Seven days to midsummer.
I cain’t stop thinkin about Sun. Worryin about how he is. Worryin that he might be hurt. I wonder if he thinks I ain’t comin. I wouldn’t blame him if he did. Sun knows I keep my promises, knows I’d grow wings an fly to the moon to git him back, but it’s bin so long he might think somethin’s happened to me. He might even think I’m dead. I’d hate it if he thought that. Pike an Arrow both swear that the quickest way to Freedom Fields lies through these mountains, the Dragon’s Teeth. There is another route, the one that’s most used, but it ’ud mean retracin our steps almost back to Darktrees. So here we are, an all because Arrow jest had to have Pike join us. He better turn out to be worth the trouble.
This may be the quickest way but it ain’t well traveled an no wonder. These ain’t mountains that deal kindly with people who try to cross ’em. They’re steep an jagged with no way of keepin to the high ground. They force us to climb up an then lose the height we jest gained by climbin down agin. It ain’t good country, that’s fer sure. The goin’s so hard that we mainly hafta walk an carefully pick our ways rather than trot. An it ain’t jest the mountains. There’s the fog. It come down on us the day after Pike closed the door of the One-Eyed Stallion an it ain’t showed no signs of liftin. It lies on the mountains night an day, heavy, dank an bonechillin. It swirls around our legs an strokes our faces with its clammy fog tendrils.
I hate it. I cain’t stand it if I cain’t see the sky. No matter how bad Silverlake was, at least you could count on big skies, always high an wide, comin right down to meet the earth. A pony could breathe there.
We go along without talkin fer the most part, huddled in our jackets an cloaks, heads down. When somebody does say somethin, they talk quiet. Even big Pike with his boomin voice talks soft. A normal voice sounds too loud, almost shockin, in this muffled fog world. There ain’t no birdsong. No rustle of animal feet. It’s like we’re th’only souls alive.
Penny's made friends with Blade. They walk along together. He talks to her in his strange hoarse voice thats hard to unnerstand. She seems to unnerstand what he means, jest like he’s talkin like normal folk do. Like it ain’t no different. It’s gittin so’s they’re almost brother an sister, Blade an Pen. I’m glad. It’s good fer her to have somepony near to her own age. An she’s lookin happier, not peaky like she’s bin fer so long. Ever since we left Silverlake really. But it’s all changed between Arrow an me.
It started at the Wrecker city an got worse after he pulled me outta the river. The last time we spoke to each other was when he told me not to smile at Blade. We’ll say one or two words if we hafta, but he don’t tease me an both of us make sure our eyes don’t meet. It’s like I only dreamed that he held me an kissed me till my spine melted.
Well, what did you especk? Every time he came near you, you pushed him away.
Oh, it’s a waste of time thinkin about Arrow. Soon I’m gonna be back with Sun. Then him an Penny an me’ll find ourselves somewhere good to settle. A place that’s green an kind, by runnin water. Maybe near to Mercy. An we’ll be a family agin. That’s all I care about.
I shiver an pull my jacket around me tighter. It’s so cold in the fog. Even colder without Arrow's smile.
It’s bin two whole days of fog but it’s finally startin to thin out some. It ain’t lifted entirely, but the wind’s picked up an it’s gone all wispy, like long gray feathers driftin lazily around us. The air’s still cold an dank. Hard to believe it’s the middle of a summer afternoon.
That’s when we come upon the hanged stallions.
Four of ’em. Danglin by their necks from nooses tied to the branches of a big, lightnin-black tree. They turn gentle in the breeze, their gray where they bin covered with wet ash that’s dried. The fog winds itself around their bodies. We pull up. Fer a long moment we sit there an look. Nopony says nuthin.
Then Arrow walks over to the tree an feels the hoof of the nearest stallion. He crouches down an checks the ground. He shoves his hat back an looks at Pike.
"It’s Skinny Joe," says Pike, "an uh …"
"McNutty," says Blade.
"That’s right," says Pike, "McNutty. An the two fellas who was with ’em. They was all at the One-Eyed Stallion the night before you showed up. Left together the next mornin."
"They bin dead fer at least a couple of days," says Arrow.
"They must of crossed somepony," says Ash.
"Yeah," says Pike, "that’ll be it. Poor bastards." He leads the way past the hangin tree. I hold back while th’others go on. Wait while Arrow checks the area a little more.
"You an Pike know who done it," I says.
"Yup," he says. A little nerve jumps at the corner of his mouth.
"Was it the Tonton?" I says.
"Looks like it," he says.
"Why’s there ash on them?" I says.
"Uninvited guest ain’t ezzackly welcome at Freedom Fields," he says. "Sometimes the Tonton hang you, other times they’ll cut yer head off an put it on a spike. But they always put ash on the face. It’s how you know yer in their territory. Wise pony sees that,
he turns around an gits the hell out as fast as he can."
"But we ain’t turnin," I says.
"No," he says. "Wisdom ain’t a virtue I ever aspired to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Ever since we come across the hanged stallions, I cain’t stop thinkin about Golden Pinch. About Blaze an the rest of the Tonton. With every step, we git closer to Freedom Fields. Until now, I ain’t gived much thought to what we’ll be up aginst. Who we’ll be up aginst.
But now I do.
The Tonton hang ponies in trees. Cut off their heads an stick ’em on spikes. Fer nuthin more’n wanderin into their King’s territory. Stallions like them wouldn’t think twice about killin Sun. All the things Wysteria told me run through my head. All the things I
know about Pinch an Blaze. But I need to know more. I gotta know my enemy. I need to know what Arrow an Pike know. An they know plenty, I’m sure of it. I’m gonna make ’em tell me. They owe it to me.
I wait till we’re settled into camp fer the night. Epona’s takin the first watch. Ash an Penny an Blade’s wrapped in their bedrolls, already asleep. Pike’s sittin aginst a log. His head lolls forwards onto his chest. Arrow an Nero sit by the fire playin dice. Once Arrow found out how good Nero was at countin, he carved a pair of dice an taught him how to play. Nero throws one at a time,
usin his beak. I go an stand over ’em. Nero throws two sixes.
"Damn," says Arrow. "You beat me agin. Never thought I’d find myself losin to a crow. I hink he might be cheatin."
Nero bobs up an down, squawks with glee.
"If he is," I say, "he learned it from you. I wanna word, Arrow. With you an Pike."
He sighs. Like he’s bin expectin this. But he stands up an gives Pike a nudge with his hoof. Pike wakes with a grunt.
"What?" he says, yawnin.
"C’mon," says Arrow. "Moon wants to talk."
As Pike heaves hisself to his hooves, Nero flaps up to sit on my head. Leanin down he rubs his head aginst my cheek. He always knows when I need somebody on my side. Like tonight.
I lead ’em away from the campsite. Climb uphill through the trees till I git to a rocky outcrop. I turn to face ’em. The fog’s completely gone an it’s a warm night with a high sky. A midsummer night sky. I can see Arrow an Pike clearly.
"All right," I says. "Tell me what you know about Freedom Fields. Tell me everythin."
They look at each other.
"I bin straight with you," I says. "I told you everythin. What Helen told me about the midsummer sacriffce an why they took Sun. Pinch might be dead but Sun ain’t safe, not till we git him outta there. Now you two gotta be straight with me. You need to tell
me everythin you know. That way, at least we got a chance of figgerin out what we might be up aginst."
"Well, you know more’n we do," says Pike. "We only heard things from travelin folk. You know, you meet somepony from time to time an you git talkin an—"
"Ferget it, Pike," says Arrow.
"What?"
"I said, ferget it."
"But I thought we said we’d—"
"Pike," he says. "Moon’s right. She needs to know what we’re up aginst."
"I knew it!" I says. "I knew you knew more’n you was lettin on. Gawdammit, Arrow, why didn’t you tell me before? Why didn’t you tell me right away, when you found out where I was headed?"
"I know I should of," he says. "But I didn’t want you to know till you had to."
"I ain’t a little filly," I says. "I don’t need you to pertect me."
"I know," he says, "I know, I’m sorry."
"Think I’ll … head on back to camp," says Pike.
"Coward," says Arrow.
"Go on, Pike," I says. "Arrow’s gonna tell me everythin I need to know."
"Right," he says. "Well … if I hear any screamin, I’ll send Penny." He disappears without a sound. Not a rustle or a hoofstep. Fer a big stallion, Pike moves real quiet. Nero must be startin to feel restless because he takes off after him.
Then it’s jest Arrow an me.
"All right, Arrow," I says. "Start talkin."
"Four years ago," he says, "I was in the wrong bar at the wrong time. Got picked up by the Tonton. They’re always on the lookout fer strong workers. Fer slaves. That’s how I ended up at Freedom Fields."
"You was there," I says.
"I was," he says. "Let’s sit down."
We sit facin each other, on a couple of rocks. A bit too close fer my likin. The heartstone’s hot aginst my coat.
"That’s where I met Pike," he says. "We got slaved there about the same time. As you can imagine, him an me didn’t take kindly to a slave life, workin in a chain gang in the fields. But everypony else … well, nuthin seemed to bother ’em. We figgered out why
pretty quick. A big waterwagon ’ud come around twice a day, once in the mornin an once in the afternoon, an fill everypony’s waterskins. There’s chaal in that water."
"Wysteria said it was all about chaal," I says.
"It slows yer brain down," he says. "Makes you stupid. A good thing if you wanna control people. But if you take too much, everythin speeds up. Yer heart races, you git all excited an aggressive, you don’t need sleep or food."
I think of Mad Dog, back at Hopetown, what he did to Wysteria. Of the crowds in the Colosseum, bayin fer blood in the gauntlet.
"I seen what it can do," I says.
"Me an Pike ’ud fill our waterskins with the rest," he says, "but we never touched it. We’d sneak water from the irrigation channels in the fields."
"How long was you there?" I says.
"A couple of months. Jest long enough to collect what we needed to pick the locks on our chains. Then we had to wait fer a stormy night. The dog patrols don’t go out when there’s lightnin or bad weather, it spooks ’em."
"So you got away," I says.
"An counted ourselves lucky," he says. "We hit the road, layin low, keepin outta trouble. Pike eventually settled at the One-Eyed Stallion. But I kept on goin."
"Till you ended up in the cells at Hopetown," I says.
"Yeah," he says. "Wrong bar, wrong time. Agin."
"You’d think you’d learn," I says.
"You’d think."
"Whaddya know about the King?" I says.
"He was crazy," says Arrow.
"I know," I says. "I seen him."
"He was crazy, he was smart, an he controlled everythin an everypony," he says. "Lived in a big white house up at Freedom Fields. The Palace. With the finest of food an drink. Everythin. Amazin stuff from Wrecker days. Soft chairs, big tables, lookin glasses,
pictures hangin on the walls. He had house slaves who’d crawl on their knees if they went into a room where he was. If you looked at him the wrong way, he’d run his sword through you. I only ever seen him from a distance. That was close enough."
"I know what you mean," I says.
"An over the last couple of years, he started expandin his empire. Everywhere I bin lately, I’m havin to dodge Tonton or I’m hearin about ’em. Any place where there’s good water or land fit fer growin food, they’re comin along an claimin it fer the King. If there’s somepony already on the land, they eether work it fer the Tonton or git killed. They got spies an informers all over the place."
"He don’t control everythin," I says. "Look at the Free Hawks."
"Maybe they won’t be free fer much longer," he says. "The King might be dead, but somepony'll step into his shoes. His empire’ll keep growin. You can bet on it."
"I cain’t believe Feath don’t know this," I says. "That she ain’t heard about it."
"I tried to tell her," he says. "She wouldn’t listen. I believe her ezzack words was, I dunno what yer game is, but as far as I’m concerned yer a lyin chancer. That desperate fool might trust you, but I sure as hell don’t."
My belly hollows out. A desperate fool. That’s what Feath thinks of me. Then the rest of what he said starts to sink in. I stand up slowly. Stare down at him.
"So that’s it," I says. "That’s why you came after me. Why you showed up at Darktrees. You wanted the Free Hawks to help you clear out Freedom Fields. You don’t care if I find Sun. You don’t care about me. All that … crap about how you couldn’t help it,
you had to follow me … that’s jest what it was … crap. Gawd, I am such a idiot."
"No," he says, "that was all true, I swear it was. It is!" He throws his head back an curses unner his breath. Stands up. "Whatever I say now," he says, "you ain’t gonna believe me."
"Probly not," I says.
"I did want the Hawks to help me," he says. "When me an Pike left Freedom Fields, I warn’t thinkin about nopony but myself. But I started to see what was goin on everywhere an I started thinkin about them poor bastards we’d left behind in the chaal fields. Then I ended up in Hopetown an saw what was goin on there, an I met you an the Hawks an suddenly there’s a chance I can do somethin decent in my life … so I took that chance. It all happened at once, Moon. You gotta believe me. It’s fate, like I said."
"Arrow," I says, "you cain’t possibly think that seven of us an a crow’s gonna bring down the Tonton an their operation."
"Why not?" he says. "Me an Pike know the layout. We can take ’em by surprise. They won’t expect trouble from outside."
"I’m here to git Sun back," I says, "not to change the world. I told you before. An by the way, yer outta yer mind."
"C’mon, Moon," he says, "if we come up with a good enough plan, we can all have what we want. D’you wanna git yer brother back an then hafta live in a world run by the Tonton? I don’t. Pike don’t. Ash and Epona don’t neether. An if you asked ’em, I bet Blade an Penny’ud say the same. You might of burned Hopetown to the ground, but they’ll be buildin on its ashes already. You can bet on it."
"So what’re you sayin, Arrow? That you ain’t gonna help me unless I fall in with yer plan?"
"No," he says. "No! What I’m sayin is, we think big. We git Sun back an take out their operation at the same time. The Tonton, the chaal fields … everythin. But we cain’t do it without you."
"You promise me that we’ll git Sun outta there," I says.
"I promise," he says. "I promise."
"All right," I says. "I’ll go along with yer plan. What is it?"
"To be honest," he says, "I never bin much fer what you’d call a plan. They’re more like … ideas."
"Arrow!"
"I said I promise!" he says.
"We’re gonna need more help," I says.
I whistle fer Nero. He comes in a flutter of wings an lands on my shoulder. I pull Feath’s little gold ring from my jacket pocket.
'If you ever need me, if you need the Hawks, send Nero with this an we’ll come. Wherever, whenever … you send this ring an we’ll be there.'
"It’s Feath’s," I says. "She said to send it if I needed her. D’you got somethin to tie it on with?"
He fumbles in his pocket an pulls out a good sized piece of string.
"Tie it to his leg," I says. "Make it good an tight, but don’t let it cut into him."
He works quick with his magic.
"Done," he says.
I stroke Nero’s feathers. Look into his clever black eyes. "Find Feath," I says. I touch the ring, then I touch him on his breast. "Nero find Feath. Find Feath."
He cocks his head to one side. Then he caws twice an takes off into the night.
"He ain’t never let me down yet," I says.
"I should of told you everythin sooner," Arrow says. "I should of…"
"What?" I says. "Trusted me?"
"Yeah, well…," he says. "I ain’t ezzackly bin in the habit of trustin ponies."
"Me neether," I says.
"We could try startin agin," he says.
He holds out his hoof.
I hesitate. Then I take it. Warm. Strong.
"I’m sorry I was such a ass back at Pike’s place," he says. "It was jest that … ah hell, Moon… I was jealous that you smiled at Blade an not me. You was hardly even talkin to me, let alone smilin, an it was like I couldn’t help myself."
"Jealous?" I says. "You? Jealous? Of Blade? He’s a colt."
"I’m jealous of anypony you smile at that ain’t me," he says. He takes a step closer. Reaches out. Runs the back of his hoof down my cheek. A hot shiver ripples through me. "You look at me with them eyes of yers," he says, "an I look at yer lips … an all I can
think about is what it ’ud be like to kiss you. You got no idea, do you? You got no idea how beautiful you are."
We stare at each other. The moon silvers his face. Shadows his eyes. Makes him look strange. Not quite real. I step back so’s his hoof falls. I block out what he jest said. Even though my heart’s bangin aginst my ribs. Even though I cain’t git my breath an the heartstone’s burnin into my coat.
"I think we’re gonna head back to Crosscreek," I says. "Me an Penny Rose an Sun. To start with, anyways. We got a friend there, Mercy. Did I ever tell you about her?"
"Moon," he says.
"She’s real nice," I says. "A old friend of my ma. Yeah, I got it all worked out. I had plenty of time to think about it."
"Moon," he says.
I know I’m babblin. I cain’t seem to stop myself. An I don’t dare look at him. If I do, I fear I’ll say somethin I shouldn’t or do somethin I don’t mean to. I dunno what ezzackly, but it’s … I feel like I’m walkin along a narrow ridge an my hooves could slip at any moment. I jest gotta think about Sun, think about why I’m here, an everythin’ll be okay.
"Well, I better git back," I says.
I go to slip past him an he grabs my hoof. Stops me. We’re standin close. Too close.
"Stay," he says.
Before I can stop myself, I look at him. A mistake. Hot silver eyes. Burnin fer me. My heart lurches.
He leans his head down. "Stay with me." He whispers it into my ear. "Jest fer a while."
"I … I gotta go," I says.
"Please," he says, a note of sad pleadin in his voice.
The brush of his breath aginst my coat. The warm Arrow smell of him. I feel myself weakenin. Dangerous. This … the way I feel whenever I’m near him … it’s dangerous. I pull my hoof from his.
"N-No," I says. "I … I caint. G’night, Arrow."
I slip past him. Gotta git away. I cain’t move fast enough.
He don’t reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mean white sun’s bin poundin down on our heads all day. The way turned steep an rocky around noon. We gotta pick our way carfully so nopony twists an ankle. We’re headed fer a pass high in the mountains that’s our last big crossin before we git to Freedom Fields. Arrow says he wants to reach it before nightfall, but it’s slow goin in this terrain. The higher we climb, the hotter it gits, even with the day closin down around us.
There ain’t bin no relief from the heat, none at all. Not even a single tree to shade us on our way. When we was stuck in the fog fer days on end, I never would of thought fer a secondthat I’d be longin fer its cold dank heaviness, but I am. Pen’s bin bit by bit fallin behind th’others an I bin holdin back to walk with her. But she’s gittin slower an slower. I look over my shoulder. She plods along on heavy hooves. She looks so pale an tired. I wait fer her. The sweat runs down my face, stingin my eyes. I mop myself off with the sleeve of my jacket.
"I’m so thirsty," she says when she reaches me.
"Waterskin empty?" I says. She nods. "Siddown," I says.
She sinks onto a rock. I unstop my skin an hold it to her lips. She sucks hard on it, gulpin the water. It runs down her chin an neck an I wipe it away with the tail of my sleeve. She looks a bit surprised. I don’t ever bother with her that way, worryin about when
she last had a wash or if her face is all grubby. Once Pa gave up carin, Sun looked after that kinda thing. I ain’t gived it a single thought till this moment. I stare down at her, frownin.
"When did you last have a wash?" I says.
She looks even more surprised. "I dunno," she says.
"You should wash more regular," I says. "You gotta be decent."
"Okay," she says.
I turn away an take a swig of water myself. I rub a drop into my dry lips.
The rest of ’em’s well ahead of us. Ash turns back, sees us, waves. "No time to stop!" she shouts. "Arrow says we gotta make the pass before dark!"
"Penny needs to rest!" I shout back.
"She can rest later!"
"She needs to rest now!"
I can see ’em talkin amongst theirselves. Then Pike makes his way back down to us. He crouches down beside Penny.
"Hey there, kid," he says. "Yer doin real good. How’s about a ride to the top?"
She nods, not lookin straight at him. She likes Pike, but she’s a bit shy of him. I think on account of him bein so big an her bein so small.
"C’mon then," he says, "hop on." She climbs onto his back.
"Thanks Pike," I says.
"We gotta reach the pass before dark," he says.
"I know," I says. "I heard it the first hunnerd times."
He checks the sky. The light’s startin to soften, turn to gold. "We’re gonna be pushed," he mutters.
Pike starts up the mountain, with Penny Rose clingin to his back like a spider. I cain’t believe how fast he moves, pickin his way around the rocks. Like she don’t weigh nuthin. I guess to a stallion his size, she don’t. I take a last swig of water then I follow behind Pike, fast as I can.
They’re all waitin fer me when I git to the top. Penny gives me a quick look, but nopony else looks my way. They’re starin at somethin in front of ’em.
"What is it?" I says.
Then I see what it is. What they’re all lookin at. We’re standin on the edge of what used to be a mountain lake. Back in Wrecker times it must of bin a stretch of cool clear water, a welcome relief fer the tired hooves of travelers. But it sure ain’t that no more.
Now it stretches away in front of us. Parched, scorched, criss crossed with great cracks an crevasses. Endless.
My heart drops into my hooves. I lick my lips.
"I cain’t see th’other side," I says.
"It’s there," says Arrow. "We should of had it in sight by now."
"We couldn’t of gone no faster in this heat," I says.
"I know," says Arrow, "I know. It’s my fault. We should of set of earlier or … He grabs at his mane, frustrated. "Gawdammit," he says, "I thought we’d have plenty of time." He looks at Pike. "Whaddya think?"
"We might make it across before nightfall," says Pike. But you can tell by his face, by his voice, that he don’t think no such thing.
"I don’t see what the problem is," says Epona with a frown. "We’ll jest gallop across. As fast as we can."
"Yeah," I says an Ash nods.
"We cain’t go fast," says Arrow. "There’s too many cracks, too many places we could stumble."
"Well all right," I says, "we’ll go slow an careful then. An if it turns dark before we finish crossin, we’ll jest set up camp on the lakebed."
"We cain’t," says Ike.
I look at Arrow. At Pike. They’re starin at each other, their faces grim.
"What is this?" I says. "We gotta cross before dark, we cain’t camp on the lakebed … I ain’t likin the sound of this."
"That makes two of us," says Ash.
"Try three," says Epona, the zebra flicks her tail.
"Fergawdsake, jest tell us," I says. "Why is it we gotta cross before dark?"
Pike spreads his hooves. "Tell ’em, Arrow," he says.
Arrow curses unner his breath. Looks at the ground fer a moment then pulls off his jacket. Then he reaches fer the edges of his tunic an pulls it off over his head. It's somethin he's worn this whole time an hasn't taken off.
Penny gasps. Beside me, I hear Ash’s breath hiss in. I already seen ’em, back at Hopetown, but my stummick still clenches.
Three long pink claw marks that slash across his body from his right shoulder down unner his belly. Arrow stands there fer a moment. Then he turns so we can see his back. A smaller set of claw scars slash across his right shoulder-blade. He turns around again an puts on his shirt.
"Does that answer yer question?" he says.
"What did that to yer back?" Penny whispers.
"It was dark," says Arrow. "I didn’t git a good look."
"They call ’em hellwurms," says Pike.
"Wurms with claws," says Epona. "An big wurms by the look of it. I ain’t heard of nuthin like that before."
"An you ain’t seen nuthin like ’em neether," says Pike.
"What are they?" says Ash.
"Story goes that they used to be called Tatzulwurms, an a long time ago, back in Wrecker times, they put some kinda poison
into the lake," says Pike. "It killed off everythin. Essept the wurms. They drank it an they grew."
"You said they," says Epona. "That means there’s more’n one. How many more?"
"A lot more," says Arrow.
"This jest gits better an better," I says.
There’s silence. "Then, that settles it," I says. "I’m goin on alone."
Well, everypony starts talkin all at once, even Blade, one over top of th’other, gittin louder an louder till at last I put my hooves over my ears an yell, "Shut up, will you! Jest … shut up!"
They do. They all look at me.
"He’s my brother," I says. "An I ain’t lettin none of you come with me if that’s—" I point at Arrow— "what we gotta deal with before we even git to Freedom Fields. Now, I cain’t afford to go back down the hill an wait to try agin tomorrow. We’re nearly at midsummer. If I start right away, I might reach th’other side of the lake before dark."
"She travels fastest who travels alone," says Ike, "is that it?"
"That’s it all right," I says. "Okay, Penny, you—Penny, what the hell’re you doin down there?"
While we bin talkin, Penny’s bin scrabblin around on the ground. Now she stands up an holds out her little wings. She’s got a pile of white pebbles on one an a pile of black pebbles on th’other.
"White means we go with you," she says. "Black means we don’t. Whatever we git the most of, that’s what we do."
"I ain’t got time fer this, Penny," I says, "I’m—"
"Shut up, Moon," she says.
An I’m so astonished that I do.
She sets the pebbles in two piles on the ground. She leaves a space in between. Everypony gits one vote," she says. "You choose yer pebble an then you put it in the middle. When we’re all done, I’ll count ’em up. Now, turn around so’s you cain’t watch what the other pony’s doin."
Nopony moves. We all jest stand there, starin at her.
"I said, turn around!" she says. "Blade, you go first."
The rest of us turn our backs. Pike’s next to me. "I see it runs in the family," he mutters.
Penny Rose directs the whole thing. I’m th’only one left.
"What about me?" I says.
"You don’t git a turn," she says. "Okay, turn around."
In the middle there’s six white pebbles. Not one black one. I crouch down. Pick up the pebbles an hold ’em in my hoof. They feel solid, warm. I look up into their faces one by one. An it’s like I’m lookin at ’em fer the first time. Arrow, Pike, Penny, Epona, Ash an Blade. Every one of ’em willin to walk with me across the lake. To go with me into the darkness an face what lives there.
My throat feels tight.
"You don’t hafta do this," I says.
Epona shrugs. "We’re yer friends, Moon," she says. "We wanna help."
"I wish you wouldn’t," I says.
"Too bad," she says. "We’re stickin with you."
"If this gits any more heart-warmin," says Ash, "I’m gonna start cryin. Now if we’re done here, I say we git movin."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arrow gits us to mufle our hooves with cloth so’s the wurms don’t know we’re passin over the top of ’em. Then we move out onto the parched lakebed. We go as quick as we can, but like Arrow said, we gotta go careful past all the cracks an crevasses, big an small, that split the earth an slow us down. We don’t talk, try not to make no sound. Try to go faster.
An we don’t make it. We don’t make it across the lake before dark. Even though it’s the season of long days, we’re only about halfways across when we start to lose the light.
Arrow stops. Looks at the sky. He waits fer everybody to catch up. "When the light goes," he says in a low voice, "it’s gonna go fast. We gotta be ready well before then."
My stummick clenches. "Ready fer what?" I says.
"Hellwurms sleep in the day," he says, "deep inside the mountain. When night falls, they come up through the cracks in the lakebed. They’ll be lookin fer food. It could be we git lucky. If they already got full bellies from last night or even a couple of days ago, they might stay down there an sleep it off. But if we don’t git lucky..."
"...the minute it’s dark," says Pike, "wurms is gonna crawl outta them cracks an cover this lakebed faster’n you could ever imagine."
"You should of told us this before we started off," I says.
"I was hopin I wouldn’t hafta," says Arrow. "But would it of made any difference? Anypony?"
Everyone shakes their head.
"Hell no," says Penny.
I wanna blame somebody fer the mess we’re in, but yellin at Arrow or Pike or anypony else ain’t gonna change nuthin. We’re all in this together now.
I turn around.
"So, Arrow," I says, "what’s the plan?"