Ketching some sun

[Aisede]

The last time Aloe and Rose went out to the lake, it was in a boat no larger than cardboard box fit for two. This time would be different.

 

Through a little bit of negotiation (and mental manipulation through magic- not that she's going to tell anyone) she had 'acquired' a vessel worthy of mastering, yet also amatuer friendly. She had asked Aloe beforehand if she'd rather a schooner or ketch, and it seemed she liked the ketch more. So a ketch it is.

 

So there they were now, Rose appraising the vessel and noting some of the more modern differences. It was still a ketch, though. Nothing drastic had changed. 

 

"So what do you think, dear?" Playfully elbowing her love, she grinned sidelong at her. "This time you get to take the reigns. Just don't be too rough with her, she doesn't have much experience."

 

The astrolabe around her neck glinted in the sunlight as she chuckled.

[IceStorm]

 

 

It had been a little bit since Rose and Aloe had been anywhere outside of Ponyville. Having a little bundle of joy made it harder to go out and do things, especially with the other eggs that were nest to her now. Thankfully Rose being what she was, had a copy of herself that could watch the little ones while they were out. Of course where they were now, was yet to be determined. Aloe knew that she was on the ocean, but that was about it. Trottingham wasn't landlocked by any means, but the body of water it was on was just a very large lake. She wasn't sure if that counted. Plus this was only the second time she'd actually been on a boat. Though even with the departure of the eggs, she still looked like a mare that was quite full, heading into the third trimester of the foal that was growing inside her as well. That was going to make things interesting as well. The third trimester is notoriously the worst of any part of pregnancy.

 

The boat that they were on was apparently called a Ketch, and it was a two-masted sailboat with three sails. The hull of the ship was a gradient going from sky blue at the top to a dark sea-blue at the keel. When she heard Rose ask what she though, telling her that the ketch didn't have much experience on her, Aloe smiled back. "Well then, that makes two of us. With this adventure the total number of times I have been on a boat has officially been doubled, so... I literally have no idea what I'm doing. But, I know enough that turning the well left makes it go left, and turning right makes it go right," Aloe said with a giggle.

[Aisede]

Rose nodded... slowly and a little uncertainly. "That's more or less correct," she said, but decided to elaborate. "You see those ropes?" She asked, pointing towards the steering wheel. Behind it, two ropes extended from a coil that travelled down into the ship on either side. "Those ropes are connected to the tiller, which controls the rudder- which, in turn, steers the ship."

 

"If you turn the wheel towards starboard- the right," taking the wheel in her hooves, she turned the wheel right. The left side of the rope was pulled up, and the right rope descended. "We go right. Conversely, if we turn it to port- left," this time, the left rope dropped and the right one went taught. "We go left."

 

Releasing the wheel, she stepped back to give Aloe room, gesturing towards it. "Why don't you give it a try? The wheel can be a little stubborn, but you're an earth pony so you shouldn't have any problems."

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

 

Aloe listened as Rose described the technical workings of the wheel and the rudder. She said something about starboard being right, and port being left. That seemed easy enough to remember. Though she wasn't sure why it wasn't just called right and left. She would have thought that would have been simpler. She supposed it might have been a perspective thing. In reality though, she just confirmed what she said. Turn wheel right, go right. Turn wheel left, go left. It was simple enough. 

 

She took hold of the wheel, following the warning that Rose gave her about the wheel being a bit stubborn at times. She couldn't help but smirk and raise an eyebrow when she said that she shouldn't have an issue with that though, being an easy pony. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm stubborn in a non direct way?" She asked poking her tongue out a bit. Truth be told the wheel was quite stiff, but it wasn't that bad. "What's our heading?" She said looking to the sky. The sun was to their left and it was still morning. "It looks like due North?" Aloe asked for confirmation.

[Aisede]

Rose looked up at the sky... Then she raised her astrolabe before realizing it wasn't the right kind. Right, different breed of machine. Luckily, she still knew well enough about the sun to know where they were going, so she nodded.

 

"Aye. Here, let me get a little wind in our sails." Her horn glowed, and a firm breeze filled the sails. They lurched forward before settling into a good, steady, and slow pace. 

 

"Now, try not to turn the ship too fast or we may capsize. Also don't go against the wind. I can fill our sails for now, but on the sea you must always sail with the wind, and never against it. Sailing against the wind severely limits maneuverability, and drastically reduces speed."

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

 

Wow, this was a lot of information to try to take in at once. Thankfully most of it seemed to be pretty straight forward. Sailing with the wind is always better than sailing into it, thought if that was the general rule that would make getting home trickery. And turning anything to quickly can cause it to roll, and rolling a boat just didn't seem like a good idea. Thankfully the two of them couldn't drown because of Rose's abilities and enchantments. They would just become seaponies and swim back to shore. Though she imagined there were a lot more predators out here than there were in the lakes at home, so it wasn't something that she was eager to do. 

 

"Don't turn the boat to fast, and said with the wind. Seems easy enough. That said, any idea where we are heading? Outside of North? I have no idea what's up here so..." Aloe asked before blushing a bit. She wanted to be knowledgeable for her marefriend, but there were some things that she just didn't know. 

[Aisede]

"Not much," she'd respond. Narrowing her eyes, a little bit of magic to enhance her sight let her see the distant form of no the land bordering this admittedly modest lake. It might as well be an ocean to a sailboat, however. Especially a ketch. 

 

Peeking up, she got an idea. Without warning, she promptly duplicated herself. The copy grinned and threw a foreleg over Aloe's back as Rose prime summoned a bottle and downed the contents in a single shot.

 

"Ah! This will be fun." She laughed (almost maniacally) before leaping into the waters. 

 

If Aloe bothered to look over the side, she'd see a distant flash of greenish-blue that seemed to light up the lake itself. Then... A large, foreboding shadow.

 

When it moved, she could feel it dragging the currents behind it, rocking her boat just a little. Not enough to be worrying, but still enough to move it. 

 

The shadow moved ahead of the ship, a ripple of water tracking it from the surface of the water. 

 

"Hehe," Rose-from-her-side giggled. "You would not beleive how many a sailor mistook a giant squid for a kraken. Trust me when I say the latter are much larger than they imagine. Now, let's try to follow her ~"

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

 

No matter how many times it was explained to her, she was always caught off guard when Rose made one of the copy things. She told her what they were called several times as well but she couldn't remember it either. She thought about curriculum, but that was a school thing, not a copy-shapeshifty thing. Mostly is was just the sight of Two Roses next to each other that was a bit weird for her. She was starting to get more and more used to it, but she was always apprehensive about doppelgangers because of what happened when a swarm of Pinkie Pies took over Ponyville. She shuddered at the memory. That was not a fun day. They had so much cotton candy and taffy in their baths that they had to hire experts to come and de-sticky everything.

 

About that time, she heard Rose say something about this being fun, well one of them did, and jumped into the water. There was a green flash before the other Rose said something as she felt the boat rock and pull. She had to steady her grip on the wheel to keep from losing it. When she gathered it, she heard Rose say that many ponies that sailed often mistook a giant squid for a kraken. She advised her that they latter were much bigger. She wasn't to sure that she liked the sound of that, but she did as instructed and tried to follow her. She was going to ask if Rose thought this was safe, before realizing that Rose was the one staging this, and Rose would never do anything to harm her, at least not intentionally, so if she was doing this, it had to have been deemed safe for them to be doing it. "Setting course to follow. But um... what are we supposed to do when we catch it?"

[Aisede]

Rose snorted. "It'll catch you... When we're through with the basics, at least." She took a moment to simply study Aloe's posture, gauged the wind, and track the massive shadow carving an easily followed path of ripples in the water.

 

"Y'know, funny thing, this is actually probably the third time I've been on a ketch. I know how to steer it because it's a basic model for a sailboat, but in my past life, I only ever had eyes for my beloved Luna's Rose." She breathed out softly as she was transported back to the past, her gaze a thousand miles away from where they were.

 

"It was called the Queen's Ketch, and belonged to a rival changeling queen inhabiting Port Málaga. She got the bright idea to open a brothel, exchanging pleasure for love. It was very clever of her."

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

 

Aloe wasn't sure what entirely Rose meant by it would catch her, but she went with it. She listened as Rose told her that thyis was the third time that she'd been on a ketch herself. She said that she knew how to steer it because it's  the basic model for a sailboat, and she talked about how a past life she only ever had eyes for her Luna's Rose. A part of her wished that she could see the vessel, but considering the words that were used, if she saw it now, it wouldn't be near as magnificent and probably on the bottom of the ocean some where. She also said something about it being called a Queen's Ketch where another changling queen had opened a brothel exchanging love for pleasure. Aloe wanted to say something, but when she thought about it, that was actually a very good idea, and wasn't entirely dissimilar to what she and her sister did for others to relieve stress in their clients when they paid for such services. Granted, they hadn't been doing that here much recently, things considered.

 

"That's actually brilliant. It's similar to what Chrysalis did with that island. She set up a spa resort thing for couples to go. The changelings take care of the guests, and they are fed by the ambient love that is in the air around them. I'm not entirely sure why more hives aren't doing something similar to that. That seems like a much better way to get love and nourishment than trying to fight for it all the time," Aloe said. "That being said, what are the rest of the basics? I'm assuming that I have a lot more to learn because I can handle a kraken," Aloe smiled.

[Aisede]

"Giant squid," Rose corrected. "And don't forget that that's also me out there." As if to prove her point, a single large tentacle roughly as tall as her ketch was long rose out of the water to wave at her, before returning below the rippling surface to continue its leisurely cruise.

 

"A real kraken would have snapped this boat in half in one moment, then swallowed it in the next. Usually you just avoid them if you can, or try to kill it before it kills you." She explained this as if it were the most normal thing in the world, idly scanning the horizon for any more vessels. None so far. Good.

 

"Anyways, steering a vessel in a straight line isn't always an option. The winds have a will of their own, and they can turn against you at a moment's notice." Just like that, the wind left her sails, and Aloe found her momentum quickly bleeding off. The squid moved, slowly, farther away... But not too far. Not yet. "Now, I want you to go with the wind, but still try to follow the squid. If you lose sight of it, you lose." 

 

A grin slowly formed on her lips. "And you know what happens when you lose ~ the squid gets you." She chuckled at this, and the wind began to blow to the east. She could feel the wind pressure against her side, trying to dislodge her from her spot. Although Rose kind of acted like a windbreaker. "Wind will never lead you straight to your destination, but that doesn't mean you can't get there with some patience. Give it a go, follow the currents and don't let that sea monster out of your sight!"

 

She gave Aloe a good slap on the rear to drive the point home, as if she were some coach pony who needed encouragement.

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

Once again Aloe had felt the ship lurch a bit when the winds that were helping propel the vessel stopped. She also nodded when she heard Rose correct her and say that they were going after a giant squid over a kraken. She further went on to say that a kraken could snap this boat in half one moment, and then swallow the two pieces in the next. She made a mental note to never come across one because it didn't sound like killing something like that was in the cards for her. She was more likely to become it's lunch, and she'd rather not have to deal with something like that. 

 

She also heard Rose tell her that sometimes steering the vessel in a straight line isn't always an option, nor is it always the best plan. She said that sometimes the winds have a will of their own, and that she wanted Aloe to try to follow the squid by sailing with the wind as much as she could. She looked at the sails and how they were blowing. She could feel them blowing towards the east at this point, so she angled the sails in that direction. She didn't want to go directly due east, as that would take her away from the squid, but if she angled the sails correctly, she could catch enough of the wind in her sails to still go towards the target, albeit at angled slightly. She knew that there woudl be a point where she would have to adjust course to try to realign herself with her target, but she would need the winds to change course first, and even then there was no guarantee that they would change in the direction that she needed them to. The smack on her flank definitely didn't go unnoticed either as she gave Rose a smirk, "I don't know if that would be too bad of a thing myself, we'll have to wait and see. Though I am curious as to what I get if I win," Aloe smiled, holding steady with the wheel.

[Aisede]

Rose hummed in thought, watching the sails, the lake, and Aloe herself. She trotted away at some point, hooking her hooves over the railing of the ship's rear and gazing back the way they came.

 

"How about you think of something? You definitely deserve a reward if you're able to pick this up." Absently, she reached for the astrolabe around her neck, clutching it in her hoof as they rode the waves.

 

Aloe was no Tail Wind, but she did try.

 

"Aloe... I've told you about my former life as a captain, right? I used to sail the seas, me and my crew, searching for... Searching for something very important. Do you ever wonder what it is I did? Where it was I went? If you have any questions, you can ask them." There's little else to do out there.

 

She still kept things interesting for Aloe, though; anytime Rose felt they were getting a bit too comfortable, she'd suddenly and sporadically change the wind's direction, forcing the earth pony to keep on her hooftips. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

"Honestly, yes I did wonder about that. Quite often actually, but every time I've heard you speak of such things in the past they were always in a negative painful light, like something back then had hurt you, and hurt you badly. I never wanted to bring it up because I didn't want you to have to relive that pain any more than what you already have to. I'm sure you still have nightmares and stuff about it. I know I would if I had something lime that happen to me," Aloe said in response to Rose. "Though I am curious as to what it was you were looking for. Maybe now I can help you find whatever it was. I'n not perfect with water by any means, but that doesn't mean I can't try," she added with a smile.

 

She definitely would notice the change in directions and would shoot a glare back at Rose when she would turn the winds into a head wind, as if to say Rally? but she would deal with it the best that she could. With the sails down, she did note that a headwind was impossible to go against, mush as Rose had told her and had brought the vessel to a stop. She would have to wait a bit before they could continue, and would do so once the winds changed direction once again. 

[Aisede]

"What I was looking for..." Rose, for perhaps the first time since Aloe had met her, sounded truly lost in that moment. Her eyes glazed over as she thought on it, and in the haze of corrupted memories she couldn't really give a straight answer.

 

There was only one thing that could suffice, though.

 

"Immortality." She spoke the word without passion. "Before I met you, before I came to this world free from the malignant force that gripped the mind of my former self, I fell in love with a colt. His name was John Dough, and he was a simple pony. The son of a baker. I met him soon after my adoptive father passed, and in his kindness, I grew to enjoy his company. His laugh, his eyes... "

 

She trailed off.

 

"... I couldn't lose him. I couldn't lose another pony in my life. And it wasn't just a matter of increasing his lifespan- a long lived pony is nothing compared to the relative eternity that is the life of a queen. No, I had to make him truly immortal. We would be together... Forever."

 

The way she said 'forever' would send chills down the spine of even the most hardcore guards. It was a word tainted by ill-deeds and manic need...

 

She sighed, letting that invisible tension go slack before she continued. "My intentions were noble enough in the beginning. During my crusade I would share my findings with the world. No creature deserves to suffer through the pain of loss just because of something as trivial as time or the inefficieny of nature. Creatures deserved to live long, happy lives. As long as they wanted. That was the goal."

 

"But... Something went wrong. I can't say where, or when, or how. I commandeered the ship I had been raised on- when I first left [port], and used it to gather resources for trade. Maybe I could use them to find the answer? To create the cure for mortality. It quickly became apparent, however, that I would need to explore less... Legal options to aquire the regeants I needed. It started small, and then... I don't know. A mania gripped my mind. It was no longer about curing everyone- I needed him to live. I needed him by my side. With every passing day, my fear grew and grew- the fear that, at any moment, I may lose him. I may be too late."

 

"That's when I became the the Scourge of The West. Scylla, The Pirate Queen. I killed and plundered, stole and lied. I would dominate the seas if It meant safer waters for me and my beloved. Nothing would stand in my way..."

 

She was quiet for a moment as she let this all sink in, looking back over her shoulder to make sure Aloe was listening and not gaping at her in mute horror. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

 

Aloe would listen while remaining focused on the helm. This might have been a large lake, and not an actual ocean, but she still didn't want to lose control of the ship and have it sink while she was piloting it. She was certain that Rose would never let her hear the end of that if she did. As she listened though, she would pique an eyebrow. She would explain a past lover, and that she was pursuing a means of immortality. She felt that everypony deserved to live long, happy lives, as long as they wanted. She understood the reasoning behind her thoughts, but unfortunately, even Aloe was certain that alchemy had it's limits on what it could accomplish and she was certain that becoming ageless wasn't something along those lines. Sure, there might be potions out there that might have ways of extending ones longevity, but the way of nature was simple. At some point everything came to an end.

 

She listened on as Rose said that while her search had started out noble, something clicked inside of her, and Aloe tied it to the line that said that she couldn't lose him. With Rose spanning multiple lives in the odd form of immortality that she did have. She was after all, living proof that at least the mind of a pony was ageless... It was of little surprise that Rose had a love before her. She had presumed that this love had originally been the cause of her pain, and she was right, but not in the sense that she was thinking. Aloe presumed from the information  that she acquired from Rose, that the lover that she had, had either become sick, or injured, and it hastened her search. She told her that she eventually started doing unsavory things to try to further her own ambitions, and how she had become The Scourge of the West, Scylla The Pirate Queen.

 

When she stopped, Aloe was a bit stunned. She wasn't expecting that at all, but still, in a sense she understood. Love and passion can drive a pony to do anything that they feel like they can do in order to protect the ones that they cared about. Aloe would fight Twilight herself if she ever found out Twilight was trying to cause harm to any of her little ones of if she went after her family at all. Princess or not, so she understood the sentiment. Granted, she wouldn't get very far, she was a measly earth pony. Rose was able to push herself further, and being ship bound probably helped with that a lot. After all, the ocean is a vast place, and with her being a changling of the sea, it would have made her even harder to find. After a few moments, Aloe spoke up. "Hey Rose? Take the wheel for a second with your magic," she instructed. She watched Rose arch an eyebrow for a second but complied, and once she was certain that Rose had a firm grasp on the wheel, she wrapped both of her front hooves around the mare s tightly as she could without choking her out.

 

"I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that, and I'm not going to lie, I am a bit worried about you having to go through that again. I'm sure we can make potions that will extend longevity, but... you must know that eventually, I will die, where you might not. What is important, is that you remember the good, and you keep your memories with me safe. For as long as you remember who I am, I'm never truly gone," she said pulling back. "I will always be right here," she said putting a hoof on Rose's chest. "And when that time comes, and you ever need a bit of strength, look for it there, and I will guide you through the worst of storms the best that I can," Aloe said, still holding her as tight as she could.

[Aisede]

Rose was stunned. She couldn't believe that Aloe was acting so calm about this... Rose was a monster, even if she changed colors when she arrived. 

 

A bit shakily, she returned the embrace. She was shivering, and wasn't sure she could maintain her hold on the wheel and dedicate her attention to the pony at the same time. **** it. The ship wasn't going anywhere, and neither was her double. Aloe deserved all of her attention, and she gave it, wholeheartedly,

 

"No." She hugged her tighter- perhaps too tight. She couldn't let her go. Not now, not ever. "No! You'll live forever, with me, side by side. We'll be together until the last light draws from this plane, and beyond that!" Aloe could feel something wet drip onto her shoulder, and Rose sniffled. "I did it, Aloe... Heh... I actually did it!"

Pulling back, she beamed at the disbeliever. Perhaps Aloe could see a glimmer of the madness that took her former self in that moment, as she held her by her shoulders. 

 

"I DID find a cure, Aloe! I held it in my hoof- the cure to age, to illness, to death! It was perfect, my magnum opus!" She started to chuckle, and then devolved into full on laughter. This didn't last for long, however, as that dissolved into a sobbing fit. Rose hugged herself, practically fraying at the edges. "And that's... t-that's when it all went so wrong. Everything just went so wrong! I could save him, but he didn't accept it. He refused an eternity with me like... like it was nothing. Like living with death was preferable to living with me. It didn't make sense!"

"And then... he died..." There was an odd feeling to the air, now. Nothing overtly magical, but... a feeling, bleeding out of her in droves. Rose tended to 'feedback' her emotions at times, and this seemed to be one of those moments. "I could have saved him... I can save you, too."

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

So, this was the true nature of the hurt and pain that she felt from before. She understood so much more now. She could feel Rose returning the embrace, much tighter than even she was. She heard Rose tell her that she would live forever and she didn't need to see Rose's face to know that she was crying. She could feel the tears falling onto her shoulders, and could hear the sniffing that accompanied it. It was a sound and feeling that Aloe had been quite familiar with before Rose showed up. She tightened her own hug even more. A cure for mortality was big, and that was something that Aloe herself would have to think about. However, she wasn't going to outright deny it either like her old lover though.

 

"Rose, I love you, and I want to be with you forever and always, but immortality is something that I would have to think about. It has nothing to do with whether I want to die or not, nor does it mean that there's not enough love there. I'm sure you can feel that this is more than not the case. It's more about whether the land can sustain us, and more importantly, can our emotions sustain us. What I mean by that is, if we made this remedy, and we used it, then you and myself would be immortal, but the rest of our family wouldn't be. Not to mention, once we make this, other creatures and ponies, some with not the best of intentions will want a piece of that pie. We would have to figure out what kind of immortality it would be, because if it's only ageless immortality, then that means that we would still be subject to death via injury, or if we possess something that another wants, possibly assassination. We would also eventually outlive our friends and our family unless we made them immortal as well. Then we would have to consider the amount of resources it would take to sustain a permanently expanding race of ponies and changelings that can't die. I'm not saying no, but I am saying that I will need to heavily think on something like that," Aloe told her. She hoped that Rose understood where she was coming from. It had nothing to do with love.

[Aisede]

So... She'd accept it. She'd say yes... But with conditions.

 

Rose heard her words, and objectively she understood them, but she didn't care about any of that. A world without something to love and protect was a meaningless world that could burn to the bedrock if she couldn't have what she wanted.

 

There was a dangerous gleam in her eye as she considered what Aloe said, about other creatures selfishly coveting her cute. If they threatened her or hers, then they couldn't have it. They wouldn't. They will, all of them, die. By her own hoof or time itself.

 

"Well they can't have it," she said, and there was power in those words. A power that permeated the very air with a foreboding energy. "If they decide that our lives are worth less than theirs, then they will, every one of them, perish. By my hoof or time itself."

 

Rose's mind filled with images of just such a thing. A horde of hungry eyes, all of them set on her and her beloved. Her hooves tightened on the frail little pony in front of her as dark clouds began to gather above their quaint little ship.

 

Despite this, and the dim glow building up in her eyes, she smiled and eased up on her hold. She raised a single hoof to brush Aloe's cheek, voice soft and quiet.

 

"Friends will come and go. Our family will wax and wane- but we will always have each other. You will have what I have. Without age, without ailment..."

 

She shuddered and blinked, and that strange energy left her eyes. "I cannot tell you how lonely it is... " Reaching down, she gripped the astrolabe hanging from her neck. "So many centuries... So many lives..."

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~

 

 

 

"Without age and without ailment is nice, but it is also as you said. The ponies that I consider family to me are all equally important to me, even if I'm not as equally important to them. Just as it was hard to watch the one you loved grow old and die, I would have to do the same, not only with whats left of my family, but with every foal that we have. I would out live every pony that I would ever care about except you. No, once we have the means to make whatever this is, this would have to be extended at the very least to my sister, and our children. But honestly, I do thing that should be the extend of it. We should also make sure that we have an antidote on hand for anypony that takes the serum to well, become mortal if they feel they've been on the plane long enough," Aloe responded. "Everypony else, well... I kinda agree, they can go to tartartus for all I care. Especially if they try to hurt you or our little ones. I'll send them there myself," she stated plainly. Still, the thought of potentially having to hurt somepony was starting to sour the mood a bit.

 

"It might take me a day or two to think and make a final decision on everything, but know this Rose. I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with this simple mud pony for life, and maybe even beyond," she smiled before planting a kiss on her cheek. "That being said, I'm pretty sure you're double is starting to get bored over there. We should probably catch up to her," Aloe said with a smile, still holding Rose in her hooves, not really wanting to let go yet herself.

[Aisede]

That seemed to do the trick. Rose calmed down considerably after this, and even managed a rather sheepish smile of her own. 

 

"Right... Right." She took a deep breath... Then let it out. Perhaps the light winds filling the ketch's sails on her exhale was symbolic. "A cure is also a good idea. I admit, I've only ever thought about how to extend life, but release was always something I intended to include as well."

 

Leaning forward, she muzzled her little pony. "And Albedo, at least, is destined to live at least as long as I. She's not quite a gyne, but not a drone either. She's a special one ~" reaching up, she booked the pink pony on the nose. "Just like her special mother."

 

A distant splash heralded the rise and fall of squid-Rose's tentacles breaching the surface for a playful splash.