"Dammit!" I shout, bucking the leafless tree behind me with my weak hind legs.
It turns out that not only did I leave the maps behind, but also the messages that we were delivering. I guess they slipped out or something, I don't know. all that I know is that it's all gone, and it's my fault.
"Rose, it's ok." Says Opal. I can tell she's frustrated but she doesn't want to show it.
"No it's not! now we're completely lost, and we don't even have the messages with us! We might as well go home!" I shout to the sky.
"Not to rain on your parade, but you shouldn't shout like that." Cobalt pitches in.
I dig my hooves into the dirt and flop to the ground. without the messages from all the ponies in the Fort, our mission was now meaningless. what should we do? we could go back to the Fort, or we could continue meaninglessly to the Summit. we are about halfway between the two, so neither would be shorter. I see Opal shuffling around next to me out of the corner of my eye.
"Wait! we have one message left!" She says excitedly.
I bolt up from my sad position in the dirt to look at it. written in black ink are the words; "To Cadence, From Twilight".
This was the most important letter we were delivering! at least we could let Cadence hear out whatever "princess" stuff Twilight had planned.
"This is great! now we have a reason to continue." I say, still partly solemn that all the others had been left behind.
"So, I guess we should continue then." Opal chirps. "Lets go!"
So we keep walking through the wasteland. I'm still frustrated, but I don't let my anger show. As we walk, I start to drift into deep thought….
SNAP
A branch from a lonesome tree right above me starts to break apart from the trunk. I gasp, frozen stiff to the ground.
"Rose!" I hear Opal shout, a few feet in front of me. "get out of there!"
Cobalt seems to notice I'm frozen, because the next thing I know, I'm on the ground, the huge branch right where I was standing only a few seconds ago.
He saved me! he pushed me out of the way!
He stands up.
"Sorry." He says.
"Sorry for what? you just saved my life!"
"Well, I pushed you…"
I shake my head. "I would be dead right now if it weren't for you, I'm not worried about a little push."
He smiles.
I think its safe to trust him, i thought and then I smile to myself.
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As we trot, I notice a browning piece of paper, fluttering in the wind. out of boredom, I levitate it over to my face.
"Whats that?" Opal inquires, slowing her pace so she can trot alongside me.
"Some kind of newspaper… it’s all torn and aging, its really hard to read." I say, squinting at the printing. wait… what?! this was published 17 years ago! when this hell started!
"This was printed 17 years ago!" I tell Opal.
"Sweet Celestia, it was!" She says, checking the small printing in the right corner.
I scroll my eyes down the page to the headline.
Scientists’ "cure" goes bad when ponies start biting each other!' it read.
"A scientist was behind this? no one ever told me that." I say, frowning.
Cobalt looks at the paper. "I don't think anyone remembers this!" He says.
How could ponies not know this?
I start to feel like we're being watched.
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Deep in his underground tunnel, a pasty white unicorn stares at the 3 ponies on his monitor, two mares, one pink and one a minty green, and one grey colt.
"they're learning."