Fallout: Equestria - Broken Luck

Fallout: Equestria - Broken Luck

Chapter 2: Sands of Death

The first day of travel was exciting, but at the same time very uneventful. Glimmerhoof and I talked all day about what we would do, where we would go, and who we would meet. The sense of adventure was strong, and the world was our shelled Mirelurk to eat. She seemed to shine brighter, and her eyes sparkled even more. I didn't think I'd ever see a sight as pretty as her, laughing and her coat shimmering like it was a gem on fire. I told her that too. "Glimmer, you gotta stop."

"Stop what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Bein' so buckin' adorable. I just want to eat you up." I replied with a giggle. She blushed and stammered out a half-hearted teasing response, but she was flattered by it. The way her eyes twinkled said it all. It always warmed my heart to see her so cheerful, so I couldn't help but tease her and get her to laugh.

The sun was blazing, even through the cloud cover that never seemed to go away. I idly wondered how hot it would get without the cover...because it must have been hotter than the end of a machine-gun, going on full auto. And there weren't any trees out here in the desert. By the second day, we both quickly tired of the heat.

"Tough...could we move away from the desert? Is there such a thing as no desert in Equestria?" Glimmerhoof asked me, after finishing off yet another canteen of water. "It's so hot...and I'm dying of thirst." she complained. I wisely decided to not point out that I've been the one hauling her and the rest of the stuff for the past two days.

"I dunno. I guess we could keep going until we found a place that wasn't. I've heard the legionnaires talking about there being other places." my response was tired. I was tired. The heat seemed to sap the energy out of me, along with the shifting dunes being twice as hard to trot in than hard dirt. "All I know is I think we should start resting during the day and travellin' at night. It's just too hot right now."

"We should stop then, and set up the tent. I'm dying for some shade and a breeze." I nodded, and with that she slipped off the cart and rooted around in it while I unhooked myself. The way the cart was set up allowed us to hook the tent to it, giving us a sort of lean-to, while still allowing us access to the supplies, which we had to dig into frequently. I knew we had to pack a lot of water, but we were going through it at an alarming rate. It only takes three days to get there. Surely we'll make it. Boy, was I wrong about that.

It was too hot for us to do anything besides talk, lean against the wagon, and drink water. Thankfully, a small breeze picked up, helping cool us off...but it was a warning sign for something quite a bit more sinister. The swirling sand devils drew some bit of amusement from us, pointing them out and naming them, watching them grow too big for themselves and collapsing into a cloud. We gave them silly names at first, but gradually it got more and more morbid. 'Death' 'Famine' 'Bloody Stump'. Soon, it became a competition to gross the other out, rather than a name game.

I don't know if the cosmos have a sick sense of humor. Maybe it was Celestia, watching from the sky and poking fun at us. I certainly didn't think it was very funny though, when the breeze started to get stronger. I felt the hair on the back of my neck prickling...a sense that something bad was about to happen. "...Glimmer, we need to go. It's not safe here." I said, quickly hopping up and starting to dismantle the tent. She got a worried look on her face, but she trusted my instinct and helped me get things prepared.

It was a case of too little too late, though, as the wind started whipping against us, driving the sand into our skins and past our sad excuses for cloaks. It stung like the burn of a thousand bloatsprite stingers hitting you all at once. I, unfortunately, did not have the brains to think of a sand storm kicking up, so I didn't pack us any eye protection. I was also not smart enough to think I shouldn't travel during a sand storm. But away we went, blind, getting sanded raw and being generally miserable.

It got so bad that I had to give Glimmerhoof my cloak and wrap the tent tarp around her. I could handle the pain...but she was a more delicate type. She was extremely grateful, and she gave me a tiny peck on the cheek...but it was so dry. Her lips were chapped and raw, and it felt like sandpaper. I steeled my nerves and pressed on foolishly. By the time the storm died down, it was getting dark. We didn't have a light, either, so we couldn't travel. Not to mention the desert got freezing cold at night. We had to start a fire and bed down, cuddling together for warmth. But my night was sleepless. I kept watch...raiders would be out. I couldn't let them catch us while we were both asleep.

When day broke, I realized that I had fallen asleep with my eyes open. They stung like crazy when I blinked awake, and it made me tear up something awful. I felt Glimmerhoof shift, though, and squeeze a hoof on my shoulder. But...something was off about it. It was too tight. Something's wrong. "Don't move." she whispered in a terrified voice. "There's a scorpion standing over us. It's bigger than the two of us combined."

Great. And I can't see because of my eyes. I whispered back. "How close is it?"

"It's just staring us down. It's close enough to sting, but not enough to reach." her voice had a quiver to it.

"Just keep lying still. It might be deciding if we're food or not. I want you to squeeze my shoulder when it gets close enough for me to reach."

I got a little tap as an affirmative. It was definitely not an ideal situation. I was effectively blinded, only able to see the blurry shape of the huge creature, I was laying down, and I couldn't reach for my gladius, which had been leaned on the wagon. Time seemed to slow down. It felt like the thing stared at us for hours. I could feel Glimmerhoof trembling madly, but trying to force herself to stop. Breathing seemed like it was deafening...my heartbeat was even louder.

Finally, she squeezed my shoulder. "Roll away!" I yelled, while shooting my hoof out to drive into where, hopefully, the things eyes were located. It made a meaty crunch, and a squeal of pain was elicited from it. The huge claws batted me away like I was a mere doll, slamming me against the wagon. Glimmerhoof screamed, and hid under the wagon.

My ribs throbbed from the hit, but I couldn't nurse them just yet. Luck wasn't on my side...it never was. Because my gladius was on the -other- side of the wagon. What in the fires of Tartarus was I thinking?! I mentally berated myself. The creature had gathered itself up, green ichor oozing from the eyes that I crushed with my punch. They always said I had a punch like an alicorn, I guess it wasn't far off. The creature immediately charged at me, it's tail at the ready. It struck...and it felt like time slowed down for me. I was still fighting half-blind, but I could see the movements. I dove out of the way when the stinger slammed into the side of the cart, making it rock. The wood hissed angrily as the potent venom was leaked into it, and the acrid smell of acid-burned wood filled the air.

The scorpion chittered angrily that it's meal was being difficult, and yanked it's stinger out of the cart, turning to me again. I had to think fast. Time for a dirty trick! I scooped a hoofful of sand, and when the thing charged me again, I threw it with all my might into it's face. Now radscorpions are purpose built for the desert. If I hadn't already punched some of it's face in, I would have been a dead mare right there. But some luck seemed to hold out for me, and the creature skidded to a halt, it's claws scrabbling at it's face and it's stinger wildly slamming into the ground in front of it, trying to keep me away. I was just fine with keeping my distance, because the glint of my gladius reminded me what I needed. It was distracted, and Glimmerhoof was too busy freaking out under the wagon, so I jumped for my sword, and grabbed it into my mouth. Now I could fight! But there was still the problem of blurry vision. I prayed lightly to Luna for my sword to strike true, and I circled the wagon, getting into my battle stance.

When I rounded the cart, the scorpion was pissed. It gave a hissing, angry noise, and it charged at me again. But this time, I was ready. At least, I thought it was. I miscalculated the angle it was striking from, and the barbed stinger buried into my shoulder when I tried to roll to the side and swipe at it. Immediately, my body was lanced with pain. "AAAAAGH!" I yelled loudly, the pain in my shoulder white hot, and spreading. I quickly slashed upwards as a reflex, and my sword bit into the tail, slicing the tip of the stinger off. Thank the goddesses. But that stinger was still buried in my shoulder, and the pain was disorienting. The adrenaline rush just made it worse. Now -I- was mad. I blacked out.

I don't remember the rest of that fight. All I remember was Glimmerhoof calling my name, trying to ineffectually pull me away from pounding a green-and-black splotch into the sand. She later told me that I turned into something that scared her enough to not come out, even when the scorpion was dead. I used my bare hooves and I pounded that damned creature into paste, screaming bloody murder. When I snapped out of it, all that my body would tell me is pain. Pain. PAIN. I couldn't stand it. The searing, sense-blinding, hot white pain. I collapsed on the ground, moaning. I think I might have vomited too. It hurt that damn much. Time seemed to blur together. Glimmerhoof kept trying to rouse me. In my brief moments of lucidity, I could see that she had set up camp, and she kept pouring water into my throat and begging me to not die. I think at some point, she fed me the watery health potion our master kept around. I think that may have saved me in the end. But it didn't save her.

Not in the slightest.