Sky Beak breathed in the fresh ocean air, sighing as he stared at the sun slowly setting below the horizon. Lying on his belly on the beach, the pale blue hippogriff lazily traced a talon through the sand. “You know, I’m really proud of Terramar,” He said after a moment, looking over at his companion.
“Me too,” Ocean Flow replied, the yellow seapony mare bobbing up and down in the shallow water. The picnic between the residents of Mount Aris and Seaquestria had ended hours ago, leaving the two alone on the beach. “Though, I wish he would have told us sooner he was having so much trouble.” With a sigh, she sunk deeper into the water until her muzzle was just above water. “I feel like such a terrible mother for not noticing…”
“Don’t say that,” Sky Beak said to try and comfort his wife. “I’m as much at fault for not noticing either. If anything, I probably only made it worse.”
“Well, you can be a tad pushy sometimes.” Ocean Flow giggled as Sky Beak quirked an eyebrow at her, holding her fins to her mouth to try and hold in her laughter.
Sky Beak grinned at his giggling wife. “Laugh all you want, but you love it, don’t lie!” Turning his gaze towards the horizon, his grin changed from one of amusement to pride. “Just think, Terramar’s growing up into a fine lad right before our eyes and our dear Silverstream is doing very well in her studies according to Princess Twilight.”
“Yeah…” Ocean Flow said once she stopped giggling, wading closer to the shore and closing her eyes as she leaned back to rest her head against the sand. “I couldn’t be any prouder of them.”
“Oh, give it time. I’m sure they’ll continue to exceed even our wildest expectations.” Inching closer to his wife, the hippogriff closed his eyes as well as he rested his chin against the shore, the waves lightly tickling his feathers as the sounds of the ocean filled his ears.
For the next few minutes, neither creature said a word, the world seeming to fade away around them as they lay together, fully content to remain in that moment for as long as possible.
“I’ve missed this…” Sky Beak finally said, frowning as he opened his eyes. “Being next to you like this…”
“I… I have too” Ocean Flow replied after a moment, opening her eyes to stare up at the evening sky. “Waking up each morning without you by my side… it feels like I’m missing a piece of myself. Sometimes I just wish we could go back to the way it was before...”
“There’s no reason we can’t.” Sitting up, Sky Beak leaned over until he was staring into Ocean Flow’s violet eyes, still as beautiful as the day he had fallen in love with them. “When I saw you again after so long, I felt like I was truly whole again. I can’t bear the thought of being apart from you anymore, so I beg of you to reconsider and come live with me on Mount Ar—” Sky Beak was cut off by a splash of water hitting him in the face, forcing him to stumble back. Wiping his eyes, he looked over to see that Ocean Flow had swum out away from the shore, her back to him.
“We’ve been over this, Sky Beak, and my answer remains the same.” Sky Beak didn’t need to see her face to know she was scowling at him, the telltale hint of growing irritation evident in her voice. “I’m staying in Seaquestria and that’s final.”
“But why?” Sky Beak shouted, his face contorting in anger. “How can you just turn your back on your hippogriff heritage and your family so easily?”
“I’m not turning my back on anyone! Especially not my family!” Ocean Flow shouted back, whipping around and glaring at Sky Beak with rage reflected in her eyes. “You can parade around, flaunting your ‘hippogriff heritage’ all you want, but it still won’t change my mind!”
“But it’s our home! We finally have it back after the Storm King took it away from us, so why are you still so against coming back?” Clenching his talons into a fist, Sky Beak growled, too angry to even look Ocean Flow in the eyes anymore. “Me, you, Terramar and Silverstream… we could be together again. Be a family again! Isn’t that what you want?!”
“Of course I do!” Ocean Flow countered, her backfins flapping irritably in the water behind her. “It’s just…” Sky Beak swore he saw tears gathering at the corners of Ocean Flow’s eyes before she turned her back to him once more. “Seaquestria is my home now, Sky Beak.”
“But… but why?”
“You… You wouldn’t understand.” Ocean Flow kept her back to him, unwilling to let him see her shame. A veil of silence filled the air between the pair, the only sounds being the crashing of the waves against the shore. Minutes passed in silence, neither one able to speak.
“Then help me understand,” Sky Beak finally said, shattering the silence like glass.
Ocean Flow caught a glimpse of a bright flash of light out of the corner of her eye before she felt a pair of strong fins wrap around her, holding her tightly as she relaxed into Sky Beak’s warm embrace. “Please…” Sky Beak pleaded, gently nuzzling her neck.
It was several moments before Ocean Flow spoke again, the soothing feeling of Sky Beak’s scales against her own lulling her into a state of calm. “Remember how I’ve always loved the ocean?”
“Of course. We had our first date on this very beach.” Sky Beak turned to glance behind him, warmth filling his heart as he added, “It’s also where I eventually proposed to you.”
“And how could I not say yes?” Ocean Flow smiled warmly at the memory of that day, but the moment soon passed as she pulled away from Sky Beak. “I would always come here to be alone with the ocean, my own little sanctuary. Except… as far back as I can remember, Mount Aris has never really felt like home to me.”
In a rare instance, Sky Beak was rendered momentarily speechless, his mouth hanging open as he tried desperately to form words, only able to eventually utter a stunned, “W...what?”
“It’s true. I’ve always felt more at home here than on Mount Aris. When I was with you, though, I could forget about all that and just be happy together. When you asked me to be your wife, words can’t describe how ecstatic I was, how I felt for the first time like I truly belonged. But…” Holding a fin to her heart, Ocean Flow turned to Sky Beak with sad eyes. “These feelings would always return in time, like I was still missing a piece of myself, a piece even I couldn’t properly explain.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was too ashamed to, like I was letting you down.” Sighing, Ocean Flow floated over to a nearby rock and propped herself atop it. “The decision to flee to the ocean to escape the Storm King’s armada may have been a rash decision, but it was the best we could do given the time. And yet, despite the constant threat of being discovered hanging over our heads… I was happy.” As she spoke, a smile slowly grew across her face. “Even more than that, for the first time I felt like I was somewhere I could truly belong, that I had finally found the part of myself I had been missing for so long. For the first time, I was… home.”
“So… when the time came to return to Mount Aris…” Sky Beak asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
“My decision had already been made for me. Seaquestria is my home now, it’s where I belong. And yet…” Her smile slipped from her muzzle as she slid off the rock and back into the water, swimming up to Sky Beak and holding his fins in her own. “That still didn’t stop my heart from breaking when you decided to leave Seaquestria behind. Please, don’t make me choose between my true home and my true love anymore! Come with me to Seaquestria and we can be together again, just like before!”
Sky Beak looked into Ocean Flow’s pleading eyes briefly before lowering his head. “I wish you would have told me all this sooner, “ he said, his voice neutral as he held onto his wife’s fins. “Nothing makes me happier than to know you’ve finally found where you belong and I’m sorry I’ve spent all this time trying to convince you to come back to Mount Aris when it must have felt like I was trying to tear you away from your new home. All I wanted was for us to be together again…”
“So does this mean—”
“However, I can’t go back with you. I’m sorry...” Pulling away from her, Sky Beak turned back around and quickly swam back towards the shore, Ocean Flow swimming after him soon after. Another bright flash of light and the hippogriff stepped back onto the beach, his eyes looking up towards Mount Aris.
“But why?” Ocean Flow asked as she reached the shore, echoing her husband’s concerns.
“Seaquestria may be where you belong, but to me… to me it’s still a constant reminder of the shame I felt after I abandoned my home rather than stay and fight.”
“But none of that was your fault! If you hadn’t fled with the rest of us, then you would have—”
“I know!” Ocean Flow flinched back as the hippogriff snarled, curling his talon into a fist. “I know… We didn’t stand a chance against the Storm King’s forces, but we shouldn’t have just given up! We could have gone to Equestria, gathered allies, better prepared ourselves to take back our home… but instead we ran away and hid like cowards, hoping that someone else would eventually come along and do it for us.”
The sheer amount of hurt in Sky Beak’s voice made Ocean Flow’s heart break. “Sky Beak…”
“I’m extremely grateful for what Princess Twilight and her friends did in stopping the Storm King, but we didn’t just lose Mount Aris to the Storm King that day. We lost our pride as hippogriffs as well, and I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to get it back.”
A bright flash of light appeared behind Sky Beak for a moment before he felt a comforting wing drape across his back. When he glanced over, he found himself staring into Ocean Flow’s eyes once more, a soothing smile across her beak.
“I’m sorry,” she said, nuzzling her cheek against his. “Here I am talking about finally finding my home, and then I go and try and drag you away from yours. I understand how much you love your hippogriff heritage, it’s one of your most endearing qualities after all. Well, that and…” Leaning over, Ocean Flow whispered into Sky Beak’s ear, giggling as his face broke out in a blush.
“H-honey!” Sky Beak stuttered, throwing an arm over his face to try and hide his blush.
After sparing another moment to giggle at her husband’s embarrassment, Ocean Flow placed her talon over his heart. “Mount Aris is your home much the same as Seaquestria is mine. Don’t blame yourself for what happened, just be happy that we can finally raise our kids without the fear of the Storm King hanging over us.”
Despite it all, Sky Beak found himself smiling. “What did I ever do to deserve a mare as wonderful as you?”
“Oh, stop it!” Now Ocean Flow was blushing, snuggling up against Sky Beak. The two stayed that way for some time, enjoying the warmth of each other’s body against their own.
“... Could I still convince you to come and visit sometime?” Ocean Flow asked, again looking up at Sky Beak with big, pleading eyes.
“Well… I suppose I could survive being a seapony for a few days if it means I get to be with you. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask the same of you, if you’re up to it, that is.”
“Of course. I would love it if we could go and visit Silverstream sometime too.”
Sky Beak opened his beak to respond, when he noticed that the sun had almost sunk below the horizon to make way for the night. “It’s getting late. Terramar must be wondering where we are by now.”
Reluctantly, Ocean Flow pulled away from her husband. “I should be going too, before they start considering sending out a search party for me.” Turning around, she began to walk back towards the shore. Just as she was about to dip a talon into the water, however, she paused and exclaimed,“Oh, almost forgot!”
Without warning, Ocean Flow flew up and pressed her beak against Sky Beak’s, catching the wide-eyed hippogriff off guard for a moment before he returned the kiss in full. As they pulled away, Ocean Flow poked Sky Beak on the beak and said, “Love you, you sweet hippogriff.”
“I love you too, my adorable seapony.”
Giggling, Ocean Flow backflipped in the air before turning back into a seapony in a flash of light and diving into the water. Surfacing for a moment, she waved at Sky Beak, who waved back as he watched his wife disappear beneath the waves. I miss her already… Sky Beak thought as he spread his wings and flew back towards Mount Aris.
