Evanescence closes the journal and stares at the worn cover as she gathers her thoughts. “Interesting,” she mulls to herself and stuffs the book into her bag. Her yellow topaz gems spy the sleeping grape mare on the opposite bed of the hotel room.

“Awaken, sleeping beauty,” Evanescence calls out to Cherry Pie.

The mare rolls over to her side and opens her eyes to see a pair of reflective orbs gazing at her. Cherry Pie scans the dark room. “What time is it?”

“Time for us to meet up with Jonathan at the train station,” is the white pony’s response as she shoulders the large bag.

Cherry Pie groans as she rolls out of bed. A long yawn fills her lungs as she stretches the sleep from her body. She pulls her cloak around herself. A nod to the white mare tells her she is ready to leave.

A train whistle jolts Cherry Pie up from her slumber. From the bench, she sees the light from the train engine approaching and hears the train thundering down the line. The sky shows early signs of dawn with the sun peeking over the horizon.

“Beautiful,” Evanescence comments on the sky. “Sight truly is a wonderful sense...”

Cherry Pie casts a curious glance at the mare beside her. The train hisses to a stop in front of the duo and steam clouds the air. The brown stallion conductor opens the car doors. When nopony leaves, Cherry Pie and Evanescence step into the coach car.

As she makes her way down the aisle, Evanescence notices all the apple cutie marks on the passengers she walks by. A familiar pinto stallion stands up at the back of the car.

“Mornin’,” Jonathan greets the two mares with a tip of his tan cowboy hat.

“You mentioned a ‘surprise’ in your letter...” Evanescence begins.

When his guests situatate themselves in the booth Jonathan speaks. “Right. I’ll be travelin’ the same direction as y’all so I’ll be taggin’ along for a quick spell.”

“Princess Celestia finally listen to you?” Evanescence asks.

“Somethin’ like that. She no longer doubts their existence.”

The two have their attention taken by the hooded pony nodding her head as she fights to stay awake. Cherry Pie rests her head against the window and succumbs to the soft embrace of sleep.

“We have quite a ways to go ‘til we reach Appleoosa, you gonna catch up on sleep, too?” Jonathan inquires of Evanescence.

“No. I had my two hours of sleep. I am fine.”

Jonathan whistles. “A whole two hours of sleep, huh? You are definitely set for the day.”

Evanescence smirks at his sarcasm. “As apex predators, my people evolved to be efficient at everything. From sleeping, to eating, to bodily functions, and all things in between.”

A yawn escapes past Jonathan’s hat covered muzzle. “Must be nice,” he says lazily as he reclines in his seat with his hat covering his face. “I need to catch up on my sleep.”

Evanescence turns her attention to the passing scenery as thoughts and the week’s events swim around in her head.

“I’ll play your game, Death,” Evanescence thinks to herself as she reclines in the seat, “Just don’t give me a reason to show this world why I am the Goddess of Destruction.”

A grunt leaves Jonathan as he labors to bring his hooves under him. He turns his brown eyes up to his previous position on the scarp and can see where the earth gave way. Another grunt and the pinto stallion is on all fours. Glass cracking draws his attention. He picks up the broken camera by its strap and frowns.

“Thanks for braking my fall,” is his sardonic comment as he tosses the broken camera into his backpack. “Look what nature threw at us this time, Rucker,” he grins to the backpack, “Good thing this is our home turf.” After shifting the khaki backpack in a comfortable position he continues on his journey.

A quick survey of the area reveals his hat atop a nearby bush. He frowns at the poison oak.

“I can always get a new one...”

A heavy sigh empties his lungs.

“You’re lucky I love you so much, sis...”

Jonathan stamps through the forest with a grimace. His skin crawls and burns and wants him to relieve the irritation with scratching. His hooves march towards the river. The sound of rushing water makes him pick up his pace.

He shrugs off Rucker to search for a bar of soap and a wash cloth. With Rucker nearly as tall him the search was quick. As Jonathan is washing himself in the river his head starts to ache.

Is this déjà vu? No... no... A dream... memory. I remember this day...

Jonathan watches idly as his younger self goes through the motions as if watching a film. The crashing sounds makes him jump. He remembers the sound being a small rock slide.

He finds himself standing by the rocks and uprooted trees. An oddly shaped rock had caught his attention. In a rubble of lighter sandstone a single slab of darker limestone stuck out like a sore thumb to the geologist. The rough headstone shape and tool marks confirmed his suspicions of the stone being a grave marker. As much as he wanted it to be an ancient grave marker the truth was that more important. The dates on the stone did not make his heart sink as much as the name etched into the stone: Miranda Tempest.

Flashes of the cream colored, black maned pegasus mare bring Jonathan to tears.

The object that started it all...

“Awaken,” a crisp voice and sharp prod rouses him.

Jonathan opens his eyes to darkness. He sits up and his hat slides off his face letting the light blind him temporarily. He blinks.

“Apploosa is about ten minutes away,” Evanescence informs him.

He turns to face her. “Thanks—“ a cloth smacks his face.

“Your sniveling was starting to bother me and worry the others.”

Jonathan chuckles lamely. “Sorry ‘bout that,” his apology had come out muffled as he wiped his face. He breathes in deeply to clear his mind of the past. Analyzing yellow eyes catch his attention. “What?”

Evanescence opens her mouth to speak but closes it quickly before saying, “Did you perhaps learn anything about the southern lands?”

“Actually, I did. It seems a Doctor Deathly Belladonna has discovered old ruins in the jungles. Her notes suggest the ruins belong to an ancient species of pony and is one of many cities in the area.”

Evanescence smiles. “Just grand.”

“What?”

“I have met the good doctor already. She is the mother of my doppelgänger,” Evanescence shares.

“Hm. Small world,” Jonathan grunts.

“Perhaps.” Evanescence looks out the window to see a raven perched on the window sill. Her eyes narrow at the bird. “Perhaps,” she repeats.