Chapter 1

The Light beckons

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock

The clock was ticking ever so slowly in his mind. All he wanted was for the bell to ring and he could go to where he had to.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock

"Oh come on. Hurry up!" The boy yelled outloud. As if it heard his plea, the clock hit 1:30 and the bell rang. Sighing in relief, he and the rest of his classmates packed up their bags and started walking out of the room. All save for him because his teacher, Ms.Murphy, had stopped him.

"Toya?" She called out to him. Toya stopped in his tracks but he didn't look back at her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He sighed for a moment and turned to walk back to his teacher. She was a kind lady, unlike most of his other teachers, but he felt like she was only doing it because it was her job. How many teachers could a student have met that actually cared enough to ask if something was wrong with their student out of the kindness of their heart? The answer: Slim to none.

"Yes, Ms.Murphy?" Toya replied, not looking her in the eyes. His tone was just a little above a whisper, but it was able to be heard.

"I've been hearing things from some of your teachers that you haven't been putting alot of effort into your work. You've been falling asleep in class, arriving late and every time, you show up with bruises or cuts." She pointed out. "Toya, are you being bullied?"

"No." He deadpanned.

"Are you sure? If you are, you can talk to me or your couns--"

"Look. Ms.Murphy, I'm not being bullied. The bruises and cuts are because I get too reckless doing things at home. I'm late and fall asleep in class because I get tired so much when I work. There is no bullying going on. Now can I please go to lunch? I'm very hungry." He said, his tone showing he was getting irritated.

Ms.Murphy sighed in defeat and nodded her head, Toya grabbing his things and walking out of the room. He hung his head low and continued walking, making his way into the cafeteria. It was the same thing, every day for him. He'd get up, go to school, go to class, get his work, his teachers would try to talk to him and he would deny everything just so he could leave. He only had two more things to deal with today: Lunch and study hall. He was mostly glad that he had study hall near the end of the day because he didn't actually have to study. He did all of that at home. At study hall, it was his time to relax. To unwind and not think about any bull that he went through during the day. He took his lunch, which he neatly packed himself and brought it with him to the Media Center, or the library.

He was happily greeted by the librarian, Mrs.Lowell and he sat down and started eating. Mrs.Lowell was probably one of the few staff members at the school he could confide in. They talked, she helped him with his work when he needed it and when he was feeling down, he'd tell her about it and she'd give him advice. And truth be told, she was the only one he could tell his problems to.

As of late, Toya has been being bullied since the beginning of his sophomore year. And it was always the same gang of teens that picked on him. Craig Jones from the Lacrosse team. Jeff Romero on the Basketball team. And the supposed leader of their little gang, Vincent Murdoch. He was quarterback of the football team and the most annoying asshole Toya ever met. Vincent was more annoying than the other two combined mostly because he would have his little girlfriend tag along, a cheerleader by the name of Devin Collins, and he was super creepy.

Most of the time when he was confronted by them, Vincent would insult him normally and then say some Gothic stuff. Just last week, he questioned Toya's mentality and then said that he was "surrounded by sorrow" and everything he did wouldn't be able to change it.

But no matter. They hated Toya and he hated them. He finished up his lunch, receiving a text on his phone not too long after. It was from his mother.

"Mom? What is it now?" he whispered to himself. He opened the message and read it to himself.

Sorry, B. I can't come get you. Something's come up. So you'll have to take the bus home. Be good. luv U

He sighed in annoyance. Taking the bus was the one thing he didn't want to do. Vincent and Craig rode his bus and, sometimes, Devin would get on with them. The bus driver was just plain dumb. If something were to happen on the bus, be it a fight or even a freaking fire, he wouldn't notice or even stop the bus to calm things down. Instead, he would just ignore it. There was even a mirror above his head so he could see what was going on. A goddamn mirror. And he wouldn't even look at it.

"Guess I'm walking." Toya muttered. He got up from his seat, grabbing his bag and walked towards the door. He waved goodbye to Mrs.Lowell and went to the office to sign out. He left the school and started walking home, walking on the bridge that was across the street. It came just over the highway, which frightened him a bit due to being afraid of heights. But he always managed to endure it by thinking of certain things on his way home.

"Let's see. I still have to look for a job. But where to work? Maybe I can work at McDonalds. I could be a cashier.....but maybe cleaning up would be a bit better for me. ...And easier." He said to himself. "Scott, Chris and Jayce are still discussing what to do about the convention. I need to think of some ideas to pitch in before they think that I'm getting lazy." The distance from the school back to his home was unbearable. For him, at least. He was never really much of a mobile person. It took him about an hour to an hour and a half before he made it to his street.

He smiled and started running, going up the drive-way and into his house and dropped his bags. But it wasn't in relief of being home. He dropped his bags in shock. His mom was in the living room, yelling loudly at another person. It was a man, who was also yelling back at her. It was her boyfriend Drew, a man whom Toya refused to respect. He didn't like him. They didn't get along, they had no common interests and at times when his mom was away, he would start barking orders to him.

Get me a beer. Don't argue with me. Go to your room. Go be a nuisance elsewhere. All just because he and his mother were dating. And to top it all off, he was told that he was going to propose. He planned on marrying Toya's mother some time soon. But it looked like he wasn't even going to be able to propose, let alone keep dating her now. Deciding to ignore them Toya picked up his bags and went into his room, locking the door behind him.

Toya's room. The place where he slept. His own little haven. The only place where he could have some privacy. His bed, his laptop, his television and a little snack stash he had, just in case Drew ever came by. He put his bag down, changed his clothes and started up his laptop. It ran Windows 7, which he thought was more reliable than Windows 8. He entered his password and went to the desktop, of which was riddled with a few programs and games he downloaded. Dragon Nest, Left 4 Dead 2 and his all time personal favorite game, Team Fortress 2.

He had plenty of fun playing that. He had a bundle of hats, all of which he traded for or bought, plenty of weapons and lots of sound mods. A personal favorite mod he got was a hit sound that played Markiplier saying "POOF" that was in one of his videos. He started up the game and joined a server he would frequent and started playing. He chose the Demoman with his favorite loadout: The Loose Cannon, the strange sticky launcher and the Strange Eyelander. In his custom slots, he had the Conjurer's Cowl, the Gaelic Garb and the Bonedoiler. It made his Demo seem like a cursed swordsman. And that was what he deliberately wanted. Even if some thought it was stupid, he loved to use his melee more than anything. The fact he could take their heads and use them to make his Demo more powerful? He loved it.

"Who is this fucking Demoknight that keeps killing me?" He heard one of the players say over the mic. He wanted to reply but with the sound of his mom and Drew arguing in the background, he didn't bother to. And the argument was getting steadily louder as time passed. After losing a Payload map, he quit the game and shut his laptop off. Not even wanting to talk to his friends, he laid his head down and closed his eyes.

"I want to get away from here..." he mumbled. "I don't need to keep dealing with this. All these problems, this stress, this family. I want to be somewhere else. Someplace where I can actually be happy...." But he knew it would never come until he left himself. But he didn't have the money for it. And he had to get a job for that. Which would mean he'd have no choice but to stay around his home. He silently prayed that someone or something would whisk him away to the world he desired. Where he could have no worries, no problems and where he could be free to do what he pleased with his life. He continued to pray until he drifted off to sleep.

He could hear no sound. He couldn't speak. All he could do was think. He could see nothing. Feel nothing. Hear nothing. All that was around him was an empty abyss. Then came a bright light. It shone far off in the distance. He felt it getting closer to him. And as it did, he was certain that he could hear a woman's voice.

"Answer my prayer. We need your help..." It said. It was definitely a woman's voice. And it sounded desperate. Like it was in vital need. Toya reached his hand out into the abyss, trying to grasp the light that was getting closer. Closer and closer the light got until he finally touched it. The light began to shine all around him. Was this it? This light... Perhaps it was the answer to his prayers. Perhaps it was his way out. Perhaps--

"Greetings, young paladin. I am quite pleased that you answered my prayer." Celestia said. Toya looked around, wide awake and still in his clothes and noticed that he was no longer in his room...but in a castle with a tall, talking horse.

Perhaps...this is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me

Chapter 1-End

Author's Note

To clear this up, this Toya is in no way related to me. Moreover, it is a human OC I came up with before I came to FIMfiction. I was wondering when I was going to use him and it turns out, it was now. I hope you guys are liking this so far. Feedback is appreciated. I hope to see you all again soon