//------------------------------// // The Dunes of Eternity // Story: Legends of Equestria: The Legionary // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// Slowly, Tom began to regain consciousness and stood up, unsteady, shaky, wobbling as he did so. "Ouch, that was a strange dream. More like a nightmare," he said to himself. He stopped. "Hey, what's wrong with my voice?" he asked. His eyes were finally working properly, and were adjusting to the incredibly harsh and bright light before him, the sun beating down upon the sand- wait, sand? Hadn't he been in Britannia before? Britannia? What was he saying? Britain! Something seriously weird was going on here as he brought his hand up to his neck. It proved to be a tough lift, though. Something heavy was attached to his arm, and he couldn't move his fingers. He brought his hand up to look to it. Attached to the limb was the shield from his nightmare, but he had no hand. Instead, a hoof was there, with a metal plate attached to it- some sort of guard? "AHH!" Tom toppled backwards, and landed on his rump on the sand, feeling something metallic attached to his rear. He saw, upon closer examination, that it was an armoured skirt of some sort, designed to protect his flank from fire. But he lacked any armour around his front or torso, which seemed somewhat counterproductive as it would make him easy to hit from the front. Presumably this was some sort of scouting armour? That would explain the lack of armour around his front or torso. Speaking of which, the shape of his legs and torso was something that explained why he couldn't stand properly, or at least stand like a human could. He also had hooves where his feet should have been, and his legs were contorted backwards, like they were broken. A flapping noise brought two other appendages to his attention. He had wings, with yellow feathers. Not only that he had fur. Yellow fur. He saw there was a pool of water nearby, and he needed it. His helmet and armour were making him very hot, and he staggered over to it, still not used to walking on four limbs. He pulled his helmet off, and put his head into the water to drink. Once he was done, he pulled his head out of the water and gave himself a look. A yellow pegasus looked back. But not just any old yellow pegasus was looking back at him in the puddle of water. One of the greatest heroes of Equestria looked back. "I- I'm Flash Magnus?!" Tom exclaimed, still in a state of shock, and he looked at the shield. "And I guess that this is Invictus. So, that settles a few questions." He pulled his helmet back on, and filled up his water bottle with water from the pool of water, and looked around him. "Sand, sand, nothing but sand. Where the Tartarus am I?" Memories of the previous day flooded into his mind. Hearing the story on the radio, travelling north to see Vindolanda, being hit by that stupid shield, the excruciatingly painful transformation, and eventually crashing into a tree and blacking out. "Great. If this world is a joke, clearly I'm the butt of that joke. I could be lost out here, and I've no idea where anything is." Suddenly, a loud noise caught his attention, and he looked over to his left. Trotting through the sand were a pair of ponies in loose fitting garments fitting of the heat, and headdresses, presumably for the same purpose. This filled his heart with hope. If they were hear, there must be a settlement nearby. And that meant he could get help and get out of this blistering heat! Flash grabbed his shield and ran over. "Hey! HEY! Where am I?" The two ponies looked over to him for a moment, but shrugged and then just continued on their way. "I just asked you a question! Where am I?" But the ponies ignored him and continued on their way. "Damnit!" Flash growled, as he looked about, suddenly spotting something shimmering in the distance. It looked like a town of some sort, and that may have some clues as to where this even was in the world. His equipment stowed, he took to the air, wobbling slightly as he wasn't used to flying yet. Flash Magnus roared through the skies, quickly gaining altitude as he whizzed through the air. He tried his hardest to focus and keep an eye on what was going on, given that his survival depended on it. But the intense heat and the weight of his equipment was starting to slow him down. The helmet was especially hot, and the interior was starting to get clogged with his sweat, liquid rolling down the sides of the helmet as he flew along. "Where's that town?" he asked, the sand stretching out before him for miles. There were a few structures in the viscinity of where he was flying, but they didn't seem to be occupied. There was a building with many columns that looked like some sort of temple, and an obelisk covered with strange symbols that he didn't understand, but apart from that there wasn't much of interest. As he continued his air patrol, he spotted what he seemed to be looking for. Out in the desert, there was a large column on the move, with massed chariots riding over the dunes. Ponies were pulling the chariots, with ponies riding atop them and supplies attached to the tops and sides. It appeared as though some force was on the move in the sector. Flash had no idea how he knew this, but he realised that he could potentially get help. So, seeing the column, he flew towards it and dived. As he closed in, he suddenly saw them starting to shout. Again, he had no idea what they were saying, but he touched down and began to approach. He only managed to say a few words before suddenly a net was fired his way and crashed into him, knocking him onto the ground and causing him to roll until he landed completely still on the floor. As he tried to look about, his body currently locked in an agonising ball shape, he heard shouting and many voices closing in, and suddenly he was grabbed and thrown onto one of the chariots. As the column moved off again, the sands were thrown up again, and Flash was forced to close his eyes as he didn't want to get sand in them, and he couldn't reach for his visor either, as his limbs were all in a tangled mess. Amidst all the confusion and heat, he blacked out. As Flash Magnus slowly regained his consciousness for the second time that day, he could hear loud voices shouting and conveying strange messages in that blasted language. He finally was aware enough to figure out where he was, and it was then he realised he was in some sort of holding cell for prisoners (as opposed to holding cells for bread). He called out. "Hey! Where is anybody?" One of the guards, who wore a helmet with a crestpiece shaped like a jackal head, banged on his door and shouted at him again. "I can't understand you," Flash said. "Do you speak Latin?" He suddenly covered his mouth. What had he just said? He spoke English! He'd always spoken English. Latin was a language he was very weak at, so why would he be speaking it? The guard looked at him in confusion and tilted his head, before speaking again. Something harsh and angry. Flash slumped back in his cell and put his face in his hooves. He had been thrown into this against his will, was trapped Faust knows where, and had been torn from his equipment and armour. He could see his face clearly in the mirror, and his red mane, which was cropped very short and very neat, as per Legion requirements. They hadn't even left Invictus, which was now taken from him. But why had those ponies been so hostile towards him? Flash tried to figure it out. Was it because of his armour? Because of the language he spoke? He had already established that these ponies couldn't understand a word that he said. And likewise, he couldn't understand a word that they said to him. It was the ultimate cycle, a Catch 22 if you will; he couldn't understand them, they couldn't understand him, so he couldn't get out or even have any chance of getting out. Pricking up his ears, he suddenly heard a conversation between two guards that was going on. He listened closely. They seemed to be discussing something fairly mundane judging from their body language. But as he listened closely, he fell back when there was one word that they said. One word that was very close to him. One that brought back memories of a day a long time ago. The only word from their language that Flash Magnus actually understood. Somnambula.