Wack! Wack! Wack!
I drove in the nails to keep the horseshoe in place. The pain shot through my body, making me freeze for just a second before I started to make the adjustments to make sure the horseshoe was secure, and on properly. I repeated the process three more times, each one seeming to bring more pain than the last. I had to get it done, no matter how painful it felt. In the wastes of Equestria, on the journey I must face, I needed to have a way to protect myself, a way to do damage when the time demanded it.
I took a deep breath when the process was done, staring at my work with a sense of pride. I never applied horseshoes to myself before, but now they’ll be here to stay, and I’m glad for that fact. I exited the barn, and headed off into the wastes, finally leaving behind the place I’ve come to know as home.
* * * *
I opened the saddlebags I acquired from Sweet Apple Acres, pulling out a canister of water. The liquid felt like heaven down my throat, quenching the thirst that clawed at me with intense fury. Water was rare to come by, and I had to drink in short spurts, conserving the precious commodity as much as I could. The same went for food, but to a lesser extent.
Around me was hills of nothing, just an endless sea of dunes made of the ash of a dying world. I decided to head to Griffonstone first, perhaps some survivors could still be trying to live in the ruins of the city. No ponies I’m sure, but griffons were always more stubborn than our race.
To my surprise, when I conquered yet another hill, I was greeted with an interesting sight. Off in the distance lied an oasis of sorts, some green trees and what appeared to be the sounds of flowing water. It had to be a mirage, but it wouldn’t hurt to at least check.
I slid down the dune, ignoring the stray ash that got stuck in the nooks and crannies of my hooves. When I got to the bottom I noted the skeletal remains of at least four different ponies. What caught my eye was that there was also some bits of wood scattered about, it seemed that some Timberwolves were around, possibly escaping from the Everfree when the world went to Tartarus.
I brushed it off, no use paying it any mind. As I got about halfway through the plain, I felt a rumble course through the ground below me. I jumped off to the side, noticing that the ground began to open up, a turquoise aura flowing from the fissures. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I would be lying if my curiosity wasn’t on overdrive.
I saw the aura flow into the skeletal remains, and the bits of wood around me, my heart sinking when I saw them start to reanimate themselves, the turquoise color appearing in the sockets of the skeleton ponies eyes. The timberwolves were half-formed, missing pieces they obviously needed to be a threat, but none-the-less startling.
I braced myself for a fight; they did not come back to life to be friends, I was sure of that. As two of the skeletons lunged towards me, I ducked under their blows, and uppercutted the one on the right, it’s body breaking apart from the impact; bones flying every which way. I then jumped to the right, using the empty space to get some distance. I noticed that one of the Timberwolves went in for the attack, so I jumped on top of it, letting my rear hooves land squarely on its head, smashing it to bits. Two down, four more to go.
Pain fired in the back of my head, as one of the skeletons snuck up on me, and struck the back of my head. I pushed past the pain, and sweeped under the skelton's legs, knocking it down on the ground. I slammed a hoof on its skull, finishing the job.
Swoosh!
Another skeleton tried a direct assault, but missed its one and only chance to do some damage. I punished the action by knocking its skull right off its shoulders. It fell to the ground, its new found life leaving its body.
I was down to just one skeleton and timberwolf. I eyed them both, and they did the same. The both charged me at once, and I jumped back from their onslaught of kicks, scratches, and punches. I picked up one of the stray bones off the ground, and threw it at the timberwolf, hitting it on the nose. I used that as a distraction to best the skeleton, making it become much like the others. As the timberwolf eyed its fallen comrades, and reared up, and bucked it across the plain. I was alone again, having won the battle I was forced to fight.
I scavenged some spare meat off the bones of the skeletons, knowing full well I had to put it to use. I did not like the idea of eating meat, but in this world I had no choice. I even grabbed some of the timberwolves remains, that way I could start a fire later.
After that was completed, I looked back towards the oasis, only to see that it had vanished from sight. It was time to move one, so I began to wander once again.