//------------------------------//
// Inkling Biology 
// Story: An Inkling Of Friendship 
// by Green Akers 
//------------------------------//

As Danielle gave Twilight a weak smile, she racked her brain to come up with an answer to the pony's question. The truth was the first thing that came to mind, but telling a race of magical powerhouses "we're here to kick you out and take over" didn't seem prudent. Unfortunately, the pressure of coming up with a decent lie made her mind go blank, and she couldn't think of anything to say. "Um... Well... You see..." she stammered, stalling in hopes that an idea would strike her.

"We're Inklings!" Tommy interrupted. "We're a highly-advanced species of squid that came out of the sea millions of years ago, but can transform to and from our prior form at will, and—"

"Transform?" Twilight's eyes popped open. "But you said you didn't believe in magic. How do you change forms without it?"

Tommy looked at Twilight in disbelief. "You... You really want to know?"

"I do!" Twilight confirmed. "Learning about other creatures is fascinating."

"Really?" Tommy's face lit up. "Well, look no further—I've been studying Inkling biology since I was seven! I can tell you everything you need to know!"

Phew! Saved by science! Danielle wiped her brow as Tommy began rambling about the finer points of Inkling physiology. She glanced around quickly to make sure the ponies were occupied, and then grabbed Brianna and pulled her aside. "What do I tell them, Bree?" she asked. "They want to know why we're here!"

"Deep breaths, D," Brianna said, putting her hand on Danielle's shoulder. "We tell them that we're a band of random travelers just passing through to see the country. Nothing about where we're from, nothing about where we're going, and nothing about the mission."

"Okay," Danielle agreed. "What about the boat? Maybe we can get these super-magical ponies to fix it for us."

"Perfect," Brianna said. "We just need help fixing our boat, and we'll be out of their hair the moment it happens. Can you handle that?"

"I think so," Danielle said, although her tone was less than confident.

"Hey, Danielle, Brianna?" Tommy called to his colleagues. "I was wondering if you could help me demonstrate how we interact with our ink."

"You mean like swimming and stuff?" Danielle shrugged. "I guess we could—" She stopped as her stomach growled a reminder that it was still empty. "We could do it after we eat, maybe?" she proposed.

"Yeah, we'd better do that before someone hogs all the food." Brianna reached over and snatched a raw fish out of Craig's hands just before he could bite into it. "Ask Miss Purple if she has a spell to turn this into a medium-well patty, would you?"



Between Twilight's magic, Applejack's baking experience, and Tommy's complicated explanation of pan searing, the ponies ended up turning Fluttershy's raw fish into a stale, overcooked culinary disaster. To a group of starving Inklings that were about ready to eat the siding off of Applejack's barn, however, it was the greatest meal they had ever eaten, and whatever bad taste the fish left was quickly rinsed away by Applejack's applelicious dessert offerings.

After the meal, the entire group walked over to a small clearing near the front entrance of the farm for the ink demonstration. "Ugh..." Brianna groaned as she trudged behind Danielle. "You may have to roll me over to the fence, D. I ate too much pie." 

"I told Tommy about our story for the ponies," Danielle whispered. "Did you get a chance to talk to Craig?"

Brianna nodded. "He's kinda numb, so I made sure to tell him exactly where I'd stick that roller of his if he said something stupid. I think he got the message."

Danielle rolled her eyes as Twilight approached her. "I've cast my translation spell on my friends, so they can all understand what you say," the pony explained. "Would your other friends be okay with me using the spell on them, so they can understand us?"

Danielle turned and relayed the request to Brianna. "What do you think, Bree?"

Brianna folded her arms and shook her head. "No way. Food is one thing, but I'm not letting that witch use her weird powers to mess with my mind. Somebody has to—"

Danielle gasped and covered Brianna's mouth with her hand. "You realize all the ponies can understand you now, right?" she hissed.

"It's okay," Twilight said. "Some ponies are just slow to open up to others. Believe me, I know—I was one of them."

"Try asking Craig," Danielle suggested. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"All right, everyone, stand back!" Tommy shouted as he stepped forward. "Weaponized squid ink can be very dangerous, and we don't know how it might affect ponies, so—"

"It's ink," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "How bad could it be?"

"Really bad," Tommy replied. "You see, we Inklings produce ink naturally within two ink sacs that reside with our thoracic cavity, just below the lungs. This ink is harmless enough on its own, but during the secretion process, it gets mixed with a blend of enzymes and pigments that give it its distinct color. These additives make the ink highly caustic to other Inklings that aren't currently producing ink of that color!"

"Oh. Uh... Gosh, that is bad, isn't it?" Rainbow Dash grinned a bit too widely at Tommy, and then glanced quickly from side to side before whispering something to Twilight.

"He means the ink burns and dissolves skin on contact," Twilight explained.

"Ew." Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out in disgust, drawing stares from those around her. "I mean, I totally knew that."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "What do you mean by 'currently producing ink?'" she asked Tommy. "Can you produce colors other than orange?"

"Yes!" Tommy proclaimed. "We can produce a wide variety of colors—blue, green, purple, pink, yellow..."

"But not red, for some reason," Brianna muttered.

"Does the color of your ink always match your hair?" Twilight asked.

"They're tentacles, actually," Tommy clarified. "But yes, tentacle color is a dead giveaway for ink color."

Spike raised his hand. "So if you produce ink in a sack below your lungs..." He pointed at Tommy's ink tank. "How does it get in there?"

Danielle and Tommy exchanged an awkward glance. "You really don't want to know," Danielle said.

Tommy nodded. "Let's just say the ink is pumped into the tank from where it's, er, secreted. From there, it gets loaded into our weapons for shooting! Or rolling, in Craig's case."

"What about its rapid evaporation properties?" Twilight inquired. "We were only able to find traces of ink in the forest, and they dried up the minute the sun hit them."

"It's true," Tommy said. "Once spread onto the ground, the ink will dry up and disappear within about fifteen minutes. However, a lot can happen in that time!" He pointed to a grove of trees off in the distance. "Craig, do you see that big tree over there?"

Craig squinted at the grove for a few seconds. "I count about twenty-seven of them, bro."

Tommy walked over and whispered a few instructions into Craig's ear. "10-4, dude," Craig acknowledged, and he grabbed his roller and began jogging towards the tree, leaving a line of orange ink behind him.

Twilight immediately rushed over to the ink trail. "Wait!" Tommy. "We don't know how the ink will affect—" He stopped at he watched Twilight summon a test tube out of thin air and levitate the tube over to scoop up an ink sample. "Oh. Right."

"I don't know about this," Applejack admitted. "If you're so worried about what this ink could do to us, why ain't you worried about what it might do to the trees?"

"Don't worry," Tommy replied. "Studies show that squid ink is actually good for plants!" He walked over and stuck his fingers into the ink. "As you can see, the ink is maybe an inch thick here, so in our current form, it really isn't suitable for swimming."

"But in this other form you talked about..." Twilight said.

"The cell dissolution properties of the ink are not as strong as with different-colored ink, so it allows us to—YAH!" Tommy jumped back as Craig, now in his squid form, leaped out of the ink. "Darn it, Craig, don't scare me like that!" Tommy chided his colleague.

"That's Craig?" Twilight peered down at the squid. "How is this possible? Without magic, I mean?"

"It's complicated," Tommy admitted. "It involves a series of muscle contractions and the release of special hormones that cause the body's organs to shift and change shape. The bottom line is yes, that's actually Craig."

The ponies watched in awe as Craig transformed back into his humanoid form. "That's amazing!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like that."

"Now, as I was saying, our squid forms have some really amazing properties!" Tommy motioned Craig back over to the ink trail. "Ink that is the same color as an Inkling has a weaker affect on our bodies. In human form, the ink is harmless, but in squid form, as Craig will demonstrate, the dissolution is just strong enough for us to spread out within the ink, which allows use to swim even in a thin layer like this!"

Craig stepped into his ink trail and transformed back into a squid, and quickly disappeared into the ink. "Well I'll be," Applejack said. "That's one doozy of a trick y'all have got."

"And you can move around within the ink when you're dissolved?" Twilight asked.

"We can!" Tommy confirmed. "I would have Craig demonstrate this, but I think Danielle should do it. She's the fastest swimmer in all of—I mean, of all the Inklings."

"I am?" Danielle gave Tommy a confused look.

"Excuse me?!" Brianna put her hands on her hips and glared at Tommy. "I am the fastest swimmer around! I can swim circles around any squid you can find!"

Tommy folded his arms. "Prove it."

Danielle could almost feel the heat from Brianna's rising temper. "No, no! No need to prove anything!" she insisted, stepping in between Tommy and Brianna. "I haven't beaten Bree at anything in seven years. There's no reason to believe I'll start now." She leaned over to Tommy. "Do you not want to live to see your next birthday or something?" she hissed.

"She won't kill me with Fluttershy around," Tommy replied. "Now here's what I want to you to do..." He whispered a few direction in Danielle's ear.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "I still think you're crazy." She turned back to Brianna and shrugged. "I guess there's no convincing him. What the heck—one race can't hurt anything, can it?"

Brianna muttered something under her breath. "Fine," she agreed.

"Great!" Tommy pointed back to the far-off tree grove. "The first squid to go from here to those trees and back wins. Swimmers, on your marks!"

"This is stupid," Brianna muttered to Danielle as they lined up. "We're here to take over, not to put on a kid and squid show for the ponies."

"Get set!" Tommy commanded. "And... GO!"

Brianna was in the ink and steaming towards the trees before anypony could blink. "As you can see," Tommy explained, "we are much faster in ink than we are on dry land."

"I don't know if I'd call that fast," Rainbow Dash remarked. "It's faster than I've ever seen Applejack run, though." The comment drew a glare from Applejack, but Rainbow just blew a raspberry at her in response.

Danielle watched as Brianna sped away, and then transformed into a squid herself. Instead of swimming away, however, she remained still, and began drawing ink from the ground into her body, causing her head to start swelling.

"What is she—Whoa!" Rainbow's jaw fell open as Danielle suddenly launched herself into the air and rocketed across the guy. "You guys can fly?"

"It's more of a jump, actually," Tommy said. "We can cover almost a thousand feet in about three seconds, which is much faster than swimming. However, we need a target at the landing point to focus our jump on, like another Inkling, or a special beacon like the one I told Craig to set by the trees."

"Like the one you had..." Twilight's voice trailed off as she processed the information. "You just set your friend up, didn't you?"

Tommy tried (and failed) to suppress a smirk. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Incoming!" Applejack shouted and pointed as Danielle flew back over to the group and made a perfect two-point landing next to Tommy. 

"See?" Tommy said. "I knew you'd be faster."

"Not by much!" Danielle pointed to a set of ripples on the ink's surface that were approaching fast.

"...And done!" Brianna popped out of the ink, transformed back into her human form, and slammed her feet onto the ground with authority. "Geez, this trip must be making D feel sluggish or something. I didn't see her at—" She stopped as she realized Danielle was standing in front of her. "What the... What are you doing here? Did you even start?"

"She beat you here by a good few seconds, actually," Tommy said with a chuckle. "Maybe it was you that the trip affected."

"No way!" Brianna insisted. "I was flying out there!"

Danielle shrugged. "What can I say? We all get lucky sometimes." She leaned over to Brianna. "It's Tommy's fault," she whispered. "I'll explain later."

"Anyway..." Tommy clapped his hands together and turned to face Twilight. "In short, Inklings are the ultimate triumph of evolution, growing from a simple squid to a sophisticated creature with some incredible abilities! Do you have any other questions?"

"Just one," Twilight said. "You mentioned muscles and hormones, but how does your transformation affect your skeletal structure? I can't imagine how your bones could shrink and grow without magic."

"They don't—we don't have any bones!" Tommy replied. "Our bodies are completely cartilage-supported."

Brianna stepped forward. "Here, let me demonstrate." She grabbed Tommy's arm and bent his elbow back the wrong way. "What do you know, D? Nothing broke!"

"YAHHHHH!" Tommy screamed, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "Leggo! Leggo!"

"Oh, does that hurt? I'm sorry," Brianna replied in a definitely-NOT-sorry tone as she released Tommy's arm. "I just wanted to help."

Danielle shook her head as Tommy rubbed his sore arm. "You kinda had that coming."

Twilight stepped forward. "You Inklings really are fascinating creatures," she said, "but I'm still curious as to what brought you to Ponyville. Are you just here to visit, or do you have some other plans?"

Danielle took a deep breath, and reminded herself that she was ready for the question this time. "Well," she began, "let me tell you—"

"Ahhh!" A moderately-loud scream drew all eyes to Fluttershy, who was staring wide-eyed at the glowing butterfly-shaped symbols on her flank. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said with an embarrassed smile. "My cutie mark started glowing, and it startled me."

"Look! All of your marks are glowing!" Spike pointed out.

"Must be the map's callin' us about somethin' again," Applejack concluded.

"Wait, did you say a map is calling you?" Tommy asked.

Twilight nodded. "We have a magical map that alerts us when trouble is brewing in different parts of the world. I'm afraid we have to return to the castle at once to see what's going on. I'm sorry to cut our visit short, but—"

"No no, that's totally fine!" Danielle insisted. "We really should be getting on our way ourselves! You guys can go back to your castle, and—"

"Wait." Brianna grabbed Danielle by the shoulder. "Are they inviting us to see their castle?"

Twilight giggled. "She would know if she'd have let me cast my spell," she told Danielle. "You're welcome to come with us, if you'd like."

"If they're offering, the answer is yes," Brianna declared. "We'd love to see their castle."

"I agree!" Tommy said. "Castles are a treasure trove of history, architecture, and culture!"

Danielle gave Brianna a confused look. "Weren't you the one who said we needed to—"

Brianna pulled Danielle close. "This is a golden opportunity to get inside their castle and gather intel on their defenses," she whispered. "They might just be giving us the edge we need to conquer them when the time comes."

Danielle sighed. "What the heck," she decided. "It's not like we're going anywhere fast." She turned back to Twilight. "We'd love to see your castle!"

"Then follow us!" Applejack said. "Trouble's a brewin', so we'd better shake a leg! Yeehaw!"

With that, the ponies turned and headed for town, followed closely by their Inkling counterparts. "Aw geez, not more running," Tommy muttered. "My blisters were just starting to heal..."



Within ten minutes, the entire group had cut across town and made their way to Twilight's castle, a large crystalline structure that towered over every other building in town. "Good grief," Brianna remarked as she climbed the stairs to the entrance. "And I thought the Squid Sisters' house was gaudy."

The ponies led Danielle and her crew through a maze of hallways until they reached a large circular room with a large table at its center. Sitting on the table—or was it part of the table itself?—was a large topological map that depicted several large islands and towns, including a city that seemed to be floating on the clouds themselves. "No way! They control this much land?" Brianna exclaimed. "Ol' Sarge will have a heart attack when we tell him about all this."

Waiting next to the table were two other ponies, a white-coated unicorn with purple, exquisitely-styled hair and a pink pony with poofy hair who had neither wings nor a horn. "I do wish this map would call us at a more reasonable time," the unicorn lamented. "I was just working with a new client when—" She stopped as she spied the Inklings standing behind the other ponies. "What's this? I don't believe we've met before."

The pink pony gasped at the sight of the Inklings, and she leaped into the air and hung there inexplicably for a few seconds with every limb outstretched. "New friends!" In an instant, the pony was centimeters from Danielle's nose. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?" Before Pinkie could even finish the question, she was in front of Tommy, startling him so much he fell over backwards. "I like baking cakes, singing songs, playing pranks, and making friends!" She suddenly disappeared into thin air, only to materialize in front of Brianna a second later. "Do you want to be friends?"

"Yah!" Brianna jumped back, grabbed her gun, and nearly stuck the barrel up Pinkie's nose. "Stay back!"

"Pinkie, calm down!" Twilight used her magic to pull Pinkie back from Brianna. "These are the Inklings, a group of squid-like creatures traveling through Equestria. This is Danielle, and that's Brianna next to her, and that's Tommy behind the girls, and the one with the big, uh, rolling thing is Craig. Danielle, I'd like you and your team to meet my friends Rarity and Pinkie—"

"Holy crab!" Danielle shouted as Pinkie pulled a massive cannon from behind her back. "Take cover!"

Danielle, Brianna, and Tommy dove to the floor as the cannon went off with a loud bang, shooting a large doughy glob across the room and smack into Craig's face. "Oops," Pinkie said. "I, uh, guess I put the confetti in the oven again."

As the trio looked up in horror to see what was left of their colleague, Craig just blinked a few times and then dabbed his finger in the goo and stuck it in his mouth. "Sweet, dude."

"Pinkie!" Twilight chided her friend as the pink pony hid her cannon away. "You're scaring the Inklings, and we don't have time for a party right now."

"But... But... New friends..." Pinkie whimpered.

"Maybe after we see what the map has to say," Twilight offered as she turned back to the Inklings. "I'm really sorry about that. Pinkie gets a little excited when she makes new friends."

"If it's all the same to you, we're just gonna lie here for a while," Danielle replied.

As the ponies began talking amongst themselves and arranging themselves around the map, Danielle crawled over to Brianna. "Is that enough intel for you?" she asked.

Brianna looked over and nodded. "Forget the freaking boat. If all these ponies are packing heat like that, I'd rather swim home."

"Me too," Tommy added. "I'd love to know more about pony magic and flight mechanics and those 'cutie mark' things they talk about, but... I also want to live to see my family again."

"Then it's settled," Danielle declared. "We exit gracefully, we make a beeline for the boat, and we don't tell anyone where we're going. If these ponies discover Inkopolis, we're doomed."

"That's strange," Twilight could be heard in the background. "I've never seen the map do this before."

The three Inklings picked themselves off the floor and joined Craig in staring at the map on the table. Six small symbols, one matching each of the marks on the flanks of their hosts, were floating high above the map, but were not moving in any particular direction. Instead, the map itself was shifting underneath them, and the island eventually disappeared from view. "Where the hay is this thing sendin' us?" Applejack asked.

Eventually, a smaller island shifted into view, and settled underneath the hovering symbols. "This is incredible!" Twilight exclaimed as the symbols began circling a tall structure in the middle of the island. "This corner of the world has never been charted before. I think the map is taking us to a whole new continent!"

Danielle's eyes widened as she realized the floating symbols were circling a tiny replica of Inkopolis Tower. "Uh oh..."