I crumbled up another piece of parchment, throwing it across the room toward the trash. It bounced off the wall before landing next to the overflowing bin, adding to the mountain of scrapped ideas.
Rubbing my temples, a groan escaped my lips as another piece of blank parchment floated onto my oak desk. It had been days since the sun had graced my fur, but for Luna’s sake, this thesis needed to be finished.
The cold air nipped at my skin, the winter season has kept me confined for the better part of the last few weeks. While some may think of that as a curse, to me it was a blessing. However, my current situation was less than favorable.
The warm glow of candlelight wafted across the page, its emptiness mocking me as I stared at the page.
A knock reverberated through the door, causing me to jump. Glaring, I turned toward the door as it cracked open.
“Art thou doing well?” Luna asked, poking her head through the cracked door.
I let out a sigh, dropping the quill onto the table as my glare softened. My head thumped against my desk as a tired hello fell out of my mouth.
“Which wast the last time thee hath left thy room?” She asked softly, stepping fully into the room.
“I wast outside at dawn,” I moaned, face still planted on my desk.
She didn’t say a word, her eyes burning a hole into the back of my head.
Luna broke the silence, taking a step closer. “I understand-”
“NO, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” I shouted, eyes filled with fire as we locked gazes.
Her mouth didn’t move, her expression unwavering. Her body was still like a rock, only the humidity from her breath could be seen in the cold night air.
After a few moments, the tension was cut as my anger began to falter. I turned away, covering my eyes as the tears began to fall.
The sound of hoofsteps echoed throughout the room, accompanied by the sound of crying. A silver hoof soon began to rub my withers, the lunar princess's voice whispering soothing reassurances as she did so.
A few shaky sobs escaped as I tried to regain my composure. But the tears wouldn’t stop, they just kept falling. The emotions locked inside of me for so long finally spilling out into the world.
We simply sat, me spilling my emotions while Luna offered her reassurance.
“Now then, alloweth me to see if’t I can help thee,” Luna cooed, patting my back.
“I… okay…” I conceded with a sniffle, turning back toward the blank page on the table.
My body stiffened as Luna’s arm wrapped around me, relaxing a moment later as my body melted in her embrace.
“Now then, shall-”
Pain wracked through my body, my eyes shooting open as my body tried and failed to breathe.
I rolled over onto my side, coughing and hacking as my lungs and stomach emptied all over the stone floor. A fire burned in my chest, my ribs coursing with pain at every movement.
Not a moment later the coughing slowed, my lungs filling with precious oxygen. My body shook as I rolled onto my back staring up at the sky.
The shaking finally began to stop, oxygen now plentiful throughout my body. Yet as my body finally started to relax, the pain returned.
Clutching my chest, I groaned as a bout of fiery pain overtook me. My chest felt like it had a thousand paper cuts, each one causing more pain than the last.
As my body shifted, a strange feeling could be felt against my chest. Something was wrapped tightly around me, tying me together.
Looking down, makeshift bandages covered a majority of my chest and legs. They were incredibly simple, no more than a few leaves tied together, but they seemed to be keeping the blood inside of me fairly well. Only a small amount of blood could be seen soaking through.
My head shot up, quickly scanning my surroundings as memories flooded my mind.
I had thrown myself into a river to escape those beasts, but to be here on dry land meant that someone or something pulled me out and patched me up.
Slowly sitting up, my body shook from the pain and lack of energy. Looking around me showed no signs of anyone nearby, only an empty building.
The building was made primarily of stone blocks, with archways lining the hall where I sat. The roof looked to have collapsed long ago, indicated by its absence as well as the copious amounts of debris on the floor.
Analyzing the rubble showed no obvious signs of where in the world I was, not even a clue.
My ears perked up as the sounds of flowing water reached me. The sound was faint, but it was likely very close by. Indicating that the river was still close by.
“Ah, you are awake, I thought I had made a mistake!” A female voice came from behind me, causing me to spin around.
My jaw dropped at the sight before me, a zebra was currently making its way toward me. Her dark turquoise eyes were looking straight at me, a smile adorning her face.
The clop of her hooves echoed off the crumbling walls, her eyes surveying me as she approached.
My body didn’t comply in an attempt to scooch away, awestruck and what was before me. I was still as a rock, the zebra now no more than a few yards away. Her gaze shifted from one of happiness to one of worry, giving me a strange glance.
“Are you all right? You gave me quite the fright!” She spoke, stopping an arm's reach away.
I didn’t answer, staring up at the black and white equine before me. My mind was now in full meltdown mode. Nothing was making any sense.
She stood in front of me, waiting for an answer. Letting out a sigh a moment later as she began to pace back and forth muttering to herself. Though she quickly stopped, redirecting her attention back toward me.
“I assume the tale of how I found you is of great value?” She asked, taking a seat in front of me.
Staring for a moment, I slowly nodded, electing a small smile from the zebra.
“You see, the sounds of commotion set me into motion,” She began. “Soon I spotted a mare, giving me quite the scare. And it is good I stopped by, as in the Everfree you may die!”
Chewing on my lip, my eyes glanced up at the zebra. While it was nice to be alive, I was rescued by a talking (and rhyming) zebra. Not something that happens every day.
Since she wasn’t freaking out at my existence like I was about hers, it likely meant there were more creatures like me. Meaning that home was very far away.
“It is not required, but I would like to inquire,” She asked in a soft tone, causing me to look in her direction. “What is your name so that we may be acquainted the same?”
Looking at her, I thought the question over in my head. She just asked for my name, it wasn’t like she was asking to murder me. What harm would it do to just say my name?
“Nova Nebula,” I said, causing me to clasp my hoofs over my mouth. My breath caught, my mind trying to figure out what had just happened.
“Ah, a nice name you have proclaimed. Zecora is what I am called by most, especially those on the east coast,” She responded with a smile.
Zecora eyed my wounds looking for any damage as I stared off into space, trying to say my name to myself.
“Nova… Nebula…” I whispered, my brow furrowing.
Trying a few more times, I whispered to myself as my mouth tried to say my real name. Only causing me to curse in frustration.
“Are you doing alright? I do not mean to be outright,” Zecora asked, staring at me with a raised eyebrow.
My stammering quickly halted, turning toward Zecora and nodding without a word.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as my mind began to calm. My name was yet another item to add to the laundry list of things wrong with me, a list that was becoming worryingly long.
Staring back at the sky, my eyes drifted over its cloudless image. The sun was now out of sight, the sky beginning to turn reddish orange.
My eyes widened as I realized the amount of time that had passed. The last time I was awake it was about noon, meaning it had been several hours at least.
Right on cue, a low grumbling emanated from within me. Zecora looked at me for a moment before standing up, stretching out her legs as she did.
“I feel that now is the time for food, that should get you in the mood. If you are able to stand that would be grand. Then we can begin to roam in search of my home,” She rhymed, extending a hoof toward me.
I looked at her extended hoof for a moment, questioning how it would help me. I understood she wanted to help me stand, yet her flat hoof did not appear to be of any help.
With a shrug, my hoof reached out and connected to hers. My body tensed up as a strange feeling grabbed hold of the end of my hoof. It felt as if a magnet was pulling my hoof toward hers.
Instinctively I tried to pull my ha- hoof away, resulting in me pulling Zecora’s hoof with me. She gave me a questioning look as she pulled, lifting my body off the ground as my footing situated itself below me.
Once my footing was established, the force between our hooves dissipated. I stared at the bottom of my hoof looking for any sign of what just happened, no apparent change visible.
Zecora gave me another strange look, causing me to quickly put my hoof back on the ground with a forced smile.
She stared at me as I continued to smile, causing me to glance around nervously.
Eventually, after a few awkward moments, she motioned for me to follow as she began trotting down the empty corridor. Her hooves echoed off the wall, mine quickly falling in sync as I took up pace behind her.
Staring at her flank, not in a weird way, a strange pattern caught my attention. It was an intricate pattern like mine, though hers was only black and in the shape of a sun. It too looked to be a part of her fur, similar to mine.
She looked back at me with a questioning gaze, her eyes tracing my line of sight to her flank. I quickly averted my attention away, looking at the path in front of us as I forced another smile. Being a weirdo was not something on my to-do list.
Her gaze soon left me, my fake smile dissipating as a breath escaped I didn’t realize I was holding. As that situation left my mind, my mind wandered across the ruins around me.
It appeared that we were in what was likely the great hall of the once-former structure. Doors lined the walls, at least what was left of them, with a long discolored floor running down the middle of the hall.
Vines snaked their way across the walls, piercing through the many cracks that littered the ruins. Their almost black color in addition to the blue spikes that covered them resulted in an almost extra-terrestrial appearance.
My gaze fell to the floor in front of me as my mind pondered why she had dragged me so far into the building, to begin with. In fact, why had she saved me in the first place?
“Why did you save me?” I asked quietly, my eyes glued to the ground avoiding her rear.
“I saw a pony in distress, would you do less?” She asked, causing me to nod in agreement.
I decided it wasn’t a stretch that she actually helped me out of the goodness of her heart, reasoning that if she had ill intent something would have already transpired.
Without another word we continued on, leaving behind the ruins as we excited through a towering wooden door. The rotting structure the only sign of the building’s entrance, forever stuck slightly ajar.
We wormed our way through the maze of rubble that sat in front of the entrance, the debris extending only a few yards from the door.
We quickly found ourselves free from the ruins, standing in what was once a courtyard. Looking behind me, what was left of the towering wall loomed above. I was able to make out towers on either side of the main building, the spires still somehow intact and coming to a pin's point nearly a hundred feet in the air.
It was once a grand building, the ornate construction and intricate stone patterns a telltale sign that this structure was built with great care. Along with a lot of money. But that didn’t take away from the fact that this felt like one of those medieval castles you could visit in Scotland, maybe it even belonged to an aristocrat.
My body shudder as I stared at the tower on the left. Its coloration was distinctly darker than the other as well as being slightly shorter, yet for some reason, I felt a connection. my eyes stuck to it, unable to look away from the top of the tower.
Averting my gaze from the towering structure, I turned back toward Zecora in front of me while making a mental note to come to visit this place later. Particularly when I’m in better condition.
We trotted through the desolate remains of the courtyard, stepping over patches of rock and avoiding overgrown statues. Soon we were right back in the forest.
The rest of the journey through the forest was rather uneventful, primarily just following Zecora and watching my step. I learned that after I wasn’t paying attention, nearly stepping on a sleeping lizard with a chicken head. I added that to the list of questions that needed answering.
Light dimly shined through the trees, the sun now having almost completely set. The orange horizon slowly became visible as we followed a dirt path through the vegetation, the exit in sight.
It didn’t take long before we broke through, the sun now fully visible as it rested on the horizon. A few stray clouds floated through the sky. Hills rolled up and down, dotted with trees and shrubs. The occasional animal could be seen hopping to and fro, the area likely home to hundreds of little critters.
I couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful scenery, everything looked straight out of a picture. The grass was the greenest I’d ever seen, and the leaves on the trees seemed to be even greener. The land looked like it had never been touched, only mother nature having graced the landscape.
Even the air was just like that of the forest, pure and clean. Not even the slightest hints of air pollution could be detected, the air flowing smoothly through my lungs.
A small village off in the distance caught my attention, the straw roofs peeked over a hill in front of us. I couldn’t see much more than the roofs, but a large tower could be seen poking its way above the rest of the buildings.
We continued to follow the dirt path without a word, Zecora leading the way as we approached the village.
Soon we passed by a tree that looked like it had been converted into a house. A few dozen food bowls were scattered about in front of the house, causing me to snicker at the thought of this being the local crazy cat lady. The image of hundreds of cats all clung to one person got a chuckle out of me, the strange house soon passing by. ]
The house seemed to be distant from the town, now fully visible in front of us. It was about two hundred yards away, a small dirt path connecting it to the main roads of the town.
The town looked to be wood houses with straw roofs, each one in near-perfect condition. My eyes widened as I spotted the first of the local inhabitants, a golden yellow horse with curly orange hair walking down the road before turning and entering a house.
It looked just like me, save for the color and hair difference. My body relaxed, my mind put slightly at ease that I wasn’t a complete weirdo here.
However, my heart jumped as realization hit me. Unless a little town of horses had gone undiscovered, that meant I was likely not even on Earth anymore.
My eyes glazed over as my thoughts bounced around in my head. What would I do? How did I get here? Why here? Are there other humans here?
Crashing into a light pole, I crumbled to the ground as stars danced across my vision. I rubbed my head with a hoof, feeling a small bump causing me to wince in discomfort. My head ached as I stood up, glaring angrily at the pole in front of me.
Rubbing my head, I let out a little laugh as multiple ponies were now looking at me. Their eyes looked as if they had just been spooked, none of them moving as they watched me.
I continued to smile nervously, giving Zecora a nudge causing her to continue on. The stares gradually left as we walked away, though the embarrassment stuck.
We walked through town, making sure to avoid any lampposts as we walked down the cobbled pathway. Buildings lined the road, most of which appeared to be residential with the occasional storefront.
The sun shined down the middle of the road we were currently on, creating a Manhattan henge-type picture. The wind blew a cool breeze through my hair as a couple of locals walked by, paying no mind as I gawked at everything around me.
My attention was drawn particularly to a sign that had a picture of a quill and a sofa on it. It was closed and dark inside, but in the window was a sofa... and a giant quill.
Whoever came up with that store idea really must have found a hole in the market. But hey, if it made money it made money.
We passed through the town square, making our way toward another tree home at the end of the street.
In front of the tree sat a small sign with a picture of a book painted on it. The windows in the tree glowed, a silhouette visible on the first floor. Zecora quickened her pace, leading us toward the tree.
Once we approached, Zecora gave the door a couple of firm knocks causing whoever was inside to shout something.
A few moments later, the door cracked open. A small green eye peered out at us, the door fully opening a moment later.
“Hello Spike,” Zecora greeted with a small bow. “I hope you don't mind us in your like. I wish to speak with Twilight, I have something I would like to highlight,”
The door opened, and a tiny purple and green creature stood in the doorway. “Twilight! Zecora is here with another mare!” It shouted before turning around and facing us. “You guys can come on in, Twilight will be right down,”
Zecora and I gave the creature our thanks, making our way inside the tree. The room we entered was round, the walls having been carved into bookshelves. A red sofa sat in the middle of the room, a glass coffee table in front of it along with two posh red chairs.
We sat on the sofa, my eyes looking at the various pictures and decor. The pictures seemed to all contain photos of a particular purple pony, sometimes accompanied by the purple and green creature.
There was a door opposite the entrance and a staircase carved into the left wall, it winded up into a loft with a bed and even more books.
“That’s a lot of books,” I muttered, looking at all the books. There had to be at least a thousand books, maybe even more.
“Hello Zecora, it’s nice to see you,” a female voice greeted, drawing my attention to a purple pony descending the stairs. “And who is this with you?” She asked, looking in my direction.
“It is nice to see you too, and this mare is why I came to see you,” Zecora spoke, motioning toward me with a hoof.
“What is your name miss?” Twilight asked, looking at my flank.
My eyes traced her gaze, causing her to look away with a sheepish smile. “Nova Nebula,” I responded, not even trying to say my real name.
“Well it's nice to meet Nova, I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
My eyes widened, “You’re royalty!?”
“Well technically yes, but nopony here calls me princess,” She said with a laugh. “And you are no different, please just call me Twilight.”
I blinked after a moment, pulling myself out of my stupor. “Well it’s nice to meet you Twilight,” I said, still slightly awestruck.
I had never met royalty, the closest being a visit to Buckingham Palace. But if history was anything to go by, royalty didn’t have the best track record. Twilight, however, seemed to be nothing like the royalty that came to my mind.
“So what is it you wanted to tell me, Zecora?” She asked, shifting her attention.
“Well, this mare I found in the Everfree, which is quite unusual you see,” Zecora stated, Twilight’s eyes wide. “She was injured when I came across her, and I was hoping you could put her body back to how things were.”
“What were you doing in the Everfree?” Twilight questioned with a worried expression.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I just woke up there,”
“You have no recollection of how you arrived there?” Twilight asked, her face shifting from one of worry to one of suspicion.
“Nope, not a clue,” I answered, Twilight tapping her chin in thought.
She suddenly stopped, her eyes staring a thousand yards away. She sat still for a few moments, eyes looking me up and down.
She muttered something to herself, but it was too quiet for me to hear. A moment later, her features softened.
“Thank you for bringing her here Zecora,” She thanked, turning toward me. “And you are welcome to spend the night here if you want.”
“It is my pleasure, and I hope that Nova finds some leisure,” She gave a little bow, giving me and Twiligt a goodbye before leaving.
That left me and Twilight alone, a silence hanging in the air between us. Twilight, however, fidgeted in her seat, something obviously on her mind.
Twilight finally stood up and broke the silence, “I will be right back, I have to write a letter to somepony. Spike should be making some food if you’re hungry,” She quickly turned around, making her way up the stairs and into the loft out of sight.
Sniffing the air, a heavenly smell of spices and herbs reached my nose. The sounds of pots and pans could be heard, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation of not having a good meal all day.
Looking out the window, the sun could be seen just barely peeking above the horizon. The glow of the moon began to fill the sky, the stars slowly becoming visible.
As the stars began to fill the sky, memories began to flood my mind. Memories of the sleepless nights spent gazing at the stars, wishing for a second chance. Getting lost in the night sky, traveling through the cosmos. The stars were my escape from reality.
My body subconsciously stood, gliding toward the window. Watching the sky slowly shift from orange to black as the stars continued to fill the sky.
A knock echoed throughout the room, knocking me out of my daze. The sound of falling books also met my ears, Twilight calling out a moment later. “Nova, can you get the door please?”
“I got it,” I said, making my way over to the front door. My hoof slipped into the door ring, and I pulled it open.
I looked up, a tall dark blue unicorn standing in front of me. Our eyes met, her mouth going wide as she looked me up and down.
Her stunned expression quickly turned to a smile as she looked down at me, her eyes beginning to water. “Hello Nova, it is nice to see you again.”