As Time Passes by

Chapter 1

Loneliness was grabbing hold of my heart a long time ago.

I was only five years old, when my parents have gotten into business. They never had time to play with me or care for me at all. They overloaded me with games and toys and that’s when my loneliness was awaking.

Whenever I did something wrong they got mad and yelled at me for not worth shipping what I’ve got. Not personally but on a video-chat, when they were flying from one meeting to another.

Even if you won’t believe it, I was happy to see them at least then.

Yes only when I did something wrong I was going to see them. When I was doing well e.g. in school or in contests when I was wining, they were only sending me money to support me. It was their way of saying ‘we love you’.

I soon started watching cartoons and animes, reading fantasy novels and stuff. It was then when I felt my loneliness fade away just a little bit. I wished to have friends, playing games and laughing with me, but I had none. The kids in my neighborhood weren’t as rich and well educated as me, so my parents just forbade me to play with them, because I was something better than them.

Seriously how is one better than another because of money? I never got it.

My only intention was to have fun with them. Not more. But my parents grounded me with several guards around, so I would stay inside the house.

Whenever I tried to sneak out to play with them, the guards picked me up and put me back in my room.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Time went on and I grew older. In the time being I started several hobbies to distract myself.

I started playing guitar, got into Tae Kwon Do, playing soccer (I also did many other sports, but they are too numerous to mention, so I’ll leave this out) and what I most enjoyed, I discovered sailing. It is fun and relaxing too.

By now I’m master of two martial arts, earned myself some building and fixing skills (I went on a rampage through my room sometimes and it comes in handy at times like this) and started parcour a while ago.

One day I was on a boat trip, sailing in the width of the Atlantic Ocean and this is where my story is taking its beginning.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It was a beautiful day. The wind was blowing tender and the sea was nearly motionless. I was sitting at the front of my boat (ok not mine but since my dad was always busy, I claimed it for me) while it was floating like a zeppelin through the air.

“Such a beautiful day and this sweet silence” I said to myself, looking up from the book I had to read for my studies.

I know it’s a bit strange to talk to yourself, but since I’m all alone all the time it got rather entertaining for me.

Also combining boring studying and relaxing boat trips was far better than studying at home where they are even more boring.

“That’s the best idea I’ve ever had”.

I was just restarting with my studies as something blocked out the sun. I looked up and saw one lousy pitch black cloud floating over my boat.

“Oh come on. Are you really trying to rain right here and now? I dare you; I double dare you to do so.”

Right after the words left my mouth I felt a raindrop on my nose.

“Oh no. Oh no no no no. Not now not here!”

Soon it was raining cats and dogs and I had to sail away from this bastard of a cloud.

But as I looked back after a while I saw that said cloud seems to have a get together with the nastiest storms of the whole fucking world.

“Oh fuck! I have to get away from here!”

Now, in a mild state of panic, I was rushing through the sea maps to find an island where I could sit out the storm.
“Where to go, where to go? Aha!” I shouted to one of the maps tapping my finger on a nearby island with a beach to go to at anchor, so my boat won’t get washed away.

By the time I arrived at the island I threw out the anchor and ran to a cave I had seen from afar.

I reached the entrance of the cave and got a few steps inside in order to escape the main force of the storm raging outside.

After I had catched my breath I was looking to my boat. It was still in one piece, but how long would this last? How long will the storm last?

Questions flooded my mind as suddenly a lightning bolt hit the top of the entrance, producing a landslide which trapped me inside of the cave.

“Oh Jesus! This can’t be true. I’m trapped inside a cave on an island I don’t know and the rocks blocking my way out are either too heavy to move or too sharp to grab a hold on them. Wait a second. How am I supposed to see the rocks in front of me so clearly? I have no torchlight with me and it should be pitch black dark in here. So why am I able to see them?”

I turned around and saw that the walls of the cave had reflecting surfaces, sending light through the whole cave.

So there must be someone who made the light, shining all over the place.

As for the fact that I was trapped and got nothing better to do, I was starting to wander inside of the cave, trying to discover the source of the light.

I was going around for what felt like hours, but may have been just fifteen minutes. The light grew brighter and brighter with every step I took and as I finally got around one last corner, I was standing in a rather large chamber and what I saw just made my jaw drop.

A bright circle of light was hovering mere centimeters over the ground, framed with another one shining in the colors of a
rainbow.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. A thing like this was physically impossible. This had to be something abnormal or even paranormal, but since I was trapped in this cave and nobody knew I was here, curiosity got the better of me and I stepped forward in order to take a better look at the phenomenon I was seeing.

It seemed that it was only made of these two rings of light, hovering in the air. I was able to see the opposite wall of the cave on the other side of it, so I walked around it to see if there was anything wrong with it.

As I was on the other side of it I wondered. On this side I only saw darkness when I was watching through it and not the opposite wall of the cave. It was very strange, but I thought nothing about it.

I finally rounded it and looked at it again. Something seemed off, but I couldn’t say what it was until realization hit me like an anvil in the face. In the hovering ring of light, there was another path going out like the one I was coming from earlier. But if it was the same path, then this thing had to be a mirror, but I was not able to see my reflection in it.
So, what in the name of god was this thing?

I was staring at this bright light thingy (yeah I named it that way) for a good hour now, but nothing seems to happen. I was bored to the bones by that time and my curiosity was overwhelming, so I decided to take a closer look at it.

“Ok bright light thingy here comes daddy” I said, closing up with it.

I stretched out my hand and tried to touch the picture in it, but there was nothing. I simply grabbed thin air. Now my curiosity was too strong to do any other thing than to just jump through it and see what would happen.

I prepared for everything that might come to me, but what happened caught me off guard, or rather not, because there was nothing happening.

I expected myself running in a wall, falling into depths no one had ever experienced before or being attacked by some sort of alien creature, but all that happened was, that I was landing safely on the other side of the bright light thingy.

I looked around in the chamber and everything seemed normal to me. Normal until I turned and looked at the bright light thingy again. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Right behind it there was the massive wall of the chamber. I was sure as hell that it wasn’t there moments before.

But regardless of that, I heard the scream of a falcon or an eagle, coming from the path opposite of the bright light thingy and since I got nothing to lose, I decided to wander the path to find out if I was right or not.

Soon I could hear the sound of wind brushing against rocks in a gentle breeze. Also the lighting got better and I was able to see more clearly.

A few turns later I saw what I desired to see. My way out. I was overjoyed. There was a way out and I was just a few meters away.

I sped up my pace and ran out into the light. My eyes took about half a second to adjust to the brightness of the light outside of the cave, but this was enough to nearly kill me. I was standing at the edge of a high mountain path just millimeters away from falling down, waving my arms to regain balance. It took all of my acrobatic skills to drop myself back at the path with a thud and a little cloud of dust.

As soon as I regained my composure I looked down where I nearly fell and was glad that I didn’t. The little valley down there was not that far away, but there was a nasty little surprise waiting at the outskirts of it. Really big sharp rocks. They would’ve sliced me into bite-sized pieces and I didn’t plan to serve as food for some random animals.

‘Good thing I reacted so fast. That would have been nasty.’ I thought to myself.

I took a deep breath and let my eyes wander around the mountainside.

“This is quite a sight here.” I said, taking in the beauty of the day. Something was missing, but I couldn’t point out what it was.

“Wait a second!” I shouted, as the recognition hit me.

“Why the hell am I on a mountain?! I landed on an island with nothing but sea all around it! What the fuck is going on here?! Where? How? Argh! This is crazy! Ok Rob come down now come down. I’m certain that there is a simple answer to all of this. At least I hope so.”

After I calmed myself down for quite a bit, I was ready to face the situation.

The path lead in two directions, one was uphill the other obviously downhill.

I had a hard decision to make. Which way to go. Both of them looked promising, but I couldn’t decide between the two of them. It doesn’t matter which one I was taking, since the other one would be upset to be left alone, so I made the only fair and random move I could make. I tossed a quarter.

‘Head downhill, eagle uphill’ I thought, flipping the coin up in the air. I caught it with my right hand and immediately smacked it on the back of my left hand. “The moment of truth” I proclaimed.I lifted up my hand and saw an eagle staring at me. “So uphill it is” I said to the path and stuck the coin back in my pocket.

I walked up the path a little bit when I heard a crashing noise.

I ran back to where I got out of the cave but the entrance was gone. The mountain was as smooth as a mountain could be where it should have been.

‘This is bad. Now I’m stuck here’ I thought to myself. But I’ve never been one to give up this easily. There was still the path ahead of me. I was determined to find some kind of civilization, so I got going.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“Ow. My head.” A voice muttered in the dark.

“Where am I? What happened?”

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“You received your orders. Now go and fulfill them.”

“Yes, princess. We’ll do our best” One said.

“We won’t disappoint your highness” the other one added.

“Good. Now get going. I have business to take care of” the princess said, standing up from her haunches, trotting over to the big double winged doors. Her mane waving in an ethereal sphere, no pony was able to see. She opened the doors with her magic and turned to the two mares.

“Remember that you have to stay undercover while watching over my most faithful student. I don’t want her to be harmed nor finding out who you two are. Your disguise has to be perfect. I ordered a royal guard to take your belongings to town already, so you can travel with light package. I’m giving you a week before I’ll sent her there. Get in touch with the residents and make friends with them. Now off you go”

“As you wish your highness” both mares said, saluting to the princess.

The mares got out of the throne room, heading for their quarters.

“We’re going to meet at the main gate of the palace in half an hour, so be ready by then” the first mare told the other one.

“Will be right there” the other one responded, rolling her eyes. ‘As if I am the one who always comes too late for a meeting’ she thought.

Half an hour had passed and both mares were standing at the big main gate of the palace, where they checked their bags one last time.

“I’ve got everything. What about you?” the first mare asked.

“Uuum… Yes everything packed” responded the other mare.

They took a final look at the palace, where they used to live and headed off in the direction of their goal, a little village settled near the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I was wandering around for several hours now and what I got was mountains, mountains, mountains and, guess what, more mountains. This was getting on my nerves. I mean nothing against wandering, but this was starting to piss me of.

“Ok. That’s it!” I shouted at an innocent mountain. “If there is nothing behind you that is worth seeing I’m going on a rampage. I’m done!”

I dragged myself over the top of the mountain, closing my eyes and flexing my muscles for the upcoming rage, which I could feel welling up in my guts.

I opened my eyes, but much to my surprise there was a wide valley with fields of flowers, little groups of trees several mild hills and some small rivers flowing through it, lying in front of me. But the most amazing, beautiful and stunning view was a little town in the distance. It was located at the edge of a rather large forest, which looked not this inviting.

A bit more to the west there was a castle built in the side of a mountain, but it would be more difficult to get there than that town, so I decided the town would do for now.

Soon I found a dirt road and decided that it would be better not to be too bold, so I kept a distance to it. This way nobody would notice me if I don’t want to and I would be able to see everyone who was walking on it.

I don’t know what the residents of the town are like and it is possible that my appearance would scare them, so this was the best way to face the subject.

Some time passed as I walked along the dirt road. I thought that I would never see anyone until I reach that town when I heard steps approaching.

I hid behind a large rock to take a closer look at whoever was coming by. As they came near I could hear their conversation and from the sound of the steps I could tell that they must be riding horses.

“You know, I really don’t get it why we have to go there. It’s not like she can’t defend herself” Said a female voice in perfectly fluent English.

‘Good. At least we are speaking the same language’ I thought.

“It doesn’t matter what we think about it. It’s a royal order and we have to do it. Or do you want to speak up to the princess?”

‘Ok. Two females. Good thing. I think they won’t kick my ass and they are living in a monarchy, so there is a leader to talk to if things get hairy. This will be easy’

“No” answered the other female.

“Good. After all you have to remember that we are secret agents from the royal guard. No pony knows that we are under direct command of her majesty. They all think, that we are just two mares that moved from Canterlot to flee the stressful life we had back there.”

‘Wait, wait, wait. Did I misunderstood them or am I going insane? They are talking as if they were actually two mares. Or maybe they are mad? Oh no, karma strikes again.' But I want to see who is talking there before I freak out. 'Easy Rob, easy’

I looked around my hiding place to get a better look of the females, talking, but what I saw and more important heard, was too much for me to handle, so I held my breath and hoped that they won’t notice me. Nevertheless I still kept looking at them.

They were actually mares. Pony mares to be exact. The first one was a mint green coated (I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this) unicorn (!!!) with a grey-green mane with a large silver stripe in it. She had a lyre tattooed on her flank and was wearing saddlebags with the same image of a lyre on them.

The other one was a unicorn too. (Still can’t believe my eyes. Did I take drugs or what?) Her fur was a lighter blue while her mane was of a darker blue and it had this stripe of silver too. On her flank I could see the tattoo of an hourglass ran halfway through. Again she was carrying saddlebags with the same image on them as her tattoo was. But that wasn’t it.
Their looks were totally different from ponies I knew from home.

Their snouts were shorter than usual, they were shorter than a normal pony and if I might add the color of their fur was a little bit disturbing.

I mean I know that horses have brown, white, black or even a slight red fur color, but green and blue?

'I’m done. I’m so damn done.'

And on top of that they were speaking like I do. Words and stuff!

I let a gasp of surprise escape my mouth. Just a little one, but they noticed and turned towards the stone, asking in unison “Who is there?”

I started to panic and thought of a way to escape.
Then I had a great idea. I made my voice as soft as possible, letting out a little “Meow”.

“Oh, it’s just a cat” said the green mare.

“I love cats!” the blue one said euphoric. “I’ll just go and comfort her a bit. I’m sure we scared the poor little thing”

‘Oh great, a cat loving pony. How can this get any worse?’

The mare set into motion and came for my hiding spot. Now it was time to think fast.

‘Oh fuck, oh fuck shit fuck. What to do now?’

I looked around and spotted a little group of trees some meters behind me. It was now or never. I sprinted over to the trees, still ducked so they won’t spot me. At least I hoped so.

I was wrong.

Right when I entered the shadow of the trees, the blue mare came in sight and spotted me jumping in the woods.
She came after me and I got running, but since karma is a bitch and god is the biggest troll ever, I stumbled and fell.

That alone wouldn’t be this bad, but the trees were standing on a slope and I lost the ground under my feet. I bumped into several trees, standing where I was falling, until there was a gap where I could gain speed. Unfortunately my head smashed into the first tree after the gap, blurring my vision as I was starting to faint. Several bumps later the tree line ended and I landed on the dirt road.

‘Great. Now I’m exposed to everyone that comes by’ I managed to think.

The two ponies were coming down the road and I heard the blue one saying something about a cat and that she was upset that it ran away, but it didn’t matter to me as unconsciousness was grabbing hold of my mind.

The last thing I saw before fainting away was the shocked expression on the faces of the mares as they noticed my body lying on the road.