/sun/ story request.


                                            Prompt:

                                            >>40343000 (You)

                                            /r/ Celestia taking Anon on a ride through the Everfree forest back when it was still spooky to retrieve something hidden there long ago.


                                            >The ground sways two and fro, in time with a steady hoofbeat, as deliberate as they are quiet, oddly enough.

                                            >As your field of view comes into better focus, you're able to discern feathers from fur.

                                            >A loose pink braid, held together at the end with a lunar-themed clasp, drapes down to your left, or, your ride's right.

                                            >Draped as your are, the heady musk that saturates your nostrils almost distracts you from the aches and pains springing to life about your mostly-limp body.

                                            >Almost.

                                            "Ughh..."

                                            >"Oh! Good morning, sleepyhead!"

                                            "Mmmffffff..."

                                            >"Come again?"

                                            "What happened?" you manage to croak.

                                            >"What's the last thing you remember?"

                                            "Uh..."

                                            >Celestia cocks her neck around to show off her new raised eyebrow.

                                            >She sighs, and shakes her head.

                                            >"You were being careless. As usual."

                                            "Sounds about right."

                                            >Try to arch your back and immediately regret it.

                                            >"Here," she says, turning you aloft in golden light until your legs straddle her barrel.

                                            "Couldn't you have carried me like that from the get-go?"

                                            >"I didn't want vomit in my mane."

                                            "Oh... Sorry."

                                            >She doesn't respond.

                                            "How bad was it?"

                                            >"We're three days behind schedule."

                                            "Wow."

                                            >"Yeah."

                                            >She stops, then turns to look you in the eye.

                                            >"You really don't remember what happened?"

                                            "No?"

                                            >Celestia shakes her head, then resumes walking.

                                            >"Foraging is off the menu. For a week."

                                            "Oh, come on!"

                                            >"Well, the cartographers don't call this the 'Vast Poison' for nothing."

                                            "Does this mean your wings-"

                                            >"Still too weak."

                                            "And your horn?"

                                            >"Levitation only. You're close to my limit."

                                            "The sun?"

                                            >"Luna knows to still manage it, apparently."

                                            >Her head lowers, just barely enough to be noticeable.

                                            >"Wherever she is."

                                            "We'll find her."

                                            >"I hope so."

                                            -----

                                            >The sun sets, shaky and uncertain, coloring the Vast Poison's western horizon pink.

                                            >Celestia's stomach growls beside you, yearning for the meager provisions remaining in her saddlebags.

                                            >Your rucksack is almost empty as your stomach.

                                            >You've been walking nonstop since yesterday.

                                            >It helps distract you from the hunger.

                                            >Something in the air, it's like it gives you the worst case of the munchies.

                                            >If only you knew that before you tore through half your rations thirty-six hours ago in the midst of a gluttony-fueled haze, something Celestia had likewise experienced.

                                            >Your mind returns yet again to that evening, convinced it left something behind then.

                                            >Take a swig from your canteen.

                                            >It's cool and sweet, but by the gods you're so fucking hungry, youcouldtakeabiteoutof-

                                            >Wait a minute.

                                            >Another swig.

                                            >All you can think about is eating.

                                            >Uh oh.

                                            "Celestia," you say, shuffling to a halt.

                                            >"Oh no you don't, Anon." She says, circling around to nudge you forward. "We still have two days of walking to make up, and we're three days away from fresh, safe food!"

                                            "Celestia! The water!"

                                            >"What about it?"

                                            "I think something's wrong with it."

                                            >"Anon, I can *smell* if water is clean. That spring was fine!"

                                            "Don't you think that's weird?"

                                            >"Weird?"

                                            "Yeah. Why would a poisonous wasteland have a random spring with clean water?"

                                            >The wheels start to turn behind her bloodshot, sleep-deprived eyes.

                                            >"But... b-but... it smelled so *good*! So good!"

                                            >She blinks.

                                            >"Too good."

                                            >Celestia sighs and hangs her head.

                                            >"I'm sorry, Anon."

                                            "Hey, its- it's okay..."

                                            >"No it's not."

                                            >No it's not.

                                            -----

                                            >Day five in the Poison.

                                            >Two more days until salvation, until food.

                                            >Sweet, sweet food.

                                            >You'd both tried to brave your canteens' remaining water after your revelation.

                                            >It's like the knowledge of its appetite-enhancing qualities only made them worse.

                                            >At least you were both able to refrain from eating each other after you'd exhausted your rations in a feeding frenzy; desperate as it was brief.

                                            >Glance at the map again, focusing on nothing in particular, hoping you'd find something to draw your mind away from the ever-present hunger and thirst.

                                            >Walking helped, to a point.

                                            >On the bright side, you're back on schedule by keeping your breaks limited to a few hours of fitful sleep per night.

                                            >Out here in the Vast Poison, you had only the flora to fear.

                                            >Well, the few plants that did grow here.

                                            >It's not like there were any creatures to bother you; another plus.

                                            >"What waiting for us on the far side of this wasteland?" Celestia asks in spite of her familiarity of the map.

                                            >You look at the area for the hundredth time.

                                            "The 'Everfree Forest'."

                                            >"Hmm."

                                            >A few minutes of silent, dusty walking pass.

                                            "I'm so hungry."

                                            >"I'm unnaturally hungry."

                                            "I'm the hungriest being that's ever existed."

                                            >"I'm the hungriest hungry that ever hungried."

                                            >She gives a faint chuckle after your half-hearted snort.

                                            "I'm so hungry I could eat a pony."

                                            >"Be careful what you wish for."

                                            >Your head swivels left of its own accord until your eyes meet.

                                            >Her cheeks glow, you turn away before your face gets too hot.

                                            -----

                                            >Roll left a quarter turn, reposition your head.

                                            >Your lower back is tight, so you adjust your position for the hundredth time.

                                            >Now your neck aches.

                                            >"Can't sleep either?" Celestia murmurs over her shoulder.

                                            "Nuh-uh."

                                            >"Me neither."

                                            >A stiff breeze picks up, pushing you closer to your companion.

                                            >You do your best to suppress your shivers, but it's not enough.

                                            >"Sorry, I sometimes take my fur and feathers for granted."

                                            "Huh? Oh, it's-"

                                            >Celestia drapes a wing over you, then a foreleg.

                                            "...fine."

                                            >Her eyes shine in the moonlight, mere inches from yours.

                                            >"Anon?"

                                            "Yeah?'

                                            >"Thank you."

                                            "For what?"

                                            >"Being here."

                                            >A warmth spreads from your chest, and for the first time in a week, you forget your present misery.

                                            -----

                                            >The run rose earlier than normal, coaxing you from the best sleep you've had in weeks.

                                            >It took the better part of ten minutes to get on your feet (and hooves) and moving.

                                            >Hours pass.

                                            >The sun bakes the barren landscape and you along with it.

                                            >You lick your bloody, cracked lips with a sandpaper tongue.

                                            >Celestia plods alongside you, staring more at the ground than the horizon.