Chapter 1: The Storm

You never know what’s going to happen next in life. That is a statement that most people have probably heard a thousand times during the span of their life. Just because we don’t know or can’t control what happens, however, we all still need to live our lives in the best way we possibly can. If you don’t do anything with your life and watch the days past one by one, you will never know the amazing things that can happen to you.

It was a typical Tuesday night in the city of Huntington Beach, California. The school day was done and I was finally getting time to myself to relax and unwind. I quietly turned on the computer and started browsing the internet, passing from site to site and not really paying attention to anything that was going on.

At five foot ten, I was average height for boys my age, I had never been interested in being the star sports player jock type, a fact that was obvious by my school appearance. I had long, black hair and light blue eyes, and a stocky body. You can imagine all of the bullying that came along with that.

Sighing to myself, I wondered if it would be any different if I was on a sports team or was more popular than I was now at school. I always found myself being the outcast of a group or party. Yeah, at first it hurt my pride and all, but there comes a time when you have to adjust to everything, even bullying. As I searched for videos on the internet, I came across an episode of Friendship is Magic that I hadn’t heard of before.

“That’s weird.” I said to no one, I had seen every episode of the show and was sure this episode was a fake.

As I clicked the link for the video, I saw that the video did not have a specific length. In fact, it wasn’t a video at all. The only thing on the screen was a popup that said “Click here to start your journey.”

Usually I ignore these kinds of things because they carry all sorts of viruses and scams, but something about the popup made me consider otherwise. I somehow knew that this was not a scam or a random internet troll. I shrugged my shoulders and decided that it was harmless enough to at least see where the link would go to. So I checked to make sure that everyone else in the house was asleep and then I clicked the link, ready to turn off the computer if it was indeed a scam.

I was a little disappointed at first when nothing happened, and was getting ready to go to another website when I heard the distinct sound of thunder from behind me. The sound caused me to jump in my seat and fall over backwards in the chair.

“Dang it.” I whispered to myself as I got back up, rubbing the back of my head where it had struck the floor. “I thought the weatherman said that it was supposed to be sunny this week.”

Heading back to the computer, I saw that the screen was black. When I tried to turn the computer back on, I was met with no results. Muttering to myself, I turned the lights off and headed to my room, where I sat down in bed and pulled out my phone to read more fan fictions. It was a daily routine for me: school, then homework and chores, and then it was brony time. Chuckling to myself at the thought of me yelling that at school, I decided that maybe it wasn’t a good idea for me to be staying up until 2 in the morning when I had Finals in two subjects tomorrow. Turning off my phone, I silently fell asleep, unaware of the sound of thunder getting closer and closer.

I woke up at around 3 in the morning to a clap of thunder so loud that it rattled the windows and made me want to cover my ears. The entire room lit up at the same time, giving the room an ominous glow for half a second.

“Jeez, that sounded like it was right on top of us.” I remarked quietly, sitting up in bed.

I usually love a good thunderstorm, but something seemed off about this one. It took me a few moments before I realized what it was. There was no rain outside, not a drop to be seen or heard. Even the wind seemed subdued. The only sound was that of the occasional thunder clap. It gave the storm an eerie feel to it, as if something was lying in wait inside the dark storm clouds above.

“Take it easy Jared, it’s just a storm, nothing to be afraid of.” I reassured myself. “ Just go back to bed and everything will be fine.”

As soon as the last word exited my mouth, the room lit up with a violent flash so bright that I had to cover my eyes from the glow. A deafening boom exploded all around me and I started to scream. It was as if the entire world was being destroyed by one gigantic nuclear bomb, blinding and destroying everything in its path. I couldn’t understand why the other people in my family hadn’t woken up yet, surely they must have noticed the gigantic white light!

I knew that this was not a normal bolt of lightning, there was no heat and it had lasted far past the split seconds that they usually last. This bolt of lightning had to have lasted 20 seconds already! I resolved that I was still dreaming and that I would just wake up and everything would be fine, but as I tried to move, a overwhelming electric shock like touching an electric fence went through my body and I fell on the floor, unconscious because of the pain. If I had been at the computer, I would have seen a black and white image that said “Adventure started”.