The desert was the enemy.
At least, it was an enemy in the eyes of three, masked figures in full camouflage suits.
A storm was brewing, blowing sand into every unsealed crevasse.
The only thing keeping them moving was the nearby shelter.
300 meters away.
250.
200.
150.
The figure in the middle collapsed.
The final figure ran ahead to the first, shooting a hoof at their collapsed friend. The two frantically galloped to their third, placing its hooves on their backs. Finally carrying it to the half-buried shelter.
The first figure gestured to the second's helmet. The third nodded and began unplugging the many tubes and hoses that kept it connected to its suit. At last, the figure threw the helmet to the side, allowing mulberry and tulip curls to bounce on a white muzzle.
The third figure did the same, taking a gasp of the sweet oxygen that circulated around the shelter. Instead of exhaling, the orange mare hacked up unsettling amount of sand.
The final figure removed her own helmet and shook red strands of her mane out of her face.
"Look around, there has to be a med-pack somewhere in here." Applebloom said.
Scootaloo nodded and scanned the many cabinets and compartments decorating the bunker.
"She gonna be alright?" Scoot asked.
AB examined Sweetie's limp body. "She sucked down a lot of that sandeh' dust, but a smellin' salt'll bring her back."
Scootaloo nodded. "Can you get the radio out? Maybe you can contact Babs and Silver."
"Nah, the sand's too dense tah reach anyone out here…" AB reached into her pack and grabbed an E-cig. With the press of a button, innocent little AB was smoking.
"Aren't we trying to preserve her lungs?" Scoot asked, she coughed rather unconvincingly to emphasize her point.
"It's an E-cig, won't do a thing to her." she sucked in another puff of the nicotine, "Have ya' found a pack er not?"
Scootaloo flipped through the cabinets, but finally she found a lone med-pack. "Thar she blows."
The orange pegasus opened up the kit and pulled out a pill-shaped object. She trotted over to Sweetie and broke the object, lifting it to muzzle.
The white mare gagged on the scent. "Alright, I'm up." Sweetie rubbed her head, and gasped. "The Asset! is it still there!?"
"Relax, the asset's there. The real question is if it made the trip."
AB grabbed her bag and grabbed a fancy, black case. She removed the clamps, and looked inside of the case,
and smiled.
A single, red rose.
The asset was still alive.
"Pass me the rations," said Scootaloo.
We'll need to get to a settlement soon," said Sweetie Belle, handing a sand-coated, half-rotted apple to Scoot.
"Ah know," started AppleBloom," But this is the most important thing we've ever done. Eat and let's go."
The yellow mare tossed a mushy, black banana to Sweetie, and nabbed a moldy piece of bread for herself.
Scoot sighed and choked down a bite of the apple. "I remember when crisp, fresh apples grew like dandelions. I wouldn't even need to pay for one at a stall! I could just go to the farm and pick one!"
"This ain't Equestria anymore. It's the Waste, that's what we've called for ten years now."
"Well, I'm sick and tired of the "Waste"! Yesterday it was freezer-burn cold in the Arctic, today it's blistering heat in the middle of a desert…"
"Not a lot we can do. Tia and Luna are dead, so are they." AB took a final puff from her E-cig and threw it to the side. "Just got a few more miles, than we'll be out o' here, and in the center of the forest."
With their final minutes, Scootaloo passed around a flask filled to the brim with A-grade cider. "It cost me ten bits for this much. Let's hope it's worth it." She took a sip of their equivalent to ambrosia.
"Storm's cleared up." Sweetie pointed out as she took a final sip from the flask. "But you're still gonna make us where the helmets…"
"We wear them fer' a good reason."
The mares groaned as they reattached the various tubes and hoses to their suits. Finally buckling their helmets securely.
The Everfree forest used to be known only because of the many dangerous it houses.
Today, it held an equivalence to the Elysian Fields.
Well, compared to the rest of the world.
The Everfree felt as though all life was missing from it. The heavy vegetation, though green and lively, felt as dead as a cadaver. The mossy dirt as cold as stone. No animals, save an occasional insect, lived in the dense forest.
And three mares, with hardly any experience, had to go inside.
The three removed their headgear, only to find Sweetie in tears.
AppleBloom threw her hooves around her, smiling ear to ear. "It'll be okay. W-we're the toughest ol' ponies in town."
"Got the moves, got the mojo," Scoot added.
"No harder working ponies in town."Sweetie sniffed.
"We are a trio, we work as a team…" the three sang in unison.
The headstones weren't grand.
The graves were undecorated.
But the clearing couldn't have been more worthy.
Six tiny graves, lined up neatly.
They all cried.
Applebloom grabbed the case, and took the asset from it. She plucked its six petals, spreading them generally upon each grave.
Scootaloo hugged Sweetie Belle, and sobbed without control.
AppleBloom let her tears fall onto the grave of the pony who worked the hardest out of all of them, but she smiled.
She embraced her friends in a group hug.
"Girls, c'mon. It's time to go home." she said.
They didn't have much, but what these ponies gained through their mission was something few had nowadays.
Closure.
