…Running…
…Falling…
…Pain…
You’re having a dream. A dream that you can’t quite remember. A dream that’s not quite a dream, but a collection of thoughts.
…Bight light…
…Pain…
…Fear…
This dream that is not quite a dream, this collection of thoughts, are all broken; unintelligible; jumbled; confused.
…Cold…
…Wet…
…Silence…
These jumbled thoughts are quite alining with each other. Contradictions and inconsistencies are everywhere in these thoughts. But there are a couple of thoughts that are consistent among the entire dream. The dream that is not quite a dream, but jumbled thoughts.
…Loneliness…
…Darkness…
Your senses begin to return to you… No, they don’t return to you. That would imply that you’ve had senses before. Then again, you’re not quite sure whether or not you’ve had senses before. It’s confusing not knowing if you’ve had senses before or not.
The first thing that you notice is the sensation of something cold and hard against your… against your… confusion overtakes you as you don’t know what your body is supposed to be covered with. This disturbs you because this is something you should know… or should you?
You open your eyes. The world is… sideway? No, the world isn’t what’s sideways, you are. You’re lying on the floor on your side. A stone floor… no, crystal. Cold, hard, light blue crystal… and wet.
…Cold…
…Wet…
You wet the bed! No, wait… the liquid is too thick to be pee. It’s more like some sort of slime. And you can’t wet the bed if you’re not in a bed.
You lift your head, feeling the sensation of the slime separating as your head leaves the floor and the slime tries to keep its hold on your head and the floor. You see an eggshell. You realize that you must’ve hatched from it… no wait, you’re a mammal. You don’t hatch from an egg… No, you’re not a mammal, you’re a… what are you?
You get up onto your two hooves… no, four hooves. That’s right… or is it? You look down at your legs. Holes. Why are there holes? Is that normal? That can’t be normal… but it is.
You look around and find yourself in familiar ruins… no, not ruins. Why did you think they were ruins of a castle? There’s no castle here. Why did you even think about a castle in the first place? Because it’s your home… no it’s not.
You look out a window. A vast forest. You look up and see the moon. It is nighttime. The night sky is comforting to you… no, it scares you… no, you’ve never seen the sky before.
You’re even more confused.
“Hello?” You cautiously call out as you begin to traverse the building, “Is anycreature out there?” ‘Anycreature’? That’s no right… wait, yes it is.
…Silence…
As you leave the building, you come across a stagnate puddle of water. You look at your reflection. You have ethereal hair… no, mane. It flows in an ethereal wind. It’s a reflection of the night sky with holes popping in and out near the end… no, that’s not normal. Or is it?
You have large, green, reptilian eyes. Shouldn’t your eyes be blue… no, aquamarine? No, you’ve never seen your own eyes. Your coat is navy blue… shouldn’t it be black? No, it’s not a coat, it’s chitin. There’s a long crooked navy blue horn on your forehead. Why is it crooked? Because it’s normal. But a horn isn’t normal… is it?
You look behind you to see a tail. A reflection of the night sky, just like your hair… mane. Why do you even have a tail? At the end of the tail, like your mane, holes pop in and out of your flowing tail.
You look back to where you came out and see a giant crystal… treehouse? With a sky blue crystalline trunk and pink crystalline leaves. It looks comforting compared to the forest outside. But it’s lonely…
…Loneliness…
You need to find somecreature… anycreature! “Hello?” You call out again with more volume. You twitch your ears… no, fins to narrow in on any response.
…Silence…
None. How were you able to move your ear fins? Because it’s normal… isn’t it?
You hear something! A twig snapping. A reply? No, why would anycreature who’s trying to help you try to sneak up on you? And what is that horrible smell?
A howl! Another howl! A pack of wolves? You turn to run back to the treehouse. You trip! A tree root got caught in a hole in your left hind leg! You see them coming out of the trees as they stalk you! Wolves made of wood! Three… four… no, five of them! Maybe more! You struggle to get your hoof free! But your panic isn’t making it easy!
…Fear…
The wolves charge at you! You pull your hoof free, Breaking the root!
…Pain…
You run… no limp back to the treehouse! Your now injured hoof slowing you down!
…Running…
The treehouse is getting closer… closer… closer… almost there… You leap! You open your wings prepared to feel the wind in your feathers… no, not feathers! A membrane… why do you have wings? You’re tackled mid-air by one of the wolves!
…Pain…
…Falling…
…Pain…
“AHHHH!!!” You scream as you tumble into the treehouse in a mass of chitin and wood! The wolf bites down!
…Pain…
…Fear…
“AHHHH!!!” You scream again as another wolf approaches!
…Fear…
…Bright light…
Beams of light came from the treehouse itself! Three… four… five… maybe more! Each beam of light hitting a wolf! The wolves shatter into nothing but piles of wood!
…Bight light…
A shimmering form appears in front of you. A shimmering violet… pony? It smiles down at you.
“Do not worry. You will be safe here,” the simmering pony said.
…Pain…
…Fear…
“Help… me…” you say as you grow tired. Your eyelids grow heavy as the world around you fades away…
“Help is coming. You will be safe here.”
…Silence…
…Darkness…
…Safe…
Author's Note
This story is NOT going to be told from a 2nd person perspective. I just did this for the Prologue. I began the story in a way to have you feel like you're the character in question. And this is to help the idea that you will be learning about her alongside her. Many stories like these show the events leading up to the main character coming into this world. I simply chose to take a different route. (Should I add a mystery tag to this story as well?)
I'm sure you can figure out the name that will be given to the youngling. I chose the name based on Lauren Faust's original name for Luna. That and the simple fact that it's the name of the Greek goddess of the moon.
This story takes place roughly one year after the epilogue episode, which I estimated to be about ten years in the future. I estimate that there's roughly a ten year age gap between the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Mane 6. Seeing as the CMCs are roughly the age that the Mane 6 were, the math is obvious. Although, I suppose that that means that the Young 6 aren't exactly "young" anymore either. But I digress. This was just to help to provide some context into what kind of setting this story takes place in.
This story has several sources of inspiration. The primary sources are Past Sins and Living Nightmare (which is itself inspired by Past Sins). I'm also taking moderate inspiration from Soaring on Little Wings. And slight inspiration from Cadance's origin story from An Early Reunion (a story from The Lunaverse). And a decent amount of inspiration also comes from a variant of Past Sins I had in mind that takes place in Chrysalis's timeline from the Season 5 Finale. So yeah, I'm not just relying on a single source for inspiration here.
I'm also curious as to whether any readers can figure out the meaning of that dream. Or rather, the dream that isn't quite a dream. It will be explained eventually. Let's just see if anyone can figure it out before then.
This Author's Note has gone on long enough, so I think it's safe to say I should end it before it ends up being longer than the Prologue itself. With that said...
Until next time, I'm King Cocoon, and I'm out.
It was a perfect day. Clear blue skies, birds singing, a gentle breeze in the air, and even the scent of freshly baked apple pie being carried from Sweet Apple Acres. And for Ocellus, this was the perfect day for sitting under the perfect tree and reading the perfect book.
Lounging in the perfect branches of this perfect tree was Smolder. After all, it can’t be the perfect tree if it doesn’t have perfect branches to lounge on. Branches that perfectly conform to the shape of her body.
The Perfect tree was set on top of the perfect hill. The hill was not only perfectly shaped to allow for anycreature who wants to lean against the perfect tree trunk to do so comfortably, which Ocellus was doing, but it also casts the perfect shadow. Lounging on the side of the perfect will in the perfect shade were Sandbar and Yona snuggling up next to each other.
Next to the perfect tree was the perfect lake to go swimming in. Silverstream could pass this chance up of course. Crystal clear waters, happy colorful little fish swimming about, a beautiful field of perfect seaweed that’s the perfect height and will tickle the belly of any swimmer if they swim just at the top of the seaweed.
In the sky nearby, Gallus was laying sprawled out on the perfect cloud. He was basking in the warmth of the perfect sun’s perfect rays. It was a perfect day.
“Hello? Is anycreature out there?”
Everycreature poked their heads up at the sound. It was strange. The voice they heard sounded like it was far away. And yet, it sounded clear enough to have been right next to them. Even Silverstream, who was underwater where the sound should be muffled, heard it.
“Did any of you hear that?” Silverstream asked as she poked her head out of the water.
“Yeah,” Gallus said, flying down from his perfect cloud in his Royal Guard armor… wait, was he always wearing that armor? “Something wasn’t right about how it sounded.”
“It sounds like somecreature is lost and needs help,” Ocellus said, putting her book away… what book was she reading again?
“Yona no like it,” Yona said as she and Sandbar head towards the lake… weren’t they on the other side of the hill?
“Yeah. It’s like the voice was far away and right next to us at the same time,” Sandbar said as he and Yona help Silverstream out of the water… how were they hon the water in the middle of the pond?
“And what direction did it come from?” Smolder said as she walked over to them… when did she get down from the tree?
“Hello?”
The voice called again. But none of the six could determine a direction. It was like the Everfree Forest was transmitting the sound from all around them… when did they enter the forest?
Suddenly, there was a shimmering. Then the image of Twilight Sparkle appeared in front of them. No, it wasn’t Twilight Sparkle. It was too… sparkly. And it didn’t look like Twilight as she is now, but rather from years ago. This was the spirit of the Tree of Harmony.
“She needs your help,” the spirit of the Tree of Harmony said in her usual calm and gentle and, for lack of a better term, emotionally disconnected tone.
“Harmony, is that you?” Silverstream said. Though they haven’t had to interact with the spirit of the Tree of Harmony that much, the six had gotten into the habit of simply calling the spirit ‘Harmony’, because ‘spirit of the Tree of Harmony’ was just too much of a mouthful, “Wait, is this a dream? Is that why I don’t remember turning from sea pony to hippogriff?”
Harmony simply nods.
“Who?” Ocellus asked, trying to get back on track, “Who needs our help?”
“A lost soul,” Harmony said mysteriously.
“AHHHH!!!”
Harmony responds to the scream, vanishing from sight. The others were worried. That was a scream of fear. The type of fear when somecreature is afraid for their life.
“AHHHH!!!”
That scream wasn’t of fear, it was of pain! And fear!
“Somecreature’s in trouble!” Ocellus exclaimed, worry evident on her face, “We need to help them!”
“And how exactly are we gonna do that?” Gallus asked matter-of-factly, “This is a dream, remember? If we’re going to help anycreature, it’s going to be after we wake up. We’re basically useless if we’re still asleep.”
A blush of embarrassment appears on Ocellus’s cheeks, “You’re right. Sorry.”
Gallus sighed, remembering that despite his royal guard duties, which shouldn’t even apply in a dream, he is still Ocellus’s friend first, “It’s okay. You’re worried. We all are,” Gallus said, motioning to the others, who all had varying looks of worry, “But even after we wake up, we still need the answer to where this creature is.”
“I think it’s safe to assume that they’re somewhere in the Everfree Forest,” Smolder said, “Why else would Harmony have taken us here?”
“Help… me…”
The sound of those words gripped their hearts. That wasn’t just fear, but the sound of somecreature’s life fading away. Harmony then reappears.
“You must hurry. She needs help,” it was odd how Harmony could convey so much emotion while showing none.
“But where do we find her?” Sandbar asked.
That’s when something caught Ocellus’s attention. She looked to her left and saw a blue and pink crystalline form, “The treehouse!” Ocellus exclaimed.
“The treehouse!” Ocellus exclaimed as she shot upright in her bed. She took a moment to examine her surroundings, allowing her mind to grasp at the fact that it was a dream and she was now in her room in Ponyville. Then something occurred to her. Did the others hear her before they woke up?
But another thought came to mind, “Somecreature needs help!”
Ocellus jumped out of her bed and ran up the stairs and through the door. She ran through the room and out the door. She ran right into Smolder… literally.
“I assume you also had a dream of Harmony contacting us,” Smolder said as she rubbed her belly, a bruise forming from where Ocellus’s horn jabbed her. The impact knocked each other down.
“I’m sorry! Are you okay?!” Ocellus apologized.
“Don’t worry. I’ve had worse,” the dragon said as she got back up.
“Hey, Ocellus!” Sandbar called out as he and Yona ran towards them, “What was it you said before we woke up?”
“You all had that dream too?” Silverstream asked as she flew towards the group.
There was a bright flash before Gallus arrived with Princess Twilight.
“Why Gallus bring Princess?” Yona asked.
“Because without magic, he can’t teleport on his own,” Princess Twilight said calmly, “And when he woke me up and informed me that the spirit of the tree of Harmony contacted you all in a dream, I felt that swiftness was the best course of action.”
“So, what was it you were trying to say before we woke up?” Gallus asked, directing his attention towards Ocellus.
“I think she said ‘beehive’? No, it was ‘bee nut’! No, ‘tree nut’!” Silverstream said excitedly, “We need to find a tree nut! But from what tree?”
Ocellus sighed in exasperation, “The treehouse,” the changeling corrected.
“The treehouse has tree nuts now?!” Silverstream exclaimed, completely missing the correction, “What other new things will we learn about the treehouse?!”
Gallus face-clawed at that comment, “What she said in the dream was ‘treehouse’.”
Ocellus was becoming frantic, “We need to get to the treehouse NOW!” she exclaims, her wings buzzing in anticipation, “She needs help!”
“Who needs help?” Princess Twilight asked.
“Whoever it is Harmony contacted us about,” Solder said.
“I see,” Twilight said calmly, “Then allow me.”
The princess’s horn began to glow before there was a flash of light. When the light faded, the seven of them were standing in front of the Treehouse of Harmony. Ocellus didn’t waste any time running inside, followed by the others, with Twilight waiting outside. They were surprised to see all of the branches that now littered the halls of the treehouse. Ocellus however didn’t give them a second thought and just continued forward.
It wasn’t long before Ocellus spotted something. It was a changeling nymph. But not just any nymph, but an unreformed changeling. But there was something off about it. Changelings don’t have manes that flow in an ethereal breeze like that. In fact, her mane strongly resembles Luna’s. Then there were the wings. Four wings, like that of a dragonfly.
But what truly caught Ocellus’s attention wasn’t the apparent mutations, but rather the green liquid seeping out of several puncture wounds, some of which accompanied by thorns and slivers of wood. It then clicked in her head what the piles of sticks were.
Ocellus gently lifted the nymph onto her back with her magic, wincing as she felt just how much blood she felt.
“She must’ve been attacked by timberwolves!” Ocellus exclaims, “The treehouse must’ve saved her, but she’s bleeding to death! She needs medical attention!”
“You wait here! I’ll get the princess!” Gallus instructed before leaving the treehouse.
A moment later, there was a flash of light. When the light faded, Princess Twilight and Gallus were in front of the group… again. There was a moment when the princess seemed to scrutinize the changeling nymph. But it lasted less than a second. She lit her horn and, in a flash, all eight of them were back in Ponyville where they started. Her horn lit again and she was gone along with Gallus, Ocellus, and the nymph.
Smolder looked around at the group, “So, does this mean we can go back to bed?”
Meanwhile, up in Canterlot Castle, there was a flash of light followed by the sudden appearance of the princess and her passengers.
“Gallus, please contact the Night staff medical team and tell them to meet me in the infirmary,” Princess Twilight instructed.
“Yes, your majesty,” Gallus said with a salute before heading down the hall.
Ocellus opened her mouth to ask a question before there was another flash of light. They reappeared in another room, one that was clearly the infirmary with how sterile it felt. Ocellus was about to open her mouth to speak.
“Ocellus, you don’t mind helping me get the young changeling onto the examination table, do you?” the princess asked, “She’s injured after all, and we need to be careful.”
“I don’t mind, Princess,” Ocellus agreed. She used her magic to carefully separate their bodies, the nymph’s blood becoming dry and sticky. She then gently placed her down on the table just as Gallus came running in with three thestrals. Once the medical team was on the case, Ocellus opened her mouth to speak again.
“To answer the question that I am sure is on your mind, I brought you here because when the nymph wakes up, I’m sure she’ll be scared and confused,” Princess Twilight said, answering Ocellus’s unasked question, the said changeling closing her mouth, “I apologize for not informing you of this decision sooner. But the nymph’s safety came first. If you wish, I will send you back home if you do not want to be here when she wakes up.”
‘Wow! How’d she know what I was gonna ask before I asked it?’ Ocellus thought to herself. “It’s alright. I’ll stay,” Ocellus said.
The princess smiled at that response, but was cut off as one of the thestrals addressed them, “I apologize, your majesty. But I must request that you leave,” the thestral requested, “The fewer distractions and more space we have, the better.”
“Of course, Silver Heart,” the princess said with a nod of her head, “Gallus, Ocellus, let’s give the medical team their space to work.”
The three of them leave the medics to do their work.
“Sorry I haven’t visited much,” Gallus said, “But you know how it is. Royal Guard duties and all that.”
Gallus and Ocellus were getting reacquainted. Ever since Gallus has become a royal guard, he’s been taking that role seriously. He specifically wanted to make a good example, seeing as he was the first-ever griffon royal guard.
“Gallus, you know that you can always request time off to be with friends,” Princess Twilight said, “Most members of the royal guard actually take advantage of that fact when they can.”
“I know, Princess,” Gallus said, “But I’m the first-ever griffon royal guard. I want to make a good impression.”
“Even my brother took more time off than you have,” Princess Twilight said, a smirk on her face, “You’ve accumulated twelve weeks' worth of vacation time.”
“Well, we’ve all been busy,” Ocellus said, sympathizing with her friend, “Yona and Sandbar have been managing Carousel Boutique. Smolder has her cartography. Silverstream… well, she’s Silverstream. And I’ve had my library duties.”
“It’s hard for me to believe how you six grew up,” Princess Twilight said, “It only seems like yesterday when you six were worrying about passing your next tests in my School of Friendship.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like we could be kids forever,” Gallus said with a grin, giving the changeling a slap on the back. He then peeled his claw off of her still sticky back, “Uh… maybe it might be a good idea to get cleaned up.”
Ocellus’s only response was a sheepish grin and a blush.
“I’m sure that the baths here in the palace should be adequate,” Princess Twilight said.
“If you don’t mind taking a bath in a pool,” Gallus snarked playfully.
“Well, I’m not as small as I used to be,” Twilight commented, “I need extra space when taking a bath.” The three of them laugh at that before Twilight leads Ocellus to get washed up.
“Odd. This youngling’s biology isn’t normal for a changeling,” one of the doctors said, “Even for an unreformed changeling.”
“Well, it does seem like she has the biology of a Queen,” the second doctor said.
“That would explain some of the oddities,” Silver Heart said, “But that doesn’t explain all of the mutations. Two pairs of wings wouldn’t be explained by a Queen’s biology. And her mane and tail are clearly not that of a changeling.”
“So what do we do?” the first doctor asked.
“We do as we were instructed to,” Silver Heart said, “We’ll tend to her wounds.”
The three medics did as they were told and tended to the youngling. The more they treated the changeling’s injuries, the more they were able to study her, and the less she seemed to actually appear to be a changeling.
“Perhaps she’s some sort of hybrid,” Silver Heart suggested as they removed a few wood shards, “The youngling lost a lot of blood. But it’s not as bad as previously implied.”
As Silver Heart cleaned the wounds, preparing the youngling to be bandaged up, she noticed the presence of another substance acting as a clotting agent.
