Chapter Eighty-Four: Trust

At the request of Smokey, the party retained a decent-yet slow-pace, for his benefit. As they continued on down the path that directed them around the forest, they found, to their horror, that the road leading away from Las Pegasus and would eventually take them back to Ponyville had been blocked by the remains of a landslide. Coming to an agreement that it was too dangerous for them to climb-and far too much exertion for Smokey, even if it had not been too high-, they were forced to double back and rerouted themselves into the woods.

Since they had not used this route, they were unfamiliar with the area. It was nobody's great surprise that they soon found themselves lost and misdirected.

"Wait!" Twilight Sparkle suddenly cried out, coming to a halt. "Stop!"

"Huh?" Fluttershy piped up, pausing and allowing Smokey to lean against her.

Applejack had taken Rainbow Dash's place to keep the dragon steady-though the yellow pegasus had adamantly refused to leave his other side, save for when they had to rest and take care of personal business. Terra Cotta and Chenoa were both seated on Pinkie Pie's back, the pink equine having taken to the filly just as easily as she had to the griffon. For the tiny earth pony, the feeling was mutual, as she recognized her as a kindred spirit.

"What's going on, darling?" Rarity inquired, sounding weary.

"… That tree," the alicorn pointed out, gesturing at a specific gnarled branch. "… Doesn't it look familiar to you?"

"Come to think of it, didn't we pass that an hour ago?" Applejack questioned, instantly recognizing the familiar branch.

"And we passed it an hour before that!" Pinkie Pie relayed. "And an hour before that!"

"Didn't you bring a compass?" Rainbow Dash questioned, zipping up next to the lavender alicorn's side. The last thing Smokey need was to walk extra miles in his condition.

"Well…" Twilight Sparkle hesitated, "Yes, I did, but… there's something interfering with it."

She levitated the compass up to Rainbow Dash's face. Sure enough, the needle was in a wild spin.

"I think there's something magnetic in the area-probably ores in the ground. The fact is, our compass is useless. We can't tell which way is north!"

"I can tell which way is north!" Pinkie Pie chirped, pointing a hoof off to their right. "North is that way!"

The others stared at her in bewilderment.

"How can you even tell?" Applejack questioned, arching a brow.

"Easy! The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west! And it's been at our backs pretty much all day!"

"And you didn't tell us before now?!"

"You never asked!"

"Nicely done, Miss Pinkie," Smokey praised, wincing as he took another step. "But… do you ladies think… we can rest for a little while? Please?"

"… Yeah, sure," Twilight Sparkle affirmed. "All right, everypony, let's take a short break. I need to map out exactly where we are, and the best way to get back to Ponyville from here. Pinkie, could you come over here and assist me?"

"Okie-dokie-loki!" the curly-maned mare chimed, bouncing over to the horned-and-winged equine after placing Chenoa on the ground next to Terra Cotta.

As the mares relaxed to refuel, Fluttershy assisted Smokey in a seating position, easing him back against one of the trees. Taking one of the baby griffon's eagle paws in her hoof, Terra Cotta scampered over to her new parents, climbing onto the dragon's lap and helping her little sister do the same.

"'m hung'y," Terra Cotta said. "When eat?"

"Oh! Of course!" Smokey's eyes lit up in realization and scanned the other ponies one-by-one. "Which one of you mares is carrying the food?"

"Ah got some right here," Applejack answered, hauling over her saddlebags with a smile. "Little girl's getting' puckish, ain'tcha?"

"It has been a while since we've last eaten," Twilight Sparkle brought up. "Maybe we should have dinner."

"Good idea," Fluttershy said, grinning as Applejack offered Terra Cotta an apple, who eagerly took it with a delighted 'Tanku!'. "You need to eat. You're still a growing filly."

As the farmer handed out apples to everyone else, Fluttershy crushed hers between her hooves, giving Chenoa some of the sauce to feed on-making sure the children were provided for before herself.

"Do we have enough to get us through the entire trip?" the draconian queried, a bubble of worry welling up within him. He didn't want anyone to go hungry, especially the youngsters.

"By my calculations, we should have enough food to last us another three days from our stores," Twilight Sparkle relayed. "If we ration, we should be able to stretch it out another two days. If worse comes to worse, we can always forage if we must… The problem is, I'm… not entirely sure what's edible and what's not in the Everfree Forest."

"I have eaten things in forests before, including the Everfree." Seeing that Chenoa had gobbled up most of Fluttershy's share of food, he split his apple in half and gave to her one of the halves. "Don't eat any green berries, they'll upset your stomach."

"Okay, no green berries. That'll be simple enough to remember." The princess gave pause, eyeing a few mushrooms sprouting from the earth. "I believe I recognize a couple of these mushrooms. I'd have to look them up in my field guide."

"Why don't you let me taste them?" Pinkie Pie volunteered, sporting a wide grin. "I'll be the guinea pig! I'll eat what's around and if I turn purple we'll know it's not safe!"

"Erhm, that's mighty gracious of you, but… I kind of get the feeling most weapon-grade POISONS would have no effect on you," Rarity theorized.

"I dunno…" Pinkie Pie's smile disappeared as her face contorted into a look of contemplation. "Those baked bads really did a number on me."

"Then I'LL eat what we find," Rainbow Dash offered with no hint of fear for her own health.

"And… don't eat the red and white spotted mushrooms. Those are poisonous, too," the scaly beast added.

"Green berries and red and white spotted mushrooms are bad," Twilight Sparkle said. "Got it."

"Um… you'll also not want to take the small red berries from bushes, either," Fluttershy stated. "And avoid the small white mushrooms. They're both poisonous. The little brown ones might be edible, but you'll need to roast them first. They're slightly poisonous, but cooking them will negate the venom. You'll have a terrible tummy ache, but you'll live."

"Wow, Fluttershy, since when were you an expert at identifying edible foods?" Twilight inquired, her and the rest of the party-sans the children-appearing quite impressed.

"Well… you kind of learn how to, when you take care of animals in the wild."

"Does anypony have any matches to cook our food?" Smokey nervously asked, not at all comfortable with the thought of a healthy campfire.

The mares, with the exception of Fluttershy, exchanged perplexed expressions.

"Um, no," Twilight Sparkle finally answered after a few moments of silence. "I didn't think any of us thought to get any."

"We didn't think any of us needed any," Applejack explained. "Ain'tcha a dragon? Can't ya just… breathe fire for us?"

A drop of sweat slid down the side of Smokey's face. He was afraid he would have to admit this to everyone one day. The only ones who really knew about his fear of fire were his animals and Fluttershy.

"W-well… I'm… not really practiced with fire breathing…"

"Yer… not practiced?" Applejack tilted her head a slight degree. "How…?"

"It's a… bit of a story. But, the truth is…" Fluttershy paused, turning her attention up at Smokey. She didn't want to reveal the story and potentially upset him if he wasn't ready for everyone to know. "Um…"

He figured he might as well tell them, he thought to himself. After all, they were his friends. Inhaling a deep breath, the dragon opened his mouth and forced out "I'm afraid of fire!"

"Say what?!" Rainbow Dash was floored with this revelation. Even the remaining mares and Terra Cotta were taken aback. "How can a dragon be afraid of fire?"

Sighing, and resting a hoof upon Smokey's arm, Fluttershy turned to the other mares.

"Long ago, when Smokey was still a child, he… accidentally set fire to the orphanage. It caused him to be ostracized…"

"Yeah…"

Smokey dropped his head and ear frills in shame, his eyes focusing on the dirt between his feet. He felt a large dosage of discomfiture at the silence that followed, though he was put more at ease once Twilight Sparkle spoke up.

"Oh, well! I'm… sorry to hear that, Smokey. Don't worry! I'm sure we can get a fire started no problem."

"Ah'll get some sticks and some kindle," Applejack proffered as she turned away. "Ah'll get a fire started up in a jiffy!"

"O-oh, good… Let me know where it's going to be so I… can stay away from it," Smokey chuckled uneasily.

It did not take long for the farmer to find what she needed of sufficient quality. However, it took her far longer to actually get the fire going. She had it located at a decent distance away from Smokey as to not trigger his pyrophobia, but close enough for him to absorb its warmth.

Fluttershy sighed. Sliding both forelegs around Chenoa, she scooted back against the same tree Smokey was propped up against and glanced up at him with a soft blush.

"You know… looking at this from a different perspective… it's almost like camping. Maybe, once the girls are a little older, we could probably do this again…? Preferably somewhere less scary?"

Beaming in approval, he nodded in confirmation-though, the possibility of being around another campfire scared him, he would tolerate it for his family.

"Perhaps the yard is a good place to start?" he suggested, unfolding one of his wings to furl it around Fluttershy.

"It's close to the house in case something… scary happens," she said, curling up against him.

"Nuh wurri!" Terra Cotta piped. "Dadi save us! Nofin' scarier dan h'm!"

The filly proceeded to face away from them and raise her forelegs while imitating a roar, as if she were frightening away potential threats. She stood precariously balanced on her hind legs, flailing her forelegs around to such a point she actually fell aback and up against Smokey's leg, meeting his face with a warm smile.

Letting out an amused chortle, Smokey reached out to ruffle the mane between Terra Cotta's ears.

"Of course Daddy will protect you."

The filly released a giggling squeal and rolled over to furl her forelegs around his legs to pull herself closer.

"You are such a cute little sweetheart," he chuckled again, maneuvering his tail to coil it loosely around the girl's mid-section.

The child blushed faintly, snuggling closer to him. Yawning, she closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth emanating from his scales.

"Warm enough, Terra? Want to come closer to Mommy and Chenoa?" Smokey asked as he turned his gaze to the mare and griffon in her hold.

She lethargically lifted her head, making an inquisitive "murr?" as she did so. Eyelids parting halfway, she watched the mare scoot over just enough to open a space between her and the dragon that would accommodate her.

"Would you like to come closer to us?" Fluttershy repeated.

Terra Cotta yawned, crawling out of the loose coil of Smokey's tail to climb over his lap and nestle between him and Fluttershy. As she curled up between them, the dragon touched his hand to her head to repeatedly stroke her mane.

"Sleep well, Terra." Smokey's attention then went to Chenoa, lowering his head to plant a kiss to the now sleeping baby's forehead. Smile forming upon the chick's beak, she let out a squeaky yawn. "You too, Chenoa."

Mirroring Chenoa's yawn, Terra Cotta allowed herself to fully relax, her head slumping against Smokey's side.

"Luvu, Dadi…" she mumbled.

Fluttershy smiled fondly, feeling herself brighten even further upon hearing the child's muttering. Gazing up at Smokey after she was certain the filly was fast asleep, she leaned in slightly to whisper to him.

"She's really taken to you, hasn't she?"

"She certainly has…" he sighed affectionately, still petting the little girl's hair. "We have a perfect little family."

"We do," she agreed. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any better… we were blessed with another angel."

As she said this, she leaned over to kiss Terra Cotta on the cheek, taking great care not to stir the baby in her hold. Subconsciously feeling the touch, a contented smile pulled at the filly's lips.

"… Luvu, Mami…"

Tears spawning in her eyes, she choked up a bit as she positioned herself upright again.

"She's… Even after all she's been through, she's still willing to trust us completely."

Even though Terra Cotta had spent a short time with them, she had opened to a point to where she described some of the horrors Stormy Skies had inflicted upon her. Her elder sister had been far from just abusive to her. She had been downright evil. Striking her, throwing things at her, insulting and calling her offensive names, even for the most insignificant reasons. It was, to nobody's great surprise, that she was still just as terrified of her as Smokey was of fire.

"You're right about that, Miss Fluttershy…" Smokey agreed in a hushed voice. "I'm not sure how it could get better."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. She had been sorely tempted to blurt out "get married", but she held her tongue. Twilight Sparkle giggled, shaking her head. The two of them reminded her almost of her own brother and sister-in-law… imagining them fawning over a possible future niece or nephew. Pinkie Pie, having lost focus of helping the princess with figuring out where they were on the map, was happy with rolling in the grass while humming to herself. Applejack and Rarity had chosen to lay down next to the fire, soaking up its warmth as they eagerly waited for their leader to figure out their next move.