Shining was a faithful pony through and through, with Cadance being the only love he ever needed. As such, the sidelong glances he kept stealing at Wammawink since he had helped to save her from the anglertaur, glances which could have been interpreted in a less wholesome way otherwise, were anything but.
Something had changed in the way she interacted with him since their post-fight talk, but he couldn’t quite place it. Given the fact that it had just happened about ten minutes ago, it could have been possible that he hadn’t received a big enough sample size of her new behavior to truly claim it as such, but he felt confident enough in his assessment. She wasn’t even attempting to strike up a conversation with him, and seemed to be clinging to her herd even more than she had been.
Maybe he was overthinking things. Wammawink had just been through a harrowing ordeal, her life literally on the line. Of course she was clinging to her herd after they saved her. Maybe she was even regretting the way she spoke about them needing her and making up for it with added affection. Whatever it was, it was entirely possible that he was just looking too deeply into the situation. Maybe he just needed to get his mind off of things.
“Hey Zulius!” Shining said, making an attempt to let his mind move on.
“Hmm?” Zulius responded, glancing back at Shining.
“That mane trick was really impressive back there,” Shining told him, eliciting a proud smile from the zebrataur. “Where’d you learn that?” He caught a glimpse of Wammawink side-eyeing him, but let it go.
“Oh, that?” Zulius asked, clasping his hands together behind his head. “Oh, that was nothing.” His words suggested humility, but his body language seemed to scream for more praise.
“That wasn’t nothing,” Shining said, feeding the attention beast even more. “I mean, the way you knew just how to launch that bookcase correctly? And the…the follicle strength? I know my mane couldn’t do that.”
“Oh, stop,” Zulius lied, his eyes sparkling as he basked in the attention. “But no, don’t really.”
“It really was some quick thinking,” Shining told him, before turning his attention to Glendale. “And Glendale! You fired that gigantic thing out of your belly like it was nothing. How did you even fit that in there?”
“Oh, everything fits in there!” Glendale answered, smiling brightly. ”Everything.” Shining laughed awkwardly before looking to Durpleton and Ched.
“And you two!” Shining exclaimed. “The teamwork is really impressive!” Wammawink had slowed her pace now, staring back at Shining, but his mind was set on its current path.
“You’re finally talking some sense,” Ched said, flexing on top of Durpleton’s head.
“We’re a very good team!” Durpleton insisted. “Because there’s no I in team! And there’s no I in Durpleton or Ched. But there is an E! And that rhymes with team!”
“What he said,” Ched agreed.
“Yyyeah,” Shining replied, grinning an uncertain grin. “This is what I was talking about earlier. You can fight for yourselves!” Wammawink had stopped in her tracks completely by this point.
“Well…it was still for Wammawink,” Durpleton said.
“And that’s great!” Shining confirmed. “It’s always good to fight for a cause. I’m just saying that you’re your own people, and you’re capable on your own!”
“Do you have a problem with me?”
Shining’s eyes shot towards Wammawink as she uttered the first words in his direction since just after the battle.
“What?” Shining asked. “Of course I don’t. Why would-“
“Then why are you trying to take my herd from me?” Wammawink asked, taking a step towards Shining. The rest of the herd stayed quiet, looking anxiously between the two.
“I would never do that!” Shining insisted. He opted not to take a step towards Wammawink as well, not particularly interested in appearing confrontational.
“Oh?” Wammawink said, arms crossed defiantly. “Then what’s all this talk of them not needing me? That they’re fine on their own?”
“You’re misunderstanding me,” Shining responded, trying not to get angry. Anger wouldn’t help anything.
“Those were your own words!” Wammawink shouted. It was a curious thing seeing such a fluffy thing so angry, and honestly a bit scary to boot. Like when Pinkie Pie got angry. The comparisons continued.
“But you’re misinterpreting the meaning!” Shining answered. “I’m just saying that-“
“That they don’t need me!” Wammawink screamed, unsettling a number of birdtaurs from their roosts in the surrounding trees. “I heard it just fine, thank you very much!”
The frustration bubbling within Shining was starting to steep, and, against his own better judgment, he let it vent.
“What I’m saying,” Shining said, stomping a hoof for emphasis. “Is that they don’t need someone to obsessively mother them and control their lives!”
“Wowwww,” Ched exclaimed. “That’s a horse-pology if I’ve ever heard one.”
Wammawink stared at Shining, a long and hard stare. Shining stood his ground, even though a piece of him was trying to inform him that he might have gone too far. Finally, Wammawink stepped aside.
“Come on, everyone,” Wammawink said, putting an arm around Zulius and beginning to lead him away. “Let’s go. We’ve had enough adventure for one lifetime.”
“So what?” Shining said, sneering. “You’re giving up on me? On all of this?”
“Safe travels,” Wammawink responded, her voice dripping with venom. The rest of the herd looked between the two, then silently began to follow. Of them, Glendale was the one to hesitate most. She whimpered softly before opening up her portal tummy and reaching into it. The gerenuktaur pulled out a single flower, placing it on a log.
“Here…” Glendale muttered sadly, before turning to follow the rest of her herd.
Shining watched them go, letting out a deep sigh. There went his only backup, the only help he had in this unfamiliar world. Part of him wanted to follow and make amends, but that part was carefully squirreled away behind a thick layer of stubbornness. With a huff, he turned tail and continued forward.
Shining kept his eyes down on the Rainbow Road as he walked alone. The sun had already begun to set, which confused him. Day and night seemed to be much shorter in this world. Shining hadn’t been too concerned about the possibility of danger in the forest when they had first entered it, but after seeing the terror that was the anglertaur, he had to admit to himself that he was feeling a bit of trepidation. That bothered him almost as much as his new solitude. He was supposed to be a brave general, and here he was, scared of the unknown. Though to be fair, when the unknown had shown itself to sometimes be stories tall with rows and rows of terrifyingly sharp teeth, maybe he could forgive himself for it.
The stallion’s mind kept going back to the conflict with Wammawink. She had some nerve to accuse him of trying to take her herd away. Why couldn’t she see that he was just trying to help them gain some semblance of independence? Sure, he often hovered around Flurry Heart, but she was an infant and needed that kind of attention. These other centaurs, as far as he could tell, were grown adults.
But maybe he did go too far.
As the sun set, one of its final beams reflected off of the artifact hanging around Shining’s neck. He stared at his reflection in the horseshoe-shaped piece, and for the briefest moment, he could swear he saw the eyes of Cadance and Flurry staring back at him.
He had been careless with his words, and now he might have thrown away the best help he had in getting back to his family.
Shining sighed another deep sigh, images of his family floating through his head. Were they okay? They had to be searching for him. Would they figure out where he went? How could they, if he didn’t even know exactly how he’d sent himself here, or where here even was in relation to Equestria? At this point, he wasn’t even sure how long he’d been gone. The day and night cycle here had already appeared to be vastly different from that of his home.
Shining felt the urge to sing coming on. It happened here and there back home, but something about this world just lent itself to song. Giving in to the push, he began to sing, with the most important things in his life serving as the subject.
Some distance away, Wammawink was settling down with her herd. Nighttime had fallen, and they had walked too far from Centaur Valley to make it back without stopping for a rest. She looked over to the rest, who had already curled into a heap. Durpleton, the largest of the group, served as the base. Zulius had flopped up against him, and Glendale was draped over both of them, with Ched perched on top of Durpleton’s head. They were all asleep already, and for the life of her, Wammawink couldn’t fathom how they were able to do that. Not the cuddling up bit; that made plenty of sense to her.
It was the ability to sleep after everything that had transpired that truly vexed Wammawink. They were farther from home than they had been in ages and Wammawink herself had just been extracted from a life-threatening situation. Those two facts alone would have been enough to keep her awake, but even those paled in comparison to the back and forth with Shining and the fact that they had left him high and dry.
He had done an excellent job of getting on her nerves, but even despite that, Wammawink felt awful about abandoning him. He might have said an insensitive thing or two, but the rest of her herd had gotten somewhat attached to him already, and even though that was part of the problem, she couldn’t help but admit that he’d started to grow on her too. She wasn’t lying when she said that it had been so long since a new friend had come to Centaur Valley, and now she had left that new friend behind when he was trying to complete the most important task of his life. And now she honestly wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again.
That last concern was quickly addressed, as Wammawink’s ears picked up a now-familiar singing voice not too far off. The alpacataur glanced back at her sleeping herd before sidling towards the bushes, peeking through them to watch Shining in full soliloquy song mode.
The more Wammawink listened, the more she could see a part of herself in Shining. Maybe their situations weren’t exactly the same, but hearing him pour his heart out about finding his family resonated greatly with her. Everything she did, she was doing for her herd, and clearly he cared for his family just as much.
Wammawink’s ear perked as she heard her herd, who she thought was sleeping, singing backup vocals to Shining’s song. She turned to look at them, but they had already flopped back down and closed their eyes before she could see them. They didn’t want her to know that they were supporting him, and that stung. They had let his comments go. Maybe she needed to as well.
She turned back to see Shining lay down on the ground, and then she covered her mouth with a hand. He had finished his song with the same thing she had sung earlier. “One careful step at a time…for you and I are fragile things.”
Tears welled in Wammawink’s eyes as she stepped away from the bushes and went to get comfortable with her herd, hoping they wouldn’t notice them. She would make things right in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~
”You’re okay…
You’re alright…”
”No!!!”
Shining tossed and turned in his sleep, his last moments with his family playing over and over again in his head. Just as he couldn’t take it anymore, he was jolted awake by something being shoved into his mouth. His eyes shot open, only to see the bright, smiling faces of the herd hovering over him.
“Aah!” Shining yelped, jumping to his hooves. “What are you…”
Then he took a moment to acknowledge the unfamiliar substance in his mouth. He chewed, tentatively at first. Then his eyes lit up, and he continued to chew in earnest.
“What is this?” Shining asked, unable to stop a smile from crossing his face. It was among the tastiest things he’d ever encountered.
“Oh, it’s gigglecakes!” Glendale insisted, as Wammawink stood proudly beside her with an entire plate of the things. They looked like pancakes coated in syrup, but he’d had pancakes before and they never tasted anything like this.
“They’re delicious!” Shining said, earning himself an even brighter smile from Wammawink as he finished his mouthful. “But what are you all doing here? Uh…besides force-feeding me.”
Wammawink set the plate aside. A rookie mistake, as the entire thing was promptly inserted into Glendale’s portal tummy, but she could always magic up some more. She approached Shining, a very serious look on her face.
“Nothing means more to me than my herd,” Wammawink told him, making meaningful eye contact. “And the thought of losing them terrifies me.”
“I’m really sorry,” Shining said, hanging his head. “I shouldn’t have-“ His statement was cut off when Wammawink’s hands raised his chin back up.
“And nothing means more to you than your family,” Wammawink continued, giving him a small smile. “I’m sorry too. Please, let our herd help you find your herd.” She motioned to the others, who all gave her a confident nod. Even Ched looked happy.
“Thank y-“ Shining started, but he quickly found himself interrupted by another helping of gigglecakes shoved into his mouth.
“But from now on,” Wammawink said, smiling slyly. “We do things my way.”
“Understood,” Shining responded, starting to chew. Meanwhile, Glendale’s head slid up next to him.
“Uhh…hey…” Glendale said, idly looking around before pointing off into the distance. “Look that way.” The confused Shining did as was requested of him, and let out a surprised yelp when Glendale’s hand reached into his mouth, pulled out the half-chewed gigglecakes, and shoved them into her portal tummy.
“Aah! Hold on, I was just eating that!” Shining protested. Glendale responded with a burp, happily holding her belly.
“Ugh…” Wammawink scoffed, shaking her head. “Unsanitary.”