Tales of the Forgotten: Eternity

June 16th, 2027 11:43 A.M.

Everfree Forest, Equestria

“Days, Months, and Years have come and gone and yet I have yet to find passage back to Earth. I still remember your smiling face and your hopeful spirit that once kept me smiling even when the world was at its darkest. Through everything from your bad breakups, to your parents expecting far too much out of you, you always seemed to spread unconditional love and kindness to your friends and family. I guess I took that for granite.”

“Maybe one day I will be able to see you again Michael, and tell you I am truly sorry in person.” I said silently to the wolf pendant I was holding at arms length above me. I held it there as I lay here in a small clearing of the Everfree. “Or maybe, I will see you in the next life old friend.” I let my arm fall along with the pendant to my chest as those last words left my mouth.

The sky above was a beautiful sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. I smiled as I let the sounds of the forest I once called home take over my mind. It’s been far too long since we’ve relaxed like this, hasn’t it Zeke? I thought to myself solemnly. Twelve years does a great many wonders to your mind and body, sadly one of those wonders took him away. I quickly tossed the thought from my mind and continued to embrace the warm sun.

I closed my eyes allowing the sounds to soak in. The birds chirping in the distance, the rustling of animals in the bushes, the sound of the wind through the leaves of the treetops, and the slight breeze flowing through the grass of the clearing. The world seemed to be at peace after what seemed to be a lifetime. The last time I felt peace like this was in the plains of Zebranica two years ago.

“It’s peaceful, isn’t it Robert?” A female voice murmured beside me. I had been so absorbed in the serenity of the scene I didn’t notice her approach. I opened my eyes and tilted my head to the left to see Faelan laying down right beside me staring up at the sky with her arms behind her head. Her deep scarlet scales shimmered in the sunlight while her sky blue eyes looked on peacefully.

I tilted my head back to the sky. “Yeah.” Was all I replied with. What did I ever do to deserve her company? I wondered to myself. I met Faelan seven years ago when my travels led me into the Dragon Lands of the south. I was there to simply study the dragons history and culture as well as the different types of dragons. Needless to say that they weren’t exactly the easiest of creatures to speak to for many reasons. The biggest one being the smell of sulfur being heavy in their breath when they spoke, but I suppose that was to be expected as they did breath fire after all. At least most of them did.

I digress, Faelan was still a child when I met her whereas now she was twenty years of age. Whereas most dragons would grow up to be gigantic creatures that could easily destroy a city, Faelan was quite different. She grew up to become one of the [1]few bipedal dragons that lived in the dragon lands. Most dragons would be bipedal from birth to their teenage years but between the ages of 16 and 18 they would slowly start becoming quadrupedal like many of their species.

[1]The ratio is 1 to every 10,000 dragons.

Anyways, I met Faelan when I traveled to the Great Dragon Migration area. I had remembered that ponies and most other species knew very little of dragons because they were either too scarce in other lands or they were much too afraid of their kind. I decided to do a little favor to the other races of Equus and do the research myself. I was brought out of my thoughts as I felt Faelan lay her head across my chest.

I looked down to find that she had fallen asleep. I suppose you heard me thinking about you, didn’t you? I chuckled at the thought. In my thirty years of life, never did I think I would be friends with a dragon let alone allow it to lay on my chest. I placed one hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer as she snuggled into my side.

We weren’t an item but were pretty much siblings, her the younger sister and I the older brother. Suffice to say I am the only family she has and vice-versa. I yawned quietly as I slowly started drifting off to sleep for a small nap. A nap couldn’t hurt, could it?

Seven hours later

I felt myself being shaken but I waved it off and it stopped. It started again but was now accompanied by a voice, “Pssst, you need to wake up! PSSSSHHTTT, you need to wake up now Robert!” Faelan whispered harshly. I groaned as I stretched my arms and legs outwards.

“Ugh, what’s wrong Faelan?” I asked groggily trying to rid the sleep from my mind. It took me a second to realize that it was now night time whereas when we had fallen asleep it was merely noon. My eyes went wide as I started to fully realize where we were. “Aww, crap.” I stated angrily to myself. I should’ve stayed awake!

I got to my feet and helped Faelan up as we stared at the edge of the clearing around us making sure nothing was there before speaking any further. “Okay, we need to reach the castle and soon. If the Everfree is anything like how it was when I was younger we’re in big trouble.” I stated as I took hold of Faelan’s arm and bolted in the general direction of the castle.

“Robert! Slow down, you’re going to rip my arm off!” Faelan exclaimed as I continued running. Faelan was stronger, faster, and more agile than I could ever dream of being but when I was in a hurry to get somewhere, not even she could beat my speed.

“Run now, healing later!” I said back to her as the castle came into view over the treetops. “We’re almost there! Think you can give us a lift the rest of the way Faelan?!” I yelled back to her. Her eyes narrowed and she nodded as she reversed the grip I had on her and jumped into the air with a strong beat of her wings with me in tow. She may have been bipedal but she still had wings like every other dragon I knew.

With a few more beats of her wings we were flying high above the Everfree and towards the Castle of the two sisters. While she was concentrating on her flight I couldn’t help but to notice an eerie blue light coming from one of the various paths littering the edge of the Everfree. I narrowed my vision to try and get a better view of it and quickly noticed the light was starting to pulsate eventually disappearing altogether. Strange was all I could think to myself.

“You okay down there?!” I heard Faelan shout down to me as the wind rushed past us. I looked up at her and nodded, tossing the strange light out of my mind for the moment. “Get ready to jump Robert!” She shouted as we came to the courtyard of the castle. I braced myself for landing and she let go of my arm, letting me shoot to the ground like a rocket. It wasn’t that far of a drop but what made the landing hard on me was the speed. Many people would have tumbled head over heels into the unforgiving stone wall of the castle exterior but after many landings I was able use the momentum to my advantage slide all the way up to the stairs of the castle.

Faelan quickly landed next to me as I made my way into the castles atrium where we had our belongings laid out with a fire pit in the center. “Faelan can you get some food ready to cook? I’ll go get the firewood from the kitchen.” She quickly went to work on readying the food. I took a torch from it’s socket and proceeded to the kitchen.

I opened the doors and was swiftly met with a spear landing itself behind me. So my trap hasn’t been set off for twelve years? Never thought I would be the one on its receiving end. I shook off the memory as I entered the room and found the firewood pile still as full as the day I left the castle. I quickly gathered six pieces of firewood and made my way back to the atrium.

Faelan had set up two bowls of salad and a cooking pot readying its content to make a stew. I placed three firewood pieces under the pot and set them on fire using the torch. Soon enough the stew was cooking at a nice pace and we were eating our salads. It took Faelan a long time to adjust to eating any type of vegetable seeing as she was a carnivore by nature. I explained to her that I made a promise to try and not to eat meat unless absolutely necessary. Of course we eat meat still but only on rare occasions such as this one.

“So, what do you plan to do tomorrow Robert?” Faelan asked as she finished the last piece of salad in her bowl. I looked down into my half empty salad bowl and thought about it for a second before answering.

“I’m going to go see Doctor Whooves. Of everyone I know, I think I should see him first.” He was the first pony that I wanted to see because well, he was my first friend in this world. I suppose that he should be the first to see my return as well. “From what I’ve heard he’s been taking care of my home near the edge of the Everfree everyday for the past twelve years, keeping it clean for the day I would return.” I looked up to Faelan who was looking at me with an irritated stare.

“You mean to tell me, you have a home here and you wanted to stay here?” She stated with a suspicious calmness in her voice. I nodded as she shook her head. “Sometimes you make NO sense to me Robert.” She said as she facepalmed.

I shrugged my shoulders and waved it off. “This was the first place I really called home when I arrived here Faelan, of course I wanted to stay here for a couple of days. We have slept in worse places you know.” I reminded her as she shuddered. “Yeah it could have been like that place.” I pointed out as she shook all of her limbs to rid herself of the memory.

“Don’t. Even. Remind. Me. If I ever see that gryphon again we’re going to have gryphon wings for dinner.” I laughed at the thought of seeing him roasting on a barbecue pike. Long story short, that gryphon spread rumors around the town we were staying in about them two being a pair. Suffice to say I made sure that he would never be able to show his ugly mug in public ever again.

After we finished with our stew we quickly went to sleep. At least Faelan did, mostly notable by her snoring. I laid there for what seemed like hours before sleep finally decided to wash over me.

Time and Date Unknown

Location Unknown

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I woke up and found myself standing in the middle of a hallway dimly lit by moonlight behind me. Further down the hallway in front of me I heard a low growling noise that beckoned me forth. I slowly walked forward with staff in my right hand and my robe trailing behind me. The sound of growling grew louder and louder with each passing second until I saw something that made my heart and mind skip a few beats. On the ground in front of me sitting down was someone whom I never thought I’d see again. Michael.

I donned a gentle smile as he looked up at me and beckoned him towards me without saying a single word to him. He stood up and slowly approached me with a blank face on his face. I grabbed his hand with my left hand and led him back towards the moonlight I had come from. As we exited the hallway we were surrounded by old friends and family from days long ago, I simply ignored them and their concerned expression. Their visage was nothing new to me as they had all appeared in numerous nightmares and dreams of mine.

We continued our trek until a castle made its appearance, one that I had known all too well but was far different from what it had currently looked like. It was the Castle of the Two Sisters from a millenium ago, but it seemed to have been corrupted. The towers that once stood tall as a pillar of strength now stood like obsidian monoliths that conveyed fear and despair to all who would dare approach it. The walls that once offered protection were now brought together likes ribs of a long decayed beast.

We slowed our pace as we reached the gates of the castle when I heard a growling that I knew all too well, the growls of pure hatred that filled the air when a pack of Timberwolves had found their prey. I released my grip of Michael and proceeded to walk closer to the gate, turning around with my staff and poking the end of it to the middle of his chest.

The pack was coming after him and I needed to see what had corrupted the castle the way it had. “Where I lead, you can not follow. Now go. Run!” I shouted to him as I shoved him back with my staff and gestured over to the pack of Timberwolves running towards him. I quickly turned around and pushed through the gates having the shut behind me as I heard Michael take off. Be safe my friend. I thought as I ran up the steps and into the castle.

I busted through the closed doors to find a horrid sight in front of me, but one that wasn’t unfamiliar to me. Bodies of loved ones and friends were spread across the entirety of the floor and their blood was splattered across the walls. There was a lone light shining down onto a solitary figure standing in the middle of the room. I didn’t stand there long as I put the sight out of my mind and thrust forward at full speed with my staff and slammed it into the figure sending it flying into the statue that once held the elements of harmony many moons ago.

It stood up as if nothing had happened and stared at me with bloodlust filling its eyes. It held its arm out and a sword appeared in its hand as a pure white maniacal grin spread across its face as it charged towards me. I brought my staff up to block the blow as I got a better look at what it was. My heart skipped a beat as I saw my own face. “You did this. All of this was your fault Robert. They could have survived if you had just given up.” He said through a deadly smile.

I launched him backwards and jumped back myself. “We did nothing! You were the one who killed them all! You brought them here and slaughtered every last one of them!” I yelled back as the scene faded and I appeared on a tree branch above a path of the Everfree.

I heard the sounds of a pack chasing someone now, instinctively I reached down with my arm fully extended soon finding it grabbing onto the shirt of Michael. I swiftly yanked him up onto the branch as the timber wolves continued running off into the distance, eventually disappearing into nothing. As soon as they did a bright white light appeared on Michaels neck before fading and revealing the wolf pendant I left him. I snapped my fingers, getting his attention.

“You have to keep fighting, Michael. Never give up and never give in. NOW GO!” I shouted as I kicked him out of the tree and instinctively jumped up and off the branch as an unforgiving sword cut the branch clear off the tree. I brought my staff up above my head yelling, “THIS ENDS NOW!” proceeding to slam the staff into the back of the creatures head. His head and my staff slammed into the ground, causing brain matter, bits of his skull and a lot of blood to splatter onto the environment.

I stood over the corpse breathing hard as it turned into dust and blew away in all directions, transforming the world around me into darkness with a wooden floor. “No! Why did this happen?! Why?! What did I do?! Someone help me! Please!” I heard Michael scream through the darkness, urging me to run to him. I quickly found him sitting in the middle of a ring of ash and dust, sifting through it like they were that of loved ones doomed to die in a wildfire or a house fire.

I realized quickly these were in fact the ashes of his loved ones. He silently cried as I walked up behind him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He turned towards me with tears and snot still fresh on his face, he looked up at me trying to find guidance in my eyes where the was none. I closed my eyes and said “This is not your destiny Michael, it never has been. You have the power to change the world into something bright and beautiful. My faith in you will never fade. Remember my most important lesson, only from ashes may a phoenix rise.”

I turned away from him as I felt an evil presence appear behind me and try to stab at me. I barely managed to dodge the blade. When I opened my eyes we were in the canyon for the Great Dragon Migration. The scene merged with the one of the castle atrium where the bodies that once littered the floors were now standing holding weaponry of their own, their eyes glowing a crimson red. They surrounded the two of us and held their weapons at arms length, creating a deadly ring.

“You will never escape your fate Robert, you were destined to die here!” It screeched as it launched at me. I opened my eyes wide as I felt adrenaline rush through my body as I brought my staff up to meet his sword. As soon as his blade struck my staff transformed into a greatsword made of the same crimson metal that created the ring at the base of my ponytail.

“Fate? Destiny? Ones fate and destiny is not determined by others, but by the determination and spirit they set forth when paving their path in life! I will not die here, the only one who will end is you!” I thrust him backwards staggering him as I swung the sword in a wide side arc only for it to clash with his blade again. I noticed that he was caught off guard and used it to my advantage, kicking his knee in. *SNAP*! It broke like a twig causing him to scream in pain.

I quickly drew back the greatsword and brought it above my head and brought it down as hard as I could. Sadly I forgot to incapacitate his arms so he brought his sword and other hand up to defend himself. “You may kill me now, but I will always come back. You will never be rid of me.” He laughed crazily. Somehow his leg fixed itself and swept me off my feet, sending me falling onto my back. He stood above me, ready to drive his sword into my chest. “This is how it all ends! You can never outrun fate!” He cackled. I took his delay into account and drove my great sword into his jaw.

“Never underestimate your opponent and never forget they’re there in battle.” I stated as I got up and held him at arms length above my head with the greatsword as I tossed him into the air one last time and brought the great sword up through his midsection, drenching myself in his blood. I stood up only for my body to give way to exhaustion. I felt myself fall backwards only to be caught by a table. I was about to allow myself to rest when I felt constraints wrap around my wrists and ankles.

“As I said before, you will never be rid of me.” The same hate filled voice said before it faded into the darkness. I laid my head back wearily as I waited for my strength to gather once again. I heard the sound of footsteps approaching through the hallway in front of me. My whole body tensed up ready to break the straps if need be. My worry was washed away as Michael entered the room and simply looked at me. No! I told you to stay out of here! I yelled at him in my mind.

He proceeded to undo my straps and I fell onto him, using what little strength I had I pushed off of him and looked him in the eyes. “You have a very great future ahead of you Michael...but so many dark paths lie in store.  I weep for your loss and the sorrow you must bear.  I warned you, you can no longer escape this path.  Where I lead you cannot follow, not now.” I whispered to him as I fell through him and further into the abyss of my world.

I fell for what seemed like hours before I finally stopped and floated horizontally with my arms and legs hanging limp. The scene around me slowly faded into a blue ethereal plane. There was no floor beneath me as I continued to float there as I heard the clopping of hooves approaching. “He’s here, isn’t he?” Was all I asked.

“Is that anyway to speak to us after thou hast not seen us in over a decade?” Luna retorted as I shook my head.

I gave a chuckle before responding. “I suppose it isn’t, but I must know. He’s arrived at last hasn’t he?” I asked again.

Luna appeared over me and simply nodded. My expression became grim, “Then it won’t be long. We have at most a few weeks till he arrives in Equestria.” That creature I fought wasn’t just a manifestation of the darker half of myself but something entirely different. “Tomorrow night Luna, bring Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight to the castle in Ponyville.” I ‘asked’ her.

Luna and I may have not spoken or seen each other for nearly a decade but I have kept my knowledge open to her and her alone. We had casually dismissed this old fairytale as nothing but that, a fairytale. During one of my expeditions in Saddle Arabia I came across a long forgotten city. Needless to say I tipped off the local government to the area and they came in to recover what they could. Of course I recovered what I wanted first. Suffice to say their fairytales were anything but that.

Luna looked down at me slightly confused. “At Ponyville? Where art thou exactly?” She asked.

“Take a wild guess.” I said flatly as the realization hit her. We may have shared information but outside of Equestria she was bound by law not to intrude upon anyone elses dreams. “I know you’re happy but don’t tell Celestia or Twilight why we need to meet or who they’re meeting with. I want it to still be a surprise that I’m back. Okay?” I pleaded to her as she simply nodded her head and wrapped her hooves around my head, hugging me the best she could.

After that she faded from the dream as I felt myself drop once again. This time shocking me back to consciousness.