private Seeds of Beginning

[Klopp 2,050]

"Are you sure? We do-"

 

He paused, as he was startled when she suddenly hopped onto his back. It seemed she was quite certain that she wanted to fly, probably so they could get there even faster. He didn't really have any objection, but hoped she wouldn't strangle him like before.

 

"I guess we're flying then. Just be careful not to dig into my skin. Now hold on a little tight... the take-off is always a bit bumpy."

 

The chamrosh started running off towards the mountain, and he could feel Anataste's body bouncing up and down on his back. Then once he got enough speed he spread his wings fully and started flapping, then they gently lifted into the air and things got much smoother. Then it was non-stop to Neighagra Falls!

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

The trip to Neighagra Falls was a little less nerve-wracking than her first flight. But still pretty nerve-wracking. She couldn't help but grip around his neck pretty tightly, once again digging her claws into it as the instinctual fear of being off the ground was just too strong to control. It wasn't really a fun time to take in the sights or anything. The wind blowing against her ears made things too loud to even speak and try to forget about all of this.

 

But eventually, Anatase caught sight of the tell-tale cascading water of this waterfall. It was a lot bigger than she could have ever imagined, and her eyes widened in amazement. Even from the distance they were at, she could both see and hear the heavy water raining down. It was a pleasant, if somewhat deafening sound. But it meant that soon, they would finally be descending. And she could touch dirt again.

[Klopp 2,050]

It was a fairly lengthy trip, but luckily they weren't too far away. Only a few hours passed before they could see and hear the falls in the distance. It was an amazing sight, and Lunaris couldn't help but start flying faster, so they could land as quickly as possible. He finally got close enough, and landed on the ground just after he started feeling droplets flying all around him. He lowered himself like before so Anatase could climb off his back.

 

"Wow... I didn't think the falls would be quite this big. It feels like the air is ninety seven percent water!"

 

He took a look around, and could see some Pegasus flying around the falls, and other Ponies swimming in the large lake at the bottom. All of them seemed to be having a good time. The perfect mood to meet a Ruby Dog, for sure.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Quickly, she stumbled off of his back again, somewhat dizzy from the flying. As soon as her daze passed though, her body tensed up. This place was so... populated. The sensations were all very overwhelming. Chattering and loud rushing water... and the smells! The scent of pony filled the air, more than she had ever previously perceived. She pulled back her ears as her tail tucked itself in between her legs, with a rather timid and uncertain expression upon her face. 

 

The Ruby Dog shuffled behind Lunaris to try to block out all of the stimuli, and make herself look as unnoticed as possible. The last thing she needed was to be stared at or even criticized by all of these ponies. Even though Lunaris was the most unique looking creature there, he at least had the advantage of resembling a griffon. Her? She didn't look like anything but some... two-legged alien. It all made her feel so out of place.

 

"We should probably... get going soon..." She whispered into his ear nervously.

[Klopp 2,050]

He raised an eyebrow at her remark. Why would they go without even doing anything? He wasn't about to leave after just looking at the place.

 

"Get going? but we just got here! Besides, there's gotta be someone here who you can talk to. We should go swimming! Have you ever gone swimming? It's kinda like flying, but more wet and a lot less scary."

 

He was just rambling on, cause he was excited to have some fun there. He had been swimming before, but not in such a massive lake. It would be terrible to miss out on an opportunity like that.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"I've gone swimming before," She huffed somewhat in offense. Did he really think she was that naive? There were reservoirs underground, after all.

 

"But I thought... we were just here to take a break, right? Not... not to swim around or anything." Anatase eyed some of the swimming ponies cautiously, really not wanting to get near them. "We can't relax if there's all these... people around," Damn, too blunt of a statement. She sure did wish she had a tighter lid on that mouth...

 

Her ears perked up in reaction to two ponies who seemed to be walking up to them, smiling. One was a male jolly unicorn, the other a stern-looking female pegasus. She backed away even more, hiding behind Lunaris.

 

"Fancy seeing you here, Radio Luni," Grinned the male unicorn. "And here I thought you were hard at work, figuring stuff out about... what was it you called yourself? Those 'chamroshes.' But I see you're just goofing off with... with a friend," The stallion tilted his head to look at her more closely. "Howdy there. I'm Jerico, Jerico Spells."

[Klopp 2,050]

The pegasus next to him clopped Jerico a good one on the back of the head.

 

"Jerico, enough with trying to pair Lunaris with every female in Equestria. Anyways, it is nice to see you, Lunaris. You should introduce us to your friend."

 

Lunaris was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of these two, and giggled as the Pegasus bonked Jerico on the head, like he had seen her do many times before. But she was right, it was time for introductions.

 

"I see Hazel is still keeping you in line. Anyways, this is Anatase. She's a Ruby Dog that I... bumped into on the way to see the Falls."

 

He stepped aside, so they could get a better view of her.

"Anatase, this is Hazel Neighston, and Jerico Spells. I met them in Baltimare, when I took up a job to help in the construction of some new buildings. Anyways, what are you two doing here?"

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

"Ow! Hey, not so HARD!" Jerico responded ridiculously as he rubbed his hoof on his head, but then quickly went back to grinning at both Lunaris and Anatase. She merely watched this entire scene with bewilderment, then froze when she was finally addressed and brought into the forefront of this conversation. The Ruby Dog didn't say anything, waving awkwardly.

 

"A... Ruby Dog? Sorry, Luni, but I don't think I've ever heard of one of them... is that related to a Diamond Dog? Because you sure do look like one," Jerico Spells conjured a magnifying glass and then looked Anatase up and done inspectingly. She felt extremely naked at that point, as though someone had removed her coat, and quickly jammed her purse in front of herself. The Dog then pulled out the wand from her chest fur and began to scribble to communicate once again. These people didn't know she could talk... hopefully, Lunaris would say nothing.

 

"We are of the same species, but a different tribe."

 

"Oh... that's pretty interesting! Is that how your kind talks?"

 

"Just me."

 

"Nice, nice... but to answer your question, Luni... we're just here on vacation from the old grind. Or to you, that's the new grind. We've since taken up new jobs... we're part of an investigation squad now, y'see. Much less boring than being the mayor's aids,"