An Inkling Of Friendship

by Green Akers

Aim For The Yellow One First

As the ponies stared intently at their map, Danielle slowly turned to Brianna. "What do we do now?" she whispered.

Brianna sighed. "We've got no choice," she declared. "We've got to take them out."

Brianna grabbed her gun and aimed it at the ponies, but Danielle swatted Brianna's arm back down. "Are you crazy?" Danielle hissed. "They'll splat us for sure!"

"I know," Brianna said resignedly, "but we swore to defend Inkopolis at all costs when we signed up for this mission. I'd rather they splat me than my family and everyone back home."

Danielle gulped as she thought about her own family, and she reached for her gun. "Aim for the yellow one first."

Brianna nodded and tried to raise her gun again, but this time Tommy stopped her. "I've got an idea," he announced. "If they didn't know where Inkopolis was before this map told them, all we have to do to save Inklingkind is destroy the map!"

Brianna stared at Tommy in disbelief for a moment, and then turned back to Danielle. "Am I hearing things, or did Four-Eyes actually come up with a good idea for once?"

"Hey, I like it," Danielle confirmed. "and I think I've got just the thing to make it happen." She reached down and pulled a small Splat Bomb from her pocket. "Charge up a shot with that rifle of yours," she told Tommy. "When I let this go, blast a trail out the door, and we'll make a break for it."

The trio waited for a few tense seconds as Danielle pulled the tube from her ink tank out of her gun and stuck it into the bomb, causing it to swell and expand as it filled with ink. Once the bomb was full, Danielle pulled out the tube and tossed the bomb underneath the map table. "Go!"

Tommy fired a shot out through the doorway, and the three Inklings dived in and swam for their lives. Seven blast-and-swims later, the group burst through the front door of the castle with their guns drawn. "Did the bomb work?" Tommy asked as he scanned the area. "I didn't hear it go off..."

Danielle started looking around frantically. "Where's Craig? We can't leave without Craig!"

"I thought he was behind you!" Tommy replied.

"He's probably still standing there like the idiot he is." Brianna smacked her hand with her face. "You two make tracks for the boat. I'll go see if I can save that dummy from his own stupidity."

"Bree, no!" Danielle reached out to stop Brianna, but she was in the ink and gone before Danielle could stop her. "What do we do, Tommy?" she said as she grabbed him by the collar. "They're gonna splat her!"

"I-I don't know!" Tommy admitted. "M-Maybe if I spread enough ink out here, I can charge up a Killer Wail to cover her..."

"Argh!" Danielle threw up her hands as Tommy started digging in his pockets for a sprinkler. "Why didn't I bring my Splattershot instead of this dumb N-Zap?" she wailed. "I would have at least had an Inkzooka for this!"

"Hey! Wait up! Where are you going?" a pony's voice called out from inside the castle.

"Son of a seahorse!" Danielle cursed. "We need to hide, and fast!" She quickly coated the front steps of the castle with ink, and then transformed into a squid and dove in. "Get in here," she ordered Tommy, "and whatever you do, don't move!"

Tommy followed Danielle's lead and joined her in the ink. "Danielle?" he whimpered. "I-If we don't make it out of here alive, t-there's something I need to—"

"Shhh!" Danielle interrupted. "Here they come!"

As the Inklings watched nervously, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy emerged from the castle. "Looks like the trail ends here," Rainbow observed. "Talk about a weird way to make an exit."

"I wonder what made them run off like that," Fluttershy said. "I hope we didn't offend them."

"Hey, I would have run too if I had splattered ink all over Rarity's coat," Rainbow noted. "It's a good thing that was just ink, though—just imagine if that had been a real explosion!"

Fluttershy nodded. "We could have been seriously hurt, or the map could have been damaged."

"Wait, what?!" Danielle popped out of the ink right in front of the two ponies. "You mean the map's okay?"

"Everything's just fine," Fluttershy confirmed. "Don't worry. We're not mad, just confused."

"Yeah, what happened in there anyway?" Rainbow asked. "Did one of you get, like, explosive diarrhea or something?"

"Um, well... Yes. That's exactly what happened," Danielle fibbed. "Tommy has a weak stomach, you see, and he kind of overdid it at lunch today." She kicked the ink where she thought Tommy was hiding. "Didn't you, Tommy?"

"Ow! I mean, ohhhhhh, my stomach," Tommy moaned. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Oh, you poor dear!" Fluttershy reached down and scooped Tommy out of the ink. "You need to get some rest right away! I'll take you back to my cottage and fix you something for your stomach, and you'll feel better in no time!"

"No, wait, I feel—" Tommy began to protest, but Fluttershy was already carrying him away towards her cottage.

Danielle gulped as she watched Tommy and Fluttershy disappear into the distance, and shuddered at the realization that her entire team was separated and at the mercy of her hosts. "Will he be okay?" she asked Rainbow.

"Mostly," Rainbow assured Danielle. "She'll probably make him take a bunch of caster oil, though. That stuff is beyond gross." Rainbow gagged at the thought. "Anyway, the map's fine, and Twilight's zapped away all the ink, so you can come back inside now."

Danielle took a deep breath. "All right." She transformed into a squid, dove into the ink, and headed for the map room.

"Whoa!" Rainbow jumped as Danielle swam underneath her. "That swimming thing's gonna take some getting used to."

Danielle ignored Rainbow and kept on going. Even if the ponies weren't mad now, they would be once Brianna engaged them, and Bree was going to need all the help she could get.

---

When Danielle arrived at the map room, she found the other four ponies gathered in a semi-circle around Craig, listening intently as he delivered a surprisingly-passionate speech. "Together," Craig preached, "we can bridge the gaps of ignorance and distrust, and bring peace and understanding to the world!"

"Craig? What are you doing?" Danielle asked. "And where'd Bree go?"

The ponies immediately crowded around Danielle. "It's alright, sugarcube," Applejack assured the Inkling. "Everything'll be just fine. No need to get mad or nothin'."

"Huh?" Danielle took a step back and put her hand on her weapon. "What are you talking about? What did you do with Bree?"

"She's okay," Twilight replied. "Craig's explained the whole situation. He told us about your mission and the trouble you've been having with the Octarians, and we've pledged to—"

"He what?!?!" Danielle looked over at Craig in disbelief. "Craig, how could you?"

"Making this scene was no accident, dude!" Craig declared, raising his hands to the sky. "This was destiny! We've been brought together by the guiding tentacle of—"

Danielle's eyes narrowed. "Craig, I swear, if you start talking about the Squid Spirits again, I'll—"

"Exactly!" Craig said. "Everything makes sense—losing the engine, finding the island, meeting the princess, even this rad map!" Craig pushed between the ponies and put his hands on Danielle's shoulders. "The Spirits chose us, dude! They chose us to find these warriors of friendship and lead them home, so that they could dispel the bad vibes between Inklings and Octarians forever!"

"Personally, I prefer the term ambassador," Rarity remarked. "'Warrior' sounds so rough and uncouth."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "It don't matter what we are," she said. "These Inkling folks have got a problem, and we're just the ponies to solve it!"

Twilight nodded. "I'm sure these Octarians aren't as bad or evil as you think they are," she told Danielle. "If we can bring you all together and find some common ground, I'm sure we can settle whatever differences you have."

"This will be great!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "We're gonna meet all sorts of new squid-things and octo-things, and we can throw a party and play games and eat cake and make lots of new friends!"

"Hallelujah, sisters!" Craig shouted.

Danielle stared at the ponies in shock. There was no stopping them now, and while they didn't appear to be planning to destroy or enslave Inkopolis, becoming forced friends with the Octarians at the end of a unicorn's horn sounded almost at bad. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw another ink bomb at the map. "W-Where's Bree?" she repeated. "I need to see her right now!"

"She's okay," Twilight said. "Come with me."

Danielle followed Twilight down two hallways and up a long flight of stairs to a large bedroom, where Spike was tucking a snoring Brianna into bed. "She got a little angry when she found out what Craig had said," Twilight explained. "If I hadn't used a sleep spell on her, she would have choked him to death! I also took the opportunity to cast my translation spell on her, although it didn't help us calm her down."

Danielle sighed and stared at Brianna, wishing she could ask her friend what to do next.

"Is everything all right?" Twilight inquired. "You don't look very happy about all this. Don't you want to make friends with the Octarians and stop fighting over territory?"

"No!" Danielle declared. "I mean, sure, I don't want to fight over turf anymore, but make friends with them?" Danielle folded her arms and shook her head. "No way! Octarians are mean and nasty and smelly and—"

"I see." A small smile appeared on Twilight's face. "Let me ask you: Have you ever met an Octarian face-to-face?"

"Well... No. But Bree has, and she says—"

"Is this the same Brianna who acts quite mean and nasty towards your other friends?" Twilight asked.

"She gets a little over-angry sometimes," Danielle admitted. "Craig is a little smelly, though. He keeps saying that soap is bad for our skin."

"So how would you feel if I said that based solely on my observations of Brianna, I believed Inklings were mean and nasty and smelly?"

Danielle was silent for a moment. "I guess that wouldn't make sense," she finally said. "But it's not just Bree! My parents say that, my friends say that, Sarge says that, the High Council says—"

Twilight sighed. "Look, I'm sure there are bad apples among the Octarians, just like there are short-tempered Inklings. In my experience, though, if you bring a pair of quarreling groups together, they can always work things out. Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to worry about fighting over land anymore?"

"Sure, but—"

"Then I'd say our idea is worth trying." Twilight turned and peered out a nearby window. "It's getting late, so we probably won't set off for Inkopolis until tomorrow. Pinkie's probably dying to throw you a welcome party anyway, so this will give her a chance to—"

"A party?" Danielle gave Twilight a confused look. "We come in to take your land, we lie to you about it, and we almost destroy your magical map thingy, and you're going to throw a party for us?"

Twilight smiled. "What can I say? The magic of friendship can make you do crazy things sometimes."

"Uh... Twilight?" Spike pointed a trembling finger at Brianna, who was beginning to stir. "I think the angry one's about to wake up..."

"That's okay—they need us back downstairs anyway," Twilight said. "Danielle, do you think you could explain the situation to your friend?"

"I can try," Danielle offered, "but I can't make any promises."

"That's good enough for me." Twilight turned to leave, but stopped just as she reached the doorway. "One last piece of advice," she told Danielle. "Pay close attention to what you drink during the party. Pinkie has a habit of putting the hot sauce next to the punch."

As Twilight and Spike departed, Danielle looked over at Brianna. "Do you have a bad feeling about this?" she asked. "Because I have a—"

"Ahhhh!" Brianna woke up with a start and screamed, startling Danielle. "Good grief!" Brianna said. "I was dreaming that I was in a Turf War, and my teammates were having a dance party, and the other team was all ponies, and they had pinned in our base! It was awful!"

"Yikes," Danielle replied. "Speaking of parties, by the way..."

---

As night fell, balloons and streamers went up in a large field outside of Ponyville, and the whole town turned out for Pinkie's incredible Inkling party. While the number of ponies in attendance caught Danielle off-guard, the bigger surprise was their reactions: Outside of a trio of fainting ponies—"Don't worry; they faint every time the wind changes direction," Rainbow explained—the reactions were universally positive. One pony with a two-dolphin cutie mark asked her for advice on swimming techniques, while another pony with a quill mark asked her about becoming a partner in his quill-and-ink business, and a third pony who's eyes didn't quite line up just smiled and offered her a muffin. The whole scene touched Danielle, and made her feel a bit guilty of her initial fear and suspicion. Sure, ponies were an all-powerful race that could splat her anytime they wanted, and they were pretty naive to think anyone could make friends with the Octarians, but at least their hearts seemed to be in the right place.

While the reactions of her squadmates were mostly predictable—Tommy, now fully recovered from his 'stomach issues,' was giving his usual squid-fact lectures to anypony that would listen, while Craig had reverted to chill mode after his passionate outburst in the castle—Brianna's behavior was the exact opposite of what Danielle had expected. Instead of being irritable and spending the whole event brooding in the corner like she usually did, Bree had actually gotten excited when Danielle told her about the party, and she had been nothing but bubbly and gregarious since the first shot of confetti. She was an especially huge hit with the fillies and colts, who marveled at the way she could shoot moving targets out of the air, and they kept trying to find ways to challenge her. Craziest of all, Brianna had even forgiven Twilight for casting her spells without permission, and told Craig that revealing the Inklings' mission was no big deal!

"Wow!" Twilight remarked as she walked up to Danielle. "I don't know you said to your friend, but it sure put her in a better mood. I never imagined she'd be these great with kids!"

"Honestly," Danielle admitted, "I though you'd used a mood spell on her or something."

"Not explicitly, at least." Twilight smiled. "Just think: If the magic of friendship can do this for someone like Brianna, imagine what it can do for you and the Octarians."

"Gosh, I can't wait!" Danielle faked a smile and waved as Twilight walked away, and then worked her way through the crowd to where Brianna stood. "Hey Bree," she asked, "are you okay?"

"Oh, I am better than okay!" Brianna said with a smile. "These little ponies can't get enough of me. I don't get mobbed this much walking through Arowana Mall!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Danielle pressed. "You're acting really strange."

"I'm fine!" Brianna insisted. "I'm just feeling those good friendship vibes—you know, like Craig does! These ponies all seem super nice, and I so can't wait to get back home and become best besties with all those Octarians!" She chuckled at Danielle's puzzled expression. "You don't believe me at all, do you?"

"Nope."

"Well, maybe you'll believe this." Brianna held up her gun, making sure the special gauge was pointed towards Danielle.

Danielle's eyes widened as she realized the gauge was 85% full. "You're charging an—"

"Shhhh!" Brianna's smile faded, and she leaned in close to Danielle. "The minute that gauge maxes out," she whispered, "I'm dropping an Inkstrike on that prissy princess's head and making a run for the coast, so go easy on the appetizers if you want to keep up."

"But we'll never make it!" Danielle replied. "Even if we beat them to the boat, we don't know the way back home."

"We will beat them to the boat," Brianna proclaimed, "and we'll send out a mayday transmission over the radio. Even if we can't stop these stupid ponies from invading, we can at least make sure Inkopolis is prepared when it happens."

Danielle gulped as she mulled over Brianna's plan. While she was glad to see the Bree she knew and loved was still around and wasn't under the influence of a spell, she didn't think antagonizing the ponies any more than they already had was a good idea. "I'm really not sure about this," she said.

"We have to, D," Brianna declared. "All of Inklingkind is counting on us."

"Miss Brianna! Miss Brianna!" a voice called out from the crowd. "We found some more plates to throw for you!"

"Great! Be right there!" Brianna said in a forced-sweet tone. "You're the splatoon leader," she told Danielle, "so you make the call on whether you tell Tommy about this or not. I'm telling you right now, though: That turncoat Craig is not coming home with us. Either he stays here and takes the rap for the Inkstrike, or I'm tying him to a cement block and throwing him into the ocean."

Brianna turned and made her way back to the colts and fillies, leaving Danielle alone with her doubts and fears. What am I gonna do? she thought. Bree's Inkstrike won't be enough to take down all these ponies—we'll be splatted within thirty seconds! I mean, I don't want to befriend the Octarians any more than she does, but is forced friendship really an Inkstrikable offense? Should I stop her? Should I help her? I... I... I don't know!

"Argh!" Danielle slammed her head down on the nearest table, sending a stack of cups flying. "What do I do?"

"Somethin' wrong, sugarcube?" Danielle jumped at the sound at Applejack's voice, and she turned to find the orange pony standing behind her.

"O-Of course not!" Danielle insisted, reaching for one of the scattered cups and dipping it into a nearby bowl. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, for one thing, ponies usually don't drink salsa from a cup 'less there's somethin' on their minds," Applejack pointed out.

"What do you mean by—" Danielle stopped as she looked down and realized she had a cupful of salsa instead of punch. "Oh, forget it!" she said, throwing her hands (and her cup) in the air and slumping into a chair. "It's just, well..." She hesitated, unsure of what she should admit to the ponies. "I, um, don't think Bree trusts you very much, and, uh, I'm afraid that she might do, er, something."

"Is that so? I thought she was layin' it on pretty thick tonight." Applejack scratched her chin and stared over at Brianna as the Inkling blasted four plates out of the air in one smooth motion. "You know, your friend over there reminds me an awful lot of somepony else. Trust is a hard thing to build, but I'll bet I know somepony who could earn your friend's respect."

Applejack led Danielle over to the cider bowl, where Rainbow Dash was imbibing her fifth mug of the evening. "Hey Rainbow," Applejack said, pointing a hoof in Brianna's direction, "that girl over there's awful quick on the draw. Why, I'll bet she could even shoot you out of the air with that contraption of hers!"

"Yeah, right," Rainbow replied, giving Brianna an indifferent stare. "I could sit of front of that girl for an hour wearing Rarity's most expensive outfit, and the thing wouldn't even need dry cleaning afterwards."

"Come on, Dash." Applejack gave Danielle a wink. "I'll bet it wouldn't be more than thirty seconds before your coat was the same color as mine!"

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow Dash slammed down her mug and gave Applejack an unamused look. "We'll just see about that!"

Rainbow leaped into the air and made a beeline for Brianna, snatching the Inkling's hat off as she zipped by. "Hey!" Brianna shouted. "Give that back, or I'll—"

"You'll what?" Rainbow put the hat on and struck a defiant pose. "You're pretty good as shooting boring old plates out of the air, but let's see you try hitting this!"

"With pleasure." Brianna raised her gun and starting shooting at Rainbow, drawing some gasps from the crowd. Rainbow could fly the fly as well as talk the talk, however, and she spun, swerved, and sidestepped every last shot. After thirty seconds, Brianna had an empty ink tank and Rainbow still had a clean coat. "What's the matter?" Rainbow taunted. "Too fast for you?"

"Grrr...." Brianna scowled, and jumped into the large ink puddle underneath Rainbow Dash.

"If I may interrupt..." Tommy stepped in front of the crowd that had gathered behind Brianna. "Normally, Inklings regenerate ink at a rather slow pace, but in squid form, they can soak up ink from the ground around them, and refill their ink tank in a matter of seconds! Swimming in ink also helps heal damage caused by different-colored ink, and—"

"Out of the way!" Brianna suddenly popped out behind Tommy and shoved him back towards the crowd. "You're standing in my sights!"

Rainbow laughed as Brianna disappeared back into the ink. "You can't hide from me in that stuff! I can see everything from up here."

The crowd watched silently as Rainbow stared down at the ink. "Rainbow Dash holds the advantage here," Tommy explained as he pointed to a set of ripples on the ink's surface. "While Inklings are all but invisible in their own ink, the ripple effect caused by their movements allows you to trace their path."

"And Rainbow never misses a detail when she's flying," Twilight added.

The air grew tense as Rainbow hovered above the crowd and tracked her prey through the ink. When Brianna finally stopped moving around, Rainbow seized the opening and swooped down to press her own attack. "Take that!” she shouted as she slammed her hooves into the ink, missing Brianna by a hair as the Inkling dove out of the way.

"Hah! Didn't think I knew where you—huh?" Rainbow stopped as a faint beeping sound filled the air, and she looked down to see a flashing circle poking out from underneath her hooves. "What the—"

BOOM! The flashing circle exploded, throwing Rainbow up against the base of a nearby tree and coating her in orange ink. "What... What was that?" she demanded as Brianna popped out of the ink and re-assumed her human form.

Brianna walked over and snatched her hat back from Rainbow Dash. "Ink mines," she said, blowing some imaginary smoke away from the barrel of her gun. "Never leave home without 'em."

Brianna turned to walk away, but Rainbow bounced up from the ground and grabbed Brianna's hat again. "Lucky shot!" she declared. "You'll never get me twice!"

Brianna turned and flashed her most evil grin. "Wanna bet?"

---

What happened next was the kind of titanic clash that would live on in the ballads of pony bards for centuries afterwards. Brianna and Rainbow Dash battled for the right to wear Brianna's hat for the next hour and forty-five minutes, much to the delight of the colts and fillies in attendance. Brianna was her usual dynamic self, attacking Rainbow Dash from all angles and even climbing up inked trees to ambush the pegasus from above, but facing a flying, unsplatable enemy was much harder than she anticipated. Rainbow's eagle eyes made it impossible for Brianna to hide in her ink or take the time to launch an Inkstrike, and Rainbow's array of aerial maneuvers made her nearly impossible to hit, especially with Brianna's less-than-accurate weapon. Most importantly, however, was the fact that Brianna's laser focus on Rainbow seemed to distract her from her prior plan to destroy the party.

Unfortunately, it was a school night, and the crowd thinned as parents dragged their reluctant kids back to their homes. The remaining adult ponies gave up soon afterwards, and by the time the duel ended, only Brianna's team and the Elements of Harmony remained, and it ended only because Twilight and Danielle pulled the combatants away from the game. "What are you doing, D?" Brianna complained. "I was just about to put that flying fool out of her misery!"

"Actually," Tommy said, "by my count, Rainbow Dash had possession of your hat for 54% of the time, which means that—"

"Oh, who asked you?" Brianna reached out to get her hands around Tommy's neck, but Danielle restrained her.

"Hah! See?" Rainbow shouted as she was corralled by the other ponies. "I'm the best there ever was, and always will be!"

"I dunno," Applejack offered. "Seems to me like you were gettin' worn out there at the end. Maybe y'all better settle this one in the mornin'."

"Fine!" Brianna declared. "8 o'clock tomorrow morning, right here. Be here on time, or concede defeat!"

"Hah! I'll be here at 7!" Rainbow proclaimed.

"I'll be waiting." Brianna broke out of Danielle's grasp and stomped towards the treeline.

"Well, uh, I guess we'll be making camp out here tonight," Danielle said with a sigh.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "I've got plenty of extra rooms in the castle. You're more than welcome to stay with us."

"I, uh, better not," Danielle declined. "Brianna will be stewing over this battle all night, and she'll need someone there to discuss battle strategies and keep her mind off of, er, other things. Craig and Tommy can go with you if they want—honestly, they'll probably be safer if they do."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Tommy practically bounced over towards Twilight. "You mentioned something about having some pony history books in your library..."

Danielle watched as Craig and Tommy followed Twilight off into the darkness, and then turned and followed Brianna into the woods. She had managed to avert disaster for the night, but a beef with Rainbow Dash would only distract Brianna for so long. One way or another, Danielle needed to convince her friend that as bad as becoming friends with the Octarians would be, becoming enemies with the ponies would be a lot worse.

Comments

[Green Akers]

6678717 6723151 At long last, Chapter 6 is here!

[The Slending Angel]

Tired of constant conflict with the Octarians over a shrinking continent, the Inklings go searching for a new land to colonize. They find Equestria instead.

Oh, Lord. This'll be a trip...

[KingJoltik]

I can't wait to see where this goes. Especially when the Mane 6 end up in Inkopolis.

[1stChosenStar]

Whoo boy! This fic is getting better and better!

[Green Akers]

6273834 6732100 Now that I've finally figured out how to post images directly from my Miiverse album, I can post cast pictures!

Danielle:
d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/WVW69iqPzlApNJkLJ-

Brianna:
d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/WVW69ipkP20ZEP5vvP

Tommy:
d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/WVW69iqP0nM_Z6CECV

Craig:
d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/WVW69iqP1hw9byTq4H

[Zocarik]

How long until Bree realizes that Rainbow was no-selling ink mines, which are normally OHKO weapons? How long until they realize that the ponies are so alien in terms of biology that their weapons simply do not work?

[Green Akers]

6746565 I think the Inklings are pretty close to this realization now, but I'd also argue that their weapons aren't completely useless. After all, an ink explosion is still an explosion!

[Zepher]

6753293
An explosion is a chemical reaction though. That's more like a large paintball with a large AOE.