Darkness.
That is the main thing I remember. A consuming pool of blackness waiting to pull me deeper and deeper into its grasp, consuming me, swallowing me into its depths; before the darkness I can remember but one sound, and it was a loud crack, similar to cracking thunder through a dark and silent midnight sky.
There was no sound, none at all – not even something similar to white noise. No chirps or whispers, or leaves rustling or wind blowing. There was just nothing. Nothing for a far as I could see; silence and blackness - just a dark empty void of unknown. Yet somehow I still managed to stand without fear of falling forever as thought I was in a bottomless pit.
Within the darkness, I could see but a single pair of glowing red eyes, peaking out at me as I searched for something other than the void; but those eyes were all I could see, shining, as if they could stare into my very soul and extract it from my body before I could even have a second moments thought – then a set of teeth appeared; smiling; sparkling white shards that almost seemed to glisten at every jaggered edge it held.
Those sharp teeth soon parted, still poised within their smile, and the luscious sound echoed through my ears, a voice of silk that soothed all fear; “Come to me,” it whispered to me, “Come to me,” the words would rattle through my body dragging me closer. How could a set of eyes that demonic, a set of teeth so evil, be accompanied by such a soothing voice?
I found myself so mystified by the siren calls that I began to venture through the darkness to do as it instructed me to do: go to it. Without question, just what the voice was instructing. The calls lifted me, left me feeling weightless and I felt afloat and carefree. I felt happy. In my trance, I felt myself getting closer and closer to the set of hovering teeth and eyes. The figured was pleased at my obedience; his smile grew wider and his tongue appeared out of his mouth – forked – and gave both upper and lower sets of his teeth a lick in one smooth motion. A chuckling echoed from deep within his unseen chest and he kept repeating, “Yes, closer, you’re almost there,”
I felt a peaceful smile wipe my face clean of any previous fear as I obeyed the orders. Whether I wanted to or not, there was no escaping that voice, no turning back, no refusing the tone – just listening; following; going towards it, that’s what he wanted.
He?
Yes, he.
Him.
The masculinity was now obvious to me as it tickled through my ears, caressed my cheeks and rubbed me under my chin, playing with my hair, stroking my head; picking me up and dragging me closer with ease and lack of struggle. I allowed it. I didn’t fight back.
Hypnotized.
My eyes started to close as the smile remained on my face. I could feel myself being drained and taken away as though the void was beginning to dissolve me so that I could now become apart of it. I don’t know for how long I would be apart of it but that didn’t seem to matter anymore, I was happy.
I felt my brain spark to life, suddenly the questions arrived again. Where was I going and who was taking me? What was going to happen? And again, why should I be so happy when I’m being consumed by a grinning black void that stared into my life form with demonic glowing eyes.
“Come to me,” He called again.
That was it once again, gone. My brain had turned to mush again, the smile tickled and spread back onto my jaw line and my eyes gracefully slid to a close again. The last few sparks of energy and question dissipated from my brain and allowed myself to become weightless and carefree once more.
Those red eyes got bigger, and the closer I got the easier it became to see the flames within the pits of those red eyes, the flames lashing out and licking the roof of his eyes sockets. The smoke as a result of the raging burning flames began to flitter out of the corners of the eyes – the pits of fire. The gin was so wide on that set of sparkling white teeth, and as the grin began to turn uncontrollable, the teeth started to part company again, and the flames from the eyes were also beginning to lap our over the teeth. The closer I got the wider the teeth spread until I could finally see the flames right at the back of the throat, the smoke bellowing out the corners of the evil mouth.
There was a boom and as loud as possible but as sweet as can be, sweeter than the taste of honey, a voice ruptured through my ears, rubbing carefully against my ear drums and bellowing the words, “Not yet,”
At the words my eyes shot open once more and my mind became a racing highway once again, questions sprinting in the left hand lane and confusion pursuing up the right hand lanes. I felt my body fill up with lead becoming very heavy. The headache ruptured through my skull, feeling like it was going to split the bone open like the weak shell of a nut in a nutcracker. I spun my head in search of the voice and where this new source of sound was possibly coming from but again all there was were the red eyes, staring in confusion which was soon followed closely by the look of sheer annoyance.
Then it came, I felt a sharp blow to the right of my face and once I had come to focus I noticed that the eyes and teeth were gone and this time there was nothing but blackness and a soundless void once again.
My eyes parted company by a fraction of an inch and there was nothing but bright blinking light bursting in through the small gap. Sightless by the glare, I shut my eyes completely. I blinked several times in a row; once, twice, three times – allowing my eyes to adjust to the avalanche of white consuming brightness until finally the pictures started to form in front of me. Slowly but surely, shades of blurred greens started to join the whiteness, then spots of pink here and there had joined in it’s company, until soon there was a whole array of colours blurred in front of my eyes.
Blinking just a few more times my eyes began to focus on the images ahead of me. Once, the blur remained the same. Twice, it was less fuzzy. Three times; almost there … and finally, fourth brought the blur into a vivid crisp image ahead of me and I was bale to noticed that I was outside, lying upon the freshly cut grass. In an instant my nose is filled with the glorious sent of grass clippings and fresh rain which had now left to leave a clean and clear sky above.
As I lay upon the soft grass I can feel the heat of the glowing sun spreading it’s warmth through my entire body all the way from my flank, to the tips of my hooves and the top of my ears, along my mane and even my tail. For a moment I lay there, rolling onto my back and basking in its warm glory. Staring up to the blue cloud free sky, I lay there rolling my shoulder snuggly into the grass as I watched as the passing of birds and petite little multi-coloured butterflies cast their tiny shadows onto the grass below.
I must have passed out, fainted even or possibly even fallen into a deep asleep in the shaded area. Why else would I have been lying out here on the grass without recollection of what had happened? Better even, why is it that nopony had come to my aid to check if I was alright?
Dragging my body off the floor, feeling very featherweight and lightheaded I begin a slow-paced walk so that my jelly-legs are able to solidify, preventing me from having another – if that’s what happened in the first place – fall. My legs and hooves start to resemble the fact that they do contain bone despite my previous beliefs and now I’m able to break into a trot, breaking away the stiffness in my muscles.
Dodging my fellow ponies here and there, I weave my way silently through what appears to be a market place. A Cherry Stand to my left, an Asparagus Stall to my right, I take a mental note of everything I pass, and try my hardest to recognize a familiar face but every ponies face comes to be a blur within my memory and I am unable to notice any pony in familiar.
This recent news doesn't damper my spirit and I continue my trot, still searching for a pony I recognize, or maybe for some pony to call out to me instead, making it easier for me to make realization of events. Some pony; any pony. Just so I can find out what’s been going on or possible even why – if they know – I ended up lying on the grass without attention or care, or even how long I had been lying there for.
It could have just been a long nap; maybe some pony tripped over my head leaving me with a mild concussion or even slight memory loss … surely in that case I would be left with at least some form of memory be it in a recognizable building or a familiar face, I don’t necessarily have to remember names, I just want to be able to recognize some ponies face. Just one pony.
My pace begins to slow back to a slow-paced walk and I finally come to a complete stop just outside of a brightly coloured home that resembles something similar to that of a gingerbread house; a house with candy-striped red and white pillars and what appears to look like frosting around the rim of the roof.
From the gingerbread house and out of the cherry coloured oak front door bursts a pink mare with a curly raspberry mane, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Party!” whilst what looks to be a baby alligator is clutching onto tufts of raspberry tail hair.
Following her explosive exit through the now left open door comes with her the smell of various delicious baked goods from the scent of red velvet cupcakes to a caramel oat slice and even to the extent of a rather scrumptiously fresh smelling traditional chocolate cake. I absorb as much of the delectable aroma as I can into my senses, causing a mini earthquake-like rumbling within my belly before I snap back to the less than appealing reality.
“Um, excuse me?” I call out in shock and confusion to the mares actions, but I am only to be greeted with silence as the pink mare ignores me and continues to gallop away into the far distance, pulling along with her some sort of cannon.
As I watch the mare disappear out of my sight, I spin around to take in the view of the small town I now stand in as sudden realization strikes me in the fact that I actually have no idea at all as to where I am, or what this place is called. I don’t recognize any of its buildings or statues, none of its features or even any of the ponies that reside here – none of the ones who brush past me hold familiarity to my memories. I stand, looking around at every face that passes me and they all still remain to be a blur in my mind and thoughts.
I abruptly realize in shock …
I don’t know who I am.
