//------------------------------//
// A Cup of Compassion 
// Story: The Persistence of Destiny 
// by Cold Bolt 
//------------------------------//

"You know, I reckon something don't add up."

As the party made their way down the switchback, Applejack spoke up.

Derpy tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we know Nightmare Missy knows we're here on account of we just found a trap and all, right?"

"That would seem to be the case, yes," said the Doctor.

Applejack ran a hoof through her mane where her hat should have been. "So why ain't she here to square off with us herself? She knows we need them Elements to stand a chance, don't she?"

Starlight nodded. "I always wondered about that myself... Why would she go to the trouble of setting all these traps when she knows we can't beat her in a fair fight anyway? That part never really made any sense to me."

Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'that part'? That part of what?"

Derpy hovered in the air and spread her forelegs wide. "Those two know what we have to do 'cause they're time travelers from the future!"

The entire party ground to a halt.

Rainbow and Applejack stared openly at the two unicorns.

"Time..." Rainbow glanced at Applejack.

"...travelers?" Applejack met Rainbow's gaze.

Starlight raised a hoof to her forehead in exasperation. "I'm not sure this was the best time to bring that up..."

Derpy winced. "Oops."

The Doctor grimaced before taking a step forward. "While I... do understand your trepidation, I would more than vouch for the veracity of their claim! I've seen the spell they used with my own eyes - or, most of it at the very least. Not to mention, their insight has been most accurate indeed! I - "

He stopped at the touch of a gray hoof on his shoulder as Derpy gave him a gentle tap. Glancing at the two mares again, he soon understood.

Applejack smirked. "Well, I'll be. Time travel... Ain't that something?"

"I'll say," agreed Rainbow. "Sure gives us a leg up I didn't know we had."

Sunset tilted her head a bit. "Wait, you... believe us? Just like that?"

Rainbow shrugged. "We're already hunting for a legendary weapon in the form of a set of ancient gems to fight off the Mare in the Moon herself and prevent eternal darkness from engulfing all of Equestria. I feel like time travel really isn't the weirdest part about this whole thing."

Sunset chuckled in response. "I mean, when you put it that way..."

"Nah, the weird part is what Applejack said," Dash continued. "We don't stand a chance against her until we have the Elements, so why doesn't she just come and beat us now before we even get close to them?"

Silence passed between them for a minute as the switchback leveled out onto flat ground once more. The vegetation of the valley was thicker and looked a great deal less friendly than the soggy trees that passed them by earlier, but at least the path ahead was still somehow clearly defined.

Starlight's brow furrowed, her gaze stuck to the dirt in front of her hooves.

Sunset sighed quietly. "I know that look. You're trying to figure it out, aren't you?"

"There has to be an answer," said Starlight. "And I'm worried that without it, I might just be leading us all into... well, something worse than a rock slide."

"You know, I was kind of joking before... but I think you have been spending too much time around Twilight," said Sunset. "Yeah, you might be basically leading this thing, but that doesn't mean you're our commanding officer. You're our friend. Put a little more faith in us, will you?"

Starlight bit her lip and glanced away.

Sunset sighed. "You're still blaming yourself for this whole thing."

"After everything that's happened so far, how can I not?"

Sunset bit her tongue. This conversation was getting tiresome; if she was going to help Starlight lighten up about the whole thing, clearly she needed a different approach.

Unfortunately, the sight of a menacing figure ahead of them on the path brought both her thoughts and the party to a halt once again.

"There you are!"

Applejack, however, only had eyes for the familiar brown Stetson sitting atop a thorny bush nearby. Trotting forward, she carefully reached out and claimed the hat for herself, settling it back in its rightful place atop her head. "Much better. Sorry about the holdup, y'all, but..."

She trailed off as she met five deeply concerned faces glancing between her and something right behind her.

"Applejack!" hissed Starlight. "Don't... move...!"

"What in tarnation are y'all staring at?" Applejack spun on her hooves and found herself staring right into the distinctly displeased face of a manticore lying barely a meter from her, leathery wings flared and venomous tail poised to strike.

"Oh," said Applejack. "That's what."

The manticore leaned forward and roared inches from her muzzle, prompting Applejack to yelp in alarm and sprint at full speed back behind friendly lines.

"W, w, what do we do...?" Derpy shivered, sheltering herself behind the Doctor. "It's b-blocking the path..."

"We'll just have to fight our way through," said Sunset, her horn lighting up as her magic charged.

With a flurry of wings, Rainbow Dash landed in front of her.

Sunset kept her eyes fixed on the creature. "Ready to do this, Rain - wait, what?"

Sunset's spell fizzled as she watched Rainbow shrug the metal bracers off her forelegs.

"Everypony chill out," said Rainbow. "I got this."

The Doctor craned his neck for a better look. "What in blue blazes is she doing...?"

Rainbow Dash took slow, deliberate steps toward the manticore, smiling softly as she did so.

"Easy there, big guy," she cooed. "Sun's getting real low..."

The manticore did not growl or snarl, settling for merely baring its fangs instead... but as Rainbow stopped just short of its reach and laid on her belly, it dropped even this display and instead sniffed at her curiously.

"C'mon, you big furball," Rainbow continued, her voice calm. "What's eating you?"

The manticore hesitated for a few seconds before climbing to its feet and taking a step forward. Rainbow gave it a quick glance-over as it did so; it seemed to be favoring one of its hind legs, as though reluctant to put weight on it. With an ungraceful whumpf, it plopped down in front of her and stared, as though expectant.

Rainbow sat up, gingerly raising a hoof toward the manticore's face, pausing to let it sniff some more before gently rubbing the creature's chin with it. "See, there we go. We're not here for a fight, I promise."

Her pulse having slowed to a somewhat calmer rate, Derpy found herself smiling. "Aww, it's kinda cute! Well, almost..."

Distracted by the touch of Rainbow's hoof, the manticore let its hind leg slide outward... which revealed a long gash upon it, still wet with blood.

"Oh, geez. No wonder..." Rainbow sucked in a breath through her teeth and turned back toward the party still huddled several paces away. "Hey guys, you gotta help me with this!"

After a moment of hesitation, Starlight straightened up. "What should we do?"

Rainbow glanced at the manticore's wound again. "I need a bandage from Doc's saddle bag and a bunch of leaves from a hinalle plant."

"Got it!" Derpy held up a roll of cloth.

"I saw some hinalle growing near the bottom of the switchback," said Sunset. "I'll be right back!"

In a matter of moments, she returned with a small bundle of slender green leaflets in her magical grip.

"Okay, bring those here nice and slow." Now sitting beside the manticore's injured leg, Rainbow beckoned Sunset and Derpy over to her. The manticore's eyes followed them warily, but to their great relief, it otherwise sat still.

Starlight leaned over, whispering to the Doctor. "What is that stuff?"

"Hinalle. Wonderful plant, that one," said the Doctor. "The oil in its leaves makes for a natural disinfectant and pain reliever. Only seems to grow deep in the forest here though, so it's a tad on the rare side."

"Huh." Starlight blinked. "That's... pretty convenient."

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. "Learned as you are, I'm surprised you're not already familiar."

Starlight shrugged. "I'm a sorceress, not a botanist."

Rainbow tucked the end of the bandage into itself. Several leaflets, wrung dry of their oil, sat in a pile beside her. "There you go, big guy. Better?"

The manticore replied by nuzzling her face, purring loudly.

"He-hey, stop! That tickles!"

Derpy giggled. "Okay. Definitely cute."

Starlight trotted up curiously. "How did you do all this?"

Rainbow gave the manticore's mane a quick ruffle before turning to Starlight. "I've fought plenty of manticores before to keep them away from town. I know what it looks like when one is hungry or defending its territory, and this one wasn't doing either of those."

"Is that why we didn't just fight it and move on?" asked Sunset.

Rainbow frowned at her. "The most important thing to know about fighting is when not to do it. Manticores aren't brainless monsters like timberwolves - they're smarter than they look, and they deserve a chance just like anypony else."

Sunset glanced away.

"Besides," Rainbow continued with a glance at the bandaged paw behind her, "this wasn't an accident."

Satisfied there was no longer any danger, the Doctor wandered up. "This was another trap, then?"

Rainbow nodded. "Something made a long, clean cut in its leg. Something sharp... like a blade."

"One guess who might'a done that," grumbled Applejack.

"Exactly," agreed Starlight. "So if your friend here is going to be okay, we should get moving. We don't know what else is waiting for us ahead."

"He'll be fine now!" Rainbow grinned as she slipped her bracers back on. "Right, big guy?"

She received a low-pitched meow in reply.