Dwindling Light

July 27th 2014,  8:00 A.M.

Castle of the Two Sisters, Equestria

Slowly I came to life as my phones alarm went off only a couple feet away from me. I crawled off of my bed of old sheets and blankets and turned off the alarm. I groaned as I stood up and stretched a little while letting out a loud yawn. Best get to work. I thought silently to myself as I walked to my canteens and took a swig of water from one.

After I set the canteen down I walked over to the counter where I had my writing area setup at and grabbed my schedule.

0800 hours

Wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, grab tools and make way to building site.

0900 hours

Arrive at building site and organize materials. Site is 113 paces north, 48 paces west of entrance to Everfree forest.

0915 hours

Start working on the shack. I will be working here most of the time.

1100 hours

End work. Grab canteens and head towards the river to refill.

1200 hours

Search the surrounding area for food. Fruits, and vegetables ONLY! Only wildlife if in severe need of food. Area searched will be within 100 meters of the River in all directions. Likeliness to find me from 1200 to 1330 is unlikely so please leave any messages at my desk in the castle.

1330 hours

Head to base camp, start working on shack again. I will be here from 1345 to 1600 hours, everyday.

1600 hours

End work. Gather tools and head back to Castle. Will be on the main path towards the castle.

1700 hours

Arrive at castle. Place tools in the kitchen along with any food I find. Boil the water in the canteens. I will be in the kitchen cooking as well from 1715 to 1900. This time includes the boiling of the water and cleaning of food. Feel free to come to dinner if you so wish, but be warned it will be meager for a while.

1900 hours

Clean dishes and make way to the library. I will be reading through Equestrian history, mythology, anatomy, and otherwise as to educate myself. If I am to stay here I will need at least some knowledge of your culture and history as to fit in with the general populace. I will be here every night from 1915 to 2200.

2200 hours

Put in bookmark for whatever I’m reading. Proceed to head towards the kitchen and go to sleep for the day.

This schedule will repeat until my cabin is complete. If there are any concerns, as I said you’re more than welcome to contact me immediately.

Robert K Rucker

I had three other copies ready to send as well, so I lit the candle and sent them off to their respective receivers. One to the Princess, one to Twilight, and lastly one to Dr. Hooves.

“Time to get this show on the road Zeke. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.” I stated into the open air as he faded into his shadow form in front of me.

“You know, it’s not nearly as fun spooking you now that you can sense where I’m at.” Zeke said flatly. I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed my canteens and tools. “What’s for breakfast?” he asked as I gave him a blank stare before walking out of the kitchen and down the hall to the atrium.

As I reached the atrium stairs I heard the sound of a certain dragon sending off a scroll. “Auroram forte Spike!” I exclaimed as I jumped off the railing, falling a few feet to the ground below. The small drake seemed to be recovering from a small heart attack while Twilight giggled a little. “Auroram forte to you as well Twilight.” I said with a slight nod of my head.

“It seems you’re punctual as your schedule said.” Twilight replied with a smile. I nodded and looked down at my wristwatch, 8:09 A.M.

“Sorry Twilight, but unless you plan to walk and talk I fear I must take my leave of you. It’s 8:09 and I wish to make haste to the building site so that I may have some time to search for food.” I gave her a quick nod and made my way past her as I heard her start walking behind me. “Hope you can keep up Princess.” I stated eagerly before I secured my tools and canteens one last time.

“What are you-” Her voice was drowned out as I put in my headphones and put on Diamond Eyes by Shinedown, blasting at full volume as I steadied myself on the thick branch and breathed in slowly, calming my body as the world seemed to slow down. I am the shadow, and the smoke in your eyes, I am the ghost that hides in the night.

I opened my eyes and ran down the branch and jumped off throwing my arms up above my head, grabbing onto the branch as I swung between the trees before pulling myself up and climbing further up a tree, jumping into the next one landing in the crook where the tree split into two. I didn’t stay for long as I held my arms out to my side and slowly let myself fall forwards, grabbing onto another branch and swinging myself up onto a branch and started to jump from branch to branch.

As I started to see the base off in the distance, I felt the branch I just jumped on buckle underneath me. CRAP! I quickly braced myself for impact with the ground, bending my knees slightly as I hit the ground going into a roll on my right shoulder before popping back up and climbing up the nearest tree as if nothing had happened.

After a few minutes of flying through the trees I arrived at the spot I planned to make my cabin at. I sat down next to the large pile of lumber we had retrieved the previous day and opened one of my canteens, sipping the water as I caught my breath. I saw Twilight and Spike running down the path as I took my earphones out.

“Hey there Twilight, Spike, what kept ya?” I asked through my heavy breathing. Twilight held a hoof up as she tried catching her breath enough to get a word in. “Want some water?” I offered them one of my unopened canteens as I felt a slight shock run through my arm as Twilight levitated it out of my grasp. I winced a little at the shock but didn’t let it phase me more than it needed to.

“Sorry, keep forgetting.” Twilight said sheepishly before she took a swig of the water in the canteen.

I waved my hand in dismissal. “It’s fine Twilight, it hurts yeah but its nothing I can’t handle. As long as the spell isn’t cast directly on me it seems to give only a slight shock.”

“Anyways, are you okay Robert? I saw you fall back there after the branch broke.”

“Yeah I’m fine, didn’t do much other than startle me a bit.” Silence fell over us as we regained our breath. I looked down at my watch, 8:18 A.M. Nice timing, I thought to myself as I stood up, cracking my back as I did so.

“Best look around for some food, I’m starving.” I stated as my stomach growled in agreement. I looked back to Twilight as she was still sitting next to the timber pile. “I’ll be back in a little bit, if you can could you get a spot setup for a campfire, after that start cutting some of the wood for firewood.” I asked as they gave a nod in understanding.

I turned and started walking into the forest, looking for any fruits or vegetables that may be around. It didn’t take me long to find a blackberry bush. The bush had plentiful blackberries ready for the picking, so I proceeded to start packing them into the satchel I had been given by Dr. Hooves.

When I decided that I finally had enough, I started my trek back to the camp. Listening as Twilights and Spikes voice along with a new voice that was familiar yet foreign to me. I stopped at the treeline of the clearing we had placed the materials for the cabin to see whom it was.

Twilight was standing across from a cyan pegasus that had a long rainbow mane and tail, while Spike and Applejack stood off to the side talking to each other loud enough only for them to hear. Although Twilights conversation wasn’t as subtle.

“Can’t you at least give him a chance?!” Twilight exclaimed. The cyan pegasus shook her head before responding.

“Twi, I just don’t think it’s a good idea trusting a creature that di-” I stepped out from the bushes.

“A creature that did what? Be a myth in your culture for the worse even though the idea your mythology has of my species is centuries old and completely arbitrary?” I said flatly as the pegasus shot a few feet forward and turned to glare at me.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance mi amice. I don’t suppose I could offer thou some baccis?” I opened up the satchel bag that I had packed full of blackberries and showed it to her with a smile. Twilight raised an eyebrow to me while the cyan pegasus continued to glare at me.

I put the satchel on the ground and walked up to her and held a hand out. “Salve, ego sum Robert. Quis enim es tu?” Twilight was looking at me dumbfounded now while the pegasi was looking at me confused and no longer glaring.

“Errr, Twilight?” She said.

“Yes?”

“Did that thing just go from fluent Equestrian to a completely different language?”

“I’m just as surprised as you are.”

I rolled my eyes. “Greetings, I’m Robert. Who are you?” I asked as I continued to hold my hand out. The pegasus hesitantly put her fore hoof in my hand and I shook it much to her surprise.

“The name’s Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria and future Wonderbolt!” She exclaimed loudly causing me to cover my ears. I shook my head from the ache I had gotten and gave her a weak smile.

“Quite a bold statement Ms. Dash, to say you’re the fastest flyer in all of Equestria.” I stated as she gave me a flat look.

“Oh please, there’s not a pegasus within a thousand miles of here that could beat me in a race!” She boasted while I laughed.

“So that means you’re the fastest pegasus, not the fastest flyer.” I pointed out as she flew in front of me and glared.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” She demanded as I shook my head.

“You did just state there wasn’t a pegasus that could beat you in a race. Don’t forget to take into account the other sentient aviary species present in your world. Primary examples being the Dragons, Gryphons, and Changelings. All of whom are races that are capable of further thought and retain the ability of flight. So with that, it means there could be a few or many outside of the pegasus race that have far faster flyers than you. Oh and I forgot to say Alicorns as well.”

“I may not be from your world Ms. Dash, but that does not mean I am ill educated. If you have anymore bold statements you’d like me to shoot down at a whim, I’d be glad to. If not then don’t make them around me. Those who are arrogant and cocky are the first to die because they believe so highly in their own abilities that they overestimate what they can do.”

When I finished, Dash was fuming over with anger while Twilight just looked worriedly between the two of us while Applejack burst into a fit of laughter. I looked back to see Rainbow Dash flying away and shrugged my shoulders. “Oh well, can’t get along with everybody.”

“Robert! We needed her!” Twilight exclaimed slightly angry.

“What for? Transporting materials recklessly? Speeding through the building process just to save time?” I asked.

“Well yes but-” I cut her off again.

“I pass on that Twilight. I’d rather have the cabin slowly built so that it’s sturdy and WON’T fall in on me while I’m sleeping. Speed is good sometimes but this is not one of those times.” I pointed out. She opened her mouth to protest but couldn’t find any words to do so.

“Looks like he knows what he’s talkin ‘bout Twi, he read her like an open book.” Applejack stated as Twilight rolled her eyes and I smiled at her.

July 27th 2014,  8:16 P.M.

Castle of the Two Sisters, Grand Library, Equestria

The rest of the day went by rather slow afterwards, we laid the outline of the house along with getting logs ready for stacking tomorrow. It was a long process but in the end it will all be worth it especially since I’ll be able to say that it is my house and that I had a hand in building it from the ground up.

Not much was said between us though except for asking for tools or for help. Honestly we made further progress than I thought we would and I’m happy for that.

When I got back to the Castle I cleaned what food I had gotten and boiled new batches of water. I suppose one of these days I should go to the river and wash up at least a little bit, I’m starting to smell like somebody tossed me into the sewer and I climbed out into a hot summer day.

After I cleaned my food and boiled the water I made my way here to the Grand Library of the castle. Nothing of great interest so I decided to brush up on Equestrian mythology so I can see exactly how our species is represented through it. It was not a pretty read but let me tell you, I can see why they said I wasn’t human after all and why they’re afraid of our species.

Luckily for me these humans were exactly what I thought they were and I’d be able to clarify any questions that might pop up easier.

After I read over a few myths I decided to make my way over to the history section of the Library, carrying my torch with me so I could have at least some light. “HEY ROBERT!” My heart skipped a few beats at the sound of Zeke screaming in my ear. I turned around to hit him but my arm went through the shadow that was him.

“Please don’t do that again Zeke, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” I said as I turned my attention back to the books surrounding me.

“Oh please, if I wanted to give you one I already would have. Anyways I think there might be something you want to check out.” He stated. I turned to see where he was pointing. My heart nearly stopped as my eyes fell upon what he was pointing to.

Floating there was the orb again. This time is was pure yellow with a pulsating black orb in the middle. “Oh heck no, I’m not touching that thing again!” I nearly yelled as I backed into a wall while I saw Zeke roll his head.

“Don’t be such a baby! It could be your way back home.” He tried reassuring me. I shook my head fervently.

“Or it could be a portal to ANOTHER world Zeke. I’m not taking any chances.” I argued as I tried to calm my mind. It’s okay Robert, it can’t do anything if you don’t touch it. Just keep looking for an interesting history book and maybe it will go away.

It took a few minutes but I finally got myself back under control and started to look for a book again, allowing myself an occasional glance over at the orb.

After a couple minutes of searching I found a book called, “The Discordian War”. As I went to pick it up, the book shocked me and sent me flying back into the shelf behind me and knocking me out.

Date Unknown

Location Unknown

My sense returned to me slowly as I heard the sounds of mourning coming from somewhere nearby. I must go. I thought to myself as I forced myself upright against the tree I was under before I stood on my feet. Ugh, what in the heck happened.

I shook my head free of the last strands of dizziness and took in the world around me. I was standing underneath a large oak tree, the day was pleasant almost as a summer day, but the pleasantness was drowned out by the dreariness of what stood before me. An ocean of tombstones that went on forever until it hit the road.

It didn’t take long for the sight to click in my mind. I’m back! I nearly exclaimed the thought in glee until I heard a preacher giving final rites to a poor soul who had passed away. I stayed silent as I approached the funeral taking place. I may of never known you but goodbye mi amice. May you forever rest in peace.

I walked to the back of the funeral seating to get a better view, only to have my heart sink into my stomach and my veins run cold. True this was a funeral and it was never a pretty sight in the least, but this one was far worse. It wasn’t the preacher who was speaking that terrified me, but what was around him and on the casket.

Looking back at me was a portrait of myself.