EH Chapter 14 Friends And Enemies 2

Hello! You may see this and wonder what the heck is going down there! You may wonder why I didn't just give you the beginning, mechafone.deviantart.com/galle… buuuut...the writing is pretty terrible. I've improved with time, as you can see below. If you're interested in reading from the beginning, then the next in the series is mechafone.deviantart.com/galle… followed by mechafone.deviantart.com/galle… and mechafone.deviantart.com/galle…
Thanks to anyone that bothers with all that X3

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Princess Pearl Depth watched as four figures stepped through the barrier. Well - one stepped, one slithered gracefully to her belly, and the third, tallest figure lost his balance once through and tumbled gracelessly onto his face. The siren beside him let out a snide laugh and pushed the stallion's rear forward, toppling him into a forward somersault. He flipped over and ended up giving the princess a very clear shot of his rear. Both Pearl Depth and pegasus blushed a bright red.

"I-you-why-" Gabriel sputtered. He scrambled to his hooves and turned to face the princess, downright embarrassment in his eyes. He knew from the very beginning he wasn't fond of Mariasha, and now she'd given him a reason to resent her for the rest of his life - full-on accidentally mooning a princess before he could even give her his name. This meeting hadn't even begun and he'd already humiliated himself and the very name of pirates everywhere. Perfect. "Wonderful first impression..." he muttered to Melody, who had gone rigid during the whole debacle. She merely smiled and patted his back.

"Forget it. Let's move on." The seapony told him, and gave him an encouraging smile. It made Gabriel smile as well. Melody always had been a ray of sunshine, and even under the sea her smile shone like the sun. It was hard not to feel better around her.

Pearl Depth was very calm and quiet while the four made ready to speak to her. While she discovered that she hated the new siren, she hadn't made up her mind about the pegasus. He certainly did have a pleasing posterior, though. She filtered that thought out as the Saddle Arabian stepped forth and gave the princess an elegant bow. "Princess Pearl Depth, my name is Gabriel, messenger of the Sea Pearl, and the ship's first mate. I wish to gi...to convey to you our warmest thoughts and hopes to you on this very imp...on this grandiose day." Crap. Even more humiliating, he thought. Keep going, you're doing fine. Gabriel glanced back at Melody, having forgotten once again the psychic link between them.

Gabriel turned his attention to the princess. She stood there with a patient smile on her face; she knew he was having trouble, but she was being very gracious. He liked that about her. "And...you have our loyalty, and our support. We believe that your new station here will be a prosperous one, and that you will lead the kingdom for many years to come with wisdom and kindness."

The princess smiled. He had given her a short speech, and had had trouble at the beginning, but finished admirably. Now if only the rest of her meetings could go this smoothly - and quickly. "Thank you, Gabriel of the Sea Pearl. You may tell your shipmates that their ship and her crew will be ever watched and under the protection of the kingdom of Undercari." She stepped forward, and had to look up at Gabriel as he stood to his full height. She cleared her throat with a small chuckle and beckoned him closer with a hoof. Then, with his head bowed, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his daintily.

The action didn't exactly surprise Gabriel. After all, he was a sexy pegasus, and would often have romps at the drop of a hat back on the surface. So, without really thinking about it, he returned the kiss, the kiss that was supposed to last just a second, and neatly got his tongue into her mouth. While the princess gasped and blushed from the intrusion, Melody and Laria visibly shook with shock, both too surprised and panicked to stop this. Mariasha gaped in the back, then stared with interest. A tense and awkward moment later, Princess Pearl Depth pressed a hoof against Gabriel's chest and pulled her mouth from his. Her cheeks were hot, and she fought to keep an excited grin from giving away the fact that she'd enjoyed Gabriel's kiss. "Uh...w-well then. Thank you very much, Gabriel. I-I have things I must attend..."

"Like my business here?" Mariasha offered with a lightly sour tone. She was annoyed, plus a little hot and bothered by the kiss shared between them. The event had made her agitated.

"Uh, yes. Of course." Pearl Depth composed herself and nodded for the siren to step forth, then turned her attention to Gabriel. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She couldn't speak to him so directly after...that. After a quick hiccup of sense and confidence, she turned to Melody. "Please escort Gabriel back to the surface. Uh, if there wasn't anything else, that is-"

"No of course, my lady," Melody told her. She smiled diplomatically and dipped into a bow. "We need nothing else. Thank you for your time." When Gabriel did nothing more than grin at the princess, Melody smacked the back of the pegasi's head. He quickly dipped into a bow, and was then unceremoniously dragged from the tower, and back into the water, even as voices between Pearl Depth and Mariasha began to rise.

Gabriel blinked as the sea surrounded him once again. It had just occurred to him that there seemed to be no difference between being under the sea and into that air pocket in the tower. "So, why wasn't the air down here and the sea water I'm breathing have any difference?"

"It's magic, I don't gotta-look." Melody swirled around to face him. Her expression was livid. "What did you think you were doing back there, kissing her like that?! She's the princess of Undercari, you can't just make out with her!"

"Wh...what?" Gabriel frowned, confused. "Why not? I mean I know she's the princess, but...but she kissed me first!"

Melody groaned loudly and put her face in her hooves. "That was a charm, you romanticist idiot. Why do you think she said we're under her protection now? That kiss was to let her know if we're ever in trouble! If we're attacked by her enemies, then she has every right to protect her interests and send her army to defend us. That's what that was. You...arrgh!"

Gabriel slowed his movement as realization dawned on him. She wasn't trying to have a little fun. She was giving him a beacon to call her in case of emergency, and in return he slid his tongue down her throat.  "Well..." he started, a grin spreading across his face that Melody wanted to smack. "Seems I'll have a story to tell when we get back. I made out with a princess!"

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Leucothia's heart beat loudly in her chest. In the quiet of the dark belt, it beat especially loud in her ears. The crushing, lonely sensation of being in the dark belt was severe, and only served to fuel her panic. She wanted to get back to the surface, she wanted to see Deep Surf and have his bizarre speech calm her. At this point, it was the only thing that would. There - the dark belt was ending. She could see the sunlight of the surface above, and - she came to a sudden stop to keep from hitting the muzzle of the last seapony she wanted to see right now. She'd come face to face with Lusus, who seemed to have been waiting for her just above the dark belt.

The siren's blood ran cold at the sight of him. He wasn't much bigger than the princess, but there were certain things about him that made him terrifying. His cold blue eyes were one of them. They told her he'd been expecting her. "Ah. I'd been hoping to run into one of you." Leucothia was silent as Lusus turned in the water, swimming with such slow purpose that she dared not move. "We need to go over the plan for tonight. We're so close, we can't afford any screw-ups."

Lusus continued, his movements weaving him slowly back and forth in front of the siren. She wanted to flee, to swim far, far away from these islands, but she saw no openings. She knew how fast Lusus could travel in the water, and the way he passed back and forth in front of her was so careful and patient that she was too chilled to try. "We wait until after the coronation. It won't matter; there won't be any royals after our attack. When I'm given the signal, I'll rush down into the courtyard and cause some chaos and general panic. Then, the royal family will take their leave and be escorted by their guard...that's when the trap is set."

Lucus turned to Leucothia. The seapony's mouth had widened into an excited grin. "The traitors within the guards ranks will turn on mama and papa and stall them long enough for me to engage them. Then, you, the sirens, make your move. You'll distract the populace and make sure they don't see the final blow. We want this to be seen as an accident."

Leucothia, thoroughly chilled to the bone, seemed to have gotten lucky. She was mistaken for just another siren, one that had actually been in on the trap. The truth of the matter was that she was the odd one out. She didn't hate the royal family, and she enjoyed her time on the surface with Deep Surf. All she had to do was play along and she'd get out of this. "I see. And what will the signal be?"

Lusus stopped in his pacing, and turned to face the siren with a grin that spread impossibly wide. "...You're supposed to tell me."

Leucothia couldn't hide the fear in her eyes, or anywhere else for that matter. She simply stayed there in that spot in the water, trembling. "Uh...I..."

"You're not part of the sirens in my employment," he told her, drifting closer to her her, close enough for her to see her reflection in his eyes. "Truth be told, I knew that already. I wanted to see what kind of trickery you could come up with to save your hide. Frankly, I'm disappointed."

The siren blinked back tears of fear. This was it. She was going to die here. Still, something nagged at her. Something told her to press on, keep moving. She had to stall her death. "Wh...why? Why tell me all that if you knew who I was?"

She stared as the seapony Lusus's face began to stretch. It stretched further and further, until she no longer recognized his face as his mouth opened large enough to swallow her. It wasn't just his face - his entire body had changed and stretched until he was longer than the average schooner and almost as wide. "Because," he said, his voice booming and echoing under the depths. "you'll not live long enough to tell of your last encounter."

You will. And your name will shine like the sun and be remembered as long as the depths have darkness. Deep Surf's voice rang in the siren's mind. He might not have the telepathy to tell her this himself, but he might as well have. Ever since meeting him, Leucothia's inner voice was his. She flipped in the water as Lusus snapped, barely missing the gaping maw. She smacked her powerful tail against his cheek and dove down into the dark belt.

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Birds sang. Insects chirped. The air stank, ripe with fallen fruit and the waste of large animals. Ampelus' senses were on overdrive. She rather preferred the cool air of Eqeuestria to these dank jungle temperatures and smells. "Ugh. This place reeks." She turned and gave Mimosa a face.

The dryad patted his daughter's head, something only he could get away with without losing a limb. "Now now, stop being so spoiled. I remember Equestria as well as you do, and I know it's different, but this is the reality of the world. The climate-controlled world over there is still young, clinging to it's beliefs that magic can fix everything. Come along."

Ampelus made a long, drawn out groan, but followed obediently. The last couple hours had been so boring. When she'd first arrived at the biodome, she had of course been interested in seeing everything, and perhaps doing some hunting with her long-lost father. But there had been no hunting. Heck, there'd hardly been any father-daughter bonding, not that she was really into that kind of thing. She'd been without her father for hundreds of years, she could do fine without him again. All this talk of nature and science coming together was technobabble and made little to no sense to the nymph. Structurally speaking, the place was a paradise. Despite the five different domes, the area was a perfect circle. If one traveled to one end of the bio dome to the other, they would have traveled forty miles.

Traveling inbetween was no so simple a task, however. Not without switching regions and climates. There were six different climates and areas for the five domes: desert, polar, mountains, jungle, and the center, which housed two climates. The center, which was also the base dome, was mostly temperate, rich with green trees, moderate weather, and excellent hammock options. In the center of the dome, just slightly left of the center of the island itself, was a massive aquatic area. Lakes and ponds were strewn around the temperate dome, but this was a salt water area. It was beautiful and blue like the sea, and there was a small tunnel deep inside. The average seapony had no trouble swimming through it, which is what it was used for.

Mimosa Palm's biodome was a neutral zone. Politics for all races were erased once inside, and the dryad had absolute authority, by his law. His word was reinforced by the greatest force this side of the world, and that was himself. It was never questioned, it was never tested. It was just understood. This of course was why Mimosa was greatly trusted by the royal family, who visited him often via the underwater entrance several times a month. Lately it had been a weekly visit, even the princess had come to see him. These times of stress took their toll on the princess. Seeing Mimosa Palm's safe and secluded world had been an excellent stress reliever.

It was near this area that Mimosa brought his daughter. The central aquatic area was in view, and it brought with it a pleasant aroma of salt and a wonderful cool breeze. "Ah...I do so love the smell of the sea. It's probably best we can't drink from it, the sea would shrivel in a few mere centuries." Something about the way he said this bothered Ampelus. She couldn't quite figure out why, but before she could, the ground before her opened. Roots from below twisted up before her and slowly formed into a complicated mass that shaped into a moss-covered chair. Ampelus eyed the thing warily. Her view of the earthy cushion was blocked as her father sat in it, and turned his gaze to her expectantly.

What was this, a test? Ampelus narrowed her gaze at her father. He wanted her to grow things...He was like this back before he disappeared. She remembered him saying that he had great expectations of her - something about returning life and magic to the world. It was pathetic and so not worth her time. The nymph sniffed and brought her head high. As if she'd stoop so low as to actually please her father. What a notion! ...Of course she'd never say this to him. She wasn't crazy.

After a moment or two of silence, Mimosa's face turned to one of agitation. "Now, dear. We've talked about this. Nymphs are supposed to grow things. They bring life to the world. They create."

"No, you talked about this, and that was over four hundred years ago."

Mimosa scowled at Ampelus and slipped off his chair to face her. "Ampelus, really? This is what nymphs and dryads do. The forests of the world depend on us for their vitality. It's your responsibility-"

"'Responsibility'?" Ampelus' tone and anger gave Mimosa pause. He found himself staring down his muzzle as the smaller nymph nearly butted heads with him as she spoke. "The world and it's forests have done nothing but take from me ever since I was born. It took away my friends and it took you away from me when I was just a child." The nymph fought back tears as she glared at her father. "I owe this world nothing, and you owe me-"

Ampelus and Mimosa both gave pause in their argument as a peculiar sound erupted from somewhere nearby. It was unlike anything Ampelus had heard before. It was an odd, drawn out chirp, low in pitch, and...what was that sound? Mimosa scowled. Of all times...ah well. He knew better than to have a family squabble in his own biodome. "What is that horrible sound?" Ampelus' annoyed face more than matched how the dryad felt right now.

"It's a proximity alarm that tells me -"

"'Proximity'?"

"Don't interrupt me. Proximity, it's-ugh. It deals with distance. If a creature of intelligence approaches the alarm, then the alarm goes off." Ampelus frowned as her father turned to step towards the aquatic area. "This particular alarm tells me that we're having unscheduled visitors from the sea. Not too surprising, considering the date, but..."

Ampelus didn't know what he meant by that. She shrugged to herself as the alarm went quiet, and followed Mimosa. There were a series of stepping stones that lead out over the water, and a few outcroppings of coral or large stones to rest on as the water lead far out towards the center. The two were nearly to the center when there was a tremendous tremor that shook the interior and left ripples in the water near the stones. "What...in the world?" Mimosa marveled.

The two wood spirits were very near the center now. Coral, shells, sponges and all kinds of smaller tropical fish littered the pool below. The water was crystal clear and very beautiful. Ampelus could see the entrance now. It looked like a small cave entrance, some thirty for forty feet below the surface of the water. She watched intently, the artificial sunlight creating undulating patterns of reflected light against the rocks as more tremors could be felt.

Ampelus and Mimosa watched the entrance intently. Something was coming that way from under the island. Mud and debris blew violently into the pool, and finally the figure came into view: it was something that Ampelus had never seen before, but she instantly recognized it as non-pony. It was a monster, like her. The creature darted through the hole haphazardly, striking her head on a rock just outside the entrance. Something had chased her in here, filling her with such fear that she had no sense, and whatever it was was not done.