Fears and Family
Terramar had never felt as relieved as he did now to know that his big sister was safe and sound, and that she was finally coming back home to Mount Aris with him (and probably Seaquestria too since that was where their mom lived). When she hadn't originally come home for spring break as had been expected he had quickly grown concerned and most of Mount Aris with him. It was no secret that his sister was special, a hero according to some although the way she talked about it made it very difficult to determine if it was true.
Terramar had been given the task of going to Equestria to try and find Silverstream, and when that hadn't worked out he'd worked himself into a tizzy before managing to find help. The young hippogriff had felt an enormous burden be lifted from his shoulders when his sister was found safe and sound inside a treehouse near what remained of an old castle. And the entire experience was still fresh in his mind now that he and Silverstream were preparing to return home together.
"Are you sure Edith will be alright with Miss Maud Pie over the break?" Silverstream asked her brother, referring to that cockatrice she'd befriended as part of her report. She'd hoped to take it back home with her as a pet, but after some convincing she'd reluctantly agreed to leave it in Maud's care for the time being.
The younger hippogriff nodded. "I don't know how Mom and Dad would react to you bringing that... whatever it is with you just yet. You should probably wait and talk to Professor Fluttershy about it, she might know how to keep it under control," And he quickly changed the subject since cockatrices were not something he really wanted to discuss, they still freaked him out (and who could blame him?). "Besides, Mom and Dad would freak out all over again, and so would Aunt Novo. And they already worried themselves sick trying to find you. Even Seaspray was worried."
The hippogriff with a lovely pink coat blinked, as if surprised to hear this. "Really? They were worried? I mean, I know I didn't come home when I was supposed to but it's not like I'd disappeared off the face of the world. I didn't even think I was gonna be gone for that long," And she blushed. "I meant to leave a note for Counselor Starlight, really. I was just so busy with my project that it completely slipped my mind."
Terramar sighed. He knew his sister well enough to know that she could be a bit absent minded and easily distracted despite being the older sibling. "Have you forgotten that Aunt Novo is the ruler of our kingdoms? You're practically royalty for crying out loud! We all thought someone might have kidnapped you, or worse! You ran away from home once before and we didn't know where you'd run off to."
"Yeah, that wasn't really the brightest idea," Silverstream blushed further. "I guess I have a tendency to get carried away and not always think things through," Then it suddenly struck her almost as if by chance. "Kind of like that time when we were younger and I thought you'd been captured by the Storm King. Oh, I still get goosebumps just thinking about it."
The younger hippogriff could well remember that experience even though he'd only learned the full story behind it after the fact. "Yeah, that was an experience I don't think we'll ever forget."
And just like that, Silverstream was thinking back to that day many years ago. A day when she and Terramar were little seaponies who had spent their entire life in Seaquestria and years before the Storm King's defeat would allow them to see land.
Living underwater had its drawbacks, chief among them was the fact that you actually couldn't just swim out wherever you wanted to all day. If you wandered too far from home it was possible to be swept up by currents and carried into unfamiliar territory full of creatures you didn't wanna run into if you could help it. And although Silverstream had lots of friends to play with, by now she had explored every nook and cranny of the coral reef she called home. And she wasn't old enough to leave it like some of the older seaponies were.
Luckily, she had the next best thing in Terramar, her baby brother who she loved so much! Almost from day one she'd been obsessed with teaching him everything there was to know about being a seapony, and doing her best to do what big sisters did and protect him from anything or anyone that might do him harm. Most importantly, however, she had someone else to confide in her not so secret fear of the Storm King.
Lots of older seaponies had talked about that so called king, how he had apparently tried to hunt down the seaponies back when they'd lived on land in order to steal their most prized possession: The Pearl of Transformation. They didn't know what he'd have done with it if he'd managed to get his paws on it, but his willingness to destroy the seaponies' old kingdom of Mount Aris to get at it spoke volumes about the lengths he'd go to in order to get what he wanted. And they said that he liked to "play" with any creature he took captive, though what sort of games he'd play Silverstream didn't know.
Growing up in Seaquestria, everyone learned from an early age that the sea was the only thing that kept them safe from a possible return of the Storm King's wrath. As time went by some seaponies stopped fearing the Storm King, either having no memories of him or having blocked the ones they had of him from mind. But Silverstream wasn't one of them. The more she learned the more she feared him, feared what this evil yet playful king was capable of. If he could almost singlehandedly drive a kingdom into hiding, who knew what else he was truly capable of?
Playing with Terramar was Silverstream's way of not just passing the time, but also keeping her mind on things other than the Storm King or ending up far from home with no way to get back. As curious as she might have been to learn more about the world beyond the coral reef that she knew, the seapony was always held back by her fears. And it wouldn't take much for those fears to take control of her, make her assume the worst no matter what the situation.
Today would be one of those days, but it wouldn't start out that way. Silverstream woke up that morning and after breakfast she practically begged her mom and dad if Terramar could come and play with him. She wanted to show him a great new hiding place she'd found the day before. Well actually it was a hiding place her cousin Skystar had shown her but Terramar didn't know that.
Their mom, Ocean Flow, agreed without much hesitation. "Just make sure you two stick to the coral reef," She instructed to the both of them. "And be back in time for dinner. Oh, and make sure you don't bother your Aunt Novo today. She's seeing some very important seaponies and doesn't want to be disturbed."
Silverstream waved a fin. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll make sure to keep a good eye on Lil’ Terri-Mary!"
Terramar blushed bright red in embarrassment. "I'm not a baby anymore, sis. I can take care of myself. I only spilled octopus ink on myself one time."
"Yeah, and it got all over Aunt Novo's study. I don't think I'd ever seen her so upset," Silverstream replied while holding back a giggle. "It sure is a good thing Cousin Skystar was there to help us clean it all up," She then swam out of the little pod that she and her brother resided in within Seaquestria. "Come on, baby brother! We're gonna have the time of our lives!"
Terramar followed as best he could, but he wasn't as fast a swimmer as his older sister and he eventually fell behind. It was a miracle he didn't lose sight of her completely during the whole trip out to the outskirts of the coral reef, the furthest either of them could go without getting into trouble.
"Come on, Terri-Mary!" Silverstream chirped in excitement when her brother finally caught up with her. "Let's play hide and seek! I found the perfect hiding spot yesterday, no one would find it in a million years. But I'll bet you could find it, you always know where to find me."
The younger seapony gulped. "I don't know, sis. I don't know every coral and every blade of seaweed the way you do. Couldn't we just go and play with the bubble fish instead?"
The seapony with a beautiful pink coat waved a fin in protest. "What, you worried the current will sweep you away or something? That's ridiculous, no currents out here are that powerful. The only thing you should be worried about is..." Then she paused, unable to bring herself to say what she wanted to say. The image that came to her mind was one she'd rather not dwell on.
"What?" Terramar innocently asked.
Silverstream shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Nothing... it's nothing. Forget I said anything!" And she was quick to change back to the original subject. "Now come on, I want a challenge! This time I'm sure I can stay hidden longer than you can."
Reluctantly sensing that his sister wasn't going to be satisfied any other way, Terramar agreed. "A-alright," He nervously relented. "You... go hide. I'll... count to... uh... one hundred, I think? I can't really count that high."
"Just count as high as you can go, I know you can get pretty high up in numbers. A lot higher than I can sometimes." Silverstream replied and then swam away as she saw her brother cover his face with his fins. It didn't take long for her to find that great hiding spot. It wasn't a place you could find with the naked eye unless you knew what you were looking for. It was nestled just right amidst the rocks and the coral, a gap so tiny you could overlook it without a second thought.
So the chipper young seapony ducked into the gap and tucked herself out of sight amidst the rocks, and the corral and the dirt on the sea floor beneath her. Then she waited, and waited and waited some more. All the while she was careful not to make a sound, something easier said than done given her chatty nature and love for exploring and learning new things.
What seemed like minutes passed but not a sound was heard, not even faintly in the distance. Now Silverstream began to worry a bit. Maybe she'd hidden herself a little too well without realizing it. She began to occasionally poke her head out and allow her moderate violet blue eyes to scan either side of the opening, while also trying to listen for her baby brother's voice. But she couldn't see or hear anything at all.
When a few more minutes passed without fanfare Silverstream decided that she'd stayed hidden for long enough. She emerged from the opening completely and began swimming back to the entrance to that little alcove that led to Seaquestria. She was certain Terramar would be there, having given up on trying to find her (or perhaps still lost in counting. She'd done that once). Yet her baby brother was nowhere to be seen. There didn't seem to be even the faintest trace to indicate he'd ever been there.
He couldn't have forgotten about their game, he would've had someone else track her down if he had been called away for any reason. Something was not right, Silverstream was sure of it! "Terramar?" She nervously called out amidst the emptiness of the vast sea around her. "Where are you, brother? I was supposed to be hiding, not you!" She hoped that would yield a response but once again there was no reply. Where could he have gone?
Suddenly, an awful thought struck the seapony and filled every corner of her mind with dread! "No, it couldn't be!" She thought to herself! "No one's seen the Storm King in years! He couldn't have taken Terramar, could he?!"
Silverstream swam back to Seaquestria, frantically calling out for her brother everywhere she went only to receive no reply. And whenever she asked another seapony they'd tell her that they'd last seen her brother with him heading out towards the outskirts of the coral reef.
But that didn't mean the Storm King hadn't abducted him, right?! The Storm King wouldn't have taken a prisoner back to Seaquestria! He would've taken him back up to the surface!
Almost immediately, Silverstream's mind began to fixate on a series of horrifying images! Each image more terrifying than the one that came before it! She could just imagine her baby brother at the mercy of that overgrown bully with those strange powers!
"M-Mr. Storm King, Sir!" Terramar whimpered in one such image while locked up in a cage while his fins were tied down with super strong seaweed. "I don't like this game! I don't wanna play it anymore!"
The Storm King stood over the cage with a fiendish smile and a playful grin plastered across his face. He was having the time of his life! "Oh, you don't wanna play?" He said in a mocking and taunting tone of voice. "Well that's okay, I know of plenty of games we can play, my little prisoner."
"Please, just let me go! I... I have a family!" Terramar whimpered and pleaded.
"And didn't they ever tell you it's not polite to talk back to your elders the way you do?" The Storm King taunted anew while brandishing that staff he was always so fond of. "Maybe I'll have to teach you some manners. Maybe turn you into something a bit more civilized. I hear your species is big on transformation."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Terramar screamed at the top of his lungs even though he was powerless to do anything about his current predicament, let alone escape from it!
As the images slowly faded, Silverstream became convinced of one certainty: She would have to find a way to rescue her baby brother from that nasty Storm King! Even if she was afraid of that big bully she couldn't abandon her baby brother! "Don't worry, Terramar! When I get through with the Storm King he's gonna wish he was never born! I'll give him a piece of my mind, and probably more than that!" She thought as a fiery determination crossed her eyes. In fact, Silverstream was so determined that it didn't even occur to her to ask some other seaponies for help. The grown-ups wouldn't care, they'd surely think she was being ridiculous since they wouldn't know what she knew.
Returning to the scene of the crime, Silverstream frantically searched all around for any sign of a clue or any kind of lead. The Storm King wouldn't have been able to just make off with her little brother even if he'd used magic. There would've been something left behind to indicate where he'd gone with Terramar.
Then suddenly, the seapony's wandering eyes happened to notice something. The sort of something you wouldn't see unless you looked very closely. It was a small current, almost invisible to the naked eye. But it was one that could've only been generated by a seapony of Terramar's size! Following it was as good a lead as any as far as Silverstream as concerned. And follow it she did, back through that little alcove and all across Seaquestria. Where it was leading her she had no clue, but she had to follow it if she was ever going to see her baby brother again!
At last, as she rounded a bend, the young seapony thought she could hear the faint sound of something. What it was she couldn't tell. It sounded like laughter. But if it was because of a kidnapping it wasn't the kind of laughter that came from when you told a funny joke! It was probably the Storm King, laughing and gloating over what he was probably about to do to his poor little victim!
Plucking up courage despite her fear of that mighty creature, Silverstream swam towards the source and burst into a room! "Don't worry, Terramar! I'm here to save you!" She declared as she inadvertently knocked over a whole bunch of things without realizing what they were or even where she was.
"Silverstream!" A stern, male voice cried out! "Just what do you think you're doing here?! And just what do you mean by barging in here like this?! Didn't your parents teach you to knock first?!" Silverstream then looked up to see a rather unhappy looking seapony that was at least twice her size. He had a pale light grayish-indigo coat, a light pale opal mane and tail and light aquamarine eyes.
"Hey, you're not the Storm King!" Silverstream suddenly realized and plucked up even more courage! "Alright, mister... whatever your name is... you've got ten seconds to tell me what you've done with Terramar or I'm telling my Aunt Novo on you!"
The male seapony simply brushed off the threat as he identified himself. "The name is Seaspray, General Seaspray of her majesty Queen Novo's navy. I happen to work with your father quite often when on his patrols."
The young seapony gasped anew! "No way! You're General Seaspray?! I've heard of you, you're a legend! They say you once fended off an entire army of the Storm King's forces with a single paw... whatever that is," But then she remembered the reason for her intrusion in what she assumed was his house. "But why did you kidnap Lil’ Terri-Mary?"
It was at that moment, however, that a completely unharmed Terramar happened to show up. "Hey General Seaspray, I'm ba... Big sis, what are you doing here? I was about to have General Seaspray help me come and find you."
"You really couldn't find me? I didn't think I was hiding for that long." Silverstream blushed in realization.
"I searched everywhere but I couldn't find you, and when I called out for you you didn't answer," Terramar explained. "I was going to tell Mom and Dad, but I happened to bump into General Seaspray first by chance. He told me he's a really great tracker and I was telling him everything I knew about where you were so he could help me narrow down my search."
The older sibling now looked incredibly ashamed and wished more than anything she could shrink or turn invisible. "Oh, I guess I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly. I though the Storm King had kidnapped you."
General Seaspray's frown relaxed ever so slightly. "The Storm King? Silverstream, I daresay you have a very active imagination even for a child," And for good measure he clarified. "I assure you that if the Storm King were to ever return, he most certainly wouldn't waste his time kidnapping a child he knew nothing about. And you would most certainly know he'd been there. He's not exactly smart enough to kidnap another creature and not leave any evidence behind or be seen by anyone."
"Sorry if I made you worry so much, sis," Terramar apologized. "I didn't know you were looking for me."
Silverstream apologized back. "And I'm sorry I hid so well for so long. I guess I should've made sure you could find me after all."
General Seaspray, meanwhile, cleared his throat as he declared. "Well, it's great that you both realize your mistakes. However, there is still the matter of the mess you caused when you barged uninvited into my house, Silverstream," And he let out a sigh. "There were some important documents I was to deliver to your Aunt Novo for safekeeping."
"No problem, I'll help you find them!" Silverstream promised.
Seaspray only shook his head. "There's no need, I already found them. Unfortunately," He held up a parchment stained rather heavily with black splotches. "In your little 'scuffle' with me you managed to knock over some of my limited supply of octopus ink. It will take ages to remove the stains, and Queen Novo will be anything but pleased to have them delivered in such a state. The information on these documents is for her eyes only after all."
Now Silverstream and Terramar both gulped together. If Novo found out her niece was responsible for damaging important documents she was sure to be anything but pleased. And they knew from experience that their Aunt Novo was quite scary when she got angry.
The flashback ended just as the train they were on was beginning its approach to the station at Mount Aris, meaning it would soon be time for the hippogriffs that had once been seaponies to disembark. "You know, Terramar, I think I've realized something," Silverstream spoke up. "I kind of have a tendency to act without really thinking and get swept away by my own fantasies."
"Yeah, but you're also quite brave consider you faced your fear of the Storm King when you thought I was in danger," Terramar explained. "I've always admired how you can be so brave in those kind of situations. I don't know how it is that you and your friends make it look like it's no big deal what you did. If I went through all the stuff you went through at Twilight's school, I think I'd all but die of fright."
Silverstream tried to play it off again. "Really, after a while you kind of start to get used to it. Besides, none of the things I've faced are anywhere near as scary as having to face down the Storm King. And I'm not even scared of him anymore."
Terramar pondered. "Is that why you didn't think it was such a big deal if you went into the Everfree Forest to study cockatrices? I didn't even know what they were before I came to Equestria to look for you, and now I wish I could forgot I ever found out."
"But that's the best part of life on the surface, Terramar!" Silverstream protested. "Discovering new things we never would've been able to discover if we'd just remained seaponies all our lives. There's so many things I'd love to be able to show off to you, Mom and all our cousins who live underwater. The Storm King's defeated and he's never coming back, we don't have to live in fear all the time."
The younger hippogriff nodded. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ever be afraid of anything. I shouldn't be the only one who's worried sick about you or the things you do. Don't you ever worry that you might not come back home from one of your crazy adventures? That something might happen to you?"
The hippogriff with a lovely pink coat seemed to ponder this deeply for a moment. It wasn't something she had really given much thought to before, even with prior history and context. But now that she had a chance to consider it and reflect on it, she was coming to realize something she hadn't thought of before. "I always have, or at least a part of me has. I try not to let it bother me too much, because if I did I'd never be able to go on those adventures, learn all those new things and most importantly make friends. Being able to attend the school, it opened my eyes to a whole new world that I'd never even known before."
"And I'm sure it's every bit as amazing as you make it sound, big sis," Terramar replied. "But you have a family that worries about you. You have a little brother who's always looked up to you because you're so brave. Heck, you're the queen's niece. There's so many hippogriffs and seaponies who would freak out if you never came home, if you just disappeared, were captured or...." He was hesitant to say the next part as his lips quivered. "Killed."
Terramar paused for a moment to compose himself before adding. "I know I can't make you stop going on adventures with your friends, and if Aunt Novo was willing to let you go back to Equestria after everything you've been through then she probably realizes she can't stop you either. But please, think of those you're leaving behind."
"Oh, Terramar," Silverstream declared as tears started to flow down her cheeks. "Why didn't you tell me sooner you felt this way? You know I'm not always good at realizing what's right in front of me. I guess I'd been taking the hippogriffs and seaponies who love me and care about me for granted, even if I didn't mean to do so."
"Well please, from now on, try to consider us before you go wandering off into the middle of nowhere to do who knows what," Terramar pleaded. "If not for your sake then certainly for all our sakes."
The hippogriff siblings then embraced each other in a tight hug just as the train pulled into the station and slowly to a stop. It was possible to see through the windows of the train cars that a very relieved and yet very unhappy looking Skybeak, Seaspray and Queen Novo all waiting on the station platform. Those were the kind of looks that would make anyone drop dead on sight if looks could kill.
Silverstream let out a nervous chuckle as the hug ended. "Well, at least with the Pearl of Transformation broken up between our kingdoms, Aunt Novo probably can't turn me into a sea slug this time," She declared while looking across to Terramar. "Right?"