Getting Home

Chapters

Wolf, Meet Gun.
A Past Battle
INS4NITY
DJs, Nurses, and Spies
Shattered Reality
Transcend the Nightmare
A Dismal Return
Epilogue

Wolf, Meet Gun.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

I looked over to the girl who has been my girlfriend for a little over two years. “I guess you’re right Deryn,” I looked up to the night sky; the stars were clearly visible and the moon was full. “You know, lying here with you on this grassy hill, looking up at the night sky; it’s moments like these that make life worth living.”

Deryn playfully punched me in the shoulder. “Oh, you’re just saying that!”

“You might be right.” I looked over to her, “but I still enjoy the time that we share.”

Deryn started to blush. She looked stunning in the moonlight. “Oh, now you’re just trying to compliment me!”

I was about to say something back, but instead I felt her wrap her arms around me. “You may just be complimenting me, but I love you all the same,” she stated while embracing me.

Love.

“D-d-Deryn… I- you’ve never said-” She stopped me mid-sentence. “Love? I know, but now that I’ve said it, I’m wondering why I’ve never said it before now.”

I couldn’t help but be in shock at her declaration. Love.

Love. Do I love Deryn? I already knew that I liked Deryn, but do I love her? Would I spend the rest of my life with her? What am I saying?! I’m a player! I’m not supposed to be falling in love! But then again… for the past two years, Deryn has always been there. She helped me when I broke my arm in a bar fight, helped DJ, she even ran my club for me when I got food poisoning at that bad sushi restaurant! I know that Deryn would, and has, done all of these things for me. But would I return the favor? Would I do all of these things for her? Ugh, that’s why I was a player. I get to be with the girls and if anything serious broke out, I just backed out, and went on with another. I- I can’t decide this now! I need to think, that means an excuse.

“I-I-uh, hey Deryn? I just remembered that I needed to…. DJ! Tonight! A-at the new club! Yeah, that’ s it.” I stood up, practically throwing Deryn on the ground in my haste.

I tried my best to avoid eye contact with her.

I failed within three seconds.

“I, I just…. need some time to think. Okay, Deryn?”

I was trying to be calm, but Deryn was on the verge of tears. “It’s okay, I see how it is…” She stood up and started to walk away, but turned around her eyes beginning to water. “They told me that dating you was bad from the start. That dating a celebrity is never a good thing. They kept saying that you were a player that couldn’t keep a steady relationship for his life. I didn’t listen to them, and what do I get? Two wasted years and a broken heart!” She angrily stomped off, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.

“Deryn! Wait!” I began to run after her, pleading. “Deryn! Hear me out! Please! All I ask is a minute more of your time!”

Deryn stopped walking, but she still looked angry. “You have exactly one minute to explain yourself.”

I let out a deep breath, and started explaining. “I’m sorry Deryn. I truly am. It’s just that, I can indecisive at times and-,” I stopped in mid-sentence. I looked down at my feet, which had started to glow a brilliant white, and the glowing was already creeping up my legs. I tried to move my legs, but everything that was covered in the light wouldn’t respond to my commands.

“Leaf! What’s happening!?” Deryn had gotten over the argument, and her eyes began to widen.

“I don’t know!” I started to panic a little, and soon people that were walking by were stopping to see what was happening.

The glowing was now at my chest, and was quickly reaching my head. “Deryn! If I’m going to die now, I’m dying letting you know that I lo-.” The glow had reached my face, and my entire body was glowing a bright white, unmoving.

The crowd started to form around me. I started glowing as if I was radioactive. Several seconds later, my entire body shattered like glass and the light dissipated, leaving behind nothing but a residual image of the space that I once occupied, and a weeping girl that had a boyfriend not ten seconds earlier.

Good luck solving this one, NCIS.

************

“Tia, I have felt a disturbance in the force,” said a petite young woman with pitch-black wings and clothing.

“Lulu, I do believe you’ve been watching a little too much Galaxy Wars again,” said the young woman’s older sister.

“One can never watch too much Galaxy Wars!” the dark clad woman exclaimed while striking a pose. “But in all seriousness sister, I felt an odd magic appear and then almost instantly disappear near the city of Ponyville. Just inside of the Everfree Forest.”

“The Everfree Forest you say? Oh Lulu, those occur all the time within that horrid forest. Pay attention, we need to go over this one last time. The Griffin people have finally sent an ambassador to negotiate a peace treaty, but it won’t work if that ambassador feels like we’ve insulted him.” The older sister stated while hitting a whiteboard with a floating yardstick.

“Ugh, fine. We don’t like this… but we’ll do this for the safety of our subjects!” the black clad woman exclaimed.

The older sister smiled. “There you go, now you’re thinking like a true leader Luna. Now, remember that the Griffin people eat meat much more often than we do…”

**********

Ow…

Wait… I still feel pain… Pain is good. Pain means I’m still alive.

I slowly pried my eyes open. “Well that’s no help.” I croaked out, “it’s dark as hell out here, wherever here is.”

Okay, I can use my eyes. Now, how about everything else? I can still move my hands, that is always a good thing. Legs? Responding, but a little sluggish. They’re still working though, which is good as well. Now for the moment of truth. I slowly stood up. On my knees and elbows first, then onto just my knees, until finally I pulled myself up and stood shakily on two legs.

“Okay, I can at least stand. Even if a little wobbly and groggy from whatever hap- OH SHIT! Deryn thinks I’m dead!” I started to look around panicked, until I realized where I was.

“How the hell did I get into a forest?!?!?!!”

“God dammit all. Not only do I have to go find my girlfriend, but now I’m in a god-damned forest as well. Ugh, the universe hates me.”

“Well, no use standing around here. I might as well go and try to get out of this stupid forest.” I said as I started off, hopefully towards civilization.

I walked for what seemed like five hours, until I decided to stop at a fallen tree to rest. “This shouldn’t be happening! People don’t just go and get sucked up into a random forest in the middle of nowhere-,” I stopped when I heard a growl from behind me. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

I slowly turned around and what I saw shocked me “a wolf made of wood! Not only do I get dropped into an unknown place, but the wolves are made of wood too!”

“Ggggggrrrrrrrrr”

“I’ve had just about enough of this shit,” I pulled out my trusty M1911 handgun. “Silly wolf, don’t you know that a DJ like me always packs heat?”

I guess the wolf knew a little about what a gun was, because it started to back off slightly.

“Wolf, meet gun; gun, meet wolf. Play nice now.”

BANG BANG BANG
Tink tink tink

I pulled the trigger three times on the semi automatic firearm, the copper projectiles shredding three .45 caliber holes into the wolf’s head, killing it instantly.

“Don’t fuck with a DJ with a gun. Damn wolf.”

I walked over to the now dead wolf and inspected it. “Well tickle me pink and call me Elmo. This thing is made out of wood entirely! There’s not even blood coming from its wound!”

I slowly stood up as I remembered one key fact from my science class back in high school.“Remember class, wolves are, and always will be, a pack animal.”

Just as I remembered that, three more wooden wolves jumped out of the brush, their glowing yellow eyes seemed to follow my every move.

“Oh, fuck me.”

“Three wolves versus one famous DJ and an M19? I’m sorry gun, but the wolves got you beat this time.” I made a mock salute to the wolves. “So long, bitches!”

I would like to say that I did what they did in all the movies where the hero is running though the forest like a boss, and I was leading the wolves to a place where I could pick them off one by one with my pistol.

Needless to say, I didn’t do that.

I ran like a pansy, screaming bloody murder the entire time.

“Someone fucking help me!!!”

It’s amazing that I’m able to outrun these wolves, even though I was unable to outrun my girlfriend a few hours ago! Apparently when your life is on the line, you tend to run like hell.

I dared a look behind me, “shit!”

The wolves were uncomfortably close for my liking; I could even smell their pine fresh breath. Then I remembered that I have a gun.

I unholstered my handgun once again. “Eat lead bitch!”

BANGBANGBANG

The second wolf fell just like the first one, with three .45 caliber holes in it.

What did I feel each time I pulled the trigger on these poor, hungry wolves?

Recoil.

The third of the stupid wolf squad broke out of the tree line and into my line of fire.

BANG

“Boom, headshot.”

The final wolf ran at me like a bullet from hell. “Stupid wolf, you’ll just die like the rest.”

Click. Click. Click.

“Oh fu-,” the wolf hit me like a freight train, knocking me down, but I didn’t feel the ground.

The damn thing tackled me off a cliff.

And I screamed the whole way down.

**************

“C’mon Vinyl! Camping in the Everfree Forest would be like, twenty percent cooler than just staying at home all weekend!”

“Uh… I just want to sleep… hangover…” The hung-over DJ moaned.

“Good! Then you can’t do anything if I do this!”

“Do what-AH! Rainbow! Put me back down on the ground!” The blue haired girl panicked.

“Not until you agree to come camping with us.” The rainbow haired girl prompted.

“No! I am not going to go camping!”

“Oh, then I guess I’ll just have to do- this!” Rainbow Dash catapulted into the air another hundred feet, holding onto the famous DJ with only one hand.

“Rainbow! Stop! Stop! I’ll do anything, just stop!”

Rainbow gave Vinyl a smug grin. “Even come camping with us?”

The DJ wore a look of defeat. “Fine. Now please put me down!”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Heh, knew you’d wanna come.”

The DJ rubbed her temples, annoyed. “Yeah, it just took you dangling me up two hundred feet in the air.”

“Yeah! You should have seen your face! You were all like, oh no, Rainbow’s going to kill me! I swear, it looked like you were going to piss your pants!”

Vinyl’s face blushed with indignity, “That’s not true! I’m just, scared of heights is all.”

Rainbow crossed her arms, “I don’t think that’s all… but I’ll take that for now.”

Rainbow Dash flew off toward the town’s library, where the rest of the Elements of Harmony were located, getting ready to go camping.

The famous DJ sighed. “Ugh, now I get to go camping all weekend. Oh joy.”

“Hey everyone! It’s DJ PON3!”

“Oh shit.”

******************

“AH!!!!” I screamed as the wolf and I tumbled through the air.

I looked down to see a welcome sight. “Yes, water!!!!”

I righted myself into a more aerodynamic, pole-like position so I wouldn’t hit the water like it was hardened smart glass; and that stuff was harder than titanium.

I may have been in a position that I would live and not break anything, but it would still hurt.

I hit the water. Hard.

“H-h-h-o-oll-lly s-h-h-ii-tt!” I tried to scream, but all that came out were bubbles.

I realized that I was running out of air, quick. The screaming my lungs out didn’t help. I swam as fast as I could toward the surface, thankful for having joined the crew team in high school.

I broke the surface of the water and sluggishly swam to shore. “Uh, man.” I looked around. “Did anyone see that? Because I will not being doing it again.”

I sat on the shore letting my eyes wander my new surroundings. “Damn, I kind of feel bad for the wolf, if it wasn’t the thing that just pushed me off a cliff that is.

The wolf in question, post cliff jump, was now a scattered pile of branches floating in the water, “I would normally feel bad for something dying like that, but I have no more fucks to give after it just suicide jumped me.”

I walked back over to a nice warm patch of sand on the shore. “Now, let’s see what I have with me.” I felt around my pockets and pulled out two spare clips for my M19, my, now crushed, music player, my wallet, and my smart glass holo-phone. “Well this sucks. I have money, my phone, bullets, but no music!”

I reached my hand toward my holster but all I felt was air. “Aw crap, I must’ve lost it in the fall- never mind, there it is.”

I got up and walked over to the silvery firearm. “And to think, even after four hundred years, it’s still one of the most reliable handguns you can get in the system.”

I picked up the weapon, dropped the empty clip out, and replaced it with a fresh one. I pulled the slide back with a satisfying click.

I sighed, “I might be in a weird forest full of fucking wooden wolves, but at least I have a gun, even if it only has another fourteen shots left.”

I bent over to pick up the rest of my belongings only to feel a searing pain erupt in my left arm. I finally looked down at my sleeve to see it covered in crimson blood, “Well fuck me sideways. When di- oh right, the wolf tackled me.”

I tried my best to bandage the wound, and being a DJ that didn’t go outdoors much, wasn’t that extensive. I’d have to find a hospital at one point, or I’d most likely die from infection or blood loss.

What a stupid way to die. I could see the gravestone now.

Here lies Leaf Disqe. AKA DJ INS4NITY.
2452-2474
He died of blood loss in a random forest.
RIP

“That would be pretty damn embarrassing. Scratch that, it would be embarrassing if anyone found my body!”

I looked out onto the stream. “Well, if I remember anything from my world history class in 9th grade, it’s that where there’s water, civilization isn’t too far away,” I looked at the stream again, “Huh, now. Right, or left?”

To the right were dark menacing trees and to the left was a meadow of some kind. “Screw The Wizard of Oz, I’m going left!”

*****************

Vinyl sat leaning against her front door. “Damn fans and paparazzi. What’s it take to get just one person who won’t go insane by just being near me? Meh, I guess I’m just too awesome for everyone else.”

“I guess I have to go pack now.” Vinyl stood up and made her way to the stairs. “Damn Rainbow, why did she have to go camping? And drag me with her?”

Five minutes later, Vinyl was finished. “OK, I have my Epod, my Solar Republic headset, some random clothes, and a bottle of vodka,” Vinyl paused, “I really need to drink less, but today is not that day!”

Vinyl put on a navy-blue hoodie and took off her sunglasses, “heh, with me wearing a hoodie and without me wearing my signature glasses, no one will recognize me.”

Vinyl got ten steps outside.

“It’s DJ PON3!”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Another hour delay later.

“YES! Finally! I’ve never been so happy to see the public library in my life!”

Vinyl reached the door and pulled it open as fast as she could, closing it behind her. “Hey Vinyl, what took you so long? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”

The DJ looked up at the librarian while putting her purple aviators back on. “Well, excuse me for being run around town by crazed fans.”

“I don’t care if a pack of timberwolves were chasing you, we’re going camping now!” Shouted an enthusiastic Rainbow Dash.

“Fine, let’s just get this over with.”

“Alright girls, I’ve triple checked the checklists,” Twilight made a gesture to the excessive pile of things being held up by a small boy. “And I brought plenty of gear!”

“Hey, uh, Twilight?”

“Yes, number one assistant whom would break my heart if he were to ever complain about his work?”

The green haired boy sighed. “Never mind.”

“Excellent!” she clapped her hands together. “We’re ready to go!”

“Hurray!” said five voices simultaneously.

“Oh joy,” sighed one disgruntled DJ.

*************

“Alright girls, I think this should be an ideal camping spot!”

“Ugh, finally! That hike felt like it would never end!” complained Spike.

A tired DJ walked into the area. “I second that notion.”

Twilight pulled out a clipboard. “Okay, we’ve got tents to pitch, a fire to build, and wood to gather. Rainbow, and AJ, you girls will pitch the tents. Rarity and Fluttershy, you two will get the fire started once Vinyl and Pinkie gather the wood. Any questions?”

Vinyl raised her hand, “I have one. Why do I have to get up and gather firewood. I could easily start a fire instead.”

“Because Vinyl, Rarity won’t go into the woods and get her clothes dirty, and Fluttershy is too scared. You couldn’t care less if your clothes got dirty and Pinkie just laughs at everything.”

“Hehehe, it’s true!” Giggled Pinkie Pie from the branch above them.

Vinyl sighed as she started off into the woods. “Fine. C’mon Pinkie. Let’s go get some wood.”

“Hehehe, that’s what she said!” Laughed Pinkie.

“This is going to be a long weekend.”

*************

“I should have listened to The Wizard of Oz.” I looked at the four dead wooden wolves that lay at my feet. “The meadow was the wrong way to go.”

I heard someone scream in the woods. “That might be Deryn! And she might be in trouble!”

I ran as fast as I could while holding my left arm and my pistol in my hand. The screaming came again, but this time it sounded like two women.

“Okay, so maybe it’s not Deryn, but someone, or some people, may need my help!”

I finally reached the tree line and I slowed down a little as to not trip over the underbrush.

“RAWR!!!”

“What in the name of all things unholy was that?” I pushed the thought out of my mind. “Doesn’t matter, what ever it is, I’ll pump it full of lead and kill it like those goddamned wolves.”

I looked farther ahead of me. I could make out two figures pinned against a rock face. I began to run faster as more and more adrenaline was being pumped into my system, until I finally broke the tree line and into a clearing with a girl with electric blue hair wearing purple aviators, and a girl with fluffy pink hair. I looked to what they were scared of. “Okay, the wooden wolves was just weird, but now this! This is just on a different level of strange.”

Standing before me was a lion, scorpion, bat thing. Being once again reminded of my high school mythology class, “I can take wooden wolves, but a manticore? Really?!?! Those don’t even exist!”

The manticore broke my derailed train of thought “RAWR!”

“Oh well, I’m putting you back into the mythology books.” I said a line I’ve always wanted to say, “Hasta la vista, bi-”

The manticore lunged at me with its scorpion tail, jabbing my already injured left arm. “GAH!”

I lifted up my right arm while the big bad manticore was still attached to my other arm. “Checkmate, bastard.”

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

I emptied the entire clip in the damned monster’s face, once the slide stayed back once it was out, it was hardly distinguishable from what it once was.

“Ha, don’t… fuck… with a… DJ.”

The manticore must have had some kind of poison in its tail, because after that I was out like power in a hurricane.

A Past Battle

“Is he OK!?”

“He’s face down on the ground after shredding a manticore’s face to pieces. Of course he isn’t okay, Pinkie! Now let’s go get him to the others so we can get him to a hospital!”

Vinyl and Pinkie ran over to the fallen DJ. “What’s this?” Pinkie questioned as she held Leaf’s M1911. “It’s all shiny and funny looking!”

“Pinkie! Put that thing down! You saw what he just used it for!” Shouted the blue haired DJ.

“I know! But the last time he used it, it made clicking sounds and the thing on the top stayed back.”

“Okay fine, you can bring it with, but you need to help me with this guy! He’s bleeding out of his left arm and he’s unconscious.”

“Okie dokie lokie!”

Twilight came running into the clearing. “Vinyl! Pinkie! Thank Celestia you’re both okay!”

Rainbow Dash landed in shortly afterwards. “Yeah, that’s good, but who the buck is this guy?” Rainbow pointed toward the unconscious DJ. “He looks a little like Vinyl, except with white hair.”

“He doesn’t look like me! The only similarity is that he’s wearing blue aviators!” Shot back Vinyl.

The rest of the elements ran into the clearing. Fluttershy was floating at a low altitude. “Oh no, look at him! We need to get him to the hospital!”

“Fluttershy’s right. Come on girls, gather around the poor guy and I’ll teleport us back to Ponyville!”

“Vinyl, stand closer to everyone else.” Commanded Twilight.

“Twi, you know I don’t like to stand near people! I’m claustrophobic!”

Rainbow laughed. “Yet you play at a club full of people and get on the dance floor, surrounded by people constantly, and sit in a sound proof room for hours that is more or less a glorified closet!”

“…Yes.”

“Girls! That man is bleeding out and you’re arguing?!”

“No.” replied both girls.

“Ugh, let’s just get to the hospital.”

************************************************************************************

Vinyl and the others landed in front of the Ponyville hospital, and ran inside. “Nurse Redheart!”

The nurse looked up from her magazine. “Yes Miss Sparkle, how can I help you and your friends-” she stopped when she saw the limp DJ being held up by Vinyl, “Oh my. Come with me, we’ll get your friend here a room and a doctor.”

The six elements of Harmony, along with Vinyl, Leaf, and Nurse Redheart walked down a seemingly endless hallway.

“How long is this hallway?” questioned Rainbow.

“Long, but the room should be right… here.” Nurse Red heart stopped in front of a door.

The nurse opened the door and Vinyl put the knocked out man on the hospital bed.

“What the Hay is this?” A small dull black rectangular object fell out of the man’s pocket, “it looks kinda like a phone, but… it has no screen.”

“I wonder how you turn this thing on- Woah!” Vinyl pressed a button on the side of the device, and a hologram that spelled INS4NITY lit up, “Welcome Leaf Disqe, what would you like to do?”

Vinyl scratched her head. “Uh… play a video?”

The autonomous voice replied. “Request accepted, playing the rap battle in which you faced the bassist Josh Ferwood; newspaper article.”

*******
(Josh is in bold, Leaf is in italics, and INS4NITY is in bold italics)

Hey every-one, it seems we got a musician,
Oh I’m sorry, I meant an electrician.
That atrocity you call music is nothing real,
Music is something that you can feel.
Millions are moved when I play my symphonies,
when people listen to yours they just lose their Sanity.

Aw c’mon, that last one didn’t even rhyme!
That rap was so bad that it couldn’t even beat a mime.
I’m a player that hits on girls like it’s a game,
Every time you even try to it always ends up lame.

Your rapping is so unoriginal; it bores me,
Ask any of your whores,
I’d bet they’d all agree!
I know that you can’t understand me when I say that you’re obtuse,
but I know for a fact that you know child abuse.
What, your parents left you at four?
How about I just beat you and settle the score.

You know my parents left me at four?
Ha, like I haven’t heard that one before.
You think that I’m stupid? I got two degrees!
I got masters in the arts and in history!
I’m done with this battle, but not my other personality,
I’m leaving the battle finale up to INS4NITY.
*Puts on sunglasses
Yo dawg I heard you like ass kickin’s!
My music leaves your ears bleedin’ here are some asprins!
Oops, I’m sorry, but it seems I dropped your bass,
How about I hit you over the head with the case!
These headphones are a shield from your boring crap;
all I need now is a final rap!
I would say you could kiss my ass, but then you’d have to wait in line,
My lyrics are better than any of your retarded rhymes!

Oh that’s nice, you’ve got a little friend.
Someone to help you, while you’re on the mend.
Your lyrics are insipid,
something that you’d know if you listened.
And my rhymes are bad?
Oh God, that’s sad.
Your rap is so disgusting;
it’s just like your mom (Nut-busting!)
But that’s it, I’m done.
Have fun knowing you’re loved by no one.

Leaf Disqe, more commonly known as DJ INS4NITY, lost the battle in a vote of 5,454,534,896: 3,876,345,264. Not just the numbers, but how far his long time competitor had sunk to devastated the famous DJ. Ferwood had insulted his mother, which didn’t faze the DJ much, commented on how many women that have been in relationships with him, insulted his music, and then told him that he was loved by no one. Normally, this would only upset a person, but Disqe had been going to a psychiatrist for some time now for depression and Ferwood’s words weren’t lost on the DJ.

Last night the local hospital called the DJ’s record company that he was in the hospital with second degree burns on the DJ’s left arm. Whether this was because of the battle the previous night is still under consideration.

**************************************************************************************

Vinyl Scratch was the first to break the silence that had befallen the room. “Damn, this guy seems like he’s been through a lot lately.”

Everyone in the room nodded their heads in silent agreement.

“Would you like to play the attached file?” said the genderless voice.

“Uh, sure. Why not.” Replied Vinyl.

“Playing attached file.”

***********************************************************************************

The rap battle that occurred March 14 earlier this year had taken a blow to the young DJ’s self confidence; he stopped flirting with women, and his music was less loud and no longer self expressive, but just music as Ferwood said. The music change is evident and shows proof to that statement below, going from this,

To this,

Although the DJ’s music sales didn’t decline, as many believed they would, the music itself wasn’t the same. Until last month when Leaf Disqe released his newest song out of the blue,

When he released his new song, it went platinum almost instantly and he also said this at an interview, “I released It Girl after I got some inspiration from my Girlfriend, Deryn.” This led to much other spin off articles on how long this relationship was going to last and how it was affecting the DJ’s state of mind. He also stated in the interview, “It Girl is the last song I will make that isn’t electronic.” This statement sated many of his fans that believed he was going to stop being a DJ.

********

The silence was broken this time when the doctor entered the room.

“Oh my, what have we here?” the doctor walked over to the patient, “What race is he? Pegasus, unicorn, earth, griffin, reptilian?”

“We’re not sure. Pinkie and I here were getting wood while camping in the Everfree Forest when a Manticore came and jumped us. We were pinned against a rock face when he came, shouted some curse words, and then got jabbed in the arm by its tail. He then pointed this at it,” Vinyl took the silver firearm from Pinkie, “and it made some loud noises, and holes appeared in the Manticore’s face! We thought it’d never stop, until the thing on the top of it stayed back and it just made click sounds. After that, he fell over.”

“That little thing killed a Manticore!” said Rainbow Dash incredulously.

“Yup. Couldn’t even recognize it afterwards.” Said Vinyl with an impressed nod.

“That’s odd…” the doctor stated, “He doesn’t have the symbols on his hands of a unicorn, the wings of a Pegasus, nor the build of an earth person. He doesn’t have claws or wings of a griffin, and no scalene eyes or fangs of a reptilian. Although he does have larger canines than anyone I’ve treated.”

“So he’s a dog/alien thing?” questioned Rainbow.

“It would explain this cool phone! It has so many games!” exclaimed Pinkie who was in the middle of playing Minecraft.

“I think you’re both a little crazy. Aliens don’t exist! …Right?” Twilight questioned.

The Doctor stood back from his patient. “Well, my magic isn’t working on him, and I’ve had to bandage him up manually. So I think it might be possible, I wouldn’t put that idea away yet. And he doesn’t have any characteristics of any known race of human, as well as having more advanced technology. Miss Vinyl said that that small metal object blew a Manticore’s face apart, and that phone of his is nothing I’ve ever seen.”

“So he’s an alien.” Questioned Rainbow again.

The doctor sighed. “Yes. He’s an alien. Happy?”

“Ha! Take that Twilight!”

“Uh…. What happened…?”

Everyone in the room paused and slowly looked at the now conscious DJ sitting on the bed.

Disqe looked around. “Uh… Hi?”

A/N: Sorry that this chapter is so short, I haven’t had much time lately and I had to get this scene out of the way as well.

INS4NITY

“Uh… Hi?”

Everyone in the room stopped talking and stared at me as if I grew a second head or something.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? And I’m either high, drunk, or insane, because that girl has wings.”

The pink haired girl was first to break the silence. “No you’re not! But you’re really weird; Dashie kept saying that you were an alien- OH! Are you an alien? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

I barely kept up with the pink haired girl’s speed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Also, if you don’t mind, I would really appreciate it if one of you could tell me where I am.”

The purple haired girl with the glasses was the one to speak up this time. “Pinkie, I think you may need to give our guest some room. To address your question, you are in Equestria, specifically Ponyville hospital.”

I stared at her with disbelief. “Miss…”

“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”

“Okkaaayyyy… Miss Sparkle, I’ve been all over the system and I’ve never once heard of a place called Ponyville, let alone Equestria.”

“Well mister, I don’t know what this ‘system’ you keep going on about is, but you’re in Equestria. A country on Eques that is run by the sisters Celestia and Luna. Each morning, Celestia raises the sun and every night, Luna raises the moon.”

I just gave her my best ‘don’t bullshit me stare.’ “Two things: first, how do you not know who I am? I’m Leaf Disqe, or as you probably know me as DJ INS4NITY. Second, what kind of bullshit are you trying to sell me? Everyone knows that the planets orbit the sun and the moon or moons orbit the planet.”

Now Twilight was giving me the ‘what the fuck stare.’ “No, the sun and moon orbit the planet when the royal sisters use their magic to raise and lower each respectively.”

“Magic.”

“Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because- MAGIC DOESN’T EXIST!”

Everyone in the room just stared at me because of my little outburst.

The girl Twilight Sparkle pointed at the vase across the room, “watch,” she commanded.

Her hand became engulfed in a purple aurora and the vase started to glow the same color, then slowly lifted into the air, and smacked me in the head.

“OW! What was that for!”

“For not believing in magic of course!”

“I give up. Next your going to make me believe people can fly and control the weather.” I said sarcastically.

“Actually, Pegasus people can do both.” The rainbow haired girl said.

I just sat there, staring at the wall.

Wazzup?

What the Hell? Who’s in my head!

It’s me, INS4NITY.

What? But you’re just a persona that I made up as a stage name!

Yeah, well now I’m real and am talking to you.

I give up, I’m insane.

No, I’m insane. INS4NITY, duh!

Well, what can you do besides talk to me in my head?

Put on the sunglasses and you’ll find out.

I’m going to regret this.

Nah, you won’t dawg. Just sit back and behold my handiwork.

Begrudgingly, I pulled the electric blue aviators out from my pocket and slipped them on my face. After pressing the small button on the side of the frame, I felt the change start that morphed me from Leaf Disqe into DJ INS4NITY: my irises turned red, my hair grew white and spiked up, as well as my voice changing slightly. Except this time, I felt INS4NITY taking over my body controls as well.

“Aw yeah! I like this! Oh c’mon Disqe, what the Hell did you do to your arm? Looks like it was put through a meat grinder. Heh, meat grinder, I’m so fucked up.”

“Who the Hay are you and what happened to the other guy?”

I lowered my glasses down my nose a bit. “My question is, who the Hell are you?”

The girl in question was the blue haired girl Disqe saved from the manticore I think it was.

Eh, whatever, it’s dead now, oh so very dead.

“I’m Vinyl Scratch, now, I’ll ask again, just who the Hay are you?”

“Me? I’m INS4NITY. Disqe is too much of a pansy to be available at the moment, so I’m filling in for a while. Now, can any of you direct me to where ever Disqe’s girlfriend went? Last time I checked, he was looking for her when those wooden wolf things and, manticore attacked him? Yeah, manticore.”

They all gave me looks of shock and disbelief. “What? Are those little mo-fo’s hard to kill or something? Looked pretty easy to kill to me. Especially if ya got an M1911- hey, where is that little piece of death anyways?”

I saw the blue haired girl, Vinyl Scratch? Holding the firearm. “Yo, hand it over. Now.”

Vinyl smirked. “And what if I don’t want to?”

I grinned evilly. “Gurl, you don’t want to know the things I can do to someone. Disqe spent three years in the air force, and since I’m technically Disqe, I know all the ways to bend someone over my knee. Ya get what I’m sayin’?”

Her face turned from smug to horrified as I spoke, and she quickly handed me the gun. “Good, now wasn’t that so hard?”

“No, but what you said was oddly similar to what Luna’s Night Marauders do.”

“Hmm… I got to get to know these people, they seem legit.”

Vinyl’s face turned stoic. “I wouldn’t say that. The only time people get to see them is when they’re about to have a knife in their back.”

My own smug look dropped a little. “Huh. Well then, let’s avoid them, shall we? Also, anyone know any good DJ’s? I want to get to know anyone else in the music biz here in magical people land.”

Vinyl tried to act cool, but I could see that she was barely able to contain herself. “Well, if it’s a DJ you’re looking for,” she made a sweeping gesture with her hands, “I’m your girl. DJ PON3’s the name, don’t wear it out.”

I grinned at the competition. “Heh, not likely. Although I’m sure you might wear out mine.”

Vinyl tried to come up with a good come back, but she just couldn’t.

Not likely, no one’s ever beaten me in this game, except that one prick. Damn bassist.

I looked around the room to try to remember these people, and I noticed that the pink haired girl, pretty sure her name’s Pinkie, was playing on Disqe’s phone.

“Hey, what’re you doing with that? Isn’t that Disqe’s phone?”

“Yeah, but there are so many cool games on here! Like this game called Minecraft! No! Brother Pig! I will forever curse you creepers!”

“Uh… Okay then. Have fun with that. Anyone more sane I could ask questions to?”

Twilight walked forward. “I think I can be of help in that department. I’m the personal protégé of Princess Celestia and I can answer any question you may have of our fair land.”

“Okay, how the Hell do I get out of here? Ya know, the hospital?”

“Not until I say so Mr. Disqe. I’m Dr. Syringe,” Of course it is. “And according to these charts, you shouldn’t even be human, alive or otherwise. How many chromosomes do people where you come from have normally?”

“I’m no scientist, but humans where I come from have 46 chromosomes. And we don’t have ‘magic’ and wings.” I replied suspicious.

The Doc looked down at his chicken scratch that is the universal handwriting of all doctors. “Well, here in Equestria, unicorn people have 106, Pegasus people have 86, earth people have 66, reptilian people have 206, and gryphon people have 96. You only have 46, which is why it’s a wonder how you’re even functioning, let alone maintaining homeostasis and your brain waves… They’re higher than anything I’ve ever seen! Even when you were unconscious, they were higher than a unicorn person when they’re casting a spell!”

I shrugged. “Meh, so I’m smarter or something, big deal. All I know is I need to get Disqe and myself back to Hyperion so he can make nice with his girlfriend.”

Everyone in the room had similar looks of confusion on their faces. “Ya know, one of Saturn’s moons? The giant-ass planet wit the huge asteroid ring? It’s pretty hard to miss.”

Once again, Twilight takes center stage. “There is no… Saturn around here, as far as we know, Eques is the only planet anywhere near here.”

Even I was shocked at this, no wonder Disqe pussied out. “You mean… we’re not even in the same System? Shit… Hey Disqe, it might be a little harder than you think to get back home to your girlfriend.”

“Um, excuse me? I think I know something that could help,” the pink haired girl, whom had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke up, “I think that, since the Princesses are so… have live so long I mean, maybe they know a spell that could send Mr. Disqe and Insanity back to their world.”

I decided to break the ice this time. “Well why didn’t you say something earlier! Now we can go and try to get Disqe and I on our way back and he can go bang his girlfriend! OW! Disqe, stop mind hitting me, it hurts!”

“If it’s any consolation, I can get you a personal meeting with the princesses in seven days.” Said Twilight.

“Seven days? My man Disqe and I gotta get his ass home so his girlfriend doesn’t beat the living shit outta him.”

Twilight raised her hands in an ‘I didn’t do it’ gesture. “I’m sorry, but the princesses are away on an important peace council with the Gryphon ambassador that is going to take all week.”

“How the Hell does a meeting take a week?” I asked her incredulously.

“The princesses have to travel to Gryphony, meet with the ambassador, and then spend the week convincing him that it would be unwise to occupy Trottingham any longer.”

I almost laughed, almost. “Gryphony? Trottingham? What kind of shit is this? Let me guess, Gryphony is occupying Trottingham and this is probably the biggest war you pansy eaters have ever seen.”

“Well yes, this is the biggest war that Equestria has been part of, since Equestria is a world-“

“Yeah, yeah. World super power and this war involve your whole world, blah, blah, blah. This sounds like a bad reenactment of my world’s World War II. By the way, in my world, that was over 600 years ago, and Germany didn’t just occupy one city, no, they occupied entire countries. Hitler and his Nazis began a conquest over all of Europe, not slowing down for anything. He killed millions, millions of Jewish people just because they were different. No one could stop his onslaught, that is, until the United States of America came into the war. I’m going to say this before I continue girls, I’m an American and I’m sure as Hell proud of it. The US came in like the fury of God himself. Our air forces, combined with the other allied powers, swept in like Angels of death over the battlefields, our soldiers came in like demons from Hell itself and ascended upon the German ranks. Within the span of only four years, we cornered the bastard and then he shot himself like the coward he was. And that was only the European Theater.”

“In the Pacific Theater, we were having some trouble making Japan stand down, that is, until we built the bomb. Imagine a bomb, easily able to fit into this room, being able to destroy an entire city in mere seconds.” Everyone in the room looked horrified at my description of man’s worst years. “We had to drop a bomb like that twice before the Japanese surrendered. And don’t think we stopped there, oh no. We kept going, until we had made a bomb so powerful, it rivaled the heat of the Sun itself when it detonated. The United States was the first to develop this bomb of course, and we tested it on an island. They dropped the bomb, and they never found the island, only a crater in the middle of the ocean, slowly filling back up with water.”

Everyone in the room sat quietly for a while, until I finally spoke up. “Well, there’s ya’ll daily dose of INS4NITY. I think I’ll leave the rest of this up to Disqe.”

I pressed the button on the side rim and my hair slowly changed back to its natural mahogany brown, and my eyes a sharp blue.

“Ugh, finally. I was wondering when that psychopath would give me control again. Sorry about that, I didn’t think he’d go into that much detail. Anyways, so what am I supposed to do for the week that the princesses are gone?”

After Twilight recovered from her mortified shock, she responded to my question. “Well, um… You’re a DJ, I’m sure Vinyl would be more than happy to show you around. Uh… C’mon girls, I think I heard Spike calling!” With that, Twilight and the other five girls quickly walked out of the room.

Vinyl watched all of them walk out and shrugged. “Well, it’s just you and me huh? It doesn’t matter, we can go to the club I DJ at, and I don’t know, share music and stuff I guess.”

I slowly got out of the flimsy hospital bed. “Sounds like a plan to me,” I made a mock salute, “lead the way captain.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the trolls, this chapter was a bitch.

Also, so I could get this chapter out today, this was NOT edited.

Good day.

PS. Anyone notice the new cover art?

DJs, Nurses, and Spies

“Eclipse main, this is Eclipse actual. Target is exiting the building, over.”

Precious seconds went by in radio static.

“Eclipse actual, this is Eclipse main. I hear you loud and clear. You are to observe the target only, nothing else, understood, recruit?”

The young Night Marauder gulped. “Sir, yes sir. Understood. I am to observe and to not intervene in any way.”

A light giggle was heard over the broadband. “I expect you to succeed in this, Lightning, I wish to make sure that no harm can come to that boy, he is very dear to me.”

Lightning Dust gave a crisp salute to no one in sight, making it look rather silly. “Sir, yes sir!”

“Oh, and one last thing. STOP ADDRESSING ME AS SIR!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Just sign here and you can be on your way Mr. Disqe!” Said Nurse Redheart cheerfully.

I picked up the form and signed the appropriate paperwork, which was admittedly slim, considering my situation. “Thanks, Nurse Redheart, and please, call me Disqe or Leaf. Saying mister makes me sound old or something.”

Redheart put her hands on her hips. “Are you calling me old?” she stated with a sly smile.

You’re screwed.

Shut up.

I stumbled over my own words. “N-N-No, I-I-I meant, what I was trying to say- I, er… Why are you laughing?”

The Nurse was covering her mouth with her hand, trying- and failing- to contain her mirth. “It’s alright, Disqe. I’m actually only 25, I’m young enough to be your older sister!”

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Heh, heh, I guess you’re right… Well, Vinyl and I have some… well, I’m not entirely sure yet. Things I guess, to go do.”

Redheart took the clipboard from me and gave it a quick look over. “Alright, everything seems to be in order. You’re free to go Mr. Dis- I mean, Disqe.”

I looked over to see Vinyl waiting impatiently at the sliding glass doors. “Thanks again, Nurse Redheart!”

The Nurse put the clipboard on her desk. “No problem Disqe, if you ever hurt yourself in anyway, I’ll get you fixed up in no time!”

I turned to walk out the doors to the hospital, when I heard Redheart call from behind me. “And Disqe?” I turned around look at the Nurse, “You can call me Jane.”

I flashed the nice nurse a smile before turning around and walking out of the building.

“So, how’d it go with Nurse Redheart?” Vinyl nudged me with an elbow, “Did ya score her number or what?”

My face flushed red in an instant. “WHA- NO! I already have a girlfriend, remember?”

Vinyl’s face scrunched up in thought. “Oh, right. Oh well. C’mon, my club is down this way if we cut across by Town hall.”

You’re being watched.

What?

In the tree, 50 feet straight and 10 feet to the right. Third branch up. There’s a Avian girl with NM written on her jacket.

…Damn Insanity, I didn’t know you were like a freaking ninja!

There are many things you don’t know about me Disqe. Be careful to remember that.

All right Mr. Ominous, what should I do about it.

Absolutely nothing.

What.

You heard me. Just walk along with Ms. Scratch until you get into a building. If they wanted to harm you, they would have done so already.

Huh, you have a valid point there. So just ignore them, but remember that they’re there?

Precisely.

Also, where’d your accent go? Now you sound more like these people with your current accent. Even your vocabulary has increased. You sound almost regal now.

I’m a voice in your head; I can have any accent I want.

Huh. I never thought of it like that.

He actually bought that

What?

Nothing.

Oh okay, well Vinyl is talking again.

“…And over there is where I got my friend Octavia so drunk she actually flashed Soarin’ when the Wonderbolts were in town!”

Damn, I haven’t even been that drunk before. “You’re shitting me, right? That is classic! That is… that is just, my God. I can’t even describe the hilarity I would have felt had I been there!”

“Yeah, well. That plan kinda backfired on me when Octavia and Soarin’ started to date shortly after that.” Vinyl stopped walking and had an odd look on her face, “Come to think of it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a boyfriend either. Huh, odd.”

I had to lift my jaw from the floor.

A DJ who’s never had a girlfriend before? What kind of fucked up Hell am I in?!

“How the Hell have you of all people not have had a boyfriend? You’re a DJ, you’re famous, and probably rather wealthy because you are famous. Who wouldn’t want that?”

Vinyl just shrugged. “Apparently no one.”

I pulled Vinyl into a sideways hug with one arm. “Don’t worry, Vinyl. There’s bound to be someone out there! All you have to do is find him!”

I smiled evilly. “Or her.”

Vinyl punched me in the shoulder. “Oh fuck you, Disqe!”

I lifted my hands in the air as if being arrested. “If you insist.”

“Ugh, what am I going to do with you.”

“Well you just said you were going to f-“ I quickly silenced by another punch to the arm.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. By the way, is that your club up there?”

Vinyl turned forward. “Huh, oh yeah! That’s it, my club!”

Yyyyyyeeeeeeessssssss.

Vinyl looked over to me and I met her stare straight on. We both knew what we were about to do.

“Race you to the door!” We said simultaneously.

As it turns out, Vinyl is a little speedy Gonzales, and she beat me by at least ten seconds.

“Damn… Vinyl, you… are a fast… little DJ, aren’t ya?”

Vinyl looked down at my prone form, barely breathing hard. “Yeah, I was on my high schools track team. I might be a magi, but I still try to stay in shape.”

Vinyl held out her hand and I graciously grabbed it and Vinyl helped me up from the ground.

“Thanks, Vinyl.” My attention was grabbed by the soft thumping coming from inside the club, “Um, Vinyl? What is that?”

“Nothing.” Vinyl replied a little too quickly.

A few seconds later the music stopped and I could hear a few hushed whispers through the door.

It’s a trap.

No shit, Sherlock.

“Ookaaayy… I’ll just… ignore that.”

I opened the door to the club and found that it was dark. Not a normal club dark, but pitch black, as if someone turned off the lights-

“SURPRISE!”

“HOLY SHIT!” I shouted as I fell back down onto the floor.

As I was getting up, a pink blur assaulted me.

“Didyoulikeyoursurprisepartyhuhhuhhuh?!”

“Uh. Pinky? I think you’re straddling him.”

Pinky looked down, and giggled. “Hehe! That’s what she said!” and with that, she got off and, well, disappeared.

“what… just… happened?”

Vinyl gave me a tired look. “Just sum it up to it’s Pinkie Pie, alright?”

“Um, okay. Do you want to see who’s the better DJ?”

Vinyl smirked and pulled down her shirt a bit and showed me her shoulder. “I have a cutie mark in music, good luck beating me.”

Vinyl pulled her shirt back up and jumped onto the stage. “Heeeellllllllllllloooo, Ponyville! You guys ready to rock!”

“YEAH!” responded a chorus of shouts.

“Let’s get this show on the road!”

“Ha, top that Disqe!”

I gave her a smirk of my own. “I think I have something.”

I put on my shades and I could feel Insanity take control.

You got this, bro?

Since when have I not?

I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell he was smiling.

Insanity jumped onto the stage and put a vinyl record from thin air and put it on the turntable.

How’d you do that?

A magician never reveals his tricks, Disqe.

Damn it.

Insanity took the glasses off and I was able to take back control.

“So, Vinyl. How was that for music!”

Vinyl tried to hide her admiration. …I think. “That was pretty good, you almost beat me.”

I just shrugged. “Oh well, I’ll try better next time. But next time, I’ll beat you. Not Insanity.”

Just then, Pinkie decided to show up. “Who wants to get drunk!”

Vinyl and I both gave Pinkie an odd look. “What the fuck, Pinkie.” We said in unison.

“What, everyone does.”

Huh, I guess she’s right.

“Eh, what the Hell.” I took a shot glass from Pinkie, and downed the drink.

Idiot. Was the last thing I remember before passing out in a drunken stupor.

Author's Note

I IS SORRY.

Shattered Reality

“Justin! What art thou doing!”

“Creating a New Equestria! Changing this pathetic land into a new, true Equestria!”

“Thou art creating a land of fear and despair!”

“If that is what it takes to create thine new world, THEN SO BE IT!”

The magi with white flamed hair took aim at the sun goddess.

“Absorbens tenebris et desperatio, perdam inimica mea!”

She knew this attack, and it would be his last.

“repellere tenebris, occurro percutite!”

The wave of darkness was engulfed in light, shattering it into millions upon millions of pieces, before dissipating completely.

“Thou cast this punishment upon thine self, Justin Desqeteres. Thou art the first magi, but we will not allow thou to corrupt the others.”

The avatar of the sun raised her hands and chains of hard light wrapped around Justin’s wrists and ankles.

“Thine art truly sorry, Justin. But until thou art able to atone for these atrocities, I cannot allow thou to stay. Justin Desqeteres, magi of justice and magic, thou. Art. BANISHED!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uhhhhhh… Hangover…

Get up, idiot.

Hey… Stop calling me that you… I’m too hung-over to think of a comeback.

Then allow me to fix that.

I felt the hangover start to ease, and before five minutes were over, my hang over was completely gone.

I looked over to where Vinyl had crashed on the stage. “Can’t say the same about Vinyl though.” Said DJ was slumped against the turntables with her aviators nowhere in sight, and her hair was worse than usually.

I walked over to Vinyl when I got the most devious plan ever in my head.

But it would need some yellow paint, feathers, and a lot of time. Which is something I don’t have. Hmm… Oh my God I have a girlfriend and I’m doing this.

Whatever you’re about to do, you’re either a player or an asshole.

I’m not cheating, so yeah. I’m an asshole.

I crouched next to Vinyl and whispered while breathing heavily. “Hey, Vinyl. Why don’t you and I go… backstage.”

How the Hell.

“Oh… yes… Disqe”

Holy shit, this is too much.

Let’s see how far we can push this.

Usually I’m against this, but this is too good.

I leaned down and bit down on Vinyl’s ear gently, eliciting a moan of pleasure from said person.

“Ohhh… yes… “

Time to wrap this up, and laugh my ass off. Time to be the ass of a player I was years ago.

I leaned in and kissed Vinyl, right on the lips.

Vinyl stirred, but didn’t wake up, so I pushed a bit harder, and leaned more of my weight on Vinyl, almost to the point of straddling her. Then she did something I didn’t expect to happen.

She starting kissing me back.

Well. That backfired a bit.

You don’t say?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In an alley near the club, an orange haired young woman calmly waited for her protectorate to appear out of the club.

“How long could you spend in there! You have to come out sometime!”

Lightning Dust sat down on the ground, her patience was wearing thin, but she had to hold out for the sake of her first mission.

Granted, if she did fail in this mission, more than just her job would be on the line.

Lightning shuddered at the thought of what her employer would do to her if she failed. Then, in the middle of her self-reflection, the double doors to the club swung open to show her target and the celebrity DJ Vinyl Scratch walk out of the building.

“Yes! Alright Disqe and Vinyl, let’s see where you go.”

A voice was heard behind Lightning Dust. “Hey lady!”

She turned around to scold who ever said that.

“What is it you wa-“

Lightning Dust never saw the bat coming.

“Good night.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I quickly broke away from the kiss and half-stumbled, half-jumped away from Vinyl and swiftly and quietly ran to where I was when I woke up earlier. Then, I pretended I was still asleep.

That never happened.

Agreed.

I lay as quietly as I could, until I heard Vinyl start yawning loudly and complaining about something like a hangover maybe.

“Hey Disqe. Hey Disqe, wake up.”

I took this as the clear to start appearing to be awake.

“Huh? …Oh, hey Vinyl. What do we have planned today that would make you want to get up so early with a hangover?”

Vinyl jumped to her feet. “Because! We have to go see the new themepark that just opened up last week! I haven’t been able to go since I’ve been busy, but I’m not now!”

Themepark=roller coaters.

What’s a, ‘rollercoaster?

You have not lived.

“Yes! Let’s go on as many roller coasters as we can and then eat all the cotton candy!”

Vinyl pumped her hand into the air. “Drink all the alcohol!”

She just came off a hangover and she still thinks about drinking. Sounds awfully familiar, huh, Disqe?

I raised my own hand to meet Vinyl’s. “Yes!”

As we walked out of the club, a weird piece of paper hit me in the face. “What is it and things on this planet wanting to kill me!”

Vinyl just laughed at my predicament, and pulled the treacherous paper off my face. She started reading it to herself and her face blanched.

“What does it say?”

“Look.”

Dear Vinyl Scratch and Odd Friend,

I’ve decided to send you this friendly little letter to inform you of your friend’s imminent demise. If you refuse to pay the ransom of 500,000 bits to my associates and I at the park tonight at midnight…

Well, I’m not sure yet, but it will not be pretty. There’ll be blood everywhere.

Sincerely, Gang leader Fabio.

“Hey, I’m not weird!”

“Sure you aren’t but you sure are egotistical. Look, we have to do what they say, or they’ll hurt whomever they have hostage!”

“Why don’t we just go over there and just beat them up? They can’t be that tough. Especially from what I’ve already seen here.”

Vinyl bit her lip in anxiety. “That… might work. But we should still have money in case it doesn’t work out.”

“Alright, you go get some money and I’ll go see what I can do to warm up for a really fun fight later!”

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “You truly scare me sometimes, Disqe.”

“I try my best, m’lady.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few hours we sort of a blur, and before I knew it; it was already 23:45. Fifteen minutes before I get to have some real fun.

I sat on a bench on the outskirts of the park, and waited for Vinyl to arrive with the said amount of bits. I’m just going to assume this is money of some kind.

I checked my watch. “23:55! Vinyl, hurry up!”

“I’m here!”

I looked off to my right and saw Vinyl running to me with a large briefcase. “I… got the… bits… Damn I’m tired.”

“C’mon, Vinyl. We still have to get there.”

Vinyl and I jogged to the center fountain of Ponyville Park.

“01:02. damn it.”

“I wouldn’t say that, varon puta. I was almost worried that you wouldn’t show.”

“Give me back my friend you ass!”

The gang leader feinted surprise. “What friend? Oh, you mean this one?”

Two cronies came forward and threw a girl, around our age, on the ground in front of him.

Vinyl made a step to her, but the cronies all pointed spells at her. “Ah, ah, ah. Not until I get the agreed upon payment.”

I stepped forward. “Or, I could just beat all your Asses in, keep the money, and take back our friend.”

Everyone in the group laughed, including the leader.

Let me take control. NOW!

Chill, dude. I got this.

No, you don’t. Now unless you want to become fried by those spells, please let me help you!

Like I said, I got this.

The gang leader turned to me and stopped laughing suddenly. “Enough games. Men, kill the fool. I want the DJ alive.”

They all charged and pointed spells. Directly at me. I felt around for my gun, and realized that it didn’t have any more rounds. It was a glorified beating stick.

Want my help now?

Yes please.

Insanity took control, without the aviators on, my irises turned red, and my hair turned white and flowed with an invisible wind.

In short, I looked badass.

I opened my mouth, but it wasn’t my voice that came out. “Stand down or I will be forced to resort drastic measures!”

The gang members seemed a bit apprehensive at my new appearance, but they quickly realized that nothing had truly changed, and all shot their spells at once at me.

I opened my mouth again and said exactly what Insanity told me to. “Just as the sun casts light upon the land, allow the moon to light my path and repel the darkness! Light magic art: Light barrier!”

I threw my left arm in front off me, palm facing my opponents, and my right arm holding it at the elbow. Runes of some ancient language appeared all over my arms, and a giant wall of pure moonlight appeared in front off me, dissipating the oncoming bolts.

The barrier faded and Insanity told me to counter strike with a different… magic? Since when could I use magic?

“Just as the unholy use their power for evil, allow me to call upon that same power! Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust! Dark magic art: Shadow bolt!”

The runes along my arms glowed an ominous black light, and a rune appeared in front of my palm. The rune grew, and shot out bolts of absolute darkness in rapid succession.

“Gah!” All the members fell to the ground at once; their bodies were already disintegrating into black ash and dust.

The gang leader turned around to run from my display of… magic I think it was. And my body reacted without my command. “You will not escape justice, criminal!”

“The enemies of the night I tear and rend, I call forth power to inflict judgment upon my enemies! RESTRICTION RELEASE! BLACK MAGIC ART: WAKING NIGHTMARE!”

Author's Note

Absorbens tenebris et desperatio, perdam inimica mea! = Engulfing darkness and despair. Destroy my enemy!

repellere tenebris, occurro percutite! = Dispel the darkness. Counter strike!

Transcend the Nightmare

Celestia was woken from her slumber by a loud, obnoxious knocking from the door. Magicking the door open, Luna literally flew into the room and barreled into her sister.

“Tia! I felt it!”

“Felt what, Lulu?”

Luna swallowed, “I did not think it possible, but it was the Waking Nightmare.”

Celestia shot out of her bed, “Where did you feel this?!”

“Just in Ponyville! It appears as though the Elements are on their way to the scene, but I fear it may be too great for them!”

“Come Luna, we will deal with this manner ourselves.”

As Celestia disappeared in a teleportation, Luna stood alone.

“I wish, after all these years, that you would have changed back, Justin.”

And with that, Luna teleported after her sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“WAKING NIGHTMARE!”

The gang leader found himself suspended in perpetual darkness. There was no light, no sound, just . . . nothing.

Suddenly, there was a spotlight in the center of the room. Seeing it as his only salvation, the gang leader moved towards it. Once he reached the patch of light, he could finally see everything around him- in morbid detail.

He was standing in a throne room- torches lined the walls and there were twisted versions of the murals in Canterlot Castle decorating the walls with their perverse concepts.

“Welcome to my humble abode, Fabio Alighieri. If you would be so kind as to step up to the throne at the end of the hall I would very much appreciate it.” Said a cold and harsh voice, devoid of emotion.

Hesitantly, the gang leader made his way up to the throne at the end of the hall, glancing up at the false murals with disgust. The elements of Harmony were black and twisted, Nightmare Moon had triumphed over Celestia and Luna, and Discord was never sealed away. In short, it was as though all of Equestria’s history was reversed so that the good guys never won.

Standing at the base of the throne, “I’m here, demon! Show yourself!”

The voice asked its own question in return, “I have but one question for you, Fabio.”

The voice paused, “Are you afraid?”

Fabio puffed out his chest, “Of course not, Demon!”

“You should be.”

Suddenly, the voice belonged to a figure, sitting on the throne.

He wore a heavy black wool cloak, thick black leather boots, and stylized gloves on each hand, an interweaving sun and moon stitched into them. Upon his head he wore a black hood, covering his eyes from view, yet Fabio could still see a red glint in the dark.

Fabio was once again thrown into the pitch darkness, but was quickly replaced by a room.

“This is my bedroom . . .”

The gang leader cautiously got up and went into the hall and down the stairs to glance into the kitchen. What he saw almost made him scream.

His wife and two daughters were being held at spell-point, while three other men were going through the house, taking valuables.

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on my family!” Fabio bellowed.

Yet no one seemed to hear him, and it continued.

Fabio went to run in front of the robber and put himself in front of his family to protect them, but found that he could not.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of watching his family be at point blank, the robber fired, and killed all three of them with a sadistic smile on his face. The robbers vanished after that and Fabio felt he could move again. He sprinted over to this family.

“Mi amore, Nightshine, Cloverluck . . .”

“Why are you showing me this demon! Why would you do this to a man!”

Without warning, Fabio was thrown back into the twisted throne room, in front of an angered prince.

“You have a loving family, a wife and two daughters, yet you have an occupation like this?” The prince spat, “Do you not care for them at all-“

“I do care for them! More than you would ever know!”

“I know much too well.”

“What?”

“I said, I will give you two choices.”

The man held up one finger, “Option one: I continue to torture you until you lose your sanity, such as the spell will do,” the man held up a second finger, “or you can leave, and go back home to your family, never to harm another again.”

“I promise! I’ll never harm another soul again!” the gang leader was practically begging now, “Just let me see my family alive again!”

The cloaked man smiled through the dim light of the torches, “Correct.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ponyville Park, 2 a.m.

The black shield that had appeared around the gang leader and me shattered into millions of shards before dissipating.

Vinyl looked up from her spot on the ground where she was sitting, and ran towards me, whom was on the ground breathing heavily.

“Disqe! Are you okay? Say something! How many fingers am I holding up? Are you still breathing? Do I need to do CPR? I think I remember-“

“I’ll be okay as soon… as you get off my chest.”

Vinyl looked down to see that she was on top of me, and preventing me from breathing.

“Oh! Sorry about that . . . You and him were in there for a while, and I thought maybe he got you caught in a spell or something. Also, did you hear that third guy? He sounded insane! He must’ve gone though, because I haven’t seen him after that black shield thing.”

“Oh, him? I think he ran off after I showed him these!” I showed off my relatively average biceps, electing a chuckle from Vinyl.

“Oh yeah, you sure showed him!”

As we both laughed on the ground, we heard moaning nearby.

“The girl!” we said simultaneously.

We both got up and ran to the sound to see that the girl was alright.

I ran over to her and held her up gently, “Are you alright?”

The girl’s eyes opened slightly, “Yes, I just . . . need a minute.”

“Can you tell me your name” I asked in the most gentle tone I could muster.

“Name’s Lightning Dust . . . fastest . . . second fastest flyer in Equestria . . .”

“Mine’s Blake Disqe, but everyone calls me Leaf, and I suppose I’m a famous alien electronic music producer.”

Dust laughed gently with that one, “heh, at least you’re good at something . . . I can’t do anything right. First the Wonderbolts, then the guard, and now this . . . I can’t even be a good follower. I’m a failure and I know it.”

I frowned at the story and wiped a tear that rolled down her face, “Now that’s not true, I think you’re at least the best at something- you just haven’t found it.”

Dust’s condition worsened even further, “But I’ve already found my talent! I already have my cutie mark- and it’s in flying! But I can’t even do that right.”

At this point, Dust was openly sobbing into my shirt, and I looked to Vinyl for help. She just mouthed ‘I have no idea how to help’ at me.

Thanks for the help, Vinyl.

“It’s gonna be alright, don’t worry. No matter how much the world puts you down, just get back up and try again. That’s what my father told me and my father’s father before him. Everyone gets knocked down, it’s just a fact of whether you get back up or not.”

Dust looked up at me with hopeful eyes, “You really *sniff* mean that?”

“Of course! What’re friends for!”

“Friend? I’ve never had a friend before . . .”

I leaned down a bit and hugged Lightning Dust gently, “Then allow me to be the first to call you my friend, Dust.”

After I let go of the embrace, and Dust soon after once she realized the hug was over, I heard an odd sound.

“What was that?”

Vinyl answered, “It sounded like teleportation gates opening.”

A Dismal Return

"What's a teleportation gate?" I asked with increasing worry.

"They teleport people, duh! But the only people who can use it are Twilight and... the... Princesses..." Vinyl looked toward me, worry etched onto her sun-glassed face, "we might be in a bit of trouble…"

The whirring noise of the teleportation gates reached a high and piercing climax, as two regal figures stepped calmly out of them, an air of sadness and benevolent fury following them.

The larger of the two took a step towards Vinyl and me, "Are you the one called 'Blake Disqe?'"

I gently put Lightning Dust down, and stood up to my full height, trying to seem as composed as possible in the presence of the menacing woman.

"Yes, I am. But may I ask why the two of you took the time and trouble to see me in the middle of the night?" I barked a quick and sharp laugh, "I can't possibly be this popular this quickly."

The regal woman glanced down at me with a look that was either pity or sadness.

"I am aware of who you are, Blake Desqeteres."

I flinched at the woman's revelation, but I remained firm in my stance.

"How do you know my name?" I questioned the woman, my calm façade slowly fading, "I NEVER tell people my full name.”

"Because," the woman backed up a bit and took an offensive stance, with her right foot planted forward and her left supporting her weight. "Your family line is of Royalty, but not one you should be proud of!”

I waved my arms in a frenzied fashion. “Wait! What does that even mean?!”

The Woman flashed me a predatory grin. “It means that I will fight with you until one of us falls, and I can guarantee it will not be me.”

"Lights of the sky, grant me power, cast your cleansing light upon my enemies; HEAVEN SHOWER!"

Justin! What do I do?!

Just do what I did earlier!

Real helpful! I thought back quickly before dodging one of the first bolts of light.

Just say the incantations I said earlier!

That’s all I need to do?! It’s that simple?!

Well now that you have access to my power and spell set, yes.

I quickly raised my right hand in front of me, my palm facing the woman. I grabbed my right bicep with my left hand, fueled by some instinct. I was worried whatever this “heaven shower” is, was going to destroy me, until, slowly, a small circle formed, in front of my palm.

"Night can hide, night can cover, night can protect, and night can repel! SHADOW CLOAK!"

Once I finished, the generic circle in front of me became detailed and decorated; it folding into itself to form a proud shield in the majority of the circle, with many smaller, seemingly unreal symbols and patterns filling up the rest of the circle.

The hail of light rained down and charred everything they hit. I braced for the end, before opening my eyes, looking around. The light, except for me, charred everything nearby. Somehow, the shield was protecting me.

How do I shoot back?! I mentally yelled, waving the shield around uselessly, the woman that fired the spell gaping at me in shock.

Just do literally the exact same thing you've been doing. Idiot.

Oh. Right.

The shower of burning lights began to slow, and I took the opening.

"Fire of the night, bane of the light, shed the countless bolts upon my target!: GATLING SHADOW BOLT!"

Another intricate circle appeared in front my right palm, except this time a glyph of a bow and arrow dominated the circle. The circle elongated into a large long bow; made entirely out of an unknown black substance.

I pulled the string taut, and a large, translucent black arrow appeared in the notch. I aimed directly for the woman.

"Damn it, where'd she go!"

Look up, Blake!

I shot my head upwards just in time to see a large light spear hurtling towards me. Clutching the bow, I swiftly rolled to the left, and the woman landing to my right.

"Never leave yourself open for attack!"

I glanced back at the woman in time to see another light spear sailing toward my prone position. I dived away.

"GAH!" A second spear struck my right calf as I dived, and I fell to the ground
unceremoniously.

"Do you accept defeat?" The woman asked as she calmly walked towards me.

C'mon... Another few feet closer...

The woman continued to advance my position. "If you honestly though you could
win, then you must be very desperate indeed, my subject."

Another foot! C'mon!

"I'm not a citizen of this place, so you have no jurisdiction over me!"

The woman took another step.

"Yet you are here, in Equestria, making friends among my subjects. And I am truly sorry to have to do this, but I must punish you for your crimes."

Almost! One more step!

"For what? What have I done since coming here, besides helping people?!?" I growled in rage.

The woman took one last step.

"Your crime is being here."

Die, bitch!

"How vulgar!" The woman said in disdain, reading my thoughts.

"Never leave yourself open to attack!"

I brought the bow up to bear, and I let loose at point blank range, the hundreds
of arrows engulfing the woman.

The spell bow finally dissipated, and I sat panting on the ground.

No wonder Vinyl is so fit for being a DJ, magic is tiring!

As I was struggling to get up, I heard Vinyl scream.

"Disqe, look out!"

I looked back to the regal woman; her clothes were shredded and was now standing with a rather displeased look on her face. That was the good part. The bad part was that she herself was completely unharmed.

"Oh c'mon! I shot you at point blank!"

The woman smiled. "And not a single one missed; what you didn't see is that a Magi, or in this case an Avatar, can simply deflect another's spell if they have power equal to or greater than the spell. “

Okay, now that’s just not fair.

"I can see that this is above your level if understanding at the moment, so I'll just give you the abridged version," the woman looked me dead in the eye before continuing, "I am Princess Celestia, and you cannot win."

The princess charged another spell, but this one felt different from the other ones. More sinister, more evil intent than anything I've seen. Even the Waking Nightmare didn't feel this bone chilling.

"Tia! What art thou doing!" said Luna as she took a sep forward in shock.

"This ends here, Justin!"

"Tia, no!"

I could only stare as the spell circle widened and became black.

I tried conjuring another spell, but each time I tried, the magic would be absorbed by black circle.

"The power of my ancestors, the power of a hundred suns! Grant me your strength! Tear this soul asunder from its vessel, destroy it utterly and completely: SOUL REND!"

That bitch; that's my spell.

So now you talk!

DDOODDGGEE

Oh really! I didn't think of that!

I tried jumping to my right, but couldn’t, my feet were planted to the ground in sheer fear and dread by the amount of hatred that the spell was emitting.

A large blast of power radiated from her spell, all being directed towards me, and I could feel the dread and despair that followed.

"I'm so fucked." I whispered to myself, the massive force inches from me.

The wave if power slammed into me with a force that a semi trailer would be proud of, knocking me off the ground and onto my back.

Everything was fuzzy, and my hearing was dull; as if someone had used a flashbang grenade too many times.

"Blake, NO!"

That was the last thing I heard.

<-*->

"Where am I?"

I floated in darkness, just as Fabio did in the Waking Nightmare spell.

"Am I dead? Is this limbo?"

"No, you're not dead, and no, this isn't limbo."

I looked around the darkness, trying to find the source of the voice.

"If you don't mind, I would like to have a floor to stand on."

Befuddled, I responded, "How do I do that?"

"It's your head, figure something out!" The voice replied, a little frustrated.

"Okay, I guess I'll try."

I tried to imagine a good place; my favorite place, and I soon found myself standing on a linoleum floor.

"Your nightclub. Huh, I would've preferred a lounge of some kind, but this is acceptable as well."

"Who are you? And what are we doing here?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh c'mon Blake. I've been with you all your life; I'm quite hurt that you don't know me.” The Black cloaked man pouted.

"You're... You're Ins4nity?"

The figure stood up and mocked applause.

"Bravo, Blake, bravo. I am Justinius Desqeteres. Also known as the Star of Justice, the Forsworn, and the Half Blood Prince. Not to be a hipster or anything, but I was a half blood prince waaaayyy before that Snape guy."

I stood in confusion at Justinius' explanation, but I decided quickly that he was trustworthy enough.

"Alright, Justinius-"

"Call me Justin."

"Alright, Justin. You still didn't answer my other question; why are we here and why aren't I dead?"

"Simple," Justin shrugged, "it didn't hit you. That's why you aren't dead."

"But- but it hit me directly! I took a full hit from that Soul Rend spell or whatever!"

Justin grunted as he sat back down on the soft couch.

"It hit something directly, but it sure as hell wasn't you. Now, listen here very well, Blake, for I will only say this once."

I walked over and sat on the fluffy chair across from the black clad figure.

"Alright. Are you listening, Blake?"

"If what you need to tell me took a lethal spell to say, then yes."

Justin smiled softly at the joke before continuing.

"Once upon a time, I was just like you. On top of the world, a loving wife and daughter- hell I was even the Prince of Equestria!"

"Well, what happened to change all that?"

Justin's soft smile faded into a grim and cold gaze.

"I was helping my little sister, Luna, with a spell she had trouble learning, and I spent the night at the castle, unlike when I usually when I leave late and go home. I woke up earlier than I usually would, and gently carried little Luna to her bed. I exited the castle and I was soon in sight of my home, and that's when everything started to go downhill."

I looked at Justin sadly, as I could tell that he was mentally fortifying himself to finish the story.

"The door was broken down, and the windows were shattered. I ran as fast I could, even using a little spell I had made to boost my speed. I sprinted through the remains of the broken doorway to find my worst nightmare." Justin paused for a brief moment to gather himself. "My wife... My daughter... They were dead. There's no other way to put it. No sugar coating to make it sound nicer. They were dead, and lost from me forever. After that I was devastated, my public work projects ceased. I became recluse in my room in the castle, dreading the mere sight of the broken house. My spells became darker and darker, until I had finally made the Forbidden spells as they're called today. Waking Nightmare and Soul Rend are just two of the many sinister spells I had made. I tried to put on a brave face, tried to smile to the crowds of my subjects, but every time I saw a happy child, or a loving couple, it sickened me further and further. I believed that it was unfair, unjust that everyone should have happiness except me. Luna tried her best to cheer me up, and Celestia tried helping as well, but
neither were getting anywhere."

I took his momentary pause as an opening to ask my question.

"What happened next? What did you do to have Celestia basically hate you and have your name stripped from the history books?"

"I let my hatred get the best of me. I knew deep down that I should be happy for the prosperity of my subjects and their happiness, but my hatred was more prominent, more desirable. I used Eternal Nightmare. The most powerful forbidden spell I had created; fueled only by rage and hatred, it is the only spell to be created by such raw emotions. The Elements of Harmony work in much the same manner, except with pure love and order."

Justin sighed. "I tried to destroy the world; plunge the whole world into darkness and despair. But Celestia and Luna caught onto my plans, and Celestia stopped me with a counter measure she had created while Luna was trying to deal with my anger and depression. She stopped me, and banished me to a world engulfed in war. At the time, I was more than happy to see both sides obliterated. But something happened and new country joined the war and pushed the balance of power. After many years of living with despair, I died of old age. But Celestia had put a curse on me. I was to continue life in the
consciousness of my descendants until I was ready to return."

I have him a puzzled look. "So you're like my great grandfather times twenty."

Justin gave a short and sad chuckle. "If you look at it that way, I guess so. But you must take what I am saying seriously Blake."

Justin got up and walked over to me. He put his hands firmly on my shoulders. "Never let your hatred control your life, Blake. I did and look where it got me. Get back to Sol, find the love you've always looked for. Have a happy life, you
deserve it."

I grunted. "I already have a girlfriend and how did you know that?"

Justin gave a hearty laugh, a real one this time. "I've been in this screwed up head of yours for a while, Blake. I know how you think."

"And don't give me this 'I have a girlfriend' bull shit. If you aren't ready to say I love you back to them, without any hesitation, without any regrets that you might have the moment they say it to you, then they aren't for you."

"Alright, thanks for the advice, but why are you telling me all of this? What's the point!"

Justin sighed sadly as he sank back down into the couch. "That Soul Rend didn't hit you- it hit me. I switched places with you Blake. You have a nice, long life ahead of you, kiddo. Don't waste it."

"Wait, Justin! What do you mean you switched places with me! What's going to happen!" I practically shouted with concern.

"It means I'm dying, Blake. I can already hear my wife calling me..."

"No! Justin! You can't die! Not now! I still need you!"

"Heheh, no you don't kiddo. Just take my advice I've taught you today to heart, and you'll never go astray. Live as if you'll die today, dream as if you'll live forever. Good bye, Blake."

I hot tears ran down my face as I saw my life long friend, my alter ego, and the one who’d stood beside me in every endeavor, disappear slowly in front of me.

"Good bye . . . Justin."

<-*->

"Blake! Disqe! Can you hear me! Say something, anything, please!"

I wonder who that is . . .

"Please, Disqe . . . just wake up . . . Please. For me, please say something . . . Anything . . ."

Vinyl . . . ?

"You have to get up! You have to! Please! Why can't you . . . Get up . . . Why . . ."

She sounds sad, and why can't I get up? I'm making Vinyl sad by laying here. C'mon body, work!

"Ever since you saved me and Pinkie from that Manticore, you've stuck with me, and even when I was being annoying or stupid, you'd stuck with me. So please, for the love of anything! Please . . . Just wake up . . ."

"Vinyl . . ."

Yes! Basic communication! I'm getting there.

"Huh! Disqe! Disqe! Say something else! Anything, just continue to speak, don't fall asleep! Please!"

"I . . . I heard you . . . While . . . I was out of it . . . I heard your sadness . . . And I
promise to not . . . cause you to be sad again . . . I promise."

Vinyl crushed my already extremely hurting ribs, but I didn't mind. I could take the pain for a little bit.

"Oh, Disqe! Never do something that stupid again! Please don't!"

"Eh heh, no promises there . . ."

"Ow!"

"I'm being serious here, Disqe."

"I know, I know.” I replied as I rubbed my arm, “Could you please help me up?"

Vinyl helped me lean onto her shoulder, and Lightning Dust saw what was going on and helped me as well.

"Blake Desqe- I mean, Disqe. I would like to apologize to you."

I looked up slightly at the woman in front of me, still regal, but signs of distress and regret were written on her face.

"Apology accepted, ma'am.” I said with a smile.

The Princess recoiled. “You’ve forgiven me that quickly? But . . . I hurt you . . . For no other reason besides my suspicions.”

I waved her off. “You’re forgiven because I know you were just doing what you thought was best for Equestria. All I want to know is when I can return home.”

Celestia shuffled a bit at my request. "About that..."

"It's ready!"

"What?" Celestia and I replied simultaneously.

I looked towards the smaller of the two women, the one I assume is Luna, and lo and behold, there was a portal behind her.

Celestia looked befuddled at her younger sister. "Is your night court honestly that sparse?"

"Sadly, yes. Although, it does provide me with much free time!" Luna replied happily.

Luna looked at me with intense, yet caring eyes. "Are you ready to return, Blake?"

I looked between my two friends, Vinyl and Dust, and nodded. "I think I'm ready, Luna."

I turned to Dust and gave her a firm hug. "I'll miss you, Disqe!"

"I'll miss you too, Dust."

I released my grip on Dust and turned my attention to Vinyl. The blue-haired DJ had been my friend since I had gotten here a week ago, and just leaving her high and dry would have been a crime all on its own. Vinyl had been the kindred spirit I had found in this virtual Candyland, and I had promised that I would never make her sad again. I felt that leaving her would shred that promise to pieces.

I turned to face Vinyl, for what I feared may be the last time. A soft ‘thump’ told me she had the same idea, and had her face buried in my shirt.

"Disqe! I'll miss you so much!"

"Eh heh, I'll miss you too Vinyl, I'll miss you too." I wished that I could tell her more; remind her about all the good times we’d had in the short week that we’d known each other. Tell her how much she meant to me, and Justin’s advice seeped into the forefront of my mind: Don’t give me that ‘I have a girlfriend’ bullshit. If you aren’t ready to tell another person that you love them, without hesitation, without regret, then they aren’t the right person for you.

I wanted to tell her that she meant so much to me; more than any friend I’d ever had, or will make, but I felt that telling her that and then leaving her with that burden would not be the right thing to do.

"Are you ready to go now, Blake?"

I turned to the princess and gave my short, but momentous answer.

"Yes I am, Luna. I'm ready to return to Sol."

Luna nodded curtly. "Then proceed through the portal, and you'll be back home."

I walked slowly to the portal, a sense of calm washing over me.

I turned back to the four people behind me.

Celestia appeared sad to see me go, but otherwise looked happy to see that I was able to return home. I couldn’t exactly relate to her, since she is royalty and I’ve only known her for about 30 minutes, but I flashed a smile at her all the same.

Luna had a look of indifference on her face, probably trying to keep up her façade as the Princess of the Night. Her face was neutral, but a small tear rolled down her left cheek before she promptly brushed it off.

Lightning Dust appeared to be dejected; her head was low and her gaze toward the ground. She looked up for a brief moment to smile at me and waved curtly before resuming her fossil hunt.

She’s probably sad that the one true friend she’s had is leaving so soon . . . I hope Vinyl treats her well when I’m gone.

Vinyl . . . I wished with all my heart that I could tell her how much she meant, and how much I wanted to stay here, in Equestria, with her. She held my gaze unlike the other three, but she had tears rolling down her cheeks. All I wanted was to run up to her, and hold her tight. Wiping the tears off and telling her that it was going to be all right.

But I had a girlfriend on Sol; one that was probably worried sick. Yet each time I thought about Deryn, Justin’s advice would overshadow it.

I looked at each one in turn once more before giving a shaky salute. “I wish all of you the best of luck! I wish that one day, whether it be a week or a year, that I may see you all again. Good bye, Celestia, Luna, Dust and Vinyl. I will never forget the friendships I’ve made here.”

And with that, I jumped into the portal.

<-*->

I landed hard on the grass of the park I had left when I had my unexpected departure.

Still dazed from the teleport, I looked around groggily.

What I saw frightened me deeply.

Buildings that were never there before, and the skyline had changed dramatically.

I quickly pulled my phone from my pocket. "A.I., connect to local time zone."

"Connecting, please wait."

"Connection failure."

"What? What do you mean connection failure?"

"I am unable to connect to any known networks."

"Then try again! But this time try connecting to unknown networks."

"Re-connecting. Please wait."

"Connection complete. Local time is 7:53 pm, March 15, 2558."

"No . . . What do you mean, 2558?!"

"I am not sure what you are asking, Disqe. I have said the correct date."

"But . . . I've only been gone a week . . . It can't be . . ." I sank to my knees on the short grass.

“It was only July 23, 2452 when I left . . .” A solitary tear ran down my cheek as I came to a dismal realization. “I’ve been gone . . . a hundred years.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long a** wait! Here's the ending that I hope you all were expecting! Now the question is . . .

Will there be a sequel?

Epilogue

I looked down at the picture that I held so carefully in my hand.

There, in the small 5 x 7 frame, was a picture of Vinyl and me, smiling and partying. The picture had been taken by Pinkie during the party at Vinyl's club.

I chuckled sadly. "I never will figure that girl out."

I gently put the picture back onto the nightstand, next to my Ins4nity memorabilia.

Among them: an old pair of platinum labeled vinyl discs, a poster, and my old Headset.

I reached my hand up to my neck and felt my new R3surrected headset. It was smaller and sharper than my old ones, but I kept the old ones as a memory of Justin.

Reaching my hand slightly higher, I rubbed my forefinger along my jawline and felt the rough stubble I had grown used to after the past four years. Now, 28.

I scoffed. "It's funny how you never notice how old you're getting until one day you look into a mirror and you don't recognize the person looking back at you . . ."

I glanced down at my watch, and it read, 7:21. Signaling that I had my show in 40 minutes.

I reached into my jean's back pocket and pulled out my Sync-Player.

"Never too late, by R3surrected."

The A.I.'s metallic voice answered. "Song found. Would you like to play?"

I set the paper thin device onto the night stand. "Yes."

Author's Note

A little epilogue I came up with on the fly.

A sequel is brewing.