Dreaming. That's what it was. Or, at least, that's what he thought it was. These last months had been increasingly strange; it started with the thoughts. Needing to get up and leave with no destination in mind. Just to get up and run.
Alas, as a young adult, he had responsibilities. He went to work as per usual, driving to work and cleaning the apartment. although more and more he found himself staring off into the distance , mesmerized by what else was out in the world. But, he then remembered that he was chained down to this life until he grew old. And everything was as per usual.
More and more these thoughts kept occurring to him, this wanderlust needing to be quenched. Yet he knew this desperate thirst couldn't be fulfilled. His father had this same feeling, this desire to go far away; he hadn't ever met his father. He hadn't heard anything of him all throughout childhood, and his mother never spoke of him.
Time passed and his desire never diminished. It grew and grew even more, almost to the point to where he couldn't stand it. Now, there were voices that told him to Run, to get away from it. They never specified what "it" exactly was. He tried to find out why this was happening to him, yet his search revealed no results. He decided to visit his mother, and she was delighted to see him once again. Though as he entered her house, she knew something was wrong. Concerned for her son, she asked him about it. It was evident that this was bothering him; his hair was a mess and his eyes were red and bloodshot. The voices had been keeping him up at night, adrenaline pulsing through him every time he thought of the idea of running away.
He told her about the thoughts of leaving, the voices keeping him awake and giving him nightmares, the desire to go anywhere but here. He told her about how it shouldn't be this severe and that it was normal to want to travel, but this was having it's toll on him. Not only mentally, but physically. He had lost weight over the months, and he was the type of person with a semi-muscular build.
His mother looked at her only son with sorrowful eyes; she had seen this all before with his father. He ended up losing his mind, and then he just simply vanished one day. There was no trail left behind, no notice, or any sort of letter.
Memories returned to the frail woman; memories of a happier time. A time where she was madly in love with the man of her dreams, a time where they danced in the rain and then kissed under the moon. She sighed in sorrow and beckoned her son to her.
"Go into the attic, and look into the chest by the window. I'm sorry."
A bracelet with a key attached to it was placed in his palm before his mother went and locked herself in her room. he was puzzled at first, the words "I'm sorry," still fresh in his mind. For what, he pondered; this drove his curiosity further. A yawn escaped his mouth as he realized he hadn't slept in... days. How was he still awake? There was no way he could still be awake. Coffee came to mind and he set to his task. Fifteen minutes later, he was sipping on a hot mug. The bracelet jingled in his pocket, the crisp sound of metal clashing together. Reaching for the delicate object, he pulled it out and inspected it closely. It was rusted, with multiple little keychains connected to it. Tiny little animals were attached to the bracelet with the names of countries on them; ranging from Brazil to Canada to Iraq. Then, amidst all of this, was a luminous key. It was an older key; you could tell that much just by looking at the design of the key. Small dents were scattered across the entire key, showing that it was well-used and very old. Both items in hand, he left the kitchen area and walked into the hallway. A gust of air brushed across his neck, giving him the chills. It wasn't normal because the window was closed and there wasn't any other way for air to enter the building. Pulling his sweater in an effort to warm himself up, he continued down the hallway. and then he just stopped. There was no need for cold air; something wasn't right. Something was out of place and did not belong at all. His heartbeat started beating in his head, as blood rushed through his system.
"Mom?"
"Dad?"
"Dad? Are you there?"
Panic washed over him, as he prepared for the worst. The visions kept getting worse and worse within the coming weeks.
"Hello?"
He inhaled sharply; he stopped breathing as he felt this non-tangible force wash through him and drip down his body. His eyes widened and darted around the room. It was dark out now, the sun setting mere minutes ago. Cool night air brushed against him, but that wasn't what was bothering him. It was the sound of the lightbulbs exploding, one by one, each one drawing closer and closer. The last one was right beside him, an antique lamp that his mother cherished. There was a tense moment in the air as he waited for the light to die... but it only flickered for a while. Something brushed past his legs, moving through the space freely and openly. He caught a glimpse of it as it retreated back to he shadows once more.
Paranoia and anxiety conquering any rational thought, he stood there, motionless. The lamp continued to flicker, but it kept speeding up more and more. Faster, faster, faster it flickered until finally it exploded.
"Dad? Mom, where did Daddy go?"
A very familiar voice responded gently,
"Daddy went away for a while, sweetie."
The child, blissfully unaware, simply said "Okay" and went back to playing with his cars.
The dark cloaked everything, nothing to be seen through the veil placed overtop of him. Every word spoken by the voices drove him further with his anxiety. Then the whispers started. They spoke of a world away from home, the time of paradise lost and it's return, and too much to comprehend. So much information to process overwhelmed him, and he collapsed on the floor. The torrent of whispers didn't stop. They only grew louder and louder until they were yelling.
He begged them to stop, yet they would not stop their assault. Enduring too much, the man screamed and, slowly, lost grip on reality.
Vision became blurry and he couldn't stay conscious. The voices softened, now more of a gentle whisper... soft, gentle melodies began, lullabies of woe and sadness. All the while, the man on the floor continued to weep as he gently fell away from the world, and into the gentle embrace of Dreaming.
Princess Luna awoke with a start. She had heard of this before; the whispers and the voices. Yet, she couldn't find who it was connected to. She returned to the dream state with a simple spell, and saw the long fibres stretch on for as far as she could see. It was only then she realized that the connection was being received in another universe. This bore multiple alarms for the Princess; this had only happened one other time before. Preparing for the worst, the touched the cord and was overwhelmed by the amount of things she had seen and heard. But it was clear this was no minor issue. The last time something like this happened was years ago, and it... was very, very bad.
One could say Earth-shattering.
Luna had to warn Celestia, but she had to know everything about "It". She reconnected to the stream, and was flooded with pictures and memories of it's life. One thought was separated from everything else, though. It was a photo of another being like it, except taller and more masculine; it was holding a bundle of blankets and smiling down tenderly upon it. The being in the photo was very, very familiar to Luna. She was struck with disbelief, horror, and sadness all at the same time... how could this happen again?
"Oh dear Faust, have mercy upon us all...."
Chapter I: …Like Hell
A swarm of thoughts flew across his mind; everything was moving so fast. He heard his name being called, so he attempted to stand. His legs gave away from underneath him, causing his to grunt in pain as he hit the floor.
“Nathan…”
This time, that was enough to get him on his feet. He brushed aside the broken glass from the lightbulb and started walking. Dim light shone through the curtains, and after peering through the curtains, he saw that it was early morning. Not a sound was heard all throughout the house, other than the ceiling fan in the kitchen. Wind was howling outside, rain coming down in a soft gentle beat.
He looked around the house, even knocking on his mother’s door to find that empty. The house was completely barren; he was alone.
It was an eerie silence; all was dead and quiet.
Nathan returned to the hallway, and stood there for a while. He remembered the voices, the fear, and the sleep. It was so much; he couldn’t take it. He looked at the metallic bracelet, fiddling with the various keychains connected to the cold metal band. He turned it over and felt the entire surface with his fingers, delicately tracing its outline. It was only then he noticed an inscribing on the back of it, tiny dents in the metal forming a phrase. He couldn’t decipher it; it was too confusing. The language looked like it consisted of mostly images, like hieroglyphs. But, upon further inspection, there were scribbles drawn beneath them. It seemed so familiar, at the tip of his tongue, yet he could not seem to find what he was looking for.
Inspecting the dimly lit hallway once more, he slowly sauntered forth into what was hell the night before. The feeling of treading on thin ice was there, yet it felt masked and hidden from plain view.
Almost taunting, in a way.
There was a lock on the roof, hidden from view but still there. It took some time to find it, but he did. Taking the bracelet out from his pocket, he gave it a quick glance before putting it into the lock. It fit into place, though rusty and required some effort. He twisted the key and he could hear the sound of the lock turning.
Dust fell from the hatch as Nathan pulled down the cord for the staircase to the attic. Musk and dry air rushed forth, causing him to cough as he walked up the weakened wooden steps. More of the strange symbols were carved into the wood, each one growing more and more detailed. He saw what looked like horses at first glance, but then saw that the designs were more detailed. Not only were they horses, but pegasi as well. Peering closer, he could see others, but it wasn’t very clear. He decided to abandon that and move on to what really mattered the most. He climbed up the stairs and was surprised to see he could stand upright without his head hitting the ceiling. It was then he finally took in his surroundings; to his left was a window that leaked sunlight onto the floor and the back wall. Wood floors creaked and were covered in dust. To his right were countless files, books, and photos. Memory albums, more like. They were yellow from age and, like most things in the attic, covered in dust. The roof wasn’t completed, but the installation was installed into the ceiling. Loose papers were scattered everywhere, random scribbles crudely drawn on them. Curiosity got the better of Nathan as he picked up a random sheet. Drawn in a black shade, possibly charcoal, was a sketch of an amulet…no, a chest plate with a single gem in the middle of it. Underneath the sketch were the words “conductor” and “energy transfer”. Intrigued, Nathan picked up another sheet. This time, it was a paragraph that was smudged, but some words were partially comprehendible.
“ Notes.. of Aiden Sal…
Age… Pass… reunion… pro…cy... false rule… CURSE. Nathaniel… Never…Know. Heredit…y? Bloo…line? Run…way. Celest…una...hunt for me…
Father… Son.”
This wasn’t real. He scanned over the sentence over and over again, yet nothing changed. Had his father been hunted down and killed? What was the “curse” his father talked of? Was he already cursed?
Too many questions swarmed his mind and he couldn’t process them all. Driven by his curiosity, he scanned around the room, searching for more information. In a corner, he saw something barely noticeable, yet still there. A lamp hung above a desk, still and lifeless. Nathan walked over and turned it on to see a wall of more drawings, photos, paragraphs, and more. Threads reached from photo to photo, forming a spider web of connections. Photos of him as a child were mounted upon the board, connected to so many different things. There were two sketches in the center; two horses with wings and what looked like crowns. One was elegantly dressed in golden armor plates, while the other possessed a darker shade. The golden one was posed in front of a sun, while the other behind in front of the moon. Looking back to the photo of himself as a young child, he saw that two lines were directly traced back to the horses. It was confusing and made no sense to him. The more and more he looked, the more in-depth the web went. It became increasingly difficult to understand because he had no idea what or who these beings were.
He went and tore the photo of himself off the board and looked at it for a very long time. The photo was old and grungy, clearly aged. He turned it over to find writing on the back of the photo; it was written in a dark red ink.
“My son… I love you so much. I knew this time would come and I wish it never had to. Take the key your mother gave you and open the chest in the corner… I am so sorry for everything I haven’t done for you. I am so sorry… I hope we can see each other soon.
-Your loving Father.”
Feelings overwhelmed him; his father could be alive! Then he remembered what the note said about the key…Had he known that this illness would happen? He reached onto the board and took down the picture of his father and gazed upon it for a while. It showed his father standing in the rain with a smile on his face. His mother had told him that his father always loved hearing the sound of rain.
He gently put the picture of himself and of his father into his jacket pocket. Now, the note had mentioned something about a chest…
Rummaging through the room, it took him a while to find it. It was buried beneath a metric ton of notes on a “Starswirl” and different theories, equations, and laws. The chest was nothing special; made of oak, very long in width, and very old; you could tell it’s age just py a quick glance. The hinges were rusted, the wood was weakened and cracked, and the 9 and creaked as he pulled the chest out from under the table it was residing under.
Pulling the bracelet out from his pocket, he took one last look at the old key before forcing the key into the keyhole.
There was a tense moment as he took a deep breath before opening the aged container. What could it hold? What history did it have? Would it help him find his father?
Deciding not to wait a second longer, he turned the key.
The chest cover groaned as it was hefted open. For the first time in decades, light shone upon the contents within. Very gently, Nathan reached into the wooden chest and pulled out a beautifully decorated amulet; wrapped in a purple cloth that was very soothing to the touch.
Sunlight bounced off the centerpiece, a rounded sapphire, and bounced off the wall creating a beautiful montage of triangles and squares. The chain itself was a greyish color and cold when he felt the metal in his hands for the first time… why did it look and feel so familiar?
Putting the beautiful necklace aside or now, he reached in and pulled out an old sack that was made of some durable material he couldn’t identify; though it had common similarities to leather. It was a dry-mud color and had two straps on the back of the bag, as well as several different pockets sown onto the sides and front of the bag.
“Why would he have this?”
His father was a mysterious man; that was for sure. He still didn’t have any clue what was going on, or what all of this meant. Was it a test? There wasn’t any way for him to be sure, unless there was another not left for him by his father. Speaking of which, the thought of what his father had written had returned and was very prominent now.
There were small trinkets and such in the chest as well, like oddly shaped gems, books with strange foreign writings, and… something very long.
He pulled out all the gems and books and scrolls to find a heavy blanket of a light blue shade. Maybe there was something more? Only one way to find out…
He pulled the blanket out of the box and found a long blade lying beneath with another note. Surprisingly, the blade was still incredibly sharp to the touch and, after being wiped off, was shining and bright. The hilt was made of a rough grip that was sturdy and very durable. The handle was molded to fit hands, and it was extremely comfortable. The blade was shaped in the standard body, yet it had almost what could be described as a hook at the end of the blade. On the blade were two horses galloping up the blade; it was beautiful.
The sword was so beautiful; there was no way he could take his eyes off of it. It was a decent length, and very well balanced as well. It was long, light, and very durable by the looks of it. At that moment, he remembered the note in the chest. It was another photo of his father and his mother together, but his mother must have been a few months into her pregnancy by the looks of it. They were smiling fondly at what would be their greatest gift in their life together, but they didn’t know that it would all fall apart soon enough.
Upon the back of the photo, written in red ink again, was his father’s familiar writing. This time, he wrote.
“Son, find the book with the picture of the moon on it and read the first passage. All will be made clear soon enough. Gather everything in the chest I have left for you… they will be important in guiding you. Something will happen when you do read the passage, but do not fret. I hope to see you soon, and I love you very much…
-Your Father”
So his father wanted him to read a passage and something will happen? He couldn’t see what reading a passage would do for him. He put on the necklace and gently placed everything in the bag. He did recall seeing the book somewhere in the front of the room…
It did take a while, but he did manage to find the book. Its edges were covered in metal, and the spine of the book was secured together very well. The book had a beautifully crafted moon symbol on the front of it… it was the exact same symbol as he saw on the web board! He eagerly flipped through the book, seeing different writing, sketches, side notes, and coffee stains. He returned to the front page and set it down to gather his things.
Anxious to see what happens next, he took a deep breath, and began reading.
“Take me far away, to a land far from home.”
The book began to pulse, almost like a heartbeat…
“Show me life, show me strife, and show me how to be free.”
Now, the book was glowing. It was terrifying, but he knew he couldn’t stop now.
“Show me the things I cannot see here, take me away from this burden.”
A large circle began to form around him, surrounding the area where he stood. It was accompanied by a swirling vortex below him. Papers flew around the room, swirling in a tornado of madness. He had never been more afraid in his life; he hadn’t ever been in this situation. This was the final line… no turning back now.
“Show me the life I can’t believe! Show me the truth that has been hidden from me!”
The vortex expanded and grew, more and more. The attic was a complete mess and papers were everywhere. Wind howled as they flew around the room. Nathan was suspended in the air and kept rising above the vortex… until suddenly, he fell through the vortex and everything went silent.
Princess Luna was on edge, now more than ever. She had informed her sister, Princess Celestia, of this, and she was concerned as well. There was enough going on in Canterlot at the moment; the public finding out about this was the last thing they wanted. Tirek already did enough to the citizens….
Princess Luna gazed upon the star-studded sky and sighed. Was there ever a break from these events?
At the moment, Princess Celestia was in the Royal Archives searching for anything they could use against it… Time had passed since the last event like this, and they weren’t prepared last time. This time they would be… they would be prepared indeed.
Princess Luna exited the balcony she rested upon and returned to her main room. It was a chilly evening, as the weather team was preparing for the transition into Fall, so she decided to light the fire place to fight off the cold. Deciding that she would be awake for quite some time, she decided to order some tea. She opened the door to see one of her handmaidens walking by.
“Ah, Midnight Comet,” she called into the hallway.
The mare turned around in surprise, only to see her lady in the doorway to Her Majesty’s personal chambers.
“Hello, my Lady. Can I assist you this fine night?”
Princess Luna smiled at the petite mare. She was a kind and sweet soul who always made sure things got done, and made sure they were done right.
“Yes, actually. If thou wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate some tea for tonight. I plan on staying for a while.”
The mare nodded in understanding.
“Any preferences, Your Majesty? Sugar, Milk?”
Princess Luna thought for a minute, and decided.
“No, thank you. Just tea, please.”
The young mare bowed and headed down to the hallway towards the kitchen.
Now, Luna felt the heat from the fire hit her as she walked back into her room. It was a pleasant feeling…
She sauntered over to the bookshelf, filled with massive books on law and principles of economics and such. There was one novel she had hollowed out that no one knew about, and it contained a key to her secret place. No one knew, other than her personal guards. But that was for safety measures, so that didn’t really count.
Using her horn to levitate that specific book, she opened up the book and took the key from inside of the book. Then, she gently returned the book back to its proper spot, and left the self with the key in hoof. Now, she concentrated on finding what she needed… through the power of teleportation, it was in her grasp in seconds. She opened the box to find a gem, a brilliant blue gem, that was pulsing. It had started since she had heard of the coming arrival of “It”. She placed it upon a podium and stood back a few feet. She drew the curtains and shut the windows to secure her privacy. A beam of light shot from the tip of her horn and onto the gem, projecting a beautiful display of the dreamscape onto her ceiling. Everything was calm and quiet, other than the impending concern…
Angling the ray so she was able to zoom into the space around her, she mentally put herself into the dreamscape. Long cords of different sizes and shapes crossed the sky above her; those were the dreams of every living being. From above, it was an amazing sight to behold. She flew towards one line in specific; it didn’t seem right to be there…
Hovering closer and closer, she made contact with the cord and immersed herself with the dream…
And saw a bipedal creature falling through the universe, and the stars and planets falling behind him. It was blissfully unaware of its surroundings as it fell away from the world.
… She recoiled in horror.
It was nearly hear; it had already established a dream link to Equis…
Anxiety overcame Princess Luna; Celestia had to be warned. They didn’t have as much time as they thought initially. She inhaled sharply as she returned to her conscious state and stood up. Sweat was pouring down her face as she gathered the gem and the key and hastily threw them under the bed.
“I have to tell Tia and the council…” she thought as she prepared to teleport to her sisters room.
30 seconds later revealed a surprised Celestia and a frightened Luna, with the latter speaking very fast and very loud. Celestia was confused and went to calm her sister down so she could actually understand what she was saying.
After a few minutes, Luna regained her composure.
“I was in the dream realm, monitoring the realm as per usual. Something wasn’t right; I brought it upon myself to investigate. Upon viewing a cord that was unusual, I saw it Tia. I saw It getting closer and closer to home.”
Celestia knew that this whole topic was bothering her… last time was traumatic for her.
“Lulu, I know. We still have plenty of time to prepare and train-”
“No, Tia, you don’t understand. It’s already established a cord link into the main dream scape. It’s already passed through the ethereal boundaries and is getting closer every minute we speak!”
By now, Luna’s voice had risen to borderline Royal Canterlot voice.
“Lulu! Calm yourself. I know of this. It shall not be here for another month… yes, I agree we should prepare, but now is not the time. It is late-”
“Tia!” Luna cried, desperate to get her sister to understand just how severe this was.
“Tia… it’s already here.”