Fluttershy and Me: Remastered

I awoke in a black, well, abyss, for lack of a better word.  It was more like a black nothing.  Everything around me was black.  All I could see was black.  I could see myself, but aside from that, blackness was all around me.  I was confused beyond belief.  Was this what dying was like?  I had assumed I would arrive to a white sky full of sunshine, and be greeted by my fallen family members, like my father.  But, life is full of disappointments.  Well, I was dead, so I guess that means death is full of surprises too.

I tried so hard not to, but a sudden urge told me to look down.  I was standing on nothing.  Believe it or not, I was walking on air (see what I did there?).  I took a step forward, and I didn’t fall.  I continued to walk on for a while, until the point where walking on nothing freaked me out too much that I took flight.  I still had my wings in death, which was awesome.

I flew around for what felt like forever.  I had nowhere to go in this abyss, but what else could I do.  I tried looking for Fluttershy.  I don’t know why I did, but it just felt right to me.  I thought maybe I wasn’t dead, and that if I found her in this nothingness that I would wake up and be saved.  I looked for what also felt like forever, but to no avail.  I couldn’t find her.  I couldn’t find anyone, anypony, or anything.  I was completely alone.  Or so I thought.

After a while, I heard a voice.

“Welcome Matthew,” the voice said, in a very deep, sadistic, and menacing tone, but it was almost like an echoing whisper.  The first thing I felt was surprise, then a bit fear.

“Who said that?” I asked back to the voice.

“I have been waiting for your arrival Matthew.  It is time for you to die,” the voice said again, a little louder now.

“Death, is that you?  I kind of know what you’re probably going to look like, so why hide?” I asked.  I thought it actually was Death himself.  What I got was much worse.

“Oh no, Matthew, I am not Death.  There is no such person or thing as Death.  There is only, the Darkness!” the voice said, starting to creep up on my position.  My instincts kicked in, and I reached for my tomahawk.  But, I then realized that I was dead, and even beforehand I didn’t have my tomahawk on me.  So, I put up my fists.

“Show yourself!  Stop hiding!” I said, hovering in the air, ready to defend myself.  Whatever was out there got the point, and what I saw paralyzed me.

“Here I am Matthew.  Behold!  I am the Darkness!” the figure said.  He looked just like a human, except he was misty.  When I say that, I mean he looked like a shadowy mist.  His body was made of shadows, but he was quite visible to me.  But, just looking at him sent a chill down my spine.

“No words of courage, Matthew?  A pity, I expected a little bit more of a fight, especially from you.  You are, after all, quite a powerful warrior.”

“I’m no warrior.  Having skills such as mine doesn’t make me a warrior.”

“You’re right Matthew, it makes you a monster!  The monster that killed those two men all those years ago.  The monster that selfishly left behind his family for personal gain.  The monster that has been inside of you all along, but you were too stubborn to let it out completely.  It looks like, very soon, you are going to have to, at least, if you want to survive.  Your father tried to, but it didn’t work out very well,” the Darkness said.  The mentioning of everything else hurt, but when he mentioned my father, anger shot through my body.

“Don’t you dare talk of my father you monster!  He was no monster, and neither am I.  YOU ARE!” I shouted out in pure rage.  I was ready to fight this thing, even if I was already dead.  But what he did scared me half to death.  And hell, I was already dead.

The Darkness disappeared for a moment, and suddenly reappeared right in front of me.  He stared into my soul with cold, dark eyes.  He sent a pain through my body, and I was paralyzed, literally.  I couldn’t move, and I so badly wanted to pull away from those eyes.  They burned my very soul.  I had never felt fear such as that.  For Christ’s sake I was dead.  How was all of this happening?

“I will drag you down into the Abyss of the Darkness!  Your father may have been able to escape me, regardless of his abilities, but you will not escape me Matthew!  I will claim your soul for myself, and you will never see the lights of your precious Heaven!”  His words made me feel weak.  My body was growing numb.  I was losing the feeling in my body, and I had already been paralyzed.

As the Darkness was about to grab my neck, a shot of light beamed through the black abyss.  It blinded the Darkness, making him lose his grip on my soul.  I fell to the floor, or at least whatever it was that I was able to walk on, gasping for air.  I was gasping for whatever dead people breathed in.  The Darkness was starting to turn to nothing.  I looked at him, amused at his suffering.  But this didn't stop him from speaking a few final words before completely disappearing.

“You have not seen the last of me Matthew!  I will have your soul, and the souls of all your precious friends and family!  When I’ve finished with you, Fluttershy will be next.  Oh how she will suffer.”

“Burn in hell you piece of shit,” was all I said before he disappeared into the nothingness.  The light grew so great that all of the darkness around me became whiteness.  I turned to see the origin of the light.  Standing before me was my very own father.

“Dad?” I said, completely in shock.  He looked as young as when he had died, and he wasn't really old at point.  I guess in death you don’t age.  I hadn’t seen him in so long.  Well, that’s obvious, but that I was actually seeing him again was incredible.

“Yes, Matthew, it is me.  It is good to see you again son.  My how you’ve grown up.  Your mother may not always show it, but she certainly is proud of you.  So am I,” he said, his words forcing me to start crying.  To hear his voice again was just too much.

“What just happened Dad?  What was that thing, or rather, who was it?  Why did it act like it knew you?” I asked my father, hoping to get some answers.

“All will be explained in time, my son.  For now, you must return to the world of the living.  Your time has not yet come.”

“Well, I figured that much.  But, Dad… will I ever get to see you again, I mean, before I die?  I miss you so much.  I may not show it all the time, but I do,” I said to my father.  I really did miss him.  Even though I barely knew him (because he died when I was so young), he still meant so much to me.

“Perhaps, my son.  Only time will tell.  Now, return to her.  Return to Fluttershy.  She needs you, and you need her,” he said, starting to turn to leave.  But, before he left, he had one more thing to say.

“And, Matthew, the Darkness will not leave you alone.  It is up to you now to finish what I couldn’t.  You will know that to do when the time is right.  I have faith in you Matthew.  I love you son.  Goodbye,” he said, leaving me so confused.

“Wait, Dad, DAD!  COME BACK!” I shouted out.  I ran to him, but he was gone.  I was left in a pure white sky.  I looked around.  Suddenly, a door appeared in front of me.  I decided I might as well open it.  Light flushed out, and I was blinded.  I was going home.

I awoke to the beeping of a heart monitor.  It was beeping due to my heart once again being active.  Had I just died and come back to life?  Was everything that just happened real?  Was that really my father?  I was so confused.

I tried to move my right arm, but pain shot through my body.  I let out a moan of pain and started to cough.  I began to breathe heavily.  Where was everyone, or everypony I should say.

“Hello?  Is anyone there?  Fluttershy?” I called out, my voice barely audible.  I thought I had heard voices from outside, but my speaking made it all stop, if there even was any speaking to begin with.  I heard the door knob being twisted.  After a moment, Fluttershy was standing in the doorway, still human.  She put her hand to her mouth, in total shock that I was alive.  I guess I really had died, but for how long?  Fluttershy was crying hysterically now.  She ran over to me and hugged me, being careful not to hurt me.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re alive Matthew!  We thought we lost you!  I was so scared, I didn’t know what I would do without you!” she said, crying the whole time.

She stopped hugging me and gave me a strong kiss on the lips.  When she broke it, I felt weak, but not weak enough that I couldn’t speak.

“I love you Fluttershy, I love you so much.  I promise, I’ll never leave you, not until the day I die, but for real,” I said to her, making sure every word was as crystal clear as could be.  She hugged me again, and with all my strength, I returned the hug.

Shortly after, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and even Princess Celestia entered the room.  They were all crying at the fact that I had survived and was alive.

“Princess, did you do this?” Twilight asked her teacher.

“No Twilight, I did not.  Which makes me curious as to how you are here right now Matthew.  That is not to say that I am not thrilled that you have survived, it just makes me wonder as to how you did,” the Princess said.  I couldn’t blame her for being confused.  They all really thought I was dead, and I was.

“To be honest with you Princess, I shouldn’t be here right now.  Wait, how long was I dead?” I asked.  They all looked one another, but it was Fluttershy who spoke.

“Matthew, you were dead for about one hour,” she said.  My mouth fell open.  I was in complete shock.  I had been dead for one hour.  My dad saved me.  I really shouldn’t have been alive.  But, quite frankly, I didn’t care.

“It was my dad.  He saved me.  I should still be dead.  I shouldn’t be here.  But, hell if I care,” I said.  I couldn’t help but say “Thanks Dad,” which confused everyone in the room.  Celestia understood that I was trying to communicate to my father for saving me.  I really wanted to see him again though.  He had just saved me from the hands of the Darkness, an enemy that said it knew my father.  I had to figure out how it knew him, but I didn’t know how.  My dad just told me that all would be explained in time.  I decided to just put up with it and enjoy the moment.  I had, after all, just come back to life.

Fluttershy continued to kiss me, and I returned every kiss.  There was a doctor trying to get in, but he figured he would give us a moment.  The same could be said of every other pony in the room.  They all exited, and left Fluttershy and me alone.

“I love you Matthew!  I don’t want you to leave me, ever!”

“I will never leave you Fluttershy, I promise!” I said, and we kissed again.

‘I love you Dad,’ I thought to myself, while hugging Fluttershy.  I owed him my very life.  I looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, and she looked back into mine.  Her eyes were still filled with tears, which made me cry in return.  I was going to do whatever it took to protect her.  I wouldn’t let anything come between us ever again.  Nothing would come between Fluttershy and me.