Deep Surf looked down at the crowd slowly leaving the beach. And was that a ship at the harbor? The pegasus banked down low and came in for a landing along the pier to get a better look. It had a royal crest emblazoned on the front. Celestia's sun? Deep Surf rubbed at his chin thoughtfully for a moment before turning away. Apparently he'd missed something during his visit to the sagely Mimosa Palm. Perhaps the visit had been ill-timed.
He turned to resume his view of the beach. As the pegasus scanned the treeline, he caught a flash of reflective eyes in the bushes, just seconds before it disappeared. Someone had tried to hide themselves, but it was too late - Deep Surf knew those eyes well: Lusus, a well-known predator of ponies. The surfer pony had run into the big bully on several occasions, and none of those situations had been cases of mere bullying - all of them had been Lusus trying to kill somepony.
His train of thought was broken when he heard the rustling of wings behind him. He turned a casual eye to be pleasantly surprised. His occasional pegasus marefriend, Breezy Plume, stood there. The mare was a beautiful tan, almost brown color. Her hair and tail were a striking blonde, long and sultry, the color complimenting her sky blue eyes. The mare was never seen without beautiful pink plumeria blossoms in her hair.
Deep Surf turned to face Breezy Plume. The mare stood waiting for him with a winning smile, but the thoughtful look in his eyes betrayed the calm he attempted to portray. "Uh oh," she began with a sigh. He often took on this look when something was bothering him. There was simply no avoiding getting caught with Breezy. "What is it now, stud?"
Deep Surf made a soft, barely audible thoughtful whine, a hoof raised to clasp his chin, his eyes to the boardwalk at his hooves. Finally, he raised his eyes to the mare, a steely stare in his eyes. "Tonight. It happens tonight. That's why you've journeyed this far off from your wandering cycle, isn't it?"
Breezy's eyes widened slightly, surprised that he would bring that up in broad daylight, in front of everypony. She frowned and glanced around the pier to make sure no one else was listening, then leaned forward a bit to close the distance between them. "Well...yes. The coronation of the new princess is tonight...the wandering cycle isn't due back to this island for many days. Surf...what is going on?"
"A most heinous suspicion, Breezy," he told her, his face darkening as he lowered his head in an extremely rare show of seriousness. "Mine eyes have seen Lusus on the island. There will be no rest for the wicked this night, and it intends to spread it's sickness to the depths."
Breezy Plume stared at Deep Surf for a moment before breaking out into a derisive grin. "Lusus? Really? He's a bully and a jerk, perhaps, but to interfere with the coronation...are you sure you haven't been smoking too much? Are you getting enough oxygen?"
The stallion turned stoic as he raised his head to display his full height, a completely unamused air about him. "Mock me if you will, Breeze, but check," he said, reverting to an unsusually straight line of talk. "Check around down there and see if anything is unusual. Look, just once." Deep Surf turned away from her, despite the fact that they had plans to walk together until the coronation later that evening and took off into the air, leaving Breezy Plume to pout.
"Of all the..." she muttered irritatedly. She looked around again. There didn't seem to be anyone around, the crowd having left the beach to follow the newcomers. Very well, she thought. It couldn't hurt to see what's happening below. I'm due a little face time with the royal family, anyway. Damn politics.
Breezy Plume, now certain that she wasn't being watched, stepped over to the end of the dock and slid into the water, then dipped below the surface. She swam deeper and deeper down into the bright blue water. A light began to emerge from her body, and it began to elongate. Her rear legs began to pull together, and she grew fins on her hips. Her wings thinned out and grew soft veil-like appendages that looked like seaweed. Thin, delicate tendrils extended from her mane, which were used to capture the slightest vibrations in the water. Sirens needed them to keep track of their prey. She'd lost the flowers in her hair - instead one had remained, now affixed to her tail. In reality it was a small anemone that had grown attached to her.
Deeper and deeper the siren swam. Her eyes were already adjusting to the darker water, though it being the middle of the day, the sunlight actually reached quite far down. Creatures of the deep swam out of her way as she approached - tiny fish, bigger fish, sharks - none wanted to be in her path. The sirens were well known for having voracious appetites, and could lure creatures much bigger than themselves to death.
They weren't wanton killers, though. They might well be, if not for the treaty they'd signed with the masters of the deep. The sirens were allowed their fill, but only as long as they remained in their own territory. Of course, the sirens, being clever creatures, put a spell on their home years and years ago, even before the Sun Ferry Islands had been named - their home traveled. It was a wide outcropping of rocks that could hold twenty or more sirens at once. Their tiny island home now floated, traveling a specific circle around the ocean that repeated itself in the course of a month.
The cycle brought the siren home close to Sunanwaves - five miles off shore. It was during this cycle that Breezy Plume, or Leucothia as she was known in the under world, met Deep Surf. He'd been lost at sea one dark night after a powerful storm , and had wandered into siren territory. He'd found himself a small island to find shelter on, one that Leucothia had also been resting on. It was an unlucky night for the pegasus.
Or was it? When the siren found Deep Surf nearly passed out on the sand, she considered devouring him then and there. And yet, she was curious. The young stallion had just made it through a vicious storm and survived, all alone and with nothing but a long board. He seemed to possess a very strong will, and it made her more curious to see how long he could resist the siren's call. Would he even be fearful of her aquatic form? So she waited until he awoke, and sat there observing him in her fully unhidden glory.
The young pegasus had sat up slowly, his eyes on the siren, He'd known instantly what she was and what she intended to do. He'd simply sat there and smiled at her, an adoring look. She hadn't even used her siren charms on him, and he was already staring at her the way the idiot ponies always did when she charmed them. They'd always screamed in terror when they'd seen her, or tried to swim away. This one..."Why?" She'd asked. "Why do you sit there staring at me like that? Don't you know what I am?"
The pegasus had simply nodded and positioned himself into a relaxed pose and said, "I have survived the onslaught of the mother river; to be gifted with such a beautiful scene at the moment of my death, what reason do I have to fear?"
The words had struck deeply into the heart of the siren, and though she be loathe to admit it, she had fallen in love with his words. They were poetic and insightful, and she wanted to hear more. The two struck up a conversation that lasted for hours. It seemed like days had passed before they came to the conclusion that Deep Surf would have to live - he was far from done entertaining his lady siren. There were far too many tales to be told, and in too many different ways to tell them, and hearing the pegasus speak gave the siren chills.
Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Leucothia had Deep Surf sit on his long board in the water. She pulled him the now ten miles back to Sunanwaves, and later cast a spell on herself to adopt a land form, that of a beautiful pegasus. But because of the siren's returning the pegasus to land, her home was a long way off, and finding it's exact location while it was this far off would've been a long task. So instead, the siren took up temporary residence on Sunanwaves and hid among the populace as the pegasus who would become known as Breezy Plume.
The two spent the next month together. Deep Surf showed the siren the whole island, who had never seen the depths of the woods, though she met Mimosa Palm on more than one occasion. The dryad had opened his biodome for all, after all. Leucothia had traveled inside to the center of his welcoming home several times, but had never stepped hoof outside of the dome. That month had given her something she never thought she could possibly have - a romance. She and Deep Surf grew enamored with each other, and before the end of the month, had begun a relationship.
Of course, she was not allowed to stay on the island - it was outside of the rules written and agreed upon by the sirens. It was found that no rules were violated this time, because she was in fact helping a citizen of the islands return home, trapping her there for the month. She would no longer be permitted to stay that long again, though, and patrols were soon put into effect around the islands to ensure it would not happen again. The patrol - that's who Leucothia was on her way to see now. If anyone knew about Lusus and any reason he might interfere tonight, they would know.
The waters had begun to darken even more, more so to the point that it was becoming difficult to see. Leucothia had entered the dark belt - a thick blanket of black current that served to separate the surface world from the under water regions. The surface dwellers weren't meant to know of this place, after all, and only a few even knew that a world existed at all under the black murky waters of the dark belt.
The siren was nearly halfway through the blackness when she nearly collided with another body, a seapony. "Whoa!" the seapony cried. The two swam around each other warily, both taking a moment to look each other over in the darkness. "...Leucothia? Why are you coming down this far, at this time? The coronation isn't for hours..."
Leucothia regarded the seapony for a moment. She was familiar, but her name escaped her for the moment. Regardless, she was a beautiful creature. She greatly resembled a lionfish. That was it! "Ah, Volita. Not that it's any of your business-"
"It is my business," Volita interrupted. "I'm a close friend of Pearl De-I mean, the princess. I take it upon myself to be aware of the comings and goings around this area, and-"
"'This area'?" the siren interrupted this time, a mischievous smile crossing her face. She swam around the seapony carefully - one wrong touch could poison her. "Your 'area' is down below," she said, indicating below the dark belt with a hoof. "The black belt is no-pony's sea. What are you doing this far up? Sneaking around behind the royal guards' backs?"
"I..." Volita paused, a look of nervous apprehension spreading across her face. "I-I'm just making sure to cover more water...I'm looking out for my friend!" she shouted, adopting a more aggressive stance towards the siren. The lionfish was a dangerous species to mess with, and she knew that Leucothia kept this in mind. The siren backed away slowly, as she thought she would. "This will be the most important night for Pearl Depth for years and years to come, and she deserves to have someone she can rely on to have her back!"
"And what can you do?" the siren asked in a cruel voice, her mouth twisted in a sadistic grin. Her eyes lit up the dark water around them, causing Volita to recoil in terror. The damage was done, though. She'd been caught in the siren's hypnotic gaze. Only the strongest of wills could even function under it's power. The seapony felt her lungs seize up, as well as her body. She simply froze in the water. "You're a powerless little fish in this great big ocean. You couldn't lift one little fin to help the princess in her dire hour, let alone stand up to..."
The siren drifted off in thought. She was wasting time here; she hadn't meant to stop here and torment Volita, she had more important things to do. She immediately released her captive, who immediately coughed and gasped for breath. Being stuck in a full-on siren hypnosis was not a fun experience. "Wha...what are you...?" she asked as the siren began to swim down towards the cities below.
"Nevermind that. Why don't you go play somewhere for a while and stay out of my way?" the siren called derisively. She tried to play if off as casually as she could, but there was now a definite purpose in her speed and movements - something had grabbed her attention.
"But what...?" Volita trailed off as the siren plunged downward in a display of surprising speed for a creature of her build. The seapony frowned with concern and followed the siren down into the abyss. By the time she'd cleared the dark belt, the siren was out of sight.
The cities below, however, were luminous. Light poured down on them from above, and from her position Volita was blinded. She swam down further to avoid the sunlight bearing down on her. The valleys of the ocean floor were lit with light from the sun itself - magically enchanted to bear down on them from the ceiling that was the dark belt, set up hundreds of years ago by the masters of the sea, ancient wizards. Or gods, depending on who was telling this tale.
The seapony frowned in concentration as she looked down at the massive cities and towns below, hoping to locate the image of the siren before all hope was lost of finding her again. Her gaze swept over the valley of the sea bed, eventually coming to rest on the gigantic spire at the end of the valley, where the royal family was currently occupying until their kingdom could finally be established. With a heavy, resigned sigh, Volita gave up. The sea was simply too vast to locate the siren, and Leucothia was simply too fast. She swam on down below, her mind occupied with thoughts of the sirent's last words. 'Stand up to...' Stand up to who?
After a moment's pause, Leucothia emerged from the dark belt. She'd made her escape by swimming back into the murky current and hiding. The siren smirked at the fact that her simple tactic had worked, then swam down to the streets below and made her way through the shadows of the bustling city below. Sirens weren't warmly welcomed on the bottom of the ocean, so keeping a low profile was mandatory. She could've just snuck along through the dark belt, but she wanted to have some fun, and hiding along the bottom was more of a challenge.
The city sprawled out in every direction. Most of the buildings were made from coral stone, ancient fossilized material that had been dug up from the under the ocean floor. The structures were usually never tall, and were single-level. Houses were small but efficient, and usually consisted of five individuals or less. The population was controlled, both by careful monitoring, and by popular consent. The denizens of the ocean knew that keeping their numbers consistent was a smarter idea than breeding beyond control.
The ponies of the ocean were a vast variety - it was difficult to keep track of the different species that had evolved over hundreds of years. There was a 1000 percent increase of variety on the ocean floor then there was on the surface. As many different variety of aquatic life one could think of, there was a seapony version of it somewhere in the ocean: sea slugs, hermit crabs, jelly fish and sharks - they all existed and lived together in the vast oceans. This one city was but one of thousands that laid at the bottom of the ocean around the world.
It wasn't long before Leucothia spotted the royal family guardian, Bartholomew. He actually wasn't that hard to spot - he was half as tall as the spire itself and a nearly pure black color, nearly impossibly to miss during daylight hours. The behemoth was up and about, trailing slow, lazy circles around the giant spiral tower at the end of the valley, keeping watch on this day of days. The siren brought a thoughtful hoof to her chin - she really hadn't planned this out. The sirens weren't supposed to be wandering the town, they were supposed to announce their arrival and have a monitored gathering. Swimming about the city unchecked had not been a good idea.
Leucothia wasn't much farther away from the tower, just another mile as she slipped along behind some coral houses when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned cautiously and found herself in the company of Choral Abyss, one of the royal family's most trusted soldiers, along with a small company under her command. Choral Abyss herself was quite a beauty. Her body was mostly white, with splotches of orange outlined with black. Her orange mane, bright at the head and nearly white at the tips, started out bushy and turned into a long, short dorsal fun all the way down to the legless portion of her lower body, which simply ended in a tail.
Choral's soldiers varied in species, but they were all what were called Current Racers - creatures whose bodies ended not in legs, but thick, muscular tails. These were the fastest swimmers in the oceans, and were often employed as body guards and soldiers. Choral Abyss, however, was a special soldier: she was also horned. She had powerful magic that she used for combat, and for singing - her favorite hobby to practice whenever she had free time.
The siren suddenly found a bident pressed against her chest and thrust against the building she'd been hiding behind, and a spell to cover her eyes with a dark garment. "Wh-hey! What is this meaning of this?!" she screamed. The siren fought against her bonds, but both were futile, held in place by stronger magic than her.
"Siren Leucothia, you are breaking the rules set forth by our respective peoples," the siren heard Choral Abyss telling her. "You are trespassing and have hereby forfeited your rights to be heard or seen. The kingdom of Undercari will tolerate no spies and no terrorists. No predators without the explicit permission of the King or Queen to traverse in this area. Leucothia, you are hereby under arrest for treason against the royal family and their subjects -"
"Funny...too funny!" Leucothia interrupted. She'd long since ceased struggling, and had allowed one of the other soldiers to bind her front hooves together. The bident was removed from around her, the soldiers now awaiting orders from their superior. "You keep talking like this is an established kingdom...it's not. It's still the Valley of Undercari, and the king and queen are not actually king and queen...they're in waiting."
"Not after tonight. It's too close to the official proceedings to not accept this as truth. Did you come here with some foul intentions to make sure it doesn't happen? Just what I'd expect from a back-stabbing siren!" Choral shot back, tugging Leucothia closer to shove her down on the sea floor.
Leucothia took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She was bound, she could not use her hypnosis, and she was being thrown around on the sea floor like a rag doll. Technically she didn't have to warn anyone about Lusus. This wouldn't affect her at all if it turned out that he was planning something...would it? Then again, Deep Surf would let her have it for not doing anything, and she would almost always do anything for him if he'd just ask, and she'd mocked him for wanting her to do this, so..."It's not me," she finally muttered with an air of resignation.
"Say again?" Choral Abyss said. She glanced at her soldiers, signaling two of them to come forward and hold the siren down. She leaned down to Leucothia once this was done and tapped her cheek to let her know of her proximity. "Speak up, siren, you don't have a lot of time before we put you away until after the coronation, and that's if our new queen is feeling generous."
"It's Lusus, all right?" the siren told her with an angry hiss. Deep Surf was going to owe her for this humiliation. "I received a tip from a very credible source that Lusus may be planning something..."villainous" tonight."
The guards glanced at each other, then to their commander, who remained suspicious. Still...Lusus. That whale of a bully had been in everyone's manes for years. Always a trouble maker, but especially these last five years. He'd really been stepping up his game, actually attacking the royal family on more than one occasion. The fact that a single seapony could cause so much mayhem and mischief...that, and his assistant, Seaweed Cyanide. What could those two possibly be planning?
"Well..." Choral mused to herself after a moment's deliberation. "It sounds plausible...I wouldn't put it past him, but you had no right to sneak into the city and try to sneak straight into the palace, if that's indeed where you headed. You should've made an appointment with the-"
"Made an appointment? What would be the point of that, you idiot?! Appointments take time! I just got this news twenty minutes ago, and you expect me to wait up to a week to get that approved?! Just how little do you care for your princess' safety?!" Leucothia yelled harshly. Even she would've figured the soldiers to take this more seriously.
Choral Abyss visibly flinched at the tone, at the accusation. She glowered at the siren for a moment, then reached down and eased her up to balance on her tail. Leucothia and the soldiers all looked confused at this action. "Captain?" one of them inquired.
"We'll be escorting Leucothia to the royal family," she responded as she slowly removed the bonds from the siren, who turned to the captain expectantly. "...Your blinder will remain. I'm sure you understand."
Leucothia scoffed in disgust and turned from Choral, but she made no protest. It was indeed understandable. "Fine, I guess. Let's just get this over with." She pushed herself upwards into the water slowly, loathe to move too fast. She met no resistance, so she continued to swim upward. After a moment, she felt a gentle magical pull urging her vertically, so she followed it slowly towards the spire, no more words spoken between her and her escorts.