Eye of the Trickster: The Glorious Deception

Eye of the Trickster

“C’mon Graham, or we’ll miss the fucking train!!!”

“Coming!” I shouted in response, grabbing my prop mechanical bow. I rushed down the hallway, feeling pumped as shit! This Super-Noa was gonna be fucking awesome. I stopped just before going round the corner. Lifting my leather hood over my head, I assumed a more menacing posture before walking cautiously around the corner.

Winslow, my friend, could only smirk. This was amazing.

“Dude, Its fucking perfect. You fucking nailed this costume!” He exclaimed, looking a bit sad. He always put his own costumes down, but they were always on par, if not better than mine every year. Every year except this!

“Well, I did pump alot of fucking money into this one this time. Not- saying you didn’t work on yours.” I said, rubbing the back of my hooded head, a sheepish grin under my face-mask. Winslow had decided to go as Yasuo from League Of Legends. As much as he lamented what he thought was poor quality, Winslow had nailed it too.

Winslow sighed then shrugged, “Eh, I guess I have to lose sometimes. Besides, that costume won’t be worth shit if you forget your contact lens…” He grinned cheekily as I realised that my Master Thief was missing the centre-piece to the entire fucking costume.

“Shit! Hold my bow-” I yelled as I chucked the prop carelessly at Winslow, running back up the hall to my room.

Winslow and I had been living together for a few months now. We both met during our first year of AIE, and we clicked instantly. And due to some less than favorable happenstances, agreed to move into a flat together with another friend from AIE. Though Kyle didn’t follow the crowd that was Super-Nova.

I tore into my cluttered room, clothes trodden underfoot. I grabbed the wooden box from my chest-of-draws and made for the nearest mirror.

I stopped himself, taking half a second to examine my SICK AS FUCK cosplay before I swifty, yet gingerly opened the small box.

Suspended in a small amount of water was my final component. A contact lense, bluish in colour, with a few extra details on the surface. The finish left the lense looking almost exactly the same as Garretts eye from the Game. Its intricate patterns, and painted metal lense for the pupil. The thing was beautiful, and was by far the most expensive part of this costume. I had bought it on sale from an online store. The place mostly dealt in Wiccan supplies, but they had a few cosmetic items as well. The 'Half-off' weekend, plus the random “Free shipping” coupon I had randomly received in the mail, which incidentally led me to the site, made it a surefire buy. I could have sworn the thing was moving as I hastily removed it from its packaging.

I quickly looked into the mirror, lifting my vision upwards as I removed my normal contact from my right eye. I put the regular contact into the same container as the new lense, and carefully used one finger to fish the new one out. I swiveled my eyeballs before expertly placing the new contact over my eye, blinking a few times before checking in the mirror. I had done this before, many times.

Astonishingly , the patterned contact obscured my vision none. I could see as clearly as before, if not better. Which I thought was odd... But I had no time to think about that. We had to race for the train.

****

“And thats why Yasuo still needs a nerf. They balanced out his defensive stats to no end, but he is just way too mobile.”

I groaned. I hated these conversations with Winslow. Sure, I liked League Of Legends just as much as the last guy, but I never liked the forced debates with Winslow. Winslow was as average as one could expect as a LoL player, and this meant he always thought he was right.

“I’m not disagreeing, I’m just saying that CC shuts him down easy.” I lamented. I had received a headache after a while on the train, and I really wasn’t in the mood to argue.

“Just, can we be quiet for a little while. I think i’m getting motion sickness.”

Winslow heaved in preparation for his retort, but thought better. “Alright dude... Do you wana swap directions? Might be easier since we’re facing the wrong way."

I nodded, so we quickly got up, pulling the swappable chairs across to the correct direction, and sitting back down. The Train was pulling into Blacktown station, as our cabin was graced by more cosplayers headed for Super-Nova. There were a few respectable costumes, none coming close to ours. But most of the riff-raff were Bronies.

The throng of people invaded our car, the train now becoming quite congested. There weren’t too many ‘Proper’ cosplayers, just people with fan T-shirts and hats for the most part. Though the group of Bronies that moved past seemed to be a collective. They all joked amongst one another as they slowly made their way into the train.

Most of the other Super-Nova patrons gawked at us as they past, some pulling out phones to take pictures, or just asking to shake our hands. Even some of the Common Train-fare complimented our costumes as they passed, asking if we were going to Super-Nova.

Finally, as the people passed and the train began to move again, Winslow sighed.

“Why are Bronies so goddam spaghetti all the time.” He jeered quietly as he used his hands to make a pretend Spaghetti-Neckbeard. I giggled in agreement, though truth be told, we didn’t ‘hate’ bronies. We just enjoyed the “Spaghetti threads” from the internet.

I cringed after laughing, my head pulsing with pain. I held a hand over one eye, quickly reminding myself not to rub at my eyes. I groaned again in pain, the sensation of 'internal blendering' surging to my eyes. The rabble from the train seemed to rise as the garble of combined talk from the other passengers seemed to wash over me in a wave of nausea. Winslow looked at me with concern.

‘Dude, is the contact messing with your head?” He asked. I clicked, realising that that was probably the cause. I reached down to my pocket, and groaned again as I realised my mistake.

“I left the fucking carry-case at home. Son of a bitch!” I smacked myself on the forehead, kicking myself in the shins mentally for doing something so foolish.

Winslow shook his head in disapproval. His condescending actions made me grin, as I playfully punched him on the shoulder. “You wouldn’t know the first thing about Contact Lenses you perfect-eyed fagget.” He grinned back, punching me on the arm as well.

“All I need is some quiet.” I said calmly, closing my eyes as I reached down for the item that I did have in my pocket. I produced my ear buds, gingerly untangling them as I maintained closed eyes.

“How is that going to help?” Winslow asked, as I kept on unraveling the ear buds.

“Easy. Im not going to play music. This will just block out most of the sound from the Train. All I need to do is close my eyes and let them settle for the rest of the trip, we’ve got a few more minutes before we have to get off.”

Winslow gave an approving grunt, acknowledging my refusal to open my eyes. I popped both the in-ear buds into my ears and let the quiet rush from my ears overtake the rabble. I slowed down my breathing, feeling the cool air of the air-conditioned cabin enter my lungs. I focused on relaxing, letting my brain fix whatever grievances it had with the movement of my person in space.

Slowly the pulsating waves of pain stopped their surge, the pain now only a dull throb. I sighed finally letting my breathing resume its normal pace. I felt a small sting in my left eye, lifting a small finger to carefully scratch at the corner. The itching pain spiked, then went away. I knew that me leaving the carry-case at home was bad, and swore by the Old Gods, and the New, to never forget again.

“Hey…” said Winslow to my right.

I pulled out my right ear bud, waiting for him to say something... then growing slightly annoyed that he had tricked me.

I opened my eyes, and gave him a menacing glare. He was looking away as if nothing had happened. I quickly tapped him on the shoulder, waiting for him to look before I raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?..” he returned my confused glare as I rolled my eyes.

“Stop being a turd.” I said nonchalantly. Winslow now looked agitated.

“I didn’t say shit, mate.” he remarked, returning his gaze to the window. I rolled my eyes again, returning the ear-bud and closing my eyes again.

“Where are we?...”

I opened my eyes, glancing out the window. I waited for a few landmarks, before I worked out where we were.

“Almost at Parramatta…”

“...What? No we’ve passed Parramatta already. We’re nearly at Granville dude.”

This is where I got pissed off. He was playing more tricks on me. I would have played along, but we both knew I had a headache, and no patience.

“Well if you know where we are, why the fuck did you ask?!”

His look of shock was not amusing, I glared at him, trying to get across the message that I was being fucking serious. There was a long pause while he continued to just gawk at me…

“What the fuck are you looking at?...”

“Dude… your fucking eye… Its…”

What! What was happening? What was he talking about? I lifted a hand up to my face, checking gingerly with a single finger. My eye was fine. There was no pain, and there certainly wasn’t anything amiss-

“What the fuck….”

I could see it now, the dull shine on my finger. It faded away as I moved my hand further away from my eye. Like an LED light, but coming from…

“What the fuck is going on with this contact?!?”

“Dude, I don’t know, but… ITS FUCKING COOL. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU COULD GET ELECTRONIC CONTACTS?!?!?”

Winslow kept rambling, but I was in shock. A million questions all at once. Where did I get this contact again? What was the name of that website… I don't remember- I DON’T REMEMBER!!! Contact lenses can’t glow, that technology doesn’t exist yet. Not for the price I paid. I- I need a mirror… “I NEED A MIRROR!!!”

Everyone on our floor of the train car stopped, and all turned their attention to me. I could feel the awkwardness and fear oozing in the air as the silent seconds ticked by. But I didn’t need this shit. I needed a fucking mirror.

“Does anyone have a Mirror- No, not a phone and camera!” I swatted my hand at the timid girl “Does anyone have a pocket mirror?”

A trembling old lady nearby slowly reached into her purse, and pulled out a powder case. She fearfully extended her reach across the aisle to me. I snatched it out of her hands, not caring as she squeaked in panic. I tore the case open, the brush dropping to the floor. The mirror was caked in powder, but that didn’t obscure my vision from my Contact Lense.

It. was. perfect... Straight out of Thief, The Dark Project; If with a bit more intricate detail. I could see the delicate Metal iris slowly twist and contract as I focused my eyes. And from the outer edges, I could see the unearthly glow. It was soft, almost subtle. But compared to a normal looking eye, you could tell for sure it was glowing.

But, this was not the contact I had put on this morning, something was…

I quickly removed the glove on my right hand, tossing the leather apparel apparel onto Winslows lap. I wiped my finger on my shirt, then slowly… I lifted my gaze upwards, expertly moving my finger up to my eye, hopefully endeavoring in removing this… thing Sitting on my eye.

Closer, and closer, till.

My finger was touching this eye. This eye that WASNT MINE.

I shifted my finger, but it didn’t hurt. Because this wasn’t my eye. I could see fine. My vision was flawless. BETTER infact. It felt as if I was wearing my prescription lense, cause I could focus on everything fine… but…

I could tell this was a Steam-Punk eye. I was hard. Not like a normal eye. A normal eye was hard, a muscley orb of compressed water and nerves. But... this was hard, like Metal hard. Hard like a spoon, hard like a glass. Hard like a proper solid object. And I couldn’t feel my finger on my eye. I could feel the eye with my finger, but… I could only feel the pressure of the finger pushing this eye back further into the socket. It was bizarre. So strange… I..

I picked up the brush, placing it carefully back inside the powder case. I snapped it shut, and returned it to the old lady, thanking her quietly. The noise of the cabin began to rise, the people whispering amongst themselves about what had just occurred. A few people got up to leave, either threatened or scared. I didn’t blame them, for I was scared the most. What was I supposed to do… Then it hit me!

“HAHHAHAHAHAHAAHahahahahahahahaaa” I began to laugh, slapping Winslow on the back. He looked confused… then irate… Then, slowly, his grin began to blossom. I pointed at him, as if ridiculing him. My eyes began to water as I forced myself to laugh. Truth be told, I wasn’t completely sure if I was forcing myself to laugh to defuse a very strange and VERY awkward circumstance, Or if I was laughing in circumvention of my inevitable breakdown into mental instability. I rode it well, and Winslow couldn’t believe what I had ‘pulled’. Little did he know, this was very fucking real, and he would never know.

“You’re a fucking dick-head mate. Holy shit! you had the entire fucking train convinced!” He exclaimed as he couldn’t help but laugh hysterically too. A few of the people nearby laughed too, If not seeing how funny the ‘prank’ was, laughing nervously because they had just avoided a very odd circumstance.

“Oi! Can you kids be quiet back there!” A Transit Officer had just come up to our level to see what the row was all about. Winslow and I suppressed our laughter, appologising to him. He rolled his eyes before going back down.

“Dude. I have no fucking idea why you’re at AIE. You could seriously be an actor. I mean, that was just a fucking prank. Imagine if you did this shit for a living!” Winslow laughed. I forced myself to laugh again. Pretending to be sheepish. But right now, my mind was a turmoil of What If’s! What if this was permanent. There certainly wasn’t a contact lense there anymore. There wasn’t even my fucking eye. It was the strangest feeling. Had someone… switched? Had someone switched my eye with a replica mechanical one while I was… I was fully conscious when I was meditating. My headache is completely gone though. What exactly could be done to achieve this? Its not like I just wouldn’t notice someone removing my eye and replacing it with a mechanical one. Especially considering I hadn’t even been left alone since I put the lense in this morning. Was I missing something? What on earth had I actually purchased from that confounded website-

“Dude, get up! We need to grab a Taxi!!”

I came to my senses. The Train had finally arrived at Central, and we had planned on grabbing a Taxi to the convention centre. I grabbed by Bow. Checked my quiver had the correct amount of replica Water-Arrows in it, and headed out. Dropping my wandering thoughts to my determination. Super-Nova was on the horizon, and I would not let any strange happenstance get in the way of that. Today was gonna be kick arse.

***

“Thank you very much, Mister Dinklage..” I awkwardly bowed, graciously taking the signed copy of Game of Thrones from Tyrion FUCKING LANNISTER. Peter Dinklage offered to shake my hand, and I held his hand firmly back, almost fainting from the excitement. A security guard ushered me to move away as I suppressed a squeal that would certainly compromise the validity of my gender. Nevermind the fucking manly persona that was Garrett of The City.

I joined Winslow and a few other friends waiting for me nearby, their signed copies of Game of Thrones and A Song Of Ice and Fire Novels being shown to each other. We had already met up with Reedy and James, Cosplaying as Geralt of Rivia and Kamina from Gurren Laggan respectively. Only just now did Holly and Sammy join our group. Sammy was something I didn’t recognise. Holly, however, had attended the convention in tandem with James, her Yoko costume out-matching almost everyone else for its sheer accuracy and detail. Especially since she had the body to pull it off, too. Her Costume put everyone's to shame. Everyone but me.

“Oh hey. Here he is! Graham! See? Look at his fucking cosplay! LOOK!”

Reedy had been fangasming ever since we met up. He could not believe how well I had done the costume. Luckily, no-one had noticed the glowing eye. And due to Winslows deliberate failure to point it out to the rest of our friends, I assumed he knew something else was going on. I replaced my Half-Balaclava, assuming my practiced walk and stance as they watched me approach.

“Oh wow, thats cool” exclaimed Sammy, her naturally ‘kawaii’ voice topping her Anime inspired costume off to perfection. Holly just glared in disbelief.

Since arriving, I received much praise for my costume. It seemed like every passer-by would just drop their jaw, many demanding a picture or video. Someone had thought my voice was so accurate to Garrett that they made me go somewhere quiet and make them a message-bank voice for their phone. I had been practicing my ‘Deadly Shadows’ voice all week, but I didn’t think it was that good.

“Dude you have to enter the Cosplay competition!” James exclaimed. “You would win for sure. I haven’t seen a costume yet as good as yours-” Holly elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to gasp in pain. We all laughed as he writhed about for a bit, waiting for the pain to subside. Holly looked me up and down, making it clear that she was jealous. Her and I never got on that well, but she clearly didn’t like being beaten.

“I think Holly’s is better though.” I interjected. Winslow and Reedy nodded in agreement. Holly relaxed a bit, and finally spoke.

“Thats a pretty cool contact though. Where did you buy it?” aked Holly.   ...I gulped. Though it was masked by my Balaclava. I was about to explain, but Winslow had my arse covered, confirming my suspicions about how much he suspected.

“He- had it made especially for the costume, cost him and arm and a leg though. Easily the most expensive accessory.” He folded his arms in a challenging manner that I didn’t like. Pushing Holly’s buttons often ended in disaster. Luckily for me, she took it well, smirking like a git.

“Well, good luck in the costume competition- ...IS THAT TYRION LANNISTER?!?!?” She fangirled out, grabbing Sammy’s hand and swinging her 1:1 scale prop of Yoko’s gun over her shoulder, dragging them both over to the start of the line. Sammy squealed in fright, but didnt resist. We laughed again.

“Im starving…”

“Me too lets get some Burgers or something!” I agreed… The four other guys just looked at me weird. Winslow looked concerned, though he held his stance. James and Reedy shared a look, but again Winslow came to the rescue.

“I saw a booth just before. Lets go, I’m starving too!” Fwew. I half realised that I was hearing things as we were in the Taxi on the way here. I was thinking about what had happened, trying to figure out how this could have happened. I hadn’t thought about it again, because nothing unusual had happened for the past few hours. Though I began to feel sick.

“I need to go to the toilet first. I’ll meet up with you in the food court!” the three nodded, Winslow looking a bit pale, his worry very much evident. He gave me a glance as we parted, but I gave him the thumbs up, brightening his mood a bit before splitting.

I raced to the toilets, my stomach churning with nausea. I knew what was coming, and had no time to walk. Bursting through the door, nearly knocking another guy on his arse, I stormed into the nearest free cubicle, tearing my balaclava down and wretched into the bowl.

I heard a few people in the place grimace and gag. But again I didn’t care. This wasn’t about them, they can go get fucked…

I realised how condescending I was being. I shook my head, moving to a basin and splashing my face with water. I looked at my reflection, examining the eye. A slow dribble of blood leaked from the corner of my eye socket. Oh fuck off, thats not good! I pulled up a small bit of cloth from my collar, dabbing at the bleeding. It seemed to not be openly flowing, but I needed to  see a Doctor about this asap.

“An what do you think the Doctor will do?!?!” said a Man behind me. I looked up into the mirror, seeing a dark figure looming over me. I shouted, turning on the spot, and raising a fist to defend myself. But… there was noone there…

I looked back at the mirror, but there was nothing…. A person walked into the bathroom, giving me a queer look before muttering something about ‘meth-heads’. He walked to the Urinal, and I decided to leave. This was no place to be, and I wanted Winslow to help me to get to a Hospital as soon as possible. I left and made my way to the food court.

Scanning the tables for my friends, I spotted them easy. Our friends had certainly outdone almost everyone else this year, making us stand out. As I approached, walked up to me, stopping me before the others noticed.

“Dude are you okay. You’ve got me worried sick. I think we need to get to a Hospital or something!" I nodded in agreement. He suddenly grabbed my face, pulling it closer to his as he went pale at seeing the blood.

“Mate, you’re fucking bleeding. We need to get out of here and….” His voice became muffled, and I could feel my mind begin to wane.

“I’m… fine…”  weakly muttered. I am NOT FUCKING FINE! My mind was racing at a million Kay’s an hour, but my body felt distant…

*SLAP*

“AHH FUCK…”  gasped, my senses being restored. Winslow had slapped me on the left side of my face, restoring a good portion of my composure. But I still could feel my knees buckling. Using my friend, I lowered myself to the ground.

“Please, call an ambulance…” I whispered, my voice hoarse from fright. What was happening to me. I could hear Winslow shout for someone to call an ambulance. The world became muffled again. I was barely aware of what was happening around me. I could just barely tell that my other friends had come to see what was happening. I could hear their muffeled voices, but had no hope in hell of discerning what they were talking about. Though considering I was sitting on the dirty food-court ground, dazed to the point of lethargy, I had a pretty good idea what their main topic was...

“You are so feeble. Why they sent me to you Is a mystery. Though… I can probably salvage this… With some difficulty…”

“Who are you” I said, my voice sounding normal despite my total lack of physical control. The world seemed to shudder, sharpening and going fuzzy in the matter of split seconds. I felt the hands of someone slowly pushing me down, letting me lie on my back.

“Why ask questions, when there are too many answers to be had. Oh joy, here they come now. This is going to be.. FUN!...”

Screams, ear-splitting screams from all around. Bringin me back to my senses. The world came back into focus, sharpening beyond its norm. I could feel control to my body being restored. Though this was odd… It sure had been a rather odd day. I was just over it, and wouldn’t tolerate anymore shit.

“GRAHAM, GET UP AND RUN!” I could feel Winslow tugging at my tunic, urging me to get up.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

“What, what the fuck is happening, Emmett-” Winslow just kept tugging at my shirt, and I obliged, my focus sharpening even more. The world seemed to go in slow motion, as my mind raced faster and faster. I risked a look over my shoulder, examining what I could see.

A large corps of men had invaded the convention centre, their automatic weapons spraying bullets into the screaming crowd as they descended into the throng of cosplayers. People fell down as they ran, bullets raining down. All the men had Full-Balaclavas, their formation indicating that this was very much planned. Terrorists were attacking Super-Nova. What the fuck for! WHY!

I sprung to action, pumping my legs faster than I thought I could. I overtook Winslow, grabbing his vest instead, and dragging his slow arse with me. We skidded past a corner, narrowly missing a volley from the terrorists. People screamed, running in all directions. I did not relinquish my grasp on his costume as I vaulted over a kiosk desk. Winslow flopped after me, as we climbed under the desk, pacing our breathing so we wouldn’t make too much noise.

The Terrorists did not relinquish, as we could still hear them walking across the food-court. Their Automatic weapons grew louder and louder as they advanced towards out position.

I could hear Winslow gasp in pain. I looked to him, as he clutched his shin. A bullet wound adorned his leg, slowly oozing blood. Just before he let out a moan, I covered up his mouth, bringing a finger up to my pursed lips as I could hear the Terrorists walking nearby.

He shuddered in pain, trying hard to slow his breathing. They continued to pass, their gunshots slowly sounding softer and softer. All around, sirens could be heard. Though they weren’t ordinary sirens. They were Natural Disaster sirens. Sydney seemed to roar in rage as the Terrorists continued their slaughter.

Emmett tore my hand from his mouth, shuddering again in pain. “What the fuck is going on man. Why the fuck are terrorists attacking.”

“Winslow… Emmett… We need to make a break for it. We need to get outside before they find us.”

“But, what if they see us…” Winslow choked up, his body going into shock as the adrenalin finally gave way. I placed my hand over his mouth again, begging him to keep quiet.

“We jumped into a kiosk near the goddam food court. They’ll definitely come looking here for stragglers. We just need to wait till we can only hear them from far away, then we’ll make a break for it.” I let go of his mouth as he shakily nodded. I grabbed a strip of cloth from my garment, tearing it into a strip. Then crawling on my stomach, I examined Winslow’s gunshot wound.

I was by no means an expert, but it looked like the round had gone clean through. I looked back at him, grabbing the hand he had grasped to his thigh. I held it firm, giving Winslow a serious look.

He realised what was coming, going quiet in preparation before nodding. I slowly lopped the cloth around his leg, making a loose knot. I looked at him, and began the count down.

“On Three, ready…. One Two-” I pulled the strip tight early, not letting him prepare himself. He hissed in pain, squeezing my hand till it hurt. I wasted no time, tying the knot quick before he could let out another sound.

Just before he moaned, I grabbed his mouth again. waiting for him to stop squirming. He slowly returned his breathing to a normal level, and we waited for the shots to become distant. I couldn’t tell for sure, but we laid there for a few more minutes.

“Alright dude, We have to go…” I slowly raised my head from underneath the desk. Bodies were scattered everywhere, blood pooled beneath most of them. I grimaced at the sight, but my mind still seemed too sharp, compared to how I was normally. I scanned around, checking for any wandering gunman. There were none, and the Convention Centre had grown eerily quiet, besides the cacophony of sirens and the shuddering of the Helicopters outside. But this had to be our break.

“Dude, we have to go now.” I said as I grabbed Winslow, hoisting him up by the shoulder. His lame leg meant that getting outside would be a challenge, not that this situation wasn’t already challenging. I hoisted myself over the desk, landing silently as I helped him get over the desk. He landed on his good leg, hopping around till I slung him over my shoulder. We quickly moved the way we had come, making a dash for the exit adjacent to the Food-court.

But, It was a mistake. We had half way crossed the court when we came to the table.

Our friends all lay there, their blood pooling from the gunshot wounds that had killed them. I could feel Winslow tense as he realised where we were too…

“We… we need to go… they’ll find us if we stay out in the open…”

Winslow just stared there, growing whiter and whiter….

I slowly glanced over each of their gored faces, blood spattering their forms. I noted each one till I noticed something.

“Where is Reedy…”

Something collided with my back, knocking me and Winslow forward, onto the ground. I gasped for air, the force of whatever hit us knocking the wind from me. I grimaced as I twisted onto my back.

The world seemed to flash, as everything went slow. The world wound down, as I examined what was before me. A Balaclava’d man, brandishing a Handgun, slowly approaching Winslow.

Thats when the voice returned, its hissing, taunting voice. Menacing. It knew what was about to happen, just as I had.

“I can help you, you know. Just say the word and I can stop all of this. We don’t have to watch your friend die.”

I could almost feel the time around me slowing down. And I knew that I could do nothing to save Winslow. The man raised his fire arm, aiming at Winslow’s head. Two clicks, and I was watching the bullets leave the gun, slowly advancing towards my friend.

I screamed in anger, terror. This was torture. I watched as the rounds hit their mark, killing Emmett dead. The man slowly approached me, his weapon still raised. My vision flickered, as I noticed the Dark hooded figure now standing behind the masked terrorist, The darkness from his hood seeming to suck the light from the world.

“Just ask me the question. Beg for you life. Let me claim my prize, and I’ll let you escape with you skin…”

Slowly now, as the man approached, He pulled the trigger, the bullets flowing from his gun, straight towards me. Slower and slower time flowed. I didn’t want to  die. This day was meant to be the highlight of my year. And I did NOT WANT TO DIE...

“Please, I don’t want to die!”

The world shuddered, faster and faster, the light seemed to flicker. The hooded figure shifting back and forth. Till, all I could hear and see where sound. Great Thunder claps as time seemed to tear apart. And with a great flash. I knew no more.

****

“Oh my goodness…. are you alright…”

I awoke with a great headache splitting my head in two. My head pounded as I returned to consciousness. The world was fuzzy, flickering in and out of focus as I slowly attempted to move my limbs. I raised an arm before my body realised how tired it was. I felt my arm fall, its short descent slowed by my displacement in time.

My vision kept focusing, and shuddering, showing me a looming figure. Her face was kind, her pale white features and gloaming hair rippled in the wind. but something was wrong. The face wasn’t human. It was of..

“Princess… Celestia?!”

I fainted away…..