“BEACH PARTYYYYYYYYY!!!!” Pinkie Pie hollered at the top of her lungs.

With that, a day at the beach commenced as Spike and the girls hit the water.

While most of girls — namely Sunset Shimmer, Leggy Lamb, and Marina — were practically dressed for the water, the rest had to make a quick wardrobe change into proper swimwear for the water.

Twilight wore a practical light blue one-piece swimsuit with a pink bow at the front of her chest.

Applejack wore a dark sea blue swim top with long sleeves, white stripes along the sleeves, green lines along the hems of the sleeves and top, and matching short shorts.

Fluttershy needed help to put on her swimwear, which is a black one piece swimsuit, with yellow and green stripes on the sides, and an open back, almost wide on the sides, for her wings to fit through.

Rainbow Dash wore a black sleeveless tank top, with yellow, green, and hot pink lightning bolts decorated on the front, back, and a hot pink short, with a hole in the back for her tailfeathers.

Rarity, still being the elegant of the She-Beasts, wore a large black hat with a blue ribbon wrapped around it, embedded with a purple jewel at the center. Her swimwear is a two-piece, colored purple with black outlines, and stripes that shaped into triangles. Also, she wore a baby blue sarong around her hips, with her tail poking from beneath.

Pinkie Pie wore a perky frilly pink one-piece swimsuit, with a yellow bow, and seemingly a white corset.

Fleur wore a leaf bikini, showing off her curvaceous figure and so much skin.

The sight of the girls adorning revealing swimsuits arouses Spike with a burning shade of blushing. A feeling he doesn’t fully understand.

Loona and Beatrice, however, are the odd ones out. Loona preferred to sit under the shades of the trees than playing in the water.

As for Beatrice, the Crocodile Reverse-Hybrid had made herself another roll of weeds to smoke on, and was sunbathing on some nearby rocks.

Lastly, regarding Spike, he had originally packed a swimsuit for the occasion to swim with the dolphins. Unfortunately, he had lost it, amongst his other belongings after the shipwreck.

Therefore, Spike was left in his briefs, much to his discomfort, but to the girls’ arousal.

Nevertheless, Spike and the girls intended on making the most of the day they have at the beach.

Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride · Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu · Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus

It was hard to believe that he would be trapped on an island, with a pack of seven animal-human hybrids, who were once human. Plus, four female reverse-hybrids, who started out as animals, and he would be sharing camp with all of them, let alone team up with them. He still finds them scary, if not intimidating, but considering they've saved him a few times, he needs all the help he can get. The she-beasts weren't all that bad, though, once he got to know them more.

Fluttershy is a gentle, and kind Woman-Bat, but clumsy because of her blindness.

Applejack is a strong and honest Wolf-Woman, with a strong ideal of family and hard work, looking out for her friends like a wolf to its pack.

Twilight is smart Pony-Woman, who is a natural-born leader, who keeps the peace between the girls, but seems to overthink every little details. Nevertheless, her intelligence is highly invaluable for the girls and Spike's survival.

Pinkie Pie is a funny Monkey-Woman, he'll give her that, and fun, but rather reckless. Plus, he definitely never wants to be on the receiving end of her Banana Bazooka. Then there's Rainbow Dash, a competitive flyer, with a daredevil passion for adventure, but like Pinkie, is just as reckless.

And who can forget, Rarity, who was mutated with the DNAs of the Snow-Leopard, and was, intentionally or not, made into the most beautiful of the bunch. Like Twilight, she too tries to keep the peace. Not to mention she's very pleasing to look at.

And last, but not least, Sunset Shimmer, a firecracker, befitting of a Tiger-Woman. She's just as smart as Twilight, as strong as Applejack, and a temper like Rainbow Dash, but thankfully, just as caring as Fluttershy.

Spike was lucky to have met these she-beasts. He wouldn't know what to do, without them. Had it not been for them, then he would certainly have met a cruel, gruesome demise on the island, at the claws and teeth of all the horrible creatures that Dr. Grogar had created.

Speaking of which, special mention also extends to the Reverse-Hybrids.

The first to come to mind is the bashful, and curvaceous, anthropomorphic sheep, Leggy Lamb. Formerly an ordinary sheep, until Grogar had transformed her entire structure to resemble a voluptuous woman's body. Her legs are her defining features and stunning to the human eyes — Spike’s eyes.

Furthermore, it is endearing to see how much a paternal figure she can be with young animals, such as Kirin.

Next is Loona, a wolf-dog, with a complex personality. Possibly pertaining to a troubled past. Though, given to her aloof and hostility towards him, Spike gets the impression she doesn’t like him that well. He wonders why.

Marina is an octopus-woman whose intelligence are on par with Twilight and Sunset. The only issue the octopus-turned-woman had yet to overcome was her inability to communicate fluent English.

Last of the Reverse-Hybrids, is Beatrice. Like a crocodile, she has a very gloomy and cold attitude. She hardly ever smiles and seemed to be a person who is grounded in reality. Her only coping strategy is to simply smoke on a roll of weed to pass the time.

Despite her dour outlook on life, Bea possesses a strong sense of responsibility and duty.

Finally, rounding off the entire group is Fleur-de-Lis. Granted, Spike’s first impression of the feral woman was that she has no understanding of personal boundaries. Though, she seemed to display the behavioral traits of a cat.

Without a doubt, in Spike’s mind, Grogar must’ve transformed her into a feline She-Beast, sometime before Spike came to the island. And post-transformation, she reverted back to her human form, retaining her cat behavior, but her mind was fractured. It was as though it’s been reset to that of a child.

Only time will tell if Fleur can recover.

Snapping his attention back to the present, Spike intends to enjoy himself, with the girls, on this beautiful day at the beach.

He looked to his right to see some of the She-Beasts were playing a game of volleyball. One team consisting of Applejack and Rainbow Dash with the opposing team being Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer. Twilight stood on the sideline, serving as a referee.

Spike turned to his left to see Rarity and Fluttershy, buried in the sands. On first glance, they appeared to be at a spa, bathing in the relaxing mud.

“Mmmmm, nice and heavenly,” Rarity sighed. “Wouldn’t you agree, Fluttershy?”

“Oh yes, Rarity,” Fluttershy smiled. “This feels relaxing. Like a warm heavy blanket on a cold night.”

Not too far away, Leggy was building sandcastles with her son, Kirin. The little lamb was scooping up the sands with his hooves, while using his longer horn to help shape up the castle his mom was making. The two sheep laughed and bleated together, like a mother and her child.

Turning his head forward, Spike looked to see Marina was swimming in the water. Either to hunt prey, or just exercising her natural swimming abilities.

Spike sat down on a towel, underneath the shade of a large palm tree, and reclined to relax. Little did he know, he was being stalked.

Breaking the surface of the water, without Marina noticing, a pair of moderate persian blue eyes watched the man, relaxing. They watched the man, relaxing and not knowing the danger he was in.

“HEADS UP!!!”

Spike didn’t nap for long, when a pile of sand was kicked up into the air and fell onto him.

“Ugh!” Spike groaned, wiping off the sands off of him.

“Spike! Are you okay?” Twilight asked, as she and the others who were playing volleyball came over to check on him.

“I’m okay,” Spike coughed up some sands out of his mouth.

Applejack crept down and helped dust him off, with Rainbow Dash joining.

“Sorry about that, Sugarcube,” Applejack apologized. “Looks like our volleyball got away from us.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Spike replied, rubbing some sands from his eyes. “Where is it, anyway?”

“There it is,” Pinkie Pie pointed, to which everyone turned to see the ball, floating out in the water, far from the beach.

“I’ll get it,” Spike offered, as he got up and waded in the water to retrieve the ball.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash screeched, “SPIKE! GET BACK!”

Startled, and before Spike could ask, a massive jaws of teeth burst out of the water and snapped up the volleyball whole.

The jaws belongs to a huge crocodile and it’s eyes were set on Spike, who let out a scream as he frantically ran back to shores.

Before he could get to a safe distance, however, a large tentacle burst out from the water and ensnared his legs, dragging him closer to the crocodile’s waiting jaws.

"AAAHHHH!!" Spike screamed, frantically digging his fingers into the sands, trying to get a firm grip, prying himself away from the tentacles. “HELP!!!”

“SPIKE!!!” The She-Beasts yelled as they all sprang to the rescue.

Only someone else was already on it. Just as the massive tentacles could pull Spike an inch closer to the snapping jaws, their grips suddenly loosen, freeing the man.

Spike fell forward and landed, face first, into the water. He splashed a bit as he got up, helped up by the She-Beasts, Leggy, and little Kirin.

Everyone all turned their attention at the crocodilian-cephalopod hybrid, just in time to see a watery scuffle.

Freedom Planet Mix - Major Boss Battle (Original + Chiptune)

Splashing around in the water, wrestling the hybrid’s mess of writhing tentacles appeared to be a shark. Except it has arms, instead of flippers, and a pair of strong legs with webbed feet, between the arms and tail.

The shark creature snapped its jaws, biting and clawing away at the tentacles. Yet, by some miracle, the shark escaped and was soon upon the crocodile, biting into its neck.

The crocodilian monster let out a bellowing roar as it rolled onto its back, throwing the shark off.

“Wow, what a fight!” Spike exclaimed.

Everyone watched as the shark creature stood on its legs, just in time for the giant croc to snap the shark up in its jaws. The chimeric beast ran off into the water, where it disappeared below the surface.

Spike and the girls all helped their breaths, anxiously waiting to see the outcome of the fight.

After a few minutes of collective breathing, the water suddenly broke with a mighty splash. The shark creature was tossed out of the water and landed on the beach.

The crocodile chimera soon followed, with a bellowing roar of triumph.

Spike and the girls looked to see the wounded shark creature, flopping on the sands, like an actual fish out of water, struggling to breathe.

Everybody’s attentions soon fell on the crocodile to see it dragging itself on shore, stalking closer towards the shark.

Out of impulse, Spike quickly acted fast. He picked up a scoop of sands and hurled them at the crocodile, aiming for its eyes.

“Go on, shoo! Get out!” Spike yelled, trying to scare the crocodile off.

Angered at the interference from the man, the crocodile chimera snapped its jaws at Spike, before releasing its tentacles after him.

Fortunately, the She-Beasts quickly reacted in time, defending Spike and fending off the beastly hybrid.

Sunset Shimmer let out a bellowing roar and lunged at one of the crocodile’s legs, biting and sinking her canine teeth, piercing its thick hides.

Rainbow Dash let out a bloodcurdling shriek, akin to a red-tailed hawk, and with a flap of her wings, she leapt to the air and slashed her claws, scratching across the top of the crocodile’s head.

Lastly, Applejack joined in the fray, twisting herself on her hands, aiming her hips at the crocodile, and thrusted her legs at its snout, landing a powerful kick.

Unable to defend itself from so many attacks from three different directions, the Octo-Dile retreated back into the water.

End of Fight Music

After the giant Octo-Dile monster took its leave, Spike turned his attention to the shark-creature that was thrown on the beach.

The young man ran over to check on the shark, finding it flopping around, revealing that it is very much alive. But upon closer inspection, he finds that the shark is also another hybrid. A female at that.

In appearance, she has pale, light grayish heliotrope skin, with a white underside, and moderate purple hair with pale aquamarine highlights. Her attires are a turquoise bikini, with purple spots. She still possess a pair of webbed arms and legs, but doesn't seem to know how to use them.

The shark-woman was gasping for air, as she frantically flops around.

"...water...water..." She gasped.

“She needs water!” Spike shouted, as he strained to pick her up, linking one of the shark creature’s arms over his shoulders.

Sunset Shimmer, Marina, and surprisingly, Beatrice, all came over to help Spike carry the shark-woman up off the sands, and back to camp. They hoped to make it back, before anymore unwanted attention from any predators could arrive.

On the way, Spike looked at the shark hybrid, getting the strange feeling he might’ve seen her from somewhere before.

“Who are you and why do you look so familiar?” He asked the shark-woman.

Spike and the girls followed the river upstream, until they arrived at the waterfall, close to the village.

Both Sunset Shimmer and Applejack held the unconscious shark-woman in the water and kept moving her in circles, to get a reaction.

“So, explain to me again how this is supposed to be saving the shark?” Rainbow asked.

“Sharks are obligate ram ventilators,” Twilight lectured. “Apparently, due to their unique anatomy in their biology, they have to be in constant motion in order to receive oxygen from the water, through their gills.”

“In English?” Rainbow demanded, clearly lost on Twilight’s lecture.

“She means that sharks need to keep moving to breathe,” Spike clarified.

“Eeyup!” Fluttershy confirmed. “I hope we’re not too late…”

For what must’ve felt like half-an-hour has passed, the sun was setting lower, behind the trees. By then, Sunset and Applejack have grown tired of wading in the water, with the unconscious shark-woman.

“It’s hopeless,” Sunset sighed. “We must’ve walked for what felt like hours, and she’s not waking up!”

The girls and Spike pondered on what to do next. Spike was scratching his chin, when an idea came to him. An idea he was hoping that he wouldn't have to do and that he dreaded.

“Uh, I hoped it didn’t come to this…” Spike said, walking towards the shark-woman, clamping his mouth against hers, and blowing air into her. “Ugh! That’s nasty!” He recoiled at the foul taste of blood, fishes, and chum.

Some of the surrounding girls looked at Spike with irked envy. Though, Marina seemed to be the most irritated of them all.

“Why Spike kiss shark?” Leggy asked.

“Spike is kissing a shark?!” Fluttershy screamed, in horror.

“No, he’s not kissing her,” Twilight replied, before she reassured, “He’s trying to revive her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

“Purple monkeys eat banana dumplings?” Marina inquired, much to everybody’s confusion.

“Uh, I don’t know what you’re trying to say octopus,” Rainbow began. “But I don’t think that’s it.”

Suddenly, the sound of coughing and gasping rang in the air. The girls all looked to see that the Shark-Woman has been awaken.

“It worked!” Spike gasped, while gagging at the horrible taste in his mouth. “But I’m not doing that again!”

“Huh, what do you know?” Twilight gasped. “Despite her genetically altered anatomy to resemble a shark, I guess she still attains some human genetic makeup to breathe like a normal person!”

“That’s a relief,” Sunset commented.

“Uh-huh,” Rainbow said, annoyed. “Whatever you say, Eggheads.”

“Oh…wha-what happened?” The shark-woman asked, rubbing her head, before she got a good look at her surroundings, “Where?! Where AM I?!?”

“Whoa, whoa, take it easy there!” Rainbow Dash coaxed the shark-woman. “We’re not gonna hurt you!”

“Aw, the poor dear sounds terrified!” Fluttershy said.

“Who are you?!” The shark-woman asked.

“We’re friends,” Twilight assured. “My friends call Twilight Sparkle. And these are Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie!”

The She-Beasts all exchanged random greetings to the Shark-Woman, which made her appear less scared.

“And over there, are the Reverse-Hybrids,” Pinkie Pie pointed. “You’ve got Leggy Lamb, with her adopted son, Kirin. Beatrice the crocodile smoking on them weeds! Marina the octopus, or octoling, as I like to call her. Oh! And Loona’s the dog, but she is a real puppy, once you got to know her!”

“I hate you all with burning passion,” Loona growled.

“And I’m-Ah!” Spike was interrupted, when Fleur, once again, smothers herself up against him. “Fleur! Stop it! Down girl!”

“The jungle girl with a cat’s mindset is Fleur-de-Lis,” Sunset Shimmer introduced. “A long-lost supermodel from the fashion industry. And the man struggling with her is Spike.”

“Did you say, Spike?” The shark-woman asked, with piqued interest. “As in Nathan ‘Spike’ Draco?”

Everyone looked at the shark She-Beast with wide eyes, with Spike being the most astonished.

“How do you know my name?” Spike asked.

“From Newt!” The She-Beast replied. “He told me a lot about you!”

“You knew Newt Chimera?!”

“Uh-huh! I’m Starlight Glimmer!” The Shark-Woman introduced herself. “I was a part of the marine photography crew, when we were looking for dolphins! Or at least, when we originally were looking for dolphins…”

“Starlight Glimmer?” Spike pondered, before he remembered. “Oh yeah! I remember now! Newt mentioned you back when, before we washed up on the island! He said you’ve been wanting to meet me in-person for sometime…”

“Yeah, that was my plan at first…” Starlight began, but sounded rather sadden. “But then he told me about your condition, so…I didn’t want to bother you then…”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that,” Spike cringed, before deciding to change the topic, “But enough about that…” Spike searched the words, before he decided on an icebreaker. “How’ve you been, Starlight?”

Starlight Glimmer and the surrounding She-Beasts, and Reverse-Hybrids, looked at him with irritated looks, to say he asked a dumb question. Spike mentally wondered if he could’ve asked a different icebreaker.

“Well, I recently fought a mutant crocodile with tentacles, and almost died from that experience,” Starlight muttered. “How do you think I felt?”

“I was just asking,” Spike clarified nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive, or anything.”

Starlight let out a sigh, “It’s fine, Spike. I…I’ve been having some really rough days, after what he did to me…” She said venomously on the pronoun.

“Dr. Grogar,” Spike muttered. “Yeah, I’ve had the displeasure of meeting some of his handiworks up close…”

Whether they know he didn’t mean it personally, or they took offense to that statement, the other She-Beasts and Reverse-Hybrids expressed their annoyance at Spike, with death glares, barks, squawks, and all sorts of animal noises.

“I don’t mean you, girls,” Spike quickly reassured. “You’re all victims. Big difference,” With that, the girls softened their annoyance in acknowledgement.

“Anyway, what exactly happened to you, Starlight?” Spike asked.

“Shortly after we were shipwrecked, I woke up in time to see myself and the rest of the crew being taken by those Boar-Men,” Starlight explained. “We were taken into Dr. Grogar’s mansion, down to his laboratory. They strapped me down onto a table and…”

Starlight hesitated to continue, but Spike and the girls have already gotten a clear picture as to what came next.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say, we know how ya feel, sugar cube,” Applejack sympathized with the shark-woman.

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m now a freak,” Starlight Glimmer sobbed. “He TURNED ME into a freak!”

“So are we,” Rainbow Dash said sympathetically. “But hey…you’ll get used to it…”

“For how long?” Starlight Glimmer sobbed. “I can’t live like this! I never wanted to be a shark! I wasn’t even asked to become a shark!”

“So, why did you?” Sunset asked. “I mean, why a shark?”

“I don’t know! Honestly, Dr. Grogar’s a madman! He said he was on the verge of creating the ultimate apex predator of the sea! So, he decided for the best to not settle on one shark. But a variety of sharks!”

“You mean he made you from more than one shark?” Fluttershy asked.

Starlight nodded as she relays the details, “The bull shark for its durability and ability to survive in both fresh and salt water; The mako shark for its speed and agility; The tiger shark for its ferocity as well as its stripe patterns, and the great white shark for its strength.”

“Wow!” Spike gasped in awe, before he cleared his throat. “I mean, after seeing the way you took on that Octo-Dile, I believe you! You saved my life and you’re one strong fish!”

A light chuckle escaped from Starlight’s lips at the compliment from Spike, “You’re welcome, Spike.”

“So…how’s Newt?” Spike asked anxiously. “Is he okay?”

“Shortly after my transformation was complete, he helped me escape,” Starlight answered solemnly. “He asked me to find you and he wanted me to give this back to you,” Starlight reaches from the top of her swimsuit, searching for something.

In the process, Starlight briefly flashes her breasts, causing Spike to look away with his face turning red and a drop of blood dripping from his nose.

“Mmmm, I smell blood!” Fluttershy gasped, with her nose twitching.

Spike remembered that Fluttershy is still half vampire bat. Therefore, her nose is sensitive to the smell his blood.

“Uh, Fluttershy, just take it easy there,” Spike whimpered, trying to coax the Bat-Woman before she might’ve had the chance to attack him for blood.

“Here it is!” Starlight said, holding up a familiar camera towards Spike.

“My camera!” Spike exclaimed, taking the camera from Starlight, practically holding the device close, as if it was a lost child. “I thought I’d never see this thing again! Thanks, Starlight!”

Starlight simply smiled and nodded in response, happy to have returned the young man’s precious camera.

“Anywho,” Pinkie Pie began. “Now that we’ve got the whole reunion out of the way, what should we do now?”

“Mince sheep soup clam spaghetti!” Marina answered.

“What?!” Everyone looked at Marina with the biggest confused looks on their faces.

“I thought you are the smart one…” Loona grumbled at Marina, who looked down, even more annoyed and embarrassed. “…And you can’t speak proper English?”

“Loona! Be nice!” Applejack barked, reprimanding the Reverse-Hybrid dog. “Marina’s trying to improve. She’s getting there.”

In response, Loona simply rolled her eyes and flipped a bird, much to the ire of Applejack and the shock of everyone present.

“Getting back on topic,” Sunset reminded, turning to Starlight. “What should we do about her? Do we have another hut for her to stay in?”

“I can’t sleep in a hut on land,” Starlight Glimmer dipped herself beneath the surface of the water, to moisturize herself. “I’m literally a fish out of water. I need to stay moist…”

“Then let’s make you a water bed!” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Uh, Pinkie?” Applejack reminded. “They fill them up with water from the inside. It’s not exactly a bathtub…”

“Oh! Right…”

“Maybe you can sleep with Marina?” Fluttershy offered. “She’s a cephalopod Reverse-Hybrid, and her sleeping quarter is in the water…”

“I don’t think Marina likes that idea…” Spike pointed to the frightened octopus Reverse-hybrid.

“Ooh! Maybe she can bunk in with Beatrice!” Pinkie Pie chattered.

“Bad idea, Pinkie,” Twilight pointed to the crocodile hissing and snarling at Starlight, as if eager or threatening to eat the latter.

“Uh, y’know what? I think I’m better off staying here, in the river,” Starlight said nervously.

“Are you sure?” Applejack asked.

“Absolutely,” Starlight replied. “I’m part bull shark, so I’m perfectly adaptable to both fresh water and salt water. Right?”

“Right,” Both Spike and Fluttershy confirmed in agreement.

“It’s not fair! Why did she get a kiss from Spike? When is it my turn?”

Marina was furious. She has had her eyes on Spike, almost nonstop, since day one.

She wanted to tell him how she feels for him. But no matter how hard she tried, he just couldn’t take a hint. And all because he didn’t understand a word she is saying.

This shouldn’t come off as a surprise, because she started off as an octopus. An animal. Now, she is what Spike and the She-Beasts referred to her as a Reverse-Hybrid. A creation made possible from turning an animal, such as herself, with human DNA.

She was becoming human, and she knew it. Her engineered human traits are making her attracted to the human male.

And she loved every second of it. Just seeing Spike every day is enthralling as it is torturous.

“I just can’t seem to get my words right! I want to tell Spike that I really like him and that we should hang out together more! But…I’m afraid I’ve yet to master the English language. What am I doing wrong?”

In response, Bea Santello simply blew a puff of smoke, then answered, “You’re trying too hard. The human doesn’t understand our language well enough for words. And if you really want to learn how to talk human, then ask Loona. She could help.”

“I don’t know,” Marina replied. “On the topic of human interaction, Loona isn’t exactly the best at communication.”

“Okay. Maybe instead of trying to talk to him about how you feel, then maybe you should show him how you feel,” Bea Santello suggested.

“Hmmm,” Marina pondered on Bea’s words. “That’s not a bad idea! Thank you, Bea! You’re the best!”

Marina smiled, happily hugging Bea, who slowly returned the hug.

“And if he ever breaks your heart, then you can tell me so I’ll tear him apart,” Bea whispered, much to Marina’s discomfort.

Later that afternoon, Spike was on his way to a hut to join the girls for dinner, when he was approached by Marina.

“Oh, hi Marina,” Spike greeted the octopus-woman. “What’s up?”

But rather than answering his question with words, instead, remembering Bea’s advice, Marina gestures for Spike to follow her.

“Okay?” Spike complied, following Marina down a path, until they arrived at a beautiful clearing, close to the beach and close to the village.

Spike, however, was amazed at the sight of a table covered in cloth, with plates of fruits, cooked fishes, and boiled crabs. What really set the mood is a cup of flower on the center, with a bowl of lit incenses.

“Oh, wow!” Spike gasped in awe. “Did you really put together all of this?”

Marina nodded her head, before she walked over and pulled out a chair for Spike to sit in.

“Uh…thanks?” Spike thanked, while finding it weird that a woman, let alone a female Reverse-Hybrid, would pull up a chair for him to sit in.

Nevertheless, both Spike and Marina proceeded to have their dinner.

Marina was happily munching on her crabs, as crabs are the octopi’s favorite seafoods. She looked up to see that Spike was taking some rather dainty bites out of his crab legs.

“Mmmm,” Spike grunted as he peels bits and pieces of the crab shell off, to feast on the soft fleshy inside. “Wow. This is good! It’s no five-star cuisine, but it’s good. Did you boiled this crabs?”

Marina nodded her head, happy that Spike was enjoying the meal.

During the dinner, Marina looked up at the night sky. She said something gibberish and garbling, alerting Spike to look up.

“Oh wow! Look at the stars!” Spike gasped. “The moon is nice too!”

Marina smiled, and said something in her language, which is her way of saying, “It’s beautiful!”

“I know I’ve said this many times before,” Spike began. “But this is the night! Way better than the city and all the light pollution it gives off.”

Marina was curious to what a city is, and how could light pollute. But she figured that they’re questions for another time. Perhaps sometimes after her English has improved.

Speaking of which, Marina got up from her seat and pulled out some music boxes and the DJ turntable.

“What are you doing?” Spike asked.

To answer Spike’s question, Marina turns on the music devices to play a song she had written and sang in her language.

Ebb & Flow (Demo) - Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion OST

By the end of the song, Marina took a bow, while looking up, awaiting for Spike’s response.

Spike looked at Marina with wide eyes, and slacked jaw, to say he was surprised and shocked by her performance. At first, Marina that she had fumbled, until Spike applauded.

“Wow!” Spike clapped his hands. “You’re good!”

Happy to see that Spike really enjoyed her singing, Marina smiled happily and resumes her bow.

Afterwards, they finished eating their dinner and sat down on the sands to watch the stars together, with the soothing ambient sounds of the crashing ocean.

“Look! Up there!” Spike pointed to the stars. “That’s Polaris, the North Star! Which means, that’a Ursa Major! And…those are the only two constellations I know. My dad knows a whole lot more about constellations than I do.”

Marina chuckled wholeheartedly as she listened to Spike talking. His voice was music to her ears. She tucked her chin on his shoulder, enjoying herself in his company.

This is where she belongs. This is who she wants to cherish for the rest of her life.

They both stayed that way until Spike fell asleep.

Marina took Spike back to his hut to sleep. Once she pulls the blanket over the man, she paused for a moment to look at his adorable face.

To her, he was just so irresistible. She just wanted to take his face, by the cheeks, and kiss him full on the lips. But then she pauses. Could she be pushing her luck? Is she being too hasty? She wasn’t sure.

So she just settled on kissing Spike on the nose and left.

Author's Note

Starlight Glimmer's shark design is Mechazilla’s idea, based on this image: