Journey Home

by Bulbasaur


Part II

Note: Henceforth, Gryphonese shall be rendered underlined. "最棒的一匹小马", for instance, will be written "Rainbow Dash".

It was dusk by the time the train pulled into the station. Kerosene lights shone dully upon the polished wooden platform, illuminating a sign, written in both Equestrian and Gryphonese, that read, "Welcome to Talon Bay, Capital of Upper Gryphona".

Dash stepped onto the platform, stretched her wings, and looked around. Swallows and tits straddled the horizon, and Dash yearned to join them. So turned around, yelled, "Catch me if you can!" and darted up.

Fifty meters up in the air, she settled on a cloud and took a glance at the town. Wooden shacks haphazardly dotted the landscape, above which were placed a few cloud homes, clustered together. Dash could spot a few of Talon Bay's gryphons and ponies milling about on the roads below, and more were in the skies above and below her, including Twilight, she noticed with a grin, who was still catching up.

"How... will we find... your place?" Twilight panted as she collapsed onto the cloud beside Dash.

"I guess we'll just have to fly about looking, or ask around! Come on," she said, taking Twilight's hoof. "I'll fly slower. And I'll let you practice your Gryphonese."

"Ugh, okay," Twilight said, letting Dash take the lead. They glided down to the level of cloud homes and searched for pegasi and gryphons in the twilight. While there were a lot of locals, many were hurrying home before nightfall.

Rainbow spotted a gryphon couple slowly flying among the structures, so she flew over with Twilight and motioned for her to speak. Twilight coughed and said, "Please excuse me. Would you be in knowledge of some pegasi by the surname of 'Dash'?"

Amused, the female gryphon shook her head and slowly said, "No; we are not from around here."

"Okay, thank you. May thou be blessed with the wind at thy tail.” With that, Twilight flew back to Rainbow Dash, who was barely able to keep herself from laughing. “Shut up, Featherbrain. Lemme try those guys.”

Dash watched with a smile on her lips as Twilight again tried to affect a Gryphonese accent and vocabulary, and again was met with bemused but friendly expressions (and this time a negative response in Equestrian). As Twilight tried again to ask for directions from a pegasus, she couldn’t help but admire her tenacity, and honestly, it was sorta hot, how hard she was trying.

So hot, in fact, that she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Sorry, pal,” she interrupted, swooping down and placing a leg around Twilight; “This cute alicorn here’s just trying to practice her Gryphonese. She’ll be outta your mane soon enough. Come on!” She dragged her marefriend up, ignoring her protests, and said, “Follow me!”

The pair of ponies glided, riding the gentle eddies around them. Wisps of clouds drifted by as they flew leisurely, setting sun at their backs.

“There’s my folks’ place,” Dash said, when they at length reached what seemed to be the Eastern edge of town.

"You knew where they live all along?" Twilight asked, incredulously.

"Yeah." Dash chuckled sheepishly. "I mean, home’s not something you easily forget, is it? Besides, didn't you want to practice your Gryphonese?"

Twilight suddenly tackled the pegasus and pinned her against a nearby cloud. Dash stared wide-eyed at her until she aggressively kissed the suddenly-blushing pegasus. Their tongues danced and struggled to dominate the other, and Dash let out a little moan.

When they ran out of breath, Twilight rolled over and relaxed on the cloud. Staring at Dash’s house, she was enthusiastic, of course, to meet her marefriend’s parents, but… there was just a little bit of apprehension in her mind. Or maybe a lot of it. What if they hated her? What if they stopped Dash from ever seeing her again? What would happen to the Elements if that happened? And what of —

“Whatcha thinking about, Egghead? Something the matter?” Dash looked into her eyes, concerned.

“N— no,” Twilight said. “Everything’s fine.” She stood up. “Shall we go, then?”

“Ready when you are,” Dash said.

They flew down and landed smoothly before the house. Dash took a step toward the door and Twilight followed her. Together, they approached the modest structure, and Dash, looking back at Twi with a smile, knocked on the door.

Silence. Twilight’s tail flickered back and forth. She held her breath and counted the seconds.

The birdsong faded as her heart beat into her ears like kettledrums. Instinctively, she raised a foreleg and touched Dash’s cutie mark. There it rested until she felt like she couldn’t hold her breath any longer.

The door flew open, revealing a mauve pegasus with rainbow hair, who turned around and yelled, “See, I told you she’s here!” and tackled Dash in a hug.