An Inkling Of Friendship

by Green Akers

The Ink Hand Challenge

"So let me get this straight," Brianna said pointedly as she stared across the table at Danielle. "You agreed to help the ponies infiltrate Inkopolis and meet the High Council by going along with their whole Inkling scheme?"

Danielle gulped and looked over at Tommy, who was inching himself away from the table in anticipation of a Brianna blowup. Craig was still above deck with the ponies, but Danielle imagined even he would have been a little unnerved by the tension in the room. She sighed and hung her head. "I did."

The room remained silent for a few seconds as Danielle and Tommy braced themselves for Brianna's response. "D," Brianna finally said, "that was bloody brilliant."

"I know, I know, and I'm sor—wait, what?!" Danielle snapped her head back up and looked at Brianna in shock. "What do you mean, brilliant?"

"Don't you see? They aren't ponies anymore—they're just Inklings!"

"What difference does that make?" Danielle asked. "They still want to make peace with the Octarians."

"Yeah, but remember: If it walks like a squid, and it talks like a squid..." Brianna held up her weapon. "It'll splat like one too."

"You're assuming that the ponies have actually transformed into Inklings, and not just assumed their appearance," Tommy pointed out. "If it's just a superficial disguise—"

"Well then, I guess we've got a theory to test, don't we?" Brianna stood up and put her ink tank on.

"Are you insane?!" Tommy jumped out of his seat and blocked Brianna's path. "We're ten thousand miles from the nearest respawn point! Getting splatted here would mean certain death, and if you splat one of them, they'll splat all of us!"

"Aw, come on Tommy," Brianna said with an evil grin, "I though you liked doing experiments." She shoved him out of the way. "Besides, I'm not going to splat them—I'm just gonna see how tough they are."

"Um... How exactly are you going to do that?" Danielle asked, with more than a hint of concern in her voice.

"You'll see." Brianna chuckled as she walked out of the room.

"I don't like the sound of that." Danielle quickly followed Brianna out the door, but she ran into Craig as soon as she entered the hallway.

"Hey dude, you gotta check this out," Craig said, grabbing Danielle's arm and pulling her towards the hatch. "Those pony cats look pretty fly."

"Pony cats? But... But..." Danielle looked back at Brianna as Craig dragged her away. "Uh, er... Tommy! Keep an eye on Bree, will you?"

Danielle "followed" Craig through the hatch and up onto the deck, where Twilight and the others stood waiting. The sight took Danielle's breath away: Instead of the ponies who had boarded the boat, six female Inklings now stood on the deck, each with a tentacle color that matched their original hair colors. Applejack sported a brown rodeo shirt to match her hat, Fluttershy was decked out in a winter hat and heavy yellow coat, Rainbow had opted for a blue T-shirt and aviator sunglasses, Rarity looked dashing in a red, full-length evening gown, and Pinkie wore a snorkel mask and a flowery shirt that was even louder than Craig's. "Ta da!" Twilight said. "How do we look?"

"Far out, eh?" Craig said.

Danielle didn't respond, as she was too busy staring at the green-tentacled male standing in the middle of the group. While Spike's Inkling form mostly resembled a smaller version of Tommy, the sight of his bushy mustache and full beard made Danielle's heart flutter. "W... Whoa..." she whispered.

"Uh, Danielle?" Twilight stepped up and waved her hand in front of Danielle's face. "Are you okay?"

"H-Huh? Oh, right, yes, fine!" Danielle stammered, her face turning beet red. "S-Sorry, I just kind of, er, spaced out there for a second, heh heh."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Spike, why don't you go with Craig down to the kitchen?"

"What's in the kitchen?" Spike asked.

"I put some gems in the freezer a while ago, and we don't need anypony drooling on deck," Twilight explained.

"You made me gemsicles? Aw, Twilight, you're the best!" Spike hugged Twilight. "To the kitchen, Craig!"

"Since when has Spike had a drooling problem?" Applejack said as Spike disappeared below deck.

"I wasn't talking about Spike." Twilight pointed to the strand of drool hanging from the corner of Danielle's mouth.

"Huh? Oh, geez!" Danielle wiped her mouth on her sleeve and gave Twilight a sheepish smile.

Twilight sighed. "Perhaps my improved version of number twenty-five is a little too improved."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not—" Rarity began to say.

"HOLY MOLY!" Brianna suddenly bounded up onto the deck. "Level with me, D," she said. "Who's that dude with the sick 'stache hanging with Craig, and can you introduce me?"

"...Er, perhaps it could be toned down a smidge," Rarity said.

Twilight shook her head. "So Brianna, I assume Danielle's given you the details about our plan. Are you willing to help us?"

"The plan?" Brianna stared quizzically at Twilight for a moment before her brain kicked back into gear. "Oh right, the whole 'We're Inklings!' thing. Yeah, sure, whatev, it's cool." She turned and pointed at Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow, I think I've finally come up with a way to decide which one of us is the toughest."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow replied. "What did you have in mind?"

"Follow me." Brianna waved Rainbow back over to the ship's hatch.

"Er... Maybe I ought to go with y'all," Applejack offered, shooting Danielle a concerned look as she spoke. "You know, just to keep an eye on things, and make sure everypony plays fair and square?"

"Oh, right! Maybe I'd better come too," Danielle said.

The four Inklings made their way below deck and down the hall to Danielle and Brianna's quarters. Danielle's eyes popped wide open upon spying a large pitcher of orange ink sitting on her desk. "Oh no, you're not going to make Rainbow do the—"

"That's right!" Brianna declared with a smile. "Rainbow Dash, I dare you to complete the Ink Hand Challenge!"

"Bring it on!" Rainbow shouted. "...What's the Ink Hand challenge?"

"Only the toughest, most painful challenge in the history of Inkingkind!" Brianna said. "It's all the rage online."

"On line?" Rainbow tilted her head to the side. "On what line?"

"No, I mean on the Inter—you know what, never mind." Brianna smacked her forehead in exasperation. "Here's how it works: You remember how Tommy said that Inklings dissolve in ink of a different color?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well," Brianna continued, "the Ink Hand Challenge is when you stick your hand in a pitcher of different-colored ink, and see how long you can stand the pain and keep your hand submerged. My record is twenty-five seconds, and—"

"And your hand was nothing but a palm when you pulled it out," Danielle reminded her friend. "You had to write with your left hand for two days while your fingers regenerated, remember?"

"They came back eventually!" Brianna insisted. "Besides, it's still my most popular SquidTube video."

"I don't know, sugarcube," Applejack said. "This here challenge doesn't sound real safe."

"Pfft." Brianna dismissed Applejack's concern with a wave of her hand. "It'll be no problem, if Rainbow Dash is really as tough as she says she is." She turned back to Rainbow Dash. "So, are you in, or are you too chicken?"

"Are you kidding?" Rainbow smiled smugly. "Fingers are for the weak anyway! I'll bet I could leave my hoof—er, my hand in that stuff all day!"

"Good." Brianna smiled, picked up the pitcher, and held it out towards Rainbow Dash. "Prove it."

Danielle gulped and covered her eyes as Rainbow reached for the pitcher. "Tell me when it's over," she whispered to Applejack.

"Hey Danielle!" Pinkie Pie suddenly burst in the room. "Twilight says I need to ask you if I can use the—" She stopped as she spotted the pitcher in Brianna's hand. "Ooh, orange juice! What a great idea! I was just thinking to myself, 'Pinkie, flying is really thirsty work, and a glass of juice would be really great right now!'"

"What the—wait! Don't drink—" Brianna could only watch in horror as Pinkie snatched away the pitcher and chugged the entire thing in a single swig.

"Wait, drink?!" Danielle uncovered her eyes just as Pinkie downed the last of the ink.

"Ahhhhhhh..." Pinkie sighed. "That really hit the spot! But you should probably check the expiration date on your juice—those oranges tasted a little out-of-season."

"Pinkie!" Rainbow chided her friend. "That was for my challenge!"

"Forget the challenge!" Brianna raced over and grabbed Danielle by the shoulders. "Get the first aid kit! We need an antidote!"

"We don't have an antidote for drinking ink!" Danielle shouted back.

Applejack scrunched up her face as she watched the two panicking Inklings. "This ain't goin' to end well, is it?"

"W-W-We're about to find out," Danielle whimpered.

Pinkie's stomach suddenly let out a loud, bubbling growl. "Ugh..." Pinkie moaned. "I think I'm getting heartburn..."

"She's gonna blow!" Brianna grabbed Rainbow Dash and Applejack and dragged them out of the room. "Fire in the hole!"

Paralyzed by shock, Danielle could only stand and watch in horror as Pinkie's cheeks bulged out. "Oh crab," was all she could say.

BUUURRRRRP! Pinkie belched a fireball across the room, blasting a five-foot hole in the hull of the ship and reducing Danielle's bed to a pile of ashes. Danielle closed her eyes, covered her face, and waited for the inevitable Inkling death wail, but after several seconds of silence, she opened her eyes to see Pinkie standing around as if nothing had happened.

"Wowwee wow wow!" Pinkie exclaimed, flashing a goofy smile. "That's-a spicy meat-a-ball!"

"Uh... Are we dead?" Danielle looked around the room for a moment. This isn't what I expected heaven to look like, she thought. It might be that other place, though...

"Dead? Gosh, I'm not sure!" Pinkie started pressing on various parts of her arms and legs. "Oh no," she exclaimed, "I can't find a pulse! ...Where do I find a pulse on an Inkling, anyway?"

"Darn it, D!" A distraught Brianna came bursting back through the door. "If I'd have known you were going to stand there like an idiot, I'd have grabbed—wait, you're still alive?"

"We are? Oh, thank goodness!" Pinkie wiped her brow and let out a sigh of relief. "I really didn't want to be dead. Being dead just seems so boring!"

Brianna's jaw hit the floor. "You drank an entire pitcher of different-colored ink, and you're still alive!?"

"Yep!" Pinkie replied. "My tummy's still a little grumbly, though. You don't happen to have any antacids lying around, do you?"

Brianna looked at Pinkie as if she had two heads. "Uh, yeah, sure. There's a bottle of Gas-B-Gone in the cupboard above the fridge in the kitchen, although someone might have drank it for lunch on the ride to Ponyland."

"Great! Thanks!" Pinkie bounced out of the room humming a happy tune.

Danielle shook her head, and turned to face what was left of her bed. "Great," she muttered. "Your experiments are no better than your Inkstrikes: You give a pony heartburn, I get to sleep on the floor. Are you satisfied?" She looked out the door and down the hallway. "Where's Tommy, anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be making sure you didn't do something like this?"

"Yeah... He was being kind of a pest about the challenge, so I kind of locked him in the engine room," Brianna admitted.

"Oh, Bree!" Danielle smacked her forehead with her hand, and ran out of the room.

Brianna scratched her head as she looked around the room. "I just don't know what went wrong."

---

Luckily, the Inklings discovered that traveling with a powerful alicorn had its advantages, and in no time at all, the hull was patched and Pinkie's stomach was settled.

After hearing of Brianna's failed attempt to test the ponies' mortality, Tommy decided on a radical plan to uncover the truth: He asked Twilight about the transformations. It turned out that yes, the ponies were really Inklings, but no, nothing logical or scientific ever really applied to Pinkie Pie. Brianna grumbled something about selling Hammerhead Bridge to Tommy if he bought Twilight's line, but Danielle's pleadings and a new, magically-conjured bunk bed pacified Brianna for the rest of the day.

After a hearty dinner and a brief sunset-viewing party, Twilight and the rest of her team retreated to a spare storage room to come up with a suitable story for the Inkopolis High Council. "Okay girls," Twilight said, "how can we convince the others that these Octolings are good, honest creatures?"

"That should be easy," Fluttershy replied. "If we stress how nice and pleasant these Octolings are, I'm sure the Inklings will come around."

"Except we can't even make the Inklings we know come around, never mind the ones we don't know," Twilight pointed out.

"Maybe we can show our Inkling friends how similar they are to these Octolings," Rarity offered. "After all, how can you hate something that's exactly like you?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Sure, Rarity. Let's tell these foals how they're basically the same as the foals they hate. That will go over well."

"Maybe they helped us escape from the ponies!" Pinkie said. "Maybe they're actually super-incredible defenders of justice in Equestria, and can move mountains and fly over clouds and cast psychedelic spells!"

"In other words, make them sound like us," Twilight translated. "The Inklings are on edge enough about ponies; I doubt they'd like to hear that Octolings from Equestria are just as powerful."

"I don't know," Applejack admitted. "It's awful hard to defend the honor of somethin' we ain't even met yet."

A lightbulb appeared over Twilight's head. "That's it!" she proclaimed. "Applejack, you're a genius!"

Applejack gave Twilight a puzzled look. "I am?"

"Yes!" Twilight insisted. "Danielle mentioned that she had never actually met an Octoling before, and her critique of them was very superficial. What if this is true for most Inklings?"

"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped. "You mean all these Inklings might hate something they've never actually met?"

Twilight nodded. "Exactly. If my hypothesis is correct, we may just be up against a case of willful ignorance, rather than an all-out land war. This entire feud may well be built on fears and misinformation."

"Well, there's a surefire cure for that attitude!" Applejack declared. "All we gotta do is round up a few of those Octolings, have a good ol'-fashioned meet and greet, and show these here Inklings that their enemies ain't nearly as enemy-like as they think."

"It's easier said than done," Twilight cautioned, "but it does give us a battle plan going forward. We'll claim to be Equestrian Inklings, say that we have fruitful relations with Octolings back home, and ask about establishing diplomatic relationships with both groups. That should give us the excuse to bring together leaders from both sides, and thus give us a chance to show them that they can live together in harmony."

"Maybe we need more than their leaders," Rarity offered. "Remember the old Hearth's Warming story about how the pony races came together? It was the underlings who made that happen, not their superiors."

"Good point," Twilight agreed, "and we may already have the underlings we need on board. Craig's already open to the idea, Tommy seems rational enough to understand our logic, and I think we could even sway Danielle with the right argument. Brianna will be a tough nut to crack, though."

"This is great and all," Spike interrupted, "but... What if these Octo-things aren't as cool as we think they are? I mean, that old Hearth's Warming story was forever ago—this fight sounds a lot more fresh."

"Tommy mentioned a 'Great Turf War' that originally divided the groups," Twilight recalled, "but he didn't mention anything about recent fighting. Besides, we walked into an all-out brawl in Appaloosa and came away with an agreement, didn't we?"

The discussion was suddenly disrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in!" Twilight shouted.

The door opened, and Tommy poked his head into the room. "Uh, Twilight? Could I—"

"Excellent timing!" Twilight said. "Please come in—we have some questions for you."

"Oh. Er..." Tommy hesitated. "I was, uh, actually hoping to speak with you privately."

"Oh?" Twilight shrugged. "Sure, if you want. Spike, girls: Can you leave us alone for a moment?"

One by one, the fake Inklings streamed out of the room, leaving Twilight alone with Tommy. "So what do you want to talk about?" Twilight asked.

"Well... Um..." Tommy's face began to turn red. "Y-You know how you g-gave Spike a m-m-mustache as part of—"

"Oh dear, is this about dinner?" Twilight shook her head. "I am so sorry about that. I've never see creatures react to a mustache like that before! Don't worry, it won't happen again—Spike asked me to remove it right after we left the table. He was really creeped out by the way Danielle and Brianna practically sat on top of him at the table, and kept asking him if he needed more this or more that... I imagine it was just as awkward to watch."

"Er... Yes. Awkward."

Twilight sighed. "I'll need to tweak that spell a bit more before I try it again. Anyway, was that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, um... Actually..." Tommy stammered, "I was w-wondering if... If I c-could... I could get..."

"Yes?"

A drop of blood began to drip out of Tommy's nose, but he quickly wiped it away with his sleeve. "Y-You know what, n-never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Okay..." Twilight eyed Tommy suspiciously, but decided not to pursue the issue. "Now for my question: In your estimation, how many Inklings have ever actually come into contact with an Octoling?"

"Come into contact?" Tommy scratched his head as he pondered the question. "That depends on what you mean by 'contact.' I mean, everyone knows what an Octoling looks like, everyone's read about Octolings in school, everyone's seen them on TV or in movies... But if you mean how many Inklings have come face-to-face with them? ...Very few, I'd guess. Octolings rarely come into town, and only authorized military personnel are allowed into Octo Valley."

"Danielle mentioned that Brianna has met one before," Twilight said. "How did it happen?"

"I'm not sure," Tommy said with a shrug. "The army regularly patrols the Octo Valley border, though. Junior Ink Battlers aren't normally allowed on patrols, but given Brianna's standing in the JIB, she's probably gotten to join a few."

"Her standing is that good?"

"Honestly, my brother is the Ink Battle expert of the family, not me," Tommy admitted. "But he says Brianna is the best battler to come out of Inkopolis in the past twenty years, and after she spent two months wiping the floor with me during basic training, it was hard to argue with him."

"Hmm..." Twilight scratched her chin as she processed Tommy's answer: "I'm curious: If Brianna is really that good, why is Danielle the leader of your team, and not her?"

"Well... Let's just say the army appreciates Brianna's talent, but not her attitude towards authority," Tommy replied. "She will listen to Danielle, though, so they probably made her the leader to keep Brianna under control. Given that Danielle is probably the only reason Craig and I are still alive, I fully support their decision."

"I think they chose wisely," Twilight agreed. "One last question, Tommy: Danielle said you were a scientist, not a soldier, so... Why are you on this mission?"

"W-Why am I here?" Tommy started to blush again. "Well, uh, for science, of course! I mean, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find distant lands and catalog new species, and as luck would have it, we found all of you! So, uh, that's why I decided to join this mission."

Twilight wasn't sure she bought Tommy's story, but she decided not the press the matter. "Thank you, Tommy. You've been very helpful."

Tommy turned and exited the room, and the rest of Twilight's party re-entered. "I hope everything's all right," Rarity said. "Tommy looked a bit sad as he was leaving."

"I think what happened at dinner may still be weighing on him," Twilight replied. "Anyway, it sounds like our assumptions about Octoling contact are correct, so we just might have a chance to bring everypony together and change some hearts and minds." She yawned. "It's getting late. We'd better get some rest, because we've got some big days coming up."

Comments

[KingJoltik]

Oh boy...I can't wait for them to get to Inkopolis! Great chapter!

[1stChosenStar]

I wonder how Callie and Marie will react to them finding out they're ponies.

[Time Reaper]

Is it bad that I want the ponies to fail in the Peace talk? because I've seen this type of grudges happen and they doesn't heal that quickly neither are that simple.

[Kaiser change name]

7034283 don't worry, you're not the only one that wants them to fail.
I think twilight is assuming too much. Because if the underlings consult with the enemy without the higher ups permission, then they could all get court marshaled ( don't know how to spell the word)
And accused of treason. Depending on the type of government. But then again that's my sort of guess.

[ayh]

Seeing as how they're on a boat, now's a good as time to start the shipping. So I'm just going to start setting up a base camp for Spike x Danniel, Twilight x Tommy, and let's see ......... Brianna x RD with AJ thrown in for good measure. That should do it for now.

[Green Akers]

7036675 I'd add Craig x Fluttershy to the list.

[krazykidfannumber2]

I hope that they meet Agent 3.

[Green Akers]

7047741 What if they already have?

[krazykidfannumber2]

7051964 Who is Agent 3 in that case?

[Green Akers]

7052257 To be honest, I haven't actually decided who Agent 3 is yet. It would, however, explain Brianna's past dealings with (and current attitude towards) Octolings. Or maybe Tommy's more of a soldier than he lets on?

Or perhaps Craig is actually...wait, Craig as Agent 3? Yeah, right.

[krazykidfannumber2]

7053460 Could be Craig.

[ikarosfan]

7034532 Well based on gaijin goombahs video inkopolis is most likely tokyo so maybe the govt is like japans

[Zepher]

7034045
How about them reacting to the fact that Marie is a Octoling.