Chapter 6:
Saving A Baby
Meanwhile, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were walking down a trail through a red-colored cherry-blossomed tree forest and nearing a waterfall. But even in this forest, it's hard to tell that there was a big freeze coming to Equestria. Pinkie Pie told Twilight a story while holding an apple to snack on. For what seemed like hours, Twilight had to listen to the lecture Pinkie was giving. Needless to say, her talking was boring the Alicorn to death.
"And he picks this hair out of my mane and says: "Look if you're going to find a special somepony, at least pick a stallion with the same color mane." And then I thought "Whoa, I'm going to go praying mantis on him." You know what I'm saying, Twilight?" She asked turning to her new traveling companion. She wanted to know what the Alicorn thought of the story.
Twilight just rolled her eyes, this mare really didn't understand the purpose of love, "Hey, if you find a special somepony in life, you should be loyal to each other or in your case, grateful. Now can you leave me alone?" She asked a little offended that Pinkie thought so little about finding a stallion to spend her life with.
Pinkie just shrugged and ate her apple, "I just don't understand this whole "Marrying For Life" Shtick. It just sounds stupid, besides, there's plenty of fish in the sea, you know, whose to say that the first Mr. Perfect is going to be the only-" Pinkie was cut off, for she had forgotten to look where she was going and ended up bumping her face into Twilight's leg.
"Twilight? Why did you stop? Hey, Twilight are you even listening?" She asked before she walked around to face Twilight, who didn't reply, not one single syllable. Instead, the Alicorn stood frozen in place like a statue.
Twilight just stared at something ahead of them, with her eyes wide in disbelief. Pinkie follows Twilight's gaze and gaped in silence at what she saw, matching what Twilight was feeling. It was heartbreaking to say the least.
There, amidst the rushing river, barely clinging onto the branch of a fallen tree for dear life, was a woman… a human woman. She held onto the tree with one of her arms, by the elbow, while clutching a bundle in the other. It was the mother from the camp raided by the pegasus. She had survived the fall but she had hurt her legs in the fall and was too weak to keep swimming.
The mother opened her eyes and saw the two mares staring at her as she clutched onto the log with every bit of strength she had left and carefully made her way to the shore and put the bundle on the edge. Then she pushes the bundle over to Twilight and Pinkie. But as the bundle began to slide back down, Twilight caught it in time with her hoof. Twilight already knew what the bundle was and felt something needed to be done.
The Woman looked up at Twilight, looking down at her as the Alicorn whispered almost unheard, "We promise to look after him,". Twilight didn't know why she said that, but staring at this mother reminded her of another mother she held dear to her heart. Something just told her to help.
The Woman smiled at her, though humans couldn't understand Ponies or other creatures it seemed she could feel this was a sign that hope had come in some form… just not for her. With one last breath of air, she leaned her head onto the ground, and smiled gratefully as she closed her eyes in acceptance… forever.
Twilight had felt about what the mother was doing as she pulled the bundle closer towards herself and Pinkie, curious to see what was so important for this woman and saw what it was…a baby!
The baby squinted his eyes open, and soon it cooed happily as he looked at the two ponies. Pinkie trotted closer and looked down at the baby.
"Look at that. He's okay!" She whispered as she looked at Twilight and then back at the baby.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie then realized something as they looked back up to where the woman was, realizing who she was. But when they turned, their faces dropped with shock only to find she had disappeared. One moment, the woman was clutching to the ground for dear life… and next she was gone, completely vanished out of sight.
Twilight and Pinkie looked around the river trying to find the body but found nothing. But it didn't take long for the two ponies to figure it out. It dawned on them the moment they looked out toward where the river flowed, but not a trace of the woman was in sight. But Pinkie Pie soon revealed what she and Twilight were thinking.
"She's gone," Pinkie said quietly, almost huskily.
There was a moment of silence amongst them as Twilight and Pinkie stood there with the baby quietly for a moment in reverence for the woman who gave her life for her child, a woman they only just met for a few brief seconds. They had no idea how she got into the river in the first place nor where she even came from. But now the real question was what to do with this child, whom this woman entrusted to them before she left.
Twilight then looked at the baby before she made an emotionless grimace and started walking away, which Pinkie Pie noticed. It suddenly seemed like she didn't care what will happen to it.
"Hey, hey, Twilight! Twilight! Aren't you forgetting something?" Pinkie asked the departing Alicorn as she left the baby behind.
"No, Pinkie, I haven't," Twilight stated bluntly in an angry tone, not even looking at her.
Pinkie looked back at the baby and Twilight with a confused and concerned look, "But, Twilight, you just saved him from drowning," She said to her.
"In case you haven't noticed, Pinkie, I'm still trying to get rid of the last thing I saved," Twilight argued as she continued walking away.
"But, but, but Twilight, we can't leave the little guy here," Pinkie argued back as she looked down at the baby, who cooed in response, and picked him up.
Then Pinkie looked up at the top of the waterfall and saw two smoke beacons emitting from the top, "Twilight, look! There's smoke. That's his herd right up the hill," She said, pointing to the smoke.
"Maybe we should return him, Twilight," Pinkie proposed as she approached Twilight, carrying the baby in her hoof.
Twilight bent down and got in front of Pinkie's face looking very agitated, "Okay, let's get something straight here Cotton Candy Hair. There is no "We" and there never was a "We". In fact, without "Me", there wouldn't even be a "You" right now!" Twilight stated, rebuffing the idea while poking Pinkie in the chest.
Pinkie backed up a little as Twilight's tone spooked her slightly.
"Just up the hill, Twilight?" Pinkie asked softly, pointing to the hill feebly.
"Listen very carefully…I'm…not…going!" Twilight said very slowly and used her hoof like a puppet as she spoke the last three words.
Pinkie, finally having enough of Twilight's attitude, said, "Fine, Twilight. Be a Meanie-pants. I'll take care of this little one!".
She then heads towards the cliff with the baby in her hoof.
"Oh, yeah, sure, that's good. You'll take care of him. You can't even take care of yourself, Pinkie. This I just gotta see!" Twilight said in sarcastic excitement as she watched Pinkie head towards the cliff.
"I'll return you, sweetie. We don't need that meanie weenie Auntie-corn, do we? No, we don't," Pinkie spoke to the baby in baby talk as she dangled her mane in front of the baby, who giggled in response.
Pinkie stopped, looked up at the cliff and a frightful look appeared on her face as she saw how tall it was to the top. Looking up, she realized that to get the child back home…Pinkie'd have to climb a very tall… very steep… very large hill. She then turns back to Twilight, who just stood there, looking up at the hill and watching her with a grin before nudging her head.
Pinkie did say she'll do it herself.
Not wanting to be deterred, Pinkie gulped, nodded, and began bracing herself for climbing, but since she had hooves, she couldn't get a good foothold. Looking back, Pinkie gave Twilight a look that said, 'I'm just warming up'. So Pinkie jumped up and held onto a ledge, getting a good hold, while using her back hooves and did a split and held herself between the crevices.
But suffice to say, Pinkie still wasn't quite scaling the mountain as quickly as she hoped. Having to carry the baby in one arm and using the other for climbing certainly didn't make things easier.
As Pinkie was about to reach for another ledge, she only succeeded in getting her head stuck.
"You're an embarrassment to Equine-kind, Pinkie. Do you know that?" Twilight comments as Pinkie continues climbing, greatly amused by the Earth Pony's lack of athleticism.
"No, no, this is a piece of ice cream cake, Twilight! I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm gonna die a Pie," Pinkie assured Twilight but muttered the last part as she began to regret her earlier boasting.
As she climbed, Twilight got underneath her, never taking her eyes off the Earth Pony or the child.
Pinkie got a good hold of the ledge until she felt the bundle shifting weight and getting lighter as she saw the baby slip out of its bundle, and she was quickly able to grab the child with her tail. Only now Pinkie was dangling helplessly.
"Uh, Twilight! A little help!" Pinkie yelled as the baby began slipping.
Twilight looked up and saw the baby being held by Pinkie's tail. Then she sees the baby slip out of Pinkie's grip and reaches out her hoof to catch the infant. But the baby, however, didn't land in Twilight's grasp, but into a flying rainbow blur that flew across and caught the baby.
The blur was Rainbow Dash who caught the baby by the shirt in her mouth. Rainbow Dash landed on a rock and turned to escape, but Twilight came at her and nearly shot a laser of magic at her hooves causing her to lose her grip on the baby as Twilight quickly grabbed it with her hoof, the baby seemed more surprised than scared.
Rainbow Dash growled and whinnies as she bucked her back hooves at the Alicorn like she was a predator. But Twilight only backed up for a second and then came forward charging her horn with magic and giving the cyan Pegasus an icy stare.
Rainbow Dash, seeing she was in a bad situation right now and that this was going nowhere, cleared her throat and decided that maybe it would be best to try and talk her way out of it.
"Ahem, um, that monkey thing is mine," Rainbow Dash said coolly and casually.
"Uh, no, actually the monkey thing belongs to us," Pinkie argued as she climbed down the cliff but then slipped, landed on her head, and fell forward.
"Wait, Us? Huh, didn't know Alicorns were into Earth-Ponies." Rainbow Dash commented, looking at Twilight and Pinkie Pie with a smirk.
"There is no "us"!" Twilight stated, fed up with Pinkie insisting they were a team while glaring at the Earth Pony.
"I see, can't have one of your own without a stallion, so you want to adopt," Rainbow Dash theorized looking at the baby.
Pinkie saw Rainbow Dash looking at the baby and grabbed him, "Look, um, I'm sorry to interrupt this delightful conversation. But we got to go," She said as she began dragging the baby away from her.
"The baby? Please, I was returning him to his herd," Rainbow Dash asked again with a bit more edge as she jumped off the rock she was on to Pinkie's level, hoping to stall her.
"Oh yeah, nice try, Flygirl," Pinkie laughs, seeing through Rainbow's trick.
Rainbow then flew in front of Pinkie's face and scowled, "Are you calling me a liar?" She growled as Pinkie leaned away.
"I didn't say that," Pinkie protested nervously as she became afraid of the mare's anger.
"You were thinking it, weren't you?" Rainbow Dash shot back, still glaring at Pinkie.
Pinkie then looked at Twilight and spoke in a whisper, "I don't like this girl. She reads minds like a cat!".
Twilight rolled her eyes as Rainbow Dash remembered she was standing in the presence of an Alicorn and addressed her.
"The name's Rainbow Dash, friend," Rainbow Dash said, introducing herself cordially.
"Twinkle-Light Sparkle and I'm not your friend," Twilight replied with an even tone, also introducing herself while glaring at the Pegasus.
"Fine, okay, Twinkle-Light Sparkle," Rainbow Dash muttered as she watched Pinkie Pie pick up the baby again and go behind Twilight.
"And if you two are looking for the humans up there, well, you're wasting your time. They left this morning," Rainbow Dash mentioned as she looked at her wing feathers.
"Thanks for the advice. Now beat it," Twilight shot back dryly, not believing a word she said.
Then the Alicorn turned to Pinkie, "Alright I'll help you bring this little biped back to its herd. But promise me you will leave me alone after that," She said.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie Pie promised doing some weird motions before Twilight started walking away from her and Rainbow, "But I have got to know Twilight, what's your problem?" the Earth Pony asked.
"You are my problem, Pinkie," Twilight answered bluntly.
"Nah, I think you're just stressed. That's why you read too much. I mean it's hard for an Alicorn not to be a bookworm after reading so many books," Pinkie Pie guessed as Rainbow watched them walk side by side.
"I'm not a bookworm! I'm just an Alicorn who likes to read. So I'm actually a Book…Alicorn," Twilight argued.
Rainbow Dash watched and growled darkly behind their backs as the baby started waving at her. What started as a simple retrieval task suddenly got complicated with all these two ponies in the mix. And it was plain to see that they didn't trust her, so this was going to be harder than she thought.
"Okay, but you sure read a lot of books. And if you're ready to talk or make friends, I'm here," Pinkie said to Twilight.
Rainbow Dash then flew off to go around another path leading to the camp as she'd figured out what to do while the baby was carried away by Pinkie Pie and Twilight.
Twilight and Pinkie, who is carrying the baby, were walking up the hill and hid below the ledge.
"Pinkie, what are you doing? Just drop him on the ledge," Twilight whispered loudly.
Not wanting to drag the Alicorn's patience further, Pinkie lightly tossed the baby on the ledge as the baby started crawling towards the camp.
"Wait, how do we know they found him, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
"I got an idea," Twilight replied lighting her horn. Pinkie knew what she was thinking and backed away
"Oh, no. No. No. No. Wait! Wait! Wait! Twilight! Aaaaaaaah!" Pinkie yelled as Twilight threw her, not lightly, on the ledge with her magic.
"Please, Don't Skin Me!" Pinkie pleaded as she covered her eyes in fear.
But Pinkie uncovered her eyes after hearing nothing but quiet and saw why, "Oooh, Twilight, we might have another problem," She said awkwardly.
"Now what, Pinkie?" Twilight asked as she came out of hiding. And saw that the human camp was abandoned and torn to shreds and the baby was crawling around the ruins.
"Oh, well that's just perfect!" Twilight said, sarcastically, not believing that Rainbow was telling the truth.
Twilight and Pinkie entered the ruins of the camp. Pinkie was looking for the baby until she saw the child trying to reach a necklace dangling on a rope. He tried to reach up to touch it, but it was high. When the child tried to stand, he tripped and fell into a basket.
Pinkie started following the baby as she then lowered, or in this case, leaned back and walked under the rope hanging over her as she smirked.
Just when Pinkie was about to go on while looking back and not looking where she was going…
SMACK!
Pinkie has stepped on a makeshift rake, sending it up and nails her in the face as she falls to the ground dizzily.
Twilight walked around looking at all the scattered remains. It was then she truly realized that the humans were gone.
Then Twilight stopped to see the baby hugging the warm, soft, bed he slept in the other night. Somehow it reminded the child of his mother. Twilight looked at the baby somberly thinking it was a little funny but kind of sad, reminding her of another baby. The baby then stopped hugging his bed and fell backward into the basket again.
Then a familiar light grayish cerulean hoof appeared as Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash standing on the baby's bed.
"I told you they were gone, didn't I?" Rainbow Dash smirked.
"Hey, Pinkie, look who it is. Don't you have some poor puffy clouds to punch?" Twilight asked the pegasus sarcastically.
"Oh. The humans couldn't be far. Did they go this way?... Or this way?... Or maybe…," Pinkie said, looking around and pointing in all directions as Twilight and Rainbow Dash watched her in annoyance. It was clear she didn't know which way to go.
"You don't know much about tracking, do you?" Rainbow Dash asked in irritation.
"Oh, come on. I'm an Earth Pony, I make goodies, make ponies happy, and laugh. That's my tracking," Pinkie replied with a shrug as she broke apart a small branch.
"Well, you didn't miss them by much. It's still green here. They must've headed north two hours ago," Rainbow Dash said, picking up a wooden shrapnel and observing it clearly. She was pretending to look for clues, but she was very careful not to give it away.
Pinkie placed the broken branches on her back, making them look like wings, and started doing an impersonation of Rainbow Dash as she said, "Hey, it's still green. They must've headed north two hours ago,".
The baby giggled from the mare's theatrics as he fell out of the basket and landed on a stick that sent a fish right onto Twilight's face, much to the Alicorns' annoyance.
"You don't need this aggravation," Rainbow said as Twilight used her magic to peel the fish off her face.
"Give me the baby, I can track his herd down a lot faster than you can," Rainbow Dash requested as she brought the baby closer to herself.
"And you're just a good Pegasi citizen helping out, right?" Twilight argued as she dragged the baby away from Rainbow Dash and back to herself, clearly seeing her trying to get an easy kill.
"Pfffft, please, I just know where the humans are going," Rainbow Dash shot back as she drags the baby back.
Twilight knew the perfect argument to that, "Equestrian Glacier Pass. Everybody knows they have a settlement on the other side," She said as she pointed to the two giant halves of glaciers bordering the Equestrian Mountains.
Twilight then drags the baby back and away from Rainbow.
Rainbow Dash could tell just how stubborn the Alicorn was based on her tone. As stubborn as she was, Twilight and Pinkie outnumbered her, and so she needed to keep her cool.
"Well, unless you know how to track without a map, you're never gonna reach them before the pass closes up with snow," Rainbow pointed out as Twilight gave her a raised brow as she continued, "Which should be like I say…tomorrow,".
Twilight looks up and sees a few snowflakes falling. She hates to admit and say it, but Rainbow Dash is right. Without knowing the quickest way to the Pass they'd all be neck-deep in snow.
"So you can give the baby to me or…go get lost in a blizzard. Either way, it's your choice," Rainbow said as she stretched her wings and gave the alicorn a smirk.
Twilight looked at the baby. There was no way she was gonna give the kid to the suspicious pony. She was able to piece together that the humans were going north because of what she said and the settlement at Equestrian Glacier Pass was that direction.
The problem was that they had no idea how far they'd be able to get if flying and teleportation were out of the question. Whether or not Rainbow Dash was lying about the snow blocking up the pass by the next day, time was not exactly on their side. But they might need her to lead them the way to Equestrian Glacier Pass.
Twilight sighed and picked the baby up with her magic. Rainbow Dash reached forward to grab the kid, thinking the Alicorn was willing to give him away. But Twilight swept past the Pegasus and carefully gave the baby to Pinkie instead.
"Here's the little bundle of joy, Pinkie. We're returning him to the humans," Twilight said to Pinkie.
"Oh, the big bad Peggy-Weggy gets left behind. Poor, Peggy-Weggy," Pinkie said in her babyish voice, Rainbow looked at her with an annoyed look, realizing that whatever she was planning was foiled by this Alicorn, as Pinkie then patted her on the snout.
"Oh, and Pinkie Pie. Peggy-Weggy is gonna lead the way, when I said we, I meant the three of us," Twilight pointed out.
Pinkie looked at Rainbow Dash, who smiled with a devilish grin, with a worried look across her face, realizing the mess she was in, and said as she approached Twilight, "Uh, uh, Twilight. *Chuckling Nervously*...Can I talk to you for a second?".
Twilight however snapped, "No! The sooner we find the humans, the sooner I can be rid of Mrs. Goody-Goody's four hooves and the baby too,".
Twilight then walks off.
Pinkie turned around as her left eye winced in fear, and Rainbow Dash walked over to her and circled around her, "Word of advice, you won't always have your big Egghead around to protect you. And when that day comes, I suggest you should watch your back. Because I'll be zapping it with lots of lightning," She warns quietly.
"Hey, Weather-Tracker! Upfront where I can see you!" Twilight shouted as Rainbow gave Pinkie a wink and smirk before she walked off and went to her.
"Somepony Help Me," Pinkie whimpered while standing there and holding the baby. She had a feeling she wasn't going to enjoy the trip.
Author's Note: Here's the sixth chapter of EQUESTRIAN AGE.
In this chapter, Twilight, and Pinkie were walking along until they saw the woman from the camp in the water. She gave the baby to them and mysteriously disappeared, much to the two ponies' surprise and confusion. Even though Twilight saved the child, she started walking away. But Pinkie refused to leave the child behind and decided to return him, which Twilight finds to be ridiculous.
But as Pinkie climbs up the hill to return the baby, the baby slipped out of its bundle and starts falling towards Twilight. That's when the two met Rainbow Dash, but their first impression wasn't very easy, especially since she caught the baby before Twilight. Either way, Rainbow Dash informs Twilight and Pinkie that the humans have left this morning as the Alicorn and Earth Pony continue on to return the baby to his family.
Pinkie asked what Twilights' problem is but she only said that Pinkie is her problem. Then Pinkie made a statement about Twilight being a Bookworm all the time, which Twilight doesn't take note of, and told Pinkie that she is actually a Book...Alicorn.
While the two were walking, they were unaware that Rainbow Dash was watching them and quietly growled angrily. First, she had the baby and now the baby is with Twilight and Pinkie Pie.
After Twilight and Pinkie have made it to the village, they saw that Rainbow Dash was right, the humans have left. The two ponies were walking through the ruins until they bumped into Rainbow Dash again. The cerulean Pegasus tries to get Twilight and Pinkie to hand over the baby to her since she knows where the humans are going. But Twilight also knows where the humans are going. A place called "Equestrian Glacier Pass".
Equestrian Glacier Pass is a place that marks the border of Equestria and the settlement of the humans on the other side, where two halves of a glacier almost touched each other.
But even though Twilight knows where the humans are going, Rainbow Dash told her that unless she knows how to track, she'll never reach them before the pass closes up with snow. Seeing that she's right, Twilight has made her choice and decided that she and Pinkie will return the baby to his family...with some help from Rainbow Dash, which Pinkie had a look of surprise and shock on her face. Guess she won't be enjoying the trip on this journey.
So now we have three ponies heading north instead of south. An Alicorn Loner, an hyperactive and funny Earth Pony, and a scheming and fast Pegasus.
This is where their journey begins...sort of.
Stay Tune for the next chapter of the story.
This is Dinoman213, signing off.