Prologue
“Find me.”
The dark grey Unicorn tossed and turned in his bed. He had an uneasy dream that was filled with nothing but darkness. All around him, nothing but dark. The pony could barely see his hooves in front of him.
“Come.”
A dark voice sounded all around him, deep and ominous but the one who spoke was not visible. Private tried to turn around but saw nothing but dark, nothing greeted his eyes but the oppressive blackness.
“Come. Find me.”
Private just started running, all he could really think of was running now. But with nothing to see there was no telling where he was going or how far. Yet there was this odd feeling that he was being followed, something big, something dark, something evil.
“Come to me.”
Something kept nagging at his head, telling him to stop and turn around. Private struggled against it, other instincts were telling him to just keep running. This was not right; this was not natural.
“Find me.”
The Unicorn grunted and stumbled on his run. He didn’t keep his balance and fell to the ground. For a moment he just lay there breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. It was then he noticed a glow from behind him, something was approaching and whatever it was gave off an eerie green glow. Slowly the pony turned his head to look back.
Private woke up with a start. His heart was beating rapidly and his entire body was bathed in cold sweat. The Unicorn shuddered and swiftly removed the blanket and dropped down from the bed. It was still night, judging from the clock it would be several hours before Celestia would raise the sun.
The stallion took a deep breath as he tried to calm down. Then he left the bedroom and headed for the bathroom. Once he had finished his business there, he went to the kitchen to have a drink of water. Private filled a glass from the tab and sat down by the kitchen table, not quite feeling like going to bed again just yet.
The pony tried not to think about the nightmare, focused instead on just the glass of water levitated by his magic. The blue aura, same color and his eyes, gave a faint glow that illuminated the kitchen slightly though most of the focus was on his horn and the glass.
Wonder how the girls are doing? He thought, thinking of his roommates who were currently away on a trip. They should be in Los Pegasus by now.
I should go on a trip. It’s the weekend and I got it all off, he mused. He seldom went on trips, in fact the Unicorn blinked in surprise when he realized what he had just thought.
I don’t go on trips, where did that come from? Heck no, I am staying home and just relaxing. Private frowned hard.
He drank from his glass, pondering why the thought of a trip had just so suddenly come to his mind. Sure his roommates were on one, but that didn’t mean he had any desire to go on one. Unless it was visiting his parents in Trottingham, when they were home that is and not away on a dig.
The Crystal Empire is only few hours away on a train. Came up in his mind.
Ookay this is getting creepy, why is part of my mind suddenly trying to get me on a trip and then suggests the Crystal Empire. Private raised an eyebrow.
Private had no inclination to go to the Crystal Empire. Sure it had only suddenly reappeared few months ago and historically speaking it was rather fascinating, but Private just wasn’t in mood for travel. Spontaneous trips just weren’t for him. He shrugged this off and finished his glass of water.
The Unicorn rose up and returned the glass after rinsing and drying it. Then he returned to his bedroom and decided to catch few more hours of sleep, he was a morning person after all though others would probably be surprised at that giving his gruff exterior. Private drifted back to what appeared first as a dreamless sleep.
“Come to me.”
The dark ominous voice whispered. The blackness returned. Something was approaching, something big, really big. The darkness was starting to look more like a smoke. Something was starting to produce out of it, a head.
Private woke up again. He sat up and took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He used his horn to create a light spell to illuminate the room. The stallion looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He was though starting to wonder if his sanity was slowly slipping, that nightmare just felt so vivid and real.
What is going on, he thought and felt a little nervous. The pony couldn’t even recall the last time he had a nightmare.
He allowed the light spell to fizzle out and slowly sunk back down. Private put the blanket over himself again and now just lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He was half wondering if he should just stay up, maybe read a book or something.
“Find me.”
Private felt a chill go down his spine. He was not asleep, yet the dark ominous voice was echoing inside his head. The Unicorn looked around again and could have sworn he saw something moving, the shadows were moving.
“Come find me.”
The Unicorn’s eyes widened in shock. He suddenly realized that he recognized that voice. He closed his eyes and now didn’t even have to be asleep to see the smoke and the darkness and the head slowly approaching him. Private gasped in horror, then he screamed.
Slowly Private Iceland opened his eyes. His eyes were glowing green and the irises had turned red. Purple mist poured out of the corner. He stared up at the ceiling looking dazed as if still half asleep.
“Yes my king. I’m coming,” he whispered.
End Prologue