Silence

It was barely dawn the next day when I awoke, and, regretfully, it wasn't of my body's choosing. It was shocked awake by a flurry of ponies screaming nearby on one of the main roads. At first, I thought it was another nightmare- ponies dying most painful and gruesome deaths by creatures only my terrified mind could conjure; But all the same, what I was hearing was a very real, and very dangerous, scenario. The sounds of agony, and the danger it foretold was, in fact, genuine. In my childlike mind, there was only one solution left: be the hero you always pretended to be. So, I charged towards the noise, abandoning all of my supplies, and even my grandmother's cane, all "for the good of ponykind". How wrong was I, to just think I could save the day, like anypony in the Royal Guard, prepared to fight... and die, for "Princess and Country". I didn't have their experience, or their loyalty. I wanted to fight to protect what I loved, not for two alicorns whom I only know because of Mother's lessons. I never met them, never saw accurate portraits. I only knew they raised the sun and moon, and were dedicated to serving the populace, or so I was led to believe.

As I sprinted towards danger, the yelling and screaming of terrified ponies grew louder and louder. This only raised questions in my mind, rather than red flags. What am I going to face? Have I read about it? Will they congratulate me afterwards? ...Will I die?

That last question made me slow down, for a minute and no longer, it felt like. I was just a small child; I had no strengths. I was charging into battle at the drop of a hat, and had no defense strategy planned, only one command for my body and mind: Save them, no matter the cost. That was it! Just save them, don't worry about anything else. They will mark down your name, even with this small event, and even if my heart ceased its lifelong beat. They will know I tried to protect those I cared about. I had no request for delusions of grandeur, or even medals to bear.

I wanted to protect. I needed to protect.

I left everything useful to this fight behind, not for lack of strategy, but for appraisal of protective skill. No trinkets or baubles would hinder my future reputation I was dead set on making for myself, however childish it may be. It made sense! Just protect, no heroism. I wasn't craving the life of a hero during my imaginary battles on the farm, I was dreaming of being one who protects.

A Guardian...

It made sense now! I wish to guard those in need. As a small child, this is what I desired, what I craved from life's juicy nectar. Be a guardian, protect those worth it. I sped up my heroic charge, only to come one step closer in realization of Life's true nature...

A few minutes later, I witnessed my first bout of carnage in reality- a Manticore attack on a traveling caravan. There were only two attackers- a male and female, respectively. Their den was ambushed by scavengers from the party, not realizing it was from a highly territorial species of animal. According to one of Mother's textbooks, the Manticore is normally neutral outside its territory, but anything that stepped within its bounds was fair game. Their only weakness was their behavior when injured. If you manage to heal the wounded Manticore carefully whilst respecting its nature, supposedly, it will consider it a "Life Debt" and will remain neutral until either it saves your life as equal payment for your heroism, or you release it from its service. Many old tales talk of a young bard, who saved a Manticore from dying (the tales all differed on how this was done. Some say it was saved from freezing during a hard winter, while others say the bard bandaged an otherwise fatal wound), and they later became great allies. Later in life, I would learn the significance of this old mare's tale, as well as several others that would help kick-start a lifelong pursuit to study something very strange found in this world.

...My work isn't complete yet. There are many questions left unanswered to the nature behind this elusive abnormality in the world. I will not know what comes of my research, but hopefully, desperately, The Princesses will find one who can unlock its mysteries. That is the only true regret I will have after committing what I am about to do...

Moving onto the attack, what I witnessed was pure carnage- everypony within sight of the two creatures were instantly and easily ripped asunder. I couldn't handle it at that young of an age. Entrails were ripped from the stomach. Heads were severed. Limbs scattered, ponies eaten alive, mass death. I vomited everything I ate, and then some. I cowered in fear at the sight of real carnage, all whilst my mind was thinking that it should have been different. Deep down, somewhere at the pit of my gut, I knew better, but I couldn't help but think that real life should have still been censored from me, just as my parents tried to do back on the farm. Make life nicer looking, and it isn't so hard to bear.

I couldn't stomach it. The violence, the senseless death. It made me physically spasm before emptying the contents of last night's meal onto the already blood soaked grass and dirt. What follows in the next part of my note is... Is all I could think of the scenes thrown before me:

Why? (Another dead body thrown asunder)

Why them? (One tried to put up one last fight, before the Manticore couple ripped him in half)

They didn't deserve this!

An endless cycle of death. Look at them, and you're dead! Try to reason, and you're dead! Nothing but death!

(After that thought, all I remember is an intense pain, and then a sheet of darkness cast about my eyes...)

......Even to this day, I cannot remember what happened next. There was death, screaming... And then silence. I had no inkling or clue of what occurred. A fuzziness clouded my mind after I recovered. I looked around me, and was in the middle of a road. I didn't recognize it, nor remember why I was on a road in the first place. In fact, I couldn't remember who I was, or where I came from... All I knew was I wanted to walk... East? I remember I had a camp nearby, maybe that will tell me more. From what it looked like, the camp was untouched, and everything was there, or so I thought. I had no memory of what should and shouldn't be there, only that it was provisions and not much else. I had a map, books from... someone, and a staff. Or was it a cane? Regardless, I had to set out East, towards the Everfree.

It was my fate to walk that way after all...