Shattered

White.

There was nothing but white.

No walls...

No ceilings...

No people...

Nothing, but white.

The white reminded Alfred of the night he disappeared. He spent that night wandering familiar streets, listing all of his problems. He was then suddenly consumed by a bright light. It wiped his mind clean of everything he knew and left him an empty soul. There was nothing left, except the white. The first time he encountered it, it transported him to the heaven that he needed, but this time was different.

He remembered everything. The void hadn't stripped him of his memories and feelings. This time it had allowed him to stay an intelligent being and he wasn't reduced to a mindless drone like previously. It was incredibly strange, but what was even stranger was the fact that his thoughts were pure. Alfred found it ironic, that the one place he could think clearly, was also the place where his mind was once rubbed away, like a mistake.

He wasn't scared by the white. If anything, he was thankful since it had delivered him from that cold, dreadful place. He felt welcomed, now that he was able to think. He slowly started to recall recent events, and figured out his main priority. He needed to return to Rainbow. She was his saviour, his freedom. Without her, he was nothing.

He couldn't move. There was nothing to hold or grab, nothing to feel or touch. There was nothing, except for white. He tried to walk, but couldn't feel his legs. He tried to look at himself, but he couldn't divert his eyes away from the barren space . There was nothing to see but white. He wasn't there, he was a ghost, lost in an endless plain of white. He didn't know where or what this place was, but it started to unnerve Alfred.

"Familiar, isn't it?"

It was Discord. He could hear Discord's voice coming from the white. It didn't originate from a particular direction, not that it mattered. Alfred was stuck in place and forced to have a conversation with Discord.

"Where am I?"

"I don't know, no one does. This place doesn't have a name, nor a location, but it is familiar to you, yes?"

"Yes it is. How do I go back?"

"You'll go back when you're ready."

"When I'm ready? What does that mean?"

"What do you remember about this place?"

"I won't answer any questions until you tell me what's going on."

"You're not in any position to give demands, Alfred. I vacant assure you that nothing will happen until you start cooperating. Now, what do you remember about this place?"

"While I was walking down the street, a bright light surrounded me, and I found myself here."

"Good."

"It wiped my mind clean of any thoughts, and then I woke up in Equestria."

"That's right."

"Why does this matter? Why can't I..."

Alfred's mind shattered as he realised the truth.

"It matters, because I brought you here, Alfred."

If Alfred could, he would have fallen to his knees and put his hands to his head, hyperventilating. This made no sense. Why? How?

"I bet you're pretty confused about all of this. I know I'd like to know just what the hell is going on if I were you, so I'll explain. I brought you here a year and a half ago to hopefully use you against Celestia and her little group of losers, but unfortunately they got to you first. To be honest, I didn't even know if it had worked. Bringing a being from a completely different world to this little place is a tad more difficult than you would expect."

Alfred continued to not respond.

"Anyway, it didn't turn out the way I planned. I'm sorry that you had to suffer an entire year and a half with these fools, but now you can live the life that you were meant to, with me. Together, we can rule Equestria. You'll never be defenceless again. 'Friendship' is overrated anyway, who needs friendship when you can obey me?"

"No."

"What? I rescued you from that miserable hell and this is how you repay me. Do you know what I had to do to get your ass over here?"

"I don't care."

"Listen to me, boy. I'm giving you a golden opportunity here. Think about it. Do you really want to spend the rest of you life with these ponies, when you could return to your family. I brought you here, didn't I? So I have the power to send you back. Think about your son, Luke, right? I'm sure you don't want him to grow up alone and fatherless."

"Why me?"

"What?"

"Why did you bring me here and not someone else?"

"I brought you here, because I see something in you. I could've taken anyone else, but you, you're something special. I think you have a great future ahead of you."

"Bullshit. You brought me here because I was weak, because I wouldn't fight back. You wanted to use me."

"Okay, maybe. Maybe I did bring you here so that you would serve me under your will, but what are you going to do about it? You have no choice but to serve me."

"And why's that?"

"If I could get to you, I can get to your family."

This was a threat, and Alfred knew it. He was forced to obey Discord or his family back home would be hurt, or even killed. They didnt deserve this, they didn't do anything wrong.

Alfred was faced with a very important decision, to either serve Discord and in the process save his family back home, or to refuse and live knowing that he had doomed everyone he used to know. Alfred could barely function under all of this pressure. His mind closed off and all rational thoughts were locked away. He was left in a state of utter panic, uncertain of what to do.

He loved his boy. He loved Luke with all of his heart, or at least he thought he did. He wanted to love his son like any other caring father would, but a thought was flickering at the back of his head. He couldn't focus on it, he could only briefly recognise it like watching sparks fly. Soon, those sparks lit a fire that consumed his mind, and he couldn't think about anything else.

Did he really love his son? Did he really care for his life back home and the people in it? This new chance had changed his life so drastically, he wasn't the same man he used to be. He had spent all this time trying to forget that his former self had ever existed since there was no way to return, but now that there was a small possibility of going back, would he take it? Was all of this for nothing?

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll never serve you, never."

"You're not thinking clearly Alfred. What about your family? What about your son? Wouldn't you like to hold Luke in your arms again?"

"I don't care about them anymore. They mean nothing to me."

"I'll kill them. I'll kill each and every last one of them if you choose to deny me!"

"Do it!"

And with that one feeble scream, Discord was silenced. He never expected Alfred to be this ignorant, and this angered him greatly. He had wasted all this time planning and searching for the one thing that could bring Equestria down, the one secret weapon that no one would expect, and now it was rejecting him.

"Fine. If you want to be with these ponies so badly, you can be buried with them."

Alfred awoke to find himself staring up into the blue sky, just like all those months ago. Trees surrounded his vision, obstructing the beautiful escape he needed. He breathed in and out deeply, keeping his eyes locked on the blue abyss above. The light that seeped through the leaves almost blinded him, but he didn't care. His eyes were firmly planted on the sky, and he didn't feel anything.

There was a painful ringing in his ears. It deafened him to the point of almost passing out. He could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness as the sky suddenly began to darken. In what seemed to be his final moments, the ringing in his ears died down as he heard a familiar voice. He didn't know who was speaking or what they were saying. The voice slowly replaced the unbearable pain, and he was suddenly given the strength to move himself again. He shot up, looking around quickly to find himself in an unknown part of the forest. He could hear the others calling out for him, searching for him.

He got to his feet slowly and began to walk towards the voices, hopefully to find the others. As he stepped through the haunting forest, he was reminded of what had just happened. He was just about to throw himself into a fit of alarm when he found Fluttershy standing in front of him.

"Alfred, there you are!"

"Oh, hey."