Lucas Chronicles, the Afterstory Part 2: Monster Behind Mountain Dew Interlude; Of Skillets, Waffles, and Other Things

"C-Can y-you say it l-like we'll see each other ag-gain?" Although I was sad beyond all thought, I didn't want to impose to much, so I forced myself to say, "I m-mean... I-If th-that's okay w-with y-you..."

He chuckled. "Alright. See ya around, Fluttershy."

"...G-Goodbye..." I dropped my head. I was going to be all alone again. I didn't want to be alone... It was, well, lonely...

"Hey Fluttershy!" I perked up at hearing my name. I could tell that what he was about to say hurt him a little. "Have a good life. Do that for me, Fluttershy; Have a fantastic life!"

That only made things worse... I felt my tears welling back up in my eyes, eventually breaking through and pouring down my face as my head fell again.  "B-Be strong, Fluttershy..." I muttered, "H-He asked you to l-live a f-fantastic life... C-Can't you at least r-respect his l-last w-wish?"

"Good riddance." The Princess coldly remarked.

...How dare she...

Lucas... was my friend... Jen was my friend... John was my friend... Korey was my friend... Seth was my friend... well, sort of.

How could she just treat them like nothing? They never did anything wrong! Lucas only tried to help the last time he was here! How could she blame him for Twilight's, Pinkie's and Applejack's deaths! They died saving Equestria!

She frustrated me so much! I just wanted to scream! But I couldn't... I just sat there, wallowing in my pity.

No. No more wallowing. No more pity. I was sick of it.

I learned so much from Lucas and the band. They taught me that it was MY life to live. I wasn't going to let Celestia bully me anymore! They taught me that I had a voice, and I was going use it to cut through the noise that she presented me!

I was going to give the Princess a piece of my mind!

I swung my head around and shouted, opening my eyes for the first time since my friends left. "Now, you listen to me-"

But there was no Celestia. There was no throne. There was no anything. Just... darkness. Well, that wasn't entirely true. A small area of light had encompassed where I stood.

My eyes grew wide and my ears dropped. "H-Hello?" No answer. "P-Princess? W-Where did you go?" Again, no answer. I'm pretty sure I wasn't in the throne room anymore...

"...Where am I?"

"Oh, don't you recognize it?" That voice... it sounded familiar... yet, at the same time, it sounded distorted... "It IS our mind after all."

I gasped as I collapsed to the ground. Trembling, I burrowed my face into my hooves, "W-W-Who said that?"

"Oh, don't say you've forgotten who I am as well! That would make me very sad... I am you after all."

Confused, I lifted my head slightly above my forelegs, only to see a monster with teeth like blades step into my light circle. "EEEEEEKKK!!!" I squealed. "P-P-Please d-d-don't hurt me!!"

The monster chuckled, "Not like I could if I wanted to. Like I said, we're the same pony after all."

"No!" I squeaked as lowered my head and trembled again. "Even if this is my mind, you're not me! I'm me!"

I think the beast sighed. "Oh gosh darnit, me. Look."

It placed it's arm appendage through my forelegs and forced my chin to gaze up at it. I gasped as I recognized it.

It was me. The me with the dagger teeth. The me with the deep blue eyes. The me with the slightly bulky muscles. The mar-a-pony-by-just-looking-at-me me.

The me that Celestia created...

My pupils shrank to pinpricks as it spoke, "Now, do you remember? Please say yes. I don't have any other proof. It's not like I have much to work with in here."

"Y-Yes..."

It gave a toothy smile. "Good. I'm actually quite relieved I don't have to go into further detail-"

"W-W-What d-does a m-m-monster like y-you w-want with m-m-me?" I stammered.

It lowered it's head as it sighed, "Aw. Do you have to call me a monster? I'm not that bad."

"B-But you made me hurt l-lots of p-ponies!" I accused.

It chuckled defensively. "Hey! It's not my fault you only let me out when your angry! I say that's all on you, me. Oh, and this whole 'me, me, you, me' thing is getting rather confusing. I guess since we are the same pony, we should be on a first name basis!" It reached out its hoof, "Hi, my name is Fluttershy!"

I glared at it and stood up. "You are not-"

"-'me'?" It's voice began to sound irritated. "I thought we got over this. Can we cut that crap out please? It's starting to freaking aggravate me. I'm the- and I quote- 'you that Celestia created'."

I gasped, "Do I really use that kind of langu-" I gasped again. "How did you know I thought that?"

It sighed, "You're really not getting the whole 'we're the same pony and this is our mind' thing, are ya? Anyway, you don't want to call me by my name? Fine. Dandy. Bloody freaking beautiful." It sighed, "Just call me..." it paused and frowned. "Rage, I guess, since you only let me out when you're mad."

"O-Okay... I guess..." There was a long silence. Then, I asked, "W-W-Why am I in here, as apposed to, y'know, out there?"

Seriousness replaced all the sarcasm and irritation in Rage's face, "We can't stay in Equestria. I'm not sure if you noticed, but Celestia's kinda sorta insane now. Wow. I just realized how stupid that sounded." It shook its head and chuckled. "Of course you know that, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And it would be much appreciated if you didn't think of me as an 'it'. I'm still you after all. Sort of."

Her face fell back into seriousness as she continued. Well, actually, she smiled first, "There ya go! 'She'! Now you're getting it! Now," Then, she became serious for real. "since you and I are the same pony, we both miss our friends horribly I presume. Right?"

I nodded, "...Y-Yes?"

"Well, I have a proposition. Celestia isn't the Celestia we want to remember. However, in her insanity, she created me!" Her smile twisted the the creepiest manner. I bet it could scare even the bravest of ponies. And considering I'm nowhere near the bravest of ponies...

Now trembling again, I took a step back and stuttered, "W-W-What d-do you th-think we should d-do?"

"Simple." She chuckled evilly.

Okay, maybe not evilly, but definitely very frightening...

"I can take her."

"B-But-"

"Think about it: Remember when Carl shot us with that weapon of his?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Remember how it made a hole in Lucas' foot?"

"...Yes..."

"And finally, do you remember what happened when he shot us?"

I paused. "...Nothing."

"Exactly." Her grin grew even more menacing. "All it did was irritate me. Now, considering the fact that a weapon like that didn't do anything, I think we've got a decent chance against the princess."

"...But what if we go berserk and severely hurt somepony else?"

Rage took a step back and shrugged as she chuckled, "In all fairness, since I'm you- as I keep trying to drill into your head- I was just as confused and scared as you were."

I wanted to believe that there were other options, I really did... But my only friends... "D-Do you really think we can do it?"

"Psh!" She waved her hoof nonchalantly. "Easy. Grab the the sword and jewel, say the Chaos thingy words, and boom. We're done."

"...Promise not to hurt anypony?"

She rolled her azure eyes, "I promise I'll give you full range of control, unlike the other times. You in?"

"O-Okay, I guess..."

She raised her hoof to me and smiled, "Alright! Let's do it! Oh, and by the way, if you ever want my help, all you gotta do is ask."

"I-If you say so..." As I met her hoof with my own, my vision went white.

When the brightness faded, everything seemed like it had been painted in different shades of blue. My mind didn't have time to dwell on that, though. Only two ideas washed over my brain. Sword. Gem.

Sword. Gem.

Sword. Gem.

"PRINCESS!!" I yelled in a distorted voice.

It actually even startled me a bit... I felt my face grow warm with a blush.

I turned to see a bemused-looking Princess Celestia sitting on her throne, levitating Lucas' gem with her magic.

She sighed. "Mother of Me, of all things..."

I glared at her and growled, "Give me the gem and the sword!"

She shook her head and chuckled, "What if were to say 'no'? I don't exactly want you to return these to their owner, now do I? So tell me: How exactly are you going to obtain them?"

I stopped.

I know Rage said we could take her... But she's an Alicorn...

Aw, come on, me! You're not going to choke on us, are you? I mean, I could always take over for ya if you can't do it...

N-No. I can do this.

I cleared my throat. "You know what I'm going to do?" The princess raised her eyebrow. "I'm going to ask very nicely."

There was a long pause.

Really, me? REALLY?!? Where's the plan?!? That's not what we discussed!

B-But I'm not a violent pony...

Well, you know what? If you don't do something fast, we'll lose our chance. If we don't do this now while the princess is alone, it'll never happen. We won't get this shot again! You are pushing me to my limits; if you don't do something, I'm going to take control.

N-No, please! Just one more chance! I can do this...

Alright. One more try.

O-Okay... U-Um, Rage? Are you ALWAYS going to have a conscience of your own? I don't know if I can have two ponies in my head...

WELL THEN. Jeez. Talk about hurting sompony's feelings. I heard her chuckle in my head. Anyways, no. Give it a few days, and my conscience should meld with yours easily enough. But not if we don't get the sword and that emerald! If we don't I will personally fight the melding process!

I gave a slight gasp, but I understood why she said that. She didn't want to stay in Equestria ruled by this Celestia. And, frankly, neither did I.

It was then that I noticed Celestia had been laughing. I didn't know how long she had been laughing as I lost myself so much in talking to Rage, that I seemed to block out everything else.

When she finished chuckling, she sarcastically spoke, "Are you done staring into Oblivion? If you are, I must request that you leave."

"...No." I denied.

She glowered. "I made you. You WILL obey me-"

That... That was the last straw to break my back. "NO. YOU didn't create me: You only hindered me. You only hurt me. You only caused me heartache. Well, you know what? I'M SICK OF IT!" Without thinking, I blindly charged at her, head first and eyes closed, slamming her into the back of the throne.

CLINK.

I opened my azure eyes to see that she dropped the gem drop onto the floor. I quickly scooped it up with my wing as my eyes scanned the room for the sword.

Quickly finding it, I dashed over and grabbed in my dagger-teeth.

Now, one final thing remained...

"Chaoth Concrol!" I muttered through the sword in my maw.

A portal opened on the other side of the throne. I glanced at Celestia, still dazed by my attack. Calming down slightly, my vision returned to normal as I shook my head. I sighed and mumbled, voice now not distorted, "Goodbye, Celestia."

I slowly walked towards the portal. I grinned as I saw the creatures on the other side: Five humans, all sitting in a bedroom.

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I continued to stare at the portal, dumbfounded.

"How-" Korey asked, exchanging glances between the portal and I, "-did you do that?"

I shook my head. "...I didn't."

Just then, our jaws dropped as Fluttershy stepped through, carrying Chillrend in her mouth and my yellow Chaos Emerald in her  wing. She walked over and gently laid the weapons on my dresser. Turning around, she gave a huge grin, "Oh, um, h-hey guys! It's been a while!"

"You idiot! Do you realize what you've done?" I yelled.

Her ears dropped as tears started welling up in her eyes. "Wh-Wha-"

I sighed. "I'm sorry, that wasn't kind of me. But we can't go back to Equestria now. Like, ever."

She took a deep breath, "I-I kn-know... I d-d-don't want to go back... Celestia isn't fit to rule."

Trying to come up with a retort, I couldn't find any.

"What about your animals?" John asked. "You told me your were an animal caretaker back in the prison."

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, "O-Oh no! I... I didn't think about my animals!" She placed her hooves on my lap as she pleaded, "Lucas, we have to go back! We have to save them! Oh, Bearington can be so fickle sometimes, and Humty the Hummingbird can only drink very specific nectar! Maurice the rice mouse gets very lonely! We can't leave them there with Celestia!"

"...We can't." I gravely muttered. "We can go back, but only for one trip, so I can grab my iPod and headphones... You'd only be able to save one, smaller creature."

Tears started falling from her eyes as she understood what she had done. "...I-I u-understand..."

"We don't have to go right now, though." I reassured. "I'll give you some time to calm down and think of goodbyes for your animal friends."

She paused, then choked out, "...Th-Thank y-y-you..."

"LUCAS!" I heard someone yell.

No... No, that can't be...

"LUCAS!" The voice forced open my bedroom door, revealing it to belong to my friend Isaac.

I raised my eyebrow. "ISAAC! What the heck are you doing in my house?!?"

He replied angrily, "Your pony friend is aggravating me over Xbox. I came to strangle it-" He shifted his gaze to Fluttershy. "...Butts. You brought another one?" He seethed.

"Actually, um, this one-" But that was all I could say as he gave me an uppercut to the stomach before storming out.

Fluttershy and the band rushed to my side as Jen asked, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head 'no' as gasped for air.

"Wait," Fluttershy asked, "the Derpy from the future is here?"

I shook my head 'yes' while still gasping.

"Oh boy!" She let go. "I can't wait to see her again!"

She raced out of the door and down the stairs as air finally was able to regulate itself in my lungs.

Giving a few deep breaths, I sighed. "Well, I guess that's it."

"I guess so." John smiled as he wrote something down on a piece of paper. "If you need to reach us, call this number. I'm sure we'd all be willing to go on another adventure."

He handed me a piece of paper with number scraggly drawn on it. "Thanks!" I smiled.

"Yeah man!" He smirked. "We should really getting back to our tour now, though. If you give us a call, you and Fluttershy can have a backstage pass to any show!"

My jaw dropped. "OMIGOSH! OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMI-"

Korey chuckled, "Hey, remember what I said about not passing out?"

I covered my mouth my right hand and gave a thumbs up with my left. Then, I just remembered something. I removed my hand and spoke, "Hey, I'm actually going to go fix problem at that one high-school now. So, if you guys could tell Fluttershy where I went on your way out, it'd be much appreciated."

"Will do, man." John nodded. "Anyway, we'll get something autographed for you two like we promised and we'll send it in the mail. Can we have your address?"

I smiled as I started scribbling my address on a Chick-Fil-A receipt I had laying on my dresser. I handed it to him and grabbed Chillrend and the Chaos Emerald off of the dresser. "Well, I guess this is it." I raised my hand for a high-five. "It's been fun!"

The band nodded as they each returned my high-five. With that, I announced, "Chaos Control!" A portal opened, reveling giant shoe. I gave the band one last 'See ya' as I walked through.

___________________________________________________________________________

As the portal closed, I looked up at the giant, human Fluttershy standing before me, with a human (regular sized) Rainbow Dash standing to the left of her ankle, hands on her hips.

A huge grin spread across my face as I laughed, "You guys won't BELIEVE what just happened! I- and you- and Skillet- Ah, I'll tell you guys about it later! Oh wait..." I glared at Rainbow Dash as I remembered the cause of this month-old problem. "YOU GAVE HER MY MOUNTAIN DEW!!!"