"Honestly, Rarity, we've been goin' round this dang mountain in circles."
The earth pony sniffed unhappily from under her hat, sweat dripping from her eyebrows. She could deal with the heat - it was no worse than when the drought struck during the Great Pegasi Strike - but not the humidity. Not for the first time, she wondered how the local ponies were able to do any work in this kind of weather.
"Nonsense, darling," the unicorn replied. "I can sense we've almost found it. In fact - " She sniffed. "I can already smell it. What do your notes say?"
AJ pulled her notepad from the satchel. "The same thing they've been sayin' since lunch. It's bound to be somewhere around here. Maybe we should try that path?"
They hopped over a small babbling brook and followed a sandy path trodden by lumber-ponies and mushroom gatherers. Fresh timber lay in stacks on the sides, ready for pick up. The smell of wet cedar wood filled their nostrils.
"Do we really have to find it?" AJ protested again. "Ah mean, we found every other one from the List. Ah'm sure it won't matter if we can't get the last one. We're still the best in Equestria."
"Applejack!" Rarity halted so suddenly, her wide-brim purple-and-straw hat dropped onto her horn. She buzzed it back on her head. "I'm shocked. You know very well, it's all or nothing. We can't be just 'the best' - we have to be the very best. Otherwise, what was the point coming all the way to Neighpon?"
"Ah was hopin' to learn some new wet rice farming techniques," AJ mumbled. "But here I am, stuck with you on this wild goose chase."
Rarity eyed her from under a raised eyebrow. "The heat is getting to you, dear. Why would anyone want to run after wildfowl, when we have this to fill out?" She tapped the List with her hoof. All items but one were ticked off, each box marked with a red stamp.
AJ sighed and rolled her eyes. "Never mind, Rarity. Just hurry up, I may still catch the end of the lecture on flood prevention."
"Don't worry, we'll be back in plenty of time."
"If we go back. This place is givin' me the creeps. It's worse than Everfree. Ah swear ah've seen this tree before."
"I thought you liked nature," said Rarity, watching her friend make a wide turn around the trunk of an impressive cedar tree.
"Ah like it, alright. But ah've heard too many stories of spirits and ghosts lurking in this forest, back at the inn."
"Oh yes," Rarity remembered. "Twilight did mention the Neighpon ponies believe there's a spirit in every tree, and even the rocks. I wonder what they mean by that."
"If we stay here long enough, ah'm sure we'll find out." AJ looked at the sky, glimpsing through the thick canopy. "It's goin' to get dark soon. Ah don't want to stay here after dark."
They reached a fork in the path. Rarity stopped and spread the map on the ground. She consulted their notes and the Daring Do(tm) Adventure Compass she'd borrowed from Dash.
"Yes. Yes!"
Her horn lit up with a purple glow, as did her eyes. "There!" she pointed.
"Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life. Let's go!"
They launched into a canter, leaping over the ferns, brambles and windfalls. AJ felt her weariness give way to excitement. She, too, now sensed they were close to their target: their final prize, their ultimate reward. Back in Equestria, they had found all that there was to find; all the sizes, all the types on the List: large and small, mountain, forest and volcanic... Nobody had found more than they have. But they both knew there was more to discover beyond Equestria's borders - and nowhere more so than in Neighpon.
They'd spent months preparing for this trip, researching, collecting information, studying maps, saving bits for the airship tickets... The Agricultural Conference in Polohama was just an excuse for AJ to leave her farm - the completion of the List was the real reason for the long journey. It was all Rarity's idea, of course. She was the only one in Ponyville to have ever visited this distant land, on one of her "inspiration" travels. But this time, it wasn't fashion tips in the Hayajuku district they were searching for - it was something much more important. And at last, it was in their grasp.
Rarity ran in front, the List hovering in the purple glow beside her, ready for that final stamp. But AJ was the first to glimpse their prize between the pillars of the cedar trees. "To your right!" she shouted. They turned, and jumped out onto a small open glade.
They stared at it in silence. Rarity's eyes glinted as if they were studded with jewels. For the first time since AJ had known her, she was rendered speechless. Applejack felt her tears mix with the sweat on her cheeks.
"It is... magnificent," she whispered in awe. "It was all worth it."
In the middle of the glade stood an entrance, split in two, each door covered with a curtain - red for the mares, blue for the stallions. A stamp and ink pad lay on a tree stump next to the door. Beyond it was a round pond, lined with smooth stones, steam rising in white, thick billows from its milky surface.
"There it is," said Rarity at last. "The most secret, most elusive forest spa in all of Neighpon!"
And with a triumphant smile, she stamped and ticked off the last box on the List.
Author's Note
First MLP fanfic.
