Chronicles of Chris Redner

Chapter 2: The Void

There it was, swirling and soaring through the unimaginable, inconceivable place, void of anything, and yet, full of everything. The darkness, the gateway to oblivion; the infinite void of imagination where everything existed but never existed. Where ideas were thought of, but never realized, never given what could only be described as life; as existence. An incomprehensible, infinite space of the unorganized thought that was never brought to any light; the place where anything and everything was and has always been and yet has never been seen or heard or thought. This place; this unimaginable place of the mass that is unrealized thought is where the conscious and mind of Chris Redner found sanctuary. The Void.

It was in this place, if it could be given such definitive labels, that the spirit of Chris had fled to. It was here that his mind would satiate itself and give life to something that had never before been realized, but had always been there. His spirit braced itself as it took it's first breath of life as something never realized, never born, and never thrown into the raging river of existence. As Chris Redner's old body sat in peaceful slumber in the world before this one, the spirit and mind began anew, forged in the darkness of the void, and were given a new and strange life. The spark that was life found itself injected into the body of a creature that Chris Redner had known of, but had never existed in his perception of his world around him. His spirit, his new found and newly developed body, and his mind were jolted back into the existence now created in the stead of Chris Redner's perception of the world before this one. Each entity; his mind, spirit, and body, were lit aflame in the fires of life, now burning with existence and purpose as the timeline of events developed from his mind began to unfold and take hold in the existence he'd created for himself.

He felt life course though his once dormant veins as his brain became instantly aware, as if it had always existed, and began controlling his body in the involuntary actions it had never conceived. His brain executed each on with the precision of a mind that had existed for several years before. He felt himself breathing as he opened the eyes that had never seen the light of day but had always belonged to him. The light of the world around him bent through the lenses of his eyes, sending electrical impulses that represented his perception of his surroundings. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted immediately as they took in the first rays of light ever perceived by Chris as he looked upon the green earth, if it could be called such. He saw the green of the grass he'd always known, but never seen; the blue of the sky he'd always seen, but never known. He found himself looking upon a field he'd always known of; but for the first time in his new found life, he saw it with the orbs that he'd never used but always had; felt the wind he'd always felt, but never realized; experienced the feelings of life for the first time but with the knowledge of one who had always lived. He knew so much and yet knew so little, for the purpose of his existence was lost upon him. He knew not who he was nor where he was and yet knew he was someone and was somewhere. He knew of his existence but could not define what that existence was nor why that existence was so and why it was in such circumstances. All at once, his mind felt the sadness and hopelessness that he'd never felt but always knew. For the first time, he felt truly lost and even more so than normal considering he was aware of the fact he knew what the feeling was even though he'd felt it for the first time. It was too much; he couldn't understand why things were so but somehow, some way, he knew that they were.

He could not understand; couldn't comprehend. It didn't make sense in regards to why but made sense in regards to what. He shakily stood up on his legs, which supported his body as though they'd already done so; but something was different than what he remembered. He no longer stood on his familiar two legs; in its stead, he stood on four. He was only ridden with even more confusion for though he knew he'd never stood on four legs before, the idea was natural to him. He was meant to stand on all fours. Now he knew for a fact that something was wrong for as he looked down at his feet, he did not see what he thought he was going to see. Instead of the feet he remembered from his life before this one, he saw hooves, and in a fit of slight panic and shock, he stepped back, not sure what he was stepping back from but taking that retreating step all the same as he stumbled backwards.

"What am I?" he thought to himself. He had never remembered being what he was but somehow he remembered the place; the surroundings reminded him of something from his past life already almost forgotten; the premise of his being there was somehow warranted; but what frightened him most was that he, whoever he was, did not know, or perhaps couldn't remember why things were the way they were. However, after some time and recollection, he came to know the premise, the place. He recognized it's being, it's emotion. The place he had sought to go to in his past, and now abandoned life. The one place he knew it existence outside of his terrible nightmare he had once lived. For though he could not believe his eyes, the oblivious pony that he was, was in fact, to his best recollection, most certainly living in what he remembered to be the land and country of Equestria.

Instantaneously his mind raced against itself, trying to piece everything together into a comprehensible puzzle. "What happened to me?" he thought. "More importantly, who am I. Why am I here?" These thoughts and many others tore across his conscious. He stood for many minutes trying to decipher his existence, but to no avail. With his brain nearly fried, he decided to approach his situation differently and make out of this mess what he could actually find out and what would have to wait for another day.

Acting on instinct, the first thing he decided to do was to search his surroundings for anything that would help him find out where he was, how he got here, and, though less important, what he looked like. He stepped out of a slight, cave-like overhang that he had apparently been in during whatever life he may have had previously and let his eyes take in a view of a beautiful open field of flora the likes of which he'd seen only in fleeting memories of his life back wherever it was he used to live. His mind tried to wonder what other things he might be able to remember if time served him well but his thoughts were instantly taken aback. As he continued to scan the area, his eyes met what could only be described as a small town in the distance approximately 12 miles away. "Only here would I be able to see something that far away," he silently thought to himself. Impulse forced his legs to move toward the town; perhaps there he would find the answers to the mysteries that plagued him.

Looking about him as he moved in a westerly direction toward the setting sun and town, he couldn't help but stare in awe at the true beauty around him. The flowing green weeds of the field swayed gently in the cool, nightly breeze, giving contrast to the heat of the summer sun beating on his fur coat. Ahead was the life giving sun, casting it's emblazoned rays of warmth and serenity all across the field and land further away for miles and miles. It was the sky however, that pulled away his wandering attention the most, for it was in this view that he thought he might actually find the meaning of everything. The beauty of the violent sky before him trapped him where he stood. The complex combinations of purple and pink and red pigmentation so smoothly wrapped together somehow put the perplexed pony at ease. The cascading colors that covered the sky and clouds reflected a beauty that he'd never before experienced. For perhaps the first time in his once meaningless existence, he felt truly meditated and comforted. He broke his contact with the beauty in front of him and concentrated on his journey, determined to find the answers he so desperately longed for; and with one foot in front of the other, he gently trotted toward his seemingly impossible goal.

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