Kevin could see the blue glow through his eyelids before he even opened his eyes. Then, when he attempted to open them, the harshness of the light forced his eyelids back shut again and he had to open them bit by bit, squeezing them back shut as he felt the light inside his head. Eventually, though, his eyes lay open and, as he rubbed them, he could see the interior of the hoverskiff come into focus with Cotton Fluff standing at the controls still and a fuzzy pink pile of Mochi leaning against the left wall with her eyes closed, snoring. Turning his head, Kevin confirmed that they were still moving, albeit slower than they had been the night before when he went to sleep. Then, with a soft groan, he began to stand up.

As he got to his hooves, Cotton Fluff glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, thank Aureate you're awake."

"Um... good morning to you too?" Kevin replied. He looked around at the land outside of the hoverskiff but, instead of the expansive rolling hills that he had expected based on the night before, the skiff was surrounded by thick tree trunks, whose bark his eyes traced upwards for hundreds of metres where he could see needle-covered branches emerging out from the trunks. It didn't look all that different from the forest he'd walked through with Flight, except for that these trees were taller and much further apart, and there was grass and exposed earth below rather than a dense layer of bushes. The needles above, however, nearly filled the sky, only letting a few patches of blue morning light filter in from above. "Where are we?"

"I'm not quite sure what it's called, but like an hour ago we left the hills and entered this forest," Cotton Fluff replied, still looking ahead. A moment later, it was apparent to Kevin why they were flying slower than before; every so often, Cotton Fluff had to pull aside to dodge one of the trees, and that would be a lot harder if they were going faster. "And I'm pretty sure we'll actually be able to get to Ferretfall within a day, since I believe it's in this same forest. Never been myself, but I've heard about it."

"Oh, cool," Kevin murmured. "So, I guess Mochi eventually went to sleep?"

"Heh, eventually? I guess you could say that... it wasn't even two hours after you guys went to sleep before I heard her stop scribbling. I don't even think she meant to... the poor mare looks like she fell asleep still writing."

Kevin tilted his head and leaned forward and, sure enough, Mochi's pencil and notebook lay haphazardly in front of her, definitely not placed intentionally. "Oh, huh. Guess we all were able to get some sleep then."

At first, Cotton Fluff said nothing. Then, she sighed. "Well, not quite everyone," she huffed finally.

"Oh!" Kevin said, blinking in realisation. "Holy crap, I totally forgot! You must be super exhausted."

"Heh... you bet your bucking mo—er, Argent's trousers—I am. Based on when I opened the shop, I haven't slept in..."—the mare paused, presumably to look down at her watch—"...more than twenty-eight hours. Ugh... kill me now..."

"Don't worry!" Kevin reassured her, stepping forward and past Mochi's slumbering form so that he was nearly right next to the mare. "We can... uh..."

"We're gonna stop," Cotton Fluff stated. "I was already gonna wake you kids up soon if you hadn't woken up, actually. Then I can get myself some shut-eye and you kids and Mochi can look for firewood or food or something."

"Food?" Kevin asked. "Oh, crud..."

Cotton Fluff turned her head to look at him and flashed him a nervous smile. "Yep... guess what Mister Zebrapants neglected to give us. Heh..."

"We'll... we'll find something," Kevin resolved. "There's gotta be, like, edible berries or something. Anything to last us one more day."

"There could be salmonberries," Cotton Fluff wondered aloud. "Or raspberries. You'd have to make sure they're not pseudorasps, though. My brother ate one of those once when he was ten, and he threw up like six times."

Kevin blinked. "Uh, how can you tell which are which?"

"Salmonberries are orange, raspberries are pink, and pseudorasps are... red." Cotton Fluff paused to swerve around another tree. "You know, now that I think about it, they aren't that different looking. Hm."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"Oh, of course—you strike me as a... capable pony." Cotton Fluff looked to the left, and then the right. "You know, speaking of capable... could you get everypony up? I think I wanna stop us in a moment, and it would really help if everypony were awake."

"Sure thing," Kevin replied, and he turned to walk down the length of the skiff once more. He paused at Mochi and tapped the mare on her shoulder, at which the mare twitched. "Hey, Ms. Mochi... it's time to get up now."

"Hmmm?" the mare breathed, opening her eyelids just a crack. "Whatcha need?"

"Cotton Fluff needs to sleep and we're all gonna need to eat, so she's gonna stop the ship for a bit so she can get that sleep and you and me and Flight and Scootaloo can all go find some food. How does that sound?"

Mochi yawned, opening her mouth directly in front of Kevin such that the green-grey colt was subject to the full brunt of her morning breath. It was all Kevin could do to not curl up and die in horror at the stench. "Oh... of course, Kevin! Wh-when'd I fall asleep?" The mare leaned forward where she sat and glanced from side to side. "Oh, here's my journal," she mumbled to herself, grasping the thing in her hooves. Satisfied, Kevin turned away from Mochi so he could go wake up Flight and Scootaloo.

As the colt looked up at the far end of the skiff, however, he could see that both of them were already coming to. Scootaloo, eyes still closed, stretched out her legs as she yawned and her feathery orange wings fluttered open to join them; Flight, on the other hoof, had her eyes wide open but was yet to move from her spot against the railing.

"Mmmmfff... good morning, Kevin," Flight greeted him as the colt approached.

"Heh... g'morning," Kevin replied. "You hear all I said to Mochi?"

Flight nodded. "Pretty much. Sleep for the driver, and food for all of us."

"Yeah... we've just gotta find it."

"How hard can it be?" Scootaloo chimed in, finally opening her eyes. "It's a forest. There's gotta be a million and a half berries around here, so that means probably like a thousand we can eat."

"Did you always hyperbolise this much?" Kevin asked. "I can't remember."

"Pfff... you hardly knew me at all before we crashed, buddy," Scootaloo teased.

"I guess now's the perfect time to get to know you, then," Kevin replied.

Flight sprang to her hooves. "I dunno, Kev... you oughta get to know me first, don't you think?"

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "But I already know you, don't I?"

"Well, reacquainted at least." Flight laughed nervously, hoping the redness of her cheeks wasn't too noticeable. "I mean... um..." Luckily, she was saved from having to speak more by an announcement from their driver.

"You kids can all get to know each other in just a few minutes," Cotton Fluff called from the front of the hoverskiff. "Hold on, though... I think I see a spot where I want to stop us."

"Ooh, is it over there?" Mochi asked, pointing with a hoof; Cotton Fluff looked over her shoulder to see in which direction.

"No, it's—shit!" the mare cried as she looked back ahead to see a wide-trunked tree just a dozen metres away, getting closer and closer. Kevin could feel the ship shake beneath them as Cotton Fluff banked a hard left; he nearly bumped into Flight as the side of the ship bumped into the edge of the tree ever so slightly. Luckily, no real damage was done; Cotton Fluff decelerated the ship quickly so that they came to a hovering stop in a small clearing between the trees.

Cotton Fluff was hyperventilating. She turned around and Kevin could see a livid expression on the mare's face.

"Mochi!"

"Er... sorry. Heh."

"Nnngh... whatever," Cotton Fluff said quieter. "Just get yourselves off the damn ship so I can finally sleep... I swear, it's not safe to have me drive like this..." The brown mare slumped over next to the controls and closed her eyes. "See you guys in a few hours, mmkay?"

"Definitely," Kevin said. "'Bye Cotton Fluff. And thank you."

Once he heard a noncommital grunt in reply from the mare, Kevin unlatched the door and pushed it open, jumping down from the ship onto the grass below. Flight, Scootaloo, and Mochi followed suit, and then Kevin, using his magic, shut and latched the door once more.