“Where’s the engine?” Dust Demon asked, checking the balloon over. “Without a source of heat, we won’t be able to lift off.”

Eclipse pressed his mouth into a thin line. “I don’t suppose anyone knows where we can find a--oof!”

Sagebrush retracted his hoof from Eclipse’s ribs. “I know where you were going with that, and no.”

Eclipse rubbed his side, glaring at Sagebrush. “Killjoy.”

Dust Demon glanced at the disturbance, then found himself staring at Eclipse.

“What?” Eclipse asked, suddenly checking himself over. “Do I have something on me? Oh Celestia, it’s on my face isn’t it? GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!” He began waving his hooves around frantically, trying to clear his face of an unseen blemish of some sort, possibly an insect.

Cactus Star giggled at his antics as the gray and brown earth pony eventually decided that his energy was spent and collapsed to the ground, panting overdramatically.

Dust Demon rubbed his forehead as the childishness of the behavior was too much for his brain to comprehend at the moment. “Nothing like that.” He said, sighing. “You’ve got some sort o magic, despite not being a unicorn, right?”

“I pride myself on that fact!” Eclipse said, rising to stand on his back hooves alone and crossing his front hooves over his chest.

Braeburn felt like a group of spiders had clogged his brain up with webbing. Just a few moments ago, this pony had been one of the most serious he had ever met, and now he was…this. On the upside, Cactus Bloom was loving it.

“Can you use that fancy magic to make a fire?” Dust Demon asked, also caught off guard by Eclipse’s transformation.

He got his answer when he had to duck a fireball tossed at him by Eclipse. The little ball hit a small rock and dissipated, not even leaving a scorch mark. Then the rock it had hit suddenly shot a foot into the air before exploding in a dazzling miniature fireworks display, complete with a miniature dragon that flew around Cactus Star’s head before fading out of existence.

“Just call me Eclipse the Gray.” Eclipse said, bowing while he was still balancing on his back hooves. “Or the Great and Powerful Eclipse, if you don’t get the reference.”

Dust Demon stared at him in stunned silence, as did the rest of the group.

Eclipse sighed heavily. “Fine.” He clapped his hooves together, sparking a floating flame to appear in mid-air. The small fire floated over to the balloon, quickly filling it up and causing it to rise.

Dust Demon double-checked the tether on the balloon, ensuring it wouldn’t float away. Next, he checked the basket to make sure there wasn’t any weaknesses.

“Looks fine to me.” A voice interrupted.

Dust Demon peered over the basket to find Eclipse standing, upside down, on the basket’s underside, his mane and tail the only parts of him that seemed to be obeying gravity.

Sagebrush shrugged at Dust Demon. “We don’t know how he got like that either.”

Eclipse circled the basket’s underside. “Seems sturdy enough. I think we should trust it.” As he circled, he spotted a dead earth pony some distance away, a spear in his throat. Eclipse quickly turned away, his face blanching slightly as he hoped Cactus Star hadn’t seen where his gaze had landed. The rest of them were fine, but she was just a little filly.

He dropped back down to earth, his serious demeanor returned to him. “Dust Demon. See if you can hook that chariot of yours to the balloon. One vehicle won’t hold all of us, so we need them both or walk, which isn‘t an option given our increasingly narrow time frame. If you can’t tie them together, pull the chariot and I’ll find a way to take care of the balloon.”

The dusty brown pegasus nodded once, quickly dashing to retrieve the chariot.

Braeburn nudged Eclipse’s shoulder. “Hey, mind explaining what just happened to you?”

Eclipse sighed. “I’ve got an immature side. A very immature side. Need I explain more?”

“Sister, I’ve been thinking…”

“Hm? What is it Luna?”

The Lunar princess tapped her hoof. “Have we ever had a good moment of fun with Eclipse?”

Celestia put her tea down. “Like what? Pranks? A food fight?” She rubbed the back of her head. “A knock knock joke?”

“Yes!” Luna said, pointing at her older sibling. “Fun! I believe we had him under a strict regime of all work while he was here. He needs to unwind.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, little sister.” Celestia cautioned, ever eager to avoid setting off someone who might have no patience for such things.

“It is settled! When Eclipse returns, the fun shall be had!” She finished her statement with a slightly weaker version of the Royal Canterlot Voice, a fact which worried Celestia down to her very core.

“An immature side?” Braeburn exclaimed, rather sarcastically. “You don’t say?”

“Shut up.” Eclipse snapped in response. “I can’t always keep it in check.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“Appleloosa.” Eclipse said. “Gangs. Jango.”

Braeburn blinked. “Uh, that is to say, after we’re through with this here mission of ours. Heheh…” he chuckled lightly, but it was clearly forced as a weak attempt to lighten the mood.

It failed miserably.

Dust Demon circled back around with the chariot in tow. He quickly hooked the chariot to the underside of the balloon portion of their hot air balloon, letting it hang next to the basket. Next, he turned the chariot so the basket could be attached to the end of it, turning it into one large vehicle held together by bits of rope.

Eclipse jumped when he saw the contraption. “I’m not getting on that until we get some duct tape on it.”

The entire group of ponies stared at him quizzically.

Sighing, Eclipse pulled out a rol of large gray tape, the likes of which Equestria had never seen before. Probably. Next, he pulled off several strips and stuck them on the balloon chariot in several spots to stabilize the structure and help it hold together. With that done, he stored the tape in the basket, hopping inside the chariot to test the feel of their new ride.

“Now this,” he said triumphantly, “is red-necked genius!”

Sagebrush stared at Eclipse. “It’s…actually not a bad idea.” he admitted. “The balloon can handle all the problems of actually lifting the weight, allowing the one pegasus hooked onto the chariot to focus on actually pulling us to where we need to go.”

Cactus Star immediately hopped into the vehicle. “I wanna ride with Eclipse!” she said.

Little Strongheart and the two earth ponies climbed into the balloon’s basket section while Dust Demon hooked himself into the chariot.

"Everypony ready?” he called back.

"There’s a buffalo back here to, you know!”

Oddly enough, it had been Eclipse who had spoken up.

Dust Demon rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me…” he muttered under his breath, lifting off of the ground.

The minutes ticked by as the group quickly approached the large rock formations in the distance, as well as the much closer river that lay between them and the companions.

“Hey Eclipse.” Sagebrush called out over the wind. “Sundown’s approaching awfully fast. What about when it gets dark?”

“We set up camp.” Eclipse replied simply. “Not much else to it.” With this, he leaned over the chariot’s railing, Cactus Bloom peeking out over the railing next to him. “What’s that look like to you, Star?” Eclipse asked, pointing at a large beast on the ground.

Cactus Star gasped. “A manticore!”

“We’re getting into the deep desert, now.” Eclipse replied, nodding. “Those things don’t dare approach settlements. A lot more skittish than the jungle variety.

Various strange land formations and animal sightings were traded between the two, each trying to outdo the other. Braeburn couldn’t help but stare at them as they carried on.

“Hey, Little Strongheart.” He whispered. “What do you make of Eclipse?”

“His powers are unnatural.” She said. “They are nothing like what he should be capable of.” She turned to face Braeburn. “We cannot trust him.”

“Oh, that’s a little unfair, don’t cha think?” Braeburn waved a hoof at her distrust. “What about how you so quickly trusted those two friends of Applejack that followed you to your tribe way back when?”

“That was different.” She spat. “He will betray us. You can practically taste it on him. The ground he walks on twists on itself like a coiled snake. Even the land does not approve. You see it, too. I know this to be true.”

“All I see is somepony who’s done nothing but help us. You need to trust him. He can help get rid of the new sheriff and his group of bandits.”

Little Strongheart turned away from Braeburn. That pony was lying to himself. No good could come of this.