Songs of Innocence

Chapter 36: Two Truths and a Lie

Sun's dream

Darkness. That was all that was below the narrow, rusty, steel catwalk Sun walked along.

["The Labyrinth" from Silent Hill 2]

She felt conscious of every single step her hooves took, as each and every one of them created a metallic noise. What caused this hesitance was because she knew she wasn't alone. Something was in the darkness, and it was looking for her. Or maybe it knew where she was, and was simply waiting for its moment to strike. Sun knew she had to be on guard. The catwalk was like a rickety old wooden bridge, made of plates of steel for its planks, and with ropes of iron to support it. The only thing beside the bridge was a gigantic metal wall. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the vast abyss of complete darkness beneath her, and she knew she could fall into it at any moment.

But when she stopped moving for a second, her heart sank with fear when she realized that the sound of her hoofsteps didn't stop. They just continued, and they were coming from... behind her. They were only getting closer to her. She didn't run, because she knew she couldn't make noise like that, no matter what. But she couldn't walk either. Something was touching her. She was frozen. She slowly turned her head, preparing to see whatever monster was going to devour her whole.

"I got you!" the creature proclaimed, pouncing towards her. It wasn't a monster - it was just Posey. Sun could barely stop herself from shrieking in surprise, and although she did, she was incredibly angry with her friend for scaring her.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU INSANE?!" Sun whisper-screamed. Posey, however, was rolling with laughter, which made Sun begin to question her sanity.

"Oh, come on, Sun. Everything's so tense, and I have to lighten the mood somehow. And honestly, you kinda deserve it for wandering away from me yet again..." she giggled. Despite all of the fantastical elements, these dreams felt real. So real, in fact, that Sun felt like she was in another reality instead of just being asleep, and the thing that convinced her of this was Posey. She felt like a real pony, but when she goes and does things like what she just did, she comes off as emotionally detached. But it didn't make her feel any less real to Sun, even though she knew that she was just a figment of her imagination made to help her through these nightmares. It was like Posey knew that this was all a dream, while Sun acted like it was real. Was there a reason behind that? Did Posey even know this was a dream?

But there was no time to think about it further, because something knew that they were there now. The entire area began to shake violently, as that "something" was approaching. A whale-like moan echoed from somewhere in the darkness, and immediately afterwards, Posey gulped, and uttered, "She found us."

"She?" Sun parroted. But there was no time for Posey to elaborate - a giant monster leapt out from the darkness, and bit its gigantic teeth into the part of the bridge behind them, and that caused the part they were on to start falling. The two had to run, and run as fast as they could. They sprinted towards the door at the end of the bridge, battling against gravity itself as the bridge began to fall into the black watery abyss below. And the monster behind them actively pursuing them and constantly snarling like a deranged lion from Tartarus didn't make them any more confident. This may have been a dream, but Sun ran like her lives actually depended on it, and Posey ran just as fast because her life, being dream-based, may have actually depended on it.

Sun used magic to telekinetically open it just in time for the two to dive through the door at the very last moment before their pursuer could devour them like a nightmarish whale. The two were safe from it now, and they seemed to be outside. Despite the structure's metallic interior, the outside looked almost like a castle, with architecture reminiscent of old Bitaly. The dark neighborhood around them and the gentle waves crashing close by reminded Sun of a place from her childhood - a fancy restaurant Sun always saw but never went to, that overlooked the sea down at the end of her neighborhood in Pony Creek.