Author's Note

This chapter was a little longer to make up for the small hiatus I took a while back. Now that we're back in full swing, let us see what kind of hell our little bipedal friend will go through.

Act 2 Part 3: Playing to the Sun and Moon's Tune.

Act 2 Part 3: Playing to the Sun and Moon's Tune.

I can't believe it! I've been captured. They outsmarted me, and who knows how long I'd been playing to their tune. They've sent in several doctors, a few psychiatrists, then finally gave me my journal and some medication. I'm supposed to take, to make myself feel better, but I know what they're doing. They're trying to corrupt me, trying to make me some mindless ape to be amused by. They'll probably leash me to their thrones and treat me like an exotic pet! I won't fucking stand for it! I'm getting out of here, one way or another.

I won't be an animal.

It's been three days. I feel like hell, the headaches won't go away and I always sleep and wake in threes, sometimes I can't get any. Bags have started to form under my eyes, even moreso than when I was back in the forest. I can still sometimes keep down my meager breakfast, but usually not lunch. Dinner is usually the easiest meal to eat, because those damn guards aren't out there, smoking. I can still smell the nicotine, it just makes the withdrawal worse. Joke's on them, when I get out of here I'm going to burn their priceless cigars, and their houses too!

It has been two days since the last entry. I caved, and took the medicine, turns out that it helps to alleviate the withdrawal, but not completely. Today, I managed to keep it down, and it really helped. I feel wrong, somehow. Like there's something seriously wrong that I can't see, but I suppose paranoia may be a side effect? It is certainly better than the pain, the terrible migraines, and the nausea. Everyday since I started taking the medicine, I get these moments in which I black out, usually between, I assume, two o'clock PM and three o'clock PM.

These moments always leave me with bruises, and I can hear the guards talking about how I always take an hour in the day to throw myself against the bars, wailing someone's name... I don't want to continue this entry any longer, this is already resurfacing... Painful memories.

i can still hear her crying. she asked me, "why is that thing on fire, big brother? i'm scared!" i just held her hand and said everything would be fine.

in the next few moments, i heard the simultaneous shrieks, then nothing but emptiness and pain.

The last entry was... hard to write. I won't elaborate any further. I only wanted to get it off my chest, maybe someone will read it and feel sympathy for me, the poor boy lost in this fucking rainbow sunshine wonderland.

Sometimes, I still demand that whatever cruel god did this to her come and face me like a man, and not hide behind divinity like a fucking coward. Everytime I do so, I only realize how futile it is to hold on to the past so hard.

So, I suppose this entry is a memorial to one I acted so much like a father for. My little sister, [the name is scratched out vigorously], whom I spent most of my teenage and adult years taking care of, whom I cherished and loved, died in an accident, that, by all accounts, should have claimed my life too. Instead, I live on in this hell.

So here's a big, nice thank you to everyone who helped make me delve into my past!

Thanks, you cowshit covered, glorified satyrs! Thanks, you fatass harlot! Thanks, creepy dreamstalker bitch! Fuck all of you! I hope you all die horribly!

It has been weeks since the last time I've written anything. I feel so much better, and I look back on this dark time and... feel worse. Much worse than when I was writing it. It only makes that little itch just under the gauze hurt just a little more. But, that's all in the past, today I am to be released to a small farming town in the countryside called Ponyville. Oddly reminds me of that... Oh shit, I think this actually is the town I escaped from.

Oh well, there goes my reputation.

The steel handcuffs (or hoofcuffs, rather) they had put on me were loose enough for me to easily slip through and escape, but the fact that the carriage was flying miles high in the air, with several armed and winged guardsmen flying beside, behind, and in front, heavily discouraged me. I steeled myself, putting on a neutral face, adding just a little bit of mysterious stranger to my looks by keeping my head down. I heard the glorified flying cage set down, the sound of landing pegasi a welcome relief compared to the boring trip. I made sure I was ready, then watched as a pegasus opened the door.

"Look alive, monkey, you've got visitors." The guard opening the door said, bigotry coming off him in waves. I was tempted to break his muzzle to knock him down a peg or two, but I decided to save that for later, when I had some weapons, a murder basement, and an alibi.

I looked at the group with indifference, a kind of resignment on my face. This made the two most hostile members of the sextet calm down slightly, a blue pegasus that I swore I knew from somewhere and an orange country bumpkin, complete with brown stetson and apple cutiemark.

The other members, an obvious fashionista, a shy cream pegasus that reminded me of.. Nevermind, anyway, back to what I was saying. Along with those two, there was a familiar pink demon and a very familiar purple alicorn. I calmed my nerves with a barely noticeable intake of air.

The purple one immediately approached. I fired up my databank of knowledge, ready to appease the bookworm with what I knew. A little purple lizard also took out a big stack on parchment, then readied a quill.

"What is your name and who are you?" She asked, oddly calm.

I paused for a moment, appearing as if I was thinking. "...My name is Asrael and I don't feel comfortable with telling you anything about my past. I am twenty six years old. I am from a planet called Earth." I stated, as if a pre-recorded message.

"Why?" She asked. It was a simple enough question, but I felt angry. This pony dared to try and understand what it is like to lose what was basically to me like a daughter? I almost did something I regretted. A few visibly shrunk, others glared.

The blue one got up in my face and started getting mad. "Listen here! You don't fucking threaten my friends, or else I fucking flatten you, got that, shit-for-brains?!"

She floated there, angry, going 'huh?' every second I didn't answer. Eventually, she struck me. I slowly returned to my stand position, then slowly began advancing, opening my mouth. "Do you have someone who is akin to a son or daughter to you, miss tough girl?"

"...Yes." She looked confused.

"How do you think it would feel if that someone suddenly... stopped breathing? No matter how much you tried, they would not come back. How would that effect you? How about if, for example, at the same time you lost that person, you also lost your wings? Your freedom, your ability to go explore the world freely, no one to stop you? That's what I live through every day, a living fucking hell, all because I made one little mistake that cost me way more than I ever wanted to lose." I finished, I was seething, my face pressed into her personal space, cowering beneath me like a sniveling little shit. I breathed. "I don't want to speak to any of you anymore today. Take me to my cell." I said, calmly.

They all looked at me like I was a pitiable little rat, with its tail caught in a trap. I repeated my statement several times before they finally heeded my words, and began leading me somewhere.

We eventually came upon a giant crystal castle, in which the purple alicorn lived. She showed me to a small room on the top floor with barred windows, a bed with silk sheets, a nice carpet, a bathroom complete with hot tub, toiletries, shower, and of course a sink. Additionally, the room had a walk-in closet. She told me that I was allowed to only leave my room with guards escorting me, and that most of my possessions that were not harmful were returned to me. I merely flopped on the bed after she left and slept.

I awoke the next morning to a bird chirping outside my window. I slowly rose from bed, slipping on a pair of socks to protect my feet from the cold floor.

I yawned, then stood up. I trudged into the bathroom to begin preparing for the day. I opened the bottom cabinet of the sink, finding enough rolls of gauze in there to make a manticore into a mummy. I removed my bandages, then took a cold shower. While in the shower, I began contemplating my plan of escape. What, you didn't expect that? I'll also be hiding this journal much better, so no one can read it. After I'd dried off, I covered my body in bandages again. That done, I took out a toothbrush that was provided for me and cleaned my teeth.

I began humming a tune as I walked to the kitchen, finding it empty. I decided to prepare some food for my warden and her pet, hoping to get in their good graces, as a small apology for yesterday as well. I made the only kind of waffles I knew how, the kind they make at Waffle House. Yes, as a teenager I worked two shifts a day to provide for me and mine. I also picked up some skills that were quite useful. Other than creating delicious waffles, I'm surprisingly good with children, and I can take care of many animals at a time.

While these skills weren't very practical in a survival sense, I could use these skills to make some money. I had about five hundred bits in reserve, in my personal safe. However, that was going to pay for my tools when I can convince Sparky to let me buy some hardware. I still have not used that generator much.

A sleepy purple alicorn came from around the corner, followed by a purple lizard who had his face in a comic book. I kept a neutral tone when I said, "Morning. I have made some breakfast for you."

"Looks really good. Where'd you learn to cook like this?" Asked the purple lizard, which I later learned was a baby dragon named Spike.

"Used to work many shifts at different places. Learned how to make this from my time at a restaurant called Waffle House." I said, sitting down with my syrup and butter drenched waffles, which also had whip and a cherry on top. I dug in, nodding every so often as they told me about what they had planned for today.

"...First we'll be meeting Applejack and Fluttershy, as they live on the outskirts of town. Not sure how well you're going to do with the second trip, but we'll see. Then, we'll be seeing Rarity. She'll probably want to make you some clothes." That gave me an idea. "Then, Pinkie Pie will want to throw you a party. You've already met Rainbow Dash, and you probably don't want to meet her again." She finished.

"I'll go grab some things, then we can head out." As I left the kitchen, the guard I hadn't noticed following me from my room fell in step behind me. I decided that it would do well to be able to incapacitate someone, so I was already compiling a list of topics to find books about. Pony pressure points, geography, history, spell books, architecture (to give me an idea of some of the weak points of these buildings), and of course an electrician manual, or whatever they had on that subject.

Maybe there were other things to consider. What if I played nice with the ponies and lived my life out here? There was nothing to stop me from doing that, but I'd rather have a small home out in the countryside where I can waste away. Maybe I can find purpose here, do something to help others. I knew a lot about computers and electricity, maybe I could use my advanced knowledge to create computers and sell them on the market?

My mind snapped back to the present, as I bumped into my door. The guard behind me slightly snickered, but I ignored him. He'd get his in time. As I entered my room, I pondered the possibility of adopting. I was good with children, perhaps I could raise an intelligent orphan to be my assistant, and companion. No, they would remind me too much of my little sister. I retrieved fifty bits from my bag, a meager sum but all I had that wasn't in reserve. I also took time to grab a crude, wood-bound book that had papers shoved between almost every two pages. This book held many of my ideas. Then, I grabbed three spools of some very special silk. I had recovered little of it, but with this much I could make some serious protection gear.

This spider silk was known as Starsilk, a very rare material only found in dens of the massive beasts known as Moonstalkers. It is named this way because the silk is black, but when the Moonstalkers secrete venom, it is yellow and gets on the silk, making it appear as if a starry night sky. I had recovered this for one purpose; this silk was bulletproof, and almost no one knew its full capabilities. It was also stab proof. I could only thank myself for remembering to bring this stuff along when I left my hideout, all those months ago.

After preparing, I unloaded my bag and began putting things into cabinets and dressers and such. This done, I left the room, the guard tailing behind. I had slung one of my bags over my shoulder, it had the Starsilk and a few other materials inside it. If I was getting a wardrobe, I was going to make sure it would be protective, dark-colored, and stylish. I was already fully prepared to explain out my ideas, but I remembered we were heading to a farm to meet a mare named Applejack.

At Applejack's home, Sweet Apple Acres, I could reasonably sum up this trip as, "Apples."

I decided not to question why they only farmed apples, and watched as the orange mare in question came up to us, fanning herself with her hat. She replaced it on her head, then began speaking, "Howdy, Twilight, Asrael, what can ah do fer ya'll?"

I answered her question, "Miss Sparkle here has brought me here to learn about this rather impressive farm. Tell me, how do you manage to harvest all these trees? From what I've heard, you don't employ any farmhands." Twilight was silently impressed that I had so easily taken control of the conversation. Speaking fancy made people think you as a smart person, which is why I made a point to try and flatter when I can.

"Well, here at Sweet Apple Acres, we all work hard daily ta get the harvest in 'fore winter comes 'round. Mah sister, Applebloom, helps us with our harvest by bringing all tha apples we collect to tha barn, while Mac 'n I take care of bucking the apples off tha trees." Made sense. She then went into explanation about herself, her family, and her farm's history. I wrote it down somewhere, but I'm sure it isn't too important.

Most of the visits went well. I got the fashion horse to make me some nice, simple clothes. I got Fluttershy to at least speak to me, thanks to my skill with animals. Pink horse ran off without a word. Then, finally we got to the end of this list. Rainbow Dash was optional, but I was determined to at least speak to her. We met on neutral ground, at Twilight's castle.

"I'm really sorry for yesterday," She began, scratching the back of her neck with a hoof nervously. "I was really out of line. I can't imagine how it would feel if I could never see Scoots again..." I surprised her by apologizing as well. I learned that she was a veteran, one of the only pegasi capable of reaching mach 2 and breaking the sound barrier. She had fought in several minor border scrabbles, as she was part of an elite flying team known as the Wonderbolts. She had the scars to prove it, too.

As she left, I turned to Twilight, "That went better than expected." She agreed.

I made some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. It was good.

Finally, the end of the day. I was satisfied that most of the clothes I asked for were delivered, along with the Starsilk vest. It was black, and had the requested measurements. It even had a sheathe on the shoulder for a combat knife, like I asked. I pulled on the next article of clothing, which was a hoodie. It was grey, with white accents. The other pieces of clothing were jackets, gloves, socks, and a pair of shoes. I now had a respectable wardrobe. This was good, as I could really use some protection with the amount of enemies I would more than likely make by still being alive.

The last thing for today was a party. It was nice, there were many ponies there. Pinkie was rather hyperactive. It was all great and stuff, but I had no time for parties. I came up here and began planning out several escape plans, just in case. Eventually, I will probably fall asleep. I'm really tired, despite the loudness downstairs.