William was many things.

Pink.

Short.

Trapped in the wrong body.

A hiker was not one of the things William happened to be.

“You hangin' in there, pipsqueak?” Eris's amused tone caught his ear as he struggled to keep up, the gear laden saddlebag reminding him every step that it was still there. The heavy beating sun still managed to forge its way through the treetops, and even the cooler areas of the hills seemed much too muggy. There was still a light fog over some of the higher hills, and the sunlight pouring down over them almost seemed to make the hills themselves shine. There must have been a natural water source nearby, which William firmly repeated to himself under his breath.

He needed one to be.

“Don't – worry – about me,” he huffed furiously, cheeks glowing from the exertion. He strained his neck up to see Eris calmly sitting cross legged atop a tree stump beside the dirt path, pretending to investigate her talons as he dragged himself uphill. “This – is – nothing!”

“You sure you don't want a hand?” she slowly cocked an eyebrow at him as he passed at a snail's pace. “I mean, unless you really just wannna keel over-”

“I said – I've got it – Eris,” he insisted feebly through winded breaths, eyes firmly on the unicorn ahead. Lyra still patiently waited for them in a shady patch beneath one of the humongous oaks, her own pack sitting open beside her with a canteen in one hoof.

Eris watched in bemusement for a little while longer, eventually shrugging.

“Suit yourself.”

“Just going to let me have all of the fun?” Lyra called back eagerly, her laughter ringing out through the woods. “Move it or lose it, slowpokes, or you'll never beat me to the top!”

“My only consolation,” Eris frowned as she took a couple of leisurely steps and easily regained her lead on the colt, “is that at least somebody is hating this more than me.”

“What's – the matter?” William replied mockingly through heavy breaths, white mane matted with sweat and looking about ready to fall over from his own weight. “Can't – take – the heat?”

Eris only snorted, shook her head, and pulled out her own small canteen gifted to her by Lyra.

“Actually...” William paused for a moment, looking intently around his surroundings for a few seconds before his eyes landed on a large patch of shrubbery a little off to their right. “Why don't you and miss Lyra go on ahead without me?”

“For what?” Eris meant to say, which didn't come out quite the way she intended to considering she was drinking water. William wiped off the water with a grimace.

“I'll-I'll be, er, occupied,” he jabbed a hoof at the large bushes and took off before she could argue. “I'll catch up shortly, won't even be an inconvenience!”

William had to resist the urge to dive into the bushes, making sure to get plenty of distance between himself and the others. He tentatively checked his saddlebag again, looking cautiously over his shoulder and hunkering down a little more to ensure that no one could see him before wearily but calmly removing several things from his pack at once.

The wrinkled sheet of old parchment that he'd lifted from the library stated clearly what he needed, but the ingredients were so simple that he could easily recite them from memory. Simple, however, did not necessarily mean easy to acquire.

One cloth wrapped glass bottle contained a curiosity, the little tuft of roiling white cloud turning a little when revealed. William let out a quiet sigh of relief, thankful that the bottle hadn't been broken. The large green feather beside it had been easy enough to acquire as well, at approximately the same time he'd (tried to) inconspicuously ask a passing pegasus to bring him a bit of cloud. The stallion hadn't even asked why he wanted it.

“Only one more to go, Mother...” he muttered, pouring over the sheet of parchment. A single droplet of sweat fell off of his equine nose, and he frowned.

One tuft of cloud and a bright rainbow's glow, stir with a pegasus feather. Why did love potion ingredients have to be such a pain to track down? He gauged how long he'd been checking his items, carefully packed everything back inside, making sure to leave the extra empty bottle atop the others for easy access later. William once again cursed his luck under his breath. This would have been a lot simpler if Discord had just given him a unicorn's body from the start. Or, perhaps a simpler solution, just given him his body back.

Not that he'd likely even care, they hardly saw each other anyway.

William paused exiting the bushes, frowning.

Hm. That was unexpectedly mean spirited. Wonder where that came from-

“Done yet short stack?”

William let out a yelp that was a couple of octaves higher than he would have preferred, nearly falling over in shock.

“Eris, don't do that!” he quickly pretended the squeak had only been part of a forced coughing fit, fighting to regain his balance. “You'll give me a heart attack!”

“You were gone for a while,” she replied bluntly, arms crossed. “I was making sure you weren't, y'know, eaten by a grue or something.”

“A what?” William balked, pushing matted mane out of his eyes in irritation. He unconsciously pressed his saddlebag a little closer with one hoof. “Where did miss Lyra go? Is she far ahead?”

“A bit,” she nodded ahead to the curving path, partially hidden by oak, and William was swift to follow. “Next time though, I'm leaving your ass behind.”

“I doubt it, you're far too sentimentally attached.”

“Squirt, I swear to god I will drop kick you off a cliff and nobody will be any the wiser.”

“... Just keep walking, Eris.”

Author's Notes:

So, I'm finally back to writing this story.
Sorry it's taken so long for updates everybody, things have been crazy lately. The upcoming chapters should be significantly longer and more satisfying!