Soon after her encounter with the cloaked one, Zipp rejoined the group and they continued on their way. But to say that the storm inside the pony named after the meteorological phenomenon was brewing would be an understatement. This was especially true in the case of her sister, whom she felt she could never forgive nor speak to again. As they trotted ever deeper into the forest, guided only by their consciences and the whims of fate itself, she found that she was mulling over Scarlet Wing’s motto more and more. “EVOLVE BEYOND.” What did it mean? Why had the cloaked one been so gung-ho about it? But more than that, who was The Great One and what was this era that had been allegedly prophesied for Equestria?
She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice when the group halted and she ran into Hitch’s tail. A sheepish apology later, she made her way around her friend and supervisor. Then, she wondered if she might find some answers from him. So, she decided to trot alongside him. She did take notice of the odd way he was looking at her, as if he had butterflies in his stomach. But she put that thought aside. There was absolutely no way a handsome stallion like Hitch would fall for a plain, ordinary mare like herself. Wait, she suddenly thought, …did I just say Hitch was…handsome?
“Hitch?” She asked out loud.
“Yeah?” He nervously offered.
“Um…what would you do if something strange happened that you didn’t understand?”
“Considering my position, probably throw some hoof cuffs on it,” he said with a playful smile.
“Hardy-har-har,” Zipp said, rolling her eyes, “but seriously. If you were to come across something that…erm…tempted you in ways that weren’t exactly great…”
“Well, I guess I’d turn tail and run the other way,” Hitch said matter-of-factly. “I certainly wouldn’t create a space where that could push me any further from what I knew to be true.”
“But…what if this thing could help you right some great wrong that had been done?”
Hitch eyed her suspiciously. “…just what are you getting at, exactly?”
“Oh, nothing,” Zipp said, “I was just…making conversation. What, are you paranoid or something?”
“Not at all,” Hitch responded, “but I did notice that you were gone from camp a long time last night.”
“I was simply…looking for food and water,” Zipp said.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Hitch responded, “if nothing else.”
The two moved forward and rejoined their traveling party, which now made its way ever more rapidly towards the center of the forest. Sunny was unsure of where Scarlet Wing’s headquarters were, but the most sensible plan was to head in this direction. Perhaps a cave or some secret passage among the foliage would open itself to them…at least, this was what she hoped for. But her once powerful sense of determination was slowly slipping away as the thick forest took hold. Day after day, night after night, they trudged along. She thought her hooves would fall off, but she continued pressing forward, knowing what was at stake. Their lives…their friendships…everything.
One day, about three weeks after leaving Crystal and The Friendship Castle, they had an incident where poor Meadow stubbed her hoof on a rock. This was the beginning of a series of unfortunate accidents for the timid Pegasus. She’d wander away from the group, having been distracted by something, and find herself in a heap of trouble. Every single time this happened, it forced the ponies to change their direction, until they were so confused that they didn’t know where they were. So, Sunny ordered them to halt and make camp until they could untangle their directions.
This was easier said than done, and led to some squabbling among the friends. Not that anypony thought any less of anyone else, but you know how it is. Road trips, even with the best of compatriots, can turn sour when navigation is involved. Sunny was absolutely certain that they should be traveling west, but Hitch insisted that north was the way to go. Zipp voted for south, and Pipp squeaked that they should go east, which made no sense as that was the exact way they’d come from. Izzy just wanted everyone to agree on everything, thus causing annoyance with Meadow, who put her vote in to support Zipp. Soon, they were all arguing over everything until Sunny had a sudden thought.
“Everypony, STOP!” She said, leading to an immediate cessation of the tiff. “Look at what we’re doing, guys! We’re supposed to be this unbreakable force of friendship, yet we’re cracking over the smallest of things. The truth is, none of us can be absolutely sure of where we are. We’ve never been here before. That’s why it’s called an adventure, right?”
“Well…um…I guess so,” Pipp said, ears drooping.
“Of course, it is!” Sunny said with renewed vigor, “and if we stick together, we’ll make it to Scarlet Wing’s place and put a stop to their evil before it has a chance to wreak havoc on Equestria again!”
“WHOO!” Izzy said with a smile, “let’s go kick some bad pony rump…again!”
This, apparently, caused the fire to be rekindled as everypony let out a great cheer. From here, it was much easier for them all to agree on what to do next. Since Meadow and Zipp had two votes in their favor, they all started out south the next morning. Sunny was much happier than she had been in previous days, and with Izzy and Hitch by her side, she joyfully led the brigade further on their quest. No matter how long it would take, she knew that she’d never leave them behind. Smiles passed between them as their morale bettered itself…but, as the days continued to pass with no signs of anything, it soon dropped again.
“Ugh,” Izzy said one day, “this place is starting to remind me of Bridlewood before we got magic back.”
“How many weeks have we been traveling?” Hitch asked.
“Seven,” Sunny said, “but try not to think about it. We’re going to make it!”
“Yeah…you keep saying that,” Izzy said, “and nothing’s happening.”
“I’m sure something will happen soon!” Sunny responded. “Come on, where’s that fighting spirit?”
“Probably back where we had our last decent meal,” Pipp grumbled from behind them. “I’m starved!”
“Oh, come on, guys! It’s an-“
“-adventure, we know,” Hitch said in annoyance. “But, Sunny…maybe this adventure wasn’t the best idea.”
“We have to stop Scarlet Wing!”
“How do we know that there even IS a Scarlet Wing?!” Hitch suddenly erupted. “I mean, we took the word of a crazy old dragon pony hybrid freak in a castle with a freakin’ TREE growing over the top of it! Now, we’ve been busting our rumps trying to find this place for weeks and coming up empty hooved! It’s obvious that we’ve been duped and sent on a wild goose chase! For all we know, Crystal’s the real cause of the evil in Equestria and she sent us away so she could concoct more horrible spells!”
“That’s not true!” Sunny said desperately. “She showed me The Cutie Map, I saw things you guys didn’t! I need you all to have faith and trust that we will accomplish our objective in the end.”
“Oh, brother!” Hitch thundered. “Sunny, wake up! IT’S OVER!”
Just as Hitch said this, Meadow suddenly squeaked in pain. They turned to see that the clumsy Pegasus had stubbed her hoof once again, only this time, the rock had moved in a concerted direction. They suddenly looked up from where they’d been arguing and noticed that a massive cave had opened to them. A symbol was placed on the roof of the entrance, and it was one that started Zipp. She knew it well. It was Scarlet Wing’s.