Leap of Faith: Wolokai Vs. Life

"There's something I don't understand..."

"Oh...?"

"If this is my own mind....why do I have no control over it?"

Quill and Wolokai were situated on a small hill at the edge of a massive forest, its trees eerily still and the area completely devoid of all noise except that of their camp. A small fire crackled between the two ponies, their expressions grim but determined. Apparently night and day worked inside the 'Mind World', drawing the two colts to bed down for the night and set up camp.

The sun was only just disappearing behind the far mountains when Wolokai had begun speaking. "Seriously," he continued "Isn't me being in here like being in a dream? Why can't I change anything...do anything? Make whatever I want reality?"

Quill stared at him for a moment before looking down at the fire, his hoof gently running across the underside of his chin. He waited a few moments before he spoke, a thoughtful tone in his voice. "Well..." he muttered "Perhaps it has something to do with you being shot, I'd say that would be physically traumatizing yes?"

Wolokai raised an eyebrow and replied with "Yes...but what's your point?"

"Well think about it," Quill said, pointing at him with a hoof "Maybe the shot did something to you, like put you in a coma or something. Ponies who are in comas have no control over anything, that or maybe since you're actually here and not dreaming...that could have cut off your control too. Maybe it's a subconscious thing."

Wolokai shrugged, staring into the fire and whispering "I guess...I don't know." They were both quiet, the fire crackling and whipping about in the wind. It was a peaceful time...a time to relax...a time to think. The weary Pegasus gently fell back, resting his back on the soft grass and staring up at the starry sky. His lips turned upwards in a small smile, his eyes gazing across the constellations. "I have to admit," he finally muttered, causing Quill to look up "My mind is actually a pretty good looking place."

Quill chuckled, looking up at the sky and clearing his throat as he spoke "Well I can't say I've ever been out and about in it. Can't say I'm not surprised, your imagination is as extensive as it is creative...as are all writers' minds."

"Thanks for the compliment I guess" Wolokai whispered, staring in awe at the stars. He thought about a lot of things as the two quieted again. He thought about Whooves, about Vinyl and Octavia...but most all, he thought about Ditzy. Was she o k? Did she get away safely? What about the Solar Flare? Were they beating The Lunar Shard back?

The writer sighed, closing his eyes and getting comfortable on his back. There were too many questions with little to no answers. It wasn't like he was going to be very well informed about anything concerning the outside any time soon anyway.

His eyes drooped, and for the first time since his arrival in his own mind, he was actually starting to feel rather tired. Was that even possible? Getting tired inside your own head? He shrugged despite this, and quickly gave in to the fatigue that was pushing at his brain.

Just as he started to close his eyes however...he heard it. The sound gently wafted over the fields and the trees, piercing the soft quiet of the night. It caused the Pegasus to sit up quickly, his eyes widening as Quill looked up quizzically as well, his voice barely audible over the commotion. "What...is that?" he asked, cocking his head at the sky.

"A siren..." Wolokai breathed, shivering as the high-pitched wail of the siren echoed across the area. He took a quick look at the watch wrapped around his leg and frowned, his suspicions confirmed as the hands displayed 1:42.

"Wolokai!" Quill gasped, looking around frantically as a pearly white fog began to roll out from the forest. They scrambled to their hooves, watching as it got closer. "It doesn't look very safe..." Quill growled "We better get out of here!" Wolokai nodded, but before either one of them could move, another wall of fog began to rumble through the grass land.

Within moments, the fog had surrounded them completely, closing in slowly. The siren diminished in volume as the fog rolled closer, with Wolokai taking a moment to mutter as he stared towards the prowling vapor. "Well?" he asked, taking a step back away from the fog.

"Hope it's not poisonous I guess..." Quill replied, watching as it closed in further and further.

The two watched and grew still as the fog closed in on them, swirling about and settling quickly around them. Wolokai squinted his eyes and looked around carefully, a low whine escaping his lips. "I can't see a damn thing!" he said, trying his best to see through the white mess.

"I can't see anything either..." Quill began, walking up beside Wolokai "We probably shouldn't stay here though...who knows what could be in this fog?"

"I agree," Wolokai whispered, looking off into the fog "But...where should we go?"

Quill furrowed his brown, putting a hoof to his chin as he thought for a moment. A few moments later, he sighed and shook his head as he muttered "Well, this fog is too thick to see which direction we were supposed to go in. The only thing I can really think to do is just to pick a direction and go forward."

"Bit reckless don't you think?" Wolokai grumbled, noticing that the thick fog had blocked off the view of the sky as well.

"Well," Quill began, pawing at the dirt with a hoof "If you've got a better plan, I'm all ears. Either way we'll make it to the back of your mind eventually."

The Pegasus raised an eyebrow at this, giving the colt a quizzical which he replied to with "Think about it in the expression of 'All roads lead to Canterlot'. This isn't like a regular world you know...it has an edge."

Wolokai nodded, quickly turning on his hooves and staring towards the white wall. "Location...Location...Location..." Wolokai muttered quietly, narrowing his eyes and fluttering his wings slightly. Finally, the Pegasus stopped, staring off in a direction to Quill's right. "We'll go this way" he said, trotting ahead. Quill nodded and followed in close behind.

The two of them walked for what seemed like ages, the fog dense and unmoving. It only gave them a visible range of around thirty or so feet, which wasn't bad but still annoying. "Wolokai...?" Quill asked, staring ahead into the unknown as the Pegasus turned his head to look at him. "What was with that siren?" he asked, his brow furrowing "And you looked at your watch as it started to blare...what's that all about?"

Wolokai sighed, looking towards the grassy ground as he spoke "Every day...for a good long while now at least...I hear sirens at 1:42 A.M. and 1:42 P.M.. After that I feel...upset, for some reason. Upset and hurt until around 2:23 O'clock, 41 minutes later."

Quill looked towards the colt in concern and whispered "Any idea why?"

"Ha!" Wolokai scoffed "That's what I keep asking my therapist but he's got no idea."

They moved along in silence after that, the two of them trying their best to push through the heavy sheet of fog. "Sweet Celestia it's like it goes on forever..." Wolokai muttered, the sounds of his hooves changing from that of padding grass to that of pavement. "What the...?" he whispered, looking down and at the hard road like surface he stood on. "A road?" he questioned, looking up at Quill who merely shrugged.

"Beats me," Quill said, looking down at the road as well "Maybe it'll lead somewhere, we should follow it."

With a quick nod, the two of them pushed forward, clopping semi-loudly on the road. It wasn't long however before the outlines of buildings could be seen through the fog...though they were barely visible all the same. "Look, buildings!" Wolokai exclaimed with delight, picking up his pace "Maybe there's other ponies here! Hell maybe if you're here, Dimitri could be here as well!"

"Dimitri Snow-Walker?" Quill asked "The sled-pony?"

"Of course!" Wolokai smiled "Look, it's looking like snow already! Perhaps our lucks finally cashing in!"

Indeed, a light snow had begun to fall from the sky, the buildings finally coming into view and revealing themselves to the colts. They appeared to be built in the same style of Ponyville's buildings, but with a slightly more wear n' tear feel to them. The smile quickly faded from Wolokai's face as he beheld the condition that the buildings and houses were in...and the boards that covered up their windows and doors. "Quill...?" he whispered, stopping in his tracks. "You ever get that feeling of deja'vu?"

"A lot, actually..." Quill muttered, stopping up alongside Wolokai and staring at the buildings himself. "What's up?"

"I've got a feeling..." Wolokai muttered "That I've been here before...or that I've seen this place before." He narrowed his eyes towards one of the buildings. They continued on slowly, looking to the left and right as they pushed into the apparent town that rested in the fog. "This is weird..." Wolokai breathed, looking around at the boarded up area and down the visibly hidden street "Where is everypony...? Was there a plague or something?"

"I don't know..." Quill growled "But I've got a very bad feeling about this."

They continued walking further into the town, their eyes and demeanor cautious, looking for any movement. It wasn't until a light 'squeak!' echoed out from the fog that Wolokai immediately stopped and jumped back. "What's wrong?" Quill whispered, looking at the Pegasus who glared towards the fog with apprehension.

"There's something in there Quill," he hissed "I don't know what...but I've got a real bad feeling that we're not alone."

The two of them continued to stare towards the fog, and before either one of them could say another word...a figure could be seen. "There!" Wolokai breathed, raising his head to shout towards the figure "Hey! Who goes there!" The figure didn't respond, his form materializing slowly in the fog. It was a pony, Wolokai could tell...but the way it walked it looked as if it was...limping.

"I don't like this..." Quill muttered "I feel...there's something definitely wrong here Wolokai, I don't know what it is but I think we need to get out of here!"

Wolokai didn't respond though, simply squinting his eyes towards the pony figure in hopes that he could try to identify it. As it passed into visible sight however, the two colts' gasps echoed across the concrete street. It was a pony...but it was unlike anything that Wolokai had ever seen. All of its legs were cut in half...replaced by large wooden stakes that were pushed up into the rotted meat. Its coat was a moldy gray, with its mane resembling that of a rotting mop. The eyes of this 'pony' were just pure white balls, with no color and no iris to detail them. But the most notable feature of the beast was that it had MASSIVE bags under its eyes, like it hadn't slept for years.

"Holy SHIT!" Quill squeaked, watching as the pony sluggishly limped on its stakes towards the two "We need to get out of here! COME ON!" He tried to pull at Wolokai who was terrified to the spot, his eyes wide and staring towards the beast.

It stopped for a moment, cocking its head at Wolokai and opening up its tiny mouth. From out of it came a half screech, half growl which dripped with the word "Ssssssleeeeeeeeep....."

Wolokai felt his hooves act on their own, his body turning and his legs quickly carrying him away down the street with Quill. "F...fucking hell!" he shouted, looking over his shoulder at the pony who was left in the fog "What the hell was that thing?!"

"I don't know," Quill growled "But we need to get the hell out of h- LOOK OUT!"

The two of them quickly scrambled to a halt they came across a MASSIVE chasm in front of them, resting just beyond the crackling ruins of the road. "What the hell!?" Wolokai shouted "This wasn't here a second ago!!!" The area before them...the ground, the road, everything...was gone. A bottomless, foggy chasm extended out in front of them, the edges of the cliff broken and decaying. It was only then that Wolokai gasped, pushing a hoof to his mouth as the sudden realization passed over him. "Quill..." he said "I know...where we are...I know why I recognize this place..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Quill asked, watching as Wolokai turned his head and stared back behind him.

"It's simple...really." Wolokai whispered...

Behind them was a sign that hadn't been there before, a sign they didn't pass on the way in. It was green in color, with three lamp-lights hanging over it. Across the sign was a message written in gold lettering. A message of greeting...a message that read "Welcome to Ponyville!"

"....It's because I've read this story before."