Between Life and Death

As they walked along the desert sands, the heat started growing hotter, and the sands started scorching even more.

“Somebody kill me!” Monochrome yelled right before he fell face first into a sand dune.

“I’d kill you if you weren’t immortal.” Clockwork replied as walked past him while dragging the GUAS by the barrel behind him. “It’s too hot; can’t we head back to the camp?”

“Does he always complain this much?” Nyx whispered to Twilight, she shrugged her shoulders and continued walking.

“Listen Clockwork, if you want to head back to the Ce’Dal sight you can, but we’re going to Blackwood, with or without you.” Red replied. Clockwork groaned.

“Wait, where’s Monochrome?” Clockwork stopped. He turned around and saw Arrowhead dragging him by his hooves.

“Right here.” Monochrome replied as he passed him. Clockwork shook his head then continued following the others.

“So, Arrowhead, when we get to Blackwood, will the princesses be safe?” Red asked.

“Huh, oh yeah sure…Why not.” He groaned with annoyance as he continued dragging Monochrome.

“So they’ll be safe?”

“Why do you care?”

“It’s my sworn duty to protect all royalty.”

“Duty.” Clockwork interrupted and chuckled.

“Real mature.” Red complained as he continued walking, but for some reason froze.

“Oi, guard boy, what’s wrong with you?” Clockwork asked.

“What’s that?” He pointed to a large tan cloud in the distance as Arrowhead approached him from behind.

“Oh…shit…Sand storm, everyone move!” Arrowhead yelled. Everyone turned around and started running, but it was too late, the storm got to close and shrouded the entire area.

“What do we do!” Twilight yelled over the loud winds.

“We have to get behind cover as quick as possible!” Arrowhead replied. As they started moving there was a high pitched scream.

“Flutter Shy!? Flutter Shy!” Twilight yelled as she looked around. “We have to get Flutter Shy-!”

“You keep going, I’ll get her.” Arrowhead interrupted, he pulled a pair of goggles out of his vest pocket then turned around and started walking with the wind while the others continued moving forwards. He wandered for what seemed like an hour then eventually bumped into something and fell backwards. “Flutter Shy, that you!?”

“Red?!” Flutter Shy asked.

“No, it’s me Arrowhead from the camp site!”

“Where are the others?!”

“I told them to go on without us, I turned back to get you!”

“Why!?”

“Ankh hired me to protect him and the research site! And if the site was ever overrun then it would be my job to protect people on the escort to Blackwood, and that’s what I’m going to do! Take my hand!” Arrowhead reached out and Flutter Shy grabbed his hand and he started guiding her threw the sandstorm. Hours later the winds died down and site became clear once again.

“Where are we?” Flutter Shy asked. She and Arrowhead were in the middle of nowhere with nothing but sand for miles.

“Don’t know, but I think it would be best if we keep moving” Arrowhead replied. He took off his goggles and dumped out the bit of sand that was in them then put them back in his pocket. He then pulled a map out of his satchel and opened it. “Ok, let’s see…yeah, I have no idea where we are. But, if we head north we can get out of the desert and take the longer route to Blackwood.”

“That sounds ok,” Flutter Shy replied. Arrowhead pulled a compass out of his vest pocket.

“Ok, so north is...” he looked at the compass and the needle was spinning quickly. “Great, magnetic sand….crap.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, all it means is that this compass is a piece of, JUNK!” He yelled as he chucked the compass into the distance. “Well, looks like we’re going to be relying on instincts now.”

“What do we do now?”

“Well, if I’m correct, that mountain should have a river flowing next to it; we head their get supplies then continue heading north, sound good?” Flutter Shy nodded her head and they walked into the desert. As they walked the sun kept growing hotter and brighter.

“Can we stop and take a break?” Flutter Shy complained.

“We can stop when we get to the river, if we don’t make it we’ll die of dehydration.” Arrowhead replied as he whipped away the sweat on his forehead. A few minutes later Flutter Shy tripped and fell into the soft sands, Arrowhead turned around and rushed over to her.

“A can’t make it.” Flutter Shy softly said when he flipped her onto her back.

“Come on, it’s just a little further, you can’t just give up-“

“I can’t, it’s too hard, and I can’t do it.”

“Flutter Shy, come on, I now you can.” Arrowhead ended. Flutter Shy didn’t say anything; she just lied there with her eyes closed. Arrowhead picked her up and piggybacked her through the desert. Arrowhead started talking to her even though she was unconscious. He kept telling her that he’d make it and that she’d be alright and he also kept telling her not to give up or give in, then 3 hours later, when the sun was setting on the horizon, the finally made it to the river, the water was flowing calmly and as he got closer it got colder.

“Flutter Shy, wake up, we made it, we’re here!” Arrowhead said excitedly, but she didn’t say anything. Arrowhead kneeled down and placed her on her back. “Flutter Shy?” He went over to her. He placed his hand on her stomach and noticed she wasn’t breathing. “Flutter Shy, come on, wake up, you can’t give up at the final leg of a race.” Arrowhead complained. He picked her up and started shaking her, nothing. “It was my job to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do.” He took her by her shoulder and dragged her into the shadow of the mountain. He then rushed over to the river and took out is canteen, he dunked it into the water then rushed back to Flutter Shy. He lifted her head and put the canteen in her mouth and helped her drink. He moved it away from her mouth and noticed she still wasn’t breathing. He started freaking out then got an idea to save her. He placed her back down and held her head up and attempted to perform CPR, he breathed air into her lungs and attempted to start her heart up, and after a minute she started coughing. “Flutter Shy! Are you ok!?” He panicked.

“…Arrowhead…?” she started as she reached up to him. He took her hand. “What happened?”

“You almost died, but don’t worry, I promise that I’ll protect you until this is over.” She smiled then lied back down. Arrowhead picked her up and carried her over to the edge of the river and placed her next to it. He took his canteen out again and dunked it back into the river. He took it out and placed it next to Flutter Shy’s head to keep her temperature down. Hours later the sun started setting. Flutter Shy groaned as she woke up, there was a roaring fire a few feet away from her, she looked around and saw Arrowhead sitting at the water’s edge. She got up and walked over to him.

“Arrow?” she softly said. He looked up at her.

“Oh, hey. Nice to know you’re still alive.” He replied as she sat down next to him. They sat next to each other in silence for a while until Flutter Shy finally said something.

“So, who are you exactly?”

“I’m just a mercenary, trying to get paid, nothing special.”

“Do you work for anyone?”

“Just the people who hire me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I charge about 500 bits per kill, so they’re usually rich.”

“Why did you choose to do this as a job?” Arrowhead stared at her, lost in his thoughts.

“Because…deep down, I have a hatred for everyone.” Flutter Shy quickly looked away from him.

“You don’t hate me do you?” Flutter Shy asked, he looked up at her and she was still looking into the water.

“I don’t really see why I should, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Flutter Shy smiled and moved closer to him. “What are you doing?”

“I thought you said you liked me.”

“As a friend, not like that.” Flutter Shy started snuggling up to him. “I have a girlfriend you know.”

“I’m just trying to preserve body heat.”

“Get off!” Arrowhead yelled as he jumped into the river. He reached his hand out and climbed out. He started walking over to the fire. He opened his bag and started searching through it, he pulled out a new shirt and pants and started undressing. Flutter Shy watched him with her wings unfolded, and when he turned around she quickly looked a different direction, and every time he looked back she start staring at him again. “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop looking at me.” Arrowhead told her. She turned around and faced the mountain.

“So…uh, what was her name?” Flutter Shy asked nervously.

“Her name’s Key Scales, and she’s the most beautiful creature to ever exist. Beautiful black hair and purple eyes that just make you fell…happy on the inside.” Arrowhead started laughing. “I can still remember how we met. We were at a Café in Canterlot, she forgot her clarinet and when I went to give it back to her we started fighting. But after she found out it was a misunderstanding we sort of became friends, and our relationship just started growing since then.” Flutter Shy started feeling happy for him.

“So, what are we supposed to do now? The others are gone, probably at Blackwood, and were stuck out here in the desert.”

“I was hired to protect during escorts, I’m going to continue that…even if my boss is sort of…dead. But for right now we should probably get some sleep.” Arrowhead put his shirt back on then pulled out a sleeping bag and placed it a few feet away from the fire for Flutter Shy. She walked over to it and lied down on top of it.

“Hey you guys!” Someone shouted from far away, the two looked up and saw Monochrome waving to them and he was with the others.