Chapters I closed my binder and put my hand on my forehead. I was studying for the big test I was going to have, but I feel like that time spent was useless. I walk to my book bag and put my binder into it. Not even caring about the jeans and black tank top I was wearing, I turned off my light and jumped right into bed. The crescent moon on my necklace was irradiated by the moonlight coming from the window. My father found it at work and set it on his bureau in his room. I, for loving the celestial moon, took it and now I wear it, and never take it off. I grab it and hold it tightly. I turn over in my bed and close my eyes and wait for the sleep to come.
Suddenly I wake up when a flash of light illuminated a small circle around me. My body felt haggard like I was beaten. I realize that I was laying on a wooden floor that seemed to be ancient. I slowly get up and look about the room. Beyond the border of the small circle of light was darkness, nothing could be seen. I looked up and saw that the light above me was just a light bulb hanging off a cable.
I hear footsteps come toward me, but not the sound of human feet. The sound stopped at the edge of the light. A chill goes up my spine and when I try to run the other way the floor fell around the edge of light. A small walkway was left where the unknown person across the border could come over.
A dark purple unicorn mare with a curly dark mulberry mane and tail, unusual lime green eyes with snake-like pupils came into the light. Her horn looked distorted like crumbled aluminum foil. Her cutiemark was one of a glass filled with a red juice and three berries at the right side.
"I have been sent to take you somewhere else. Somewhere you belong. You're going to like where I am going to take you, Nox Eques," said the green eyed mare with a divine voice. I do not know why, but when she told me this I felt sudden trust being forced into me. When I looked into her green eyes they felt demonic, yet pleasing. She walked into the darkness and the sound of her hooves fade away. Then a line of lights turn on with a brown, rusty door at the end. The green eyed mare looks back at me and opens the door with her hoof. A sudden feeling of tainted trust covers me like a blanket. I slowly walk to the door with two walls of darkness on each side of me. The green eyed mare patiently waits. "Follow me. There's a small test for you," she says as she opens the door and walks into the hallway.
We walk through a long, squalid hall with bare, gray sheetrock walls and a wooden floor. The sound of hooves and footsteps tread the floor. We get to a white door with black crystals around it with a round, golden doorknob. She nudges my hand to the knob with her muzzle and I look down at her. I slowly touch the doorknob and I open the door. A bright wall of light comes from the door. I look down at the mare. "Go on," she says. I then breathe in cold, dusty air and walk into the bright light.
The next moment I am laying down on a hard wood floor again. I lay down for a few minutes thinking about what just happened. I wonder about the reality of this. If this is a realistic dream or a nightmare come to life. I get up with a ache in my head. I look around and see that I am in a hallway with bare white walls and a red door at the end of the hallway barricaded with wooden furniture and a white door on the right middle side of the hallway. I walk up to the white door and notice a note on it. I take the note off the door. "A key is required?" I say aloud to himself. I drop the note and I put my hand on the handle and jiggle it. The door was locked.
I then walk to the edge of the barricade. I notice pieces of nailed wood to the wall to the right of me. A small sliver of light was coming from beyond the boards. I look around the barricade for something to break the boards with. I pick up a small table and I put it off to the side. A dead human with his stomach torn open was under the table. I quickly look away in disgust. I pace in the hallway for a few minutes and look at the dead body again. I notice a rusty hammer in the dead man's hand. I try to hold in my puke as I grab the hammer off of the man's hand.
I put down the hammer beside me and I put the table over the body again. I then take the hammer and smash the boards on the wall and I put the hammer in my left pocket. The boards were blocking a hole that lead to a room. I climb into the hole and into the room. The light source was from a faint TV screen. A body was sitting in a yellow chair in front of the TV. I walk up to it and saw that the body had it's skin partly burned. I groan when I see a key connected to a necklace on the dead body. I slowly make my hand go toward the key. When I grab the key and a hand quickly grabs my wrist. I yell in horror and try to get free. The burned zombie slowly turns his head toward me. "My key," it said with it's deep voice. I look at my fist and sigh at what I was about to do. I punch the dead zombie in the face and the zombie lets go of my wrist. I still had the key in my hand and I rip the string off of the zombie's neck and run to the hole and climb into it.
I run to the white door and I stick the key into the slot and I turn my hand to the right. I look over to my left and I see that the zombie climbing out of the hole. I quickly open the door, get into the other side, and shut it. I look at the knob to see if I can lock it from the inside. The door had a double cylinder lock on the door so I turn the lock on the door and I finally feel relief. I sit down in front of the door trying to catch my breath.
Suddenly the middle of the door breaks off with the hand of the dead man trying to grab me. I dash into the hallway ahead of me. I take the hammer out of my pocket and smash the hand with it. The zombie groans and slips away. I put the hammer back in my left pocket and I look around for a bigger weapon.
The hallway was deep and dark with blue wallpapered walls and a creaky wooden floor. The only light that came into the hallway was from the two rooms on the side of hallway and the room at the end. I quickly get into the room on the left side of the hallway. The room was an old storage room filled with boxes. I search around the room for some sort of weapon. I pick up a few long boxes and I smile at what I see. Out of pure luck, I find a SVT-40 with two clips next to the gun and one clip already inside the gun. I take the clip out of the gun and I count the bullets as I take them out. Ten bullets in all. I put the bullets back in the clip and the clip back inside the gun. I put the two other clips in my right pocket and I cock the gun.
I walk out of the room and I see that the door is on the floor with the zombie standing up looking straight at me. The zombie starts to run towards me. I aim for the most important part to shoot, the head. My finger pulls the trigger and loud gunshot pierces my ears. It falls over with a bullet hole in it's head. I sigh in relief when I see it lay on the ground with no movement – dead. Sweat has already begun to drench my forehead.
I walk into the room across the storage room. A room with bare white walls and blue carpet had four of those partly burnt zombies sitting on a long, red leather couch and two brown leather chairs at the sides of the couch was before me. All of them sitting and watching the fire burn in the fireplace in front of them. They all turn their head and stare at me. "The key," they all said in their distorted voices. I aim the gun at one and I shoot, and I shoot another. Then I shoot the head of another. The last one sits there with a turned head with his mouth wide open. I aim directly at his head and I shoot him. They all lay motionless on the chairs.
I walk out of the room and I look at the end of the hallway. A rusty door, looking exactly like the one in the first hallway, was wide open to a voluminous dark room. The room looked like it went on for miles. I held tightly to my gun when I walked toward the door. When I entered the room the door slammed shut. I quickly looked back at the door and then back in front of me. There was suddenly an army of burnt dead men, about ten feet away from me, wearing medieval knight armor.
They all started to march toward me. I start to shoot the army of zombies, but it was no use. None of them fell or even got injured. "Five, four, three, two, one," I counted as I shot at the army. I take out the clip, dropped it, and I reach into my right pocket and put a full clip in. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one," I counted again. I take out the empty clip and reached into my right pocket. I counted ten to two. The last bullet was going to be my last. The zombies were a arm's reach away to getting me. I aimed the cold, rusty barrel at my chin. I knew that once I pull the trigger, it is all over. I close my eyes and my finger slowly pulls the trigger.
Time felt slow. I thought of those good times I had when I was home. My mother, father, and sister. I felt sorry. Sorry for myself and the way it was to end. I realize that there was no gunshot and I still feel the cold barrel upon my chin. I open my eyes and see no zombies, and all I see is just the little light above me and the darkness ahead. I put the gun away from my chin and put the strap of the gun over my shoulder. The room was still voluminous as before. The light above me blinked a few times. I look back and saw that the door was gone. I then hear hoofsteps in front of me. The green eyed mare trotted out from the darkness and into the dull light.
"You have done well, Nox Eques. Now you must go to where you are needed," she said.
"What do you mean? Where the hell are you going to take me?"
"Those questions will be answered soon."
A light heliotrope aura covered her horn. A few feet behind her a white doorway with gray crystals around it came out of the ground. We stared at each other. Those eyes. They were so beautiful as no one ever had. They gleamed as the light gracefully touched them. They were so innocent, yet they were so evil. I take my gun off my shoulder and hold it with both arms. I walk to the door, and stop in front of the doorway. I turn around to face the mare. "Enter, a long awaited adventure awaits you," she said looking up to me. I suddenly point the rifle at her.
"What will this accomplish?" she asked.
"Tell me what the hell is beyond that door and what this 'adventure' is before I blow your head!"
"You won't do that. You know that if you do, you'll be stuck here forever."
"This is just a weird dream. I'll wake up sooner or later."
My finger pulls the trigger and the bullet comes zooming out of the rusty barrel. After the shot I holster my gun. I was dumbfounded. The bullet was floating in mid air right in front of her head. "I'm more than you think," said the mare. The aura faded and the bullet fell onto the wooden floor. I stood there in astonished. "You won't be needing that in where you are going," said the mare. The gun flew out of my hands. I then feel no choice, but to enter the door. I turn around to face the doorway and thought hard about this decision. If I went in only death could save me, but if I don't I'll die of wonder.
"This is your only chance to have something you deeply wanted. That one place of... peace," she said from behind. Flashbacks of my sadness was forced into my mind, yet when I was home I was happy. I felt confused. I knew I was happy, but these images of minor history of sadness seemed to enter my mind. I then come to a conclusion. I look at her and nod my head. I walk into the doorway, and no body came out the other side. She smirked as the doorway sunk into the ground. "Just as planned," she said.
My body felt deformed and cold. My eyes opened and I saw a forest of evergreen trees all around me with snow slowly falling to the ground. I roll over onto my back and put my hands on my head. I felt no hands, but two cold hard surfaces on both sides. I put my hands in front of my face and gasped when I saw what my hands truly were, they were hooves of a horse. I sat up like I would as a human and I look around to see myself and saw that my body was a body of a scrawny dark phthalo blue pony with a midnight blue tail and a royal blue highlight.
I got up standing like a human and fell flat on my stomach onto the cold snow. I looked straight ahead and noticed that my eyesight has gotten better then when I was a human. I blinked a few times and saw far ahead a frozen puddle next to a neatly folded green military jacket with a note on top. I crawl to the puddle and I see a reflection of my face. I have a head of a pony with dark green eyes and a mane with the same colors as my tail. I just lay there staring at myself playing around with my face to see if it was actually real. I then put my forehoof on the green jacket and drag it next to me. The sticky note had written words on it:
Your dream is fulfilled, as many more will come. I brought your favorite jacket from Earth and put a few coins inside the side pocket. This expedition will help you find your true self. If you loose faith, press the button on your neck
I look at my neck and saw what she was talking about. A necklace with a shiny chain and a metal cube with a dark red button on the side hanging off the chain was on my neck. I then saw the necklace my father found under it. I look up at the sky and I feel sorrow for the decision I had made. I push myself up and try to figure a way to sit as a pony. Once I figure it out I pick up my jacket with my hoof. I put one foreleg in one sleeve and put the other foreleg in the other sleeve. It was a little big on me, but it wasn't going to bother me much. I jiggle the pocket on the top middle left of the jacket with my hoof and I hear a jingle of coins. I look at the note and stare at it. This so called “dream” is not so much of a dream. It wasn't a nightmare either. I am stuck in the desert of the real.
"Hello?! Who's there?!" yelled a male's voice that seemed to have a Russian accent. When I heard that yell I heard a strange language that I never heard spoken. The words spoken had a English translation of them echoing in my mind. It was strange. I was confused, yet I understood what he was saying.
I looked in the direction of the yelling and I saw saddlebrown earth pony stallion with a sap green mane and tail. "You there, stay where you are!" he yelled as he
walked to me, "What are you doing out here, kid? It's a quarter to eight, shouldn't you be at home already?" asked the stallion.
"I don't know," said I. My eyes widened and I put my hoofs to my mouth like I just said something vulgar. I just spoke in the unfamiliar language like I actually knew what I was. He gave me a weird look and then rolled his eyes, "Follow me, kid. There's gotta be someone at the tavern who knows you."
"Alright..."
"By the way, kid, what's your name?"
"My name?,” I tried to remember what the green eyed mare said,”My name is Nox Eques."
Chapter 2: Unkown, Yet Familiar, World
This place felt peculiar, yet comforting like I was here before, but I do not remember the place at all. The saddlebrown pony started to walk to other way and he beckoned me to follow. I tried to walk but I fell a few times. I got up and put one hoof in front of the other and I soon got the hang of it while he just stood there with one brow up and the other down.
“My name is Evergreen. So, kid, you said your name is Nox Eques?”
“Uh...yeah.”
“Are you usually like this? I never saw a pony stumble like that unless they were first born.”
“I...uh... don't know why I stumbled around like that.”
“Did something happen to you back there?”
“I don't remember a thing,” I was lying. Who would believe a kid who says a weird green eyed mare sent him through hell for a “test” of some kind.
“I have been paranoid lately because there has been strange things lately.”
“Strange as in what?”
“Murders, mainly. Some tortured, slaughtered. Heck, even come eaten! I tell ya, there is something going down in Equestria.”
“Equestria... damn... my dreams did come true.”
“Why? Do you come from somewhere else?”
“I guess you could say it like that.”
Evergreen stopped walking in front of an arch that signified the entrance of the small village. “Niva silva?” I asked, “Is that the name of the town?” Evergreen nodded his head and we walked up to a small tavern with loud music and laughter coming from the windows. “Come on, kid. I got to make sure someone here knows you,” he said.
We walked in the tavern and there were stallions playing cards, drinking from wooden mugs, and just having fun. The tavern had a effervescent feeling. “Hey, everypony!” yelled Evergreen, “This colt here got lost in the forest. I found him sitting in the snow. Does any of you know him?” The music turned off and everyone stopped what they were doing and their stares struck me and I began to feel hot. Their faces looked so dull like I wasn't intriguing to them at all.“No one...?” Evergreen sounded puzzled, “Okay, then. Come on, kid, Let me get you a drink.”
The music turned back on and everybody got back the their business. Evergreen went over to the bartender and told me to sit at the table with three other stallions drinking applejack. The three stallions were triplets with all the same sienna colored coats and had accents that sounded to be Russian, like Evergreen's. Each of them had different colored manes and tails. The one on the left had maroon mane and tail, the middle had golden mane and tail, and the one on the right had brilliant orange mane and tail.
“Where ya from?” asked the maroon one.
“Oh... I...uh... I don't know,” I lied again.
“Wait do you mean you don't know?” asked the golden one.
“I just woke up in the middle of the forest and Evergreen found me.”
“There's been strange things going around in these parts. Do you know if you were... possessed?”
“I really do not kn-”
The brilliant orange stallion splashed my face with water.
“Sorry, kid. I had to check you. That there is Holy Water. It is said to burn the skin of the possessed.”
“Well, now you know that I am not!”
Evergreen walked up to the table with a mug in his mouth and another mug in his hoof. He sat down next to me and set down the mugs on the table. Evergreen looked at me and asked, “Why is your face wet, kid?” The three stallions laughed loudly. “Holy Water,” I replied. Evergreen chuckled.
Evergreen slid one mug in front of me. I looked at him giving him a puzzled look.
“What? Never drank applejack before?” asked Evergreen.
“No, I never did.”
“Well, there's a first time for everything.”
I slid my hoof into the handle and put the mug in front of my mouth. I looked at the three stallions and all of them smiled like they were trying to encourage me. I lifted the mug and the applejack moved down to my mouth. The drink left my mouth feeling hot and when it arrived in my stomach it felt warm also. “So, kid, how was it?” asked Evergreen. “I love it,” I replied.
While I was drinking and waiting to have to hot feeling to die down and then drink again Evergreen and the three stallions all talked about things and laughed while I sat there not evening knowing what they are talking about. From time to time I would understand some of the stories they would tell and I would laugh with them. I felt like a child when your parents talk to the neighbors and tell each other random funny stories and laugh while you either stand there and with them laugh or not.
Once I was finished we said our goodbyes and walked out the door, “That was fun, right?” Evergreen asked me.
“Yeah, it was,” the way I could still hear the English echoes in my head was still bothering me. It was like I had a personal translator to this unknown language in my head.
“You don't talk much, is something bothering you?”
“What? Oh, no. Nothing at all.”
“Well, I think you are going to like it here. This town is peaceful. The last bit of trouble we had was about three years ago,” three years ago didn't seem to be that long to be proud of, but I guess it was to him.
While we were walking I saw all the small shops all dark with the things on sale still on the tables as if there was no worries of a thief. Then the shops ended and there was rows of wooden houses with some lights coming out of windows and some not. Right then I noticed that there was no intersections at all, just one long road. I look ahead, behind, side to side and the only thing between the shops and cabins are small alleys of snow.
While we were walking I saw all the small shops all closed with the things on sale still on the tables like there was no worries of a thief. Then the shops ended and then there was rows of wooden houses with some lights coming out of windows and some not. Right then I noticed that there was no intersections at all, just one long road. I look ahead, behind, side to side and the only thing between the shops and cabins are small alleys of snow.
Evergreen stops in front of a cabin and walks to the door. The knobs looked like a metal molding of a horse's hoof. He stuck his hoof into the knob and he jiggled the doorknob. He sighed and he knocked on the door. An earth pony colt with a red coat, dark green mane and tail with blue eyes opens the door. “It's pretty late, Dad. who's that with you?” the colt had a slight deep voice like he was just beginning to get into puberty.
“Heh, I had to work late and while I was getting home I found this kid in the middle of the forest,” said Evergreen.
“Come in, it's pretty cold out tonight,” said the colt.
We walk into the cabin and a dragon's hot breath brushed against my face. The walls were tree logs still with little stubs along it where the branches were cut, the floor was dark wooden planks nailed to the ground. On the left was a kitchen with a medium sized icebox, which I found pretty weird because wouldn't the cold outside keep the food cold? There was a counter with cabinets above and a large wood fed stove and no sink to be found. On the right there was a living room with a white three cushion couch with a pillow on each side, sitting there getting warmth from the fireplace ahead. There was a wooden coffee table on top of a polyester carpet. Past the living room and the kitchen was a small hallway with one door on each side at the end.
“I need to hit the hay. I've got to wake up early tomorrow, I'm a bit behind on replanting those trees that the triplets have been cutting. Good night,” said Evergreen.
“Good night,” said me and the colt.
I took off my jacket and placed it on the coffee table and laid down on the couch with my back facing the fireplace and felt the warmth of the fire upon my body. The colt sat on the remaining cushion and I felt him stare with eyes of wonder.
“Who are you, and what is your name?” the colt asked.
“Well... my name is Nox Eques. I guess who I was really isn't who I am.”
“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?”
I turned over and looked straight into his eyes, “I was sent to Equestria to find my true self.”
His eyes looked into mine giving me a look of disbelief. He rolled his eyes and walked into the hallway. I heard a door open and slowly close so he wouldn't bother his father. I turned back over and I tried to think about all this. All that happened in this one short period of time. I fell asleep on earth expecting to wake up the next day in the same bed, but I wake up on a dusty old floor, go through hell, walk through a door, and wake up in the land I always wanted to visit. Yet, does this mean I am on a different planet? Did I just disappear off the face of the earth and appear in Equestra? What about my family? Are they worried or do they think I am dead? All questions with no answers.
“It's strange how such cute little ponies can become killers and cannibals,” a fiery voice invaded my mind, “It's interesting how you can find comfort in any familiar situation. Even in a familiar nightmare. Wake up, the truth lies before you.”
My eyes instantly opened. I put my hoof to my head. I felt sick to the stomach and could puke in any moment.
“Who are you?,” said the colt standing from inside his door.
“My name is Nox Eques.”
“I'm Wild Berry. My father is Evergreen.”
“Who is your mother?”
“I... don't want to talk about it.”
Wild Berry walked into the kitchen across from the living room, and took out a bowl of eggs from an icebox. He then started to cook scrambled eggs. “Please do not try to talk to me while I cook. It's sort of hard to speak with a spoon in my mouth.” says Wild Berry. I lay back down on the couch and his eyesight begins to fade.
Sudden images of houses burning flash in my mind. Screams of terror scratch my ears. Fanatic laughter of a demonic voice torture me. “Hey! Can you hear me?!” said a faint voice. My eyes flash open and I gasp for air as if I was being choked. “What the hay is happening to ya?” I soon recognize it was Wild Berry's voice. “I don't know... I just laid down to rest a little, and then these images and screams just invaded my head,” said I.
A timer begins to ring and Wild Berry walks back to the stove and begins to stir the eggs. I lay down my head and try hard to not close my eyes. The burning houses, screaming, and satanic laughter was torturing me. The thoughts just would not go away. I begin to stare at the burning fire. The red and orange flames burning and the black smoke did not sooth me. I jumped when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Breakfast is ready,” said Wild Berry. “Oh my...! You scared me,” I replied. Wild Berry chuckles as he sits down at a table next to the couch. I walk over to the table and I sit down. “Scrambled eggs and nothing else?” I asked.
“It's all we have. It's sort of hard getting food when you are near the border of the Frozen North.”
“Then why are you ponies here?”
“We like it here. We like the trees, the snow, and the berries.”
“Berries?”
“Yes... the berries here is how I got my cutiemark. My special talent is farming russet buffaloberries. My mother used to make the best berry juice ever. Only if I could see her again,” A tear slid down Wild Berry's face.
“Sorry for asking, I really didn't want you to cry.”
“It's alright. It's just that I get emotional whenever I talk about my mom.”
I felt guilty, even though I didn't know that asking about berries reminded him of his mother. He started to eat and I just watched. I never ate like a pony before. I never wanted to eat like a pony, but now I seem to not have a choice. I watched him eat to see how ponies ate. I tried to do the same thing he did without it being awkward. I scooped up one chunk of scrambled eggs and chewed. He stared at me with a confused look.
“Did you loose your horn when you were born?”
I swallowed, “No, why?”
“You eat like you are from Canterlot or some other place fancy.”
“If it's how I eat, it's how I eat.”
I needed to amend my eating so I started to watch him again. I scooped up another chunk and chewed. He noticed that I was watching him. He shook his head and laughed, “You're one strange pony,” he said. We ate until we finished. He picked up his plate and mine by his mouth and set it in the sink.
~ There was supposed to be Evergreen in this breakfast scene, but I guess I accidentally removed it somehow. Also, there was supposed to be a scene where I notice a picture on the fireplace with Evergreen and Wild Berry but the far right of it being ripped off, as if it had someone they did not want to remember. Anyway, After this, they will go into town and a strange pony will be yelling vehemently, threatening to burn down the village and asking where Nox Eques is. I think Nox did not like how he was threatening the town, so he refused to go with him. The strange pony turned out to be demon possessed and the father and the triplets capture him and tie him down. The father finds his book that has a spell to cast out demons in Latin. Nox, with his knowledge of Latin, casts out the demon, but the demon somehow set the house of fire, which led it to spread. The fire grew more when water was used to put it out. Then the whole town is burned down and Nox is forced out of the village and Evergreen and Wild Berry go with him.
They then visit the Crystal Empire and get train rides around Equestria, starting with the West Coast, to help Nox figure out who he really is and along the way they purge some more demons and fight monsters. Evergreen tells a story of how when he and his wife were in the woods one day on a date. Somehow she disappears, being the last time he saw her.
I think in either Vanhoover or Balitmare Nox finds mare that he falls in love with, but I am not sure of Nox leaves her to protect her or if she goes along with him. Then they go to a village near Apple Loosa, where Nox and the gang encounter the green-eyed pony. She attacks, the father sacrifices himself, and they all or both escape. Wild Berry has an emotional breakdown because the green-eyed pony was his mother, but she was demon possessed.
I forget the rest, but I think they go to Canterlot soon after. Princess Luna calls Nox in personally and tells him who he really is. She tells him that Nox is actually the long lost son of Princess Luna, who the demon possessed mother had stolen on the night of his birth and brings him to earth so that Nox would not know the truth and be used by her to help conquer Equestria. Also, Nox also has a brother, who was stolen also and may have had the same fate. This is where the story ends and there was going to be a sequel where Nox meets his brother and another OC named Sharpeye, who helps them try to find the mother to cast out the demon inside her. And that's basically all of the story that I was going to write.
Sincerely,
Nox Eques
