Tale of Two Worlds

      “Just another day...” I mumbled to myself as the school dismissal bell rang. “Just another damn day...” That day had been the same as any other. Wake up, get dressed, brush teeth, breakfast, go to school, get bullied, etc. Nothing really significant ever happened to me, I have always been that weird kid in the back who no one talks to. I’ve been bullied my entire life, hardly had any friends, and no one cared. Being a brony who spoke his mind and doesn’t give a shit what people think didn’t help that either. No one paid attention. I was just another insignificant being in this world.

I have always been a very bright, clever guy. I’m gifted, for one. When I was in preschool, it was determined my IQ was higher than that of the average adults. I could easily pass all classes with B’s, if I cared enough to try.

You see, a few years back, my brother - Well, half-brother - was murdered. Shot down in cold blood and left to die in an alleyway. I hardly knew him, having only met him once years before that, and that’s what hurt the most. I stopped caring after that. About school, about people, about life. But at the same time, I don't hate my life. I know I have it good. Let's see... Both parents? Check. A good school? Check. Laptop? Check. Xbox? Check. There is a plethora of good things in my life. I may have stopped caring, but I wasn't about to end it. I still had a small glimmer of hope, that maybe, one day, I will find something worth caring about. Be it a person, a career, anything.

Everything I just told you was all about to change.

As I walked through my usual route home, which was about a 30 minute walk across about 20 blocks, I decided to cut through the forest and save some time. I was told never to go into the forest by my parents, but they were out of state the rest of the month anyways. What were they gonna do about it?

I walked through the dense trees with natural caution, the leaves on the ground crunching under my weight. I looked around, seeing many, many tree trunks on the ground, stumps littering the forest. I imagined the forest must’ve been huge years ago. I imagined what it would’ve been like to be in that forest, with trees every two feet, the branches teeming with wildlife. There hardly were birds in the forest anymore.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a sudden rustling of the leaves. I looked up, and what I saw still haunts me to this day. It was a strange, yet familiar creature, looking right at me. It had the head of a horse, with a deer antler and a goat horn protruding from the top of it. It had the claw of a lion and the talon of an eagle. He had wings, each from a different species, much like everything else already.

I didn’t need to see anymore to know I was looking into the face of chaos itself.

I was staring into the eyes of Discord.

“Well well, this day seems to have gotten much more interesting!” He said in that sophisticated, yet mischievous voice, slipping out of sight behind a tree.

I stumble backwards, the shock of what I’m seeing too much to handle.

“B-but, you aren’t supposed to be here! You aren’t real!” I manage to say after the initial shock subsides and I am able to speak once more. I quickly stand back up and turn around.

I start running back around, thinking I’m just tripping out from stress or something. I hear an echoing laugh, seemingly coming from all directions. Discord appears next to me, wearing what seems to be jogging gear.

        “Just out for an afternoon run?” He asks, jokingly.

I hear a rustling by my feet, and unbeknownst to me my shoelaces have been tied together and I trip, faceplanting into the dirt.

        “...sonofabitch...” I say as I pick myself up.

Discord picks me up with his claw, bringing me up eye to eye with him.

        “You humans are such interesting things...” He says as he laughs and tosses me into a tree, causing a bee’s nest to fall.

        “Oh shit!” I cry out as the bees fly around looking for the source of their disturbance, before setting their sights on me. “Why are you here?” I ask as I swat the bees away. Discord stops laughing and snaps his fingers, causing the bees to disappear and my shoelaces to become untied.

        “That’s a good question human...” He says as he sits down on a stump, looking off to the distance.

        “You mean you don’t know?” I ask, cautiously walking towards him.

        “No human, I don’t know.” He says, looking back at me, probably contemplating summoning a beehive in my stomach.

        “I-I could help you get back...” I say, just hoping to get him the hell out of here.

Discord shoots me a stare before climbing into the treetops. Just a suddenly as he disappeared, he appears directly under me, pulling me up into the air in a spinning hug.

“How wonderful!” He says as he now holds me at arms length. “Now, how do you plan to do that?”

I go deep in thought, racking my brain on transdimensional travel. But then I realize I’m only a senior in high school, and they don’t teach that shit.

“I honestly have no idea how to get you back to Equestria, but I will try everything until I find out.”

Discord drops me, looking at me quizzically. He slithers around me, never breaking eye contact.

“How do you know of Equestria, human?” He pokes my head to emphasize ‘you’.

“I-I need to show you something, at my house. Follow me.”

I motion for the chaos god to follow me as I continue walking home.

“Oh goodie, I love surprises!” He says as he follows eagerly.

We reach my house, and surprisingly no one noticed the huge multi-species god with me. I opened the door, set down my bag and opened up my laptop as Discord watched over my shoulder. I went onto YouTube, and loaded up the season 2 premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

“Okay, now try to keep calm when I show you this.” I say as I slide the laptop in front of Discord.

“This is very, very interesting...” He says as he watches with relative confusion as the events unfold almost exactly as he remembers them.

“Yeah, those 6 ponies that defeated you? This show follows just about everything that they do.” I say as I look over at him. “That’s how I know about Equestria, and how I know who you are.”

“Well human, it seems you know so much about me when I know next to nothing of you.” He says as he looks over at me with obvious unamusement.

“Well, my name is Byron, I’m in high school, and I’m a huge fan of this show. There really isn’t much I could tell you.”

Discord smiles as he leans back in his seat.

        “Charmed. Well, as it seems I may be trapped here, you are my subject. You should be honored!” He says as he gets up and walks around my house.

        Little did I know this was the beginning of the end.