Knock. Knock.

by Arreis Of Avalon

...

I creep out of bed, holding my head. It hurts terribly. I hear nothing in the stillness; only silence as the wind brushes past my house.

I stand, glancing outside. Dark.

Time to begin again.

I grab my candle and begin to walk. “I… really love having guests over,” I admit to myself. “There was a time when little forest things would come to visit. And sometimes we - I even made dinner for lost wanderers.” I ignore the fact that I can’t cook well at all.

“I would set the table and pass the time in a conversation with them in my head. That’s when I realized that more than anything in the world, I’m afraid of the Invisible.” I took a deep breath. My head hurt so much. I saw so much, so suddenly.

Light. Much light. And smiles, and laughter, and happy tears. Barley fields of gold and trees with red shining apples. And it all turned to dust. Voices filled my head, and the screams inside were my own.

“... Where is my diary now?” That’s right. The diary. I need it. The voices fade as I cling to that thought. “I’ve got to find it quickly! Nothing else matters.”

I trot down to the basement, then turn and begin to twist the light. Clicking fills my ears. They twitch as the lights come on. A memory resurfaces. A note appears before my eyes as I blink.

In any home, you only need to wait for sunrise. No exceptions.
One simply cannot go on if there is night inside.

“The hoofwriting is made to look like mine, but it’s just a little bit off. I didn’t write this, that’s for sure.” Is it though? My memory is so bad… How would I remember my own hoofwriting?

I sigh and make my way upstairs. I walk to the light and twist it, my purple - no, my black magic sparking. It is black and grey, like my eyes. Twist. Turn. Click.

I walk into the next room as the light flashes on, and only one thought enters my head.

“The forest is at the end of its life,” I say softly, stopping. “It used to be a rich biotope, but now, it’s dying. I couldn’t find any healthy new growth. The land has grown soggy too. All the large species of animals have died out. All that is left are the numerous species of insects.”

The words fade as quickly as they come, but the thoughts do not. Which forest? The one around me? But the trees were always full of life here. This was the only forest I knew. There were no forests in Canter…

What was I thinking?

I hear a creak upstairs. My ear twitches.

Click, whirr.

I walk up the stairs and begin to turn the light. It flashes on and I continue to the next room wordlessly. I turn on that light too.

Distantly, a bulb blows. I wonder, very briefly, if somepony is home?

Nopony has been home for a long time.

Nopony is here, I tell myself as I go down the stairs. I would have seen them, obviously. It wasn’t that big of a house. I go to the light and twist.

The light flashes on.

If you don’t see something, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

My heart freezes. It was like… Like the notes knew, somehow. But… But that had to be impossible. “I-I don’t get it. Why did I write this in my sleep? What does it even mean??” My head hurts so very much. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. “I just want to go home,” I whisper.

I look around and walk upstairs. All the lights are on. I didn’t do that. Who else is…

I go further up, turning on one of the few turned-off lights. As I do, I hear the knocking once more. I have grown used to the knocking. I only want to know who is there. The ghost? The forest? The eye? I’m so tired of this already.

The light flickers on. Somewhere, a bulb bursts once more.

Next room. Next light. Twist, turn, click, whirr.

Next room. The light is on. The clock is here. I wind, slowly. Nothing seems to change. The clock disappears and I walk to the next room.

Creeeeeak…

Just like always. I casually make my way downstairs. I walk out the door into the night.

My house is nearby. I feel no fear at the moment, though I know it creeps up behind me like death. Slowly, slowly, I walk through the forest.

The fog clings to the trees. Crickets chirp. Timberwolves growl in the distance, but I pay that sound no heed.

I see her, in the distance. I pause.

… Blue?

I run towards her, but she disappears in an instant. As though she were never there in the first place. Was she just a hallucination caused by somnolence? My disease? My curse?

I continue walking. I must find her. I don’t care how long it takes. Maybe she knows what’s happening to me. Why my memories are dying. Why I am so very tired.

There! A flash of blue. I run to her.

So many monsters. So much darkness. But in the end, always, always the stars. Stars as far as I can see, music ringing in my ears. The world is the color of C flat minor, all the stars and galaxies the swirling notes that echo in my skull. I feel sick - alive? Wonderful, dreadful, I am the forest and they are the deathly, dying, dead, dead trees.

I breathe and it all disappears.

“... A strange… and unthinkable world appeared to me through the trees.” So many stars. I saw 2 new stars. Had it not been 4 last time? Only two left, I suppose. My heart felt fragile - open, vulnerable, and yet so full of joy and hope. I felt… tired, in a good way. A long way. A short way? I couldn’t decide.

“My… duty is to record the changes in the world.” To who is this duty? Myself? Or the ever watching eye? “But how can I even be sure that any of this is REAL,” I shout to the forest.

The crickets answer back.

With a soft sigh, I return to my home. The woods creak around me. The ground crinkles under my hooves.

I make it back to my house, walk in and shut the door. I close my eyes and pray for a good dream.

I awaken.