Beauty of an Illusion

by Tailgate

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure
Length: 8333

It's the night of the grand-galloping gala and three mares are brought together through a unlikely series of events.

It's the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, and Spitfire, Rarity, and Derpy are thrown together after an unlikely series of events, which causes them to wake up in an unknown land. Can they make it back home, and how will they change along the journey?

**Added gore tag because of chapter two. Not sure if it is necessary based on what's in the chapter.
**Cover art is temporary until I get a suitable drawing created.
Update 6/17/2014: On Hiatus until I have the motivation, skill, and the planning to carry on. For now I'll be working on one-shots until I feel I am decent enough in some specialized areas to continue.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-06 18:57:20 UTC

Chapter 2 - Waking Up

[Spitfire]

        “-o no no no no, this simply cannot be happening!” a voice sputtered.

        I remember a grey pegasus slamming into me and that unicorn- Who was it? Rar- Rarity, yes that’s her name.

I was knocked over onto my side when the pegasus and I finally stopped sliding across the floor. My muzzle was shoved into her back and before I could stop her from smothering me, a loud bang went off and here I am. Wait, where’s here?

        My eyes shot open and I scanned my surroundings. The sun stood just over the horizon, bathing everything in a brilliant light. In every direction was a sea of sand. An occasional cactus could be seen in the barren landscape.  Looks like I’m in a desert. I also noticed I was not alone. Rarity was pacing in circles and mumbling to herself. Rarity’s dress looked worse for the wear. It was covered in sand and ripped in several places. She was pacing around the grey pegasus, the one who caused whatever this was to happen.

        The pegasus laid crumpled on the ground, her saddlebag hanging from her side. She had her left wing spread out lazily. Embedded in her wing was a large shard of glass about four inches in length. Dried blood was hardened around the wound.

        The sight of the injury turned my first-aid training into actions. The sand below me shifted as I brought myself up from the ground and wiped sand off my class A’s with a hoof. I reached inside my jacket and found the familiar square shape of my first-aid kit.

        I pulled it out and approached the pegasus.

        “Do I take it out or do I leave it in? Do I take it out or do I leave it in?” Rarity cried out as she frantically circled the injured pegasus.

        The pegasus heard my approach and lifted her head to look at me with a distorted face. Rarity picked up on my arrival shortly afterwards.

“Oh good! You’re awake! Derpy is hurt and I’m not sure if we leave the glass in her wing or take it out!”

I walked over to Derpy and placed a hoof on her wing to hold it down. I bent over and carefully grasped the shard between my teeth.

“What are you doing! We have to make sure it is safe!” Rarity gasped as she watched me bite down onto the glass.

With a hard tug, Derpy visibly winced as I slid the glass out from her wing. Fresh blood replaced the hole the shard had occupied. I dropped the glass on the sand and opened up my first-aid box and pulled out the hydrogen peroxide bottle.

I swiftly uncapped it and poured some of the liquid onto the wound.

Derpy cried out in pain as the peroxide disinfected her wound. I capped the bottle and replaced it with the roll of bandages in my box. I unravelled the bundle and prepared to wrap it around her injured wing.

Holding one end of the bandage on the edge of her wing, I used my other hoof to tightly wrapped the fabric over her wound. After securing the bandages and confirming they were taut, I closed the first-aid box and placed it back into my jacket.

Derpy visibly relaxed at the loss of the shard and Rarity stopped pacing.

        I dug a small hole to bury the shard and dropped it in. I swiftly covered it back up with sand and stepped away from Derpy to turn my attention to the two of them.

        “So, do either of you know where we are?” I asked.

        Derpy retracted her wing and shook her head no.

        “I am not sure where we are darling, the last thing I can recall is Pinkie Pie’s cannon firing towards us.”

No pony knows where we are or how exactly we got here. Great. Just something about this ‘Pinkie’ and her cannon. Maybe we’re dead.

Rarity turned her head side-to-side to scan the surrounding desert. “Since we have no idea where we are, where do we go?”

        She raised a hoof in a random direction. “I think we should walk that way until we find something.”

I sighed in annoyance. “Assuming we are in Equestria, the only deserts I know of are in the South. Therefore, we should head North.”

        She raised an eyebrow. “And where is North?”

        I pointed to my right. “That way is North and our best hope lies upon finding a forest with a food and water source, or if we are lucky we might come across a town on the way.”

        “And how do you know that’s North?”

        “All pegasi are especially sensitive to Equestria’s magnetic field. This sensitivity grants them the ability to differ directions naturally, like a compass.”

        Rarity nodded in understanding and Derpy lifted herself onto her hooves.

        “Thank you-” She tilted her head and stared at me.

Why is she looking at me tha-

“Her name is Spitfire,” Rarity answered Derpy.

Oh.

        Derpy bowed her head and continued her statement, “Thank you Spitfire for treating my wing.”

        She looked back up to face me. Her lips twisted downwards and her eyes lost focus and slid off to opposite sides. However unsettling it felt, I still felt her gaze on me despite her eye’s refusal to settle on the same target.

        “Sorry I accidently brought you to the middle of the desert-” She turned to face Rarity“- you too Rarity.”

        “It’s alright dear, I am sure we will be out of here by the end of the day, right Spitfire?” Rarity looked at me with a look screaming for me to assure Derpy.

        I sighed and answered Rarity’s gaze with a glare of my own.

        “Look, I am not going to lie. We are in a bad situation. The closet desert to Canterlot is a two week journey on foot.”

        I pointed at Derpy’s wrapped wing.

        “Derpy is not in good condition to fly.”

        Derpy’s frown grew. “How long do you think it will be until I can fly?”

        I shrugged. “I am no medic, but I can assure you flying is not a good idea after a recent wing injury.”

        Derpy seemed to accept this and sat on her haunches.

        I turned back to Rarity and continued, “So unless you want me to leave you to try and find help, which would leave you two to fend for yourselves for a few days, we don’t have much of a choice in the matter.”

        Rarity dropped the subject and gave me time to think.

        I thought back to my wilderness survival training from the Wonderbolts Academy.

First thing’s first. Food and water. Then shelter from the elements. There’s not much of anything for all three of them.

Derpy reached down into her saddlebag. She shuffled her hoof in the bag for a few seconds until she pulled out a fabric bag. She opened the top of the bag and pulled out three wrapped sandwiches and a large water bottle.

        Rarity looked at Derpy with her jaw hanging low. “Derpy, just where did you get three sandwiches?”

        Derpy hid behind her forelock.

        “I eat a big lunch.”

        I eyed the huge bottle and the wrapped sandwiches.

That’s food for a day and that bottle has enough water for the three of us for a day if we ration it.

Hopefully we are closer to civilization than I think we are.

Derpy emerged from hiding and handed a sandwich to Rarity. Rarity immediately opened up the wrapping and took a bite out of it. Derpy picked up another and reached out to give it to me.

        I raised a hoof to decline. “No, save it. You two will need it more than I will.”

        Rarity raised an eyebrow and spoke in between bites. “Are you sure? Everypony will need to keep their strength up, including you dear.”

She is right. But, I’ve been through worse in bootcamp.

        “Trust me, I’ll be fine.”

        Derpy glanced a worried look my way, but she walked back to her bag and slid the sandwich in.

        While I waited for them to finish their sandwiches I explained how and why we had to ration the water. They seemed to understand well enough and after I finished I let them have the peace of the moment to relax.

        The sun had rose a little higher since I woke up. Notable effects were that it was hotter than earlier. We still had no shelter or a reliable water source so we would have to depart soon. Derpy and Rarity must have noticed my thoughts as they prepared to start to start walking.

        I noticed the extravagant, but ruined dress Rarity donned and stated, “Rarity.”

        She looked at me and asked, “Yes dear?”

        “You might want to take off your dress.”

        She looked down at her dress. “I do agree-” She looked up at me with an inquisitive face “- but where would I put it?”

        I pondered if the dress would be useful at all and decided it could be if we did not make it out. Though, I was not sure where we would keep it.

        Derpy spoke up joyfully, “I could hold it in my saddlebag!”

        Rarity let out a breath of relief as she took off her dress and handed it to Derpy.

        Deciding it was a good idea, I also took off my Class A’s and hoofed them over to Derpy to carry. The heat of the sun seemed to be cooler with my uniform off.

        “Oh thank you Derpy, I was afraid I would have to dispose of it,” Rarity said.

I don’t think Rarity will like it, but we might be using my uniform and her dress for bedding tonight if we don’t make it out of this desert by nightfall.

        I took the lead of our small group and started a swift, but not tiring pace North.

Chapter 3 - A Day's Journey

[Rarity]

        Sand whipped around us. Visibility has been reduced to a fraction of what it was at sunrise this morning. No longer could I see the vastness of the desert, instead all my sight consisted of was a blanket of swirling sand.

        Derpy, Spitfire, and I have trudged through the dunes with difficulty for hours on end. With the opaque cover blocking the sun, an unusual darkness settled over the landscape. None of us could tell what time it truly was as the normally blazing sun was reduced to a faint glow, hardly noticeable to the unkeen eye.

        Each of us wore a makeshift face mask consisting of scraps of what was once my dress.

When the sandstorm had started, breathing the air quickly became a problem. After a brief discussion on what to do, Spitfire decided to scrap my dress to make the masks and continue through the storm.

        I had been upset about Spitfire’s suggestion at first, but she made a good point in that my dress was made of a thinner, more light weight fabric suitable for breathing than her thick, non porous jacket.

The permeability of her jacket is next to none and trying to breathe through it would cause suffocate us. My dress on the other hand is composed of light fabric that is permeable to air, but not to the sand swirling around us.

Spitfire cut the dress along the seams with her knife. From there we each tied a section of the fabric around our muzzles to filter the air. We also tied another piece of fabric around our heads to keep our ears protected from the prickling sand. We stuffed the rest of the scraps into Derpy’s bag.

We had nothing for eye protection so we were forced to use a hoof to shield our eyes from the harmful winds while trekking across the never-ceasing dunes.

My mouth has been bone-dry since the sandstorm picked up hours ago. The water ran despite Spitfire’s best efforts shortly after the dusty winds cooperated with the sweltering heat to send us all into a state of dehydration.

My hooves burned with every step from trudging for hours on end. My motivation consisted of wanting to return home and the fact that Spitfire warned us that if we do not find a water source soon, that we would have to reserve ourselves to some… more unsavory methods of hydration.

We all kept quiet after learning that chatting was an easy way to expose yourself to the elements during a sandstorm. After a few hours, with the combined force of pure exhaustion, the darkening of the landscape, and the sudden drop of both visibility and temperature around us gave me a good enough reason to speak up.

“It’s starting to get cold and there is no possible way we can continue in this terrible weather, I vote we stop for the night”

Derpy nodded. “I’m tired too, I think we should.”

Spitfire huffed, then sighed in resignation. “Fine. We’ll stop for tonight, but don’t blame me if you decide to take your time in this Celestia-forsaken desert.”

Spitfire bent her front hooves into a crouch and spread her wings, preparing herself to take off.

Wait, she can’t just leave us like that!

“Spitfire! Where are you going?” I shouted worriedly.

She turned her head to face me. “Relax, I’m only going up to a cloud to sleep for the night.”

“But you can not just leave us!”

Derpy spoke up in my aid, “What if the cloud floats away while you sleep Spitfire? I’ve made that mistake and woke up in Las Pegasus.”

Derpy shuddered noticeably, but quickly recovered.

I paused for a moment, chuckling at remembrance of the events that happened to Derpy in Las Pegasus. She told me once during one of my visits to the spa when we stumbled into one other.

Apparently Derpy partied hard the night before the Canterlot wedding with Princess Cadence and the other mares attending. After the bachelorette party, she decided to rest on a cloud instead of heading back to Ponyville and as a result woke up hours away in Las Pegasus where she got caught up in several antics before finally making it back to the wedding just before the real Cadence arrived.

She had admitted she did not know Cadence before the party, but after finding out that that Cadence was really Chrysalis in disguise she did give Chrysalis credit for knowing how to throw a party.

Spitfire’s shoulders relaxed as she released the tension in her back and folded her wings close to her sides. She sat on her haunches and sighed.

“I guess you’re right, there’s no telling where I could end up. We all know that I need to stay by you two. I doubt I could find you if I drifted off.”

        I shivered, the once sweltering weather is quickly freezing over. Spitfire must have noticed this as she stated.

        “Okay, nightfall is coming, we need shelter and heat.”

        Derpy and I nodded in agreement. Spitfire pointed a hoof towards me than to a spot near her.

        “Rarity, use your magic to dig a hole large enough for the three of us to fit in and deep enough to protect us from the storm.”

        I nodded and concentrated on the ground where she pointed, I imagined the sand slowly being lifted, forming three holes side-by-side. As the sand started to lift I was interrupted.

        “No no! Not like that, make one hole to fit the three of us. We don’t have enough fabric to cover each of us if we are separated. Plus we will need to share body warmth. Fur alone won’t protect us out here.”

        I adjusted my focus to combine the three holes to form one larger hole just under the ground so it formed a wall around us that would protect us from the pelting sand.

        As the sand slowly levitated and pushed off to the side I heard Spitfire saying something to Derpy, but could not quite understand it.

Almost done, I felt the exhaustion of the entire day and the heavy use of magic wear me down to the point of nearly passing out.

        After I finished forming the pit, I turned to find that Derpy had taken out the remaining pieces of fabric.

        “Rarity, can you magic these up into a blanket?” Spitfire looked at me curiously.

        I shook my head no. “I would need a needle and thread. I don’t have either of those with me. I had left them with my lugga-”

        “I have those!” Derpy exclaimed happily.

        She reached into her bag and pulled out a single sewing needle and a small spool of brown thread.

        “I keep them in my mailbag in case it ever fell apart!”

Thank Celestia, no sleeping with bits of rags tonight!

        Spitfire stated, “That was oddly convenient. It does not sound like something a mailmare would carry.”

        Derpy’s eyes rolled as she shrugged. “You get in a habit of bringing thread when your previous mail bag's straps tear and rip every other day.”

        I levitated the spool and needle from Derpy’s hooves.

This thread will look hideous with the fabric. If it were not for our situation I would declare this a crime against fashion!

I worked quickly and finished the blanket in five minutes. It seemed sturdy enough to hold together, but it looked terrible. The cuts along the edges of each section of fabric were uneven and led to long tears showing between the interconnecting pieces.

The three of us stepped into the pit and laid down. I laid the blanket on top of us once everypony was settled.

Together we formed a mass of fur and hair. It was strangely comforting to be so close to other ponies. Warmth radiated and multiplied between the three of us and the cold, harsh winds whipping sand seemed to fade away as I slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter 4 - Relief

[Derpy]

        Warmth covered my entire body. I yawned and opened my eyes and looked around me.  Rarity was upside and sprawled out in a very un-ladylike fashion. On the contrary, Spitfire was curled up in a small ball of yellow and orange.

        I chuckled lightly at seeing them sleeping in positions very unlike their personalities. I shifted my body until I was able to grab hold of the blanket on top of us and pulled it off.

        I folded it up as much as I could manage and stuck it inside my mail bag.

        I lifted my rump off of the ground and straightened my back until my body was in a diagonal position. My wings unfurrowed to their full length. Small audible pops travel down my spine as I stretched.

I furled my wings again and relaxed all of my muscles until I was parallel to the ground and then pushed myself to stand onto my hooves. I could feel exhaustion in all my limbs and pangs of dehydration touching my lips. My knees felt weak just standing.

I feel… uuugghh. I’ve done nothing useful for anypony at all so far.

Spitfire is leading us home, Rarity has the craftsponyship and magic to do things much better and faster than I ever could. All I’ve done is follow them and use up our supplies.

Even now I am holding the two of them back with my injured wing. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I am that link and I am about to snap under this guilty weight.

        I sighed and I prodded Rarity with a hoof.

        “Wake up Rarity, you too Spitfire. I think we should get going now.”

        “Uuuh- I need water.” Rarity moaned.

        Spitfire uncurled herself and stood up.

        “You know what to do then, Rarity.” Spitfire commented dryly.

        Rarity got up and started combing her coat with a hoof to wipe off what remained of the sand in her coat.

        “I rather not, sleeping in the sand alone was a dreadful experience, I don’t want to add anything worse to it.”

        I trotted up to Spitfire and sat on my haunches. “I’m ready to go when you two are.”

        Spitfire stretched her wings and turned to me and Rarity. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

        Rarity seemed to have a little less luck as she was still hopelessly trying to remove every grain of sand from her fur.

        Spitfire walked over to her and laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Give up already, we are going to be treading through this desert all day anyways. Would you rather spend the morning sitting here, slowly losing more and more water because of your fruitless efforts to stay ‘clean’, or would you rather get up, follow me and look for a stream or pond of some sort that we can drink from?”

        Rarity looked up at Spitfire, “Bu-ut-t… it’s so uncleanly!”

        “Just give it up Rarity,” Spitfire stated in response.

        Rarity sighed in response and waved a hoof. “Alright, let us head off. I doubt I could get this sand out without a proper brush anyways.

        As the sun slowly rose higher into the sky, we trekked further across endless dunes of blasting sand. I don’t feel any better from earlier.

        My mouth has never been as parched in my life. I started to contemplate taking up Spitfire’s suggestion, but felt instantly repulsed just imagining it.

        The deserts dunes started to flatten after a few hours of walking. Instead of treading up and down countless dunes, the desert laid flat from horizon to horizon, completely bare of any life.

        The three of us were slowly trotting forward. I lost hope that we would make it home hours ago. The sun had reached its peak around that time and started its descent to the horizon.

        I lifted my head up and slowly took in a panoramic view of the desert. No signs of life, just endless sand and the occasional rock.

        Sighing, I let my head hang down and kept pace with Rarity and Spitfire.

If only I could be doing something useful.

“Eeep!”

My face suddenly found itself buried in purple hair. I stepped back and pull myself out from Rarity’s tail.

Rarity was staring off into the distance.

I scrunched up my face. “What did you stop for Rarity?”

Spitfire turned around to look at Rarity.

Instead of a verbal response, Rarity took off running in a complete different direction than we had been traveling for the past two days.

Spitfire flew after her. “Rarity, what are you doing?”

I stared after the two until I realised I should probably catch up before I lose them. Rarity does not look like she will be stopping anytime soon. I picked up a brisk pace and followed the two.

I was starting to catch up and closing the distance between the three of us when I heard Rarity yelling.

“Wait! Don’t leave! You have to help us!”

I continued running after them as I thought about what Rarity just said.

There’s another pony here, who is she chasing?

I stared past Rarity to try and see whoever she was chasing, but had no luck. All I see is sand blowing around in the distance. I don’t see anything but sand ahead of us.

That and- Well, I’m not sure.

The heat of the desert distorted my view, but far out there seems to be some blocky shapes sitting by each other.

I quickened my pace and passed Rarity. Spitfire seemed too pre-occupied with Rarity to see what we were both seeing. Even though it does not look like a pony, it looks like something besides sand.

As the three of us closed the distance, the blocky shapes grew until I could make out that each block was a building. Spitfire finally noticed that Rarity was running towards the shapes and flew ahead of us to investigate.

Buildings mean ponies and ponies mean help.

The town was a sight for sore eyes. That is until I realized nopony was actually in the town.

We were close enough to see large cracks and sections of each building falling apart. A few windows were shattered and one building had a giant hole gaping out the side of it. The hole looked as if a pony had slammed into the wall and collapsed a large section of it. Trash of various sorts, namely bottles, sat on the ground between buildings.

The entire  town was a mess and nopony was there to explain why.

Rarity and I slowed to a crawl as we moved in-between the desolated buildings.

“Hello? Is anypony here?” I called out, hopeful that somepony was still in the town.

Spitfire circled around the various buildings in the town and returned to us. She came to a halt and panted, “Empty, nopony has been here for a while. However, I did see some items scattered inside. Let’s split up and search each building for supplies. Yell if you find anything.”

She took off to a nearby building and landed outside the door. The door creaked as she opened it slowly and walked inside. Taking a similar route, Rarity walked into a building with a small wooden sign with the image of a bag.

I looked around the town until I saw a building with a sign that depicts a bottle.

Oooh! I think this is a bar, it must have drinks then!

I trotted up to the doorway and pushed open a small chest-height door that led inside.

On the first table inside, a muffin sat. A chocolate muffin, completely untouched.

I stretched my wings out and prepared to fly to it. I lept towards the muffin and aimed my hooves to grab it. Instead of feeling a muffin in my hooves, I felt my injured wing give in to pain and it quickly snapped shut, resulting in my face slamming into the bottom of the table.

The table flipped from my weight off-balancing it and the muffin went flying and smacked into a wall, sending the delicious baking in every direction at once. Disappointed and hurt, I brought myself to my hooves and looked at the wall where the remains of the muffin slowly slid down the surface.

Rarity poked her head through the doorway. “Are you alright dear? I heard a loud thud.”

I turned back to her with a frown. “I’m fine, I just forgot I couldn’t fly.”

They would get mad at me if they knew I accidently destroyed that muffin… especially after not sharing. I can’t tell them! I have to clean this up before they see the mess!

Rarity continued to stare at me, unsure.

I gave her a nervous grin as my eyes slowly unfocused. “I’m fine! Trust me! I’ll let you know if I find anything!.”

She shrugged. “If you say so, call me over if you need anything.”

“Will do!”

Rarity slipped back through the doorway and I sighed in relief. I potted a napkin on the floor and picked it up. After wiping the muffin off of the wall, I threw the napkin in a corner of the room.

Now with the evidence gone, I searched the room. On one side there was an empty bar counter. Behind the counter there was a tap and several shelves stocked with various bottles, each bottle had a unique label.

The rest of the room was just tables and chairs.

I trotted past the bar counter and over to the shelves and I inspected each bottle.

As I checked each one, I moved them to the bar counter. Sadly none of the bottles had anything in them, so I walked over the the tap behind the counter and pressed down a small lever on top of it.

Out of the tap’s nozzle came a mostly-clear liquid. I quickly shoved a hoof under the nozzle and sipped some of it.

Water! Actual water!

I let go of the lever and ran towards the door.

“Rarity! Spitfire! I found water!”

Spitfire immediately flew out of a nearby building and nearly tackled me as she soared through the doorway.

“Where?! Where’s the water?”

I pointed a hoof over to the tap and exclaimed, “The tap! Press the lever and water comes out!”

I shook my hooves in the air for emphasis of how much of a miracle it was.

Spitfire activated the tap and started drinking greedily from it.

Rarity ran through the door and shoved Spitfire away so she could drink from it.

The two of them pushed each other back and forth, trying to be the first to drink. I felt the parchness of my mouth and waited for the two to finish so I could relinquish the feeling of dehydration.

It’s the most I can do for being useless. Let them have the first of any supplies we find, I’ll wait until they are finished.

Eventually, Rarity surrendered and let Spitfire drink first. She sat besides the engorging mare and let out a huff while she waiting for Spitfire to finish.

After Spitfire finished, she prepared to continue searching.

“I’ll continue checking each building, now that we have water, we should be looking for food.”

She trotted through the doorway and flew away once she was out the doorway.

        Rarity was spending a long time drinking. I twiddled my hooves while waiting for her to finish practically getting off to the water. She was laying under the tap on her back and she held the lever down with a hoof while the stream flowed into her mouth. Her face was contorted into an odd face of pleasure.

        On one hoof I was mentally laughing at the sight, on the other I was kind of creeped out at the display. I turned around and tapped my hoof, pretending not to notice Rarity. I heard the tapping of hooves behind me and turned around to find Rarity with a nervous smile on her face.

        “Sorry you saw that, it was very unlike me. I was just very thirsty.”

        I whistled and watched as my vision doubled, “I’m not sure what you are talking about Rarity, I saw nothing- Yes nothing at all.”

Nothing. Like what I’ve done so far. I… I have to apologize.

        She was about to trot around me, but I held out a hoof and stopped her.

        “Rarity… can I talk to you for a moment?”

        She stopped and smiled at me. “Sure, what is it dear?”

        I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof. “Well, it’s just- jus-”

        I sighed and choked out, “I’ve be-been nothing b-but a …”

        I stopped and looked down and squeezed my eyes shut and I felt a tear trail down my face.

        Rarity looked worried. She sat down on her haunches and used a hoof to lift my head up.

        “Nothing but a what, Derpy?”

        I slowly opened my watery eyes and forced my voice to stabilize.

“I’m sorry Rarity. I caused this to happen and I’ve been nothing but a burden to you and Spitfire. I’m sorry!”

        Rarity stepped closer to me and put her hooves around me and gave me a firm hug.

        “It’s alright Derpy, it’s not your fault. It was just an accid-”

        I shoved my face into her shoulder and started bawling, “I’m sor-”

        My voice was quickly muffled as I shoved my muzzle between her neck and her shoulder as she pulled me in close and rubbed a hoof on my back.

        “Shhh… It’s alright, just let it out. It’s not your fault.”

        My chest heaved as my muffled cries escaped.

        “You’re not a burden Derpy. You were the one that had food for us to eat and you found water.”

        She pushed me back and forced me to look up at her.

        “Don’t dwell on this Derpy, you are worth every little bit. Now go drink as much water as you want. Now, I’m going to go and help Spitfire search the rest of town. Just stay and relax for the night.”

        Another tear hit the ground as I gave Rarity a nod along with a small smile of gratitude. She gave me another quick hug and left me to my devices.

        Breathing a sigh of relief, I trotted over to the tap and pushed down on the lever. I drank greedily from the tap until I felt rehydrated. I let go of the lever and sat back.

What can I do… I don’t want to not do anything. Even if Rarity did say I’ve done enough for the night.

Maybe I coul- No… That wouldn’t work.

Hmm. How about collecting some of this water.

I turned to the tap and thought to myself.

What could I use? My bag can’t hold water alone.

        I scanned the room to find something to use. I looked over the various chairs and tables and the various bottles that littered the floor.

Looks like there is nothing I ca- I facehoofed

The bottles, how can I be so stupid and forget about the bottles!

        I walked over to the pile of various bottles I had stacked on top the bar counter. I grabbed four of the largest ones and slide-on caps for each and placed the first one under the tap.

        I filled the first two easily, but while filling the third the water pressure slowly died down until the water was dripping only once every two seconds. I frowned at this and capped the mostly filled bottle. I placed the fourth bottle back on the counter. I put the first three into my mail bag and looked around the bar.

The bar was a mess. Both from whatever happened before we arrived and the empty bottles I stacked across the entire counter. I trotted up to one of the chairs and sat upright in it. I slumped forward and laid my head on top of the table in front of me.

I’ll just take a quick nap… Then I’ll tell them about the water and…

        My thoughts died down as I slipped into sleep.

Chapter 1 - Prologue

[Spitfire]

        I tense up my shoulders and twist my head into a heroic position. The mirror in front of me reveals I look as good as I always do. Admiring my own yellow coat and my fiery mane.

        The left side of my upper chest is filled with six rows of various pins. There are three in each row, each depicting a series of colors -some images- that correspond with an award I have been granted for my time in service.

        Below the pins, three medals hung from my jacket. My Wonderbolt medal, my Captains Medal, and my Leadership medal.

        The Wonderbolt was shaped as its namesake. The Captains looks like a carbon-copy of the Wonderbolt’s logo. A thunderbolt with wings. Lastly, Leadership is a solid oval. The front of the oval is imprinted with a depiction of General Firefly. The leader of the first Wonderbolts. Each medal is covered in a silvery sheen.

        I step back from my mirror and head towards my room’s desk. The room I was assigned had two rooms, the bathroom and the main room. The main room contained a queen-sized bed, a small wooden desk, and a tall mirror attached to the wall.

        I snatched up a survival knife from atop my desk. I never leave without my knife in case of an emergency. I had to learn that the hard way. The royal wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Armor was invaded by changelings and the majority of attendees, including myself, were unarmed against the insectoid creatures.

        We were lucky the changelings were using non-lethal methods against everyone at the wedding. It would have been a massacre otherwise. Being the ever paranoid soldier I am, I also carry a small box with hydrogen peroxide and a roll of bandages around for a first-aid situation.

        I checked my uniform once more, assuring that every award was in the correct order and the buttons vertically lining the center of my uniform. Pleased with it, I left the main room and closed the door behind me.

        The hallway I was now in stretched in two directions. One end led to more rooms for various guests. The other path led to the main hall. For this year’s Gala, it was decided to be held in the Royal Canterlot Castle for the second year in a row.

        I trotted half-way down to the main hall when Soarin popped out of a door and took a place to my right. He was clad in almost-identical class As with the exception of few medals.

        “Yo, Spitfire, you heading to the event?” Soarin asked in his usually overly-happy tone.

        I kept walking forwards, but I tilted my head in his direction. “Yes I am. Where’s the missus?”

        Soarin’s ears perked up. “How do you know about Cloudchaser?”

        “You weren’t  exactly subtle about it last night,” I chuckled.

        In the corner of my eyes I watched as flames spread across his cheeks.

        We walked the rest of the hallway in silence. As we approached the main door, Soarin stopped.

        “It was nice seeing you, but I gotta go find CC. Bye!” Soarin stated as he trotted through the door at a quickened pace.

        I stepped through the door and looked around. Ponies of every color stood in groups around the hall. At one end laid the ‘nobles’, the stuck-up half of Canterlot. The opposite corner held what the nobles dubbed the ‘peasants’.

        I made my way through the hall and towards tables full of various hors d’oeuvres. The tables were neutral territory between the two sides. I picked up a small plate located at the end of one table and started selecting different appetizers. I filled my plate after receiving glares from some of the nobles for grabbing so much food at once. I heard mutterings of ‘uncouth’ and ‘pleb’ as I passed by some of their circles.

        I ignored the insults and made my way to the better side of the hall.

[Rarity]

        I step down from the platform and onto the cobblestone. I turn around and look at the little purple dragon following me. He wore a black tuxedo and a small red bow.

        “Spike, dear, can you get my bags?”

        “Of course Rarity!”

        Spike ran back inside the train car we just left. He reappeared pulling along a trolley piled high with brightly colored bags of every shape and size.

        “Thank you Spike,” I said as I trotted towards the gates of Canterlot.

        Twilight hopped out from the train car. She was clad in a lavender dress adorned with her cutie mark on both sides. Both Applejack and Fluttershy followed closely behind. The two of them wore green gowns. Applejack’s was lined with apples and Fluttershy’s was decorated with flowers.  The three of them trotted away from the train and passed Spike to take their places besides me.

        Twilight stopped and scanned the boarding station.

        “Where is Rainbow and Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

        “Oh, the two of them ran ahead. Something about a party,” Spike spoke up.

        Content, Twilight caught up to our group and said, “Girls, is everypony ready for the Gala?”

        “I guess so.” Fluttershy shrank as she spoke up.

        “Ah’m good.” Applejack lifted her chin up.

        As I opened my mouth to reply, I was met with the smell of apple pie and the sound of a gasp from another kind of apple.

        Applejack’s eyes pinpointed to a bakery we just passed.

        “Ah smell some good apple treats. I’ll catch up with y’all later,” Applejack trotted towards the shop.

        The remaining members of our group walked in silence through Canterlot for several blocks.

        “I’ll catch up with you girls later,” Fluttershy softly spoke.

        Twilight turned to look at her, “Where are you going Fluttershy?”

        Fluttershy pointed a hoof at a building.“I’m going to visit the animals at the shelter.”

        “Alright, just don’t take too long.” Twilight nodded a good-bye.

        “Have fun darling!” I said as I turned to look at her.

        “Bye Fluttershy.” Spike stopped to take a break from pulling Rarity’s luggage.

        Fluttershy slunked away from us and walked to the front door of the shelter. She opened it and stepped inside. We turned our attention back to the road and continued our walk to the castle.

        Above the castle, a prismatic trail streaked across the sky. At the front of the trail was a blue and pink blur. I watched Rainbow Dash carry Pinkie Pie as the two of them circled the Canterlot castle.

        As we passed through the castle gate, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie flew down to meet us at the doors of the castle. Rainbow held Pinkie by holding onto her forelegs. Rainbow wore a rainbow-colored dress with gold trim. Pinkie wore a pink gown decorated with balloons, confetti, and various candies.

        Dash dropped Pinkie and Pinkie hopped in place.

“That was sofunandweshoulddoitagain!”

        Rainbow stared at Pinkie with a blank face. “Uh- Yah. Anyways,”- Dash took off to the air and did a backflip -“that was awesome!”

        Twilight smiled at the two. “I am glad you two had fun, but it is time for the Gala.”

        “Ooh! I gotta go find the Wonderbolts! So lets hurry up!” Rainbow enthusiastically said.

        Rainbow Dash flew through the open doors of the castle. The rest of us followed closely behind Rainbow Dash.

        Spike approached a guard that stood by. “Buddy, can you take this to room-”

        Spike turned to face me. “Rarity what room are you staying in?”

        “I am staying in room twenty-six.”

        He turned back to the guard and pointed a claw at Rarity. “You heard her, room twenty-six.”

        The guard nodded and collected the luggage from Spike and pulled it down a hallway.

        We crossed through the entrance of the castle and into the main hall. The hall was filled with ponies on either side. The middle of the hall had ponies sparsely gathered, but at the exact center of the hall laid a long table covered with various foods.

        Twilight turned to our group. “I have to go find the princesses! Bye girls! Oh, and come on Spike. Celestia told me she wants to see you” She trotted away with Spike in tow.

        I scanned the crowds of ponies to find someone of interest to chat with. On the right side of the hall most of the ponies seemed to be relaxing and having fun. Most wore simple dresses and suits.

        However, on the left side of the hall, ponies wore extravagant attire for even my standards. I spotted Hoity Toity.

He has to see my dress! What if he loves it? I could become his personal designer! Oh I just have to show him my work!

        I stopped as I realised I was staring and a drop of saliva had dripped onto the floor. I quickly reacted and looked around to confirm sure no one saw was just happened. I was out of luck as Rainbow was flying upside down in front of me cackling like a madpony.

        “Hahahaha! You should have seen the look on your face!”- Rainbow caught her breath in between words -”What exactly were you looking at?”

        I donned a small nervous smile and replied, “Nothing, nothing at all dear.”

        She flicked a hoof towards me. “Sure Rarity, anyways I am off to find the Wonderbolts. I just have to show them my new moves!”

        Rainbow Dash flew away, leaving only me and Pin- Wait. Where’s Pinkie?

I searched for the eccentric mare, but could not see her anywhere around me.

        “Oh well,” I sighed.

        I walked up to the small group gathered around Hoity Toity.

        “-and that’s when I said, ‘That is not how you eat a crumpet!’” Hoity guffawed at his own joke alongside the rest of his posse.

He spotted me approaching and stated, “How lovely it is to see you again Lady Rarity! Tell us about how you have been.”

“I’ve been doing wonderful Sir Hoity Toity, thank you for asking,” I replied, trying to sound as smoothly as possible.

“That’s splen-” Hoity pointed a hoof towards a yellow fiery-maned mare stacking food onto a small plate. “- what exactly is that plebeian doing?”

Hoity’s posse all turned towards the mare and started to make snide comments.

“She is just simply uncouth!” one stallion remarked.

“I can’t believe the princesses would stand to have peasants attending an event not meant for their kind,” a uptight mare stated with a grinding of her teeth.

I stared at the yellow mare. She finished collecting various hors d’oeuvres and started walking towards the opposite side of the hall from Hoity’s group. She seemed oblivious to the ponies mocking her.

This is not right, how can ponies be so rude to another? I shouldn’t associate myself with these ponies.

I stepped back a step. “It was nice meeting you all, but I have some ponies to meet.”

“Sorry to hear that. It was nice speaking to you Rarity, have a fabulous night,” Hoity replied.

A few of the other ponies in Hoity’s group murmured good-byes as I walked away from them and towards the mare. Nopony else was near her and she was strolling towards a group of similarly-clad ponies.

        The mare in question stopped mid-step and turned to face me as I approached.

        “Are you here to call me a-”

        I held up a hoof to silence her. I looked around and found satisfaction in knowing none of the nobles were close enough to hear me.

        “No, I came to apologize on behalf of all respectable ponies. My name is Rarity, you?”

        The mare scanned my face in suspicion but quickly answered, “Spitfire.”

        “It has been nice meeting you Spitfire, even if the circumstances were… unkind.”

        A shrill voice yelled, “Is everypony ready to party!”

        Spitfire and I turned to owner of the voice, which happened to be located right next to us.

The voice in question belonged to the one, the only, Pinkie Pie.

 Pinkie Pie stood balanced on her back hooves on top of her party cannon which was aimed to the ceiling.

[Derpy]

        I soared through the Canterlot skies. Pegasi mail carriers are limited in Canterlot during events like today. The majority of the population are unicorns with a small minority of pegasi and earth ponies. Also today the Gala is being held. Last-minute priority mail is delivered by both the pegasi mail carriers of Canterlot and surrounding towns to accommodate the influx of mail.

        In Ponyville, Dinky was staying with Doctor Whooves until I get back from the mail rush. When I left I grabbed my saddlebag. It is a worn brown satchel with Doctor Whoove’s cutie mark on the front. I keep all of my traveling necessities and the mail for the day inside.

        He had given me the satchel for our six-month anniversary. Before he gave it to me, I would have to get a new saddlebag every other week because they would always fall apart after my constant accidents. This satchel is the most durable so far, it has lasted me for around three months now.

        He watches Dinky for me when work takes me far from home. She loves being around him and he is a great father figure for her. She is used to seeing him every day anyways.

The three of us are going to be baking muffins when I get back. My little Dinky loves her chocolate chip muffins! I promised her I’ll be back first thing once my route is done.

One last letter to deliver an- Oh what’s going on in there?

        I was passing the Canterlot castle to reach the edge of the city, but a sight caught my eye from the other side of one of the clear-glass windows. A pink mare was standing on her back hooves atop a large blue cannon with pink wheels painted to look like flowers.

        I changed course and started to fly closer to the window for a better look. I misjudged the distance between the window and myself, causing me to fly straight through it. Unluckily, head first.

        Shards of glass rained upon ponies beneath the window. Pain sprouted from my head after smashing into the glass and I felt something trickle down my left wing.

        I spiraled downwards towards the now shell-shocked pink mare. I smacked into the cannon and rolled into a pair of ponies. My body stopped and I was laying on my back.

        Yellow feathers entrenched my sight from above my head which I assume is from one of the ponies I collided with. I looked to my right and saw the other pony of the pair sprawled out next to me. The white unicorn was trying to get back on to her hooves.

        I turned my head to see what happened to the cannon and the pink mare.

        The pink mare was on her back beside the cannon. She looked pretty surprised.

         Then I noticed the cannon was pointed directly towards me. I saw the sparking of a lit fuse atop the cannon.

Uh oh.

A loud bang blasted my ears. Confetti filled my sight and rainbows swirled around me. Everything around me was enveloped into a transparent prismatic vortex which slowly opaqued until nothing but colors consumed my vision.

[Derpy]

        Warmth radiated off of my feathers. I rolled over and yawned.

This bed is really coarse. Also why does it feel like I am sleeping in sand?

I brought my hooves to my eyes and rubbed them. I lifted myself up and looked around me.

        Sand. Just sand in all directions.

Well, sand and two mares. That white unicorn with the purple mane that was beside me when the cannon went off and a yellow pegasus with a mane that resembled flames.