The Tale of a Human's Sanity

You can't escape the past. You can try all you want…

One does not forget the madness of war.

Because a fool is quick to hope and slow to learn. Are you a fool? Answer me. I'll guess we will both find out… together.

I jolted up from my dream, wondering what the hell that was. I don't know why I'm having these dreams… They must mean something… It's all too confusing.

I noticed my surroundings, and I'm still in the cage form before, sadly. This basement, with shelves filled with books, and some sort of machinery that looks slightly old and has a lot of dust of them. I wonder what these ponies could do to me.

Surprisingly, they left no one to guard me. Why? If they see me as a threat that they do, or at least I think that they do, they just leave me here?

I poked my hand outside of the bars, to see if there was any magical barrier in place, and surprisingly again, there was none. Now, this would be good for me, if I knew how to get out. I needed to. I can't clip in-between the bars, as I'm not that skinny to escape. I tried pulling on the bars in hope of their being one faulty one, and there wasn't any. There wasn't any way.

I sighed as I slumped back onto the cage wall, wondering what I did to deserve this. Did I steal something? If I did, I wouldn't remember it. Not that I have remembered most of my things in the past. He made me to that. He must have done. Why would I steal a crown belonging to royalty? That would be stupid. Always stupid. Always… stupid. These ponies… they are stupid. Ignorant is a better term to use. They don't ever seem to rationalize. Ever. They haven't shown me that they have.

And that maybe my downfall. Is there always a way out? I don't know. I wonder why that is even so, where-

"Hey!" A feminine voice called out to me in a low whisper, from… somewhere. Who- What? "Hey, over here." The voice said again, appearing from the darkness of the room, where this female pony (I presume) walks up to the cage bars, wearing a dark black cloak or a hoodie, with a light green… horn coming out the top of the pony's head. I could barely see her face, but I could see a small smile, at least for a moment before she went wide eyed once looking at me again. Um…

I looked down at my clothes, and they looked more trashed than before, with there being blood, dust, mud and dirt visible all over my shirt and my pants, which had few holes in them as well. I looked down in disbelief. What did I ever do to deserve this? I sighed. "Hey," the pony spoke again. I looked up, into those sunglow eyes, which also showed disbelief, shock, and… sorrow? She wasn't smiling.

For a moment, I considered over if I should talk to her, being that she could be trying to break me out of here. But, how can I trust these ponies? They've done nothing but trash me after my encounter with him. I hesitated for a second, before asking "Why are you here?" slowly and gruffly, making sure I express the right words in the right context carefully.

She seemed to flinch after hearing these words, and stared at me in silence for what seemed like the longest time. You could hear the wind blowing outside… "I-err-um…" She started off, stammering nervously. She then shook her head and composed herself. Then she cleared her voice. "H-Hi. I'm here to break you out of this cell?"

"Why?" I ask.

"Because…" She started, then trailed off. "Because I don't think you deserve to be treated like this." She waved a hoof, gesturing to the cell bars.

Well, if she is sincere, how nice is that? Risking your own life. But why was she even doing this? These other ponies see me as a monster where I didn't do anything wrong. "Okay," I imply state off first. "But why? Why do you not see me as some sort of 'monster'?"

"Because nopony deserves to be caged up like that." At least she is sane. Wait… 'Nopony'? "Also… I know what you are," Do you? W-what…? "A human." I upon hearing that.

"B-but…" Now I'm stammering. "Why-what- Did I hear a faint giggle, or am I hearing things. "How do you know that I'm a human?"

"Well," She got closer towards me, reaching out a hoof towards my right hand, which was next to the bar. I don't flinch or attempt to move away from her as she touches my hand, not that there's any point really. "Humans are a myth here in Equestria," A myth…? "And well… I'm told I kinda have an obsession."

"Err, okay…" I said uneasily, not sure where this is going now.

She seemed to notice my uneasiness over what she said. "Oh! No! No! I won't harm you. I'm here to break you out." She softened her voice. She then proceeded to do so, by using magic from her horn (is this a dream or something?) and broke the lock with ease. I stood up, and walked out of the cell, where I was strangely limping.

Ehva I dotl het fiodeifnin fo sinaiynt?

We were making ourselves up the stairs to the main room I presume, where I blacked out, being as quiet as we possibly can. Which was sort of hard to do, when you feel like your leg and body is injured. How does my clothes even look like this? There was blood, spit and dirt. Man, those ponies aren't nice at all. But… don't take grudges. Nothing positive will come of it. But then again… will they still imprison me anyways…?

I then looked over this pony beside me. I don't know who she is, or what she really looks like, only that she is a unicorn. "I never got your name." I state quietly, as I remove the cloak from atop her head. And saw her face.

Her hair (mane was it?) had this pale light greyish blue, along with white highlights. Her coat was this light aquamarine colour (some sort of green), with her darken orange eyes. I raised my eyebrow when I saw her, considering her eyes of ponies are bigger than humans, and that… she looked cute? But, how can I tell? I don't know if a pony looks cute or not? Do I? Shake off your thoughts, man.

She may have blushed when she saw my expression, only how does she know what I'm thinking, and what was my expression exactly? I wasn't paying attention. Was I widening my eyes?

"Oh! My name is Lyra." As in the harp? I… guess that could be a reasonable name. "What's yours?"

I have to consider this. Do I trust her enough to give her my name? "Theodore." In the future, maybe. Right now, I just can't…

"…Interesting name." Interesting? I hope she isn't suspicious.

We may our way to the door, where I saw the darken entrance room of this… carved out tree? That's what it looks like, anyways. There were bookshelves to both sides of the door, two windows both next to the entrance door on either side, and a staircase to the right. The only way I can see this is due to the moon's light shining from the night sky. "Come on, this way." She whispered to me, moving towards the entrance door, slowly and carefully. I then also noticed the several piles of books on the ground. I wander why those books are there. We made our way to the door, hearing creaking sounds from our feet and hooved stepping on the floor, hearing the wind blow softly outside in the breeze, hearing the crickets chirp outside in the bushes. It was somewhat peaceful, these sounds. Lyra used her magic to open the door-

And a click sound, followed by the room lighting up, occurred suddenly, leaving both of us in shock. I think I saw Lyra starting to shake, as she quickly put her cloak back over her. I slowly turned around, where I was hearing footsteps, and saw…

The baby dragon from before. Shit, he lives here. He rubbed his eyes, before taking a good look at us, then widening his eyes, probably in shock as well. Well, I'm now fucked. I don't know what those ponies, or this dragon, could to do me now. Anything. It looked like they had torture mechanics downstairs.

I and the dragon stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. I considered bolting out the door, hoping to find the forest, and taking the risk of getting caught by some other pony at night (by sheer luck), or beat up the dragon with every force that I have left. The bolting idea seems most logical, and the best chance of me escaping from this place. I don't know how strong the-

"Hey," Did he just say 'hey'? He did. He didn't make any sudden movements, and didn't look hostile, which surprised me. He looked… sad? He looked over me, and Lyra next to me, who was slowly moving for the door. "I- I- He stuttered…? "I'm not…" He seemed to think over the words he was going to say, I presume making some sort of decision. "I'm not going to stop you."

…

"Why?" I cannot believe this. Why would he just let me escape? Does… he feel sorrow for me? I'm slightly feeling fear which slowly disappeared along with the breeze as time went on in this awkward silence. I noticed Lyra stopped moving.

"I think I'm going to regret this," He muttered to himself softly, which I just managed to hear. "Because I don't want you to be caged up like that." At least there are SOME sort of decent… sentient beings on… wherever I am. He then backed u a few steps to the stairwell. "Now, quickly run away before Twilight notices." Twilight… lives here? Holy shit… I better scram.

Before I turn around and rush out the door, I look to the dragon, and said "I owe you one." While smiling, which surprised me even. He nodded while also smiling, before making his way downstairs and turning the light off. I turned around and nodded to Lyra, who then proceeded to take both of us outside.

I looked up at the night sky, seeing the moon shine with the stars, looking how beautiful the sight really was. The colourful background of space, the dark pastel colours (why did it look like that anyways?), something you don't ever see on Earth. On Earth… Am I really on another planet? I probably am. So, how did I even get here? It's better not to think about it now.

I looked back at the suspected tree house that I was in, and it was quite big. How did they even carve out the inside of it? Now that I notice it, everything around me looked… quite cartoonish. I can see pastel colours everywhere, and I don't know why.

"Theo," Lyra snapped me out of my thoughts, making me shake my head. "Quickly, this way!" She whispered, starting to move in the night towards back streets and alley ways, out of the view of the main paths. I followed without any hesitation. The buildings that we passed did really look medieval, and some had their lights on in their rooms, and one house smelt like there were something cooking. That house kinda looked like it was made out of dough and chocolate. These ponies seemed somewhat advanced (not advanced as humans), but they use no technology? I guess that makes sense, considering they have magic, and they probably rely on it, too. I guess that could also answer why I feel this kinda aura in the atmosphere.

After sneaking around the alleys of what seemed like a small village for what seemed like hours on end, and getting no response that we have been spotted by anyone, not that we've seen anyone either, Lyra directed me to this house, which I presume is hers. But…

"Why are we here?" I whisper to her, because I'm getting a feeling that I'm going to get caught.

"I just need to get something. I'll be quick." She tried to assure me, but I still have my doubts. Also, where am I going exactly? I think I'll just retreat to the forest again, which I think is exactly next to this village and it borders too. I turned my head to Lyra, who opened the door to her house and…

There was another pony at the door, staring wide-eyed at me in shock, as well as I was. This pony (which wasn't either a unicorn or a pegasi), had a cream-coloured coat, and a purple and pink mane and tail. We both froze with fear, where I slowly was taking in options. Knock her out or bolt the fuck outta here hoping to find the forest, which at this point seems safer than this place. Flee or fight strategy, because the freezing strategy that I'm doing at the moment won't last forever. I think my heart may have skipped a beat.

"Bon Bon," Lyra started, probably trying to calm down her… roommate. Also, 'Bon Bon'? Really- Not time for questions right now. "It's okay, don't panic-

And she started to panic, by screeching at the top of her lungs, while I also feel shaken by the noise, and turned and ran in a single direction, ignoring everything else I encountered. I ran. This is all I could do now. I need to get out of here. I ran by different homes, with most of them having their lights suddenly turn on, I ran through what seemed like some sort of park. Where is the forest? I noticed some of the ponies were coming out of their houses, unicorns and pegasi alike. I hid in the shadows of the alleyways as they passed, probably going towards Lyra's home and another traumatized pony. They were all muttering to one another, about what that scream could have been, and if the 'monster' was involved. What did I even do in the first place? I then, silently as I could, ran while the ponies passed my position, to this bridge over a small river, where I then ran past, this giant tree featuring a lot of flora. I wonder who lives there. Then I turned my head to my right, seeing a mossy, darkened forest. My escape. I may have heard commotion coming from the tree, but I ignored it, and ran like a madman to the forest. I noticed some sort of shadow to my right, blocking out the light of the night sky, and stopped suddenly to look up… only to find nothing. The hell was that even? I don't know. I need to keep running-

*Thump*

Something… or someone… just landed behind me. A pegasi? How did this one find me? This must have been one of the feelings that I've gotten, which that being someone following me, along with being found, which I presume both are now definitely true. I think this over as I'm frozen still, kind of scared to see who just landed. But, never give up on escaping… Theodore was the name. Just look back. So what if you get caught, you can just escape again. Though, why are they even imprisoning you in the first place? Just look back at this… pony. This pony. This pony. Holy- this pony. This is no pony. Could it be? What kind of pony- What kind of pony is both unicorn and pegasi? What kind of pony. This pony…

The one to the right of me, she looked about the same, in a somewhat smaller size than the white unicorn, was coloured in some dark blue, with lighter blue outlines. She had the same jewellery only coloured in black and had no stones in them. It also had blue eyes. She had a symbol of the moon on its back legs instead of a sun. It was one and a half metres tall.

I know this pony… This pony which was giving me a stare. Not of any hostility, not of anger, not of fear, not of one seeking revenge, but… intrigue…

Luna.

…

…

…

…

…

We stared at each other for the longest time. Her expressions slightly changed throughout the entire ordeal. What was she even doing here? She… why hasn't she attacked me, or even feel threatened? If memory serves correct… she is Princess Luna, one of the co-rulers of this crazy, possibly even unforgiven lands, that wants to torture me. So… why is she just staring at me? Does she want me to do something?

Now, there a few options which I could do now, run (which seems logical, but she might stop me), fight (she would probably kill me if I try) or converse (which she would ignore everything I say and think I'm lying, just because of some grudge…). I need to find out what the hell went on.

…

She made the first move. She took one step forwards towards me, slowly. She didn't try and talk, thought I don't know why. She took another step, hesitating this time for the slightest of moments, before gradually moving faster towards me, with each step, makes me feel differently. What was she even doing?

She started off being about fifteen feet away, now she was seven, maybe six. Along with an expression that didn't want to kill me. I don't think she wants to. She took another step forward, making it about four feet now, when I heard some sort of noise which I couldn't make out. Someone's spying on me. I need to get out of here. This is a trap. Look for an exit Theodore. Find one.

"I'm not going to hurt you." I stopped my panicking. I turned to her, who didn't move at all, and that voice kinda sounded like an order. An order that she was going to kill me? You won't hurt me? Can… Can I believe that? I didn't try and run. I stopped moving. My decision… is that I followed what she said for now. At least for now…

"What do you want with me?"

She made a small flinch when she heard me gruff voice. Why does my voice sound like that? It didn't usually in the past.

"…Let me show you." She spoke with a much softer voice. Her horn lit up, but she wasn't in any fighting stance that I knew. What was she going to do? Either way, I guess this answers the questions I just asked. I needed to know. I didn't stop her. Her horn touched my forehead, and everything went blank.

…you wanted to feel like something you're not…

I saw, a big pail white coloured unicorn, with a horn. I also noticed the giant wings it had, and I guess that had another for it, but I didn't know it. It looked it was about 2 metres tall, has a long mane and tail that was striped with pink, blue, a faded light blue and purple, had soft purple-coloured eyes. It was wearing a breastplate, some crown-like object on its head, and a necklace, that looked like it was made out of gold, along with some form of metal on its hoofcaps. It also had a symbol, similar to the sun on its back legs.

Princess Celestia. Her sister, the other co-ruler of…. Equestria. Why are you showing me this?

"I need to-

Have I... told you...

In the first days, there was no fear

Sandstorms had come before, the damage had been minimal, this would be no different

But the storm did not stop us

Whole days would pass without seeing the sun

We were told to remain calm, that all was well

And like fools we listened

We sat silently as the first planes went down

We watched calmly as sand stripped pain from our homes

We waited patiently as our world feel down around us

And how was our virtue repaid?

ABANDONMENT

We had toiled, keeping … alive through the storm, but our bosses, owners, leaders…

Those who draped themselves with entitlement had fled the city, and with them…

Our hope for escape

Then HE came

Without reason or reward

BUCHANAN AND THE …

We were not their families

And this was not their HOME

And still they CARED for us

We were gathered together, those who were left

US AND OUR PROTECTORS

They led us away from our homes, believing all was well

"Because a fool is quick to hope and slow to learn"

THE STORM came upon us WITHOUT WARNING or mercy

I cannot tell you what happened

All I saw was the storm, all I heard was its ROAR

Somehow, we made it back to the city, TO SHELTER away

From those we left DEAD AND BRUIED by the storm

Now, we are all REFUGEES

Us and the … our identities and ideals

STRIPPED AWAY by the storm, like FLESH from the BONE

And with them OUR HOPE FOR ESCAPE, and our LIVES WITH ANY MEANING

And in the last days that we have

FEAR IS ALL WE WILL EVER KNOW AND REMEMBER

A story... Was this from a civilian? Why was I being shown this? Is there any reason-

A man in a black mask, welding a Pistol, shot one of the hostages without having any mercy. He was with three other men, who were welding Assault Rifles and Shotguns. They were either behind the seats of the plane, using it as cover, or out in the open, waiting for the men to come out so they could shoot them. "Stay back!" The masked man yelled. "I'll kill him!"

"Shit. We got a hostage situation." Henry stated, being on Phil's right on the other side of the opening doorway, pointing his gun at the man on the far left, who was semi-out in the open.

"We'll fire when ready, sir." Gary added after that, behind Phillip, pointing his gun at the man on the far right, mostly behind blue seats of the destroyed and wrecked plane.

"We will kill him if you- The masked man was cut off from yelling out threats, when Phil instantly shot his head off, holding an AK 47, which was quickly followed by Henry and Gary killing at their targets as well. The four rebellious men didn't have any time to react as the Delta operators blitzed through the bodies like nothing, as Phil killed the last guy which wasn't being shot at. The hostage survive the attack, but fell to the ground. When the blitz ended after a split second, the three men rushed to the fallen hostage.

"You gonna have to talk fast boss, he's fadin'." Henry said, as he and Phil both rushed to the man, checking up on him. The man was going to dye, and Delta couldn't do anything about it, so they tried to get answers from him quickly, before he passes away. Gary was keeping watch from any other potential enemies.

The man grunted in pain, trying to stay alive, but failing. "Forget… me. They took McGavin. You gotta find him.

"We will, but I need you to tell me where they took him." Phillip, as quickly as possible, interrogated him on his dying words.

"They took him… to the nest…" The man grunted in pain once more.

"Alright, that's good." Phil tried to assure the man… "And what about-

The man choked and moaned in pain, before felling dead, leaving the men without answers to more questions they needed answering. He took one last breath, before closing his eyes, and didn't move no more.

Phil sighed in defeat, and in sorrow that this man died. "God dammit…" He paused, looking over the man who had just died. He looked to me in his late-twenties, and he had become unlucky when the refugees decided to murder his entire squad, and Phil felt a bit guilty that he couldn't have made it in time to save him and his squad, but knew this, death, was a part of war, and his sacrifice would be remembered, and shook off the thought. "Henry, mark the bodied on TAC." He then ordered, looking towards his squad mates. "Gary, check outside for tracks." He nodded in reply, before setting off outside, where containers of wreckage, and dead bodies of rebellious refugees laid. Phil sighed again. "I want to know what the hell is going on in this city."

Phil and Henry made it out of the plane a few minutes after the whole scenario, meeting with Gary, who was looking at several tracks, and picking up the sand which footprints of shoes laid, smelling them, which then lead to one particular direction.

"Got multiple tracks headed north." Gary gestured towards the city that laid in front of him.

"Then we follow them." The Captain ordered, moving north towards the city, as Gary and Henry then followed suit after him, pointing out their guns in defence of any enemies that they can see.

the Definition… told you

"Where'n the hell's that coming' from?" Henry asked curiously, after hearing music randomly appear as they were fighting enemies through the entrance of the station. They are now in a lower part inside the area, where there are random speakers.

"It's these speakers. They're built from scratch, just like that beacon we found." Phillip answered with the knowledge that he learnt, after seeing the speakers up closer, they look very similar to the handmade-beacon from before, with the speakers also looked like they were handmade.

"Why are they playing Jimi Hendrix?" Gary wondered how they got Hendrix tapes in the first place, and wondering where the music was originating from.

"Don't know. Let's just keep moving." The three men moved through a doorway, into a different part of the station, jumping over a barricade, where a man's voice was suddenly heard from the speakers.

"Oh hoo! Hoo! Hoo! This just in… an unwarranted assault on the 33rd today means, you guess it, an end to the ceasefire!" Phil and Henry looked towards the only speaker in the room they were in now, which was a hallway of the former radio station that contained broken windows, all across one side, in the curved hallway. They and Gary wondered who the hell this guy was, speaking over the rock music which was still being played. "All insurgents wishing to surrender, please report to your nearest outpost for processing. Haha! We now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast. Here we go!"

Henry was confused and amazed of all that. "Let me go on record and say shit just got weird."

"Fuck weird. This is all outta control!" Gary expressed, amazed as well, while Phil shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "Not only do they got people here, they got a fuckin' DJ!" Phil wondered where this mysterious DJ could be in Dubai. He thought there must have been some other radio station in the city, but due to the sandstorms, he wondered how that was even possible. "We need to radio command now, ASAP."

Phil didn't like that idea, since he thought finding the Colonel would make all solutions become clear and explained to what happened in this city, which right now was still a mystery. He didn't want to go back now. "Not yet. Buchanan need our help." They kept walking down the curved hallway, which was going left, where they noticed this man running down an exit which used to be a part of the wall.

"And this soldier can lead us straight to 'em." Henry thought this would help them, in some way or another. "Once we know that the Damned are safe, we'll radio in for evac." They all hoped that this would happen, that this could all be over with right now. They didn't want to kill any more people for answers, but it had to be done.

Yet they don't know how long that would be.

…of Insanity?

I came back into conscious, with me still in the same standing position as to when Luna placed her horn on me, which told me she was… searching for dreams? I saw Luna walking back in shock, wide-eyed, looking at me with horror. I tried to say something, to ask what the hell she was even doing, and what those visions even were, when I saw some sort of light, emerging from over the path I came before, running away from the village. After a few seconds, I saw fire emerge from sticks, and pitchforks emerge from floating auras or hooves.

I couldn't wait around any longer, the village sent a mob after me, and this… was all a distraction. "You distracted me." I accused Luna. She did. She doesn't want to kill me, so instead, she sends a militia to do the work for her. "You want them to kill me."

She even seemed more shocked from this accusation that was true, and I didn't wait for her response, as I ran as fast as I could, into the forest, and never looking back. "Wait!" I heard faintly. It was a trap. She set me up. Why did they want me killed? It doesn't make sense… Not that anything here has so far…

I've been running for what seems like about twenty minutes. I'm now in some random part of the forest which I used to reside in, for a night, and now I do so again. I am panting as I'm down on my knees, looking back and seeing only darkness, moss from the flora, and the dark colours and patterns from my surroundings. I guess I out ran them or lost them. Either way… it's over for now. For now…

I need to rest. I don't feel cold with the clothes I'm wearing, but I feel some pain from the bruises that lay upon my skin and the blood that lays on my flesh. Ignore them, Theo. They aren't critical or life-threating in any way. At least not right now.

And those dreams, those visions… What the hell do they mean? The army ones are telling some sort of story. Was Luna making those up? Why did she make me see those things? So many questions that won't get answered for me… and probably won't ever will. But… those dreams…

…of Insanity…

As I lay myself on the ground, on grass and dirt which footsteps of the possible Timberwolves that exist very much around these parts, I can only hope that I can survive all this, and that my survival instincts can also kick in right now.

But I don't think the hope is worth it. Is Friendship really magic…?

Can you figure out the puzzles? If so, what do they all mean? Oh, this is all so fun! Some much destruction. The minds are reacting! I just wish you could get a better view of all this. It's so much fun!