The group of ponies trotted onwards for some time into the ever darkening forest, following Even Later's determined stride wherever it may take them. At one point, Mochi had made a show of asking the mare how she knew where she was going, expecting no answer; in reply, Later had merely closed her eyes as her horn lit up and a green arrow of light ballooned out from its tip, spiralling around in the air for a moment before pointing decisively in the direction they were trotting.

"A mana-concentration detector," Later had explained, "which I can use because I know the approximate direction and that the capital is the first large concentration of mana in that general area." As this was enough of an explanation, everypony else tuned out as Mochi proceeded to ask Later about local politics and whether anything had changed in the system. Later, for her part, had a few answers, but mostly ones that pertained to the Sciouse province where she had been stationed, not the Southern Kindred Territory where Mochi had lived her whole life, so the pink mare soon stopped asking.

Eventually, it grew dark enough that the ponies couldn't see a thing without aid, so Later, Cotton, and Kaylee duly lit up their horns, luckily being spread out enough that they covered the entire group with a glowing aura of blended hues.

Yet not ten minutes later...

"You hear that?" Cotton murmured, breaking an uneasy silence that had fallen over the group. Scootaloo, Kaylee, Flight, and Mochi all immediately turned their heads.

"Hear what?" Scootaloo rasped. "The crickets?"

"Frogs," Clove said. "I hear 'em."

For a moment, everypony was quiet and, somewhere beyond them, over the soft sounds of their hooves crunching over the dirt and detritus below, there was a croak. Then a ribbit.

"Must be getting close to water," Cotton remarked. "Maybe there's a creek this way."

"A creek would be nice," Flight said. "I feel really sticky and gross... I know I can't, like, take a shower or anything, but it would be nice to rinse off."

"We'll stop at the creek once we get there," Later proclaimed, turning her neck to address the whole group behind her. "We've been walking long enough as it is—and making good time, too—and I need to get some shuteye for a few moments at least."

"You, sleep?" Clove teased. "I didn't realise you were able to!"

"Can it, Officer Dork," Later shot back, turning back to the front. "Don't make me drown you..."

Clove blinked, taken aback, and didn't say anything more. Silence, once more, overtook the group.

"It's definitely not a creek," Flight remarked as she stood there neck-deep in the water.

"What are you talking about? This is totally a creek." Scootaloo gestured with her hooves at the edges of the body of water, pointing to where the miniature brown-tinged crests lapped at the muddy shoreline. "It's all muddy and everything, just like a creek. X.E.D."

Flight raised an eyebrow. "It's Q.E.D. And seriously, it can't be a creek. There's no flow of water, see? It's just a big pool of water. A pond, though it's a gross one."

"'Pond' is way too nice-sounding a word to describe this," Scootaloo replied, face turned up in a somewhat-mock pout. "That makes it sound all fancy, like there's going to be sailboats or something. Nah, this thing needs a name of its own. Maybe a mudhole."

Flight rolled her eyes. "That sounds way too dirty."

"Yeah, well your moms sound too dirty," Scootaloo shot back with a grin. At the same time, she reached down and quickly raised her forelegs, splashing Flight right in the face. The yellow pegasus filly looked aghast.

"Why, you..." Flight jolted forward, sending a wave of murky water straight at Scootaloo, drenching the filly's face and hair. Scootaloo, rather than being irritated, looked absolutely gleeful as she brushed her sopping purple bangs out of her face and retaliated, dashing around Flight quickly in a circle, using one of her forelegs to splash out a barrage of water bursts from all sides.

Kaylee, for her part, just sat back with her horn alight and watched her friends dashing and splashing around in the near darkness. They were being silly, of course, but at least they were having fun. And, she had to admit the water, murky and somewhat dubious as it was, felt soothing. It didn't need to be potable to feel like a refreshing change from running around in the forest all the time.

That was about when Kaylee noticed that Scootaloo and Flight had stopped splashing.

"Hey, Kevin," Scootaloo said between breaths, panting from all the running around she had just done. "What do you think we should call it? Maybe you can get you cutie mark in... uh... pond naming."

"HA!" Flight exclaimed, lifting a hoof triumphantly. "So you do admit it's a pond!"

Scootaloo gasped. "I admit nothing! Graaahhh!" she exclaimed, fluttering her wings forward to send a large wave roaring towards Flight, causing the entire body of water to lurch around Kaylee.

"Ugh, come on, girls," she groaned, struggling to stay upright.

"Hey, it's not like dumb boys are any better!" Scootaloo shot back, though Kaylee couldn't see her as she was still trying to steady herself.

"That's really not what I meant—oh!" Kaylee was interrupted by a wave that this time knocked her off her hooves, splashing up and drenching her entire face and mane. Sputtering, the filly tried to pull herself back up, eventually crawling up across the mud and out onto the shoreline. She shivered as her wet coat hit the cold nighttime air. "Y-you guys..." she protested weakly.

"Oop, sorry!" Scootaloo apologised, turning with a sympathetic expression towards Kaylee. "A bit rougher than I intended. Still—augh!"

Flight had rushed up from behind, splashing the orange filly with a barrage of murky water that left her with no choice but to spin around and rejoin the fight.

Kaylee, standing on the muddy shore, merely sighed.