The Voyage to Asclepius

"Y-You remember your name?! Since when?!" I shout.

This grey filly has just revealed to me that she knew all along who she was. She knew her name at least. And her name is Misaki May.

"N-No! You misunderstand. Well... I guess I kind of know..." She desperately tries to explain.

She better have a good excuse for not telling me.

"It was... When you were asleep..." She says.

"I fell asleep on Shrubbery..." I say to myself.

"No. At the restaurant back at the city. When you fell asleep, I snuck out and went back to the building we woke up in."

She has guts, I'll give her that. Trotting out in the middle of the night in a city with mysterious beasts roaming around.

"Wait, then there could have been--" I'm stopped, she interrupts me.

"No." She likes to use that word a lot.

She pulls a small notebook from behind her, "There was only one bag, one satchel. There was a journal in it, and I--"

I snatch the book from her.

"H-Hey!"

I open the book, stand up, and flip through the pages. They're all empty! All of them!

"What the hell is this?!" I shout, throwing the journal on the ground.

She slowly reaches for the journal, I kick it away. I wanted to kick the sand in anger, but I accidentally kicked the journal instead. Before I try to apologize, I notice my surroundings.

The sandstorm has subsided, and Shrubbery was whimpering in fear behind a rather large boulder.

I couldn't care where I was. This filly, Misaki May, found out something about her past and didn't even bother to tell me. I'm upset, angry, and furious at the same time!

"I'm... Sorry." She says, staring at the sand below her.

"Sorry?! How could you do this?! You sneak out, and put yourself in danger like that for an empty journal! How stupid are you?!" I scream.

"I just forgot about it okay?! And it's not empty! Look!" She throws the journal at me.

That's the first time I've ever heard her raise her voice. But that's not the point of interest in this argument, I look down and see the front of the journal. A symbol is imprinted on the front of the journal. It's the exact same symbol from the back of the flier. A single snake wrapped around a pole.

"So? It's just the mark on the back of the flier. How is that relevant to--"

"The front page you idiot!"

She called me an idiot, that's a first. I open the journal to the first page, and it reads, "If you're grey, and have a pink mane, then you're most likely me. If you're reading this, then you should first know your name. You're name is Misaki May, and--" The of the page is torn off.

"Well that's just fantastic." I say, tossing the journal to the side.

"Now do you believe me?" She asks.

I nod, "Yes. And... I'm sorry."

Without a reply, she scoffs and trots over to Shrubbery, who is still whimpering behind that rock. I sigh, and then follow her.

We both decide that it would be best if we camp out for the night around the boulder. Shrubbery dispenses some twigs and kindle for us to use, and I light the pile of timber on fire with the lighter. Just in time too, the sun has just set behind the sand hills in the distance. Soon the light faded, and the previously red and orange sky transitions into a dark blue sky.

I sit near the fire, the flames crackle inches away from my face. My back is against this giant boulder, as Shrubbery sleeps behind it.

The filly-- I mean, Misaki May is lying on her stomach on the opposite side of the fire. I noticed that her braid was becoming undone. It was a shame, I kind of liked her mane like that.. I feel horrible for yelling at her, I suppose I felt left out when she found out something about herself. She's definitely mad, she didn't even accept my apology when I gave it to her earlier. This sucks.

I gaze up at the sky, the stars are twinkling in the night. The moon hovers beautifully above us, glowing as the brightest thing up there.

My eyes are getting heavier by the minute. This boulder is strangely comfortable, almost as if it were a living being.

The only thing I can think about now is... Sleep...

This groggy feeling infects my body again. I feel like jelly, oozing out onto the sandy ground. Before I open my eyes, I notice an uneasy silence looming in the air. The lack of blowing wind wasn't disturbing, nor was the extremely quiet burning of the extinguished fire pit.

My eyes shoot open, and I scramble to my hooves.

It's already early dawn, and the sun is just rising over the sand dunes behind me. Looking around, I see nothing except the giant boulder and the burnt pieces of charcoal in the fire pit.

"Damnit! I was afraid she would do this, and I was knew it would happen too!"

I kick the sand with my hind legs and shout as loud as I can into the sky, "ARGH! I'm such an idiot!"

The only thing behind the giant boulder was an empty desert that was littered with dunes. Shrubbery was gone, and so was Misaki May.

Why? I don't know why I'm asking, I already know the answer. I pissed her off, and girls like to show the fact that they're pissed off. But this? I could die for crying out loud! She didn't leave me any supplies, no water or food. I'd give myself about a day, two if I'm lucky, before I either pass out or die from a heat stroke.

I'm still regretting what I said to her, I know for a fact that I was too harsh for something so miniscule. I'm trying avoid coming to the terms with the situation I'm in right now. I don't want to face the facts, not this fact at least.

So it comes down to this huh? It comes down to this terrible fate I've been met with.

She had run away, and left me for dead. I was alone.

Completely, and utterly, alone.

Damn it all.