Chapter one
"You take him, he's your responsibility."

"He is YOUR son, you take him."

"Its ok I won't go anymore."

"No one was talking to you!"

The pony came towards him hoove outstretched to backhoove him and it was barely an inch away -

Sully woke up, gasping. It's just a nightmare, one he had been having for a month now. He sat up quietly, so as to not wake up the other slumbering foals. He got up and as softly as he could and went towards the back of the room where a bucket of water was. He bent down to take a slow drink, the cold water taking it's desired effect in waking him up. Then he slowly went towards the doorway that led outside to a courtyard and pushed the heavy black cloth that acted as a door aside and step outside.

The air was cool and refreshing after waking up hot and sweaty. The moon shone brilliantly in the sky, it's radiance making him smile. The stars twinkled in the deep blue sky, as if they were happy where they were. The colt closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the smell of grass and incense. That smell always calmed him down after a nightmare, one that not too long ago had been a reality. Sully mentally berated himself. This was not the time to think about the past. He opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. He heard the sheet behind him stir ever so slightly.

He sighed and said, "Come on out Tim, I know your there." There was a moment of stillness, then the sheet moved to show another colt, slightly younger than Sully. He was a light pink, with an equally light green mane. His cutie mark was a small log on its side with a small leaf coming off the top. His full name was Timber Woods, but everyone called him Tim.

"What's wrong Tim?" Sully asked.

The smaller colt looked down and scuffed the grass with his right hoof. Then he looked at Sully and said, "I had a nightmare." Tim then looked down, embarrassed.

Guess I'm not the only one tonight thought Sully. "Oh, alright, would u like to walk around? That always helps me to forget the nightmare."

Tim raised his head at that, asking, "Is that why you are up, cuz you had a nightmare too?" While Tim wasn't at the top of his class, he was very intuitive and smart when he wanted, and Sully knew that.

"Yeah, I did," Sully told him." "Oh, ok," Tim said, "A walk sounds nice, sure."

They started walking around the courtyard in a counterclockwise direction,the courtyard made in a circular shape being about fifty hoof steps in diameter. This wasn't the first time Tim had joined Sully during his late night walks. It seemed the colt had nightmares nearly as often as Sully did. The first time they met was about a day after Sully had arrived at the temple. He had a nightmare similar to tonight's and had gone to the courtyard to calm down. He had immediately fallen in love with it. He had settled down near the small pond in the middle of the courtyard and had started to relax when he had heard a small sniffling sound. He looked over to find a younger colt looking out of the door with tears in his eyes. He beckoned the younger colt over and asked him who he was and what was wrong. The colt introduced himself as Tim and told Sully that he had just woken up from a nightmare when he had seen Sully go outside. Sully had proceeded to ask what the nightmare was about. Tim had then begun to tear up again and started to hyperventilate. Sully said never mind and suggested they go for walk. Sully had made a mental note to never ask Tim what the nightmares where about ever again.

When they started walking that first night, Sully had finally taken his first real look around the courtyard.
To Sully, it was amazing. The grass was a lush green, with a few patches lower than others where ponies had laid in the same spot every day. The pond was clean and clear, to where you could see the bottom and all the fish that called it home. The walls had low shrubs that hugged the walls closely, and Sully was told that on occasion they produced blueberries. There was only one tree, right next to the pond. It was a mighty oak, planted when the temple was first made, said the little plaque next to it. The trunk was wide, so wide it took six grown stallions to lay on their sides and reach for each other's tail to completely encompass it. The foliage of the tree took up a fourth of the opening in the courtyard, but no pony ever complained. If they wanted to see the sky, they went towards the other side of the pond and laid down.

Sully had seen that the walk and the tranquil scenery had calmed Tim down; he walked with his eyelids low, and an occasional yawn escaped from his mouth. Sully had suggested they go to bed, and Tim had readily agreed. They had then went to bed and fallen asleep without another nightmare that night. Little had changed since that day. Anytime one of them had a nightmare they would go to the courtyard and walk, appreciating the scenery, and each other's company if they both had one. Tim still acted nervous every time he told Sully he had a nightmare, and he had also grown to be the little brother Sully never had.

They walked around now and didn't talk, just enjoyed the silence and the calm that the courtyard always brought. Sully looked at the walls of the temple. He hadn't really looked at them that first time he had taken a walk with Tim. Now that he looked, he was slightly surprised to see that instead of bricks, the wall was made of large chunks of stone that had been sculpted to fit together. He started to notice a pattern. There where two hues to the rock, a dark gray and a light gray, and there was never the same color next to each other in a row or column. The rocks, while they had been weathered down, still looked like they where in good condition, which was another thing that surprised Sully. From what he had learned in his lessons, the temple was at least a hundred years old. He believed it whenever he stepped outside the temple to the path that lead up to it.

It wasn't a very tall temple, two stories and a semi big attic in the left which made it taller. The walls themselves, while still keeping the color scheme, where a lot more weathered and duller on the outside. It was, however, wide and went a good ways back. There was fifteen rooms dedicated to sleeping quarters, each room fit about 40 ponies, a mess hall that, at maximum capacity, could hold all the residents of the temple if need be. There were also twenty classrooms that fit twenty ponies each, a few rooms dedicated to supplies and cooking. All that fit within the first floor. Sully didn't know what was on the second floor, as only certain colts and fillies where allowed. All he could guess was that it held more sleeping quarters, special classrooms and supplies. The architecture itself was simple. The walls were all made from the same material as the courtyard, with the same pattern. The corners of the tepmle were topped with spires that had intricate colored glass windows that reflected brilliantly in the setting sun. There was probably an acre all around the temple at most, with the Everfree forest right next to it. Most of the temple requires was on the inside, so they didn't need much space outside of it. At the front was a big door, tall enough that a pony would have to get on it's hind hooves of on the shoulder of another pony who was also on their hind hooves leaning against the door to touch the top of it. The front door itself was made of a dark wood material, on hidden hinges that always creaked ominously when opened. On the other side there was a big bolt across the door whenever it was locked.

The inside of the temple was similar to the outsider in the way that it was made from the same stone material, with tall archways that even earth ponies could touch should they try hard enough. Above each archway was a unique design. It looked like a dragon head breathing flames. No one ever explained to Sully what that design meant, and he didn't care enough to ask. Ever so often torch brackets dotted the walls so that when night fell they would be lit and a pony wouldn't walk around in the dark. Overall, it was a simple building, and that was quite alright with Sully.

They had gone around the courtyard once, and as they started reaching the door, Sully heard Tim say "Sully?"

"Yes?" Sully answered, and he turned around to look at Tim. Tim was looking down at the ground, and looked as if he was mustering up the courage to do a fearsome task.

Tim inhaled, looked at Sully, and asked, "What was your nightmare about?" Sully didn't respond at first. He stood there looking at Tim for a minute, then went and sat by the pond. Tim came over hesitantly and sat next to him.

Sully was looking at his reflection in the water, made possible by the brilliant full moon tonight. He saw his own light brown coat, his pencil mustache, his dark brown eyes that looked black except in bright light. He turned towards his right slightly, towards Tim and saw his mane. It was black, but not completely. It had an alternating pattern of black, a small streak of dirty blonde that faded to a small streak of a slightly darker brown than his coat, which then faded back to black, in a mane which he kept semi-long, to where his mane just touched his eyes. He didn't had t look at is flank to know it didn't bear a cutie mark. It probably should have bothered him that some one younger than him already had one, but it didn't. He just hadn't found his talent and wouldn't fuss that someone else had. His tail was unkempt at best, which the same color scheme as his mane. It was a strange combination of straight but curly, and ends curling up, giving it the unkempt look, no matter what Sully did. He was on the scrawny side, but he made up for it by being tall. He was also very fast when he wanted, but never really found a reason to be.

He looked at his reflection, and wondered how to answer Tim without sounded mean. Luckily, he didn't have to. He had taken so long in thinking that Tim had fallen asleep beside him. The small colts small snoring made Sully crack a small smile. He got up, managed to put Tim on his back without waking him, and went inside. The younger colt slept right next to the courtyard door, so Sully didn't have to go very far to drop off Tim. After he covered his small friend in the blanket, Sully made his way to his own bed, which was closer to the middle of the room, and laid down, thinking about what had made him come to the temple. As he thought, he slowly drifted of to sleep, and in his dreams he relived that day.

Author's Note

Hey guys, this is my first story! Wwooo! I haven't really wrote any kind before, so I'm not sure how good it is, but I recently got hooked on to MlP, and decided to write my own story. I accept all forms of advice and critique.
And on a side note, when a character speaks and it looks like text talk, its actually the way they talk, as when Tim said "is that why your up, CUZ you had a nightmare too?" That was intentional. But only in dialogue