Episode 8B: The Neon Effect

Ahhhh…. What a nice nap. I just woke up by the way so don’t talk to me without my coffee. Or…. You know don’t yell at the pages and stuff till I have my coffee dude. And to that one skeleton in a wheelchair that doesn’t like me talking like that, well fuck you too, I need my coffee, so cry more bitch. But you know what the sad thing is…. there is no coffee in Neon’s World…. only Neon’s Green Energy Drink Splooge.

It uhhh…. tastes ok but not really. But it does give you the pep that you need to move throughout the day. I surprisingly recommend it too as it lasts for six hours long…. So take that you fucking five hour energy scum bags.

But I wouldn’t recommend one serving as anymore than two will probably give you the shakes, three will give you a bad case of the Big Gay, and four will probably be the end of you. But you know what’s even more sad? I don’t even drink coffee. I don’t even know why I brought that up. You can tell that it’s very boring here in Neon’s World.

It’s like this most of the time as we all just mope around hoping for death to come. But you know what isn’t boring? Neon’s Splooge…. it gives you the necessary energy to accomplish your tasks that you want to do and you won’t even feel sad about it. You will only just be very disappointed that you can no longer touch yourself and feel like you have the sexual gratification about your ego anymore.

You will only have your own self reflection and the sense that you no longer matter in life anymore and that you should finally use that rope that you have that’s just sitting there…. taunting you…. waiting for you to finally do it…. Do it…. Do it…. Do it.

Anyways, a thing happened the other day and I guess I’m going to write about it now.

So where should I begin? Oh yeah…. So it was just like any other day, roughly about the wee morning hours of any typical day in Neon’s World. And while life outside was not busy; we sure were inside the Party Store. We were hustling and bustling, trying to take direct orders from Arrell. I was moving heavy boxes with my magic as Jack was standing on a ladder, annoyed, trying to hang some streamers.

Mac was trying to make some kind of apples that remained in the world into something disgusting like how he usually does, and Neon was busy baking an Extra Filled Blood Type O Cake. Arrell was flying around, keeping an eye on us and trying to supervise us while Forrest was in the corner trying to get the party favors in order for any potential guest that may come over.

Forrest was in particular smiling and humming to himself in his own little world, minding his own business as the rest of us were yelling at each other and arguing over one another. Arrell didn’t have the most happiest of looks either as he was becoming more increasingly frustrated with everything and everyone as we continued to fumble our way through his orders.

He continued to bark at us as if we had any idea what he wanted us to do in the first place. Sure, it sounded simple, but was it really when he wanted me to open a specific box that was not labeled; or how he wanted Jack to hang a streamer in a very certain way as if it mattered to begin with. Hell, he was starting to become picky about where the balloons were placed at. It’s just fucking balloons, get over it; yet he wanted it to be perfect, as if the moment was going to be framed forever on an eternal wall somewhere for all to see. So while we were all getting our asses chewed out by Arrell, Forrest was (purposely) left alone in the corner.

He remained in his own little world as he smiled away. He didn’t bare any mind to us or the yelling as he was used to that in his own home. Instead, he was sitting down in the corner like a toddler, his wings folded in, and him taking his sweet time with the party favors. He seemed happy and content with his job as he hummed a little tune to himself that only he could hear.

To him, he thought he was doing a very important job as he had thought to himself that every bag given to every guest should be perfect and done with love and care. He wanted everyone to be satisfied and content with their offerings and that everyone was special no matter what. You could say he was trying to be the one who wasn’t the rest of us…. And you’d be right.

But no matter, he was our little punching bag so after Arrell yelled at Jack at the fiftieth time, he pushed back his pony ears and growled a bit, “Why the fuck are you even yelling at me for!? I’m doing all the work here!”

I then responded back in a cynical tone as I continued to stack boxes in a corner somewhere to move them out of the way, “No you’re not you jerk dick”

Jack snapped at me as he hanged from the ladder, “Shut up!”

Arrell only continued to give him a scowling look back as he crossed his arms as he raised his eyebrow at him.

Jack only got more flustered by the second, “Don’t give me that look you bunny loving son of a bitch.”

Arrell spoke up against a ruder by the minute Jack, “Look, all I am asking is to make this perfect. I’m trying to get us all the Simp Badge here you guys! We need to throw a party for King BlowHard.”

Neon was keeping his ears out nice and wide like always as he slowly pulled out a knife behind the kitchen counter window, “He’s coming you saaaaaaaaaaay?”

Arrell, who wasn’t catching on to any of Neon’s signals just like a chick, “Nah, he isn’t.”

Neon then quickly put the knife down as he continued to leave his sinister smile on like always these days.

Arrell tried to continue his little prep talk to us, “We have to throw a party as IF King BlowHard himself was coming. A representative will swing by later this afternoon to inspect us and if it’s deemed acceptable, we can receive the Simping Badge! And who knows, maybe he’ll even bring King BlowHard himself to surprise inspect us and I get to finally meet him!”

Arrell was starting to become giddy like a school girl as he smiled at that last part. Neon then once grabbed the knife from behind the kitchen counter window without a word too.

Jack however was not convinced as he continued to hang from the ladder with his left hoof still. He only looked like me when I was unamused and cynical. I even started to snicker at it; Jack caught on and was not pleased one bit even by me.

Jack then pointed his hoof over to Forrest, “Ok, well what about that red little shit bag over there in the corner working on party favors!? We’re all here busting our asses off and he’s off in the corner put plastic and paper in a fucking bag!”

Forrest caught on to his derogatory name as his pony ears perked upright. He seemed a little upset with the hostility towards him then.

Arrell came to his defense though as he tried to smooth things out while placing both his hooves in the air, “Woah now Jack. Forrest is playing an…. important part in the group.”

Arrell twisted his left hoof around as he tilted his head towards the ceiling, trying to think of excuses for Forrest, “You never know. Maybe the representative will bring along a few uninvited guests and we need to be prepared for ANYTHING at all. And we want to give a good impression that our BlowTroop shows the up most respect…. by giving them cheap little gifts that we found in the wreckage of the old One Bit Store down on Mane.”

Mac butted in as he placed his left hoof over his heart, “May the fancy thing in the sky bless the One Bit store.”

Arrell continued his defense case, “So you see, Forrest is…. playing his part for us. And without him…. where would we be?”

Arrell had optimism as he opened his arms outward and tried to convince us Forrest was a valuable member of the group. None of us smiled back and Jack was even more pissed off and cynical.

Jack said with a droning tone, “So we need to put cheap, Made In JaPony shit in a bag to be somewhere?”

Arrell couldn’t keep the cope together any longer and simply folded like commie tankies retreating to Reddit after losing a debate, “Yeah… uhh…. I guess not.”

Forrest however decided to be his own lawyer as he used his wings to flutter in place for all us to see in the middle of the room.

He spoke out as he reached his right hoof to us, “Come on guys, I can do other things too!”

Jack with still a cynical tone and look on his face, “Oh look, it can talk.”

Mac said with a surprising enthusiastic attitude, “Welcome back from the Corner of Shame Forrest!”

Forrest seemed a little down by those comments, but he pushed forward.

He tried to convince us, even towards Arrell, “Come on you guys, I can be part of the team too you know. You just need to give me a chance. I am the fastest one here after all!”

Forrest tried to stick his chest out as he placed his right hoof over his heart out of ego. He tried to put on a smile too, trying to sell himself to us.

Jack was disappointed though, “Yeah and you’re the weakest too out of all of us. Even Mac could beat your ass in a fight and he’s stupid sometimes.”

Mac was put off by that, “HEY! I am a OFFENSIVE and I find that statement to be smart!”

Jack snapped back like a shark and told Mac, “Shut up you backwards in evolution, back in the wood kick pony fuck!?”

Mac only smiled back and said, “Ok then there Jackie boy, just becareful on that ladder.”

Forrest protested as he tried to look at all of us in hope, “But… But, I can be part of the team too! I can do things and….”

Forrest looked over at Jack trying to hang a streamer that was caught under the ladder that Jack was trying to pull.

He smiled and figured he knew how to prove himself to the rest of us, “Here, I can help out Jack putting up the streamers!”

Forrest quickly moved over to the streamer and pulled it without really knowing anything that he was doing.

Before Jack could do anything at all, he said as Forrest was starting a chain reaction, “Hey, what the Neon Hell are you doing! This is my….”

It was too late; Forrest accidently pushed the ladder a little too much as it started to slide towards my direction downward. Jack lost his grip and fell off it, hurting himself a little. I however was paying attention and moved slightly towards my right as the ladder fell on the boxes I spent so much time stacking. Jack also had looked at me as I smiled back towards him to make him look like an idiot that I didn’t get hurt. From there, the ladder hit the side of the box that made the contents of it jump up in the ar. It was a bunch of knives, but not just any knives…. Neon’s Knives.

It then lingered in the air for a second or two and then went towards the first thing that it “saw”, Mac and Neon. It flew across the room and tried to stab Mac. Mac was obviously scared and tried to run away. While doing so, he accidently pushed the apples over the stove that also accidently turned on while raising his hooves in the air; flaring them around. This in turn caused a few of the apples to catch on fire.

Now to picture this with my words, the oven that Mac was at nearest to the kitchen window and therefore the counter top. There was enough force to where it then went out of the window and on to the floor. And from there, there were streamers and other decoration sprinkled throughout the room by this point, with some hanging down as low as to the ground.

This was all sadly got caught on fire as surprisingly the smoke alarm still worked as that went off too, making a really loud beeping. Neon just stood there in the kitchen doing nothing and smiling while Mac ran around in circles like an idiot accomplishing nothing in the process. Forrest just fluttered there in place, shocked at what he had caused. He looked at the small amount of chaos as Jack looked at him as if he was going to beat his ass, I was snickering, Mac was screaming, Neon was smiling, and Arrell shook his head in disappointment.

He knew how much effort he was going to have to put into just to get to back to where it was at. All the while, Forrest was the center of attention and started to feel the weight of shame that he had brought upon himself. The only question left that you might be asking…. what the hell are Neon’s Knives doing in boxes? Well I don’t know, but they were there before the explosion and I think this Neon just wanted to pack all the old stuff away, but just like you, the one reading this, you never really do find the time to clean stuff.

Come on, we all know you still have those boxes that you say you’re going to unpack and organize your home with, but you never do. It’s just like when you say you want to start exercising ever New Year so you buy any exercise machine but it just ends up as a new cloths rack. You only have your shame and your dignity to blame…. You make me sick….

TWENTY ONE MINUTES LATER….

So Forrest was outside for a bit, walking the abandoned, decaying streets of what remained of Stalia. He hanged his head low while being so alone in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. He was belittled by Jack earlier as he played the whole event in his mind over and over and over and over again. He was pushed and shoved, but all he could do was hang his head and cry.

Tears started to flow down his soft cheeks as he wallowed to himself, “I can’t do anything right. Not even in a world with just a few ponies in it that are my friends…. I-I can’t do anything right. I’m just a fuck up just like my dad said that I was. I…. I….”

Forrest was interrupted when he thought he was alone.

Neon almost finished his sentence as he snuck up behind him, “You’re a mistake?”

Forrest stopped in his tracks to look behind him with what he could see through his tears, “Neon?”

Neon strangely walked calmly towards him to comfort him. It was eerie almost, as if it wasn’t right and out of character for him to do such a thing.

Neon said as he tried to put on a warm smile for him, “It’s ok Forrest, there’s nothing to be sad about.”

Neon tilted his head and tried to use his left hoof to reach out to him as he gave a comforting smile. The smile too was off as I look back on it.

Forrest only wiped away his tears as he tried look away, “But there is Neon; every time when I try to do something and help my friends, I just mess everything up and make things worse.”

Neon continued his comforting tone, “Come on now Forrest, you’re not messing anything up. You’re just different is all. You just need to show the others that you try not to mess up anything. You’re still our friend after all.”

Forrest looked over at the sad, crumbling buildings of Stalia before him as it reminded of himself.

He tried to say to Neon with through his sadness, “Yeah, but even when I try, it isn’t my hardest they say. Bu-But it is my hardest. Let’s face it, I’m nothing, I shouldn’t even exist.”

Forrest hanged his head low while Neon oddly walked up to him and placed his left hoof on Forrest’s right shoulder. He was trying to comfort him and trying to make him think a certain way.

Neon said in an off tune kind of tone, “Come now Forrest, you’re our FrIeNd, you must see that by now.”

Forrest was starting to feel a little tingle in his skin, but wasn’t sure what it was. He then moved away from Neon as he continued to walk down his lonely path as he hanged his head in shame. Neon just let him go as he perked his head up with a soft, yet devious smile.

Forrest continued to ball his eyes out as he got further away from Neon slowly, “I just need to get some air. I’ll see you later.”

Neon didn’t say a word and only smiled at him as he saw him walk away.

LATER AT THE PARK….

Forrest made it to the park by himself as he sat at the only non- destroyed bench in the whole place. He laid down flat on his belly across the whole thing as he used his right hoof to play with the only ball that survived the explosion that he had found laying in a ditch nearby.

He gently rolled it across the ground, back and forth, trying to get his mind off of his mistakes. Yet not even the comfort of a soft and squishy ball could make him feel any better. He just laid there and mumbled to himself in deep despair. His mind began to wonder has he stared at the ball even more and started to remember the good things that came from such an innocent little object. He started to remember the days when he was young in the Cloud Trailer Park, when he was all alone and his dad didn’t care what happened to him.

He tried to find happiness in almost anything as he tried to play with the other young colts and fillies. He wasn’t the most popular, but he tried to fit in with the others the best he could. And even when it seemed like no one else cared about him, he still seemed happy. Thinking about that then lead him to think about us and in the days before Neon’s Explosion happened. He remembered how all happy we were even though we weren’t all THAT happy.

And in his bias of his nostalgia, he remembered the better, brighter days of his youth. Regardless if his nostalgia was true or not, he was happier nonetheless, and he only wish he could go back to it all. Then an idea struck him. His eye got wide as he raised his head. He looked around, tried to make sure no one else was around to see him. He was truly alone, even Neon was back with us trying to clean up the mess as he held up a knife and mumbling about King Blowhard like a maniac. Not even a ghost was nearby even though it would feel like that at times. Forrest then sat up and got off the bench. He then started to flutter in the air as he continued to look around; making sure no one else was catching on to what he was doing.

He started to rise higher and higher into the air as he mumbled to himself, “Ok, you can do this. Just like last time, you can do this Forrest. You did it once before, you can just…. do it again, ha ha….”

He started to become unsure of himself, wondering if he wasn’t strong enough to push himself to break the barriers that separated realties again. As he raised himself high into the sky, he looked around him to see nothing but a desolate landscape of destruction and despair. He has seen life still flicker with a gleam of hope, yet it was hiding in the dark corners, covering its ugly, deformed, mutilated face as Neon put his hoof on its neck.

All he saw was nothing but an empty void that would only continue to get worse. He looked towards the horizon and knew it in his heart that he must push himself hard enough to perform his greatest feat and create a Double Fireboom. He even started to think that a Triple Fireboom might even work if he could do it right with the right technique. Whatever the cost was, he needed to pay it so he could get a ticket out of the place. He looked below him one last time, seeing no one else, not even Neon. He then started to think about us even; and with a sad look he wanted to take us with him, but deep down, he’s a deserter…. and someone who obviously cared for us of course.

Still, he was going to ditch us and hope to leave for a better world before him. Forrest pushed his pony arms back as he stiffened up his legs. He let his wings lose and closed his eyes just for a few seconds more. He thought about quickly if he really wanted to try this, and if this would even work. He was wondering if he was just fooling himself or there might be a chance of escaping this hell. And within a second, he burst through the air with a pulse of energy as he flew through the skies.

He pushed his wings to their absolute limits as he his face felt the forced winds pushing against his own skin. He kept his mind straight as he focused on moving as fast as he could through the possible toxic filled, green clouds. As he zoomed in the air, one could hear the sounds of his wings breaking the sound barrier for miles around, even us, but we were mostly just focusing on the party. Plus we heard weird noises all the time so we just assumed it was like Big Dick or something.

Forrest then started to see tiny specks of light form before him, yet he knew he needed to push even faster as he spread across the lands as blazing speeds. So Forrest did what he had to do and pushed himself even harder to the point where he felt his wings burn like a hot knife sticking out. Soon, something inside him that made him click that not even him or I are sure of what it was; but he performed a Triple Fireboom…. patent pending of course.

On our side of things, four loud bangs could be heard as if four bombs had went off nearby as four giant rings of fire were left behind. Trails of fire was left lingering in the air like magic as some clouds and nearby dead trees that were even far away got caught on fire. As for Forrest, he disappeared as he just kept flying forward. Once he made it to the other side however, he made four more loud bangs but minus the fire booms. Forrest had kept his eyes tight shut during his short journey, yet when he opened them back up, he was greeted to what felt like heaven to him

. The sky was no longer filled with a gas like color or a sense of dread, but instead open, blue skies and puffy white clouds that look like you could sleep on them. As Forrest slowed down to a stop, he noticed he was out in an open green field; soon recognizing it as the outskirts of Stalia connecting to the Everfree Forest. He was pretty much at the farthest point though so no one else was around to see him arrive. Forrest was a bit confused at first, but then looked before out towards the horizon as the bright and beautiful sun touched the lands gracefully.

He was back home again. Forrest figured he had time traveled back in time. He wasn’t sure for how long ago it was, but everything looked like it was alive once more. The birds were chirping, the flowers bloomed with pretty colors, the sun was warm and welcoming friend, and all felt right with the world.

Forrest couldn’t help but have a genuine, bitter sweet smile form on his face. He wanted to cry tears of joy, yet all he could muster was joy in his heart and a mind that was free from the torment of the future. He took in a long whiff of the fresh air and was calm once more.

Then a frightful thought came to mind as he blurted out loud to himself, “Oh Shit! Where am I at!?”

Forrest started to panic a little as he placed both his hooves towards his head as he fluttered around in circles. He tried to think quickly where he may have been, not wanting to bump into his past self. Forrest then calmed down once more as a thought hit him. He then flew to the skies and into the clouds back to his home.

LATER IN THE SKY….

Once Forrest made back to the city where the pegasi of Stalia lived at, (It sounds weird, but it’s how we all saw them….) he made way for his big home in the sky. And I guess since this is my first time mentioning Forrest’s home, it was a big place, although can’t say I have too many memories of it even when looking back, not a pegasus after all; just a unicorn.

But it was like Rainbow Dash’s place, but bigger and fancier. One would ask where Forrest got the money for it since Cloud Property Taxes and all, but hey, it’s in the past now…. literally. So Forrest made it to his big, fancy cloud home and made it for his second floor bedroom window. He made sure to be super quiet with his wings and carefully fluttered nearby.

He went to the window to be safe as he got close to the cloud wall and hugged it. He then took a deep breath, trying to remain calm to not fuck it all up and possibly destroy time itself…. even though that wouldn’t have happened…. I think….

Forrest then concentrated on his movements and slowly raised himself up just enough to poke his eyes through the window. As he made sure to not make a single sound, he was able to see his past self sick in his own bed, asleep and moaning in pain. Forrest then started to remember where he was and that he was sick around this time as he caught the dreaded Cloud Flu.

Sadly, he did not get injected with four mysterious Cloud Vaccines because he was suspicious that there was a conspiracy of a Secret Cloud Society trying to kill all of the Pegasi. Anyways…. ee was sick in bed, stuffed up and shivering as his passed self tossed and turned. As the current Forrest poked his head up and was calming down, he started to feel bad about his past self.

A feeling inside of him wanted to go in there and take care of himself, but figured quickly it was just his emotions and that it was clearly a bad idea. Still, he cared for anyone that was in pain, but decided to not touch it with a fifty foot pole. However, he knew that he was free to roam around Stalia and even see his friends once again without consequence. Forrest left his home and the skies with a good conscience and left for the lands below in Stalia.

LATER AT THE BAR….

We were all at our usual meet up spot at the bar in Stalia; the name usually slips me by now. Even the sign now is destroyed. Well, we were all there sitting at the counter and just having a drink and chilling is all. There were a couple of other ponies in it, a couple playing pool I think and just enjoying the atmosphere. The usual bartender was kicking back at the corner of the bar and reading a newspaper and being lazy like usual and we just enjoyed the moment and the vibe.

Mac was rambling on about how Celestia was secretly breeding chicken to eat all the apples in the world so everyone would then be forced to switch to lab-made apples; and that it would then give you Appleacidious, “I swear I saw what I saw. They told me this was happening and that if we don’t do anything about this, then the only ones who will be able to sell apples is Applejack and Snipper Figs….”

Mac was acting serious as his eyes were wide as if he was deadly afraid of what he had just described while slamming his hooves flat on the counter top of the bar. There was a brief moment of silence as we all just stared at him; not shocked, just unamused.

I said to him as I just looked into his eyes, “What the hell are you talking about Mac?”

When we least suspected it, that was when Forrest came flying into the bar with a hint of speed and eagerness to meet us. He was smiling away, the happiest you’d probably ever seen him. Our past selves just stared at him, yet confused a bit.

Forrest came right up to us as he hugged us with a cheerful tone, “Oh it’s great to see you my friends!”

Forrest then got a little teary eyed and looked at Neon who was at the end of our group on the opposite side of me, “And it’s good to see you too Neon.”

Neon only cracked his neck with the appropriate sounds and all towards Forrest as he smiled wide with his teeth, “I can’t wait to see you again too Forrest! The sky is purple and the sea is green!”

Neon then went back to drinking his alcohol after saying his random takes with little to no meaning as usual. I mean sometimes he made sense, but at others he didn’t…. yet somewhere in all of that randomness lied a code of some kind I’m sure of it.

Arrell smiled a tad bit as Forrest went to hugging him along with Jack who seemed a bit uncomfortable and angered towards Forrest doing that, “Well I’m glad to see you to but…. weren’t you supposed to be sick or something?”

Forrest then let go and backed off a bit as he fluttered a bit in the air; while putting on a nervous grin, “Oh yeah…. what well uhh…. I got all better…. ha ha…. ha ha….”

Forrest was lying, yet our past selves didn’t seem to care (Now that I mention it, I think I might be having some memories of this happening all of a sudden…. Weird…), so we all just shrugged it off.

I then said as I looked a little down in the dumps as my pony ears flopped, “Well, that sounds all nice and good, but I’m required to be in the parade two weeks from now to represent the ‘Library of Stalia.’ At the very least I just need to give some ideas for the design of the float.”

I then got up from my seat and left my half finished beer on the table as I tipped my black cowboy hat towards the group as I walked out.

I was humble in my approach and tone, “Well, I’m going to go take care of it. See ya Forrest.”

Forrest however was too happy as he waved viciously goodbye to me as he saw me out, “Well goodbye Knight! I hope to see you very soon! Maybe when you’re done we can hang out…. or something!”

I walked out not responding, but Forrest didn’t mind, he was just too busy living unlike the rest of us. Once I had left, he then turned back around and went back to hugging Arrell and Jack as he closed his eyes in peaceful bliss.

He said to himself as he felt relieved once again to see us all alive and well and not in a dreadful state, “I am so happy to see you all and this town.”

Arrell was starting to get weirded out by Forrest, but Jack was annoyed to the point where he shoved Forrest off of him and punched him right in the face.

He then said to himself as he went back to his beer with a slump, “faggot….”

Forrest didn’t care though as he hit the floor hard. He still smiled as he rubbed his cheek as he got up. He didn’t say a word, only nodded in approval. Sure, Jack still did this to him back in the present time, yet just the fact that no one had the idea of what hell awaited us during the parade was a sweet relief.

LATER WITH ARRELL AND JACK….

While Jack was not happy to be with Forrest, he voluntary let him drag him around wherever he wanted Jack and Arrell to go. So after they left the bar, Forrest had brought them to the town’s mini golf course.

He stood there by the outside entrance of the place with a big smile while the two were unsure why he wanted to play mini golf with them; and such a random activity to begin with. Both Arrell and Jack raised an eyebrow out of curiosity and shrugged to themselves about it. And I guess to describe the mini golf course; it was a sort of hang out spot for the cheap and weirdoes for the town. It wasn’t bad, just a typical eighteen hole with one final special hole at the end to see who was the best of each party.

Nothing more, nothing less. It was all outside too with a small shack for the payment and golf clubs and the like with a small gate entrance to the place along with metal fencing surrounding the place. Each hole had some unique gimmick to it, making it weird and crazy and out of place and possibly illegal too. Anyways, Forrest had brought them both there, they all got their clubs and soon they were off to the first hole. The first hole was rather straight forward and simple as it was mostly a angled, straight forward shot. The par was 2 and Forrest was the first to go.

Arrell and Jack stood by on the sidelines as they leaned on their clubs. Jack was annoyed and wanted to get the game over with while Arrell was waiting with curiosity, yet patient. Forrest fluttered a bit in the air as he tried his best to hold the golf club with his hooves as he tried to line up his shot. He had a big grin on his face and was just taking in the moment to just spend time with his friends was all. All the while some kind of fun party music was playing over on the small intercom speakers littered throughout the mini golf course.

Once Forrest thought he had his first shot, he carefully dung his club a small amount of times until he took his one big swing at it. However, instead of hitting the ball, he would then instead miss it and accidently let the club swing almost a full three hundred and sixty degrees and let it come back around. It then bit him in the ass as he accidently hit his own body with the golf club; causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground with a thump.

Jack then began to point with his left hoof and laugh at his pain while Arrell remained concerned. Forrest then got back up with no problem with a smile as he gently rubbed his tender spot with care. Arrell then had a small smile on his face as he chuckled along with Jack. Forrest wanted to laugh with them too as he thought he had just made a memory with them.

LATER ON WITH MAC AND NEON….

And so after their fun and games, Forrest went over to Mac’s place on the farm. Mac was trying to pick some apples from the trees and to just be a good friend; he lent him his hoof and picked the apples for him. Forrest was using his wings instead and placing the apples in their designated baskets.

All the while Mac got a little lazy and took the free labor for granted. However instead of jerking around with his crazy Applejack conspiracies, he would then instead ramble on about whatever none sense that he had on his mind at the time while performing certain physical actions with his body to express it. And Forrest did not say a single word about it all. He only simply listened to the ramblings of a mad man, yet had no problems with it.

He was just happy to be alive and to be ponies of his own kind once again. And as for Neon, well Neon was helping along too somewhere in the background, picking one apple at a time and then yelling at it. And yet he could feel both of their presence and felt relaxed and over joyed just to be with them as a whole. He was just happy to be with them in a time where there was peace and harmony to be experienced as the sun shined down upon them and the air was clean. To him, this was making another memory to him.

LATER ON WITH KNIGHT AND WOLF….

While I was busy trying to get ready for the parade in two weeks, Forrest had to drag me along with his plans too. So once he pulled me away from my work, he dragged both me and Wolf towards the fields near the outskirts of Stalia. There, no one else was there but us, yet it all felt alive to him one way or another. Forrest signaled to me to watch him do his tricks as I just sat on my pony ass, waiting for him to get on with it. Wolf on the other hand was amused and was excited to see his flying tricks…. and was probably just high too.

And so Forrest fluttered up into the air and preformed some simple, yet astounding tricks for us as he flew up the clouds and soared through the air like a leaf caught in the wind. Even I started to smile along with Forrest while catching on to a hint of the idea why he dragged me all the way out there. He was having fun and he just wanted to share the same feeling with the ones he liked and loved. And even for me at that time, despite me being cynical towards the guys, I felt that same feeling too a little bit in my heart. I just sat there and smiled as I ironically shook my head while Forrest flew high in the sky as he took in the moment, trying to play around and show off his moves.

Really Forrest wasn’t do anything fancy, yet I think all he wanted to do was to do something; anything that he could do with his friends. And honestly at the end of it, mission accomplished. Plus I think Wolf was being mesmerized by his loops and barrel rolls and the like as he chuckled to himself. All I could do was look down and smile a little at him too as I too knew this was a memory to have been made for memory’s sake.

LATER THAT NIGHT IN THE OTUSKIRTS….

And so after what seemed like a long day of just spending in town with what felt like meaningless tasks, Forrest ended it all with dragging us all out to what felt like the middle of nowhere and sat us all down on the steep hill. Jack was especially annoyed since he was that much of a jerk dick mother fucker towards Forrest, yet out of his heart; and maybe a chance to punch Forrest, he came out anyways. So as Forrest pushed us to our “seats” on top of a grassy hill as crickets chirped in the background.

He explained to us with an eager smile as he fluttered in the air while we all sat down instead, “Ok, just sit down and relax you guys.”

My old self asked in a tone, “Why did you drag us all out here again?”

Forrest looked at us all as he fluttered in front of us, “Well I got to thinking and this will be the only time in a long time when we’re going to be able to see the O’Riley constellation.”

Arrell asked, “What is that? I’ve never heard of it?”

Forrest then said as he opened his arms up, “I know, me too! But I got to looking at Knight’s library after I showed him my tricks and noticed a book and in there laid a very obscure page about this constellation. It only appears for one night every twenty one years. After that you can’t see it anymore. And so tonight’s the night and I figured we should all see it!”

Jack was annoyed, “You brought us all out to see some stupid stars?”

Mac butted in as he looked at Jack, “Not just any stars Jack! Stars that go twinkle and fancy star stuff like that!?”

Mac was mocking him and Jack could tell obviously. Neon added fuel to the fire by blurting out, “Twinkle Fwinkle!”

Forrest then said with excitement, “Just wait till you all see it. You’re going to love it!”

Forrest then fluttered aside and sat right next to us at the end right next to Arrell. And from there, it was noticeable, bright, and sparkling a little as it looked beautiful actually as we all said in unison and gawked at it. My mouth in particular was in awe as my eyes glittered back at the stars. It all looked nice and beautiful, like staring at a rare animal caught in the wild.

It was something that you know you would never see again in your life, yet you try to capture every moment of it in your mind as you try to soak it all in. Forrest looked back at us as he tried to see the constellation too. And in his mind, he didn’t want this little moment to end. It was a simple set up, yet it was the perfect moment for him that he wanted to last forever. It what he was missing back in his present timeline; and just being in this moment, he didn’t want to go back. He wanted to stay in the past forever and never let it go. In his mind, a symphony of stars and light played in his head as he took in every second of the night.

Under his breath of the starlight filled night, he said to himself calmly, “I love you guys (in a non gay way he meant). I’ll never take these moments for granted again. I hope days like this will never end and that our future can change for the better.”

Forrest was happy again. Suddenly, everything stopped. None of our past selves were moving and were sitting still like a rock. Forrest thought something was off as he raised his right eyebrow, thinking something might be up as the cricket chirpings went dead silent.

His pony ears folded backwards as he kept his cool and his breathing steady. Forrest lowered his head a little bit as he took a few steps forward towards us.

As he moved towards our frozen bodies closer, he reached out his right hoof slightly, “Guys?”

Soon he was interrupted by a bright surrounding light to his right. What appeared before him was something he saw before; a ball of light that floated in the air as it appeared white to him. It was about half the size of Forrest but it seemed bigger than him. Forrest started to cower in fear as his legs started to shake and his heart rate started to rise. His eyes were wide and his mind drawing a blank.

He didn’t muster the energy to say a word as the ball of light said to him in a wise tone, “So, there you are. You’re not supposed to be here.”

Forrest was too afraid to say a single word as he stood frozen like us like a deer in headlights.

The ball of light continued, “It is ok for you to speak Forrest. I am not here to hurt you.”

Forrest’s muscles started to relax a little bit as he calmed down, “Wh-What are you?”

The ball of light exclaimed like a wise being from another world, “I am many things in many universes. My kind goes by many names such as Travellars or Fates; but to keep it simple for your mind to understand. We watch over every and all universes that exist as we try to keep a preferred balance under the discretion of a master that we serve. However we are not perfect beings incase if you’re wondering if we are all knowing and seeing. We simply have jobs that we were made for and try to accomplish the said job. And lately in this universe, we have failed to produce results. Simply put, it is out of our hooves as how your kind would say it. But that does not mean we don’t attempt to keep things as tight and as clean as possible.”

Forrest was lost for words. His brain had a hard time comprehending what he was even seeing, let alone hearing.

Forrest tried his best to muster some words, “W-W-Wha-What do you mean by that?”

The ball of light stated to Forrest as if it was a demand, “You don’t belong in this time Forrest. You must return to your time. We don’t usually mind time distortions and beings being out of place as long as they don’t stay permanently or cause too much of a disturbance. However, especially in your situation, you cannot stay here. You must return to your present from which you came.”

Forrest wanted to protest this request, yet felt too weak to do so, “Bu-But I don’t want to go back. I like it here.”

The ball of light leaned in closer to him, “You have no choice. You must go back or else all might be at stake”

Forest started to tear up a bit as he tried to fight his feelings, “Bu-But I can’t go back. The world back in my time is sad and grey. Here it’s all…. bright….”

The ball of light, despite having no facial expressions, continued on as if it was eyeing him down, “It doesn’t matter Forrest. You belong in the world that you are meant to be in. And right now you belong in the world that you describe as ‘sad’ and ‘grey’. You cannot escape your own time. It is forever bound to you as much as it is bound to anything connected to the universes.”

Forrest lowered his head for a moment, started to have tears roll down his soft cheeks, “Is-is-isn’t there any other way that I can disconnect? Is there anything that I can do to st-st-st-stay?”

A moment of silence passed over the two as everyone and everything continued to remain frozen in time. Forrest would have hoped as his sobbing continued that there would be some kind of good news given to him in his hour of need.

The ball of light however said, “No one can bargain for their own time back Forrest. It is simply one of the many laws of the universes. You can only remember, but never get it back. Unless you are not bound, you can never be of what you once were ever again.”

Forrest tilted his head upward, trying to look pass his stream of bitter, depressed filled tears, “B-B-B-Bu-B-Bu-But I want to stay. I want to stay. I want to stay with them! I want to stay! I want to stay! I want to stay! Please don’t make me go back. I haven’t been happy in a long time and now that I made it back, I finally feel alive again. Being back in the present is a nightmare and there is nothing I can do to change it! Please…. please I’ll do anything to just stay in the past. I-I-I’ll even stay out of sight of the past me. I promise I won’t do anything to….”

The ball of light cut him off like a scorning parent, “No. There is nothing you can do. But do not cry Forrest, for there is forever hope no matter what. As long as the time exists, you can always change your future; but that is up to you.”

Forrest remained silent as he lowered his head again as he tried to keep himself together as the tears covered his face.

The ball of light then told him straight out, “It is time to go Forrest.”

Forrest then gently raised his head and looked at our past selves, frozen in time as we stared up at amazement in the sky. We had happy and pleasant looks on our faces and just to see that, Forrest was at least a little bit comfort inside. He was at least happy he was able to go back in time to experience better days than what would come next.

However, it was not enough to crack his dreary frown, but instead leave him in a sorrow like state. His lips started to quiver as he slowly walked over to our frozen bodies to get a closer look. He kept his head low and his pony ears flat as he wanted to have his last moment of peace. Once he got close enough, he stopped and took one last look at us together in harmony. He wasn’t sure when he would see something like this again while we were all in misery back in the present.

Forrest then said softly under his breath, “Goodbye…. past…. Goodbye…. memories.”

Forrest was trying to string the words together coherently, yet had trouble as he continued his crying, “I hope to…. see the sun shine…. again one day on us…. all. And if that day…. comes, I hope we could…. have a day like this…. Together… like friends…. just like we used to….”

He then turned towards the ball of light and walked towards his direction. The ball of light did not say another word and simply guided Forrest back to his present time, As Forrest got near him, they then disappeared and went back as our bodies remained frozen, as if this timeline did not exist at all (despite me having some memory about it…. Weird….)

BACK IN THE PRESENT….

Forrest arrived suddenly back in the present day within a flash. The ball of light wasn’t there though to say goodbye as he looked around. He was all alone again. He was surrounded by what he hated and despised once more. The dreary, green filled skies as the clouds blocked the potential sunlight. The dead filled air and the crumbled buildings of what once was surrounded him again.

Forest just wanted to cry even more. He didn’t really get to say goodbye deep down, yet there was nothing he could do. Forrest thought of trying to do his Triple Sonic Fireboom again, but thought it would have been a waste as he would just be pulled back in to begin with. There was no escape from the dread; it was his fate to be doomed in this place that Neon called his own. With no one around, and lucky enough for him with no Neon; he lowered his head, flattened out his pony ears, and sobbed all the way back to the Party Star alone and scared.

BACK AT THE PARTY STORE….

Forrest made it back in one piece as he continued to have tears of sadness flow down his cheeks. Once he made back inside without even looking up to see through the windows, Arrell was flying around the dining area with cheer and glee.

Forrest propped his head up; curious to what he was so happy about. He noticed that Arrell had a badge in his hooves while the rest of us stayed in a corner, looking bored and unamused. Neon of course smiled and stayed behind the kitchen counter watching everyone. Before Forrest could ask, Arrell saw him and immediately went up to Forrest, giving him a hasty hug.

After he let him go, he fluttered in the air with joy, “We did it Forrest! We got our Simp Badges! Isn’t that great new!?”

Forrest was a little surprised, as he had thought he had ruined everything before, “You got it? And I didn’t…. mess anything up!”

Arrell, while trying to keep a smile on as he tilted his head to the side, “Well you kind of still did, and we had a lot of clean up too while you were gone. Buuuuut, the representative came over and saw the fire and thought it was a great looking bonfire party we made! I don’t really get it; it really wasn’t a bon fire…. BUT HEY, WE PASSED! And that’s the important part! We are moving up in the ranks! Woooo!”

Arrell then went back to flying around the room buzzing around while toying with his new badge. While the rest of us were in our own minds, Forrest was in his, and he was starting to smile a bit. He looked at Arrell and started to think that there was hope left in the present. He thought to himself that the future might have a bright and sunny day again.

Well that’s about it, after that we all just crashed and continued on in our torture in the world. I’ll write anything else down if anything happens. I’m still wondering what happened to TK though. Where is he? In fact…. Where is TF even or anyone else? Where are they?

The end…. For now….

Author's Note

Next batch of episodes will feature SSN (Super Sayonic Nyonic) bum bum bum buuuummmm....