New Moonby XirdusChaptersPrologueThe Day Before BirthdayI Had a DreamPrologueMy name is Luisa. I am pegasus from Cloudsdale, the Water City. It's called that because nearly all of the water in the Equestrian Empire comes through there. It makes sense, given it's such a rare good and so important, thus strictly controlled. Almost all pegasi in Equestria work in rain delivery. They assure that every part of the Empire gets water, and only as much as they need. Not a single drop more. Of course, the water comes in the form of rain – the most efficient way, since most of the water is used to water the fields. And what about drinking water? Well, there are ways to catch the rain, right? Like, set up a giant container with a giant funnel on top and hope it will catch enough water for the week, because there is only one rain every week, on Sundays. And what if you forget to set it up? Well, good luck for you and your eight-pony family; I hope your souls will find peace... I'm not kidding. Lack of water is very deadly. The sun, though needed to even live, makes this life very, very hard. Over three fourths of the world is nothing more but endless expanses of deserts where one would burn in sun in the means of four or five days, and die of thirst in thirty hours at the very best. The habitable part of the world is still very hot. Very few rivers and lakes exist, and they are all heavily exploited by water pegasi just to keep citizens of the Empire alive. But it's not the only consequence of hot climate. The other is just as severe – the hot sun dries out all plants at tremendous rate, making crops very small. And to compensate that, more area must be designated for cultivation, leaving nearly no space for anything else – cities, namely. Throughout the whole Empire, there are only nine cities that are more than just aggregation of farms. And compared to farmlands, life in them is bliss. It is because only wealthy ponies live in them. The lifestyle of aristocracy is truly serene. They don't have to worry about food – they all own large plots of land in the most attractive localizations, and water pegasi always make sure to always put a nice thick cloud layer over it so the sun won't scorch it like the property of common ponies. And of course, the aristocracy don't work there themselves – they are rich enough to hire common ponies to work for them, in exchange for minimal food rations (which are still bigger than what they could grow if they owned their own plot of land – those clouds really do make a difference). As for water – though water supply is so limited, there are still ways to bypass it and have as much water as you want, or even more – if you can afford it, that is. And the aristocracy is really rich, so they have no problem with, for example, having baths everyday. But the aristocracy aren't the only occupants of cities. There is also a decent amount of middle class, who despite not being nearly as rich as the aristocracy, they still have much more money than common ponies. Most of them are crafters of various kinds – tailors, carpenters, potters, jewelers, you name it. They all live from making fancy things and then selling them to aristocrats. Apparently, wealthy ponies like fancy things. But even though it sounds fun, this is really hard work, almost as hard as the work of farmponies. Crafters need to work almost all day everyday, because food is very expensive, and they can't live without food, obviously, so they must make a lot of stuff in order to make enough money to not die of hunger. But at least they have full dinner everyday, unlike the farmlands poverty. Besides crafters, the middle class consists also of merchant ponies. Merchants' life is probably the most exciting of all ponies (who aren't aristocracy, that is). They spend most of the time buying goods from “their” crafters (the ones they have contract with) in mass amount, and then running trips around the aristocratic manors near town. Some merchants are hired by aristocrats themselves, and in that case their role is to take excess food from them and sell it in the city to those who need it. There are also a few pegasi who run errands between cities. This is very hard job, since the distances between cities are long and the sun is deadly all the way, but also the most profitable – if the wares are not available in the destination town, the price skyrockets. And the competition is almost non-existent. Not that it is a problem to others – the crafters' talents are very good, but at the same time so narrow it is nearly impossible to find two ponies with same talent, if they aren't blood-related somehow. But anyway, being merchant is good. It is very hard to become one, though, because you have to already have a decent fortune for investing necessary. But when you finally get the business rolling, you're gonna make so much more in very short time! And most importantly, you have much free time; more than farmers can allow themselves, more than crafters can dream of, even more than most aristocrats have! You basically wake up not so early in the morning, barter for few hours before noon, and you're free for the rest of the day. "Day"... This word always bothered me. What is it? It's a period of time equal to 24 hours. And what is an hour? It's one twenty-fourth of the day. Simple as that. And makes no sense. Why day is this long and not different? Why we have 24 hours and not, for example, 16? And why the midnight is when it is? This is so arbitrary it always made my brain suffer. There is absolutely no difference between midnight and any other time of day. The sun shines all the same, all the time, and never moves. Clouds are non-existent save for those that are made in Cloudsdale, and they can be deployed anytime. Why Sunday? Why is it called Sunday to start with? And why next Sunday is seven days after last Sunday? Why this period is called a week? This is so arbitrary that it makes my head hurt. This just makes no sense. There must be some meaning under all of this. Some cruel truth purposefully hidden from the eyes of common ponies, for an ominous reason. And one day, I had been offered the answer. Not a straight answer, of course. That would be too simple. But at least it all started to make sense. One day, I had a dream. In this dream, I saw something I have never seen in my life. Before me stood a tall pony. What was unusual in it was that it had a horn on its head, and at the same time there were beautiful wings on its sides. A pegasus, but a unicorn. I knew it was something special; and I wasn't mistaken. The next moment I heard a voice; a voice bellowing in thousand different voices, all in perfect unison. I assumed the voice belonged to the pony before me; such unusual voice could be only of someone just as unusual, and pegasuso-unicorn is unusual. The voice introduced herself as Luna. She said she was an ancient goddess, one who created the world; the very world I live in. She told me the world wasn't meant to be like this. She said there should be a second sun, the sun of cold and dark that would be counterweight to the sun of warmth and light; the sun called Moon. And that she plans on returning the Moon to the world, but she can't do that on her own. She needs help. She needs my help. Why me? I will never know. She promised me ever-lasting glory if I succeeded on my mission. What mission? I don't know exactly. But nevertheless, I did accept her offer. I was sick and tired of the cruelty of our world: the iniquity of wealth distribution, the corruption of nobles, the impassivity of our Emperor. Our Emperor Osiris XII who promised to take care of poor and make life of our nation better; all that he managed was make life of nobles better, of course at the expense of the poorest. I hate him. This is why I decided to rebel and to follow the path Luna showed me. That day I was also given my cutie mark. I haven't noticed it right away, though, due to its specific nature: it's changing its shape. At first it was simple curved line. Then it became more of a sickle, and it was widening every day. Then it became half-circle, and was still expanding up to the point when it became perfect circle. Then it began shrinking from the opposite end, becoming half-circle again, then sickle and eventually it vanished entirely. Then the whole process repeated. It was my personal calendar of sorts. I noticed that the full cycle lasted exactly four weeks. Each of the quarters of cycle – empty to half, half to full, full to half, half to empty – lasted exactly one week. I knew this cutie mark was a gift from Luna, and that she's trying to direct me to the answers to my questions about time. Although I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me, I had my faith in her. I spent many months on my journey, and I felt I was getting close to the answer. In the Canterlot Library, I'd found a book where the moon was mentioned. It said something about an uncharted land in the west, beyond the Great Desert. I've gathered supplies and went on my way to the west, not knowing what awaits me. But I hadn't even reached the border of Equestria, and something bad happened. I stopped to get some sleep and have some food, but the moment I fell asleep, a group of ponies had ambushed me. I was apparently being followed, by royal spies. Their mission was to prevent me from fulfilling my destiny. It made sense; if I succeeded, it would mean the end of the world as we know it, the fall of Osiris dynasty, and with it, whole royal court would be dragged to the bottom, and a new order would take their place. This is exactly what I wanted – to make a difference; but this wasn't at all what they wanted. We emerged in a fight. The outcome wasn't too surprising; I was traveling for days, with very little stops, and was running on an empty stomach at the moment; that, plus the fact that I was heavily outnumbered, made it clear that I didn't stand a chance against them. I was quickly beaten to ground, and then... well... they killed me. * ~ * ~ * “...and this pretty much sums up the story of my life”, Luisa added. Before her stood an old stallion. He had a pale coat and long, white beard. He was towering over her, being about three times bigger than her. He was staring at her judgingly, and wasn't saying anything for a long while. To the pegasus, it seemed like eternity. Finally, he spoke: “This was the best story I've heard in a long time.” He paused, then added: “In fact, the best story ever since I've heard it for the last time.” A long silence emerged. It was broken by Luisa's abrupt shout: “WHAT!?” The stallion sighed quietly under his breath, then said: “You're not the first pony whom Luna has chosen to free her. Actually, you're the sixth one.” Luisa stared at him in utter shock and remained still for some time. At her lack of reply, he continued: “And when I was told it the last time, I already knew it was a matter of time until I would see you here. And I already knew you would fail. And you are the last one who did; the next Champion will succeed.” If he wasn't who he was, she would think he's just messing with her. But she knew he was dead serious (pun intended). So all she said was: “How do you know?” “The prophecy says so.” The Day Before BirthdayAnno 9 Regni Imperator Osiris XIII Sunday, 31st of March Jason was a typical earth pony. He had light yellow coat and dark brown mane – very common colors in his province. Like many other earth ponies there, he was a farmer. His family had an average-sized plot of land where they almost exclusively grow corn – the most popular plant in the world. Jason has four siblings – pretty average, but rather on the lower bound. He would have six siblings, but his would-be-second-oldest brother died at birth, and his two years younger sister passed away at the age of 3. Neither of those is a rare occurrence – things like that happen a lot in these lands. This is why ponies tend to have five to ten foals in the first place. But having big family is problematic too – the food is very limited, after all. Typical homestead with the little land surrounding it can only give limited crops – totally insufficient for twelve-pony family, and barely sufficient for seven-pony family like Jason's. Jason was lucky that he has no more siblings. But this is the only thing he was lucky with. The most obvious sign of his unluckiness was lack of cutie mark. He was thirteen years old and still hadn't found his special talent. But this wasn't that big deal – roughly one in three or four adult ponies lacked cutie mark. But he was unlucky enough to be the only one without cutie mark in his family (even his younger sister had one – and she was just eight!). That, of course, made him less important in his parents' eyes than the rest of the herd. He always was the least loved child, ever since his birth (his name is the best evidence – just what kind of name is Jason? It's so boring and dumb and and... ugh[1]). The reason is that, he was an unexpected foal. Not that they didn't want any foal at that time – it's been little different kind of unexpected. When his mother was pregnant with him, his parents were expecting not a son, but a daughter. You see, even without any hi-tech machines, ponies have their ways to know the gender of foal to be born, and they always work. So how the mistake? Well, it wasn't a mistake at all. It's just, they gender-checked not him, but his twin sister. As weird as it might sound, even though ponies can predict foal's gender with absolute precision, they can't detect multiple pregnancies. So Jason's birth was complete surprise. A rather unpleasant surprise (remember, low food supply). The fact that they already had two sons (three if you count the born-dead one) didn't help. Ponies tend to have beautiful and very original names. It's nearly impossible (or maybe impossible, period) to meet two ponies with the same name. Even throughout generations, reuse of names rarely occurs. Names are important part of pony culture. They are unique, even more unique than the appearance and cutie marks – and it is often name that defines personality. I don't know what kind of sorcery that is, but it really works that way. So the worst thing that parents can do to their children is giving them a bad name. Splendid Crops and Blooming Flower knew this well, and so with each foal in sight, they spent a lot of time thinking of names. And I really mean it – if you added up all the hours spent contemplating over different ideas for their first foal, you would get over nine full weeks – and with each next new member of family, the total was getting even bigger. When the time had come for their fourth foal (third if you don't count the born-dead one), and when they found out it will be their first daughter, the thing got even more serious than usual. First, they made a giant list of all the names they came up with. In two months, they had written up 130 different names, all of them genuinely good. When they finally decided it's enough, they proceeded to step two. They took all the names and grouped them in pairs. Then, they reconsidered each of them in those pairs, picking the better name and crossing the worse one out. When they were done with all the names, they made new pairs from the ones left on the list and repeated the process. After five iterations of this algorithm (which took them four and a half months to do, including two week stagnancy caused by terribly hard to resolve three-way choice that emerged at the end of round 2), they had their final four: Dream Spark, Rose Petal, Light Heart and Lauren Faust. They decided that they will wait with final decision until their daughter shows herself. And three months later, she did. She was a lovely foal with beautiful crimson red mane and cream-colored, almost white coat. It took six seconds for the parents to choose the name – Rose Petal, of course. And with this, they marked her destiny – a life full of beauty and love, but also delicate and very fragile. When they were done with Rose, they looked at the other foal. Even within first minute after being born, it already managed to annoy its parents like they were never before. First, it was their third son (or even fourth, depending on how you look at it). Second, it was a total surprise – and they didn't like surprises. They were prepared to raise one more foal – but not two newborns at once! Third, they had no name for him, and they needed to make up one for him, fast. So they did – they gave him the first name that came to mind. Jason. Short, simple, with no real meaning – this was his destiny. * ~ * ~ * DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG... The clock tower nearby announced the hour no. 6. For Jason (and most other farmers) it meant the end of work for the day. All that was left to do was go home, make dinner and... Well, nothing really. There was very little to do on farms besides work. Some evenings, he was literally doing nothing. Other times, he avoided doing literally nothing by going to bed early. This day, he had yet to decide which approach he'll take. Upon entering home, the first thing he noticed (or rather, the first thing that noticed him) was exceptionally happy Rose. Happiness was an emotion he rarely felt. If at all. He couldn't remember the last time he was happy. His life was just so incredibly mundane. “Hey Jason, you remember what tomorrow is!?” Rose asked in an extremely high-pitched voice, obviously excited about something. You could almost see excitement dripping from all over her body. But whatever this was about, Jason had no clue what it might be. “Um... No?” he responded. Rose groaned aloud, then almost screamed in his face: “IT'S-YOUR-BIRTH-DAYYYY!” For bonus effect, she was standing just before him and was leaning forward so hard that they were almost touching with noses. It must have looked comical, especially since Jason was countering his sister's movements by leaning back, to which she responded by leaning forward even more. “Oh. Right. My birthday.” he said after a moment, in perfectly calm voice. For him, birthday was just another day. For some reason beyond his understanding, it was different for his siblings. They were always looking forward to it. Maybe it was related to their parents' attitude. His brothers and sisters always got some birthday present. Usually some sweet treat like a cupcake – the only cupcake they had in the whole year. But for him, the only present was day off work, and even that wasn't every year. The worst was, Rose always got something cool the very same day. But fortunately, she was a good pony, and good sister. If she had something sweet, she shared it with him. He never insisted on it – he knew it wasn't meant for him. But Rose always seemed very happy that she could share her presents with Jason, and he liked making her happy. She was the only pony in the world who was ever kind to him. She was the best sister. Jason continued: “...And since it's my birthday, that of course means it's your birthday, too. And guessing how cheerful you are, something special must be prepared for it.” “Yep, you're right!” she said that while she spun around on her heels, eyes closed, front hooves high in the air. When she landed, she shot eyes wide open, plastered a wicked grin on face and announced in sing-song voice: “We're going to the city tomorrow!” “Ah, well. Have fun.” It took Rose a second or two to realize the meaning of his words. “Nonononono! You got it wrong. We are going! You too!” She hopped closer to him. How it was possible, we will never know. “Huh?” Jason asked. It was so abstract concept to him that he was getting anything for birthday that he was sure his sister was mistaken about something. “Well, it's your birthday too, right?” “Yes, but... What did Ma and Pa say about this?” Rose put on an expression of uneasiness, accompanied by obligatory hooves crossing. “Well... I haven't exactly asked them if you're going too, yet... but come on! Why wouldn't they take you with us?” Jason could think about a hundred of reasons, actually, but he kept them to himself. Their chat had ended anyway, since this very moment their mom announced the dinner is ready. And so, they went dining. * ~ * ~ * “No. You will not go anywhere tomorrow.” Crops was never the one to discuss with. Jason knew it well (in fact, the best from all ponies), so he decided to just fold. But Rose wasn't gifted with good common sense, so she was still trying her best at the argument. He tried to calm down everypony, but to no avail. “Rose, really... I don't want to go to the city that much anyway...” “But, why?” She seemed to completely ignore Jason. So did their father, for that matter. “It's not everyday that he has birthday! It should be special for him! Especially that he never before got anything special for this very special day!” “I said no! How do you imagine this? With us three away, there is so much more work to do on farm that we can't let anyone else go with us! Fields won't plow themselves!” Jason tried to say something, but he couldn't be heard by anypony. “Then I'm not going too!” She quickly rose from her chair and hit the table with both hooves simultaneously. Like it would have any effect on her father... “Well then! You don't go! And you will have no other present this year! Me and your mother will go alone! And you, Rose, will have extra chores tomorrow! To your room! Now!” Rose slowly exited the room, not looking at anyone while she walked by. Jason wanted to go after her, but he was stopped by his mother: “No, Jason. You will go when you finish your meal.” At this point he completely lost his appetite, but what could he do? He forced himself to eat the remaining corn, then left the table and went to Rose's bedroom. He found her there crying in corner. He slowly approached her and embraced in hug. “It's okay Rose, no need for tears.” But she just sobbed harder. “I just wanted you to have a real birthday... A special one...” “And I really appreciate that. You are the best sister ever.” “Thank you Jason...” They remained in each other's hooves for a while, until Rose's cries stopped completely. “You know, I was really looking forward to seeing the city...” “Don't worry, you will go there one day, eventually. I'm sure of it.” “Thanks.” A somewhat big yawn escaped her muzzle. “I guess it's time for sleep, Rose. We have a lot of work tomorrow.” “Yeah, I guess so. Goodnight Jason.” “Goodnight.” And so, Jason went to his own room. He quickly prepared for sleep and climbed on bed. The sleep had come to him in a matter of minutes. He didn't know it yet, but it would be the most important dream of his life. Author's Note [1] I mean no offense to any Jasons – it's just that in pony world, names are usually meaningful and related to their lives, like Pinkie Pie, Carrot Cake or Lightning Dust. Jason is very cool name in human world, really – it just doesn't work for ponies, that's all. I Had a DreamIt was dark. Very dark. Jason couldn't see anything, not even his own muzzle. But he kept walking. The air was cool. He never felt anything like that. He was used to high temperatures all the time. Cold was something completely new to him. The chill was biting his skin. But he didn't care. He kept walking. He didn't know why, or where he headed. He just kept walking. He didn't know where he was. But he kept walking. He hardly had a reason to do so – but nevertheless he did. He kept walking. It wasn't a very pleasant walk. He felt like he was walking in place, since nothing was changing around him: all he could see was perfect darkness; all he could hear was perfect silence; all he could feel under his hooves was a perfectly flat ground. He kept walking, hoping that something would change soon. Anything. This perfect stillness was driving him mad. After what felt like eternity, he saw a white flash. A painfully bright flash that emerged from nowhere. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust to this new intense light. When he could finally see well, he looked around. It was still dark, but now he could see everything clearly – though the dim quality of light made everything look like a shadow. Then he gave his surroundings a second, more thorough look. Everywhere, there were huge, tall trees. They all grew very close to each other and had very dense crowns that, in poor lighting, looked almost like a solid wall, blocking all the light. Another second and he noticed he was standing in the center of a somewhat large clearing in the forest. The last thing he looked at was the sky. It was all pitch black, just like everything else a while ago. The only thing not obscured with this darkness was a giant white orb, high above the ground. It was perfectly round, and seemed to give a faint light – the light that was illuminating the world around him. It reminded him of the sun, with the difference that it wasn't nearly as bright. He liked it actually – at least he could look straight at it without being blinded. Suddenly, he heard a voice. It wasn’t a voice - it was thousand voices, all different from each other, yet all speaking in the perfect unison, like if they all belonged to the same body. He could distinguish the particular voices, but he hardly had a reason to, since they were all the same. No. Not all were. Deep inside, there was one voice that was different. It could be heard the tiniest bit before all the others, making it sound like their leader, and all others seemed to just echo what it said. “Come to me, my little pony” the voices bellowed. Jason looked around. He couldn't see where the words were coming from. He was unsure of what to do, so he remained still. But after a second, he saw something. Before him, a strange, very dense, black mist appeared on the treeline. After a moment, the fog dispelled, showing a pony hidden inside. Though at distance, he could see nothing but the silhouette, and the long, strangely shaped mane that was flowing in the wind, despite he couldn't feel any wind himself. “Come here. Don't be afraid” The voices were clearly coming from this pony. For the lack of anything better to do, Jason stepped forward. He was walking very slowly, focusing his sight on the mysterious pony. It was walking in his direction, too – far more confidently than himself. While they were closing the distance between them, Jason was noticing more and more details about the other one here. Definitely it was a mare. She was also noticeably taller than him – she was the tallest pony he ever saw, actually. Next thing he noticed was that she was a unicorn. A little while later, he noticed a pair of wings on her back. He did a double-take at that – because it was impossible for a unicorn to have wings, or a pegasus to have a horn. But there they were – wings and horn both, on a single body. They were now only a few steps away, and he could take a better look at her strange mane. It was a very strange look to him. It seemed to be made of the very same mist she originally emerged from. But he didn't have much time to contemplate over this, since she already began to speak again. “My little pony. I have been watching you for a long time. You are a very strong pony, and also you are smart, though you didn't have many occasions to show your intellect so far. But this will change soon, very soon. It is because I choose you as my Champion. You are given a great mission that will change the whole world. You will become hero of millions, you will have everlasting glory – and I will be freed. Me, Princess Luna, the rightful ruler of Equestria, commander of the night, controller of the moon, sister to Great Princess Celestia, commander of the day, controller of the sun. Follow my orders, and you will return peace and order to this world, free ponykind from the chaos it has fallen into, and restore the glorious cycle of day and night!” “What do you say?” she said it in far calmer and quiet voice, almost whispering. A small smile appeared on her face, too. Jason barely registered being asked a question. He had other things on his mind at the moment, for example what the hay was happening exactly. Ms. Luna here was clearly a goddess, and she needed help of some kind, and it just happened that she chose him for the task. Him, Jason, of all ponies. The most average stallion in whole Equestria, with not a single special trait he could brag about. He seemed like the worst choice ever. But who was he to challenge the judgment of the gods? Another part of his brain had entered his internal conversation. The adventurous part, full of bravery, self-praising and adrenaline lust; the part he hadn't been to aware of his whole life. 'I've spent my whole life on farm; I am strong. And if she says I'm clever, I indeed must be. Or at least I'm clever enough. And I'm surely not content with life as it is now. And now I have a chance to escape it all; to do things nopony has dreamed of; to go on a big adventure like in all those books I've read, and possibly help countless ponies and fight evil out of this world. I will leave a mark on this world, and I will be memorized, and bards will be retelling my story centuries after. Maybe none of these will happen, but still it's better than farm life – and I won't have a second chance. Luna, count me in.' “So? How will it be?” Luna was growing impatient. Quite strange, given her situation. She returned to her former manner of speaking. “Do you accept me as your deity, will you become my worshiper and my Champion and will you follow my rule in order to fulfill your destiny and bring the world back to the old order? Will you help me break free?” If Jason was convinced of what he's doing just before, Luna's overwhelming voice(s) intimidated him and broke all the confidence he built up apart. He gave himself a moment to calm down, rethink the decision, and... he came to exactly the same conclusion as before. “Whatever you say, Princess” He bowed low before her. “Excellent”, Luna bellowed, her overjoyed face not at all matching the low and powerful voice that almost blew Jason from his hooves. While Jason was regaining his composure after the sudden hit, Luna regained composure of her own, returning to her former stoicism. She cleared her throat and began to speak again. Jason braced for the impact. “And so, by your own choice, you will be forever known as my Champion, and I will be your protector and guide on your way to cleanse the world from the corruption it has fallen into. I also recognize you as my friend. As a token of our new friendship, I grant you my first gift. It will allow you to never get lost in time, and predict some of the future events. Take it, and put it to good use” After those words, everything around got silent. Luna closed her eyes and spread her majestic wings. She didn’t flap them, though – yet she still went floating in the air, just above the ground. Then Jason heard a wind building up somewhere near. At the same time, Luna’s body had started to emanate with beams of golden light. It actually didn’t look like straight rays – it was more like smoke floating in the air. Smoke leaving Luna’s body and coming straight at Jason. A sudden whirlwind had created itself between the two ponies, gathering all the smoke and directing it at the stallion. The sound was deafening, but strangely enough, physically, he hadn’t felt anything. Not a single hair on his mane went out of place. It was like if the wind was from a different realm. He could sense it with his eyes and ears, yet for his body there was no wind; or maybe, for the wind, there was no body? Doesn’t matter – what’s important is that it creeped the hell out of Jason. The scene had lasted for a long while. When it ended, Luna made a weird maneuver in air, then shot up high, leaving Jason’s field of view. When he relocated her on the sky, she seemed to be flying off to the moon. He once again heard her voice. “I will be seeing you again soon. But before that, I give you your first task. Go to the city of Trottingham, and wait for me there until the next full moon. Don’t take any items with you from home. I will be waiting for you. Remember, you are my only hope, friend” With that, she disappeared completely, and soon everything else around Jason followed the suit. He was once again thrown into darkness – the kind of darkness you see when your dream has ended and are about to start a new day.
PrologueMy name is Luisa. I am pegasus from Cloudsdale, the Water City. It's called that because nearly all of the water in the Equestrian Empire comes through there. It makes sense, given it's such a rare good and so important, thus strictly controlled. Almost all pegasi in Equestria work in rain delivery. They assure that every part of the Empire gets water, and only as much as they need. Not a single drop more. Of course, the water comes in the form of rain – the most efficient way, since most of the water is used to water the fields. And what about drinking water? Well, there are ways to catch the rain, right? Like, set up a giant container with a giant funnel on top and hope it will catch enough water for the week, because there is only one rain every week, on Sundays. And what if you forget to set it up? Well, good luck for you and your eight-pony family; I hope your souls will find peace... I'm not kidding. Lack of water is very deadly. The sun, though needed to even live, makes this life very, very hard. Over three fourths of the world is nothing more but endless expanses of deserts where one would burn in sun in the means of four or five days, and die of thirst in thirty hours at the very best. The habitable part of the world is still very hot. Very few rivers and lakes exist, and they are all heavily exploited by water pegasi just to keep citizens of the Empire alive. But it's not the only consequence of hot climate. The other is just as severe – the hot sun dries out all plants at tremendous rate, making crops very small. And to compensate that, more area must be designated for cultivation, leaving nearly no space for anything else – cities, namely. Throughout the whole Empire, there are only nine cities that are more than just aggregation of farms. And compared to farmlands, life in them is bliss. It is because only wealthy ponies live in them. The lifestyle of aristocracy is truly serene. They don't have to worry about food – they all own large plots of land in the most attractive localizations, and water pegasi always make sure to always put a nice thick cloud layer over it so the sun won't scorch it like the property of common ponies. And of course, the aristocracy don't work there themselves – they are rich enough to hire common ponies to work for them, in exchange for minimal food rations (which are still bigger than what they could grow if they owned their own plot of land – those clouds really do make a difference). As for water – though water supply is so limited, there are still ways to bypass it and have as much water as you want, or even more – if you can afford it, that is. And the aristocracy is really rich, so they have no problem with, for example, having baths everyday. But the aristocracy aren't the only occupants of cities. There is also a decent amount of middle class, who despite not being nearly as rich as the aristocracy, they still have much more money than common ponies. Most of them are crafters of various kinds – tailors, carpenters, potters, jewelers, you name it. They all live from making fancy things and then selling them to aristocrats. Apparently, wealthy ponies like fancy things. But even though it sounds fun, this is really hard work, almost as hard as the work of farmponies. Crafters need to work almost all day everyday, because food is very expensive, and they can't live without food, obviously, so they must make a lot of stuff in order to make enough money to not die of hunger. But at least they have full dinner everyday, unlike the farmlands poverty. Besides crafters, the middle class consists also of merchant ponies. Merchants' life is probably the most exciting of all ponies (who aren't aristocracy, that is). They spend most of the time buying goods from “their” crafters (the ones they have contract with) in mass amount, and then running trips around the aristocratic manors near town. Some merchants are hired by aristocrats themselves, and in that case their role is to take excess food from them and sell it in the city to those who need it. There are also a few pegasi who run errands between cities. This is very hard job, since the distances between cities are long and the sun is deadly all the way, but also the most profitable – if the wares are not available in the destination town, the price skyrockets. And the competition is almost non-existent. Not that it is a problem to others – the crafters' talents are very good, but at the same time so narrow it is nearly impossible to find two ponies with same talent, if they aren't blood-related somehow. But anyway, being merchant is good. It is very hard to become one, though, because you have to already have a decent fortune for investing necessary. But when you finally get the business rolling, you're gonna make so much more in very short time! And most importantly, you have much free time; more than farmers can allow themselves, more than crafters can dream of, even more than most aristocrats have! You basically wake up not so early in the morning, barter for few hours before noon, and you're free for the rest of the day. "Day"... This word always bothered me. What is it? It's a period of time equal to 24 hours. And what is an hour? It's one twenty-fourth of the day. Simple as that. And makes no sense. Why day is this long and not different? Why we have 24 hours and not, for example, 16? And why the midnight is when it is? This is so arbitrary it always made my brain suffer. There is absolutely no difference between midnight and any other time of day. The sun shines all the same, all the time, and never moves. Clouds are non-existent save for those that are made in Cloudsdale, and they can be deployed anytime. Why Sunday? Why is it called Sunday to start with? And why next Sunday is seven days after last Sunday? Why this period is called a week? This is so arbitrary that it makes my head hurt. This just makes no sense. There must be some meaning under all of this. Some cruel truth purposefully hidden from the eyes of common ponies, for an ominous reason. And one day, I had been offered the answer. Not a straight answer, of course. That would be too simple. But at least it all started to make sense. One day, I had a dream. In this dream, I saw something I have never seen in my life. Before me stood a tall pony. What was unusual in it was that it had a horn on its head, and at the same time there were beautiful wings on its sides. A pegasus, but a unicorn. I knew it was something special; and I wasn't mistaken. The next moment I heard a voice; a voice bellowing in thousand different voices, all in perfect unison. I assumed the voice belonged to the pony before me; such unusual voice could be only of someone just as unusual, and pegasuso-unicorn is unusual. The voice introduced herself as Luna. She said she was an ancient goddess, one who created the world; the very world I live in. She told me the world wasn't meant to be like this. She said there should be a second sun, the sun of cold and dark that would be counterweight to the sun of warmth and light; the sun called Moon. And that she plans on returning the Moon to the world, but she can't do that on her own. She needs help. She needs my help. Why me? I will never know. She promised me ever-lasting glory if I succeeded on my mission. What mission? I don't know exactly. But nevertheless, I did accept her offer. I was sick and tired of the cruelty of our world: the iniquity of wealth distribution, the corruption of nobles, the impassivity of our Emperor. Our Emperor Osiris XII who promised to take care of poor and make life of our nation better; all that he managed was make life of nobles better, of course at the expense of the poorest. I hate him. This is why I decided to rebel and to follow the path Luna showed me. That day I was also given my cutie mark. I haven't noticed it right away, though, due to its specific nature: it's changing its shape. At first it was simple curved line. Then it became more of a sickle, and it was widening every day. Then it became half-circle, and was still expanding up to the point when it became perfect circle. Then it began shrinking from the opposite end, becoming half-circle again, then sickle and eventually it vanished entirely. Then the whole process repeated. It was my personal calendar of sorts. I noticed that the full cycle lasted exactly four weeks. Each of the quarters of cycle – empty to half, half to full, full to half, half to empty – lasted exactly one week. I knew this cutie mark was a gift from Luna, and that she's trying to direct me to the answers to my questions about time. Although I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me, I had my faith in her. I spent many months on my journey, and I felt I was getting close to the answer. In the Canterlot Library, I'd found a book where the moon was mentioned. It said something about an uncharted land in the west, beyond the Great Desert. I've gathered supplies and went on my way to the west, not knowing what awaits me. But I hadn't even reached the border of Equestria, and something bad happened. I stopped to get some sleep and have some food, but the moment I fell asleep, a group of ponies had ambushed me. I was apparently being followed, by royal spies. Their mission was to prevent me from fulfilling my destiny. It made sense; if I succeeded, it would mean the end of the world as we know it, the fall of Osiris dynasty, and with it, whole royal court would be dragged to the bottom, and a new order would take their place. This is exactly what I wanted – to make a difference; but this wasn't at all what they wanted. We emerged in a fight. The outcome wasn't too surprising; I was traveling for days, with very little stops, and was running on an empty stomach at the moment; that, plus the fact that I was heavily outnumbered, made it clear that I didn't stand a chance against them. I was quickly beaten to ground, and then... well... they killed me. * ~ * ~ * “...and this pretty much sums up the story of my life”, Luisa added. Before her stood an old stallion. He had a pale coat and long, white beard. He was towering over her, being about three times bigger than her. He was staring at her judgingly, and wasn't saying anything for a long while. To the pegasus, it seemed like eternity. Finally, he spoke: “This was the best story I've heard in a long time.” He paused, then added: “In fact, the best story ever since I've heard it for the last time.” A long silence emerged. It was broken by Luisa's abrupt shout: “WHAT!?” The stallion sighed quietly under his breath, then said: “You're not the first pony whom Luna has chosen to free her. Actually, you're the sixth one.” Luisa stared at him in utter shock and remained still for some time. At her lack of reply, he continued: “And when I was told it the last time, I already knew it was a matter of time until I would see you here. And I already knew you would fail. And you are the last one who did; the next Champion will succeed.” If he wasn't who he was, she would think he's just messing with her. But she knew he was dead serious (pun intended). So all she said was: “How do you know?” “The prophecy says so.”
The Day Before BirthdayAnno 9 Regni Imperator Osiris XIII Sunday, 31st of March Jason was a typical earth pony. He had light yellow coat and dark brown mane – very common colors in his province. Like many other earth ponies there, he was a farmer. His family had an average-sized plot of land where they almost exclusively grow corn – the most popular plant in the world. Jason has four siblings – pretty average, but rather on the lower bound. He would have six siblings, but his would-be-second-oldest brother died at birth, and his two years younger sister passed away at the age of 3. Neither of those is a rare occurrence – things like that happen a lot in these lands. This is why ponies tend to have five to ten foals in the first place. But having big family is problematic too – the food is very limited, after all. Typical homestead with the little land surrounding it can only give limited crops – totally insufficient for twelve-pony family, and barely sufficient for seven-pony family like Jason's. Jason was lucky that he has no more siblings. But this is the only thing he was lucky with. The most obvious sign of his unluckiness was lack of cutie mark. He was thirteen years old and still hadn't found his special talent. But this wasn't that big deal – roughly one in three or four adult ponies lacked cutie mark. But he was unlucky enough to be the only one without cutie mark in his family (even his younger sister had one – and she was just eight!). That, of course, made him less important in his parents' eyes than the rest of the herd. He always was the least loved child, ever since his birth (his name is the best evidence – just what kind of name is Jason? It's so boring and dumb and and... ugh[1]). The reason is that, he was an unexpected foal. Not that they didn't want any foal at that time – it's been little different kind of unexpected. When his mother was pregnant with him, his parents were expecting not a son, but a daughter. You see, even without any hi-tech machines, ponies have their ways to know the gender of foal to be born, and they always work. So how the mistake? Well, it wasn't a mistake at all. It's just, they gender-checked not him, but his twin sister. As weird as it might sound, even though ponies can predict foal's gender with absolute precision, they can't detect multiple pregnancies. So Jason's birth was complete surprise. A rather unpleasant surprise (remember, low food supply). The fact that they already had two sons (three if you count the born-dead one) didn't help. Ponies tend to have beautiful and very original names. It's nearly impossible (or maybe impossible, period) to meet two ponies with the same name. Even throughout generations, reuse of names rarely occurs. Names are important part of pony culture. They are unique, even more unique than the appearance and cutie marks – and it is often name that defines personality. I don't know what kind of sorcery that is, but it really works that way. So the worst thing that parents can do to their children is giving them a bad name. Splendid Crops and Blooming Flower knew this well, and so with each foal in sight, they spent a lot of time thinking of names. And I really mean it – if you added up all the hours spent contemplating over different ideas for their first foal, you would get over nine full weeks – and with each next new member of family, the total was getting even bigger. When the time had come for their fourth foal (third if you don't count the born-dead one), and when they found out it will be their first daughter, the thing got even more serious than usual. First, they made a giant list of all the names they came up with. In two months, they had written up 130 different names, all of them genuinely good. When they finally decided it's enough, they proceeded to step two. They took all the names and grouped them in pairs. Then, they reconsidered each of them in those pairs, picking the better name and crossing the worse one out. When they were done with all the names, they made new pairs from the ones left on the list and repeated the process. After five iterations of this algorithm (which took them four and a half months to do, including two week stagnancy caused by terribly hard to resolve three-way choice that emerged at the end of round 2), they had their final four: Dream Spark, Rose Petal, Light Heart and Lauren Faust. They decided that they will wait with final decision until their daughter shows herself. And three months later, she did. She was a lovely foal with beautiful crimson red mane and cream-colored, almost white coat. It took six seconds for the parents to choose the name – Rose Petal, of course. And with this, they marked her destiny – a life full of beauty and love, but also delicate and very fragile. When they were done with Rose, they looked at the other foal. Even within first minute after being born, it already managed to annoy its parents like they were never before. First, it was their third son (or even fourth, depending on how you look at it). Second, it was a total surprise – and they didn't like surprises. They were prepared to raise one more foal – but not two newborns at once! Third, they had no name for him, and they needed to make up one for him, fast. So they did – they gave him the first name that came to mind. Jason. Short, simple, with no real meaning – this was his destiny. * ~ * ~ * DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG... The clock tower nearby announced the hour no. 6. For Jason (and most other farmers) it meant the end of work for the day. All that was left to do was go home, make dinner and... Well, nothing really. There was very little to do on farms besides work. Some evenings, he was literally doing nothing. Other times, he avoided doing literally nothing by going to bed early. This day, he had yet to decide which approach he'll take. Upon entering home, the first thing he noticed (or rather, the first thing that noticed him) was exceptionally happy Rose. Happiness was an emotion he rarely felt. If at all. He couldn't remember the last time he was happy. His life was just so incredibly mundane. “Hey Jason, you remember what tomorrow is!?” Rose asked in an extremely high-pitched voice, obviously excited about something. You could almost see excitement dripping from all over her body. But whatever this was about, Jason had no clue what it might be. “Um... No?” he responded. Rose groaned aloud, then almost screamed in his face: “IT'S-YOUR-BIRTH-DAYYYY!” For bonus effect, she was standing just before him and was leaning forward so hard that they were almost touching with noses. It must have looked comical, especially since Jason was countering his sister's movements by leaning back, to which she responded by leaning forward even more. “Oh. Right. My birthday.” he said after a moment, in perfectly calm voice. For him, birthday was just another day. For some reason beyond his understanding, it was different for his siblings. They were always looking forward to it. Maybe it was related to their parents' attitude. His brothers and sisters always got some birthday present. Usually some sweet treat like a cupcake – the only cupcake they had in the whole year. But for him, the only present was day off work, and even that wasn't every year. The worst was, Rose always got something cool the very same day. But fortunately, she was a good pony, and good sister. If she had something sweet, she shared it with him. He never insisted on it – he knew it wasn't meant for him. But Rose always seemed very happy that she could share her presents with Jason, and he liked making her happy. She was the only pony in the world who was ever kind to him. She was the best sister. Jason continued: “...And since it's my birthday, that of course means it's your birthday, too. And guessing how cheerful you are, something special must be prepared for it.” “Yep, you're right!” she said that while she spun around on her heels, eyes closed, front hooves high in the air. When she landed, she shot eyes wide open, plastered a wicked grin on face and announced in sing-song voice: “We're going to the city tomorrow!” “Ah, well. Have fun.” It took Rose a second or two to realize the meaning of his words. “Nonononono! You got it wrong. We are going! You too!” She hopped closer to him. How it was possible, we will never know. “Huh?” Jason asked. It was so abstract concept to him that he was getting anything for birthday that he was sure his sister was mistaken about something. “Well, it's your birthday too, right?” “Yes, but... What did Ma and Pa say about this?” Rose put on an expression of uneasiness, accompanied by obligatory hooves crossing. “Well... I haven't exactly asked them if you're going too, yet... but come on! Why wouldn't they take you with us?” Jason could think about a hundred of reasons, actually, but he kept them to himself. Their chat had ended anyway, since this very moment their mom announced the dinner is ready. And so, they went dining. * ~ * ~ * “No. You will not go anywhere tomorrow.” Crops was never the one to discuss with. Jason knew it well (in fact, the best from all ponies), so he decided to just fold. But Rose wasn't gifted with good common sense, so she was still trying her best at the argument. He tried to calm down everypony, but to no avail. “Rose, really... I don't want to go to the city that much anyway...” “But, why?” She seemed to completely ignore Jason. So did their father, for that matter. “It's not everyday that he has birthday! It should be special for him! Especially that he never before got anything special for this very special day!” “I said no! How do you imagine this? With us three away, there is so much more work to do on farm that we can't let anyone else go with us! Fields won't plow themselves!” Jason tried to say something, but he couldn't be heard by anypony. “Then I'm not going too!” She quickly rose from her chair and hit the table with both hooves simultaneously. Like it would have any effect on her father... “Well then! You don't go! And you will have no other present this year! Me and your mother will go alone! And you, Rose, will have extra chores tomorrow! To your room! Now!” Rose slowly exited the room, not looking at anyone while she walked by. Jason wanted to go after her, but he was stopped by his mother: “No, Jason. You will go when you finish your meal.” At this point he completely lost his appetite, but what could he do? He forced himself to eat the remaining corn, then left the table and went to Rose's bedroom. He found her there crying in corner. He slowly approached her and embraced in hug. “It's okay Rose, no need for tears.” But she just sobbed harder. “I just wanted you to have a real birthday... A special one...” “And I really appreciate that. You are the best sister ever.” “Thank you Jason...” They remained in each other's hooves for a while, until Rose's cries stopped completely. “You know, I was really looking forward to seeing the city...” “Don't worry, you will go there one day, eventually. I'm sure of it.” “Thanks.” A somewhat big yawn escaped her muzzle. “I guess it's time for sleep, Rose. We have a lot of work tomorrow.” “Yeah, I guess so. Goodnight Jason.” “Goodnight.” And so, Jason went to his own room. He quickly prepared for sleep and climbed on bed. The sleep had come to him in a matter of minutes. He didn't know it yet, but it would be the most important dream of his life. Author's Note [1] I mean no offense to any Jasons – it's just that in pony world, names are usually meaningful and related to their lives, like Pinkie Pie, Carrot Cake or Lightning Dust. Jason is very cool name in human world, really – it just doesn't work for ponies, that's all.
I Had a DreamIt was dark. Very dark. Jason couldn't see anything, not even his own muzzle. But he kept walking. The air was cool. He never felt anything like that. He was used to high temperatures all the time. Cold was something completely new to him. The chill was biting his skin. But he didn't care. He kept walking. He didn't know why, or where he headed. He just kept walking. He didn't know where he was. But he kept walking. He hardly had a reason to do so – but nevertheless he did. He kept walking. It wasn't a very pleasant walk. He felt like he was walking in place, since nothing was changing around him: all he could see was perfect darkness; all he could hear was perfect silence; all he could feel under his hooves was a perfectly flat ground. He kept walking, hoping that something would change soon. Anything. This perfect stillness was driving him mad. After what felt like eternity, he saw a white flash. A painfully bright flash that emerged from nowhere. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust to this new intense light. When he could finally see well, he looked around. It was still dark, but now he could see everything clearly – though the dim quality of light made everything look like a shadow. Then he gave his surroundings a second, more thorough look. Everywhere, there were huge, tall trees. They all grew very close to each other and had very dense crowns that, in poor lighting, looked almost like a solid wall, blocking all the light. Another second and he noticed he was standing in the center of a somewhat large clearing in the forest. The last thing he looked at was the sky. It was all pitch black, just like everything else a while ago. The only thing not obscured with this darkness was a giant white orb, high above the ground. It was perfectly round, and seemed to give a faint light – the light that was illuminating the world around him. It reminded him of the sun, with the difference that it wasn't nearly as bright. He liked it actually – at least he could look straight at it without being blinded. Suddenly, he heard a voice. It wasn’t a voice - it was thousand voices, all different from each other, yet all speaking in the perfect unison, like if they all belonged to the same body. He could distinguish the particular voices, but he hardly had a reason to, since they were all the same. No. Not all were. Deep inside, there was one voice that was different. It could be heard the tiniest bit before all the others, making it sound like their leader, and all others seemed to just echo what it said. “Come to me, my little pony” the voices bellowed. Jason looked around. He couldn't see where the words were coming from. He was unsure of what to do, so he remained still. But after a second, he saw something. Before him, a strange, very dense, black mist appeared on the treeline. After a moment, the fog dispelled, showing a pony hidden inside. Though at distance, he could see nothing but the silhouette, and the long, strangely shaped mane that was flowing in the wind, despite he couldn't feel any wind himself. “Come here. Don't be afraid” The voices were clearly coming from this pony. For the lack of anything better to do, Jason stepped forward. He was walking very slowly, focusing his sight on the mysterious pony. It was walking in his direction, too – far more confidently than himself. While they were closing the distance between them, Jason was noticing more and more details about the other one here. Definitely it was a mare. She was also noticeably taller than him – she was the tallest pony he ever saw, actually. Next thing he noticed was that she was a unicorn. A little while later, he noticed a pair of wings on her back. He did a double-take at that – because it was impossible for a unicorn to have wings, or a pegasus to have a horn. But there they were – wings and horn both, on a single body. They were now only a few steps away, and he could take a better look at her strange mane. It was a very strange look to him. It seemed to be made of the very same mist she originally emerged from. But he didn't have much time to contemplate over this, since she already began to speak again. “My little pony. I have been watching you for a long time. You are a very strong pony, and also you are smart, though you didn't have many occasions to show your intellect so far. But this will change soon, very soon. It is because I choose you as my Champion. You are given a great mission that will change the whole world. You will become hero of millions, you will have everlasting glory – and I will be freed. Me, Princess Luna, the rightful ruler of Equestria, commander of the night, controller of the moon, sister to Great Princess Celestia, commander of the day, controller of the sun. Follow my orders, and you will return peace and order to this world, free ponykind from the chaos it has fallen into, and restore the glorious cycle of day and night!” “What do you say?” she said it in far calmer and quiet voice, almost whispering. A small smile appeared on her face, too. Jason barely registered being asked a question. He had other things on his mind at the moment, for example what the hay was happening exactly. Ms. Luna here was clearly a goddess, and she needed help of some kind, and it just happened that she chose him for the task. Him, Jason, of all ponies. The most average stallion in whole Equestria, with not a single special trait he could brag about. He seemed like the worst choice ever. But who was he to challenge the judgment of the gods? Another part of his brain had entered his internal conversation. The adventurous part, full of bravery, self-praising and adrenaline lust; the part he hadn't been to aware of his whole life. 'I've spent my whole life on farm; I am strong. And if she says I'm clever, I indeed must be. Or at least I'm clever enough. And I'm surely not content with life as it is now. And now I have a chance to escape it all; to do things nopony has dreamed of; to go on a big adventure like in all those books I've read, and possibly help countless ponies and fight evil out of this world. I will leave a mark on this world, and I will be memorized, and bards will be retelling my story centuries after. Maybe none of these will happen, but still it's better than farm life – and I won't have a second chance. Luna, count me in.' “So? How will it be?” Luna was growing impatient. Quite strange, given her situation. She returned to her former manner of speaking. “Do you accept me as your deity, will you become my worshiper and my Champion and will you follow my rule in order to fulfill your destiny and bring the world back to the old order? Will you help me break free?” If Jason was convinced of what he's doing just before, Luna's overwhelming voice(s) intimidated him and broke all the confidence he built up apart. He gave himself a moment to calm down, rethink the decision, and... he came to exactly the same conclusion as before. “Whatever you say, Princess” He bowed low before her. “Excellent”, Luna bellowed, her overjoyed face not at all matching the low and powerful voice that almost blew Jason from his hooves. While Jason was regaining his composure after the sudden hit, Luna regained composure of her own, returning to her former stoicism. She cleared her throat and began to speak again. Jason braced for the impact. “And so, by your own choice, you will be forever known as my Champion, and I will be your protector and guide on your way to cleanse the world from the corruption it has fallen into. I also recognize you as my friend. As a token of our new friendship, I grant you my first gift. It will allow you to never get lost in time, and predict some of the future events. Take it, and put it to good use” After those words, everything around got silent. Luna closed her eyes and spread her majestic wings. She didn’t flap them, though – yet she still went floating in the air, just above the ground. Then Jason heard a wind building up somewhere near. At the same time, Luna’s body had started to emanate with beams of golden light. It actually didn’t look like straight rays – it was more like smoke floating in the air. Smoke leaving Luna’s body and coming straight at Jason. A sudden whirlwind had created itself between the two ponies, gathering all the smoke and directing it at the stallion. The sound was deafening, but strangely enough, physically, he hadn’t felt anything. Not a single hair on his mane went out of place. It was like if the wind was from a different realm. He could sense it with his eyes and ears, yet for his body there was no wind; or maybe, for the wind, there was no body? Doesn’t matter – what’s important is that it creeped the hell out of Jason. The scene had lasted for a long while. When it ended, Luna made a weird maneuver in air, then shot up high, leaving Jason’s field of view. When he relocated her on the sky, she seemed to be flying off to the moon. He once again heard her voice. “I will be seeing you again soon. But before that, I give you your first task. Go to the city of Trottingham, and wait for me there until the next full moon. Don’t take any items with you from home. I will be waiting for you. Remember, you are my only hope, friend” With that, she disappeared completely, and soon everything else around Jason followed the suit. He was once again thrown into darkness – the kind of darkness you see when your dream has ended and are about to start a new day.
