---
Somewhere in California, June 25th, 20X5, roughly 7:30 AM...
Half-asleep, she wandered through the short hallway. Even with her Walker impression, she managed to bang into enough walls to lead her to the restroom. She closed the door, did her business, then looked in the mirror. She had seen her eyes every day that she came in here. She had gotten used to the dichromatic eyes: blue for the right, green for the left. Blinking the stray thoughts away, she washed up and proceeded to shamble back to bed.
It was only a couple minutes later when her alarm began to blare. Frustratingly, her hand banged around for the clock's buttons to no avail. The accursed noise kept screeching at her. After knocking what felt like her keys, cell phone, a half-full bottle of a sports' drink, and wallet to the floor, her fingers finally made contact with the perpetrator's "snooze" button. All was quiet on the Western front.
"Natalia Tasha Gabriel, wake up!"
Sadly, the battle did nothing to calm down the Winds of the North. Her hands curled into fists against her temple. She groaned. It was her birthday, for crying out loud. Why couldn't she choose to spend it all in her bed?
Natalia shook her head in defeat. The tide of blankets was sent to the south. It was time to flow with the divine winds to wherever they lead her. She picked up a towel and brought other items toward the morning rain.
The water felt like its usual awkward mix of droplets that were too hot and too cold. After rinsing out the lather in her hair, she grabbed the soap for the rest of her body. It was then that she was attacked by confusion. The culprit had taken the form of a white viper and a black dove, both on her left hip in two dimensions.
As someone that never invested in tattoos, she didn't have any idea where this image had come from. Neither did she know why it was on that hip in particular. She tried wiping any blinding water out of her eyes with her arm. She scrubbed against the skin with the picture thoroughly. Yet the viper and dove continued to gaze outward, undisturbed by the wearer's efforts. She squinted as she looked back at the two unlikely paired creatures.
A knock on the door interrupted her staring contest.
"What are you doing? You're going to waste the water in there," said the voice from outside.
She sighed. As much as she wanted an explanation, she clearly wasn't going to get it by spending eternity in the shower. On the bright side, her outfit would be able to hide this intrusive mark for now.
---
Somewhere else in California, about 9:30 AM of the same day...
~Glory to God in the highest...~
On this piano bench, Natalia was in her natural habitat. While some would say her fingers danced on the keyboard, she felt something different. Rather than fingers feeling each key, she sensed the notes that wanted to come out. She kept her head up and let the piano's desires flow into her hands. That was when the music sounded its best.
This song was coming to a close. Normally, this was the part when the pastor would come up to the front and begin his sermon. He'd crack a joke that only about half the members would get. The other half would nervously laugh alongside the rest. Then, he'd follow that with a verse and at least five sub-topics that could be drawn from that passage.
However, as the pastor stood up, he looked over at the pianist and stopped. She was still playing. It also didn't sound like a closing, more like a transitional chord into a brand new song. He was certain that this wasn't in the program, but he wasn't one to interrupt a nice melody. Maybe she just needed one more verse by herself and then she'd stop.
Except, Natalia didn't stop. Today, the keys called out to her in a slow, looping chorus. Her eyes stayed open in a trance as her hands gravitated toward the keys to this song. A rolling harmony of happiness kept going for three measures. It led into a sorrowful diminuendo.
Chords clapped out as if called out by a choir in Latin. Then, the piano was lost to her sight as was the rest of the sanctuary. A glacier rose out of the abyss. A minor key in her ear gave way to a mountain on the opposite side. Evergreen trees grew haphazardly as clouds formed in the same fashion.
A white snake slithered in a jagged line until it came around her feet and hissed. Dark feathers dropped as a fantastical dove flew from the clouds to circle around her head. She heard a woman singing a wordless tune and felt the air being drawn out of her lungs. It took her a while before she realized that the voice was coming from herself.
Lost in her singing trance, she watched on as the glacier and mountain each split down the middle. She sang a reprise of the happiness and sorrow. At the same time, a silvery sword was flung from the glacier and a broadsword swung out of the breaking mountain. A clapping chord accentuated the pale katana snapping in two. Another chord emphasized the broadsword splitting in a similar position.
She couldn't help but sing a long, high note as piercing red and golden eyes stared at her from the abyss. Whatever owned those eyes was cackling madly. Then, the image shattered like glass.
Natalia blinked a couple of times. Her fingers were splayed on a complete minor chord. Her foot was on the right-most pedal. For some reason, her mouth felt really dry. Something wet was on her lip. She rubbed her hand against it and picked up a smear of red. Blood.
Her mother was walking as quickly as she could over to her side. She must have asked if she was okay, because Natalia remembered nodding her head numbly in response. Her mother shuffled through some pockets before pulling out a new tissue. She held it against the small blood trickle on Natalia's mouth. Natalia held the tissue herself as per her mother's alleged suggestion.
What had happened? Why did it happen? She had no answer for either question.
To the pastor's credit, he managed to use a hand to push his lower jaw up to close his mouth.
---
Yet somewhere else in California, same day, about 11:45 AM...
Natalia followed her parents out through the hospital door. A bit of stitch work was done along the corner of her mouth. It had stopped bleeding shortly after being cleaned. Her mother and father had asked their own variations on the question if she was okay. She managed to give affirmations to both, but it was still not quite real to her.
It felt like a fog was weighing on her mind. She was mostly aware of buildings passing by as the car carried her along. She could also recall going to a salad and buffet restaurant for her birthday as per her earlier month's request. But she couldn't recall exactly what the other topics of conversation had been, what the food had tasted like, or even the little number done by the employees for birthday celebrations. But she smiled a little to assure them that their efforts were not wasted.
"Hey, Night."
A passerby greeted Natalia in the middle of her slowly swallowing some ice cream (that still tasted like nothing to her at the time). Yet, she wasn't sure she had heard them correctly. She looked over her shoulder, but whoever it was had somehow vanished from sight. She blinked and tilted her head.
Her dad asked if she was alright. She replied that it might have just been her imagination while turning forward. He apologized for asking a question after what could politely be referred to as a long day. He also thanked her for the surprise song earlier. He said that it was a beautiful piece, even if he didn't fully understand it.
She dropped her spoon and covered her eyes with both hands. She shook in place. Water threatened to flood the small containment between her lids and her fingers. It was about then that her parents agreed that it was probably best to take her home and call it a day.
---
The young pegasus filly wondered what was wrong. Her foal-sitters never stayed over for an entire week at a time. Where were Mama and Baba? The two guardians said they didn't know. She wasn't ungrateful for their company, but she was at the age where simple and vague answers just didn't satisfy her curiosity anymore.
She had to find them. She had to find her parents. It wasn't exactly a great plan, but she waited until she could hear the foal-sitters snoring in the bedroom. Then, she pushed the window open quietly and squeezed out. Her wings fluttered as evenly as she had been taught before they carried her into the night sky.
If the last word of mouth was anything to go by, her parents' last mission took them along the path of the Everfree Forest. After so many monsters had been thwarted, scared off, or flat-out crushed, there wasn't much left to scare little ponies away from the few dangers that still existed in the shadows. She did remember to avoid the fuzzy, blue flowers and flew away to stay on the beaten path.
A slight glint caught her eye through the trees. Navigating still led her to get leaves stuck in her mane, but she didn't let that stop her from checking things out. When she touched down to the ground where the twinkle was shining, she picked up the source. It was Mama's light-weight sword, still in its sheath. She picked it up in her hooves, questioning why it was left on the ground. Her mother took greater care of her weapons than this.
Her eyes looked around the clearing. Impaled in another tree was a larger hilt. She trotted over to the tree and discovered that her father's blade was sticking out the other side. Something was very wrong. She tried pulling Baba's sword out of the tree, but its weight and depth were preventing it from going anywhere.
"Awfully late for you to be out and about, little filly."
She gasped and turned on her hoof. What had just been a dense forest, now looked like a giant ring of fire. She was surrounded. Flying straight up would do more harm than good because it would burn her faster in the sky. Along the edge of the trap, she saw the serpentine tail and a mismatch of limbs shake along. Swiftly, she pulled her mother's katana out of its sheath. She figured at this point, anything was better to defend herself than nothing.
"Oh little pony... if you think you can possibly put up a challenge, then you're having a really bad dream."
She slowly pointed the sword around. Sooner or later, this enemy had to strike. Her hind legs shivered, even as beads of sweat trickled from her head. Her eyes looked wildly toward the burning patches of plant-life around her. That's when her vision locked onto two red lights surrounded by glowing, yellow orbs.
"And you're never waking up." The voice cackled, booming and echoing throughout the land.
The filly's scream was followed by a magic light erasing her body from existence. The lonely, white sword planted its blade into the ground.
---
Natalia started scratching her mouth, but then stopped when she remembered the stitches. She sighed as she slowly turned over. She ended up falling off her bed in the process. Fortunately, it seemed she had managed to knock the blankets onto the floor during the night. Her landing wasn't so physically traumatic.
That being said, she still sighed at the principle of the matter. Falling onto the floor was an embarrassment, regardless of the context. She jerked herself to sit upright. Some of her hair flopped down in front of her eyes. As she lifted her hand to push the hair away, she caught sight of an off-colored strand: a gray hair.
"Great... I really am getting older."
She dragged her feet along the floor. Her eyes partook in the conflict of staying awake enough to move and closing to go back to sleep. Hitting her left toe against the restroom door pushed the tide of the skirmish toward "awake enough." After taking care of business inside the restroom, she paused by the mirror.
Normally, she wouldn't have given much of a second thought toward her bed-ridden face. But something drew her attention to the reflection besides her gray hair. As she peered closer, it dawned on her what was wrong. Both of her irises were blue.
The sleepy young adult rubbed her wrists against her eyelids. Water from the sink was still running slowly. After blinking a couple times, she squinted in confusion. Now, both of the irises in her reflection looked green. She pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand while turning the faucet off with the other.
Sighing, and deciding she was still too drowsy, she wiped her hands dry. It took significantly less time to return to her bedroom. She groaned while she lifted the mess of blankets back onto her mattress. She sat down, getting ready to shift to a horizontal posture. But a swirl of thoughts kept her sitting upright.
A bit self-conscious in this half-awake state, she moved a hand down toward her hip. Pulling down slowly, she exposed skin to the dim vision of early morning. Once again, her eyes locked with those of the viper and dove mark. But there was something more.
It seemed as if some of the nearby skin was also conspiring against her. A large circular patch of skin around the alleged tattoo had turned a tint of blue. As her fingers ran along the mark, it almost felt like it was covered in an animal's hide.
Finally, Natalia decided she was too tired for this sh-...spirit. She plopped her head against her pillow and turned. The side of her body with the mark was pressed against the bed. Yet she couldn't get the image out of her mind. She didn't know what was happening to her or why.
---
It was almost noon by the time Natalia decided to wake up completely. Her parents had gone out to their individual work. So, she had the house to herself for the majority of Monday. The sun wasn't as bright as it was yesterday. Clouds billowed in the sky, but it wasn't going to rain. It never rained because her home was too low, out of range of the mountains where it regularly poured.
She decided to hurry along with her morning shower. She tried to clean herself as best as possible without looking down. The strange mark was still there. After drying off, it almost felt like the day's outfit got stuck as she dressed herself. She didn't really understand why. A quick examination via hand revealed nothing out of the ordinary along her back and sides. When the clothes slipped on properly this time, she didn't give the strange feeling another thought.
After a quick bite to eat, Natalia was drawn toward the piano in her house. For a few seconds, she tapped the keys lightly without actually pressing down. She exhaled at the gray hair that had reminded her it existed. Accompanied by a hum and a haw, her hands went into autopilot and played a soft melody.
~So much dry weather
When is it going to rain?
Can't be bothered to try again
Gotta keep pushing forward
Despite the hiccups
Why? Just to feel pain?
Things could always be worse, I suppose
At least there's beating in my chest
Asking for more problems won't help
To be closer to being your best~
Natalia wiped her eyes, but they still felt wet. She blinked a couple times and saw both of her hands on the piano. She tilted her head. Both of her hands still felt completely dry. Glancing to the right, she saw a tint of blue. It looked like a feathered limb, slightly damp on one spot.
Her left hand reached across and grabbed the wing. The sensation made her open her eyes wide. Somehow, she was getting a feeling of a hand grabbing onto her. It was just as real as her hand sensing the soft feathers between her fingertips. As she shook in worry, the wing tensed up and wrapped over her shoulder.
Before she could continue to hyperventilate, the slot on the front door jiggled slightly. A couple letters dropped in and onto the floor.