Chain of Dreams

by Hippocrene Artifex

Chapter 7: Shade's Home

For the first time in her life, Gold knew the life of a homeless mare. She knew it because she was forced to turn tail from her home in the village she had the loveliest times of her life in. Forced to abandon her home, friends, and family with the only pony she managed to save walking almost drunkenly beside her in the haze of sadness that engulfed both of their hearts. They had spent a long time watching their homes being consumed by the ravaging creatures that were the changelings, it all almost felt surreal. Alas their departure was inevitable and with the sunset soaking the skies in a deep, loathsome crimson, their terrible daydreams had to be set aside and their way into the darkness of the Everfree Forest began.

So it was with heavy hearts that the two mares left their home town behind. Neither the pale orange nor the dark grey mare spoke to each other after their quick introduction as they staggered onward with neither having a clue of their a heading for them to follow. Neither one of them could bring themselves to look the other in the eye without being reminded of what they have lost back home. So, in unspoken agreement, they had decided on heading north without having a true destination in mind.

Although this was not entirely true; in both their minds, they had played with the idea of going to Canterlot. With the nation’s capital only a full two days’ trot away from Ponyville, their minds gleaned what little hope they could muster for a refuge that they would find. Regardless, they feared to hang on to any slight chance that might so easily pop up, so the notion only remained an idle reflection behind the agonizing darkness that surrounded them. All in all, the whole world looked like a bleak wasteland beyond the surrounding woodland. At least, the forest that surrounded them helped mask a portion of their despair in a facade of peace at quiet.

Somewhere in the forest, however, Purple Shade halted mid-step. A caressing breeze kicked up a few dead leaves and brushed past the wandering duo out of the blue, and Shade, seemingly awaken from a trance, letting her keen senses take over. She appeared to be waiting for a sign. Her ears twitched back and forth in an effort to catch anything beyond the slightest whisper of the wind-swept evening. Even her sense of smell seemed to be picking up something wafting in the air as a ghost of a smile snuck its way onto her muzzle.

Gold, looking at her companion who had stopped abruptly and was now several feet behind her, asked with a tilted head, “Hey! Are you ok?”

Dreamily, Shade turned her head forward again to look upon the mare that accompanied her. She appeared to have tuned the rest of the world out and her gaze had such a purely-relieved intensity in it that took Gold aback, considering all that they have been through already.

She replied simply, “I know these woods. I walked right back home without even noticing!” That was all Shade managed to say before her hooves began to guide her on the path that she had trotted more times than she could count.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Gold called after, fearful to disturb what might roam the forest that she was now being led deeper into.

Purple Shade, however, did not answer. She just kept moving faster in an odd eagerness that seemed to possess her being. Gold Star simply had no other choice; having no idea where the pegasus was going, she allowed herself to be led by the mare and fell complacently into line behind her. She had to admit, she did not expect such a petite looking mare such as Purple Shade to possess the speed at which she navigated the woods unabated.

Something surprisingly caught her attention. She was not sure, but it almost sounded as if Purple Shade was whispering to herself, occasionally stopping and looking around her, seeming to make sure that she was following the right path to someplace only she knew. Gold watched with a sense of curiosity as to where the mare before her was leading them, letting her new found friend lead without complaint.

Gold’s patience was rewarded, ten minutes of silent trotting later. Purple Shade paused at a line of underbrush that obscured the view beyond. Gold tried to see past it, but the overwhelming darkness of the moonless night offered her little to no favors. It did not bother her much, for it was then that Shade turned back to Gold with a serene smile.

Gold finally asked, a bit hesitantly, “Shade, where are we? Why are we here?”

Shade, with a radiating smile still upon her cheeks, answered, “Because just beyond this fern line is my home!”

“Your home?” Gold Star asked, blinking in confusion at the fern line that was not big enough in any manner to conceal a house, let alone a small cottage.

Purple Shade pulled her attention back, answering brightly, “Yeah, my mother raised me out here by herself. I’m sure she’s still here, and if I know her, she’ll have some supplies we can collect to continue on to Canterlot. Come on.”

Gold would have liked to have asked more questions about Shade’s ‘old home’, but the enthusiasm of the mare before her at the prospect of meeting with her mother robbed her out of any will she had to ask. Shade, seeing the acceptance on Gold’s tired features, threw the underbrush aside to offer a better view of the place in which she felt and experienced her first taste of happiness.

But, in that one instant, that happiness crumbled faster than a castle made of sand against the ocean. Gold Star went pale, her eyes widening in shock. As much as she wanted to run away, she couldn’t. She was simply paralyzed in a fear that gripped her heart like the cold hoof of death itself. Her fear-locked eyes were fixed on the cave before here, but to her, the cave was like the giant, gaping maw of a creature made entirely of stone. The few stalactites and stalagmites at the front of the cave resembled gnashing, razor sharp teeth with shadows that danced along the top of the formation to form dark, hollow eyes of nothingness; enhancing the frightening hold this creation of nature imprinted upon Gold’s quivering heart.

Purple Shade was still on and about to enter the cave when a glance sideways made her double back. She could not quite understand what made the pony beside her seem so frightened, so she asked, “Um, are you alright? You don’t look so good.” But the mare simply did not seem to hear the question, so Purple Shade asked once again in a raised voice, “Gold! What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” For certain measure, she followed Gold’s gaze deep into the cave to see if she had missed something that might have frightened her companion.

It took her several moments to show any response, and when she answered, it was with a shaky voice that she spoke without taking her eyes off the cave and it’s formidable-looking entrance, “Y-yeah, I’m just- your home isn’t that d-deep, dark cave... is it?”

“Huh?” Shade intoned as she looked from the cave and back to Gold. Seeming to not quite get the cause of Gold’s distress, so she supplied uncertainly, “I know it really doesn’t look like much... Mom never liked cities or even small communities for that matter. So she lives out here and collects herbs.” Purple Shade had such a reassuring smile as she turned her head one way and the other in her search for her mother, “She used to live in a village somewhere, but she left it... I’m not sure why, but I think it has to do with her...manners.”

Distracted from the formidable view of the cave’s entrance, Gold asked, “Because of her manners? How do you mean?”

Raising her head and looking back, Shade spoke with a bright glint to her eyes and a slightly-raised voice, “Oh don’t worry, what I meant was her manners aren't the problem... she is the most elegant and refined pony I ever met.”

“Then what is it exactly? No, wait.” Gold shook her head at her insensitive question and supplied, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so direct. If you say your mother prefers her privacy, then I won’t pry.”

But Purple Shade chuckled in return and shook her head, “No no; it’s okay. Mom doesn’t have the same view on personal space as others. When I first met her here in this forest, she just walked up to me and rubbed her head against mine. It was her way of saying ‘hi’ because she can’t speak correctly. I guess some ponies don’t like being intruded upon the way she does... Which is only a shame, because they only get to miss what a lovely pony she is!”

It was the longest speech Gold had heard from Shade, and she could not interrupt the silence that followed. The depth of the emotions she could feel coming from Shade towards the inhabitant of the cave made it seem less scary to her and she even amazed herself when she caught herself thinking of getting inside and paying the motherly pony a visit. Indeed, encouraged by the upward curve of Shade’s lips, Gold was smiling at the devotion she heard in the mare’s voice for her mother-figure.

But her smile faded when she realized that the glint in Shade’s eyes was not one of bright memories passing through her mind, but of unshed tears that accompanied the tender smile as she continued, “When I first met her, she wouldn’t let me sleep by myself. I was... Cold; cold at heart when I first came here. I was shunned from my home, and she just took me in. At night, I would lay on the ground and she would be there right next to me when it was time to sleep with a comforting nuzzle. Everything I am today is because of her generosity to the outcast that I was.”
Gold Star simply had more questions to ask. The few words that slipped Shade’s tongue hinted at a past that was... painful, and Gold simply could not stand anything that caused ponies pain and heartache, but she was thankful that there, somewhere deep within the forest, was a mare with a heart to take a pony, not even her child and chase away the pain that haunted this mare’s life. Shade seemed incapable of holding her sad emotions for long, for she exposed her white, sparkly teeth in another masking smile.

“So, don’t worry. Knowing her, I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to welcome a new guest. I’ll bet she even has something to help you out, you really look awfully pale.”

Gold could only wistfully nod in response. She was still not entirely listening to the other mare but knew she had at least give some form of response. Hesitantly, she took a hoofstep forward, encouraging herself. Come on, Gold, it’s just a cave… A cave that could have another one of those things.

Gold Star tried to coax herself into braving her fear, but that was a greater chore than she first estimated, and harder still was the effort she spent to not outright scream out in fright and suffer under fits of uncontrollable shaking.

Purple Shade, on the other hoof, was quite oblivious to all of Gold’s hardships; already she was at the mouth of the less-than-homey looking refuge. Still wearing a pleasant smile, she gazed upon every little crack and crevice that made the cave unique in its own way. As with all caves, of course it was a little dank and sometimes carried in a bit of a draft during the winter months, but she could have cared less about how it looked; she would still call it home no matter what because her mother made it so to her. The happy days she lived in this cave flashed across her eyes like a film and even the gentle fragrances and herbal scents that she had come to associate with her mother seemed to linger in her nostrils no matter where she went.

With an expectant grin upon her face, Purple Shade tapped her hoof against one side of the cave’s entrance as if it were the front door; a little habit she picked up for when she would return home from her strolls and visits. “Mother, I’m home!” Shade called out pleasantly and listened to the echo reverberating off the interior of the hollow. Though the echoes ended deep within and no answer came back. She waited, more time passing in silence, and Purple Shade started to feel unease.

A bit odd, Purple Shade thought. Her mother must either be outside collecting rare herbs and flowers that blossom under the pale light of the stars or asleep inside from a long day’s work.
What gnawed on her thoughts the most though was the absence of the torch that always lit the cave’s entrance to guide those who might find themselves lost within these woods, but Purple Shade pushed these paranoid thoughts to the back of her head with a mental shrug that her mom might have been too tired to relight it tonight. She was worried, yes, but she decided to disperse her worries by crossing the threshold and going deeper into the cavern to seek her answers.

Gold Star on the other hoof, lagged behind. Very far behind. Despite her earlier resolve to act neighborly and meet the mare’s mother, she could not set one hoof closer to the place that was, to her trembling thoughts, nothing less than a deathtrap. Her silent horror increased almost tenfold as she watched the midnight black mare disappearing into the bowels of the omnipotent darkness of the cave. She wanted to cry out to her, shout for her not to go in, but otherwise held her silence. A terrible wave of nausea washed over her and made her sway on her hooves; she just could not stand to look at the place any longer and averted her eyes to the ground. The cave was still there; she couldn’t fool herself by thinking otherwise, but the aversion helped to fight the more potent effects of the fear that gripped her.

Taking one deep breath after another, Gold managed to hold herself steady and not spill her stomach before her. She decided to try focusing on something else. Surely there was something around for her to study to keep her mind occupied. She examined the ground, picking out every little piece that lay in the dirt; a pebble, a few dried out leaves, a hoofprint…

“A hoofprint?” wondered Gold in a loud whisper. It was not strange at all to see a fresh hoofprint but it seemed a bit odd for the mark on the grass to be leading outward instead of in at such a late hour. Again, not a strange occurrence but there were even more not far from it going in the same direction; more than what would suggest a place being as isolated as Shade suggested.
Cautiously, she continued to follow the trail that led into the woods and felt a twinge of apprehension. With the new-found sense of anxiety taking hold of her mind, Gold reluctantly trotted forward to get a better view of the scene.

There were well over a dozen sets of prints, some even a bit dug in or scuffed up, as if there was skirmish. “What happened here?” Gold whispered, speaking more to the hoofprints than to herself, wondering if they would somehow answer back and yield the answer. She moved around in search for anything that might guide her thoughts to the truth.

On closer inspection, she found a small number of broken twigs and even what looked like an extinguished torch a couple yards away near the tree line. Daring to get just a tiny step closer, something that gave off a faint glint caught her eye in the dirt. Brushing away the debris, she found something she thought she’d hope to not see for a very long time. It may have been only a piece, but the fairly translucent wing tip of a changeling lay before her like a poisonous snake baring its fangs, ready to strike and sweep everything away into darkness.