//------------------------------//
// The Serpent's Vengeance 
// Story: Sister of the Stars 
// by Sheltie Paws 
//------------------------------//

     Celestia wacthed her parent gaze contently at the three fillies. With a jolt, she realized that one of them was herself, only much much younger. She saw Luna, and the golden maned indigo filly. Celestia looked closer and started to listened. Moon Beam, her father, was teaching the three young alicorns to fly. 

"Now watch how I do it," Moon Beam said, and lifted off. "Remember, when you first lift off, you have pump those wings hard and fast until you are at a good height." He demonstrated to the sisters, who were staring at him with wide amazed eyes. Celestia realized that this was the first time she had heard her father speak, and she loved his voice. It was rich, deep, as gentle as the night sky. 
"Who would like to try first?" Moon Beam said as he came back down. 
"Me, me , me!" Younger Luna and the sister with the unknown name said in unison. Celestia wacthed her filly self glance shyly at her Sunlight. Sunlight nodded.
"Celestia dear,  why don't you try as well?" Sunlight said. Her voice was smooth and confident, but still loving as a summer breeze. Celestia wacthed herself trot toward and stand and next to Moon Beam.
"Excellent! Celestia can try first." He said. 
"Auuwwwwww! I wanted to go first!" said younger Luna.  Celestia the filly pumped her small but elegant wings and as fast and hard as she could. Celestia from above saw her face twisted with effort, and beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Even though Celestia could not move, she felt her wings pumping furiously as filly Celestia's. The little Celestia slowly lifted off the ground.
"That's it! Keep pumping, and once you get higher than my flank, switch to strong pumping, still fast, but mainly strong. You can do it!" Moon Beam called. Sunlight looked at her daughter, her eyes warm. Young Celestia was now past Moon Beam's flank and stoped franticly beating her wings. She started to pump them slower, but with firmer strokes. Soon she had a rhythm to her wingbeats and was rising steadily. Sunlight cheered encouragingly.
"I'm flying, I'm flying! Mother, Father, sisters! Look, I'm flying!" Filly Celestia squealed with joy, once she caught enough breath to talk. Luna and the strange filly started pumping their wings as well.
"We can do it to, see!" They said. Celestia wacthed until all three sisters were up in the sky, soaring with their parents. When the alicorn family got tired, they landed. The last image Celestia saw before she woke up was Moon Beam and Sunlight, their eyes full of pride.


Celestia sat up abruptly and stared at Luna. They were silent for a moment. Just a moment.

"Celestia, you were flying, and so was I! Moon Beam's such a good teacher! And-" Luna began.
"I know! I couldnt move but I still felt the effort of flying! And Sunlight was so pretty-" Celestia inturupted.
"Like an angel! It was amazing!" Luna finished. The sisters fell silent once more. Celestia spoke up again.
"That was a memory Luna. An ancient wrong is being righted. Something took all our fillyhood memories, and now, after the night of those visions, they are slowly coming back." Celestia said quietly. 
"Yes. An ancient wrong being righted." Luna agreed.


The sisters had woken up before dawn was supposed to come, so they rose the sun and lowered the moon. They continued heading in direction of the faded star, but this time used the velvet cloak for travel.

"Carpet mode." Celestia said to the tent. The cloak instantly unfolded from tent mode into carpet mode. The carpet lifted into the air with the sisters on top, and they went on their way.

The sisters were past Whitetail Woods and heading toward the shoreline of Equestria. To the south was Las Pegasus, and then to the north, Smoky Mountain.  The blue green sea was visible on the horizon and the sisters were getting closer quickly. Celestia wondered how many different seashells could be found on the beach, and which ones held magical properties, like the stone collection. Perhaps Celestia would start a magical seashell collection as well. 

Celestia could now see fine golden sand that covered the beach, and the gentle waves lapping at the shore.  She heard fillies playing below, and peeked over the edge of the carpet. A green filly with a dark blue mane, a magenta hippocampus filly with a sky blue mane, and an adult white pegasus with a blue mane. They played on the beach and sloshed through the shallow waters. Suddenly, the waves thrashed and whirled with force, and from the deeper waters a huge serpent rose. His eyes were red and angry,  his tail whipping the ocean. His dark black scales glittered in the sunlight, and when he opened his mouth his teeth gleemed white. A rigde of spiky brown spines went down his back and tail. He let out a mighty bellow and grabbed the hippocampus with its tail.

"Luna, ready our stone collection, we have to help them! Carpet, down!" Celestia shouted over the roar of the monster and the screams of the hippocampus.  The carpet shot down and circled above the serpent's head.  The little green filly had found a piece of driftwood and was desperately paddling toward the serpent. In the roaring waves, she jotsled up and down, her head bobbing in and out of the water. The pegasus called out and tried to stop the green filly, but her wings and mane were waterlogged, and she was being dragged toward the violent sea.

"Magenta!" called the green filly to the hippocampus. The hippocampus was struggling and pushing against the serpent's grip, but was not strong enough.
"Forest! Forest help me!" Magenta the hippocampus cried. Forest the filly was paddling furiously, but she kept getting thrown back by crashing water. Celestia and Luna were were still circling the serpent's head; whenever they came in for an attack, the trashing tail whipped them back.

"You puny ponies!" the mighty serpent roared. "You have invaded my beaches across the coastline! You have left your hoofprints on my sands for too long, and you shall pay for that only! I own the oceans! I own the coastlines! And nobody else!" His voice boomed and his eyes bulged with anger. He kept on swinging and trashing violently, Magenta still crying for help, Forest still trying to stay afloat on her driftwood, the pegasus still vainly attempting to save them both. Celestia had an idea.

"Luna! Throw the white stone to the hippocampus and tell her to tuck it inside the serpent's tail! I'll get the blue stone, and no time to explain!" Celestia hollered. Her plan was to get the serpent to hold the white stone in his tail. The white stone gave beauty to whoever holds it, and if the serpent held it he would become beautiful and the sisters would have a distraction. Then Celestia would use the blue stone to control the ocean and overthrow the serpent. 

Luna threw the white stone to Magenta. When the hippocampus held it her mane turned long wavy and shiny. Her scales shimmered and her eyes grew luminous. 

"Hey! Tuck that stone inside the serpent's tail!"" Luna yelled. Magenta was too scared to disobey. She tucked the stone in between herself and the tail. The serpent froze.

His dull black scales were an elegant white that shimmered different colors in the sun. His brown spines were a sparkling golden. His red eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. He tried to roar, but instead a melodious opera note came out.  He stopped trashing and gazed down at his new body, his blue eyes wide.

"What have you done?"the serpent said in a sweet voice. " You, you, you stupid ponies! Look at me! I'm horrible! Oh dear oh dear oh dear!" In his proper voice, the serpent would be bellowing in rage (and would not even think of saying oh dear), but now, the serpent could have been inviting the sisters over to tea.

Celestia used the blue stone, an waves twisted around the serpent, trapping him. The pegasus had reached Forest now, and was dragging her toward the beach. Magenta cheered, and the serpent wailed. The waves swirled around the serpent, like a whirlpool reaching for the sky. Water droplets flew everywhere, splattering Celestia and Luna with seaweed and salt water.

"Serpent! Here my words!" Celestia shouted once the waves had covered all of the serpent except Magenta and his head. "Do you wish to stay in this form forever!?" 
"No dear, I defiantly do not." The serpent said, his eyes smoldering with rage, but his voice light and happy. 
"Then realese the hippocampus, and leave these ponies alone forever!" Celestia said.
"Alright then dear." The serpent said. His tail uncurled and both Magenta and the white stone fell from his grip. He turned back to normal and threw the sisters one last glare before plunging into the sea. Celestia used the blue stone, and  Magenta was carried gently back to the beach by a blanket of water. She scrambled towards Forest and the pegasus. Celestia and Luna came down to the beach the carpet was drenched, and flying a bit wobbly, but other than that it seemed fine. 

"How could I ever thank you!" The pegasus said. She gasped. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" She knelt before the sisters. Magenta and Forest did the same.
"There is no need for that now." Luna said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Yes, yes of course! My name is Breezy Current." The pegasus said. "These are my adopted daughters, Forest and Magenta Splash." 
"Hi." Forest said shyly.
"Hi." Magenta copied.
"You have saved my little ones from this terrible serpent. Thank you! Now, rewards-" Breezy said.
"Oh, don't worry, we don't need rewarding." Celestia said. "Being able to help those in need is all the joy we need." Breezy smiled at her warmly and hugged her fillies. The sisters smiled back.
"There is no better reward than bringing a family back together." Celestia said.