Afterlife

• Chapter One •

There was this gentle sound of humming,

     despite the resistance in her body, the girl managed the shift her body's position slightly.

"How are you feeling?"

     The voice was as smooth as butter, calming as it was reassuring that she was safe. In an attempt to move, the girl shifted her hips towards the sound of the voice, a slight 'huff' escaping her lips from the effort.

     She was greeted with a few giggles from the other person in the room. Even with her eyes closed, the girl could sense their approach. "Do not be afraid, Celestia," the voice whispered, a tingling sensation beginning to rise throughout her body. A cold hand layed across her forehead, a feeling of life seemingly filling her body from her head to her toes. As she felt the hand leave her, Celestia managed to blink open her eyes, wincing at the bright light around her.

     "Where am I?" She croaked, a few weak coughs slipping through due to her dry throat. "Home, well, your new home... just, try not to freak out, okay?" She allowed her eyes to adjust before scanning the new environment. It was brightly colored, mostly consisting of whites and grey's, the only real colors coming from the assortment of plants scattered around the room.

     "I...It's fine, I'm not freaked out, I'm just con... oh." There was a girl standing right by her side, her face held a bit of concern as Celestia stared deep into her eyes. She had long wavy red hair, nose dotted with freckles, and eyes as blue as the ocean. Slight movement caught Celestia's attention, shifting her eyes away from the girl to the bug-like wings on her back, fluttering every so often.

     "This is the weirdest dream I've ever had," Celestia mumbled, falling backwards into the large arrangement of pillows on the bed she was on. Another giggle came from the girl, her wings carefully picking her up from the floor to hover by Celestia's side. "I'm afraid to tell you this isn't a dream," Celestia's brows furrowed, "you're dead, dear."

     She didn't move nor make a sound, the words sank deep into her before a few giggles of her own slipped by. "Dead? I'm not dead! If I was dead, how did I die? Nevermind, I'm just gonna sit here until I wake up." She never got the chance to relax, her arm was suddenly being tugged on, dragging her off the bed until she was standing upright on a rather cold floor.

     "I don't know how else to get you to believe me, but allowing you to sit there for all eternity isn't very productive for the either of us." The girl turned away, heading inside the large walk in closet which held an assortment of clothing, which interestingly enough, held things she had worn in the past. "Here," the girl came out holding a black suit jacket, "put this on."

     Celestia didn't ask questions, quite frankly she was afraid to. Despite being in this strange dream, she felt afraid to back talk the fairy girl in any way. "Um, okay... can I get your name?" She blushed immediately, turning her back on the girl as she slipped the jacket over her shoulders. It fit nicely on her body, matching well with the skin tight black dress pants and the white botton up she already had on. Around her neck was a dark red ribbon clipped together by a bright green oval gem with an engraving of a luna moth in the center.

     "I'm Arielle, don't worry about your name, I already know it," Arielle hummed, a warm smile crossing her lips as Celestia turned to face her. "You probably still believe this is all a dream, which in the grand scheme of things isn't entirely wrong, but." She reached out a hand, gesturing to a corner of the room. "You should look at yourself before we meet the others, okay?"

     Celestia followed the girl's hand to a mirror resting in the corner, it's glass glistening from the light filtering in through the window. She wasn't sure what she was to find, from what she could tell she was the same old Celestia, right? She's had weird dreams in the past, but this one felt a little too real.