//------------------------------//
// Journey 
// Story: Theory and Practice 
// by Snaproll 
//------------------------------//

Moondancer's funk continued as the trio trotted through town. The unicorn mare frowned at her surroundings as they trotted down Appaloosa's main street. As disgruntled as she was, Moondancer wasn't too absorbed in her own self pity to take note of the town around her. 

True, compared to Canterlot, Appaloosa wasn't much to sniff at. There were scant few buildings over two stories tall, and the majority of those weren't finished with anything fancier than whitewash and gold lettering in the windows. That said, there was glass in every window, and lights were being lit in most buildings. There were even lights at the major intersections in town...all four of them. There were plenty of saloons and inns in the town, which she had expected, as well as a few mineral assay offices and supply stores. But, to her surprise, there were a surprising number of fashion boutiques, magical supply stores, and curio shops. It might be a small town, but it certainly looks like business is developing quickly out here, she thought to herself. 

The population was not what she expected either. True, ponies of all varieties made up the vast majority of the beings she could see, but there was a surprising variety of others as well. The buffalo she expected, as she passed a few of the big-shouldered bison on the street, but she was surprised to see at least one store with a buffalo proprietor. She took note of one in particular where a pretty young buffalo was showing off a pair of turquoise earrings to an appreciative older mare. 
As they passed a saloon, she could see a trio of gryffons out front having an animated discussion with a pair of diamond dogs. A pair of teenage dragons were being harangued by a bat-pony wearing a vest and a sheriff's badge. As they passed, Moondancer heard them protesting their innocence about a fire that had been started in the city limits. As they reached the outskirts of town, she was shocked to see a trio of hippogriffs conversing intently with an earth pony holding a set of blueprints. The quartet were standing in front of a half finished building that had the look of a future storefront.

"See anythin' you like?" Braeburn had turned his head to glance back at Moondancer, and she was startled to notice just how bright and open his green eyes were. "Um..." If she was being really honest, Moondancer was willing to bet all of her mane and most of her tail that she'd be able to find everything she could see in Appaloosa on one city block in Canterlot, but she decided it'd be best to be polite and honest as well. "Well...There's a lot more here than I expected."

Braeburn grinned at her comment. He had a very nice grin, Moondancer decided. "Oh shore, we're gettin' real cosmopolitan here." He nodded back at the hippogriffs as he spoke. "There's folk from all over Equestria movin' out thisaways, hopin' to set up a little slice o' life." As he spoke, they passed by a small and modest cemetary at the edge of town and before them stood, as far as Moondancer could tell, the wilderness. 
"Jus' look around you!" Braeburn continued, gesturing with one hoof between steps as he and Snaproll hauled the wagon. "Plenty of fresh air and wide open skies. We're practically off the edge of the map here." 

Moondancer wanted to say that she could have used a bit more civilization around her, thank you very much, but the bit about being off the edge of the map piqued her interest. 
"I'd hardly say we're off the edge of the map. We're only a few hundred miles north east of San Deniegho, and few more hunded miles southeast of San Franciscolt and San Horseay." 

Braeburn nodded, as if he'd expected this response. "Well, that's true 'nuff, Miss Moondancer. But somethin' my grandpappy told me when I was a young'un. Maps got edges on the inside of 'em too." He looked around him, surveying the surrounding landscape. "Shore, a cartographer back in Canterlot can draw a circle on the map and say 'This here's the Appaloosan Desert' an' leave it at that." He shook his head at that. "But there's so many different little nooks, gullies and whatnot out here. I've lived here all my life, and I know old ponies who've done the same. And they'd be the first to tell you that you could spend yore whole life lookin' out here and not find everythin' there is to see." 

Moondancer opened her mouth to speak, then, thinking about what Braeburn said, shut it. He's right, she thought. It's the same thing with Canterlot, really. You can say a certain area is Canterlot, but that's hardly a substitute for knowing what parts of the city are safe, where the good restaurants are, where the libraries and other institutions are. And that thought led her to another, more uncomfortable thought. 
I don't know how many atlasses or travelogues I read talking about other parts of Equus, she thought to herself, But I know it was a pretty good amount. I never thought I needed to leave the libraries to get all the knowledge I wanted...but is that really sufficient? Can you honestly lay claim to knowledge if you haven't gotten out there and experienced what you're studying firsthoof?

"Miss Moondancer? Are you alright?"
She suddenly realized that Braeburn was looking at her quizzically, and that her reverie had stretched from a brief Pause in Conversation to An Uncomfortable Silence. She cleared her throat to give her time to marshal a response, and said "I suppose that's true, now that I think about it." Braeburn gave her a smile and returned his attention to the trail. Moondancer was left to ponder the ramifications of her thoughts as they trotted further and further from Appaloosa. 

*******

The trail they were following wound its way through hills and ridges, always to the west and, Moondancer perceived,  gradually rising. She only noticed it after a few miles when she chanced to look behind them and could see Appaloosa proper sprawling below them. The sun dipped lower in the horizon, and she began to think that Braeburn's stetson and Snaproll's glasses served practical rather than asthetic purposes as she tried to keep the glare out of her eyes. 

She first tried holding up a hoof to shade her eyes, but that was unsatisfactory as she couldn't keep up with the wagon. Then, she tried letting her glasses droop down her muzzle, so the top of the frames helped shield her eyes. This worked for a time, until she placed a hoof wrong in a divot in the trail and nearly crippled herself. Mercifully, the trail curved slightly to the north as the sun dipped lower, and they found themselves in the shadow of a low ridge of hills. This allowed her to catch back up with the two stallions pulling the wagon. 

Being a studious observer, Moondancer started cataloging her surroundings. There was scant vegetation, unless you counted various forms of brush that stretched across the hills and plains as far as the eye could see. Here and there, there were patches of tiny yellow flowers, and patches of juniper bushes grew in places, providing a splash of dark green color against the pale green sage and golden cheat grass. The air was warm, as befit late summer in the high Appaloosan Desert, but Moondancer suspected that once the sun went down it would get very cold very quickly. More intriguing was the scents that assailed her nose. Everywhere she turned, there was the pleasing aroma of blended earthy sage and sharp juniper, underpinned by earth that had been baked under the hot sun. It isn't really ugly country, when you get down to it she thought to herself. At least the air is fresh.

Gradually, she found her gaze wandering over to Braeburn. The earth pony stallion was clearly in his element. Her eyes gazed over his brawny shoulders and haunches as he hauled the wagon. True, on his left, Snaproll was doing his fair share of pulling the wagon, but the difference between the two stallions couldn't be plainer. While Snaproll was pulling his weight, his coat shone with sweat and his ears drooped with the effort of pulling the wagon. Braeburn, however, was practically reveling in the simple physical labor. He had hardly broken a sweat, and his head was held high and proud as he pulled. He even, to Moondancer's amazement, found it within himself to whistle as he walked, as if this were a normal evening stroll and he wasn't pulling several hundred pounds of goods with another pony. He must be quite strong, she thought to herself as she trotted to Braeburn's right and slightly behind him.

Certainly, Moondancer considered herself an observant mare and had seen plenty of stallions of all shapes and sizes walking, running and, in the case of pegasi and bat ponies, flying throughout Canterlot. But she couldn't remember any pony she'd seen engaged in such an effortless display of physical prowess. She gradually realized that she was simply fascinated by the machinery of his body, and idly wondered if he would find it as easy to carry her along as he found the wagon. 

"Miss Moondancer? Are you alright?" 

Braeburn was looking at her, his expression concerned, as if he'd noticed a bouquet of flowers standing out of her forehead where her horn should be. 
He caught me looking at him! HE CAUGHT ME LOOKING AT HIIIIIIIIIM!!! She screamed at herself internally as she fought to keep from blushing in embarrassment. Stalling for time, she shook her head and said, more snappish than she intended. "What? What is it?" 

Braeburn's brows contracted, but he looked more concerned than irritated at her as he spoke. "Ah said, 'How are you holdin' up, Miss Moondancer?'" 

She shook her head and said, brusquely "Fine. I'm fine." He arched an eyebrow, which sent an irrational spike of irritation through her. "Really! I'm fine!" 

Braeburn unhitched himself from the wagon and turned, rummaging under the tarp in the wagon's bed for something. A second later, he grunted and hauled out a canteen of water, which he hoofed over to Moondancer. "Here miss, you'd better have a drink. It's a lot more arid out here than you might be used to." 

He thinks I'm dehydrated! He didn't see me staring at him! She thought gleefully to herself as she used her magic to unscrew the top of the canteen and took a drink. 

She had only intended to take a mouthful of water to satisfy propriety's sake, but the instant the cool, refreshing water cleared her lips, she found she couldn't help herself and, before she knew it, she'd drained half of the canteen, slopping water down her throat in a most un-mare-like display. 

Snaproll, taking advantage of the temporary reprieve, had also retrieved a canteen from the wagon and was guzzling water even more greedily. The hard travel was wearing on the pegasus, and it showed. Braeburn, however, looked as fresh as if he'd just had a four hour nap. He gave Moondancer an inquisitive look as he said "Better, Miss Moondancer?"

She nodded, somewhat abashed at how much water she'd gotten down her turtleneck and her face, and said "Much, yes. Thank you, Braeburn." 

He nodded, satisfied, and took a swig of water himself before he replaced the canteen in the wagon. "Not much longer now. We're only a mile or so away from camp." With a nod at Snaproll, the two stallions started hauling the wagon again. 

That thought took a few seconds to grind its way through the weary machinery of her mind. When it did, Moondancer trotted to catch up with the wagon. "Camp? What do you mean, camp?" 

Braeburn glanced over at her, grinning. "Well, like I said, miss. It's about a day's journey from Appaloosa to the Center. But since it's so late in the day, it'd be pretty foolish of us to try traveling at night. You can't see the trail as clear and we could get lost or, worse, injured." He shook his head, eyes distant in the gathering twilight. "Naw, we've got a campsite just a ways ahead. Takes longer, shore 'nuff, but it's safer that way." 

A mile down the trail, Moondancer began to smell woodsmoke mingled with the sagebrush and wildflower scent, occasionally punctuated by the unmistakable aroma of cooking onions and bell peppers. Almost unconsciously, she quickened her pace, followed by the two stallions and the wagon, as they drew nearer the camp. 

They rounded a corner in the trail and Moondancer came across a scene that, two days ago, would have appeared spartan and quaint. Now, however, it was the most welcome sight she'd seen all day. A pair of campfires blazed merrily in a clearing off the side of the trail in the deepening twilight, both heating a pair of cast iron dutch ovens. A tan-coated unicorn tended both, and, Moondancer thought, she finally had seen someone who looked like a proper academic. The unicorn stallion had a tan coat with a mussed crimson mane and tail, which graduated to blonde at the tips. He wore a green vest and a pair of round spectacles, and as they rounded the corner he waved an eager hoof. He held a spatula in his magic, which he was using to stir the contents of one dutch oven. As they trotted closer, Moondancer could make out his cutie mark in the dimming light; a crossed spatula and cocktail shaker under a halved bell & chili pepper. 

"One thing you should be aware of." Snaproll muttered under his breath to her. "Don't pay much attention to his accent. It's an act."

"Wait...what?" Moondancer found herself asking, but the unicorn stallion hailed them as they got closer. 
"Weeeeeeeeell look what finally decided to show up! Ah wuz jus' gettin' dinner goin' is all! If'n y'all wuz any later, Ah'd have been crestfallen." If anything, the unicorn's drawl was more pronounced and, Moondancer was sure, had a forced quality to it, as if it was a learned accent versus a natural one. She didn't get a chance on commenting on it, however, before the unicorn stallion lifted her saddlebags with his magic and said  "C'mon o'er here, cher, and have a seat. We'll have some vittles up for you in a jiffy, sho'nuff!" 

Braeburn and Snaproll drew the wagon to a halt in the clearing, and as the two stallions unhitched themselves, the pegasus shook his head. "Dangit, Saz, the filly's not gonna be fooled by your fake accent! For Celestia's sake, we're from Fillydelphia! NOBODY is buying the fact that you're from Neigh Orleans!" The pegasus trotted over to the unicorn and got in his face. "What's it gonna take to get you to snap out of this!"

The unicorn raised his head indignantly and shook his spatula in Snaproll's face. "Ah wouldn't 'spect you to unnerstand, you feather-brained excuse fore a polecat! It's just a paht o' mah personality!" 

As he spoke, Moondancer realized that the unicorn and the pegasus, though they were obviously different types of ponies and had different colored manes and tails, had precisely the same shade of coat and build. As the pegasus started to reply to the pegasus, she cleared her throat. "Um...excuse me, but what-" She was cut off as the unicorn gave her an elegant bow. "Ah beg yore pardon, Miz Moondancuh, mah name's Sazerac. Ah see yew've already experienced mah brothah."

She felt one of her eyebrows climb up her forhead. "Your...brother?" She glanced over at Snaproll, then back at Sazerac. "Wha...?"

Snaproll and Sazerac gave her identical grins, and said, in unison "We're twins. Can't you tell?" 

Braeburn strode into camp between the two brothers. "Give 'er a break, fellas. She's had a long day. Saz, how's dinner lookin?" 

The unicorn grinned at the earth pony. "Got ah special treat for yew. Red beans an' rice. Should be done in a few, ah reckon." The unicorn nodded over to the second fire. "Got an apple cobbler fore dessert too. Should be pretty nice." He turned a shrewd look back at the two other stallions. "Did yew two get what ah asked yew fore in town?" 

Snaproll rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's in the wagon. But come on, I've been hauling this wagon all day. Let's get some food. I'm starving!"

Braeburn glanced over at him. "You didn't have any trouble with that wagon on the way into town, Snap."

"That's because it wasn't loaded up to the gills with supplies, Brae!" 

The light started to deepen and Moondancer resisted the urge to rub her forehead with a hoof. 

Stuck in the wilderness with three crazy stallions. Can this trip get any worse?