Today was Sunday.
The average person would be happy until the afternoon when they realise that tomorrow is Monday. However, I was below average and didn't like the day from the moment I woke up and wished it was Monday already. I lay in bed, tangled up in my blanket, watching as it slowly became 5 AM on my new alarm clock that I got yesterday after working at the library. I hated how the human brain (or pony brain, I had no idea and had to ask Voth) would just make you wake up at 4 AM on the days when you had nothing to do while letting you oversleep on every day when you had something important in the morning.
I pulled my pillow from under my head and put it on my side and hugged it. I closed my eyes and buried my face in the pillow, happy to go to sleep again. I almost did but then I heard someone shout my name. In an instant, I was sitting up and just as quickly, my vision went dark and I lost control of my body. This combined with me being tangled in the blanket led me to falling off my bed. The cold wooden floor met my body and knocked the wind out of me. I had a coughing fit as I struggled to get back my breath and at the end, I lay on the floor on the verge of crying, all because I imagined sounds.
I felt extremely stupid for getting so worked up over something like this but a part of me just wanted to feel bad and cry about it like a huge crybaby. The rational part won and I didn't make a fool of myself.
I got back onto my bed and curled up around the pillow, wishing that today was over already as a sinking feeling grew in me.
Sundays were always bad.
I stayed in my bed for another ten minutes but sleep did not come to me. I could not stay idle for long and got out of bed and went about my morning routine. After all that, I sat at the table in the kitchen table, thinking how I would pass my time till sunrise. My thoughts kept going back to me falling off the bed and almost crying, with special emphasis on the last part. That combined with the sinking feeling had just made my mood worse.
Why the hell was I getting so worked up over something so insignificant?
I could not answer my own question and suddenly, the kitchen around me felt confining. I left the kitchen and moved to the living room but that didn't help either. What was wrong with me? I had to get outside. I did just that and I was soon on the path to town. The sinking feeling did not go away and just became worse. I wanted to run but I did not know where to and from what. I just kept walking till I reached the crossroads. In the distance, I could see Brush's house and that the lights were on. I continued walking straight, not wanting to bother her with my stupid problem. The moon's light made large shadows on the ground.
I tried telling myself that everything was fine and that there was nothing wrong or anything that I was forgetting but I could not convince myself. The irrational part of me just kept telling me that nothing was fine and that I was abducted from my home and put in an alien world with an alien body and that everyone I cared for was dead and that I could not trust Voth and that I absolutely needed to panic and that everything would go wrong and th-
The shadows around me moved.
Primal instincts that had been passed down from when ponies were prey and when humans weren't yet apex predators told me that there was something hunting me. I was scared. Scared more than I had ever been in my life. I couldn't run; the thing was in the shadows and was ready to pounce.
After what seemed like an eternity, something crawled out of the shadows. It was dark but not as in colour; it was like the void between stars. It had a shape similar to a deer or a moose except that the horns were limbs of various kinds and the face was just a huge mouth. Innumerable eyes were placed on its chest and they all were observing me with a predatory gaze.
The mouth opened, revealing long white teeth. Instead of pouncing, it spoke.
"HeLLo ThErE." It started in a voice that seemed like it was mimicking a person. "I HaVE aN OffER fOR yOU. OneThAT yoU CaNnOT RefUSe."
I could not take my eyes off it nor could I run.
"i KnoW yOuR liTtle sEcREt. YoUR DeAL WitH tHat ScUm, VOTH. If yOu GivE mE ThE KEy, I'Ll GivE YoU AnyThINg YoU WaNt."
"G- go away." I managed to say.
"HMMMMM, VeRY WelL tHEn, FAILURE. I SHouLd HavE ExpECTed thIs. In YoUR EnTiRE ExiStENcE, YoU HavE NEVER mAdE A RiGHt DeCISioN aND iT iSN'T a SURPRISE ThAT YOU FAILED nOW aS Well." it said. Normally, I would have just ignored these kind of taunts somewhat but this time the words stung bad.
"You hAve faILed your stuDies, yOuR frIeNds, yOUr faMiLy, AND EVERYTHING, and yOu KNOW yOu dON't DESERVE a seCoNd chANcE. HOWEVER, I WilL GiVe You ONE CHANCE tO FIx THIS MisTake. If YoU FaIl, tHE CONSEQUENCES wIlL Be PAINFUL," it threatened. The loser part of my brain, the one that just wanted to be weak all the time and just submit wanted to just accept the thing's offer and be done with this. The other part would not stand this. I had a deal with Voth and knew that he was definitely more trustworthy than whatever this thing was. However, I knew the thing would attack me if I declined. What could I do? A memory came to me, one about Voth telling me that they could not enter Ponyville because there was no influence of chaos to hide him from the guardian of the world. I was in Ponyville, and therefore, there shouldn't have been a way for the thing to hide.
"G-get lost!" I said with a sudden burst of courage. I followed it up with a blast of magic from my horn. The green projectile sailed through the air and hit the thing on its chest, doing nothing but anger it.
"THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MISTAKE YOU EVER MAKE IN YOUR PATHETIC FAILURE OF A LIFE," it said in an loud angry voice before it started making a big red ball of flames above its head using its horns made of limbs. I tried taking a step back but the thing extended one of its legs and held me in place. The leg ended in ten long fingers that held me by my throat. The touch was cold and I felt as if it was draining me of warmth.
Just as the thing was about to shoot the ball of flame, it folded like cloth. Its mouth opened and a loud wet gurgle came out. Red fluid that writhed started flowing from its eyes and mouth and everywhere from its body. Some of the fluid shot out and hit my forelegs and the right half of my face. The ball of flame fell down on to the thing and in a second it was gone, only a severed limb and a patch of burnt and red grass to show it was there. I didnt care about that; there was the thing's leg still holding onto my throat and the fluid on my legs and face that was crawling around. Worst of all, the fluid was bursting into flames as it crawled on me.
I got the fluid off me without much struggle and threw it away on the patch of burnt grass where it continued burning for another few seconds before finally disappearing. I swore the thing cursed at me as it disappeared. I still had the leg holding on my throat though. I tried pulling it off but it's grip became stronger, depriving me of air. I continued trying to pull it off but the grip just became stronger. At last, my desperation for air gave me a burst of strength and I was able to pull the damned thing off and throw it away from me. It did not move after that.
I was left alone at the crossroads and immediately, I fell down on the ground, feeling absolutely exhausted and absolutely horrible. My forelegs and my face hurt bad where the fluid had landed and I couldn't open my right eye, leaving me effectively blind. I was struggling to get back my breath and started coughing badly. My strong side and courage were fading away and now I just curled up and cried like a loser.
I did not notice the sound of wings flapping behind me as a result.
"Anya, are you okay?" asked the familiar voice of Brush.
The last thing I wanted right now was for somebody to see me in this state, but now, Brush had. I did not respond and just tried burying my head in my hooves, wishing that I wasn't in this situation. To make the situation worse, Brush touched me on one of my forelegs. She was probably trying to console me or whatever but I absolutely did not want to be touched by someone or even be in someone's presence. She, of course, didn't know that and continued with the touch. She seemed to be inspecting my forelegs, seeing how the fluid had burnt and blackened them.
She gasped and then I felt myself being picked up. I tried to break free from her grip around my body as she lifted me into the air but I was too weak to do that and just managed to make my glasses slide off my face.
My exhaustion finally started getting to me and I stopped trying to break free from her hold. My vision started going dark just as we reached here house. By the time she opened the door, I was unconscious.