//------------------------------// // The Open Road // Story: Homesick // by SkycatcherEQ //------------------------------// Mmmph. A rousing glow intruded through Adagio’s eyelids, disturbing her sleepy bubble of comfort. She shifted her weight on the straw-filled floor mattress. Nuh… Just ignore it, and it’ll go away. But then… no. The damage had already been done. What remained of her comfort slowly waned as the minutes drew on, and she resolved at last to open her eyes. “Ech.” A spear of sunlight from the corner of the window struck her, and she winced them shut again. Too earlyyy, her mind groaned. She tightened the blanket around herself and nestled into the warmth behind her. In response to the movement, Sunset muttered a few unintelligible words and mirrored her back-to-back snuggle. Adagio did not want to move. Here, in her little nest, it was warm. Here, it was quiet. Here, it was just her and Sunset, at peace. But then… Mmmmh. We can’t be late. With an now-audible groan, she rolled up onto her stomach. Nuzzling under Sunset’s ear she whispered, “Good morning, love.” All she got in reply were few more grumbled syllables. A soft gust from the window caressed her neck, and she shivered with a light laugh. “I know… I don’t want to leave the blanket either.” Her shoulders and rear-end arched up into a stretch. Setting back down, she brushed her nose along Sunset’s chin. “But we do have a train to catch.” For a few more minutes, they rested quietly together as the light breeze and the songs of early morning birds drifted through the room. Sunset stirred and rolled over to face Adagio with half-lidded eyes. The two shared a tender look, and then a soft smile appeared within that ruffled drape of fiery hair. “Hmmm… Morning, beautiful. Sleep well?” “I do feel rested… yes.” Adagio closed her eyes for a moment. She took a long breath of the fresh, cool air. “Given it was my first night sleeping like… this.” She brushed one hoof down her other foreleg. “Well, we both had some new… experiences in this form last night, hrmm?” Sunset lifted her head and offered a kiss. “Mmm-hm-hm. Naughty…” Adagio sat up, allowing the blanket to slide off her back. She rolled out the stiffness from her neck and shoulders with a deep sigh. “We have a long way to go today, though. So hup-hup.” She stood up off the mattress, gripped the fallen blanket between her teeth and flung it off Sunset. “Hey!” Sunset’s wounded, scrunchy-faced pout nearly brought Adagio to a giggle. Nearly. She held fast, however, to her smug, victorious grin. “Alright, alright…” Sunset stood up off her side of the mattress and then yawned into a long, cat-like stretch. “I’m awake.” She shot Adagio a sideways glance with another pout. “Meanie…” *** Steam huffed from the train engine as the yellow pair stepped onto the platform, draped in their cloaks with Twilight walking beside them. “Are you guys excited? I mean… yeah. Of course you are. Heh-heh. That’s kind of a silly question, isn’t it?” “Hmm. Well, I thought we were.” Adagio returned her laugh. “But now, hearing you…” “I know, I know.” Twilight rubbed her hoof with a blush and a grin. “I just hope you have a good time. I really am happy for you.” She looked between them. “Both of you. That all three of us can be here right now talking like this. It’s just…” She sighed. “Well, it’s a good feeling.” “I know,” Sunset said. “Thanks for helping me do this for her.” She gave Adagio a peck on the cheek. “I’m sure Aria and Sonata will love this too. And between the two of us, there’s gotta be some tech-trickery we can work with the portal to get something closer to the water next time.” She gave Twilight a sly glance. “Already innnn progress.” Twilight held her head high with a wiggle of her shoulders. Sunset laughed. “Well then. Though I guess I’m not surprised.” The two exchanged broad grins. “And you said you had something for us?” Adagio asked. “One final thing on my list, yes.” Twilight levitated a pale disc-shaped rock from her bag. On one side was painted a red cross. “I was going over all the possibilities trying to think of some means of communication. And then… ‘Rarity’s bag!’” She passed the rock off to Sunset’s glow. “I asked her to peek inside every so often. If some kind of emergency happens, just put that in the bag. And if she sees it, we’ll know to come looking.” “That is… quite clever.” Adagio gave a soft laugh. “Now, just pray we won’t need to use it.” “I really can’t imagine you would. But… just to be safe.” “Last call! Service to Appleloosa and Dodge Junction!” “That’s us.” Sunset turned to Adagio and shivered with bright eyes. “This is it! Can you believe it?” Adagio rested her chin behind Sunset’s neck with a quiet, “Mmmm.” She lifted her eyes to the southern horizon, and then off to where the tracks curved left out of sight around the treeline. This really is it. Two more nights and then half a day, and she’d find herself once again on that shore where the three of them had emerged. What a long, strange and bittersweet circle. Brought to closure now by this one here. “It is hard to believe, yes.” She nuzzled her nose in Sunset’s mane and took a long, deep breath. With everything I am now… I love you. Lifting her head again, she gave Sunset a kiss on the cheek and pulled away with a soft smile. Hugs were shared all around, and then Twilight took a step back with a smile of her own. “Bye, you two. Be safe.” “Thank you again, Twilight.” Adagio closed her eyes with a nod. “For everything.” With scarves wrapped snug and saddlebags full, they stepped up to the loading ramp. Sunset passed two tickets to the conductor. Following his nod and a hoof toward the door, they waved to Twilight, boarded and took their seats. A thin crowd of passengers filed in over the next couple of minutes. Then with a loud puff of steam and a jolt, the train crept forward and began to gather its momentum. The quaint architecture of Ponyville soon passed out of sight, giving way to grassy plains that stretched off into low rolling foothills. Small copses of trees dotted the landscape, and the occasional pond glittered in the morning sun. Adagio gazed off to the white-capped peaks framing the distant horizon. She settled into a comfortable sigh. Sunset scootched up next to her. “Beautiful, isn’t it? So much of this is new to me, even.” She looked down at her hoof with a frown. “When I wasn’t face-deep in some tome at the royal archives, I’d be either up in my room, or walking the palace grounds, lost somewhere in my own head.” She sighed. “Or in later months, suffering through another of Celestia’s grating lectures on humility…” She leaned her head against Adagio’s and looked back out the window with a long, deep breath. “I’m so happy with where I am now.” Adagio’s focus shifted from the distant landscape to Sunset’s reflection in the window. She took in the warmth that was snuggled next to her and allowed it to mingle with her own. “It hasn’t been easy for either of us, has it?” After a moment, she chuckled. “Of course, we do have to admit almost all of it was self-inflicted…” Sunset laughed and nestled in closer. Adagio hmmd comfortably. She wrapped her foreleg around Sunset. “But like you said… Here we are now.” She and Sunset spent remainder of the short hop to Edgewood nuzzled together in relative silence. And as the train huffed on, the grassland drifting by outside their window gradually succumbed to the deeper, thicker forested landscape. *** “Oh, wow. That’s pretty.” Sunset stepped off the short road leading from the train station to Edgewood, and toward a single blue flower growing just under the canopy of trees. “Hey! Lady…” Sunset stopped in her tracks. They both turned their attention to a thin, but deep-voiced stallion walking from the direction of town. “Wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He came to a stop about twenty feet up the road. A lighter grey earth pony of average height, his dark green mane was bound near its end in a tie. “Hmm? Why, what is it?” Sunset asked. “Called poison joke,” he said, taking a few steps closer. Adagio could now make out the weathered marks of age around his yellow eyes. “Unpleasant stuff. Usually keeps deeper in, but every so often a sprout makes it out here to the road. I’ll fetch Cotter to clean it up. C’mon.” He motioned for them to follow back toward town. Adagio nodded. She and Sunset fell in behind him. “We are headed there. But don’t feel obliged to escort us. We didn’t mean to interrupt whatever you were doing.” “Nah. Just out to collect a few mushrooms.” He gestured with his nose toward the worn saddlebags over his back. “Nothin’ that urgent. Taking care of that before it spreads is more important.” “Yeah.” Sunset laughed with a brush of a hoof behind her head. “Thanks… by the way.” He nodded without looking back. Adagio puzzled a bit at the mushroom comment, wondering also about the dense trees and what other dangers might lurk hidden beneath their dark canopy. She was curious as well at the name given to the blue plant, but didn’t feel like burdening him with the question and opted for a more general one instead. “So… why build a town right on the edge of the Everfree? I’d think problems like that plant—and worse—would be a regular thing this close?” Again he nodded and then glanced back briefly. “Turns out there’s good business to be had, if one’s daring or adventurous enough. Plants. Creatures. Even some rocks. Useful properties, the lot of ’em. Collectin’s not without risks, granted.” He chuckled quietly. “But we’re a town of hardy folk here. All of us make a living round the trade, whether venturing out, or supportin’ those that do.” Rather remarkable, Adagio thought… that an entire community would spring up around the supply and demand of quasi-magical materials. And dangerous ones, at that. “Name’s Hackseed, by the way. Wager you’re passin’ through?” “We are,” Adagio replied. “Just a little sightseeing trip from here to the coast.” “Well. News from the road’s fair as ever. I’d expect a pleasant walk for you both.” “That’s good to hear,” Sunset said. She snuck a playful nip at Adagio’s ear, who cleared her throat with a sideways glance—but then couldn’t hold back a giggle at Sunset’s ensuing grin. They were met with a sound of commotion when the road rounded the corner into town. Up ahead, a pair were dragging something grey and heavy out of the woods by a rope in each of their mouths. “Eh, crud. Got another stoner.” Hackseed sighed heavily through his nose. “And it’s only nine in the morning.” “A what-now?” Sunset asked. “Cocatrice eggs,” he replied. “Highly valuable. The shells, at least. High risk with that reward, though.” He muttered something under his breath with a shake of his head. “This is my thing, y’see… fixin’ these saps. And, well… potions all around. Hope I got enough crickweed left.” Sunset narrowed her eyes and bit the side of her lip. “Hmm. How much do you use?” “About ten grams, crushed. Why?” “Well… Dispelling magic like this is kind of a thing of mine.” Her horn took on a momentary glow.” I read about a spell for curing petrification. Haven’t needed to actually use it before, but… If you have two grams left, I think I can manage it.” “Hrm. I’ll have t’check.” At the sound of elevated voices from the gathering crowd, he lifted his head over Sunset and shouted, “Yeah, yeah. I got it!” Then with a grunt, he set off walking further into town. Adagio surveyed those gathering in the square and the nearby streets. She took note that nearly all were earth ponies, with just a small number of pegasi and even fewer unicorns. Huh, she thought. That so many would risk the dangers of the forest without the protection afforded by magic certainly spoke to their ingenuity and tenacity. “Gheh. Why do they even try?” Adagio raised her eyebrow with a curious look toward the condescending voice. A quick glance back at Sunset revealed a similar expression, with her mouth slightly agape. A taller gold-coated unicorn had walked up beside them. The hood of his embroidered and ornamented cloak was pulled back, revealing a clean-cut sandy brown mane. “I mean, really…” His eyes fell to Sunset’s horn and then Adagio’s. “You fine ladies must know what I’m talking about. These dustmanes venturing off into the Everfree, of all places, with naught but sticks and hooves. What do they think is going to happen.” Adagio felt her jaw slacken to match Sunset’s. I… what? “Ahh. Smitten, I see. But of course, where are my manners.” He bowed with a glaringly rehearsed flourish, the motion revealing a jeweled-hilt saber in a gold filigree scabbard. “Gilden Pommelroy, adventurer par excellence.” He gave a cocky, winking grin. With a twitch of her eye, Adagio pursed her lips. Ugh. You pompous, overstuffed twit. If I still had my power, I’d half a mind to— Sunset cleared her throat and edged in front of her. “Hmm, you know,” she said. “There was a time when I’d have said the same. Afterall, it’s not just any unicorn who can be the close, personal protege of Celestia herself.” Adagio indulged in a smug grin at Gilden’s split-second loss of composure. Sunset gestured with a hoof across the crowd and went on. “But now. When I look around, I see… ingenuity. Perseverance. Camaraderie. Friendship.” She rubbed the hoof on her shoulder and added quietly, “Imagine yourself living three or four years without any of your magic. Can you honestly say you’d have been able to accomplish what some of them have here?” Her horn glowed for a brief moment. “We unicorns often take a lot for granted.” Gilden grumbled something and turned forward again. “Yes. Well. They should be thankful that potioneer is around to patch them up. And… ah.” He glanced over the top of Sunset and then back ahead to the crowd with a formal nod. “Hackseed.” “Goldenrod,” Hack replied through one side of his mouth while holding a filled potion bottle in his teeth. With a hrmph, Gilden turned and walked off. Hackseed placed the bottle on the ground and said to Sunset, “Appreciate the offer, miss, but I did have just enough. If you’d actually used the spell in practice, then perhaps. But… rather not take that chance with a life on the line.” “Well, when you put it that way…” Sunset grinned at him. He chuckled. “And don’t pay no mind to Goldy, there. Don’t get me wrong, the sod is good at what he does. And his results fetch a high price. But the rest of us’ve come to just ignore him, mostly.” “I was actually just marveling at what you all have built here,” Adagio said. “We’re not ‘spoiled by convenience,’ a lot of us like to say. Forces a bit of creativity in getting’ things done.” Sunset laughed and lowered her eyes. “I know what you mean. Believe or not, I… have a bit of experience with that, myself. ” “I overheard. You got him good. And without one of his quippy comebacks, I think some of it just might’ve sunk in.” He shook his head with quiet laugh. “But now…” He gestured with a nod toward the unfortunate statue. “Nice makin’ your acquaintance. If you’re wanting a late breakfast, try Honey’s before gettin’ on your way. She’ll set ya up right. Just down that street on the left.” “Nice meeting you as well. Thank you.” Adagio bowed her head. After he had picked up the potion bottle and walked off, she turned to Sunset. “And I’m proud of you. Well played, my dear.” Sunset wiggled her shoulders and closed her eyes with a smile. “Thanks. That… felt good.” “So… breakfast?” Sunset laughed. “Oh goodness, yes.” They made their way down the street to a painted sign bearing a jar of honey and a loaf of bread. Upon stepping inside, the crackling warmth from the hearth and the smell of sweet pastries hugged Adagio’s senses, bringing her to a contented sigh. There was a simple charm, she thought, to the building’s rustic interior. The walls and furnishings all appeared cut from the same weathered brown wood. Sunset stepped over for a closer look at a set meadow paintings on one of the walls. When Adagio joined her, she spotted a photograph in one of the frames of a younger Hackseed kissing a smiling cream-colored mare with a golden mane. “Why hello there. Table for two?” “Yes, please.” Turning to follow, Adagio found the voice belonged to the very mare from the picture. And while she now bore the added years of a decade or two, the same bright smile still lit her face. “I’m Honey Briar. Just traveling today?” “Mmm-hmm.” Sunset nodded. “Adagio and Sunset. Someone recommended we try the food here.” Honey hmmd softly. “And I can only imagine who that might have been.” Adagio smiled and pointed a hoof to the photograph. “My husband, yes.” She laughed with a shake of her head. “I think sometimes he’s more proud of my cooking than I am. I do hope it doesn’t disappoint.” “Well, it smells wonderful,” Adagio said. She and Sunset sat down across from one another at the table. “Breakfast crowd’s already come and gone, so what’s left is limited. Though I could make you some lunch instead.” “Whatever that is that smells of cinnamon…” Sunset said. “If there’s more of that, then ‘yes’.” She laughed, and Adagio nodded her agreement with an mmm-hmm. Honey retrieved two enormous rolls on plates and set one in front of each of the girls. After bringing two glasses of water as well, Sunset paid her the noted amount, and she again beamed her earlier smile. “Enjoy, you two.” Both of them thanked her, and the following minutes were spent indulging in their sticky-sweet mountains of goodness. Sunset laughed softly and shook her head. After a few moments pause, she asked, “Should I feel bad that some… old part of me was actually a bit envious of that shiny jerk? I mean, not about who or what he was, but more… just that ‘skilled and I know it’ superiority, and not giving two kicks what anyone else thinks?” She looked away with a grin and another laugh. “Cause that used to be me. And I do remember just savoring it sometimes.” “So I wasn’t the only one, hmm?” When Sunset turned back, Adagio tapped a hoof on her nose, leaving a spot of powdered sugar. She giggled when Sunset magicked her napkin to dab it off. “Though seeing it now…” she said. “From this side. I couldn’t help but cringe a bit—both at him, and at those memories of myself.” “Yeah… I really meant what I said to him about having the same outlook back then. I didn’t just say that to make a point.” “But, where you are now.” Adagio said. “Being able to speak from that place. I think you did manage to get a little something through to him.” She hmphd softly. “Even if he didn’t really deserve it.” “Yeah.” Sunset said. With eyes on her plate, she took another breath and her smile fell. “But then, really… did I? Or you?” “Mmm.” Adagio closed her eyes and shook her head with a soft laugh. “Touché.” Honey stopped by to refill their drinks and ask if they needed anything else. Both thanked her again and stated they were fine. “And these really are delicious,” Sunset said. “Both of you do a lot for the town here, don’t you?” “We may not be the adventurous types any more, at our age. But everypony lending a hoof around here is what really keeps us all moving along.” Honey bowed her head and offered another smile. “And thank you. Pleasant journey to you both. I hope the rest of your trip finds you well.” After she had cleared the plates and gone into the back, Sunset placed a few more bits on the table. They both sat back with contented sighs and gave each other a small laugh. A few silent moments passed. And then Adagio found herself thinking back to the framed photograph on the wall. “Sunset,” she began. “Being here… Seeing that picture, and then how the two of them are now.” She looked Sunset in the eyes and then lowered her own to the table. “It’s had me thinking back. To our first walk together. Do you remember?” “How could I ever forget?” Sunset lifted Adagio’s chin with a hoof and smiled. “Even after everything we’ve been through, that’s still one of my warmest memories for us.” Adagio kissed her hoof and looked over to the picture wall again. “That day… when our mortality finally hit me.” She sighed. “I see the two of them in that old photo, so happy together. And then still that way now, even with all those years showing on their faces… Do you think that’ll be us someday?” She looked back to Sunset and caught her drying the edge of her eye. “I’d like to think so,” Sunset said softly. She sniffled with a smile. “But we still have a lot of years—and lot of memories—to get there, hmm?” Adagio returned the smile. “Yes. And a few big ones to make this week.” She laughed quietly and stood up. “And on that note… Shall we?” Sunset laughed. “After you.” *** A number hours on hoof came and went. And as the girls walked on, the dense forested landscape fell away and returned once again to sprawling grassland. To the northwest, the snow-capped mountains with their jagged, tumbling foothills drew ever closer as the road rolled on. Over the hours spent walking, they had encountered only two travellers heading eastward. And just up ahead, a third had come into view—a grey earth pony shouldering a pair of full, weighted saddlebags. The purple-haired mare walked with an impossibly effortless stride as she approached, Adagio thought, given just how heavy her load appeared to be. “Hello,” she said, not sparing so much as a glance toward either of them as she walked by. And then, “Beautiful day,” her monotone voice added, after passing. Once they had passed out of earshot, Sunset said, “Oooh-kay.” They turned toward each other with raised eyebrows and shared a grin. But then in unison, both their eyes widened. Adagio said, “Wait a minute….” “Was that?” Sunset replied. They both laughed. “I think so.” “Yeah…” Sunset looked back over her shoulder, bringing Adagio to do the same. “Pinkie’s old farm was just southwest of us on the map. So it had to be.” Adagio shook her head with a light-hearted sigh. “The more things change…” “The more they stay the same, huh?” Sunset gave her a wink and a shoulder-bump. And for the next few hours, the sun drifted ahead of them as they roamed on, painting the sky with its deepening russet yellows and oranges. “I know I’ve said this a lot,” Adagio brought up after a while. “But I really am looking forward to this. Seeing the water again. Real, magical, Equestrian water.” Her ears perked up as a thought occurred to her. “Have you ever seen the ocean, Sunset? Here. In this world?” “Not the part we’re going to. I grew in in Vanhoover, up by the northern ocean. I only went to see it once. But I was so young that I can hardly remember.” “Hmm. Another little thing we have in common then.” Adagio nudged her nose behind Sunset’s ear. Turning forward again, she took a long, slow breath. She knew there was so much more to her own lost memories and longing. But still. This new small similarity of theirs was one she found cute in its own way. “I’ve been thinking a little about my hometown, since getting here,” Sunset said after a few minutes. “That I really should go see my parents again one of these days. I know it’s not something that’ll work for this trip, but… I’m sure we’ll be back again.” She turned to Adagio. “I’d love for you to see where I grew up, too.” “Hmm. I would like that, yes.” Sunset kissed her on the cheek and gave a soft smile. She lowered her head again. “But yeah. Everything just sort of… ended when I stormed off through the mirror. I was their only child. They did so much for me.” She chuckled once. “Maybe a bit too much, considering how spoiled and arrogant I turned out. But like that guy back there, I really was damned good with my magic. And I knew it.” She looked off ahead again, and Adagio followed her gaze to the darkening western sky. “Celestia sent word to them that I’m alright now. I asked Twilight to have her do that a while ago. But being back here again… It just feels more real now, you know?” “I do. And for me, this week, it really does feel like… returning to my birthplace. Even if I can only just get to the edge.” She lowered her eyes and shivered a bit under her cloak. “We weren’t all bad, you know. Our race, our society. Song was so important to everyone, and every part of our lives.” She laughed softly to herself. “And it's not what you might think, either, given how song works up here. More than anything else we… ‘heard’ each other in our minds. It’s not like we could read one another’s thoughts or anything, but… it was more of a directed thing. Kind of like willing your expression into those around you.” She closed her eyes and let her mind dive into that reminiscence. Her consciousness drifted to that soft white light glowing deep within the place where her song found its source. “And even without any audible sound, each of us still had our own unique voice. It was… such a beautiful thing. I really felt like I touched that again, that night Aria and Sonata finally got through to me. I can feel it again now. Stronger. And it’s been easier to touch since we arrived here, if that makes any sense.” “It does.” Sunset said. “That’s kind of how my magic feels. Like this old lost part of who I am. Something that’s been sealed away for so long. And now it’s been set free again.” “Hmm, your magic.” Adagio tussled the end of her scarf. “It’s really starting to get cold out here with the sun gone. Would you?” Sunset gave Adagio’s scarf another wrap and snugged it gently before repeating with her own. “Yeah. It is. I hope we’re getting close.” For another hour, they walked in the chill air beneath the rising half moon, shivering more and more as the heat from the day drifted off into the cloudless sky. As the road climbed into the jagged northern foothills, a faint, warm glow began to light the horizon, lifting Adagio’s spirits for a final push. With an enthusiastic nod from Sunset, they both hastened their stride up the inclining path. When the two crested into Rockridge, a flicker of firelight could be seen pouring from the windows of a large building on the edge of town. The smells of wood smoke, cider and fresh bread drifted toward them on the night breeze, carrying the promise of comfort—and the lively tune of a piano.