The Voices (In My Head Again)

The room is large and crowds of people pour in from all directions, various stalls displaying their goods as passerby's walk around the vendor hall of the noisy convention center. It has beige walls and a red carpet, there are families here among the crowd with their kids. They all gather near the plushie stall to shop for their favorite toys. Sketch, on the other hand, has more interest in the Magic The Gathering table that he had shopped at previously, he bought a few much needed cards for his deck before he came back to do another run through for anything he might be missing out on. After spending what money he has on collectibles and memorabilia he leaves the vendor hall and begins to wander the other convention halls.

“I think I’ll hit the dance panel next, those always look like fun, maybe if I get there early I can get in the front row!” Sketch says excitedly, as he runs to the panel with four bags full of con swag. He originally was going to cosplay but there was a tournament he just had to participate in and you can’t exactly fight in a complicated costume with multiple parts, so he just opted for a Guy Fawkes mask for the fun of it.

As he enters the panel room he notices it was actually more akin to a small concert hall with a stage, curtains and lights included. It was rather impressive for the hotel he's staying at, it wasn’t great, but at least they took care of the facilities and panel rooms.

“Hmm, so this is the ‘You think you can dance’ Anime panel, should be interesting, I hope they do Lucky Star,” he says to himself as he walks the halls, being 6’2” he could see over most of the crowd, thankfully most didn’t have on large costumes, well, other than the RWBY cosplayer with the scythe, something Sketch found very well made. “Wait, back on topic man, keep it together, don’t nerd out too much, it’s only a- Ooh shiny!” He shouts as he sees a chrome Gundam in a display case, “Dear god what have I become… Wait...I-Is that... Q?!”

As Sketch attempts to return his attention to the line of people on the stage getting ready to make fools of themselves for some laughs, he sees by far the most impressive Q cosplay he had ever laid eyes on. He is exactly the right height. It is as if John De Lancie had walked right off the set and had decided to spend his time at the convention. But the likelihood of that was incredibly low, John had stopped playing Q when The Next Generation ended and besides that, John no longer had the brown hair, it had become gray and peppered in his age. This couldn’t be John, but perhaps a relative.

As he bids goodbye to a child he’d signed an autograph for, Sketch could swear that the man even spoke in the same exact quirky, dramatic and playful tone.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!” Sketch wants to get an autograph- no, he needs a picture! “Excuse me, sir? I love your Q cosplay, may I get an autograph and a picture?”

The cosplayer simply smiles and gives Sketch a toothy grin. “Of course my boy, who wouldn’t want something to remember me by?” His voice copying was impeccable, the kind that could only be related to either a high-end voice modulator or a long time of practice. He slaps Sketch on the back and snapped his fingers, producing a pen and a camera from his own con bag.

The man then pulls Sketch into a big, one-armed squeeze, camera in the other hand aimed at the two of them. After a large flash, the older, polaroid-style camera spits out a photo of the two of them. Q leans over to Sketch. “You like being a trickster too, eh?”

“Hehe, yeah, I’m a bit of a clown, I even juggle, wanna see?”

“Perhaps another time, now then, hold still.” Taking the pen, the cosplayer man writes on the Guy Fawkes mask Sketch was wearing and hands him the photo.

“Sweet! Did you make your costume? If so can you email me the patterns?! This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Sorry my boy, all my costumes are one-of-a-kind!” The cosplayer chuckles. “And please, this can’t be the ‘coolest’ thing ever. Perhaps close but you really can’t imagine anything more amazing?”

“No, I don’t have a good imagination.”

“Well, that will need to be fixed!” The incredibly charismatic voice of the cosplayer snickers. “Perhaps... no, not yet. When you no longer need to be here maybe... Yes, when your business is done here, I will happily show you a much more amazing experience!”

“Sounds cool man! Anyways thanks so much for this, means a lot.”

“Think nothing of it.” the cosplayer gives a deep bow and walks around a corner, sauntering to a tune only he could hear. Sketch attempts to follow, realizing he never got to see the man’s convention pass, something to divulge his true identity, but the man is nowhere to be found.

Regaining his focus, Sketch walks down the hall and finds the panel room. There he sees a large Pikachu cosplayer on stage, the Pikachu costume very plush, with extra foam. It looked adorable and huggable, just like Pikachu should be.

“I gotta see this.” He says as he walks in, but as he did so he overhears a conversation between two convention staff, something about the stage lights.

The show starts without a hitch, they do the Kurutto Mawatte Ikkaiten from Keroro Gunso, Hare Hare Yukai from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Caramelldansen which isn’t even from an anime but he dances along for the hell of it. Although dancing in his trench coat and holding bags made it a little awkward, especially with all the foam rubber knives he carried with him. They were fairly realistic with small, silverish ‘blades’ and palm-sized black handles, but whenever he was LARPing, they became deadly instruments meant for impaling his victims. And juggling.

As the music plays with the video projector showing the anime the dance is from on the screen behind the dancers which comprised of a zombie, Ruby, Master Chef (Master Chief in an apron, a chef’s hat and oven mitts with a spatula) and the bulky costumed Pikachu from before. ‘The costume was well made to be quite honest, looked plush, but hard to move in.’ he thinks to himself.

As the panel continues, there are creaking noises emanating above the stage, as he looks up he notices one of the light is beginning to come loose right above the dancers.

“Please tell me that isn’t going to fall….” Sketch says to himself, full of worry.

Sure enough, with one final creak, the light begins to come loose. With the music blaring, no one was aware of the impending danger as they dance beneath possible crushing death. Looking at the dancers for a split second he determined the Pikachu in the center of the stage was in the most danger, so he climbs on stage to save the Pokemon.

He hurriedly gets on stage and pushes the Pikachu out of the way making them fall to the ground on their back. Just as he pushes the dancer out of the way the supports for the light above gave way as creaks could be heard right before it plummeted down onto him. Screams can be heard from the crowd as the light falls, it initially hits him in the head, but as he fell the light settles in his back, the heat from the bulb singeing his coat and skin as one of the light panels from the fixture was now lodged into his back. The crowd is in a panic and the staff quickly take control of the situation the best they can, they quickly get the members in the room on stage to try to dislodge the light from Sketch, but to no avail. He tries to speak but could only gurgle as blood fills his mouth and pools by his head. With restricted head movement his eyes dart around the room in a panic, is he going to die here? Before he can continue his train of thought the darkness envelopes him.

“Whoopsies.” Comes a charismatic voice. “I didn’t think it would happen that soon, but... a promise is a promise.” Through the thick fog of near unconsciousness, out steps the Q cosplayer, whose face metamorphoses into one with a long brown snout, a snaggletooth, and burning yellow eyes which were full of apologetic worry for all of two moments. He snaps his fingers and gives a hearty laugh. “Go~od lu~uck!”

As the moon rises in the night sky Luna makes her way back to the throne room to deal with more nobles, oh joy.

“Even at night these ponies never sleep.” Luna huffs as her work is never done.

As she heads back to the throne room a loud noise emanates from the garden.

“What in Equestria is that?” Luna asks no one in particular.

“Ugh my head, where am I?” Sketch asks aloud with no one to reply, “Why the hell am I outside?” He gets up and begins to wander the garden as he tries to get his bearings.

“Stop right there!” Someone shouts, Sketch turns around only to see a white horse with a spear, “How did you get in the garden and why are you here?”

“I have no idea, where am I?” Sketch asks.

“Don’t play dumb, and what kind of creature are you?” The horse asks.

“Put down the spear, and we can talk this out.” Sketch suggests, “I’m no threat to you.”

“I still don’t believe you, but maybe the Princess of the night can straighten this out. Come with me and don’t do anything, or else you will face my spear.”

“Duly noted, let’s go see your Princess or whatever.”

“Finally, all the nobles have been dealt with, I don’t see how my sister does this day in and day out.”

“Princess! I found what made that crash in the garden.”

“What manner of beast or pony did you find?” Luna asks.

“I’m no beast, I’m a human, you’re the beast, or at least a small horse, maybe a pony? Not quite sure, I’m no vet.”

“You dare insult the Princess of the night?” Luna stars him down, the glare not really bothering him.

“What, are you like the princess except for the night shift? Doesn’t it kind of suck that you work at night when it is so nice out?”

“You prefer the night?” Luna asks incredulously.

“Yes, no bright sun to get in your eyes, the starry night sky and the beautiful moon and sometimes even an eclipse; the night time kicks the shit out of the day time! Not to mention it is much more peaceful”

“I may have misjudged you, although you will apologize for the beast comment.”

“Agreed, you are clearly sentient so therefore you are not a beast, that’s my bad.”

“What’s your name?” Luna asks.

“They call me Sketch.”

“Who is this ‘they’ that calls you this? Your friends?”

“It is a name I kinda choose myself and people just went along with it.”

“I see, so your kind chooses their own names?”

“No, but we have screen names, aliases, nicknames, gamer tags, etcetera.”

“How many names do you go by?”

“I have roughly… six different aliases all for different types of systems but my main one is Sketch.”

“Doesn’t that get rather confusing?”

“Nah, I have different names for different groups of friends so when I hear a specific name I know immediately who is calling me.”

“That could be rather useful.”

“Yeah, nicknames are necessary when you are online, you don’t want everyone in the world knowing your real name, where you live, etcetera.”

“Online? The whole world??”

“We have an interconnected system of devices which we use to talk, to shop and to research things from all over the world, imagine the world’s libraries all at the touch of your fingertips.”

“That is rather impressive.”

“We like to think we are, most of the time though we fail to meet expectations. So, why are you on night shift?”

“You see, I control the moon, and my sister, Princess Celestia, controls the sun and we rest while the other watches over the country.”

“Since you are blue and the night sky is a dark blue or black, your sister is yellow?”

“No, she has a white coat and a multi colored mane. Where are you from to have never heard of her?”

“Earth, specifically The United States.”

“States?”

“Our country is divided into fifty equal states and we all follow an elected official we call the President.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Humans? Roughly seven billion.” At this Luna’s jaw hits the floor.

“Seven billion?! In the one country?”

“No, seven billion on our entire planet. My country, made up of fifty states has three hundred million though.”

“You are from another planet? How did you get here?”

“No idea, I remember getting up on stage, a bright light, lots of searing pain and then I ended up in that garden.”

“Searing pain?”

“A stage light fell on me and killed...me…” Sketch’s face goes pale.

“You died?”

“I... guess I did…” Sketch just looks down at the floor for a moment. “Am I the first here? Is this heaven or hell?”

“What is heaven and hell?”

“Can I just have a moment, please… I died…” Sketch sits on the ground as he tries to process what happened in his head over and over. Where am I, why am I here? What is going on?!

“Are you okay?” Luna asks.

“No, I’m not, all my friends, gone, my family, gone, everything I knew, gone. I just lost everything and now I don’t even know where the hell I am.”

“Well if this helps, you are currently in the country of Equestria, which is ruled by my sister and me.”

“Not much help, but the thought is appreciated.”

“Sorry, if you would like to clear your mind you may head back to the garden for some fresh air.”

“Thanks, where is the garden again?”

“Right this way.” The guard said as he motions for Sketch to follow him.

“But before I do, where’s a bathroom?” Sketch asks.

“Down the hall towards the garden on your left, you are male, right?”

“Yup, thanks, see you later I guess.”