The seething sea ceaseth and thus Shimmering Sea hast savethed us

by kitten_girl86

Chapter 9

"Oh! If the plants aren't growing what are all the animals eating? Oh! I hope they're not going hungry!" whimpered Fluttershy. Shimmer leaned over and patted Fluttershy on the back gently.

"Plants not growing? I really wish Applejack was here," said Twilight with a thoughtful frown. "Who is this Applejack, Twilight?" asked Aqua. "Applejack is a farmer earth pony from Ponyville. She'd be able to figure it out," Spike said as he dug his claw into his gem bag to pick out the ones he wanted. Twilight nodded distractedly.

Tide Glider tried to hide her face by dropping her mane but Aqua saw through the ploy. "TG? Do you have something to add?" Aqua asked in an overly sweet voice. The guests all looked up at Tide Glider, who coughed into her hoof and blushed profusely before regaining her composure.

"We have been receiving reports of deforestation in parts of the ocean... whole swatches of sea bed have been wiped clean of any plant life. The reports are accompanied by notes of a large shadow being seen and a moaning noise that nopony can identify." Tide Glider appeared nervous as she spoke; almost as if she were afraid that the unknown thing would jump out of a dark corner at any moment.

Twilight pondered the information but Shimmer could already see where this was going. "Either it's a boat somehow doing this or it's some kind of ocean-dwelling beast. Tide Glider, did your reports say where these happened exactly?" Shimmer turned to TG. Tide Glider nodded, producing a scroll from the bottom of the pile on Aqua's vanity table. "We use the same coordinates here in the ocean as you do on the surface... it makes the transition for the returnees easier to deal with," TG said as she passed the scroll to Shimmer with her wing.

Aqua stuck her tongue out in a Pinkie-esc kind of way. "Nah... that's just because we're too lazy to go back to the old ways of using landmarks and the position of the stars." "No, Princess... this is far more scientific and we both know how much your cousin Princess Luna likes to change the stars in the sky. Completely unreliable," TG said, crossing her front hooves. Aqua shook her head as she refilled her salad dish from a fresh bowl carried in by the stallion merpony. "No... not all the stars get moved by Luna. She always keeps the centaur, Big Spoon and Little Spoon in the same place no matter what. I should know! I spent many starry nights up on the surface, watching their progress. Celestia never changed them when Luna got banished and Luna still hasn't touched them since her return."

Shimmering Sea turned her attention to the scroll as the banter between Princess Aqua and Tide Glider continued in the background. To Shimmer, it sounded like an old argument they were reigniting.

Twilight peaked over Shimmer's shoulder as she used her own magic to levitate the scroll. Where Twilight only saw weird symbols & a vague ocean map, Shimmer saw them glow brightly and then translated into Equis, almost floating on the page itself. Fluttershy joined them but, like Twilight, she could not read the symbols either. The two land ponies exchanged a confused look and shrug; then Twilight saw the understanding in Shimmering Sea's eyes. "Can you understand it, Shimmer?" Twilight asked.

Shimmer was snapped out of her thoughts by the mere fact that Twilight had just referred to her by the shorter version. Then she came back to reality. "Oh... of course I can. It's written in Equis," she said staring at Twilight. Both she and Fluttershy shook their heads and it was this exchange that brought Princess Aqua and Tide Glider back into the conversation.

TG swam over the group and corkscrewed to stop behind Shimmer. "Our writing is an ancient runes that only another merpony can read... even one who has returned, no matter their tribe." She tapped the paper with a slightly glowing wing, letting the words that Shimmer could see return to their runes state before touching it again. "Shimmering Sea's levitation merely activated the paper."

Twilight's eyes brightened at another piece of information; before she could say anything, Spike dropped his bowl and grabbed up his charcoal and parchment. Twilight drifted over to Spike and started her dictation. Shimmering Sea ignored her.

Shimmering Sea and Fluttershy returned to the scroll and Shimmer continued to read it, translating for Fluttershy as she went. When Twilight finished dictating to Spike, Shimmer gave him the same translation so they'd have an Equis copy to take with them. And I know Twilight will want to investigate this anomaly, Shimmer thought to her self. If anything but for the scientific discovery.

"This will be too far to travel tonight; it's best if we set out in the morning," Twilight said after reading the translation; Shimmer concurred. She returned the original scroll to Tide Glider and started for the door.

"Couldn't you stay the night?" Aqua asked wistfully. "I'm afraid not, Princess. We must return to the Bone Caves. My mother will probably be there waiting for us," Shimmering Sea said.

Princess Aqua seemed to understand. She levitated a small canvas pouch on a string from the top drawer of her vanity. She then took a blank piece of scroll from a pile on the floor, tore them into small enough pieces to fit inside and placed them in the pouch before placing it around Twilight's neck. "I've enchanted the paper to magically identify your coordinates if you get lost. But if you need help, teleport your current slip to me and I'll send my guards. If you place them back into the pouch, the coordinates will disappear; they're reusable!" Princess Aqua squealed with delight.

Princess Twilight, Shimmering Sea, Fluttershy and Spike all bowed deeply with gratitude before being escorted out. Shimmer, being the last, could have sworn she heard Princess Aqua being to dictate: "Dear Cousin Celestia.... before the door closed behind her.

As Tide Glider led them back through the tunnel, she reminded them not to speak of Princess Aqua to any of the earth-mers and especially not Coral Blossom. The group merely nodded; Shimmering Sea had a feeling that Aqua would not be a secret much longer anyway.

Returning to the Bone Caves, they found Coral Blossom waiting inside of Tide Glider's home, clutching the scroll that Twilight sent her in her hoof. Shimmering Sea, hurried over to her and embraced her. "So sorry Coral! We didn't mean to keep you waiting.... TG's friend was very helpful in our cause." Coral just seemed relieved that Shimmer had returned.

Tide Glider offered to let Shimmer pick her cave now. Shimmer shook her head. "I'm not sure if I'll stay.... I may choose after this to go back to the land." Coral Blossom radiated sadness but tried to hide it. Instead, TG led them to the highest alcove in the Bone Caves; it was close to the surface in case Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike needed a breath of fresh air, which all three took advantage of, leaving Coral and Shimmer alone and TG returned to her own home.

Author's Note:

Oh, and in case some were wondering, the name "Tide Glider" is actually a breed of dragon from the School of Dragons game on Facebook. I don't mean to steal it... just forgot to give credit until now!