The night had been a relaxing one. Twilight was able to give herself peace of mind by repeating over and over again in her mind that the next day would be far better. No deserts or sand tornados, no sneaking around a base crawling with monsters. Simply a hike up a safe mountain to reach the city that was her first home. The trail leading up there had even been a tourist attraction at one point! Granted, it had been a few years since then, and care had probably stopped being given to it awhile ago, but they should still have a path to follow. And if they could find the time, maybe she could find a few gems for Spike. Any mountainous area was an acceptable mining spot. She did owe her number one assistant something for up and vanishing without anything more than a letter.

Those had all been passive thoughts that lulled her to sleep. When she opened her eyes next, it was due to focused beams of sunlight hitting her face. That did feel pretty nice. She could probably lay here for a few more minutes—

The sun?! Applejack was supposed to wake her up midway through the night for watch duty!

Twilight sprung up, fearing the worst. Looking around the campsite, her worries were eased. Both of her friends were huddled around the remains of a smoldering campfire, sound asleep. Even such a dependable pony like Applejack couldn't make it without rest. Seeing her in that state made Twilight giggle to herself. At least they had made it safely through the night, which was all that mattered. She couldn't see the immediate need to tell Pinkie about the arrangements they had made.

As much as she didn't want to, it was as good a time as any for Twilight to wake her friends up. They needed to reach Canterlot by tonight, and sleeping in wouldn't help them get there. On her way to stimulate her friends, however, her eyes locked with the blackened remnants of the fire. It was completely put out. And resting on top of it was a book. An undeniable, hard-covered piece of literature.

Losing interest in waking her friends for the moment, she trotted over to it. There was a large diamond on the cover, extending from the top of the book to the bottom of it. Besides that... nothing. No name, no author. Getting a hold of it using magic, Twilight levitated it in front of her face and rushed through the first couple of pages to get to the meat of the book. It was written in a language she was totally unfamiliar with. It didn't even look similar to anything she recognized. This definitely wasn't one of her books.

She wasn't able to study it for long without getting interrupted. A sleepy, "Twilight?" came from Pinkie Pie's direction. After the pink mare yawned and stretched, her eyes shot open in surprise when they made contact with the book. "Where'd you get that?!"

"It was just laying here..." Twilight answered skeptically. "Why? Do you recognize it?"

In a cotton candy pink blur, Pinkie was standing next to the librarian, trying to get a glimpse of the sheets of paper inside the cover. "This looks like Sam's book! He had it yesterday morning! Maybe he dropped it last night?"

In the fire? Somehow Twilight doubted that. Her spell was broken when Pinkie reached for the hovering book with her hooves and yanked it out of Twilight's grip. She flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning every word, even though there was no way she was reading any of it. "Somewhere in here is an entry about the reverstone..."

"Pinkie," moaned Twi, "you know my feelings towards that guy. He can't be trusted. For all we know, he scribbled that together the other day!"

"The book's too old for that, Twilight. If anybody tried writing in this, the pages would probably fall apart."

Now Pinkie was using logic? Since when did she even know what that was? Ugghh. "Look. I think we should keep it, on the off chance—" she strongly emphasized those two words, "—that it'll be useful later on. For now, we shouldn't waste much time. Let's wake up Applejack and get started before it becomes any later."

And so they did. Just a few more miles of forests stood between them and Mount Uppeak. They stockpiled up on supplies when they came across a clean-looking pond that was flanked by non-poisonous berry shrubs (Twilight checked the survival guide just to make sure). A filled belly would go a long way in getting them up that mountain. Only minutes after that, they breached a defensive line of trees and saw their goal: a rocky path climbing upwards. The bumpy road would take them spiraling around the mountain two entire times before they made it into the city on its perch.

From its base, Uppeak looked massive—a guess that wasn't very incorrect. The trail they would be walking on was a mix of brown, from the dirt, and grey from innumerable stone pebbles. With a shared group look at one another for reassurance, the trio of ponies took their first steps onto the mountainous way.

Before any of the three paid much attention to the fact, hours had already passed. In conversation, werebears had come up, along with Applejack's ordeals in the cage. Twilight wasn't able to discover any clues regarding weaknesses out of the tale, though. Pinkie Pie tried starting a song about mountain climbing, which the other two thoroughly terminated before it went anywhere. Just as they were rounding a corner, which would bring them about one-third of the way to the top, Twilight remembered something she had brought with her. A book; more specifically, Interesting Facts About Canterlot and Everything Around It. For the next half hour, she was excited to recite intriguing tidbits of knowledge that was kept inside of it.

"Listen to this one!" Twilight's willingness to read while walking caused her to stumble on rocks more than once. AJ was always quick to put a hoof on her to ensure she didn't roll of the mountain or anything, which she appreciated, but nothing was going to stop her from sharing these secrets. "'Temperature differences from Uppeak Mountain to surrounding areas are almost negligible, despite the hill's namesake length. Even at the very tip of the mountain, there's less than a five degree difference in temperature from Canterlot itself.' Fascinating! I wonder why that is?"

She heard a faint southern voice from behind her. It had a hint of sarcasm in it, but Twilight was too busy with her muzzle in the book to notice it. "Keep readin'. We're all dyin' to find out..."

"Twilight?" Pinkie spoke up. She used her I-want-something tone, which forced the mare to pause in her studying. "Can we stop for lunch? My tummy's 'a rumblin'."

"Couldn't agree more!" Applejack chipped in, no longer muttering. "Let's eat!"

Twilight felt a little defeated. She looked up the trail they were walking, then at what was really important—the book her magic was holding onto. "Well, I guess so. We'll just have to save wind speed comparisons until after the lunch break."

None of them carried a cloth, or even a blanket they could use to dine on. Instead, they found a patch of land with the least amount of jagged rocks and stopped to rest there. Being the designated food carrier, Pinkie Pie emptied her bag of all the berries and canteens of water they had collected back in the forest. It was no meal of champions, but it was all they had.

Twilight and Pinkie were facing the way they had come from, while Applejack was turned toward them. To Twilight's right was a gorgeous view of all the land they had traversed in their journey so far. She tried hard to avoid spotting the werebear cave, but besides that, getting to be nearly eye-level with the treetops was worth it.

"Mmm... cherry-flavored! My favorite!"

"Pinkie, they aren't cherry-flavored," Twilight lectured, "They're just cherries."

"Well, duh! A grape-flavored cherry would just be weird!"

The purple mare groaned, unsure of why she continued to try understanding Pinkie's train of thought. Failing that, she reached for a hoofful of a blue-colored variety of food. She stopped herself mid-grab upon seeing Applejack's face. Her expression was a sour one, and it didn't look like it was caused by unripe berries. The cowpony had a fiery look in her eyes, which were currently watching something behind Twilight.

To see what she was missing, Twilight craned her neck around. "What's wrong, Appleja—"

There was definitely something back there, and it was approaching them. The thing was, it was approaching them from the air. And if she wasn't mistaken, "it" was a blue pegasus.

No. It couldn't possibly be.

Twilight hopped to all fours and twisted her body around. Any lingering thoughts of food vanished. As the blue streak got ever closer, she noticed a speck of red that was attached to it. And maybe some yellow, too. Finally, she couldn't stop herself from bouncing in place from pure joy. "It's Rainbow Dash!" she took the liberty of announcing, "Pinkie, look! Rainbow's back!"

The purple mare was there when Pinkie nearly fell into tears at the mention of Rainbow Dash's name, so she wasn't going to miss this moment. With her mouth stuffed, and her lips leaking berry juice, Pinkie slowly turned her head around to Twilight's direction. It was easy to tell when Pinkie first noticed it was true; her eyes about doubled in size. She hastily swallowed the contents in her mouth, somehow avoided choking, and rushed to be by her companion's side. "It's Rainbow Dash! We found her!"

"No, she found us!" Twilight corrected. How incredible was this? The friend that had the most worrying disappearance of all was flying straight toward them! A large burden on Twilight's heart lifted itself the longer she stared at the speeding pegasus.

Before long at all, a prayer Twilight said every night for the past three weeks was answered. Rainbow Dash softly lowered herself down before them. She looked dirty and a little ragged—not unlike the other three, really—but was undeniable in her multi-colored appearance. Tucking her wings in, she spoke, "Hey, guy—"

She didn't quite make it through the word before a pink bullet darted at her. Without even being able to react in time, Rainbow Dash found herself held to the ground by a sobbing pony. "Whoa, okay. Waterworks. Didn't expect that." She gently patted Pinkie Pie's back with a hoof, all while grinning at Twilight.

"She took your... absence really hard," Twilight explained, finding herself returning the smile. "We both did. Everypony in Ponyville and Cloudsdale is looking for you. Where the hay have you been?"

That smirk didn't seem to last long. She stopped stroking Pinkie's back, too, instead just holding a leg around her. "What?" she asked, deadpan, "She didn't tell you?"

Twilight, confused, followed the vague gesture Rainbow Dash had made. She was even worse off when she saw that it led to Applejack, who was sitting exactly where she had been with no signs of enthusiasm. She changed her gaze back to the cyan pony. "Applejack? What would she know about it?"

There wasn't a response. A clod of dirt was gluing a chunk of Rainbow's mane over one eye; the other stayed trained on the orange earth pony. Applejack seemed to be caught up in the stare down with no sign of quitting. The air was suddenly getting extremely tense, a fact that even Pinkie noticed. She backed away from Rainbow to watch the unblinking mares back and forth.

"Dash," Applejack finally said in what Twilight assumed was supposed to be a greeting.

"Jack," was the only reply she got. Still, neither of them had blinked.

"That isn't even my last name," scoffed an irritated AJ.

Rainbow Dash dug her hooves into the dirt on the trail. Her wings bolted outright and her face looked outraged. "It might as well be, considering how much you screwed me!"

The second combatant rose to her hooves. Twilight could instantly tell where this was leading, and was going to do everything in her power to prevent it from getting there. That included jumping in the way of the two, blocking their view of one another. "Both of you, stop it! Now what's going on?!"

"Look, fruit-basket," Rainbow went on, totally ignoring Twilight. "I only stopped here to see my friends. If I wanted to see your face, I'd watch a horror movie."

Applejack opened her mouth, but Twilight was quicker. "Rainbow Dash, that was not called for," she scolded, beginning to feel anger rise within herself.

"She started it."

"She did not start anything."

For the second time, the pegasus dug her hooves into the ground. Unlike before, her resentment was aimed at Twilight. That was good. Anything to get her away from picking on Applejack. "She started it three weeks ago!"

An interruption came in the form of a fourth sound. It was quiet, yet attracted the attention of all three of them. "Dashie..." Pinkie mumbled. Her eyes were bubbling with water; it hurt Twilight just looking at the filly. "We're supposed to be... to be friends."

Rainbow Dash took a large breath, then exhaled all of it. Her eyes weakly made their way up to Pinkie Pie's face, so close to being stained by tears. That was good, too. She should feel ashamed for causing that. "We are friends, Pinkie. Just... not so much me and Applejack anymore."

Twilight had to see Applejack's reaction to that. Creating sheer awe, she found the farmer quietly munching on berries, keeping her eyelids closed. "Don't you have anything to say about that?" she asked over Pinkie's self-muffled breakdown. Rainbow Dash resumed petting down Pinkie's fur. Twilight at least gave her credit for that.

"I have plenty 'a things I'd like to say, I can tell you that much."

"If you're going to talk," Rainbow started, becoming hostile again, "why not tell them our little story? Then they can see for themselves how much of a jerk you are."

Sparkle opened her mouth, but this time, Applejack beat her to the punch. That was bad. Any war of the words she lost was just that much closer that those two got to each other's necks. "I would have told 'em sooner, but I reckon they would have thought I was talkin' about Rarity. Up 'til you, she was the biggest drama queen we knew."

"You—"

"Girls!" Twilight shouted, even managing to create an echo of herself. Her hoof rubbed the side of her face; she was getting a headache before the end of this, she just knew it. Since their attention had been received, she continued, "All of us can do without the insults. However, I would love to hear this story. Which one of you is willing to explain it to us? Civilly?"

There wasn't a response by either of them for a moment, right up until they gave a synchronized "hmph." Applejack took the reins after that. Pinkie, Twilight noticed, perked up at the start of the story. "It started the day I got that letter I told you about."

"No it doesn't!" was a prepared counter, much to Twilight's great chagrin. "It starts in Pranceylvania!"

"My story starts in Ponyville," Applejack fired back, complete with a glare. Rainbow backed down. "I admit that I did leave out some details before, but only 'cuz they weren't important. Y'see, Big Mac 'n I needed some help loading those giant crates onto the train. We happened to find Rainbow here first, who we got to help us out. Boy, was that some wasted effort."

A snort was issued from Rainbow's direction. Without even looking at her, Twilight lifted a hoof up at her, hushing any potential comments. The farmer continued, "She makes a great supervisor, this one, but not much of a worker. We got the first box in all right. Then it went downhill from there. Little Miss Sunshine Rays here decided she's too good for that. So instead, she starts ragging on us to work harder while all she's doin' is sittin' there flyin'. Big Mac, myself, and no pony else finally manage to get the last two crates in the train."

At the legitimate pause, Twilight Sparkle turned her attention over to the defendant. "Rainbow, is that true? Did you promise to help Applejack, then blow her off?"

"Pfft," she spat, "Hardly! I totally helped with all three of those stupid crates. Even if it was pointless. Tank could have lifted those things by himself."

"Tank would'a been more useful."

Just as Twilight was ready to scream for their attention for the hundredth time, Pinkie managed to do it without needing a raised voice. Her tone was almost completely cleansed from any crying. "But Applejack, why didn't you ask me? I could have helped!"

She got a sincere grin out of the cowpony. It was scientifically amazing how Applejack was perfectly normal, so long as she wasn't looking in Rainbow Dash's direction. "Trust me, sugar cube, I would have, but I didn't run into you 'til after we'd already finished."

"But that can't be all that started the second Equestrian war between you two," Twilight guessed. "What happened next?"

It was somehow unsurprising when Rainbow jumped on board again, spewing more information that wasn't contributing much to the conversation. "She stabbed me in the flank, that's what!"

"Ugh..." AJ sighed, but this time, managing to dismiss her, "At any rate, after I made it to Pranceylvania and couldn't find that shop, I did what any hard workin' pony would do—I kept my head up high 'n started packin' the apples back in the train. It was some rough work, goin' solo like that, but I did eventually get some help. Some actual help. It turned out that those Wonderbolts were in town for a show. One of 'em was kind enough to lend me a hoof. Screamin' Eagle, or somethin' like that."

The pegasus looked physically insulted by that. She scowled, "His name is Soarin'."

"Screaming Eagle would be a great name for a Wonderbolt, though!" Pinkie offered.

"Heh. Guess it would be." It took Rainbow Dash a moment to realize what she just said. She quickly shook her head, then leered at the opposite earth pony. "Ugh! Would you just cut to the chase, or do you want me to do it?"

"Considering how much you'll muddle it up, I think I'll handle it." AJ adjusted the brim of her hat to better shade her eyes from the sun. "While we were workin', he got close and asked me if I was Rainbow Dash's friend. O' course, at the time, I said yes. He then asked me if I reckoned she was ready for the Wonderbolts. 'N I gave him my honest, truthful opinion."

"She said no!" Rainbow interjected.

Pinkie made an audible gasp. Twilight didn't go that far, but her mouth did gape open. "Applejack?" she wondered, keeping her attention on the mare, "Did you really say that?"

AJ closed her eyes and huffed a small sigh, either to collect her thoughts or calm herself down. Or both. "Here's the thing, Twi. I'm not doubtin' Rainbow's skill in the air. Even across the battlefield like we are now, I still don't. But I've been watchin' these Wonderbolts for awhile now, 'n there's more to it than that. Each of those characters has an admirable level of modesty. Rainbow don't even know what that word means. A well-paid, high-class athlete was humble enough to walk up to me that day 'n help me with labor he got nothin' out of, just 'cuz he saw me havin' trouble. I couldn't even get my own friend to do that. No matter what ya'll think of me, she has yet to prove me wrong."

Twilight turned her attention back to Rainbow. The cyan pony was quietly standing there with her neck hanging low to the ground. After a few moments' wait, she calmly continued the story herself. "Word about it spread almost instantly to every Wonderbolt fan club I know of. I literally became a walking joke overnight. It was pathetic. I wouldn't even dare show my face to the world. So, I ditched weather duties, Ponyville, and Cloudsdale, and set off to right a wrong. I was going to find Applejack."

Applejack's gaze remained on the ground. This was her personal least favorite part of the story. "She ended up 'finding' me in Baltimare, on one of my train's many breakdowns. It was there that she made clear t' me some of our... disagreements."

"I made my right hook especially clear."

"You two fought right there in Baltimare?!" Twilight yelled, exasperated.

"Well," AJ answered, "not exactly. She made sure to stalk me to somewhere quiet first so she wouldn't be seen by all her adorin' fans. But apart from that, yes, pretty much. So, Rainbow. I'm guessin' you're here for a round two? Mind handin' me my rope, Pinkie?"

"No!" shouted Pinkie. Her expression was one of thorough anger, another emotion not common at all for her. She was directing it all at Applejack, but Twilight figured it was only because she had been the last one to speak. "This mountain is a no-fighting zone! No violence past noogies and pre-determined intervals of pinching is allowed!"

That was a really tough argument to debate. Luckily, the orange pony didn't get a chance to try before RD spoke up next. "I already told you, I only swung by here because I saw Pinkie and Twilight. You being here is just... unfortunate." She turned her attention to the first two girls she had mentioned. "I'm really sorry to make you guys worry about me. After I took off for Baltimare, I've been wandering around to heaven knows where just to... think, I guess. I'll stop by Ponyville sometime and we can hang out, all right?"

"But when will that be?" questioned Pinkie with a noticeably worried tone.

Rainbow watched the dirt on the ground for a little bit. Shame it wasn't somehow moving. It'd probably be more interesting that way. "I guess... whenever I can figure out how in the world I'm going to redeem myself in the Wonderbolts' eyes."

Applejack took the opportunity to speak. "Rainbow Dash, if you just weren't such a darn blowhard—"

That got interrupted by a cold glare. "Listen. For rather obvious reasons, I'd rather not take any advice you're ready to give me. If you'll excuse me, I got some flying to do."

She turned around to face the same way she had come in from. Twilight lifted up her hoof, hoping Rainbow would see her out of the corner of her eye. "Wait, Rainbow! You aren't staying with us?"

The pegasus looked back at the only unicorn with a disbelieving look in her eyes. "Even if I was, do you really want a team comprised of me and Applejack?"

Twilight let herself think about that question before answering it. She wanted a group as big as she could get it. At the same time, needing to referee their every conversation would drive her to madness. Since she couldn't come up with a straight yes or no, she replied with what she found in her heart. "I want the old team back. All of it."

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow broke eye contact with her. "Tell that to her. Not me." Without turning around, she used her wings to carry herself a short distance into the air. "I'll see you later, Twilight. See ya, Pinkie."

She pushed off. If there was even a speck of hesitation, it was unnoticeable. She dove down the length of the mountain before catching a gust of wind, which carried her to the south.

Pinkie ran to the very edge of the cliff after her. "Dashie!" she yelped. Whether it was coincidental or in reaction to the echoing cry, the blue speck amongst a sea of green dove through the cover of trees. She had vanished entirely. Pinkie Pie remained staring at the exact location she had disappeared in. Then, suddenly, she hung her head low and gave off a dejected whine.

It was a heart wrenching sight. Twilight carefully made her way forward in the hopes of somehow cheering her friend up. "Are you okay, Pinkie?"

There was a short sniff. Then a steady reply that sounded forced. "I was writing that story for her... and I didn't even get to mention it."

Twilight gave a pleading glance to their last remaining friend, who was only able to give an unhelpful frown to her. Changing tactics, she moved even closer to her wounded friend until she could snuggle against her neck. "Oh, Pinkie..."

It only took a moment before the shared moment was interrupted. Twilight looked back to see Applejack gathering together the remaining berries and canteens. "Come on, ya'll. Reckon that's a plenty long enough lunch break."

Some time passed. It was probably less than an hour, though Twilight couldn't work up much care for it. Her head was too busy spinning with all the questions that situation had brought up. Pinkie, meanwhile, appeared to be back to her old self. She kept herself in the lead, slightly distanced from her friends, but still bouncing up the path more than walking on it. AJ, Twilight found out, was interested in a conversation.

"Twi? Yer keepin' quiet."

"It's been a draining day," she answered half-heartedly.

Applejack, trotting along next to her, stared at the ground as they moved. She must have been trying to think on her words, as they came out carefully. "You at least see where I was comin' from, don't you?"

"I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're trying to ask."

"Well... that's good." That response made her wonder if she really had predicted the cowpony's question correctly. At least AJ made that sound genuine.

The truth, however, needed to be said. "That doesn't mean I agree with what you did."

"Oh. Somehow, I kinda figured that."

Twilight wanted to rage hard, but restrained herself. If she raised her voice, she might accidentally upset Pinkie Pie again. Not to mention her blood pressure would rise even higher than it already was. Applejack was the reason every pony that knew Rainbow Dash was worried sick about her. And she didn't even think this might have been worth bringing up in conversation before now. It was frustrating, as was trying to remain calm. "I know why you did what you did," she started off with. "And I agree with you about the humbleness thing. The Wonderbolts do a lot of shows for charity, and it's within the realm of reason Rainbow would forget about that once eyes started watching her."

"Exactly! That's why—"

Somewhat reluctantly, Twilight created eye contact with the mare next to her. "But hearing that she isn't ready for the Wonderbolts from a really close friend could have given Soarin' a strong, negative vibe. Her career and her dream could have gotten pushed far away because of what happened. I'm not about to blame Rainbow for being mad at you for that. Did you at least mention that her attitude was the only reason you didn't think she was fit?"

"O' course I did!" she bit back, possibly offended, "I made it just as clear as I did back there that I thought Rainbow's a great flier! It's everything else that could use an adjustment."

Having had sufficient time to think, it was now time to read. Twilight used her magic to pull out the Interesting Facts book again, intending to use it as a means to get the last word in. "In flashing moments—you know, in between the chilling insults—I saw something in Rainbow's eyes that was even worse than fractured dreams. She had lost a friend. And now that I know to look for it, I see it in your eyes, too. Next time we see Rainbow Dash, you two have more to talk about than name calling."

Satisfied with that, Twilight levitated the book in front of her face. This time, she wasn't going to read anything out loud. If Applejack wanted to know the approximate number of rocks composing Uppeak Mountain, she would just need to ask.

That would show her.