Divine Equine

Chapter 1: Wake Up

The white-coated, purple-eyed mare awoke, bleary-eyed and aching all over. What a dream she had the night before! She remembered running, falling… something being after her, but then…

She felt the covers beneath her. They were almost burlap, and felt a bit nasty, as if they’d been used by many before her, for many years. The pillow beneath her head was, in essence, a thick sheet with a head indent in it. She was not in her bed. The Unicorn mare tried her best to remember what had happened the night before in clearer detail, but made no progress. Trying to force it only made her head hurt. She groaned and wiped her eyes, extracting the crust of a fitful sleep from them, then decided to get up.

Rolling over and out of bed was a task in itself, as every muscle in her body ached from whatever ordeal she could only scarcely remember. A few tries, however, and she managed to land on her feet, next to the bed, and wobbled. Her legs were weak, but then… so was everything else about her. The mare stumbled and fell, then tried to curse… and found herself unable. This gave her pause. She knew what she wanted to say, at least conceptually, but couldn’t find the words to say them.

She tried to shake off the feeling that something was wrong with her other than just the fact that she couldn’t walk right, but was unable. The mare looked around, hoping to find something to distract herself from the sinking feeling that she was getting, but as it turned out, her surroundings were just as eerie and depressing as her dream.

The room around her was made of cold, grey stone, and had enough dust caked on it to make her feel like she had to sneeze just by looking at it. Her bed was old, splintered, and looked like it was held together by twine, though it had a regality to it, suggesting it had seen better days. Especially the headboard, which, though worn, was clearly of a finer craft than her surroundings. She herself was sitting, or rather laying, on a ragged carpet that was slipped up under the bed, so at least she was warm, laying on the floor there. Cobwebs hung from the support beams above, waving softly in the draft, which came somewhere from nearby, though she couldn’t quite see into the room next to her. Amidst all this, the walls of stone held torches, lit and casting a soft light around her, popping and crackling. There were a few bookshelves as well, but they were empty.

Somehow, the mare felt as if it didn’t matter how many ponies ended up down here, they were always empty. Though, she wasn’t entirely sure why that would change…

Feeling stronger after having moved a bit, the mare decided to try her hoof at standing once again. The second attempt was much easier, and she rose shakily to an upright position. Yep… she was okay, mostly. Taking a look around once more, and scruching her nose at the almost dungeon-esque place she was in, the mare trotted into the next room, which was much of the same as the last. Except, there was a ladder. A way out. If she could manage to climb it. Trotting over, the mare put one hoof up on the ladder, and began making her way towards the hatch door above her. As she neared the top, her hind legs began to shake, but she couldn’t find the strength to back down, and so reached for the door above. Just as her hoof grasped the door’s latch, her hind legs gave way and she fell, letting loose a yell of surprise and frustration before hitting the ground and rolling onto her back.

Once more, she tried to curse, but was unable to find the words.

“Geeze…” the mare groaned, laying there for a moment as the dust from years past slowly settled on and around her, “... Ouch…”

She really hoped she hadn’t cracked something. The last thing she wanted to do was spend more time in that dreary cellar, regardless of how well taken-care of she was at the time. Noise from above alerted her to the presence of who she hoped had been her caretaker. She wanted out.

The hatch-door above cracked open, and in spilled enough light to make her eyes hurt, and cause the pony above to be little more than a silhouette. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she heard the pony speak.

“I hope you did not hurt your head, as I only just saved you from being dead.” a masculine, deep voice called down to her, “In fact I should say, that you should be in bed.”

“A rhyming pony?” the mare thought, with slight irritation “This is going to do wonders for my headache…”

More of the pony was revealed once her eyes were as adjusted as they could get, and it turned out to be a Zebra. That explained the rhyming at least. She said nothing, being unsure how to address the zebra stallion.

He frowned down at her, craning his neck into the hole, “Perhaps the damage is worse than I thought, as I do not know what creature wrought.” he mused, eyeing her carefully, “Surely you are not so lame, speak up now and tell me your name?”

The mare opened her mouth. But then she closed it, furrowing her brow.

“My name…” she mused, searching her mind for any sort of clue. She had a name! She knew she did, but the only memories she had were of the mist… and of running. She couldn’t remember any further back than that!

The Zebra male shook his head and reached out a hoof, “Come on up to the ground floor, certainly you don’t want to be down there anymore.” he said as the mare arose and climbed a portion of the way up, reaching and grasping his hoof.

She was hoisted easily into what looked to be some kind of hut. Portions of it were stone, like the basement, but most of it was wood, including the floor below her hooves. The interior was decorated with masks of varying patterns and colors, and most were flanked by shelves with potions and ingredients of just the same description. Wide, open windows made it easy for light to enter, and kept the air fresh despite the multiple pots of boiling potions or stews near the fireplaces on the far side of the room.

The mare still did not speak. She felt overwhelmed, as she couldn’t ever remember encountering a Zebra before. Not that she could remember much else beyond running, presumably the night before.

“I am Umbrus.” the Zebra stated as he turned to face the pots and head towards them.

The blue-maned mare followed, taking note of the dreadlocks that made up the stallion’s mane and tail before speaking.

“I… don’t know who *I* am. I apologize.” she said. Her last few words were muttered, and she felt guilty about not being able to give a proper introduction. It was silly to feel bad about it, she knew, but it just felt so rude.

“That much I can gather, and in a way it does not matter.” Umbrus shrugged, stirring one of the pots, “You have no name, that is true. But all that means, is you are you.”

Aerie frowned, not quite understanding. And not understanding was giving her another headache. She grimaced a little and shook her head before asking what that meant. Umbrus explained that she was, as far as he could tell, a blank slate. A new pony. She didn’t have a cutie mark. She didn’t have a name. She could be anypony.

Needless to say, the mare was not as optimistic.

“If I don’t know what I’m supposed to be… then what am I supposed to do!?” she asked with mild frustration, “I’m a grown mare… without my mark, won’t it be hard to find a decent job?”

Umbrus chuckled deeply, “My dear mare, all you need to do is dare!” he asserted, “If you are so very unsure, all you must do is have an adventure!”

The mare grumbled. An adventure? That was his cure for her amnesia? Her life being turned upside down? Umbrus must have sensed her dissatisfaction, because he moved over to her with a sympathetic look on his snout.

“If it would help ease your mind, I have an job,interesting, that you might find.” he said with a smile, “South of this place, this house, there is a Unicorn who does grouse.”

With that advice, the mare felt like she at least had *some* kind of direction. Still, she sighed, and Umbrus furrowed his brow at her with concern.

“I… I appreciate your help, Umbrus.” the mare began, “And I’ll seek out what you’ve described, it’s just that I don’t even know where I am.” she complained, “Is there somewhere I can go that will tell me more about this place, and those beyond?”

Umbrus chuckled heartily, and pointed to a shelf across the room as his potion-cauldron spewed a rainbow at the ceiling, “Take a look, it is in a book.” he said with a smile, then turned back to his potion.

With that, and a strange look at her odd new friend, the mare headed towards the bookshelf. She pulled books off the shelf and began hoofing through a few, but found that most of the information was either too simplistic to be worth remembering, or too complex and political to understand.

“Well…” she muttered as she put the books back, “One thing’s for certain. I’m not a historian…”

The last book she put back had something interesting in it, unlike the others. It fell out and fluttered to the floor. It was a simple sheet of paper, but when she turned it over… there was a very disturbing picture of something that looked like a half-dead pony with… were those scythes for hooves? The mare frowned, feeling a little sick at the sheer detail of the image. She took it one of her hooves and trotted towards Umbrus, asking him what it was, and if it was something he’d drawn.

“The pencil indeed was mine, but that is from another time.” he told her, frowning and taking the paper from her, only to place it on a table nearby. He did not turn around to look at her as he said, “If you must know more… then you should walk right out the door.”

The mare nodded, and made her way to the threshold of the Zebra’s home. It seemed that it was time for her to go.