The great reptile slumps over, the life beaten from it with stabs and slashes. It doesn't vanish away into dreamstuff. Jimmy prods it to be sure. "A handsome prize."

Renaldo props a foot on it, pinning it and striking a pose of victory. "Well, you've done your part quite well, m'lady. If you want to go home with this, this hasn't been a bad day so far."

"No, I'm fine." Feeling a little bold, you trot up to them. "By the way, can I have that?" You point at the tail draped out of Jimmy's pocket.

Jimmy grunted, grabbing the tail. "This? Why?"

"They told me their story."

Renaldo shrugs, casually snatching it from Jimmy. "She won that one. If she wants it, I see no harm in it. Not like it's food." He presents it to you with a flip. "Here you are, your first prize. Hopefully long before the last, especially if you remain at our side."

You don't think of an immediate use for it, having a tail already at the moment, but you accept it in your magic and tuck it away in a bag for the time being. "Thank you. Where do you want to go next?"

Jimmy nods to Bright Spark, vision sliding along to you. "For your first time, you are taking this well."

"An angel of battle, presiding with a kind smile behind the warriors." Renaldo sighs with more drama than is technically required. "Love it. Now, I say--"

"--We finish the walk." Jimmy points the way along a thin path. "And reach the next hold, if we're able. That would be an accomplishment worth celebrating."

Renaldo takes firm steps forward. "Then we do that! The closest is most of a day's hike from here. Let's see Florida from a new angle."

As if their determination settled it, the road becomes a brilliant silver path they walked across, shining bright and warding away most chimera. Jimmy nods at the path you all were walking. "Most things can't bother you, directly, when walking along a silver path."

"But that's the trick." Renaldo hops onto a log, just to leap free of it. "Things can get in the way of the path, or make it hard to see. Things can lure you off of the path. Powerful enough beings can just force the issue, even if it tires them. How do you feel?"

"I feel like I'm walking." The path doesn't feel strange under your hooves. "If we can... Wait, how long did you say this walk was?"

"Most of the day." Jimmy rolls his weighty shoulders. "Assuming nothing gets in our way."

"My... I have..." Ugh, what a time to be tongue tied. Your attempts to say something comes up short. "My boyfriend--" That word wasn't so hard, was it? "--will be expecting me."

Renaldo doesn't slow a bit. "Then we'd best get there, and then we can send a message easily enough, m'lady."

Jimmy draws his blade with a strong step forward, cleaving through vines and thickets that had crowded the road. "Let's get it done as quickly as possible."

You join them in the efforts of tidying the walk way. You assist in yanking on overhanging branches and vines. To make the road easier to traverse, you shove rocks aside to clear the way. This is all going great until a river came up, cutting right through the road.

Renaldo sighs at the sight of it. "This wasn't here last time, but that's hardly saying much. Some such roads get even worse than a little river like this."

Jimmy thrusts his blade into water, stirring a little bit. "We could walk past it. It'll probably change its mind on its own."

You advance to their sides and try a hoof. It's cool and refreshing and full of teeth. Everything gets wet and dark as pain explodes up your arm. You kick and thrash against the unseen thing grabbing you, your cry little more than muffled and watery calls.

Something grabs you around the midsection, and it isn't teeth. You're yanked with great strength, wrenching your leg free of the jaws that held you a moment ago. Jimmy hurls you onto the shore with a grunt of effort. "M'lady, are you alright?"

Renaldo is on you a moment later. "That has to hurt."

Oh, right, injury. You had been distracted a moment in panic and excitement. Now you could see your leg was bleeding and torn from where something had gnashed into you, much like Renaldo had come in with that first time. "Don't panic."

"That's my line." Renaldo's smiling despite it all. "Physician, tend thyself."

"Right, yes..." You force yourself to your other three good legs. "Yes..." How did one hug themselves? Well... You sink to your haunches and do just that, wrapping your arms around yourself and giving a squeeze. "Go away, cold. Go away..." You can feel that chilly grip on your abused arm, pressing painfully in that hug, but you can feel the warmth of the rest of you. It was just a matter of moving it from one place to another!

You can distantly hear something, but you're quite distracted in the process of 'tending thyself'. You can feel the arm getting warmer, wetter, but then better as you concentrate that heat, that loving heat, onto the problem and get to chasing away the injury and pain.

A sword slams into the ground next to you. "M'lady... Are you well now?" Jimmy's heaving as if he'd just been doing something strenuous. "I hate to ask it... but I'd love a turn."

His legs are alright, but his torso, less so. It looks like whatever it was tried to take a bite right out of his midsection. Hissing in sympathy, you're quick to giving him 'his turn' as he had put it.

"Funny thing." Renaldo hadn't been bit, just standing next to you. "Florida attracts many dreams, and nightmares, of such things that lurk in water. If you're nervous about alligators and the like, this is the wrong place to be."

Jimmy hefted his sword up and slung it over his back. "With stalwart companions at my side, I fear little. That was the only one in there, or they would have attacked us while our guard was dropped."

"Sensible." Renaldo pointed his rapier. "But, just to be on the safe side, let's get some material and float across instead of paddling."

By the time you all had your craft ready, the river had casually moved to bother someone else. The road was clear and ready to walk. Jimmy huffed. "Just as well. That predator may have brought the river to begin with. Its defeat, enough to send the river back."

Renaldo pats your side as the trek resumes. "Sorry. We may be a little late. You know how it goes. Let's keep it moving, a lively little trot if you will. Maybe we can make up for lost time." You walk with them, your legs becoming a bit sore. You haven't walked so long without a break in a long time. But you didn't want to be the one holding things up.

Sore legs were the same as any other hurt, right? You walk on auto-pilot, turning your attention elsewhere. Your vision put into Life Sense™️, you can see things clogging up the works, wear and tear to go with it. You rub one leg with a hoof, bidding your light to come say hello. You switch when the pain ebbs, evening out that chill until your walking is comfortable again.

Curious, you turn your eyes on the others. It's not as bad as yours had been. They're younger and fitter, so it made sort of sense, but you could see it was building steadily. You angle to the side and brush against Jimmy. "It'll be better."

Your presence clearly confused Jimmy, but he doesn't fight it. Soon he knows what you're doing, as you chase away the fatigue of the hike. "M'lady, I didn't know you had that talent."

Renaldo is watching you two, walking with you. "What'd she do? Were you hurt?"

"I was." He nudges you towards Renaldo. "But not anymore. She can fight fatigue as well as any bleeding wound."

"Get out!" He pats you on the neck like he was praising an especially valiant horse. "You are full of little tricks."

Since you're there, you take care of the minor aches and pains you can find in Renaldo. None of them are grand enough to qualify as 'injuries', but you chase them away, anyway. That's just the kind thing to do. You feel a giddy warmth as you find a new kind of trick to use, the mark on your rump flaring into sight for a moment that was gone all too quickly.

Though it is short-lived, the mark is all the brighter and clearer, there in the dreaming. It was a bold crest of a heart being hugged. There's no mistaking it. Renaldo whistles, clearly having saw it. "What is that? Like you get a merit badge for being a great nurse."

Jimmy shrugs. "I heard somewhere that's a thing with ponies. I never saw it before. M'lady, you do your purpose proud."

The praise brings a coloring to your cheeks. Being kind was something you like being. Being noticed for it was a nice added bonus. "If I can help..." Was feeling good about doing good a selfish thing? Ugh, that was a philosophic dead-end. You could go down that hole forever. Better to just do good and enjoy doing good. Better than the other way around. "I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes, but I'm still learning how this all works."

Renaldo pats you on the head. "You're doing a great job. I'll be sure the viscountess hears how much of a help you've been. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but word around says you have a bit of a mercenary streak."

Hey! "I came to help someone else."

"I'm not offending." He shrugs. "Not on purpose anyway, sorry. Some of my best friends are mercs. Just means money motivates you, doesn't mean nothing else does. A kind mercenary is the thing of legends, don't you know?"

Jimmy shrugs from your other side. "He isn't wrong. You heard of Robin Hood? Very money motivated... but didn't keep any of it."

Being compared to Robin Hood is far less upsetting than the first thought that had come to mind. "Alright..." You accelerate into a proper trot down the silver road. "How close are we?"

"Close enough," barked a female, an elf stepping free of some bushes near the road, several others at her side, all with weapons drawn. "Traveling this road, with a prodigal? Have you lost your mind, or simply your honor?"

Renaldo bowed formerly. "As always, a pleasure, baroness. The Viscountess sends her warm regards, and us to clear the way." He turned the bow to a wave at you. "This is our nurse and caretaker. She's quite talented at the art."

Jimmy nods, but says nothing.

"Hello," you add nervously. "We were hunting our way along the road, to clear it."

The elf huffs softly. "That sounds like something she'd do..." She turns towards you fully. "You risk madness, prodigal. You left this world long ago. How long have you been here?"

Renaldo raised a finger. "No longer than the rest of us, not that many of us should tarry here long. The whisper of banality you feel on her is that of a long lived life."

"She looks young... as far as I can tell." That she was not an expert at aging ponies made clear. "How old are you?"

You give your age, not a secret that. "Becoming a pony was like a 'reset'. I'm enjoying a second youth, and I don't want to waste it." You canter in place, reminded of how nice it was to be young again. "I'm enjoying it... but seriously, we're not here to make any trouble."

Author's Note

Tail keep! Follow their lead first, but be eager to push forward. There's no going back until they say we should!

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