Twilight Sparkle stood in the middle of a vast desert.



All around her, sand and more sand, far as the eye can see, rising and falling in great dunes. Far above her, in a milky white sky, a bright yellow sun blazed down upon the world. Beyond that, nothing could be seen  not a cactus, not a creature.



Nothing.



Twilight frowned, beginning to trot forward, feeling perfectly fine. I want to go somewhere, she thought. Anywhere is better than here, right? A subconscious thought at the back of her brain poked at her mind, but the rest of Twilight's brain failed to register. She continued trotting along, staring up and smiling at the sun, enjoying the scenery around her.



It's certainly peaceful out here, she thought to herself as she snaked around the base of a large dune. I like having the peace and quiet right now. It's been a long day today. It seemed like one friend or another had needed her all day today  Rarity needed her to try on a dress (and graciously gave her the first design), Fluttershy needed her magic to help splint a fox's broken leg, Rainbow Dash wanted her to create a wind tunnel for flying practice she'd felt pretty tired by the time she finished.



A second nagging thought poked her brain. Though Twilight felt something off, she remained uncertain what the problem truly was. This isn't Ponyville, of course, she thought to herself. There aren't any deserts around for days, as the pegasus flies. But wait



She stopped.



"Wait a minute "



And at that moment, the nagging thought finally pierced her sleeping brain.



"This is all just a dream! I'm dreaming that I'm in the middle of a desert!" Twilight gasped in excitement, clapping her hooves together. "Ohhh, I'm in the middle of a conscious dream! Where you realize it's your own world, and you can do anything!" She smiled at the world around her, and without so much as lifting a spark of magic the sands blossomed forth around her. Grass sprouted from sand, pools of water swelled from the depths of the dunes. Palm trees, some laden with coconuts, skyrocketed from the rapidly building oasis in her mind. As water began to overflow from newly formed ponds, fig trees sprouted along the banks of streams trickling downward into the dune valleys.



Twilight giggled, watching the spreading sea of grass come to a stop not ten feet in front of her. It came no further, leaving her puzzled. I wanted the grass to grow under my hooves. If this is a dream, why can't I bring it all the way over here? Frowning thoughtfully, Twilight tried stepping over toward the distant grass



Failing to note the sands under her hooves were shifting.



Twilight attempted to raise a hoof, only to find it sinking into quicksand! She gasped, immediately recognizing the danger she was in. She concentrated, her imagination willing vines sprouting from the earth, trying to grab one before she was sucked under but the sand moved much faster, sucking hooves, sucking body, sucking head under the sand!



Twilight gave a last scream of horror as her head became consumed by the deadly quicksand



The next thing she knew, Twilight gave a loud 'oomph' as her body hit a dark, stony surface. The world remained pitch black around her, but she at least found herself able to breathe. Even though the dream now seemed out of her control, darkness was hardly a problem to a pony's eyesight, much less a unicorn's. Twilight's horn exuded a violet aura for a second before a beam of light shot outward like a flashlight, piercing the darkness.



"Where am I ?"



Twilight appeared to be standing in a dark cave, its floor littered with sparkling sand. The cave appeared dry, the air musty, as though no living thing had been here for years perhaps centuries. Much to Twilight's surprise, the ceiling was solid stone  no trace remained of the quicksand sucking her down from above. The only thing remarkable about this cavern was the lone tunnel opening forward, leading further into deep darkness.



"Is this really a dream? Am I even in Ponyville?"



Twilight continued forward, frowning. No sound could be heard throughout the long cave save the sound of her hooves striking stone and sand. On and on she trotted, soon losing track of how far she had come. Still no sign of change  just a long, barren tunnel.



"Well, if this is a dream, it's awfully dreary "



"Drearyryryryryry," her echo agreed, bouncing endlessly off the walls, shooting off into the blackness.



Twilight stopped, feeling slightly unnerved. She was alone, right? Totally alone? This dream didn't feel at all like any ordinary dream. If she was conscious, she should control her dream but that was not at all the case.



What was going on here? And why?



Suddenly, well behind her, Twilight heard something a rustle. A continuous, faint hiss, as though something was pouring into the cave. Frowning, she turned toward where she came from, listening.



Moments later, she could hear the hiss steadily growing louder.



Instinct kicked in. She turned back around, and bolted in terror. Slowly but steadily, the hiss turned into a roar of sand rapidly flooding the tunnel behind her. On and on Twilight ran, breathing heavily, putting every ounce of strength into her legs. The ground began sloping downwards, leading her down a lengthy incline



Twilight barely had time to register a lack of cavern floor before skidding to a halt, teetering on the precipice for an instant before pulling herself back from the abyss and regaining her balance, heart pounding, eyes wide open. Behind her, the roar of sand was growing steadily louder now mixed with the sound of an actual roar coming from somewhere within the sand.



Ohhhh! Come on! There's got to be a way forward! I need more light!



Fortunately, in a real, life-or-death crisis, Twilight Sparkle was the last unicorn to lose her head. Pouring more magic into her horn, her lightbeam shone forth with increased intensity.



"Wait ah ha!"



Not far in the distance, Twilight could make out an old rope ladder hanging from the ceiling of the cavern. It looked somewhat decayed from countless years of misuse. What a ladder was doing here, Twilight could only guess but it presented an avenue of escape.



Sand trickled around Twilight's hooves now, the flow rapidly increasing around her. The roar of a monster was unmistakable now, echoing off the cavern walls, charging ahead of the flooding sands.



Twilight backed up. The ground was a bit slippery, but she remained able to keep her footing. She'd need it for this jump the ladder was still far away.



Her horn glowed brightly, tugging at the bottom of the ladder, pulling it in her direction, making sure it was pulled forward as far as it would go.



She tensed then charged forward across the shifting sands, bracing for one great leap. For a split second, her left front hoof slipped on the trickling sand, and Twilight felt her heart leap into her throat... still she kept her cool, and somehow, with a split second to spare, regained balance just in time for a great leap across the chasm, teeth outstretched, snagging the bottom rung and swinging away from the ledge. Reaching up with her hooves, she managed to climb several rungs. Finally, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe.



"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHH!!!"



Twilight gasped, clinging tightly to the ladder, visibly trembling. What manner of monster could travel so quickly inside a flood of sand? She slowly turned her head back to the ledge, scanning the darkness before her. Back where she had jumped moments before now stood a large mound of sand. Two massive, sandy arms stretched out from its granular body. A pair of bright but malevolent yellow eyes stared back at her, and something else seemed to be poking out from its head. A stone, perhaps, no doubt picked up from its rush through the cave.



Twilight just stared at the creature, mind whirring. From her vantage point, she was safe from the monstrosity, whatever it was. Is this what brought out all that sand? I've seen something illustrated like this in one of my books back at the library. Last I heard, nopony had ever seen one in their dreams for decades. They were all thought to have gone extinct!



The creature stared hungrily at Twilight for several seconds. She gathered the impression that it was thinking, working out a strategy. Now I know for sure it's a Sandman. They're supposed to attack you in your dreams, and if they catch you unawares but if that attacked me in the desert, how did it fail to ?



"Make haste! Come this way!"



Twilight snapped out of her thoughts. The elderly male voice in the darkness came from the opposite side of the chasm, solemn and full of authority. Whoever it was sounded friendly enough and it was better than the alternative. The Sandman, sensing it could not reach Twilight at this time, began melting away into the sand beneath it, gradually diminishing until there was nothing more than masses of sand spilling off into the darkness below.



Slowly, Twilight Sparkle moved her hooves to the other side of the ladder, pulling herself around.



"That's it. If you don't mind, my lady, I'll bring you the rest of the way with my magic. Do you accept?"



Twilight hesitated for a second. She turned her head in an effort to pierce the darkness she breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted an older-looking purplish unicorn stallion on the far side of the chasm, sporting a long, white beard and a wide-brimmed blue hat with golden bells. For the moment, what with exhilaration at having cheated death through quick thinking, Twilight could only register the fact that the speaker was a pony, and appeared friendly.



"Y-yes," she called out. "I accept your offer."



A dark purple bubble appeared around her body, gently carrying her away from the rope ladder and over the bottomless pit, safely depositing her on the far side. Adrenaline ebbing away, Twilight's legs wobbled as she landed.



"Rest easy there," the stallion replied, holding out a hoof to steady her. "You've had a busy dream already."



"Th-thanks," Twilight replied, still breathing heavily. "Uuuugh I can't believe I've just seen a Sandman. They're not supposed to exist since the Dream Hunt of 1612."



The stallion smiled ruefully. "Sandmen can, of course, be defeated, that is true but they always return. Be thankful there is only one. This one, in earlier times, may have returned with greater numbers."



Earlier times Having finally registered her own safety, Twilight stared into the face of her rescuer.



Her jaw slowly dropped.

"Oh my stars " she whispered. "But it can't be true. You said this was a dream. You can't be dreaming. You you died, Star Swirl. You died a long time ago."



The unicorn blinked, sitting back on his haunches, staring thoughtfully at Twilight.



"Star Swirl Now there's a name I haven't heard from the living in, ohh about two hundred years." He stared bewildered for a moment before a faint grin broke out on his face. "You know your history, it seems. But come; now isn't the time. The Sandman may be gone for now, but only for a time. It can travel through dreams, and as long as you remain asleep, it will never stop hunting you."



"Where are we going?"



"If you must know," Star Swirl replied, turning to walk further down the cavern, "we're going to meet some very old friends."