Octavia's Legged Woes.

by ponystorylyh

Chapter 5: Drama, Sceneries, and Gloomp..

Chapter 5: Drama, Sceneries, and Gloomp.

"Welcome Back!"

Lyra cringed when Sea Mint announced her returned "... Thank you... I suppose..." She sighed receiving Sea Mint's hug, having a bad vibe on what will happen next, thus she hurriedly replied, "We should be on our wa..."

"HOLD IT!" Bon Bon cried out as she swam over, pushing both sea ponies apart and then facing her marefriend, "When did you get your citizenship?!" With her fins, Bon Bon 'grabbed' Lyra and shook the latter vigorously, "Who and what are you anyways Lyra Heartstrings?! You... I... ugh...." The navy-pink maned sea pony groaned as her mood totally deflated, ears drooping. "I'm just... going..." She swam off toward the direction of the house.

"I suppose I should go comfort her... though I'm not sure how much I can help..." Octavia shook her head and swam off after the fleeing sea pony.

"Is Bon Bon alright?" Sea Mint asked as she steadied the still shaking Lyra, "She has been having these emotional outbursts way too often... Is that common among land dwelling ponies?"

"She wasn't like that... Then again... it's my fault that got her into that state..." Lyra sighed in defeat, "I've been hiding... personal stuff from her..."

"So... does she know anything about you before the time you left here?" Seeing the mint sea unicorn pony shook her head, Sea Mint groaned, realising her insensitivity, "You know its going to be tougher down in Marelantis. Your might be able to get around your friends with some coordinations, but your father..."

"I can handle my father!" Lyra replied with an authoritative tone, forcing the emerald sea pony to zip her mouth. "As for Bon Bon, I'll have to prepare her every step of the way... and also prepare myself on getting earfuls of her outbursts." She softened her tone, "I apologise again from raising my voice Sea Mint."

"It's alright Lyra, I should have noticed your situation earlier." Sea Mint chuckled, "Let me run you down on the route to Marelantis as well as some happenings over the last ten years..."

"Bon Bon?" Octavia called out as she poked her head into the house. The lights were off, which made the half-octopus unable to see much of the interior.

"Go away!" The cream scaled sea pony replied from within, sobbing softly.

"Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?" Octavia asked with concern, "I know you have been edgy because Lyra had been hiding things from you. So far you had handled it well, but why the sudden break down?" The grey musician paused for a while as she rested just outside the door, "Where is the strong-willed mare I know?"

For a while, nothing was heard from inside the house. Octavia patiently waited, and soon enough a shuffle was heard and a navy-pink maned sea pony appeared. With a slightly blood-shot sullen look, Bon Bon settled down beside Octavia, her tail twirling in the sand.

"Well..." Octavia started, "This is only the start... You do know there be much more 'happenings' down at Marelantis..." Octavia shuddered, wondering how the sea ponies would react to her eight-legged appearance. "Are you feeling better now?" She looked at Bon Bon, who nodded but still feeling down. The half-octopus gave the sulking sea pony abit more time before replying, "You should know that Marelantis won't come to you if you continue to sulk like that." She poked the sea pony with a tentacle, causing the latter to squeak out in surprise. An idea came into Octavia's mind...

"Wow... I never had expected so much progress..." Lyra commented with awe as Sea Mint finished her news updates.

"Yes, ten years may not be much, but cooperation between sea and land ponies did have that effect." Sea Mint nodded as she held up the amulet she was wearing, "This is one of the results from the extensive research between the mages of the land and sea. Previously, only the sea unicorn ponies could visit the land, but now it works on both sides as well as on other races."

Sounds of laughter broke their discussion as the duo turned to see Octavia returned with a wrapped up Bon Bon in a limb while another limb was prodding her in several places, causing her to laugh out from the ticklish sensations. "I found her easily enough... but she can be quite 'difficult' to cheer up." She smirked, looking back at her captive, who was crying out for the 'torture' to be stopped. "I'll leave the laughing pony to you Lyra. And I would like to borrow Sea Mint while you two sort things out... again." Unceremoniously, Octavia dropped the still giggling Bon Bon and pulled Sea Mint away...

"BB..."

On hearing Lyra's voice, Bon Bon went back to her sulking and turned away.

"Listen BB, I..."

"I'm sorry..."

"I... huh?"

"I'm sorry... for blowing up like that..." Bon Bon muttered loud enough for Lyra to hear, "It was just a while ago I promised I would try to take things in strides... but I kind of broke that..." The cream scaled sea pony apologised as she subconsciously went back twirling the sand with her tail.

"Don't be..." Lyra replied as she went over and hugged her marefriend from behind, "You have tolerated long enough... there's nothing wrong blowing up 'once in a while'..." She let out a soft chuckle, only receiving a swat, followed by a 'death glare' from the latter when Bon Bon turned around. The glare quickly softened and Bon Bon hugged Lyra back, feeling much better now.

"Kiss and make up?"

"If it helps to make you feel better." Lyra grinned as both sea ponies leaned in for a kiss...

A bout of giggling spoilt their moment and they quickly broke off, blushing furiously. Sea Mint and Octavia had returned, this time a filled saddle-bag strapped over the half-octopus.

Octavia grinned at the sight she had seen, "I've requested Sea Mint for some food for the trip, thus the saddlebag." She shook it slightly, letting it shift around her body as she was not really used to having something strapped over her. "So before we go, let's go through our checklist... half-octopus pony, check! Two sea ponies in love... check! Saddlebag filled with food, check! Passes to enter Marelantis..."

Lyra groaned, "Oh no... they must have floated away when BB 'violently' shook me..." The mint scaled sea pony had totally forgotten about the passes, "Can we get... another two?" She enquired Sea Mint while dodging her marefriend's swatting.

"It happens that the two passes you mentioned were recovered." Sea Mint replied giggling, "I slipped them in between the book while Bon Bon blew her temper." She went over to Octavia and patted at one of the larger pockets of the saddlebag, "They are now safely kept here until you reach the city gates."

"That's a relief..." Lyra relaxed, "So that's a 'check' then... and come to think of it Octavia, you do remind me of a certain pony I know who keeps check lists."

"We be stuck here longer if there's such a list." Octavia chuckled, "Alright! So we are all set to go! So Sea Mint, how do we suppose to get to Marelantis?"

"Well... sad to say this... the scheduled submersible ferry had left for Marelantis. It will only be back tomorrow morning." Sea Mint shook her head, "Fortunately, Marelantis isn't that far... three hours of swimming through the trekking tube."

"Trekking tube?" Bon Bon and Octavia both replied with curiosity.

"Its just around the corner," Lyra cut in, "No harm taking a look. This way girls." The mint sea unicorn lead them to the end of the dome, where a unusually large round door was fitted. From the side of the transparent dome, they could see the connected tube spanning into the blue underwater horizon, "The tube was originally meant for transportation of goods during the early years," Lyra started the lesson while the two newcomers gawked in awe, "However, as the tourist sector boomed due to the breakthrough of Sea-Ponification magic, Lord Triton declared the tube open for public, allowing trekking enthusiasts to travel between here and Marelantis." Lyra finished, grinning with pride, "So what do you say? Shall we wait until tomorrow for the ferry, or we can trek it?"

"Huh? Ohh... err..." Octavia recovered, "I don't mind hoofing... or rather... swim there. Its better than being cooped up here without anything to do... you don't want an annoyed half-octopus 'rampaging' the resort town for the next twelve hours, do you?" She mischievously smiled at the sea ponies. Bon Bon replied next, "I agree. As much I would like to see Octavia 'rampaging', shaking Lyra 'violently' for the rest of the day isn't that interesting after a while." She giggled, noticing that her marefriend had taken aback from the duo's replies.

"Right...heh..." Lyra replied nervously, "Then its settled, we shall trek there..." She nodded to Sea Mint, who snickered before heading to the side of the tube. Sliding open a hidden panel, the emerald scaled sea pony punched in a few buttons. A click was heard followed by the sound of gears being moved as the doors of the trekking tube slided open, revealing the brightly lit passageway. "You girls go ahead, I'll catch up once I settle a few more things with Sea Mint."

"What's the hold up?" Bon Bon enquired in an annoyed tone as Lyra caught up with them.

"Sorry about that..." Lyra apologised, "Just to make sure I got all the updates from Sea Mint. Marelantis surely had changed alot from what I heard." The trio continued down the passageway, all the while looking at the blue-ish extrerior of the sea. Along the way, they came across several intersections, where Lyra explained these led to the kelp and seaweed farms, somewhat similar to Sweet Apple Acres over at Ponyville. From a distance, they could see the small domes which housed the said farms. Soon, they found themselves opening the saddlebag as their stomachs started growling from missing lunch earlier.

"So... can I safely assume that Lord Triton is the ruler of Marelantis?" Bon Bon enquired as she munched on a kelp sandwich. Not used to swimming as a sea pony, the navy-pinked maned mare had tired out early in the journey. Octavia offered to carry Bon Bon; Being able to accustom to her new form quickly enough, the grey musician was gliding along without much problem.

"That's right, unlike Princesses, who are alicorns, he is a hippocampus. I mean, he is an immortal, just like them, but in a different form." Lyra fumbled with her explanation.

"So what does he look like, other than not having wings and horn?" Bon Bon continued her enquiry. Octavia was just floating along listening to the couple chatting away as she had her meal of seaweed strips.

"I have not seen him upfront before, but I heard he is half unicorn, half fish, much more regal than us... I mean sea ponies." The mint sea unicorn silently chided herself for the slip up, "Umm... so is there anything for me to eat?" She floated over and rummaged through saddlebag pockets, finding something of interest, "Ohh... is that what I think it is?" Using her magic, Lyra eagerly pulled out a small translucent bag made of gelatine. Inside, there were...

"Shrimps!" Both Octavia and Bon Bon replied with war9 as they see the tiny crustaceans swimming about in the bag.

"Ohh, did I mentioned that shrimps are a delicacy for sea ponies?" Lyra popped one out of the bag with her magic and sent it into her mouth where she chewed it slowly, "Ish been a while... I shtill prefer them shmoked though..." She chuckled after swallowing it, "You girls want some?" Floating the bag over to the duo, who quickly shook their heads, "Ohh well, your loss." Cheerfully, she resumed consuming the shrimps, much to the duo's dislike and surprise over how Lyrakwas able to eat live sea creatures.

Overhead as they travelled along the tube, there were sightings of fishes in schools, and an occasion shark, and the rarest sight of all, the blue whale. The trio did stop at some point admiring the coral field around the tube, where Lyra pointed out the different types of polyps spreaded out across the sea floor.The rest of the trip was uneventful, and the only voice came from Lyra, who was describing to them about Marelantis' history and some of the landmarks they could visit once they settled down in the city.

"Looks like we are almost there!" Lyra announced, a fin pointing to the distance. The trekking tube had dipped sharply downwards as if going downhill. From their vantage point, they could see a bright yellow light shining from a tall structure. Below that structure, there were other blinking lights, indicating other buildings below it. "That's the Marelantis Lighthouse, the tallest building in the city. Its to guild the ferry in as well as informing us trekking ponies that we are... reaching." The mint sea unicorn's mood deflated upon finishing her sentences, feeling a sense of anxiety coming on. "Ahh... girls, lets take it slow and enjoy the trek..."

"Bon Bon, grab my mane!"

"You sure about that Octavia? I don't want to mess it up."

"Just grab it already!" The half-octopus cried. As soon as the cream scaled sea pony clasped hold onto the former's mane, Octavia shot off towards the city with a squealing Bon Bon, leaving a surprised Lyra behind.

"I never knew you are the fun type." Bon Bon chuckled as the duo finally stopped at the entrance of the city. They could actually hear the music beats from the other side, "A cultured musician should not be so stiff. There are always time to have fun." Octavia giggled as a limb started tapping to the beat.

"Huff... huff... to think you can actually swim that fast!" Lyra exclaimed, panting as she finally caught up with them.

"Eight limbs do give me that advantage... Still, I do hope I can still change back after all the excitement in the city." Octavia replied with mixed emotions as she looked up at the gate, "Well! How do we get in? I don't see any doorbells or something similar."

"Let me catch my breath first..." Lyra leaned against the gate for a while gathering her strength. Once she recovered enough, she back up a distance from the gate. Lighting up her horn, she began a series of flashes against one particular spot of the gate. Soon enough a reply through the same form of flashes emitted from that spot, requiring Lyra to announce herself. She shook her head, hoping it was not somepony whom she recognize; The mint sea unicorn replied via flashing a series of light.

A moment of silence followed by the creaking of the gate as the doors swung open.

"Lyyyyyyyyyyyrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~~~~~~" A mint blur came out of the opened gate and gloomped Lyra, causing them to roll back several feet. The other two gasped out on seeing another sea unicorn with the same mint scale as their friend, except for the mane, which was a mess of dark green with strips of white at the sides.

"Heh... Hey... Harpie..."