“Tired of the hustle and bustle of the heartland? Want some peace and quiet? Well Come down and see our exotic shifting sandy hills, vast landscape, and our soothing atmosphere! Take a dip in our luxurious natural cleansing pools. Meet our exotic wildlife. ”

~travelhoof issue 32

“Bone Dry Desert”

A cutie mark represents what makes you special. What makes you unique. What separates you from the others. Your talent. Gives you a rough idea what you're gonna be doing for the rest of your life. You know that some ponies change their name to match their mark. Others had parents that had some bizarre forethought to name their foals something close to what to their cutie marks will ultimately turn out to be. I wonder if I was the former or latter when it comes to that. I guess I could say the same about memories. Both in which I lack. maybe if I were more eloquent I could construct a deeper meaning from that or use a good metaphor.

But hey at least I wasn't a Steel Ranger. Though I guess whoever the red crescent soldiers were, it couldn't be much better. Cause I'm pretty sure I wouldn’t willingly let somepony flay my ass. Don't take that out of context. Lost my name, my memories, and been giving a number. Somepony trying to scrub my identity away?
jeez
My head hurts.
I wonder if I was close to any of these dead ponies. Did the me from before the amnesia felt anything towards them? Did he felt sad about their death? Is it healthy to refer to pre-amnesia me as a different pony? Sadly I didn’t feel much about them as I looted from their still fresh corpse. Which wasn’t very much, I’m assuming the scavengers who took my armor picked anything that was useful. All I manage to scrounge up was an empty canteen cause somepony up there hates me and my still very dehydrated throat. Also, I gathered up some of the loose pieces from the broken MEWs (magical energy weapon) that scatter the sandy waste. maybe when I'm out of this desert, I’ll try to fix them but until then I’ll use one of the dead red crescent soldier’s jacket as a makeshift bag to hold them. And lastly a holotape player with a holotape in it. One of the Steel Ranger scribes had it. Though why a scribe will be here and not in one of their hidey holes is beyond me. The rest of the Steel Ranger were duked out in their power armor so I'm assuming they expected heavy resistance, so why bring a glorified bookkeeper?

Not really taking a liking to the smell of burning bodies and thinking I've been here long enough, I venture out into the desert. Following the trail the scavengers left. In the hopes it leads to some form of civilization. Maybe I could get a clue about my situation by taking a look at my power armor. The Red Crescent ponies don't have anything on that say who they are or why they were out here. So that's pretty much my best bet. Maybe my armor has an onboard navigation system and that could point me to where its originally from, at least I think that it could do that. My head still really hurts. The track resembles chariot tracks but I couldn’t see the tracks of the pony pulling it, just horizontal lines in parallel. as I gallop along the trail I decided to listen to the holotape picked from the scribe. A label on it said Operation Desert Rose.
“Oh, what a lovely name!” I snark to myself. Hitting play on the player a voice statics in.
“this is elder Daring Rubbed of the Bemoaning contingent” Daring Rubbed? What unfortunate name. Wait did she said Bemoaning contingent? Where the hell is Bemoaning? “Reports have been coming in detailing a heavily armed group being seen around the Shifting Waste and Oasis Ruins.” an elder mare sounding voice spoke through the holotape player’s speaker. Must be talking about the red crescent troops and to a lesser extent me. “Scouts claims that this group was equipped with power armor that we hadn’t seen before. So far their intent is unknown and they don’t interact with the local tribals. Located these targets and found out how they came in possession of these equipment.” I guess from how that little meeting ended they didn’t ask nicely. From how both sides are currently dead excluding me I guess you can say they were evenly matched, unless there's a third party that didn’t leave a trace. Sweet Celestia how’d did I get mixed in this? Who the fuck was I? And why didn’t any pony bring a canteen that was full with water!? And what the fuck is an Oasis?! I could hear the wind behind me.

“Oh sweet Celestia’s puckered anus!” how long have I been walking? Couldn’t have been long, right? I mean the sun still up. Well, I can't see the sun past the clouds, but I feel it. Oh yeah definitely feel it. My scabby flank is cooking under this heat. And thanks to the fuckin wind the trail was blown away and now it just looks like the rest of the desert. And here I am just trotting straight in hopes that they didn’t turn or anything. Well at least I don’t feel the possible broken nose anymore, nah now all I feel was the pain that course over my whole body. Each step I take sends a jolt of pain up through my legs. I was tired, thirsty, and my hooves were killing me.
Oh yeah did I mention my head hurts?

For miles, all I could see were sandy dunes. Oh, also the column of smoke from the crashed airship back at the power armor graveyard. The column looks very thin from all the way over here. I could barely smell cooked ponies from over here, mainly thanks to the wind which is really picking up, sending sand in the air. I had to cover my eyes as a large gust of it blow pass me. Unfortunately, I left my mouth open. Hacking up as my hide was being pelted by grains of sand. I had it with all this sand. Where in Equestria has a desert anyway? No, Equestria has a desert but not like this. This was vast. This is -
“AAaaaaaaAAaAHhhhhbffffsmsk!”
As I took a step, the ground beneath my hooves shifted and moved with it! Engulf in my whining I didn't notice the downslope until I got another mouthful of sand as I face planted and skid down it. The hot sand grinds against my hide until I came to a stop with my nose booping something. “Ugh” I grunted, opening my eyes to the empty eye sockets of a skull. “FUCK!” immediately get up onto my hooves, noticing that the skull wasn't alone. It was the full set. many of them. Shattered rib cages poke through the sand resembling teeth. Skulls enviously glare at the still living me. Poorly constructed spears sticking out from the sand littered among the bones. Why do everywhere I go there's death? In the middle of the field of skeletons was an upturn sky wagon that had a big yellow cross with three butterflies in faded paint on its side. The Followers of the Apocalypse, huh. What the hell are the Followers of the Apocalypse doing out here? Whatever here is. Weaving pass the bone dressed ground to the wagon.

It was clear it had been in a fight, bullet holes riddle its frame. Also, it looks like it had a run-in with some tribals, legit tribals. Not what the Steel Rangers refer to us wastelander that aren't in their little club. No, I mean ponies who went primitive. Ponies who after generation of no knowledge of Princess Celestia or even basic equine become more… animalistic? Adopting ideology from old buffalo myths or even created their own new religion. There was this one tribe that worship this one celebrity cause her mug was plaster over some billboards. At least I think there's a tribe like that. Spears adorned with small animal skulls and bird feathers pierce the wagon exterior, but no blood. All this dead and no blood? I cautiously step into the wrecked wagon, nearly buried in the sand. It was ransacked from the looks of it. Metal crates thrown around, used syringes scattered, and clipboards blanketed the floor which was actually the side, but you know.
Upturn.

The metal crates yielded nothing when it comes to loot. that's when the smell hits me. A familiar smell. A sickening smell. The smell of decay. A slightly different smell from the power armor graveyard, but close. This one smells older. How could I even tell that? “Urk” I gag a bit as I saw a weathered mass beneath some clipboards. He must have died a couple weeks ago, longer than the Steel Rangers back at the graveyard. This corpse's skin tightened around his bones. It was a stallion, a light green … pegasus? I've never seen a pegasus before, right? Pretty sure I’ve hadn’t. they‘re a bunch of cowards hiding behind their cloud, right? Well present company excluded, I guess. He mouth hang agape and legs riddle with injection marks. I guess that explains the used needles everywhere. Maybe he’d overdose. he’s wearing a lab coat with the Followers mark on it. Clutching between his front hooves was a yellow medic box. I grab the medic box handle with my mouth, maybe there something useful inside. But the corpse wasn't going to give it up easy, rigor mortis had set in. with pop and crack, I manage to wrestle the little medic box from his death grasp. Lucky for me the box wasn't locked, cause I don’t remember if I could even pick locks. Also, who locks a medic box anyway?

“Aw nectar of the goddess!” luminescent red potion encase in a glass container with that mare’s cutie mark on it sat next to a folded note and a weird glass orb thing within the medic box. I’d immediately down the red potion and felt my headache disappeared along with my sore body. I check the gash above my left eye and felt it close. And most importantly it hydrated my throat. I let out a sigh of relief as I fall onto my back and stretch my refresh limbs. The burning sensation left my body and was replaced a cool feeling. Still was tired though. Looks likes things are looking up for old…
whatever my name is.
I sat back on my plot and look over the rest of the medic box content. Maybe if I could find a vendor or something I might get some caps for this orb thing. I mean it looks nice maybe one of those Society ponies would if I claimed it belongs to Rarity or something like that. And finally the folded note, unfolding it. It saids:

Dear Fluttershy,
I’m not sure you would even get this letter but I could only hope that anypony who finds me will do me the service of getting this letter back to you. I want you to know that I was so proud when I was given this mission, when you gave your speech about helping the ponies around Oasis I immediately volunteered.
But the way to Oasis appears more dangerous than we could have predicted. We should of taking the NCR approve route, but we were too impatient. We thought we get there faster if we flew straight there. We lost Roasted Nuts and Winter Grease when flying over the Badlands. One moment Nuts was telling us about this weird dream he had about a filly who spoke backwards next he was drowning in his own blood as a spear pierced through his neck. Those tribals manage to launch those spears through our windows. While Oatcakes tried to stop his bleeding, Winter tried to give us covering fire. I tried to get us out there fast but one of the tribals must have been a unicorn cause Winter was wrapped in a magical conjure chain and was dragged to the ground. Sweet Celestia! We grew up together, we both left the Enclave together and I did nothing as those monster ripped her wings off! We didn’t have enough supplies to mount a rescue, what we did have we use to help Nuts. But in the end, Nuts died from blood loss and we left Winter to die. When we got to the desert we were hit by a storm of sand it knocks us way off course and broke one of my wings. Also, the wagon’s battery died and was forced to land what looks like a bone pit. We were lost in this Celestia abandoned desert. When our food supply ran low Oatcakes suggest that she head south to look for help. That was nine days ago. I don't think she will be coming back. I’m sorry Fluttershy I failed you. Either I’m gonna die from starvation or whatever caused the death of the ponies who bones litter the ground outside. I could hear it some nights. It's moving below the sand. I might end myself before I let it get me. I should of listen to you. But I didn’t and now I’m responsible for the death of Nuts, Winter, and possibly Oatcakes. I’m so sorry Fluttershy! Please forgive me! And may Celestia have mercy on my soul.

Sincerely your faithful student,
Minty Dew

Well, that was depressing. I look down at the dried-up buck. Should I bury him or something? Say a prayer? do I even know one? I reach back into the empty void known as my mind to dig a prayer up. Some parting word for the deceased.
“Um, we all have a journey? ...In our lives! A path to walk… ehhh. A road to take or something.” clearly I wasn’t a religious pony as I butcher this prayer. But as I continue the words came out before I could even give them any thought. “Each of us walks that road in our own pace.” why was I making a big deal of this colt’s death when I couldn’t give two bits for the Steel Rangers and the Red Crescents. Cause I knew his name now? Cause I read his letter detailing how he came to be in this sad state, which kinda weird that he even wrote all that in a letter, to begin with. “Sometim-” I stop and looked around. What was that? My ears started to twitch as I try to find the sound.

shhhhhhhhhhhH

I unholster my pistol and slowly make my way to the entrance of the wagon, making sure to avoid the loose metal container and used needles.

ShhhhhHHHHHhhhhHH

It looks like the sun finally went down as I stand outside the wagon. There was nothing, at least from what I could see. But I still have a feeling that something was here. Something-
The ground started to shake as the bones begin to rattled! The wagon creak and moan as the spears toppled over! Well except for one that one started to rise. A lump of sand beneath it push upwards! The skulls rolled off with the sand as the mass beneath the sand pushes out. Revealing something. Something black. With an explosion of sand and bones, a massive pincer burst from in front of the rising mass! I back step into the wagon as the shakes got more violent. Pincer was bigger and wider than any Steel Ranger in their power armor! Its carapace was a smoking black, its shell looks like it was boiled then quickly harden causing the bubbles to solidify! A waterfall of sand falls off its body as the thing pushes through the sandy surface. How the FUCK Minty didn’t see this thing was beyond me. This creature was bigger than the sky wagon. Another explosion of sand and bones as ribbed spiny tail erupts from the ground behind the mass! That is the biggest radscorpion I could remember seeing. The one spear still pierced into its shell as it frees its other pincer from the sand. From its size, it dwarfs me and the wagon combined. I’m so dead. Maybe it hadn't noticed me yet and to completely squash that hopes it hissed and slammed one of its huge pincers into the side of the wagon! The whole wagon shook as I toppled over! A pincer shape dent adorned the side of the wagon which is actually the roof but fuckin semantics! I quickly got up and aim at the giant monstrosity! I bit down on the trigger and fire.

P-TAFFF!!

The bullet flew and hit above the scorpion shiny red eyes than ricochet back at me.
“FUCK!!!” I scream as the bullet strikes the gun sending it flying away from me! Yep totally fuckin dead! The scorpion screams a mighty HISSsss in disbelief that I’d dare shoot at it. The gun smack against the wagon’s wall as the black scorpion stabs it stinger tail through the entrance! I barely manage to jump to the side as the stinger pierces one of the empty metal crates! Before it could pull its tail out of the wagon I stomp my hooves down on its hard shell! Which probably didn’t do much as the tail was pulled out it took me with it! I crashed into the sand leaving a cloud of dust as the radscorpion raise its pincer up and then throws it down on top of me. It’s strike sends pain throughout my whole body. I swear I think heard a snap as I spat blood and bit the pincer. GAH! It tasted awful and I nearly retch but as I felt it beginning to lift its pincer up, I wrapped my hooves around, well as best as I could. It being wide and shit. And by the magical properties that allows ponies to hold teacups with their hooves, I manage to hang on as the radscorpion realizing that I wasn’t where it squashed me and felt the unwelcome passenger on it's pincer, it violently shakes it! Oh, look! My headache is back! With another intense swing, I lost my grip of the pincer and I was sent flying in the air to be instantly brought down by its stinger as it plunges into my stomach.
“AAAAAaaaaaaaaa rrrRRGGGHHHhhh!!!” I screamed in bloody gargles as I feel a burning stabbing pain throughout my limp body. I landed with a crash on the massive scorpion's back.
“FUUUUCK!!!!” I gotta keep moving! Gotta move or I’m gonna die! My body was shaking as I force myself up. I could feel my blood drip out of the hole in my stomach. Why do you fuckin hate me, Celestia? Luna? I was lucky it didn’t puncture anything… I think. The scorpion let out a high-pitch hiss as it begins to thrash about!

HIIIIIsssssSSSSSssss!!!!

This wasn’t helping my already unsteady body as I move to the spear that was stabbed into its hard body. I bit down on the spear for support as the radscorpion tries to shake me off! Noting the carving on the wooden shaft of the spear were the words BLACK MAMA. Heh, somepony had a sense of humor. I manage to pull out the spear and slam it back down into the scorpion's back going deeper than before! Yellow blood ooze from the wound as the scorpion let out an ear-pitching scream! The scorpion start to spin in place managing to knock me off; reintroducing sand with my mouth cause I couldn’t have landed any other way! The scorpion move to face me, its red spheres glare down at me.

This fight lasted longer than it thought if scorpions could think and I barely did any damage to it. Yep reinstating my previous point: I’m so fuckin dead that my ancestors are dead by proxy of my deadness. I’m pretty sure that didn’t make sense. As me and the scorpion glare at each other a familiar sound of roaring wind louder than before. Way fucking louder! Then I remember something. Back at the power armor graveyard, when the scavengers were discussing what to do with me. One of them said something about a storm. It didn’t really register with me back then but now as I look behind the scorpion; I know now why they didn’t want to be out here when the storm comes. I think it clicked with the giant radscorpion too as it desperately tried to dig back under the sand. If I could describe it, I’ll say a wall. A massive wall that touches the clouds, made out of sand and wind with bright green lighting erupting inside it. The roaring wind. The sound of sand hitting sand. I’m fucking out! I limped to back to the wagon as the landscape behind me gets consume by the storm! And then with a hiss and loud bang, the storm picks the massive radscorpion and slams it in to the wagon! The wagon caves in as the spear implanted in its back launch out and yellow blood sprays into the interior! Without giving much resistance the wagon and the colossus scorpion were sent flying! The scorpion was dislodged from the sky wagon and disappear within the sandstorm. The wagon bobs and weaves as it throws about within the storm! The sound of million little grain of sand hitting its metal frame along with the metal crates flying to one side of the next! Banging on the wall while also bludgeon me and Minty Dew’s corpse! We limply were thrown around the wagon hits letting explosive of sand into the wagon then lunch back into the air! Well, good thing I can’t feel my body anymore! I imagine this would be excruciating. Lucky for me the scorpion’s toxin is making me feel numb. Well, I had a good run I guess. Lasted one day. In I guess was Oasis? Huh, and I never found who I am.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Weathered-- +5 [Survival, Poison Resistance and Radiation Resistance] per rank.
Somehow despite what all the desert threw at you, you manage to survive.
Huh, I guess this is a spoiler.

Author's Note

I was actually having fun when writing the letter and the fight. when I planned this chapter I thought it will be shorter, but somehow it ended longer than that. I'm going take a little break and play some God of War. Also, the little prayer Ninety-nine try to say is the prayer from Project Horizons.