The Queen of Sand

by The First Hunter

1

Celestia has betrayed me.

Princess Twilight Sparkle took another step. Her leg moved like a rusted old machine, slowly and shakily descending down on the blazing hot sand, but it could move no further. She was used to it by now--the singeing temperature of the desert sand had numbed the pain that came with each step long ago--but in the end, she knew, that would cease to matter.

She was going to die here, a thousand miles away from everyone she loved.

Princess Twilight Sparkle had gone to sleep last night in her comfortable bed in Ponyville. She had a great day helping Applejack prepare the farm for Applebucking season with the rest of her friends, socializing and discussing recent events as they did handiwork around the farm. The work was grueling and the heat was staggering, but there were plenty of places for shade whenever they'd take a break. She had went to sleep that night tired and spent, and when she closed her eyes with a smile, she dreamed of being back in Canterlot, roaming the streets as a young filly under the tutelage of her mentor.

She thought it was too hot at Sweet Apple Acres. She had seen nothing.

When she woke up the next day, it was not in her bed. The heat of sand scorched her side as she got up with a yelp, but it was no use, as it attacked her hooves just as viciously. The pain made it hard to concentrate, but when she looked around, it was clear she was no longer in Equestria, but rather the deserts of Saddle Arabia, as no other place on the planet had such an unforgiving landscape. She had no idea how she had arrived, but the first logical thing she thought of was to try and find civilization, so she started to head off in the direction of the sun in hopes of finding her way out of the desert.

The idea did not last long.

Twilight lifted up her other hoof, ready to step again, but there simply wasn't a point; there was nothing left for her to give. With a grunt, she toppled to the ground below her, the golden sand puffing up in front of her eyes from the sluggish impact. She had been sweating profusely, and the moment she hit the desert sand, a droplet caught itself in her eye. She tried to blink a few times to get it out, but even those were slow, and she began to see the world around her spin in circles. Normally, she would try to get up and continue, but Twilight merely rested, because she knew well that she had been defeated.

Princess Celestia taught Twilight Sparkle everything she knew. She had been apart of Twilight's life for almost as far back as she could remember, and, as well as instructing her in the ways of magic and friendship, loved and cared for her as a mother. So it was ironic, Twilight thought, that the very sun she graced the planet with every morning would be the thing that killed her. Not in the heat of battle, not from old age; it would be from Celestia's sun, in the middle of the desert where nopony would ever know. She'd decay here, if she wasn't feasted on by the local wildlife (if there was any; she hadn't seen a living soul since she woke up), and the ponies of Equestria would never know what happened to their Princess. They'd create conspiracy theories, they'd write in the history books what they all believed happened, but no pony would guess that Princess Twilight Sparkle died alone in a desert in a far away land.

So in that aspect, Celestia had betrayed her, and the worst part was that she would never know it. Twilight, in her dying breaths, still had no idea how she had gotten here, which meant that Celestia likely didn't either; she would spend the rest of her nights awake in bed, the question of what happened to her former student and daughter gnawing away at her like a pack of hungry dogs. Twilight had always hoped to be at peace with everyone she knew when she died, but there would be no peace here; the thought of her loved ones not knowing what ever happened to her, and the mystery that would be slowly destroying them as they tried to carry on with their lives, would make her last moments filled with pain and regret. Twilight knew not how many lives Celestia's sun had claimed, but surely it was about to claim another.

Twilight wanted to cry, but there was no water left in her body to create the necessary tears. The extreme dizziness she had been experiencing was beginning to fade away, and a sinister black tunnel began to form on the outside of her vision to take its place. Twilight tried to look up at the sun one last time, to see its beauty before it claimed her life, but she couldn't move her head to do so; in fact, she realized, she couldn't move anything on her body.

I'm sorry thought Twilight. I wish you were all here with me.

Her eyelids began to close, her vision faded, and suddenly, all was black.

* * * * * *

Princess Amira was not nervous very often. She had been in the public eye since the day she was born, and as a result, was used to the mayhem and chaos that came with being a Princess. She was never worried about decisions, because her mother made those, and though she was constantly told she'd be the Queen one day, it never really bothered her all too much. Simply put, Princess Amira didn't have a lot to be nervous about, so she didn't really know how to react to the fact that she currently was.

In Amira's private chambers were the finest items a pony could ask for. The walls were painted a soothing maroon, adorned with a golden pattern. The carpeted floor below her was crafted from the finest materials, so that every time a pony walked upon it, it was as if they were stepping on the clouds themselves. The bed in the room was massive, with plenty of room to move around in the night, and it was trimmed with a pleasant gold color that was more than pleasing to the eye. There were plenty of luxuries in Amira's room, and she was not in the mood to enjoy any of them.

She was sitting in her wooden desk chair, where she usually wrote her letters, but she wasn't writing anything today. Instead, she was sitting at the mirror in front of her, rapidly tapping her hooves on the carpeted floor below her as she did so. The people thought she was beautiful, and when she looked in the mirror to see her bright pink fur, midnight colored mane and tale, and eyes bluer than the sky itself, she liked to think so, too; Princess Amira was the type of pony to admire herself when she peered into her reflection, but that was not what she was doing today. Today, she looked into her reflection and feared for her very life.

The entire royal family of Saddle Arabia had naught a horn or a pair of wings on them; they were all what the Equestrians referred to as "earth ponies". As such, when they needed anything having to do with magic, they went to the court sorcerer, a unicorn who would then perform any magical tasks requested by the royal family. The court sorcerer, Sahir, was a very old pony who had served the past two royal families, and so Amira firmly believed that, with his experience, there wasn't a task he could not do.

She was beginning to regret her line of reasoning.

Amira had requested Sahir to bring Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Equestrian Kingdom to the palace. With the dire situation the country had just found themselves in, Amira thought long and hard about a solution, and late one night, she thought she had the answer. Calling one of the princesses for aid would simply take too long--Saddle Arabia had not a week to spare, and even if they teleported a letter straight to Equestria, there was no telling how long it would take them to read it or how long it would take for aid--so she resorted to act now by stealing one of them and asking for their forgiveness later. Amira had told Sahir to teleport her to her chambers in the palace, as she wanted slowly introduce her plan to the rest of the country in secret instead of coming right out with it; it took some convincing, as Sahir had lectured her about the unpredictability of teleportation, but Sahir had eventually gave in and agreed to perform the spell. Amira was delighted, and once the spell was cast, came to her chambers and waited for the Princess to arrive.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was not in her chambers.

Now, the spell could have easily failed--Saddle Arabian unicorns didn't quite have the magical potency of their Equestrian counterparts--but Amira was far too busy thinking about that not being the case. What if she ended up in a different place? What if she ended up in the very hands of the enemy the crown was trying to combat? What if she ended up in the Saddle Arabian desert, in the barren heat? What if she wasn't even here, and instead went to some other territory or place in the world?

It was well known that Celestia and Luna were the most powerful beings the planet had to offer. They held control over the very celestial bodies that the world knew so well, and their magical abilities far outclassed anyone, be it pony, griffon, zebra, or dragon, that roamed the world. As such, Amira had known that her move was risky--stupid, even--but, if she didn't get help now, her kingdom would be toppled anyways. Now, had she lost Twilight Sparkle, and anypony found out, the Princesses would not be all too happy. At any rate, they would try to retrieve her regardless, but she had a feeling, having met the young Sparkle, that she would understand and stay to help her.

But again, Princess Twilight Sparkle was not here.

Amira gave a long sigh and slumped back in her chair. It wasn't risky, it was just plain idiocy, and she should have seen it earlier; her sense of hope and desperation for her country had assured her nothing would go wrong, she knew, but in reality, that was often not the case.

She glanced at the clock; it had been six hours since Sahir had used the spell. Amira immediately lashed out and kicked the desk in anger; it stung upon the impact, the wood edge of the desk biting into her flesh, but she didn't care; she was about to be in a whole lot more trouble than that. The moment she looked back into the mirror, and the rapid tapping of her hooves started up again, she heard a knock at the door.

Sahir? Did we find her? she thought to herself. In excitement, she jumped from her chair, causing it to wobble a bit from the quickness of her exit, and ran as fast as she could for the size of the room to the door. She yanked the door open, fumbling with the handle before she did so, and was immediately greeted with a sight she very much didn't want to see.

It was a member of the almuharibun, the military of the Kingdom of Saddle Arabia. He was sleek and muscular, like most of his comrades, and he had pitch black fur with a tail to match. His face and mane were entire obscured by the white cloth that they donned atop their heads to combat the vicious desert heat, only letting her see his bright green eyes and the fur around it. His sword, the scimitar, was slung across his side, and the golden light armor he wore seemed to fit him absolutely perfectly. They were fearsome warriors, and had knowledge of the land and the desert like no other, but they were also supposed to approach the royal family directly only when there was an emergency or a particularly interesting event.

Which means... thought Amira, although the words she didn't want to think about quickly came out of the warrior's mouth.

"Princess Amira," began the warrior. "I apologize for interrupting you in your private chambers, but...we've made quite the interesting discovery."

Comments

[Tache]

Interesting...

[Meta Knight]

Interesting

[Cross Lament]

Oh, this is a great setup. Looking forward to the next chapter!

[Ratmandango]

Keep going, I'm interested.

[Revan]

Tracking...

[Arzoo]

Some court sorcerer can bring her into the desert from a distance and unwillingly, but the princess of magic can't get back home via teleport??? Surely she could at least use magic to better survive the heat, and she has wings to at least get out faster physically too.

[Ryoki The Kirin]

Very interesting starter, definitely tracking, but Twilight battled with the heat in a desert for 6 hours after she was worn out by farm work? Seems Twilight has been eating her greens since the season 5 finale where she got tired from fighting Starlight rather quickly.

[Umbra Animo]

7969477 magic is sometimes much more draining then physical work

[Dusk Raven]

Hmm... another story with potential, unfinished.

[Pony_Person_123]

Why End On A Clifhanger?!
This story is really good.
Please MOAR.

[magicstorm4]

Now this is a rare story to find, I really hope twilight will be alright, and what did the guard's find in the desert, hope it is twilight are some of hers ether way I look forward to ch2 and others storys you make

Not sure what category to put this onder so I say top25