Potion Mare

Melody poked her head up over the kitchen island, having mostly cleared it of debris. She took a moment to reflect, taking in how lucky she was to not have been killed by the shrapnel when she was tugged through the floor. Melody brought her eyes up to the hole in the ceiling, giving a sharp sigh as she trotted into the living room, stepping over the mess of glass shards from broken bowls and cups. As the distressed mare plopped down on to the couch, she reached behind the cream colored sofa, pulling out a small suitcase.

"Well, not like this isn't a normal occurrence." She sighed, reaching into her robe and depositing the contents into the blue, leather suitcase, a total of one dagger, a worn, leather journal, and a half empty potion bottle with yellowish liquid swishing back and forth as she slipped it into the case. She stood up, scanning her eyes over the room, her purple eyes searching for anything of importance. The room was mostly barren, save for the mass of the sofa, a small coffee table in the middle of the room, and a couple of small shelves along the far end of the room. She trotted up to the small shelf directly across the room from her, grabbing up a small picture frame. A deep guilt filled her stomach as she made eye contact with the mare in the image, a smiling, young light gray mare, with a soft pink mane.

"Don't.. look at me like that..." Melody frowned, tears forming in her eyes as she forced her gaze away. She held the picture frame against her chest, sniffling. "I'm fucking TRYING, alright?" She whimpers, swallowing hard, and trotting hurriedly over to the suitcase, and shoving the picture frame in, upside down. Melody rushed off to the staircase, stomping up, and arriving in her room. She grabbed up all of the remaining potions from the rack that had miraculously survived the scuffle, hurrying back downstairs and carelessly tossing them into the suitcase. She hurried upstairs, grabbing a bag out of one of the drawers. Peeking inside the cloth bag, it was filled to the brim with herbs, mushrooms, and tiny jars of what appeared to be shimmering liquid.

By the time that Melody had finished packing everything she considered worthwhile to take with her, the suitcase was JUST full enough. She sighed, grabbing the handle, and slowly forcing herself to the door.

"Here we go, Melody. On the road again. You can do this." She sighed, stepping out into the fresh air, closing the door behind her. It took Melody a moment to adjust to the light, the mare caught off guard as she brought a hoof to shield her eyes. When she had finally gained her bearings, she took the time to scan the area around her. She was in a small meadow, surrounded by trees on all sides. The cottage she had been staying in was very broken down and seemed rather old. As she brought her eyes up to the treeline, power lines could be seen in the distance, their black outlines against the blue sky giving Melody an odd sense of hope. She sighed, beginning to trot into the woods in the direction of the possibility of civilization.

Nearly 45 minutes into her hike, she felt her hoof catch on something on the ground. As she tumbled down to the ground, impacting hard on the dirt, she felt herself hoisted up into the air by her back hoof. With a squeak, she turned, striking a hoof into the direction of whatever had grabbed her. She felt her hoof connect with something wet, whatever the thing holding her was, dropping her. She flung herself around on the ground to get a good look at whatever had grabbed her, groaning.

"You have GOT to be kidding me." She growled as her eyes flicked over the form of a humanoid creature, but.. very off. It was short, ugly, and hairy. It was holding its mouth with a three fingered hand, blood trickling down from where she had struck it, she assumed. Melody quickly hopped to her feet, grabbing a low hanging tree limb in her mouth and tugging it down. She charged at the monster, striking it right where it's ribs would be. A cracking sound filled her ears, the mare dropping the stick as the troll-like creature fell over with a near silent groan. She took a few seconds to look for a quick escape route, a possibly fatal mistake on her part as she was tossed to the ground by the grotesque, pink, and small troll.

Melody rolled to the side as the troll slammed its face against the ground the poor mare had been occupying only seconds ago, her mane flowing around her face from the wind created. Melody, having decided that sticking around to fight wasn't worth it, hopped to her feet and sprinted toward the nearest accessible exit route, a gap between two trees. The tough little monster gave chase, crashing through the bushes after her. She veered off to the left, widening her eyes as she could see what seemed to be a black circle, simply floating in the air. She looked back at the creature, back at the circle, and decided to take her chances. With a gulp, she leaped into the air, giving a couple puffs of her wings to push her through the air and into the circle. The last thing she felt was a sinking sensation covering her body before she blacked out.

When Melody opened her eyes, she was laying on the floor of something hard and cold. She groaned, staggering to her hooves and looking left and right. She seemed to be in a basement of some sort, with the little light she could get from the small window in the top left of the room. It was barren of anything other than a wooden door, across the room from her. She sighed, trotting toward it and opening it, moving up the familiar stairs. "Really? AGAIN? Well, this could be good, depending on the year." She muttered, stepping into a modern room. Her eyes scanned over the contents of the area, very clean and tidy. There was a kitchen table in the center of the room she was in, with two chairs on either side. It branched off into a full kitchen, in the shape of a rectangle. The kitchen sink, fridge, and other accessories all seemed to be in working order, the hum of electronics giving Melody, yet again, a sense of hope. On the other side of the rectangular kitchen area was a living room, complete with a sofa, two chairs, and a television set on a table pressed against the wall.

She entered the living room, glancing to her left and gasping silently as she eyeballed the calendar hanging there. "1999, June 2nd." It read, the mare grinning widely and plopping herself down on the sofa. "Alright, yes! Proper time! THAAANK you, Celestia.." she muttered, before quickly jumping into action. The sound of keys jingling in the door attached to the kitchen forced her into action, the mare hurrying off into the hallway connected to the living room. There was a door at the end of the hallway, with an empty coat rack hanging on the wall. She quickly trotted up the staircase located halfway down the hallways, running up the stairs and diving into the first door she could access, one of three along the hallway. The room consisted of a queen sized bed, and a dresser, on opposite sides of the small room. She tugged her suitcase in behind her, tossing it under the bed quickly as she slithered under along with it.

"Hello!? Is someone here!?" a mare's voice shouted from below, the sound of rummaging heard as whoever had been fiddling with the door had now made it inside, most likely noticing the basement door ajar, Melody cursing herself for forgetting to close it. The mare downstair's voice had grown silent, but Melody could hear the steps creaking as someone ascended. The steps stopped in the hallway, Melody holding her breath. They opened a door, the yellow coated mare giving a sigh of relief, as it was fortunately not her's.