//------------------------------//
// Prologue: The Beginning 
// Story: Beyond My Grave: Exhumed 
// by AnnEldest 
//------------------------------//

It was only a lake in the middle of the woods. So, why did it hurt so much to look at it? 
For longer than even she knew, she watched her own grave. A grave where others feared to go, for the harm it would bring. Though there was no memory of anypony who was ever hurt there. Then, why her? Was it an enchantment? A curse? Or just plain bad luck? Perhaps it was because of that why it hurt so bad to watch it. Or perhaps, because after so long the lake began to look back.
No. It was her own fault for being there. Her own headstrong ignorance that brought her to that terrible place. Her mother and friends had all told her as much. Now, she paid the price for it all. Her family. Her friends. Her very life. Now, this was her existence. No matter how she tried calling or asking a passerby for help, they never responded. She was trapped. A prisoner of her own undoing.
An early fog rolled across the lake that afternoon, and crept into the trees along its edges. Slowly, the trees were swallowed by the fog, disappearing into the vapors that crawled forth. From the nearby path, the sounds of trotting hooves pattered down its dusty trail. The pony who walked that path sighed as the heat of the afternoon slowly began to fade, and the cool of the evening began to settle in. In time, the sun went down, and the traveler was left to the mercy of the encroaching darkness.
The next step of the traveler was met with a ripple of mist. Looking down, he saw that the ground beneath him was slowly being overtaken by a thick fog. Wherever he was going to, he would not be deterred. He kept going down that path, though the way before him was gradually obscured by the encroaching mists.
A low, unearthly howl came from some distant beyond. One that chilled the bones of the unwary and foolhardy. The traveler stopped and listened for another howl, but heard nothing. Putting his hoof in his pocket, he touched the antiquated coin that he always kept with him on his travels and wished it to grant him the same luck that it had always seemed to in all those harrowing times. When he walked again, a new sound made him freeze in his tracks.
Somepony was crying. And they were nearby.
Knowing it was perfectly foolish to call for somepony in those unearthly places, the stallion left the trail and followed the sounds of the silent sobs. He walked forth and jerked back when he felt his hoof splash into water. Looking out, he saw what must have been a vast expanse of lake, hidden mostly by the fog. The sobbing had grown louder. Whoever was was surely there. But, no matter how far he walked around either side of the shore, he could find nopony.
The traveler hummed pensively to himself and placed his hoof upon the nearest fallen log, whispered a silent prayer to the lost, and returned the way he came, certain that he would find that trail again.
She sat upon the fallen log, weeping to herself as she looked out over the foggy lake. For the first time, she had thought that somepony would take her from that horrible place. That she would leave and be normal again. But, it was as she always thought before. Hopeless.
Directly from where the traveler had left, another shadow appeared in the mists. One much larger than the stallion, which loomed over her as it approached.
“Filly? Why are you crying?” the shadow gently asked.
The filly jumped when she heard the voice and quickly turned around. There, standing before her was another filly just like her, wearing a large coat and a snow hat that left only her face peering through. The only things she could see about the stranger were her sky blue mane and her darker blue coat.
“Wh…What are you doing out here?” the filly asked.
“I asked you first. Why are you crying?” the blue filly said.
The filly looked over the stranger. Even though she was there, she still couldn’t believe it.
“You’re talking to me?” she asked.
“Yes. I asked you the same question twice, but you still haven’t answered,” the blue filly replied.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude,” the filly said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “It’s just that…I don’t know what it is, but it seems like nopony can see me.”
“What do you mean?” the blue filly asked.
“Every time I talk to somepony, or walk up to them, they don’t listen to me. Most of them don’t even look at me, even though I’m right there. No matter how much I try, I can’t get somepony to talk to me.”
The blue filly took a small step back when the filly on the log began to cry again. After collecting herself, she cleared her throat to ask another question.
“Are you lost? How long have you been out here?” the blue filly asked.
The filly on the log murmured quietly and hugged her knees. “I don’t know…”
“Why not?” the blue filly asked.
“I don’t know! Okay!? I’ve been here forever, and I don’t know why nopony wants to help me!”
“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to help,” the blue filly said.
The filly on the log slowly stopped crying and turned to face her company. “Help…? You want to help me?”
“Of course. It wouldn’t be very nice to leave a filly alone in the woods. Especially when the sun’s already gone down,” the blue filly said, before turning back toward the path. “Follow me. I’ll get you home.”
“Do you really know the way home?” the filly on the log asked.
“Sure, I do. My sister and I come to these woods all the time. Well, not my sister. She never comes out here at night.”
“Why not?”
“Because, she’s scared of all the ghosts that our mom says live here. But, I’m not scared of ghosts. I’m not scared of anything in these woods,” the blue filly boldly said.
That low, eerie howl sounded off somewhere in the distance, and the blue filly’s ears folded as she crouched low to the ground.
“Well, maybe just the big stuff that lives here,” she said. She turned her back and took her first step forward. “Come on. Let’s get out of here, before your mom starts to worry.”
The filly on the log watched as the blue filly for a moment, the drifted off the log she sat upon, her hooves slowly melding with the mists as she walked. In time, both fillies were swallowed up, not even a shadow left of them.





The blade of fan passed by Princess Luna’s line of sight for what must have been the thousandth time during that hour. She laid on her back on the couch, her hooves folded over her chest as though laid to rest.
“Princess Luna?” a voice asked. One that Luna didn’t even turn her head to address. “I asked: do you still see them?”
It was a question that she herself had wondered for those many long years since that fateful day. If there really was something there, or if it was all in her mind. And in all that time, she never knew how to answer. Not even to herself. But, no matter how she answered, things would not end well. If she said ‘yes,’ she would be deemed crazy. ‘No,’ and she would be disbelieved and still be labeled a lunatic. It was a gamble, but she had to give her answer.
Slowly, she turned her head to face the doctor.
“No. I don’t see them anymore,” Luna finally answered.
The doctor nodded and wrote something down on his notepad. Something much longer than a simple ‘no’ answer.
“You’re sure that you haven’t seen them?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m absolutely positive.”
“Mm-hmmm…” The doctor said, tapping his pencil to his pad. “Do you remember the last time that you saw them?”
“It was maybe two weeks ago. Or a week and a half. I don’t recall the exact day,” Luna said.
Her chest clenched when she remembered what had happened just the night before. Those phantom hooves that walked across her balcony and opened her bedroom doors, revealing nothing beyond them.
“Almost two weeks without incident. That’s a good sign,” the doctor said, writing down another note. “What about your sleeping patterns? Has that improved?”
“Oh, yes. So very much, ever since Tia made me take those pills. Now, I sleep the night through, free of any dreams or nightmares.”
“That’s a very good sign,” the doctor said, smiling.
“I suppose so,” Luna said. “Even though my own sleep has been restful, I don’t like not being able to dream. It keeps me from doing my work as the Princess of the Night.”
“I see,” the doctor nodded. “But, until the nightmares stop completely, the best thing to do would be to keep them suppressed.”
Luna responded with a low groan, making the doctor turn to the first page of his pad.
“Now, Princess. I know this is touching a delicate topic, but have you seen…him?” he asked.
Luna’s eyes widened at the question. ‘Delicate’ didn’t begin to describe it. It was the one thing that she hoped would never come up. Something that she had spent a long time burying deep within herself to leave forgotten. The very thing that had gotten her put on that couch in the first place so long ago.
“No, I haven’t,” Luna bitterly answered.
“He hasn’t come back to, erm, hurt you?”
“You know what he tried to do to me. Don’t insult me by glossing over it.”
“I’m sorry, Princess. I mean no disrespect. But, you need to realize that it’s important to talk about these things, or else I can’t help you,” the doctor said.
“I’ve been talking about these things,” Luna said, her low voice slowly rising. “I’ve talked about them for weeks on end with you. Yet, I feel no better than when we started! With everything I tell you, you make it out like I’m only getting worse!”
“But, you just said that the nightmares have stopped. And that you’re no longer seeing what isn’t there. Isn’t that exactly the progress you’ve been wanting?” the doctor reasoned.
Luna huffed to herself. There was no way for her to argue against what the doctor was saying, because it was the truth. Keeping her eyes unblinking on the passing fan blades, she gave her answer.
“I just want this to end,” she said.
“This session, you mean?” he sighed.
“No,” Luna calmly said, “I want it all to end. Whatever I’ve been seeing. All of my dreams. I just want things to go back to normal.”
The doctor could see it in her face. Hear it in her voice. It was all she truly wanted. For the time being she would be under his care. Until the night came that she was not plagued by the terrors that came with it.