The Beginning: Where It All Starts

(??? POV)

I hated my life to some extent, but never did I want it to change. I got used to it, and learned to appreciate what I did have, so now…now that I am here…

That black pony in front of me is sitting with such a depressive look that only makes me feel gloomier. Its bandages and patch are on the opposite to where mine are, Again with that excuse? This is you, accept it.

I put my hoof over my eyes, wishing that when I uncovered them, I be in my bed and then receive a light scolding from my brother for sleeping too long. I have to accept reality. I have to! If I don’t…what would I do then? …That’s a silly question, I have no idea what to do even now.

When I was finally man enough to stop seeing the truth, I turned my attention to a plain, black saddlebag next to the mirror. Apparently, I been wearing that the moment Pebbles – the name of the little brown pony – found me unconscious in the forest. For a little girl, I am surprised she dragged me to her home.

Another thing I obliviously missed and now noticed, is the tail on my behind. A genuine tail; its white too, just like my hair. Comparing it to Pebbles, and her mother, Fauna - the green pony - , I got the idea they are supposed to resemble our mane.

Starting with Fauna for example, her mane is smooth and pulled down on one side; her tail has basically the same silky appearance with the end barely touching the ground.

Pebbles’ is combed as a braid with it ending as a short ponytail tight by a light blue bow.

As for mine…mine is exactly like my mane. Its messy, strands of hair combined to form triangular spikes on the edges, random smooth hair, and looks thick, as if I wouldn’t be able to pass my hoof between it even if I wanted to – even if it is made of hair.

I was never a morning person, and even when I do wash it, I…I – I flinched at the thought of it. Forget it! No! Not gonna remember that! That ‘life’ of me is ove-

I stopped myself, already figuring out where that train of thought was headed. The anger that spread in the pony’s black eyes died out faster than they appeared, leaving an almost unshakable look of depression in his eyes.

I…I better think of something that does make sense.

That brings my attention to the house I am in. I slept in their bed, their only bed, for a good six hours; on the opposite side to it, there is the mirror I am currently in front of. Next to it is the black saddlebag I carried – during that chase with Nightmare Moon – without noticing. The wall perpendicular to it, which also has the door, is adorned with a lot of frames with black and white pictures, I can check those later.

On the other side of the house, Pebbles and Fauna are in front of the chimney, cooking something in that giant old pot. That’s when I noticed a blue light being emitted by the tip of her horn, and the same surrounding spoon that is swirling in circles in the pot. To the right of them, is the other half of the kitchen; cabinets, plates, a round table and eight wooden stools.

That’s basically everything that makes sense. Its definitely not modern, but this house can still be called sweet home. My eyes went back to my reflection, and I can see a bit of sleepiness in my eyes, but that’s all there is in them.

Now what? I asked myself. I take notice of the bag again, Peebles said there is something in it. A book. I think she said it’s a book.

There is something in it. A clue to how I got here…maybe, but I am not ready. It’s hard to tell what it is, but I feel scared. Scared of what’s inside the book won’t help me at all.

I should take a look at the pictures. Who knows, maybe there is a clue there. I knew better, but anything to keep me occupied. And so, as I head towards them, that piece of false hope is what’s keeping me from emotionally sinking back down.

When I could finally take a good look at them, I can assume they are normal family pictures. They don’t grab most of my attention at first, – it’s just ponies replacing the spot of humans – but there is something I noticed from the pictures. Two things in fact.

One: male ponies have a slightly bulkier, and often bigger physique. Which is probably not true for most male ponies…not counting myself. Two: the pictures are not just in black and white, but they are old, really old. I can see wrinkles, some of the edges look torn, and now that I notice, the frames have cracks. Just how old are this?

Then one picture really catches my attention. What I see is Fauna, smiling gently alongside another pony that looks just like her while. In the background, I can see the grass on the ground and near them, the abundance of tall trees that seem to have no end; the trees’ height literally puts their leaves and branches out of sight.

At first, I thought it was a reflection, or that ponies tend to look like each other more than humans, but I quickly scratched that off. They look so much alike, but that is probably because the picture has no color. Is that…her t-

“My twin sister, Flora.”

I nearly jumped at hearing Fauna’s voice next to me, and as I began to control my heartbeat, I also listened.

“Flora…she was more than a sister, but a best friend as well.”

Did I…did I just hear…sadness?

“ha ha ha ha ha,” even her laugh lacked true emotion, but I kept my gaze on the picture with the two of them together, “we used to run out of home and play with the animals of Lostshine Forest. We did get lost here and there, but at least we always found our way back. Hehehe ha ha ha ha ha ha,” this time, her laugh is more genuine, *sigh* “Flora was always the oldest, but acted as the youngest. And when the time came for us to take charge, she had no problem with me leading the family in most occasions. She never showed it, but Flora cared the most for the safety of our family.”

I can hear her footsteps – or hoofsteps, considering the grammar they use, hoofsteps is probably right – walking away from me. I followed her and stopped in front of another picture.

It has ponies lined up in front of a house; by appearances (wrinkles, sizes, physique), I can tell some of them are kids, most of them are adults and a few are old ponies. It’s the very representation of what a family portrait is about: cheery smiles while standing in front of a house that can be called home, sweet home.

Home…a really distant, but distant, thing for me.

“This picture was taken when Flora and I were just fillies, but even then, our elders expected us to…outshine what the Brightwood family has accomplished so far. …I don’t believe I told you that name yet, have I? No, I don’t believe I have,” as Fauna answers her own question, my focus fall on the trees in the background, and find one similarity to the ones where Fauna and her sister took their picture. I can’t see the top of the trees. Not a branch or leaf is visible, only the bodies of the trees. But with one bigger difference is what’s growing at the base of the trees, the same long leaved flowers I saw after waking up.

“The Brightwood family is…was a given the self-appointed duty to discover, or rediscover, the secrets of nature magic. It was a silly concept for most ponies. They believed, since we can already aid and change the environment when the time calls, there is no need to research a natural force we can control. …But would you believe, when I say they were wrong?”

I move my gaze off the picture and on to her, and see her already looking at me back with a motherly smile, “There was somepony long ago – according to old legends – whose magic and cutie mark were one with nature. I can see why others thought of those legends as made up fairy tales for fillies, I was no different back then, but my grandparents knew better. And after every failure they made, only made them more eager to understand.”

Her eyes travel back to the family portrait, and mine do so as well, “They gathered every symbol from the legends, connected them to the real world, and saw what they were missing.” The more I listened, the more I realized how excited she has become, “My grandparents said that the legends called this pony, The Violent Gaia: a pony with magical prowess that matches an alicorn, and had a special connection with the earth. That’s why we came here, to this forest; it had everything they needed! Lostshine Forest had a strong connection to the nature, much like The Violent Gaia once had! Combined with their magic, it took them Months what it would have taken anypony Centuries without the strong connection!”

This is the second time I ever heard anyone truly passionate about what they are saying; the first time I heard anything similar came from my brother.

“Nopony expected this! When I saw it for myself, my first thoughts were ‘I’m probably dreaming.’ I believed it was impossible; everypony in Equestria thought the same, but they created it! They named it, Gaia’s Blossoms, as a tribute to the original creator!”

I could hear her breathe in a pack of air. After that nonstop monologue, it is only natural to be out of breath. This really means something for her. Whatever her grandparents invented, it must have been that important. But after I turned to face her, Fauna’s ecstatic personality had died out and replaced by a downcast look.

“F-Fauna, w-what’s wrong?” Greaaat choice of words, consider yourself a man now, the sarcasm I added actually hurt more than intended.

“I’m sorry.”

My eyes widened, What!? That wasn’t something I was expecting.

Fauna moves her hair to cover one of her deep-blue colored eyes, and turns her head to the side while doing so – completely blocking all view of me –, “Young ponies never want to listen to a sentimental story about the past; all they would ever spend their free time on is to play outside with other ponies their age, and exchange stories of ponies they admire. I’m sorry if I bored you; I never intended to ramble on if you weren’t interested.”

“I-I wasn’t bored. I promise.” It didn’t have that manly confidence, but I did mean it. Now that I think about it, I didn’t do those things she said young ponies do, even though I am a bit older from what she means of ‘young’. …Who knows, maybe it’s better I came to this strange world of equally strange unicorns. I can start a new li – who am I kidding. I just wanna go back home. That mental state I desperately fought back is returning, threatening me with its never-ending presence.

“I’m sorry.” That takes me by surprise. My mind refocuses on Fauna, and what I see is her smiling at me. In a way, it does make me feel better. Such a kind gesture, and it’s better than watching her depressed. But the way she sounded, it’s as if…as if she knew I was feeling like this.

“Every~pony with a growling belly, line up! IIIt’s su~pper TIIIIIME!” Pebble’s voice resonated loud and clear, and inside the small house with its close walls, the lasting echo it produced made me cringe by its volume alone. Fauna didn’t seem affected at all, That’s right. I’m just sensitive to this stuff.

She turns her head towards her daughter, “We will be over there in a minute.” Once done, she turns back to me, “Mind joining us?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Yes as to you will eat with us, or yes do you mind eating with us?” She finishes by moving a hoof over her mouth and failing to stifle back a lighthearted chuckle.

I won’t deny that it didn’t make me laugh, “Ha ha…” But it also got me embarrassed. I-It was fun, just like with my brother, then I got such an unpleasant foreboding feeling. It’s hard to tell what it is exactly, but it feels like I am forgetting something very important.

“You must uphold your status as a gentlecolt by not keeping two fillies waiting,” my mind refocused – yet again – and see Fauna looking at me with a taunting smile.

“Y-Yeah, after you,” as I tried to make a courteous bow (tried), I got a giggle out of her. Then we were finally heading towards the kitchen, but on the way, I spotted myself on the mirror. I still have those bandages and one patch.

A couple of seconds past before I gently pulled out the taped cloth off my cheek. Under it, is piece of my black coat that hardly looks different from the rest, …I am just sensitive everywhere. There was a bruise in there before, I am sure, but now it’s gone. Goes to show how much pain my body can handle, and how much I’m willing to. Not wanting to stare at my reflection any longer, I removed all the bandages, then took out the only item inside my saddlebag, and walked over to the table where the girls were waiting.

~*~

I figured eating wasn’t going to be completely normal, but there are a few things I can relate as a human.

First: we are sitting on the stools as a normal person would. Two: the food is – what I can guess – tomato soup in a bowl, like the ones I use for cereal, and there are actual utensils to use. Third: there isn’t really a third.

Teachers say that staring at a problem never solves it. If you know it, you do. If you don’t, you don’t. It is that simple. I move my gaze from the metal spoon I tried to pick up about 20 times, to the two ponies who are eating without any trouble.

Pebbles is – somehow – grabbing the spoon with her hoof, that has no fingers and looks impossible in every logical aspect. She is practically devouring the contents of her bowl, moving her spoon in and out of her little pony mouth before putting it down on the table, then picking up her bowl with her hooves and chucking down whatever was left.

Fauna’s horn was lighted in the color of blue, and the same light surrounded the spoon that floats into her mouth whenever she is ready to take another sip of her food. Compared to her daughter, she is taking her time to taste the ‘fruits’ of her work.

Then at last, my eyes traveled back to my untouched bowl. No option. Going with plan Pebbles. I picked up the bowl between my hooves, carefully as well so I wouldn’t spill, and chugged down at a slow space for the well-being of my tongue.

My absent-mindedness strikes back, for my stomach demanded furiously for me to keep going. This sudden hunger surprised me, but after all the running I did, it should have been the first thing in mind when I woke up. That is, if wasn’t chased in a forest by a monster in pony disguise, rolled down a cliff, have no idea where I am, and been turned into a pony that still matches one of my human characteristics I wished wouldn’t have carried over; all those other problems took priority over hunger.

One finished with the entire soup, I put down the empty bowl and exhaled in satisfaction. I have never been that hungry before. All that running really had a big effect on me.

I could feel my mind awakening from its deep slumber, and my senses returning back to normal. I can’t believe it. I wasn’t hungry, I was starving! This is the best I ever felt! Or maybe Fauna’s cooking is better than my brother’s chef skills! Calm down, you need to calm down. Focus on what’s important.

At the corner of my eye I spotted it, the black book that was in the saddlebag I carried. Is that…really my book? I don’t remember having that, and this book’s cover is difficult to forget.

I moved the bowl aside and put the book in its place. The front cover, the only side with anything on it, has been embroidered with a peculiar design to say the least.

It’s three, interlocked white ovals with a sharp edge each; one of them points up while the other two point downwards diagonally – appearing to be the legs of the first one. Another peculiar detail about the ovals are where they start and end…because I don’t see them; they look to be one and the same, but their shapes made me think they were only close together. The last figure that was stitched is of a white ring that travels under, then over the other side of the fused ovals.

This is a…this is a…a…a…? …Tri…triquetra something. A symbol that’s been made long ago, and…how I wish I were a real bookworm. I read books for school work and for personal fun, but I think I seen this once and that’s about it.

Grabbing the book by moving my hooves under it is easier than picking up a spoon. Once balanced on a hoof, I opened it with the other, and with my very eyes saw the unexpected.

…What!? Is this...a-are my eyes alright? T-The pages, they are…Blank!

I blinked a couple of times, convinced that my eyes are playing a sick trick on me. But the missing content remained the same, missing. Hmmm…missing. A book with this many pages can only serve for something like that.

A blue light manifests around the book, “Huh?” In a second, it levitates into the air and slowly drifts away from me, “What!?” W-What is happening!? Why is that book floating?

The answer came when I looked at who it is heading to: Fauna.

“F-F-Fauna, why?!”

Before giving a proper answer, she covered her mouth with a hoof again, but this time, I can see a glimpse of what – what I can only imagine – is a mischievous smile.

My body tensed and I became nervous of what she might say.

“What do we have here? A book. Could this maybe hold some personal embarrassing pictures you stole from your family album?”

I blinked twice. Surprised can’t begin to describe what I am feeling, especially when my cheeks burn as if they are on fire, W-w-w-w-w-what? What? S-she…She is scary, but at least those pictures are hidden inside my pillow, in the human world I mean. My mind thought back about them, especially in when they were taken.

“Maybe back to the time you were wearing dippers.”

WHAAAAAAT!? I flinched back as if a small, but venomous spider had appeared right in front of me. H-How did she know that!?

Once it stops next to her, the book opens on its own, and all it takes is for her eyes to fall on the invisible content for that creepy smile to disappear. What’s left is a clear look of confusion, “You seemed tensed at what you saw.” Part of that unsettling smile returns, “And here I felt it was something that could give us a glimpse to your past.”

You say it like if it’s actually going to help me with my other problem, but you were actually going to invade personal privacy! With that said in my head, – not that it will ever matter though – the temperature on my cheeks began cooling down.

She puffs her cheeks, turns her head to the side as the book floats back towards me, “You could have stopped me. I used the frailest magic to levitate your book. Poking it would have been enough to break the spell.”

…That’s where Pebbles learned when to puff her cheeks. I still haven’t gotten over the weirdness of a world filled with ponies, and the concept of magic as well, to immediately realize what just occurred. …D-Did she just, did Fauna just-

“IIIT’S PACKING TIIIIME!!!”

Sensitive or not, this one was right in my ear, making both my heart and body jump from their place. My body ends up colliding with the ground, shoulder first (thankfully didn’t break any bones), and my heart is beating three times its normal pulse.

I rolled to my back to look at the little brown pony on the table. Pebbles is wearing a bright-blue celeste colored scarf. The same color as the trees in the only forest I ever ran for my life – and I pray for that experience to never happen again.

“Pack up! We are Leaaa~ving!” She finishes with a gingery smile; her eyes staring back at me expectantly.

First, I press a hoof down on my chest to keep my heart from bursting out. Second, I take a deep breath through my mouth to revive my voice. “What is this - ,” from the depths of my stomach, the once chugged soup is fighting its way up towards the exit. I managed to fight it midway in the throat and re-swallow it back down. Just to be on the safe side, I put a hoof – the one that was on my chest – on my mouth in case it tried to come up, but instead of coming back up, it left two things behind: an aftertaste that makes me want to puke willingly this time, and my least favorite of all, pain.

Pebbles is still looking at me, waiting, and unlike me, she has life in her eyes and a body that will get stronger with the years.

I was able to conquer the disgusting taste left behind to finally uncover my mouth, but still remained lying on the floor to repose better, “We are…leaving?” My pulse has nearly returned to normal.

She shakes her head excitedly while repeating “Yeah yeah yeah” for about two or three seconds. Then she continues without much physical movement, other than her mouth, “This is the day where we finally leave Lostshine Forest and go somewhere else.”

I was about to ask why they are leaving, but I remembered the reason, and experienced it, “Nightmare Moon.” I spoke the name as soon as I thought of it. “That’s the…pony we are trying to escape from.”

I don’t know when, but at some point after saying the name Nightmare Moon, Pebbles smile banished to reveal the grimmest, most serious expression I ever seen in someone so young. I thought I seen a lot, but her icy hollowed glare puts me on the edge of another mental breakdown – where I faint at cause of my inability to cope with the problems.

“What we are escaping…is this place.” I blinked in surprise, and that’s the only response I can do at this point, “The forest that reeks of death.”

People go through hell in occasions, that’s just life, but what I gone through in a few hours is not something life would normally use to torture someone. Why? Why is my life like this? Why can’t I wake up one time and say the day will turn out boring or normal?

Waking up in a foreign land can be fixed by finding a way back home – even being stuck in a different world, since there was a way to get in, then there is a way to get out. Being chased by someone means to run nonstop; to keep moving until you can’t run no more. But the unknown, I don’t know how to deal with that. Its unpredictable; one’s insecurities are easily revealed in the most hectic of situations. And what she just said I don’t understand. It’s impossible for me to handle something I don’t get.

Pebbles blinks, and in that short span of milliseconds, her gingerly smile returns with a lively tone in her eyes, “Get ready~. Leaving somepony behind is never good.” She closes her eyes and tilts her head, “For mine and mommy’s conscience, and for your well-being as well.”

~*~

It was almost a wasted struggle, but I finally managed to place a hoof on the table, and pull myself up from the ground.

Panting, and half-dazed after the experience with Pebbles, which could have given me a heart attack, I took on a resting position.

A cheek placed on the table with my han-hoofs on it as well. What other choice do I have? None, that’s the answer. I have to…I have no other choice but to go with them. They can…keep me safe. I am not ashamed to admit it, but there is no way I can survive on my own.

With that set in my mind, I pushed myself up to stand on my hind legs – with the support from the table, it wasn’t too difficult. I only did so to get my body active, lying down on the floor for so long made me want to sleep once more and not care what happens anymore. And standing on all fours feels…unnatural, like if I am a costume that was made for someone bigger than me.

Then I noticed it, after my attention shifted from the uncomfortableness of my body, to what is plainly lying in front of me. My book, opened.

…F-Fauna…she did put this after…Pebbles screamed at my ear. A cold shiver runs from my flickering ears down to my spine. If a single second of that memory made me tremble, I won’t dare to remember the rest.

I took notice of the pages, because all I have to do is glance to see that - …What? …When?

After I faced the nightmare of Sunshine Forest, I knew what to do next.

W-when did this…when did this get written? To make things even more odd, that’s the only text I can find out of all the pages. And I mean no matter how many pages I turn over, I am greeted by the same white surface.