Prologue - Faint Memories
“Wake up… Wake up!”
A short but silent noise floods my ears as my head starts to feel a bit more in existence. Lifting it up from the pillow, I open my eyes to see my teacher all of a sudden. He isn’t usually my alarm clock, so maybe I over-slept somehow. Though, soon enough a bit of memory from the dream that I just had comes to me, getting me to think as usual. I feel rather fatigued, but I didn’t hear anything from my teacher as he has brought his head back from my bed. He seems rather keen to wake me up too, but looking back over at the window that allowed the flood of sunlight come through inside the rather unlit room, I could easily noticed that I slept a few hours past when I usually wake up.
“Raul, C’mon, lets go. We have a long day ahead of us, and we don’t want to get to Ponyville any later than we planned.” my teacher says in a rather low voice as always whenever he was in some sort of rush. But he was correct about what he said, as arriving to a town in a rather late fashion just ends us making a trip to just go back to sleep again. I hate the idea of doing that, so I instantly got up, still giving thought to what dream I had, but dismissing it as soon as my teacher walks down the stairs of the rather small and wooden house.
I live in a rather well-sized town known as Tramplevania. It isn’t very in touch with any other areas of the world, and keeps to itself most of the time, as far as I know. It has so much focus with spirits and mythology that I’m so used to it now, and even just thinking about it pops so much stories in my head. Me and my friends sit around and talk about a few stories about not only their dreams but of what they see around town, and at first it amazed me so dearly, but soon it was a normal way of really collecting thoughts amongst other things. But not only that, Tramplevania is a rather bare place, only having a few guards that wear padded coats rather than the armor I usually hear that other towns or castle guards wear. Its a rather colorless place too, but its not like I would ever cease to get used to it..
I come downstairs soon enough, finding assorted supplies on the simple wooden table that served as a dining table. My teacher’s house wasn’t that big, but it fits us both almost just barely. “Something the matter?” my teacher asked me, before I shake my head. My teacher, or rather… Andres, was always a very smart unicorn from the start, and I do expect all unicorns to be the same. He always talks about me and my fate when he took care of me after my parents left. I’d wish I would have had the time to see or remember them, but at least Andres is a rather great guardian, and I enjoy my time around, as usual.
“Well, I’m about ready, so meet me outside and at the town gate so we can leave quickly. You’ll be alright, Raul?” Andres explained to me before I gave a slow and nervous nod. I was rather tired, but soon enough spoke. “Yeah… I’ll be fine. Just still waking up, but I’ll meet you there.” I slowly say as I make my way to the door and go through it. I move through the town that consisted of a lack of hue, giving me a feeling as always but seemingly feeling right at home. Soon enough after a bit of trotting, I look towards the gate from far off and start walking to it, still thinking a bit about my dream and how exactly it went.
...Yeah, the castle. I didn’t see it very clearly, but the castle was rather big and color-less, just like this town. I’ve never seen a castle like that, but what I assumed to be the occupant of it was a pony that I saw. He was playing the violin, and I remember it clearly. I never actually picked up a violin, but I felt so right after listening to that song that the pony played. Why it touched me so much is a mystery to me, but at least I can think about something along the way over to Ponyville, but what is Ponyville like?
After a rather short wait at the gate that I almost bumped into by accident due to being in such thought, I see my teacher with two hefty bags. I trot over to him and take a bag from him after he lowers himself just a tad bit. “Good, I see you’re all woken up. We’ll eat on the train, c’mon.” he said. I didn’t really like the idea of eating while on a train, but what real choice do we have. As I carry my supplies that didn’t consist of as much as Andres, we move outside of town to catch the next train that headed into Equestria. The land known as Equestria is rather large as I’ve seen on maps, but getting to Ponyville seemed like it would take a bit of walking after getting to a certain point.
And so we did, arriving on the small train station, the train seemed to have been already set to leave, but we quickly stow ourselves away after Andres decided to let the operator of the train know that they were there. Soon enough, Andres jumps himself inside as well, and I hear the loud sounds of the horn being tooted. “Ah… Thank goodness we catched the train. Else…” I would say, before being interrupted. “Yes… To wait for tomorrow wouldn’t be too good, though maybe it would be best to arrive at night.” Andres would say with a rather coy smile. I felt an odd curiosity at that point.
“Err… Why?” I ask. “Because, there is a certain Pony who loves to throw parties for others who she has not met, knowing that they are new to Ponyville.” Andres would explain. “Ah… I remember mine, but… Yes, we should have that for tomorrow, really.” I started to think yet again about why would a pony throw a party for newcomers, but dismisses the thought. “Is there anything else I should… Well, know?” I would say. “Not exactly. You are rather young, so just have fun when we are there. Just remember, we need to borrow the book I need, okay?” Andres said, reminding me of my rather young age. I nod, thinking a bit. I’m not exactly a little colt, but I’m not an established stallion yet. Thinking about it, I just feel so weird being in the middle of such a conversation.
And the train rolls down, the loud whistle of the steam train filling my ears as I slowly get used to the sound. It is a rather sharp sound, but I expect myself to get used to it during the trip. We weren’t in any sort of well-seating or anything, as this steam train wasn’t meant for passengers, but it was the only fast way to get to Equestria. The noon was rather quiet aside from the train, but it seems so melancholic somehow at first, however soon turning better as we started to pass the mountains. The sky was much clearer and there was barely a cloud in sight, and the landscape was very much so tended to. It felt alive, unlike my home… And well, it might be something I’ll get used to very quickly.
-=-
After a few hours of sitting around, eating at one point, and conversing with Andres at other times, the train skids to a slow and then to a stop, arriving at its intended destination, a train station far off from Ponyville as I would presume, as looking outside of the train, I barely see anything in the darkness but just a rather small train station. I try to look closer and notice its actually starting to turn into night, but can just easily tell that Ponyville is just off, maybe around a half-hour of walking. “So, we’re at Equestria?” I say, before looking back and seeing nothing. I immediately wonder where my teacher is at this point, but I would know that he can take care of himself. I turn to take my part of the luggage and take off from the train, noticing that Andres’ luggage has actually been taken by him already.
I start to walk to Ponyville, and I can already see it much closer than in the horizon. Its already rather darkened, I’m sure, but that doesn’t stop me from arriving now. I move closer, weaving myself through a few loose trees in the fields and finding a path. And as I move closer and over a bridge, I find myself towered by a large building as the center of all of the other cottages. I can’t seem to find myself to believe how colorful this is, and I look around in glee as I see some other ponies moving about in the night, probably preparing to move inside of their homes. I started to walk around so that I could find Andres, as well as take in even more of the beautiful land that was, and I found myself to be in awe.
And as my walk took me around, I finally found Andres in front of a rather large tree, or rather… a tree that was a house. I didn’t want to just walk up to Andres at the very moment, however, as he seemed to be conversing with another pony that was in front of it, but I was extremely curious as what they were talking about. I sneakishly trot up to a nearby bush as I hid in it and made sure I was able to hear what they were saying. I couldn’t see them, nor did I want to in case I was going to get caught eavesdropping, but at least I knew what they were saying.
“Twilight, I already told you I need that book. You know why, I don’t have to explain it again.” I could hear Andres speak to somepony named Twilight. “You know I can’t just hand over that book to you. You know what would happen if it gets into somepony’s hooves other than yours?” I could hear the one my teacher called Twilight say. I knew this was about the book Andres needed, but was it so important that my teacher needed to be so careful with it? I felt a chill down my spine for a moment as I kept listening in. “Do not worry, Twilight. I’m sure once we arrive back at Tramplevania, it would be safe.” Andres says, as I start to get even more worried about the trip back to our home. “That isn’t what I’m worried about. What I’m worried about is that book falling into the wrong hooves! Maybe even yours…” Twilight says.
-=-
I don’t exactly know much about what is going on anymore. About the book, and about my teacher. I never met Twilight before in my life, and maybe I never will, but I just hope that everything goes well with me now. But that was ten years ago, and even though those were the happiest years of my life, it isn’t really that much compared to now. I sit down on the gray pillow that I’ve set on the ground, and think for a long while, looking around the empty house that I call my home. There were things I needed to do, but I need to make a living somewhere else other than here. I know all about the time I went to Ponyville, and I feel it is better to be there than here. And once I thought long and hard about where I both wanted and needed to go, it became simple. I stood up and started to pack all my belongings that I had in the house, which was not as much as you think, save for any sort of food. But once I got to my rather well-sized case, I open it up to make sure the violin inside was safe and sound, closing it back up once I was prepared to leave...
...For Ponyville.
