Catalyst
by DivinumX
She woke up in a daze, her body in searing pain, her wings broken, and the feeling of blood dripped down her face. Her body was torn, a few limbs were broken, and the smell of dank marshlands filled her nostrils. After many moments of lying awake, in a seemingly endless subconscious state, she was able to rekindle a small portion of her sanity. “What happened to me…” the thought passed through her mind hundreds of times before she made her first attempt to move.
She was an older Pegasus, her fur was as white as a dove, her main was a very dark blue, and she had a horn on her head that had a tint of silver in color. She lived the beginning of her life in the safety of the 50 foot walls that surrounded Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. As she got older, adventure was the only thing she cared about. Being the tom-colt Pegasus that she was, she wanted to explore the world that had been kept away from her, no matter how ‘dangerous’ her peers and family told her. Soon her mother had passed, and her appetite for danger and adventure turned cold as she began to understand her place in the world, and how life can behave. She took up a loyal job to the royalty of Canterlot, and became a messenger, and one of the noblest messengers for her speed and skill in flying. She had done this for many years, and flew over the lands many times, so many times, that it began to bore her.
She made an attempt to move. She tried at moving her right-rear leg, but was unable to, for it had become numb with pain. She tried to move all of her legs, but pain showered over her whole body, and she decided to lie on the ground for a little while longer. As she lay in a fixed position, she began to notice the marshlands around her.
It was Mallow Marsh, a place that she had been familiar with. She had traveled above and through these marshes many times and never sensed any trouble, why this time she lay in a puddle of her own blood was a mystery to her. “How did this happen…” another question that pounded her head like a thousand ton boulder. It was a bit cold out, typical for an early fall night. The moon was very bright, but not even the light of the moon made it possible for her to see the foliage and trees. The feeling was moist; she could feel the dew of the leaves on her skin, and the mist in the air. It was odd to her that she could not hear an animal, the slightest cricket chirp, the slightest owl, or wolf howl. It was dead silent, as if the wildlife and trees were watching her. This scared her past the amount of sanity she had left. She lay, not daring to move again.
A couple hours had past. She began to feel foolish for fearing the wildlife. “Most wild animals would never attack a Pegasus.” She thought, and it was true. The Pegasus had always been thought of as a higher being. All animals had only the highest respect for the pegasi, even the less intelligent ones. They all knew the power of a Pegasus, and dare not challenge it.
Her throat was becoming dry, so dry, that she thought she couldn’t speak, even if she tried. But, there was no need to speak. The marsh was too big for her to yell for help. She moved her left-real leg again, with success. Though pain still raced though her body, she moved all her legs around, assuring herself that she wasn’t paralyzed. Suddenly, a small gust of wind ran up her spine, and her memories flooded back to her.
She was taking her routine path to Fillydelphia. She planned on visiting her sister, Coralla, and at the same time deliver a sealed note to Princess Luna. It was very rare that she received a sealed note, which made her believe it was beyond important that it got to the place it was needed as fast as possible. She remembered preparing her leave hastily, using magic to grab what should could and put it in a small bag that placed on her back. She tried to fly as fast as she could, sparing no moment. When she was flying over the marsh, a sudden gale caused her to lose control, and she flew into the side of a mountain, causing her to lose consciousness abruptly, and fall to the earth.
The traumatic event flashed in her head like a strobe light. It was beginning to upset her more and more as she thought about it. She started looking around to try and find the bag, but it was nowhere in sight. “The bag probably fell off when I hit the mountain, the chances of me finding it now are gone...”She told herself “I must find the strength to stand!” She tried to stand, but she heard the grinding of bone in her right-rear leg, and stopped. Two of her legs were broken, she was sure of it. She tried to open her wingspan, but her wings were damaged as well, and caused pain when moved. She tried of crawl forward, and it worked to some extent, but she grew tired quickly. The mud made it harder to slide across the ground.
The air was getting colder. She assumed it was past midnight, the moon was closer to mountains. This gave her a little more light, enough to make out the location of trees and plants. The moon was just above the eastern mountains when she first woke up, now it is near the western mountain line, directly facing the patch of clear land which she lay in.
After another hour, she started to panic. The marsh was big, if anyone came looking for her, it would be several days from now, possibly a week. Because this was an urgent task, Princess Luna was not expecting any company from her. The only way someone would know of her disappearance was by her absence a few days after she was supposed to return to Canterlot.
She knew that death was looking imminent. In her current state, flight and walking were going to require energy that she didn’t have. With magic relying solely on energy, she decided to not use it at all. She kept convincing herself that someone will find her to stop the panic, even though she knew that wasn’t true.
She tried crawling once more toward the small creek bed to try and get water. The creek bed was at least 20 yards away and every motion she made caused her muscles to ache. The mud was only making her task more tedious. “Confound these marshlands!” she yelled in her mind. Pure frustration, anger, and panic were taking over her. Her head began to feel like a bowling ball from all these thoughts that bounced around inside, building up mass. These emotions only fueled her more. Her energy started to build up, and she crawled, and crawled, and crawled until her muscles were screaming for her to rest. But she kept going until finally she drowned her face in the muddy water. She didn’t care that it was muddy; the cool water gave her a small amount of sanctity. Unfortunately, her efforts in crawling caused an unease of pain in all her legs and wings, every heart beat made her quench in pain. She laid her head down on the soft patch of sand next to the creek bed. It was moist. The humidity felt awful, but the pain in her muscles and, indeed her whole body, were incomparable to anything else.
An hour had passed. She tried moving again, pain. She tried thinking again, pain. “This is it,” she thought. “I cannot escape this marsh hell. I am too weary and too weak.” More anger built up, but she kept it all in her head, and eventually was growing tired of the malicious thoughts. Lying with her eyes closed, and a small drop of blood on her eyelid, she started to sing an old song that her mother would sing to her when she was a filly. It was a song about love, joy, and happiness in what you have. It was a song that meant more to her than anyone else, and it always planted a seed of peace in her mind, which never failed to grow.
She was no longer angry, nor frustrated, nor panicked. Subtlety claimed her mind. She sang the song over and over, cherishing each verse, more than ever before. She never stopped thinking of Death. He had always seemed to be a terrible colt, especially after the death of her mother, but now she sees Death for what he is, a catalyst in life, and nothing more.
Her thoughts raced on, it was never ending. Images and memories of her mother flashed before her eyes. Her mother, never once had she missed her so much. She opened her mouth as if she was going to try and speak. Her words were soft, “Oh…” she said with a slow breath, “You… you have come for me, I thought you were going to leave me here all by myself.” A very slow, and feint smile crept along her face. A small tear ran down her face and mixed with the blood, for before her, was her mother, more beautiful that she ever imagined. She looked as if she was royalty, her eyes more beautiful than any precious diamond, her stature, nobler than any mighty Equestrian hero. She murmured under her breath, “Tell Death … I just… I just can’t…” Her mother smiled. She nodded, and started walking away, disappearing in the fading light.
With one more smile, the injured pegasus fell as silent and cold, as the night.