Descendants of the Isle 2: Back Among The Hidden

by Melody Song


Returning Home

“Everyone okay?” Gallus asked. He was standing with Sandbar near the carriage, Monarch beside them.

“Yeah, we’re good.” Ember said

“Nice work out there Ember.” Luna remarked as she headed for the carriage.

“Thanks.” she smirked proudly as she walked to the carriage.

“Monarch, in.” Gallus ordered, and the cat obeyed this time.

Pharynx stood outside the carriage, and when Tempest emerged from the tunnel he ran to her. Before she could protest he’d caught her in a hug. Tempest froze, then hugged back.

“Phar…” Tempest whispered

“I love you.” Pharynx told her.

Tempest hesitated, then gave him a quick but loving kiss. They then ran to the carriage, shoving their swords into the storage compartment before diving into the carriage. As Pharynx jumped into the front and propelled the carriage forward, no one noticed that when Tempest had been hugged by Pharynx, her spellbook had fallen from her bags.

As they rode in the carriage, Gallus turned to Sandbar. Sandbar looked at him.

“I wanted to-” they said together. “I mean, I’m really-”

Sandbar shook himself. “You go.”

Gallus brought Sandbar into a loving embrace. “I’m really sorry I said that stuff Sandy… I just… it’s hard being back here…” he murmured

“I’m sorry that I didn’t give you space…” Sandbar replied. Gallus gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“F-Forgive me?”

“Of course.”

Sandbar then kissed him. Gallus kissed back, holding him close. When they pulled away, Sandbar cuddled up against Gallus’ chest fluff.

“Well… at least I got to see the Hidden Isle… the creatures here are my creatures too… Spitfire showed me that.”

“Sandy… Spitfire captured you.”

“She was an angry filly with a bad plan.” Sandbar replied, setting a hoof in Gallus’ chest fur. “Not so different from you and the others when you came to Equus…”

Gallus blinked at him, then pulled away and cradled Monarch instead.

“Awkward…” Monarch mumbled, and Gallus huffed, tightening his grip on the kitten.

Pharynx watched as Tempest sat down beside him at the front of the carriage. He looked ahead.

“Temp, I’m really sorry that things didn’t go how you wanted them to…” he said

Tempest sighed, then leaned over and rested her head on Pharynx’s shoulder. She didn’t speak for a while, closing her eyes and feeling his hoof wrap around her waist.

“I mean…” she spoke at last. “As long as it’s over…”

“At least we got to see the Isle again…” Pharynx murmured, chuckling. “Hate to admit it but I think I was losing my touch a bit.”

Tempest chuckled as well. “Well, we did it.”

“Yeah. And I got you back.” Pharynx pulled her closer. “I really missed you.”

“I… I missed you too, bug.” she kissed his cheek. He smiled at her, blushing.

They reached the bridge and Pharynx quickly pressed the button. The golden magical bridge formed and carried them across. Pharynx glanced back at the carriage.

“Hey, Ember.” he waited until she glanced his way. “Stop by fencing practice later. I’m in the mood to break some rules.”

Ember grinned and pumped her fist. “Yes!”

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The six returning creatures walked through the schoolyard. Thorax and Celestia suddenly rushed up.

“You’re back!” he cried, then saw Ember.

Celestia paid them no attention, turning to Sandbar. “There you are, Cotillion’s tonight. Come look.” she showed him the tablet, where a picture of the finished stained glass window was displayed. “Isn’t it beautiful? Gallus is gonna love it!”

Sandbar looked at Gallus, leaning over to him. “Do you want to cancel Cotillion?”

Gallus didn’t respond, focusing on Monarch. Sandbar sighed and looked at Celestia.

“I can, uh, come back later-”

“Now’s fine.” Sandbar leaned in to see the picture again. He nodded, then trotted to Gallus. “I… do whatever you need to.” he said, then walked away.

Gallus nodded. He looked at Pharynx, Tempest, and Luna. “We need to talk.” he whispered to them. They nodded in consent. “Alright, everyone sit down.”

The four villain creatures sat down in the grass. Gallus looked down at the grass.

“You want to talk about Sandbar?” Luna asked softly.

“I just… I don’t know about him… I don’t know how to be a ‘member of the court’ and I don’t know if we’re really in love or…” Gallus mumbled

“You’re not the only one.” Tempest muttered, and Pharynx rubbed her back. “I’m such a mess… I mean… six months ago I was stealing candy from foals, and now I’m this hero of Equus and I have no idea how to keep up the act…”

Pharynx kissed her cheek gently. “Tempy… you don’t have to act.” he nuzzled her. “I fell in love with you, not the pony everyone wants you to be.”

She giggled and blushed, tears falling. Luna reached and wrapped a wing over Tempest’s back.

“Look, guys…” she took a breath.

“Yeah?” Gallus asked

“We’re always gonna be the kids from the Hidden Isle. I admit, I tried to forget it, I did. Threw myself into fashion and being a sister-cousin to Tia, but… those are our roots. Whether we like it or not, we were born and raised there. And we all did what we had to to survive there, but it made us who we are.”

They all looked around at each other, and Luna smiled.

“And Pharynx is right. We’re never going to be like anycreature else here. And that’s okay.”

“And… and we shouldn’t fake it.” Gallus realized.

“No.” Luna said

“Heh, yeah… I mean… we definitely can’t fake it, especially without my spellbook.” Tempest chuckled, and Pharynx nuzzled her.

“And Gallus.” Luna looked at him. “If Sandbar doesn’t love the real you, then he’s not the one. But you need to give him a chance.”

Gallus nodded in understanding, cuddling Monarch. Luna smiled and stood.

“I’m going to go make some changes to your suit, Gal. And if you’re up for it, only if you’re up for it, it’ll be waiting for you in my room, okay?”

“Okay.” Gallus said, wiping his eyes.

The four creatures stood up and headed into the school. Pharynx kept his foreleg around Tempest’s shoulders, and she leaned against him.

“Do you think you can be happy here?” Pharynx asked

Tempest stared at him blankly. “I… I want to be… I’ll try to be happy, for you.”

Pharynx kissed her lightly. “Alright. Just remember, you don’t have to be anyone except yourself.”

Tempest nodded, then tugged on him. “I’m going to get some rest. I didn’t sleep well last night… I know you asked Ember to meet you so I won’t ask you to come…”

“You’re right.” Pharynx smiled at her. “But I’ll come straight to your room to check on you after we’re done talking.”

As the four creatures headed into the castle, Thorax went up to Ember. She was talking with Celestia about the decoration committee. He sheepishly tapped her shoulder.

“Huh? Oh, hey Thorax.”

“H-Hey, Ember, I… I wanted to ask you something… alone…”

“Oh, sure.” she smiled at him. “But, uh, can it wait a bit? Pharynx asked me to meet him and the rest of you for your fencing practice.”

“Oh, right!” Thorax said “I forgot about practice.”

“Heh, well, come on, let’s go. I have to stop to put these swords up but we can walk there together.” Ember said

Thorax blushed and nodded, and they headed off.