle in and listen up. I’ll start at the beginning, I suppose... the day I learned what Hollows and Soul Reapers were, and my whole life turned upside down.” ---------- Once the last shred of light vanished from above, Twilight found navigating to be a bit of a problem. She still had a vague sense of up and down, but it was muted by the chilly, surrounding black of the ocean. Her eyes, transformed by the spell that had adapted her body to the water, no longer relied on light but heat and a very limited sense of ‘sonar’ that stemmed from a transmuted organ in her snout. The combination of this resulted in her being able to see her companions in a wash of black, whites, and grays that wavered like fog or mist. She had to get close or focus to make out fine details, but otherwise her friends looked grayscale and blurry. The ocean itself was light gray for about twenty or thirty meters around her before petering off into darkness, or rather a lack of heat that she could sense. The ‘sonar’ was wider, leaving vague motion lines that were barely sensed currents. Behind the wake of herself or her friends she could see the currents their own motions made in the water more clearly, but further away objects or currents looked more like gray streaks than solid objects. If they didn’t have Wavecrest, who’s senses as a natural seapony were much better and who knew the ocean as a true native, Twilight would have been more frightened the party would be lost in these depths. She’d never truly conceived of how dangerous journeying to the bottom of the ocean might be for those unprepared for it, even with spells. This truly was like entering a foreign, alien realm, and it unsettled the Princess in a way few things had before. She felt a warm touch on her back and she nearly screamed, but soon realized it was just Flash. He’d swum down to be next to her and had laid a hoof on her in a comforting gesture. Even in dull, grayscale, his features were warm and handsome, and Twilight caught herself before she stared too long. “You okay?” he asked, and she nodded. “Just fine. A little disoriented. I’m not sure how far down we are. Feels like we’ve been swimming for a while.” “We’re currently what you surface dwellers would call two ‘miles’ down,” said Wavecrest, having clearly heard them from the front of the group, “I’ve been evening out our course at a gentle angle to ensure you have time to get used to the depths. We’ll be reaching the outer edge of the Sua’Moghgen... ‘Mountains of Teeth’ in your tongue.”  “Uhhh, when you say ‘Mountains of Teeth’, that’s just sort of a fancy name meant to inspire awe, and not indicative of anything having actual teeth living there, right?” asked Rarity, who cast nervous glances to her left and right as if expecting something to come swimming at them out of the dark that would be all mouth and teeth. Wavecrest looked back at the mare with a small, wry twist of her lips that reminded Twilight of the smiles Zecora would wear when the zebra got into the swing of telling a spooky story during Nightmare Night.  “Oh, there are many tales of the dangers that lurk in these deep waters. The Sua’Moghgen used to be filled with the outskirt settlements that surrounded Aqualania, where seaponies tended herds of fish or fields of cultivated seaweed to feed the nation’s capital. Of course when Charbydis and her sister Scylla had their civil war, the mountain settlements were among the first to be ravaged. It is said Charbydis’ abominable creations devoured many helpless villagers, and even to this day the descendants of such monsters dwell in the dark crevices of the mountain range. Dire sharks with mouths as wide as three ponies standing end to end, or squid who’s tentacled limbs bear serrated spikes to rip prey apart.” “Yer kiddin’, right?” Applejack said, “We can’t just swim ‘round these mountains o’ death?” Wavecrest laughed, “I exaggerate. Some. The mountains were the site of fierce fighting, and deadly creatures do dwell there, but not in such numbers as to cause much concern. No, my land dwelling friends, the mountains are not our problem. We cross over them to reach the vast canyon valley that Aqualania occupies on the other side, and use the craggy slopes to mask our approach. I shall use my magic to further obscure us, and warn us of anything that may approach.” “Is that going to be one hundred percent effective?” asked Starlight, face grim, “We’re betting a lot on it if it’s your magic alone that’s supposed to give us cover. Trixie is a specialist in illusion magic, and that should still work down here, shouldn’t it?” “Ah, I certainly have a few tricks to pull out of my hat if you want a little extra magical insurance,” said Trixie. Wavecrest looked at her with a considering gaze. “Your illusions may help in some areas, but most underwater dwellers do not rely on normal sight or sound, so mere ‘invisibility’ will not guard you or your fellows as well as you may think.” Trixie blanched, visibly deflating, “Good point... I guess.” “However,” Wavecrest added, “Few who call these deep waters home would respond well to sudden, bright light or abrupt, loud noises. An effective means to distract or disrupt something that wants to eat you, perhaps?” Trixie reinflated, smiling, “Bright and loud I can do!” “Just how much further are these Toothy Mountains anyway?” Rainbow Dash said, gliding ahead with a few swift kicks of her legs and swishes of her wings. She’d learned rather quickly how to best use her wings underwater to move faster, and seemed most eager to get to their destination, dangerous or not. “We should see them soon,” Wavecrest said, peering forward, and then with a heavy nod she said, “Look.” To Twilight’s eyes it was as if they emerged from fog, a wall of sharp, jagged peaks that looked for all the world like a row of uneven, deadly teeth. They loomed ever larger, until they gave Twilight the feeling of approaching the maw of some monolithic sea beast. The mountains were larger than any she recalled seeing upon land, and as the group drew nearer and nearer to them she was left shaking inside at the dwarfing majesty of them. And more than a tad intimidated by the ink black crevices that flowed like melted wax across the mountains irregular surfaces. Truly any number of things could hide inside those innumerable cavern openings or deep ravines, with hungry eyes to peer up at Twilight and her friends. Wavecrest led them between the two largest pieces, which loomed on either side as twin stretches of rough, rocky terrain sloped down in front of them. The seapony witch moved her staff in a slow, figure eight pattern, and bade everyone swim closer together. Twilight wasn’t sure precisely what spells Wavecrest was working, but she did sense a change in the water around her. It felt to her as if, no matter how much the party moved, the water somehow felt... more still, as if they were now encased in a bubble that muted their motions somehow. Might this spell interfere with natural sonar? What about their body heat? Twilight, at least, could still see just fine. Now that she thought about it, the range of her vision felt wider than before. Why was that? It took her a second to realize it, but the water itself, rather cold before, was getting warmer. Looking at the mountains surrounding them now, cast in dark shades of deep gray, she saw lighter washes of gray near carved out holes and vents, and realized something. “There’s active heat vents down here. Are these mountains active volcanoes? Is that why we can see better, because of the extra heat?” “Smart pony,” Wavecrest said, “The volcanic vents are precisely why my people settled this region and built Aqualania here in the first place. Rich mineral deposits both for mining and ideal for cultivating underwater crops. It’s a tragedy we lost it...” A hungry, fierce gleam appeared in her eyes, “Perhaps one day we’ll reclaim it.” “Don’t see what’s stoppin ya,” said Applejack, “Even if there’s a few critters swimmin’ about, can’t yer hunters-” The farm mare’s words were cut off fast as Wavecrest halted in place, suddenly alert as her eyes scanned the area beneath them. They’d been passing over a particularly wide left in the still upward slope of the mountains’ eastern side, and as Twilight followed Wavecrest’s gaze, she saw it too. Something was stirring in the shadowed depths of the cleft, something large. “Follow me, and make no noise,” Wavecrest said quietly, and then sped off at a remarkably fast rate. Twilight exchanged fearful looks with her friends, and then they rushed to follow her. Almost as if by instinct, Tempest Shadow and Flash Sentry took up opposite guarding positions on either flank of the group, while Seaspray took up a rear guard behind them. They didn’t need to exchange words to do this, and Twilight could only surmise it was because each of them were soldiers. Even if trained in different armies, and in Flash’s case a different world, military training took over and had some universal similarities so that the trio could act immediately without needing to say anything to each other. Twilight and her friends formed a tight formation at the center, doing their best to follow Wavecrest. None of them dared to speak, even the usual chatterbox that was Pinkie Pie seemed to know to keep quiet as she had one hoof shoved over her mouth to keep it closed as she swam along with the others. Wavecrest led them to the lip of an overhand above the cleft, making her way towards a packed formation of rocks. Or rather, Twilight had first thought they were rocks, but upon closer look she realized they were carved dwellings. The ‘houses’ were of various, almost organic shapes, often with interlocking passages of stone forming what looked like a large grouping of rocks and coral. Various openings in the dwellings seemed to serve the dual purposes of windows and entryways, and Twilight reflected that an underwater house could pretty much have a door anywhere it needed to, even the ‘roof’. Their seapony guide aimed for the largest of the dwellings in the center of the formation, zipping into one of the higher openings. Twilight and the others followed swiftly, Seaspray and Tempest both waiting at the entrance until the rest were inside. Then the pair had a brief staring contest as if challenging the other to be the last one through, until Tempest eventually rolled her eyes at the stubborn look on Seaspray’s face and swam in first, to which he gave a briefly surprised but pleased look before following her. The interior was mostly bare, consisting of a conically shaped room with the widest part at the top, then narrowing down to a smaller floor space below. Various openings within the conical side walls led to different passages or chambers, but near as Twilight could tell this central one acted as some sort of communal space, perhaps a meeting hall? She saw carved seating areas in the walls where various seaponies might have sat, and a podium-like protrusion that jutted out from the wall at the highest point of the chamber. The whole place gave her a ‘town hall’ vibe not unlike the one back in Ponyville... only dark, underwater, and clearly deserted for many countless years.  “Alright, what was that?” Rainbow Dash asked, “And did we have to run away from it like a bunch of underwater chickens?” “Oh, can we talk now? Because I was kind of wanting to scream a bit back there,” Pinkie Pie said. “Shh,” Wavecrest hushed them, and then slowly swam back to the opening they came through, peering out with a cautious gaze as she held her staff at the ready. She gestured for Twilight to come up, which she did, followed by the others, who all looked for other openings to look out from. “If you must speak, do so in a whisper,” Wavecrest said, “My spell dampens sound, but it will still travel.” “O-okay,” said Twilight, following the advice to whisper, “But what is it? I didn’t get a good look, just a big shadow.” “Wait...” Wavecrest said, then her eyes narrowed and she pointed with her staff, “There, it rises. It must have sensed a change in the currents from our passage.” Twilight didn’t see what Wavecrest was pointing at initially, but then something rose into her field of view from beyond the lip of the cleft in the mountain slope, and she had to force herself not to gasp or scream. It had a body like that of an eel, but with a grotesquely bloated head, like that of some enormous and misshapen tadpole. She couldn’t tell what color it was in the ocean depths, but her infrared vision made it appear like a ghostly gray wraith, with a fluctuating, luminous quality that made the monster appear ethereal and unreal. It’s length was impressive, by her guess at least forty meters, probably more. Tendrils like whiskers expanded from its broad snout, and its mouth hung open in a cavern filled with hundreds of spear-like teeth. It’s body undulated about, the long fins across it’s slippery form bristling as it propelled itself up from the dark cleft it had hidden in, waiting for prey.  It turned its massive head towards the abandoned seapony village, swimming slowly towards it, like an ominous gray cloud bearing fangs. Twilight saw it’s two dead, white eyes, like twin ghost orbs, fixate upon the town, and she felt a need to duck back, but held herself still. “Oh my,” said Fluttershy, “It’s so incredible.” “Incredible?” whispered Applejack, “Dang thing’s big ‘nough ta swallow a dragon! Don’t think yer gonna stare down that thing, Fluttershy.” “Maybe we won’t have to?” Fluttershy said, “I...I admit I don’t know underwater animals nearly as well as the ones on land, but this is still a creature of nature. Um, right?” Wavecrest glanced at Fluttershy, a brief look of understanding but also sadness creasing her face, “Make no assumptions, young pony. Many of the sea beasts here are twisted by old, dark magic. I would not try to befriend them as you would those of your surface home.” “Oh...” Fluttershy said, and then Trixie cut in with a point of her hoof. “I might be seeing things, but does it have a rider?” That got everypony doing a double-take, and with a closer look, Twilight realized Trixie was right. She’d been so shocked at the creature’s appearance that she hadn’t even spotted the miniscule rider perched atop it’s broad head. Now that she could see it, her eyes picked out enough details amid the hazy, gray heat-scale of her vision that she could recognize a sahuagin. The fish person was perched on top of the giant eel’s head, holding a set of reigns in one webbed hand while the other carried a large spear of bone. Wavecrest muttered something in her own language, then said, “Hide, but prepare yourselves. If we are found, we must strike fast against the rider.” There were acknowledging nods all around, and everypony swam back from the openings and took cover where they could. Twilight found herself pressed up against one of the wall seats next to Flash and Rarity, both of whom had drawn their weapons. Flash held his Zanpaktou loosely with his fore hooves, using his wings for balance in the water, while Rarity used her magic to lightly grip the dagger she’d taken with her. Twilight noticed that while Rarity looked nervous as any of them, she had a hard look in her eyes as well. Somehow Twilight didn’t doubt Rarity would have little trouble using that dagger, if it came to it. Abruptly Twilight felt a change in the water currents, and realized the massive eel was now swimming just above the building they were in. She could feel the passage of those huge fins stirring the ocean, and she now also heard a long, deep, gurgling noise that she suspected was the eel’s rider. There was a noise of scraping rock as something burst across the building’s roof, causing debris to stir and fall from the roof.  It occurred to Twilight that if the eel wanted to, it could probably flatten half the town in one sweep of its tail.  She waited with her companions, silent as death. Outside she could still hear the eel moving, and the sharp scrape of rock as it bumped into the village’s houses. Was it trying to startle any possible prey into making a break for it? The rider likely didn’t want to search the houses one by one, not only because that would take time, but it’d be risky if there really were intruders. Because of Wavecrest’s spell, the rider likely hadn’t actually seen them. It might have just noticed it’s eel mount be disturbed by something, and came out to take a look. Hopefully this sahuagin would just assume it was a false alarm and go away. Or it might destroy the town, just to be on the safe side. All Twilight and the others could do was wait, and see which of those options occurred. For what felt like an unbearably long time all Twilight could hear were the sounds of the eel, and her own thundering heartbeats. If worse came to worse, she’d try that High Magic spell she thought she’d parsed out by reading the book Celestia had given her... There was a sudden undulating cry, and then a rush of water currents. Twilight held her breath, tensing herself to release magic from her horn. But then the sharp currents gradually faded, as did all other noise. After another minute Wavecrest gave them a gesture to stay put, then she went and checked the opening. The seapony witch waited cautiously for another full minute, eyes gazing out into the deep, before she swam back to them. “It returned to the cleft. If we leave now and stay quiet, we can get clear.” “Are you sure?” Trixie asked with a visible attempt to gulp, which then made her make a gagging expression as she swallowed seawater. Tempest Shadow threw a flat look at her. “Would you rather just wait here until it decides to come back?” Trixie made a vaguely rude gesture towards Tempest, while Twilight turned to Wavecrest, “How much further is it to Aqualania from here? If the sahuagin have scouts like that patrolling these mountains, we might have to rethink our approach.” “The capital should be just on the other side of the mountains, perhaps another ten miles. We can make the distance before the day is done. But you are right we may need to think of a better way to avoid detection than relying solely on my magic,” said Wavecrest. A quiet hung over the group as all took a moment to consider the situation. Twilight ran over her mental list of spells she knew. The problem was that most unicorn magic that’d be useful for stealth relied on thwarting surface senses, often bending light or outright suppressing all sound. While suppressing sound entirely  might sound good in theory, to a creature using natural sonar a spot of absolute lack of sound would stand out just as much as something making noise. They needed a way to blend into the environment, and she didn’t have any spells she could think of that’d help them do that.  After a few unproductive minutes of several suggestions being floated and subsequently shot down, including Pinkie Pie bringing up the notion of disguising themselves as door to door underwater salesponies, Starlight suggesting trying mind control on the eel, and Rainbow Dash bringing up the idea of causing a distraction via triggering an underwater avalanche, the group still hadn’t worked out much of a plan. “I still say mind control,” Starlight said, “I know you guys kinda don’t like it when I do that, but if we ambush the eel, take out the rider, and I can get the big beastie under control then we’ve got something we can ride right into the city and we’d just look like another patrol to those fish people.” “We have no way of guaranteeing a mind control spell designed to work on ponies will work on something like that monster,” Twilight said, “It’s too risky, Starlight.” “Well we sure aren’t disguising ourselves as sales ponies,” Starlight said, giving Pinkie Pie some side eye. Pinkie just smiled and shrugged helplessly. “Hey, even fish people need to buy vacuum cleaners, don’t they?” “No, Pinkie, they don’t. They’re fish.” “Now that’s just speciesist.” “We don’t even have any vacuum cleaners! You can’t even vacuum things underwater!” “Well with that kind of attitude I don’t even think you’ll be a good sales pony, Starlight.” Tempest rubbed her broken horn, eyes squeezed shut against an oncoming headache, “How is it you lot have become Equestria’s greatest heroes?” “Because we’re usually on land,” Rainbow Dash said, “But seriously, if we can’t think of any fancy plans, we can still just bolt for the city and deal with whatever comes our way. I mean, sure that critter was big, but we could probably take it.” “One, perhaps,” said Wavecrest, “Even two, if your prowess is as impressive as you boast, but what if the sahuagin have more patrolling the mountains? I wasn’t expecting a sentry this far out. It suggests there are more of the Deep Ones in the city than even I anticipated.” “We can’t turn back,” Twilight said. “I was not suggesting we do, but we must be even more cautious now.” Something sparked in Twilight’s mind at Wavecrest’s words, “Wait... maybe we don’t be cautious?” “Aw yeah, my kind of talk!” said Rainbow Dash, but Applejack waved a hoof at her. “I don’t think Twilight was talkin’ ‘bout chargin’ in headlong,” she said, looking at Twilight, “Ya got a’ plan cookin’ in there, sugarcube?” “Only that I think we’re looking at this the wrong way. Instead of trying not to be seen, how about we make a point of being seen. Trixie, illusions are your specialty, right?” “Of course, none craft finer figments than the Illustrious Illusionist Trixie!” “And you got a good look at that eel,” Twilight said, managing an encouraging grin, “Think you can replicate that appearance, precisely?” Trixie blinked, then shared Twilight’s smile with a vigorous nod. ---------- Some hours later, the group swam along the downslope of the Mountains of Teeth’s western edge. They swam in a loose line, carefully mimicking the undulating motions of the crafted illusion around them. Trixie’s horn was lit up by her magic as she kept up a detailed image of the same kind of gigantic eel placed around the group as they swam. To support this image Twilight and Starlight were provided additional spellcraft, Twilight using telekinesis to add a physical shell to the image that actually stirred the water appropriately, while Starlight added a low grade heat spell to make it appear properly on any viewer's heat vision. Even Wavecrest supplied a bit of her own magic to help disguise the group’s own swimming within the illusion, as to not break the image. Doing this was somewhat tiring, and slowed their progress a bit, but as a result they’d crossed over the edge of the mountains and were not disturbed by any further sahuagin encounters. Whether that was due to luck, or any sentries that did see them only seeing a natural denizen of the mountains was anypony’s guess, but Twilight was going to take any win they could get right now. Now that they were on the western side of the mountains, they were passing even more long abandoned villages. Here, Twilight could begin to see the traces of the long ago seapony war. Many of the rocky dwellings were crushed. Some even had their stone walls frozen in waxen rivers, as if melted away by great heat or acid. Scars dotted the mountain slopes from what must have been huge claws, or potent blasts of magic energy. In some areas Twilight could make out the faint glitter of dozens if not hundreds of broken weapons and armor from what must have been fallen soldiers, the bones sometimes showing up as bleached glints of gray in the darkness.  She wondered just how many lost their lives in that ancient battle, and pushed down a rising sense of sadness and unease at disturbing these long lost battlefield graves.  Flash in particular had become increasingly alert at the center of the group, and Twilight noticed the way his eyes would focus on the areas with the biggest concentration of broken armor, weaponry, and bones. “Is something wrong?” she whispered to him, and he chewed a lip for a moment before answering. “It’s nothing major. Just, seeing this got me thinking. Back home, old battlefields were ripe spots for Hollows to be born. The souls of soldiers dying painful deaths, it tended to leave a stain of negative spirit energy behind. If Hollows grew in numbers, they’d leave their own mark on places like this. Only...” “Only?” Twilight pressed, noticing his hesitance. “Only I’m not getting that sense here. I mean, granted my spiritual senses haven’t exactly been one hundred percent reliable since I got here due to all the magic, and the spells you guys are using might be screwing with me a bit more. But still, I figured for a place that clearly had as nasty a battle as we’re seeing here I’d sense more... I don’t know, more negative spirit vibes.” “Isn’t that a good thing, Flashie?” asked Pinkie Pie, “Not picking up bad vibes, I mean?” “I guess,” he said, “It’s just... odd, is all I’m saying.” Wavecrest looked back at him with an ominous shadow of scrutiny. She already knew something of his nature, as during her training of Twilight the subject of just what had occurred to bring a bunch of Equestrians out into the ocean had been inevitably broached. Twilight had tried to keep things simple and not delve too deep into just what Flash was as a Soul Reaper, but Wavecrest at least knew he was no normal pegasus and had some ability to sense ‘spirits’. “I would be wary of your senses in this place, especially as we get closer to Aqualania itself,” the seapony said to Flash, “If you truly can feel the essence of the spiritual, it may be you’ll feel before any of us just how grave the wounds are that were left behind by Charbydis’ madness. The very spirit of the ocean here is twisted. Even the unicorns should be able to feel it soon. I... already feel it.” Twilight wasn’t quite sure what Wavecrest meant, but a minute or so later she did start to get a strange chill in her, despite the water itself being surprisingly warm. Heat vents from underground lava tubes were responsible for the temperature, but the uneasy feeling in her was something else entirely. Soon even Starlight, Trixie, and Rarity were acting more agitated. Rarity rubbed her horn, “Is it me or does anypony else feel a scoach cold?” “I don’t know about cold, but I do feel like something’s off,” Starlight said, keeping her focus on her magic, “It’s like there’s a really low-grade pressure on my magic. Nothing interfering with my spells, but like I’m pushing up against something.” “Same here,” Trixie said, “It’s not too bothersome, but it’s unpleasant.” “Just what happened in Aqualania, Wavecrest?” Twilight asked, “What did Charbydis do, exactly?” “Exactly? None know for sure, for so few survived the final battle that tales differ widely with the telling,” Wavecrest replied, “All I can say with certainty is that she worked foul magic upon the ocean spirits, slew many, cursed her own body into the deformed shape it now holds, and left this land and the city a cursed place. Behold for yourselves... we approach Aqualania.” Up ahead the mountain slopes turned into a series of vast underwater canyons, occupying a large circular valley. The ground was covered in huge, wild forests of monstrously huge kelp and seaweed, punctuated by sharp bastions of gleaming coral. The mouth of the largest canyon rose in front of them, and rising from either side of the canyon’s dark entrance stood carved images. Easily matching if not outright dwarfing the size of the spires of Canterlot’s palace, what flanked the canyon were statues of seaponies. They stood in pairs, their titanic forms dotting the canyon expanse like giant sentinels that perhaps in the distant past greeted arrivals to the city... but now stood as grim, cold warnings against trespassers.  The statues were broken in places, their features scarred, but Twilight could make out the shape of feminine seaponies, wearing regal armor and often bearing tridents or large spears. “The Queens of Aqualania, spanning back through the ages,” Wavecrest whispered, “An unbroken line, until Princess Scylla and Charbyds’ rift shattered the royal bloodline.” “What, the Queen didn’t have any brothers or sisters to at least provide a royal heir through a cousins’ line?” asked Rarity. “There were, but most died in the war. Of course there are tales of a surviving heir, somewhere. Stories told to children, mostly, of the lost royal line one day returning. I personally have never put stock in the notion,” Wavecrest said, her hooves gripping her staff tighter, “No, if seaponies are to rise again, it will have to be with a new leader, not relying upon the return of long dead ghosts.” “Hold on,” said Tempest, “Are we really just going to swim through the front entrance? This canyon is the perfect place for an ambush, and if I were in charge of defending this place, dead city or not, I’d have plenty of sentries here watching this passage.” “She’s quite right,” Seaspray said, earning a raised eyebrow from Tempest, but he just shrugged at her, “What? You are. You’re still a horrible mare whom I find detestable, but that doesn’t mean I won’t admit when you have a point. Even disguised as we are, wouldn’t any suahagin on watch find it strange one of their eels is swimming through this canyon, riderless?” “Do not fret,” Wavecrest said, “I wasn’t planning on taking us through the canyon. I’ve been taking us this way because I want us to be seen, but as a wild eel, aiming to hunt in the kelp forest. Follow my lead.” Wavecrest directed them to steer the illusion that was covering them in a slow bank to the left, taking them to the side of the canyon and aiming for the vast, thick clumps of kelp that lay there.  “Uh, won’t we get tangled in all of that?” asked Trixie, “Our illusion is good, but it’s not an actual eel. We’ll get snagged up pretty bad in there, won’t we?” Wavecrest only smiled and brandished her staff, “Trust me, we shall be fine.” “Let’s do as she says,” Twilight said. Not that there was really a lot of other options, since Tempest was right. Even now as she looked down at the canyon walls, she saw small dots of heat moving about. It was hard to tell at a distance, but she had a feeling there were sahuagin patrolling the canyon’s entrance, and that they were looking at the “eel” swimming across their domain. She also caught sight of several larger heat sources, essentially darting lengths of misty gray, but large enough to make her concerned about more creatures under the sahuagin’s control.  “Aww dang it all,” Applejack said, “Them’s sharks I’m seein’ ain’t it?” “Uhh,” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes to peer towards the canyon, her sight perhaps somewhat better as a pegasus, used to picking out details at a distance while flying, “Yuuuup, those are sharks. Big ones. No riders, though. Maybe they’re like the fish dude’s version of guard dogs?” “I hate guard dogs,” said Trixie, and at Starlight’s look she added, “I used to have to sleep on the road all the time, and some farm ponies have guard dogs. Kept me up at night. Or chased me when I tried camping on land I didn’t know belonged to some farmer.” “It’s true,” Applejack said, “Winoa has run off a few vagabonds tryin’ ta use our land as a campground before. Every farmpony needs a good guard dog.” “Huh, my family doesn’t,” said Pinkie Pie, “But then again, maybe Boulder counts? Maud always says he’s a good ‘watch rock’.” “I’m... not even gonna ask,” said Starlight. By then they’d reached the edge of the canyon wall, where the tall, waving stalks of kelp formed a seemingly impenetrable barrier in front of them. However Wavecrest made small, subtle gestures with her staff, and Twilight felt a faint change in the water currents in front of them. The kelp didn’t so much part as it just appeared to naturally dance aside. They entered the concealing, thick forest of kelp without stirring it in any visibly noticeable way, as if they’d all but phased through it. After another minute or two of leading them deep into the encompassing walls of kelp, Wavecrest stopped, and so did the others behind her. “We can drop the illusion now,” she said, “The kelp will cover our approach, but we must take time to survey and plan.” “Is it safe?” asked Trixie. “Safe enough,” said Wavecrest, “The sahuagin shouldn’t be able to spot us in here.” While a risk, Twilight understood it’d be hard to keep this illusion going forever, and it did seem like the kelp forest was providing them plenty of cover. With a nod from her, Trixie and Starlight ceased maintaining the spell, and Twilight followed suit, causing the illusionary eel to dissipate around them. Wavecrest’s magic was keeping the thick stalks of kelp at bay so they could still move around easily enough, and she led them deeper into the forest, seemingly familiar with where she was going. “You haven’t been here before,” Tempest said, “How are you navigating?” “I studied my mentor’s journals of her own journey here extensively. She left fairly detailed maps, and this is the same approach she used, although there were far fewer sahuagin back then,” Wavecrest replied, “Just up ahead should be a small ridge that will provide us a good view of the city.” True to her word, it wasn’t more than another ten minutes of swimming before the forest of kelp briefly gave way to a harsh ridge of rocky coral that rose up to brush the very top of the kelp forest. Peeking over the ridge showed them the sight of a deeply curving cliff edge leading down into a vast, bowl-like valley. Twilight could see the canyon to her right, it’s other end opening up into the same valley. And it was here that they first saw Aqualania, or at least what it had become after so many hundreds of years of abandonment in the abyssal depths. It made Twilight think of a bloated corpse, yet the corpse of something that was once beautiful.  The city was built throughout the extent of the bowl shaped valley, buildings built atop each other like barnacles crawling up the body of a whale. Rows of bulbous shaped homes clustered in curving arcs that reminded Twilight of waves. Deeper in taller spires, like the spines of sea urchins, rose to great heights in the watery depths, some merging together into even taller monuments to the once glory of the seaponies. Amid the center of this sprawling metropolis was a gargantuan edifice of worked stone and coral, oblong and uneven, yet somehow organically natural, like a monumental seashell that still managed to glisten in the darkness.  Yet for all that she could imagine this city in it’s old splendor, even at this distance Twilight could see it’s destruction, it’s old decay, and the scars of the war that claimed it. Many buildings were broken open like open, burst sores. Spires lay broken like shattered teeth, and pointed tops lay speared into other buildings where they fell. The flowing, curving streets lay in decayed patches amid build ups of sediment, and in some places entire buildings were half buried in the wet sands of the ocean bottom. Kelp and seaweed grew unfettered from many places, filling the city with clumps of forest, or climbing up the sides of spires to cover their surface like hair.  And she could tell there were things moving down there. She only caught glimpses here and there, but there were flickers of motion in the darkened streets, and between the broken ruins of the buildings. Beyond that, she also noticed something strange. “Huh, what are those flickering lights?” said Rainbow Dash, her keen eyesight once more spotting things even more clearly than Twilight could.  Indeed, somewhere in the deeper parts of the city were periodic flashes of light, or at least what Twilight assumed had to be light, since instead of the grayscale of heat, the ‘light’ showed up as red to her eyes, the first light she’d seen since descending into the ocean.  “It must be Deep Ones sorcery,” said Wavecrest, “The color alone gives it away.” Twilight remembered the bubbling cauldron the sahuagin used during the battle at Mt. Aris, and the way they’d burned their own blood to summon their unnatural magic. She gulped, “What could they possibly be using their magic for in there?” “Ain’t sure we wanna find out, Twilight,” said Applejack, “We just gotta git in there, find Aria and Sonata, then that treasury, n’ swim outta this nuthouse faster than a’ rattlesnake in a’ mongoose convention.” “And our eel trick probably won’t cut it in the city itself,” said Seaspray, “We’ll need to handle this delicately.” “I hate to be the one to suggest this,” said Tempest Shadow as she eyed the city, “But a group our size is going to have a hard time not getting spotted, and since we already have two objectives we should consider splitting into two teams.” Seaspray grimaced, “Split up? That is a horrendous idea. Splitting our forces means each group having its combat strength cut in half in case we run into a fight.” “We don’t know how many enemies are in the city, so we don’t want to engage in a fight at all,” countered Tempest, “If we stay in a big group and get spotted, we’re largely hosed anyway. At least if we split into a ‘rescue sirens’ team and a ‘break into treasury’ team, the smaller groups can move around easier, and even if one group gets spotted the other might still be able to pull its mission off.” “What she’s saying makes sense,” said Twilight, holding up a hoof as Seaspray opened his beak to speak, “And I don’t want us to waste too much time debating, Admiral. I understand your concern, but getting in and out of this city without a fight should be our priority. With two groups we can pursue both goals and reduce our chances of getting caught, just as long as each team has a member who can use magic to help with stealth.” “Um,” Fluttershy raised a hoof, “But do we know where Aria and Sonata are being held? That’s a very big city. How will we find them?” “Leave that to me,” said Starlight, and at Twilight’s questioning look she smiled in minor embarrassment, “I know you don’t like me using mind affecting magic, but if we can get one of those fish people alone and ambush them, I can charm them into telling me anything we want to know, including where the sirens are being held. I can also erase the suahagins memory afterward so they won’t even know they spilled the beans.” Twilight frowned, but nodded. As much as the kind of magic Starlight knew was a moral gray zone by Equestrian standards, this circumstance more than justified it in her opinion. Furthermore, unlike the eel, which likely had a different enough mind for Starlight's normal spells to have trouble working, the sahuagin were intelligent enough to probably have sufficiently similar minds to ponies for mental spells to work. “Very well, you’ll head up the siren rescue team then, Starlight.” “I must be the one to go to the treasury,” said Wavecrest, “Only I have my mentor’s knowledge of where it should be hidden in the palace, and how it can be opened.” “Right, and I want to go take a look at that treasury myself,” said Twilight, thinking as she tapped her chin with a hoof, “Hmm, the rest of us should be split evenly to make sure each team has a good mix. Trixie, Rainbow Dash, Tempest, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, you five will go with Starlight’s ‘Siren Rescue Team’. Admiral Seaspray, Flash Sentry, Rarity, Applejack, you’ll come with me and Wavecrest as the ‘Treasury Acquisition Team’. Any objections?” Tempest had a shrewd look on her face as she looked around at the group, “Hmm, not bad, Princess. Each team has a decent combination of magic casters, physical fighters, and... whatever it is the others supposedly bring to the table.” “Hey! Why were you side-eyeing me when you said that?” asked Pinkie Pie, and Tempest just stared back at her flatly. “No reason.” Twilight just shook her head, hoping that Pinkie Pie would be able to handle the ‘stealth’ aspect of the mission. “If we’re all agreed then there’s no more to say. Aqualania awaits, along with whatever we’re about to find there.”