The world of Equus was quite a large one. Despite existing for thousands of years, there were always new lands, creatures, and societies to discover and explore. In the past few years alone, Equestria had seen itself befriending various species, including some that were former enemies. All thanks to the magic of friendship and guidance from its newest ruler, Princess Twilight Sparkle. She was determined to continue finding new areas to spread the magic of friendship until Equestria had discovered every corner of the globe. Some new lands were already starting to open up to them for possible negotiations and cultural exchanges: The Kitsune of Inakyo, the Elf Ponies of Elvalana, the Jackalopes of Jackswana, and many more.
Currently, Twilight was in her old Crystal Palace in Ponyville, which she had named her summer home as a means to stay close to her friends, preparing for her latest diplomatic journey. The Kingdom of Otteropolis in the western sea had been discovered only a few weeks ago by a passing ship from Equestria who established contact with them. The Otters, surprisingly, were very welcoming to the ponies and were interested in learning more about the world outside of their own. The reason for their long isolation was that they, like the Hippogriffs, were chased from their home by the Storm King. Being creatures that could live on land and water, they found a suitable set of islands to make a new home.
Their desire to contact the outside world only grew more when they learned of the Storm King's demise. Twilight personally responded, saying she would arrive to discuss negotiations. While such an event was a happy occasion for Twilight the Princess, Twilight the Bookworm was also eager to learn more about an unknown civilization.
"I can't tell if Twilight's happy to be going or ready to use the bathroom," Rainbow Dash joked to Spike as they watched their happy leader trot around while going over her third checklist to make sure she had everything packed.
"Knowing her, that's somewhere on the checklist as well," Spike joked back as the two giggled.
Twilight, rolling her eyes, put her checklist down to stare at the two with a huff. "Come on, you two. This is an important occasion. Equestria has never had any contact with the Otters before. Think about what we can learn and do with these creatures as our friends? This might even get the other nations who haven't established diplomatic ties with us to open up more."
"Relax, Twilight. I'm sure that they'll be easy to please," Rainbow Dash answered while pointing to herself. "Just give me a stadium, an audience, and I'll be able to wow them into joining whatever peace treaty you want with a few loops, dives, and booms."
"Which begs the question of why you wanted to come on this trip to begin with," Twilight pointed out while tilting her head. "I mean, I'm always happy to spend time with you, Rainbow Dash, but this is a diplomatic meeting. You're not usually into that kind of stuff since you find it so boring."
"Hey, when am I not diplomatic?" Rainbow Dash asked, eyebrow raised.
"Remember when you kicked that dragon one time when we were trying to get to leave peacefully, and that nearly got us all killed if it wasn't for Fluttershy?" Twilight said, deadpan.
"Eh, don't remember it," Rainbow Dash replied, turning her face away to hide her blush. "Besides, I don't really have a lot to do. Most of the other girls are busy with their work, and the Wonderbolts are on leave for the month. So I figured why not go?"
Twilight smiled while pulling out a nearby book from the shelf and placing it in her suitcase. "Well, regardless, I'm glad that I'll be going with two of my best friends so-"
A knock on the door made everyone turn before a Royal Guard opened the door, walked in, and saluted. "Princess Twilight? There is an orange pegasus filly who says she wishes to speak to Rainbow Dash."
"Orange pegasus filly? That's gotta be Scootaloo," Twilight realized before nodding with a smile. "Send her in."
The guard saluted before leaving. A few minutes later, Scootaloo walked inside with Rainbow Dash flying over to her number one fan and ruffling her mane a bit much to her joy. "Hey, squirt. Whatcha doing here?"
"Well, I'm kinda here to ask if you would be willing to look after me for a few days," Scootaloo nervously replied, but with a hopeful tone. "See, my aunts both have the flu, and they don't want me to catch it, so they sent me here hoping you could watch over me for a few days, Rainbow Dash."
Upon hearing this, Rainbow Dash frowned and nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, jeez, Scoots. This is awkward. I promised Twilight I would go with her to the Kingdom of Otteropolis." Scootaloo sighed and began to frown, but Dash then started beaming with an idea. "But I don't see why you can't come with us!" This quickly made the pegasus smile, and her wings began to buzz with joy.
Dash turned to Twilight and asked, "Right, Twi? You don't mind if Scootaloo comes along? I mean, it's not that dangerous after all."
"Hmm," Twilight rubbed her chin before nodding in agreement. "I don't see anything wrong with it. Scootaloo can come with us!"
"Woohoo! I'm going to Otteropolis!" Scootaloo shouted with joy before pausing and tilting her head. "Wait, what's Otteropolis?"
***
Floating on the Royal Airship, the visiting diplomatic team looked in amazement at the design of the Otter's capital city. Otteropolis, as it turned out, was very close to representing one big city size water park. Every building and house was connected via water tubes constantly flowing with water that the otters used to slide from one building to another. They even had various designs in their pathways, such as loop-de-loops, spirals, twisters, and more. If you didn't want to use the tubes, you could always use the waterways open in the air and flowing down like rivers. Only they were styled to be like their version of roads. The otters happily swam from area to area, either lazily or with great speed, while occasionally jumping out to the solid land curbs to chat or enter establishments.
"Woah, this is like some kind of water theme park, but bigger!" Spike proclaimed as he grinned with eagerness. "I really want to try those tubes! They look like fun!"
"Well, why don't you and Scootaloo explore the place while Rainbow Dash and I meet with the Queen and her welcoming party?" Twilight suggested much to the grin of the two youngest.
"Cool!" They both said before high-winging it.
"What?! I can't go with them?" Rainbow Dash pouted as she then pointed at one river street that was going as fast as rapids. "But look at all this coolness!" She then put her hoof to her forehead. "Oh, I feel so hot! I'm fainting! I need water! Extreme water!" She then fell to her back, tongue out while all four legs were up in the air.
Twilight rolled her eyes before using her magic to summon a pail of water and dump it on Rainbow Dash. While the pegasus was coughing out the water in her nose, Twilight banished the bucket and said, "There, you're refreshed. You can play around the streets later, Rainbow Dash, but first, we're meeting with the queen."
"Fine," Dash grumbled as she shook herself dry.
The airship soon landed on a large landing pad beside a large modified waterfall that reflected the light to create a giant rainbow. Twilight exited the airship with a small detachment of guards and led the group down an open path until they spotted a group of otters waiting for them. Most of them were guards, just about the same height as ponies with silver armor around their barrels and arms, while their heads were protected by helmets that curved on top almost like waves. At first, they didn't appear to be armed, save for some hiltless swords connected to their armor's side like magnets. That's when the higher-ranking officer, who had a blue cape behind him, asked the soldiers to present arms. They took the hilts into their arms and saluted. The handles soon formed water from their blades that soon took a solid aqua-colored sword shape that almost looked like ice if it wasn't for the fact it was still rippling like water.
They saluted the visitors with proper military formation as the leader, the tallest of them, walked forward. The otter marching to them was the queen, thanks to her large blue and aqua-silver crown and the white wavy designed cloak behind her. She even wore a large seastar crystal necklace that looked like something Rarity would faint over if she were here. Everypony bowed before her as a sign of greetings before Twilight stood up and shook her hand. "Queen Jazzy, it's wonderful to meet you."
"You must be Princess Twilight. It's great to meet you as well," Queen Jazzy responded with a big smile before noticing the others. "And you brought company?"
"Yup. All of them are good friends of mine. This is Rainbow Dash, a member of The Wonderbolts. A highly respected force of fliers who are part of our military while also entertainers for our people." Rainbow Dash grinned and flared her wings out before zooming up in the air, doing a few twists and twirls that made the otters' jaws drop before she landed with a grin. A few of the otter guards barked and clapped before remembering their duties and went back to being straight and narrow.
"This is Spike, my Royal Advisor. And Scootaloo from Ponyville. She's just with us because her aunts are sick, and Dash has agreed to look after her," Twilight introduced as the two younger ones waved hello.
"Very nice to meet you," Queen Jazzy replied with a nod. "I'm sure my little sister would be pleased to meet children of her age, but she's busy with her studies at the moment. In the meantime, shall we head to my palace to begin our discussions?"
"Sure thing," Twilight said before turning to Spike and Scootaloo. "Why don't you two go and enjoy the city before meeting us there later?"
"Cool, I'd rather play around in these water slides than listen to a bunch of grown-ups talk," Scootaloo said before blushing. "No offense."
"None taken. You'd be surprised how often I hear that from my little sister," Queen Jazzy giggled before everyone started making their way.
***
Having been given free rein to view the city, along with some strange currency that looked like tiny seashells called shellings, Spike and Scootaloo walked around the city's curb sections to see what they would like to do first. While they wanted to start swimming right away, the problem was that everything looked so fun that they didn't know where to start.
"Oh, how about that one?!" Scootaloo shouted as she pointed in one area before pointing to another. "Or how about that one?! Or that one?!"
"For stone's sake, can we just pick one already? We're not going to be here forever," Spike pointed out, crossing his arms.
"Sorry, it's just that this looks all so awesome!" Scootaloo cheered with her wings buzzing. "I mean, I haven't gone to a water park in a long time, and I'm in a fully designed city that acts like one!"
"Well, whatever we're going to pick, we better do it fast or-"
"Look out below!"
"Huh?" The two asked, looking up only to suddenly get knocked off their feet and fall into the nearby waterway known as Bubble Ave due to being extra bubbly. Spitting out water, both Spike and Scootaloo shook their heads before turning to the one who had managed to knock them down. She was a lighter brown otter, child-sized, and looked to be about their age. She had a white flower behind one of her ears and giggled at the sight of them.
"Sorry about that! I did warn you," She chuckled before gasping. "Quick! Get down!"
Before Scootaloo and Spike could object, the strange otter had dragged them underwater just before they had any time to hold their breaths. While in the water, the two looked at the otter as she pressed a flipper to her lips in a "sshing" motion and pointed upward. Looking up, the two saw three adult otters, dressed in black suits and shades, looking around on the curb before rushing off. Once they were gone, their mysterious otter pointed back upward, where they gasped for air upon breaking the surface.
"Well, that was close," the otter girl said before turning to the confused duo. "Sorry about that again. I'm Daisy! What's your name? You guys look weird. Are you from outside the kingdom? You guys can swim, right? Or wait, you are doing that right now."
Scootaloo raised her eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, but do you mind telling us what that was about?"
"Sorry, I was being uh...chased by some nasty guys," Daisy muttered, rubbing the back of her head while blushing. "I was just trying to get away from them."
"Wait, you were being kidnapped?" Spike asked in surprise. "Well, we know the queen. At least we're here visiting her. So we can go to her and ask her for help."
"No!" Daisy said, much to their surprise. "I mean, the queen is a very busy otter! Besides, I'm sure they'll lose interest if we just get away from them! Follow me!" She soon started swimming down the bubbly waterway while using her tail to motion them to follow.
Spike and Scootaloo looked at each other as the pegasus smirked and shrugged. "Well, we did need to figure out what to do soooo...."
"Here we go again," Spike sighed before swimming to keep up with their new surprise guest. "I'm Spike, by the way!"
"Name's Scootaloo!"
"Nice to meet you! Welcome to Otteropolis!” Daisy shouted as they continued to swim before the current started taking them downhill.
Relaxing, Scootaloo asked, "Know any cool places in this city?!"
"Do I ever! Follow me!"
***
"Okay, I really gotta ask," Spike asked as the three of them were resting in a large pool area near the entrance of a large building. They were on line for the ride up, which turned out to be quite impossible upon looking at it, but it was right there in front of them. "How do you get a waterfall to go upwards?!"
"I think waterrise might be a more accurate name for it," Scootaloo said in awe.
"I don't know, I never bother asking the boring science stuff, but it's fun! Come on!" Daisy said as their turn soon came up. Scootaloo was more than happy to march forward, but Spike was hesitant until the girls grabbed him by the arms. Once they were near it, Daisy just jumped up and, with a giant 'woosh', she was being shot up in the air, riding the upside-down waterfall as if it was a river. "Woohoo!"
"Cowabunga!" Scootaloo shouted as she jumped into it as well and went up like an elevator on caffeine.
Spike shrugged and jumped in as well, only to whoop in excitement as he was shot up through the air as well, riding the water as if he was on a slide. The three of them continued to ride up to the building as Scootaloo and Spike gasped in awe. The sight of the city from above before they found themselves shot onto the top of the building was utterly breathtaking. At first, they freaked out upon realizing that they were soon falling but then saw the deep-level pool waiting for them at the top that other otters were using as a place to relax. The three soon did cannonballs in unison that made huge splashes.
"Okay! That was awesome!" Scootaloo laughed as she shook her head. She turned over to Daisy and asked, "So besides the fun trip up here, what's also great about this place?"
"Check out the view!" Daisy said as she and her new friends went to the railing of the nearby edge and looked down below. Spike and Scootaloo gasped in awe upon seeing the water park-like city in all its glory. "Yeah, I never get tired of coming here. The way up is fun, but the view is just as great."
"Yeah, you guys really made a fun kingdom," Spike said before smirking. "This place will be a tourist haven when you guys open your doors to the other creatures."
"What kind of creatures are there? I mean, I've heard of ponies, dragons, and hippogriffs, but are there more?" Daisy asked eagerly.
"Oh, yeah! There are changelings, yaks, abyssinians, griffins, diamond dogs, and a bunch of others," Spike said with a big smile as each name made Daisy's eyes wider. "Twilight's dream is to bring every race in the world together under the magic of friendship. It sounds like a big dream, almost impossible, but Twilight's done the impossible before, so I believe she can do it."
"Woah, that sounds really cool! I've always lived here my entire life! I've always wanted to go see what the rest of the world is, including the oceans I've never seen before!" Daisy replied with a dreamy look on her face before huffing. "But my sister thinks I'm too young to be on my own. I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself."
"Hey, Daisy?" Scootaloo poked her shoulder and pointed to the other end of the pool. "Aren't those the bad guys you said were chasing after you?"
They looked behind and saw the three suit-wearing otters who noticed them and were starting to swim towards them. Daisy panicked and quickly grabbed the other's arms. "Yikes! Follow me!"
They swam towards the other end of the pool, where a giant waterslide was waiting for them. Without even hesitating, Daisy grabbed both of her new friends and jumped onto the slide as they cheerfully shouted with energetic cries of laughter while going down. Their speed downwards made their gums stretch from the wind velocity, and Scootaloo's hair went entirely straight up. The slide soon ended towards a large aquarium-style pool that made the three cause huge waves when they slid into the chill water. The three floated upwards before shaking their heads and laughing at their wet looks.
"Better get out of here before those guys reach us! Come on!" Daisy said as she swam as fast as she could with the others following her.
***
"Okay, now only do you guys have great water slides, but you got great ice cream too!" Scootaloo proclaimed as she continued to lick her salty sea ice cream cone. Daisy had taken them was a floating tiki bar, only it was for ice cream and cold drinks rather than alcohol. There was even a group of hula dancers on a stage nearby. Sitting on their stands, the three continued to lick their frozen treats while Daisy did a quick look around to see if their pursuers were still after them.
"Okay, I think we lost them again," Daisy said with a relaxed sigh.
"Just what are these bad guys after you for?" Spike asked after a few more licks of his chocolate chip mint.
"Um, you don't need to know about that," Daisy replied quickly before she waved it off. "So, you were saying something about a school?"
"Oh yeah, it's called the Academy of Friendship," Spike answered with a nod. "Twilight founded it, and all our friends have been teachers, but now it's run by Twilight's apprentice Starlight Glimmer. Any creature can come and learn things that are key about friendship, like honesty, kindness, generosity, and others. But you do learn other things like math, science, and so on."
"What kind of creatures?" Daisy asked eagerly at the edge of her seat.
"Well, there are dragons, like myself," Spike said proudly as he pointed to himself. "Then there are changelings, hippogriffs, yaks, griffins, and we're now accepting minotaurs, kirins, and hopefully otters in the next few months."
"Wow, could I join?!"
"Sure, we just need to ask Twilight, and I'm sure you'd be accepted," Spike said with a smile and nod.
"Do you go to the school too, Scootaloo?" Daisy asked.
"Nah, I go to regular school, but what I do is help ponies find their cutie marks!" Scootaloo said as she pointed to her own.
"Cutie marks? You mean that weird tattoo only on your butt?" Daisy asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, cutie marks tell ponies what their special talents are so they can find their choices in life that make them happy," Scootaloo explained.
"Huh. Otters don't have things like that. Do dragons?" Daisy asked to check out Spike's rump, which made him cover the area with his wings and tail. "Sorry."
"It's fine," Spike said with a shrug. "And it's just ponies. No other creatures have such a thing. Although we did become friends with a griffin, who tried to get one."
"She didn't need it since she was pretty much good at everything," Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "But what do you do, Daisy? You and your family?"
"Well," Daisy looked into her ice cream and sighed, "my parents died when I was young. There was a sea monster, and...they didn't make it." The others looked at her with sympathy, but she gave a small smile and nodded. "I miss them, but I like to think that they are watching from below."
"Below?" Scootaloo asked, eyebrows raised.
"Otter afterlife is in the sea. Not in the clouds like other races," Spike quickly explained.
"Yeah, so my sister became...uh, head of the family business and pretty much got busier and busier as time went on," Daisy sighed before resting her head on her flipper. "My sister has me stand around at our home taking lessons while keeping me babysat on a twenty-four-hour basis. Sometimes I have to sneak out so I can have fun on my own. It's why I want to leave here so bad. I want to be free to swim and explore other places. You know?"
"I'm sure she means well," Scootaloo pointed out.
"I know, but I'm not a baby anymore," Daisy said as she finished her ice cream and licked her chops. "Well, what else do you want to see?"
"Um, how about another way out of here?" Spike said, going pale as he pointed behind them while looking over his shoulder. The girls did so and gasped upon seeing the bad otters coming towards them from down the street. "Run! I mean, swim!"
The three jumped out of their seats and back into the water before their chasers spotted them. Despite swimming as fast as they could, the adult suited otters were bigger and stronger in their strides, so they were able to come soon close enough to the group that they were just a few feet apart. "How do we get them off our tails?" Scootaloo shouted, splashing as fast as possible.
"Follow me! I know a way out!" Daisy cried out as she turned to the left, and the others soon followed.
On the edge of the waterway was a giant swirling funnel that was sucking the water in like a vacuum tube. Otters that dived in and were swallowed in by it never came back out. "Come on! And take a deep breath!"
Daisy dived into the water and soon let the swirling funnel take her in. Despite their hesitation, both Scootaloo and Spike took a deep breath and dived in as well. The funnel took them in before they could fully adjust, and they found themselves shooting downward and into a long tunnel that was full of bubbles and rapids. They didn't try to stop themselves out of fear of doing something wrong. Not that they believed they could counter the current's strength anyway.
The tunnel then went straight forward before shooting them straight up in a diagonal line. Soon, they could see a light at the end of the tunnel just as the three were about to run out of air.
A loud boom echoed across the city as the water cannon shot Daisy, Scootaloo, and Spike out into the air and soared above the city's water streets. Scootaloo and Spike were in awe of how far they were flying while Daisy continued to cheer in excitement. The filly pegasus soon cheered too, and she imagined that this was what flying had to be like. Despite knowing she would never be able to fly normally because of her wings, it didn't stop Scootaloo from embracing the pegasus inside of her that yearned for the sky. The feeling of the air rushing through your face as you sail past the clouds. That moment where you feel you are between heaven and earth itself. It was pure bliss.
Spike, meanwhile, was just wondering how they were going to get down without crashing into paste. His answer soon came into another large pool just outside what appeared to be the giant pearl-shaped palace that he recognized from Twilight's description of it. The three crashed into the pool before swimming to the surface.
"Well, I guess that's one way to travel fast. Beats the trains of Manehattan, that's for sure," Spike said with a chuckle.
"Looks like you three had quite a splashing adventure."
The three children looked up to see a smirking Twilight and Rainbow Dash, along with an amused Queen Jazzy and her guards. Spike, remembering why they were fleeing in the first place, quickly said, "Twilight! Thank goodness you're here! This is Daisy, our new friend. She's being chased by some very bad otters who want to do who knows what to her!"
"That would be bringing her back home so I could punish her for skipping her lessons again," Queen Jazzy answered while staring specifically at a blushing Daisy. "Isn't that right, little sister?"
"Wait, little sister?" Scootaloo asked. She and Spike were confused for a moment before they turned their attention to a nervously smiling Daisy. "Wait a minute... you're..."
"Um, surprise?"
***
"So, all this time, you were just trying to get away from your sister's guards?" Scootaloo asked as she and the rest of the Equestrian company walked side-by-side with Queen Jazzy, Princess Daisy, and her guards on the palace grounds, which were solid ground instead of water.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Daisy muttered, lowering her head. "I heard that we were getting outsiders visiting the city, and I wanted to see you all. That, and I hate learning math."
"Heh, I can relate," Dash chuckled. "I played hooky in school so much to avoid taking math tests."
"And that's why I'm always needed to help you with your taxes every year," Twilight scolded, which made Dash stick her tongue out.
"You still shouldn't have run like that, Daisy," Queen Jazzy said firmly to her little sister, who winced upon hearing her tone. "I know you like getting into adventures, but I always need to know where you are at all times."
"But I just wanted to have fun! And I met some new friends!" Daisy said as she nodded to Spike and Scootaloo. "And they told me so much about the outside world! Including this school that allows non-ponies to learn there! Please let me go! I can do it as a representative of our kingdom!"
"Hmm," Queen Jazzy rubbed her chin. "I don't know. The representative of the Kingdom of Otteropolis needs to be more diligent in her studies and knows how to be more responsible."
"I can totally do that! Please! I just want to make more friends and visit my new ones!" Daisy begged.
With a slight chuckle, Queen Jazzy patted her sister on the head. "Let's make a deal. You stop running away from your classes, and I'll let you out more on your own. And if you manage to do it for a whole four months, I'll sign you up for the Academy. Deal?"
"Deal!" Daisy shouted as she hugged her big sister. "Thanks, Sis! You're the best!"
"Well, looks like I'll have to let Starlight know of a new student soon," Twilight said with a smile. "We managed to create new friendly ties with the otters. Daisy is going to be part of the school. And Spike and Scootaloo made a new friend. I think everything worked out quite well today."
"Not quite, Twilight," Dash said, putting her hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Something is missing."
"Really? What's that?" Twilight asked as she took out her list and checked it over. "I was pretty sure we covered everything today. Did I miss something?"
"Uh, yeah!" Rainbow Dash shouted with a smile. "Us having fun? Scootaloo and Spike got to see the sights and ride around those fun water slides and stuff! I want to enjoy it as well!"
"Well, I guess we could enjoy ourselves a little bit if it's okay with Queen Jazzy," Twilight said to the Otter Queen.
"Oh, go ahead. I used to do it all the time when I was younger too," Queen Jazzy answered with a nod.
"Great! Let's go!" Daisy said as she made an effort to move but was held back by her big sister, who raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right. Classes."
"Yes, but if you finish them, I'll let you have some fun with your new friends," Queen Jazzy said, which made Daisy nod in agreement. "By the way, where are those guards I sent after you?"
***
Said guards were currently back at the tiki ice cream hut eating their ice cream. One of the guards paused in his licking and asked, "So, should we continue looking for the princess?"
"After I finish my rocky road."
Author's Note
***Commissioned by The wandering commenter***
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