//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Walking // Story: The Gods of Chaos // by SonofaTimePony //------------------------------// When I came to I was lying on my back. My eyes opened, and I immediately shut them again. The world was spinning wildly and I was overcome with a strong sense of vertigo. I lay there for a few minutes before slowly opening my eyes again. Everything was moving around, but not spinning wildly like it had been before. With a groan I tried to sit up, but a crack of pain shot through my head and I let out a yelp before falling back down. As my head throbbed, I gritted my teeth and tried to breathe evenly. After a moment the pain started to fade to a manageable level and I tried to get up again, slowly this time. I struggled to my knees, but a sudden nausea stopped me from going any further. That nausea soon turned to full-fledged sickness and before I knew it I was vomiting all over the ground in front of me. Eventually it subsided and I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and as I looked up I noticed that everything was still for the first time. I was in a forest somewhere with trees and plants all around me. I gingerly got up to my feet. I suddenly felt very dizzy after vomiting so much and I steadied myself on a nearby tree. I mentally noted that I wasn't in the very best of health as my head pounded and my knees wobbled. Shakily, I chose a direction in the forest and began to walk. And walk I did. Looking overhead I assumed that it was either mid-morning or mid-afternoon. I hoped that it was the former; I wasn't too fond of meeting any wild animals in this forest. My hopes were proven fruitful as the sun rose higher overhead as I walked. I kept thinking that eventually I would find a path of some kind that would lead me out of here, but I only found more trees and rocks. As i kept up my search for the elusive road, I began to think. Just little thoughts at first, comments about how that rock over there looked like a face, or how if you turned your head to a certain angle this tree kind of looks like it's angry. Thoughts like that filled my head for a little while, but eventually bigger concerns started to make their way into my addled mind. Where was I? How did I get here? Something began to bother me, though, as I walked further into the forest. A little nagging sensation at the back of my mind, like something trapped in the back and trying to claw its way to the front. I tried to focus on that thought, whatever it was, but any time I came close to understanding what it was it slipped away, and the more I thought about it the harder it became to pinpoint. Frustrated, I climbed over a fallen tree stump and decided that it was best to ignore whatever it was that was bothering me. If it was really important it would come to me eventually. I focused on other things, like pulling bits and pieces of survival advice from the dark recesses of my mind in case I found myself still stuck here when night came. I figured, with the sun getting to be where it was, that nighttime would be here in just a few hours. finally my common sense got the better of me and I began to set up camp next to a small stream. The water looked clean enough, very clean, in fact, so I slowly took a few drinks. Suddenly I became aware of how thirsty I was after hiking all day through the forest and I found myself taking big long gulps from the stream. After I my thirst was well and thoroughly quenched, a new problem presented itself: hunger. I was starving and I needed to find something to eat. Unfortunately, I didn't know where to start, or even what was good to eat around here. I figured it would be best to wait until tomorrow to find a town that could feed me. Doing my best to ignore my hunger pains, I began work on my shelter. Two hours of hard work later and I looked admiringly on the fruits of my labour, a crude little thatched tent. The sky was a bright orange as I admired my handiwork. A chill wind bit me as the sun started to sink below the horizon. I realized that I had forgotten to build a fire. Cursing myself for not thinking of this sooner, I began to feel around in my pockets for anything that might make this task easier. My search turned up positive. As I dug around in my back pockets, I discovered a lighter. Happy that I had a fire-making tool handy, I set off to gather firewood. The sun was well below the horizon by the time my fire was built to a size that I thought was good. As I sat by the fire, looking into the flames, that strange feeling in the back of my mind appeared again. Again, I tried to figure out what exactly was wrong, but I still couldn't keep a grip on it. Confused and frustrated, I kicked some dirt onto my fire and crawled into my "bed" for the night. I wrapped myself up as best as I could in my sweatshirt and fell in for a long night. ~~~.....~~~ I'm floating Darkness surrounds me I am happy The dark wraps itself around me The darkness holds me I feel content The darkness protects me Darkness surrounds me Kindness pierces the veil ~~~.....~~~ I was startled awake a few hours later by sounds coming from outside my tent. At first, I thought it might be the wind or something, but a few seconds later I realized that it was the sound of some kind of animal. In fact, it sounded like a few creatures were pacing around my shelter, examining it, probably. I started to breathe as quietly as I could, maybe hoping that whatever creatures were outside would just walk on by if they didn't know that I was there. I must have done something, though, because after a minute or two the noises stopped. I ceased breathing altogether as something outside made its way to the entrance of my little shelter. I frantically began to look around for anything that I could use as a weapon, but the whole space of ground under my tent was cleared out so that I actually had a chance of sleeping. Annoyed with myself for not leaving anything remotely weapon-ish, I held up my fists, ready to attack anything that might come inside with my bare hands. Of all the things I was expecting to poke its head through, I really don't think a little yellow horse with a pink mane was among them. Its head was bigger than mine, with huge teal-colored eyes looking straight at me. Its mane was a vibrant pink color, complimenting the yellow-coloured coat it wore very nicely. The first thought in my head was a remark about how cute this creature was. The next thought was that this "pony" (for lack of a better word) didn't look like it could harm a fly, and how silly it was that I was threatening it. We looked at each other for a few seconds before I slowly lowered my fists to my side. "Easy, now," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you." The "pony's" eyes widened when I spoke and its mouth opened in what looked to me like shock. I thought this was very odd. It acted almost like it understood me, but I knew that wasn't possible. Not wanting to scare the poor thing, I slowly moved forwards towards it and held out my hand. The "pony" shrank away, almost leaving the tent altogether. "Easy, I won't hurt you," I repeated softly to the creature. Slowly it began to inch its way forward again, sniffing at my hand. The "pony" looked up at me again before pressing its face into my hand. I smiled warmly and began to stroke its mane. It was soft and almost silky to the touch. "Your mane feels nice and soft," I said out loud. "Thank you," came the response. My hand flew back to me and I gasped in shock. D-did that "pony" just talk?! I must have startled the thing, because it let out a small yelp and flinched away from me, looking at the ground as if it was ashamed. "Oh, I'm so sorry," it spoke to me again in soft dulcet tones. "D-did I do something wrong? Pinch me, I must be dreaming. I sat there, dumbfounded, looking at the creature not a foot away from me. This thing, whatever it was, was talking! Somehow, through all the questions and logical fallacies flying around in my brain, one thing managed to find its way to my mouth. "Who...who are you?" I asked in an awed whisper. "What are you?" The "pony" looked up at me again. "Um...my name is Fluttershy," it...no, SHE said. She swallowed before she said, "Who...are you?" I opened my mouth to answer, but I found nothing coming out. Suddenly all the chaos in my mind vanished. Every single thing was flushed out at that very instant. That feeling in the back of my mind was back, but this time I had a hold on it. How I never realized this before was astonishing. A whole day spent with my collected thoughts and this never occurred to me. Who am I? Three words fell out of my mouth as an answer. "I...I don't know."