Fluttershy had been the first one to wake, mostly because it was hard to find sleep with her leg constantly throbbing. If anything, it was getting worse. The second the light had begun spilling in through the cracked boards, she’d given up. She lay still for the painfully long minutes until her friend awoke, and when the door opened once more, sunlight streaming in, it was all Fluttershy could do to try to remember to lay still and not hurt her leg any worse. Applejack was up and in front of her moments later when a purple pegasus stuck his head inside and glanced skeptically at their untouched food.
“What’s the matter, pea paste and corn not good enough for you soft ponies?” he asked. Fluttershy was halfway to a protest, her stomach rumbling ominously.
“We’ll eat whenever we want,” Applejack countered with a scowl. “Maybe you’re gonna offer to brush our manes next?”
The large stallion shrugged. “Not like I care. Got told to make sure you were alive and not trying something funny.” With that, he made to close the door, but Applejack was faster, jamming a hoof in there to stop him. A rather terrible and pregnant silence ensued, only the snout and one eye of the guard-stallion visible through the crack in the door.
“Should I be raising the alarm?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.
“Fluttershy’s hurt. You idiots hurt her leg, and if you’re aiming to keep us here for a long while, you’d best fetch your doctor,” Applejack said, turning to look over her shoulders at Fluttershy, who smiled back.
“We don’t have any ‘doctors’,” the stallion retorted. “We take care of ourselves.”
“Then what in the hay do you do when you’re hurt?” Applejack replied. Their guard sighed and relaxed his grip on the door a bit.
“You let your body take care of itself, but if you soft city ponies can’t handle that, I’ll get you some trifleleaf if it’ll shut you up,” he said. “We give it to our foals. Now be quiet and don’t make a fuss.”
Once the door had closed, the farmpony let out a long sigh. “I hope it’s just sprained. I ain’t gonna much trust their idea of dealing with injuries when I already saw at least two stallions with eyepatches and a three-legged mare,” she grumbled. “You know of this leaf?”
“Um, maybe they have another name for it? I’ve never heard of a herb by that name, but it could be slumberleaf. It’s just a stronger chamomile. I grow it in my garden, and Granny Smith once asked me for some when her hip was acting up.”
“I saw some slumberleaf bushes a few days ago,” she continued. “It’s one of the few plants that survive the winter. The only other one I’ve seen here is wrackweed, and all that will do is make you very sick. Unless you’re a bunny. They like the pretty red and yellow stems, and it doesn’t hurt them.”
Applejack raised a brow, causing Fluttershy to flush. “I got a little carried away. Sorry.”
“Don’t know much about weeds that aren’t the kind I don’t want in my orchard,” Applejack admitted. “But if it’ll help you sleep, that’s good.”
They had barely the time to eat what little food they’d been given the last day before the door opened again. Without comment, the same purple pegasus flung a small pouch past the threshold and closed the door before the pouch had even landed. With expert precision, the burlap container landed atop Fluttershy’s plate, crushing what little of the corn paste she hadn’t yet eaten.
“Thanks a lot,” Applejack grumbled with a glare at the door.
“I’ll be very sleepy once I eat them,” Fluttershy said, grabbing the pouch in her mouth before hobbling over to the blankets. “Um, are you sure this is a good idea? Will you be okay alone? Usually I crush them and mix them with something to make them weaker, but all we have are the leaves.”
“Don’t like it too much, having you down and out,” Applejack said. “But if your leg is bad anyway, we’re stuck here for the time being, and if you’re hurting, I’ll manage. I’ll do some thinking instead. Go to bed, sugarcube.”
Fluttershy fished a few of the leaves out of the bag with her tongue and swallowed. She knew the leaves would dull the pain and her mind both, but so long as Applejack kept watch, she would be safe. In a village full of ponies, she had only a single friend, but that was enough. Within a minute, she felt a weight settle down over her. She closed her eyes and pretended sky blue feathers were resting atop her, and that thought more than anything brought her peace as she fell asleep again.
The world was as thick and heavy as the vegetable paste she must have eaten at some point. With one eye open, Fluttershy could see two empty plates next to the bed of blankets, and she very much doubted Applejack would have eaten her food. She giggled at the thought. Applejack was the most dependable of ponies, she just had no recollection of ever eating. She tried to move her head, but it was far, far too much effort.
Applejack hadn’t noticed her stirring. She should wake, she knew, but there was precious little point. Her leg still hurt, a dull ache, now, but that wasn’t why she reached out and chewed down another few of the sleep-inducing leaves. When she slept, she dreamt, and that, none could take away from her. No walls could steal away the freedom that came with sleep.
Time lost meaning. The leaves in the bag dwindled, and the belief that they’d find a way out shrunk with it. She drank, she ate, and she slept. When she awoke it was by necessity, and she would find Applejack either by the door, or watching her in silence. The sun rose and set, and entire days disappeared where absolutely nothing happened. Every now and then she was lucid enough to trade words with Applejack, but they were gone the second she fell asleep again.
Again she’d awoken to a noise. Applejack stood by the door talking to somebody Fluttershy couldn’t see about something she couldn’t hear. She had barely entertained the thought of going back to sleep before she was gone. When her eyes fluttered open again, it was day. Her mouth was dry, and there was a bowl of water nearby. Applejack was pacing, looking particularly grim.
“Um, Applejack?” she said, her voice hoarse. “May I have some water, please?”
“Oh. Mornin’,” Applejack said, stopping on the spot. “Right, just lie still and I’ll fix. How’re you feeling?”
Fluttershy experimentally shifted her right hindleg, immediately regretting it. Applejack needed no further answer, shaking her head as she nudged the water bowl closer. Fluttershy drank deep whilst the earth mare spoke.
“Think you can sleep without the leaves?” she asked. “All the times I’ve tried talking to you, you ain’t really been there. It’s like trying to wake up Rainbow Dash early in the morning.”
“I’m sure it’s not broken. It’s a little better, honest, and it won’t hurt if I don’t put weight on it,” Fluttershy said. “Still, um, I don’t mind the leaves.”
Applejack squinted, and Fluttershy shrank back on reflex. “You sure these things are good for you?” she asked.
Fluttershy sighed and ground her head into the blankets. Her eyes had been almost painfully dry a minute ago, but that was no longer a problem. She swallowed and tried to calm herself to little effect.
“It’s not the leaves,” she said with the smallest of trembles in her voice. “I just don’t like this at all.”
“I ain’t exactly too happy with being stuck here either,” Applejack shrugged.
“No, I—I mean, being awake. Everything. We were so close, but we really don’t have a plan, do we?”
“Aw sugar,” Applejack muttered, moving closer. “We’ll get through this—”
“No!” Fluttershy cried, halting the earth mare in her tracks. “I don’t see how you can even say that! We don’t have a plan. We’re going to be stuck here forever, and we’ll never get home. I’ll never get to see anypony ever again. I’ll never get to see Rainbow Dash and—” she puffed out her cheeks and exhaled slowly, lowering her voice to a mutter. “I’m really sorry. I know you probably feel the same. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to take another nap. I don’t feel so good.”
Applejack stood still in the middle of the room, staring at her. Unwavering, she rolled her jaw and nodded. It was impossible to tell what went on behind those green eyes, but something passed over her face before she mouthed a quiet “okay”.
Fluttershy turned away and shut her eyes tight, wishing she could take back her childish little outburst, but she didn’t even know where to begin. Applejack didn’t make a single sound. Even without any of the green leaves, Fluttershy was fast asleep within minutes.
“—much of a favor.”
Fluttershy perked an ear. It was dark out, and once more, Applejack stood in the doorway. She hadn’t noticed that she was awake, that much was obvious, but Fluttershy recognized the thin voice of the night guard Applejack had mentioned before.
“Don’t know if I trust you. I mean, why should I?” the voice said.
“Listen, I talked to one of your friends, and they said you don’t have any doctors here. I don’t know if that’s because you’re just plain silly or if there’s a reason for it, but I’m a doctor. And I need some, uh, healing weeds. Next time you’re out in the forest, see if you can find some plants with red and yellow stems for me, okay? Don’t have to tell the others about it, it’s just to help my friend’s leg, alright?”
What would Applejack need wrackweed for? When the door closed and the earth mare approached, Fluttershy shook off the dregs of sleep and hoisted herself up to sit.
“Um, you do know that wrackweed isn’t a healing herb?” Fluttershy asked. “It’s quite painful.”
Applejack made no reply until she’d sat down in front of her, resting a hoof on her flank and lowering her voice. “I know, sugar. But if he didn’t protest, it’s because he doesn’t know.”
“What are you going to do with it? The only thing I can think of is if somepony’s eaten something they shouldn’t. It’s very useful for, um,” Fluttershy paused to rub at her eyes. “It’ll make you throw up.”
“I figured. I’m gonna eat’em.”
Fluttershy blinked. “Applejack? I don’t think you’re listening to me.”
“Here’s what I’m thinking, sugar. They’re watching this shed well, and the reason they’re not stowing us away in some cellar or other is because there are a lot of ponies around. That, or they don’t have cellars here, heck if I know. I could buck a hole in this wall in less than a minute, but it’d be pointless.”
“Okay?” Fluttershy said.
“So we need to make sure we’re alone. I can’t think of no other reason that they’d leave this place unguarded than if something big was up. Like one of us being sick or something. They need us, remember?”
“But you won’t be able to kick a hole in the wall if you’ve eaten wrackweed,” Fluttershy protested. “It leaves you weak, just like being sick does.”
“You got a better plan?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy slumped and shook her head. Plans. Hope. It was hard to hold on to those words. “I don’t,” she admitted as she lay down again.
“You want to get out of here, we gotta take some chances,” Applejack grumbled, and while the words were true enough, the tone stung. She was exasperated with her. Tired of her. It was just another reason to go back to sleep.
“Fluttershy?”
She pinched her eyes shut and willed the world to drop away, and a moment later, she heard the rustle of blankets as Applejack lay down and got comfortable next to her. The seconds seemed to stretch on forever, and she imagined that she could see the stars themselves give up and move out of sheer restlessness before the soft sounds of Applejack’s tell-tale snoring filled the room. It was almost too easy to snake a hoof over her sleeping form and snag the bag of leaves.
Two, maybe three leaves would be good to give a pony rest from her pains. She wasn’t quite sure how many was needed to make a pony stop being silly and quell her fears, so she didn’t even bother counting.
Applejack voice echoed, and the world swam, refusing to come into focus. The waking haze wouldn’t end, leaving Fluttershy stuck in the confusion of the first second of morning. The orange mare was speaking to her, but where some words were syrupy, others were greased lightning speeding past her. Fluttershy’s eyelids were reluctant to give up more than a crack, but she saw a bundle of plants over by the door. Where the rest of the world was indistinct and hazy, the red and yellow stems were clear. Something made of glass, something Fluttershy knew she should recognize lay next to them.
“Consarn it, Fluttershy,” Applejack sighed. That got through, at least.
“Sorry,” Fluttershy mumbled. “I just need to rest a bit.” A long blink stretched on forever, but her friend hadn’t moved an inch.
“—need you to be ready. They’re having some sort of party tonight.” Applejack groaned. “Are you even awake?”
Fluttershy nodded, just like Applejack had asked her to. That seemed to satisfy her, and the pegasus took that as an incentive to go back to sleep. Back to Ponyville. A moment ago, Rainbow Dash had defended her from a rogue corn cob monster, but it didn’t sit right with her. Shaking her head the tiniest of fractions to rearrange her thoughts, she soon stood shoulder to shoulder with Dash as they prepared to save Ponyville from an army of peas.
The peas fought back tooth and claw. It was rather impressive given that they possessed neither, but the giant green balls marched on the two pegasi nevertheless. Fluttershy felt Dash’s wing brush against hers. They glanced over at each other, and while Fluttershy had no idea what her own face showed, Dash was grinning. Those sparkling eyes told her all would be well, that everything would work out.
Until the peas started dancing. Heavy thumps shook the ground as the spherical menaces bounced in tune to an unheard beat. Fluttershy’s entire body shook, and it took far, far too long for her to realize it had nothing to do with peas or any other monstrous vegetable. Somepony was jostling her.
“The party’s well and truly underway now,” Rainbow Dash said with Applejack’s voice. The vague pony-shape above was still prodding her, urging her to wake. Fluttershy didn’t bother fully opening her eyes to dispel the illusion. Through half-lidded eyes, the fruit juice the earth mare hadn’t quite gotten out of her mane became a full spectrum of colors. In the darkness, her back hid wings. She could pretend for a moment that she was with Rainbow Dash. The brash flier was trying to wake her for whatever reason.
Maybe she’d overslept? She was late for Rainbow Dash’s weekly flight practice? No, of course not. She usually had her practice after she woke up, and that was late in the day by Fluttershy’s standards. She knew this. Rather, she should know, but it had been so long, now.
And it would be longer still if they didn’t do something. Rainbow Dash leaned down over her and squinted, her breath hot on her face.
“Fluttershy? I’m gettin’ a mite worried here,” Applejack said, chasing Rainbow Dash away.
It would be forever, in fact, unless they got out of here. She’d never see her again.
“I’ll do it,” Fluttershy murmured, rubbing her eyes to send the mist packing. She could hear what had given her such odd dreams, now. Drums. Cheers. Song. It was late afternoon outside, and the ponies of the village were having a party. It was the perfect opportunity.
Applejack raised a brow. “Pardon?”
“I’ll eat the wrackweed. They know I’m weak, and it makes more sense. Do you think you can carry me?”
“No way, no how,” Applejack said. “I ain’t watching you do that. You said the stuff’s painful.”
“So you’re going to make me watch you do it? I also said that you won’t be able to kick down a wall, much less run, if you eat it,” Fluttershy said, sitting up. She stared straight at Applejack, unblinking and unwavering. “If we have to make it absolutely convincing, it has to be me. It’s not very dangerous. Just uncomfortable.”
Applejack’s jaw hung slack. For the longest while, the drums and songs in the far distance were the only sounds in the room.
“If you’re—”
“I’m sure,” Fluttershy affirmed with a glare.
Applejack sighed and nodded, trotting over to the other corner of the room to pick the brightly colored roots up with her lips, careful—and rightly so—not to bite down on the stems. She hesitated only for the barest of moments before giving them over to Fluttershy, but the pegasus mare wasted no time in biting down on the bittersweet roots. Her wings twitched involuntarily as she forced herself to chew and swallow them with a grimace born not of their taste, but from knowing what they’d bring on.
Her stomach clenched even as she swallowed. Applejack gave a sympathetic wince to go along with hers. Ten seconds later, she couldn’t stop swallowing spittle.
“Should’ve been me,” Applejack muttered. “Alright. Let’s hope that they’re all over and enjoying the party or whatever’s going on.”
Applejack trotted over to the door and knocked. When she got no reply, she hammered twice as hard with both her forehooves.
“Quiet down in there! Bad enough I’m stuck here today”, came the rather grumpy reply.
Fluttershy swallowed again. Her mouth was beginning to fill up with spit.
“No, you oaf, it’s my friend! She’s hurt bad!” Applejack snapped, casting a quick glance over at Fluttershy that the pegasus barely caught. In the corner of her eye, she saw Applejack stash something in her tail.
“Well, fortunate that we got a doctor then,” the stallion on the other side of the door retorted. “Oh. That’s you. No, I’ve got strict orders to keep the door shut. Keen Eye didn’t like hearing that I’ve been talking to—”
Fluttershy threw up. She lay completely still trying to keep her noise to a minimum, trying her very best not to get sick on all the blankets—the only thing they had in here. The talk stopped, and for a second, absolutely nothing happened, followed by the frantic jangling of keys. Fluttershy shivered in the draft that followed the door’s opening. The purple pegasus outside stuck his head inside and stared with wide eyes at the mess.
“Well don’t just stand there like a lemon!” Applejack snapped. “Get somepony, anypony!”
“I—I have orders—”
“And a lot of good they’ll do if she ain’t gonna last the night! Get. Help!” Applejack bellowed.
Suddenly, the pegasus guard couldn’t close the door fast enough. A clatter of metal and a resounding click of the door’s lock preceded a rapid but receding sound of hooves that quickly became drowned out by the distant drums. Fluttershy coughed and shook. It was a blessed few seconds of silence before one of the walls exploded.
Splinters flew everywhere as Applejack braced herself against the floor and threw her hindlegs against the far wall of their prison, each and every time knocking more and more of the wood away. In a scant dozen rapid slams of her hooves, the short wall opposite of their sleeping nook was all but gone. A second later, Applejack was lowering herself down by her side.
“Alright then. Hold on,” she said, working herself in under Fluttershy so she’d lay atop. “You grab on to my neck and you hold on like you ain’t never held on before, sugar.”
And so Fluttershy did. Still tired and with her tummy aching terribly, she wrapped her forelegs around Applejack’s neck and rested her head atop hers. Applejack gingerly stepped out through the hole she’d made, taking great care to not scrape Fluttershy up against the splintered wood. The second they were clear, Applejack cast a quick glance about, and Fluttershy did the same. With nopony in sight, the last of the tenderness the earth pony had to spare left her. Fluttershy yelped as Applejack lowered her head and ran.
She put all her efforts into keeping from being sick again, and it was barely enough. While she’d certainly done her share of galloping over the years, never had Fluttershy moved like this. Applejack ran like a mare possessed, her hoofbeats a low constant rumble of thunder as she raced between the few large buildings that separated them from the edge of the village. She jumped a low fence, and then another, and it was all Fluttershy could do to hold her silence and keep from crying out.
The world around her was a blur. They rounded a corner, and Fluttershy’s brain kept going straight ahead. She tried closing her eyes, but it only made things worse. Just as they came into view of the the felled, sharpened trees that warded the town, the alarm was raised. The faint sounds of music stopped abruptly, and gruff voices pierced the night.
Applejack wasn’t stopping. If anything, she was speeding up. Fluttershy’s breath caught, helpless as a passenger while Applejack ran up the stakes, treating them like a bridge with no end, a ramp. Her hooves made loud impacts against the wood and her breathing was laboured as she climbed their steep angle. Fluttershy hazarded a peek over her friend’s side; the ground was falling away rapidly, the hill upon which the village was built dropping off while the stakes went up and up. The drop was ten paces, then twenty and rising.
“Spread your wings!” Applejack yelled.
Fluttershy wanted to cry that she couldn’t. She hadn’t taken to the air in over a week. Her wings were tattered shadows of their usual selves, a neglected and pitiful sight. She was weak, as was her grip. It would never work, and the fear had her wings pinned to her side so tight, it was hard to even breathe. There were a million ways in which this would fail, but she refused to admit it.
Applejack didn’t slow down for a second. She sprang from the tallest tip of the fortifications with all her might, launching herself into the air. No doubt, no question. She was waiting for Fluttershy to do her part, just like Rainbow Dash was waiting for her to come back home—something she knew despite not knowing why. Fluttershy spread her wings.
And cried out in pain when the air hungrily tore at them.
“We’re too heavy!” Fluttershy called. Below, the ground was rapidly closing in on them, a snowy field of tree stumps closing in on them with frightening speed. Fluttershy stole a quick glance behind and above, and already she could see the shapes of pegasi taking to the air looking for them. One nearby pegasus mare was already in pursuit.
Applejack said nothing, but Fluttershy could feel her every muscle tense below her as the pegasus’ grip threatened to slip. With a wordless cry, Fluttershy held on to Applejack for dear life and gave her wings a sharper angle. It was all she could think of, letting them pick up a little speed before levelling their descent. The ground loomed closer still, the rush of air a roar in her ears, and Applejack yelped when she had to pull her legs to avoid having them smashed against a tree stump. With the last of her strength, Fluttershy gritted her teeth and held her wings steady, ignoring the way her muscles complained—and just like that, it was over. The pegasus slumped as Applejack’s legs took over again.
They barely lost any speed when Fluttershy folded her aching wings. Applejack kicked up snow as she dodged stumps, racing across the deforested field with her sweat-streaked face set in a snarl. The treeline loomed ahead, the relative safety of the dense forest closing rapidly.
“Hold on sugar,” she growled, gritting her teeth. Fluttershy didn’t even dare look behind them, but she could hear the distant flap of wings too numerous to be counted. The trees towered above them now, and the moon was swallowed up by dark treetops. A hundred paces, perhaps. A net whizzed past. Halfway there, one of the rope-and-balls clipped one of Fluttershy’s ears. She closed her eyes and clung to Applejack’s neck so hard she could feel her heartbeat.
The sounds dropped away. The world beneath her eyelids darkened further, and all of a sudden, the sounds of pursuit were muted and distant. Applejack neither rested nor slowed, her breathing loud but steady. When Fluttershy dared peek from underneath the veil of her own mane, she thought for a second she had gone blind. It took far, far too long for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Under the canopy of the dense forest, even the moon’s light was scarce. Frozen ground passed by almost too quick for her to see, thick pine trunks zooming by by the dozen. Still Applejack ran. Once, she nearly stumbled on a fallen log hiding in the dark, but she righted herself and ran on without a care. Fluttershy thought she spotted shapes between the branches that hid them, but eventually, it had been a very long time since last she’d seen or even heard anything of their pursuers.
“Applejack,” Fluttershy said. She was almost amazed that was able to speak at all. Her voice was hoarse, and her forelegs ached.
“Just hold on,” Applejack grunted amidst ragged breaths.
“I can’t! I think they’re gone,” she protested. “I’m going to fall off.”
Applejack did not stop. What she did was slow down until she was moving at an easier trot. Fluttershy didn’t have it in her to complain any more, letting herself go limp atop her friend and finally easing her grip. She lay there listening to Applejack take huge gulps of air, trying to think of something to say while her friend caught her breath.
Finally, Applejack slumped to the ground. She didn’t lie down so much as she fell on purpose, coming to half-lean against a particularly large tree. Fluttershy barely had the time to lift off, numb wings saving her from going with down Applejack. Instead, she landed gingerly at her side, hopping over on three legs to nuzzle her mane.
“Well, that’ll do for a workout,” Applejack said, bursting into laughter. “First thing I’m gonna do when we get back is challenge Rainbow Dash to another race. She can use her wings for all I care.”
Fluttershy opened her mouth, shut it again, and repeated this at least three more times before she finally found a little giggle of her own.
“Sorry about that,” Applejack added. She fixed Fluttershy with one of her eyes, looking none too pleased. “Didn’t really know what to expect once we were out. How’re your wings?”
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Fluttershy admitted, sighing and once more burying her face in Applejack’s mane. She’d half a mind to go to sleep right like this. “I should have taken better care of myself. That shouldn’t have been a problem.”
Applejack shrugged. “Don’t matter now then. I’ll say this; lying and pretending to be friends with those no-good ponies, that was easier’n you’d think, but I don’t ever want to have to see you hurting yourself like that again.”
“It’s okay. I mean, I think I’m okay. My tummy is, anyway,” Fluttershy answered, pulling back to let Applejack have some space. Ever so carefully, she touched down with her bad leg. “The leg doesn’t hurt as much, either, unless I lean on it. I think I can walk.”
“Alright, but we really should move on,” Applejack said, a grin slowly spreading across her face. “But hey, I told you I’d carry you if I had to, didn’t I? Sure I said something like that way back.” While Fluttershy giggled at that, Applejack craned her neck back to retrieve something from her tail. Fluttershy hadn’t noticed she’d had her tail twisted around something all the while as they ran, but now Applejack fished an ornate bottle from the blonde ponytail.
“The bottle!” Fluttershy gasped. “How did you get that? I thought they had taken all our things for sure.”
“Oh, guess you were asleep. Told’em it was medicine or whatever, I forget exactly what. They wouldn’t give us any of the other stuff, and certainly not the crystals on account of them being all magical and shiny, but a bottle? Where’s the harm in that, right?” Applejack asked, grinning as she pulled off the stopper and drank deeply. When she’d had her fill, she passed it over to Fluttershy, who gratefully accepted it.
“Figured if it’s all fancy and can hold whatever, it might come in handy. Wish we had the map, though. We’re back to wandering blind, even if we’re close,” she added.
“Hm?” Fluttershy intoned, gently putting the bottle down on the ground and wiping her muzzle. “Oh, no. I mean, we can still see the sun. We know we’re north of the path, and we were heading for a crossroads, so we just have to head east until we hit the path that goes to the Badlands.”
“Oh. Huh, guess you’re right,” Applejack agreed. “Alright, then we just need to keep ahead of Keen Eye and her merry band of bandit ponies, I suppose. Promise you one thing, sugar. If you can’t keep up, I’ll carry you.”
It had been an offer and a promise given with a smile. All the same, Fluttershy took one more swig of water before passing the bottle back to Applejack. She tested her leg again, re-furled her wings while ignoring how they ached, and nodded, all before giving her head a toss so her mane’d lie right.
“You won’t have to,” she promised, smiling back. “We’re almost home.”
Their pursuers did not give up quite so easily. The first few days were the hardest. Fluttershy asked every animal that crossed their path to help them out, begged favors of every critter that had not yet flown south or gone into hibernation. Help us, she said, and help they did. Clever foxes and swift snow leopards shadowed their eastwards run while the few birds who wintered here kept watch from the sky. Every so often, one of her little friends would dart to their side and change their course. A fox showed them a path through a mass of briars, and a little owl eagerly showed them where to cross a river much wide for Fluttershy to carry them across in her state.
Every night, they slept with one eye open, and every day, they moved from before sunrise to well past sunset.
“Remember when a day’s worth of moving at a brisk canter used to be hard?” Applejack asked, and Fluttershy had to admit it was a distant memory. Even after their imprisonment, her weakest was still enough in spades. Perhaps it was the promise of home, that iron resolve that fed them most of their strength, but she knew she hadn’t always been so toned, either, and she was grateful for it. Soon, the days melted away at a steady pace that ate ground.
They counted ten days, and then another set of ten. Three weeks passed by, and they saw no more of Keen Eye and her band. Fluttershy once joked that they were almost forest ponies themselves by now. Her leg had healed, and though they hardly ate well, they were used to the Emerald Expanse’s meager winter fare by now. They talked and they laughed during the days, and shared stories at night as they always had. Sure, Fluttershy had nights where she was beset by doubt, and Applejack sometimes decided she didn’t really want to tell a story from Sweet Apple Acres after all, but in those moments, they had one another.
And every night when she closed her eyes, Fluttershy wondered if she still had Rainbow Dash. Her worries had been quelled one by one, and on those nights where she curled up next to Applejack to try to ward off the night’s chill, she had to wonder if Rainbow Dash would even remember her. She couldn’t tell if she herself had changed like she once had wanted to, but she desperately hoped that Dash hadn’t. She wanted nothing more than to fly back into Ponyville and ask Rainbow Dash if she’d done her daily practice routine yet, and if she minded if Fluttershy watched as she always had.
It was a day like any other, one that began with melted snow-water and a trot that gave way to a canter across the forest’s floor, when the forest ended.
It was a rather short end, granted. The trees ended abruptly to give way to a road crossing their path. It was neither cobbled nor paved, more of a forest path given generous width, and twenty strides opposite of where they stood, the forest continued on as if though it had never been broken. The road cut through, going north and south, giving the ponies the first clear view of the sky they’d had in a long while.
“Think this is it?” Applejack asked, but Fluttershy didn’t need to answer. The earth mare was grinning broadly. The forest ponies didn’t use roads, and they had beelined straight east. Of course this was it. What was more, Fluttershy could see a faint red far to their north.
“I don’t think the Badlands are far off,” she said, her wings spreading of their own accord. “The map was right!” she cried, yelping right after as Applejack tackled her in a fierce hug. She giggled madly and hugged back as hard as she dared. “We did it!” she said, her heart aflutter. Applejack just laughed, tears in her eyes.
“Enough of that,” a voice commented in a low hiss.