Chapter 13: A Secret in the Sand
In a remote town on Server, a small taper-like Digimon hovered down the streets. He had brown and purple fur, blue eyes, two tusks, and smoke in place of hind legs. He wore a helmet that covered the top half of his face, etched with gold engravings on the forehead and around the eyes. He wore a large gold, engraved ring on his left foreleg; a symbol of holy power.
As he hovered down the street, lost in thought, another Digimon flagged him down from one of the houses. “Tapirmon!” he called out.
Tapirmon turned to the Digimon waving to him, noting his horn and the thick fur pelt he wore. “Yes Gabumon, is there a problem?” Tapirmon said in a soothing, monastic voice as he hovered over to him.
“N-no, not at all,” Gabumon rubbed his arm bashfully. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me with...you know.”
Tapirmon chuckled. “They were only dreams my friend. They could do you no harm.”
“But...the same one every night,” Gabumon shivered. “A-and it would only get worse every time. I was starting to get scared of having to get in my bed at the end of the day!”
“Well, I’m happy to put your troubled mind at ease friend,” Tapirmon bowed. “Just remember to take some time to relax every day, reflect on everything positive in your life. Go out and spend some time with your friends. Stress can leave a heavy mark on the mind of even the most steadfast of Digimon. And that can bleed into our dreams.”
“Yeah, I guess I have been pushing myself pretty hard lately,” Gabumon blushed. “Thanks again.”
Tapirmon brought his ring to his forehead. “Blessings of Ophanimon upon you,” he said before continuing down the street, a smile on his face. His sacred mission, as realized by all of his kind, was to aid Digimon plagued by terrible nightmares. Whether they were caused by a stressful life, a malicious virus, or the occasional curse, a Tapirmon would seek the troubled Digimon out to bring peace to their dreamscape.
As a holy Digimon, Tapirmon took his duties seriously and with great humility. But he couldn’t help taking a little pride in the results. As he continued down the street, he would sometimes be greeted by the Digimon he helped over the last few days. He returned their praises with a solemn bow, his heart swelling with their kind words.
“Hey you, Vapehog!”
Tapirmon stopped, his smile vanishing and his ears twitching at the insult. He quickly turned to the street corner to find a Tsukaimon standing atop a signpost. “Are you talking to me?” Tapirmon asked.
“No, I’m just having a conversation with my shadow, asking it why it won’t stop following me around. Of course, I’m talking to you!” Tsukaimon snapped. “Sheesh, you got your head pretty far up in the clouds you’re practically inhaling them. No wonder you got all that smoke coming out of your butt.”
“I beg your pardon?” Tapirmon angrily hovered towards Tsukaimon.
Tsukaimon closed his eyes. “Bad Message...” he whispered to himself.
“What was that?” Tapirmon interrogated. “Speak up little—”
“Tell me something…” Tsukaimon interrupted as he opened his eyes, which glowed slightly red at the iris. “What do you do exactly? Digimon say you’re some kinda dream therapist or some garbage, but all I can see is a Digimon blowing hot air.”
Tapirmon stopped in his tracks. “I...what?”
“I mean you just waltz on into town with your ‘holier than thou’ schtick, find some schmucks who’ve wet the bed, and do...what exactly?”
Tapirmon opened his mouth but struggled to get any words out.
“No, I’m really curious about this. Like, do you have them smoke some weeds you found on the side of the road on the way here? Or do you give some sort of speech about finding ‘inner peace’ or something? You know, talk ‘em to sleep?”
Tapirmon’s eyes began to water. Every time Tsukaimon opened his mouth, it felt like someone was throwing punches at his heart.
“And I’m guessing that afterward, you just kinda circle their sleeping form while expelling that smoke of yours. At least, that’s what I’m guessing based on the way one Digimon was complaining about the smell of his bedroom the next morning after your uh…‘therapy’,” Tsukaimon laughed. “I mean, did you decide to stop for a chili cheese dog beforehand? Because from what I heard...phew!”
Tapirmon buried his head in his paws as he began to cry. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move or suppress any of his wails. Any Digimon passing by on the streets would be greeted to a sight of the normally stoic Digimon crying like he had just hatched from his egg. The embarrassing thought only drove him more into tears as he sank to the ground.
“Oh come on!” Tapirmon could feel Tsukaimon hovering in front of him. “This...is all it takes to best the oh-so-wise Tapirmon? Pathetic. I’m outtie!”
Tapirmon heard a few wing flaps get further and further away from him. Not three seconds afterward, as if something inside him flipped a switch, he stopped crying almost instantly. Tapirmon wiped his eyes, puzzled at how quickly the sorrow had passed. Or how such petty, almost comical, insults would cause him to break down like that.
Shaking his head clear, he brought his left foreleg up to his forehead to pray. But for some reason, it felt...lighter than usual. Glancing at his foreleg, he gasped to find his Holy Ring was missing.
“Hey, cloudfarts!” Tapirmon turned towards an alley, where Tsukaimon swung the ring back and forth. “You lose something?” Tsukaimon chuckled before racing down the alley.
“Stop, thief!” Tapirmon shouted as he chased him down winding alleys and side streets.
“Oh no, I think I can smell him catching up!” Tsukaimon said in mock panic.
Tapirmon growled and picked up speed, eventually cornering him at a dead-end alley.
“Look, I don’t want to have to fight you,” Tapirmon panted. “So just give me back my ring, and we can forget this ever happened. Otherwise, I’ll give you a moment to pray to whatever deity you hold dear.”
Tsukaimon's expression quickly shifted to fear. “Oh no...if anyone up there is listening, please help me!” he pleaded to the sky in a sarcastic tone. “Please, send a divine wind to blow this windbag away from me, lest he smite me with his sleepy farts!”
Tapirmon slowly exhaled a breath through his long nose. “Alright then, have it your way.” He closed his eyes and brought his paws together, slowly building up a ball of black smoke. “NIGHTMARE SYNDRO—” Tapirmon stopped his attack as a chill passed through him. The fur along his back began to stand on end as the shadows of the alley seemed to shift. “W-what is this?” he shivered as his breath became shallow.
“Huh, look at that,” Tsukaimon remarked. “Looks like my prayers have been answered.”
“What are you—”
“GUILTY CLAW!” an icy voice boomed from everywhere. Out of the shadows, a long arm reached out and grabbed Tapirmon faster than he could blink. Tapirmon screamed in agony as bolts of red energy coursed through him. The malevolent energy quickly overpowered the little Digimon, and he soon fell limp in the claw’s grasp.
“Wow, that worked out pretty well. Wouldn’t you say Lord NeoDevimon?” Tsukaimon asked the shadows.
“Yes, I’ll admit you performed far better than I expected you would,” NeoDevimon replied as the upper half of his body emerged from a wall. He looked down at the captured Digimon in his claw, gently opening it.“And how do you feel, Tapirmon?”
Tapirmon slowly picked himself up. He looked up to NeoDevimon, his eyes now completely white. “I feel like...a veil has been lifted from my eyes,” he said with a bow. “How may I repay this kindness, my master?”
“Well...now that you mention it, there is something you could do for me.” NeoDevimon’s six eyes glowed red with mischief.
“UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH!” Diamond Tiara groaned at the sun. “Why?! Why must you make this place so hot?”
“What were you expecting? We’re in a desert!” Scootaloo angrily gestured to the endless expanse of sand, rocks, and dried vegetation surrounding them. “It wasn’t exactly going to be a walk on the beach you know.”
“Oh ho ho, what would make you think that?” Diamond Tiara gave a somewhat crazed chuckle as she continued to trudge through the sand with everyone else. “This place is just like taking a walk on the biggest beach in the world. You know, aside from the lack of volleyball courts, a lemonade stand, a nice big slice of ocean to cool off in. Oh, and the distinct lack of possibility that we won’t end up as a natural “Enter At Your Own Peril” sign!” she shouted, pointing to a cow skull propped up on a rock.
“Diamond Tiara, I appreciate your imagination, really,” Babs Seed sighed. “But do ya think that maybe you could NOT be such a downer? What with us all bakin’ in the sun like this?!”
A chuckle made Babs turn to Silver Spoon. “Eh, what’s so funny?”
“Nothing, I was just thinking of when we first met you at Sweet Apple Acres,” Silver Spoon shook her head. “For some reason, I couldn’t help but think that you kind of looked like Apple Bloom if she were left out in the sun for too long.”
Apple Bloom slowly looked back at Silver Spoon, whose chuckles quickly wilted away under the flat gazes of the two Apple fillies.
“Alright, I don’t think many of us have the right to be complaining about the heat this much,” Rumble remarked. “Just think about this for a second. If you think you’re suffering right now, try to imagine how some of our fuzzier friends are holding up right now.”
Rumble looked over to Bearmon, who was dragging his arms through the sand and panting like a dog. His thick black coat of fur was certainly making the trek a lot more difficult for him. Over the past two hours, the heat had been steadily sapping the DigiDestined of strength and sanity, and not necessarily in equal measures.
Apple Bloom reached towards the canteen hanging from her neck and shook it. Despite finding a stream to restock on water before entering the desert, her canteen was almost half empty. “How’s everyone else holdin’ up with the water?” she asked as she passed Armadillomon his canteen.
“Not good,” Sweetie Belle replied. “Most of us are about half full, and Palmon and Bearmon have been constantly drinking from their canteens ever since we set hoof in this place.”
Apple Bloom booted up her Digivice, opening her map. Seeing the distance between the blinking dot that was her and the circle highlighted by Anahita made her wince. “Look, I know it’s hard, but we gotta try conservin’ whatever water we’ve got. At this rate, we might run out before we make it to the Crest. And if that happens, well…”
Everyone shuddered. Apple Bloom didn’t need to finish that sentence for everyone to understand how dangerous the situation could get.
“I...don't suppose there’s a chance we could find even a little water out here, is there?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Rumble gave her a flat look. “You seriously think we could find water in a place that gets THIS hot? Sure, let me check that.” Rumble hovered over everyone, flipping his monocular down. “Let’s see what we got here. We’ve got sand to the north, south, and west. And oh, what a surprise! More sand to the east…”
Sweetie Belle gave Rumble a flat glare as he dropped back down to the earth. “I was actually thinking of something else. There are plants that are growing here…” she gestured to some of the surrounding dry brush. “Well...kind of. But, they’ve got to get water from somewhere, right? Like groundwater or something?”
“I don’t know...sounds like a bit of a stretch to me,” Armadillomon shrugged. “I mean where do you suppose we even find something that’s even remotely green around here?”
“How about those?” Guilmon pointed to a small patch of cacti nearby.
“Yeah, there we go!” Sweetie Belle smiled. “Those have got to have some water in them, right?”
Everyone walked over to the patch of cacti, which looked nothing like what they were expecting. For starters, they were small, the largest one being roughly the size of a buckball. They mostly stood buried in the sand on their own, but there were a few large clumps of the cacti bundled together like cauliflower. And unlike the pictures many of them had seen in books, these cacti had no spines at all.
Sweetie Belle gently pulled one out of the ground with her magic. “So...how do we get the water out?” she asked.
“Are ya askin’ me?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Well yeah, you’re our group’s survival consultant.”
Apple Bloom blanched. “But...Applejack taught me wilderness survival whenever we went campin’ in the woods. You know, in case I got lost or somethin’. She never taught me what to do if I found myself in a desert! I’m not sure if she even knows anythin’ about that.”
“Hmm…” Sweetie Belle stared at the cactus. “Hold on, I think I’ve got an idea.” She placed the cactus on the ground, then picked up a nearby rock with her magic. She smashed the side of the cactus a few times until she punctured a hole into it. She then repeated the process with a second cactus before giving it to Palmon.
“Thanks, Sweetie Belle,” Palmon smiled. She closed her eyes as she tipped the cactus back. A second later, her eyes snapped wide open. She quickly dropped the cactus and spat out the small amount of fluid that she drank. “I don’t know what that stuff was, but I don’t think it’s water.” Palmon stopped. “It’s not water…”
Palmon quickly turned to Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, wait!”
But it was too late, Sweetie Belle had already downed most of the liquid in the cactus.
“What?” Sweetie Belle shrugged. “This stuff isn’t that bad. It’s got a bit of a tangy taste to it. Tangy taste, tangy tang...tang…” Sweetie Belle trailed off as her pupils began to dilate.
“Um, Sweetie Belle...are you okay?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Hey look guys, I can see the ocean. It’s so cool and sparkly!” Sweetie Belle smiled and ran towards a sand dune.
“What’s going on with her?” Rumble asked.
“That wasn’t water in the cactus,” Palmon explained. “It must have been a liquid it naturally produces to sustain itself. Whatever it was, it wasn't drinkable.”
“Oh look, I can see a dolphin. I think it wants to be friends,” Sweetie said with a dopey grin.
“Aw great!” Babs Seed groaned. “Ya mean to tell me that with everything else we got on our plates, we gotta deal with a trippin’ unicorn now!”
“What do you mean?” Veemon asked. “She’s lookin’ a little bit loopy right now, but she hasn’t tripped over anything yet.”
Babs Seed shook her head. “Let’s just keep moving.”
“Come on Sweetie Belle, let’s get going before you actually try to run off on your own,” Apple Bloom said as she hoisted Sweetie onto Armadillomon’s back.
“Bye-bye mister dolphin,” Sweetie Belle waved at the imaginary dolphin as everyone else groaned.
As the day dragged on and the sun moved across the sky, conditions only got worse for the DigiDestined. The temperature continued to rise, sapping the strength from everyone as their speed slowed to a crawl. Everyone felt their canteens getting lighter and lighter, despite their best efforts. And unfortunately for everyone, Sweetie Belle’s ranting only got more absurd.
“Arrg, where be the map to Dark Water Isle?” Sweetie Belle demanded.
“Map to Dark Water—” Silver Spoon shook her head. “What is she going on about now? First she thinks she sees the ocean, then she’s talking about finding “The One Ring” or something, before that she was practically screaming for Apple Bloom to put out the non-existent fire in Scootaloo’s hair. Now what, she thinks she’s a pirate or something? This is just getting stupid!”
“Sweetie Belle, just calm down and stick with us, please,” Palmon gently tugged at her vines, which she had wrapped around Sweetie Belle’s chest like a leash.
“Aye, I fear there be mutiny aboard this vessel,” Sweetie Belle glanced to everyone suspiciously. “First Mate Palmon, I be needin’ ye to get the brig ready, just to be on the safe side.”
“Ugggh,” Apple Bloom growled. “Sweetie Belle, if ya know what be best for ye, you’ll drop the pirate speak right now! Savvy?”
“Guys…” Bearmon wheezed. “I...I need a minute.”
Rumble rushed to Bearmon, letting him lean on his shoulder. “Come on, you think you can make it over there?” he pointed to a large butte nearby. “Maybe we can find some shade there.”
“Good call,” Veemon nodded as he walked over to Bearmon. “Come on bud, you can make it,” he said as he lifted his other arm over his shoulder.
Everyone made their way over to the large butte and managed to find a small shady alcove to collapse in.
“I...I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Diamond Tiara panted. “How much further do we need to go?”
Silver Spoon opened her Digivice map. She scanned the terrain for a moment before leaning back with a groan. “Don’t ask. Please don’t ask...”
“We can do this everypony,” Scootaloo said as she took a small sip of water. “We just have to keep moving and get there before something else happens.”
“Hey look!” Sweetie Belle pointed to the horizon with a smile. “There’s a big breeze coming to say hello! What’s up, Mr. Breeze!”
“Do we have any duct tape or somethin’? I don’t know how much more of her I can take!” Babs Seed pleaded.
“Um guys…” everyone looked to Rumble, who was over by Sweetie Belle, looking through his monocular. He slowly lifted the scope with a worried look. “We may have a problem.”
“What now?” Apple Bloom trotted over to Rumble and Sweetie Belle. “What could possibly make this situation any—” Despite the blazing temperature, Apple Bloom could feel her blood freeze. In the distance, a massive wall of sand swirled and churned as it devoured the desert, moving steadily towards them.
“Oh...shi—”
“Talking mushrooms!” Sweetie Belle giggled. Apple Bloom grabbed her by the tail and dashed back to the alcove.
Armadillomon saw the look in Apple Bloom’s eye and quickly got up. “Apple Bloom, what’s wrong?”
“Sandstorm!” Apple Bloom cried out.
“What?!” Diamond Tiara jumped up and looked around the corner. “Oh no...oh horse apples! What do we do?!” She pranced in place.
Apple Bloom looked around. “Well, there’s was no way we can outrun the storm, especially with our delusional friend,” She gestured to Sweetie Belle.
“I want to eat the talking mushrooms.”
“Everyone listen up!” Apple Bloom opened her Digivice’s inventory, quickly bringing out the tarp. “We gotta hold tight here an’ wait for this thing to blow over. Babs, Scoots, I need ya’ll to find a couple heavy rocks. Armadillomon, Guilmon, you dig a couple of shallow holes to put em’ in. We’ll use em’ as anchors to keep this thing from blowin’ away!”
“On it!” Scootaloo looked around the base of the butte with Babs Seed.
“Veemon, ya know how to tie a decent knot?” Apple Bloom frantically scrolled through her Digivice.
“Uh...yeah?” Veemon tentatively nodded.
Apple Bloom tossed him some rope. “I need ya to tie this thing so it’s over everyone’s heads, while still givin’ us cover for the front!”
Veemon glanced between the rope in his hands and the size of the tarp Apple Bloom was unfolding. “Uh...it’s probably gonna be a tight squeeze.”
“Just do it!” Apple Bloom demanded.
“Okay, okay!” Veemon grabbed a part of the tarp and raced towards the back of the alcove.
Everyone worked quickly to get the tarp up and over them. Terriermon helped Veemon tie the tarp to the rocks behind them, while Scootaloo and Babs Seed put the two rocks over the remaining corners on the ground. Armadillomon managed to make a couple of small divots in the ground to keep the rocks from rolling away.
“Alright, everyone inside. Quick!” Apple Bloom waved everyone into the shelter.
“Behold the majesty of the wind!” Sweetie Belle spread her arms out as if to embrace the storm in a hug.
“Come on ya dolt!” Apple Bloom grabbed her by the ear and dragged her inside.
Everyone huddled towards the back of the alcove, eyes glued to the flimsy blue wall separating them from the outside. What was once a loud whistling soon grew into a rumble, almost as though a distant train was barreling towards them. Then the outside world got darker as the sand rose up to devour the butte.
Everyone shielded their eyes as the sand battered the tarp, threatening to yank it from the ground and smother the DigiDestined. They turned towards the wall, huddling closer together and keeping their eyes shut. Scootaloo lowered her goggles over her eyes and looked towards the tarp. The outside desert had been replaced with a massive, dark golden cloud that angrily swirled over everything in sight. What little she could see anyway.
After several minutes, which felt like hours, the winds began to die down. Sunlight began leaking in through the tarp. Scootaloo slowly poked her head out of the shelter. “Looks like it’s over everyone,” she said, lifting her goggles up to her forehead.
A collective sigh of relief came from the shelter as ponies and Digimon emerged into the blazing sun, caked in sand.
“Sweet Celestia on a pogo stick, that was brutal!” Babs Seed brushed through her hair, trying to get all the sand out.
“I never did like sand,” Hawkmon fumed, shaking his wings in a vain attempt to get all the sand out of his feathers. “It’s rough, irritating, and it just...gets everywhere!” he flapped angrily.
“Hey, you think maybe we could stop here for today?” Rumble asked Apple Bloom. “I mean, this is the first bit of shade we’ve seen for miles. If we keep going in this heat, I’m not sure how far we’ll make it.”
Apple Bloom looked around. Everyone was exhausted. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Apple Bloom nodded. “But maybe we should think about gettin’ up early tomorrow. Might be a bit more bearable that way instead of tryin’ to get through this place durin’ the afternoon.”
Some of the ponies groaned a little at the prospect of getting up early but understood Apple Bloom’s logic. Some of them rested in the shade with their Digimon, others helped fix the shelter or gather whatever vegetation they could find for a fire.
“Everything alright Apple Bloom?” Apple Bloom turned to find Armadillomon beside her, carrying a bundle of dried twigs on his shell.
“I’m just worried about gettin’ to the Crest without anythin’ bad happenin’,” Apple Bloom sighed. “I thought we’d be alright after we found some water before walkin' in here, but I didn’t think it’d be THIS hot. And even if we do make it, how are we gonna make it all the way back out?”
Armadillomon glanced back to the campsite. “We’ll just have to be careful, and try our best to push through this,” he looked back up to Apple Bloom with an optimistic smile. “And hey, look on the bright side. When the sun goes down, it’ll probably get a bit cooler.”
Scootaloo wrapped her blanket tightly around her. “Okay, I’m s-s-starting to think deserts were invented by Disc-c-c-cord,” she shivered. “Because this is just some kind of cruel joke!”
“Tell me about it,” Apple Bloom shakily placed another branch on the dwindling campfire in front of her. “After walkin’ in a place that was blazin’ hot all day, I didn’t expect it to be...SO DARN COLD!”
All around the campfire, everyone was huddled together, tightly wrapped up in blankets, and trying to get as close to the fire as possible. Despite everyone’s best efforts to keep it lit, the fire kept burning through the dried twigs and branches quickly. Even Guilmon couldn’t keep the fire going with his Pyro Spheres.
“T-t-t-this sucks!” Diamond Tiara whined, pulling her blanket up and over her head.
“Ninety-three buckets of oats on the wall, ninety-three buckets of oats!” Sweetie Belle sang. “Take one down, pass it around, you got ninety-two buckets of oats on the wall!”
Apple Bloom groaned, her ears plastered to her head. “Please stop Sweetie Belle, I’m beggin’ you!”
“Ninety-two buckets of oats on the wall, ninety-two buckets of oats! Take one down, pass it around, you got...ninety one...buckets of…” Sweetie Belle trailed off before collapsing into the sand with a snore.
“Oh thank Luna!” Rumble sighed in relief.
A gentle breeze blew through the camp, extinguishing the pitiful campfire and chilling everyone to the bone.
“Alright, that’s it!” Terriermon waddled over to Silver Spoon and crawled under her blanket.
“What the hay?” Silver Spoon looked down as Terriermon crawled up her. “What are you doing?”
Terriermon snuggled into Silver Spoon’s chest and wrapped his ears around her. “Ah...that’s a little better.”
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, despite the chuckle that slipped from her mouth. The additional warmth certainly didn’t hurt either. She gently wrapped both of their blankets around them as she settled down, holding Terriermon like a stuffed animal.
“Ya know...that probably ain’t such a bad idea,” Apple Bloom motioned for everyone to gather under the tarp, huddling up and wrapping each other in layers upon layers of blankets. Eventually, they managed to get warm enough to stop shivering and drift off into sleep.
Everyone woke up early the next morning with some discomfort.
“Ugh, now I know how sardines feel,” Scootaloo said as she stretched her neck.
“Oowww, my head...” Sweetie Belle groaned.
“Are you finally off the cactus juice?” Silver Spoon asked.
“I think so, at the very least I’m not seeing things anymore.”
After a quick breakfast, the DigiDestined gathered their belongings and resumed their long trek. Their water canteens were running dangerously low, and everypony was starting to worry.
“Well, that’s it. Stick a fork in us because we’re toast. Literally...” Rumble bemoaned.
Diamond Tiara looked off to her side and saw something she couldn’t believe: a snow cone stand. “Look everyone, snow cones!” She immediately ran towards the stand at top speed. “Oh my gosh, can you believe our luck? Silver Spoon, they have our favorite flavors!” She looked back to see everyone staring at her like she grew a second head. “Come on, don’t just stand there!”
Everyone watched as she ran around the massive rock she called a snow cone stand.
Apple Bloom looked to Silver Spoon “Do ya want to tell her or should I?”
“Nah, she’ll figure it out,” Silver Spoon shook her head. “Eventually...probably.”
Diamond Tiara looked back at the group. “What’s wrong guys, come on its snow cones!”
As they continued to watch their delirious friend, Sweetie Belle slowly pulled out her camera, a mischievous grin on her face.
“Look, it’s nothin’ to worry about,” Apple Bloom giggled. “It was bound ta happen to one of us.”
“Can we just drop it, please?” Diamond Tiara looked down, her face showing a touch of red.
Rumble chuckled before looking back to his partner. “Hey Bearmon, how are you holding up?”
“Water...need water,” Bearmon said weakly.
Scootaloo looked over to her left, her eyes widening. “Guys, over there!” she jumped up excitedly. “I think I see—” she stopped herself, thinking about Diamond Tiara’s incident a few minutes back. “Wait...does anyone else see a circus tent with flying monkeys over there?”
“No,” everyone groaned.
“What about a country band playin’ on stage over that way?” Apple Bloom asked, squinting at the dunes ahead of them.
“Nope, sorry,” Armadillomon shook his head.
“So the lake ova there is probably a mirage too,” Babs Seed pointed to her right with a sigh. “I mean, it’s got a traffic light hangin’ ova it for cryin’ out loud.”
Rumble looked to where Babs was pointing and stopped in his tracks. “You said it has a traffic light? Does it have a bunch of palm trees hanging around the edges too?” he asked as he lowered his monocular.
Babs stopped and slowly looked to the mirage. “Um...yeah actually. How’d ya know?”
Rumble slowly lifted his monocular. “Because I see it too…”
Everyone stopped and turned to see Babs’ discovery. Not too far from them was a small oasis, with a small blue lake towards the center. The sight gave everyone hope and a burst of energy as they dashed for the lake.
Babs was the first to reach the lake, slowly dipping her hoof in the cool water as a grin slowly spread across her face. “It’s...it’s real,” she whispered. “We actually found water!” Babs Seed lowered her head, ready to take a sip.
“NO, WAIT!” Apple Bloom yanked Babs away from the lake.
“What are ya doin'?” Babs pushed Apple Bloom off of her, rushing back to the water.
“Ya can’t drink it like that!” Apple Bloom jumped on top of her cousin.
“Just a sip, just one itty bitty sip!” Babs begged as she wriggled towards the water, tongue hanging out of her mouth.
“Just hold on a second, please!” Apple Bloom pinned Babs down using the last of her strength.
“What’s your problem, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked as everyone caught up with them.
“The problem is that it ain’t running like a stream,” Apple Bloom gestured to the lake.
“So, what’s the big deal?” Babs Seed growled from beneath Apple Bloom.
“The big deal is that it might not be safe to drink the way it is now!” Apple Bloom slowly stepped off of Babs Seed. “Ya still got those water purifyin’ pills?”
Babs Seed reached into one of the pouches on her bandolier, pulling out a small blue packet of white pills. “Yeah…” she passed the pack to Apple Bloom, who quickly grabbed it.
“I know we’re all thirsty,” she said as she dipped her canteen into the lake, filling it up before dropping a pill into it. “But we do NOT wanna risk drinkin’ this water the way it is now. Trust me…”
“What do you mean?” Diamond Tiara passed Apple Bloom her canteen.
Apple Bloom looked down in embarrassment as she filled up the canteens. “One time when I went campin’ with Applejack, I was playin' around in a pond, and I drank some of the water, even though she told me not to. About twenty minutes later…” she shook her head. “Look, it wasn’t worth it! So, we just gotta wait for about thirty minutes before these are good ta drink. We can hang out in the shade while we wait.”
“Thirty minutes, are ya serious?” Babs Seed whined. “Come on cuz, why can’t we just drink it now? What’s the worst that could happen?”
Apple Bloom gave Babs a flat look. “Let me put it this way: we’re already out of water, the last thing we need is to burn through the rest of our toilet paper.”
“Why would we—” Babs Seed stopped, her expression morphing from realization to disgust in the span of a few seconds. “Oh...gross!”
After resting in the shade of the palm trees that surrounded the oasis for half an hour, everyone opened their refilled canteens and took the first sip of freshwater they’ve had in a while.
Diamond Tiara’s expression tightened as she swallowed the water. “Ugh, it tastes like...dishwasher soap.”
“Yeah, I think this stuff is supposed to have iodine in it or somethin’,” Apple Bloom inspected the pack of water purification tablets. “But it’s safe to drink. Safer than it was thirty minutes ago, that’s for sure.”
Everyone drank from their canteens, taking small sips until they were empty. After refilling their canteens again, they looked around the oasis they found themselves in. The green palm trees and patches of somewhat green vegetation surrounding them were a welcome sight in the vast expanse of sand. The one odd thing that stood out was the traffic light dangling on a line strung between two trees, which constantly blinked with a yellow light.
After a while, hunger began to set in for the group. Babs Seed clutched her stomach as it growled. “Really wish we could find some grub around here.” Her gaze then went to Sweetie Belle, who was holding an egg in her hooves. “Sweetie Belle, where did you nab that egg?” That question seemed to get the attention of everyone else.
“This? I got it from that fridge over there,” Sweetie Belle pointed to a patch of shade with a refrigerator plugged into a random outlet.
“I swear, this world keeps gettin’ weirda and weirda.”
“Alright, but how do you plan to cook it?” Scootaloo asked as she went to lean on a large rock. “It’s probably going to take a while to build a fire. And who knows if it’s going to stay lit this—” Her eyes widened when she touched the rock. “YOUCH!” she cried, leaping into the air.
“Whoa! You okay there?” Sweetie Belle ran over to Scootaloo.
“Geez, that’s hot!” Scootaloo winced as she rubbed her side.
Sweetie Belle went over to the blazing hot rock, placing a hoof on it for a moment before recoiling from the heat. She looked from the rock to the egg.
“What are you doing now Sweetie Belle?” Palmon asked.
“Improvising,” she answered plainly.
“Uh oh…” Palmon muttered, thinking back to how she “improvised” yesterday with the cacti.
Sweetie Belle lifted the egg and tried to crack it on the edge of the rock, but ended up crushing it by accident and getting it everywhere. “Hehe, whoops,” she blushed as the scattered egg whites sizzled, steadily burning to a crisp.
“Nicely done,” Silver Spoon deadpanned. She then came up to her with another egg and the skillet from her mess kit. “Here, let me show you.” Silver Spoon cracked the egg over the skillet and placed it on the rock. “See, you’ve got to be gentle when cracking the egg, you can’t just slam it.” Silver Spoon focused on the egg, occasionally moving the skillet around while humming a little tune to herself. Before long, she had a nicely cooked sunny-side-up egg.
“That was amazing Silver Spoon, where did you learn to do that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Oh, I’ve always loved to cook. In fact, I got my Cutie Mark when I made dinner for my parents for the first time,” Silver said with a nostalgic smile.
"Huh...I never would've guessed that your talent would be cooking," Sweetie Belle smiled.
With Silver Spoon’s help, they managed to cook enough eggs for everyone present.
“Mmm...I love the smell of cooked eggs in the morning. I mean, yeah it’s closa to the evening, but still,” Babs Seed smiled as she took another bite of her eggs. “I gotta tell ya, these come pretty close to the eggs my sista makes.”
“From what I heard in your letters, that’s some mighty high standards,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “I kinda wish we had some pepper with these though.”
“I hear you,” Rumble said as he licked his plate clean. “I like to sprinkle a bit of cheese on my eggs.”
“That sounds good,” Scootaloo nodded. “My Aunt Holiday can make some pretty mean scrambled eggs. Put some ketchup on them and BAM! Best breakfast ever.”
Diamond Tiara almost choked on her eggs. “I’m sorry, ketchup? You would eat eggs with...ketchup?”
“That’s kind of gross,” Silver Spoon nodded.
“Hey, don’t you dis ketchup! It’s the best condiment ever made,” Scootaloo shot back.
As the sun began to set, they decided to set up camp beside the oasis. And thanks to the greener vegetation, they did a much better job building a lasting campfire. Although the situation was still quite dire, everyone was in high spirits as they fell asleep under the glow of the stars and the traffic light.
The next morning, the journey only continued to take its toll on the group. Palmon looked more and more like a dried-up leaf and Bearmon could barely walk straight.
“So...hot,” Silver Spoon coughed. No matter how often she took a sip from her canteen, her throat was always scratchy.
“If we die here—,” Babs Seed started to say. “—I just want you guys to know that you’ve been really great friends.”
“I regret that I didn’t get to go to another family reunion,” Apple Bloom sadly said.
“I regret never learning how to fly,” Scootaloo said, her tiny wings dropping.
“I regret never getting to kiss a guy!” Sweetie Belle nearly broke into tears.
Rumble walked up to Sweetie Belle, doing his best to look suave. “Well, if you want no regrets…”
“Not even in this sorry state Rumble,” Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose. Rumble could only stand there bemused at being so effortlessly shot down. But then, his eye caught something.
“Hey guys, look over there,” He pointed to an odd shape in the distance.
“How do you know it isn’t another mirage?” Diamond Tiara said doubtfully.
Rumble used his monocular to get a better look. “If it is, then that is one detailed mirage. It looks just like the sphinxes in Saddle Arabia. Maybe the Crest is there.”
“Well, it’s not like we have much more to lose at this point,” Silver Spoon added.
They began to move towards it when they heard a screeching sound overhead.
“What was that?” Babs Seed asked, her eyes scanning the sky.
“Kind of sounded like a hawk,” Sweetie Belle observed.
“That doesn’t sound like any hawk I’ve ever heard,” Rumble pointed out. He aimed his monocular at the sky to try and find the source of the sound. When he finally spotted it, his face turned a little pale. Flying towards them was a blue serpentine dragon with red wings, a feathered tail tip and a red mane like a lion. Its head was encased by what appeared to be a skull. “Take cover!”
Everyone dove to the ground as the dragon swooped down from the sky. As it was going back up Diamond Tiara managed to ID it with her Digivice.
Name: Airdramon
Level: Champion
Attribute: Vaccine/Data
Attacks:
- Spinning Needle
- Wing Cutter
- Fatal Tornado
“That thing looks pretty nasty. We’re probably just a well-cooked meal for him,” Diamond Tiara pointed out.
“I was joking yesterday!” Rumble threw his hooves up.
Diamond Tiara held up her Digivice. “Hawkmon, you good enough for this?”
Hawkmon nodded. “I believe so, yes.”
“What about you Guilmon, you ready to party?” Scootaloo asked as she held up her own Digivice.
Guilmon roared at Airdramon as light enveloped his body.
Guilmon digivolve to…
Growlmon!
Hawkmon digivolve to…
Aquilamon!
“WING CUTTER!” Airdramon made the first move and unleashed large blades of wind at Aquilamon and Growlmon. Aquilamon had no issue dodging the attack but Growlmon wasn’t as nimble and took the blow directly to his shoulder.
Scootaloo winced. “That looked like it hurt,” she said as she rubbed her own shoulder.
“Try this! BLAST RINGS!” Aquilamon launched a series of energy rings from his mouth. But Airdramon used its serpentine body to easily avoid the attack and get above Aquilamon for a counterattack.
“SPINNING NEEDLE!” With a flap of its wings Airdramon, unleashed a cyclone that managed to hit Aquilamon on his wing, knocking him off course.
Diamond Tiara grimaced as she felt pain in her leg. “What was that?” she wondered aloud.
“PYRO BLASTER!” Growlmon tried to shoot Airdramon out of the sky but it was far better at dodging than Growlmon was at shooting.
“WING CUTTER!” Once again, it launched blades of wind that hit Growlmon dead on. Scootaloo winced as each blade connected.
“That thing’s too fast to be hit with ranged attacks,” Scootaloo pointed out.
“I think I have an idea! Growlmon, keep him distracted!” Aquilamon shouted. Aquilamon flew high into the air, vanishing in what little clouds there were.
“Uh...okay,” Growlmon dug his feet into the sand. “PYRO BLASTER!” Growlmon launched fireball after fireball at Airdramon, who danced around them with elegant, yet frightening grace.
“FATAL TORNADO!” Airdramon flew close to the ground and began flapping his powerful wings, whipping up the sand to create a powerful tornado. Growlmon held his claws up in front of him in a vain effort to shield himself.
As the sand swirled around Growlmon, a screeching sound began to echo across the desert, growing louder and louder. Everyone looked up in time to see the massive red blur that was Aquilamon swoop down from the sky to snatch Airdramon. Diamond Tiara watched in awe as Aquilamon banked right to dive back towards Growlmon, Airdramon writhing in his talons.
“Ready Growlmon? Here comes the pitch!” Aquilamon hurled Airdramon straight at Growlmon.
Growlmon smirked as the blades on his forearms extended. “DRAGON SLASH!” Growlmon’s blades glowed as he delivered a powerful uppercut slash at Airdramon, sending it flying back up in the air.
“GRAND HORN!” Aquilamon delivered the final blow, ramming straight into Airdramon with his horns. Aquilamon and Growlmon absorbed its remaining data while its Digicore flew off.
“Looks...like a home run to me,” Scootaloo said with an exhausted laugh.
“You alright there Scoots?” Apple Bloom trotted up to Scootaloo’s side. She looked like she was ready to collapse at any moment.
“Yeah, I think it’s just the heat getting to me,” Scootaloo waved her off.
Aquilamon landed with a stutter as he reverted back to Hawkmon, tumbling into the sand face first.
“Hawkmon!” Diamond Tiara galloped to her partner. “Are you okay?”
Hawkmon pulled his face out of the sand, revealing his flat, annoyed expression. “Peachy…” he groaned before shaking his head clear.
“Guilmon? How are you holding up buddy?” Scootaloo asked.
Guilmon shakily picked himself up. “I’m tired, is it nap time yet?” he whined.
“Hopefully soon Guilmon,” Scootaloo helped the red dinosaur back onto his feet. She looked at the vast distance standing between them and the sphinx. “Hopefully soon…”
The group trudged closer and closer to the sphinx, many of whom were on the verge of collapse. Rumble and Veemon struggled to carry Bearmon over to the shade, every step Palmon took was accentuated with a crinkle, and Guilmon was carrying Scootaloo on his back.
“So tired…” Scootaloo muttered, her eyes drifting shut.
“Hey! Stay with me up there!” Apple Bloom tapped Scootaloo’s side.
Everyone found a shady area near the sphinx’s right paw. Apple Bloom lifted up her shaky foreleg, switching on her Digivice’s map. Seeing that the small blinking dot was well within Anahita’s search area filled her heart with some relief. “Hey...we made it ya’ll,” Apple Bloom muttered with a small smile. “The Crest is here.”
“Yeah? Where though?” Diamond Tiara laid down in the sand.
“Well...I reckon we do a quick search around this thing, then meet back here,” Apple Bloom suggested.
“Guys…” Rumble sounded worried. Everyone turned to see him hovering over Bearmon, who was taking ragged breaths. “I don’t think all of us can be out in the sun for much longer.”
Apple Bloom saw many members of the group laying back in the sand, in worse shape than ever. “Okay, uh...Diamond Tiara, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Rumble, ya’ll hang here and look after your partners. The rest of us will check the statue out.”
“I...I can go too,” Scootaloo picked herself up, her legs shaking ever so slightly.
“Ya sure Scoots?”
“I’ve come this far, haven’t I?” she laughed with a slight cough.
“Well, alright then…” Apple Bloom gestured around the corner.
The team walked around the massive statue. In any other situation, they might’ve taken the time to admire the majesty of the sphinx. Many of them were expecting Silver Spoon to start asking questions at any moment. But everyone was focused on every inch of the statue, looking for even a hint of where the Crest might be. An indent, an out of place carving? But after traveling around the sphinx twice, the group found nothing.
“Where is it?” Apple Bloom asked frantically. “It’s...it’s gotta be here!”
“Calm down Apple Bloom. We just...we just need to…” Scootaloo muttered before collapsing in the sand.
“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom and Guilmon cried out. Guilmon gently scooped her up and weakly carried her beneath the sphinx’s chin.
“Scoots? Come on girl, say somethin’!” Apple Bloom gently shook Scootaloo but got no response. She looked around, seeing many of her friends had already fallen unconscious too. “Oh no...no no no!”
Apple Bloom began to make her way over to Sweetie Belle, but lost feeling in her legs and stumbled to the ground. Shaking her head out of the sand, she looked up to the unconscious unicorn. “Sweetie Belle? Talk to me, please...” she pleaded. A loud thump made her turn to find Babs Seed joining her partner in the sand. “No…no please no!”
Apple Bloom turned over onto her back, staring up at the sphinx’s face. As the sun shined down onto her, a glint of light reflected off of the statue’s goatee. She squinted to see a large gem embedded in the rock face, resembling a stylized heart. The sun shined brighter, giving the gemstone a pinkish glow, making Apple Bloom shield her eyes. A few moments later she opened them to find no such gemstone in the goatee.
“Stupid mirages…” Apple Bloom groaned. She turned over onto her side, looking to the rest of the group, who were all either unconscious or too weak to move. Armadillomon looked like he was doing everything he could in an effort to not pass out. Apple Bloom looked back out into the desert, staring out into the vast, empty expanse they had struggled to get through for the past two days.
“Help!” she weakly croaked. Her throat felt itchy, and her tongue felt like sandpaper. “Someone...please...help!”
As her eyes began to stutter closed, she saw something that made her heart skip. A small splash of orange amidst the golden dust, standing on four legs and wearing a stetson hat.
“A-Applejack?” Apple Bloom picked her head up. “Is...is that you?” Gritting her teeth, she mustered up the last of her strength to push herself out into the sun. She crawled through the sand, determination pushing her closer and closer to her sister. “I can’t believe it...ya found us!”
She looked up to see her older sister smiling down on her as she extended a hoof. Apple Bloom smiled as she reached up to grab it...only for her hoof to pass right through. Her heart sank as she watched the image of her beloved sister blow away in the wind. “No...that ain’t fair!” Apple Bloom tried to cry, but her body lacked the fluids to produce any tears.
“Well, I know ya’ll will have a good time,” Applejack said with a smile as she ruffled her little sister’s mane. “Just make sure that you look out for one another. I know I probably don’t need to tell you that, but still."
Apple Bloom laid on her side, not caring about the sand blowing over her. She glanced sadly back to the sphinx, where the rest of her friends lay. “I’m sorry Applejack...I tried,” she coughed. “I...I love you...sis.” She laid her head down, hearing the wind blow over her, and feeling the sun relentlessly drying her coat.
Somewhere nearby, she could’ve sworn that she heard the steady beating of wings. A few moments later, something gently poked her side, turning her over with the back end of a spear. She could make out the small silhouette of a large pixie-like creature staring down at her. It nudged her foreleg, noticing the Digivice strapped to it.
“Not yet DigiDestined, not yet…” it said in a cheery voice before Apple Bloom’s world was plunged into darkness.
*To those who read Chapter 12 BEFORE 2/28/2019*
Some of you may be wondering why NeoDevimon went after a “Tapirmon” instead of a “Bakumon”. Well, they’re actually the same Digimon. Tapirmon is just the English dubbed name for Bakumon, it’s original Japanese name. I caught this little detail on February 28th, about one week after I posted Chapter 12, and went back to change it. So far I’ve stuck with the English names for the Digimon, and I wanted to maintain that consistency.
Other Digimon in this chapter:
Tapirmon:
Gabumon:
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This chapter was especially fun to write. Anyone who can figure out where we drew inspiration for the antics with Sweetie Belle in the first part gets a cookie.
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Drink Cactus Juice! It'll quench ya! It's the quenchiest! XD I loved that moment with Sokka in the episode of Avatar The Last Airbender.
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Gotta love that Quenchy Cactus Juicetm!
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Give this guy a cookie!
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Ah ah ah, I said they would get a cookie. I never said I'd GIVE THEM a cookie. Fun fact: my intention was to make it a direct reference but we eventually decided to make it an indirect homage instead. I think it worked out better that way.
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Well, when I started this I was mainly focusing on the events from the show. At this point, you've probably realized that the events in this story take place sometime after the events of Digimon: Adventure. Personally, I haven't played any of the Digimon games, although I did look at Digimon World when writing the chapter about the Grey Lord's Mansion. That being said, a lot of time has passed between when this story takes place and the conclusion of Digimon: Adventure Season 2, so a lot could have happened. Other DigiDestined might have come and gone, stories about them may be a mix of fact and fiction (as many legends tend to be). A bit of ambiguity leaves room for the imagination to play in.
Sorry for the late reply by the way.
Same here, dude.
Gotta agree with that statement.
Be careful of that cactus juice!
Oh no, Sweetie Belle is Sokka here, oh that’s rich 😂