The next morning.

After sleeping in late I was woken up by shouting on the upper deck, I quickly came back to full consciousness, thankfully my head was not hurting anymore and it was already noon, I blinked the sleepiness away and stretched my legs and tail, yawning wide.

Seems whatever happened last night was either a bad dream or completely went away with a full night's sleep.

My parents were awake too it seems, I could tell because they both poked their heads out the door, looking alarmed, and my 'room' is just open and has no walls.

"Heeey! Morning you two, hope you slept well, did the noise woke you two up too?"

Coconut is the first to answer in a sleepy voice. "Morning Onyx, we slept pretty good, and yes that woke us up too, but it seems mostly me, your mother still looks half asleep." He nuzzled the sleepier looking Sylf who was yawning wide, blinking herself fully awake, seems they got even less sleep than me somehow.

"I-im fine, just... You know, forget it, let's go find out what's going on and I'll ask them to let me wash myself in the sea, I need a good bath." She seems slightly flustered when she said that, both of them walk outside and we head for the disturbance, I move beside them to go together.

My nose twitches as I inhale their scent by proximity, I could tell immediately the reason they got little sleep last night.

"You two definitively need to wash up in the sea, I hope you at least used Prestidigitation to clean the room after..." I kept a bit more distance from then on, I wish I could tune down my sense of smell, it gives way too much details sometimes, even when I don't need them.

"You two may get us in trouble if the Captain finds out, or maybe he doesn't care...
Well at least I didn't get woken up, good on you two for using the silence spell, but next time a warning about that scent?" I gave them a little glare but just chuckled at their slightly embarrassed expressions, they just look adorable together, I couldn't be mad at them.

"You two are really unable to contain yourselves hmm? Well I hope you had fun, now let's go up there, something may be going on." I try to get them to focus on what's happening but they seem to have a different idea.

They shared a loving look, nuzzling again and kissing in front of me, slowly and clearly with desire for each other.

"Very funny you two... As much as I find you two the most adorable couple ever, this is just not the time.
Hmph... Let's go you up to figure out what's happening, and get you two a bath in ice cold water before you get any more affectionate."

Well I'm glad they love each other so much... But I miss my human sense of smell, it was so much more numb and simple that I probably would never realize anything happened, instead of the detailed layers upon layers of sensory information my new nose was able to produce just by breathing in.

At this point we were climbing the stairs going to the deck, once there we came across an interesting sight, around us there were many sailors armed with swords standing in a protective ring around the end of the stairs on the upper deck, basically as if to keep someone from going in here. What was happening?

My question was answered sooner than I expected.
The flapping of wings approaching pulled my attention up towards the sky.

A group of griffons came in for landing near the back of the ship, aiming their crossbows at the armed sailors. There were 10 of them, and our ship only had six sailors including the captain.

The leading griffon stepped forward and spoke loudly. "Drop your weapons right now! We are the Griffon Isles armed forces and you have entered our waters, now you will allow us to inspect your cargo for any dangerous contraband and you will surrender yourself to us or face death!" He was wearing a specially fancy decorated light armor with a helmet with a red plume on his head and red highlights, his armor didn't cover his back as to not get on the way of his wings.

The air was so tense that it could be cut with a butter knife, for a few seconds everyone was silent.

"We are the Blue Sail company, in cooperation with the Equestrian Railway and tasked with transporting cargo and passengers, why would we submit to you? We have not entered any different waters, this is all part of the Griffonian Empire!" Warbler stepped forward too and walked towards the invading griffons bravely, angry at their entitled attitude and completely ignoring all the weapons pointed at him. Me and my family stepped out of the protective ring of armed sailors, who encouraged us to stay back, but Sylf gently asked for them to let us pass, and insisted until they reluctantly agreed, moving aside to make way.

"You dare to say this is Empire territory? Why, we should just fucking kill you on the spot! Fuckin' loyalist piece of garbage, your run down nation is going to fall very soon." And that was our cue, the three of us stepped forward, standing beside Warbler who looked shocked and worried to see us there, my dad calmed him down and reassured him while mom stepped up to the threat with me next to her but a step behind.

Every griffon on that group was staring at us now, some showed worry but most directed their anger and hate towards us, the newcomers who dared to get in their way, and some confusion at seeing a big wolf and a dragon just being buddies with an unicorn.

"Please gentlegriffs, I ask you to stand down and leave our ship, we are passengers traveling on this vessel and we have no intention of having you ruining our vacation, you hear? I am sure you have the wrong ship, we are just passing through." Sylf voice was polite but her tone left no room for argument, she didn't want to deal with their attitude.

"What the fuck Even are you? A talking bitch? Do you think you are entitled to your vacation while we are at war!? We are arresting you after we deal with the dragon there first! Kill him lads!" He approached with his sword ready, pointing it aggressively at me, causing me to look amused at him.

Was he really asking them to just kill me without even asking me to leave? How uncouth.

However before I could reply to him, mom got angry, really really angry, her friendly expression replaced by something that would make me piss myself in fear if it was directed towards me.

Yellow eyes glowing faintly with arcane energy, her fangs bared, hackles raised and a deep growl that made the air tremble, good thing it was not directed at me.

He stopped approaching us, becoming paralyzed by fear and shaking visibly, his previously angry face quickly morphing into terror, mom did not let up until he pissed himself on the spot, the cloth padding he was wearing soaking it and darkening. She looks much bigger when she has her hackles raised, she truly looked like a monster now.

"You dare? You fucking dare?! coming here with your pathetic and poorly trained good for nothing trash to threaten my son and the rest of us? You think I will allow you to disrespect my precious family!?" She asked him, growling in anger at the same time, which seems to terrify him further, she looked ready to pounce, but didn't move.

"Kill her!" He shrieked at the top of his lungs in panic, not knowing what else to do and wanting her gone away, his scream pulling the soldiers out of their shock, they probably had little training and didn't expect to see such a scary monster, and most of them hesitated and were too scared to move until that moment.

Some crossbow bolts fired at us and bounced off my weakest shield spell with almost no feedback, their crossbows were really weak compared to the ones I've faced before, they would probably bounce off my scales like rubber bands.

Some tried to charge but a quick thunderwave spell from her sent them all flying back, throwing some of them off the ship and into the cold sea or slamming them against the edge of the ship.

"Go back to your island and don't ever come back! last warning before I lose my patience, attack again against my family or myself, and the last thing you'll see is your own headless body when I cut off your heads one by one." Sylf announced loud and clear for everyone to hear, those that fell in the sea quickly took to the air and left back to their ship after hearing those words, none of them soldiers wanted to face such a fate and they had a good sense of danger.

The sailors were too stunned to even speak amongst themselves, they just stared at the black wolf in concern and apprehension, thinking they should never anger her, including Warbler, he was wide eyed and had to close his own beak shut after that exchange. It wasn't often that a being faces on 10 to one odds and manages to intimidate them in such an efficient way.

It was completely silent other than the cries and groans of pain of those who were painfully slammed against the wooden railing, good thing they had helmets or there would have been severe wounds.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You're thinking of facing me with larger numbers?" She asked while approaching the lead griffon, most of the soldiers were males, unlike pony soldiers who were mostly female.

She smirked and stepped over his head with her paw in a show of dominance, squeezing his beak painfully to the wooden deck of the ship while other griffons watched on in shock, the few remaining that hadn't fled back to their ship, clearly they were braver and weren't willing to leave their commanding officer behind.

"If you come back again, even if you bring an army, I will destroy them, no mercy this time, no asking politely, I'll cut them into pieces and throw them overboard to serve as fish bait, do you understand? The only reason your head is still attached to your neck, is that I care about my family too much to show them the harsher side of combat, but that won't save you again." Watching his ego and confidence vanish and be replaced with fear was if anything, a bit entertaining. I still was very closely paying attention in case anyone of them somehow got the jump on her, my magic ready and primed to shield her from harm, but most of them lost their weapons to the sea when they were flung back.

He then fell into a bowing position and started to beg for his life. "P-please great wolf mistress! Let us go and we will never bother your ship again, I beg you! P-please, I have a family too, I just wasn't thinking!" I couldn't help the snort of laughter that came out, mistress? I suppose he just wanted to be extra respectful to remain alive.

Sylf also seems to find him funny as she laughs adorably, he tenses a bit at first but relaxed as she moves her paw away from him, letting him get up.

"You're really funny little bird! Hahaha mistress? No one ever called me that, and because you have a family, I'll let it slide this time, it helps that my husband has gotten me in a pretty good mood today." She turned dismissively, shooing him away with a gesture of her paw.

"You and your soldiers may go, but remember what I said, I will not be so merciful next time, understand?" At this the griffon nods meekly and bows his head again, turning to his soldiers who are also recovered and quickly ushers them back to their ship.

"T-thank you mistress, I will make sure to tell my superiors in the Isles army that they are not to approach your caravel again under any circumstances, farewell!" And with that he gives her one last fearful bow and with a running start, takes off towards his ship flying as fast as he can to catch up with his group.

"Phew... How rude! do they not teach griffons to respect their superior officers in those islands? Well now that's taken care of, is everyone okay? I hope no stray crossbow bolts hit any of you?" Her voice is now devoid of that commanding presence, and filled with genuine concern for everyone here, as she went back to normal.

Everyone shook their heads checking themselves for injuries, the captain stepped forward. "Where did you learn to do that? You definitively have the mettle of an officer, you are as powerful as you are fierce, I have never seen anything as scary as that look you gave em!" Captain Warble said in awe.

"I'm Commander Sylf, of the Equestrian Royal Guards, but I'm trained for combat just as much as the regular Equestrian Army, sorry i didn't mention it before because it didn't come up in conversation, I'm trained for dealing with situations like this, and I'm also not about to submit to anyone other than my superiors, and only if their orders are lawful." Mom is definitively awe inspiring and imposing when she wants to be. And her ability to paralyze others with her fear was certainly effective.

"Oh wow... And to think I would be transporting such a high ranking foreign soldier! That's... A big, but not unwelcome surprise! I've served in the Griffonian armed forces before, but you're clearly not a mere soldier, I saw you use combat spells, but how? You're no unicorn." Warbler was curious now after seeing her casting magic, the shockwave of energy was visible to everyone, and they probably though her shield was also cast by herself.

"Oh, magic casting? it's an ability that I found out I could use, but I'm not very good at it, i'm a novice at best, I learned most of it at training and the academy. The real magical prodigy in my family is my darling son, he puts any of my spells and magic to shame! He is truly amazing." She smiled wide and gestured her head in my direction, throwing me under the bus and focusing everyone's attention on me.

I waved at them all shyly, blushing like an idiot as the eyes of mostly everyone shifted to me, and worst of all tripping over my own words. "Uhmm.. Hi everyone? Im just... Well she's exaggerating! She can do magic pretty well, I'm just... Specialized in magic, but she can really use a sword, she's an expert, I don't know anyone else as good as her! She's able to use even a greatsword with her maw like its nothing!" They were still staring, some even started asking me to do some magic, as if I had not just praised Sylf, I felt unsure but both my parents nodded.

I gave up they seem to go crazy over magic, maybe because they lack magic users? I sighed and gave up. "You really want me to use a spell? Fine, but... Don't go around telling others that I can do it." I knew what to cast that would be cool for them. Literally, I really like this spell because it has an use other than dealing damage.

I formed the spell matrix in my mind's eye, pumping mana into it and checking the area for any living being, not wanting to cause unnecessary death.

Once I made sure it was clear of life, I point my claw towards the ocean away from the ship, and release the finished spell I have been preparing, sending a small crystalline sphere flying from my extended finger in a straight line.

It flies fast until it impacts the surface of the sea, where it disappears into an explosion of frost and instantly freezes the surface of the water, forming a floating thick sheet of ice, about 10 meters in diameter and thick enough to hold the weight of a few creatures I hope.

Then I gently tugged the disk of ice closer with telekinesis, slowly to not make it crash with the ship, it floated gently on top of the water.

"This is one of my spells, Freezing Sphere! It's actually very powerful and it can be used to create solid ice on top of the water that you can walk upon, they shouldn't break because the ice is thick enough, but I haven't tested this too much so be ready to fly up in case it does break, I'm going in first." I slowly climbed the ships stairs and walked on the floating ice disk, it tilted to my side slightly a bit but once I moved to the center, it stabilized.

Other griffons flew over and landed near the center too, and it held the weight of about 5 in total before it started to crack audibly, it separated in two and started to drift, and tilt in as most of us were near the middle, the griffons of course flew up and away and I fell into the sea. Thankfully this time it was during daytime and there was much more light, I could see a few fish swimming around, the spell seems to have scared them away but they were still visible and getting away from the area.

I swan to the side of the caravel and climbed up the rope stairs, shaking myself dry once I reached the deck, where I found the sailors excitedly chatting and pointing at me, they seem to have liked the magic trick, judging by their smiles.

Warbler approached me and smiled, slapping my back with his wing. "That was incredible lad! Your mother is right, you really are a prodigy with magic, I just can't imagine what other spells you have if you showed us this one, you could take on whole armies with your magic and win!" His tone was excited, even hopeful, but he shook his head and stopped his daydreams.

"We will be mindful of not telling anyone else, it would be an issue if all of Griffonstone knows you have powerful magic, some nobles may try to force you to join their clans to increase their power, or even join in the war, which I doubt you'll ever want to do." I not to him, I indeed don't have any intention of joining a war, I just wanted to help the nation that was going through difficult times.

"But here on this ship we are all like brothers, and I promise you, we will keep our word, and keep your power a secret, only yours to reveal." I smile at that and nod, hoping he is truthful, but I seriously doubt anyone can force me into anything at this point unless they are a demigod like Celestia, I'm adept at escaping capture.

"I'll take your word for it mister Warbler, now I've got a favor to ask you, can you slow the ship down or stop it completely so me and my family can take a bath in the sea? We all need it after being traveling for a full day." He nods and I smile, moving back to my parents and standing between them on two legs, pulling them in a hug with one of my foreleg around each and me in the middle.

"Hey Onyx, really awesome spell, that looked like fun! What's it called?" Coconut always the curious one, asked me as he nuzzled me gently on the side of my face.

"Oh that's a Freezing Sphere, a sixth tier spell that is quite complex and difficult to pull off correctly, it's nothing like your Divine spells tho, you have to learn it yourself if you want to use it, by the way, I got the captain to stop the boat for a while so we can all go and shower, get ready you two!"

"Oh thank you son! You're always mindful and lovely to your mother, see dear? You could have done that too, after all you're the reason I'm like this!" Mom nuzzled me lovingly and gave her husband a playful glare, making him blush and laugh nervously.

I nuzzled her back and realized why she was acting all shy and asking for a shower, but it wasn't her fault that this primitive ships don't have showers, I could tell the moment we boarded that this griffons rarely showered, let me tell you I'd rather smell my parents than have to smell any more of the sailors.

"Well... im a bit shy, to be honest, sorry hun, you're better at talking, you even asked me out in the first place remember? Our first date~"

"What am I going to do with you two? Let's just get down into the water, but use the ladder on the side, the water is cold and if you jump right in, you'll get a real shock to your system that you really dont want." I say meaningfully looking at both of them, with a serious expression.

"Okie, don't worry I am taking you seriously, I know that look and I'm not going to just jump in! I'm just not very good at climbing ladders, so can you help me? You can lower me with telekinesis, right?" I don't see why not, while he climbs down the ladder I lift mom by her entire body, holding her in the air and moving her to hover above the water, then slowly I dip her hind paws in the cold sea.

She shivers and I lower her more until her entire rear, hind legs and up to her middle is fully submerged, she gasps as the cold water seeps into her fur and touches her skin underneath, I hold her there so she can get used to the cold, and she slowly calms down in her breathing.

"Ready for me to let go?" I asked from above, looking at her in the eyes, she took a deep breath but nodded, and I dropped her, her body sunk into the water for a while before she emerged and gasped in the surface, completely soaked in the sea, having to doggy paddle constantly to keep herself afloat.

"Fuuck, it's freezing! You were right! But it's bearable, for now." She constantly moved her paws to keep herself afloat.

"Come on my love, you can get in slowly too, just hold onto that ladder until you get used to it.
Go slowly okay?" She regained her breath and got used to the cold temperature, now encouraging the reluctant unicorn to get into the water.

I grabbed my soap and held it in the air in front of her so she could grab it in her own mage hand spell, which she promptly did.

Finally the timid stallion seemed to gather his courage and after steeling himself he dipped his hind legs in, quickly withdrawing them and cursing.

"Ponyfeathers! Didn't expect it to be so cold, I'll... Slowly go down, if I don't get back up, can you pull me up?" He asked while looking at me, I nodded and he slowly let himself sink into the sea, until only his head was out of the water, his ears were pinned back as he gasped at the shock to his system, his legs weren't able to hold him so i used telekinesis to keep his head out of the water.

"G-goddess, t-this is the coldest water I've ever touched! Please p-pass me the soap? My legs can barely move, please keep holding me!" I nodded and grabbed another bar of soap from our bathing kit I had brought with me earlier when we came out, I have one for each of us.

I jumped into the water a bit away from them so they wouldn't get too splashed, and swam around underwater, checking to make sure we weren't about to become some creature's meal, I knew orcas were usually friendly but that was back home, maybe here they really love to eat ponies for all I know.

Nothing but small fish and curiously a distant beluga whale that was swimming closer at a relaxed pace, those at least weren't big enough to bite any of us in half so I paid it no mind for now and surfaced behind Coconut, holding him in a hug and surprising him, he was adorable when he got scared, but my hug calmed him down once he realized it was just me, he seemed to be trying to scrub himself with soap but his telekinesis is blinking in and out and he is struggling to even hold the soap.

I feel bad for him, he clearly can't withstand this water so I decide to intervene and quickly wash him myself.

"I'm going to help you wash up with my paws because I see you struggling with your magic, you can't even keep yourself swimming like mom is... Now relax, I'll be gentle." I said softly in his ear, making his eyes widen for a second, then a thankful smile formed on his face.

I started scrubbing him with my paws my fingers spreading soap over his coat and getting deep into his mane that normally was hard to wash, let alone in this freezing cold water, where his magic was too shaky to work well.

"Y-yes please! I can't... For some reason my magic doesn't want to cooperate here, it's too cold! You know what you're doing, right?" He accepted my help but asked with some doubt.

"Of course dad! I've read a book on pony care and I know what to do and what not to do when handling a pony, it went into detail in how to wash both genders and subspecies of ponies, but I don't think your horn needs washing so I'll just do the usual earth pony cleaning technique, just gentler, have some faith in me sir!" He giggled at me calling him sir and nodded, feeling more at ease now that he knew I had some knowledge.

I made sure to get soap only on his coat and not on any areas where it doesn't belong, it was important to be gentle with ponies, specially when it came to washing them, as they had very sensitive skin in certain areas, and soap or other products would irritate them. All those books on pony care and hygiene I read at the Canterlot library were being put to use now. Sure they mostly applied for foals but all of this also applied for adult ponies too, the book said it clearly.

I nuzzled him affectionately so he wouldn't be so nervous, noticing he was shivering from the cold so I had to be quick or he would get hypothermia.

"T-this is embarrassing... but it's not like I can scrub myself, m-my magic is useless! thank you for the gentle treatment Onyx" He returns my nuzzles and doesn't resist when I clean him, taking special care to clean his ears and head with less water, the book says to not use more than a wet towel to clean a pony's ears as they can get sick if water gets inside their ear canal, so I wetted the sponge and squeezed the water off and used that, trying to not drip much water inside. I also washed his head gently, careful to not use soap near his eyes or nose.

"Shush it's not embarrassing, you know I'd help you with anything, anytime! you're a big pony and need to admit when you need help, I saw you were shaking from the cold and your magic wasn't working, now give me a few minutes and I'll go dry you off, I gotta give your wife the same treatment until she is smelling fresh again, and not like a certain somepony's foal batter!" I chuckle at the look on his face.

"Onyx! Just you wait and I'll get you back for this, also Sylf will not be happy you said that, she can hear you, dummy, she's over there! You're in big trouble now~" I looked in her direction, and said wolf was looking at me with an evil smirk that promised I would pay for my little comment about her scent, I felt a lump form on my throat and swallowed loudly, knowing I messed up, if I learned something is to never mess with mom, like all those griffons who threatened us learned the hard way.

"Soon when you got yourself your special somepony it will be our turn to tease you, and we will see if you like it, you're not too far away from becoming a teen, you'll know then!" He says with a still embarrassed but more confident face, I need to keep my damn mouth shut sometimes, I'm looking for it at this point.

"You have the right to get me for this, but please if you and mom go at it and you have to be close to me before showering, gimme a little warning so i dont get so surprised, is that understandable?" I asked in a pleading tone, trying to be polite.

He sighed and nodded, embarrassed at discussing this topic with me. "I can see... Why you would be a bit put off, I'm sorry I didn't realize you have such a sharp sense of smell, in my defense... There are no showers in this ship and we always shower at home every morning, but I still could have warned you, and I didn't because I felt it was not appropriate at your age, turns out not warning you is the wrong thing to do, because you'll know anyways, right?" I nod and smile at him, he finally understands!

"Of course I would know dad, I don't know how to turn off my nose, if I could i would unless I needed it, I could try to explain my senses to you, if you want? So you know what I'm talking about." He nodded and perked his ears, his hearing was probably better than mine to be honest, with those big ol' pony ears.

"I can see even with my eyes closed, in a circle around me up to a certain distance, I can hear pretty good around me, unless I'm deeply asleep, I can see in the dark up to a certain distance, but I see better during the day, I can see objects far away, very small objects, like a pony in the valley from the top of the mountain, as long as they are colorful and not blending in with the background. But my smell is even better than my other senses, I can tell who was were, when and mostly what they did, as long as it was recent, i am specially good at picking up the scent of those Ive met before."

"For example if I go into a house, I can smell where a person walked through up to a few hours ago, or where they stayed for longer than a few seconds, I can tell if they ate something and most likely what it was, hours after they did, and a bunch of other things. I prefer not to rely on scent much in combat because it doesn't work for beings made of negative energy, as they all smell the same, like negative emotion, that is to say all of the beings un dungeons smell awful and the dungeons themselves smell like death.

He seemed to understand, and was about to speak when I simply levitated him up and back into the ship, he was shaking too much without realizing, and his body was going into hypothermia, as much as I like teasing him and pranking him I don't want him to actually suffer.

I teleport back up to the ship and focus my magic around him, warming the air and making a bubble of telekinetic pressure to trap the hot air inside, holding it like that for a while and then letting it go, and repeating this often so the air doesn't get too hot.

"Ohh that's wonderful Onyx! I feel much warmer, can you do that again a few more times please?" His tone was pleading and he clearly needed more heat, so I recasted the warming spell and compressed the air slightly around him again, holding it for slightly longer until I saw his coat and mane begin to dry and get frazzled, then I let the air out.

"You should be fully dry now, right?" I ask, while looking down at Sylf who is doing a decent job cleaning herself, her cold resistance making her not struggle as much with the cold, and her mage hand going to work on her coat, she probably doesn't even need my help.

"Y-yes thank you son, I'm fine! But... Im still a bit embarrassed about all that, was it really necessary? Never expected my own son to give me a sponge bath." I was confused now, what was that I did exactly? Wash him?

"I won't have smelly parents so yeah it was necessary to help scrub you clean, you silly pony! you were struggling with your magic, shaking too much to use telekinesis and risking yourself drowning, you ponies don't swim very well I've realized, to be fair neither does mom..." I looked at Sylf who was... Laying on her belly on top of a beluga whale. WAIT WHAT!?

I calmed down quickly, it seems like it's okay, she is just laying comfortably and washing herself, the beluga is vocalizing, making odd noises and looks... worried? but it's seemingly not doing anything else, Sylf is answering to the animal with a kind smile, as if holding a conversation. Oh right i taught her the animal speaking spell! of course she would put it to good use, she's pretty clever.

"I... I guess you're right, I couldn't control my telekinesis for some reason, and I struggled to stay afloat. Wait, what's going on?" Coconut asks as I stop paying attention to him and look down at her wife in the sea atop the big white animal. It's not that big but seems bouyant enough to lift the large wolf and hold her above water.

"Stay here dad, imma go check up on them and find out what's going on." I start climbing down the ladder quickly down into the water, casting my animal speaking spell as I jump the last few steps into the cold sea, it was at least less cold than yesterday when we were further north.

"Hello? Who do we have here?" Both of them turn to look at me, Sylf with a happy smile and the whale creature with a curious but reserved expression, it's... Very expressive for an animal, but wasn't that the case for all animals I've met so far in Equestria? Kari was technically just a magical beast when I met her, so was her son, what defines sapience here? Were animals just as sapient but just unable to form the right sounds to speak like other races? I shook my head, overthinking is never a good idea.

"Hello! You must be Onyx, the dragon that miss Sylf mentioned, my name is Aurora, I'm a beluga from the Moon Glow tribe." She said politely, the voice the spell formed is female, sounds to be around her thirties.

"Oh nice to meet you! I'm glad you made friends with mom so quickly, you must be really awesome if my momma took a liking to you, so why are you here?" I asked, smiling at her, bowing my head politely before approaching more and gently offering my paw to the sea creature.

She looked at my offered paw and smiled, approaching and nuzzling gently, which I returned by caressing her face very gently she closed her eyes and relaxed.
"I... I made my mission in life to try to save those in need, and when I saw you three here I thought something bad must have happened, for land dwellers to be in the water, I saw the other one, Coconut? Sylf's mate who struggled to keep himself afloat, and... Miss Sylf who is struggling somewhat too." Aurora explained but, still having Sylf on top, who by now looked fully clean.

"Oh, it was... I asked them to get cleaned up, and mom here in fact wanted to get clean, but the pony is now dry and safe on the ship, up there." I explained pointing up towards the ship.

"Is he really your mate, miss Sylf? You two look really different, he was much shorter and a completely different color, and how about you Onyx? You're not a land creature, not... Not like them, are you?" Curious how she could tell just at a glance, or maybe she has better senses than what it seems.

"I can swim, look!" As always wanting to show off, I dive into the water, her gaze following me close as I propel myself in circles around the area, my tail going side to side like a sharks, while I don't have as much control one I can go pretty fast, then I propel myself up and jump outside the water, my heath filled with joy, as if I had been lacking this for a long time, swimming in the open seas, i felt free.

"Yeesss! Look at me" I yell in midair and dive back underwater, turning around and going back to where the two were, getting a big smile and a happy cheer from mom.

For some reason I don't feel fear now, during the day the scary open water that terrified me before seems almost inviting, like I would be fine, maybe being alone and if being dark was the main issue, but I felt safe now like I am. "Woow! Onyx you're really fast and agile in the water, maybe we should go more often to the lake! You clearly love the water, I'll make sure next time we go to the lake so you put those skills to use."

"That was exactly what I thought, I could tell because of your tail, it's long like mine, and looks strong, and very beautiful!" I blushed at the compliment, not sure how to take it, I have never been told my tail looks beautiful but it certainly made my hearts beat faster.

"Y-you mean that? Thank you miss Aurora! I think you're adorable... And you're very kind for helping my mom stay afloat, she's not the best swimmer but I didn't help her earlier because she didn't seem to be having too much trouble, sorry mom!"

"It's fine my dear, but you can put me up now? I can dry myself with magic, don't worry, first let me say goodbye to this dear who helped me." Sylf then started to give the beluga a bunch of licks on the head and face, it was adorable, and Aurora seemed to find it fun too because she giggled and seemed to get very happy.

"Its been a pleasure to get to meet you miss Sylf!
Ohh~ that feels really nice! I could do this to others now and maybe they'll like it?" She looks at me, and I nod in acceptance, it couldn't hurt to let her try out something new, she approaches and sticks her tongue out, but it seems it's not designed to go out very far, still it's enough to lick me on the side of the snout once, making me giggle and return the affection by petting her underside of her head, it works wonders because she closes her eyes and makes happy squeals.

"I am having a very happy day new land friends, thanks to you! So good, soft touch from you, and I... I am heard by you two, like if you were of my tribe, of my kind, I'm never going to forget this day, or you friends from land, even after saving many of you from drowning, you're the first ones that ever answered to my words." Aurora's genuine smile was contagious, she shook her flippers slightly.

There is loneliness in her voice, but also genuine happiness at having someone to interact and talk to.

"I also am happy that we met and to talk to you, but I must get out of the water now, I'm not made to be wet for so long, and I'm getting colder and colder, I can't withstand it anymore, so we must go back to the ship, I hope you stay safe and continue helping." Sylf said in a shaky voice, the cold was getting to her, this was my cue to leave too, I need to make sure she is warmed up, and I don't know if she can even use magic in her state.

"I-i understand, I suppose you must go as well, Onyx? She is your mother right? You must go help her, I'll be around here for a while in case any of you need help, then I will leave back to the north, to my tribe." I felt sad to leave her but mom had priority.

"Sorry miss Aurora, I need to warm her up and get her dry, they are not well adapted to water, less so in this cold, stay a little while longer and I may show you something!" I gave the beluga a gentle pat on the head, the wobbly jello like organ for echolocation they have there is funny, but I don't disturb it, just a few pats and I stop.

I lift mom in the indigo glow of my magic, then a short blink later I'm up with her, warming the air near her to recover her temperature. It works as the vitality returns to her, she smiles at me and enjoys the warm air drying her for a few minutes until I'm done, takes longer with her because her coat is much thicker and denser than dad's relatively not very dense coat.

Wolves having two layer coat makes them harder to get wet, but also harder to dry once they get wet, thankfully she is fully dry now and nicely warmed up, I pull the brush out of storage and start to brush her, because her fur looks ridiculous in this state, I spend the next half an hour brushing her, even with her help, to get her fluff back to normal. I give her a sniff to check if she is clean, and nod in approval, she smells like her soap and slightly of seawater, it smells somewhat salty but pretty nice, I think she did a good job of washing herself.

"Good to see you two got back, I heard you talking with the dolphin, but I couldn't understand a word it was saying, I guess I lack the proper spell, but... I think you two made a good friend hmm?" We both smiled as Coconut approached us, just having finished brushing himself too, his mane and coat looking pretty neat, shiny and silky white mane.

"Hey love! You look really good, nice job brushing your mane and tail, yes we did make friends with a wonderful sea creature, do you know about her species more Onyx? You seemed to have some idea what she was, just a hunch, I'm not sure."

"Good to see you got your coat and mane all brushed nicely, dear father! And yes our new friend is a beluga whale, a type of marine mammal like you two, she may look like a giant fish but shes closer to both of you in the tree of life than even I am, from what I remember from my studies in biology, beluga whales live in pods, this one must refer to hed pod as her tribe, and probably they get separated to do what they like, in this case, dear Aurora is basically trying to save as many lives as she can, which is incredibly noble and altruistic." I am honestly unsure about the whole tree of life thing here, because if dragons and ponies can mate it's either by magic or they are somehow closely related, despite being extremely different.

"Incredible! So... She is more like me than you are? Despite being from the sea and looking so different... How does that work?"

"Im honestly not sure, from what I remember correctly from the things I've read, it was a type of bear who ventured into the sea and gradually started hunting for fish, and with every generation the bears who were better adapted to life in the sea were more likely to survive, so they reproduced and passed on their genes of being the most aquatic bear, until they just became mostly aquatic animals, but if you see closely she still breathes air, she has a hole on top where she breathes in and out of, she needs air to survive and so do all other marine mammals like large whales, dolphins and orcas."

"I probably butchered the explanation of the theory of evolution, simplifying it too much but that's what I remember, and this happened across millions of years, it's not like it happened overnight so don't take it too literal, maybe magic played a part here that I didn't account for, who knows?" They went quiet and thought about it for a few minutes.

"I guess that makes sense, still sounds really much like you made it simple for us, so thank you." After that I got approached by them and given headpats by both of them, which I was happy to receive.

"I think still think we are more alike than you think, my precious and beautiful dragon." Mom said softly in my ear, before gently kissing me on the neck, making me smile and blush slightly, my tail wagging fast.

"M-mom! Haahh not the neck!" I protest weakly with a giggle as that was a ticklish area, and it seems that activated her trap card, because immediately after I get jumped by the two.

They decide to team up on me and tickle me in the places they know that actually are ticklish to me, i try to resist but they aren't having it, as Sylf pins me down with ease with her superior strength, and Coconut uses his hooves to tickle me, I laugh helplessly and realize that the griffon sailors have gathered around to see, some are laughing their ass off while others just talk amongst themselves and point at us, I feel extremely embarrassed at this, I feel my face glowing from blushing so hard.

"Ghahahha nooh! Stop it! Hhaha! Everyone is watching us!" They look around, shrug and continue the relentless assault, they change spots often so I can't protect my ticklish areas, eventually I succumb to the assault, and stop resisting, panting as my belly hurts from laughing so much, and thats when they stop, I open my eyes and I'm greeted with their smug smiles.

"Now I think we are even~ what do you say love?" Dad asked mom, who nodded and smiled conspiratorially, I make a tired whine, not wanting to move but still sitting down with a lot of effort.

"Definitively, look at him, he's blushing so much he looks like a blueberry! I think he has learned not to do that anymore, right my precious Onyx?" Mom asked me with a smirk that made me shudder, I knew that if I said no I would get subjected to more, and my body couldn't take anymore of being tickled.

"Y-yes ma'am! I've learned my lesson, I promise to... Never again... Wait what exactly should I never do?" I asked in a joking tone.

Both of them gave me a playful glare, with Sylf explaining.

"Don't say such naughty things young dragon! Even if they're true, have some tact or you may get us in trouble, try to act more your age please?" I nod lowering my ears, I must say I went a bit off the rails today because I felt it was justified, but it definitively wasn't.

"Don't worry I'm not saying you don't speak your mind, but at least don't do it when others can hear you, the griffons have good hearing you know?"

"Yes mom, I promise to try and keep my trap shut. Being tickled and then scolded in front of so many is really embarrassing... I don't want a repeat of this either." I look around at the various sailors pretending not to look at us or listen in, but it's clear they're paying attention, some laughing at my misfortune, at by now I was getting used to it, getting up and stretching to release the tension in my body.

"That's fair, if you keep your promise then I promise to not embarrass you again in public, deal?" She offered me her paw and I held it in my claw right away.

"Deal!" I kissed her paw gently like a commoner would kiss a queen's hand in greeting. "Mistress Sylf." a few snorts of laugther are heard as we all remember the silly leader of the griffons who attacked us, this also gets a laugh out of mom and dad, it was pretty funny that he called her that then fled for his life.

The rest of the day was fun, we talked a bit more with the friendly whale who I showed what it was like being a land dweller, with her consent of course, I turned her into one of the animals I know well, a Jaguar, she was extremely excited to be able to walk, of course I explained to the sailors she was friendly, so there was no issue.

"I cant believe you have this powers! I must tell my tribe about this! and you say this transformation is only temporary?! Still, to enjoy the land even if just for a moment, its fun and unique, thank you Onyx." I pat the excitable feline and show her around the ship, getting permission to go into the cargo area and show all the pretty things to Aurora, sure they aren't pretty, its just a bunch of things that the griffons are transporting but for her its all like a new world, and I even show her our rooms, thankfully they are clean, she approaches and sniffs around like a curious cat would, getting used to her senses and her limbs, and walking took a little while, but with my help she had not too much trouble.

"Don't mention it, I've used this power so much in the past, it takes no effort for me to maintain it, I could transform myself into one of your species too if I wanted, But I cant do both at the same time, and the longer I maintain the spell active, the harder it gets to hold it. As long as I don't get scared or hurt or do something that will require me to concentrate on something else, I can keep the spell on you, either way I don't recommend you to stay too long in here in case something happens." After exploring for a bit she seems satisfied and slowly walks back to the deck, still not used to walk on four legs, but I stay next to her and keep her steady with my body and magic, in case she trips over her steps and falls.

It seems that the transformations are mostly instinctive as she is rapidly learning to walk, we are back outside and she looks at me with a big smile, approaching and giving me a friendly lick across the face. "I'm ready to go back into the sea, can i try swimming in this form for a little bit? I'm really curious as to what its like, what its like for Sylf and the other land dwellers."

I nod and lift her up gently, she cheers in excitement at being floated in the air, wiggling side to side happily then she gets lowered into the water, as soon as she goes in, she lets out a yelp of surprise and shock, at how cold it feels, in reality it sounds more like a jaguar's pained roar, but the spell translates it as a voice.

"Yeouch! its SOOO cold it hurts!" She recoils in the air trying to get away from the water.

"No wonder you poor land dwellers don't usually go into the water, if this is what you feel every time you go in!" I let her go into the water and she seems to instinctively know how to swim even in her new form, but she is clumsier than mom. Then she seems to get too shocked to move, and starts to panic "P-please Onyx t-too cold! turn me back, d-don't think I can withstand the cold anymore! G-gods I cant move..." She looks desperate and I quickly stop the Polymorph spell, allowing her to go back into her natural form.

"Ooh, I-I still feel a bit cold, but this is much better, I thank you, for showing me what its like, you made me even more sure of my mission, I'll try to save all, i must inform my tribe of what I learned!" She turned to leave, moving her flippers quickly as if to get the blood flowing in them, even her tail wagged side to side for a bit.

"Its been wonderful to meet you, land friends, you three are friends of Aurora, that means you also now are friends to Moon Glow tribe, farewell and may we meet again!" She turned to the three of us now watching her, my parents waved and smiled, saying their farewells as well as me, who was on the rope ladder, giving her a last headpat before I wished her safe travels, then she turned and, heading north. We watcher until she was lost in the night.

Your path has given you the chance to befriend various animals, and have taken the chance, spreading kindness in both land and sea, you have earned the hidden perk Animal Form.

Animal Form: you can now shapechange into animals without requiring a spell or concentration, but doing so removes your ability to cast spells and talk, you also don't get turned back into your natural form, if you die as an animal, you simply die while retaining your current form in the moment of death.

You can only change into species of animals that you have personally touched, you become an equivalent of that animal of your gender and age, you maintain all of your stats, including health and stamina, perks and abilities, except magic casting, you can still use weapons you are proficient with if the creature is able to hold and swing said weapon properly.

You obtain an animals natural abilities as long as you are in their form, but you lose your original ones, in your case it's frost breath and blind sense.

You can speak to animals without a spell, but only to those who you want to, you cannot understand every animal noise as if it were a creature speaking unless you are actively willing yourself to understand.

In your animal form, you understand animals perfectly unless they are too young for their species, or have no brain.

You maintain your ability to use your telepathy as it's provided by the System.

Interesting ability, if I remember correctly this is one of the essential requirements for the Druid, I need to befriend creatures both from land and sea, but I also need to restore balance and save a natural environment from harm and other various requirements that im not sure how i can complete, its not impossible, not at all but it's still not something I think I have time to do now, nor the least idea how to do.

I cannot wait to try out this perk! I wonder in which animal I should transform into? Oh, I need to touch the animal first, that's going to be an issue with some of them... Not all animals are friendly after all.

After that we decided to go eat together in their room, on the floor as it was clean, we shared prepackaged meals of salad for dad and fish and chips for the two of us, it was amazing, the freshly fried fish and delicious double cooked potato with a good amount of sauce to dip, all packed into a homemade 'bento box', which was a jewelery wooden box, repurposed because we had too many of them, and i came up with the idea of using them for packing food.

The inventory was perhaps the most convenient thing you can imagine, while it had many limitations like not storing living animals inside, it could store plants or other simpler life forms, but the best use of course was for food prep, the dream of any soldier in the field, or hiker in the trail, or camper in their camp, to have homemade, freshly cooked and absolutely delicious meals, all packed and ready to open and enjoy without any sort of cooking or effort.

Bento boxes didn't really exist here, as far as I know, so improvisation, also using wood just makes it all feel much more fancy when you go to eat, I even went as far as to make chopsticks from branches of oak I got in the park, they weren't perfect but they were useful, and all slightly different.

I suck even worse at using chopsticks now than I did back then, having one less finger than a human made a few tasks harder, yet my new form more than made up for it in terms of strength, having more power in one finger than i did in my entire hand back then.

After dinner we headed to sleep right away, as I drifted off I felt like I was forgetting something important, but I couldn't remember what, that kept me up for a little longer until I just couldn't be bothered and fell asleep.

Author's Note

Good day I hope you enjoy this little chapter too!