Enter Karive Desert

“Okay, so everyone, listen carefully. We’re going into the desert now. We only stop when I say we have a break. Stay together, no lingering behind. You got that? You all stay close to me and Testi. It’s dangerous in there and only us two know the way, so be careful, and stay close!” Vesti said firmly.
“Great, stay close to them. Now there’s what I really wanted!” Aline muttered to Twinkle Star who couldn’t help but grin a bit. Twinkle Star looked behind her one more time and she saw the little town on the border of the desert, where they had spend the night. When Vesti had said on the border of the desert the first time Twinkle Star hadn’t thought she had meant it so literally. Everything there was covered by a layer of sand, and when they had walked towards the little town Twinkle Star had noticed the town was almost in the desert itself, however there was this small stream leading next to it, which made it able for the plants to grow close to it and ponies able to live there. The village wasn’t very large. Except for the shops that were standing on the 4 sides of the town’s square, there were like five other little streets and that was basically it. Not many ponies liked to live in a desert of course, but apparently some did and the town was the only one in the vicinity, so there were some travellers sometimes, especially because the town had some famous jewel shops because some pretty jewels were to be found in this desert. Actually Damina was the only one in there now, but in the past more jewel seekers had lived in the desert for a while, looking for treasure.

They had arrived there yesterday afternoon and they had decided to rest a bit before they went on through the desert, as that was going to be the hardest part of the journey. Since they had left the forest the surroundings had been beautiful, grassy meadows with flowers, some nice farmlands, but it all had changed two days ago, as the land became dryer and there were less and less trees. They had been travelling for another week since they had left the forest. And now they were standing here, at the border of the desert. Twinkle Star found it really hard to believe someone could actually live in here. There literally was nothing but sand, and it was really hot. All five of them were carrying bags with extra water for the journey.

During the last days there was some weird truce between Aline and Testi. They didn’t fight, in fact, they didn’t talk at all. They did everything they could to avoid contact with each other. Twinkle Star was amazed how these two couldn’t get along. Sure, there were ponies she didn’t really like, but she never disliked someone so much without an apparent reason. But Testi and Aline were just too different, or maybe just too similar, to get along.

The desert looked horrible to Twinkle Star. While they had stumbled upon some plants and streams earlier, ahead of them was nothing, nothing at all but sand. It was hard to imagine there was a place in there where you could actually live without being fried in 24 hours. 

Slowly they followed Vesti into the desert, with nothing in front of them but sand. Once again Vesti and Testi walked in the frond with Stelline behind them, and Twinkle Star and Aline walked in the back. Twinkle Star hoped the journey through the desert wouldn’t take too long. Not only because she knew the desert was dangerous and hot, but also because she really was looking forward to meet her aunt Damina. Within two days she would meet her, and for some reason Twinkle Star felt a bit nervous about it. She hadn’t really been nervous so far in advance before she met Stelline or Regala, but then again, with neither of them she knew so certain she was going to meet them. This time she was sure though, so she had time to think about it and prepare, and she wasn’t sure this was such a good thing. She was only worrying about things that she really shouldn’t worry about so much. It would go the way it would go, but this was hard to think right now.

To Twinkle Star the journey through the desert felt as a lonely battle. It was extremely hot and they had to make sure they wouldn’t run out of water, so they could only drink little bits each time. They had a lot of bottles with them, but every time they were allowed to stop and drink the water would be warmer and more disgusting to drink. But they had to drink to stay alive, even though it wasn’t as refreshing as they would want it to be. It was obvious Testi and Vesti were used to this journey. They didn’t complain once and they didn’t even look really uncomfortable. But to Aline, Twinkle Star and Stelline, the journey was more troublesome than any part of the journey up until now, and especially Aline was making sure they were complaining more than enough.

There was nothing here but sand, which was burning at Twinkle Star’s hoofs. The journey felt more troublesome to Twinkle Star than the journey through the plains at the old lands. It had been hot there, too, but there had been a river close by and the ground never got as hot as this sand. It wasn’t really a desert there of course, and somehow the temperature seemed more controlled there than it was here. Here it was just hot, over there, there had been some clouds and rain once in a while. But that desert was much more depressing than this one, because this was supposed to be this way and there never had been something else.

Twinkle Star knew it was going to be really cold this night, as there was of course nothing that could hold the warmth here and it would cool down very rapidly once the sun had set. Vesti had made sure each of them had a warm blanket for the night, which they used not to wrap the water in so it wouldn’t get to hot from the sun, but of course this only worked partially. The heat was everywhere and some blankets weren’t really helping the water anyway.

It was late in the afternoon now and all of them were tired, Aline, Twinkle Star and Stelline even more than Vesti and Testi as they of course weren’t used to this kind of environment. For hours now they had been walking with only short breaks, only to drink and eat something. They hadn’t talked in a long time as they needed their energy for the travelling. Occasionally Aline had asked why on earth they were doing this again, but Twinkle Star really hadn’t felt like answering. Besides, there really was nothing to talk about here. Sand wasn’t exactly the most exciting subject. The journey had of course been the hardest at noon, when the sun was burning almost straight above them. But even now it was hot and Twinkle Star felt horrible. Her entire body was in pain and she really wanted to rest and cool down. But she had to wait for Vesti to say they were able to rest. All her mind was set on going on, continue to walk, don’t stop and don’t faint. There was nothing else she was able to think about.

All of a sudden Vesti stopped walking and turned around.
“Close by is a more hilly part. It usually doesn’t get as cold over there at night and it’s relatively safe. I know it’s not night yet and a little early to stop, but we usually spend the night there and it’s about halfway from our destiny. Yes, we advanced faster than I expected we would. It’s about five minutes longer walking from here. Just follow me.” She said and Twinkle star heard Stelline sigh with relief.
“Yes, travel agent.” Aline muttered as they resumed walking again.
Twinkle Star was relieved as well they were almost able to rest. She didn’t mind the walking, but the heat and the sand had made it so much harder to walk here than anywhere else, that she was happy it was almost over for today. She was also happy that they were halfway through now, and the thought that they would be at her aunt’s place at this time tomorrow was a comforting thought.

Vesti had been right with the hilly part. It weren’t huge hills, only a few yards high, but it was good enough to shelter and to sleep safely. They wouldn’t be seen here, Vesti had said, but Twinkle Star wondered who on earth would see them anyway. All the journey they had encountered nothing but sand. There was no sign for anything living in this desert, and it was hard to imagine that anything was able to live there.

Twinkle Star had noticed the sun was setting rapidly now, and she already noticed the heat fading. She liked the coolness of the moment, but she was afraid of the coming cold. She sincerely hoped none of them would get sick. They sat down together now, slowly eating some vegetables that really weren’t that tasty anymore after the long journey and the heat.
“it’s disgusting!” Aline said after she had taken her first bite.
“I suggest you eat it, Aline. You really need the strength for tomorrow’s journey. We’re halfway now, but tomorrow is going to be just as hard as today, and we have to be more careful.” Vesti said while she ate her own food. A
line sighed and took another bite, but she spitted it out almost immediately.
“No seriously, I can’t eat this! It’s to gross!” She said disgusted.
“Oh well, mrs. Spoiled here can’t eat it.” Testi said on an annoyed tone. “How surprising.”
Twinkle Star sighed. Not again. She knew a fight had to break out again some time between them, but she had hoped it wouldn’t happen in the desert. Her mind really wasn’t on something like this now.
“Well, I’m sorry for not being able to eat rotten food! What’s the energy anyway, it’s probably all gone anyway.” Aline said while she got up and walked towards her bag.
 “Aline, come on, we all have to eat this, there I nothing else. Tomorrow there’s going to be good food, you know that. Don’t be a baby, okay.” Twinkle Star said. She didn’t like the tone on which Testi had said it, but she had been right. Aline could be really spoiled sometimes, but this was one of those times that it really was annoying and she was actually wrong. They all had to eat food that wasn’t tasty anymore, but Aline had to eat something to recover her strength or she would be in great trouble tomorrow. The journey was hard and nobody would be able to do that on an empty stomach.
“Yeah, fine, I don’t want to, okay. You can’t force me. I’ll be fine. I just want to sleep.” Aline said, while she took her blanket out of her bag. Twinkle Star sighed. Aline could be such a pain sometimes. Before she took another bite of her own food, she heart Testi mutter “Annoying crybaby”.

Twinkle Star didn’t really know what it was that had woken her up when she opened her eyes. She heard some sounds, but she couldn’t verify what it was. She wanted to see if Aline was awake, but she couldn’t find her. That’s odd, she thought, as Aline lay quite close next to her and she would be able to see her if she was there. She looked around her, but she could only see Vesti, Testi and Stelline. She didn’t see Aline anywhere. Twinkle Star got up and her blanket fell off her back, and she noticed it had indeed become really cold. She noticed Aline wasn’t close, in fact, she didn’t even see Aline’s bag or blanket. “Aline?” She whispered, trying not to wake the others. But she didn’t see Aline anywhere close. Where was she? Twinkle Star decided to look on top of the hill. Maybe Aline just couldn’t sleep or something, probably from being hungry, and maybe she was walking around for a bit, looking at the stars, which were extremely bright in this desert.

There was an almost full moon in the bright sky which lit the entire desert, though of course there wasn’t that much to be seen. The horizon was somewhere far away, buried beneath a layer of sand. When Twinkle Star got on top of the hill she didn’t see anything unusual first. It was just the plain, cold desert. But she saw some dust somewhere far away. Someone was moving there, galloping…. Of course Twinkle Star couldn’t see it, but she knew it was Aline. It had to be. Who else could it be? There was no one else here in this desert.