Those Who Wander

I'm starting to think I must have headed in the wrong direction. It was a lot easier to see where that thing was before I grabbed the goggles, and now I'm pretty sure I messed everyone up by trying to lead the way when I couldn't see properly. Mr. Cut is probably going to be pretty mad about that. I look back to make sure they haven't fallen behind. Huh. It looks like they actually have. That might be a good thing, because when I go back to find them, I can just lead them in the right direction now, hopefully. Of course, I still can't seem to make out which direction that is, but finding Mr. Cut and... that other guy is a little more important right now. I start flying back in the opposite direction.

Hmm. I probably should have checked a little sooner, I guess. I can't see them anywhere. Oh, it would help if I even knew how high up to look, but they could have landed, for all I know. I take off the goggles for a second to look around. Still nothing. Hmm. Oh, wait. There is something, but it's a little off to the side. Oh, wait a minute! That's Mr. Saddle and the griffin from earlier! It looks like they're just laying there, so we're probably safe. Unless they're dead. Hmm. Maybe I should check on them. They might need some medical attention. Well, I don't suppose it would do any good, actually. I'd still have to find Mr. Cut, and I wouldn't be able to carry either of them myself anyway. At least now, I know which direction to go. I was way off the first time. I search for about three minutes before I finally find Mr. Cut lying down on the ground in the shade of a nearby dune. The sun is almost completely down, so staying there really just makes him hard to find, and does nothing else. I fly down to where he's laying.

"Mr. Cut! Are you okay? What happened to your escort?"

"...uhh... Mother? Is that you?" he whispers up at me.

"What? No. Not even a little. Hey, come on, we've got to get moving!"

"Wait... I need... water. ...From over there!" As he says this, he points into a random direction in which there is certainly not any water for at least a few dozen miles.

"Um... Mr. Cut. You've only been in the desert for about fifteen minutes. There's no way you're hallucinating already."

"Shh... Please, just... let me rest. I never even... learned your.... naaaame."

He lets out a sigh and his hoof drops as he says this last line, and he also coughs up a mouthful of sand. I've had just about enough of this.

"Mr. Cut! Stop horsing around! Mr. Saddles is out there, and he might be in serious trouble while you're over here goofing off! And why in Equestria were you eating sand‽"

He finally stands up. "Yeah, in retrospect, that may have been a poor decision, but hey, we've got no time to lose flappin' our muzzles out here either, so let's get going, kid. Which way were they, again?"

"Right. Just follow me."

We start trotting toward the place where I had seen them earlier, and I ditched the goggles. It was too dark to use them by now anyway.

"So, um, what about that pegasus you were with earlier? The big bulky one, I mean."

"That guy ran off at the first sight of that wyrm. I couldn't believe that guy. He doesn't know it yet, but he's totally fired."

"You can fire ponies for that?"

"Sure can, kid. Well, I'm pretty sure most of the stunt team around here is non-union, anyway. I was just thinking the other day about how hard it is to find good help, you know? Not like you, kid. You're true blue. I could tell by lookin' atcha that you're not the type to run away when someone's in trouble, see. Tell me, what do you do around here, anyway? I don't think I've seen you around."

"Oh, um, well, I just work the boom mic, so I'm not really-"

"The boom mic? You? No way! You oughtta be in pictures, kid, and I mean that. While you're still young. We can't have you behind the camera just holding up a stick. That's a mule- I mean, uh... that's a job for a schmuck. Matter of fact, just today, I had this one filly on that boom mic that kept on lowering it too far dow-," He stopped talking and squinted at me for a few seconds. "Whew. I'm really fumbling over my words today, heh heh. Well, anyway, the point is, kid, you could be a star if you wanted to. You've got the right aura about you. I've got an eye for it, see. Intuition."

"Oh, thanks a lot, but I don't think I could ever do what Mr. Saddle does. He's amazing. He can just... become another pony for a few months if he needs to. I don't think I've got that kind of... well, whatever it is he has."

"Nah, don't worry about that. You've got it. I can tell. You just don't know 'cause you've never tried your hoof at it yet. Trust me on this one."

"Well, if you say so...."

"Hey, kid. Between you and me, Blazing Saddle is the only actor in the world that does that whole 'other pony' bit. Everypony's somepony else when the cameras are rolling, sure, sure, but they don't take it home with them. He told me one time, he said 'method acting means never going halfway.' That's a load of hayseed. Nobody else does that. But still, you've got to admire the dedication he puts into that. What's your name, anyway, kid?"

"It's, uh, Skywishes."

"Skywishes! See, what'd I tell ya? That's a star's name right there. Skywishes! Imagine seeing that in lights, eh?"

"Oh, um, I thought the whole 'lights' thing was for theatre."

"You'll be in plenty of theaters! Equestria's Sweetheart! They're gonna love you!"

While we're talking, we come across a sword from the set and it's covered in a weird gooey substance.

"Hey, I think this is the sword he had with him. They must have already gone back to the camp."

"Impossible. We've been travelling in a straight line, haven't we? We'd have run into them."

"Umm... well, not exactly... before you fell down, we were kind of off-course, but uh, here, why don't we just follow the hoofprints?"

"Mmmhmm..." He frowned at me. "Fine. We'll just follow the hoofprints."

We head back in the direction of the camp, after the hoofprints. We don't say a single word until we get back. It looks like whatever happened, Mr. Saddle made it back to camp somehow. Mr. Cut waves to the nightwatchpony and starts toward his trailer.

"G'night, kid."

"Goodnight, Mr. Cut."

"Have a good one. Say, what did you say your name was? It seems like you told me."

"Skywishes, Mr. Cut."

"Skywishes. That's right. Heh. Yeah. You're gonna do great."

And with that, we part ways.