Prologue
My name is Darach Meldrak Obenhjerthe, and this is my story, my second story, to be more specific. Everything had been really blurry for a while now. I tried to make sense of my fragmented memories and mind, while the world seemed to roll along. I remember my own horse, Brunjahk. You see, my story, or second story, as it is now, began in a war back in what those of modern day would know as Scandinavia. As for me, I lived in the 15th Century, and there was a war that broke out in my country. Your history books may not have figured it out, but, it was fierce and costly. I died, of course, so I don't know who was the victor. I had no children, but I did have three sisters, a brother, and several nieces and nephews that I had to defend. I hope that they weren't killed in the war, and hopefully, my family made it, or will make it, to the 21st Century.
But, my horse was startled by a snake and threw me off, running the other way in a fit of fear, and right over my broken and bruised body. Like many from the 21st Century, I am not affiliated with the Church, though I do not express it in public, and only my family knows about it. So, naturally, with my fading slips of life, I would expect a cold void of nothingness, or being thrown into the pyres of Hell if I was unlucky. I don't remember much after that, but I know that what I had got was definetly not on the menu, metaphorically speaking. The silence lasted quite a while, until it was filled with something new. They were noises, or perhaps, voices? These voices, they sounded alarmed, worried and a bit scared. Time passed and the voices changed, they sounded more relaxed, warm and annoyingly derisive. The blur had been disappearing slowly overtime, and my mind seemed somewhat less like a pile of shattered glass.
But by God, those voices were ridiculous! They thought of me as a wee child! Time passed, the voices changed, and the memories of said voices faded just as fast as they left. Pretty soon, it became more relaxing, and the voices slowly became less annoying. That was a relief. Unfortunately, the voices and what I saw were muffled and blurred. It took a while, but it eventually came to the point that I felt real again, and I felt alive again. I woke up with a start, and I also felt stupendously strange. My entire body felt off, somehow, but at the same time it also felt completely natural. It was an enigma I wouldn’t stand for any longer, so deciding to find out what the fuck was going on, I opened my eyes.
My vision was assaulted by a barrage of bright colors you'd see in a little kid's drawing or something. The ceiling was very high and it seemed to be made of some kind of glistening stone, or crystal. The walls seemed to have been made of the same crystalline stone, though that lost its significance as the act of looking to the side to see them had made me aware of my immediate surroundings. I was in a bed, one of a bright pink color. If you were a boy in there, that would be very embarrassing, but that wasn't what scared the crap out of me.
So I was in a bright pink bed in some glittery room made of weird stone, big deal. What was weird was that the body a small horse was tucked in it. 'Wait, come again?' I thought as I blinked. Instinctually, I lifted a hand into view, except that it was not a hand at all. It was a hoof covered in white, slightly pinkish fur. I checked my other hand, and the same results applied there as well. Any normal man would've panicked, but at the time, I was a bit groggy and to sleepy to think straight as I tried to wrap my head around this. I then used them to feel my face, which wasn't the face I knew of, this was not my face. Fur, soft cheeks, muzzle, the works.
While poking my face I managed to catch a curl of hair and tentatively brought it down in front of the eyes, that weren’t my eyes. It was kinda purpleish, and had a streak of blue in it. 'Ok.' If you could read my thoughts, you would probably be clutching your ears from the loud and slow cranking of nonexistant gears within my mind. At the time, I was just unable to grasp the whole situation before me. I now know it is all too real, but at the time, I thought otherwise.
Carefully bringing my hand, or more appropriately, hoof down to the duvet draped over me, I gingerly moved it aside, like one would peel a bandage off a festering wound. Underneath the covers was indeed, the body of a very small, and very disfigured horse. Sharing the same color as the two hooves that occupied the space where my hands should be and tinting into a slightly darker pink some places. There was even a pair of wings with a purple tint on the feather tips. I also felt a small, spiraling nub that grew from my forehead.
'Alright then. So.' I thought as my brain began as it did the closest thing it could, to considering these pieces of information. ‘Glittery stone room, pink bed, deformed pinkish horse body with wings, a slight headache and most definite shock. Anything else here?’ There was none, good. I promptly collapsed on the bed, delving back into the bliss of sleep as my brain shut down for maintenance.
It was a beautiful morning in the Crystal Empire. The sun shone on the crystal building, giving them, especially the giant palace at the center, which caused a magnificent radiance to illuminate the city surrounding it. The citizens were going about their business, going to work, going to school and enjoying their days off to the best off their ability, but they still had a bit of trouble adjusting to the modern day. While the citizens were going about their morning, the royal family in the castle began to stir from their restful slumber. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, a pink alicorn with a multicolored mane of magenta, purple and yellow, let out a loose grunt as she woke up that day and forced her eyes open. Sure, it was very beautiful, but unfortunately, she was in no way the morning type.
She lazily smacked her lips to look at her husband, a white unicorn with a blue and cyan mane. Shining Armor was laying haphazardly next to her with the latest issue of Fallout: Equestria over his eyes, whilst making some an unholy sound that would be considered quite impressive for an Ursa Major. Thank goodness she had her earmuffs on her. With a small smirk, she wriggled her way over to him and lazily nuzzled her way into his neck. "Wakey, wakey, sweetie-kins." Cadence said in a loving manner loud enough to drown out the snoring.
With a small snort, he jutted up, the comic book flying to the other side of the room, slamming into the wall as he became fully upright. "What was that?" Shining Armor asked as he looked around before seeing his wife raise a brow. He chuckled nervously and calmed down. "Oh, heh, sorry about that. Good morning, hun." Shining Armor said.
"Good morning." Cadence replied before giggling lightly and nuzzling the stallion after throwing her earmuffs off since there was no longer any need for noise protection. "Did you sleep well?"
"I slept like a rock." Shining Armor admitted. They both just lied in the warmth of their bed and in each other's embrace for a couple good minutes until Cadence who was almost beginning to nod off again, noticed something missing.
"Shiny, where's Flurry?" Cadence asked, mentioning the six-year-old filly's name.
"She's in her own room. Said something about feeling a bit hazy and foggy last night as well as something about how my blow-horn impression really wouldn’t help much in regards to that." Shining Armor was about to drift off back into sleep when his wife gave him the dedpan face. "Okay, okay, okay, she said that she had a bad headache and that I sounded like an broken lawnmower when I slept!" he admitted. At first, Cadence glared at him, but the look softened as she brokt out into snickers. Shining Armor couldn't help but to join in soon after. A few seconds later, and it died out. "Alright, I'm gonna get the cooks to make us some breakfast." The white unicorn got up from bed, shaking the tiresomeness out. "You two can go when you feel like it, kay?" Before he left, Shining went to Cadence and gave her a small kiss.
With the room and the warm bed now all to herself, Cadence was on the precipice of succumbing to the unmerciful claws of sleep again. But through sheer determination and will, she managed to slump her way out of bed as she clunked onto the floor with a thud. She quickly got up and went to the mirror to fix her mane. Unfortunately, she was one of the only few to be given a bedmane resemblant to a porcupine. It took a short while, but she had managed to fix her mane to make something more presentable to the public before walking out of the room and down the hallway. She soon found herself near Flurry's room, and opened the door to it.
She was not afraid to admit that Flurry Heart was very cute, expecially when curled up onto the bed. She was around the same size as the average filly, abiet a bit larger, going all the way up to Cadence's knew. Her wings were noticeably larger and more defined than a normal filly's, and her horn was slightly longer, but still, a filly. She was still sound asleep, though it seemed that she has thrown off her covers during the night. Cadence just watched her for a bit. She was ridiculously cute when she was sleeping, no loud snoring and this serene little smile of hers. 'Well, I would like to watch you snore a little longer, but shouldn't keep Shiny waiting any longer.' Cadence thought as she came up and cradled her in her front hooves for a few minutes before laying her down next to her, pulling out a mirror and gently brushing her mane until the sleepy filly got up. "Good morning, Flurry." Cadence said in a motherly tone as the filly opened her eyes.
"Goo-goo-goo'morn…" Flurry replied, still a bit too drowsy to think straightly. "Ugh."
"Did you sleep well?" Cadence asked, still fixing up the filly’s mane.
"No, I didn't." Flurry said as she yawned. Cadence looked a bit surprised at that, Flurry Heart usually slept quite well, took after Shining on that front. "I had a nightmare, I guess." That was definitely strange. She hasn't had a nightmare in years.
Cadence, shaking her head, put a wing over her daughter, only exposing her head and her front hooves. "Do you want to talk about it." she asked with curiousity. Flurry Heart stood silent, still with a groggy look on her face. "Its okay if you don't want to talk about it." Cadence had stopped brushing Flurry's mane. "Although, there was somepony that I talked to about my nightmares when I was young."
"You'd laugh if I told you, won't you." the tiny alicorn said.
Wait, where did that come from? Cadence shook her head, pushing those thoughts out. "It's okay, I won't laugh."
"Well then, I was this wee little disfigured pinkish horse thing, and I had purple hair with this..." Flurry shivered as she looked back at the memories. "I guess it was some sort of blue streak in it and I was in this weird crystal room on a weird pink bed and-" The tiny alicorn made the big mistake of looking at her mother, who couldn't help but lightly giggle.
"Well, that was a silly 'nightmare' of sorts, sweetie. You pulled my leg there." Cadence turned the mirror so Flurry Heart could see her reflection in full. Cadence smiled, content that they were both presentable and ready for a good wholesome breakfast to start the day.
As for Flurry, she wasn't ready. "No... it can't be true." she said as she looked in the mirror, an expression of shock and horror spreading across her face. Her breathing became more loud and erratic as she looked at herself and slowly connected the dots. All of it was real.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"
The filly let out a loud girly scream that nearly shook the halls. In her defence, it would've been deeper. It had to be this weird body that was doing it to her. Cadence let out a yelp in surprise as she slowly backed away from her with fumbling limbs and spread wings. "Get, get away!" Speaking of wings, when she fell from her bed, she looked at the outstretched appendages, her voice rising into a scream again. No one really knew much about naturally born alicorns, and through the growth of Cadence, Flurry might be as tall as her. Heck, Celestia and Luna weren't naturally born as alicorns. She stared at the strange, huge appendages for a moment, and she screamed again. Cadence didn't know what happened with her that made her this way, but this time, she was ready.
She didn’t understand what had the filly in such a panic, but whatever it was, she was going to do her best to help her with it, she just needed to calm her down enough for her to tell what was wrong. She was a few steps away from the frightened alicorn, gently trying to assure her that everything was ok, when Flurry must have felt that she was getting a little too close for comfort, as a golden light sprung to life in front of her, forming a barrier and cutting her off the corner with the frantic filly inside. "Oh my God! Let me out! Let me out!" Flurry Heart cried, banging the barrier with her front hooves to no avail as it create a thudding sound that echoed throughout the room. "Somebody, anybody, help!"
Cadence was at a loss of what to do, but knew that she had to do something fast, this had the starting signs of what could potentially lead to a magical surge and even with her inhibitor gear, those didn’t usually end well. "Come on Caddy, think something up..." the pink alicorn said to herself. Thinking through what she could do, an idea, that should have seemed rather obvious in hindsight, made its presence known. "Oh, why didn't I think of this before?" Cadence scolded as she mentally slapped herself for not thinking about it beforehand. Charging her horn in a cyan aura, she teleported to the other side of the barrier to confront the filly. "It okay, mommy's here." she cooed as she scooped up the filly with her magic and into her front hooves, who was trying (and failing) to squirm out of her mother's embrace. She took a deep breath and began singing a lullaby.
You are my sunshine,
you are my sunshine.
You make me happy
when skies are grey.
Flurry slowly began calming down, letting out a few tears as she leaned to her mother for comfort. It felt right, somehow. Even if her mind was still screaming at her about how everything else was completely wrong, and she knew it. Strange sensations, memories, and other things she couldn’t even begin to describe, bombarded her mind from all angles and left her with no reprieve. "Wait, what's happening?" was all she can say.
You do not know,
how much I love you.
You are my sunshine,
both night and day.
It was too much, all the emotions that the shock had numbed the previous night, were washing over her like a tsunami now, and so she did the only thing that felt right at that moment. Hearing a quiet sob Cadence peeked down at the tiny alicorn in a look of surprise. She could feel her coat moisten a bit as the filly sobbed quietly into it. A worried frown on her face she held the filly a little closer with her front hooves and began humming another little lullaby. As Cadence sang the lullaby, the barrier slowly dissipated into nothingness.
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
Yet I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you’ll
You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.
This was unreal. Flurry Heart looked up to the larger pony, but stopped abruptly, after realizing something strange had happened. "But how?" Flurry asked herself. Cadence’s coat, though a bit moist, was warm and soft, and the little lullabies she had hummed were calming, it even made her feel happy. She didn’t know why, but for some reason it made her feel safe somehow. This odd, witchcraft using, pink-coated horse, made her feel strange. She made her feel happy. The barrier had disappeared by now, and the tears were all shed.
"Feeling better now?" Cadence asked. Flurry looked at her, and was about to say she was feeling fine now, but the more she thought about it, the more frantic she became again. She shouldn’t be calmed by the appeasing acts of some strange pink pegacorn, but at the same time she couldn’t help but to lean into her for comfort. It felt, right.
"How is this possible?" Flurry whispered to herself, not sure how to process the events that happened. She knew that something was wrong, very, very, very wrong. She knew she shouldn't be here. "I can't be here, I shouldn't be here. Why am I here now!?" By now, Flurry was starting to panic.
"Flurry, what's wrong, sweetie?" Cadence asked, looking at the upset filly in her hooves.
This cannot be real, why the heck is she a horse? She wanted this to be some kind of hallucination or fever induced nightmare. But the more she thought about it, the more she came to realize that it was real. "No, just no." Flurry said in a more panicked tone. It can't be real, it shouldn't be real, but it was as clear as day that it was real. It was much more than a dream, she can feel it in her gut. More and more questions flooded her head as her mind went into frenzy mode as the knowledge that it was real caught up. "This shouldn't be real, but it is. No, just no!" Flurry Heart said, a bit louder as a golden aura enveloped her, causing Cadence to drop her in shock. Even with inhibitor gear, her magic is just too powerful to be contained, which is even more lethal when she's panicking all over.
Her mind had finally reached a conclusion, and she had one last word to say. "No, no, NO!" was all Flurry said before a shockwave of yellow magic knocked Cadence out of her own daughter's room, the doors slamming behind her before being encased by Flurry's own golden magic.
"What has happened to her?" Cadence asked herself. She was left to wonder and worry, just what the hay was going on with her daughter. She was acting strange lately. Almost as if she was never a pony before. "I have to tell Shining about the events I just witnessed. Flurry was acting weird, and he needs to know." Cadence said to herself as she got back up to her hooves. Sunburst also needs to know this, he can be good help. Twilight and her friends are also here, both Twilight and her student are powerful magic users. They may be able to find out why Flurry Heart was acting so strange today.