• Published 20th Apr 2016
  • 13,194 Views, 2,320 Comments

Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky - David Silver



She can swim far and wide across the waters of Equestria, but it's not enough. There are places above those waters, places she plans to reach. Where biology failed her, her mind would succeed. Equestria better be ready, because she plans to visit!

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43 - See?!

Berry let out a little nervous titter as the huge land fish and her precious Indie looked down at her. "Um, hi?"

Harry put down Indie, who scampered over to Berry's side. "Are you alright?" He offered a hoof up and soon had her as upright as she could reasonably be without the supporting dry-swimmers. "Look at you, all dusty and, oh, did you fall?"

Berry flushed at the attention. Indie was patting her down and looking for injuries rather closely. "I-I'm fine..." Not that she inherently minded his attention, but... "I'm here to rescue you?"

Indie tilted his head. "From what?"

Berry tried to point, and almost fell over for the effort. "The yellow one. She's stealing you!"

"Stealing me?" Indie raised a brow. "We're going to visit Harry, oh, that's his name." He gestured back to his big and furry friend. "Say hi, Harry!"

The bear gave a soft growl of greetings as he raised a paw at Berry.

Berry blinked in building confusion. "You're leaving?"

"Yup."

Berry sank a little, then flopped on the ground. "Can I come with you?"

Indie bobbed his head. "So long as Harry doesn't mind?" He turned back to the bear, who just shrugged softly. "Looks like it's alright by him. Where are your dry-swimmers? How'd you get all this way without them?!" He looked obviously impressed at the concept of Berry dragging herself from the castle in her current state.

With a loudly blown raspberry, Angel made himself known. He was standing on the stolen metal legs and sticking out his tongue at the both of them.

"It's the land fish that took my, oh, and it has them!" Berry started dragging herself towards Angel, but at the pace she was going, there was no way she would catch up.

Angel hopped off his perch and hefted up the hooves.

"Wait!" Indigo thrust a hoof at the small thief. "What do you want?"

The rabbit perked an ear at Indigo curiously.

"A trade."

"Trade?! They're my dry-swimmers!" Berry was getting closer, but in no particular hurry in her dragging motion.

Angel tapped a chin thoughtfully a moment before it ran a few claws through its headfur and looked at Indigo meaninfully.

"You want me to groom you?"

The rabbit nodded.

"Oh... alright. I'll groom you."

He held up three little fingers.

"Three times?"

He shook his head and held up the three again.

"For three days?"

He nodded.

"Alright. Grooming for three days."

"Don't listen to it! It's probably lying!"

Despite Berry's reservations, Angel bounced right past her and handed him the legs. The deal had been made.

Indigo nodded at Angel. "Please don't take these again. She needs them." He walked over to Berry and offered up the legs. "Now we can go to Harry's."

The sound of thumping brought his eyes over to Angel who was glaring at him. "Or... I can start the first grooming and go to Harry afterwards?"

The rabbit nodded.

Berry rose up, once again endowed with four legs. She looked ready to tell the rabbit off, but swallowed her biting commentary. Instead she looked to the big, uh... "What are you?"

"Oh!" Indigo pointed at Harry. "He's a type of land fish called a bear."

Angel thumped Indigo's side and he blinked. "Oh, um, he wants his grooming now. Do you have a..." A book was shoved in his face. "I guess you do."

Indie settled back and looked over the instructions for how to groom a rabbit. "Where do I..."

Angel was already coming back from a quick sprint with a brush and other grooming supplies.

"Oh..." Sure he owed the rabbit a favor, but at least it was efficient about it. Indie took the brush in his mouth and got to work on the little creature.

Berry watched Indigo pampering the rabbit and rolled her eyes before looking to Harry. "So, Harry was it? Nice to meet you?"

He grunted in what she hoped was a friendly way and offered a paw towards her. She returned the gesture with a hoof and they shook on it. "I guess I can talk to land fish too."

Indie giggled a little. He wasn't watching, but he could hear well enough. "Harry's nice, and is good to ponies. He doesn't count."

Berry stuck out her tongue. "Then which land fish do count?" She strolled up beside Indie. "Does the yellow one count?"

Indigo primped and fussed over his client's fur quietly a moment. "Who? Fluttershy? She's a land pony, not a fish."

Berry grumbled softly, "I bet she kisses like one..."

"What?"

"Indie, we saw you."

"Saw me what?" Indigo tilted his head at Berry, only for a swift kick to return his attention to Angel's needs.

Berry frowned down at the small land fish, but she had learned it was too tricky to underestimate. "We saw you with Fluttershy, K-kissing..."

Indigo went a deep red as he worked. "What?! We did not! Why does everypony think I'm after Fluttershy?" He grumbled to himself as he worked, until a thought struck him. "We?"

It was Berry's turn to darken as she realized she said more than she should. "Um..."

"Who's with you?" Indigo looked around for a moment before a rabbit's foot reminded him he was in the middle of a job.

"Nopony..." Berry glanced away. "I kinda took Cherry with me."

Indigo paled, the brush falling from his jaws. "Did she think... that too?"

Berry pointed a hoof at Indigo. "Think it? I know what I saw! She did too."

"W-what... did she do?"

Detecting he wasn't getting anywhere and looking good enough, Angel departed, likely to bother Indigo later.

"She went back to her train." Berry rolled her eyes. "She may be willing to give up on-- Where are you going?"

Indigo scrambled to his hooves and looked ready to flee. "I have to--"

Berry moved in front of him. "We're talking. It's rude to run off."

Indigo stammered a moment before he nodded. "You're... right... Fine, tell Cherry that nothing happened."

Berry raised a brow high. "You expect me to just lie to my rival?"

"It's the truth!" Indigo screamed it much louder than he intended. Harry grunted in annoyance.

Berry blinked softly. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes... By the waves, yes!" Indigo looked up at Berry with tears threatening to spill. "I'm sorry, but we didn't do anything! We made lunch for each other, that's it, now... I promised Harry we would visit his house, alright? Please tell Cherry."

Berry muttered something that sounded like agreement, but Indigo was already leaving. Walking alongside Harry, he vanished into the forest.

She crashed to the ground, stunned. The rabbit was there, looking at her like it was just so... "Laugh it up..."

She'd really hurt him, and her, both of them... "I have to make this right." She rose to her hooves. "This isn't the kind of fight I was looking for." She approached Fluttershy's house and knocked loudly.

A few moments later, the door opened as Fluttershy looked around nervously for the source of the noise. "Yes?"

"Sorry I thought you were stealing my coltfriend."

She blinked softly. "Oh, um, forgiven."

Berry nodded at the shy mare and got to trotting towards the train. She had two more ponies to see!

The train came into view, further along in its repairs every day. They'd recently replaced the smokestack and it was looking patchwork overall, but well-loved by their combined effort. Berry quirked a little smile as she heard Cherry working hard inside. "Cherry, come out."

"What?" Cherry peeked out the window of her train. "Oh, Berry. Is... he having fun?"

"He's visiting a large land fish." Berry hopped up onto the train, wobbling a moment before she found her balance. "He was never dating her."

"He wasn't?" Cherry tilted her head. "Not that it was any of my business or anything." She gave a sudden laugh that sounded fake even to her own ears.

Berry reached out and put a hoof on Cherry's shoulder. "He's safe."

Cherry stopped still, staring at her friend a moment before she shook her head. "I..."

"We're rivals now, right?"

She quirked a smile and pulled Berry closer. "Bitter rivals."

They gave one another friendly hugs of eternal enmity. Things had changed...

Back in the forest, Indigo walked alongside his large companion. "Do you have any girl-bear friends?"

Harry growled in the negative.

"Just as well. Girls are so confusing..."

Harry lowered a paw to pat Indigo on the head while quietly insisting he was young yet to be making decisions.

Indigo flushed furiously. A land fish was advising him?! ... Maybe it was right... He let out a long sigh. "What should I do?"

Harry answered with a wave at its home, which was a hole carved into one of the land coral's base.

Indigo approached it curiously and peered into it just to be shoved from behind. He half-slid down into the spacious room before the bear climbed in after him.

It was a big space. He saw a little container for dry power, and some stairs curling around the room upwards. For a fish's den, it was quite ornate! "This is a nice place."

Harry grunted his thanks as he lumbered to the side and sat down, then he looked at Indigo, mentioning he looked like a fish.

"I'm not a fish." Indigo looked back at his tail. "I'm to--"

Harry noted he liked fish.

"Oh that's nice."

Especially for dinner.

Indigo squeaked and backed away from Harry. "No eating friends!"

Harry eyed Indigo quietly a moment before shrugging. It wasn't a sure message, but the bear didn't seem to be hunting him. Good enough?

"You already ate half my lunch..." Indigo shook his head. "You really do eat a lot. What else do you eat, um, besides fish?"

The bear seemed to consider a moment before it rose and walked past Indigo. He turned and followed the large creature outside, where it pointed to a dangling... thing, growling that it really liked the sweet stuff inside.

"Why don't you take it?"

The bear pointed up at it again. It was far too high for him to reach.

Indigo considered the situation a moment, then noticed the dangling thing wasn't alone. It had little things buzzing around it. Curious! Indigo wandered over towards it and called up to the small insects, "Hello! May I talk with you?"

One came down to his level and asked him what he wanted.

"Could I have some of the sweet stuff up there?" Indigo pointed up at the curious object.

The insect declined with an angry sound and a buzzing of its wings, with a threat to sting Indigo if he tried to get any.

Harry shrugged as if he were not expecting anything other than that.

Author's Note:

The romance, it progressed! Was this a good progression? Even those involved aren't sure.

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