After Seedling said goodbye to his mother and cousin, we climbed back on top of Spike and once again set off on our mission. We pulled a few apples out of the saddlebags and began eating them while we talked.
“So, what exactly are we doing?” Seedling asked.
Edge responded in between bites of apple, “As you may have heard, a few days ago, the son of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was taken hostage by the Changelings. For his release, they demand the Crystal Heart. Spike the Dragon, myself, and now I suppose, you, are here to accompany the princess so that she may act as a diplomat with the Changelings.”
Seedling looked confused, “Why go to all this hassle, can’t we just send them the Heart and be done with it. It’s just a gem.”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Edge countered, “The Crystal Heart has the power to project emotions onto ponies. If the Changelings got a hold of it, they could force everypony in Equestria to love them.”
The earth pony’s confused look turned to one of fear at the prospect of the Changeling’s victory. Changing the subject, he turned to me, “So, you’re a princess, right?”
“Yeah," I responded. Of course I was, what kind of question was that?
“Don’t princesses have wings and a horn? Why are you just a pegasus?” Seedling questioned.
I thought for a moment, “Well, my father is a pegasus, and my mother, being an alicorn, is part pegasus, so it was pretty likely I would turn out to be a pegasus as well.”
“Ah suppose that makes sense," He concluded.
An awkward silence hung in the air, as the conversation was drawn to a halt. We sat there as the sun slowly moved towards the horizon, each of us finishing off our apples. In an attempt to break the silence, Edge Blade asked, “So, kid, what’s that cutie mark for? Sure doesn’t look like one for farm work.”
Seedling glanced down at his flank. Like most of his family members, Seedling’s cutie mark was an apple, but the apple on his flank was made of stone, with a chisel sticking out of one side.
“Well, Ah’m a sculptor, I guess I inherited mah mama’s artistic side. I still help out with the farm work, though, gotta keep the farm going and all that.”
“Really?” I responded, “I suppose I’ll have to check out some of your works after we come back.”
The earth pony blushed, “They’re really not that great. How about you, Princess, what’s your talent?”
My cutie mark was a simply white glowing ball. “It’s a bit complicated. You see, despite being a pegasus, my mom’s unicorn magic is so powerful that I actually have a bit of it in me. In fact, Spike also has some of her magic in him. That’s how he can send letters with his fire breath.”
Both Edge and Seedling looked at me, confused, “How does that work?” the farm pony asked.
“I can do this, for instance,” I closed my eyes and concentrated on a sort of magic I felt in my body. After a second of two, my entire body began to glow as I opened my eyes.
“Wow,” Seedling remarked in awe, “got any more tricks?”
“Well, my mom’s been trying to teach me to teleport using it, but it hasn’t been going well. I can only teleport a few feet and I always come out a little singed,” I said as my glowing began to dim.
Seedling couldn’t help but laugh a little at the thought of a slightly charred princess. The earth pony then asked the same question towards Edge Blade, “So, sir, what’s your talent?”
Edge took off a bit of armor to reveal his flank. His cutie mark was a sword similar to the one he had strapped to his body, being swung through the air. “My cutie mark represents my skill with a sword. My father was also in the royal guard, back when the sisters were in charge. He was actually very good friends with Shining Armor. He was the one who taught me how to fight, and that was when I discovered my talent.”
Seedling chuckled, “Ah probably could’ve guessed it would be something combat related. How about Spike, does he have a talent?”
Spike spoke up for the first time tonight, “No, dragons don’t have cutie marks. Although, if you asked Twilight, she probably would say my talent was delivering mail.”
I reached over to his neck, doing my best to hug the dragon. “Aw, Spike, you’re good at a lot of things. You’re a great friend, and you know my mom always appreciates having you around.”
Edge Blade remarked, “I was wondering when he would talk.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, I just need to focus on flying," Spike replied.
With that, we fell into silence as the sun finally touched the horizon. The approaching night caused the air to become cold, especially all the way up here. We grabbed a few blankets out of the saddle bags and huddled together for warmth. After a while, I began to grow homesick, realizing that my mom was many miles away. I began to think about how I might never see her again if something goes wrong. I looked towards the others, who were calmly staring out towards the sunset, and I wondered if they were thinking similar thought. Did Spike miss Twilight? Did Seedling long for his mother? However, as I looked out at the sunset, I realized that while we may be in for some tough times ahead, we’d always be in the company of friends.
After about another half-hour of flying, the sun was barely visible, and we decided to get some rest. It had been a hectic day, and we were all pretty tired. Spike flew on until we were over the nearest town. We landed there and found a couple ponies who were willing to let us rest in their house for the night. As I lay in the bed, I thought of what could happen tomorrow.