//------------------------------// // Wanna Take a Walk? // Story: A Trip to Remember // by Gallifrey //------------------------------// A Trip to Remember by Gallifrey Chapter Twelve Wanna Take a Walk? Celestia’s Sun rose brightly on the day they were set to leave. Twilight Sparkle arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to see that Luna had already arrived and was eating with Rainbow, Applejack and Big Macintosh before they left. “Mornin’ Twi,” said Applejack, as Twilight added her saddlebags to the pile next to the door. Luna looked at Twilight briefly, then returned to her food. Twilight sat down next to Big Macintosh and ate a few pancakes with them. Before long they were ready to set off, and they all hauled on their bulging saddlebags. “Come with me y’all,” said Big Macintosh unexpectedly, standing up and walking to the door. The others looked at each other puzzled, then followed. Big Macintosh led them north towards the river, and wouldn’t say why he was taking them when Applejack asked. Eventually, they reached the river banks and a raft was anchored to the shore. “My lil’ gift fer y’all,” he said simply, “will save ya a good deal of time and walking. The four mares gawked at him. Twilight was the first to speak. “Big Macintosh… Thank you so much! Did you make it all yourself?” “Eyyyup!” “You’re the bes’ big brother!” said Applejack, nuzzling him. “Don’ sweat it sis, least ah could do. Take care, all of ya,” said Big Macintosh steadily, as they got on the raft, looking at them in turn. “Don’t do anything ah wouldn’ do.” As they said farewell, his eyes lingered on Twilight for a little longer than the others, and he smiled at her. She smiled back. “Have a safe trip!” he called as he unanchored the raft and pushed it gently into the river. With Applejack as the captain, the raft flowed down the river, in the direction of the Sun. ---------------- They had been travelling for several hours, and Ponyville was long behind them. They were floating past gently sloping fields that were high with wheat and sugar canes. All around them were many buzzing insects and chirping birds, which greatly interested Luna, she didn’t see daylight creatures as often as the average pony. Twilight had her head buried in the map, keeping track of where they were. Applejack, Rainbow and Luna had been catching up with one another and what they had been doing since they last met. Luna was sympathetic towards Rainbow’s injured wing, and Rainbow was sympathetic to the Princess’ long dull nights on the throne. Luna broke apart from the other two and went to talk to Twilight, who was still looking at the map. “Yes, making better progress than imagined, we can be at Whitetail Wood by day’s end," she murmured to herself. “You know, a map is quite useless if you don’t look where you are going,” said Luna in Twilight’s ears. Twilight started. “Oh Luna, you gave me quite a fright there." “My apologies Twilight, um, how are you?” She watched Twilight closely to see if she remembered that dream or guessed that it was really her inside it. She was playing a dangerous game here. “I’m quite well, thank you Luna, how are you?” said Twilight pleasantly. “We are good, thank you… Have you been up to anything interesting recently?” Twilight told Luna about her trip in the balloon and Rainbow’s visit and her artwork. “Anything else?” “Don’t think so,” said Twilight. Luna didn’t quite believe the unicorn, but she wasn’t going to press the issue now, not with Applejack and Rainbow Dash present. She thanked herself that she was a very patient pony. She looked back at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Applejack was explaining to Rainbow Dash just how the rudder of the raft worked, having seen Rainbow looking over the edge curiously. ------------ By mid-afternoon they came to a fork in the river where it joined another tributary. Applejack steered the raft to the eastern bank and ran it into the sand after they travelled down it a little at Twilight’s request. The four ponies hopped off and looked ahead of them. They could see the fringes of Whitetail Wood, being little more than five miles away from it. Looming from behind the line of trees were the mountains. The same mountains that Twilight was painting earlier in the week. Thought Rainbow Dash as she looked up at the snow covered peaks. Gosh, they’re high. They took some water before starting; it was another hot day after all. They began walking in the general direction of the woods, across grassy meadows teeming with wildlife. Luna’s mild hay fever caused her to sneeze frequently from all the pollen in the air; something that Rainbow found inherently amusing for some reason. By early evening they were inside Whitetail Wood, Twilight doing her best not to get lost amongst the trees. The woods were very beautiful, the evening light dappled through the trees, upon the clusters of flowers around the trunks. The trees themselves were young in their years, giving the forest an ever present sense of energy and vitality, the likes of which were not seen in any other woodland in Equestria. They came to a small clearing about a hundred feet wide with soft grassy ground “Should we stop here for the night?” asked Twilight. They all agreed fervently, setting themselves down. Applejack began unpacking her tent and Rainbow assisted her. “I think your brother’s raft saved us a whole day’s travel there AJ,” said Twilight as she unpacked her own tent that she bought a few days prior. “That was mighty kind of him, and a nice surprise,” said Applejack, pegging the tent to the ground as Rainbow untied the strings. Twilight and Luna looked at their tent, and then to each other, both with clueless expressions. “We could just guess?” suggested Luna. “I suppose so.” They threaded poles through fabric, hammered pegs into the ground and tautened strings, to no avail. The tent refused to stay up. “Well lookee here Rainbow Dash, the two ponies with magic on their side can’t put up their tent!” teased Applejack. “We have never experienced camping before,” came Luna’s muffled voice from under the recently collapsed tent. Her head popped up. “We are not familiar with this practice.” “Can you lend us a hoof?” asked Twilight. “Of course sugar cube,” said Applejack. ------------- Applejack gathered some dry wood, put a pile in the centre of the clearing, and Twilight ignited it with her magic. As daylight faded, Rainbow and Luna toasted marshmallows on sticks, though Rainbow’s unfortunately burst into flames which elicited a string of curses from the pegasus. Applejack laughed heartily, she was sitting a little way off from the fire, nestled comfortably against a tree trunk. She looked down and drew a small bundle of cloth from her bag. She gingerly unravelled it, looked at the silver harmonica in her hooves and then gazed at her friends. Fireflies started glowing and bobbing serenely like living stars around them. She smiled as she put the instrument to her lips and blew. Applejack closed her eyes as she began playing a song that her mother taught her long ago. It was a sad melody about a pony who wished for longevity, only to be consumed with grief as he eventually buried his family and friends. The song had taught Applejack to be grateful for what she had, and that to be greedy will always lead to unhappiness. Her mother had always expressed the importance of morals. Of all the ponies sat around the fire, only one was looking directly at Applejack, drinking in every note she played, every bending of the reed, every slow tap of her hoof: she noticed that tears were in Applejack’s eyes again. Rainbow got up and trotted over to her, unbeknownst to the orange pony. Applejack sniffed and faltered in her song, drawing a hoof across her muzzle. She was going to dry her eyes when she felt a hoof gently touch her cheek. Rainbow turned Applejack’s head to face her, and with her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration, used her other hoof to dry Applejack’s eyes. They looked at each other for a moment, and Applejack couldn’t put her hoof on when it happened, but she felt a connection, a strong bond form to the loving pegasus before her. Rainbow saw Applejack’s eyes widen slightly as her mind started racing, piecing together many pieces of a puzzle, innocent comments, glances and moments took on a whole new meaning to Applejack as her mouth curled into a grin. “Wanna take a walk, pardner?”