*Boom!*
A loud explosion of fire, sparks, ash and rock rained down upon the area. A cloud of dust lingering around the area of impact. Just as suddenly as it appeared, a bright, embalming fire erupted inside the smoke, sucking in the ash and debris , revealing two distinct figures. Both slashing at each other with incredible speed and power. Each one trying to gain an open footing with the other. The figure engulfed in flames side-stepped the downward slash of the other, momentarily staggering the offending foe. Noticing the opportunity, the flaming figure attacked with the hilt of its sword, knocking down its opponent with ease. The figure spoke in a deep, gruff, swollen voice that sounded like sand paper.
"'Tis isn't good enough! Thou must show more spirit! Thou must embrace the courage dormant inside thee if thou wishes to overcome the loss thou feels! Now fight, or I will slay thee here and now!" The engulfed figure screamed at its downed opponent, a slight hint of worry engraved in its voice. The downed figure rose to half its height, only to quiver and fall flat on its arse. Having given up on trying to stand, a muffled cry came from the downed figure.
"What good does it do!? I have no inner strength to protect her! She trusted me with her life, and I let her down! What more can I do!?" The crying figure shouted, drowning out all noise from the crackling flames. The engulfed figure slowly trotted towards the downed figure, the light from the fire descending upon its face. What was shown was a pony skull with beady red eyes that held the fury of Tartarus itself. It had upon its skull a severely burned iron helmet. The defeated figure looked on in horror as the undead pony spoke with malice.
"If thou choose now to die whilst doing nothing to atone for thy sins, then thy repent, for thee has no hope in this sick and twisted world of ours!" The undead pony screamed, swinging its blade down upon the figure.
"Carrot Top!" The figure screamed before everything went black.
Derpy woke up in a panic. Cold sweat dripping down her left cheek. She tried to recall what just happened, only to be greeted by an empty dullness and a migraine. Shaking her head, she analyzed the area she was in: a bedroom filled with pictures of her family. She smiled as she stared at a certain framed picture on the nightstand. It was of her oldest daughter, Amethyst, playing with her youngest daughter, Dinky, when they were but fillies. It brought a motherly smile to her face as she remembered the fond memories. After a while of sitting in the dark, Derpy looked to her right to see her husband sleeping next to her. She smiled as he mumbled something about a TARDIS and Daleks. She always wondered where her husband gets his imagination from. She shook her head and got out of bed, heading for the ajar door. She opened it with her muzzle and headed out into the moonlit hallway.
"I'd better get breakfast started, it's almost morning..." Derpy silently acknowledged to herself, trotting as silently as possible, hoping not to disturb her little ones. She made it to the kitchen, turning on the stove and grabbing a pan.
'Should today be blueberry muffins or banana? You know what, why not both? I'm sure the kids would love it!' Derpy thought to herself as she grabbed the dough off of the top of the pantry.
'I should also see how Carrot is doing today. I hope she's alright.' Derpy wondered. Suddenly she was assaulted by the image from her dreams. She yelped rather loudly, for her husband came rushing into the kitchen.
"Derpy, are you alright!?" He yelled frantically as he looked her over, trying to find anything wrong with her. Derpy dusted herself off with a wing and turned towards her husband.
"I'm alright Time. I just had a bit of a scare, nothing too serious. And you should stop yelling, Dinky and Amethyst are in the other room." Derpy stated, gaining an embarrassed look from Time Turner. He coughed into his hoof and smiled sheepishly before apologizing and trotting to the dinner table. He pulled out the master chair at the end of the table.
"Also, sorry for waking you, I know how much you need your sleep." Derpy added as she rolled the dough and cut it into little circles.
"Don't worry, I was planning on getting up around this time anyway." Time smiled, watching his wife work her magic.
"Do I ever tell you how beautiful you are? Because you are simply gorgeous." Time flattered, gaining a giggle from Derpy.
"You say that every morning, and I simply adore the flattery you give me." Derpy went over to Time. They looked dreamily into each others eyes before leaning slowly into a passionate kiss. They stayed like that for Celestia knows how long, until they heard a cough come from the hollowed doorway. Quickly snapping to attention, they both focused on a unicorn mare and filly standing in the doorway, the mare giving her a bemused look while the filly only smiled happily.
"Are you two lovebirds done here? I'm hungry." The mare spoke with a tired tone. She slowly trotted toward one if the side chairs. She pulled it out with her magic and sat down before placing her front hooves on the table and laying her head. The Filly followed suite and copied the mare, before lifting her head and giggling.
"Amethyst, you no better than to lay your head down on the dining table! Haven't I taught you anything about manners?" Derpy chastised. Amethyst only groaned in reply as she tried to lift her head, only to fail miserably with a smack. Derpy rolled her eyes and went back to baking. She inserted the pan into the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. Derpy then pulled out a seat and sat down with her family.
"So Dinky, you ready for your first day at school?" Derpy asked. Dinky turned to look at her before her eyes went crosseyed. Derpy giggled.
"Ha ha! I made mommy laugh!" Dinky shouted with joy.
"Yes you did sweetie, yes you did..." Derpy trailed off, smiling sadly at her daughter.
'It has already been two months since the accident, but it feels like an eternity has passed.' Derpy thought to herself, before shaking herself out of her thoughts. Suddenly, a ringing had taken her ears by surprise as she dashed forward, turning off the timer and grabbing some hoof mitts out the drawer. She pulled out the freshly baked muffins before looking at the time. It was 7:35. Derpy stared at the clock before gasping loudly and setting down the muffins with a slam, making everyone jump.
"Derpy what's wrong? You've been very jumpy lately. Are you sure you're okay?" Time asked.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go! I forgot I was supposed to meet Carrot Top at her house at 7:30. I'm late, so have breakfast without me~" Derpy's voice trailed off as she rushed through the door and out of sight.
"Geez, that mare can be so random sometimes..." Time thought outloud. He closed the door and headed back into the kitchen where his two daughters were waiting."
*Knock Knock*
A loud knocking sound came from Carrot's door. She sat there for a moment, confused as to who could be banging on her door this early in the morning. She got out of bed and headed for the door.
*Knock Knock Knock*. The knocking even louder that time. Carrot opened the door, only to be tackled to the ground by a grey blob.
"Oof! Hey, what's the big idea!?" She screamed trying to push the assaulter off her. She stopped immediately when she saw a blond mane enter her field of vision.
"Derpy, is that you?" She asked in confusion. Derpy raised her head, her crossed eyes making it quite easy to recognize her. She smiled before getting off of Carrot and giving her a helping hoof.
"Derpy, you gotta be more careful when you do that! I was about to hurt you!" Carrot spoke worriedly. She dusted herself off and looked Derpy straight in the eyes.
"I can already guess what you're here for, so I'll show it to you." Carrot's voice became muffled as she grabbed a book off the counter. She dropped it on the coffee table before opening it to a certain page. Derpy sat next to her and stared at the book questioningly.
"What is it Carrot? Is it a type of spell book or something? " Derpy asked, raising an eyebrow. Carrot giggled.
"Well something like that. I found it in the attic with a note attached to it. The note said, "only the chosen may enter the cursed world", so I was wondering if you knew what that meant since you have a habit of running into strange artifacts." Carrot questioned, hoping to gain something.
"Huh... can't say that I do Carrot, have you tried reading it yet or something?"
"Actually, no. I was waiting for you to get here before I read anything." Carrot smiled sheepishly. She then turned to Derpy and spoke in a serious tone.
"Do you want to do the honors, Derpy?" Carrot asked as she passed the book towards Derpy. Derpy thought or a moment before grabbing the book and opening it. Nothing happened. There was no words. No pictures. Just a blank page. Derpy sighed and handed the page over to Carrot before she spoke.
"There's nothing written there, Carrot. It's only a blank page. I think you should just throw it away...." Derpy trailed off as Carrot Top was getting dragged into the book by ice claws. Derpy screamed and tried to grab onto one of Carrot's hooves, succeeding only partially before realizing she was also getting dragged into the book as well. She screamed even louder, hoping for somebody to help. No one came, and she and Carrot Top were dragged into the book with a noise that sounded like slurping. The book floated in the ai for a moment before dropping to the ground with a loud thump.
*JOURNEY 1 END*
