The rest of the day was uneventful as Spleens and Near chatted idly while Spleens pulled the caravan. Long Shot spent most of the day napping on a cloud, pulled along by a rope tied to the caravan, occasionally getting up for a brief flight to survey their surroundings. As the day wore on, gradually the sandstone hills and valleys of the Badlands were replaced by gently undulating grass. By the time they stopped for dinner, it was clear that the Badlands were now behind them.

"But seriously," Long Shot said as she sat atop the park bench they had stopped next to, "If you had to?"

"If I had to, I guess I'd give up my horn," answered Spleens, "Wings are just too useful."

"Ha!" Long almost shouted as she jumped into the air to hover gently next to Spleens, "Called it."

"Called what?" Near asked as she came around the caravan carrying the stove and other cooking gear with her magic.

Spleens took the stove and started assembling it with her magic. "She's on about the horn or wings thing again."

"Magic is pretty useful," Near said as she put the rest of the cooking gear down, "I mean, have you ever seen an earth pony parent changing a foal's diaper with just their mouth? No thank you, I'll stick to my horn."

"Ugh," Spleens visibly shuddered at the mental image, "Nevermind, I'm sticking with magic."

Wanting to change the subject so she wouldn't have to admit defeat, Long Shot asked Near, "So what are we having for dinner?"

"Well, tonight I was thinking about making spicy ramane noodle soup, does that work for you guys?"

Long Shot didn't bother responding given how enthusiastically Spleens nodded her head.

*Later that night*

Near woke suddenly, although she wasn't immediately sure why. Looking around quietly, she saw that both Long Shot and Spleens were still sleeping peacefully, and that nothing inside the caravan seemed awry. After carefully charging her horn, Near Miss telepoofed herself outside, about twenty trots away from the caravan.

Near looked around the caravan, but saw nothing unusual. After a few minutes of silently snooping around, she concluded that there was nopony around. Deciding that it must have been her imagination Near quietly made her way back to bed.

The next time Near woke up, it was morning, and she was alone inside the caravan. As she stumbled her way outside, she nearly collided with Spleens at the door. "Oh, you're awake" the changeling said as she turned around to let Near past, "Your haycakes are getting cold and I was starting to worry about you."

"So she is alive," Long Shot said from her perch atop The caravan roof, "I was about ready to start claiming your things."

"Don't be so quick to declare me still among the living," Near said as she made her way over to her breakfast, "It could very well be that I am dead, but the message hasn't reached my brain yet."

After a few minutes of stuffing her face, Near felt awake enough to actually talk, "So the weirdest thing happened last night. I woke up suddenly and I wasn't sure why, nothing was amiss, not even outside."

Long Shot rolled her eyes, "We know about you going outside, you're not exactly a stealth telepoofer. Although I figured you just had to pee super bad or something."

"Oh, sorry," Near apologized, "I was trying to be quiet, but I forgot how loud unsuppressed telepoofing can be."

"It's ok," Spleens reassured her before pausing a moment to think, "I wonder if you were woken by the same old pony that woke me up a few nights ago."

"Could be that we've still got ourselves a stalker."

Author's Note

I'm back from hearthswarming break, and so are the girls.