Ah, commerce! One of the cornerstones of all cultures, which include sub-cultures, which in turn includes nerd-cultures.
The protagonist of this little tale, let's call him Jethro, was walking among the booths of the not-as-foul-smelling-as-one-might-suspect convention.
There were rooms where publishers announced their plans for the upcoming year to the public. There were rooms where publishers did the same thing but only for press-affiliated individuals. There were shows with professionals. There were shows with amateurs. There were b-level celebrities taking photos with people. There was book-signings. There were people in costumes walking around. There was a lot.
And of course, there were the booths.
Jethro led a low maintenance-life. He was a modern person who could squeeze out a substantial amount of stimulation with only a desktop computer and an Internet-connection. He didn't blow all his money on transient things like parties and constantly having the very latest smartphone. His resources could thus accumulate. And every now and then, he splurged.
That is one of the wonderful things about niche-markets, he thought as he walked among the booths filled to the brim with nerdy knickknacks and spotted a not all that great replica-sword from a very popular series of movies, tagged five hundred dollars. Everyone knows the customer is getting ripped off. But it's so honest about it.
Jethro's backpack was already showing some strains from the wares he had purchased, but his wallet still bulged. Who knows? Maybe this year Jethro could actually leave the convention and not feel like he missed out on something he really wanted.
A reprint of a classic pen-and-paper RPG, an old favorite of Jethro's, rested in his backpack. Along with a few admittedly childish things that would get him the stink-eye from far too many people around here who probably still had Star Wars bed covers. Those things were of course Friendship Is Magic-merchandise. Jethro had never been very insecure as a teenager and he was even less so as an adult. He didn't bother hiding the fact that he was a brony. As far as Jethro was concerned, Friendship is Magic was the shit, and people who bashed on bronies were just plain shit.
Jethro then spotted an anomaly among the booths. A thin, scruffy-looking man was sitting on a folding chair next to a folding table with only a few pieces of office materials on it. More folding chairs were leaning against the table. The man looked very relaxed and Jethro realized that someone doing narcotics in the open in a place where no smoking was allowed shouldn't look this relaxed.
The man was leaning back in his chair while puffing on a self-rolled joint of dried, illegal plant-leaves and looking slightly upwards when he spotted Jethro. He had a very mild look of surprise before gesturing for Jethro to come over.
Jethro was very curious about this man and wondered if the should go find some official-looking person and tell them that there was a man sitting in the open, with hundreds of people milling around him, with several booth-owners facing his general direction, smoking weed. When Jethro had finished his trail of though, his curiosity won out and he strolled over to the strange man. After all, the man looked a bit shifty, yet anything but dangerous.
"Hey dude," the man said and his voice immediately made Jethro think of a mix between a Californian surfer and Barry White.
"Hey," Jethro returned slowly.
"I saw you checking out my booth, man, you curious 'bout what I do?" the man said and let out another puff.
The empty booth was strange enough but the smoking was what really made Jethro curious. "Yeah... among other things."
"Ah yeah? What other things?"
The man's speech-pattern might very well have sounded threatening, or attempting but failing to sound threatening, if Jethro had said it. But the man in front of him looked and sounded so relaxed that he could probably tell Jethro that he was going to order a hit on him and Jethro wouldn't raise an eyebrow.
"Ah, yeah. Don't worry, bro, I'm not harming anyone."
"I'm not very familiar with this stuff. But that looks like narcotics," Jethro deadpanned.
"Keen eyes, bro. But like I said, don't worry. There's no second-hand smoking when I'm around."
"No second-hand smoking from a self-rolled joint?" Jethro asked in an amused voice and raised an eyebrow.
"That's right. Not if I don't want to. That's one of the cool stuff about being a wizard," the man said with an shocking amount of sincerity.
A lot of people might've laughed in the man's face for his ridiculous manners. But Jethro had seen documentaries about those people who had suddenly grabbed assault rifles and started gunning down dozens of people in the streets. And as such, Jethro had a little more sober opinion on what was tragically funny, and what was just tragic.
"A wizard?" Jethro asked a bit cautiously.
"Yeah, bro," the man said with a smile. "I'm not finished setting up yet but I can give you a demonstration." He blew a puff of smoke on one of the folding chairs that was resting very precariously against the table, at which it tipped over, unfolded as it did so and landed resting next to the man.
Jethro raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly at the man. "Neat," he said sincerely.
"Thanks, bro," the man said.
Jethro realized something as he sat down. "So, is wizard a euphemism for drug-dealer?" he asked.
"No, bro, I'm talking actual magic," the man said and gestured around them. "How do you think I haven't been thrown out yet?"
The man and his situation was odd, Jethro had to admit, but he hadn't seen anything supernatural yet. "And where did you learn magic."
"California," the man said without a hint of irony and blew another puff.
"From that?" Jethro asked, nodding towards the joint in the man's mouth.
The man took out the roll and looked at Jethro. "No, man, this is a joint, it's just chemicals," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Let's go back a few steps," Jethro said. This was a market, where interactions are short and business-oriented without much time for making acquaintances, but something about this man struck Jethro as more than just strange. "Name's Jethro," he said and held out a hand.
"I know, dude," the man said with a smile and shook Jethro's hand. "I'm mostly called "Wizard" but you can call me Pierce."
Jethro was pleased to find out that he didn't get any stains on his hand from that little exchange. "And what kind of magic do you do?"
"Oh, lots," Pierce said. "But right now I'm planning of doing escapism-stuff."
"Escapism-stuff?" Jethro asked.
"Yeah, like, I project people into imaginary worlds and they get to live out fantasies."
"And chemicals are not involved?" Jethro asked and gestured towards the joint again.
"No, man. Just magic. You wanna give it a shot? I actually know you want to because only people who are interested notice me," the man said. Jethro thought he might've sounded sly when he did but suspected that with a voice like that he didn't have the capacity.
"Like that movie, uuh," Jethro said while snapping hid fingers, struggling to figure out the name of a very famous movie.
"Yeah, but not, like, entirely like that. I can, like, twist time a bit and you can spend years in a fantasy-world and it only takes a few minutes here."
"And you're doing that here?" Jethro asked.
"Yeah, I'm charging, like thirty five bucks for ride," Pierce said. "But hey! If you help me set up. I'll give you a ride for free."
"What exactly does this entail?" Jethro asked.
"Ah, you just just back man, and I'll, like, project , like, awesome stuff into your mind. And you just do what you want in there."
"So it'll be like dreaming?" Jethro asked.
"Yeah, sort of. Wanna try?" Pierce said.
Jethro shrugged and said "okay."
Everything went black for a moment before Jethro's senses returned to him. Jethro shook his head with wide eyes before turning to Pierce and asking "What was that!? Did I black out?"
Pierce just shook his head with a smile and gestured around them. "No, bro, it was working."
Jethro looked around and noticed that everything looked the same except that he and Pierce were completely alone on the premises. It was as if every other attendee just vanished all at once. Jethro stood up and walked around, looking at the empty booths around them, before turning back to Pierce. "We're in a dream?"
"Yeah, like, sort of, bro."
"What do you mean "sort of"?"
"Like, dreams are, like, your brain sorting stuff when you're sleeping. This isn't, like, that, bro. This is like, experiencing stuff while unconscious. There are, like, better explanations but I've forgot 'em, man," Pierce said with a sheepish smile and shrugged.
Jethro looked around again. "You said fantasy world."
"Yeah, man, this is just like, a demonstration. I'm just working out the magic kinks right no so like I said, I'll give you a ride for free."
Jethro turned back to Pierce. "You mean that you can send me to any imaginary world I want?"
"Oh definitely, bro," Pierce said confidently.
"Alright, I'll take you up on that," Jethro said.
"Alright, man, hang on," Jethro said and concentrated on something.
Jethro suddenly found himself sitting in the folding chair next to Pierce again, not feeling the slightest bit dizzy. He looked around, everything looked like it was in order. "How long were we in there?" he asked Pierce.
"Like, less than a second, bro," Pierce answered.
"Is this safe?"
"Well, not if you don't want to, bro. If you want, like- no wait, you mean, like, here," Pierce said and gestured to the piece of floor they were sitting on.
Jethro nodded and Pierce continued. "Ah, no worries, bro. Nothing's gonna happen here. I'll just shake you out of it if something comes up."
"So one could spend years in a lucid dream right here, now?" Jethro asked.
"Yeah."
Jethro considered for a few moments. "And what would happen when you wake up after spending years in there?"
"Nothing, bro. You just wake up. Oh, I see what you mean," Pierce said with a smile. "Don't worry, man, nothing's gonna happen to you. I do this all the time and I don't even forget what groceries I need."
That answered just about everything Jethro wondered. "And no mumbling in your sleep?" Pierce shook his head. "Or wetting yourself if you see something scary in there."
"Never happened to me, bro. But if it does, remember, I'm a wizard."
"Alright," Jethro said and nodded to himself. "I think I wanna give this a shot."
"Cool, bro. Just tell me where you want to go and what you wanna go there as."
"You can do that as someone else?"
"Yeah, just like. Give me something to work from and what you wanna go as in your head."
"Give you something like what?"
"Like, a costume, of a figure, or something. Not hard to find that around here," Pierce said and gestured to the nerd-o-rama around them.
"So, can you get me to Equestria?" Jethro asked.
"No problem brony! Here, bro-hoof," Pierce said with a smile. "You wanna go as a pony?"
Jethro was about to say yes before a thought struck him. "I think I've got a better idea. Can I borrow a pen?"
Pierce gestured to the pencils and erasers at the table and Jethro opened his backpack. Unpacked his RPG-box, took out a character sheet and started filling it out.
Jethro handed over t he paper and Pierce let out a low whistle as he read the statistics and abilities written down on the sheet. "You have a laid-back Dungeon Master, bro."
"Can you work with that?" Jethro said, barely being able to hold back his excitement.
"Sure thing, bro. See you in a few minutes," Pierce said and everything went black.
A fraction of a second later, Jethro awoke in a green field, rose up and looked down at his not-Jethro form and smiled. He took in his surroundings and smiled. "Here comes adventure."
