"Queen Novo!" Princess Celestia exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Celie!" Novo replied back. "I've missed you so much! Welcome back to Mount Aris!"
The two royals gave each other a big hug. Celestia and Novo have known each other ever since they were fillies, and their bond grew stronger witch every time they met. It wasn't until Mount Aris fell that they abruptly broke contact. Now that the Storm King is out of the picture, they wanted to properly catch up prior to their reunion at Equestria's Friendship Festival. The Mane 6 stepped out of the cab as well, and Skystar was particularly happy to see Pinkie Pie.
"PINKIE PIE!!!" The yellow hippogriff Princess squeaked as she gave the pink pony a big hug. "I'm so glad you made it!"
"Hahahahaha! Not to tight, Skystar!" Pinkie laughed. "I might just pop!"
"I haven't seen you in so long! I can't wait to show you my original home!"
"It is so nice to have us be the guests of honor at your Friendship Festival, Queen Novo." Twilight Sparkle said.
"Yeah, even if we didn't meet each other on the best terms last time." Spike added.
"You both are very welcome." Novo replied. "I wanted to do something special for your all's help in allowing us to reclaim our old home, and for your generosity in strengthening the bond between the ponies and the hippogriffs."
"Come on, you all will love the festival!" Skystar chirped. Soon everyone was heading to the festival, but Novo couldn't help but hear some small talk between Twilight's friends.
"You think we can still trust her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "After all, she almost tried to drown us."
"I think what Queen Novo is doing is simply genrous." Rarity replied. "She only wants to make it up to us. Plus she is one of Princess Celestia's closest friends."
"Maybe so," Applejack added, "but you do have to admit, she did act a little rude and hostile towards us when we met. And she did kick us out."
"Well, Twilight did try to take her Pearl." Fluttershy said. "So she did have some justification, and she almost did help us."
"Queen Novo is clearly doing this out of the kindness of her heart!" Spike chipped in. "Though I don't get why I was turned into a puffer when we first went to Seaquestria..."
While Novo knew they did have a right to be weary, she can't help but feel some guilt over the whole thing. She wanted to do everything to leave a good impression, but she knew it would take time. After all, they were right. They did not meet on the best terms originally.
Queen Novo was not happy to see outsiders in Seaquestria. Despite her warnings to Skystar, her daughter managed to bring 6 ponies and a dragon to the kingdom without her knowledge. Mount Aris was destroyed by outsiders, and she had a right to be weary of these visitors. Novo didn't want to risk the safety of her subjects in case the Storm King was watching, and his forces were in hot pursuit of these individuals. She wanted them out, but decided to at least give them a little hospitality, provided that they leave the Pearl alone. Novo used the Pearl to turn the visitors into SeaPonies, but before she could get properly acquainted with these strangers, her seaweed wrap session was about to begin, and she quickly swam off to attend it.
"Ah, your majesty!" Novo's personal beauty specialist said. "Will it be the usual this time?
Better make it a double dose, honey." Novo replied. "Seaweed wrap and massage. Momma needs to decompress."
"As you wish." The specialist said. Novo laid down and had seaweed placed onto her face, and was given a nice massage. "Is everything okay, your majesty?" the specialist asked. "You sound a little on edge."
"Well, you saw those surface-dwellers come uninvited... oooooh, yeah, that's the spot." The Queen answered, while getting her massage. "I'm sure they mean well, but you never know. They could be spies for the Storm King or something. That purple one looks very suspicious..."
"The puffy one?" The specialist laughed. "Hah, he looks adorable in that form! I mean, you've heard about dragons, haven't you?"
"No, not that one." Novo said. "The alicorn. She may look like Celestia, but she's no Celestia. She's eyeing the Pearl as of it's some sort of world-saving relic. All it does is allow one to become a SeaPony, or a puffer fish in the case of that dragon. If the Storm King got ahold of it, let alone destroys it..."
"She did look a little desperate. Maybe you should have a talk with her a bit. The Princess seems to trust them. Didn't they mention they were from Equestria?"
"Equestria..." Novo lamented. "I haven't heard that name in a long time. But I still have my suspicions. Skystar is still young, and a little naïve. I want her to make friends, dear Neptune knows she needs some real ones, but I don't want her to fall in with a bad crowd. I was always there for her, especially after Waverider died."
"My Queen, you need to let her out of the nest a little." The specialist said. "You can't keep holding on to her forever. Someday, she'll be Queen. I think you should let her choose her own path."
Novo felt a little uncomfortable with that, but at the same time she knew she couldn't shelter Skystar for very long. She worried about her all the time. She had to raise her pretty much by herself following Waverider's death, but there was only so much she could do. Finally, the seaweed wrap session was over.
"How do you feel now, your majesty?" The specialist asked.
"Much, much better." Novo said, twirling about. "Lovely what a nice seaweed wrap will do for your complexion, and your mental heath. You are a master of your craft."
The specialist blushed. Suddenly, Jamaal, Novo's octopus servant, came in to let Novo know something.
"What is it?" She asked. Jamaal took Novo outside, and she saw that Skystar and the ponies singing and having fun. The other SeaPonies joined in too. Novo was weary, but saw how happy her daughter was. Not only that, but her subjects were happy as well, the happiest they have ever been. Perhaps Novo was wrong about these outsiders. Perhaps they wanted to be friends after all. Novo soon joined them, her suspicions were completely moot. She was having a good time. There is but a bright spark of hope that these ponies could help them take back Mount Aris, and in turn Novo would help them out on their plight.
At last they arrived at the festival. The ponies were in awe at the whole setup. Novo gave them a tour of the festival, and the Mane 6 went to explore all of what they had. Applejack went to the concession stands and kiosks to see what kind of food they had, Rarity looked at all the booths with flashy trinkets, Fluttershy went to look at the tropical birds and various critters on the beach, Rainbow Dash looked at the thrill rides, Pinkie was being shown all the fun areas by Skystar, and Twilight and Spike were looking at any historical landmarks and booths that had books. Spike was also hoping that there would be some unique bismuth gems that are local to Mount Aris.
"I must say, I am very impressed with how your hippogriffs pulled off the festival." Celestia said.
"Thanks, Celie." Novo replied. "We hippogriffs know how to put on a show."
"That you do." Celestia chuckled. "You were always one to try and outdo yourself."
"Yeah, just wait till next year." Novo said, with a bit of sass. "I plan to go even bigger and better than what I have-"
"RAAAAWR! I'm the Storm King! Fear me!"
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash interrupted the conversation wearing a makeshift Storm King mask to prank Novo. Novo didn't realize this and she started to panic. Bad memories and trauma were starting to flow in.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHGH!!!" She screamed. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"
"RAAAWR! I'm the Storm King! I came back to take Mount Aris again!" Rainbow Dash continued. She was circling around Novo, trying to scare her.
The commotion must've been pretty loud, as many of the hippogriffs began to take notice. Twilight and her friends soon saw what Dash was doing, and they noticed Novo in distress.
"Stop! Stay away from me, you monster!" Novo shouted. "Please! Leave me alone!"
"Rainbow Dash, stop this now!" Celestia commanded. "You have no idea what you're doing."
Rainbow Dash didn't listen. She was having too much fun. "RAAAAWR! I am the Storm King! I've come to steal your Pearl!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm just having a little fun! It's not like I'm the actual Storm King!" Dash continued to scare Novo. "RAAAAAWR!"
"Go away! Stay away from me! STAY AWAY!!!"
Without warning, Novo reared up and slashed at Rainbow with her talons, knocking her off her feet. She wasn't severely hurt, but the mask was completely destroyed. Everypony and everygriff was looking directly at Novo, in complete shock at what they witnessed.
"Oh, don't worry Queen Novo," Pinkie Pie said with her cheery confidence, "it was just Rainbow Dash this whole time! No Storm King is going to crash this party."
"Novo?" Celestia asked. "Novo, are you okay?"
"Mom?" Skystar worryingly said. They could tell Novo was really upset.
Novo looked at everyone and saw how shocked they were. She too was overtaken by the ordeal. "I-I'm sorry..." she softly said, as she took off and headed towards the center of the mountain, where Waverider's statue was. She was extremely upset. Everything was going well until her emotions got the better of her. As Novo left, the ponies and hippogriffs angerly glared at Rainbow Dash.
"What?" She asked.