Below her was water, a vast ocean of black amethyst. Above was the sky, it was night as the clouds were dark paint blotches on a deep purple background. She could've marveled at it for hours, always being a fan of Luna's work, if it wasn't for the fact that she was falling. Her eyes opened wide as the breeze rushed in her ears as she fell from the bridge. Her hooves grasped for a railing that was just out of reach, and she plummeted to the crashing waves beneath. She flapped her wings tirelessly, with no effect of slowing her down. They were the wings of a filly not yet able to fly.
There was no stopping it, she was going to drown.
Time slowed and she looked to her side. Droplets of water rose up and crashed with her coat and feathers, splitting into dimly illuminated mist. It was cold, freezing, and it only made her more aware of the situation. Ditzy had just enough time to hear the echo of her scream for assistance before her back hit the water. She had no time to arch it away from the drop in temperature. It wasn't long before her head sank below the waves, her breath was knocked out of her creating a wall of bubbles that rushed to the surface, further hindering her vision. The light from the moon faded away as the distance between her and the surface grew ever more greater.
Ditzy struggled to reach the surface by flailing her legs and wings. When her nose broke the water she inhaled deeply to soothe her burning chest. She was met with salt water instead of air. It invaded her lungs and burned her throat causing her to further inhale more. A wave crashed over her head, sending her back into the abyss. The salt singed her eyes as she continued to fight the currents. Her head ached, her ears rang, and colors danced in her irises before a blackness blurred everything before her. She couldn't move, she couldn't breath she couldn't see.
She couldn't think.
Ditzy awoke violently thrashing the sheets that were over her. She gasped for air, still not realizing she was safe. "Ditzy!" Braeburn yelled her name as he tried to calm her down. He was met with a hoof to the face. It collided spot on with his left eye. It almost immediately swelled, blocking half of his vision. However, he barely flinched, and still held Ditzy, trying to calm her down.
It was a few moments before She stopped flailing her limbs and shaking her head, She looked up at him and tears rolled down her cheeks as she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face deep in his mane. He was shocked at the current situation that roused him from his otherwise uninterrupted sleep.
But, either way, he returned Ditzy's embrace, comforting her as much as he could.
Braeburn was worried. He knew that Ditzy was having trouble with her past, but nothing like this had happened before. Whatever nightmare she had, it scared her to the point of tears, which was something that Braeburn hated to see. Slowly however, her tears subsided and she laid back down. He speculated it was a few hours before Ditzy went back to sleep, but Braeburn stayed up, watching over the mare that lay before him. The night persisted, and Ditzy's chest rose and fell softy, signaling that she had finally fell asleep. However, she frequently twist and turned, her face showing expressions of anger and confusion. The nightmares were still affecting her. Throughout the night Braeburn stayed up ready to comfort his love if she woke once more.
It was 11:26, and Braeburn had been staring at the clock some time now, not wanting to fall asleep. The second hand moved one full revolution, and being satisfied that it was in working order, Braeburn moved his gaze from the clock to the window. It was snowing. It must have just started, as a layer of powder had not yet established itself upon the windowsill and the ground was not graced with any frost. It soon would be however, the snow was coming down hard and Braeburn expected a few feet by sunrise. He smiled, the sight of the first snowfall would surely take Ditzy's mind off things, for awhile anyways. His smile faded, and he looked down to Ditzy. She held the quilt tight, seeking comfort in it's softness and warmth, her face still showing signs of distress. Braeburn sighed, The nightmares wouldn't stop unless she at least talked to somepony who knew about these things. He felt useless, all he could do was listen, he had zero skill when it came to emotional conversations.
Blinking, he was reminded of his sore eye. Braeburn was surprised at Ditzy's strength, it wasn't as if he hadn't been in any fights before. Oh no, Braeburn had taken part in his fair share of bar tussles and skirmishes out on the street, all for just cause of course. Not once however, did a black eye bother him, More than often, it was his pride that hurt more than any physical injuries he sustained. Tonight though, his left eye, now completely swelled shut, was truly, honestly, painful. It wasn't the fact that it had been Ditzy that inflicted it, he knew it was far from her fault, and was glad his mare was able to defend herself. But, it really did sting. Never before had Braeburn taken a hit to the face as swift and hard as this one . Throughout the night it transitioned from a dull hum with his pulse racing through it, to a stinging fire set ablaze on his face. And all the while he chuckled at how he was going to explain how he got a black eye...from a mare...in her sleep.
Ditzy was still asleep, it was still snowing, but the ground was not hold even a touch of white. Braeburn looked at the clock, it was still 11:26. "Wait." He thought. Opening his eyes, he sighed as he realized he had drifted off during the night. He had tried his best to stay awake, but the weight on his eyelids apparently overwhelmed him and he succumbed to the comfort of the pillow under his head. More often than not, our dreams can tie in with reality, and Braeburn didn't like it. He accepted Unicorns, their magic, and even fate to an extent. But if their was one thing Braeburn couldn't stand, was when it turns out what you think is real is only a dream. Not because he was reminded of a dull life, he had no complaints there. But Braeburn too had secrets he would not wish to reveal to anyone, not even Ditzy. So, when he can't differentiate between what is real and what his mind conjures up, it upsets him, and sometimes makes him challenge the reality of the moment.
Thankfully, time is a constant in dreams, and Braeburn was able to take a hold of that. Now, in reality it was close to sunrise, the snow had piled up, and Ditzy was nowhere to be found.
Braeburn still was waking up, and it delayed his reaction to the unknown whereabouts of his fiancee. If the time of day, and absence of the Pegasus didn't tell him he had just woken up from a dream, his still swollen eye sure did.
"Oh yeah, that's right." He mumbled groggily still trying to wake up. He lightly touched his eye, and pulled his hoof away almost immediately. He chuckled once more and said aloud, "Damn Ditzy, this sure will be a story."
He slid out of bed, and onto the cold floor. The temperature drop further awakened him and he trotted downstairs in search of the grey mare that usually occupied the left side of the bed.
Ditzy was standing near the table in the kitchen, having apparently already been up for a while.
"Good Morning Beautiful." Braeburn cheerfully said, not sure of how Ditzy was feeling.
The nightmare couldn't have phased her all that much, or at least she didn't show it when she turned around with a smile saying.
"Braeburn! It snowed last nigh-" She stopped mid sentence as she eyed Braeburn's injury.
With a flutter of her wings, and an amazing burst of speed, Ditzy cleared the distance between her and Braeburn in a heart beat. She gasped and frantically said. "Oh my, oh my oh my, Oh my goodness, are you okay? What happened? Who-." She stopped once more, realizing exactly who landed the jab to Braeburn. She covered her mouth with a hoof in disbelief, and continued her rambling.
"Oh no, did I? I did! I'm so sorry. Why did I? What happened? Oh no, the nightmare!" She covered her face with a hoof as she tried to make sense of it all.
"Honey." Braeburn couldn't' help but chuckle at how adorable she sounded just then. "Please, I'm okay.
It was an accident."
Ditzy gasped once more as she closely examined the wound. "Come on, we need to go see Nurse Redheart, She can Mmmfmm-" The last of her sentence was muffled as she grabbed a jacket in her mouth.
"Ditzy." Braeburn smiled. "Nurse Redheart is in Ponyville."
Ditzy dropped the jacket. "I'm going to go see Twilight, you can come with me!"
"Really, Its okay, I can just go get some ice and-" Braeburn started to say, but Ditzy's eyes lit up when she heard the word ice.
"Braeburn!" He was silenced. "It snowed last night!"
Braeburn let out an affectionate sigh as he trotted towards his love and nuzzled her head. "Yes, and by looks of it, I don't think the trains are going to be moving anytime soon. So, I guess you're stuck with me."
Upon hearing this Ditzy pushed away the subtle disappointment that came from not consulting Twilight, mainly because she got to spend the day with Braeburn. She spent the next few minutes getting some ice and for the injury she unintentionally inflicted the night before.
Braeburn placed it on his eye, wincing as he did so. A few silent moments past before Ditzy spoke up.
"How...how did I do that?" She asked.
"You're stronger than you look Ditzy, and you have a mean right hook." Braeburn said, not realizing Ditzy looked towards the ground as he did. "But, it was the nightmare, I know you didn't mean to. Are you okay now?"
Ditzy nodded.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She shook her head no.
"If you talk, I'll listen," Braeburn said, wiggling his ear.
Ditzy sighed. "I don't know. I dreamt that I was drowning. It...it just felt, real." She didn't break her gaze from the floor as she described the wretched nightmare.
"Well, that's just it, you dreamt it. It wasn't real and it couldn't hurt you." Braeburn tried to sound as comforting as possible.
"I think I almost drowned as a filly." Ditzy replied.
An unsettling pause in the conversation followed suit.
Braeburn set the ice pack down and hugged Ditzy, nuzzling her yet again. "Don't you go about worrying what may have happened in the past. We have ourselves a mighty fine future ahead of us, I know it."
Ditzy's tears didn't come, instead she returned Braeburn's hug.
"Now, I was thinking." Braeburn continued as he looked at Ditzy. "We better start thinking up names for the little one."
Ditzy ears perked up and she smiled. She didn't even have to think before she answered. "Ramona."
Braeburn looked up in thought for a few moments. Thinking over the name. "Ramona, I like it." He looked back to Ditzy. "Now, what if he's a colt?"
Ditzy, smiled. "She won't be."
Braeburn cocked an eyebrow. "And what makes you so sure? Don't I have a say in this?"
Ditzy looked over to her underside. "I just know, and no you don't." Looking back up to Braeburn she chuckled and said. "Are you the one whose going to be carrying a foal around all day?"
Braeburn returned his signature chuckle and grin. "You got me there Ditzy." He returned the ice to his eye. "I meant to ask, do you think she's going to be a Pegasus?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter." she grinned as she replied.
Braeburn secretly wished his foal would be, then he or she could feel the wonder of flight. "You're right, but I always wondered, what does it feel like to fly?"
Ditzy thought over all the wonderful things about flying. From the way the breeze caresses your face, to the rays of sun gracing the clouds. Ditzy's flexed her wings. "It's amazing." She walked over to grab the jacket off the ground. She picked it up and threw it at Braeburn before finding her own. Braeburn barely caught it mid-flight with a bewildered look on his face. "Come on." Ditzy said over her shoulder before opening the door and walking outside.
Braeburn followed suit, the whiteness of the snow blinded him for a moment. Shielding his eyes, he was able to make out Ditzy stretching her wings.
"What are you planning?" Braeburn asked upon seeing Ditzy's smirk.
"What I do everyday." she replied, still testing her wings in the cold.
"And that might be?"
"Carrying packages." she said smugly.
Braeburn chuckled. "Ditzy, no offense but I don't think you can lift me, let alone fly with-" He was cut off mid-sentence by hooves under him. He looked up to see Ditzy hovering above him. "Now wait a minute before you do anything crazy-" he was stopped once more. Ditzy sighed before she said. "Braeburn, you talk too much." She gave him a wink before taking off, Braeburn in her arms.
"Woah, now hold on Ditzy, this is mighty kind and all, but I'm not so sure about this." Braeburn said over the rush of wind, holding onto his hat.
"Come on, your the one who said I was stronger than I look. Just shut up and enjoy the scenery." She said.
Braeburn rolled his eyes and did as he was told to the best of his ability. The feeling of being high off the ground was new and slightly terrifying. However, he had to admit that the view was beautiful. The recent snow was untouched by pedestrian traffic and the rays of the sun. Appleloosa had been transformed into an ongoing plain of whiteness overnight. Sun glinted off the snow drifts giving the the entire ground below a layer of crystal shimmers. It illuminated the powder as it effortlessly flew from the hilltops, carried by the wind.
Winter air graced the both of them as Ditzy flew higher into the sky. Braeburn could now see for miles and couldn't stop from looking in complete awe. She smiled as she saw his colt-like excitement.
"It's...it's amazing." Braeburn finally spoke up.
Ditzy smiled. No matter what was in store for her. No matter what had happened in the past. She knew now, at this moment, with the love of her life in her arms, the sun on her back, and the breeze lifting her wings, everything was right.