Astray Antagonism: Chapter 4

The night came and the tired group stopped for the night, still having yet to reach the end of the cliff face to their side. Rumble and Featherweight both once again collected firewood and built the fire, but neither had their usual cheer as a testament to how tired they were. They got the fire up but neither of them talked at all even after they were done making it.

“Great, we’re nowhere near where we should be,” Scootaloo groaned. “Not even close.”

“How much food do we have left?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“We still have some,” Rumble said without the usual cheer in his voice. “Maybe enough for two more days? And that’s if we eat as sparingly as possible.”

“Did you guys see any fruit in the forest?” Diamond Tiara asked Featherweight.

Featherweight shook his head no. “Maybe there is some but we didn’t see it.”

“Can you think of anything aside from food?” Scootaloo asked. “We have grass for that. How about worrying about something that we can’t find everywhere around us. Like, oh I don’t know, water. We don’t have a lot of that left.”

“I’ve been keeping our bottles so we can at least refill that if we happen by a waterfront,” Rumble said.

“If we happen by a waterfront,” Scootaloo said. “There’s nothing saying we’re going to find one. And we can survive without food longer then we can survive without water.”

“We’ll make it through,” Rumble said. “Somehow, we’ll make it through.”

“Glad you have so much confidence,” Diamond Tiara said sarcastically. “Now got anything to back it up? We’re still stuck here.”

“We keep going,” Scootaloo said. “We’ll just have to work harder tomorrow to make up for our lack of progress today.”

“Do you want us to die from exhaustion?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Look at Rumble and Featherweight for five seconds. They’re both nearly collapsing and I doubt they’ll be much better tomorrow.”

“So what do you propose we do?” Scootaloo asked. “Just sit here until we run out of food?”

“No, but we need to think,” Diamond Tiara said desperately. “Think about it for five seconds Scootaloo. We’re exhausted. We’re not going to be able to go that fast tomorrow. I don’t know where we’re at but by the looks of things we’re still not near the side of this thing.”

“So then what should we do?” Scootaloo asked, emphasizing her words to get her point out. “Staying here and doing nothing is worse going without a good plan.”

Diamond Tiara closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and, not expecting much to come out of the pink earth pony, she lied down on the ground and closed her eyes. Rumble himself was also thinking and Featherweight was watching Diamond Tiara.

A smile eventually appeared on Diamond Tiara’s face. “Hmm…I think I got it!” she said as she opened her eyes.

“This oughta be interesting,” Scootaloo mumbled under her breath as she opened one eye.

“As much as I hate to admit it, Scootaloo’s right,” Diamond Tiara admitted. “We should worry about water more than food. If we have to we can survive on…” Diamond Tiara shuddered, “grass…we can, but without water we won’t last.”

“I’m almost positive that a forest that size has to have some sort of natural water source somewhere in it. And the forest probably has something we can eat if we need to eat. So all we need to do is go into the forest, where there are more resources, and wait there.”

“What?!” Scootaloo asked as she got back on her hooves. She was about to talk about how stupid of a plan it was, but Rumble lifted a wing to her neck to get her attention. Scootaloo looked at him and Rumble gave her a tired look telling her to wait and listen.

“If we go into the forest we have a bunch of supplies we can get,” Diamond Tiara explained. “We just need to find the right spot. If we stay there we can survive for a lot longer than if we try walking around the forest.”

“And what about getting rescued?” Scootaloo asked. “Do you seriously expect them to see us in the middle of a forest?”

“Scootaloo, if a search party comes right now, they’d find us,” Diamond Tiara said. “Why is that?”

“What are you, my teacher?” Scootaloo asked. “They’d find us because they’d see the smoke from our fire.”

“Exactly, and it’d be worse in the forest since they’ll immediately go there to see if there’s a forest fire or not,” Diamond Tiara said. “If we keep a fire going at all times somepony will eventually see it and find us. So we’ll have plenty of supplies, and we’ll just wait for ponies to find us.”

“I…hate waiting,” Scootlaoo said.

“You have to admit though it’s a good idea,” Diamond Tiara said.

“…What about the creatures in the forest?” Scootaloo asked. “We could be attacked by chimeras, or a manticore, or heck even timberwolves.”

“This isn’t the Everfree Forest Scootaloo,” Diamond Tiara said. “There are several places around Equestria that are as dangerous as the Everfree Forest, but I’m pretty sure none of them are here. There are only your average everyday creatures here so nothing we can’t handle.”

“Scootaloo…I think it’s a good idea too,” Rumble said. “Yes, it’s going to take a bit of work to get it done, but I think if we really work on it we can settle in. I know you’re not exactly happy with just waiting around, but it’s better than wandering around.”

“Can you even fly us both there?” Scootaloo asked Rumble. “You can barely fly me for long time. What about her?”

“Well she is heavy…” Rumble started.

“Geez, what is it with you and my weight today?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Sorry, I’m not trying to say you’re overweight or anything, but earth ponies are typically the heaviest of the three races of ponies,” Rumble explained. “Believe me, I’m friends with a couple of earth ponies. I figured that out pretty fast.”

“You’re horrible with tact,” Diamond Tiara pointed out.

“Anyways, I can probably fly you up just fine,” Rumble said to Scootaloo. To Diamond Tiara he said, “As for you, I think if Featherweight and I work together I’m sure we can get you up there.”

“Sounds fun,” Diamond Tiara groaned.

Scootaloo looked deep in thought, trying to find some argument against Diamond Tiara’s plan. However Rumble grabbed a hold of her hoof snapping her out of her thought. She gave him a look and he shook his head.

“I’m sorry Scootaloo, but you’re outvoted here,” Rumble said. “We all pretty much agree to head to the woods.”

Scootaloo looked away in annoyance. “Urrrg…fine,” Scootaloo said, finally giving up.

“Anyways, we should probably all get some sleep now,” Rumble said as he flipped and fell to the ground on his back. “Night everypony.”

“Night,” Diamond Tiara responded as she plopped down on her belly.

Scootaloo however could not sleep lightly, the argument from before still sounding in her mind. She walked away from the camp site for a couple of seconds just to let out some steam and to be alone. Once she thought she was far enough away Scootaloo let out a loud annoyed grunt of frustration.

After letting out a loud grunt Scootaloo heard hoofsteps coming from behind her. Without looking back she let out a loud sigh. “I guess you heard that, didn’t you Rumble?” Scootaloo asked.

However when she didn’t get an answer from him she turned around and looked to see who was actually there. Instead of Rumble like she was expecting it turned out to be Featherweight who was walking towards her. The scrawny pegasus colt walked up to her side and silently looked at her.

“Listen, I’m not arguing against this just because Diamond Tiara said it,” Scootaloo said. “If I’m going to be honest, the plan actually…sounds pretty good. It’s just…” Scootaloo looked up to the sky. “I hate this. The idea of just waiting for somepony to save me. Waiting for somepony to rescue me. I hate the idea of being the damsel in distress.”

Featherweight still watched her, indicating that he was listening.

“And you know what, it’s more than that,” Scootaloo continued. “I hate being the one who’s just sitting on her flank waiting for things to happen. I want to be the one to do something. To make things happen instead of waiting for it to. That’s why I want to go and find my way back home, not be stuck in one place until they come and find me.”

Scootaloo let out a loud sigh. After a few seconds of staring into the moonlight Featherweight passed his notebook to her. Scootaloo looked down and read what was written in the notebook.

So you think you can just do everything on your own?

“No, I don’t care if I get help,” Scootaloo said. “Just so long as that help doesn’t try and do everything for me. I don’t want to be coddled.”

Featherweight grabbed his notebook back and wrote in it, Funny. Diamond Tiara’s always calling you lazy.

“Pfft, I don’t really care,” Scootaloo said. “She just calls me lazy because I don’t focus on my looks. Why would I when they’ll just get messed up five seconds later anyways. Besides, what does she spend her days doing? I’m at least outside training or hanging out with my friends. That’s better than sitting inside making sure I look good for hours.”

You know what’s also funny. You and Diamond Tiara are a lot more alike than you think.

“What are you talking about? We’re nothing alike!” Scootaloo said, but Featherweight just kept on writing.

You both wear a mask. You both act a certain way in public even though you both have a nicer, softer side that you don’t usually show. Diamond Tiara has her spoiled rich girl persona, and you have you tomboy persona, yet you both have softer sides.  I know because I’ve seen you with Rumble at school when you think nopony else is around.

“Wait…you’ve what?!” Scootaloo asked after reading that last line. She gave Featherweight a look that could kill. “You better not have any pictures or anything, or I swear I’ll…!”

Featherweight flung his forehooves around wildly as if to say no. He quickly and sloppily wrote down, I’m just saying that I’ve seen you two together and I’ve seen how soft you are around him!

Scootaloo backed off, but still gave Featherweight a dirty look.

I’m just saying you and Diamond Tiara are more alike than you think, Featherweight finally wrote. Just think about that for a few moments. Try getting along with her. Maybe you’ll find something in common, or at least you’ll come to an understanding of each other and will stop fighting all the time.

“Why do you care so much about whether we get along anyways?” Scootaloo asked.

For selfish reasons admittedly, Featherweight answered in his notebook. I want other’s to see in Diamond Tiara what I see. Everypony looks at her and just sees a spoiled rotten rich pony, or somepony to use to become popular…

Not that she’s ever done that herself, Scootaloo quickly took a break from reading to think sarcastically.

…while I see something else. I see a leader in Diamond Tiara. Somepony who can bring others together. She has a lot of pride she still needs to let go of but I see a lot of potential in her. Just…think about it.

“I…” Scootaloo looked to the ground and just shook her head. “We should get back before it’s too late.”

Scootaloo walked off without a word and without looking to see if Featherweight was following her or not.