The first light of day rose second that morning. Amissus had woken in the animating darkness as the animals around and on him began to scurry about to fulfill their morning habits and needs. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes, pink and tender from crying the night before. He looked to where Fluttershy sat in a chair near the bedside, snoring away, with a book fallen at to the floor from her hoof. He smiled as he remembered her comforting words and the bedside stories she had told him, both from the book and from her own life. He learned a little more about the mares he would be spending the week with from what she had told him, tidbits really. She had explained about Rarity's obsession with fashion and the 'more tasteful things in life.' How Rainbow Dash's every moment is dedicated to becoming a Wonderbolt. Or even about Spike the Dragon, who was raised by Twilight and not of his own kind. That tidbit fell on Amissus a little harder than the countless others; he never felt like he belonged among ponies and griffons and all these creatures, but here he was in this waking world full of them.
He moved about the bed carefully, avoiding the animals still sleeping on it, and set his hooves on the floor. He softly walked by Fluttershy and even more animals to the bedroom door looking back at the scene. He noticed a quill and paper on the bedside table that wasn't there the night before. He risked waking more animals as he retraced his steps to the bed, looking at the paper.
He's not at all as you described, he's kind to the animals and is very sweet. I can't see why you would want me to spy on him like this, especially if I were the one he wanted to call 'mother.' It just doesn't seem right… I might tell him what you're up to so we can finally-and truly-earn his trust.
He wrenched his face, upset. He should've known better to trust any of these ponies, any of his 'friends.' His breathing became heavier as he thought more of Fluttershy's betrayal, even if it was innocent 'note-taking.' Then his focus shifted to the paper. The writing was fading and a small violet glow caused the words to disappear, leaving a blank sheet ready for writing. The amount of curiosity had match his hatred then took over as the dominant feeling. He wanted to know how the writing disappeared, who was it sent to and who did it, and, most of all, why? What was going on? He looked to the paper again to see the same violet glow over the paper. This time words transpired to the sheet and, when they became legible in the emerging sunlight, it read:
Don't you dare tell him anything! I'm pleased to see that he's not as dangerous as I thought, but you know my research is important. I wonder why he would want to call you 'mother…' I wonder what he'll call the rest of us if we're like his family, which in itself shows a level of trust greater than I'd hoped.
It wasn't Fluttershy he should worry about right now then. He did his best not to stomp away from the bedside, which would wake the remaining sleeping animals as well as Fluttershy. With him outside the door of the bedroom, he continued through and out of the house until he reached the footbridge. The water flowing under it cooled the air above it, making its stone refreshingly cold under his hooves. He looked to the yellowing sun and its glorious golden glow as it signaled the new day.
"She's sweet; she really does fit well with what she holds inside." The voice of his mother appeared as the cream coated specter found its way to his side. This startled him from the suddenness of it, but calmed quickly.
"I didn't know you could be here!" He let out, amazed that his mother was alive after-
"No, I'm not here. I'm very much departed." Her somber gaze let him know the truth of this phantom of his past. "But I would never abandon my son, not even in the afterlife."
"But how…you have to manifest somehow if you're a ghost-"
"I'm no ghost, Amissus. I'm part of the force that keeps balance, but this is all I am: A part."
"Where are the other parts then?" He grew interested in everything she had to say now and focused on her form, even if the brightening sunlight made her translucent body harder to see. Soon it'd be like she didn't exist again.
"I'm not sure." She noticed her body fading faster now. "I have to go now." She said hastily.
"No…I don't want to lose you again."
"You've already lost me, but I'll be around." She began to walk silently across the footbridge to the cottage then stopped at his other side. She leaned in close to his ear and said the one thing he didn't want to hear, the thing that ripped his perception into strips, and one thing that made him curse remembering his mother fondly.
"I'm not your mother." She said it matter-of-factly.
He looked at the phantom, he now ghost-white at what she said next.
"I appear just as you want me to appear: as one of my previous incarnations. It just happened to be your mother."
She continued walking, fading in the sunlight, she eventually reached the shade of the house and stood next to the front door. She shook her head and she looked him in the eyes saying "Even she wasn't even your real mother." She chuckled and disappeared. The door then opened to reveal Fluttershy, eyes still half shut from all too recent sleep.
"Good morning…'son.'" She said through a yawn, somehow smiling through her gaping mouth.
"Morning indeed." He said to his 'mother,' returning his eyes to the fully risen sun. It seemed to return its vision to him as well. "Mourning indeed." He repeated to himself.
…
He sat opposite to Fluttershy at the foot of her table. The sides were filled with a few larger animals while the smaller ones ate around the kitchen: All over the floor, on the counter, in the cupboards, and even in the sink.
Amissus watched the animals eat their green vegetables, undiscernible of what they actually were. There were a few recognizable foods such as carrots and a few tasteful flowers, of these he'd received none. He and Fluttershy shared the same breakfast of the undiscernible green things. He sifted the leaves with his hoof, sometimes levitating them with his magic; he sniffed them, felt them, and passed a few on to smaller animals at the base of the table who'd run out of food of their own. Of all these things he did, he never ate a bit of it. Fluttershy was halfway through with eating, but stopped when she finally noticed his expression: a mix of exhaustion and disinterest.
"Amissus, you haven't eaten any of your breakfast. Is there something wrong with it? I could get you some new-"
"It's alright, Fluttershy. I…my stomach just feels a bit queasy is all." He lied to her.
"I…I know what you saw." She let out.
Amissus flicked his eyes to her, he didn't know if she meant his 'real mother' or the paper at his bedside.
She continued. "There's a good reason why." She paused. Amissus still watched her, waiting.
"What reason?" he asked intensely, but quietly, escalating the conversation. Her pause was running longer than comfort could afford for him.
"I was told it was for the Princess. I…What would you have done? I'm so sorry, but I wanted to make sure you were as safe as can be and that's what I was told would happen. I did it for you Amissus; you never seem to get better. I promised to help you and that's what I'm doing." She was talking about the note.
"That's what you thought you were doing." He ended her miniature monologue with a shout. "I'm going for a walk." He got up, sliding his chair back with a scooting wood-on-wood sound, and turned away from the table as he headed out the door, slamming it back shut. Fluttershy and all the animals were stunned for a moment. The animals recovered and started taking from Amissus's mostly full plate. Fluttershy looked down to her meal and pushed it to the animals to finish for her. She wasn't hungry anymore.
…
"Thought she could help by being a spy; I'd know how to keep quiet. I'd know not to do that." He was talking to himself as he walked.
It was still chilly in the morning even if the sun was well above the horizon and flying towards midday. Amissus had left the house and took a few uncertain turns to end up on a hill behind Fluttershy's cottage. He stopped at its small summit and looked around for a while. He saw the beginnings of Ponyville to one side, left was the cottage, another left was the Everfree, and the final left was a narrow valley leading straight to a blue hued mountain. Near its peak was a fortress built right into the mountain, much larger than he could have imagined on his own. He had a hard time distinguishing it from the mountain until the sun hit its walls just right to see the brilliant white and gold of what was revealed to him not to be just a fortress but an entire shining city.
The view and his admiration of the sight made him smile.
A figure flew by his side, racing towards the mountain across the valley. It was white, completely white, and almost illuminating its aura with its own brand of white light, its ragged clothing flapping by as it raced on at incredible speed. The white silhouette tripped and fell, looking back, not at Amissus, but past him. Amissus caught on and looked behind him as well. His entire field of vision was of the shadow warriors formed in ranks of hundreds. All marching along with aweing siege machines: catapults, towers, ladders, even giant figures of creatures unknown ambled amongst the ranks, burdened by chains and lead by two or more ranks, some of the colossi tugging on their chains throwing dozens of warriors into the air.
Amissus could hear it, the voice from the darkness. It wasn't talking to him, but screaming chants to the warriors, soon repeated by the thousands of voices from the legions. Amissus looked to the sky, now darkened by many aerial soldiers. The sight itself of what could possibly be the biggest invasion force of any mad fantasy, easily a million ponies alone in this march, made Amissus feel his body lock up and his chest start to harden as everything his body could do was happening to make sure it wouldn't fail him again. He noticed that he hadn't breathed since the white pony ran past, but a breath now would be useless if his chest had stopped. His eyes started to roll back and he felt the familiar sensation of passing out.
He looked to the sky once more, towards the mountain city and the brightest light grew and flashed. The wave tore the blackness apart and swept over Amissus without feeling it, as if it was nonexistent.
It was, at least now.
In a single rush of adrenaline, Amissus pulled up from his blackout and gasped for air. He hastily sat down, almost falling from light-headedness. He got up almost immediately, deciding that this walk was very much over and that it was more dangerous to be alone with himself than with somepony else.
"Maybe Fluttershy had good intention after all… He defended her from himself, now that he feared nothing more than himself and his visions.
…
"So this is what you do all day?" He asked her. He and Fluttershy had begun the chores of the day required by a caretaker of so many and varied animals. After feeding the birds and the burrowing animals, they had since moved on to the larger animals like the deer. Soon they would have to see to the bear.
"Yes, I love doing this every day. I get to see every single one of them all the time. Visiting with them is my therapy." She said.
"Therapy? You find this therapeutic?" He said condescendingly as three squirrels jumped onto his back and then jumping onto a tree trunk. The squirrels waved to Fluttershy and Amissus stomped a hoof towards them, causing them to scurry up the tree to the branches for safety's sake.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. She used her mouth to pick up a bucket full of some sort of pellet food. Amissus stopped as he watched her walk casually up to the bear. He envisioned the bear attacking her, but he never did. He threw up its arms in welcome of his friend. He waited until she set the food bucket down before taking it for himself.
"That's the last one; all the animals are fed until this evening." She looked up to the sky, then to her cottage. "It's just a few minutes past noon. We could go into town if you like."
Amissus snorted, looking away from her. He didn't feel like continuing this task of Twilight's, but he nodded his head and said "Alright…let's go."
"Wonderful, I'll just go grab some things and I'll be right back." She walked away and soon disappeared through the back door of her house.
Amissus looked around to the larger animals eating; none of them looked as at peace as when Fluttershy was here. They had all stopped eating and looked at Amissus, a slight hint of worry across all of their faces. Amissus smirked and looked at the largest of the group: the bear. Easily twice as big as him, the bear lumbered over to Amissus and studied him, looking him over, smelling, but when he went to touch Amissus, Amissus shrunk away. The bear's claws went back to the ground and studied him over again with its eyes. Amissus, tired of this game of the bear's, said suddenly "Boo!" The bear stepped back quickly, letting out a surprised yowl. The other animals stepped back from the scene as well. The bear continued to back away, still facing Amissus, all the way back to its food bucket; it grabbed it and then turned its back on Amissus, looking over his shoulder to check if Amissus was coming towards him.
"I've got my things. Here's the money Twilight gave you." Fluttershy said, oblivious to what happened. "Let's get going!"
He followed the pegasus away from the cottage, leaving the animals with relief that he was gone.