"You're too slow!"
Scootaloo made her way to the top of a sand dune, looking out over the vast desert. The sun sat in a spot that made the sand hot to the touch. Wiping sweat off of her brow, the filly looked back to see where her companions were.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike were all dragging themselves along, trying to get over the intense heat. "It's too hot!" Sweetie Belle complained as she took light steps. The sand shifted under her hooves, causing the filly to nearly fall over. Spike walked behind the fillies, dangling his head as he stepped through the sand.
The orange filly looked at her wings. Her damaged wing was healing - slowly, but surely. She could remember the immense pain she felt as the changeling lady tried ripping it right off. Scootaloo flapped her wings a few times to make sure they still work.
"It'll be okay," Apple Bloom said as she made her way to the top of the sand dune. "Ah'm sure you'll still be able to fly."
"That's not it," Scootaloo replied, looking out over the desert again. "Remember Berry? ...She can't fly anymore."
"Back on the farm," Apple Bloom started. "We all had something to do. Applejack and Big Mac would buck the apples, Granny Smith would help out inside, and Ah would do whatever Ah could to help. We all have something we're good at. We all have a purpose. Ah'm sure Berry will be fine. She's in the Crystal Empire, right? It's safe up there."
"I guess you're right," Scootaloo said. She took a step forward and slid down the dune. "I have something to do too: Make sure we get to the Zebras safely."
As the four continued on, the sun seemed to beam down on them more and more. Scootaloo began to grow dizzy due to the heat. There was nothing to be seen for miles except for a sea of sand. No shelter to hide under. No food or water.
"Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo groaned. "Can't you make some food or shelter appear with your magic?"
The unicorn shook her head. "I can barely lift things up. How do you expect me to do any of that?" She squeaked. Scootaloo just sighed in response.
"It's so hot!"
"Why don't you just fly then? That way you don't have to touch the sand." Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out at the pegasus.
"Girls," Apple Bloom spoke up. "Stop fightin'! We'll find something soon enough, don't worry!"
"What about that?" Spike pointed into the distance. The three fillies looked to see what looked like a lone tree. It was hazy, but Scootaloo was definitely looking at a tree.
"That's it!" the pegasus jumped into the air and began to flap her wings. She zoomed forward in an effort to confirm the vision. Finally, she thought to herself. If it turned out to be a shelter, they would finally be able to rest up. For three fillies, traveling through the desert was extremely tough. Their food and water began to run low, and they barely took brakes on account of the hot sand. They had to keep pressing forward or perish.
Scootaloo's doubts were cleared as she managed to feel the tree. It was a small oasis, complete with a small pool of water next to a large tree. There was enough shade for the four of them under the leaves. In a fit of happiness, Scootaloo squealed.
"It's real! It's real!"
Each one took a long drink of water at the oasis. Scootaloo felt the cool liquid slide down her throat as the dryness went away. "That was the most refreshing thing I've had in a long time!" She exclaimed. Spike took a seat in the shade, wiping sweat off of his brow.
"It's not much, but it'll do for now." The dragon said before dozing off.
Scootaloo awoke to the sound of somepony crying softly. She lifted her head to see Sweetie Belle wiping tears from her eyes.
"It'll be okay, Sweetie Belle." the orange filly tried to cheer her friend up, but Sweetie Belle looked even sadder.
"Everything was so much easier when our sisters were here. If something bad happened, they would fix it. They could do anything..."
"We have to take care of ourselves now. They would have wanted that."
"I know, but...I'm scared."
"Me too."
Even under the shade of the lone tree, because the sun and moon sat still in the sky, the heat never fully went away. Scootaloo grew restless and woke up every few minutes, unable to relax in the heat. She was tired, thirsty, and hungry - they all were. Even Spike found difficulty in relaxing in the "wonderful" oasis. Regardless, it was better than trying to press on through the desert
And they weren't alone.
Scootaloo heard the sound of shifting sand in the distance. She looked to the east and saw a figure. A lone figure in the vast desert space. A figure heading right towards them.
Having learned from the previous encounters, Scootaloo quietly woke the others up. "We have to go." She pressed.
"Five more minutes..." Apple Bloom said in her sleep. The others did not respond either. Looking back again, Scootaloo saw the figure was nearly on them.
Instinctively, Scootaloo ripped the shrubs out of the ground and threw them over the others before jumping into one. The figure didn't notice her as it stopped at the oasis, taking in some water. Scootaloo was able to see exactly what the figure was - a changeling. She held her breath as it drank the water - their water - before continuing on its way, moving south this time.
When it was out of range, Scootaloo cautiously left the shrub and tried to wake everypony else up again. "We've got company," she tried to enforce, getting a groggy Spike to finally get up.
"Where?" He asked slowly.
"All over, I think. I saw one moving south. A changeling."
That got Spike's attention. "...We're going to keep going, right? South, I mean."
Scootaloo nodded. "It's too late to go back now...we might not make it. The zebras have to be around here somewhere, I'm sure of it!" It was all she could do to keep herself from bursting into tears right on the spot.
When it came time to part with the oasis, Sweetie Belle was the most reluctant to go. "It's safer here than anywhere else we've been..." She tried to explain.
"We have no food here." Apple Bloom replied. "Ah'm hungry, so we have to keep moving."
As the unicorn nodded, Scootaloo took a step onto the hot sand. It burned her hoof as she gasped and jumped back. "Too hot!" She screamed, blowing on her scorched hoof. The sun had been sitting over the sand for a long time, baking it so that it would eventually become impassable.
Apple Bloom looked around her and came up with a solution. "Spike, could you climb up and get some of those leaves please?" She asked the dragon. Nopony knew what she was thinking, but Spike nodded and made his way up. Scootaloo fluttered her wings and rose up to assist.
Spike and Scootaloo managed to gather a bunch of leaves and brought them down for Apple Bloom to do whatever she was going to do. Sweetie Belle, Spike, and Scootaloo looked on as the filly wrapped the leaves together and produced tiny hoof coverings. After placing them on her own hooves, Apple Bloom slowly walked onto the sand. The others looked on in anticipation as Apple Bloom took her steps. She turned around and smiled. "They work!"
Everypony cheered as they scrambled to put Apple Bloom's hoof coverings on. When they walked onto the sand, each gave a sigh of relief.
"Nice thinking, Apple Bloom!" Spike commented. The shoes were nothing fancy, but they did relieve some of the heat coming from the sand. With that, the four were ready to move out.
The coverings made it a little more bearable to walk on the sand, but the challenge was still walking a long distance. Scootaloo's hooves would sink into the sand as she walked. She would nearly lose her shoes as she tried to pull herself out. Sometimes the sand would spill into the shoes as well, causing discomfort for everypony.
All while the sun blazed above them, forever still.
"GAH I can't take this anymore!" Scootaloo shouted abruptly. The others heard her, but paid no attention.
"What do you want us to do, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked, shaking some sand out of her front shoe.
"Find a better way to get through the desert, for starters." The pegasus said as she lifted herself into the air. Her wings fluttered and buzzed as she propelled forward.
"Don't leave us behind!" Sweetie Belle called after her, but Scootaloo didn't listen. I can move much faster on my own. She thought to herself. The heat was making her blood boil; the frustration built up inside her was finally let out as she abandoned her friends to find her own way in the desert. By the time she realized what she had done, it was too late to turn back. Her pride would be hurt if she went back to them. No, I'll be fine. They'll be fine.
Scootaloo didn't know how far she had flown before she eventually tired out. She was still surrounded by desert, but a small collection of rocks sat in front of her, which she took refuge on. They were baked due to the sun, but it was as good of a rest as anything she would be able to do.
Looking back, the pegasus saw that her friends were nowhere to be found. Did I really fly that far? She asked herself before breaking out into a grin. "I managed to fly that far - all by myself! Look at me now!" She turned to check her cutie mark - it was still there: the single wing and lightning bolt. She wondered if her mark would have been different in the world she used to live in, but it didn't matter now. She had her cutie mark, her one special talent. She needed to perfect it, as it would make everything easier for her.
"Who needs them?" Scootaloo asked herself as she prepared to fly again. Her wings fluttered like they always did, but Scootaloo's willpower kept her hovering in the air. In fact, she could have sworn that her wings have grown a little since the last time she checked.
However, the pegasus looked back at where she had flown. "Maybe I shouldn't have left them, after all..." She pondered, wondering if her friends were still okay. She left them to travel in the desert; who knows what would happen to them.
Those thoughts went away as a screeching noise came from behind Scootaloo. She turned quickly to see a changeling, about the same height as she was, ready to pounce. She flew up as the beast charged forward, nearly falling off of the rocks. Scootaloo began to fly away, but the changeling grabbed her tail and threw her down onto the hard surface. She hit her nuzzle right on the stone. In great pain, Scootaloo wriggled herself free of the changeling's grasp, only to have it grab onto her hind hooves. It clawed at her, ripping the shoes Apple Bloom had made. The creations slid off and fell to the side of the rocks.
"Get off!" She screamed, trying to buck her attacker. Her right hoof slammed into the changeling's face, causing its grip to loosen. Scootaloo immediately flew up and away.
As tired as she was, Scootaloo flew with all of her might away from the scene. A combination of her stamina, the sun beating down on her, and the sudden adrenaline rush caused her to eventually descend and crash into the hot sand. She just couldn't keep herself going. The filly began crawling through the sand in an effort to get away. She heard the screeching behind her and began to burst into tears. The sand just sifted through her hooves, keeping her in place. Scootaloo heard the hoofsteps behind her, making their way through the sand. Soon, its shadow approached and covered the filly. All she could do was look up.
*********
"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom called out for the pegasus as she, Sweetie Belle, and Spike continued pushing through the desert. "Where are you!?"
"Maybe she's up there," Spike pointed up at a collection of rocks ahead of them. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran over and made their way to the top. Nothing. Nopony.
"Hey, look at this!" Spike called from below. The fillies returned to the dragon to find him holding the shoes that Apple Bloom had made. They were sticking out of the sand as if left there for a while.
"These were the ones I made for Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said. "This is bad."
She turned to look into the distance. If Scootaloo had been here, the evidence would have been swept away by the sand by now. Apple Bloom looked away from the rocks in an attempt to see if Scootaloo was out there. As far as she could see, nothing looked like her friend. Everything began to blend together as a haze settled over the sand.
"We have to keep moving." The filly said before walking off. Spike and Sweetie Belle followed her.
"Are you sure she even went this way?" Spike asked. The dragon tried to keep up the pace, but he sunk in the sand with each step. The fillies were ahead of him, doing their best not to get stuck. The hot sun continued to beat down on them. With each step, the fillies could feel their energy leave their bodies.
Sweetie Belle's mane began to sag and get in her face. She blew on it to no avail - each exhale made her feel even weaker. "Was it a good idea to come out here like this?" She asked the others.
"Do we have to keep going over it?" Apple Bloom responded. "Ah know it might have been a bad idea in the long run, but we have no other choice now, do we!?" Her voice rose, and Sweetie Belle could see the rage build up in Apple Bloom's eyes.
"Girls," Spike came in between them. "We already lost Scootaloo. At this rate, you will all be split up! We need to stick together!" The purple dragon began sweating due to the heat of the sun. Each of the fillies looked at Spike, then at each other.
"Fine!" They said in unison.
Apple Bloom didn't know how long they had been walking for, or even in what direction they were truly going in. There was nothing around but sand and rocks for miles and miles. They had no water, no food, and no shelter.
"Ah guess this is it," She said with a light chuckle, turning around to see her companion's responses. Instead, she saw both Sweetie Belle and Spike face-down in the sand. Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she ran over to her friends. "Sweetie Belle!" She yelled, shaking the filly. There was no response. Apple Bloom began to tear up as she repeated the same with Spike. No response.
"Don't leave me alone!"
A strong wind began to blow, lifting sand up into the air. The sandstorm made it harder for Apple Bloom to see, but she soon saw the sand settle down on top of her fallen friends. The filly did her best to keep them above the sand, but bits of it would get into her own eyes, preventing her from doing much. Apple Bloom frantically dug into the sand, calling after her friends, crying, sitting alone.
Hoofsteps came from behind her. Apple Bloom heard them, but continued to dig and dig. If she stopped, the sand might cover her friends completely. She didn't want to be without them, without Scootaloo. Without Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, or Rarity.
She didn't want to be without Applejack. Or Big Mac. But she was.
The hoofsteps drew closer, finally prompting Apple Bloom to turn around. She saw several hooded figures, dressed in all black. Their eyes were covered by some kind of lens to keep the sand out. Apple Bloom didn't know who they were, assuming they were changelings or something else that was bad.
"Don't hurt us!" Apple Bloom said weakly.
One of the hooded figures stepped forward and placed a hoof on her head. The cloak dropped to the side, revealing zebra stripes. Apple Bloom's eyes widened. Other figures came forward, digging into the sand to retrieve Sweetie Belle and Spike.
The weight of what had happened, coupled with the lack of food, made Apple Bloom feel dizzy. As she saw the figures walking away with Sweetie Belle and Spike, her eyes slowly closed.