I held on tight to my seatbelt and thanked Celestia I didn’t get airsick. Okay, getting airsick and buying an airship would have been really dumb, but this ride was starting to make even me feel a little green around the gills.
Minuette, on the other hoof, just kept staring out the immense wraparound window of the Airtours All-Weather Chariot, gaping at the shocking blue lake that lay beyond the ridge we were soaring over. The blue of Canter Basin Lake was rather startling. I’d never seen anything like it. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. If I were to guess, the color was the exact same hue as Minuette’s eyes.
Why I happened to come to that conclusion, I had no idea, but the more I thought about it, the more true it became.
“Why are you doing this?” I nearly had to shout over the sound of the rushing wind buffing both the Chariot and our pegasi pilots.
Minuette didn’t turn to look at me. Her eyes were glued to the immense lake. I spied the forested hulk of the Isle of the Witch breaking the surface of the lake and guessed we were nearly to our destination.
“Minuette?”
“You’re not asking why I’m flying out here, are you?” Minuette called back, still not looking at me.
I blinked. I hadn’t expected that response. “No, I’m not.”
She was silent for a time, but I couldn’t see her face since it was all but glued to the window. I had no idea what she was thinking. Then again, I wasn’t exactly spectacular at reading ponies, so it probably didn’t matter.
“I wanted to see places in the world that aren’t controlled by our magic,” Minuette said, her voice soft enough that I could barely hear her over the racket outside. “That’s… not everything. But that’s a pretty big one.”
“You just wanted to—”
The Chariot dipped and began to descend, cutting off any further questions. I wished I hadn’t spent so much time just gawking. When I’d piloted the Blossom over this area, I’d been too busy trying to keep my ship from floundering to really enjoy the sights. Now, I had the chance to actually look at the world around me beyond Canter Lake. And it was nothing but trees, tiny lakes, rock and the occasional bit of wildlife. Despite that, it was beautiful. It still was. And yet, I found myself wishing I’d taken the time to focus on my traveling companion.
I’d been so caught in the moment, there were times I forgot she was there. Granted, those were becoming less and less, but still, that wasn’t the mark of a friend. And despite my departure from Canterlot, I did want my friend back.
But I didn’t often get what I really wanted.
I distracted myself from the melancholy thoughts by glancing through the front window at the sight of Swift Wing and Jade Sea in their harnesses. If I focused, I could almost see their innate pegasus magic flowing through their wings and into the wooden structure of the Chariot. I’d found out that Nebula rarely flew tours for non-pegasi. Because of her size, she had trouble hauling the Chariot. She tended to stick to pegasi tours, guiding other fliers through the wilderness of Canter Basin.
I watched the two pegasi and spied our destination. Before us, lay a familiar ridgeline…
And an even more familiar airship.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” I muttered, deeper thoughts forgotten as we flew past the To Dream in Colour. I couldn’t see anypony on the main deck, but somehow I knew Snappy was on board. The airship itself was hovering only a dozen or so yards above the treetops back at the rockslide where we’d first spotted them. The glistening silver and black ship swayed from side to side in the winds Swift and Jade were fighting, but Colour had her skyanchors down. I thought I saw movement in the rockslide, but we were past it before I could study it further.
“Was that the Colour?” Minuette asked.
I jumped slightly. The winds weren’t as bad now that we’d descended below the ridgeline. She’d apparently turned her attention to me now that she couldn’t gape at the lake anymore. It was also a lot quieter in the Chariot’s cabin, so she seemed so much louder than she had been before.
“Yeah,” I said with a shaky nod. “I think they’re still searching that rockslide.”
“I kinda feel bad for them…” she said, rubbing her saddlebag with the Waystone cradled inside. “They don’t have a magic compass.”
“Don’t,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. “They’re just as competitive. Snappy wouldn’t hesitate to use any and every advantage she could get if it meant she could get to the treasure first. That’s assuming there is a treasure.”
“You’re still doubting?” Minuette’s eyebrows went up. She seemed genuinely surprised.
“Of course I’m still doubting,” I replied with a laugh. “Minuette, this whole thing is pretty crazy and…”
Suddenly, I finally made the connections.
“You came out here to search for it, didn’t you?” I almost shouted, pointing a hoof at her. “You actually read that article everypony’s talking about in the Canterlot Times!”
Minuette flushed and looked away from me, not meeting my eyes.
“Ah-ha!” I shouted in victory. “That’s all I am to you, nothing but a ride so you can strike it rich!”
“No!” Minuette snapped, whirling back on me in seconds, the intensity of her stare enough to make me jerk backwards. “It’s… it’s more complicated than that.”
“Then simplify it for me,” I said, though a lot of my bravado was gone. “Come on, Minuette. This is me!”
“I…” Minuette trailed off, then shook her head, once again not meeting my eyes.
What was with her? Since when was Minuette timid? It was like an image of Celestia doing farmwork. It just didn’t make any sense. Still, I wasn’t the only one keeping things to myself. Celestia, this wasn’t even the first time we stumbled across something like this.
It had been years since we’d really sat down to have fun. Years since I had called her friend. I wondered if we really knew one another at all anymore.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by the loud thump of the Chariot’s heavy wheels down on solid rock. I would have bounced right out of my seat if not for the seatbelt. I glanced to the front to see both Jade and Swift skidding to a halt on a narrow strip of gravel surrounded by soil and pine trees, but that was about all I could see.
“I… I, uh, think we’re here,” I said, hating how unsteady my voice was.
“Yeah,” Minuette said, her voice vaguely hesitant.
She looked up at me and after a split second, stared grinning again. I couldn’t help but grin back at her. I didn’t know how she bounced back like she did, but maybe it was for the best that I simply left things alone. Anyway, I knew what would happen in the next couple of hours. We would find nothing and finally Minuette would have to admit this was a wild goose chase, no matter the reason she came out here. And then…
Well, then I’d take her to Whinnyapolis and we’d part ways.
Simple.
Our pegasi pilots were unlatching themselves from the harness. Minuette and I undid our safety belts and I tossed open the door with a flash of my magic. I immediately staggered backward as a blast of cold wind hit me full in the face, nearly knocking my glasses off. I stumbled back, only to get caught by Minuette.
“Thanks,” I mumbled and trudged my way through the wind flowing into the Chariot until my hooves were on solid ground.
Then, I took a moment to actually stare at our surroundings.
It was a little after noon and the distant cold sun shone bright upon the immense forest of pine trees, prickly-looking shrubs, craggy rock formations for as far as the eye could see. We were on a short cliff that gave us just enough view to see the rolling hills beyond Crater Basin, coated in nothing but dark greens with the occasional splash of gray or brown. I studied the various trees and shook my head in wonder. I spotted firs, sugar pines, lodgepole pines, mountain hemlock and a few more trees I couldn’t identify. There weren’t any flowers this close to winter, but that didn’t make the view any less breathtaking. With nothing but an icy blue sky overhead dotted with a few white clouds, I didn’t think I’d seen anything like it before.
“Wow,” Minuette whispered beside me as we stood at the edge of the short cliff. “This is… incredible.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice the same tone of awe. “Yeah, it is.”
Our reverie was broken by our two pegasi pilots, starting with the shaggy and wind-swept Swift. “Too bad you aren’t on the other side of the ridge. The lake would be perfect today.”
Jade stepped up beside him and gave him a nudge. “Let the ladies have their own fun, Swifty.”
“Just saying!”
Jade snorted and shook her head, then turned her attention to us. “However, I will point out one thing to you two.”
She pointed directly behind us. We turned and both of us gaped at the rearing peak practically looming over us. It was a massive, scree-covered tower of stone with a few dense copses of trees fighting to survive in various spots on the surface. The top of the mountain seemed to be made of black obsidian, though it was hard to tell from here, as there seemed to be bits of snow clinging to the leeward side. In fact, in the noon-day sun, I could almost feel the ambient magic flowing off the lake being cut in half by the peak.
“That’s the Watchmare,” Jade Sea said, plopping down on the stone and looking up at it. “Always been one of my favorite sights.”
Swift Wing sat next to her. “On the peak, there’s a nice little observation post where you can look out over the whole lake and even get the best view of the Isle of Witches in the entire Canter Basin.”
“Well, best if you’re not being flown around by us,” Jade quipped.
It was Swift’s turn to nudge her. She giggled softly.
“Anyway, enough with the sightseeing,” Jade continued. “The winds we had to fight through to get here were definitely wild and if I know my winds, that means we’ll get a full wild storm within a few hours.”
Minuette glanced around the crystal-blue sky. “But… there’s only a few clouds.”
The mare shook her head. “You’re still thinking like a Canterlot mare. The Equestrian Northwest doesn’t give you much warning when a storm’s about to hit. This is wild weather. Personally, I think the reason it’s so wild is because it’s ticked off ‘cause us pegasi wrangle it so well throughout the country.”
“Don’t go into your natural Gaia theory again,” Swift groaned. “Please?”
She shot him a glare, but shrugged anyway. “So, we found the best spot to get to that old broken forest. This here is the closest safe spot to land and this is where we’re going to pick you up.”
“How do we get to the broken forest?” I asked, turning to once again look out over the slope that seemed to go on for a dozen miles at least.
She tossed a compass at me with a wing. “Yeah, yeah, I know you have one, but this way we can be sure. That compass has a barometer on it anyway. When that starts dropping, turn tail and scamper back here as soon as possible. As for the broken forest, you’ll want to head west about two, maybe three miles. There’s no trail, so just try not to disturb the forest too much. Most of the animals are getting ready to hibernate and they can get grumpy.”
“Animals?” Minuette asked. “Like what?”
Swift shrugged. “Bears mostly, plus the usual assortment of critters. Don’t worry though, most of the bears are pretty friendly. I heard in Devil’s Dyke that a few of them understand Equestrian. Something about some pink-maned ex-model who came through here a few years back.”
Jade Sea slapped him upside the head with a wing, but laughed as she did it. “Don’t you listen to him. Just steer clear of them. Worst comes to worst, a few fireworks will frighten them off, okay?”
I nodded. I wasn’t much worried about a bear. I had more than enough spells in my proverbial quiver to deal with ornery wildlife. Minuette looked less than enthused, however.
“I don’t wanna deal with bears,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe,” I said in a sing-song voice.
She nudged me, but I smiled at her and the very real fear in her eyes seemed to slowly fade.
“Okay, that’s about it,” Jade said with a nod. “Instead of going back to town, I think we’ll head up to Watchmare for lunch and some downtime. There’s a small pegasi roost nearby that’s pretty cozy.”
“Oh, is that what you had in mind?” Swift asked, leering at her just a little.
She smacked him again.
He laughed. Then she did. Huh, they did make a cute couple. And with Nebula’s snark, heck, maybe this kind of thing would work for them. Still strange though.
“You two good?” Swift asked with a smile.
I glanced at Minuette, who was cinching her bags tight around her middle. “Ready!”
“We’re good. We’ll see you back here in three hours?” I asked.
“Don’t be late,” she said, her voice suddenly serious. “It’ll start getting dark around four-ish. And with the winds coming off the lake, we won’t be able to fly in that.”
“Yes, ma’am!” I said, offering her a jaunty little salute.
She stuck out her tongue at me and walked away without another word, hitching herself up to the Chariot.
“You two have fun finding a treasure that doesn’t exist!” Swift said with a laugh, then wandered over to join his marefriend.
“It does so!” Minuette shot back, but Swift ignored her.
“Come on,” I said, cinching my own saddlebags. “I don’t want them seeing the Waystone. And it sounds like we’ve got a long way to go through all of this without a trail.”
I glanced around, looking for a way down as the Chariot and the two pegasi took off. Both waved at us and headed for the peak at our backs. I barely gave them a second glance as I caught sight of a broken tree that would make a perfect ramp down the slope.
“Moony?” Minuette asked as I made for the old log.
I paused, one hoof on the lichen-covered bark. “What’s up?”
Minuette bit her lip and looked up at me. She swallowed hard, then smiled. “Thank you for doing this with me.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I chuckled. “This could still all be a massive waste of time.”
“Nah,” Minuette said with an almost unnerving level of confidence. “I don’t think it’s a waste of time at all.”
I had no idea what to say to that. So, instead of just stuttering out an incomprehensible response, I led the way down the long broken tree to the forest floor below.
After all, I still wasn’t sure about this being a waste of time. But, I was starting to think that Minuette might—just might—be right.