The sun was sinking quite low in the west, painting the sky a brilliant spectrum of orange, pink, and purple. Since they had stopped for lunch, neither of the ponies had stopped their journey, continuing to walk along beneath the colorful trees. As she rode along, Apple Bloom noticed that the forest was steadily thinning, and clearings became more and more prevalent.
"Mister Warden, how far have we gone?"
"Roughly twenty three miles since this morning, I imagine." He replied, sounding a bit gentler since their argument a few hours prior.
"How long before we reach the valley?"
"Not until tomorrow, I'm afraid. But once we do, we'll make good time."
Apple Bloom nodded, feeling a bit relieved that they would soon be making a beeline towards home soon enough. However, she did notice that night was not very far off. Then, an unexpected yawn crept up on her, and she rubbed her eyes briefly.
The Warden took notice.
"Maybe we should start looking for a place to stop for the night, huh?"
Apple Bloom took a deep breath, and nodded in agreement.
"Eeyup, Ah guess so."
"Well," The Warden said, "there should be a river only a short distance ahead. We'll stop there."
The two ponies continued along, and Apple Bloom turned backwards, facing the peaks of the Unicorn Range to the west. She could make out the snow capped mountaintops through the ever increasing gaps in the trees, and watched as the sun dipped lower and lower, eventually disappearing behind them.
A few minutes later, she turned back around to see that they were approaching a body of water up ahead, and not a moment too soon. She was getting tired and daylight was dying quickly. Before long, they were near the riverbank and the Warden stopped only a few feet from the water's edge.
The river itself wasn't very big, only about twenty or so feet wide and it was clearly shallow, the water running over various rocks and stones on the riverbed, creating a bubbling, rushing sound that was quite relaxing.
The Warden kneeled down, signaling for Apple Bloom to disembark, which she gingerly did, careful to not put too much weight on her leg. The ground was sandy and pleasantly warm, still retaining some heat from the now absent sunshine. This was a welcome effect, for the evening chill had already begun to set in.
Apple Bloom stretched out, happy to be able to spread her limbs after riding on the Warden's back all afternoon. He also took a moment to relax, unlatching his saddlebags and allowing the entire array to drop to the ground with a sandy thud. He then took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and also stretched out. Several loud pops and cracks caught Apple Bloom off guard as he did so, but the Warden only smirked.
"Sorry." He said, almost sounding sarcastic. "My joints are just reminding me of my age."
After finishing his stretching, he unlatched the canteens from the dropped harness and motioned towards them.
"Can you fill those up while I get firewood?"
She nodded, and hobbled over as he walked a short distance into the woods, his eyes peeled on the ground. A few minutes passed by, and one by one, Apple Bloom refilled the empty canteens as the Warden walked back with a pile of sticks wrapped by one of his forelegs. Before long, he had them arranged in a neat pile about twenty feet from the water, and he placed a small pile of kindling near the bottom.
Meanwhile, Apple Bloom pulled her poncho back out and wrapped herself up. The chill was intensifying, as night fell and the stars began to shine. There was hardly any light now, but she could still make out the Warden putting one of his forelegs up to the pile of wood.
"Taser, on." He commanded, and a series of harsh pops and a small blue arc flashed in front of his hoof. Then, a small flame began to grow among the kindling, and soon, the entire pile was aflame. The fire's warm glow illuminated the area, showing the Warden and Apple Bloom quite clearly in the enveloping darkness. She shuffled up to the fire, and the Warden passed another apple and piece of bread in her direction. She grabbed these items hungrily, and proceeded to eat as the Warden did the same.
They ate in relative peace for a few minutes, listening to the gurgling river and the popping fire. Apple Bloom soon finished her food, and looked skyward. A spectacular array of stars were above them, sparkling, glimmering and glowing among brilliant galaxies and colorful novas.
"Princess Luna sure doesn't disappoint, huh?" Apple Bloom sighed, wrapping herself up a little tighter in her poncho.
The Warden didn't say anything, instead staring into the fire.
This was odd. He was quite attentive to her questions throughout the the day. That is, up until they had that argument.
Just then, it occurred to her that she didn't really understand something. Their argument was about Princess Celestia, and she could somewhat understand his stance on the matter. But she still didn't quite know why the Warden went after Princess Luna.
"Um, Ah know we said we ain't gonna talk about why ya don't like Princess Celestia and all, but why do ya not like Princess Luna? Ah mean, didn't ya know that she wasn't Nightmare Moon any more?"
"Hm." The Warden grumbled, falling silent once more as his expression intensified slightly.
Once again, it seemed to her as if he wished to skirt around the subject. But her need for answers was growing. Why did he go after her?
"... It just strikes me as bein' kinda unfair that you attacked her after she got reformed. Ah mean, why would ya try to kill her and Princess Celestia for makin' mistakes? No real harm seemed to-"
The Warden suddenly snapped upwards from his sitting position, and his eyes changed. No longer were they benevolent, but a steely, chilling stare shone coldly in the flickering firelight. In an instant, the foreleg with his taser was aimed at her.
Apple Bloom's heart jumped into her throat.
This was not at all what she was expecting.
Was he… Was he threatening her?!
She froze in place, inhaling sharply as fear gripped her heart.
What in Equestria was this all about?!
"Taser, on!" He said loudly, the device crackling to life as Apple Bloom recoiled backwards in fear. "Fire!"
The two metal prongs shot out of the device, the popping electric arc missing her by inches as they flew overhead.
Before she could think again, she heard an awful roar from behind her as the prongs made contact with something. She whipped around, and saw a mass of fur and claws recoiling wildly less than fifteen feet behind her.
It was a manticore.
Her mouth gaped open as she realized that it had crept up behind her. She hadn't even heard it! Somehow, the Warden had spotted it!
Then, she saw something fly overhead, landing between her and the creature.
It was the Warden, and he looked terrifying. His mouth was drawn into a fierce snarl as his eyes showed an intensity that Apple Bloom had never seen before.
He looked as if he was ready to kill it.
His stance was defensive and unyielding, not showing any hesitation or fear. He retracted his taser, and the wobbling manticore steadied itself, moaning slightly in pain and surprise. The Warden stared at the creature, which looked at him with an expression of wrath and fear.
It inhaled, reared to its full height, and roared, showing all of its chisel-shaped teeth and curved, dagger-like claws while whipping its stinger forwards, making certain that the ponies saw all of its killing implements.
Apple Bloom backed away slowly upon this intense display. She vividly felt the unpleasant shock of fear penetrate her very soul.
This creature had the capability to rip her and the Warden to shreds in an instant, there was no debating that.
Yet, the Warden stood completely still, keeping his death stare fixed on the apex predator.
The manticore lowered itself back down to a normal stance, and froze, still staring at the defiant stallion. It looked confused as to why he didn't run.
Then, slowly, the Warden raised his taser once again, and activated it. The manticore flinched as the device arced once again, and it took a fearful step back.
"Go." The Warden snarled, baring his own teeth as his stare somehow got even more horrifying. He took a single lunge forward, keeping the crackling taser pointed at the beast.
The manticore had enough. It jumped backwards, turned around, and fled into the forest. The sound of crunching leaves and sticks soon faded away, and once again, the two ponies were alone.
Apple Bloom could not believe what she had just seen. Her fear swiftly faded and was replaced by a sense of incredible awe. He had just scared away a manticore!
He turned around to face her, and thankfully his gaze had softened significantly.
"Are you alright?" He asked, looking and sounding genuinely concerned.
Apple Bloom nodded, gathering her senses enough for her to speak. "E-eeyup..."
The Warden walked over and helped her up.
"Sorry about not alerting you. If I had waited a little longer, it would have jumped you." He said, pausing before adding; "You… didn't think I was trying to hurt you, right?"
This caused Apple Bloom to think for a moment. Although it was obvious now that he had no choice but to attack the beast, the thought that perhaps that he was lashing out because of her questions about Princess Luna did occur to her before she caught sight of the manticore.
The fact that she had reached such a conclusion made her feel a bit guilty. How could she have thought that he would hurt her over such a trivial question?
"No. Why'd ya ask?" She lied, trying to assure the Warden that the thought hadn't come to her.
He remained silent for a moment, looking her dead in the eye with a sorrowful expression.
"Well, you looked- Ah, no. You know what? Never mind. Let's just get to sleep."
"But what if it comes back?" Apple Bloom asked, sounding a bit fearful as she looked out into the forest.
"It won't." He replied bluntly, putting on his own poncho. "Manticores know when they've been beat. That one is no different."
While Apple Bloom's instinct was to doubt this answer, she still felt as if he wasn't lying.
After taking a few more minutes to calm down, she moved close to the fire, curled up, and lay down on the ground. She yawned, and looked up at the Warden, who was doing something peculiar.
He opened up a bag, and pulled out a small syringe. Aided by the firelight, he carefully stuck it into one of his forelegs and injected some sort of liquid into his body.
Apple Bloom looked on for a few moments, wondering what it was that he had just injected himself with. Medicine, maybe? He didn't look hurt, but maybe it was for something that she couldn't see?
She then looked up at the stars above, and her thoughts began to drift as slumber approached.
The Warden standing against the manticore would stick in her mind for a while, that much was certain. Sure, he also defeated that spider, but this time, he wasn't wearing his armor. If the manticore had wanted to, it could have easily ripped him to shreds.
Yet, the Warden didn't even flinch or hesitate.
His courage, resourcefulness, and knowledge was unlike anything that she had ever seen in anypony ever before, barring Applejack. He was truly willing to go to great lengths to protect her, that much was certain.
She looked back to the Warden, who was now curling up inside of his poncho, a short distance away.
It was at that moment that Apple Bloom came to a realization.
She admired him.
A part of her mind expressed alarm. Was she really feeling this way about the pony who had almost killed the royal sisters?
She was, but it felt warranted.
He had done almost nothing to make her feel otherwise.
Despite being separated from her friends and family, she felt safe. He had saved her from death twice, had cared for her, and was taking her back to Ponyville.
Sure, his stance on the princesses was very questionable, but that was really the only thing that she disliked about him. All of the good things that she had seen of him outweighed this difference in her mind, however.
It was these thoughts that accompanied her as she drifted off, listening to the gurgling river and the occasional pop from the dying fire.
The Warden definitely was not as bad as she had first thought, that was for sure.
"Did anypony from your group find anything?"
"No. Me and the Wonderbolts covered everything within a fifteen mile radius of Ponyville. We found nothing."
"Sigh… Well, I guess we'll just have to keep up the search tomorrow…"
"Hey! Cheer up, Twilight! We'll find her soon! Sweetie Belle couldn't have teleported her too far, right?"
"I hope not…"
Click!
Creeaaak.
Clack!
"Twilight? Rainbow? Please tell me that y'all found somethin'. Anythin'."
"Sigh… I'm sorry, Applejack. We haven't found anything yet."
"Oh. Ah- Ah see… Hey, uh… Thank y'all. For tryin', that is. It- It means an awful lot."
"That's what friends are for, AJ. We'll find Apple Bloom yet, just wait and see!"
Sniff!
"Woah, AJ? Are you actually cry-"
"S-sorry, y'all… Ah'm so sorry for blowin' up at you two last night. 'Specially you, Twilight. Ah- Ah really feel awful about it."
"Oh, Applejack… You were upset last night, that's all."
"Ah know… Oh Celestia, Ah know."
"Hey, uh, AJ? I gotta ask; did you make up with Sweetie Belle yet?"
Sniff! "Ah did, and with Rarity too. Ah can't believe that ah yelled at 'em like that, though."
"But did they forgive you?"
"Both of 'em did. To be honest, Ah don't deserve friends like 'em…"
"Applejack… Don't be too harsh on yourself, please. If Spike were to suddenly go missing without a trace because of a mistake that somepony else made, I would be upset too. But now all that matters is that you've made amends, and that shows all of us that you are still a dear friend to all of us."
"Thank you, Twilight… You too, Rainbow. Y'all went above and beyond today."
"For Apple Bloom, I would do it all week if I had to! Speaking of which, I did have the opportunity to talk to Fluttershy about the matter earlier, and she said that she would ask her animal friends to spread the word and help out."
"Really? That would be a massive help."
"I know, right? It's only a matter of time before we find her, I'm sure of it!"
"Y'all's optimism is appreciated, you two. Thanks."
"Not a problem, Applejack. We'll get through this."
Yawn!
"You ready for bed, Rainbow?"
"Yeah… I never said I wasn't tired."
"We're all pretty tired. Let's all get some sleep. We've got another day ahead."
"Alright then. Thank y'all again for doin' what you can."
"Goodnight, Twilight!"
"Goodnight."
Click!
Creeeaaak!
Clack!