They had to admit, they were very stubborn when they continued to walk through the blistering heat that was shooting its rays on the ground; heating the sands which caused their hooves to ache from the pain of walking and the heat.
Sweetie Belle has been the most vocal about it, not being used to feeling such pain daily, if at all.
Applebloom did not react as much, but the heat made it almost unbearable for her. Working on the farm during the summer so that you got used to the sun's warmth. This time though; she was in a desert.
Scootaloo was slightly better than Sweetie Belle but that could be because she has trained her body which did so she got a better endurance rate. Nonetheless, she sympathised with Sweetie Belle and did agree that the blistering heat was simply too much to bear.
When they had woken up that morning they couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved that they were away from Ponyville. For the first time in a long time, they felt peace.
They’d admit; they were afraid of running into Timberwolves but that didn’t happen. Yet.
But besides that, they felt like they could take a breath of fresh air and appreciate the quietness and not feel the angry and hateful stares of the other ponies of their once-cosy little town. They could finally relax and not be stressed over what to expect the ... old ... acquaintances would do to them or say to them.
They had never dreamt of gaining such freedom in this fashion, and they probably wouldn’t if they’d come clean to their sisters or told miss Cheerilee about the blackmailing from Diamond Tiara.
But there was nothing they could do to change it now though, so all they could do was move through the unforgiving sun that seemed to glare at them specifically as if the sun had seen and witnessed their crimes. Maybe it had.
Everypony in Ponyville knew it was them that had started Gabby Gums and spread their secrets, it was only a matter of time before the other professional journalists came over and asked the citizens what happened to which the three fillies expected to be outed.
Normally, they would have just hung their heads low and just taken the beating but there is only so much one can take before they snap.
Sure, they are still fillies in the eyes of the law, but if the mares and stallions around Ponyville were treating them like adults, in the sense that they showed clear hate, then they should be seen as adults.
There was also this belief somewhere that young fillies and colts had higher resistance than their fully grown counterparts in terms of emotional endurance, and reality; none is superior.
If you say something immensely hurtful towards a young one they’ll be hurt beyond belief. If you say it to a grown one, they’ll be able to mask it but still be extremely hurt by the words.
This is what the three had thought themselves and fully believed to a certainty because they have now lived through it.
It was something that they could write down in a journal or diary of sorts if they desired. Maybe that is what they should do. They didn’t have a full education, but wherever they are going, maybe education isn’t seen as important. Of course, the possibility that they end up somewhere where the education standards are much higher did cross their minds, since miss Cheerilee ... did teach them that a few kingdoms and nations outside of Equestria either had lower standards or higher depending on the necessary level in that kingdom.
The thought frightened them.
What if they had to resort to crime in a kingdom far from home with no one to love and protect them?
Their tears were just about to burst out of their eyes when they thought about it. What if they ended up in a kingdom that would immediately know that they weren’t from there and would find out that they came from Equestria and used them as hostages?!
Oh, how they wished to go back. But they couldn’t
No matter how terrified they become, they could only move forward and look for a brighter future outside of their beloved home.
Sweetie Belle was near hyperventilating, but she didn’t show it on the outside. On the inside, however, she was crying for her sister, silently begging and wondering why Rarity would turn her back on her. Sure, they had their squabbles, what siblings didn’t? But she didn’t think her sister would betray and backstab her in such a fashion as the fashionista did. It was unexpected
She had looked up to Rarity for the majority of her life like any other sibling and seeing the one pony she looked up to just walk away from her was as if a piece of her died.
When she looked over at her friends she could see that they also felt the same. It hurt the most on poor Applebloom, Sweetie could tell. Being told to “go away”, in such a fashion that suggested that they hated their own flesh and blood must really hurt the apple girl.
Oh, how Sweetie wished she and the two never joined the school paper for their cutie marks. If they had never joined; none of this would have happened. They would be back home, where their families would love them and cherish them and always be there for them.
The thought made her whimper as she continued to trot through the heat with her two companions to make her feel less lonely.
She had no other family except for her friends now. They were the only ones she could call family and friends. She wanted to cry tears of sadness for having lost her family but also tears of happiness for having her friends that were on the same boat as her and probably wanted to cry but simply couldn’t for various reasons.
She just hoped that their lives would turn for the better. After everything that's happened, she believed they deserved happiness.
The heat was becoming unbearable now. The three fillies felt their bodies sweating buckets as the rays of the sun warmed the sand that covered the vast lands for miles with no city of sorts in sight.
The three knew there was bound to be some town or city soon, but they were unsure of where the location could be as miss Cheerilee never spoke of it during her lessons. Yes, she mentioned that there were a few livable places in the Badlands, but she never expressed or showed on a map where it was, she simply told them that if they somehow ended up there one day; there were towns that they could turn to.
“Scoots...” Applebloom panted as her eyes became hazy and blurry from the heat.
“Yeah?” The orange filly responded with equal panting from exhaustion and heat.
“Do ya think we’ll survive?” She asked with a sense of defeat in her voice.
The other two fillies stared at one another, unsure of how to comfort their friend. They knew the chances of their survival were slim, but there was a chance. After all, they had overcome many great obstacles in the past, so why wouldn’t they...
Scootaloo thought about their most recent obstacle that had caused them to run away from their beloved town. The anger inside of her was making her blood boil to the point she was certain that the others could see smoke emitting from her. If they'd noticed, they never mentioned it as Sweetie Belle was trying to come up with something comforting to say.
“I don't know Bloom, I don't know...” The orange filly replied with a solemn look on her face. She wanted to desperately say something else, anything that would comfort her friend, but she knew that there was nothing she could say that would make their situation any better. It was impossible.
That didn’t mean that she wouldn’t continue to try though, she would try her hardest to comfort her somehow and get her head out of the water.
But... with the blistering heat, she wondered how long she’d be able to do that before it would truly open her eyes to how screwed they are. They had no food or water, so there was no chance of them surviving unless they found a cactus for water. However, she would need Appleblooms help with that as she remembered from miss Cheerilee that not all cactus water was safe to drink.
With that in mind, they continued their journey while feeling their bodies almost fall from exhaustion. Their minds were made up however, there was no stopping them. They would force themselves to find a place to stay, and find food and water.
That’s when they saw it. A large tower not far from their position. A tower meant a building, a building meant creatures, and creatures meant more creatures. A civilization. When the three fillies saw it, their eyes filled with hope, and they began to walk faster, and faster.
Before they knew what they were doing; they were running towards the town that they saw on a sign called Kludgetown.
“We found civilization!” Applebloom shouted to her friends, completely forgetting the sun, the past, and the pain she felt physically and mentally.
“We can finally find food and water!” Scootaloo excitedly responded.
“We can maybe even find a place to spend the night!” Sweetie Belle added with hearts thinking about a mattress of sorts she could sleep on.
They continued to run until they reached the town where they were met with all kinds of creatures they had never seen before. They felt relieved however when they saw that there were a rare few ponies and at least one dragon who was there. At least they recognised their own race and Spike’s race...
They looked around and saw that there were stalls for many different things, ranging from food to drinks and weapons.
It was quite shocking to see royal guard-level weapons being sold like candy but they understood why.
The Badlands had no laws.
This meant that there were no authority figures that could step in and stop the selling of weapons or any kind of criminality in the first place. The criminals were the ones that ruled. The ones with deep pockets that is. The rest were simply there trying to survive after being banished from their home countries.
The crusaders knew this and didn’t blame them. Would it take time to get used to? Yes. Would they get over it? Also yes.
“We should ask if we could get some water, I'm thirsty.” Sweetie Belle admitted while licking her dry lips from the sun exposure.
The other two nodded and looked around trying to find the cheapest water they could find which they found surprisingly quickly. They bought three bottles worth, and headed around the town.
They wouldn’t lie and say that they didn't feel afraid when they saw creatures making deals that were no doubt illegal in nature, but who were they to stop them? They had run away from their home because of newspaper articles. Of course, it was a huge difference, but to them, it wasn't at the same time.
“Okay, so we got our water, where should we crash for the night? I highly doubt we can just ask nicely to sleep inside some creature's house,” Scootaloo said as she sipped her water sparingly as she did not want to waste it away.
Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment.
“Well, we could always try tha fin’ a hotel ‘round ere,” Applebloom suggested.
It wasn’t a bad suggestion either. There was bound to be some kind of hotel around these parts. Even if they're rarely used, they surely would exist in a town like this right?
“Bloom, do you think there is one?” The orange pegasus asked with a small frown. “I’m not doubting you, but I find it hard to believe that they have a functioning hotel for outsiders. Most likely it's used for...” she hinted towards an alley where a dragon and some fish-like creatures exchanged something with one another.
“Scoots, I get what ya tryna’ say, but... what other options we got?” The earth pony asked with a frown, mimicking her friend.
“Well,” Sweetie began, catching their attention. “We could try to find one, maybe ask if we have to, but I’d rather go somewhere else now because I’m feeling watched by someone or something.”