Author's Note

Inspired by Andy Weir's "The Martian". If you haven't read it, I seriously recommend that you do. It is awesome

Enjoy!

Day 1

Well, to be technical, it's not really day one. I've been stuck here for three days, so this is really day three in the Badlands. But I've decided to make today day one of this, my journal.

Yep, I've decided to document my probably very short stay here, in case anypony else happens to read this at some point.

Heh. Somepony other than myself reading this? Yeah right.

I suppose mostly it's a way to keep myself sane. After my little panic attack a few days ago (you know, the whole 'AGH I'M GONNA DIE I'M BUCKED BUCKED BUCKED' thing), I figured it would be a good little mental exercise to have. I'd rather die of thirst or heat exhaustion than falling off a cliff because I thought I was being chased by zombie llama-sharks. That would just be embarrassing.

So far, things have been alright, considering the circumstances. I am, after all, still alive. Can't say the same for the rest of the crew.

I was the only survivor.

I suppose it would be important to let you know exactly how I got here. And by here I mean huddled in the corner of a burning airship, scribbling my last thoughts into a small book I found, awaiting certain death.

Well, it started when the helmspony Dazzleflash went off to 'investigate a strange noise'. Probably just an excuse to go and drink below deck, which at the time hardly seemed dangerous. The winds were fair, visibility was high, and we were on course. All fine and dandy. And then something happened. I don't know what. Some stray ember from a dying torch, probably, and an undetected leak in the balloon. And boom.

I was mending a rigging on bow of the Resilient when the balloon caught fire. The ship immediately and quickly dropped in altitude, throwing me onto the deck. Something really solid must have been underneath my head, because as soon as I hit the deck I was knocked out. I don't remember anything else, just waking up in the Badland dust, seeing the smoldering ruins of the airship. My guess is that, because I was unconscious, my body was relaxed and I was able to survive the fall. Pretty spectacular, aren't I?

When I arrived at the scene of the crash, it was honestly pretty traumatic. The only body I saw was that of the cook, Sloppy Joe, luckily but not seeing the others might have been worse. I knew that they were still in there, probably charred, or crushed. And, sure, I didn't care for many of them, and even loathed a few, but death is death. They're not coming back. But I did.

I suppose I still have a little bit of survivor's guilt, but overall, I'd say I've handled this reasonably well. I haven't gone off the deep end, and only really freaked out once. Sure, I have the threat of death hanging over my head every second of every day, but hey, I haven't died yet! That's a good sign! Plus, I got a couple of fairly good things going for me.

In the fall, for example, I was relatively and surprisingly unharmed. My only injury was a broken leg, specifically my right hind leg. It's still pretty painful, but I was able to set it with some hull fragments and cloth I found amongst the wreckage. I'm able to hobble around, though not for very long. I'm planning on doing as little movement as possible for a while. My injury will probably take a couple of months to heal, so I shouldn't go about making it any worse. I've also started working on a pair of crutches, to aid me in my hobbling.

Another thing is food and water. When we first sailed out of Canterlot, we brought along enough food and water for a crew of sixteen for five months; the journey to Saddle Arabia was supposed to only take three months, but we brought along more for peace of mind. After the crash, however, most of the food was destroyed, leaving me with about one and a half month's worth. One barrel of water survived the crash, so that should last me a couple weeks. Overall, if I ration it out, I should be able to stay alive until my leg heals and until I find a way to grow my own food. But that's future me's problem.

Also, though the Badlands are particularly known for extreme weather, it still has high winds, no cloud cover, and electrical storms. These may not be a huge deal on a ship the size of the Resilient, but it is for me. Luckily, the galley of the Resilient is one of the few parts of the ship that hasn't been completely destroyed, so I've inhabited that. Conveniently, that's where all the food and water was kept! Yay, random chance!!

So I've gotten decent first aid down, as well as food and water. What do I have to worry about? Well, I'm glad you asked.

I suppose it would be important to mention that the Resilient is on fire. Most of it, at least. The helium-filled balloon went up in flames several days ago, alighting the top deck of the ship. Already the top deck and the entire bow, or front part of the ship, is little more than charred timber, and the fire is spreading. Luckily, the stern, which, if you haven't figured out by now, is the back part of the ship, was torn away from the rest of the Resilient in the crash, so the fire is moving across it relatively slowly. But it is still moving, and it will eventually reach the cozy little room I now call home. And with my broken leg, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to move myself and all this food and water out before the flames reach me.

On the other hand, the fire is the only thing that's been keeping the Badlands wildlife at bay. Nopony has every really seen any creatures and lived to tell about it, but there is evidence. Biologists, archeologists, and adventurers have all brought back skeletons of monstrous beasts. Hell, that's every filly's and foal's favorite part of a museum. Little is known about these animals, but one thing that is certain is their carnivorous diet. So far nothing's tried to eat me, but I've been hearing chilling howls and shrieks every night since I've been here.

So, I'm kinda stuck with a double standard here. Fire goes go out, I die. Fire doesn't go out, I die.

Hurray.

But, like I said earlier, for now everything's pretty manageable. Tomorrow, I'll probably make my first attempt at moving some of the food to a room further away from the approaching fire.

But, for now, sleep.