For Terrus, the day was perfect. The temperature was just right. He laid in the grass, watching the sky. He could feel the wind in his mane as a small breeze went by. He chuckled, wondering where Rain Dancer was right now.
Suddenly, he felt something large land on top of him. With a grunt, he shoved it off, earning a disgruntled growl from the pegasus mare that he found in front of him.
“Watch it Terrus! You could’ve hurt me...” the mare pouted, starting to tear up.
He rolled his eyes, and push himself up. He looked at her and saw that she was a mess.
He sighed, “Rain Dancer, you have grass in your coat again.”
“Well whose fault is that?!” she retorted, seeming like she was going to start bawling at any second.
“Mine.” he grumbled. “And I know you want hugs, but wait till I clean you up, ok?”
“OK!” she squealed, and any indication that Rain Dancer was about cry had left as soon as it had come.
He shook his head, and began to search her coat. It wasn’t hard to find the grass scattered along the robin egg colored coat, but her mane and tail was a different story. She had a poofy, smoke colored mane that had small random streaks of teal in it.
He decided that his best course of action was to just sift through her mane, and clean as he went.
“Rain Dancer,” he started, while stretching “I’m going to need you to sit down for a bit.”
“Why?!” she whined, unhappy that it was taking longer than originally planned.
“Because, you probably have grass in your mane and I dou-”
He was interrupted by Rain Dancer furiously running her hooves through her mane. He gave her a deadpanned look, but she either didn’t see or acknowledge it. She had smiled, happy with her handiwork, and saw that Terrus was shaking his head.
“What?!” she asked, worriedly. “Is something wrong?”
He chuckled, “No. Nothing wrong, but you are going to regret that decision later. Your mane was a mess, but it will be even more so later.”
“Pfft. That’s what I have you for!” she said, while holding back laughter.
He raised a hoof to his chest, as if hurt by her words. “Is that all you see me as? Your servant who answers at your every beck and call?”
She couldn’t hold it in anymore. She was laughing so hard she was afraid that she had busted a gut. But she laughed even harder when she saw the big grin plastered on his face.
He tried to growl menacingly, but it came out sounding like a noise a puppy would make. She was laughing so hard, tears began running down her face. He couldn’t help but chuckle himself.
“Come here you!” he yelled, trying to at least sound intimidating. He wrapped his hooves around her shoulders and hugged her. She snuggled up against him, finally getting the hug she’d been waiting for.
…
Sadly, it didn’t last.
* * *
Terrus could feel the earth beneath him begin to shake, slowly getting stronger and stronger. His eyes grew wide, and he turned his attention to Rain Dancer. Before he could say anything, she pushed him aside as a crack had appeared where he had just been sitting.
He saw her fall into the crevasse, and he rushed over to save her. He felt himself go cold when he saw how far down she fell. She had somehow gotten a grip on a weirdly shaped ro-. No, it wasn’t a weirdly shaped rock, it was…
It was…
“A tombstone.” he whispered, as his blood turned to ice. “Rain Dancer! Hold on! I’ll get some help!”
“Terrus!” she yelled, with no emotion in her voice. “I want you to promise me something!”
“Yes Rain Dancer?!” Terrus answered, praying that help would come soon. “What’s the promise?”
“I want you to not blame yourself, and to move on.” Rain Dancer said, still lacking emotion. “I’m sorry this coul-”
“Don’t be sorry! If I find help I-” he started, but upon seeing her face he knew what she was going to do.
“Rain Dancer... Don’t-” Terrus choked.
“I love you, Terrus.” she said, as a tear ran down her cheek.
She let go of the tombstone and began to fall. Terrus could hear a scream, but couldn’t tell if it had come from Rain Dancer or himself. He hoped that she would fly out, but he knew that was wishful thinking. He watched her fall, until she had been swallowed by the abyss.
There was a second scream, but Terrus knew who it belonged to this time.
“RAIN DANCER!”
* * *
Terrus’s eyes flew open, and he felt something run down his cheek. He rubbed his hoof against his cheek and saw that he had been crying, then he remembered his dre- No. Nightmare.
He sighed, and climbed out of bed. He trotted over to his desk, and looked at the picture on top of it. He saw that Rain Dancer was smiling, while being held by a stallion with a teal coat and a lawn green mane. He let out a hollow chuckle, remembering when they had that photo taken. That had been so long ago…
“3 years, hadn’t it?” he said to no one in particular. “Give or take.”
Terrus’s breath caught in his throat as he wracked his mind, trying to remember all of the details he could from the nightmare. He felt the tears start to stream down his face again. How could he have been so careless!
He had forgotten Rain Dancer’s cutie mark!
He looked back down at the picture, and looked at where her cutie mark should be. He saw two wooden horseshoes that curled at the point. How could he forget her cutie mark so easily? Did her love mean nothing to him? Was he-?
He realized his foreleg was shaking violently. He placed the photo back on the desk, but it fell flat as soon as he let go. He collapsed into a heap on the floor, his whole body shaking violently, just like his foreleg. This wasn’t the first time this had happened and he assumed it wouldn’t be the last, but it didn’t seem to get any easier.
Terrus knew he was supposed to let Rain Dancer go, but she was the reason he was here right now.
She had given her life to save his.
And this was how he thanked her? By forgetting who sh-
“Stop it!” he scolded himself. “She wouldn’t want you to be doing this to yourself.”
It seemed some part of him was about to retort, but he pushed himself back up, and started to move toward the door. He sighed upon reaching it. He knew this song and dance before, but it bothered him how many times he had gone through this.
With a huff, Terrus pulled the door open. After taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Terrus left the hallowed halls that was his home and headed into town. He smirked as a thought came to him. It was a phrase he would tell himself when he needed to focus on things to come. It was a small thing, but it helped tremendously.
“Pull yourself together Terrus! You’ve got shit to do.”
Author's Note
The first chapter of the rewrite. I hope this is a more satisfactory opening than the one before. Please share you thoughts below.
Edit: This blogpost will explain what changes were made and why. If you never heard of this story before or never read it before now, then you can disregard this message.
