Songs of Innocence

Chapter 34: Lost in Wonderland

Sun's dream

Another nightmare, and one not too different from last night. Sun was in the body of herself as a filly, back when she hadn't even got her cutie mark yet. She spent much of the dream walking around a playground at night, with her parents nowhere to be found. Did she sneak out, or did her parents leave her behind? There was no real answer due to the nature of the dream, but Sun leaned towards the latter. It was always her worst fear to be abandoned, left behind to rot. The dream's setting seemed to reflect that fear, as everything on the playground was coated with rust that would give Sun tetanus in an instant should she touch it (although that wasn't actually true).

She paced around its desolate area looking for her parents, hoping she would see them walk out from the cloud of darkness that shrouded the area, and take her home to her warm, safe bed. But she came to realize after what felt like hours that they weren't coming for her. Sun's only form of comfort were the lampposts that dimly lit the playground with their flames. She watched one as its flame danced within the confines of its glass cage, and it briefly brought her comfort.

But the flames of the other lampposts began to die out. All of a sudden, the one Sun was caught in a trance staring into was the only one that continued to illuminate the playground, which was now almost entirely bathed in the fog-like darkness. But something began to cause Sun to snap out of her trance when she began to feel her stomach churning. She felt ill, and sharp pangs violently assaulted her insides. The feeling of illness only built and built until Sun couldn't take it anymore. Whatever was inside of her, she had to vomit it out (which should've served as a clear indicator that this was a dream, since horses can't actually throw up. Seriously, look it up - it's true).

After much struggle, something finally slid out of Sun's mouth... and it wasn't anything normal. With a disgusting splat, a black rock resembling a pony's heart landed onto the ground, covered in an inky black liquid that pooled around it. In fact, it didn't stop pooling until it grew to the width of a small pond. Then, it began to transform into a slightly more solid form that grew around the stone like a living ooze. It only made it stranger that the mass continuously rose and fell, as if it was breathing.

"A... a monster...?" the filly Sun stammered.

["Mental Machine" from Devil May Cry]

She slowly backed away from the oozing mass, which began to slowly approach her. She was right to be frightened, especially since her mental age was that of herself as a filly in this dream. Suddenly, the blob moved towards the last lit lamppost, and as soon as it touched its base, it somehow began to dissolve it, causing the lamppost to fall over. This monster succeeded in snuffing out Sun's last comfort, but as if that wasn't enough, something much worse happened.

When the lamppost came crashing down, the flame inside of it was released from its now-shattered glass prison, and it almost instantly spread a ring of flames around the playground. Its flames tormented Sun as well, being too high for her to jump over them and escape. It was just her and the monster now.

Sun couldn't take it anymore. She began to sob loudly as she fell to the ground in despair. "Wh... Wh-what do you w-w-want from me...?!" a hopeless query left her lips, although she never expected to get an answer. "I just... want t-to go home!!" The flames only grew higher as her fate rapidly approached her. She couldn't even look at it. She just shut her eyes and let it come.

But... it never did. She never actually felt the repulsing substance grab onto her, and instead, she heard - of all things - a beam of magic carve through the monster. Wet splatters on the ground followed, and once they'd subsided, she heard a gentle, somewhat familiar voice call out to her.