For the past day, Amethyst Star had been lost in a desert. She wasn’t sure how exactly this happened since it’s not like a desert was a maze or a forest or anything where you could get turned around or stuck on a dead end path, right? It was just a big open area made of sand. So how could she have gotten so lost in it if she was just walking straight this whole time? There weren’t even any big dunes that obscured her vision in any direction, it was flat sand on top of sand everywhere! She saw some cacti and some desiccated bushes and tumbleweeds but that was about it. Amethyst Star thought if she just kept walking straight she’d be out of the desert in no time but apparently that just wasn’t happening. She could look over her shoulder at her hoof tracks that extended for miles behind her and all it did was make her annoyed. The heat was bothersome too although not as bad as she would have originally thought when it came to a desert. It just made her uncomfortable instead of being unbearable.
Several shadows zoomed across the sand around her and Amethyst Star frowned, looking up into the sky to see a number of buzzards circling. “Go away, jerks! I’m still walking aren’t I?!” She shouted at them and the large birds flew off. “Geez...”
The unicorn took out her flower-print canteen from the saddlebag she wore and downed the last few droplets of water it contained. She’d need to find a water source soon or she wouldn’t be lost in the desert for much longer. On the plus side she noticed that her saddlebag’s weight hadn’t been bothering her as much lately, either she had gotten used to the burden or she had gained some muscle mass from all the traveling she had done. Both would count as a small victory for her.
She stuck the canteen back into her bag and wiped the sweat from her brow and continued walking across the sand. Somehow even with that last little slurp of water her mouth was still parched and dry and she already wanted more. Maybe now that she was out of water the heat would start to get to her more. That’d be a problem. The flat desert meant nowhere to hide from the sun either, unless she wanted to hide in the thin shadow of a cactus or huddle up against one of the few small boulders dotting the sand. Amethyst Star knew how cold it could get at night too, she’d be swinging from one extreme to the other and it would take a toll on her body, wearing her down faster than normal.
But for now the sun was still high in the sky, if she made good progress maybe she’d reach the end of this desert before nightfall? She couldn’t see anything ahead of her though, it just looked like an endless shimmering expanse of sand. If Amethyst Star knew more about deserts she’d know how they can play tricks on your eyes but the unicorn was oblivious to all of this. That shimmering messed with her perception of distance and made things look different from how they really were. She could do nothing more but walk on and hope for the best.
“My hooves are hot,” she grumbled. If she had extra water she would’ve doused her hooves with it. Dumb as that might have been.
Cacti had water in them though, right? Maybe she could cut one of them open if it came down to it. There were more than a few around. They were prickly though, she’d probably hurt herself if she wasn’t careful, could she cut just with her magic? Or would she need to find a sharp rock or stick to get it open? She wasn’t sure. Amethyst Star really didn’t know enough about deserts. Which means she probably should’ve gone around it instead of trying to go right through it, but she was adamant in keeping west unless something made it impossible for her to go that way. And she didn’t think a bunch of sand fit that category.
“If I never travel through a desert again for the rest of my life it’ll be too soon. This is gonna be the first, last, and only time.”
Trying to take her mind off the boredom, heat, and thirst, she started to cloud watch. There were only a few of those puffballs in the sky but it was better than nothing. They drifted through the hot air slowly, she tried to imagine them as something else, like floating cotton candy or even popcorn or flying piles of snow. While for a moment or two it brought a smile to her face she quickly frowned as she realized she was only imagining things she could eat or that would help her out with this heat. When was the last time she had eaten a real hearty meal anyways? She’d mostly been living off fruit and vegetables she found in forests. Not great if she was trying to keep up her health and stay in good condition while she was traveling. But it’s not like she had come across any Sugarcube Corners out in the Undiscovered West where she could stock up on real food.
One of the clouds overhead cast a shadow on the sand and Amethyst Stat eagerly stood in it. She followed it along as it breezed by in the sky, giving her the smallest of reprieves from the sun and slightly making the sand less hot. Walking like that gave her the idea to start holding her saddlebag over her head for some shade but that would probably just make her tired faster if she was using her magic. It was too heavy for her neck to just put it on her head and she couldn’t try to “wear” it without all of her stuff falling out.
Amethyst Star was truly in a predicament on how to make it through this desert.
Time dragged on for her and the clouds drifted away, she could’ve followed them but that would involve changing direction. She was going directly west and that was it. Forget about the sun and how its rays would be shooting right into her face later today. This was the path she chose. The heat still wasn’t truly horrible yet but her thirstiness was wearing on her, if she just had some water she could beat this desert fine. Where was an oasis when she needed one? Every desert had an oasis. She was pretty sure at least. Not like she actually knew anything about a desert.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have shouted those buzzards away… I could watch where they go to drink water,” Amethyst Star scratched her head in annoyance. And her hoof came away with sweat from her mane. “Ugh, this is getting on my nerves.”
The unicorn kicked some sand away and picked up her pace. Of all the adventuring she had done so far and all the places she had been this was the most tedious thing of all. She had to constantly struggle up that hill and across that river, her mind and body always focused on something, and the swamp had plenty of things to look at and discover. But this desert was just a big pit of sand! She wasn’t even struggling through it, she was just getting naturally tired. Maybe she could try and start to view it as a test of endurance? She did want to prove that she was tough and capable in this way too after all.
One of the downsides to being out here and doing nothing but walk though was that it left her mind free to think of all her recent failures and the other problems she had encountered on this adventure. Things she did not want to think about. Not even just the failures but all the weird and crazy things that have happened to her now too. The Undiscovered West was a bit of an odd place.
Amethyst Star snorted and rolled her eyes. “Well, so is Equestria. But that’s like… a good odd. And I have friends around whenever something weird happens there. Out here it’s like a scary kind of odd.”
She licked her dry and chapped lips a couple of times but with even her tongue getting dry it didn’t make them feel any better. That action just brought her mind back to the thought of water. How often did it rain in a desert? Not like she expected it to right now, it’s just something that would really be welcome. Her canteen kept clinking around in her saddlebag, empty, desperately wishing it was full and could fulfill its duties as a canteen. Amethyst Star groaned and shifted her saddlebag to her other side for a change of pace and to give her skin some rest where the strap dug in. What she wouldn’t give to dunk her head in some water right now.
As she blinked away some of the fatigue in her eyes while she looked ahead she happened to spot a large cactus coming up in the distance.
Amethyst Star narrowed her eyes at it. “Better source of water than anything else out here.” Regardless of what it took she was now going to see just how much water you could find inside a cactus.
It was shimmering as it stood jutting out of the far off sands like a green pole. She couldn’t get a good solid look at it until she got closer, her hooves now ignoring the heat of the sand and her body overcoming her minor exhaustion and dehydration as she carried herself towards the first solid goal she had since walking into this desert. It was always easier to do something when you had something physical and direct to work towards and not just the abstract and vague. Even if it was as simple as walking to a cactus.
The cactus turned out to be twice her height when she reached it, close enough to touch it and her vision of the plant no longer being affected by the heat of the desert. Rows of needles traveled up and down its exterior while a single pink flower bloomed on its crown. Amethyst Star moved her jaw back and forth as she still wasn’t sure how she would get at the water inside. A quick look down at the sand around the cactus showed no rocks, sharp or otherwise, anywhere to use as a knife. Looks like it would have to be her magic one way or another.
Having some foresight for once she pulled out her canteen so she could gather up any water that came out of the cactus. Lighting up her horn just to create an aura of magic around it she leaned her head down and poked the tip of her horn right into the flesh of the cactus.
“Feels kind of slimy.”
She put some more magic into her horn so the needles wouldn’t hurt her and she could cut through the green skin while sticking her horn in further and pulling it down. Luckily her horn was longer than the needles so as long as she kept some of it out of the cactus she didn’t have to worry about getting poked. She still winced in discomfort at the feeling of cutting a jagged wound into the cactus but at least she could already feel moisture and cactus juice coalescing around her horn, if she just widened the hole slightly more she bet she’d get what she wanted.
Amethyst Star pulled away from the cactus with her horn dripping juice and bits of green skin, the hole she had made was slightly leaking but not nearly enough to get anything in her canteen. Putting her canteen below the hole she used her magic to grasp the edges of it and tear her hastily made hole until it was twice its previous size. Grinning, she watched as water and cactus juice started to pour from the hole and right into her canteen.
“Awesome,” she said as the running water stopped and she let the cactus be. Amethyst Star put the now about half full canteen up to her nose and smelled its contents. “Yuck, that doesn’t exactly smell like the cleanest kind of water...”
Was it safe to just drink this? She wasn’t sure. But she was sure that she was thirsty. With a simple shrug she took a big gulp of the rancid smelling cactus juice/water, downing more than half of it at once. The unicorn shuddered in discomfort from the foul taste and stuck her poor assaulted tongue out but at least it quenched her thirst for now. Ditching and walking past the helpful cactus, she started making her way across the desert again with a bit of her energy renewed after screwing the lid to her canteen on and stowing it away.
“I feel better already,” Amethyst Star smiled.
She would come to regret those words.
Amethyst Star kept walking for quite a while after that cactus, determined to get out of the desert, so much so that she lost track of time. A glance over her shoulder showed the cactus had already disappeared behind her and figuring that meant she had gone far enough she took her canteen back out and downed the rest of it. Which turned out to be a big mistake. Maybe her body had just finally had enough, maybe it was doing an alright job with the rest of it but that final gulp was the straw that broke the camel’s back, maybe her body was punishing her brain for its stupidity.
Instantly a cold wave of nausea washed over Amethyst Star
“Woah,” Amethyst Star stumbled, her face going green and her hooves feeling like doughy bags of pudding. “I… uh, what?”
Heavy lidded eyes started seeing spots and the desert and sky beginning to meld and twist together while her stomach grumbled and groaned. The pudding feeling in her hooves sloshed up her legs and to the rest of her until it felt and looked like she was tumbling down a rotating hallway that never stayed straight, the destination at the end an ever-turning wheel of colors. Amethyst Star’s mind felt like it floated right out of her head, the heat of the desert was gone, the tired feeling in her body was gone, in its place was a sensation of vertigo and a screaming rainbow of sights and sounds, never feeling still, never feeling at rest. Was she still walking? Was she running? Or flying? A fog of imagination covered everything. If she still had eyes all they saw was brightness at once that slowly faded to pink, blue, green, yellow, and millions more until finally a calm black ate away at the corners of her vision, plunging everything into darkness.
“I shouldn’t have drank that cactus water...”
Was that even her voice?