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

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.