**Note: this is my very first fan fic ever so I would really appreciate constructive criticism!
I looked around. I had made it, the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth. The sun was high, the air was clear and I could see everything. Triumphant, I sat down real quick to observe the great view. It had been a long trip here but it felt worth it. My partner, Amirah, pulled herself up onto the peak of the mountain to meet me very shortly after I had made it up.
"It sure is incredible..." she was exhausted, gasping for air as she spoke, "isn't it?" she finished by collapsing down onto the floor next to me so we could observe the spectacular view together.
I gave a quick chuckle, "Yeah. You never really realize how flat the world sorta is until you get up here too huh?" She looked at me like I was insane. I was about to retract my statement when she replied.
"Yeah..." she said back, still trying to catch her breath, "I see what you mean." she looked around. "When does HQ want us back down?" she asked to change the subject.
"They said they want us to take some pictures and then start back down around 2." I felt weak. I didn't want to stand up and head back down later, I liked it up here. I just hoped Amirah felt the same way. "Hey can you..." I felt light headed as I said it. "Can you..." My own words echoed in my head as everything started going black, I tried to stand up. "Can you..." My words were repeating inside my head as a terribly high pitched note started to fill my ears. I felt myself stumbling around like a drunk man as It increased in volume to the point where I wanted to rip out my ear drums. I felt the cold ice of the earth slam against my body. I had fell down. The high pitched note continued to play over the blackness. It had happened so fast.
"Can you..." I heard repeating.
"Can you..."
It was a beautiful afternoon in Ponyville, Celestia's sun was shining high and bright and earlier Rainbow dash had cleared the sky so it was clear as anypony could ever wish for. Spike was enjoying an afternoon nap while Twilight was studying, as usual. When suddenly there was a knock on the library's door.
"Hello?" a deep and raspy voice squaked from behind the door, "Is this the residence for Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight opened the door, smiling a little bigger than usual.
"It sure is, I assume you are here to deliver a package?" Twilight was not assuming, she was sure of it, she had been waiting anxiously for the past week for this book to arrive.
"Yeah" the delivery man said back, "Enjoy it" he let out as he put down the package and carried on his way. Twilight ran back inside, levitating the book above her. She shut the door and placed the package on the table.
"Spike!" she yelled, "It's here, the book arrived!" a loud thump was followed by her somewhat overexcited scream. A minute or two passed and finally Spike slumped down the stairs. He looked upset, probably because Twilight had awoken him from his nap for something he didn't remotely care about.
"How is this book any different from the others Twilight? it's just another lame spellbook!" Spike said, his eyebrows pushed down forming his signature grumpy face.
"Spike! This is serious! This one of a kind journal from Starswirl the Bearded contains one of the most powerful spells ever created!" Twilight yelled back as she started opening the package with her magic.
"I dunno Twilight. I mean, who really cares about this Starswirl the Bearded guy anyways? He's probably nowhere close to as magical as you are!" Spike said as he threw wild hand motions around, slowly making his way towards Twilight.
"Spike! Starswirl the Bearded was one of the most magical unicorns of all time! He single handedly disproved all of the theories relating to power capacity of unicorns' horns and therefore brought forth an entire era where thousands of discoveries were being made in the field of magic! Also, he invented several of the most draining, yet powerful and incredible spells of all time!" Twilight went on the rant and nearly forgot about the package as she tried to fill Spike in on a history lesson. He wasn't interested.
“Yeah yeah." Spike didn't want to agree, but he knew Twilight would never let him see the end of it until he agreed with her. "So what's the one inside this book do?"
Twilight smiled at Spike as she went over to the half opened package and pulled the book out, "Glad you asked Spike! This spell demanded so much power, that even Starswirl was never able to actually use it! I think I know something that Starswirl doesn't though!" Twilight beamed, she was so excited to try this spell out so she immediately went over to her favorite reading spot and cracked the book open.
"So you're saying that he was the most magical of all time, but you're better than him?" Spike asked scratching his head. He was curious because he had never seen Twilight so sure of herself before, although he didn't think she lacked in magical ability at all, He wasn't sure he had ever seen her acknowledge it this way before.
"Spike, during my entire stay in Ponyville, there has been one thing I have learned that is more important than anything. Friendship is the most powerful thing in the universe, So it must work in relation to my spells don't you think?" Twilight asked Spike who was barely paying attention anymore, “Don’t you?"
Spike jumped, he forgot Twilight had been speaking to him this entire time, "Yeah sure. Whatever you say Twilight." he walked over to the door, “I’m going over to Sugarcube Corner. You want anything?" Spike asked her.
"Yeah, just get me whatever looks good there." Twilight didn't have time to make a list of her favorite treats and sort through to find which one she craved most right now, she was about to make a breakthrough! For this spell, inside of the book, gave the pony the mind of god, allowing the caster to see into any sentient life forms mind, and see what they see.
I felt a hard slap against the side of my face as I awoke to the sound of someone yelling "Snap out of it Gareth!" It was Amirah. I sat up quickly and looked around, How long was I out for? Amirah continued to speak, "God, I thought I lost you for a second there." she said walking back over to her backpack. She pulled out a thermos; it was filled with warm water.
"What? Why did..." I had a mind raging with questions; so many at once I could hardly even channel one out of my mouth in a sensible manner, "Where is Twilight?" I finally said.
Amirah looked at me from her backpack, "Huh? Who's Twilight?" She started walking towards me with her thermos of water. "Here, drink some water before you go out asking thousands of questions." she handed it over and made herself comfortable right next to me. "How are your oxygen levels?" When this question was presented I was sort of relieved. Why? It made me remember that maybe passing out wasn't something to be ashamed of at this height, and that maybe I had just not been getting enough fresh air. I took a look at my tank.
"Well, they appear full." I told her. She nodded slowly.
"Well make sure you drink up and have something to eat before we head down. We'd be in hot water if something like that happened on our way back"
"Hot water doesn't sound too bad right now." I replied. Amirah laughed at me shaking her head. She then sighed and said:
"So how were your dreams bud?" I chuckled at the thought. Did I dream? What did I dream about? How come I can't seem to remember it? But the most important question came out first.
"How long was I out?" I asked
"Well, let's say that if we were planning to go down the mountain at two, we're late.” She answered. I looked down at my watch after she had finished. It was 2:05!
"Holy shit, I was out for a half hour?" I questioned her loudly. She nodded.
"Yep, I took some pictures after you refused to wake up. I shook you awake when I was done. So we're pretty much ready to leave, just waiting for you to say you'll be fine for the way down."
"I was out and you just took pictures!?"
"Hey in my defense, You were mumbling shit and you were still breathing just fine so I was pretty sure I might as well do my fucking job real quick." Amirah defended herself. She was right I guess.
"Yeah… Sorry, it’s just..." Suddenly, my dream came rushing back to me, I could remember it all. "It was weird. I had the most vivid dream of...” I couldn't believe what I was about to say. "Ponies and I felt like I knew them all. It seemed like I felt at home with them. There were 6 of them and we went everywhere together. I felt like I was one of them.” Amirah looked disgusted, confused and tired. She looked up into the sky and shook her head taking in a deep breathe. She let it out as she looked at me and spoke.
"Can we just leave? You're being weird." Was I really being weird? Well maybe I was based on the whole dreaming about pastel colored horses on a quest for friendship or something.
"My testosterone levels must have been incredibly low for me to dream that up" I joked. She shook her head and walked over to the equipment.
We picked up our stuff and started back down the mountain, when suddenly it took a turn for the worst.
BOOOSH!!!
I felt my ears burst as I collapsed to the ground, grabbing them as tightly as I could; trying to shield them from the sound, but it was inside of my head. Not my ears.
"Gareth!" Amirah yelled and ran over to me.
The voices of the mares from my dreams started flowing in, all asking the same question, "Are you okay?" echoing, repeating, "Are you okay?"
BOOOSH!!!
A second explosion in my head occurred, This time it made my body cringe with pain, I started shaking uncontrollably as I heard Amirah yelling over the sound of ponies and a loud, metallic, echoing explosion.
BOOOOOOSH!!!
This explosion was the most painful. It sent shock-waves all over my body, and then...
Nothing.
There was nothing after that.
After the third explosion I was dead.