Twilight had woken up first yawning as the sun was coming up over the horizon. She glanced down noticing Selene was still asleep. Letting a sigh out as her mind was filled with questions she wanted to ask. Slipping out of her bed she moved towards the bathroom cleaning herself up. Her mind was riddled with questions as she moved from the bedroom towards the library section. Glancing around she noticed Spike was missing as coffee wasn’t already made. Shaking her head she forgot she sent him to Rarity’s yesterday to keep him out of the house. Walking towards the kitchen she started to make a cup of coffee as the front door swung open. Spike walked in with her friends following behind him.

“Twilight your up early!” Spike looked towards the unicorn as she stood there in her kitchen. She turned her head towards the drake smiling at him.

“Yea I had something on my mind.” She chuckled as she moved towards the table holding a coffee cup.

“Oh, what is it?” Spike spoke up as he placed his bag against the door.

“Oh, Selene has been sharing information with me about merponies. I was lost in thought about some of the magic she has been showing me” she placed a smile on her face as she looked towards the young drake.

“Really that’s cool” Spike moved to an empty seat near the table.

“Going back to help Rarity?” she looked towards him as he started to blush.

“If you don’t have anything planned for me” he looked towards his claws as Twilight looked towards her coffee.

“Go have fun Spike” she made her smile wider as he looked up towards her.

“Really?” he stood up as Twilight nodded her head.

“Yes, Spike” Twilight chuckled as he jumped off of his chair grabbing his bag.

“By you’re the best sister!” he ran out of the door shutting it behind him. Twilight softly sighed as she finished her coffee. He was so young she didn’t want him to know anything that she and Selene would talk about. He didn’t need to know about Star or he would go running to her friends. Refilling her cup she made a second cup as she walked up to the stairs towards her bedroom. As soon as she opened the door she noticed Selene was sitting up in the bed her eyes still glazed over. She was sniffing the air as she turned her head towards Twilight. She had her hair up allowing her gills to open up freely as her fins were moving softly behind her.

“Twilight? Do you have coffee with you?” she tilted her head. Twilight walked in placing her cup near the bed as she placed the other in Selene’s hooves.

“How did you know it was me and not Spike?” Twilight watched as Selene leaned back her fins laying against her back.

“You smell like lavender. Also, I can tell your magic apart from Spike” she pulled the cup to her muzzle as she took a sip. She then pointed towards her gills “I can feel your magic as well. Merponies can feel the energies from nearby fish, plants and other merponies. It's an easy way to quickly tell a friend from foe. It takes a bit to master, I’m not that good at it yet” Selene kept her eyes closed as she leaned into the pillows. Twilight picked up her coffee as she sipped on it.

“Would you like to go out and practice some more?” Selene broke the silence as Twilight looked up.

“I thought about going through the books in the library” Twilight leaned back as Selene opened one eye.

“Are you going to get your friends to help?” Selene opened her other eye as her vision returned slowly.

“No. I do not need them in the middle of this.” Twilight glanced towards her coffee as Selene moved towards her.

“Twilight, you’re going to need help. I don’t want you to take this challenge alone. I don’t think Princess Celestia would want that either” Selene tried finding a place to put the cup down. Twilight picked up the cup and placed it near the bed.

“I know but Star gave me the challenge. She did not give them the challenge. I will be downstairs get some rest” Twilight smiled as she walked towards the door. Touching the handle she noticed it was frozen shut causing her to turn towards Selene.

“She gave you the challenge and I am setting the rules.” She opened her eyes allowing Twilight to see her eyes “I’ve seen what this curse has done to scholars Twilight. They study and study until they died. My father has already lost four of the best scholars until he stopped having ponies studying her. I do not wish the same fate on the one and the first pony I can call a friend” her voice was soft as she blinked a bit her vision slowly returning. Twilight laid her ears down as she moved towards Selene.

“I didn’t know” Twilight was glancing towards the floor as Selene closed her eyes.

“No pony would have known that. I wouldn’t have known that either” Selene smiled as Twilight looked up at her.

“I thought your dad told you?”

“Nope. I learned a lot about what my dad or mother did in court or in popular balls by the maids. They love to gossip and just don’t care if I hear it or not” she kept her smile up as Twilight sat down in front of Selene.

“What are the rules?” Selene’s ear sat up as she reopened her eyes.

“The first rule is to tell your friends. I want them to keep you grounded and to pull you away from the books when needed. The second rule ask me anything you want or need. Star can always reach me and I can reach Star since she made a connection. The third rule take a break. If I start to see you go a bit frazzled I’m pulling you from the books and we're going to study merponies or your going to teach me magic” Selene had her smile widen as she kept her eyes on Twilight. It was the only object she could see at the moment since she was sitting near her.

“What happens if Star finds out you put rules in place?” Twilight blinked as Selene snickered.

“Leave Star to me” she kept snickering as she got to her hooves. Twilight looked towards Selene as she could see her hooves shaking.

“You should stay in bed Selene” Twilight watched as she moved towards the door tapping it lightly. The ice melted away as she opened the door.

“I didn’t have enough magic to melt it form the bed” Selene coughed a bit as she moved out of the door. Twilight picked up the coffee cups and followed Selene.

“So how can you get Star if she stays hidden?” She followed her as Selene climbed up on the couch.

“If one of us is asleep like right now I’ll fall asleep and I can go to what she calls her area. If I was sleep for the night she can come to my area or my dream and talk to me.” she looked towards Twilight watching the shadow move about the library. Twilight walked into the kitchen as she fixed new cups of coffee.

“Can you two be out at the same time?” Twilight placed a new cup in front of her as Selene shook her head.

“Well we can but it will do my physical body more harm than good. Last time we did that I ended up in the hospital asleep for a good week.” Selene moved her hooves around the cup as Twilight sat in front of her.

“So you can both talk to each other. I have just a personal question is she and you together?” Twilight looked at her as Selene started to blush.

“Oh no. She likes to think about it but in reality, it’s how merponies are. We are very emotional we show our emotions. My mother told me we do this because we can feel the emotions from other merponies, other fish around us and even the plants that live on the coral. We use those emotions to broadcast our emotions to let them know we are either foe or friend. I’ve seen Star at her worse Twilight. I know when she is angry because she comes to me in my dreams either chewing me out of letting steam off.” Selene moved the cup towards her muzzle and took a sip of the coffee.

“So you two are not together?” Twilight was blushing as she tried to get the question out.

“We kissed and she likes to place her hooves on me and keep me close. We never really taken it that far. She only holds me to help my nerves when I am stress and she talks to me. However, I did promise her that if I couldn’t break the curse or never found a pony we could go that far. It kicks something off my bucket list.” Selene glanced down as she sipped on her coffee as Twilight pulled out a scroll and started to take notes.

“So what do you two normally talk about?” Twilight looked up her cheeks blushing.

“Normally how my day went and if I meet any pony. We also talk about if I should just go ahead and end the curse early. We also talk about where I would rest myself. I’m thinking near the Tropics the island ponies were so nice” Selene had tears in her eyes as she looked towards her coffee.

“You really think about that?” Twilight looked up towards Selene.

“Yes I do, its where my life is going” Selene rubbed her eyes as her vision came back to her. She had to stare hard at Twilight as she noticed something on her head. She could tell the scroll floating in front of her as it was floating in front of her.

“It could change” Twilight looked towards Selene as she placed a smile on her muzzle.

“I will think about that when it comes to Twilight. Till then what else do you want to know” Selene looked towards her taking another sip of her coffee.

“So tell me are you just limited to using magic inside the ocean?” this made Selene laugh a bit.

“I can do some magic while out of the water but the majority of my magic is in the ocean. I can freeze items or make some stuff but it’s limited” she moved her coffee a bit.

“What kinds of magic can you do?” Twilight looked up from the scroll as she looked towards Selene noticing she was staring.

“Well, I can do all kinds of magic. Levitation, Teleportation, and transformation magic only on objects, not ponies” Twilight was chuckling as her mind made her remember turning Lyra into an apple.

“Really? I would love to see other types of magic. I never saw transformation magic done outside of the ocean or without a trident” Selene placed a smile on her muzzle as she rubbed her eyes for a bit.

“Well when your eyes are better, I can probably show you some magic” Twilight smiled as a knock came from the library door. Turning her head Twilight walked over to the door opening it up.

“BBBFF!” she squealed causing Selene to sit up.

“What?” she spoke up as Twilight turned around with a grin on her face.

“It’s my Big Brother Best Friend Forever!” she clapped her hooves as Selene moved her fins a bit as she heard the word brother. A tall white unicorn with a striped dark blue mane was standing in the doorway with a smile on his face.

“Twilley it’s good to see you to” the white unicorn smiled as Twilight was glaring at him with glee.

“Shining Armor what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the Crystal Empire?” she tilted her head as he walked in.

“Princess Celestia has asked me to come to help Ra and Za with the visiting Princess” he smiled as Selene finished off her coffee.

“Oh then come in. I don’t know where Ra and Za are at the moment” Twilight looked around as Selene placed her coffee cup down on the ground.

“They're still asleep probably. Their use to sleeping in after handling Star.” Selene spoke up causing Twilight to turn towards her.

“Oh okay then” she kept her smile up as Selene glanced towards Shining. She forced the smile to stay on her face as she looked over at him.

“He’s not your brothers” Star’s voice sounded distant and soft in her head as Selene adverted her eyes away from the unicorn.

“I know… Still” was all Selene could say to Star as she laid out on the couch watching Twilight pick her cup up from the floor.

“So Selene you said I smelled like lavender”

“Sapphires” Selene cut her off as she knew where Twilight was going “Your brother smells like sapphires and other crystals” she moved her hooves under her head.

“How do you know what crystals smell like?” Twilight placed a full cup next to her.

“its how you find them under water. When crystals are exposed to seawater over time they start to take on a certain smell. Many merponies train long and hard to know which gem has what smell. Sapphires are the most common in Maremuda. Rubies and diamonds are the rarest since they either blend in and take longer for the smell to appear.” Selene leaned over as she picked up the cup from the floor allowing her to sit up. Her tail was moving slightly as she spread her fins out. Her vision returned a bit allowing her to see the white unicorn staring at her. Twilight was staring at her too.

“What’s wrong?” she leaned forward as Twilight walked around staring at her back.

“You have a gem sitting between your fins” she reached out and touched the gem causing Selene to freeze.

“You're not supposed to see that!” Selene looked around for a blanket to wrap around her back. Finding a pillow she pressed her back up against the pillow blushing.

“Why not?” Twilight walked around looking at her.

“When merpony comes of age they get their magic. It’s a huge celebration and all come to see the merpony and what type of magic they will have. Some have the ability to heal, grow kelp and seaweed. Others have the ability to heard fish and talk to them. Most have the ability to grow coral faster and a few have the ability to use magic to find gems. Only the merponies born in the royal family who will take the throne will have a gem on their back like my dad and me. My ten older brothers didn’t have a gem on their big day. When mine came around the nobles kept my parents busy and the guards needed Ra and Za. So I went out to the Tropics and helped the local surface ponies. One was taken out to sea in a riptide and I used my magic to save them. They saw the gem and my full power bloom that day. They wanted to worship me like a queen but I told them I would be happier if they just treated me the same as always. I hid the crown from my parents I brought it with me so they wouldn’t find out.” She looked up at Twilight noticing the shocked expression on her face.

“Twilight” she waved her hoof causing the unicorn to blink out of stupor.

“Sorry, it’s just. I know nobles can be a pain but this is just a whole new level of pain” she shivered as Selene chuckled.

“I’m used to it. They want my older brother Stratus to take the throne and I am happy with that. I never told them since I am not on good standings with any of my brothers.” Selene sipped on her coffee.

“So does it stay hidden all the time” Twilight right back to staring at Selene’s back.

“Normally. My mane and tail grow longer when I am using my full power but I’m so drained of magic so it's out in the open right now” Selene kept blushing as Twilight placed her hoof on the gem. Selene felt a large shock running from her back towards her hooves. Twilight felt the same shock but it ran from her hoof towards her horn causing her to cry in pain. Shining ran towards his sister staring at Selene who was sitting straight up.

“What did you do?” Twilight wheezed as she noticed Selene’s eye twitching as she stared into the distance.

“Selene?” she walked around waving her hoof. Panic started to set in as she looked towards the tank running over to it. She tapped her shell allowing her tail to come out. Sticking her head in Twilight shouted for the guards as Shining kept an eye on Selene. Twilight moved towards Selene removing the spell from her as Ra and Za climbed up from the tank.

“What is going on,” Za noticed Selene sitting up her eye twitching a bit. Ra walked around his eyes widen as he saw the gem on her back. Za waved her hoof.

“Za dear” Ra waved his hoof causing her to walk around.

“What’s wrong” she stopped as she noticed the gem as well.

“Twilight do you have a paper bag?” Za looked towards the purple unicorn as she ran into the kitchen. Twilight came back with a paper bag in her magic handing it to Za. Za smiled as she filed the bag up before popping it behind Selene causing her to jump.

“Ow,” she leaned over breathing hard “What did you do” Selene looked up towards Twilight.

“I just touched your gem” Twilight recoiled as Za and Ra walked around.

“You can’t do that Twilight. Your magic will be transferred to her, it’s how the rulers feel the magic in the ocean along with their gills” Za looked back at Selene as she sat up blushing.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know unicorn magic could”

“No Twilight just your magic. In the harbor, Selene gave you the ability to transform into a merpony. When she gave you that ability it also gave you the magic that merponies have.” Ra walked around looking towards Twilight.

“But she wasn’t in her merpony form Ra” Selene looked towards her guard as he shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter. You gave her the ability and you gave her the magic Selene. even the shell breaks it will take at least a year before that magic will clear out of her system.” Selene sighed as she pushed her mane back.

“Well can you at least keep this a secret please” she wrapped her hooves around her as she leaned back against the couch.

“We promise” her guards spoke up as Za looked at her before sighing.

“So besides shocking me what do you have planned for the day?” Selene forced a smile on her face.

“Smooth”

“Shut up and sleep” Selene growled at Star as she looked towards Twilight.