The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A New Way to Travel

"So this is a Vardo?"

Trixie gave the large caravan an appraising look as she trotted around it.

After a quick breakfast, each of the fillies, Ancient Scroll, Yojimbo, and Rouge had packed up a few of their belongings and made their way back to Yojimbo's house in town. Ancient Scroll had managed to park the Vardo just outside before the events of last night.

"Trixie admits, it is one of the largest wagons she's ever seen," Trixie conceded, stopping in front of the Vardo's entrance, "but aside from that it doesn't seem like anything special..."

"Then why are you ogling the thing like a present on Hearth's Warming Eve?" Sunset retorted as she trotted around to get a better look herself, "and it's not a wagon, it's a caravan."

"Trixie doesn't see the difference," the azure filly replied with a huff, "it looks like a wagon, just... bigger."

Sunset just shook her head and trotted over to talk to Rouge.

The caravan itself was indeed very large -- the walls, roof, and back door were made of a sturdy dark brown wood. It had two smaller window on each side and two lowered swinging doors in the front that led to a small raised platform with a wooden railing just outside -- the opening covered by a large vanilla colored curtain.

There were four giant spoked wheels, a chimney on one side near the roof, and no place to hitch a pony in the front, much to the fillies initial confusion.

"The difference between a wagon and a caravan," Twilight explained, trotting over and sitting next to Trixie, "is that a caravan is exclusively made to be lived in while you're on the road, hence the larger size."

The lavender filly looked from Trixie to the Vardo with an anticipatory grin.

"I talked to Uncle Scroll about it before he went to the market," she continued, "he says there's some kind of old Runic enchantment that makes it so that the inside is bigger than the outside!"

"Really?" Trixie asked, her brows raising in sudden awe. She looked back to the caravan with newfound respect, "Trixie may have spoken too soon..."

Twilight nodded and clopped her hooves together in excitement.

"From what Uncle Scroll told me, It's already furnished with different things, like beds, a bathroom, a kitchen, and even a small sitting room with a shelf to put books!"

"Well then why are we still out here?" Trixie asked as she stepped closer to the Vardo's door, "Trixie wants to see the inside for herself!"

"Trixie, no," came Sunset's stern voice, "Uncle Scroll said to wait until he and Yojimbo got back with the supplies."

Trixie turned to face the approaching orange filly with a scowl.

"Oh come on," Trixie complained, "a single peek won't hurt, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset went to argue, but Twilight spoke first.

"Can we please just take one look, Sunset?" Twilight begged as she stood next to Trixie, "I really wanna see the inside."

Sunset looked between Twilight and Trixie's pleading faces and groaned in annoyance.

"Fine," she relented, "but only if Rouge agrees to come with us."

"It's fine with me, little one."

Sunset jumped slightly and rounded on the cat with narrowed eyes -- doing her best to ignore the two giggling fillies behind her.

"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?"

"I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Rouge replied with an innocent smile, "now let's get a look inside shall we?"

Rouge stepped behind the caravan and opened the door in the back. Twilight squealed with glee and she rushed inside with Trixie right behind her. Sunset and Rouge both follow after them in a more relaxed manner, though Sunset's eyes widened in wonder at what she saw inside.

When Twilight had mentioned that the Vardo was bigger on the inside, that had been no joke. The back door opened up to a thin sort of hallway with three doors on either side and an open space where the stove and the rest of the kitchen was. Twilight and Trixie were already throwing doors open to see what was inside.

"Twilight, Sunset!" Trixie cried, poking her head out of one of the rooms, "there's an entire bedroom in here, and it's almost as big as the one back at the cottage!"

"And this sitting room is only a tiny bit smaller than the study!" Twilight called back from inside the room, "the bookshelf is huge and it's built into the wall!"

Rouge chuckled and headed further in to check out the kitchen area. After taking a peek into the other rooms, Sunset decided to take a look at the bathroom. As she opened the door, she was slightly disappointed to see that the bathroom wasn't anything particularly fancy compared to the rest of the Vardo.

It was rather claustrophobic really, with a toilet, a sink and nothing else. Honestly Sunset didn't really know what else she was expecting. With a shake of her head, she closed the door and trotted over to the swinging doors in the front.

She stepped out onto the raised platform and looked over the railing with a frown. Usually there was some kind of harness to hitch a pony to the front so they could pull the wagon or caravan, but Sunset didn't see one anywhere.

"This caravan is a marvel."

Her ear gave a surprised twitch, but Sunset didn't otherwise react to the soft voice behind her. Rouge quietly walked out and stood next to the filly as she mused aloud.

"Yeah," Sunset agreed, still not taking her eyes off the ground, "it kinda reminds me of the cottage actually."

The Abyssinian hummed and nodded in response.

"From everything I've seen so far, this Vardo is worth far more than we paid for it," Rouge said, staring out at the rest of the neighborhood with an amused grin, "I honestly cannot fathom how that crotchety old griffon could've parted with this for such a paltry sum -- not that I'm complaining of course."

"Where's the harness?" Sunset asked, turning to the Abyssinian, "how are we supposed to move the thing if we can't pull it?" she furrowed her brow, "for that matter, who here is even going to pull it?"

Rouge chuckled at Sunset's questions and flashed her a knowing smile.

"The old one removed the harness entirely," she answered, "according to him, we won't need it."

"What?" Sunset replied with a bewildered expression, "what does he mean 'we won't need it'? How are we supposed to move it then?"

Rouge tapped her chin thoughtfully, as if deciding whether to answer the question or not. Eventually she shrugged and turned back to the curious filly with a smirk.

"I'm not very familiar in the ways of unicorn magic," Rouge explained, "but apparently Ancient Scroll can cast a spell to make things move on their own."

Sunset frowned in confusion for a moment before raising her brows in realization.

"Of course," she said, slapping a hoof to her face, "of course he'd think to use a Come-to-Life spell, but wait..." she frowned again and looked back towards the inside of the Vardo, "in order for that spell to work, you'd have to give a basic set of instructions. After that, it's out of the caster's hooves until they cancel the spell."

She turned and stared at the railing, furrowing her brow in thought.

"It could work for this type of thing," she muttered, "but given what's it being used for, it wouldn't be the most ideal solution. Maybe he modified the spell somehow?"

Rouge shook her head and left the filly to ponder the old stallion's magical methods. She walked back into the caravan just as Twilight stepped out of the sitting room muttering to herself. The look on her face as she trotted past was so similar to Sunset's that the molly couldn't help but laugh.

The laughter snapped Twilight out of her musings and she turned to look at Rouge in confusion.

"What's so funny all of a sudden?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, little one," Rouge replied as her laughter died down to small chuckles, "I'm just beginning to realize how similar you and Sunset Shimmer can be, that's all."

"Okay?" Twilight responded with an uncertain raise of her eyebrow, "well anyway, is Trixie still in the bedroom?"

"I'm not sure--"

Their conversation was cut off by a loud snore that the closed door beside them did nothing to drown out.

"Are you serious?" Twilight groaned in exasperation. She pushed the door open to reveal an empty room save for four cots spread haphazardly across the floor.

On one of those cots was an azure filly splayed lazily across her stomach her mouth open and drool hanging from her mouth. Rouge stepped inside after Twilight and smiled at the display.

"That is one of the most adorable things I've ever--"

Another loud snore ripped through the room and the Abyssinian ear twitched slightly -- her warm smile turning to a deadpan frown.

"...Nevermind."

Twilight shook her head and snorted in annoyance.

"Trixie!"

"GAH!"

Trixie snapped awake and looked around, blinking in confusion. Her gaze settled on the amused cat and unamused lavender filly in the doorway. She stared at them for moment before putting on a sheepish grin.

"Is it time to go yet?"

Twilight sighed and was about to turn and trot back out of the room when she heard Sunset call out from the platform outside.

"Uncle Scroll's back!"

Rouge and the three fillies headed for the back door and stepped outside to greet the old stallion and husky.

"Oi!" Ancient Scroll called out, grunting with the effort of holding several heavy looking bags in his magic, "could use some help here!"

Yojimbo walked towards the Vardo, with two large wooden boxes in his massive arms with seemingly no problems whatsoever.

"Honey we're home!" he called out to Rouge, "did ya miss us?"

Rouge ignored the husky as she grabbed some of the bags out of the Ancient Scroll's bright green field of magic.

"I let the--" Rouge gave a surprised grunt of her own as she took the bags from Ancient Scroll "--I let... the little ones into the caravan... while you were out," she adjusted the bags in her hand and let out a heavy sigh as she and the old stallion made their way back to the Vardo, "I hope you don't mind."

"Nah, it's... fine," Ancient Scroll grunted, "figured they'd wanna... take a look before I got back... anyway."

"What are you slowpokes waiting for?" Yojimbo yelled from up ahead, "we ain't got all day!"

Ancient Scroll and Rouge looked ahead to see the husky waving to them with a smirk as he leaned against the side of the caravan -- the three fillies rummaging through the boxes on the ground next to him.

"Give us... a minute... Yoji," Ancient Scroll called back, "we're not all musclebound meatheads like you are."

That just made the old dog laugh out loud.

Rouge shook her head and sighed as she followed Ancient Scroll.

"This is going to be one interesting trip..."

Author's Note:

A Vardo was supposedly a super fancy caravan used by the British Romani back in the day. I decided to make it (arguably) even more fancy here because why the hell not? If they're gonna travel across the country, they might as well travel in style, right?

Anyway, just one last stop before they head out on their Road Trip of Destiny!

Comments

[Midnight Moon]

As far as caravans go, they're going to be living in luxury.

[eddiehowell]

"I talked to Uncle Scroll about it before he went to the market," she continued, "he says there's some kind of old Runic enchantment that makes it so that the inside is bigger than the outside!"

It's old British sci-fi magic

[Akwolfgrl13]

Why do i wana ship roge and yoji? Lol who knows

[Mx Story Anomalax]

I'm hoping there will be many heartwarming moments along this journey, or at least interesting adventures that aren't all dark and sad. I need a break before more of the stress. I'm hoping this story has a RELATIVELY happy ending, but I'm not betting on it.

[katarjin]

Any more musical references and I will have to call this Jo Jo.

[the7Saviors]

9066214
Really? I'm only aware of the one I blatantly put earlier in the story.

[The Cynical One]

9066377
Is this real life? Or is it just fantasy? Guh, caught in this landslide no escape from reality. Just, you know, open your eyes. Look up to the sky and see that these references need to stop!