LEGEND OF THE GODDESSES

Campus Cuda, 2,118 years ago

A few months had passed, but only now was Soledad returning to the castle. She approached from the back, the area facing the emptiness of the ocean rather than the city.

She hugged the shadows of the walls and towers, finally making her way to the very top to slip into her own room via the balcony.

Soledad sighed and examined the new body she had acquired after somehow surviving the volcanic vent. She was as large as an adult seapony, hairless and with gray-green skin. A translucent green sail ran down her spine, and her forehead was covered in deep purple armored plates that ran all the way down her back. Her tail was finless and prehensile, curled up when at rest, with clubs at its tip and spikes at its sides.

Her face was dominated by a hideous tube of a snout; her ears had been replaced by a pair of many-pointed fins. Her eyes, still glowing purple, red, and yellow, burned with fury at all times regardless of her actual emotional state.

She nervously exited her room and swam through the hallways of the castle, making her way to the throne room. She saw her father in his magnificent headdress, flanked by two guards.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed.

King Nimo's ancient yellow eyes looked upon her and he gasped in horror. The two guards rushed at Soledad, and she cried out in terror. "Daddy, no! Daddy, it's me, Soledad!"

"Hold!" Nimo cried out in his frail, raspy voice. "I said HOLD!"

The guards stopped menacing Soledad and turned back to the king in confusion. The king approached his monstrous daughter, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Soledad?" he whispered. "What happened to you, Princess?"

"I… went to the Crags of Okeanos to think things over," Soledad mumbled. "The currents, they… they carried me to a thermal vent… I thought I was dead, but instead I became… this."

The king let out a sob. "But where have you been? Three months, you've been missing."

"I-I couldn't come back," Soledad said nervously, looking away. "Not looking like this. I wanted to die. I wanted to wander the Crags until I withered away from hunger. But… after three months without a bite to eat or a wink of sleep but still in better health than I'd ever been in life… I got bored. Death was off the table, so I decided to just come home and see if things could go back to normal." She sniffled. "Can I do that, Daddy?"

King Nimo hugged her. "Darling, no matter what you look like, you'll always be my daughter and my princess. I'm just glad you've returned. I love you so much, my dear."

She nodded. "Thank you, Daddy. I've missed you… and I love you too."

They parted, not quite knowing what to say about the situation.

"Soledad!"

The zooming red blur that was Jolly came around a corner and bowled over Soledad, hugging her tightly. Soledad exclaimed in surprise, realizing how much smaller than herself her friend was now. Soledad closed her eyes and ran her hooves through Jolly's immense mass of hair.

"Jolly…" she whispered. "What would I do without you?"

"Not a whole lot, me girl," Jolly said, smirking.

"How did you know it was me?" Soledad asked. "My own father didn't even recognize me."

"Ach, he's just yer da," Jolly said dismissively. "He dinna know ye like I do. Me, I'm yer best friend!" She stroked Soledad's chin, which was much lengthier than it had been before. "Didn't I tell ye that if ye kept makin' that face, it'd stick like that?"

"Oh, you're a scream," Soledad grumbled. "Don't you even want to know what happened to me?"

"In time, me friend, in time," Jolly said solemnly. "Ye're home now, that's all that matters. Questions and answers can wait, and won't do any good fer yer own health. All we can do is make ye comfortable in yer own skin. Let's just… do what ye were gonna do before ye disappeared."

Soledad shrugged and looked at the floor. "Well, you were going to introduce me to your boyfriend, but…"

Jolly clapped her hooves eagerly. "O' course I was! I'll go and get him!"

"You're still together?"

"O' course we're still together, what kind o' filly do ye take me for?" Jolly said jovially. "I'll be right back."

She swam away. Soledad watched her, chuckling, then sighed and turned to her father.

"Jolly's right," she said. "The best thing to do is just pretend I was never gone. I don't know how this happened, or why, but I just want things to go back to normal."

King Nimo nodded. "Agreed. Spend some time with your friends… then we'll have to resume our discussion on your becoming queen, my dear."

Soledad grinned weakly. "Right… that."

Nimo swam into the throne room along with his two guards. Soledad winced as the heavy coral doors closed behind him.

"Here we are!" Jolly called. She swam back to Soledad, accompanied by a blue colt with a spiky spring-green mane. Jolly pressed herself up against the colt, one arm around him and the other caressing his face.

"Me boyfriend, Dorado," she said lovingly. "Dorado, I'd like ye ta meet me best friend in all the world, Princess Soledad."

"My greetings, Your Highness," Dorado said, bowing down. "I've heard a lot about you from Jolly… especially since you disappeared. She's been very worried."

Soledad nodded and reached out her hoof for Dorado to shake. "Nice to meet you. Jolly's told me quite a bit about you too. I only wish we could have met under circumstances that were less… ugly." She touched her own face sorrowfully.

"Yeah," Dorado muttered, accepting her hoofshake gingerly. "What exactly happened to you?"

"Shhhh," Jolly said, putting a hoof to Dorado's lips. "I'm sure the princess doesn't wanna talk about it."

"Not at the moment, no," Soledad said weakly. She grinned at Dorado. "So, how about that Jolly, huh? Isn't she wonderful?"

"Aw, are you kidding? She's the best," Dorado gushed, his yellow eyes staring deeply into Jolly's brown. Jolly giggled.

"Hey, um… what about my boyfriend?" Soledad wondered. "I had him living in the castle. Is he still here?"

Jolly frowned. "Erm, aye, but…"

Soledad held up a hoof. "Not another word. I've heard it all before. Where is he?"

"Same place ye left him, I reckon," Jolly said exhaustedly.

Soledad nodded and swam down the corridors, finding one room in particular and knocking on the door. "Maol Straume?" she called. "Maol Straume, are you in there?"

The door opened, and another seapony colt floated there, looking her over. He had a golden-yellow coat and a mane of about the same color, in an elaborately spiked style that would have been impossible out of water. His eyes were a murky gray-brown and hidden behind heavy-lidded eyes bearing an excess of black eyeliner.

"Yes?" he said, looking Soledad up and down. "What kind of monster does the king have knocking on my door this time? None of you have scared me yet."

"Wh… what?" Soledad said blankly. "Maol, it's me."

He blinked disdainfully.

"Soledad!" Soledad exclaimed.

"What… oh," Maol said dully. "You've changed."

"To say the least," Soledad said sadly. "But I'm still me, Maol. I'm still the same filly you fell in love with… right?"

Maol considered her. "Well… of course," he finally decided. "Yeah. You're still a gorgeous princess to me." He said the words without a trace of inflection, but Soledad exclaimed in delight and pulled him into a hug.

"You are still the princess, right?" Maol Straume asked.

"Of course."

"Good," he said, patting her on the back and grinning broadly. "Good."

Jolly and Dorado watched all of this from further down the corridor.

"Who's that joker?" Dorado muttered.

"The hell if I know," Jolly said bitterly. "But Soledad seems ta favor him, fer whatever reason."

Dorado tilted his head. "…She gets that he's totally evil, right?"

"Nay," Jolly sighed, shaking her head. "It's plain as day, but she won't hear a word about it, not from me or her father or anypony else. I'm not fond of havin' ta wait around until he finally hurts her, but I've resigned meself to it." She motioned for him to follow her. "Come on, let's give 'em some time alone. I mean, not really, but… ye know, make 'em feel alone."

"Right," Dorado said nervously. The two swam off.