My breath was hastened as I collapsed to my hands and knees. I could no longer flee. My body ached and my heart throbbed in my chest. The searing heat around the volcano drove me to cough. I felt the beast of legends on my back. There was no escape.
He's lost his memories, and he can't remember quite a bit. Savra, his name is. He finds himself spiraling through the deep water of mirrors. He doesn't understand what's happening, what that strange stone necklace is, what it means, or what he was forced into this world for. He wants his mother, and he wants to go home, but how can one know what home is if you don't remember?
I trudged through the woodlands near my home in Canada. Cold, and miserable up here. Polar bears come to and from. Time passes slowly here, but the best pass time for me, is climbing to my secret Cave of Treasured Sparkles. It's beautiful, really. It's a place where strange crystalline butterflies reflect free of the water in the pool inside, and show strange movies to the eye. Explosions of color, smiling creatures and monsters akin to that one would find in Greek Mythology. Sometimes, I'll see the reflections of these monsters moving and singing and dancing. Other times I'll hear faint music from the pool. There were times the water was cold, and I saw what seemed to be Yaks, eating snow. This startled me slightly, and I saw flashes of rainbows and bright pink and faint stamping of hooves from the water. On another occasion, I saw birds flying and catching fish, but they were part cat. These things terrified me, especially when I looked over the side of the pool one seemed to look back into the water at me. This made me throw myself backwards when a claw burst through and felt around. The pool never showed that place again. Then there was the dark place, with flashes of red a red mountain. The water became hot, to hot to touch there, and I began to look into the water as hard as I could. Dragons flew overhead in that pool, and this made me smile.
I wonder what the pool has to show me today. Never once, have I swam in the water. Never, I felt, should I ever try. It would only end in catastrophe. I never put more than a finger in at once, leaving a tingling feeling in my hand as a result, even after I took my hand out.
I stumbled on a root in my daydreaming, and coughed. I felt cold, and snow had began to fall, leaving me needing to hurry to the cave to wait out the storm. I smiled happily, and ran the rest of the way. I hadn't expected snow, but I still brought a blanket in my backpack of goodies. I brought a backpack full of granola bars, a compass, a flint and steel, twine, a calculator, a multi tool, and a book with a flashlight. I brought a few journals, and a pack of colored pencils. Erasable ones though, so I could erase the notes if I needed. I brought a sharpener, and that was all I could fit other that a dozen water bottles. Always pack prepared, that's what mother told me. All she knows, is that I like to play in the woods, and sometimes I don't come back all night. And it's true, once I didn't go home for the night because I had fallen asleep next to the pond. I didn't feel like arguing with my mother, so I always would pack extra in case I couldn't get home.
I was almost there, and there was not a spec of light on the ceiling before I entered, but then there was a burst of joyful color as soon as I entered the cave. There seemed to be a sense of rejoice, and I smiled as I moved over to sit next to the pool. I set the blanket out on the ground and set my backpack down towards the end of the pool away from the entrance to the cave. The butterflies appeared, dark red and warm, and showing the volcano where the dragons lay. My heart beat as if there was someone there singing in excitement. A crash was heard from the pool as the aura of the room turned to confusion, and I looked into the water and saw nothing but a huge blast of stone. Then rumbling. Then nothing. I pulled on my backpack, and grabbed my blanket from the ground and prepared to flee the cave, thinking a mountain storm had arrived, but something was off. I couldn't move towards the exit. When I tried, there was a barrier around five feet from it. I began to franticly kick the barrier, but nothing happened. I was becoming more and more wary. There was a second where I tried ramming into it shoulder first, but was sent flying backwards into the cave with my feet in the pool. My eyes became boggled as I tried to pull myself back out. I couldn't. I dragged my hands on the ground, and grabbed the stalagmites. They all broke, and I was left clinging to the edge of the pool, trying to pull my body back through the mysterious water pool. My feet were swinging wildly for any kind of ground as I looked down, only to be greeted with an endless fracture of rainbows and images leading into a room of mirrors as it reflected my every move. I slipped a little, and now only my finger tips were barely clinging to the ridge above the water. I opened my mouth to scream... But nothing came. A strange liquid air seemed to enter my body and soon, I became fragmented, and I lost my every molecule to the endless prism of the mirrors vortex, and everything went black.
I awoke on a strange black and purple sand, little gemstones gleaming out of the sand stone. My body felt fresh, like I had just been born once again. I was ready to sit up, but I was still wobbling. There was a crash, and my senses were brought back. My mind was quickly raked with information, while other memories remained in the shadows.
My name is Savra... I am a boy, and I am young. No idea how young. I have a pack. Full of food. And water? And survival tools. I nodded once, and looked around for said bag, standing up to look for them. I fell, my legs feeling weak. I could walk fine before, what's the problem now. I opened my mouth, and blinked a bit. Speech came out, but my voice surprised me, like I had spoken for the first time. I hadn't, why is this so hard? I stood up, less wobbly this time. I was able to take a single step forward when a deep rumbling toppled me over again, and I cried out for help. None came, and I shook my head. I stood back up, glad I had been able to catch my balance back. I felt another rumble, but nothing else. I didn't fall, but when I took a step, I was wobbly. I spotted a piece of drift wood, about as tall as I was. I moved over to it, and propped myself up against it. There was a second where I was afraid to move. There was another crash and I yelped. My pack hit the ground in front of me, unopened and untouched by the water I had come from. The jacket I was wearing seemed to be dry, and everything else did too. Another crash. My blanket was rolled up neatly and buckled to the top of the pack. I slung it over my shoulders and pulled out my multi tool. The knife was hard to get out, but it was fine. I could still use it.
Another crash rang out, this time much, much closer, and a lot, lot stronger. The cloud of dust swelled up behind me and I coughed through it. I looked behind me and blinked away tears. There was, before me, a massive beast smashing it's massive tail into the sand, sending plumes of dirt, sut, and dust into the air, and leaving behind beautiful bright gemstones. Strange dogs had dragged in some sort of wagon and began to harvest. They dragged the wagons off, and I used my new staff to help me move down the shoreline. There, I found a beautiful blue stone with a pretty star and golden speckles around it, with a gold flat plate chain connected to it. I put it on, and there was a small shout was heard from behind me. There was another horrible rumble, but these were much more rapid, like foot steps. I could barely move any faster than my hobble. There was a spout of lava like heat from the ground behind me, and I yelled out in fear as I used my newfound instincts to run.
Seconds turned to minutes as I ran, and there was a sensation of impending doom. Tears dripped from my eyes as I coughed out, choking slightly on the searing heat from around me, like I was in a volcano. It became painfully clear that there were dragons here, beasts of legend. My breath was hastened as I collapsed to my hands and knees. I could no longer flee. My body ached and my heart throbbed in my chest. The searing heat around the volcano drove me to cough. I felt the beast of legends on my back. There was no escape.
My thoughts collided beyond my own comprehension. My head ached, and my body felt hot despite a high altitude. It felt like the high tropic temperature, like in the high 70's. I was missing my jacket, and my shirt was sliced open, revealing to me my chest, and on it there was a massive scar. A six pointed star? I vaguely remember a blue and gold necklace. I groaned and struggled to move, my limbs aching and my body strangely shifting. I slowly rose to my hands and knees, my ribs aching from sleeping on my stomach. Had I fallen asleep in the cave again? This is precisely why... Someone... Said... Something about... Packing? My mind grasped through the fog, but the were brought forwards and then dragged back, and I had forgotten what was brought forwards. I puled myself back onto my knees and looked around with groggy eyes. Things were fogged in my mind, and I could barely see. I squinted a bit and felt around. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dark red landscape, dark red. It reminded me of... Something from back home. What were dinosaurs? I saw giant lizards walking about and fighting to get to the top of a glorious pile of gemstones. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Some were eating these so called gemstones, and others were just sitting by and watching, as if it were a sport they were to old for. They were much larger than the dragons in the center, and far to large to climb the pile. They watched the gladiator like battling and I could hear a loud and dangerous shrieking. It was from a small red dragon at the top of the pile of jewels. My head tilted in pure curiosity.
I blinked at my keen eyesight and looked at the world around me. There was a massive lake, and then an even more massive expanse of land on the other side. A huge desert, and on the other side of the massive landmass island I was on, was a green luscious land of greenery. I looked so confused, and slightly stupid. I wanted to find my pack. I spun around and found I was in some sort of bowl made of sticks. A nest! It was relatively small. I could see the imprint of giant claws on the ground of it. I gave a small groan, rubbing my still aching head. I was literally laying in one of those claw marks. I climbed out and stumbled slightly again, but now I could see much better. I was taller than I thought. I looked around and found my bag, along with my stick staff and blanket. I couldn't bare to think about how hot it would be with that blanket over top of me. I took a shaky step towards the staff. I fell, stumbling over my own steps again. I took more steps like this, but I didn't fall. Not unless I tripped over a claw mark.
Fumbling, I opened my bag and grabbed a water bottle. I also found my missing jacket. I pulled it out and opened a granola bar. It looked edible, but... I don't know. Where did they come from? I stood up and looked out over the landscape and at first no one saw me. Then the dragons- I hope that's right -started looking up and chattering and murmuring amongst themselves. The stadium was soon filled with pointing, and curious looks. I backed away and pulled on my jacket. Something burned though, and I had to pull it off after barely a few seconds. The scar was making me genuinely hurt.
There was a quiet crash from behind me. I turned, slowly, and pulled the blanket over my shoulders to sit on and hide me from the prying eyes. This did not burn me, but my jacket did. The star gave no protest to me wearing the blanket. Before me stood a tall black dragon, slender and feminine in build, and eyeing me with a predatory curiosity. The kind that said that they weren't going to eat me unless I make the wrong move.
"You. What are you?" Her voice slithered out in a feminine octave. I blinked and dozens of questions popped into my mind and I responded with a mumbled answer.
"What am I??" I could feel the look of shock from her heavy gaze. This was shocking to me. "All I remember... All I know is endless mirrors... billions of me, tiny but large... Then... Nothing. Savra... M-maybe I'm a Savra? No no... That's what you're supposed to call me." I was grunting, working through the amnesia with a slightly confused look. Confusion turned to frustration.
"You mean to tell me... You don't even know WHAT you ARE?!" She was loud and angry, frustrated as she lunged her head towards me on her long neck, stretching to its full length as she revealed her teeth, and horrid rancid breath. Her eyes appeared to be stained red with the blood of the innocent. I flinched back and pulled the blanket over my head, curling up into the fetal position and falling over onto my side on the blanket. The sheltering fabric enveloped my entire form, and I whimpered at the frightening lingering image behind my eyelids. I hadn't even realized my hands were shaking, and much less noticed that now I was cold. There was shocked silence from outside the blanket and I felt a nudge at the side. I flinched away.
"I don't know! I don't know even who I am! I don't know who you are! I don't even know why I exist! All I remember are loud sounds and mirrors! So... So many mirrors." I began to go into a trance, and let the images dance just within the reach my finger tips in the veil of the fog. I gained one image of them all. Looking down, and seeing my body splitting into the mirrors. The mirrors were surrounding me again.
The dragon outside took a deep breath and looked at the blanket, squinting her blood red eyes and thinking hard. She laid on one side of the nest, away from me. I peeked out, welcoming the slow transition of heat. It felt fantastic. I slowly pulled the rest of my body out of the blanket, sitting on one end like before, and holding the other over my shoulders. There was a sound of urging. I looked at her now supportive look.
"You have claws. Like a hatchling. Like a dragons." Her expression was soft, and confused, but analytical nonetheless. I looked at her and held up my hands. They were small. Very, very small. They seemed to fragile to be claws. "And you're small. Young. Do you remember your age?" I shook my head, gaining a sense of sadness. I felt useless and small. "Well... You're small, even for a hatchling... So... You must be young." She licked her lips with a reptilian tounge and looked around. She sniffed the air, and then looked toward my bag. "You eat oats? Nuts and berries and drink water." She smiled, and looked at me.
"I... I think I can eat more than just vegetarian foods. I have sharp teeth, like yours. But... They feel weird. They don't hurt... I have a vague memory... The animal, it swims and... And they live in the water." I was genuinely raking my brain for the word. The thought was typed out in my head just inches from my grasp in the mental fog.
"Fish? You can eat meat?" She looked at me with wide, surprised eyes.
"If... If it's been... Touched by heat or fire." I shook my head to rid myself of the greyness in my head. It remained thickly in my head, and in fact may have gotten worse just in spite of me. There was a single thought that echoed for a second, and I clung to it as hard as I could before it could be ripped from me.
"Nine years!" I panted confusedly, feeling a strange sense of tiredness. I had defeated the fog for a moment, but I would regret it later I knew.
"Nine... Nine years? Nine years old? Nine years until you remember?" She flicked her tounge and I shook my head confused. There was a second thought that came in, but it was yanked back before I could grab it.
"My age? Maybe? I don't know. I think that's what it could be. I... My name is Savra... And I'm 9 years old?" She has a bright look of happiness on her face. I flexed my hands. Claws? I flexed my claws? I flexed my claws and looked at my feet. They were bare except for socks.
"I'm guessing... I'm guessing these are paws?" I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at them.
"I would assume so..." She looked equally confused. My mind drifted for a moment.
"If my name is Savra... What's YOUR name?" She blinked and I looked at her, and she blinked as if I had just bopped her snout.
"O... Oh! My name I-is... My name is Midnight." She was smiling, looking at me like I was meeting her for the first time. She held out one of her claws- which was twice as large as my arm -and I grabbed it with my own full claw. It was soft on her hard, razor sharp paw.
I began to get more and more tired by the second, and I curled the blanket around my small frail body. It was warming, but cooling at the same time. It was overall much more comfortable than being out there. I used my pack as a pillow, and my blanket as both a mat, and blanket, and slept quietly.. My body disappeared, and I was left to wonder through a grey fog to search for a memory.
There was no way to put this any easier. I was lost. I had no idea what my real name was, and I had no idea who I really REALLY was. There was no path through the endless grey abyss I was moving through, growling as I tried at ever turn to cut through and see. I grabbed at memories, but they would always fall away. I chased them in circles, up walls and down flights of mental stairwells, and seldom did I catch one. When I did, it would be clouded over and fuzzed, and this had began to anger me. I grabbed another one, and drop kicked it. It screeched, and I cried, falling to my knees and hitting my fist upon the ground.
"I want... I want my mama... I want to go home... I want to know! Please just tell me!" There was an echo, and an explosion of color in the mist before me. I was thrown backwards, but I recovered and ran inside the pocket that had been found. It stayed clear, and a single thing was written on the wall.
I'm trying. Don't give up.
The sound of crows screeched into my ears. I felt i was moving now, not of my own volintary movement. Time sped by and I was left there behind the darkness of my eyelids. There was loud shouting, and intense heat. But it was bearable somehow. I opened my eyes and looked around, blinking in surprise. I was on top of the horde of gold, sleeping. They were fighting over me, making it a game to protect me from prying eyes. The horde of gold was surrounded by sweltering lava pits. There was a cry out when they noticed me awake now, and they all climbed down, watching me with hawk eye precision. I sat up and blinked, realizing my blanket had been shielding me from the heat. I held it around me with a slight groan. I stood up and stumbled down the mound of gold and landed almost face first into a huge pit of lava, and the only reason I wasn't bacon right now, was because Midnight had used her tail to grab my foot. She pulled me back up to be next to her, looking extremely concerned.
"Why did I think this would be a good idea?" She was shaking her head, looking at me with a slightly concerned and regretted look. I looked around the crater, and saw little bipedal dragons with wings watching me with curious looks from outside the set boundary that was the safety of Midnight.
"What is it?" I looked to the left, seeing a short, blue and green dragon walking on two legs. She was creeping to close for comfort. Midnight, however, had not stopped her.
"He's a Savra." Midnight was preening the scales of her claws. They appeared to be red- from sand hopefully.
"It's... Squishy." She poked my arms, making me blink in surprise.
"Stop that!" This made all of the little hatchling dragons jump back looking frightened. They looked surprised. "Stop poking me!"
They all shrieked and scampered off behind stones, all except for the little one before me. She had sparkling eyes, and slowly a male dragon approached, a little older than Little Blue, as I will now all her.
"It's smart!" She cried out, smiling excitedly, sprinting around me and examining my body. I became dizzy and was left spinning in circles after she was finished. I groaned and fell backwards, chuckling at her. They backed away, and I poked at her. She poked back, and this continued until I was slap fighting with a dragon.
Midnight was talking with another dragon, so this went on until I growled. They both looked at me in shock.
"You're weird!" Little Blue giggled and backed away, running to grab a gem. She took a huge crunch, and then picked out a beautiful blue sapphire for me. She brought it over and I looked at her confusedly.
"Here, try this!" She was smiling, offering me a the hulking stone. I doubted that I should even try, but I felt it rude not to. It was as big as my head, with a small part ready to be bitted off.
I bit it.
Never have I regretted, but also not regretted a decision so much in my lift. My teeth chomped on hard stone, but it tasted sweet like candy. I couldn't bite it, but it was the sweetest and most delicious thing I had tasted since my arrival. It was sweeter than I had ever thought possible. I continued to try and knaw the sweet stone. I swear I almost chipped a tooth.
"You... You can't eat the stone? Aren't your teeth grown in yet??" She was looking at me curiously, tilting my head back so she could open my mouth and look at m fangs. She saw the small teeth, making me look at her gasp. Your teeth aren't built to eat gemstones?!"
I continued to knaw the stone, shrugging. She just gawked at me. She offered me a smaller version, and I took it, smiling. She looked even more shocked as I took the stone and sucked on it like a sucker.
"Are you... Are you sucking on it??" Midnight was slightly shocked, and I glanced at her giving a nod. Hopefully I could absorb its magic. Wait... How did I know it had magic?
"That's... I've never seen that before..." She was astonished, looking at me like I was some sort of toy in a toy store. What's a toy store? I groaned and rubbed my head, standing up and turning to go for a walk. I held the stone close to me, looking slightly deep in my own thoughts. I had a small army of little dragons curiously following me, making me giggle. I stopped and spun around, and they froze up, acting like statues. hey eventually would start to giggle.
I tagged one and ran, and everyone else did the same, laughing and playing. The older ones played king of the horde, and we played tag.
I had recently taken up deep focus. During the night, while I would be alone, I would focus as hard as I possibly could. There was nothing more than me. I was stuck alone in my mind, practicing my concentration. When I went deep enough, I would pull free memories, and other times I would just end up pulling memories I don't even remember experiencing. But I obviously did, indeed, have the memory. This boggled my mind, making me think deeply about these memories when I came back into the world of reality. I could barely think compared to what I could see. The memory fog was beginning to clear slightly, and I could see the memories of my human form.
Memories of my life before hand, and I could barely grasp their meaning. The two memories of who I was fought, and clashed, screaming for my attention. The internal conflict would leave me weak, and I would fall backwards after exhaling a form of fire. It was only a few sparks, and never was it acknowledged by Midnight. I continued to wonder where I was, moving further and further through the process of exploring the void of my mind.
One half of the memories was a massive king, surrounded by gold in a cave, sleeping in a glorious bath of molten stone with a beautiful and wise queen loyally by my side, and others were of me, playing in the woods and near a cave that lit up with amazing rainbows of pure color. I would hear a voice whispering too me from beyond the fog, and the fog would fight to keep it away. The voice told me I was here to do great things, and that I was no mere child. It told me I was here for a greater purpose, and then, I would burst open, throwing up fire and coughing as the scar on my chest shined and glowed softly.
The biggest shocker for me was the fact that I could breathe fire if I did this mind searching. I knew this had something to do with the scar, because it was glowing. I would focus on making the scar stay glowing and ready to show me the reason I was here. The fog would return and hide it from me, thus destroying any chance I had at holding on to my memory. It would always drag me back to the point where I could barely think about the memories without getting a headache, so I resorted to writing as quickly as I could in my notebook. When I went back to read it, it would be nothing but chicken scratch and words I never could have understood in a language I didn't understand.
Midnight picked up on my distress, almost as if she expected something like this.
"There's someone who's been dying to meet you, Savra." She was smiling, moving her wing down so I could climb onto her back. I did so, as gently as I could after figuring out that dragons have very sensitive wings. I tested this on Midnight a few times while she was sleeping, and after, I had a bruise the size of a branch. She did not like to be pet on her wings. I still had a bruise the size of a branch on my lower torso.
I clung to her spines and held my blanket over my head like I was a wary traveler. She took off flying as quickly as she could. We soared over the volcano and it's burning searing heat, making me choke on my breath, unable to breathe. We flew over the lake, flying over jagged stones, and we flew to a strange looking type of citadel, large and spacious crevices split to reveal dozens of strange bipedal dogs, like the ones I had seen the days before my arrival.
They were wearing chains, connected to each others hind paw. This concerned me to the point I stored it in my question vault, where I put all my unanswered questions about this strange world. We flew over dozens of crevices and beaches with similar set ups, until we finally reached the assumed destination at the bottom of the volcano. A massive cave mouth, larger than anything I could have ever imagined. It lead into an even larger mountain, taller than mount Everest. It looked as if it was trying to claw it's way off the planet. It was easy to intimidate me at this point as we headed into the mouth of the cave. I could barely see the ceiling it was so high, giving me the sense of being an ant. My hands shook slightly, and I became frightened as we made our way further into the darkness of the cave.
By the time we flew into the darkness, it might as well have been night outside the cave. There was no longer any light in the cave, and the only thing that kept me from bursting into fearful tears as we flew was the fact that if I did anything but cling to her spines, surely I would fall to my death and perish. The image of this trip being so much shorter than I could have thought blew through my mind, being able to walk this length in less than 15 minutes. Everything was so small. so tiny compared to the flash of my mind. I would be extra careful not to hit my head or step on any of the younger dragons below me. The flash of memory seemed to disappear, and I was left alone with the blinking darkness. I swore I saw something, a sort of glowing light in the darkness. It was a faint orange, and the heat began to swelter me. I coughed and closed my eyes.
There was a strange liquid poured on top of my head, and I was able to not only breathe, but the room was cooler than I remembered. I almost shivered. There was a massive and quite honestly, horrifyingly large monster of a dragon, bathing in at least a mile deep pool of lava. A pool was empty besides her. She slowly moved her head towards the approaching insect sized projectile that we were. My mind began to burn. She laid her head down so she could see us, her eye literally narrowing to a pinpoint to see me. And I thought midnight was massive, but she paled in comparison to this dragoness.
"My lordess, this is the being of mysterious arrival of which you have been asking to see!" She pulled me off her back by wrapping her tail around my waist and nudging me closer to the massive beast. moved her massive claws down, and delicately lifted me up, and I was sure that she would crush me if Midnight were not there. I was held by the back of my blanket, which was lifted above my head as I clung to it. I was lifted miles within seconds, it felt. I could not stand the pressure of the height and the situation and let out a choked sop. She took on a much smaller and much more friendly form for me. She slowly shrank to the size of Midnight, looking down at me with a look of great interest.
"So... You're what's to become the great Savra?" She eyed me with a look of amazement and skepticism, swatting at my sides with her tail, and examining my body. I stood straight and tall, looking upon her with a growing sense of love. From where I knew not. "You had to choose such a weak form, my love? How is this supposed to do anything to save our people and kind from the imminent threats?"
A voice broiled past my lips that was not mine, and a mind that was not my own sliced through the fog.
"It's not my fault that the form the universe chose was weak."
These thoughts were strangers to me. This voice was not mine. This body was not mine anymore. I could not feel my hands. I could not move my feet or twitch my cheeks into a smile. Have you ever had sleep paralysis? That's what it was except... Weirder. You could see, feel speak, and move, but it wasn't you moving on your own will. You could not try to struggle for dominance, you were only restrained to a single place, sitting in a darkness watching your own movements and actions. I was ready to cry, but I could not. Helpless.
"This body is small and limiting. It's other sentience is... Weak.. Young, a mere hatchling." My voice had deepened to match the likes of a grown gravely voiced man, and it hurt my precious vocal cords. I couldn't believe this was happening. And he's calling me weak for being young- whoever this jerk is! I began to struggle to free my own mental restraints. I wouldn't be called weak for being young, not when I'm able to walk and move and breathe. I won't. I won't be helpless to a foreign invader to my own thoughts! This is ridiculous enough!
"I love to know that you have not aged a single day since I have been gone, my love." She leaned down to the level of our face, and I felt the cheeks of the face of my body twitch upwards to a smile. I did not agree to this action. I felt a sudden strong connection, to the bipedal dragoness before me. These emotions were not mine, but I still yearned to be closer to her. To have her in my hold. I could not stand this feeling... I was nine, yet I still felt this? Why so strong?
"It's quite different from my angle darling. You look younger than a hatchling. It's strange to think that my dear Dragon Lord is in there... With a childs mind, stramded in a childs body." Her tail slowly began to coil my waist, but this I could only tell by visuall movement and indication alone. I could not think, and nor could I breathe properly. I chose to try to count my breaths in boredom so that I may be positive he was, in fact breathing. I hoped i was, because I would surely fall dead faster than you would think.
Her nose touched my smaller one. Her scaley forehead seemed to touch mine, but this slightly failed, as i did not feel it. But now, I smiled with the body, feeling the yearning melt into a pleasant happiness. I felt the amusement of the elder mind, and this annoyed me. I tried to block out the emotions that followed. How am I going to explain this to Midnight? How was I going to explain ANYTHING about this to ANYONE? The fog slowly tried to stalk back in, but i fought it off. I tried to keep it at bay. Successful.
"The child is struggling for dominance of our vessel. I am sad to see you go, my young beautiful love." He blew her a kiss, and slowly, my paralysis lifted, and I could move. I could twitch and I could feel. I could be me. Im sad and angry at myself for breaking such a loving moment, but the dragon lordess did not seem to mind. I was glad she didn't mind my earasure of the second. I just wanted to move again. I was frightened of speaking for a long time, afraid it would hurt my throat to speak.
"Well little one, it seems you may have some questions that need answers?" Her voice was soft and cooling. Her claw gently touched my cheek, and she was as small as me now to look me straight in the eyes. She smiled, and her very gaze sent a chilling calm into my soul. It became easy to feel, easy to think. But still, I was completely frozen solid. I wanted answers. But... Do I? How could i possibly want the answers quite yet? I feel that I would have to make a big decision I may not be ready for.
"L-let me have some time... Time to think. Time to explore my thoughts, to find certain things out for myself." A look of confusion had naturally made its way onto my face. I looked at the floor and gave a slightly stressed sigh. My memories were getting stranger, mixing with memories of me in a war, and others of me in a bed at home having a strange blurry faced woman read me a story. I felt connected to that woman, kind of the same way I felt connected to the dragoness before me, but it was more... Platonic yearning.
I didn't know what was going to happen in my time of searching. But I knew I was going to have a bit of fun along the way. The mind sat behind me, almost back seat driving as I drove my own body. I tiredly walked over to Midnight, holding the blanket around my shoulders tighter. My body was becoming heavy, and my eyelids were becoming even heavier. My mind drew a blank whenever I tried to remember the visions I had of the women with the blurry face. I tried to bring forth the fake combined memories. No luck.
I could not think properly, but I still stood tall and wide. The exhaustion was beginning to win out. I went and stumbled off to Midnight. I didn't want to admit I was to tired to hold a conversation. I didn't want to admit I was sleepy. I didn't want to admit that I had been bested by a voice in my head. I didn't want to admit that my heart only sagged at the thoughts I was having. I was scares, but I didn't want to admit anything. I didn't want to cry. I felt totally numb to everything.
When I last decided to take time to think about my plans, I was beginning to sense that these creatures don't see me as a cognitive being. I am very much so, intelligent. Even more intelligent than some adults back on Earth, even. There was no proof of this though, and trying to gain respect and dignity proved to be harder than expected. I am only mine years old, yes, but I still deserve to be treated with respect just as the other hatchlings do. But I was smaller. Possibly frowned upon, by these strange and foreign creatures of legend.
I could barely imagine what one might think if they found themselves in my situation. I gave a smile and cooperated with the thoughts and commands of my "elder mind" as I had come to call the voice in my head. I could not cut through the fog, other than the occasional memory slipping to close. It was never mine though, only his. He would give me no choice on memory to keep. Some were horrific and damning, and others were well... Frightening. There were wars, long and terrible with creatures who seemed to want nothing but peace and love.
For me to comprehend something that overly done. Eventually, peace was made, and those poor creatures were given the peace they so desperately begged for from the very beginning. I could sense the feelings within my own mind. He disliked the peace that they had. He seemed to have considered those beings weak. Well not me. I looked at the luscious greenery on the other side of the lake and I felt something pull at my heart. The marking on my chest burned slightly and a thought entered my mind. Why not try and leave, and go to this place?
The elder mind pinged a headache through my head and growled, reminding me I was a prisoner in my own head. I decided then, no matter what the costs were, I was going to have my own adventure. Prophecy aside, maybe I would find more answers across the lake than being treated like a baby here. The elder mind did not enjoy my train of thought.
'What do you think you're doing?'It sounded angry in the back of my head, and I responded aloud simply.
"Leaving." My response gave no room for protest other than a simple 'What?!' as I grabbed my pack and my blanket, making my way down the shore. I had a stone, a small one that had been chipped down for me to bite on when I got bored. Strangely, chewing on things was becoming a pass time. I looked around and gathered logs and vines from what little vegetation there was at where I had begun building my raft. It was rather weak. I could barely wait to think of what awaited me at the other side of the lake in the luscious green fields of the beautiful open shore. I tied the vines securely.
Or as securely as a nine year old could tie a raft together. I was being impulsive, my elder mind tried to reason. How could I possibly survive out there with no food for, good stars knows how long. I pushed the thoughts aside, referencing the fact that I still had a few granola bars in my back pack. He asked how I intended to get water. I tasted the water that I had arrived in, and as expected, the water was fresh. That's where I would get my water. How would I get across the water without an oar?
Well... That had me stumped. At least, it did until I took off my shoe and went into the woods to rummage for a long, thick good stick. I grabbed out a fantastic looking branch, it would be good for a staff later too. I grabbed vines and smiled evilly, enjoying the protest of the elder mind as I made my own decision. On impulse possibly, but I still made the decision myself. There was no type of interference. There was no type of special treatment that I had gone through. It was just a quick, on point decision that I made. There was no stopping me now. There was nothing that could stop me. I walked out casually and whistled as I tested the raft, hoping it was sturdy enough to hold. I tied my blanket to my neck like a cape and put on my pack to keep it in place. We were off. I used my shoe oar to paddle, and I made it about 20 feet out before I started to feel a bit frightened. The mark on my chest burned a little bit. It didn't hurt. It just felt... Strange. Stranger than I had expected.
I was going off alone into the unknown. At nine years old? I felt the elder minds presence strongly in the back of my mind. Surely these thoughts were caused by him and not me! I paddled out further, struggling a bit to hold my excitement for adventure. There was a feeling- a feeling of fear and excitement. There was no one to talk to but myself out here, and no one but myself to complain to. I was on my own for the first time ion my life- that I could remember. This was a whole new realm for me. ~~~~ When I arrived at the other side, the sun had set and the stars were out. The moon was high, and I was tired. So tired. The exhaustion was enough to knock me out cold. I could barely keep my eyes open. I coughed slightly and pulled my blanket over my shoulders, holding my pack close. It was cold- so, so cold. I took the shoe off my oar stick and held my blueberry flavored stone close to me. It was on a necklace now. I looked around, shivering as I saw a tree with a large opening in it, big enough for me to climb into. I curled up in the fetal position, sitting up with my pack in my lap. I had the my shoe's drying outside having used them both as paddles. I shivered as I slowly drifted into a sleep. ~~~~ My dreams were clearer now, of one of the Elder Minds memories. I was on an empty battle field, staring at a monstrously massive dragon towering above two horse like figures, who were still massive even compared to me. They had their horns lit up- unicorns. And their wings flared. One had a strange breezing pastel rainbow main and tail, and the other, of darker colors with her main and tail twinkling as it flowed too. I froze and watched as they allowed their beams to combine, and the deafening roar from the blinding flash that followed frightened me more than anyone could have expected. I gave a cry out through the ringing of my ears, and looked up to see darkness around me. Only the moon was shown with the stars seeming to stare down at me like the beady eyes of a bird or spying monster. There was a voice that came up, and I heard it loud and clear.
I awoke terrified, looking around for the eyes I had seen staring at me from the stars. They were twinkling, slowly fading. They were fading more and more. The sky was turning a strange red. The tree I was in was surrounded by a massive expanse of fields with, in the distance, a tree line of pine trees. The Evergreens. Oh how I loved the scent of pine. It soothed me. The stars twinkled and winked until only one was left, staring through the now bright-ish purple red. I watched with a soothed mind as the last star was fizzled out of existence. I was excited now, to get up and walk. This place was more open than the foreboding atmosphere of the dragon isle. How did I know what it was called? I don't even know. It was hard to tell if I was even still there in my body with how soothed and spaced out I was by the strange array of color in the sky. The sun began to rise, and the only sensation I had was now that I was safe from harm. That I was safe from discomfort. The image of the tall white unicorn with wings came into my mind, and I felt the feeling intensify.
"Good morning." I said to myself, getting up and stretching. My legs were cramped from sleeping like I was. I stretched to the point I was sure my limbs would snap. I took out my several empty water bottles I had in my bag and proceeded to fill them promptly. Each one would last me two days. I pulled out my small two inch multipurpose knife tool to look it over and analyze it. It seemed so foreign to me, but yet like I had used it all the time. I cut some tree bark off the tree and ate some, choking it down with water from the lake. I saw a fish in my reflection and I grabbed it, smiling that I had caught my meal.
A true predator, I was about to become. I looked into my preys eyes and froze, seeing something I had not originally thought about. I saw something in its eyes. It had an expression. One of desperation. One of fear. One of pleading. I swear to the stars that It even gasped out words that were pleading for it's life. In shock, it dropped from my hands and fell into the water. It swam off, faster than I have ever seen anything move in my life. It was so... Scared. It, I thought... It has a soul.
That put things into perspective for me. Everything I was thinking of, what I was remembering from before... Every morsel of meat I have ever neaten... Was from an animal much like that one. A pig here could possibly talk like the dragons, not even being able to know what other creatures could possibly be here in this world. Dragons, those strange unicorn Pegasus hybrids? Could they talk? What else could? What else was intelligent?
I took a step away from the edge of the lake and began to walk to the tree line of the evergreens. I gave a small shaky sob as I looked at the ground ahead. It had become eerily quiet. It had become scarily silent. I looked around and teared up. I heard a howl, and the feeling of safety that I had felt in the meadow was gone. I could hear everything. There was as growl off to the right. There was a groan to the left. The wind blew and the trees shook, creaking angrily. I gained a feeling of intense hatred in my body. It filled my every fiber, but was drowned out by fear when I heard a not so distant howl and the roar of a lion in the distance along with the intense creaking and growl of wood. I ran, fearing the sounds. They seemed to get quieter, but got louder whenever I slowed my pace to anything below a frantic run. There was no end in sight for me. The sun had disappeared and left, leaving me to run through strange foliage, crying and calling for help. I hoped for my sake, that these beings were intelligent like I was. Like the Dragons were. There was a howl from less than a few meters away and I cried out, running even faster. I trudged through thorn bushes, ran through strange flowers, even crossed a choppy river in order to escape. The pursuit got even hotter when I was approaching now, a path that led to a strange castle. There was an intense angry howl from the wolf now that I had been able to identify this. The fog around the place terrified me, but I ran across the old rickety bridge even though it was about to snap.
I had made it this far inland, lost now in an intense and thick forest of horrible monsters. Somehow night had fallen. I wanted nothing to do with the monsters that lurked out there tonight. I fell to my knees in the broken down throne room on the tattered carpet. I rocked back and forth, crying loudly as I covered my head. I wanted to go home. But my home wasn't with the dragons, nor was it here. It wasn't in this world as far as I knew.
I crawled, pathetically dragging myself up between the thrones to curl up and cry myself to sleep under the cruel twinkling stars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was getting another memory. This time a memory from the pool of mirrors. I was watching a montage of six different small horses, smiling and laughing, defeating various monsters and evil people. I felt close to these six, like I had known them my entire life. I could not pinpoint the exact reason how I knew them. I felt the urge, the strong pull to find these six small horses. The pair of eyes twinkled back into my mind and this time I looked at them with fear, remembering the last time I had woken up. The hell I had gone through just to escape the beings that wished death upon me. The voice returned and spoke to me, watching me as I tried to slink passed the feeling of overwhelming fear and pressure coming into me.
"Awaken to the stars. Run and follow the moon. There, you will find the crystal castle."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I coughed myself awake, hungry, aching and thirsty. I grabbed a water bottle I had filled and chugged half the bottle, coughing a bit. I looked at the moon and remembered the Spanish word for moon. Luna? Yes Luna. I looked at the sky and watched. "Luna" was setting. I remembered the dream... I must follow the moon? I felt the undying urge to run. I felt my hunger die with my aching, and my focus was on the bright round circle in the sky. The stars seemed to watch my hypnotic state as I wandered west towards Luna. Towards the Crystal Castle, as the dream stated. I cut off tree bark as I passed and ate them, coughing as I choked it down. I trudged through thorn bushes and through a small clearing. I only stopped when I reached the boarder to a strangely greener line of grass. I looked down at it and blinked, breaking my hypnosis for a moment. I stepped over, and a the desperate feeling of relief filled me. It was as if a mother who had lost sight of her child had found them once more. The feeling was amazing. My marking burned. I looked around.
In the distance there was an illuminated town, civilization. I spotted a cottage that was dimmed, the lights inside were out. I looked towards the sky and saw the sun was rising again. How had I traversed that madness in a day? Maybe less?! I felt my stomach ache and groan for food. I doubled over and looked around, spotting a line of fenced in apple trees. I made my way over. The fence was almost up passed my waist. I climbed through the gap between the top and bottom and saw a massive bucket of apples sitting out. I looked out and saw an empty bucket. I pulled out my notebook and filled the bucket with the best apples I could reach by just climbing. I coughed slightly and wrote a note on the apple bucket, saying that I had plucked a few bruised apples off the ground, and one from a tree, and the rest were in the bucket. I heard someone coming, a loud clippity-clop.
I carefully placed the note on top of the bucket and ran as fast as I could off the property and towards the cottage. I munched a bruised apple I had snagged, and for the first time in a long time I had eaten something actually good for me. I coughed as I ate. There was a loud galloping sound to where I was hiding. There was yelling and barking too. I froze up, becoming scared. There was a heavy knocking on the door of the cottage, and the door was opened. There was a relatively quiet voice that answered.
"Flutters, look at this!" I had an amused aura surround me as I ate the apple and finished listening in on the conversation. For kicks and giggles, I decided to leave another note on the apple core I had eaten, and in the note I apologized from stealing apples from her, and that I was just starving from a trip though the forest. I left the seeds on the note too, to freak them out. I snuck off through the side of the cottage and looked at the town. It was still early. I ran as fast as I could, crouching a bit. Maybe I was ick. Maybe I was well. The cough was from eating nothing but tree bark. I drank some water and peeked out to look around.
There was a huge castle at just the end of the road. I bit my lip and looked around. The windows of the houses were still dim. They were dimly lit. They were just waking up. If I hurried, I could ruin to the castle. There was a gingerbread house big enough for me to live inside, and there was a strange carrousel. It was bedazzled to the point where I could pretty much assume it was a fashion statement. I looked around and began to make my way through the village, walking though the middle of the road. I had my blanket covering my head like a hood and my bag on my back over my shoulders and my blanket. I heard the creak of a door, a frightened shriek, and a loud scream. I spun around and my hood fell off, revealing my greasy and grimy hair, and mud smudged face, clean near my mouth from eating the apple and drinking water. It was a group of three little horses, about as tall as me, surprisingly, screaming and pointing at me. They zoomed back inside locked down the house. I felt a bit bad about that. I then looked around, realizing ponies were looking out their windows and doors at me with terrified and disgusted looks. I looked around and teared up, and slowly made my way towards the castle. I his in the bushes outside and huddled up, sniffling.
I genuinely try not to hurt people!... Horses... Creatures. Ever since the fish. I just laid there, my blanket hood over my head and the bag carefully being used as a pillow. Luna had told me to come here... But why? I scribbled quickly in my notebook about the dreams and then went into a deep dreamless sleep.
I sat up in the bushes and stayed quiet, rubbing my eyes as I heard the bustle of the town outside the bushes. But this was strange. They seemed to all whisper about a monster that walked on two legs. They said it had a hideous hunched back, and it's eyes glowed in the dark. They said that it's claws were long and disgusting. I wished the voice in my head hadn't chimed in and told me that it was us. I could barely comprehend that without a sob. During the night, I curled up and nibbled an apple as I stared at the stars. I felt safe here, in the bushes. But I couldn't stay here forever. It took me an hour to work up the courage to just peek out of the bushes.
There were beautiful colored pastel horses. I felt my heart melt at the cuteness of the little fillies running around. They were doing things, random things. I smiled at the happiness of them. I wanted to join but when I gained any shred of courage, there was an intense wave of pure anxiety. I was always shaking. I clung to the courage. I hadn't talked to anyone in a few days. There was a second of time where I felt crushing loneliness. I made my decision now.
I waited until evening to leave my hiding place, whipping off my body and blanket from all of the settled dirt and the leaves and grass. I looked around and the only horse I saw was walking the opposite direction and into a house. The windows were still lit. I gave a smile when I saw a group of horses walking into the castle. One was flying with rainbow hair, and everyone else was walking, making a heavy clippity clop. They were whispering. I recognized one voice, an orange horse with a cowboy hat.
"Ah don't understand what a varmint like that would be stickin' around town. But those reports of a critter runnin' around at night makes it almost impossible to dismiss!" She had a southern accent, and I realized that that must be the pony I- "All ah know is that it left me a note sayin' it took a few apples off the ground at the farm! Can ya believe that?! It left a note!"
I flinched when I heard that, making the one in the air with a rainbow main freeze for a moment. She stared at me, and I was glad the shadows of the night hid me as well as they did. I couldn't believe that no one had noticed me. She slowly flew over toward me, and I froze up. Someone called out.
"Rainbow? Are you coming?" It was a soft spoken and quiet voice. The Pegasus turned to the source of the voice.
"Uh... Yeah Flutters, I'm coming!" She tore off at the speed of light, it seemed, and flew through the door of the castle, leaving it blown wide open. There was no movement to close it, and there was a quick whisper yelling match between the two voices. There was sounds of construction for a moment, and pink blurs of fluff and balloons.
I slowly crept around the railing of the stairs and began slowly creeping up the stairs. I walked on all fours to try and look less intimidating, but that seemed sort of silly. I sat right on the top of the stairs and pulled out a quarter full water bottle. I poured it on my face and tried to wash it, remembering some sort of manners.
I looked inside but didn't see anyone but a little purple dragon, standing still with an incredibly nervous smile on his face in the middle of the room. I looked in and slowly looked at him.
"What are you doing this far from the Dragon Isle little guy?" I smiled and took a few steps closer to the entrance, smiling as I looked at him. He gave a small whimper the closer I got to the entrance. "Hey heey… I'm not going to hurt you! Uh... Look, I got a gemstone! It's blue, I think it's a Sapphire. It tastes like blueberries, you want it?" I pulled it off my neck and looked at it, biting my lip for a moment when I got second thoughts.
He didn't move so I put away the stone and looked at him. I became worried. Maybe he wasn't old enough to talk yet? I took a few steps forwards, slow and cautious. He looked at me and his eyes darted to the left, and I glanced to the left and saw nothing. I looked back and he was farther away. I heard a sound of something like a 'ssss' and I tilted my head, searching for the source. I looked to the right and spotted a cannon right in front of my face, and the fuse was going out.
There was a color flash of light and an intense ringing in my ears as I was blinded by layers and layers of something. I was surprised I survived. I felt my limbs being secured by a thick and firm rope. I think it was rope. I tried to wipe my face off, but nothing happened. I couldn't move. I coughed up something that tasted like frosting.
"Great job Spike!" The ringing subsided slowly, and that was the first thing I heard.
"H... Help...! HELP, SOMEONE!" I thrashed a bit, blinded by black spots and different colors over my eyes. There was an intense gasp and a frightened squeak. I felt something tighten my arms to my sides and I began to panic. "You're hurting me! HELP!" I shook my head until the colorful substance over my eyes was gone.
"Shut it varmint!" I felt an apple get shoved into my mouth, and I blinked a bit, squinting my eyes to see the giver. It was the orange horse with her hoof outstretched towards my face after shoving the apple into my face. I blinked and did my best to use my hands to aide my mission to get the apple out of my mouth.
"Mm- mmPhm!!" I teared up and shook my head.
"AJ! Why are you being so barbaric?!" There was a white unicorn there, with a purple alicorn there next to her. She was looking at the horse with a look of extreme disbelief.
"It won't stop yellin' Rarity! What would you rather do?!" She looked slightly offended and I looked at her like I was scared. The pink fluff ball I had seen blurring around earlier was levitating upside down and looking at me with a detectives hat.
I giggled at her and pulled the apple out of my mouth after all my reaching.
"I'm not an it, my name is Savra! I followed the moon out of the forest, and I don't know where I am or who I was before I got here to this... Strange land." I trailed off and looked at my bag.
"Savra? That's a pretty name. You said you followed the moon?" She looked at me like I was a stranger telling her a story that she had heard somewhere before.
"Yes... I call the moon Luna though... It's a word from where I'm from... Wait a second why am I tied up?! Why did you fire a cannon in my face? Why is everyone saying I'm a monster outside?!" I looked at everyone with an angry look, confused by the lack of an answer. Her ears laid back and her cheeks tinted a bit lighter purple. The others cast glances at the ground around them.
"We have no time to discuss this now, it's late and I'm sure you're tired!" She had a flash of light and I was transported away and into a bed with a comfortable layout.
I groaned as I was forced to endure ropes being tightly tied around my arms, pinning them to my sides in the morning. I was being carted in a cage by a big red horse with a picture of an apple on both of his flanks. I still had my bag and my items in the bag. They hadn't figured out how to unzip the zipper. I looked around and ducked, a look of fear came to my face as I saw an apple hurled an apple at my face. I shrieked and ducked, crouching. None of them wanted to listen to me. None of them wanted to see that I wasn't going to harm them. I whimpered and shook my head, looking out. There was another apple that hit me in the eye, and there was a cheer from the filly that had thrown it. I cried out and saw the yellow furred and pink maned Pegasus wince back at the sight of the impact. Someone threw another apple and hit me in the nose. I felt something red trickle down my face to my chin. I resorted to crouching over like an animal and whimpering. I sat down and tucked my head between my legs, trying to use my legs to block out sound. I felt tears drip from my hurt eye, and I felt tears stream from my other eye too. The good one. I felt more things hit me, aiming for my head, and some were getting more aggressive because they weren't hitting their intended targets. I felt something soft hit me among everything that could have been thrown. It was a doll. A stuffed animal. I saw a single, sad looking filly standing in the center of the road behind the cart. I felt my tears well up harder and I grabbed it. It was small. I mouthed to her the only way I could, knowing she probably couldn't understand me.
"Thank you." I was hit in the face with something big enough and hard enough to knock me unconscious. I saw stars and whimpered, falling unconscious completely. It was awful. I had a blistering headache, and the whispering voice from the sky did not help.
"What do they want from me?! What did I do to them?! Why do they want to hurt me?! All I did was... Was walk around their town!" I shook with tears as I wailed in sadness, covering my eyes with a blubbering call. I cradled my head and crouched over, crying. I had my hands free here. I didn't want to leave. I was to scared. I was scared of what was happening. I awoke with my body curled into the fetal position. I could move my hands now, having the rope removed as I rested on the ground of a dark and dank cell. The stones around me were awful, barren and lifeless. There was a bucket in the corner, and kindly, a working spigot for water. There as a candle there to illuminate the cell. I whimpered and stood up, looking around. I didn't see a skeleton hanging on the wall, but a ton of tally marks on the walls. I had to stand on my tip toes just to see out the tiny peep hole that showed everything outside my cell. I whimpered loudly and peeked from side to side. It was dark, lit by only a torch. I could see a set of stairs and a strange pole with a loop at the end, most likely for me. I shook fearfully and looked around outside the door.
"H... Hello?? Is- Is anyone out there? I... I'm scared... Where am I?" The distant clop of hooves was heard along with a confused sound. The stallion looked at me through the window of the cell door, and his eyes lit with fear. I looked back, scared and confused. I backed away from the door, realizing that he would likely throw something at me. "Please- don't throw anything- I'll stop talking- I'll do whatever you want! Just- just please don't hurt me anymore!"
"Hurt YOU?! You're the one that stalked through the town looking for foals to eat!" He scoffed and looked at me with one eye through the peep hole, looking on with disbelief. I teared up and looked at him, holding my head like I was about to die. I doubled over and sniffled.
" You really think I want to eat your children?! I'm a CHILD MYSELF!!"I looked back at him with tears and backed into the corner that was furthest from the door or the bucket. I was hungry. I was thirsty. I didn't know where I was. No actually, I was in a dungeon. Which one? I don't know. I sniffled and looked at him. I cried out loud, wanting everyone to hear. "I don't even know if I have a mother! A father! I can't REMEMBER ANYTHING!" It echoed off my walls and down the hall, carrying further down the hall and up to the cells above. My sobbing was quieter, and my sniffling was too. There was only the sound of my whimpering for a moment. Next was the sound of more clopping hooves.
"I looked up and fear welled in my chest. I grabbed the stuffed animal- whatever it was -and stuffed it under my shirt. I felt my eye begin to hurt a bit as I was fearfully shaking and hiding in the corner. Where was Luna? My beautiful moon? The way she shined through the clouds at night? Please, I begged, let this be a dream. Let my pain disappear and I'd wake up back in the bushes, or the woods... Or... Or even the Dragon's Isle. I never imagined I would want that. I looked at the mark on my chest, and it was glowing faintly. It was flickering lightly. I saw this and wondered, wondered greatly. It was glowing when I paddled my way across the water. It was hard to think. I couldn't think. It was to difficult. The stallion oved aside and his keys and my door clicked. The hoof steps were finished. Silent. My door glowed purple and opened quickly. I jumped when someone walked in.
It was the little unicorn and the yellow Pegasus. They were looking at me with sympathy. I took the stuffed animal out and shakily held it out. My tears were still visible. They were still there. They weren't going to go away. The tears gently dripped down my face.
"It's going to be OK... We're here to help you, not to hurt. We aren't like the others." It was the yellow Pegasus that was talking, gently approaching. She used her wing to clear my tears, and I felt a tad uneasy. She moved closer, and I hugged her. She was soft. She made me feel safe. I was able to trust all of a sudden.
I watched as there was a moment of hesitation in the actions in the guard that opened the door. He nodded his head, nodding me out of the room and into the hall following the Pegasus and the little filly. I handed her the stuffed animal she had thrown me, but she shook her head and smiled happily. She looked at me like I was a scared puppy being rescued from the pound. Which was... Accurate. I felt fearful of those around me at the moment.
"What are you? Where am I? And... And why does everyone seem to hate me?" The guard flinched a bit and looked away, not bothering to respond. He looked at the ground, and the little filly seemed to find his voice for him.
"We're ponies, and you're in Ponyville. Ponies here don't really like new things. You should have seen everypony when we all met Zecora!" She giggled and smiled, and the yellow Pegasus blushed and looked at the ground, covering her eye with her light pink bangs. I looked at the little filly and gave a questioning look.
"Who's Zecora?" She giggled and looked at me with a smile as I held the stuffed animal. There was real curiosity in my mind. She seemed to pick up on my thoughts and fluttered her little wings.
"She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree! That's why everypony was freaked out. Flutter Shy and her friends- other than Princess Twilight at least - thought she was evil. Twilight didn't though. I'm not sure why she's being so mean to you without even getting to know you first. I wonder if she senses something that we can't? Are you evil? Are you a spy for the dragons?! Huh?! Or Chrysalis?!" The little filly jumped in front of me, and into a defensive stance. I had to hold back a laugh when I saw her do this.
"Noho- no. I'm not a... A "spy"? No I'm not a spy." I took a few steps after Flutter Shy, I assumed that was her name from the little filly, started walking forwards. "I'm not even sure what I am myself. All I know is I'm a boy, and that I came from the Dragon lands." The little filly gasped and looked at me, her little wings flaring out. I chuckled at her reaction to my statement.
"Wh... What? From the dragon lands?!" She flew up until she was eye level with me, smiling brightly. "What was it like there?! Was it hot?! Did you see the Dragon Lordess?!" She was spouting questions in higher and higher pitched voices until her voice sounded like nothing but an excited squeal. I gently pat her head and looked at her, smiling and motioning for her to calm down. She noticed my smile and smiled too, calming down and suddenly landing on my back, causing me to squeak and lean over so she didn't fall.
"It was hard being treated like a hatchling literally everyday, yes it was hot but somehow my blanket has a magic spell cast on it so that I don't ever get to hot or to cold, and yes I met the Lordess. It was scary too." She gasped in my ear and held on tightly around my neck, smiling.
"What's your name? Do I bet it's something cool like Draco!" She giggled loudly and looked at me with a smile on her face, leaning over my head with her hooves holding onto the sides of my head.
"No no, it's not Draco! It's Savra! I... I think. I don't know much about myself. Oh! But I DO know that the moon led me here! That probably doesn't matter to you though. Um... Well what's YOUR name?" I smiled up at her and giggled at her, and she giggled back.
"My name is Vocal Wind! I like to talk, and the Mayor said I'm great at helping with writing speeches! Something about my "charismare natural" or something." She giggled and I laughed, looking ahead at the ground, following Flutter Shy as I walked. She looked back at me and smiled with a look of fear on her face.
She took a breath and opened the door to the outer castle, trotting out with me close behind. She trotted over to a strange round table and smiled at the empty seats. It dawned on me that she hadn't really spoken a lot. That's probably why her name is Flutter Shy. I looked at her and looked up, seeing a beautiful chandelier with many, many colorful crystals.
She looked at me and I saw, a look of pity in her eyes. I heard the clippity clop of hooves and panicked, hiding behind a chair. The door opened and in walked someone, the purple Unicorn Pegasus hybrid. I saw Flutter Shy puff herself up and take a breath.
"T-Twilight-" She was cut off by the hybrid, who I could now conclude was Twilight
"Ah! Flutter Shy, just the pony I was looking for! I wanted you to see if you could talk to the monster and see what it wants so that we can release it back into the Everfree where it belongs!" I could hear the smile in her voice. I could hear the venom in her voice when she said the monster. She trotted over and looked at Flutter Shy, smiling. She couldn't see me? I was in almost plain sight!
"T-Twilight, I think you should-" She was cut off again, by Twilight.
"Of course it might be hard to talk to it with all of it's yelling and screaming." She put her hoof on her chin like she was thinking. Flutter Shy began to flush a bit in frustration.
"Twilight I-"
"It's hard to know what it will do you know!" She began to pace and smile.
"Twilight I'm taking the monster back to my cottage with me!!!
This made Twilight do a double take as she laid her ears back in silence. She looked Flutter Shy like she was crazy.
"Y... You're wh... What?" She was looking at her and crouching down like she was a sad puppy who had just been yelled at. She clearly didn't expect this side from Flutter Shy.
"You heard me! I am taking Savra, that's his name. Not "The Monster" or "It"." She looked at the mare on the ground and stood tall and proud. She looked at me and flicked her tail, telling me to come out from behind the chair, and when I did, she trotted off with me in tow after biting the sleeve of my shirt and walking.
I sat stiffly on the cushion I had been gifted as a seat by Flutter Shy. I didn't much like her bunny, Angel, because he would find every opportunity to try and get me in trouble. I could tell he wanted me gone. Now like he was alone, most of the animals in her home wanted me gone. Except a little creature with a long beak and wings that moved so fast I couldn't see them. Those birds love me, but I'm not sure why. I stood up and brushed myself off, walking out to the kitchen to look out for some sort of food that I could eat. There was birdfeed everywhere of every kind, and there was lots of carrots for Angel, and bananas for... I'm not sure who. I grabbed an apple and blinked for a moment, smiling happily when I took a bite. A drop of juice dripped down my chin and I reached for a rag to wipe it up. I closed the door after grabbing out a carrot, and munched the apple with a smile as I set the rag down. Behind the cupboard door was Angel, thumping his paw with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey there fluff ball. You want your carrot? I was just coming to find you." I smiled and offered him the morsel. He took it and had it shredded down before I could have said "wow". He might not like me a lot, but he loves that I can grab him carrots from the treat box. That's what I call the weird box on the top shelf of the cupboard that I have to stand on my tip toes to reach. Flutter Shy had to fly to reach it, and the bird treats were in a closed box that the birds couldn't get into. Angel hugged my leg for a moment before coming to his senses and kicking me in the shin. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. I pulled out my notebook and sat down on the floor next to the table. I like to sit on the floor instead of the chairs because the chairs hurt my back to sit in due to them being so short. I tried my best to try and stay quiet while Flutter Shy was sleeping or napping upstairs. I slept downstairs on the couch- which hurt my neck a lot.
There was a knock on the door, and I looked up, scurrying to the window to try and see who it was. I hoped it wasn't that Twilight pony again or someone she was like. But, sadly, that's exactly who it was. I rushed up the stairs and shook Flutter Shy as gently as I could to wake her up. It wasn't hard to do. She woke up quickly and I pointed to the stairs.
"What's wrong Savra? Why'd you wake me up?" She sounded concerned instead of mad like I expected.
"Twilights here and I'm scared to open the door..." Flutter Shy stood up and shook the tiredness off her mind, looking much better than she had earlier before the nap. She trotted tot he door, and I followed close behind to peek out of the railing on the stairs. Angel had opened the door and Twilight was sitting on the couch waiting for Flutter Shy. She saw Flutter Shy trotting down the stairs and her ears perked up as she smiled. Then she saw me hiding and she looked angry.
"It's still here?? Why haven't you gotten rid of it yet??" She stamped her hoof into the hard wood floor and huffed, leaving me disgruntled and scared to move. I looked at Angel and he looked at me, confused. He was sitting with me up on the stairs. Flutter Shy's ears laid back and she glared at Twilight.
"His name is Savra, Twilight. He has feelings, just like you and me. He likes to sleep curled up like Spike does, and he has a favorite food. He's not a monster. He's intelligent!" She stood tall again and I blinked, making a face of confusion. How did she know I slept like that? How does Spike sleep?? Who is Spike???
"Why are you so insistent on keeping it?? It's a monster! Just look at it!" She pointed at me using her hoof and I saw steam coming out of her nostrils as she exhaled. It reminded me of one time, when Midnight had gotten angry, and she started billowing smoke out of her nose as she yelled at some other adolescent dragon for doing something to me that I thought was fine. Apparently, it was the worst thing to do to another dragon. I sprung into action and ran down the steps on instinct, and jumped in front of Flutter Shy, eyes closed and ready to be burned.
There was nothing but shocked silence from Twilight and Flutter Shy.
"If you want to burn someone with fire, burn me. You might not be a dragon, but I don't care. You can't hurt her." I stood my ground and stood with my arms open to protect her. I had my eyes closed and braced for the burning sensation, but none came. Instead there was hoof steps leaving the room, and angrily stomping down the path until there was silence. I opened my eyes and looked around, and then to Flutter Shy to make sure she was OK.
There was a huge sparkly eyes of happiness and touched glee. I stood back up awkwardly and looked at the door, closing it. I turned back around and she was still standing there in the same place with a happy and huge smile. She quickly trotted over to me and gave me a hug, and I blinked, patting her head. She was clinging to my torso as I rubbed the back of my head.
"You proved it! You proved you were nice! You proved that you were able to be good!" She was smiling as she let me go, backing away and giggling. She trotted into the kitchen and came back out with a cake. I don't think that I've ever had cake before. Or I have, but it's in my memory fog. She offered it to me and I held it carefully. I looked at her and looked at the cake.
" Wh... What am I supposed to do with this?" I blinked a few times and looked at the cake, the frosting was a light blue.
"Eat it! Pinkie made it for you as an 'I'm sorry for shooting you in the face with my party cannon the other day' cake!" I looked at it and smiled, setting it down and grabbing a knife and a few plates to cut the cake and share it. This was pleasant, I suppose...
I was sitting and petting Angel, having come to a truce. He would stop trying to get me in trouble in exchange for sneaking him a carrot every now and then, and I would get to pet him if I was stressed or scared. That seemed to work out fine anyways, because he liked being bet, no matter how bratty and tough he tried to be. After all, he was a bunny.
I currently, the reason I was petting Angel, was because I had gotten news of a dragoness coming to visit Ponyville. The voice in the back of my head started to show up more prominently, telling me it might be for the best that I go back with the ambassador. I refused to listen, instead thinking about what kind of foods I could remember. Cake, Carrots, Turnips, and... Steak. My stomach churned as I thought of eating meat. What would they think of me? If I ate meat then well, I would be a real monster. Why do I remember food? That didn't matter much. I pulled out my blue gemstone and began to suck the blueberry taste from it. It was the best thing I had tasted for a long time.
Flutter Shy trotted in smiling with her saddle bag full of... Party supplies? Maybe she was going to have a tea party with Discord again. He was... Fun. I'm not going to lie he was my favorite guy ever. He knew how to make anything fun. He turned everything from boring to fun in an instant. But that doesn't much matter for now.
"Flutter Shy, do you need help? D-do you know what the dragons name it??" Flutter Shy smiled happily as I approached her, nervously.
"Her name is Midnight!" My heart turned to stone, and my blood ran cold as I stared at her in disbelief.
"M... M-Midnight..." I looked at her and I could tell I looked a bit pale, because I felt the color drain from my face. She looked at me concerned. "Her name is Midnight... And... And why do you have tea party supplies?" I held my breath for the answer.
"She's coming here for part of her visit to discuss something about how to treat animals on the Dragon Isle!" She put a hoof to my forehead, seeing how frightened I was of her answer. I was white with fright. Quickly, I turned and sat down on the ground. The voice in my head was cheering.
"Promise me Flutter Shy, you won't let her take me. Promise me you won't let her try to take me!" I was panicking and getting even more pale with every second. She had her ears pressed back against her head and distraught with the way I was acting.
"Y-yes, I promise, I won't let her take you... Btu why would she?" She backed into the kitchen and looked concerned as I followed and started to help her make the cucumber sandwiches.
"Because I originally ran away from there and she'll take me back. I don't want to go back, because there was so much lava and it was so... So hot. There were dogs there that were forced to mine stones like this one on my necklace- and the only way I survived was with the blanket right the re where I sleep!" I felt my heart beat up in my throat, coming up and disabling my speech. I could tell she wanted to ask questions, but I refused to answer, but not for lack of a good reason. I couldn't speak, and I couldn't hear her. She'd likely be arriving tomorrow for tea, and I would have to have a plan. Flutter Shy would want me to talk to her, as to not be rude. I would have to in order not to be rude too.
So I would stay near Flutter Shy until Midnight had to leave. I would have no part in that prophecy, because according to that dream I keep getting with the blinding lights, the prophecy was bad. I was shaking slightly. And the dream with Luna? The moon being the exact center of attention, and a humming song? That was freaky. I don't understand, but I was always safe with her. I was safe when I dreamt that way. I looked at the sky and saw the sun, and it made me feel safe too. Like I was protected as long as I was here. It was peaceful and a good feeling to get. But it was not enough. It wasn't enough to cover the fear of being dragged back.
A few hours late, it was now night time, and I was sleeping quietly under my blanket with a small sofa cushion as a pillow and stuffed animal. I held my eyes closed so I wouldn't be scared of the lack of light. There was a slight feeling of being watched. I felt something. Something strange. I heard a scratching, a scratching of claws, and I sat up, ready to use my staff to beat something, whatever it was. I heard it again, and in the moonlight, I saw something slink past the window. I picked up my staff and ran up the stairs, whimpering as I sleepily dragged my backpack and blanket behind me, and ducked into the bathroom, where there was a candle burning so I would have light. Angel hopped in and tilted his head when he saw me shaking in the bathtub holding my staff and backpack close, hiding under my blanket. I could tell he was wondering what I was scared of.
"I-I heard scratching outside the door and then something ran by the window!!" I was fearful, and it was in my voice. He rolled his eyes and hopped closer, hopping up into my lap, and he fell asleep with me petting him. I however, didn't sleep at all for the rest of the night. I sat, petting Angel until I could see the sun rising. I heard Flutter Shy trotting to the bathroom, calling my name. I blinked tiredly and called out. "In here, Flutter Shy..." She heard me and trotted in, looking surprised by my tired demeanor and the fact that I was sitting there, petting Angel.
"Oh gosh, are you alright??" She looked frightened and concerned, reaching out to help me up as I gently held Angel up from falling. He didn't wake, just twitched a bit. Flutter Shy let out a small sigh and looked me over. My clothes were a bit filthy, and she could smell them.
"I'll take you to Rarity to see what she can do, grab your blanket." She smiled and I did, pulling it around my shoulders. I was tired. I looked in the mirror and what stared back was a tired face of a boy. Bags under my eyes, and a general tired look. I slowly walked up and followed Flutter Shy, but she opened her wing to stop me. She knelt down and motioned me to climb on, and I did. I couldn't argue much, because I was just to tired. I laid my head on her back and she stood up, trotting down the stairs to take me to lord knows where.
We passed a few miles of valley tall grass, and quickly walked into the town. This made me tense up a bit, but I looked around tiredly and kept my head down on her back. I could see lots and lots of ponies staring at me in fear and in confusion. I was to tired to move. I stayed still and watched the colors melt together, leaving nothing but my eyes to tiredly gaze around. I aid nothing, and I did nothing, but that seemed to set ponies into unease. I felt the cool air his my face when Flutter Shy entered a room that was covered in bedazzled beauty.
"Flutters! So good to see you! it's been quite some time, hasn't it?" I climbed off her back and sat down on the ground, holding my blanket. I was to tired to really converse so I stayed silent.
"It's only been four days Rarity, you must be thinking of Apple Jack." She smiled and giggled, along with Rarity, who chuckled. She was a snow white unicorn with a purple and beautifully curled mane. Her mark was three diamonds.
"What can I help you with darling, maybe some new shoes? A new hat perhaps?" She was smiling happily, seeming to ignore my presence. I felt Flutter Shy look at me as she spoke.
"I need you to make some new clothes for Savra." At the mention of my name I looked up, yawning, and looking at Rarity and her groggily. She smiled and I could feel the wariness pour from her.
A few minutes later, I didn't resist being lifted by magic and standing with my arms out. I didn't resist when I felt something wrap around various parts of my body, and I didn't resist when I felt it wrap around my neck for a moment, and when I looked at her, Rarity looked at me with a smile.
"Alright. I should have them done in an hour!" She smiled and trotted off, smiling as she walked up the stairs and the sound of machinery started up. I walked back over to Flutter Shy and stood next to her carefully. Rarity had taken my shoes to study how to make more. My feet made smacking sounds on the floor, and I flinched at the sensation.
"You want to go get something to eat?" I nodded excitedly, but tiredly as I moved onto her back. This time I didn't lay down, and she trotted rather quickly to a strange looking cookie house, and pushed the door open. She walked in and I glanced around, climbing down and landing on the hard floor. Flutter Shy had a conversation over something strange, like cookies mixed like jewels or something, and she trotted over with one of her saddle bags full, and a plate of 4 cupcakes ion her teeth. I searched for something to sit on, but nothing came up. I made a face and sighed, standing at a table as she set down the plate. She smiled and took one, and I took another. It tasted amazing, and I felt my eyes wide to the size of dinner plates. She chuckled at my look, and I waited for her to grab her second before I grabbed my second. My second was gone in a split second, with frosting smeared a bit across my cheek. I used a napkin to wipe it of, and I wiped my face clean.
After that, we headed back to the clothing place and I smiled as I was presented with open toed shoes and a bag of clothes. She levitated something up and spoke to Flutter Shy, and we headed back to the cottage to prepare for the tea party. She smiled and let me down to run and check out my new outfit, but when I opened the bag, inside was several outfits. There was a red shirt and a pair of shorts, and a silky set of pajamas. There was a suit, neatly folded up in the bag. I picked it up and took off my shirt, placing it in the laundry bag, and then pulled my new shirt on over it. I changed completely into my hew outfit and blinked the tiredness from my eyes. I changed into my shorts and T-shirt, finding them a better and more comfortable suit for the situation. I put my clothes away and smiled, running down the stairs to help set up the tea party.
Now, I was sitting next to Flutter Shy, talking about how good the cupcakes were earlier. How I was having fun, and how I was still tired from the earlier sleepless night. She held up a tag with my name engraved into it and an address below it.
"If you get lost, and I can't find you, take this to someone. They'll help you get back here." She was smiling as I smiled and hugged her. I took off my necklace with my flavored stone, and laced the string into the hole of the tag. I hugged her as tightly as I could, and she returned the favor with a nuzzle. Someone knocked on the door, and I tensed up.
Flutter Shy trotted over and smiled as she opened the door. In walked Midnight. She was smaller, presumably by magic. She and I locked eyes and she froze, and I stayed tense.
"Hi." I was quiet and frozen, and scared.
The tea party was going to be lovely, and fun. I knew it.
I locked eyes with Midnight when she entered, hoping she wouldn't do anything rash. I knew her, she had a temper. I was trembling, and I didn't notice until I lifted my hand to wave hello. Midnight just stared at me with conflicting emotions in her eyes.
"You... You've been here... For al this time." I could only have been gone about a week. Maybe even less considering the fact that I don't know how I made it through the forest in a few days. I was still a bit thin from that trip, but... No it must have been longer because of the fact that I stayed in the bushes, hidden from the natives here.
"I'm not going back..." I wanted to say it, but I couldn't bring myself to speak. I just looked at the floor and stood behind Flutter Shy. Angel Bunny, the little guy, caught on to the way I was acting. My scar began to burn, and I had to force myself not to take off the shirt.
"He's been here for about a month." Flutter Shy was smiling as she closed the door, trapping me in the cottage with her and Midnight. I was fearful of her every move. Her tail could be used to snatch me at any point. Her claws could slice me. Her body was one sleek killing machine. I wanted to avoid it at all costs.
"Come, I have tea ready!" She was smiling as she flicked her tail and used her wing to guide me gently to the table. I sat on the floor next to her with my knees tucked to my chest. My scar burned to the point of being almost unbearable. Midnight turned her head toward me and watched me as I held and pet Angel Bunny. Angel was enjoying the feeling of my hands over his fur, but trying to stay tough in front of Midnight. Midnights initial response was to just stare, but when she blinked, and realized that it was rude to do so, she smiled at Flutter Shy and took a sip of tea. She didn't enjoy it much, but she drank a cup anyways. Soon after, they engaged in small talk. My scar began to burn so bad, that I became weak. A bit to weak. Angel bunny got a bit mad and looked at me, and he got worried once he saw my slouched look. I hadn't told him about it, but he had come to the conclusion quickly that my scar was not normal. He tore open a hole in my shirt with a loud ripping sound , silencing the room for a moment, and I took a deep breath, gasping for air.
I stood up and set Angel down, turning away and walking with a look of pale fear coming across my face. I went up the stairs, and locked myself in the bathroom. Flutter Shy called up for me in concern. I kept my back against the door and held my legs close to my chest, staring down at the mark on my chest. I remembered something... I remembered the purple stone gold necklace. Where was it? At the thought of the stone, there was a bright light that shined from my scar, and a strange stone appeared. It was purple, with the same type of marking as my scar. I froze up. It was in the center of my scar... Could this be? Could this be the stone?
I became awe struck. This is why thy wanted me isn't it? Maybe... The stone wanted to be seen. But that didn't make sense, how could it want? But... Still, it seemed right. Maybe the reason I can't remember was because the stone wants my mind clear for it's own thoughts and mind.
'You have no idea how close you are.' the voice in y head was chuckling at me, making me freeze. I jumped up and looked in the mirror. The stone seemed to be glowing.
I covered it, and it burned my hand, making me hiss a bit in pain as I shook it off. I looked down at the stone and it was glowing white hot on the marking, but no where else. I opened the door and teared up as I walked to the stairs.
"EXPLAIN. NOW. WHAT DID THIS. WHY ME?! WHY MY BODY?! I WANTED TO LIVE! I WANT TO LIVE! I WANT THIS STONE OUT OF ME NOW! EXPLAIN THE PROPHECY! NOW!" I stomped down the stairs and grabbed Midnight's head in my hands, and she looked at me shocked. She saw my tears and my look of angry fear. She opened her mouth but nothing came out, and I shook her head, pushing it away from me as I looked down at the stone.
"I... You..." She was tearing up as she lifted her paw and planted it on my back, and I sat on the ground crying silently. She gained a steely look in her eyes and took a breath.
"Have you been getting dreams? About a giant dragon and two... Unicorn Pegasai? White and dark blue?" I nodded and trembled as I sniffled. How had he known?
"Well... The prophecy... Let me start from the beginning. In the beginning, there was The Dragon Lordess, and The Dragon Lord. They were the strongest beings in the entire world." She stopped for a moment as the stone began to glow a bit, and I began to detect anger in the aura it gave off. "A... And they demanded the destruction of the pony civilization. They wanted to be the sole rulers of the world." The stone began to glow with white hot rage. "But the rulers of the sun and moon came down and forced The Dragon Lord, after a long war of magic and wills, into the stone that you have on your chest." She stared at the stone as it shot off a spark. "He's angry. He's angry that I'm telling you. But... I must. It's only right. His soul was banished to another world, and that world is the one where it is completely dominated by creatures. Creatures not even found here. Your kind." She smiled when she saw my head perk up from my current position, and i looked down at my hands with awe. "You are a human. His soul was banished from our world to yours, through the Lake of Mirrors in a cave deep in the wilderness that few have traveled. The prophecy tells of a strange monster being found on the Dragon Isle, with the mark of the Dragons Stone, to be brought past the barrier, and then restore the dragon lord to his rightful place. As ruler of the entire planet." There was pure fury raining down from the stone in magic sparks, and I felt painful spikes in my body. "I'm not really a... I'm not really an embassador. I'm not allowed to go back to the Dragons Isle unless I can find you. And I have... But i don't want to go back." She was looking at the ground as l took a small breath.
"Hey... Who says you have to make the prophecy come true?" Flutter Shy was smiling at us nervously as she had her ears laying back. "Who says you can't just... Not do it."
This thought was, apparently, boggled Midnights mind as she blinked in pure confusion. She slowly smiled as she blinked.
"You really... You really think tit's just that simple? It's that easy?!" She was getting excited now and I looked down at the stone as it was stunned momentarily by the suggestion.
"I have to get this stone out of me. It'll have the power to make things happen if I keep it in. How can I remove it?" That stumped both Flutter Shy and Midnight. They both froze up and looked stunned, the excitement draining from their attitudes.
"I know just who can help." Twilight smirked as she trotted in, holding up a scroll in her magic with a message scratched into the parchment addressed to Luna.
"You're going to send that message... To the moon??" I was looking at her with a look of skepticism. The look on her face, the look of bewilderment on her face alone, and the others were looking dumbfounded too. I looked a bit confused, making a face.
"I can't believe you didn't teach him about her." Twilight looked towards Flutter Shy and Midnight, and Midnight scoffed.
"In my defense, I didn't expect him to run away." She looked a bit miffed, huffing smoke from her nose. She moved her tail around me and I became less than thrilled at her slipping back into the idea that I was a little innocent hatchling that needed protection.
"Well, I don't know your culture like you do, considering I don't even know my real name." They all gasped as loud as they could, and this made me jump, backing away as fast as I could. They all looked absolutely horrified as I backed up. Flutter Shy had tears in her eyes as she looked upon me.
"You... You don't know your real name?!" Twilight was looking either livid or terrified or both. I could feel the eyes of all three of them burning into me as I backed away.
"N-no! L-look lets just- focus on the Luna thing!!" They seemed reluctant, but they changed the subject willingly. I sighed and looked at Twilight. "W-when will that message be gotten?" I shifted uncomfortably.
"It should already be there. Don't worry. I'm sure Luna is just busy for now." She was smiling a bit, looking at the sun. I suddenly regained the feeling of bliss I got the first day I was out of the forest.
"Can it.. Can the... Sun see us?" There was a scoffing sound from Twilight and she looked at me.
"Of course Celectia can't! Unless... Unless she chose to... Hm." She sat down and looked skeptical, but thoughtful. I glanced away from Twilight to Angel, who wanted me to get him a carrot. I wondered off to the kitchen and opened the cupboard for him, taking out a carrot and breaking it in half so I could have some. I took the smaller half so he wouldn't be angry, and munched it absently along with Angel. He had warmed up a lot to me since the first day I was living here.
"What's up Angel. Should I believe them about Luna?" He nodded and ate a bit more of his carrot, and I smiled a bit. "But if she really controls the moon... And Celectia controls the sun??" There was a quick nod from the bunny as he jumped onto my head. I rubbed his ear and he thumped his paw a bit on my head, telling me he enjoyed the sensation. I continued eating the carrot as I thought to myself. I thought about the voice in the back of my head. I thought to the voice in the back of my head.
I know your plan you jerk. I'm not going to fulfill it. Not in a million years. You can't make me, you or your wife.
It didn't like that thought. It didn't like that thought at all. The gem sparked, making me jump.
You will NOT disrespect me child. You exist to fulfill this prophecy. You are ME. You are MY PROPERTY. You can try and resist. You can crawl to those two pathetic little princesses and you can beg for them to help you... But one way or another YOU WILL BE MINE.
It went silent as it fumed in the back of my mind. Angel looked shocked as he looked at me from the top of my head, I panicked and jumped up, stumbling out of the kitchen, holding Angel in my hands now. The three of them were talking and I was crying now, fumbling for words.
"Voice- scary- threatened- stone- talk to princesses NOW!"I was sobbing now, fallen to my knees as I felt the voice in the back of my head become annoyed. Twilight was completely bewildered by my reaction to the awful encounter. She lit up her horn and there was a flash of light. She had taken my request and made it reality, apparently. I was in the middle of a huge throne room, on a red carpet, in front of a large crowd.
"Princess I'm sorry, but this emergency takes absolute over all other priorities!" She shouted over the shrieking crowd, and guards began to surround us. They escorted me and Twilight out of the room, and a commanding voice shouted out as we entered a bedroom off the larger room behind us. I hid under the covers, with little objection from Twilight or Midnight.
"The royal court shall be dismissed for the evening due to an emergency!!" There was a heavy set of intense running hooves, echoing as the room was being emptied of the ponies outside. There was slight resistance from the crowd it seemed, but it was negated quickly when they were forced out the door. There was silence until the door flew open.
"Twilight, what kind of emergency requires you to interrupt my court like so?!" I heard the voice yell as I let out a choked sob. She silenced herself, and any attempt to speak after that. I let out another quiet sob, trying to stay silent. The voice in the back of my head was fearful now. "Who... Who is this? It's alright my little-" She levitated the blanket off, and I curled up, covering my eyes and shielding my face. "Oh dear..."
Twilight was worried- a bit of an understatement because I could feel the stress emanating from her. I felt myself become weightless for a moment as I was sat up in a sitting position, and placed back down. I opened my eyes and saw the puzzled look of a tall deep blue alicorn. She looked me over, a look of worry on her face. She trailed her eyes down my chest and stopped on the stone. Her eyes seemed to narrow.
"Princess, I know what you're thinking, but please let me explain this. He isn't the dragon lord, but he holds the dragon lord in captivity in his mind. He can't escape without the fulfillment of the prophecy of Dracon." Midnight bowed as she spoke, trying to look submissive and non threatening. It worked for a bit, before she stood back up. Luna's eyes softened and she smiled at me.
"You did very well Twilight. You may have scared my court, but it was well worth the interruption. I'm sorry I yelled." She smiled and looked ack at me, nuzzling my forehead. "There's no need to fear. We can all rest, then talk more in the morning, does that sound good little one?" I sniffled nd nodded, holding my forehead where she nudged. I felt coolness, and the voice in my head was blocked. I was alone for once, in my own mind. I became sleepy instantaneously, and laid down, and slept.
I awoke slowly, curling up a bit and groaning as I slowly sat up, feeling the fear and stress from last night fade into only bothering my physical body. I was still exhausted from the strain and stress from the night before. I stumbled to my feet and looked around. In my tired stupor I recognized that this was different than I remembered. I was a strange room, in a strange house, in a strange place I had never been before. I looked down at my legs and rubbed my eyes. I was wearing shorts still, the same from the night before. My stomach growled, making me realize how hungry I was. I slowly stood up and looked around, eyes darting back and forth. Wherever I was, was amazing at decorating. I saw stained windows depicting two Alicorns. I blinked a bit and saw the way my stone glowed a bit, but not enough to do anything. A feeling of fear sparked through me and I realized... That this was the emotion of the stone. I took a breath and blocked it. I would not let it back in so it could take me over.
"I'm hungry... Where do I get food? The kitchen... Where's that??" I was looking a bit confused as I looked around, walking out the door and looking down the halls. It was early morning, and the sun was rising. No one was up yet. The hallway was colossal. It was so tall, I could barely even dream of touching the ceiling without a Pegasus helping me reach it. There were beautiful stone pillars on every corner of the halls, for decoration and support, and a polish so strong one could barely help but look and see their own reflection in the smooth surface. I started walking and looking around as I walked.
I stretched a little as I walked, wondering through the giant building aimlessly. I came across a bathroom, and possibly a private dining room that hadn't been used in a few years. I walked around more and found the dining room. I walked in and looked around, seeing servants bustle about trying to prepare breakfast for the royalty. I stopped one by gently touching her flank.
"C-can I have an apple?" She looked at me in pure shock, but I just looked back at her sleepily. "O-oh yes... My... My name is Savra... I came in with Princess Twilight and a dragon, named Midnight. Princess Luna- she doesn't know where I am. S-so wh-whats your name?" Her ears were laid flat against her skull. She looked dismayed by the fact that I talked to her.
"M-my name is.. Diamond Shine..." She squeaked out as her eyes glanced around for something. Maybe they didn't like being singled out. I smiled and held out my hand, a bit awkward. She slowly took it and shook, to show her manners. I smiled at her as politely as I could.
"Can I have an apple Ms. Shine?" She looked absolutely boggled with my choice of words. She was most likely used to having everypony order her around. She looked dazed as she nodded and wondered off to the kitchen. I sat down at the table, either being ignored by everyone around setting the table or not being seen. I was awfully short for the table as I sat in my chair, my head only a little bit above the table itself. Diamond Shine brought me an entire bowl of exotic looking fruits, but among them were bananas, apples, and a bunch of grapes. I slowly took an apple and a banana, slowly peeling it and consuming the fruit inside. I saw some strawberries and blueberries and razzberries and other fruits in the bottom of the bowl. I slowly took a few in my hand, careful not to pop any of the fruits to make a mess. I ate slowly and carefully, trying not to let the juice dribble from my mouth. It almost failed, but I took a napkin that had been levitated to my spot by a servant who was to busy to speak to me. I spotted a fork and a spoon, telling me not to eat to much or else I'd miss out on real food.
Diamond Shine stayed near me, looking nervous as I looked at her.
"What's wrong? Here- have a strawberry!" I offered her one in a napkin and she looked baffled again, dazedly taking it in her hoof with a small pale look of fright. The business cooled down now, and everyone seemed to relax a little. I could see there were guards around, standing at attention. They were staring straight ahead, silent. Like statues. I sat and listened to the silence, resting my chin on the table. Maybe... Maybe I could just close my eyes for a few minutes. Just until everyone got here to eat. Diamond Shine looked at me, I could tell because I could feel her eyes locked on me. My hands were down at my sides, resting in the chair. I slowly dozed off, calmly into a dreamless sleep.
When I woke, it was meal time. Midnight was sitting at the table next to me, with Twilight across from me with an open seat looking a bit relieved after being stressed, and Luna was in much better shape than the other two, smiling as she ate her food. She was eating a stack of pancakes, almost not even acknowledging the situation. Her mane was moving in a strange pattern, almost non existent without a small breeze. Her mane and tail were the same, twinkling like a nights sky. On the other end of the table was another tall and elegant sight. She had an image of a sun on her flank instead of a moon. Her mane and tail were in the same eternal breeze, and her mane and tail were colored in pastel rainbow colors. Diamond Shine looked just as fearful as I did, and she was shaking and sitting next to me in a chair. She was a bit taller than me, in the right position to be able to properly eat. I rubbed my eyes and clenched my fists to wake up my hands. I had a plate with three large pancakes in front of me.
"Good morning everyone..." I picked up a fork and sat up on my knees, now level enough to eat my food. I spotted the syrup over near Luna, who was smiling at me and looking a bit happy. I wiped my face of drool with my napkin.
"Good morning Savra." Luna was the first to speak, smiling as the others perked up excitedly. Except for Diamond Shine. She was still horrifically shy about being around three princesses and a dragon... And whatever I am. That hit me like a boulder rolling down a mountain. I cut my pancakes a little, without putting syrup on them. I just choked it down with a bit of orange juice. I just ate my pancakes as the tall stranger at the other end of the table was staring at me curiously with a warm gaze.
"Sister, I think I may have some introducing to do. This is Savra. Savra, this is my elder sister Celectia." I waved, choking down another pancake. It was so good. I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back, looking at me as she levitated me some syrup, pouring it on my breakfast. My eyes lit up as I stabbed another little piece with my fork.
"I've heard great things." She was smiling happily as she looked at me eating my pancakes.
"Really??" I was genuinely surprised by that. She nodded and smiled.
"Midnight had a lot to say. It was amazing how much she learned from just a few weeks of being there at the Dragons Isle." I smiled happily and looked at her, in the middle of a bite of food. "She says you eat meat too, which is interesting." All movement stopped as soon as the words left her muzzle. I looked tearful.
"I-I can yes... B-but not uncooked. And I don't know how to cook." I looked at her wearily and frightened. She shook her head and looked at me with a look of regret.
"No- no I didn't mean to be rude." She was looking worried, and I gave her a sigh of relief, smiling at her. She smiled again and giggled, and we both relaxed as soon as she knew that nothing was wrong.
"Hey um... I know Diamond Shine is a servant... But can I still hang out with her?" Twilight blinked and looked at the cowering young mare, looking at her. Diamond Shine blinked and smiled at my request, clearly enjoying the thought of getting to be friends, or getting out of work. She tilted her head and made eye contact with Celectia, smiling. Celectia gained a look of realization, looking like she got something that I couldn't possibly understand.
"I believe that would be perfectly fine Savra." I smiled even bigger and so did Diamond Shine, eating her food a bit faster instead of just poking at it with her fork. She was smiling as happily as she could, and so was I after I finished my food. Maybe I could get some more time with other ponies in the future to hang out with. Twilight looked over to the door as it seemed to open and close by itself. I blinked a bit, alarmed, but stopped with a bite half way to my mouth as I set my fork down. A small purple dragon with green spikey scales coming out of his back and head sat down across the table next to Twilight looking tired. He had a huge bowl of gems in front of him in seconds, crunching them impressively.
"Good morning Spike!" Twilight hugged him with her wing, and Midnight had starry and sparkly eyes at the sudden appearance of another dragon. Especially one so little. Now, here's what really knocked me off balance in a metaphorical sense.
"Morning Twi." He could talk.And he sounded my age. Maybe we could hang out too!
I sat still, with Diamond Shine next to me as I tried to keep my attention on the serious conversation ahead of me. I listened as attentively as I could, before my mind wondered and I started looking around the room at the ceiling and at the pretty paintings on the walls as we sat around a big round table, with Princess Celectia and Princess Luna, and Diamond Shine was shaking as their voices escalated, making me tune back in to the talk with a bit of surprise and confusion.
"I implore you sister, you cannot keep the child locked up! They clearly have no idea what's happening!" Luna was frantically darting her eyes back and forth as she stamped her foot into the floor, with her ears laid back.
"Do not tell me what I can and can't do sister, you are clearly to attached to the being to be rational with this decision!" Celestia's ears were laid flat with her ears narrowed. She had removed her crown for the conversation, rubbing her temples with a pressurized magic.
"Sister, were We not there to help you STOP the Dragon Lord over five millennia ago?! Were We not there when We suggested that we banish his soul to the world of the Magicless?!" Luna cried out, ruffling her wings with distress.
Celectia was silent as she looked at the floor, looking at her hooves in contemplation, looking a tad guilty when she mentioned it.
"How were We to know that that he would infest the body of a child?! How were We to know that he would lead him to the Dragon Stone?! This is not right! We should not punish the vessel for the actions of the parasite in his heart!" She had tears in her eyes when she spoke, her ears tilted down when she spoke. "Maybe We can keep him from taking the same path I walked upon... Keep him from giving in to the darkness of the prophecy." Her head dropped low and her eyes were half lidded, making her look like the exact depiction of sadness.
"Sister..." Celectia slowly leaned forwards and knelt down to nuzzle her forehead and choke on her own sob. I brought my arms back behind my back, watching the goddesses have their moment with little more than a small bow of my head to show respect. She sighed. "He shall stay."
Luna squealed happily and jumped up and down for a moment, freezing in mid air after a moment and landing with a small flush upon her face, clearing her throat. "This is the most joyous of announcements." She tried to recover, but never did. Celectia stared with a look of amusement at her and smiled.
"I suppose we shall have to compose a personal chamber for the little one in question, do we not? Why don't you build his room, and I shall keep him occupied for the time being." She smiled at Luna and me, ignoring Diamond Shine. She was smiling when I shifted in discomfort, looking at her again. Luna was becoming more and more excited, looking happy that she got to build my room, jumping up and down with glee. Celectia smiled and walked out with me and Diamond Shine being dragged behind her in her magical aura after telling Luna that everything was going to be OK, and to get everything she could think of for the bedroom. She was smiling in amusement as I looked at the ground and walked along side her with my hands tightly clenched behind my back. She knelt down and glanced around, making sure we were by ourselves. "Do you two like cake?"
After hours of cake testing from local bakeries and the royal chefs, the last thing I wanted to do was move in any direction other than sleep. I felt my stomach bulge a bit with my mouth covered in frosting. I took a napkin and slowly dipped it in some water, and wiped my face of the food coloring around my mouth. I could literally feel the cavities beginning to form, either that or it was the fact that on more than one occasion I crunched down on the metal of my fork a bit to hard. Celectia and Diamond Shine could handle the binge much better than I, having done it far more than once. But I felt weird. I jumped when Luna burst through the door, and was blinded by an intense flash of light.
I felt unhealthily nauseas as of this moment, and my heart ached when I started feeling the regret for existing. It was snuffed out when the voice in the back of my head growled in my mind, and I forced it back, locking it back down. The internal struggle for control continued for a moment until I felt myself become weightless. I was caught by complete surprise, and was completely discombobulated. Up was down, down was left, purple was green, everything was out of whack.
I landed feeling intensely dizzy between the two alicorn princesses as they smiled at me. I became painfully aware of my discombobulation when I landed, covering my mouth when I felt my breakfast rise up from my stomach and almost into my throat. I blinked a bit when I noticed the scenery had changed and we were in what seemed to be a child's room, seeing it be rather large. You could fit Flutter Shy's whole house in here, roof to basement. There was a massive book shelf with the shelves FILLED from end of the shelf to end of shelf with neatly tucked away books to the left wall, with a desk and cushioned chair with a lamp on the desk in front of it against the wall, and to the right a large carpet with various toys strewn about the floor. The toy box was over flowing with hundreds of toys that were packed into the box and over flowing with toys and stuffed animals. I looked around the room in confusion, seeing a large, most likely king sized bed in the corner. I took a few steps forwards and sat on the floor stunned into a purely dazed silence.
"Do you like the room? It is meant to accommodate a more... Equine foal, but I'm sure you'll find it perfectly functional." Luna's voice was an echo in the back of my mind when I saw the sheer amount of wrapped presents in the corner, stacked up so high my eyes could barely trace it until it, somehow, stretched all the way from the top corner, to several presents stacking up on the ceiling, defying gravity. It reminded me of a stalagmite and a stalactite, meeting in the middle. I felt my stomach slowly churn. If I picked out one present, they would surely all come down in an avalanche.
"I may... Have over done it... A little." Luna's face flushed again, and her ears laid back. Celectia had an amused look and began levitating some into the closet, all from the ceiling. The closet was massive, and, if stacked neatly, they could fit in almost 95 percent of the presents with a little rom to hang clothes up on hangers. I caught one that had fallen, it was small and rather squishy. I opened it up, and it was a stuffed bunny that looked exactly like Angel Bunny. I held it with a happy gasp and smiled. I sat on the bed, setting it down. My stomach churned a little more and I leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed a trash can, emptying the last 8 hours contents into it. I felt my eyes bulge a bit as I threw up. There was a quick sound of alarm from Diamond Shine, who rushed over to feel my forehead and rub my back as I emptied the contents. Soon, I was groaning and closing my eyes, and I fell into blackness.
~~~~~~
There was a dim glow to the moonlit dream that I found myself in, looking around in confusion. I felt a heavy rythmatic rumble from a distance.
BOOM!
A few seconds pass.
BOOM!
A few seconds pass. Louder, and stronger this time.
A massive shadow flew over my head and there was a loud roar and a blast of fire. There was a blast of magic from a darker shaded pony, with both a horn and wings. This registered as Luna. Celectia was there too, soaring around and burning holes in the wings of the giant gargantuan. I turned and started running, but stopping in my tracks when I saw the giant foot that had stomped down before me. Slowly, it lifted up and drifted over my head, and I ran again, ducking under the massive tail that seemed to swipe t me as I tried to run. I fell to the dirt and the giant claw of the giant slammed down next to me, and I ran for my life after the thing lifted and disappeared. I dove, running and dodging stray magic attacks as I did. I kept running and running and running... Until I only heard distant roars. Until I only saw the flashes of magic and two Equine forms. One larger, and one smaller. It was small, but big at the same time. I got the sense of being here before, like I had seen this before. They both lit their horns at the same time, and there was an explosion of light, and I felt myself get blasted back into a blackness, and then just nothing. Into a void. I heard a screaming roar of terror and sadness, that of a female. Of someone who had lost someone they loved dearly. Then I blacked out completely.
I was sitting and smiling as I ate soup, veggie soup to be precise. I was sitting at the table with a look of relative excitement. I smiled and looked at Diamond Shine, who was standing to the side with a little smile as she ate her own salad. I drank my soup, then used a spoon to scoop up all of the vegetables that were floating in the soup. Luna's wings fluttered as I smiled and ate, staring in contentment. She was almost as happy as I was. I felt my hands become engulfed in a strange tingling, and I looked, seeing Luna's horn lit up to put a spoon in my hand after wiping away some of the broth that had gotten on my hand. Midnight and Twilight were gone, sleeping likely.
The door swung open and I jumped, startled as I looked over. There stood a tall white unicorn. He was elegant and mighty looking, trotting with his head up and his focus straight forwards. His mane was a strange blond color, and he walked with a prance. He reminded me of a knight from the fairytales… What fairytales, I don't know. He trotted past the princesses and smiled at Celectia, and then he turned and took his seat, but froze when he saw Diamond Shine sitting across from him, silently eating her food.
For a few minutes it was happy, eating silently as I was oblivious to the tension building up in the room as he stared at Diamond Shine. I thought he seemed to be almost as fascinated with her fur as I always was, but I was wrong.
"What is a mere peasant doing at the royal table, and not the servants meal table?" He snarled as he glared. "Why does she get to even have the privilege of contact with the royal food?!" She flinched away a little and her ears laid back, and she backed up a few inches. Angrily, I stood up and slid my chair closer to hers, offering comfort. Before Celectia or Luna could say anything, I spoke up.
"What gives you the right to speak to her that way? What makes you any better than her? A stupid title? A trot? A horn? What makes you SOOOO much better than her because she's ma servant? You know, I bet, if she and every one of the ponies that work for you were to quit, your entire castle would fall apart in mere hours. You'd have to do everything yourself. Clean, cook, serve your own food." I sat on my knees in the chair and glared a little, placing my hands on the table and staring. "Your status doesn't matter if you don't respect others, and earn it. Leave my friend alone, and be quiet so there won't be any problems." I felt my face flush with rage, but then slowly go back to normal." He- and every other pony in the room and in the hall -were staring at me in complete shock, frozen in their tasks. The pony who was pouring Celestia's tea was letting the tea overflow from the cup, and spill onto the table. I shrank a little under the attention and silently went back to eating my food. This went on for a moment, before Blue Blood looked at me and blinked, growling a bit.
"I will not be talked down to by some hairless ape!" He stood up from his chair and walked around the table, using his magic to grapple around my form. He slammed me to the ground from the chair, and I stood up, standing as tall as I could to show no fear. "What are you even doing here?! I thought monsters weren't allowed in the castle." He kicked me, forcing me back onto my back, and I stood back up, standing tall again. "What gives you the right to stand up in my presence? What gave you rights in the first place?!" He snorted and kicked me back over, putting his hoof on my chest to keep me pinned.
"What gave you the right to be born higher than anyone else?" This response seemed to stun him as he looked down at me. His face flushed with anger, and he put pressure on my chest, making it hard to breath. But I still was able to simply because I didn't have to be standing to stand up to someone.
"I am ROYALTY that's what!!" He stamped his other hoof and I struggled to let out a laugh at his stupidity.
"You may be royalty, but the only thing keeping ponies listening to you is the fact that they respect you. I don't respect you. So you're not my royalty." This earned a gasp of surprise from around the room, servants and Diamond Shine, who was covering her muzzle in surprise. His ears laid back as he glared around.
"These ponies respect me, all of them! Or else they would be in the dungeon!" He stepped back and I sat up, raising an eyebrow. His pride had been hurt, and now I had the chance to absolutely destroy him. But gently.
"They don't respect you. They fear you." There was a small sound of shock again, but quieter than before. Why hadn't Celectia stepped in against either of us yet? Why hadn't she defended her- rueful as the fact may be -blood relative against me yet?
"What's the difference?!" He seemed genuinely confused by the thought of a difference between fear and respect. He stared at me and his face scrunched into anger.
"Fear is threatening to throw someone in the dungeon for not agreeing with you. Respect is them taking great time to get the request finished perfectly, even if it is only somewhat talked about in a passing moment." I glared at him and sighed as I spoke, struggling to move his hoof. I realized something- that this was out of character for me. He allowed me to sit back up and I grunted, staring up at him with no emotion other than pity.
"How do you know any of this?!" I felt my mind race with answers, and I stared at him, silently, trying to hide my easy distaste for him. "It doesn't matter. You won't have to worry about that for long." He suddenly lost interest and grunted, lighting his horn and suddenly, my oxygen supply became extremely limited. I let out a choked gasp and held my throat, closing my eyes. Luna stepped up and opened her mouth, and Celectia stopped her, slowly shaking her head as she whispered to her, and her eyes went wide as she nodded a little, a look of worry not leaving her eyes.
"B-Blue B-Blood... s-stop..." I heard a little, trembling voice speak up. It was a little familiar, but hard to place. This seemed to confuse him as his ears and eyes flicked in opposite directions. A shadow suddenly stood over my head as he did, and he looked up, and into the face of the cause of it. His eyes got wide.
"You dare tell me what to do?! A mere peasant?!" He snorted and his magic weakened and I breathed easier. "How fitting, a monster and its handler."
"S-stop calling me that, and let him go!" The voice was a bit stricter as she stood up tall, and my thoughts registered. It was... It was Diamond Shine!
"Or what?" He stared directly into his eyes and got mere inches from her face. She took a breath and kissed him, making the room ice over with shock. He fell backwards and his magic went haywire, going insane and shooting off sparks everywhere.
"Ew... Sometimes I hate being a pacifist… But if it saves my friend I'm happy with sacrificing my comfort." I jumped up and hugged her as tightly as I possibly could as I teared up.
"Don't you ever sacrifice your comfort for me, you understand?" I almost teared up. Until I saw Twilight staring with happiness and an ear to ear grin of excitement on her face, staring directly at me.
Suddenly, all I could hear was a high pitched hiss of screaming joy that rang like a dog whistle, and I had to cover my ears as it cracked my cup.
I was sitting nervously as I took little deep breaths. Diamond Shine was sitting next to me, and I was ready to cry. We were poking around my dragons stone, and it was burning. They were trying to remove it. I had said that if they didn't, that I would. I refuse to allow this place to be destroyed. Tears streamed down my face when I saw what was happening. it was just a magic laser focused on the skin around the stone, circling and cutting. I cried out and gripped the seat, clawing at my hair. I pulled, twisting my body a little as I cried loudly. I sobbed as Luna and Twilight restrained my arms and legs so I couldn't block the laser. I told them that no matter what I say, don't let me go. Midnight and Diamond Shine were huddling close together, with Midnight hiding their heads from seeing me with Midnight's wings. Their presence was enough to tell me they cared. I got another jolt of pain and I screamed, crying and kicking as hard as my restraints would let me. Celectia finally stopped, after an hour of trying to cut the thing out with magic.
"I can't do this any longer, we'll have to continue later." She looked sick and I was sitting still, sobbing like a baby as the burning slowly faded away. I felt my restraints slowly get released, one limb at a time, and I weakly curled up, sobbing. It was the third week in a row we'd been trying this, and despite their begging to stop, I was adamant about removing it. I wanted to be free from that stupid prophecy. It loomed over my head, every time I tried to move. I nodded and whimpered as I curled up, trying to soothe my muscles. I closed my eyes and groaned when I tried to stand. This session was particularly bad. We had been going for more than two whole hours, and we usually only go for 30 minutes. The reason we went for so long was because the stone reacted, pulling out of socket in my chest for a split second, in the most painful way one could have possibly felt. I had been getting weaker with every session, and this one nearly killed me. I was levitated up and onto the back of someone who could walk right.
"I'll get him a proper bath. You all go and try to rest, and we'll discuss what to do next." I felt my mind draw a blank. These words were nothing but meaningless babble to me. I gave no indication that I was ready to give in to the darkness that was cutting my vision. Who was even speaking at this point? Midnight? Diamond Shine? Twilight, maybe? I don't know. I just felt the micromovements of everything they did, feeling everything they did like I was the stone and they were me. I felt the heartbeat through their wings, I felt the fluff of their fur moving as we started to move. So that rules out Midnight. She hummed a little. My eyes were swollen shut from all the crying I did, and I had no want to open them. My throat was to dry and scratchy to talk. Instead I reached for the ears of whoever it was and I scratched, making them give a small surprised horse sound. She smiled and chuckled as I moved my hand back down from the painful strain, letting it go limp. It locked into place after that, totally and painfully straight.
"Alright, we're here... Can you move?" She knelt down and when I tried to move my leg from its locked up position, I cried out and sniffled. "I'll take that as a no, not avidly..." Her voice was warm and endearing. I felt a little warmth go through my body when I smiled. She hugged me with her wing. This has to be Celectia.
I felt my body lowered to the ground, and set gently on a warm pillow, making me groan when I felt my muscles relax in the slightest way at the heat. I felt my body get lighter as the clothes were removed down to my shorts. I heard water start to fill the tub, and the scent of soap was filling the room. She was working on something, because she was letting out a small grunt as she was working. I smelled the scent of lavender, and my muscles relaxed even more. I was able to move a little, just a few inches. I felt my body lift up off the ground. I was lowered into the water as slow as she could. She was being as gentle as she could, seeing how tightly I was curled up to ease the pain of straining. She let me sit in the tub for a few minutes, enough to make me relax. My eyes were still swollen shut.
"Alright, Savra... L-lets um... Work on your... Coat." She was referring to my hair, I could tell. She was being as gentle as she could, never handling a creature like me before. She used her magic to feel for rough and tense spots, and I groaned as she applied a little pressure there. She poured water over my head, and I was left to relax in the warm water for a few minutes while she read a book aloud to me. Something about how their language works, so I could be educated by their standards. My eyes never opened, and my vocal cords were blown from the screaming. I was weak. I was so weak, even by my own standards. I started to get tired, and before I knew it, I was asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I heard sobbing in the distant darkness. I saw, hunched over a glowing flame, a woman of my kind, bent over the glow of a flame, sobbing like I did when I tried to rip out the stone. I stopped a few feet from her. I watched her, and felt wave after wave of nauseating sadness. She was holding something closer to her.
I stepped closer and I saw, she was crying tears of blood from her eyes. She had been crying for so long, that she started to cry blood.
"Please... Pleaaaase bring him back to me... Pleaaase don't let him die... Please don't let him diiie..." She rocked in circles as she chanted through sobs, and I felt my pwn tears start to form. I dropped to my knees and held her, making her wrack with even more sobbing as she leaned into my body.
"W-who is he?"
She lifted her face to look me in the eyes, and I felt my stomach sink.
"The one you see in your visions of the past... They took him away..." I felt tears of my own sprout up, and I looked at her. She was sobbing more as she noticed me going pale. I realized that this wasn't just some woman. This was the dragon lordess. She was in my dreams, looking like me, sobbing until she was bloody- in the literal sense. She was just mourning.
Mourning the death of her husband...
For thousands of years.
"Stone... Take me away from her and to the Dragon Lord. I'm going to speak to him."
I watched as their was a flash of light from me, making me scoff. She was gone, but her sobbing still wrecked my mind. I couldn't let her be so sad. I remembered her long matted red mane of hair. It was curly and greasy , like she hadn't bothered to take care of herself in years. I walked through the foggy darkness and watched my memories as they danced in the fog, to vague to see. I started to feel a pull in a certain direction in my mental fog, guiding me down a clear and set path. It was enough to make me feel unsafe for a moment before a feeling of pity washed over me for the strange lady. Her husband was in here somewhere, and I had to find him or else I would never know why I was brought here. The sound of angry heavy breathing was heard and I looked at the direction of the sound. I was dragged down that path, but slowly, as to not disturb me or the being ahead.
What I found in the darkness was a man, in a cage with a long silvery beard, banging against the door to the cage. It was a heart shaped lock, glowing a strange golden color with a purple aura over the locked part with a blue aura on the outside, with no key hole. I slowly approached, and watched him bang against the door, his eyes dull and his movements animalistic. I held my hand on a bar of the cage and watched him for a few moments, flinching whenever he flung himself into the wall.
"Stop... You're going to hurt yourself." I looked frightened as he looked at me, his grey eyes staring at me as he tried to stifle himself.
"What are you doing here?" His voice was distant, like he was dreaming and didn't realize I was real.
"I'm here to make you a deal." I looked into his eyes as he looked at me, and I glanced at the lock.
"What could you possibly give me?" He looked horrified and angry, sparking life in his eyes.
"Your wife." This caught his attention, like he was listening but with skepticism.
"I saw her. Your wife is suffering, and she's begging me not to let you die. So I'm not going to. But before I leave... I need you to promise me a few things." I stood tall, not caring if I was smaller than him. I knew I held most of the power right now anyways, but his response shocked me.
"Please... Anything. I'll do anything to see her again!" He sobbed out and cried as I looked at him, feeling his sadness and desperation in nothing more than the way he was speaking.
"You... Have to promise not to take over the Equestrians... And you have to promise that when you retake your form..." i felt a little choked up.
"You'll remember me when I'm gone." He looked at me and I looked at him, both of us tearing up as we looked at each other. "Because I may not want to die... But I can't live with the fact that I can stop someones eternal suffering."
He reached his hand through the cage and grabbed my arm, and he looked directly into my eyes.
"I swear to the star of the east and the horizon of the east- that I will never try to attack the Equestrians. I promise on my life that I will never let you be forgotten by the dragons of the Isle." He choked as I looked at him, and he tried not to stutter as he teared up. I looked away and bit my lip.
"Alright... Alright. I'll be leaving as soon as it turns night time. I promise that you'll be alive again." I gained comfort from him and the way he held my arm. I held his wrist too, staring at him as he stared at me. I looked into his eyes, and for a brief moment, I felt nothing but bliss. Knowing that soon, he won't be suffering, and for the first time in my real life, he'll be free, and I'll be alone in my head.
The stone started to tug me away, and I felt my hand slipping as I tried to hold his hand, panicking a little. A strange hole opened and started to drag everything into it, except for the man and his cage . He said something in a different language, and my hand started to feel strange as I slowly began slipping down. I tried to hold on, but the pull got far to strong and I was dragged in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I awoke with a start and I sat up covering my mouth so I couldn't yell for help. It was dark outside, and the moon was high up in the clouds. I looked around the room, feeling myself grow sad that I would have to leave this place. I was tired. I took in a breath and started going through my closet, tying together clothes and pants and sheets. I took a breath and looked around. I grabbed my warm clothes and took a breath. I looked at my hand. It was covered in blue scales, like a claw. I looked absolutely mortified. I started searching for a pair of gloves, and found some, strangely enough, and I put them on to cover my hands and hide the mutation. I put on warm clothes and packed some for warm days, and I was about to head out when I stopped.
I slowly turned to the pile of stuffed animals that I had been gifted and felt a strange sense of a attachment. I walked over an picked up two small velcro hand animals, and clipped them around my wrists to my arms, and attached a red lemur around my neck, and I took a breath, using it as a security blanket. Something to help me with coping with being alone.
I tied my rope made of garments to the most secure pole on the balcony, and I packed a book on what was edible in the Ever Free, and then... I threw it down over the edge of the balcony. I started sliding down the rope easily sue to my gloves, not feeling a single ping of rope burn. I smiled at that and closed my eyes as I felt the wind rush by my face as I dropped to the ground. The rope stopped about five feet to high, and so I had to drop to the ground.
As soon as my feet hit the ground I was tearing off down the path and running, watching as the stars twinkled. I climbed the wall leading to the outside of the wall, and I glanced around, seeing the steep drop off of the mountains cliff face. I stared down it as I glanced back up, looking into the stars as I slid down, narrowly avoiding rocks as I slid down at break neck speeds. I grunted as I tried to avoid large ramp like boulders and different things like that. I started to need to slow down, and I got the urge to take off my glove and use my dragons claw to slow myself down until I came to a stop. It worked, and I actually slowed down to a slow slide. I looked at my own hand with a shocked smile, and I looked excited.
This time, on my trip through the forbidden forest, I wouldn't be guided by the sun. I wouldn't be guided by the stars. I would have to navigate on my own, not knowing which way is the correct direction. I cracked my neck and stared a the wall of dark green trees before me, getting a sensation of adventure.
I had been hiking for a few days now, and it seemed that the ponies hadn't thought to look in the forest. I wore my scarf around my face at night as I walked, trying to keep a steady pace. I stopped to drink water, and that was it. I had realized that it had been... Quite a while since I had first arrived in Equestria. It had been at least a few months. I realized that I wasn't the same as I was back then. It was probably past my birthday by now, making me about ten years old. All of this was weighing heavy on my mind at such a young age. I was getting hungrier and hungrier by the day, and I ate tree bark and drank water as I walked. I decided to travel during the day and during the night, traveling to the first pony I had met here. I had left behind so many friends when I left, and I was getting lonely. It was scary, and it wasn't fun. Sometimes I would hear creaking wood and sticks snapping in the dark. Being even as brave as I was, I couldn't handle that. I remembered my backpack was at Flutter Shy's anyways, so I would have to make my stop there.
It was a few days since I had eaten real food. It was a few days since I had had real affection to call my own, so I started pretending the stuffed animals were my best friends, close to me like family. I hid them beneath my shirt as I walked, and crept through the woods in the pitch darkness. It was currently night, and I'm doing my best to stick near the outskirts of the city. I smiled as soon as I could manage through my chapped lips by now. I stopped in the dark and shivered, seeing my breath in the air. I coughed a little bit and shivered a bit more. I was going to get ill if I didn't keep moving and reach Flutter Shy's cottage soon. I inhaled shakily and continued walking, feeling nauseated, but unable to vomit because I had nothing to throw up. I gasped out and looked at my stuffed animal, staring back out at me with it's glass orbs. It held a worried misery in it's face, and I cracked my neck as I kept walking.
"No... No don't worry..." I coughed. "I'm going to make it."
With renewed determination, I kept going, making it another night. The sun was beating down, and then, suddenly, as if there was a cut in my memory, it was dark again. I was standing in front of a strange hut, a single candle in the darkness that was in the windows, eerily illuminating the scary looking masks around it. They appeared to stare at me from the darkness, my fear growing as I started trying to drag myself into the door. It was unlocked, and it was dark except for the corner, were the candle was illuminating the room. The room was dimly lit with different colors of vials and bottles and vials of liquid, with a cauldron in the middle. I stumbled inside and shook, closing the door behind me and knocking over a few glasses, making them shatter. I gasped out and coughed s I fell to my knees, and began trying to pick them up so they wouldn't cause any harm. I heard hoofsteps, and heard a gasp, but I didn't look up. I only let out a sickly sobbing cough, and tore off my scarf. I took off the glove covering my normal hand, making me question my own sanity. I swear I saw my vision getting fuzzy. The room lit up, and I yelped and let out a cough as I covered my eyes.
I coughed again and felt something warm dribble down my cold face, and I touched the dribble, and pulled it away from my face. It was red. I don't understand how, but I was bleeding... Paint? I felt something prod me over onto my side, my body hitting the ground, face up, with a bottle being forced down my throat. The foul liquid forced its way into my stomach, making it churn as I flailed weakly, covering my mouth as I coughed. More red dribble dripped out, and I went unconscious, feeling the darkness claim me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was in a fever dram like state, with everything being in disarray. Something was wrong. I followed the path I had to the cage again and swore to myself, stumbling a little as I ran, needing to find the cage.
I found it alright, but... The lock was glowing red and it was hot. I began prying at the lock to get it open, but it didn't hurt. I shook my head as I felt dizzy. I growled and looked around the cage, looking into the corners. There he was, the man with the beard, looking sickly close to giving up and breaking. I grabbed his arm and screamed at him, not being able to let him go, for fear of the greater good of his wife.
"NO!" I shook him as I felt tears. "I PROMISED YOU! YOU CAN"T GIVE UP- WE'RE CLOSE TO FLUTTER SHY'S HOUSE! WE'VE MADE IT THIS FAR! WE CAN'T GIVE UP! NOT NOW! NOT WHEN WE'RE SO CLOSE TO... To her!" I sobbed out and he looked at me, his eyes dead as he looked at me, his only remanent of hope.
"I... I can't... Help you... Other than navigation... Any longer." He looked weak as he talked in his raspy voice. I hushed him and felt tears roll down my face.
"It's OK... I'll follow the east. I will. I'll get us back to the Isle. You don't have to worry." I gasped a bit and coughed, trying to cover up my tears. The hole opened up again, and in I was sucked, forcing me to wake up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up in a bed, and my head pounded as I stared at the surroundings. My body was sore, and my breath heavy. I sat up, and found a beaded doorway. I stared at her and teared up a little. Where was I? It was dark in the room, due to the beads, and my blood ran cold when I heard the sound of hoof steps.
"No... no, no no no please I promised I would get him back! I won't let you keep their love apart! I won't let you keep me from saving her!" I shouted as the beaded door was sliced apart by a figure, and I got into a fighting stance, my eyes blinded by the vision of the silhouetted figure. Tears dripped from my eyes as I sniffled.
However, what I wasn't expecting, was a short zebra to step in with strange gold pendants on around her neck, and even weirder, she was holding a hot bowl of what I could smell, was chicken noodle soup. Only made for and eaten by carnivores. She watched me with her eyes wide as I looked at her. She set the soup down on the table next to me slowly, and cautiously.
"I did not expect you to speak, because you are so weak..." She spoke softly as I grabbed the bowl and chugged the broth and took the wooden spoon, scooping the chicken and the noodles that had clumped up in the bottom of the bowl. I looked at her after finishing the food and panted, feeling broth drip from my mouth.
"What are you...?" I felt wary.
"Zecora is my name, although, I have no fame." She looked at me like I was something that needed to be handled with care. I looked at my hands, and noticed the gloves were still there. I was relieved.
"Hi... Zecora... My name is Savra. Thank you for your help... But I have to go. The princesses will be closing in on me soon if I don't leave." I started to weakly place my feet upon the smooth wooden ground.
"And where is it you go, with skin still as pale as snow?" I looked at her and scoffed as she stared at me.
"Um... To the Dragon Isle. I'm part of the Prophecy." I coughed and stood up, shakily looking for my shoes. She looked genuinely surprised.
"The prophecy, the destruction of Equestria I foresee?!" She got into a fighting stance as my gaze became filled with tears and fear.
"N-no! I made him promise not to destroy Equestria! All I want is for his wife to be happy again! It's the least I can do!" Her expression softened at my tears and response, and I backed up a little.
"This... This is not your fault, not your duty to open the vault!" She looked at me like I was a delicate flower.
"It may not be my job, but it's the right thing to do." I felt pride well up in my chest with a hint of guilt.
"You cannot go, not with your skin as pale as snow." She looked at me like I was a foal that would collapse under my own weight.
"Then come with me. Either way, I'm not staying here, sick or not. I'll need you to do something for me though." She looked at me, interested for a moment. I struggled to sit up as I looked at her.
"What it you need, so that I may succeed?" I clicked my tongue against the top of my mouth and stared at him.
"It's my backpack, from Flutter Shy's cottage. You can't tell her what it's for, but just get it." She nodded and looked at me, and I nodded back, holding out my hand. She took it awkwardly with her hoof and I huffed a bit.
I sat still in the canopy of the Everfree, staring out into the bright green meadow. After spending so long in a forest of dark green pine trees, my eyes hurt just looking at the maddening colors of the flowers. I looked at them, like I was a ghost staring at something I could no longer have. I have condemned myself to this fate. The fate of the Dragon Lord. I turned my head away from the flowers and remembered what was at stake. It was all about the Dragon Lordess. It was all about her. End her suffering, and end her misery. It was something me and the voice in my head could agree on. It was the universal constant between us. I gave a small sigh, until I saw Zecora trotting back up from Flutter Shy's cottage with a soft yellow Pegasus following behind her, and my back pack on her back. She looked around and gave a small whistle, and I whistled back, before jumping down. I was wearing a pair of torn pajama pants and a coat. I was wearing the stuffed animals I had still around my neck. i smiled as I landed, and Flutter Shy gasped.
"What are you doing here?" I covered her mouth and motioned her to hush, and backed further into the darkness of the forest, not to be freaky but to be more comfortable.
"I'm here because I need your help, and I'm scared to be in the meadow, because someone might see me. You can stay there, but I can't be to visible." I stared at her and felt my heart begin to hurt a little. I needed someone to tell me I was going to be OK. Zecora was someone I could rely on enough to support me if I needed it, but I needed someone who didn't think I was to young to make the choices I made. I remembered Diamond Shine, and the way she would probably be worried about me right now. It made me feel bad sometimes, but I tried shove it down. I closed my eyes and struggled to smile as I tried to look at Flutter Shy. She was looking worried as Zecora brought me my back pack. She trotted across the gap I had left with a small roll of her eyes.
"Your back pack is here, although I'm not sure what if inside you hold so dear." She dropped it into my hands as I opened it up, smiling at my various supplies. My notebook, pack of pencils, a sharpener, some empty water bottles. I smiled excited as I looked at her.
"Wh... What do you need me for?" She looked at me in slight fear as I smiled at her and shook my head as I sat down. I smiled as I put everything back inside.
"You're amazing with animals, and you can get them to help us with my mission." She looked fearful at my words, so I sighed and clarified more. "I'm... I'm going to fulfill the prophecy. I made the Dragon Lord promise not to take over Equestria."
"You want to WHAT?!" I jumped and hid behind the tree, getting on edge as I eyed the woods around me.
"SHH! I- I had contact with the Dragon Lordess, and.. If you saw her the way I did... You'd understand! She's in constant pain, and constant emotional turmoil. She has been for thousands of years. I'm not letting her suffer any longer!" I felt tears sprout in my eyes when I looked at her. "I'll go by myself if I have to, but I'd really rather not go without a friend."
Flutter Shy looked at me with a look of disbelief. She looked at Zecora, and then looked back at me. Then back to Zecora. I sighed and looked at the ground below my now bare feet, my shoes having been torn and ruined by the days of walking I had endured. I looked at her with a look of sadness, with a smile to match my tired eyes.
"It's... It's OK. We don't need you to follow along with us." She looked almost pained as I wiped my face of my tears sniffling a little. "I'm ready to go, Zecora."
I turned away and began taking short defeated steps. I felt tears drip from my eyes and down my face.
"W-... Wait!" I froze at the sound of the voice. It wasn't Flutter Shy, but it was different. It was familiar. I slowly turned and shook as I looked at her.
It was Diamond Shine. How had she gotten out of the castle? How had she found me? How did she know about me heading to Flutter Shy's home?!
"I'm coming with you! You left without even telling me where you were going, and you at least owe it to me to let me come to see our friendship through to the end!" She was trotting up to me, quickly, and looking a little angry as she approached. It was touching as I looked at her. "It was hard enough to quit my job once you were gone, and so was tracking you. But finding out about this?! This is unacceptable! You didn't even trust me enough to tell me your plan! That hurts you know! Thinking you can't trust me! Well I have some news for you, kind sir, you are not going any further without me in your-"
Before she could finish, I had cracked up laughing, trying not to seem rude. I hugged her as I laughed. I was grateful that she was here. My laughter turned from laughs and slowly grew into sobs.
"Well, this is heart warming, but I must offer you a warning." She looked directly into Diamond Shine's eyes and stood tall. "Once the choice is made and the journey begun, there be no turning around and to home you go."
"Well I'm not going back without my friend. It may be strange, but I refuse to leave." She nodded to Zecora and I gave a small hiccuping laugh as I listened to them talk. Diamond turned to Flutter Shy and held out her hoof. "If you don't come with us, we might die out there."
Flutter Shy looked at me and then at Zecora, and then back to Diamond, who had offered her hoof for Flutter Shy to take. I felt happy tears prick my eyes.
"I'll come with you. Give me time to collect supplies." She smiled with an irony stance. I nodded, and Diamond smiled too.
"I'll head to the market and get food and water for the trip. Flutter Shy, you head out and collect other survival materials, and Zecora will get some healing potions and sickness remedies. We'll meet back here in five hours." They nodded. "Savra will stay here and watch for anyone who's back early, and then we'll be able to head out soon." Everyone nodded solemnly, and I did too.
I had been waiting here for about four hours. I had fallen asleep for a while, and tried desperately to grasp at the memories in the fog. There was one that I relatively enjoyed. It was something hot and sweet, with little wisps of peppermint, small, fluffy, sugary clouds, and a type of sweet cream on top. I remembered shivering so much I could barely speak. Yet I was happy. I felt a different type of warm. It was strange... I was happy with the memory. I was content as I tried to relive it as many times as I could, soaking up every part of it I could. I clung to the dream. The sequence was always the same.
I burst through a door into a strange home, and flung off my warm clothes, shaking as I did. I had a smile on my face, rushing past bright blurry lights and something tall and green in the corner. I was shivering more, shaking now with anticipation of the warm cup of sugar and treats that were coming my way in a few moments. I let out a strangled call, as if I was talking, but I never understood what I was saying. Something happened, and there was a flash, and then a loud croaky gasp. Then I felt something heavy over my shoulders as I was made to sit in front of a crackling blur of orange and yellow. It had socks hanging from it. I felt the heat, almost real. It felt great. I felt something press to my forehead and I was handed the big steaming mug. I felt tears prick my eyes. I hadn't felt this in so long. Why couldn't I feel this more often? I took a sip, and the hot liquid burned my throat on its way down, but I enjoyed every sensation it gave me. I felt something press against my forehead, and I felt something hot trail down my cheek. I never wanted the memory to end.
"Savra... It's time." I blinked a bit and looked at the blurred face of the one before me.
"What... What did you call me?" I felt confused.
"It's time to wake up Savra..." I felt the warm drink being slowly sucked out of my hands. I felt tears prick my eyes.
"No please... Just a few more minutes. Please, just a few more times! I'm not ready! Please, please don't- don't leave me!" I cried out as everything faded to black and I jolted awake, tears in my eyes as I clung to the branch. The cold wood was a reminder of my reality. Why couldn't I have had just one more sip? one more reliving of the memory? One more time. One more. One more and I would have been ready to wake up. I covered my mouth to hide a sob. Next to me, Flutter Shy hovered with saddle bags and water bottles to fill my backpack. She had seen everything.
"A-are you-" I stopped her, motioning her to be silent as more tears streamed down my face. I just laid my hear on the branch in silence. I didn't want to talk. I didn't want to think. Maybe... When I'm finally free from this place... I can get to the place that was in that memory. Maybe I can have more memories. I wiped my tears before Diamond Shine arrived, smiling with Zecora, carrying bottles of glowing green and red, with a big silver flask, and a shall wagon full of apple cider and food on Diamond Shines back. I raised my eyebrows and looked at her. She had a few boxes covered by a tarp in the back of the cart. I jumped down, throwing my stuffed animals into the back of the wagon and smiled when she looked at me.
"We've got everything we're going to need. A tent for when it rains, canned food, apple cider for treats, and even..." She looked a little uneasy. "Even some meat for you, Savra." She smiled and trotted up to me, nodding back to the beef jerky in the back of the wagon in a box labeled "NEEDS". I felt my skin crawl. How long had it been since I had eaten any meat other than fish? I shook my head and slung my backpack onto my shoulders, and buckled it into place.
"It's time to go. Come on Zecora, we have to get to the Dragons Isle within a few weeks." I smiled and she nodded, and off we walked in silence. I found most of the day was spent cowering next to Flutter Shy because I had never seen the area before. It was making me feel strange but happy. I was looking around the darkness, cold but familiar. I knew I had been through a lot that was similar to this. I felt my heart stop whenever there was a twig snapping or a branch groaning. I hated the dread that filled my being when I was trying to stay calm. I was in a cold sweat.
"We have been walking for a very long mile, but I sense the whether will change in a very very short while." I stopped and made a face at Zecora. We had been walking for more than a mile.
"We've been going for longer than a mile, right?" Flutter Shy giggled at my question and looked at me.
"Yes, she just means that we've covered a lot of ground in the past few hours." There was a crash of distant thunder, and then a feeling of dread filled me as I stumbled over a root. I scraped my knee a bit to much, causing blood to leak from the raw wound.
"Oh dear... It appears we will have to set up camp here." I nodded, holding back a few curses that I wanted to usher forth from my mouth that I had learned from the elder dragon youths at the Dragons Isle. I felt like my heart had sank when I was told to stay seated instead of help them erect the tent. I fumed a bit, silently, but they also had Diamond Shine sit aside with me so I wouldn't be scared. I leaned against her and closed my eyes, hyper focusing on my heart beat, to slow it down. But... It didn't sound like my own. It wasn't my own.
It was probably Diamond Shine's. I felt my body relax to the rhythm, but I tried to force myself to stay awake. I stretched and closed my eyes, feeling the excitement of the day fade into the background, as well as my knee. I felt exhausted.
I smiled in the dream, having the hot cup back in my hands. But that was the only thing back in my dream. The rest was a mystery, lost to the fog. At least it let me keep the hot cup of steamy, creamy comfort.
I had leaned against the tree smiling a little as I watched Flutters Shy and Zecora work on the fire, looking at the forest around us. They were being far to cautious, but I suppose it's for the best out in this place. We were in the middle of a less dense part of the forest, where there was more space between the trees. They were still wildly tall, crooked and horrid looking, but they were a bit more distant. This part of the forest was extra quiet, and extra secluded. They were extra far off, and I was soon to be returned to the Dragon's isle. The only thing between us and the isle were a few more days of travel, and a cliff a few meters forwards from the camp. The tent was well behind the safety line, but I was still on the side of the campsite that did not face the cliff.
We were smiling at the stories that Zecora had been telling, as well as enjoying the night. We had run into a Manticour that Flutter Shy apparently knew somehow. She explained the story of the elements, and the dozens of times she had conquered her shyness.
It was amazing to think that such a shy mare could be so talkative. It's refreshing.
The stories carried us to midnight, and I was tired as I struggled to keep myself awake enough to fully appreciate the story.
"Hey..." Diamond Shine smiled at me, nuzzling my head as I leaned it against her for the third time. "It's alright if you need to sleep, Savra. Don't push yourself. You're going to need the energy for the walk tomorrow anyways."
I gave a small huff. I knew she was right, but I didn't want to agree. I felt more as if I wanted to stay awake. To be like the older ponies. Of course, I wasn't really considered a pony was I?
"Alright... I'll go to bed. When are all of you going to sleep?" I looked at them, concerned as I could be for their health too with an exhausted mind.
"We are going to bed very soon here, but you must get some sleep first dear." Zecora nodded to Flutter Shy and Diamond Shine was quick to take me to the tent they had set up for me once I had informed them that I was a male. They didn't mind sharing a tent with each other, and I was glad, because it was cramped in the tent even just on my own. I waited for sleep to come as I curled up under a blanket. I held my stuffed animals close, smiling a little as I closed my eyes and slept.
It sank in like a rock in water. I was out in a mere moment, curled up and asleep.
The sleep I had was rather dreamless, flooded with the thought of brightness for the future. I could save the Dragon Lordess, and maybe, one day I'll be remembered as a hero for the Dragon Isles.
I awoke though, the next morning, to the scent of sweet bread and honey. I sat up and peeked out of the tent, seeing the three had awoken and started eating small rolls of bread with honey and butter. They had set aside a plate for me, over the fire to keep it warm. It was fun to watch them for a moment, but I was getting bored. I stood up and walked out of the tent, leaving my stuffed animals inside and closing the tent flap slowly. I walked forwards and rubbed my eyes, stretching, and picking up the plate slowly after I sat down.
"Good morning Savra!" Flutter Shy was smiling at me with a full smile, her eyes wide and happy. Her pink mane was somehow still perfectly preened. Zecora was looking tired, and ready to move on. Quickly, I ate and I packed up, throwing my items into the wagon and smiling tiredly.
"Good morning, Flutter Shy!" My response was just as enthusiastic.
She was quick to pick up the hitch and put it on while I was trailing behind it next to Diamond Shine. She was trotting beside me, humming something as we walked. I was smiling and talking to her about the Dragon's Isles and how nice Midnight was most of the time.
It struck me that I missed the isles, but not only the isles.. I missed Midnight as well. She was the first dragon I had come to officially know, and the one I had come to trust, other than the Dragon Lord and the Dragon Lordess. This seemed mildly impossible.
We had started a our way down a slim path, almost scarily thin for the time. The wagon barely fit, and I had to walk in the very back of the group as we moved. I wasn't to thrilled at this, but I relaxed and let it slide as we walked, taking the steepening path down. I was uncomfortable with doing so until I saw Diamond Shine was fine with it too.
I was walking slowly, looking at the ground with boredom as I planted one foot in front of the other. I heard the sound of buzzing as I walked, and swatted around my body at various times to get rid of the sensation of bugs and itching. I scratched my arms wildly, and Flutter Shy looked back at me as I swatted, and her eyes went wide with terror. I stared back at her with confusion as we stopped. Zecora looked back and gasped as I tilted my head and turned around. Behind me was a huge cloud of a strange type of bug. It was blaring red with anger as I backed away, and as suddenly as the ground was beneath my feet, the ground was slowly rising away from me as I slipped down.
The wind started to pick up, blowing through my hair as I fell, and I remembered the fun I've had over the passed few months. The good and the bad.
The promises I made slipping through my hands and just... Disappearing into the distant echo of memory.
Everything was going to go back to the way it was before I got here...
The Dragon Lordess would continue on crying in the darkness forever...
The Dragon Lord would disappear...
There would be no more Dragon Lord prophecy...
No more Dragon Isle's...
No more friends, no more memories, and.. No more hope...
No more happiness... There would just be darkness.
I'd been in this world for over 3 months. I woke up in this strange place... And not once have I shed a tear of fear, sadness... pain.
But now? Now I was sobbing. Full blown sobbing, tears running down my face as I called out the only name I felt I could in the moment.
"MIDNIIIIGHT!!"
In a moment, I was caught. Just before everything was supposed to go black. I cried out, still sobbing as I opened my eyes, barely enough to see the black shimmering scales of a dragon, flying upwards before I passed out from stress.
