Everything around me was dark. I could not feel anything, and my sense of hearing was gone too. It was quite a weird sensation, not being able to feel anything at all. I was willing to bet no one else in Equestria had experienced it before.
Soon enough, my senses had returned to me. I winced at the bright light flooding my vision, before a droning humming sound filled my ears. It took me a moment, but I was able to get in control of my senses. I slowly opened my eyes, pushing away the pain that came with the action. I felt the ground under my feet slowly return, and the sound and feeling of a gentle breeze became clear to me.
When the light in my eyes had faded away, I was met with a rather pleasant sight.
I was standing in what appeared to be a meadow, and a rather large one at that. I assumed that I was no where in Equestria, as I did not recognize any of the land around me, and the Hallow was no where in sight. As I gazed around, I noticed the meadow was completely covered in flowers.
Just...
An unending field of colorful flowers, almost as far as the eye could see. I seemed to notice... some sort of pattern to them as well. The most colorful of the flowers were close to me. All of the reds, the blues, the yellow and bright greens, were all near me. As I looked further and further away from me, I noticed a dimming in the colors of the flowers. The blues gradually lost their vibrant hues, the same going for the other colors. I spread my wings, and took to the sky. I flew forward for a few minutes, before gazing down. The flowers were now shallow colors, dark blues had faded into greys. Soon enough, the colors had turned black. I felt... some sort of feeling towards the black flowers. I could feel them, each and every individual one. I felt... almost connected. Almost like... well, I can't really put a feeling on it. Just, connected.
Somehow...
After a few more minutes of flying, I came across an apparition on the ground. I landed, and observed it. There was a mist-like object, shaped like a circle, about seven feet tall, and three feet wide, kind of like a round door. There was a sparkling to the mist, sort of like what you see when you cast magic. I approached the entity, and circled it. Knowing I could not be harmed, I slowly placed one of my hooves in it. The air on my hoof immediately felt cooler, and I realized that my hoof was in a portal. I slowly pressed my body into the portal, awaiting what was on the other side.
Upon entering, I was greeted with a rather depressing sight. There were more portals. In a row, all sorted into columns. I flew upwards, and gazed out.
My god...
Rows upon rows upon rows. For as far as the eye could see, there were more portals. Just... there had to be at least a few hundred thousands to the horizon line... in each direction. How many where there in total? Millions? Billions? Did they even end? That's when I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye, I turned to my right. There was a temple-like structure off in the distance, any normal pony would have missed it. I flew as fast as I could, closing the distance between me and the temple rather quickly. The structure itself was a long and rectangular in shape, and only held one story at best. It was unmarked, and was quite simple in design. I landed at the bottom of it, and quickly found the entrance. I figured that if I were to find Daniel's magical potential, here was likely the best place to start looking.
Upon entering, my suspicions were confirmed. One floor, with one long hallway. Immediately, on my left and right, were more portals. All the way down the hall, were gateways to the unknown. These, however, were different.
They were all different, actually.
Some of them were different colors, some were swirling instead of sparkling like all of the others outside. Some were different shapes, like squares, or triangles. My best guess is that all of the others outside were somehow intertwined, and had few variations. Yet these... these were special.
As I walked down the hall, gazing at each and every portal, I felt mesmerized. In each of these portals was another aspect of Daniel's life, as I was still in his mind. Realistically, everything was quite orderly, as the last pony's mind I had entered was completely strewn about, compared to this. They were also a mental institution patient, but, I digress.
Ahead, I noticed something, something different, from everything. As I trotted forward, I started thinking. I was in Daniel's mind. This is what Luna wanted. To be done with Daniel, and to have the elements back.
...I could do it. Right here, right now, and it would be over. He wouldn't even feel a thing...
I stopped in my tracks, and looked to my right. The portal I was facing was completely foreign to me. I had no idea what was behind it. It was circular, like most others, yet this one was a red hue, with small cracks running through it. I tilted my head, and thought. I slowly pushed one hoof into the portal, then half of my body.
I dropped.
My vision went black, my hearing faded, and my sense of feeling...
The only thing I could feel was the most agonizing pain that I have ever felt in my entire life. Yet, that simply does not tell you how much pain there really was.
I started rolling around.
There are literally no words to describe what was happening. I could not from a coherent thought. Couple that with how I could not sense anything else added up to a terrifying experience.
I let out a scream at the top of my lungs, my vocal cords straining in protest. Or, so I thought I did. I could not hear or feel anything, but the action and notion came naturally. Where I lay, I writhed in agony, thrashing about wildly. I started thinking a little more clearly, and only one thought came to my mind.
Escape.
Once I had thought this, I could feel a few of my sense returning. My vision, albeit blurry, was returning, enough for me to make out my immediate surroundings. My hearing...
I could hear nothing but whispering. Nothing but... demonic, crippled whispering in my ears. Whispers of death, of pain and despair.
There was no one there.
The whispers were telling me things.
"I will kill you,"
"You will know pain,"
"No one survives,"
"You are purely worthless,"
One voice... one out of all of them, however, I heard more than the others. Because it was Luna's voice.
"You are truly weak sister, no one could ever love you,"
The words, even though that's what they were, still hurt.
"No wonder mother and father treasured me more than you, they never loved you. Look at you, how could anyone love something so worthless?" she taunted.
The pain was still crippling, and I could not raise a response. The demonic voices were still whispering death in my ears.
"You were never loved my our parents, just as you were never loved by me!" my sisters voice yelled to me. The pain was unbearable.
Agonizingly slowly, I pushed myself upwards. Upon gazing forward, I was face to face with Luna.
"You are a waste of skin, you no good, pathetic, worthless bitch!" she screamed at me. My ears were ringing, her insults barely getting through to me. I turned around, ridiculously slowly, and could barely make out the apparition of the portal.
"Yes, return to the real world, and drown out how wrong you really are! You will come to terms as to how stupid you actually are!" she continued to scream. Through breaths, agonizing breaths, I exited the portal.
Collapsing to the ground, I let out a scream. The pain had subsided, mostly. I lay on the ground, panting, my breath gone. I could not figure out which pain was worse, the physical one, or the emotional.
I had gathered my breath, and had promptly started hyperventilating.
"No, no, it was just a dream. Just a mirage, it was- was... it was... just a dream." I panted. My breathing increased, and so did my babbling.
"She didn't say that, she loves you, they love you, Equestria needs you, please, please, please, please, please," I tried to calm myself down in between breaths. I closed my eyes, and stopped thinking, attempting to clear my mind. Eventually, my breathing slowed, and I calmed down. I stood up, and opened my eyes, starting to walk forward. The end of the hall was in sight, and I tried to put the past events behind me.
Luna loves you, they love you...
I shuddered at the thought, and took a deep breath. I reached the end of the hall, and gazed around. Like the last pony who's mind I entered, their main essence, or "soul," if you will, was placed somewhere of notice, highlighted to others. I do not know why, this is just the way it was.
This isn't what I wanted, this is his soul, not his magic...
I gazed at what made Daniel, Daniel. This was his life force, his essence, his personality, his...
I did a double take at what I was looking at.
Daniel's soul was swirling, with small sparkles in it, like the portals outside. However, only half of his soul was this pattern. The other half... was swirling different colors.
Blue...
Purple...
Pink...
Orange...
White...
Yellow...
The elements... were in his... soul?
...son of a bitch...
Hey, sorry for the delay in chapters. Keeping up with life got a little tricky recently, but we're back at it ladies and gentlemen!