A Whole New World

Shadow was gone.

I stood dumbfounded for a few seconds, staring out into an open desert, before the severity of the situation hit me, and my brain kicked back into gear.

I stumbled back in the direction I had come from, hoping that I would see his silhouette in the darkness. How could I have lost him? He’d been right behind me a few minutes ago, hadn't he? In my frozen state, I had lost all sense of time. Five minutes out here could feel like thirty, and vice versa.

“Dutch, we have to keep moving,” Valiant said, “We’re dead if we stay out here.”

“No! He just fell behind, he must have.” I said angrily.

I started to follow the tracks I had made in the sand, following them in the hopes of finding Shadow. Naturally, I was worried, but I also felt angry at Valiant for suggesting that I move on without him. Where the sand was lying, it was easy to follow my footprints, but there were long stretches of bare rock which had been blown clear of sand. When I reached them, I had to scout around and find where my tracks started again. It was now that I realised how much I had been veering about as I walked. I had been zigzagging all over the place.

After 20 minutes there was still no sign of Shadow, and I was beginning to get desperate. I began calling as loud as I dared into the night, “Shadow! Where are you?”

I could see a reasonable distance because of the moonlight, but I suddenly realised that my quest was hopeless. The truth hit me with a jolt: it had been at least 35 minutes since I had last seen him, and I had no idea where he could have gone. He might have gone to the left; he might have gone to the right. There was even a chance that he had started walking backwards.

But the one the seemed the most likely was that he’d lain down in a hollow or a cave and gone to sleep. It had been all he had wanted to do for a while - stop and get his head down. If he had curled up somewhere out of the wind, I could spend all night walking in circles looking and never find him, probably killing myself in the process.

“…Valiant,” I said, “I’m making a decision. I’m going to turn around and leave him.”

There was no reply from my spiritual companion, so I added, “Fuck it, I’ll take the responsibility for it. I've got to leave him, or I’ll kill the pair of us.”

I sighed, “I... I hope you don’t think less of me because of this.”

“No,” replied Valiant after a few seconds, “As horrible as it sounds, this is the right decision.”

The right decision? That didn't make it any easier, but I saw no alternative. For some reason, my mind went back to the hikes I had done on Earth. It was almost always in forests or on small mountains. If the weather had gotten bad there, we could always find the cover of some trees or even a building to hide in until it got better.

But out here there was nothing of the sort. Nowhere to go, nowhere to escape the howling winds and freezing cold, nowhere to rest and warm myself up, nowhere to find food. A part of me began to say that if the weather carried on like this and was the same by morning, I would be dead too. There would be no way to keep my body temperature up if the sun didn’t show in time, and with nothing to light a fire with. With a heavy heart, I turned round and continued walking, leaving Shadow Breeze on his own.

“...Fucking hell.”

The lone Pegasus wandered through the desert. His head hung low to the ground, and his hooves moved automatically. He mumbled to himself deliriously as he trudged on.

“Gotta find somewhere... somewhere warm.”

“You will,” whispered a quiet, female voice, “You’re almost there.”

He carried on through the sand, not looking where he was going, only focusing on the steam coming out of his mouth, making patterns in the air. Suddenly, the bone-chilling wind stopped, causing the Pegasus to halt in confusion, and use a great deal of strength to raise his head.

On either side of him were walls of rock, which rose above him and connected in a curved motion. As he entered the empty cave, he felt himself warm up slightly, which caused a raise in his morale. He ventured deeper, and thought he could make out a silhouette in the darkness. As he got closer, it revealed itself to be a pony, with a pair of delicate wings on its side. He moved closer still, and when he was standing right next to it, he could make out the pale yellow coat and long, pink mane.

“…Fluttershy?” he asked weakly at the figure.

“It’s ok Shadow,” said the pony, “You’re safe now.”

“What are you doing here?” he whispered, sinking to his knees, “How did you get here?”

“Shh, it’s ok,” Fluttershy cooed, placing a hoof on Shadow’s cheek, “You need to get some rest. You've been walking for so long.”

“Yeah... yeah, I do,” Shadow said, nodding. He walked to the wall of the cave and rested against it, going limp as he let his body relax. Fluttershy slowly walked over and joined him, singing him a short lullaby she had once shown him as she lay on the ground in his hooves.

“Hush now, quiet now,
It’s time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now,
It’s time to go to bed.”

Shadow Breeze sighed as the song he heard in his mind calmed him further. He wrapped his hooves around the empty air and pulled the hallucination closer. As his heart rate slowed, and the last few puffs of steam left his nostrils, he smiled, and closed his eyes.

"I love you, Fluttershy."

My only hope was to get off the high ground and into warmer air. Gradually, as I continued through the desert, I did seem to be descending. I never went down any steep gradients, but all the same, it felt as if I was losing height. I hoped to God that Shadow was doing the same; that he would find somewhere warmer than up here to stop and rest, then wake up in the morning.

When the temperature of the air became slightly more tolerable, I took a knee and checked my map again. Realising I was in an exposed position; I looked around and saw a small hollow nearby. I walked over and sat down in it, only to find it was filled with mud. Somehow, in the middle of the desert, I’d chosen to hide in something equivalent to a bog.

The mud came up to my knees, and as well as weighing me down, made me feel even colder in the freezing night. I took a deep breath, and tried to force it out of my mind, reminding myself that sunrise was only a few hours away.

The entire time I was sat there, I wondered and worried about Shadow. I hoped against hope that, like me, he had come down off the high ground and found a warmer place. But deep down, in a small part of my heart, something told me he was dead. I imagined him lying in down in a hole in the sand, falling asleep, and drifting away, without any pain or knowledge of what was happening. At the back of my mind I kept hoping that I would see the rest of the patrol suddenly appear - that I’d hear one of them say something and they’d walk up and join me inside this little hollow.

I did a review of the map inside that hollow, trying to work out how far I’d gone, and more importantly, where the hell I was. There were no landmarks around me to get a decent figure, and it was getting dark again as the moon lowered, but I knew that I’d been moving for almost five hours. Some of that time had been spent laying up, as well as backtracking looking for Shadow. Eventually, I managed to work out my position to within a few klicks, and estimated that I had walked about 20 miles.

This made me both confused and panicked. Surely I would have at least heard the airship, let alone seen it. I pulled out my compass to try and create another route, but something was wrong. No matter which way I pointed the compass, it never changed which way it pointed, as if everywhere was north.

Then I realised what I had done. I’d kept the compass too close to my rifle. The metal that made up the weapon had screwed up the compass’ magnetic field, rendering it completely useless. My heart then skipped a beat when I realised that because of this, I could be pretty much anywhere.

Ok, keep calm, I told myself, If you panic, you’re dead. Taking a moment to calm down, I took another look at the map. There were a few small settlements south of where I had initially guessed I was. When the sun rose, I could figure out which way was south and start walking towards them. It was a long shot, but I was pretty much out of options at this point.

I drank some water from my canteen, and suddenly realised how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon, almost 16 hours ago. Seeing as it would have been a short mission, I hadn't taken any rations with me either. I probably wouldn't be long before my body began using fat reserves to generate energy.

After another hour of waiting inside the hollow, I felt a heat on the back of my neck, and looked round to see the first few inches of the sun peeking out over the horizon. Seeing the sun behind me surprised me even more. Had I been walking west this whole time?

When daylight eventually came at 0530, I managed to look myself over properly for the first time since I’d started walking. I found that the mud I’d collected from the hollow had dried on me, aided by my body heat. My clothes were cold and stiff, and were covered in ice crystals, as if I’d left them out on a frosty night. Looking up, I saw that the sky was clear and blue, and thought, Thank god, at least the weather’s going to be alright now.

When the sun had risen higher, and the entire desert was lit up, I felt the heat begin to return to the air. Feeling that gave me such a surge in energy and morale, and probably saved my life. A few more cold, windy hours in the hollow and I probably would have fallen unconscious and never come round. The heat wasn't scorching just yet, but it was definitely preferable to the cold.

Before leaving the hollow, I took check of my inventory. My canteen was one third full, and my rifle was still in working condition. I only had eight rounds left though; I was going to have to use them sparingly if I came under contact, as Shadow had kept his quiver of bolts, leaving me with only one shot from his crossbow.

When I was done with that, I climbed out of the hollow and walked with the sun on my left, heading south. I tried to think of other things while I walked to try and take my mind off my aching feet and hunger pains. Funnily enough, I began to wonder what would have happened if I hadn't ended up in Equestria, and began to talk out loud. The sound of my own voice gave me comfort.

“How did I end up in the middle of this desert? I was supposed to be in the Royal Engineers, building bridges, before blowing them up five minutes later. I had everything planned out: move to Canada and find a wife who didn't want me for money or sex; live in a house in the country with a nice German car; give words of wisdom to my grandchildren when I got old. Actually, scratch that, getting old sounds crap.”

I laughed at the last remark.

After walking for God knows how long, I came across a small cave. By now, it had been about 24 hours since I’d slept, and I was absolutely knackered from walking throughout the night. My feet had probably gained blisters, and the ice on my clothes had melted, dampening them and making me feel cold again.

I yawned at the sight of the cave, and something told me I would be safe here until I’d gotten rid of at least some of this sleep deprivation. I walked inside, making sure it was actually empty, and set my rifle against the wall of the cave. Before letting myself completely relax, however, I decided to broadcast a message as a last ditch attempt to contact someone.

“This is Captain Dutch Jones of the Equestrian Royal Guard, sending an SOS to anyone who is receiving this,” I said slowly, “We were conducting a mission against the Diamond Dogs in the Sawtooth Cliffs. We were ambushed; my squad is missing, possibly killed in action. I’m taking shelter in a cave somewhere north of one of the settlements near the pony/griffin border. If there is anybody out there, I need assistance. Captain Jones, out.”

With that, I sat down against the wall of the cave and lay my rifle across my lap, ready to use if I needed to, along with Shadow’s crossbow next to me. I closed my eyes to simply relax, but sleep deprivation had got to me worse than I thought. Without even realising it, I fell asleep in the warm light of the sun.

Commander Ironhoof was not in a good mood.

One of his patrols was missing in action, including their commanding officer. As much as he didn't like the human, he was still a Captain, and he was his responsibility. Besides, the deaths of five ponies and a human under his command would not look good on his resume.

More importantly for him was the fact that the target convoy was destroyed. Countless amounts of gems, weapons and possible intelligence - if that’s what you could call it coming from Diamond Dogs - had gone up in smoke, thanks to the Captain. If he had kept his spindly, prying fingers off the cargo they wouldn't be in this mess.

But worst of all, he was cranky. He’d been up all night writing reports of the failed mission, and he’d sworn to himself he’d never drink coffee again. One report for the generals, one for First Captain Shining Armour, one for each of the princesses.

Stupid princesses...

There was a knock on the door, breaking the commander out of his thoughts, “Enter.”

The door opened, and Major Wingfleet trotted in. Before he had even come to a halt and saluted, Ironhoof said, “Whatever you’re about to say better be good news Major.”

“Well... I've got good news and bad news sir.”

“Yes?”

“The good news is that the patrol managed to reach the extraction point. The airship is on its way back to Gold.”

“And the bad news?” Ironhoof asked, resting his head on a hoof.

“Only four of them arrived, sir. Captain Jones and Guardsman Shadow Breeze are still MIA.”

“What?” Ironhoof asked, “What in Celestia’s name do you mean ‘only four’?! You mean to tell me that two Royal Guards are still out there?”

“The patrol was separated, sir.” Wingfleet explained, “Weather conditions degraded quickly after night fell. The extraction team reported strong winds and temperatures of -30 degrees. They were essentially in a blizzard of sand.”

Ironhoof groaned and rubbed a hoof on his face, as if he was pinching the bridge of his nose, “Alright. Debrief the four patrol members and prepare a search party ASAP. We’ll start at the target convoy and work our way from there depending on what they tell us.”

“Sir, requesting permission to join the search team.” Wingfleet said.

“Denied, Major. I still need you at Gold for command purposes.” Ironhoof saw Wingfleet’s eyes narrow, a sign of anger, “I understand your attachment to the Captain. For that reason, you will be in charge of communications with the rescue team. You’re too high of an officer to lose in the field.”

Wingfleet visibly relaxed with relief, “Yes sir.” He promptly saluted and exited the office.

Ironhoof watched him go, and sighed as the door closed, “It’s going to be a long day.”

"Alpha! I find something, come quick!"

A group of Diamond Dogs ran over to another dog, who was pointing frantically at something curled up on the ground, in the shelter of the cave, "Over here Alpha!"

When the Alpha got closer, he managed to make out a shape of its body. It was a biped, with clothing covering most of its body, and pockets lining its waist. Round its body was a pair of slings, one of which carried a crossbow, while the other was tied to a black object that had a cylinder at one end.

But that wasn't what the Alpha was most interested in. The clothing it wore was camouflaged to the desert, and almost had a military appearance to it. If he had to take a guess, this creature was some sort of soldier.

He looked at one of the beta dogs next to him, and made a simple gesture to the creature. The beta nodded, and started prodding it with his spear. The creature tensed and tried to move away from the spear in its sleep, before slowly waking up. It paused as it took in its surroundings, before its eyes widened at the sight of the dogs.

Immediately, it tried to reach for the black object it was carrying, but the Alpha was quicker, and brought a fist down on its face. Diamond Dogs were known to be surprisingly strong, Alphas even more so, and the result was immediate. The creature slumped against the rock, dazed, blinking furiously to try and dispel the stars in its vision. The Alpha brought its fist up again, and this time it connected just behind its eye.

As the creature went limp and lost consciousness, the Alpha turned to his pack-mates, "Bring it with us. If we can't get information, it will serve us in the mines. Coris, take his belongings."

The beta who had woken the creature picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. Meanwhile, a blue-furred omega picked up the black object and the crossbow, putting them both over his head.

The Alpha stood out in the open and a fresh gust of wind hit him in the face, "We must go. I smell a storm coming."

At his command, the dogs began digging at the ground and burrowed down into their network of tunnel systems, taking the new creature with them.