Parallel

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"Welcome to the edge of death."

That's what our squad leader said the first time we went out on a convoy. I knew what he was saying, but I didn't really get it. It wasn't like the movies, there were no epic speeches before some grand final battle, we weren't heroes.

I know that sounds bad, but we were just soldiers doing our job, and our job was to get things from point A to point B without getting shot to hell.

Easier said than done.

My first few convoys couldn't have gone better...

Then the ambush happened.

The convoy was passing through a local village when one of our drivers spotted what looked like an IED. A couple of guys got out and did the whole procedure, reported it, see if we could go around it.

"What happened then?"

Boom, the guy that was with the radio just drops dead.

The rest of us that are out of our vehicles, we take cover, and everything just goes to shit.

There's an explosion and I lose my gun somewhere. Next thing you know I'm getting hauled to my feet and someone hands me a radio. I call for an air strike.

"And you can't remember what happened after that?"

No, not until I'm walking through the desert with Clark.

"Clark was your friend?"

Yeah, my best friend...

And I got him killed.

Chapter 12: Threads That Bind (Part 2)

Yet another morning, just like any other.

I fed Mishmash, got a bowl of cereal, and...

'Well I'll be damned, it's Saturday.'

Remembering that I had to go to Pin... Phoebe's party, I made my way into the hallway and to my neighbor Felicia's door. I knocked as gently as humanly possible, at least for me. It only took her a few seconds to open the door and peek her head out.

"Oh, William, good morning."

"You ready for Phoebe's party?"

"Oh, that was today? I uh..."

I grinned, "Come on, it'll be fun. I haven't been to one of her parties yet but I heard they're great."

"O...okay, Rachel and Tammy said they would go so... what time is it again?"

I got ready to answer, then realized something, "You know what? I don't know, let me get back to you on that. I'll give you the time, and then you can call Tammy and Rachel."

She smiled, "I'll see you then."

I made my way downstairs to the apartment lobby, dialing a number I barely managed to remember.

She picked up after the first ring.

"HI BILLY!"

I pulled the phone away from my ear, grimacing a bit and getting some weird looks from the landlady as I made my way towards the mail boxes. "Hi Phoebe, how's your day going?"

"It's going super! Thanks for asking. Did you call about the super awesome party I'm throwing tonight?"

I tried not to let her voice distract me as I turned to knob on my mail box to the right numbers, but it was extremely difficult. "Yeah, looking forward to it. I'm gonna be bringing some friends, and one of them is in a wheelchair."

"Oh don't you worry about that Billy, I've got all that stuff covered!"

"Wait... what?"

"My parties accommodate EVERYONE, just like I never leave home without my party cannon."

"Your what?"

"Silly Billy. Bring Doritos please, if you don't that's okay, but Doritos would be super duper awesome, especially Cooler Ranch."

"I don't... you know what? Okay, I'll see you tonight."

"Okie Dokie Lokey! Eight PM sharp, my apartment at the corner of Kings and Gradey, you'll know it when you see it!"

And with that she hung up.

I let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of my nose, pocketing my cell phone and finally managing to open my tiny mail box. I laughed when I saw a small picture of Deborah on top, lazy eye and all, sticking her tongue out at me. I flipped it over and on the back was a small message.

"Seeya at the party. Phoebe said it's gonna be great. -Deb"

I took the picture, along with the small bundle of envelopes, and headed back upstairs to let Felicia know.

The fan was spinning again, which was more comforting than it should have been. The office smelled like cinnamon that day. "My wife baked some cinnamon rolls, would you like one?" Doc gave a smile and leaned back in his chair, setting the closed notepad on the arm of his chair.

I dug my head a bit more into the couch, trying to get comfortable, "No notes today?"

"No notes," he said, still smiling, "I don't think I'll be needing them anymore. You've been coming to see me quite a bit lately. I don't mind the surprise appointments though."

"That optimistic huh?"

Doc laughed, "Now Mr. Jenkins, you of all people know that I'm a realist."

"Realist is a helluva position to take treating the traumatized."

Doc leaned forward, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, "William, when you came to me for treatment, the last thing you wanted to hear about was the sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns here in America."

I tried not to laugh at the mention of Unicorns.

He continued, "You needed help, and I gave it to you. You had just been through hell, and I can honestly say that I couldn't relate to that very well. I can, however, empathize and help you recover."

"So what now?"

"Well, you have a party to go to tonight. Maybe tomorrow you should call your parents, get back in contact with your family."

"So that's the final step, huh?"

"There is no final step William. You're going to live with this for the rest of your life in some form or another. The dreams may fade, but you still have the memories."

"Yeah... hey Doc?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

Phoebe's place was easy enough to find. The apartment complex itself was right where she said it would be, and as for spotting her room, it was on the third floor, and seemed to be the source of almost all the noise on the street. Her room seemed to be rather far up for only being on the third floor. As I approached the building I noticed that the window leading to Phoebe's room was not a window, but a balcony with sliding doors. It was the same setup for all the rooms, going up... rather far in fact. I was pulled from my thoughts when the sliding door opened and Phoebe bounded from the room, leaning over the railing and giving me a huge grin, "Billy I'm SO glad you could make it! I'll buzz you up, did you bring the chips?"

I held up the two bags of Doritos in my right hand and smiled, "Good enough?"

"Awesoooome! Come on up Billy!"

The double glass door had already been buzzed open by the time I made it there, and when I stepped into the lobby I started to get a strange feeling. This place wasn't at all like my own apartment building, it seemed a lot... larger, and more luxurious. I suppose I should have noticed it outside, considering. I saw a man dressed rather sharply behind a large wood oak desk, and the luggage carts to my left were... golden.

I would have questioned whether or not I was in the right place had I not already seen Phoebe screaming down at me from the balcony.

The lobby lead into a hallway with elevators on either side, with stair cases in the back.

'Now that I think about it, this building looked kinda tall outside.'

"Good evening sir, do you want me to take your coat?"

I didn't even notice the second guy, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, until he had asked me that.

I drew my arms in a bit, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in my simple wind jacket and cheap polo shirt.

"Um, that's okay, thanks though."

The man opened his mouth to speak, but the loud clicking of high heels on the linoleum floor distracted both of us. I looked up towards the elevators and could feel the blood drain from my face when I saw her. Pale and extremely shapely legs, black dress, jewel necklace, long black hair curled perfectly, and a beaming smile.

"No, that's not..." My denial was half-hearted.

It went from half-hearted to completely annihilated when she opened her mouth, "So you're the one Phoebe keeps going on and on about. She wasn't too keen on the details of where this party was going to be, was she? It's actually for the better, if anyone knew they were coming here it would be much too stuffy of an affair."

"Rarity?"

She laughed and waved a hand, "Well you're just the flatterer aren't you? I'm hardly rare. My name is Robin."

It was at that moment that I figured out why Rarity had been so familiar to me. I had been seeing her billboards all over the city ever since I got back from the war, not only that, but her picture was in almost every jewelery or formal wear store on the main strip. "You're Robin Raines," I said softly.

She smiled, "Well, I see my reputation precedes me."

I laughed, what else could I do? The situation was so damn... impossible. "How do YOU know Phoebe?"

Robin smiled and gestured at me to come closer, "Do follow me to the elevators Darling, I'll tell you all about it on the way to the host's room."

I did as she said.

The bellboy vacated as we walked away, and Robin snaked her arm through mine; it was a formal gesture, but it didn't feel stiff at all, like she was used to such a thing, and why wouldn't she be?

I felt heat rising to my face.

"As for why I know Phoebe," said Robin, "She doesn't only work at the computer place you know. Phoebe is a very popular party planner in some circles. I met her a year ago when she set up a birthday for my little sister Sarah. She can plan the best formal parties, but you haven't been to one of her REAL parties until she's throwing it for her friends."

"So I should consider myself lucky then?"

I only noticed we reached the elevator because Robin pushed the button and I heard it ring.

"Well, a little bit, yes."

The elevator arrived and we were on our way up.

"Anybody else new I should be expecting at this party?"

"Well, there's a few faces, but if you're worried about Phoebe's close friends there's really only one other. She came all the way to the city just to visit us."

"Wait, all the way?"

Robin smiled, "Well, she owns a farm."

"I wonder who that is." I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, just thinking out loud."

The party was in full swing, and Phoebe's place was definitely big enough to accommodate it. A living space that trounced mine greeted my eyes, along with a kitchen that had all the bells and whistles, along with a large dining table parallel to it, and there were AT LEAST three bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. It seemed to be a small party, but there were a lot of people there, of all creeds and colors.

The first thing I noticed were the two kegs by the dining table, and on the dining table itself was even more alcohol, vodka and wine outnumbering almost everything else. Going even further along the table I began to see the assorted snacks and the even more amazing arrangement of sweets, culminating in a large cake fit for a wedding right in the center of the table.

Then the blaring rock music.

"Okay, that's awesome," I said with a laugh.

Robin smiled, "Isn't it though?"

"I'm not going home sober tonight."

"Hahaha." Robin smacked me on the shoulder, "I figured you wouldn't, oh there's Alice, I better go talk to her."

"Alice?" Before I could question her further Robin had already pulled away from me, but I saw the small group of people she was heading towards, which included Phoebe. It wasn't Phoebe that caught my eye though, it was the girl that stuck out like a sore thumb amongst everyone else. She wore a denim jacket and a button up shirt that allowed for free movement, along with some jeans and boots. To top it all off was her blond hair pulled into a wide tail, and the ten gallon hat on top of her head.

"Yep, definitely Applejack," I muttered with a laugh.

I looked around some more and noticed Deb in the back, by the sliding door to the balcony with a few other girls, she grinned and gave me a wave. I returned the favor.

"There you are, I'm glad you could make it!"

I heard the wheelchair before I saw her. "Hey Tammy." I was happy to see her, that was for sure, especially among so many strangers, "Where are Rachel and Felicia?"

Tammy laughed and held a beer out to me, "Rachel is trying to get Felicia to mingle."

"Ha, easier said than done."

"No kidding."

"You mind hanging out? I don't know anybody here except you guys, and everybody but you seems... otherwise occupied."

Tammy smiled, "No problem, I was actually looking forward to talking with you. I wanna hear more about this pony world of yours."

"Last time you laughed at me, besides, there are people around."

"Oh please." She wheeled towards the table and I followed her, opening my beer and grabbing a couple of cookies, "Everyone is way too into the party to care, either that or too drunk."

"And you're just drunk enough to care right?"

"Hahaha, well, something like that."

I took a swig from the beer, "Well. Everybody I know from over there is at this party, that's a start?"

"Oh?" She gave me a sly smile, "Wow me Mr. Slider."

I pointed right at Tammy, "Twilight Sparkle." Then I started to go down the list, pointing to each person respectively as I named them, "Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and last but not least... Pinkie Pie."

A giggle escaped her mouth, "Okay now I KNOW you're not joking, no one would be weird enough to just come up with that."

I rolled my eyes, "Anyways, I wasn't expecting you to be able to do magic, but you can in that world too. Does that mean Rachel has wings or something?" I asked with a laugh, taking another drink of beer. When I looked back to Tammy she was looking away from me, biting her bottom lip, "What?"

"Well... about that wing thing," she said with a nervous laugh.

"You're fuckin' shitting me."

"... uh."

"No seriously, you're pulling my leg, right? This can't be a coincidence. There's SOMETHING that's pulling us together, I mean, what with all the special powers and..."

"Let's talk about something else, we'll go down the whole list of weird crap later, alright?"

I agreed with her with what could have been a little too much enthusiasm. Our conversation shifted to more normal topics, like work and friends, and trying to stay afloat in a city with the country in recession.

I tried to ignore the implications that came from what Tammy had just said, but it was constantly pulling at the back of my mind.

I didn't even get a chance to talk with the other guests before the doorbell rang and Phoebe pulled it open.

That feeling I got in the pit of my stomach when something was about to go wrong...

I had that same feeling in the desert, just before the ambush that changed my life completely.

I felt it at that moment.

"Hello everypony, how could you not invite little ol' me to this bash?"

The guests seemed to freeze.

Discord brought an unnatural fear with him when he shoved Phoebe out of the way and walked through that door.

"Who is that?" whispered Tammy.

"Trouble," I said, "Lots of trouble."