Equestrian State of Mind

***

Darkness. It was all Electric saw, until after a moment, his surroundings became clear. The environment shone upon with a deep red glow, as he stood on a stone-cold surface.

Once he was conscious in the situation, he walked near the edge of the stone platform. Beneath it, was at least a thousand metre free-fall to what seemed to be molten rock.

I’d rather stay back… He concluded, and obeyed his thoughts. He walked backwards from the edge, until he got interrupted by a gloomy, deep voice.

“Here you are again...” Someone said aloud. “Have you met the others?”

Electric turned himself around, and saw a six-foot tall creature. It was no longer dark as it was previously. He felt warmth. The creature in front of him appeared to be a pony, the stature and its majesty akin to Celestia. But the most striking part was a white, beaked mask that it wore.

The pony seemed… oddly familiar. Electric stood still, wide-eyed, and not uttering a single word.

The being gave a slight shake of her head, which seemed to be a sign of disappointment. Suddenly, she took a step forward, and began walking slowly towards Electric. Not until a few meters away, the being reached her hoof out, and touched Electric’s temple. Then something occurred to him. you could call it a flashback for the lack of a better word, but to him, he felt like he was actually there.

In that blurry mess of a flashback, he could see faces. Faces that he thinks.. he believes he knows. But alas, Electric was blinded by a glaring light. He tried desperately to get a better view, in hopes of remembering the faces once again, but his whole body felt a massive force pulling him from those faces. The more he struggled, the harder the pull was. Long enough, he gave up trying, seeing as there is no point for his efforts.

“It is only a dream, Electric. And these are your long lost memories.” The masked being told him.

He panted. “Why can’t I see… their faces?”

“Like I’ve said before, these are the memories from when you were very young,” She continued; “You cannot remember the details, unfortunately.”

The event stopped as the vortex of his memories withered away around him. Electric eventually collapsed onto the floor from exhaustion, as real the lucid dream felt. Lying on the cold stone surface made him shiver, but that changed as there was suddenly a source of heat near him.

Looking behind his back, he saw a simple fireplace burning about, with several light pops and fizzles.

“This dream is nearing its end. Your questions will not be answered, for now.”

She raised her arm, emitting a bright explosion of light from the base of her hoof.

___________________________________________________________________________

Birds, chirping away in the distance. The Vanhoover residents were already on the move, even in the early hours of dawn. Electric held tight onto the blanket as he tried to stay asleep, but alas, his eyes were already vigorous from all the rest he had.

He wriggled around, attempting to find the golden spot that will send him back to dreamland. As Electric tried harder, the harder it became for him to sleep. In the end, Electric surrendered and got out of bed. He let his legs hang at the side of the bed, thinking that it would be any moment now before they touch the carpet floor.

There, he felt it. The soothing solemn blue carpet gave warmth to his hooves. He made his way to the wooden door right across his bed, grabbed the doorknob when he got there and twisted it. The door swiftly opened, leading him directly towards the living room where he had a sandwich the last time he visited. A sly smirk Electric let out as he remembered some nice memories from much more favourable times.

Is it really worth it? A sudden realization hit him right in the head. He started to question why he even really cared about her. What was he going to do when he would finally catch up to her? Would Electric finally feel fulfilled? What if she outright ignores him? These questions started to dizzy Electric, forcing him to sit down on the red sofa set out in the middle of the living room.

“Deep breaths,” muttered Electric to himself, following a slow rhythmic breathing sequence.

This isn’t working, He thought. But, he is already far too deep in a mess to back out now.

There, he found it. Electric decided that he was going to find this pony only for the fact that he was already in something what Shock would consider, A Shit Show. Probably not the most concrete reason Electric could think of. But, it was the only reason he had at the moment and it was good enough for him.

Shock’s room was a corridor away from where Electric was sitting. He thought about waking him up, but he didn't want to bother his daily schedule. He worked till after midnight after all. Shock could still be very tired, and seeing how he is when he is angry, could really bring the pain train to Electric. So, he went back into his room and grabbed what little he had left. His acoustic guitar, a few pieces of paper and a black ink pen he used for college. Electric went back to the living room, setting the paper and pen on the table and adjusted his guitar onto his lap.

He started to tap his foot, getting a beat for his new song. But before he could strum his guitar, the doorbell rang several times. Electric sighed as he laid his guitar next to him on the sofa. He got up and quickly walked towards the door as the doorbell rang even more impatiently.

Who could be visiting Shock at this time of the day? He asked himself as he opened the door.

Lo and behold, the owner himself was out there at the front porch, holding several bags of groceries with his magic.

“Well? Aren’t you going to help me?” Shock asked as he stood there, with a slightly miffed expression glued right on his face.

“Help with what?” asked Electric with a smug smile, noticing slight bags under Shock’s eyes.

“Seems like you got things under control.” He continued.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe help by moving out of the way?”

Electric sidestepped from the way, letting Shock enter his personal domain whilst carrying the bags of groceries. He sat down on his favourite armchair and with his magic, levitated the bags onto a counter at the kitchen. Such the perks of being a unicorn. Though using magic for long periods of time really stressed Shock, draining whatever energy he had left in his body.

Before Electric could make any remark of anything, his fellow friend was fast asleep right where he sat.

“Well, you can only use so much mana.” Interested to see what his roommate had bought, he treaded to the kitchen and looked inside one of the bags. Much to his expectations, it was more than what he could have bought by himself. Though, Shock is a pony of the working class. It would be quite silly if he could not buy the groceries. Nonetheless, Electric was glad that Shock could buy all of the food, which means he himself could finally have a nice dinner for once.

Satisfied with what he saw, Electric went back to the living room to write a new song. Maybe that could fill in the time he had. He sat on the couch, and began playing a tune.

“I’m sitting home, doing nothing at all,

What to do next, I don’t know.

I lost my direction, instead I found my affection.

I no longer give a damn.

I’m useless, like piece of garbage,

My future’s really dark, I can’t see anything

Why do I even keep on going?”

“Now I know, why you came to me,

To make a life that’s simple and easy.

Turn it into something you can’t see,

Life blinding, not so steady.”

“Cause you know,

I can’t live without you.

Cause you know,

I can’t stand without you.”

“Jeez, can you like, shut up?” A weary Shock interrupted the amateur musician.

Electric sneered. “Nah.”

As the mediocre song was over with, he set his guitar on to the side of the couch. In the silent morning, he wondered what to do with his leftover time. Making music was off the list, so what now? Electric certainly was not the type to come up with ideas out of the blue, so his best bet was to take a walk outside. Maybe that will clear his head.

Electric stood up and went towards the window right next to the front door. Looking out, the dawning sun was bright and fine. Streets were starting to get busy as office ponies paced around and stall owners setting up their shop. A good opportunity to take, he presumed.

Pondering his life choices for a moment, he jumped off the railing and started flapping his wings.

He successfully got afloat and made a small U-turn, as he chose to stay near the balcony for a while.

“Watch where you’re flying, you hoser!” A nearby voice shouted in anger.

"Oh, sorry." Electric looked to the side, as he saw a whizz of deep blue dashing by.

Upon closer inspection, the pony had a two-colored tail, both white and light blue. Not exactly important information, he thought.

Anything that Electric tried to do, there was always something trying to push him down. But something made him realize that there was more to life than petty insults, failing grades or unsolved mysteries. He promised himself he would never stoop as low as that ill-mannered pegasus.

Electric continued his journey around Vanhoover, looking for any sort of attraction that was at least mildly interesting. At the height he was at, Electric could see Stanley Park across the lake. From what he read, Stanley Park was one of the first places to be colonized by the early ponies in Vanhoover. Interesting indeed, he thought.

Moving on from the past, Electric hovered at a steady pace above the sidewalks. Nothing out of the ordinary happened as he kept looking for more places of interests, until he saw a slightly brown-coated pony who looked strikingly similar to his former instructor, Mr. Quill. With closer inspection, It was indeed the professor himself.

“Wonder what he’s up to…” Electric said to himself, keeping his gaze locked onto the professor.

Not wanting to get spotted, Electric furthered himself from Mr. Quill to some fifty meters away. They say the best distance to follow somebody is at least the length of a few carriages. But in this case, Electric kept the fifty meters between him and the professor.

With eyes locked and a good distance between them, Electric followed his former instructor around the city. Who knows, perhaps Electric could find out something interesting about Mr. Quill.

As he ogled at his actions, the professor suddenly walked across the street to the direction of a library. Not surprised, Electric was not interested in intervening with the professor’s work, so he stayed in place for a while until Mr. Quill would finally walk out.

Downtown Vanhoover, 2:48 PM

Ding, as Electric heard the library door being pushed open. He had rested on top of the library building to avoid being spotted by Mr. Quill. A good idea it seemed to be, as the professor was still unaware of the pegasus that followed him. Floating back into the air, he continued stalking his target.

Quill walked on the sparse sidewalk step by step like every other pony on Equis has walked before, only in a more eloquent manner. You’d even think Mr. Quill is some snob from Canterlot with his 24/7 dapper attire, but in person, he turns out to be a down-to-earth pony like nopony before. After a short distance, Electric got extremely bored from chasing Mr. Quill at two meters per second. Thus, he let out a yawn so loud that anyone close to him would’ve heard it.

The professor slowed down to a halt. It took a second until Electric noticed, when Mr. Quill started to turn around. Electric cursed himself and dashed for cover behind a building, hoping that he was quick enough to avoid the shame of being exposed for stalking.

“Hm.” Mr. Quill looked around for the source of the sound, but all he could see was other ponies walking about.

He shrugged, thinking it was nothing out of the ordinary, and continued walking. Electric peeked over and sighed out of gladness. He was sure he would be caught at that moment but luckily he was quick enough to evade Mr. Quill’s line of sight. He resumed into flying mode and started to stalk his former teacher more carefully from over the buildings. No second chances, he concluded.

After some time has passed with the chase, Electric noticed that Mr. Quill was actually heading towards his roommate’s workplace, The Drunken Huntsmare.

“Strange, but... I suppose being a professor is stressful.” He said to himself.

He flew to the backdoor of the establishment, trying to find a way to get in without being noticed by his former instructor. He landed on the ground and rushed to open a wooden door that looked like it was straight from the pre-war era of Equestria. The deadbolt clicked with a push of a rusted door handle, and the door opened, revealing a wide hallway that seemed to be the storage room.

“Breach and clear.” Electric chuckled as he stepped inside the building.

The room looked like a classic wine cellar seen in old timey movies. Barrels lined up in order and stacked up on each other as stocks. Electric felt like he was in a horror game judging by how eerie the room looked. He looked around for a door that lead to the main area of the bar but it seems like this room goes on forever. After running around through some sort of maze, he found what he thought would be the door that will lead to the exit. Electric opened the door, and was led back outside.

‘What the fuck…’ Was all Electric thought of the situation.

“El?” He heard somepony say. With a turn of the head, it was revealed to be none other than Shock.

“What are you doing here?” Shock asked, surprised to see Electric snooping around his workplace.

Electric stared. “Oh, um… I’m here for that job you offered.”

“...You gotta talk with the boss first,” Shock said as he walked along the narrow back alley, heading towards a different door in the opposite direction.

“Also, that’s the wrong building.”

As he saw Shock enter the actual building where Electric was supposed to be, he rolled his eyes and went after him. He can only guess how his encounter with Mr. Quill will unfold. And it wouldn’t be far off at all, just that there’s one exception to this meetup; Shock. Fucking. Wave.

“Alright, this is where i’ll get started,” Shock opened a closet, and grabbed what looked like a waistcoat.

“You’ll find the boss sitting in his office on the left from here, the lousy prick.” He hinted at the direction with his head as he put on the apparel.

Electric nodded. “Okay, but Shock… I’m not actually here to work right now-”

“Well you won’t be earning anythin’ by doing nothin’, so I suggest you do, mate.” Shock smiled smugly. “You’re not gonna live in my flat forever, y’know?”

Electric groaned. “Look, I’m following somepony who’s in this building right now.”

“Really? Why?”

“... Hell if I know, I had nothing else to do.”

Shock opened the door that lead to the main area, peeking through to see who was Electric’s prey. As he peered around, he could not see anypony that would peak his interest.

“I don’t see any suspicious pony,” As he scanned the area for a longer time, he saw him. “Oh, you mean Mr. Quill?”

Electric ogled surprisingly at Shock. “You know him?”

“Well, I’ve been to North Vanhoover Uni before, don’tcha remember?”

“Oh right.” said Electric, caught up in his thoughts.

Shock continued outside and went straight behind the counter, preparing to bartend like he always used to. Electric soon followed behind him, but only a bit more carefully, as he saw Mr. Quill sitting idly across the bar. The bar was still almost lacking customers since it had only just opened a few hours ago. Only a few spots were taken by the few odd patrons. Shock eyed Mr. Quill as he started to clean several mugs. The professor took out his notebook and pen and started to write on it.

“Keeping yourself busy, huh?” Shock whispered to himself, setting aside the cleaned mug. Soon enough, comes a waiter that has finished their shift. So, it was Shock’s turn to ask around for orders.

Can’t believe I still have to do this, Shock thought as he walked towards one of the tables.

“Welcome to the Drunken Huntsmare, What would you have today?” Shock said his rehearsed lines.

The silver maned stallion asked, without even looking at Shock, for a cup of grounded coffee. He was clearly too busy with whatever he was jotting down on that notebook of his. Shock tried to take a peek at the notes, but at the pace the professor was writing at, it all seemed like chicken scratch to him.

After a moment, Shock nodded as he noted grounded coffee into his mind, “Anything else?”

The professor put down his pencil, and turned to the bartender. “How about a cup of old friends, Shock?” He asked with a warm smile.

“Hey, I thought you’d never ask.” Shock said, returning a smirk back to Mr. Quill.

The bartender then went to take a seat in front of him, adjusting himself into a more comfortable position. Shock knew that Mr. Quill had something to discuss with him since he knew most of the ponies who frequently come to this establishment, the only exception now being the professor.

“So, what brings you here today, Sharpe?” Shock wanted his curiosity to be answered.

Mr. Quill chuckled upon hearing Shock saying his first name, “Haven’t heard that one in a long time.”

He continued as a heavy sigh was let out, “However, I believe there are much more pressing matters in the moment.”

Shock saw how the professor’s eye gazed a bit to his left. Curious, he turned to see what the professor meant by that. Shock could see in the distance his roommate peeking through the backroom door before noticing he was seen, thus quickly closing it. He couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that Mr. Quill had known all along about Electric’s espionage.

“He’s quite the pony, isn’t he?” Shock joked.

“Well, not so much as the pony who put the Dean’s son into the hospital.” Mr. Quill replied with his best attempt at a smug face.

Shock laughed, reminiscing the moments from his old university days. “He had it coming.”

“True,” Mr. Quill nodded. “Let’s just hope that Electric doesn’t get the same outcome.”

Again, Mr. Quill shifted his eyes. This time, a little bit closer to the bar in which Shock had stood at before. The bartender looked again, and saw a deluded Electric trying to make a drink behind the bar.

“Hey Electric, no need to hide anymore. Come over here.”

As soon as Electric heard the voice, he got startled. The mug he was holding slipped from his hooves broke into several pieces, resulting in a heavy sigh coming from Shock.

As he walked around the counter to meet the two, he forced a smile, which looked a tad bit awkward. “Heyyy…” He uttered out a greeting.

“Well hello, Electric. How are you doing on this fine day?” Sharpe asked.

“I’m fine, thanks.” He said as he pulled out a chair to sit on. As he sat down, a short silence followed after.

“So, uhh..” Shock turned his attention to the professor, “What do you need us for today?”

“Hmm,” Sharpe looked thoughtful, and pulled out a tobacco pipe. “May I?” He glanced at Shock.

Shock was at first apprehensive. However, it was early and the bar was empty with the exception being the three of them and some other early birds. Shock then nodded ahead, thinking there would be no complaints from anybody.

“Thank you,” He proceeded to light up the pipe with a lighter, and puffed out a bit of smoke.

“I’ve come here today to help Electric.” He turned to his former pupil. “I understand you’re having financial problems, which lead to you dropping out, right?”

Electric didn’t respond as he thought of an answer.

“Since I’m quite well off as a professor, I could help with your rent and basic needs,” He had another puff. “I don’t have any family anyway, all that money is just staying there,” Sharpe explained.

Shock smirked at Sharpe as he remembered something, “What about Ms. Encre?”

“No speaking of Ms. Encre here.” Mr. Quill was starting to get red all over his face, but quickly shook it off.

He then took another puff from the pipe. “So, what do you say?”

“Um, that’s really generous of you, Mr. Quill,” He had a light chuckle. “But, I recently got evicted. And I have other problems which money won’t necessarily fix.”

“Oh,” Sharpe frowned. “Truly unfortunate. Could I possibly help you in any way?”

“I suppose not, professor. Sorry.” Electric put on a forgiving smile.

Sharpe sighed and gave Electric a disappointing gaze, “Help will never come to you if you never call for it.”

“Well…”

“Spill the beans, buddy.” Shock got impatient.

“It’s kinda stupid, but… I’m looking for this pony who happens to look like me.”

Electric expected a reaction, yet all he got was a nod, allowing for him to continue.

“I feel like this pony has a connection to me. Like I’ve known that pony for a long time now,” He paused. “But like I said, it’s stupid. Just forget it.” He looked to the side.

“Oh no, this is good.” Sharpe interjected. “This is the first step in solving your problem.”

The professor then continued, “What other features does this pony have?”

Electric shrugged. “Probably might’ve been a mare, I’m not really sure.”

Sharpe nodded, “Hmm, I guess this will suffice.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Electric wanted to ask.

Mr. Quill chuckled as he puffed a few more times from his pipe, “Well, my being a professor in Vanhoover’s biggest university, I’m sure I can get some information about that special pony.”

“Don’t waste your time, Mr. Quill.” Electric didn’t want to burden his former professor with nonsensical things.

“Oh, I insist. My routine has been uninteresting for quite some time now,” The professor stood up, gathering his notes. “Now, how would I contact you in the future?” He asked.

“Just mail anything to the bar’s address under my name.” Shock said, writing down his workplace’s address on the professor’s notebook.

“Alrighty, I’ll see you two some other time,” Mr. Quill stood up from his seat, making his way towards the main door, “I got another class to teach in half an hour.”

As Mr. Quill exited the building, Shock and Electric couldn’t help but wonder what lies ahead of them, especially Electric. He felt that life finally sided with him in his journey and after all he has been through, it may just be worth it in the end.

***