Moving with a great deal of stealth, the blue earth pony moved about the camp in the early hours of dawn. She moved with quiet grace, her hooves making no sound, as she did not want to awaken her sleeping hosts.
Standing next to Tarnish’s saddlebags, she blinked and a blue bubble appeared around her. Then, the sword was pulled from its sheath. She did this without a horn, somehow making magic.
“Private Flamingo?” Mellonella Moth looked at the sword, her eyes wide, and her tail swishing. Her eyes perked up when she heard a yawning sound coming from the sword. Mellonella, impatient, gave the sword a shake. “Private Flamingo?”
“Commander? Is that you?”
Mellonella looked very surprised. “It is you… how did you become a sword?”
“I’m a sword?” Flamingo asked. “I thought I was a pegasus.”
The earth pony sighed. Just as bright as ever. She wondered if the sword had a dull blade. Mellonella stared at the weapon, admiring its design. “Private Flamingo, art thou still fit for duty?”
“Commander… I’m… I dunno… I’m kinda sleepy actually, can we do duty later?” Flamingo replied. The sword made another yawning sound.
Ugh. The featherbrained pink pegasus had never been all that bright, but she had been loyal to a fault. It was getting her to follow orders that was difficult. “Private Flamingo, thou art to protect my friend—”
“Mister Rusty Teakettle?” The sword bobbed up and down.
“Tarnished Teapot and his lovely wife, Maud Pie. Keep them safe,” Mellonella commanded in a forceful whisper.
“Oh, I planned to do that.” The sword paused for a moment, flashed pink, and then bobbed some more. “He’s honourable. He’s also very nice. I like him. He’s kinda handsome. I wonder if he’s married?”
Gritting her teeth, Mellonella sighed. The Knights Who Say Neigh had been a special collection of washouts, idiots, and dolts. A real test of patience. A real pain in the plot. “If thou lookest after them, thou art due for a promotion in rank.”
“Really?” Flamingo’s voice was filled with cheerful surprise. “Wait, wait… what about blood?”
“Blood?” Mellonella felt her patience slipping.
“Blood is icky. Icky things are… well... icky.” The sword waved it self around. “And the dark. I don’t like the dark. The dark is full of scary things. The dark scares me.”
A faint, soft growl could be heard in Mellonella’s throat. “Private Flamingo…”
“Right, right, sorry Commander.” The sword cleared its throat, an amazing trick because it didn’t have one. “Guard Mister Rusty Teakettle and… and… um…”
“Maud Pie,” Mellonella said.
“Oh no, I don’t like mud… that’s right up there with blood, and both of them rhyme. See, as a pegasus, I avoid the ground and mud is right out and—”
“Private Flamingo!” Mellonella squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and her whole body shook. “Guard the nice unicorn and his earth pony companion. Also, protect anypony that travels with them. Dost thou understand?”
“Um, yes?”
Snarling with frustration, Mellonella slammed the blade back into its sheath and then set it down with Tarnish’s saddlebags. She glanced around, her eyes blazing with an inner light, and then lifted Tarnish’s magic mirror out of his bags.
“Helianthus, this is Mellonella, where art thou?” the earth pony said into the mirror.
“Mellonella, I am here,” a voice in the mirror replied. “Remember your speech lessons.”
“I have found Private Flamingo. There is no mistaking that it is her. She is still, hmm, how do they say it in the commoner’s parlance… a braindead twit? It is as Twilight Sparkle said. Mister Teapot’s sword used to be a pegasus. I have given her instructions to protect Mister Teapot and his wife, Mrs. Pie.”
There was a long pause before the mirror replied, “How does a pegasus with a good heart become a sword? No matter, we’ll try to investigate that later. How are Mister Teapot and Mrs. Pie taking to life on the road?”
“I found a very messy spider cave,” Mellonella replied as she peered into the mirror to look at a white figure staring back at her. “I also spoke with a dragon named Gorgonzola.” The blue earth pony paused. “Which reminds me, thou art due for company. I have sent Gorgonzola to Canterlot.”
“Ooh… this is exciting… I do so love keeping an eye on the explorers who brave the wilds of Equestria. Their courageous hearts remind me of dear old friends.” The voice in the mirror sniffled a little. “I miss them… I miss them terribly. They braved the wilds looking for a new home.”
“Helianthus, please, do not start to cry—”
“Too late.” There was a loud snort followed by the sounds of somepony blowing their nose, and then more snorting, followed by sniffling. A faint sobbing could be heard through the mirror. “I miss my friends. All of them. It hurts.”
Sighing, Mellonella’s sides heaved like a blacksmith’s bellows. “They do not live as long as we do… hang on Helianthus, I am coming home.”
Blinking his bleary eyes, Tarnish had a look around. He yawned, wondering what time it was, and then felt the soreness in his hind legs. Too much dancing. He got up, stretched, heard his spine crackle, and then gave himself a good shake.
“She’s gone.”
“Oh?” Tarnish smacked his lips together. He was thirsty.
“She’s gone. She left behind her saddlebags and a note.”
“Hmm?” Tarnish looked around. He peered upwards and reasoned that it was close to noon. It was nice and cool for being a summer day. It would be a good day to travel, bringing them closer to their goal. “Note?”
“Thank you for being good hosts. To express my gratitude, I give you my saddlebags and all the goods therein. Thank you for being good ponies, always remember to be kind,” Maud read aloud from the paper beside her. “There is also a postscript that says to keep dancing and enjoy the stars.”
“Oh.” Tarnish heard his belly rumble, threatening to implode if something was not eaten soon. “So, uh, what’s in the saddlebags?”
“Luna~Colas, Moon Cakes with Night Nougat, some Constellation Critters animal crackers, which are really a cookie and I don’t understand why they call them crackers, and a few boxes of Cosmic Crackers.” Maud paused. “Which are actual crackers. I’ve been eating the crackers. They’re good. Salty. I like the spicy garden vegetable flavour.”
“Mmm, breakfast.” His mouth watered at the idea of an ice cold Luna~Cola.
“Mellonella was a strange pony. I hope we see her again,” Maud said.
The road had an uphill sort of feel to it. Tarnish could sense that now. They were gaining elevation. The river flowed downhill, heading towards Froggy Bottom Bogg, so Tarnish supposed that it made sense that he was going up an incline. The wagon creaked a bit more now. Soon, it would be time to grease everything again. Tarnish knew how to do it too, having paid attention when Igneous had shown him a few basic tips for wagon maintenance.
Travel was now such a simple thing it seemed. Tarnish understood Maud’s needs. Every so often, he would levitate his canteen up for Maud to drink. It was easier for Maud this way, much easier than having to stop the wagon, unhitch, head for the water barrel, get a drink, get hitched again, and start pulling. Today, not only did Tarnish give Maud water, but crackers as well, which seemed to make Maud happy. While there were no outward visible signs of happiness, such as a smile, Tarnish had ways of knowing.
Such as Maud’s promise of happy husband hugs later when they stopped.
The pair stopped when they reached a sign that said, “Switchbacks, right. Ahead, quarray eels. Maud looked at Tarnish, then back at the sign. She heaved a sigh and then began to unhitch herself.
“I guess we’ll be taking the switchbacks,” Tarnish said, not looking forward to quarray eels. Sensing something was amiss, he looked around, but didn’t see anything. Maud was now sitting on a rock, staring off at the switchbacks in the distance.
“Um, something is wrong.” Tarnish began to feel kinda stupid.
“Yup. We’re on the east side of the river. The switchbacks on are the west side.” Maud lifted a rock, hefted it in her hoof, and then sent it skipping across the river.
“There is no bridge.” Feeling stupid for certain now, Tarnish said nothing else.
“No bridge. It’s gone. It seems as though it has been washed out.” Maud skipped another stone. “Magic sword or no, the quarray eels will eat us. Which means we must cross the river.”
“Oh bother.” Tarnish began to wonder how they would do that. The river wasn’t too deep, but it was swift and full of rocks. “How do we do that?”
“Well, hmm.” Maud fell silent, leaving Tarnish fretful and wondering. After some time, she shrugged. “You know what, it isn’t so bad, because you’re here with me. If I was alone, would it would have meant carrying everything across one thing at a time and then hauling the wagon over, pulling it through the river. But you can help me move stuff… in fact, you can keep everything dry, which is something I might not have been able to do on my own.”
“I’ll get right on it… you… you just sit there and rest. Pulling the wagon through swift, flowing water is going to be hard work.” Tarnish trotted to the back of the wagon, looked around, and made a plan. There were trunks, supply boxes, gear boxes, sample boxes, a spare set of saddlebags, all manner of stuff. It was time for a magical workout.
“You… you’re like the best husband ever,” Maud blinked at Tarnish, her ears splayed out sideways. “I get to sit here on a warm rock and watch you while you get wet… mmm, this is turning out pretty good so far. I think I’ll get a box of crackers.”
Hefting up a trunk, figuring he would take care of the heaviest things first, Tarnish made his way to the river’s edge. He stopped, trying to figure out the best path through the river. It wasn’t too deep, but the stones were bound to be slippery and the water was fast.
He set down the trunk on the ground, unhitched his saddlebags, set them down, and placed his pith helmet atop them. He lifted the trunk again, puffed out his cheeks, and plunged into the river. He wondered where the bridge went. In no time, he was up to his neck in water. The wagon was going to fill with water, making it difficult to pull. Tarnish wondered if Maud would be able to do it. Reaching the other side, a waterlogged Tarnish pulled himself up on shore and then set down the trunk on a flat patch of ground.
One down, many more to go.
“Okay Tarnish, pay attention, this is important.” Maud placed her hoof under her husband’s chin and lifted his head so she could look into his blue eyes. He had some nougat on his lips. “The empty wagon is going to float a bit. You’re going to need to tie yourself to the back of the wagon and mind the back end so the water doesn’t pull it away and me with it. I’ve done this on my own, but this is safer.”
“Oh… I think I understand.” Tarnish nodded. “The front end is anchored with you, but the back end could get lifted up and carried with the current.” Tarnish’s eyes widened. “That does sound dangerous.”
“You are not an earth pony, which has me worried. Your hooves aren’t like ours. If the wagon starts to lift away, I’m afraid that you could get tugged along with it, and maybe slammed into rocks. So be careful. I’ll be hitched in, so I will not be able to save you.” Maud tapped her hoof beneath Tarnish’s chin, a soft, tender gesture of affection.
“Eh, we’ll be fine.” Tarnish gave Maud a smile.