New Beginnings

Chapters

Chapter 2: Forging a Bond
Chapter 3: Trek To The Mountains
Chapter 4: Resting In The Snow
Chapter 5: The Way I See You
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Friend

Chapter 2: Forging a Bond

Passion kept her head low and eyes fixated on the ground as they walked through the town, not looking at anypony on their way. Somehow the place had gone even more eerily quiet than before, though, Passion suspected it was possibly because they silently judged her. Along with the calm of the town, she could also feel their stares piercing her, and more so Allington for walking with alongside with her. The stares however didn’t bother Allington as much as Passion. He just kept on walking with his head held up high, and his nostrils flared, still unable to believe the stupid superstitions held by the townsponies, and how they ruled their lives.

"Thank you once again for taking me with you. I really owe you something for this," mumbled Passion quietly as they came to the edge of the town, heading towards the direction which Allington had traveled from to get to Hollow Shades.

“What do you say that for?” asked Allington as his attention was drawn away from the villagers. "I see nothing that you owe me, provided you help me procure food and set up shelter when appropriate."

"Really? Are you sure?.. That's nice of you." A warm smile formed on Passion’s lips while she mulled over the words. With her head raised back up, she moved a little bit closer to him as they walked further and further away from the place she had once called home.

"I can find some food on my own and I can definitely help set up shelter. I've gotten really good at that." She grinned proudly at him.

"Well, help me with those two items, and we are set to go then!" chuckled Allington while smiling.

The two of them went a few good minutes without exchanging a word with each other, it was obvious that Passion didn’t have much experience conversing with other ponies, and was more used to responding than starting conversation. Though, as they trotted along into one of the few clearings outside the hollows, far off into the distance peaked through the unmistakable figures of the mountains, and although they could see them clearly, there was still a long way to go before they were even close to them.

Although Allington had been travelling around with Passion through the forest for an hour or two before they left, it was first now that he noticed her limping having disappeared. He had seen her jump, run, and crawl through small openings after seeing her limp, but ever since he mentioned it being worried about it, it was gone. He couldn’t help but feel like she was hiding her discomfort because it caused him some mental anguish, though it was an issue he didn’t feel quite ready to press on with. So, he chose to bring up something more comforting to their conversing.

"So, miss Passion." He looked over at her while they walked. "Do you have any questions for me? Surely you must be curious about something by now."

His words almost fell on deaf ears as Passion stared at the mountains with big bright eyes and a goofy grin on her face, barely being able to catching anything said to her. Her fascination with the tall earthly structures had her walk a bit in front of Allington just to get a bit closer to the sight.

"Huh? oh, right! You can just call me Passion, and I'm curious about lots of things. Like, are we crossing those mountains?" She pointed at the ones in the distance. "How many places in Equestria have you been to? Were you born and grew up in Trottingham? Do you have lots of friends in your town? What kind of stuff do friends do? How is your family like? What is your house like? Where will we be stopping at on our way to your home? How nice are the ponies of Trottingham?" Curious did not even describe this mare. She was a fountain of never ending questions once asked, though it seemed like she had the mentality of only really talking when spoken to.

Allington raised his eyebrows and chuckled softly, not sure if he could respond to the barrage of questions threatening to topple him over.

"Slow down, Passion! I’ll do my best to answer you, though I cannot answer all your questions at once. I understand your excitement, but I don’t think I can track more than three questions at once. Yes, we’re indeed crossing the mountains, so you’ll get to see them closer as we get there. Trottingham is where I was born and raised, and where most of my family resides as well. We live on the outside of town in a small parish called Cob though, so the atmosphere there is slightly different than the town proper… erhm, what else did you ask? Like I said, I didn't catch all that."

Although he was happy about sharing some information about the outside world with Passion, another issue pressed in the back of his mind now that the sun was slowly settling down in the distance, sleeping arrangement. The small tarp in his pack was only big enough for himself and judging from Passion’s behavior, it was very unlikely that he’d get her to sleep in such close quarters. Then again, life usually had a way of working out for Allington. His initial thought was that perhaps somewhere up the road they’d find something else to help expand their sleeping arrangements. But, unfortunately he remembered that the Hollow Woods wasn't the home for many ponies, outside of Hollow Shades that is, and it seemed like Allington would have to make due without a proper place to stay for the night.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to overwhelm you with questions," giggled Passion a bit before mumbling, "oh wow, my first mountains! That'll be exciting. Trottingham sounds better and better the more you talk about it, and erhm, how is the atmosphere different? I-I think I'll stick to one question at a time now, and I already asked one!"

"Well, the atmosphere is different in that Trottingham is a rather large city, while Cob is a small parish. Our orchard sits on a nice stretch of land far enough from the city that it's peaceful, and you can still see the outlines of the city proper,” answered Allington with a warm smile on his face, glancing over at Passion every now and then as she seemed to have closed the gap just a bit more between them during their walk.

"I would love to tell you more about my home Passion, but I think we need to set up camp for the night. Would you help me look for a suitable spot to sleep? We can set up a small fire as daylight wanes."

Passion immediately gave him a little salute with her right frontal foreleg, the gesture was however far from correct, but still close enough for Allington to see what she had tried to do.

"Yes, sir!" giggled Passion once more in her rather bubbly way before trotting around in the nearby area to find a suitable spot for them to sleep.

Allington watched her move about as he slowly carried on walking down the path only getting to do it for a few more minutes before she called out for him. She had taken them both a fair bit off the dirt road path to a small clearing in the woods.

"I think this spot is perfect for sleeping in!" Beamed Passion, smiling happily as she went about to point out where there could be a campfire, a tent, and then some stuff they didn't have or need, like a watchtower. It became very clear from this bizarre scenario that she had some very strange ideas for commonplace things, like she knew about it, but didn't at the same time. Allington did however recall her mention about reading things, so it was possible she'd learn a lot of concepts from stories, and had to extract from that.

"This looks like a lovely spot to camp, though, I’m afraid we don’t have the time or resources to construct a watchtower, Passion." He giggled a bit before scanning the area. It was quite perfect, a small open area with trees around them to secure things onto.

"Oh, okay, no watchtower, got it,” mumbled Passion with slight disappointment in her voice.

Unsure of what to do, she sat tentatively on the ground as she listened to him explain and watched him levitate a large piece of cloth out of his bag which she quickly realized was going to be used for the roof of his tent, or in this case, their tent.

"Alright, first item on the list: shelter spot. I see that over there is a suitable area to sleep." He turned to face her. "Passion, I must ask you this now. How are you comfortable sleeping? I don’t deem it wise that we build two separate shelters. So, if you’re fine with it, I suggest that we bunk together for the night.”

"I only have one roofing cloth with me too. You must know how cold it becomes at night in the shades. I assure you, it is colder in the mountains, so heat is essential," said Allington as he began setting up a small nest-like area under a low overhang.

She nodded determinedly before looking up at him. The soft flicker of her eyes gave the notion of a million thoughts racing through her mind, with her desperately trying to put one into words. To a point, his question had been very surreal to her, almost having broken her thought patterns for a moment.

"Well, I know how cold it can get around here, but I’m used to it as I usually sleep alone. But," She paused for a moment, "If you don't mind it, I can sleep near you."

Although her voice was soft and sweet, the reluctance in it was still very apparent. Though, it wasn’t a surprise to Allington, she had after all kept her distance to him at all times during all the time they had known each other.

"Well, it becomes more of a practical matter, Passion. I usually sleep alone myself. I assure you though, I mean you no ill will. You can always refuse the offer and I won't hold it against you. I simply mean that for our best interest, we should remain close." He helped gather what firewood he could, carrying on his back the wood he did not levitate over to the fire area. After they had successfully set up camp, he built a small angled pile out of the wood and lit a fire.

Passion quickly joined in with helping Allington set up things, and although she was a bit inept using his equipment, she still managed to help get their sleeping area up in almost no time at all. After the tent had been set up properly, she proceeded to continue with setting up a fireplace, which she was pretty quick at finding big branches for, but waiting for Allington to light it up.

"Close... well… I trust you Allington, you're my friend." She finally moved close to him after having mulled it all over for a while, now sitting down barely three inches away from him. "I'm actually okay with the sleeping arrangements. I've experienced a lot worse than sleeping closely to somepony." She couldn’t help herself from quietly laughing at her memories.

"There we are. Camp is set, and in good time too. We have a little daylight left it seems," said Allington while sitting down near the mouth of the little den, ignoring her last comment about worse experiences for the moment. "Are you hungry at all, Passion? I have some rations inside my bag we can share."

"Oh no, I'm doing just fine, not hungry yet." She gently stroked her hind leg with one hoof, letting it repeatedly run along the groove of her leg, where most pressure would be put when using it. Her facial expressions gave way to masked pain while she asked calmly. "I'm just tired from walking, and I’ll only need sleep for right now."

"Alright, just let me know if you ever get hungry," said Allington as he took a small pot out of his bag and then filled it with some water, floating the pot over the fire so he could prepare something to drink for them.

“I will…” mumbled Passion ever so quietly as she didn’t really want to be a bother to her friend. She opted instead for just sitting quietly next to the crackling fire, watching him as he started to brew some tea for them.

"You know... It slipped my memory once or twice, but I have not completely forgotten that you have an injured leg," said Allington in as calm and sweet a voice as he could, still watching the fire while talking to her. "It will be very taxing when we reach the mountains. If you so desire... I can take a look at it and see what I can do to heal it. I have healed myself before on several instanced, one time being a badly sprained ankle." He floated a small bag and put it into the pot. The teabag smelled of aromatic spices.

“Remember,” mumbled Allington before turning his head to look at Passion." It’s just an offer. ...You can always decline you know."

"Oh, well, yeah... I guess you can look at it,” answered Passion as she made a silent gulp. She was a tad reluctant to share any wounded body part with him or anypony else for that matter. But, the reassuring smile and all the kindness he had shown her so far somehow convinced her to act against her own instincts, letting him see the leg more closely.

"I don't want to decline my friend's offer..." she mumbled quietly as she stared into the fire which’s image reflected back in her eyes.

The atmosphere had suddenly become a lot more tender with Allington carefully approaching Passion’s leg, but even so, her first reaction was an instinctive flinch upon him touching her limb. It was only for a second, but he could have sworn her coat to be softer than anything he had touched before. It carried a resemblance to fine silk, however still felt as natural as normal coat hair would feel. She remained still as the slightly baffled Allington tried again to touch her leg and this time was allowed to do it as she managed to keep it from retracting

"I promise, I will try to make the pain as low as I can,” said Allington in a reassuring tone.

"Now, I want you to focus on the fire. This next part may feel a little odd to you, so I will say what I am about to do. I’m going to put a magical field on your leg and perform an internal scan of it. I use this same scan to heal trees, so I know what I am doing. Just... thought I'd warn you."

"It's okay, Allington. I can handle A LOT of pain!" She grinned proudly before looking serious again. "Okay, I'll look at the fire and concentrate on that. Do what you have to do…"

The sensation of the magical field was strange one. It wasn’t a painful feeling, it was more like as if a fog seeped through the veins of Passion’s leg, allowing Allington and his closed concentrated eyes to find the exact spot her leg was injured at. Passion on the other hoof just stared intensely into the flame as he cast his spell. She barely moved as he scanned her, she didn't even make a sound at all despite feeling strange.

Allington's magic, although designed to find sickness in trees, allowed him to find the spot she was injured in just a few seconds. All her pain radiated from one particular bruise that ran across her upper thigh which had a long cylinder shape. The perfect indentation of the shape gave the impression that somepony had whacked her with a rod of some kind.

"Is there a way to fix it?..." mumbled Passion quietly as she was afraid of disturbing Allington while he used his magic.

"Well... I can make the wound a lot smaller to where it should heal naturally within a day, as opposed to a week or so. ...You were hit very hard by some kind of rod-like object, weren’t you?" Allington’s concentrated face had descended into a concerned frown as he imagined what had happened to her.

Passion lowered her head some, smiling awkwardly as he mentioned the shape of the bruise. "Y-yeah... I was dumb enough to cross through somepony's property. He got me with his rake before I could get out,” mumbled Passion while slowly scratched the back of her head.

Though Allington didn’t comment on what had happened, he sighed and scoffed internally at the fact that somepony would hit her like that for such a stupid reason. He couldn’t talk for the moment, as he was deeply concentrated on the wound, locating the burst vessels and tracing a pathway with which to reconnect them. The process took about six minutes, of which Allington remained silent to make sure he didn’t make any mistakes.

"Now, this next part may hurt considerably. I am going to reconstruct your burst blood vessels and damaged tissue to the best of my ability. In my satchel is some concentrated poppy seeds I wish for you to take to dull the pain a little before I start." He pointed towards a satchel which only lied a foot from where she sat, definitely within reach of her.

"This feels, weird... o-oh, and that's okay, Allington. I can take whatever pain it causes!" She gave him a timid look and a weak smile, "No need to waste your concentrated poppy seeds on me."

"Are you sure? I cannot determine exactly what level of pain this may cause, Passion. I suppose I have given you ample warning though..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, his magic amplifying. "Just note: the process will take some time. As you have seen, my horn is, well, shorter than the average unicorn's. I cannot perform spells as rapidly as other unicorns can. Therefore, this will take longer than usual. Now, try to relax your leg to the best of your ability, ma'am."

She wiggled around a little bit as she mentally prepared herself and got into the position she wanted to be in for the spell. "Y-yeah, I noticed it being a bit shorter, b-but I thought it was cute and just how some unicorns were, and o-okay, I'm ready for it. Let's do this, Allington." She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lower lips in anticipation of the pain.

“Huh... she thinks horn was cute, interesting…” mumbled Allington under his breath

He tucked that thought aside for the time being as he began to focus all he could on the spell he was about to perform. Taking another deep breath to ready himself, he began. The feeling inside Passion's leg was odd, to say the very least. It was almost as if a microscopic slick thread was running along inside her muscle and making points before wiggling around more. It was soothing and itchy at the same time.

This sensation lasted roughly ten minutes before she felt the strands thicken. Allington was reforming her blood vessels to the best of his ability, and the growing process felt as if the threads were ballooning up with something hot. Not burning, but it still hurt.

Passion opened her eyes suddenly with a quizzical expression on her face. She had waited waves of pain to rush over her, but instead she only got some itching, soothing, and minor pains. It made her laugh, rather loudly at that. She turned her head to watch Allington work his spell, being rather amused by the lack of pain. Her leg being hot or itchy didn't bother her any.

"Allington… this doesn’t hurt at all. I was expecting a lot worse than this. I think you’re a lot better with magic than you think!" she chirped happily. “My leg already feels a bit better.”

"Mmm, thank you. However, I am not actually done yet. The muscles are what actually hurt to be healed." The magical glow around his horn dulled a bit in intensity as he held her leg in a state of pause so he could talk. "The fact that I heal slowly does help to lessen the pain a bit though. Since the change isn't as sudden, the reaction isn't as drastic either. Now, I need you to relax again so I can work on the muscle. I am happy to say that the vessels were reconstructed successfully." He smiled a bit. "Now, are you ready for the last part?"

"O-oh! Okay. I'm really glad to hear that my vessel thingies are good again." She nodded once as she took on the same strained face and closed eyes as she did before when she was expecting a lot more pain. "Let's get this over with, Allington! I can handle it..."

"Alright, then I shall begin." He took another deep breath before his horn lit up once again. The feeling this time in her leg was different than previously. This time, it felt like a hot liquid was slowly filling her muscles and slightly bulging them. The area of her wound began burning as the muscles began reforming, pushing the escaped blood together and drawing it to right underneath her skin. The sifting blood added some pain to the process, though it was tolerable. Still, the reshaping muscles hurt a lot more than when Allington had reconstructed her vessels.

This process lasted about the same length of time, and after ten or so minutes, Allington took a needle from his satchel and pierced her skin above the wound, letting the escaped blood from the bruise exit her body before he closed her skin back up. Setting the needle aside on a small rock, he ended the magical aura surrounding his horn.

"...There, finished."

Her eyes slowly opened once it was all over, barely having allowed a single whimper to escape her lips during the entire ordeal of pain. Being pricked didn't bother her that much either, though watching the blood flow out did make Passion a bit woozy.

"T-thank you for the help," said Passion as she smiled weakly at him, quickly having moved her eyes away from the dripping blood.

"How did you learn this stuff? It seems so difficult and challenging. Is your special talent actually magic?" She asked a bit curiously, moving her newly healed leg around more freely as she scooted around to face him. "Oh, and, my leg feels really good compared to before!" Her smile shone with the intensity of the sun as she showed off her gratitude towards his help.

Allington chuckled a bit when he heard the question, smiling sincerely at her as his way of showing his appreciation for her gratitude.

"Well, I know about healing because it is what I spend my time doing. I heal many a sick tree and plant, and though they are different in composition from pony anatomy, I discovered some time ago that I can alter my method slightly to heal wounds in animal tissue as opposed to plant tissue. Given, this is also why I can’t determine pain levels associated with my healing: my spells are designed for trees, which have a thicker composition than the flesh of a pony." He shook his head slowly. "And no, my special talent is not magic. In fact, healing spells are most of what I know. My talent lies in healing trees and inspecting their integrity. You can see it represented in my cutie mark." He giggled softly and nodded.

"Good to hear your leg is feeling good and not cramping. Let me know if you develop a severe cramp during the next two hours, as it means that I may have misaligned your muscles." He added while smiling sheepishly.

"That's a really cool talent you got there, Allington! Really good that you're helping trees like that, and even cooler that you can change it to help ponies, like me." Her eager and excited face turned a bit nervous as she glanced back at her leg while soaking in the last bit of info he gave her.

Allington in turn watched her reactions with a level of curiosity and contentment at the same time, enjoying the excitement she radiated from something he considered normal. It was refreshing to see a new perspective on things every so often, and it seemed that to him, having Passion around enabled him to view his own talents in a new light. He also very much enjoyed her smile, and was willing to do what he could to see it appear whenever possible.

"And I'll definitely tell you if that happens." Her head turned back to look at her friend. She seemed to be deep in thought as she debated something internally.

"Hhmmm... Nopony's ever been this nice to me before. I want to repay this favor to you somehow!" Extreme determination took up her entire facial expression. "So, you name one thing you want me to do, and I'll do it!" She scooted a bit closer to him as she made her claim.

"...Anything at all?" He chuckled. "My, that is certainly a large claim to make, miss. I hope you can see it through.”

"Anything at all!" She proclaimed once more, looking more determined and serious than ever. "I can definitely live up to it, mister!"

“...Though I don't believe you need do anything at all, save for continuing to help me set up and tear down camp, and help my identify plants when appropriate." He smiled warmly at his friend, letting her know that he was just happy to help somepony from a less fortunate setting out.

Her stern face dissolved into a soft and cute smile as she responded, "Okay, I will gladly help with the setting up and tearing down of the camp. I... I don't really know names and stuff like that for plants, but I'm good for looking for them!" She pepped right back up after lowering her heads as she felt stupid for a moment from not knowing much about plant names.

"It’s okay, Passion. I’m sure you’ll be a great help regardless of knowing their names. Also, I feel like I have to ask this, as I’m still unsure of what your talent is, save that you are a good steward of plants despite having no gardening experience. Tell me: what do you consider your special talent to be?" asked Allington with his head tilted and curiosity in his gazed.

"My talent? Well..." She turned to her side and got back up on all four hooves to show him her flank. The heart with a quill piercing it was plastered on her hindthighs. "Well, my name is Passion Quill, and it fits my cuitemark and talent well. I... I love writing stories, but I also love helping anypony I can!" Her smile quickly disappeared into a weak frown.

"Even if nopony wants me around to help them. Those are my two joys in life. Writing and helping," added Passion while turning back around to sit down on the ground.

"So, you like to spin yarns, then." He smiled and nodded slowly. "I see. Always a fun talent to have. As for helping ponies out, I can see you enjoy that given the enthusiasm you have already shown towards me, lass. I am glad you enjoy such things." He giggled softly.

"I try not to jump to conclusions about somepony's talent based on their name alone, so I had to be certain. I noticed your cutie mark, but was unsure of its exact meaning until the present. Now I know," said Allington while he cleaned the needle with some disinfectant before returning it to his satchel. "So, since you are a writer, how many stories have you created in your own, ma'am?"

"Thank you, Allington. I do really enjoy helping. Also thank you for not judging me in general," mumbled Passion while staring down into the fire with slightly flushed cheeks, poking the ground some with an idle hoof as she continued with, "well, I might have written a few hundred stories... Though, they were all in my leather books back at my place. I only got one little book with me, and I just started writing in it" She kept her head down and her eyes locked on the fire.

"My stories aren't any good anyway. Never been able to earn anything from them, or get anypony to read them." She sighed quietly. "Which is why I've done all sorts of weird jobs for the few villagers who’d allow me to even get near them for a minute or two… It did allow me to earn a few bits so I could eat fresh food."

"You are certainly welcome, Passion. I do not try to judge other ponies, though I’m far more guilty of it than I let on. I suppose that I err in silence then." He let out a small chuckle before nodding slowly at what she said about her stories. "I see. Well, at least you wrote your stories in craic, so they were not a waste of time for you. I certainly hope you managed enough to eat though."

"Well, thank you for not judging me so quickly. I really appreciated it." She finally looked back up at him, her cheeks still being a bit radiant, though it was fading rapidly. "Oh, yes, I got to eat most of the time with what I could find, or buy." She chuckled softly. Her gaze fell upon the sun disappearing from their sight. She seemed very happy about the moon coming out, and the darkness overwhelming their surroundings.

"Hm?" she replied to his question. "Oh, yes. I get what you mean. Sure, getting some sleep sounds good to me!" she happily chirped while almost jumping her way into their tent, moving as far into a side as she possibly could. "I'll try to not take up any space."

"Well, that might be a statement in fallacy, considering that there isn't much space inside the tent to begin with." He chuckled softly before standing up to walk over to the tent, depositing his satchel near its mouth before scooting inside next to her. The space inside the tent afforded them three inches space between their bodies, as the covering was made to room one soul comfortably. Having two ponies in the tent meant that they had to get cozy or find alternative sleeping arrangements. Allington admitted that laying this close to Passion was slightly awkward, though he didn't mind it all that much. After all, once they got to the mountains, they would have to sleep closely together regardless.

"...Is this comfortable enough to you?" He asked softly as he glanced towards her. He tried to give her what space he could, but their sides inevitably were pressed softly together as they occupied the tent.

It took a while before Passion got anywhere near comfortable in the tent. She gulped slightly as they came to have only so much space to spare between them, which in turn made her lie with her back pointing towards Allington to give her the illusion of them having more. Though, despite feeling slight anxiety and discomfort, she couldn’t wash out the tint in her cheeks, fortunately it was hard to see in the light flickers of the campfire.

"I... I honestly don't mind us sleeping close to each other. Well, not a lot at least. I know you won't hurt me, you would have already if you wanted to…" Her back brushed some against his, letting him know for sure that she didn’t mind it that much. "S-so, no worries about the space. As long as there's no pain, touching isn't an issue with me." She managed a little smile, but kept her head turned away from him which made it hard to pick up what she said for Allington. Though her visual clues were loud and clear, as she scooted herself closer to him to prove she wasn't that uncomfortable with his body touching hers.

"Alright, Passion. I just want to remind you again that I harbor no ulterior motives here. I will not willingly harm you." Feeling Passion’s coat brush up against his made him once again realize how soft it was, though why he made a mental note of it felt weird to him. Most ponies' coats were soft, so why was he paying so attention to how much of her fur was currently touching his? He had slept this close to many of his friends before during long camping trips without making note of how their fur felt against his, so why the distinction here? Allington smiled faintly, unseen to Passion as his back was against hers as well.

"Once again, thank you for your assistance in the woods today, Passion," whispered Allington after a short pause. "...You have been a wonderful help today." He tilted his head upwards slightly to look up at the night sky as he rested. It was a beautiful night outside, and he was glad to be sharing it with somepony else for a change.

Passion remained rather quiet after that, and very still for that matter. It left them with an awkward tension which lasted for several moments as she processed his gratitude, letting it settle in her mind for a bit before she started to move again. Allington could feel her turn around, followed by her hooves wrapping around his body for a weak squeeze to then quickly let go again, but not turning away. Allington was still looking upward at the celestial mural himself, almost forgetting where he was at when he felt her shifting. His eyebrows furowed a bit in confusion, though, he remained looking skyward as he wondered what exactly she was doing. When she hugged him, though, his eyes widened and he blushed faintly, a bit surprise of the embrace.

"Sorry... You've just been so sweet and kind and nice to me... I felt like giving you... hugging you. I've read that friends do that kind of stuff from time to time." Passion remained in her position where she faced Allington's body, though her head was turned towards the stars as well. Her big wide eyes were beautifully reflecting the array of colors the spinning galaxies emitted, making her ponds of vision mimic the splendors of the galaxies themselves as they spun with the same festive colors. "I love the night. The sky gets so beautiful once the sun is gone. There are so many beautiful lights up there, all shrouded in darkness. I wonder if they ever get lonely up there."

"It's... It's perfectly fine, Passion. Thank you for the hug." He spoke softly, both due to the calm of the night and due to him becoming slightly more meek as he felt her forelegs on his back and side.

"And aye, the nighttime is a bonnie sight to behold indeed..." whispered Allington in an even more hushed tone than earlier. He was thankful that she didn't move back to the position she was in before. Something about the way she lay against him was... soothing to him. He didn't know exactly how to put it though. After all, they had only met this very day and she was still relatively new to him, yet she felt familiar at the same time.

"I don't think that they ever get lonely: in fact, the stars tell stories to travelers when they get lonely. Can't you see the shapes of great heroes outlined in the constellations?"

Passion watched Allington closely in the dark, wondering why she didn't feel so uncomfortable around him, why she felt this safe around a pony she barely knew. It was as strange situation for her after all she'd gone through in her life. It wasn't long before Allington could feel a gentle warm breath on his neck, and her soft fur pressing against him as her forehead rested against his neck. She mumbled tiredly, "I don't know anything about constellations... But I know the stars are really pretty, and I'm not surprised that they tell stories about great heroes..."

"Well, they sure do. The stars tell all sorts of stories to those willing to listen..." He trailed off as he felt the gentle warmth of her breath and fur against his neck. It was relaxing to him, though he knew not just why. He liked it though, and it caused a tender smile to spread across his lips as he laid his own head down. "Ah, but those tales... are for another night. Now, I think that it is time to for rest." Wiggling his back ever so slightly further against her, He breathed a deep contented breath. "...Goodnight, Passion. May your dreams be your sweet companion to the morrow."

"Yes... another time... Sweet dreams, Allington," mumbled Passion as she nuzzled her face absentmindedly into his neck while letting out a tired sigh, already having fallen asleep right after uttering her last words.

Chapter 3: Trek To The Mountains

When morning came, and the sun shone brightly onto their faces, the flickering light managed to tickle Allington's eyes enough to bring him back to the world of the awake. The first sounds he heard were that of birds and the soft wind, making him remember where he was. However, those sounds were quickly drowned out by the strange noise of Passion snoring right next to him. When he finally did open his eyes, his pupils were met with the sight of Passion’s face resting on his chest. A hint of drool had pooled up on his body from her having apparently snuggled up to him for a long time during their sleep.

It was interesting to Allington to see her sleeping like that. He couldn’t remember her falling asleep while being so closely pushed against his body, and yet there she was, pressed chest to chest with him. Allington chocked it up to her probably having rolled over in her sleep. Smiling softly down at Passion’s sleeping form, he moved his head slowly before freezing, almost acting upon the impulse to lean down and kiss her forehead. Though, the notion of how awkward it would have been held him back.

"Wake up, Passion," whispered Allington, nuzzling her head softly instead of the kiss. He wanted to wake her gently, and while he actually enjoyed looking at her sleeping form, they had quite the trek ahead of them this day.

Passion first groaned sleepily to the sound of his voice, apparently not wanting to wake up just yet. Though, despite her tired demeanor, her eyes flickered wide open and like shot out of a canon, she jetted backwards off of him, knocking their tent over. It only took Passion a second to end up completely encased in their shelter, like a little ball of yarn, all the while yelling,

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

She rolled a bit away, peeking out from the cloth hanging over her head. The two bright blue eyes could just barely be seen from under the remains of their shelter as she panted heavily from fright while getting an idea of where she actually was.

"Oh..." She smiled sheepishly at Allington. "Sorry about that."

During Passion’s entire ordeal, Allington had remained in a prone position, though his head and neck were lifted and alert as he had watched her confused behavior. It was first after she had successfully cocooned herself in his shelter cloth that he got up on his hooves so he could approach her slowly.

"It’s no problem, ma'am. Enjoy your slumber? It appeared so to me, anyway,” said Allington as he began untangling her from the cloth, making sure not to get any of her limbs caught inside the fabric or rope, and to not lacerate or puncture the cloth.

"Anyway, good morning, Passion. Are you at all hungry?"

A slight tinge of red could be detected in her black cheeks as he helped her out of the constraining cloth. The blush was accompanied by a strange smile. It was hard to point out which kind and why she was even smiling, but to Passion it was because she enjoyed how he didn't pay any mind to what she had just done.

"I... I slept really well actually. How about you? And yes! I'm really hungry! But that's okay, I can totally find some food somewhere." With that she stepped out of the mess she'd made and shook her body some to get her fur nice and smooth again, and somehow literally shaking off all the anxiety she had just gone through.

"I promised to not burden you, and then I started out my day doing this... I better find some food for the both of us to make up for it!" giggled Passion.

"You... You’re a silly pony, Passion. I just want to make that clear," he said with a slight giggle, his mouth curling up into a jolly smirk at one edge as he eventually separated the mare from the fabric. "And I do have rations for us to use as food this morning. You needn't have to forage until later on today. We have quite a stretch of land to travel today, as we must try to reach the mountains before nightfall."

"I... am?" His words had only caused Passion to turn more crimson, but she also seemed to rather enjoy that. "Thank you!" She grinned widely, planting herself a few feet away from Allington who had begun the process of shaking the dew off the fabric and rolling it up.

"Do you like oats and tea? I find them easy enough to carry with me in dry form, and they make a nutritious breakfast. ...Does that sound appealing to you?" he asked softly.

"You're giving me tea and oats?!" exclaimed Passion in surprise. Her flabbergasted facial expression was quickly followed by a high pitch squeal reminiscent of something a little filly could make.

"I'd LOVE to get that! I haven't had tea since..." She stopped mid-sentence to count internally. "Erhm, I know it was a birthday… Nevermind! It was a long time ago. Oats will be a real treat as well!" She giddily wiggled around on the spot. "You sure I can have both things?"

Her ecstatic and erratic behavior only further confirmed his earlier statement. She was a very silly pony, and it amused Allington to no end.

"Yes, tea and oats. I was not aware that they were the best combination since cart and wheel though," said Allington, chuckling again. "And I am glad to see that you enjoy tea as well. I collect teas, and I have quite the stock back 'ome. Do you like black teas? The tea I have currently is a black tea." Allington made his way to the fire pit, where he stacked more collected wood into the pit and proceeded to light it. "Now, if you would kindly grab my kettle and pot from the supply bag, I would be grateful, ma'am."

"S-sorry... I don't get nice food like this all that often." It was clear that embarrassment had crept into her face due to her excited behavior towards common things. To rectify it, she mumbled in a more contained manner, "And I don't really know. I've only had tea a couple of times. I don't know the differences between any of them." She turned around to grab the kettle and pot as he asked, handing them over to him as quickly as she could. "There you go, Allington."

"Ah, thank you kindly, ma'am." Allington smiled as he took the kettle and filled it with water from his canteen. "As for the flavor of this tea, it’s a touch stronger than other teas. You should manage just fine though." He fashioned a holder for the kettle and hung it over the fire before standing up and grabbing a tin of dried oats and pouring them into the pot.

"So... You prefer sugar in your oats?"

"Huh? I get sugar too?!" There it was again, her big bright smile. She was positively glowing with giddy excitement over something as boring as sugar. "I'd love that! Jeez, you're such a nice stallion, Allington. I owe you like several favors now!" Snickered Passion. "You just name it and I'll do it, buddy!"

Allington glanced downward rather shyly at what he felt was undue compliments. It was just a nice breakfast. It wasn't like he was taking her to an expensive diner or giving her jewels. Although, a part of him wondered how she would react were somepony to actually give those gifts to her.

"Aye, there's sugar too... And nay, you owe me naught for this. It is just a meager breakfast. You owe no favor to me save to be a good companion, which you are already accomplishing."

"Meager breakfast? It's the best thing I have eaten all month!" She pouted some at him putting down the breakfast.

"Oh, it is?" He hummed in thought. "Well... I suppose that after eating nothing but oats during the trail here for breakfast, I have become accustomed to it as a meager meal. I suppose that puts a new light on things."

"Hhmm, I feel like I owe you something regardless!" She was unsure of what to feel when he complimented her. Being a good companion was a very foreign concept to her, so was being around anypony else really. Despite her extremely timid nature of what he had experienced when they first met, she seemed to grow more and more extroverted the further away she got from her home town.

"You know what. I've read enough books about almost anything you can imagine, even on social conducts between ponies… and by that I mean stories… I know how to repay you now. Close your eyes." With her words came a wide grin, followed by a little snicker.

"...Close my eyes?" He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a little. "Whatever do you hope to accomplish by me performing that? I will oblige you, though..." Leaning his head back up, he slowly closed his eyes, not entirely sure of what the mare was about to pull on him.

Nothing happened for several moments of his eyes being closed. Only the sound of the fire crackling and the window blowing filled up his sense of hearing. Though, suddenly he heard a bit of scuffling as Passion got back up on her hooves and walked over to him. A wet, warm and slightly pressure filled sensation occupied a little part of his right cheek soon thereafter. It only lasted for a second before dissipating rapidly, though as the sensation impacted his cheek, he knew exactly what had transpired, and it caused a wide grin to slowly spread on his face as she withdrew.

"There, you can open your eyes!" Her own eyes were closed, her cheeks bright red and her head tilted a bit up. "I hope I’ve showed my thankfulness for all you've done for me. I very much look forward to tasting this lovely meal you're preparing for us." She opened her eyes a bit, breaking her very serious look with a small grin.

"Why... Thank you, dear Passion." Allington opened his eyes and blinked a few times, nodding slowly while still grinning. "I much appreciate your gesture of thankfulness. I shall strive to make this meal as sweet as your gesture." He giggled softly and added water to the oats before setting them over the fire as well. He couldn’t help himself from chuckling every now and then as he began preparing the meal, looking at the fire and chewing his tongue in thought about what had just transpired. He found her token of appreciation cute and wondered if she was aware of just how adorable it actually was.

Passion on the other hoof remained fairly red, especially from his comment about making the meal as sweet as her gesture. It caused Passion to shyly lower her head and poke at the ground with one hoof.

"It wasn't that sweet. I'm just, you know, thankful for all of, this." She looked around while saying the last word of her sentence. "Taking me away, being nice to me; Giving me shelter and food!" She smiled widely. "It's great. You're great." With that she gave him a quick glance before staring down at the pot. It didn't seem like Passion had any concept of whether or not she was cute. She didn't seem to have any concepts of how anypony perceived her other than what her town's ponies had beaten into her. "I can't wait to eat this, it'll be so delicious!"

Allington pondered that perhaps her foal-like wonder and ignorance to things was what lent her to being adorable. It was a brief thought as he finished the oats, taking the pot off the fire and stirring in brown sugar he kept in a small container. He even added the last of the dried blueberries as an extra treat.

"Well... I am more than happy to have been of aid, Miss Passion." He looked up from the food and into her eyes for a second before coughing and returning his gaze to the meal. "So, um... I do not have sugar for the tea, so you will have to drink it plain. ...I hope that isn't a concern, ma'am." He poured a lump of the oats into a small bowl. "Here is your food, miss."

"It's okay, Allington. I'm fine with the tea as it is. It's a real treat to me, even without sugar!" She grinned giddily while taking the bowl. "Thank you!" Passion had barely allowed the food to cool down even a smidge before she began devouring it. It became clear within a second that she was a bit of a messy eater. Then again, he figured she probably didn’t have much need for refined eating habits when living alone. Through her large swallows she did manage to mutter, “mmm! This is delicious!”

Her bowl was empty within no time at all, which led her to timidly ask for more food, despite the bowl being rather big for a mare her size. Somehow the little mare could pack away food like nopony else. Though, this could be either her being a bit of a glutton, or maybe she hadn't actually eaten for a few days, it was hard to tell for Allington which it could be. "Mmm, you're great at cooking, Allington."

Chuckling a bit, he gave her a second full helping, not letting her see that there was hardly any oats remaining for himself. Goodness knows when she last had a proper meal, and well, he could do just fine without breakfast today so long as he had tea.

"Why thank you, Passion. I do try to by a decent cook with what I have. I am glad you enjoy it." He smiled as he poured the tea into a travel mug. "Here you go: some hot black tea. I'll get mine once I locate the other mug."

Passion made quick work of the second portion of food that Allington gave her. "Mmm!" Her enjoyment of the food was hard to contain, and it almost caused her to wiggle in her spot. Little bits of oats were smeared on her face when the bowl was finally lowered down and put away. With a full stomach came a new rush of happiness to Passion, and it made her smile widely and warmly at her friend, blushing a bit as she mumbled,

"Sorry... I was a bit hungrier than I thought." She eagerly took the mug to give the tea a little sniff and a happy squeak before taking a sip. "Ooo. It's pretty bitter, but I like it still. Thank you for giving me so much food and a tasty drink!" Though, her overly excited expression started to fade as she asked, "But, what about you? I didn't see you eat anything... did I eat it all?" Her ears fell down low as she came to realize how greedy she'd been.

"No, you didn't eat all the oats. There are still some left in the pot if you wanted them. I’m more than fine without breakfast this morn, so long as I have my tea, which I’m currently drinking. I assure you, had I been hungry I would have rationed myself more of the oats." He nodded slowly before taking another sip. "And I am glad that you enjoyed them, ma'am."

Allington could see that Passion still felt bad about it. She shook her head slowly and mumbled, "No, no- I want you to eat some breakfast as well. Besides, I couldn't eat any more food as is. I'd definitely get sick if I ate another bite." She nodded assertively while pushing her bowl away. "It was really tasty though. Would be a shame if you didn't eat some yourself." She sipped her tea some more, using both hooves to hold the mug. Her soft voice barely carried across the mug as she mumbled, "Anything interesting on our way to Trottingham? Or will it be like no civilization till we get there?"

"Alright, if you insist, Passion. I was actually planning on eating the remainder of the oats in the pot before we pack up camp." He floated over a spoon and the pot before gathering the oats together.

"Good!" she chirped. "I want you to be full for our amazing journey." Passion did a little jump to get back up on her hooves. It seemed like his healing spell had done wonders for her.

"And as for the scenery? This path should be free from other cities until we reach Trottingham proper. I enjoy traveling through the country, and as it were, we would have to detour by about two days to actually run into another city." He shrugged. "I apologize if you were wanting to see other cities before mine."

"No no no! Don't apologize. I'm glad that we avoid small cities..." She slowly rubbed the back of her head before continuing, "I do really want to see Trottingham, and I bet it will be fun. But, a road of quiet nature is something I really treasure." Her gaze turned towards their destination. "I've always wondered what lay beyond the forest of my village... Wondered about so many things I've read about." A smile of pure bliss crept into the shape of her lips as her mind raced through the myriad of possible things to examine for real, now that she actually could do it. "Like, I've never been to a mountain, or really seen a mountain outside a book." She kept on staring at the ones they were heading towards.

"Well, lass, you shall soon see plenty of the mountains, as we will be traversing them by tomorrow if we make pace." He sat and ate his small portion of oats and finished his mug of tea. "The landscape of mountains is far different than other terrains, Passion. Hopefully it will be to your liking." He finished the pot before using his magic to peel any stuck parts together and tossing the lump into the fire. "Anyway, now that breakfast is over, we need to break camp to depart shortly." He smiled warmly at her as he rose to his hooves. "Are you ready for the day? I know I am."

Passion thought about his words for a moment before responding. "I'm sure I'll like the mountains. I love experiencing new things!" She did a few giddy jumps as he told her they were packing up. "Okay! I'm so ready for this!" All their equipment and possessions were swiftly stored away as Passion eagerly did her share to help in packing up their little camp.

"Want me to take some of your stuff? Things will be lighter for you if I do that." Her request to help was followed by a cute and bright smile that was accompanied by her usual shimmering eyed stare.

He looked into her eyes for a minute or two, it seemed to him. Something about that expression... He couldn't say no to it. She was growing on him.

"Sure thing, miss." He smiled and unloaded a medium-sized bag for her to carry. "I appreciate the gesture to help." And he did, though he could carry the full weight on his own easy enough. After all, he did so on the way to the village the first time.

"Yay!" She giggled and bumped a bit into him as he agreed to let her carry some of the stuff. She gladly took on the weight of the bag, wiggling her body some to get use to carrying it. She chirpily followed Allington, staying near to his side this time, much closer than yesterday.

"Well, shall we be off? There's plenty to see today, and I would like it if we could reach the mountain's base by dusk."

“We can totally make it there before dusk! If it starts getting dark before we're there, I'll race you." She smirked a bit confidently at him. She was really coming more and more out of her shell as they went further and further away from her village. She had gotten a lot more comfortable with Allington and it showed. It was getting very clear that she was extremely excited to have a friend.

"So, you would race if it came to that?" He chuckled. "Alright, I'll give you a run for it."

It thrilled him to no end to see Passion acting... well, acting like a normal pony. When he first met her, she had been a timid and cowering mess, and seeing her shed that fear and having a chance to explore the world. Well, it warmed his heart. How much though was uncertain, as he felt something else in that as well. He would sort that feeling out and clarify what it was in due time, though.

"Yeah! I'd totally race you! I'm wicked fast!" She grinned even more confidently than before. "I've gotten really good at running fast! Well... only for like short sprints, but good nonetheless." She nodded and giggled after making her case.

"So you are a sprinter then? That is a useful advantage to have when in a confined space or a dense wood. I personally am more of a marathoner, as I’m a touch slower but can maintain speed for a distance. I suppose we will see." He smiled with a quiet confidence as they traveled together.

"Yeah, I'm a sprinter alright, and oooo" She sounded rather impressed by him stating he was a marathon runner. There was absolutely no discretion with her as she eyed him all over. "You definitely look like you’re in amazing shape, so I don't doubt you can run forever."

Allington's face melded into a strange combination of reservation and pride as he saw her look him over, which caused him to blush a little bit. "Well... I will not boast, though I have some experience in long-distance travel from past experiences."

It was first now that Passion had really taken any notice to Allington’s shape. It was clear that he was a shorter than average stallion, though he wasn't too short. He was built a bit lean, as constant travel and a healthy diet made for little fat on his body, accentuating the muscles on his frame, while Passion was an extraordinary thin, and a bit smaller than the average mare, so compared to each other, they had a similar size difference as a normal stallion and mare would have to each other.

Though, despite never having paid much attention to his physical features, now when pointed out to her, she couldn't help herself from staring a bit more at his body. Taking notice to how great a shape he was in, how muscularly lean he was. She felt a strange, yet pleasing sensation run through her body. It was more than enough to turn her fairly red. Passion quickly shook her head to get rid of the looming thoughts in the back of her mind.

"Also, I can see in the dark," she stated out of nowhere, getting her mind away from what it had previous been occupied by. "If it does get dark, I can see our way to wherever we're going."

"Well, that is indeed a useful ability to have. Although, need I remind you that while you may be able to see in the dark, I cannot and might injure myself. I appreciate the sentiment, though."

Her smile faded some, and so did the perkiness of her ears. An apologetic look filled up her eyes as she stared up at him. "I'm sorry... I forgot that... Well! You could always walk behind me and keep a hoof on my lower back. I'd make sure you didn't hit anything." The cheery demeanor quickly returned to her posture and facial expression when she suggested her solution to the night walking problem. "Also... my night vision makes bright light hurt my eyes." She pouted some as she continued, "The sun can be a bit mean with its brightness, but on most days it's fine. But, really sunny days can hurt."

"Aye, I imagine that the sun would hurt indeed. You know, I imagine that might have led to some ponies thinking you were a vampony of some sort." He chuckled softly and hip-checked her gently as they walked. As for her suggested cure for their traveling at night, well, Allington could see how things could get awkward fast, though he wasn't going to dash her suggestion right there. Besides, they weren't trying to escape from anything, so traveling at night was pointless anyway. With that in mind he continued at pace.

"It really can hurt when being bright.. erk..." she mumbled in annoyance. She looked up at him as he mentioned the vampony thing. It caused her to frown and sigh. "Yeah, some did. My eyes sorta, glow a bit in near total darkness... They freaked out over it." Her ears drooped as much as when he had found her. Talking about this subject had quickly reverted her back to the shaky mess he'd found yesterday. Though, she was shook out of it when she felt her hip being bumped by his, which caused a strange mixture of emotions to rise within the little mare. She blushed, she was a bit surprised, but mostly she was smiling.

Overall, though, he was glad to have her traveling with him. It wasn't often he had the chance to change somepony's life for the better simply by taking them along with you, and Allington considered himself lucky for having decided to try and locate the Euclidian Willow. After all, he made a new friend in the process, and even better, he had the opportunity to help improve her life by removing her from that insane village. Though, where she would stay now that she was free was a question he had been thinking of since last night. Once again, that bridge would be crossed when they got there. For now, he was just enjoying the company of the lively and rather adorable batpony accompanying him.

Being away from the village did her wonders, that was for sure. However, whatever she'd experienced there was not something she could forget in a day's time. Allington figured it was probably not something she could ever forget completely. Her anxieties, fears and instinctive reflexes to certain motions were bound to resurface every now and then for at least a lot longer than a day, but hopefully not for the rest of her life.

Allington had passed the minutes between conversations in a relative peace. Sure, the silence was slightly awkward, but it was fairly manageable. Not sure how to break it himself, he settled for looking ahead at the rather picturesque mountains up ahead of them. Having already traveled through them a few times prior, he knew how cold they became at times, and he hoped that Passion would be able to adapt to the climate changes for the duration of their crossing. It was however the silence which took up Passion’s mind as it had lasted for almost an hour, and because of it, she felt a weird need to fill it with her voice as she said, "Thank you for letting me come with you. I know I've thanked you before, but... I'm really glad to come along." She stared straight ahead as she talked to him this time. Allington could feel some hesitation in her voice as she mumbled her question,

"When we get to Trottingham... Can I still hang around a bit with you? You know, till I figure out how to earn some bits. Would be nice to be able to buy foods, maybe even a place to live there." It was first then that her intentions became clear to Allington. Her plan was to live in Trottingham without a home to start with. "And... even when I reach that point, can we still be friends afterwards?"

"Well, it was the least I could do given the circumstances, honestly." Her soft-spoken question came as a small surprise to him. He had somewhat guessed that she was thinking about living in Trottingham for a spell, but did she think that he would abandon her friendship the moment they arrived?

"And why do you ask that, Passion? Of course you are welcome to accompany me whenever you wish. I had no intentions of simply abandoning you when we arrive to town. And yes, I would like to remain friends with you, ma'am."

Passion's ears fell a bit low once more as he asked his question. "Because, I've already been a bit of a burden on you, and I bring bad luck to anypony I get near. Also, I don't know how this friendship thing really works..." For all Allington had done, it seemed like he could remove the batpony from the superstitious village, but not the superstitious village from the batpony. Though, her ears perked right back up and a bright smile filled up her face when he mentioned they could still be friends even after they got to Trottingham.

"You don't?" she actually sounded rather surprised about that. "Great! I'd love to remain friends with you!" She gave his hips a playful bump with her own, keeping her head a bit low as she mulled over the fact that she'd still have a friend when they had arrived at their destination.

It almost made him sad to think that her idea of friendship was so fleeting. He wondered at that moment just how rough her life at that blasted village had actually been. Not that he would ever intentionally bring that up without some very good reasons behind it, though.

"Why do you sound surprised? I said I was your friend before: I am a stallion of my word, and I intend to keep it."

She smiled weakly at him as she answered, "Well, maybe after this journey you'd have had enough time to reconsider being my friend." She shrugged a bit with her head lowered. It was a mixture of not understanding friendship that well, and having been made out to believe she was less than worthless that gave her the idea she wasn't meant to hold on to something like a friend for very long, if ever.

"Well, I haven't reconsidered your friendship yet. As I said, I am a stallion of my word...” said Allington with a warm smile on his face.

He nodded slowly before returning his gaze forward toward their destination. He figured they had roughly five or so hours before they would be near enough to the mountains. It was still a bit hard to tell. Passion looked up as well, being quite taken with the large mountains ahead of them, and getting closer to them only made her more excited about finally getting to see real mountains up close. She'd read about them in stories, but getting to see them for real was quite something to her, and it was very visibly clear to Allington when he observed her facial expressions and slightly giddy shakes and movements.

He noted with some amusement her excitement about the mountains ahead of them. "You want to see the mountains that badly, eh? Well, I figure that we will be there in five hours time. Less even, if we eat on the move and keep our pace up. Also, I was wondering- and I probably have asked this before- but how do you handle the cold? The mountains can become very windy and cold, especially at nights." He thought about what he could do to make sure that their passage through the mountains was going to be warm and safe. One could never fully predict the weather patterns on the mountains, and he hoped that there would be no snowfall during their passage.

"I do!" She stated to wanting to see the mountains, and she followed up with, "Really? I can totally eat while walking." She grinned proudly and boasted cutely, "I can even eat while running if I have to."

“Also, I hardly expect you to eat during a gallop, so that won't be necessary. It's good to know, though." He chuckled softly.

"Oh, running and eating did get necessary once." She stopped herself from drifting back to something unpleasant, which only beckoned the question of what kind of scenario had she been involved in that required her to run and eat. The only image Allington could conjure up where she needed to eat on the run was if she were to have stolen honey from a beehive… Though that was actually quite an amusing scenario to Allington, and he couldn't help but giggle a bit as she continued talking.

However, the question about how she handled the cold was one that she had to think about for a moment. "Erhm.. hmmm... I think I do really well. I've slept in the snow before. Is that any good?" she asked curiously. "But, we can warm each other if it gets too cold. I feel, safe with you, so I don't mind us touching each other. See." She smiled happily as she placed a hoof on Allington's nose.

He nodded as she told him her experience in the snow. "Well, it's something, I suppose. I certainly hope we won't have to sleep in the snow, as we have a shelte-"

"Boop." she giggled.

He paused when she booped him, and he looked down his muzzle at her hoof. "Oh... Um, well, Thank you." He giggled softly before resuming his pace, though his insides felt a little funny from the cute action.

"Well, I am glad that you are comfortable with those sleeping arrangements, because that is most likely what will be happening."

"I'm sure that with us and our shelter combined, we'll be just fine up in the mountains." She nodded once at the most likely inevitable outcome of their sleeping arrangement, adding, "Well, if that happens, then that's fine with me."

Another couple hours passed in much the same manner, and every so often Allington would pause to collect some wild edible plant that they could share. Thus they kept themselves from getting too hungry as they journeyed. They now were within an hour's trek to where they were going, and were the mountains big. They loomed over everything like an immobile and benign colossus, and they could see the trees and snow on the scale with a lot more clarity as they traveled. Passion kept on walking closely to Allington’s right side as they came closer and closer to the mountains. She remained impressed and excited about every edible plant Allington found for them to snack on, where each and every one of them Passsion found tasty, as the hours went by.

A grin formed on Passion's lips as they got very close to the mountain, she judged the distance to the best of her abilities before deciding to shout, "Race you to the mountain!!" And like shot out of a canon, she was gone.

"Do what? Ra-hey!!" Allington giggled and took off behind her. He was indeed impressed at her speed, she was an incredibly fast runner for a pony that could fly. Although she made a big gap between the two of them, and being able to keep it up for a while, it didn't last forever. They had a good solid ten minutes at Passion's pace, but she died down after a few minutes, allowing Allington to pass her and win their little race to the mountain.

Passion panted heavily as she stopped in front of Allington, sitting down on her plot, "Darn it... you're good at this... I'll win next time!"

Allington panted equally much as they arrived at the foot of the mountain. He chuckled. "Well now, you have quite the acceleration there, lass. You almost lost me for a while."

He looked around at their surroundings. They had made great time during the race, and would actually be able to set up camp fully before they lost daylight. Going up the mountains now would be foolhardy, so Passion's excitement to cross upwards would have to be postponed for the time being.

"Well... seems that we made it to the foot of the mountains, Passion. Would you care to help me set up camp?"

Passion had gotten a bit lost in her thoughts as her head was tilted back to fully take in the scope of how tall those mountains really were. "Huh?" Her head snapped down to look at Allington as she realized he was talking to her. "Oh! Yes, I'd love to help." She giggled and smiled as she took off her bags to unpack, helping her friend with setting up their shelter and the campfire. Though, this time, they weren't able to get a fire started before darkness took over Equestria.

Allington was about to light the fireplace, and put an end to the darkness that would have been pitch black if it hadn't been for the moon shining in the sky. But, it was then he noticed something new about Passion. She mentioned earlier that her eyes glowed a bit in near total darkness. The campfire had last time hidden this well, but now that the moonlight hit her eyes, they glowed. It was faint, yet powerful. Each window housed a spectacular show of intense colors. Last night her eyes had been conduits for the galaxies in the sky above them, tonight they were galaxies in their own right. They were like Sirens calling him in to meet his blissful fate, beckoning him to peer in just a bit deeper to perhaps reveal something that not even he could figure out what would be. They were truly unique to anything he'd seen before, but maybe that was just how every batpony looked when presented like this.

"Allington, what are you waiting for?" asked Passion as she broke the silence and her friend's stare.

"Huh?" It was his turn to be lost in thought. "Oh, sorry." He proceeded to light the fire before returning his gaze to her. "It's just... I had no idea just how luminous your eyes are at night. You said they glowed, but that was far more than glowing... Why, I cannot quite explain it, but they are fascinating to observe." He coughed a bit in shyness and scooted back a little from the fire to look upward at the night sky.

"Well, um, we made it to the mountain base. Another beautiful night provided by our princess..." He glanced back at her, though was almost disappointed to see that the radiance of her eyes had dimmed with the extra light.

"Thank you for setting up camp so quickly, Passion..."

It was hard to detect in the darkness of the night and from the flickering light that danced across her cheeks, but she was blushing profusely from his comment about her eyes. There was also a slight hint of sadness as she'd always been scared of ponies seeing them.

"T-thank you for the compliment..." she mumbled weakly. Her eyes were back to normal once the fire had been lit. The glow and all that it had come with was once again lost, and all there was left, albeit beautiful eyes, were nothing more than mirroring pools that reflected the night sky.

"It's a really beautiful night. Though, I'm a bit bias. I've read my kind at least have a connection to the moon." Passion’s words made Allington wonder if it could be why her eyes shone the way they did when allowed to bask in only the light of the moon.

"Oh, and erhm… No problem, Allington. I'm more than happy to help." She smiled widely from being of assistance to her friend. Passion then scooted backwards to lie down with half her body in their little tent. She stared tiredly into the flames. "I think we should hit the hay early." She let out a yawn before continuing her sentence, "We got a long day through the mountains tomorrow, right?"

He drew another deep breath in contentment as he stared at the fire, turning his head as she mentioned the next day's activities. "Oh yes... we certainly have quite the upwards trek ahead of us, ma'am. I suppose sleep is the best option for the present.

He stretched his back before standing up and retreating to the tent, settling down next to her, himself halfway outside the tent.

Passion's eyes slowly grew heavy and eventually shut themselves completely. She mumbled tiredly from all their walking and running, "Yeah, we really do. Never been that high up before." She yawned again and nuzzled her face into her tucked up forelegs. He could feel her body tilting a bit into him as he came to be in the tent as well. It seemed like Passion had already fallen asleep. She looked peaceful in her sleep as she laid there, her frame small and delicate.

He couldn't help but admire her natural beauty, and he smiled fondly as he gazed upon her sleeping form. He noted the way the light from the flames danced upon them both, and as he gazed he did notice some things, though he left that observation quick before deciding that he needed sleep too. After all, staring while she was asleep was the same thing to him as taking advantage of her, something he never would do. Withdrawing further into the tent, he took a position similar to hers, resting his head on his hooves. He dared to lean against her a little as he began to grow tired himself. He was happy that she came along. That he met her. There was something about her... He managed another glance at her before closing his eyes and settling down for the night.

Chapter 4: Resting In The Snow

"Wake up" sang Passion’s soft voice to Allington as he was gently pulled out of the world of dreams. He was woken up to the sight of Passion's big bright eyes staring directly into his, being mere inches away from his face, and beneath them was a wide and goofy smile.

Allington had to admit to himself that seeing her face first thing in the morning was not a bad way to start the day. Lifting his head slowly, he smiled as he began the process of waking up fully.

"Wake up!" she exclaimed much louder than her initial whispering. Her face was pulled back to look over at the mountains, "It's already day, and we got a lot of ground to cover, which is why I got up extra early to make us breakfast." She looked over at the two bowls she'd placed next to the campfire. Each bowl had an assortment of wild plants in them. All of them being some that Allington had shown her were edible and tasty during their tread to the mountains.

"I don't really know how to cook stuff... so I used what you've taught me so far," said Passion as she beamed with pride, sitting down a bit from the campfire.

"Mmmmmoorning..." He said through a yawn, smacking his lips as he scooted forward. "...I see you are extra cheerful today, ma'am. That’s always a good token." He giggled slightly before forming a broad smile.

"Mhm! I think it's a wonderful day today. No particular reason though," she lied. Her giddy eyes and smile gave away her excitement for scaling the mountains, getting to see such a different environment than what she'd known her entire life was something special to her.

Allington Yawned once more and gazed over towards the fireplace, taking in the sight of the food before mumbling, "So you made breakfast then? Ooh, well done, Miss! I see you have learned considerably. Good job putting knowledge to use!" He gave her a small hug without realizing it before sitting back down. "Hehe... Well, I must say I am somewhat proud of you, Passion. Thank you for preparing the meal this morning."

"Mhm! I took my time finding and figuring out which plants were good and which weren't so we could have a lovely meal. I thought it'd be a good-" she paused, mid-sentence as she was embraced by Allington. Although she didn't move away, he could feel her flinching backwards for a moment when he hugged her. A delightful crimson hue on her cheeks was quite visible as he pulled away from the hug. "T-thank you..." She lowered her head some in embarrassment. "It was nothing... I just did what you did yesterday." A strange smile took hold of her lips as he uttered the words 'proud of you', and her pupils flickered faintly. She had no idea what to say to somepony that was proud of her for doing anything, so she said nothing more. She merely pushed over his bowl while avoiding eye contact with Allington.

"Well, even though you repeated my actions, it was still very charitable of you to perform them at all, ma'am," said Allington as he smiled. He noted the strange smile on her face with some interest. The observation passed quickly though as the bowl was pushed in front of him.

"W-well, thank you again... Also, you don't have to call me ma'am, or miss... Just call me Passion," giggled Passion, having once again found her normal composure.

"Alright, I shall try to call you by your proper title then, Passion. Ah, thank you Passion, though, if you will excuse me for a second, I need to, erh, relieve myself before breakfast." He chuckled softly and scooted the rest of the way out of the tent. "I will be right back to enjoy the lovely meal you worked to prepare us."

"O-oh, right! You're excused, Allington." She picked up her own bowl and cutely munched away at the yummy plants she'd collected, every once in a while she gazed up at the mountains with big hopeful eyes. She wondered what it would be like to get that high up in the sky, being able to see most of Equestria in one look. She mumbled quietly to herself with a mouthful of plants, "I bet it's amazing..."

He smiled warmly as he departed. A few minutes later he returned after taking care of business and sat back down near his bowl. He nodded thanks to her before beginning to eat from his own bowl, occasionally glancing between her and the mountains up ahead. "Do not worry, we'll be scaling them soon enough, Passion."

Passion blinked a few times, blushing a bit as Allington was able to deduce what was on her mind. "I know we will," she said with a pout. "I wasn't even thinking about it yet. I was busy enjoying this lovely breakfast." She kept on proclaiming her disinterest in the mountains, not wanting to seem overly excited for something she'd realize is very commonplace for somepony like Allington.

She'd already eaten all of her food by the time he'd picked up his bowl. And she was now wiggling around in her spot as she occasionally looked over at him to see how much he'd eaten, but keeping the mountains as the main focus of her eyes. "Do you think we can get across it in a day?" she asked curiously. "Or, at least very close to that?"

"Well, the mountains are fairly extensive," Said Allington calmly as he ate his meal. "Though if we didn’t have to scale one side, or if we were to leave all our equipment behind, we could possibly cross in a day. Given our arrangement though, it should be a two day journey." He noted with much amusement how much Passion was longing to see the mountains. He almost felt bad for delaying their departure, so he finished his meal in a decent time.

"Well, want to help tear down camp? Sooner it's down, the sooner we can begin our adventure. ...Oh Celestia, I hope there is not a large snow drift as in times past."

He was barely able to ask her to take the camp down before Passion eagerly knocked down the tent and stored it away in one of their bags. "On it!" She squeed in a cracking tone as she tried to hide her excitement mid-squee. Allington couldn’t help himself from giggling a bit at her gusto, hopping out of the way to avoid being barreled over by her in her attempt to dismantle camp in record time.

Passion cleared her throat before asking, "What do you mean? Were you trapped by snow in the mountains?" She looked rather curious, but also a bit scared.

"Even if it does snow, we'll be fine.... right?" her anxiety was slowly but surely growing, "I mean, we can take some firewood with us to make sure we got something to warm ourselves by, and of course there's our coats." She tried to go through the scenario in her head and figure out what to do if it got too cold.

"Well, as far as the drifts go... We cannot economically bring much firewood with us, so that is out of the picture. Also, I have not found myself stuck in the drift before, but rather that the blockage forced me to take a much longer route around the mountains, extending my trip by three days..."

He smiled reassuringly at her. "So if we find a blockage, we become delayed somewhat. If we keep our wits about us though, there should be no large threat." He helped her tear down the rest of the campsite, loading most of the gear onto his back. "Alright now lass, you ready to depart?"

She let out a sigh of relief before chirping, "Ooooh! That's okay; we'll be fine even if it takes a whole day longer. It's fine if we can't bring any firewood. I can totally sleep in the snow if we have to."

Passion took on as much gear as Allington allowed her to carry before taking the lead for once. There was a skip in her step as she pranced up the rocky slope of the base of the mountain. "This is really cool," she mumbled quietly to herself as they'd made it up two dozen feet above the ground level. It was easy to see that Passion enjoyed the view she got from being up this high, which did seem a bit odd. In fact, Allington had yet to see Passion unfold her wings, not even a little flap was given when she jumped around on the rocky formations. It was then that thought struck him; it was quite possible that nopony had taught her how to fly based on how the village treated her. Though, she did have pegasi parents, they should have supposedly taught her. Allington did wonder why, if she loved the altitude, had never lifted above ground before while he had been around. Surely her parents had taught her how to fly... And if they hadn't, and he had been a pegasus, he would have taught her how.

Passion looked down at Allington with her thick mane flowing in the wind. "Come on, Allington. Keep up with me." She blew him raspberries and giggled a bit before turning back around to further scale the mountain.

Allington allowed her to lead for several reasons, one of which being that he acted as a guard lest she take a tumble of some equipment fall. Leading also allowed Passion to take in as much of the mountain's scenery as she could. He stayed mostly silent during the first part of the accent, simply taking in the changing views and watching Passion completely enjoying herself. He giggled when she issued the challenge to him, and he pressed onward a little faster, though he made sure to keep solid hoofing as he scaled the trail after her.

"Just where do you think you're going?" He called playfully after her.

Passion was rather adept at climbing. Despite her jumping and giddy, slightly erratic, movements, she always seemed to get a firm hoof-hold on the rocks she scaled. Though, she did every now and then have some terrain give way under one hoof. This sent a few small rocks tumbling down past Allington, along with causing Passion to stumble her body awkwardly into the rocks. She was bound to have gotten bruised from it, but she didn't even flinch from her stumbles.

Allington kept a watchful eye on them both as they scaled, though he also made sure to have fun with their ascent. He changed his gaze from the scenery to the path ahead and his companion regularly, enjoying each with an equal mirth. Today was a good day.

"I'm getting to the top! That's where." She smirked cockily as she answered him back in an equally playful tone despite her nose-dive. Although Passion was a sprinter, she seemed to have unlimited energy for this. Their playful race up the mountain resulted in them scaling quite a bit in just an hour. She couldn't help herself from stopping completely, standing on a little ledge to gaze out over the landscape.

Allington, having scaled mountains several times prior, only slipped a few times where the ground was looser than anticipated. He managed to keep time with the energetic batpony in front of him during their climb, despite the cargo on his back.

"Oh, so you think you can reach it without taking a spill off the face?" He called in a mock jest to her. "I imagine you won't last long, what with your tumblin' about!" He giggled as he continued the brisk climb. They were making excellent time, and they just might be able to make it three fourths of the way across the mountains before nightfall at this rate.

"Wow..." Was all Passion could manage to mumble as she tried to take in all the details of the land below them. "We're up so high!!" she squeaked, turning bright red the second her squeaky voice had escaped her lips.

Allington’s attention returned to Passion as he heard her squeak. It was adorable, to say the least. "You surprised at the altitude, Passion? Aye, we are quite high up indeed."

She nodded rapidly, "Yeah... I've never been this high up in my life. Things are really pretty from up here." She was almost glued to the view, but did manage to rip herself away from it to continue up the mountain with Allington, now being behind him.

"Erhm, I got a question. I've read that dragons live in mountains. Does there live a dragon up here? Or perhaps at the base of the mountain?" she didn't sound that scared of the prospect of a dragon being around. She was far more curious, probably due to reading about them in books.

"It's not that I want to see one. I'd just like to know, just in case." She'd slowed down a fair bit by now, no longer skipping around and instead just walked in a steady pace.

"You know, I am unsure if one does or not." He said casually, though he wanted to see her reaction to a possible dragon sighting. In all his treks through here, he had never seen any evidence of dragons nearby. Not that he was certain there weren't, but he was fairly sure that there were none around their trailhead.

"Who knows? I haven't seen one up here, but that doesn't mean there is not one living nearby..." He trailed off with a small giggle.

"Hhmmm, okay." His answer was more than enough for Passion's curiosity. She kept on trailing in for a bit longer, but eventually made her way up next to him as they followed the track up the mountain.

The two of them spent the next many hours climbing, and climbing... and climbing. As they went up, the temperature went down. Eventually, snow began to fall and take up the rocky ground they walked on. Those hours spent climbing were passed in great enjoyment by both Allington and Passion, though the slope became steep at times and as a result became tiring to climb. Despite making great time, they did stop a few times to catch their breath and grab a snack or two.

"Snoooow!" yelled Passion before sticking her tongue out, along with turning her head in awkward ways to catch a snowflake with her tongue. "Aaaahh, got one!" She smacked her lips with satisfaction from the taste of the fresh snow. "I love snow, even if it can get really, really cold. Not the snow, I mean the weather."

Allington watched in amusement as Passion cavorted about once the snow started falling. "Well yes: snow is by definition cold, Passion. I understand your meaning though." He said with a giggle, looking upwards and closing his eyes to let snow fall on his face.

"It’s a wonderful feeling in moderation though." He said, returning his head to its normal position. "...When there isn't six feet of it you have to wade through."

Passion pouted profusely. "I know thaaaat. I meant the weather can be really harsh, but it's worth it to get snow," she said while wading through said material, which was quickly getting deeper and deeper.

Allington suddenly felt a quick sensation of moist heat on the tip of his left ear, along with a slight tugging when he closed his eyes. There was no doubt about it. Passion had nipped his ear for a second. Though, she continued talking as if nothing had happened. "Yeah, if this gets a lot deeper, we'll have trouble walking through it. Also... is the air harder to breathe for you?" she asked while taking noticeably deeper breaths due to the thinner air.

Allington blinked a few times in confusion at what had just transpired. Had she just nipped his ear? He wondered why she decided to do that, though a part of him felt a little giddy that she had done so.

"Aye, it is harder to breathe because the air is thinner here. Air becomes thinner the higher up you go, Passion." The snow was building rather fast. It didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon either. That concerned him a little, and his thoughts drifted to shelter, seeing as they wouldn't be able to cross all the way today anyway.

"Passion... I want you to be on the lookout for a suitable spot for shelter. ...The snow doesn't look like it is going to relent anytime soon, and our passage might become dangerous in a few hours time. I believe that setting up camp might be our best course of action."

"Oh, that's why... it really is harder to breathe up here. Getting a bit light headed from it." Passion shook her head rapidly after her legs had begun to wobble some. She managed to straighten out her walking and keep an eye out for a suitable spot for them, at least look out for it to the best of her current abilities.

He watched with concern as she struggled to stay upright. When he saw her start to wobble, he galloped as best he could over to her side, should she collapse or faint. Luckily, neither happened. He stayed close to her from that point on though, in case anything else should happen to her.

The mountains had a lot of flatten areas near the top, nice big ledges for them to walk around on as they waded through to get across the top. Passion let out a weakened shout while pointing a hoof in the direction of the mountain wall. There was a slight indent in it, which created cave with the depth of perhaps three fourths of their bodies.

"We can rest there, right? If we set up the tent above the little cave, we can be more than fully covered from the snow. And, we can put snow around the sides to help keep heat inside." Passion had already begun galloping over to the indent, eyeing it curiously. "What do you think?"

He nodded in affirmation when she pointed out the semi-cave. "Aye, that'll work for us." He galloped over with her. "Alright, this spot looks suitable. If you help me with the roof, we can then start moving the snow." He took his luggage off and placed it against the rock face, pulling out the roof material that they had set up twice before together.

"Okay..." Her eyes were getting heavy, and her voice was slowly weakening. Passion took off her own bags and began to help Allington set up the tent. Once the tent had been put up, she began to shove snow onto the sides to help seal off the cave so only the tent entrance would leak hot air.

"There... I got the sid-" Was all Allington heard before a thud of something hitting the snow. It was easy enough to guess what had happened, and turning around confirmed his suspicion. Passion was lying on her side in the snow, almost unconscious as her mouth opened and closed ever so slightly as she took long deep breaths. All the moving about was too much for her when the air was this thin it seemed.

Allington had become more concerned with her well-being the longer they worked. Getting a shelter assembled quickly was important though, so he simply kept a close watch on her. Though, as soon as he heard the thud, he spun around and saw her collapsed form. "Passion!!" He stopped what he was doing and immediately rushed to her side, straightening her body to allow her lungs more room to expand.

He pulled her into the tent and off of the snow. He crouched beside her as he waited for her to return to a normal breathing pattern and fully regain her faculties. In the meantime, though, he did everything he could to ensure she stayed stable.

Resting did wonders for Passion. It only took a couple of minutes before her eyes flickered open and her breathing returned to a somewhat normal rhythm. "Huh?.. what happened?" she asked quietly while looking around slowly. A smile spread on her face as her eyes ended up on Allington. "Heeey... I had a dream about you." She slowly raised a hoof to give his body a slight tap before closing her eyes. "I was falling, and you caught me... in your big strong forelegs..." mumbled Passion while being half-asleep.

"Is that so?" He smiled tenderly as he asked in return. He was glad to see her returning to the waking world after having collapsed like that. That was quite the scare to him. He should have not allowed her to work so hard, but now he knew that for the future. "Well, that sounds like a nice dream, though I am sorry to say that I was unable to catch you in real life..."

Even though Allington was fit, Passion’s comment still made him happy to hear her compliment him in that manner. He patted her shoulder gently with a hoof as he gazed down at her. "There now, you rest and return to full strength..."

She nodded weakly and mumbled, "Mhm... you caught me... I know you did." She insisted it to be true, despite what his reality said. Her eyes opened a bit again as she continued to mumble things. "I can still help with the chores..." Though, she seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness as she spoke and had soon forgotten her urge to get up to work.

"I was so scared... but you told me something after catching me..." she continued with explaining her dream. "Then you did something that made me feel warm all over..." A happy, albeit weak smile took up her lips.

Her words were completely unexpected to Allington, though he couldn’t deny that things had taken quite the interesting turn. Also, why was she dreaming about him for? He was already smiling at her as he listened, though his heart felt stranger all of a sudden. Not in a bad way, just... It was something about her.

"Oh, I said something?" He giggled softly. "Tell me now, what did I say?" He spoke to her now mainly to make sure she was still mentally with him, but his curiosity was piqued. What was she dreaming about, and how did it involve him?

She kept on smiling and looking quite content with herself as she was dreaming while talking to him. "Yeah... you said something..." Passion nodded once again, squirming around a bit on the cave floor, but not in a bad way. "You told me... to come closer..." Her eyes opened once more for a brief moment before closing again. "Come closer and I'll whisper it..."

“Blazes, she looked adorable like this,” mumbled Allington through a suppressed giggle. He really would try to prevent her from overexerting herself in the future though. It would be dangerous for her health to slip into this condition again.

"Eh, what is it?" He almost whispered as he leaned in closer to her, curious -and a little excited - to find out what she would say.

She kept on calling him closer and closer till she could feel his breath against her face. Passion then suddenly lifted her head a bit to give him a sort and very weak kiss. It was barely long enough to be called it, but it was one nonetheless. Her head lowered back down instantly as she had drifted off to sleep once more.

"I'm cold..." mumbled Passion while curling up a bit to warm herself. It was fairly warm for a snowy mountain top thanks to their shelter, and their body heat was slowly, but surely filling the tent with a bit more heat, but it was still nonetheless cold in there.

He was stunned by the kiss. He sat there for a good minute or two without moving, blushing furiously and staring at her mouth. She just... she had kissed him. Granted, she was half-asleep when she did so, but that only showed a bit of what she was thinking. She kissed him.
Eventually, Allington snapped back to reality as she mentioned being cold. They needed heat. Since the fire was nonexistent, he made an alternative: curling up snugly against her, he draped the small travel blanket from the pack over both of them. He made sure to keep a monitor on her heart rate and breathing for as long as he was awake, though. He couldn't risk something terrible happening to her. He thought she was too sweet for that.

Passion looked so very happy in that moment, despite her physical condition. She turned around in her sleeping state to face Allington. Her head snuggled in under his and her chest pushed firmly against him. "Mmm..." Her body was intimately connected with his as she slept peacefully. She had indeed kissed him, but it didn't seem like she had registered the fact herself. He could then hear her mumble, "Allington..." in her sleep, along with feeling her muzzle nuzzle into him while taking in a whiff of his smell.

Passion was fairly warm after a few minutes of cuddling; their combined body heat was more than enough to keep them warm throughout the night that was rapidly approaching. For all that had transpired, one thing was for certain. Allington was definitely on Passion's mind. More than what he could have thought of earlier today.

It warmed Allington’s heart to see her in a recovering condition, but his heart was also beating faster than normal. He still couldn't believe what had happened, and now... they were snuggling together, face to face, almost. He felt his stomach turning in on itself in a benign way, and he couldn't help but have a wide smile on his face. She was thinking about him. And that made him so happy to know. She had been on his mind a lot more during the last day, but it was now that he got to feel just how soft her fur was, and how she smelled. He kissed her forehead as he lay curled against her. This was almost too good to be true, and perhaps it was. After all, she wasn't her normal self. Still, he would remember this night, even if she didn't, or if she freaked out the next day which was a possibility. For now, though, she was sound asleep, and sleeping ever so cutely, he noted. He stayed awake and gazed at her form, though the darkness prevented him from seeing much. It was quite possible that he was falling for her. Falling fast, too.

For as much as Allington enjoyed Passion's company, so did she enjoy his. Her facial expression was still happy, and taking in his smell only amplified it. Her silky coat was gently brushing against his as her body wiggled about a tiny bit every now and then. Her own smell was almost flowery in and of itself, though it was a strange one he could not quite put a hoof on. However, despite its foreign nature, it was still pleasant. Only morning would truly tell him how much she actually remembered, how much she truly desired of him, and if he was actually this much on her thoughts when not dreaming. All of them being questions only the morrow could answer, but for now, Passion slept peacefully for the rest of the night, never straying away from Allington's cuddling embrace.

Chapter 5: The Way I See You

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Chapter 1: An Unexpected Friend

In the looming presence of the Hollow woods, all major roads had been stripped away until only minor dirt trails could coil eerily through the dense forest. An almost impenetrable fixture of clouds resided high above Allington’s head, keeping the sun from shining as bright as it possibly could have. It was the lack of sunlight which had brought the blue unicorn hours into this rather unique forest. He knew that somewhere amongst the strangely formed trees and dark brushes lurked a myriad of plant species endemic to this region of Equestria, and it was said to be specially so around the village of Hollow Shades.

The village was a rather small one. The houses far and wide in between in comparison to towns like Ponyville. It was further unique due to looking like something taken straight out of nightmare night itself. This could have been because of the slightly gothic architecture that all the ancient houses had, or perhaps the atmosphere was caused by the lower amounts of light reaching the place. Though, one thing was for certain, the place had been around for far longer than his hometown of Trottingham. And it was a place rich in traditions and history, however odd they may be.

The ponies living there dressed in slightly duller clothes relative to what other ponies wore in the different areas of Equestria which Allington had been to. They had far fewer colors overall, and those which they did use were washed out and bleak at best. It did however fit in very well with the very somber feel of the place.

It was while noticing the boring attires that Allington saw their eyes being glued to him. Their looks were filled with mistrust and just a hint of contempt, as if none in the town actually wanted him there. Though, there was still nothing too concerning about, even if their behavior did cause him to feel a slight discomfort. It was also very apparent that the villages did their best to simply stay out of his way when he walked through the town’s square. Even the ponies at the tavern near him disappeared inside once he approached it.

Allington couldn’t help but feel the place was very interesting, even if everypony here seemed so suspicious of outsiders. It was no wonder to him that this place didn't get many visitors. Their behavior also explained why he had never had any commissions from this area of Equestria before. Though, his thought about the weird ponies was a passing one, there were several rare-and possibly undiscovered- trees said to be around the hollows, and as an experienced arborist, that notion spurred Allington on.

He was going to make the best of his satiation, and he was going to do so by showing the secluded ponies of Hollow Shades how nice an outsider could actually be, which he did by smiling kindly to any and all ponies he passed while trotting through the town at a respectable pace.

"Excuse me, miss?" he asked one of the less-grim-looking ponies along his path. "Do you know where I may find an Euclidian Willow? I heard that they only grow near this area, and..." He trailed off as the mare ducked away to leave him hanging.

“Such an odd populace” mumbled Allington quietly to himself as he continued along the path. “Fine, if the ponies here are going to avoid me, then I’ll just wander along a path until I found something interesting or relevant to my search...”

Nice flowers, interesting weeds, and strange bushes grew all along on his path through the town. It really didn't seem like anypony wanted to have anything to do him. But, that didn’t matter awfully much to Allington when there was an abundance of plants for him to study. Though, for as interesting as the plants inside the town area were, it was outside it where things got really interesting. At the edge of town, the very heart of the forest, grew some very unique plants to this area of Equestria, one of them being The Euclidian Willow which he had feverishly searched for, and as it just so happened, one of them actually grew near the outskirts of town. It stood tall as it loomed in over the dark and eerily calm looking lake where he could see an even darker silhouette of figure sitting beneath the tree, hunched over with something in its lap.

Seeing the tree made Allington's eyes widened with excitement, he had finally found one of the rare trees of Equestria to document. However, his excitement took a backseat once he actually paid attention to the figure beneath it. In hindsight of how the villagers had treated him, he hesitated approaching it. Though, if he was going to study the tree, it meant engaging the figure by proxy, which meant he had to approach the both of them. But, as he was about to head towards them, an old purple stallion grabbed him by the shoulder and grumbled in a quiet and slightly stern voice.

"You better not go down there. She's a bad omen. She’ll make you disappear!"

"I beg pardon?" said Allington as he looked at the old stallion in confusion. "What in the blazes are you referring to? I merely seek the tree, not who or whatever may be near it… You said that 'she' is a bad omen? Please explain yourself."

The old stallion slowly chewed on something in his mouth, staring at Allington for several moments before finally adding something new to his warning.

"Sinister things take place on Nightmare Night." With those words his eyes and face turned towards the tree. "Such as her being born from pegasi parents."

He spat some of whatever he was chewing out on the ground as he glared back at Allington. "Study the tree all you want, just be aware of her. She's bad luck for everypony, a bad omen."

"And what does being born from Pegasi have to do with luck, my dear elder? I am afraid that your logic behind that statement has no meaning to me. Nonetheless, I will heed your warning." With a small smile and nod, Allington continued towards the tree, keeping the figure, which apparently was a female born of pegasi, in his field of vision. He would first try to avoid contact with the mare, so while walking towards it he withdrew a small booklet and pencil from his satchel and so he could begin to make sketches of the tree.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” grumbled the old Stallion before waddling away.

With each step closer to the tree, a bit more of the figure beneath it became clearer, and so did the warning. She was a Batpony, something that was not all that common in Equestria. She was of a species which had throughout many eons of folklores been forever interlinked with nightmare moon herself. The strange warning of the elderly stallion suddenly made sense. It was no wonder the town folks thought something was sinister about her if she had been born on Nightmare Night from non-Batpony parents.

Allington managed to get himself almost right next to the tree before bringing his presence to the attention of the Batpony in front of him. It was a small branch snapping that alerted her of him being there, and the sound alone caused the mare to move her head forward in a reflective manner, as if she was expecting something to strike the back of her head. The instinctive movement was quickly followed up by a rapid turn towards him.

The dim sunlight shimmered rather brightly in her big blue eyes despite it being so dark. There seemed to be an odd flickering in them when they locked on to Allington. A slightly timid and very soft voice came from the small frame as she mumbled,

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be in your way. I'll leave..." It was all that came from her before she got up to pack up her little bundle of things and put it into a worn down saddlebag. She then proceeded to walk around him in a wide circle with a bit of a limp on her left hindleg.

Allington didn’t react initially to what she said. He was far too surprised to see a Batpony in this area, knowing that they tended to live more towards the wooded mountains instead of the hollow forest. Though, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was so surprised by this fact. It was possibly because he was half-expecting to find a pegasus instead of a bat pony underneath the tree.

Something further dawned upon him when noticing how she spoke and moved around when reacting to his sudden presence. It seemed that she was broken. The flinching, she acted as a beaten pet and not like a dangerous animal like the elder had hinted. Something was very off about this village, and this mare, and he wasn't about to let her leave, even if he was still a bit wary of her.

"Wait. You do not have to leave, as I mean you no harm..." He said softly, still levitating the booklet and pencil near his head.

She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around to look at him. "I don't?"

Her voice carried a thick layer of confusion and her eyes seemed a bit uncertain of what to do now. Though, she ended up sitting down in the grass a few feet behind Allington, with her own equipment tucked to her side as some had begun to fall out of the holes in her saddlebags.

"Can I ask what you're doing?" her voice rang up just as softly as it did before, though this time it was a lot louder and more lively than her first response to him.

"Um... I am making a study of the tree you were occupying a few moments ago,” said Allington as he resumed making an anatomical sketch of the tree and its leaves and fruits. "This particular tree is very rare, and I traveled a long ways to see it because I heard it grew here."

However much interest her sudden curiosity sparked, Allington figured she was merely curious about what he was doing due to the limited social interactions she’d get in this village with all its superstitious ponies. Though, as sudden as her interest was, it wasn’t as sudden as how quickly she came to sit by his side with a little thud, seemingly having made a little leap from where she sat before to get to him without making another sound.

"May I ask what you were doing here before?" asked Allington curiously.

"Oh? I was just trying to write something, nothing interesting." She looked back down at her portable ink bottle, quill and extensively worn-down leather book.

"It's really that unique? I never knew that. Here I've sat under it for years and years, and never knew it was this special. You're some kind of science pony, right?" Despite her rather timid nature, she looked up at him with a big heart-warming smile. It was first now that she was sitting so close to Allington, and looking at him that he could see some blue discoloration in her black coat around her right eye and along her side.

"Consider slowing down a tic, lass." He said softly at her barrage of questions and statements, looking at her with an interesting combination of amusement and reservation. "Yes, it is a very rare tree, and no, I am not necessarily a science pony, though I do perform scientific inquiry when needed. Consider me more as a doctor of sorts." He noted with some concern for her right eye while he imagined the many possible scenarios which could have occurred to have caused it. Was this the aftermath of a hostile advance by a local? It begged the question.

Although Allington’s dark thoughts expressed in his face, the mare appeared to hang on every word he said, almost with a child-like eager. "Ooooh, you're a doctor. I bet that's a really interesting profession to be in." She smiled widely at him, being fairly content with the company.

"And as a doctor, I must ask you about your leg and eye, lass. I cannot pretend to ignore it while I stand here and talk with you..." Allington’s expression became softer as he looked at her, allowing her to see the level of care and concern in his emerald eyes.

It was a question which appeared to have hit home with her as the warm smile quickly died down once more before deforming into a strange frown.

"Oh, that was my own fault. I didn't look where I was walking. It's really nice of you to ask though." Somehow her smile found a way to return once more, but this time with her eyes closed, and as they opened, they gazed into Allington’s, who in return gazed back into hers as he expected a real answer from her. The staring and silence went on for quite some time, and eventually she started to appear almost mesmerized for the moment before pulling away from him as she flinched. “Sorry…”

"You really don't mind me being here?" She asked while looking straight ahead instead of at him now.

"Well, I do not mind at all, lass." He said while smiling a bit. There was something about her eyes which he found Interesting. It was like they were extremely radiant and full of life despite whatever had happened to her. Although, he considered the option of that feeling having risen because the villagers of the town were all as lifeless and dull as the town they lived in. Then again, for somepony who supposedly was a bad omen, she seemed very innocent and approachable.

"No, I do not mind, so long as you don't attack me or anything along the like." Allington rolled his eyes. "One of the villagers actually warned me from speaking to you. Why do they do this to you, other than the fact that you appear different than the rest of them? I must ask this now, seeing as I am curious."

An expression of woe came over her entire body as he brought up the scenario of her attacking him, though it was a short lived feeling.

"I-I would never attack anypony!.. oh, you were sarcastic!" Upon the realization she giggled with her soft and sweet voice, a laugh which somehow managed to surprise Allington a bit with how cute it was. Her laughing didn’t last long as she went back to looking very somber again. "It's because I was born on Nightmare Night. I was supposed to be a Pegasus. Or at least that's what they've told me. The reason I'm what I am, is because the dark forces that helped Nightmare Moon were channeled through me in an attempt to bring back her evil reign."

With those words she raised her head to look up at him with a weak smile. "That's what I've been told at least. I try my best to not do anything bad or hurt anypony. Maybe I can change my fate if I just try hard enough with it." She nodded once to herself as she seemed to having fully bought into their justification for what they'd done to her.

"So, you're saying that the 'forces that made nightmare moon' were responsible for your birth?.. What a farce." He squinted a bit. "...Has nopony told you the tale of Nightmare Moon as it actually happened, or were you fed the local old mare's tales?!" He almost huffed a bit at the incredulity of the townsponies here.

"Nightmare Moon was formed when the younger of the two ruling princesses, Luna, became embittered towards her sister. It was from this bitterness that she became Nightmare Moon. There is no way dark forces were behind your birth. What a load of rubbish..." His angered answer was followed by an even more irritated shake of his head.

"Erhm, I've only lived in this town, and only really talked to my parents and some other ponies around town. I don't really know a whole lot about what might have happened back then..." Her facial expression and tone said it all. She was actually apologizing for not being properly educated.

"But, if what you say is true..." Confusion crept back into her face as she thought it over while staring at the ground, never actually finishing her sentence.

"Yes, that is the actual account of what passed during the creation of Nightmare moon, lass." He nodded slowly. "You do not have to look sorry for not knowing, though. ...I suppose it's natural, given the superstitions in this town."

She listened carefully despite looking deep in thought, which was an expression she broke after a moment so she could look back up at him and asked softly, "I wanna ask you a question, mister, erhm, two questions! What is your name? And, why are you being so nice to me?"

"Why, my name is Allington, ma'am.” He looked back at her and tilted his head slightly at her questions. “I am being nice to you because it is my duty to be nice, by me being a member of Equestria and my desire to be a gentlecolt. I see you are wounded and skittish. You have the countenance of one who receives beatings on a regular basis, and as an upright stallion I cannot allow this. That is why I am being nice."

"Allington," she repeated his name, almost like she was tasting it. "My name's Passion Quill. And, I don't think I understood all of what you said. But, that's the nicest thing anypony has ever said to me!" She beamed with joy from it all, seemingly glancing over his remark of regular beatings as she went straight for another question.

"Does this mean... we're friends?" Her eyes flickered rapidly as she stared up at him with baited-breath.

It pained Allington slightly that she was skipping over his question. Though, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her fondly, even if some concern bled through in his features.

"Yes, I would say that we’re friends, though at the present I believe 'acquaintance' is the more fitting term, seeing as we just met. Still, I would answer your question with an affirmative." He nodded slowly.
"Now, if you won't tell me about your present condition, can you inform me what you can about this willow...?"

Her eyes grew three sizes as he said yes to her question. She gasped loudly and before he could say or do anything, she shot up from her spot to bounce around happily.

"I can't believe it, I did it!! I made a friend!" Her happy sprawling was followed by her sitting down in front of him, but first after a few laps around him had been made. Her absurd behavior towards making a friend placed a big calm smile on Allington’s face, as well as eliciting a soft chuckle from him while he shook his.

"O-oh, sorry. Erhm" She poked the ground a bit with a hoof while watching the dirt part beneath its pressure. "I wish I could tell you something about this tree. B-but, I don't know a lot more about it than it's been there for as long as I've been alive. I've always loved resting underneath it. Erhm, that's all I know." She scratched the back of her head awkwardly, still avoiding any acknowledgment of his other question.

"It's alright if you can’t tell me anything more about the tree, Passion. I was just wondering what you knew about it is all." He circled the tree, making sketches and notes in his booklet. "I’m happy for your enthusiasm at meeting a new friend, but I assure you, I’m not all that special. That matter aside though, Mind if I ask you some more questions about your life here, Ma'am?" He glanced between her, the tree and the notebook as he spoke to her.

The smile was destined to stay on her face as she stared at him with admiring eyes. "You're special to me, Allington. You're my first friend, my only friend for that matter." She then scratched the back of her head, laughing softly before shaking her head.

“I don't mind you asking me stuff, so, ask away mister, Allington!"

"Is that so?" He giggled softly, opening his mouth in a small grin. "Well, I must say that you need to get outside the hollows more. There are many other ponies outside here for you to be friends with."

He slowly circled the tree again, taking a sample from the bark, the dirt near the tree, and a small section of root.

"Alright, I shall ask indeed. First off, have you been ostracized from the other villagers your whole life? I know the question seems leading, though the evidence points toward an assumption I have. ...Also, do you want medical help for your wounds?"

“Erhm, I have a question first!" She raised a hoof as she asked, "What does ostracized mean?" She smiled a bit embarrassedly before adding, "And erhm, naah, it's okay. It doesn't hurt that much and I usually heal just fine when this happens, no need to worry about it, mister Allington, I’m a tough pony!"

"Well, 'Ostracized' means to be banished or prevented from having much contact with the other ponies in the village," said Allington as he put the samples inside a pouch in his satchel, followed by him looking upward at the leaves, searching for a fruit or seed. "And are you sure you do not need any aid? You seem to have a limp in your back leg, ma'am..."

Passion waited patiently for Allington to be done talking, just quietly observing him when not answering questions.

“Ooooh, well, yeah, I’ve been that for most of my life. Nopony likes being around me much. But, it's okay, I made up plenty of fun games to do all on my own when I was a little filly." She grinned proudly and then looked down at her leg.

"My limp? I'm sure it'll heal in a week or two. It only hurts a bit when I walk." She looked back up at him with a soft smile. "Any more questions, mister Allington?"

He glanced at her while she spoke though his head was facing upwards at the tree leaves.

"I see... Well, it pains me somewhat to see anypony wounded." Sadly not being able to find any seeds, he broke a small twig off the tree and placed it inside a special box in his bag. " And yes, I do have another question or two. Where do you live if you are banished from the village, and how do you relate to your parents? Seeing your current physical state, I am a little concerned."

"I'm sorry... I'll stop limping so it won't bother you," mumbled Passion while withdrawing some from him. "Oh, well, I got a little house I live in on the edge of the village. And to answer your question on how I relate to my parents, erhm, well, I'm their daughter of course... I've no idea why I'm a Batpony when they're both Pegasi...”

“I don't think I understand what you mean with my physical state,” sighed Passion while her head lowered as gradually she felt more and more stupid for not really understanding her friend.

"Passion, I am not bothered by you limping near me, as much as the fact that you are limping at all. There is a difference there, so there is no need to withdraw from me like that." He turned his attention to her now as he stowed the box away. "Alright, so you do have a house you live in. That is good to hear. As for you being a Batpony while your parents are Pegasi... Perhaps there are other Batponies in your family line. I highly doubt that dark magic caused you to be one." He shook his head slowly.

A soft smile formed on her lips as she moved in a bit closer to him once more. "Okay mister. Thanks for not being bothered by it like that." The question about her lineage caused her to gently rub her chin as she thought about her family tree.

“Maybe I do? I don't really know my family history all that well, so I guess it could be true!" She giggled loudly, and although there was a little snort or two, there was something strangely adorable about it. "You're really smart, mister Allington. Erhm, I would like to ask you a question, if you don't mind it at least… erhm, how is the place you're from like?"

A surge of happiness streamed through Allington as he managed to make her laugh, knowing vague hints about the kind of hardship she was enduring on a daily basis in the town, making her laugh was probably one of the few joys she had in her life. Though, he was also beginning to oddly enough enjoy the sound of her laugh.

"Where I'm from?" He glanced upwards. "Well, I am from a city on the other side of the mountains named Trottingham. Have you heard of it before? It is a very lovely city: The townsfolk are amicable, the weather very temperate, and you can still have the misty moors near the outskirts of town. It's my home, and my heritage, Trottingham is. My family and I actually own an orchard there, Passion."

Passion listened once again very carefully to every single word he said. Her face showed a great deal of curiosity and wonder from what he told her. There was also a great deal of amusement for Allington when he told about his hometown. It was even amusing for him to watch her face light up from his story. He wasn't even adding any special descriptions to his account, yet it somehow stirred a new faction in her imagination.

"I've heard the name Trottingham, and I've even seen the name in some books of mine. It sounds really great from what you've described. I've never seen an orchard though, but I bet the one you have is a really nice one." She smiled timidly and looked down at the ground as she asked.

"I have another question... If it isn't too much to ask, do you think I could, maybe tag along as you travel to Trottingham? I promise I won't be a bother, you won't even notice I'm there. I just need somepony to help me get through the forest, as it can be a bit scary and dangerous." Her ears fell down low and she quivered a bit at the thought of it.

"You want to... Travel with me?" He asked slowly, making certain he had heard her right. This was certainly a tad unexpected, though he knew not why. Given what he knew, were she to go with him, it would remove her from the violent atmosphere this place had towards her.

"You do realize that Trottingham is several day's journey from here. That shouldn't be an issue, but I say it now because it is some distance from here... Would you still be willing to go?"

Passion nodded determinedly. "Y-yes, I understand it's far away, but I'd still like to come with you." She turned her head to look at the gloomy village.

"I don't really have anything left for me here, and even if the villagers don't treat me that badly, I want to see what else is in the world. I'd really appreciate it if I could just follow you till we get there, then you can ditch me if you want to." She looked back at him with a spec of home glimmering in her beautiful blue eyes.

"But, if you don't want to, that's okay as well. I wouldn't blame you." She turned her back to him and sat down with her tail tugged very firmly into her side and along her frame, and her head lowered.

Allington mulled the thought over in his head for a while, sitting down to think more clearly. Sure, he'd enjoy the extra company for once, as he normally traveled alone during his work, but to take along somepony he just met... He'd been through a lot worse in his earlier days where he and his rowdy mountain goat friend would oft go on wild (and sometimes drunken) adventures and cause all sorts of mischief. Of course, it also didn't hurt that Passion had a certain charm to her character that Allington appreciated. And, the thought struck him once again. Taking her with him would remove her from this caustic environment she was submerged into. That alone would do the mare some good.

"...Alright. You may accompany me on my trek back to Trottingham, miss Passion,” mumbled Allington eventually, standing up and smiling at her with a friendly warmth.

"Really?!" She jumped up from her spot while turning around to face him. "Thank you, Mister Allington!"

She had a weird mixture of over-excitement and terrified restraint to her way of approaching him when he accepted her to come along as a companion.

"S-so, when do we leave?" asked Passion as she moved a bit closer to Allington, but made sure to stay at least a foot or two from him. "Or maybe you want me to show you all the cool flowers and tress I've seen around here?"

"Glad to see you are excited at the prospect,” said Allington with a small chuckle, noting her odd reaction to his acceptance. "...And yes to the second: I would much like to see more of the 'cool flowers and trees' before we depart. They are the original reason I came here, after all." He packed the other items back into his satchel and glanced around the wood. "Are there any close by? I know that there are a few other rare plants near the area that I have heard talk of."

"Okay! follow me!" chirped Passion while grinning widely as she turned around and walked further into the woods with him, walking along at a brisk pace. "There are some close by, others are further away."

She seemed to be intimate with the area just around the village. Without hesitation she jumped up onto lifted tree roots and into oddly shaped tunnels to get to secluded areas where nopony would normally go to within this rather gloomy forest. It was because of her intimacy with the forest that Allington had to follow closely behind her or be left behind from her rapid movement. Her knowledge of the forest didn’t seem strange to him, as she naturally would know a lot about this after having spent her life outside the town borders.

"This is my favorite flower!" She squeaked with a cracking voice as she poked her nose against the one foot tall flower that was closed tightly together. The petals of it were a dull black color, much like Passion's coat. "It's an, erhm, noc.. noctu.. noctar... it's a night flower. It only opens up when the moon is out. But it's really pretty! It’s got this glowing purple inside to it." She poked it again with her nose before looking back at him. "Is this the kind of stuff you want me to show you?"

"...A nocturne, perhaps?" He asked as he inspected the flower closer. "Yes, I have read about these before and saw one once upon a brief expedition into the Everfree edge. This is only the second I have seen personally, though. This one seems much healthier and darker than the one in the Everfree did, though. Interesting." He pulled out his notebook again and made more sketches.

"Fascinating. Yes, these are the sort of things I am interested in seeing here."

She smiled widely at him, "Glad you like it! And of course he's healthy. I've taken good care of Night Bloom for like two years now." She gently stroked the crown of the flower before turning around.

"Wait, so you cultivated this plant yourself? That explains the more glossy stem and bulb..." He made a note in his notebook.

"Mhm, I've taken care of him all by myself." chirped Passion as she motioned for him to follow her again.

It seemed like she'd had a hoof in taking care of other of the plants on her tour as well. She took him all around the edges of the forest, showing him all the different flowers she'd found, the strangest bushes that she knew of, and the coolest trees she could find. Most of them weren't specific to only this area of Equestria, but a few were precisely the reason why he had traveled to this slightly backwards town. Allington continued the same practice he had done previously, making notes in his floating notebook, making comments when necessary and also informing her about the history and topology of the trees he knew. This was his field, and as anypony immersed in their field of study, he was lively and talkative about it, eager to share his knowledge with her. When they stopped, he made a few last notes in his book while she turned around to look at him.

"And... that's all I know of." She looked a bit disappointed in herself for not being able to help him any more than she had done.

"It is quite fine, Passion. You have been a wondrous help to me. Why, it would have taken me hours to find half of the plants that you led me right to! I deeply appreciate it." He smiled at her broadly and with excitement in his deep green eyes.

Something about the situation caused her dark cheeks to take on a crimson hue as he complimented her, and her bright blue eyes began to glow happily in unison with her color change.

"T-thank you, I'm glad to have been of help to my, friend,” said Passion with a subdued smile while attempting to hide her fairly bright cheeks, glistening eyes, and idle twisting of one hoof in the dirt. "What now, mister Allington?"

"Well, now we head back through town and back to Trottingham, unless you have something else you wish to show me. I’ve seen more than I came here to see, and since you have shown me all the foliage you know, I see no further reason to remain here."

"I… I got nothing to do in this town, and nothing to take with me, except for what I’m carrying right now in my saddlebags." She smiled weakly at him as she walked up to his side, still keeping her distance from him.

“So, please lead the way, mister Allington,” chirped Passion before mumbling quietly, “and thank you for taking me with you…”