The party assembled at the northern gate of the city. Willow showed them to a wagon with wide wheels. "They are designed to not sink easily into the sand. See how they are more runners than wheels? They can be converted into wheels when we escape the desert. A most ingenious design that made the purrsian behind it quite wealthy."
Applejack circled the wagon curiously. "Looks mighty fine, and big enough fer all of us. But how's it gonna move forward?"
Willow moved past the wagon and gestured for them to follow. She led them to the stalls and pointed out four camels. "These are ours. Well-suited to desert travel, they don't require frequent watering. We should leave the desert behind before they are in urgent need of a drink. Are any of you skilled at handling such beasts?" When they all shook their heads, she shrugged. "I thought as much. I will handle them. The wagon is loaded with the supplies we require. I have a map of the region, at least as far as Everrain. The gods laugh to place such a wet place right beside the desert."
Sweetie tilted her head a little. "Anything we should know before we head out?"
Willow held up a finger. "One, stay in the wagon unless it is urgent. Two, tell someone before you leave no matter how urgent it is. Three, no walking around outside during the day. Four, stay quiet, some creatures of the desert can hear quite well. Five, drink sparingly, but drink regularly." She led the way back to the wagon and swung herself up into the driving position. "Son, come up here. You may learn something." Sunflower soon joined her and they started going over the basics of how to operate the wagon.
Applejack turned to the rest of the Crusaders. "Well, if ya had any unfinished business in the city, this is tha time to bring it up."
Looks were exchanged and heads shaken. No one could think of something that needed doing. Scootaloo pointed to the sands. "We're ready for action!"
Applejack huffed. "We're hopin' there won't be any of that. Boring is what we're aimin' for." She nudged the door of the wagon open. "Of course, that ain't guaranteed, so be ready, but don't go looking fer trouble, it's lookin' for us just fine as it is. Get on board, Ah'm gonna help out Willow with tha, uh, whatever those things are."
"Camels." Sweetie smiled brightly, then hopped up onto the wagon, the others not far behind.
"Yeah, those. Be right back." Applejack trotted back to the stables, soon joined by Willow. They got the camels into position and rigged up for the journey. The rigging was clearly made with clever purrsian fingers in mind, not pony hooves and mouths, but Applejack did her best to be helpful. The sand that was omnipresent outside the city got into her hooves, digging in between the sensitive padding and the outer wall. She was quietly grateful when she boarded the wagon and sank down once she was in the dim interior. With a softly spoken spell, she banished the dirt, bringing sweet relief. She sighed out and brought the attention of the others.
"Ya OK, Sis?" Apple Bloom trotted over quickly and paused as she spotted a small pile of sand beside Applejack. "What tha?" Before she could question it, Applejack made a sweeping motion and the sand was ushered out the back of the wagon, and the door closed slowly. "Huh. Yer gettin' better at that there magic."
Applejack smiled and reached out to pat Apple Bloom softly. "Ain't nothin' ah can't figure out if ah decide ah want to. Ya ain't the only one learnin'. Now hop up here. Ah'd like to be with mah sister for a while." Apple Bloom obliged her, and they curled together peacefully, both happier for the presence of the other. Applejack took quiet notice of Apple Bloom's relative size. The filly surely was larger than she last recalled. Was it time, or the strange property of coming to Everglow? Would she shrink on their return? Was her little sister just getting bigger? A soft pain stabbed in her chest as evidence of Apple Bloom's maturity lay curled beside her.
Applejack's thoughts remained in her head, not troubling the others. Sunflower had brought a deck of cards and was playing a game with Sweetie and Scootaloo. Though he was the one to introduce it to them, Scootaloo seemed to have a knack for it. She was good-natured about her victories, encouraging her playmates to give it another try. The soft rocking of the wagon and the relative quiet soon had them drowsy, but they didn't surrender so easily.
Sweetie clopped a hoof on the floor. "We can sleep during the day. We shouldn't sleep now." She glanced over at the napping Apples before looking towards her more waking companions. "How about a little friendly game of... truth or dare?"
Scootaloo giggled, covering her snout. Sunflower looked more confused. "What is that?"
Sweetie flashed her bright smile. "It is exactly what it sounds like. We take turns challenging one another to truth or dare. The challenged pony has to pick one or the other. If you pick truth, you have to tell the truth to the question. If you pick dare, you have to do what you're told. No dares outside the wagon, alright?"
Scootaloo bobbed her head and dashed off, returning with a bottle. She grinned and gave it a spin. It stopped on Sweetie. Scootaloo leaned towards her. "Truth, or dare?"
Sweetie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'll take truth."
Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "Don't be a pansy, hmm." She glanced at Sunflower, then back at Sweetie. "Have you ever kissed a colt, for real, on the lips?"
Sweetie went dark red. "No! Gosh!" She reached for the bottle and batted it, sending it spinning around drunkenly. It stopped aiming closest to Sunflower and she smiled. "Truth or dare?"
Sunflower perked his ears and squirmed a little. "Dare."
Sweetie tilted her head. "Brave, or maybe you have secrets you don't want to share." She grinned and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I dare you to... kiss Scootaloo, right on the lips."
Scootaloo darkened and her wings went out. "What?! Sweetie!"
Sunflower approached her with some hesitation. "If you don't want to, I won't force you... It's just a game."
Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. "I won't be beaten that easily. Pucker up, catboy." They leaned in towards each other with Sweetie watching with wide eyes. Their snouts met with a clumsy bump, and a brief kiss was shared before they drew back quickly and sat down.
Sweetie frowned a little. "That was hardly a kiss, but you did it. Your turn."
Sunflower grabbed the bottle and gave it a smooth spin, making it go round and round until it pointed back at Sunflower. "Uh, what do I do?"
Scootaloo made a spinning gesture. "Spin it again."
Away it went, this time landing on Scootaloo. "Truth or dare? Pick truth."
Scootaloo tilted her head. "Huh? Uh, OK. Truth."
Sunflower grinned. "Did you enjoy the kiss?"
Scootaloo punched Sunflower in the shoulder with a hoof. "Jerk!" But she burst into laughter afterwards. "It was alright."
Scootaloo spun it around, and the game continued through the evening. As the sun rose, the temperature came with it. The interior of the wagon quickly became stuffy, but not unbearably so. The wagon's rocking came to a halt, and soon Willow appeared. "We are parked in a valley, out of sight. We rest now, and resume when the heat has withdrawn." She pulled the door shut behind herself. "I'm ready for a meal." She padded across the wagon towards the supplies. "Anyone else want some?"
Dried trail rations were hardly a luxury meal, but no one refused it. As they chewed softly, Applejack asked. "About how many days ta get out of the desert?"
Willow drew out a map and unfurled it. "We're making excellent progress so far. If we're lucky, the caravan ahead of us is drawing the attention of anything dangerous. We could get out in four more days of travel. The jungles around Everrain are quite thick, so I expect three days of hard journey before we reach the city. So a week until we get some real food in us."
Apple Bloom swallowed the bit she had been grinding. "It's not so bad. Ah'm just glad we're moving. You'll tell us if a monster shows up, right?"
Willow chuckled softly. "You'll be the second to know. I hope it never comes up, but if we are attacked, I expect everyone to help. If the wagon is smashed to bits, we're all basically dead anyway."
Scootaloo waved a hoof dismissively. "We can handle whatever comes. You just haven't seen us in action." She wrinkled her snout a little. "What are our odds?"
Willow settled back against a crate. "Of what? Monsters before we reach the city? Almost a hundred percent."
Sweetie squeaked and tilted her head. "That bad?"
Conversation petered out as the meal was completed, and they managed a good day's rest. The wagon lurched ahead when the sun lowered and continued to slide across the sands. It came to a halt around three o' clock. Willow pulled open the door. "Come see."
They followed her to what appeared to be the remains of another caravan. "They didn't make it very far from the city. I couldn't say what destroyed them, but this could be us, if we are not careful."
Applejack approached the splintered remnants of a wagon, avoiding the twisted body of a purrsian baking in the sun. "Right terrible is what it is. Shouldn't we do something fer em?"
Willow softly snorted. "Bury them in the sand? A gift as fleeting as it is useless. I am guessing it was not a beast. They look stripped to the fur, and not devoured."
Sunflower shook his head. "Bandits?"
Sweetie frowned with thought. "I wonder if it was the same ones we run into when we first got here. I'm going back to the wagon." The others agreed with the sentiment. There was little else in the corpse of the caravan worth seeing, and hot gritty sand in hooves was quite unpleasant. Soon they were moving forward again, feeling a bit less safe with no caravan ahead of them to draw attention away.
Sweetie looked to Apple Bloom. "Do you think we'll make it alright?"
Apple Bloom tilted her head. "'Course we will! Heck, Ah feel kinda bad we didn't go with that other caravan. Ah bet we'da smashed those bandits but good!"
Scootaloo agreed with the sentiment, thrusting a hoof into the air. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Caravan Defenders! That would have been great."
Applejack shook her head. "Like ah said, the trouble's looking fer us. Let's not go pining the trouble we missed. Them bandits may still be out there, and they might find us. Let's just be ready."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Excellent idea. Let's go over a few plans." She clopped a hoof on the wooden floor. "I hereby call this meetin' of the CMC ta order!"