The Golden Trail

Gold sat on her haunches, eyes closed and cloak laying at her side under she shadow of one of the orchard's many trees. As she had done countless times before, she focused on the flow of her magic and her breathing. With each inhale, she felt her magic expand and seep into her muscles. With each exhale, some of her excess magic left with it, expanding her range of perception by a minuscule margin. It was nowhere near as thorough when compared to the spells she used to use in her past life, but it was the best she could do with her current abilities. It took more time than she was happy to admit to reach this point, but progress was still progress, even if it was made at a limping snail's pace. Unfortunately, that new ability made her more aware of her latest irritant.

She sensed Rainbow Dash resting in the branches of the tree she was meditating next to. Feeling the mare's magenta eyes on her was just enough of a distraction to keep her from moving any further in her training beyond that range. Feeling a little petty, she focused her magic down her hooves and into the ground. When she found the tree's roots, she asked it if it was willing to do something about the issue. A second later, Rainbow let out a yelp as she fell from her perch, the mare hitting the ground in a heap along with a small cluster of wizened apples.

"Not cool," Rainbow groaned, sitting up with a glare.

"I never claimed that as a priority," she huffed, picking up one of the apples. "Now, please stop crowding me."

"No way," Rainbow snorted, grabbing an apple and taking a bite. "Until all of this stuff with you is sorted out, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Gold sighed at that, taking a bite as she mulled over the events that led to her current situation.

***

While her day had started out on a stressful note, Gold had thought the relief that followed her home from her talk with Fluttershy would stay with her when she returned home. Instead, she found herself sitting at the dining room table in the middle of a scene that had left her good mood dead and buried. Sitting across from her was a glaring azure Pegasus mare, her messy mane and tail every color of the rainbow. The mare's magenta eyes tried to sear a hole through Gold's own, but only received an indifferent stare from her for her trouble. Given the blue mare's ire, Gold was sure that she would've tried to do more than glare at her if she wasn't presently tied to her seat and gagged. At Gold's left sat a sheepish Applejack, the mare fidgeting nervously in her seat as she avoided eye-contact with everypony present. At her right sat Skully, the skeleton's muzzle pointed at the ground in shame.

Gold gave each of them passing glances, her face an unreadable mask as she brought a steaming cup of tea to her lips. A heavy silence filled the room as the four mares traded glances. Gold let the pressure sit, the Pegasus' visible ire paling in comparison to the burning inferno raging inside of Gold in regards to her friend's contribution to the current situation.

"Applejack," Gold calmly started, making everypony flinch. "Who is this pony?"

"W-Well," Applejack nervously chuckled. "Gold, this is ma' friend Rainbow Dash."

"I see," Gold nodded, giving the bound mare a small smile. "It is nice to meet you Rainbow Dash. Of course, I wish it was under far more pleasant conditions than this, but we can't all get what we want."

Rainbow leaned back in her seat from that, Gold's calm tone sending a cold shiver down her spine that dimmed her glare.

"Now," Gold continued. "Before I untie you I want to make a few things clear. First, I am not a spirit. I am just as much a flesh and blood pony as you are."

Rainbow angrily nodded towards Skully.

"Second, Skully is not a spirit either," Gold frowned. "She's an idiot."

Skully's head shot up and snapped towards Gold, a loud series of clicks coming out of her frantically moving lower jaw.

Gold leveled a sharp glare at the skeleton and briskly asked, "What do you call somepony that saunters off to use a restroom when they don't even have organs?"

Applejack suppressed a chuckle behind a hoof at that while Skully flinched back from the barb.

"As I was saying," she sighed, turning back to Rainbow. "I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't tell anypony about either of us. If not for my sake, then for those of my family's."

Rainbow raised a brow at that, shifting her attention back and forth between Applejack and Gold. Applejack gave Gold a questioning look, nodding to both her and Skully in an unspoken question. One that Gold visibly flinched at, then gave a reluctant nod to.

"Gold ain't lyin'," Applejack frowned, meeting her friend's eye. "It ain't mah place to say much, but what Ah can tell ya' is that Gold and Skully are both Apples and they don't want to cause any trouble. Heck, she's been nothing but helpful the whole time she's been here. She's just got a few skeletons in her closet, is all."

Rainbow raised a brow at that while Gold and Skully slowly turned to face Applejack, the former sporting the flattest deadpan a pony could ever produce.

What?" Applejack blinked, looking back and fourth between the three mares. "It's true!"

"Indeed," Gold coughed, turning to face Rainbow. "Do you understand?"

Rainbow nodded, her hostility traded for intrigue as she met Gold's eyes.

"Good," Gold nodded, rising from her seat. "Now, I am going to untie you and we are going to continue this conversation in a more civil manner."

Rainbow nodded, tracking her as she moved around to her side of the table. While clumsy, Gold quickly undid the knots holding the rope binds and gag in place then made her way back to her seat. Rainbow spat out the gag, sputtering irritated gibberish as she shook off the ropes. At the same time, Gold watched her movements with calmly concealed caution. When the Pegasus finished freeing herself, she sat up properly in her seat and locked eyes with the group sitting across from her.

"Better?" Gold asked.

"Yeah," Rainbow huffed.

"Good," Gold nodded. "Now, I am certain that you have a few questions."

"Damn straight I have a few questions," Rainbow frowned, pointing a hoof at Skully. "Like, if she isn't a ghost or whatever, then what the buck is she!?"

Gold sighed at that.

"A byproduct of my curse," she frowned.

"What?" Rainbow blinked.

Applejack gave Gold a concerned look while the closest thing Skully could to mirror the acton was turn her head towards her and nervously grind her teeth.

"There is no point in hiding it from her," Gold huffed, leveling a faint glare out the corner of her eye at Skully.

Skully flinched back at that, then slowly looked down at the ground with a few slow clacks of teeth.

"Anyway," Gold continued. "As Applejack so elegantly stated, my past is not a very pleasant one. As punishment for my past deeds, I was cursed with a form of immortality and had everything I owned taken away."

"You're immortal?" Rainbow asked, raising a brow. "Like the, 'you can't die at all' type or the 'just really really hard to kill' type."

"The former," Gold sighed, then shivered as she added, "Though I wish it was the later."

"Huh?" Rainbow asked.

Gold took a steadying breath.

"I already went over the specifics with Fluttershy, so you may ask her if you wish for the more gruesome details. To summarize, I was captured by a mad noblemare and tortured for several months. One of the things she did to me was surgically remove all of the bones from my body."

Rainbow's eyes widened at that, horror plain on her face as they shot back and forth between Gold and Skully.

Frowning down at the table, Gold continued.

"Eventually, I managed to escape and was...drawn to the orchard after I flung myself off of Canter Peak to escape the city. Some time after that, The Apple's took me in and I have been living here ever since."

Still visibly shaken, Rainbow again looked to her friend for confirmation. A deep frown scarred Applejack's face as she nodded, the shadow of her stetson hiding her eyes. Slowly, Rainbow shifted her focus to Gold and Skully, shock shifting into a determined frown.

"Who the buck hurt you?" she demanded.

"Y-You believe me?" Gold blinked.

"If Applejack's backing you up, then you've gotta be telling the truth," Rainbow stated, then gritted her teeth as she added, "Now, who's head do I gotta knock off?!"

"I'm afraid that ship has already sailed," Gold bitterly chuckled. "My escape was far from quiet, you see. A few fleeing servants was all it took to get The Royal Guard and police involved. I personally watched everypony involved get arrested before I fled the city."

"Alright," Rainbow sullenly allowed, then pointed out the window and asked, "So, why do you have a bunch of bodyguards out there?"

"A byproduct of an agreement with my new teacher," Gold chuckled. "Apparently, my grandmother and Gaia Everfree had an agreement that couldn't be upheld until now and this is her way of apologizing."

"Right," Rainbow frowned, raising a brow.

Ignoring the confused looks she was getting, Rainbow looked at Skully. Narrowing her eyes, she raised a hoof and knocked a quick pattern on the table. Skully flinched, turned her head briefly at a stunned Gold and confused Applejack before meeting Rainbow's determined glare. Rainbow repeated the pattern, her hoof hitting the table with more urgency. Skully shifted her focus back and forth between the glaring Pegasus and her equally irate friend. Seeming to have come to a decision, Skully gave Rainbow her full attention and started clacking her teeth.

"Skully!" Gold gaped.

Rainbow put up a hoof in a halting motion, not taking her eyes off of the skeleton as she cut the mare off.

"Keep talking," Rainbow pressed.

Skully nodded, her posture straightening as she continued to click her teeth.

Gold watched the exchange with growing dread while Applejack became even more confused. At the same time, Rainbow's expression subtly gained and lost some fire at random points. When the clicking finally stopped, Rainbow aimed a piercing glare at Gold that made the mare flinch.

"I'm guarding you," she stated.

"What?" Gold blinked. "B-But I-"

"I'm guarding you," Rainbow repeated, tone as flat as paper and heavy as steel.

"B-But," Gold started, only to freeze when Rainbow's glare sharpened.

"Very well," she reluctantly sighed.

***

Stupid Skully and her big mouth, she thought with a huff. Why did she need to tell her all of that? I swear, when I get home tonight, I am going to let Winona use her hip as a chew toy for this!

"So is this all you do?" Rainbow asked, snapping Gold out of her fuming musings.

"Yes," Gold primly nodded. "In order to understand my magic, I need to meditate for long periods of time."

"Sounds boring," Rainbow frowned. "I thought Skully said you were being trained by some kind of elder spirit or something."

"I am," Gold nodded, raising a brow.

"Then, shouldn't you be doing some crazy witchy magic rituals or something?" she asked.

"That is not how it works," Gold huffed. "Gaia's teachings are centered on working with nature. To do that, one must become one with it, both in spirit and body. The most effective way to do that is through meditation and prolonged exposure to large sources of natural energy."

"Soooooo, you're learning by sitting around doing nothing?" Rainbow asked, head tilted in confusion.

"No!" Gold snipped. "As I said, I.....never mind. Clearly my teacher's philosophies are beyond your understanding."

With a huff, she turned her back to the mare, sat back down to her haunches, and resumed her lessons. Or at least, she tried to. A sharp poke in her left shoulder snapped her out of her trance before it could even start to form. Grinding her teeth, she aimed a glare at her irritant.

Rainbow met it with one of her own, her wings spread wide in frustration as she said, "What the hay is that supposed to mean? Are you calling me dumb!?"

"No," Gold coldly replied. "Simply ignorant."

"Same thing!" Rainbow snapped,

"No. It is not," Gold snipped. "To be dumb would imply a lack of intelligence. To be ignorant is to lack understanding of a topic or to lack the desire to learn."

With a dejected sigh, she looked away from Rainbow and sullenly added, "Believe me, I am very familiar with the difference."

"Yeah, Skully did say you were kind've a jerk," Rainbow frowned, looking away from the mare.

"Thank you for that," Gold huffed. "Tell me, are there any other skeletons my literal skeleton decided to introduce you to the last couple of days, or have the two of you spent the rest of your time together sipping tea."

"Hey! Skully's the one that keeps telling me stuff!" Rainbow snapped, aiming a glare at the mare. "I'm just at the farm waiting for you to finish your lessons and she just dumps things on me!"

"How is it that you can understand her in the first place!" Gold exclaimed, hooves in the air in exasperation. "Why does a random Weather Pony know morse code?!"

"Because I'm awesome," Rainbow smirked, proudly puffing out her chest. "And it's kind've mandatory for all Wonder Bolts to know it."

"You are a Wonder Bolt?" Gold blinked.

"Yep!" Rainbow chuckled.

"That explains so much," Gold sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she frowned.

"Nothing," Gold frowned, rubbing the base of her muzzle in frustration. "Forget I said anything."

"Whatever," Rainbow snorted.

With a huff, Gold turned away from her and closed her eyes. Slowly, she slipped into the zen of meditation, her connections to the surrounding trees aiding her. As she did, she specifically centered her focus away from her unwanted company to other things in her line of perception. Unfortunately, her mind kept inching her focus back to the sky blue mare. She tried to fight it, but all that did was bring a few of her curiosities about the mare to the front of her mind. After a few futile minutes of this, Gold let out a reluctant sigh and eased out of her trance.

When she looked back at Rainbow, she found her laying on her back staring at the sky with a bored frown.

Gnawing on her lower lip, Gold turned towards her and nervously asked, "Why do you want to help me?"

"Huh?" Rainbow flinched, sitting up to face her.

"Why do you want to help me?" Gold somberly repeated. "The others I understand on some level, but...why?"

"Cuz I want to," she shrugged.

"Because you want to," Gold parroted, confusion heavy in her tone.

"Pretty much," she yawned.

"I...see," Gold sighed, turning to face away from her. "Hopefully, that will change soon. The less distractions I have, the better."

"Whatever," Rainbow sighed, settling in for a long nap. "Just let me know if you want to get anything off of your chest."

Gold nodded, only faintly aware of the concerned frown on the other mare's muzzle just before she let her zen take her away.

***

Crickets chirped throughout the orchard, the full moon's rays casting long shadows all across the trees in a chaotic pattern. Rainbow sat next to one of the oldest trees deep in the heart of the orchard, irritation plain in her features as her eyes and ears flicked towards every passing sound. Set in the grass at her left away from the tree was a pair of small glasses and a tall bottle of chilled cider.

"What's taking her so long?" she bitterly muttered. "I've got work tomorrow, for feather's sake!"

As if summoned by her rant, a faint rattling behind her announced the presence of the one she was waiting for. With an irritated snort, she turned to face the being. More faint dry rattles filled the air as Skully stepped out of the shadows, the skeleton's demeanor as difficult to read as always.

Skully nodded in greeting, her teeth clattering out a quick message.

"(My apologies my friend. It took longer for everypony to fall asleep tonight than usual.)"

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow sighed, plopping down gracelessly against the tree. "At least you showed up."

"(Indeed)", Skully clattered, hoof over her muzzle in a chuckling gesture.

"(Shall I?)" Skully asked, pointing a hoof at the spot next to the tree not occupied by the mare and bottle.

"Go ahead," Rainbow snorted, already pouring herself a drink.

Nodding, Skully took a seat and plucked the empty glass off of the grass with a hoof.

"(Was Gold difficult today as well?)" Skully asked, miming taking a sip from her glass.

Instead of answering, Rainbow chugged her drink in a single go. Skully went through the motions of laughter at that, shaking her head. Rainbow sighed as she refilled her glass, her face set on the border between anger and sadness.

"I can't believe she's like this," Rainbow mused, staring into her glass. "I mean, I'm pretty tough, but I don't think I could be like her right now if I went through what she did."

"(Her scars run deep, my friend)," Skully "sighed", taking another "sip" from her glass. "(If you look carefully, you may catch them in a fleeting glance)."

"I know what you mean," Rainbow frowned, taking a small swig from her glass.

"(Pardon?)" Skully asked, turning her head towards her.

"Earlier today, she got all timid and asked me why I wanted to protect her."

"(What did you say?)" she asked, leaning slightly towards her.

"That I wanted to," Rainbow sighed, a small smile gracing her lips as she took another swig from her glass.

"(You told me that as well)," Skully nodded. "(However, I still feel that there is more to your reasoning than that.)"

"Maybe..." Rainbow frowned, cheeks turning a little pink as she looked away from the skeleton.

In spite of the physical impossibility of it, Rainbow could feel the knowing smirk her companion was aiming at her.

"(My, my, has somepony taken a shine to a certain golden apple?)"

"It's not like that!" Rainbow barked, aiming a red-faced glare at the skeleton.

"(Whatever you say, dear)," Skully chuckled.

"Whatever," she huffed, finishing off her glass.

"(Well)," Skully continued, staring into her own empty glass. "(Regardless of motivations, I am glad that Gold has somepony new to confide in. Even with all of our precautions, I still worry about her when I am not around. I will never be able to repay you for your kindness.)"

Rainbow saw the way the skeleton's hooves trembled around her glass, noticed the building of dew that slid down her face from her eye-holes, and the slumped posture of her shoulders.

"Don't make a big deal out of it," Rainbow smirked, resting a hoof on the skeleton's shoulder. "We're friends, right?"

Skully turned her head towards her, frozen for a few seconds, then nodded as she quickly clacked out a response with her teeth.

"(Yes. Yes we are.)"

"Cool," Rainbow chuckled, letting her hoof slide off of the skeleton as she refilled her glass.

"(And as your friend, I feel it is only right to inform you that Gold is straight)" Skully stated, taking a casual "swig" from her glass.

"It's not like that!" Rainbow declared, fully red-faced as she glared at the skeleton. "I just think she's super cool and stuff!"

"(Whatever you say)," Skully shrugged. "(Not that you are not attractive or anything. I prefer stallions as well and you give me a boner all of the time.)"

Rainbow gave her a flat look and said, "That joke was bad and you should feel bad for saying it."

"(Oh what words!)" Skully clacked, holding a hoof to her chest as if struck there. "(They cut to the bone!)"

"Please stop," Rainbow sighed.

"(Why? Am I not humerous?)" she asked, setting her glass down onto the ground before detaching said bone and pointing it at her friend.

"I'm way to sober for this," Rainbow sighed, downing her glass.

"(Perhaps)," Skully nodded, reassembling her limb. "(Though I am not the kind of pony you should ask about such subjects. After all, drinks go right through me.)

Rainbow just groaned at that as she refilled her glass.