Spark

by Fyn16

The Badlands

The Badlands

“Okay, that’s it,” Storm Runner said, stretching and collapsing onto a warm desert rock, “I need a break.”

“We have no food or water, Storm,” Nimbus said, “as much as I hate to say it, we need to continue on to the facility. If we stay out here too long, we’re toast, and I pretty much mean that in the literal sense of the word.”

“No, I think he’s right,” Octavia spoke up, “if we keep going, we’ll just be that much more susceptible to exhaustion or heatstroke.”

Nimbus picked a spot in the shade of a shallow ravine and sat down, admittedly relieved to no longer be slogging through hot, dry desert sand. “Fine,” he said, “but only for ten minutes. We need to hurry. Er… Octavia, was it?”

Octavia nodded, and Nimbus motioned with his hoof for her to come closer.

“Can you bring me the map, please? Might as well use this chance to check up on where we are.”

“Of course,” the mare said, approaching Nimbus and spreading the map in front of him. Nimbus pinned down the corners with four stones before tracing their path with his hoof.

“So who are you two?” Octavia asked.

“We already mentioned that,” Nimbus replied absently, “we’re mercenaries.”

“Right, the cover story,” Octavia sighed rolling her eyes, “you’re Aviators, aren’t you? You both look a touch too professional to be hired hooves.”

Storm Runner looked over from his rock. “Looks can be deceiving, my friend.”

“Truth be told,” Nimbus said, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for what he was about to say, “we are Aviators. We were sent here to-“

Storm Runner’s hoof fell over Nimbus’s shoulder as he addressed Octavia. “I’d like to speak to my colleague alone for a moment, please.”

Storm Runner rushed Nimbus over to his rock, seething. “What was that, Nimbus? You just blew our cover!”

“Yes, I did,” Nimbus shot back, “and to be honest, I don’t see a problem. If Octavia’s going to tag along on this little excursion, we’re going to need to be completely honest with her. We need to build trust. You trust me, right?”

“Of course I do, Nimbus, but-“

“And when she trusts us both, we’ll be that much stronger, Storm. It's basic group cohesion.”

Storm Runner shook his head, returning to his rock. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” he sighed.

Ignoring him, Nimbus sat down next to Octavia and went back to the map.

“So, can I get your names at least?” Octavia pressed. Nimbus mentally kicked himself; he’d meant to give the mare his and Storm’s names from the start anyway, but fixation on his goal of finding Bright Future had forced him to completely forget.

“Absolutely,” he said, “I actually meant to tell you before. I’m Nimbus, and my partner over there-“ he pointed to the blue Pegasus now sunning himself on the rock “-is Storm Runner.”

“Well, I’m pleased to meet you both,” Octavia said, “now with the formalities out of the way, how much farther will we be walking?”

“Not too far,” Nimbus said, checking out the site’s location on the map, “we’re near the Palomino Plateu right here,” he pointed to a mark on the map, near which was a crudely-sketched “x.” A classic x-marks-the-spot. “That ‘x’ is our destination. It’s only about four or five more hours of walking. The problem’s going to be finding it when we get there.”

“Why’s that?”

Nimbus rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “well, it’s entirely possible that the entrance to the facility has been collapsed. We’ll either have to locate the site of the collapse and dig through it or find another way in…” he looked thoughtfully at Octavia, “listen, ma’am-“

“Just call me Octavia,” the mare replied.

“Right, Octavia- I don’t mean to pry, but why are you here?”

“Well, I supplied the map,” Octavia said, “and I volunteered. What else is there to know?”

“No, not what I meant,” Nimbus said, folding up the map and leaning back against a rock, “the other hostages were grateful to be free, to go home and see their families. Don’t you have a family waiting for word about your condition?”

Octavia lowered her head, fixating on the dust. This was a question she’d been hoping to avoid for years, and the first pony to finally ask it, other than Vinyl, was a total stranger.

“Listen,” she said at last, taking a deep breath, “you were honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you. I’m a musician, Nimbus. Though I try to keep up a sophisticated appearance, I am far from the top of the financial ladder. My parents never understood why I’d want to pursue such a career. They never once considered that I wasn’t doing it for the money. I never cared about the money to begin with. I left home years ago- my father practically drove me out. What scares me to this day is that I was closer than ever that night to changing my career plans…”

A tear rolled down his face, and Nimbus felt a pang of hurt. He hadn’t meant to touch a nerve with his question. “Octavia, if the question’s making you uncomfortable, you don’t have to-“

“No,” Octavia went on, “it just feels like my whole life I’ve either been disappointing somepony or being trampled on. I’m done with it. I thought I could get away from it by being a musician, but it followed me there from time to time, too. I’m going to help you two bring this to a close because I know I can. After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll finally be able to look in the mirror and see a stronger pony staring back at me.”

Nimbus nodded slowly, sympathetically. Suddenly his own problems seemed ridiculously small by comparison. Breaking the mood, Storm Runner got up and moved into the group.

“Alright, rest’s over,” he said, “I’d say we’re all refreshed enough to keep going for another few hours.”

“Roger that,” Nimbus said, helping Octavia to her hooves and giving her back the map.

“Thanks… for listening,” Octavia said, “not a lot of ponies have the patience for my story.”

Nimbus smiled. “No problem, Octavia. We’ll get through this thing, and when we do, I hope you’ll remember that our actions here would never have been possible without your help.”

Nimbus nodded to Storm Runner- the signal to move out- and with that, the ponies turned back towards the desolate scrublands ahead. There were many miles left to travel, but each was fueled with a new resolve to stop Bright Future.

None truly knew what waited for them.

…

Panting, Bright Future stopped at the edge of a canyon and looked down into it. Beside him, Silky Sunset had no choice but to follow. Her body was encased with a thin field of magic that, Bright Future had assured her, was fully capable of crushing her if she attempted to escape. She had no intentions of testing his honesty.

“There,” the Unicorn said, squinting through sand-blasted eyes towards the bottom of the canyon where a massive rockslide had fallen and lay dormant for what Silky could only guess had been many years.

“Come on,” Bright Future said, skirting the edge of the canyon, “we’re going down there.” Normally, he would have simply teleported to the canyon floor, but even his magic had limits. He’d only had enough to teleport them two hours at most ahead of the Aviators. If he attempted a spell with the magical strength he had left now, there was no telling what might happen. He’d heard plenty of gruesome stories about exhausted Unicorns attempting teleportation only to find themselves stuck in a wall, or worse, when they reappeared.

Finding a suitable descent point, Bright Future began to climb down into the canyon, but stopped when he heard Sunset fall to the ground behind him. He turned around to see the mare face-down in the sand, sides heaving as she took in deep breaths.

“Come on, get up!” he urged, pushing Silky back upright.

“Just… kill me now, and- and get it over with,” she croaked.

Bright Future shook his head, a fanatical twitch in his eye now. “No, I can’t let you give up, don’t you see? This is for your benefit, too! We can change Equestria, you and I!”

“I’m done with the Awakening,” Sunset said, coughing as tears of exhaustion streamed down her face, “why can’t you see that?”

“You think this is about the Awakening?” Bright Future said, “no, this is far greater. The Awakening was simply the catalyst to set in motion a much bigger event- one I knew would come someday. You must accompany me!”

“No,” Silky said through gritted teeth. Bright Future dipped his head, pointing his horn straight at her, and suddenly it felt as if every nerve ending in her body was on fire. Sunset collapsed to the ground in a heap, writhing as the pain slowly subsided.

“I’ll repeat myself- you will come with me,” Bright Future said, “I shudder to think what might happen if you don’t.”

Silky Sunset picked herself up again shakily, glaring at Bright Future with a look of pure loathing.

“All this time I thought Celestia and Luna were the evil we fought so hard to eradicate. Now I know the truth. It’s ponies like you who are the real monsters.”

Chuckling, Bright Future pulled Sunset down onto his ledge. “Monster? When you see what went on here, I think you’ll change your mind.”

Sunset said nothing as they set off down the winding path into the canyon. There was nothing left to say. Resistance would get her nothing, save for more pain. She could only hope that whatever lay down this narrow, twisting path turned out to be as fictional as everypony said it was. Even as Bright Future managed to levitate away a few rocks, exposing an old steel door, she held out hope. Maybe it was just a military outpost, or some underground geological facility. These ideas clung on for life as the two made their way inside, feeling the cool, yet stagnant air of the facility upon their coats, and Sunset desperately wanted to believe them…

But the moment the lights turned on, every ounce of hope she’d had was gone.

Bright Future smiled as a look of pure horror fell over Silky Sunset’s face. “Welcome to Site Echo. The future is in my hooves now.”

Comments

[TheFullCrumb]

Why do I have a feeling it's going to be some twisted genetic experiment?

[Fyn16]

4048969

Spot on! Those were the exact sections I had in mind.