Legends of Equestria: The Long Road Back

by JimmyHook19

Desert Travel

Once our heroes had finished with sleep, eating, raving, and repeating, and collecting their various items that they needed for their next big journey, they set out from the hotel in this town and toward the highway. And without giving too much away, this journey was set to be a very long one, not least because the route they took would take them right through a desert with many dangers and a lot of sand to get everywhere.

After they had exited the hotel, they took a turning to the left, and after having completed such a turning turned to the right, followed by another left. This left was followed by another left, and then two right turns, and then another left. After another while of walking, they joined a ramp and found themselves going uphill, before arriving on the big road from yesterday. Moving along it proved to be a big challenge, however, as the road was jammed full of military vehicles and other traffic. These vehicles were mostly heading east, but there was a fair amount of vehicles going west and north too. The Pillars, or rather four of them, kept going along the hard shoulder as best they could, but travel proved to be very hard, not least because of the large amounts of dust being thrown up.

"All this sand makes it hard to see," Flash commented, moving his visor. "I can barely see a thing."

They had merged onto the road, and were now travelling along a road through flat desert terrain with the oppressive Texas heat beating down upon them as they travelled. Thankfully, the military traffic had died down, but they could hear explosions and sounds of gunfire in the distance as they went along. They then came to a checkpoint for the border between the US and Mexico. Upon proving that all was in order (with Mistmane's screen now updated to show the Seal of the President of the United States following the special status he conferred upon them), they crossed through the checkpoint and went along the road ever further via a desolate pass and an almost empty town, passing through another town that seemed to solely consist of motels, laundry buildings, and diners. It was a town that mostly served truck drivers, and it showed, as most parking spaces were full of trailers and people were getting hard wearing clothes washed for a dime a go. Not long after that, our heroes decided to keep moving owing to the increased tension in the area. Most people seemed to be on edge, as there had been reports of strange goings on in various places.

That town left behind, and the open road stretching before them, They continued as best they could along the road, staying to the right as required and doing their best to let military vehicles through. This seemed to be the largest mobilization in American history since WW2, and in order to let some traffic clear Mistmane, Starswirl, Flash Magnus and Somnambula paused at a rest station to let the vehicles through. The road was thick with smoke from road vehicles, and it appeared as though a dust storm was brewing in the area, so they waited it out. Once the storm had passed by, they decided to get on their way once more, stopping again soon after as Mistmane needed to relieve herself (she had forgotten to do so at the previous place). With that rather critical of pony bodily functions resolved, she and her friends set on their way to their destination. Passing by a place that sounded like another military establishment, they stopped at a point that was marked as a 'stagecoach stop'.

"Why are we stopped here?" Flash asked. "This is a stone sign with metal attached to it, covered in letters that we can't read anyway."

"Mistmane and I can," Starswirl replied. "It says that this was apparently a stop of a stagecoach route, a very old stagecoach route that is no longer in use."

"What are stagecoaches?" Somnambula asked.

"Road vehicles pulled by horses or ponies," Mistmane explained. "Sable Spirit uses one to get about."

"Oh," Somnambula replied. "As interesting as this all is, shall we continue? We have a place to get to, after all."

They agreed to that sentiment, and soon enough the four were on their way once more. They crossed a river, and went through a town, dodging past a traffic jam of many vehicles, and through a town which looked oddly familiar, name wise at least. They crossed over a river, and over a fork, before stopping to refill on food and drink, which they needed in this heat. Somnambula in the air to provide aerial recon, they set off and passed over a scenic point, not pausing as they had not time to waste. They stopped somewhere else to cool off, and then went on their way, passing through two towers towns on their merry way. Or was it their pippin way? One of the two. They kept to the left in another place as they entered heavily built up suburbs, and then continued straight on along those roads until they reached a section of road requiring them to continue straight ahead. This they did, and then they went off to an exit, after which they turned left and left again, before pausing in front of their stop for the night. The sun was now setting in the sky, and some of them were drenched in sweat.

"I could do with a dunk in the pool," Flash sighed, removing his helmet. "I sweat several buckets today."

"I could also do with a rest," Somnambula said. "And a nice drink whilst we're at it."

"I imagine that the tavern is well stocked," Starswirl noted. "They seem to be around here, which indicates a considerable flow of traffic. Mistmane, how much further do we have to travel?"

"About 830 miles, roads permitting," Mistmane replied. "But I could do with a rest too. These long journeys are rather tiring in the legs."

"Last one to the bar buys the drinks!" Flash shouted, and they all zipped indoors as fast as lightning.

---

Mistmane didn't sleep especially well that night. She tossed and turned in her bed as her mind processed what was going on.

She was standing in the middle of a vast, snowy wasteland, the wind whistling all around, and the snow in every single object and place. "Where am I?" she asked. "What's happening?"

Suddenly, ominous organ music started up, and she jumped in fright. She turned around to see a giant organ appear out of the fog, being played by a creature that was seemingly made of black, grey, and lighter grey fog. His muzzle was a maw with incredibly sharp teeth, and his wings were sharper than razor blades, his eyes glowing with white malice. He had a curved horn that jutted backwards upon his head.

"So, Mistmane, we meet at last!" he boomed.

"Who are you?" Mistmane asked.

"So rude, not wishing me a good day or anything like that. Still, I shall entertain you. I... am the Pony of Shadows, the one who has been orchestrating all of this. I planned it all after you banished me to this world. I engineered the chaos in this world. I saw to it that the Glowpaz necklace was in the vicinity of the pyramid, and I created the storm that brought down Southwest Airlines Flight 405. I oversaw the creation of Project 722, and before that got my puppet into office."

Mistmane gasped. "You oversaw the election of Donald Trump?"

"It was a perfect alliance of conveniance," the Pony of Shadows smiled. "He caused so much chaos nobody noticed what I or Project 722 were up to. After all, the Americans were hardly going to ally against me when they were so busy fighting each other over the most trivial of things. His defeat in the recent election had somewhat derailed this, but no matter. I will be victorious! The darkness will not be stopped, and I will do what I must to protect it!"

"We cannot let that happen," Mistmane said firmly.

"Oh really?" the Pony of Shadows laughed. "From your actions, all I can see is that you and your fellow Pillars are cowards! Lowly lickspittles! You must be emulating those wastes of flesh you call Princesses, for you are as feeble and useless as them! I am ripping this world asunder, and you do nothing! I see you hiding in your hotel, weak and pathetic. I am here, in this world. FACE ME, IF YOU DARE!"

With that, Mistmane awoke, her body on one side, and dripping sweat. She looked about the room in a panic, hoping she hadn't woken anypony up. But she processed all she had seen, and it was clear now. They had to rally the rest of the Pillars, and stop the Pony of Shadows... no matter the cost.

Author's Note:

Man.... talk about one crazy nightmare for Mistmane though.

And yep.... in this setting, The Pony of Shadows was responsible for making Donald Trump be the 45th President of the United States.

So anyways.... next chapter will arrive in two weeks from now, via by December 15th, 2021. :)