Fragile Steps

Chapter 4

The sun was barely peeking over the treetops when Twilight's eyes fluttered open. The sleepy pony yawned, rose from her grassy bed, and stretched, letting the crisp morning air sweep through her mane.

The chilly gusts effectively woke up her senses as she surveyed the camp and made sure all her friends were still alright. Fluttershy was curled up next to Pinkie, who was dozing peacefully. A couple steps away, Applejack lay with her worn hat covering her face, but from the gentle rising and falling of her chest, Twilight knew she was sound asleep. For once, Rarity's eyes were shut with no sign of discomfort, and meters above her, a rainbow tail poked out of a cloud, its owner in a serene slumber.

The violet unicorn smiled tenderly as she looked at her friends. They were a vision of peace, a feeling that had been elusive since their arrival to the forest. So, seeing as everypony else was still asleep, Twilight decided to pack up their remaining food into the makeshift saddlebag Rarity had woven the night before. She waited, humming contentedly.

There was a soon gentle thud behind her.

"Hey, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash, yawning and sending her a drowsy smile, "need any help?"

The unicorn in question smiled back at her. "Good morning, Rainbow, and no, I'm just about finished. Thanks though. How are you feeling?"

"No mysterious new cuts showed up, so that's good. That cloud idea you had? Awesome." The pale blue pegasus grinned, and then suddenly excitement seemed to flash across her features. "Hey, I was thinking, I only get hurt down here, right?"

"Well, almost all known threats to you are down here, so yes." Twilight nodded.

"And I'm safe on the clouds, right?"

"Hmm... Not completely-"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Safer."

"Yes."

"Why don't I just stay on one? I can propel it forward to keep up with you guys easily, since that takes almost no work, and I can also scan our surroundings for any danger."

Twilight pondered over this. It would be great to have a sharp lookout, and the fact that Rainbow would be less vulnerable was reassuring. There was still that nagging worry, but Twilight pushed it aside, deeming it silly and unreasonable. "Okay. That would be the most logical course of action."

Rainbow whooped. "Yes! Thanks, Twi!"

"It was your idea," said Twilight, and she paused as a fresh thought came to her. "Hey, what if Fluttershy joined you?"

The thought of the demure, soft-spoken pegasus sightless on a cloud meters above solid ground seemed to alarm Rainbow. "Uh..." She started intelligently, "I don't know, Twilight."

Twilight, ever-logical, was perplexed. It would be smartest to keep her up there and out of danger, and her blindness wouldn't have much of an effect up there, because there simply wasn't anything she had to look out for. Plus, Rainbow could keep an eye on her and talk to her to keep her from fear. Twilight pursed her lips. Sending Fluttershy up there was the naturally cleverest course of action. "What do you mean?" She asked, head tilted in confusion.

"Well..." Rainbow spoke hesitantly, her hoof moving nervously to the back of her head, "It's just that Fluttershy doesn't like being up high. Seriously, that's why she moved to Ponyville. You know she doesn't like heights."

"Yes, but she wouldn't be able to tell-"

"That's what would freak her out the most, Twilight."

Twilight sighed, internally determining that Rainbow's assumptions were correct and also deciding to simply trust Fluttershy's oldest friend. "Fine," she said in defeat.

"Nothing against you, Twilight," said Rainbow, giving her a friendly nudge, "but Fluttershy's gotta be on the ground to feel safe."

With that, the two found a large mossy stone to sit on in the pearly light of the clear, still dawn and watched the sun paint the muted sky until the others rose and the world was awash in sparkling color.

_

It turned out that Rainbow's surmises were confirmed, for when Twilight later approached Fluttershy and suggested the cloud idea, the timid pegasus shook her head profusely and spewed out several anxious excuses before Twilight had the chance to take her proposition back.

As a result, the band of friends were now walking along the bubbling brook with solely Rainbow in the sky and Fluttershy being led by Pinkie. Applejack had insisted she was fine, but the recently clumsy farmpony had to eventually give up her pride and use Twilight as support. Thankfully, Rarity felt well enough to walk, and though she slowed the group down considerably with her feeble pace, the ponies were ultimately grateful that she was able to trail along at all.

"How're you doing, Rarity?" Called Applejack kindly, looking behind her to catch a glimpse of the pearly unicorn.

"Alright, darling," she responded lightly. Her face was no longer tinged a sickly hue, and now only the softest pinks dusted her cheeks. It was a relief, to say the least, that she was on her hooves and walking. "Does anyone know how much progress we've made?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled at the pony's usual antics but called up to white blot in the sky nonetheless. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow's soft blue face peeped over the edge. "Yeah?"

"Can we get an update?"

"Sure thing!" Her head ducked out of sight but returned in an instant. "We haven't gotten too far," she said, pausing to look out over the forest once more before continuing, "but I'd say we're gonna reach the heart of the Empire in no more than few days."

There were grins all around as the group took in Rainbow's words.

A certain pink pony hopped up in happiness, causing a leaning Fluttershy to stumble and barely catch herself.

"Oh, please don't do that," cried the yellow pegasus softly, regaining her balance and hanging onto Pinkie tightly. "I mean," her voice grew shy, "you don't have to. Not if you want."

Pinkie just smiled apologetically and gave Fluttershy a gentle nuzzle to express her regret and sympathy, and the two walked on.

As the ponies resumed their pleasant chatter, it seemed as if everypony had momentarily forgotten their personal woes and instead filled their minds with high hopes and great expectations.

They trekked on contentedly, occasionally stopping for breaks in which they drank from the clean crystal waters and nibbled on sweet clusters of berries. Those on land chattered amongst themselves merrily, temporarily forgetting their strife, while the cerulean pegasus relaxed on soft tufts of cloud, scanning the wide dome of the sky for danger and listening to the genial stream of conversation below.

Overall, all was well.

Twilight should have known it wouldn't last.

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Author's Note:
Hey guys! Sorry for the short and rather filler-ish chapter again. Sorry for the cliffhanger, too. Mwahahaha... you'll just have to wait until next chapter. ;)

The action's coming, I promise!

Thanks for reading!

See ya!