Chapter Thirty-Eight: In Which Nim Gives Some Advice and Assistance
At first, the dark green hippocampus just stared at Apple and Nim. As if he was trying to determine whether this new, strange-looking creature and the sea fairy next to it were threats.
But then he noticed Galahad. THAT was a threat the green hippocampus understood!
His ears flattened, and he bared his teeth menacingly. Then he reared, neighed loudly, and charged towards them. All the nearby hippocampi immediately hurried to give him a wide berth.
"Galahad!" Apple hissed. "Galahad!"
Galahad was completely still. All he did was stare as his old enemy came hurtling towards them.
"Galahad!" Apple frantically shook Galahad's shoulder. Still no response. Even Nim was starting to look alarmed.
"GALA-HAD!" Apple all but wailed. The fear in her voice snapped Galahad back to his senses. He neighed angrily as he rushed toward his opponent and body slammed him just before he could reach Apple and Nim.
The pod leader was caught off guard, but quickly recovered. He lunged towards Galahad again but Galahad managed to dodge him and bite his tail. The green hippocampus practically screamed in pain and kicked Galahad in the head, which sent the pink hippocampus crashing to the ocean floor. The dark green pod leader tried to body slam him to the ground, but Galahad rolled away just in time and tried to nip his front legs.
Apple wrung her hands nervously. "Come on Galahad, come on…" She said under her breath anxiously. "You can do this…"
But what the green hippocampus lacked in speed, he made up for in raw power. Galahad managed to dodge most of his attacks, but the ones that hit the sunset-colored hippocampus hit him hard. And Galahad was starting to lose steam…at this rate, he wouldn't be able to dodge his rival's attacks much longer.
"He can't keep up like this!" Apple lamented to Nim.
At that point, Apple suddenly realized that her fairy companion was staring intently at her. "What?" Apple asked.
"Help him." Nim said.
"What?!" Apple yelped.
"HELP him." She repeated emphatically.
"But…but I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"It's not the way it's done, Apple replied automatically. "He's got to face him alone!"
"Who says?"
"Well, EVERYONE! I can't get involved in a fight between rival stallions, it's just not the way things are…"
"APPLE!" Nim snapped in a surprisingly forceful voice. This immediately shut the young princess up.
Nim looked at her seriously and then said the longest sentence Apple would ever hear her utter:
"The way things are is not always the way things SHOULD be."
Apple glanced over at her loyal hippocampus friend. He wasn't giving up, but he was struggling to defend himself. Apple's eyes widened as she realized the wisdom of Nim's words.
"I'M COMING GALAHAD!" She yelled as she swam towards the fight. The other hippocampi were spooked by the sound of her voice and scattered. The pod leader stopped his attack to stare at her in confusion, which gave Apple enough time to rush to Galahad's side.
"You're not alone anymore." She whispered in his ear. "Now let's teach this bully a lesson!" She declared loudly. She quickly got on Galahad's back and steered him towards the rival's gut.
"HEE-YAH!" Apple screamed as Galahad head butted him.
Once again, the green hippocampus was taken by surprise. He hadn't expected that weak-looking, pink thing with the yellow hair to join in the fight. Or that hard blow to the stomach.
But what the pod leader REALLY hadn't expected was that his pink rival's battle strategy would suddenly become a lot more effective once that weird creature was sitting on him. With Apple helping him dodge the green hippocampus's attacks, Galahad could devote more of his attention and energy to getting his own attacks in. And Apple had a knack for coming up with unexpected ways to launch said attacks…
"SMACK HIM!" Apple yelled. Galahad smacked the green rival's head with the back of his tail fin.
"HIS NOSE!" Galahad quickly kicked his rival in the nose before darting away.
"HIS EAR!" Galahad took a large chomp out of the pod leader's ear as he was still reeling from the kick to the face.
"DUCK!" Galahad narrowly dodged his rival's flailing hoof and managed to get in another blow to his belly.
"TAKE THAT!" Apple shouted as she whapped her knapsack at the green hippocampus's head. Galahad started repeatedly smacking him from below with his tail. By this point, the pod leader was severely weakening from this constant onslaught of attacks.
Finally, Galahad saw an opening and kicked his opponent squarely in the chest with both hooves. This move sent the dark green hippocampus to the ocean floor with a resounding thud.
For a few seconds, the hippocampus stallion just lay there, panting furiously. He glared at Galahad with pure loathing. But Galahad floated over him threateningly.
Galahad reared suddenly, and Apple had to struggle to stay on. He let out loud neigh that clearly said:
"THIS IS MY POD NOW. GET OUT!"
The rival snorted angrily and slowly floated upright. Apple was afraid that he would try to attack again.
But instead, the rival swam off into the vast ocean, casting dirty looks over his shoulder all the while. Nonetheless, he kept swimming. And soon he was out of sight.
"You did it, Galahad!" Apple said as she flung her arms around her equine friend. Galahad's dark eyes shone with triumph and joy as he nickered happily and gently nuzzled her.
Nim swam up behind them and tapped Apple on the shoulder. When Apple turned to look at her, the fairy silently gestured towards the hippocampi pod. Every single one of them was staring at her and Galahad as if they didn't know what to make of their once-and-future leader and his bizarre companion.
"Right." Apple said as she pulled out her namesake from her knapsack. "Time to do what we came here for!"
With Galahad's leader status, it didn't take long for Apple to charm the entire pod.
She started off by tending to the mint-green foal that had crashed into the rocks. At first, the foal's mother didn't want Apple near her baby, but after some reassurance from Galahad, she allowed Apple to inspect the foal for injuries. Once she was satisfied that the foal was only bruised, Apple tenderly scratched his neck and gave him a treat, which the young merhorse loved. This display of kindness won over the mother and all the other foals started clamoring for attention as well.
Then, the rest of the adult hippocampi started approaching Apple at Galahad's urging and quickly decided that they rather liked this creature with the tasty treats, sweet voice, and gentle hands.
"This is wonderful!" Apple declared to Nim as she stroked a lime-green mare. "Now we can…oh." Apple's heart sank as she suddenly realized that she had another problem.
"What it it?" Nim asked.
Apple sighed. "How am I going to bring the pod to the Alanteans?" She said worriedly. "Celia will DEFINITELY find them if they're too close to the city."
"Bring the merfolk." Nim said simply.
"Here?" Nim nodded. "That could work…" Apple said thoughtfully as she ran over the logistics of such a plan in her mind. This large "seaweed pasture" was a good, secluded place to teach the merfolk how to ride. Celia wouldn't think to send any mutants way out here. But…
"No." Apple shook her head gloomily. "Celia banned magical portals, and it's too far away for people to swim here by themselves. It's not so far by dolphin or hippocampus, but Celia will still get suspicious if she sees a ton of people leaving Atlantis at once."
Nim gently put her hand on Apple's shoulder. "Come with me." She said.
Nim took Apple to a coral cave was short swim away. The entrance looked tiny, but Nim effortlessly squeezed through it.
"Come in." She told Apple.
"I dunno…" Apple said nervously. This looked like some sort of fairy feat that she couldn't pull off. "I don't think…".
"Trust me." Nim said. Apple gulped and prepared to cram herself through the little hole.
But to Apple's surprise, she easily made it through the entrance too! And she was amazed when she got a good look at the inside of the cave:
Apple found herself in a spacious underwater grotto and it was full of the most incredible treasures she had ever seen. Hundreds of beautiful pendants. Thousands of exquisite rings. Sparkling crystal goblets. Swords with strange runes carved on them. Ornate potion bottles. Ancient spell books with jewel embossed covers. Gemstones as large as her head. Vases and tapestries with pictures that moved! Magic mirrors of every shape and size.
It's a fairy treasure trove! Apple thought in awe. Who knew how many different kinds artifacts from how many different kinds of fairies surrounded her? Apple wished her host-father was with her. Roland would LOVE it here! She thought.
Nim started scanning all the shelves carefully. The sea fairy was clearly on a mission.
"What are you looking for?" Apple asked. Nim's face suddenly brightened.
"This." She said as she plucked an item off the nearest shelf and handed it to Apple. It was a tiny, green pouch that was embroidered with gold flowers.
"What is it?" Apple asked.
"A portal." Nim replied.
"This little thing?!" Apple said in disbelief.
Nim nodded. The fairy opened the pouch and revealed two identical white stones. She tossed one stone to the other side of the cave and rubbed the remaining one. Before Apple could even blink, Nim was transported to the other side of the room.
"See?" Nim said.
"But Nim," Apple said, "If it's a portal, won't Celia be able to find it?"
"Not this one."
"Why not?"
"Fairy magic." Nim said confidently.
"Fairy magic?" Apple repeated.
Nim raised her chin proudly. "FAR superior magic." She declared. Apparently fairies were not above arrogance. But Nim did seem to know what she was talking about and this portal did seem to be very subtle compared to the other magical portals Apple was familiar with. It was worth a try!
"Oh Nim, thank you so much!" Apple said gratefully. "I couldn't have…" Apple was interrupted by a familiar voice:
"GAH! What am I going to do?!"
Apple froze. BRIAR?! She thought.