• Published 16th Jul 2014
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Journey Home - Bulbasaur

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Part III

Dash’s dad poured some tea — good tea, Twilight noted — for the four of them, Dash sat beside his dad and Twilight to his right.

“How have you been, kiddo?” Dash’s dad asked.

“Awesome, as always.”

The mauve stallion chuckled. “That’s my girl. This unicorn here your friend?”

Dash hesitated for a moment. “Err, uh, yes. We’re good friends.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Marefriends, in fact.” She unfurled her wings. “And I’m an alicorn.” She preened. “Nice to meet you, Mister…”

The stallion stared wide-eyed at Princess Twilight Sparkle, before averting his gaze and stammering “R-Rainbow Trails.” He hesitated. “Your Highness.”

Twilight smiled at him. “No need for that, Trails. Just Twilight will do. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, err… Twilight.”

Trails turned to Dash. “I thought you were joking when you wrote that letter!” Dash simply rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder.

They sipped at their tea. It was a jasmine with leaves from the Gryphon Highlands. The scent wafted from their cups, filling the room with a fragrant, slightly sweet smell. It reminded Twilight of her days under Celestia's personal tutelage, where each morning, they would always share some tea before lessons.

A noise broke her thoughts, and she lifted her gaze to meet that of Dash’s mom, a pale yellow mare who somehow reminded Twilight of Fluttershy. She set down a plate of watermelon and said, “Anything else I can get for you two, Dash, …”

“Twilight, Twilight Sparkle. And no, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, I’m okay as well,” Dash said, tucking into a slice of the fruit. “Thanks, mom.”

Dash’s mom could only stare blankly at Twilight as her mind connected the dots. Then, she bowed and trembled. “P-princess! Forgive me —”

“No need,” Twilight said with a smile, as she helped her up. “Just Twilight will do. How should I call you?”

“Sunshine Dew.”

“Well, Sunshine, nice to meet you.”

Twilight turned to Dash, who was still stuffing her face. “Rainbows and Sunshine? No wonder you never talk about your family!”

Dash swallowed what was in her mouth. “H-hey!” she protested. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s a wonder you didn’t turn out softer than silk!”

Dash leapt at Twilight and pushed her flat on her back. She pinned the lavender mare, who struggled futilely.

“Dash, what are you do…” Sunshine trailed off, wide-eyed, as Dash gave her marefriend a tender kiss.

“How’s that for super softie?” Dash whispered as she broke the kiss, sat up, and helped Twilight to her hooves. “Consider this payback for earlier today.”

Dash turned and with a sheepish grin looked to the furiously blushing yellow pegasus. “That’s one way to introduce her, I guess. It also happens to be the most awesome way, right, sexy?”

She turned her gaze to her marefriend, whose cheeks radiated red. Twilight stammered something incoherently and ran to the bathroom.

“You go, girl!” Trails hoof-bumped the grinning Dash. “Keep this up, next thing you know, you’ll have all the colts in town after you!”

“Aw, they don’t stand a chance!” Dash said. “Not with what they’ve got between their legs, and especially not when I’ve already got such an awesome gal by my side!”

Trails raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when the door to the bathroom opened and Twilight came out, face drenched with water.

“Hey, welcome back!” Dash said. “We were just talking about how hot you are.”

“Dash, cut it out before you give her a heart attack!” Sunshine said.

“She can take that much abuse,” Dash said, winking at Twilight, “And more.”

“Anyway,” Sunshine said, looking outside at the fading twilight. “Have you eaten yet?”

Twilight’s stomach growled. “Err, uh… no, in fact.”

~*~

“So, Twilight,” Sunshine asked. “How did you two meet?”

The party was seated at a groundside restaurant, featuring Southern Gryphonese cuisine. It was completely dark by the time they had gotten there, and the restaurant wasn’t very busy. Candles illuminated their table, giving the place a cosy ambiance.

Twilight shifted in her seat and coughed. “Well, I’m sure Dash has told you about this before in one of her letters, but she literally bumped into me when I was put in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. From there, we became friends — virtue of being Elements of Harmony and all that, y’know — and… yeah.” She sipped on her tea, as did everyone else. Trails scanned his menu.

Fortunately, a young Gryphon waitress broke the silence. “Drinks?” she asked.

“Cider, everyone?” Trails looked around the table.

“Of course,” Dash said with a grin. Twilight also nodded, albeit with an eyeroll.

Two hard ciders, then,” said Trails, “And two soft.” The waitress nodded and flew off.

Hey! I can totally handle the hard stuff now!” Dash puffed indignantly.

Trails scowled at her. “Is that what you’ve been up to in Equestria, young lady?”

Yup!” Dash beamed. “Most famous drinker in town! Even the colts know not to challenge me.”

Trails cocked an eyebrow. “That a challenge, filly?”

You bet it is!”

Trails raised a hoof, but Sunshine stopped him with a glare and said, “You are not having a drinking contest with your daughter.”

“What’s this crap about ‘most famous drinker in town’?” Twilight huffed. “You can’t even outdrink me! I don’t want you throwing up all over the place, thanks very much!”

Trails and Sunshine laughed, and Rainbow pouted and sunk into her seat. “Fine. I’m a big girl now, though, you know?”

“Yes, Dash,” Sunshine said. “We know you’re a big girl now and you can have your alcohol when you get back to Equestria. But we don’t want you to have a hangover when you start visiting relatives tomorrow.”

The waitress returned with their ciders and asked, “May I take your order?”

Let’s have some fried daisies, some sauteed mushrooms, spinach spring rolls, and four bales of steamed hay, please. Oh, and fried cod.”

Is that all?”

Yes, for the moment,” answered Trails.

Fried cod? What’s that?” asked Dash. She looked to Twilight, who also shrugged.

Oh, that’s a surprise,” Trails said, winking at Sunshine.

~*~

“You coulda told me this fried cod thing meant fish!” Dash all but shouted. “I can’t eat… this!”

“Technically, you’re still Gryphonese,” said Trails. “Don’t you want to embrace your identity?”

“Er… ugh…” There was nothing Dash could do as Trails placed a generous portion of the fish on her plate.

“Here in Gryphona, we say ‘thanks’,” said Sunshine, smiling. She turned to the lavender alicorn. “Do you want some, Twilight?”

“Umm… if it’s alright with you, I’ll pass,” said Twilight.

“You sure?” asked Trails.

“Yes, completely.”

Twilight turned to look at her marefriend staring at her plate, wings flared as if the fish were going to jump up and attack. “Don’t worry, Dash. I’m not going to be judging you harshly if you don’t eat this,” she said, then mumbled “Pussy” under her breath before scarfing down her hay like there would be no tomorrow.

Dash’s eyes narrowed and she took her fork, stabbed it into the fish, and stuck it into her mouth, whereupon she swallowed the piece of fish whole, but not without visibly squirming. Everybody laughed as Dash took a big swig of her cider. Trails gave her a hoof-bump and said, “Welcome back, kiddo!”

~*~

Fireflies illuminated Dash’s room, which felt empty without Twilight around, even with relics of her childhood, all placed for this occasion, when she would finally arrive home. When will that mare sneak in? Trails and Sunshine had assigned the lovebirds separate rooms, despite assurances that no, they would not do anything.

Sheesh. Like something would happen. Dash snorted and turned over in her cloud bed again.

The door cracked open a bit, and Twilight’s horn poked in, followed by the rest of her body. Like a cat. She carefully closed the door, then pounced onto the bed to snuggle with Dash.

“Missed you, Featherbrain.”

“Missed ya too, Egghead.”

There they held each other until they drifted off into a peaceful slumber.