The next day, the desert reminded them of its ill intent. As they waited out the heat of the day, Apple Bloom cocked an ear. "Do y'all hear somethin'?"
The rest went silent a moment before Sweetie began bobbing her head and getting up onto her hooves. Sunflower sprang up to his paws and was across the wagon in an instant, making nary a sound. With a lightly trembling paw, he pulled open the door a crack and peeked outside. Just as quickly, he closed it. "Fire!"
Applejack tilted her head. "Fire? It's sand. Sand don't... burn."
Willow spoke a short spell and vanished from sight. "It does when they are elementals. Prepare yourselves."
Scootaloo snorted softly as she drew out her rapier. "Doubt the fire's going to bother them much."
The wagon lurched at her complaint with the sound of something striking the side powerfully. Applejack was the first out to greet their foes. There were two human-sized waves of fire, one directly beside the wagon. She crashed into the one beside the wagon, battering it with her hooves. It was just as hot as it looked, and she yanked one hoof away with some fire clinging to the fur of her ankle. She shook it out quickly with a snort.
Sweetie began to sing a song of rain from the safety of the wagon as Scootaloo flew free and joined Applejack. Her rapier jabbed into its flaming hide, drawing a crackling roar from the beast. Apple Bloom guzzled down a potion as Sunflower joined the battle. The elemental was little more than a sheet of flame. It had no front or back and no weak point that Sunflower could detect. Bludgeoning it to submission would have to be done the old fashioned way.
The flames hedged in by the party lashed out, catching Scootaloo across the snout. Besides the painful thump, which knocked her head back, the flame spread over her with supernatural speed, igniting her in an instant. She squealed in terror and withdrew from the scuffle, taking off in a run across the sand.
Apple Bloom called after Scootaloo. "Stop, drop, an' roll!" She emerged from the wagon and approached the second elemental as she swigged another potion, preparing herself to keep the creature at bay. The fire did not keep her waiting. It rushed at her and she nimbly dodged aside with enhanced physique. "Gonna have ta try harder than that!"
Applejack spun about and brought up her powerful apple buckers. The flames could not handle a twin strike, but set Applejack aflame in spite of it. It was almost as if the fire left the elemental and surrounded Applejack instead. "Ah shoot!"
Willow appeared at the top of the wagon as her spell dug out the sand out from under the remaining elemental, sending it tumbling into the hole. Apple Bloom scooted back away from the flowing sand around the hole. "Woah, cool."
Scootaloo dropped into the sand, burying herself in the hot gritty granules until the flames around her were put out. Applejack followed the example, rolling about on the ground. The heat of the sand was little compared to the licking flames she could get rid of.
Willow called down to them. "The creature is inconvenienced, not dead. Be ready to finish it off." As Applejack and Scootaloo struggled to pick themselves out of the sand, Sunflower rushed to join Apple Bloom by the pit. By the time the pit began to fill to the top with sand, they had all arrayed at the ready. The flame had lost its will to battle them, fleeing the moment it could get over the side of the pit and taking off into the scorching sands. "That also works..." Willow swung down into the wagon, and the others soon joined her.
Sweetie Belle's soft songs banished much of the pain of the fire, and Apple Bloom's potions took care of the rest. Applejack set the vial down carefully. "That coulda gone much worse. Good job, everypony."
Willow snorted softly. "You really should stop doing that."
Applejack tilted her head. "Do what?"
Sunflower flashed a bright smile. "That pony thing. We're not ponies."
Scootaloo rubbed behind her head. "Oh yeah... Sorry, just the way we talked back home."
Applejack nodded in quick agreement. "Didn't mean nothin' by it. Yer plenty fine cats."
They settled in and began sleeping in shifts until the heat faded away. When Willow moved to retake her driving position, she stopped at the door. She tore down a small slip of paper stuck to it with a dagger. Sweetie Belle tilted her head at it. "What's that?"
Willow frowned. "They found us."
Apple Bloom approached curiously. "What's it say?"
Willow surrendered the note to Apple Bloom. "They want us to give up one of our number, or they'll take everyone and everything by force. Thank the Sun King for small favors, they've given us warning."
Applejack frowned. "But why would they bother ta do that? Ah reckon they got another angle."
Scootaloo clopped her hooves lightly. "Maybe they want us to give up somepony, and then they'll attack anyway and we'll have one less pony around."
Apple Bloom blinked. "That's devious... Well I'm not giving up any of you! We can take them on if we have to."
Sweetie Belle puffed out her cheeks. "As Rarity would say, they sound like a bunch of uncultured hooligans, and I will have nothing to do with them." She turned up her nose with a small hmph.
Sunflower bobbed his head in agreement. "I won't let them take any of you."
Willow softly patted Sunflower on the head. "You're a brave little alpha cat, but you're not the largest one here. Trust in these skilled ponies to do some of their own protecting. It's time to get moving. Be ready in case of trouble." She was soon gone, and the wagon began to move, undoubtedly guided forward by her.
Their progress was shorter than they would have liked. After pushing forward for several hours, Willow thumped the top of the wagon. "Wind's picking up, and I see sand building. We may be in for a storm." There were no rocks or trees to hide in, just larger dunes. Willow joined them in the wagon and began bolting shut the small windows. "A sandstorm is no light matter. There's nothing for it but to wait until it passes."
Sweetie pointed towards the front. "What about the camels?"
Willow's expression soured. "There's very little I can do for them. They will either survive, or not. If not, we have new issues more pressing than the idle gestures of bandits. At the very least, they will be hindered by this storm as much as we are. If they planned to attack now, those plans are dashed."
Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. "Well this sucks. I bet if Rainbow was here, she'd just stop the wind."
Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo curiously. "Are ya startin' ta learn weather magic now that yer flyin'?"
Scootaloo shrugged. "Sort of. I figured out how to kick a cloud away, but I'm learning on my own." She shrank a little. "Wish Rainbow Dash was here."
Applejack snorted softly. "Can't disagree. She'd be right useful 'round these parts, 'long with the rest of the girls. Ah bet Twilight could magic us out of this predicament if she were here."
Scootaloo moved over to Applejack and pointed at her saddlebag. "Let me see her book. Maybe we could use the spell ourselves. We're wizards too you know."
Applejack nodded. "Ya got a mighty fine point there." She pulled out the book and put it on the ground. "See if ya can't find some spell that'd help."
Scootaloo flopped to her haunches and began flipping through the dense tome of magical lore as the howling of the sandy wind outside increased in pitch and intensity as the storm came rolling over their wagon. Small bits of dust blew in through the cracks, leaving wild eddies of sand across the floor. Willow stood up and quenched the lamp before replacing it with magical light. "A lamp in a closed place is a poor idea."
Applejack made it her duty to sweep the dust out with her magic, keeping the ground clear so long as she occasionally made a sweeping motion to send the dust off to wherever that spell send dirt and stains. It was quiet, save for the ever-present howl of the wind and the soft creaks of the wheels as the wagon rocked back and forth under the assault.
Scootaloo pointed at a spell. "We could summon up new horses if the camels don't make it."
Sweetie pouted at the idea. "Poor camels. What'd they do to deserve this?"
Willow shook her head. "There is a good chance they will weather through this. This is their home. They are more used to these storms than we could ever be."
Sunflower perked an ear. "How come we aren't used to this, Mom? Aren't we from the desert?"
Willow nodded. "Haven't you listened to your Grandmother? She has told the tale plenty of times. Once we were creatures of the air." She gestured with a paw at Sunflower's wings. "That is where we got those. We would go wherever the wind carried us."
Sunflower smiled. "That sounds nice. Why don't we fly much anymore?"
Apple Bloom raised a hoof suddenly. "Cause y'all like big cities and comfy cushions and stuff?"
"Basically, yes." Willow drew out a slender stick of a pipe and began packing it with some herbs. "We are more comfortable now, but less free. There is always a price to be had in all things, my son, and you would do well to learn that."
Sunflower's eyes darting to the fillies, then back at his mom, looking thoughtful a moment. "How do you know if the price is worth it?"
Willow ignited the end of her pipe with a match, lighting the herbs inside briefly before she gave a lazy puff. The smoke was sweet, rather than the acrid tang the others had expected. "That is something you learn over a lifetime of trials. What you would pay for is not what I would sacrifice for, but you will learn, I have no doubt."
Apple Bloom raised an ear towards Applejack. "Is that something ah should be learnin'?"
Applejack considered a moment. "Reckon it is. Ah made a lot of decisions, and none of them are free. Ya gotta give time, or bits, sometimes more ta get what ya want. Sweat, blood, effort. Nothing's entirely free. Even time is somethin' ya only get so much of, so... yes, ya do gotta learn what's worth paying fer and what's not."
Sweetie tilted her head. "Wow, I never thought of it like that..."
Scootaloo grinned. "Well hanging out with the Crusaders is worth the price every day!" This was a sentiment the other Crusaders could easily agree with, culminating in a group meeting of hooves and paw. With a renewed sense of camaraderie, they huddled together and waited for the raging winds to abate.