[Hoofington]New Paths to Success(Bellosh, Invite Only)

[IceStorm]

 

It had been quite a while since Ice Storm had gotten a chance to see her mother. In fact, the last time that she saw her was also the first time that she had seen her since the day she had run away so many years ago. they had every intention of coming closer to each other and rebuilding the once lost relationship that they had and seeing if perhaps they both could do better the second time around and become more understanding of each other. Of course, with that said, considering that they were both full grown mares, and had shops and lives of their own to attend to, getting to see each other again was something that was starting to prove to be a challenge. Sure they were still writing letters to each other now that they actually knew where each other lived, but getting the time to get away was something that wasn't easy.

 

Now though, Ice Storm had so much more that she wanted to tell her mother since they had met the last time and her mother was also true to her word as well. She seemed to have found a building that would be a suitable match for what she was looking for to open up one of her Frozen Delight's in Hoofington. She hadn't heard much about it other than that it was a beachfront store, which meant that the location was optimal for what she was looking for. But also since their previous meeting, she had started her new job under Princess Luna, and she had also managed to find her love. She only hoped that her mother would be approving that she was dating another mare, but she didn't think that she would mind too much.

 

All of these thoughts were washed away though as the train began to roll into the station and instantly as she got off of the train, the smell of the ocean was prominent, and the sound of gulls squawking in the sky caught her attention. She could instantly see why her mother would have fallen in love with the place. It seemed almost exactly like Ponyville except it had a beach front for travelers alike. It didn't really look to be any larger than what she had seen of Ponyville either. With out any more hesitation, she pulled out a piece of paper to try to remember what her mother's address was and the directions that she had given her to the Marine Sanctuary. "Okay.... I... think I need to go this way..." she said to herself trying to find the listed exit from the platform and also keeping an eye out in case her mother had decided to meet her at the station.

[Lux]

Ice Storm gave permission for me to join

 

Fire Heart sat on the train, nervously shuffling as she tried distracting herself by looking out the window at the passing scenery. It wasn't the ride that bothered her but what would happen afterwards. Weeks ago the young mare promised that she would go with Ice Storm to see Hoofington and to visit her mother. It was exciting visiting the new place, but seeing Ice's mother was scary. What if she didn't like Fire Heart or the fact that she didn't want Ice to be in love with mares? What if she messes up and cannot control her abilities? What if she is forbidden from seeing Ice ever again? She couldn't possibly imagine being apart from her! 

 

The shuddering of the train stopping at the station jarred her out of her thoughts and made her get ready to go. She got off the train, several ponies placing themselves between her and Ice Storm. As she left she smelled the salty air and the sound of seagulls. She knew of course about the ocean but she never saw it in her life. This was something that she longed to see and what better way than with her marefriend. Looking around she spotted Ice Storm looking at a paper, no doubt with directions. It was interesting how despite her mother being here she never been her. 

 

"Lost already?" Fire said cutely, "I know you want to see your mom, but I'd really like to see the ocean too and stick my hooves in the wet sand." 

[Bellosh]

Someone was there to greet Ice Storm at the train station... or something rather. Poor ole' Mist Weaver was still back at home, freaking out that everything wasn't cleaned up yet for her daughter's arrival. Oh, and also supremely annoyed that her seagull Scuttle decided to snatch one of the fish from the Marine Sanctuary pools. But Scuttle always had reasons to do these sorts of things; he sensed that someone important was going to visit today, and so decided to collect a gift and fly off to meet this visitor in advance.

 

Lo and behold, the resourceful seagull spied the familiar-looking Ice Storm some distance away from the Hoofington train station. Scuttle missed Ice Storm tons, and thought in his head that this was the pony to give his "gift" too. The bird swooped down from the sky, got in close, and dropped its fishy prize right into Ice Storm's mane! With a squawk of its beak, the gull landed in front of Ice and her companion, spreading his wings out to showboat.

[IceStorm]

Looking over the page that was filled with directions, Ice Storm couldn't make heads or tails of anything. She looked at the pieces of paper but it looked like some of the directions were missing. At the bottom of the page that finished the letter, it read, "As soon as you leave the train station turn left, and then...." the rest of it was broken off. Most likely on another page that Ice Storm has yet to be able to locate. She started flipping through all the pages of the letter that she had brought with her before realizing that she had some how lost the most important part of the letter. "Well fiddlesticks..." she said to herself as a familiar voice came up behind her.

 

"Lost already?" Fire said cutely, "I know you want to see your mom, but I'd really like to see the ocean too and stick my hooves in the wet sand."

 

"I'm not lost! I... just kinda forgot some of the directions that my mom had sent us. The continue on another piece of paper that I um... seem to have misplaced..." she said too Fire Heart. "And we're in luck! The store my mom is taking me to look at later is a beach front store! I also kinda wanted to go to the beach myself, so that wouldn't have been an issue though. I just hope the sand isn't too hot for my hooves," she giggled as she heard a familiar squawk and then felt a fish flop down into her mane before sliding down and flopping along the ground. Without any more delay Scuttle landed in front of them wings displayed out seeming to be quite proud of his gift. "Scuttle! Perfect Timing! Can you lead us to moms? I kinda lost the directions she sent...," she asked him turning to Fire Heart. "This is Scuttle, He's moms pet seagull, " she said before levitating some bits over to the nearest stall selling large bowls and filled it with water so the fish wouldn't die and put it in the bowl.

[Lux]

"I'm not lost! I... just kinda forgot some of the directions that my mom had sent us. The continue on another piece of paper that I um... seem to have misplaced..." 

 

"Sure you forgot," ​Fire said sarcastically as she nuzzled her marefriend, "Glad to hear that this shop is on the beach. It shouldn't be that hard to find if we kept walking along the sand." 

 

Before they could go though, something unexpected happened. A seagull dropped a fish right on Ice Storm and then had the nerve to land by them! Fire was about to shoo away the bird when Ice recognized it as her mom's pet bird. 

 

"Your mom has a pet seagull? I guess it makes sense living by the ocean. Kind of a funny way to say hello dropping a fish on you. Well if he can tell us where your mom's shop is then let's follow!" 

[Bellosh]

Observing that Ice Storm accepted his gift of a fish, Scuttle saw that as his signal to squawk some more, and then fly off again in a straight line back to his caretaker’s habitat. If the two unicorns followed the seagull’s path, they would stumble upon quite a unique place just outside of town. Right on the coastline, they would glimpse two pony-made saltwater pools linked to the sea through channels. In the middle of the pools and the rocky beach were three main structures; one a quaint but elegant two-story cottage, another a more unitarian and drab building, and finally something that looked like a large cage. A small sailing boat moored to a dock gave the owner of this facility the means to travel by water.

 

This place of course was the Hoofington Marine Rehabilitation Sanctuary, run by no other than Mist Weaver. Various sea mammals were being temporarily housed in the pools, the sea birds in the cage, and finally the drab building housed the aquarium for the undersea creatures. Over this campus Scuttle loitered over, hoping to see if Ice Storm and her friend followed him here.

[IceStorm]

Ice couldn't help but giggle as Fire sarcastically confirmed that she had just lost the directions and that she wasn't actually lost. She also added that she was happy that the shop they were going to be looking at was a beach front shop. Fire seemed very excited about going to the beach, and to be honest, she herself was as well. It had been so long since she had seen a beach that she almost forgot what a beach even was. Ponyville and Canterlot Both were completely landlocked so finding a beach there was a bit difficult, although she supposed Ponyville Lake kind of counted as a beach. It wasn't huge, but it kinda served the purpose. When she asked about her mom having a pet seagull, Ice nodded. "Yup, Scuttle has been around just as long as I have. She's had him when we were in Fillydelphia, I remember that much at least," she said to Fire as Scuttle Squawked in what she assumed was the response to her question as he started to fly off. "Come on, let's follow him."

 

She followed relatively close behind the gull as it led on. They seemed to pass through a lot of the town as the followed as he lead them to someplace just on the outskirts of town. There were three structures that stood out as well as two hoof made pools, each quite deep and smell of seawater. The first structure that she noticed looked to be a large cage like building that appeared to have some seabirds flying around in it, and the ponds had various fish in them. It was most likely where Scuttle had gotten the fish that he had given her, but she wasn't her mom and couldn't tell what the fish was just by looking at it, so she'd have to let her mom see it to know which pond it was supposed to go in.

 

The other buildings seemed to be a drab building of sorts that looked to have a large Aquarium in it as well. "Hmm... perhaps he got it from there too..." she said to herself as she walked next to her marefriend as they made their way to the cottage which Ice Storm presumed was her mother's actual place of dwelling of the three buildings and knocked on the door. "You excited? I wish I could give you a warning on what to expect, but this is only the second time I've seen her since we've reunited, all of our talks have been through letters," she said to Fire blushing a bit.

[Lux]

Fire Heart followed the mare and the seagull Scuttle through the town, past the array of homes and shops. Perhaps on her way back she could take a leisurely stroll back to the train station with her marefriend to see what she passed. To her surprise the mare found herself not at the beach as she imagined it, but the rocky part where there were a cluster of pools and buildings. To her they looked kind of drab, even rundown a little as if whoever owned them was trying to breathe new life into them. 

 

Clearly this place was some wildlife sanctuary, which Fire believed that was where Scuttle got the fish. It must be interesting to be able to see all the sea life in one area. 

 

"You excited? I wish I could give you a warning on what to expect, but this is only the second time I've seen her since we've reunited, all of our talks have been through letters," 

 

"I have to admit I'm a little nervous as to what your mom will think when we break the news to her. I guess you're a little nervous too seeing that this was your second time meeting her and the first being actually here." 

[Bellosh]

*OOC: I'm going to make use of Mist Weaver's husband, Silver Mane, as a NPC.*

 

 

 

As the two unicorns trotted inside the sanctuary, they started to hear what sounded like arguing from inside the cottage. Or to be more precise, the bickering of an old married couple. While it would have been hard for the ladies to initially follow the conversation, they would start picking up more words the closer they got.

“. . . your desk is STILL a pigsty; what haven’t you cleaned it up yet!?” demanded the voice of a panicked middle-aged mare.
 
“Relax, dear,” a calmer male voice responded; “It won’t be the end of Equestria if-”
 
“You’re telling ME to relax??? Our daughter’s going to arrive any minute now! You haven’t seen her in almost twenty years, and yet you’re barely doing anything to help-”
 
“Misty, you got to calm down. I’m sure Ice Storm won’t care if my desk is a little-”
 
“YES SHE WILL CARE, SILVER!!! I can’t have my little sweetie think we’ve turned into slobs since she left home! And have you seen where that blasted Scuttle flew off to!? I can’t believe he stole one of the fish again!”
 
“Sorry dear, I’m busy cleaning my desk-”
 
“Ohhh, this is going to be a disaster! Oh no oh no oh no . . . “

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm nodded a bit when Fire mentioned that she was actually a little bit nervous. She nodded once more when she added that she was probably a bit nervous to as this was only her second time actually seeing her mother. Everything was welling up inside of her. Their first meeting was quite great, and the letters that they had sent were quite friendly as well so everything appeared to have been on good terms. She could only hope that the letters weren't false pretenses, but she couldn't see her mother stooping down to such a level to work so hard to regain her trust only to throw it away again. "Well, I am quite nervous, but I'm also sure that everything will be okay. She seemed quite understanding when she was in Ponyville and her letters have been sincere so I don't see any reason to believe there will be an issue," she commented as they continue towards the door.

 

Right as she got ready to knock on the door, she could hear some bickering coming from inside. As she listened in, she caught a comment that gave her pause. That somepony hadn't seen our daughter in nearly twenty years. "My.... Father's here too? I suppose I should have expected that..." she said to herself now completely unsure of what to expect. She was comfortable with her mother already, but she had no idea how her father was going to react to her being back in their lives. If she wasn't nervous before, it was very obvious that she was now as she knocked on the door. She nervously awaited for them to be let in, and what was going to be transpiring next.

[Lux]

Fire could tell that Ice was just as nervous as the red unicorn was. While Fire was trying to make a good first impression to the parents of her special somepony, Ice was trying to reconnect to her long lost parents. The red unicorn heard that her foalhood was not the best and Ice even had to leave or risk more misery. Well now her life was turned around and her mom seemed willing to rebuild the bridge between them. 

 

"I'm glad that you are on good terms with your mother. Well if we're going to meet them, we'll do it together!"

 

As she approached the cottage door, Fire could hear argument between her mother and a male pony. Maybe it was a worker at the nature preserve, Looking over at Ice Storm she seemed to know who that other voice was. 

 

"Ice, something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost?" 

[Bellosh]

As soon as Ice Storm knocked on the exterior door, everything inside the house fell into dead silence. For several moments, the only thing Ice and her friend could hear were the waves of the nearby shore and the songs of seagulls. Then without any warning, the door rapidly swung inward, revealing the sight of a beaming blue-coated mother:

 

 

“Ice Storm!” Mist Weaver didn’t hesitate to hug her daughter right then and there; “Welcome to Hoofington, sweetie! How was the train ride over here?” As Mist pulled away from the hug, she noticed another young mare standing next to Icy, surprising the older mare. “Oh uhh, I didn’t think you were bringing any friends along...” With this last-second surprise guest, Mist was now even more worried that her home didn't look presentable enough for the unknown visitor.

[IceStorm]

The brief period of silence didn't do anything to calm Icy's nerves once they had knocked on the door. When Fire Heard asked if she was okay, she weakly nodded, not giving very much reassurance. "My father's in there to... I... don't know what to expect now," she managed to get out before the door opened rapidly inside and before she knew anything her mother had her wrapped in a tight hug. One that caught her a bit by surprise with how quick it came upon her, but she quickly returned the hug.

 

"Thanks mom, the train ride was okay. Fire and I talked about a lot of things on the way here so it made it pass by a lot quicker than it felt," she told her mother whom also commented on Fire's presence. "Well, she's kind of an important friend of mine. One that I figured you'd want to meet yourself. That said... I heard father in there too.... he's not.... as grumpy as he used to be is he?" she asked. She knew that a lot could change in twenty years, but memories are hard to fade, especially bad ones.

[Lux]

 "My father's in there to... I... don't know what to expect now," 

 

Fire Heart knew that things were tough between Ice and her parents and only recently she patched things up with her mom. But the revelation that Ice's father was in the house made Ice doubt her coming to the sanctuary. Before she could comfort her, the door suddenly opened revealing a mare with a blue coat. It was no secret that Ice looked like her. 

 

"Thanks mom, the train ride was okay. Fire and I talked about a lot of things on the way here so it made it pass by a lot quicker than it felt," she told her mother whom also commented on Fire's presence. "Well, she's kind of an important friend of mine. One that I figured you'd want to meet yourself. That said... I heard father in there too.... he's not.... as grumpy as he used to be is he?" 

 

Fire Heart could see that her marefriend was nervous, and although she felt the blue unicorn was best to lead the conversation she felt she needed to introduce herself. 

 

"Nice to meet you. I'm fire Heart, although you can call me just Fire if you wish. I have to say this is the first time traveling to Hoofington, so I'm glad that Ice traveled with me." 

[Bellosh]

 

"Thanks mom, the train ride was okay. Fire and I talked about a lot of things on the way here so it made it pass by a lot quicker than it felt," she told her mother whom also commented on Fire's presence. "Well, she's kind of an important friend of mine. One that I figured you'd want to meet yourself." 

 

"Nice to meet you. I'm fire Heart, although you can call me just Fire if you wish. I have to say this is the first time traveling to Hoofington, so I'm glad that Ice traveled with me." 

 

“Ah,” the motherly mare nodded at the two younger unicorns as she smiled; “My name’s Mist Weaver, but I suppose you can just call me Mist. Welcome to our home, Ice and Fire!” Mrs. Weaver stepped aside and gestured for her guests to enter the cottage, thinking to herself how “Ice and Fire” sounded strangely poetic. Once inside, the guests would be in the living room; a rather spotless and airy area. All windows were open, allowing for the sea breeze to come in and blow the curtains as it pleased. The mare spared no effort in getting the cottage cleaned up.

 

"I heard father in there too.... he's not.... as grumpy as he used to be is he?"

 

Mist Weaver awkwardly laughed as she tried thinking of a response that wasn’t affected by all her gripes throughout the entire morning. “Well, umm, I’ve been getting on your father’s case the entire morning to make sure he helped tidy this place up. Try not to take offense if he doesn’t act too... sociably today.” The mother then took on a stern expression as she turned her head toward the stairs; “SILVER MANE! Finish up with your desk! Company’s here!”

 

“Yes dear,” came a weary response from someplace upstairs.

 

Mrs. Weaver forced a smile in Ice and Fire’s direction; “He’ll be down in a minute-” At this point, Mist noticed a fish bowl in her daughter's possession and immediately suspected the work of a certain avian pest. "Ice Storm," she began scowling; "Who gave you that fish?"

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm's ears splayed back a bit when she heard her mother apologize in advance if her father wasn't very sociable today as she had just gotten on to him about cleaning his desk. This most certainly didn't do anything to calm her nerves and she could feel her heart beating rapidly. She waited as her mother and Fire finished introducing themselves to each other and then her mother announced up to her father that they were here. The somewhat wary response didn't help either. It did make her wonder if he might have been having the same thoughts about her. She gave a gentle nod. "O..okay..." She spoke, her tone making it very obvious how nervous she actually was with this development.

 

Thankfully her mother was able to get her mind off of the what was going to be occurring next by asking her about the fish and who gave it to her. "Oh, I'm fairly certain you already know who gave it to me. I don't know how long Scuttle had the poor thing out of water. I would have put it back in the tank on the way inside, but I didn't know which tank it went in, and I didn't want to accidentally make it food for something else," She said with a smile, the nervousness still present but not as much so.

[Lux]

“My name’s Mist Weaver, but I suppose you can just call me Mist. Welcome to our home, Ice and Fire!”

 

"Thanks Mist," Fire said as she followed Ice Storm into the cottage. Despite its weather worn look on the outside, inside the cottage was nice and cozy and very organized. It reminded the red unicorn of her own home in Canterlot. Yet her eyes quickly shifted towards her marefriend as her ears were pinned back hearing that her father might not be in the best of moods. Fire heard very little of the blue unicorn's father and what she heard wasn't the best. Hopefully like her mother Ice's father changed. 

 

"Ice Storm," she began scowling; "Who gave you that fish?"

 

"Oh, I'm fairly certain you already know who gave it to me. I don't know how long Scuttle had the poor thing out of water. I would have put it back in the tank on the way inside, but I didn't know which tank it went in, and I didn't want to accidentally make it food for something else," 

 

"It certainly was a welcome that I wasn't expecting, but the seagull did show us the way here. Ice actually didn't tell me that you ran a marine life sanctuary."

[Bellosh]

 

With Ice Storm’s answer concerning the fish’s source, Hoofington’s biggest non-mystery of the year was quickly solved. Sometimes, Mist Weaver wondered if her seagull companion would ever grow out of his item-stealing ways. Speaking of that feathered devil, the sound of flapping wings coming from an open window signaled the return of Scuttle, this time with a sea snail shell clutched in his beak. Evidently, the bird thought that his pony caretaker would forgive his earlier fishnapping if he brought back something new.

 

Mist Weaver didn’t look too pleased as Scuttle landed on her back and deposited the shell in her mane. Though rather than chastise the bird in front of her guests, Mist took a deep breath before forcing a smile. “Well, come along girls,” Mist magically picked up the fishbowl via levitation; “I can show you around the sanctuary while I’m putting our fishy friend back.” Since Ice Storm helpfully returned the fish to the cottage, the best thing Ice's mother could do right now was returning that poor creature to its rightful aquatic tank.

 

However, Mrs. Weaver forgot that she had a shell still lodged in her hair. As she started trotting out the door, a small red crustacean poked out from the shell’s opening.....

[IceStorm]

Ice Smiled as her mother and Fire seemed to start getting off to a good start.  Although when they started talking, the bird in question made his reappearance and appeared to make another deposit onto her mother's mane. This of course didn't seem to make her mother any happier with the bird, and in fact, looked like it agitated her even more. This time though, the creature looked to be of a small red sea snail as made apparent when it began to come out of it's shell and through her mother's mane. Ice Storm used a bit of her magic and moved the creature to her mother's back. "Since I'm pretty sure you don't want snail goop in your mane," she giggled as her mother offered to show them around the sanctuary. "Oh thank you, that would be quite nice. Do you still work on Seaponies as well? or do you still have their trust? I've read that they can be a bit picky with who they work with or not."

[Lux]

Before the two could do anything else, Scuttle returned, this time with a snail that was dropped unceremoniously of Mist Weaver's head. Ice calmly placed the snail on the pony's back as her mom decided to give them a tour of the sanctuary. Fire's ears perked up though when Ice mentioned the seaponies. 

 

"Seaponies? I read about them while at school but I didn't think there were any around especially in such a busy place like this." 

[Bellosh]

 

Ice Storm used a bit of her magic and moved the creature to her mother's back. "Since I'm pretty sure you don't want snail goop in your mane," she giggled as her mother offered to show them around the sanctuary.

 

“Snail goop?” Mist Weaver twisted her head around to see what Ice Storm was talking about. It looked like a creature called the sea snail shell its home, but Mist identified its occupant as something else. “Oh, that’s actually a hermit crab,” she chucked as the red crustacean revealed one of its claws; “They often take refuge in abandoned snail shells to avoid the attention of annoying and obnoxious seagulls.” Scuttle wasn’t around to see his caretaker’s death glare though; he wisely flew off when Icy levitated the shell onto her mother’s back.

 

"Oh thank you, that would be quite nice. Do you still work on Seaponies as well? or do you still have their trust? I've read that they can be a bit picky with who they work with or not."

"Seaponies? I read about them while at school but I didn't think there were any around especially in such a busy place like this." 

 

Mist Weaver laughed heartily as she walked towards the utilitarian building, needing first to drop off the wayward fish in the facilities inside. “No sweetie, I don’t work on sea ponies. But I’ve worked with them on one or two occasions. As they live in seas far away from Hoofington, they don’t tend to swim by too often. When they do come, they generally trade with our merchants or visit our offshore kelp forests. Unlike those... yuppies in Manehattan, we actually keep our ocean habitats pristine. And that's something the sea ponies appreciate very much.”

[IceStorm]

"Oh, I only asked because of what very, very little I remember of the Aquarium that you had, I vaguely remembered Seaponies being in it," Ice responded to her mother when she replied, stating that she didn't having any Seaponies that she was caring for at the moment. She did say though, that she's worked with them on a few occasions. She said that they actually live pretty far away and mostly only visit their off shore forests or trade with their merchants. She said that unlike the ponies in Manehatten, although her term wasn't quite as polite, they kept their waters clean, and the seaponies are quite thankful for that. "I imagine they would be. I can imagine that it wouldn't be fun trying to swim through all that trash and the like to just get to someplace," she said.

 

She then fell back on what her mother had told her when she questioned the snail goop, telling her that it was actually misidentified. It was actually a hermit crab that had made it's home in the old shell of a snail. They did that so that gulls would leave them alone or wouldn't try to eat them. Apparently one gull in mind hadn't gotten the memo. "Yeah, I can understand why in a way. What kind of fish was that that Scuttle brought to us? I'm afraid that I'm much better at identifying different types of Ice as I am fish," she smiled turning back to Fire. "Having fun yet sweetie?" she asked, casually dropping a hint to her mother that they were in fact a bit more than just friends.

[Lux]

"Oh, a hermit crab," Fire Heart said looking at the crab on Ice Storm's back, "I saw a pony once selling them at a stall in Canterlot. Not sure how good a pet they'd be though." 

 

She could tell that Scuttle was quite a hoof-full to Mist Weaver, taking things that did not belong. Her thoughts though turned to the topic of seaponies and something Ice Storm mentioned about them being in an Aquarium. The red unicorn tried to think of the lore she remembered in school about sea ponies. 

 

"Aren't seaponies big, like normal ponies except having tails instead of back legs? Unless there was a really big aquarium I don't know if you saw any Ice. I can't believe that ponies would dump their trash into the ocean like that! What if they had trash dumped on them? 

 

What kind of fish was that that Scuttle brought to us? I'm afraid that I'm much better at identifying different types of Ice as I am fish," she smiled turning back to Fire. "Having fun yet sweetie?"

 

Fire's ears perked up as Ice called her "sweetie." Part of it was Fire not used to being called cute pet names, but the bigger reason was in how Mist Weaver would react. Would she be as receptive as her parents or not? The last thing Fire wanted to do was drive a wedge with her feelings between Ice and her parents' healing relationship. Well there was no use in hiding it as either she or Ice would have to break the news. 

 

"Yes I am...sweetie," Fire said not sure how to respond as the red unicorn had little experience with love. 

[Bellosh]

 

"Oh, I only asked because of what very, very little I remember of the Aquarium that you had, I vaguely remembered Seaponies being in it," 

"Aren't seaponies big, like normal ponies except having tails instead of back legs? Unless there was a really big aquarium I don't know if you saw any Ice."

 

“Ohhhhhhhh,” Mist Weaver finally understood why her daughter was asking about sea ponies; “That’s right, we hired a couple ponies to dress up in sea pony costumes. Our investors thought having them around would spice up the Aquarium’s attractions. We would have hired real sea ponies you know, but they’re understandably... rather hard to come by in Fillydelphia.”

 

"What kind of fish was that that Scuttle brought to us? I'm afraid that I'm much better at identifying different types of Ice as I am fish."

 

Appropriately enough, the three unicorns entered the structure just as Icy asked about the fish in the bowl. Inside were rows of large, spacious fish tanks; many of them occupied by one or two small marine creatures. Mrs. Weaver, the mare who kept the tanks cared for, instinctively navigated her way between the rows as she described the bright orange damselfish in the bowl. “What we got here is called a Garibaldi. These fish live in the kelp forests just offshore of Hoofington. This little fellow was brought here a couple weeks back because it had an injured fin, but he’s recovered enough to head back to sea in a couple more days.”

 

The unicorn mother stopped outside a deserted fish tank with seaweed growing in it. “Alright now, Garibaldi,” the cooing Misty levitated the damselfish out of the bowl and into the tank rather than contaminate the tank with fresh water; “Time for you to get out of that nasty itsy bitsy bowl and that icky water.” Already, the mare could tell that the damselfish was happy to be back in familiar salt water. However, Misty’s focus on the fish made her tune out of whatever conversation that Ice Storm and Fire Heart were having between each other.

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm listened as her mother explained the species of the fish. She said it was called a Garibadli. She explained that it was a fish that lived in the kelp forest off shore, and that this particular one had an injured fin and that he was being nursed back to good health. She said that he should be recovered enough to go back to the ocean in a few days. "Well, that's good that he'll get to go back soon and be with his family," she said as her mother started focusing a bit more on the comfort of the fish as she returned it to the water.

 

When added that she was in fact having fun, she smiled and nuzzled her again. "I can't say that I was expecting this place to be this big. I knew from the letters that mother was running a marine sanctuary but I wasn't sure how big it was actually going to be," she smiled before turning back to her mom. "So I'm assuming that this tank here is for storing more of the exotic fish so that they don't clash too much with other more territorial or predatorial fish?" she asked her mom.