I awoke in my bed the next morning, yet for getting more than a full night's sleep, I felt odd. Not necessarily tired, just... odd. I swung my legs onto the floor and...
Uh, what?
As soon as my feet touched the floor, my room changed before my very eyes. I was no longer in my room in Canterlot, but in my old room, back in Dismith. I gazed around, in utter confusion. I tried to logically think this out... but I couldn't. Not as in "I don't have a solution," as in I literally could not form a comprehensible thought in my head. I could not recall any memories, just my name, and where I was.
I stood up, and looked around. Nothing seemed immediately alarming, so I moved forward, and opened my door. I stepped into the hallway. Everything seemed normal, from the looks of things. I moved to my left, and went down the stairs. Gazing around the kitchen, nothing seemed immediately out of place. I peeked my head in to... Harvest, Harvest Candy. That's her name. Anyway, I peeked my head into her room, to find nothing out of place. Turning, the living room seemed normal too. I went over to the door, and grasped the handle.
Upon opening it, I was greeted with a gruesome sight. Everything in front of me, all the shops and trees, even the far ground, were on fire. A building on my left collapsed, burning down to the ground. I quickly slammed the door, and started hyperventilating.
"If I was ever going to leave, now would be the time!" i shouted to myself. I turned, and flung open the door. I saw a path that wasn't immediately covered in fire, and ran towards it.
I only managed to take four steps before I was knocked to the ground. I opened my eyes and was face to face with Austin.
"WHY!? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?" he said, but not normally. It almost sounded as if he was gurgling as he spoke. I looked at his throat, only to see that it was burned, and badly torn. Bits of flesh and bone were hanging off of his neck, and in one part, I could see straight through him. I met his gaze, terrified beyond belief.
"THIS WAS YOU!" he struggled to yell. Every word spat more and more blood in my eyes. His face was badly burned, and his right eye...
Oh my god...
Austin's right eye was gone, half of it dangling from the socket. Blood dripped from him onto my face as he gripped my shoulders ever harder. I could feel his hands starting to dig into my skin. He raised his hand to hit me. He was missing his ring and middle finger, his flesh burned and mangled.
"Ge- get off of me!" I screamed back, pushing back with all my might. He fell off of me, and I shot up, sprinting as fast as I could. I rounded a corner, and came face to face with Austin again. Confused, I turned and ran to my right. I looked behind me as I ran. He wasn't there.
Great...
As soon as I looked back to where I was going, Austin tackled me, and we both went down. His fist connected with my jaw, once, twice, three times, four. I threw my hands up, and blocked the next one. I threw him off of me, and shot up. Before I could get away, a piece of exposed bone on one his fingers caught my leg. It must have been pretty sharp, because it left a large gash in my left leg. The pain made me scream, and I fell to the ground. Austin was on top of me before I could even blink. Austin started relentlessly beating me, hitting me all over. The hits to the head dazed me, and the hits to the stomach took the wind out of me.
Completely out of options, I threw my hands in front of him in a last ditch effort to stop him. I felt the flesh on my arms get torn away, as Austin ripped through them. I screamed in absolute agony and defeat as Austin did not stop. His last swing... no, not a swing, more like a grab. It caught my neck, and I felt a great pain there, along with a bit of pressure on my mouth. My breathing suddenly stopped. I couldn't breathe.
My head fell back, and my vision blurred. The pain subsided. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. But I could see. I could see Austin, standing over me. He was holding something. Something long, and loose. A piece of...
It was my trachea. He was holding my fucking trachea, with a piece of my lung still attached to it. Small bits of bronchial tubes were dangling from them. My chest fell, and my vision blurred even further from the lack of oxygen.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, and my eyes shot open. I looked down, only to find a knife embedded deep in my stomach, with Austin behind the handle. He twisted it around, causing me to let out a vicious scream. My head fell back, and my vision faded. The pain went away, and then... all was dark.
8:34 AM
My eyes shot open, my breathing out of control. My eyes darted around, and I found myself staring at a white ceiling. My hand went to my neck, and I was happy to find it intact. I looked at my arms. They were, happily, not torn to shreds. I put my hands down.
It was just a dream, come on, get over with it...
I sat up, and moved my legs over. A small twinge of fear shot through me, and I slowly lowered them. Upon touching the floor, I looked, but happened.
Oh, come on, get real...
I stood up, and went to my bathroom. I stripped off my clothes, and stepped into the shower. I saw shampoo and soap as I turned the water on. I quickly cleaned up, and stepped out. I realized that I didn't have any clean clothes, so I reluctantly got back into my old clothes. I exited my room, and made my way down the hall. It was then that I realized that I had no idea where anything was in the castle. I had passed a maid a few seconds before, so I turned around to chase her down.
"Excuse me, miss?" I asked when I caught up to her. I saw that she was levitating a tray with tea and cups on it.
"Yes, what is it," she asked me.
"Can you tell me where I can find princess Celestia?"
"Well the most likely place she would be would be the throne room, and I just happen to be going there to give the princess her tea. I can show you where it is," she told me.
"Perfect," I said with a smile. She walked away, me following her. The route to the throne room was relatively simple, as most of the castle was symmetrical. Upon arriving, I was met with a set of huge, ceiling tall wooden double doors. They glowed grey with the mares magic, and slowly swung open. We stepped in, and I saw the throne room. I was a large, long, rectangular room, and at the end, as the name suggested, was a throne on a wide pedestal. There was a large desk on the right side, and behind it sat Celestia, signing papers. The maid went up to her to deliver her tea.
"Ah yes, tea. Good, I could use a little distraction from these dreaded papers," she said. She looked past the maid, and saw me was I was walking up.
"Or maybe a rather larger distraction," I heard her say, with a warm smile. I couldn't hear any sarcasm in her voice. "Hello Daniel, how are you this morning?" she asked me.
"Good, thank you. Hey, who do I have to talk to about getting some more clothes for me?" I asked.
"Ah, yes. I have already instructed one of our seamstresses to make a few pairs of clothes for you. You should find them to be-"
Celestia was cut off by the doors to the room slamming as they opened. Luna charged in, and looked around. We both looked to her. She locked eyes with me. Not my general direction. Me. She charged, and I stepped back. I saw a blast of magic come from her horn.
And it was headed straight at me.
...shit...