What Followed The Dawn

by Anemptyshell

A World So Deep

“So, not to be that guy. But, you know, we can’t breathe underwater, right?” I said. We’d reached the location Brook had insisted the genetically dimorphous hippogriffs had as a checkpoint. That was in of itself fine. The issue was not only did it look like any other strip of sea in a hundred-mile radius. Brook never did tell us how we’d actually meet the queen. Or even who we were meeting. In hindsight, it was slightly more clandestine than I felt comfortable with.

“Just wait. They’ll be here,” Brook said, peering off the ship as it rose and fell with each wave. That was a nice change, at least. Blueblood’s ship was the Hippogriff of the aeronautical world from the sky to the sea.

“But like, who, though?” I asked.

“The princess, silly,” Babble said. The foal had been running around the deck ever since she woke up. It would have been adorable if she didn’t trip every other cre worker she ran under.

“Which one?” Thorax asked.

“Princess Skystar,” Brook said, plucking Babble as she ran by. The filly struggled vainly in her captor’s grasp. “She assists with escorting those returning back to shelter. Something we are supposed to keep secret,” Brook japped Babble, who retaliated in kind.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Bright said. He’d taken to flying circles overhead, scouting for our supposed allies.

“If the purpose of your princess’ arrival is to assure you were neither captured nor coerced, isn’t our presence reason enough to go unseen?” Sombra asked. Brook dropped Babble and groaned.

“If only she were that cautious. She’s too nosy for her own good.”

“Speaking of. Something coming in fast.”

Sabre pointed into the water, where several dark silhouettes moved beneath the waves. Then Bright was in the water, or more precisely, he dived straight into the water. I planted a hoof into my face. What was he thinking?

“Thorax, could you?” Sabre asked.

Thorax hopped in place, eyes darting from the still-rippling water to Sabre, who shook his head in disbelief.

“Oh, right, sure.”

Thorax said before mumbling under his breath and jumping to the waters below. I thought I saw the flash of his change, but how the green fire and water mixed was beyond me.

“Yay, Princess Skystar.”

There went Babble right behind Thorax. Brook cursed a storm up as he followed behind his junior.

I turned to Sombra. “You think they’ll be okay?” I asked.

Sombra rolle dhis eyes. “Our friends or the hippogriffs?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Three, two, one.”

Spade counted allowed gesturing to the water in mock surprise. No one expected what came next. Or, more precisely, what changed about what happened to whom next? It was a messy thought.

“Hey, guys.”

Bright leaped from the water, smiling like a loon. That was normal. No issues there, nope, none. You know, except for the fins and missing hindlegs, nope, nothing wrong at all. Then Brook surfaced and rapped Bright upside his now finned head.

“What were you thinking?” Brook asked.

“That I wanted to see a seapony, silly. Now I am a seapony. Life is neat like that. Besides, your Princess seemed happy to see us.”

Brook raised his hoof before letting it fall back into the water. “That’s true, at the very least. If not completely her style.”

“Well, I certainly am left bereft of words. I was expecting Brook and Babble.” Blueblood pointed to the equally fishified Brook. “However, how Bright Pitch of all ponies managed to metamorphize is strictly an affront to Faust in every sense of the word. That is to say, Bright changing, not the act in of itself.”

Blueblood coughed into a hoof and offered an embarrassed smile. Brook chose to ignore him.

“Nice Blue. Way for an ambassador to potentially do a racist the minute our new friends arrive. Very unbecoming,” Spade said, tutting Blueblood, who offered a second louder cough into his hoof.

“I only meant Bright Pitch having such abilities is terrifying.”

“He’s not wrong,” Sabre said.

“Rude,” Bright yelled back from the water.

“It’s nice to see Brook managed to make some friends on his trip to the mines. So, many new allies. It is so nice to meet you all.”

From the churning seas rose a third seapony if I had to guess.

“Princess, please, you make it sound like a leisurely swim. Mt. Aris is dangerous,” Brook said. Skystar giggled and winked at those of us still topside.

“Oh, absolutely it is, but that doesn’t mean our guests deserve the cold shoulder.”

“We were just happy to help.”

Thorax’s new form fit more keenly into some sort of insect eel. So, an Eelling, a Changeel. Whichever really. He swam passed the others and smiled up at us. “The Princess has agreed to take us to her mother, which is a relief. I didn’t want to be the only one to see Queen Novo. Queen Chrysalis would no doubt want to speak with her. Then I would be stuck playing translator, which wouldn’t be any fun at all.”

Probably,” I agreed.

“That aside, I thought only the queen could alter the forms of others. Yet, there Bright Pitch sits, more fish than a mammal.”

Sombra squinted down at Skystar, who met his glare with a raspberry. I felt myself choke back a laugh. Spade had no such restraint. Neither did. To anyone’s surprise Bright who was eagerly swimming, circles around the other aquatic folk.

“Of course not. My mother can’t be everywhere. Besides, all of the others, those rescued, I mean, would need the pearl’s power to change. I could use air bubbles, but those don’t last very long, and not everyone would be a good enough swimmer to make it with four legs. Can you imagine? My mother can make it more permanent, but I can at least get them back home.”

“Huh, right then.”

With a single flap of my wings, I jumped the rail and splashed down into the waters below. Then there was a glow, the funniest feeling of vertigo, and poof. I no longer had hindlegs. It was interesting. I wondered if this was how Changelings felt. So fluid and malleable?

When I breached, I was met by Birght, who tackled me in a nautical hug. “Welcome to the water breather club, Star.”

“Oh, for the love of—”

Another splash. When I finally freed myself from Bright’s grasp, I was met by Blueblood, who’d also managed the change. Then another splash and Spade joined us as well.

“The things I put up with,” Blue said, blowing a bang from his eyes.

“It’s not that bad, is it?” Skystar asked.

“No, just different,” Blueblood said, relented, swiping his new fishy tail about. Then he was pulled into one of Bright’s hugs which sunk both of them in equal measure.

“Water, you waiting for Sabre, Sombra. We really need to H2go.”

Spade waved the remaining mammalian members of our amphibious entourage of freedom fighters. Sabre looked behind him towards the remaining crew, who’d paused their work to watch. Then he took a single deep breath and hopped the rail. At the same time, Sabre was going through his magical girl transformation. Sombra looked on the verge of hitting something. The glint of restrained irritation was barely masked by his interest in the extent of the Hippogriff’s unique magics. That and His pungent annoyance at Princess Skystar. The latter, of whom seemed nonplussed by his fury.

“Come on, Sombra, we got things to do, you know.”

“I will ensure you are aware. I do not consent to these necessary alternations to my biology for any more reason than seeking The Storm King’s disposition. Am I clear?”

“As crystal,” Blueblood said. Sombra nodded once, and with a pop and flash of red, Sombra landed inches beside me with barely a ripple. Teleporting was cheating, and he knew it.

“Okay, last one, here we go,” Skystar said before Sombra was wrapped in whatever magic Skystar was pulling from. My guess was the large glowing pearl-esque thing she had lifted for all to see.

When the light faded, Sombra was officially fishy. I bumped my hoof into his shoulder. “That wasn’t so bad, huh?”

Sombra hissed. “I despise this.”

“Okay, everyone. Mom will want to see you guys as soon as possible. If it means beating The Storm King, Mom will totally offer any aid we can. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I bring her a rescue party.”

Skystar was off like a rocket, weaving deeper into the seas as the rest of us slowly followed. Brook slowed to ensure we didn’t get lost, and Bavvle seemed happy to play water tag with Bright the whole way.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Brook said. He leaned towards me, fishy hoof raised in the universal sign of evident secrecy.

“As in?”

Brook sighed. “The Queen. She may want to free her subjects, but she is none too appreciative of outsiders. All thanks to The Storm King, of course.”

“She sounds wise. Only a fool trusts others,” Nightmare said.

“I am not getting into this right now,” I said. Nightmare scoffed and turned her head away. Well, as close as one can get when they are inside the one you are trying to ignore.

“What?”

I blinked. Brook was giving me an odd look. It then clicked I’d spoken to Nightmare allowed. I offered a meek smile. “Sorry, but um, then why take us at all? If all it is going to do, is anger your queen?”

Brook pointed a head to Skystar. “Because many of us are tired of hiding from that monster. We’re tired of trying and barely saving any of those still captured. Princess Skystar, more than most, is tired of hiding.”

“I see.”

“Tis a sign of empathy. The very ability to strive to be better for her subjects. A noble trait if none others are,” Blueblood said. He struck a daring pose, even if it didn’t translate well to underwater.

“Noble aspirations alone do not make a good leader. One must see past the moment to see the steps to achieve, sacrifice, and know when and where to fight.”

Sombra slowed, eyes glazed over, lost in his memories. I recalled our first meeting. He was stuck in the past then too. That seemed like a lifetime ago now. Only a year and some change later, here we were, on another battle to save, the diarchy, the Hippogriffs, this and that. A tale as old as time. I wanted to know if it made any real change, any meaningful path to a brighter future. One mess was cleaned, only to find five more.

“You would challenge my rule, only to cower among your imagined what if? How pathetic.”

Nightmare had stood stomping forward, pointing a hoof in my imagined direction. Her fangs ground as she seethed. I was taken aback by her response. The anger, it wasn’t the cold rage she normally embodied. The glint in her eyes was different—the hissing and growling unbecoming of her typical tyrannical pedigree. I was offended. Her words stung. The truth was, she had a point.

“Fair,” I said, relenting to the maniac that sat in my subconscious. The shadows played, wrapping and twisting the dark as quickly as they cast over a sunlit wall. My head thumped with my heartbeat as the world around me played out on autopilot.

“Is that all you have to say? Is that all you are capable of? If so, then you deserved to die at my hoof. The wretched Discord be damned for resurrecting such a coward.”

The barbs dug deeper. Then, as suddenly as I had fallen back into the palace of my mind. I was shaken back to reality. Sabre had taken to jostling my shoulder. I blinked away the shadows that returned to my periphery.

“Star?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Sabre?”

Sabre looked ahead, and I followed his lead. Coral reefs, a palace of some kind, like a flower, grew from above, leading down into the depths. Other seaponies swam about, though as they saw our approach, many retreated. I could feel dozens of eyes on my back.

“Woah.”

That was all our group could collectively muster. A response that left Skystar giggling as she waved a hoof around, spinning in a delightful giddy dance. Stopping only when the rest of us came to a stop.

“Ta-da, welcome to Seaquestria.”

“We sure did,” Bright said. I cracked a smile as Bright instinctively reached for his notepad. Even if he did have it on him, which he did not. It would have been ruined by our extended dip in the ocean.

“I take it, Queen Novo, is in the large petaled structure?” Sombra asked.

“Yep, she should still be having court. So, we need to get moving. The sooner we figure out how to save the day, the better.”

“Agreed,” Sabre said. I hadn’t noticed, but Sabre had grabbed my leg and pulled me behind him as the rest of us followed Skystar to the Seat of seaquestrian power.

A nudge to my free side had me looking at Thorax, who grinned at me. The rows of prickly eel teeth sent a shiver up my spine.

“One step at a time, Star.”

“If you say so,” I said. I swear my friends make less and less sense by the day. That said. We’d made it to the palace, where the seafarers nearby swam away as quickly as they could.

“A better response than I expected,” Brook said.

“It’ll be fine, you’ll see. Mom will have to listen to you guys, even if she won’t listen to me.”

Skystar’s Smiled for a moment. The merriment stripped from her words faster than she could mask it. Relatable, even if not desired.

“We’ll do our best,” Thorax said and offered Skystar a gentle hoof on her shoulder. The Princess nodded and twirled about to face the entryway, a vertical opening in the petals. I hoped not all the doors worked that way. Talk about a confusing parallel to the surface.