A chorus of birds filled the air. A cool breeze wafted over the craft, tickling at her muzzle. Somewhere on her torso, the sunlight peeked through the branches above, bringing a comforting warmth to balance out the breeze, making her the absolute perfect temperature.

And yet, for reasons beyond her understanding or control, Cotton Fluff woke up. It was these things she noticed as she awoke, before her consciousness had truly taken hold and she started to think of ponies and places and things she had to do. As the mare opened her eyelids, letting the dizzyingly tall trees come into focus, she already knew what she had to do, before the rest got back. And certainly they weren't back yet; otherwise, the air would instead be filled with giggles and arguing and all sorts of noisy noises.

Letting out a relaxed sigh, Cotton Fluff stretched out her hooves above her head and lazily yawned. Then, turning over onto her side, the mare pushed herself up on her hooves and, still blinking the sleep away, looked around.

The hovercraft was, in essence, how she'd left it. Cotton Fluff's saddlebags lay beside a pair that had a few supplies that Microfiche had left, but the rest of the interior was still empty as betrayed by the uninterrupted metal sheet that reflected the sunlight. Squinting, Cotton Fluff turned away.

Her gaze was then met by the forest around the ship which, once again, seemed to be just like it was before with its tall, looming trees and a proliferous green underbrush through which the others had made their way. But, most importantly, it appeared uninterrupted. Perfect.

Although she kept some attention on the world around through her peripheral vision, Cotton Fluff reached around to her saddlebag to dig out her comlink, which she had stowed away the previous night to prevent it from straining her wrist. After a few moments of digging, she grabbed ahold of the small device by the handles and pulled it out, carefully attaching it around her wrist with the cloth straps. Cautiously, the mare glanced around at the forest surrounding her once more; upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she sighed and looked down at the comlink. Its interface was somewhat unfamiliar; as the comlink had been from Microfiche, it appeared to be an older model than what she was used to. However, the basic function of the device hadn't changed and it just took her a few button presses until she reached the dialling input.

One by one, she entered each of the digits and, one by one, they made electronic chirps. Then, after another glace around, Cotton pressed the call button. The ringback tone emanated from the speaker a few times. Then...

"Officer Gloss of the Southern Kindred Territory Police—how may I help you?"

Cotton Fluff smiled. "Good morning, Officer. This is Cotton Fluff and I seek to update you on my whereabouts, as requested."

For a moment, there was silence. "Cotton? That really you?"

"Yessir," the mare replied. "The other ponies I'm travelling with are... out, so I figured now would be a good time to tell you."

"Oh, yes, very good," came the stallion's voice. Honestly, Cotton Fluff was just glad to hear it after being stuck with those other ponies, even if it had only been several hours. "Where are you?"

"Well, that's the thing—I'm not sure of the precise location, but I know where we're headed."

"Oh?"

"They've got me driving this hovercraft to a small town called Ferretfall," Cotton Fluff explained. "You ever heard of it?"

"Of course," Gloss replied. "It's the southernmost town in the Sciouse province. Nice place, if I do say so myself. They've got the houses all built in and between the trees."

“Great! We'll be there in a day or so. What should I do?”

“Since you'll be there so soon, I'll contact the officers posted there and let them know to be at the ready. There are four of you, yes?”

Cotton Fluff mentally counted. “Five. But four besides me, yes.”

“Right, right.” There was a pause. “It'd probably be best for you if you found a way to bail before… before you arrive.”

Cotton Fluff blinked. “That's, erm… not exactly possible. I'm the one driving the ship, and none of these kids are legally able to.”

“You're on the run from the law—why in Argent's name would you care about whether you're following basic traffic laws?”

“Mostly so we don't crash and die,” Cotton Fluff retorted. “Not dying would be optimal. And I know you don't want them to be killed, either; otherwise you would have already done so.”

“True...” The voice from the speaker paused once more. “Make it into, like, a sweet moment. Tell Scootaloo or Kevin that you're going to teach them how to drive the ship and then find a way to duck out.”

“...Really? That seems… difficult.”

“You're competent, Cotton Fluff. No matter what misgivings we had about each other, I always knew you were competent.”

“Erm… thanks? I guess...”

“That's the spirit. Now, I've got one more thing I want to tell you about...”