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1. Justice has wings1,820 words
2. Ponies help ponies1,887 words
3. Horseward bound2,764 words

3. Horseward bound

The effect was almost instantaneous. One second, the ponified trio could see nothing but hard, silver metal. The next, pure light, somewhere between green and blue. And then... trees. Everywhere, trees. As Wind Rusher and Riverdeep took in their new surroundings, Ramble Gaze sat still, her chant growing steadily louder.
"Ithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkica- Oh I did it!" Wind was dumbstruck. "You did wh- What did you do?"
"I was trying to tell you." River explained, smiling. "Unicorns can teleport. She just... poofed us out of there! It really is like the show!" Wind was starting to feel sick of big surprises. "Teleported us? To where?" Ramble got up from her sitting position. "Well first I was concentrating on just not being there, then I started thinking about how cold it was in that room, which made me think about how I always wanted my dad to take me skiing, but he only took me on business trips, so this must be Zaleski forest! I teleported us to Ohio!" Wind inhaled deeply. "Okay, sure. Why not? The power to zap us three states away, under the control of the craziest not-person I've ever met." He muttered loudly. "Uh, none taken." Ramble snorted. "Besides, This is good! We're closer to the safe spot!"

"Wait, you have a safe place for us?" RiverDeep, who was previously staring into the forest, looked to the purple unicorn with a flash of hope. "Actually yeah," Wind inquired. "We should talk about that. I mean, where is it you're trying to take us? Ramble was inspecting some moss on the ground, seemingly not listening. "Well you know. Somewhere, Indiana," She said. "No, not good enough." Wind reprimanded. "Where in Indiana?"

"I told you, somewhere. I have a friend who can help us out. And if we're done arguing, Indiana is northwest from here, which should be-" Ramble pushed of the ground, gracefully pirouetted on her hind hooves, and landed on her muzzle. "-This way!"

And with that, the purple Pony trotted off into the woods, not waiting for more questions. Wind gave a concerning look to Riverdeep, who just smiled awkwardly and followed.

"Hey, I'm a little confused about something." Wind spoke to the green mare as he reluctantly began walking. "One thing?" She countered, smirking. "Well okay, I'm confused about everything that happened in the past two days," He admitted. "but this is something you can answer. Why does a CIA agent know so much about a show for kids?"

"It's a show for everyone, actually. As for why, you could call it a comfort thing. You see a lot of bad things working for the CIA. Corruption, Terrorism, Human rights violations, and that's just some of my coworkers. And when I watch My Little Pony, There's just this wholesome presence around everything. Seeing them all live in harmony, It gives me hope. Reminds me what to fight for." She smiled Wistfully.

Wind swallowed nervously. "Well, with all respect, I think you're reading into it too much."

Riverdeep scoffed and shoved Wind, knocking him off his balance. "Okay, dream crusher! what's your problem?"

"He's a grump!" Ramble Gaze called from further ahead.

"I'm not a grump!" Wind Rusher called back. "I'm just a healthy skeptic!"

"Big mean grump of a stallion!" Ramble continued. "You know I tried to tell him what abilities he has, and he just didn't pay attention? Total cranky doodle donkey!"

Sighing, Wind fell to peer pressure. "Ramble, I'm sorry. Please tell me about my... abilities."

"Well you know, basic stuff. You can push clouds, you can sit on clouds, you can shoot lightning... If you're standing on a cloud. Most of your powers are cloud-dependant, to think of. Of course, you got wings, which means..." Ramble Gaze dragged the last word out, leading Wind on like a kindergarten teacher.

Wind Rusher stumbled at the implication. "I... can fly?"

"You can fly." Riverdeep confirmed.

"He can fly!" Ramble sang in a bout of Peter Pan style whimsy-ness.
"Okay, that's completely impossible!" Wind protested. "I can accept being able to glide with these," He flapped his blue-tipped wings to emphasize, "but these are not big enough to lift me on their own!" Ramble snorted. "Yeah, If you care what humans think is possible. I say if you've got wings, fly with them, and to Tartarus with the physics!" River put a front hoof to her mouth, stifling a giggle.

"Oh, that's right, you too", Ramble Gaze continued, taking a moment to clear her throat. "Super strength."
"I have super strength?" River pondered. "Maybe just really, really strong," Ramble pondered also. "It's not, like crystal clear, but-Oh! can we try something?" River lifted an eyebrow at that. "What kind of thing?" she cautiously inquired. Ramble seemed intensely focused on her green companion, perhaps uncomfortably so. "Just go and touch a tree."

"Um, alright." River stopped her trot when the next tree was close, and put a front hoof to it. "So Ramble Gaze, Is something supposed to happe- ooo." She paused, as if listening for something. "This tree... Is 86 years old... slightly dehydrated... has a leaf beetle problem... and Wind is standing on one of its roots."

"Oh, Sorry." Wind responded, stepping forward a little. "What?"

"Plant communication!" Ramble Gaze cheered. "So, that settles it. I'm like Dr Strange, Wind, you're like Thor, and River is like Nature Girl... mixed with She-Hulk. Ohhhh, We're like superheroes! we need a team name!"
"We do not need a team name." Wind protested.
"A team name couldn't hurt." River mediated.

"OkOkOk," Ramble bounced a little, her face a portrait of refined concentration. "what if- no, better than that. how abo- we cou- no, no, yes, no, I got it!"

Ramble Gaze jumped and span in mid-air, raising a hoof and pointing in the direction they were headed.

"We are... The New Equestrians!"

Wind started walking past her. "So how old were you before the horse condition, exactly?"

Like pioneers, they traveled. Trudging through clearings, climbing over hills, sneaking under bridges. Stopping only to remain unnoticed by humans, they walked till the sun was high, and kept going.

"-And I was super lucky that her mom was a doctor, otherwise that could have been it for me. And that's why I don't eat canned food anymore. Oh speaking of eating, you two hungry?" The other two ponies shot a glance at each other. "No, not at all. That story was disgusting." Wind Rusher said, turning his head back to Ramble Gaze. "I've heard worse," Riverdeep countered. "and I could eat."

"Ok, Great, cause this is another great thing about the so-called "Pony condition." Ramble glared at Wind for a moment. "the world is our buffet!" She demonstrated by bending her neck down and munching on some flowers she had stopped by. "I'm not eating flowers, especially not out of the ground.", Wind complained again. "Ramble snorted a little, craning her neck behind her. "Would you eat them in a house? Really though, flowers are a important part of your diet now. Delicious, Nutritious, and really funny."

"How are they funny?" Wind Rusher impassionately groaned.
"Yeah, how?" Riverdeep genuinely asked, cantering forward and giving the flower patch a tentative sniff.
"Think of it like this;" Ramble began, resuming her nosh. "You like this girl, right? And you're walking to her house to meet her, and oh look, a flower stand. You buy some roses for her, she loves roses! So you knock on her door, she sees the roses, and just eats them. Right there on the doorstep. Peak comedy."

River let out a small titter. "Ramble, don't be funny while I'm eating, you'll make me choke. flowers are good though. Like a salted watermelon."
"You think so?" Ramble replied. "I thought a bit more tangy."

"HELP! HELP ME!" A voice called off in the distance. Quickly, the pointed ears of all three ponies swiveled to the direction the noise came from.

"Oop!" Ramble Gaze exclaimed. "Okay gang, no more food, gotta save that human!"
"You are insane!" Wind countered. "The whole time we've been doing this, we've had to avoid other people because they'll lock us up and do Celestia knows what, and now you want to- WHO IS CELESTIA! STOP SAYING WRONG THINGS!" Neither River nor Ramble were listening to this self-berating tirade, and had already galloped off to the source of the noise. by the time Wind Rusher caught up, the two mares were standing on a small cliff, which dropped down into a lake.

Where a small girl of about 6 or 7 was frantically splashing.

"What do we do?" Ramble Gaze asked coolly. "What do we do? This was your idea!" Wind snapped.
"I've never done anything like this!" Ramble turned to him, her stoicism gone in an instant. "I know we're not the lake lifeguards, were just the only creatures here right now, and it's a little scary, but we have to save her! River, any ide- River?"

Riverdeep had jumped of the cliff, dove into the water, and was now swimming towards the girl. From their vantage point, the Pegasus and the Unicorn watched in astonishment as the green Pony wrapped a forearm around the girls shoulders and began swimming to the shore. "We need to help." Ramble Gaze said, thinking. "Wind! you can fly! Fly over and pick them up!"

"B-but I've never flown before! I don't know how!"
"Mr. Rusher, I need you to look at me. can you feel the wings on your back?"
"Yes?"
"Spread your wings out. feel the wind on your feathers"
"I feel it."
"Forget everything about real world physics. Magic is real and you can fly. I wanna hear you say it."
"Magic is real and I can fly?"
"Say it like you believe it!"
"Magic is real and I can fly!"
"Yes! River and that little girl down there need you to fly over and pick them up. So GO, NEW EQUESTRIAN!"
"YES!" Wind Rusher galloped to the cliff-side, leapt off the edge...

...and instantly sank like a ton of bricks.

Panting and shaking, Wind Rusher dragged himself onto the shore of the lake, where Riverdeep was waiting with the girl, who was staring wide eyed, back and forth between the two of them. The mare looked at the stallion puzzledly, then shot him a smug grin. "You tried to fly, didn't you?" He sighed. "I really thought I could do it." River frowned, and was about to speak again, when a man's voice called out from the trees.
"Molly? Molly?!" Before River or Wind could find a place to hide, a man with a hiking backpack stepped onto the shore. It took the man a few seconds to realize what he was looking at. "Molly," he spoke slowly. "What are those?"
"Daddy!" The little girl cried, leaping up and running into her fathers arms. "The Pony saved me!" The man held his daughter, still staring at the ponies. Wind shrank under his eye, but Riverdeep stood tall. "Sir, not to bad-mouth your parenting abilities, but you should keep your child under better supervision."

Stumbling, the man was hesitant to respond. "No o-offense taken. You saved her." The man put his daughter down and extended his hand to River. "I'm David Langstrom. If you need anything, I'll do my best to pay you back." River lifted a front hoof and bumped it against his knuckles. "I'm Riverdeep and that's Wind Whistler. Saving Molly was no trouble, but... would you mind giving us a ride to Indiana?"
"Not yet though," Wind spoke up. "We still don't know exactly where. We've gotta pick up an acquaintance of ours."
"A friend of ours." River rebutted.
"Let's say associate."
"Aw, C'mon! that's worse than acquaintance!"

"No, you don't understand!" Ramble Gaze stated. "if today is the 21st, then we were teleporting for 8 days, but for us it was instant! I can't even begin to grasp what that could mean! Is that just the trade off for traveling so far? Is my magic defective? Does this mean time travel is possible, but only in the least convenient way?" From the other side of the dinette booth, Molly stared blankly. "Can I scratch your ears?" Ramble thought for a moment. "You can, but if I don't like it, you have to stop."

Meanwhile, the rest of the group were all sitting at the front of the RV, David behind the wheel and Wind and River sharing the passenger seat. "The three of you used to be humans?" David remarked. "It's not contagious, is it?" Riverdeep laughed, then slowly trailed off, while Wind Rusher looked out the window nervously. "Enough about us. What were you and Molly doing in the forest?" David sighed. "This was her Moms favorite place to go hiking. I thought it would cheer her up after..." River stood on her hind legs and put a hoof on David's shoulder. "Can I talk to her?"

"Oooooh, It's like your fingers are made of magic..." Ramble Gaze lay prone on the booth table, as Molly scratched her ear. "Hey girls," River said, approaching the two. "Ramble, can you give us a moment?"
"Ah, of course" Ramble hopped off the table and made her way to the cockpit. "ask her to go for the back of the neck" she whispered to River as she passed. River climbed on the seat next to Molly and put a hoof on her knee. "I heard about your mom," she spoke softly. "Is everything ok?" Molly frowned, and started stroking Rivers head slowly. "I don't know why she had to die. I really miss her." River nodded. "My dad died when I was 17. One day I woke up and he was just gone. I learned how to live without him, but I don't think I'll ever stop missing him."

Molly was crying silently, and River was starting to tear up as well. "Sometimes," Molly sniffled, "I have dreams where she's still alive, and when I wake up, I just wish I could live in the dream. Do you ever have dreams about your dad?" Riverdeep nodded, snuggling her head into the crook of Molly's neck. "I think... if your mom or my dad are out there somewhere, then dreams like that are signs that they're thinking of us." Molly hugged River around her torso, and as they held the hug, a small flash of light burst around River's flanks. As the light subsided, River noticed that now her flanks were adorned with an image, three water drops on each side.

"What was that? Are you Ok?" Wind Rusher galloped to the dining table, With Ramble Gaze following close behind. As she caught up, Ramble gasped in revelation. "Holy hayseed, River! You got your cutie mark!" Riverdeep's shrieked in excitement. She leapt down from the table, kicking her hooves wildly. "Omigosh, Ican'tbelieveit, thisincredible, Ihaveacutiemaaaaaaark!" her enthusiasm was infectious, causing Molly to cheer, Ramble to applaud, and David to quickly look back to see what the noise was. Wind, however, was again at a loss. "Um, congratulations... Ramble, what is a cutie mark?" Ramble stopped cheering. "Oh yeah. Well, they're kinda like... Y'know what, I'm sick of explaining things. Molly, you're a kid, you've got a tablet, right?"

"This makes no sense at all! These readings are clear, but the source is... this just can't be right!"

Luckily, Molly did have a tablet, and Wind Rusher at last got to see an episode of this frequently mentioned show. In this episode, three little girl ponies, "fillies" as River and Ramble insisted, were traveling around town asking various adult ponies how they got the images on their rear ends. "So," Wind started, just to prove he was listening, "A cutie mark is something that occurs when a pony discovers the purpose of their life, visually symbolized by a picture on their backside? So, what do water drops mean?" Ramble raised her front hoof, opened her mouth... and lowered her front hoof again. "uhh... maybe it's cause you saved Molly?" she questioned to River, "You could a lifeguard?" Wind Rusher scratched his chin in thought. "You were going pretty fast. Maybe you're a swimmer?" He pondered. "What if it's crying?" Molly suggested.

"Hey, ponies?" David called from behind the wheel. "Were coming up on your port of call." Hearing this, the three equine passengers hurried to the RV's front and took in the view from the windshield. "Ok, you've got to tell us now." Wind said to Ramble Gaze. "What is this safe spot you're taking us to? Where are we?"

Author's Note:

Please give me comments I need comments or I die

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