Background Pony

XVI - Beloved

 Dear journal,

What is my quest, if not a grand journey towards remembrance? What do I seek more than to be acknowledged, and to share the mutual memory of everything I've done, everything I am, and everything I've ever learned among my fellow ponies? What point would there be in existing if I did not victoriously seize the chance to erect a monument to such an accomplishment, even if that monument was myself?

That goal has been something sacred to me. Ever since my curse began, I've wanted nothing more and nothing less than to leave my mark upon the world. Even as I write this, as I make this journal entry, it is with the hopes that somepony other than myself will read it someday and take into account what has been seen and done here.

But now, I am beginning to wonder. As I seek to undo this curse, could I actually be propelling my into another, far more dismal affliction? Have I always been tainted by a great shadow, adding layers of misery to the forsaken weight that she holds on her shoulders? By seeking freedom, am I risking something far darker than my mortal mind can comprehend?

Someone obviously felt this way, and it is because of him that I am here, because of him that I linger, because of him that I ponder...

Is this quest even worth it?

I held the flask out the open window, catching the brown droplets from the pink clouds lingering above. As soon as the drizzle ended, I levitated the canteen into the cabin and closed the window. Raising the container to my nostrils, I took a few meager sniffs, and then bravely poured a tiny bit of the fluid down my throat. I swished the stuff around with my tongue, gulped, and nodded.

"Mmmhmmm. There's no denying it." I pivoted slowly about and stared at my cot, trying to remain as still and calm as possible. "That's chocolate rain."

Al was peering out the opposite window, standing on his hindquarters and flicking his orange tail. The tiny feline was evidently excited, and his whiskers twitched as he observed bizarre things flying over the north edge of town. Winged swine, levitating pies, minotaurs in rowboats, and just about any nightmarishly awkward thing imaginable were populating the skies. What's more, the distant sounds of explosions, stampedes and maniacal cackling resonated from the center of Ponyville. A large part of me wanted to go and investigate, but an even larger part was too scared for my life, much less my sanity.

"It's like... like some big, stupid joke!" I exclaimed, hearing my own voice crack as I perched on the cot beside Al. "Obviously some terrible magic spell has been conjured in town, but I haven't a clue what kind of a magician would want to make all this craziness happen!"

It had been nearly an hour since I had exited the cellar from my last venture into the unsung realm. Most of that time had been spent testing whether or not I was dreaming up this whole fiasco. I've seen some insanely bizarre things in my life as of late. I've witnessed the horrors of a world between the firmaments, including the forsaken victims of an undead alicorn's accursed legacy, but at least her nightmare realm had some consistency to it. But this?

This was pure, unadulterated chaos. The fact that every little phenomena I witnessed—levitating pastry items, candied clouds, comically mutated fowl—were all of a goofily absurd variant only made the whole scenario all the more chilling. It was as if some immature foal had been given the keys to creation and was playing goddess with the laws of reality. A part of me feared that if I stepped out of the cabin, I'd be yanked off the earth and transmogrified into a sack of potatoes or something worse.

"I just can't believe the, timing, Al," I mumbled as I fiddled with the sleeves of my hoodie. "Something happened just now in the unsung realm. The shackled ponies were screaming about 'her beloved.' They chanted that he was 'waking.' But... now of all times?" I gulped and stared at where the Nightbringer sat on a wooden table in all its shimmering, golden glory. "Or... Or what if it's all connected? Maybe the laws on this side of the firmaments have changed, and her beloved is being woken up because of it?"