Octavarium (written by OtterMatt)

by Spabble

3 - Solitary Shell

Chapter 3: “Solitary Shell”

The pegasus was standing in a dark alley in the pouring rain. He blinked, confused. How did he get here? He felt as if there was somepony with him, but when he looked around he couldn’t see anyone else. He had no idea where he was.

He glanced around, but the alleyway was completely enclosed by buildings, leaving him only the narrow path he was walking on. He heard a quiet laugh from somewhere nearby. His eyes darted around frantically, and he quickened his pace. He had to get somewhere— to safety. Whoever was with him, they needed to get there, and this place felt increasingly foreboding.

He stopped suddenly as a dark shape melted out from the face of one of the buildings and resolved itself into the shape of a unicorn, identifiable only as the outline where light didn’t exist. It whistled a disturbingly cheerful tune as it flipped a knife in its hoof and turned to face him.

He started backpedaling hastily but found that the path he had come down was suddenly closed off in a dead end. He turned to pound a hoof uselessly on the brick facade and saw another pony lying on the ground, unmoving. Somehow, he knew he had failed to protect this pony.

The unicorn walked slowly closer, whistling increasing in volume, eyes starting to glow sadistically as the rest of the world dimmed. Pressed against the wall, the pegasus began to whimper in fear, telling himself that there wasn’t anything he could do, that there never was anything he could have done. But he knew better. This was his punishment for failure.

As the knife rose he closed his eyes and waited for the end. The pitch-black hoof fell towards his chest—

Dusk burst upwards, screaming and struggling against the pull of the sheets on his bed. His face and mane were soaked in a cold, clammy sweat. He glanced around frantically. He heard the whistling from his dream coming from outside his open window where a lark had perched in the branches of the great tree. Dusk growled, grabbed a nearby book, and threw it out the window, scaring the lark into flight. The pegasus sighed and held his sutured leg in his other hoof, flexing the muscles gently.

It was just a dream. Just a dream. It wasn’t anything like that. It wasn't. It couldn’t be.

The door opened slightly and a lilac head poked in. “Dusk, you awake?”

He let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. I’m up.”

If Twilight could tell how shaken Dusk’s nightmare had left him, she kept it well hidden. “Oh, good. I’ve got to make a trip to the market; I was wondering if you might want to join me,” she said with a hopeful note in her voice. He didn’t answer, so Twilight walked in. “Come on, some fresh air couldn’t hurt. Besides, we could look for something special to prepare for dinner tonight.”

He couldn’t bear to say no to that face. “Okay, okay. Let me get a shower first.”

- - - - -

The two walked out and closed the library door behind them, strolling casually towards the center of Ponyville in a comfortable silence. Dusk blinked in surprise at how bright the sun seemed, realizing that he really hadn’t been outside since he first moved into the library.

As they rounded Sugarcube Corner the town square came into view. The marketplace itself was, as always, a hive of social activity. Ponies walked, trotted, or flew from stall to stall, haggling and purchasing in turn. Friendly conversations rose and fell, mixing with vendor’s calls in a dull roar that added to the generally festive atmosphere of a market day.

Dusk, however, didn’t get a festive feel from it all as they wandered from stall to stall. All he could feel was a hundred sets of eyes— watching him, perhaps waiting for him to step wrong or lose his vigilance for just a second. He felt his wings pull tighter in against his sides, trying to shrink himself. He started breathing just a little bit harder as they walked into the crowded plaza.

Twilight gave him a nudge, leaning in. “Hey, relax. Everything’s fine here. Try to think of something good for dinner,” she said, indicating the long row of produce carts with a nod of her head.

Dusk nodded, trying to drive the panic down by narrowing his focus before it got to be too much to handle. Okay, I can do that, he thought to himself, walking slowly down the line of food vendors. What’s good… carrots look decent. Hay is nice and fresh. Peaches, potatoes, cucumbers…

“Hey mister, how ‘bout an apple?”

Dusk almost jumped out of his skin as a voice came from right behind him. He spun around to face a yellow earth pony filly with a bow in her mane. He let out a breath he didn’t remember holding. “Uh… no thanks. M— maybe another time,” he said, turning away.

To his shock, she was right back in front of him. “Only 2 bits each! Freshest in Equestria!”

Dusk felt cornered. The ponies behind and around him were gradually replaced by the walls from his dream, boxing him in. “No, really…” he said quietly, ears folding down against his head.

“You’re an awfully hard bargainer, mister. Okay then, 5 for 8 bits,” she insisted, leaning in closer with a cheerful grin.

He stared at her grin, fear blanching his face. He couldn’t see the filly anymore. He wasn’t in a market. He was standing in a dark street, the sounds of rain and moans of pain pounding in his ears. His leg felt like it was on fire, and the dark unicorn from his dreams stood before him. “NO!” Dusk snarled. The mad grin grew as the specter got closer. Dusk reared, fight-or-flight instincts controlling him. “Please, don’t k—“

“What in tarnation’s goin’ on over here?” yelled an orange mare dressed in a well-worn Stetson hat, who was charging up behind the scared filly. “Hey, whadya think you’re doin’, yelling at a young’un like that?”

Dusk blinked as the world came back with a rush of noise. He was back in a market with a scared yellow filly in front of him. He dropped to the ground, cowering under the intimidating scolding, unable to stop his violent shaking. The aggressive mare was just about to launch into another salvo when he was saved by a familiar voice.

“Applejack, don’t!” Twilight yelled, running in between the pegasus and the farmer. She turned and leaned down to the shaking Dusk. “Hey. Hey, it’s okay. You’re fine. Nothing’s going to happen to you, I promise,” she said, her voice gentle.

Dusk finally met her eyes. “… Twilight?”

“Yeah, Dusk, it’s me. Are you okay?” He nodded very slowly.

“Twi? What’s this all about? Who’s that?” came an irritated drawl from behind the unicorn.

Twilight straightened up and turned to face her friend. “I’m sorry, Applejack. Dusk is a friend of mine. What happened here?”

“He was yellin’ and threatenin’ mah sister, that’s what!” she fumed, although she seemed to be growing less angry and more confused. “He shoulda— Friend of yours? Since when?”

Applejack and her sister followed as Twilight led Dusk to the other side of the stalls where there were fewer ponies around. Dusk knelt down on the grass next to a building and tried to stop his shaking. Once she was sure he’d be okay, Twilight turned back to her friend, keeping her voice quiet. “I’m sorry about all that, AJ. Dusk arrived in town a few days ago. Something… something awful happened to him recently. He just arrived in town, and he’s having some problems adjusting. Something must have set him off.”

Applejack frowned. She turned to her younger sibling, who was looking slightly shaken. “Apple Bloom, would you happen t’ know what that might’ve been?”

“Um… I might’ve tried to sell him an apple. Or two.” Her head drooped. “Or ten.”

Applejack pressed a hoof to her forehead. “Apple Bloom, we’ve been over this. You can’t keep pressin’ ponyfolk after they said no.”

“I’m sorry, sis,” the filly said. “I jes’ didn’t think he’d react like that.”

Dusk shook his head and stood back up. He looked up to see the filly in front of him again, looking embarrassed but earnest. “I’m sorry, mister. I shouldn’t’a been so pushy.”

I scared this filly. I almost trampled a child! Oh, Harmony, what am I doing! The pegasus found himself completely unable to meet her gaze. “N— no…” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

The orange mare came and stood next to her sister. “Well, I suppose we could’a started off better.” She chuckled nervously. “I’m Applejack, and this here’s mah little sister, Apple Bloom.”

“Dusk Chaser.” He said, not extending a hoof.

Twilight started to put a hoof on his shoulder but stopped when he flinched away. “Do you want to keep going, Dusk?” He shook his head miserably. “Okay. I’ll pick up a few more things and then I’ll meet you back home.” Dusk nodded and turned to head back towards the library, avoiding the crowds as much as possible.

- - - - -

Twilight stood and watched Dusk slowly walk away. Even his mane seemed to droop. She sighed sadly.

“Twi…?”

She turned back to her friend. “I’m so sorry about all this, AJ. I didn’t think he’d have that hard of a time in a crowd.”

“What happened to ‘im?” the cowpony asked.

Twilight hesitated. “It’s hard to say…” she started, glancing at Apple Bloom.

Applejack caught on quickly. “Apple Bloom, would you go mind the cart?”

The filly snorted irritably. “Hush and let the big ponies talk, right? You know I’m almost a teenager, right?”

The farmer turned to her sister. “It ain’t about age. We’re havin’ a conversation about another pony and it ain’t polite to do so in a crowd. ‘Sides, do you really think I’d let you sell on your own if I didn’t trust ya?” Apple Bloom looked skeptically back at her. “Previous attempts aside,” Applejack countered.

The younger Apple blushed. “Yeah… okay,” she said, walking back towards the marketplace.

Twilight laughed quietly. “Thanks, AJ. I just don’t want this to get out. I don’t want anypony to get the wrong idea about Dusk.”

“Hey, you know I’m good for a secret.”

“Yeah…” the unicorn replied, looking distant for a few moments. “Dusk showed up in town half dead about a week ago during the huge storm. He was hurt, but Rainbow Dash and I were able to get him to the hospital. He doesn’t remember anything about how he was hurt, or if he does, he’s not saying. I think that if he doesn’t remember, he doesn’t want to— and if he does, he wants to forget. He hasn’t really said anything about it, but I’ve pieced together enough to know that it must have been terrible.”

AJ frowned. “What, like some big accident or somethin’? Like the one that happened up at the weather factory all them years back?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’d think that we would have heard something about that. All I know is that he’s not handling it well. He has nightmares, AJ. Sometimes he wakes up screaming.”

The farmer looked horrified. “Are ya serious?” she whispered.

She nodded, staring distantly in front of her. “The first time he took a shower after getting out of the hospital, he had a huge… ‘freak-out’, I guess would be the word. He punched a hole in the tile in the shower. He almost struck at me, but I don’t think he knew what he was doing.” She turned to her friend. “I don’t think he knew what he was doing when he scared Apple Bloom, either. I recognized that look in his eyes, like he was somewhere else in his mind.”

Applejack sat heavily on her haunches, disbelief written large on her face. “Twi, what are you doin’? He might not realize it, but that pony’s dangerous!”

“He’s not!” she said adamantly, stamping her hoof down. “I don’t know how to help him, but I’m trying. I’ve been trying to get him to remember. I’ve been through every book in the library trying to find something that relates, but I can’t find anything!” She sighed, tossing her mane in frustration. “I’ve gone all the way back to the classical era and it seems that almost nopony has even done any serious research into the mind. Everypony knows what’s in a pony’s head, but getting research approved is so difficult that almost nothing’s been done to see how it all works or how to fix it,” she said, worry coloring her words as she trailed off. “I’m starting to wonder if he can be helped.”

“Well, I suppose ya could always find an older source.”

Twilight snorted. “Like what? Stone tablets?”

Applejack laughed. “Gee, if only ya knew somepony who lived for more’n a thousand years…”

Twilight smacked herself in the face with a hoof. “AJ, you’re a genius!”

Her friend gave her a wink. “Nah. Not a genius, jes’ good pony sense.”

- - - - -

Twilight closed the library door quietly behind her and looked around as she floated her saddlebags towards the kitchen. The door to Dusk’s room was closed.

“Spike?” she quietly called. The young dragon quickly emerged from the kitchen. “Is Dusk in his room?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Walked in the door and went straight in there, never said a word. He looked pretty out of it. Did something go wrong?”

“Sort of. He had a bit of a panic attack in the market.” She grimaced. “I don’t think too many ponies noticed, though...”

“Ouch. Should I get started on dinner?”

Twilight looked at the closed door to Dusk’s room. “In a minute, Spike. First, I think I’d like you to take a letter.”

Comments

[OtterMatt]

Okay, one more chapter to go in Act 1, and I promise, the next chapter, and hopefully the rest of the story, will be less dark.

[Raphael]

Good chapter. It's really a shame this hasn't gotten more attention, because it's really well-written so far. Keep up the good work!

[OtterMatt]

850280
You are most kind to say so, sir. I've still got 8 chapters left, so maybe a few more people will wander in during the program. ^_^

[CantThinkofaGoodName]

not bad so far, looking forward to the next chapters

[alexanderhunt88]

KEEP
IT
UP