(27)
“Where... where am I?”
Zachary was unsure as to where he was and terribly afraid. He floated in a realm of endless light–he ventured forward with no sense of direction or space. He wasn’t fearful of where he was, but was afraid for his condition of existence or lack of it. He soon realized, (or thought he realized) where he was. The light washed around him slowly as he made his way out of a cloud. He seemed suspended in a blue sky with great cumulus clouds floating around him. Near the edge of his sight, the clouds appeared to be mountains that stretched upward and beyond, greater than any range of mountains he had ever seen. The great blue sky was all around, even below him there was no land, but sky alone. No sun could be perceived, yet its light and warmth filled the atmosphere equally without its aid. So he drifted along the great clouds through an endless, tranquil and silent sky.
From the clouds before him came another creature, a small thing like an insect. As it flew closer towards Zachary, the insect grew in size until it was massive. Though this was no insect and bug of any kind, this was a mighty dragon who flew before Zachary in a slow flight that at any other time would never hold the great beast afloat. The monster that came before Zachary with razor sharp claws and teeth, and a body that could crush his life out, flew before him with wings slowly flapping. Zack was not afraid, for this was Om.
He asked the dragon, “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, or where I’m at. You seem familiar, yet unfamiliar. This all does, or at least I think it does. It feels as if I’ve lived another life with all of its memories and feelings and pains and such, but I know for a conscious fact that it’s not real... or at least I don’t think it is. The only real, last memory I have is the memory of me putting a gun to my head–which begs the question as to if I’m dead or not. So, going back to my first question: Where am I?”
Om answered in his ancient tone, “This place is not a place, but it has many names–yet no location. Some call this heaven, others hell. A place where gods and mortals and everything everywhere comes to stay and never return. All here are equal without hierarchy. A place where evil is not evil and good is not good. This realm is a void of nonexistence which fills itself with the nature of your mind. Between life and death, between truth and falsehood, between everything and nothing, you are here with me.”
“Am I dead?”
“Not so much as I am a dragon.” Om went on to clarify, “You have come from your own mind and soon are about to partake in life again. You are only what you use to be, so you must act quickly to insure the fate of the dimensions and time.”
“I’m sorry,” Zachary interrupted, “So all of these fantasies I’ve had about ponies and such... they’re real?”
“Real as one of yours can perceive.”
“...You’re lying.”
“Being 'real' is nothing more than believing in such an existence. There is no true way to prove what is real and what existence truly is. Me and you are as real as you perceive me and you to be. I am not one to question existence, but you may be able to, if you can understand it.” Zachary wondered in silence before talking again.
“How can I stop Discord,” he asked.
“The Prince will take a new body again and again if you destroy his physical form alone. The only way to stop him is to change him entirely. Bring about harmony inside of him, and he will ascend to this place eternally. The Prevailer cannot kill him alone. Infuse the Elements with the blade, forge the Everlasting. You will know how to do this when the time comes, Zachary.” Zack looked about, wondering what would happen next.
He turned his gaze towards Om and asked, “I’m not really sure who I am anymore, Om. I’m not sure what is... and what isn’t, and if any of this really matters. I’m not sure if my life is worth anything, or if it’s being written as I speak, or even if I have a say in all of this, whatever this is. I guess what I’m trying to say is, what is my life? Is it worth living?”
“Whatever life is, Zachary, the one who created such an existence has a humor that I cannot fathom. To create such a meaning and limiting mind in all things that cannot perceive what is what seems self destructive. Knowledge is not a freedom we experience but a tool we must pay for with time. And even then we cannot know all that we are capable of. We must fool ourselves into such things as beliefs and morals, for better or worse we cannot comprehend, though in hindsight nothing really matters. But I believe–with perhaps falsehood–that one must live for what living is worth, and that we cannot go forward until we complete such lives and go onward. That is the knowledge that truly matters. That is knowledge that matters to all things and what governs all things. Everything is worth something, but what worth you put on anything is your choice.” Zack blinked and looked away from the dragon. He soaked in the words as best as he could, making sense of what all Om said.
The human concluded, “Reality is what you make it...” He looked up at Om and said, “I think it’s time to go now.”
“The time to leave has been now for quite some time.”
“Um, yes. I suppose so.”
The transition commenced and Zachary had traveled back to reality from the unknown.