Mirror: Book I - Mind

Countless stars twinkled brightly within the dome black-blue expanse of the observatory, one star in particular an illusive and icy blue, and thus was the destination the two oneironauts had set out for. Harsh and howling wintery winds sliced past the two as they soared through a seemingly endless expanse of a blizzard set in the cosmos. Upon Princess Luna’s back, the boy rode upon her with a focused yet flustered gaze, astounded that the unrelenting winds sent no manner of chill through his being. He knew this was a dream and that the forces of this realm may have little to no effect on his body tucked safely away back in his bed, but it only begged the question as to why exactly the Princess had insisted that he ride upon her back, wherever it was that she was leading them.

The very next moment, a sharp and wispy howl pierced the boy’s ears. As he lifted his gaze with fright and wonder, past the veil of the snowy, endless hell lied several countless eyes. They gleamed and watched as though a predator would its prey, eliciting memories of the dreadful timber wolves from within the boy. He clutched the Princess closer, her mane covering his face as he struggled to stretch his words through the howls and the harrowing cold.

“What are those things?” David asked frightfully.

“Windigoes.” Luna answered. “They cannot harm our bodies of the waking world, but be wary, as they may threaten to waver us from our dream.”

“They’re in the dream world, too?”

“Windigoes are an ancient magic, they dominate many realms.”

“Then where are you taking us?”

“Fear not, our destination does not lie within their interest.”

Luna surged her way through the storm as David buried his face further into her mane, the wisps and the howling all about growing sharper and louder. With a sudden, final gust, all of it drifted away at once. The Princess spread her wings and caught upon a cold gust to slow her descent, hooves landing before snowy plains and icy shards lying about like jagged rocks of a quarry. David slowly lifted his face from the blue veil of her mane, eyes wide and jaw dropped in wonder to the intrigue of blue-white lights dancing upon mountains of ice and snow.

There in the far distance snugged between an opening in the blackened base of a mountain appeared to be a structure of some sort. It was a castle, with walls, windows, towers and trusses in intricate figures and architectural feats that which the boy, or perhaps many other mortal eyes, had never the likes of witnessing before. The boy slowly felt himself lower towards the ground, and he looked down to notice that Luna had rested to her belly, hooves beneath her body. David wobbled and lumbered off of her form, amazingly finding the snow beneath his feet wasn’t even a touch cold. Quietly, Luna looked upon the boy with patience, and thus he stood at attention. Her gaze spanned across the thin, icy bridge leading to the great structure ahead.

“This,” Princess Luna began, “is the Frozen Castle of Forgotten Memories. Deep within you shall unveil secrets encased beneath the ice, and recollect the memories which you have unknowingly lost. Imperative they may be, you shalln’t have doubt that it is here that you will find the answers you seek. Do you still wish to proceed?”

“I do.” He answered.

“Good.” Luna nodded accordingly. “I wish you fortunate findings and good judgment on your journey within. Remain stout, young oneiro, for the true trial has only just begun.”

David turned and looked to the castle once again, his eyes wavering across the thin and snowy bridge. Within only a few paces ahead, he stopped and turned back to the Princess.

“Uh, Luna?” He called.

Her gaze told him she was waiting.

He blinked, and smiled. “Thank you.” He said. “For everything.”

A small grin crossed the Alicorn’s lips, and eventually a smile. “Do not thank me just yet.” She replied. “You and I have business to attend to yet, in the future.”

The boy gave the pony an odd yet sure nod, and turned back on his track to the castle. Not before, however, the Princess called out with a final heeding.

“And David.” She said to him. “For whatever you shall do within, do not stare longingly into any mirror.”

With her final words, a gust of powdery, white snow washed over her figure. The winds howled over once more, and the blizzard picked up. As soon as the storm had ceased, Luna was gone.

Upon the monstrously sized doors which led into the great castle lied a crest, colored icy blue and in the shape of a heart. The boy took careful notice to the crest upon the door before recalling its resemblance, the gray heart locket which he had arrived with. Focusing on the forces of the dream, he summoned the locket to his chest and raised the object to the door. A sharp, thundering crackle ran up the length of the doors, the shards of ice and clumps of snow falling in front of him as the doors slowly parted, and the boy was led inside.

Isles shivered, distant windows whispered, the thousands of icicles hanging from above served as a makeshift, certain death chandelier, and the lone occupant of this strange, forgotten palace was more than certain he’d freeze to death by this point, had this not been a dream. He knew well enough now that this was a dream, and was astounded at how far he had gotten into such expanses without a hint of wakefulness interrupting his journey within. There was something about this realm, the oddness and serenity of the icy world combined that made him feel ever closer to the neuron links zipping through his head, in that he had felt closer to his own mind than he ever had before. In short, the boy supposed that this castle was indeed a part of his mind, hidden away to the deep recesses where he thought he might never tread, and yet he was here.

Though his breath did not show, it was apparent that the air around him was cold enough to spawn spores and sparkles of pure ice, floating about the glassy halls as they landed to the reflective surfaces which surrounded the human from every angle. Reflections? The boy wondered. He peered across and around the castle’s interior, noticing his own figure staring back at him from both near and far. Don’t look into any mirrors. He reminded himself, grunting irritably. How am I supposed to do that with a castle full of them?

Crossing the next corner, he looked on and noticed something frozen beneath the blankets of snow and ice. There in the far corner, at the midst of a stonebrick fire place, lied a series of recliners, sofas, and a coffee table with trinkets laid atop. The chairs and sofas were comprised of a finely woven red velvet hue, and the table a luxurious mahogany, the midst of blankets and pillows instilled and frozen in time beneath the sheets of ice. He dared a few steps closer and observed the contents of the table, noticing pieces of paper tucked beneath the coffee mugs and platters of cookies. Crayons and pencils lied in their midst as well, the depictions of a child’s drawings closed in between the paper’s borders. David raised his sights and noticed yet another reflective surface in the pit of the fire place. Quickly he glanced away, but the voices that lied deep within were telling him to look, almost as though the winds from outside slithered into the castle and crept up to his ears. The curiosity grew strong, his urges unrelenting, and the boy looked into the fireplace.

Roaring flames shrunk away into the small, cozy nook of the fireplace, the stonebrick turned to red and laced with warmth as a young boy mere feet away sat criss-crossed at the coffee table. He was swaddled up in a thick, fluffy blanket, a brimming mug of hot chocolate within arm’s reach as the pencil in his little hand scribbled away at the paper lying under his sights. The boy couldn’t have been any older than nine. The vision and reflections shrunk away even further, revealing even more people, accompanying the boy with warmth and laughter shared all around. A pane of glass filled his vision, flakes of snow descending from outside as the boy blinked again and again, the images in the mirror coming to an icy close.

David stood and stumbled backwards, attempting to assess the visions presented to him, wondering if it was a trick of the mind or a trick of this world. He recalled that this world was in fact his own dream, and the images he had just witnessed were in fact his own, memories of his past. Memories from Earth. With another sharp sting, shivers like a chilly hell ran down his spine and nipped at his arms, legs, feet and hands. His entire being was encased in the terrible sensation, and he breathed to recompose himself. Then, his breath could be seen, a fog floating among the sparkling white and blue orbs. Dare he pry deeper into his own memories, the ones he cannot even remember, the sting might grow stronger and colder, the pain of remembrance inflicted upon his own mind. He felt cold, he felt unsure, and most certainly utterly alone.

Don’t look into any mirrors. He repeated over and over in his head. All I have to do is reach the end. All I have to do is…find the truth. He rubbed his arms and lumbered on, soldiering through the unforgiving and stagnant sting of the cold.

And then, there was a tree. A simple, tall, branched out deciduous tree, the leaves rich and green as ever, but at a complete stand still as it stood encased in ice, from base to canopy. David observed the almost impossible growth with an estranged glare, peering further down the line as more and more of the trees came up in an almost perfect row. The the left showed what appeared to be a paved road, the black tar and the yellow dividing lines dashed up and down the lane. To the right were the cement slabs of a sidewalk, one tiled after the other, noticeable cracks and inclines sprouting about here and there. The fronts of houses accompanied the sidewalk, their forms embedded into the towering, icy halls of the frozen castle corridors. Suddenly, his foot felt colder than ever before, a puddle lying beneath where he had just stepped. Another reflection, one he could not turn away from now, and thus the images played on.

Bicycles roamed by, a mail van rolled down the right lane and a collection of children stopped to greet and wave their dollar bills at the man selling ice cream. Even the laughter of children, the spraying of sprinklers and sing song of birds filled his shivering ears, in spite of the fact that the setting all about him was as warm as an August afternoon as ever.

Quickly then, the boy crushed his palms into his eyes and seethed with several feats of frustration. It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream. The words repeated on and on. Worse yet, the cold would not cease, and only grew all the more worse. He was in a low crouching position now, hands rubbing up and down his biceps furiously, breath stuttering and teeth clattering. The fatal blow of loneliness struck his heart solid and cold, a desire to be with his own kind once again blazing from within like a wild, roaring lion. It’s only a dream. He allowed the words to stick as though they might stay, but nearly all doubts subsided as he opened his eyes and raised his sights to the world before him. It was his world, his home planet, Earth.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore, David.” The words shocked him to his very core. “You can come with us now.”

The boy looked on at the humanly figures standing before him. His family, his friends, his teachers and his elders, and even his beloved pets. They all stood and watched, warm inviting smiles across their faces as they awaited him patiently. The boy blinked back with disbelief.

“What-?” He dare spoke back. “What are you all doing here?”

“What do you mean?” They returned. “This is our home, and it’s your home, too.”

“N-No. No, it’s not-”

“You’ve fought so hard for this, but you don’t need to struggle any longer.” They opened their arms. “Come home with us, and you can finally rest.”

Come back home, with his family, and his friends? Yes, this is what he’s been looking for all along, hasn’t he? A way out of Equestria, out of this trial of hallucinations, away from the ponies and away from these tribulations that plagued his mind day and night. This was it then, wasn’t it? Surely this is what he had come to the Frozen Castle of Forgotten Memories for, not to find the answers, but to once again be reunited with all that he had left behind. And there the threshold to eager freedom stood, with open arms and smiling faces, a mere stroll from the layer of glass which separated them. It was then that he remembered something.

The mind is an incredible tool, it is both resourceful and dangerous. Do not confuse the waking world and the dream realm, as distinguishing between the two can become near impossible at times, so much so that certain oneiros have never found their way out of this realm.

His dream world teacher’s words echoed on in his head, its warning settling deeply as ever. Should he dare give a single nod of acceptance to the figures before him, then the images, the voices, and the senses all around may never cease. They would become his prison, and the warden the trickery of his own mind. There was something in the panel of glass lying in between them, a familiar figure, the same reflection he saw each and every day he took a look at himself in the mirror. Eyes gleaming red, David raised his hand, and beckoned the boy to follow.

“If I’m going to find the truth, then I’m going to face my fears.” With a final burst of effort, he whipped around and faced the harrowing cold head on, lumbering away from the warmth and embracing the shivers and the shadows ahead. “And that is going to start with the one and only person I’ve ever truly feared.”

Although the alluring sounds and images had finally subsided, the far more unbearable cold stung into every nook and crevice of his being, thoughts of a ball and chain slowing his gait to a molasses pace as he struggled to stumble through the narrowing, icy corridor. Finally, the small, thin hall began to span out, a great rotundus chamber hidden away into the deepest and coldest pits of the palace. The boy carried himself onto the large, circular platform in the center of the room, and soon after his knees buckled, he fell to the icy floors with a defeated thud. The poor, quivering human curled inward and began to breath what he believed was his last, shaky breaths of fog brushing across the blue-white twinkling tiles, his face and body sticking to the floor like splintery shards of ice.

As he slowly shut his eyes, darkness failed to overcome his vision, and instead a blinding white flooded his sights as the castle swirled and spun into a blizzard of pure, ethereal light.