The ponies all laughed and made faces at Gutt as Tilly puffed off into the distance, leaving the pirates in the dust.
"A little help here!" Applejack's voice shouted out, interrupting the cheering. Everyone looked back at her. She was still holding the elephant.
"Oh, sorry!" Twilight used her magic to lift up the Elephant and help him into the rear of their car while Rainbow helped up Applejack.
When the cheering all died down, Twilight was the first to speak up.
"Okay, every pony alright?" She looked everyone over.
"All here n' accounted for, sugarcube!" Applejack nodded. Most were still doing great, none were hurt, althought Rainbow looked like she needed a bath after rolling in the charcoal.
Pinkie and Rarity though were still pinned down.
"Rarity!" Spike cried when he noticed the cut on her foreleg, "You're bleeding!"
"So are you, Pinkie!" Rainbow added.
"Me too!" The elephant whined. He had the worst injury on his hind leg. He could not even stand up it hurt him so much.
Twilight levitated the starfish out of Pinkie's mane and untied Rarity.
"Great!" The elephant replied.
"Let's get you back in your seat then." Twilight levitated the elephant out back, over the railing, and into his little cart again.
"Thanks!" The elephant smiled. "You're the best!"
"How much does it hurt with you guys?" Twilight asked the two.
"I think a little band-aid will work," Pinkie said smiling. It was clear though that the cut still hurt from her face. Twilight looked closer.
As Rarity tried to get up, a smile suddenly spread across her face. She knew what to do. She could use her first aid spell to fix this! She again could be helpful!
"We don't need band-aids or anything!" She smiled at Pinkie and Twilight. "I know a first aid spell! I know just what to do! I'll have the three of us fixed right up!" Pain then shot through her foreleg, making her cringe in pain.
"Oh, the first aid spell?" Twilight repeated. "You learned that too?"
Too? Rarity's smile and heart sank. "You know it too?" She asked.
"Yeah," Twilight smiled back. "I thought maybe it would be useful, so I took the class for it a while back! And besides, I mean, you know me," She giggled a little, "Always looking up new spells!"
"Help me, please!" The Elephant whined.
"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy squeaked. She rushed to the elephant's side. "Any pony have a cloth?"
Rarity levitated her one cloth from her bag of extra sewing supplies as she held it to the Elephant's wounded leg. "It's okay," She whispered gently. "We're gonna take care of you."
Twilight turned back to Rarity. "I'll fix you up first, then you can heal Pinkie, and I'll help the elephant. How about that?"
"Y-yeah. Sure," Rarity replied, trying not to show her disappointment.
"Hey, Twi," Applejack interrupted. "How's your head? I mean I kicked ya pretty hard. Sorry about that."
"It doesn't feel bad," Twilight replied. "I'm a bit dizzy, but I think I'll be okay." She turned back to Rarity, thinking of something.
"Actually, could you have a look, Rarity?"
"Sure," Rarity nodded. Twilight leaned her head down so Rarity could see. Rarity moved some of Twilight's mane to the side to inspect the damage. She found a dark purple bump on her head, but that was it. No blood or anything.
"Does it hurt when I tap here?" Rarity asked as she gently nudged the bump.
"Eek!" Twilight cringed. "Yeah."
"Sorry." Rarity moved the mane back into place. "It doesn't look bad. You'll be fine."
"Great! Now let me see that foreleg!" Twilight leaned forward at Rarity's foreleg. She focused on it, and let her magic aura envelop it.
Rarity felt a little heat on her cut, warm and comfortable, as she noticed the cut closing back up like a zipper. The pain suddenly left her after another minute. It was as though the cut had never been made. Blood still stained her coat, but that was the least of her worries. She could wash it off later.
"There you go!" Twilight said cheerfully. "Good as new!"
"Thank you darling," Rarity said, forcing a smile.
"What are friends for?" She turned to the elephant and walked over to him. "Now, let's have a look at you!"
Rarity walked over to Pinkie in one of the seats, still rubbing her shoulder, trying to hold the blood in.
"Move your hoof," Rarity urged gently, sitting beside her.
Pinkie moved her hoof so Rarity could see the cut. It was still bleeding, but it wasn't deep. This was nothing. Rarity could handle it.
She focused her magic on the cut, doing exactly what she had learned in her classes.
"Oo!" Pinkie squeaked. "That feels good!"
After a matter of seconds, the cut was all healed up. Rarity just held the aura another second to clean the area, taking out any possibility of infection.
"Done!" She squeaked when she was done.
Pinkie tapped her shoulder just to check. No pain.
"Thanks, Rarity!" She smiled.
"Anytime, dear," Rarity nodded. She turned back to Twilight. She had just finished with the elephant. She had wrapped a bit of bandages over his wound.
"You're going to be fine," She said smiling. "The bite went pretty deep. It's good for the most part. It's just going to hurt to walk for a while."
"Will I be okay tomorrow?" The elephant asked. "The kids in town are going to want to ride me."
"You should be okay for that!" Twilight answered. "So now, how about we get you back into your cart?" She levitated the elephant out the door over the railing, and gently down into his cart.
"Thanks!" You're the best!" The elephant smiled, making Twilight blush.
"Thanks." She turned around and took her seat again. It was the same as before: Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight and Spike on one side, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity on the other.
"Oh," Twilight piped up as she remembered something. "One of us should probably go check on Tilly and Rolo!"
"I'll go!" Rainbow exclaimed. She swooped out the window.
Rarity looked down at her hooves sadly. She had thought maybe she had an advantage over Twilight, knowing the first aid spell. But once again, Twilight had outshone her. Perhaps she would talk to Fluttershy and Applejack about it again later. But now, they were all just happy that they escaped the pirates.
Or so they thought...
The did not see the truck coming up on the road behind them, to their right across the stream.
Rainbow flew up and hovered beside Tilly. Rolo and Chippers could see her too.
"Hey there," She said, "You guys doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay!" Tilly smiled. "That badger didn't hurt me that much."
"Yeah, and boy, you guys sure showed him who's boss!" Chip followed.
"Aw, it was nothing," Rainbow said boastfully.
"So?" Rolo asked. "What-what's the story? Are the pirates gone? Are they- are they going to come back? Do you know?"
"Nope!" Rainbow replied. "I think it's smooth sailing from here on in."
"Really?" Rolo smiled. "That's great! Super! Stupendous! Great job!"
"No prob!" Rainbow smiled. "I'll just get back to my seat then!"
She fluttered back to the car with the other ponies as Rolo pulled out a megaphone.
"Attention b-b-birthday train," He said. "This is your con-conductor speaking! We've just received word that the pirates have been fended off, and there-there will be no further inter-inter- uh, delays from here until our destination! So just sit back and enjoy the ride!"
And with that, the train roared with cheering, especially from the pony car. The ponies all stuck their heads out the windows.
"Wohoo!" Twilight squealed. "We're finally on our way!"
"Next stop," Applejack shouted, "The other side o' the mountain!"
"GO TILLY!" Pinkie cheered before a branch of leaves whacked her gently. She shook it off though.
It was then that Fluttershy looked across the river, and squeaked in horror at the sight of the soda truck.
"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked.
"They're still out there!" Fluttershy squeaked timidly. "The pirates are still after us!"
"She's right," Applejack followed. "We got ourselves a tail."
Everyone moved to the right windows and saw the soda truck. They could even see Gutt's angry face glaring down at them.
Twilight shrugged. "We'll worry about them when the time comes."
"Yes," Rarity nodded in agreement. "We're well on the move now. Our confrontation can wait."
Suddenly, the train went on an incline, heading up more. Up at the front, everyone could hear Tilly chanting,
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
"Oo!" Pinkie exclaimed, "I think I feel a song coming on!"
Sure enough, she was right. After a minute, Rolo started singing.
Rolo:
When your feet are dragging on the ground,
Stand up and face whatever you're afraid of.
The pandamonium is all around
Pinkie:
'Cause then you'll find out what is is you're made of!
Rolo:
If you will just believe it's true,
Then there is nothing you can't do!
...
There's not a mountain that you can't climb,
There's not a river, you can't make it over,
There's no tomorrow that you can't bind if you try.
I know you're gonna make it.
Nothing can stop us now!
Tilly:
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can!
Everyone on the train:
There's not a mountain that we can't climb,
There's not a river we can't make it over,
There's no tomorrow that we can't bind if we try!
You know we're gonna make it!
Nothing can stop us now!
As the train riders all sang joyously and happily, back in the truck, Gutt was glaring over their happiness, and loathing it, every passing second wanting to spill out their happy guts more and more.
In the back of the truck, the crew were all enjoying the song, swaying and bouncing around to the beat.
"I love this song!" Flynn exclaimed. He took out his accordian as Gupta took out his flute.
"Yes, quite catchy," Silas nodded in agreement. They were all about to start singing along when Gutt reached in through the window and jabbed his finger at them.
"If any of you start singing along," he snapped, "I'll slit your goddamn throats!"
He pulled his arm back, and the crew became still and silent after that.
In the passenger seat, Squint remained still and looking aggravated the whole time as well.
Still singing their song, the train soon found themselves going up the tracks of the mountain, rising higher above the green trees and the river. Soon they were merely on a bridge of some sort of rock, looking out over the land.
"What a lovely view," Rarity remarked.
After another few moments, the excitement died down, and the song ended. The train slowed down. Tilly was feeling a little tired, but she could definitely keep going. She kept puffing along the track that clung to the narrow side of the mountain.
Night had fallen by now. It seemed they were all enjoying the ride so much, they had not noticed the sunset.
In the night, the mountain seemed dark and foreboding. They were so high up now that they could barely see the ground. They mostly saw canyons and rocks under them.
The rock road that the pirates were taking branched off and headed down another rout that branched off away from the train tracks.
Author's Note: It pains me to say this, but at the rate this is going, I don't think I'll have this story done by the premier of Season 3. I'll just keep going and see how it goes, how far I get. I'm gonna finish it for sure though.