I heavily gasped as I kept on walking. I knew exactly what would happen if I stopped.

For the past few days, or maybe it was weeks. I can't tell anymore. I have been walking, not even stopping for even the most important of reasons. I could tell that my health was deteriorating and would soon reach past the point of fixable. Still, I could not stop. The horrifying shadow of his presence alone kept haunting me.

Stopping, would be my death.

My stomach growled. Pain was evident as I felt like there was a void inside of me. The last of the bread I stole from that camp is long gone. Thoughts and regrets kept coming back to swallow me. I should've stayed back there. Hundreds of tents meant that ponies still lived there. No signs of blood after all.

What if those ruthless guards came back? I wouldn't be able to do anything against those traitors. But, I don't know. I never saw who owned those camps, so I lost to my own fear and left.

It was hard to walk, in fact, it was hard to even see. I was tired, my eyelids heavy, and I kept having blackouts. Yet, I knew I never laid down. Because laying down, meant death.

My entire body was shaking, from either tiredness, or the cold. It could be both.

I have long since changed regions, but I know he's still after me. Why would he stop? He's merciless. He didn't care about the reason, as long as it angered him, that pony was as good as dead. Some say that whoever angered him wished they were dead, just so they could escape his torture.

The surrounding area was nothing but stone as far as I could see.

My neck is sore from carrying this stupid collar.

My hooves hurt.

My legs are aching.

I'm thirsty.

I'm hungry.

I want to lie down.

I want to sleep.

I want mom to make me some soup.

I'm cold.

As my eyes are barely slits, I had a blank mind as I somehow dreamt and walked at the same time. The horrifying memories came back from the dream. My condition, not much different than my current situation. Cold, hungry, and tired all the same. Still terrified of the monster on my back.

Then, thoughts on my own birth haunt me.

Why couldn't I have been born a girl? I would've had a much easier time, just learning how to clean and stuff.

Why did I have to be born now? Why not later? Or earlier, when things were different.

In fact, why did I have to be born at all? Why do I have to struggle like this? What am I doing? Can I not just, stop?

"Please, for your mother, live. I'll watch over you." That single sentence echoed in my ears.

I felt like crying. I would have cried, but my body felt too dry to do so. With barely half a conscience, I continued again.

Then something changed. I was awoken from my half sleep as I checked the area with half lidded eyes, barely registering my surroundings.

It's so, green. It's different than what I'm used to.

The place was so, full of life. Plants and trees were as far as I could see, and random noises were coming from further into the place. High pitched melodies echoed through the area.

As I sat there in shock, slowly taking everything in, a sound managed to single itself out. A bit loud, and definitely big. With nothing else to do, I slowly managed to stand up and tried to walk.

Only after several tries, I pulled my hind leg from the ground and stepped over wood growing from the ground. Almost falling down from the sudden weight shift, I continued my walk, having a much harder time as my body begged for me to stop and rest just as I had seconds ago.

I nodded off several times during that small trek. It wasn't much of a surprise really, I had long overgone the limits of my body. It's already a miracle I can even think. Still, my sleeping brain managed to wake up and stop me from falling into the clear thing.

Before I could even fully register what it was, I had already dived in and took several gulps. Vigor rushed through me, waking my dead body. And the taste. Such a crisp, yet cool feeling as if I had just been served a drink, not even the richest nor the most privileged of ponies have ever tasted.

A suffocating feeling suddenly reminded me that I needed to breath, only then did I finally feel like I was alive, even if it was only a little.

I painfully climbed out of the, what is this? Flowing water, a little fast. A river right? Climbing out of the river with much difficulty, it felt like my brain went into overdrive as I suddenly started to feel every corner of my body at super sensitivity. My growling stomach became much louder. The countless small scratches and bruises I had gained from my journey suddenly felt like it was burning. I took deep breathes as I felt tears were about to stream out of my eyes. Collapsing from, something, I just laid there, on the ground, shivering from the harsh winds that my damp fur only made worse.

I gave a few chuckles as I slowly savored every sensation, I had done it. I had finally done something that everypony thought to be impossible, including myself. I lived through it.

With a sudden burst of energy, I miraculously stood up with barely any problems.

"Interesting." I mumbled to myself and looked around the forest.

Somewhat familiar patterns of trees. Conveniently placed shrubs of berries and low hanging fruits that wasn't there before. My mouth watered as I stared at the selection, all things I shouldn't know about right now, yet I do. Taking steps with no difficulties, I specifically chose a shrub with a familiar fruit. Small, fleshy, red, and certainly poisonous.

"Stop." That fucking voice echoed. "Thou had known"

"And you figured it out." I stated as the forest disappeared and we stood in a dark void.

My point of view rose as my body quickly grew to my current age.

"Thou had given, a few hints." She finally appeared in front of me. "Especially thine choice of sustenance. Of all the delicacies we had shown, thou chose yew berries specifically." With that, she stared at me with a guilty expression.

"There were a few inconsistencies. Like a splotch of blood on my muzzle that I now clearly remember being there. And I ate holly berries, not yew." I stated as I glared at her. She violated my personal space, and tried to dig out my past. "I don't really enjoy having others peek at my story. If possible, I want to take it to my grave. So, get the fuck, OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Mister Remedy, we understand that thou art mad. We jus-"

"MAD?! That's a fucking under statement!" I cut her off as I suddenly snapped. "I'm not asking for your damn pity, but I like to believe I had one of the shittiest foalhoods, in the last century! Or a fucking millennia. I don't know, and I don't care. But I don't need to be reminded of the shittiest, the most fucked up years of my life, because of your damned to tartarus relationship with Moon!" Finally controlling myself, I took several deep breaths to calm myself as I clenched my eyes.

"I-uh." Luna was seemingly troubled on what she should do.

Letting out one final breath, I opened my eyes and stared at her. "Either go fuck yourself, or go and talk with Moon. This is between you two, and you don't need to fuck around with me to find an answer." I explained as calmly as I could while barely holding myself back. "Now wake me up, I'm not in some, posh ass castle with guards rotating day and night"

She stood there, her eyes were distracted as she processed what I told her. And finally, she focused back on me. "Sorry." She muttered and left through a door that suddenly appeared behind her.

As the door closed, it disappeared and I was left with nothing but pure darkness and a pissed off feeling.

"Fucking immortal babies." I cursed under my breath as I sat down.

The details of my dream, they were horrifyingly accurate. Sure, there were a few things she got wrong, but the complete dread I felt, the exhaustion of both the mind and body from slowly killing myself, the nauseating feeling of being hunted down, even the first time I ever ventured inside a forest. She got it right on the dot. How the fuck does she even replicate the dreams, inside another dream.

I really, truly, hope that she couldn't see the memories when we just talked. That's not something I want a single pony to see.

Waking up with a groan, Apple Bloom had a groggy mind as she sat up for her daily chores. Ignoring the white sounds of crackling fire and rustling of leaves, she slowly tried to get up as she rubbed her eyes to get rid of the crust that had formed. Feeling like she's more tired than usual, she had a slow mind as her body moved sideways to get out of bed. Something she'd done for her entire life.

"Huh?" Confused at why the ground was at the same level as her bed, Apple Bloom finally opened her eyes and looked around.

"Oh, you're awake." A rather tired voice suddenly called out.

Groggily turning around, her mind was trying as hard as it could to function as she saw who was talking to her.

"Oh, you're that mister with the scary face. Remedy, I think?" She asked, a bit unsure.

Remedy, who had been sitting against the massive tree, gave a few chuckles at her words. "Yes, Natural Remedy, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, mister. I'm Apple Bloom." She introduced herself as she shivered a bit from the morning breeze.

Remedy took a sip from a steaming cup. "Want a cup of tea? It's chamomile"

"Sure." She answered sluggishly.

Remedy put down the cup gently before getting up and pouring some tea into another one from a steaming pot.

"Wait." Apple Bloom suddenly realized something. "Ain't this the Everfree forest?" She asked as her eyes widened a considerable margin.

"Yes it is. Don't worry, nothing dangerous is here right now." Remedy reassured her and gave her a steaming cup. "Here you go." She accepted it calmly as her eyes kept glancing around.

"Thanks." Apple Bloom finally took a sip of the tea. "Mhmm, this is really good." She peppered up.

"Thank you. I've been brewing tea for close to forty years now." Remedy happily explained as he sat back down against the tree. "How well did you sleep?" He asked as his eyes turned slightly serious.

"Pretty good, I think. I did have a nightmare about that rock monster, but Princess Luna came and solved everything." She said in a pretty happy tone.

"I see." He replied calmly. "At least she did her job." Remedy mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing." He waved his hoof in a nonchalant way. "What were you and your friends doing in the Everfree by the way?"

"We were going after Fluttershy's chicken. Then, we got lost, and Fluttershy had to come get us." She finished the sentence with an embarrassed expression.

"A chicken?" Remedy said with a look of disbelief.

"Yes." Apple Bloom's face had no trace of a lie.

"Was, Twilight, with you three at least?" His disbelief was even deeper.

"Nope! It was just us, the Cutie Mark CrusadersTM!"

"So, you three, went into, what is probably the most dangerous place in all of Equestria, for a chicken?"

"Yeah? That's what I said"

Remedy burst out laughing as he heard those words. "Well aren't you three quite the package." He said with an amused smile.

"Yeah, I guess so!" She exclaimed happily.

"That's good." Remedy said as his smile turned from amused to kind. "Good friends can take you through many things, thick and thin. Some don't have that, so you're lucky kid"

Apple Bloom was taken aback as she thought on his words, and finally gave a smile. "Yeah, I am pretty lucky to have them as my friends."

They stared at each other before finally sharing a laugh.

"So, what exactly are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Remedy curiously asked as they peacefully settled down while facing the fire.

"It's a group between me and my friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. We made it so that we can finally earn our cutie marks!" She enthusiastically explained with a smile. "Though, it hasn't worked at all." She said as she slumped down.

Remedy stared with the tiniest bit of shock before smiling with understanding.

"You'll get it soon enough, Apple Bloom. Cutie marks always take time." He said with reassurance.

"I know. Everypony says that." She slumped down.

Remedy gave a few chuckles before speaking up. "Don't you worry. Eventually, something important to you will happen in your life, and you'll know exactly what to do"

"How though?"

"You just will, nothing else to it. It'll come naturally."

"Really?"

"Really." He softly chuckled once. "I remember being worried about that at some point."

"Ok." Apple Bloom accepted with a sad nod. "How did you get yours then?" She asked.

"Oh, that, um." Remedy's face morphed to regret from steering the topic there.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She noticed the obvious discomfort on Remedy.

"No, no, it's, perfectly fine. I got it when I, uh, managed to, inspire, a group of ponies to, to, try one more time after failing quite a few times." He spoke as he changed his words in the middle.

"Cool. How did it go?"

Remedy stayed silent for a bit as his mind went backwards through his memories. The tiniest of frowns on his face as he tried his best to hide it from Apple Bloom.

"It went, not as good as we had hoped." He said with a sad smile. "Well, it all worked out in the end." He suddenly cheered up with a fake smile.

Apple Bloom was perplexed at his sudden shift in tone, but ultimately decided to drop the subject.

"Ah, you're awake." A new voice joined in.

They turned their heads as Twilight walked through some bushes with a few items floating behind her. Remedy stared at the floating items with a blank expression before nodding in response.

"Good morning, Twilight!" Apple Bloom happily called out.

"Good morning to you too, Apple Bloom." She said back before sitting down at the fire. "So, after Remedy informed about yesterday's, uh, incident, with the parasprites, I went back to Ponyville and bought some necessary stuff for the camp." She explained and three boxes and a saddle bag on the ground.

"You really didn't have to buy that much stuff." Remedy said with an unwilling smile as he opened the bag to find it full of fruits.

"No, no, I insist. After all, it was kind of my fault all your stuff got eaten." Twilight replied apologetically. "And besides, I get a lot of bits from my scholarship on account of being, you know, Princess Celestia's student. And she also gives me lots of money to spend on personal things." She finished with a sheepish smile.

"Right, I see." Remedy accepted with a simple nod.

Twilight nodded back before she suddenly realized something. "Wait, you don't seem to be shocked by that at all." She spoke and stared at Remedy with a bit of confusion.

"Don't I?" Remedy said with an amused look.

"No." She stated. "You already knew." She pointed an accusatory hoof at Remedy.

Remedy replied with a teasing smirk and silence.

"You got attacked by parasprites?" Apple Bloom interrupted their conversation.

"Hmm, oh, yeah. It was like half an hour before you guys showed up." Remedy replied as if it was common occurrence.

"Can you guys shut up?" A sudden voice asked the three.

"Ah, don't freak out." Remedy quickly said as Apple Bloom turned around.

She froze completely as the cup fell from her hoof.

There laid Moon, her wings wrapped around her and one more pony. Fluttershy was in deep slumber with a content smile as her head peeked out slightly from Moon's wings.

"Some of us, are trying to sleep." Moon said sluggishly as her loose grip on Fluttershy tightened slightly.

Seeing exactly where this was going, Remedy had already moved from his spot. Just as Apple Bloom started to scream, Remedy put an apple in her mouth. Confused on what just happened, Apple Bloom took a moment to examine the situation before spitting the apple onto her hooves.

"Nightmare Moon!" She shrieked and threw the apple at Moon, who couldn't fully comprehend what was happening due to her just waking up.

The apple quickly flew through the air, its direction horribly off from the intended target as the huge bat wing suddenly stood in its path.

"Hey! Watch it brat. You almost hit Fluttershy, and she has a bout a thousand, no at least a million times more worth than you do." Moon quickly spat out as a glare grew on her face.

"Moon, drop it." Remedy spoke in a tired voice.

His mental exhaustion was quickly catching up to him.

"Tch." Moon clicked her tongue and wrapped her wings around Fluttershy once again before turning around and starting to doze off.

Apple Bloom was struck with confusion as she didn't know what to do.

A notoriously evil villain, who managed to apparently overpower Princess Celestia herself, was just sleeping there. Confusing her even more was that not only did she not attack her, the so-called villain was cuddling Fluttershy. Which made even less sense. Fluttershy, one of, if not the biggest scaredy-cat in Ponyville, was seemingly happy with this predicament.

"I'm, uh, guessing Applejack didn't tell you." Remedy guessed a bit nervously.

"Wha-Why is she? How is she-? Didn't-"

"Kid, Apple Bloom. Calm down." He instructed and laid down to reach her eye line.

"How? That is literally Nightmare Moon and you're not worried?" She asked frantically as she was shaking from fear.

"No, I'm not. Also, she's a bit of an idiot." Remedy said with a small chuckle.

"I can still hear you!" Moon said without moving.

"So you know I'm not lying." He shot back with a grin.

Twilight stayed silent as she watched the scene unfold with a fascinated face. A trace of disbelief lingered around her face as she watched the Nightmare Moon, although has significantly changed, having zero problems receiving orders from Remedy.

"Fu-"

"Hey! There's kids here." Remedy interrupted Moon.

Moon gave an annoyed wave.

"Ok, not exactly zero problems." Twilight thought to herself.

"Ugh, who's making all that noise?" Sweetie Belle slowly sat up, dropping tons of leaves that had been gathered on top of her.

"Seriously, it's way too early for all that yelling." Scootaloo complained and disrupted the bed of leaves on herself.

Apple Bloom's fear, which had been overwhelmed by her confusion slowly disappeared as she quickly placed herself in front of her friends. Her groggy mind long awoken.

"Apple Bloom?" The two fillies confusedly asked their friend.

"Wait, we're still in the Everfree?" Sweetie Belle quickly realized.

"Oh yeah." Scootaloo agreed without much of a reaction.

Then, all of a sudden, Fluttershy rose up from her sleep with a horrified gasp. Moon slowly sat up with tired eyes as she held back a yawn.

"What time is it?" Fluttershy asked nopony in particular.

"Um." Twilight tried to think of clues that could tell her.

"It's about, eight in the morning?" Remedy answered while looking at the sky.

"Eight?!" Fluttershy practically yelled out as she climbed out of Moon's nest. "Oh no! I have to go and feed my animals. Oh dear, they must be starving right now"

The others were simply watching in silent shock.

"She keeps animals in her place?" Moon just muttered to herself as she thought about her diet.

"Duty calls right?" Remedy joked a small grin.

Fluttershy gave a shy nod in response.

"Well, we should be leaving anyway. Their families must be looking for them about now." Twilight added her opinion.

Scootaloo flinched at her comment, which didn't leave unnoticed by Remedy.

"You better protect Flutters, purple one." Moon said with a sharp glare.

Though, her droopy eyes, added on top of the fact on how weak she was, barely put a dent on Twilight.

"You've been calling me 'purple one?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"You're not important enough for me to remember your name." She replied with an annoyed face.

Remedy just found this amusing as he sat there with an amused smile.

"Um, maybe we should leave fast? Like, right now?" Scootaloo suggested to Twilight.

Twilight turned to look at the nervous fillies, and Fluttershy who was restlessly staring at her. Then finally, she gave an annoyed stare at Moon before sighing.

"Get home safe." Remedy said his bye with a calm smile.

"See you later, Remedy, Ms. Emo." Twilight said with a playful smirk before walking away.

Fluttershy gave an apologetic wave before flying off after her with the fillies in her clutch.

"Pfft." Remedy laughed at Moon's blank face.

"That bitch." Moon said with a strained grin. "You fuck off too, Remedy." She turned to him.

"Aw, come on, Moon. You shouldn't have started it without a comeback at least." He replied while barely holding back chuckles.

"Fuck you." She said before laying back down.

Remedy gave a few chuckles before standing up to open one of the boxes Twilight had brought.

Humming a small tune to himself, he dug through them all before finding a thick, black blanket. With no hesitation, he draped it over Moon, who accepted with no issues.

"Get some rest, your injury should be taking a lot out of you." He said in a kinder tone before moving back to bring take a pillow.

"What about you? The others probably passed it off as you just waking up, but you look exhausted." Moon said casually.

"Ah, that? I just, didn't get a good sleep last night." He replied as his face shifted to slight anger.

"The fuck you talking about? Isn't the Protector of Dreams doing her job?" She asked in a sarcastic tone.

"She's doing it." He replied without much thought.

"Then what gives?"

"Don't worry about it." He said before pouring himself a new cup of tea.

Moon simply stared for a few seconds with annoyance clearly written on her face.

"Remedy. Sleep." She told him.

He simply stayed silent as he sat in thought, before finally sighing.

"Fine, I'll sleep." He poured the tea back into the pot. "Thanks for caring about me." He said with a smirk as he brought out another thick blanket from the box, this time, green colored and another pillow.

Laying down next to the fire, he gave a small stretch before closing his eyes.

Comfortable silence enveloped the camp as rhythmic breathing filled the silence.

"You still should've prepared at least one comeback"

"You bi-"

Author's Note

Hey guys.

I'm gonna be ending my break about here. I still won't post for like 10 days, but I'm only gonna be busy for two of those 10 days, and I need time to actually write another chapter. I only wrote this one cuz the entire the entire layout of the chapter was pretty much formed in my head already.

And as always, thank you for reading.