The Ambassador

A ray of golden sunlight shining through the tree leaves above and into Savanna's eyes made her wake. She shifted uncomfortably, rolling her head and burying her muzzle into Amethyst's shoulder to evade the intrusive light.

The light from the afternoon sun warmed the air. Savanna felt content in the embrace with Amethyst, no longer freezing like she had been the night prior.

She wanted to fall back asleep and dream pleasant dreams. They could be dreams about anything, but Savanna would have especially appreciated dreams about home or of sleepovers with her friends.

Unfortunately, she understood she couldn't stay cuddled with her friend forever. In the end, though, it wasn't her who made the decision to leave the nest.

Amethyst raised her head, yawning deeply. She withdrew from the hug and sat up, sitting back on her haunches. "You awake?"

Savanna remained lying on her back for a moment before sitting up. She held a hoof against her belly, trying in vain to suppress the growls being emitted from her empty stomach.

"Ah'm awake. Hungry."

"You as well?" Amethyst levitated her saddlebag and placed it in front of herself, digging around inside. She withdrew a canteen from within and unscrewed the cap, sipping from the contents within. She seemed intent on trying to suppress her sensations of hunger with water.

Savanna sifted through the belongings in her satchel, withdrawing several cans of fruit. She shook them to confirm they were full, listening to the satisfying slop sound the fruit and syrup made within as they jiggled. "Do ya want apples, peaches or..." Savanna paused, juggling the cans as she rotated the final one in an attempt to find a label to read. "...cranberries?"

Amethyst's eyes widened slightly as she eyed the cans of food and their colorful, attractive labels. "Fresh apples would be preferable." She shrugged, not being picky, and accepted the canned apples that Savanna offered her.

"Some'a this fruit's canned in syrup, though," Savanna pointed out. "So there's that." She wielded her knife and jabbed it into the top lid of her can, poking holes around the edge. Eventually, she pried open the lid, revealing delicious peach slices floating in syrup within. Savanna immediately plucked one of the slices out using the tip of her knife and ate it in one bite. It was as cold as the air temperature. Savanna suddenly wished she had a fire to warm her food over.

Amethyst used deft, sharp levitation magic to cleanly separate the top lid from the can, then floated out an apple slice, examining it. The slices were peeled and a little soggy, but edible.

They ate silently. Savanna was focused, concentrating entirely on the fruit she was eating. She didn't want to think about anything else, fearful her mind would enter a dark place like Amethyst's had the night before.

"Wish we had coffee," Amethyst commented, breaking the silence.

Savanna paused, holding her knife in the air. Speared on the end was a particularly-soggy slice of peach dripping with sugary syrup. "There's a lotta stuff ah miss."

"Hard to believe we're... forced to live like this. A lot of ponies are."

Savanna looked around, examining her surroundings. The forest was brightly lit with yellow sunlight, and the bushes and weeds growing upwards from the soil were sparse enough to allow her to see into the distance. The forest felt safer and more peaceful in the afternoon than it had in the pitch-black night.

She was sharing a meal with her friend. She had a friend in the first place. She could be hungry and alone.

She did miss the familiar arid environment of her home in Equestria's western savannah and all the comforts that were inherent to pony society—clean bedsheets. Fresh water. Proper meals. Four walls and a roof. Safety.

Fruit was delicious, but she missed home-cooked meals. Baked goods, too.

"Things could be worse for us right now," Savanna concluded, "but ah miss normal life too."

"I guess it could be raining. Or storming."

"Cross your hooves the weather holds 'til we arrive at Cerulia."

"Hooves crossed." Amethyst levitated the can she had been holding with a hoof and crossed her forelegs.

Savanna shishkabab'ed the final peach slice in the can with her knife and popped it into her mouth. Chewing, she peered down into the can. It was empty, aside from the small layer of sweet syrup lingering at the bottom. Savanna immediately tilted her head back and gulped down the sugary liquid, releasing a satisfied sigh. She could feel the sugar incorporating into her system rapidly, energizing her.

"Savanna?" Amethyst was about to finish her sliced apples, but hesitated, thoroughly rotating and examining the final slice in an almost nervous fashion.

Savanna detected and acknowledged the nervous body language, but neglected to mention it.

"Yeah?"

"I, uh... thank you for last night. You're a really good... friend to me."

Savanna smiled. It had sounded like Amethyst wanted to say more, but for the moment, she was glad that her friend appreciated her help. Sometimes, all someone needed was a hug to cheer them up.

"Ah never considered leavin' you. Honestly, we should'a just stayed closer together. Ah was followin' right behind ya, ah just got distracted, and then the next moment you were gone."

She heard a loud crack followed by several pops originating from Amethyst's direction, as if the filly were igniting firecrackers.

"Are those firecrackers?" Savanna glanced upwards curiously from the empty can of peaches she had been studying. She observed as Amethyst levitated a broken twig in front of herself. The thistle-colored magical glow emanating from her horn brightened and intensified as she attempted to cast a more complicated spell. The filly closed her eyes in concentration and focused. A visible ripple traveled upwards from the base of her horn to its tip. Some sparks crackled from her horn as Amethyst neglected to apply the magical energy correctly. She had failed to cast the spell.

"What are ya doin'?"

Amethyst frowned, frustrated. "I'm trying to cast restoration magic to repair this twig."

"If ya did that, wouldn't it just... fly back to the tree it had fallen from? It broke off a tree somewhere. Probably from wind."

"Not without me intentionally manipulating it to," Amethyst clarified. "Basic restoration magic only applies to objects that have recently been permutated—typically, objects that were destroyed or reduced to a lessor state from their previous state. Also, it only applies to objects that changed states within a vague time frame." She shook the broken twig with each word, emphasizing.

Surprised by her friend's knowledge, Savanna blinked. "Wow, that's fascinatin'. How'd ya learn all that?"

Amethyst smiled dimly. "Book learning. I used to study magic, too."

Amethyst discarded the broken twig, tossing it aside. "Have you ever heard the story about the goddess who used restoration magic to its fullest potential?"

Automatically, Savanna shook her head. Having not originated from Emperia, she wasn't familiar with the local culture and its share of folk stories.

"A very long time ago, reportedly a goddess used to exist in Emperia who was capable of reviving ponies from the grave. Technically, she was..." Amethyst narrowed her eyes. "...a necromancer."

Savanna gasped. "But that's impossible! Equestria's never seen real necromancy. Is it... normal here?"

"No. Her abilities are still considered unique. Replicating her magic is the greatest ambition of masters of restoration magic, but nopony has ever been successful to my knowledge. Not even an alicorn."

"Queen Melody is an alicorn, right?" Savanna asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yes.

You know, Savanna, she probably has the magic necessary to take you home... but what if she doesn't? What will you do?"

Cleverly, Savanna gazed into her friends eyes, reading her thoughts. "Aren't ya comin' with me when ah go home?"

Amethyst looked away, avoiding eye contact. She gazed out into the forest, shivering gently in a chilly breeze.

"Amethyst?" Savanna didn't like when ponies withdrew from a conversation and went silent. Their body language indicated they were struggling with their words—usually because they were upset.

"You aren't... lying about where you came from just to meet the former queen, are you? Just because she's an alicorn?" Amethyst squinted, giving Savanna a look of suspicion.

Savanna blanched. "W - what? No! No, never! Ah'd never do that to somepony, especially somepony like you.

"Ah invited you to come with me to Cerulia because ya don't have anywhere else to go, and because you said ya felt trapped workin' for Maverick and his band'a ponies. Ah wanted us to be friends. Ah know we haven't spent any real quality time together, but... ah do like you as a pony. And ah'd like to get to know ya more."

Amethyst's expression softened. An apology was clearly on the tip of her tongue, but she hesitated. Savanna continued, claiming the moment of opportunity.

"Besides, ah don't care about Queen Melody. Plenty'a alicorns exist in Equestria. She ain't special. Ah wanna meet a few of 'em, sure, but that's not worth betrayin' your trust." Savanna, feeling a little frustrated that Amethyst had accused her of lying, used a western phrase in exasperation. "Ah mean, land's sakes, Amethyst, ah'm not evil!"

Amethyst smiled in reaction to Savanna's intense accent. "Okay, okay, I believe you! Simmer down, cowpony."

"You wanna see a cowgirl? I'll show ya a cowgirl! Ah just need a new, replacement western hat, some rope and a long afternoon with the sun beatin' down an' fryin' ya like you're hot cakes on an oiled fryin' pan!"

"Stop!" Amethyst giggled, her eyes sparkling.

Savanna grinned, successful in her attempt to playfully jest and tease her friend. "You're gonna love mah mama. Couldn't make 'er stop if ya had your head down 'n bowed, beggin'. We're both from the far west, born and bred, but mah daddy's a bit of'a stuck-up and instilled book learnin' in me. He's the mayer of mah town back home."

"Your parents sound like great ponies."

"They're fine folk." Savanna sighed, smiling dimly. "Ah'm lookin' forward to seein' 'em again. Everypony, actually."

Savanna withdrew the map from her satchel and unfolded it, tracing their estimated path with a hoof. "So, ah think we're 'ere in this forest. Seaport we're headin' to is only about 50 miles away. Maybe 40."

"50 miles," Amethyst repeated, gulping. "That's far."

"Two days," Savanna clarified. "That'd take a couple days to walk, assumin' we're takin' breaks every few hours."

Amethyst inhaled and exhaled slowly to calm herself. "Okay... Okay. I can do that. You... really think we're going to be able to leave?"

"Ah know we will."