//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: In The Beginning // Story: I Dreamt of Her // by ben717 //------------------------------// "Good morning, Doc.." I yawn as I hobble into the pony's office. "You know it is the afternoon, correct?" My psychiatrist asks me. "Doctor Feather Quill, you of all ponies should know I work nights." I say as I hobble my way across the little oval office. I bump my cane against the side of his desk and nearly fall. I manage to catch myself but the magic in my right leg still burns after all these years. I wince in pain as it feels like my bone turns into a red hot shard of iron inside of my leg, however it quickly returns to normal. "Changlings..." I swear aloud, "29 years old and walking around with a cane... Ridiculous." "You were the one who wanted to be a hero." Doctor Quill points out. "True.. I guess I did think myself high and noble then. It was a real wake up call when I realized that sometimes soldiers have to kill. It seemed like the Royal Guard was a good choice, and really I never quit... But..." I pause, "I was a bloody fool is what I was. I thought that... I thought. I didn't know what I was thinking... Rarity always did want me to stay home. But I wouldn't listen. I wanted to be something. I wanted to accomplish something great." I reminisce, bittersweetly. "Well no pony doubts you got somewhere." The Doctor says. I look down at the ring on my finger and smile. The one truly great thing that I ever did in this world. "Yes, I suppose I did get somewhere. But that wasn't until long after I had used ponies, lied, cheated, and killed... Doc... I can't stop thinking about it. Even though I wasn't always in my right mind, the guilt still haunts me. Sometimes I can't sleep. It's gotten worse lately.." "What happened?" Asks the Doctor. "What do you mean 'What happened'? I've been coming here for the past year." I ask "I've only ever asked you bits and pieces of the story. I've never heard the whole thing. Sometimes the best way to deal with trauma is to talk through it. Start from the beginning." "The beginning?" "The beginning." The beginning. I haven't thought about that day in a long time. A long, long time. I sat down on the stereotypical psych couch and took off the scarlet colored cloak that I took to wearing. "You sure you want to hear it Doc? It's a very long story." I ask as I take the short blue sword off of my belt and place it on the table next to me. "Write it down." He says as the quill and paper float towards me in a magical aura. I take the quill and paper from the unicorn doctor. As I sit there, I ponder what I might find that had been repressed in my mind. I wondered what demons I would reencounter, what darker corners lie in this beautiful world of happy-go-lucky ponies. I place my cane down by my side and roll up my sleeves revealing a long scar up the side of my forearm. Not of my own doing. "Doctor I will warn you that all of these scars have a story. Every single one of them I could forget. The only thing that had ever kept me going was my bizarre ability to have hope. To carry on. That's what we humans are good at. Carrying on." "I'm listening. Please, write." "Ok." I say as I magically float the quill around my head while I ponder where to start. "Where to begin..." I set the quill to the parchment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------(Past)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My alarm went off. "Mrph? Already?" I struggle to say. Once that accursed noise stopped, my mother, who is punctual as ever, walked up in my room like what up you smashed your own clock. "Hey! Time to get up!" She says shaking me. "Mrrhsphpphhh" I reply, face buried in a pillow. As quickly as she came she exited the room and I attempt to get up. The first try ends with me face down on the floor. Great start, great start. Take two involves every ounce of my strength to stand up, followed by me sitting immediately back down on the bed. But luckily, the third time's the charm and I manage to get up and get dressed. I emerge from my room with my duffel bag over my shoulder, it's constantly filled to the brim with mostly running clothes and running shoes, which I have plenty of. I actually have two pairs of shoes in my bag, not counting the ones on my feet. I have a set of track spikes and and pair of distance shoes. Those usually take up the majority of my pack but I also keep a tank top, some shorts, a sweatshirt and sweatpants in there. I walk into the kitchen and grab a Pop-Tart, I like Pop-tarts. Don't you judge me. My mom who is waiting there says "Morning Princess, get all your beauty sleep?" I return with about half of my usual wit, "Yea, but not enough to keep the uh..uhh... oh alright... I got nothing..." I say shaking a fist in false anger. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" "Oh please, if I were at full capacity I'd be spitting so many burns that you'd need an ice pack." "I’ve got one in the freezer. Where are your sisters at?" I look up the hallway to see them running full speed towards the kitchen. Seriously? It's too early for people to have this much energy. The youngest one, Josie, she's three, almost four, comes sliding into the kitchen at full speed to grab a Pop-Tart and plops down in one of the seats across from me. Followed by Emma, at age twelve, who does the same. I decide it's too early to get a conversation going with these two. If you get them started they don't stop talking. But I love 'em both to death. "Or crap we're late!" My mom exclaims, jumping up and grabbing the car keys. We all scramble from the table and pile into the car. Technically, I could drive myself, if needed, but the way my mom sees it, we are all going the same direction so we save money on gas by carpooling. Once I get dropped off I turn around to wave my family goodbye. What I didn't know was that it would be the last time I would see them. The bell rang for first hour, Chemistry. Thing about Chemistry is that I loved the teacher. Ms. K was one of my favorite teachers there. She was young for a teacher, not too far out of college actually. The reason I love her so much is because she took the time to get to know the children... Actually, I could say the same for all my teachers, and even some of the teachers I didn't even have. It was one of the perks of going to school in Small Town U.S.A. Everyone knows everyone, and even the teachers know who is dating who. All we did that day was take notes on stoichiometry, I barely paid attention. What we were promised is that we would be making a gummy bear explode. However falsified the story behind the gummy bear was, the truth about Chem One was that it was basically algebra with a few extra rules and I'd google the answers later. During second hour, which is probably my favorite hour. Ceramics, all we did that hour was make pottery. It's a really nice pastime, Mr. Cox is an amazing art teacher, who ironically coaches the football team. He's pretty awesome. It was he who taught me to go all out with my art. He told me that anything worth doing is well worth overdoing. It was he who helped me come out of my shell. He who changed me from a scared freshman the year before to a pumped up high schooler ready to take the world. Third hour, good ol' Health. This teacher will always hold a spot in my mind and heart as the teacher who made me what I am today. She is my running coach. She always told me to endure. To struggle through any pain that you undergo. She taught me what it meant to be human. She taught me to persevere. Fourth hour... English, eh, not too much to report here. Fifth hour... Also not much. After school I had track practice, mostly consisted of me taking the distance team to run to the park, and jack around like the idiots we are. The seasons almost out and we are all sick of running. However this time, on the way out I happen to see a girl that I once knew. I can barely remember her name anymore. Not after all these years. She was beautiful, caring, and honest. She wouldn't hurt a fly. Yet, as I waved to her and continued on my trek towards the park, I had no idea how much I needed to tell her how I felt. I had no idea what would become of me in the next few hours. Our track team is small enough I know everyone personally, I've never had trouble making friends in High School. Middle school I would lock up if anyone said a word that could somehow remotely be traced through morse code back to me.. Well, you get the picture. I was very shy. Now is not the case, when you get to know me, I'm wild. The problem was... I was going to miss every single one of those boys. So many nameless faces in the world I was never going to see again. So many good people I never thought I'd have to say goodbye to. After track practice I caught a ride home, no one else was there yet. Another benefit of living in Small Town U.S.A is that there is lots of room. There's a pond just outside my back door! I walked down the driveway and looked out over the pond. Down by the dock I spy my old fishing pole. I decided to go kill time by taking a few casts. I set my duffle bag full of running material down next to me and plop down for a spell. I was there for about fifteen minutes fishing, when I noticed something... It was freaking HOT! I took off my shirt to help cool me down, and that worked for a bit. A few casts later... I get a bite! It was a fighter, he kept rocking the line back and forth! This was interesting! It's been so long since I've done any good fishing. After about a minute of jacking the reel back and letting loose some slack, I finally manage to pull it in. But when I do, I'm disappointed. I hold this measly thing up by the mouth after i get it off the hook. Here I was, hoping for a huge prize catch, I would barely call this thing a fish. More like a guppy, in fact it's more like a... a... actually... what was I looking at? It was a fish, but it was probably the weirdest fish I've ever seen. I took a moment to consider the possibility that I live near a toxic waste dump. This was an ugly fish. It was strange, it's eyes were odd. It's pupils were completely red and the irises were a pale yellow. The oddities didn't stop there. Was this thing, breathing? Now that I think about it, I didn't see any gills. And on it's dorsal fin, is that? Hair? What in the world? The more I looked at it, the less it began to look like a fish, it looked... It looked like madness. It looked like chaos had taken this fish, chewed it up and spit it out. One last thing I noticed. It had a tooth. Just one tooth cocked to one side of its mouth. Keep in mind, I was holding this thing... by the mouth. I noticed this a second too late. It clamped down for an instant, I flick my wrist in pain causing the freak-fish to flop onto the deck. As it flopped back into the water, I swore this thing smiled at me. Nah, couldn't have. After I regain my bearings from this weird experience I look down at my thumb where I got bit. Hmm.. That's odd, it didn't even draw blood. That's when I get a stupid idea. Despite the fact that I just threw the weirdest freak of nature since big foot back into the water, I decide to go for a swim. We have a tradition around our house, once the final snow of winter melts and it starts to warm up, we jump in! I may have been alone, but the water was calling my name! I took off my shoes and set them next to my bag on the dock. I get a good running start, and jump! The water felt awesome! Not too warm. Not too cold. It was perfect! Spring at its finest. After taking a bit to cool off, I decide to actually give myself a workout. I look to the other side of the pond. I began to swim, after about three laps down and back, I was fairly winded and my arms were tired from the swim. I take a moment to breathe by the dock and check the time. It was about 5 o'clock, my mom and the girls should be back soon. I decide to take one more easy lap before I head back inside. I swim out a couple feet and noticed something, strange... I swore I was able to touch here a minute ago. I looked down, the water was pretty murky, as usual. I take a breath and shoot downward like a pencil in attempt to find the bottom. I went down a ways, I couldn't find it! I reemerged at the surface and swam over to the dock to hop out. I knew I was going to need my goggles for this. I ran up to the shed where we kept our swim stuff and grabbed a pair. After I put them on, I headed back down to the dock. I found the mystery drop off still where I left it. I swam over the top of the pit and take one last look back at the dock, one last look back at my yard, one last look at the place I call home… I take a huge breath and take the plunge, for a while it's dark. I can't see much more than my hands swimming in front of me. But after about 15 seconds of swimming downward It begins to clear up. I still couldn't see much. I was no longer murky, but there wasn't much to see. Wait what was that? A shape darts across my peripheral, I take a second to look at it. Was that the same fish I just? Before I could even finish the question it was gone again. I was alone in the water. After a couple more seconds I decided I was overdue for oxygen and I should probably head back up soon. That's when something horrible hits me, I've lost track of up and down. I searched frantically for some sense of bearing to which way is up! I see nothing but black water around me! My lungs began to scream for air. Suddenly an unnatural current hit me, pulling me in all sorts of crazy directions causing me to spin wildly. After a few seconds of sheer terror, I regain control of myself, and that's when I see it! The surface! I swim as hard a I can to the top. I'm starting to get tunnel vision. This can't be how I go! Not here! Not now! My whole world begins to fade to black. All I can focus on is struggling for the top. I can see the light! I'm so close! As I break the surface lungs gasping for air, I struggle to the sandbar. I reach it, legs still sitting in the water. Face down to the ground. Though I was now out of the water, my body began to tremble as adrenaline drained from my veins. Though it was only for a few seconds my body went into a state of minor shock. As fatigue overtook me and I began to lose consciousness, I swore I hear someone, or something laughing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up with a start, the swim goggles were still over my eyes. With a great amount of effort I pulled them off. I took this time lying on my back to do a maintenance scan. Am I still breathing? Check. Am I missing any limbs? All have reported and been accounted for. Do I still have shorts on? Oddly... yes. How long was I out? My clothes were still wet, so it can't have been that long. After I finish my self-diagnostics test, I stand up and get a bearing of my surroundings. My first few steps were a little wobbly but I managed to get to my feet. I look around, where in the world am I? I was standing next to a small pool of water. I had to take a moment to register what I was seeing, because now, instead of my back yard, I was in a large, open room. It almost was like something out of National Geographic, I was standing in a large cave expanse. Am I underground? There was water dripping down from the ceiling. I must be. There is a large ramp like structure leading up to what looks like an opening. I look to my left and oddly enough. I see my duffle bag and fishing rod laying in the sand next to me. Were these there before? Surely they weren't. Maybe they fell in after I went under? Only problem with that theory was that they were both completely dry, whilst I was sopping wet. Someone must've put these here. But who? I didn't have answers, I barely had the energy to ask the questions. I took the opportunity to change out of my wet shorts and into my dry set of clothes from earlier today. As I change, I hear nothing but the dripping of water and rustling of jeans. But... After a while I couldn't help but feel a sense of paranoia set in. Something about this place was off setting. It was in some sort of cave system. The only problem was, if this was real. Then I was miles upon miles away from home. Cave state was a good hundred miles south east of my position in Indiana. But the worst part of all of this... Was someone watching me? I got the feeling that you get when you are in a dark room in the dead of the night. The chill that runs down your spine as you feel an eerie presence creep up behind you, yet when you turn there is nothing. I look around, see no one. But soon, I begin to hear something very faint, like whispers. They slowly grew louder. Chills began to run down my spine. They seemed to be coming from the water... I must be going crazy... I edge closer to the water to see if I'm nuts or not. I lean down really close, ear almost to the water. The whispers stop. Dead silence. An uncomfortable silence... Then, in my ear... I hear one single, solitary word… "Fuuuuunnnnn.....?" "OKAY! That's enough exploring for me!" I shouted to no one as I scrambled away from the pool with what sanity I had left. I quickly laced up my shoes, grabbed my bag and proceeded up the ramp that seemed to lead out of the cavern I was in. When I get to the top, I found the exit blocked by a large boulder. I headed back down the trail to try and find another exit. I reach the bottom and almost am freaked out. I see a tunnel headed just the other direction. Call me crazy but I swear it wasn't there before. Despite every one of my senses telling me "No" I followed the tunnel anyway. The tunnel led me into a forest. A deep forest, I can't see a tree line anywhere. The Sun was low in the sky and I knew it would set in at least an hour or two. I didn't want to be stuck in a forest at night, let alone this forest. The forest really wasn't much of a pretty sight. Thorns and underbrush everywhere. I looked around for any sense of direction. After a minute of investigating I find a game trail. For those that don't know, a game trail is hunting terms for where animals beat paths into the undergrowth from frequent travel. I chose to follow because, with the Sun on the verge of setting I don't have much anywhere else to go. I begin to set off on my journey. For a while not much happened, however the Sun was going lower with each passing minute and I was getting farther and farther from my original position. I was extremely tired, wet, and bored for the majority of the hike. What I did find interesting were the prints that lined this little trail. They weren't like regular animals, they were odd. The print shapes were very circular, almost like a horses hoof, but not like a horseshoe, it didn't stick into the ground the same way. It treaded lightly. Its hoof hit the ground softer. The way this animal or rather these animals moved were different. The tracks were all in groups of four, they all converged in the same spot along the trail. As if whatever it was, was... Bouncing? I thought about it the whole time. What kind of animal that presumed size moves in that way? There seemed to be many more questions than answers on my little plight. For a moment I thought I could use my phone to call for help but as I pulled it out, I noticed that there was no signal. It didn't surprise me as it appeared I was in the middle of nowhere. It's half past dark as hell now, and after I grumbled and turned my phone back off to save battery, I looked up and saw something miraculous! A clearing in the trees! I was finally out of that God-forsaken forest! In the distance I saw a town that I didn't recognize. It was small and the lights were all out, the people must've went to bed. It's probably pretty late. It was a spring night, and it had been dark for a good while now. I'd guess around 10- 11? I had already turned my phone off, didn't feel like checking again. I hobbled into town, dead tired. It's quiet. Well, it's to be expected. It's nighttime after all. I wander a bit and find what I think is a town hall. There's a bench just in front of it. I decide that getting home will be tomorrow's task. I'm in unfamiliar territory with no one to ask for directions from. The next course of action is to get some shut eye... On this park bench, in front of a town hall, in a town I've never seen before in my life now that I think about it. This isn't any town I've ever been in before. And I couldn't have walked TOO awfully far tonight. I tried to tell myself a few jokes in order to quell the panic that was beginning to set up shop in my mind. How did I get here? Where is here? "Oh well," I say to myself before I can get too worried to sleep. I swaddle myself in an extra sweatshirt from my bag, "that's tomorrow's problem." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------(Present) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "One of the last things I remember thinking before I drifted off to dreamland, Doc..." "What was that?" Asked the psyciatrist pony "What's wrong with the moon?"