Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

The Dry Mess

“What the hell,” Ray shouted into the hills, raising his arms in defeat as he stared out over the long stretch of golden grasses that slowly, torturously, raised into another set of hills. Growling, he slammed the butt of his kharamh into the ground before spinning over his shoulder and grasping at his hair with both hands. “Nothing new, ever!”

Curses and groans echoed from five hundred Fallen, including Skalos, surprisingly. The rolling hills these days seemed to be truly endless, not a sight of anything but rolling terrain marked by a few long stretches of plain and several shorter ones. Grumbling, Ray stared around him one more time desperately. In spite of the lack of terrain change, he had to hope that there was something unique here, a clue to where their enemy was. It was strangely unremarkable to what they had just spent the past few days marching through.

While he didn’t exactly want to enact another battle in such a short time from when they had established themselves, the longer it took to find their foe, the more time they had to build. It was frustrating to think about what the minotaur’s could be doing at the moment or what they knew, but with the failure to find anything of use in the barren land, it was growing harder and scarier to keep searching. Nevertheless, he had headed this expedition to travel thirty-five miles inland from the southernmost scouted coastline, because surely there had to be something there, right?

His hands dropping to his side, he reached over and grabbed his kharamh, ripping it out of the hard earth. Shaking his head, he shouted, “This is the farthest we should go, gents. We’ll hafta be making our way back to camp now.”

There were more groans at that as another failed scouting mission was confirmed. There were a few half-hearted protests, a word here and there about just going the next hill over, but it was no use and they all knew it. For three weeks now they had been scouting out the land around them, and each party came back with reports of nothing. There were simply fields and hills of golden grass with no other color, the shining of the sun beating down on each expedition. It was almost depressing how much work they had put into being safe from attack during their first vulnerable weeks, but they had far overestimated their enemy and the homeland they defended.

There were no signs of anything, not even a patch of land without the burning gold grass. The most unique thing they had discovered was from another scouting party that had returned before Ray’s had left claiming there was a hill as big and long as the entire beachhead. They had affectionately begun calling it “the Big Face” since the southern side of the hill had apparently been sheared off, revealing the stone beneath. Ray didn’t have the privilege of visiting it yet, but it was on their path back to camp. It was sad how that was the most exciting part of their scouting mission.

Sighing, he began to walk back down the hill, towards a divet between two hills. It wasn’t the way they had come, since this was at more of an angle towards the camp than the straight line from the coast they had taken. Most of the terrain down here had gone unsearched, so technically speaking, they were treading over new ground. However, the lack of roads, paths, or farms indicated strongly that there was both no infrastructure and no sign of a threatening force moving through the area. Thanks to the lack of rain and tough ground, tracks made by moving forces even as small as the current scouting party left a long, beaten out trail that could be followed.

They were about twenty-eight miles south of camp, where the golden grasses and rolling hills evened out into a long stretch of stony ground. Still covered in golden grass, of course, but it was the only discrepancy in the endless rolling hills that seemed long. After all, they hadn’t been able to see anything on the horizon but a flat, dry wasteland of golden grass. It looked apocalyptic, and more than a few of his soldiers had grown uneasy at how truly forsaken the continent they now resided on was. Ray himself had grown weary of the same sights and anxious about the lack of enemies or signs of enemies.

Sometimes he had to remind himself that he didn’t want to fight, because fighting meant more death among his soldiers. With a slow sigh, glancing at some of the Fallen who walked nearby him without formation, he began to slow down. At this point, he was praying for a miracle, that something of value could come from their investigation of this piece of the land. The Fallen had named it the Golden Wastes quite appropriately, with there being only a few marked out places on a collective map drawn up. For some reason, Ray had thought that his presence in this expedition would garner something valuable. So far, the world had thrown unique and never before seen situations at him. Why wasn’t that applying now?

They were ascending the next hill over already, but for Ray, the climb was easier. These gentle slopes steadily inclined into the sky and while not initially hard for hooves to climb, the combination of both rough terrain and tall grass meant that each Fallen had to tread carefully. One misstep meant a nice roll down the hill and a few days mending broken bones with Zecora. Thanks to the lack of hands and fingers, they couldn’t grasp at anything, and unfortunately, they had already learned that a roll down the tough ground meant torn skin and possibly death. Who would have thought these gently rolling hills could ground away at their armies?

Trudging past a rough formation of Fallen, he nodded at them. They had the same tired, frustrated grit to them that was premiating every level of the army, especially Ray. As always, it split the Fallen on the matter, though not verbally, just visibly. Some units and divisions had become more uptight and stricter, staying at attention at all times and implementing some curfew and organizational rules. Others had grown more, complacent when it came to life around the camp. They didn’t salute each other, sometimes by request, and there was very little in place to get them to their tents.

In an effort to keep morale up, Ray had organized a schedule of who got to “guard the beach”, meaning that the Fallen had at least one day to look forward to. Officially, they were on duty from sunrise until after sunset, but the hours had somewhat tightened into a six to seven routine, since sundown in this burned place was around nine at night. Skalos, Harbor, and Kraven had all complained at first that loosening the rules would cause soldiers to grow sloppy and dissonant, but he had convinced them that working them to death in the beating sun would do that quicker.

Sadly, it still seemed like until there was confirmation of another enemy force somewhere, the Fallen would grow more and more restless. Ray couldn’t blame them of course, as his own outburst demonstrated how pent-up he’d become. Grumbling slightly, he realized he was now at the front of his soldiers, his long legs slicing easily through the grass. At the very least this hands-on experience gave him some good information on battle tactics in this strange, burning terrain.

They would never be able to fight a battle up a hill, and while not planned at all, it was probably for the better to never consider it a possibility. The Fallen were weak on hills, but also incredibly vulnerable with their bodies distinctly standing out amongst the golden blades of grass. It also left Ray much more prominent and easily picked off by any archery. His size had always been a concern because he was so unique compared to his allies. That was why he fought in the front lines though. Not by Skalos’ choice, or any Fallen’s, but by his own strategy. He was always outrun by the first wave, but considering their wave tactic, he would strike independently between the second and first waves, when he was too close for arrows to pick him off. It was far from a perfect strategy, but he liked it and it had done wonders in their first battle.

While he didn’t have more examples of its effectiveness thanks to the dull lack of combat, what he did know is what he didn’t see. According to many of the second wave soldiers behind him, many of the minotaurs were both distracted by and fearful of the human’s furious fighting. Too fearful, in fact, to notice their line dissolve, ignoring the rushing second wave. While most likely exaggerated, the idea that he was causing an indent in the enemy’s force was dangerously encouraging. He had told Discord quite truthfully that the mist warriors he had trained against were more skillful than the minotaurs. Nothing had demonstrated that more than by how quickly and easily he had dispatched four of them, all in a matter of maybe two minutes and without a scratch or bruise.

Ray was wrenched from his thoughts when he almost tripped on ground that wasn’t there, taking a step he expected to be uphill. Instead, he had already reached the summit of the hill, the ground crunching on his heavy step. Chuckling slightly at his blunder, he glanced to the side, expecting someone to be there. To his surprise, he had far surpassed every Fallen, most of them still only halfway up the hill. Frowning slightly, he shrugged and turned to face the easy top of the hill, a warm breeze blowing across his face and tasseling his hair a little. He smiled at it, because while it was warm, it wasn’t as hot as the sun in the sky.

Strangely enough, there was actually a small formation of clouds moving through. Nothing much truly, just a few thin, scattered streaks of white. It was kind of pitiful to be excited over actually, but these were the first daytime clouds he had seen in at least a week. If they were lucky, the clouds would give them a good thirty minutes of shade. Smiling at the thought, he began to slowly tread across the hilltop. This one was a shorter hill, both in height and length. There had been a few ones with a surprisingly wide berth, and according to most reports, the Big Face was seven miles slope to slope, more than half the size of their landing area. There had been jokes that maybe they should move camp to the hill, since it wasn’t too far away from the coast and it served as a good staging area…

“Woah,” Ray breathed as he came to a stop. He hadn’t really been paying attention to what he had been doing, and because of how mundane and repetitive the terrain had been thus far, he hadn’t expected what was on the other side of the hill.

The hill sloped down normally, but instead of leveling out and creating a plain in between hills, it just kept going down, sinking deep into the ground. The slope leveled out probably a mile and half deep into the earth, well below the normal altitude here, and maybe even below sea level. While this hill sloped gently into the strange crevice, other hills nearby tapered off into rugged or rocky faces, a particularly bulbous patch of exposed, gritty sandstone opposite to this hill. Small jetties of water fell from a few holes in these faces and down into a small body of water that stretched from one face to the other. Ray had never seen a place like this, and while everything was still golden and stiff brown, the splashes of white waterfalls and still, crystalline water added something enchanting to the place.

Instantly, his pulse picked up at the first sign of something that actually looked like hospitable land, his eyes scanning the area for potential signs of life. After several long seconds of staring, he came to the realization that this place, much like its surroundings, was barren of life, or of minotaurs, at least. The valley stretched a long way out, as far as he could see, though he could tell that it began to bend northwards in the distance. Staring the opposite direction, towards the coast, it stretched maybe three miles before slowly sloping up into the normal hills and plains of the continent. Regardless of the lack of life, it was still a huge win, the first signs of freshwater in this forsaken land.

Looking over his shoulder again, he saw some of the Fallen had almost made it to the crest of the hill. He was unable to stop himself from smiling, but as they began to walk across the short flat space he hissed softly, “Don’t say a word, but come look at this.”

Each Fallen responded in much the same way, gasping out of shock, unprepared for the splendid sight. Like him, none of them had probably expected the sudden change in scenery, especially since they had been walking practically parallel to the valley for almost two hours. There were some laughs, hugs, and sighs of relief as the number of Fallen sitting and staring at the beautiful sight grew. Finally, Skalos ascended the hill, and, noticing the large number of their comrades sitting casually on the slopes, whispering about the sight, he rushed to Ray.

“Sweet Celestia,” he muttered as he stopped dead, taking in the valley. For a few moments, he just stood there, staring in awe, before finally, he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful place.”

“Maybe,” Ray laughed, sitting down next to the stallion, letting his legs rest on the starts of the downward slope. “The best-looking place here, at least. What do you think Kraven will call this place?”

“Well, given he named the largest hill we’ve found so far ‘the Big Face’, nothing good,” Skalos joked with a smile, sitting down beside Ray.

“The Deep Crevice, probably,” the human guessed smartly, a mischievousness creeping into his grin. At his friends exaggerated eyeroll, which was really just a small movement of the milky swirls within, he began laughing again.

“Thirty minutes, soldiers,” Skalos called out over Ray’s childish laughter. “Relax a little and enjoy the sights. You’re the first ones to find this place.”

His voice dropped as he questioned Ray softly, “Any signs of, well, anything?”

“Other than the water, nothing that could be the minotaurs,” he sighed, calming down. “I still don’t see anything on land or air, so my best guess is that, unless there are fish in those waters, we really are the first to see this place.”

“Oh well,” the stallion shrugged simply, stretching out on his stomach. “At least it gives us something to say we found other than ‘same old same old’. Besides, seeing Kraven trying to name this place will certainly be an entertaining spectacle, if not a debacle in and of itself.”

“Well, you seem uncharacteristically optimistic,” Ray noted with a smile.

“Sorry, lordling,” the stallion smiled. “I forgot that a frown looks better on me than a dopey grin. I’ll do better.”

“I’m pretty sure I heard Zecora say something contrary to that,” Ray replied with a knowing smirk. Instantly, his friend’s face flushed as he realized when and where probably heard the remark. Ray erupted with more laughter, clapping a hand on his friend’s back as he exclaimed, “Shoulda gotten a thicker tent.”

“Lordling, I don’t know how anyone could be fooled into thinking you're an adult,” the Fallen mused with flattened ears.

“Aw, Skalos, whatcha gonna do, give ‘im a bedtime,” a dark purple stallion not too far from them suddenly butted in. “Don’t think it’d do ya much good!”

“Corporal, I could strip you of your rank right now,” Skalos half-joked with a pointed hoof.

“No y’can’t,” another stallion, this one silverish, countered. “Thanks ta yer own reforms, y’can’t just remove a guy or gal y’don’t like!”

Pretty soon the entire hill was conversing in a back and forth, laughter echoing all over. A small wrestling match between Skalos and the purple stallion, Wino, broke out and ended quickly with the general standing on his opponent’s chest, a triumphant smirk to those around him. Cheers and taunts were made, and for a few minutes, the soldiers roughed around like they really were just a bunch of adults playing some games, their weaponry and equipment discarded.

Ray’s grin slowly lost its mirth as his attention was drawn away by the enticing landscape. Strangely, the golden grasses here looked less like their surroundings, shining vibrantly instead of looking like glamorous dead grass. Truthfully, there was something uniquely serene and calming about a place like this when all of its surroundings were nothing but barren, burnt wastes. He didn’t want to let that lull him into complacency. It was too nice, too coincidental that this place was devoid of life. There had to be something that lived here, that had come here before them. This type of landscape took thousands of years to form, far too long to go unnoticed by the natives of this world.

Still, it was for the better that there was nothing here right now. He took great pride in his soldiers, and Skalos’ personal division was the elite of the Fallen, but only five hundred of them couldn’t take on any reasonably sized force whatsoever. Honestly, if they had come across some force of enemies, Ray didn’t know what they could do but run. Hopefully, now that they had explored the most inland, they could make it with their timeline, they wouldn’t run into some stray force that had slipped through between scouting missions. While not exactly tight knit, each scouting mission narrowed the margin for enemies to sneak in down to just a few hours, and thanks to the dust kicked up by marching, they would have at least a few hours warning if an enemy force was approaching.

“Alright, soldiers, we best get moving,” he spoke up. Most of the rowdiness had died down by then, so the Fallen quickly got to business strapping on their equipment and moving out. “We’ll be going into the valley itself, but unfortunately, we don’t have the time to investigate it. We’ll go coastward and then cut diagonally to camp.”

“Aye, sir,” a few responded dutifully, beginning to walk down the hill. Ray waited for Skalos to be ready before he began to slowly march downhill, careful to keep his pace in check.

“Well, what do you think, lordling,” the stallion questioned softly with a glance at the wide valley.

“Good place to go if we ever need a morale boost,” Ray muttered, gesturing to the white falls. “A lotta soldiers could use a sight like this after how tense and ungratifying the past month has been. Terrible spot for a permanent establishment of any sort though. We could be attacked from all sides or fill the valley with arrows if they had enough archers. They’d be shooting very bright fish in a very slim barrel.”

“Agreed,” the stallion whispered with a wary glance at the long walls. “So... it will serve as a vacationing spot for weary soldiers, then. Kind of a letdown, isn’t it?”

“It’s what it has to be,” Ray agreed with one last glance at the long gorge.

Author's Note:

Not much to say about this one. Questions, comments, and concerns are always welcome and wanted!

Comments

[Pitviper0444]

Damn i read it in 2 days wasnt paying attention to how fast i was going dang it

[Pitviper0444]

Loved it so far

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11495278
Wow, and yeah, good for you! Thanks for blowing through my story with such tenacity!