Chapter 36

Braeburn poked his head into the cave entrance as the seawater began to splash around his hooves. He was encouraged to take another step in as Strong Shield jabbed him with his horn, the other ponies close behind

“This seems a bit strange,” Braeburn whispered as they followed the small water trail into the cave, the light slowly dwindling until they came across a large opening with glowing water gathered in the centre

“Who dares to enter the cave of the sea-ponies?” a echoing voice called as the water began to ripple outwards from the middle of the pool

Shining Armour stepped forwards as he proudly puffed out his chest. “Captain of Celestia’s royal guard, I am here to ask a few questions”

The water bulged as a streamlined pony head pierced the surface of the water and shot a glare at the group of land walkers. “So it appears that the defeated have returned for a rematch,” the stallion noted

“Rematch?” Big Mac shrugged to his friends before stepping closer to the pool. “Listen we were very drunk for the past two days”

“Silence you inferior beast!” the pony pulled his top section of body out of the water and began to flex his muscles for display. “I won the challenge you set me and I won my prize”

Strong Shield narrowed his eye as he coughed loudly. “What prize would that be?”

“The human called Dave,” the sea-pony’s body was a dull pink whilst in the dark but turned into a deep blue as the light from the pool shone against his smooth body

“Dave?” Braeburn gasped, leaping forwards as the sea-pony began to shake his blond mane around gracefully. “Can we see him?”

The sea-pony clapped his hooves together and Dave was thrown from the water and was caught by his watery host. “This is my prize, I won him in that eating competition with that white unicorn”

Shining Armour recoiled as everyponies eyes turned to look at him. “What? We were drunk and I have no idea what we were eating”

“We were eating salmon!” The sea-pony cheered as he dropped Dave’s limp body back into the water, allowing him to float around uselessly. “But the ground walker gave in as his distaste for fish beat his willpower”

Strangely, the sound of cheering began to fill the cave and caused Dave to bolt awake and begin rubbing his pained head. Shining danced as the audience around him winced at the high-pitched cheers

“It was fish!” Shining Armour kissed his hooves before throwing them into the air. “I didn’t sleep with Big Mac! Cadence won’t cripple me and we found Dave”

Strong Shield covered Shining’s mouth, making sure the younger unicorn had silenced before letting go. “But we still have to get Dave back from this sea-pony”

Dave groaned as he swam to the edge of the pool and rested his head on the dirty ground. “My head hurts… why am I in an underground pool?”

“I won you in that simple eating challenge last night!” the sea-pony beat his chest to show off his arrogance. “I will beat any challenge you set me and I will take another one of you as my prize”

Dave rolled onto his back as he pointed at the sea-pony. “So you can do anything?”

“Yes I can!” The sea-pony chuckled with a smug grin as he admired himself in the reflection of the pool. “Give me a challenge and I shall complete it within mere moments”

“Eat your own head” Dave groaned before climbing to his feet and groaning at his soaked clothes

“Certainly!” The sea-pony stopped as his nose was about to be grabbed by his bottom jaw. His sharper teeth certainly looked good for biting fish or tearing seaweed. “Hang on… eat my own head?”

Dave nodded, “Yeah or I am leaving because you failed the challenge”

The sea-pony hissed in annoyance as his hand rested on his chin. “My life is extremely valuable… but so is my pride”

The group came to a standstill as the sea-pony began to narrow his eyes at Dave. His low humming was joined by nervous breathing from Braeburn and Big Mac. Shining and Strong Shield exchanged curious glances at each other as they slowly began to lead the group towards the exit

Dave smirked as he pointed his finger at the sea-pony. “You won’t try will you?”

…

“Well that was the second weirdest experience of my life,” Dave sighed as he climbed out of the cave, his clothes slightly stained red

Big Mac hurried out as he hurried behind a rock and began to revisit his breakfast. “Eeyup, blugh!”

“Well sea-ponies are known for their fierce competition and love of challenges” Strong Shield shook his head and sent a tooth flying out from his mane

“I just can’t believe that I just witnessed a living thing try to eat its own head” Shining Armour sat down as Braeburn nodded in agreement

Dave shrugged, “Ah well, his fault for not quitting while he was ahead.” The ponies all sent glares at him until he realized the joke he made

Meanwhile…

Celestia hummed as she read the letter again. Her worries and suspicion continuously growing with every passing minute. The letter arrived the morning after Dave’s disappearance and made her almost explode with anger as the smell of alcohol coated the letter

The letter said that Dave was taking his friends for a weekend holiday and would be back as soon as he could. Her worries had been temporarily set aside as Cadence got a similar letter from Shining Armour

“I swear if he is anywhere near another mare I will… I will…” Celestia sighed as she dropped her head back into her pillow. Her bedroom was fully illuminated by the morning sun but she refused to move until her duty required so

She glanced at the small bag hidden beneath her bed, a piece of pink silk hung out the top as she blushed. “So much for a romantic evening,” she groaned as she dropped her head again, the pillow now had a large indent from where her head kept falling

“What did I do before I met Dave?” Celestia hummed as boredom seemed to find its way in again. “I suppose I could write a letter to Twilight Sparkle and see if she has been ok”

Celestia groaned as she saw the parchment and quill was on her desk. “It is so far away! I would have to get up or levitate it over to me!” she sighed in defeat as procrastination caused her to abandon any idea that required effort

The bedroom doors swung open as Nox charged in and began bouncing on the bed. “Can we go to Ponyville? Please, please, please!”

Celestia sat up and smiled at the grey colt, more out of relief that she now had something to do. “If you want to, but we must leave a note for your father if he returns home today”

“I thought daddy was only going to be away for the weekend,” Nox pouted as Celestia picked him up for a hug. The colt flapped his wings uselessly as his mothers long legs managed to hold him in place

“I’m sure he will be back before the end of the day,” Celestia smiled as she tapped Nox’s nose. “And I will have words with him, then some action, followed by words, maybe some more action if I still feel tense”

Nox backed away from the white princess. “What do you mean by ‘action’? Are you going to hit him?”

“No… of course not” Celestia smiled sweetly as she climbed out of bed and began placing on her golden regalia. She called for the guard and informed him that she was going to visit Ponyville and would be there most of the day

The princess of the sun stepped out onto the balcony and extended her large white wings as she prepared for flight, allowing Nox to take to the air before following close behind. The mother and son flew around the castle before gaining altitude and flying in the direction of Ponyville

“Where are we going first?” Nox called over the wind that rushed through his mane. Celestia hummed in thought as she allowed herself to glide freely

“We can go see Twilight Sparkle first” Celestia smiled as Nox nodded, a small frown crossing his face. “Is something wrong?”

The grey alicorn sighed as he drifted closer to his mother. “I was wondering if we would see Sweetie Belle at some point”

“Nox, you are young and you will have to be patient for the one you will truly love to appear,” Celestia smiled reassuringly. “They won’t fall out the sky and fall for you immediately”

“But dad fell out the sky and you both fell in love within weeks” Nox groaned as Celestia flew above him and nuzzled the top of his head. “I don’t know why you both got together so quickly”

Celestia lowered her eyes to look at the ground below, the town of Ponyville beginning to come into focus below the clouds. “Your father and I were a mistake originally, but his persistence to follow his heart meant that he followed me, even if I tried to push him away or tried to show no interest”

“So you are saying that I should just wait and follow my heart?” Nox arched his neck to look back at his mother as they both began to descend towards the library

Celestia smiled again as she began to gently slow herself down, flapping only when she was a few meters from the ground. “Just do what you feel is right and you will be fine”

The princess of the sun folded her wings against her back as she gently knocked on the door. The wooden door opened almost instantly as the purple unicorn was leaving the tree, her assistant dragon close behind her

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight gasped as a grin spread across her face. “What are you doing in Ponyville?”

Celestia nodded as Twilight and Spike quickly bowed. “My son and I were simply coming over to visit, seeing as it is a nice day”

Spike giggled, “Yeah, RD managed to schedule a sunny day for today’s picnic.” he covered his mouth with a claw as he released the secret

“The element of loyalty changed the weather schedule?” Celestia narrowed her eyes when she spotted the picnic basket in Spike’s claws. “Well I am afraid that I will have to speak with Rainbow Dash… so long as no cake happens to distract me” she winked at the purple dragon

Twilight’s smile grew larger, “Do you want to come to the picnic as well? I’m sure that my friends would love to speak with you as well!”

“That is what I was hinting at,” Celestia laughed as Twilight began to lead the way to the picnic area, staying close to her teacher’s side. Nox and Spike strolled together as they rolled their eyes at the mares leading the way

“Will it only be Twilight’s friends?” Nox asked curiously as Spike readjusted his grip on the picnic basket

“I think the Cutie Mark Crusaders might be there as well but… I have some rubies in here that I need to eat up” he licked his lips as he held the basket with a sense of longing

Nox hummed as they approached the lush green grass and shady trees that made up the girl’s picnic area. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom were playing to the side, giggling happily until Applebloom saw Nox. The earth pony stopped running around and went to go sit behind a tree

Celestia began greeting the other ponies as she was offered a slice of cake. She ate the delicious treat gingerly until she managed to strike up a conversation with Fluttershy about the upcoming bird migration

Scootaloo walked over to the picnic to gather some food bits for her and her friends, she was only interrupted as Nox hopped over

“Hey Scootaloo, how are you?” Nox smiled until he noticed Scootaloo’s uncomfortable stare. “What’s wrong?”

The orange Pegasus looked over at her friends before sighing. “Listen, I am only going to be your friend, I can’t be your very special somepony because it may mean I lose one of my best friends”

“Huh?” Nox stammered as Scootaloo grabbed what other bits of food she could before dashing back to her friends. The grey colt shuddered as his ears drooped and he made his way back to his spot near Spike

The purple dragon noticed Nox’s sudden depression, so he finished chewing his ruby before placing a claw on his shoulder. “What’s up?”

“Nopony likes me” Nox muttered as he withheld a sniff. His bottom lip became stiff as he looked up to look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “They won’t even talk to me”

Spike frowned as he looked up at the fillies, his eyes moved back to look at Nox’s sad face that was on the verge of tears. “Nopony makes my friends sad” he growled as he stood up and marched over to the girls. “What did you say?” he growled

Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion before glancing at her friends. “What do you mean Spike? We haven’t done anything”

“You have all been doing something to Nox!” Spike snarled as the fillies looked at him in confusion. “He is really upset because you are all avoiding him!”

Scootaloo sighed sadly, “Applebloom likes him”

“That’s not a… wait really?” Spike dropped his claws as Applebloom’s face turned a deep red. “B-but why are you all avoiding him?”

Applebloom rubbed her hooves together as she let out a sigh. “When Nox asked Sweetie Belle to be his marefriend… I got jealous and almost lost my only friends”

“We aren’t going to risk losing each other again,” Scootaloo nodded, “Sweetie Belle and I aren’t nearly as taken to Nox as Applebloom is”

Sweetie Belle nodded, “Yeah, we just want to be friends but Nox might want to ask one of us out again!” the white unicorn whispered with a sense of dread

“But he can’t ask any of you out if you all avoid him!” Spike groaned, until he pointed at Applebloom. “If you like him, go talk to him”

Applebloom blushed heavily before seeing the seriousness in Spike’s eyes, finally giving a small nod before standing. “Neither of you would mind if he asked me out would you?” she winced as her friends looked at her

“I would be happy for you1” Scootaloo smiled

Sweetie Belle nodded as she picked up a fritter, “I agree!”

Applebloom nodded with added determination as she walked over to Nox and sat next to him. “Hey Nox,” Applebloom’s smile faded as she saw Nox’s lip begin to quiver, “What’s wrong?”

“You were told to come over here weren’t you?” The grey colt dropped his head, the sounds of Pinkie’s laughing seemed quieter as Applebloom lost her smile

Applebloom shook her head, “I came over because I wanted to talk to you!” she pouted to add force to her statement

“You keep coming to me a lot, like when we were in school and you offered to work with me… the teacher obviously told you to be nice” Nox sighed, his eyes followed a ladybird that sat on a blade of grass before flying away

“To be honest, I was kind because I kinda… liked ya” Applebloom blushed as she finally admitted it. “I kept it quiet because I knew how impossible it would be, an alicorn going with an earth pony”

Nox’s ears perked up, “So when you ran that one time… it was because I asked Sweetie Belle to be my very special somepony?”

“Yeah,” Applebloom smiled slightly, “I can see why ya liked her, and she is very pretty”

Nox smiled slightly, “I didn't like her because of that. I liked her because she was kind when I first met her”

“Sweetie Belle is always nice to ponies she meets,” Applebloom looked down at her hooves, “I tried to be extra nice because I was trying to get your attention… I couldn't do much because I don‘t have wings or magic”

Nox tilted his head to look at Applebloom’s hooves before he placed one of hooves in the space between him and Applebloom. “You’re nice without those things… that’s why I… kinda like you”

Applebloom placed her hoof against Nox’s, smiling slightly as they both shuffled to sit closer. “Do ya mind being seen with an earth pony?”

Nox smiled as he began blushing as well, “I would love to be seen with you”