Reedwhisper

by Woundikin

Chapter 1

REEDWHISPER
By: Woundikin

This is the story, and we are only players. This is the world, and we are only servants. This is my life, and it isn't mine. The wind howled and moaned through my knotty black mane. The moon was watching me. Even during the night, one cannot escape Luna's searching eye. Her bright, white eye.

The branches were scratching me when I sprinted, clumsily, through the forest. There was blood flowing from my mangled flank. I stumbled through the Everfree Forest, deeper than anypony dared to go. Deeper than the moon's corrupt beams could glide their wicked fingers through. Then suddenly, I was rolling downhill. I felt my wet, hot blood roll down the side of the hill like a paint roller. Then, I felt a sickening impact. I was stopped by a willow tree. I was cold, I struggled to breathe, wheezing pitifully. The moist mud underneath me soaked up my blood, now growing cool. I felt the forest laughing at me. The shadow of the day's merciless cackle echoed through my pulsing ears, which twitched painfully.



Reedwhisper. The moon was speaking to me. Luna had found me. Reedwhisper, she said. Was it her? Was it the slashing wind, nipping painfully against my exposed wounds? I found you, Reedwhisper. I tried to cover my head beneath my hooves, to block out her voice. Her terrible voice.



We've won, Reedwhisper, she said. I was delusional. I could see Luna. Wading in a sea of lies, galloping from the night sky, growing larger, larger, until she was the size of the sky. Her image swallowed my vision.



We've found you. We've won. I moaned, putting in a final effort to run. Blinded, nearly mad, I shakily stood up, and felt my legs snap beneath me. I broke through the already loose surface, and then I was underground. I tumbled down a hole, and there was no way out.



***




I was born in Canterlot, the daughter wealthy parents. I had an older brother, though I wouldn’t recognize him. I somewhat remember him leaning over my crib, a curious expression on his chubby features. I don't remember my parents at all. They are just tall, distant blurs in my imagination. My family was important. An old, noble family, as old as Equestria itself. I was named Reedwhisper, an old kindred name. The label of some unknown ancestors. I was a quiet filly. I didn't cry. I didn't make any noises at all, for that matter. When I was three, and all my playmates were chattering and crying, I would sit in the corner, head positioned towards the nearest window, eyes far away, my mouth whispering softly with no words coming out.



When I was four, my parents took me to Princess Celestia to diagnose my strange condition. The royal palace is the only fortified memory of my childhood. The castle loomed over the city reassuringly, as if protecting Canterlot from an unseen villainy. The menace from within us. The hazard of ourselves. I was impressed, awed, but frightened. The ceilings had windows on them, so you could never escape the blaring gaze of the Canterlot sun. The bright light scalded my little eyes, and pierced me like a tremendous sword. Squinting against the terrible light, my parents took me into Celestia's chamber, a room behind colossal golden doors. Those great, golden doors. Shining, judging, distant.



I don't remember the meeting, or what went on inside that noble entrance. I assume I was asked to speak, and then forced to. When I couldn’t, I was named "unfit." Princess Celestia demanded my parents to turn me in to the castles' registration facility, where other dysfunctional foals are deposited. “For the best of all Equestria,” Celestia would say. “For the best” is an interesting phrase, fancying that we all know what’s best for each other.

Everyone knew what happened to those foals, but no one spoke about it. Somehow, my parents wouldn’t allow it to happen to me. They couldn’t stand to see such an innocent, hopeless filly be marked as a criminal. They saved my life, and I still appreciate them for that. Instead of partaking in an unspeakable operation, my parents sent me to Ponyville, an area outside the outskirts of the empire’s iron hoof. A peasant town, a modest town, a homely town. A special, fated town. The new home to a terrified filly, cast away from society for her dumbness, whispering the words that no one hears.

I was put in a carriage without any keepsake from my parents. I remember my brother asking, “Where is Reedwhisper going, mommy?” as the doors slammed. The pegasi pulling the carriage flew away. I tried to light up the strikingly dark compartment using my horn, but the light just flickered and died. I was too scared to evoke magic, a talent that usually came so naturally to me. So I hid. I curled my little body up into a ball, unnerved and frightened, trying to ignore the voices that always spoke to me in the wind, the constant advise that even penetrated through a sealed container. Be wary of the sun, little one, they would say. And be more wary of the moon. I fell into a restless sleep.

***

I awoke in a little bed, in a little room. It had a rotting wooden floor, and peeling plaster walls. There was a red table next to the bed I awoke in, and a window on the west-facing wall. It was mid-afternoon, I thought. I tried to hide underneath my blankets. I was afraid to get up, afraid of my musty new location. The unfamiliarity frightened me, as it does most ponies. All I’ve ever known was tumbling away into my foreign landscape. Strange sights, gliding conspicuously across my pampered eyes. Strange noises, echoing through the hollow floor. Were those roaches, or just the friction of my body beneath the covers? Was this real, or a cruel hallucination? Was this my body, wriggling faithfully at the slightest command, or a convincing copy?

I cowered upon hearing any noise or sound. There were definitely ponies downstairs. I heard them talking, in hushed tones. I couldn’t make out the voices. Then, to my horror, I heard a pony trotting up the stairs, slowly, as if to draw out my own mortal dread. I recoiled under the thin blankets. The door was pushed open. A pony entered. A small pony.

“Hello?” she said. She spoke in a sweet, ringing voice. The voice of a young filly, about my age. She must have seen me shaking underneath the blankets, and giggled, “It’s all right, you can come out, if you want. I made you some breakfast!” She sounded very enthusiastic over this mundane accomplishment. I finally dared a peek out of my protective fort. There, standing in the doorway, was a small, grey pegasus, balancing a tray of food on her head. She has a light yellow mane, like butter. A bright, cheerful smile. Her most striking feature was her eyes. Her pupils were not synched liked a normal pony’s, they were pointed different directions. I had never seen anything like it before; she had my immediate attention. I examined her. Something new, something strange. A strange new world.

“My name is Derpy!” she said, with the same, jocular smile. One could almost get cheered up by looking at her. “It’s nice to meet you!” The tray on her head wobbled, tousled swayed. I continued to stare vacantly. Vacuously, my eyes sucking up the light like a hungry void.

“Well…” she began. “Did you sleep well? That’s my bed, but I thought I’d let you borrow it-” As she said those fatal words, the tray she kept so precisely balanced slid off her head. Crumbs, hard work, sweat and labor scattered across the floor. “Oh no!” she said, blushing madly. “I’m so clumsy, I’m sorry! I’ll just clean this up…”

I could understand her mistake, it is difficult to balance a silver dish atop one’s head. However, Derpy was embarrassed like this was an normal occurrence. I could understand her shame so well. I quickly hopped out the little bed. Derpy stopped cleaning and eyed me, as if waiting for scolding. I gave her a shy smile, befuddled. I sat down beside her and used my magic to clean up the mess with great haste, each crumb with remarkable accuracy. Food flew around, carpeting the air.

Derpy’s mouth was wide open, and both her eyeballs whizzed around incoherently, trying to spy each particle of returned cuisine. I finally assembled the breakfast scones. They looked tasty. Food can’t be too different here. I nibbled off the end of one. Derpy became so happy, she started bouncing up and down, her wings emitting an excited buzz. Eventually, she tackled me in a hug, causing me to spill the tray again. I didn’t mind. It was nice to have a friend. I didn’t know where I was. I was scared to death. My family was missing forever, but I still enjoyed the company of this little grey pegasus.

“What’s your name?” she asked exuberantly. I gingerly picked myself off the floor, and cleaned up the spilled food once again. Concentrate, don’t miss a drop. Mind the crumbs. I was shaking now. Was this a dream? Best to play along. I’ve had more vivid dreams.

“Hello?” Derpy said, confused waving a petite hoof in my face, fluttering her wings. Feathers floated across the room. “What’s your name, new friend?”

I tried to speak, I’ve never tried harder. I opened my jaw and mouthed the words, attempting to screech out any sort of noise. I clenched my throat and wheezed breathlessly. My effort was fruitless, I only ended up with a dry throat. I coughed up the dehydrated saliva. Where other ponies have a voice box, I just had an empty throat. I stopped trying, and looked up at Derpy sadly.

“Can you talk?” Derpy asked inquisitively. She seemed to be cautious of her own insensitivity. Derpy continued to stare at me, waiting for an answer. I gave her a desperate look.

“Oh, right!” she laughed. “You can’t answer me!” I smiled and nodded eagerly. I then began to feel dizzy. I saw Derpy’s joyous face smiling above me before I fainted.

***

I was in a dream, an actual dream. I was sure of this. I was walking down the Canterlot castle corridors. It was nighttime, but the sun and moon were strangely glowing above me. I was floating towards the throne room, that fated room where my parents brought me. The doors opened and then disappeared like ghosts. I shivered in the musty chill of the imaginary vacant hall.

I stepped into the long suite. I heard the familiar voice speak to me, that terrifying voice. In the beginning there was three, it said. I didn’t understand, I looked around confusedly. But as those words were spoken, a flash erupted in the room, and standing before me was the princess.

First, there was Celestia. The room bursted into intolerable brightness. Celestia’s mane expanded around the entire room, engulfing every shadow in a gaudy rainbow light. I tried to cower away from her divinity, but my hooves were stuck on the burning tile. Her eyes scorched into me, creating light, creating fire, creating destruction. The pure power of a single god dominated the room, the single power of an alicorn with the conflagration of the universe at her command.

Then, there was Luna. As soon as that word was spoken, there was nothing. Celestia disappeared, and there was blackness. I was floating in space, falling through a nightmarish void. Then, I saw her. At first it was only her eyes, inducing rapid chills through the air, sending spindly beams of ice in every direction she looked. I was being sucked towards those horrid green eyes, gravitating everything towards them in a swirling, pitch-black void. My head irrupted in a screeching explosion as her mane of night swirled around me, encircling me, until my useless throat swelled up into a silent scream and the merciless cackle of the darkness brought me to ice-cold tears. I had no free will, there was only Luna, master of fear.

But there was another. Then, it all stopped. I was back in the throne room. I panted, shivering on the floor. Upon looking up, I saw Luna and Celestia standing before me, their terrible manes dancing together in the light they emitted. They did nothing, just looked at me with that simple, unearthly austerity. They were the pure, extreme forces of nature. There was no balance, only power.

There was one more. I cowered. I tossed, then awoke.

***

“-and then she fainted!” I nebulously heard Derpy’s voice explain my loss of consciousness. It was distant, as if she was speaking on the other side of a veil. The figure she was communicating with loomed over my bedside. Try to move, to wriggle. I was still quivering. Where am I? Is this home? Opening my shaking eyes, I tried to uncover my surroundings. I was still in the peculiar room; Derpy stared at me, concerned, at the end of the bed. She was biting her upper lip with her small teeth. Digging her baby molars into her unscarred flesh.

I was suddenly overcome with chills. Shivers ricocheted off my spine. Stay away from the cold. I curled up slowly in a fetal position. An inaudible whisper slithered out of my open mouth. Luna and Celestia were zooming across my vision. I closed my eyes so tightly my body tensed. Stay away from the fire.

“Are you all right, little one?” I heard somepony say. A buck, I knew. His tone was mild, mellifluous, and gentle. A comforting sound to my trembling ears, a voice used to soothe turbulent emotions and feelings. A trusting, submissive hum that like my parents, that made me feel safe and protected. “Are you awake?” I dared a look upon my noble patron.

He was leaning over Derpy’s bed, his arms crossed over the checkered covers. I was surprised to see he was a griffin. You don’t see griffins in Canterlot, for reasons unknown to me at the time (Now that I thought about it, I didn’t remember seeing anything other than ponies in Canterlot). The pale brown feathers on his head were slicked back in an orderly fashion. His eyes were wide and blue, which stood out sharply next to his orange beak, pointed down sharply and stridently. The muted orange claws merging from his coat, covered in messy brown fur mixed with grey, were sharp and fatally jagged. However, he crossed his intimidating claws beneath his coated arms, a technical pacifist. The corners of his mouth were turned in a caring smile, but there were hints of suspiciousness hidden beneath his seemingly open features. His sleek lion’s tail swished back and forth nervously.

I nodded plainly. My tantalizing visions were fading next to this abrupt shock into reality. I studied the griffin openly, slowly gaining my confidence and livelihood. “Can you speak?” he asked. He had a slight unknown accent; his words came out in a dulcet purr.

I shook my head despondently; I was expecting to answer that question. Whenever I hear one of those familiar words, my body seems to automatically respond. He smiled softly. “I understand, little one.” I returned his look with a wide-eyed stare.

“Derpy,” he said suddenly. “Can you go down and help Gilda with dinner?” He ran a timid claw through his already ruffled feathers. Fluffing them up, like a pillow. I wonder where feathers get their pillows, from griffins, perhaps?

Derpy snapped up suddenly and said, “Yes, sir.” The griffin gave her a kindly smile, and Derpy offered me one last anxious look before the pranced out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her with a cautious hoof. The click of the door entering its rightful latch.

His eyes followed Derpy sadly as she left the room. The griffin shook his mighty coat, and sat before be silently. His eyes were soft, but sorrowful. “Well, little one,” he said finally.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what was happening, reality and fantasy were merged into a sick mixture of skepticism and crushing truth. This griffin seemed to be only a conjecture of my previous dream. I wanted to brush my hoof past him, and make him disappear. Like a hologram, a mirage. The only pleasant dream I’ve had in my short life.

Then slowly, he said, “I know you are scared and confused, but please try to understand. Your family sent you here to save your life.” He paused, thinking of what to explain. I could tell he was a griffin of not many words, one who preferred to explain himself through his actions. Like me, diction was never our benefactor. “You will be living here now, as your parents intended. You will be safe here.” He tried to deliver an honest smile. I blankly gawked. “My wife Gilda, Derpy and I live here in this house. We are in the beautiful village of Ponyville.” I have never heard of it. The only place I thought existed was Canterlot, the gleaming marble city. “Derpy is your new sister, and she will be your companion is this new life, please be kind to her.” I tried to smile reassuringly, but ended up flinching pitifully.

He paused, thinking. “I hope you will be happy here,” he said finally. “You will live a content and normal life if you remember these rules. First,” he hesitated, and stood up straighter.

“Please try to forget your old life. It must be disremembered, this is your new life, and the life you must accept and learn to adjust to.” I didn’t know what to say, I still thought there was some cruel joke being played on me. I expected my parents, whose faces were becoming harder and harder to remember, to jump out and carry me away in our cloudy carriage, back to the magnificent, windswept, perfect city of Canterlot. The happy, golden streets glimmering in the bright sun, not a cheerless face to be seen. Happy and simple.

“And please,” he said, sending me tragically catapulting back to Ponyville. “Be careful who you interact with. The only truly place you will be safe is here, in this house, away from the sun.” He sighed and paced away from me, to the small window, covered with a curtain. The muted light glowed of his lion’s coat. “Try to be happy,” he said. “Nothing will ever be the same, but please try to be blissful. Anyone’s life can be prefect if they allow it,” he smiled with good humor. “Here, try to get out of bed and meet Gilda.” He urged me out of my safe haven with his deep, reassuring voice, and then stepped back. I gingerly leaped down, and caught my balance. I was mortified, but healthy and able-bodied. I followed his graceful tail out of the room and into the hallway. It was mostly empty except for some clean photographs posted on the walls, neatly and meticulously. I didn’t care for examining them, but I assumed they were wedding photos, or old memories from some forgotten childhood. I needed to focus on moving my hooves productively on the old, desiccated carpet. It was an venerable, ancient house, but everything was scrubbed and spotless.

The house was shaped like the letter “L”, with a long hallway with rooms lined up through the passageway. The domicile was made of brick, and I later found out, had ivy climbing tranquilly up the sides. The roof was flat and brown, with large trees protecting it from time and the forces of nature. Instead of having a moldy, rotting feeling similar to most old houses, this abode felt warm and comfortable. Though even with that being said, it was an alien dwelling, different than any other place I've stepped hoof in, though I've read numerous books about such places. The sconces radiated abundant shadows that seemed to be mocking my ironic plunge into the adventure I’ve always dreamed of having, away from the protection of my old home. Welcome back, they said, contentiously. For all your life you’ve been dreaming, and now you finally awake.

The griffin trod ahead of me with a wide, pusillanimous stride. He looked behind at me every once in a while, and smiled. “No need to be frightened, little one,” he’d say. I trusted him. He was very trustable. I teetered unconfidently behind him. He let me pass in front of his shaggy countenance so I could walk down the stairs. “Go on,” he said tiredly, but benevolently. I brushed against his coat. It was warm.

The stairs were steep and narrow with tall rails. I tried not to trip on my oversized hooves and unpleasantly roll down my steep obstacle, so I concentrated on the challenge at hand, trying not to let my mind wander to the countless questions I would not be able to ask. The taxing stairs led to a tiny kitchen, colored in reds and browns. The cupboards were spotless and friendly-looking, the furniture of a gleeful cottage. The ceilings were low, and the overall feeling was cramped and stuffy. Standing at the foot of the stairs, was a lady griffin, Gilda I assumed. She was several years younger than the other griffin behind me, and much handsomer. She would have been even prettier if her face wasn't stuck in such a constantly worried expression. Her feathers were combed back in a somber approach. They were snow white.

“Oh, you poor dear!” she gasped when she saw me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost! Gilderoy! What did you tell her? Oh, it’s fine, just come with me and have some dinner. This is your new house, I know it’s small, but it’s cozy. I hope you like it here, we’ll do anything to make you feel at home. You can call me Gilda, and that griffin behind you is Gilderoy,” she said sweetly. I didn’t even try to comprehend the newly acquired information. Gilda was very young, but one could notice many years of worried responsibility pressed upon her usually careless features. “Come, follow me,” she said sweetly, rushing me into the dining room. She nudged me ahead. My feet dragged on the floor. I could hear Gilderoy hesitantly entering after us. Heedfully approaching.

At the dining table, Derpy was already sitting. Fidgeting, not staying still. She was full of sparks. Gilda rushed into the kitchen to serve the cooking fish I smelt, fresh and thick. Gilderoy stepped in nimbly and took a seat. Derpy smiled around ecstatically, her eyes constantly uncoordinated. The yellow of the dining room walls somewhat reminded me of my old bedroom wallpaper. I wanted to cry, but I was too dumbfounded. Glinda entered, smiling, holding a pot in her open claws. My stomach rumbled and my mouth watered. Gilda looked around the table. She joyfully said, “We’re like a family!” Could this odd bunch ever become a family, I wonder?

Gilderoy gave me a wink. Derpy blinked happily and shook in her seat. “Are you hungry?” Gilda asked her husband sweetly. All the wives I’ve met were sweet. Unrealistically sweet. I wonder if it is a hoax. Maybe she’s actually angry.

“Starving,” he answered. “Thank you, Gilda.” Gilderoy and Gilda exchanged glances. Gilda broke loose and was serving food in each of our bowls. Everything was happening so quickly, I didn’t know how to react. I looked at the floor. It was wooden. We were all sitting now.

“I take it you’ve already met Derpy?” Gilda asked amiably, putting her modestly manicured claws under her lap.

“Yes, we’re sisters now!” said Derpy, excitedly. I’ve only known her for an hour, but felt as if I knew the deepest confines of her character. The simplicity of youth.

I gave a confused glance around the room. My body sagged and try to hide from the returning glances in my direction. I hated the stares.

“What is your name?” questioned Gilda, addressing me.

I desperately glanced towards Gilderoy.

“She can’t speak,” returned Gilderoy helpfully.

Everything seemed to make sense to Gilda, at that moment. She ruffled her feathers and blinked slowly. She curled her neatly groomed tail around her slender hide. “I see,” she said pleasantly, but clipped short and sharp, like a bark escaping through her wide beak. A surge of emotion surged through her voice when she asked again, “Well, what is her name?”

“Reedwhisper,” replied Gilderoy. He gave his wife a strong, steady look. “and she will be living with us, as I mentioned earlier.”

“Of course,” Gilda said quickly. “We’re so happy to have you here, until your parents make more permanent arrangements, of course.”

“You mean Reedwhisper won’t be staying forever?” Derpy asked, her smile suddenly fading, shriveling up like paper in flames. A blip and the tables were turned.

“Don’t fret, my dear,” Gilderoy said, encouragingly, his sight still resting on Gilda, whose smile never dwindled. “Reedwhisper,” said he, addressing me with his deep, unselfish eyes. “You will be staying with us for a while, do you understand?”

I nodded. Nod, nod nod. Smile and nod.

The dark intensity of my current situation was swirling around me, and I knew this was to be my temporary home, for all my previous relief had been temporary. I could speak candor to myself, but that didn’t make it reality. My reality was beyond, deep in my consciousness, elsewhere, where all the change and outside factors could push no reason upon me. I’ve lived everything inside of my head to this moment, that that wouldn’t change. I couldn’t even recall the image of my old family; the only truth was the constant presence of my mind’s company, and the permanent players within my innocent thoughts. All the books I’ve read painted a vivid picture of life inside my naive mind, and I’ve long since accepted I will never truly understand the other living ponies around me, even less they would understand me. All the comfort and solace I’ve ever needed were inside the shroud separating me from actuality. All the words I’ve ever needed were supplied to me the whispering air, constantly breathing content into my open ears.

Nod, nod nod. Again, I looked upon the wooden floor.

“Well, then,” Gilda said. “Derpy will be taking you to school tomorrow, so you’d best be prepared for that!”

Smile and nod. I hoped my neck wouldn’t be too sore from all my poignant nodding.

“I can't wait to introduce you to all my classmates, we’re going to be best friends!” Derpy squealed. I wondered if her eyes were always like that, or just the product of a terrible mistake, an unscrupulous accident. An unintentional destruction of normality.

“I’m sorry about all that you’ve been through” said Gilderoy. “But we will take good care of you.”

I’m sure they will, I thought. All I’ve ever known was to be well-taken care of, and I couldn’t imagine anything else.

***

Derpy and I went up to our bedroom together, for were would be sharing a bed that night. Gilderoy and Gilda stayed downstairs to clean up and discuss the things that adults tend to discuss, I presumed. Always discussing, and arguing. If I could speak, I wouldn’t waste my words on arguments. Derpy bounced and I moped up the stairs to our room. My mind argued with itself. What was the circumstance that brought me in a mysterious carriage to Ponyville, to the doorstep of my new family?

“I’ve lives here since I was a newborn, and this is my room!” Derpy bubbled as we stepped into the room I freshly awoke in only an hour before. I was tired, and wanted to rest before life carried me around carelessly like it always did in the following morning.

Before I was about to hop into my newly shared sheets, Derpy said, “We need to say our prayers, first.”

I looked behind me, and saw Derpy kneeling before the bed, with her face on the top of the mattress. Her eyes were round in the dark room, but sparkling nonetheless. I’ve never done anything like what she was doing before, I figured it must have been some new Ponyville tradition. I could adjust to that as well, I assumed. I followed suit sluggishly next to Derpy. And glanced at her to signify my readiness.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Derpy said, closing her eyes and pushing her hooves together. “Today, I met a new friend, Reedwhisper. We’re going to be sisters and best friends!” She broke out of her momentary trance to smile at me with a goofy grin. “And also, I learned how to fly better.” She fluttered her wings on cue. “Thank you for giving us all these nice things, and we love you. Your faithful subject, Derpy Hooves, oh yeah, and Reedwhisper because she can’t talk!”

After this speech was over, I climbed tiredly into bed, hoping for a dreamless slumber. Derpy hopped in after me. The bed was pathetic next to the luxurious sheets I was used to, but it was bouncy and warm. I snuggled into the blankets, listening to Derpy doing the same adjacently.

“Good-night, sister,” she said with a yawn. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hopefully.

I rolled over to show I was listening. A few unwonted tears rolled down my cheek as I floated away to unconsciousness.

***

I awoke in the middle of the night, and couldn't return to my peaceful sleep. Derpy was dozing noiselessly next to me, the blankets softly moving along with her serene slumber. I tried to close my eyes again, but the chilliness of the night was making me restless. Sounds I knew weren't there whispered discreetly in my mind, and I couldn't ignore them. Be wary of the moon, they said. Was that the moon? It was so bright. I heard the light only came from the sun. I couldn’t be the moon. Yet it was.

The moon shone through the curtains of our bedroom window. The eerie, pale light swamped through the curtains like a liquid, and creeped inside like a white worm. The drapery seemed to be calling me foreword. One hop down, is all it takes. One step, floating towards the window, to freedom. Away from this constant nightmare. Away from the deathly melodramatic call of reality. One swipe into the icy air and it could all disappear. One choice, one weakness. Floating forever in an endless fantasy. Float, float float.

I stumbled to the window, I had to open it, let the light out. Let out the reaving, reeking smell of the dank moonlight. That was all it took. Just courage. A trance, a trance. Was that the moon? It was so bright. How odd. Hooves dragging on the archaic carpet. Almost there, to my goal, flying like a carefree pegasus. I've never had any choices in my life, and yet here seemed like the most important one. Just big, old ponies choosing everything for me. What if they only let Celestia take me into the depth of her castle? Why escape the already written fate? Why not let the arms of mercy carry you through the tendrils of realism?

I opened the window with an otherworldly swipe, and the fire entered. It flooded in, scorching everything with rapid chills. I looked into the night sky and saw the eye, her cold eye, burning and searing her implant into my skin. The air was wrung with screaming and hissing. The moon was coming closer, I saw it in the empty sky, growing larger and larger. Soon, it swallowed up and air, it was rushing to my open window, and then I shut the curtains with all my might. It all went away.

I was fully awake now, my head was still slightly ringing from the screaming that filled the room seconds previously. I looked towards Derpy and saw her still sleeping, as if she didn't even acknowledge the dark presence that drowned the walls and scalded my young fur. My breathing was returning to normal, the peacefulness of night returning to the crisp air. I decided to leave this cursed room. I’ll find Gilderoy, he’d comfort me. He’s nice. Kind, strong. I tip-toed softy to the door and escaped into the hallway, making sure to not induce a single floorboard creek.

As I left, I was greeted with another unpleasant noise coming from downstairs.

"-another little charity case!" Gilda's voice hissed irritably, the noise slightly muffled from the thick walls. I cowered into the door behind me, afraid to move.

"Of, course," returned Gilderoy, his words soaked with his natural mildness, but added persuasion and exasperation. "You know very well what we're doing." Doing what? Dare I listen to these strangers' discussion?

"Gilderoy," I heard Gilda pacing downstairs, her claws scratching the floor. "I know you think what we're doing is right, but think about the rest of everything, the master plan!"

"I don't understand what you're implying."

"It's not safe for anyone, we have to leave!"

"And abandon the only world we ever knew?" he asked sadly. "Not as we came this far, my dear. There is still hope, there always is."

"You," snarled Gilda. "You are getting our lives tangled in matters left to rebels, to traitors. How can you stay and leave your family to burn?"

"What we're doing is right, Gilda, and the risks I partake in are my problem alone."

"Think about Derpy, Gilderoy," pleaded Gilda. "Think of the new one, another mouth to feed, another foal to protect."

"They are entirely who I am thinking of."

"Gilderoy." Gilda stopped pacing. Her voice was reminiscent. "You know I love Derpy, but keeping her and Reedwhisper here is dangerous."

"What other family were you referring to?"

"To us!" Gilda said, her tone rising.

"Gilda, what are you talking about?"

"Do you remember when you proposed to me?"

"Yes, I very well do."

"Do you remember what you said?"

"Yes, I said it, of course."

"You said," Gilda repeated, close to tears. "That you will not let anything get in the way of our happiness together."

"I said," corrected Gilderoy tenderly. "That whatever hardships came, we'd meet them together, and become happy because we would always be together."

"This life is getting in the way of our happiness together!"

"Has it occurred to you," said Gilderoy, in his peaceful manner. "That the battle we're all fighting in has more meaning, more importance than any happiness we can receive?"

"What meaning? What importance?" said Gilda, exasperatedly. "How can you stay happy and content on promises of the future? Can't you recognize the peril of the present?"

"The present," Gilderoy said. "Is a dream from which we are all trying to awake. One does not simply escape by running away. The only way to break free is to remain, and stay strong," he said. "Together."

"Together? When have we been together? Ever since we've been married, all you've been is distant, this reality is tearing us apart!"

"If you only knew," sighed Gilderoy. "There is no reality."

"Don't get all philosophical on me."

"Oh, Gilda." Gilderoy said, and you could almost picture his sincere smile. "I love you, and that is all that matters, no matter what battles we chose to fight in life."

"I love you too, Gil," she sighed. "But I want to be with you."

"We will, one day," he said. "We just need to put our duties ahead of us."

"There is no escape," she moaned.

"Just be strong, it will end."

There was a silence, and I took that moment to dash back into my room and dive under my covers. I tried not to think, only concentrate on sleeping. Prepare for my big day tomorrow. A day of school. I’ve never been to school. New, new, new. Nod, nod nod. Don’t think, be. Nod, nod, nod.

***

Comments

[Diabolic Gnome]

Is this Gilda different from dashes Gilda