Rock the Nation, Rap it in a Pretty Bow

Chapter 1: Inebriated Express, Next Stop: Equestria

Time: 3:30 AM June 23rd, 2014

Location: BLU SK-1 Bar and Club, Chicago, IL

The Windy City. Chi-Town. The City of Broad Shoulders. Chi-raq, if you live in the extremely bad parts. Chicago had many names, but it was all the same city. A city full of gossip, of beauty and action, and of drinking and music. Located in one of the “Mid-Rows,” or partying areas that aren’t really seedy, yet aren’t the safest places, rested a modest yet vibrant club. It was a very clean, white building, almost like a Greek temple. On the front was a neon blue sign reading “BLU SK-1.” Loud, heart-pounding music played through the building, sending waves of pure sound through passing buildings. In the back, two people stumbled out of the club, one pushing two large boxes on wheels, and the other holding a guitar and a mic. One was male, around 25, with a height of around 5’9”. He wore dark jeans and a hoodie to match. His skin tone was rather red as opposed to a tan colored. His long, yet thick and bushy black hair combed down over his dark brown eyes. The other was female around 23, yet had a height of 5’11”. Her skin was pale white, with silky, golden brown hair that went down to her shoulders that was tied in a ponytail. Her green eyes complimented her green punk tank top and shorts. Both stumbled through the streets, the red male using the large rolling boxes as supports.

“Duuude… Did you see how much I draaaank…?”

The young woman laughed and rolled her eyes, her face sustaining a huge blush. “Yeaaaaahh… But I’m the drinking queen!!” She said out loud as she did a spin. The two shared a laugh before the man looked at her smiling.

“We’ve really come far, haven’t we Nika?”

Nika smiled and nuzzled him close. “Of course, you big goof!! We worked hard, and now, no force is more powerful than Nika and Mr. E!!”

E laughed then hiccupped, feeling a sickly sensation fill his stomach. “Ugh… Let’s get home… I feel reaaaally crappy…”

Nika nodded and continued to stumble around with her partner. Being that the two were both completely wasted, they couldn’t make out where they were and more often than not, ended up running into the same street repeatedly, only to find out that they had been walking around the same block for 10 minutes. Eventually, they had made it to their train station, a large area constructed of metal and concrete. E rubbed his eyes, trying to keep himself from blacking out noticing that Nika herself was on the verge as well.

“Here…” He said, moving one of his mobile equipment boxes towards Nika, who promptly flopped on top of it in a fit of drunken giggles. “I swear you drink too much…”

“Well, look who's calling the- Urp!!” Nika suddenly covered her mouth as she puked the night’s contents onto the floor of the station, causing E to chuckle lightly. Suddenly, a noise had alerted the duos alcohol altered minds. They looked up and saw a train. At least, that's what their minds said as they saw a large metal beast on the tracks. It certainly looked like a train, though they were so plastered that a semi that had ended up on the tracks would’ve looked like a train to them. The two looked at each other and shrugged. Hey, even if they got on the wrong train (an event they had done almost every time they drunk too heavily in the Mid-Rows), they knew the city well enough to get back home from any part of town and possibly a few miles off the city outskirts. Slowly the two pushed themselves and their equipment onto the train, groaning like a couple of zombies as they shambled into the sub car, which, oddly enough had dimmer lighting than usual.

Huh… E thought to himself, Must be some burnt lighting or something. He let out a small yawn, his mind suddenly slowing to a crawl as he was about to drift off into his drunken dream land, which consisted of beautiful women and chocolate.

BANG!!

The two artists suddenly jumped when they heard it. Like the sound of a sudden lightning clap. They struggled to focus on the source of the noise. It was the door. Apparently, it had shut with so much force that it had created the loud bang. Several other loud sounds proceeded, which by their barely alert minds, could only mean the other cars had just been closed. Nika picked herself up and stumbled through the car, eventually reaching the car door and pulling on it desperately.

“Is not opening!!”

She reached for her guitar and swung at the door, missing a few times before eventually making contact with the door. Unfortunately, this did nothing as suddenly the car started to move. It started at around 5 mph then eventually hit 15 mph and then 45 in just a matter of seconds. Nika gripped onto a pole she bumped back into, struggling to keep a grip. E on the other hand had flown backward into the car wall, his equipment moving towards him quickly and hitting him in the body.

Nika looked back in a hazing shock. T… This is bad… W… What… is happening… Slowly her vision began to fade as a white light engulfing the windows of the car.

We have arrived...

Nika slowly opened her eyes. She found that she was on the ground, guitar in one hand, and still gripping the pole in the other. The sudden transition from dark to bright was causing her vision to be extremely blurry, as if she was just exposed to a flashbang. Regardless, enough of her vision eventually returned to take notice of her surroundings. Okay… She inquired as she took note of everything around her. Okay… Window’s dark, so it’s still night… Car is still dimmed… E is still being crushed underneath his equip-OH FUCK.

“E!!”

She pushed herself up off the ground and pushed her beer-filled body towards the mobile boxes, pushing them out of the way and kneeling down beside him. She noticed the blur that was his face. She also noticed red on the lower part of it. Panicked, she grabbed the area she assumed was his shoulder and shook.

“E! E, this isn’t funny! Wake up!”

“... Ugh…” E let out the weakest of groans, signaling his still active, if not incapacitated, state. Nika let out a sigh of relief. She needed to get her soul brother out of here. Noticing the two boxes she pushed aside, she put two and two together as best as she could at the time, setting the equipment boxes in a line, and laying E on them as a makeshift stretcher. Throwing her guitar strap and mic cord around her shoulder, she slowly pushed E’s box stretcher across. As she pushed, she suddenly had an admiration for E’s hidden strength. iI he ever went to the gym, he could probably lift a ton with his feet alone. These boxes were a pain to push. It was probably because there was a knocked-out Mexican on top of them, but she just set it in the list of theories she would test when she found out where she was.

Okay, she said in her mind as she pushed herself onto the station, making use of her limited and blurry vision to look around and observe her surroundings. This is definitely not Chicago. Not even the city limits. It’s… A bit more colorful. It was then she heard a sound she never thought she would hear. It sounded like… Hooves. Like horse hooves running off in the distance. However, before she could really take note of this, the hoofsteps dissipated just as quickly as they started. Man, what state are we in that still uses horses? Kansas? I hope not, ‘cause I have a Mexican here that’s passed out and open for attack…

…

Wow, this was bad. Stopping this now.

Nika shook her head and continued her journey forward. She slowly ventured through what she could only deduce was a town (as even in her panicked and drunken state, she could tell there were no structures worthy of being called buildings), taking note that something was off about this place. The two had been all over the country and seen all sorts of towns, but this one just seemed... Cartoony, for lack of a better word. This was beside the point for the young Russian rocker, though, as she needed to get E to a safe place so the two can rest, and maybe in the morning, find a doctor for E's broken whatever it was this time. Possibly his nose, but she could always have been wrong. Soon enough, she came across a rather large looking structure. She could only assume this was a house, though with the music coming from it, it could be a club. Either way, free shelter. She stepped forward and noticed a blurry wooden colored object in front of her. Okay, cool, a door. She found the doorknob after a few attempts and turned it. Unlocked... Hmm... Oh well, act first, ask questions later, as E always says, She thought as she pushed the door open, And since E is down for the count, then I'm the one that has to make all of the stupid decisions that we'll later regret. She lugged her soul brother's body through the doorway and through the house. Nice place, she pondered, Even if a bit small... Soon, she came across a large area adorned with nice looking couches scattered around it. She smiled at the nice looking living room-like area and placed E beside a couch, while laying on the couch itself. As soon as I wake up, I'll be sober. Then I'll be ready, willing and able to get E to the hospital.

Time: 7:30 AM

Location: Ponyville, Equestria

Octavia looked at her beeping alarm. 7:30 AM. 10 hours. 10 bloody hours of Vinyl playing her bloody music throughout the night. She was surprised that she had managed to sleep that night. She assumed it was because she had gotten used to it at this point. Vinyl slowly picked herself up from her bed and stretched, looking out her window.

It really is a beautiful day. Maybe I shall take a walk and visit Twilight- I mean Princess Twilight.

She chuckled. Who would have guessed that Twilight would not only become a princess, but also save the world from Tirek? She certainly hadn't. Then again, life was always full of surprises. Slipping into her robe, she made a slow trot downstairs, where she heard Vinyl cleaning with... Wubs. Octavia was about to groan when something caught her eye. As she moved towards the kitchen, she noticed a cool breeze in the air. Oh, did Vinyl leave the door open again? Octavia thought as she headed towards the doorway. As she was close enough to the door, she had noticed the door was ajar. That wasn't what caught her eye. What caught her eye was the several drops of red liquid that seemed to follow in a path to the living room. She leaned down and sniffed the droplet, cringing and pulling back at the immediate recognition of the scent.

This... This is blood...

Immediately alert, Octavia followed the path without a hint of fright. She had faced off against a manticore, survived the changling invasion in Canterlot, and had to put up with Vinyl every morning. She wasn't afraid. She slowly turned into the living room to see her intruders.

What she saw were two lengthy figures. One was lying on two boxes similar to Vinyl's bass cannon, dried blood coming from his nose,while the other was sleeping on the couch in a huddled position. Then, just as she thought things couldn't get any worse, the sleeping one on the couch opened her eyes and looked straight at Octavia.

Time: 8:30 AM

Location: Friendship Rainbow Kingdom, Ponyville, Equestria

The Mane Six (Or rather five of the Mane Six, as Twilight was off in another room) sat in the throne room, each seated on their beautiful thrones. Discord had decided to join them and sat by Fluttershy in a rather plain looking wooden chair. Twilight returned from the other room, Spike right behind her as she sat in her own throne. Discord was the first to speak.

"I suppose everything went well with my transit system?"

"Yes, Discord," Twilight said with a nod, keeping a straight face. "You were correct the entire time. There was another world connected to us much like the universe I had visited."

Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up. "That is so cool!! How was it back there?" Twilight didn't respond at first, as everyone's smile slowly vanished (except for Discord, who hadn't had a smile on the whole time.)

"It is chaotic, I understand." Discord teleported to Twilight and hugged her, Twilight hugging back in response.

"It's so strange to see a world that makes Discord's chaos seem... Tame."

Rarity huffed. "I hope you understand what you are say, Twilight. I can hardly imagine a world worse than Discord's chaos." Realizing what she said, she looked at the god of chaos. "No offense."

He simply chuckled. "None taken."

Pinkie Pie was next to chime in. "Well, next time you go, you can just bring your friends here to watch your back!!" She finished it with a big smile.

Twilight shook her head. "No... I couldn't do that to any of you-" Applejack suddenly cut her off, as if knowing what she was about to say.

"Hold on there, sugarcube. We're yer friends, got it? We've been through thick and thin together, and no lousy world is ever gonna change that."

Twilight looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Applejack..."

She's right, Twilight..." Twilight looked at Fluttershy, who had her kind smile on her. "I know you probably think that the world out there is scary, but sometimes, you just have to face your fears."

Twilight smiled sadly looking down as a few tears rolled down here cheeks. "Girls..." The Mane Six, Discord, and Spike all came together into one big group hug. Discord summoned a tissue and handed it to Twilight, who blew her nose with it, and nodded in thanks.

"But... What I think was the strangest thing is... I thought I was being followed... coming back." The girls looked at her in confusion.

"Well, whatever do you mean, dear?" Rarity looked in curiosity. Twilight shook her head and said, "Well... It just seem that... As I left the station, I swear I thought I saw somepony else leave the train." Her voice seemed a bit frightened. "And I swear to Celestia, I thought I heard slow hoofsteps and movement as I ran off."

"Hey, it was probably just nerves getting the best of ya," Rainbow Dash said, playfully hitting her friend's forehoof.

"Y... Yeah..." Twilight's smile returned and nodded, "Discord's dimensional transport spell can only be cast once a year... Maybe that's why I feel so afraid, thinking of how humans be if they would end up here."

"Exactly!! And besides," Dash said, flying up and shrugging, "What're the chances that anypony got on that train, anyways?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A loud scream pierced through the air, filling the skies with the cry of pure terror.

"Way tah jinx it, Dash," Applejack said, rolling her eyes.