Part 2
Bright lights shined in through the windows as Butterscotch opened her eyes. Holding her hoof in front of her face, she made sure her vision wasn't really impaired. Clearly, she could see the dirt from walking home last night.
"Ew..." she crinkled up her nose in disgust. "I'm going to have to wash the sheets before bed…" She put her hooves on the ground two at a time and trotted into the bathroom and ran a hot bath. Questions started to reel through her head as she sunk into the steaming hot water. Butterscotch winced a bit; she had made it a little too hot.
She stared down into the steamy water. Who is Athens? Where was I? Why do my dreams keep going back there? Do llamas like cheese? She splashed her hooves down in the water with frustration and saw a small twinkle in the water. Her eyes focused on the twinkle and tried to catch looked into the mirror next to her bathtub and saw an almost invisible speck of light was dancing on her window pane. She jumped up and out of the tub to get away from the speck of light. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
She ran madly down through the stairs and leaped over the couch to avoid the light that chased her. Butterscotch didn't quite understand why she was afraid of the light, but something made her shake when she saw it.
Butterscotch ran back behind her house and left her door wide open. The cool air rushed faster as she spread out her wings and lifted her hooves off the ground.
"You have to run… they've found me." A voice echoed in her head. Butterscotch flew faster, no longer just gliding. Her wings beat harder and harder and the air made tears stream down her face. "I can't go back there, not after what he did to me." "He wouldn't understand; he is too blind to see what he is doing to our kingdom." The voice echoed.
"But… Where will you go? His men will hunt you across Equestria!" a mare's voice echoed.
"The only place I can go, Ponyville." The first voice replied, sending an emotion through her that made Butterscotch's heart beat wildly. She didn't even know what she was running from anymore, but she was at her top speed and couldn't slow down. A lake was coming up ahead; it was her only way out. She flew up higher and her she could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She closed her eyes and relaxed, remembering the fall in her dream as she stopped beating her wings.
The wind was flowing upward and she opened her eyes once more as she fell downwards but also kept moving forward. Her heart seemed to almost stop as she was inches away from the surface of the water. A cool feeling washed over her as the water swallowed her up. Butterscotch stared at the surface of the water; a little sparkle was playing on the other side. In the moments before she lost consciousness, it seemed as if she were in another world, the surface only a mirror to the outside world.
But everything was quiet and peaceful under the water's surface; it made her forget that she might drown soon. Up through the mirror, a familiar face was staring down at her, one it felt as if she had seen only moments ago. Athens was floating above her, and his wings were wings only mentioned in fairy tales; the wings of the Fae.
Butterscotch was flying in the arms of Athens, whipping through the air faster than she could have flown on her own. But Athens was a strong Pegasus, her vision was going in and out of blurry this time, and she watched his fiery orange mane whip back and forth, making me give a faint smile; as if a foal watching the little ponies on a mobile.
She looked back at his wings and watched them beat as fast as a hummingbird's wings. Her eyes drifted upwards to the sun that was shining down upon them. Butterscotch nuzzled deeper into his brown coat. She could feel them slowing down and closed her eyes as they landed. She could hear muffled talking as she was passed to another colt's hooves. She could barely feel being moved somewhere, but it was as if she was only half there. Butterscotch started to come back and could hear the chatter now.
"Well? How soon will she be awake?" I heard Athens' say through a voice of worry. "She's semi-conscious; it means she can hear you right now." Another colt replied exasperatedly. She could hear Hoofsteps coming closer and strained to hear the words he whispered to her.
"Scotch… Please wake up… I love you…" She was jolted awake and a dull pain pulsated through her skull.
"You're okay!" he hugged her tightly but she just stared at the room over his shoulder. A room with walls of thick vines covered in leaves made a circle around her bed. Butterscotch held Athens at legs length; she wasn't thrilled about his constricting grasp.
"I don't know you!" she pushed him away and flew up to the ceiling. Light was shining through the leafy vines that made up the conic ceiling as she looked down at her shadow. Lights danced down in the shape of aqua Faerie wings, moving as she did and casting a pale pink light across the room.
Butterscotch was paralyzed with shock and watched the light move as she flapped her wings. She descended to the floor and stared with her mouth open.
"I'm… one of the Fae…" she murmured while Athens walked over and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"Everything is gonna be okay Scotch, you'll remember things again soon."
Air finally reached her lungs as she coughed up salt water. Gasping, she opened her eyes and looked up into the face of Athens. The moon was already high in the sky, and Butterscotch wasn't quite sure how long she had been out.
"Welcome back." Athens looked down at her and she could see the relief in her eyes. She traced the outline of his face with her hoof, trying her hardest to remember him.
"I… I don't know who you are." She gazed deep into his eyes, searching for even a fragment of memory.
"You wouldn't not after what you went through." He stroked her chocolate mane.
"And what did I go through..?" she propped herself up, looking at him, the moonlight seemed to wash out the rest of the world. It was just Butterscotch and Athens; but something sparked inside her, and a flash of memory relayed before her eyes.
"How can you betray your kingdom like this?!" her father glared at her with red eyes of fury. They were in the royal throne room of the castle, the king sat in front of her in a throne made of golden leaves. The throne room looked almost like it was outside; the grass under her hooves was watered every week. Small waterfall-like fountains stood on each side of the golden throne. A blanket of leaves grew on stone frames to make the castle walls and roofing.
"Father, he isn't the answer! Prince Soul can't find the seed of the ancients! That colt is a fraud" Butterscotch was standing on the tips of her hooves, trying to see him eye to eye.
"I will NOT let my daughter die on a wild goose chase! That is FINAL!" Her father stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders. Panic coursed through her veins as Butterscotch struggled to break free, but his grip was too strong. She was lifted by his Fae magic upwards into the air as she kicked and bucked, tingling with the sensation of his green aura engulfing her.
"If you will not perform a princess's duty, then you are not fit to BE a princess!" he screamed as the aura of his magic grew around her. Swirls of magic were moving quickly around Butterscotch, she screamed as her memories flew and began disappearing into the magic. Tears streamed from her eyes as she was dropped to the ground, and the Fae magic in her eyes died out.