The first few stars were twinkling overhead by the time the group stopped next to a frozen waterhole. The snow’s depth had stayed relatively consistent along their journey throughout the day, and, much to everyone’s relief, Canas and Florina confirmed that Remi was the warmest settlement in Ilia. With any luck, they’d escape the snow once they reached their destination.
“This is as good a place as any to rest for the night,” Hector said while inspecting the surrounding area. He turned around to the group. “Is everyone warm enough? No one’s freezing their limbs off?”
“Not with a fur coat this divine!” Serra happily exclaimed, holding a piece of the article up. “Ah, many thanks for lending it to me, Sir Oswin. Without your generosity, I would’ve become an utterly adorable block of ice by now.”
“Preeetty sure she’d be too lifeless to be adorable,” Rainbow whispered to Applejack, earning a chuckle from her friend.
“Oswin, time to prepare the camp,” Hector said.
“At once, Lord Hector.” Oswin turned to Applejack with a smile. “Care to lend your assistance as usual, Applejack?”
“You’re darn tootin’ I’m gonna!” she replied. The three of them set off for the supply wagon.
“Hey, Canas?” Twilight said, walking over to him. “You think you could show me some of your magic? Everything you’ve told me about it sounds utterly fascinating.” She lit up her horn. “I want to see what kinds of effects my Equestrian magic might have when used in conjunction with it.”
Canas smiled. “Ah, yes, a fine idea, Ms. Sparkle. But let’s do it somewhere away from everyone else. The power of this magic is to be heeded, and I wouldn’t want to see any of our friends fall victim to it, accident or otherwise.”
Twilight nodded. “Of course.”
The two of them stepped away from the rest of the group, across the frozen water hole to the opposite bank. The sun was completely set by now, but Canas figured the cloudless sky above would allow the moon’s light to adequately illuminate his and Twilight’s impromptu testing ground.
“I believe this area shall suffice,” he said upon reaching the shoreline. “So, how would you like to proceed? I will feed your curiosity in any way I am able.”
“First of all, I want to see what simply touching my magic to yours might do,” Twilight stated. “The systems of physics between our two worlds are able to coexist alongside one another, but what happens if the two different magics come into direct contact? This is a completely new field of study!”
Canas laughed heartily. This mare certainly was enthusiastic, as was he, but perhaps it was just in these ponies’ nature to be more openly expressive with their feelings.
“Well, let’s get started then, shall we?”
He opened his Flux tome to the appropriate page. Reading magic tomes was practically second nature to him by this point, so familiar was he with the ancient scripture contained within. A quick incantation of the text and he had a ball of swirling purple magic in the palm of his hand. Were he in a combat situation, the magic would be launched at a foe with the intent to shut down their brain and ultimately kill them. Instead, he kept it in the palm of his hand, continuously pouring in magic to keep the spell fueled.
He watched as Twilight lit up her horn and closed her eyes. She stood still, not visibly doing anything. A couple of seconds later, he felt his magic shift from outside influence. It wasn’t much — little more than a small kick — but noticeable all the same. The sphere shifted under the strike accordingly, caving in on one side before popping out again. A simple, practically expected, result, but informative regardless.
“Well, that confirms one thing at least,” Twilight said, deactivating her horn. “Your magic is malleable under my own; I assume the same holds true vice versa.”
“I must admit, your own magic is something of an enigma to me, yet you seem to comprehend my own just fine.”
“What do you mean?”
Canas held up his Flux tome. “Without these tomes, the magic arts would be inaccessible to people here in Elibe. Your own is just a function of the body, no different from the organs that make up our insides.” A chill ran along his spine, one he always got whenever he anticipated the admission of new knowledge for his intellect. “It interests me, and yet, I find the concept almost horrifying.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Why would you find it horrifying?”
“These tomes have finite uses,” Canas proceeded to explain. He flipped through the entire book once before closing it again. “As such, once they’re depleted, the caster is left relatively defenseless. A bad situation should that caster be an ally, but an opening to be exploited should they be an enemy. Having an infinite resource of magic is a terrifying thought for someone who seeks to use it for nefarious purposes.”
Twilight made an ‘o’ shape with her mouth in understanding. “I see. Well, Equestrian unicorns do have a limit on stamina, both physical and magical. I’m not trying to brag when I say I’m one of the most powerful unicorns back home, but even I get tired after casting too many spells. And magic is my special talent.” She turned to the side and pointed to the picture on her flank; a magenta star with five smaller white stars surrounding it. “The only other ponies with exceptional magical prowess back home are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but they’re one hundred percent trustworthy, as am I, I can assure you.”
Her eyes seemed to turn blank for a second before the corner of her mouth turned down and she muttered something under her breath. Canas took note of this but decided that it was likely a personal matter, whatever it was. He was a scholar, and finding answers was in his blood, but not when it involved other people’s personal matters.
“Speaking of which,” he spoke up once Twilight was paying attention again, “you said something about your rulers being responsible for moving the sun and the moon back in your world?” That had certainly thrown him for a loop when Twilight first mentioned it— these princesses must be wholly benevolent if they could be trusted to move cosmic bodies, essentially holding all their peoples’ lives in the balance. “Gods forbid if anyone here had that kind of power…”
“Well, remember, we’re from different worlds,” Twilight replied. “What may seem strange or scary to one of us might not hold true for the other.”
“Very true,” Canas replied. “I must say, I’d be very interested in visiting your world someday.”
“Oh, well, you’re welcome to visit whenever you want,” Twilight said, beaming. “I’d love to show you around my home. If you’re really as inquisitive as you seem to be, I’m sure Equestria would be your own personal paradise.”
Canas smiled. “Maybe, but if I do get a chance to visit, it won’t be anytime soon. I haven’t seen my family for some time.” He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but there were times he struggled to remember his own son’s face, so long gone was he from him. “I’ve been due to visit them for some time, and just as well, my wife can only stand to raise our son for so long on her own.”
“I understand.” Twilight lit her horn again. “Now, how about we continue with the experiments?”
“Of course. What should I do now?”
“Make another ball of magic. I want to try mixing it with some more complex spells that I know.”
“First I must ask: How certain are you that this is a safe procedure? If this is your first time testing the properties of our separate types of magic in conjunction with each other, then how do you know doing so won’t result in an explosion or something equally as devastating?”
“Well, based on the physical properties and all surrounding proxies of my own magic, and going off of what you’ve told me of yours, I hypothesized that of all the spells I know how to cast, only about ten percent of them could possibly yield such an outcome. Hitting your magic with telekinesis was more or less my way of staying safe.” A faint blush crossed Twilight’s cheeks and she rubbed the back of her neck. “Maybe that was still a little reckless of me? I’m sorry. I’m just so excited to be doing this!”
Canas smiled. “We’re still alive, so, from one scholar to another, I will trust your word.” He conjured another sphere of swirling, purple magic in his palm. “Will this suffice?”
“Yep.” The glow of Twilight’s horn shone even brighter as a determined look crossed her face. “I’m going to learn as much as I can before bedtime!”
Canas laughed. “You and me both.”
“I’ll be back with some firewood,” Hector said once he’d finished digging the fire pit.
He got up and turned to leave for a cluster of trees along the water hole’s shoreline.
“Hey, mind if I go with ya?” Rainbow said, standing up.
Hector stopped. He turned to stare at Rainbow. In his eye’s corner, he saw Applejack looking at him intently. Oswin kept his gaze on the tent that he and Applejack were pitching, but Hector knew his mind was elsewhere from the lack of focus with his motions.
“... You can come,” he finally said.
“Yes!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“You can come,” he repeated, “but don’t leave my side and wander off.”
“Sure thing, Hector!”
Hector didn’t look back as he heard Rainbow’s hoofsteps follow him into the trees. He would rather pretend she wasn’t with him, but she had made it clear along their journey that she wasn’t the kind of person who liked being quiet. He let his ears tell him where she was by her rapid hooffalls, not even bothering to glance in her direction as she briskly searched the ground for fallen branches and twigs. He would immediately know something was wrong if things suddenly went silent.
“Hey, Hector, wanna see who can carry more firewood back to camp?”
Hector’s hand froze mid-reach for a twig. He blinked slowly, his mind struggling to process the question. He brought himself to turn around and face Rainbow. She had a sizable pile of sticks stacked atop her back, her wings spread out for extra support— the action must’ve dispelled the illusion.
“For what reason?” he asked back. “A mundane task such as this isn’t worth competing over.”
“Hey hey hey, Mr. No-Fun, I’m just trying to bond with you. You know, like friends do? I like competing with Applejack over even little stuff like this, so I thought I’d ask if you wanted to do the same.” Rainbow smirked. “But hey, if you don’t think you can beat me, well…”
Hector quirked his eyebrows. Surely she didn’t think he could be goaded into such a childish activity?
“I don’t care if you can or not,” he replied. “In fact, I’d wager your wings would allow you to carry more than I ever could, so competing is all the more pointless.”
“Then I won’t use my wings, then.” She retracted her wings. The stick pile shifted a little in response but stayed perched upon her back. “Or if you want, we could compete in something else? Something you don’t think is too mundane?”
“The only activity I’ve ever participated in that could count as competitive is sparring with Eliwood.” Warm memories flooded through him and he ceased collecting sticks to reminisce. They were of a time he was so much fonder of then his current life as Marquess Ostia. “He and I used to spar together once every two months since we were twelve. He claims he’s won more matches and that my mathematical skills are too unreliable to say otherwise. Whether or not he’s right doesn’t matter, as he has no proof to back his claim.” He gave a hearty chuckle.
“Well, all right then, let’s spar!”
Hector paused again. “... Truly?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied with unwavering certainty. “I mean, I’d look pretty cool waving a sword around and stuff. If I wasn’t going to be a Wonderbolt someday, the next most awesome job I’d want is to be one of Princess Celestia’s personal guards. I figure a little practice couldn’t hurt.”
“I thought you ponies had an aversion to killing? And yet you seem awfully excited to brandish a sword.”
Rainbow’s smile faltered. A single moment of silence passed between them before she sighed and her expression turned resigned.
“Look, don’t tell the rest of my friends this but…” She trailed off for a second. “If it really came down to it; if I really didn’t have a choice in the matter; if my friends’ lives really were on the line, then I wouldn’t think twice about killing someone to protect them. It’s never happened to me, and I hope it never does, but I’d be willing to get blood on my hooves if it meant protecting them.
“But if I did have a choice, then I’d rather just beat an enemy to a pulp then outright end their life. All of my friends would. Well, except for Fluttershy; she’d just use her Stare on anyone giving her a hard time.”
Hector was surprised by Rainbow’s confession. His visit to Equestria had painted a very innocent picture of the country and its equine people. Everyone was so friendly and generous— even the very land itself seemed to exude an air of childish naivety. He’d had no doubts that the country faced its share of troubles from time to time— a thought which was confirmed by the timberwolf that attacked those little fillies as well as Twilight’s story of Nightmare Moon. Equestria and its people faced hardships, but it never took a negative toll on them; they lived their day to day lives in happiness and acceptance. The idea of killing out of necessity seemed like pure fantasy to them.
Now, here was Rainbow admitting to his face that she’d be willing to end another life if necessity demanded it. Indeed, she had seemed to be the hardiest of the ponies, but even this brought Hector up short.
“Hey, uh, you alright there, big guy?”
Hector blinked. He must’ve been staring into space
He gave a quick shake of his head before speaking. “Even if you’re willing to spar, one needs the proper protective armor before they can. Otherwise, we would need to use wooden practice weapons, but we didn’t bring any for this trip.”
Rainbow’s face turned crestfallen. “Oh right, yeah, that makes sense.” She scuffed a hoof against the ground.
Hector felt a pang of pity in his heart. Before he knew what he was doing, he set down his stick pile, unsheathed his axe from its scabbard, and presented it to her. “Here, if you want, you can hold it.” His own words surprised him. His brain took a moment to catch up with his actions, but before he could rethink, Rainbow had already spoken.
“Wait, really!?” She sped over to him, swiping the axe out of his hand in a rainbow blur before re-settling back onto the ground. She held it in her mouth for a moment before spitting it out into her hooves. How she managed to effectively grasp it without opposable digits, Hector couldn’t begin to guess.
She took a moment to inspect it, studying every inch of the bladed surface. “Wow, this thing really does look deadly,” she stated. Hector cringed when she put it back into her mouth, thinking of what germs she might leave on the length. She gave it a lazy swing before popping it back out into her hooves.
She turned to Hector. “How come you use an axe instead of a sword anyway?”
“I taught myself how to fight, and I learned early on that my sword arm wasn’t very good.” He strode over and gestured for her to return the axe, which she did— he avoided touching the parts her teeth had gripped. “I learned how to better handle a sword during the war against Nergal, though, but I’ll always prefer using an axe.”
He spied a fallen, partially-rotted tree trunk a small distance away. Striding over to it, he raised his axe high over his head and, with little effort on his part, brought it upon the trunk with a hard thwack. The wood easily gave way under the force of his swing, the trunk snapping cleanly in two.
“Dang, Hector, you’re strong.”
Hector pulled the axe up and slung it over his shoulder, flashing her a prideful smile. “I may struggle with handling royal matters and the like — at least for the time being — but one thing I’ll always be good at is cutting down legions of enemies.”
“‘Legions’?” Rainbow scrunched her face in disbelief. “I get you’re strong, but I kinda doubt you’re that strong.”
“You haven’t seen me in the real heat of battle.” Hector resheathed his axe and picked his stick pile back up. “And for your own safety, I hope you don’t get the chance.”
Rainbow sighed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” She picked her own stick pile back up and set it onto her back, adding one more to the collection. “Then again, I’m sure the girls wouldn’t take it too well if they thought I was enjoying all the fighting you guys do.”
“And you don’t?” he asked, genuinely confused. “You certainly acted so just now.”
“Well, I… I mean…” She trailed off. She stayed quiet for a few moments, her eyes unfocused and staring into space as if she was pondering a great enigma of life. Eventually, she shook her head. “Look, I may not enjoy killing, but I do like being awesome. Maybe we can’t spar along this journey, but we should at some point so I can prove I’m awesome to you.”
She certainly had the confidence, that was for sure. Hector doubted she had any kind of sparring experience, but he found himself interested in the prospect regardless. An airborne opponent such as herself would make for an exceptional match.
“Maybe someday we’ll get a chance to spar,” he stated plainly. The last thing he wanted was to make a promise that might not end up panning out. He shifted the stick pile in his hands a little to get a better grip. “Let’s get back to the camp and prepare dinner.”
“I hear ya there,” Rainbow replied, coming into step beside him as they made for the treeline. “I could use some grub right about now.”
Florina watched as Hector and Rainbow Dash left to fetch some firewood. Seeing her husband be willing to accept help, however small it was, brought a smile to her face. Maybe in the future, he wouldn’t be hesitant to accept help from anyone other than herself. Hopefully, this small step would eventually lead to that.
“I think Rainbow wants to make up for her mistake last night.”
Florina turned to Fluttershy, perched next to her on the rock. Rusty sat on the ground in front of them, idly playing with a dead mouse he’d probably just caught and would soon eat.
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“I think she still feels guilty about it,” Fluttershy began to explain, her tone taking on a hint of melancholy. “Even if Canas turned out to be trustworthy, I think she wants to make it up to Hector in any little way she can.”
Florina nodded. “That makes sense; Hector was visibly upset by what she did.”
Fluttershy nodded in turn. Her face turned ponderous for a few moments before she spoke again. “Actually, can I ask you something, Florina?”
“Of course.”
Fluttershy pointed to Serra who was sitting on another rock on the opposite side of the campsite, hands cupped under her chin with a supremely bored expression as was typical of her whenever the group was setting up camp.
“Serra told me and my friends the story about how she helped you muster the confidence to confess your feelings for him.” She paused for a moment, hesitant at first to continue. “I don’t want to sound like I don’t believe her. I mean, I’m sure she’s a trustworthy girl, I really do. It’s just… well, could I hear your side of the story?
Florina blinked. Fluttershy’s question certainly came as a surprise to her. One, because she simply hadn’t expected to receive any questions concerning her marriage, and two, because she didn’t see any connection between Serra and the moment she confessed her feelings for Hector.
Upon thinking it over some, however, clarity dawned on Florina and a soft giggle escaped her.
“Serra told you about the time I asked her how I could be more like her, didn’t she?”
Fluttershy nodded. “She told us you went to her asking for assertiveness training, but what you really wanted was to muster the courage to confess your feelings to Hector.”
“That’s only half true.” Florina took a moment to recall the exact sequence of events that transpired over two years ago. Her memory was a little hazy on certain details, such as the exact moment she recognized her feelings for Hector, but she managed to scrounge together enough to give a detailed explanation.
“I told you before that I first met Hector when I accidentally landed Huey on top of him. We were trying to dodge some enemies’ arrows, and I lost control, and we careened to the ground. Even if he hadn’t intended to, I wanted to thank Hector for breaking our fall.
“But my fear of men was still strong back then, and no matter how hard I tried to muster the courage to thank him personally, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wanted to overcome my fear and I saw this as a good opportunity to help with that. I tried everything I could to approach him, but nothing worked.” She felt her cheeks warm as more specific memories rose up. “Sometimes, I just couldn’t speak loud enough for Hector to hear me.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy’s own cheeks blushed as her face turned sheepish. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, that happens to me sometimes.”
Florina smiled. “You don’t need to put yourself down to make me feel better. It’s something I’ve been meaning to get better about for the past two years, and I’d rather own up to my flaws than feel better knowing someone else suffers from them as well.”
Fluttershy smiled in turn. “You and me both.”
Florina nodded. “Anyway, back to the story. Serra is very good at freely speaking her mind, so I decided to ask her for advice.” A surge of uncomfortable memories rose to the surface of her mind. They weren’t dreadful, but she wished she could forget some of the things Serra had her do as part of her training. “It was… um, interesting, to say the least.”
“But it must’ve worked out in the end, right?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean, you did end up thanking Hector, didn’t you?”
“I did, and I did learn some things from Serra about being confident, but I didn’t live up to her own expectations. Truthfully, I don’t want to be exactly like her, just enough so that I can freely speak my mind to get a point across.”
“I understand.” Fluttershy cast a sidelong glance toward Serra. “I’m sure she means well, but, well…” She rubbed the back of her head while biting her lip. Florina assumed the action was supposed to convey hesitance.
“You don’t need to say anything,” she assured her. “I know what you’re thinking. Serra is a good person, and an invaluable ally for sure, but she has her own flaws that she’s also trying to overcome.”
Fluttershy’s features relaxed, and she returned her full attention to Florina as she continued her story.
“So, after Serra’s training, I did manage to thank Hector to his face. At the time, I didn’t have any feelings of affection towards him. We were just comrades in an army, nothing more. The brother of Marquess Ostia and a simple pegasus knight mercenary being in love with each other, let alone being married? Such an idea was unthinkable to everyone, including me. But that all started to change with Hector’s reaction to my thanks.”
Fluttershy’s gaze grew more focused, more rapt with attention. “How did he react?”
Florina stifled another small giggle. “He pretended not to remember at first. I honestly thought I’d made a huge fool of myself before he dropped the act and said he remembered.”
Fluttershy tilted her head. “That seems kind of mean.”
“I know he meant it all in good fun, but his casual dismissal of the event really threw me off guard. When I dropped Huey on top of him, he was very upset, and I thought he might lash out at me when I brought up the subject again, but he didn’t. In fact, he demanded I stay by his side so he could keep an eye on me. That was the moment my feelings first manifested, but had yet to develop. I was mostly just happy he didn’t hold it against me for being an incompetent flier, and in fact, trusted me enough to demand I stay close despite my clumsiness.”
Fluttershy nodded slightly, comprehension and interest visibly dawning upon her. “I see. So even if Serra didn’t help you directly, without her tutelage you might not have ended up falling in love with Hector.”
“Most likely,” Florina replied. “But all that really mattered at the time was that I gained the courage to speak my mind more freely. I owe her thanks for that much, even if I didn’t live up to her personal expectations.”
“You know, I went through something similar back in Equestria,” Fluttershy said. Her mouth twitched slightly and a flash of unpleasant remembrance crossed her eyes. “I got assertiveness training as well, but I took to it a little too well.”
“Really, you went through it too?” Interest took root in Florina’s mind. Fluttershy having a similar story to her own made sense, given her similar shy demeanor.
Fluttershy nodded. “I wanted to have more confidence too, so I went to an assertiveness seminar hosted by a minotaur named Iron Will. He was loud, exploding with energy, and eager to shape clients into mirror versions of himself. I listened to his teachings and tried my best to perfectly emulate his behavior.
“I succeeded, but I didn’t realize how bad that was until after I’d hurt so many ponies. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the ones who made me realize I could be more assertive without completely reversing my personality. But I thought I was too far gone down that new path to turn back, so I wanted to stay cooped up in my cottage forever, afraid I would just end up hurting more ponies if I left. I eventually got over it, but, well…” She nervously fiddled with a lock of her mane, another blush coloring her cheeks. “I guess moderation is something I need to work on a bit more, huh?”
“Well, if the way you talk with me is how you talk with all people, I’d say you already do a fine job of that,” Florina said. She gently patted Fluttershy’s back, earning a contented hum from the pegasus.
“But you’re easier to talk to than anyone else I’ve met,” Fluttershy replied. “I don’t think you can really count.”
“I suppose that’s true— I also find you easier to talk with than most people, including Hector. I guess that’s what happens when you put two incredibly shy people together, huh?”
“I guess so.”
The two devolved into fits of soft giggles, holding limbs over their mouths in futile efforts to stifle them, though nobody else in the group took notice of their behavior. Florina wouldn’t be caught dead giggling profusely like she was under normal circumstances, but having Fluttershy with her prompted this new behavior. She welcomed it wholeheartedly. It felt like a creature long buried deep in her soul had been released from its cage, free to revel in the world’s splendor at long last.
Florina didn’t know for sure, but she believed Fluttershy was feeling similar to her right then and there.
Serra looked between each human and pony pair around the camp: Applejack and Oswin pitching the tents; Rainbow Dash and Hector collecting firewood; Twilight Sparkle and Canas showing off their magic to each other, and Fluttershy and Florina chatting with each other.
She’d felt alone for this journey. The guys barely ever bothered to talk to her, the ponies were so mean to her, and Florina apparently had more interest in befriending Fluttershy than spending time with her. They hadn’t even needed her healing magic too much, which was the primary reason she’d been accepted as part of the mission.
A part of her started to feel tempted to get up and offer to help set up the camp, but the thought of her fashionable cleric robes and pigtails getting messy killed such thoughts before she could act on them.
To that end, she contented herself with just sitting on the rock, bored, lamenting the fact that Providence hadn’t granted her a boon companion for the journey. At least things would get exciting once they reached Remi.