Up Till Now

     Brandon Roth and his small team passed the crumbled remains of the fallen Sears Tower as they trudged through the war torn streets of Chicago, Illinois. Though Brandon grew up in Winfield, KS, moved to Lawrence, KS, and worked at a little place called the Free State Brewery, He emigrated to the East shortly after the U.S. was overtaken. The twenty-one year old was in his third year of college when the U.S. Military overtook the American people on November 23, 2013. The year was now 2014 and Brandon had seen his fair share of deaths (Though his family was still alive.) and over the past 3 months he had built an impenetrable barrier around his very being. This barrier had rules to it, though:

1. Do not get attached to people

And 2. Do not give in to anybody

The light-skinned male was wearing a black t-shirt under a dark blue zip-up hoodie. The shirt very nearly matching his dark brown hair. He told his team to stop so he could look around. He went further down the road and, as he was pulling his binoculars out of his bag, he heard cries of phrases such as: "They were here all along!" And "Kill the Revolutionaries!" The second voice he knew all to well. As Brandon ran through the streets and back to his team, he took his pistol out of his pocket and flipped the safety down. He couldn't help thinking things like: I should have stayed. and Can't they not attack us for one day?

     As he was on his way back, he noticed that the distinct sounds of gunfire could be heard louder and louder. As he grew nearer to the site he heard the crack of a rifle and, at that exact moment, time slowed down. He had barely turned his head as he blacked out.

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     As Brandon awoke, he noticed that he either couldn't open his eyes or it was extremely dark. One thing he was sure of, though, was the throbbing pain in his forehead. He then moved his head up and saw the large, glowing, full moon. At least I'm not blind. He thought, as he stood up on both legs. He took a step and lost his balance. Then, he proceeded to fall flat on his face.

     "Walk much?" He heard a deep young man's voice say. As he looked toward the sound of the voice he noticed that wherever he was it looked... Animated. Like someone replaced the world with drawings. The second thing he noticed, however, was that he was in a forest even though he was in a city just a few moments ago.

     "Hey! Hello! Anyone home?" The voice said sarcastically as it snapped Brandon out of his daze.

     "Uhh, yeah." He replied, still laying on the ground.

     "Well," The voice said stepping out of the shadows."Get up." Brandon blinked five times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Is there a horse in front of me? He thought to himself, as he saw what looked like a male horse with a transparent white coat and transparent yellow mane and tail that were done up in shaggy curls at the ends.

     "Umm, actually, Brandon, I'm a pony. And so are you." Brandon sat there in disbelief. Did that hors- er, pony 1. Read my thoughts and say that we're both ponies? and 2. Just speak?

     "Yes and yes." was what Brandon heard in reply. "But how can you do either of those things?" Brandon asked, still quite shocked from seeing a talking pony.

     "Well, I'm simply a manifestation of your subconscious brought here to help you." The male pony said. "You can call me 'Jones' by the way." He added quickly.

     "Okay, Jones," Brandon started. "Where am I, Why am I in the woods, and why are you a talking pony?" Brandon asked in rapid succession.

     "Well," Jones began. "I don't know where we are because if I went more than thirty feet away your unconscious body you would die. I don't know why we're in a forest and, lastly, I'm a talking pony because you are."

     As Brandon Went through the answers in his mind Jones started to speak again. "The only reason I can walk is because you were out for about five hours." Jones said coldly.

     "Is there a mirror anywhere around here, Jones?" Brandon said, gesturing to the five foot diameter wide clearing. Without a word, Jones left the clearing to go look for a mirror, leaving Brandon with only his thoughts.

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     "Here, Brandon." Jones said as he held a triangular piece of mirror glass in front of Brandon's face.

     "You know what Jones, I can't see a damned thing in this darkness so whaddya say we go to bed and walk to civilization in the morning?" Brandon said with a yawn.

     "Well I don't see why no-" He was cut off by a bird literally flying through his face.

     Brandon lifted up his head and looked at Jones. "Holy shit, dude! Are you alright?" He asked.

     "I-I think so." Jones replied.

     Just then they both heard a voice at the same time. It sounded quiet and soft.

     "Please come back and go to bed!" the voice said, probably as loud as it could. It sounded like it belonged to a young woman, probably not a day over twenty years old. Then there was silence. After that, there was a rustling in the bushes. Soon after, a pale yellow and pink blob came flying towards Brandon. He didn't have time to get out of the way so he decided to just take the hit like a man. He had been through worse. As soon as the hit came, he felt something soft land on him. He opened his eyes and saw a pale yellow pony with a long pink mane and tail that was slightly shorter than Jones but had two distinguishing features. Wings. There was a pegasus on Brandon's lap.Well this day just gets better and better. He thought sarcastically. She looked up at him and quickly retreated behind her mane, let out an 'Eep', and flew off. Brandon turned to Jones.

"Did a yellow and pink pegasus just-"

"Yep."

"And then talk?"

"Yep"

"Wanna turn and run back the way she came from?"

"Yep"

Just then, to Brandon's surprise, Jones split his mane and revealed a horn that quickly became aglow and lifted Brandon's whole body and ran the other way. The sudden shock of the magic field around his body caused Brandon to pass out yet again.

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     When Brandon awoke, he felt something softer than dirt under him. "Oh thank god it was all just a dream." He mumbled, still keeping his eyes closed.

     "Um, not quite." A voice that he knew said to him.

     "Dammit Jones, are we still here?" Brandon asked sharply

     "Why yes Brandon." Came his reply. Brandon opened his eyes and was almost blinded by the sudden bright light of the room he was in. He was staring directly at the ceiling when he opened his eyes and immediately went back to one of his previous thoughts. Yep, I'm either going insane or my world has been replaced by cartoons. As he was wondering just what happened Jones spoke up. "Neither, we're actually in a world called Equestria or something that is inhabited mostly by equines. Most of those equines are ponies like you and I." Brandon recalled Jones saying something about him being a pony but he didn't believe him. "However, these ponies are split into three races: The pegasi, the unicorns, and the earth ponies. And that's about all I know"

     Brandon went over Jones' speech in his mind before uttering one simple phrase: "Bullshit, who told you this?" Brandon thought he had his subconscious cornered but Jones didn't even flinch at his words. It was a moment before he replied.

     "That pegasus that ran into you earlier and, by the way, her name's Fluttershy so, call her that when she gets back."

Brandon thought about a comeback and said, still laying on the couch, "But you're a figment of my imagination. Nobody can see you." Brandon thought he had the nearly transparent stallion cornered once and for all this time, but he was wrong, as Jones' horn started to glow and he was enveloped in a white smoke that began slowly dissipating. Slowly but surely Brandon realized what was happening. His mind was becoming a living being.