It was hot.
Applejack had just finished cresting a sand dune to see the many more that awaited her. The Twin Towns not yet visible in the distance and Cross Way already vanished in a sea of sand behind her. Her canteen about halfway empty and a half eaten carrot in her mouth, Applejack began the descent of the sand dune. Taking herself down it slowly so she didn’t stumble and get sand everywhere. Again.
It didn’t look like there were so many sand dunes when I started…
Rising above the next sand dune, and the next one, and the next one, she finally made it to one long drift of sand and dirt. Cacti dotted the desert around her and a slight breeze blew trails of sand through the air.
I really hope those Twin Towns or whatever have apples.
There wasn’t much for Applejack to think about as she trudged through the desert. She couldn’t really do much to prepare herself for what might come in the Twin Towns, having only the barest knowledge of them. Hopefully nothing bad would happen while she was there. If it was such a powder keg like Sturdy Wheel made it seem then at least let its fuse be long enough to explode after she left. One adventure at a time was more than enough for her, helping people was nice but she liked her simple life just fine. Course she wouldn’t mind making more friends again either.
Sweating up almost enough to fill her canteen, Applejack decided to sit down for a second. Sand was getting in her tail but it was nothing a good shake or two wouldn’t get out. And thank Celestia she had her hat, the shade and cover for her head made all the difference. Chomping down the rest of her carrot Applejack checked out a large cactus to her right, pink flower blooming on the top of it. She was pretty sure cacti had some juice or water in them but she didn’t have a knife or anything to get it out.
At least whatever raiders didn’t get rounded up either ran off entirely or were too scared of Applejack to come after her.
Letting out a deep breath, Applejack got back up and started walking again, shaking her tail side to side to get the errant sand out. She figured it must be pretty soon that she could see the Twin Towns, already walking through the desert for a full day and now the sun’s position was telling her it was clearly past noon. She forgot how cold a desert could get last night, wishing she had asked for a blanket or something that she could’ve also packed in her new saddlebag. Instead she was shivering for most of last night before she decided to practically bury herself in the sand. As incredibly uncomfortable as that was. Rarity never would’ve done something like that.
Shortly later Applejack was getting to a rockier part of the desert, ridges and formations shooting up all around her practically out of nowhere. It reminded her a bit of the canyons she had nearly gotten lost in before she ended up on the road to Cross Way, only this time it was all surrounded and covered in sand. Jumping up on a big granite boulder she was happy to see a more solid surface to walk on below, a huge slab of orange stone creating a valley in the desert, the sand shored up on both sides making something like a pipe cut in half that she could walk in.
Walking through the rock way was a nice change of pace, it felt good on her hooves to have some sturdy ground instead of the sinking and occasionally mud-like grasping sand.
“Would’ve been a good place to rest last night since the walls keep the wind out.” Applejack said to herself. “Oh well, I’ll remember this if I ever come back this way to Cross Way.”
Applejack’s ears suddenly perked up as she heard something behind her. Turning around she saw some pebbles tumbling down the side of the rock, but nothing else.
“Critter?” She raised an eyebrow and shrugged, getting back to her walking.
But a minute later she heard some shifting in the sands around her. Keeping her eyes open she started scanning the edges of the rock, spying the occasional sand sliding over the edge and hearing the occasional clunk of a rock being struck by something.
She shortly came to the end of the rock and back out onto the sand, boulders of all shapes and sizes arrayed before her. Somepony could easily be hiding behind one.
Applejack stopped, eyes narrowed. “Alright, I don’t know who you are but you can come out already! I know you’ve been following me!”
It was like the floodgates had been lifted.
Four green cloaked figures leaped from behind the rocks and assaulted her. Applejack didn’t have a chance to say anything else as the largest figure launched itself off a rock and came hurtling towards her from above, she quickly jumped out of the way to avoid it. The figure came crashing to the ground like a cannonball, the sand and stone exploding outwards, the shockwave nearly causing Applejack to tumble over but she was able to dig in her hooves and withstand it. It was a good thing too as two of the other figures had quickly darted behind her, Applejack turned to face them, one of them about her height while the other was almost a full head shorter. A hoof darted out of each of their cloaks, reaching forward as if trying to tag Applejack.
They’re ponies huh? She thought as she jumped away from them as well, barely dodging their strikes.
This left her open to her final assailant though, who glided by her in mid-jump and lightly tapped her on her right foreleg before she could react. The cloaked figure came to a stop in front of their allies, about the same size as Applejack as well, turning its head back at Applejack and piercing her with deep blue eyes.
Frowning, Applejack landed with the large attacker in front of her and to her left and the other three standing a dozen feet directly before her. Her legs were shaking as she stared the cloaked figures down.
“Now who in the hay-” Applejack stopped as she realized it wasn’t all her legs that were shaking, just her right foreleg. Her mouth opened wide in surprise as the vibration in her limb grew stronger until it felt like a manticore was shaking it.
“You, what did you do!” Applejack shouted out, feeling the tremors all the way down to her bone. Gritting her teeth and scrunching her face in anger she raised her right foreleg over her head. “Stop!”
Slamming her hoof onto the ground she felt the tremors suddenly abate, a small shockwave passing through the sand and creating a series of circular ridges extending out from her hoof.
The four cloaked ponies stepped back in shock. Quickly looking between each other in surprise and confusion.
“Okay, now you tell me who you are and why you attacked me!” She yelled at them.
Hesitantly the one who struck her stepped forward. “How did you cancel out my attack? Such a thing should be impossible without profuse training.” The pony, a stallion as she could now tell from his voice, said.
“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about at all! What in the hay is going on here?” Applejack stamped her front hooves on the ground in frustration, tired of these ponies already.
The four looked between each other again before the one who had spoken nodded and they all lowered their hoods. The burly one was a gray-ish blue stallion with an orange-brown mane, he openly stared at Applejack with a fearful eye. The smaller one was a peach colored stallion with a thin, wispy, jet-black mane, his face a mask of indifference. The one standing next to him that was about Applejack’s height was a black mare with a long, sparkling, white mane that covered half of her face much like Fluttershy’s. When the one who had spoken lowered his hood Applejack grimaced and stepped back in shock. He was a gray stallion with a short brown mane but his whole face was covered in innumerable tiny scars.
“You… aren’t perhaps part of a group of brigands that has been harassing a town called Cross Way are you?” The scarred one asked her.
“What! No! I just came from Cross Way, I helped them out with those raiders who were attacking them! In fact, I dealt with their leader so they won’t be bothered at all anymore. Who are you ponies?” Applejack responded in surprise.
“I see. We have done you a great disservice then, noble pony.” The scarred one continued. “We had heard from others that a violent group of creatures had made their home in this desert and were attacking the town to the south of here. You were the first creature we came across and we simply figured you were with them. We were coming to help the town...” He finished, trailing off in shame at having attacked the pony who had done what they came to do in the first place.
“Oh...” Applejack relaxed a little but kept her frown. “Well if you were really intending to go there to help them with those raiders then that’s pretty nice of ya. Still a little annoyed that you attacked me out of the blue like that.”
“Yes.” The scarred one replied slowly. “But please, I must ask you now how you were able to do that. No creature should’ve been able to do such a thing.”
“Uh, I really have no idea what you’re talking about.” Applejack just tilted her head at him. “I just wanted to get that shaking to stop.”
The scarred one again looked back at his comrades, them sharing glances before each one of them nodded to him and he returned to stare down Applejack. Like she had noticed earlier his deep blue eyes were striking, it was like looking into the ocean.
“Perhaps it would be best to introduce ourselves formally to you and explain some things.” He said to her. “I am Quartz.”
“Bedrock.” The burly one said.
“Marble.” Said the little stallion.
“Obsidian.” Said the lone mare.
“And we,” Quartz spread his hoof out wide, gesturing to the other three as they walked up to stand beside him. “Are the last disciples of the Hoof of the Earth fighting art.”