The United Parliament, Equestria, two days later…
During what some were beginning to call the Alternia Regency, Alternia, now retroactively confirmed as Princess-Regent by Luna and Celestia, had made a number of changes to Equestria’s government.
Actually, a number of changes was putting it too mildly. Alternia’s changes had restructured Equestria’s government almost completely. Before, Luna and Celestia ruled over a group of unicorn lords, earth pony bannerponies (essentially landholders and sworn swordsponies), and pegasi exarchs (military governors) in a feudal system. These nobles had to pay taxes and provide levies and ponies at arms in times of conflict. When they did need to make a national decision, they met in the House of Lords, where they all deliberated.
However, five hundred years into Alternia’s rule after the First Griffon-Equestria War and the Yakyakistan-Equestria War, the House of Lords had gradually lost its power as the wealth and influence of common ponies started to increase. The effects of inbreeding amongst the noble houses had also led to an increase in centralization, meaning Alternia herself gained more power, land and influence as foolish or mentally unstable lords and ladies bungled their finances and ceded their territories to the Equestrian crown.
Luna and Celestia had found out that around this time, Alternia had attempted to experiment with democracy. She allowed common ponies to enter the House of Lords as delegates, turning it into the First Equestrian Parliament. In this parliament, common ponies had a lot more votes than the lords, and it was intended that this would allow for greater representation of ponies’ interests.
It had backfired spectacularly, leading to what would be infamously known as the Cloudsdale Rebellion.
Giving commoner ponies so much authority had essentially led it to splitting into two parties. Although three racial blocks had formed based on the three main Equestrian races, two of them, the unicorn and the earth ponies, formed a coalition based upon their common understanding and interest that they were both ground-walking races. Using their united influence, this coalition were able to essentially overrule the pegasi in a majority of the decisions. The pegasi exarchs in particular were furious, especially since the earth ponies and unicorns would overrule the pegasi in weather related matters. Even more worrisome was the fact that the unicorn nobles and the earth pony bannerponies who didn’t want the pegasi exarchs they had more in common with overruled in so many decisions, found they no longer had the pull to prevent such a thing.
Moreover, a longstanding feud between the Lightning family exarchs that controlled the pegasus faction and the Cloudsdale and the Glimmer-Carrot clan alliance that led the unicorn and earth pony factions further exacerbated the situation.
Alternia had tried to defuse tensions. In fact, she had used her authority to try to force the three factions to cooperate, but it didn’t work in the long term and the pegasi rebelled. This caused to a one year war after which Equestria’s agriculture and economy took an unprecedented slump as pegasi refused to control the weather and earth ponies and unicorns were forced to fight on the front lines instead of tending the fields or manufacturing goods.
This fallout had led to Alternia dismissing the First Parliament and founding the United Parliament and a system of government that had worked fairly well since its conception.
The United Parliament had elected delegates from cities and settlements, who could vote and debate in the Parliamentary chamber. It also included an equivalent amount of voting nobles from all three species, who in return for the privilege granted to them by birthright, had to occupy administrative positions in Alternia’s government and were trained from birth to be civil servants or to serve in the military. Thus, Alternia had managed to curb the tyranny of the majority that had formed beforehand and yet introduce a more democratic system of governance.
Needless to say, some nobles hadn’t quite got all the training they needed. Which was why Luna was grimacing as she listened to Countess Toffee of the Environmental Bureau rail at Blueblood.
“—How dare Princess Alternia and Princess Celestia force us to give up our citizens to those monsters! They’ve killed hundreds of our ponies, sunk our ships, and you’re saying we should let them have our families?”
Sighing, Blueblood replied to the brown, taffy-colored mare, though Luna could sense her adopted nephew’s annoyance from her seat at the head of the parliamentary chamber, even if she wasn’t a changeling.
“Countess Toffee, the familial hosting between Aquamaris and Equestria is mutual. We’ll be taking in seapony families as well. Moreover, as we agreed earlier in last month’s session, all legal authority to negotiate the peace treaty on Equestria’s behalf would be placed in the hooves of Princesses Celestia and Alternia, and whomsoever they see fit.”
Caesar Salad stood up and, as chairpony, Princess Luna coughed. “The Equestrian Parliament recognizes General Caesar Salad, Duke of the district of Bittalia.”
The general coughed and lasered Countess Toffee with a glare that could boil cold camp coffee. “Minister Toffee, it is precisely because we’ve lost hundreds of our ponies to the Aquestrians that we should agree to this. We need to ensure this peace treaty goes through and learn about our enemy. Empress Tethys, while ruthless, is a mare of her word and does not waste her subjects’ lives needlessly and the fact that she initiated these proceedings indicates this.”
“Also, I find your criticism of our princesses very hypocritical Countess Toffee, especially since it’s thanks to your negligence in the Department of Equestrian Environmental affairs that the Aquestrians blame us for polluting their ocean and rightfully so!” spat the delegate from the district of Minneighsota, March Gustysnows, practically steaming underneath her muffler.
Luna was about to intervene, but was cut off as a quarter of the parliament, mainly the representatives and nobles most disgruntled with the Triumvirate, stood up in an uproar.
“How can you blame her when it was Princess Celestia who forgot about the treaty!” roared the delegate from Dodge Junction.
“And even if Princess Alternia is trying to save lives with this treaty, it doesn’t change the fact that she was the one who made Celestia forget by putting the memories into her head and put us into this mess!” yelled the delegate from White Tail Woods.
Luna sighed and held her tongue for a moment. She needed to let the ponies vent their anger a bit first. She could see the supporters of the Triumvirate, nearly half of the parliament, sigh or groan in exasperation. The rest of the parliament members seemed to shrink in their seats or sigh as well.
That was until one foolish pony said this.
“Alternia is unfit to be our princess!”
Luna’s eyes widened and her gaze travelled over the shouting parliament members, trying to pick out the speaker and shoot him or her down.
However, Caesar Salad, old as he was, was on his hooves faster than an Equestrian recon operative, his eyes blazing. “Say that again!”
“I will!” retorted Marquis Flash Fire, whom Luna recognized as the leader of those nobles and delegates dissatisfied with the Triumvirate. He was a plump, orange haired pony with an almost waxy complexion.
He also had a supremely confident sneer on his face, one that his supporters mirrored. His voice was oily. His orange mane, greying at the scalp, was slicked back in a rakish fashion that unfortunately didn’t quite fit his age. Essentially, he looked like the consummate political firebrand.
“Princess Alternia may have protected us for a thousand years, but a thousand years of ruling alone was very stressful for her. To ask her to become one of our princesses for real, and at the same time to secure peace with the changelings, was asking far too much of her. She was right to accept the ceasefire, but to compromise so much with the Aquestrians... to give our oceans to monsters and not seek revenge for those that died in our armed forces, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare...” Flash Fire shook his head. “She clearly has lost her mind.”
“Don’t you dare presume to speak for me Flash Fire!” screeched Old Mare Clariel, the delegate for Fillydelphia. Despite her wrinkles and her need to use a cane to support her, Luna couldn’t help but admire the pipes the mare had.
“If Princess Alternia hadn’t seen fit to agree to our ceasefire, who knows how many in my constituency may be dead by now! And if she ends this war, or at least stops it for now, who knows how many more can be saved!” yelled Clariel.
Flash Fire scowled and was about to retort, but Fancy Pants, the delegate for Canterlot, spoke up, in a polite tone, but his brow was, unusually enough, furrowed, his monocle set heavily into his eye.
“There’s also the matter of the oceans, Flash Fire. They were never ours. Our archivists have finally recovered some journals referring to the original treaty, and while we haven’t found an official copy yet, what has been confirmed is that the sea had always been the Aquestrians’. I do not relish having to rebuild and upgrade my shipping fleet, but I hardly wish to pollute the ocean where most of our world’s water comes from, or try to drive the native inhabitants of an entire species out of their homes.”
“The kelpies are nothing more than ruthless, ravenous monsters that will do anything to satisfy their hunger, and their seaponies are nothing more than their willing accomplices,” growled Flash Fire.
“Partially true, the kelpies are hungry, but they have honor, which they take very seriously. It’s why Empress Tethys has been, by all accounts, extremely untrustworthy of us. After all, we broke the agreement we signed with their previous Empress, why should they trust us to sign an agreement they will uphold but we might break?” asked Blueblood.
“And yet Princess Alternia is leaving us without means to retaliate against the kelpies,” snapped Flash Fire.
“Similar to the changelings, we can hardly judge them based on what they eat. Make no mistake, I have no intention of lying down and bending over for them, but the Royal Equestrian Army will not purposefully attempt to annihilate a species based on their diet, unless they threaten to wipe us out, which we well know they cannot,” said Caesar Salad.
Ermane Rommel, exarch of Cloudsdale snorted. “Besides, we have no ability to destroy their settlements without poisoning the Eastern Sea and every single of our encounters with the Aquestrians so far has resulted in a defeat or a draw. Our fleet was basically annihilated, the port strikes’ damage was limited, but only because the kelpies focused on sabotaging the port faciliities themselves and not on our military and civilians, and our only draw was when we outnumbered the kelpies three to one.”
“I can also assure you that Princess Alternia is very much in good mental condition and has proven herself to Equestria time and time again. My sister and I trust her judgement completely,” Luna stated in an icy tone.
A sneer formed on Countess Toffee’s features. “At the same time, she’s failed to secure any kind of buffer that would guarantee the kelpies would not break their word. Even if they are honorable, Equestria’s position is still highly fragile. Moreover, we don’t need to annihilate the kelpies, merely develop a weapon to kill enough of them to make an attack untenable. ”
Luna tapped her ceremonial mace on its docket, arresting everypony’s attention.
“Enough. Arguing how to kill as many Aquestrians as possible in an offensive action is pointless. We cannot accomplish it now, and we’ve already agreed one week ago that this parliament will not sanction such an action.” Luna grimaced. “Moreover, by the order of my sister and I, through the rights granted to us by Equestria’s constitution, and through the fact that she has ensured Equestria’s prosperity for a thousand years, Alternia is your princess and a member of this Triumvirate. Whether you like it or not, she shares our power and thanks to her efforts, we have weathered countless diplomatic crises, including the Changeling Crises.”
“With the way she’s going about this crisis, it’s too bad Equestria First didn’t make that one her last!” quipped Flash Fire.
Luna’s eyes widened as did those of pretty much nearly every member of parliament except the quarter who supported Flash Fire. There was a moment of incredulous silence.
March Gustysnows was the first to get over her shock.
“Treason!” she roared.
That got Flash Fire’s supporters’ attention. Treason was a dangerous charge, used far too often for political gain, but the nobles and delegates were now quickly realizing they had hit the political equivalent of a naval mine.
And the sharks were swarming.
“Treason!” exclaimed a Manehattan delegate, echoing the cry that other delegates and nobles took up. The rest of the parliament were in uproar, roaring at the Flash Fire and his supporters, who stuttered and tried to protest, but it was too late, they had misstepped too far. Nopony with political ambition could possibly pass this moment up to try to demonstrate their loyalty to the princess.
Not that it meant anything to Luna. She had no need for political vultures and as her gaze travelled over the shouting parliament, she met Blueblood’s glance. He had stood, but as far as Luna could tell the rest of the crown’s true allies were quiet. Instead of vultures that circled the carrion, the triumvirate’s allies watched like hawks. They watched their liege-lady for her directive and they loftily observed the vultures, ready to step in and put them in line.
There was Caesar Salad, the old general leaning heavily on his cane. There was Ermane Rommel of Cloudsdale, smart in his military uniform. Fancy Pants, and his wife, Fleur de Lis, who stood beside him, both elegantly dressed and poised for action, and many more stood, awaiting the command of their liege. Even Mayor Mare from Ponyville, although she seemed nervous, had her eyes focused on Luna.
Once more, Luna had to inwardly thank the presence of so many loyal servants of the crown. Despite being returned to Equestria for only two years, Luna knew she could count on these ponies.
So she raised her ceremonial mace and let its head drop onto its gavel, the clacking sound ringing out through the parliament, silencing all its members.
Flash Fire quickly took this time to kneel and bow his head to Luna. “Your highness, forgive me, my words were rash and I beg for your mercy.”
The pony received none from Luna though. The look on her face was as cold as the moon she stewarded. From her seat at the head of the parliament she glared down upon Flash Fire like a judge passing sentence on a criminal.
“This is a pointless time for wild threats and wild accusations. Our nation is still in a state of war and we have an unknown threat to our Western borders.”
Luna’s shoulders stiffened and she couldn’t prevent her nostrils from flaring angrily. “And yet, at this time, you dare threaten one of the monarchs of this country so carelessly?” Luna shook her head, closing her eyes in resignation. “We have let you speak your piece, let you voice your criticisms, but the crown does not tolerate a threat against one of their own. Guards!”
The Lunar guards in the parliament clicked their hooves and stood to attention.
“Arrest Marquis Flash Fire on the charges of lèse-majestée and suspicion of treason!” And Luna watched in satisfaction as Lunar guard members stomped up to the white-faced Flash Fire and basically carried him out of his seat and out of the parliament. She also took a bit of smug happiness in watching both the vultures and the fools squirm in silent apprehension.
After briefly revelling in the exit of the troublesome noble, Luna was about to say something further when one of the side doors in the parliament opened and Cadance trotted in heading towards Luna’s seat. Curious, Luna waited until her niece reached her and deposited a scroll. Confused, the alicorn unrolled it and quickly scanned it, the lords and delegates of the parliament watching her with bated breath.
And they were not comforted when Luna’s eyes narrowed, a scowl coming over her features.
“Cadance, explain to us what has happened,” said Luna, putting the scroll down.
Cadance nodded and turned to face the rest of the chamber. “At ten AM today, seven hours ago, rioting broke out in the streets of Vanhoofer and in the skies of Las Pegasus.”
“Rioting? What happened?” asked Frosty Pines, the delegate from Vanhoofer.
“In Vanhoofer a large group of nearly a thousand ponies took to the streets and marched to the city hall. They tried to break in, but the Vanhoofer riot police delayed their advance and, with the help of squads from the 12th Artillery Regiment and the Seaforth Highlanders under General Bloody Guts, the rioters were contained. There was significant damage to the buildings around city hall, though, and we have casualties amongst the rioters and police force.”
“Wait, they needed to deploy the army?” gasped Exarchess Teck of Las Pegasus.
Cadance nodded, a grim look in her eyes. “Yes. I’ll explain why later. In Las Pegasus, pegasi numbering about five hundred also stormed the Las Pegasus governor’s palace. Again, the police managed to hold them back just in time for the Royal Army, this time, the 5th Las Pegasus Hussars under Colonel Stonewall, to quickly arrest them. Unfortunately, whilst the governor’s palace is unharmed, the weather factory of Las Pegasus was overrun and much of its equipment damaged in the melee.”
The pink alicorn took a deep breath. “The protesters were highly resistant to arrest. Water hoses were employed and tearing-up spells as well, but all had limited effect. Thankfully, when these measures failed, the riot police instead led the protesters on a chase instead of trying to fight them directly. When the army arrived, they were forced to literally bind and muzzle each protester to prevent them from attacking our forces and hurting themselves.”
“Why were they so resistant, Princess Cadance?” asked Countess Toffee.
“We weren’t sure until we brought in our mages.” Cadance swallowed. “They appeared to be under some kind of mind control.”
“Changelings?” asked a noble.
“No. I’ve consulted Queens Simulacris and Belladonna as well as Archmage Meringue. This kind of mind control and on this scale is something the changelings have never seen before. For one, they have very strict rules upon the use of hypnosis and two, as even queens can only hypnotize perhaps ten ponies at one time, they cannot possibly manipulate that many ponies,” said Cadance.
The pink alicorn produced a voice-recording crystal, which was a fairly rare item, but a useful one for situations like these. “There’s also the matter of what they were chanting. All of these rioters were saying the same thing as they stormed our cities.”
Cadance funnelled magic into the crystal and the entire parliament was blasted by what could only be a stallion screaming his lungs out.
Bring forth the sea!
Let the salt waters cover the earth!
The Great One is Come
All Hail the Great One!
May storms fill the sky!
Waves swallow the soil!
The Great One harkens!
“That’s rather ominous,” said Caesar Salad.
“That’s not all,” said Cadance grimly as she pulled up another voice crystal and activated it so that its chant, this time spoken by a mare’s fanatical voice, filled the parliament room.
May he quench the foolish Celestia’s false flames!
His darkness engulf the pitiful Luna’s seducing night!
And may Alternia and her silver lies be swallowed by his great maw!
ALL HAIL THE GREAT ONE!
“What in Tartarus?” gasped Blueblood, rubbing his ears a bit. The last cry had nearly deafened him by how shrill it was.
“Tartarus will be the last thing on this Great One’s mind once we’re through with him.”
Luna’s chilling statement arrested the attention of all the ponies in the parliament and her look fixed it. The alicorn’s teeth were grinding together, her lips twisted in rage, and her eyes were gleaming daggers.
“This Great One has dared to cast its influence over our ponies and force them to attack their fellows. Not only that, he has essentially declared his intentions to cover our land with ocean and destroy our government.” Luna took a deep breath and grimaced. “From this, delegates and nobles, I believe that this Great One has declared war against us. As such, I propose to place Equestria’s western coast in a state of emergency until we figure out what this Great One is. All in favor, say aye.”
Everypony nodded and said “aye”. Regardless of political affiliations, nopony was stupid enough to ignore the fact that the threat of the Great One was more important than whatever political grievances they had against one another.
Unfortunately, they didn’t know exactly how much danger they were in.
Western Ocean, the same day…
The deep ponies, sea ponies and their kelpie escort had initially stuck to the coast, until they sighted one of Equestria’s coastal cities. A large one, with a major military port that hosted five battleships. From there, they had fanned out, scouting the area around the city itself, but also heading into the deeper water away from the city.
Minnow and Ebb’s reasons for this was simple. They would need to establish a forward base in the Western Sea and they needed one relatively close to land in order to monitor Equestria’s naval activity, but not so close that it would be affected by pollution.
They were also mapping and doing some scouting of the Western Sea. After all, no Aquestrian had set a single fin in these waters for more than a millenium.
What they had found so far was quite interesting, or so Mage Minnow put it.
“It’s strange how the water temperature is so inconsistent,” said Minnow as she and Ebb swam onward into the deep. “Not to mention the ocean currents. I mean wow. These currents are nothing like that of the Eastern Sea. They’re chaotic, shifting, come on and off. It’s like they have a mind of their own. Our shellfish and seaweed farmers are going to have a field day—”
Ebb chuckled as Minnow continued to blather on, but didn’t interrupt her comrade. The deep pony was one of the few she didn’t have a grudge against after all. Most of Samudra’s highly-trained and ruthless Myrmidon guards had been deep ponies, and Ebb had fought against most of them. Minnow, however, had been an hydromancer trained in current maintenance and sea architecture. Ebb hadn’t trusted her at first, as the deep pony had defected to their side during the civil war. At least until Minnow had proven her loyalty in defending a school of kelpie fry from Samudra’s forces.
“However, we have some pretty good seafloor to establish farms on, and I spotted some nice rock formations we can use to establish a good base. Are you tuning me out again Ebb?”
Ebb snorted. “A bit.”
“This is important, Captain,” whined the deep pony.
“I got the gist of it,” Ebb said as she pushed through the water with a whip of her tail, only to stop, a frown on her features, nostrils flared and eyes narrowed.
“Ebb?” Minnow had never seen the captain like this.
“I’m fine, but I’m not sure what I’m smelling.” Ebb took another sniff, her frown deepening as she couldn’t place it to any creature she had encountered before. “I think I’ve been smelling this a while back, but didn’t think much of it due to how weak it was. Now though, it’s very strong and… it’s drawing nearer.”
“Be a little more specific Ebb, what is it? Does it smell like a predator?”
“I don’t know, Minnow. All I can really say is that the scent smells a bit like... like land for some reason.”
“Land? In that direction?” said Minnow, peering into the depths of the water. Pursing her lips, the deep pony shrugged. “Let’s investigate, Ebb.”
“I agree, but keep your senses peeled; there’s something in that scent that worries me, but I can’t pinpoint it,” said Ebb.
So the small group swam onward, Ebb, Minnow, five sea ponies, and five kelpies, all with their senses peeled.
As they swam on, they all started to smell what Ebb had been scenting and it was… difficult to describe.
Because it did smell like land, but, judging from how the ocean floor continued to slope down and down, they were coming nowhere near land.
That was when they heard it.
“Ebb, do you hear this?” asked Minnow, eyes wide.
Ebb, her muscles tensed, nodded grimly.
Something was scraping across the sea floor, but it was hard to judge its distance without knowing how big it was, or vice versa. That being said, the scent had barely gotten any stronger.
Whatever it was, it was sizeable. At the very least, the size of a whale.
“Contact the other groups and tell them we’re investigating an anomaly,” ordered Ebb. Minnow nodded and, turning behind her, she sent several concentrated pulse of water. After that Minnow then waited for a confirmation pulse.
When she only got five pulses, she frowned.
“Ebb, I’m not getting anything from two of our groups.”
“What?” Ebb demanded. That was impossible. All scout groups were sticking to within water pulse communication range. There shouldn’t be any issues with that… unless they had run into something.
Scowling the captain grimaced. “Order them to try contacting the other groups, but if they receive nothing, then have them fall back toward our base camp at the Northwest Passage’s western entrance.”
Minnow nodded and sent the messages. When the mage was finally done, the small group swam on, toward the smell of land and the crunch and rasp of something sliding across the sea floor.
And yet, even as the scent and the smell grew stronger and louder, none of the party could actually see the source.
“Are we still going towards it?” asked Minnow nervously. She could smell the source now too, but they still hadn’t seen anything yet.
“Positive, but why can’t we see it yet?” asked Ebb. The scent was overpowering now, filling both her nostrils and even the back of her throat toward where her gills were. The grating scratch of sand against whatever in the Abyss that was poured into her ears. They had to be in visual range.
Wait, was that...
“Contact! Movement in the water! It’s big!” shouted out Tempest, one of her kelpie soldiers.
“Acknowledged! Spread out!” ordered Ebb and her squad quickly put some distance between each other, the more fragile deep ponies to the rear, with the kelpies leading from the front. Ebb could see it now too, vaguely. Something was in the water, shifting and swirling it, a dark form, rapidly growing closer.
Ebb’s eyes widened and she halted, as did the rest of her squad.
“What in the Empress’s name…” gasped Minnow.
The dark form… it was huge. No, not just huge, immense. They didn’t know what it was or what shape it was. Ebb’s eyes couldn’t tell it from the sea floor, but she was forced to crane her head back, until she could see the dark form end, at the sea’s surface.
And whatever it was, it was moving towards them, growing even larger.
“How deep is the ocean right now?” asked Ebb breathlessly.
Minnow somehow managed to unlock her jaw from its gawking position. “More than two thousand fathoms?” she estimated.
Ebb’s eyes widened. “Fall back, we need a bigger team to figure out what the hell that thing is.”
“Agreed! Wait, is that…” Minnow’s eyes widened. “Ebb, look!”
The kelpie captain wanted to ignore Minnow, but she could see what the mage saw too.
It was a sea pony from one of the scout teams.
“Orcus? What the hell are you doing here?” Ebb demanded.
The sea pony didn’t immediately reply, though, and Ebb… did not want to approach him. There was something strange about Orcus. His eyes were half-lidded, his breath was shallow and laboured.
“Minnow, what is wrong with him?” asked Ebb, still pushing herself backward with her tail.
The deep pony shook her head. “I don’t know. Orcus! We need to retreat! Get out of here!”
“There is no escape.”
Ebb’s eyes widened at Orcus’s words and looking beyond, saw the massive dark shape growing even larger.
“He’s mind controlled! Everybody, withdraw!”
“There is no escape.”
Ebb spun around for the sound came from behind her, and she cursed. More seaponies, deep ponies and kelpies had swum up from behind their group. There were fourteen of them in total. They were the missing squads and all of them had the same dead look in their eyes.
Minnow’s horn glowed as she focused her magic to craft a curse. “Captain, on three, we break through,” she whispered. Ebb nodded, her tentacles at the ready.
“All hail the Great One.” Ebb tensed and signalled her squad with a tentacle to get ready.
“One.”
“All hail the ship breaker.” Ebb pinpointed a weakness in the mind-controlled kelpies and seaponies’ defense.
“Two.”
Ebb steeled herself. She didn’t want to hurt her fellow kelpies, and some of the seaponies she had brought in her team weren’t unlikeable, but she would do what she had to in order to stay alive.
“Thre—”
Bow.
Ebb was a captain of the Abyssal Guard, veteran of more than a hundred battles and skirmishes, trusted advisor and friend to Empress Tethys.
But the moment she heard that voice, that didn’t seem to matter. All she could think about was serving her god. The Great One who destroys ships, who rules the depths, and who lords over those that swim in the sea and those that walk on land.
A smile replacing her sneer, Ebb floated happily with her smiling comrades as The Great One approached. She could see the outline of him now. His colossal form, ringed by an uncountable number of tentacles. She was ready to serve him, to tell him anything of Aquestria, of Aquamaris, of Vol Oros, and of Empress Tethys.
Ebb blinked, slowly. Something was wrong. It felt as if her lips were moving through sludge for some reason. Moreover, why did she feel a twinge when she thought of Tethys? Who was she to the Great One? A nobody, just a kelpie queen.
Her queen. Her Empress.
No. The Great One was her god, always had been, even if she hadn’t been exposed to his greatness.
But then why did she feel unhappy with him? Why did she feel… why did she feel terrified of him? Why was her hooves trembling and tentacles quivering as he approached? Wasn’t he her god? Shouldn’t she love him?
No.
But the Great One would give her power to command his armies, to fight for him and to die for him.
No.
The Great One would give her untold riches, land and sea beyond measure.
No.
The Great One would elevate her beyond her mortal form. Would give her a gift beyond all measure… immortality. He would save her from the curse of the kelpies, their insatiable hunger, he would satisfy it.
“NO! YOU WON’T!” Ebb screamed, her throat grating as she roared. Tethys was her Empress, her queen, the one who had saved them and unified them. Not this… Ebb’s eyes widened as she saw what was coming. Saw the smiles fade from the dominated seaponies and kelpies around her.
The Great One’s response was colder than the waters of the Northwest Passage, and was delivered almost nonchalantly.
You had your chance; die.
The kelpies, deep ponies and sea ponies charged, but Ebb noticed they were nowhere as fast as they were before. Instincts kicking in, she flipped over two of the kelpies, while using her tentacles to deflect the hooves of the sea ponies. Minnow, her eyes glazed over, fired a bolt of superheated water that would have boiled Ebb’s flesh alive, but the kelpie dodged under it, though she did feel uncomfortably warm as the bolt passed over her shoulder.
“Stay out of my head you monster!” stammered Ebb as she swam away as fast as she could. A glance over her shoulder, though, revealed the rest of her mind-controlled comrades were in hot pursuit, backed by the looming dark form of the Great One, whatever in the darkest trench he was.
Fear was a powerful motivator and so Ebb used that emotion to fuel the spell she was readying. Channeling her magic and the water around her, Ebb flapped her tail harder and after a moment, vanished.
She reappeared on the surface of an empty bay not too far from their base camp at the western entrance to the Northwest Passage. Her heart still pounding, muscles and magic exhausted from her teleport, Ebb allowed herself to sink back into the water, sucking in deep breaths to calm herself and to think about what had just happened. Whether it had just happened.
She knew it did just happen though. Against all odds, there was a monster in the Western Sea. Twenty kelpies, seaponies and deep ponies, some the best soldiers she had known, were now all under its thrall.
Quickly making her decision, Ebb dove toward the base camp.
The guards were surprised as their captain tore towards them, but they were even more shocked when she roared out, “We’re aborting! Send messages to the scout teams!”
Typhon thought he had seen everything, from Seiche being wounded, to his regent toying with the idea of peace with the ponies (even if she didn’t trust them an inch), but he had never dreamed that he’d ever see captain Ebb Flow afraid.
A massive emergency meeting had been called once Ebb Flow had arrived back in Aquamaris with twenty less Aquestrians from when she had set out. Among the missing was Minnow, one of their best engineers and mages.
The shocking part though was that Ebb Flow had a haunted look in her eyes, like prey that had just escaped from the hunter.
“Explain, Captain.”
“There is a monster in the Western Sea. A beast far larger than a leviathan, I don’t know how large, but it can crush Aquamaris or Vol Oros. It has the ability to mind control, and read the thoughts of seaponies, deep ponies and kelpies with barely any effort. That’s what happened to the missing scouts and Mage Minnow. I’m still not sure how I managed to resist its mind control.”
“Mareel, check Ebb.”
Mareel nodded and gesturing to the armored kelpies in the throne hall to follow her, swam up to Ebb, her horn glowing as she scanned the captain.
“She’s fine. I can sense the touch of a foreign magic signature on her, though.”
“Probably from when it communicated with me telepathically,” said Ebb.
“What did it say?” asked Typhon.
“Its mind-controlled followers called it “The Great One”. I’m not sure what it called itself, but …” Ebb shivered “It made a lot of promises… promises I would have refused, but that I really wanted.”
“That’s what they’ve always done. Promise power, wealth, all the desires a mortal can ask in return for complete submission. Seems time has not dampened it’s corruptive influence one bit,” spoke Tethys in a grim tone.
“Wait, what do you mean that’s always they’ve done? What are ‘they’?” asked Typhon.
Tethys glanced at Typhon. “Elder beings from the time before the world was shaped. Some call them the Old Gods or Great Ones.”
“Elder beings? How many more of them are there? And what do they want?” asked Ebb.
Tethys paused, stone-faced before slowly responding. “I can’t say. They don’t really pay much attention to mortals, but they have a corrupting presence. Those exposed to them, especially the weak-willed and the foolish, can fall under their mental influence. These corrupted mortals tend to get their own ideas of what these abominations want.”
“But… they don’t want anything? They can’t be reasoned with or talked with?” asked Seiche.
Tethys shook her head. “If they do, then they’ve never made an effort to make it clear.”
Brinewing swallowed. “So we can’t stop it? What if it comes to Aquamaris? Everybody is going to be enslaved if it even wanders close to it.”
“Empress, you can stop this thing can you? You should have the will to resist it,” said Typhon, a hopeful note in his voice.
Ebb sighed. “Typhon, the Old One wasn’t even trying when he corrupted those with me and Minnow, who hardly is a weak-willed fool, and he dominated my mind to the last second. If our Empress is even exposed to the Old One, alone, and she falls… then we’d be up against an Empress even more dangerous than your mother was.”
That was alone enough to make Typhon look as if he had lost his lunch.
“You sound like you need help,” said Murmillar.
The changeling queen had been attending the meetings, but there really hadn’t been much to say considering that the Equestrians and changelings had been fairly upfront. She had been summoned to the emergency meeting though, on the assumption that the Equestrians or the changelings had broken the ceasefire agreement.
Seiche frowned. “You’re not being serious are you, Queen Murmillar?”
Ebb, who had got it as well, mirrored her comrade’s expression. “Even if we somehow got a promise of aid from the Equestrians and the changelings, who we’ve been killing and who probably hate us, they aren’t sea creatures and will not be able to really assist us.”
Murmillar pursed her lips. “Ah, that’s true, but the princesses and the queens are a different story. They have greater magic, normally an indicator of strong will, and due to hundreds of years of experience through crises, their emotional states would be hardened It would not be easy to dominate them, especially if they all came with the Empress to attack the Great One at the same time.”
“But how would we convince the princesses to help? They’d still be assisting us, an enemy, who would be at war with them in another five years at the most. Indeed, the Great One could be a threat to their interests as well, but it’s in the ocean. It’s a greater threat to us than them,” pointed out Typhon.
Tethys had a thoughtful look to her features. “We have some leverage to work with.”
Third meeting date…
Alternia was more nervous than she had been for the second meeting. Luna’s news of the Great One’s mind control of their ponies and the chants they had made were highly disturbing. There was no doubt about it, they had to conclude the peace treaty with Tethys as soon as possible, today if Tethys had the mind to.
It was to the point that Alternia had prepared slabs of rock for the Aquestrians to carve the terms of the treaty in and specially enscrolled paper for the Equestrians. There was a slab of rock also allocated for the Equestrians as well, as a symbol to Tethys that the treaty would not be forgotten.
“Is there anything we’ve missed?” asked Celestia as the Equestrians and changelings sat down at the table near the sea.
“No, but this might be our most difficult day yet. We don’t know if Tethys will accept the hostage exchange and there’s even a possibility we might not be able to go through with it because we would need Luna to help us with this,” said Alternia.
“True, but let’s leave that for when she actually gets here. Speaking of which…” Celestia braced herself as the waters began to churn. Out of this froth, Typhon, Ebb and Brinewing trotted out, rather quickly.
“Prince Typhon, Captain Ebb, Captain Brinewing,” said Alternia respectfully.
Typhon nodded in greeting, but he didn’t say anything and just turned to watch the churning water, which to Alternia’s eyes was becoming more and more menacing.
Nothing quite prepared her for what she saw next though. All the Equestrians and changelings, Alternia included, thought that Tethys would arrive in another ice sending, or send some kind of projection.
She never expected her to come to the beach herself.
The first thing Alternia saw of Tethys was her horn, which confused Alternia briefly because it was about twice as thick as ship’s mast, curved and wickedly sharp with an edge like a blade. Nearly jumping out of her seat, Alternia froze as the horns continued to rise to reveal a indeterminable mass of kelp and tentacles behind the the horns.
Tethys had arrived, and she continued to rise and rise, until her massive head and jaw, able to swallow a pleasure yacht whole, was completely out of the water. Now that Alternia was closer, she could see how well armored the Empress was. Her entire carapaced body was composed of heavy plates, some larger than two ponies put together. The plating extended to the many tentacles that sprouted from behind her back.
Alternia also noticed though that Tethys actually had a pair of large wing-flippers at her side. They were larger than the sail of a yacht and now that Alternia thought about it, the wing-flippers would explain why Tethys could swim so quickly on the surface.
By the time she stopped, Alternia’s neck was craning back. Her titanic form, almost twice as large as the largest Equestrian battleship, was towering over her, and Alternia knew that Tethys could just smash them if she wanted to.
And Tethys hadn’t even completely come out of the water. Most of her legs and tail were covered by the ocean waves.
“Greetings, Empress Tethys. I thank you for honoring us with your presence,” said Alternia.
"Princess. I have come with a different proposal. One that can potentially ensure peace.”
Alternia’s eyes widened. Assuming Tethys used “peace” to mean permanent peace and not just their previous five year agreement, then this was a major surprise. But what could have changed? Tethys had been only willing to offer peace for ten years and that was in return for live tribute.
It was then Alternia remembered the report Admiral Marenitz had told her and Tethys’s earlier statement that Empress Samudra had frozen the Northwest Passage on purpose.
“Does it have anything to do with the incidents in the Western Sea and the fact that the Northwest Passage has completely melted?” asked Alternia quietly.
“Yes. The cause is a primal entity of untold power and unfathomable intentions. A Primal God.”
“Samudra must have frozen the Northwest passage to ensure nobody would come in contact with it, but why have we never had any problems with it until now?” asked Celestia.
“My guess is it has lain dormant since the disappearance of the rest of its twisted kind. Samudra did not have the power to put it under, but perhaps she was able to keep one already asleep unconscious.”
“And I suppose you’re here to ask us for assistance in subduing this creature?” asked Alternia, for that could be the only reason why Tethys was personally here, right now.
“I’m here to offer a proposal. Last time I told you that the cause of what makes kelpies need to devour sapient beings is tied to the very core of our beings. To alter a kelpie on such a level would require magical power beyond the greatest users of magic.”
“Yes… are you saying you are able to get the magic to alter the very core of the kelpies being?” asked Alternia.
“Not without help, admittedly. I propose a joint operation. The goal will help both of us out. I will gain the power to alter my kelpies and the Old One will no longer be a threat to either of our peoples after I devour it and take its power as my own,” declared Tethys.
Part of Alternia was overjoyed, but she had to stop her eyes from narrowing as she heard the latter part of the last sentence.
“Thus, we would be able to actually sign a long term peace treaty with the terms we proposed instead of a five year one.” Alternia paused. “I must ask however, what do you mean by you will devour it and take its power? I’ve heard of mana-leeching spells, but those are fairly difficult.”
“No. I’ll take its power as I consume it. Body and soul. Or what passes for one in such a being,” said Tethys.
Alternia shivered. She couldn’t help it. It was a terrifying prospect.
“And this tactic has worked before?” asked Chrysalis warily.
Noticeably, Typhon averted his eyes.
“Yes,” said Tethys.
“Alright, but I don’t understand why you would require our aid though, considering that you have this ability. Unless…” Alternia pursed her lips. “You want to divide the number of targets the Great One has to mind control, right?”
The Empress nodded shortly. “The Primal God’s most versatile tools have always been the fools and weak-willed twisted by its influence. Even then, if it puts effort into mind-controlling one of us, nothing will be able to prevent the possession.”
“That makes sense. We’ve had two major riots involving over a thousand mind controlled ponies respectively that were acting almost like cultists.” Alternia frowned. “That also makes this operation extremely dangerous.”
The trailing tone in Alternia’s voice could not be missed, and Tethys glanced at Typhon who coughed officiously. At that signal, Brinewing passed Typhon a scroll and the kelpie used his tentacles to unfurl it for Alternia and her friends to see.
“In return for your assistance, Aquestria is willing to sign a long term peace treaty. All terms from our previous discussions apply, so we will still have the pony and seapony family exchanges and Princess Luna will still be a hostage in Aquestria for five years. However, the Aquestrian Empire will now pay reparations for the repair of the tsunami damage Venecia suffered as a result of Empress Tethys’s duel with Empress Samudra. Our current offer is made in light of calculations based on what Brinewing informed us of the current market price of construction materials.”
Alternia blinked at the seven-digit figure. It was substantial, extremely substantial, but it wasn’t her call. She glanced at Sebastiana who scrutinized the paper and nodded.
“The reparations are sufficient,” said Sebastiana, a bit reluctantly, but there was a note of satisfaction in her tone.
Typhon nodded. “Finally, we will also return Queen Murmillar to the Sea Snakes.”
Everypony and changeling blinked and was silent for several long seconds. Shock and surprise had basically suffused throughout the entire Equestrian delegation, silencing them in their seats.
“She’s alive?” Retariusil croaked, her voice filled with hope. Yet, Alternia could sense the fear in the young queen.
“I was originally going to eat her,” said Tethys.
“But you didn’t and she’s alive?” Retariusil asked desperately.
“I changed my mind when it became apparent she could provide certain insight. Until now, I’ve kept her safe,” said the Empress coolly.
Retariusil nodded quickly. “Have you been able to feed her love? Does she need any right now? Where is she?” she asked.
Chrysalis nudged Retariusil in a not-so-subtle fashion and the young queen blinked and took a deep breath and swallowed. “I’m sorry… for my curiosity, Empress.”
The Empress didn’t respond to Retariusil’s apology, and her expression didn’t change from its stoic mask.
“She is in one of the trenches. Murmillar is safe enough for now as she is guarded by my elite guard who are chosen for their discipline as well for their military skills. As for the exact location, there is no point in revealing that for now if the Old One kills or dominates us all.”
Numbly, Retariusil nodded, and Alternia could sense the happiness, and yet despair in her heart.
“I understand. Thank you, Empress. Do you have any further offers?” Retariusil asked.
“No.”
Alternia turned to Tethys, her eyes looking up at the massive Empress. “We’ll need some time to discuss this. You have given us a lot of things to think about.”
“Do not take too long to discuss. The longer you take, the stronger the Old One will get," warned Tethys.
Nodding, Alternia then stood up, bowed to the Empress, flaring her wings out in submission, a gesture that was mirrored by Retariusil, Chrysalis and then the others, before they all quickly trotted up the beach.
“I sure hope they’re going to take our offer,” muttered Typhon so softly, only Ebb and Tethys could hear it.
Once the sound bubble was up, the Equestrians and changelings quickly sat down roughly in a circle on the beach, not caring how sharp the pebbles were underneath their flanks.
First, though, they quickly used the crystal ball to call Luna, Simulacris and Belladonna and explained the situation to them.
“We need opinions now, and quickly,” Alternia said.
Chrysalis pursed her lips. “The Great One is a threat to the Aquestrians and to us. The Empress’s proposal will halt him and ensure a long term peace with the kelpies. I am tentatively in favour of it.”
Celestia grimaced. “I have never encountered one myself, but I have heard a little of the primal gods and none of it good. Tethys’s solution does allow us to neutralize the primal god and in fact, may be the only way to do so.”
“I know we’ll be jeopardising our already fragile position, as Tethys could just as easily alter her kelpies to be invulnerable to direct sunlight, and wipe us out then, but I can’t let her have my mother in her custody for any longer,” said Retariusil. The young queen groaned. “She must be starving. I doubt she has had a lot of love provided to her.”
“Allowing her this power to correct their feeding problem would relieve Tethys of the need to constantly attack us, which they know is unsustainable. Hence, they would not need to undergo such an alteration,” pointed out Simulacris.
“I am very glad that they’ve offered to give us reparations, but what if they want to attack us after we provide our assistance? Just because we help them overcome their need to feed doesn’t mean they won’t have ambitions,” pointed out Sebastiana.
Luna shook her head. “They are a primarily sea-based species, which means that their ambitions would be orientated to the ocean. We know this too as whatever attacks they have made were to eliminate threats to their ocean and not to conquer land.”
“Still, the problem is that we must give Tethys more power and that is a prospect that I do not enjoy,” groaned Belladonna.
Simulacris sighed. “Yet, we can’t let the Great One destroy Aquestria. We don’t know if we can beat the Great One by ourselves, should Tethys be killed.”
“True, but can we really afford Tethys absorbing the power of a god, provided her plan works and we can actually subdue it in combat, which would be incredibly difficult in the first place?” asked Celestia.
“Perhaps, her plan in principle would work and together we stand a good a chance as any to destroy the Great One,” said Chrysalis.
Celestia pursed her lips. “The real question then is can we trust her to fulfill her promise of using the Great One’s power for changing the kelpies nature to not needing to devour sapient beings.”
“We can hazard a guess that Tethys is correct that such a magical feat would require an outpouring of magic which would drain even a god,” said Luna.
Belladonna frowned. “But her having such power is still a risk as she can do a lot of damage to us before even needing to start the healing process.”
Retariusil nodded. “I also must admit, she is intensely hostile to those that live on the surface, I could also sense how reluctant she was to ask us for help, even when her kind is in so much danger. It’ll be very dangerous for us to allow her to gain so much power.”
“Indeed, but so far, despite having an advantage over us, she’s continued to adhere to her promises and the original treaty,” remarked Simulacris.
Alternia grimaced. “Moreover, if she’s so reluctant to ask us for help, the fact that she’s asking us now means that this is a pretty grave situation.”
“But that does nothing to say whether she’ll hold to her word or not, Alternia” said Sebastiana glancing at the changeling.
Celestia frowned. “Alternia, perhaps we can bring in the Elements of Harmony to deal with the Old One and potentially Tethys as well.”
Alternia raised an eyebrow, whilst Luna blinked. “What do you mean sister?”
“The moment Tethys engages the Old One is when she will be the most vulnerable. Assuming that she’ll be using her great physical strength against the Old One to devour it, then they’ll be together enough so that your student and her friends can target it with the Elements and potentially seal both of our problems,” said Celestia.
“That’s incredibly changeling of you, Celestia,” said Belladonna rather admiringly.
“But I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea, Celestia,” said Luna.
Belladonna frowned at the princess. “Why not?”
“According to what Alternia has told me. Discord was able to rather easily affect the minds of Twilight’s friends and eventually managed to achieve a degree of control on Twilight’s own mind as well. That rendered the Elements of Harmony useless. If the Spirit of Chaos could do it, it stands to reason that this Old One may be able to do the same,” said Luna.
“But what if we do succeed in this? It could tie up both of our major problems!” exclaimed Sebastiana.
“What about the kelpies’ retribution, Sebastiana?” asked Retariusil. The Doggess blinked and groaned as the changeling queen sighed and scooted up next to her. “Even if we can take out the kelpies’ Empress, the rage of the kelpies, maybe even the seaponies would be great. After all, we would have committed an act of supreme treachery against them.”
“There’s also the matter of the Elements of Harmony’s possible effect on the Empress and the Old One,” said Luna gingerly. “Provided we can seal them both, which isn’t a certainty considering the power of the Old One, Discord and Nightmare Moon both broke free after a thousand years. Disregarding Tethys, The Old One is significantly more dangerous and it’s likely he’ll break free faster.”
Celestia sighed. “You’re right. Moreover, if Tethys holds to her word, we will have a permanent peace, or at least one that is a very strong possibility. I still think the Elements of Harmony should be asked to come to the nearest significant landmass, as a last resort.”
Alternia nodded, a bit reluctantly. “I don’t like putting Twilight and her friends in such danger, but I agree. Also, in my opinion, the Great One is an even greater threat to Equestria than Tethys. The Empress is at least constrained by her own species and if we succeed, Tethys would need to learn how to use her new power. This Great One can mind control ponies and beings without even trying. We can defend against Tethys, perhaps even after being bolstered by the Great One’s power, but not against the Great One’s corruptive influence.”
“That’s a rather good point, but wouldn’t it be trading one devil for another, so to speak?” asked Retariusil.
Simulacris frowned. “Have we all forgotten that the kelpies in particular are bound to their honor code? There will of course be the possibility that they turn on us, but Tethys swore to sign a long term peace treaty should we assist her. Her going back on her word would be against everything they have preached and have done.”
“I suppose so. There’s also the strong likelihood that after our assistance of the Aquestrians, our relations with them are going to improve,” said Belladonna.
“We also get quite a few good benefits. Queen Murmillar, and reparations for the repair of Venecia are hardly offers to dismiss easily,” said Celestia thoughtfully.
Sebastiana groaned. “Unfortunately, agreeing to this means that we can’t save any of the prisoners, which we know they have even if they haven’t admitted to it.”
“They’ve been lost from the moment they were captured, Sebastiana,” said Celestia. The white alicorn sighed and turned to her changeling co-ruler. “You really think that Tethys is trustworthy, Alternia?”
Alternia nodded. “She’s never broken her word. Moreover, she has come to us for help when we were fairly certain she would never do so. This is at least giving me a sign that she’s willing to trust us, which is promising. That and because she’s come to us means the threat is something greater than the hostility between our two alliances.”
The changeling princess pursed her lips, brow furrowed in contemplation. “Tethys also has some very strong motivation not to break her word and to use the power she would gain from the Old One to cure the kelpies first. After all, the kelpies’ feeding continues a cycle of fighting that would drain their resources and endanger their lives. For all our concerns about them preying on ponies and changelings on land, up until now the victims of the kelpies’ hunger have apparently been seaponies, who are now also Tethys’s subjects, and whom she clearly wishes to protect.”
“I don’t trust her, but she hasn’t broken her word and this appears to be the best way to safeguard Equestria,” said Celestia. Glancing at Alternia, Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “But we need to tread lightly.”
“Oh, I will,” said Alternia grimly.
“Empress Tethys, we find your proposal completely satisfactory. Equestria, Venecia, and her allied hives will assist the Aquestrian Empire with subduing the Old One.” Alternia leaned forward hooves on the table. “Considering you appear to be the authority on this Great One and seem to have a plan to take it out, can you elaborate on it further?”
If Tethys was pleased at their agreement, she didn’t show it. “Not much elaboration is necessary. We bring you to the Old One, appropriately charmed for underwater travel. You will provide me time to devour the Old One.”
“Understood. However, considering the limited effectiveness of our weapons and magic against you, I think we might need more than just our magic against the primal god,” said Alternia.
“Your point?” asked Tethys.
“From what you’ve told us, this primal god is extremely powerful. Apart from his ability to mind control he clearly must possess physical and magical abilities that would pose a threat to you, and you basically overpowered me. You did the same for Celestia.” There was a bit of mirth in Tethys’s eyes from Alternia’s admission, but the Empress said nothing.
So Alternia continued. “If we allow enough time for Luna, my adopted alicorn niece Cadance, and my two younger sisters to arrive, and should Queen Murmillar recover enough of her strength, we can field three alicorns, and six changeling queens against the Old One, but even then I question whether we can pin this Old One down long enough for you to devour him.” Alternia gritted her teeth. “We need to improve our chances.”
“We could bring in more of our own forces,” said Sebastiana.
Ebb Flow shook her head. “No, you cannot. They’ll be overpowered and turned against you.”
“If we can’t bring in personnel, perhaps we can use magical items to amplify our own spellcasting. I’ve heard of an amulet that can amplify the powers of any magician tenfold,” said Chrysalis.
Celestia coughed, loudly, drawing everypony’s attention. “That would be unwise. Most of those types of magical amplification items are dark in nature. The amulet you have likely heard of, Queen Chrysalis, is the Alicorn Amulet and in return for the power it gives you, it seizes control of the user’s mind, driving them mad with power and vanity.”
“That rules out magical items. Perhaps a magical weapon?” asked Retariusil.
“What kind of weapons?” asked Tethys.
Alternia took a short breath collect her thoughts. “I know that in our Royal Vault, we have some unique magical weapons such as Cairnstalker, a dagger that made the user invisible. The rather aptly named Bang-Stick which amplified a user’s fire magic. However, Equestria has never fought an underwater opponent of that magnitude before and so none of them, at least to my knowledge appear to apply to this situation. I’ll have our archivists take a look, though.”
“Can you not create a weapon?” Tethys inquired.
Alternia blinked, a contemplative look coming to her face.
“Possibly. Let me contact somepony for advice.” Alternia reached down into her saddlebags, took out her crystal ball and stand, and stood it up on the table. Concentrating, she narrowed her eyes, magic coursing into the ball from her horn until what looked like a very messy study faded into view.
That was when a unicorn mare with a teal coat and a rich chocolate brown mane popped up into view, the image of her slightly distorted head sticking up from under the desk the crystal ball on the other side was atop of. The most striking thing about the unicorn though were her bright green eyes, which seemed to pierce right through most ponies.
“Alternia! What seems to be the problem—” They mare’s green eyes widened and she stared at what had to be the massive image of Tethys on the other side.
“Meringue, this is Empress Tethys of Aquestria. Empress, this is Archmage Meringue Le Fay, sometimes known as Meringue Le Pie. She’s one of our foremost experts on sorcery and enchantment,” said Alternia calmly.
Meringue, swallowed, nodded and grabbed a green cloak from outside of the crystal ball’s viewing screen, which she wrapped around herself, before sitting down in a chair.
“Charmed. I suppose you want some kind of magical consultation?” asked Meringue.
“Yes. Have you heard of the Old Gods?” Alternia asked.
“Big, dangerous, terrifyingly so, and they have great physical strength due to their size. Their abilities are mostly unknown though and they disappeared millennia ago—” Meringue paused, her eyes widening. “An Old One is causing what’s happening in the Western Sea?”
Alternia nodded, glancing at Tethys. The massive kelpie showed no signs of reaction however. “Yes, and because it poses a threat to both Equestria and Aquestria, Empress Tethys has requested our assistance in return for a permanent peace treaty to be drawn up. She plans to devour the Old One, gaining its power and then using it to cure the kelpies need to feed on sentient beings. She needs the Old One to be pinned down, however, which we can do, but because this Old One has an extremely dangerous mind control ability that caused the riots in Las Pegasus and Vanhoofer, we need to forge a weapon that can assist us in this endeavour.”
“How many are you taking into this fight?” asked Mirage.
“Alicorns and changeling queens only. So myself, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, my four sisters, and two more queens. The Old One passively turns any being with weak will into a cultist, so it cannot have sentience of any form,” said Alternia.
Meringue frowned. “That rules out magical constructs and sendings, which means our best bet is a weapon forged with enchantments and magic to perform a specific task. Any weapon we build for you or the alicorns won’t have enough power to subdue something like an Old One, though.”
“Why?” Tethys asked.
The archmage took a deep breath and looked at Tethys. “Size, your majesty. A weapon can only be imbued with so much magic. Any weapons we ponies normally would carry aren’t going to have any effect on the Old One.” Meringue managed a half-grin. “On the other hoof, assuming you are comfortable holding this form, if we build a weapon for you to wield against the Old One, my mages can pack it with an incredibly powerful enchantment.”
“Such as a paralysis spell?” Tethys asked.
“To freeze the Old One? Exactly. I can’t guarantee it will be one hundred percent effective, but it’s worth a try,” said Meringue.
“We can also add our magic to the enchantment,” said Celestia looking up at Tethys. “The weapon will have to be forged on Venecia due to its size, so we might as well be involved in the enchanting process. You should save your strength for the engagement, but if you could recruit some of your deep ponies, we can add even more power to the enchantment.”
“Very well. I’ll have our archmagus gather some of her colleagues.”
“Great. I need some preliminary information to determine the weapon’s size, though,” said Meringue as she picked up a parchment and quill with her magic. “Firstly, is this the biggest size you can maintain when fighting the Old One? And what’s the heaviest object you can wield in this form?”
Alternia didn’t react, but she listened carefully to Tethys’s answers.
“This is the largest form I can maintain for now. Once I start devouring the Old One and its power, I’ll gain strength, both physical and magical. As for the heaviest I can wield, I’ve been able to lift and throw one of your destroyers.”
The mage nodded, and jotted down a few notes.
“Excellent. Now, I was thinking of a spear, but what kind of weapon do you think would be most suited for the job?” asked Meringue.
Tethys took a moment to consider the question. “A long bladed spear.”
Meringue smiled. “Understood.” Her image turned to look at Alternia. “Your highness, do you mind sending me a Royal Writ to request the necessary ponies and materials?”
“Of course not. I’ll also alert Princess Luna, Cadance and my sisters personally to be ready to move out, and send a letter to Twilight,” said Alternia.
“Great, I should be on Venecia with the others in about two weeks to forge the weapon on site. Is that quick enough, Empress?” asked Meringue.
“The quicker the better. The Old One is not necessarily constrained to the oceans and will create chaos wherever it goes.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “Discord…” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Your warning is much appreciated Empress,” said Alternia, nodding to dismiss Meringue, who bowed and let the scrying spell fade.
Standing up, Alternia trotted around the table and to the water’s edge. She tried very hard not to think how easy it was for Tethys to simply crush her with her tentacles, or how much easier it would be should they succeed in their task.
In spite of her fear, though, and the fact that she was trembling, just a bit, Alternia managed to come to the water’s edge, and with Tethys’s eyes on her, she extended a hoof up toward the massive Empress.
“To a successful operation and a peaceful future between our factions.”
Tethys extended one massive tentacle, whose width was basically as tall as Alternia. With exceptionally fine control, the Empress tapped the very tip of the tentacle against Alternia’s hoof, with enough force to drive Alternia’s three remaining hooves into the sand.
Against her hoof the tentacle was oddly dry, though perhaps more worrying was the emotionless expression Tethys wore in spite of her gesture. So behind her nervous smile, Alternia had to resist the urge to swallow in an attempt to wet her dry throat. Perhaps they had avoided war for now, but by no means were the Equestrians completely safe.