The desert was a hot place. A really, really hot place.

Twilight's neck was hanging low. She had given up on her mane a long time back; whenever she had patted it into a satisfactory position, the sweat her body was excreting automatically glued it back in a different uncomfortable spot. She was exhausted, hungry, and bored. The sand underneath her hooves got really annoying after about the millionth step on it. Her brain wasn't functioning very well either. She could clearly see the sun's position, but couldn't remember if it meant late morning or early afternoon. That would be the difference of a couple crucial hours. Even though to her, it felt like they had been walking more than the entire day.

Mother Nature proved her powers by doing the impossible—taming Pinkie Pie. There was no skipping, playfulness, or overabundant laughter. She was certainly doing no better than Twilight, at the very least.

Luckily for the violet filly, Pinkie wasn't completely broken. Even if it was weak-sounding and constantly interrupted by panting, Pinkie refused to stay very quiet. This time it was a good thing; it kept Twilight's focus on something other than how awful reality truly is. "I hope... our friends are... doing okay," was one of her musings.

"Better than us anyway, right?" Twilight responded, giving herself an exhausted giggle.

"When we find the reverstone... it'll be totally worth it."

She moved her eyes to look at Pinkie's slumped form beside her. She chose once again to keep her thoughts to herself.

The trip was a lonely one. Not much wildlife bothered to stay here in the Haymaker Desert for long. Another chunk of time passed, and still there wasn't a sign of anything but coarse grains everywhere. On the bright side, the sun was definitely past its maximum height, meaning it might just get cooler soon. That was about the only thing that had changed.

"... So call me... hay-be..." Pinkie huffed in a pathetic-sounding singsong voice. "...or something..."

She was starting to sing songs Twilight had never heard of and using words she had made up to do it. There had to be something else to do at this point.

Random chance heard that silent plea, and turned her eyes to a specific spot on the ground up ahead. There was something there. Something that wasn't just more stupid sand. "Hey... what's that?"

"What's what?" Pinkie wondered. It had been awhile since Twilight had spoken, making any topic she brought up worth delving into.

Twilight stepped up the pace only to near instantly regret it. The gallop she tried exerting herself to quickly made her feel dizzy. That didn't slow her down, though it did make her stumble a bit on her way. For the sake of something new, it was perhaps worth it. Lying on the sand she hated so much, a long string of rope was waiting for her. It was coiled into a neat circle, just like one would see in a barn. Pinkie caught up to her and gave the object an examination of her own.

"Oooh. What's this doing here?"

"I'm not sure." Twilight tapped on her chin in thought. She then knelt as close as she could to the twine without touching it, narrowing her eyes at it like it had done something wrong. "Something isn't right. This rope doesn't look old at all. And on top of that, there's nothing on top of it! Sand should have slowly started to cover this thing up in time. If I had a guess, I'd say that this lasso hasn't been here very long at all. No more than a few weeks, at most."

"So?" Pinkie cocked her head to the side, her mind having been temporarily occupied enough to remember she was supposed to be tired. "What's wrong with that?"

"It just doesn't make much sense," she said. "To all of my knowledge, the only notable thing past this desert is the secondary way into Canterlot. Anything past that, and you might as well just take the train. We're here under... special circumstances, but there had to be a pretty specific reason for somepony else to come all the way out here, especially recently."

"Huh," her partner conceded, "I guess you're right."

Twilight straightened herself up for the first time since entering this oven. She wasn't sure if Pinkie really followed her logic or not, but it didn't matter much. "There's no telling when this could be helpful. We should take it with us just—"

The rope wasn't the only thing that had been waiting for them there. Even when she looked up and saw it with her own eyes, she couldn't believe it.

Before her unprepared gaze was a natural phenomenon. A tornado made entirely of sand was silently making a dash toward them. The amount of stealth it had was incredible; it was second only to the massive area of effect. In Pinkie's insane rush forward, Twilight had completely forgotten how weather acted in extreme climates. It's said that since pegasi don't have the need to control the weather there, Mother Nature came up with her own schedule. Tornados concocted from nowhere, including areas without a trace of wind, were fair game in these parts.

How could something like that slip her mind?

There was no running from it. It was far too late to prepare for it. There was only one thing to do.

"Twilight, grab the rope!"

Grab the... wait.

Twilight, seconds away from a panicky breakdown, turned her attention to Pinkie Pie. The mare had clearly already seen the destructive force heading for them. One end of the rough string was in her mouth, while she hastily offered the other end to her friend. Her expression was a pleading one, but somehow, she still looked calm.

"Please, Twilight, grab the rope and don't let go! We need to stay together or we won't make it!"

The rotating mass of wind was giving up on its quiet routine. It was mere yards away by now, and it was exerting whirlwinds and a terrifying whooshing sound to make sure the ponies knew it. Sand was being thrown out of it in unpredictable bursts, only to have more of the stuff replace it.

"We won't make it anyway!" Twilight cried, crumbling to her fears.

"We can make it! You just need to believe in me!"

The Element of Magic whimpered. In spite of all the power she had inside of her, she could only see death when she dared a glance at the tornado. Suddenly, she hated herself for wishing for something new to do. Trotting endlessly in the unbearable heat of the sun was starting to look like a highly appealing alternative right now. With so few options left to her, Twilight took the piece of thread from Pinkie's hooves. She bit down on it like it might be the last thing she ever did.

She earned herself a grateful-looking smile from Pinkie. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't allowed to revel in it for very long. Her hooves were lifted one inch off the ground, then two inches. Without warning, she was jerked toward the spinning spiral like she was magnetized to it.

Both ponies were sucked into the high speed desert tornado.

Entering it was terrible. Twilight felt her neck get whipped in a way it usually doesn't. That hurt. Inside the tornado was terrifying. Visual was nearly nothing. Sand was everywhere, making Twilight keep her eyelids slammed shut for the most part. When she did chance opening them, and could see through the record-shattering winds, the only bright spot of this whole situation was waiting for her. Although Pinkie Pie was a rope-distance away, the fact that they were more or less tethered to each other helped the situation somewhat. Her friend was determined to keep her own eyes locked tight, too.

Besides that, there was nothing to do but go around, and around, and around, and around again. There was no way to steer, nor was there a brake. It was like a rollercoaster, except without the nice ponies that were paid to help in case something went wrong.

Sand was getting everywhere. In her ears, up her nose, in her mane. "Oh, Rarity would die if she saw my mane," Twilight silently decided. "I'll be in the bath for hours trying to get this wreck cleaned up." Then she realized that she had a moment of losing focus. In that time, she had loosened her grip on the rope. She looked down and saw the end of the rope that she was supposed to be keeping in her mouth was whirling about haphazardly in the wind .

Her heart stopped beating.

She had a split second to react, which was just enough for her survival instincts to kick in. She activated her horn, using magic to get a hold on the forlorn rope. It worked; she could feel the object on the other side of the connection. Her triumphant grin lasted only as long as it took for the natural disaster to say that wasn't going to work.

Before she even had a chance to move the rope anywhere, a gust of wind overtook her, causing her to pick up even more speed. She was now making several revolutions a second; any concentration she had on her magic was cut to shreds.

"PINKIE!" she screamed, not realizing her voice probably wouldn't carry on for long.

Whether Pinkie heard her, or whether she was safe—or whether Twilight herself was safe—she was unable to know. After yelling helplessly for her friend, everything around her turned to black.

-TRS-

"Ugh... unngh..."

Twilight's eyelids fell upwards, letting her gaze outward. Not that she could see anything. Her sight was so blurry, and her head so fuzzy, sight was a luxury that would just need to wait a minute.

What happened after the tornado? 'Round and 'round... she was starting to get sick just thinking about it. She couldn't take anymore after one point, but what happened after—

Pinkie Pie!

Twilight Sparkle bounced up long before her body was ready. It ached, especially her neck from that initial whiplash, but that couldn't stop her. She looked like a newborn foal while stumbling to her hooves, all the while yelling, "Pinkie! Pinkie!"

When she eventually found her footing, she frantically looked around. She was still in the desert, surrounded by brown sand everywhere. A speck of pink couldn't possibly be hard to find. Anything, any sign at all. "Pinkie!"

That was when she looked down. She found what was already a relic from their adventure: the rope. Sturdy as ever, the twine was in mint condition still, though totally unraveled. Twilight followed the extension with her eyes, hoping and praying a breathing pony was on the other side of it. It looked like it led to a pony-sized crater in the grain. That could be a good thing. Or it might be tragic.

Twilight raced over to it as fast as she could. That, however, was not very fast. She was tripping over her own hooves, still disoriented from the entire experience. Her own well-being meant nothing compared to making sure Pinkie was safe.

Finally, she reached the landing spot. Sand was sprinkled on top of a pink body. Most likely, the tornado had released her at a crushing angle straight into the ground. In fact, it had probably done the same to Twilight. With the worst of feelings, the conscious mare fell on her rump and used her hooves to hysterically shake Pinkie's still form that lay in front of her. "Pinkie! Pinkie, please, you have to wake up!" she cried, almost beginning to assume the very worst had actually happened.

Only almost, though.

"Puh! Puh!" came from Pinkie's direction. A mouthful of sand was being spat out in front of her. Small tears of happiness poked at Twilight's eyes—never had she even dreamed that she would be so happy to hear a dry cough. Taking her hooves off Pinkie's body, the egghead sat in her spot and simply waited to be noticed.

Pinkie sat up, groaning. It looked like she was slightly more with it than Twilight had been, which allowed her to take in her surroundings quicker. That included the pony sitting on Pinkie's right, beaming right at her. The party pony's expression was one of shock at first; it didn't take long for it to move into tears. "Twi-Twilight?"

For the second time that day, the unicorn got assaulted with hugs. In another rare moment of Pinkie showing sad emotions, the mare started crying on her friend's shoulder. "Twilight! When you let go (hic) of the rope, I thought... (sniff) I thought you were..."

Two tear streaks ran south, one from each of Twilight's eyes. It didn't affect her voice, though, and she didn't let any more follow them. She raised a hoof to Pinkie's back and massaged it soothingly. "I'm okay, Pinkie. We both are."

It was hard to keep a good mare down. After a minute or less of the waterworks, Pinkie calmed down enough to take stock of the outcome of events. Neither pony was entirely sure of just how far they had traveled because of the tornado, or even how long they had been out cold (Twilight could only guess, as clouds were now concealing the sun's exact position). However, the result was striking; looking a fair distance ahead of them, they could see grass, shrubs, trees, and maybe even a small family of deer. They had made it through the Haymaker Desert.

Both ponies dashed for a large weeping willow tree, or rather, the amazing amount of cool air it was sure to provide. Their revitalization was only beginning, though. Upon reaching that tree, they found a tiny pond filled with more than enough water to quench their thirsts. It would have been the perfect oasis, had it actually been in the desert.

After taking some time for themselves to wind down, Twilight reluctantly asked for the map again. She laid down in the healthy grass to plan while Pinkie Pie ran off to who knows where.

"All right," Twilight thought, scanning the musty document in front of her. "Beginning Pond is straight ahead, and we won't be able to cross that. To the north is Canterlot. We'll probably need to cut through there if we ever want to get back to Ponyville. I've had more than enough deserts for awhile. South doesn't show anything on this map... wouldn't it eventually take us to Las Pegasus? But we would need to trek over a mountain range to get there..."

"Hey, Twilight?"

Not minding the short distraction, Twilight gave Pinkie her attention. She quickly noticed that the rope they had forgotten about in their mad rush for shade was tucked carelessly in one of Pinkie's bags. The mares eyes seemed to hold much more wonder than the luggage, though.

Without a word, the pink pony nudged her head toward the south.

Twilight took the hint and looked past her friend. The area over there was covered by a pretty lush forest, making her wonder just what she was supposed to be looking at. Gazing past that, however, she noticed what looked like a stone wall trapped inside the maze of greenery. She squinted even harder. Following the stone wall, in between the top of a bush and the bottom of a branch was a notable cavity.

She looked back at Pinkie, who had a grin that had apparently been growing in size the entire time. Not able to think of anything to say, Twilight magically handed Pinkie Pie her map back and stood up.

Side by side, they took off for the cave that was just past the desert. The one that housed the reverstone in its walls. So said Sam, anyway.