//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Coming to terms with reality........ // by Furstreak //------------------------------// The young stallion had arrived at his home the previous night and climbed into bed with one of the spells books he had borrowed from Twilight at Golden Oaks Library. Along with that book were several history books that he would need to study in order to defeat his lavender friend. It wasn’t so much as a game of wits, as it was intellect and memorization skills. He may already have an upper hand at memorizing things, but he wasn’t for sure. He hadn’t gotten to know Twilight well enough to figure out how smart she truly was. But, oh boy, was he going to do his best to try and beat her. As he was laying quietly on his bed, looking through the spell book he had gotten earlier. He began to get bored with the rudimentary spells that were listed throughout the book. He memorized them quickly enough. Even casting quite a few of them to see what would happen. After moving through the book and finding quite a few trivial spells, he would come across one that would give him an edge over his lavender friend. “A memory spell...” He trailed off as he began to read through it. “Not bad, this spell can let me remember anything I read for the next six months. But the only drawback...” He trailed off as he looked over the list of cons to the spell. “I lose all of that knowledge and revert back the point in which I first cast the spell... Dammit!” He groaned. “There seem to be quite a few different drawbacks for many of these spells if they are cast correctly or incorrectly. Why are these spells even listed if they have drawbacks? Can’t ponies find other methods of casting spells so that they don’t seem to maim you afterward?” He groaned out once again in frustration as he picked the book up with his magic and began to turn it about in the air. After a short time of watching himself turn the book about in mid air, he place it gently onto his nightstand and picked up one of the history books. “An introduction to Equestrian history.” He spoke the name of the book out loud before looking down to the bottom of the hard cover binding to see the author's name. “Written by Princess Celestia. Huh... I wonder how old this book is; it looks really old.” He smirked a little as he opened the cover and paused as he noticed the date in the book. “Ok... Now this is a weird date.” He grumbled, scratching his head with a forehoof as he continued to stare at the date. “Year, 4023 of the unicorn. I wonder what that means.” He thought to himself before quickly pulling the other books to him to see if they would reference anything in regards to how the calendar worked in this world. After searching through the indexes of each book, he finally found what he was looking for. Taking a moment to pull open the book to the correct page, and getting in a comfortable spot in his bed, he began to read. “The years in Equestria coincide with how long history has been recorded by the first princess.” He hummed silently as he mulled over that bit of information. “The first princess? But wasn’t Celestia the first?” He trailed off, brushing the thought from his head as he continued. “The first written word of history was bound in stone by magic in the year -23,739 of the Alicorn God.” He paused again as the year seemed to throw him off a bit. “That year seems a little... off. -23,739 doesn’t even seem possible, especially if it was recorded by an Alicorn. Then again, I honestly have no idea how long beings in the world can live. So no point arguing until that information arises.” He grumbled to himself, rubbing his chin in thought before he continued. “The first recorded texts were bound magically in stone and are currently being held within the Canterlot library in the Royal wing. Not much is known about these texts other than when they were first made. But upon royal decree, they were never shown to the public since the reign of Celestia and Nightmare Moon started. I wouldn’t be until Nightmare Moon had been vanquished and imprisoned within the moon itself that the texts would see the light of day by a well known unicorn, Starswirl the Bearded.” Kami sat back into his bed giving the book a dumbfounded book. “What the fuck is all of this? It’s like I’m reading a fairy tale and I’m expected to give an essay about the truths in it.” He groaned out as he tossed the book onto his nightstand only to knock the spell book off and into the floor, making it open up upon impact. As Kami sighed, he turned over, coming to the edge of the bed and reaching out with his magic to pull the open book to him, but paused as he noticed a strange glow to the page that was showing. “What in the...?” He trailed off as he moved slowly from his bed onto the floor and rested right in front of the book, reading the page that it had been opened too. “Do you want to know the truth? The hidden story behind the so called facts that have been printed from within this book?” He paused as he felt a pang of nervousness run through his gut. Without realizing it, he was looking around the room to see if somepony was hiding and playing a trick on him. After confirming that nopony was there, he went back to the book. “If you feel inclined to know the truth and can stand the consequences of your actions in learning of such a thing. Then use the rune below to find out by pressing your hoof to it.” He looked down to see a blank spot on the page before moving onto the next page. “Why have you not taken the leap?” It continued causing him to roll his eyes. “Because there isn’t any fucking rune on the paaaaaage...” He trailed off as he watched a red rune begin to slowly manifest itself onto the page. He gave a nervous laugh as he watched it form in its entirety as it began gently pulsating with an eerie glow. “Ok... so what if I don’t do the rune spell thingy?” He smirked but paused again, his face contorting to that of shock as he watched words begin to write themselves out onto the next page in a blank spot. “The words would not have appeared had you not wanted to find out.” A long, sickening silence followed as his eyes remained the size of dinner plates. He glanced from that page to the other and back several times before sighing and raising a hoof. “Yup, I know I’m going to regret this.” He stated before lowering his hoof to the book, upon reaching the runed page, his world turned as dark as the starless night sky. Falling... Weightless... No sense of direction... “W-where a-am I-I?” Came the unicorn’s echoing voice in the dark void. Still the feeling of falling surrounded his very being, but there was no wind, no ground, no light, nothing that could tell him where he was, or how far he had to go before he would hit the ground... If there was a ground. *Murmurs of quiet conversation* “Hm? I thought I heard something.” He spoke out as he began to swivel his ears around to find the source of the talking only for it to putter out into silence again. “What’s that?” He asked in almost utter silence as he squinted his eyes to try and adjust to a small pinprick of light that began to show in the far distance. The stallion gave a sharp gasp as the weightlessness of the void suddenly shifted, causing him to jerk hard just before he felt something below his hooves. It was so abrupt it had barely given him enough time to remain standing on wobbling legs. “Dammit!” He snapped as he tried to catch his balance only to fall sideways onto what he thought was the ground. After a few moments to get his bearings straight, he returned to his hooves and looked forward to the glowing dot in the distance. It had gotten a little bigger in the time that it had taken him to finally get a feeling for the ground and was steadily getting larger. He looked around for a moment, taking in his apparent lack of surroundings, then looked to the dot once again as he took a step forward only to halt as the dot suddenly grew ten times in size. “W-what the hell?” He asked in surprise, pulling his hoof back and making the dot almost vanish. After looking to his hoof and then to the dot again he took a full step forward, making the dot grow once more. The light was faint, but it was there as a beacon for him to follow. Taking another step forward, the dot grew ten times in size and luminosity once again, making him squint toward it before taking a third step. The light burned brightly as it encompassed most of the black void that he was slowly moving out of. The light was so bright that even looking through his squinted vision hurt. “Don’t look away...” Came a somewhat masculine voice from all around him. “It’s... so bright... it hurts.” He spoke out as he attempted to look around for the source of the voice. “I might go blind if I continue.” Kami gave a loud groan of pain as he took another step forward, making the light erupt into a blistering white all around him, forcing his eyes closed and placing a foreleg over them to block out the light. Even with his leg covering his eyes he could still see light. “Open your eyes young one...” The voice trailed off. “But I’ll go blind!?” He shouted out before smacking his lips. The light, it seemed to give his mouth a bitter taste. Something that he knew he wouldn’t like. “You would see the lies, instead of being blinded by the truth?” The voice echoed around him again causing him to pause. “Don’t you mean the opposite of that? Blinded by lies and seeing the truth?” He asked out only to hear a soft laugh. “You have much to learn little one. Please, trust me. Open your eyes and see the truth before you.” Kami gave a sigh as he began to pull his foreleg away from his eyes only to feel and see the intense light penetrating his eyes. Then giving a loud hiss as he pulled both of his legs up to cover his eyes as they seemed to burn. “OH GOD!? THIS PAIN!” He shouted. “The truth sometimes hurts little one... but once the sting of it has worn off, new goals will be placed in that of the old... Do you not agree?” The voice asked him quietly. “Yes... But I was expecting mental anguish, not physical pain.” He croaked only to make the voice laugh. “You experience pain so that you will learn to avoid doing certain things. But you also experience pain so that you will overcome and learn new things. Things that will aid you in the future... Correct?” The voice asked causing Kami to slowly pull one foreleg down from his eyes and press himself back into a standing position. The young stallion gave a shuddering sigh as he knew that he was about to experience a whole new world of pain and suffering. “You’re right... although I hate to admit it.” He stated only to make the voice laugh out. “Nothing like jumping in head first right?” “Correct.” The voice stated with a bit of humor behind it. Kami gave one final sigh as he pulled his other foreleg away from his face and opened his eyes as widely as he could. White... Endless white in every direction... Pain... Burning... Unbearable pain... Kami was about to pull his eyes shut but continued to stare as he screamed out in pain. Then, the pain stopped as his vision blurred. His surrounding began to come into view as he blinked several times. Green... The gentle sound of leaves blowing in the wind... A babbling brook... Looking around silently, everything began to come into view. He was standing next to a small brook that was as clear as the sky was blue. Fish swam silently through the brisk paced, crystal clear water before moving out of sight further downstream. The trees were a lustrous green that seemed to radiate with energy in his presence. The very leaves seeming as if they pointed toward him as if he were the sun. To his right was a large open field with countless standing wheat. In the middle of the field stood a small house, standing no more than what a large shack would. After giving the shack a skeptical look he began to head toward it. It seeming to be like a beacon and calling for him. As he walked through the wheat field, he could feel a pang of nervousness approaching him and gaining in intensity as he continued to get closer to the small house. Once he had made it to within twenty yards of the house he stopped, His ears laying back and his legs shaking violently as fear took hold. He took a step back and regretted it as his hoof began to sink into t what seemed like mud. “W-what is this?” He squeaked out in fear as he pulled his hoof from the ground and took a stumbling step forward only to regret it highly as the fear became so intense that it brought him to the ground in a shaking heap. “W-w-why am I s-s-s-s-so s-s-s-cared of this house?!” He spoke out softly as he stared at the door of the small home. It seemed so inviting, but beyond intimidating. “We fear the truth...” The voice echoed from all around him once again. “It can cripple us if we choose to ignore it, or consume us if we try to run from it. Only by pushing forward and learning the truth will we be able to overcome it.” Kami gulped loudly as he began to push himself up from the ground, attempting to throw the thoughts of fear and running away from his mind. Giving a few steadying breaths he could feel some of the fear diminish as he gathered himself. Once he was standing, he took one slow step forward only to feel his fear rise again. Shutting his eyes from the fear he could feel himself growing weak. “NO!” He shouted out causing all of the wheat around him to visibly push back as if blown away by a strong wind. “I won’t fear this!” He continued as he took another step forward, the fear slowly vanishing from him as he continued on all the way to the door. “So do I knock, or just go in?” He asked only to make the voice laugh out. The door opening quickly in front of him and pulling him into the house without a second breath. The door slammed shut behind him as he was sucked into the house, leaving only a little light from a candle that was glowing on a nearby table to bring some form of illumination to the room. “But I thought it was still sunny...” Kami trailed off as he looked to the window to see that stars now dotted the sky. “Strange...” He trailed off as he heard a soft moan of pain coming from the far side of the room. “Come on dear, you can do it.” Came a gentle masculine voice of a stallion that was sitting at the side of a bed, blocking Kami’s view. “I’m trying... but it’s so hard.” A feminine voice spoke out in a whine of pain. “I know it hurts, but it will be over soon, just push a little harder.” The stallion stated in a shuddering voice. Kami rounded the bed, giving a slightly shocked and sickened expression as he was exposed to a sight he had never witnessed before. “Waa.......waaaaaaah!” Came a third voice as a little grunt of pain was released from the mare laying in the bed, then a few pants to catch her breath. “Honey... By the maker...” The stallion began as he started to on work cleaning up the foal that had just been brought into the world. “What’s wrong? Is the foal alright?” She asked as she attempted to sit up only to have her husband gently push her back down. “Our little filly is just fine dear. It’s just that... I’ve never seen a pony like this before.” He stated as he finished cleaning the foal off, its whimpers and whines coming to a halt as he placed it into a blanket and floated it in his magical grasp into her awaiting hooves. “Oh my...” She spoke out in surprise upon seeing the foal with not only a horn, but a set of wings as well. “What should we name her?” He asked, causing his wife to smile warmly down to the foal. “How about... Skyla?” She stated just before everything went white for a moment, then fading back in. Kami shook his head as he looked around himself to see that the house had all but fallen in and there were no ponies in sight. After looking around for a moment he heard a soft sob. “Who’s crying?” He spoke softly to himself as he jumped over a fallen beam from the house and out into the open. Pausing in his stride as he looked to see a young Alicorn resting on the ground with stouter looking stallion unicorn are her side. “Sky... Why do you subject yourself to this every year? It’s been almost a hundred years since your parents have passed. You shouldn’t put yourself through this every single year.” He asked as he nuzzled her cheek gently. She extending a wing and draping it over him. “I know... but I miss them so much. I know I shouldn’t, but I don’t understand why I have lived for so long and they didn’t survive beyond eighty years of age.” She sighed as she slowly stood from her prone spot on the ground; the stallion at her side standing as well. “You know what would take your mind off of this moment?” He asked giving her a playful nudge. She looking to him in askance. “If we decided to go through with your plans that you asked me a couple of weeks ago.” He spoke out bashfully as his ears splayed back in embarrassment. Skyla’s ears perking up as she turned to him in surprise. “Y-you mean... You really want to?!” She spoke out in glee, her smile becoming the only bright shining beacon that was in the stallion’s sights. “If you really want to. Then I think I’m ready as well. But are we ready to be parents?” He asked in worry. “I am more than ready my love.” She smiled warmly as she pressed forward, her lips meeting his as the light consumed Kami once again. “Why am I being exposed to all this? What’s the point in reliving these events..?” He trailed off as the question faded from his lips as he looked around to see the land in flames and fire. In the distance were three ponies. All of which were Alicorn. “Why?! Why have you done this?!” The largest of the three asked as she pressed a wing out protectively in front of a smaller dark blue one. Protecting it from the one that was a few yards in front of her. “Why?! Because these pitiful ponies need to respect those with more power than they! They look down upon us because we are different, because they fear the rare and unknown, because we can live for hundreds of times their lifespan! They subjugate us and taunt us into misery simply because they do not understand and fear us. I will show them what it is to be feared, to be alone in a world of hate. Then they will learn. Then, in time, I will rule over them without them being fearful of me. So that they will look up to me as more than a mere pony.” The white Alicorn laughed. “What are you saying?!” The larger Alicorn asked. “I will be, their God.” White... Weightlessness... Then darkness... “AAAAAHHHH!” Kami screamed out as he was suddenly awoken by his alarm clock springing to life. He quickly smacking it and looking around the room in a panic before taking in a deep steadying breath. “W-what... just happened?” He asked quietly as he began to wake up.