The sun shone brightly over the forest as no intrusive cloud was in sight, a welcoming scene for the seven ponies who walked under the foliage. It was a sight to behold.

It was a sight that was being thoroughly ignored by four of them.

“Are we there yet?” one of them asked eagerly.

“No,” replied Applejack dryly.

“How about now?”

“No.”

“Is that Rainbow Dash!?”

“Scootaloo, that’s just the water falling that’s causing that effect,” Twilight explained, pointing at the waterfall Scootaloo had excitedly referred to..

“Waterfall!? Does that mean we are at rainbow falls now?” Applebloom asked, jumping in front of AJ.

“Whoa, nelly,” AJ sighed, pushing her hat over her face in an attempt to hide her frustrated features. “No, AB, we are not at Rainbow Falls yet; besides, we are going to ‘Winsome Falls” she corrected. “And we aren’t there yet!”

“Er, Applejack?”

“What is it n—” she began loudly, catching herself once she noticed Twilight on the receiving end. “Er, sorry Twi, Ah’ didn’t mean to do that,” she quickly apologized.

“It’s okay. I was just wondering if you’d be fine with me watching them, it seems that having the four here is stressing you out,” Twilight suggested eagerly.

“Yeah… they are being a bit more riled up than they usually are,” AJ smiled, nodding in appreciation. “Know what? Ah’ think Ah’ll take you up on that offer! All we gotta do is follow this path anyway,” she said, pointing to the road ahead. “Thanks Twi!”

“No problem!” Twilight replied as AJ moved to the back of the group. “Alright. Girls? Don‘t get too far!”

“I’m not a girl!” Lemon yelped with an offended tone.

“Sorry, force of habit,” she apologized.

“Besides, I would've noticed that when I went to the bathroom!”

“Eww!” the other three fillies gawked.

“Could’ve done without that,” Twilight deadpanned silently. “Please Lemon, don’t share that with us, alright?”

“You got it, miss Twilight!” he replied, awkwardly saluting.

“Miss Twilight?”

“Huh?” Twilight turned, noticing Sweetie Belle by her side. “Sweetie? Is something the matter?”

“Yeah, I have a question…” she began, looking down at the ground awkwardly.

“Now, now, Sweetie, there is no need to be bashful. Go ahead and ask whatever you want!” Twilight said supportively.

“Well, when you put it that way… will we be there soon?” she asked with a big smile on her face.

Twilight only stared with a blank look. “This is going to be a looong walk, isn’t it?”

“Having trouble there already, Miss Twilight?” the mocking voice of Patch sounded behind her, much to her chagrin.

“I’m busy here, can’t you see I’m watching the kids?” Twilight began annoyed.

“Well, you are obviously doing a fantastic job, aren’t you?” Patch replied, pointing at Lemon, who just in that instant, was about to grab a berry from a bush nearby.

“Huh? Oh no! Lemon!” Twilight ran towards him, smacking a berry from his hoof. “Thank goodness… Lemon! Don’t eat those!” she began. “You don’t know what they are!”

Lemon arched a brow confused, rubbing his pained limb. “What do you mean? These berries aren’t poisonous, miss,” he said, grabbing another and shoving it into his mouth. “We read about it, remember?” he finished before starting the walk once again.

Twilight stared at the berries closely, quickly realizing that what Lemon said had been true. “I… I…” Twilight mumbled, sharply turning towards Patch, staring daggers as soon as she came into her view. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you!?” she growled.

Patch turned to the angered Twilight with an emotionless face. “Whatever do you mean? All I did was simply praise you.”

“I-I… Grrr!” Twilight growled in response, smacking her face in frustration while Patch walked ahead.

“Er, Twi?”

“What!?” she answered angrily before noticing the hatted pony and composing herself. “Oh, AJ! I‘m so sor—”

“No need for apologies, Ah’ve been there,” she replied.

They stared each at each other silently, blinking rapidly before suddenly bursting into laughter.

“I guess you have,” Twilight said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“How about we just let them do their thing?” AJ suggested. “Seems Lemon learned well from you, so it should be fine. I'm sure they can deal without our constant butting in.”

“Alright,” Twilight replied with an exhausted look.

“Come on, we got a ways to go,” AJ finished before walking ahead.

“Yeah…” Twilight sighed before following, looking at Patch who waited for the pair to catch up. “I get the feeling this walk is the least of my worries anyway…”

They reached a clearing just a few hours later, where a small pile of rocks stood in the middle, showing signs of previous use. AJ walked towards it, dropping her saddlebags and taking a breath of relief. “Alright fellas, before anypony bothers to ask—we have arrived at our first camp.”

“Woohoo!” Scootaloo jumped in front of AJ, excitedly. “Where is Rainbow Dash, then?”

“Oh, don’t you worry, she’s probably getting ready to show—” *Fwoosh* a sudden gust of wind passed by the pair, nearly blowing AJ’s hat off her head. “… Off,“ she finished in a deadpan tone. “Well, she sure can be timely when it comes to that.”

Looking up, the group noticed the multicolored mane of Rainbow Dash as she performed numerous tricks, finishing up by leaping high into the sky before diving full speed and stopping before crashing into the ground, raising a cloud of dust that made the rest cough.

“Can’t you cool it with the tricks, Dash?” AJ complained, coughing between words.

“That. Was. Awesome!” Scootaloo cheered loudly, lifting off slightly before suddenly falling flat on her face.

“Eh,” Rainbow shrugged. “It was okay, I guess.”

“What do you mean okay?” AJ asked. “You seemed just about as flashy and showy as ever.”

“Oh AJ, it just goes to show how much you know about flying,” Rainbow noted, patting AJ’s shoulder, much to her irritation. “Didn’t you see how slow and clumsy I was flying? Ugh, my stupid wings are still all stiff after not having had any use of them for months.”

“It certainly took longer than usual for them to heal,” Twilight noted, walking to the pair. “Hey, Rainbow Dash.”

“I blame John for that one,” Rainbow stated. “Anyway, what are you doing here, Twi? I thought Rarity was coming with us.”

“My sister had to take care of some business, so she stayed behind,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“That explains that. Heh, she’d probably do something ridiculous like pack a cart full of things and slow you guys down anyway,“ Rainbow laughed.

Sweetie Belle blushed. “Y—Yeah, that would be just ridiculous…” she said with a nervous laugh.

“So, what is military pony doing here, too?” Dash asked, forgetting about Rarity and pointing at Patch who stood nearby, staring at the group.

“Ms. Dash. Good to see you are no longer invalid,” Patch said with a curt nod. “You don’t have to worry, I’m just here to keep an eye on Princess Twilight, is all.”

“Princess? You just can’t help but toss a backhoofed comment, can you?” Twilight groaned.

“Eh, whatever,” Rainbow shrugged.

“Alright girls,” AJ interrupted.

“And boy!” Lemon intervened.

“Sorry Lemon, force of habit,” she apologized.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before,” he harrumphed, walking back to the fillies with his nose up high.

“Right,” AJ mumbled, clearing her throat. “Anyway, we should set up the tents; it’s going to get dark pretty soon.”

After some small talk, the ponies finally set out to construct their tents, quickly putting them together with a trained hoof around the small camp.

“Oh-oh…”

All with the exception of Twilight.

“Oh no!” Twilight cried out, face hoofing annoyed. “I forgot…”

“What’s wrong, Miss Twilight?” Sweetie Belle asked as she stood by her side, waiting for her to start.

“I forgot to bring my camping guide!”

“Um ‘camping guide’?” Sweetie asked with a raised brow.

“Well, yes! I’ve never set up a tent! What if I get it wrong!? I knew I should have scheduled that book for last week!” she panicked before she looked at Sweetie hopeful. “Hey, Sweetie?”

“Sorry, this is my first time actually camping,” she replied, knowing the question before it was asked.

Twilight sighed annoyed, turning to the rest who were already ways into the task. “It‘s alright Sweetie, I‘ll deal with it.”

“You know? I could just ask somepony to help,” Sweetie suggested.

“Did I hear somepony say help?” Patch asked, walking over to the pair.

“No!” Twilight hissed, stopping Patch in her path. “I can do this! I don’t need your help,” she growled.

“Alright,” Patch shrugged, unfazed. “But remember; that’s why I’m here,” she explained, walking back to her spot near the trees.

“Duly noted,” Twilight whispered softly, turning to the mess of items “Don’t worry, I can do this, Sweetie Belle. I don’t need her,” she continued whispering to herself, her eyes twitching slightly.

“O-kay…” Sweetie replied off-put, slowly backing away from the crazed looking Twilight. “Woah!” she yelped, stopping as she bumped into something. “Huh?” she turned her head, noticing Lemon standing behind her.

“Oh! Sorry Sweetie,” he apologized. “I was trying to go talk to miss Twilight, but I lost track of what I was doing when I looked to the trees, they looked weird and just… Sorry, I’m trailing off .”

“Trust me, you don’t want to talk to Miss Twilight right now,” Sweetie warned.

He gave her a confused look. “What do you m—” he stopped mid-question, noticing Twilight angrily tossing various parts sloppily together. “Oh.”

“Yeah…” she trailed off. “You know? Maybe I should stop her before she goes too crazy.”

“Good idea!” Lemon agreed. “I’ll wait here… watching the trees…” he trailed off.

Sweetie rolled her eyes and walked back towards the angered Twilight, spacing herself just in case of an outburst. “Miss Twilight?”

“Sweetie!” she responded in a chalkboard scratching voice as a piece of metal fell. “No need for that ‘Miss’ business! Ugh! Just call me—ouch!” she roared as a piece flew to her face, smacking her roughly.

“Well, my big sister said to be respectful since you’ll be taking care of me, but alright, er, ‘Ouch‘” she said with some effort.

Twilight didn’t reply, once again caught up in her handiwork.

“You know? You could ask somepony to help you learn how to build one, Ouch,” Sweetie tentatively suggested.

Twilight turned to her with a flat look, sighing and face hoofing in frustration. “I cannot believe I didn’t think of that. Thank you Sweetie,” she said with relief, patting the young pony before walking away, but stopping a mere seconds later and turning back. “And Sweetie?”

“Yeah?”

“Please, just call me Twilight. And none of this 'miss' business, alright?”

Sweetie giggled amused. “Okay! That would’ve gotten old fast anyway,” she whispered to herself as Twilight had already walked away towards the pair of Apples who were already halfway done with their own tent.

“Hey girls,” she greeted the pair.

“Oh, hey Twi, you already done?” Applejack asked with a surprised look. “We sorta got caught up on our own thing to even realize it!”

“I wish,” Twilight groaned, looking to the massacre of camping equipment left on the floor. “I’m actually here on something related to that…”

“Want me to help you build it?” Applejack guessed.

“No, I actually want to learn how to do it myself. By hoof, if you would!” she said hopeful.

“That will literally be no problem,” AJ laughed, pointing at her bare forehead. “But we are already halfway done…” she mumbled, looking at Twilight who pouted at her sadly. “… But Ah’ suppose we could start over just to show you,” she turned to Applebloom. “Sis?”

“Fine,” Applebloom sighed, putting a hoof inside the tent and easily pulling a piece of metal, which caused the tent’s remains to wobble before tumbling down completely. “There you go.”

Applejack nodded satisfied. “Alright, watch carefully, Twi.”

For the following minutes, AJ went through the steps of building the tent, all while Twilight eagerly took notes as they went along. After the task was finished, Twilight confidently walked back to her spot to finish her own tent.

“What!?”

Only to find it already up.

“Hey Princess,” Patch greeted as she stepped on the last nail. “Your tent is up.”

“Patch! I told you I didn’t need your help!” Twilight growled frustrated..

“Yeah, you didn’t. But Sweetie Belle certainly seemed like she did,” she explained, pointing at the young unicorn who sheepishly hid behind her own tail. “But don’t be mad at her, I insisted.”

“Grr…”

“Twilight?” Applejack called behind her.

“What!?” she replied angrily, not caring who was on the receiving end. “Ugh…” she complained, having being cut off by a sudden headache.

“There is no need to make an issue of nothing. Let it go,” Applejack said with a frown, not noticing Twilight‘s discomfort. “We are here to have fun with the foals,” she explained, pointing towards Sweetie, Applebloom, and Lemon who stood to the side, staring at the scene nervously.

Twilight’s gaze softened as AJ’s words sank in. “I’m sorry, y—you are right…” she turned to Patch who stared silently, and with effort, extended her hoof. “Thank you, I appreciate your help.”

Patch stared at the hoof and nodded. “It is what I’m here for. You aren’t really up for anything without magic.”

“Well, I’ll manage,” she replied with gritted teeth.

“Maybe next time you’ll come prepared.”

“Grr,” Twilight growled, lowering her shaking hoof.

“Woah, what’s with the tension in here?” came the voice of Rainbow Dash from the side, with Scootaloo right besides her who carried numerous pieces of wood.

“Dash, your tent is right next to Twilights,” Applejack said in monotone. “How did you miss that?”

“Well, I wasn‘t here!“ Dash shouted back. “We finished our tent ages ago! So we went to get some wood!” she explained, pointing at Scootaloo who carried the whole bulk of it. “We were being responsible!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo concurred before tumbling down by the weight of the wood on her back.

“Okay…” Applejack took a deep breath. “Maybe we should all just calm down, alright? We are out camping! Let’s have a good time!”

Her words seemed to have an effect, as the atmosphere soon seemed to become friendlier, and the group (sans Patch) gathered around a newly lit fire and told stories, sang songs, and had a good time until the sky became dark, and the moon came out in the distance.

At which point Dash cut in with a yawn. “I think we should head to bed now, guys.”

“What? Can’t last the night?” Applejack asked with a smug grin.

“I thought we said that was between us,” retorted Dash with a frown.

“Oookay!” Twilight cut in. “Maybe we should go to bed, girls!” she finished with gritted teeth, blushing with a disapproving stare.

“Oh!” AJ and Dash reacted, looking at each other with similar looks, eyeing the fillies whose faces were already scrunched deep in thought.

“What did Dash mean by finishing the job, AJ?” Apple Bloom asked curiously.

“Did you guys do some job together?” Scootaloo asked right after.

“Bed! Now!” the two older mares barked in unison, taking the fillies who only grew more curious as they were forcibly dragged back into their tents.

In the meantime, the rest of the group stayed outside, engulfed in an awkward silent that seemed unbreakable.

‘Well, at least the night has been nice,’ Twilight thought to herself with a nervous smile.

“Um, Ms. Twilight?” Lemon finally spoke up, causing Twilight to tense up, fully expecting a follow-up question.

“Y—Yes?” she asked cautiously.

“I was going to ask you this earlier but… who am I supposed to sleep with?”

“Oh…? Oh! Yes, of course!” she gasped in relief. “I didn’t realize we didn’t bring a fifth tent,” she said in realization.

“He can sleep with us!” Sweetie suggested excitedly.

“Yeah, I was thinking that…” Twilight trailed on, looking between the two, visions of her staying awake late into the night, the sounds of giggling children being the only ‘soothing’ sounds around her. “Well, don’t see a pro—”

“He can crash in my tent,” Patch spoke up suddenly. “I’ve set up my own, but I’m not really going to use it.”

Lemon showed a bright grin, happily bouncing in place. “Oh boy! But wait, why are you not using it?” he asked, giving her a guilty stare. “I don‘t want to use your own tent…”.

“I’m staying up to watch after you all, kid,” Patch ruffled his mane, giving him a sincere smile. “Don’t worry.”

“But won’t you be tired?” he asked curious.

“Nah, captain Patch doesn’t need sleep,” she assured him. “Come on, get in there.”

Lemon looked over from the tent to the still Patch, and with a shrug, nodded. “Okay, I’ll take it!” he made his way towards it, but stopped suddenly, turning sharply around back towards Patch, and hugging her leg for a few seconds, much to her surprise. “Thank you! And good night!” he said before running into the tent.

Twilight only stared at the events with big eyes. “Wow…”

“Nice kid,” Patch simply said with a small smile, right before cracking her neck. “Now, how about you two get to bed? I‘ll take care of you,” she ordered, her voice turning cold and uncaring as she turned her back to them.

“Woah…” Sweetie stated in surprise. “It’s like she is two ponies!” she whispered to Twilight.

“Yeah…” Twilight agreed mindlessly, staring at Patch with intrigue. 'What is her story?' she thought to herself. “Come on Sweetie, we should rest. We have a long day tomorrow,” she suggested, and the pair, headed into the tent, looking forward to a peaceful sleep.

The sunlight caught Twilight’s eyes, forcing her to close them for the first time in hours, her hooves wriggling in place as her mind ran numerous theories she had gone through multiple times before.

“And here I was, worried about the kids keeping me up,” she mumbled to herself, visibly annoyed of Celestia's light peeking through the tent. “No offense, Princess,” she giggled, smiling as she readied herself for the walk to come.

…

“I take it we aren’t there yet,” Rainbow sighed, floating over the other walking ponies, holding a bored look as they slowly trudged up a hill.

“Dash, Ah’ know you want to go nuts, but do you really have to whine nonstop?” AJ groaned.

“I’m not whining! I’m complaining!” Rainbow explained indignantly

“That doesn’t make it any less annoying,” AJ replied, starting an argument between the pair.

“Those two sure like arguing,” Lemon noted to Sweetie Belle right besides him.

“It’s kind of their thing,” she laughed in response.

“My mom always said that that’s how ponies show they care for each other!” he said, nodding in agreement to his own statement.

“That sounds weird, no offense!” Sweetie said quickly, noticing her mistake.

“… It’s fine,” he replied reluctantly.

“Actually, this is the first time I’ve heard of her! You haven‘t really talked about your parents much, huh?” Sweetie asked, suddenly curious.

Lemon froze, his mind running amok. “Um… did you know Miss Twilight is a great teacher!”

“What does that have to do with your parents?” Sweetie asked confused. “Did your parents know Twilight?”

“No…Yes! I mean, I was just thinking that I learned tons of stuff from her during Twilight time, is all!” he replied nervously.

“Are you still calling it that?” Twilight called from the front, shaking her head amusedly.

“What’s ‘Twilight time’?” Sweetie asked, lost on the conversation.

“That’s what I call it whenever Miss Twilight teaches me stuff!” Lemon explained. “I say it’s fitting!”

“It makes it sound like it’s something special,” Twilight said embarrassed.

“What?” Rainbow asked, intruding in their conversation. “You are like, the smartest unicorn on the planet! Of course it’s something special! Heck! It should’ve been called ‘Twilight’s Egghead Time’!”

Twilight stared flatly, giving Dash a disapproving look. “Shouldn’t you be whining about how slow we are going?”

“Complaining,” she corrected. “And I’m going to take any fun I can get out of this,” she said smugly.

“Aww, I wish I could be part of Twilight’s Egghead Time,” Sweetie said sadly. “I wanna learn magic too…”

“Bahahahaha!” Rainbow laughed, her wings stopping their flapping and making her fall to the ground, where she simply continued rolling and laughing . “It… Aha… Really sounds great!”

“I take it back, I think I like Twilight time better,” Twilight sighed in defeat. “And I would gladly let you join…” she trailed off, biting her lip. “When I’m not sick anymore, that is.”

“Oh! Oh! Can I join too?” Apple Bloom asked, popping up in between the group.

“Oh, oh! I want in too!” Scootaloo said, appearing alongside her. “… Why is Rainbow on the floor?”

“If y’all are done horsing around, we can get a move on, we gotta make it to our second stopping point soon,” AJ said from the front.

“Now that’s something my wings like to hear!” Rainbow said excitedly.

“Don’t you mean your ears?” Twilight asked.

“Nope,” Rainbow replied straight to the point.

“I think I’ll have to agree with Ms. Applejack,” Patch cut in. "I don’t want to be away from Ponyville too long.”

“Why? What’s the big deal?” Scootaloo shrugged.

Patch shook her head. “Kid, if you read the amount of reports of happenings in Ponyville I do in Canterlot, you wouldn’t be asking that right now.”

“Wait a minute... we won’t actually reach the falls tonight?” Rainbow asked as she realized AJ's words. “That blows!”

“Quit yer’ hollering!” Applejack reprimanded her “We’ll be able to make it by sunrise if we wake up bright and early tomorrow! But that’s only if we make it our stopping point before dark and get some good early sleep, alright?”

“I’m looking forward to it!” Twilight said with a giddy expression. “I want to put what I learned from Applejack into practice. Gotta apply it to make sure learning was achieved!

“Oh,” Twilight mumbled to herself, watching the cave hole they stopped in, then turning to Applejack, blinking slowly. “Applejack?”

“What is it, sugarcube?”

“We are sleeping inside, aren’t we?”

“That’s the idea, yes,” she replied, walking in, followed by the rest.

“… Sigh… I never thought anything I learned would feel like a waste, but I guess there is a first time for everything,” Twilight whimpered, making her way into the cave right behind the rest. She surveyed the surroundings, frowning as she noticed the structure was sound, lacking any real deficiencies to aid her case.

“Eenope!” AJ replied once Twilight had asked her about it. “Parents apparently used this whenever we went out to camp, and outside the occasional leaking in places, it’s a solid cave for sure!”

“What about wild animals? Doesn’t a bear live here?” she tried to argue.

“No, ma‘am! Besides, Fluttershy gave me this just in case!” AJ said, bringing out a small bag from her saddle.

“A repellant, huh?” Patch said knowingly, staring at the small wrapped package.

Rainbow approached it, rolling her eyes at it. “Pfft, we don’t need it! I can take care of whatever animal that tries to mess with us!”

“Yeah! You show them, Dash!” Scootaloo said excitedly, popping up next to her, making Dash jump in surprise.

“Ah’ get the feeling that’s exactly what she was trying to prevent,” AJ dully guessed.

Finding spots around the cave, the ponies unpacked their bags, finishing just as the sun began setting in the distance. With a yawn Twilight laid back on her bag and closed her eyes, her previous lack of sleep quickly catching up to her.

“Alright, we should get a fire going,” she heard AJ suggest. “Rainbow?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get the wood,” Dash quickly replied.

“Oh1 I’ll go too!” Scootaloo offered.

“It’s okay Scoots, I can go on my o—”

“Pleeeease!” she interrupted, begging for it.

”… Um, how about you go ahead and do it on your own? I’m sure you can handle it,” Dash suggested.

“You got it! I won‘t disappoint you!” Scootaloo accepted, the sound of her hoof steps echoing as she ran out of the cave.

“Interesting…” Twilight mumbled, opening her eyes and getting on her hooves despite her tired body’s complaints

“Quick nap,” Patch noted from the side as she laid down on a blanket of her own.

“I don’t sleep much,” Twilight replied. “You sure look comfortable yourself.”

“I’m only a pony,” Patch sighed wistfully. “I may be tough, but I'm not a monster. If I could go on forever without rest, I certainly would.”

“At least we have that in common,” Twilight mumbled, turning away and walking to the exit.

“And where are you going?” Patch asked.

“I’m helping Scootaloo. What? Is that too dangerous for me?” Twilight said with a sneer.

Patch stared back emotionlessly. “Just don’t go too far, alright?”

“Alright, mom,” Twilight sighed, quickly walking away from her. “Geez, is this what I have John deal with?” she asked herself, taking into a quick run out, and catching up to Scootaloo who stood not too far, gathering branches into a small pile.

“Oh, hey Twilight!” Scootaloo greeted as she noticed her. “Did Rainbow send you to help? It’s okay, I don’t need it!” she said confidently.

“It’s all good, I want to help,” Twilight said, heading for a small bundle of sticks nearby.

“N—No! It’s okay,” Scootaloo said again, running between her and the sticks. “I insist!”

Twilight smiled warmly, arching her head down towards a stick by her side. “Come now Scootaloo, we can finish faster if we work toge—”

“I said no!” Scootaloo yelped, making Twilight jump back surprised.

“Hmm…” Twilight hummed. “Scootaloo, is there something you want to talk about?”

“Of course not!” she replied nervously, turning her back to Twilight.

“You won’t get very far by just doing Dash favors, you know?” Twilight pointed out, casually walking towards her.

Scootaloo sharply turned, nervously staring at her. “You don’t know that!” she yelped.

“I've noticed that Rainbow Dash is starting to feel a bit uncomfortable,” Twilight replied with aloof, walking in front of Scootaloo. “You don’t want that, do you?”

“I wasn’t trying to…” Scootaloo whined, kicking the floor lightly, her snout twisted in a pout.

“Maybe you should just try telling her what you want,” Twilight suggested, lifting Scootaloo’s face, whose eyes glimmered slightly as she held back tears.

“But… what if she says no?”

Twilight smiled warmly, giving the filly a comforting look. “Better than pushing her away or never knowing for sure, right? Besides, I have confidence you’ll succeed.”

“You really think so?”

“Well…” Twilight began, grabbing the bundle of sticks and placing them on her own back. “Maybe you can get some brownie points by helping sick ol’ Twilight carry the wood, don’t you think?”

Scootaloo smiled weakly, nodding rapidly. “Yeah!” she rushed towards Twilight, quickly grabbing the wood and running inside the cave with her following right behind.

“You go, Scootaloo,” Twilight said happily.

“Interesting words,” a voice suddenly said, stopping Twilight in her tracks. “You sounded knowledgeable.”

“Well, it’s easy to sound knowledgeable when you’ve crossed that bridge yourself,” Twilight replied, watching as Patch came out from behind a nearby bush. “At least Scootaloo doesn’t have to tumble like I did,” she finished vaguely, passing the captain without even a glance.

“Well, SHE didn't let you fumble too far,” Patch said just as vaguely, trotting back inside and leaving Twilight on her own.

“… Yeah, she didn't,” she said with a grin, turning around and watching as the sun fully set behind the mountains before heading back inside.

Peaceful snores echoed in the cave as the group slept peacefully.

“Ugh…”

Only the complaints of the orange filly who was ignored by the tired ponies as she headed out of the cave without anyone noticing. All except for Patch, who watched attentively as she left the cave.

“What is she doing?” Patch growled, running after her. “Oh boy…” With a sigh, she watched as Scootaloo rode off on her scooter, quickly disappearing into the foliage. “Crap,” she snarled, starting into a run in the hopes of quickly catching up with the filly.

Adjusting her eyes as best as she could, she galloped through the dark forest as the moon—much to her dismay—hid behind a cloud that had been left behind by the weather team. “Of course! Enough time without Ms. Dash, and the team turns laz—woah!” she yelped, her thoughts interrupted as she began sliding down an unseen steep slope.

“Grr…” she growled, attempting to dig her hooves on the dirt to stop herself. “Crap!” she yelped, unable to do so, her eyes widening as she caught a sight of a river coming up. “Dammit!” she fell back, desperately reaching for something to latch onto, but failing to get a grip on anything, and quickly reaching the edge. “Noo!” she yelped, instinctively closing her eyes as she leapt off into the abyss.

…

“Huh?” she mumbled as she noticed the lack of wind whistling by her ears, cautiously opening her eyes to find what had happened. “Of course…”

She found herself rocking side to side, one of her front legs stuck in a tree root coming out of the rock face she hanged by, the river roaring ferociously under her as if awaiting with open jaws for her to fall into it.

“… Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she sighed, softly hitting her head with her free hoof. “But no time, I need to g—” she said as she reached for the ledge, but stopping as dirt around the root began creaking, forcing her to pull her hoof back. “… Or maybe I could just hang here... that’s just fantastic.”

She looked up where the moon still hanged high on the night sky. “Even as a captain, I can’t get out of my own problems! Grr… Useless!”

“Captain? Is that you?”

“Huh?” Patch mumbled, attempting her best to find the source of the voice, but looking at nothing more than the rock in front of her. “Who is there!?”

“Captain? Is that actually you down there?” the voice called again, sounding closer. “It’s me, Twilight!”

“Of all ponies!“ Patch thought frustrated. “Careful Sparkle! Don’t get too close! I’m barely hanging by a thread here, and I think the ground is ready to give in!” she warned.

“Oh-oh, w have another problem!” another voice joined Twilight‘s. “You can handle this, right?”

“What? But I ne—” Twilight began, but stopped abruptly. “Great!”

“What’s happening up there!?” Patch shouted.

“Don’t worry! I got this!” Twilight replied.

“Of course you do…” Patch groaned, doing her best to ignore Twilight’s murmurs.

“If only I had my magic!” Twilight whispered loud enough for Patch to hear.

“Well, you don’t!” she shouted back, hoping to get her attention. “Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Ouch!” she yelped suddenly.

“Sparkle? You okay up there?”

“D—Don’t worry, I have an idea!” she shouted, the sound of her hoof steps growing fainter as she dove back into the forest.

“Oh, great, magic-less pony has a plan! This should be goo—aah!” Patch yelped as she noticed the dirt starting to give in. “Um, Sparkle? You might want to hurry up!” she shouted nervously, but no answer came.

…

Minutes passed, and Patch grew desperate as she watched the rock begin to rumble quietly, dirt and small rocks predicting her fate if she didn't act soon. “Great, I’m going to die here! Of all the stupid ways to go…” she sighed, looking down in resignation. “Sorry, Fluttershy…”

“I’m here, Captain!” Twilight shouted from the top, and just as suddenly, the end of a rope fell by Patch. “Quickly! Grab it!”

Patch stared at it awestruck, slowly reaching out for it and pulling it. “It’s solid…”

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up!” Twilight shouted again, getting her out of her stupor.

“I’m going!” hearing as the dirt began to give once more, she bit the rope, expertly tying it around her free hoof with only her snout. “Okay! I got it!” feeling confident once more, she pulled on her other hoof, breaking free of the root. “Quickly now…” using the rock in front of her to push, she jumped to the side, watching as the strength of her push managed the job of fully breaking the rock face, and she watched silently as its remains fell down towards the river under her.

“… Well, glad that wasn’t me.”

Minutes later, they were safely away from the ledge, far enough for Patch to breathe in relief, happily taking mouthfuls of air.

“Are you okay?” Twilight finally asked, staring worriedly at her rapid breathing.

“Y—Yes, I’m okay. Thank you,” she replied shakily, looking at the rope attentively. “I see you came prepared.”

“Yeah…” Twilight replied. “Good thing that it was packed by a certain shit.”

“Heh,” Patch chuckled, shaking her head amusedly. “Language, Twilight. Did the human teach you how to curse?”

“Very funny,“ Twilight laughed sarcastically. “But I can curse more if you want. I’ve learned a lot from him both good and bad, sadly,” she giggled. “But I won‘t, I owe you."

“What do you owe me for?” Patch asked puzzled..

“For actually referring to me by my first name.”

Patch’s eyes widened, looking at Twilight surprised. She then cleared her throat, and shaking her head, she suddenly asked. “... Anyway, what took you so long? I thought you came prepared with the rope.”

“Sorry, I got sidetracked by Scootaloo, she fell in the river, an—”

“What? Then why are you here!? Why didn’t you go rescue her instead!?” Patch shouted angrily. “She could be...”

“Patch,“ Twilight smiled softly as she answered. “She is with Rainbow Dash. She saved her. They flew into the forest together a couple of minutes ago."

“… Fine,” Patch replied satisfied, getting back on her hooves, stretching them in an effort to remove the stiffness. “Let's just go back, the others must be worried about you, and I‘ve had enough of the forest for the night.”

“Sure,” Twilight agreed. “But maybe this experience will make you hate me slightly less, right?” she laughed, walking ahead.

“Wait,” Patch called. “Look, Spa— I mean. Twilight?”

Twilight turned around, looking at Patch with curious eyes. “Yes?”

“I... don’t hate you,” she said simply, before storming ahead of Twilight. “Come on, we should get going.”

“Of course, Patch!” Twilight said happily, following right behind.

“A beautiful morning for me to see, but an easy one it will not be.”

Zecora watched through a small opening in the woods as the sun rose. She looked back at her hut, where her guests slept. Nodding, she headed back, ready for the day she had planned for the human inside.

Author's Notes:

Chapter complete!

Sad that I can't pump these out as fast as I used to since it's getting harder! That being said, I ain't giving up, dang it! Anyway, next time it's back to John and company.

Feel free to leave your comments and criticism! It's always welcome.

Until next time!

Spoiler Notes 33 - 06/13/18
A slow chapter, obviously, but I was happy to have had a bigger focus on somewhat other than John. This one set-up something nicely as well as having Twilight and Patch, well... patch things up.

This one actually flowed super easily, too (turns out that established characters are significantly easier to write) and it was super fun! Really happy with this one.