"Ah... Little Skywalker.", the queen of Changelings thought to herself as she observed the young knight through her orb as she slouched on her sofa, "You're almost all alone... The fellowship is broken. The suspense is terrible... I hope it lasts.".
She took a sip from her wine before regrettable saying, "A pity I can't see the pink weirdo anymore, she was amusing.".
"That's Pinkie Pie!" the youngest Apple sister said gaining the attention from the queen, "Aww... We'll miss if she bursts into song!" Sweetie Belle complained. Chrysalis rolled her eyes, the fillies working on her nerves, "But, for now, I can see you... Little Skywalker." she said turning her attention back to the orb.
The night had fallen, knowing that they wouldn't make much progress today, Skywalker and Fluttershy made a camp fire eating some of the snacks the gang had packed. All this time, Skywalker hadn't said a word, he kept staring at the fire. His face didn't show it but Fluttershy knew what Applejack said to him had touched a nerve. This was one of the problems he had, he will hide it when he is hurt as best as he is able, making it harder for his friends to notice or help him. "So..." Fluttershy said, breaking the silence, "No parents huh?". She didn't got an answer, but she knew he was listening. "I think you may have been too harsh.".
This got his attention, he ripped his gaze from the fire, "What do you mean?", he asked sending her a glare. "Think about it." Fluttershy said, standing up and sitting down next to him, "Rainbow, McGrath, Pinkie, Griffifth, Rarity, Sutakira, Applejack, Phoenix, Twilight and Big Mac are out there all alone... With no map! They could be lost!", she explained and much to her surprised, she saw his calm mask break, she saw some regret in those amber orbs. "Well... Maybe... I feel a little sorry... " he said slowly, turning his gaze back to he fire, "For Dashie and Griffifth... and Pinkie!" he added quickly.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Fluttershy told him, "Even if the few were being big jerks?" he asked her not turning his gaze away from the fire. "Even then. We need to look past this and work together to save those fillies!" she said, as Skywalker let out a deep sigh. "I guess your right. I can't believe we all got so angry..." Skywalker said closing his eyes, suddenly he smelled fresh flowers and something hairy rubbing his face. Opening his eyes he saw that it was his yellow friend, nuzzling her head against him, he thought it was weird but not unpleasant. "Me neither..." she said, not noticing the blush that had appeared on his cheeks, "Well except for McGrath, he's always angry. You ever wonder why?", she asked, she was surprised by his chuckle. "Well, he himself doesn't even know. But he once thought of being happy." Skywalker told her, gaining a puzzling look from her, "What happend?", she asked tilting her head curiously. "It made him angry..." Skywalker said, both of them broke out in laughter. She hoped that moments like this would prove to him that even though he had to look like a god to Equestria, he could still be himself when he is with friends.
After their laughing died down, he pulled the glass orb out of his pocket and studied the map for any possible meeting points.
"Were are you keeping that orb?" Fluttershy asked curiously while looking over his shoulder at the map. "Hammer space, or in other words, my ass." Skywalker said, his tone back to his usual calm tone, making it difficult for her to determine if he was serious or not. "It looks like there are only a few path trough the forest. If none of them turn around to go home, we should meet them in the valley just outside the gates of the Changeling Kingdom." Skywalker informed her, before placing the orb back into his pocket and stretching his back, "Anyways, lets get some z's.", his companion agreed as they lay down on the floor. "I bet everyone is just so upset about being separated. I bet right now, they're all wondering how we'll get back together and be friends again. You'll see." Fluttershy said to him before trying to fall to sleep. But she found this difficult, it wasn't really cold, but it wasn't warm either.
Fluttershy started to shutter because of the cold, suddenly she heard someone walking towards her. Next thing she knew, she felt like a blanket was placed over her. Turning around she saw that Skywalker had taken off his jacket and placed it over her. She looked over at him trying to thank him but found that he was fast asleep. "He's cute when he sleeps." she noted but let out a small squeak at what he said next in his sleep, "Your... Cute when... You do... anything...". Her face became as red as a tomato, she took one big whiff, his scent filling her nose before falling asleep.
Meanwhile at camp McGrath, Rarity, Phoenix and Applejack. The guys were returning from finding some fire wood for the camp fire.
"And then I said... wow." Phoenix didn't finish his story, the girls would find a place to sleep tonight, they meant a cave or something but instead they found themselves at a medium size tent. "So what do ya guys think." A smirking Applejack asked as she peeked out of the tent.
Entering the tent, they found three beds, a sofa, a kitchen table and a small hot tube.
"This is kinda cool." McGrath admitted as he place the firewood next to the stove, before walking over to the hot tube, touching the surface with his finger tips he found its temperature quite pleasant. "McGrath, Phoenix, be a dear and wipe your feet before you enter the tent." Rarity said as she levitated their dinner to the table, "We wouldn't want dirt all over our nice clean floor.", she said as surprising to Phoenix and Applejack, McGrath took his sneakers off.
Phoenix rolled his eyes sitting down at the table, "Diva, We're outside. In the forest. The floor is dirt." he told her pointing at the floor.
Rarity scoffed taking a seat of her own, and turning her gaze away from him, "Just because we're 'roughing it' doesn't me we need to live like a bunch of ruffians!" she said before turning her gaze back to the group, "Now wash your hooves or hands and come! We dress for dinner around here.".
Applejack leaned over, "How do ya survive her, McGrath?" she whispered to him, quickly looking between him and Rarity. "A lot of aspirin, AJ." he answered in a whisper.
Meanwhile at camp Griffifth, Big Macintosh, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Griffifth use his claws to chop down trees as Big Mac load them on his back to carry back to camp.
"That should be enough." Griffifth said shifting his biomass back into his normal hands. Big Mac nods as they make their way back to the camp. "Does it hurt?" Big Mac said, gaining his companions attention, "When those claws come out, does it hurt?". Griffifth placed his hands in his pockets, "Not really. You see these claws don't come out of my hands like a cat. I simply reshape my biomass into claws, completely painless." Griffifth explained, gaining a nod from his big red companion. "Is that normal in your family? I mean almost everybody in my family has something with apples." Big Mac asked, gaining a puzzling look from Griffifth. "Everybody?".
"Well almost everybody. I believe I have a distance uncle who works on a rock farm but we don't really talk about him." Big Mac told him, gaining a nod from Griffifth. "I see. As for your question, no." he explained.
"Don't you have sibling with your abilities?" Big Mac continued, making Griffifth look to the stars before turning his gaze back, "I have a little brother. We don't talk much."
They arrived back at camp and to their annoyance they saw that the girls were still trying to start a fire with some tweaks. "How are you supposed to even hold on to the sticks to make the fire when you don't have... Um... Those things the guys have?" Rainbow asked her pink friend. "Fingers?" Griffifth said taking the fire wood from Big Mac's back and placing it in the burning pit.
"No... That doesn't sound right." Rainbow told him, making Griffifth pinch the bridge of his nose, "I bet Jason, started fires with his Heat Vision." she said as Big Mac took over trying to make fire. Not a few second later, a small fire sprang up thanks to Big Mac, stallion wonder.
"Yay! We have fire! Want me to sing a song about fire? I can!" Pinkie told them before taking a deep breath but Rainbow quickly placed her hoof on her mouth. "No! No more songs! You've already sung three today!" the blue pegasi begged.
After Pinkie calmed down, the group sat around the fire eating their dinner. "You know what bugs me?" Griffifth said as he took a bite from his protein bar, "The more I think about it, I think those Changelings are behind our fights with each other." he said gaining a contemplating look from his companions. "Yeah!" Rainbow said after a while, "None of them would ever say anything bad about ME!", this resulted in another bridge pinch from Griffifth. "Those Changelings really are going to get harder to beat as we get closer." Pinkie noted before getting an idea. "So here's the plan." she explained, gaining the attention from the group, "Next time we face the Changelings we all wear costumes of ourselves! See?" and out of nowhere she pulled a mascot size costume of herself out of nowhere! He, it's Pinkie, nobody can explain Pinkie.
"Where did you even get that!?" Rainbow asked as her mouth dropped open out of amazement. The group was even more surprised by her answer, she had it with her the whole time. "What about physics!?" Griffifth said in confusion. Pinkie smirked at him, petting his head, "Physics? Bitch, I'm a pony.". This made him roll his eyes, "It's going to be a very long night."
Meanwhile at Chrysalis evil doom lair of doom, her spies are reporting what they saw the heroes do.
"Ah, the Fussy, the Grump, the Country and the Verbal Tic make the oddest pairing. Ha!" Chrysalis said in a chuckle. "If I hadn't been watching the pink weirdo for hours, I would think you were making that all up..." she admitted to her guard who could only shrug, "Yep... Me too." he admitted.