Free Thoughts POV
I ran franticly through the Everfree Forest, with rabid timberwolves on my tail. They were quickly gaining ground and closing in. One managed to bite down on my tail, but I bucked him to kingdom come. He deformed into a pile of sticks and rocks, but another ran up to take his place. *There are to many to deal with! Right then I tripped over a root. I lost my balance and was sent crashing to the ground. The timberwolves intercepted me and encircled my writhing body. Eeyup, I'm screwed. The timberwolves had cut off all chance of escape. The largest in the pack, obviously the leader approached me. He thrust his head back and howled. Preparing to deal a death blow- most likely involving ripping my throat out- when a wolf in the background yelled. "Free! Free Thoughts!"*
"Free Thoughts wake up!" yelled Cloud Catcher. She brought her hoof back, and sent in flying across my face at blazing speeds. The force woke me up, along with throwing me from the bench in which I rested.
I sat up, dazed and seeing doubles. "Hey, what gives?" I moaned. Cloud Catcher was a white pegasus with a green mane.
"The picnic has arrived." Replied the pegasus with a smile, "oh and sorry for waking you like that, you were out cold."
I looked at the bench that I had taken a very unfortunate fall from. I guess I must have dozed off waiting for my friends to get here. We had decided to have a picnic in the park. I walked over to where Cloud was rolling out the blanket. Me, Cloud, and Tackle had been best friends ever since we were little foals.
"Are the others here yet?" I asked
"They should be coming... aha there they are!"
I saw Tackle and Cheers coming up the hill to our picnic spot. Tackle was a huge earth pony who was our schools premier hoofball player. Cheers was a yellow unicorn with a red mane. She had been a cheerleader and was dating Tackle.
We proceeded to indulge in our picnic and talk of recent events. Nothing too interesting, just some good friends hanging out and having a good time together. I wasn't exactly enjoying myself though. I have been having nightmares every night for the past week. I'm really starting to get creeped out which led my mind away from the conversations at hand. I have been getting very little sleep due to the nightmares, so I am always tired now. I could tell my friends were worried, but didn't know what to do...
"Hey Free... Free? Hello, dude you there?" Tackle waved his hoof in front of my face in order to get my attention. It worked and I snapped out of my little train of thought.
"hmmph oooh hm hada whoda hmmph hommph." Said Tackle. Can't this guy speak proper Equestrian?
"w-wha-huh" I stammered
"I said, did you enjoy the Running of the Leaves yesterday."
oh, ummm... uhhh... ya-yes, yes I did.
He looked at me funny and shrugged. He then looked away to talk to the others. I spent the whole thing in a trance, trying to make sense of the streak of nightmares. I decided in the end that I probably just having and bad week, sleep-wise.
The picnic ended rather quickly and we all went our separate ways. We bid each other good night and parted.
That Night
I stood in the middle of a grass field. It was a beautiful, sunny day. But there was something wrong. All was quiet, not even the smallest sound penetrated the field. The cool summer breeze felt strange and foreign. It could not be explained but it all just felt... wrong. The field began to rumble, throwing me to the ground with great force. Out of the ground sprouted an old house, it looked familiar. All was quiet again. The ground ceased to rumble and the house just stood there, ominously, as if challenging anyone to dare enter. I felt... fear. Why was I fearful, it is simply an old house, nothing more. The feeling persisted, until I succumbed to complete paranoia. I began to run from the house, farther and farther away, but I seemed to be making no progress. I remained at the same distance away, as if the house was following me... or I couldn't move at all. Against my will I walked towards it. I couldn't control my legs until I was at the front door. I was about to bolt away when the door began to creak open, ever so slowly. I could't move, I was paralyzed in fear, unable to move at all. The door was halfway open and I saw behind it, an eye. A single blood red eye. It bore into my brain as if searching for something. I felt as if it had tore my head open and jammed a hoof into my exposed brain. I tried to scream, but the pure agony had rendered me unable to make a sound.
I awoke screaming uncontrollably. I looked around, sweat poring down my face, soaking my mane. I was breathing heavily. I quickly got up and turned on the lights, expelling the shadows from my room. The notion of going back to sleep was an impossibility. It was about 3 in the morning. I got out my headphones and began to listen to music, which calmed me down. I sat on my bed with my head down, listening to music, trying to get the image of that goddamn eye out of my head.
Later
I stood up after 3 hours of listening to music. I was calmed down and ready to begin my day. I got dressed, ate breakfast, and left for work. I worked at a local bookstore, nothing special. I was saving up money in order to buy a plot of land and start a business of my own.
I couldn't get that eye out of head. I couldn't stop thinking about it. What could it mean? Does it have to do with my recent nightmares? Was I over thinking this and it was just a random nightmare? These questions practically drove me insane. I tried to stop thinking about it, but once I thought of a question, it bugged me until I got an answer. Hell, my damn cutie mark is about thinking. But through all these paranoid questions there was one thing I knew for certain, I've seen that house. I don't know where, but i've seen it before.
Perhaps I should investigate. But what would I find it's just some old run down house. I decided to just let it go. It's a bad dream, nothing more.
My shift ended and I went home. All was quiet except for the occasional pony walking by.
I felt like I was being watched.
I looked around to see if anypony was there. All was quiet, all was still.
"Pretty damn eerie," I muttered, "but theres no one watching me." I felt foolish, I must be getting paranoid. All over some stupid bad dream. I chuckled at my arrogance, I was acting like a foal. There is nothing to worry about. I happily trotted home, with that thought in mind.
I got home and went straight to bed. A long day of needless worrying really wears you out. I got under the sheets and drifted off to sleep.
There is nothing to worry about.
Free Thoughts POV
I was in my bed, under the covers. I felt strangly cold, despite my warm bed. My mother walked into the room. "Mom? Is that you mom?" The room seemed to warm up to a comfortable temperature.
"Yes Free, I'm here," She answered. I felt comforted at her words, oh so long its been since I've seen her!
My father then walked into my room. "Hello son," he said.
"Dad!" I was very excited, I havn't seen either of my parents in a long time.
"Son, I need to tell you-" He stopped speaking. His mouth contorted into strange expressions, blood ran from his eyes and mouth. All the while my mother simply stood there, with a loving expression on her face.
"Dad! whats wrong!" I was screaming at this point. He turned and looked at me, he had an evil grin. "Dad?" His body began to bulge. His skin was rippling, forming skin or fat I couldn't tell. He tried to step toward me but stopped. He let out a bloodcurdling screech and his head exploded. My walls were painted red from blood and bits of brains were sliding to the ground. My mother continued to stand there, with a light hearted smile on her face.
"There, there Free. Everything is gonna be just fine." Her skin began to melt. Burning fur and flesh pooled at her hooves. "There, there Free. Everthing is gonna turn out wonderfully." The skin burned off her face, revealing a blood red eye beneath. Her voice was much deeper, more... mechanical. I was pushed out off my bed and thrown out the window. I looked back in horror at the house. It was not the house I knew. It was the house from my dreams. I wanted to scream, but couldn't. My fear was to great. Sadness overtook me. I simply wanted to curl up in a corner and die.
My mothers altered voice flew through the air. "WELCOME TO HELL, FREE!
The last thing I remembered was a blood red eye, covering the sky, seeking everyone's painful demise.
Waking World
I awoke with a start, sweating, trying to make sense of what I just saw. "My... my parents," I muttered sadly. It all felt so real, even them melting and that wierd shit. But my parents were gone. They've been gone for years. My mother dissappeared when I was a foal, I hardly remembered her. Just her face, no not her warm smiling face like some stupid sob story, I don't ever even remember seeing her smile. Only a cold, calculating gaze. I know, hardly motherly, but hey, it was something. She apperently went missing one night, just... left. Well a little more than that...
Free Thought's father's POV (19 years ago)
I got up groggily. "What a strange dream," I muttered. I put my hoof down beside me in order to sit up. I looked over and noticed my wife wasn't beside me. "Huh I wonder where she is." I placed my hoof where she normally sleeps. I felt a sticky liquid there. Out of curiosity I sniffed it. *Blood. "Dawn!" I called, "Is something wrong?" There was no answer. I got up from the bed, feeling quite nervous, and tried to find her. in the doorway leading out from the room was a trail of blood. I followed the blood trail down the hallway, to Free's room. The blood ran up to his crib where globs of it oozed and dripped. Free was crying. He was covered in blood, head to hoof. I quickly picked him up and ran to the bathroom. I washed him off in order to find the wound. There was a small incision on his chest, right above his heart. It wasn't very long, but was quite deep. Still, there was no way it could have caused that much blood loss. Besides, if it had, there is no way Free would still be alive. Through all of this, my wife had escaped my mind. I cleaned the wound and put some bandages over it. It would most likely scar, but was not too bad. Through all of this Free became silent, he didn't even cry. He just looked off into space, his eyes wide open. I attempted to get his attention, but it was fruitless. He refused to acknowledge anything around him. It was then that I remembered my wife.*
I picked up Free and sprinted back to his room. I wasn't going to let him out of my sight until I knew what was going on. I picked back up on the blood trail, starting from the crib, and followed it. It wheeled around and left the room. It went downstairs, straight to the door. The door was cracked open, and next the door was a very gruesome sight. My wife's severed leg lay in a puddle of blood next to the front door. Free began to cry, and I fainted.
Free Thought's POV (present day)
I touched my scar and shivered as I recalled my father's recollection of what happened to my mother. It had taken me years to get him to tell me and I almost regretted hearing it. The police came and took the severed leg as evidence. Even wierder the leg dissappeared the next day. Only the ponyville police could lose a severed leg. I laughed coldly to myself. My father raised me and died five years ago, on the same day my mother dissappeared. He died in his sleep, no pony could identify a cause of death.
"Quite a bunch of strange shit," I muttered as I got ready for work.
During the walk to work I tried not to think about the dreams. Or the house. But my mind would not allow me the comfort of not thinking. Should I investigate? No, no, no that was silly. I'm not going to investigate a house that may or may not exist because I had a creepy dream about it. Still it may be a good idea...No! Shut up mind, you are stupid. Wow I just called my own mind stupid, I must be going insane.Just do it! "Fine mind, you win," I grumbled, "one more dream and I'll investigate." Turns out I wouldn't even have to wait until tonight for a wierd dream.
I checked into work and took my place. It was a slow day, so therefor I really did nothing. Due to the fact of getting very little sleep the last two nights, due to nightmares, I was very tired. I decided to rest my eyes, just for a few minutes. In less than a minute, I was out. (oh shit, I think we all know where this is going)
My jacked up little dream world
Well here I am again. The field spread out around me, nothing to be heard, not even the rustle of grass. All was ominously silent. I got the slightest feeling of deja-vu as I waited for the house to pop out of the ground and scare me. That did not happen. I was confused, what other sick apparations could my messed up mind have in store for me. Then I got hopeful. "Perhaps the more rational part of me was correct and these were just random dreams. Well nothing is ever that simple, and hell, sometimes life just likes to make things a little more interesting.
The house appeared. Simply appeared. No grand entrance, earthquake, or anything of the like. It was just simply there. Almost more ominous that way. Almost. After getting through the initial shock of having a house sneak up on me, I decided not to go to the door. I was not going through that again, all that mind probing by a random eye thing, not fun. The house stood there, menacingly, as if challenging me. "Well challenge not accepted!" I yelled at it. The house continued to stand, it was a house so therefore did not care what I said. But there was something more to it, something did not like my outburst. The air chilled, a fine mist appeared around me. All continued to be silent. I shrunk away in fear.
The ground beneath me gave way, I fell with it. I hit the ground hard, dreams should not be allowed to be this painful. I bet freaken Nightmare Moon made dreams painful. What an asshole. Well, I appeared to be in some sort of hallway. The floor and walls looked as if they used to be shining white, but were now smeared with dirt. I looked up expecting to see a hole where I fell through. There was no hole, as if the ceiling had repaired itself, or i fell through a solid. This is a dream so nothing makes any sense, so screw trying to make logical explanations of everything.
With seemingly no other options, I walked down the dirty corridor. At the end, or at least what I thought was the end, was complete darkness. You know that person said there is always a light at the end of the tunnel? Well they lied, because there seems to be only darkness at the end of mine. I kept walking until I came to the inevitable black abyss. I stopped. My willpower was sapped. I could no longer keep moving, nor make darkish jokes about my predicament. I could barely continue standing. I only saw death and despair. Hardly a great motivation to continue.
Then it appeared. The eye, the blood red eye. I was really beginning to hate the damned thing. We had a staredown that I obviously lost, because that eye is really scary. It bore into my mind, just as it did in the first dream. The extreme pain and torment, the fear, the hopelessness, it was all there, plus something else. I heard a voice.
"Free, do you remember me Free?" It was very scratchy, I could barely understand the voice, let alone know who it belonged to. "Come to me Free, I am waiting for you." This was officially very creepy, if it wasn't already.
Before I awoke from this nightmare, I caught one last gimpse of the house. That accursed house. I really don't like that house.
"Come to me Free, I am waiting.
