One Last Job

The town of Clearspring was a somewhat quiet settlement nestled a few miles to the East of Dodge City. Its population rarely exceeded a hundred, and almost everyone knew everyone. Larger than Ponyville, but much smaller than most other cities. It had gotten its name from the conditions it often had. Due to a low Pegasus population and not really being big enough to be included in most weather patrols, it was clear and beautiful almost every day. The few pegasi who did live there had an obligation to make it rain every so often.

As the train pulled into the station and Lazuli stepped out, she felt a bit of calm tranquility hanging over the town…but something else was there, too. A feeling of unease. A bit of fear, even. It was evident in the way that the ponies on the platform looked at her, their expressions mixed with the southern hospitality that the region was known for and a bit of fear of the unknown. Then again, they had probably never seen a Dracony, so that could have been part of the issue.

She wasn’t going to be staying long, though. She would pop into a store, get the supplies she needed and head out to the Badlands. She wanted her mission to be over as soon as possible, so she could get back home and forget about what she was carrying in her bags forever. Luckily, she had at least been smart enough to bring bits with her, so she could pay for whatever she needed.

Looking around, Lazuli realized she was one of a very small number of ponies getting off the train here. She could see why – Dodge City was far better known, Clearspring was just closer to the Badlands and therefore a better staging area for her. She started to trot forward, using her tail to brush her mane to one side, but she was almost immediately interrupted.

“’Scuse me, miss?”

Her head turned. It was a male voice, but it sounded soft, albeit with a heavy Southern accent. Standing there was an earth pony, with light creamy coloured fur and a brown mane and tail. She couldn’t see his cutie mark from here, but based on his overalls she just assumed he was a farmer of some sort. “Er, yeah?”

“Pardon me, but mind if I ask what y’all are?”

“…um…me? I’m a Dracony.” Lazuli replied. She supposed her assumption was correct.

The stallion’s brow furrowed. “Can’t say I’ve heard of ‘em before…y’all ain’t one of those crazy robot-ponies’ experiments, right?”

“Wha- experiments? No, I’m…just a Dracony.” Lazuli glanced from side to side, an action that seemed suspicious but was primarily just her checking if someone was approaching – it seemed to be just them, though.

“…right. Well I ain’t exactly convinced…we’ve had lotsa trouble with ‘em around here, and I’d wanna keep one of their kind as far away from here ‘s possible.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry.” Lazuli forced a smile. “I’m just buying some things and I’ll be on my way.”

“Buyin’ things and leavin’? But ain’t you just come off the train?”

Lazuli inhaled deeply. “Yes, well…I’m headed into the Badlands.” She almost instantly realized that was the wrong thing to say, the stallion’s body tensing up just a bit and his eyes narrowing.

“So you are with ‘em.”

“No, I’m really not.” She tried to salvage the credibility she had left, clearing her throat. “Actually, if you want the truth…I’m against them.”

The earth pony’s eyes remained fixated on her, but after a few moments his expression softened. “Well, I hope fer your sake that you’re tellin’ the truth. Ya don’t wanna know what we do to them…G-whatevers when we catch ‘em.”

“Right…thanks.” Lazuli nodded slowly and began to trot off of the train platform, rolling her eyes when her back was turned to him.

She could have sworn she heard some odd mechanical whirring when she turned away, but she passed it off since the train was just beginning to pull away.

The general store wasn’t much, but Lazuli wasn’t sure what she had been expecting. It had the essentials of what she needed though, so she was happy for that.

Walking in, she was greeted by a rather chubby and happy looking earth pony mare from behind the counter. She politely waved back and smiled in return, then got down to finding what she needed.

First she went to the back and looked through the various tarps and covers they had. She knew they wouldn’t have proper tents that one could take out of a box and build, but she could improvise fairly easily. Hoisting a large beige tarp onto her back, she moved over to the tools. She picked up a hammer, a few wooden stakes, a survival knife and a few feet of rope. Her tent was the only real thing she would need, at least she assumed so. Plus, her funds were somewhat limited by her own fault, so she kept that in mind.

A few more things were added to her list. Bottled water, a special hat and visor combo designed to protect one’s face against wind and sandstorms, and a medical kit just in case she got more injured than she could afford to let heal on its own.

When she brought it all to the counter, the mare was still cheery, albeit a bit inquisitive. “’S an awful lot of stuff here, hmm? Where’re you plannin’ to go campin’, darling?”

“Oh, yeah.” Lazuli nodded. “I’m actually uh…going a little ways into the Badlands.”

“Badlands? Whew, I’ll wish ya luck on that, hon. Not a lot of ponies go in there just ‘cause…” She sifted through all of the items Lazuli had brought, then rang up the total. “All this’ll be a hundred and fifty, hon.”

Lazuli winced, but was glad she had enough. Digging into her saddlebags she pulled out her coin pouch, noting that the mare behind the counter held her gaze on the black cloth jutting out of the Dracony’s bag for a few seconds while she counted out the coins. Finally dumping what amounted to a hundred and fifty on the counter, she started to gather up the items and put the smaller ones in her bags.

The earth pony mare leaned up against the counter. “What’re you plannin’ to do in the Badlands, anyway?”

“Oh, just…trekking, I guess. I like a challenge.”

“Ya sure that’s all you’re doin’?”

“You’re the second pony to ask me that in this town, but yes, I’m sure.”

The mare snorted. “Ya know…I can smell a liar a mile away.”

“Well…you have a great nose then, I guess. Congrats?” Lazuli put the tarp on her back again, securing it on top of her two bags and putting the hat on her head, keeping the visor pulled up.

The mare, clearly realizing she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of the odd creature in front of her, simply shrugged. “Well y’all better hope I don’t catch ya causin’ any trouble, ya hear? I don’t take lightly to troublemakers…”

“So I’ve heard.” Lazuli grunted as she shifted the weight on her back, forcing on a smile again. “Thank you, though. Trust me, I won’t be causing any trouble here!”

She turned to leave, pushing open the door with her head and stepping back out into the street. The mare watched her leave, then sighed and went back to cleaning off some of the things on the counter. “Poor gal’s gonna get eaten alive out there…”

The Badlands weren’t hard to find on their own, and it was only assisted by a massive sign sitting on the southern edge of the town.

NOW ENTERING THE BADLANDS. (Good Luck)

Lazuli was unperturbed by the sign, and stepped past it. She had to admit that after she really began to get to the deeper parts of the desert, she could see why it would be a problem for normal ponies. Sun beating down, dry sand sinking and sifting under your hooves…it was terrible for anyone.

But it was perfect for Lazuli. Having the heat billowing around her, heat that was even carried in the air, it felt amazing for a cold-blooded creature like herself. Granted, it also made her feel a bit lethargic after a while, but it was a great break from the norm that she experienced in Ponyville.

She trudged through the sand for what felt like, and probably was, hours. The general location of the GoM base was in the very heart of the Badlands – Lazuli ended up walking for nearly five hours straight before she caught the first trace of it.

In the distance, smoke billowed out of a large crater in the sand…or rather, it seemed like a crater at first glance. In reality it was a carved out basin, laid with brick and metal at the bottom. Lazuli crawled all the way to the edge of the basin, lying her stomach down on the sand to look out upon it.

It was like looking into a mad scientist’s deluded wet dream, Lazuli thought. The base itself was a sinister, dark building that looked more like a factory than a base of operations. Smokestacks billowed with exhaust, and Lazuli could only imagine what was churning inside to cause that much pollution. Dotted around the base were smaller, less refined buildings and tents, all surrounded by a tall barbed wire fence. Each corner of the fence was covered by a tall lookout tower, equipped with searchlights and, presumably, each housing a pony. Right now, since the sun was only just beginning to set, she imagined that they would be taking their positions in said towers. Lazuli briefly wondered why the towers weren't designed to crest over the top of the bluffs, but realized fairly quickly that the wind and the height would make such a feat of engineering extremely annoying at best.

It was more than reasonable for her to assume that Ayize was in the main building. She knew her best chance of getting in was probably right about this time of day – when they were just starting to set up the search towers, and the light was only just starting to grow darker. She sat there for a few more minutes, scanning every bit of the base that she could before moving away from the edge of the basin and standing up.

She knew it was dangerous to set up camp out in the open, especially if she was keeping it close to the base. She turned back the way she came and walked a few hundred metres from the artificial valley, to where she had found a fairly sizeable outcropping of rock jutting out of the sand. Finding that the rock was more than large enough to house a tent, and perhaps even protect her from any sandstorms that might arise, she started to set up the tarp with the wooden stakes and rope that she had bought.

Once her tent was pitched and she saw the moon beginning to rise in the sky – for the process was quite fast in Equestria, of course – she decided she would need to take on the mission, or at least a quick scouting mission in the base tomorrow. Pushing open the rudimentary flap she had fashioned for her tent, she laid down a blanket inside and unpacked her saddlebags. First she laid out the medical kit, leaning it up against the rock that she had used to form a wall on one side of her tent, and then she took out her suit and laid it out on the blanket. Her eyes fixated on it for a few seconds before she laid herself down, letting the fading light of day turn into the near pitch-blackness of night. Knowing the desert, it would likely get quite cold, and she just hoped that the tent would protect against the worst of it for now.

As she settled down to sleep, she briefly considered trying to make contact with Luna in her dreams…but she decided against it. Better to do jobs like this with no connection that might distract you, she thought.