It was an early start, and the five of them were ready, though it wasn't as seamless a start as the initial journey had been. While most had slept well, Rarity was already showing signs of fatigue. She was more than capable of handling herself in a quick scuffle, but endurance was a new area for her, and while she was having the sense not to complain, it was still evident she was miserable.
Applejack knew Rarity was a ticking time bomb in that area, so she kept an eye on the pocket watch Sergeant had given her. As soon as it hit ten o’clock, she spoke. “Alright ponies, next clearin’ we stop fer rest an’ water.”
It was a testament to her exhaustion that Rarity didn’t give a shout of joy. It was Rainbow Dash that spoke. “Seriously?! Come on, I can keep going! Don’t tell me you’re getting... ow!”
The cyan Pegasus rubbed her head as she saw the small stone fall to the ground. She glanced. “Who threw that?” She missed Rarity casually whistling.
Fluttershy was the first to get to a clearing. Sitting on a nearby rock, she began preening her wings. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash silently sat behind her and began doing it for her.
Rarity collapsed, not even bothering to find a good spot or tidy up her area. Breathing heavily, she pulled her water canteen out and began taking big gulps.
Applejack sat beside her and watched. “You feelin’ alright, Rare?”
“I… shall… be fine,” Rarity wheezed. She took another big gulp.
After a few more moments, the Earth Pony spoke. “Yer doin’ pretty good, Rare. Most ponies wouldn’t last this long…”
Rarity was starting to feel better, good enough to give Applejack a look. “There’s no need to patronize me. I’m quite fine, I assure you.”
“I wasn’t talkin’ down ta ya, honest.”
Rarity glared, but it melted quickly. “I know. Forgive me, I suppose this heat is getting to me.”
“I don’t blame ya. It’s hotter than a flat rock in summer.”
“You seem to be doing just fine.”
“Natural Earth Pony endurance,” she beamed. “I’m built fer this kind of thing. Addin’ in all the apple-buckin’ I do, I could run fer days without slowin’ down.” Her smile wilted. “At least back home. This heat might get me yet.”
“I seem to be the only one tired,” Rarity noted. “Even Fluttershy looks better than me.”
The Pegasus in question, now preened, was returning the favors, giving her friend the same care she had since they were schoolmates.
“It may not look like it, but Fluttershy’s in her element. She’s surrounded by all that nature she can’t get in Ponyville. Her adrenaline will keep pumpin’ until we leave.”
There was a moment of silence as they watched Pinkie stare at her reflection in the nearby river, occasionally looking at the log that was floating closer toward her.
“I… appreciate what yer doin’ Rare.”
Rarity looked at her companion. “What do you mean?”
“I know this whole mess ain’t easy fer ya. With yer sister gettin’ hurt an’ all…”
Rarity was quiet for a moment. “Applejack... will you keep what’s said between us?”
“‘Course. What’s up?”
“...After the wedding, I promised I’d put those I cared about first. I did that when Sweetie got sick and I dropped everything to take care of her. And… I failed. Trixie got as far as she did…”
Applejack was quiet for a moment, mulling over what to say. “Rare… it was that doctor. He should have been able to sense all that dark magic.”
“Yes… but I knew he was bad. I should have gotten a second opinion.”
There was silence again.
“I wonder if this is how the Princess feels.”
Rarity blinked at her friend’s statement. “What?”
“Celestia’s been princess fer’ever. Equestria’s the strongest nation in the world. But I think she took the weddin’ worse than any of us. At least we felt good enough to attend the reception.”
“I suppose.”
“The Princess had done a lot of good, but when she messes up, it’s always bad. And even though everypony but those idjits followin’ Olive Branch loves her, she always feels she’s unworthy for a while.”
“I… suppose that’s true. What’s your point?”
“I think the reason the Princess has lasted so long is because she knows how to take her failures. Whenever she messes up, it means more than a missed deadline or a lost crop. It means puttin’ ponies in danger. Even though she’s a good leader, all it takes is one mistake. I think she takes her time to cry ‘bout it, then she puts it behind her an’ moves on. No sense cryin’ over spilt milk. We just need to follow her example.”
“That’s one theory,” Rarity said. “But here’s another. What if she simply puts on a brave face in public? What if she’s just as scared as the rest of us.”
“…C-come on, you really think she coulda lasted this long by faking it?”
The cowpony didn’t seem particularly convinced.
Fluttershy finished up Rainbow Dash’s wings, then rose from the rock they were sitting on. Silently she flew toward the river, stopping only to pick up a large branch lying on the ground. Pinkie took a moment to stop watching the log floating towards her to look at Fluttershy.
“What’cha got there? Why are you carrying that stick? There’s not a piñata around… is there? Did I miss…”
A loud splash got Pinkie to look back at the river. However, all she ended up seeing was a gaping maw with two rows of razor-sharp teeth.
As Pinkie hit the ground in terror, Fluttershy shoved the branch into the crocodile's mouth. The beast, caught off guard by the intrusion, struggled to smash the branch. The Earth Pony, her heart catching up to her, realized it was the same log she had been so intently watching.
“It was just waiting for you to look away so it could try to bite you. It’s a very deadly predator if you don’t keep your guard up..”
After struggling a bit, the croc finally snapped the stick holding its mouth open. By this time, Applejack, who had recovered from any shock she had felt at the beast’s intrusion, leapt forward and jumped onto its back, wrapping her forelegs around its neck. The creature struggled, but Applejack had the superior strength.
While this was happening, Rainbow Dash flew up into the trees and grabbed a vine, ripping it away from the tree. When she had the chance, she wrapped it around the creature’s snout, tying its jaw shut.
Alarmed by this, the creature bucked Applejack off. As she landed a few feet away, Rainbow Dash was also pushed away. She attempted to move back in, Fluttershy stopped her. “Oh, don’t worry. Their jaws are strong, but once they’re tied together, they can’t get it open.”
The others looked at the crocodile and realized she was right. It was flopping around, trying desperately to free itself. Finally, it glared at the ponies before retreating back into the water.
“It just… left,” Rarity said, a bit stunned.
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy nodded. “Wild animals aren’t malicious, they’re just hungry. It decided we weren’t worth the trouble and left.”
“...Maybe we better keep moving.”
Celestia wrote a few more signatures on the papers brought before her. Trixie’s clemency, Daring Do’s research, and the Bearer’s secret missions all bounced in her head. So much going on, it was hard to concentrate.
After signing her final document, she placed her quill on the side. She checked her watch. Almost time for Luna to lower the moon. And that meant her visitor should be here.
The doors to her office creaked open. A guard peered in. "The Shaman Zecora here to see you," he said, opening the door and allowing the zebra in question to enter.
"Ah, thank you. I'm so glad you could come on such short notice."
"A summons from you I cannot ignore
Even if the task is a bit of a chore."
"So my right-hoof pony filled you in, did he?"
Zecora nodded, and she actually seemed a bit annoyed.
"The one in questioned hurt my friend,
Though I know she wants to make amends."
Celestia nodded. "She does. Getting purged of all that dark magic changed her. She's not the pony she was before. She could be a great force for good. But at the moment, I don't have the time to teach her myself. I'm only asking you to take her for a few weeks, so she can get started while I wrap up another loose end. I understand you came to Equestria for your own research, but I hope you can take some time away to help me."
"I've been given good hospitality
I can do a favor asked of me.
Trixie Lulamoon I will teach,
And we'll see how far she'll reach."
The intrepid group kept traveling, mostly in silence. Even Rarity’s sheer displeasure at all the walking she had to do seemed to evaporate after seeing Pinkie nearly get chomped in half.
The sun set on the first day and everypony stopped to sleep and eat. Passing out supplies, Applejack noted they better eat as little of the supplies as they could. Remembering Sergeant’s words on survival, they all picked fruits out of nearby trees to supplement what they had brought.
After downing a meal, quickly and without much conversation, they slipped into their sleeping bags, with Rarity taking the first watch. It was agreed that Applejack would be the only other watcher the first night, since both were used to functioning without sleep. They were used to big workloads with not much rest between them.
After about three hours, Applejack emerged from her sleeping bag and walked over to her friend. “Alright, Rare, you go on to bed. My turn.”
Rarity blinked. “Are you sure? According to the moon I still have another hour.”
“Yeah, well, I’m up now. Come on, you deserve some rest.”
The Unicorn glared at her. “I told you earlier, you don’t need to patronize me,” Rarity said. “I can handle another hour.”
“I know ya can,” Applejack said. “I also know ya aren’t used ta all this. Come on, grab some extra shut-eye, we ain’t too far from the temple.”
“I’ll be fine. You go back to bed, you’ll need all the sleep you can get.”
“Rare, I’m fine…”
“Applejack, the last time you tried going without sleep it caused a lot of damage.”
“That was years ago!”
“And we still remember it. Twilight still keeps an eye on how much work you do.”
“That gal overanalyzes everything and you know it. Now go to bed.”
“Really Applejack, are you going to insist on doing this again? Will you let me help you?”
“…You don’t need to make anything up to anypony.”
Rarity was caught off guard by Applejack’s words. The cowpony had gotten soft, her face now looking sympathetic.
“You don’t need to work harder. It… it ain’t gonna make anythin’ better for you.”
Rarity blinked… then sighed. “You know, I’m glad you told me to leave everything behind. I… I wouldn’t have been able to carry everything.”
Now Applejack was surprised. Rarity’s eyes were misting.
“I didn’t think it through, did I?”
“Rare…” Applejack wrapped a foreleg around her friend and pulled her in. The Unicorn nuzzled into her friend. Her eyes were wet, but she wasn’t fully crying.
“It was silly of me, wasn’t it? I… guess I haven’t learned much.”
“Bad habits don’t go away right away.”
“I think they should in this case,” Rarity said. “I…” She took a deep breath. “I know I need to start putting things away when it’s time to get work done.”
“Maybe… maybe I need to quit bein’ stubborn. Rainbow nearly had my hide after she found out about that rule…”
There was silence for a moment.
“Remember back before Twilight came to town?”
Rarity looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“We hardly talked to each other. The most I ever saw you was when I came in to get some work done on my hat, or when you came to my stall to buy apples. Even then, we were all business. You didn’t seem all that interested in bein’ friends.”
“Well… yes. I never looked down on you, you understand… well, I tried not to, but I simply didn’t see anyway we could get along.”
“I know. But look at us. We’re good friends now. I never thought I’d get along with you either, until we met Twi. We’ve grown over the years, and I don’t think either of us knew it until after we changed. It just kind of… sneaks up on you."
"I… suppose. What do you mean by this."
Applejack was silent a moment longer. "Change will come naturally, over time. If you're so worried about who you are, just keep in mind the mare you want to be and focus on that."
Rarity smiled. "I suppose I will."
"I know it's hard right now, Rare, but we're on a mission. We ain't got time to wallow in everythin'. I'll help you through anythin', but right now we need ta focus, okay?"
"…I suppose you're right."
"Good. Now come on, get to bed. I can take the watch."
"I suppose that does sound good," Rarity admitted. "I'll let you. But promise me you will not take a shift tomorrow night. You let Pinkie and Rainbow take theirs."
"I will, Rare, I promise."