“And over there I have some more bear paws mixed in with the squamosus. I did that when I ran out of cockles.” Princess Skystar shoots Princess Luna a sly wink. “Bet you never have that problem, though!”

Luna searches along the ocean’s floor, spotting yet another long line of multicolored specks. Indeed, there are a number of jagged-mouthed clam shells interspersed with a much curvier variety that blend into the nearby coral. She taps a hoof to her mask thoughtfully before going back to dogged paddling. “T’is a problem we hast rarely considered, ‘till recently.”

“Yeah, it can be tough finding good cockles around here. Like, the really pretty ones.” Skystar grins like a foal, zipping back and forth excitedly as she points out the spotted patterns, and how they compare to the stripes of the smooth-mouthed cockles. Luna can roughly discern the pattern, though without it being pointed out she might have thought they were a random scattering. “That’s why I built these trails, so I could remember where I searched! Mom doesn’t like it, but she doesn’t like anything.”

“We take it,” Luna says as Skystar slips among the reef, disappearing from view entirely before popping up at another section. “That few visit.”

“Nope. Well, except for the Aquastrians, but we don’t talk about them. Any others tend to be all bloated.” Skystar puffs out her cheeks, her tongue lolling out as she imitates a drowned creature. “You’ll be, like, the first outsider we didn’t feed to the crabs!” She offers a less-than-encouraging smile. “At least, I hope you’ll be the first.”

Luna shudders at how her mission could go very, very wrong. “Indeed.”

“But who wants to talk about that?” Skystar shakes her head. “I’ve always loved clams! Now, to the untrained eye, Shelly and Sheldon might look like ordinary clams, but they’re actually really rare! I had to swim all the way to the Filly Pines Sea to find them! They’re China Clams, because they look like fancy plates, you know?”

Skystar offers the two clam shells to Luna, then swims circles around her while carefully watching her reaction. Luna, for her part, inspects them; they do, indeed, look like expensive porcelain, and what she thought was a shoddy paint job turns out to be a natural pattern. She retains her doubts as to the authenticity of the googly-eyes.

“Quite impressive,” Luna commends as she passes them back.

“Thanks!” Skystar grins, clutching the shells to her bosom. She pauses for a moment. “You know, my mom never wants to talk about this stuff.” She cocks her head curiously.

Ah, the rigors of governing. “She must be busy,” Luna states diplomatically, having seen Celestia’s overflowing schedule, and often wonders when her Sister manages time to sleep.

“Busy soaking her fins,” Skystar mutters, piquing Luna’s interest, but doesn’t continue. She perks up as the shrouded entrance comes into view. “Hey, we’re here!”

At first glance, the gloomy outcropping appears as any other, barely worth noticing as they swim along, especially from above. It’s only when they sink down, so low Luna’s barrel scrapes along the rocky ground, that she detects an otherworldly purple glow emanating from a thin crack. The colors shift as she gets closer, dark blues and pale pinks and subdued yellows, in a pattern that suggests… movement. She cranes her neck to peer inside, not looking forward to squeezing through, and certain her Sister’s considerably larger rump would not fit - perhaps the only perk of her petite posterior.

Her first look at the interior takes her breath away, and she counts it a blessing she isn’t using her concentration for anything critical. A massive structure lays ahead, suspended from the vaulted ceiling by a twisting tentacle, a stylized octopus grasping upward. Pink light shines forth from the central building, like an ornate lantern a noble might hang for Nightmare Night, a grandiose display she immediately recognizes as a fellow sovereign’s seat of power. More openings continue along the spire, well-lit windows and doors of the upside-down castle, that spread out as they rise.

Dozens - no, hundreds - of blue, shining dots ring the upper reaches, too far to easily make out, creating swirling patterns as they dip and weave amongst each other. It is only as Luna focuses on them that she discerns they are not merely glowing fish but seaponies, each imbued with an effervescent glow. When Skystar swims in front of her she realizes the young princess shares a similar shine, her red wingfins tucking against her as she beckons the Princess to follow through the tight chasm.

Luna grimaces at the possibility of getting stuck; perhaps she could blast apart the rock should such an unbecoming event occur, though ruining their concealed entrance seems a faux pas even Laughter would recognize. Her horn charges, straining at the effort of displacing water, and she blinks away. She reappears amidst a burst of bubbles, glad to rest her horn after the exertion - it takes a lot out of her to traverse the vast distance to the central structure, a distance she’s glad not to swim. It reminds her of Canterlot, how the overhanging city appears much smaller purely because of how unreal it must seem, and how she likes flying from the base of the Canterhorn to the peak.

It takes Skystar a few seconds of spinning and searching to spot the dark mane and coat that blends like shadows, but she makes up for that by zipping through the water fast enough to make Luna jealous once again. They both enter through the bottom of the throne room, the entrance shaped like massive petals much like the pink water lily Skystar wears in her mane.

Every variety of sea-growing plant and coral spreads out along the floor, concealing two spear-wielding guards who relax upon seeing Skystar escorting the Princess. The real focus is the luxurious purple-trimmed shell that serves as the seat of power, elevated on a purple reef so as to look down on any who enter the spacious room.

Queen Novo reclines on her throne, idly twirling a kelp frond around her as she studies a regal piece of parchment, with a scowl Luna recognizes as one she would conceal when she deals with the most onerous of nobles. She barely even glances up as Skystar excitedly zooms around.

“Mother!” Skystar’s elated cry goes equally ignored. “Look what I found!”

With a great sigh, the light pink queen continues studying the parchment. “Is it another shell?”

“Mm-mm,” Skystar replies, shaking her head.

“Because I am telling you, if it’s another shell, I am-” Queen Novo continues, sounding like she didn’t listen. But when she glances up, she gasps, startled by Luna’s appearance. Her shout draws her guards to attention. “Princess Skystar, what have you done! You know surface dwellers are forbidden here!”

“Aww, but mom!” Skystar sulks. “She lives on a mountain! A mountain! You know, like we used to!”

“I don’t care if she’s extra-Equustrial,” Queen Novo retorts harshly. “Those above the waves cannot be trusted!” Her baleful glare could boil the water around Luna. “Why are you even here?” She flicks the paper, scornfully. “Surely not to remove one of our own?”

Luna glances back at her cutie mark, which briefly glows - as if attention, or perhaps doubt, triggers the effect, as it had not been glowing the entire time she traveled. She recalls the seapony Queen’s dream: stewing in her anger when King Aponis returned, while her pink coat turned a bright red, reminiscent of a lobster boiling. And never, in her outrage and admonition of her husband, did she notice, not until the Storm King broke through the ceiling and feasted on their well-done flesh. The Mistress of the Night had only intervened then, as the dream turned morbid; she shifted to a scene of the three at dinner, seated and enjoying a filet of fish, but the damage had been done. She couldn’t get anything going but hostile conversation, and the Queen had woken up soon after.

How would the Queen react to such a revelation, that Luna knows her deep fear? Does she remember the intervention, recognize Luna’s hoof at play? She would need to tread carefully. She addresses the Queen while Skystar nervously gnaws at a hoof.

“We appreciate thy graciousness in allowing us entrance to thy glorious city,” Luna smoothly replies, no trace of apprehension in her words, giving no clue to the impetus of her arrival. Why am I here? I will need to figure that out, and fast. “It contains many marvels never seen above the waves.”

Queen Novo flips her hoof in small circles, a brash encouragement for Luna to get to her point, and quickly.

“An invitation was extended to one of thy citizens to join in an extended retreat,” Luna continues, suppressing her displeasure at the impropriety yet acquiescing regardless. “We would facilitate her departure and ensure her safe arrival to Equestria.” She fumbles for a moment in determining how best to bow, deciding on a slight incline of her head that leaves her eyes trained on the Queen. “With thy permission, Lowest Matriarch of the Deep.”

“I see your tongue is as silver as your mark,” Queen Novo snorts. “It’s been hundreds of years since anycreature used that formal of an address.” A small smile spreads. “I like it.” Nonetheless, her forelegs cross in front of her chest. “However, just because you wax eloquence doesn’t mean I’ll blindly swim along behind you.”

“Of course,” Luna answers diplomatically, straightening her posture. It feels like she is in the courts of the pegasi of old, among those who take any slight or lack of decorum as a deep insult.

Without warning, a loud klaxon rips through the water, a high-pitched tone that doesn’t carry but certainly gets everypony’s attention. Pink tones shift to a garish red, illuminating the two creatures at the entrance, a spotlight Luna is not enthusiastic about being in. At first, she thinks the Queen triggered an alarm, yet observes a worried yet concealed glance at a gargantuan jellyfish that floats partially obscured above the throne.

“It’s okay! She’s with me!” Princess Skystar shouts to no avail as the two spear-wielding guards advance.

“Desist,” Luna commands, horn remaining still for now. It has little effect on the stoic guards, their grim scowls unfailing even as they approach the more powerful opponent.

“That idiot,” Queen Novo mutters, her neutral façade turning to a harsh glare, yet not directed at Luna. “Stand down!” she orders. “It wasn’t me. It was… him.”

No ‘him’ immediately makes himself known, leaving Luna to wonder. The guards, equally confused, back off, their spears still readied as if the Storm King himself might breach the citadel.

“He should have known we’d change the wards!” Queen Novo brushes a section of her throne in a complex pattern. Moments later the alarm turns off, the room again bathed in soft blues and pinks. Her scowl intensifies. “Now I’m going to be late for my seaweed wrap.”

Luna is surprised at the sheer… pettiness of the Queen, yet her mind strays inward; does she act that way at the Night Court, take offense at unintended slights and changes in diction?

She doesn’t have long to ponder, as she feels a shift in the water, as if some great beast below is displacing massive quantities with every swipe of fin. The walls inch closer, and then away, unnerving to her sense that tells her the distance to the moon is moving in the opposite direction.

Except, instead of some monster, swims a golden seapony, King Aponis, with a trail of what must be every seapony in the city.

Next Chapter: Ch. 80 - Divide and Conquer, Part One Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 20 Minutes