Chapter 3: Adrift
For days, or maybe hours, or maybe minutes, Derek dreamed. Dreamed of pain unrealized, of agonies unfulfilled. Dreamed of shadows that swam in distant places, and emerged to strike him down. Dreamed of small spaces, and small creatures that fled forever and never found relief.
Then the dreaming ended, and Derek wasn't Derek anymore.
There was cold first, liquid that soaked into a tight mat of cloth, or maybe something else. There were sensations, but none that made sense. The ground was rough, and smells of dirt and antiseptic raged in the air. Maybe blood too, and worse. Who am I?
She had come looking for something, that memory was clear. Traveled far into the forest, where others feared to go. There would be evidence out there, proof for those who didn't believe. Proof she needed to find, because...
She didn't remember that part. But she remembered enough to feel that something was wrong. Why did she feel so small? I shouldn't be here.
She started moving. Kicking first, just to get her hands under her. But that didn't make sense. What were those again? She struggled, flailing around wildly, until forelegs touched up against something confining. A sheet! She shoved, pulling it away from her as hard as she could, squirming free.
Her eyes opened, but what she saw didn't make sense. A nose—white, maybe purple? Where was that color coming from? Her world was illuminated by flickering candlelight, barely bright enough to see by.
She was on a bed, though it was more a pile of blankets dumped haphazardly against the ground. At first she thought she was alone, tucked into this strange stone place, but no. Another lump lay beside her, so close that she could feel the warmth.
Where am I? She should be in the forest, shouldn't she? There was a waterfall that people called forbidden. Her car was parked in the lot, she didn't have an overnight permit. She would get booted.
There were more important things, but her memory still wasn't working right. Nothing was—her hands were still numb, and her limbs too weak. This was wrong.
She squirmed forward, towards the other smell. Somehow, her nose told her certain details without any need or ability to properly understand them. The other smelled small, damp, and somehow a little like ozone. Maybe she'd crashed down from the sky?
She tried to say her best friend's name, to get her attention. But her lips weren't working right. Or maybe it was just the dampness and the cold that turned it into a pathetic squeak.
Something stirred in the distance, coming from some part of the room that she couldn't see. But she didn't turn to look. She had found herself a goal, and now she intended to pursue that goal to the exclusion of everything else. She was almost there.
Finally she reached her, enough to get the sheets in her mouth and tug them violently away. She felt an instant sense of recognition as she exposed the sleeping creature's face. This was her friend, obviously. They'd gone into the woods together. But what had she been trying to prove again?
What kind of alien was this? She froze in place, staring in shock at the creature she'd revealed. This was her best friend, yet... she'd never seen anything like this in her life.
She was a horse, though she couldn't imagine any horse had ever come in yellow and bright orange before. Her friend was built differently than she was—leaner and more graceful, more aerodynamic. Because she had a set of wings, orange on the top but with bright yellow visible from the underside.
"What are you?" Whatever strangeness was happening to her mouth before, this time it worked. She'd never heard that voice before, just as she'd never heard the one who made such terrified squeaks. This isn't me.
It wasn't her, yet obviously it had to be. Who else could she be?
She turned, glancing over at herself. That would give her some insight, surely. Once she knew who herself was, everything would become clear to her.
She saw a long body, pale purple with more legs than there ought to be, and a tail that flicked nervously back and forth even as she watched. Something that shouldn't be—couldn't, really. Yet it was her body.
"One of them is awake," said a voice from nearby, the doorway in fact. The only opening in her prison of stone.
They too were incongruous, though they wore thick robes that obscured much of how they actually looked. The face emerging from within looked as strange as the one in the bed beside her. "See?"
"The Watcher is almost here," answered another voice, though she couldn't see them. "Just keep her calm until he arrives."
She turned back to her companion, feeling urgent. The addition of strangers brought another rush of concerns—she was missing something, something critical. What was it?
While she tried to remember, she nudged at the smaller, sleeping form. "Wake up—" She tried to say the name, and again it wouldn't come to her. She could almost form it on her tongue. "Please wake up."
She should've had hands to shake them to alertness. But the thing on the end of her arm wasn't a hand. And it probably wasn't an arm either. "We do things together, I remember that part! Come on!"
The sleeper stirred, moaning groggily. She rolled to one side, and that strange wing on her back extended, pushing the hoof away. "A few more minutes. Alarm... didn't go off yet."
"There won't be an alarm," she whispered, growing more urgent by the second. "I don't think we're... where we're supposed to be."
The smaller one opened her eyes, as bright green as those accent feathers. Then she jolted, sliding backward along the floor in a rush of fur and mane. They were similar, yes—but the way her friend moved was so different. More like a hummingbird, each motion incredibly rapid and jerky. "What's going on? How do I know you?"
Her friend managed to sit up, though she did so against the wall instead of standing, spraying blankets around her as she moved.
She followed her friend backward—mostly because she felt safer with her than the mysterious strangers outside. "We went in together, looking for things! I was going to prove... I think this? Maybe something else. I'm trying to remember."
"You're—" Her voice cut off abruptly. "I know it. Why can't I say it?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped herself. She didn't actually know. She didn't know where they were, or even what they were. "Something magic happened," was all she could say. "I don't think it went the way I expected. I wasn't trying to make us small."
"Good." Her friend slumped to the ground, both wings splaying at random to either side. "I admit it, I was wrong. You're right... whatever you wanted to prove, you proved it. Can I go home now?"
Something moved in the cavern outside, and her eyes turned. Several sets of footsteps scraped and rustled against the stone, until shadows resolved themselves from the gloom.
Two more robed figures filled the hallway. A glow illuminated from... spikes? Hopefully those didn't go all the way into their bodies, that would hurt!
Horns, maybe. Mythical unicorns, producing a steady glow too bright to be bioluminescent. And between them, another figure. He was smaller, yet somehow took up more space. Magic?
She wasn't sure where the thought came from, yet once she considered it, she couldn't think of anything else. "Be gone, all of you," said a voice, so shriveled and ancient that she was surprised they could speak at all. "Around the corridor, where you will not be harmed if this goes poorly. Go!"
The four robed figures scattered in both directions, with real fear in their footsteps. Though like so much else that she saw, they didn't quite make sense. It was all wrong.
The figure who stepped inside was still twice their size, maybe more. His robes were different, adorned with lines of text stitched delicately from gold. But she couldn't read any of it—couldn't even recognize the language. Can I read? It felt like something she should be able to do, but she couldn't actually remember any specifics.
"I offer greetings to those of shadow and smoke," he said. "We have been watching faithfully for you, from one life-age of this sphere to the next."
Her mouth hung open. Her friend actually cowered in the blanket, wings jerking flat to her sides and ears folding backward. But she couldn't do that herself—she needed to hear this.
"I am Watcher of the sisterhood, eldest and defiant to the false duality of sun and moon. What names are yours, that they may be recorded and duly honored by all who speak to the low places?"
She quivered, and would've retreated further from this strange creature if there was any further to go. At least her friend was close—she would be much more afraid to face him alone.
"Our n-names?" she finally said, her voice a squeak. "I would tell you, but... I can't."
The creature, Watcher, reacted. His attention focused on her, and he took another step towards her. Yet he didn’t seem angry. But without being able to see a face, she couldn't tell exactly how he must be feeling.
A set of lanterns against the wall barely penetrated his hood, yet what she couldn't see only deepened her fear. She saw no reflection of eyes from within.
"We have recorded the secret names of those cast down by the tyrants. We know all your deeds, and would honor you in your return. That is our purpose, for which we have shed much blood."
Had he actually moved? Maybe she was imagining it—the sides of that robe didn't actually rustle, and she heard no footsteps. But when she looked away, Watcher had moved closer to her. And she had nowhere left to go.
"It isn't that we don't... trust you?" she said, glancing nervously at her friend for help. The other small thing opened one eye, looked at Watcher, then curled up again. "I can't tell you. The word... I can't say it. Feels like... magic."
Though she couldn't say exactly where the blockage came. She could imagine the name, almost reach it—but then it slipped away and was gone again. Something that didn't fit, like much of her memories. Memories of being bigger, of being something else. Memories that made her face turn bright red to remember.
It was a good thing she didn't have a mirror, or more time to examine her situation. The more she remembered, the more confused and uncomfortable she would feel. Maybe her friend could help her work through those feelings, but she didn't want Watcher anywhere in the same building when she tried, let alone the same room.
"Oh." The figure stopped moving, and his tone changed. "That is... not what we expected. But we did not expect you to look like... you do, either. You ruled as the great ones of old, before you were cast down by traitors. You are incomplete."
Was that his way of saying small and pathetic? Or maybe he knew she should be male.
"Do you remember? You have been banished for such a long time... yet now you return. Beneath your hooves, the false kingdoms tremble! Tell me the plan you prepared for us. Tell me how we will conquer the tyrants."
She made a sound—not quite any particular word, more a collection of whimpers like her friend was making. She wobbled, then the strength to stand finally failed her, and she collapsed beside her friend.
"I don't know what you're talking about—" was what she tried to say. But it turned to tears after a few seconds, then uncontrolled sobbing.
Her friend's voice echoed in her ears, just as pained as her own. "I just want to go home!" she sobbed.
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Oh shit.
Good first impression with the cultists. Guessing body transformation does wonders to the mind too. Can't really fit an adult mind into a child's brain. Not to mention some sort of magic affecting the memories or humanity of the two.
Would Luna have eased the transition knowing you were summoned as her enemy?
I can't imagine the newly born sisters wanting to stay with the cult for too long.
Looks like the Watcher didn't get what he was fishing for. It's not as if Derek or Charlie were destined to be at the portal at that time. Though maybe Watcher did succeed and we're seeing the start of a new group of powerful alicorn sisters. A match for the ones controlling Canterlot.
Thank You for uploading this chapter today.
When I read "Updates on Saturdays" in the description I thought that I have to wait a few days.
Thank you for the effort of creating a chapter every day.
Houston, we've had a problem...
...WELP.
See how Watcher interprets that last bit to somehow make sense in his 'grand plan' to get revenge...
10888777
1/day for 1 week, then 1/week with occasionally 2/week if you're very good, brush your teeth every day, and eat all your veggies.
Her gender identity was not.
... Ah. Not until she thought about it.
Yeah, getting hurled across worlds with a good chunk of a river isn't good for the memory, to say nothing of the sudden species change. And the Watcher's a lot more unnatural than I thought at first. This is going to be extremely awkward, if not outright deadly. We'll have to see what the cult thinks of much less awe-inspiring results than they were hoping for.
Interesting...
Great story so far look forward to more chapters
I don’t see why they’d have to make an impression on the cult if they want to go home. The cult should be begging forgiveness and trying to repair what they broke. I mean, they didn’t so much summon their gods as they did kidnap them and completely cripple them mentally and physically. They even stole their names! Demanding they kill Celestia and Luna is out of the question now.
Oh dear, I hope they get away from this crazy group and get some help.
Holy shit, is this guy some sort of lich? And here I thought these ponies were just a band of lucky misfits
So... were memories... redacted to ponify everything? Would PoV remember buying Pony brand TV instead of Sony brand TV? Would parents be remembered as unicorns?
Temporarily locked away, for your safety! ?..?and the safety of the others....