Chapter 1: Onboard Theseus
After Equestria I: Creature of the Sands
Chapter 1: Onboard Theseus
Dust Devil stood at the brink of the rails, looking over the wasteland that he was told was home. By now, all his memories of home or family had dispersed, now a sea of drifting stars in his mind. He had grown up with Jake, the only father he had known for fifteen years.
Sometimes, Dust still felt he knew his parents, his brother, his friends, but the faces or memories would never truly come out. the sands were his family now, ever since Armageddon.
He was one of the few handfuls of survivors of the apocalyptic impact of Argus. Jake had found him as an infant, and taken him with him for over a decade, exploring and scavenging on his father's airship, 'Theseus'. At that time, Jake was no more of a boy himself, only ten, but he had taken over as captain in a snap.
Dust looked up to Jake, despite his young age. He alone had had to fend for the both of them, until Dust was old enough to help. Jake had grown into an adult the fourteen years he had spent on the airship, doing nothing but looking off into what used to be paradise. He regaled Dust with stories of the olden days, days of peace, friendship, and harmony. But now everything was just a hollow dream.
That was all Dust knew about the old world; Jake's stories and tales of yore. But he felt that was all he needed to survive: something to hold on to. Something to tell him that what he was doing was worth something. Even if it was just dreams and memories.
But they weren't alone. Daisy, the farmfilly a few years older than Dust, was also on their ship. Daisy had been like Dust's sister, caring for him and playing with him, and every time they landed, Daisy and Dust were never far apart. They had grown close over the years. As it turns out, Jake had found Daisy just a few weeks before they had found Dust, and before they had the airship. Daisy was never as close to Jake as she was to Dust, though. She grew up with Dust onboard Theseus. Jake had to hunt and scavenge for three for a time, until Daisy, even at the age of three, started to help. She was now sixteen, and Dust believed her to be the closest mare left to his age, fifteen.
Dust wasn't much of a stallion, being the Earth Pony son of what Jake told him was a blacksmith and a florist, and living in the tiny town of Ponyville, but he was weather-hardened and grim. He bore a brown coat and amber mane, and wore rags of a tan color, to blend with the sand. Daisy was also an Earth Pony, who had a light tan coat with a lime mane, and she wore the same rags as her surrogate brother. Jake, on the other hand, was a Pegasus who wore a dusty and worn jacket of an airship captain, which he scavenged from his father's locker at home, his coat was a dusty silver, and his mane was a grizzled brown.
Theseus tore through the clouds as Dust contemplated what the world used to be, and if it may ever exist again. For fourteen years he had lived with the fact that everything and everypony he knew was gone, but he still dreamed and hoped for the glory days Jake always told about. He was lulling over what might have laid beneath the sands when Daisy approached him, throwing her hoof around him, and leaning on the rail to his left. This made Dust smile. He liked Daisy, she was the most beautiful mare he had ever seen. Now, granted, she was the only mare he'd ever seen, too, but she was the best he imagined a mare could be. To him, she was breathtaking.
"What's up?" she asked, in a voice as soft as an angel, and as beautiful as a gem.
Dust turned from the sight of endless sand to reply to daisy, "Not much. Just wondering what life would've been like if nothing happened."
"Ugh, again?" Daisy sighed, "You do that to often! You need to loosen up, forget the past, live in the present!"
"Is that an invitation?" Dust said.
Daisy giggled, the said, "I don't know. Do you want it to be?"
Both Dust and Daisy laughed on the deck as Jake called down to them, "Alright, you two!"
Daisy and Dust looked up at him, and Dust mocked, "Yes, Cap'n?"
"We'll be landing in a few minutes just past that mountain" Jake replied, pointing toward the bow of the Theseus, where a large mountain could be seen, "The terrain is not very sandy, so you should be fine without your rags."
Dust and Daisy both acknowledged and approved, and went downstairs to change out of their rags and bindings. There were no rooms downstairs, only their three bedrolls, a few old dressers, and some torches.
Dust pulled off the rags, giving his stuffed and warm coat the breath of fresh air. He pulled it off his face, his legs, and his body. He then slipped on a hat to block the sun, and a saddle.
Dust turned then to the gun cabinet as Daisy was undressing, and took out two semi-auto rifles. He attached each of them to each side of his saddle, so with the move of his shoulder, it could shoot. He also fitted a dagger into the socket on his jacket sleeve, so he could extend it at will in order to strike precisely and effectively. You never knew what you were going to find out in the sands.
Once, Dust and Jake left Daisy on the ship as they went off into the long-forgotten town of Hoofington. They encountered all sorts of vile and sinister monsters, ones that had never been seen in Equestria before. They saw Giant Scorpions, Gargantuan Shale Beetles, Scarabs, and a few Desert Rhinos. It took them hours to fight through the monsters before Jake got to the Senate Building. Since Equestria believed in protecting Government, they put each part in a different place. Hoofington had the Senate, Equestria the Princesses, and Trottingham the Queen.
Jake was quick to get inside the Senate Building, and got straight to looting and exploring. He got his weight in gold and artifacts, and Dust the same. They returned to Theseus that day happy, rich, and scarred.
Dust now focused on the task at hand. While he had been daydreaming, Daisy had also prepared, with a shotgun on her right side, and a pistol on her left. She hadn't tied knives to her legs, though, because she trusted Dust for the both of them. She knew Dust would never let any care come of her, nor she let come of him. They both looked out for each other.
At this time Jake came downstairs, and gave them the briefing on their disembarkment. "Alright," He began, "There should be some structures on this mountain, after all we are near Winnieannappolis. But here will be some monsters. I've already seen some Shale Beetles, Scorpions, and a Land Leviathan, so stay clear of that. We shouldn't take more than four hours, so we'll pass on a guard for Theseus. We wont be able to land, however, so I'll be in charge of tying the ship and getting you two down. Any questions?"
Both Dust and Daisy shook their heads, as they were exited to get out there and fight. They had fought for eight years side by side.
"Alright" Jake said, "Let's get a move on."
Jake, Dust and Daisy all went up the stairs onto the main deck. Theseus was circling the mountain at high altitude, thanks to the jig Jake had put on the wheel. He went up to the Pilot's Platform, took the Jig off, and piloted Theseus down right next to a jagged Cliff face, riddled with caves. Without much word Jake flew over to the side of the ship, grabbed the docking rope, and flew off onto the cliff face. He tied it around a pillar of stone at the intersection of two caves.
Jake then returned To Theseus, and grabbed Daisy by her back and hind legs. He carried her down like a baby, and set her gently upon the soft sands in front of a dusty and rocky road to what seemed to be nowhere. He left Daisy and returned to Theseus, high above them like the clouds. He grabbed Dust the same way, and took him down, the same way.
Now, they all stood in front of the road leading into the little deserted mountain town. Theseus behind them, they set off, wondering how long it would really take.
...
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2: THE LEVIATHAN'S DEN
