//------------------------------// // 43: A Desert to Scale... // Story: An Equestrian Witcher // by OblivionShadow //------------------------------// Shining and the others waited as Silver rejoined them as the group galloped back with Striker in the lead. They reached the pony that Striker had found. He was sitting in the shade that his wagon afforded him, drinking some water. The group of ponies approached him and sat down with him in the shade of the wagon. Striker sat closest to the pony as he finished his water. The grey pony looked from one pony to the next and then back to Striker. “So all of you are looking for him?” “Yes. He’s a dear friend.” Blue Blood replied. “Didn’t give off that impression. He was pretty quiet, to be honest. Didn’t talk much about anypony.” He commented. Shining snorted a laugh. “That’s not surprising. It’s how he always is. I have to ask where you took him.” Sand Comber looked to the Captain and leaned further back. “Why?” Blue looked at Striker who gave a short shake of his head. “We are trying to find him. He went missing shortly after leaving Canterlot.” The Earth Pony was quiet as he looked at them. “So what did he do?” “How do you mean?” Silver asked. “Well. Two of Celestia’s Solar Guards, Two of Princess Luna’s Lunar Guard, the Captain of the Royal Guards, and a Prince are hunting him.” Comber replied with a look at each pony as he spoke. Shining looked at the pony. “Didn’t know we were that obvious.” “You aren’t. My brother and sister work in the palace. One is a Solar Guard and the other a cook. They have mentioned ponies to me and described them. I’m not sure of all your names, but I remember descriptions well.” Comber replied to them. “If you’re here to hunt him then he either did something that you don’t like or the Princesses don’t like.” Silver breathed out and smiled. “A few weeks back me and the other guards here were part of a group that was sent with him to hunt down monsters that had appeared and were killing ponies. Oblivion found the monster but it was found out that there was a mare with the monster and she could command it. He trained myself and others to aid him in the fight against her.” He paused and the grey pony listened. “He was able to destroy the monster and then take the mare into custody after we helped him wear her down. We brought her back to Canterlot where she admitted that she had help from another mare. He left all of us in the capital to hunt her down. The last letter we got from him came from this area.” Shining and the others stared at the Pegasus as he spoke. The Captain started to reach for him when the Earth Pony laughed. “Okay. So you’re not here to harm him.” “No,” Blue said loudly, then covered his mouth. "And you’re not here to steal the Element of Harmony he carries?” All six ponies turned to stare at Comber as he took a sip of his drink, seeming to enjoy the stunned looks from the group. “Just making sure. He saved my tail a few times. I wouldn’t have led you to the ruins he wanted if you were out to harm him.” “Saved you?” Vantage asked, his brows knit as he looked away then back to the pony. “Yup. That magic of his is pretty strong. He saved me when I got trapped under my wagon and repaired it without a fee. He kept a fire going all night and kept the creepy crawlies away. Then when we were close to where he needed to be a sandstorm came down on us. That storm would have killed us both if not for the dome shield he put over us and kept it up for hours till it passed. I owe him still in my opinion. He said we were even, but I still feel indebted to him.” The pony explained. Blue nodded in understanding. “You’re not the only one he has extended a hoof too. I also feel that I owe him more than I can repay. I would not allow harm to come to him either. I don’t blame you for acting as you have. And he obviously trusted you enough to see the Element.” “He used it to boost his magical power during the sandstorm. I only saw the crown from it and he explained what it was after the storm passed. I asked him and he told me after a moment or so.” He replied. Blue nodded. “It’s not surprising that he didn’t mention any of us. That’s not how he is. If you want a pony to hold secrets then he is the one you should ask.” Blue chuckled as he spoke. “I only knew him for a few days, but he was easy to be around. Not one to talk when not needed and he didn’t fight with me about who knew the desert better.” Comber admitted to them. “He’s easy to be around.” Shining replied. “Unless he is training you.” Cross muttered. The others looked to the normally silent Thestral, who then looked panicked when they all looked to him. The other guards fought back a laugh but failed. “He’s right.” Striker laughed. “He trained us and made us work for every moment.” “The upside was that we gained a lot of techniques and some muscle.” Vantage admitted. “Now that I think about it what happened to your armor?” Shining asked them. “…Oh, that.” Silver looked to the others and they were staring at him. “Oh, come on. Oblivion altered them. He made them lighter and stronger.” “How?” Shining asked the solar guard. “Magic?” Silver replied with a grin. “By Equestria.” Shining put a hoof over his face and rubbed his face. “I’m going to speak with him about that.” “Please don’t make him undo it.” Striker quickly asked. “My armor is so much better now than it was. It fits perfectly.” Shining groaned and scrubbed his face with both hooves. “And you as well?” He glanced to Silver and the Thestral’s, who nodded. “Geez.” Blue chuckled at the exasperated Captain and refocused on the Earth Pony. “So you led him into the desert and then?” “He wanted to go to a ruin that is pretty deep into the sands. Said the mare he was after was there. Not sure how he was gonna get back, but he didn’t seem to be worried about coming back.” “Well he can teleport to Canterlot, so I guess…What?” Silver asked as they stared at him. “That is not well known, Silver.” Blue replied, his voice tense. “Oh…Oops?” The pony looked sheepish as the others shook their heads at his clueless state. “He can teleport that far?” Comber asked. “I admit I have never heard of that. Granted I never really thought much of having magic till I saw what he can do with it.” “Oblivion is exceptional. That amount of power is not normal.” Blue added in. “Though I would not mind having that kind of magical strength.” Shining nodded. “I agree. But at the same time, you have to be even more careful when that power is there. Oblivion doesn’t seem to do more than he needs so I have to give him praise for his level of control. A shield that can withstand a sandstorm is worth acknowledgment.” “He said he had not used it for hours before. Only used it a couple of times for short amounts of time. But he did seem pretty comfortable with it. All right. Since you do seem to be friends of his then I can lead you to the ruins that I took him to. Has he really not come back?” Comber asked. Blue shook his head. “He made a spell that allows some Unicorns to send a letter to him. Myself, both Princess Celestia and Luna, and a few others. We tried to send a letter to him and it bounced back. There was no flash of his blue flames or any response.” Comber looked concerned for a moment as he got to his hooves. “A spell can do that?” Blue Blood stood up and summoned a scroll in his magic. He scrawled a nonsense symbol over the paper and then focused on Oblivion. The scroll vanished and then a few moments later reappeared. Blue Blood opened it and then turned it back to the group, showing no response. “Even if he is busy, he replies. We sent letters to him saying that Canterlot was burning and we needed his help, but no reply and no flash of flames.” Blue explained as he dismissed the scroll. “Can you take us to where you left him?” Comber looked up to the skies and then nodded. “I can, yes. You’re all going to need to wait until morning. Need to gather supplies and make sure the group of you can handle the sun.” Shining looked back to the Thestral’s and looked uncertain. “Thestral’s are not meant for the sun. They are nocturnal.” Both Thestral’s nodded and tried not to look miserable under the remaining sun. “Whatever it takes we will see this through, Captain.” Vantage said as he stood up. “Oblivion would never leave us behind. How can we do less for him?” Shining smiled at the two ponies. “I don’t doubt your dedication. I simply am not sure how long you will last in the sunlight. How far is the journey?” He asked Comber as the Earth Pony looked to him. “Five days,” Comber replied. Shining grimaced as he glanced to the two Lunar guards. Vantage squared his shoulders. “I can make it.” He said to the Captain. “Very well. Cross?” He glanced to the second Thestral. Cross looked nervous and the others glanced among each other before Silver looked up, a smile going across his features. “He can stay here. Somepony needs to watch if anypony comes looking for us. No one will be able to tell them where we went if there is no pony here. You okay for that, Cross?” Vantage looked to his longtime friend and smiled. Cross raised his head and nodded. “Yes. I’ll watch over everything here.” He agreed, looking relieved. “That’s settled then. With a pony still here then anypony can find us. Should anything happen to the rest of us.” Shining agreed an easy smile on his muzzle. “What do we need to have for the journey, Comber?” “I’m going to assume none of you have traveled through a desert before?” He replied. Shining nodded. “I have once before, but it was a long time ago. So I will defer to you for this one.” “Sounds good. So we need to keep the sun off the rest of you. Have to admit I’m jealous of your coat there Captain. Perfect color to keep the sun at bay.” The pony replied, a gentle laugh in his voice. Shining chuckled in reply. “You and the Prince are the only two that won’t need to cover up completely. The lighter the color the better.” “Blue is fine.” Blue Blood spoke up as he took a step forward, looking at the grey Earth Pony. His voice was quiet. He tried to look more confident speaking to a new pony, but his nerve was a bit frayed. Sand Comber nodded. “That’s fine by me. Makes it easy to remember. I gotta admit now I know who you are. Prince Blue Blood?” Blue gave a quiet groan at the full name with the title. “You’re correct. But out here I am just another pony that needs your help.” “Well. You’re definitely nicer than my sister said you were. Maybe she caught you on a bad day. Happens to the best ponies.” Comber replied with an easy smile as he dove up to his shoulders in his wagon. Blue cringed at Comber's words but tried to hide his grimace. Shining bumped his shoulder and gave him a confident smile. “It’s fine.” He whispered to the Royal and went up to the wagon. The guards smiled at him as well, trying to give a silent show of support. Blue inhaled a sharp breath then released it, trying to push the bit of anxiety away and went up to the wagon as well. “What do we need to do?” “Well, we need to wrap your hooves.” Comber replied. “Why?” Silver asked. “Do you like to have your hooves burned?” Comber asked as he looked up from the wagon. “No.” Silver replied quickly. “The sand is hot and if you’re not careful it can burn the bottom of your hooves. Even Oblivion had to wear boots.” Comber chuckled as he gave a bag to Silver who took it from his hooves and set it aside. “Also need to take a few hoods to keep the sun off your face. I have sunscreen here as well for you and the Captain.” “Shining is fine, Sand Comber. You’re the boss on this trek.” Shining commented as he took a bag from the gray pony. “Sounds good. And just Comber.” He tossed the third bag to Vantage who caught it and set it on the ground behind him. “Okay, that’s the last of what I need for the group of you. We will make the boots tonight and let them harden overnight. Oblivion had his own so I didn’t need to make any for him. So who’s first?” Nopony volunteered, so Blue Blood stepped forward first and sat down when Comber pointed to space in front of him. The grey Earth pony pulled a square of leather out of one bag and set it on the ground. “Hoof in the center, please.” Blue nodded and did as he was instructed. Comber began to twist the leather around his hoof and partway up his foreleg and then tied it above his hock and then applied glue around the leather to hold it in place. He repeated the process with the rest of Blue’s hooves and then pulled them off to allow them to dry. “They’ll hold snug once they dry. Next.” Comber called out and did the same for each pony. They finished and Comber prepped a set of hoods for each of them and set them aside as well. Once the preparations had been made the ponies all settled down for the night, resting before the journey the next day. Blue Blood laid awake for a moment before he got up and went to sit by the deserts edges. He was quiet as he looked back to the others and found Shining sitting up, watching him. The captain got up and sat down beside the royal, quiet. “Are you alright, Blue Blood?” The white pony asked. “A bit nervous. I have not really been too far outside of Canterlot.” He admitted. “You’ll do fine. Truth be told I would have been surprised if you were not a bit apprehensive. But your dedication to finding Oblivion is strong. At first, I was not sure if sending you out to help search was a good idea. As you said, you haven’t left Canterlot for anything like this before. But you were the first out of the gates.” Shining replied. “So you have more drive than the rest of us combined. Trust in that.” Blue gave a non-committal sound and a weak nod at the captain’s words. “I have never needed to have that drive before. I shunned other ponies and stayed away from them. Oblivion kind of forced me to think differently. He caught me so off guard that I had no idea how to react to him at first.” “I think Princess Luna felt much the same way.” Shining chuckled. “She had not faced any pony that could beat her so easily in combat and Oblivion had done it twice. Once, as Nightmare Moon and then against her personally.” “I never saw that.” Blue admitted. “According to several of the trainees and others, it was quite the spectacle. He chased her around the training yard and then swatted her across the flanks.” “I heard about that part. I also heard one of your drill sergeants got pretty sore at him for it.” “Oh. Yes, he did. He was furious. But they couldn’t say anything when Princess Luna began to laugh and dismissed them.” Blue chuckled and looked over the seemingly endless sands ahead of them. “That’s quite the daunting sight.” “The desert?” Blue nodded. “Yes, it is. If you let it scare you then all you’ll do is worry about it. I keep thinking that five days is nothing in the end. If he is there then it has been longer for him.” “I doubt he is there.” “You never know. We have no idea where he is. If there is some magic there that is stopping him, then we need to be ready for it. You and I are the Unicorns in this group. Between the two of us, we should be able to help. We have the speed and tenacity of three of the best guards the palace has to offer. And Sand Comber knows the desert. This group should have no issue making it. And we have Cross watching for us to return. We will find him and come back. If we play our cards right then we can find him, bring him back, and then go home safely and let those who are waiting for us to return know that we did it or that we tried our best. That is all we can do.” Blue got an impish look and regarded the other stallion. “Yes, my cousin will be waiting for you no doubt.” Shining looked back to him. He gave a groan and looked away. “I’m not the only one who has some pony waiting. I’m told you have been writing letters to a mare.” Blue grinned and nodded. “True. But I haven’t actually met her.” “What?” “Oblivion introduced us through letters. She lives outside of Canterlot.” “Oh. Long distance. That’s not for every pony. But those who can handle it usually have a bond stronger than if you met them once then wrote. She must be around Ponyville if Oblivion knows her.” “Yes. She is a friend of your sister.” “Oh!? Which mare?” “Rarity, the Element of Generosity.” “Ahh. I see. I haven’t heard anything personally, but I hear the whole group is the very personification of their element. So, I have no doubt of her character.” Shining replied. “Don’t tell my sister anything, by the way.” “Fine. I will keep quiet. I won’t mention it.” Blue replied. “Cadance would hurt me if I did anyway. She already swore me to secrecy.” Shining chuckled and got to his hooves. “I’m going to catch a few hours of sleep before the morning. I advise you do the same, Blue.” “Thanks. I’ll do the same.” Blue Blood followed him and got to his hooves. He laid down on his own sleeping bag and fell asleep with the others close by. Blue Blood snapped awake as a hoof nudged his shoulder. Silver nodded to him as he awoke and sat up, a yawn pulling from him. He shook his head and banished the sluggishness from his body as he stood up and shook. Around him, the others were waking up and grabbing a light breakfast while Sand Comber was finishing the last minute preparations for the start of their journey. The Prince looked up and trotted over to Shining Armor. “Did you send an update to my Aunts already?” Shining startled and shook his head. “No. I forgot to be honest. Can you take care of it?” “Sure. Just make sure they leave some breakfast for me.” “I got your back.” Shining replied with a light laugh. Blue Blood trotted to the carriage and his magic gripped the mailbox and he set it on the ground beside him as he wrote out a swift note to his Aunt Celestia, informing her that they were going into the desert to see if there was any trace of the missing stallion in the ruins that a guide had taken him to. He slid the scroll into the box and it sent the letter on its way. The pale pony opened the box and found a reply had been received and he pulled it out to read through it. Nephew: Thank you for letting us know that thou are doing well. We will await the next update from you and the Captain. Be safe and tread softly. Yours, Celestia and Luna Blue Blood smiled and set the letter back inside the mailbox. The box was replaced back on the carriage and he trotted to the others. Shining Armor levitated a plate to him and he sat down by the dead fire to eat his share. Sand Comber joined them and began to fit the guards who had already finished with their boots and the hoods that would help keep the sun off of them. Silver stepped into his boots and waited as Comber cut the edges of the upper boots to make them uniform around his foreleg. The process continued and Blue Blood finished his food and stepped into his boots. After they had been fitted the all placed any items they needed into the wagon Sand Comber used and moved items around to make sure that it did not overburden the grey Earth pony. “Okay. So you two bring up the rear in case we need to push the wagon up hills.” Comber motioned for Striker and Silver to walk behind the wagon. They nodded and moved into place. “Now have Shining and Vantage on the sides. Depending on the time of day we will have Vantage switch back and forth on the sides. A Thestral will have a hard time constantly in the sun.” The mentioned ponies moved into a place with a nod of acknowledgment. “Blue Blood. You’ll walk up from with me. I don’t doubt your strength, but…” “No. I understand. I’m the least likely to be able to push or pull the wagon.” Blue Blood replied with a knowing smile. “Just didn’t want you thinking I’d singled you out or thought you were weak. You’ll help as needed. If the ones in the back need a bit o’ help then you’re the one that will help them.” Comber replied, clearly pleased that Blue had taken no offense. “The ones on the sides will help out pulling if I get tired. That okay?” “Sounds like a solid plan to me. Vantage and I will switch out with you if needed.” Shining replied. “Perfect.” Comber smiled widely at the group and set himself in the wagon's traces. “Here we go. Keep up with the pace I set.” Blue Blood walked next to the pony and set hooves into the desert and looked at the rolling hills ahead of him. ‘Oblivion. Wherever you are, I hope you’re safe.’ He thought to himself as they went forward.