//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 Roads Left Untread // Story: A New Beginning // by Falinov //------------------------------// Chapter 7:Roads Left Untread "Ok, Ok, Twilight! Quit pushing me will ya'? Why are we in such a hurry?" I stumble a little as the eager unicorn keeps hustling me along making me trip more times than I care to count. "I thought you said you were a guard. Quit asking questions all you need to know is we have somewhere to be, and it’s not polite to be late." she gives me a disapproving frown. "Fine! AND I WASN’T A GUARD I was a goddamn Marine- and at least tell me why the hell it has to be now..." "Because I distinctly remember you said you didn't want to be seen; did you not say this?" ‘Damn my mouth.’ I sigh in defeat "Yes, but even I have limits here Twilight! It’s bad enough I get little sleep as it is..." I groan in protest. My turn my watch on look at the time, which reads 0110 (1:10 A.M). "Well, we are almost there and then you get to rest for a while." "Sounds good... Sooner the better." I sigh at the thought of sitting down, It wasn’t long before she stops me in the middle of a field. "We're here." she says quietly. "Uh, where exactly is "here" all I see is a field." I take this as my time to sit down next to her. "Shh" "W-" "SHHH" she looks at me, gesturing to her ear, I quiet myself and listen. As silence takes hold I begin to understand why she was silencing me, I begin to hear the sounds of something rustling in the tall grass. It wasn't until I heard whomever it was tap a rock with something metallic, it wasn't long before I hear her voice again. "How art thou this fine evening, Twilight Sparkle. " Luna comes from the tall grass her mane fluttering in a non-existent wind, she looks at me with a smile one I'm cautious to return. "I'm doing good Luna! I brought him here as you and Celestia requested." she gestures to me and I look at them both. "Excellent, thou hast our Gramercy." she gives what appears to be a smile, though I can't exactly make it out of her dark fur. "You two really need to enlighten me here; What do you need me for what could I possibly have that I could offer you?" "We doth not need thou. We instead, hast something for thou but we wilt take thou to Canterlot." "Okay, rephrase that- Why something for me in particular?" "We shall dilate when we arrive. " "I don't even know where Canterlot is your Highness... how do you expect me to get there?" "We are assuming you know nothing of teleportation?" "You've assumed correctly!" I give a faint laugh a hint of nervousness audible in my voice. "Well, you might feel a bit of discomfort the first time." Twilight gives a very sheepish smile almost guiltily my eyes shrink to pinpricks. "Oh well, at least you're honest, but I'm still not moving." I cross my arms and behind me I hear twilight groan. "You are starting to sound like Spike...No matter you wont have to move to be teleported." "OH HELLS N-" I get cut off and begin to feel a very strange sensation, like being compressed into a straw in the most uncomfortable way possible; less than a minute immediately it feels being slammed into a brick wall at 1000 MPH… “No…” I finish my sentence realizing Twilight isn’t in front of me, I stop, turn around to see behind are the gates of a massive castle. My eyes trail all the way backwards to see the tallest spire with the moon behind it sending shivers down my spine. Realizing I was leaning beyond a safe point I collapse and fall on my back, knocking the wind out of me briefly. Turning my head around I can see a long wall leading around me as a grand entrance next to a draw bridge that crosses a stream the water flowing from the mountain. looking the opposite direction I find Luna standing above me with a victorious grin. "Ye are rather amusing tonight.” she covers her mouth with a silver hoof and giggles. "Glad I am entertaining you..." I sarcastically reply, getting back on my feet I brush the dust and dirt that is attached to my back. "Where are we exactly?” I look back at the castle, which is only half lit...My best guess being that it’s dark and most of the staff is asleep or gone home. "We art currently outside the walls of Canterlot Castle, we wilt make haste if we art to speak to mine sister before she falls asleep." She begins to walk towards the entrance of the castle, which is emblazoned with Gold and Blue with Lunas mark and what I can only assume is her sisters. “Sister? You mean Princess Celestia?” I pace alongside her ethereal mane still billowing in the breeze. “Indeed. She is quite eager to meet thou.” she looks at me with a slight grin this time the moon reveals her smile. We approach the gate which opens, immediately eight guards flanks both sides of it standing at attention, spears pointed skywards. Some of the guards eying me- yet another look I know all too well, the uncertainty of the situation. As I follow her into what appears to be the grand staircase and up the stairs appears to be a room for events, perhaps something similar to a ballroom, maybe a throne room. Another corridor later I can see a room dedicated to serving mass quantities of food to guards in this massive castle, passing the cafeteria by into yet another corridor and with each passing another group of guard it didn't take long for me to almost feel them burning a hole in the back of my head as we pass. Luckily Luna turns to a massive oak ornate door encrusted with a book at the center of it. I look at Luna, who now has her eyes closed her horn glowing- I look back at the door and I can hear various gears turning and squealing in protest followed by a massive thudding noise of the doors opening inward allowing access to a massive library, quite possibly the largest I have ever seen and that's a short list of libraries. "I shall go to my sister to make sure she is awake." Her maroon eyes glimmer from a window that is allowing moon light. "Okay... just leave me in a library that looks like someone could get lost in forever." she gives me a slight giggle and departs. 'Yep, that figures...' As anticipated I begin to walk around exploring the various dust covered books that were in range as I reach for a particularly thick one I hear the sound of hoof steps, but they aren't Luna's at least that's what I'm hoping... instead an older pony walks by me and looks at the bookshelf behind a desk. 'We aren't Canterlot Archives but we do have some information.' Spike's words reverberating through my head as curiosity gets the best of me and I walk up behind her and tap her on what I'm hoping is her shoulder. "Hmm, yes, how can I h-" she stops briefly "help you?" "Is this Canterlot Archives?" I look at her calmly as not to frighten the librarian. "Uh- hrmph," she clears her throat. "Why yes it is, it is home to the most extensive collection of knowledge on the planet anywhere." She proudly states as she straightens her posture. "I am Madam Cosworth- the knowledge keeper of this library." She smiles and adjusts the glasses on her muzzle. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Madam Cosworth-" she raises a hoof to stop me. "Please call me Cosworth." She gives a soft motherly smile. "Very well, it is a pleasure to meet you." I return the friendly gesture. "How I may be of assistance." She looks up at me waiting to hear my request. "This library wouldn't happen to have any books about humans, would it?" I ask politely as she puts her hoof to her chin. "Quite an odd request. We might just have something somewhere in here." she begins heading for a large cabinet, she begins to scan the letters till she finds the letter H. As I should've expected, she pulls the drawer to have seemingly endless cards however I didn't expect her to scan through them so quickly. "Ah! Here we go," she holds a card in a almost translucent teal aurora. "Section M Row 1038, quite far back, Mythological Creatures of the Birth Age by StarSwirl the Bearded." "Would you mind helping me find it?" My face almost pleading for help. "It would be my pleasure." she begins leading me down many series of rows upon rows of books eventually she breaks the silence. "So, why are you looking for this information on long dead civilization?" She looks over her shoulder at me. "Apparently it isn't as dead as you think." I say with an almost bitterness in my voice. "There's no way you are a human." She shakes her head in disbelief laughing all the while. "Then I don't know what to tell you, but if I can prove it- then what." "There isn't any way to prove it." She laughs at me as if I'm an idiot. 'Some ancient tomes were written with these characters, but I don’t think anypony has yet to figure what they meant.' "What if I translated a document and you saw it?" "Then I'd eat my hat." She laughs as she continues to scan the bookshelves. We reach Section M and begin going down it or should I say up row 1030, she stops and looks up and above us is 1038 and of course it is on one of the highest shelves they could've put it on. "Ah- there it is!" she says and soon enough she levitates it down to my level. "Thanks!" I take it and blow the dust off. "Not a problem- take care, human." she winks at me leaving me to read the huge tome in my hands. Luckily the library is full of ready to light lanterns on the shelves grabbing one off a nearby hangar, I twist the knob it lights immediately shedding dim light on the book. Despite the obviousness of the light being next to useless I imagine it is for the safety of the texts. 'Okay, lets’ see here...' I crack the book open to what looks like a glossary translating it rather slowly. 'Manticores, no' 'Changelings, no...' 'Sea creatures - Interesting, but still no...' 'H....ah-ha! Here we go Humans.' "An old legend of a being, smart if not smarter, than some ponies in their time. Consisting of 4 limbs they stood upright and balanced perfectly. Unlike ponies they possessed no special abilities like unicorns or Pegasi- however, similar to that of an earth pony and some cases physical strength can be observed. I continue to scan the pages. 'The last known account of a human was nearly 40 years ago in the year 2054' "So it wasn't a lie..." I put my hands to my head, pushing my hair back in disbelief. "I can't believe this...." I sigh. "Can not believe what?" I jump from seat in surprise to see Luna with two armored guard ponies. "Did you have to sneak up on me?" I frown in mock annoyance once more. "We doth apologize, we did not cullionly to scare thou.," she appears to be smiling like a child. Cutting straight to the chase I deadpan at her; no emotion on my face. "So- I'm assuming your sister wants a word." I gesture to the two guards who remain motionless. "She is most excited to meet thou, marry! shall we depart?" I simply nod quickly snatching the book the librarian helped me find. Turning around I see she has already started to walk away, moving quickly as possible I stow the book half in my pocket and half in my shirt. Hustling along I catch up to her and her guards both looking as stoic as the other. After a fairly long walk down to many corridors to keep track of we finally arrive at a set of double golden doors with a sun crest in the middle. As we arrive the two guards take their positions to the sides and pull the door open slowly. Luna gestures for me to enter I step in front of her into the massive room behind the doors, the doors slowly close with a slight thudding noise behind us, however, it is quite a sudden change from barren hallways to a really well furnished bedroom. I stop in the middle of the room Luna gestures for me to take a seat. She walks beside me and lays on a nearby pillow next to a fireplace I didn't even bother to notice. Taking Fnote of Luna in a well lit room, I sit beside her looking at her midnight blue fur and her mane still fluttering in the nonexistent breeze. 'Huh, the last thing I thought I'd say about a pony, but you are rather pretty.' I smile and look around the room only to return my gaze to Luna who is now staring at me with a grin and a slight blush. "Thank thou for the compliment." Immediately I turn bright red. "Y-you heard?" She nods slowly; my heart immediately sinking to my feet. "Yaaayyyy" I half heartedly say probably looking sick. A moment later another door in the room opens to reveal an extremely tall, elegant looking pony with magenta eyes that could pierce the toughest of souls; she approaches Luna and sits beside her, not taking her eyes off of me. "Tia I present the human. This is my sister Celestia." Celestia looks from Luna and back at me sending a slight chill rocketing down my back. "It is an incredible stroke of luck to meet you!" Celestia looks at me with an almost motherly smile on her muzzle. "So what is your name?" she moves in front of me with the same smile.I look at Luna and back at Celestia; hesitantly I clear my throat. "Austin, your Highness." I attempt to stand up and bow, but she places a hoof on my leg before I can do so. "Please- there is no reason for the formalities; if at all I should be addressing you in that way." I give her a look of genuine confusion. "Might I ask why?" "Luna and myself saw the last of the humans before they all became extinct, this planet was your home before us- we are inclined to respect your wishes all things considered." She explains this in such a way that amplifies my guilt, I look at Luna who seems to have picked up on this. "Respectfully, I must decline. This planet is now the home of your subjects. Don't change your world over one human.," I give her the most reassuring smile I can give. "If it is all the same it is a pleasure and an honor to meet both of you personally." I adjust my position next to Luna pulling a nearby pillow under me. "The honor is all mine" Celestia gives a soft laugh. Cutting straight to the supposed reason they had me transported here. "Luna tells me you have something you wish to show me?" "I do something you might be able to make sense of" She stands straight up, towering at the very least 6ft 8, she turns around and walks towards what appears to be a closet, turning on a light inside she gestures for me to follow her in- hesitantly I get up and walk towards her. Doing so quietly she gestures me to follow her with her wing occasionally looking back at me; she stops next to a small safe. Unlike normal safe, there's no dials instead her horn, lights up and she taps the safe which clicks instantly. She gestures for me to open the safe I move the door to reveal a small tiny wooden case, I close the safe which clicks back into its locked position. "The contents of this box have been preserved for 2000 years to this day- and have not been opened since the owner of these documents made us swear to keep them safe and if another human arrived to read them." Celestia walks past me towards Luna who is now slightly closer to the fireplace her eyes closed and wings extended.F "What would you like me to do with these? Just want me to read them since you think they have something to do with my race?" I follow after her. "I am not quite certain. The owner never told us what was held within the pages since it wasn't our own language." she gives me a very serious look now. "Well- alright then..." I take a seat between the two princesses adjusting my position slightly. Sighing aloud, I begin unlatching the brass latches on the ornate case, being very careful not to ruin the case. Opening the case I look to see a perfectly preserved leather diary on its front cover are two English letters S-M I slowly take it out being sure to not damage it. I look at it carefully and look at Celestia who gently nods to me. I unbutton the latch keeping the diary sealed tight; hesitantly I look around at the room and back the diary I open it to reveal an extremely faded name...one I haven't seen since the disaster. My eyes widen at the sight in front of me written in plain English. "Stavo McGillan!?" I blink rapidly in disbelief; there right beside his name is the faded out date. "2051, 05, 15:34" I look at the page next to the date to see a whole entry a year after the explosion. “So…? Are you able to read it?” Celestia asks in an almost solemn tone. "This isn’t just any old diary,” I begin to choke on my own words as a single tear runs from my eye. “It’s a diary from one of my best friends, H-he survived...." I begin to sob, realizing how much a mistake I made when I sealed myself away. "We brought thou hither to ask thou to translate it. The beginning of this week and much observation over thou, mine sister and I determined 'twas safe to approach thou and endue thou hither. We, however didn't know he was thy friend." Luna looks to Celestia who has a sympathetic saddened look on her muzzle. Using my wrist I wipe out the excess tears from my eye and inhale some fresh oxygen looking at the fireplace I prepare to tell them. "He was an old high school friend, and a squad mate in my company." I look at my fallen friend’s diary in my hands a white hoof moves within my view to see Celestia smiling softly, her look expressing hope and pure genuine kindness. “If you do not want to read this with an audience, we will respect your decision.” “I think it’s time I told the story of what happened from his perspective and my own…” Celestia nods and continues to listen. I inhale as I open the first scribbled entry- sloppily written, most likely written in fear and haste. <><><><><>The Entries of A Fallen Soldier and Friend.<><><><><> Day 8 “Dear diary, It has been a bit more than a week after the first impact about 30 miles NE- near the city, shit has gone to hell out here as well, the power grid failed and water cut off a day ago. So far finding survivors to bring back home with me hasn't turned up any good results today. To be perfectly- honest not sure how I'm even alive; Fuck, I don't know why I'm bothering trying any sort of rescue efforts if the cold from nuclear fallout doesn't kill us, the radiation will. Either way we'll see if I survive long enough to write again tomorrow.” <><><><><><><><><><> Day 9 “Dear diary, This day hasn't brought me any good fortune, than the yesterday, Today I came across a half destroyed house, without knowing better I broke the door down only to find the room exposed in the corner a dead woman in her final moments curled in a ball with blankets around her. In respect, I pulled the blanket over her face and said a prayer. God rest her soul and may she rest in your company now.” <><><><><><><><><><> Day 19 “Dear diary, So far this week I have plotted a course that will take me back to each of my squad mates homes, Acquired a map earlier this week- still in good condition for me to locate each area...I already crossed off two locations of my fellow squad mates that were in the city. Only two more to check Austin and Mav, hoping they survived, but I don’t expect anything good anymore at this rate. Oh, and one last thing before I leave this entry, I made it back to the F.O.B; it appears I was a little late someone had raided the place from the cuts in the weapons cache it was less than a week before I arrived.” <><><><><><><><><><> Day 21 “Dear diary, Misfortune should be my name- I made it back towards Austins place; No signs of him being alive or around the vicinity- no visible traces of him, it's as if he disappeared from the planet. After a while I gave up the search commandeered his SUV in the driveway- found it didn't have a battery though, most likely stolen or looted by a survivor or him. I had to double back and a mile and get a new one. It beats walking for sure. As for survivors; no one yet; seems like every time I arrive they died the day before, poor bastards.” <><><><><><><><><><> Day 22 "Dear diary, Tonight on my return trip home I searched a few homes and found a survivor today but she's in terrible condition.I loaded her into the SUV and moved her home according to the dash clock it’s close to midnight any longer she would’ve died. A closer exam of her leg when I brought her to my house revealed deep lacerations to her legs and shards of imbedded glass in her hip, most likely from collapsing on top of it. Her fingers are bluish purple from frost bite she might lose her fingers- hopefully this isn't the case at the very least she's going to lose feeling in those extremities- She is truly lucky to be alive. For now staying warm.” <><><><><><><><><><> Day 55 “Dear diary, It has been about a month since the disaster; since then I have managed to find three lucky people who survived the nuclear blizzards luckily for the past week now weather had been clearing up. A week ago I came across an older man who was severely burned, I went to cover his face since I thought he was dead. I approached him and he immediately began moving, how the man had survived this long is a mystery to me. He placed his burned hand on my arm and asked me for water, at the time I didn't have any. It was twenty minutes later he stopped breathing, his eyes wide open. Being honorable I closed his eyes, It wasn't till this night I figured out the burns weren't normal burns they were radiation burns. In other words… it means without proper protection my time on this planet is limited. I was most likely contaminated. For as long as I breath I will try my best to round survivors up and keep this planet going." <><><><><><><><><><> Year 2 “Dear diary, It's been a very long time since I picked up my diary and spent time writing, almost two years have passed, its almost January and so far we have gathered enough supplies to hold through winter. Nuclear ash cleared out and some things have improved- to an extent anyways… Unfortunately, my radiation sickness has started to take its toll on me. Turns out I was barely overexposed to radiation. This means my condition is fatal...I've had my panic attacks already, but the doctor we found says it will be very painful without proper medication. He says I may not have more than a year to live maximum. Onto other news the girl I rescued, had also been hit with radiation poisoning, but she's got less time than me; as it turns out we are all going to eventually perish. In other news we have gathered a handful of survivors this month alone. Some in better shape than the next. Until next time...if there is another time for me to write that is.” <><><><><><><><><><> Flipping the page to the very end, I open the last entry. Wiping the fallen tears from my face both princesses on the verge of crying aloud, Celestia now realizes the horrible reality of the planet before she arrived seems to have caught up with them both. Looking at the final entry it's scribbled down sloppily unlike the other entries. <><><><><><><><><><> Year 3 “D-Deear diary, Three long years after the disaster, my condition has indeed gotten worse as the doctor said it would. Even now moving my arm to write is killing me. Boils and rashes have become uncontrollable as my body literally falls apart. But I write this doc because I feel I should clear up my life before it ends. I would like to apologize for any wrong I have committed, everything I have ever done in my life that was wrongfully done... With that said... The girl I rescued all those years ago passed away two months ago, at her request she was injected with a high dosage of morphine that we had commandeered from a ruined hospital West of us. To this day I cry over her loss she became my best friend- for the longest time I loved her. Perhaps I will see her again soon. As for the remaining survivors in various conditions have also agreed to a morphine injection once the pain becomes too unbearable. Meaning as far as I know the human race will be all but gone within a month of my passing. However, in the darkest hours, a massive beam of light shot through the sky and delivered two alien beings, oddly enough, they resembled that of Pegasus from Greek mythology- oddly enough they speak English as well. Even as I write this they sit beside me trying to help me. After I finish this entry I will turn this diary over to them to keep safe. All I have to say now is, if anyone who reads this; please know that I tried my hardest to keep the human race going as long as possible." <><><><><><><><><><> "I left him... He thought I was dead... I didn't wait long enough to save him and could've done something about it." I begin to cry tears of anger and regret. Celestia puts her hoof on my shoulder. "He was courageous, when he was fading out he handed that diary to me and made me promise to keep it safe." "What do you remember about him after that entry?" I sob from the harsh reality, Luna's face imbedded into the pillow under her crying her eyes out. "He told us to keep the other humans company asking us to leave him be for a while; I offered my assistance to one of the humans in the makeshift camp; only two humans were able to stand and attend to the sick." "What. Happened. After..." My voice beginning to become hoarse. "Three were already- dead... covered with blankets, it wasn't for another day that the bedridden humans were dead as well. Your friend said he didn't agree to be injected with that morphine poison that was being used to put them out of their misery." "He waited for them all to go before he ended it himself." I mumble realizing that he was the last true human to survive. "When Luna and I came back we had found the two humans who were attending to the sick had also done the same treatment before discovering that your friend died in his sleep. With respect, we buried them under a large tree within the area." Luna is crying more than myself and Celestia's eyes are now red from crying herself. Noticing her sister heaped into a pile; she takes Luna into her hooves and embraces her attempting to silence her tears. "Luna was friends with the last of the humans, when they died it was a while before anyone else arrived to this planet to begin habiting it." "Where are they buried now?" "As it stands they are buried in the gardens of the first castle. It has been a while since we have visited them." The room falls into an awkward silence except a whimper from Luna. "Even after all these years you kept Stavos promise...thank you; both of you." I close the diary and return it to its case. Once I wrap it up I push it toward Celestia who gently slides it back. "He was your friend. It would mean more for you to keep it." Celestia gives a smile as Luna uses her hoof to clear the tears from her eyes. "Is there anything else either of you need from me?" Luna stands up shakily recovering her regal posture. "Before thou leave. We would like to tender thou a place to stay the night." Celestia smiles and shakes her head in agreement. Both princesses look at me with red eyes and smiles. "I guess will stay a night; but only a night.," I quickly add "Tomorrow I really need to return to Ponyville and sort things out with the townsfolk. My time there this week alone Twilight and a couple of her friends have made my stay more bearable; as well as more normal to me." I put the diary case under my arm. "I understand, I will arrange for you to be transported back to Ponyville; I will have one of my guards escort you to your room in the eastern wing." I nod. Luna on the other hand/hoof chimes in. "Actually... Sister I wouldn't mind showing him where to stay." She stretches her body in virtually every direction. "Heh, if you insist Luna. Thank you Austin for coming it truly means a lot to us." ‘As if I had a choice.’ Knowing she can now listen in on my thoughts I wink at Luna who turns a dark shade of red. “It was my pleasure, though you should thank Twilight.” I bow respectfully in which she waves goodbye, the now flushed night princess leads me out of Celestias chambers into the maze of the castle. As we walk down the many corridors of the castle I notice Luna keeps staring at me in from the corner of my eye. "Something wrong?" I ask and she keeps her face forward avoiding eye contact. "Hmmm? Nothing at all" she stops for a moment. She looks at me and makes to ask me a question, but stops halfway and returns to walking. "Uh-huh...You sure? You've been staring at me the entire walk." "We art just still curious is all." We turn down a long narrow hallway. "About?" I look at her. "How thou survived." This time it is my turn to think of a reasonable answer for the moon princess. "Twilight asked me the same thing. I can't lie about it either, I was an idiot and that combined with fear I made a very bad decision- well half bad and half good. I couldn't be more happy to be here now talking to you, and have the friends I have now in this world." She giggles and stops at a room about halfway down the hallway. Opening the door she enters the room, gesturing for me to follow, I walk in to see the room is extremely large and very open. One end of the room has a king sized bed, next to it a walk in closet and on the other end of the room is a bathroom, I can't even see how large that is. "Certainly a step up from a concrete bunker more than thirty feet under." I give a rather cheeky smile. In the corner of the room Luna is writing a letter and occasionally glancing at me admiring the room, with a flash she sends the letter. "We hast stationed two royal guards, they will take thou, whence thou need to go." She turns and begins to leave the room; for the briefest of moments I want to thank her- the other side of me disagrees. Before I can make a decision she has already closed the door and I breath a sigh of relief. Seeing nothing else to do Looking at the wooden diary case in my hand that Celestia had given me, I set it on a nearby table and dig out the book I had borrowed from the archive opening to the part about humans I set it down on the bed for later. To satisfy my overall curiosity, I enter the bathroom, which to my surprise is even larger than I expected. In the corner is a full size mirror, my curiosity at its peak I walk closer I see my face for the first time in two millennia. As I look at the mirror, I find I’m a battered wreck my nose still bruised, my face scarred, one scar less than an inch from my left eye from when I was younger. Hair unkempt and extremely long my face has grown a slight beard. I am far from what I looked like before things took the turn for the worst- and that is putting it lightly. ‘Could be worse… So much worse.’ I think to myself as I run my hands across my scar above my eye after a long look at myself, I walk over to the gigantic shower to start the water. The size of this shower is at least three times the size the average shower, stepping into the shower, I look behind me to see it is fully stocked with various soaps, shampoo’s, conditioners. Now that I can read the basic equestrian language I wash myself with the proper soaps. After 20 or so minutes I get out and wrap a towel around my waist, grabbing my clothes from the floor I walk into the main room and put my old clothes back on having nothing else to wear (wishing I could have a brand new pair of underwear…). Shrugging at the thought I put them back on; considering my entire life, I have definitely worn worse… Still better than being naked; Throwing the towel over the edge of the bed I grab the book I left out previously left out and hop in the bed and begin reading It didn't take long for me to begin feeling drowsy as my eyes slide closed as blackness envelops me. <><><><><>Dreams of a Mad man<><><><><> “That which is dreamed can never be lost, can never be undreamed.” – Neil Gaiman. <><><><><><><><><><> I put my hands to my face and blink to see a bright light and the silhouette of a person standing over me quietly, I blink again and sit up. “W-who are you?” I stand up behind the figure. “Have you forgotten what I look like already?” I dark and raspy voice speaks up as it turns to face me; instantly I recognize the voice belongs to Stavo’s. “Wha… No, it can't be you, I read it in your diary…” I begin to step away from him slowly and he approaches me menacingly. “What are you talking About? I’m right here.” he approaches me and I back up a little more this time slightly quicker about ready to cut and run for it. “N-No...You can’t- AREN’T you died three years after the planet was annihilated you can’t be here. Therefore, this is a dream and you will just... disappear.” I blink and open my eyes to see he’s right in front of me at the same time I fall backwards in shock causing him to laugh maniacally. “Ah man. Tsk tsk, Austin you know that’s just like you- Always in denial of everything. Need I remind you “forgot” all those people you left behind to die slowly.” He turns away from me a huge evil smirk on his face. “I didn’t mea-” he cuts me off making me flinch as I get back to my feet. “Ohhhhh, that’s lovely you just didn’t mean to leave us to die slowly, I totally believe you.,” He rolls his eyes and continues on pacing around me. “Three Fucking years you didn’t mean to leave us, me? While your cowardly ass was sleeping soundly in that tube. That tube of yours take your balls away from ya’?” this time he looks at me with extreme anger in his eyes. “What choice did I have, what could we have done if I stayed longer? I was only a few miles from the epicenter of the blast, everyone was either killed instantly or froze to death.” “Yea? I traveled to each of our squad mates searching for survivors- Including you.,” He points at me. “I stayed and suffered you have no idea how many gruesome sights I had to bear those years.” “You really think it matters now? What’s done is done and there isn’t shit you can do about it, I lost many loved ones instantly and struggled a week underground. If I had opened the hatch more than I already did, I would probably have died. I got lucky with that pod and paid the price more than once, but then again this is what I get for assuming the pod would kill me off.” I retort he continues to pace around me. “You know, I honored you as a soldier- a brother back when we were serving, now that I see you before me, I truly see a coward- enjoy your life.” He walks off into the distance and vanishes like smoke in the wind. I close my eyes and open them to see the scene has changed into something I recognize as my former girlfriend's apartment. "Here- Drink this, You don't look good at all?" I near a feminine voice behind me, I turn around to see my long lost love with a glass of water in her hand. "W-what, huh? Uh-Thanks?" My hand shaking viciously I take the glass and drink it slowly. "Something wrong?" Ashlyn asks me as she wraps her arms around me her chin resting on my shoulder as she snuggles into me. "No, I’m fine; it’s nothing." I realize where this is going. I turn my head to the left I can see other buildings outside the window. This was before the blast killed everyone in the city, Turning my head around I see Ashlyn her eyes closed which flutter open when I look at her. I look down at the water I take it and begin to drink it, as a siren begins to sound, for the next few minutes I grip Ashlyn in my arms waiting for the inevitable. The siren dies down as quiet falls upon the I look out the window just between another building a bright flash of light followed shortly by the shock wave impacts; shattering the window into a million pieces. At that moment I notice the scene has changed again, this time of her standing next to the window as if in slow motion she flies across the room into the wall. I rush over to her and cradle her in my arms, tears flowing down my face as she turns into smoke much like Stavo did. I fall over onto my side and begin crying at what I just witnessed staying there for the longest time not daring to open my eyes for fear of what might torment me next. "This hath gone far enough!" I hear a voice echo throughout the area next to me, hesitantly I open my eyes, my vision blurry the scene around me has returned to white. In a raspy voice I call out. "Who's there!?," I look in every direction, but there is no one in sight. "Where are you?!" I look around still lying on my side, and push myself into an upright position, instead of finding the origin of the voice it instead finds me, the same purple mist that has been haunting me for the past two nights floats around me going around my torso and hovers in front of me. I reach for the mist it floats through my hand and instead of it reacting it spins as the color gets several shades of darker blue; Within it Princess Luna emerges the mist turning into her mane. "Oh, this is just lovely, now I know this is a dream Princess Luna is here." I return to lying on my side wanting to be alone, but Luna continues to stare at me, her Teal eyes piercing the depths of my soul. "Ye are correct, ye are dreaming, but it's really us standing before thou. " My eyes shrink to pinpricks. "I don’t believe you." I deny her existence. “I am Princess Luna, mine job is to watch and protect all creatures dreams; even yours.” She proudly states. "If that’s the case, why haven’t you helped me sooner." "Thy dreams hast been rather difficult to see, everytime I try to help thou, thou awakens." She kneels beside me. “Tonight we got lucky, ye are suffering from thy decisions, 'Tis only natural.” she says rather quietly. "I feel like I betrayed my friends, I hope wherever they are now they don't think bad of me for what I have done. I fucked up; big time." I close my eyes once more. "Yes, but you wouldn't be here to tell his tale without you, you would still be a myth among the world." She wraps a wing around me. "That doesn't change the fact of what I did. I feel guilty for what I did and responsible for the death of hundreds of survivors." I use the back of my hand and clear my eyes of excess tears. "Marry, mine actions got me thither because we felt we did not hast any other choice, and as thou wot, I nearly kill'd mine sister. Anon after a thousand years we wilt adapt to the new ways of life and find new things to hold dear." she smiles and the scene changes around me to an open field under the moonlight. "Then what will I do in life...? I am nothing like you, Celestia, or any other average pony for that matter." I look up to see hundreds of stars across the sky. "That is for thou to decide. Thou wilt explore thy options and make the best of thy life.," She stands up as her horn lights a dark shade of blue. "I'm afraid I hast to leave, ye are stirring." "Great..." the scene fades away like paint in water, and like that I return to reality to find I'm in a pool of cold sweat. I sit up the book of Mythological creatures still sitting on my lap from earlier, I inhale; swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Looking to my left I see rays from the moon peaking in, looking at my watch it’s not even close to morning. "Fucking perfect..."