Nightmares

"UGH!" You shout as you fiddle with the device you're currently creating. At this very moment, you're inventing a new device for your marefr- *Ahem* Princess Celestia. She wants you to create this contraption to help advance technology in Equestria. Unfortunately for you, you're the only one who can make these things.

HAZAAH!

As you pat yourself on the back for a job well-done, you sigh and sit down in your comfortable human-sized chair. You've been in Equestria for roughly two glorious months and you've been loving it. When you first arrived in Equestria, you were scared out of your mind. Apparently, you first woke up in a hospital bed and engaged with your surroundings. It didn't seem like a normal hospital because you didn't have a gown protecting your more masculine areas and the door seemed slightly smaller than most entrances. When you found out you were on a different planet and or dimension, you immediately fainted. The distinction between reality and dreamland wasn't apparent at the time.

When you regained consciousness in the hospital, you were surrounded by nurses and doctors. They were undergoing an examination of your body and you were not comfortable with it. When you screamed out "What the FUCK!", you caused all the staff to flinch. This was the first time you've laid your eyes upon these ponies, and you didn't  want anything to deal with any of them. All you wanted was to go home, sit on your computer, and watch some Lost while you ate some Pringles. This idea was on your mind ever since you landed in the bed and now, you regret thinking of it.

To you, Equestria feels like a land of fairy tales. Pegasi flying around, Unicorns casting spells, ponies talking, and the dangerous mythological creatures of the Everfree Forest; they all relate to the stories you read in Mythology class back on Earth. Unlike the stories, you can actually associate and have a intelligent conversation with most of them. This is basically a dream come true for you and you never want to leave.

What's weird is you don't remember your name and most of your past life. It's not your fault, apparently the injuries you sustained when you first entered the hospital were the reasons for it.  After regaining your composure, you were able to ask the doctors about your injuries. They told you that your brain lost any capabilities of remembrance regarding anything before the age of five, and some bits and pieces between six and your present age. They also told you some other things relating to a broken nose, a few cuts on your arms, and a weird ear infection that you somehow knew was already there. After a while of speaking with them, you were able to calm down enough to not freak out that you were in a land filled with talking ponies and...

...not a single human with you.

You slide in your seat and sigh contently, embracing the comfortable seat cushions. You had no idea ponies took pride in their cushions. Heck, you didn't even know they had the capability to build buildings, have magic, talk, create a monetary system, create a nation, and forge a government. The list could continue from there but you didn't want to think about it. This is your restraint from over-thinking too much.

And restraints are fun...

Shut up.

Your mellow state breaks as your mind enters the gutters of the abyss...

Brain, I'm sending you on a one-way trip to the pornography shops of hell.

Okay see you in a while.

Just shut up. Now.

You hear faint sounds of laughter before the noises fade away.

You hate your brain sometimes. It has a mind of its own at some stages and even acts on impulse without you knowing. A perfect example of this was when you first met Princess Celestia.  You were still at the hospital at the time, recovering from your injuries. You were snuggled up nicely to the pillows they provided you, currently in a state of bliss. While you were embracing perfect comfort, Twilight Sparkle, one of the mares who assisted the others in bringing you to the hospital, was questioning you a bit. She was afraid of you when you first officially spoke to each other, but she lightened up to you and managed to question you about yourself.

About half way through the interrogation, you were interrupted by the sound of knocking. You couldn't help but become slightly irritated, because you were explaining why deep-dish pizza was the best pizza ever created. Even though Twilight winced at the ingredients provided, she understood your position for the most part. Twilight grudgingly trotted towards the door, her purple aura beginning to surround the door. Once the door was enveloped in a sea of amethyst, the door swung open. The pony on the other side of the door was none other than Princess Celestia herself.

This was the first time you saw her and for some reason, you felt attracted to her. No not in the like-like attraction, rather, you were attracted by the fact she was a Princess and a pony that stood slightly above your height. At first, the word 'princess' didn't affect you at all. When you came to full realization that she was indeed a princess, well...let's just say your cerebrum had an overload. It was too much to process, causing you to collapse to the ground. Yet again, this is why you still despise your brain to this very day.

Enough reminiscing! You have work to do!

You shift in your seat, before returning to work on your mechanical part. The current part you were working on today is just one piece of a full assembly. Apparently, ponies never heard of factories, mass production, or assembly lines; so you have to carefully mend with what little resources you have. It also seems that they have the technological advancements similar to the ones of the medieval era. With that in mind, You could make use of some of the resources to make some awesome weaponry that Equestria has never heard of. The only issue with this idea is that this weaponry would change this peaceful place. You wouldn't want to change the tranquility of this beautiful landscape even if the government gave you all of its money.

As you continued to mend your mechanical part, you hear a subtle knocking on your office door. Yes, you own an office. Your job, as Lead Architect and the only Mechanical Engineer in Equestria, gave you an office.  This means you would have the most privacy in the whole castle, except when somepony wants to visit you.

Who could that be?

You announce,

"Come in."

The knocking ceases and a yellow glow fills its place. You realize the golden yellow glow from anywhere. This was the glow of Celestia's. You smile and await for your marefriend to enter. You always thought being with Celestia was the best time of the day. This signified two things: your day for work was over and the fact you get to spend the rest of the day with Celestia.

Anyway, the door swings open gently and the regal princess enters the room, grinning from ear to ear. She slowly approaches your desk and says,

"Time to stop working honey."

You smile and leave the comfort of the cushions.  You slowly approach her and give her a light kiss on the cheek. She hums and nuzzles you beneath your neck. You smile and ask,

"Do you mind if we go to your chambers today? Work has got me a bit worn out and I'd like to relax with my beautiful marefriend."

Celestia continues to nuzzle your neck, causing you to sigh in content. You love when she nuzzles you right under your neck. Her warm fur rubbing slowly across your bare skin makes you feel like you're in heaven. Fortunately for you, Celestia is your heaven so you're technically already in heaven. You start to laugh a bit due to your brain over-thinking things again. Celestia notices this and stops her nuzzling. She asks,

"What's so funny?"

You stop your laughter and state,

"Nothing baby, just my brain having its moments."

She smiles deviously, stating,

"Were you thinking about my flank again honey?"

The word flank immediately entices your mind to drift into the gutters again. You begin to imagine the plot, the smooth curves...

I told you to stay in the shops brain.

They kicked me out for causing a ruckus.

I hate you brain.

Love you too.

You come back to reality to see your marefriend on the ground in a fit of laughter. You look down at her and feel a sudden rush of blood enter your cheeks. You realize she will be making fun of you for days about this situation, all thanks to your brain.

After completely being embarrassed by your mare, she gets up and motions for you out of your office. You smile and motion for you to follow her. Apparently, She likes it when you're leader, probably because she hates being called by her royal title for so long. You can't really figure her out though. You always thought Celestia might be slightly bi-polar, but you dismissed the theory when she told you she wasn't. Right...

You both walk through the long hallways of the Canterlot Castle. For some reason, they decided to extend the hallway from your office to build a small bathroom.  When you first heard about this, you thought it was going to be a very small extension due to the castle's sheer size. You were horribly wrong once again. They extended it too far out. It felt like you had to walk a few miles just to get to the bathroom.

When you arrived to the huge staircase of death (as you preferably like to call it), you turn to her and ask,

"Why the heck have we not gotten some sort of elevator for this yet?"

She looks over to your direction and says,

"Funds."

"FUNDS? Hold on."

She looks at you, a puzzled look scattered across her face.

"Let me get this straight," you rub your temples as you try to figure out the situation. "You can't get enough funds to make an elevator, yet you have enough funds to extend a hallway enough for a marathon to be held for a small bathroom?!"

Celestia looks down in shame and says,

"Blueblood wanted it..."

You try to resist the urge to facepalm, but you unfortunately fail at doing so. You facepalm so hard, the sounds of it traveled throughout the city of Canterlot. Your Princess looks up at you and says,

"Is that bad?"

You declare,

"It's not just bad...it's unnecessary."

Your Princess smiles and responds,

"Please, honey, don't overreact again. Last time that happened, I had to send a 'nurse' to your office."

You groan,

"Please...don't send Luna again. She messed up my mind a bit."

You see your mare snicker quietly. You sigh and start your journey up the large spire...

About an hour later, you and Celestia are at the doors of her chamber. As you know, the castle is ridiculously huge. The main tower alone is equivalent to the height of the Willis Tower. You couldn't fathom on how you were able to have enough energy to walk up those stairs and still be breathing. Celestia tells you it's because of her magical powers that stimulate you to get to her chambers as quick as possible. Even though it's slightly true, you can't connect the dots.

Celestia turns her attention to her guards and motions for them to move. The guards nod and move out of the Princess's way. She grins and opens the door with her magical unicorn horn. You can't help but be jealous of her horn or any unicorn's horn for a fact. They can grip onto anything they need to without the use of hands.

You both walk through the doors of the chambers. Celestia turns around and says,

"You may shut them now."

The guards nod and shut the doors, giving you and your mare privacy.

You both smile at each other and walk towards the bed. You begin to strip down, leaving only your boxers on. Celestia also strips down, removing all jewelry from her midst. Once you both finished stripping down, you both climb into bed. You and Celestia snuggle up against each other, Celestia setting her head on your chest. She looks over at you and asks,

"How was your day?"

Come to think of it...your day wasn't horrible.

Besides tinkering with the mechanical part, you also received a letter from your pen pal in Ponyville. The one thing you loved about your pen pal was her letters. She always wrote letters that would either warm your heart or make you laugh at loud. Today's letter was no different. Apparently, your pen pal was in her shop when a bird swooped down and tried to land on her mane. Fortunately for her, she closed the window before the bird could even enter the shop. Unfortunately for the bird, he hit the window going full speed, causing it to make a loud bone-breaking sound. She said she dropped the bird off to Fluttershy to see if she could nurse it back to health, but she warned Fluttershy to keep the bird away from her mane.

After being lost in thought, you turn to your mare and say,

"My day was good, thank you for asking."

Celestia smiles, happy with your answer. You always love seeing her smile. Every time it happens, you feel like you contract diabetes. Maybe I should get checked out for diabetes later...

You decide to return the question and ask,

"How was your day dear?"

Celestia's reaction to your question was interesting. Her muzzle began to scrunch up and her face began to contort. If this wasn't her thinking face, then you don't know what is. After a minute of thought, she returns to reality and says,

"It was good for the most part. Day court was the same as usual, but there was something that disturbed me."

You began to grow concerned for her. You ask,

"What disturbed you?"

She removes her head from your chest and looks to the left. This concerned you even more. Celestia rarely gets shaken up by anything. Whether it's Discord trying to take over Equestria, or a dragon trying to burn down a city; she is on top of the issue and ready to strike it down. When she is perturbed by something or someone, it becomes your problem as well. In situations like this, you try and stay calm. You would talk to her in a monotone voice and tell her everything would be okay. You decide this would be the best way to calm her down.

You say,

"Celestia...look at me please."

She begins to gaze back at you, tears developing in her eyes. Without warning, you pull her into a warm, gentle hug. She gasps by the sudden contact. You smile and begin to wipe away her tears with your fingers. After a few moments, you break the embrace and return to the soft pillow on the bed. You return your attention back to your mare, who is currently shifting to get a better position in the bed. You state,

"Celestia, if you don't want to tell me it's ok-"

She interrupts you by putting her hoof to your mouth. She responds,

"No, I have to tell you..."

She pauses and takes a deep breath. Once she does this, Celestia states,

"In day court, citizens of my fellow kingdom would ask me to advise them on certain things or they would ask me if I could do something about an issue. Today, One pony came in and did something I never thought would happen."

You become a bit interested in the story. You ask,

"What did the pony do?"

She looks at you, her gaze locks to yours. She then says,

"She did neither of those. Instead, she told me the one I love will be in danger."

Now it's your turn to fidget slightly in the bed. You shift a bit in the bed, due to the discomfort of the news. You decide to ask her about the news the pony gave her. You ask,

"What did the pony mean by me being 'in danger'?"

Her gaze shifts to the right corner of the room, unable to meet yours once again. You decide you need to take a bit of an initiative. You ask again,

"Celestia, what did the pony mean by me being 'in danger'?"

She returns her glare to you and says,

"The pony said the one I love is in danger and I would be powerless in stopping the unforeseen dangers that lie ahead."

"Still doesn't answer my question..."

She facehoofs at your response. You try to stifle a giggle, but you see Celestia glare at you. She says in a defiant tone,

"This isn't funny; this is very serious! I'm worried about you and your well-being! I don't know if you noticed, but I usually have only two guards at my door. Tonight, I put three at the door!"

You begin to realize how serious the situation was. A pony you didn't even know is telling you to beware of the dangers ahead. You had no idea what this meant, but you wanted to take it seriously; so you didn't worry your mare any longer. You sigh and put your arm around your mare's neck. She sighs in content and snuggles into your chest. You say,

"Honey, I'm not saying I'm not worried about the situation. It's just not my top priority at the moment. My priority is you my sweet princess. Let's not worry about it at the moment. Right now, we should be worried about getting some rest; we're going to need it for tomorrow."

She smiles and says,

"Okay honey, thank you for watching out for me."

"I always will dear. Now rest, your ponies need the sun for tomorrow!"

She giggles at your declaration and sighs. She says,

"I love you."

You smile back at her and say,

"I love you too."

You both lay in the bed, intertwined in each other's limbs. As you lay there, you begin to feel sleep take you. You comply with your body's demands, letting sleep embrace you. One last thought invades you as you embrace the darkness. The thought states:

Sleep well...my servant.

As you slept, you begin to feel a suddenly chill  enter your system. You couldn't help but feel uncomfortable by the cold, so you decide to wake up. As you open your eyes, you look to see something was missing. This something was very important to you. Celestia wasn't laying in bed with you.

You gasp and began to look around the room. You noticed the room you were in wasn't Celestia's. The bed you were currently laying in was small, but large enough for you to at least fit in. You began to look at the bed in a more in-depth perspective. The bed was made out of wood and the bed had bars surrounding the whole entire exterior, in case the occupant rolled around in their sleep. You decide it would be better to get out of this foreign bed then lay in someone else's bedroom. You sigh and grudgingly get out of the bed. You look back at the bed and notice the covers were as white as snow. In the middle of the covers was some lettering. The letters spelled out:

SERVITUDE.

You began to shiver a bit due to the cold still gripping you. You decide it would be a wise decision to leave the room and see if the rest of the place was the same temperature. You begin to walk towards the door. You open it slightly, taking a peek at the surroundings. The room you were in was connected to a hallway. You decide to open the door even wider and walk out of the room. You enter the hallway and  look around. The hallway went in both directions, one led to what appeared to be another hallway. The other end led to what appeared to be a stairwell. You decide to take the stairwell, since you feel you've intruded for too long. You begin to quietly approach the stairs. As you approach the entry of the stairwell, you look down. The building you were in was two stories high and included a basement.

Due to your curiosity, you decide to check out the rest of the house. You begin to descend down the stairs. As you did this, you heard a loud scream and a crashing noise.  Wondering what would've caused such a sound, you try to figure out where the source came from. You decide to go through the first floor and see what you could find.

You continue to descend until your foot meets the first floor. You smile slightly and approach the room in front of you. Apparently, you were in someone else's home. In front of you was a living room. This room was a bit smaller than what you thought it would be, but you didn't mind. The room had a large plasma screen television with two couches and a desk with a red vintage lamp on top of the desk.

As you continued to explore the home, you came up to the room to the right of the living room. You were currently in the kitchen. Now this room surprised you. The kitchen was equivalent to the size of the living room. Unlike the living room, the kitchen was a mess. The doors of the cabinets were ripped off their hinges; the sink, the countertops and the window sills were all covered in flour; and the table was snapped in half. You couldn't reason how this kitchen was so unkempt and destroyed, but it wasn't your problem. You decided you've seen enough of the kitchen, so you proceed to the next room.

The next room you enter is completely dark. You take a look to your right and notice a light switch conveniently placed on the wall. You flip the switch, causing light to fill the room. You gasped at what you saw. Inside this room was a play area with all the necessary items: toy cars, plastic dinosaurs, a small TV with a array of movies stacked beside it, a hot wheels race track connected and ready to use; and a basketball hoop.

You couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of you. It was like any kid's dream to own a play room such as this. What threw you off about this room was a note attached to the backboard of the hoop. You approach the hoop cautiously, checking corners for good measure. You carefully grasp the note and tug on it. This causes the note to be freed from the backboard, allowing you to take a gander at the note. You begin to read the note and gasp in shock. The note reads:

"Doesn't this look familiar?"

You begin to take in what the note stated. This play room does look familiar to you. When you were younger and back in your dimension, you remember playing with toys like these. The race track was your favorite thing to use. You would make the track so long, it would race outside and into the neighbors home. You would sit there for hours with the track and come up with new layouts to maximize your fun. Good times...good times.

As you continue your little reminiscence, you begin to wonder what the note meant. Someone couldn't have left it there and expected you to pick it up. There has to be someone who knows you're in the house. You decide to let the thought linger while you continue your exploration of the house.

When you exit the playroom, you hear a loud scream again. This time you are able to identify the possible location of which this noise was emitting from. Your curiosity sense ignites, leaving the exploration of this house for another rainy day. You begin your trek towards the living room. As you do this, you begin to ponder on whose home this could be. It seems so familiar to you, but you cannot put a name to the house yet.

As you enter the living room, you gasp. Someone has recently came through the living room. The plasma screen TV that once stood proudly was now on the floor in pieces. The couches were torn, cushions and cotton strewn about the room. The desk was split in half and the red vintage lamp was shattered. The only thing that piqued your interest was the lamp. It wasn't because it was vintage, but in the rubble of the destroyed artifact was a note. Your curiosity gives into the temptation and you walk over to the note and pick it up. Reading the note aloud, it says,

"If one forgets the past, then one forgets the future.

If one forgets one's identity, then one forgets their own.

If one forgets those who are near,

then one will be forgotten."

What does this mean? You ask yourself as you ponder over the statements. You've heard of secret riddles like this in the movies, but you never thought of encountering one as this. No longer needing the note, you set the note down where you originally found it. As you do this, you hear the scream again. The scream was louder than the last one, indicating you're closer to the sound than you thought.  You grin slightly, knowing your adventure is coming to a close.

You begin to approach the stairwell once again, descending to the depths of the basement. As you step off the stairwell, you shift your gaze to the basement. It's a long hallway with a few rooms connected on either side. You slowly begin to approach the hallway. As you pass the first two rooms, you hear something cry out,

"Why did he leave?"

This voice sounded familiar to you.

All at once, the memories began to invade your conscience. The playroom, the living room, the kitchen, and the bedroom. This wasn't someone else's home. This was yours and you're in it right now. There's still a bit of doubt remaining if this house was truly here. You remember your sheets on your bed were red not white. You also remember the sheets didn't have lettering on them. Something seemed wrong here and you're on the case.

You slowly continue your walk down the hallway, peering into rooms as you passed them. Most of the rooms were surprisingly empty; not how you remembered them. Most of these rooms were filled with junk because your mother was a garage sale euthesist. She would always stop at every single one because she said 'There's untold treasures in every single box, nick, or cranny. It's my job to find them!'.

For some reason, all of her junk had disappeared. Another thing to tag on the list of doubts.

You were nearing the end of the hallway when you turn to your left and see a human-like figure, sitting with its legs crossed. It had its hands covering its face. You hear the figure sobbing and its tears were creating puddles on the floor. At first, you feel sad for the poor being, however; you had some doubt stilled in your mind. You didn't know how long the figure was there, but it would be pretty impossible to make several large puddles just from tears. Secondly, you spotted some blood on the walls; which made you very suspicious about the situation. Did the figure cut itself? Did it murder someone? What was it crying about?

You had to ask yourself all these questions because now, you're at a standstill. You didn't know whether you should check on the person and throw risk out the window; or move on and explore the rest of the basement. You couldn't even say curiosity distracted you because it was out for lunch. It was your decision...and yours alone to make.

You lean against the wall next to you , allowing you to ponder about the situation. As you do this, you hear the figure shout,

"Why...Why did he leave us? We...could've helped him with his problems..." The figure paused and sobbed a bit more. After a bit of sobbing it continued,

"We didn't want him to commit to the bet, but he did! Why did you do it!!"

The figure became silent once again, it's quiet sobbing continues on.

What does this figure mean by a bet? What problems did he have?

You decided to go and comfort the human figure so you can get some answers. You slowly enter the room, not wanting to alarm the figure. As you walk forward, you begin to notice the objects that surrounded the figure. A knife, a few bottles of igniter fluid, and some matches. These items confused you for the most part, but you didn't want to have anymore question sprout out. You just wanted the answers to the ones you have.

As you continue your pace, you suddenly see the figure stop its sobbing abruptly. It slowly turns to you and you meet its eyes. This was a mistake you will regret making. The human-like figure looked like someone you knew. This figure wouldn't be compared to a friend or a acquaintance. No, this figure resembled someone of your past...someone of utmost importance. The only thing disturbing you was the fact the figure's eyes were red. This threw you off a bit.

The figure says in a sympathetic tone,

"Graziano, is that you?"

Graziano? You look puzzled at the figure before asking,

"Was that my name?"

The figure gives you a glare, its eyes growing wider.

"This is what I named you." The figure gets up from its seat. You look down from where it sat and noticed the spot was covered in blood. You return your gaze to the creature and you notice its teeth weren't like a humans.

They were fangs.

You jump back slightly, scared by the sight.

The figure takes notice of your fright and says,

"What? Can't you recognize me?"

You shake your head slightly and begin to make a break for the hallway.

Unfortunately for you, you're dealing with a supernatural human-like thing...

...and it wants you.

The figure screams loudly as if possessed, causing the world around you to appear double. You slowly fall to the ground due to your brain unable to cooperate with your double vision. As you fall you turn to see the supernatural human grinning devilishly at you. It's eyes began to turn into a blood red. It's skin began to peel off in layers as if it was an onion. Before you collapsed to the ground, you took notice of the creatures hands. You didn't know why but it's hands were interesting. Unlike the rest of the body, it's hands were proportional to its head in size. The hands were also sharp, pointy, and claw-like.

When you hit the ground, you looked up and noticed the creature was right in front of you. You couldn't help but shake in fright as it's grin doubled in size. The creature notices this and says,

"I guess it's time to receive your end of the deal..."

It smiles before screaming and striking you in the arms. You close your eyes and await for the pain to hit. Instead, you're rewarded with a feeling of numbness and nothingness. You try to open your eyes, but you can't. Instead, you feel light and float in the darkness you're now planted in...

...awaiting for the light to shine on you once again.