//------------------------------// // 05: Digdirt // Story: A Tear in the Fabric // by Cold Bolt //------------------------------// “Ow, oof, ooh, ow, ouch!” Rarity found herself tumbling across rough stone, stopping only when she collided with a wall several yards away. “Ohhhhhh… I think I’m going to be ill. And now my skirt is all scuffed up, too…” Carefully shifting into a sitting position, she raised a hand to her head and gingerly rubbed the spot where it had thumped against the wall, her fingers lightly brushing a furry ear in the process. “Hmm?” Rarity paused, patting the top of her head curiously. Yup, those were definitely her pony ears. “Wait, when did I…?” Her sentence trailed off as she finally caught sight of her surroundings. What appeared to be a cave carved out of sandstone stretched in two directions before her; daylight shone from one, while the portal glowed softly in the darkness of the other, tilted slightly as though leaning casually against the wall. Carefully so as not to irritate her already upset stomach, Rarity braced herself against the wall and climbed to her feet. There was no one else in the cave with her, but how could that be? Pinkie had been right in front of her as they’d fallen into that strange red-and-black space. “Pinkie?” Hand against the wall for safety, Rarity made her way toward the bright end of the cave. “Pinkie Pie, where are you?” It wasn’t long before she reached the end… and the sight before her made her gasp. The rocky slope on which she now stood ended only a few feet down, to be replaced with a vast desert that stretched as far as Rarity could see. Occasional outcroppings of sandstone like the one in which she had appeared were the only landmarks in the endless sea of sand. While the cave had been relatively cool, the daylight felt like a heat ray against her skin; in seconds, she was already sweating. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. Rarity retreated back into the shade of the cave and took a deep breath. “Alright, Rarity: focus. You’re officially in a survival situation, and you need to figure out what to do next to maximize your chances of… well… surviving.” With that, she began slowly pacing back and forth. “Let’s see now… Option one, return to the portal.” She glanced back at it for hardly a second before scowling and turning up her nose. “Absolutely not. It’s what put you here in the first place, and it separated you from Pinkie in doing so; it’s as like as not to send you someplace even worse if you trust it like that. "Option two, brave the desert and look for help.” Several seconds of staring out at it left her cringing at the prospect. “…Not exactly ideal. You have no supplies of any kind, no sense of direction, and no way to know if there’s even anyone out there in the first place. "Option three, wait by the portal for your friends to catch up.” Her attention turned back to the portal once again, her scowl threatening to return. “But is that even possible? Again, you and Pinkie have been separated despite entering nearly simultaneously; assuming the rest of your friends did in fact follow you, it seems unlikely for them to wind up here alongside you. "That means…” She sighed quietly. “…wandering aimlessly in the desert is looking like my best option.” Even so, saying it out loud wasn’t going very far in making it feel like less of a terrible idea. “Oh, and if I don’t find something soon, I’ll probably never get the sweat stains out of my clothes…” At this, she shook her head. “Now stop that! Your vanity isn’t as important as making it out of this alive,” she scolded. “Although it would be nice to know that if I don’t, I’ll at least still look good for when they find my body.” The thought made her shiver. Standing at the edge of the cave, she spent several moments steeling herself before starting out into the desert proper. Sweat poured from Rarity’s brow, slowly drenching her top as she trudged across the sand. She had rather quickly begun regretting her decision; the further she walked, the clearer it became that there was nothing here but rocks and sand. At the very least, she had passed by a few varieties of cacti, meaning the place wasn’t completely devoid of life. Hopefully, that was a good sign. With no food or water and no shield against the heat, the best she could do was to rest in the shade of a rock every few minutes, but this didn’t provide much in the way of relief. “Ugh, why couldn’t it have dropped me off at a spa instead? This place is dreadful.” It also wasn’t doing much for her mood. Knowing full well it wasn’t a terrific use of her dwindling energy, she gave the sand a frustrated kick. “I’m hot, I’m tired, I’m thirsty, I’m horribly sweaty… come on now, I just need - AAAAAAUGH” Rarity fell to her knees, screaming as she felt the stinger plunge into her thigh. A perfectly sand-colored scorpion almost a yard long, far larger than any she could have imagined, emerged from its hiding place just beneath where she had kicked. Trying to climb to her feet only caused her to stumble and yelp as pain shot through her body from the effort of putting weight on her injured leg. There would be no running. But she could still defend herself. With a wave of her arm, Rarity intended to summon a crystalline shield to shove the scorpion away. What she got instead was rather different: a hail of razor sharp crystal shards materialized over her head and plunged themselves into the creature’s body, piercing its carapace en masse like bullets shattering glass. Oily black fluids oozed from the scorpion’s body, staining the sand as it twitched for a moment before finally lying still. Gasping for air as though she had just run a marathon, Rarity clutched at her leg, now swollen and bleeding where she had been stung. The world around her began shifting in and out of focus as her vision blurred and everything started spinning. “Well, it was… worth a shot… I suppose…” She spotted something else moving out of the corner of her eye, but by this point she was too exhausted to care. She just needed sleep. Sleep, then everything will be fine. Sleep… Cool. Everything felt so refreshingly cool. Did that mean she was dead, then? No matter, so long as she was free of the desert and the heat and the scorpions… Wait, no - of course it mattered! What was she thinking? She couldn’t just leave her friends behind like that… Rarity opened her eyes. They expressed their disdain for this by taking their sweet time focusing on her surroundings, but eventually gave in a few seconds of blinking later. Was this… a hospital room? It looked like it had been designed on a fairly tight budget, featuring little more than a countertop, some shelves, an electric fan pointed at her, and the bed on which she now lay. Her clothes were hung up on a rack, pristine and spotless as the day she’d made them. Wait a minute… Still a bit dizzy, she took her time sitting up, a wet cloth falling from her forehead and landing in her lap as she did so. Looking down, she quickly discovered she had been reduced to her underwear. A large bandage wound around her thigh covered the spot where the scorpion had stung her. A cursory glance later, she found a second, smaller bandage on her upper arm. Someone was taking care of her. Against what were likely ridiculous odds, someone had found her out there and rescued her. As if on cue, the door at the other end of the room opened partway to permit a rather strange-looking girl. She didn’t seem to pay Rarity much mind at first, instead brushing a strand of blue hair out of her darkly tanned face, hooking it behind a pointy ear as she peered at the clipboard she was carrying. Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but quickly realized she had too many questions and no idea where to start. “Er…?” The girl’s eyes lit up as they met Rarity’s. In an instant, she tore the top sheet of paper from her clipboard, slapped it down on the counter behind her, produced a pen from the pocket of her poorly fitting nurse’s uniform, and began scribbling furiously. “So… you wouldn’t happen to be…?” Rarity began. The girl looked up from her writing for only barely long enough to hold up one finger; Rarity simply watched. A few more seconds later, she held out the clipboard for Rarity to take, rushing from the room once again as soon as it had left her hands. i’m so glad you’re awake!! don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe here! my name is miri and you’re at me and my mom’s clinic! you’re suffering from heat exhaustion and a nasty dose of scorpion venom, lucky i found you in time! i have lots and lots of questions but they can wait till you feel a little better okay?? i’ll be right back, i need to get you some water because you’re really dehydrated BUT DRINK IT REALLY SLOWLY or it might upset your tummy! The girl returned not long afterward with a tall glass of water that Rarity had to resist the urge to chug as quickly as possible. “Hah… thank you, er… Miri.” Miri beamed. “Oh…” Rarity figured she already knew the answer, but it was still worth trying. “Did you happen to see anyone else out in the desert? Anyone, well… like me, perhaps?” Her pony ears twitched to emphasize the point. Miri gave a silent gasp and drafted a response as quickly as she could. is someone else out there? oh no i’m so sorry! i went to investigate the bright light i saw way out in the desert but all i found was you… should i go looking again?? Rarity shook her head sadly. “No, that’s not necessary, dear! We got separated after we fell into the portal, so…” She paused, turning to look out the window. “I… feel like she probably ended up somewhere far away. I’m not sure how I know that, but…” Miri held out the clipboard. YOU CAME THROUGH THE POR no, we should talk about that later. i’m really sorry about your friend :( you’re welcome to stay here until you get better! i should go tell mom you’re awake so we can make you some food!! are you hungry? “That would be lovely, thank you!” Rarity smiled, but it was short-lived. “Oh, but… I don’t have any way to repay you for your care.” She found herself staring at Miri’s uniform while she awaited the next written response. Not only was it clearly too big for her, but the stitching on the seams was uneven… and the whole thing was such a drab color to boot! Yet she had so expertly laundered Rarity’s clothes for her until not a hint of sweat stain remained… Was there such a thing as an idea that was too perfect? Rarity hoped not. “Actually,” she found herself saying, “hold that thought. Did you make that uniform yourself?” Miri blinked, crossing out her old response and starting over. yes… i’m not very good at sewing though and we can’t afford so it was the best i could do Rarity smirked and leaned forward. “What if I offered to make you and your mother an entire line of brand new uniforms?” Miri stared at Rarity’s clothes for several seconds before responding. you can do that?? “Of course, darling! Picture it - the perfect blend of style and substance! Functional yet fashionable, durable yet dazzling! I promise you’ll love them, or my name isn’t Rarity!” At this, she paused. “…Which it is. I may have neglected to mention that,” she added with a sheepish grin. Miri beamed the entire time she spent writing. your name is really pretty <3 that would be wonderful, miss rarity! thank you!! i’ll go talk to mom for a bit and be back with something for you to eat :) :) After an affirming nod from Rarity, Miri left the room, grinning from ear to pointy ear. The moment she was gone, Rarity let her own smile drop. It wouldn’t do to dwell on what she couldn’t control. By all accounts, she seemed to be fairly well stuck here - wherever ‘here’ even was - and it sounded like her friends were nowhere to be found. But fashion! She always had a handle on that. “You’ve been lucky so far,” she told herself. “Let’s ride that luck as far as it’ll go and show this world just what Rarity is made of!”