One Last Chance

Myst didn't sleep very well, which he expected, considering the voice that was now embedded in his mind. What was it? What did it want? He awoke, but he didn't yell or scream. His dream had been more of an abrupt shock than long lasting terror, and as such he never had time to experience the pain. He was grateful. He wasn't sure if he was up for company, that night, though. He had a lot he needed to think through. He waited a few seconds, regaining his strength, waiting for his muscles to relax. He shuffled off his bed and walked to his door, trying to be quiet so he wouldn't wake Fluttershy. She was his host, and she needed her sleep. She had pulled a lot of late nights with him over the past week and a half, and he wanted her to get some rest. He opened his door, taking a deep breath, and walked over to the stairs. The second step down was very noisy when stepped on, so he carefully manoeuvred himself down the stairs, skipping that step to minimise the chances of Fluttershy waking up. He reached the bottom, and he sat down. He didn't want to, he simply felt odd. It was like a sinking feeling in his stomach. He recognised it and immediately began to worry. he tried to get back up, but his legs simply couldn't support his structure anymore, for some reason. He felt his chest begin to tighten and his eyes begin to dry and tear up simultaneously. His left shoulder closed in on itself, tensing and tightening and he rolled onto his side. He spread his legs out so that he was half sitting on the floor. The pain became more intense. His throat began to ache, mucus welling up inside of it as if he had swallowed a piece of broken glass. He felt that throat pain become a cough, but as he let it out, he found the floor coated with a crimson substance. He shook violently, reaching out towards the lacquer to identify it. Myst held his hoof towards his eye. Blood. It was blood. He glanced up at his map, still laying on the kitchen counter.

"What do you need from me?" He asked pleadingly. His eyes began to slowly drift shut, but he forced them to open. "What's wrong?"

He dragged himself back up and walked over to his calendar. There was no doubt about it. It was calling him, it required something from him. He pressed himself against the table, blood dripping from his lip, onto the paper. It immediately took shape. Myst and the calendar were bound, and his blood formed the deepest connection between the two. It was the essence of his very life. He coughed, more blood came out, and the calendar took that as well. He coughed again, and the calendar greedily sapped that away too. He watched as it collected the liquid, using it to draw its sick prophecy. A house, and a garden. Brilliant orange flowers that blossomed and expanded, consuming the entire page before constructing a village. A small village with little houses. Myst was dragged in by the visuals. He wanted to stop. But the train had left the station a long time ago. He was trapped, and this... thing wasn't helping him.

'Myst.' The voice was back. It was starting to become too much. The visuals of his map mixed with the twisted chimes of a mysterious voice in his mind. 'It's trying to help you, Myst.' The calendar swept away the village in an instant, reconstructing it into the town known as Ponyville. It was obvious what it wanted. It wanted him to stay, build a life there. It wanted him to fight. He couldn't, though, he tried so hard but it was pointless. He couldn't stay, he wouldn't allow himself to stay. 'Look at that. Your calendar wants you to stay.' Myst thought about it for a moment. Ponyville... was it worth all of the effort?

No.

"You know I can't do that." Myst seemed to forget that the voice was inside his head, and he began to speak aloud. "I don't deserve it."

'And why not?'

"I took the easy way out. I compartmentalised. I cut everypony off and let my own desires consume me. I pursued my goals at the expense of everything around me, everything. My friends, family, my soul..."

'See? That's not that hard to accept, is it? And it'll all be so much easier when,-'

"When what?"

'Nothing.' The voice vanished from Myst's mind, the usual dull ringing that accompanied it disappearing completely. Myst shakily veered his head towards his calendar. It wanted to show him more. Its power was overwhelming, and it wasn't wasting said power. Ponyville vanished again as a room composed entirely of fractals appeared, infinitely expanding deeper and deeper into a realm of nothingness, shrinking but never stopping. Forming a curved, twisted line accompanied by deep spheres. The calendar dragged him into its twisted world. No longer could he see the table or the room in his peripherals, it was just the room, the fractal room. He recognised that place, and he wanted out. Whatever his calendar was predicting, he didn't want it. He tried to walk away, but the parchment just dragged him back. It had a hold of him, bonded through blood. Myst watched as his friends once again walked into Twilight's castle. But this time, they stopped. They didn't enter the castle, they just vanished... representing an event he would have to witness on his own. Suddenly, the blood pooled an exploded off the paper, coating his coat and releasing him. Myst flew back against the floor, feeling an immense sense of relief as the power the calendar had placed him under was released. He moaned painfully as he fought to catch his breath. The marathon of magical power that had just run directly through him was brutal. It hurt like a thousand tiny knives bearing down into his flesh. He had to go, he had to reset. Things were getting out of hoof, and it upset him. He just hoped his friends didn't believe he was going to stay. Most likely they would never see him again. That also upset him. He didn't know how he was going to tell them all, that he wouldn't be coming back. He wished he could map everything out, make a spreadsheet or something, but he didn't have any paper. For a moment he just sat on the floor, blood soaking into his coat, before he decided to try to stand. He needed to do two things before Fluttershy got up. He needed to check on the flowers, and he needed to wash off all of the blood.

Myst walked out into Fluttershy's garden to check on his flowers. It took him a moment to find the location of the seeds he had planted, considering they probably hadn't sprouted yet. Plus, they were surrounded by other vibrant plants. Hedges and flowers, and even a willow tree, which only aided in blocking out the moonlight. Eventually, he did find them, and he didn't see anything, not so much as a sprout. That was a pleasant thought, he liked it when they bloomed later. It didn't make a difference, of course, the flowers always bloomed in the end, but he wanted them to wait for a while. He began to walk away when one of the patches where he had planted the flowers did begin to shift. It was about time. He wondered how big this one would bloom. Would multiple? The flowers tended to have a low survival rate. Such a mystery, they were. Natural beauties, but when they finally did blossom into mature flowers, which could take years in some cases, they lasted maybe a few days, if you were lucky. The dirt continued to shift until at last a small sprout burst through the soil. It was so beautiful, even if it was just a seedling. Now these flowers grew fast, and this was quite a sizable specimen, so he estimated that the flower would bloom within… seven days. Quicker than he would've liked, but maybe that would be a good thing. At least Fluttershy would be able to enjoy them. Now then, he needed to get rid of, the other problem, which would be that his coat currently resembled a cherry tomato. He trotted off, to find some sort of water source. Perhaps there was a riv... oh, well that was convenient. There was a stream right next to Fluttershy's cottage, just large enough that the blood could be washed away without saturating the water.

Myst dipped his head into the water, soaking his mane, much to his dismay. He could sometimes spend hours trying to get it just right, but when he did style it properly, a bath or shower was just about the only thing that could undo it. He'd be in the bathroom until sunrise. He dipped his hoof in the water. It was lukewarm, slightly colder than the air, but he didn't mind. He swished it from side to side, letting the blood run off of his white coat, watching it return to its usual sheen. He stepped in completely, letting the water soak all four of his hoofs. He felt overwhelmed, and the water felt very nice, the current, the small pebbles on the bed of the stream. He didn't see the need in taking his time, so he simply laid down on his side, letting the water run past him, almost reaching his nose, but leaving him just enough room to breathe. He had to keep one of his eyes closed to not let the water in, but other than that it was incredible. It was like nothing else in the world. The stream had absolutely no significance in his life, It was literally just a stream. It made him relax, loosened up his tense muscles, but other than that the stream served no purpose in his life. He could see the cottage from where he lay. For a second he thought he left a light on, but then he just realised it was a firefly. He loved those brilliant little insects. He was hoping more would show up, and they did, but it was gradual. It wasn't instant like he hoped. They did fly rather close to him, though, and now he was experiencing something else. It was a sense of peace he rarely got to experience. There was something broken about him, that he never shared with anypony. He was a lazy kind of pony, but not in the conventional sense. He poured plenty of effort into everything he did, but there were lines he refused to cross, for one reason or the other. And even for the benefit of others, he couldn't cross them without help, help that he refused to accept. And so, in an endless cycle, he would need something, or perhaps somepony else would need something, but he couldn't help them, or himself. His friends would try to push him through it, but he couldn't, he wouldn't, and other ponies would suffer because he tried to force his way through problems to protect himself. The stream was kind of ruined now, but he needed to wash the other side of his body. He flipped over, but systematically, this resulted in the waking of his host. They took to the air upon this disturbance, flashing brightly and disturbing a particular yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy woke up, glancing around her room for the cause of the visual disturbance that spurred her awake. It was three o' clock. Why was she up? Myst was usually up by one or two o' clock, and she didn't usually wake up until seven, so this time didn't really make sense. Maybe it was just one of those days where you woke up a bit earlier for no real reason. She quickly realised this was not the case when she rolled over and noticed the fireflies collecting at her windowsill. She smiled at the innocent little insects, blinking away feverishly. Fluttershy kicked off her covers and sauntered to the windowsill. The landscape was very beautiful at night, but something was off. The fireflies weren't all at the windowsill, some were gathered around the stream out back, gathering around some sort of mass in the water. Was that Myst? It sure did look like him, so what was he doing in her stream? She watched as Myst shook himself as to scare away the fireflies before he stood up, so none of them would get wet and drown. Very thoughtful on his part. He stood up, his mane dropping to the sides of his head, no longer in its usual position. It looked unnatural, but not necessarily unwelcome. He stepped out onto the grass, laying himself on his side to just relax. Fluttershy was tempted to just keep watching him, for some reason. Possibly because she never got to see how he acted when she wasn't around, possibly for another reason. But she wanted to talk to him more than she wanted to observe him. Fluttershy quickly darted out the door and trotted over to him. He didn't even bother to look at her. Myst just did his best to not doze off while he relaxed.

"Myst, is everything alright?" Fluttershy asked quietly. He seemed to be in a better place at the time, so she didn't want to pull him out of it by raising her voice too much.

"I don't know why you always worry about me. I'm totally fine, Butterfly." Myst muttered. One of his cheeks was pressed firmly against the ground, so his speech came out slightly slurred.

"Fluttershy."

"Isn't that what I said? I'm just a little stressed out, it's no big deal."

"Really?"

"Fluttershy. I'm always stressed out. I've got so many skeletons in my closet I had to buy a second." He mumbled. She laughed at this comment. It was hilarious how open Myst was about having problems, but how firm he was with not discussing them. She was pretty sure she could get him to open up, though, with a little persuasion.

"I'm sorry about that. It must be hard." She said soothingly. She laid down next to Myst, facing towards him so the two could talk.

"Yeah. It's tough, but things are alright." He replied. "I like your stream."

"I can see that."

"Oh, yeah sorry. I got all covered in mud, at one o'clock in the morning, and I didn't want to run any water in the cottage."

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you. Do you know what's up with the fireflies?" She asked.

"I don't know. Usually, fireflies just blink, but they seem extra cheerful tonight. I'm not sure why, but animals have always seemed to like me. Probably because animals are quite easy to please. Just be friendly and don't give them any reason to not trust you." Myst reached out and let one of the fireflies land on his hoof.

"I know, right? They don't judge you based on your morals or your dreams. All they see is you, trying to befriend them, and they appreciate the effort." She replied. Myst smiled.

"Yeah." He said, strained, as he rolled over onto his back. He stared up at the stars, suddenly groaning in pain as he felt the effects of being slammed against the floor by his calendar. He let out a small gasp of pain that Fluttershy immediately caught.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

"No, not really."

"Where?"

"I said I'm fine."

"Is it your back?"

"Do I have some sort of tell that lets you know I'm lying?"

"Yeah, it's kind of obvious."

"Alright, fine. I did hurt my back. I slipped in the mud and pulled something. So I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and wash the mud off as well as take care of my injury. Because, you know, cold water helps with an injury."

"I... don't think it was mud."

"Dear Celestia, are you kidding me?"

"Come on, just roll over. I'll help."

"How?" He asked as he agreed to her terms. When he did, though, he immediately discarded he had previously thought was heaven, because this had to be it. Fluttershy began to press her hooves into Myst's back, massaging it in an attempt to relieve the tension in his muscles. She was looking for tense muscles, but she didn't even have to look. All of them were tense. Literally all of them. They felt hard as stone. It was as if his entire body should be failing, but something else was holding it together.

"Oh, wow. You are... really good at..." Myst never bothered to finish his sentence. Fluttershy was almost scared by how pent up he felt. Well, somewhere around three or four hours of sleep a night would do that to somepony. He seemed to be enjoying his massage based on his expression, but he still felt stiff everywhere. She worked over his shoulders as Myst tried to mumble something out.

"Whye you s'nice t'e."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" He asked. "We barely know each other. Don't you think this is a bit, intimate?"

"I'm just trying to help you relax, don't worry about it. And besides, you know me pretty well. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" Myst considered this for a second. It didn't really seem like a big deal at the moment. He could afford this one luxury.

"Um, well, I'm roughly... how old am I?" Myst was having trouble figuring out his age. Fluttershy didn't interrupt him. Myst was odd in just about every sense of the word. So him forgetting his age wasn't really that surprising. "I guess I'm twenty-... three? Maybe twenty-two?"

"Oh, young and stressed out, are we? Usually youthful vigour runs out at around forty-five, at least in my experience, but you seem to have burnt out especially early."

"I thought Pinkie was the funny one. Right there, thannk you." The beginning part of the sentence was about her, the last part was about the massage he was receiving.

"That's not very nice, I'd like to consider myself funny."

"You're shy too, right? When I met you, you seemed kind of boxed in. You're like a different pony than the one I met at the fountain." Fluttershy stopped rubbing Myst's back, much to his dismay. But he kept it to himself. "Is that better?" She asked.

"Mhmm." Myst hummed. He sat up next to her, looking up at the moon. Fluttershy explained to Myst her situation,

"I don't like crowds. They make me nervous. It's like everypony's watching me." Myst could definitely relate, he was more of an introvert as well. Well, that was something he could talk about.

"Yeah. I understand. I've always been a bit uneasy around lots of ponies too. There's just too much to do. You feel like you're not making any real connections." The fireflies had flown away by then and the only light the two were getting was from the half moon.

"Wow. That's actually a really good way to put it." Fluttershy followed his gaze. Myst wasn't sure what else to talk about, so he just picked a random topic, "I hate strawberries." He said solemnly.

"What?"

"I dunno, I guess I just really wanted to tell somepony. It's been weighing on me for quite a while. To me, they just taste like syrupy water. I also play the piano, quite well I would say, and grasshoppers are the only insects that scare me. You know, with those evil little mandibles." Fluttershy chuckled. Grasshoppers, of all insects.

"It's nice to hear a bit about you, Myst." Fluttershy chimed.

"Well, I'd like to be more friendly, with ponies. I've always been kind of..."
'Hello there, Myst.'
"Oh no."

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked

"He's back."

"Who?"

"The voice in my head."

"You have a voice in your head? Myst, that's serious-"

"Wait, I think he's gone." Myst paused for a moment, halting his movements to check for the voice's vacancy.
'Not quite.'
"Dammit. Sorry Fluttershy, I have to take this."

"Take what? Myst?"

'Ignore her, we have something important to discuss.'
"What? What do you want? I'm busy."
'I didn't mean to intrude, it's just that things might get out of hoof. You're getting very close to that yellow pegasus. Butterfly, was it?'
"Her name is Fluttershy. And she's just an acquaintance."
'Whatever, all I know is you seem to be enjoying yourself a little too much, here in Ponyland.'
"Ponyville."
'It doesn't matter. The point is that you shouldn't.'
"Why?"
'Have you really forgotten already? We had a deal, way back when.'
"What are you talking about?"
'Me and you. We're connected. I'm here because you wanted me to be.'
"Why would I want you to be here, in my mind? It's an invasion of my privacy."
'I know. That doesn't really matter though. I'm in here because you let me in. We had one rule, Myst, and you broke that rule. Don't tell me you've forgotten already?'
"...Oh, right. how could I have forgotten about you, voice?"
'It happens sometimes, don't worry. But you do remember, don't you? Your punishment, I can recite it to the letter.'
Myst sighed. How had he forgotten? "Which one?"
'Yours.'
"Yeah, I remember that one."
'So, then you know why we can't continue on your current course.'
"Yeah, protecting the innocent and all that. I guess I just hoped for more, in my life."
'We both did, Myst. So, are we in agreement?'
"I suppose. Just... I can't hurt her, alright?"
'It's alright, I understand. Just, don't trap yourself, okay?'
"I won't. I promise. Thanks for reminding me, I guess."
'Don't worry, we're not enemies. We're coworkers.'

"Myst? Are you alright? Do you need to see a doctor?" Fluttershy asked. She was very concerned right now. Myst was quirky, sure, but now he was crossing a line. He was hearing voices. This could be indicative of a serious problem.

"A doctor would take one look at me and declare me dead on the spot."
'Myst, no clever jokes that reveal a small truth about yourself.'
'Okay fine, just go away.' He thought, trying to drive the voice away.
'Don't worry, slick. You just give the word and I'm gone.'
"You don't look that bad to me."

"I'm not, I'm just a little stressed out, but thanks for coming to check up on me, you can go back to sleep now."

"That's alright. I think I'm just going to watch the moon." She replied. It was obvious she just wanted to keep an eye on her friend, considering he was hearing voices just a minute ago.

'This is bad, Myst.' The voice said. Myst watched the moon with her while he did his best to think up a strategy. There was one thing he could say, that would be sufficiently scary to put some distance between them.
'I think I know how to end this, voice, but it could be risky.'
'I understand. Your thoughts have been made known to me. Do what you have to do.' Myst turned to face Fluttershy, donning a serious expression. Sighing quite aggressively as he prepared to sever his only real connection in a long time. He could feel his heart rate spike, akin to the feeling one receives when they're about to speak in front of a large crowd.
"Fluttershy. I'm trying really hard here, to let you off."

"Off what?"

"This. All of this. Just go back to sleep. I'll be gone when you wake up, okay?"

"Why? I want you to stay here, it's the least I can do to help. We're friends, aren't we?" Fluttershy would've been plenty comfortable letting anypony else find somewhere different to stay, but Myst, he had issues he clearly wasn't going to address on his own, and he needed a guiding hoof. She wanted to be it.

"Yes, we are friends. Stop playing the friend card. I'd be your friend if that was an option. It's not, however. My pain will seep into your reality, slowly at first, until it becomes your entire life because that's what I do, I ruin lives. It's my curse. I don't mean that figuratively. It's my curse, absolutely no exceptions. Every single town I visit, sorrow will be wrought; disaster, chaos, death... It is no stretch of the imagination to say I'm the most dangerous pony in all of Equestria." Myst paused for a second and stood up, Fluttershy following suit. She looked very divisive. Myst could understand why. There was no going back now. "Everything, I've seen everything. Sometimes only a few will die. Sometimes dozens. Once there was a hurricane at a town on the coast. fifty-seven died, and it was my fault. I can't stop it or control it. It's random, any day of the week it feels like striking, it does. I can usually predict it, but what can I do to stop it? It learns. A spell that learns, the most powerful spell in existence, some called it. Everything I do to stop the pain is in vain. I've tried everything, I've even tried to end my own life. Nothing worked. The only way I can reduce the damage is to cut myself off from everypony. Make no connections. This curse is meant to slowly torture me until the day I die, and if I don't forget about you, and your friends, one of you is bound to die.
No. Not one of you.
You will die."

Fluttershy froze, ramrod straight. She would die. She would die. The words seemed to echo around in her mind like a cavern. Myst was going to kill her, just because she wanted to help him. He needed to get out. He needed to leave forever. The spell would come for her, and kill her, and her friends. And then... it would kill another set of ponies. It would kill some more, wherever he went. He couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Myst. Why does that matter?" She asked, suddenly realising her goal.

"Huh?" He replied.

"I said, why does it matter?"

"Because you'll die."

"Yeah, I guess I would." Along with a lot of others if I don't do something... "But I think it would be worth it."

"What do you mean? Do you not care about your life?"

"Yeah Myst, I care about my life. I also care about my friends, acquaintances, the ponies down the street, the ponies in the next town, the ponies in Canterlot and every other city in Equestria. Everypony. More ponies are going to die if we don't fix this." Fluttershy took a breath, looking Myst in the eyes, those icy blue, glowing eyes. "You talked not too long ago, about your overwhelming sloth. About how there are certain lines you're not really willing to cross. I want you to get rid of them. I want you to gamble with my life, do what you have to, but together, I want us to end this curse. We can talk to Twilight. We can talk to Sunburst, if I have to, I'll get us an appointment with the princesses." Myst was dumbfounded. How could this be Fluttershy? The Fluttershy that was terrified of strangers, let alone death. She was sealing her doom without even knowing it, and she didn't seem to care.

How was this going to work? How could he carefully navigate out of her life? She was so naive, thinking any of them could help. Now she was only strengthening her emotional bond towards him. And the stronger the bond, the more aggressive the spell would be, the more it would want to kill her. No, kill was too nice of a word. Myst could see it now. An earthquake. She'd get her wing stuck underneath a piece of rubble from a collapsing building. The search crews would look for her but in the end, after four days, she'd finally succumb to a combination of dehydration and dust inhalation. That, or asphyxiation from lack of air, but that would take maybe an hour. Myst looked at the pony standing in front of him. He saw nothing but determination in her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes. He couldn't destroy something so pure, so naive and innocent. The mere thought of her death as a direct result of his actions sent horrid vibrations through his spine and down into his liver. No. He would have to... no, he couldn't do that. It would leave a print. And he couldn't make her hate him. That would only cause conflicting emotions, even easier for the spell to track. He had to find a way to make her forget him, or not care about him. But the two had formed a close friendship in the few days they had known each other. He didn't have time to formulate a plan, so, for the time being, he pretended to just drop it for the time being,

"How about we go back inside?" The water from the stream had reached the intersection of his skin and fur and it was incredibly cold, the harsh night air wasn't helping that either. Fluttershy nodded and the two went back inside. Myst fetched himself a towel from the bathroom and collapsed on the floor. He actually had to go get something first before he began to formulate a plan. Perhaps he could take out a loan. That would keep her safe.
'Don't take out a loan, Myst.'
"Why not?"
'It's too dangerous. Don't worry, though, I'll help you think of something. We'll get your notes and see what we can find.
"Thanks. You know, when you first appeared, I expected you to be a lot more sinister."
'Don't worry, I'm just here to help.'

Myst and Fluttershy walked down the gravel street heading towards the grocery store, the small stones crunching beneath their hooves, neither saying a word. Fluttershy was still thinking about her new friend. She was walking next to what amounted to a disaster magnet. Eventually, something would come to attack him, and it could be anything! Maybe it was best if she cut him off, made him find somewhere else to live. She would be safe, that was something. Really, what was the point in keeping him around? He was a danger to her and her friends. What if the thing went after Twilight or Rarity? They could get hurt, all because she couldn't just let something go. No, she had made her choice. She was going to help him end this spell. Myst didn't seem to believe in her, but she was confident, that with her connections to powerful unicorns and practicers of magic, she could get him the help he needed. Perhaps she should talk to Starlight? She was very well versed in obscure magic. Although she hadn't seen her as of late.

"Hey, Fluttershy." Myst derailed her train of thought. "I'm sorry, I needed to tell you. Like I said, you're my only friend. Every second I hid my secret, I couldn't help but worry about the ramifications of my actions. You are the first pony I've trusted in a long time with what you've learned and I consider your friendship a sacred gift that I can never repay." Fluttershy beamed. This new information shed a lot of light on Myst's morals and values. Hundreds had died because of a terrible curse he couldn't end in any way. But he still tried his hardest to cover it all up and leave fixing his issues to himself. It was both honourable, and kind of irresponsible, not allowing anypony to help him. It was as if he wanted the curse right where it was. Fluttershy wondered, for a moment, how long it had been since he had an actual friend.

"Thanks, Myst." She said. "Don't worry, I won't kick you out. We're going to fix this, together." Myst smiled. Fluttershy was a timid pony, but her words were always concise, and she committed to everything she said, throwing all of her faith into them, never doubting them. He could appreciate that. They continued to walk along, but eventually, Myst stopped for a second. He looked at Fluttershy, who also stopped, for a moment the two stood there, the yellow pegasus not understand why her friend had stopped. Myst pulled her into a tight embrace, wrapping his left hoof around her neck as he closed the gap between them. He held her there, for a second, on the street, before he said something,

"Fluttershy. Thank you, so much, for trying." Myst almost whispered the words, as if they were only ever meant for her. Fluttershy felt her heart stop for a second. There was something about her new friend, the way he was speaking. It was pure emotion, completely untouched by opinion or fact. It was simply what it was. Myst marvelled at how beautiful his friend was, trying to soak up every detail about her, knowing that he would have to leave, and soon. Her coat was soft, like a silk drape and she smelled like... strawberries, but he could overlook that... Actually, no, he couldn't. That hug needed to end promptly. He let go of her, kind of reluctantly. Fluttershy was inspired, in a way, by Myst. He tried so hard to keep everypony out of his life, to protect them, but even when one slipped through the cracks, like her, he showed them nothing but the best of him. He did deserve friends, he deserved the best. Neither of them knew what to do, so they just continued towards the grocery store. They were nearing their destination, so they could pick up some supplies for dinner, and afterwards, Myst was going to split off and grab his notes. (he had told Fluttershy he was treating himself to lunch) Then he was going to head to Pinkie's to help her plan a party, even if he did have a horrible sense of colour, and an even worse concept of 'fun'. Still though, he was determined to get to know his new friends a bit better before he cut them off. After all, the Elements of Harmony represented a type of magic he was not very familiar with. Who knows? Maybe if he was really lucky he'd meet them again after he left Ponyville. They did seem to travel a lot, probably due to the frequency at which the map had been calling them to different locations all across Equestria. He glanced around as he walked alongside his friend. His stay was going on two weeks, not that long really, but for some reason, he felt like he knew this town inside and out. It really was beautiful. She, his host, was also-

Myst shook his head, trying to get rid of the bad thoughts. No, no nononono. He couldn't think of the pony beside him as anything but a temporary companion. He trotted a bit ahead of his completely platonic friend. He tended to walk a bit faster than your average pony, so he often had to slow down to keep pace with everypony. He was used to being in a hurry, so the concept of having plenty of time was lost to him. He did slow down, however, not wanting to run off on Fluttershy. They approached the convenience store, the enchanted doors automatically opening. They actually seemed to startle Myst, who back up a bit after they opened for him. On his way in he marvelled at them, as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world. Fluttershy decided to ignore him, maybe he had never seen them before? Geez. Somepony was out of date. The building was very plain looking on the inside, lots of white, with numbered shelves dictating various items in certain locations. Fluttershy pulled up a handy shopping list Myst had thrown together. The groceries were all in order of where they were located throughout the store for maximum shopping efficiency. Fluttershy was starting to wonder if Myst actually had a day job. They went through the isles, Myst taking one side of the shelves and Fluttershy taking the other half. Once again, Myst's idea. This pony did not mess around when it came to groceries, did he? Fluttershy grabbed some cucumbers and coriander for dinner and Myst got a little preoccupied when he thought of a 'brilliant' idea.

"Hey, do you think if I tranquillize myself or something, I'll sleep longer?" Myst could be so random.

"Um, Myst, don't you think that's kind of dangerous?" Myst stopped for a second, counting quietly to himself before laughing.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Look at me. I've got a doctorate of medicine and I can't even remember how bad stuff like that can mess up your sleep patterns." Okay, seriously, what was wrong with Myst? Fluttershy wondered. Why would a schoolteacher need a doctorate? She decided to just ignore it and the two finished up their shopping, with Myst getting a little bit distracted when he saw what a huge variety of herbal teas they had. He tore through the shelves for ten minutes, complaining about how nopony had his favourite kind before Fluttershy finally pried him away. They paid for everything, or rather, Myst tried to pay for everything but Fluttershy declined, wanting to pay herself. They eventually compromised and split the bill after the cashier started to get a bit annoyed. Myst then offered to carry all of the groceries back to the cottage, but Fluttershy said it was fine and that he should go help Pinkie with the party. She knew he was trying to repay her kindness, but he had already done enough. Little did she know, that wasn't the case at all. He simply sought to make her happy, before he left.

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited? Cause I'm excited! I've never been so excited! Well, except for this one time that I went- *gasp!* But really, what could top that?" Pinkie had descended into another one of her rants upon Myst's arrival at the local cafe, the location of the party. She tended to get kind of, excited when it came to parties. The oak tables had all been pushed to the sides of the room to give everypony space to get things ready. The room it was hosted in was quite simple. There was a grey countertop, behind which the kitchen was situated in another room, and the windows on the front of the coffee shop ran near all the way to the hardwood floor. There was a lot of brown, but it worked quite well, giving the place an elegant charm. Helping with the party as well were Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Dash was there to help hang streamers and Rarity was just looking over the colour scheme. Who the party was for was a mystery, and Myst honestly couldn't care less. He was just there for something to do. Everypony would look at him weird if he just sat down in the middle of the street, which he tended to do a lot when he was bored. So he headed to the back of the room and pulled out a big piece of paper with lots of numbers on it. The entire thing meant absolutely nothing, but it looked complicated and very important. Nopony bothered him for about ten minutes, but unfortunately Myst had gotten lost in thought and his icy eyes, which he forgot really stood out against the rest of his features, hadn't moved one inch the whole time. Eventually Pinkie bounced on over to him.

"Hey there Myst! Do you wanna help us with the party?" She asked.

"I would Pinkie, but I've got a lot of work to get done." He said in response, he forgot that Pinkie was scarily observant.

"If you're so busy then why have you been sitting here, reading the same number over and over and over and over again, silly?" She asked. Damn. Why did he always forget the little things? Which actually reminded him he forgot to buy sugar at the store. "I mean, I like the number six as much as the next pony, but ten minutes? Don't you think that's kind of overkill?"

"Well, you got me there." He said. He stood up, grabbing some streamers sitting in a box and flying them around the cafe in an arrangement he thought looked acceptable.

"Darling, do you really think those bright yellow streamers should be used as something other than accents?" Rarity interrupted. Myst looked at them from the floor, the streamers would look a bit out of place to most, but Myst was completely oblivious. He just looked at Rarity with a confused expression. "That's alright, just try not to draw too much attention to them." Myst flew back up and rearranged the streamers once more. But he could immediately garner from Rarity's expression that he had done it wrong again. And so he took them all down again and fixed them once more. Rarity simply continued to give a series of disapproving hms and nuh-uhs.

One Hour Later...

Fluttershy walked into the cafe, looking over the work of Pinkie and her friends. It looked wonderful, well, except for the streamers. There was just something off about them… She turned her attention back to her friends, and walked forwards, but she bumped into some sort of fuzzy mass on the floor. She looked down to see Myst laying down, face pressed against the floorboards.

"Myst?" She asked, concerned for her friend.

"sfmf mm" He said, with Fluttershy not being able to understand him, due to his position, which was muffling his voice.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She asked, leaning in closer. Myst flipped his head around so she could hear him.

"Save me."

"Please. He's being such a drama queen." Rarity said, somewhat ironically. "All I had him do was fly around and rearrange the streamers a few hundred times. Nothing too major." Fluttershy gave her a glance that meant she needed her friend to carefully go back over her words. Rarity soon realised how exhausting that must've been, and quietly apologised to Myst. Myst had never felt so exhausted in his life. He could feel the need to sleep weighing down on him. Pinkie walked up to Rarity and Fluttershy. "Okiedokie. The party's in about half an hour, so could you- t- go- g-t Tw- her voice faded as Myst fell into unconsciousness, the weeks of inadequate sleep finally taking their toll.

Snow fell across the stark white valley. Myst didn't know where he was. Was he in a dream? No? His dreams were usually muddled, confused, but always horrifying. This was different. This was sharp, clear, and defined. He could even identify his own consciousness within this false reality. He looked around. He could see nothing but the crystalline forms falling around him, coating the ground. He wandered for a little while, but he didn't feel like he was going anywhere. He glanced around again. Nothing changed though. White everywhere. He checked the horizon one last time, and standing in the distance was a figure. He turned his body to face the figure, trying to identify it from a distance. It looked to be a silhouette of some sort of figure. The snow stopped, freezing in midair, accentuating the seriousness of this encounter, and what it would signify. Myst paid it no heed though, he was focused on the only unique individual in all of that warped reality. He walked closer and closer to it, the edges of his vision distorting as the image became the only prevalent image in his mind. Soon it began to make sense. It was a pony, a stallion to be exact. Some sort of unicorn with a red coat and dark brown mane flicked up all the way down his neck…

Hugo.

No.

-6 DAYS LEFT-