The Trip
Dash awoke first, feeling fairly refreshed from her light nap. She opened her eyes to see Jason passed out in a mildly comedic fashion. She heard some strange, off tune notes, but couldn't even begin to figure out what was making the noises. She shook Jason a few times, managing to wake him up after the third set of shakes. His eyes fluttered open, and he dawned a smile.
"Did you sleep--" Jason pulled her towards him, planting a kiss on her lips. She briefly struggled, confused at his sudden advancement, before melting into the kiss herself. They managed to pull back apart before Scoots decided to climb over the wall of blankets to investigate any weird noises, and smiled goofily at each other. Dash pulled herself into Jason's shoulder, making a thoughtful hum. A few moments of silence later, he spoke up.
"So, do I constitute being your colt-friend now?"
"Only if I get to be your mare-friend." she mumbled into his fur.
"Ohh, you drive a hard bargain. How do I know you're not trying to cheat me?" He ruffled her mane. She punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, I don't mean it. If anyone's being cheated, it's probably you."
"Only a little." She chuckled. "So what will we do when this is all over?"
"As in us?" he gestured between the two of them.
"Yeah, I mean I don't know how to really follow up all this stuff in the forest without all this becoming boring. It's not like this will ever be a normal relationship."
"Normal is boring."
"Yeah, I guess you're right about that."
"We could always start a band." She pulled herself away to give him a quizzical expression.
"And how would that work?"
"All I need is a drummer and probably a bass player, if that instrument exists here."
"I guess I could help you out with drumming, I used to play the drums before I left Cloudsdale, then I guess I just didn't have time for it anymore." She sighed. "So anyway, if I'm not too rusty, I could do that." They both became silent.
"So how would you feel about taking a short reprieve from normal Everfree life?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well everyone around here is starting to smell a little ripe, and I noticed a little pond on the way here. That could be a nice thing to do with part of a day."
"Sounds like a good break." Another off tune strum. "What the hell is that?"
"I let Scoots use my guitar so she wouldn't be as tempted to try flying or making noise or any of the other stuff she usually does." He looked around. "I think it worked."
"Are you guys talking about me?" Scoots asked.
"Yeah," Jason replied. We were just expressing our surprise over the fact that the treehouse didn't burn down while we were asleep."
"I love the faith you guys have in me."
"She's taking after my sarcasm! I love it." He turned to Dash, and poked her in the chest.. "And you said I wouldn't be a good influence." She chuckled. "Hey Scoots, how would you feel about going to a pond and swimming around in a little bit?"
"Sounds good to me!"
"Well I guess we should get up then." He sighed.
"Yeah, you're probably right." They both got out of the bed and stretched.
"I didn't ever take naps before, but man that was refreshing. I can see why you used to do that all the time."
"That and it was a good way to pass the time. When you get finished with all of your weather duties for the day in ten minutes you tend to have extra time." She paused. "Not like it took me ten whole minutes anyway..."
"So what should we bring for this do you think?"
"We might as well bring some explosives in case of emergency, and some food, and I guess that's it."
"Bring a saddlebag with the knives and gillie suit, just in case. The armor's too heavy, so we can leave that." He leaned closer to Dash. "So what's the situation with Scoots and flying?" He whispered.
"She's still a little wobbly, and gets tired pretty quick, but she's definitely improving."
"That's good to hear." He turned to Scootaloo. "Hey Scoots, you ready to go?" She nodded excitedly and set down the guitar, trotting over to Jason.
"Can I fly there? Can I? Please?" Jason looked to Dash, who shrugged.
"If you can stay above us, in a position where we can catch you, then fine." Scoots danced around a little. It was definitely one of those 'D'aww' moments.
"I'm ready to go when you are," said Dash as she handed Jason the newly filled saddlebag.
"Okay then. Remember Scoots, above us." They all took off, and glided down from the tree. They flew above the path until Jason took a sudden turn over some underbrush and into a clearing that hosted a small pond. He admired the beauty for a moment before hearing Dash and Scoots land, and turning to face them. "So how's that for a nice place to hang out?"
"Well it's definitely something." Dash replied, equally entranced by the clearing's majesty. Jason walked to the shore and took off his saddlebag, which he opened to grab some apples.
"Catch!" He threw an apple to both of them, which they gladly accepted. There they sat for a while, enjoying the food and the view. "So everyone knows how to swim here?" They both nodded. "Good, because I've never swam with this," he gestured to himself, "before. I'd probably be even less able if I was in changeling form, holes in hooves and all." He paused. "Anyway, if I sink, someone save me. I can at least hold my breath for a pretty long time."
"You're always so positive."
"I like to think of it as realistic." There was silence for a few more seconds, before Scoots ran up to the placid waterline and dipped a hoof in.
"This isn't even that cold! I thought it would be, but this is actually pretty warm." Without another word, she dove into the water, and surfaced a few moments later. "Water's great guys, come on in!" Jason nodded and walked up to the waterline, missing Dash's mischievous smile. He put a hoof into the water, shifting it around. Then he was shoved forcibly into the water, face-planting into the shallow bottom.
He came up a few moments later with a layer of silt on his face and shoulders, his expression covered by the muck. Dash was rolling around on the ground laughing.
"Y-you look like Rarity after one of her stupid mud baths!" She broke down into more laughing. Jason smirked, although his expression was still concealed under the mud mask. He walked over to her.
"How about a hug for such a good prank?" Her laughing immediately stopped, and she tried to get to her feet and flee. Jason, however, had already gotten his forehooves around her torso, and kept her from running while he buried his face in her chest and smeared the dirt off his face.
"AAAAAHHHHHH get away!" Scootaloo was giving the pair a strange look from out in the pond.
"I'm just congratulating you, I know how much you love attention." He chuckled when she blushed. "Now come on, let's jump in this pond already." With that he took off and flew above the middle of the pond before bringing his wings to his sides and dropping out of the sky. "Cannonball!!" He hit the water next to Scoots and sent her floating away on one of the waves. He surfaced a few seconds later with a groan. "Fur doesn't help. It still stings." He paused. "At least I float." He looked around for Dash, although she was no longer on the shoreline, as far as he could see.
A blur crashed into the water in front of Jason, causing him to let out a very unmanly scream and recoil, hooves in front of his face. Then he realized that Dash was the one who had crashed, and immediately felt embarrassed. Dash surfaced in front of him and smiled. "Looks like I scared you," she said, noticing Jason's heavier than normal breathing and blush. "Ha."
"Oh, live it up, I'm going to get back at you later."
"We'll see about that." She laughed maniacally. Jason turned his eyes red, and she jumped at his now malevolent appearance.
"I think the odds are in my favor." He chuckled, bringing his eyes back to their normal blue.
For the next few hours, they swam around playing various games, and generally had a good time through the afternoon hours. As the sun sank lower towards the horizon, Jason decided that they had to leave, much to the distress of Dash and Scoots.
"But Jason, Can't we just stay a few more minutes?"
"No, Scoots, the sun is about to set, and I don't think that you really want to try to get to the treehouse in the dark." She sighed and nodded, pulling herself out of the pond and attempting to shake her fur dry. All three of them were shivering; it definitely wasn't as warm out as it was that afternoon. "Cold?" Asked Jason. They both nodded. "Stand near me." They obliged and he rapidly heated up the normally heatless green fire, leaving them mostly dry.
"That whole hot fire thing, can all changelings do that?" Dash asked.
"Probably, but I don't know if they would have thought to." He looked at the sun, which had sunk lower. "We should get going." He grabbed the saddlebag and flung it over his back, along with the belt of explosives. Dash did the same and nodded, and all three took off.
Retracing their steps, they soon reached the treehouse, and at the request of Scoots, landed at the base of the tree. "Do you think that maybe one of you could carry me up?" She scuffed a hoof on the ground, refusing to meet their eyes out of embarrassment.
"Tired Squirt?" She nodded, not raising her eyes. "Don't worry about it Scoots, I'm just happy that you asked and didn't try to make it on your own if you weren't sure that you could do it. Hop on." Scootaloo looked up and smiled, before resuming her normal energetic behavior and jumping onto Dash's back.
After they landed on the platform, Scoots dismounted and they took off their supplies. Scoots made a bee-line for the couch and slumped down on it. She was apparently more tired then he had thought. Dash did mostly the same thing with the bed, while Jason stayed up to attempt to knock off more of the portions of armor that was itchy. After a few attempts, he knocked off the armor on his back legs and shoulders, which was most of what was left, besides his head and neck. He stashed the armor to the side and made his way over to the bed. He laid down and threw a hoof around Dash, pulling a blanket over the two of them. She looked at him for a moment before leaning forward and kissing him. This kiss was much more forceful than the last one, although it still left much to be desired. They eventually broke apart and continued to stare at one another.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Jason." Dash said softly.
"Same here Dash." And so, with nothing else to say, they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.
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Jason awoke to the smell of smoke, and the absence of seemingly all of the normal wildlife noises. It too him a while to gather his thoughts enough to decide whatever it was, it could't be good. Briefly looking at the sun, he judged that it was at least ten in the morning. He woke Dash, who noticed the smell immediately, and they both vaulted out of the treehouse to try and find the source. Looking around, they could't see a hint of fire in the forest, and so, deciding that their treehouse was safe from immediate harm, started flying down the path to the cliffs. They both peered over, to see a city that had been half reduced to rubble and embers. There were forms moving everywhere, some flying into the city, others seeming to flee, while the city continued to burn.
"Well I can't say I didn't see this coming."