While the Friendship Express was the preferred way to travel from Ponyville to Canterlot and vice-versa, it was possible to walk it if one kept up a brisk trot. A group of healthy, fed, and well-rested ponies could make the trip within a day. The group fleeing Canterlot was none of those things, and walking back to Ponyville was out of the question. They had decided instead that they would fly down the mountain, which would be significantly faster than having to walk the paths, and then they'd follow the train tracks to the nearest town.
"Are you sure you're up for this, darling?" Rarity asked Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was sprawled out on the ground, gasping for air and painfully twitching her wings to try to loosen them up. Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer were able to fly by themselves, but Rainbow Dash had needed to carry the others. She'd already made three trips to take down Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Trixie. Athletic though she was, Dash was reaching her limit.
"I'd... better be," Rainbow Dash panted. "Not gonna... leave you here... for those monsters." She got her hooves under her and groaned as she struggled to rise. "C'mon, Dash," she muttered to herself, "you've had training sessions that were harder than this."
"Perhaps I can help," Rarity offered. Her horn lit up, and a bright blue glow engulfed Spike and Rainbow. "I don't know how to make myself fly like Starlight does," she explained, "but I can at least carry you and Spike. It should make the trip quite a bit easier."
Rainbow Dash tried taking a couple of steps. With her body held up by Rarity's telekinesis she was as good as weightless, and even her exhausted muscles could move her easily.
"Hey, yeah, that's way better!" she exclaimed. "Good idea, Rares. Alright." She shook herself like a dog, spraying out sweat and causing Rarity to cringe as a few drops struck nearby. "Come on, let's do this."
Rainbow Dash hooked her forelegs underneath Rarity's and strained to pull her into the air. She was only carrying one pony's weight right now, but even that was a strain for her tired wings. Rarity shuddered as Rainbow Dash's sweat dripped down onto her, but she didn't complain.
Even with Rarity's help, Rainbow had to travel down the side of the mountain by gliding moreso than flying. She used every updraft to her advantage and exerted herself as little as possible. It still took only a fraction of the time that walking the whole way would have needed, but it was almost maddening when what she really wanted to do was fly at top speed back to Canterlot and deck Tempest Shadow in the snout.
There's nothing you can do for Twilight right now, she firmly told herself. It stung, but it was the truth. Your other friends are counting on you.
After what felt like far too long, she gently placed Rarity's hooves on solid ground beside the railroad tracks and touched down next to her. Her legs nearly buckled when Rarity released her magic and Rainbow's own weight came crashing back down on her, but she locked her knees and put on a tough face.
"You holdin' up, Dash?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash nodded. She was tired, angry, scared, sad, and almost painfully thirsty. She felt completely wrung-out, but she could keep going.
"Alright then." Applejack looked down the tracks, squinting into the distance. "I know there's a village near here somewhere," she said, "we pass it on the way ta Canterlot."
"Yup!" Pinkie Pie confirmed. "Riverbend, about five miles thataway." She pointed slightly east of where the tracks disappeared from sight.
"Wait," Trixie interrupted, "you know that little one-horse town? What's even there?" Trixie vaguely knew that there was a village there, if only because the trains occasionally stopped on their way to more important places, but it wasn't even large enough to be worth stopping for a show. That meant, of course, that she had been completely uninterested in it.
"Well, no horses. I'm not sure where you got that from," Pinkie answered. "There are thirty-two ponies though—oh! Unless Dahlia had her baby, then it's thirty-three!" she said with an excited squeal. "They've also got a cozy little inn, and the best wheat this side of Canterlot. Come on!" She began skipping happily south, singing a song as she went. "Just around the riverbend..."
"Wheat. Of course." Trixie deadpanned. She followed at a more sedate pace.
"She's a baker," Starlight reasoned. She was hovering in the grip of her magic, unable to decide whether her horn or her hooves hurt more right then. "If this town has high quality wheat for flour, it makes sense that she'd be familiar with it."
"No, that's just Pinkie Pie," Rarity said, walking beside the two. "I've no doubt that she knows the names, birthdays, and preferred frosting flavors of every pony in Riverbend, including that newborn foal."
"I sure do," Pinkie announced, somehow appearing beside them even though she'd been a fair distance ahead. "Wanna hear?"
"No," Trixie answered. Pinkie, however, had begun her recitation and didn't hear.
Pinkie's prattling—and the complaints about it—had kept their spirits up for a time, but even she couldn't hold off the gloom forever. It settled on them as heavily as the dirt and dust of travelling, which even Rarity had given up trying to shield herself from. It was a quiet, exhausted, and filthy group that finally trudged into Riverbend.
As Trixie had said, Riverbend was a tiny village, smaller even than Ponyville. It was too small to appear on most maps, and was significant only as the last stop before Canterlot—and, apparently, as a producer of wheat. A dirt road led to what passed for the town square, marked only by a large tree that provided some very welcome shade. Buildings were few and far between. Some appeared to be homes, while others had painted signs advertising services: Horseshoe repair, general store, and the like. None were more than a single story. In fact, the tallest building in sight was a grain silo in the distance, standing among a golden field of wheat.
"Oh my goodness, what happened to you all?" A mare with a burnt-orange coat, a sunflower cutie mark, and a very concerned expression approached them.
The friends all shared a look, nopony quite wanting to be the one to answer. Finally Fluttershy, who was in somewhat better condition than the others, took it upon herself to step forward.
"Um, it's kind of a long story," she said. "We, uh..." she trailed off, not wanting to relive what had happened that day. "We don't really want to talk about it right now. If you don't mind."
"Oh, of course! I am so sorry," the mare replied. "You look just exhausted, you poor things. I'm Bright Petal, by the way. Were you looking for the inn?"
"I'm Fluttershy. And, um?" She glanced back toward the others.
Applejack shook her head and stepped forward. "Pleased ta meet ya, Miss Petal. I'm Applejack, and what we need right now is the train, if it's still runnin'."
"The train's not due back here for hours," Bright Petal answered, to a chorus of groans and muttering. "And what do you mean, 'if it's still running?' Is it something to do with... that?" Her voice dropped to a whisper and she nodded up toward Canterlot. The airships and the smoke pouring out of them were visible from this distance. "Some ponies are saying that those are just visitors for the Friendship Festival, but plenty more of us don't like the look of 'em."
An awkward silence was the only answer she got until Rarity found her voice.
"They're definitely not there for the festival," she said.
"Alright everypony, we gotta figure this out," Applejack said, waving her hoof for the others to huddle up. "Now, Miss Petal here says the train ain't comin' for hours. So do we wait, or do we try ta hoof it?"
The others glanced at each other. Each of them wanted to argue for staying there to wait for the train, but nopony wanted to be the one to suggest a delay when things were so dire.
Well, almost nopony.
"Walk from here to Ponyville?" Trixie exclaimed. "After we just ran all the way from Canterlot? No thank you. You ponies do whatever you want, but Trixie shall wait for the train." She sat down with a finality that suggested a herd of yaks would have trouble convincing her to move.
"I never thought I'd say this, but Trixie's right," Rainbow said. "With the shape we're in, it would probably take us longer to walk home than if we just stay until the train gets here."
"Not to mention that we'd be too tired to do anything once we got there," Rarity added. "Far better for us to rest and recover our strength." The others all voiced their agreement that a bath, a meal, and a few hours to recuperate sounded wonderful.
"Oh, alright then," Applejack conceded. "Hate ta admit it, but y'all're probably right." She turned her attention back to Bright Petal, who was practically vibrating with the effort of holding in her questions. "I guess we'll take ya up on those directions after all. And ya might as well come out with it before ya pop."
"What'sgoingoninCanterlot?" Bright Petal nearly shouted, then clapped her hooves over her mouth. "I'm sorry," she continued more quietly, "but a few ponies from Riverbend were up there for the festival too. If something happened..."
Starlight Glimmer sighed. "It's not good news," she warned the mare. "But I'll explain on the way."
The inn that Bright Petal guided them to was called the Wooden Spoon. The large, disheveled group attracted a fair amount of attention on the way there, but Bright Petal fended off the curious townsfolk and promised to explain everything later.
The Wooden Spoon was by no means equipped to accommodate seven ponies and a baby dragon all at once, but the innkeeper was making a valiant effort regardless. The owner of the inn, a middle-aged stallion who also happened to be named Wooden Spoon, had ordered that stew and bread be prepared for his guests, and that a steady supply of soap and towels be brought to the two guest rooms for baths.
Starlight exhaled and let herself sink deeper into the deliciously hot water. She and Trixie had been allowed to go first, supposedly because they'd had to run the farthest getting away, though Starlight suspected it was really because the others were more interested in food than in bathing.
It suited her fine, anyway. She savored the feeling as her overworked muscles finally loosened up in the soothing heat. Even her horn felt more relaxed, though she was well aware that didn't make sense. So much had gone so horribly wrong today, would it really be so bad to let herself enjoy this for just a moment longer?
"So, what do we do now?" Trixie asked. They'd discovered that the walls between the rooms were thin enough that they could talk through them pretty easily.
Starlight reluctantly brought her mind back to the present and all of its problems. "I don't know, Trix," she said quietly, sadly.
"What?" Trixie called back. "I can't hear you."
"I said I don't know!" Starlight shouted. Couldn't that pony think for herself for once? "I don't know how we're going to take back Canterlot, I don't know how we're going to reverse the stone spell, and I don't know how we're going to save Twilight! I. Don't. Know!" She slammed a hoof down angrily, succeeding only in splashing dirty water into her face.
There was silence, then a subdued, "Wow. Okay," from the other side of the wall.
Starlight took a shuddering breath and forced herself to calm down. Somehow this bath didn't feel as wonderfully relaxing as it had a minute ago, which was just as well. She needed to wash up and let the others have their turns before the train arrived. Starlight quickly rubbed shampoo into her mane and soap into her coat, rinsed it out, and then pulled the plug out of the drain.
She exited the guest room a few minutes later, rubbing her mane with a towel and thinking ruefully that she didn't have a comb with her, and almost walked straight into Trixie who was doing much the same.
"Sorry I snapped at you," Starlight said. "I—agh!" Her apology was cut short as Trixie unexpectedly threw both forelegs around her and pulled her in tight.
"Apology accepted, my great and powerful friend," Trixie said. "You've had a really bad day." Why else would you lose your temper with someone as wonderful as Trixie? She kept that part to herself.
Starlight, not normally one for hugs, allowed it just this once. She had had a really bad day, and Trixie was one of the few ponies whom Starlight would let get away with such displays of affection, and she really needed it. She leaned into the soft, soothing warmth, not so different from the bath she'd just left but somehow more comforting. A few seconds later she had to bend a leg awkwardly to tap her friend on the shoulder.
"Uh, Trixie?" Her voice was muffled by the blue fur it was pressed into. "Can't breathe."
Trixie finally let go, allowing Starlight to gasp in a breath. The two then walked side by side past the only other door in the building which, judging from the delicious smell of fresh bread, led to the kitchen, and into the common area.
It was a cozy room, if Starlight were feeling generous enough to call it that, but well cared for. The room was about the size of one of the houses in Our Town, made entirely of wood, and polished until it shone. There were two windows set in the wall to either side of the front door with their curtains drawn, which was a little unusual at this time of day. There were only two tables in the common area, plus a bar that was about the length of two ponies from nose to tail. This place was clearly not designed for large groups.
The two tables were round, and had been pushed together to make enough space for the whole group to sit around them. Starlight's friends were eating a late lunch—perhaps by this point it was an early dinner. Two mares and a stallion sat at the bar sipping drinks and carefully not staring at the newcomers. No one else was there.
Rarity looked up and brightened upon seeing the two of them.
"Oh, thank heavens," she said as she stood up from the table. "If I don't get this dirt out of my fur in the next two minutes I am going to scream." She trotted off
Fluttershy looked around the table and, since everyone else there seemed more concerned with shoveling stew into their mouths, she excused herself more politely to take advantage of the other bath. Starlight and Trixie slid into the two newly vacant spots, levitated over clean bowls and spoons, and helped themselves to large portions of the lentil stew and flatbread in the center of the table.
Trixie took a large chomp of bread, which was still warm from the oven. "So," she said around the soggy mouthful, "what did we miss?"
"The first two pots of stew, for one thing." Pinkie Pie answered. "Well, two things."
Starlight was pleased to see that even Spike was eating heartily. "I didn't know you liked lentil stew," she said to him as she dipped a piece of bread into hers.
"I don't," he muttered before sticking another spoonful into his mouth.
"Oh. Uh." Starlight wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"He's keeping his strength up so he can help us thrash those things—" Rainbow Dash pounded one forehoof into the other—"and save Twilight!"
"Yeah," Spike growled in a surprisingly deep tone, "what she said."
Starlight had to blink and look at her young friend with fresh eyes. He was sounding less like a foal who'd lost his mother and more like... well, like a dragon. An angry dragon. She coated a piece of flatbread in the stew and crammed it into her mouth to cover the sudden, awkward silence.
"Oh! Wow, that is really good," Starlight said once she'd managed to swallow the too-large bite.
"Yup!" Pinkie chirped. "Riverbend flour, you can't beat it!"
Starlight savored another mouthful. She was starving, and the simple, hot food tasted as good as a Canterlot banquet, but she wasn't able to enjoy it for long. Her powerful mind quickly turned to their current situation. What was their next move?
We'll have to make sure Ponyville—no, all of Equestria—is ready for these invaders. This could be an all-out war, she thought. Her chest tightened as the anxiety took hold. We'll need a base of operations. Where should we go? The Castle of Friendship is by far the strongest building in Ponyville, not to mention the most important, considering all of the artifacts inside. But it's also the most obvious target, and there's no way we could hold off a force like the one that attacked Canterlot. Maybe we could get the dangerous stuff out and take it somewhere more hidden. Maud's cave? No, I can't put her in danger. The Tree of Harmony? Wait, the Elements! What if we—no, they can't use the Elements without Twilight. Oh gosh, Twilight...
"Starlight?"
Trixie's concerned voice snapped Starlight back to the present. She'd been spiraling. She could barely even manage to be embarrassed about getting caught staring into her stew as though trying to use it as a scrying pool.
"Hey, if you're not going to eat that, Trixie will."
A light pink aura covered Starlight's bowl and started moving it slowly, teasingly away from her. Starlight gave a good-natured swat at the magical field and snatched her food back. She quickly crammed a spoonful into her mouth before Trixie tried anything else, but the stew that had tasted so good a minute ago seemed to turn to ash on her tongue.
"Chin up, sugarcube," Applejack said softly. "We're worried about Twilight too, but we'll get through this. We always do."
"Yeah." Starlight swallowed her food and put on a brave face. "Yeah, we do."
"Besides," Rainbow Dash added, "nopony's going anywhere until the train gets here anyway. We might as well enjoy the food." The pegasus suited her actions to her words by taking another heaping bowl of stew.
"Good point," Starlight answered. "Thanks, everyone." She dug back into her meal and tried to enjoy it.
She really did try.