“Well, they'll stone you when you're tryin' to be so good... they'll stone you just like they said they would... they'll stone you when you're tryin' to go home... they'll stone you when you're there all alone... but I would not feel so all alone... everypony must get stoned.”

Ears perking, eyebrow arching, Tarnish looked at his wife as she sang in deadpan. “Maud?”

“I’ve decided to leave the establishment. I married a central figure in the counterculture movement. What choice am I left with?” Maud, stony faced, paused in her task and looked at her husband. “It wasn’t an easy choice, becoming anti-establishment, but I figured it was time to rebel against my parents and the conservative culture in which I was raised. Viva la revolución.”

Dumbfounded, Tarnish stood there with his mouth open, not understanding the world around him at all at this moment. His brain, balking at the information being presented and lacking a response, derped. Tarnish didn’t have a sense of politics or even an idea of where he fell on the political spectrum. Derp!

“I even had sex before marriage… I am a liberated, modern mare and I will not be crushed by the system. My life will not become gravel and I will not become a paved path for others to tread upon. I shall remain a rock and I will roll over others that try to hold me down. I shall crush all who seek to oppose me, oppress me, and keep me from my unlimited potential.”

Still derping, Tarnish let out a confused whinny and took a step back.

“Does being with an empowered, modern mare scare you, Tarnish?” Maud asked. “Do these lips that speak hard, unyielding, stony truths taste any less sweet? Is the water that you drink from my well any less satisfying?”

“No!” Tarnish gasped, fearful of being rocked and rolled. He decided right then and there that he liked modern mares with empowered attitudes. He liked them a lot. He was fine with them. As Maud has said, viva la revolución.

“So begins the rock revolution,” Maud said in a flat voice, “there will be dancing.”

“Okay.” Tarnish nodded. Something had flown up under Maud’s tail. Perhaps she had hit her head while packing the wagon. Maybe something had happened at the train station when she had gone to pick up their equipment. Maybe she was just in a mood. Maybe, just maybe, Maud was being funny. She did that. She might be having a go at him.

“We’re leaving tomorrow, Tarnish.” Maud blinked and focused her blank stare upon her husband and now, fellow revolutionary. “We are leaving tomorrow and we’re going to change the world. We will become figures celebrated in folklore. We’ll fight the good fight. Nothing can stop us, Tarnish. A volcano already tried. Are you ready to change the world with me?”

“Um, yes?” Tarnish replied as he tried to underp himself.

“Good.” The corner of Maud’s mouth twitched for a second and something in her eye twinkled. Her tail swished from side to side and then she went back to work, making certain that everything was ready. “But I would not feel so all alone... everypony must get stoned.”

Tarnish watched her go, feeling a little confused, a little unsettled, and a little aroused. Geologists, he thought to himself. He watched the way she moved, the way her smock clung to her body, the way her mane bobbed and spilled down her neck.

What could Tarnish say? She got his rocks off…

Staring down into his saddlebags, Tarnish tried to understand what he was seeing. There was something about them that didn’t quite seem right. Of course, his saddlebags seemed peculiar to begin with, they were old, but untouched by decay or age. They were magic, he knew that. But something about their capacity… he stuck his head down inside.

He found himself in a vast, cavernous space and looked around. His head felt as though it had shrunk a great deal. He pulled his head out and gave himself a shake, causing his ears to flop around. There was far more room on the inside than the outside would suggest. He could stuff a lot of things inside of there, and he had. When fleeing from the volcano, he had crammed all manner of things inside. The storage space could be unlimited for all he knew, but there was a drawback.

His bags had weight. Whatever he crammed in there didn’t get any lighter. Curious and in the mood for a somewhat scientific test, he lifted up Flamingo and eyeballed her. She was several feet long—over a yard long. Perhaps about four feet or so in length. He dropped her down into his saddlebag tip first.

She vanished. Peering down at his bag, Tarnish wondered how a sword so long could vanish into a bag so shallow? Curious, he stuck his head down inside of his bag. He saw Flamingo and the darkness in the bag was lit with a pink glow. It was big in here. Quite big. Feeling adventurous, Tarnish took a real risk.

He climbed into his own saddlebag. He found himself inside and there was plenty of room. He felt odd; lightheaded, dizzy, and a bit disoriented. He had trouble sensing which way was up or down, everything felt wrong. His horn had a most peculiar tingle. He didn’t know how to get out. Looking up, he could see the opening high above him. He could see the sunlight and the world outside of the bag. He very much wanted to return to it.

Blinking, Tarnish found himself standing in the dirt, looking down at his saddlebags. He blinked again a few times, stunned. The weird tingle in his horn was gone. He no longer felt peculiar. He could see a pink glow from within his bag. His saddlebags had changed. He stared. His cutie mark, three poison joke flowers, were now on the sides of his saddlebags.

Tarnish began to have ideas; his bags could serve as emergency shelter if necessary. It would be uncomfortable, one would have to deal with the odd, peculiar sensation, but it wasn’t the most awful thing.

He looked around. Maud was inside The Egg and he didn’t know what she was doing. Perhaps plotting and thinking revolutionary thoughts. Turning his head, he peered down at his bags. Magical saddlebags were confusing. They could hold a huge amount of goods, but the weight would become crushing at a certain point.

Tarnish wasn’t one for possessions, but he treasured his magical items. His mirror was valuable, as it would be to any adventurer, his saddlebags were amazing, and then there was Flamingo. He paused, considering his thoughts. Was Flamingo an item? She was a sword. But she was also a pony. Or had been. He hadn’t pulled her out for a while. Time didn’t seem to pass for her when she was sheathed. A hundred years or a thousand years could pass and she would never know. She was now a pony outside time. Did he own her? Was she a traveling companion? He didn’t know. He was protective of her, but he wasn’t certain of his relationship with her. She was a magical sword that had at some point, been a pegasus, at least he assumed this to be the case, from what little Tarnish had been able to put together. She was a sapient sword that was afraid of the dark and squeamish of blood.

He lifted the sword out of his saddlebags and then set it down, leaning it against them. He glanced down, checking his amulet, and saw that it was glowing a pleasant, happy shade of blue. Tomorrow. They would be back on the road tomorrow. Off for the Scariest Cave in Equestria. Tarnish hoped that it would not disappoint. Life had become a little boring. He found himself craving some excitement. He wanted, no, needed to be on the road again.

Limestone was going to come with them for a while. Tarnish wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On one hoof, he loved Limestone. On the other hoof, it was going to be difficult to have private time alone with Maud. Limestone was bringing her own bedroll and her own gear. Limestone would travel with them for a while, then she would turn around and head back home on her own. The filly just wanted to see a little bit of the world with her sister and her brother in law. Tarnish could not begrudge her that.

As for Marble, she had no desire to leave home. She wanted to stay here so she could see Sonneur. Tarnish had a nagging suspicion that he and Maud were going to come home and find out that a quiet wedding had taken place. It seemed likely. Those two ponies were like two peas in a pod.

“Hey, Maud! Where are the snacks for on the road? Are they still inside? I need to pack my saddlebags! I ain’t leaving home without Mother’s rock hard fudge!”

The Egg held more gear, they had more stuff, but was still a lighter weight. The low resistance wheels made everything easier to pull. The test run around the rock farm had been easy. Too easy. Tarnish found that even he could pull the wagon, but it was difficult for him to get started. He had to struggle, scramble, and dig his hooves down into the dirt, then strain for a while before the wagon would start creeping forward. He doubted that he could pull it on any sort of an uphill incline. Maud would still be the primary wagon puller and he would be the water provider and snack giver as he walked beside her.

Igneous kept checking over the new wagon, marvelling at its construction, and making certain that everything was in perfect working order. Cloudy was tucking away more snacks and treats inside for Tarnish. Unicorns needed calorie dense treats and with Tarnish’s increased magical usage, he had a need for as much food as could be stored.

Come dawn, they would be going, heading south. Already, a sense of saying goodbye hung overhead like an unwanted cloud threatening rain. No visitors came out to the farm, the bell had not been rung, and this time spent together before departing was treasured by the whole family.

Time was growing short. Fall was coming, and with it, cooler weather. They would have to cover considerable ground each day and then put in long hours of study once they reached their destination. There was only so much time before it became unbearably cold and winter arrived. They would need to return home before the fall season ended.

Tarnish had a good feeling about this trip. He wasn’t sure why he felt so optimistic, but he was. Sure, he had some concerns, there was a cave that had a reputation for being scary, but after what they had already faced, Tarnish was confident that together, he and Maud could deal with anything that posed a threat. Of course, they could get lucky and face no real threat at all. But that would be boring.

He found that he missed his days as a courier. He missed the feeling of danger and accomplishment. He missed tangling with dangerous flora and fauna. He wanted to be on the road. He wanted his trip to be a little bit dangerous. Enough danger that it was dangerous and fun, but not so much that it was life threatening. He wanted to feel his blood pumping, he wanted to feel the blood rushing through his ears. He wanted to feel his heart pounding in his barrel.

With all of this on his mind, Tarnish wasn’t sure what this said about him as a pony. Ponies were supposed to be quiet, timid creatures—homebodies. Ponies were supposed to gather together in vast herds and avoid danger. Civilisation had been built to push danger back and make life safer… so why was Tarnish in such a hurry to leave the security of civilisation behind and go into the wilds of Equestria?

More so, why was Tarnish so happy that he had been made a ranger? Had his experiences left him mad? Unfit to be around civilised ponies? Was something wrong with his mind? His trip into the wilderness with Maud and the encounter with the volcano had changed him. For better or worse remained to be seen.

He only knew one thing for certain. He couldn’t wait for the dawn to arrive.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter... departure from the norm.