//------------------------------// // A Hoofful of Worries // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// Fia, Corona, and Trixie—who had decided to forgo her disguise, each stood in the doorway of their room. The plates of pancakes each held in their magic auras had all but been forgotten as they stared at the snoring green pegasus splayed out haphazardly in the cot she had been occupying since last night. After about a minute of silent stares, it was Fia that spoke first. "Well," she muttered, not taking her eyes off the mare, "her snoring isn't nearly as loud as the two of you, at least." Neither Trixie nor Corona responded, the two of them too baffled to reply. It was at that moment that the door to the sitting room opened across the hall and Ancient Scroll stepped out. He went to make his way to the kitchen, but stopped and backed up a step once he saw the fillies standing in their doorway. "Morning, fillies," he called out, trotting over to where they stood, an amused smile creeping across his muzzle, "bit surprised to see Miss Fell Wind looking so vulnerable I take it?" "Hey, Uncle Scroll?" Corona asked, turning a quizzical frown towards the old stallion, "why is she still... y'know... here?" "What do you mean, little filly," Ancient Scroll asked with an innocently confused frown of his own, "she was tired after her ordeal, so I let her sleep in the cot." "Well, I mean... okay," Corona replied, furrowing her brow and looking back to Fell Wind, who rolled over onto her side and redoubled her snoring, "...but when is she going to leave? Doesn't she have anywhere else to go?" "Yeah," Fia added as she and Corona trotted over to the table and set their plates down, "didn't she have a brother to find?" Fia paused as she went to sit down, her own words ringing in her ears. She flattened her ears and looked back to the sleeping mare, her expression both sad and understanding. "Indeed she does, little filly," Ancient Scroll replied with a nod, "and it seems we're going to be helping her accomplish that goal for the time being." "What?" Corona asked in confusion, "Uncle Scroll, what are you... wait," her brows furrowed and she looked back at Fell Wind who mumbled something incoherent and threw a pillow over her head, "are you... are you telling me she's coming with us?" "That's the long and short of it, yes," Ancient Scroll replied with a nod, "she's headed for Canterlot, the same as us. She asked us to give her a ride, and I couldn't really say no, now could I?" "But... Uncle Scroll..." Fia asked, glancing over at Trixie, who was still standing by the doorway silently eyeing Fell Wind with an expression the black filly couldn't quite place. The distracted filly let Fia take her plate from out of her magic and placed it on the table with the other plates before looking back to Ancient Scroll, "...is that really a good idea?" Ancient Scroll didn't miss the apprehensive tone in Fia's voice, nor did he miss the significant glance towards Trixie. He cast his own worried glance at the azure filly before sighing and looking to Fia once more. "I know you're worried, Fia," Ancient Scroll said quietly, "believe me, I understand, but she isn't like she was when I fought her. She's—" A loud, annoyed groan erupted from the cot, catching everypony's attention. "If you guys are gonna talk about me, can ya do it somewhere else?" the sleepy pegasus grumbled, wrapping the pillow around her head tighter, "and close the door behind you, would ya?" "You do realize this is our room, right?" Corona replied giving Fell Wind a flat stare, "and didn't you sleep for like... a day or something?" "Don't care, need more sleep," Fell Wind respond, her voice muffled by the pillow, "now shoo." "Unbelievable," Corona muttered, shaking her head. She scowled and turned to Ancient Scroll, "well... she definitely seems different from when she first showed up, that's for sure." Though it might possibly have worked out for the best in the end, the words of both Ancient Scroll and Corona brought Trixie no comfort or reassurance. It wasn't that she was afraid of Fell Wind—not after what she had seen, but it was that crushing guilt that just wouldn't go away. The need to help still remained, even after her terrible mistake, and—while she had nothing to do with the decision—this was the perfect opportunity to make it up to the mare without messing things up any worse than they were. "Trixie thinks it's a good idea," the azure filly suddenly spoke up, surprising the group. Trixie winced as everypony's gaze fell upon her, but she continued nonetheless, "if her brother is in Canterlot then we need to get her there as fast as possible." "...You're right," Fia eventually replied with a troubled frown, "if he's really as unstable as Fell Wind says—" "Seriously, come on!" Fell Wind groaned again, "sleeping here!" With a collective sigh and in Corona's case, a roll of the eyes, the group trotted out of the room and shut the door. With that done Ancient Scroll chuckled and shook his head. "'Won't even know I'm here', indeed," he muttered before turning back to Fia with a frown, "I believe you were on to something there, little filly." Fia nodded and continued from where she had left off. "Remember how there was another murder in Canterlot?" she asked, "what if Fell Wind's brother was the killer?" "Oh, right," Corona replied, her eyes widening in realization, "I hadn't even thought about that! If Celestia finds out, he'll probably be put to death or something!" "Or worse," Trixie replied with a shudder, "Moon Gazer might find him first." The three fillies went quiet at that, and Ancient Scroll grimaced. "I guess you're right Trixie," Fia conceded, "it's probably best that we help her get to Canterlot as soon as possible. I don't want to make finding my own brother any harder than it's already probably gonna be." "And I really don't want Celestia finding out I'm back in Canterlot because a guard got curious," Corona added with a shiver, "I still don't know what she'd do, but I'd rather not find out." "I suppose that settles it then," Ancient Scroll exclaimed, turning and trotting towards the kitchen, "we'll need to tread very lightly now that we know this Moon Gazer is out and about around Canterlot somewhere." "Right," Trixie mumbled to herself, "hopefully that was just my imagination before..." "What was that, Trixie?" Corona asked with a curious tilt of her head, "you say something?" "Trixie said nothing," the azure filly replied, following after Ancient Scroll, "now I believe we have a breakfast to..." She stopped suddenly and the other two fillies looked at her in confusion. It took a moment, but the realization finally dawned on the them. "Oh, horseapples," Corona groaned with a facehoof, "we forgot the pancakes." "Language, filly!" Ancient Scroll called out from in the kitchen, "and just go grab them from the room, that mare isn't gonna bite." "We don't know that for sure," Corona grumbled as she pulled the door open and trotted back inside the room, "she did pretty much barbecue herself with her own lightning." "I heard that," the mare growled into her pillow. "I don't care," Corona retorted, trotting back out of the room with the plates. She closed the door and made her way down the hall just in time to hear Fia asked Ancient Scroll a question she herself had been wondering since the old stallion woke up. "So now that you're awake," Fia asked, trotting out onto the platform after Ancient Scroll, who now had a plate of his own pancakes, "are we going to be leaving soon?" "That we are, little filly," Ancient Scroll replied with a nod, before popping a fork full of pancake in his mouth, "I just need to wait a bit more for my mana to regulate, then we can shove off for the next destination." "And what exactly is the next destination again?" Trixie asked, "another farming town?" "Lopendale," Ancient Scroll replied, "a small mining town at the base of Mount Hackamore north of the Farhoof Forest." "So... we're gonna be hiking up the mountain then?" Fia asked with a frown, "I thought we couldn't take the Vardo into the mountains." "Mount Hackamore isn't very large or steep as far as mountains go," Ancient Scroll replied, "so the Vardo should be able to handle the trip, but we're not going through the mountains either way." "Then we're going around them?" Corona asked, joining the others out on the platform. She floated the other fillies' pancakes over to them before turning her attention back to Ancient Scroll, "is that it?" "You got it, filly," Ancient Scroll confirmed with a small smile, "it might take a bit longer, but it'll be far easier on the caravan, and the path is relatively isolated as well—though it'll be some time before we actually arrive near the mountain range." "How long until we get there?" Fia asked, digging into her own pancakes, "we still have about another day left of travel before we make it out of the forest, right?" "That's right," the stallion replied, "after that, it's about a week's travel north, assuming we don't run into anymore problems along the way." "Which we will," Trixie muttered, "Trixie is almost sure of it." "Oh come on, Trixie," Fia said, nudging the surly filly in the side with a small grin, "we're bound to catch a break sooner or later," her grin fell into an unsure frown and she looked over to Corona, "...right?" Corona merely shrugged and swallowed a large chunk of pancake before answering. "I'm with Trixie on this one," she answered, "everywhere we go, there's always some kind of problem going on." Fia huffed and looked to Ancient Scroll for some reassurance. The old stallion noticed her pleading look and chuckled before ruffling her mane. "Don't worry, little filly," he answered with a playful smile, "we'll get our peace and quiet soon enough. I hear Lopendale has some fantastic natural hot springs that drain the stress right out of your body." "Trixie admits, that... does sound nice," Trixie conceded with a thoughtful look, "she's never been to a 'hot spring' before." "I haven't either," Fia added, "but I read about them back when I lived in Canterlot. They are supposed to be really relaxing." "Well, here's hoping some crazy evil pony doesn't decide to let their mane down and take a soak while we're there," Corona joked, "with our luck I wouldn't doubt that happening for a second." The three filly shared a small laugh and Ancient Scroll gave a small chuckle of his own before polishing off his pancakes. He stared out at the surrounding forest, watching the light from the morning Sun shine through the thick foliage. He frowned. Though he tried to remain cautiously optimistic, he couldn't help but quietly agree with Trixie and Corona. There was bound to be more trouble on the horizon, and he wondered if he and the fillies would be prepared when the time came. One could only hope.