“G-Golden... G-Golden? Golden, you need to wake up. This isn’t good, I don’t wanna see you like this. Please?” I wake up to Shy’s desperate voice, unsure of what has happened. “Hello? Are you awake?”
I open one of my eyes slightly to find it is still dark out. The only thing I can see is the moon shining crimson behind Shy and her outline. It takes me a few minutes to realize where I am and that I was only dreaming. My dreams always feel so real because of how often they portray my past life, well my past life as of a couple weeks ago.
“Huh?” I manage to respond still half asleep.
“Are you okay? You were shaking... and muttering in your sleep... I tried to hum hoping that would soothe you... but you just kept shaking... and I figured I should wake you up and make sure you’re okay.... are you okay?” I look towards her face and notice her eyes are a cyan color, worry creasing her face. Though I have done nothing wrong, I begin to feel bad. There was absolutely no way I could even stop the nightmares from occurring. They happened every single night since the day I left. The expression on my face turned from the horror of the dream to a hard look of having a hard life.
“Does it look like I’m okay?” I whisper, shuddering inwardly. She just continued looking at me worriedly. She just shook her head and my frown on my face increased. She pulls me into a hug and I lay my head on her shoulder. “I’m not okay... ever since the incident that happened earlier in my life I have been having nightmares. Normally they would fade if it was any normal pony... but they never fade from my mind. It drives me crazy and tears me apart.” More memories flashed through my mind and I manage a slight gasp. “M-Make it stop... please...” I whimper. She looks like she was debating something for a few minutes before managing a slight nod.
“Ok... I will because I don’t want to see you suffer like this... but it will only be a temporary thing.” I just nod and one of her forehoofs glow. “Just hold still...” She touches it to my head and a calm and soothing feeling washed over me. The memories that were fresh in my mind slowly faded away into nothingness. I relaxed quite a bit and gave her a small smile.
“Thanks... but how did you do it?” I was genuinely curious.
“Well... I can calm anypony down and make their lives better... even if I had to get rid of the memories temporairly to do it.” She smiles sweetly.
“Well... I’m glad you helped even if it isn’t permanent.” I smile at her and she returns it with one of her own. All of the sudden, something clicked inside my mind and I felt a warm friendly presence. I cock my head slightly at the presence. She looks back at me with a look of interest.
“Something wro-” She gets cut off as her expression changes suddenly.
“I was going to ask the same for you... are you alright?” She slowly nods her head, as if contemplating something.
“O-Of course... why wouldn’t I be?” I just shrug but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the presence seemed so familliar. It was so warm and comforting and I didn’t ever want it to leave. All of the sudden, something shot off from my mind into Shy’s. It appears that she didn’t notice because she didn’t react. I shook my head and tried to clear away the thoughts running about in my mind. I wanted to ask her if she felt anything strange but apparently, she beat me to it. “I felt something after I touched your head.”
“You did too? What... was it exactly?” Her expression flickers to one of recognition.
“I think I have an idea... I think our minds connected.” I fell silent, contemplating her words.
“How?”
“Well... I think you were desperate for some sort of interaction...” I nod, not quite understanding how she knew. “And it was so strong... it immediately seeked the closest mind which was mine. I know you knew you needed me... but I didn’t know you needed me that much.”
“I do... you are the only one that I can trust.”
“I’m glad you trust me too... trust is always one of the most helpful things.” I nod, knowing that I could trust her fully and completely. She turned my life around for the better and I could actually face the day with my head held up high. And now she made me family.
Family... one of the only words that evaded me all these years. My heart constantly twinges at the memories my past gave me and I guess I could accept it. Accepting it was the hard part. I could no longer forgive them for what they done. All the sadness, all the pain and the emotional wear that they caused created a veil of sadness around me. Now that I truly had a friend and a family member I could trust, the sadness is gone. That leaves one emotion, one so powerful that it can cause the death of others: Anger. There was nothing left inside me besides anger. I took a deep breath to try and calm my emotions down.
“Something wrong?” She asked, looking at me with a look of worry. After a while, I shake my head.
“You know those moments when all your life, you only felt one emotion... and now that emotion is gone, it only leaves anger... that is what I’m experiencing now. They had no right to do what they did...” Her look of curiosity came back and I mentally sighed. I knew I said too much and now she is curious. I also knew she didn’t want to ask but I could also tell that if she didn’t, it would be bugging her for a long time.
“I... know I don’t want to ask...” She pauses for a bit, unsure if she wants to go on.
“I know you want to know... and I know that you are curious... but I’m not sure if telling you would be one of the best options. Some say that telling others their problems would solve them... but if that problem lies in the past, it doesnt solve any issues. Plus, I don’t really want anypony else to know... I’m sorry... but I can’t tell you just yet. I hope you understand.” I interject, really not wanting to explain anything to her in fear of a breakdown.
Please... I thought Do this for me... Her expression softens and she slowly nods.
“I wont ask... for your sake.” I work up a weak smile.
“Thanks...”
“No problem...”
I close my eyes to quell the anger inside me but it refused to even die down. Her look of concern increased tenfold when I was practically shaking in anger.
“I-I need to release some of this emotions... now.” I reopen my eyes, “Or else...”. I dig my hoofs into my saddlebag and take out my notebook, beginning to write rather furiously, the pen tip dancing on the paper as I form elegant sentences on the paper. I tuned out everything in this state and I continued writing for the next hour and a half, not caring about the poor light generated by the moon. She watched me with a hint of facsination on her face, wondering how long I could keep going. When I eventually stop, I sigh lightly and put my nlotebook away, curling up on the cool ground.I glance at Shy who seemed to doze off when I was writing, I smile softly and doze off as well, evemtually falling into the not so peaceful clutches of my dreams.
Dawn eventually broke over the Equestrian landscape, painting the land a vibrant orange color. My dreams faded into passing memory and for the next few hours, I slowly drift out of sleep. My eyes flutter open and I notice Shy is already up, watching over me, humming softly. I don’t say anything because that would inturrupt her so I just listen. The tune filled my mind and immediately, I tried coming up with lyrics. It didn’t work well, either I had no ideas or the song was too disorganised. After a few minutes, she stops and smiles faintly.
“Good morning Golden,” She says. “How’d you sleep?”
I pause, gathering my thoughts into something organized. “Well... after the little memory I had... I slept well... as usual.”
“Nothing out of the... ordinary?” She asks, tilting her head in what looks like confusion.
“No... not really... I did have a good dream though... that’s a first...”
“How so?”
“Normally, after I recover from the nightmare or the memory, I have a dreamless sleep... but not last night...” My gaze softens slightly. “Last night was different...”
“How?”
“Well...”
I was trotting down a forest path, Shy at my side. She looks a bit fearful of her surroundings.
“The Everfree forest... where everything works on their own... the clouds move by themselves and the weather isn’t controlled.” She explains. “Not scary... just unnatural.”
“I see...” I respond, unsure if I really do understand. A figure then steps out from behind a tree, red eyes glowing in the dark. I immediately stare at the newcomer, unsure if he is hostile and he stares back.
“W-who are you?” The figure just keeps staring then he inclines his head slightly.
“You’ll know in time...” He says.
“What do you mean?” I ask, tilting my head in confusion.
“You’ll know that too...” The figure says before backing into the dense Everfree foilage.
“And that is what happened...” I finish my retelling of the dream I had and she falls silent for a long time.
“Interesting...” She says.
“Indeed...” She slides a basket of muffins in my direction, smiling softly.
“Here you go... basket of muffins... I got them earlier.” I thank her and pop one in my mouth happily. She just watches over me, smiling.
“That dream was rather interesting...” I quip, nomming another muffin. She appears to be deep in thought.
“Ya know... I can’t really remember mine...” She responds. “First time that has happened in a long time... I wonder why. Meh... I’ve got to stop worrying about it...”
“You do...” I smile and she returns it with one of her own.
“Alright... fair enough.” She gets up. “I wanna go do something...”
“Same here... we have been here for too long... doing nothing.” I get up and spread my wings, grinning slightly and taking the basket.
“Where do you wanna go?” She asks. I pause thoughtfully.
“Hmm...” I respond. “Well... we could always go to the library.” She smiles and nods, leaping off the ground and into the sky. I copy her, doing a flip in the process. I immediately climb higher, gazing down at the landscape below me. She draws up next to me and smiles, speeding up. I keep pace with ease and soon enough, Ponyville comes to view. We land next to the libraries entrance and trot in. I scour the shelves for a book, pick one out and sit down with it, opening it to the first page. She sits next to me, book in hoof and she begins reading it.
For the next several hours, we spent time together in the library, reading to our hearts content. My thoughts drifted from the books to, inevitibly, my dreams. The one I had last night was weird and very abnormal. There was something about that mysterious figure, something that I couldn’t piece together in my mind. My attention turned from the book I was reading to the notebook in my saddlebag. I tilt my head in deep thought and pull it out, flipping it to the back of the front cover. There was nothing there except the cover, nothing out of the ordinary. I put it back just as Shy sits down with another book. I close my eyes and look at the link between Shy and I. It seemed to resonate with power.
I needed her, I thought. I needed her more than I have ever needed anypony. Does this mean something, anything? At first, I thought that my future had no hope, no light to spread to anypony else. Now that I think about it, it shouldn’t have been that way. I immediately shut off my thought process, shocked that I even thought such a thing. I shake my head, more thoughts crossing my mind. It shouldn’t have but it did. Now that it did, I don’t want to go back, surely she understands? I reopen my eyes and scan the room. Nopony was there except for us and I was kinda thankful for it. My mind turns to the link again. It was rather weird, the mind works in strange and mysterious ways. If my mind seeked hers, who knows what else it could do? I wanted to find out an answer to that question so badly.
“Hey Shy?” I ask, looking right at her.
“Hm? What is it?” She responds, closing her book.
“What if... that isn’t all I could do? I mean, my mind seeked yours... that clearly isn’t an everyday occurence.” Shy fell silent to these words.
“I dunno... it happens more often than you think.” She responds, unsure.
“You sure? Because I just looked into what we had... into.” I respond, putting emphasis on the last word.
“And... what did you find?”
“Well... the first thing I saw was it was really powerful... I mean really really powerful. It... seemed to resonate inside me.” I gave her a slight smile. Beliving me was one of the things I wanted jher to do. I was unsure if she believed what I told her was true.
“I...” She shook her head. “I... believe you,” She confesses. “There is something about us that is different from... other ponies... my heart really went out to you when I landed by you... then I felt something... connect between us.” I tilt my head ever so slightly.
“Connect?” I ask, not quite understanding what she meant.
“Yeah... it was rather interesting... maybe we can look deeper into it later...” I nod. We reopen our books and begin reading again. It went like that for several more hours untill Shy got up and streched.
“Ya’ know... I want to do something else than read...” She says. I get up and flash her a smile.
“Me too...” I spread my wings out, streching them as well. “I think the sky is calling me... and I’m totally gonna answer it.”
“Fair enough,” She says, smiling and spreading out her wings as well. I trot out and immediately leap into the air, flapping my wings several times to gain altitiude. “How good of a flyer are you?”
“Well... pretty well..” I smile and do a flip, barrel rolling at the end of it. “Very well in fact...”
“You must’ve had practice,” She muses, looking at my little routine.
“Eenope! It all comes natural to me” I quip, shooting upwards and doing another barrel roll. She chases after me, smiling widely.
“Good! Try to keep up with me and it’ll be fine,” She suddenly changes direction and goes toward the Everfree Forest, gaining speed. I easily keep up with her, closing my eyes and enjoying the wind in my coat and mane. I do yet another barrel roll, enjoying the forces associated with it. I draw up next to her and flash yet another smile.
“I’m enjoying this,” I say, repeating the barrel roll several more times. Yep... this is the most fun I have had in a while... in fact... my whole life. I thought with a grin. And I’m not gonna let it end ever again