A Trip to Remember

by Gallifrey

Dragons and Wolves

A Trip to Remember

by Gallifrey

Chapter Sixteen
Dragons and Wolves

Rainbow felt well rested when she woke up the next morning. She could feel warm air on her face. She opened her eyes and found that her face was less than an inch away from Applejack’s; not that she minded at all. She lay there for a time, watching the earth pony slumber, with a sweet smile on her face. She twitched and accidentally head-butted the pegasus.

“Easy girl!” said Rainbow, rubbing her forehead.

Applejack stirred and shifted to lay on her back, her long golden hair covering half of her face up. Rainbow leaned over to gently move her mane out of her face. then set about getting ready for a new day. She sat up and cracked her joints, then picked up a comb and began brushing her hair. She crept outside to clean herself in a small stream. She put a hoof in the water and immediately withdrew it- it was icily cold.

I wonder if anypony would notice if I didn’t wash? She asked herself, looking around. She decided to just brush her teeth and leave it until tomorrow.

“Geronimo!” came a voice from beside her as an orange blur ran straight into the water, drenching Rainbow Dash in cold water. Rainbow yelped and felt her breath catch in her chest.

“Applejack!”

She dived into the water and playfully wrestled with the earth pony, much to Applejack’s delight: she loved play fighting with Rainbow Dash.
The loud splashing sounds had woken Twilight and Luna, who began packing up, watching the two ponies in the water for entertainment. Applejack eventually managed to pin Rainbow down at the water’s edge.

“Gotcha!” said Applejack in triumph.

“Fine, you win this time AJ,” said Rainbow as they made their way back to camp, dripping wet, “though don’t expect me to go easy on ya next time!”

“Pffft, whatever you say Rainbow,” said Applejack.

Rainbow reached into her bag and threw an apple at the earth pony. Applejack caught it in her mouth.

“You’ll haveter fo berrer than tha’ sufar coobe!” she said as she munched on the apple, winking at the pegasus.

----------

“Do y’all hear that?” said Applejack suddenly.

It was mid-afternoon and they were walking across the plains that lay between the mountains and sea.

“Hear what?” asked Twilight.

“I swear ah can hear like a swooshin’ noise or somethin’,” said Applejack, pausing to listen.

“Hey, I can hear it too!” said Rainbow.

Luna looked up at the sky and saw the source of the noise rapidly approaching.

“GET DOWN!” she yelled.

“Why?” said Rainbow, turning to look up but getting pulled down by Applejack not a moment too soon as a very large something swept over them.

Rainbow turned her head to see a dragon banking to the left to approach them again.

“What do we do?” asked Applejack.

“Run!” shouted Twilight.

It was a futile attempt to try to escape a dragon by running, but they didn’t have a choice. He caught up with them in no time at all and landed in front of them.
Twilight thought it looked rather small to be a full grown dragon. It had golden scales, silver belly and horns, and a canvas bag that it wore over its shoulders. It looked down at the frightened ponies.

“Good afternoon,” he said in a deep rumble.

“Oh, you’re a guy!” said Rainbow. “I thought you were a girl!”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked indignantly.

“Excuse me,” said Twilight, cutting across them, “but aren’t dragons supposed to be vicious? I mean, I’m glad you don’t seem to be but I—”

“I am different from ordinary dragons, I’m friendly to ponies and other creatures, and they like to pick on me because of it.”

He lowered his head to show the long, vertical, dark gold scar he had over his right eye.

“Oh goodness, that’s terrible!” said Twilight, “What is your name sir?”

“I am Incandus, and I would like to ask how I may help you, if there is any help I can provide, that is, Twilight Sparkle.”

“How do you know my name?” asked Twilight, surprised.

“From your little scaly friend.”

“Spike?”

“Yes, he met me during the dragon migration; we were both on foot, me so the other dragons didn’t target me, and him because, well, he can’t fly- anyway, we keep in touch and he let me know that four ponies would be around these parts about now, so I flew out and here you are! Now, back to the topic at hand, may I help you with anything? I have some tasty stuff you may like in my bag.”

He rummaged in his bag and held out some large bottles.

“Apple juice perhaps?”

He looked at them hopefully.

“Apple juice sounds mighty fine t’me!” said Applejack enthusiastically as he handed it them.

“Wonderful! Maybe some emeralds? Oh… yeah…” he said looking at the incredulous faces of the ponies, “ponies, not dragons. How about…” He pulled out some firewood. “You won’t find much wood that’s good to burn on these plains.”

“Ooh, thank you, I was wondering how we were going to make a fire,” said Twilight.

He searched through his bag again and pulled out something that made all four ponies’ eyes light up.

“Flowers?” he said.

“Yes please!” said Rainbow, drooling slightly. “Honeysuckle! Oh wow, I haven’t eaten honeysuckle in months!”

“I’m so glad you like it!” said Incandus happily.

“Thank you very much for these nice gifts, can you also thank Spike for us too?”

“I certainly can, I’m happy to be of help, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.”

“Thank you, have a great day,” said Twilight.

“You too Miss Sparkle, and all of you, farewell!”

They were buffeted as he took off into the skies.

“What a pleasant fellow,” remarked Luna as they continued on their journey.

--------

They set up camp on the plains that evening. Thanks to Incandus they didn’t have any problems finding firewood or food.
After dinner, Rainbow and Applejack said something about ‘getting an early night’ and slipped into their tent together, leaving Twilight and Luna alone by the crackling fire.
The alicorn got up as the Sun set on the western horizon so she could raise the Moon. She faced the east and bowed her head, closing her eyes as her horn began to glow. She felt the connection she had with the Moon and dragged it up above the horizon. Twilight watched as the perfect circle rose above the horizon, looking many times bigger than usual.

Should I show him to her? Thought Luna, looking at the unicorn sat alone by the fire, then back to the Moon. Why not?

Luna took a deep breath then sang a short, otherworldly tune that sent shivers down Twilight’s back.

“Luna, why are you—”

She cut herself short after the alicorn raised a hoof. Twilight could hear a faint howling noise on the night air.

“Wolves!” she squeaked, “Luna, we can’t be out here with wolves.”

“Twilight, there is nothing to fear, you’ll see,” said Luna calmly.

Twilight looked to the east and saw a shimmering silver something running towards them from under the Moon.

“What is that?” asked Twilight.

“That, Twilight, is Lupa.”

“Lupa?”

“My pet wolf.”

“Your pet… wolf,” said Twilight weakly.

The silver wolf padded up to them and sat next to Luna. Twilight noticed that he was translucent, glowed pure silver and twinkled like the stars. The unicorn had never seen anything quite like it.

“Do you like him?” asked Luna, stroking him fondly.

“I… He’s quite something, Luna, but how um… where did he come from? I’ve never seen a wolf like this before.”

The unicorn was having a hard time not leaping to her bag and taking notes on Lupa’s unique appearance.

“We created him, a long time ago, from moonlight and starlight as a companion for me, not unlike Philomena for Celly, though there are wild phoenixes. Lupa is my oldest friend beside my sister, aren’t you?” she said as she ruffled his fur and he licked her face.

Twilight approached the wolf, curious as to what his fur felt like. She nervously extended a hoof and gently patted his head and he closed his eyes in contentment.
His coat felt just like she expected, like ordinary fur, except that he was icy cold to the touch.

“He’s a most curious animal,” said Twilight, still petting him, “why have I never heard of him before now?”

“I don’t go showing him to just anypony, very few know he exists- he prefers it that way.”

“I feel honoured then that you have introduced me to him,” said Twilight happily.

Luna whispered in Lupa’s ear. He nodded and vanished into thin air.

“What did you say?” whispered Twilight, not sure why she was doing so.

“Watch the Moon,” murmured Luna.

Twilight sat down and looked at the large, luminous orb hanging low in the sky. For a few minutes, she saw nothing, but then she noticed a dark shadow began to pass over its face.

“Luna, is that what I think it is?”

“Maybe,” said Luna mischievously. “Would you like some tea Twilight? This will take a while.”

----------

An hour later, they had their tea and were now snacking on honeysuckle. The Moon had become covered in shadow and began to turn blood red.

“Luna, it’s beautiful! Is that how lunar eclipses work then? Does Lupa help with it?”

Luna smiled at the inquisitive mare.

“To a degree… We all know that lunar eclipses happen when this land passes between the Sun and the Moon.”

Twilight nodded fervently to show that she did know this.

“But of course the Moon turns red while in shadow, that is Lupa’s contribution. We are not sure why he chooses that colour, I’d prefer it to be a nice blue, but I can’t get him to change his mind.”

She shrugged and turned to Twilight.

“I didn’t know that, that’s fascinating!” said Twilight enthusiastically.

“And I’d thank you not to mention it to anypony else Twilight, as I said before, Lupa likes to remain elusive and unknown to the general population.”

“Of course, Luna.”

They sat in silence together for a few minutes, looking at the Moon.

“Um Twilight,” said Luna, nervous to change the subject of conversation. “About the other night…”

“Yeeesss?” said Twilight, wondering where this was going.

“I just wanted to apologise if we have made you feel awkward around me at all or anything.”

Twilight looked nonplussed.

“Awkward? Luna, as far as I’m concerned, nothing has changed between us.”

Luna looked into Twilight’s eyes.

“You really mean that don’t you?”

“Every word.”

Luna smiled, then it faltered.

“Maybe I am destined to be alone,” she said, more to herself than to Twilight. “The fates seem quite keen to isolate me from the rest of Equestria. I spend most of my waking hours alone, I even spent a thousand years alone with nothing but rocks for company.”

Twilight felt sympathy to Luna’s situation.

“Luna, I know I can’t really say anything seeing as I can barely even imagine what it must be like to be alone for so long. But look at where you are now: you have friends, friends who care, friends who you are now camping with, sharing an eclipse with a friend. Can’t that be enough?”

Luna considered Twilight’s words thoughtfully.

“I suppose… it is…” she said slowly. “In fact, it definitely is! I love my friends dearly.”

“And we love you Luna.”

A wide smile grew on her face and Twilight opened her arms. They shared a hug together under the crimson Moon.

“You’re right Twilight, I’m not alone.”

---------------

Twilight consulted the map the next morning and was pleasantly surprised when she discovered where they were.
“We can reach the sea by day’s end!” she announced.

“Hoooo-wheeee! How long ago did we set off again Twi? Ah lost count.”

“Only five days as it turns out, the raft really gave us a great head start,” said Twilight.

The plains behind them, the four ponies were now walking over low, sloping hills as they gradually approached the sea. Applejack began a game of who would see the sea first, which eventually led them to be almost running to the top of each hill to try and win.

“I see it, I see it!” shouted Rainbow excitedly the nineteenth time she did this.

Out of the four, Twilight was the only one who had never seen the sea before; she sprinted to the top of the hill, eager to see how it compared to her imagination. At first she was unsure where she was supposed to be looking.

“Where is it?” she asked, confused.

Rainbow pointed between two hills. There was a small blue triangle that almost blended with the sky.

“Is that it?” asked Twilight, disappointed.

“It is fer now,” said Applejack, “but believe me Twilight, it gets a lot more purdy than that when you can see all of it.”

“We can’t be more than three miles away now,” said Rainbow encouragingly. “Hey, AJ, think ya can beat me to the edge of the sea?”

“It’s on!” said Applejack, with a determined frown.

“Three, two, one, GO!” shouted Rainbow, and they tore off, leaving Twilight and Luna in a cloud of dust, chuckling at the two ponies.

“Come on Rainbow! Gotta try harder than that to keep up with these dancin’ hooves!” called Applejack from in front. The earth pony looked behind her to see a distinct lack of blue pegasus. Rainbow Dash had decided to take the longer, but less tiring route of running around the hills instead of running direct like Applejack. “Consarnit, how do I know if ah’m winnin’ or not now?”

She gritted her teeth and ploughed ahead.

About half an hour later, the two exhausted ponies had made it close to the sea, they were still neck and neck though now they were barely running faster than walking pace.

“Ah’m… Ah’m still gonna beat y’all,” said Applejack breathlessly.

“My legs feel like they’re gonna fall off,” groaned Rainbow.

“Ya could just give up?”

“No! I wanna beat you!”

They made their way down to the white, sandy beach, the soft sand sapping even more energy out of them. Stumbling forward, they reached the water’s edge and simultaneously collapsed.

“Who won?” panted Applejack.

“I dunno…” replied Rainbow, her tongue hanging out as she tried to get her breath back.

“Ah’m so tired.”

“Me too.”

They turned to look at each other and started laughing.

Rainbow managed to stand up, albeit weakly. She moved closer to Applejack and sat next to her. Applejack sat up.

“I like racing with you like that,” said Rainbow.

“Ah, know you do sugar cube.”

“I really like it.”

And with that, she moved closer to Applejack and kissed her deeply. Applejack surrendered to the moment, enjoying it immensely.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” said a voice from behind them.

Comments

[Solar Flicker]

Interesting.

[Moonbrony]

Oo, I wonder who that is? Another great chapter! Loving how well Applejack and Rainbow are getting on and glad to see Luna is slightly happier, even if she isn't getting what she wants (yet?) from Twilight.

[BlueEricsson]

Ohoho, mystery voice! Excited for next chapter, though something tells me Luna still has something for Twilight...

[GeorgeGGeorge]

OMG awesome chapter. Loved the wolf, hehehe. ^^ Really sweet!
I'm kind of sad seeing how Luna feels lonely... even if she has friends...
And who is that mysterious voice?? O.o

If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna read Lupa's part again.