Neverfree 2
"I'm telling you, we've passed that tree already! Give me those instructions!"
"Are yah kiddin'? Yah almost led us right off a cliff!"
Tempers were flaring and Ash was dealing with his barely any better. Still, he managed to keep his peace as Applejack and Rainbow Dash bickered like an old married couple on a road trip. His limited patience was reaching an end however.
"Give me that!"
"Hey! Ah said let go!"
"That's it."
Swiftly, Ash snatched the parchment out of the jaws of Applejack and Rainbow with his magic. He shook it a bit to remove what ever drool that had not completely soaked into the paper.
"What's tha' big idea?" Applejack growled, rubbing her lower jaw. Rainbow Dash did the same, glaring at the Unicorn that had interrupted their impromptu tug-of-war.
Ash gave the instructions a quick examination. There was a small tear and some teeth marks but thankfully nothing obscuring Twilight's directions. At least, he assumed they were still legible.
"Rainbow Dash is right. We've actually passed that tree five times already." He pointed at the crooked thing that may have once been mistaken as an oak. On its trunk were three long gashes. "Speaking of which..." From his saddlebags (still borrowed, still purple) he pulled out a rock and ran it across the tree, peeling off a chunk of bark. A fourth gash joined the other.
Applejack grew red. "Well, why didn' yah say anythin'?" she said, holding on to what remaining pride she had. "Coulda saved us all a heap of trouble."
"Who cares?" Rainbow scoffed before Ash could explain or admit that the way the farm mare intensely glared at the paper holding the directions was rather intimidating. "All that matters is everypony knowing who should be the one holding the map."
"We don' have a map," the orange Earth pony grumbled quietly.
"Uh uh." Ash pulled the instructions away from the Pegasus as she reached for the still wet parchment.
"Oh come on. You know I didn't mean to lead you guys off a cliff."
"You were laughing."
"Yeah, after I saved you. What? Pinkie was laughing too."
"Sorry. You're too reckless and keep getting ahead of everypony. And sorry Applejack, but, well..."
"S'all right. Ah know Ah ain't the exactly the sharpest when it comes tah directions," grumbled Applejack. "But yah can't read them instructions. Whose gonna lead us?"
Ash sighed. "Pinkie Pie?" he called reluctantly. "...wait, where's Pinkie Pie?"
Applejack's eyes grew wide in alarm. "Yah don' she got lost, do yah?"
"I'm sure she fine. Just doing Pinkie Pie things." The shaking in Rainbow's voice undermined the confidence she attempted to convey. "Probably laughing at some tree stumps or something. She probably just waiting for us at Zecora's right now. Right?"
Ash shook his head. With a sigh, he approached a nearby tree and carefully shredded off a large piece of bark. Setting the bark to the side, the Unicorn gathered some fallen dry leaves and a sturdy stick.
"What are yah doin'?" Applejack asked. Like Rainbow Dash, the farmpony's trembled as she struggled to keep her nerves checked and under control.
"Starting a fire," Ash explained as he arranged the dead leaves on top of the tree bark. A faint grey light covered the stick and set it perpendicular to the bark and the ground. Gritting his teeth, the Unicorn spun the stick, slowly at first, then more quickly as he got used to the action. Pretty soon a small flame began to eat away the leaves and tendrils of smoke snaked up into the sky.
"Um, beg yer pardon, but Ah ain't too keen 'bout setting camp here."
"Yeah, it's not even night yet," added Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus looked up into the dark canopy overhead. "I think."
"I'm not doing it for the fire," Ash said. "I'm doing it for the smoke. Even if she doesn't see it, Pinkie Pie might smell the smoke and realize we're here. Where there's smoke there's fire and where there's fire, there's people. Or lightning." He tossed in a few more leaves and continued to rub the end of the stick against the slab of bark. "Hopefully Pinkie'll have the sense to know that at least there are people, or ponies, here and not lightning and make her way here."
"Hey, that's pretty cool," said Rainbow, clearly impressed by Ash's ingenuity. "Where'd you learn how to do all that."
"Skills from another time, another place. Normally I'd just shoot up a flare or prepare a tracking spell but sometimes you can't rely on magic." The Unicorn grew quiet as his attention returned to the little fire. "It's an old technique. I was taught by...an old..." He trailed off and shut his eyes only to leap up and curse as he brought his hoof too closely to the fire. "Skills from another time, another place." he muttered as he sucked on the burn, more to himself than to anypony. Both he and Rainbow Dash were silent and found interest in the dirt or on their hooves.
"Uh, hate tah interrupt anythin' important," Applejack said after a few minutes, "but yah said something about yer plan havin' tah do with Pinkie Pie and havin' sense?"
"...It's not a perfect plan," Ash admitted, adding a few more leaves to feed the flames. "It's not even a very good one but it's a lot better than splitting up and looking for her. I'd rather not risk someone else getting lost."
"Lost? Did somepony get lost?"
The tiny flame bursted into a towering inferno as Ash lost control over the fire. Amid the grey Unicorn's swearing and Rainbow and Applejack's alarmed exclamations, Pinkie wiped the soot off her face and let go of the tree branch she hung upside down from.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow cried. "Not cool!"
The Earth pony giggled. "So who's lost? Wait, lemme guess...is it, Applejack?"
"Sorry Pinkie, Ah'm right here."
"Is it...R-"
"Pinkie, I'm right here."
"Um..."
"I'm not lost either. No one's lost," Ash quickly said.
"Oh, okie dokie then. Are we having s'mores?"
"Hold on. Where were you?" Ash asked as Pinkie produced a large pack of marshmallows. "What were doing in that tree?"
"Oh, I found some leftover candy from Nightmare Night in front of the Nightmare Moon statue thing." She stuck her tongue out and grimaced. "Bleh, milk duds."
Ash rubbed his forehead around his horn. "You got distracted...by candy?" He turned to Rainbow Dash and Applejack for support, for some anchor of reason or understanding. Their shrugs were not encouraging.
The Unicorn groaned. "Pinkie, please, we can't afford to get separated like that. We need to stick together as a group. We all thought you had gotten lost."
"Aw, that was gonna be my next guess." Ash raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, of course not. That would bad if somepony got lost but then we'd get to have search party-"
"As long as we have an understanding." Ash smothered the dying embers. "Let's get going."
"And we're off!" Pinkie cried as leaped into the air and struck a pose on a makeshift pedestal.
"Please get off my back."
"Wait a sec," Rainbow quickly interjected. "You never told us what you were doing in that tree. What the hay were you up to?"
"Oh that," Pinkie shrugged. She sled off Ash and landed in a pile of leaves. "Well, after I ate all that candy, my tummy began to growl. Not the hunger kind of growl but the kind when it's upset. So I-"
"We can hear this some other time," interrupted Ash as he swung his saddle bag over his back. "Right now we have places to be and I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd like to leave this place as soon as possible."
"Okie dokie! But first I've got to drop these leaves off at Zecora's. She told me she needed them for tea."
The saddlebag fell with a loud thud. "...Wait, what?"
"Well, after I ate all that candy, my tummy began to growl. Not the hunger kind of growl but the kind when it's upset. So I went to Zecora's to see if she had anything for my stomach 'cuz her house was nearby. Like really close. I saw you guys walk pass it twice. i even waved! And guess what? She did! Then I told her that we were all coming for a visit and then she asked me to get these leaves in stacks so she could prepare some snacks. Um..." Pinkie paused to think, her head tilted to the side. "She also said something about wishing she had time to clean a bit so her house didn't look like a pile of-"
The rest of whatever Zecora had said was cut off by the echoing thwacks of a skull dulling itself against wood as Ash attempted to bury his head into a tree.
*****
"Ah, Applejack, hello and hi," Zecora greeted cheerfully. "And of course, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."
"Hey Zecora," Applejack said in response. "How've yah been?"
"The forest is company poor," the striped equine answered with a hint of sadness. "I wish you ponies would visit more."
"Ever considered moving?" Rainbow asked. "Ponyville's a thousand times cooler than the Everfree Forest."
"Dangerous it may be and many nights I feel alone," admitted Zecora. She turned behind her and glanced off into the deeper parts of the woods. "But it is the place for me and so here I make my home." She grin mysteriously. "But I forget; I must be a gracious host. Pinkie, do you have the leaves? They will go well with our almond roast."
"Little early in the season for almonds, isn't it?"
Zecora turned. A grey Unicorn materialized out from the beneath the shadows of the overhanging trees. "Ah, who is this? Who is this pony I have missed?"
"Oh, right, Ah forgot. This here's named Ash." Applejack gestured toward the stallion who nodded in confirmation. "Ash, this is Zecora."
"Meeting new ponies is always a pleasure. There is joy in my heart that knows no measure."
"Uh, likewise, I suppose," the stallion replied. He blinked several times.
"Pst." Rainbow Dash nudged him in the back. "It's not cool to stare."
"Oh, uh, sorry." Ash tried averting his eyes.
Zecora chuckled. "First time seeing a zebra, I see?"
"Y-yeah."
She chuckled again. "It is fine. Many pony stare when they first see me. It's not often you see a pony as striped as can be. Then again..." Zecora smiled. "I'm not your average pony."
In a world where coats of blue and red were common, Ash still wasn't sure what was an average pony. Still, it was obvious Zecora was not. She was, well, the only way to describe her was exotic. The striped pattern across her coat, her black and white mane that somehow defied the forces of gravity, the unusual marking on her flank, all of it added to the air of mystery she seemed to expel. It reminded Ash of the Elves. Comparing a regular pony to a...what did they call her?...zebra sure felt like comparing a Human to an Elf; similar but with some innate, unexplainable difference going beyond appearance.
/Arlrand was also a master at potions.../
"Are you alright, Ash?" Zecora asked. "You look as if something wicked has come to pass."
"It's nothing," the Unicorn said. "Anyways, I apologize for staring. It was rude."
"As I've said before, don't worry. But it gladdens me to hear you are sorry. But what are we doing? Let us go inside." The zebra led the way to a hollowed tree. It reminded Ash of Ponyville's library. "Please don't mind the smell; I left some herbs to dry."