Purpose

by ProfessorArgon

A Tale of Traveling Across the Sands of Time

I continued my traveling across the desert, Celestia's sun slowly climbing over the horizon. I had never seen it like this before; the sky was dark with purples and blues, the stars no longer shone. As the sun climbed, reds and yellows began to mix just beyond the sun as it wavered and flickered to my left, as if it were a slowly growing ember. The pale, cool sand beneath my hooves sank and shifted ever so slightly as I sauntered my way to nowhere. There was a sensation of sinking inside me, of the despair that I had brought upon myself at my own expense, of the sorrow that the beauty all around brought upon me with such ferocity that it tore my heart asunder, and of the loneliness of the vast alien emptiness that lie before me, with nopony there; nopony there... nopony... but myself.

I kept going. I didn't know when I would stop. Perhaps when I'm dead. Her sun climbed ever higher, till it was at its highest. It was then that Her malcontent towards me became blatantly clear. Her sun sat in its place, throwing its rays onto everything, and all that the light touched set ablaze with fire. All things in sight began to shiver and blur, and the cool sand beneath me became hot coals that I am forced to traverse. I dragged myself on for what seemed like hours. Sweat trickled down my forehead and legs and matted my mane and tail. It would be fine with a cool breeze, but even the wind was on Her side. The air was thin, dry, and hard to breath, as if it were also on fire. It flared past me in an unforgiving fashion, tossing me to the west, to the east, to the north and south. And the only escape from Her wrath was the eventual sandstorms that lasted for hours, getting caught in my mouth, my eyes, my mane and tail. I couldn't go any further. I collapsed.

"Hey." I heard a stallion's voice. It sounded condescending. "Hey, you!" I struggled to open my eyes, and after much effort, was rewarded with Her blinding light. I flinched. After my eyes adjusted, I looked around, and saw nothing but a vast, empty desert. "Over here!" I looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a rock just smaller than my head. The strangest part was that this rock... donned a magnificent handlebar-moustache. I was still in daze, incapable of processing the information as I lay there baking alive, eyelids heavy, mouth gaping. "Hey, boy," I heard as the rock wobbled, "You shouldn't be sleeping here." I tried to speak, but my tongue would not obey. "You must stand. Your journey is far from over." The rock spoke the truth. I had a long way to go, regardless of where that may be. So I stood. And so I walked.

*******

"Alright, this old stallion is worn out," I sighed, "And I'm sure all of you are as well, listening to a tired old tale like mine." The crowd nodded and yawned in response. It was quite late now.

Everypony dispersed from the little bakery and went to their homes. I myself thought it wise to find a place to rest for the evening. Though, I was certain that little rest would come to me that night. Certain memories from the desert would be sure to haunt me; memories that I would not want to inflict upon anypony else, to damage them with the horrid nightmares of the sands of time.

"Excuse me," I heard. I turned to see the mare that spoke to me: it was Twilight Sparkle. "Ah, Ms. Sparkle, Can I help you?" "Actually, yes," she stated, "It sounds like you've been through a lot on your journey, I would like to record some of it, if that's not a problem with you?" I pondered this for a moment, sighed and said, "Are you certain that you want to hear my tale? It is not for the faint of heart, nor is it as light as I have made it out to be. Do you still wish to continue this course of action?" She nodded, certain of her decision. "Very well, I shall proceed." She raised her hoof to pause and said "Actually, I was thinking we could start in the morning. I have to get some sleep and digest what you've given me already." I smiled and yawned "Very well Ms. Sparkle, We shall meet in the morning. Good evening." I trotted away.

I looked around for a place to rest, spotted a quaint little tree, and decided to roost upon it. I looked up at the sky to the many stars in the blackness of the night, it was a calm I had not seen in a long time. My hard days were behind me, and I could sleep easy, but I didn't. My dreams were filled with darkness, and the black cloud of wings and the great wall of sand. And the screams of the helpless, and... the buzzing; buzzing, buzzing, BUZZING! And the sanguine rainfall which poured from above staining all it touched as the wing-beats became thundering drums. and all of it closing in; closer, closer, louder, louder, LOUDER! IT DOES NOT CEASE! NOTHING CAN STOP IT! IT SURROUNDS ME!

I woke suddenly! Birds chirped, the sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the gentle breeze rustled the green leaves in the tree around me. All was well, save for the world in my mind. I looked around and all the ponies of Ponyville were going about their morning routines. Speaking of which, Ms. Sparkle said something last night of wanting to meet this morning. What was it for again? Ah, well, I would find out when I reached the library.

On the way to the library, I discovered that I did not know where it was! Thus, I stopped for directions. I saw the rainbow-haired pegasus mare swiftly darting to and fro above the town. If only I could remember her name. "Excuse me," I yelled, "Can you direct me to the Library?" She halted instantly in the air, and said "Yeah, I can, but, I'm pretty busy with this routine I'm working on. It's some pretty complex stuff, you probably wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I don't know, I was a member of the Legion Aerial Guard of the Democratic Equalist Republic of Pegasopolis." She looked at me with her head cocked to the side, "The what now?"

"Nevermind that, ah, right, which way is the Library?"

She pointed. "That way"

"Thank you."

When I reached the library, I heard voices inside. I knocked. Spike answered the door. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Why yes, I am looking for Twilight Sparkle. Is this where I can find her?"

"yeah, it is. Hey, you're the guy with the life story from the party last night! What do you want with Twilight?"

"Actually it is what she wants that brings me here. Ms. Sparkle asked me to come over this morning, though I can't remember why."

"Well, come on in, she's upstairs preparing. I'll go get her."

"Thank you, Spike."

While I was waiting, I took note of the many books around and took to reading some of them; mostly of what I had missed on my journeys: apparently, not much. Then, I heard a great thud. It startled me, and I jumped a bit. It was a large stack of papers with a purple glow of magic dissipating from it landing on the table next to me. Ms. Sparkle came out from behind them, levitating a quill and ink to a place just adjacent to the papers. "Good morning, Mr. uh..." She trailed off.

"Ah, Professor, actually. My name is Argon Sky, but feel free to call me whatever you like."

"Well, then, Professor, if you don't mind my asking, what are you a professor of?"

"Philosophy."

"Oh, well that's nice. Shall we get started?"

"Do you think we could get a spot of tea first?"

"Uh, sure. Spike, could you get some tea?"

"'Kay!" he shouted from a distance.

"Do you think that this is enough paper?" She asked with an expression of scrutiny.

"It will do for now."

Spike entered with a kettle and two cups on a platter, and set them down between Ms. Sparkle and I.

"Thank you for your hospitality," I added.

"Oh, it's fine," continued Ms. Sparkle, "You're a guest, and I find your story intriguing."

She used her magic to lift the kettle and poured the tea into one cup and then the other. I closed my eyes for a second, and the cup closest to me slid closer. Ms. Sparkle appeared shocked. "How did you do that?" she pondered. I took a sip of my tea and replied "It is an old zebra trick. Moving of Something-or-other. I can't remember. It's not as powerful as true magic, but it helps when you need to move something small." She looked at me, puzzled, and asked "What else did you learn in your travels?" "Many things," I said, "Many things. Shall I begin where I left off?" She nodded in reply. "Very well." I sipped my tea. "Let's see..."

Author's Note:

I felt like I rushed the first chapter, so I'm slowing it down a bit in the second and onward.