The Legend of Rock

Chapter One: The New Divide

Everything was spinning for Derek when his senses began to return to him. His vision was blurred and his hearing deafened. Derek had no clue where he was, how he was, or where his mother’s ghost was. Just then a sharp breath escaped Derek lungs as everything came into focus at once.

He was lying on a hard table immersed in a ring of white light. All around him was darkness, blackness, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t see anything standing outside the ring of light. Then Derek realized something horrifying: he couldn’t move. It wasn’t as if his limbs were bound to the table, he couldn’t physically get his muscles to move. They were lifeless and rock solid as if stricken by rigor mortis.

Derek wanted to scream, to say anything, but he couldn’t. His mouth wouldn’t work, nor could his lungs do anything except gently breathe in and gently breathe out. Derek Strands was immobilized, paralyzed, and mute. Just then he heard footsteps, lots of them approaching him. His eyes soon came upon a group of people, dressed in white robes with their faces obscured.

Oh my god, Derek thought to himself, did I become a sacrifice to some crazy cult?

“This is no cult that you see before you Derek,” A familiar voice said. One of the white figures approached Derek. His eyes came upon the figure with terrified and confused eyes. Just then the figure lowered her hood, revealing the familiar face of his mother.

“Mom….” Derek said his voice no louder than a whisper.

“Yes son, it is me.” His mom reassured him.

“Where…” he started, but his mom raised her hand asking for him to be silent.

“These beings behind me are just like me, we are angels.” She told him.

Angels, Derek thought, that means that I am?

“Yes Derek,” his mom answered for him, “You are dead, killed in a bus crash due to black ice on the road. You are the only casualty at the moment.”

“Then…” Derek managed to say, “Why am I here?”

“Derek, you have failed my expectations with your actions in your life. You’ve disappointed me every step of the way. Ever since you were small you dreamed of becoming a rock star, and your father and I supported you as best we could.” His mother explained, “But the decisions you have made; getting into drugs, many late nights, drinking, and exploitations with hookers has made you a horrible person. A shadow of the boy I knew.”

“Mom…” Derek sighed. He didn’t know whether to be angry at his mom for chastising him or apologetic. She was right thought; ever since her death and he moved out he was wasting away not only his future, but his life. But since STK had become a hit despite that, he never tried to change that. And that had ruined his soul; he figured he was probably facing eternal damnation.

Then his mother smiled, “But I am giving you a chance to reedmen yourself.” The figures closed around the ring, each standing side by side in a ring formation as his mother walked over to the head of the table and bent over him. The others raised their arms up revealing their pure white hands. His mother lowered her mouth to his ear and whispered, “Remember the night I died, because I do.”

Then she lifted her head and looked at him. His mom hummed a tune and then began to sing, “I remember black skies, the lightning all around me. I remember each flash as time began to blur.” The others began to hum, as if doing a cappella melody to the song. “Like a startling sing that fate had finally found me.” His mom continued to sing.

She then moved from the head of the table to right side, keeping her eyes locked on Derek. “And your voice was all I heard, that I get what I deserve.”

Flashes of light shot from the ceiling, or what Derek thought was the ceiling, and impacted all around Derek. He could feel each electrical spark rush into him. It wasn’t painful, but the tingling sensations were disconcerting. He now made a very conscious effort to move.

His mother continued to sing all through this, “So give me reason, to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean. Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes. Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between. Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide!”

A massive bolt hit Derek square in the chest, he felt his whole body go completely numb and begin to vibrate. His mom was on the move again, sweeping down towards his feet. “There was nothing to hide, the memories left abandoned. There was no where to hide, the ashes fell like snow. And the ground caved in between where we were standing.” She sang as the other hummed. Derek panted as he was expecting another barrage, but one look in his mom’s eyes made him feel easier. “And your voice was all I heard, that I get what I deserved.”

Sure enough another major barrage began. These hurt Derek excessively; it was as if each bolt was tearing his skin off, ripping through his muscles, and changing the very skeleton within him. Again he wanted to scream but he couldn’t, so he silently squirmed in pain. His mom once again continued unabated. “So give me reason, to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean. To let the floods cross the distance in your eyes! Across this new divide!” She sang almost as if she was scolding him again.

Just then massive bolts began ripping through Derek. Unlike the last which were silent and just flashes of light, these made sounds like an electric guitar being shredded. The following thunder claps sounded like drums. But much like the last, these musical bolts hurt. This musical melody continued for a few more seconds before his mom waved her hands stopping them.

She leaned over her son as the others hummed again, “In every loss, in every life, in every truth that you’d deny. In each regret and each goodbye was all mistakes too great to hide. And your voice was all I heard, that I get what I deserved.” His mom then began to walk back away from Derek into the others.

The others lowered their arms and reached out to Derek. Suddenly little bolts of lightning shot from their hands, wrapping Derek in a painful cocoon. He felt ever fiber of his body being forcefully changing around him. The pain was so great that his vision blacked out. But somehow he could still hear his mother sing, “So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean. To let the floods cross the distance in your eyes!”

Derek then felt his body completely change into something else, something not human. It was then that the pain stopped. He hit the table hard still wallowing in silent pain. His mom continued as the others began to move away, “Give me reason to fill this hole, connect this space between. Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide.” As the hums began to die, Derek felt his mom come to him and lean over him. “Across this new divide,” She sang as the hums stopped. As the sound faded, his mom kissed his cheek saying, “Good luck in Equestria my son.”

He felt his mother pull away and then vanish. Derek lay there in what ever form he had become for what seemed like an eternity. His breathing was slow and labored as the pain from what ever the other angels did to him subsided. Silence was all that filled his senses.

Within his mind was only one thought, What is Equestria?

Just then a sparking sound filled his ears. He felt his body being lifted off the table and flung through the air. Derek tried to scream, call out for his mother to save him. But no words came. Then he felt his body become limp and dull as if he had just woken up from a long sleep.

His body then landed on the ground and the sparking sound stopped. Derek felt something weird underneath him. He felt grass, but not grass. It felt like a mix of grass and fur beneath him. Where was he? Derek stretched out with his arms. But he couldn’t feel his fingers move at all. The same was true with his feet; he couldn’t feel his toes at all. Plus he felt something weird move from his butt, a new muscle that was controlling something hairy.

As he tried to get up, he heard a voice. A female voice say “Oh, that’s not supposed to happen!”