Secrets of the Everfree

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 16: This Isn't Goodbye

Chapter 16
This Isn't Goodbye

“Do you really have to go?” Jet pined, miserably watching us gather our few belongings back into the suitcases. Monty whimpered agreement from beside her.

“Of course they do,” Kelpie coolly replied. “They have friends elsewhere. It would be selfish to keep them here with us.”

“Thank you for understanding,” Torchwood gratefully hummed.

“We’ll miss you, but you have to go home.”

“And just because you’re leaving doesn’t mean our friendship has to end here,” Cascade pointed out.

“Never,” I agreed.

“Wait! Before you go, we all got you something.” Whirlpool brought forth a small makeshift pouch of loosely woven seaweed. She dropped it on the ground before us, and the bundle’s contents were revealed.

“Well... more like made you something,” Kelpie corrected. The first thing that caught my eye was a bright pink flower lei, crafted from exotic looking orchids and braided with seaweed and shells. The other wasn’t quite as noticeable; it was a necklace of twine, possibly even trimmed from a fishing net, with a single wooden charm strung on it. It looked hoof-carved into the shape of two hippocampi curled into a hoop as they chased after each other’s tails. Tide wasted no time in sliding the lei over my head, and Kelpie gave the wooden charm to Torchwood.

“I didn’t think you’d wear the flowers,” she blushed.

“It’s perfect,” he smiled. I now recognized that their ‘flirting’ was nothing more than friendly conversation, and smiled back.

“You didn’t have to do that. Your friendship is the best gift of all,” I sniffled. “But thank you. I’ll always keep this.”

“I don’t think it’ll last that long,” Cascade sadly chuckled. “The flowers will wilt.”

“Twilight probably knows a preservation spell,” I countered. I was finally breaking down, and Cascade moved in to give me a farewell hug. We all exchanged our goodbyes, almost everypony but Torch in tears. Even so, my big tough stallion tenderly returned the embraces of all our new friends. Monty pushed through to get in on the action too. Current was perhaps the most disheartened by our leaving.

We could delay our departure no longer if we were going to make our train. Torch carried one suitcase, and took off into the air. I followed with the last of the luggage, and we hovered a moment longer to wave one last time. They all waved back, Kelpie almost frantically so. I felt a good thermal billowing up under my wings, and recognized that it was now or never. I didn’t need to warn Torch; he’d felt it, too. We let the wind effortlessly carry us back to the mainland.

“I’ll miss them,” I sighed.

“They are good friends,” my husband agreed. “But we’ll see them again.”

“You think so?”

“I’ve already started planning our next vacation,” he winked. I found myself beaming.

“I think I like where this is going.”

---

There wasn’t much more conversation during our flight, mostly due to how short its duration was. When we touched down at the train station, however, we were able to continue. The attendants took our luggage, and due to the bustling noon hour, we struggled to find a private car. We finally managed to get a mostly empty carriage near the back. This forced our conversation onto everyday topics until the couple ahead of us got off. Once they left, I was free to pull out the book gifted to us by Current. Torch looked over my shoulder, and I moved it to where we could read together.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about something Tide said. Do you remember the first time we met? She insisted that there were eight pony types.”

“I remember that,” I nodded. “It was so strange. They hadn’t realized thestrals left in the first place!”

“Right. But what if there was something to what she said? What if there were eight pony types? Thestrals were once thought extinct, and there is no record of hippocampi, either. Who’s to say there really aren’t others?”

“You think that there might be more pony types out there?”

“It’s an intriguing thought, anyway,” he shrugged, looking out the train window. “I just hate the thought of there being others out there, left in the dark. Hippocampi remain hidden by choice, but what if there are others cowering for their lives as we once did?” I cringed in sympathy. I knew how relieved he was that we didn’t have to keep our wings a secret anymore. Once he’d been content to remain isolated amongst our own kind, but after making friends with so many in Ponyville, he just couldn’t be satisfied with the Everfree. Nor could I, for that matter.

“There’s a good chance she was right, though. If hippocampi really have been isolated for that long, they’ve probably done a much better job of keeping their history intact, especially if they haven’t even come ashore to update it. They remembered us, after all, and destrals. Maybe there really are hippogryphs, or at least used to be. Either way, it couldn’t hurt to look into it.”

“You really think so?” His eyes gleamed at the prospect.

“Nopony else really knows of the possibility. Sure, there might be the crazy fanatics out there, but there’s no one to take it seriously.”

“You do know why that is, don’t you? All those ‘crazy fanatics’ are viewed as obsessive nut jobs. That could be us, if word got out we were trying to find mythical creatures.”

“This could be our responsibility. And as for our reputation, no one is going to care. We all have our quirks; that’ll be ours. Just look at Pinkie! She has more friends than anyone I know, and she’s the quirkiest of all! And hey, maybe there are others the hippocampi never knew about. You remember the myths about the aponies?”

“I always thought they were the same thing as breezies,” he cocked his head.

“Some ponies believe they’re one and the same, but I always liked to think they were two separate breeds,” I replied, beginning to speak faster from sheer excitement. “Breezies work with pollen, but I think aponies are more about the flowers themselves.”

“Centaurs? Sleipnir? Flutura? I wonder if the Ice Shetland legends are true? And what about the sand sprites?”

“Who knows?” I giggled. “The possibilities are virtually endless!”

“Every story has its end,” he reminded me, “but I want to discover this ending with my wife.”

“And I with my husband.” He kissed my nose, and I retorted with one to the lips. One of the train attendants walked in just then, and his face turned red upon realizing he’d walked in on two lovers.

“Oh! I... erm... My apologies. Next stop is Ponyville,” he sputtered.

“Are we here already?” I exclaimed, looking out the window. Indeed, familiar terrain was already upon us.

“Thank you, sir,” Torchwood called, finally prying himself away from me. The attendant looked relieved to be out of that situation, and hastily shut the door. I finally had to put the book away, and Torchwood gathered our belongings. The next thing we knew, it was time to exit the train. Even after that amazing honeymoon, it felt great to be home. I breathed in the familiar, comforting small-town air.

“You’re BACK!” I heard somepony screech before I was tackled.

“Yes, we’re back, Pinkie,” I groaned. I didn’t even have to open my eyes to recognize the peppy pink mare. Torchwood nudged her off and lifted me back to my hooves.

“So how’d it go? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“It was amazing,” I breathed.

“An unforgettable honeymoon,” Torch agreed.

“Granted, it wasn’t quite as romantic as I imagined...” I went on.

“And I didn’t get you to myself as often as I hoped...” Pinkie’s face, for once, seemed to blank from confusion, but she still tried to smile through our ramblings.

“...But it was perfect, nevertheless,” I finally concluded.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Well, that’s great!” Pinkie enthusiastically bounced. “We missed you so much! Blaze and Heckley were both going to stay over at the library, but Owlaliscious didn’t get along with Heckley so well, so Fluttershy’s watching Heckley for now.”

“Oh, no! Was everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine! I think he liked it better there anyway. Twilight’s a little skittish around snakes, but Fluttershy gave him special treatment. And Blaze had a good time staying over at Twilight’s, but he’ll be glad to go back home too.”

“He was alright?” I fretted. This was the first time he’d stayed away since I ‘adopted’ him. I was sure he’d done it before back with the dragons, but he was my responsibility now, so I worried.

“Oh, he was fine. He and Spike wanted to try and keep Art Life open for you, but Twilight convinced them she needed extra help at the library.”

“Good,” I breathed relief.

“You’re back!” A stampede of hooves pounded against the wooden boards of the train station, and we turned to greet the rest of our friends. Not only had Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and our dragon friends come to greet us, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake had joined them.

“Acrylic!” Blaze pushed his way to the front and caught me in the biggest ‘welcome back’ hug he could manage. I fondly nuzzled him, and then he scurried around to climb not on my back, but Torchwood’s. I was thrilled that he was finally accepting him.

“It’s good to see you again,” Mr. Cake smiled, more to Torchwood than me.

“You too, Carrot,” Torch grinned, sidling up to his buddy. I refrained from physically jerking- hearing Mr. Cake’s first name aloud caught me off guard. Almost no one but his wife called him Carrot. It took everypony else a moment to catch on, too.

“How was it?”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Whoa, whoa,” I laughed, trying to shush them all.

“You must tell us all about it!”

“Now, Rarity,” Mrs. Cake scolded. “What happened on their honeymoon was their business. It’s a personal affair. Believe me, if they want to let ya in on it, they will.”

“Oh, I suppose,” the disappointed white unicorn sighed. Mrs. Cake didn’t seem to be paying her any mind, caught up in her own thoughts. Then she began to giggle to herself.

“You remember our honeymoon, dearie?”

“How could I forget?” her husband chuckled. I smiled. They shared secrets within those memories. I now shared similar secrets with my husband. It was little things like that which we would always cherish.

“Well, what’re we all still standin’ round here for? I bet y’all wanna get settled in after bein’ gone so long an’ all,” AJ voiced. All our friends hummed agreement. I had to agree that it would be good to be home again. I reached for the luggage, and with Blaze on board, Torch led me back to our home. Our train accompanied us until we got to the base of the hill, chattering the whole way.

“Welcome home!”

“Mom!” It was my mother who came charging down to greet us. My father was a few seconds late, but made up the lost ground in a heartbeat. My parents were moving out to give us newlyweds a chance to settle in together, but still offered to watch the house while we were gone.

“Welcome back, honey,” Dad greeted, smiling as wide as I’d ever seen.

“Hey, Dad,” I beamed, letting him welcome me into a hug.

“Hello, sir,” Torch proudly nodded.

“Ah! What did I tell you about ‘sir?’ We’re family now, Torchwood. No need to be so formal.” He promptly swung a wing around Torch, almost smothering Blaze in the process. My baby dragon batted the wing away to remind my dad that he was still there. “And you, young lad,” Dad smirked, turning to Blaze. “Would you like to show your mother what we’ve been working on?” I froze. Mother? I’d treated him as my son up to this point, but this was the first time it had been spoken aloud. The mere thought made my heart flutter with joy.

“Okay!” Blaze readily agreed, not even noticing the slip of tongue. Most of my friends caught it, and just smiled.

“Honey, why don’t we let them settle back in first? They must be exhausted,” Mom gently suggested.

“Oh, my girl’s got more fight in her than that! And it’ll only take a minute.”

“That’s alright, Mom,” I assured. “We’ve always got time for Blaze.” My little dragon blushed.

“Come on, then. Out here, this way. Come on everypony. That means you too, young ladies.”

“Ooh! Field trip!” Pinkie sang as the rest of them were invited. She happily bounced along ahead of the others. Torch tightened his wing around me just a little, winking as we began to walk. I knew he was referring to the ‘mother’ comment. He was as proud as I.

I looked to Blaze and then to Father in hopes of figuring out where we were being led. Even Mom was wearing her best poker face. I rolled my eyes and gave up with a sigh. I’d find out soon enough.

Our train stopped at the edge of the Everfree, not too far behind the house. Dad parked us a good ways away from the tree line, but continued ahead with Blaze.

“What are they doing?” I wondered aloud, silently begging Mother for answers with the look in my eyes.

“I don’t know,” she fibbed, refusing to meet my gaze and watching them instead. I gave a disappointed huff and did the same. Twilight and even Spike also seemed to know what was going on, but neither said a word. Everypony else was as clueless as I.

Dad returned momentarily, without the hatchling.

“Where’s Blaze?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Just watch.” Dad gestured to the Everfree. I had to squint to make out the speck of orange at the top of the highest visible tree. My eyes bulged.

“Blaze!”

“Wait, just wait,” Dad held me back before I could throw a fit. Blaze couldn’t fly. What if he fell? He could seriously hurt himself!

I didn’t get the chance to even try and intervene before Blaze flung himself from the topmost branch. “BLAZE!” I screamed again. I finally broke free of my father’s grip and zoomed across the ground to catch him. I finally came to my senses when I realized it was taking much longer than usual. When I looked up again, Blaze was peacefully, even happily, soaring above me. “You’re... you’re...” I breathed, still flabbergasted. Then my lips curled into the widest smile I’d managed since the wedding. “You’re gliding! You’re really gliding!”

“Whoo hoo!”

“You go, Blaze!”

“Bravo!”

“Awesome!”

“Yay!”

At this point, we were all running along below, encouraging him. Rainbow even went as far as to join him in the air, providing an extra draft for him to catch and elongating his flight. He was exhausted by the time he landed, but he’d never been so proud. I scooped him up in my forelegs as soon as I caught up. “I’m so proud of you!”

“That was so amazing!” Spike wheezed, catching his breath after our sprint. He curled his claws to give Blaze a fist bump.

“I’m not... quite to... flying yet...” Blaze panted.

“But that was still fantastic!” Torchwood insisted.

“Young owls first learn to fly through a process called branching to help them strengthen their wings,” Twilight recalled. “It’s very similar to what you’ve been practicing recently, Blaze. This is an excellent start, Blaze. You’ll be flying in no time!”

“You really think so?” he hopefully beamed.

“I know so,” I giggled, nuzzling him one more time.

“Don’t you worry,” Dad proudly boasted. “He’ll be up in the air soon enough, if I have anything to say about it.”

“Dad,” I playfully warned. It was great that he wanted to help, but I was worried that his training drills might be a little hard on my little boy. He took the warning lightly and just chuckled.

“You know what this calls for?” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Don’t you think a party’s a bit overkill?” Rainbow asked.

“I was just going to suggest cupcakes, silly,” the crazy pink mare giggled.

“Even I won’t turn down a cupcake.”

“Hear, hear!”

“I’m buying!” Dad declared.

“No, no, no!” Torch pleaded. “This is your victory, too. You trained Blaze, now let us get the bill.”

“No can do, son,” Dad insisted. Torch wasn’t going to give up so easily. I sighed and let them argue over whom was treating who, and let Blaze climb up onto my back.

“You did good today,” I quietly called back.” I wasn’t sure if he was trying to sleep or just recline, but I felt him fashioning my poofy mane into a more comfortable bed. The effort to remain in the air so long must have really drained him.

“Thanks,” he replied, finally settling onto his back. He took care not to let the spines on his neck poke me. “You think Garble will be proud?”

“I’m sure he’ll be impressed,” I nodded.

“Good,” he yawned, a note of satisfaction in his voice. “I need to prove to him that I can be just as much a dragon as he is. And to you, too.”

“Honey, you don’t have to prove anything to me,” I tried. But he was already asleep.

Comments

[Luna-tic]

[Ponykiller_V2]

YAY BUT I WANT NEXT CHAPTER NOW