Drums of War

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Apparently, Twilight tried to get her asshat friends to use the Elements of Harmony to put Discord away, but they were too asshattish for the Elements to work. She even tried getting Spike to help, fat lot of good it did. Nonetheless, she eventually found a way to come out on top as heroes do. Pinkie Pie was annoying again, Rainbow Dash graced us all with her awesome presence, and Fluttershy remembered she was adorable.

At least Discord's gone, so there's that. I sat at the foot of my bed, head in my hands as I tried to block out the now constant drumming. Good God, it was driving me mad...it had never been this bad. I was fairly certain Discord had something to do with it.

Why haven't you opened it? I glared accusingly at my watch, tossed haphazardly onto my bedside table. What was so special about it, anyway? It was just a watch. An entirely ordinary ticking timepiece I just happened to have with me when I arrived.

There was nothing strange about it. Lots of people had watches. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I am Harold Saxon..." I muttered under my breath, "I am a forty-four year old man from Leeds. And there is nothing off about my watch."

"Talking to yourself isn't healthy," Twilight chided, walking into my room unannounced. I didn't pay much mind, we'd been living together since she was just a filly. I smiled behind my palms at the thought. She was so adorable... The clearing of a throat made me look up.

"Yes, how can I help you?" I tried to keep the tension out of my voice. Failing, obviously. Twilight gave me a worried glance, levitating a cup of tea towards me. I took it gratefully, taking a small sip.

Perfect. Just...perfect. I gave the lavender mare a smile, prompting her to climb up beside me. Taking another drawn-out sip, I tilted my head back and closed my eyes in relaxation. "A cup of tea is a cup of peace, Twilight...thank you." I was rewarded with a giggle and a nuzzle to my shoulder.

"You've been acting weird all day, Mister. Sweet-talk won't get you out of this one." My smile dropped. "Come on...tell me what happened."

I shuddered and leaned into the inquisitive purple unicorn. "I told you, it was just the dreams. I've been feeling...off. A lot, lately."

The weight on my side shifted as Twilight pulled back to look at me. "You've never told me what you dream about. What's so bad about it?"

Where to begin... "I...uhh...It's hard to explain." This was true. The visuals in my dreams were things straight out of a fantasy, but so vivid it seemed more real than the waking world.

"Try."

I gulped. How? Taking a deep breath, I screwed my eyes shut. "I'm in a field. The grass is red as blood, tall up to my waist. I'm running, but..." I shuddered and forced out, "but I'm not running from anything. I feel like a child, playing with a dear friend." Why am I getting so worked up? I tried to force myself to calm down. I was so...upset all of a sudden. The dream was complete nonsense, I'd never even seen that boy outside of the dream!

"Anything else?" Twilight pressed on.

I took a shuddering breath. "W-we...We speak, but I can never remember what we say. There's only one word I can remember, but it doesn't even mean anything!" My voice rose towards the end, until my fist slammed against the mattress.

Why am I so angry?

I started to calm down when I felt a hoof gently rubbing circles against my back. I looked over at Twilight, using the sleeve of my hoodie to wipe some unexplainable tears from my eyes.

I needed to look into this. People just don't get this upset over dreams.

"What does he say?"

My mouth went dry as the word echoed through my mind. My hearts—heart froze, and I tried to summon the necessary energy to vocalize it.

"Time Lord."

Twilight Sparkle was concerned. She had just cast a sleeping-spell on her oldest friend—aside from Shiny and Spike, of course—after hearing about some very disturbing dreams.

Orange sky? Two suns? "Spike!" She shouted, not bothering to quiet herself for Harold's sake. The spell wouldn't wear off for a good ten hours. "I need you to take a letter!"

The pitter-patter of little feet approached, and her ever-loyal assistant stood at attention with a scroll and quill at the ready. "Here!"

Twilight cleared her throat.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I apologize for sending a letter so soon after the Discord fiasco, but I need your help. Harold has been acting increasingly strange lately, suffering from insomnia and chronic night-terrors. It's begun to affect his behavior, and to be frank, he's scaring me. A simple sleep-spell helps him get his rest, but I'm not sure what kind of damage is being done to his mind.

Please, if there's anything you or Princess Luna can do to help, I would greatly appreciate it.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

The unicorn gave a nod of approval, prompting Spike to toss it into the air and burn it with his enchanted flames. Letting her eyes follow the wisp of smoke as it traveled out the window towards Canterlot, Twilight gulped.

Please hurry...

Luckily, she only had to wait a moment before Spike belched out a new scroll. Grabbing it with her magic out of reflex, Twilight immediately set on the reply.

To my most faithful student,

I'm afraid there's not much I can do. My sister, however, has recently taken up her duties as a guardian of dreams. If his nightmares are so troubling, I'm sure Luna would be happy to help. If his problems persist, however, I request that you bring him to us as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

I was surrounded by reds and oranges. My footfalls whispered through the tall crimson grass, drowned out by my boisterous laughter and the laughter of #^$*@. The wind rushed through my dark hair, my grin threatening to split my face in half.

That's what I loved about the hills of %$&*^$#!%. Unlike the stuffy halls of the Time Lord Academy, out here we were free to be children. Free like we'd always wanted to be.

It was what brought #^$*@ and I together in the first place. Ever since we were five and four respectively. Two years of friendship, all started from three simple words.

"Let's run away!"

We made plans. We went to the museums, gawking at the old Time Machines and space-ships of our ancestors. And we played. We played until I was eight.

That was when it changed.

I was first. At one year older than #^$*@, I was to become a Time Lord before him. I was taken deep into the Academy, deeper than I'd ever gone before. And they forced me to look into the light.

And I heard drums.