Demons of the Desert

This story is a fan-fiction of MLP:FiM. I don't own any of it. It belongs to Hasbro, etc, etc.

Don't sue. Seriously. That would be so uncouth.

Meeting the Family

After a long and bumpy cart ride, followed by short six mile hike through sand-worn rocks and canyons, the trio of Chindi, Wild Bill, and Creosote, plus the two bison braves from the tribe, walked out of the rocky escarpment and into a wide desert plain. The plain went on for miles and miles around, but it was broken by a stream flowing through it and a small village of bison teepees next to the stream. When Chindi and the braves saw the teepees, they called out in native bison and were soon answered by similar shouts and calls. However, no bison came out to greet them.

“Come on!” Chindi said with a wide smile as he and the braves started to run towards the village. His cloak whipped behind him and his hat almost flew off, giving Chindi an even more magnanimous look than he already had. Wild Bill and Creosote caught up to Chindi as he raced across the waters of the shallow river, laughing and shouting the whole time. On the other side, he was greeted by the whole village. He started embracing many of them and speaking rapidly in native bison. Creosote felt awkward, not really knowing what to do once she and her uncle had come out of the waters. But that was soon dealt with.

“Welcome, friends of Chindi.” Said an older female bison wearing a large headdress and ornamental neck and ear wear. She was obviously the chief of the tribe. “I am Chieftess Sunshine and we welcome all guests. As long as you are here, our home is your home.”

Wild Bill took off his hat and bowed to her slightly. “Thank ya kindly ma’am.” Creosote did a quick curtsey, but said nothing, only watching Chindi and a few braves catch up.

“Mr. Bill, would you follow me?” the Chieftess asked Wild Bill. “I will show you where your things are.” Wild Bill followed her, leaving Creosote with a forlorn glance. He saw her eyeing the tribe and Chindi. Not with jealousy or envy, but with a blank glance. He had seen that look before…but, looking to Chindi, Wild Bill knew he would talk to her soon. So, he went off with the Chieftess.

Meanwhile, the thinnest bison brave came up to Chindi and put him into a rib-breaking hug. The brave had long legs and a slimmer frame than most of the bison, but had intricate tribal markings on both of his front legs and a pair of dark black sunglasses hanging around his neck. Since it was nearing dusk, the bison had taken them off.  Chindi punched him playfully and they spoke quickly in their native tongue.

“It’s been quite a while, you old desert rat.” The bison said to Chindi.

“Shut up you sun-burnt bird. I bet you’ve been doing nothing but lazing about and sulking since I left last time.”

“At least MY legs don’t rust over if I sit down for too long.”

“That was one time! Plus, I’m not the sissy that needs sunglasses ‘for the bright, bright light.’”

“Well, talking about sight, I spy with my little eye a little certain somepony that you picked up on your last venture.” He said with a wink.

Chindi rolled his eyes. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Creosote stared at the tribe blankly a mingled with Chindi and the other braves. The sight of such a big family-like gathering had let her fall back into her memories of a time when she had similar times with her own family. She reminisced bitter-sweetly on one of her favorite memories of her and her parents, eating lunch in Dodge Junction, under the apple trees in the park that were brought in from Appleoosia. She remembered how her father and lifted her up to the tree and she took an apple in her mouth, her mother laughing as Creosote sat on her father’s shoulders with the apple in her mouth, doing stupid gestures with her arms. But then the memory started to fade as the other ones jumped to the front of her mind. She quickly closed her eyes and blocked them out, corralling them into the deepest parts of her mind.

“Are yah all right?” a voice asked close to her. She opened up her eyes to see Chindi and a slim bison brave standing in front of her. Chindi had a puzzled look on his face, but the bison seemed more concerned.

“Jus’ a lil’ tired, that’s all.” Creosote lied quickly to hide the tremor in her voice.

Chindi nodded with empathy. “Well, if yah ain’t too tired, Ah’d like tah introduce yah tah my brother, Eagle.” He said nodding to the slim bison brave.

“Wecome to our home.” Eagle said with a sly grin. It was painfully apparent that he was interested in Creosote. Creosote rolled her eyes. Of course, only somepony like a bison would like her.

“Wait a cotton-pickin’ minute,” Creosote said, her eyes filling with wonder from recognition, “How is he yer brother? Y’all are…well…”

“It’s alright,” Eagle said. “Many other bison find it strange as well, or they do until they hear Chindi’s story.” He looked to his brother with a raised eyebrow.

Chindi took a deep breath. It looked like he had just aged ten years and for some reason, the dark look on his face made the warm desert night feel like it was the frozen north. “I will tell it in all due time, brother.”

“Why is it always like that? Yah say yer gonna tell us, but then yah pass off our questions?!?” Creosote said, her frustration from the day’s events rising.

Chindi just sighed again and looked up to the quickly dimming sky, as the sun was beginning to set. “Ah’ll tell y’all everything after dinner. But fer now, Ah’m starving.”

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The bonfire outside of the Chieftess’s teepee roared with heat against the cold desert night, giving all the ponies and bison around it a sense of peace, despite the day’s events. With full stomachs and a growing chill, everypony wanted to go to sleep, but none would. For they all knew that the Chindi of the desert was going to tell his tale. His story spread across the desert and spanned ten years and still went on, making it all the better, for none knew how this legend would end.

Creosote yawned as the wood of the fire popped and cracked. She heard a coyote call from the distance, a call lamenting its loneliness and the chill of the night. She shivered, sympathizing with the coyote, but one look to her company told her she was not truly alone. It was amazing how one meal with family could change a pony. Chindi sat on a log next to his “mother” both without their usual trappings. The Chieftess had left her headwear and necklaces in her tent, making her seem less intimidating and more motherly. Chindi, similarly, had thrown his hat and cloak into his tent, showing off who he truly was for the first time. His blood red mane reflected the firelight as if it were giving off the light instead of the fire. His dark orange-brown coat made it look like he was part of the desert, a stallion formed straight from the dirt, dust, and sand of the ground; alive and vicious as the stuff that made him. But his eyes, his eyes reflected the night sky, the stars, and the world. Only to add to his mysticism was the fact that his cuite mark was a curled up coyote. Creosote wondered what his special talent could be to earn such a mark. She had watched him as he had unattached the gun-leg from his body, showing off a metal encased stump where his leg met his body, and then proceeded on to cleaning and oiling up his gun leg, making sure the sand was out of it. Surprisingly, there was no sand to be found in the thing…

“So lad, what’s yer reason fer bringin’ me an’ mah niece out here?” Wild Bill finally asked after he had watched the stars for some time. He had been thinking to himself about his niece and whether she was holding up. He wanted to talk to her, but things like the previous family were not spoken of without pain.

Chindi took a deep breath. “Like Ah said back in Coltodora, Ah need yer help.”

Creosote opened her mouth to say something, but Chindi kept on going. “Ah need yer help in freein’ Sandy River.”

Creosote gasped and Wild Bill’s eyes went wide. “That’s a Royal town! What business do yah have with Sandy River?”

“Ah need tah kill the current mayor and do a few other things.” Chindi said nonchalantly as he wiped down one of the barrels of his leg.

Wild Bill was at a loss for words. He sputtered and Creosote stayed silent, aghast at what he said. Sandy River, a Royal town as Wild Bill said, was what could be called the capital of the southwest San Palomino desert, even bigger than Appleoosia and eviler than Coltodora. It was known across the desert that the Mayor, Blood Money, was more corrupt than any outlaw. The worst part was that he came from Canterlot and the Princesses didn’t do a damned thing about him. In fact, he was known as a tyrant across the San Palomino and Sandy River was considered one of the most sin filled towns ever, as Mayor Money kept it filled with his mercenaries, the vilest, most lawless ponies that only fought for greed and blood.

“Why?” Creosote asked in an awed hush.

“Well, fer starters, Sandy River was my home and Ah wasn’t always called Chindi…”

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“Git back here, ya’ varmint!” yelled Mr. Sweet, owner of the Sandy River general store as I ran off with a big old lollipop between my teeth. I borrowed it, ya’ see? I’m a goody-goody through and through, I’d never steal. And Mr. Sweet knew this too, so I laughed between my prize as he yelled after me in fake anger.

I quickly darted through the small, tightly woven buildings of Sandy Creek and felt as nimble as lighting as a gentle wind picked up and freed me from the oppressive heat of the desert. The heavily packed sand cushioned my hooves as I ran, easing into a looser stuff when I reached the outskirts of town, where most of the farming and mining homes were. The only house that was actually in town was Mayor Dune’s, and that was because it was part of town hall.

But I had stopped and closed my eyes as I felt the desert around me, alive with wind and heat, almost as exhilarating to the touch as the candy was sweet to my mouth. Suddenly, I got the urge to run up to the escarpment, a large wall of sand beaten rock that surrounded the town in a large U shape. I followed my whim, sugar pumping into my blood and fueling my excitement even more. Finally, I reached the top of the sloping escarpment and looked down at Silver River, gasping and almost dropping my absconded sweet into the sand at my hooves.

Look at my home! I told myself as the wind, stronger now that I was atop the escarpment, whipped small sand devils near me. I felt the sun blazing on my dark tan coat pleasantly and I looked out at Sandy River.

The town was not large enough to fill the whole bowl of the escarpment, but it was clustered on with the actual town near the far end, with the town hall at the very edge of the far “wall.” The other buildings were the mines that mined our reserves of iron pyrite and quartz on the right “wall” and the vast cooperative farmlands on the left “wall.” Near the farmlands trickled the river, the town’s namesake for the amount of sand in it, and the source of all water for irrigation. The town’s drinking water came from a deep underground aquifer managed by town hall. I took in all the sights of my home and sighed deeply, smiling brightly like the sun’s rays on my back. I let my mind wander as I looked at the clear blue skies of my desert home, thinking of only now and how wonderful it was to be alive in a place like Sandy River. My home, the home of my family, the home of everything that mattered in this world.

“Hey Winchester!” called a filly’s voice from above, making my head turn and my mind center in on who was calling me. I looked down and saw that my best friend, a pegasi filly named Night Sky, was flying towards me. I gave her a happy sidelong look straight into her deep blue eyes.

“What’cha doin’ Winchester?” she asked in her pleasantly husky voice as she ruffled her black wings and settled down next to me.

“Jus’ lookin’ out at the world.”

She punched me gently on the shoulder. “Yer the only pony Ah know that’s weird enough ta ‘jus look out at the world.’ Let’s go do somethin’.” She said excitedly.

I shook my head and smiled. “Darn ya, Night Sky!” I said in mock anger. “Don’tcha know a stallion hasta do things like this from time ta time?”

Night Sky snorted. “Like what? Be phili…fulli…filisophical?” she said, struggling with the word and making me laugh. She punched me harder this time, pushing me to the ground. “Aww, shaddup.” She said, embarrassed. She wasn’t stupid, that was for sure, but she often had trouble with longer words. She crossed her hooves over her chest, getting sand in her pitch black coat, sulking with a cute expression.

‘Cute?’ I thought to myself, the idea sobering me up. She was my best friend. None of this…stuff.

“Ahem.” I coughed as I got up, my cheeks flushed. “So what do you wanna do?”

Night Sky quickly ceased her pouting and looked at me excitedly with wide eyes. I noticed the faintest hint of a blush on her face disappear as she started to speak animatedly. “Ah heard from me Pa that the seasonal flood of the crick will bring more gold this year than ever! Let’s go panning an’ see if we can’t git some!” she said, fluttering of the ground in her excitement. “Come on!” she said as she flew up into the sky and went off towards the farmlands.

Gold. The reason why Sandy River was a town. Not because the river provided life for all those who were lost and close to death in the desert, like the town’s found, Clip Eastwood, but because when he did drink the sandy waters heavily, he coughed chunks of gold back up. One letter to the princesses later and Sandy River became an established mining/farming town. However, the gold was as elusive as a shadow in a darkened room. Only when the river flooded each year were little pebbles of gold found in the flood waters. It was a rarity, but everypony in the town shared the small fortune made each year. One could call it “a community building experience.”

So, I raced down the escarpment and followed after her, towards her home. Night Sky’s family was possibly the only family of pegasi that farmed in all of Equestria. What made it even more surprising was that they were growing in the desert, and growing well. Her family owned one of the bigger farms that was near the head of the Sandy River, or at least where it sprung out of the thick, rocky ground. Seasonally (although nopony knew how) the river would flood, bringing small fragments of gold along with the life brining waters. The water brought us life, but also taunted us, as it brought something we could never get. It was true that one of the main jobs in Sandy River was mining, but rarely did the miners find anything other than quartz and iron pyrite that we ended up selling off to bigger towns to be refined, smelted, or cut down and polished. But other than the small pieces left by the River’s flooding, the gold always eluded us.

Night Sky sped down towards the ground and leveled out next to me as I ran towards her house, waving when she saw her father out in their fields of date palm trees and wild hazel bushes at the base of them.

“Hi Pa!” she said happily as she saw her dad, Midday Sky, picking some dates out of a palm tree. While Night Sky was born and raised in Sandy River, her pa an’ ma came from Saddle Arabia. It made sense they would move to someplace like their home, but I never knew why they had moved; it had simply not been my place to ask.

“Hello my dear!” Midday Sky answered back with a light accent as he heard his daughter’s voice, so different and yet so similar to his own. “Why hello to you as well Winchester!” he waved as we got closer. He gave his daughter a hug, his light blue coat a clashing contrast against her dark coat.

“Pa, could we go pannin’?” Night asked during her embrace.

“Of course dear. But if anything is found, please bring it back to me: I believe you know the process.” He said quickly, his tongue on the verge of slipping back into Arabian.

Night hugged him again. “Thanks Pa! Come on Winn.” She said to me, calling me by my nickname and heading off towards their barn. Night, again sped across the sky, making me run towards their barn to get a pan. Their barn was a strange one, open roofed, circular and low, but it must have been native to Saddle Arabia, because Midday, Morning (Night’s mother), and Night all used it with ease. Right as I reached the door of the barn, Night flew out, holding two pans.

“Y’all ready?” she asked me, snorting at my heaving sides.

“Y’know, normal ponies don’ race everywhere.” I answered her with a huff.

“I ain’t a normal pony.” She said with a ferociously lovely grin. I grabbed a pan from her before any of…those thoughts came back.

“Let’s go.” I replied, running faster than she could fly, or I did for a little while. But she caught up and we raced neck an’ neck to the river mouth: a wall of rocks that spewed water. The river was wide at its mouth, but it quickly turned into a meandering stream as it got further and further away from its start. To any other pony it might look like nothing but a dirty and shallow source of water, but this signified life to all of us of Sandy River. It was beautiful.

Night must have felt the same, since she landed next to me and we were both quieted by the awe of the river. It wasn’t much, but every time any pony of Sandy Creek saw it, it struck a chord within us.

“So…” Night said after a minute. “Should we git pannin’?”

“Yep.” I answered quietly. We jumped down the bank to the edge of the riverbed. Then we started panning. It’s pretty simple. You dunk your pan into the water, pull it out full of silt and other fun stuff you find at the bottom of the river, and then spin the pan until you’re left with nothing but small pebbles. Hopefully, there will be gold in there too.

After a little while, about twenty minutes or so, Night threw her pan into the river. “This is takin’ too long! We ain’t gonna find a speck a’ gold this way…” she said, a look growing across her face. A look I was all too familiar with.

“What’re yah thinkin’ a’?” I said with apprehension.

“Nothin’…just thinkin’ a’ going down ‘there.’” She said with a rambunctious smile.

I gasped. “Yah know nopony is supposed tah go down there! It’s…it’s…”

“Yah Ah know.” She said flying out of the water and circling around my head. “But Ah’m gonna go whether yer goin’ or not, yah chicken…”she said with a flick of her tail, making it hit my nose playfully. I looked at her worriedly, know what could happen if we were caught, or even worse, if something bad happened down there. I didn’t want to go, but I’d be damned if I let her go alone.

“Fine.” I said to her. “But we ain’t stayin’ down there fer long.” She smiled and flew up to the source of the water and ducked underneath the current, going into the cave hidden underneath the spewing water. I got out of the river and followed through the small hole. Not many ponies knew of this cave that led to a gently sloping path. Only the Sky’s knew of this, as it was on their land, and it led to a large underground cavern.

Inside of the cavern, filled with stalactites and stalagmites like so many fangs and glowing bugs like strange stars, was a long and deep pool of water. When I slid down the slope and came to rest at its edge, I stared into the deep, dark waters, my reflection barely visible in the phosphorescent light. My brown eyes, tan coat, and black mane looked strange in the waters, but I smiled anyway. Night came out of the darkness and sat next to me, her reflection mirroring mine. She smiled too and leaned onto me, making me blush deeply. We sat like this for a few minutes in blissful silence, just listening to the sound of each other breathe.

“Ain’t we supposed to be lookin’ fer gold?” I asked Night playfully.

“Ah…” she started to say, but her voice was cut off by the sound of gurgling in the water. She screamed as something came out of the deep waters. I pushed her behind myself instinctively, trying to shield her from anything that might want to harm her, as two more figures came out of the water. I saw in the dim light that they had scuba suits on and their faceplates were illuminated, sending rays of unnatural light all over the cavern. Luckily, they must not have hear Night scream because they didn’t notice us as I noticed something chilling about them. Each of them had a long spear attachment to one of their hooves. A spear gun.

“Run.” I whispered to Night, pushing her away from me and towards the small entrance hole. She got up and flew towards it as I got up slowly and backed away to the entrance as quietly as I could. However, one of the ponies started looking around, so I had to duck behind a stalagmite. I heard them get out of the water and take off their helmets with the sound of rushing air.

“Ah told yah! That hasta be the source!” said one of them.

“An’ that mayor is jest sittin’ on the whole thang! What a fool!” said a deeper voice.

“It ain’t the source.” Said an icy voice, one that commanded respect and fear at the same time. I did not like this voice at all. “The gold we saw down there was just on outcropping. It must go on for miles! Luckily, that means we know where to start.”

I silently gasped at the news. Whoever these ponies were, they found the gold that our whole town had been looking for since it was founded. I dared a quick glance to the trio of ponies to see who they were, as I did not recognize their voices.

The three of them varied in size and shape, but they all wore the skintight scuba gear that obstructed their manes. In the light from their glowing helmets, I could make out one that was thin and small, a weasely looking creature, one that was large and muscular, and one in the middle. He was normal sized and I could also see his face. While he was normal of size, his face brought chills down my spine. He had one eye that was blue and one eye that was red with a long scar surrounding it. His coat shone light blue in the light and he had a small, black mustache.

I slipped back behind the stalagmite as a rock falling into the water made the trio look around, spear guns raised. I held my breath and hoped my beating heart wasn’t audible. Luckily, they must not have seen me as they went back to talking. However, I edged over the rocky hiding place and looked around for the source of the falling rock. I looked up to the cavern roof and finally spotted it. Right above the trio was Night, holding onto a large stalactite, her eyes wide with fright. She spotted me and I could see the silent plead in her eyes. Quickly, I thought up a plan, for lack of a better term

I picked up a rock and threw it at one of the helmets, breaking the lamp. The trio of ponies jumped and pulled their guns to attention.

“It appears that we are not the only ponies in this cave, boys.” The middle pony said to his two henchmen after a few minutes of looking around.

“Ah think yer right boss. But who could be in here?” said the bigger pony.

“Maybe a few rats!” said the small pony as he pounced on me from behind. I was quickly tackled and thrown into the light of the headlamps. I was surprised at how stealthy and quick the small pony was and I noticed that all their spear guns were pointed at me. However, I noticed they didn’t see Night. At least I was happy for that.

“We got us a kid.” Said the big pony.

“I can see that Obsidian. Good job catching him Dust Devil.” The middle pony said, staring at me ominously. “Now what could a little foal like yourself be doing down here?” he said, glaring at me smugly.

“Ah was jest tryin’ tah find out where this awful stench was comin’ from. Ah guess Ah found it.” I answered him.

“Oh ho!” he said looking up to his henchmen with a smile. “It looks like this one has a mouth on him.” He said, before looking at me with an evil grin. Then he kicked me in the face. Hard. I rolled around in pain on the ground and I heard a shout of “Winchester!” come from Night. The trio was surprised by her sudden appearance, so they didn’t notice me picking up a headlamp. I shined it quickly in their eyes, blinding them for a moment.

“Get your parents! Get the mayor! Get anypony! Fly!” I screamed at her as she flew towards the cave entrance and I got up off the ground, running to the exit as well. She darted out into the daylight as I pumped my hooves up the slope to the outside. I was about to leave when a blinding pain erupted from my right foreleg. I slid down the slope and screamed in agony as the fire-like pain spread through my body.

“Got ‘im.” Said the big pony with so much malice it could freeze your soul over. It didn’t stop the flaming pain scorching my blood and veins though.

“Good aim Obsidian. Get him outside. Then find that filly and anypony on the ranch. There will be no witnesses to this.” The leader pony said evilly. I screamed again as I saw Obsidian tug on a rope next to me, sending the pain through my body yet again. I dared a glance at my leg and saw that a spear protruded from it, tied to the same rope Obsidian was tugging. I screamed the whole time he dragged me by the rope, up the slope, and out onto the riverbank of my hometown. I wailed in pain still, the fire becoming a smolder, tears flowing down my face like the waters of the Sandy River.

My pain was subdued when three pegasi showed up, one a stallion of cyan blue, two mares, one a light yellow and the other dark as night. I noticed that the blue stallion held an old shotgun that showed no signs of use and it was shakily pointed at the trio around me. My anguish filled mind could barely register their conversations, their words and mouths delayed like a bad foreign movie. But I still saw and heard it all.

“Get out of here! This is my land! How dare you!” the cyan stallion said.

The boss signaled to his two henchmen and they took action. Obsidian lassoed the two mares with a length of rope from out of his scuba suit while Dust Devil took aim with the spear gun. A shot rang out in the air as Midday shot his shotgun wildly as he was hit in the wing with a spear. He fell out of the sky and the leader kicked his shotgun away, picking up his own spear gun. To my, and the Sky’s horror, he shot his deadly ammo straight through Midday’s skull. I was vaguely aware I screamed something while Morning and Night screamed in terror and started to weep, but all I heard was cold orders from the boss pony.

“Knock the females out.” He said with the darkest of evil in his eyes. “They will become good slaves. Knock out the foal too. Take him out to the desert. Leave him for the coyotes.”

I started to get up, fighting all the pain coursing through me, and started to scream and charge at the leader pony. To me, it felt like I was sprinting, but to him, it must have looked like a weak jog. However, the surprise in his eyes could not be hidden. He thought I was done, but to do such a thing to my friends, my loved ones…

But my thoughts were cut off as a metal butt of a spear gun connected with my skull and darkness enveloped me.