Author's Note

For any readers who might not know, a piton is a metal spike-like object used in rock and mountain climbing. When used, they are usually hammered into a crack in a rock, producing a very secure connection to the rock if applied correctly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOe2TnWtNRI

Chapter 26

Once they had cleaned up from breakfast and got moving, the rest of the morning passed uneventfully, with Long Shot pulling the caravan while idly chatting with Near and Spleens, with Near only occasionally exploding stuff out of boredom. After one particularly loud explosion, Spleens asked, "So with those explosions, are you conjuring explosives or what?"

"Actually," Near answered, "It's mostly just air pressure. I use magic to compress air till it's really hot, then I release it all at once and boom, you have a little explosion," as she spoke, she slowly went through the steps so that they were easy to see, and then at the end she went back to her normal speed, which was so quick that the explosion just seemed to appear out of thin air. "That said, I can summon both chemical explosives, or even the much more effective and dangerous magical explosion made of raw mana."

"Neat," Long declared, pulling off the road as she did, "Well this seems as good a time as any to stop for lunch." After detaching herself from the caravan, she launched herself into the air with a quick "back in a bit."

"So, what do you want for lunch?" Near asked Spleens as they watched Long gain altitude.

"Well I've got a taste for-" Spleens was cut off abruptly when Long appeared between them, having landed fast and hard enough to leave fetlock deep imprints in the soft ground.

"We got a problem," Long said pointing to the west, "There's a huge storm coming this way. Lots of rain and it's coming in fast. We shouldn't be at the bottom of a valley when it gets here."

Spleens pointed at a nearby hilltop, "That hill has a flat spot near the top and a vertical bit that we could hide behind, that might work."

Near hooked herself up to the caravan and with Long and Spleens pushing from behind, they were able to get the caravan to the flat spot before it started raining, although by this point, the sky was becoming menacingly dark. Freeing herself from the harness, Near ran to an as yet unopened compartment of caravan storage, and pulled out a bundle of sturdy looking metal stakes, several lengths of rope, and a large tarp. Magicking them over to Long and Spleens, she quickly said, "Can you two set up the stakes and attach them on that side?" Without waiting for a response, Near ran to a second storage compartment, and pulled out four pitons, four lengths of rope, and eight carabiners.

As Long and Spleens got to work with the stakes, Near used her magic to attach four carabiners to her side of the caravan, and then tied a rope to each of them. Turning to face the vertical rock face that was a trot away from the caravan, Near saw to her dismay that the rock was a single, uninterrupted and unfractured slab. Thinking quickly, she produced a series of progressively larger explosions right at the surface of the rock, hoping to create the needed crack that way, but no cracks appeared. Scowling, she made a much larger explosion that only managed to blow out one of the caravan's windows. She was about to release an even larger explosion when she felt Long's hoof on her side. Looking at the thestral, Near saw her pointing at the bottom of the rock wall, where it joined the flat bit they were standing, and where a nice horizontal crack ran. Near resisted the urge to facehoof and instead quickly pounded the four pitons in along the crack, and attached roped carabiners to each one. After making sure the ropes were tight, she used her magic to unfold a tarp, which she had Long Shot attach slightly above the rock wall and at the edges of the shelf they were on. With that the three of them went into the caravan to wait out the storm.