Alice lay there in the hot sand, burning at his once pale skin the sun long cooked him red, even while staying under the small tree it gave little shade and seemed nothing but a reminder of the heat and how unavoidable it was, a sense of worry filled Alice, his hands grabbing at the sand beneath him. What was he to do with twenty hours left? There was no food to gather and no water supplies to fill, his water was endless as long as he stayed at the small pond, but no food just sand, and within days would kill him on his travels, he might last a week at this pond with little physical movement but travel would be out of the question.

He felt his worry turn to determination, snaping to his feet Alice clapped his cloaked hands together.

"Fuck it." Alice mumbled in anger if he would need food for his travels after the quest, lying in the sand wasting time would do him no good. The first thing that came to mind was fish, the pond was deep and seemed well-established if the trees meant anything, this was shot down quickly, the pond was clear to the bottom, and there was nothing. Next was the trees, he hadn't noticed anything before and still didn't see anything. During his young days at war, he had heard of people eating bark from trees to fight off hunger but fighting it off was not his goal he needed something with meat, dense in caloric energy and he knew there was nothing around like that, so he gave up on food. He had spent weeks on less than enough he could last a week on nothing but no more, he was strong and well-fed outside of war, but traveling the desert was something different that he did very little of.

Next would be transporting water, He could make some container out of the trees around him, sadly he was no craftsman, and anything he made would be crude at best, it probably wouldn't hold water anyway.

Before he could do that a deep Southern voice spoke to him.

"Now, whats a minotaur like you doing in the badlands?"

Alice spun around as his hand snapped to the sword on his back, his guest jumped back a little at his actions but with a small smile and a hoof up gesturing peace Alice put his hands down at his sides.

"Who are you pony and what are you doing here?" His tone was sharp as the adrenalin still flowed threw his body.

"I'm Dusttraveler, my friends used to call me Dusty tho and I could ask what you're doing out here alone, with no equipment but that sword on your back." As he spoke he looked Alice up and down his face one of worry.

Alice did the same of his all-white pony friend from his wings to his blond hair. "I don't see anything on you as well?" Alice locked eyes with the pony, his lips were chapped eyes red and dry his hair was unkempt and by the looks of him, he was tired, his eyes though told Alice a story, one of pain. This pony didn't want to wake up after he fell asleep.

"What's your name minotaur?"

Sticking with his name change from before. "Logan."

"Strange name for a minotaur, now ain't that?"

"Strange to question one's lack of equipment when you lack it as well?"

"Logan, I asked because I wanted to know if you were one of them?"

"One of what?" Alice Snapped back quickly with anger.

"All kinds pass through the town" Pointing with his wing north"About two days by hoof that away." he lowered his wing and gave Alice a look of pain. "They take nothing with em, their eyes dead their soul long lost to their pain their bodies just walk following the faint trail through town no matter how hungry or thirsty." Dusttraveler stopped his head now down. "they keep going and this pond is often the last time any pony sees them."

Alice stared blankly into Dusttravelers blue eyes, his voice monotone. "Then I say again, why are you, alone with nothing not even a hat, no water no food? Odd?"

This seemed to break something in Dusttraveler, anger flooded his face his muscles tense his voice full of anger."WHAT DO YOU KNOW!" Dusttraveler shoved his hoof into Alice's stomach, tears running down his face. "I did everything I could." His hoof went limp anger no longer in his voice." What do you know about loss, about pain I watched those thugs rape and murder the ones in my town the one I was meant to protect, but I'm only one pony against many. I'm not even a unicorn."

Alice's eyes lay on a scar, one he couldn't see before. On his flank a long and deep still fresh wound, thankfully not infected. "Did they do that?" Alices pointed to the scar on his flank.

"Yes" He paused working back his tears. "and after they did that they told me to walk into the desert like the failure I am and never come back, if I listened they'd not kill me" Dusttravler paused again looking at the clear water just a few feet away from them. "And most importantly not go after the ones that ran."

Alice saw the pain in this pony's very soul, it filled him with anger so much anger, just like walking through a freshly bombed town, your mind can pick two paths and cry at the horrors of the dead red stains, kids book bags blown apart school busses on fire. Or get angry, seek revenge for the lost, YOU will kill the ones responsible with your vary hands even if it killed you even if it costs you everything, evil, true evil is hard to come by and all good men wish for the day they get to smite it down.

With clenched fists, Alice spoke. "How far of a walk was it back to town?"

"Two days walking, the sand is hard to travel, constantly shifting under your very hoofs."

"What about by air?"

"A day or so, If ya left at night then sure but during the day the heat would kill ya."

"What if one ran?" Alice looked at his stats as spoke.

Stats
Name: Alice
Level: 32
Xp: 9,992/55,000
Points: 8

Strength:48
Perception:43
Endurance:47
Charisma:37
Intelligence:42
Agility:47
Luck:36

*My agility is 47, this gives me hope. If I put the rest of my points into Agility I should be fast enough to run there in half a day, but.... I'd be out of it I'd need to rest before I killed the scum in town.* Alice stood lost in thought, almost not catching the dumbfounded look his new friend gave him.

"What.... you.. want... too.. run?!" Dusttravelers bloodshot eyes got wider with every word, and were wide open by the end.

"No." Alice answered quickly

Dusttraveler breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia, minotaurs aren't known for speed anyway they're more like their ancestors. Strong like a bull and long-distance runners." Dusttraveler chuckled a little. "But I'm sure you know that, the proud creatures you are."

Flinching at the use of Celestia's name, the memory of her and her sister helping him in that blown out castle. He looked at Dusttraveler with a hidden smile, his cloak still hiding his features. Then looked at the counting-down timer.

"I plan on running in.... sixteen hours and it should take me about half a day at full tilt, so probably more like" Alice wiggled a little in thought, his minotaur illusion hands on his hips as he did." two-thirds a day or so, I hope to get there at or before nightfall make a plan of attack and kill every last one." Alice couldn't help but smile, sure after the war he was useful to his country. Rebuilding after an eight-year-long, total war was nothing but complicated, and using his music-making skills from before the war he hoped to bring light to the people of his country, the horrors they went through needed peace. But in the end, he was a man of war now battle-hardened at too young an age, sixteen, and just turned it the day before his first battle. His nation wasn't poor, far from it, they had better tec, better guns, faster planes, and bigger bombs, they were a smaller country compared to their enemy, and as the war machine revved up so did the bodies and the need to replace them first they took older men, they stopped at fifty-five and started down, seventeen-year-olds were being sent out then sixteen, then there so-called "to be a man" program they took you at fifteen and trained you for a year and sent you out the day after you turned sixteen. And over the years of war, he grew to love it.

Dusttraveler fell to his haunches, then looked at Alice in disbelief." There over thirty of em' You can't kill them all your just one minotaur with a big sword." Dusttravelers tone grew worried, not wanting to see any more die because of his failers."They have magic Logan Hell they can fly you could never get high enough they'd rain arrows on you."

Alice chuckled, this made Dusttraveler uneasy but before he began to back up Alice spoke.

"You know I never checked to see how far or how high I could jump." Alice slapped his legs. "You see I've been training these babies a little, I want you to fly up to around where they'd be when raining arrows down on me, like you said let's see if I can make it."

Dusttraveler deadpaned at Alice in disbelief. "Even a trained minotaur can't jump more than a couple of feet."

"Just do this for me, hell what do you lose." Alice pleaded "If I'm wrong I'll brainstorm another way to bring them down if I'm right then we can focus on dealing with the magic."

"Fine Logan but this is a waste of time." Dusttraveler stretched his wings.

Dusttraveler wings seemed stiff maybe injured but Alice thought nothing of it as he watched Dusttraveler get higher, and higher soon he was nothing but a blond floating blur in the cloudless sky his white fur blending into the bright blue. As he flew Alice put four points into strength and agility making strength fifty-two and agility fifty-one. Alice crouched down and with all the strength he had launched himself into the sky, like a bullet he flew up at the peek of his jump he pulled his sword out and taped Dusttraveler with the flat side of it then with a salute he began to fall, the ground met Alice quickly his legs bending doing what they could to lessen the force, and with an explosion of sand around him he came to a stop.

Alice heard coughing behind him, the cloud of sand irritating Dusttraveler sure to be dry throat. " Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, I've never seen anything jump that high in my life, damn I think you jumped up to me faster than most could have flown to me." Dusttraveler shook his head in disbelief. "You sure you're not some type of God?"

"No Dusttraveler, I'm not some type of God"

"Then how are you so strong?" Dusttraveler tilted his head in annoyance not believing a word Alice told him.

"If not a God, then your like the princess a descendent of a God."

"Like I said Dusttraveler, I just trained them a little. Now Let's see what we can do to counter their magic."

Author's Note

Getting better at this writing stuff, I think.

Still shit at it but a 2/10 is better than a 1/10.