Reality is a Blur

by lLoveRainbowDash

Chapter Four – Hopeless Wanderer Part I

She pushed on. Still keeping strong. Staying awake, even if her eyes protested. The only way she knew what was in front of her, was from the moonlight. The moon sat right in the middle of the night sky, acting as the nighttime sun.

The creek was still to her right. She would never let it leave her sight. Every now and then, she’d walk down the ledge to the water and take a drink or two, but other than that, she’d keep walking.

From all of her traveling, her legs began hurting with a dull pain. It felt like a dull ache that wouldn’t cease until its demands were met. She sat down, letting her legs rest. She stretched a few times.

Oh, that feels... great.

While sitting next to the creek water, listening to the little trickle of water, she remembered her wings. She looked back at them. Then tried her best to open them, but to no avail.

Stupid wing.

She reached her right hoof up to her left wing, but fell forward onto her right side, causing pain to shoot through her body again.

Alright, alright, I’m done with that.

She got back up slowly, making sure to be careful. Just then, she yawned. She laid back down onto her back, and tried to just keep an eye on the sky. Instead, her eyelids took over and slowly fell, blocking out the remaining light in the world.

Hey, no. Don’t do that.

She tried to open her eyes, but nothing happened. She yawned again. She felt herself fully relax. She couldn’t lie to herself, it felt good. She allowed herself one last stretch, before giving in to the darkest of nights.

She lay there, unconscious, without any idea where she is. No idea who she is. Not even what she is.

It was just her, and her creek. The night sky was just a little bonus. A beautiful one at that.

---

She opened her eyes. The sun was in its setting stage. Not fully gone, but getting there.

She got up, wishing she didn’t waste her time with unneeded sleep. Though, she did feel a lot better. She also noticed she still had her memories, which was surprising.

She thought about it for a moment, when it suddenly occurred to her that she had a mission.

Oh yeah, I have to follow the water.

She then continued along with her journey, under the cover of dusk. She crossed the creek at some point, so it was now to her left as she walked along.

I wish I had a map...

She stopped, standing in place.

What is a map? Why did that just...?

She started walking forward again, ignoring the sudden word.

Map. What a strange word.

As she walked along, she noticed the sun going below the horizon once again.

Seems like the dark follows the light.

She followed the turns and bends in the creek’s path. She was inside the forest, trees covering her view now. It also seemed darker than usual, but she guessed it was the trees’ shadows.

Just like every other strange thing that popped into her mind, the word “name” came up, seemingly from nowhere.

Name. Name... Oh! Name! I need a name! Alright, I will name myself...

As she walked, she looked at her mane that hung over her neck. The colours. Just like that fish she saw.

I... I can name myself... Colour! Actually, no. Red! No. Blue! No... Green? No. Rainbow?

Just then, she felt a sense of familiarity wash over her.

Rainbow... I like it.

As Rainbow walked along the creek, she noticed a large cliff up ahead. It protruded from the ground ahead of her, and seemed to reach the sky!

Once Rainbow got closer, she could see that the rock face was jagged and even stuck out in some spots. She then looked to her left, nothing but trees and more of that cliff face. To the right, she saw a ledge where the rock stuck out from the cliff, along with even more trees. It was as if the ground just jumped up and stayed up in the air.

From where she was, Rainbow could see that there was trees at the top too. She saw that the rest of the creek was up there too, seeing as how the water fell off of the cliff, forming a tall, thin waterfall.

Rainbow contemplated on how she'd get up. She had to. It was her only hope.

Rainbow remembered her wings again.

Maybe if I try hard enough, they will work?

Rainbow gave it another shot. She tried her best to open her wings. Somehow, she only got the left one to open, but she didn’t care. She just opened a wing! As she tried to memorize the feeling of the movement, she looked over to her right wing. She noticed that, while her body was mangled, the wing wasn’t. It was actually in pretty decent shape. Some spots, there were a few feathers missing, leaving an opening, but it looked like it could work.

Rainbow tried her hardest to move the right wing, instead she got a cramp in her side. She stopped the movement for a moment to let it pass.

As Rainbow sat there, she looked around at her surroundings another time. It was now darker than before, with the sun completely below the horizon. The only remaining light was that of the sky, the faint orange glow.

Every time Rainbow saw the sky, it reminded her of the word that she chose to keep with her.

Twilight.

Every time she thought about it, it filled her with feelings that she did not understand. Rainbow liked to think about it as beautiful. Just like the night sky.

Rainbow noticed the pain was gone, so she resumed trying to open her wings to full span. With ease, she opened both of them.

Oh my... T-they are... awesome!

Rainbow began flapping her wings up and down like she had seen birds do. She felt herself lift off the ground. Once she got a few feet into the air, her wings began giving in to the weight. She started tilting to the right, so she flapped harder in the right wing, this caused her to almost lose balance. She kept flying, trying her best to get to the top of the cliff.

Rainbow lost her balance and flew right into the side of the cliff. Her attempt at recovering was a success. She used her hooves to push off of the rock face to get higher into the air.

I-I’m doing it!

She saw the ledge where she wanted to reach, and tilted her wings forward to get the initial push she needed. She stopped flapping for a second, and let herself glide to the ledge. Rainbow didn’t know how to land, so she hit the ledge and almost fell down. With the strength she had left, she caught herself on a branch from a tree that was hanging over the edge.

Rainbow lifted her other hoof up to help in pulling herself up. She got a good hold on the branch, and even used her wings to help lift. Soon, she was up.

After taking a few breaths, she looked around for the creek. Rainbow started panicking when she couldn’t see any water around. She ran around a tree and noticed the small creek, allowing her to calm down. She walked down the little dip and stood next to the water. She looked down at the water, watching the little ripples again, seeing the reflections curve and bend with each little imperfection in the water. Then, she saw herself. Her fur coated in dirt from laying on the ground. The small twig in her hair. The small bug crawling up her chest.

Rainbow jumped up and started swatting at her chest.

Get it off! Get it off!

As she jumped around, she finally noticed it was gone and stopped.

What was that?

She looked around in hopes of seeing it again, but it was long gone.

With a sigh, Rainbow laid back against the small dirt wall of the edge of the creek, and let herself drift off. It was soon interrupted by a sudden growl.

Rainbow shot up, looking around to see the cause of the noise. She stood there, quietly listening.

What was—

There it was! She heard it again! Strange though, it sounded like it was coming from her.

She listened carefully again, and, sure enough, it was coming from herself. Her stomach to be exact.

Rainbow laid back down, ignoring whatever growl she might hear next, and let herself relax.

Rainbow quietly listened to the sounds of nature as she slowly drifted further from reality.

The sounds of water trickling over rocks, the sound of wind howling through the trees, and finally, the sound of her breathing. Everything seemingly slow.

The rocks digging into her side didn’t help, but she managed.