It was morning, even if barely so by some accounts. Trixie was collapsed in her wagon, still feeling the effects of the generous martini portions the night before. Garou wore the harness to her wagon, drawing it along in her stead, as she was quite unmoving otherwise.

Celestia was speaking to a grizzled mare. "We finished the assignment a day early. You had mentioned wanting to leave as soon as possible, and here we are."

"And you went and multiplied," she noted, eyes on Rockhoof. "What's wrong with the spellcaster?" She gestured at the source of loud snores.

Rockhoof gestured to himself. "Ye have the protection of Rockhoof, and she's just recovering from a night of celebration. She'll be dry and ready to go by the time trouble shows up. We have one other member with it." He nodded towards Garou.

"Your pet hardly c--" She scrambled away as garou went from four legs to two, expanding in size dramatically as he did so.

"Pleased to meet you." Garou smiled, perhaps just a little at having surprised her. "I will keep you safe." He fell back to all fours, returning to his more Luna-sized configuration.

Luna inclined her head towards their two new members. "So you will require no other guards. By my calculations, that should come out to 100 bits a day."

"That's... about right." She ran a fetlock over her brow before shaking her head. "You keep the most curious company, but if it keeps the caravan safe, well worth the expense. I heard what ye did for the town, good work there. I'll let the crew know we're moving then."

Celestia nodded with approval. "Very good. We'll go... tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Why would we do that?" She placed her hooves up to her mouth, forming a faint funnel to amplify her voice. "Hey, we're moving! Get it in gear!" The sounds of the caravan coming awake were the reply as ponies began to hurry to get themselves ready for the trip. "We've wasted enough time as it is, and time is money."

Garou tossed his head back at the still slumbering Trixie. "If we knew, maybe we wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves quite as hard."

"Perhaps not." Celestia was smiling despite it. "I have little objection in the end."

"Nor I." Luna looked towards Rockhoof. "And you?"

Rockhoof raised a hoof before moving to inspect the caravan he would be watching. "None here. The job I had been plannin' to do was all but cancelled on account of bein' too slow."

The caravan was a long string of wagons, some smaller and larger, but orbiting fairly close to an average that put them at about twice Trixie's wagon in size. Most were being drawn by one pony, but all had the harness for two ponies if they wanted, and some actually had two ponies strapping in to pull what was perhaps a larger load.

"We'll be crossing the desert," reminded the caravan mistress. "If you don't have extra drinking water loaded up on your wagon, now's a fine time to fix that."

Rockhoof nodded. "On it." He trotted off with a merry whistle, clearly ready to begin the day's work.

Celestia set a hoof on Garou's shoulder. "Thank you for bearing Trixie along for now. She is quite useful when trouble begins, but not in the state we found her this morning."

"Not a problem." He turned an ear back towards her snoring noises. "If she can sleep through whatever hangover she might have brought on herself, that's for the best. You feeling alright?"

"I'm quite well." She smirked faintly at the wolf. "Many years of rulership teaches you exactly where your limits are. We'll start moving as soon as everypony is up and ready, I imagine."

"Since I have you." His ears turned towards Celestia fully. "Do you know just how... racist your ponies can be?"

Celestia started at that, blinking. "Whatever do you mean? Kindness is one of our tenets, is it not?"

"To ponies, and things accepted as 'pony enough'." Garou shrugged lightly. "A wolf is neither of those things. Ponies are cute, but skittish. They avoided me whenever they had the chance." A force made twice as palpable when in hybrid form, but they thought he was someone's large dog sometimes when he was on all fours. "I woulda thought it was just Ponyville."

She raised a brow at that. "You've been to Ponyville then?"

Actually, he hadn't... "Heard of it," he grunted in lame deflection. "Just thought you should know."

"Well, it is improving." She put a hoof to her chest. "Twilight's school of friendship is raising a new generation of ponies alongside all manner of other creatures. Have you been? It's quite nice."

"Here we are." Rockhoof was returning, a large barrel affixed to either side. "Plenty of water fer the trip." He went for the wagon, loading them up without delay.

"Mmm..." Trixie stirred, perhaps at the noise of water barrels sliding into her wagon. "Where is...?" She blearily approached the front before a soft groan escaped her. "Be... right back." She half-fell from the wagon and staggered away.

Luna watched her go before moving to follow. "I will make sure she actually makes it to the little filly's room."

"Poor thing," sighed out Celestia as if resisting the urge to chuckle a bit at the misfortune. "She'll feel better soon."

Garou turned about in his harness, rearing up and nosing into the wagon before returning with an orange held carefully in his teeth. "Get this to her, it'll help."

Celestia's face brightened to a smile. "An excellent idea." She grabbed the fruit in her magic and squeezed it out into a glass with barely a delay. With a twinkle of magic, the remains of the orange were banished to... somewhere. "A nice glass of juice to help balance out her insides."

Garou smirked at the display. "You unicorns have a lot of tricks."

"As if you're hurtin' for any," grunted Rockhoof in a half-laugh. "The way I see it, I'm the plainest of the lot." He reached for the shovel on his back. "I'm strong, kinda the end of the tricks there, but that's alright. It's about usin' what ya got, not gettin' more of it."

Luna returned, Trixie sprawled on her back in a miserable pile. "The deed is done," she reported, carrying the spellcaster towards the wagon.

Celestia intercepted with the glass of juice. "Trixie, dear, drink this. It's a hangover cure."

"That exists?!" Trixie was suddenly quite awake. "Give it here." She reached with her hooves. Had Celestia not been still holding it in her magic, it would have easily been knocked right over. Celestia patiently moved it closer and angled it, helping pour it into Trixie's willing mouth. "Tastes like orange," she noted as she licked her lips. "When does it start to work?"

"You should get back to what you were doing." Celestia pointed to the wagon. "Time is the true cure, but that will help."

Trixie let out an unhappy groan, but was soon curled up in her wagon to sleep off the last of her hangover. "Thank you," she mumbled out.

Luna hiked a brow at Trixie, eyes on Celestia. "She is more polite when she is in pain, have you noticed?"

Celestia turned to face the direction they would be going. "It's harder to put on airs when everything is pain, but let's not use that as a conditioning tool. We're not that cruel."

"Time to move," bellowed out the leader of the caravan, getting a fresh little groan from Trixie. "One, two, one two three!" The hooves of those pulling wagons came down in unison with her call and the procession lurched into motion.

Luna inclined her head towards the wagon. "I call 'dibs' after Trixie has recovered." She yawned suddenly, covering her mouth with a hoof. "This day-based schedule is still something I am getting used to, sister dear."

"Were you not asleep last night?" Celestia gently bumped into her sister as they walked. "You seemed restful."

"Mmm, it came and went. I slept, but not all at once. I will adjust, in time, but these things do not happen all at once. As her hangover, time can be the best cure." She rested her head on Celestia's neck. "This was your idea," she petulantly noted.

"And you came with me, a fact I am eternally grateful for." Celestia smiled gently. "This wouldn't be nearly as fun without my sister at my side. You are having fun too, I do hope?"

"When I'm not worried for my sister's well being." She snorted softly, eyes closed and trusting Celestia to guide her forward. "This is not the first time I have fought."

"Long ago, I--"

"What? No." Luna brushed her with a thump. "I lived in dreams. Do you think they were absent of excitement and battle? It happened. It was the rare night I was called to a peaceful nightmare, whatever that might appear as."

"A peaceful nightmare," Celestia sighed out, trying to imagine what that would be. "Perhaps a nightmare held by Daring Do or Rainbow Dash when they thirsted for action but there was none there to be had?"

Luna groaned. "I worried you would figure it out." The two laughed gently in understanding.

Garou loped along easily along the road at the head of the procession, Rockhoof beside him. "What are they trading anyway?"

Rockhoof shrugged at that. "Your guess is as good as mine, though I did spy a few hints. Bags of spices, a few metal things? Our job to get 'em there safely, come sand worm or screamin' bandits."

"Why do they scream so much?" laughed out Garou. "Like it's in their contract."

"Since the dawn of time," agreed Rockhoof. "Think it's t' intimidate the people they're tryin' to waylay. Throw them off their game with the silence givin' way to wooping and hollering all sudden like."

"You think? Makes sense..." Garou glanced over his shoulder. "Think the drink helped, she's making less noise."

"That's good. Thanks fer being the bigger stallion about it. Yer job didn't technically include wagon hauling." He looked between Garou and the wagon as they both went along.

"No big deal," he assured. His nose danced as he took a few sniffs. "I can smell the desert coming up."

The caravan leader quirked an ear at him. "We're still a day away from the sands, pup. You have a damn fine nose to be picking up hints this far out."

Garou's cheeks warmed, realizing he had tipped his hand more than he had intended. "It's a wolf thing." That was the truth at least. "A day, good to know." He'd have a better idea of what the smell of sand from that far away smelled like. "Say, where are we headed exactly?"

"A few places." She shrugged lightly. "First a little place right in the middle of the sands." She thrust a hoof forward. "Place to refill the water tanks, and do some light trade. Then it's onwards to Kludge Town, er, Klugetown. One word, the locals are particular about that."

Rockhoof took one firm step, thumping his hoof on the road. "I hear that's not a wholesome place."

"That's putting it mildly. We won't even be walking in. We'll set up shop outside and let the traders come to us, and they will," explained the caravan leader. "A few days parked there and we move on! A caravan's barely getting the job done if it stays still for long."

Garou thoughtfully hummed as he trundled along, glancing over his shoulder at the other wagons behind his own, forming a long snake of a line back towards the town they had left. "We'll keep it safe."

"That's our job," merilly agreed Rockhoof, throwing an arm around Garou. "We'll get it done."

"Are we there yet?" Trixie's face emerged from the wagon, looking around blearily, though looking less terrible than she had started the day.

Author's Note

Adventure part 2, begin! So with the shares, we have 4 total shares, so 25 bits a share. 12.5 each to the stallions, 25 to the mares, daily. Luna pulled a fast one, demanding equal pay for them despite them only getting half shares. Not like the caravan needs to know their pay structure! They got a raise of 5 bits/day from having the stallions around.

Yay math! That's what you're here for, right?

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