His lack of sleep coupled with the unfamiliar territory below him forced Flying Thunder to fly slower and lower than he was used to, but at least the sunglasses helped him see in the unforgiving bright light of Celestia's sun. As it reached ever higher in the sky, Flying started to first feel as warm as if a blanket was wrapped around him, but soon enough that pleasant warmth turned into an unforgiving heat which drained him of his remaining stamina. The sun reached its apex before he had reached the edge of the forest and, with his sense of direction impaired now he could not keep the sun at his left side, he slowly descended to the farm fields baking in the sunlight just beyond. With a soft groan he disappeared into a lush field of tall wheats, his hooves almost immediately giving out from under him as they touched the ground.
Flying almost instinctively rolled himself sideways to keep the egg from getting squashed under his weight, and ended up lying on his back in the midday sun, his wings sprawled out on either side of him. His head was pounding from the heat- and general exhaustion, and he turned it away from the sun's light, burying it under the leather bag the egg was held in.
"By Luna's stars, this sun's too much," he lamented to himself, feeling the beads of sweat which had gathered on his form slowly trickle down under his fur.
The pounding of his head only got worse as he lay there trying to gather his strength, and Flying wondered for a moment if he was imagining the sound of hoof falls nearing quickly. As it was accompanied by the sound of the wheat stems breaking from a body pushing them aside, Flying smirked lightly to himself. Just what he needed; somepony to catch him in his weakest moment. Flying folded his wings, and struggled to get back on his hooves before the other pony would get near enough to lay eyes on him, but he was still seated on his haunches trying to get the egg in a good position for him to push up in a standing position as the other broke through the wall of wheat in front of him. "Hey, are you ok, mister?" the large yellow Earthpony wondered, the dark glasses covering Flying's eyes making the other's coat blend in with the wheats around them.
Flying shook his head slowly at the question, pushing up on legs which didn't quite want to support him. "I didn't have much sleep yesterday," he responded groggily, "and this sun's too hot for comfort." "I'll say. Youse Lunar folks don't get out during daytimes much, as far as I've heard," the other pony commented, moving up next to Flying for support and effectively blocking some of the sunlight with his larger form. "You know of us?" Flying wondered incredulously, trying to look up to the other stallion who reached a full hoof taller than him. "Why, yes! We've been trading with the Lunar Republic for years now!" the other pony revealed. "Youse are some good customers, and some mighty drinkers. Why, old Indigo Salts himself tells tales of his travels to your lands darn near every evening!" Flying noddled at that, but had to lean into the other stallion for support as he felt a dizzy spell come on again. "Jeez. When's the last time you had a drink?" the yellow earthpony wondered, and Flying frowned as he tried to recollect his thoughts. "That long ago, eh?" the other realised, "Now come along and don't you faint before we reach the farmhouse! I'll make sure to get you some shade, some water, and a bath. You've got enough dirt on you for a plant to take root in." Flying noddled again, wobbling along beside the other stallion as he was led through the field over to the stallion's family farmhouse. He barely registered the walk, and as he was led into the shade of the nearest building collapsed without a thought for his egg. Hooves gently moved him and took his bags from him, and he realized somepony was holding his head up and was pouring water down his throat. Flying eagerly drank what he was given, but squinted his eyes closed as the goggles were taken from him. His ears turned as a couple of different voices talked between each other, but the words did not reach his tired brain. A moment later he was picked up by somepony, then lowered into a wooden trough filled with cool water.
Flying woke with a start as he heard a door creak, and fought with the blankets covering him until somepony put a wet cloth up against his forehead. "Easy now. You're running a fever," the gentle female voice offered, and Flying opened up his eyes to find a yellow mare sitting beside the bed he was resting in, her smart green eyes looking at him with some worry. "How long were you in the sun for, dear?" the mare wondered, then leaned in to tug the covers back over Flying's form. Flying had to blink a few times before he realized what he was asked, then scraped his throat to answer, "All day?" His voice came out raw and forced, and the Earthpony grabbed hold of a mug with her teeth and pushed it up to his lips. He eagerly drank the water offered to him in such a fashion, before she pulled the mug back again and put it on the bedside cabinet. "Don't drink too much at once. You've been dehydrated," she told him in a calm tone, and Flying licked his muzzle. "Ponies of your kind should not be in the sunlight without protection," she sighed out, then walked over to the door and opened it to stick her head out. The door creaked in much the same way as the sound Flying had woken from, and he tilted his left ear towards it. "Lemon Seed, go tell pa and your big brother our guest has woken," the mare demanded of somepony else, then returned to the side of the bed and took the damp cloth from Flying's head. Flying watched her as she dipped it in a bowl on the bedside cabinet before moving it back on his forehead, and he smiled weakly at her. "Thank you, ma'am...?" "Pumpkin Seed. And what should we call you, dear?" was the warm reply. "Flying Thunder, ma'am," Flying muttered, flushing a bit from the address. Pumpkin Seed nodded to his reply and put a hoof on the cover over his own forehoof. "You take it easy and rest here for a while, Flying Thunder. It's a good thing Grain Seed found you when he did. A few minutes later and you might've had a full blown heat stroke." Flying looked away in embarrassment at the kindness shown to him, but then turned his head back as the door creaked anew. Two stallions, one quite a bit older than the other, had entered the room. Flying recognized the younger of the two as the large and muscular Earthpony who had come to his aid the day before, and finally realized the stallion's coat had not been yellow, but a very light shade of orange instead. "You called for us, ma?" the stallion asked, and the mare nodded in his direction. "Yes, Grain Seed. The fever hasn't broken yet, but your quick response may have saved Flying Thunder's life afterall," the mare spoke, and a sigh of relief was uttered by the two others. Grain Seed walked up closer to the bed and gave a friendly nod in Flying's direction. "I'm mighty glad you're doing a bit better, Flying Thunder. I was mighty worried when you crashed into our crops." "More worried about the crops than you, you understand?" the other stallion suggested snidely, walking around the bed to the other side and looking Flying over. The older stallion was a darker shade of orange, with a greying mane which must have once been green, and Flying winced at the likeness of this stallion to Carrot Mash. "Carrot Seed, dear, not in front of our guest," Pumpkin Seed chided what Flying immediately realized was her husband, and the stallion snorted. "I guess it's a good thing my boy found you, Nightguard," Carrot Seed decided. "Wouldn't want to get on the Republic's bad side; those drunken fools wouldn't buy from us no more if we did." "Seriously, pa?" Grain Seed sighed, shaking his head. "I still have a bloody headache here," Flying muttered. His statement was enough for Pumpkin Seed to look sternly at her boys and point a hoof at the door. "You heard our guest; out!" "But ma," Grain Seed started, but the large stallion quickly retreated as his far smaller dam advanced upon him. "I'm going, I'm going!" Carrot Seed narrowed his eyes at Flying a moment, but then followed after his boy before his wife could chase him out as well. "I think I need another nap," Flying decided with a yawn, his eyes falling closed as he passed out again. =
Pumpkin Seed remained at his bedside while Flying rested, moving only to replace the damp cloth on his forehead or give him water to drink.
Flying drifted between consciousness and fever dreams for most of the night, and into the day following. Farm life continued as he rested, with Pumpkin Seed the only in the house not performing her daily tasks.
She finally slipped out of the room as well after his fever broke, coming back every once in a while to make sure he was still asleep. Flying slept peacefully for the remainder of the day, and only woke at the twilight of the day passing on into the night - a welcome sight for his weary eyes after the painful light of the sun the other day.
Flying carefully stretched his limbs while moving his jaw around, his tongue licking around his muzzle to get the dryness of his mouth to go away. He yawned at the same time his belly started to rumble, and rolled out of bed onto his hooves.
His coat was a total mess; his fever sweats having made parts of it clump together, and his mane and tail were no better. Flying was glad once more that he was not one of Celestia's feathered pegasi, or his wings might have also needed tending to.
He stretched his leathery wings out carefully in the space of the bedroom, then folded them to his side again as he took stock of the room he was in. It was a simple bedroom, sparsely decorated with just a bed, a dresser, and a single chair. Curtains were drawn on the only window in the room, the fading light beyond showing him how late in the day it was. The door was slightly ajar and Flying could hear the sound of talking from elsewhere in the house. His belongings were nowhere to be found. Flying opened the dresser to find an assortment of old clothes in it, not the items he had on him as he arrived on this farmstead. It was concerning that the owners of this home had parted him from his possessions, especially from the egg he valued so much. Flying ran to the door, opened it with his teeth, and looked at the hallway beyond. It was just a landing with a number of doors connected to it, and a staircase leading down. Light shone from somewhere below, and there were voices from the lit area. He hurried down the stairs, the steps creaking under his weight, and the conversation stopped. The door to the kitchen opened up as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and the mare who had taken care of him stepped out from it into the main room of the house. "Oh, you're up! Are you feeling well enough to be rushing down the stairs like there's a fire, dear?" Pumpkin Seed wondered, but Flying felt pressed to ask her a question in return rather than answer hers. "Where's the egg?" he demanded, well aware that he must look like a mess. "What egg?" Pumpkin Seed queried, seemingly unaware of it. She turned her head back and called into the kitchen. "Grain Seed, where are our guest's belongings? Was there an egg among them?" "I ain't seen no egg, ma?" the voice of the stallion who chanced upon Flying crashing down in their fields called out from the kitchen. "I had an egg on me, in a pouch. It's very important to me and I need to make sure it's safe," Flying quickly explained to the matron of the household. He noticed from her stance that she understood how important it was to him, and she darted into the kitchen a moment after. "Grain Seed, gather our guest's belongings. Check whether there's an egg with it," she demanded of her son. Grain Seed stood up from the table he was seated at, casting an eye past his dam to Flying joining them in their kitchen. "But ma, there was no egg. I swear to youse. I'll go grab 'is stuff." Flying watched as Grain Seed walked off to get his belongings, then locked eyes with Carrot Seed who was still seated at the table, eating his dinner in silence. "Can I offer you something to eat while you wait?" Pumpkin Seed asked of Flying. "That would be very kind of you, ma'am, but I don't want to impose," Flying returned as he watched her walk over to a cabinet and pull a plate out from it. "Nonsense. You'll sit and you'll have dinner so you're strong enough to get the hell out of my home again sooner rather than later," Carrot Seed grumbled from where he sat. "The sooner we're rid of you, the better." Flying stared at the grumpy old stallion. "What did I do to upset you so, sir?" "You're one of those no-good Nightmare Moon cultists, ain't you? We here owe everything to princess Celestia; our crops won't grow in the dark. Eternal night's a curse, not a blessing," Carrot Seed decided.
"My forebears might have once been part of Nightmare Moon's army, sir, but I assure you that nopony in the Lunar Republic wants to see her return," Flying Thunder spoke to the angry stallion. "We follow Luna and walk in Her night because we are ill-suited to Celestia's daytime, but we bear no ill will toward her or her Celestial ponies like yourself."
"You really need to get over yourself, dear," Pumpkin Seed mumbled after putting down a spoon she had used to put food on a plate with. "I told you before that nothing good comes from holding a grudge, and here you are being a bad host to someone who came falling out of the sky." "If it had been up to me I'd have left him out in the field to figure things out his darn self," Carrot Seed decided, but then nodded to an empty space at the table. "But now you're here, you best take a seat and eat my mare's food. I want you gone as soon as you're strong enough to get out of our lives again." "So you said," Flying returned, but moved to the empty chair as instructed. "I did not choose to land in your fields, just for the record; I had attempted to sleep through the day at a campground further North, but was denied the use of a tent." Pumpkin Seed walked up to the table and placed a plate full of food in front of Flying, then looked him over. "Sounds like there are other grumps like my stallion out there. Don't mind him; he has been reading an old diary from his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather who was alive during Nightmare Moon's uprising and made it all about himself." "Somepony has to defend the North from incursion from such as this one," Carrot Seed protested. "Yes dear," Pumpkin Seed spoke as if she had done so many times over when her stallion had ranted, then moved to sit on a chair to finish her own meal. "I can only say that I have no intention to do anything nefarious," Flying tried, but something in Carrot Seed's eyes showed him there was no reasoning with the old stallion. He instead turned his attention on Pumpkin Seed and forced a weary smile on his lips. "Thank you for the meal, ma'am." "Oh, it's no bother at all," she answered with a warm smile in return. "When my son comes back with your belongings, you must see if it has that egg you were talking about. If not, we might need to search the area you landed in. Perhaps it fell out of a pocket or such?" "I can only hope it's still in one piece. I need to bring it to the San Palomino Desert, you see?" Flying offered up. "San Palomino Desert?" Carrot Seed queried, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you flying over our farm instead of taking the train from Hollow Shades? You could be there in half a day or less with how fast those things go." "It's about the trip, sir. I need to learn about the ponies living in the lands between and do up new experiences," Flying answered truthfully. Pumpkin Seed smiled at that. "Oh, that sounds lovely. You'll find most ponies are absolutely welcoming of others like yourself, I am sure of it. Just don't go to Manehattan; ponies from there have an air about them as if they are better than everypony else. They're not even from the capital, but they certainly act like it. Oh, I remember in my younger years when I..." The door opened and Grain Seed walked back into the room, carrying a number of items in his mouth. Flying immediately noticed something which made his heart sink; the pouch he had carried the egg in was hopelessly empty.
"No egg," he breathed out in anguish, his food forgotten as he jumped off his chair and met Grain Seed halfway.
Grain Seed carefully laid out Flying Thunder's goggles, egg pouch, and backpack on the ground in front of him and shook his head at the nightguard immediately reaching for the egg pouch. "I told you there was no egg," Grain Seed pointed out. "Maybe it rolled out of the pouch as I fell into the field? Can you take me there?" Flying demanded of the other pony. "Whoa now; it's nighttime. I'm not going out in the fields during the night; I can barely see a hoof in front of my face," Grain Seed protested. Flying Thunder stared at him. "I can. We Lunar Ponies know the night as no other. Tell me where I have to go." "You sure about that, dear?" Pumpkin Seed asked from behind him. "You haven't even touched your food." "The egg is more important," Flying stated, grabbing his backpack from the ground and donning it. "My entire mission is about that egg." "And about meeting other ponies and showing them how crazy you are," Carrot Seed grumbled. "Go on then, it's out the front door and the field farthest to the left. We'll be happy to be rid of you." "If you don't want to sleep on the couch tonight you'll stop being such a grouch," Pumpkin Seed threw at her stallion. "Grain Seed, grab a lamp and please lead our guest to where you found him. It obviously means a lot to him to find that egg if he can." "Yes ma," Grain Seed agreed without protest, turning around again to walk out of the kitchen. "I'll meet you at the front door, sir." "Flying," Flying offered. "Name's Flying Thunder. Please just call me Flying."
"I hope to see you 'flying' off very soon," Carrot Seed mumbled from under his breath. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight," Pumpkin Seed stated with a coldness to her voice which could freeze the food on her plate.
Flying quickly picked up his goggles and put them on his head, over his eyes as the light outside was dimming enough that he wouldn't need them, then made himself sparse. He was obviously not wanted by the stallion and the quicker he could get in the fields the quicker he might be able to find the egg again.