The balloon slowly returned to earth, the two pegasus ponies flanking it. Nopony spoke for a few moments, each of them trying to find the best response to what they'd learned.
Applejack, being quite practical and not fond of awkward silences, was the first to express her feelings. “Well, don't matter how far away it is. It's gotta be closer than three weeks worth o' waitin' for a potion. I say we go for it.”
“It's definitely not three weeks away,” said Dash, touching down gently on her hooves. “In fact, at top speed I could probably make it there and back in two days.”
“Now hold up, Rainbow,” said Applejack, stepping out of the balloon and trotting down the stairs. “I don't think it's a good idea for one pony to go all that way by herself.”
“So, what, you want me to round up more pegasuses?” Dash said. “I could definitely do that. Hmmm,” she pondered, “who owes me a favor... there's Red Comet, I helped him win that hoof-wrestling match with White D-”
“I thought all of the pegasi” Rarity emphasized the correct plural, “were preparing to help with the planting tomorrow?”
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. “Oh yeah, that's right,” she said.
“How did you forget?! That's what Plowpony's Day always means! The start of the second round o' Spring plantin'!” Applejack yelled. “They can't spare more than a few pegasi- more than a few of anypony for that matter!”
“So, what, you want me to go along with some earth pony?” Dash said.
“And what is so wrong with earth ponies?” Applejack growled, trotting up right into the sky-blue pegasus' face.
“Well, they can't fly, for starters,” Rainbow Dash growled back. “Zecora says Twilight's got two weeks- two and a half, if we push it. I don't want to push it. I want to get that Beneviolet as soon as possible, and I can't do that if I have to hang back and wait for some wingless pony to climb a mountain the hard way!”
“And what if you got there and you couldn't find any Beneviolets?” the orange earth pony retorted. “You ain't the gardenin' type, Rainbow; you don't know the first thing about lookin' for flowers.”
“They're bright purple, how hard can they be to find?”
“And another thing! Outside Equestria means outside Princess Celestia's magical protection!” Applejack said. “We're right at the edge of it here in Ponyville, and we still get our fair share o' monsters! Out there,” she motioned with her hoof to the west, “who knows what kinds o' horrible things are out lurkin'?”
“Oooo, yeah!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, bouncing between the two ponies. “There could be basilisks and bunyips and balrogs and even world snakes!”
“What's a world snake?” Apple Bloom asked.
The pink earth pony gave her an enormous smile. “It's a snake as big as the world, silly!”
“Are you saying I can't handle myself out there?” Dash continued, pushing her snout into Applejack's.
Applejack pushed right back. “I'm sayin' that you got a bad habit o' jumpin' hoof-first into situations without knowin' what you're getting' into! You oughta at least take somepony with you who's more careful.”
“Who? You?”
Applejack stepped back a little. She noticed all her friends were looking at her. She honestly hadn't been expecting the conversation to go this direction. Her? Leave Ponyville? Leave Equestria? That's not what she had been thinking at all! Applejack had spent her entire life in Ponyville. Except for one trip as a foal to Manehattan, she'd never traveled more than forty miles away from Ponyville in any direction. The thought of galloping off into parts unknown was... daunting. She almost couldn't wrap her mind around it. “Well... uh... maybe not me-”
“You gotta go, Applejack!” Apple Bloom said. “You'll be able to find the Beneviolets in no time!”
“I just... what about spring plantin'?” the orange pony found herself fishing for excuses. “I gotta stay behind and make sure... we were gonna be expandin' the south orchard...”
“Bic Macintosh and I can do all that, or we can wait until you get back!” the small yellow pony said, now hopping excitedly on her hooves. “Applejack, you're the toughest and most dependable pony in Ponyville! If anypony can get to the Beneviolets in time, it's you!”
“In time?” Rainbow Dash repeated. Her voice held none of the mocking superiority that should have laced it; she was deadly serious. “I don't think she can do it in time. I don't think any pony can do it in time without wings. We have two weeks, and in that time whoever goes has to get to the Archback Mountains, find the flower, and come back. That's a week to get there and a week to come back, assuming the Beneviolet is easy to find.” She glared at Applejack. “Think you can run that fast, Applejack?”
Twilight Sparkle was unsettled by this formulation. “Well... when you put it that way... maybe it would be better-”
“Actually,” Spike said, “I think I can help with that.”
Everypony turned around and glanced at the small purple dragon. They had quite forgotten he was there, and he'd helped them in that regard by remaining silent when he'd gone up in the balloon with them. “Spike, whatever do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Come on,” he said, motioning them with his arm and setting off back into town.
Spike ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him, which wasn't much faster than a fast trot for the ponies, but they obliged him by keeping pace in his wake. He led them back to the library, and then proceeded through the piled stacks of books up the staircase, leading to the room he shared with Twilight. The lavender unicorn followed him up the stairs; the rest of the ponies hung back, glancing at each other and wondering what Spike was up to.
“Spike?” Twilight called, coming to the top of the stairs. “What are you doing?”
“Just...” his voice came from deep in the room, it sounded like the closet, “looking for... something... AHA!”
He suddenly vaulted out of the doorway to Twilight's room and bounded past her down the stairs. She followed him down and out into the main floor of the library. He turned around to face the ponies, grinning. “I can give you all more time with this!”
He held up a small glass bottle with a cork stopper.
“An empty bottle?” Fluttershy asked.
“Not for long!” Spike said. He pulled off the topper, put the bottle to his lips, and breathed. A burst of gleaming fire shot into the bottle, the swirling flames quickly filling the small space. He pulled his mouth away and placed the lid on the bottle, pushing it down tightly. Then he held it up for them all to examine. The fire washed and bounced off the bottle's interior with a nervous energy. It changed color depending on when and from what angle it was viewed, sometimes appearing purple, other times bright green. “This,” he said, “is the special fire I use to send messages to Princess Celestia. She also uses this fire to send her messages back to me- she has a repository of it in the Palace of the Sun in Canterlot. I've changed the magic in this flame to make it more like the stored fire the Princess has: instead of traveling to her, it will come straight back to me. Anything that this fire burns will be sent back through my mouth, just like the letters the Princess sends from Canterlot. So if... when you find a Beneviolet, just open this bottle and make sure the fire comes out right on the flower. It'll send the flower right back here to me!”
“That means whoever goes won't have to rush to come back!” Twilight said. “Oh... Spike...” she was overcome with emotion. She nuzzled the small dragon so hard she nearly knocked him off his feet, her violet eyes blinking back tears.
Spike laughed, wrapping his arms around his friend's neck. “You're welcome.”
“That means y'all can spend the full two weeks gettin' to the mountains!” said Apple Bloom. She turned once more to her sister. “Applejack, you can make it in two weeks! You gotta go now!”
“But... I...” Applejack noticed that not just Apple Bloom, but Twilight Sparkle was now looking at her. The lavender unicorn had an eager, pleading look in her eyes; she was still struggling not to cry. But she smiled in relief as well; the thought of Applejack going on the journey clearly lifted her spirits. Applejack was surprised and humbled. How could she say no now? If Twilight has that much faith in me... “All right! I'm goin'!”
“Hooray!” Apple Bloom cried with a leap.
“Thank you, Applejack,” said Twilight Sparkle, smiling.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her rose eyes. “Fine,” she said in a low voice. She trotted up to Applejack and once more stuck her nose into the orange earth pony's face. “But if thirteen days go by and we haven't reached the Archback Mountains at your pace, I'm going to fly the rest of the way at top speed and look for the Beneviolets myself.”
Applejack nodded. “That sounds fine to me- it's probably a good idea, just to be safe.” She gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a smug look. “Assumin' you're comin', of course.”
“What?!” Dash exclaimed, drawing back. “Of course I'm coming! I have to come!”
“I haven't heard you officially volunteer...”
“Well I'm officially volunteering right now!” she cried, hovering off the ground. “I'm going to the Archback Mountains with you!”
“Okay.” Applejack looked back at the assembled ponies and Spike. “Zecora, would you be willin' to keep an eye on Twilight while we're gone?”
“At my home in the forest I must stay,” said the zebra, “but I'll be sure to stop by at least once a day.”
“Good enough,” said Applejack. “With Spike here too, I reckon two more of us oughta stay behind and help look after Twilight. That'll leave three of us to go.”
“Applejack,” Twilight protested, “I do not need that many ponies playing nursemaid...”
“Oh, Twilight,” said Fluttershy, “with something this serious, you're bound to get worse. You shouldn't be afraid to take help.”
“The Horn Rot will worsen, and strike you down. In two weeks' time, you'll do far more than frown,” Zecora added.
“Fluttershy, would you be willin' to stay? I don't mean to say you wouldn't be a help on the road, but you're so good at takin' care o' critters...”
“I understand, Applejack,” said the butter-yellow pegasus. “I'll gladly help take care of Twilight.”
“So we need one more pony for the trip,” Applejack said. She considered the remaining two choices. She sighed. “Welp, I guess you can come, Pinkie Pie.”
“Oh boy!” the pink earth pony cried, bouncing on her legs like they were springs. “A real honest-to-real adventure! A perilous journey across dangerous lands with unknown terrors! A bold step beyond the familiar and into the extraordinary!” She cocked her head and grinned. “I guess I wouldn't mind going.”
“Actually,” Rarity said, “I'd like to go- if you don't mind, Pinkie Pie.”
The rest of the group stared agog at the white unicorn. “Why do you want to go?” Dash asked. “It's not some shopping trip!”
“It is gonna be dangerous, Rarity,” said Applejack.
“Well... I know that,” Rarity said, looking not at all pleased with what she was saying. “But I feel that I must go. Twilight is in the danger she's in now because she was trying to help me. I feel I need to make it right.”
“Oh, Rarity, I said it wasn't your fault,” Twilight told her.
“But it is- at least indirectly. I have a debt I must repay, darling, and I won't be dissuaded. Besides,” she added with a smile, “nopony in Ponyville has my eye for color. I'll pick out those beautiful flowers with no trouble at all.”
Pinkie nodded. “Okay, Rarity, you can go! I'll stay here and keep the home fires burning!”
“Now that I think on it,” Applejack said, “it might not be a bad idea to have you along, Rarity. Your talents could be useful- not to mention your magic.”
“Just so long as you don't slow us down,” Dash said.
“I assure you, Rainbow, I'm more than capable of keeping up,” Rarity answered.
“Okay, then- it's settled!” Applejack stomped her hoof on the floor. “Rarity, Rainbow Dash and I will go to those Archback Mountains and get that Beneviolet, in less than two weeks!”
Twilight Sparkle smiled. Her heart was in her throat. Today had been such a wild ride of emotion- peaceful, then violent, then tragic, and now, from her despair, a flame of hope had been kindled. She was still frightened, of course; she wasn't used to placing a problem into somepony else's hooves to solve. It was always she who tried to solve the problems of others- with her magic, with her intelligence, with the knowledge she acquired through study. Now she had to trust others to help her, and if they failed, she could pay the ultimate price. They won't fail, she told herself. They're my friends, and they've never let me down before. “Thank you all so much,” she said. She looked over her friends' heads to the hole in the library's trunk, and the sunlight streaming through it. All the rest of Ponyville was out there, relaxing and having fun. She envied them. “But... I was wondering... do you think we could go back to the festival? I really did want to see it.”
Applejack nuzzled her. “Sure thing, sugarcube; I can do my packin' tonight. Let's go enjoy the sun while she's still up.”
The orange earth pony led the way to the library's door, the lavender unicorn by her side, and all their friends followed them into the afternoon light.