Prologue
The mare stood on the edge of a seemingly endless plain, the edge only because no unicorn had ever stepped hoof beyond. A wind blew, rustling the fair smelling sweet green grass and causing a shiver to run down her back, tousling the emerald mane.
"It's always the Seconds, isn't it? You've stopped remembering, stopped caring, stopped pretending to care, so now we're left to pick up the pieces. Only I'm being called back, and with my replacement, what will you do? Who will fill my place? Or will a gap be made in the Final Protection…?"
There was no answer to her question. Snorting, the mare reared, moss hooves flailing through the air, jaded-sage muscles rippling from anger. She landed, only to spring forward, churning the ground beneath her as she traveled away from safety, away from the known, into the unknown.
I will not be USED! I am NOT a BEAST of burden! Do NoT tHiNk YoU cAn CoNtRoL mE!
~(~*~)~
"The world is dying beneath us, beneath them, and they think they can stop it alone. What do they know? What do they think they can do, think they can stop?
"The Seconds are forgotten. And so the Darkness will descend again. The minds of the Enclosed will be forgotten, the breath of the First will be choked, and the Royal One will be Killed.
"… What do they think they know?"
~(~*~)~
Everything was dark as it surrounded her, burying itself deep into both mind and soul. Images flashed by, burning themselves into her memory, but at the time she couldn't think about it. Couldn't think about anything. The pain was too much for her. Her mind was blacking out, was gone-
-but it wouldn't let her. It wouldn't let her go away, oh no no no, that would be too nice, that would be taking the pain away. The pain was driving her insane. But she couldn't get away. It wouldn't let her. No, it wouldn't let her.
~(~*~)~
"I don't want to kill anymore." The girl stood up, robe falling away from her body. Bloodstains covered her back, her back, her back was pulsing, growing, and there was a horrible ripping noise…
Two wings shot out from her as she screamed. "Ke! Bfuiju! Fiso Atalanta, Fegs Numinor! Sunchaser! Bfuiji, sek'p iliksek hu…!" A sob tore from her throat as she fell to her knees. The wings, blood-stained and black, folded themselves back into her, the skin mending instantly.
"Arianna… bfuiju jimu hu rgeh pwaj wuff…"
~(~*~)~
Stifling a scream, Arianna sat bolt upright in her bed, sweat running down her forward. A dream. Everything had just been a dream. There was no reason to be scared of a dream, especially one as crazy as that. They didn't make sense, and they could never come true…
