North Woods NightMares

by Starfighter

Chapter 19: Island in the Yellow Sea

“C’mon.” Beckoned Frosty, encouraging the pair to head out.

“Isn’t it amazing how the jungle transitions to desert so quickly? In only a few miles it goes from trees so thick that not a ray of sun hits the ground to not a tree to be found!” Exclaimed PW.

Frosty hummed in response.

“And this river; which started as a muddy torrent and is now fanning out to a layer of wet gravel, will soon be entirely lost!” He continued.

“Mmm.”

PW began acting very giddy and excitable, even starting to bounce with his steps. “We’re walking in the riverbed now! Isn’t this desert so big?!?” He excitedly announced.

2 pulled his water bottle from his saddlebag, opened it, and pushed it to his muzzle.

“PW. Drink.” She ordered.

“Good idea!” Called PW, accepting her offering. “Woah!” He exclaimed, seeing his vision suddenly clear up.

“You weren’t drinking enough, PW. You won’t sweat here. It’s too dry. You need to tell yourself to drink or you will not make it out here.”

“Thanks for looking out for me Frosty.” PW said in gratitude.

She cracked a smile hidden behind her gaiter.

“PW. Let’s get your bandanna on. That’ll stop you from losing so much water.” Frosty walked over to PW and opened his saddlebag.

“Oh! Let me do it!” He cried, pulling his back away from her.

“Refusing my help? That’s rare for you.” She cocked a brow as the pegasus grinned. “Do you have something in your bag you don’t want me to see?” She teased.

He backed away, like a guilty puppy dog. She squinted at him.

“Alright then!” She replied.

PW took out his bandanna.

“At least let me tie it on for you.” She said.

PW approached her again to entertain her wish. She sat, bent down, and tied the bandanna onto her little assistant. It was an interesting experience for her, working on a stallion below her like that. Normally she was tying up a pair of hooves under arrest. This time she was dressing one up, if only a little bit.

After it was tied on, Frosty patted PW’s back. “You look great!” She complimented.

‘Why did I say that?’ She asked herself.

“Thanks! Can you believe you’re the first mare besides my mom to say that?” PW asked.

“That’s… sad.”

“Also, you look great too! But I’m sure you know by now I always think that about you.” He smiled and Frosty was glad to be wearing a mask that hid her blush.

Eventually the setting sun turned red and began casting long shadows over the desert, turning the sand from a yellow-white color to a dull orange. The pair set their gear down in a low spot.

“We should break camp here. We’re in the lee of a big sand dune blocking the southeasterlies. While I’m setting things up do you mind flying up and trying to spot the oasis?” Asked Frosty.

“I’m on it!” Shouted PW, already in his takeoff roll.

The wind was challenging in the first few hundred feet aloft, constantly bubbling thanks to the many dunes. The winged assistant did not need to even reach a thousand feet before he saw a dark patch of land sticking up from the sands in the distance. He took out his magnetic compass and confirmed the bearing before turning around and gliding in. The sun had just set and an air exchange was taking place as the ground was cooling.

As Polaris slowed for a landing, these air currents began to upset his approach. “Woah… ack – look out!” He warned 2, careening out of control. Then he started slipping towards her.

“I’m gonna…” He began, fearing a collision.

Then she reared up to intercept PW’s approach path, opened her forehooves wide and caught him mid air like a beach ball. His speed was immediately nulled; completely absorbed by her stoic mass while she remained entirely still.

“Ahehehe!” PW chuckled as he stowed his wings.

“Did you see anything?” Frosty asked.

“Yeah, actually! Big dark area on the horizon at heading 2-0-0. Also, are you going to put me down?”

“Oh.” She muttered, lowering PW to the ground. “Erm, no baddies either?”

“Nope. Didn’t see anypony else nearby.” PW responded.

---

Dinner in the desert was very simple – PW had a hayburger. Dehydrated food wasn’t an option like it was in most other places because of their lack of water access. The only water they had near them was in the form of soggy sand and powdered rock, remnants of the jungle river. It was very dark by the time everything was cleaned up.

Frosty had begun unrolling her massive sleeping pad and placed a light sleeping bag overtop of it.

“Guess I should set up over there since I can’t sleep with noise.” PW suggested.

“Nuh-uh – catch!” Frosty threw a small bag at PW which he caught in his hooves.

“Earplugs! Thanks, but don’t you think I should leave myself to be woken up to noises? If I wear these somepony could sneak up on us.”

“I don’t think so. You didn’t see anycreature up there and we’re laying low. It would be have to be an accident to discover us here.”

“Okay.” He agreed and unrolled his bag near hers. He positioned his so their heads would be somewhat close, then laid down.

“Woah!” He exclaimed, seeing the milky starfield above.

“How many of them do you think there are?” Asked Frosty.

PW was filled with excitement as he realized they were going to share a moment together.

“I’ve heard Princess Twilight Sparkle say four or five thousand can be seen by eye. And then with a telescope it adds up to half a million!”

“Hard to imagine. The scale of it all.”

“What’s really crazy is when you start comparing star to star. You’re four times bigger than me. But when it comes to stars, that’s close. Small stars are 100 times smaller than big stars. It would be as if I were the size of your ear to be considered small on star terms!”

“Haha! That is crazy. Ooh- a shooting star!”

“You get to make a wish now, Frosty!”

“Okay… I wish- I wish- I wish…”

“Don’t tell me or it won’t come true!”

“That’s too bad. You would have loved to hear it.”

“Aww.”

“D’ya think there’s creatures on other worlds, laying there like we are… staring back at us wondering the same thing?”

“Princess Twilight said she thinks each star is somewhat like the sun, and that there could be a world around almost every star. I think it’s almost a near certainty.”

“I’ll bet they don’t have Night-Mares…” Joked Frosty.

“What a tragedy that would be!” Complained PW. “Though I guess nothing’s to stop them from imagining us… and writing a story about us. D’ya think we’re worth a story Frosty?”

“Totally.” Reassured the Night-Mare. PW yawned. “You’d better put those earplugs in and get some sleep, guy. I want to be up at dawn.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Replied PW, stuffing his ears and climbing into his sleeping bag.

The temperature was perfect for sleeping – around sixty degrees with a light, dry wind. PW was out cold until he felt a poke.

“Wha–!” He shouted, seeing a tall looming figure over him after opening his eyes.

Frosty made motion to his ears. “Oh, yeah it would be much easier to hear you if I wasn’t wearing these things!” He stated, popping the ear plugs out.

“Time to get up.” She barked.

PW rolled his bag and pad up and clipped them onto the saddlebag.

After a quick bag of oats the pegasus took a morning bearing. “This way.” He called, pointing the way.

The combat duo rose atop the dune and looked out.

“This desert is so amazing! It’s so big!” He exclaimed.

“You really like big things huh PW?” Frosty asked.

“Yup! That’s why I like you!”

“Is that the only reason you like me?”

“No of course not! You’re nice to me. You make me feel confident in who I am and my physical size and make me feel supported.” He paused and worked up the courage to add, “And… I think your hind legs are kinda cute-please-don’t-hurt-me-for-saying-that!” He sucked in a breath as his heart jumped into his chest.

2 didn’t speak, suddenly finding herself particularly hot all of the sudden and dropped her sun visor to hide another blush.

“It’s cool, PW.” She finally muttered, striding off in the bearing.

With a landmark in sight for the bearing, and realizing he wasn't going to be destroyed for saying what he did, PW followed her lead. The day wore on and before long the rising sun on their left shoulders was making things hot again. PW caught himself walking in the large shadow cast by the Night-Mare, but once he did so he went back into the sun.

“You don’t have to avoid my shadow if it makes you cooler, PW.” She said, intelligently making the connection.

“Thanks. But I feel bad about it because I can’t return the favor to you. Even if I hovered just above you in slow flight I’m only so big.”

“Don’t sweat it, PW. You are the perfect size.”

“Where’s all that intimidation gone?”

“I dunno. PW, you tiny ass stallion! You’re a horrible sumbrella!” She barked.

“Now there’s the Night-Mare 2 I know!”

“The desert does weird things to you, alright?” She said as they crested the next dune. “Ah, I see our oasis up ahead.” She announced.

PW climbed to the top of the hill and stopped before turning to her. “Well, I don’t!”

“Hmm… I just see it. Maybe if you were a little taller!” Frosty teased. PW shook his head and reared so he could come up to her eye-level.

“Oh, yes. I see it now! Good on you for using your height to your advantage!” He grunted in maintaining his balance.

“Thank you!” The mare responded, taking kindly to his compliment.

---

It was almost an hour of watching the oasis rise and fall from view as the team went up and down each of the many sand dunes. It was grueling, seeing almost no change for the first half hour with every successive dune, as if swimming to an island on the horizon. However, over one of the last dunes along the way, somecreature had taken note of them and began to stalk the pair at a distance.

They descended the last dune and encountered cool, soggy sand. A nearby aquifer was feeding puddles here and there. There were tufts of bushes and foliage, and cacti, and shallow pools of standing water, but it was far from a green paradise.

“Do you think we’ll be able to fill our waters up here?” PW asked.

“Of course. If we don’t find a pond deep enough to get the water bottle in, we can always dig a hole for it to sit in below the surface."

They kept looking and after trudging through a floodplain the team came upon a pothole in the limestone rock where a spring bubbled up.

“This’ll do.” Said Frosty, passing a jug down to PW which he immersed.

When it was filled he found himself struggling with bringing the ten gallon water jug up, all but sputtering with the effort.

“Guess that thing probably weighs as much as you do.” Frosty offered a hoof.

“At eight pounds per gallon; that’s eighty pounds!” PW cried.

“Close enough.” Frosty responded as PW filled his jug. The pair left the water to adjust their gear packs.

“Guess we should also radio in that we’re here, right?” Asked PW.

“Go ahead and let them know we’re here.” Frosty confirmed.

“And, me too!” Said a third voice.

“The…” PW began to say before turning around and obstructing the Night-Mare behind him with a *POMF* as his wings opened to full span in instinctual defense.

PW looked out… and up… and up at the massive pony before him.

Comments

[BingeReader]

Nice chapter

[bkam]

After it was tied on, Frosty patted PW’s back. “You look great!” She complimented.

‘Why did I say that?’ She asked herself.

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