The Gods of Chaosby SonofaTimePonyChaptersPrologue 1: Gods are Awful WritersPrologue 2: FateChapter 1: WalkingChapter 2: Rainbow in the DarkPrologue 1: Gods are Awful WritersI laughed a crazed, evil laugh as I lifted my hands. My palms started to glow a bright red colour. The six statues in front of me began to glow as well before lifting into the air and began spinning around me in a circle. I had won. The world was all mine now. At long last I was the most powerful being in the cosmos and nobody could stop... No, wait that’s too far ahead. Let me start over. Once upon a time, in a little city lost to those not already there, there was a little boy. Shit, no, that’s not right, either. Ugh, who knew writing could be so difficult? I can bend the fabric of time and space to my will, shape new worlds and turn existing ones on their heads, but writing a simple story flusters me? What the hell, universe? To be honest, though, I'm not sure any of this is actually happening. It all seems too good to be true. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. It all feels real. The smells, the sights, the sounds, it all seems to be happening, but at the same time I know it might not be. I pinch myself, but I don't wake up. I've done everything I could to try to wake up from what I thought must be some crazy dream, but no matter what I do I'm still here. What would I do if it was all a dream? If I suddenly woke up in the car, back in my normal life, what would I do? I've seen so much and done so many amazing things that I don't know if I can handle my old boring, mundane life again. But then again, my old life is what I traded for all of this. Could I go back to it even if I wanted to? But you aren't here for my mumbling and ramblings. You want a story. My story. I suppose I'll give you one, too. I just have to find the right starting point. Who knew it would be this hard... Aha! I think I've got it! Bear with me on this one. Once upon a time there was a boy, a beast, and a bargain. Prologue 2: FateA car sped down the highway in the darkness. It wasn't a very impressive car and not one that would be given a second glance under normal circumstances. It was a five-seating sedan painted a cherry red color. There was nothing important about it in any way. A song played over the stereo as I drove. I am thinking it's a sign That the freckles in our eyes Are mirror images, and When we kiss they're perfectly aligned. I bobbed my head to the beat of the song as I pressed the brakes slightly and turned the wheel to make it around the corner. I glanced in my mirror once I'd rounded the bend to make sure the car behind me wasn't getting too close. Satisfied that it wasn't I turned my attention back to the road ahead of me. An inflating sound and a subsequent *pop* reminded me of my passenger sitting next to me. A 14 year-old boy sat to my right. His hair was cut short and looked a bit silly when matched with the dress shirt he was wearing. He was staring out the window with his headphones on, listening to some obscure techno band as he chewed his gum loudly. I could hear a bit of the bass-line over my music as we continued our way towards home. I have to speculate That God himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay. I gave a little sigh of annoyance at the kid and looked back at the black asphalt ahead of me. I was a little bit cautious driving tonight, and for good reason. The county was repaving the road and I could hardly even make out the surface on which I was driving. This, along with the fact that there were no painted lines yet, made it damn near impossible to see what was ahead of me. As we continued down the highway my mind began to think back to events earlier in the day, and only served to remind me of the annoyance I felt towards my brother for making me take him home. I thought about my friends who were waiting for me to show up so that they could start movie night. And true, it may seem like a stretch, but Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled Head when you're away, When I am missing you to death. I sighed a little bit and let my thoughts drift for a second or two. The sooner I got my brother home, the sooner I could be on my way to a fun night with my friends. When you are out there on the road For several weeks of shows And when you scan the radio I hope this song will guide you home. My mind was still wandering when I noticed the car starting to drift right. I turned the wheel slightly to try to get going straight again. It was because of that that I didn't notice the bend in the road until the car's right tires fell off the side of the new pavement with a dull *thud*. I let out a quick swear and jerked the wheel to the left. The car swerved back onto the road, but continued swerving into the other lane. I turned the wheel right again to get back into my lane. The car swerved hard to the right and ended up skidding sideways on the highway. Before I knew it the car had gone off again and began to roll. They will see us waving from such great heights, "Come down now," they'll say, But everything looks perfect from far away, "Come down now," but we'll stay. Three things went through my head in the few seconds that the car was rolling. "Where is my phone?" was the first thought. "Who's going to tell my friends?" was the second one. The final thought was, "Is my brother going to be okay?" At the very edge of my hearing I thought I heard laughter. I heard the crashing sound. Then I blacked out. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: The car accident I wrote about in this chapter is my memory of an actual event that happened to me just days ago. My brother and I rolled our car on the highway coming home from the county fair on August 31. We are both fine. I have a bit of a headache still and some bruises, but I'm fine. My brother cut his hand open on the windshield when we were rolling, but that was the worst that either of us got. I didn't actually black out during the crash, and neither did my brother. Actually, as soon as the car stopped rolling the first thing out of either of our mouths was concern for the other one. The song playing in the car is Such Great Heights by The Postal Service. It was the song I was listening to during the accident. I had my iPod hooked up to an FM transmitter and I was listening to it on the car's stereo. Strangely my iPod disappeared in the accident. Maybe it fell out the window. I'm sure it will turn up eventually.]] [[EDIT: Nope. Hasn't turned up yet. We stopped looking a month or so ago. Oh well.]] Chapter 1: WalkingWhen I came to I was lying on my back. My eyes opened, and I immediately shut them again. The world was spinning wildly and I was overcome with a strong sense of vertigo. I lay there for a few minutes before slowly opening my eyes again. Everything was moving around, but not spinning wildly like it had been before. With a groan I tried to sit up, but a crack of pain shot through my head and I let out a yelp before falling back down. As my head throbbed, I gritted my teeth and tried to breathe evenly. After a moment the pain started to fade to a manageable level and I tried to get up again, slowly this time. I struggled to my knees, but a sudden nausea stopped me from going any further. That nausea soon turned to full-fledged sickness and before I knew it I was vomiting all over the ground in front of me. Eventually it subsided and I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and as I looked up I noticed that everything was still for the first time. I was in a forest somewhere with trees and plants all around me. I gingerly got up to my feet. I suddenly felt very dizzy after vomiting so much and I steadied myself on a nearby tree. I mentally noted that I wasn't in the very best of health as my head pounded and my knees wobbled. Shakily, I chose a direction in the forest and began to walk. And walk I did. Looking overhead I assumed that it was either mid-morning or mid-afternoon. I hoped that it was the former; I wasn't too fond of meeting any wild animals in this forest. My hopes were proven fruitful as the sun rose higher overhead as I walked. I kept thinking that eventually I would find a path of some kind that would lead me out of here, but I only found more trees and rocks. As i kept up my search for the elusive road, I began to think. Just little thoughts at first, comments about how that rock over there looked like a face, or how if you turned your head to a certain angle this tree kind of looks like it's angry. Thoughts like that filled my head for a little while, but eventually bigger concerns started to make their way into my addled mind. Where was I? How did I get here? Something began to bother me, though, as I walked further into the forest. A little nagging sensation at the back of my mind, like something trapped in the back and trying to claw its way to the front. I tried to focus on that thought, whatever it was, but any time I came close to understanding what it was it slipped away, and the more I thought about it the harder it became to pinpoint. Frustrated, I climbed over a fallen tree stump and decided that it was best to ignore whatever it was that was bothering me. If it was really important it would come to me eventually. I focused on other things, like pulling bits and pieces of survival advice from the dark recesses of my mind in case I found myself still stuck here when night came. I figured, with the sun getting to be where it was, that nighttime would be here in just a few hours. finally my common sense got the better of me and I began to set up camp next to a small stream. The water looked clean enough, very clean, in fact, so I slowly took a few drinks. Suddenly I became aware of how thirsty I was after hiking all day through the forest and I found myself taking big long gulps from the stream. After I my thirst was well and thoroughly quenched, a new problem presented itself: hunger. I was starving and I needed to find something to eat. Unfortunately, I didn't know where to start, or even what was good to eat around here. I figured it would be best to wait until tomorrow to find a town that could feed me. Doing my best to ignore my hunger pains, I began work on my shelter. Two hours of hard work later and I looked admiringly on the fruits of my labour, a crude little thatched tent. The sky was a bright orange as I admired my handiwork. A chill wind bit me as the sun started to sink below the horizon. I realized that I had forgotten to build a fire. Cursing myself for not thinking of this sooner, I began to feel around in my pockets for anything that might make this task easier. My search turned up positive. As I dug around in my back pockets, I discovered a lighter. Happy that I had a fire-making tool handy, I set off to gather firewood. The sun was well below the horizon by the time my fire was built to a size that I thought was good. As I sat by the fire, looking into the flames, that strange feeling in the back of my mind appeared again. Again, I tried to figure out what exactly was wrong, but I still couldn't keep a grip on it. Confused and frustrated, I kicked some dirt onto my fire and crawled into my "bed" for the night. I wrapped myself up as best as I could in my sweatshirt and fell in for a long night. ~~~.....~~~ I'm floating Darkness surrounds me I am happy The dark wraps itself around me The darkness holds me I feel content The darkness protects me Darkness surrounds me Kindness pierces the veil ~~~.....~~~ I was startled awake a few hours later by sounds coming from outside my tent. At first, I thought it might be the wind or something, but a few seconds later I realized that it was the sound of some kind of animal. In fact, it sounded like a few creatures were pacing around my shelter, examining it, probably. I started to breathe as quietly as I could, maybe hoping that whatever creatures were outside would just walk on by if they didn't know that I was there. I must have done something, though, because after a minute or two the noises stopped. I ceased breathing altogether as something outside made its way to the entrance of my little shelter. I frantically began to look around for anything that I could use as a weapon, but the whole space of ground under my tent was cleared out so that I actually had a chance of sleeping. Annoyed with myself for not leaving anything remotely weapon-ish, I held up my fists, ready to attack anything that might come inside with my bare hands. Of all the things I was expecting to poke its head through, I really don't think a little yellow horse with a pink mane was among them. Its head was bigger than mine, with huge teal-colored eyes looking straight at me. Its mane was a vibrant pink color, complimenting the yellow-coloured coat it wore very nicely. The first thought in my head was a remark about how cute this creature was. The next thought was that this "pony" (for lack of a better word) didn't look like it could harm a fly, and how silly it was that I was threatening it. We looked at each other for a few seconds before I slowly lowered my fists to my side. "Easy, now," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you." The "pony's" eyes widened when I spoke and its mouth opened in what looked to me like shock. I thought this was very odd. It acted almost like it understood me, but I knew that wasn't possible. Not wanting to scare the poor thing, I slowly moved forwards towards it and held out my hand. The "pony" shrank away, almost leaving the tent altogether. "Easy, I won't hurt you," I repeated softly to the creature. Slowly it began to inch its way forward again, sniffing at my hand. The "pony" looked up at me again before pressing its face into my hand. I smiled warmly and began to stroke its mane. It was soft and almost silky to the touch. "Your mane feels nice and soft," I said out loud. "Thank you," came the response. My hand flew back to me and I gasped in shock. D-did that "pony" just talk?! I must have startled the thing, because it let out a small yelp and flinched away from me, looking at the ground as if it was ashamed. "Oh, I'm so sorry," it spoke to me again in soft dulcet tones. "D-did I do something wrong? Pinch me, I must be dreaming. I sat there, dumbfounded, looking at the creature not a foot away from me. This thing, whatever it was, was talking! Somehow, through all the questions and logical fallacies flying around in my brain, one thing managed to find its way to my mouth. "Who...who are you?" I asked in an awed whisper. "What are you?" The "pony" looked up at me again. "Um...my name is Fluttershy," it...no, SHE said. She swallowed before she said, "Who...are you?" I opened my mouth to answer, but I found nothing coming out. Suddenly all the chaos in my mind vanished. Every single thing was flushed out at that very instant. That feeling in the back of my mind was back, but this time I had a hold on it. How I never realized this before was astonishing. A whole day spent with my collected thoughts and this never occurred to me. Who am I? Three words fell out of my mouth as an answer. "I...I don't know." Chapter 2: Rainbow in the DarkFluttershy looked confused at first, then frightened. "You...you don't even remember your name?" She spoke in a very motherly tone, like she was concerned for me. "N-no..." I muttered. "I...I don't..." "Well," said the pony gently, "can you at least remember where you're from?" I went wide-eyed an instant later as I realized that no, I did not, in fact, know where I was even from. As I wracked my brain trying to find any bit of information regarding this, I found myself drawing blanks on other things, too. All of my memories before waking up in the woods this morning were all gone. Nothing. Just emptiness. I had no idea who I was, where I was from, or how I even ended up in the forest. Needless to say, I started panicking. "No, I don't know," I said frantically. "I can't remember anything! Who am I?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Startled by my sudden outburst, Fluttershy let out a squeal and fled from my tent faster than I thought anything her size could move. I hardly noticed, though, as my mind kicked into full panic mode and I started hyperventilating. The air was becoming stagnant fast and, half crazed, I crawled out of my tent as fast as I could to try to get some fresh air. A sudden blow to the head stopped my efforts, though. Stars burst behind my eyes as I fell back, hard, onto the ground. My vision was hazy and I saw rainbows floating above me in the darkness as I passed out. ~~~.....~~~ I'm floating Darkness surrounds me I feel peaceful The dark is a part of me I am the darkness I float along The darkness protects me Darkness surrounds me Loyalty pierces the veil ~~~.....~~~ I could hear noises coming from somewhere. It sounded like someone having a conversation. It all sounded muffled to me, like it was coming through water to get to my ears. I couldn't place the voice, but it sounded positively ecstatic and...scholarly? It was definitely very enthused about something. It was interrupted a moment later by another voice, this one sounding fierce and almost angry. The two voices seemed to be arguing over something, but none of their words came through. I felt sunlight in my eyes. I groaned and tried to roll over to try to get a little more sleep. Big mistake. Pain lanced through my head the instant I tried to move it. I gave a small shout and sucked in a sharp breath. I scrunched my eyes closed as my head throbbed with pain. Slowly and deeply I began breathing, focusing my mind on breathing and nothing else. The throbbing began to lessen and after a moment it was gone altogether. Breathing a small sigh of relief, I gingerly opened my eyes, expecting more pain. "Ah, fuck," I muttered as I lifted a hand up to block the sun beaming straight into my eyes. I was right to expect pain. Everything seemed to be way overly bright to me and burned into my eyes. I quickly shut them again. "See, I told you that you hurt it," said the scholarly voice. Apparently my hearing was getting better because I could hear the voices again, but clearly enough that I could make out what was being said. The first voice, the scholarly one, sounded feminine. "How do you know?" said the fierce-sounding voice, also slightly feminine. "For all you know, that's how it acts normally." "Rainbow Dash, you gave it a concussion!" shouted the first voice. "Don't try to say you didn't, because anyone can tell!" "Hey, I thought it was trying to attack Fluttershy!" argued the second voice. "If i hadn't kicked it, who knows what it could have done to her!" "'It' has a name you know," I said. Both voices stopped arguing and I could feel their gazes turn to me. "Oh, yeah?" questioned the angry voice. "Just what is it?" "As soon as I know, I'll tell you," I said. I heard the angry girl snort. "Just what the hay are you, anyway?!" she yelled. I gasped and clasped my hands over my ears as the sudden loud noise sent another piercing pain through my head. "Please, not so loud," I pleaded, rubbing my temples to ease the pain. Something she said caught my attention. "And what do you mean, what am I?" "Rainbow, that's enough," said the other woman scoldingly. "You've already caused this poor creature enough pain already. Here, let me help you with that." I guess that last sentence was directed at me because I felt a warmth around my head. I let out a sigh of instant relief as the pain faded almost immediately. It didn't stop there, though. The warmth began to shift around, finding its way to my eyes and seemed to "soak" into them. Again, instant relief. "There, you should be able to open your eyes now." "Ah, thanks," I uttered. Once again I gingerly began to open my eyes, but this time I met with only a little pain. The room I was in was small, but it was anything from ordinary. For starters, birdhouses hung from the ceiling in several places and birds' nests sat in the rafters. Vines curled along the wooden support beams above me. I briefly thought that whoever lived here must have a huge affinity for nature. Far past the foot of my bed I spied the railings to a set of stairs. A few feet away on the wall to my left was a large fireplace whose mantle was decorated with flowers and a few picture frames. A quick glance to my right showed a large bookcase right next to the bed. A lantern sat on a little desk area built into the bookcase. Taking in the room before me, my eyes eventually settled on the two people who had been talking to each other and to me. Only they weren't people. They were ponies, but they were very different from Fluttershy. One of them was a light lavender colour with a mane coloured so dark violet that it almost looked blue. Two streaks were added into her mane, a brighter violet and a pink colour. She was looking at me intently with large purple eyes as I studied her in return. The other pony sported a teal-blue coat with rainbow coloured hair. I briefly wondered how anyone's hair could be like that, but then I figured that it was probably dyed. She was glaring at me with magenta eyes. She looked angry. No, not quite angry. She looked defensive. I could see her muscles tensing as I looked her over, like she was waiting to pounce on me should I make one wrong move. However, the things that intrigued me the most weren't their odd mane and tail colours. What caught my attention most of all was on the head of the violet pony and the back of the teal pony, namely a horn and a pair of wings. I was looking dead at a purple unicorn and a blue pegasus.
Prologue 1: Gods are Awful WritersI laughed a crazed, evil laugh as I lifted my hands. My palms started to glow a bright red colour. The six statues in front of me began to glow as well before lifting into the air and began spinning around me in a circle. I had won. The world was all mine now. At long last I was the most powerful being in the cosmos and nobody could stop... No, wait that’s too far ahead. Let me start over. Once upon a time, in a little city lost to those not already there, there was a little boy. Shit, no, that’s not right, either. Ugh, who knew writing could be so difficult? I can bend the fabric of time and space to my will, shape new worlds and turn existing ones on their heads, but writing a simple story flusters me? What the hell, universe? To be honest, though, I'm not sure any of this is actually happening. It all seems too good to be true. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. It all feels real. The smells, the sights, the sounds, it all seems to be happening, but at the same time I know it might not be. I pinch myself, but I don't wake up. I've done everything I could to try to wake up from what I thought must be some crazy dream, but no matter what I do I'm still here. What would I do if it was all a dream? If I suddenly woke up in the car, back in my normal life, what would I do? I've seen so much and done so many amazing things that I don't know if I can handle my old boring, mundane life again. But then again, my old life is what I traded for all of this. Could I go back to it even if I wanted to? But you aren't here for my mumbling and ramblings. You want a story. My story. I suppose I'll give you one, too. I just have to find the right starting point. Who knew it would be this hard... Aha! I think I've got it! Bear with me on this one. Once upon a time there was a boy, a beast, and a bargain.
Prologue 2: FateA car sped down the highway in the darkness. It wasn't a very impressive car and not one that would be given a second glance under normal circumstances. It was a five-seating sedan painted a cherry red color. There was nothing important about it in any way. A song played over the stereo as I drove. I am thinking it's a sign That the freckles in our eyes Are mirror images, and When we kiss they're perfectly aligned. I bobbed my head to the beat of the song as I pressed the brakes slightly and turned the wheel to make it around the corner. I glanced in my mirror once I'd rounded the bend to make sure the car behind me wasn't getting too close. Satisfied that it wasn't I turned my attention back to the road ahead of me. An inflating sound and a subsequent *pop* reminded me of my passenger sitting next to me. A 14 year-old boy sat to my right. His hair was cut short and looked a bit silly when matched with the dress shirt he was wearing. He was staring out the window with his headphones on, listening to some obscure techno band as he chewed his gum loudly. I could hear a bit of the bass-line over my music as we continued our way towards home. I have to speculate That God himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay. I gave a little sigh of annoyance at the kid and looked back at the black asphalt ahead of me. I was a little bit cautious driving tonight, and for good reason. The county was repaving the road and I could hardly even make out the surface on which I was driving. This, along with the fact that there were no painted lines yet, made it damn near impossible to see what was ahead of me. As we continued down the highway my mind began to think back to events earlier in the day, and only served to remind me of the annoyance I felt towards my brother for making me take him home. I thought about my friends who were waiting for me to show up so that they could start movie night. And true, it may seem like a stretch, but Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled Head when you're away, When I am missing you to death. I sighed a little bit and let my thoughts drift for a second or two. The sooner I got my brother home, the sooner I could be on my way to a fun night with my friends. When you are out there on the road For several weeks of shows And when you scan the radio I hope this song will guide you home. My mind was still wandering when I noticed the car starting to drift right. I turned the wheel slightly to try to get going straight again. It was because of that that I didn't notice the bend in the road until the car's right tires fell off the side of the new pavement with a dull *thud*. I let out a quick swear and jerked the wheel to the left. The car swerved back onto the road, but continued swerving into the other lane. I turned the wheel right again to get back into my lane. The car swerved hard to the right and ended up skidding sideways on the highway. Before I knew it the car had gone off again and began to roll. They will see us waving from such great heights, "Come down now," they'll say, But everything looks perfect from far away, "Come down now," but we'll stay. Three things went through my head in the few seconds that the car was rolling. "Where is my phone?" was the first thought. "Who's going to tell my friends?" was the second one. The final thought was, "Is my brother going to be okay?" At the very edge of my hearing I thought I heard laughter. I heard the crashing sound. Then I blacked out. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: The car accident I wrote about in this chapter is my memory of an actual event that happened to me just days ago. My brother and I rolled our car on the highway coming home from the county fair on August 31. We are both fine. I have a bit of a headache still and some bruises, but I'm fine. My brother cut his hand open on the windshield when we were rolling, but that was the worst that either of us got. I didn't actually black out during the crash, and neither did my brother. Actually, as soon as the car stopped rolling the first thing out of either of our mouths was concern for the other one. The song playing in the car is Such Great Heights by The Postal Service. It was the song I was listening to during the accident. I had my iPod hooked up to an FM transmitter and I was listening to it on the car's stereo. Strangely my iPod disappeared in the accident. Maybe it fell out the window. I'm sure it will turn up eventually.]] [[EDIT: Nope. Hasn't turned up yet. We stopped looking a month or so ago. Oh well.]]
Chapter 1: WalkingWhen I came to I was lying on my back. My eyes opened, and I immediately shut them again. The world was spinning wildly and I was overcome with a strong sense of vertigo. I lay there for a few minutes before slowly opening my eyes again. Everything was moving around, but not spinning wildly like it had been before. With a groan I tried to sit up, but a crack of pain shot through my head and I let out a yelp before falling back down. As my head throbbed, I gritted my teeth and tried to breathe evenly. After a moment the pain started to fade to a manageable level and I tried to get up again, slowly this time. I struggled to my knees, but a sudden nausea stopped me from going any further. That nausea soon turned to full-fledged sickness and before I knew it I was vomiting all over the ground in front of me. Eventually it subsided and I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and as I looked up I noticed that everything was still for the first time. I was in a forest somewhere with trees and plants all around me. I gingerly got up to my feet. I suddenly felt very dizzy after vomiting so much and I steadied myself on a nearby tree. I mentally noted that I wasn't in the very best of health as my head pounded and my knees wobbled. Shakily, I chose a direction in the forest and began to walk. And walk I did. Looking overhead I assumed that it was either mid-morning or mid-afternoon. I hoped that it was the former; I wasn't too fond of meeting any wild animals in this forest. My hopes were proven fruitful as the sun rose higher overhead as I walked. I kept thinking that eventually I would find a path of some kind that would lead me out of here, but I only found more trees and rocks. As i kept up my search for the elusive road, I began to think. Just little thoughts at first, comments about how that rock over there looked like a face, or how if you turned your head to a certain angle this tree kind of looks like it's angry. Thoughts like that filled my head for a little while, but eventually bigger concerns started to make their way into my addled mind. Where was I? How did I get here? Something began to bother me, though, as I walked further into the forest. A little nagging sensation at the back of my mind, like something trapped in the back and trying to claw its way to the front. I tried to focus on that thought, whatever it was, but any time I came close to understanding what it was it slipped away, and the more I thought about it the harder it became to pinpoint. Frustrated, I climbed over a fallen tree stump and decided that it was best to ignore whatever it was that was bothering me. If it was really important it would come to me eventually. I focused on other things, like pulling bits and pieces of survival advice from the dark recesses of my mind in case I found myself still stuck here when night came. I figured, with the sun getting to be where it was, that nighttime would be here in just a few hours. finally my common sense got the better of me and I began to set up camp next to a small stream. The water looked clean enough, very clean, in fact, so I slowly took a few drinks. Suddenly I became aware of how thirsty I was after hiking all day through the forest and I found myself taking big long gulps from the stream. After I my thirst was well and thoroughly quenched, a new problem presented itself: hunger. I was starving and I needed to find something to eat. Unfortunately, I didn't know where to start, or even what was good to eat around here. I figured it would be best to wait until tomorrow to find a town that could feed me. Doing my best to ignore my hunger pains, I began work on my shelter. Two hours of hard work later and I looked admiringly on the fruits of my labour, a crude little thatched tent. The sky was a bright orange as I admired my handiwork. A chill wind bit me as the sun started to sink below the horizon. I realized that I had forgotten to build a fire. Cursing myself for not thinking of this sooner, I began to feel around in my pockets for anything that might make this task easier. My search turned up positive. As I dug around in my back pockets, I discovered a lighter. Happy that I had a fire-making tool handy, I set off to gather firewood. The sun was well below the horizon by the time my fire was built to a size that I thought was good. As I sat by the fire, looking into the flames, that strange feeling in the back of my mind appeared again. Again, I tried to figure out what exactly was wrong, but I still couldn't keep a grip on it. Confused and frustrated, I kicked some dirt onto my fire and crawled into my "bed" for the night. I wrapped myself up as best as I could in my sweatshirt and fell in for a long night. ~~~.....~~~ I'm floating Darkness surrounds me I am happy The dark wraps itself around me The darkness holds me I feel content The darkness protects me Darkness surrounds me Kindness pierces the veil ~~~.....~~~ I was startled awake a few hours later by sounds coming from outside my tent. At first, I thought it might be the wind or something, but a few seconds later I realized that it was the sound of some kind of animal. In fact, it sounded like a few creatures were pacing around my shelter, examining it, probably. I started to breathe as quietly as I could, maybe hoping that whatever creatures were outside would just walk on by if they didn't know that I was there. I must have done something, though, because after a minute or two the noises stopped. I ceased breathing altogether as something outside made its way to the entrance of my little shelter. I frantically began to look around for anything that I could use as a weapon, but the whole space of ground under my tent was cleared out so that I actually had a chance of sleeping. Annoyed with myself for not leaving anything remotely weapon-ish, I held up my fists, ready to attack anything that might come inside with my bare hands. Of all the things I was expecting to poke its head through, I really don't think a little yellow horse with a pink mane was among them. Its head was bigger than mine, with huge teal-colored eyes looking straight at me. Its mane was a vibrant pink color, complimenting the yellow-coloured coat it wore very nicely. The first thought in my head was a remark about how cute this creature was. The next thought was that this "pony" (for lack of a better word) didn't look like it could harm a fly, and how silly it was that I was threatening it. We looked at each other for a few seconds before I slowly lowered my fists to my side. "Easy, now," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you." The "pony's" eyes widened when I spoke and its mouth opened in what looked to me like shock. I thought this was very odd. It acted almost like it understood me, but I knew that wasn't possible. Not wanting to scare the poor thing, I slowly moved forwards towards it and held out my hand. The "pony" shrank away, almost leaving the tent altogether. "Easy, I won't hurt you," I repeated softly to the creature. Slowly it began to inch its way forward again, sniffing at my hand. The "pony" looked up at me again before pressing its face into my hand. I smiled warmly and began to stroke its mane. It was soft and almost silky to the touch. "Your mane feels nice and soft," I said out loud. "Thank you," came the response. My hand flew back to me and I gasped in shock. D-did that "pony" just talk?! I must have startled the thing, because it let out a small yelp and flinched away from me, looking at the ground as if it was ashamed. "Oh, I'm so sorry," it spoke to me again in soft dulcet tones. "D-did I do something wrong? Pinch me, I must be dreaming. I sat there, dumbfounded, looking at the creature not a foot away from me. This thing, whatever it was, was talking! Somehow, through all the questions and logical fallacies flying around in my brain, one thing managed to find its way to my mouth. "Who...who are you?" I asked in an awed whisper. "What are you?" The "pony" looked up at me again. "Um...my name is Fluttershy," it...no, SHE said. She swallowed before she said, "Who...are you?" I opened my mouth to answer, but I found nothing coming out. Suddenly all the chaos in my mind vanished. Every single thing was flushed out at that very instant. That feeling in the back of my mind was back, but this time I had a hold on it. How I never realized this before was astonishing. A whole day spent with my collected thoughts and this never occurred to me. Who am I? Three words fell out of my mouth as an answer. "I...I don't know."
Chapter 2: Rainbow in the DarkFluttershy looked confused at first, then frightened. "You...you don't even remember your name?" She spoke in a very motherly tone, like she was concerned for me. "N-no..." I muttered. "I...I don't..." "Well," said the pony gently, "can you at least remember where you're from?" I went wide-eyed an instant later as I realized that no, I did not, in fact, know where I was even from. As I wracked my brain trying to find any bit of information regarding this, I found myself drawing blanks on other things, too. All of my memories before waking up in the woods this morning were all gone. Nothing. Just emptiness. I had no idea who I was, where I was from, or how I even ended up in the forest. Needless to say, I started panicking. "No, I don't know," I said frantically. "I can't remember anything! Who am I?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Startled by my sudden outburst, Fluttershy let out a squeal and fled from my tent faster than I thought anything her size could move. I hardly noticed, though, as my mind kicked into full panic mode and I started hyperventilating. The air was becoming stagnant fast and, half crazed, I crawled out of my tent as fast as I could to try to get some fresh air. A sudden blow to the head stopped my efforts, though. Stars burst behind my eyes as I fell back, hard, onto the ground. My vision was hazy and I saw rainbows floating above me in the darkness as I passed out. ~~~.....~~~ I'm floating Darkness surrounds me I feel peaceful The dark is a part of me I am the darkness I float along The darkness protects me Darkness surrounds me Loyalty pierces the veil ~~~.....~~~ I could hear noises coming from somewhere. It sounded like someone having a conversation. It all sounded muffled to me, like it was coming through water to get to my ears. I couldn't place the voice, but it sounded positively ecstatic and...scholarly? It was definitely very enthused about something. It was interrupted a moment later by another voice, this one sounding fierce and almost angry. The two voices seemed to be arguing over something, but none of their words came through. I felt sunlight in my eyes. I groaned and tried to roll over to try to get a little more sleep. Big mistake. Pain lanced through my head the instant I tried to move it. I gave a small shout and sucked in a sharp breath. I scrunched my eyes closed as my head throbbed with pain. Slowly and deeply I began breathing, focusing my mind on breathing and nothing else. The throbbing began to lessen and after a moment it was gone altogether. Breathing a small sigh of relief, I gingerly opened my eyes, expecting more pain. "Ah, fuck," I muttered as I lifted a hand up to block the sun beaming straight into my eyes. I was right to expect pain. Everything seemed to be way overly bright to me and burned into my eyes. I quickly shut them again. "See, I told you that you hurt it," said the scholarly voice. Apparently my hearing was getting better because I could hear the voices again, but clearly enough that I could make out what was being said. The first voice, the scholarly one, sounded feminine. "How do you know?" said the fierce-sounding voice, also slightly feminine. "For all you know, that's how it acts normally." "Rainbow Dash, you gave it a concussion!" shouted the first voice. "Don't try to say you didn't, because anyone can tell!" "Hey, I thought it was trying to attack Fluttershy!" argued the second voice. "If i hadn't kicked it, who knows what it could have done to her!" "'It' has a name you know," I said. Both voices stopped arguing and I could feel their gazes turn to me. "Oh, yeah?" questioned the angry voice. "Just what is it?" "As soon as I know, I'll tell you," I said. I heard the angry girl snort. "Just what the hay are you, anyway?!" she yelled. I gasped and clasped my hands over my ears as the sudden loud noise sent another piercing pain through my head. "Please, not so loud," I pleaded, rubbing my temples to ease the pain. Something she said caught my attention. "And what do you mean, what am I?" "Rainbow, that's enough," said the other woman scoldingly. "You've already caused this poor creature enough pain already. Here, let me help you with that." I guess that last sentence was directed at me because I felt a warmth around my head. I let out a sigh of instant relief as the pain faded almost immediately. It didn't stop there, though. The warmth began to shift around, finding its way to my eyes and seemed to "soak" into them. Again, instant relief. "There, you should be able to open your eyes now." "Ah, thanks," I uttered. Once again I gingerly began to open my eyes, but this time I met with only a little pain. The room I was in was small, but it was anything from ordinary. For starters, birdhouses hung from the ceiling in several places and birds' nests sat in the rafters. Vines curled along the wooden support beams above me. I briefly thought that whoever lived here must have a huge affinity for nature. Far past the foot of my bed I spied the railings to a set of stairs. A few feet away on the wall to my left was a large fireplace whose mantle was decorated with flowers and a few picture frames. A quick glance to my right showed a large bookcase right next to the bed. A lantern sat on a little desk area built into the bookcase. Taking in the room before me, my eyes eventually settled on the two people who had been talking to each other and to me. Only they weren't people. They were ponies, but they were very different from Fluttershy. One of them was a light lavender colour with a mane coloured so dark violet that it almost looked blue. Two streaks were added into her mane, a brighter violet and a pink colour. She was looking at me intently with large purple eyes as I studied her in return. The other pony sported a teal-blue coat with rainbow coloured hair. I briefly wondered how anyone's hair could be like that, but then I figured that it was probably dyed. She was glaring at me with magenta eyes. She looked angry. No, not quite angry. She looked defensive. I could see her muscles tensing as I looked her over, like she was waiting to pounce on me should I make one wrong move. However, the things that intrigued me the most weren't their odd mane and tail colours. What caught my attention most of all was on the head of the violet pony and the back of the teal pony, namely a horn and a pair of wings. I was looking dead at a purple unicorn and a blue pegasus.
