Sandy kept his head down, shaking like a broken doll. "Sand...storm?" he mumbled, sounding lost. "Sandstorms...that's wind...can't move wind...only sand...shifting sand...falling through...the whole company...manticores..." The stallions eyes grew unfocused, and the cave started to dissolve around him, taking him back to his luckless days in the army. "...rending...tearing...all of them...eating alive...running...behind me...can't escape...cursed...cursed for me..."
In a flash, he was back in the cave. Maybe Silverpine finally broke through, maybe Sandy really was trying to claw his way back in control, or maybe he was just desperate for more distraction, but that single plea pierced the growing darkness in his mind. For once, Sandy lifted his head, looked his friend in the eye, and it seemed like he'd actually understood his voice. "I-I...I'll t-t-try..." he stammered out, weakly nodding.
Not even waiting for Silverpine to put him down, the little unicorn shut his eyes tight and his horn started sparking and fizzling. Every time he reached for the magic, he was greeted by the sight of the headless vampony. And every time, his concentration wavered amid pangs of guilt, before finally disappearing altogether as the spell was lost. But still he tried, again and again. The ground faintly sparkled, as motes of dust and dirt picked themselves up off the ground, only to fall back down after a short flight. Try as he might, he just couldn't hold onto the spell for long enough. "It...it's hard..." he moaned through gritted teeth, horn lighting up for what had to be the seventh time.
(Grif: Seeing how this'll likely end after one more post apiece, got the okay from Benson to keep going before the next DM post)