Standing straight, Amissus's eyes snapped open. He was in a simple circle of light, the darkness on its edge methodically destroying the effectiveness of the single beam cast down from the above nowhere.
"There you are…" A voice from the shadows, as cold as this place felt, called out. "Look at you now: Frightened of your own shadow!" The voice then laughed, taunting him.
He looked down at his own shadow, wondering why he should be frightened, and saw many pricks of light shone back like eyes of a mass of many tiny demons. His shadow detached from him and slithered into the deepening emptiness beyond sight, only the pricks of light still visible to him. The lights then began to rearrange into pairs, spreading around Amissus, encircling him. They began bobbing slightly, up and down; and there was laughter, squealing and unkind, laughter at Amissus…afraid of his own shadow. The looming voice of the darkness spoke out once more; barely audible over the laughter of the lights.
"You're lucky we found you before They did. Return to us. We will keep you safe. You failed to see that at first, and maybe you still haven't been convinced that you'll be safer with us. But you will know it best when that little town falls to ruin in Their pursuit. Every pony will be slaughtered, every house burned, every memory of that town will be replaced by fire! They have no restraint."
The voice joined in the laughter of the demon eyes but soon the entirety of the joke they had created subsided to echoes of cries and screams of the image that the voice had described: Workers fighting for their homes and families, mothers calling frantically for their lost foals, and worst of all, a looming inevitability that sank so deep into Amissus that these sounds were real…all too real. Amissus could not block the torture from his mind. Movement was denied to his body; his hellish shadow had slithered behind him and restrained him with straps of black. He trembled as the intensity and volume of these events and voices grew beyond a level of distinction, soon growing into one solid play of peril. Despite his best efforts to shake his shadow off, he remained motionless. Despite his best efforts to plea for silence, his yells were drowned out and forgotten seconds later. The voice, somehow intelligible through this insanity and agony, only repeated "Return! Return! Return...!"
The noise cut itself altogether and his shadow returning below him, subservient to his body once again. Amissus only noticed the polar change after he heard his yells ringing back to him in echoes. His body still shook, as if the act continued within himself. Still, he stood bolt upright, his eyes still closed in fear that the lights were still staring back at him, waiting to start this nightmare again. He then heard a sound that eased his trembling: A mare's voice, simply saying his name.
"Amissus."
"Mother…?"
A smile shone through the darkness, the taunting eyes no longer there. Then the pegasus mare made herself known, taller than Amissus and looking down onto his body as if he'd been just born: pure and new. Her face's fine features drew the eye upward to her swept mane, blonde and white as a pure beach's sand, pouring its wholeness down to the ground, clearing away the darkness. Her coat was a similar affair, only more cream in color, glowing with health and an essence that the surrounding darkness despised and forced to shy away from. Her yellow eyes began to tear up although the reasoning why was lost on Amissus. She spoke once more through her weeping voice.
"Amissus…my son!" She lost control of the emotion building behind her beautiful face; she launched herself forward and began to hold Amissus with her forelegs, her head resting on his. Amissus felt the teardrops falling on the nape of his neck. Amissus felt shocked for few moments, questioning whether or not if this wasn't just another trick by the darkness. But the smell of this mare was unquestionable, triggering his memory to when she held him as a colt, when she cheered him on, when she scolded him, when she congratulated him, when she punished him, when she was…his mother.
But he couldn't remember anything passed that.
"Mother?" He could only think to say.
"Yes, son?" She asked him, still holding tight, but her tears had stopped.
His suspicion about this place was too strong, but he felt that it must be confirmed. "The voices…they're right aren't they?" His voice was that of a colt's; he was uncertain and scared.
She squeezed him closer, he lost his balance in her doing so. They both fell to a sitting position. She felt her head shaking in disagreement, then nodding in affirmation. "Yes, Amissus, they are. They are right. You'd be much safer with him than being caught."
"But I don't want to go back. I'm not even sure where to go."
"You'll find your way, you always have." She started to rock him again. His head started to feel as though there where millions of tiny fragments stuck in his brain.
"What happens now?"
"They need you. Find your way back. Save your friends and return. Return."
"No…I can't! I…I won't!" Her body was gone and he was still rocking, laying down in his own self-denial. "I refuse! I won't return and I won't be caught by Them!"
His words meant nothing in this empty world.
…
He dropped down from whatever held him up; he didn't stand because he couldn't stand. The connection between himself and his body was severed still. With the pain in his skull suddenly multiplied in such a short time his voice rang out in a ferocious, almost primeval, yell into his blindness. His vision began to clear when the last of his voice was gone; he stared upward to the perfectly blue sky, his breath too coming under his control.
"Glad to have you back."
"Huh…?" He looked to where the voice was to see the mismatched face staring back at him. "Oh…Discord." He laid his head back and rested it on the grass, his headache now dulled.
"That was quite the fit you threw while I was carrying you." He paused, also lying down leisurely. "Do you always have visions when you're drunk?"
"Probably." Amissus told him. Discord laughed, inciting Amissus to laugh as well, although the humor wasn't clear to him. Nothing was clear to him very often today. Not here and not in his mind. But the strangeness of this situation made a question form.
"Why were you carrying me?" He asked suddenly.
"Oh, you know what happens when you pass out. Those ponies start panicking; I don't like watching them try to wake you up anymore, so while they were talking I snuck you out here. I knew you would wake up eventually."
"And where exactly is 'here?'"
"Just a clearing in the Everfree."
"Oh…" Then the word 'Everfree' clicked. "Wait! Isn't this the place that everybody avoids because it's too dangerous?!"
"Mm-hmm." Discord cheerfully hummed his answer.
Amissus was angry for a moment and then saw the brilliance of this 'thing' beside him. This would be the last place to look if a pony were searching for somepony else. Discord had bought him perhaps a few hours alone, away from the insanity of those six mares.
"What exactly are you anyways?" was Amissus's attempt at starting a conversation.
"Draconequuis, a very noble breed." He chuckled again. "And I'm the last one."
"Did they have the same powers that you do?"
"If only they did. I guess I was special to be given this." He snapped his fingers and the Draconequuis suddenly was in a hammock, sipping an iced drink through a straw, tiny umbrella coming out of the top. He wiped his brow and sunglasses appeared as his claw was removed.
"Don't suppose I could get one of those drinks?" Amissus asked, now thirsty at the thought of a cold drink.
Discord look at him through his sunglasses, pausing for a moment, as if debating within his own head whether or not to give him the luxury. He laid his head back again and snapped his fingers again. Amissus received the same drink as Discord from thin air. At the same time, a great parasol was looming over Discord, blocking the sun from the both of them. Amissus sat upright, holding his newfound beverage. He held it in his hooves and lifted it to his mouth, ignoring the straw, and sipped a little. The drink was fruity, an indistinguishable fruit, and exceedingly sweet. It wasn't a drink Amissus would have often but the greater refreshment convinced him that this drink would do nicely for the time being.
"Isn't it nice just to lounge around, sipping on this nectar, and simply be alone?" Discord asked, reveling in his self-fulfillment.
"Yeah…" Amissus blankly answered. "What exactly did you see?"
"See in where?" Discord asked back, his voice teasing.
"In my…vision; in that 'dark world,' what did you see?"
"I saw you get your own butt handed to you by a bunch of shadows. Then I couldn't see anything more after that."
"So you didn't see a mare?"
Discord looked back over to Amissus, this clearly grabbing his attention. "Come again?"
"Never mind." Amissus dismissed the thought, not wanting to reveal anymore that he had to.
"Alright." Discord returned to his normal lounger's position.
They both took a drink from Discord's nectar and Discord sighed saying "I think this is going to be a good friendship."
Amissus looked over to him, questioning if he wanted any more 'friends.'
…
Amissus took his leave from Discord an hour later. Amissus and he hadn't talked but Discord seemed to enjoy having somepony "different" in his company. Discord had described the six mares who tortured Amissus unknowingly as he saw them:
"Twilight's too much of a know-it-all, Rarity's too smug, Pinkie's alright, Rainbow Dash's ego is out of hoof sometimes, Fluttershy scares me, and Applejack's just…boring to me."
Amissus had a different feel of these ponies, although he didn't believe he'd spent enough time with them to conclude anything else other than he didn't want to spend time with them. He walked back to Ponyville through the Everfree Forest, the darkened trees and blackness of the canopy and the all the strange things that he'd seen were still around him. He began to walk faster, unsure if the danger looming was real.
He saw a light up ahead, glaring in his sight as he came out through the tree line. It was an entire village, flames around a few smoldering buildings, the rest reduced to ash. The bodies of the inhabitants were charred an unrecognizable lying still in the pathways, doorways, and all gave off the stir that fear and destruction would bring. The black trees of the Everfree loomed around the edge of the village, and these buildings were made of a different wood. Amissus felt sick as the smells of this catastrophe wafted around him. Walking among the was-village, Amissus noticed something strange: He didn't feel the heat of the fires that still lived. He passed his hoof through one of the flames and he felt nothing, heat wasn't a part of this fire.
"It's all fake." Amissus knew this entire setup was false. He questioned why anyone would do this, why was it here? Was he meant to find it? Was it meant to bring fear into himself? These were questions that Amissus only interpreted and never answered half because he didn't care and half because he didn't want to know, he felt ashamed for the creators of this waste. He hated everything about this squandering of magic and effort. He stared up at the sun; it was bright, red, giant, and looming. It stared down everything in its influence. Amissus began to question the purpose the sun had to him. Amongst everything else that was more reasonable to question, Amissus hated the sun.
He caught himself mid-thought and mid-feeling. He hated the sun? The absurdness made Amissus wonder if this place and his visions weren't the problem, but rather his own self. He closed his eyes, the lingering light from the red sun was still in his vision as white flashes in the darkness of his eyelids.
I need someplace else, this place isn't for me. I need something else, something to not let me see these things. Not to think these things. And to keep what I fear from happening. I need somepony I can trust.
But in the pool of the ponies he knew, who would trust him?
He opened his eyes again, the village gone, the sun back to its yellow splendor. He was just outside the Everfree, the tree line of the forest spread in either direction, spanning passed the horizon. He was back in Ponyville, and he needed to make some friends.
"Amissus!" The voice startled him to the point of panic, but he quickly contained himself before he looked foolish. "Amissus, are you hurt? Where did you go? Are you alright?!" The voice, harmonic and familiar, he looked to its source. Just for a second, he thought he saw his cream coated mother, but it was somepony much too similar. Fluttershy was pacing around him, he turned to face her but she kept her pace. He quickly spun the opposite direction, snapped his hooves on her shoulders to stop her and said hurriedly, almost out of breath, "I'm fine Fluttershy. I hate it when you ponies worry." He removed his hooves when he was sure that she was convinced that he appeared okay and gave her unsaid approval of his condition.
"I'm sorry; I just don't want anything to happen to you. I've taken care of you for so long and I wouldn't want to have to start again." She smiled at him, the kind of smile that eased the soul.
Amissus couldn't help but return the smile. "I swear, if you were any more worried you'd be-" He stopped himself there, smile gone. He didn't want to say it, he didn't want to say "-my mother." The resemblance admittedly was astounding but failing enough for him not to see his mother in her without thinking.
Thankfully, Fluttershy dismissed his sudden pause. She beckoned him to follow, to which he obeyed.
"I saw Discord take you when Rarity was telling Pinkie, who happened to be on her way to the party supply store, to get help for you. I wanted to say something but the way Discord looked back at me as he carried you; I knew he'd send you back." She told him as they walked to her cottage.
"Well…I really came back on my own accord." He then told her.
"I thought you wanted to leave as soon as possible. That'd been your chance to leave."
"I…I don't know what I want anymore. I'm not even sure if I wanted to leave in the first place."
"Well, while you're here, you can make plenty of friends."
Although he knew it was one of the first things he needed to do, he was still adamant on avoiding the subject of friends. "Have you heard from Twilight? What's her thing she was planning?"
"She's been figuring out a way to find you a place to stay in Ponyville. She didn't tell me the details of how she was going to do it- Oh look who's here now!"
Standing on the footbridge of Fluttershy's cottage, it was none other than Twilight herself. The position that she was standing in made the violet and pink streak in her hair glow from the sun's radiance. It was almost ominous to Amissus, but he thought that it was his mind overworking itself again.
When they reached Twilight, she greeted them both with "I'm glad you're both here, especially you Amissus." Fluttershy took her leave with a smile into her cottage house, leaving Twilight and Amissus outside.
"Where's Spike?"
"Sleeping; it's nap time."
"I see. How's that plan of yours working out?"
"That's what I came to see Fluttershy about actually. I-"
"I have tea on! Why don't you two come inside, it's getting dark after all." Fluttershy interrupted. Amissus searched the sky for the sun and found it floating to the ground.
"Coming!" Twilight called to the inside of the house. She turned back to Amissus. "C'mon, I'll tell you both."
They both made their way into the cottage, Amissus almost tripping over a troop of squirrels running passed. They both then stood in her living room, Twilight taking a chair. Amissus recognized the room he had first woken, door open to see his bed made. He still stood as Fluttershy carried the steaming teapot to the table in the middle of the room. Many small mammals came behind her with teacups and saucers. As the table was set, she immediately began to pour tea for the three of them. As the last cup filled, she too sat down in a chair. Amissus still stood but felt the little creatures pushing him too towards a chair. He took their suggestion, awkwardly positioning himself on a sofa. One chipmunk handed him his cup which he took up with both hooves. They all were sitting, and they all had tea.
Twilight had a sip and set the cup back to the table with her magic, beginning her briefing. "Now, as you know, I've told you that you had to stay in Ponyville until you become better." Amissus rolled his eyes then winced as some animals began to unwind his filthy and loose bandages. "To begin, I've thought that you could stay at all of our homes to see if you like living with us. I suppose since you're already here, you can stay with Fluttershy tonight. Remember though: no funny business with any of us." He again rolled his eyes and tracked some rodents carrying away a bundle of his browned bandages. Twilight deliberately cleared her throat, gaining his attention back. "Got it?"
He halfheartedly nodded saying "And who'll it be tomorrow?"
"The closest of us here is Pinkie Pie, so I suppose you could head to Sugar Cube Corner for lunch and stay the rest of the day and night there. Then there's Rarity's boutique, the library, Sweet Apple Acres, then Rainbow's cloud-house outside of town. "
"Isn't this exciting? It'll be like a sleepover!" Fluttershy's soft voice cast out.
"Yeah…thrilling." Amissus said in an uninterested sarcasm. The rest of his bandages were removed by the small hands, paws, and claws of the animals of Fluttershy's cottage, leaving his mark-less side visible for the sun to cast its light on through the window as it looked with its dying light.
…
Twilight left not long after the teapot was empty and had grown cold. She bid a good night to Fluttershy and Amissus, leaving them both unaccompanied. It was passed evening and Amissus retreated under the covers of his bed that he had lain in for eight lost days, about to lose another. He was dreaming soundly, having a nice senseless dream. But he saw his mother being chased by a flying darkness. He constantly ran towards her running figure and the enclosing darkness. He ran faster and faster, the ruins, gates, walls, and every marker in this dreamscape zipping by quicker and quicker. But he couldn't catch up any more than he already was. The tangle of shadows cornered his pegasinian mother, herself preparing to be engulfed. Amissus could think of nothing to do in the closing seconds but to continue to close the ground between them and scream.
His body in the real world sat upright as his screams died. His door slammed open and Fluttershy, carrying a lantern and leading a mass of curious animals into his room. She rushed to his bedside checking his forehead. Amissus shook and took his face into his hooves. The then began to sob, knowing that his mother was gone, feeling guilty that he couldn't prevent the dream from tainting his ignorance. He cried so much into his hooves that they began to slip away a few times. Fluttershy sat on his bed, attempting to comfort him and attempting to sort out what he was going through.
Amissus's sobs ran dry soon and he finally had no more tears to shed. He sat there, accepting Fluttershy's comfort and company, thankful for it. He looked to her as his eyes cleared of their blur, but he saw his mother. He blinked and saw Fluttershy. He made the oddest request that he'd ever heard himself make.
"Fluttershy…"
"Yes, Amissus, what is it?"
"Just for tonight…can I call you…Mother?"
Fluttershy began to tear up as well. She moved closer and hugged him and he returned the gesture, finding more tears to begin falling.
"You can Amissus…and you can call me your friend for as many nights after tonight as you want."
Amissus began crying on her shoulder with the same intensity as when he first began, but they were tears of relief and comforting spirit. He began to hope that all of this experiment of Twilight's worked out the way this first phase had.
He began to have his family back.