Rosa might have been an earth pony, but carrying an alicorn on her back through a damp forest was still hard work! Luckily, it was getting bright and it would be a good idea to hide and lay low. On the other hand, all that walking had left her brain free for thinking. Rosa finally thought she understood the sequence of events which had brought her there. She'd even talked it over with Sky Light some, explaining how the pony dorm on the third floor had worked, and Sky agreed. Discussing anything important anywhere in the facility had been a stupid idea. For some reason Sky didn't bring up that time she and Rosa had plotting to escape right there in her cell. That was probably bugged too. The main problem, they both agreed, was that the humans were clever. They hadn't nabbed them right that moment, but left them with a false sense of security so that they'd uncover more subterfuge among the resident ponies.
It was exactly what had happened, which made Rosa feel quite stupid. Starlight had been doing fine on her own - Dr. Simmons had admitted as much. They knew something was going on, but they didn't know which pony, nor how she or he was doing it. Then came along little rebel Rosa and started blabbing out loud about escape. The fact that Starlight had told her all those secrets meant that at least Rosa wasn't the only one with a false sense of security. Perhaps the only redeeming fact was that the humans had never expected there was a unicorn in their facility, so Starlight's magic had taken them by surprise.
"Why didn't they just coat the entire place in that anti-magic thing they used for Luna?" Rosa asked.
Starlight, looking better, but still not quite able to walk without Sky Light helping her, gave the question some thought. "I guess," she said, "it's rare or expensive, or both, so they only used the bare minimum. It's not like they were expecting a unicorn in camouflage. Luck, I guess?"
That made sense and it was certainly lucky. Besides, those guns would have easily taken them down if Starlight hadn't had a 'shield' ready. That was what she had called it. Magic looked like very useful stuff, except for that crazy dangerous teleport.
Without really meaning to, Rosa said what she was thinking: "Well, I still don't like how you nearly killed us..."
The other mare gave a slight chuckle. "Would you have preferred to be captured and, um, 'interrogated'?"
"Maybe there was another way?"
It was not the first time Rosa had made this argument and Starlight rolled her eyes at hearing it again. "Rosa, reinforcements were already coming. The first thing they'd do would be to separate us. Yeah, I could have gotten myself out, but that'd lose us any chance to get Luna out of there. We were only able to do it because she told us how through dreams."
They both glanced back at the alicorn, who was still completely out of it.
"I don't think she could do it again. I dunno what they were doing to her in there, but it didn't look nice."
This time Rosa was forced to agree. She had experienced first hand how her dreams had gotten weaker and weaker. The last few times Luna hadn't even been able to wake Rosa up at the end, so she'd just waited in the dream for it to fade on its own.
"I guess... but you still nearly killed us!" Rosa replied, trying to stay at least a bit angry. Anger was keeping her warm, or at least preventing her from feeling cold and tired.
"Sorry. I said I was sorry!" Starlight barked, starting to get annoyed as well. "I told you teleportation is different on Earth than it is on Equestria! Not to mention that I'm out of practice and I had to move all of us. That's not easy, you know?"
Rosa had seen that. Starlight had almost knocked herself out completely with that spell and she said all but the easiest of magic were beyond her for a while. It was a good thing they had Sky Light, who had been able to ease Starlight's fall. There hadn't been such luck for Rosa herself, but she was an earth pony so she had been able to slow her tumble through the tree by grabbing branches. Luna hadn't been in real danger, Starlight had explained, because alicorns were notoriously tough, physically. It sounded like these mythical god-ponies had all the powers from all three pony races.
Still amazed that she had seen an actual, honest-to-god alicorn, Rosa glanced back at the mare she was carrying. A day ago she might have doubted if they were even real, but now she was certain. Every aching bone and muscle was telling her just how real Luna was. She was still asleep, but Rosa could feel her warm breath on her withers, which meant Luna was alive at the very least. She looked tall and Rosa thought she would easily tower over her, if Luna could stand, but at the same time her body looked thin and somehow... frail. Maybe they hadn't been feeding her right and she'd lost some weight. Silver lining, Rosa thought to herself. Earth pony or not, there was only so much she could do. Any heavier and their progress would have been markedly slower.
"Okay, I think we should stop and hide," Starlight said and Rosa welcomed the proclamation. Despite her aches and exhaustion, she made sure she laid Luna down carefully on some soft grass, then she arranged her legs so she was not cutting off circulation in her limbs.
After that Rosa sat beside Luna and just... watched.
She could totally believe Luna was royalty. One just had to look at the lines of her muzzle and that horn. Rosa hadn't even seen a unicorn yet, but that thing looked scary. It was easy to believe humans were afraid of it, even without considering all the impossible things it could do. It'd be plenty dangerous just as a sharp object on an earth-pony strength pegasus. If you added magic to that, it would be the stuff of nightmares, Rosa herself had seen some incredible magic just that day and she still almost couldn't believe it.
"It's gonna get warm when the sun comes up," Sky Light observed. "We should find somewhere in shade so we don't get heatstroke. Especially her with that black fur."
"It's not black," Rosa pointed out. "It's dark blue." She couldn't see that now, but she remembered it from the well-lit room where Luna was being held.
"Oh."
Starlight had been sitting a short distance away where the pegasus had left her, but now she walked over on unsteady legs and leaned down to look closely at Luna's face. "I don't know what they did to her. Hopefully it wears off." Then she went on in a firmer tone of voice: "Sky is right. Rosa, can you look for some sturdy branches? If we get some vines maybe we can make a sling, so it's easier to carry her in case she doesn't wake up." She looks to Sky Light next. "And Sky, can you fly around in a circle and look for water, or a cave. Even some food, if you can see anything. Otherwise we'll just have to graze."
Rosa started chuckling suddenly as she remembered Sky Light's words from what felt like a lifetime ago.
"What?" both of them said as they looked at her. They were probably worrying she'd gone crazy.
"Remember when you told me I'd get lost in the woods and starve to death, Sky? Well, here we are!"
Sky's expression was blank for a moment, then she started laughing too. Starlight glanced from one to the other, clearly confused at their private joke. It wasn't even particularly funny, but it worked wonders to relieve some tension. Slowly Rosa and her friend wound down, then Rosa wiped away a tear and stood up. "I'll go look for those branches."
"Good, make sure you don't get lost. If you're not back in an hour, Sky will have to go look for you and I'd like to avoid her flying around too much. Who knows what the humans will send after us."
It made sense, but Rosa glanced around and wondered how she was supposed to keep from getting lost.
"Kick a tree every now and then so it leaves a mark," Sky Light suggested. "That way you can find your way back."
"Good idea!"
There was no fear of a pegasus getting lost, Rosa noticed. Maybe it was common knowledge among ponies that they had better orientation? It was probably a necessity, given how far and fast they could fly. Like a homing pigeon or something.
Another thing popped up in Rosa's head. "Will you stay in disguise all this time, Starla-light?"
"Oh, I almost forgot. Yeah, I guess I can drop that now. It'll make my mane harder to see from the sky. I just need another couple of hours before I can remove a spell that complex."
That seemed to settle everything and Rosa set off in search for suitable branches to make a crude sling. Having another pony help her carry Luna would be a good idea, especially once muscle fatigue caught up with her. Who knew how much further they'd have to walk?
Not long after, Rosa returned with four long, sturdy sticks. She didn't know how to make rope out of vines, so she had simply taken the thinner ends in her mouth and dragged them across the forest. Navigating that way was a bit harder, but Rosa had followed Sky's advice and scored grooves in the bark of trees, so she knew which way to go.
Back in their small clearing, Starlight had apparently piled up a lot of grass and leaves under a thick canopy of tree leaves. Luna was still sleeping in the shade on that rudimentary bed, by the looks of it and the unicorn, this time in her real colors, was sitting beside her.
Rosa had to admit, purple looked a lot better on her mane and the cyan streak complemented it nicely. Strangely, though, her horn was somewhat smaller and more stubby than Luna's. Rosa didn't have any comparison other than one alicorn and one unicorn, so she didn't know if Luna's horn was oversized, or Starlight's smaller than average. She dragged her burden near them and then went to sit beside the two, breathing heavily.
Water would have been nice to have, but Rosa didn't see Sky Light anywhere. "Um, Sky Light back yet?"
Starlight gave her a brief smile. "Yes, there's a stream about four miles out. She went to look for a way to bring us some of that water."
That sounded like a good plan to Rosa. Hiking another four miles to get a drink sounded tiring. If Sky Light could find a way to bring the water to them, that'd be great.
"How is, um, Luna?"
It felt a bit weird to call the near-mythical pony by such a simple name as that.
"I'm not sure. She looks okay, but she isn't waking up. Maybe Cadence will know something."
Rosa settled on the grass beside the two and began watching for Sky Light. Hopefully the pegasus wouldn't be spotted.
About half an hour later Rosa heard Sky Light fly in, and looked up just in time to see her land with a metal bucket hanging from her muzzle. The sight was so unexpected that Rosa just gaped for a while.
"Where did you get that?!" Starlight asked before Rosa could gather her wits to do the same.
Sky set the thing carefully down and then grinned her crooked, mischievous grin. "Farm, about ten miles out. Stole it."
Rosa gave a little gasp while Starlight hissed: "Are you stupid?! We're trying not to be seen!"
This time Rosa tended to agree with the unicorn.
Sky just shrugged. "Relax, no one saw me. Even if they did, so what? I flew in from another direction and I left a totally different way and then I circled here in the forest. No way anyone could follow me!"
She seemed certain and Rosa relaxed somewhat. It was not like they could change anything, anyway. The water was welcome, too. Rosa got up and walked to the bucket to take a drink. There was plenty of it and the liquid was clear and cold, which went a long way to slake her thirst and make Rosa feel a lot better about life in general. "Thanks," she told her pegasus friend, who smiled back with a simple nod. Rosa had drank less than a quarter, so there was enough left over for Starlight and for later, so that Sky probably wouldn't need to fly around any more in full daylight.
The unicorn, scowling a little, nevertheless joined Rosa and drank from the bucket.
While she was slurping up the water Rosa looked at Luna. "We should give her some, too," she said.
The alicorn had been on an IV drip, but Rosa wondered when was the last time she had had any actual water. For all Rosa knew, Luna might be dying of thirst and unable to do anything, being unconscious. Getting her to drink anything might be tricky, though.
"Good idea," Starlight confirmed. "Come, you can help me." Rosa followed her to the sleeping mare. "Hold her head upright and open her muzzle. I'll handle the bucket."
Maybe it was a good thing she'd carried Luna all this way, because at least now Rosa was not squeamish about touching an alicorn. She easily lifted Luna's head and very gently parted her mouth. Starlight brought the bucket over, her aura enveloping it.
"Slowly now," Rosa told her.
She nodded and let the tiniest dribble of water pour out. It wetted Luna's muzzle, but didn't do much more. "Hold on... Sky, come help me hold her!"
The pegasus obliged. She supported Luna from the other side, leaving Rosa's hooves free to manage Luna's mouth more precisely. "Okay, try again." This time Starlight was able to dribble a bit of water past the alicorn's lips. Rosa let her get just a few drops, then pulled her away. Thankfully, Luna swallowed automatically. It was an encouraging result. "Okay, again."
Bit by bit they got a few mouthfuls down the sleeping Princess, after which Rosa laid her back on the bed of leaves and grass. The bucket was nearly empty, but there was some left if any of them needed more water. Then Rosa looked at the sky and gauged that it was nearing noon. Starlight followed her gaze and nodded to herself. "Let's catch a nap. I'll stay up for as long as I can to keep watch, then I'll wake Sky to take my place."
It was a very sensible precaution. They needed to hear helicopters or search parties as soon as possible.
"I guess I'll take the third watch. We move as soon as it's dark again?" Rosa asked.
"Yes."
Rosa was ready to just curl up and fall asleep anywhere, but Sky Light went to gather up some more leaves and extended Luna's 'bed'. "Come, just like old times, right?" the pegasus invited.
She must have missed cuddling with someone while she was in that cell. Besides, even a rudimentary bed sounded a lot better than just ground, so Rosa happily joined her. She ended up stretched out right next to Luna, with Sky opting to take what little space there was left and use Rosa's belly as her pillow. That was perfectly fine with Rosa. For a while she was not sure he'd even be able to sleep, but after lying still for a minute her eyes started to close. The bed wasn't the most comfortable she'd ever been in, but with how tired Rosa felt it would do just fine.
She woke up when the sun poked through the canopy right in her eyes. Annoyed, Rosa turned her head slightly and looked around herself. Sky Light was gone from her side, but she saw Starlight Glimmer nearby, leaning against the tree and apparently out cold. For a moment Rosa worried that she'd fallen asleep on her watch, but then she spotted her pegasus friend walk into her field of view. She was apparently taking her guard duty quite seriously, patrolling like that. That made Rosa feel safer and she turned to her other side in order to give her ribs time to rest from where a boulder had been pressing against them. Funny, she hadn't even felt it when she lay down.
Rosa looked at Luna before going back to sleep and froze. Her eyes were open and she was looking directly back at her. It was not just a new state of unconsciousness, though. Rosa could see her shift her gaze to take in her whole face. "We escaped?" she whispered, voice barely audible enough for Rosa to catch.
All Rosa could muster was a nod, accompanied by a rustle of leaves under her head.
"Good."
The alicorn closed her eyes, but Rosa kept staring, heart hammering. She was awake! Or at least she had been, briefly. Maybe that meant she would be alright? Luna hadn't seemed confused or scared about her surroundings. Had she been aware all this time and simply unable to move? Just what kind of drugs had the scientists given her?! Rosa hoped she didn't mind her marehandling her to get her to drink.
"G-Good night, um, P-Princess."
Maybe Rosa was just imagining it, but she thought there was a very faint smile on her muzzle. She couldn't help but grin right back. Everything was going to be okay. She could trust this pony with more than her life. On a whim, Rosa shuffled a bit closer and put a leg lightly around the alicorn. It was not cold, but after months - if not longer - in human captivity, Luna might appreciate some pony contact.
Shortly after that Rosa fell back asleep, still smiling.