The journey

by Dashed_Brony

CH12: Memories...

The night was haunting. It was choking him. Every time he blinked, it seemed to grow closer. Every time he blinked, he saw those yellows orbs flash before him. It had only been a few nights since he encountered them, and they still followed him. The fact that they had appeared before his eyes when he blinked only strenghtened the image.

He hadn't dared tell Toby, knowing it would do no good, and when night was gone, so was his fears. He knew the tricksters were creatures of the night, and thus, the bright sun was his relief from the darkness he had grown to fear so strongly, or rather, what was in it.

But every night was more sleepless than the last, and that ended up taking his tolls as his eyelids grew heavy during day. It wasn't the only thing that had started affecting him. He was walking left and right, struggling to stand straight when he stood still. He didn't want to sleep at day either, that meant being awake during the night, and he refused to risk waking to another, hideous creature. He already had enough trouble sleeping as it was.

Even the grass-green pony next to him had started noticing it, but hadn't bothered questioning it until Laxed fell straight to the ground and nearly passed out. It had been a week since the encounter, and they had crossed various sights, like steep falls at dawn, making the most beautiful sceneries, waterfalls.

Currently, they were crossing a large mountain, consisting of a grassy surface, with the occasional rock every here and there. The mountain air was fresh, but also much thinner. No trees, no flowers and only a few pony-made statues of rocks to show that others had been there before. They even bypassed a small river that ran down along the path they were making their way up. The mountain-side was bumpy after all, and had multiple minor hills.

They were far up in the mountains, and that only made the danger of passing out that much greater.

He was too sleep-deprived to notice though, and his eyes shut, as he was about to simply drop to the ground and sleep as he pleased. The only thing hindering him from rolling off the mountain side directly, was a pair of green hooves that had stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Come on Lax! What's wrong?" Toby nearly shouted, fearing the worst. The unicorn started shaking him.

"Hmmm? Oh... Sorry... It's just... Nevermind..." He mumbled as a reply, unable to even talk properly. His mouth moved lazily about to form the words that died along the tone of his voice.

He got up, and continued forth, but the previous event repeated itself on multiple occasions. It wasn't until they were on safe turf, a small, flat platform, that the unicorn didn't bother trying to wake him up again. It was better to just let him sleep. They had just gotten slower as every day passed, They were getting nowhere at this rate.

At first, it wasn't that noticeable, but now it was unbearable, and that was what gave Toby reasonings to make the decision he made. It also made him realise that they had absolutely no clue about where they were heading. They were simply exploring, discovering new places, and seeing magnificent things. Even during night, when it took its portion of time to fall asleep, he could gaze up into the beautiful skies that sometimes had stars, and other times, didn't.

But it was day now. This was the second time they had to make a stop during daytime, and all because the pegasi had decided to sleep during it.

"Erk... You sure know how to pick the right spots to fall asleep too, don't you?" The unicorn mumbled to himself, somewhat aggitated. Patience wasn't his strongest virtue, and looking at the overgrown baby that had to sleep during daytime, he laughed. He didn't even fear, for a second, that Laxed would wake up. If he could pass out in the middle of nowhere, without consern for something suddenly happening, he could outsleep a laughter.

"But what to do, now that I have to wait for lazybum over there?" Toby mumbled, still with the aggitation bothering him. He had to wait the entire day, because after all, who knew how long the dark, snoring ball of a pony would stay asleep.

Toby had only waited the first time. He could have patience once, thinking it was a one-time happening. After all, they weren't intending on running into any other tartarellas any time soon. His thoughts were proven wrong.

"Not the first time anyways..."

He decided to go exploring. Thus far, they had only tried making their way over the mountain. They weren't really setting out to discover every bit of it, just enjoy every detail of it, with their eyes and not hooves.

But since the overgrown baby, Toby having taken a liking to the nickname, wasn't waking up any time soon, and he couldn't progress, this was the time to explore the massive area. They were in the middle of it all, and where this mountain ended, another continued. They were all connected, and after that, just a steep fall down into a river that ran far below.

Just the thought of going close to the stony cliff made Toby shudder. He had always partly wished he was a pegasus, because then he wouldn't have to fear falling. He could just fly himself to safety after all. Unicorns had a spell that allowed them to grow wings though, but without anything past a rumour to go by, he was stuck with that, and that alone.

And so, he didn't dare go close the cliff. If only sleepy-pants was awake, he could walk over to the cliff, and if he were to accidentaly fall, he could just be saved right there, right then. Instead, he was stuck, admiring his imagination, since it was all he had.

Time passed slowly, and he found too little to do with it, to make it pass any faster. Exploring was fun, but only when something happened. The mountain was dead, aside from the occasional wind brushing over the mountainside, both strong and sturdy. Not a grass-strand stood untouched.

It was that stroke of wind that got Toby's heart beating though. It struck him head-on, and left him feeling like he was soaring in the skies. The boots relieved him of any feeling that he was still in touch with the ground, and he only kept standing there, until the wind died down, and he was back in reality again.

"So... That's how it feels... To be up there, huh?"

He looked to the skies, longingly. He wouldn't trade away his horn for the ability to fly, but just about anything else, he was willing to sacrifice, just for a day in the skies.

But as his father had said, the magic was ancient, and long lost, and daydreaming would remain daydreaming.

This was as close as he'd ever feel to soaring up there, unless he was being carried, which in no way compared to actually flying himself. He was sure of it.

But returning from up in the clouds, where his dreams was, he looked around, and all he saw, was the same spot he had stood a few minutes ago. He looked up into the skies once more.

"Some day... I'm sure of it..." His eyes were filled with a longing desire to be up there, and his tone was as certain as his words that he would achieve it. Even if that meant taking his entire life trying to reinvent the spell.

Whenever he had time to practice magic, he did. Even after he had met Laxed, under multiple occasions where the opportunity offered itself, he had tried to improve. It was a slow process, but his skills rose, just under the noticable point every time he did. And now, more than any other time, he had the opportunity to.

There were no sounds to disturb him, the wind was refreshing, the air remained otherwise untouched, and the surroundings were both gorgeous and peaceful. He couldn't have asked for a better setting.

He started it all off with trying to manipulate a few strands of grass at his will, moving them back and forth. He had to start slow, magic could be straining if forced. It was just like any other excercise. One grew tired from it, just like jogging or running.

And without warming up first, it could end up in self-injury. As far as magic went, it was more a mental strain than anything else, and could leave major headaches if pushed. He knew so of self-experience, and refused to simply jump in on something big.

When he fell through the roof, as he was first discovered by a certain pegasi that had shown him Equestria in his full beauty, it was because he pushed his magic limits, and had ended up taking a few steps back, right into a weakspot of the roof. All it took for the roof to give in at that point, was a shout. He fullfilled that criteria, and so, slipped right through.

But he had long since stopped regreting that he did. After all, if he hadn't, he would still be living in that cursed place. It wasn't him who had toyed with the village, or how it appeared at a distance compared to how it turned out whenever somepony got close. It was a stranger, neither pony, nor any known race, that had been scammed by his father and his uncle, Trolt and Bolt, who had cursed it.

The memories returned. After having forced himself to forget for so long, they returned. He managed to put them back at bay, somewhat. What he had already remembered, remained in his mind.

He reattained his focus at the grass, and made them dance before him, and it had amused him, if he wasn't the one making them move back and forth, rhythmically to his own tune that played in his head, and out his mouth.

It was a lullaby. Memories flashed before his eyes, but before he could make a single one out clearly, the lullaby halted, as did the grass. His plot fell straight to the ground. He was sweating and breathing heavily.

"T-That tone..." He stuttered.

"N-No... Nonono... Go away... Please!"

He was shouting helplessly into the thin air, ever so grateful the pegasi remained asleep. But his head began to pound, worse than if he had tried pushing his magic abilities. His chest ached, and he felt like crying, putting his rear hooves to his chest, his front hooves atop his rear ones and hugging them close to his body. He laid there sobbing for some time, trying his best not to remember.

But it was too late. Every memory he had managed to push aside for many years, came back to him, more clear than a crystal.

The tune he had hummed, was the lullaby his mother used to sing to him. Her and his father always argued with each other, about one thing or another. It was never clear, their words were muffled behind a wooden door, and he never dared moving closer to the door to hear what they were arguing about.

At day time, everything was normal. They spoke to each other like lovers do, and he never dared asking them about why they argued. They always did it at night too, like they thought he couldn't hear them. That he was asleep whenever they started. Sometimes, he stayed up, just to hear them.

The memory of his room was hazy, and the only thing he directly remembered, was him looking towards a wooden door.

Then, something happened.

*Thud!*

The noise made his chest ache even more, and his head was pounding like crazy. He refused to remember anything else. He couldn't. He absolutely couldn't. It was too painful to think about, and he was far from ready to see the rest. For now, he managed to calm himself, and his breath dropped to a relaxed pace. His cheeks were stained with tears, and he returned to the reality before him in cold sweat.

He sat up, wiping his eyes. The sun was preparing to set, and he was growing tired. It was enough magic practice as it was. If he tried training it more right now, he knew the memories wouldn't stay at bay, and waking up in a pool of his own tears made him realise just how badly he wanted to lose the memory of his family.

One part of him wanted to know what the thud represented, but as he felt his entire stomach twist and turn at that sound, he decided maybe it was better forgotten, at least for now. He was tired. Exhausted. Both mentally and physically. He could hardly wobble his way over to the pegasi, and lay down next to him, seeking comfort. He needed it so sorely at this point, that just the warmth of the pegasi, being back to back with him, calmed him enough to fall into an immediate sleep. Darkness wouldn't come until at least an hour, but he just wanted to sleep, and so, he immediately drowned his depression in dreams that were more pleasant, and bearable, than the memories he had refused to remember, and hoped would never hurt him again.