Though Silverstream had spent a great deal of her recent days in the open air and upon dry land, that did not in any way diminish her joy when she felt the familiar sensation of water coursing past her scales and fins. And today, she got to experience that to its fullest, as she darted through often-swum waters of her beloved home; Seaquestria. Corals, and shoals of fish she knew well from her childhood would enter her gaze, bringing immense delight to her, as did seeing many faces who would offer greeting as she passed. But, as pleasant as all this was, the young Seapony was here for a reason, and before long, she found herself outside of her family's home. Taking a moment to brush herself down and ensure she was presentable, she entered through the front entrance. It took only moments before she spotted somecreature, and of course, it was her younger brother.

"Terramar!"

She lunged forward, embracing her younger sibling in a tight hug. Terramar himself, who had not noticed her arrival, was taken aback by this unexpectedly affectionate assault, but soon relaxed into it, chuckling slightly and returning the embrace.

"It's good to have you back, Silverstream."

As they finally parted, Silverstream was practically beaming at him, bearing a wide smile and looking as inquisitive as ever.

"So, how have you been? Have you made any other friends yet? How's Mom and Dad?"

"You can probably ask us yourself, sweetie."

Silverstream turned upon hearing the second voice, and again, her face lit up. For it was now her parents, Ocean Flow and Sky Beak, who now swam to greet her. Much like with her brother, Silverstream rushed forward to hug them, and they, in turn, welcomed it. It was a heart-warming family moment, nocreature could deny that, and Silverstream seemed so happy over it that she might even have burst over it. But, as giddy as she was, she kept it under control, and when she moved away from her parents, her voice was tinted with pure excitement, as it always was.

"I have so much to tell you guys! It's been so much fun at the School of Friendship! Oh, you wouldn't believe the stuff that's happened over there!"

While her parents were, of course, eager to hear what their daughter had to say, they seemed to get knowing smirks all of a sudden, much to Silverstream's confusion. But, before she had the chance to ask what was going on she found, to her slight surprise, somecreature swim up behind her and cover her eyes with their fins.

"Guess who?" the newcomer asked.

Now, Silverstream was always up for a good guessing game, and so decided to do just that.

"Oh! Um...Joe the mail-pony? No! Old Lady Doris? Oh! Maybe you're that fish I passed by on the way here?"

A sigh was heard.

"Oh, for the love of..."

The fins were removed from Silverstream's eyes, allowing her to turn and, to her immense shock, look upon the regal form of their leader, Queen Novo.

"You haven't changed a bit, little Silver," she said with a smirk.

Silverstream's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and she took in a sharp breath before speaking out.

"AUNTIE NOVO!!!"

As had happened so many times now, she lunged forward for another hug, only to be stopped by her Mother, Ocean, clearing her throat. Silverstream stopped, giving her Mother a quick look before gaining realisation.

"Oh! Right!"

Stopping herself, Silverstream swiftly started to look regal and composed herself, giving a deep bow to the Queen.

"You honour us with your presence, my Queen."

But Novo simply rolled her eyes to this.

"Oh no, none of that! Come over here and give your Auntie a hug!"

With permission granted, Silverstream burst out into another happy squeal, giving the Queen exactly what she'd asked for. Everycreature smiled to this, and Silverstream seemed happiest of all, but then, as she parted from her royal Aunt, she started to look curious about something.

"Wait...if you’re here, does that mean...?"

Before her question was finished, she looked on to discover that, from behind Queen Novo, another Seapony emerged. One who seemed just as eager and excited as Silverstream was. There was a moment of silence as the two stared at one another, and everycreature else in the house, after giving knowing nods to one another, elected to put some already-prepared earmuffs over their finny-looking ears. And just in time, as Silverstream and Skystar rushed to greet one another, they spoke in voices to loud and so filled with energy that no ear could have possibly handled it.

"SKYSTAR!!!"

"SILVERSTREAM!!!"

"IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!"

"YOU TOO!!!"

"HOW'S LIFE?!?!"

"IT'S BEEN GREAT!!! HOW’S THE SCHOOL?!?!”

“ALSO GREAT!!!”

"WHY ARE WE SCREAMING?!?!"

"WHY NOT?!?!"

A pause, and then, the two youths giggled frantically, moving forward for the sake of yet another hug. With safety now assured, the other Seaponies got their earmuffs off, taking a moment to give one another looks of amusement over this. As for Silverstream and Skystar, they eventually moved away from each other, with the former looking out to her whole assembled family.

"I can't wait to tell you all about what's been going on!"

A chuckle escaped the Queen, and she started to gracefully drift in the direction of the family dinner table.

"Well, it can wait until we start eating. I haven't had any of my sister's best seaweed salad for ages!"

Ocean rolled her eyes, bearing a warm smile as she too moved to the table.

"Oh shush! My cooking is terrible and you know it!"

The family all shared a laugh to that, and one by one, they made their way to the table, each taking a seat and looking down at the spread that had already been placed there prior to Silverstream's arrival. It all looked good, to be fair, and Silverstream eagerly awaited the chance to get some home-cooking again. There was a time of peace and quiet before that, however, as her Mother got to serving each and every one of her guests. Before long, everycreature had a good portion of just about everything there was to eat, and with a single nod of permission, they began to take their first bites. As soon as she’d sampled some of the food, Silverstream moaned with pure satisfaction.

"Oh, Mom! This is so good!"

Ocean took on a look of pride to that.

"Well, I certainly hope those ponies are feeding you well over at that school of theirs."

Silverstream giggled.

"Oh, it's so wonderful over there! I'd love to introduce you to all my new friends one day!"

Her Father, Sky Beak, smiled to his daughter.

"And I'm sure we'd love to meet them, sweetie. After all..."

He turned, looking over his shoulder.

"...you can't really stop talking about them."

The group turned, looking to a pile of opened letters in the corner of the room that was so large it almost reached the ceiling, and all of them bearing Silverstream's writing. Silverstream herself, after seeing that pile, chuckled nervously before shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay...maybe I get a bit too excited."

They all shared another laugh to this, and before long, it was Terramar who now looked to her, seeming more than a little curious to hear what his sister had to say.

"So what's it like? Having Changelings and dragons and stuff as friends?"

A squeal escaped the pink Seapony at that, and she once more gave her brother a cuddly assault.

"Oh, Terramar! It's been the best time of my life! Every day there's some new lesson or adventure for us! It's just great!"

She paused as she considered that.

"I mean, sure, there have been one or two occasions where one of us have almost died and stuff, but that's no biggie, right?"

Hearing that, her Mother nearly chocked on a bite of shrimp, looking to her daughter with confusion and incredulity.

"Pardon?!"

Silverstream opened her mouth to reply, only to be kept from doing so when Novo, of all people, placed a fin on her sister's shoulder, calming her.

"Now, now, Ocean. Let the young ones have their fun. Remember all the trouble we used to get into when we were her age?"

Though reluctant at first, a nostalgic smile crossed Ocean's face.

"Yeah...I suppose you're right."

A frown came to her.

"Still...I truly hope that awful Neighsay fellow isn't going to give you any further grief, sweetie. From what I hear, he was positively dreadful."

But Silverstream waved her off.

"Oh, don't worry, Mom. I don't think we have to worry about him. Besides, all the other ponies have been super-nice!"

Raising her fin, she started the motion that, on any other creature, would have been "counting fingers", even though she, naturally, didn't seem bothered by the lack of such appendages.

"Fluttershy is really sweet, Pinkie's always fun to have around, Rarity's just so glamorous all the time..."

Her smile widened.

"...and as for Princess Twilight? She knows so much about friendship! It's amazing!"

Her smile widened further as he looked to her Aunt.

"I know I wasn't there at the time, but I'll bet it was great when you first met her, right?"

Here, Novo paused, gaining a look of uncertainty. She considered her words carefully, then glanced down to Skystar, who looking to her in an almost pleading way. Seeing that, the Queen sighed, putting on a smile for her niece's benefit.

"Yes, it was...quite memorable."

Silverstream was unsure of what had just happened, but then, she turned, hearing her Father clear his throat.

"Well...how about we get back to the food. My precious little girl is back home, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd say that's worth celebrating!"

Taking a cup, he raised it to her.

"Here's to you, Silverstream! May your time at that school continue to be as wonderful as you say it is!"

The others too raised their cups, and Silverstream, regaining her smile, did the same.

"Oh, it certainly will, Dad...it certainly will!"

She paused, then chuckled in a sly manner.

"Well...it will if I have anything to say about it.”

Then, she looked back to her family, continuing to bear her usual grin as she began to regale them.

“Now then, let me tell you about the time one of my best friends nearly drowned!”

Next Chapter: Swimming Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 21 Minutes