The Medieval Ages

At least, I thought it would end up that way. Day one consisted of finding a nice place for shelter, which I ended up just building next to a river of surprisingly clean water. Day three was my first encounter with wildlife. In particular, the cockatrice. As it turns out, if you stare at them for about 7 seconds or so and don’t blink or anything, the curse reverses. The first time it happened, my eyes were sore for a couple of days, but I guess it was better than being turned to stone like other critters I’ve seen in the forest.

Day 6 was my first encounter with a manticore. I tried dealing with them as you would a bear, and it seemed to work. For the most part, I just left them alone, and soon enough they tolerated my presence. Or maybe it was because I won the fight with the hydra. That was a fun day… it all started with me going out late one night to look for fruits, berries, and plants to eat when I found a bog. Thinking nothing of it, I set up some makeshift torches and started looking around. I found some things to try eating, but nothing definite, and was about to leave when a 7 headed hydra came out of the mud and tried to eat me. I still can’t understand why the bodily fluids of a hydra are not only flammable, but highly explosive. It could have just been that one, but I haven’t seen any others since then.

That was also the day I discovered pegasi magic. When I flew away from the explosion of a hydra choking on a lit torch, I could feel something fading away when I stopped. Over the next four months I decided to take the effort into seeing how far this magic could go, and what were to happen if I were to not use the magic.

The results were interesting. Without any magic at all, I couldn't really fly, but could still glide pretty decently. That only took a relatively small amount of magic. As long as there was pegasi magic in me, I could grab clouds like relatively solid objects. The fun part was when I stretched the limits. If I really focused, I could essentially magically tether myself to the sky- becoming a mist, fog, or cloud. The four months paid off in the end, because now I could escape nearly any situation I found myself in as well as explore some unique places. Like quicksand, being stuck in the mud, and being hopelessly entangled in some vine or brush.

The coolest places were all in the underground networks. They must go all over Equestria! They look almost like they were done by a boring machine the way the walls were so smooth. The tunnels lead to big caverns, which were almost large enough to house a small village in it. There seemed to be no real exits, and every entryway and exit way I found seemed to be tony holes dug by worms and such.  Almost all the entrances I found were at the bottoms of lakes and rivers, and none were large enough to fit into, and required me to turn into fog, which felt very strange under normal conditions, and weirder under water. A small handful of entrances were found in really strange places like a hollowed tree or under a boulder. The entrances all had a really unique purple and green polka dot patterned flower growing near it. I called them fluffle biscuits (for no particular reason).

When I found vast underground caverns, I decided that I’d set up my home base in one that was near town, mostly because of how truly vast it was- big enough to fit a small city- and also because it had a little river that was fed by a waterfall on the ceiling that ran out into a dead end lake. The walls and roof of the cavern itself were a true sight to behold. It was all some sort of crystal that somehow reflected the sky above ground. As it turned out, if I had a piece of it, I could let some magic flow through it and it would become a flashlight.

The one that I had mad my home was always my favorite, because of its nearly perfect dome structure- as opposed to the others being less perfect -and the way it captured all the light from the moon and stars, so it was never too dark to see. They also seem to have some sort of air circulation system, because I’I've lit many bonfires in a cavern and the smoke would dissipate after a short time leaving no traces behind.

It was here that I set up a course made up of braided vines and posts to help me keep up my agility in other ways than teasing predators and running or flying away, which I did when I either had a stockpile of food or otherwise was ok for the day. It was a good judge of my speed, especially against the timberwolves, which could be surprisingly fast- particularly when they merge into one. This is not only how I built my running speed, but learned to recover midair from any trip. It’s all about throwing your momentum in the right way as soon as you trip. Depending on how it’s done, you don’t need wings, they just make it easier.

In the deeper woods of the everfree, the creatures were much stronger, and after a year and a half, proved to be the better work out. Plus, the manticores there liked to wrestle. It took me a while, but eventually I managed to build up the strength to resist them, but often times it felt like pushing back a cement truck loaded to the top. Also, resisting the stare of a cockatrice proved much harder. I had to return the look that they gave me on top of not blinking, which turned out to be pretty tough. My eyes were sore for weeks.

One huge event did happen though. Whenever I went to sleep, I usually just retired to my mindscape and either reviewed information from somewhere or compiled all the pages of books and clips of movies I've seen and putting them on shelves. Otherwise I would read and watch them. But at one point I decided to see if I was still plagued by nightmares of my deaths. I was. Even letting them run through me for three whole months after almost one and a quarter years had passed did nothing to affect them. Except for the last day of that third month, when I let myself drift to sleep and found myself in another hyper realistic dream. This time it was right there in the cavern I slept in. It was somewhere in the midst of winter, just like in real life. I had also taken on my mental form, which was my regular human body with red fur, pearl white hair, plus I had wings and a tail.

It stayed like this for a few moments. Then the sky turned into concrete. Suddenly, it looked and felt like I was falling, but I was still standing on something. When the world stopped zooming upwards, I realized that I had just fallen into place like a sci-fi movie special effect. But as to where, I couldn't tell at first. Then I realized- it was a prison. A prison cell. I turned around to see who was in there if anyone, and was met with the last person I’d ever want to see.

Arnold. A few years older, but still the same.

Just seeing him made me swell up with rage. Then he spoke.

“Wh-who are you? What are you?”

“I hope I haunted you in your nightmares you rotten ass. I bet finding the body wasn't very hard, was it? What did you tell your mom? Or my mom? What were you sentenced with?” I snapped at him.

“Wha-buh… R-r-r-r-roy?!” he managed to stutter.

“Yeah you fuck, it’s me. Why. At this point I hope they execute you, but why. How could you do it?”

“Oh god! It told me… it told… it said… …. I you shouldn't even… L-let me start from the beginning,” he stammered out.

“It all started a few months before… it happened. I started getting these dreams. They were just dreams, but they were so real man. There was this thing that showed me what happens to people after they die. It wasn't’t a person, more like an entity, made of something just beyond my sight. It showed how the afterlife is more of a process for becoming reborn or re used to supply energy to the cosmos or something. It said that nothing will ever cease to exist, but will always live on in a different form, conscious or not. Then it started to show you. It was trying to look into your future.” He paused, closing his eyes to remember something while I continued to stare at him, not knowing whether to believe him or not.

“It told me: it said that you would deny the universe; that you had to; so that a precious world can be saved. It said the first attempt didn't succeed and he needed me to... k-kill you myself. The entity even started doing things to prove who or what it was. Remember my older brother’s terminal cancer? It cured it. It took away mom’s lung problems and fixed dad’s metabolism. He did so many other things too, like make the weather come in specific patterns, and shape the clouds that I looked at to remind me. I believed him. I still do,” he admitted, now hanging his head in… shame. This isn't what I expected. Not by a long shot.

“You didn't answer me,” I replied, my voice losing a lot of its edge.

“It… it made me a vow. It said that if I did it, it would reveal my destiny; my fate. And, that you would be sent to a place where you would find a greater purpose and happiness. Then it showed me something I will never forget- it revealed to me how to perceive the fourth and fifth dimensions. I think that’s why I can see and hear you now. I can’t expect you to believe me, but I swear on my worthless life that it’s the truth.”

At that point, I couldn't hold my anger against him anymore. I had grown up with this man, and I could read his face like a book, as I’m sure he could mine. Everything he told me fits with what I know so far, and the whole time, I saw him in a state that I haven’t seen him in since he pulled the prank on his brother that ruptured his spleen. Shame.

“I think,” I said after a long silence, “that I can forgive you. But, I still want to know… how is everyone? Have they moved on?”

“I told them all myself. I’m in this insane asylum of course, but seeing you, after five long years of doubt… that thing still sees me every year. It thanks me. Says I did the right thing. Until now, until I've seen you again, I just couldn't believe it. I hated myself for the first three years. Only recently have I resigned myself to just having faith that when I was told it was destiny, and I believed it with all my heart, that I was right. Roy Parker, can you truly forgive me?” he asked, and looked me dead in the eyes. In those eyes I saw it. The torment he put himself through, trying in vain to assure himself his heart was in the right place. The look of a man defeated by his demons, and recently given the power to obliterate them. I could tell that though he was a broken man, he was whole again, and I could see the friend I know and love again.

“Yes,” I said, tears coming to my eyes as I gave him a great big hug. I finally had my answer, and I could feel my anger and confusion slip away, being slowly replaced with an aching, longing sorrow. “Have you made any friends here?” I asked, praying that he didn't isolate himself and break that part of him too.

“Yeah man. Yeah I have,” he said, smiling at me. “I met some other guys who were visited by the entity I told you about. Turns out, in the first dream, we all saw the same place. It was a small abandoned Native American village looking place next to a river. In the center though, there was a fire. Now that I look back on that image, the fire was one of those things that the fifth dimension fostered. We built a scale model replica in the recreation room. They are coming any minute to take us all there. Want to come?”

“I’d love to,” I replied, and followed him out of the cell into a new building that definitely looked more like a mental institution. “It’s connected to an old jail, isn't it?” he nodded, likely not wanting to start anything with the escort guy. When we arrived, I immediately knew who the people he talked about were. They all turned their heads and looked straight at me. Arnold waved his hand to say he’d talk with them later.

After the escort left, we sat down on one of the benches and just talked. I told him about the life I was living now, leaving out the last one. He in turn talked about how being here enabled him to understand people on so much of a deeper level. Here, he told me how the people are all open with each other. How his new friends all enjoyed their lifetime stay because of each other’s company. It made me happy for him. He finally found a place in which he could simply live, not caring what others think, and be genuinely happy. In a way, it’s a true paradise. Nothing really existed to create hatred and everything was in supply enough to be satisfied. One just needs to have a truly open mind to accept it.

After a few hours of shooting the breeze with Arnold and some of his new friends, and even playing a few board games (Arnold moved for me), it became night time, and everyone was escorted back to their respective rooms.

“Why are you in here? This looks more like a prison,” I asked him when we were alone again in his cell.

“I asked for it. It seemed fitting at the time, and now I like to stare at the ceiling and picture the cosmos running through it. Plus, I can see the moon from the window.”

We sat for a while, looking at the now full moon, reminiscing about the good times we shared in. another couple hours passed, and Arnold told me that I was fading from his view.

“That means I’m leaving soon doesn't it?”

“Yeah. I think it does.”

“I will never forget you. Even after all that has transpired, I will always be your friend. Just promise me one thing. Be happy. Make friendships as strong as ours. That is really the best I can ever wish upon you.”

“I will. I’ll never forget you. In a way, this has given me a happy new life. Thank you for your forgiveness. I think I can live with myself again.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, and then I felt it. A tugging sensation that wanted to pull me back.

“Goodbye, friend!” I exclaimed with tears in my eyes as he waved goodbye in return. Then the world was sucked away into blackness and my eyes shot open into the morning light reflecting from the crystal walls. I don’t know what compelled me to do so, but I turned and looked at my cutie mark, only to find that it was gone.

The rest of that day I simply sat at the edge of the lake staring at my reflection and reflecting on what I had said to him. I told him to live his life and be happy. I supposed that’s what I would start doing to.

And so I did.  since that night, the nightmares stopped, and i could sleep peacefully again. I lived every day in the everfree as I saw fit to enjoy. I would have probably stayed that way to if it weren't for what happened three and a half years into my stay in the woods. That’s when they entered my life.