A Pony's Guide To Raising An Alien Octopus-Girl

Chapters

Chapter 1, Part 1: In Which Tentacled Trouble Is Discovered
Chapter 1, Part 2: In Which Tentacled Trouble Explores Her New Home
Chapter 1, Part 3: In Which Tentacled Trouble Uses A Spoon
Chapter 1, Part 4: In Which Tentacled Trouble Meets Royalty
Chapter 1, Part 5: In Which Tentacled Trouble Takes A Carriage Ride

Chapter 1, Part 1: In Which Tentacled Trouble Is Discovered

Chapter 1, Part 1: In Which Tentacled Trouble Is Discovered

Quill had always enjoyed the beach, the smell of the saltwater, the sound of waves crashing upon rock and sand. The sound of the gulls cawing and squawking at one another mixing with the sounds of the water, created a rather pleasant cacophony; if a bit uncontrolled.

The feeling of warm, damp sand beneath his hooves and rushing through his stark white coat was familiar and welcomed, and the feeling of the ocean breeze through his black and yellow striped mane was pleasant if somewhat smelly.

Many a time he had come to this beach before, it wasn’t too far from his house so he could fly there just as easily as he could trotting.

Flying was nice of course, but Quill had always enjoyed keeping his hooves on the ground if possible. Not to say he wasn’t proud of his wings, they were powerful and built for taking off at great speed and performing astonishing aerial maneuvers, and he was a rather adept flier.

That day however he had decided to stick to the ground, and it was because of that choice his life ended up being forever changed, now whether it had been changed for the worse or the better; well, he would end up asking himself that quite a lot over the years that followed.

With a contented sigh, Quill turned his gaze back to the beach behind him, the pier and the groups of ponies splashing around and building sand castles were far off, the sounds of their mirth sufficiently scattered by the breeze, making them nothing but a whisper at such a distance.

The sun would be setting soon, it was just starting to appear to dip down into the water on the horizon, and the resulting effect was a spectacular show of oranges and yellows dappled across the surface of the water.

Quill had come out to the beach to brainstorm, he had hit a wall on his current novel; as evident by his cutie mark, writing was his forte, however that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hit blocks occasionally. He had decided that maybe a stroll on the beach would do well to give him some story ideas; or at least ideas that were a step towards getting past his writers block.

As he continued on, the beach slowly began to grow thinner in width, and cliffs began to rise up opposite the water, giant, jagged, grey walls of stone protruding from the earth like the spines of some great dragon, buried beneath the dirt centuries ago.

Eventually his will to continue traveling was lost, and he simply plopped down in the sand, and took in his surroundings.

Quill was well away from the part of the beach most frequented now, to his right; the pier had become only a spec in the distance and the ponies on the beach all but invisible. In front of him, the waves slid lazily up the sand, crawling quickly upwards and almost touching his hooves, before rapidly retreating backwards, as if deciding against their actions at the last moment.

Behind him, the stone cliffs rose up high, looming over the beach and casting the slightest of shadows over the water, their grey coloring broken only by the occasional patch of shrubbery or grass growing out from a crack in the stone, gently swaying in the breeze.

To his left, was more beach, seeming to go on and on until it disappeared into the horizon, broken up only by a group of large rocks jutting up out of the ground and forming a sort of miniature “C” shaped alcove that stuck out like a sore thumb against the otherwise uninterrupted sand.

“Dammit!”

Quill let out a short cry of frustration and fell backwards onto the sand, splaying his front hooves out to his sides with a dull “fwump” as they hit the sand. He stared up at the cloudy blue skies above, watching as a trio of gull flew across and disappeared over the tall cliffs behind him.

Writing was hard.

“Maybe I need something new, like…a new plot-twist introduced into the story…” He said, thinking out loud.

The story he was writing was about two young foals who manage to hit a computer with magic, and then as a result, their video game proceeds to pour out of the computer and into their world, and understandably it would cause quite a bit of chaos for the two young protagonists.

He had everything he needed too, it was all there, the action, the characters, the setting and the plot…he just couldn’t seem to figure out how to put it all together the right way!

Quill let out a snort and closed his eyes, taking in the sounds and the smells around him; the sea breeze, the gulls, the water against the sand. It was calming and peaceful; two things that were very badly needed when one was writing you know.

He relaxed into the sand upon which he laid, it was warm and pleasant, like the embrace of a loved one in a way, almost like a-

“GAH!”

There was a sudden and sharp pinch on his front left hoof, instinctively, he recoiled and jolted up, which in turn sent the creature responsible for the pain sailing into the air before it came to rest on the sand a ways away.

It was a crab, and if crabs could look smug, this one would have.

Its smooth shell was a bright red, almost gleaming in the light of the setting sun, it glared at him and held up powerful looking claws, snapping them as a warning that it was not a beast to be trifled with, this crab was a powerful and proud creature, capable of bringing down it’s attackers with the very claws it brandished so proudly, like a warrior brandishing his sword! It was quite an intimidating sight.

Or at least, it would have been.

If the crab hadn’t only been about two inches wide, and barely an inch tall.

“You little…” Quill grumbled, rubbing his poor hoof and glaring at the tiny monster.

“Shoo!”

The crab held its ground.

With a huff, he flicked a bit of sand at the small crustacean, and that seemed to do the trick as far as getting it to move away.

He eyeballed the crab sternly as it skittered away, crawling up the rocks protruding from the sand to Quill’s left and finding what it deemed a suitable perch to watch over its recently lessened territory.

For a moment longer he watched the crab, and just as he was about to close his eyes again, he saw something strike out of seemingly nowhere and the crab was no more. It had been nothing more than a scarlet-red blur, but it had been quick enough and managed to go unnoticed long enough the crab hadn’t ever even know it was there!

Curiosity getting the better of him, Quill slowly righted himself and made his way over to the C-shaped formation of stone, As he neared, he noticed that inside the formation was a small pool of water; previously hidden from view.

He laid his eyes upon the flat-topped rock upon which the crab had previously stood, scanning in intently as if the crustacean were hiding somewhere on it, but alas; it was nowhere to be found.

“Huh…” Dismissing his want to try and find the crab, Quill scanned the small pool below him.

The inside of the rocks were covered in small groupings of barnacles and other strange growths, long, yellowed strands of seaweed were stuck in crevices here in there, having been caught after being brought in by a high-tide.

The water in the tide pool actually looked rather deep, despite being strangely murky. In fact there was sand swirling around in the water as if something had just kicked it up not seconds ago. Quill wondered if maybe some fish had been caught in there.

There were a few small crabs latched to the rocks surrounding the tide pool, but they were all blue, the one he had seen was red, so he didn’t pay much attention to them.

The rocks sloped downwards into the pool of murky water, uninterrupted by anything inside of it other than the two, large, turquoise eyes currently staring up at him in wonder.

Wait what.

The cry of shock that followed was most likely heard for a mile around.

Quill fell backwards and scrambled away from the tide pool, his eyes wide and his heart beating frantically. He didn’t even care that he was getting sand all in his fur he just wanted to get the hell away from whatever large monster had been sitting in that tide pool, those eyes were big!

Frantically, he righted himself, not even bothering for a second glance back at the pool as he unfurled his wings and readied himself for a sudden and powerful liftoff, he would be getting out of here before whatever that was decided to-

“Bagah!”

He stopped cold, eyes wide and heart still pounding, but hesitating in his takeoff.

There was silence, well, other than the normal beach noises. However “Bagah” was not a normal noise you heard at the beach; that was the kind of noise you heard from a newborn foal or something!

There was a slapping sound, like somepony was hitting a kitchen table with a wet rag or something of that sort, that definitely wasn’t a normal beach sound, and in addition, it was coming from that tide pool!

Quill slowly folded his wings against his side and turned his head back to look at the rocks behind him, those rocks harbored eyes, big ones, ones unlike he had ever seen on any sea creature before, and that meant it probably wasn’t something he should-

“Ahbahgabah!”

“What…?” He said softly, perking his ears up and slowly beginning to make his way back over to the tide pool, as curiosity yet again took hold.

Cautiously, he approached the rocks, just barely peeking over them enough that he could get a look inside.

There they were, right where he had left them.

Two large, white eyes, with large turquoise irises.

They caught sight of him and held his gaze firmly, neither pony nor…whatever this thing was, breaking the gaze, until the two eyes seemed to rise up a bit, revealing bit more of the round, somewhat feminine, nose less face they belonged to.

The face bore thin looking lips, and without the presence of a nose, it looked very alien and strange, the turquoise eyes stared up at him intently, unblinking and unmoving as they slowly rose up out of the water, further revealing the features of whatever it was they belonged to.

Where one would expect hair or a mane to be, instead sat a mass of what could only be described as tentacles; whose movements were the definition of sleepy looking, they were a striking scarlet-red that only appeared to be a few shades deeper than that of the creature’s squishy-looking skin.

By this point, the beastie’s head was fully out of the water, and it was roughly the size one would expect the head of a newborn foal to be, shiny skin nearly gleaming in the sunlight as it continued to hold a gaze filled with curiosity that matched that of the white pony looking down at it.

“Bah.”

Quill yelped and fell back onto the sand once more, sending grains of it flying left and right and out from under him as he scrambled back a bit; startled by the sudden yet simple utterance of such gibberish.

“W-what in Equestria…?”

Quill hadn’t ever seen anything like this creature before, now that he thought about it, it looked similar to an octopus, but no octopus he had ever seen looked like…that.

“Ahba?” The creatures tiny voice came again, sounding much like that of a baby.

Animals didn’t make baby noises, this was not an animal, this was some sort of…of monster, maybe some type of sea dragon or something, or one of those Kraken things he had read about in the story books?

No, no way. Those monsters were huge, with scales and sharp teeth, and claws and long scaly bodies! They were not smooth-faced, baby-noise-making, octopus-things.

Now feeling a bit more confident that whatever this was, wasn’t big enough to eat him, Quill righted himself once more and peered over the rocks, finding that same, reddish-orange face peering curiously back at him.

“What…are you, exactly?” He asked slowly, as if he were to get a response.

The octopus-creature simply stared at him expressionlessly.

Slowly tearing his gaze from this strange new creature, Quill inspected the tide pool it occupied, only the realizing that the tide pool was an “O” rather than a “C”, maybe this strange creature had gotten trapped when the tide came in, and hadn’t been able to climb out?

“BAH!”

Quill flinched a bit at this, but managed to refrain from falling backwards into the sand yet again.

The octopus-creature raised up a bit more, exposing its upper body and now only submerged to its waist, the motion of what Quill could only assume were more tentacles now barely visible below the water.

The creature was built rather slender now that he could see its scarlet-red body, not quite shaped but not exactly stocky either, two thin arms ending in three fingered hands hung lazily at its sides. While its face was a light scarlet-red, the color darkened as you looked further down the nude, slimy looking body.

This thing didn’t look dangerous at all, if anything it looked like it was something that would rather give you a hug and cuddle you rather than try to bring you harm; granted it did look somewhat alien, but still.

It didn’t seem at all afraid of him either; one would think that this creature would be just as frightened to see Quill as Quill was to see it.

“Do you like…want out of here?” He asked, again, as if he were expecting to get an answer that wasn’t gibberish; and at the same time realizing that was kind of a stupid question.

“Doopa.” It stated flatly.

“Hmm…” Quill gave this creature a curious look, thinking for a moment, before turning his gaze out to the ocean, the sun already halfway set into the glassy water, far out on the horizon.

For a moment his gaze flitted back and forth between the creature and the ocean, maybe if he figured out a way to get it out of this tide pool, it would go back to where it came from and he could just forget about this whole freaky ordeal.

He couldn’t just leave it there, he had a conscience you know, and you know, morals…

“Do you…want to go out there?” He asked, giving the nose less creature a look of curiosity and raising a hoof in the direction of the vast and expansive ocean.

It only cocked its head in response, hair-tentacles gently swaying to the side as it tilted.

Quill hooded his eyes and sighed.

“Celestia, what am I doing?” He muttered.

Of course, Celestia didn’t respond, however the octopus-creature did, letting out a slightly cheerful sounding “Dahba!” Extending its arms out and making grabby motions with its triangular-fingered hands.

The hands actually reminded Quill vaguely of a starfish, only there were three fingers rather than the eight or so starfish had, and he could now see tiny suckers lining the underside of each one.

“You want me to lift you…out?” He said slowly, suddenly becoming uncertain and uneasy as this strange creature made little grabby motions with its strange hands, lifting itself up a bit more out of the water to the point he could see that it’s lower half was perfectly resemblant of an octopus, tentacles taking the place of legs and trying to get a grip on the rocks.

“Wait if you have suckers on those things, why can’t you just pull yourself out?”

As if on cue, the octopus-creature placed two tentacles on the rocks in front of it, and began to slowly crawl upwards, using the other tentacles to help pull itself up more. However once four tentacles had been firmly latched to the rocks, balance was very obviously lost and soon the slimy looking creature tumbled back into the water below with a frustrated cry.

Quill winced a bit as he watched it hit the water, and for a moment he felt something in his stomach do a flip, however that quickly subsided upon seeing the creature seemingly unharmed.

Its current expression however, was the epitome of pouting.

“Gahba!” It whined, slapping its tentacles against the water in frustration and proceeding to cross its arms and don the most “pouty” pout face in the history of all things pout-related.

It was surprisingly adorable.

“You aren’t strong enough are you? You must like…be a baby or something?” Quill said softly, deciding it safe to assume the child-like babble it had demonstrated thus far to be nothing more than just that; Child-like babble, rather than some alien language, and that this was indeed an infant.

What was he doing?

Why was he here, interacting with a creature unlike anything ever recorded before in the history of Equestria; that he knew of.

Why had he not just run away and been none the wiser.

No, he had to get curious, and then he had to come to the conclusion this thing was a baby, and he knew for a fact if he just left he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Besides…it was kinda cute; in a weird, tentacle-y, octopus-ish kinda way.

“I’m going to end up regretting this, aren’t I?” He asked.

The octopus-creature looked up at him with intelligent looking eyes, staring into his own as if to say.

“Ha-ha, yeah you probably are.”

But of course, it didn’t say that, instead it replied with a “Ahbooga.” And proceeded to grope at the air in Quills direction, as if asking for “Uppies”

Cautiously, Quill propped himself against one of the rocks and leaned over.

And with a simple; if shaky, extension of two front legs, two lives became forever entwined.

The unfamiliar and surprisingly warm feeling of sucker-lined fingers latching onto his hooves made Quill shudder ever so slightly, steeling himself and doing his best not to squeal like a school-filly who found a worm, he lifted the octopus-creature up and out of the tide pool, balancing on his back hooves long enough to turn and set it down in the sand outside the stone prison.

Once the creature was set down in the sand, Quill was able to get a good look at it.

From the hips down, the creature was entirely octopus, eight thick tentacles held it upright; the tip of each one seeming to almost move of its own accord. Above the waist however was a very different matter, and it looked unlike most anything he had ever seen in his life. The body was a bit thinner than where the tentacles all came together, and its arms hung down a little bit past the waist. The hair-tentacles seemed to have a mind of their own almost like the tips of the leg tentacles, idly curling and moving about in a sleepy manner and hanging down to just past the shoulders.

The octopus-creature seemed to sense it was being studied, and let out a short “Gah.”

Quill sat down on his haunches and raised an eyebrow, ruffling his wings a bit as he did, he turned his gaze out to the ocean and raised a hoof out in that very direction, then turned his gaze back to his slimy little friend.

“Off you go then.” He stated rather abruptly.

The creature looked nonplussed, gazing out at the ocean for a moment before turning its gaze back to Quill.

“Nah.”

“Nah? What do you mean ‘nah’?” He said, reeling back a bit and wondering if it had been coincidence that the babble sounded like a negative or if it was intentional.

“Dappa.” It stated flatly, moving its tentacles in a manner that could only be described as strange, in order to slowly move itself over to him.

Quill let out a sheepish chuckle and took a step back. “N-no, you go in the ocean, run along, go…find your, uh…pack!”

Did octopi run in packs?

He wasn’t sure, all he knew was this thing was currently doing some sort circular writhing thing with its tentacles that was moving it towards him, and he was slowly scooting backwards on his rear through the sand in order to keep away.

The octopus-creature seemed un-phased by this, and continued trying to get closer to him, deep turquoise eyes fixed on his own red ones as he scooted backwards in the sand, trying his best to keep away from the tiny assailant.

Shortly after, however the back of Quill’s head was introduced to the rocks that this very creature had been trapped in, and they did well to stop him from evading the octopus-creature any longer, as well as giving him a bit of a sting

He winced and shut his eyes from the sudden dull pain, momentarily forgetting about the octopus-girl as he brought a hoof up to the back of his head to rub it.

The unsettling sensation of suckers gripping his legs and chest brought him back to reality rather quickly.

Upon opening his eyes again, Quill found the octopus-creature to be perched atop his stomach, and staring him in the eyes, only a few inches away.

He didn’t freak out, or push it off, or really even do anything.

He just stared back.

Being up this close allowed him to see all the little details on the creatures skin, it was uncannily smooth, only the tiniest traces of little bumps here and there interrupting the otherwise smooth skin, and the fact it didn’t have a nose was rather disturbing, but he found himself starting to get used to it already.

What really struck him though, were its eyes.

They looked so…intelligent, and like they held so much potential to them. He wasn’t sure why he kept hanging on the eyes, they were so large and unlike anything he had ever seen, but he found them so entrancing and wonderful…

“What are you…?” He said softly.

His response was rather unexpected and unorthodox.

“Bah.”

And suddenly there was a sucker-covered hand clamped on his nose, and he found himself surprisingly calm and cool about that.

“Pwease wet go ob me” He said flatly, staring back at this small creature with hooded eyes.

“Ahah!” It exclaimed, curling its lips into what was undeniably a smile.

So this thing could smile, oh joy.

Gently as he could, Quill took the creatures hand and removed it from his nose. “How about we not do that?”

“Gah?”

Quill was just about to uselessly respond, when he noticed something catch this creatures eye, its head snapped over to the left and its hair-tentacles seemed to become slightly more active, making little grabbing motions in the direction their owner was facing.

Following the gaze of his little friend, Quill found the object of interest to be a small, red, crab; much like the one he had seen before, it was busy picking away at a the sand with purpose unknown to all but the small crustacean.

Turning his gaze back to the small creature on top of him, he laid eyes on it just in time to see it pounce.

The octopus-creature leapt; or tumbled off more like, landed on its stomach and scrambled for the unsuspecting crab, smacking a suckered hand down on top of it and holding it firmly.

“Oh, so you’re fast, would you look at-“

“Crunch”

“Oh.”

The crab was no more, at least half of it wasn’t. The octopus creature now held half a crab, the other half currently being chewed up, and the one doing the chewing looked more than pleased.

Quill shuddered a bit, and eyed the creature as it ate. Its leg tentacles squirmed a bit and he found himself wondering if there was like a break down there like you would expect of an octopus or…

One incredibly red face later, he was certain that there was no beak, and that it was actually a she.

Trying to ignore the fact he had just looked directly at an aliens reproductive system, he thought it best to right himself before it…or, she, decided to reattach to his chest.

Quill righted himself just as the second and final “Crunch” was heard, signaling that the creature was indeed eating, and upon turning to face her once again, he found she was already upright again and staring up at him, a small bit of crab sitting in the corner of her mouth.

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, neither on moving, as if trying to relay some telepathic message to one another.

Only the sound of the ocean waves sloshing against the beach and the gulls cawing every so often broke the silence.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the silence was broken.

The octopus-girl took her version of a step towards Quill.

“No, no, no, no!” He said sternly, as if suddenly understanding what he thought she wanted.

“Bah?”

“You, live in the ocean.” He said with narrowed eyes, jabbing a hoof gently at her.

In response, she grabbed his hoof in sucker-covered hands and proceeded to latch her jaws firmly onto his hoof, Quill had expected this to hurt considering she bit right through a crab, therefore she must have powerful jaws, but in reality is was more like…a nom, rather than a bite, it was soft.

“W-what are you doing?”

He felt an unnaturally slimy tongue lick against his hoof in response; was he being tasted or something?

“Listen, you need to like…go home.”

Another lick.

“Then can you please let go of my hoof so I can go home?”

Nothing in response, she simply remained latched on with sucker-covered fingers firmly attached, and jaws around his hoof.

“I am not bringing you home with me.” He deadpanned, hooding his eyes.

The octopus-girl’s jaws squeezed his hoof a bit, not enough for it to hurt, but enough he was efficiently reminded they were strong.

“A-are you threatening me?” He said with an airy laugh, looking nervously down at her.

“Mhhp.” She mumbled in reply, staring blankly up at him.

“W-what am I supposed to tell ponies? ‘Oh, I found her on the beach; she could be an alien or something but oh well’”

No reply.

“W-what about the Princesses! If they end up finding out I’m keeping an alien or something I could get in a whole lot of-“

In that moment his hoof was released completely, the only reminder the octopus-girl had been formerly latched to it was a bit of slime left behind, now instead of a bite however, he was being…hugged.

“…Trouble.” He finished, looking down at the octopus-girl currently the leg she hadn’t been biting, and doing so rather firmly.

Her thin, scarlet-red arms were wrapped around his leg in a manner that could only have been described as loving, and she was nuzzling him; only without the nose that was usually required for nuzzling.

He actually felt his heart melt a bit.

“How am I supposed to feed you, I don’t know how much you need to eat, a-and it isn’t like I can just go to the market and buy crabs, ponies don’t eat crabs!” He protested softly; even though he knew full well that there was a griffin market in town that sold seafood aplenty. At this point he was just trying to convince himself to not take whatever this girl was home with him; he really wanted to though.

“But, I can’t…”

The octopus-girl looked up at him with an expression that could be described only as innocent and helpless, still hugging his leg and staring up at him with those astonishing turquoise eyes.

“This is insane…what am I doing?” He asked, staring down at the octopus-girl latched so affectionately to his leg.

“Gaba.”

Quill let out a sigh of defeat and sat down in the sand. He knew he shouldn’t, every ounce of common sense in him said “Do not take home an alien.” However there was another part of him screaming yes, he wasn’t sure why, or for what reason…but he felt like something was calling him to adopt this creature under his care, not necessarily because it was part of some great destiny, simply because he felt like she was his responsibility, he had rescued her after all, and this octopus-girl seemed rather friendly towards him..

He always had been a softie.

But what if she had a family, what if she was the child of some great and powerful undersea king, and he was going to start some great war that could destroy half of Equestria?

He knew nothing about her, he didn’t know if she needed certain things or how big she would grow…

So why was he currently trotting home with her?

Chapter 1, Part 2: In Which Tentacled Trouble Explores Her New Home

Chapter 1, Part 2: In Which Tentacled Trouble Explores Her New Home

The journey home had taken quite a while; something he had partially done on purpose, Quill had ended up needing to fly home to keep the octopus-child from being seen; she didn’t seem to mind flying, and if anything had enjoyed it somewhat.

He decided it best to keep her existence a secret for the time being, at least until he could figure out what in Equestria he was supposed to do with her; adopting octopus-girls was not exactly his forte you see.

“In, in, hurry now!” He said softly after landing on his doorstep.

Quill’s house was not necessarily a grand or a fascinating one. It was one-story and square, strong bricks covered the outside in neat, organized rows. There was a square window on either side of his door; which was rectangular with a half circle on the top part of it.

All the houses in the beach area were built of the same type of brick; it was extremely strong and magically enhanced so that it could withstand the harsh and violent weather that sometimes battered the residents of this part of Equestria. These houses could be hit by a tsunami and be left standing with only minor outer damage.

The sun was set now, and Luna’s moon had begun to rise in the sky and shine its dim light over all of Equestria. Illuminating the land in a way so spectacular it made you wonder why the ponies of old enjoyed the light of the sun over that of the moon.

His tentacle passenger clambered off his back with a curious “Mahba?” looking up at him with her large, curious eyes, and then back into the house.

“Shush now, get inside, and hurry!” He coaxed, gently nudging her with a wing and carefully looking around the dimly lit area for signs of any other ponies.

“Bagah!” She exclaimed upon feeling his wing, promptly spinning around and latching her arms around it rather firmly.

“Nyah.” Quill said softly, not expecting his sensitive wing to be suddenly grabbed and embraced. He looked over at the octopus-girl and tried to lift his wing away, only to find he lifted her with it.

Octo-giggles ensued.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be a hoof full…?” He said with a slight grin, stepping inside his house and closing the door behind him.

The interior of his house; much like the exterior, was rather simple. When you entered the house the first thing you saw was the living room.

The living room was covered in a tan carpet; like most of the house was. Inside the living room was a large, over-stuffed couch, with an equally overstuffed individual chair on either side, facing an oval wooden coffee table with a chess board painted onto it; though he rarely used it.

There was a dresser set across from the couch, covered in neatly organized piles of paper; the workings of his current book. The dresser was roll-top, meaning it had a cover that could be pulled down to cover anything sitting on top of it if need be.

Along the walls were multiple bookshelves filled with books both of Quill’s making and otherwise, his house easily held a small library.

Before he even realized what was happening, the octopus-girl had detached from her hangout on his wing and proceeded to make her way over to his couch, grabbing and pulling at the cushion with sucker covered hands.

At least she didn’t have claws…

“Bah?” She exclaimed, slapping her hand repeatedly on the cushion and gazing upon it as if it were some fantastic new discovery.

“That’s my couch.” Quill stated with a smirk, trotting over near the coffee table and taking a seat on the floor.

“Ahbaga…”She said softly, latching both hands onto the cushion and proceeding to scramble up atop it in a rather hectic flailing of her leg tentacles.

Soon, however, she was perched atop the couch, looking the smallest bit proud of herself for conquering part of her new world. She proceeded to move back and forth to either end of the couch, her tentacles making a soft, wet, slapping noise as she moved around on the leather.

“Ahba.” She stated upon finding the arm of the couch and giving it a firm squeeze, then looking over at Quill and letting out a strange gurgling noise that sounded vaguely like a coo.

“Still my couch.” He said, really not knowing what else to say or do but sit and watch her.

As quickly as it had caught the interest of the strange girl, she had abandoned all need to inspect it further and quickly rolled over onto her stomach and slid off the couch, landing gently on the floor and instantly finding something else that intrigued her; the bookshelves.

Sensing that this was most likely going to end in a mess, Quill righted himself and trotted over to the bookcase the octopus-girl was moving towards.

She came to a complete halt in front of it, staring intently for a moment before letting out a soft “Gah.” And looking over at Quill curiously.

“Uh…Bookshelf?” He said, pointing at the bookshelf and tapping at the wood with a hoof.

Instantly, the girl moved over to where he had tapped and slapped her hand gently on it, exclaiming “Bah” as she did so, and proceeding to look back up at him.

“Close enough, you got the first letter right.” He said with a smirk.

“Oooh.” She said softly, moving her hand up and tugging gently on a small book titled “The Old Pony and The Sea” pulling it out and holding it in her hands, inspecting the picture on the front with great curiosity.

“That’s a book.” Quill said; wondering if anything he was saying was actually being understood.

“Gahba.” She exclaimed, proceeding to set the book down on the ground with an unexpected degree of gentleness, then moving over to another book and proceeding to pull it out, inspect its cover thoroughly, and then set it down nearby and repeat the process.

This went on for a painstaking amount of time; the octopus-girl would remove every book she could reach and inspect its cover, then proceed to set it on the floor. Quill ended up doing nothing but following her around and putting books back for what seemed like an hour.

Eventually however, she had thoroughly inspected the living room, and appeared ready to move on to the next room; the kitchen.

Much like his Living Room, Quill’s kitchen was nothing really to special.

There was a counter in the center upon which one could cook and perform tasks of the sort, he had a refrigerator set up against the corner of the wall, with a black marble-topped counter that wrapped around half the room in an “L” Shape, interrupted only by the sink situated in front of a window, and the dishwasher to the bottom left of said sink; along with a few other kitchen appliances.

The upper half of the area below the counter tops were lined with small dark, wood drawers aplenty, and there were matching larger cabinets beneath those.

Hanging above the counter were large cabinets in which plates and glasses were kept, a good amount of them were actually empty due to the fact Quill hadn’t ever really needed or owned that many dishes.

“Babaga!” The octopus-girl exclaimed, making her way into the kitchen and beginning her task of opening every lower cabinet and thoroughly inspecting its contents with the efficiency of a…cabinet-inspecting…professional?

All Quill knew was she worked quickly, and he patiently was following behind picking up after her.

Hopefully that wouldn’t become a habit.

“Magaba!” She said; her upper half disappearing into a cabinet for a moment, reappearing shortly after with a silver pot clutched in her hands.

“Bah.” She exclaimed, setting the pot down on the floor and giving it a gentle thump with the flat of her hand, making a soft, drum-like noise.

A surprising response was given to this new noise, Quill watched as her hair-tentacles seemed to become a bit livelier in response, an amused “Oooo.” Leaving her mouth as she slapped it yet again, looking slightly excited by this unexpected discovery.

“Mahba?” She said, slapping the pot again and looking up at Quill.

“That’s a pot.” He said, silently hoping things weren’t about to get really loud.

Instead of things getting louder, the octopus-girl seemed content with what he had said and gave the pot one last look before pushing past it and moving on to the next cabinet.

Quill sighed softly and shook his head, wondering how long this would go on as he returned the pan to its drawer.

“Gaba!” The octopus-girl exclaimed suddenly upon opening another drawer, apparently finding something especially amusing to her.

Quill pulled his head out of the cabinet he had been returning the pot to and looked over at his tentacled friend.

She was brandishing a wooden spoon rather proudly, holding it out in front of her like one would a sword, eyes scanning up and down its entire surface with a great deal of curiosity.

“That’s a spoon.” He said with a grin, closing the cabinet behind him and trotting over to the curious cephalopod.

“Spaba.” She proclaimed, bringing it closer to her and inspecting it more thoroughly, however instead of setting it down like she had every other item, she lifted it up into her hair tentacles and placed it in the grasp of one of them, leaving both her hands free, then proceeding to move past Quill and re-opening the very drawer he had just refilled.

“Wait, I-I just…”

Not paying much mind to the protests directed at her, the octopus-girl searched through the cabinet for a moment and soon after, pulled out the same pot she had before, setting it down on the ground and giving a soft “Pahba.” Before reaching up and removing the spoon from the grasp of her somewhat lively hair-tentacles.

It was then Quill figured out what was about to transpire.

“Bah!” She exclaimed, bringing wooden spoon upon metal pan in a manner stereotypical of just about every young foal in Equestria.

The resounding “Donk” Was one apparently much more satisfying to the one who made it, than it had been when she simply used her hand; as evident by the giggling she produced shortly after.

At least she wasn’t a dull child.

“Donk”

“Ahbaba!” She exclaimed, giggling in amusement at her discovery; her hair tentacles seeming to almost dance around.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure you’ll be the next great drummer.” He said, trying to ignore how loud her noise-making session was.

“Hmm…bah.” She said after another resounding “Dong”, Taking one more look at the two items before her before looking up at Quill and holding the spoon out to him.

Quill stared back blankly, unsure of what he was being asked. Did she want him to hit the pot or did she just want him to take the spoon or…

“Bahga!” She exclaimed, shaking the wooden spoon a bit.

“Uh…ok?” He said, uncertainly taking the spoon from her and watching as she bent over to pick up the pot somewhat clumsily, the proceed to shove it out in his direction.

“Mab.” She exclaimed; gurgling softly as the pot was taken from her.

“Uh…what is it I’m supposed to- Hey, wait!”

As soon as he had taken the objects, the octopus-girl had proceeded to take off back into the living room, most likely to continue her little journey of exploration.

Not bothering to put the pot and spoon back in their respective places, he simply held them in a hoof and with a small degree of haste, made his way into the Living Room just in time to see his tentacled friend making her way down the hall and turning into the bathroom.

He decided it best to follow her inside.

The bathroom was modest, with a sink and mirror situated against the wall and next to a toilet. Beside the toilet was the claw-footed bath tub, and across from that, situated in the corner of the wall was a tall, glass-doored shower.

“Oh boy…” He mumbled, finding his guest thoroughly inspecting the white, porcelain toilet.

“No, no, don’t try to-agh.” Letting out a frustrated huff, he set the pot and spoon down on the sink counter, and gently coaxed the octopus-girl away from the toilet, keeping her from further rubbing her hands all over it and managing to stop her before she tried to climb inside.

Quill managed to scoot her away from the latrine without much protest, and the girl simply looked up at him with a cocked head and a confused look.

“That’s yucky; we don’t touch that unless we’re going to the bathroom.” He said, giving an authoritative nod of his head as he finished.

“Gah?” Was all she said in reply.

Quill sidestepped a bit, and sat down, tapping the side of the bathtub in hopes of keeping his guest occupied with that; he really didn’t feel like explaining to an octopus-girl how a toilet was used at that moment. Especially considering he didn’t even know how she went to the bathroom…

Luckily for him, she seemed content with inspecting the bathtub rather than the latrine, and proceeded to make her way over towards it and peek over the edge, placing both of her tentacled hands on the edge to pull herself up just a bit.

“Wagahbaga.” She exclaimed, looking to the left and the right of the tub, before proceeding to rise up on her tentacles enough she could crawl inside of the bath tub; but not without a small degree of frustrated grunts as she used all her strength to pull herself inside.

With the slightest of giggles, she slid headfirst into the tub and momentarily disappeared from view.

Quill let out the softest of gasps and peered over inside the tub, finding the octopus-girl unscathed and in the process of righting herself; looking up at him and giving a “Bah.” Of assurance before proceeding to feel up the tub.

He watched in slight wonder as this strange girl groped and poked at every part of the tub. She ran sucker-covered hands over every smooth, rounded edge, and over the pebbly floor; made to ensure one could grip the floor well, but not seeming to find any part of it that interested her until she came to the faucet.

She stared curiously at the faucet for a moment, studying it thoroughly before slapping a sucker-covered hand on it and letting out a flat-toned “Gaba.”

“That’s the faucet, water comes out of there!” Quill said with a grin, trotting over and tapping the knob that controlled the cold water.

“Ooahba?” She cooed, looking up at him, back at the faucet, and then over at the knob that controlled the water.

She repeated this process once more, before bringing her free hand up to the knob and gently tugging on it, turning it just enough that a small trickle of water began to pour from the faucet.

The octopus-girl was overjoyed.

“Ahba!” She exclaimed, moving back and holding a sucker-covered hand under the slow trickle; her hair-tentacles becoming lively like they had when she had discovered the pot and spoon.

“I suppose you would like the water, huh?” Quill stated with a grin, resting his front legs and chin on the edge of the tub and watching as the girl continued to grab at the water in childlike bliss.

After a moment, she seemed to have had her fill of simply playing with the water, and the octopus-girl then proceeded to turn and begin trying to pull herself out of the tub, without making much progress.

Quill was going to move to help her, when she decided that she would just use him as leverage.

She proceeded to move over and get a good hold on his nostrils, and then with a small grunt from her, and a yelp of both surprise and discomfort from Quill, she was soon happily crawling up on top of his head, down his back, and then hopping off onto the bathroom floor with a wet “Slap”

All of this happening in the space of about eight seconds.

“You’re a fast one when you want to be…aren’t you?” He said, rubbing his nose and turning to face the speedy cephalopod-girl; who was staring up at him with a blatantly cheeky smile.

Her cheeky smile suddenly warped into a loud yawn, and as if a switch had been flipped, the adventurous octopus looked rather tired.

“And….apparently you run out of gas rather abruptly…” Quill said with a grin, watching as she moved over and rubbed her face side to side on his leg, making strange gurgling noises and wrapping her arms around it.

“Let’s see what we can do about finding you a place to sleep, hmm?” He said softly, gently stroking her hair-tentacles, and promptly ceasing that very action to avoid being grabbed by her hair.

“Tahba.” She muttered, looking up at him with tired eyes.

“Up you get.” He said, scooping her up in one hoof and allowing her to clamber up onto his back and hug his neck; finding himself not minding the feeling of her leg tentacles latching on.

Quill took his unusual passenger out of the bathroom, down the hall and back into the living room, looking around for a moment before coming to the conclusion that the couch would be a good place for her to rest.

He would soon find out he was wrong about that, but, anyway.

The octopus-girl hopped off of her ride and into the couch without really needing to be told, gently feeling at the cushion with her leg-tentacles before looking over at Quill; who was in the process of removing a neatly folded blanket from one of the chairs nearby.

The blanket seemed to intrigue the girl, and as soon as Quill turned back to her, he found her to be leaning against the arm of the couch, watching him intently; or rather, watching the blanket.

“Uh…here you go, I guess?” He said awkwardly, holding the blanket out and setting it down on the couch.

The second the blanket was released, the octopus-girl made her way over to it and as expected, began inspecting it thoroughly.

Curiously pulling at the folds and corners until what had once been a neatly folded blanket was reduced to nothing more than a crumpled and messily strewn heap of cloth.

Quill watched in silence as his guest thoroughly inspected the blanket, pulling at the fabric and running her fingers over it as if she were inspecting some ancient tapestry of great wealth. He couldn’t help but note how she was so fascinated by such a simple thing, wherever she had come from must not have had a lot of the things he had; that or she was just innately curious and had to touch everything.

Where had she come from anyway?

Was his taking her home going to cause some great conflict between pony kind and whatever race she was, or was she maybe some survivor of her civilization, maybe even the only one left?

Kinda like Superpony?

Well, other than the fact she looked super-strange, there wasn’t anything she had yet done to indicate she had any superequine-like abilities, so that could be good.

She was kinda cute though, in her own strange way. The way her hair seemed to reflect her emotion, how she seemed so curious and vocal about everything she found; even though her vocalizations were just babble, and how she seemed startlingly comfortable around him.

His life had always been sort of bland, of course he wrote, and he had fun with his friends every so often; and he was happy, but he never really had a “Plot Twist” so to speak. A great, life-changing event that would forever change him.

Was this creature his plot twist?

Quill was roused from his thoughts by the sound of the octopus-girl letting out a tiny yawn, holding the blanket in one sucker-covered hand and rubbing one large eye with the other; basically every description of a tired small child ever written.

He barely withheld a “Daww”

The octopus-girl stared up at Quill with droopy eyes for a moment, her hair tentacles growing limp and moving more lazily, then without warning, her eyes closed and she sort of…tipped over on top of the blanket.

This startled Quill at first, but upon seeing her softly breathing in and out, he realized she had actually…fallen asleep.

“Well, when you’re tired, you’re really serious about it, huh?” He said softly, honest surprise lacing his tone.

The girl had fallen on her back, leg-tentacles splayed out haphazardly and occasionally twitching as she silently slept, making no noise other than the occasional gurgle. She still clutched the blanket in one sucker-covered hand, and the other was sort of splayed out above her head.

In all honesty she looked more like a passed-out drunk, rather than a sleeping child.

Quill watched her for a moment longer, not really sure if there was something he should do or if he should just leave her be…didn’t you like, have to make sure infants were sleeping a certain way or…like, have them sleep in a crib?

He honestly wasn’t sure, and the fact exhaustion hit him like a brick wall in that exact moment made him gravitating more towards the idea of getting some shuteye himself, rather than trying to figure it out.

With a yawn he tried his best to keep silent, he shambled like that of some undead monster, over to his front door and locked the deadbolt; the last thing he needed was somepony breaking in, or the child on his couch deciding to go out on an early-morning exploration.

As he shuffled back into the living room, he gave the octopus-girl one more glance, as if to make sure she was indeed still there, and this hadn’t all been a strange illusion or something of that sort.

It wouldn’t have been the strangest thing to happen that day.

When he made his way down the hall, it was like he could hear his bed calling to him. Calling him to come and lie upon its fluffy mattress, snuggle into the cloud-like pillows, and wrap himself in the warm and inviting blanket.

His bedroom; staying with the modest theme, was nothing special.

In the center of the room was his twin bed, neatly made and ready for a peaceful night of rest upon its surface. White comforter and sheets folded and made up neat as could be, with three pillows set evenly apart from one another against the headboard, one to the left, one to the middle, and one to the right.

There were two windows in his bedroom, and the bed was situated in such a way that each window was the same distance from the bed as the other one was. Thin curtains hung bunched up on either side of the windows; as they were kept most of the time, Quill liked the moonlight.

To the left of the bed, was the doorway to the bathroom; not the one he and his guest had explored earlier, this one was a separate one.

To the right, was his closet. He hadn’t ever really been much of a pony for clothes though, ponies didn’t normally wear clothes and he never really had been fond of them; too constricting in his opinion. Still, his closet held a few dress suits and the like, but was otherwise empty and unused.

With a sigh of content, he slid on top of his bed and stretched his limbs out with a gentle grunt, smacking his lips and ruffling his wings a bit as he did so.

So tired…

He didn’t even feel like getting under his blankets, he was much too comfortable to do that. The weight of sleep was already upon him, his eyelids drooped, his limbs felt like lead, and his lips curled into a contented smile as sleep began to take him.

At least until the Octopus-girl realized he wasn’t in the room, and began crying.

Loudly.

Loud enough it did well to tear him away from the clutches of sleep, propel him out of bed, to the door, fumble to open said door, then make his way down the hallway and over to the couch upon which the octopus-girl sat crying.

She was standing up now, arms hanging at her sides and head tilted back as she voiced her displeasure to the fullest, her hair tentacles seemed to move and grab angrily at the air, and small tears dripped down from the corner of her eyes.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Quill said softly, hastily moving over beside her and sitting on the couch.

As soon as she realized who was sitting beside her, the octopus-girl ceased her lamenting and looked up at Quill with a mixture of despair and maybe a hint of anger.

“M-maba!” She said shakily, moving over towards him and proceeding to wrap her arms firmly around his midsection, burying her face into his side and letting out shaky mewls.

“U-uh…what?” He asked; both as to why she was upset and at the fact she had stopped crying as suddenly as she had started.

Her tiny form shook ever so slightly with each exhale, rubbing her face against Quills coat and making her tiny mewls of displeasure.

“I-I don’t understand what it is you’re so upset about...It’s not like…oh.”

It hit him like a brick wall.

She didn’t want to be alone.

“Do you…want to come and sleep in my room?” He said, wondering if that would end up meaning he got absolutely no sleep whatsoever.

“Bah.” She mumbled into his side, tightening her grip on him a bit more.

“Ok, ok, ok…I guess you and I will be sharing a room for a while…” He said with a sigh, gently prying the octopus-girl from his side and looking down at her.

“You’re a mess, you know that?”

“Mahba.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.” He mumbled, shaking his head and finding himself smirking in the slightest as he slid off the couch.

“Nhhh…” She mumbled softly, almost whining; thinking he would leave again.

“I’m not leaving, I’m inviting you to come with, so…let’s go.” He said, motioning towards the hallway with a hoof.

This action seemed to get his point across, and the octopus-girl proceeded to slide off the couch and onto the carpet. She let out a pleased-sounding gurgle as she moved up next to him and gazed up, as if waiting for orders.

“Come on then, ya stinker…” Quill sighed, trotting down the hallway with his guest in tow.

Upon arriving, he found himself unsurprised to the fact that a certain cephalopod had taken it upon herself to inspect everything in his room.

This was going to be a long night.

Chapter 1, Part 3: In Which Tentacled Trouble Uses A Spoon

Chapter 1, Part 3: In Which Tentacled Trouble Uses A Spoon

Quill awoke to the sound of the birds singing cheerfully outside of his window, the morning rays of Celestia’s sun shining in through his window and casting their light upon his tan carpeted floor in a manner quite spectacular to say the least.

He let out a short, happy, grunt and pulled his blanket up over his shoulder. Gosh his bed was comfy; in that moment it was his best friend. He never wanted to leave his bed. The silky fabric, the cloud-like pillows, the perfect springiness of the mattress.

The strange, squishy object currently poking at his wings repeatedly.

Wait what?

Quill mumbled unintelligibly and rolled over in the bed, eyes half open and less than half awake. He fully expected to have been imagining the feeling, and that he would turn over to see nothing but his pillow or something. He did live alone after all, so what on earth could have been poking him?

Upon turning over in the bed, Quill was suddenly face to face with two, large, turquoise eyes, about a hairs breadth away from his muzzle.

“YAAH!” He cried out, flailing wildly and proceeding to fall out of his bed, sending his comforter flying a bit, and his pillow getting pulled down with him.

If you had played it back in slow motion, it would have been rather spectacular. Equine limbs flailing wildly as their owner realized his inevitable crash landing. Pillow soaring high into the air and a most gorgeous arc, and comforter flying the other way as it was kicked.

The face of sheer mirth upon the face of the small one that caused all this.

And suddenly he was on the floor, and everything from the previous day flooded back into his head like a tidal wave of tentacled, giggling, child-like noises and events.

“Nababa!” Came a tiny, familiar voice.

“Yeah, yeah, good morning.” He groaned, sitting up and turning to see the Octopus-girl making her way over to the edge of the bed.

“You know, it isn’t nice to wake ponies up like that, it’s frightening.” He said, unable to contain at least a small grin at the sight of this tentacled mess on his bed.

She moved over to the edge of the bed and looked him dead in the eyes; she didn’t even have to bend over due to the fact his being on the floor put him at her eye level from her position on the bed, and instead of getting a response to his previous statement, he received an affectionate hug on his muzzle.

“You’re such a little suck up…” He mumbled, chuckling softly and nuzzling the octopus-girl’s stomach; eliciting a giggle from her.

“You know what I just realized?” He said, after his muzzle was released.

“Nah?”

“You don’t have a name, do you?”

The octopus-girl stared blankly at him, expressionless.

“What if I called you something like…Squishy?”

The expression he received in response was the definition of disgust; which was slightly surprising considering the nameless octopus-girl was only a baby.

“Bahbanaga!” She exclaimed; idly groping at the comforter with a leg tentacle.

“Yeah, that sounds more like some Saddle Arabian food rather than a name…” Quill said thoughtfully, sitting up on his haunches and stretching his wings out a bit.

Maybe he should get some food in him rather than starting the day by trying to name an octopus-child.

As if on cue, his stomach let out a low rumble, as if telling him that his thoughts should very much be carried out as soon as possible.

“Hmm…” He said, looking the octopus-girl up and down for a moment, before slowly righting himself and ruffling his mane a bit with a hoof.

“How about you and I see if we can’t do something about breakfast, and we can think up a name while we eat, hmm?”

“Mah.” She exclaimed softly, seeming content with an answer Quill wasn’t even sure if she understood.

The trip down the hallway and into the kitchen was nothing if not uneventful, the octopus-girl stuck close by and didn’t show any want to really wander off. She was content with simply trailing behind in relative silence.

Upon coming to his kitchen, Quill made his way over to the fridge and opened it up, leaning against the door and staring blankly inside.

The refrigerated air rushed out like a tidal wave, making him shiver for a moment before the air dissipated.

His fridge was rather poorly stocked.

On the top shelf sat a gallon of milk, and a half finished bottle of orange juice. With a bottle of ranch dressing in the back that was almost empty.

The shelf below held a few fruits and a plastic-wrapped sandwich from before time began. There was a Tupperware container filled with tomato soup at least, so that was good.

The bottom shelf was stocked the fullest, an assortment of vegetables both large and small, each in their own bag and sorted all neatly.

In the door, were multiple different types of soda, energy drinks, and even more sodas; only these were half finished.

There was actually plenty of food here for a pony who lived alone, like Quill.

The problem was he seemed to be fresh out of octopus food.

“Mahba.” The octopus-girl exclaimed, suddenly appearing between Quill’s front legs with her hands latched to the bottom shelf, curiously inspecting the vegetables.

“I don’t think you’ll like-“

Without further adieu, the octopus-girl latched a suckered hand around a bag of onions and proceeded to pull them out of the fridge, bringing about six other bags of various vegetables down with it.

The fact she had brought down so many other bags didn’t seem to affect the tentacled onion-thief In the slightest, as evident by the fact she simply made her way through them in a crumpling of plastic and paper, sought out what she deemed a suitable spot on the floor, and proceeded to further inspect her new treasure.

Quill watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye whilst returning his produce to the fridge. He watched as the octopus girl curiously pulled at the plastic of the bag and poked at the single onion inside, making her strange gurgling noises as she did so.

Wait, babies weren’t supposed to have plastic bags!

With a good deal of haste, he made his way over and gently relieved onion from octopus, and set said onion up on the counter; bag and all.

The onion-thief looked nonplussed.

“You can choke on that, and besides I don’t think octopi are supposed to eat onions…”

“Bahga.” She seemed to state somewhat firmly.

“Well, I don’t know! I’ve never had a baby octopus-thing in my house before!” Quill exclaimed, rubbing his still slightly closed eyes.

It was too early for tentacled shenanigans.

“Mahba!” She exclaimed; turning and extending her tiny arms up in the direction of where the onions now rested.

“But, I don’t-“

“Bagaba!” She exclaimed in that tiny voice of hers.

“You know what, fine; you can try some, but don’t be surprised when you despise a raw onion.” Quill said with a sigh, reaching up and pulling the onion out of its bag. He had no intention of giving her the whole thing of course, but he could at least let her try a little piece.

Hopefully this wasn’t like…bad for her or something.

“Bah.” She said, snatching the bit of onion from his hoof and inspecting it thoroughly.

“Go on then, you’re the one who wanted it in the first place!”

The octopus-girl gave the bit of onion another hard look, then without hesitation popped it into her mouth and began chewing happily away as if there were nothing abnormal about this.

“Oh.” He said, after watching the tiny girl chew and swallow the onion without so much as a sour face, then proceed to turn her gaze back up to him and let out a simple. “Gaba.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Quill deadpanned, shaking his head at the girl who only seemed to get stranger, before turning back to fish something out of his fridge more to his taste.

Despite the fact he knew that the octopus-girl was most likely trying to get a hold of the onions when he wasn’t looking, Quill focused on feeding himself and feeding himself alone; At least for a moment.

However; much like most mornings, he didn’t feel like actually cooking.

Therefore out came the carton of juice and the container of soup, followed by the sound of rustling plastic from behind him.

Called it.

Quill turned to find; as expected, the octopus-girl sitting on the floor, the plastic bag strewn over to the side and the onion held in both her sucker-covered hands.

“How did you even…”

She glanced up at him and gave the most innocent smile an octopus-girl could give, and then proceeded to bite down on the onion like one would an apple. She looked happy as could be and munched away in complete bliss, doing something that most ponies would have just about died from having to do.

“You just get stranger and stranger, I swear.”Quill said with a grin, turning and setting his container of soup down on the counter beside the carton of juice and hopping up on a stool.

Leaving octopus to enjoy onion, he opened up the container of soup and was instantly hit with the pleasant smell of said food; Tomatoes and seasonings all mixing together to form a smell near intoxicating.

The soup would be cold, but Quill didn’t mind. That morning he kind of felt like cold soup anyway, so it all worked out well.

“Mah!”

Quill turned his gaze away from breakfast and down to the octopus-girl who; upon seeing him sitting, had promptly made her way over to the base of his stool, looking up with an expression that seemed to say. “Uh, excuse me, why am I not also up there?”

“You aren’t getting my food.” He said, looking down at her with a shake of his hoof.

“Bah!” She exclaimed, holding up the half of an onion she had left; a bit of the other half stuck to the corner of her mouth.

Quill wasn’t sure if that had been a coincidence or if she had shown him she still had her own food on purpose to let him know she wouldn’t need his. She seemed pretty smart, so it wouldn’t be too surprising.

Silently, he leaned over and pulled out the stool next to him, reaching down and helping the octopus-girl to clamber up in a mess of tentacles, then seat herself happily on top.

With an amused coo, she began to scan her surroundings from this new vantage point, half-eaten onion still clutched in her sucker-covered hands.

Quill watched her carefully for a moment, as if to make she wouldn’t suddenly fall off the stool or something bad of that sort. However the octopus-girl seemed fully capable of maintaining her balance and remaining firmly planted in her seat, and soon the sound of her munching away at the onion was once again heard.

With a faint smile, Quill turned back to his soup. Realizing he forgot a spoon, he promptly righted this and leaned over to pull one out of the nearby drawer, returning to his soup now ready to devour it fully.

With the spoon-usage skills of a master, he scooped up a bit of soup and it soon disappeared into his maw. It was cool and refreshing, leaving a bit of a pleasant aftertaste as it washed down his gullet.

Without expecting an interruption, he prepared to take another spoonful of soup into his mouth, just as he was stopped by a rather abrupt “Maba!”

“I told you, this is my food, you’re the weirdo who wanted to eat an onion.” He chuckled, turning his gaze over to his breakfast companion, following her gaze to find it locked onto his spoon with a burning curiosity.

“Bagah?” She said curiously, gently setting her onion down on the counter before making a grabby motion with her hands in the direction of his spoon.

With a soft sigh, he moved it within her reach; he’d just get another one.

The octopus-girl quickly snatched up the spoon and began inspecting it thoroughly, letting out that soft gurgling noise she would make, upon finding her reflection through the bit of soup still remaining on the utensil. Her hair-tentacles became a bit livelier for a short moment and then she quickly set the spoon back on the counter; as close as she could get it to Quill.

Then, with surprising grace and ease. She slipped down off her stool and took off out of the kitchen without so much as a “Gahba.”

“Ahh, hold on, don’t go and get into something!” Quill said with a huff, giving his breakfast a look of longing before hopping from his stool and taking off into the living room, just in time to see the octopus-girl rounding into the hallway bathroom.

“What are you…?”

A second later, she returned. However this time she carried with her what she most likely deemed precious cargo.

In one hand, she clutched the shiny silver pot from the previous night, and in the other, she held the wooden spoon.

Paying no mind to Quill, she made her was past him with the slightest sense of haste, and was soon back into the kitchen, standing patiently by her stool and awaiting to be lifted back up.

“Really now?” He said with a chuckle upon returning to the kitchen, smirking at the serious look on her face.

“Bah.”

“You’re a mess.” He said, gently lifting her up and setting her back atop her stool once more; praying there wasn’t about to be an early morning jam session and at the same time being impressed she’d remembered where he put those items.

Much to his surprise however, instead of hitting the pot with the spoon, the octopus-girl proceeded to set the pot upright and place her mutilated-looking onion inside of it.

Curious as to what she was doing, Quill slid back into his stool and retrieved his spoon, proceeding to eat his soup and watch his guest as one would popcorn at a movie.

Focused wholeheartedly on her task, the octopus-girl picked up her wooden spoon and smacked it against the onion with what could only be described as a “Passion.”

The fact the onion wasn’t going onto the spoon seemed to cause a great deal of confusion.

“Here…” Quill said with a smile, scooting his stool over closer and making to grab the onion.

“BAH!” The octopus-girl cried, looking over at him with the most intimidating glare she could muster and waggling the spoon a bit.

“Alright, alright…don’t get your tentacles in a bunch…” He deadpanned, eyes hooded.

Ignoring him wholly, the octopus-girl proceeded to hit the onion once again with the spoon, unsurprisingly yielding the same result as the first attempt.

“Just lemme know when you’re done being stubborn.” Quill chimed, turning his attention back to his own food and listening wooden spoon smack against onion and pot in a manner quite chaotic.

Four spoonfuls of soup later, the cacophony had abruptly ceased, and a gentle tap was felt on his shoulder, followed by a defeated sounding gurgle.

“You ready for help now?” Quill asked, turning his gaze over to the octopus-girl looking up at him and holding back a smile.

He took his being offered a wooden spoon as a yes.

“Watch, you aren’t going to get anything on this spoon with the onion looking like…that.” He said; eyeing the produce that looked like it had been jumped in a Manehattan alleyway.

Quill pulled the pot over a bit, figuring he would work on the fact you weren’t really supposed to eat onions with a big wooden spoon out of a metal pan later. He promptly took the onion in a hoof; finding it a bit slobbery, and broke it up.

It wasn’t necessarily hard to do this, because onions are layered; like a cake or the Ogres that roamed Equestria.

Ogres were layered too you know, despite what they would tell you.

With nothing other than a small, worried, whimper from his guest. Quill soon had the onion broken up into smaller, slimy pieces that only filled up about a fourth of the pan itself.

“Now try.” He said, hoofing the spoon back to the octopus-girl and watching her carefully.

With the softest of mewls she accepted the spoon, turning over and gazing down at the pot of raw onions in a manner almost cautious.

Giving Quill a look of uncertainty, she proceeded to; successfully this time, scoop up a bit of onion on her spoon, and carry it into her mouth.

Upon completing this task, she looked ecstatic.

“There you go!” Quill exclaimed, smiling like an idiot. “You’ll be a pro in no time!”

“Yagah!” The octopus-girl replied, smiling just as wide through close eyes, before turning to take another bite of onion from her recently mastered spoon.

This made Quill feel warm for some reason. He was actually kind of proud of himself right now.

The rest of breakfast was rather quiet and uneventful, the octopus-girl was contented with eating her onion bit by bit with a wooden spoon that was much too large, out of a pot that was both too large and not being used for its intended purpose.

Quill managed to down his soup without interruption, eating as silent as the one sitting beside him.

It was a peaceful breakfast, and if one had taken a picture of the two who shared it, they would have looked like some odd pair you would see half-awake at a diner at three in the morning, the kind hunched over steaming cups of coffee and staring ahead into nothingness with hooded eyes.

Which was funny, because one was an infant octopus-girl.

A tiny, soft yawn followed soon after Quill had rinsed out the now empty container of soup, he turned to find the octopus-girl’s eyes drooping a bit and her hair-tentacles moving lazily and without much energy; a few of them even hung limp.

“How are you already sleepy again…?” He asked softly, trotting over to the stool upon which the octopus girl was perched.

“Bah…” She replied sleepily, making half-hearted grabby motions with barely raised arms.

Jeeze, little tyke really did run out of gas quick.

“Come on then…”He said with a sigh, moving over and allowing the tuckered-out octopus-girl to clamber off the stool and onto his back, then promptly bury her face in the back of his neck and let out a muffled coo.

Figuring he could come back in and clean up what mess was left in the kitchen after putting tired-tentacles to bed, Quill made his was slowly into the living room and over to the couch; already beginning to formulate a grand plan of what he was going to be doing while the octopus-girl napped.

He would lay her down, let her fall asleep. The quietly go and finish cleaning the kitchen. Once that was all done he thought it would be a good idea to sit down and try to get some work done on his story!

This whole ordeal had given him quite a few new ideas, so that was good.

Without much trouble, he managed to get his tired passenger over to the couch and get her onto it. She slid off his back and lay down on the couch without so much as a gurgle of complaint; grabbing the blanket she had been meant to sleep with the previous night, pulling it up beside her, and proceeding to faceplant into the couch.

“I find it hard to believe you aren’t playing this up.” Quill said under his breath, grinning a bit as the octopus-girl tucked herself in, her eyes shutting almost instantly.

Unsure exactly how to react to this; and forgetting what happened when he left her alone last night, Quill turned and began making his way into the kitchen, not really thinking anything else would happen.

Until he actually left the room.

And then the crying and the hollering began, not fifteen seconds later.

With a bit of a huff, Quill turned and peered back into the living room, finding the infant-octopus standing up on the couch, bawling her eyes out.

“Really?” He deadpanned.

The octopus girl quieted down and looked over at him, rubbing her eyes and letting out a soft “Nagah.”, before making a soft gurgling noise and reaching her arms out in his direction.

With the smallest sigh, Quill made his way back over to the couch and plopped down with the tiniest bit of annoyance; so much for all those plans.

“You are a literal, mess, you know that?” He said, finding himself unable to really stay annoyed at the tiny octopus-girl currently snuggling up against his thigh.

“Yahba.” She said sleepily, gurgling in a happy manner and rubbing her cheek against his leg.

“’Yahba’ Indeed…”

Chapter 1, Part 4: In Which Tentacled Trouble Meets Royalty

Chapter 1, Part 4: In Which Tentacled Trouble Meets Royalty

A week.

That was how long he had kept the octopus-girl out of the public eye; or “Rekki” as he had taken to calling her.

Quill hadn’t ever been all that good at keeping secrets.

He usually had some sort of tell, or a giveaway, or sometimes he would just slip up completely and actually just tell the secret.

However this time it wasn’t because he had said anything, or given himself away.

No, it was because Rekki had decided she should go and follow the smell of fish that had been emanating from the house next door, a house occupied by griffins that rather enjoyed food of the piscine variety.

Of course he probably should have made sure all entrances and exits to his house were secured and latched.

They hadn’t tried to eat Rekki of course, but they had been rather shocked to see her crawling in their window to try and grab a bit of cooked fish off the sill.

That had been a fun talk.

A majority of Griffins are, by nature, rather thick-headed sometimes; despite being part bird. One would think they were rather sharp and attentive creatures seeing as birds were often just that. Griffins however were a different matter, and instead of keeping little Rekki’s existence a secret like Quill had asked, and at least trying to be reasonable, they just had to go and tell the Princesses.

Thus was the reason he was currently sitting outside the large doors of the Royal Throne Room in Canterlot, holding Rekki on his back, and being eyeballed by two guards who looked the definition of “Gruff”

Of course he didn’t look much better. He certainly wasn’t looking like one should if they were going to go and see the Princesses, his mane was an utter mess, his coat was dirty and messy, and he was pretty sure he smelled of fish.

The two massive doors in front of him were decorated with ornate carvings and designs, depicting some sort of ancient ritual involving the sun on one door, and some ancient and much darker and more…intimidating looking depiction of a ritual involving the moon on the other door.

To the left and right were long, shiny, marble hallways, lined on either side with pillars inlaid halfway into the wall, and decorated with intricate and ornate carvings. Detailed paintings, portraits and tapestries lined the walls in between each half-pillar, as if to assure there would always be something to look at.

“Bah.” Rekki said softly, gently tugging on Quill’s ear and trying to get his attention.

Quill couldn’t help but chuckle to himself over the guards faces upon seeing such a strange creature utter such a simple sound.

“What is it, hun?” He said, turning back to look at Rekki out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t understand her of course, in the few days she had been living with him she had continued with her gibberish; hopefully he would be given the chance to try and actually teach her to talk properly.

“Rabah!” She exclaimed, putting a sucker-covered hand on the cheek of her guardian.

“Just be patient, you and I are going to meet the Princesses!” He said, feigning slight excitement for her benefit.

While she couldn’t yet communicate properly, in the short time he had harbored her, Quill had found Rekki to be good at picking up on emotion and the general gist of what she was being told. She was extremely bright, much brighter than a pony her age; Quill had assumed she was most likely around one year old, and decided they would just say her birthday was the day he found her on the beach.

However, Quill was worried. Very much so.

He had no idea what the two deity-like rulers of basically all known Equestria would say to him. He didn’t know if they were planning to take Rekki from him, or if they wanted to make him release her into the ocean, if they would keep her locked up at the castle, or worse…

He didn’t want her to be taken away from him.

He had grown rather fond of the strange little girl, and since he brought her home had started looking upon her as his own child rather than some creature he found at a beach. He had even started figuring out the sort of things she needed to be healthy and happy.

For instance, his bathtub was always kept full of water. Rekki didn’t seem to mind if it was saltwater or not, as long as there was water she had access to she was happy. Quill would have thought she would have needed to be in the water constantly so that she wouldn’t dry out, however she seemed to be just as happy out of the water as in; as long as she knew she had access to said aqua vitae. She didn’t seem to dry out at all.

She didn’t like sleeping away from him either, at all. He had discovered that on the very first night he brought her home; why exactly she didn’t like this he wasn’t sure.

He had tried to have her sleep on the couch in the living room; he hadn’t ever done this parenting thing before, what did you expect?

The second he had closed his bedroom door, Quill was educated on how loud octopus-girls could cry.

A few minutes later, she was in his room undergoing an expedition of discovery that lasted a good hour that resulted in his belongings being thoroughly scattered about the floor, and then she fell asleep next to him shortly after; which had been strange for him because he hadn’t exactly had an octopus-thing fall asleep in his bed before.

There hadn’t even been any warning! She just kinda had crawled up on the bed and fell asleep at the foot, in the space of about fifteen seconds.

Luckily octopus-girls didn’t seem to snore; or maybe it was because she just didn’t have a nose or something.

Rekki was also highly curious, and in this case “Highly” meant “She decided to go through the house pulling open every drawer she could find and inspecting its contents. She probably had a better lay of his house after one night than he did after all his time living there. Luckily for him she hadn’t really been so comfortable when they arrived at the palace, and had remained happily seated on his back rather than trying to wander off.

The armed guards on all sides of them had probably factored in a little bit too.

The sound of massive wooden doors creaking open roused Quill from his thoughts, and elicited and coo of wonder from his fishy companion.

“The Princesses will see you now.” The guards said in unison, staring ahead with expressions of stone.

“That wasn’t creepy at all…” Quill said to himself before slowly trotting through the doorway.

On either side of the throne room were massive glass windows, positioned in such a way that the throne room would be filled with moonlight at night and sunlight by day, no matter the current position of said celestial bodies.

Like in the hallway he had been waiting in before, the walls were lined with massive marble pillars set halfway into the walls, rising all the way to the arched ceiling and dividing the windows evenly.

A long, thick, somewhat velvety carpet was laid out, starting at the doorway and ending at the base of the throne.

From there it was only about four shiny, thick, marble steps before you hit the throne. A large and pristine looking pedestal appearing to be built entirely out of gold; or at least plated in it. The cushion was plump and a shade of red that perfectly matched that of the carpet leading up to it.

However none of this is what was frightening or intimidating.

What was frightening, knee-shaking, teeth-chattering, pass-out-on-the-spot, frightening, was the fact that both Princesses were atop those steps, staring directly at him.

Celestia sat upright in her throne with an air of pristine grace, multicolored mane endlessly flowing in a breeze that wasn’t even there.

Upon her neck hung a sort of bracer-looking accessory, decorated with swirled etchings and a large purple gem set into the center of it. Matching shoes were worn on her hooves, shined so perfectly you could have seen your reflection in them, and to top it all off; err, so to speak, was the crown.

The Crown itself was rather simple in design, three points rose up in the front with a shiny purple gem set into the center of the middle and largest point, surrounded by etchings and markings that most likely told some story or legend.

Celestia’s wardrobe was probably more expensive than everything Quill owned and then some.

Beside the deity of the Sun, sat her younger sister, Luna.

Luna was seated on a cushion to the left of her sister, sitting in an upright position identical to that of her kin. Ethereal looking mane colored midnight-blue, glittering here and there like the very stars of the night sky. It was as if somepony had cut a part of the night sky out and fashioned it into a mane.

The Princess of The Night, like her sister, wore a crown. Only this crown was a deep, onyx-black. It gleamed in the light and was otherwise devoid of any marking or symbol.

Also like her older sister, Luna bore a neck accessory that matched her crown in its color and shine. It bore a depiction of a white moon encompassed by multiple stars so real it could be mistaken for the actual moon; you know if the moon were something you wore.

“Approach, please.”

Celestia’s voice brought Quill out of his study of the two royals and reminded him exactly what he was doing here, so far from home.

“Err…” Somewhat awkwardly, he strode forward and up to the foot of the throne, proceeding to stare nervously up at the Princesses for a moment before remembering that you were supposed to bow; you know, the minor stuff.

“Princesses.” He said, if somewhat shakily, bowing his head and hearing a hushed giggle of amusement from his cephalopod-passenger upon her being tilted downwards; who was firmly latched to the back of his neck and doing her best to hide.

“Rise, Quilliam.” Celestia said in a manner most motherly. “You need not be so nervous; we do not intend to bring harm to neither you nor your friend.”

“Right…” He said as he rose. He didn’t really think they would hurt him, but he did think they might try to take Rekki away.

“Where is the creature?” Celestia asked, tilting her head downwards a bit but otherwise not moving in the slightest, it actually was rather intimidating.

“Oh, right.” Quill ruffled his wings a bit, trying to coax out the reason for this entire ordeal. “Rekki, come on out, the Princess wants to meet you!” He said softly, tilting his head to look at the small portion of her head he could see from her hiding spot on his neck, which actually wasn’t much of a hiding spot at all.

“Abba.” Rekki replied softly, gently pulling her face away from his neck and peeking over to look at him.

“Hop down and introduce yourself!” He said softly, motioning towards the Princesses with a nod of his head.

“Is it shy?” Said Luna, an air of criticality about her tone.

Quill huffed a bit and turned to look at the Princess of The Night. “She is somewhat shy, yes. She is only a child after all.”

The faint smirk Luna gave upon being corrected on what term should be used to describe Rekki was nothing if not a portrayal of

amusement.

“Come on then…” Quill coaxed, managing to convince his passenger to slowly turn and slide down his leg, only for her to then spin and hide herself behind it, and do so fast enough that a good look at her was basically impossible during the transition of hiding places; although the tips of her tentacles were sticking out.

“Little one, do not be afraid, we will not hurt you.” Celestia said reassuringly, wearing a genuine smile and directing her gaze at Rekki’s hiding spot.

This seemed to convince her, if only slightly, to come out and show herself, and soon enough two large white eyes and scarlet hair-tentacles appeared from behind Quill’s front leg.

“You can come out; I won’t let anypony hurt you I promise.” He said softly, craning his head down to look at the child.

“Baba.” She stated somewhat loudly, her tiny voice echoing throughout the cavernous throne room in the slightest.

The expressions of the sisters upon Quill stating he would keep her from harm, despite the fact a small army was constantly patrolling the castle, went unseen by all but the ones who made them.

However, the words of her guardian seemed to convince Rekki enough that she slowly moved out from behind his leg in a manner that could have been described as ‘Slithering’.

A soft but audible gasp from both Princesses was the next thing heard.

There she stood, in all her strange glory, was Rekki.

Her hair-tentacles had firmly latched themselves to the sides of her face, as if they were frightened. Large turquoise eyes wide in a mixture of fear and shyness, the tips of her leg tentacles seemed to quiver wherever they weren’t latched to the red rug. Now that Quill thought about, Rekki’s entire form was quivering slightly, as a whole, she currently emanated fear on some level, and she held her hands together in front of her waist in a manner most polite.

She wasn’t quite so confident when not atop Quill, it seemed.

Celestia stared intently at this unusual guest for a moment, a look of sheer wonder upon her face; a rare expression from one quite as old, wise and knowledgeable.

“Do you know why you are here, Quilliam?” Celestia said softly, pulling her gaze over to the slightly nervous looking Pegasus.

That was the question of the flipping day, wasn’t it?

Why was he here? All Quill knew was shortly after the incident with the Griffins, a contingent of intimidating looking Royal Guards had shown up at his house, armed to the teeth, and with a carriage and a pet carrier; which thankfully after some major-convincing, said carrier was refrained from being used.

Afterwards they were carted here rather bumpily and with great haste. During the entire duration of this ride, an armor-clad Pegasus stallion had stared unyieldingly at both he and Rekki from the seat opposite them.

Upon arriving, they had been escorted into the palace with little trouble, nopony seemed to really care about what was going on; it made Quill wonder if maybe strange occurrences were a commonplace in this part of Equestria.

Then he had been escorted into the palace and through more hallways than he cared to count, all the while with Rekki firmly latched to his back.

Now he was here.

So yeah, why was he here, was it so they could take Rekki, or tell him he could keep her, or did they want her to be released into the Ocean?

“Uh…I would assume that you have something to tell me, regarding Rekki.” He said honestly, looking over at the small octopus-girl as he mentioned her, scooting over a bit and sitting down in order to put a protective hoof around her.

Rekki let out a small burbling noise and seemed to relax a bit at his actions; her shivering ceasing completely, something that relaxed Quill just as much as the one he was comforting.

“You would be correct in assuming that. This…Rekki, has caused quite a bit of a stir here at the palace. This is the first time a new sentient species has been discovered in Equestria since my Great Grandfather’s time, before the founding of Equestria as a nation. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, I’m sure you understand.” Celestia said, the smallest hint of an apologetic tone lacing her words.

Quill couldn’t help but grin.

“Yeah, I assumed something like that when a small army showed up at my door and carted me here without so much as a ‘Hello’”

“You address your superiors rather boldly, Quilliam. I would advise you to watch your tone.” Luna chimed in, looking down at him rather sternly.

“Calm yourself, Sister, It is understandable he would be a bit distressed at the abrupt nature of the action taken in order to bring both him and the child to Canterlot.” Celestia said calmly, never once removing her gaze from the two before her.

Quill tightened his hold around Rekki ever so slightly, pulling her small form closer to him. She barely even came up past his knee and here she was in front of the Princesses. Granted, she most likely didn’t know they were the Princesses. She probably just thought they were two large ponies who sat in big chairs, had strange hair, and most importantly, were staring right at her.

Regardless, she didn’t like it at all, neither did Quill.

“What is it you plan to do with her?” He said suddenly, not really feeling like waiting for the Princesses to tell him on their own.

“Do with her?” Luna said, raising an eyebrow at him. “What is it that you mean?”

“Am I going to be allowed to keep her, or are you going to try and take her?” Quill replied, going somewhat on the defensive, despite the fact no words anywhere near an offensive had been spoken to him.

Celestia let out a soft chuckle, a soft and warm sound, pleasant.

“My little pony, neither I nor my sister have any intention of removing the child from your care, nor do we have any intention of harming her in any way. She appears to have become rather attached to you, and I could not; in good conscience, sever that sort of bond between child and guardian.”

Quill let out an audible sigh of relief; it was like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had become extremely fond of Rekki and found the thought of her being taken away rather sickening. Granted, she wasn’t his child. However he certainly had begun to view her in that way since he had brought her home.

“What, then?” He asked.

“You may keep the child in your custody, and raise her as your own. However do not go thinking this task will go without careful supervision. An overseer shall be assigned to check in on you and the child. It is your job to assure that she does not cause unnecessary trouble and to raise her in a manner she can happily and properly live amongst the citizens of Equestria.” Celestia explained, her motherly, loving tone never faltering.

“An overseer?”

“Gahba?” Rekki exclamed softly, as if she were asking the same question.

“Yes, an Overseer.” Celestia said with a soft chuckle at Rekki’s babble. “In fact, that task will be bestowed upon my sister, Luna.”

Luna and Quill both looked equally shocked.

“S-sister?” Luna stuttered, her expression of shock otherwise shattering her previous air of formality and regality.

For some reason, despite being so shocked himself, Quill found this humorous.

“Yes, Luna will be bestowed with the task of keeping a watchful eye on you both, she will report to me periodically or when she feels she has information that I need to be told.”

“Sister, w-what about my duties regarding the moon, a-and-“

“You will simply be overseeing, Luna, not moving in with the poor pegasus. All I ask of you is to watch over the both of them. I cannot send any of the Elements, as they are occupied with that strange box; Though I suspect Fluttershy would have a ‘Field Day’ with this child, And it is but a short flight from here. I know I can rely on you completely to carry out this task. Now, do you have any other qualms regarding your mission?”

Luna let out a startlingly childish huff, and even stomped her hoof against the pillow upon which she sat; just barely, but she had definitely done it. However, she said nothing in response.

“Wonderful. Luna, if you would be so kind as to have a carriage made ready to take our guests home?”Celestia said in her soothing voice, turning her gaze down to meet that of her sister.

Luna looked slightly annoyed at this, but nodded silently all the same. Trotting down the steps with soft claps of hooves against marble. Making sure to give both Quill and Rekki a stern look as she passed them; He hadn’t really realized she was that much taller than he as she trotted by, and then exited the room.

Once the large wooden doors had shut behind Luna, and the “Clunk” of wood meeting wood rang throughout the room, Celestia slowly rose from her seat and made her way down the steps in a manner that could not have been more regal, coming to a halt a small ways away from the equine and cephalopod standing before her.

For all the regality, grace and beauty she possessed. Celestia was a powerful looking being. Her legs and body were toned and strong, she was built like one would expect that of a warrior, sinewy muscles hidden only by white fur of her coat. She was almost certainly stronger than Quill was.

Previously, Celestia had appeared to have a flawless and undamaged coat, but now that he was able to look at her more closely, he could see multiple scars from battles long ago, some small, but some rather large. Covered only barely by the fur of her coat that had grown in over them. They were there, just hard to see.

It made him wonder how many wars she had fought. The history books weren’t exactly forthcoming with the topic of war, and it was not readily taught in schools.

“You know, few ponies actually notice the scars.” Celestia said with a soft smile.

“W-what?” Quill replied, somewhat startled and embarrassed at the fact Celestia had noticed his staring.

“War is something that has not come upon our nation in a very, very long time.”

Quill wasn’t quite sure where she was going with this, Rekki however, felt like voicing her opinion, and did so with an abrupt “Kabagah!” Still shaking ever so softly and trying her best to hide behind the protective hoof of her guardian.

Celestia gave a small smile at the noise, and slowly raised a hoof to Rekki, holding it out in front of her silently.

Rekki stared at the golden-clad hoof for a moment, flitting her gaze back and forth between Quill, Celestia, and Celestia’s shoe. After a moment she slowly extended a suckered hand and touched it to the hoof of royalty.

Was she allowed to be doing that, or…?

“Bah?” Rekki let out a small sound portraying curiosity and proceeded to suddenly and without warning, remove said shoe from its owner.

“Oh!” Celestia exclaimed, laughing softly.

“Ah! I-I am so sorry, she likes to grab at things a-and-“

Quill was silenced by a gentle wave of Celestia’s hoof.

“Quilliam, I prefer my nation remain a peaceful one if at all possible. At this time, the child does not seem capable of bringing harm to others or causing any more havoc than one would expect of a normal, equine foal. However her very existence will cause a bit of a…stir. I will make it known to Canterlot and all of Equestria that such a creature exists, but I will also make it known that anypony who interferes with you and the child’s upbringing will be met with…Royal intervention.” She said, apparently not caring her shoe had been stolen and was currently being tasted by the one holding it.

“I-I appreciate that, Princess, but I’m not sure why you’re-“

“Try to keep her out of trouble?” Celestia said with a smirk, looking him in the eyes.

“Princess, are you giving me…parenting advice?”

“Maybe I am.” She said with a small smile, her gaze returning to Rekki; who had turned the shoe over and was inspecting the inside of it thoroughly.

“Quilliam, what I mean by this is, try not to cause an ordeal that will leave me with more scars, or another incident report on top of the daily pile, hmm? I can send out all the reports I want and tell everypony of this child and how she is safe, and how she is not to be bothered, and I can do that all I want. However even with all the power and weight my words carry, I cannot control the actions of others. You have to understand that her upbringing will carry much more with it than just the normal stresses of raising a child.”

“I had kind of figured that out, Princess, but…why not just keep her a secret, why tell everypony? At the very least, why make a big deal of it?” He asked.

Celestia let out a soft laugh, not so much a condescending one so much as one of knowing, and slight pain. Like of somepony remembering something unpleasant from long ago.

“In my time ruling I have learned many things, one of which being that my subjects react rather negatively when discovering something I have kept from them on their own, rather than me simply telling them. Even so there will always be unsavory characters and ner-do-wells in this world, so I would advise you to do your very best…to keep her out of trouble. For both our sakes, hmm?”

Quill smiled softly and bowed his head down to look at Rekki, finding her still happily inspecting Celestia’s shoe, totally oblivious to the fact she had stolen it from the Princess and that what she had done was a crime probably worth an eternity in jail.

Rekki seemed to notice she was being looked at, and turned her gaze up to meet that of her guardian, staring at him for a moment before holding the shoe up near his face with both her hands and letting out a simple “Bah.” Before smiling happily and returning to inspecting it thoroughly.

“I’ll do my best, Princess.” He said with a smile, bending over to nuzzle Rekki.

“I would expect nothing less, now, If you would be so kind as to make your way back into the hallway, somepony should be there awaiting you, they will ensure you arrive home safely, and then you shall be free to raise the child. Apart from Luna’s overseeing, you will receive little intervention from us and will be free to live out your life.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Quill replied, bowing his head respectfully before looking down at Rekki. “You ready to go?”

Rekki looked up at him for a moment, holding the shoe she had recently snatched in one hand. “Gahbaga.”

“How about you give that back to the Princess, and then we can go?”

Rekki let out a soft whine, clutching the golden shoe to her chest. “Nah…”

Quill was about to let out a slightly worried huff, when Celestia spoke up.

“May I…?” She asked softly.

Wait, the Princess was asking for permission…?

“Uh, by all means, I-I guess.”

Quill watched as Celestia lowered herself to Rekki’s level and basically laid down on the floor. He wasn’t sure why but seeing the ruler of Equestria lying on the floor embarrassed him, but it did, and he was pretty sure he was blushing.

“Hello, little one.” She said lovingly, wearing a gentle smile.

“Nahpa.” Rekki said, eyeing Celestia with a mixture of blatant uncertainty and wariness, turning her body to the side and clutching the shoe to her chest, gaze fixed firmly on the alicorn before her. Her hair-tentacles clutching to her face not quite as firmly before, but still clutching nonetheless.

It was actually somewhat surprising how comfortable Celestia seemed around Rekki; Quill certainly hadn’t been like that at first. Of course Celestia was extremely old, he was sure she had seen many a strange and fantastic creature in her long life, before and during her rule.

“May I have my shoe back?” She asked, gently lifting her hoof and holding it out in front of her.

Rekki’s gaze flitted between Celestia’s hoof and the shoe. She let out an reluctant mewl and then looked up to Quill, as if he were supposed to convince the Princess to part from a shoe probably worth something with three zeroes tacked on the end.

Quill nodded his head in Celestia’s direction, motioning that the Princess did, indeed need her shoe back.

Rekki let out another frustrated mewl, but proceeded to turn to face Celestia and hold the shoe out for her, all expression of reluctance now gone, if anything she seemed somewhat pleasant.

“Bana!” She stated, holding out the shoe.

Celestia smiled back and gratefully accepted the shoe, rising back up to her full height and slipping it onto her hoof, then once again leaning down to give Rekki a gentle nuzzle; an action just as unexpected and surprising to Quill as when she had laid down on the floor.

The sound of the large wooden doors creaking open once again filled the cavernous room, and all within said room turned their gaze in the direction from which the sound came.

“The carriage is ready, sister.” Luna said, stepping halfway into the room and giving Quill a less than pleased glance.

Quill wasn’t exactly sure what the rest of his life had in store, even less so now than before. All he knew was it was definitely going to be eventful, and that he and the Princess of The Night would end up most likely butting heads more than once.

Oh boy.

Chapter 1, Part 5: In Which Tentacled Trouble Takes A Carriage Ride

Chapter 1, Part 5: In Which Tentacled Trouble Takes A Carriage Ride

The sound of wooden carriage wheels against dirt and cobble was the only sound that was heard, the seemingly endless bumping and grinding and crunching filled the air in a muted cacophony; muted by the doors and walls of the closed-interior carriage.

The inside of the carriage was mostly square, lined with a comfortable black velvet-like fabric that was interrupted only by the occasional shiny, black, button that was put in place for either looks, or to actually hold the fabric on, Quill wasn’t sure.

What he also wasn’t sure of, was why it needed to be so dark.

It was, extremely dark in here.

The curtains over the windows were thick and heavy, enough so that only enough light shone in to illuminate the outlines of the passengers.

Luna was most likely to blame for this, actually, he knew she was. Luna had told him not five minutes ago; she was sitting across from him after all.

“Does it need to be so…dark?” He asked, slight annoyance lacing his tone.

“Spaba.” Rekki seemed to agree from her spot on Quill’s lap.

“Quilliam, you already asked this very question not five minutes ago, and the answer remains the same. I enjoy the dim light, as your Princess I have chosen it to be so and you shall abide by this.” Luna said, her words somewhat edged.

“You’re just mad because big sis told you what to do.” Quill jabbed; wondering if he really should be ‘jabbing’ at a Princess.

There was an audible huff.

“Now you listen here, I am on a royal task, in which I am assigned to watch over you and this ‘Rekki’, to make sure you do not cause havoc for the fair citizens of Equestria. I was chosen because I am the most qualified for the task!” She said firmly, that little bit of “Ye olde” accent shining through; a thousand years alone on a moon without being around the evolving language of Equis would to that to a pony.

“Bahspaga.” Rekki deadpanned, shifting a bit in Quill’s lap.

“Shush little one, you know nothing of which you speak. I cannot even understand you.” Luna huffed.

“Are you just like, constantly grumpy?” Quill asked.

“You address your Princess in a manner most brave, Quilliam.”

“I’m a brave type of pony I guess.”

“Why the very nerve of-“

“Tabah!” Rekki cried out suddenly, finding a drawstring for one of the curtains and then giving it a strong tug. It flew open and allowed a beam of light to blast in through the window and straight onto Luna.

The Princess of The Night let out a bit of a yelp, her wings flapping a bit as she shielded her eyes from the sudden and drastic change in light, scooting over to the other side of the seat and trying to let her eyes recover.

Rekki let out a joyous laugh and clapped her hands together, seeming to find great amusement in watching the Princess of The Night practically hiss as she shielded her eyes.

Apparently Quill wasn’t the only one who wanted to mess with Luna.

“I do not appreciate your laughter at my discomfort, tentacled one!” Luna said with a huff, blinking and rubbing her eyes, and then shooting the cephalopod an annoyed glare.

“Bah!” Rekki chimed.

“She just wanted some light, that’s all, Princess!” Quill said with a grin, reaching over and patting Rekki on the head; to which she let out a happy gurgle.

“Indeed…” Luna replied with a huff, inhaling sharply and seeming to recompose herself.

One couldn’t help but notice how young Luna looked, even for as old as she was, she looked young. She wasn’t quite a sinewy and powerful looking as her sister but that may have been more because she was more proficient in magic rather than close combat.

He wondered if she had participated in many wars, she certainly didn’t have any scars, at least not ones he could see. Maybe she had fought, and simply maintained a distance, using her magic rather than getting up close.

It wasn’t all that farfetched of a theory. Luna was very skilled in the arcane and magical; that was a widely known fact that would often contribute heavily to some of the dark and twisted stories that were often told about her.

That was the thing though; she didn’t look scary at all; if anything she looked rather innocent! Though…for all her innocence, she had, you know, tried to send Equestria into eternal darkness.

Granted, she wasn’t in her right mind at the time, but still.

“I can feel your eyes, Quilliam.”

He straightened up a bit and looked ahead, clearing his throat and trying to ignore what she had said.

“Speak your piece; you need not remain silent for my benefit.”

Quill sighed softly as he felt Rekki nudging his leg, he turned his gaze down to find her rubbing her cheek on his thigh and sprawling her body out on the seat of the carriage; a few leg-tentacles drooping lazily off the edge as she let out a soft gurgle.

“I-I don’t want to be rude…”

“We all know that is a farce.” She said, turning her gaze over to him with the smallest hint of a grin. “Ask, and I will answer the best I can.”

Quill let out a somewhat nervous sigh, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof and looking down at Rekki yet again; finding her to be slowly drifting off into sleep, despite the slight bumpiness of their ride.

“Is there a reason you were so…standoffish, back at the palace?” He asked, gently stroking the infant’s head.

Luna actually snorted, to which Quill sat in silence; unsure how to respond.

“Standoffish…?” She seemed to sneer.

“I didn’t mean to-“

“Nay, Quilliam, you have done no wrong. I will admit I was slightly…confrontational, and I apologize. Please understand something, Equestria as a nation, seems to have a knack for attracting trouble. It is a most bothersome phenomenon, yet it is seemingly one without remedy. With the recent near-disasters over the past few years; Discord, the Changelings, Tirek, I and all the other princesses have found ourselves somewhat…jumpy, at anything that could end up being any sort of major threat.”

“Oh…” Quill couldn’t help but feel kind of bad for being so quick to think Luna was just normally so snippy.

A somewhat awkward silence followed. The only sound being that of the carriage wheels against the cobblestone path, the hooves of the guards that pulled said carriage, and the occasional mewl from the cephalopod that was asleep on his leg.

“Also, partially because…she isn’t a monster.”

“Uh, pardon?”

“Quilliam, Equestria has become rather acclimated; in its own way, to near-constant trouble, not once has some great event occurred where some ner-do-well or monster hasn’t been crawling up close behind it…”

“Your sister already explained this to me…”

“I’m explaining it again, in my own way. Humor me.”

Quill blinked but remained silent, settling back in his seat and perking his ears up.

“You have heard of Fluttershy, yes?” Luna inquired, turning her head to gaze out the window.

“Yeah, she’s one of the Elements of Harmony, right? Uh…Kindness or something?”

“Former Element, but yes; that is she. Now, if you are one to pay attention to the news and ‘Tavern Talk’, so to speak, I would be correct in assuming that you heard of her contracting a strange form of vampirism?”

“Princess, I don’t see what-“

“Answer my question, please.”

“Y-yeah, I heard about it. She sucks the juice from fruit or something to that effect?” Quill said with a wave of his hoof, not really following Luna’s train of thought on the conversation.

“Precisely, fruit and fruit alone, Fluttershy was and still is as harmless as a pony could be. Yet once word got out she had contracted vampirism; it didn’t matter what kind, it wasn’t long before she was harassed, shunned and on a few cases, assaulted by random members of the public. It even got so bad that there ended up being a small mob taking up a position outside of the poor mare’s home.”

“But…she just drank fruit juices, so why would they consider her a danger?” Quill asked; he had only heard of her contracting vampirism and drinking fruit juices, but not of the mobs and assault.

“And Rekki is just a harmless child.” Luna deadpanned, turning her gaze and locking it with Quill’s; her actions seeming to almost give her words more weight.

Suddenly this entire little conversation was starting to make sense to him.

“Public conjecture is a powerful, powerful thing. I know better than most; granted those conjectures weren’t entirely false, but I digress. This child has done nothing wrong and at this point in time it seems like she is going to stay that way. The public however, will not always see it that way; even after she proves herself harmless time and time again. I do not mean to scare you, Quilliam, but It is not unlikely that you will be attacked, and shunned, and rejected…your life from this point on isn’t exactly going to be easy, quite the opposite, honestly.” Luna said coolly, her tone never faltering once.

“I understood this when your sister told it to me, so why-“

“I am telling you this again, so that I can assure you truly understand what you are doing…and, to offer an out.” Luna said, looking over to the side and tilting her head a bit as she spoke.

“What does that mean?” He deadpanned, already knowing what the answer might be.

“What I am saying is this is your chance to relinquish the child over into royal custody. I can assure you she will receive the utmost care and will be loved like one of our own. She will be taught properly and her integration into society will be as smooth as possible, all of the things you want to offer her, but without the pain to yourself.”

Quill said nothing, his gaze locked on Luna’s long after she had finished speaking.

Give up Rekki, could he really do that?

Slowly, he tore his gaze away from Luna’s and down to the small, sleeping form of the squishy octopus-girl resting against his leg. She looked so happy, so peaceful. One of her suction-cup covered hands rested gently against his thigh, as if to make sure he wouldn’t suddenly leave her.

He couldn’t leave her, could he? She seemed to already have bonded very closely to him, and he had grown rather fond of her in the short time they had been together. She was already somewhat of house child; in his eyes at least. He found her, brought her home, gave her a place to sleep, gone through all the trouble of being taken to Canterlot to be told he was going to be allowed to keep her…

He couldn’t just abandon her.

In that moment Quill made that life-changing choice. That ‘Plot Twist’ he had been waiting for his whole life, fell into place and was set in motion in that very moment.

He smiled lovingly down at his adopted child, stooping low and nuzzling her hair tentacles as gently as he physically could, before turning his gaze over to Luna and giving his answer.

“I think I’ll raise her…thank you.”

And from that moment on, his life was going to be anything but ‘Normal’, yet for some reason he didn’t really mind that all too much.