"AM... I ... ALIVE?"

Bright spoke with all her might and concentration, trying to pronounce each word as clearly as possible, but she knew that her body wasn't ready for this, even so she decided to try.

But, to her surprise, she heard an answer in the form of a strange metallic voice, who simply stated.

"YES."

Her eyes widened, and her body started to feel heavy and her mind foggy, and she was falling into unconsciousness, she reached the conclusion.

* Divine Connection*

Bright trotted slowly inside the small saloon, looking around with curiosity at each nook and cranny of the place. It was an interesting architecture, with all the walls made of some kind of dark wood, even the counter where some jugs and mugs stood was of the same material. In the west walls, behind the counter, there was a wall-shelf filled with bottles without labels; in the east wall stood a small fireplace, where a small flame danced to the tune of a performance of what looked like a man that was sitting in the corner of the north wall, playing a guitar beautifully while covering his face with a big black hat.

Bright looked around, but even if the place had many colorful tables, there was no soul there beyond her and the strange musician. So, feeling as if she had no choice, she slowly trotted to the stranger to ask for clues to where the Bad-claw gang was. Maybe he could help her with it, as he was brave to stay in the city in the middle of this crisis.

With a resolute mind, she slowly trotted to him with a smile on her muzzle.

"Hello, traveler, my name's Bright, and I am the sheriff of this little town of Agua Fria. Nice to meet you" Bright made a small bow, something she thought was appropriated when meeting new people. "Care to give me a tiny bit of your time to help me to catch some REALLY evil gang led by Texas Red?"

The stranger looked at her, and she saw that his left eye was ogling her with curiosity, and she even believed she saw a small smile opening on the musician's mouth, and then everything got strange.

As the saloon that she visited daily to drink a glass of cold milk disappeared in a blink, being replaced by an infinitely large white space. The only things remaining were her and the stranger, who was still sitting on a chair and slowly playing his guitar to a country tune.

As Bright's eyes widened in a mixture of wonder and fear, she heard the stranger's laugh loudly, the same way someone would do after hearing the world's biggest joke. Maybe he was in league with Texas Red, if so, she would arrest him too. But before she could ask what sorcery was happening, the stranger spoke.

"You know, that's why I love you your kind, so full of life and creativity!" He opened his hand, and the guitar started floating over his head, music still echoing from it." You know, sheriff Bright, I would love to be part of your play here, maybe I could play the role of Texas Red, but you see... we kinda have to talk about some serious matters."

"What...?" Bright blinked in confusion and then frowned, she felt as if this traveler didn't make a pinch of sense, he was crazy and probably dangerous..., but she also realized that she would need more than her handcuffs to lock him down.

Then the stranger smiled at her again, making her even more uncomfortable. She knew that he understood that she was adamant in arresting him, but before she could pounce on him, he just sighed and raised his hands.

"Okay, sheriff, I give up. Please, use your powerful thumbs to get your rope or handcuff, so we can finish this quickly."

Bright grinned with the stranger giving up so quickly, she really expected a tavern brawl and would love nothing more than kicking some outlaw bottom, but this way was easy, and she would get the information about Texas Red in a way or another. So she approached the stranger slowly, taking the utmost care, so he wouldn't do any of his sorcery and, without taking her eyes from him, brought her foreleg to her waist and... she stopped, and her eyes widened in realization.

'Why am I horizontal?' Wait, I HAVE HOOVES?'

Bright was fearful, she didn't know what was happening and just screamed in pure terror. The stranger seemed as if he was holding another laughter.

"WHY I HORSE?" Bright yelled to the stranger, pointing her hoof at him, "YOU DID IT!"

"No, I didn't" The floating guitar stopped playing and disappeared in the air, as if made of smoke "Think, little pony, what was the last thing you remember before being here?"

"Well, I was training my speech when..." Bright frowned again, for some reason it was hard to think straight, "I heard a strange voice and... Maybe I got a little sleepy?"

"So..." The stranger pressed her again while smiling, making her think even harder.

"So, I am sleeping...?"

"And..."

"This is a dream?" Bright eyes shone the light of understanding as the stranger clapped at her, "I AM DREAMING!"

"Congratulations, I should give you some price. It's really hard to wake inside the dream, and you did it in your first try" He then whispered to her, in a conspiratorial tone" And I did almost nothing to help!"

"Oh, thank you" Bright then made a 'diva' pose before looking the stranger in the eyes, "but... you aren't part of my dream, right?"

"No, I am not. I am here to warn you and give you some tool to help you in the future."

"Warn?" She was confused,"I don't even know who you are!"

As an answer, the stranger signed again, almost as if he knew this subject was coming.

"" Look, Bright, I know you, so you don't need to introduce yourself" he stated dryly."Now for me, well, I was called many names, so they don't hold a meaning to me. But if you want one, you can call me traveler. As for HOW I came here, you have a ability called Divine Connection, and I used it to enter your dream "

"Wait Traveler... are you...perhaps... A GOD?"

This time the traveler didn't manage to hold his composure and laughed hard while Bright stared daggers at him. That wasn't the reaction she expected.

"I wish, I am far from omniscient, and I wouldn't dare to be omnipresent... you see, there are many sickos in the world, and there's ..." the Traveler cleaned a tear that fell from his eye, cleared his throat and continued "You know what, let's not talk about it or why I know this kind of thing. The question is that this world is in danger, but maybe the worse can happen."

'This world is in danger...' The Traveler's words hit Bright in the guts, she received the blessing of a second chance, a second life, only for it to steal from her! She wouldn't let it happen, she would pounce on this Traveler and make him explain more... but then she realized that she couldn't move.

"I knew you would try to fight me, so I prepared some measures, if you know how to do, the dream realm can be a prefect place to talk with someone... or to change memories or worse" The traveler rose from his chair, that vanish just after, and approached Bright and as he did it, she managed to discern better his features. She couldn't see his face, as if the mouth and eye she saw earlier had just vanished and in its place was nothing beyond a nose, even so he had a male human physic, and he was wearing a simple white shirt and jeans - and the big black hat - and when he got closer she instinctively tried to retreat, but it was for nothing, she still couldn't move. She was truly feeling fear, as if the creature in front of her shouldn't exist. "My time is running short, so I'll be brief. For reasons that you don't need to know, this world will face a terrible fate, but there's seven guardians that might save the day. But 'might' is the key word, so I'm teaching you how to use your gift, not for helping then, but for you to help yourself."

"First, your gift is called 'Divine connection', it means that if you concentrate on your words and ask ANY question, it WILL be answered. The amount of energy used changes with the number of words in the answer. More words, more energy, do you get it?"

Bright made a connection that that was the reason she felt weak when the voice answered, she used the 'gift' without knowing it, and being in the body of a one-year old didn't help much with energy reserves.

"Second, magic exists. If you want to know more, use your gift later." He then raised the third finger"Third, you must live a fulfilling life, okay. If the shit hit the fan, I BELIEVE that you will know what to do"

The Traveler raised the fourth finger, and in his featureless face a big smile appeared from nothing."I do not align with harmony or Chaos, neither good nor evil. So I want you to live an interesting life and give me an interesting show, okay. By the way, we will meet one more time, but I really hope it won't happen."

Bright tried again to move, but as she made more force to move, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. And as her mind drifted back to the realm of those waken, she faintly heard the Traveler voice once again.

"Good luck, and don't screw over!"

Bright woke in her crib, sweat dripping from the white tufts that she called hair. It was already night, and it indicated she had slept in that room, someone found her and brought her to her bed.

She was anxious to an extreme and her mind, influenced by the emotion in her baby body, made her do the only thing in her mind. Cry.

And as tears seeped from her eyes, she mentally revived the talk she had with the Traveler, about her powers, about the danger the world would face and everything.

She had a power, maybe she could help those "seven guardians" when the time comes? Maybe she could aid in some way?

And as her mind ran amok, her mother entered her room and picked her up. In that instant she managed to calm down a bit, not much.

'What can I do? I NEED to do something!'

'̷Y̴o̶u̴ ̵d̴o̸n̴'̶t̶ ̸n̶e̴e̸d̸ ̵t̸o̴ ̸d̸o̷ ̴a̷n̶y̴t̵h̷i̶n̵g̶'̸came a strange voice from within her, and she, for some reason, accepted it.

'I don't need to do anything...'

Y̷o̵u̴ ̴o̴n̷l̴y̶ ̶n̶e̸e̴d̵ ̴t̴o̷ ̶g̵r̸o̵w̷ ̴h̴e̸a̷l̶t̶h̵y̶ ̵a̴n̸d̴ ̸l̶i̷v̸e̷ ̸a̴ ̷h̵a̵p̷p̶y̶ ̸l̸i̴f̶e̸.̷.̷.̸

'I just need to grow healthy and live a happy life, I got a second chance after all... and I got this beautiful family... These guardians can deal with the problem by themselves...'

And with this mindset, Bright closed her eyes and stopped crying, leaning her head into her mother's chest. She would enjoy this life. No matter what.

Author's Note

By the way, if you want to know more about the city of Agua Fria, and the outlaw Texas Red, just put "Big Iron" in the YouTube. The song is a classic.