//------------------------------// // Operations in a Desert Storm // Story: Across a Dark Desert // by AirmanAlex //------------------------------// "How much longer till we are in that stupid port, so I can get off this stupid boat!" Gilda had gotten seasick earlier today... and has been leaning over the side of the boat, "releasing her lunch" ever since then... and I was stuck here, rubbing her back in a fruitless attempt to comfort her, hoping that none of that revolting "slop" got anywhere near me... Pegasi, and Griffons always seemed to get seasick, probably because they were so accustomed to the skies, not the seas. "I like her better this way, she finally stopped trying to toss me overboard..." Tail's was the only one on this boat happy about Gilda's sickness, though I can't really blame him for that Since we left Manehatten, Gilda must have tried to throw him overboard at least seven times. Im not sure if she was just messing around with him, or if she really, really hated him... The sun was creeping closer to the horizon, only another hour or two until the sun set completely, hopefully we would be in Ze'bra-lex by then. I was way behind schedule now, thanks to that incident in Manehatten, everything Gilda had caused, and due to the fact that the boat we had chartered wasn't exactly a high speed racer... The minute we docked, I wanted to dash off into the wide open Zebrican desert, and get moving, onward to adventures, and fulfilling my dreams! But, seeing how things have gone so far, I highly doubt that was going to happen... I just hoped we got there before nightfall... Ze-bra'lex wasn't the type of city you wanted to be wandering around in in at night. It was a hub for all kinds of "under the table" activities, thieves, bandits, mercenaries, it had any low life you could think of... Better check up with the captain on our arrival time... "Hey, Captain, when do you think well be arriving in Ze-bra'lex?" He was reclined in a faded red chair, fumbling with a few dials, and levers. "Well, if the seas keep calm, we should be there within the hour! Which, is good news for ya' winged friend. I've never seen such a seasick land lubber in ma' entire life..." "Ok, thanks." I could use this time to deal with something that has been on my mind since we left Manehtatten, involving Tails... He wasn't an ordinary Warg, he seemed to be lacking the physical strength, the powerful flesh ripping jaws, and the razor sharp claws, that Wargs were most known, and feared for. He also wasn't as aggressive, or intimidating as Wargs usually are, most Wargs would have fought to the death against those ponies who ambushed us back in Manehatten. Which brings up another question, what did Tails have to do with that "cult", and why were they following him? He said it had something to do with my map... which brings me to yet another question, how did he know so much about that armour...? I wanted answers, and he was going to give them to me. "Tails! Can I talk with you for a minute?" He was a bit shocked at the sudden outburst, he was staring out to sea, seemingly tuning out everything else... "Uh... Sure..." I led him over to the side opposite to Gilda, I needed to get information out of tails, without Gilda butting in, or trying to kill him. Plus, Gilda was really starting to gross me out... "So... What exactly do you want to talk about...?" He was becoming a bit nervous, which is another thing not attributed to Wargs... "I want to know about you!" "M-M-Me!? What... what could you... possibly want to know about... me?" "Everything! Where your from, what you do, who you are, and why a huge, sword wielding cult, was spying on you!" "Ok... I guess I should tell you since Im gonna be traveling with you guys..." "Who said anything about you coming with us!?" "Well... I assumed, since... well, after that incident in Manehatten... you could use some help... or something..." "I just met you, under some "not so good circumstances", and I still know, absolutely nothing about you! Maybe if I knew a bit more about you, I would consider it..." "Fine... I'll talk... What do you want to start with?" "How about, where your from. Call it a hunch, but I don't think your a native of Manehatten..." "Ok... Well, I was born on the Northern Edge of the Everfree Forest, in a small Warg village. It was filled with log cabins, and large huts, with the lower ranked Wargs, living in tents on the outskirts of the town." "Lower ranked Wargs?" In other cultures this would be the poor, but I didn't think the Wargs had much of an economic system... "Well, In Warg society, your ranked according to your combat abilities, strength, speed, and agility. It goes from the Alphas, Omegas, and Warriors at the top, to the lowest rank, grunts." "Mind if I ask, where you ranked on this social ladder?" "I was a grunt..." "So you were one of those living in the tents?" "Actually no. You see, my father was part of the Warrior class, and my mother was an Alpha, so I got to live in a cozy little cabin. The reason the lower ranked Wargs always lived in the camps, was your strength, and abilities were usually passed down through the family. Which is why my parents were expecting there pup, to be a mighty warrior. But instead of that... "They got little wimpy you?" Wow, that sounded a lot meaner out loud... "...................." He just stared angrily at me for about three minutes.... The awkward silence was only broken by the churning of the sea below, and the churning of Gilda stomach... Until he finally spoke up again. "Anyways... as you could guess my parents were upset with getting wimpy little me, and if you don't mid, I really don't want to go into all of my home life, and family..." "Why not?" "Lets just say, I didn't have the cozy, warm, and loving childhood that you ponies enjoy, and leave it at that..." "Ok, that's fine..." My conscience was really getting me for that "wimpy" remark now... "But, how did you end up in Manehatten, and where does the cult, as you called it earlier, come in? "Well... after a few...events... I just, left. I packed up what few things I had... and left..." "Why did you just, all of a sudden, leave?" "There was nothing keeping me there anymore..." He seemed to get a bit choked up as he said this... "So.... Why did you choose Manehatten? I always thought Wargs despised Ponies..." "Most Wargs do, pretty much every Warg but me... I wasn't like other Wargs, I didn't hate ponies, I didn't attack travelers, I didn't steal... and I... I didn't... kill... It just wasn't me..." "And this caused problems in your "wolf-pack?" A Warg, that, really wasn't a Warg... "It didn't cause to many problems... except the part about refusing to kill... which, in a way, completely ruined my life... but I just couldn't kill out of hate..." "How exactly did it ruin your life?" "I really don't want to talk about that... it's personal... and..." He just stopped... it looked like he was struggling, to hold back... tears... "Ok, forget that part! Just tell me about the "cult" instead..." My conscience was going to chew me up now... "Ok... Well... Wargs, they..." He paused, and turned away from me... he took a deep breath before he continued "Well, Wargs love the night, it shelters us, aids us, and its when were able to do our... robbing, and raiding... So, its only natural that we would love Nightmare Moon as well. An all powerful ruler, who can bring forth eternal night! That would have been a dream come true for all Wargs. We would have terrorized all of Equestria, pillaging, raiding, stealing whatever we wanted, when ever we wanted!" "So the cult was just made to worship Nightmare Moon?" "Not at first, most of you ponies don't know, that during the first time Nightmare Moon tried to overthrow her sister, the Wargs were helping her, which is what the cult was originally for. She made a promise to us, that if we aided her in bringing forth eternal night, she would return to us, our ancestral homeland, which we were forced out of when you ponies first settled Equestria..." "During the First Hearth's Warming Eve?" "Well... we called it "The Great Pony Invasion"... but yes..." We returned to an awkward silence for minute, until Tails continued. "And, you know how the first attempt went... Big battle, lots of explosions, Nightmare loses, Celestia banishes her to the moon, and we get forced to the very edges of Equestria..." "So, it didn't end well for the Wargs?" "Not at all... So, the cult that was originally formed as an army to support Nightmare Moon, continued to believe she would come again, to kick some pony flank for us... so in order to please her, they worshiped her, built temples, shrines, all sorts of things, until one night, she did return..." "And!?" "The Wargs got defeated again... But this time... Nightmare moon was gone forever! She went back to her normal pony self, Princess Luna... and with that, every Warg had there dreams crushed... except for me, my dreams would be crushed a little later on... "But the armour... you said it could bring back Nightmare Moon?" "Yes, and once the cult found out about it... they celebrated like it was the Full Moon Festival or something... that's when they began to rearm the cult. But there was still one problem, they had no clue, where in the wide world of Equestria the armour was! Which is where you come in..." "My map..." "Exactly!" "But... that still doesn't explain why they were spying on you!" "They were probably just searching for me after I left the village. Just making sure I wasn't trying to sell information to the enemy, stuff like that." "Then they heard our conversation, alerted the others, and attempted to ambush me?" "Yep..." "I think were done here, I know everything I need to know." "Good, now back to about me tagging along with you..." "What about it...?" "Well... I don't really have anywhere to stay... and Im not familiar with this barren wasteland were going to, plus most ponies arn't very friendly to a Warg that happens to wander into town..." "Fine... But you get to tell Gilda your coming along with us." I'm starting to think Gilda's personality is rubbing off on me... "Fine... I'll go do it now while she is to sick to... kill me..." He slowly started to walk over to the other side of the boat... All the pieces were finally starting to fit together... it was obvious, that I wasn't the only one after this armour. I was going to have to be a lot more careful now... not only was I going to have to watch out for that cult, which I was sure was going to follow us, but i had to make sure no one else found out about it. I was also going to have to keep a close eye on Tails, sure he seemed trustworthy enough, but he seemed to have a very mysterious past... My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden clanging of a bell, and the captain shouting, "Pony overboard!" The boat made a quick 180 degrees turn... which nearly knocked me off the boat. I dashed over to the captain's quarters... "What's going on!? Who went overboard!?" "Yer' little wolf friend, he's... pardon the pun, doggy paddling a couple yards back." "Gilda..." I should of known! "What was that miss?" "Nothing, just swing around, and I'll pull him aboard." "Okay Miss. I wonder how the fell'er fell overboard in the first place..." "Yes... It's one big mystery..." I walked over to where Gilda was rolling around on the deck of the boat, laughing hysterically... "Gilda!" "What?" "I know you threw Tails overboard..." "He's not coming with us..." "I had a talk with him, and he seems decent enough... and it doesn't seem like he will try to kill us in our sleep or anything. Plus he knows a lot about this armour, and the legends surrounding it, so we need him on this journey! That mean's no more trying to drown him!" "Can I rough him up a bit?" "No!" "How about-" "No!" "Fine! He can come... but he's going to regret it!" By now, the boat had make it back to where Tails was bobbing in the water, he was shivering, Thank Celestia he knew how to swim... I pulled him aboard, wrapping him in a shaggy, old, and worn blanket that was sitting near the back of the boat. Gilda refused to help at all, and walked over to the front of the boat, mumbling something inaudible to the rest of us... '"So, how did it go?" Figured I would brighten the mood with a little sarcasm... "Well... She didn't kill me... so I'd say pretty well!" He tried to force a laugh, but instead, broke out into a short sneezing fit... From what he told me, and the way Gilda's been treating him, he seemed to be having a very rough time lately. But if it was bothering him, he was doing a pretty good job at hiding it... After helping Tails to dry off a bit, which was a bit difficult due to his large amount of thick, shaggy fur, the Captain finally came out of the control room, saying we were going to be pulling in to port in a few minutes. "Gilda, Tails, grab your stuff were docking!" "Okay, I'll just grab my cloak..." "Tails is gonna' carry my stuff, Arn't you!?" "Sure Gilda..." "Ok... Just Get ready to-" I was interrupted by the sudden jolt of the boat, along with a loud grinding noise. "Darn'd it! I think I hit something!" This is what happens when you charter the cheapest boat you can find... "Streaks, remind me again why we charted this loser..." "I resent that! Though... I guess it be deserving since I did just go an' ram me boat into a dock..." "Okay... Do you think you'll be able to float us back to Manehatten once we do what we need to?" That is if he doesn't sink his ship before then... "Sure, I'm just an old crazy sea pony who ain't got nothin' better to do! Not like I'll be doing anything important." I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not... We disembarked, we didn't need to deploy the gangplank, as our brilliant captain, manged to wedged the boat half a foot into the rotting wooden dock... "Were finally here guys! Zebrica, an uncharted land of adventure and treasures! You can practically smell the adventure waiting to happen!" My spirits were high, I forgot all that had gone wrong so far, the delays, the scuffles, the swordpony who nearly killed me, none of it mattered, I was in my paradise... "It smells like crap..." "I have to agree with Gilda on this one... Not exactly a desert oasis..." "Fine! If you don't like it you can go wait on the ship with Admiral Crash-a-lots!" They both sighed heavily, and followed after me down the sandy streets of Ze-bra'lex, the streets were supposed to be paved with cobblestone, but frequent sandstorms would quickly overtake the streets, leaving only small patches of stone visible, and from the looks of it... It seemed that another sandstorm would be hitting the area soon... yet another thing that would cause delays... What in the name of Celestia have I done to deserve all of this!? The streets were lined with small, closely packed, red brick apartments. There were many taverns, bars, and inns along the streets, all hot spots for various illegal activities. Unfortunately, I was almost certain a sandstorm was brewing, which meant, we would have to seek shelter in one of these Inns for the night, hopefully we could slip in under the radar, and not attract any unwanted attention, though I'm sure Gilda would prevent that from happening. That Grifon could pick a fight with anyone... though she could also win a fight with anyone... I don't think Tails would be a problem, he seemed to have a way of blending in with the background, and staying out of other pony's ways... He had his cloak on again, once again covering his face... "Tails, why are you wearing that cloak out here? It's nearly ninety degrees." "Well... things just work out better if no one one knows I'm a Warg..." "Oh... I see..." I felt really bad for Tails, it seemed he had a rough life, and, it's sad to say... most ponies arn't very open or friendly to Wargs, but for good reason, they are a large nuisance in the Everfree area, and are responsible for many attacks on travelers and their families... and usually leave them, injured and dieing on the side of the road... I've also never heard of a Warg who ever left his pack, or was friendly to ponies. Tails definitely wasn't your typical Warg... "Streaks... This wind is really starting to pick up now... and I don't like to get sand in my feathers, I just finished preening them on the ship!" "Fine.. we'll stop somewhere for tonight. Anyone see a nice place we could stay in?" "How 'bout over there?" The building Gilda was referring to, was a two story, Inn and Tavern, with boards nailed over one of the front windows. Since, there wasn't a huge choice in hotels here... we decided to go in. I nearly tripped over a zebra slumped over on the curb, either passed out drunk, or dead... We strolled in through the worn wooden door, that was only held to the door frame by one set of hinges... The tavern was pretty calm, as about two thirds of the occupants were passed out drunk, hanging out of their booths, or just laying on the floor... the other third of the ponies were either on the verge of passing out, or were fumbling around with packages, and pouches. But what really caught my attention were two Zebras sitting at the bar. Propped up next to them, were a pair of rifles... Guns were very rare in Equestria, they wern't illegal, you just needed a special permit to have one, which was a big hassle to get. You had to go through extensive background checks, training, and you needed to purchase a magically sealed safe, that your gun had to be placed in at all times, when you wern't using it. Another reason you never saw guns in Equestria, was no one really had a need for them, the only use was for sport, or if you happened to be travelling through the Everfree Forest. Also, if a pony was going to use a gun, it had to be custom made, obviously a pony couldn't operate a trigger, like those on Griffon weaponry. Pony guns were fired using either a pump or a lever, underneath the front of the gun's barrel, and unless you were extremely skilled, you would have to rest the gun on something to fire it. Plus, most ponies were just plain scared of guns... "Welcome to the Oasis Bar and Inn, how can I be a service to you three?" The Zebra leaning over the counter was, a young, cheerful looking fellow. He attire consisted of a dirty brown jacket, and a wide brimmed hat, adorned with a feather of some kind. "Well, my companions and I, need a room for the night." "Sure, no problem there! The rooms are a bit small, and only have one bed, so one of you is gonna have to sleep on the couch, and one of you is gonna get stuck with sleeping on the floor..." "I got the bed! Streaks, you can take the couch, and Tails, you got the floor!" "I'm paying for the room! So I get the bed! As for you two, you decide who's sleeping where!" "Fine... Tails you get the-" "The floor... I know..." The Zebra behind the counter was chuckling at this whole display. It also attracted the gazes of the other patrons in the bar... So much for avoiding attention... I'm just glad the two Zebras with the guns chose to ignore us... "Well, if you three have that all figured out, your free to take a seat anywhere in the bar, first round of drinks is on the house! Just try not to step on any of my customers who are," napping", on the floor." "Sweet!, I'll take a Red-Griffon Lager, extra strong! How bout' you Streaks?" "Eh, I'll just take a Vodka, any brand will do. Tails, you want anything?" "Hit me with the strongest thing you got!" "You sure about that lad? That would be the Black Blizzard... last pony who had it passed out on the curb..." "Trust me, where I'm from, we got drinks ten times as strong as anything you got here." "Okay... if ya' say so..." The bartender brought us our drinks, Gilda's was some thick, blood red stuff, served in a tankard. I got my Vodka, and for Tails... The Bartender brought out a tankard, filled with a frosty black liquid, with a label that said, 97% alcohol, which meant that stuff had to be fermented via magic... As Tails eyed up the "liver failure waiting to happen", in front of him, Gilda leaned over and whispered something to me... "Bet you five bits he passes out before he finishes that thing." It would be a miracle if that thing didn't kill him... By now every other pony and Zebra in the bar, who was still conscious, was watching Tails. The bar built up an atmosphere of suspense... Slowly, Tails reached for the tankard... the bar was completely quiet now... It seemed like everyone in the bar had lost the ability to speak... everyone's eyes were glued to Tails as he brought the Tankard to his mouth... and chugged the entire thing in just a few huge gulps... Every pony, zebra, and griffon in that bar was staring at Tails... watching to see, what would happen to the Warg... if he would just pass out on the floor, or if he would just drop dead... He just sat there, he didn't falter a bit, he just looked straight ahead at the bartender... "I'll take another one!" His speech wasn't even slurred... The expression on everyone's face in that bar was one of disbelief... Gilda was sitting there with her jaw hanging down... and I heard about four ponies mumble, "That ain't buckin' possible..." The Zebra at the counter hesitated for a minute, perhaps waiting to see if Tails would pass out suddenly... then went to fetch Tails another drink... "How did you... I mean... What..." I couldn't find the words to respond to this... "Told you it was nothing. Back home, we had this drink called "Black Death", was pure alcohol, in it's most concentrated form. Could knock you unconscious for days... and of course you had to drink a whole bottle of the stuff when you were assigned your duty in the raiding parties. I guess these weak pony brews don't effect me!" "Well, you just earned your self a little bit of respect from me! But your still sleeping on the floor!" Even Gilda was impressed... The next hour I spent talking to Gilda, getting to know a bit more about her. Tails just sat there quietly, after finishing his third glass of "Black Blizzard"... it still wasn't affecting him... Two hours later, we decided to retire to our room. I was tired, Gilda had just knocked the wind out of a drunk Zebra who tried to flirt with her, and Tails still wasn't drunk... We walked up the creaky, rotting wood stairs that led to the rooms on the second floor. Our room was one of the few that had an actual door on it, most of the others just had a curtain draped over the doorway. The room was fairly small and simple, just a bathroom, a small coffee table, and a room divider separating the single bed, from the couch. "Okay... I'm going to bed... I don't care what you two do, just keep it down..." "Might as well get some sleep, not much to do in this lame town..." "And I'll just sleep here... on the cold... hard... wet... floor...." "Shut up Tails, no one likes a whiner..." They better not be like this all night long... "Both of you! Shut it!" What in the name of Equestria was I thinking when I invited these two to come along... I trudged over to my bed... If Gilda and Tails kept quiet, I might actually have a chance at a proper night's sleep... The bed was actually pretty soft, but it creaked and shook when I got in, for a minute I thought it was going to fall apart... But after I assured my self that the bed wouldn't break apart in my sleep... I settled down for a nice sleep... my mind full of dreams... dreams that would finally be fulfilled once I brought this armour back to Princess Luna. All my hard work would finally pay off. I closed my eyes... and allowed the sweet comfort of sleep to overtake me... ---II--- "Hey, whats that?" "Looks like some saddle bags... They probably belong to the mare that was sitting there earlier, you know, the one with the friend who chugged three glasses of "Black Blizzard." "Yeah, whatever. Lets see if there's anything worth stealing..." "I doubt it... She didn't look very rich... and I really don't want to mess with her other friend, that Griffon... did you see what she did to Reggie!?" "Doesn't look like there's anything good here... Yuck... MRE's... I hate these things..." "Same here..." "Wait a minute... what do we have here?" "What is it?" "Some type of a map... there's a letter in here too... from Princess Luna!" "Luna!? You mean the co-ruler of Equestria!?" "No you idiot... I mean the other Alicorn named Luna, that happens to be a princess..." "..... Just read the letter you idiot...." "Lets see here.... loyal subject.. blah blah blah.. archaeology... Zebrica... wait a minute... this might be something worth looking in to! I say we bring this to the boss, see what he thinks!" "Okay, lets just hurry... we should get that back to that mare before she gets her Griffon friend after us..." "Agreed..." ---III--- "Hey Gilda... I need to ask you something..." "What Tails... I'm trying to sleep here..." "It's just something I need to know..." "Well spit it out already!" "Do you... Do you... hate me?" "Well... I wouldn't say I hate you... I find you a bit annoying... but... I don't necessarily hate you..." "Okay... That's fine... Goodnight Gilda..." "Tails... Why would you ask something like that?" "It's just that... I've been through a lot... and it's just something that has been bothering me... "Okay... Now... be quiet so I can sleep... "Sure thing Gilda."