Chapter 1
My life has always been quite the hazed one. Never latching on to consistencies that harbor direction, I wandered the vast, uncharted bound of reality that surrounded me with it's infinite evasiveness, without focus. I could never quite perceive one place at a time, as most did-instead my view was split into two separate ports. One could call it a reckless endeavor, but I called it the conditionment to chaos: the systematic desensitization to discord itself. Though there would come times where my lack of focus would prove to be my most crucial downfall.
Out of my humbled home I rushed in a rampant hurry. The less than reliable alarm that shook me from an uncountable mass of dreams had failed me yet again, and as a result, I had to hurry to work. I managed to reach the first half of my commute before I collided with a rogue cloud, harboring a fellow citizen. I apologized hastily, and stumbled onward, barely affected by such a common occurrence.
I burst through the doors of the office, to find my boss holding a bit of mail and an unfavorable expression. After a brief scolding from my tardy arrival, he explained that there was a large order to be delivered. I could only expect that he'd shove it on me, as I wasn't his favored employee. That position was granted unanimously to cascade, my fellow worker.
Cascade had always been superior at this job, but that was just about all she had in life, as I'd deduced from the many talks we'd shared about mail and it's splendors. Bruce, our husky boss, always commended her, and her alone, as she proved to be the most profitable. I wasn't ever affected by this blatant favoritism, as this career only served as a source of income for me; hardly of any inherent meaning beyond that.
I was briefed on the specifics of today's assignment; I was to deliver a bulky package deep within the daunting everfree forest, far from civilization. I'd always gained comfort from that place; it's chaotic nature paralleled my own as I swept through it in work or play. So, strapping the rather massive order to my mail saddle, I exited the office with the bittersweet conflict between my burdensome load, and the opportunity to explore the forest that had so accurately depicted the curious aspects of myself.
After a vigorous flight, I approached the edge of the forest a little before noon. The trees graced my eyes, and replenished my spirits, so I accelerated onward to the glorious place. I finally pierced through the invisible veil that separated the forest from the rest of the world, and my struggle of a heavy delivery was replaced with a generous tranquility. I'd slowed to a gentle glide now, as I preferred, though something was vaguely amiss. The birds chirped with a sense of nervousness, something I'd not heard before, and the deer weren't even present-presumably too nervous to stay in plain sight to coincide with the tone of the birds. This was enough to unsettle me, but not enough to overtake my joy of the place.
"378 Everfree forest" the note read, almost illegible from the scrawled handwriting of my manager. He'd only granted me this job due to my vast experience with this place; he'd never allow for me a package this precarious without that one exception in play. I'd navigated these forests on a plethora of accounts, though rarely for business. I'd often come here to think; the bubbling streams and the labyrinth of trees served as a catalyst for my undying thoughts of life, and it's composition. Even with business, it removed the distractions of modern life from my mind, but today it gave me a new stimulus; this peculiar tension.
Before I could reach my destination, I was struck down to the floor by a sudden exhaustion. Apparently, my surroundings blinded me from my tiredness, due to this venture. I made great effort to land softly, as to protect the package I was so obligated to transport. Finally, the weight was lifted from me, and I sat on the floor, leaning on the large box. I began to feel my own consciousness drifting away, as my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Finally, I slid into a light slumber, abandoning the care of the package.
I awoke with the jolt of something in the trees. I sprung to my legs to inspect this occurrence, and I witnessed a small body zip through the wooden shutters. finally, it slowed to a speed at which I could identify: it was Cascade, running around without the diligence she'd been so drowned in. I gained a clear sight on her in my left eye, but at that precise moment, she dashed to the place that my right eye was preoccupied with. I focused now with that eye, but yet again she darted away.
I was quite irritated now; it was as though she'd been mocking my visual tendencies with these motions, until an unsettling thought occurred pertaining to how she was so adept to honing in on my two focal points. Finally, I'd had enough. With a curious form of effort, I focused both eyes on one single point to find Cascade standing there, perfectly still. She was radiating with a glow that intensified as I stared, almost piercing her seafoam hair. The radiance began to overtake her though, and as soon as it fully enveloped her, my eyes returned to their regular state.
I soon became aware of another figure, deep within the same woods Cascade inhabited. This figure was larger, and much more graceful than her, though, and as it slowed, I classified it as none other than princess Celestia herself. As if to stockpile towards my own paranoia, she performed the same thing as Cascade; fluctuating between my dual sights before finally settling at the singularity of my focus. She radiated as well, with a periwinkle glow this time. She was also overtaken by it eventually, until she disappeared in the lustrous fog. After her disappearance, I seemed to regain control of my neck, as I bent it down to see that an object had found it's way to me.
It was a spontaneous little utensil; a silver fork lay in the grassy floor that surrounded us. I found my sight instantly focus on this object, not again slipping into the phases I'd been so used to my entire life. I reached to grasp the thing, when I felt myself slip away from this world.
I soon awoke, yet again, though this time with a far more secure grasp on reality; it was all just a funny little dream. The fork I'd reached out for was gone, and I was in the same forest I'd fallen asleep in. I soon found that my eyes were held in single focal points, no longer separate entities. It was greatly discomforting, though somehow reassuring of a new found stability. I went to the air with a grace I hadn't realized before to continue my delivery.
I finally reached my destination; a bizarre house, occupied by an even more bizarre housekeeper. A zebra, rare to this place, appeared at the door to accept the box. I left the house, and started back to work, avoiding the trees that always plagued my path before then. It was if my life was granted stability; something I'd never even cared to have, but I now felt indulged by. It guarded me from the pains of my clumsiness, and funneled my vague thoughts into practical manifestations.
And on my flight home, I noticed an abnormality in my mare. Reaching in it to sort it out, I found a fork, latched carefully onto the follicles.