> The seething sea ceaseth and thus Shimmering Sea hast savethed us
>  by kitten_girl86
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> Prolog
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	The bright sunny day in Manehattan had started off just grand... a birthday celebration for her 16 year old granddaughter. Ribbon Rosetta, an earth pony in her elder years, watched as her adopted granddaughter, a unicorn named Shimmering Sea, blew out the candles on her cake.
As Ribbon watched the young mare open her presents, she thought back on the day her son & daughter-in-law had adopted the girl as a 4 week old filly.


 ~*~  

Ribbon’s pegasus son, Gusty Cloud, and unicorn wife, Ivory Vision, had found out early on that they could not have children of their own. What`s more, Ivory was born with limited vision to her eyes; she could see colours [1] and blurred shapes at best. She worked at a special school for the blind, teaching fillies and colts how to deal with sudden loss of vision. {Gusty worked for the Manehattan weather patrol.}
Ribbon took them to the Seashore Manehattan Orphanage about a week after the sad news. She was determined to have grandchildren, whatever it took. It was Ivory who pointed out Shimmering Sea because of the foal’s stark blue colours. As Gusty described the infant, Ivory and Ribbon fell instantly in love with her. She was adopted the same day; the day they always celebrated her “birthday”.
Not even two weeks later, they had taken the foal to the beach for a mid-summer swim. Ribbon Rose reclined on a beach chair to work on some knitting; Ivory Vision curled up on the beach towel and listened as Gusty Cloud played with Shimmer in the water. 
At some point, the foal crawled away to find a little shell trapped in some seaweed at high tide. She never knew why but she felt something inside her that said that the shell should be in the ocean, not on dry land. Shimmer grabbed the shell in the strongest levitation spell she could muster and plopped the shell back into the water. Gusty watched from not far away and gasped at what he saw. Little foal Shimmering Sea had used magic beyond her years to rescue a sea shell clam and had earned her cutie mark! Ivory did not believe until Ribbon and a bunch of total strangers (including one of the Royal Guard on vacation) confirmed for her that the foal, indeed, had a cutie mark of a white scallop sea shell; all she saw was a tiny white blemish. Since Shimmer was so young, they decided to hold off on the cute-ceañera until the foal was older.... about five years older when a young filly entered her first magi-kindergarten class to discover she was the only one WITH a cutie mark!
As Shimmering Sea grew up, she developed her magic & studies to a point that as a tween, she got a job at the Manehattan Aquarium as a junior tour guide. By her 15th, she was elevated to senior guide.

But in spite of her name and cutie mark, Shimmer never learned to swim. Oh, she could take baths as a foal and frolic in the shallows but any time she got into really deep water, she’d sink like a stone and need to be rescued before she drowned. Nightmares of drowning plagued her as a filly and it was a fear she never got over. She loved the sea creatures... just not the sea itself.

> Chapter 1
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Hours later, the party had ended and Ribbon Rose kept herself busy in the kitchen as Gusty Cloud transferred all of the presents into Shimmering Sea’s bedroom while Shimmer & Ivory Vision said their good-byes & thank-you-for-comings at the door.
As the last of the guests left, it was like the whole house AND everypony inside it breathed a sigh of relief! 
But that was not the end of the night... not by a long shot...

Shimmering Sea had gone into her room to sort out all of her presents and begin to write thank you cards to all of those who came that day. But when she heard her mother’s sweet voice call from the main room, she got up and curiously returned to the living room to find all three adults sitting. Granny Ribbon was in her rocking chair, working on yet another knitting project; Gusty and Ivory were on the couch. They asked Shimmer to join them...

...and what they told her pretty much broke her heart. She never knew she was adopted nor the real story about how she got her cutie mark, let alone her real age when it happened. “Now that you are old enough,” said Ivory through light tears “we think that you’re old enough to know the truth. If you want to go find your birth family, we will not stop you. We will support you because we love you no matter what.” 
Gusty got up from the couch and hovered up to a shelf only he could reach. He took down a small wooden box and showed Shimmering Sea the contents: the adoption records, birth certificate, a picture of the family the real day she got her cutie mark (the Royal guard photo-bombing in the back), and a good-sized snail shell, topped with a pearl, necklace. 

Despite not being able to see much, Ivory took the necklace in her telekinesis and floated it to Shimmering Sea and placed it around the mare’s neck. “This necklace was found with you when you were left on the steps of the orphanage. The personnel of the orphanage thinks it was left by which ever parent left you there. You are now old enough to care for it yourself; and the same goes for the contents of this box. “

Shimmering Sea was so shocked and dismayed by the secrets her whole family had kept from her. She didn’t know what to say and she did the only thing she could do: run out of the room. A few seconds later, the adults heard a slam and Ivory heard a tiny thump that went unnoticed by the others. “Give her some time, dearie,” wisely said Ribbon Rose. The sound of loud sobbing could be heard throughout the entire house.

An hour or so later, Gusty had cleaned up the party, Ivory had finished the dishes and Ribbon volunteered to check in on Shimmering Sea.
The grandmother slipped silently into the child’s room.
“No,” she thought. “Not a child anymore.” Now at 16, her granddaughter was anything but a child; especially on a day like this. She had warned her son to tell the girl the truth many times in the past but he didn’t listen.
The young mare had clearly cried herself to sleep; curled up with her over-sized teddy bear – her back to the door – and a small pile of used tissues either in or around her trash bin. She still had her mane & tail up in their ties and all were now badly mussed.
Ribbon Rose’s back crackled as she bent over to pick up the –mercifully undamaged- shell necklace from the front wall where it had clearly been thrown in anger (the tiny thump that Ivory had heard earlier). 
She knew that by telling the truth, she may be losing her own granddaughter but she was very wise in her old age; it was selfish to hide the truth. She would NOT be selfish anymore and she’d support the girl no matter what she’d decide.
She silently approached the bed and flicked away any tissues left on the bed before draping the girl with a large faded Princess Celestia blanket and carefully leaving the necklace near her hooves. 
Shimmering Sea stirred ever so slightly in her sleep but did not wake.

“Sleep well Shimmering Sea. Tomorrow will be a new, brighter day.”
> Chapter 2
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		She could feel the weight of the water on her chest. She could hear nor see anything except for a small light above her. She struggled to swim to the surface but she kept floundering in the dark waters and falling deeper. When she thought that the water would finally win, a bright white light burst forth from the surface and lifted her out.
“Where dost these dreams come from Shimmering Sea?” asked Princess Luna’s voice.

Shimmering Sea woke with a start, her mane & tail in a mess, sweating, breathing heavily, tears running down her face and her eyes like pinpricks.
She knew the dream; the one that plagued her from time to time. The one she could never explain.

Shimmering Sea had spent the entire previous week –since her “birthday” party- trying to find some record of her real parents in Manehattan. Hospital records... birth registry... even security footage from the day she was dropped off... all came up fake names, anonymous and too dark to make anything out besides a cloaked figure. 
She had considered going to Canterlot to check the records there but figured that if her birth parents wanted to remain secretive, they’d have stayed closer to home. She decided to try Ponyville records and if nothing came up there, she’d go seek out Princess Twilight for help.

A few days later, Shimmering Sea found herself on the Ponyville Express; her saddle bags filled with her memory box, a bag of bits her parents had given her at the train station and the few papers of her Manehattan “evidence”. 
Despite her hesitance, she had started wearing the shell necklace in the hopes that someone might recognize it but so far, ponies had only commented on how pretty it was. 
Now as she sat in a seat on the left side of the train, watching as the skyscrapers of Manehattan disappeared behind and farm land surrounded by mountains spread ahead.

The car she was in was pretty much empty and the trolley pony had already passed by but Shimmering Sea was not hungry. She was more tired than anything. Her nightmares were getting worse despite Princess Luna’s intervention and she could do nothing to change them.

Barely a few minutes resting on the soft train cushions and the monotony of the train on the tracks, Shimmering Sea was lulled to sleep.
 The dream or day-mare in this case, started the same as all of them: her sinking in dark water. “Oh Shimmering Sea; why dost thee torment thyself with these dreams?” asked Princess Luna’s voice again. Shimmering Sea only shook her head. She had become so used to these dreams that she no longer struggled with the sinking.
Suddenly a second light, pale blue in colour appeared from behind Shimmering Sea and a new voice came from the water. It was a light female voice and she was chuckling. “Oh my child... why has it taken you this long to relax? Now I can help you find me... you must continue to wear the necklace.”
As the voiced faded, Shimmering Sea awoke gently. 

“Next stop: Ponyville!” came the announcement from the conductor pony.

Shimmering Sea was astounded that her dream had finally changed; relieved, in fact. Was that my mother’s voice I heard?  She wondered to herself as she gathered up her saddle bags and prepared to disembark the train as it pulled into Ponyville station.

~*~


As Shimmering Sea walked through Ponyville, she was amazed at the friendliness of the town. Oh sure, Manehattan was nice but this was really friendly and welcoming. 
She had found the town hall without any trouble but after searching the records, she had come up with nothing.
When she came to a gingerbread looking building, she was able to ask a total stranger for directions to Princess Twilight’s castle and did not get accused of being a tourist. The grey pegasus mare with strangely slanted eyes was carrying a muffin as she came down the steps. When Shimmering Sea asked, the mare stuffed the muffin in her mouth, flew up a few pony lengths and pointed Shimmer in the right direction before giving a solute and flying off.  

Approaching the big crystalline castle, Shimmering Sea could see a wooden sign placed outside the main door:


Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship
Appointments upon request
-----
Ponyville Public Library
Open Daily 8am to 8pm
Subject to change according to emergency


Shimmering Sea nudged the huge front door open without a sound despite the crystalline structure. She wandered the huge, empty hallways wondering where to go.
She was spooked by the sound of rustling wings and a shadow overhead only to be relieved when a large brown owl landed on a stone bench nearby. She’s not sure how but she knows that this creature is a boy.
“Hoo?” he asks. “Umm... I was hoping to speak with Princess Twilight. I need her help with something,” Shimmering Sea said hesitantly, not sure if he’d understand her. 
“Hoo-hoooo!” he responded and flew off down the hall to another pair of large doors. He motioned with his wings for her to join him but held a wing up to keep her in the hall as he slipped in.

Inside the room, the Council of Friendship was in session. Spike was writing down all the notes while Rarity was admiring herself in a hoof mirror held in her magic. Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep out of boredom; Applejack was trying to listen but it was a losing battle; Pinkie Pie had started making balloon animals and Fluttershy was feeding Angel Bunny some carrots. Twilight Sparkle was reading from a list, but what that list was, Owlowiscious didn’t care; he was on a mission.

He landed gracefully on the map table in front of Fluttershy and (very pony-like) leaned over, using a wing to cover his beak and whispered something to her. 
“Oh my!” said the sweet little voice that was Fluttershy. Twilight, attuned to her shy friend’s voice, stopped talking immediately. “Is something wrong, Shy?” Twilight asked.
“Oh.... I'm sorry for interrupting.... Owlowiscious says there’s a pony outside looking for you Twilight. A new pony, he says,” Fluttershy gently said.
“OH MY GOSH! A NEW PONY TO PONYVILLE AND I WAS NOT THERE TO GREET THEM??” screamed Pinkie Pie. One of Pinkie’s cupcakes on the table map in front of her suddenly levitated up in a blue aura of magic and threw itself into Pinkie’s shocked open mouth while Rainbow Dash woke with a loud snort.
“Calm down darling,” said Rarity with a flick of her mane. “I'm sure you’ll get a chance to give this pony one of your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ parties in due course.”
“Rarity’s right, sugar-cube. If ya’ll are done here, Ah got bushels to do back on the farm. Best not keep that filly waitin’,” said Applejack.

Twilight, finally recovered from the abrupt interruption of her talking, realized that Applejack was right. The rest of this meeting could wait and only now did she recognize how long she had dragged it on for. Meanwhile, Owlowiscious whispered something else to Fluttershy, who in turn, giggled and said, “Oh no, Applejack does that a lot. You get used to it after a while.” Owlowiscious only turned his gaze on AJ with the owls’ equivalent of a raised eyebrow.
“If this meeting is over, I'm outta here. Thanks for the nap, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash, living up to her name, flew up and dashed out the door, not taking any notice of Shimmering Sea who waited out in the hallway. 
Rarity said her farewells and started walking out of the throne room, Pinkie Pie bouncing her way out. Fluttershy hesitated a moment before sending Owlowiscious to let the pony inside.

Shimmering Sea entered as Rarity, Pinkie and Spike left; Applejack dawdled at the door. As Shimmering Sea observed, the throne room was magnificent... not that she had seen many throne rooms, granted, but it was beautiful. The cutie mark thrones, the magical map table, the tapestries... but what really inspired her was the chandelier in the ceiling. Everypony knew what had happened to the old Golden Oaks library when Tirek went on his rampage but Shimmering Sea felt honored to just be in the same room as that piece. 
Twilight watched passively as the new pony, a unicorn mare, marveled at the chandelier. She did not mind at all; why, sometimes during her reading breaks, Twilight would come here herself to admire the thing.

When enough time had passed, Twilight cleared her throat. The pony finally noticed the princess and hurried over to bow.
Twilight helped her rise. “Now, none of that please. I am Twilight Sparkle and this is my friend, Fluttershy. Is there something I can do for you?”

Shimmering Sea’s throat had gone dry only for a moment before she found her voice. “Princess Twilight, my name is Shimmering Sea and I only found out last week that after 16 years I'm adopted. I need somepony’s help to search for my birth family but Manehattan came up empty and I have no idea where else to go.”

Then, suddenly, the magical map activated and took both Twilight’s and Fluttershy’s cutie marks to Ponyville. But then a string of magic came from the map and made a copy of Shimmering Sea’s cutie mark and joined it with the other two. Then, all three of them zipped across to Manehattan. They all watched dumbfounded as the three cutie marks stopped at Manehattan and literately DOVE into the ocean not far from shore!
Applejack trotted back over to observe the three cutie marks hovering under the water. “Ah reckon that’s a new one for us,” she said pointing a hoof. “Which part? The underwater location or the new pony?” Shimmering Sea asked. “Both,” replied Applejack.

Twilight let loose a sigh of resignation. “There’s no point beating about the bush. The three of us will go to Manehattan and figure out things from there. I’ll send a message to Princess Celestia.” Twilight left the throne room to find Spike as her magic grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from a nearby pedestal.
“I’ll need to go home and feed my animals before we leave,” said Fluttershy. “Ah’ll go with ya Fluttershy seeings as Ah'm headed that way,” Applejack said. “I’ll need to ask Zecora to check on the animals while I'm away,” whimpered Fluttershy. “Naw, don’t you fret. Ah’ll go ask her for ya,” AJ said. “Oh thank you Applejack. You’re so sweet,” said Fluttershy. Any more of their conversation was muffled as they stepped outside.

Spike, having sent the letter to Princess Celestia, saw Shimmering Sea looking a little lost. He hurried over to her side. “My name is Spike. I'm Twilight’s Number One Assistant. Is there anything you need for your trip?”

“Oh... umm....” Shimmering Sea’s stomach betrayed her. Spike only snorted a laugh and motioned for her to follow him. “You and Twilight are the same... you get so distracted, you forget to eat.” Shimmering Sea blushed as Spike led her to the kitchens; he fixed them all a dinner of hay burgers and fries; a bowl of mixed gems for himself.
> Chapter 3
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		After dinner, Twilight, Spike and Shimmering Sea met Fluttershy and Applejack at the Ponyville train station to catch the last train back to Manehattan. Shimmering Sea could hear Applejack reassure a terrified Fluttershy that she’d be fine. “Ah promise you sugar-cube. As soon as Ah lose sight of the train, Ah’ll go see Zecora about yer animals: Cross mah heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye.” Applejack did a series of hoof signs that reminded Shimmering Sea of sign language but not quite the same.
Whatever Applejack did, it seemed to calm Fluttershy a lot. Shimmer looked curiously up at Twilight whose face was buried in a piece of parchment. Instead, Spike explained. “Applejack just gave a Pinkie Promise and no pony EVER breaks a Pinkie Promise... not if they know what’s good for them.”

As the train pulled into the station, Shimmering Sea glanced at the horizon and saw how low the sun was in the sky. She saddled up to Twilight and cleared her throat. “Since it will be dark when we get to Manehattan, I suggest we go back to my adopted parent’s place for the night and check out the shore in the morning, your highness.”
Twilight thought about it and nodded. “So long as your parents don’t mind some guests, that sounds good Shimmering Sea.”
Angel Bunny gave Fluttershy one last big hug before hopping onto AJ’s back. AJ gave Fluttershy a hug and smile before waving the tree onto the train. Pinkie Pie appeared out of no-where and threw confetti into the air. “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE SHIMMERING SEA!” Shimmer was the last to board the train and seemed a little surprised. “Umm... thanks?” Pinkie grabbed her hoof and shook it hyperactively before letting go. Twilight double backed and rescued Shimmering Sea. “Sorry Pinkie. We got called by the map to Manehattan. Applejack can fill you and the others in on what happened. We’ll be back when we’ve finished,” Twilight said as she motioned for Shimmering Sea to enter the train.
Pinkie seemed to slightly deflate when Twilight said they had to leave butt she perked up right back when the map was mentioned. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said as she waved with both front hooves.
The train began pulling out of the station; all three mares hung slightly out the windows to wave goodbye; the two mares & one bunny on the platform followed suit.

The moment the train was out of her sight, Applejack (with Angel in tow) raced to Zecora’s hut in the Everfree Forest to fulfill her Pinkie Promise to Fluttershy. AJ had seen what Pinkie was like when she thought that AJ had broken the promise [Last Roundup] and vowed to never see it for real.

Meanwhile, back on the train, the three mares & baby dragon were seated in a private car reserved for traveling royalty. Rumor had it that even Princesses Celestia & Luna used this same car when going on their diplomatic missions... instead of using the royal chariots.
Spike was lounging in a reclining seat, eating out of a bowl of emeralds, reading one of his many Power Ponies comic books. Twilight Sparkle was relaxing on a double seat that slightly resembled a throne. Shimmering Sea took the longer couch against the side, under the windows, while Fluttershy took the smaller seat across from Twilight. 
After levitating a tea tray and magically boiling the water, Twilight gave each of them a cup of tea. A moment pause later, Twilight was ready to get down to business.
“Shimmering Sea, could you please fill us in?”

Shimmering Sea seemed hesitant at first but after a kind look from Fluttershy, she gathered her thoughts.
“About a week ago, my parents told me after my 16th birthday party that I was adopted from the Seashore Manehattan Orphanage. They told me the truth about how I got my cutie mark at only 6 months old. They gave me this box of paperwork, photos and other trinkets.” Shimmering Sea used her own magic to levitate the wooden box out of her saddle bags and opened it facing the other two. She gently tapped the necklace with a hoof. “According to my mother, Ivory Vision, this necklace was found with me by the staff and I was allowed to keep it but she kept it safe in the box. Prior to wearing it, I had been afflicted with a series of nightmares all the same, as Princess Luna can attest to. Even she had no control over the dreams besides making me wake up: drowning in dark water. After I got the box, I started wearing the necklace in the hopes that someone might recognize it. Instead, on my way to Ponyville, the necklace somehow changed the nightmare into a dream with a new voice telling me to keep wearing it.”
Shimmering Sea took a sip of her tea as Fluttershy regained some composure and Twilight thought over what she was just told. “Do you think your dreams could be leading you somewhere?” she asked.
“I'm beginning to think so, princess.” Shimmering Sea set down her cup and settled herself a little more comfortably.
Twilight got up from her seat and approached Shimmering Sea’s seat. “Would you be willing to try? I know a very simple sleep spell that I've used on myself from time to time.” Twilight winked and blushed at the same time.
Shimmering Sea, knowing of Princess Twilight’s affinity for magic, trusted her completely and consented.

Twilight lit her horn and gently pressed it to Shimmering Sea’s head. A few seconds later, Shimmering Sea yawned and fell asleep.
Shimmering Sea found herself swimming in the dark water again, no sign of Princess Luna and only the two lights: moonlight from above and the blue magic light from behind. Her mane & tail shifted in the water as she breathed through brand new gills under her ears, just behind her jaw bone. She could see a silhouette in the blue light coming towards her. The female voice laughed as Shimmering Sea tried to swim towards the silhouette. “Oh my darling; I am pleased to see that you are opening up to me. That will make things easier for all of us. Come to the beach opposite the Orphanage just after sunrise, walk into the water and I will find you there.”
The silhouette’s front hooves lit with some kind of earth pony magic that surrounded Shimmering Sea and the dream gracefully ended. 

Shimmering Sea woke to see that all Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike were all staring at her with shocked expressions. “What happened?”
“Umm.... Twilight used her magic and you fell asleep but a few moments later, your... umm... your head came up and your eyes glowed white,” Fluttershy said nervously. “Yeah, and then some magic from your horn went into your pearl necklace. It was totally creepy,” added Spike as he pointed a claw from her horn to necklace. 
Shimmering Sea levitated the necklace off her neck in time to see the pearl go from luminescent to its normal shiny surface. She placed the necklace back on and poured herself another cup of tea, recounting what had happened in the dream. “First time I did not see or hear Princess Luna. That must be a good sign.” Pause. “I think we should follow the instructions. When I saw your magical map take those cutie marks, they had jumped from that same beach. I think my dreams and your map are leading us to the same place.”

Fluttershy relaxed and Twilight paced the length of the car; Spike had gone back to his comic but kept eyeing Shimmering Sea from above the pages.
Silence reigned for a period of time where Shimmering Sea finally noticed the tops of the skyscrapers just coming into view now outside the windows. When Shimmering Sea cleared her throat, Twilight took note of the same thing.
“I am inclined to agree, Shimmering Sea. We’ll stay with you tonight and go to this beach in the morning.” Fluttershy smiled and nodded gently as Shimmering Sea simply nodded.
“I should tell you... my father is a pegasus named Dusty Cloud. He works for the Manehattan branch of the weather teams. My mother is a unicorn named Ivory Vision. She has very little vision; can only see dark colours and blurry shapes; she works at a school for the blind. My grandmother is an earth pony named Ribbon Rose.”

“Last stop: Manehattan!” called the conductor pony as the train pulled into Grand Centurious Station. [1] Each of the mares took up their saddle bags and headed for the doors.
The station was a huge sprawling stone building with arched ceilings, stores, restaurants and information booths at each entry. But Shimmering Sea bypassed all of these for one of the doors to the outside and found a taxi line up to join.
Not too long of a wait later, they hopped into the same taxi and headed for Shimmering Sea’s parent’s house. Twilight & Spike admired Manehattan at night while Fluttershy cowered in the back and Shimmering Sea merely sat moodily as the houses and buildings passed by.

Arriving at the house in an urban neighbourhood [2] a few blocks from a beach, Spike imagined how awesome Trick or Treating on Nightmare Night must be here.
Dusty Cloud and Ivory Vision met them at the door, surprised to hear Shimmering Sea return so quickly. “Dad, mom; this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Spike. We’ve received a... tip of sorts that led us back here. Is it ok if they stay the night?”
Dusty & Ivory, after finally coming to their sense, graciously bowed to Twilight and invited them inside. “I’ll go prepare the guest bedroom,” Dusty said as he hurried down the hall.
Ivory, seeing only blurs, hugged the two-tone blue first; bowed to the larger purple and shook hooves with the yellow & pink before running a hoof over a wing. When she knelt down to Spike’s level, she tried to smell him. “What are you Spike?” Ivory asked. “I'm a ferocious fire breathing dragon and Twilight’s Number One Assistant,” he said proudly.
Suddenly, Spike burped out a scroll which Twilight took immediately. Ivory chuckled gently. “Well, you got the fire breathing part right,” as she patted his head. “The letter is from Princess Celestia. She did some research for us and found a couple of spells that might be useful for us.” Twilight rolled back up the scroll and slipped it into her saddle bags.

“Does any pony need a night time snack before bed?” asked an older voice; similar to Granny Smith but without the country-isims. Ribbon Rose came out from the kitchen carrying a tray of cucumber sandwiches and glasses of milk. 
“Oh Granny Ribbon! Cucumber sandwiches, my favorite,” said Shimmering Sea as she helped take up the tray in her magic and set it on the living room table.
The sandwiches and milk were finished off with gusto; Spike having fallen asleep as Shimmering Sea recounted everything that had happened since she left that morning, including her strange dreams in great detail for Ivory’s sake. 
“Those are indeed strange dreams, my dearie,” said Ribbon. “We have decided to investigate the beach in question tomorrow morning,” Twilight said with a yawn.
“Sounds like it’s time for bed,” said Ivory with a chuckle as Dusty gathered up the tray and Shimmering Sea said her good nights.

Shimmering Sea went to her own bedroom; Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike went to the guest room to find that two beds were made up and the day bed was cleared of the extra pillows, covered with a fire-proof blanket. “Why do they even OWN one of these?” Spike asked, slightly confused. “Well, with my son in the weather team and a semi-blind [3] independent daughter-in-law, one learns to be prepared,” said Ribbon’s voice from the hallway as she slowly passed by.


~*~

Shimmering Sea found herself in the same dream again but she was alone. No blue light, no female voice to encourage her or give her instructions. Somehow she knew that the gills had appeared again.
Then she remembered something that Ivory had read from Braille about lucid dreaming. Shimmering Sea concentrated and ignited her horn, lighting up the water all around her.
She found herself about two leagues below the surface, seeing the sandy bottom drop down and spread out in what looked like an underwater boulder city. She watched as dark silhouettes darted between the boulders. At first, she thought that they were fish but she could hear pony voices. 
A school of silver fish swam in front of Shimmering Sea, blocking her view. “Come play with us!” they chorused. “Come play! Come play!” The chant continued as Shimmering Sea slowly woke. 
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breakfast consisted of delicious flapjacks; plain for Twilight, Fluttershy & Ivory, shredded kelp for Shimmering Sea, crushed rubies for Spike, strawberries for Ribbon and blueberries for Dusty. There was also apple & orange juices, tea, coffee and caramel drizzled apple slices.
“Mom always makes the slices herself,” Shimmering Sea said proudly as she levitated a piece to her mouth. “Grows them trees in the backyard from seeds she planed the day we adopted Shimmer,” said Ribbon. “Glad to know at least that story is still the same,” Shimmering Sea grumbled as she stuffed the last of her flapjacks into her mouth.

The group of three mares and one dragon were quiet as they walked the few blocks to the beach. Shimmering Sea quietly pointed out the Seashore Manehattan Orphanage as they used the crosswalk to reach the beach... the same beach that Shimmering Sea earned her cutie mark all those years ago.
This early in the morning, very few ponies were out on the beach; an earth pony surfer hurried out to catch the first waves of the day, young couple pushed a foal carriage across the boardwalk and a unicorn mare jogged alongside a clearly happy dog with a stick in its mouth.

“I've looked over the spells that Princess Celestia sent me and although they’ll work on ponies they won’t work on dragons. So instead, Dusty found me this old fish bowl in the attic for me to enchant with an oxygen spell for Spike to wear.” Twilight produced the bowl in question from her bulging saddle bag. Spike looked at the bowl apprehensively but knew that he could not follow without it so he stuck it on his head.

Twilight and Fluttershy walked a few meters into the water of the beach but Shimmer hesitated on the sand. Spike, with his magical breathing bowl grudgingly over his head, splashed his way under the water so he would not be seen by any pony.
Shimmering Sea watched as Princess Twilight ignited her magenta magic to surround the three of them. But something inhibited the magic from reaching Shimmer and it only affected the other two; giving them gills on the neck, fins on the hooves and turned the wings into something that more resembled those of a dragonfly.
Instead, a new aura of magic appeared from the water, grabbed onto the pearl of the necklace, turned her eyes into a bright light and coaxed Shimmering Sea to enter the water. She walked right past the other two without acknowledging them at all and kept going. It was not until she was neck deep in water that the magic finally released her but by then, her necklace was in the water and it took over.
Twilight and Fluttershy watched in shock as some force knocked Shimmering Sea forwards into the water and underneath. “Twilight; she did not get the gills from your magic! She’ll drown if we don’t go help her!” squeaked Fluttershy.
The two of them dove down into the water, learning how to breathe quite easily. Spike caught up with them, grumbling something about how it sucked that dragons were immune to transformer magic before noticing Shimmer and dropping his jaw open.

They watched as Shimmering Sea’s own magic swirled from her horn to the side of her head under the ears, producing gills of her own. Fluttershy cowered behind Twilight as they watched Shimmering Sea floated in the dark water, her eyes still a bright white light. Despite the relief of seeing the gills, they were unsure as to what to do next.
The pearl on her necklace continued to pulsate with magic as it was released into the water, combining with Shimmering Sea’s own unicorn magic and enveloped her in light and magic. They could not see much but watched in disbelief as fish scales appeared on her lower front hooves and more appeared at her middle section.

Shimmering Sea felt nothing but love and pure joy as the magic overcame her body. Somehow she knew that this was ‘right’ and it was like she was coming home. A part of her mind was screaming, “What the heck is going on out there??” but it was very tiny and barely registered as a delightful feeling burst from her tail end and the light slowly dissipated.
The magic finished, Shimmering Sea lowered her body to the sandy bottom and simply breathed. She no longer felt her back hooves and hesitantly opened her now normal eyes to see a huge fish tail had replaced her whole back half of her body; cutie mark surrounded by fish scales; a large tail fin about six hooves wide by four hooves long, striped mane blue and cutie mark white.

Shimmering Sea stared at the beautiful merpony tail and stroked it with a front hoof. “I don’t know how I know.... but.... I'm home,” she said just before she passed out.


~*~


Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike were astounded at what just happened. But they weren’t sure what to do with her now that Shimmering Sea was clearly now a merpony. “We can’t take her back to the surface and we can’t just leave her here,” said Twilight.
“I may have a solution, your highness,” said a new voice. The two friends looked up to see another merpony swimming towards them.
She had the look of age to her; pale teal body, darker teal hair streaked in grey, dark tail fins and a piece of coral for a cutie mark; no horn or wings... “An earth pony had she been on land,” thought Twilight as the mare bowed.

“My name is Coral Blossom, your highness... the birth mother of your unconscious friend.”
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight used her magic to levitate Shimmering Sea just enough so that Coral Blossom could place the mare on her back and swim her away. She motioned for Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike to follow.
So many questions rolled around in Twilight’s head but she said nothing. Fluttershy was too busy admiring and making friends with the curious fish that swam around them. Spike was still too shocked to say much of anything.
Almost as if she was picking up on their thoughts, Coral Blossom spoke. “I can only guess what my daughter is doing with a baby dragon, alicorn princess and a pegasus mare in the water on a day like today.”
“I suppose Shimmering Sea came looking for the truth,” Twilight said carefully. Coral Blossom frowned slightly and nodded. “And I shall tell her all of the truth when she wakes. The first transformation is always the worst for those who return to us.”

Coral Blossom brought them to a large cave which was carved out to form a type of house. Small rough cut windows on the sides, barely big enough for Spike to fit, were decorated with seaweed curtains and a front door was draped with what looked like a torn sailboat sail. Inside the home, an old subway car seat was propped against one wall and formed a kind of couch while a pair of them formed a bed in another room. Coral Blossom gently laid Shimmering Sea on what made up the mattress of the bed (more torn sails and seaweed) before leaving her to rest.
Coral Blossom found the others curiously poking around the combined living room/kitchen. Twilight, the student she was, started asking questions about merponies in general. Spike tried to take notes but ink would not work underwater (Twilight had already enchanted the parchment). Coral Blossom chuckled and offered a black stick to Spike. “This is charcoal. It comes from the remains of fires and works as an underwater quill.” Spike was surprised and fascinated that it did work for him. 
Coral Blossom answered any questions they had... except for those that directly related to Shimmering Sea. “I’d rather wait until she’s awake to answer those,” she’d say.


~*~

Shimmering Sea found herself swimming underwater again. Princess Luna was right there beside her but not needing to breathe under water like Shimmering Sea was doing with her gills. “Thou art a fascinating mare, Shimmering Sea. We never would have seen what happened to happen. No matter what you learn down there, always know that thee art welcome back any time.” Princess Luna lit her horn and flew on her wings back up to the surface. Shimmering Sea heard the female voice from before coming from the white light in the distance. “Your friends are waiting on you, Shimmering Sea. Time to wake up...”

Shimmering Sea did indeed awake but totally disoriented. “I'm not in my bed... or my house... and I'm underwater!” she started hyperventilating until she realized she was breathing underwater. She felt the gills under her ears and then remembered everything... the magic... the feelings... the tail. “Oh sweet Celestia!” Shimmering Sea cried as she looked down and saw the same tail again. It had not been a dream... it was real!

Spike suddenly poked his domed head into the room. “Oh hey, you’re awake. Thank Celestia... now we can get some answers. Come on,” he said as he swam over to grab her hoof and drag her back to the living room. Shimmering Sea found herself floundering as she tried to swim with the tail but then remembered how the dolphins at the aquarium swam and she got the hang of it.
Shimmering Sea rubbed her eyes as she entered into the living room, surprised to see another merpony sitting on a chair that looked like a broken piece of subway seat. The merpony was very pretty, especially when she smiled brightly as Shimmering Sea’s entrance. “Come, please join us Shimmering Sea,” the mare said in the female voice of Shimmering Sea’s dream.

Shimmering Sea sat on the closer edge of the couch while Spike sat in the middle and Fluttershy on the end; Twilight sat on another broken single chair next to Fluttershy. 
The merpony mare sat on the single chair next to Shimmering Sea and motioned with her hoof towards Shimmering Sea’s necklace. “I'm glad to see that the land orphanages still let the foals left in their care to keep anything that is found with them. I've worried for many years that you had lost your pearl; hence my delight and relief when I saw you wearing it in that dream.”
Shimmering Sea could not contain herself any longer. “Who are you?”
The merpony looked sad as she replied. “My name is Coral Blossom and I'm your birth mother.”

That single statement sent Shimmering Sea’s mind in a tail spin. “How is that even possible? Who is my father? Why did you abandon me? Why... HOW am I even a merpony now?” she spat out angrily.
“Shimmering Sea, please,” begged Fluttershy as she leaned across Spike to lay a hoof on Shimmering Sea’s foreleg. Shimmering Sea took a few deep breaths as Spike bolted from the couch and settled on a gathered pile of seaweed on the stone floor and Fluttershy shifted over to take Spike’s place.
Shimmering Sea stared down Coral Blossom but she only shook her head. “Let me start at the beginning. Merponies were once grouped as the fourth of the original pony tribes: earth, unicorn, pegasi, and water ponies. We cared for our realm of the oceans, rivers, lakes and even the tiniest streams. We cared for the animals; everything from the biggest whale to the tiniest of sardines. We tended the plants and even farmed them for ourselves. We controlled our own tides and water currents. We were the rulers of our own domain. But we were so self-sufficient that we soon were seldom seen above the surface and we soon fell into legend... especially during the time of the Deep Surface Freeze (Windigoes attack of Hearth’s Warming Eve).  And we are very much real! We probably out-number the unicorns by now, and I say that with the greatest respect.” Coral Blossom took a moment to bow towards Princess Twilight, knowing of her unicorn birth.
“Shimmering Sea, you did have a father. He was a unicorn from the land. He had been a passenger on a yacht that had hit a bad storm that even the pegasi could not control. He had gone over-board and might have drowned had I not gone in and saved him. I managed to drag him to the underside of a dock and laid him on the sand. The next morning he was gone; but later that day, while in my land-form sunbathing, he found me again. Said I saved his life and he wanted to repay me somehow. I was young and foalish; but I do not regret my choice: I asked him to lie with me that night. He said something about how I was lucky that I was beautiful... all the things a young mare wants to hear. I won’t bore or scare you with the details but yes; we had sex on the beach. At the time, I thought he had only left me with his name and a lovely evening. By the time I figured out what I had done and that I was pregnant, he was gone. Gone where, I had no idea. But I do still have his name: ~Prince Blueblood~.”

The room had gone eerily silent. No pony moved for what felt like an eternity. Not surprisingly, it was Spike who broke the silence by snickering. “OH Thank Celestia that the map did not send Rarity!” Fluttershy’s face had gone a paler yellow and Twilight’s had flushed an angry red. “Oh we know that pony and I assure you... he’s very much alive.” Twilight started pacing the hallway, grumbling under her breath. Shimmering Sea looked puzzled at Fluttershy, who simply shook her head. “You’re simply better off not knowing. Except that he is Princess Celestia’s nephew. Which I suppose makes you a princess, Shimmering Sea!” Fluttershy exclaimed in her quiet manner.
“If your reactions are any indication, I’d rather not,” Shimmering Sea said worriedly.
“Princess Twilight? If you’d come back, I could continue my story,” said Coral Blossom gently. Twilight fumed her way back to her seat but at least her face had lost the red coloring.

“Now where was I? .... Oh yes. Well, you-know-who had just left not knowing he had made a child and I was on my own. When the foal was born, not only was she born with back legs but also a unicorn horn. The legs were not an issue since hybrids like that had occurred before and it was common knowledge that with some merpony magic imbued in a pearl would bring forth the tail. But it was the unicorn in her that posed a problem. Uni-mers and Peg-mers are shunned in our society. The earth-mers found them too powerful and thus, treated them with disdain and loathing. Most times when one was born, they were taken to the surface without the imbued pearl and simply left there to be raised as normal land ponies. When Shimmering Sea was born, my parents forced me to do the same, but before I did, I left her the necklace so that she could return to us... prove to the others that uni-mers and peg-mers are not to be feared. That we can all live peacefully like the land tribes do.” Coral Blossom seemed deeply passionate about her cause but Shimmering Sea was not sure she liked the idea of being used.
“That could explain why we were sent here,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy here represents these peg-mers and your own daughter represents the uni-mares... and I guess I represent the combination of all three!”
“We don’t have any alicorn-mers here, Princess. But perhaps you are more of a representative of Princess Celestia. I'm sure that’s how the others will see you as. But I must make it clear about how all three of you will be treated while you’re here. Merponies will stare at you, point at you, whisper about you behind your back; some might even throw rotten vegetables at you, depending on how intolerant they are.” Coral Blossom appeared worried but determined. “Well, except for the vegetables, that’s how Twilight gets treated everywhere we go!” laughed Spike. The others joined in on the joke while Twilight poked her tongue out at Spike.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coral Blossom served a quick lunch of kelp soup heated over hydro-thermal vents piped directly into the kitchen. Shimmering Sea dug right in while the other two were more hesitant until they tried it; Fluttershy loved it, Twilight was ok. Spike was slipping mixed gems (that Twilight brought with them) up into his bowl helmet using a long two-pronged fork. Coral Blossom also downed her own stone bowl of soup, disregarding the utensils Shimmering Sea had placed out.
“Umm, why do you own utensils if you don’t use them?” Spike asked abruptly. Twilight’s magic fizzled out and Fluttershy froze with her own spoon in her mouth. Shimmering Sea tried not to laugh at their facial expressions but utterly failed.
“We have utensils for different purposes. Some of our foods are too thin and they disperse on the water, like your soup there. You’re hardly getting any of it because of the spoons and not eating quickly enough. Other foods like our stews require utensils for the ingredients. You should also know... we eat fish here,” added Coral Blossom. Fluttershy gasped and her eyes went to pinpricks before she sobbed. Spike leaned over and patted her back.
“Not all fish in the ocean is like your animals on land, dear Fluttershy. Some fish are quite... well... unintelligent, for a lack of a better word. They don’t associate with ponies at all. They swim in packs and hide from predators. They show no capacity for companionship or connection to any pony,” Coral Blossom assured them. “The hunters travel in small groups with an animal expert to make sure that they are not taking any wrong fish and done with respect.” [1]
That seemed to calm Fluttershy significantly but she set her face in a determined look. “I just want you to know, Coral Blossom, I will not eat fish. If Twilight and Spike wish to try it, I will not hold it against them.”
Twilight shook her head no but Spike seemed extremely eager to try it. Coral Blossom nodded and motioned a hoof to Fluttershy. “I’ll make a sea-salad for dinner tonight; plain for you and Twilight, fish for me & Spike. Shimmering Sea can decide what she wants then.” They all nodded agreement but Shimmering Sea, having recovered from the laugh, and soberly tilted her head.

Later, Coral Blossom took them out for a tour of the water village. Fluttershy swam up with Coral Blossom while Twilight and Shimmering Sea swam behind with Spike riding on Twilight’s back, holding onto her mane. 
The village was full of merponies as colorful as any town in Equestria; the only difference was that they were all earth-mers... not a single uni- or peg-mer to be seen. Groups of merponies passed by them staring with a mix of curiosity, suspicion and slight hostility. Mothers hurriedly marshaled the fillies and colts away at high speed; some being able to slam the front doors behind them.
Coral Blossom took them to a large stone structure in the middle of the village. “This is Great Hall; your equivalent to a town hall or throne room. Here you will meet with the Council Elders; you can plead your case to them and they will decide if you can share with the public.”
“That’s not right,” Twilight said with a frown. “I'm a princess of Equestria. I have the right to address the public any time I see fit and don’t need the permission of the local authority to do so.”
“The oceans do not fall under the jurisdiction of Equestria, your highness. They never have. During the Harmony Summit when the three (land) tribes formed Equestria, no one could decide who would rule over them so it was decided to label them as ‘neutral, International waters’ and left to their own devices.” Shimmering Sea seemed to blush having spoken up, almost like Twilight in her Lecture Mode. 
“In that case, I think it would be a good idea to follow their procedures,” Fluttershy said gently.

Coral Blossom led them into the Great Hall. Out in the hall, a dark grey merpony stopped them. “You must be properly announced,” he stated stoically. Coral Blossom gave a quick rundown of who was who. The merpony raised an eyebrow at Shimmering Sea but said nothing. He went inside the room; a few moments passed before he came back to the door and motioned them inside.
“Presenting Coral Blossom of Bermareda [2] Triangle ; Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship of Equestria; Lady Fluttershy of Equestria; Spike the Dragon of Equestria; Shimmering Sea of Bermareda Triangle and Equestria, uni-mer daughter of Coral Blossom.”
Fluttershy blushed at being introduced as lady; Twilight saw this and winked. Meanwhile, both Coral Blossom and Shimmering Sea exchanged a worried glance when the merpony had mentioned that Shimmering Sea was a uni-mer.

The room was an open space with a round stone table in the very center, surrounded with smaller stone blocks as seats. “Kinda looks like your throne room, Twi,” laughed Spike. 
Three merponies sat on the farther seats, each wearing a short hooded cloak with the hoods up and did not seem to register their entry. All three were humming a strange tune as their eyes remained closed and their hooves glowed slightly with earth pony-style magic.
Suddenly, a gentle wave of fresh water washed over the group, making them feel invigorated; especially Coral Blossom and Shimmering Sea. Twilight figured that they had used merpony magic to add more oxygen into the water.

The three removed their hoods revealing two stallions and a mare; they passively looked down at the group. “Coral Blossom; what is the meaning of this?” the stallion on the left asked.
“I'm not sure what you mean, Wave Surf. I've come to the council for an audience,” Coral Blossom said nervously.
The other stallion, Swift Current, stepped down from this chair and approached the group. “We are referring to your daughter’s unexpected return. You know the law here! All uni- and peg-mers born are to be sent to the surface!” he hollered furiously, stomping a hoof on the stone floor; it was somewhat diminished by the water’s resistance.
Shimmering Sea could not bear to see her mother treated this way. She swam to place herself in between Coral and Swift. “I’ll have you know; I WAS sent the surface! For sixteen years, in fact! She just made sure that I could come back and find her when I was ready.”
The mare, Pearl Wisdom, calmly drifted forwards and raised a hoof to still everypony. “Peace, my friends. What has been done cannot be undone and we shall move forwards,” she said gently. Pearl turned to Twilight, bowing deeply. “Greetings Princess Twilight; please forgive my colleague. He is very strict on the laws here. Shimmering Sea was to never learn the truth but now that she has, we’ll deal with it.”
Despite Pearl’s calming nature, Shimmering Sea did not trust her. And Pearl’s next words confirmed her suspicions: “Coral Blossom, since you insist on having Shimmering Sea return to the ocean, you will take her to the Bone Caves to join the other uni- and peg-mers.” Coral Blossom’s eyes turned to pinpricks and she started to cry.

“What are these ‘Bone Caves’?” Twilight demanded as Fluttershy hurried to Coral’s side and began to comfort the mare. Swift swam from his seat to hover near the other two. “The Bone Caves is an underground complex of a mer-city for those born uni- or peg-mers so that they can live out their lives in peace. Every merpony city has one of these but they are not mentioned in polite society.”
“You mean to say, if any uni- or peg-mers return to the ocean, they are segregated from earth-mers?!?” Twilight demanded angrily. “That’s not right!” hissed Fluttershy, her face contorted in anger.
“They are only separated for the safety of the earth-mers. They are allowed to go out to hunt and farm, and do whatever else they wish to do. They are simply forbidden from entering an earth-mer city.” Wave Surf gave off a sense of superiority that simply rubbed Shimmering Sea the wrong way and she did not hide her emotions; her face scrunched up furiously. Pearl Wisdom seemingly ignored Shimmering Sea’s piercing glare and swam out of the Hall, motioning for them to follow.

About a half hour swim later, Pearl had brought them to an entrance to a cave clearly marked with warning signs: “Bone Caves” “NO EARTH-MER ENTRY” “UNI- AND PEG-MERS ONLY” “ALL WHO ENTER DO SO AT OWN RISK”
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Swimming through a cave supported by the ribs of some large ancient creature gave Shimmering Sea the creeps. 

Pearl Wisdom continued to swim down the cave, clearly undisturbed by the bones. She was looking rather bored about the whole thing, Shimmering Sea thought to herself.
She tried to ignore her surroundings as she tried to think of a way to get rid of this segregation of the merponies. She had no immediate ideas but thought that Princess Twilight might have some so she’d bide her time.

As the tunnel ended, they found themselves in a circular cave open at the top to let daylight and fresh water in. All along the walls there were a series of caves set in, some covered with seaweed curtains and few with dark stained sails that were in bad need of repair. But what shocked Shimmering Sea the most was that the vast majority of adults that lacked a cutie mark. The few she did see mainly related to farming or hunting; few others had water-themed like waves or water drops; a hoofful had fish or shell-related like Shimmer but still the vast majority were blank flanks.
Pearl motioned for them to remain in the center of the circle as she went inside the first cave on the ground level. Moments passed and a few more curious & brave merponies came out of their caves to stare at the new-comers. Coral Blossom tried to hide her nervousness but Shimmering Sea could feel it on the water as if she felt the same thing. 

Pearl Wisdom came back out, followed by a peg-mer mare of a green coloration that reminded Twilight of Lyra Heartstrings. She bore a curved wave cutie mark and a scallop shell & pearl necklace.
“This is Tide Glider... she’s what this place has for a mayor,” Pearl said rather briskly. Shimmering Sea & Spike threw Pearl a dirty look but they went ignored. 
Tide Glider was far more Pearl’s opposite than any of them imagined. “Greetings sister! You can just call me TG; everypony here already does. Everypony will be so happy to have another uni-mer in our midst... especially one who already has her cutie mark! You’ll have to tell me how you earned it on land,” TG said breathlessly as she guided Shimmering Sea into her cave, leaving the others in shock outside.
Eventually, Tide’s fore hoof showed at the curtain and motioned them to join her inside. 

Twilight shrugged and they all swam to join.

The cave looked exactly the same on the inside as Coral's... only difference was that all of the subway seats were individuals magically melded back together and there was fewer windows to let in natural night; instead, about six luminescent fish the size of sardines swam around the roof, giving the room some kind of ambiance of light.  
Tide Glider seemed extremely excited to hear all about Shimmering Sea as she dashed to the kitchen half and made a pot of a thick sludge of kelp tea. Coral Blossom did most of the talking while the others hesitated at the tea before trying it. Shimmer found she liked it a lot and the other ponies were ok but Spike actually had to remove his bowl so he could spit it out into his claw. Embarrassingly, Twilight made the mess disappear before TG could notice. Shimmer finished the story with how she found the whole segregation thing totally wrong. "Back home in Manehattan, I have an earth pony grandmother, unicorn mother and pegasus father! The ponies on land do not stand for it and either should the merponies!" Shimmering Sea set the cup down on the table a little harder than she intended but the water resistance kept her from breaking it.
Twilight nodded agreement. "So long as the uni- and peg-mers have been given the proper training on each of their magics, everypony should be able to get along just fine together. I'm sure that if we asked Princess Celestia, she'd send some specialists to come help solve this problem." In anticipation of Twilight, Spike pulled out a scroll and pencil made from charcoal out of no-where and stood ready to write a letter.

Tide Glider shook her head and raised a hoof, acting all very serious all of a sudden. "I have a better idea... there is some-pony you should meet... however, it is forbidden for Coral Blossom to accompany us." Shimmering Sea wasn't sure she liked how this was going and she became suspicious; but Coral seemed to understand and insisted that Shimmering Sea go along with it for the time being.


~*~*~


Coral Blossom returned to her home while Shimmering Sea, Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike followed Tide Glider down another tunnel, hidden in the rock behind her cave. The path spiraled down and away from the Bone Caves before leveling out and continuing for a long distance, more of the glowing sardines lighting the way down; a few had even made friends with Fluttershy and, learning of her fear of dark spaces, swam along side of her to keep her calm. Shimmering Sea breathed a silent prayer to both Celestia and Luna for those little fish; she herself was becoming uncomfortable with the underwater darkness... it was starting to resemble her nightmares.

The path finally spiraled upwards before leveling out again to what looked like another hallway with large windows looking out into open waters. TG led them to the first room, meeting with a stallion uni-mer who was writing with a charcoal stick using levitation. The merpony immediately dropped the stick and stood at attention when he recognized TG. "These ponies wish to meet with your charge, sergeant." "Yes lieutenant, sir. At once," replied the stallion as he swam out of the room and into the room next door. He came back moments later and waved them in.

“Her highness will see you now,” said the merpony with a polite bow. Tide Glider, Shimmering Sea, Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike entered the room. The circular walls were covered with a sea-vine that had beautiful pink and white flowers; a large bed of soft coral dominated the back with a curved magically lit fireplace to the left and more of the glowing sardines darted around the room. Shimmering Sea noticed that there was no wardrobe or dressers; only a vanity table and it was bare for the most part.
Relaxing on the floor in front of the fireplace lay a large merpony of sea-green reading a scroll of some kind of parchment-like material. Her two-toned hair was in the same style as Princess Celestia and she wore a bow similar to Applebloom’s but a dark blue to match her eyes. She was about the size of Princess Luna but had butterfly-like wings as well as the a-typical alicorn horn. Her cutie mark, visible only for a moment when she shuffled her wings, was a small globe; the land was black but the ocean was the same blue as the streak in her hair. 
The group, minus Tide Glider, were shocked to see an alicorn merpony! Coral Blossom had said that they did not have any but then again... she was forbidden from coming,  thought Shimmering Sea. But why? Why can't Coral Blossom know?

The alicorn merpony (ali-mer) looked up from her scroll and her eyes brightened. “Oh! New friends for me! Welcome! Welcome! Oh please do come in and sit, won’t you?” she waves them over to a pile of cushions opposite her. They bow politely before settling on the pile, still slightly shocked - except for TG.
She used her magic to levitate a piece of charcoal from the fireplace, sign the scroll and make it vanish. She did the same for the next three scrolls before turning to the quintet. 
“Forgive me... paperwork is the bane of my existence. In fact, it’s the whole meaning of my existence.” She floated over another pile of scrolls from the door and subsequently tossed them up onto her vanity table. “I am thrilled to have a day when I get visitors rather than more scrolls,” she said with a chuckle that was more like Pinkie Pie’s than Celestia’s. “My name is Aqua Marina,” she added almost like an afterthought.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		Shimmering Sea, Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike were all still too shocked to say much of anything in the presence of another alicorn. Tide Glider came to their rescue. "Princess Aqua Marina, may I introduce Spike the Dragon, Number One Assistant to Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. The pegasus is Lady Fluttershy and the merpony is Shimmering Sea, a returning uni-mer from Manehattan on the surface.”

When Aqua heard Twilight's name, she levitated a scroll from a top shelf and re-read the contents. But when she heard that Shimmering Sea was a returning merpony, she actually lost her magic and the scroll fell to the floor. Shimmer saw that it was an official looking document and even contained a sun/crescent moon seal on the bottom. Aqua hastily recovered the scroll and composed herself.
"So I finally get to meet my cousin's infamous faithful student, Twilight Sparkle!" Aqua said joyfully before showing them the contents of the scroll. Sure enough, Shimmer saw that it was a copy of the royal declaration of Twilight's coronation celebration. "Cousin?!?" said the three ponies and one dragon. Aqua tilted her head slightly as she thought about it. "Not actual cousins... we're not blood-related like the two land sisters. We just call each other cousins as we are all alicorns," Aqua Marina pointed a hoof at Twilight. "In that perspective, that makes you my cousin too!"

Suddenly, a chime of some kind rang out gently from no where and everywhere at the same time. "Oh my oceans! Is it that time again already?" Aqua flicked her horn towards the door, opening it with ease and everypony (and dragon) seeing nothing but darkness beyond the brightly lit corridor. "My how time flies, your highness," said Tide Glider as she stood at attention next to the door and the stallion merpony stood outside. "Come, my new friends! Join me in the Ocean Rejuvenation Spell!" Aqua cried gleefully as she swam out of the room like a shot.
Twilight, Fluttershy and Shimmering Sea exchanged a glance before swimming out to follow; Spike merely grabbed Twilight's tail as she passed by. 

The group followed Princess Aqua Marina outside; Fluttershy's glowing sardines followed along providing some light as they went. Soon, Aqua had brought them to a kind of walled courtyard with an intricate stone pattern in the sand: large and small ocean-rounded stones were laid out in a pattern that looked both simple and intricate at the same time. Even the shades of the stones were used to great effect!
Shimmering Sea noticed that there was a wide line of bright yellow stones on the outside perimeter. At first, she thought that it was very pretty but when Tide Glider stopped them from passing it, she realized it was a safety boundary. 
As Princess Aqua's horn continued to glow, the yellow stones shot up a circle of light around the space, effectively cutting off Shimmer's group from the princess. When Spike curiously touched the wall of yellow light, he found it solid and cool to the touch despite the translucent appearance; like a wall of glass.
Aqua's horn lit up in a royal blue aura before she let that sphere of magic expand, bypass the yellow wall and travel out into the ocean around them. As the wave of magic passed over them, Shimmering Sea and all of the others felt a burst of freshness overcome them; like sticking a head out of a window from a dusty room. It felt oddly similar to what Pearl Wisdom and the other two elders had done back in the Town Hall but this was about a thousand times more powerful.  The effort of her magic made her weak, dropping the yellow wall and she floated to the stone floor; but TG and the other merpony hurried to her side and helped her back to her chamber.

Shimmering Sea, Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike followed the princess; Tide Glider and the merpony helped to set Aqua on her fainting couch. Then the merpony bowed respectfully before retreating into the hallway again. Aqua vaguely waved him off as she turned to her visitors again. "Please forgive my weakness, friends. That spell takes a lot out of me each time I perform it and I feel like I need to do that much more frequently than when I first started."
Twilight tilted her head, slightly confused. "What do you mean by that, Princess?" 
Aqua lightly shook her head, her hair billowing back and forth with the movement before settling back down. "Please... call me Aqua," she said as Tide Glider gave her a cup of some kind of sludge drink with a utensil stuck inside. Aqua finished the contents in mere moments before hoofing it back. "In my early years as the Ocean's Princess, I found myself only performing that spell once or twice per month. Gave me lots of time to recover... but as the centuries go on, I find myself needing to perform it more frequently. I'm now down to casting it once every other day! I worry that if this continues, it will only get worse."  She looks really worried  thought Shimmer.
Tide Glider gave Aqua a bowl of sea grasses, sea weed and kelp, all mixed like a salad with little cuts of other fruits that the visitors did not recognize. TG then also passed out smaller bowls of the same mix to Shimmering Sea, Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike. Being the cleaver dragon he is, Spike pulled out the long pronged fork from lunch out from no-where and started feeding himself under the bowl. Twilight eyed him angrily for taking Coral's fork but said nothing in front of the princess.

They all enjoyed the meal; about half way through, Shimmering Sea remembered that her mom had promised dinner for them back at her place. Twilight wrote a quick note on some underwater parchment provided by Aqua and teleported it to Coral.


 Dear Coral Blossom, 
Shimmering Sea and the rest of us were invited to dinner at the last minute with Tide Glider and another guest. Terribly sorry if we left you in quandary over the meal. 
Yours,  Twilight Sparkle 



"Short, sweet and to the point," Twilight said as she returned to her bowl. "I still feel awful for forgetting Coral Blossom like that," whimpered Fluttershy as she looked down into her empty bowl. "Yeah... she said she was going to get us fish to try," Spike added as he forked a gem from his snack bag. Fluttershy let out a wordless whimper of sadness.
"Honestly... If she knew who we were having dinner with, I'm sure she'd understand," Shimmering Sea said sharply as she looked to TG. Tide Glider was refilling Aqua's bowl and she blushed with embarrassment when she saw the look Shimmer was giving her.
"It is forbidden to tell the earth-mers of Princess Aqua's existence. They are already afraid of the uni- and peg-mers.... I can't imagine how terrified they'd be if they learned of an alicorn-mer," she said remorsefully but with an air of determination. Aqua nodded her head as she levitated the bowl.

The silence that followed was disheartening to Shimmering Sea. Everything today had happened so fast for her... the transformation into her merpony form; the meeting of her mother and the story of her father; learning of the Bone Caves; and now meeting the ocean's equivalent to the Princess Sisters. She felt the urge to poke her fore hoof with the other to make sure she was not dreaming!
Meanwhile, Twilight was still concerned about something. "Aqua... you said that you've had to increase the use of that spell we witnessed... but what WAS that spell exactly?" The others looked up at her question, curiosity on their faces. Aqua's own dark features brightened a little at the question. "Oh! But of course, silly me. I forgot to tell you! The Ocean Rejuvenation Spell travels through the water, turning carbon dioxide into breathable water oxygen. Believe it or not... I created the spell when I was a uni-mer filly, got accidentally trapped in a rock cave and started hyperventilating. Even as a filly, I was well read with the Bone Cave's limited library and knew all about oxygen and such. I knew that if I didn't escape the cave, I'd suffocate from the carbon dioxide in the water.  I wasn't strong enough to teleport out or move the rocks on my own; my horn and magic took over from there... the smallest of blue magic bubble appeared, allowing me to breathe again. When the rocks were cleared, not only had my cutie mark appeared, but so had my alicorn transformation. I was brought here for my safety and so I could continue to perform that spell as needed." She took a moment to rest; Shimmer could see that even though she appeared & acted quite young, the bags under her eyes told of the strain she was under. "The ocean tells me when it needs the spell... I can feel it in the currents. It feels like... there's not enough plants in the ocean to make all the oxygen that all the aquatic creatures need to survive.... And it has nothing to do with our farming either," she said with a chuckle as she noticed the others eyeing their now empty salad bowls. 
"It's like... something else is preventing the plants from growing...." Aqua said thoughtfully. 
> 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.
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike splashed around on the surface under Princess Luna's full moon beaming down on them, Shimmering Sea and Coral Blossom sat on the roof of the cave-house, silently contemplating the events.
Shimmering Sea was still completely shocked by the events of the past day... then she realized that if she didn't do something soon, her land family would really start to worry about her. She levitated a blank scroll & piece of charcoal from her saddlebags and started to write a quick note:



 Dear Mom, Dad, & Granny Rose,
I'm so sorry to keep you up waiting so long...
With help from Princess Twilight, Lady Fluttershy and Spike, I've managed to find my birth mother and we'll be staying with her for a few days. Please don't ask where because I can't explain in a note. I will tell you absolutely everything when we get back, I promise.
Your daughter, Shimmering Sea  



Shimmer rolled the scroll, tied it with a piece of boot-string (1) kelp and teleported the note to her parent's living room. She knew that her dad would read the note out loud for her mother's sake.

Her mother....

No.... her adoptive mother.

Because her birth mother was sitting beside her. Shimmer's necklace & transformation had been a shock but she had come to terms with it already. Especially the part about being able to turn back to land pony as soon as the pearl was out of the salt water. That little tidbit from Tide Glider on their swim back was very helpful. She had just found out she was a merpony - albeit slightly feared because she was a uni-mer - and her mother and her father and the Bone Caves and Princess Aqua and now this mystery.... 

Shimmering Sea shook her head in disbelief at this whorl-wind of a day. Coral Blossom could see the gears turning in the pony's head, and thus said nothing. She merely enjoyed the company of the daughter she had prayed for years to be able to see again.

 ~*~*~


They all slept underwater with Coral inside the borrowed alcove in the Bone Caves. Twilight, Fluttershy and Shimmer found it a very interesting experience to sleep underwater; Spike noticed nothing due to his breathing bowl. Shimmering Sea had not a single nightmare; only the sensation of floating. 

The next morning, after waking in a moment of sheer panic by Twilight and Fluttershy, Tide Glider offered them all breakfast in her home; Shimmering Sea accepted. TG gave them a salad very similar to the one Coral Blossom had served the previous day. However, in Spike's there were little chunks of fish meat; he gobbled them up as Fluttershy went pale. Twilight tried a piece when Spike offered but she almost immediately spat it back out in a piece of cloth napkin. TG took no offence. "It's an acquired taste," she said as she loaded her own salad down with more.
Over breakfast, Shimmering Sea filled Coral in on what they had learned about the deforestation while still being able to leave Princess Aqua out of the discussion. "This could be the reason why myself and Fluttershy were sent here. I won't be satisfied heading home until we get to the bottom of this," Twilight put in. Fluttershy and Spike nodded determinedly; Coral was surprised to see Shimmering Sea nod as well. "Mom, if I go and I help figure what's going on, the earth-mers might come to accept the other tribes." Coral blushed at being referred to as "Mom" but she saw the determined look on Shimmer's face and knew that there was no hesitation there; only determination.
"Very well, Shimmering Sea. You go with your new friends and solve a mystery...." Pause. "But please at least come back with me so I can properly provision you for your journey!" she said excitedly.

TG had already provided special merpony saddle bags for Shimmer and a few food items but it was very little that she could spare. They wholeheartedly agreed. "Are you coming too, Tide Glider?" Spike asked of the peg-mer. TG shook her head. "I can't, Spike. I need to stay here and look after the Bone Caves and check in with our mutual friend."
Shimmering Sea knew TG was referring to Princess Aqua but could not with Coral present. Suddenly, Twilight got the best of herself. "Oh for Celestia's sake! Just tell Coral about Princess Aqua already! She's going to find out sooner or later," she burst out before swimming outside in a huff. "Princess Aqua?" Coral asked timidly. "Oh my! I haven't seen Twilight like this since that time I took Princess Celestia's pet phoenix without permission and tried to nurse it back to health," Fluttershy said before dashing outside after Twilight.
Shimmering Sea face-hoofed before turning to Coral Blossom. "Remember how the town elders did that magic yesterday? Well, there's an alicorn merpony who can do that too but a thousand times stronger. Her name is Princess Aqua Marina. TG is one of her lieutenants and Aqua was the one who we met with last night... she's the one who told us about this problem. I'm sure that the elders are helping some but its not enough and we want to figure out why. If we can help save the oceans, the earth-mers might be more trusting to us."
Coral Blossom stared at Shimmering Sea like she had just turned purple or something. Shimmer saw the disbelief on Coral's face. "TG, while we are gone, please take my mother to meet Aqua. They could keep each other company until we get back," Shimmer said blankly before also going outside, with Spike at her side.


~*~*~


The swim back to Coral's place was stony, at best. Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike swam together as Coral led and Shimmer followed behind. Neither Coral or Shimmer took any notice of the few earth-mers who followed at a distance; they were all stallions, carrying spears of some kind. At some point, when they stopped to let a huge school of fish to pass by, Spike tapped a claw to Coral's shoulder and pointed to the mers. Coral looked at them mildly before looking back to Spike. "Oh, don't worry about them. They're the earth-mer city guards... the council would have told them of Shimmer's return by now and to keep an eye out for her trying to sneak back into town. But since she's with the lot of you, they won't approach."
"Kind of like diplomatic immunity by association," said Twilight in her Lecture mode voice. Spike scratched his head in confusion. "Uh... bless you?" This elicited a giggle from Fluttershy and Shimmer but nothing more.

Arriving back at Coral's home, Twilight and Fluttershy retrieved their own saddle bags from where they got left on the three seat couch. Coral told them to take anything they wanted from the kitchen while she went into the storage room for some equipment. Shimmering Sea found the salad that Coral had made for them the previous night, minus the fish meat, and a small wave of guilt washed over her. "If we can find a way to pack it, we can take it with us," softly said Fluttershy as she came into the kitchen. Shimmer nodded and looked over her shoulder. Twilight was experimenting with the scroll papers that Princess Aqua had given while Spike was digging in the fireplace for more sticks of charcoal. 

Coral came back carrying smaller squares & rectangles of canvas for them to use as bedrolls and/or tents, various lengths of rope, a gathered net and a pair of old shortened spears. Fluttershy offered to carry the net if Shimmering Sea took the spears; Shy was just not comfortable carrying weapons... they tended to scare off the animals. Shimmer did not mind at all and the shafts were barely six hooves long; they were not too cumbersome. Twilight agreed to carry the food supplies; Coral had shown them the bleach-white canvas bags that were used in food preparation & storage. Shimmer used her levitation to pour the salad into one of the bags while Coral looked on, fascinated. She then pulled out small jars with sealed lids; she said they contained stuff like kelp tea, preservatives of sea apples, pears, peaches and strawberries; each jar was labeled in the merpony runes but Shimmer could read them just fine. Coral hoofed over a special water scroll that listed the safe-to-eat water plants of the oceans; Twilight pretty much grabbed it and squeed with glee, making the rest of them laugh a little. Coral also gave Shimmer a map of the near by mer-pony cities before giving a large billowy dark cloak made of a thin canvas.
Shimmering Sea took the cloak in disbelief. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked. "Yes... this is the cloak I wore to conceal my identity when I dropped you off at the orphanage," Coral said, gazing at it sadly. "You might need it if you require to go into an earth-mer city for any reason." Shimmering Sea understood and nodded her thanks.
"One last thing...." Coral said, snapping out of her thoughts. She went back into the bedroom and returned with what looked like a backpack, similar to the one Spike owned back home. This one was shaped like the food bags with the draw string at the top but still had the vertical straps on one side and had Princess Aqua's cutie mark on the back. The second bag she carried was one of the food ones filled with a variety of ocean gems... mostly sapphires and diamonds. 

"Whoa whoa what!? How did you come to possess a backpack with Princess Aqua's cutie mark on it??" Shimmer asked, completely confused. Coral, looking equally confused, looked at the backpack and then to Shimmer. "I have no idea what you mean. I got this bag in a trade from an uni-mer who wished for my recipe for the fish salad you now carry in Twilight's bags." "Ooooh! So this uni-mer probably met Princess Aqua, liked her cutie mark and copied it for an ocean themed decoration," Spike said excitedly as he practically snatched the backpack and tried it on for fit. He then proceeded to fill the bag with his small bag of snack gems, the new bag of ocean gems, the fireplace charcoal and Twilight's special parchment and then tried to suck on a shard of ocean sapphire all at the same time.
Shimmering Sea could not hold back any longer. She burst out in hysterical laughter. She leaned on the kitchen counters and continued to just plain laugh until her eyes watered.
"Um... I think we broke her," Fluttershy whispered.


~*~*~


It took Shimmering Sea about a good ten minutes before she finished laughing. The whole thing was just too funny. And it was not just the backpack either. I mean seriously... what uni-mer sews a backpack really only good to be used on a bipedal creature? And what were the odds of Coral Blossom getting her hooves on it? But also the experience as a whole for the past 24 hours. It was all just getting too weird and she felt like she just had to break the tension somehow. And the laughing fit had done it for her; she figured that it was either a laugh or a cry but suspected that a cry might have scared them more.

When Shimmer had calmed down completely and they all had secured their belongings, Coral Blossom saw them back to the Bone Caves but they were not to enter; they were to go left and into deeper water. But from inside the Bone Caves, three merponies swam out to meet them. One was a mare uni (medium grey body, similar freckles to Shimmer's but in grey and with blue neck-long mane), second was a stallion uni (dark blue-purple body, even darker mane with streak of pale neon green) and third was a stallion peg-mer (bright neon green body, kite shape of dark green on forehead and grey/black streaked mane plastered back) and all three of them lacked any cutie mark. (2) The stallion peg-mer introduced himself as Warding Wave ("Ward"); the stallion uni as Lance Legend ("Just Lance is fine,") and the mare uni as Armored Splash ("Amie for short,"). "We are here because we heard from Tide Glider of your mission, Shimmering Sea. We want to help," said Ward. The three of them looked determined and Shimmer did not wish to offend them. 
Coral saw that they were all hunters; merponies extremely experienced in dealing with the ocean and its dangers. She told this to the group and encouraged them to accept. Knowing very little themselves, Twilight and Fluttershy seemed almost relieved to have protection. Shimmer agreed.
Turning back to the trio, Shimmering Sea approached them, watching for their reactions. "We will gladly accept those who wish to help on what could be a dangerous mission," she said casually. "We want to help you help Princess Aqua," said Lance. "And maybe a chance at finally earning our cutie marks," said Amie, with a little blush. Coral whispered something to Shimmer; "She's one of those animal experts I told you about... those that accompany the hunters." Shimmer nodded acknowledgement. "Your families will not miss you if you leave?" Twilight asked curiously, swimming forward. The trio bowed respectfully. "No your highness. They were the ones who encouraged us to join you," said Ward. "They will help each other until our return," added Lance. Amie took up a pleading stance that rivaled even Rainbow Dash's during cider season.

Shimmering Sea took a deep breath, feeling the weakness of the oxygen and wishing she had learned that spell before leaving Aqua, and nodded. "Very well. You shall join us," she said.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The newly formed group swam in a safer formation: Lance took lead; Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike came next; Shimmering Sea swam with Amie and Ward followed behind to guard their backs. Lance and Ward kept up with their active protective stances as they crossed over a large crack in the sea-floor. Shimmer saw that it was labeled as Craigshoof Crack on the map and she saw that it slightly resembled a hoof when she looked at it over her shoulder & from a distance. Amie also kept a similar stance as the stallions but not as suspicious.
Shimmering Sea took the opportunity to speak with another uni-mer about the ocean. "So... Amie?" Amie looked over to Shimmer but her mind went blank. "Uhh.... I don't know where to begin," Shimmer stammered, embarrassed. Amie giggled and used her magic to re-roll up the map, placing it back into her own saddlebag. "How about I start about me then?" she offered; Shimmer nodded.

"I was born and raised in the Bone Caves.... both of my parents are uni-mers. Lance & Ward are twins and my cousins on my mom's side. So is Tide Glider but on my dad's side. I have an older sibling but she is an earth-mer so was taken to the city and adopted; two younger siblings: one is peg, other is uni like me. One big happy family in the Bone Caves.... will be nice to have someone new," Amie said as she shifted her saddlebags on her back with her magic. Shimmer thought it was sad that Amie lost her older sister to the city just because of what she was born. "I don't even know her name..." Amie said quietly.

Shimmering Sea searched her mind for a change of topic. "Why are there so many of the Bone Caves lacking a cutie mark?" The question burst from her muzzle before she could stop it. Amie seemed relieved at the change. "So many of us lack our marks because there are so few opportunities to try new things or find new ways to soul search. We know each other too well and so can't hide anything.... it's really hard to explain." Amie struggled to find words. "Perhaps a change of scenery will do the trick for the three of you," Spike spoke up from Twilight's back. Twi & Shy nodded enthusiastically. "Indeed! And we'll help any way we can," Twilight said. "Oh, I wish the Cutie Mark Crusaders could have come along with us! They'd have loved this challenge," Fluttershy said.
"The Cutie Mark Whatists?" asked Amie. Twi, Shy & Spike burst into laughter. "They're a trio of fillies back home in Ponyville who would go "crusading" for their cutie marks... doing anything and EVERYTHING they could do to earn them. They finally did when they discovered that helping others come to understand what THEIR marks mean was their purpose." Twilight lit her horn, creating a trio of silhouettes of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell, placing each of their cutie marks enlarged behind them. "That was one heck of a cute-ceanera that Pinkie Pie held for them!" Spike laughed, nearly falling off of Twi's back, grabbing her mane in the last moment.
Lance stopped suddenly and looked back over his shoulder. "What's a 'cute-ceanera'?" he asked. Twi, Shy & Spike stopped laughing and stared at him like he had just said that the moon was made of cheese. 



 "Kinda silly idea... hmm... maybe if Discord had felt in the mood but it is kinda too old school for his tastes these days!"  said Pinkie as she broke the 4th wall momentarily.   "Pinkie! Come back in here and play your turn of Cards Against Equestria! I am three Amazing points away from winning this game!"  yelled the voice of a certain Draconequus as his eagle claw waved a collection of black cards.   "NO WAY DISCORD! I am only one away from winning this!"   Pinkie cried as she grabbed a zipper and pulled the hole shut again, giggling insanely the whole time. (1)



Shimmering Sea finally broke the tension; none of them having experienced the fourth wall episode. "A cute-ceanera is a party celebration given to a filly when she earns her cutie mark. A colt gets a cute-mitzvah instead but same concept."
Lance looked at her for a little longer than necessary but shrugged, said "Cool," and then kept going forwards. "Could they be held for adults?" Ward asked. Shimmering Sea shrugged. "I guess so but I've never heard of one for any adults before," she said. "I wonder how Pinkie Pie would plan that kind of party," Twilight mused. None of them had any answer { and Pinkie was too busy as Card Czar to break 4th wall... somehow Discord had won TWO hands in a row!!  }.

They continued to swim for the vast majority of the day. Shimmering Sea and the other merponies felt it in the water when Princess Aqua had performed her magic; they also noticed that it was getting weaker. That worried the group as a whole and as result, their speed increased slightly.
When the sun reached mid-day, the group came to a flat clearing within a kelp forest. "That's a good of a place as any for lunch," Amie pointed out. The twins agreed and steered them towards the spot. 
Upon arriving, Ward hurried around the perimeter of the circle and placed a bunch of pale crystals, the tips of his pegasus wings brushing the stone. Each crystal developed an inner glow as he placed the whole bunch of them from his saddle bag; when he finished with the perimeter, he placed the last one - a huge round flat one - in the very center. His wings began a swirling motion in the water, creating an almost whirlpool  on top of the center crystal and the whirl grew bigger & bigger until it burst from center and connected with the perimeter crystals, creating a whirling wave around the perimeter. Ward darted into the wave, swimming faster and faster, using tail and wings. When he deemed that the wave would last, he exited the wave and joined the others.
The looks on Twilight, Fluttershy, Spike and Shimmering Sea's faces gave him a sense of pride that he had never experienced in his life. He was always proud of his crystal protection waves but those of the Bone Caves watched him growing up developing the wave. It was nothing new to them; but to these land ponies, this wave was something they'd never seen before.
As Ward settled next to his twin, a bright flash of light appeared from his tail area. There, a section of fish scales had fallen away to reveal a black/grey whirlpool cutie mark with a white crystal in the center. "By the waves! You got your cutie mark Ward!" Amie cried. Gasps & squealing immediately followed as Amie dove for a hug and Lance gave his brother a hoof bump. Twilight lifted a bottle from a saddle bag. "As Pinkie might say, 'This calls for a party!'" she laughed.
Drinks and the salad was passed around; Spike shared some of Lance's fish meat samples, trying a little bit of everything at least once. 


As night fell on the surface, they came to another earth-mer village but by-passed it for a series of underground tunnels under an island & one with a vented air pocket for the land ponies to take a break from. The cavern itself had a flat section above water, covered in dry sand and an old fireplace already there. Spike was eternally grateful for a chance to take off and clean the breathing fish bowl he had been using; Twilight returning herself & Fluttershy back to their normal selves and Amie showed Shimmering Sea how to revert back using her pearl necklace. Lance used his levitation to bring some branches from a huge pile at the back of the sand area to the fireplace, broke them up and started a fire while Ward placed a few of his crystals at the entrance. 

When everyone was settled, Fluttershy & Amie brought out their food supplies while Twilight sent an updated report to Princess Aqua, careful to mention how far the princess's magic went before petering out. 
As they ate, Spike and Lance got talking about land dragons and how different Spike was to them. "Hey, I might not be the same as them, but I would not change a thing!" Spike said proudly over his fish meat, sapphire gem, kelp & seaweed salad. "But don't get me wrong.... a pair of wings would still be really cool," he added as an after-thought, looking at his bare back. Twilight & Fluttershy chuckled as Amie & Shimmer smiled indulgently.
Once dinner was eaten & cleaned up Ward, Lance & Amie set up a watch roister, refusing the offer from Shimmer and the others to take turns.

Night was completely uneventful for everypony (and dragon!) except for Simmering Sea. Despite laying on dry land, she continued to toss and turn in her sleep, completely tangling herself in her sleeping bag. Nightmares of dark shadows underwater chasing her; her pearl failing to maintain her merpony form causing her to revert back underwater too deep for her to reach the surface.... and no Princess Luna in sight to help her! She recognized that fear as being the worst part of the whole thing.