“...and then, when the rocks broke away, there it all was! Whole caverns full of crystals! All kinds, some of the purest and colorful ones we’d ever seen!”

The Peddler nodded as he listened closely to Crystal Night’s tale.

“Then, while I was still standing in that cave entrance, there was the glow, and this warm feeling, and then there it was! My cutie mark!” The foal beamed, “And well…I’ve been studying gems and crystals ever since! I’ve got tons of books.”

For the past while, Crystal Night had retold the time he had gotten his cutie-mark. They still gave the man a strange feeling, thinking about them, but he didn’t let that strangeness distract him from listening to the young foal’s story. Especially not when he seemed so ecstatic about it even to this day, years after it had appeared on his flank.

The day had been pleasant so far, the wind, while becoming ever more dry as they traveled closer to the desert, was fair, mild, and gentle against the face. The sun, usually bearing oppressively down from above, was filtered through a nice cloud cover, and there was only the rhythmic motion of the wagon which disrupted the calm of the savannah.

“What about you?” The foal asked, “Do you have a cutie-mark?”

The man looked away from the sky and down to the foal beside him, “No.” He replied simply.

Crystal Night gave him a look of confusion, “How do you know what you're good at then?”

Peddler shrugged, “We don’t really.” He turned to watch the dirt road pass by behind them, “We just live day by day, get a grip on things, then decide what we might want to do with ourselves.”

Crystal Night still didn’t seem to understand, and the man could tell he was still confused without the foal needing to say a word. “Dreams.” He said simply, and the foal cocked his head in greater confusion.

“Dreams? What does that have to do with cutie marks?” He asked.

The man paused, and began rummaging through his oversized bag, the pots and pans clattering lightly from the vibration of the wagon, “That’s what we run on, we might not know what we’re gonna be good at, but we can at least dream of things we’d want to be good at. Then, we try to make that dream a reality.”

“But…what if you fail?”

“Well, then…” The man looked to the foal once more, “We just try again.” From his bag he pulled out one of the jars of water he had and took a long gulp.

Crystal Night hummed, “I guess that makes sense. I know where’s a couple ponies at my school that still don’t have their cutie marks.” He said, “They just keep trying different things until they get their marks one day, they hope.”

There was a silent moment shared between the two, then Peddler spoke, “You said a while back, when you and I first met, that there was…somepony, that I reminded you of. One that wasn’t human?”

Crystal Night nodded, “Yeah, he was a traveler like you, strong and walked on two legs, had horns, big and mean.”

The Peddler cocked a brow, “Big and mean, huh?”

The foal shook his head, “You’re not mean, but he sure was. He was always yelling at everypony. Trying to get ponies to pay for some service. I guess he was kinda like a merchant. I forget what his people are called.”

The man had a pretty good idea who this person was, “A minotaur?” He asked.

Crystal Night beamed, “Yeah! That’s what he was. Iron…something. I think. He yelled at my dad.”

“So you thought I was him, so you decided to try and sneak up on me, in the middle of the night?”

The foal simply nodded, quite enthusiastically. The Peddler thought for a moment, this foal had to be either really dumb, or really brave. He knew the kid was bold, willing to take risks, he liked that about Crystal. But to try and confront a minotaur, especially one like that Iron Will fellow, well…it could have turned out really bad for him. He would have scolded him for such an act in hindsight, but he figured the kid’s parents had already done plenty of that.

“Here.” The man said, reaching into his bag once more, “I’ve got a bit of a gift. Think of it as saying thanks for letting me ride with you.” Crystal’s little ears peaked as he tried to sneak a glimpse of what the human might have been trying to grab, though the man already had in his hands the item that sparked the foals' curiosity, “I’ve had this for awhile, though I get a feeling it’s getting close to being bad.”

Then the man with a chocolate bar in his hand, and Crystal’s eyes widened with glee, “Is that for me?” The foal asked, the tip of his little nose twitching slightly as Peddler unwrapped the sweet treat. He smiled as he broke off a chunk, “Not all of it. I’m surprised it's still intact, though it’s sure to melt in the desert. So we’ve got to eat it.” And so he handed the foal his piece, a solid fourth of the quite large bar of chocolate.

Crystal Night took it with a generous nod of thanks, before quickly taking a bite, his ears peaking and his eyes closing as he savored the sweetness of it. The Peddler also took to eating some from the bar, the sugar and richness of the cocoa making his mouth almost dry. They finished the bar together in no time.

It was less than a day’s travel before the caravan had reached the edge of the desert, the sands shimmering almost silver in the heat of the day. It wasn’t so hot, there was still quite the cloud cover high above, though the air was noticeably drier here at the edge of the savannah than it had been back in the bushlands and further away from the desert in general.

The carts had all stopped for a midday rest and to have lunch, but the Peddler stood upon his place at the edge of the camp as he scanned the horizon, watching the heat rise above the desert plains in distorted waves. He was not going to enjoy his time there, he already knew.

“Peddler!” The man turned to see Yellow Stone trot behind him, “Lunch is ready! Hay sandwiches, you want any?”

The man shuddered at the thought of a hay sandwich, “No thanks, can’t really eat hay. My body can’t process it, ya’know?” He turned back to watch the desert once more, smiling a bit “Though I wouldn’t doubt your wife wouldn’t make them damn good.”

The stallion chuckled, “They’re pretty alright. He doesn’t like hay much either, but we do with what we have.” There was a silent moment. “You alright?” Yellow Stone questioned quite abruptly.

The man didn’t think much of it and shrugged, “Just trying to prepare myself for our time out there.” He answered simply.

The stallion nodded lighty, “Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of deserts either, though it helps that I’m a pony who deals with heat and dust quite a bit in my profession.”

The man rolled his shoulders, “I’d assume that from someone who mines stone all day.”

There was a silence for a moment, before Yellow Stone spoke up again, “Peddler, I’d like to ask you something, something important, a…favor almost.”

That got the man’s attention, and he turned to face the pale stallion, “You don’t need to ask a favor from me, I owe you enough, and helping you with somethin’ would be my pleasure.”

The stallion’s ear flicked, “I’d just like to ask that you keep an eye out on Crystal Night. The desert can be unforgiving and…we don’t want anything bad happening to him.” He paused to look out to the place he spoke of, “Lavender is going to have to be staying in the wagon pretty much the whole time, she doesn’t handle heat well. And I’m going to need to keep an eye on everything else, so it would be a great help to have another pair of eyes.”

The man gave an assuring nod, “He’s a good kid. I’d hate for anything to happen to him either. I’ll keep an eye and ear on him, make sure he’s alright.”

“Thanks.” Yellow Stone smiled, “I just want to take extra precautions…y'know, after last time.”

Peddler waved him off, “Things should be alright. If anything bad happens to him, you can have my hide.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” The stallion chuckled as they looked back out to the horizon for a long moment, the Peddler’s mind wandering to various situations, some good, some bad, some unlikely, and some almost guaranteed; he just hoped he would be able to deal with them as they came.

Yellow Stone soon left, realizing his food was waiting for him, and it was soon after that the man came to realize that he was pretty hungry too. So, he sat down at his place by the edge of the brush and watched the birds fly over distantly as a cold can of beans was eaten, and plenty of water was drunk. The Lord knew he was going to need it.

It wasn’t long before things were repacked and last minute preparations were made, and the caravan soon continued down the dusty, windy road towards it’s desired place. Sandy hills and course rock awaited them, the clattering of pots and pans rang out as the man walked alongside Yellow Stone. The Peddler made sure to feel a bit of the dirt beneath his feet, for he wasn’t so sure when he’d feel it again.

Author's Note

Shorter chapter, just a bit of filler really, but life is mostly filler, after all. Hope it doesn't feel too rushed.

P.S: I no longer have an editor for this story, so if there are some grammar or any mistakes really, point them out and I'll be glad to fix them. As always, cheers.