//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Shoals // Story: Stormriders: Dead Seas // by PonyMarine //------------------------------// TMS Roosenblood - Flag Briefing Room Just off the Coral Shoals 1600 “Yes, Admiral, I understand your concerns, but I will not let anypony get in the way of my meeting with the Merarian leadership. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” Princess Luna’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. Twilight had never seen her quite this pissed off before and was a little intimidated by her friend. While Luna was smaller and more slender in build then her older sister, she still commanded an imposing presence when she wanted to. Almost like... Twilight shook the thoughts of the Nightmare from her mind, the demon that had dominated her friend for over a millennium had no place in her thoughts about Luna now. Her friend and sovereign did need her help right now. The Admiral was a kind and fatherly stallion when he wasn’t fighting his fleet but like most such stallions he had an issue with what he saw as young mares or fillies going into an unpredictable shit storm unprotected. Twilight knew exactly how she could help Luna here. “Admiral, Princess...” Both ponies rounded on the unexpected source of input to the conversation though neither appeared angry Twilight resisted the urge to shrink back a little. The old habits of a wall flower and an egghead died hard. “If I might offer my analysis to the situation. The Merarian delegation that met us when we put down anchor just off the shoals a few days ago has remained peaceful and have been under a flag of truce the whole time. We’ve spoke to several of them now, and all they’ve conveyed in relation to both TMS Courser incident and the attack on the battle group last week has been horror. We have not been attacked, have not detected any unusual underwater traffic. In fact according to Commander Manecuso’s reports, it sounds like the seapony tribes have very little heavy industry at all, certainly not enough to create the strange attack craft that engaged us previously. The Admiral snorted loudly, shaking his head at the accurate analysis Twilight’d made. “And I suppose you’ve read a few books on the subject of tactics and strategy, Ms. Sparkle?” “As a matter of fact, I have. I took an interest to it as a filly when Princess Celestia took me to a military parade for Remembrance Day. I’ve studied Hoofwitz, Sun and Moon Tzu, The Book of Five Horse shoes and several other seminal military works including Lord Admiral Hornatio Nellie’s extensive work on naval strategy that was mostly completed before his death aboard the HMS Victory in...” The Admiral cut her off with a wave of his hoof and a shake of his head. It wasn’t every day he was surprised by a mare he’d held as a filly, but today was one of them. Apparently Celestia’s faithful student had received an even more complete education than most of the nobility had been lead to believe. “Alright, Ms. Sparkle, your credentials are established. What do you believe is going on in this situation, and what do you suggest we do to proceed?” Luna leaned in, the anger already dissipating, pleased that her friend could not only defuse the argument but may actually have a positive answer to the situation at hoof. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle, we’re eager to hear what you think and any solutions you might have.” Luna’s eyes were not helping Twilight focus at all, but she’d started this pony show. She had to finish it now. “Well... ahh... I don’t think the Mer attacked the battle group, or the Courser for that matter. From every thing we’ve been able to detect, the Mer just don’t have the technology, magic, or otherwise to pull off a high end technological attack like that, and if they did want to destroy us, why the peaceful and concerned face now? Sure, we’re outside the walls of their capital but wouldn’t they have been continually attacking us from the initial point forward? Trying to whittle us down at least a little?” The Admiral looked thoughtful, and Luna looked pleased with the analysis. The younger of the two princesses knew exactly why her older sister had sent Twilight Sparkle with her, and the sharp mind and keen intellect she was displaying now was all part of it. “I think there’s a third force at play in Equestria’s oceans and meeting with the Mer is our best bet at getting actual intelligence on what’s going on around here. We go in ,but instead of just Luna, myself and the Foreign Office staff, we go in with the Force Recon Marines, and we keep the fleet on general alert. That will allow us to keep a strong stance with out being two aggressive, or not showing ourselves at all. I’m sure an Equestrian town wouldn’t be very calm if a fleet took up residence near by and just sat there not saying a word, I doubt the Mer like it either.” The Admiral sighed, with an argument like that and the fire in both mare’s eyes he knew that he’d lost this battle. The mariner bowed his head in mock defeat to the small purple unicorn in front of him. “Well, I can’t argue with passion and intelligence like yours, Ms. Sparkle, and as I sense Her Highness agrees with you I know I’d be arguing in vain. I’ll order the long boat prepared to take you ashore.” The Main Shoal 1823 Background Music As soon as the Princess, Twilight and the Marines had entered the long boat, a Mer popped her head out of the water, smiling friendlily and speaking in the pleasant and lyrical tone that characterized their speech. Her Equestrian was slow and halting, almost as if she was having a hard time with it’s guttural tones and hard stops. She indicated that at the center of the great island, the largest of the shoals, there was a cavern that would lead them down to the caverns of the Mer. Twilight was extremely excited about this and had to be restrained from practically interrogating the young Mer messenger for more information about their city and life as an aquatic mammal. Restrained she was, however, and the long boat headed for shore at a fast clip. Reckless and her Marines moved out first, treating the walk in land as a proper infantry patrol, the party spaced out at intervals, security on all sides and four scout-snipers who had been attached to her team handling overwatch details, moving like shadows along the shoal’s rocky crags. Eventually, they came to the entrance of the cavern. The air inside the mouth of the cave was damp and cool, aslight chill running up the collective spines of the group. They emerged from the initial dark passage into a softly lit chamber with a large stairwell spiraling downwards.The blue light gave everything the same cool feeling, and Twilight’s eyes were glued to the wall and the pictographs and murals that decorated the entire space. Luna nudged her staring friend playfully and whispered, “We can look all you want on the way back, okay?” Twilight blushed and ducked her head. She hated getting caught staring at something she found fascinating or “going full egghead” as Rainbow Dash liked to call it. Twilight shook herself a little and steeled herself for the descent, Gunnery Sergeant Reckless in the lead, rifle at the ready as the tough looking mare began to sweep down the dark stairs at a slow and steady pace. They descended for what seemed like hours, slowly progressing down the tight space, the damp air cooling them, the stone walls dripping with condensation. Gunny Reckless halted the group with a hoof motion. There was a light up ahead, and she slowly moved around the corner, leading with her weapon. “Oh.... stars and stones...” Everypony followed her quickly and the group’s collective jaw dropped. It was an encased crystal staircase completely surrounded by water, lit by the same blue light that had lit the chamber where they’d begun their descent, and out in the water the lights of the city of the Meraria shone brightly in the blackness of the night. Gunny was the first to speak. “Holy Lunar Light.... it’s massive!” Luna herself was slightly taken aback by the massive sights. “We are... impressed certainly. This is a magnificent city.” Twilight Sparkle, of course, was not taken in by the sight as much as the others but analyzing everything she saw before her. “Princess, what do you think the massive network of pipes are for?” Luna blinked, she hadn’t even noticed the pipes that appeared to run from the surface to every building in the city in at least one spot. “Hmmm, well we know the Mer are amphibious mammals, so they still need oxygen to breath, it would stand to reason that their underwater habitat is oxygenated, they possibly even maintain rooms with a fully oxygenated atmosphere. I believe we shall have to investigate further my dear Twilight.” “Indeed Princess this trip should be... fascinating.” The Marines pretended to not even notice the exchange, mentally rolling their eyes at the egghead antics of their sovereign and her aide. Their minds were focused on what was to them the much more vital issues of keeping the Princess safe, themselves alive and the fact that they were now operating in an environment that was extremely lethal to them with out special equipment. Shortly, the Princess and Twilight concluded their meeting of the minds, and the descent began again. The occasional curious fish or Mer joined them as they descended the crystal stairs darting and spiraling around them, examining these new creatures among them from all angles. As the continued further down they began to come to the roof of a regal looking building. It’s soft rounded shapes making it look like the stone had grown in the pattern of the regal yet alien long building. A massive archway marking the transition from the stairs made itself evident. The stonework was covered in pictographs in a style similar to the ones in the chamber on the island above. As the descent continued, a soft singing could be heard, and with a nod from Gunny Reckless, the Marines all stuffed specially prepare earplugs in. While the Foreign Office and ONI agreed that Seapony singing was not the hypnotic spell that legends made it out to be, the Gunnery Sergeant was not taking chances with the necks of her squad and their Princess. Luna simply smiled at the precaution, she knew better, or she used to from long ago, hopefully things hadn’t changed that much. At another signal from Gunny Reckless the Marines silently formed into two columns flanking the Princess, with Gunny marching with them from the left side of the formation. “Squad! Attention! Port arms! Forward march! The dozen recon Marines stepped off like they were on the parade deck and not hundred of feet below the waves in potentially hostile territory. They might be marching to their deaths, but they were going to be damned if they didn’t show the sea ponies how to make an entrance. Their horseshoes slammed the deck in perfect unison creating a solid cadence as they marched toward the archway. As they passed through the arch, the song of the sea ponies changed, matching the rhythm the Marines had provided, unmistakably a sign of welcome to Twilight Sparkle’s mind. The room they found themselves in was a massive dome, a good half of it a massive pool that reached progressively deeper revealing massive doorways where seaponies moved swiftly, going about their business without a thought to the spectacle above them. Twilight actively had to keep her jaw from dropping as she looked around the cavernous expanse of the room, murals, frescoes and more of the pictographs ran up every wall through out the entire thing. She almost missed the leader of the Mer in the midst of it all. He sat almost idly atop a large chair, the back of which was formed by a waterfall coming from the ceiling, flanking him were several ranks of robed sea ponies, the source of the music that somehow seemed to fill the room and make it brighter with the soft tones of their unified voices. Luna set herself and with a motion to Twilight for her to accompany her, stepped forward and bowed gracefully to the enthroned lord of the seas. “Greetings from the surface. I-” The sea pony lord cut her off with a wide grin. “We know who you are, Princess Luna. Indeed, how could any of our kind ever forget?” The seapony stallion gestured with a fin upward, to the very top of the dome, where crowning everything, the center of all the art that had been created on the interiors of the dome was a intricately done fresco of the royal pony sisters in their forms as the sun and moon. “Even in the depths we remember the goddesses who gave this world form, even after the exile of the world from the paradise of Equestria by the dragon of chaos we remembered, and while we became insular and rejected the world of surfacers for many centuries, we never forgot where we came from. Thus was the decree of my father, and his father before him, through all of my line. I am Coral Beard, the Lord of the Shallows and Keeper of the Names, the leader of the Seven Schools of the Meraria. We welcome you warmly to our realm and the City of the Waves. May fair and following seas come with you.” Luna smiled brightly, perhaps this was going to go even better then she had expected it would. “We are pleased to come into this realm of wonder and be so warmly received by those we would count as friends but...” “But you have questions as to the attacks that befell your ponies during your journey here, of course.” The elderly seapony stallion nodded thoughtfully, his long white mane and beard rippling slightly in the cascading water of his throne. He spoke as if he was weighing his options and choosing his words with the care of a surgeon selecting the proper scalpel. “Your Highness, we do have the answers that you seek, and I can assure you that my people did not have anything to do with the attacks on the surfacers. A nightmare has returned to our world, but the hour is far too late to discuss such serious matters, and the council of clan leaders must be present for such talks. I must ask you for your patience Princess. Until then please, join us for a brief welcoming dessert and leave the business for tomorrow.” Luna restrained her frustration. Somepony was hurting her little ponies, and it gnawed at her to find out. This, however, was diplomacy ,and no matter how positive and friendly the ponies on the opposite end might be, it was it’s own form of warfare with it’s own set of rules, attacks, and defenses. Acting gracefully and accepting the terms of her host now would set a more positive tone for later, and it was only a half a day... surely that wouldn’t make much of a difference would it? Luna turned on her thousand watt grin usually reserved for the Lunar Court in Canterlot and beamed up at the sea ruler. “My companions and I would be delighted to join you and hold off on business till a more reasonable hour tomorrow.” Luna bowed again and nudged Twilight to do the same. The seaponies began to file along a waterway parallel to a raised path that the land dwellers could walk on. Luna and Coral Beard conversed pleasantly as Luna inquired after more intellectual pursuits about the nature of the Mer and their culture. Twilight Sparkle, however, was oddly silent, lost in her own thoughts stirred up by Coral Beard’s comment about “a nightmare” returning to the world. Her eyes flashed with concern to Luna, trying pierce her heart, seeking out any remnant of the hateful demon who had tortured her for so long. ’Surely he couldn’t mean THE Nightmare... we destroyed it forever... Luna’s free and safe now... but I’ll be careful anyway. I have to protect her. I have to.’