All through the night, and into the following morning, Kai pulled the cart, looking behind him every few minutes to ensure they weren't being followed. It was only after an hour of walking past sunrise that he allowed himself a brief respite. His passengers had awoken in the interim, and had requested a stop. Despite the fact that Kai had seen no sign of being followed, he stood watch the entire time they were stopped. He kept his hood up, not allowing the others to see his face, and he said nothing unless directly addressed.
Not long after they'd stopped, it was time to be underway again. Twilight approached Kai. "I can take over for you, if you want," she offered, hitching herself into the harness. "You've been pulling all night on top of your injuries. Why don't you go to the back and rest for a bit?"
Kai shook his head. "Not yet. I've neglected to mention a key factor in my pathfinding. I set out from our starting point thirty degrees off from our intended path. I've been leaving behind several hints of our trail."
Twilight scowled. "You mean you've been giving them a means of following us?" she growled.
Kai nodded. "That path ends here, though. I assume Fluttershy is well-rested?"
"I am." Fluttershy came forward, having been listening to their conversation from the back of the cart. "How can I help?"
"Look behind the wagon," instructed Kai. "We've been leaving behind a trail of crushed grass since we left the library."
Fluttershy nodded. "The only way we could have avoided that was to go onto the roads."
"Precisely. But that means every traveler we ran into would be able to pinpoint our previous location and our vector. That's why we needed to take to the plains."
"I understand," said Fluttershy. "But that doesn't explain why you need me."
"It's quite simple," explained Kai. "In fact, it's the same reason I needed you two years ago: You have wings."
"You're suggesting we fly?" asked Twilight. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"It will take them off our trail," Kai reasoned. "I also suggest we turn and start in toward our real destination. We're far enough out by now that if they keep following the path I laid out for them to follow, they'll miss us by several miles. And even if they're smart enough to split up their forces in case we turned, the scouts that find us will be spread thin enough to be an easy target. Unless we don't catch them, in which case, I'd wager at least twelve hours for them to regroup and come after us again."
Fluttershy nodded and took her place in the harness. "Twilight, I want you to make sure you and Nik are properly secured for this flight. It may be a bit turbulent."
Twilight unhooked herself from the harness and piled into the back. With the passengers and cargo tightly secured, Twilight knocked on the wooden wall of the wagon, indicating to the pegasi up front that they were ready. With Twilight's confirmation, Kai and Fluttershy galloped forward, taking to the sky. Or rather, taking to an area below the canopies of all nearby trees, but far enough up that the cart would not interfere with the grass. They couldn't leave a trail, but they didn't want to be easily spotted, either.
The flight lasted for two hours before they touched back down on the ground. They had the energy to keep going, but Fluttershy had insisted. Kai's cloak had blown backward during flight, revealing his injuries to her. While she knew they had to flee from their assailants, she would go no further until he was given proper treatment. Besides, she wanted to make sure he would rest. Having spent time with him in the past, she was well aware of the fact that he often refused to sleep when he needed it, resulting in him passing out from time to time due to exhaustion.
Twilight stepped out of the back as they came to a stop. "Are we safe now?" she asked, not seeing any trail behind them aside from where they had landed. "Safe enough for me to help, anyway?"
Kai nodded, releasing himself from the harness. He pulled out his map and unrolled it in front of her. "We are here," he said, indicating a small smattering of trees. "The wagon is pointed towards our destination now. Just keep going in this direction. Our fake trail is back here." Drawing a line with his hoof, he indicated a line that was pointed a fair distance away from them.
"It looks like we should reach our destination tomorrow evening," guessed Twilight.
"I would wager tomorrow afternoon," replied Kai. "But perhaps my judgement isn't sound. I tend to take fewer liberties with my journeys."
"You have to remember that you're not travelling alone," reminded Fluttershy. "And you also have to tell me when you're injured." Grabbing his hoof, she directed him into the back. After making sure that Twilight would be okay pulling the cart on her own, Fluttershy climbed in after Kai. With the door now closed, they were off again.
Kai had taken a seat across from Nikolas. They both looked to be quite worn down. Nik hadn't changed his clothes in well over a week, and Kai was covered in bruises and cuts from yesterday's explosion. The fact that neither had slept well in the last two weeks may have also had something to do with it.
Fluttershy set to work immediately in cleaning and bandaging Kai's wounds. Even though she knew he'd only been after their best interests the entire time, she hadn't slept well the night prior, as Twilight had told her about Kai's injuries when Fluttershy had treated her.
"These are even worse than I'd imagined," Fluttershy lamented as she wrapped up a laceration on Kai's leg. "I know you're only trying to keep us safe, Kai. You're a very caring and sweet stallion. But what happens if you die? We'd have nopony around to protect us."
Kai had no answer.
"It's irresponsible to take care of everypony else so much that you forget to take care of yourself," she continued. "We depend on you. You're the only pony that can take us any further on this quest. You're the only one that knows what we're supposed to do."
Again, Kai had no response.
"And the worst thing you can do is try to shoulder all of the responsibility yourself. I'm the one who promised to take care of Nik. His health is my responsibility. I know you want to help, but that doesn't mean you have to do all of the work. Place your trust in me, Kai. Let me make your life easier. Can you do that for me?"
"Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy turned around. "What is it, Nik?"
Nikolas pointed to Kai's face. Shortly after Fluttershy had begun cleaning his first cut, Kai had passed out from exhaustion. He hadn't been awake to hear a word she'd said. Reaching up and gently kissing his forehead, she laid him on his side so he wouldn't fall over. She continued to treat his wounds in silence.