Masks of iron and ivory.

My howls of rage echoed through the Everfree, as lines of rippling, pure, black, entropy ripped through the nearby brush. I brought my head down, and noted the embers swirling around me. I growled as I continued my onslaught on the surroundings.

Trees splintered, grass and bushes withered, vines were shredded. Only a couple of minutes later I dropped to my knees, exhausted. I panted while shaking in the last light of dusk

While taking shaky breaths, short strings of memory caught up to me. Flashes of blinding pain, reminders of past mistakes, faces so many bloodied faces. I shuddered at the images that flashed through my head.

Bloody blades, scorched earth, demolished towns, bloody plains, toppled castles, and so many more. Landscape after landscape, covered in corpses, some blazing in unending flame, others merely coated with a thin layer of ashe

I felt my mind going numb, the feeling of skin being covered by shards of thick ice. Each memory felt like a bolt of lukewarm lightning. Flashes of recognition, flashes of comfort, and flashes of despair. Each memory lashed a fiery stinging thorn into the cold recesses of my mind.

But the worst was one from long before any of that, before any fighting, before I truly came into my magic. And it lingered.

The sands… I could see through my mind's eye. Faint shadowy distortions at the edges of this memory borne vision.

The world began to spin. The green and brown surrounding blurred into nothing more than shapeless color. Details lost in the mad gyrations in my vision. Swirls formed within my spinning gaze, and the colors began to fade to a sandy tan…

…

…

…

I was walking next to a wagon. It was mostly a light brown color, with the only metal on it being that which was on the wheel axis and axles. A man sat on a raised lip at the front of the wagon, as a pair of large, shaggy, sand colored camels pulled it. A whip lay across his lap, but the man held the reins gently in both white-gloved hands.

He had a white cloth wrapped around his head, leaving only the eyes peeking out from the folds. The rest of his body was covered from head to toe in a white robe. His sea blue eyes would’ve been piercing if not for the friendly demeanor that always accompanied it.

We were talking about something, I don’t quite remember what, but whatever it was, I could remember seeing the smile behind his eyes.

We were walking upon a long cobbled road that stretched from horizon to horizon. The stones were tightly packed with gravel being used as filling. The desert sands accompanied us along this gray forgotten road. The dunes, ever present, like a sea of sand. One that obeyed no tide, no current, a frozen ocean of blistering hot, tiny specks.

When oceans dry up, when the clouds disappear, when the mountains themselves crumble to dust, the sands shall remain. Slowly changing, but constant all the same.

The bloody orange of a setting sun bored into our backs. Highlighting the dunes in a faint reddish golden glow.

There was a wagon, imitating the one that rolled beside me, around thirty feet ahead with another man like myself, walking by it. A woman sat on this wagon’s lip, and was dressed similarly as the other wagon driver.

Our boot covered feet walked for hours as the wagons rolled, and the bleeding sun finally dove beneath the horizon. Letting the stars dot the sky. An air of serene determination traveled with us like a sentient cloud.

The man pointed out several constellations, explaining meanings, and how each could be used to navigate. A bright star to the north. A hydra to the south. Even an ursa to the east. Ending with a winged snake to the west.

My eyes trailed across the night sky, traced lines, and picked out patterns as the old man prattled on about the white specks above. The images that showed directions were neat and all, but one could paint whole stories with all of those little dots up there. All one had to do was connect the points.

We went on a couple more hours like this before stopping. We had talked and walked, and laughed and smiled through our travels. It was our routine at this point, wake up, eat, move, stop, eat, and rest. We had been doing this for a while now. I don’t remember for how long.

We were heading somewhere… somewhere important… Where were we going?.... Bah it doesn’t matter anymore.

Over the course of the aforementioned hours, our camels slowly dampened, with fur clinging to them. Their panting became apparent, and we were forced to stop for the night.

Our stop left us upon the crest of one of the larger dunes around. The drivers pulled tents, cooking supplies, and bedrolls from the backs of our wagons. Meanwhile, my fellow walker and I tied the camels to a post we drove into the road

We gathered around a campfire. The other walker was telling some ghost story, but I remember it being outright ridiculous.

Something about a magical talking horse. He claimed it was true, but we all laughed it off. I mean, what purpose does a mage have to make such preposterous creatures?... Nevermind, I don’t want to think about it.

Then the male wagon driver spoke up. “You know, we should be more thankful for the paths we walk.” The rest of us stared at him, with tilted heads, and raised eyebrows. He continued “we’ve been blessed with a safe road. Sure it’s long, sure it’s hot, sure we don’t have a choice, but there are all kinds of monsters out there, in the wild sands.”

My snort dripped with derision “oh please .̘̦̠̻̓́̎͌͞,̴̟̩̘̲̮̮̥͑̋̚.͈̙͕̇̐͘,̨͇͈̗̫̝̘̺̋.̶̫̣̞͈̫͌̏ͥ,̨͖̬͐.͖̰̫̩͙͗̄̊̀,̥͎̗͇͉̮̯̣͌̓͢.͇̮̻̫̯̉̄̐̎̕.̙̣͕̪̠͍̩͇̉͋͂͝,̯͙̦̺̠̥ͯͭ͡.̵̤͉͎̞͍ͥ,̃͋̆҉͈͔̣͎͇̪̟ͅ.̨̻͓ͧ̌ we all know that there isn’t such a thing as ‘tame sands,’ so whats the difference?”

When I spoke his name, a burst of static replaced my voice. The noise blotted out everything for a moment, as all went white for a fraction of a second. A singular instant in time where silent lightning covered my vision. A pinprick in infinity, gone as quick as it came.

The wagon driver nodded “aye, but the monsters stay away from the roads nowadays. Go back saaayyy forty years, and we would need a full caravan just to get from town to town.”

My clothed head maintained its tilt as I asked “what? I haven’t seen anything to fear out there. Just sand, sand, more sand, and if I look carefully mirages. Ohhh soooo spooooky. Give me a break .̘̦̠̻̓́̎͌͞,̴̟̩̘̲̮̮̥͑̋̚.͈̙͕̇̐͘,̨͇͈̗̫̝̘̺̋.̶̫̣̞͈̫͌̏ͥ,̨͖̬͐.͖̰̫̩͙͗̄̊̀,̥͎̗͇͉̮̯̣͌̓͢.͇̮̻̫̯̉̄̐̎̕.̙̣͕̪̠͍̩͇̉͋͂͝,̯͙̦̺̠̥ͯͭ͡.̵̤͉͎̞͍ͥ,̃͋̆҉͈͔̣͎͇̪̟ͅ.̨̻͓ͧ̌ we’ve all heard your ‘back in my day’ stories.”

The driver scowled “some are exaggerations, yes, but this is of an entirely different nature. Do. Not. Go. Out. Into the wild sands. Do you understand?”

I sighed as I slowly shook my lowered head “Fine.”

The older man maintained his scowl “promise it.”

I threw up my hands in an exasperated shrug “sure I swear, now lets get on with dinner.”

The old man scowled, as his blue eyes took an icy glint. The hawkish glare bored into my soul as spoke in a low tone. “I see… I won’t get anything more out of you… Some lessons must be learned the hard way.” He closed his eyes, and his head swayed slightly as his voice lowered further. “I had to learn, and so shall you.”

I shifted on the blanket as I lowered my gaze, not wanting to look into those cold sapphires again.

The old man sighed once more. “I suppose we should get on with dinner.”

I nodded excitedly in agreement

The woman laughed as she spoke up in a cheerfully teasing tone “excited for travel rations are we? I thought you despised them! Oh how the sands shift.”

Some of my previous bravado returned as I grunted “anything’s better than listening to

another story from .̘̦̠̻̓́̎͌͞,̴̟̩̘̲̮̮̥͑̋̚.͈̙͕̇̐͘,̨͇͈̗̫̝̘̺̋.̶̫̣̞͈̫͌̏ͥ,̨͖̬͐.͖̰̫̩͙͗̄̊̀,̥͎̗͇͉̮̯̣͌̓͢.͇̮̻̫̯̉̄̐̎̕.̙̣͕̪̠͍̩͇̉͋͂͝,̯͙̦̺̠̥ͯͭ͡.̵̤͉͎̞͍ͥ,̃͋̆҉͈͔̣͎͇̪̟ͅ.̨̻͓ͧ̌. “

The old driver shot me a withering look. His eyes hardening into shards of ice, but this time they also held a small twinkle. A sparkling light that reignited after it was doused during the warning. “Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m an AMAZING story teller. Why if I chose to, I could be weaving tales of terror, and daring delight at the capitol.

One eyebrow lifted as I spoke in a sickeningly saccharine tone of fake joy. My tone bouncing up an active, as I faked a wide toothy grin. “And you’re definitely stuck being a merchant out of your love of travel, despite how much you whine about your feet hurting.”

The old man’s smile returned. “But of course, I love seeing the sites and talking to people. Making coins. I just hate walking.”

Our banter continued on for a few more minutes, and with the somber warning slowly fading from our heads, the serenity from before returned. However, our talking was winding down as the time we all laid to rest, neared. Such a happy memory…

Before we could lay down, faint vibrations sounded through the ground. The pebbles at the top of the gravel bounced, the surrounding sands shifted, and the camels called out in terror

The old man jumped to his feet while his voice took on a shrill tone. “ CUT THE CAMELS LOOSE, .̘̦̠̻̓́̎͌͞,̴̟̩̘̲̮̮̥͑̋̚.͈̙͕̇̐͘,̨͇͈̗̫̝̘̺̋.̶̫̣̞͈̫͌̏ͥ,̨͖̬͐.͖̰̫̩͙͗̄̊̀,̥͎̗͇͉̮̯̣͌̓͢.͇̮̻̫̯̉̄̐̎̕.̙̣͕̪̠͍̩͇̉͋͂͝,̯͙̦̺̠̥ͯͭ͡.̵̤͉͎̞͍ͥ,̃͋̆҉͈͔̣͎͇̪̟ͅ.̨̻͓ͧ̌, AND .̘̦̠̻̓́̎͌͞,̴̟̩̘̲̮̮̥͑̋̚.͈̙͕̇̐͘,̨͇͈̗̫̝̘̺̋.̶̫̣̞͈̫͌̏ͥ,̨͖̬͐.͖̰̫̩͙͗̄̊̀,̥͎̗͇͉̮̯̣͌̓͢.͇̮̻̫̯̉̄̐̎̕.̙̣͕̪̠͍̩͇̉͋͂͝,̯͙̦̺̠̥ͯͭ͡.̵̤͉͎̞͍ͥ,̃͋̆҉͈͔̣͎͇̪̟ͅ.̨̻͓ͧ̌ GET ON. I’LL DISTRACT THEM.”

I was about scream my questions back at him, but then I saw them. Large, red, plated worms. Jumping from dune to dune, diving back into the sand each time. They were barreling through the sands like a barracuda through water. Spiked heads splitting the land before them, and miniature explosions of sand occurring whenever they left a dune

I was about to protest, but I saw the determination in the old mans eyes. This was his last story, the final tale of daring do, his chosen ending. I nodded solemnly as I sprinted towards one of the loose camels. After all, I couldn’t stop him, so why waste his gift?

The other walker and I were mounted on the bareback beasts. The other two were occupied by the drivers.

The old man rode his camel at top speed into the desert. While the woman led us in a mad dash down the road.

Most of the monsters went after the old man, but a couple split off coming towards us. Our camels were galloping as fast as they could, but the giant worms were gaining on us.

Once they got close, I realized that each worm had a mouth the size of one of our wagons. They could swallow us whole, camel and all, but only if they caught us.

We were yelling inane things; “Come on!” “We can make it!” And other such nonsense. These things were relentless, and our camels would eventually get tired. Their fur was already dampening, and they were panting. The worms just continued effortlessly diving through the ground like it was nothing

The woman stared at us while the animals galloped. She peered into our eyes, memorizing this moment, and gave us one last sad look as she leaned her camel away from us. She headed off the road, and onto the sands opposite the worms. She called out as she to, dashing off into the desert

“Goodbye my .̘̦̠̻̓́̎͌͞,̴̟̩̘̲̮̮̥͑̋̚.͈̙͕̇̐͘,̨͇͈̗̫̝̘̺̋.̶̫̣̞͈̫͌̏ͥ,̨͖̬͐.͖̰̫̩͙͗̄̊̀,̥͎̗͇͉̮̯̣͌̓͢.͇̮̻̫̯̉̄̐̎̕.̙̣͕̪̠͍̩͇̉͋͂͝,̯͙̦̺̠̥ͯͭ͡.̵̤͉͎̞͍ͥ,̃͋̆҉͈͔̣͎͇̪̟ͅ.̨̻͓ͧ̌, may the sands spare you both.”

Her choked farewell faded from our hearing as we stared at her back. She left hunched over her camels back, kicking up a cloud of brown dust behind her.

Suddenly the two massive worms jumped over the road, and followed her into the sands. The ancient, wild sands.

She didn’t make it far. As it turned out, but fortunately for us, these worms aren’t very cooperative. One ripped the camels legs off, the other got the beast’s head. The first grabbed the woman’s shoulder, and the other took hold of her torso. The woman screeched “NO NO, SANDS PROTECT ME, SKIES GUARD ME, SEAS GUIDE ME. NOOOO”

We spun our camels around and drove them to a mad sprint down the cobbled road. Both of us shuddered as we heard the sounds of ripping flesh, not unlike that of torn papyrus, just… more… wet. I cried as we ran. I heard phantom crunches as I imagined her bones being rent apart.

Coward. FOOL. WEAKLING. We should help her, we should save her. But the old man’s warnings rang through my head. His deep voice thundering like a chorus of gongs, repeating the same grim tale

“The wild sands are dangerous, they expose us, and they hide monsters. Do. Not. Go. out into them.”

we heard her screams echoing on through the whispers of the wind. Her haunting shrill cries of terror and pain were carried along by the swift hot air of the desert..

Several minutes after the screams died with their owner, my companion and I slowed the camels to a walk. Several minutes after that, we noticed no worms, not even the telltale vibrations from a far-off approach. We sighed in relief as our heads dipped.

I looked up and stared into the other’s windswept brown gaze. The eyes already held too many lines, and now the edges of those eyes were dampening at the corners. “What now brother?”

He slowly swung his black covered head from side to side like a miniature pendulum, and turned to stare back the way we came. Where we all should still be, where we lost what little we still had

…

…

…

We both looked out upon the desert. The sands unmoved, the stars: cold, and the road seemingly untouched.

The sea of sand remained, as it always had, as it always will. The land didn’t care, the sky didn’t care, the seas beyond the horizon didn’t care. Only we did, and we would pass, the land, sea, and sky would not.

The last flashes of the memory were of happy faces, and endless dunes. The final one being the landscape that never cared. Wind, sweeping thin lines of sand up into the speckled night sky, only to drop it down once more to the tan hellscape below.

To it, nothing had changed. Then all went white.

...Shame about the ending….

…

…

…

I locked those memories up for a REASON DAMMIT.

As the white lightning faded, the world of green began to return. At first only the amorphous blob of colors. Then came the distinction between the colors, the sky divided from the land, and the greens separated from the browns. Lines, shapes, edges began to sharpen as well.

My breaths continued in their shaky, irregular rhythm. Like a bad dream, most of the memories I experienced, faded. From sharp recollection to vague impressions, and finally, complete absence. The locks from the other masks asserted their presence once more.

… But the damage had been done. I knew the faces, the names were still missing, but those faces… I saw people, people that I should know, people I should love… People that I should miss.

And those sands. The most vivid memory of all. Those consuming sands. All the rest faded, but not that blistering uniform sandy hellscape. The wilds are never tamed, they’re only ever temporarily subdued. Beware the areas others call ‘safe.’

That damnable warning still echoed in my skull, and I failed when I tried to ignore it. However, logic put my mind at ease. No sand, just dirt, leaves, mud, and rocks. No sand, no unstoppable monsters. No invisible threats. Im fine. I can worry about sand later.

I shivered as I began to trudge forward. Broken sticks, leaves, and other things crunched beneath my boots. I had cleared and flattened a circle of around thirty feet while throwing that tantrum before.

Eventually the crunching transitioned to wet plops as I crossed the clearing’s threshold, onto the muddy forest floor. I was still tired, but it appears that I was sleeping while I walked through those sands.

A few hours of rest, while I was… preoccupied

I slowly pulled the shards of grainy memory together, feeling the stinging pains, the hollowness before a fight, the fear of the sands, and let the emotions flow. A minute of doing this as I plodded along, allowed me to gain a firmer grip on them.

I crushed these shards into a tight ball within the clutch of my will, and reached out a hand to Unhappiness. The frowning porcelain mask glowed a pale grey as I touched it.

I wrapped lines of will around the ball of pain, and slowly dragged it towards the edge of my mind. Once at the brink, I pushed it over the side, and onto another plane entirely. The mask resounded with a faint bell chime as the memories landed within it.

I can deal with that, later.

I scanned my surroundings with sight and magic while my heavy footfalls splatted upon the muddy ground. The light faded as the forest returned to its supernatural darkness. Nighttime darkened the place further, and I was forced to walk through a forest that was black as pitch. Fantastic, at least the vines don’t hang down low enough to catch onto me

I went on like this for a short while, searching for a cave, or any semi-defensible position. After all, those ponies probably won’t give up. They just found a threat, and already proved themselves capable of ripping me apart with those magical artifacts.

YES, FINALLY, SOMETHING GOES RIGHT! Low and behold, one of my many magical pulses turned up a jagged opening in a cliff. Only a few feet off the ground. I focused, and sent pulses into the hole in the rock…. Nothing. It was vacant, perfect.

I quickly scampered in to settle down on the hard cave floor. The air was damp, the floor was hard, and the place was dark. All of that could be fixed, but the important part was that I was ‘safe’… for now.

All it would take would be one chance encounter, one lucky pony, and those living weapons would be on me. One mistake, and I’d need to run.

I shivered at the memory of that soul-rending pain. Never. Again.

That being my final conscious thought as I fell into that void once more… This time, I would be undisturbed, I would finally get to rest in the inky dark of nonexistence once more.