//------------------------------// // 1. A Fish in a Sea of Sand // Story: The Strands of Time // by Faedelaide //------------------------------// Raven stood atop the mighty dune. He twisted his hooves around in the soft, cool sand, absentmindedly carving incomprehensible figures and beasts into the malleable soil. All across the infinite horizon, dunes exactly like the one upon which he stood sailed forever onward, like a frozen ocean of dull yellow. The sky was a dusky yellow, choked by a thick sheet of dark, smokey clouds that roiled and twisted in the wind. Out towards the edge of the world, where the rolling dunes slowly turned into tiny bumps, the sun rose sluggishly up from behind the miniscule hills and decapitated mountains, punching a pale white hole through the dim grey clouds. Raven sighed. He was anxious, incredibly so. As much as he believed that there was something out there, among the wastes, he had a hard time proving it to himself. The wastes stretched on for who knew how long, and it would be impossible to know whether the trip would be for nothing until it was too late. Furthermore, he had a hard time believing that he and Branch would be able to make the journey on nothing but skullberries and ashfruit, even if Branch had bought up nearly every bit of stock in the marketplace in preparation for their journey. And speaking of... Raven turned back around toward the feeble little town he called home. By all means it was just as listless as the wide, sandy hills that surrounded it, holding the small collection of derelict huts in a protective bowl. The only thing that stood out about the small village was the impressive marble tower that pierced through the ground, a titanic spear that was just as close to falling apart as the rest of the town, if not closer. He scanned the small buildings made from ashtree leaves and bones, watching their distant denizens walk drearily among roads of ashtree wood and and sandstone, seeing if he could spot Branch from his vantage. It shouldn't have been as hard as it was, he was the only insecticorn in town, and Raven could safely say no one else in town looked quite like him. Among the streets, shaghorns, scalemanes, crystalhoofs and featherbacks trudged along with their heads held low, and there still wasn't an insecticorn in sight. With each passing second, Raven only grew more anxious. Branch wouldn't have changed his mind all of a sudden, and he certainly wouldn't have done it without telling him... right? What if Skull decided to stop them from leaving after all? In his worried thinking, Raven neglected to notice the faint buzzing as a dark grey figure struggled to climb up the mountain of shifting sand. "Urgh... Raven... Raven! I saw you up there, can you get down here, please?" Raven turned to look down at the figure below him. He let out a chuckle as he realized who it was. "There you are, Branch! Thank goodness you're here, you were taking so long I thought something bad might've happened." "Well it's... ack... funny you say that. Skull wants to... uhf... wants to talk to us." Raven slid down the dune carefully so as not to hit the poor struggling pony. He came to a delicate stop beside Branch, holding out his hoof for him to grab onto. The insecticorn happily obliged. He slowly grasped Raven's extended hoof, being very careful not to accidentally scratch him with his hooves. "Thanks, hun. I swear it's these stupid hoof holes, I take one step and they just sink right in," Branch joked. "Hmm, well then maybe we should buy you some boots before we leave. C'mon, let's go see what Skull wants from us." Branch nodded, still holding tightly to Raven's hoof. With every step the two took back to town, the jet black pony struggled to stay balanced. The howling wind was soon drowned out by the panicked buzzing of his wings as they tried in vain to keep him upright, and every once in a while, one of his hooves would sink deep into the soft sand, nearly causing him and Raven to fall over on several occasions. "Do I need to carry you?" Raven asked as Branch struggled to get back upright. "As much as I like the idea, I don't wanna tire you out by having you carry me and all of our supplies on our trip." Branch responded. He slowly began to regain his footing as the soft, shifting sand of the wastes slowly transitioned into a much more solid sandstone, formed by the pressure of hundreds of hoof steps over the years. "That is true. Say, where are our bags anyway?" Raven wondered. "Oh, I left them back at Skull's hut. He wanted to give us something before we left anyway, so I thought we'd grab them on the way out." Raven's face scrunched slightly, an expression that was not missed by his coltfriend. "I know how you feel about Skull, but we should at least hear him out. At least do it for me, please?" Branch leaned closer to Raven, his bright blue eyes full of pleading. "Oh don't give me that look, I was gonna say yes anyway." Raven nuzzled the bug pony's nose affectionately. "Besides, all of our stuff's there anyway, so I don't really have a choice." "Well If we make it quick, we can be out of here before noon. Just the two of us, out on an adventure to save our village!" Raven scoffed. "Pfft, sure. 'Save the the village', like they want to be saved in the first place. All everyone cares about is that we're the first ponies to leave the village in who knows how long. I guarantee you Skull's gonna be like 'Hurr, my name's skull, I don't agree with your decision but It's not my choice to make, hurr." Branch held his hoof over his mouth in order to hold in his laughter. "That's a pretty good impression. I think I've heard him go 'hurr' before." "Well yeah, the guy breathes like a firewinder. It'd be hard for him not to," Raven joked. "Haha, yeah he does." The two continued on past the ramshackle huts and large marble ruins that dotted the edge of the village. As they approached the center of town, the shadow of the large tower hung over the both of them. Raven edged close to his coltfriend. As much as he'd never admit it, standing in the tower's shadow creeped him out. He always felt as if there might be something more to it, as if the whole world were made of marble hidden under layers of dust, and a spire like this was just the tip of the iceberg. He didn't much care for the sign either. Hung from two flimsy, heavily torn ropes was a slab of marble that had been excavated from the nearby dunes a while ago. It was just as muted and grey as the tower, although it held traces of dusty yellow from the sand that had embedded itself into its crevices. Small embellishments of gold were neatly fitted into it, though several pieces had fallen out, leaving only compacted sand in its stead. The fracture along its right side indicated that it was only a piece of something greater, the found half of an ancient mural, something that only furthered his anxieties. It was only worsened by the remaining letters that remained engraved within the pale white stone. Broad gold letters were carved into the thick marble. They had hung over Raven's head for his entire life like a suffocating cloud of smoke and dust, for upon the faded gold inscription was one word. Cant. Raven tried not to look up as he and Branch approached the tower. It didn't surprise Raven that Skull had decided to live within the marble pillar. Skull always said it allowed him to see further into the horizon, Though Raven wasn't sure what he would be more likely to see from being a couple stories up, because as far as Raven was concerned, if something was big enough to be seen that far in the distance, he would have seen it already. The world couldn't be that big. The antechamber, which was ironically bigger than Skull's actual sermon room, was speckled with images and paintings that had either faded away or were scratched into unrecognizability. He and Branch's hoofsteps echoed throughout the wide hall, and not a moment later, Skull exited from his room to approach the two. "Ah, boys. I see you've accepted my invitation to speak before your... journey," he wheezed. the majority of his coat was a dark teal, a stark contrast to the bleached white of his face. His head didn't move as the two came closer to him, it didn't need to. The wide strip of exposed bone that encompassed his eyes, scalp and upper snout always caught Raven off guard no matter how many times he saw it. Fortunately, the two blackened holes that were once Skull's eyes prevented him from seeing Raven as he averted his gaze towards Branch, who he could see had an equal amount of discomfort. The two stopped a few feet in front of Skull, causing his ears to twitch in anticipation. When the two ponies refused to make any further noise, Skull took a deep, strained inhale. "I should have seen this day coming. I would have to be a fool to believe that everyone would be content to live in such deprived conditions, despite my continuous attempts to provide." "We appreciate all that you've done for us, Skull. We don't want anyone thinking we're deserters just because we're leaving town," Branch interjected. Skull turned to face Branch's direction. "Of course, Branch. I would hope that our neighbors do not think of you as such. I, for one, understand the importance this trip holds for you two." Raven exhaled quietly, trying to mask his annoyance. Skull did not miss a beat however, and turned to him. "Ah, apologies. You two must be in quite the hurry to begin your journey. After all, ashberries have quite the notoriously short shelf life. But before you go, I wish to give you something." Raven rolled his eyes, thankful that Skull wouldn't notice, but Branch nudged him sharply in his shoulder. Within the span of a moment, Skull trotted into his room, grabbed a small box, and turned back around to the two ponies. Raven stared at the box enviously, but it wasn't the box itself that he had fixed his gaze upon. Instead, Raven could only pay attention to the pale green aura that surrounded it, as well as Skull's horn. Skull never explained why he was given the blessing of magic when no one else was, but Raven assumed it was because he didn't know himself. That didn't stop him from resenting Skull's blessed talent. What did Skull do to deserve such power? He held the power to make plants grow even in the driest turf, and move entire huts in a flash, and yet there wasn't a speck of magic to share with anypony else? Branch seemed equally as entranced by the box. Raven could see his eyes widen in excitement as Skull drew closer. "I don't suppose I told you two about how this village came to be?" Branch shook his head, then facehoofed upon realizing his mistake, causing Raven to giggle a little. "No, Skull, I don't think so, at least you never mentioned it in your sermons." "Then allow me to share you a synopsis before you leave. I promise not to take up much more of your time." Raven had to stop himself from objecting when he looked over at the two bright, pleading spotlights that shone next to him. He chuckled slightly and shook his head. "Sure, we aren't in any hurry," he grumbled, earning a hug from Branch, who then clacked his hooves upon the marble floor excitedly as he took a seat on the floor. "Heheh, well I'll be sure to make it short," Skull huffed. Raven took a seat next to Branch, who nestled closer to him to listen to Skull's story. Skull cleared his throat, the box swaying as his magic wavered ever so slightly. "It all started maybe forty years ago..."