The next day was very much like the day before, at least until Near Miss and Long Shot finished their lunch. While Near hooked herself up to the caravan, Long flew up to get a look around, only to immediately return, quietly declaring, "That caravan ahead of us is gone."

"Well, we did just break for lunch, so it makes sense that they've gotten well ahead of us," Replied Near.

"That's not it," Countered Long with a flick of her tail, "It's not just ahead of us, it's gone. It was just a few kilo trots ahead when we stopped for lunch, but now it's gone."

"Huh," Said Near, pulling out the map, "We should be pretty close to the caves by now, maybe the other caravan was heading there too. Let's keep going till the tracks ahead of us stop and take a look around there."

As Near pulled the caravan towards where the other caravan was last spotted, Long Shot was letting her imagination get the better of her as she came up with increasingly fantastic explanations of what became of the other caravan. "What if they are actually supervillains and this is the entrance to their-" Long was cut off as Near booped her nose.

"Equestria to Long Shot," Near called out, "I think we're here."

So distracted had Long Shot been with her imagination that she had not noticed when Near left the road and followed the other caravan's tracks right up to the entrance of a cave. The cave entrance was large enough that even though the other caravan was parked sideways, there was still room for Near to drag her caravan under the overhang. The other caravan was partially open, with a blue earth pony stallion tending his mobile store inside. At the moment, he was currently haggling with a very distracted looking stallion over the price of a gourd. After a brief back and forth, the distracted looking pony left, and the shopkeeper finally noticed Near and Long.

"Good afternoon young ladies, my name's Odyssey Endurance, but most folks call me Odds and Ends, or just Odds," The stallion began, "I roam around Equestria buying and selling all manner of things. See anything that piques your interest?"

"Not exactly," Near answered before showing Odds the picture of the tickler they were after, "We're looking for this artifact, it's supposed to be in this cave, have you seen it?"

The stallion examined the picture for a moment before shaking his head, "Sorry, can't say I've seen that particular scratcher, but you could always ask around inside. The changelings love collecting various nick nacks, they might well have that one."

"Changelings!" Long exclaimed.

"Well, I mean, they're reformed changelings. Don't take love by force anymore, they only accept love and other emotions offered willingly," Odds reassured them.

"Oh... Ok then," Long said, absentmindedly flicking her tail.

"Thanks for the tip," Near said as she walked past the vendor. After a moment, Long also muttered her thanks before chasing after her unicorn friend.

"So," Long began awkwardly, "Are we really going into a changeling hive alone?"

"Five thousand bits is five thousand bits," Near answered, "Besides, I hear that reformed changelings are just about the friendliest creatures in Equestria."

Author's Note

Please let me know if you see any typos, and as always comments and suggestions are welcome.