"Lying to Yourself"
By: Darkevony
Prologue
A Lie Worth Life
We weren't chosen. Not by luck or fate. Not by any supreme being. If a god existed, he'd be long gone by now, just like everypony else. It isn't clear to us why we were born, or even why we exist, but we find it within us to be the ones who carry out life's will. "Life will find a way." What we perceive as "truth" goes beyond saying. If you wanted an honest truth, then it would be a total lie.
In this wasteland of a world, truth does not exist. The world is just a rock, floating through a darkness deprived of time and logic. Shelter us from the cold, from above what gives light and life. It does not exist. It shines bright, but no life grows. It shines bright and yet, not a single flower blooms. The black sun that shines and hides the secret of time as it stands in a never ending pose across the bloody red sky.
The truth was that it used to. Stories tell of a time where everything prospered in harmony. It is still there, although far beyond our reach, the lie carries on in an embodiment of the living, of one pony. She... she did this. Took the world away. When she arrived nothing made sense anymore... no one was safe, but its fine... common life ain't for the likes of us anyways.
She wasn't part of this... never meant to be who she is now. The sad thing is... she doesn't even know it, the innocent led astray by a mind so cruel. This is why we have chosen ourselves. To save her. Everyone needs a reason worth fighting... looking at her, I guess you could say I've got my reasons. As for everypony else... they fight a blind battle. Even if we have survived this long, it doesn't mean we are going to succeed.
I can feel it. This unforgiving world grants me the blessing to hear her thoughts; however I do not wish to do so... they are filled with deep confusion. Don't feed the flames of thy own. I can sense it... she is hurting... the emotions are strong. The entrance has been weakened. We stand to follow our solemn pledge. This is it. To end it all is our chosen fate, our faith lies in our own abilities. Live or die it's just the same, but we'll follow life's will to the end.
Here we stand, the hope of the fallen. We who survive. The last standing warriors. We lived what one could call a lifetime and we were happy once, joy was in our behalf. We were alive then. It is time to return that blessing given to us back to the world. In unison, we follow up our chosen fate.
There will always be a way.
That is my faith. My hopes and my life depend on it. In this vast world bare of all life, in solitude and exile, the only drive I have left is my one wish... to save her....
I know who I am. I know what I need to do. I just hope she still knows the name Hazel...
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey" A smooth and warm voice called out. "Hazel are you okay?" An earth pony stallion stood before her, waving his hoof just above the tattered picture frame she held in her own grasp, deep in thought as she had an unbroken line of sight towards it.
Hazel flinched, awkwardly startled by his sudden appearance. She swept off her light yellow bangs out her eye trying to regain herself as the stallion before her chuckled innocently to himself. "I uh... I was just..."
"Reminiscing in the past huh?" He said quietly, cutting her off. He turned to stare at the picture frame she held, dusted by ashes and singed by the flames of the past. Its' outer frame was burnt black and the melted glass was distorted but was still clear enough to see the photo behind it. The frame held the image of a small white Pegasus filly with a sky-blue mane. She seemed more than happy, her smile still clearly visible through the aged photo.
The stallion lifted his head as he spotted small hints of a silver sparkle in the corner of his eye. He stared at the mare looking down at the ash-covered ground. Small sparkling beads come from her eyes that were covered by the large yellow bang that hid her shame of showing weakness.
"Hey c'mon, no need for that," he said gently, trying to find the right words for the situation, and to no avail. "Just don't dwell too much on the past... okay?"
She looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears and some still trickling down her cheek. "The past is all I have." She said choking on her tears struggling to maintain emotional composure. "Go away Crescent... just leave me alone. You couldn't possibly understand... You didn't even have family."
Crescent lowered his head."No... I didn't... and I wouldn't want to understand either. If I lost you, I'd be just the same." The determination in his voice startled the mare. He had that same deep seriousness in his voice like the day that he had asked to tag along not too long ago.
His words forced her to stop crying and turn it into a smile. She looked up at him. Sadness, grief, and happiness mixed into her expression.
"Why is it that you are the only one that ever sees me like this?"
"Ah ya know I got a knack for stuff like that." He said innocently rolling his eyes with a bright smile, trying his best to lighten the mood.
It worked. Hazel began to giggle at his loose demeanor. She placed the picture frame respectively onto a clean patch of soil in which she had dusted the ash away with her hoof. Hazel turned towards the stallion and fell into his embrace.
"I don't know what I would do without you... uh without any of you." She said, still held by the friendly presence.
"Well we're just following you. We don't have much to live for, no real purpose to fight. At least we love life and if sticking close to you give us a bit more time on this world then that's good enough for us I guess." He said with the same bright smile.
A gust of wind brushed up against the two ponies, dust picking up as it went. The chill of the air wasn't the reason why both of them shivered.
"You can sense it too? Good, I thought I was going crazy for a second." Crescent said noticing Hazel as she stared into space again. "It's almost time isn't it...?" His voice turned serious almost immediately.
"Yeah..."
"Hey guys!! Let's get going, we have a long trip and your lazy flanks aren't gonna help." Crescent yelled out.
Hazel looked back down at the picture frame. To think, I would've loved to have spent my life living here... I guess... it's too late now...
For Old Time's Sake
Chapter 1: A Fated Meeting
Chapter 1: A Fated Meeting
Chapter 1
A Fated Meeting
"Hey guys!! Let's get going, we have a long trip and your lazy flanks aren't gonna help." The yellow earth pony stallion yelled into the horizon.
"Whatcha say?" A voice called out in response.
"I said get your flanks moving fillies!" Crescent shouted back.
Four other ponies materialized from the shadows all very differential from each other.
The biggest of the four was a large unicorn stallion with a light brown coat; his mane is shaggy and long covering both his eyes and a dark brown in color. Years of not trimming it seemed. His bulkiness was rather impressive since it had been of pure muscle. The tank of the group. It wasn't difficult to picture him wearing megaton armor going berserk and charging through a sea of enemies. His use of reinforcing magic and with his own strength, his resistance seemed unmatchable. He usually healed anyone who would get hurt and if he wasn't able to fight, he'd give everyone else a magic enhancement.
Hazel didn't mind his company at all, she was more than happy to have him at their side. She felt safe under his guidance and protection, a side effect of his guardian-like appearance. Although he was quiet most of the time, he would tend to crack some jokes now and again with everyone else. When there would be arguing among them, he would be the one to bring everyone at peace again.
An agile and thin unicorn mare stood at his right side. Iris' short dark red mane complimented the lighter shade of red her coat bore. Her expressions wore a sign of deadly and assassin all over it. You could easily imagine her in a black tight suit dodging traps easily, taking down the hard to reach foes. Her strong use in both arcane and stealth magic made her a powerful member. Although she required time to cast for the more powerful spells, an invisibility or obstruction of a foe spell would work just fine as she took her time while everyone else would distract long enough.
Aside from being the only other mare besides herself, she was very kind and above all generous. Back when she had joined she shared all the supplies she had with them even if it was just little enough to sustain her own self. Despite her appearance, Iris has a lighter side. She enjoys and appreciates every moment she has with them. It's the last thing any pony has and that is each other. She also was keen in improving everyone else's mood with the help of an obnoxious yet funny stallion, Ziggy.
The tall, sharp Pegasus stallion that looked less of a tank and more of a street fighter flew on top of them. His neon green mane stood him well apart from everyone and even himself as his coat was silvery-grey. He usually placed everypony in a fit of frustration and annoyance with his stupid remarks and rude attitude. Although he was insufferable at times, he was still a precious asset to the emotional part of the group. Without him, there would be no smiles or laughs. Ziggy surely brought out both the best and the worst of every pony. No need to imagine him, he came with the getup. Wearing only a red sash and belt, he really did look like a street fighter.
His physical abilities could not be compared. He didn't need a weapon to create as much havoc and damage as he could, armed with only his hoofs, Ziggy could cause fissures if so desired. Although his body had been built for pure strength and as an effect slowed him down, as a Pegasus, he was still capable of getting up close and out faster than most of his foes. His strength matched his attitude, both were wild and untamed. With issued orders, he was a much better fighter when he needed to be.
Then there was Eiffel, a dark blue earth pony with a black mane who trailed several feet behind every pony, his face held a noticeable scar that ran down at the very end of his eye. He hardly talked at all; in fact, the only time he would really talk it would be only to point out battle strategies and suggestions that never seized to amaze every pony. Other times it would only be to respond to orders with "Okay" or "Yeah" and other than that, he stood silent even when the party would joke.
To Hazel, there was no telling what his intentions are, and no pony dared question him. The things he would suggest were dark but efficient and effective and no one really dared question him. No pony really liked being around him but they made due as he was the most important asset to the party. He'd save them more than seemed comfortable. Now if only he had a black leather gun coat and dark shades then it would fit him well.
Hazel didn't particularly disliked him, he was the first pony she had met, and with his help, they managed to find the others and form a party to survive. She was although afraid of his abilities. He was unnatural on all levels of the word. He was like a hybrid of everyone. With sheer force, stealth, and resistance, it stood him as the most powerful and mysterious one of them all and the main reason they have survived for so long. Throughout all that time, she could never figure him out, mostly since she was afraid to.
These ponies all looked tough, and they were. Tougher than tough. It was expected though; a weak pony wouldn't have survived the drought.
Hazel looked down at her hoofs that were deep into the ash snow that covered the ground as far as the eye could reach. She wasn't anything special though, she hardly fitted in with the group at all. She was rather delicate and scrawny and not a very good fighter. Her determination and ability to lead made well up for that and with the help of her group, she didn't have to fight. Most of the time she would be the one to make a strategy and issue them out to everyone. She was fast however; no one could match her speed, which contributed to her survival. Determination was what she believed the only thing she really had in strength.
Crescent... Hazel didn't understand anything of him. She knew that he was kind and caring; she could never picture Crescent to be aggressive at all. Wasn't very fast and could hardly even think smart, probably even scrawnier than her. His survivability seemed even slimmer than that of an aristocratic mare with more etiquette and pampering than a princess.
Hazel sought him as even more mysterious than Eiffel by far. He had told her many things about himself but the way he had said them... it gave Hazel great doubt and confusion... Yes, the yellow earth pony with a dark robust brown mane surely was one mysterious pony. Hazel did enjoy his company more than any pony else, and even though he often brought her a confusion she despised, she was glad that he was around. At moments she didn't care to show that she appreciated his presence by giving him a hug, but she hid any deep abiding emotions concerning other aspects other than friendship from both Crescent and herself. Confusion that Hazel despised so very much.
"Yo, who made you leader Crescent? Your mom?" Ziggy taunted.
"No, that would be yours." Crescent jokingly said back which provoked Ziggy into raising his hoof to strike him but stopped as Mocking stood before them, Ziggy controlled by Mocking's hoof on his shoulder. Mocking was about the only one that could do such a thing.
"Seriously, we have to get a move on. Isn't that right Hazel?"
She simply nodded at everyone and turned to look into the distance, still deep in thought, and began to walk forward opposite of the sunset leaving every pony behind to consult her own thoughts.
"What's with her?" Iris asked Crescent as soon as she was out of hearing distance.
"Oh that's true... you don't know do you...?" Crescent rubbed the side of his foreleg nervously. "You see... this was her home town..." he began.
"It's okay. She'll tell us when she wants to. Let's just follow before we get left behind." Mocking cut him off trying to avoid the seriousness that began to befall everyone. Everyone else was glad; they didn't like to stand in that kind of mood. They needed to conserve as much sanity as they possibly could and feeling pity would not help at all. Every pony but Eiffel who stood silent as usual looked uncomfortable by even mentioning it.
Eiffel's eyes turned towards the solitary picture frame on the ground. He had been the only one to notice it. Crescent was glad he hadn't pointed it out and no one even looked at him to see where his eyes were seeing. The conversation would have surely been unavoidable if they had asked.
Everyone kept walking forward, still plenty of paces behind Hazel, making small chat as they cleared through the mountainous valley of ash.
"I hope she doesn't lasts like this for too long. I hate seeing her so serious." Iris sighed.
"She'll be A-O-K! She always does, you remember that time we nearly lost McGee over there?" Ziggy pointed towards Crescent who was looking deeply into Mocking's coat as if it were some sort of extravagant tapestry with its many patterns and shapes.
"I thought we said to never speak of that again." Crescent said annoyed by Ziggy's lack of consideration.
"Pfft, you probably wet yourself when you fell twenty feet into that giant pit that was caused by fissures the Garmalon creatures made. You screamed like a little girl that's for sure." Ziggy snorted laughter of content.
"Why you little... weasel."
"Ah ah ah, watch those harsh words missy. Who saved you anyways?" Ziggy held his mischievous grin as a trophy on his face.
Crescent looked away embarrassed by the truth and mumbled too low to be heard.
"What was that?"
"You did..."
"Exactly, so next time you want to command me, remember that little favor I did for you."
"Oh is that so? Compared to all the other times I've made dinner and practically every meal for you. Maybe my hoofs will be too sore for a few weeks and we'll have to let Iris cook." He countered.
Ziggy's eyes shrunk into tiny marbles and turned to stare at the mare who was contently listening to their argument enjoying the bonding between them both. As an added effect, she gave Ziggy a hazardously evil and cheerful smile contemplating that she would willingly abide to make her horrendous food that made Ziggy sick for weeks at end with every sort of bowl sickness you could possibly think of. Her cooking was no laughing matter. It could literally kill a deity with one full table spoon of her special soup. Ziggy had no doubts in his mind that it was the most powerful weapon known to pony kind. He lowered his head in defeat towards Crescent which earned him hysterical laughter from the yellow earth pony.
"Anyways uh... back to the point." Ziggy said, trying to cross any thought that Crescent had of even suggesting to let Iris cook. "She'll pull through. I couldn't fly fast enough to avoid the Garmalon centipedes back then and I lost you. When they got you she like... lost the will to live or something. How the hell did you make it out of the stomach of that enormous monstrosity anyways?"
"You don't want to know..." He said disgustingly which made Ziggy not even question him to spare every pony the details. Crescent looked down, deep in thought. He hadn't known that... this was the first time he learned about this. She had..." He shook his head; there was no way she could think of him that way... just... as family right...? He sighed. He was weak, not the greatest in the herd, at least Hazel could fly like lightning. As for him, he was clumsy, weak, and slow. He felt like a complete idiot when he fell off the edge of the ridge. It had been unintentional but he wished he could've saved himself instead of putting Ziggy in danger when the Garmalon centipedes attacked.
Ever since the drought, monsters like these began to become more frequent. Anywhere they traveled were dangerous lands. Those creatures hunted for anything they could eat and Crescent really couldn't blame them for being that way.
From what he knew and remembered, the Mana Fountain was the basis of all life for the world. The water was considered holy and blessed by unknown deities. The pony race followed blindly towards it as it predicted the shifts of life. When the fountain had very little water, the years passed harshly, heavy winters, scorching summers, and a high mortality rate. When the fountain was near to being full, life was prosperous for the ponies. Plentiful and perfect crops grew, little to no deaths at all that year. It never failed to be wrong.
Hazel spoke to him once of the events to what happened to the world. He hadn't known of the drought, but from what she had told him, only some parts he could remember on his own.
When the birth of a small unicorn filly took place, the Mana Fountain was at its peak. It was a prosperous time indeed, everyone was happy for the birth of the filly whose father was the king of the most powerful kingdom who reigned over the location of the fountain as well, the king of the holy city of Isodral. They considered her a blessing from the deity. No one had seen a greater time in pony history. A grand festival was held for her at the start of every New Year. They were grand festivals. The night sky was lighted like the broad daylight. Thousands of party goers came and went content with such festivities. It had stayed this way until the 4th annual festival.
Not all things were bright and cheerful however... On the night of the last festival, the king and queen were assassinated within their own chambers, what many believed to be the work of neighboring countries. The small filly that was eight years old at the time vanished; she had never been seen again. Great confusion arose in the once peaceful nation; this was truly a cause of concern. The lack of knowledge was the lack of truth.
The Mana Fountain was purely empty after that day. Many began to call it the Drought of the Mana Fountain, or in other words, the end of the world.
In an outrage, the grand kingdom began to gather armies and attack neighboring lands in confusion of who could have assassinated the king and queen and kidnap the princess. Slowly, pony kind destroyed itself. Many towns and kingdoms were burned down to the ground. The ashes remained as a reminder the horrible past, children weren't spared... Those who still lived suffered the punishment of the world.
As many animals began to die of the lack of vegetation since great droughts and sheer winters destroyed all plant life, the bigger creatures who hunted for the herbivores were left with no food as they all died off with the plants. The creatures began to hunt anything they could eat, many of the remaining ponies died from either the lack of food, or their low survivability.
Even the strong fell, brutal force was nothing without strategic approaches and no one could survive alone. Bronze without brain wasn't effective in this world.
The group were one of the few remaining ponies in the face of the earth. Hazel showed her unique talent to command and lead, her speed served as a distraction, and with the help of everypony, they managed to fend off the monsters by working together. Their variety and organization was a major factor to their survival.
Crescent on the other hand was useless in combat. The only thing he was useful at was cooking; they never went hungry after they had let him join. He could literally cook up even dried up twigs to taste delicious. That was his talent.
Still, this fact made Crescent felt horrible of his own skills. He never spoke of deep or emotional parts of his life and everybody suspected that he had nothing to hide either, they all thought he led a peaceful life and somehow, that he luckily managed to survive. In true honesty, even Crescent didn't know of his past. He suffered of long term memory loss and he couldn't remember any important part of his life. Small details that held no meaning or purpose which usually was a good point in his life would pop up then and again and he never failed to share it with every pony but other than that, nothing of importance.
Sanity was also a key factor in surviving in the cruel, harsh, and grotesque world which held dangers in every corner and could drive a pony mad. Thankfully they balanced each other out, staying sane by entrusting each other to have their backs. With time, they learned to take the light side of things and enjoy what time they had with each other. There hadn't been a creature or a monster that they haven't been able to overcome.
There is a saying. "To be able to succeed, you need a reason worth fighting for." No one really spoke of their personal lives. They didn't need to, whatever they wanted to do or whoever they wanted to save, that dream was probably dead... alongside everything else. They fought a blind battle, with no reason or purpose other than to survive. The only one who had any real purpose was Hazel, but she never spoke of it. She was leading them somewhere... but they didn't know where. They just kept going without stop following her lead. It was just like Crescent said before; they loved life too much to let it go so they followed Hazel without question or motive. Their chance of survival was heightened with each other. Even still... there was no real way of knowing if they would succeed. Their hearts held no purpose...
Crescent sighed again. There was so much to think about and it just left him with mental fatigue. The last thing he wanted was to be tired. He always fell behind and being tired in anyway really wouldn't contribute to his efforts in improvement. It was inedible though, a new thought was fresh in his mind.
It consisted of a particular Pegasus mare with beautiful blue eyes, a yellow mane with complementing bangs to hide one of her eyes when she looked away from him, and a shimmering pale white coat. Her signature white and sky blue stripped scarf wrapped cozily around her neck half burrowing her chin. She looked much more delicate when she giggled and it really did look like she had dug her chin into the wrapped scarf, her subtle expressions adding to the effect she had on him.
He loved making her smile and laugh, but it wasn't because he was trying to be nice, he felt greedy as he looked into her content and cheerful eyes because he loved that so very much. He suddenly took notice of what exactly these thoughts were and slammed his face into the ground. Indeed he understood these emotions, and he did well to hide them. He didn't want to be separated from Hazel in the very least, even if he could only sit by the sidelines and watch her live her life, he was contempt with being able to at least see her smile.
"Uh... are you okay...?" Ziggy said as he heard the loud thump and turned to face the yellow pony that had his face a foot into the ground.
"Y-yes yes... everything fine here." He said with his face still enjoying the feel of ash and his nostrils suffocating. He lifted his hoof up and pointed it towards his head, signifying that his brain was a place as he was so idiotic at times that he suspected his head was hollow and could serve for an actual location. These thoughts made him feel like an idiot. Like if he was obtaining some false hope, it made him feel pathetic for those "Illusions". He laughed it off and quietly walked with everyone in silence, glad that Ziggy wasn't going to step the question further.
Crescent looked over at the Pegasus mare well ahead of them, walking slowly, trying to seem strong. Hazel had shared many things with Crescent, things that not even the others know. That made him very happy. He felt special in a way yet he was unsure if it was a sign or just a misleading action. So instead of doing something about it, he stood quiet and listened to many of the things she had to say, and perhaps tell her something about himself that he could remember. He knew she wasn't strong, at least not emotionally. No one else knew that, she had cried to him about many things. Usually it only was about how she didn't know whether they would survive or not. Sometimes... she hinted out what her real purpose was. Oh he didn't regret at all being able to meet her even if circumstance called the worst for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two years back in what Crescent believed to be a fated encounter, he came across them from a sort of lucky chance. He had awoken midst a desert with no idea on how he could have ended there. He had suffered huge memory loss; he didn't even know his name. Crescent walked for miles through the vast desert trying to find anything, any reason to his own existence, to find some pony... nothing.
The sun was extremely harsh; it singed the air and the sand to make the world a burning inferno. The black sun, or so they called it. In truth, the sun is a solar eclipse; the moon positioned itself in front of it to create a black sun. This world was deprived of time, the alignment of the astral bodies never moved. The sun was always in the bloody red sky, it always shown bright heating up the world intensely hot. This truly was the end of the world. No vegetation could live under such conditions.
When Crescent felt himself fall to the intensity of the heat, he had lost all incredulity of finding salvation and accepted his demise.
He awoke shortly after to a few hard nudges on his shoulder as he lied down on the sand. He focused on the creature before him. An enormous scorpion-like monster was clawing at the side of his shoulder which now dripped red with blood. In fear, he pulled back dragging himself away from the monstrosity. Crescent was probably the size of its gaping mouth, good enough for a mouth full.
It clamped its pincers shut before him, seemingly joyful that its food was not yet spoiled by being dead. It squealed a horrible sound from its dripping jaws, its black, rough, and hairy carcass shuttering as it scraped against each other, the thunderous booms of the pincers slamming shut. It sent its enormous tail swopping and picking up the ground beside him as it collided with the sand which made Crescent nearly wet himself of terror as he screamed. It did it again to his other side. It squealed again as it enjoyed his horrified shrieks. At least one of them was having fun.
It targeted him directly and right before it was able to strike him dead for good, it gave another squeal different from its previous as if it was in pain. Crescent opened his eyes to see a fireball explode into the side of the monster's head. Confused, he shifted his head towards the direction of the fireball and so did the scorpion.
A thin, slender, and red mare had shot another molten ball of flames which could be felt even at Crescent's distance as it exploded into the side of the monster an it squealed in pain and annoyance. She shot another only for the scorpion to bat it away with the back of its enormous pincers. As it rose its tail to strike her, her horn began to glow and quickly turned invisible as it struck empty sand.
A white Pegasus followed it up by flying so incredibly fast in front of its face and up the sky which distracted the scorpion to try and attack her which she avoided with her speed. After many misses, it stood up within two pairs of its legs to use every limb to try and take the Pegasus down; even with her speed she wouldn't be able to avoid it.
Suddenly a massive looking unicorn charged right into its legs, knocking off its concentration and attack. The scorpion turned to the massive pony that stood his ground before him. It shot its pincer out to him whom he countered with the same brute force, fending it off by holding his ground and using magic to boost his resistance.
The red unicorn suddenly materialized in a red light atop the creature's back. She held in her mouth a small stiletto dagger which she ran across certain points of the giant hard carcass of the monster's skin seemingly piercing some of the heavy skin. She jumped out in front of it to join the massive pony that was doing its best to resist the scorpion's force and used her own magic to restrain the pincer
A strange silver Pegasus with a neon zig-zagging green mane dashed down with an incredible force onto its back. It kicked the parts of the carcass that had been pierced striking them with pure force incredibly hard, making huge cracking noises as furiously kicked the lines left by the unicorn mare. The carcass began to break. Suddenly, the scorpion took notice and used its tail to strike off the offender. The Pegasus manages to avoid it and the stinger ran right down to its own back and broke off a big part of the already shattered skin. It shrieked in a horrible painful noise.
A dark blue earth pony jumped onto its back as it trashed, unaffected by the harsh movements as it ran masterfully towards the giant cracked surface, carrying in his mouth a large sword. He dug it deep into the cracks, piercing through the sensitive skin that lay underneath the hardened skin and tilted his head upwards to slice a huge arch right through the middle as it opened a fresh wound onto its back. He ran quickly to the front of its head and with sheer massive terrifying force he dug the blade right through the unbroken hard as steel carcass.
The massive beast stopped squealing in horror as it dropped dead. The terrifying dark pony landed with ease as he jumped off the beast's body.
"Destroy them." His dark voice commanded.
Without delay, the Pegasus mare took hold of the red unicorn and stood her up above the monsters back as the unicorn began to concentrate magical power.
She unleashed a powerful flame that scorched the fresh wound, the heat waves clearly visible as it the flames seemed to flow down it and disappear half way to the ground. Thousands of small shrills and horrible cries that came from within the wound stood in the silence that followed afterwards. Smaller but still very large versions of the scorpion that had no carcass were set ablaze as they began trying to escape from the wound that was being sealed by the never ending flames that kept pouring.
In a matter of seconds it had happened. The sound of cracking flames followed afterwards as it was finally over.
The Pegasus mare landed majestically in front of him. Like an angel, Hazel stood before him and the sun, radiantly shining. Her face was grim with both relief and confusion.
"Are you okay?" Her gentle voice called out to him, holding a grasp of seriousness, the mark of a benevolent leader.
Like if in a trance, he broke from his mindless state. "Too cool..." He stood up to sit on his flank.
"How... no... why are you here in the middle of nowhere?" She had asked him.
"I-I... I don't know..."
"Surely you must know. How did you even get here?"
"I told you... I don't know... I don't even know my name, how the hell would I know why I'm here?"
"Wait... what?" Her face showed that she sought this new pony as mad.
"I don't know my name."
"You don't know who you are?"
Crescent shook his head in response. "I don't know much about anything, and really I don't wish to... Please let me join! I want to serve of some use." He looked down into the sand, wishing he actually could. His voice had startled the white mare. Crescent was serious about this, he didn't yet understand it... that extreme necessity to undergo the rest of his life under this new pony before him was strong within his heart. He'd always thought back then it was just to survive and feel important to someone. He'd never guess it would have gone farther as to her being the greatest part to it all.
The group of ponies stood before him, staring at the pathetic excuse for a survivor.
"Well are you good at anything?" She turned back to him, surprising him by the sudden response.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean are you good at fighting?"
Crescent thought for a while and then shook his head. "No..."
"He'll just drag us down! He's useless, leave him here, we can't be babysitting." The Pegasus stallion pointed out quickly.
"Hate to say it but its true you know. We can't survive with a weight on our backs." The red unicorn mare followed up.
Crescent didn't deny it, he felt potentially useless.
"No... we can't just leave him here even if he IS just a weight... I'm sure he is of some use." The white Pegasus said, trying to defend him.
"She is correct." The deep voice of the dark blue earth pony said from a distance as he turned from the giant scorpion back to the arguing group.
"Hmm? Ugh... whatever...do what you want." The silver Pegasus said, a hint of fear in his voice as he tried to calmly agree with the earth pony.
The dark blue pony turned to face Crescent. "Can you cook?" He said seriously.
"Oh that would be lovely. I wouldn't mind at all bringing you along if you know how to cook." The Pegasus stallion suddenly retorted, shaking away his fear in hope that it was true.
"Wait huh?! You don't like my cooking?!" The red unicorn said, annoyed by the Pegasus' comment.
"Hell no, I rather fight that Frocklord Scorpio any day of the week then eat your disgusting cooking."
"But I thought you loved my cooking!" Her voice shrilled up to imitate whining.
"Gurl, you crazy mare. You a very crazy mare. What made you think that?"
"Don't speak to me, you never even loved me."
The Pegasus placed his hoof onto the red unicorn's shoulder, looked into her eyes, and took her chin gently with his hoof to turn her to meet his gaze.
"You know..." He hesitated a bit. "You know I'll always love you no matter how much your cooking sucks."
"Oh Ziggy." The red unicorn placed her head into the side of his neck. "I love you too." Suddenly she used the back of her head to hit his jaw very hard which made him knock over with his flank up in the air. "But next time you say my cooking sucks I'll remove those precious little wings of yours." She said as she made a "Hmpf" sound and walked away.
"Just how I like it..." The beaten up Pegasus sighed.
The white Pegasus mare giggled to herself from that scene as so did that massive unicorn who just smiled silently laughing to himself. "Ugh... anyways... don't mind them they are just crazy like that. I'm Hazel by the way."
"Yo, I'm Ziggy." The other Pegasus said with his flank still high in the air.
"I'm Iris, very nice to meet you." She said as she hugged him in a welcome.
Crescent wasn't used to it; he blushed lightly from the feel of a hug. It felt nice.
"I would be Mocking." The massive pony called out.
Eiffel stood quiet as he turned to stare into yonder.
"Uh... he would be Eiffel. Hmm... How bout we give you a name!"
"How about sand. You know, cuz we met him in a desert." Ziggy said.
"Honey, you're not always the best comedian." Iris said as she placed her hoof onto his shoulder.
"The joke was bad and you should feel bad!" Mocking continued.
"Crescent." Eiffel suddenly said before anyone could suggest anything else. No one dared say no to him.
"I... actually like that." Crescent said, still weary from such a spectacular scene from before.
"Crescent it is I suppose." Hazel placed out her hoof to him. "Welcome aboard Crescent."
"Uh... thank you... really I am grateful." Crescent said as he accepted her welcoming hoof.
Hazel looked at him strangely. "So I knew it..." she got closer to him, her eyes beaming brightly and beautifully, her lips just inches away from his.
Crescent couldn't speak, he was captivated by her beauty as she stood so close to him.
"I was right...." she paused to look more closely. "You are seriously hurt."
A streak of blood ran down his forehead and in the middle of his eyes just as she said that.
~~~
Crescent smiled to himself. He was more than happy to still remember that. It was easy living. For most part of it. The world itself was a desert. In both terms of the word. All that remained was the roofs of towns either torn down or drowned in a coat of dirt. Lakes and rivers ran dry, and the only plant life were dying grasses and weeds.
After being in silence for quite a while, he finally decided to break free of it. He went up towards the still gloomy Hazel who kept walking.
"Hey."
"Oh... hey." she responded back.
"You can talk to me about it if you want." He said gently, noticing her lack of enthusiasm.
She sighed and looked at him, her eyes still with sadness in them, but also a glad that told him she was happy that he took the time to find out what was wrong with her. "I know." She said as she looked over to him with a small but warm smile. "Thanks Crescent..."
"Should we tell the others?" He asked her, sensing what she was about to say next.
She nodded in reply. "It should be time. I can't keep dragging you all forever with me without telling you why..."
"Yes you can. At least to me." He said with a bright smile. He caught a quick glint of her increasing blush as she turned her face away from him and her hair giving no sight of it. He wasn't the smartest of ponies, so he didn't well notice it much. She was good at hiding things like this from him, maybe because of his lack of wits. Well, maybe his lack of wits was waking up in the middle of the desert for who knows how long and being near to death dehydrated. Maybe his brain was messed with a little because of that. Still, he wasn't quick witted. It would take him time to actually think of anything smart to say, but by that time, the conversation would be over.
"Let's go tell them..."
"Alright then." He said still with the same bright smile.
The two approached every pony else and they stopped in front of them as they waited for them to arrive in position.
"We need to talk."
"What is it honey?" Iris asked.
"I think it's time that you guys should know..."
"Know about?"
"The truth of the drought of the Mana Fountain."
Chapter 2: In Forsaken Land
Chapter 2:
In Forsaken Land
Everyone turned to stare at the pale white Pegasus like if she had just gone crazy, and if it wasn't because she was so damned sure about herself, she'd too think she was crazy. "Listen I... I think I've dragged you guys behind me far too long to not tell you..." She paused, unsure of what to say next.
"Hazel, we value your leadership like there was no tomorrow, we follow you because we WANT to. It doesn't matter what motive you have, we enjoy being together." Iris cut here off after the long silence that befell on everyone.
"It's not just that... we managed to survive but I didn't fight to live all this way just for nothing. I have to tell you because..." She looked over at Crescent, needing some sort of support. He was the closest person she had and she had told him her reasons but not all of them. He smiled warmly nodding his head, urging her to finally make her reasons true.
"Well, you all know that how on the day of the last festival, the king and queen were killed and the princess was kidnapped. After that day, the Kingdom of Isodral waged war on everything to find reasons to this tragedy after discovering the well had gone completely dry."
"Well yeah, our village got attacked by them." Ziggy who usually held no interest in anything of importance now stood tall within the group wanting to be part of it all.
"We fought off a few off them and evacuated as many as we could." Iris continued.
"There were just too many... in the end we... we had to run away..."
"We can never forgive Isodral for that. No matter what motives they had, they shouldn't have killed all those innocent ponies!"
"I had abandoned my village way before the war broke out. A traveling merchant can never stay permanently in one place you know." Mocking said trying to ease the tension that grew from the conversation.
Everyone turned to look at the behemoth of a pony whose goofy face was easing any tension that could ever be. No one had spoken any personal part of their lives. Hazel knew about how Iris and Ziggy escaped from the raid in their village because when they had joined, they told them everything that had happened and when they went back to check if it was over. Their village was burnt to the ground and into a pile of ash like every other affected by the war, but she hadn't known about Mocking's past at all.
"You used to travel?"
"Yes but I think that has to wait for another time, Hazel never finished."
"Oh uh... well, Isodral was in an outrage, but they didn't mean to be so... destructive. After the disappearance of the Isodral, I talked to one of the soldiers who was still alive. He was gravely injured when I found him in the rubble of a fallen stone tower and told me that they were being... controlled."
"Isodral disappeared two years ago, what happened to the army anyways if they weren't able to return?" Ziggy asked.
"I don't know that much, that soldier died before he could tell me about their disappearance." Her face was grim with seriousness. "He did however tell me that they managed to uncover who had kidnapped the princess, but only after doing so they had been punished."
"Punished?"
"I don't know what he meant by that but I'm guessing it has to do something with how their army got wiped out." She turned to face them. "I want to find Isodral, that is were I'm headed now. All this time I have been leading you there. But..." She looked away. "I fear that this quest is more than dangerous, whatever was the cause that destroyed an entire army is more than just a threat to our safety." She paused for an even longer time and looked down sadly. "So I would understand if any of you leave now."
Everyone stood silent. Their main purpose to follow Hazel was to survive the drought. This was a tough decision, if what she was saying was true then their possibilities to survive were down to being slim.
"I don't care for any of it, I'm in." Crescent spoke out after a small while. Hazel hadn't told him about her true purpose, but by this point he no longer cared. He didn't fully understand what and why he had made this choice before it was even asked. A small secret thought grew in his head, one that he had let flourish before he could dismiss it completely like every other. He would die for her if he needed to. There was not much left for him to do. He didn't know his past, and the world was in a chaos, if she needed him, he would be there.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa this was a big group decision you made for us bro." Ziggy argued.
"No. It wasn't. This was my decision to make and I will follow Hazel even if I have to die for it." Crescent's mind went into a fit. What the hell was he thinking saying that out loud?!
Hazel grew into a light blush that no one could manage to spot but surely she was feeling it.
"Well, wherever you go I go. I think Iris' cooking will probably kill me if this whatever it is doesn't, so either way I'm screwed, better off with you guys." This made Crescent laugh a little somehow enjoying that his cooking was of actual importance as to risk one's life.
"Wherever my Ziggyzoo goes I go too." Iris let out a lovingly sigh towards him as he remarked about her bad cooking. It wasn't awkward at all with them acting this way, after all, they were a couple even before they had joined the gang. They just had a fun attitude about it.
"Hmm, why do you always call me that anyways?" Ziggy asked.
"Because you are an animal and belong in a zoo."
Ziggy let out a snort of laughter and hugged her. "And this is why I love you."
Hazel turned away, mostly because she envied how close they were and also because she thought of the matter carefully. Three of them have agreed to follow even at the cost of their lives. If she lost any of them one way or another it would break her heart, but she couldn't just back down from this.
"I will go." Eiffel said quietly. There was the 4th one. All that remained was Mocking.
Hazel turned to mocking who was oddly silent. He didn't meet anyone's gaze as he looked towards the sky.
"Mocking?"
"When I was younger, my mother and father perished when I was a baby. I never knew them well. I lived in a large town of traders. A commercial district with many types of ponies. I lived mostly alone throughout my entire life, gaining scraps of food here and there. Then I was taken in by some gypsies. One of which thought me the trade of dyes. The gypsy group was disbanded and shortly after and I took it upon myself to become a traveling merchant. It wasn't until the war that I began to truly see the weight of the destruction, traveling from city to city, closer and closer would the war continue until it finally reached me and I found you guys." Mocking stayed silent for a bit, as but Eiffel gathered around to listen. Mocking turned his head towards Hazel. "I will follow you. Only as long as were able to help those ponies who are still alive. I want to be able to do something for a change. I met so many wonderful ponies in my troubles, and to see this destruction, I can only hope they still live."
"Deal." Hazel nodded reassuringly.
"Tell us what to do next Captain." Crescent turned towards Hazel who was sitting next to him.
"I've stopped you here before we head onward. Beyond this hill lies a village. There isn't a doubt that it has been affected by the crisis, and I need all of you on your feet if we run across anything." She looked over at Crescent who was distracted with a small plant on the ground as he played with it like a small child. "That means you Crescent."
"Oh uh... sorry." He said embarrassed. She turned her gaze back to everyone.
"As I was saying, our primary goal is to find survivors, and if possible, supplies. And also..." She turned silent for a moment and then looked back at Crescent. Then she looked down at his feet. "A... plant?"
Crescent looked down at his feet, suddenly realizing what he was previously playing with. A plant! Vegetation was growing in these parts! "Wait, that can only mean..."
"There is a settlement here..." Hazel finished his sentence.
Everyone but Eiffel rushed towards the edge of the hill to see the town. No one could have predicted what they saw next. Before them stood a small hillside town, large withering trees who still held slight coloring of green still stood. Wheat was being grown from a nearby field and there was a water tower in the center.
Only that the town itself lay in complete destruction... some houses were missing complete sides of them, marked with burnt black wood and ash covering the entire air around it. Almost as if a storm of ash rain had passed over it. Everything was still recent. Like if a wave of destruction had only passed by it days or even hours before they arrived. Near a well lay a bloodied earth pony, only too recently wounded.
"He might still be alive. Go!"
