Author's Notes:

Sorry to all that this is late... With everything in the world going on my life is still, well the bloody same. I am still going to work and spending a bit more time out of the home trying to run chores for my parents so they don't half to and all. Plus I am still attending school. Who knew Airport workers were essential? Do not worry I am still working on this. My other Story Mare of the Everfree, however, is going under a rewrite since I had lost everything for it. I lost the ending and I lost the chapters in between. Normally I like to write the ending so I know where the story is going and how long I should make it. But other than that I hope you all stay safe out there

Chapter Forty one

Luna was sitting on a large oversize cloud. Her sister and the other elements were sitting alongside her. They were talking amongst themselves as it was easier to speak without alerting Selene. Luna was listening to Twilight ramble on about the spell in the book causing the lunar alicorn to look around. The room she created was changing slowly as Twilight was speaking. The room was filling slowly with water while the room shifted into a large colosseum. Star was sitting on the sidelines her appearance had changed. Her tail was longer than normal as the scales were light pink with blue swirls mixed in. her eyes were a soft cherry blossom pink as her mane was floating behind her filled with pink fish and cherry blossoms. Her fins were flowing as if they were made from fabric. Opening her mouth her voice was angelic causing Twilight to stop speaking.

“So the elder told you what I truly am” she smiled as the ponies looked up towards her. Celestia had her wings up as the others gathered behind her.

“Star?”

“My name is Roseate. Star is something I let Selene call me” she giggled as she got up from her seat moving closer towards them.

“I thought you were”

“I told you I was never a curse, to begin with. I am a shield between Selene and the sea witch.”

“But the moon on her neck and” Twilight was cut off as Roseate placed a hoof on her muzzle.

“I am the reason the scholars died. If they found out the truth about the curse something bad could have happened to her. As for the moon on the back of her neck. That does count down the number of days she has left. Till the witch takes over. When you see me as a black-tailed angry merpony its because I been letting the witch act through me. However, she is getting impatient and greedy.” Roseate sighed as she looked up towards the top of the room. Sunlight was coming through as the merpony held a book in her hooves “She will not take me and end me. She wants Selene and the power flowing through her. I do not know this nightmare moon you talk about or the elements but it might be a start. But go to mount Aires. In the caves around the sea is where King maybe”

“Why are you helping us now?” Celestia narrowed her eyes.

“My time is coming to an end. The witch is getting tired of me. She wants the power that is flowing through Selene. They went after Selene because of me” she hung her head as the alicorn’s glanced over at each other before looking over at the merpony.

“Queen Roseate may we ask why were they went after here because of you?” Luna spoke up as the merpony looked up.

“I found a way to pick the pony I wanted to be the next ruler of the sea. I found out that it would have gone to one of Selene’s brothers dooming her to death. The sea witches heard what I did and they threaten me. If I did not give them the gem they would go after my family and… and… they knew I cared for Selene greater than the others. Every time she visited I made sure she was fine. And when I heard she was visiting the islands above I went with her. The islands are as old as Maremuda and they must have something.”

“And you were right” Luna walked closer towards the merpony.

“I found a stallion who knew how to take souls and place them into a shell. I gave him a part of my power as payment. While Selene played with Twilight I got him to tear my soul in half. I’m glad I did. She needed me and she needed a pony in her corner. She would have died and” she had tears in her eyes as Luna moved closer pulling her into a hug.

“You should still tell her the truth” Luna moved as Roseate shook her head.

“I will let her believe that I am Star. Oh and Twilight the myth about ponies dying who research the curse. Yeah, that’s fake I normally mess with there mind. But you and the others here are an exception to that rule. You showed her what ponies who care about each other could do while she was young. You gave her hope in something better. Also thank you for letting me use your shadow and magic” she chuckled as she disappeared making the room return to normal.

“Well at least she honest” Rainbow broke the silence as Luna looked towards them.

“I think we will stop there for the night. I cannot keep this up for much longer.” Luna looked towards them as Celestia nodded.

“Twilight and want you and your friends to get ready. Once awake come to the throne room, please. Blueblood and the nobles are pushing for a speedy trial” Celestia groaned as she rubbed her eyes with her wings. Luna nodded as she spread her wing open as she swept it through the others. Sending them back to their dreams before sending her sister off.

Her eyes opened up as she let out a small yawn. Her aid was sitting beside her holding out a tray with a large cup of coffee on it. Sitting next to the cup of coffee was a bagel with cream cheese. Picking up the baked good she took a bit out of it as she looked down towards her aid.

“Has anything happened while I was in the dream world?” she glanced down towards her aid.

“The nobles that are representing Blueblood are here.” she placed the cup on the table near the throne as Luna let out a sigh as she continued to munch on the bagel. She licked her lips to clear the cream cheese from her lips. She leaned her head back towards the throne as she looked out into the room. Closing her eyes she let out an irritated sigh. The morning was going to be hell for her. Opening her eyes she used her magic to pull the moon down over the horizon allowing her sister’s sun to rise into the sky. Breakfast went smoothly for Luna as she was daydreaming while Celestia was running over the list of what they needed to do. Selene was sitting beside Luna following her aunt as she was staring a hole into the wall. However, she wasn’t staring she was talking.

“Star?”

“Nervous?”

“Yes. What am I supposed to do?” Selene’s ears twitched as she blinked slowly. The others just watched them as Luna was a master at daydreaming but keeping the appearance she was listening to. Her head was nodding as for Selene. Her ears were twitching as she stared at the wall.

“Stay silent and follow your aunts and listen to them. They will have the answers of what you need” Star was chuckling as Selene let a stream of air out of her nose. She closed her eyes as she blinked them slowly.

“So stay silent and keep hidden”

“No you should never hide. If you hide you are giving the bloody stallion what he wants. He wants you to be scared and afraid. If you hide you are letting him keep the power over you.” Star grumbled as Selene blinked again. Her eyes moved and noticed the others were walking out of the room. Placing the half-eaten toast down she followed them in silence. Her eyes were looking around as they entered the throne room. A small group of ponies were gathered around Blueblood as her brothers were sitting in front of the thrones. Celestia and Luna took their seats as Cadence sat between them. Twilight and her friends stayed around Selene. Looking up towards her aunt she noticed she was speaking but Selene couldn’t hear the words. Her mind was allowing Star to hear first as her heart was pounding.

“This is the part where you need to listen to” Star-spoke up as she disappeared leaving Selene to listen to a purple pony with a dark navy mane and tail. She was dressed simply in a vest as she had papers floating in front of her.

“Prince Blueblood did not know that the pony in question was a princess. He had only seen her once and the pony who sold her to him, said that she freely gave her self up” the pony looked up towards the princesses. A tall blue stallion with a light blue and grey mane walked up wearing a black suit. He fixed his glasses as he bowed.

“And we have documentation that she was taken from Ponyvile by the people who sold her. We also have sworn confessions by the stallions in custody. They were written while the ponies were under a truth spell. They were told by Blueblood to capture her. He promised money or whatever they wanted for her.” He looked up and handed the papers over to the princess.

“Oh and we have witness stating”

“Your witnesses are in the holding cell. They also gave us a statement under the same spell. We also have the heroes of Equestria willing to come up and say they saw the ponies your client hired ponynapping her” the stallion in question pointed a hoof at the mare.

“Lord Fancypants, Lady Violet, we gathered you two here since a request of a speedy trial was placed in. We have all the information that we need to judge the pony in question. The reason we had to hold off on the speedy trial is for one fact. We needed to gather the other rulers since this has gone far beyond our borders. For one, you bought the pony here on Equestrian soil. Then you transported her to the Crystal Empire”

“Breaking several laws that we have on merponies” Cadence glared towards Blueblood.

“And on top of it. She is a princess who is currently under her father’s rule. She is also the future ruler of the sea.” Celestia shifted in her seat as Luna spoke up.

“The question of death has come up many times from the merponies. The suggestion of hard labor in the crystal mines has been placed on the table. Apparently, merponies are protected in the empire and breaking their laws means death or hard labor until you die. And the last suggestion that was placed on the table was that you would spend your days in jail. Not the fancy jail for nobles. You would be placed in an underground jail where you will be used for food for my night guard. We concluded” Luna sat back as Cadence cleared her throat.

“For the ponynapping of a visiting royal, you are stripped of your noble status. Any children that you sired will no longer have ties to you. Your money will be split among your children and any family members that you have. If you do not have children or family left alive your land and money will be awarded to the crown and used as fit. For the buying, an enslaved pony and transporting the said pony you are hereby placed in jail to be used as the night guard sees fit till you die. And for enslaving a merpony, harming a merpony, mistreating a merpony you are hereby sentenced to work in the Crystal mines here in Equestria run by the ponies from the Empire. You will be overseen by the night guard and the crystal guard. They will see how to use you in any way they like” Cadence placed the papers down as she looked over and noticed the ponies were staring in shock “The Crystal Empire has very stick laws on merponies dating back to the days before Sombra.” Cadence handed the ponies in question copies of the laws along with Princess Celestia and Luna.

“Princess you can’t” the mare was stopped as Celestia held her hoof up.

“His actions almost caused a war! You almost destroyed three-year peace talks by his actions! I will not let this just go by a simple slap on the hoof! These sentences are solid and they will stay!” Celestia watched as the ponies were staring at her “And if any pony has a problem with it I will take their titles and money away from them. I will not have a pony jeopardize my ponies and potentially put us at war! A war with ponies who know magic that we don’t! ponies who have the same life span like me and my sister! He almost put us at war with ponies who have kept the same type of training that was set in stone by the first alicorn of the sea King Atlas. I will not go to war with ponies who will potentially have the upper hoof” she growled as the others nodded weakly.

“Guards take Blueblood to Captain Shadow of the Lunar guard. Tell him this is the gift I been talking about” Luna waved her wing causing the guards in the room to bow. They pushed the nobles away from Blueblood as they dragged him out of the room by his hind legs. The nobles glanced towards Selene who was hiding behind a few pillars.

“Princess we”

“There will be no retrial” Cadence looked towards them as Luna was the one giving them the coldest stare. The ponies bowed as they quickly left whispering among themselves. Selene moved out of her hiding spot as she noticed the relief wash over the princess's faces.

“Who knew that the Crystal Empire had so many rules on merponies. I mean I didn’t even think I would find a book on it” Cadence sighed as she moved her mane with her wing. Hearing the princesses talk about rule Selene took the opening and walked out of the throne room. A weight felt as it was lifted from her chest causing a smile to form on her muzzle. Her hoof ran along her stomach as she noticed Kibby walking along the halls with Krill by her side talking. Her ears went up as she looked towards Selene.

“Selene we were coming to get you. I thought you would be at the trial?” Kibby spoke up as the merpony shook her head.

“It was short and easy” she smiled as Kibby smiled back.

“Well good. But we need to walk you over to the hospital now”

“Wait why?” Selene sat down as Kibby pointed towards her stomach.

“You are coming to the point where you are going to be sluggish and very tired. Your coming to the term where the tail and fins are starting to form. That is the time when your body with needs the most energy” Kibby kept her hoof pointed towards Selene.

“Have you not felt tired or exhausted?” Krill spoke up as Selene nodded.

“I have but we just got back from the islands. We did do a lot” she chuckled as she pointed to the symbol on her leg.

“Selene it's your body telling you its time for you to relax. And you are going to relax at the hospital” Kibby walked over to Selene as she placed a hoof around her neck “And you are going to stay at the hospital so I can keep an eye on you”

“But I need to”

“No buts” Kibby picked up Selene as she carried her out of the castle. The merpony curled up on Kibby’s back grumbling a bit as she noticed Krill was walking with them.

“Selene this is a point where you need to have a constant eye on you. You can not sleep in the tank since we have no idea what the children truly are” Kibby noticed the look on Selene’s face “Come on let's head to the hospital” she leaned in and nuzzled her. Selene nodded as she turned and followed Kibby. Krill walked over and picked up Selene allowing her to travel easier. Selene could hear ponies talking over each other as they waited in front of the castle. The guards were trying to mateine order as they slipped through them. The wind was softly blowing allowing her to feel the cold that was finally moving in. Selene let a yawn out as her fins were draping down at her sides. Kibby kept an eye on Selene as they moved towards the hospital. It was a silent walk between them as the town around them was getting up and moving. Kibby was playing things over in her mind as she led Krill through the entrance of the hospital.

“So where are we going to be keeping her?” Krill watched as Kibby led him through the back halls towards an elevator.

“The hospital has a large floor dedicated to the princesses. It hasn’t been used in a long while. I talked to the board and told them we had a visiting princess that will be needing it. Plus this will give the nurses and staff good training on the floor if Celestia and Luna would ever need treatment. They will know how to use the equipment and the layout” Kibby smiled as she pulled a key from her pocket placing it into a slot in the elevator.

“I thought the castle would have a medical wing for them?”

“The wing is simply made for the guard since they are the ones who get injured a lot. Plus don’t tell any pony. But this is a place where the princesses normally come when they get a headache from the nobles” she chuckled as the elevator stopped opening up to a large marbled room. Krill was shocked as he saw the walls and the ceilings were made of a single grey marble. The floor was a dark blue marble covered in a dark purple and silver rug. Two large cloud beds covered in blankets with pillows sat in the middle. Most of the equipment in the room was placed to the side covered in plastic sheets. A few nurses were pulling sheets off of a few as they were getting the equipment up and running. Krill walked into the room noticing it was warmer than the main hospital.

“It’s”

“Has its own heating and cooling. Just set her on one of the beds” Kibby waved her hoof towards the bed as she walked over to the nurses. Krill placed Selene down on the large cloud bed decorated in the stars. Selene let out another yawn as she tried to move her fins. Looking around she could only hear muffled voices till she felt her hoof being pulled from under her. Her fins bolted up as she felt something poking her leg. She let out a small wine before feeling a hoof rub her cheek. Kibby was helping the nurses place an iv line in Selene’s hoof.

“Is she okay?” one of the nurses spoke up. Kibby turned to face the nurse but she noticed the nurse had golden eyes with red iris staring at her. The nurse had one fang sticking out of her mouth as the other one was busy placing a needle in.

“When merponies hit five months in the mother will start getting sluggish. This is when they hide in the cave they picked out. They will stay in the cave while the mate would bring them food and other items they would need. When they start to give birth is when the mate will gather the family allowing them to help and to keep the enemies distracted. However, some stay within city limits and then every pony comes together and helps. But many still follow their roots and finds a cave” Kibby noticed the nurse staring at her turn her head causing chills to go up to her spine. Krill noticed the nurse as the other one was nodding.

“The Iv is in.” she smiled as Kibby walked over.

“Okay, now place the heart monitors like you would on a normal pony. Then just keep an eye and ear on the monitors downstairs. This room will come up as royal when any of the alarms go off” Kibby watched as the nurse nodded. She slowly took her time as Krill was busy looking around whistling.

“Holy Carp! This bathroom is laaarrge!” he whistled causing Kibby to glare at the door.

“I am sorry about him” she groaned as the nurse nodded. Once the heart monitor was hooked up the one nurse left leaving the other one behind.

“Alright Discord what are you doing?” Kibby growled as the nurse dropped the illusion, Discord stretched his arms. He glared towards Kibby as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“I saw you two carrying Selene. From what my” he made a pair of red rim glasses and a floating calendar with wings appear in front of him “Calendar her check-up is not for another few weeks. As far as I know, this check would involve Twilight and the others….plus” he had a grinned as he looked towards the healer “You snuck her out of the castle” he made the items disappear as he leaned his head down.

“And you have the makings of a Tree walker all over you…like tentacles” Kibby smiled as she noticed Discord turning red and backing up from her. She was looking away at his face still red.

“I will”

“Look Discord… Just don’t cause any problems please” Kibby turned and walked out of the room leaving him alone with Krill and Selene.