Survival against all odds

by thesupernile

Chapter 7

The expedition found their second body. Seeing the bright green wings, Swirling Gale assumed the worst. Another death.

She was right to do so. Her fears were realised again in twisted justice.

Laying before her was the second casualty of the mission. Death was rare in Equestria. Since Celestia had ruled, wars and preventable death had plummeted. Two deaths was practically a disaster. Only a guard could take it without breaking. They were trained for it.

But Swirling feared for the lost civilians. Surviving with the guilt of death on their shoulders. It would be hard.

Another triplet of blue feathers lay upon this body. Their mystery pegasus lived. Some reassurance in treacherous misery. Marks still adorned trees but they were still just as difficult to follow. The guard wouldn't catch them if they kept moving. But from the evidence of the camp, they were only a day or two behind. If they just stopped, if they could just wait a little longer, the weeks of tracking would be over.

Swirling chewed on a sandwich. She hated being out here. Must be a thousand times worse without the constant resupplies they received. Tracking ghosts across a wilderness was tough work but it wasn't as tough as being the ghosts.

Something about that cerulean pegasus intrigued her. The decisions she made were… quite frankly awful. Feathers for the dead? Every pegasus knew the dead deserved better than mere feathers. Wasn't that why she had the flowers there?

It would have been funny if not for the circumstances.

Being on assignment was never fun, but the thirst for adventure ran deep in the guard. Something exhilarating pushed her onwards. A kind of bittersweet satisfaction as each moment in the story became more and more clear. She knew it was silly, just some foalish drive. But it felt good to save people. Good to find their stories. Good to remember them.

Maybe that's what her life was all about.

---

Isabel stared up at the rockface. Towering over them like a rocky mousetrap, it screamed of danger. Cold and silent, the rocks stood firmly in their path.

“No way are we climbing that,” Isabel rejected Henry's proposal, “are you guys crazy?”

“Come on Izzy,” Henry's poisoned voice encouraged her, “everyone else is coming. You come with us or you get left behind.”

“Just look at it,” Isabel complained, “hooves aren't going to grab that.”

“It’s about seven metres. I don't know why you're complaining,” Aiden hissed, “you're the one with wings. Just fly your way up.”

“Not a chance,” Isabel declared as an ultimatum, “someone's going to be hurt.”

“We need to get to higher ground.”

“Then we find a way around!” Isabel begged, “please. Don't do this!”

But Henry was already climbing. No amount of complaining would stop him. Aiden followed just behind him, taking all the same hoofholds he did.

Surprisingly, they seemed to make it up. Thankfully, the wall wasn't quite vertical. Stretching up at a slight angle was about the only good thing about it. And it was dry, the hot sun had taken care of that for them.

But it was a huge risk. If any of them fell they'd be in incredible danger. Even if they survived the drop.

With a huge sigh, Isabel put her hoof on the wall. This was a mistake but so too would staying behind be. Perhaps the rock was better than the hard place.

Shakily, she launched her second hind hoof onto the rock. Now completely at the mercy of the climb, fear leapt into her throat. But taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. She was practically a bird. She wouldn't fall. She'd be fine. Hoof forward. A few more deep breaths. Another hoof forwards. Calm thoughts. A little further. Soon, she'd scaled almost a metre. A seventh of the way. The remainder taunted her with malicious eyes.

Henry had reached the top now and offered Aiden a hoof for the final leg. Grabbing things with hooves wasn't easy, but Aiden and Henry had found it quite easy to lift remarkable weights. Perhaps it was some magical super strength. The same way Oscar could use telekinesis.

Oscar had just begun his climb. Coming in last, he had the benefit of knowing all the do’s and don'ts. Which holds were firm and which would crumble at the slightest touch. But that wouldn't stop either of them making mistakes.

A firm tree root was a bad hoofhold, Isabel found out seconds later. Luckily, she'd tested it before putting all her weight upon it. The poor thing was uprooted in an instant. Another hoof forwards. Both of the remaining climbers were high now. Aiden had been lifted to safety and Isabel begged to be with him. All she needed to do was get two more metres. She'd done most of it. Two more shouldn't have hurt. One metre.

Crunch.

An ear splitting scream rocked out from below her. Overpowered by the crash from even further downwards. Isabel glanced down.

And instantly regretted it.

She should have seen Oscar's horned head, threatening to poke her if she didn't speed up. Instead she saw no one. Oscar had fallen.

She almost let go then. Almost joined Oscar. Fell down an insurmountable cliff. But she didn't. Painful hoof after painful hoof scaled the rockface. Fear cut her deep and strangled her. Begging for forgiveness meant nothing. Forgiveness was a lie. Only pain meant anything.

Then she felt the hard grip of Henry and she was up. Safe in the sanctuary of solid ground. Away from that treacherous wall.

But Oscar hadn't been so lucky. He was still down there. With no one to help him. And a whole host of injuries at the least. At worst...

Isabel didn't want to even consider that.

A yell brought back a slither of hope. He was still alive. He could be saved. Maybe even join them up at the top of that cliff.

Except he couldn't. All of them knew it. Any hope of scaling that cliff had gone when he had fallen. Fear would kill him next time. Even if he hadn't broken any bones.

“I'm alright guys,” he yelled up at them, “I'm not dead. I'll wait here for rescue. My leg… it hurts. If not broken it's probably fractured. I… I'll make it. Keep going without me. Please.”

He wasn't dead. He had hope. Maybe whoever was hunting them could help him. Or maybe they didn't exist. Isabel could only hope.

It was outside of their control now. It had been a stupid decision to climb. One that could cost Oscar's life. None of them could get down. And if there wasn't anyone to help him...

Oscar could easily die.

But for better or for worse, Oscar was on his own.

Isabel dropped him his final gift. Another three navy feathers.

It elicited a yell of complaint, “I'm not dead yet Isabel.”

“It's a parting gift,” Isabel deflected, “I want those back. You better not disappoint me.”

“I won't,” Oscar promised, “an order of three feathers to go. We'll meet again soon.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

---

A hundred miles. Swirling cursed the resilience of these ponies. Who walked a hundred miles half dead without so much as a break. They were almost at Everfree now. Just a mile north.

If they were still alive, Everfree would surely kill them. Timberwolves wouldn't spare survivors. And stranger things than Timberwolves lived in that forest.

Movement.

Movement meant life. Was someone still there?

Hope filled Swirling's tired body. Were these the survivors? Had her mission finally finished? She pleaded with Celestia for strength.

One unicorn lay in a slight clearing. A survivor. This was the closest they'd been in forever. Swirling's body filled with anticipation.

Rushing into the clearing, the guard sat beside the unicorn. Only then did he see the wound.

Beneath him, a broken leg, bent out of shape like a canteen spoon. Blood seeped out of it endlessly. Swirling had training, she could save the unicorn. She had to save him. Someone would survive. Someone had to survive. She hadn't trekked through the woods for nearly a month for nothing.

Even as she did the lights in his eyes were fading. “They went up,” he wheezed in the voice of agony, “I fell.”

He collapsed back onto the ground. Try as she might, bandages wouldn't save him. Even a healing potion wouldn't fix blood loss.

Still she tried. Forcing as much pressure onto the wound as possible, she wrapped the leg in a thousand bandages. No expense could be spared. This unicorn had to survive. She had to. Someone had to survive…

The unicorn lifted three blue feathers. “No,” the guard pleaded, “don't go.”

“How long?” He asked weakly, “have you been looking?”

“Just almost a month. Don't worry, we're going to save you. You'll be alright.”

“Isabel was right,” he smiled, “after everything she was right. About everything 'cept moving. We should have stayed. Should have...” he coughed.

“What do you mean?” Swirling asked, “who’s Isabel?”

Oscar laughed, a pained weak breathy laugh, but still a laugh, “get these back to her won't you?” He handed her the feathers, “tell her Oscar sent you.”

“Oscar?” Swirling was surprised, it was a very not pony name for a pony. But now wasn't the time for those questions, “that's your name?”

Oscar nodded. “I promised her. Keep it for me.”

With that he fell silent. Swirling knew death when it came. Guards were familiar with it. But it stung worse than any corpse she had found before. She had failed. Another pony was dead. Why couldn't she just go faster? Someone had to survive! They needed to! Why couldn't someone survive?

Life was cruel. Death was crueller.

Comments

[Skyblazer9]

RIP Oscar.