Guitar's Hero

Chapters

Lost Home
Meeting An Ally, A Mysterious Force And A Hothead
Meeting Royalty

Lost Home

I was glad I was at Comic-Con, it was relaxing after the hectic morning I'd had getting here on time. Even if my cousin was worrying about his costume again. It was a good costume, you didn't see many people going as a zombie Royal Guard. "I know...but it's not too...out there is it? I mean, 'Hey, I'm English, I'm going to make a Royal Guard costume!'"

I scoffed, "They have a problem, they can go fuck themselves. Besides, it's not that noticeable." I patted his arm, "Now come now, let's get a look around, I want to get a few things before the general entry guys get in."

As my cousin looked around I made sure to have a quick, thorough look around at the stalls. “Hey." My cousin was looking concerned, "Feeling better?"

I flashed a grin at Tommy, "Yeah, thanks for this, buddy."

"No worries, come on, let's find a stall you like." He said, surging forwards, still in his zombie walk. He sure managed to move at a normal speed while keeping a zombie look, wonder how long that took to master?

It took a few minutes, and a few stops for people to take some pictures with Tommy, which boosted his confidence a bit, before we came across a stall that others seemed to give a wide berth. Odd. As we got closer I realised I recognised the outfit the stall owner was wearing. The Resident Evil 4 Merchant. I gave a shrug and guided us over to him.

"Ah, some loyal customers at last!" He cried, actually sounding passable for the Merchant. "I was starting to think that it was futile coming here."

I frowned, "Wait, are you saying no one has approached you?" It was nearly ten, even the most empty and useless stand had definitely had at least one customer!

"Unfortunately. It seems the rumours of convention goers disappearing, sometimes after visiting a stall owner dressed as the Resident Evil 4 Merchant." His eyes lit up, "But what can I do for you and your undead comrade?"

I smiled, "Just looking around." I saw that his stall was filled to the brim with replicas. Like, professional quality replicas. "Damn, this stuff is cool!" I grinned. What? I was a sucker for a good game replicas!

"Thank you kindly, stranger. Please, browse to your heart's content."

Tommy picked up some model gun and a blood soaked Royal Guard coat, something better than the quickly made things he had. I, in the meantime, browsed and found several things I recognised; Pyramid Head's Great Knife, Nemesis' rocket launcher, Jack Of Blade's mask, some weapons from RWBY, Doomguy's helmet, a sawn off shotgun and chainsaw, the Terror Mask, just to name a handful. I sighed, while nice, I didn't feel like buying any of them. It was then I spotted something off to the side.

I grinned at I picked up the Guitar Hero guitar. A dark red guitar with the colour fading at the edges. "Hey, how much for this?" I asked as Tommy finished paying.

"Hm? Just that? Really? Nothing else caught your eye?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head, "Nah, I'm good. Don't get me wrong, this stuff is amazing, but..." I gave a embarrassed chuckle as I rubbed the back of my head, "I, uh, don't really have enough room for some of this stuff." Plus I needed to replace my own controller after my little brother, the little shit that he is, broke mine after losing a song.

"Heh, interesting. Have it for free." He said, chuckling.

I blinked, "What? Really?"

"Sure, be sure to put it to good use, after all, just normal music isn't going to help you." Okay, that...was ominous as fuck.

"Are...are you high right now?" I asked, taking a step back. "Come on, Tommy, let's look elsewhere."

"Ugh, Joel? I...don't feel good." Tommy said, drawing my attention. As I looked over I saw him clutching his head. A second later he just vanished. No sound, no flash of light, no smoke. One moment he was there, the next he was gone, like he'd just blinked out of existence.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled. I rounded on the merchant, I grabbed the covering across his face and yanked it down, "What the hell happened to him?!"

He grinned, "Oh, not much. He just fell victim to a rumour."

I blinked and it fell into place. The disappearing convention goers. I looked at the guitar controller in my hand. "Ah, shit." I cursed before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I came to my head was aching. "What the fuuuuck...?" I groaned. I sat up, gripping my head in between my hands. "The hell happened?" I looked up and saw trees. What? "What the fuck?" I muttered, wiping drool off my mouth. Where the fuck was I? Some sort of park or something? How the absolute fuck did I get here?! Where was here?!

I took a few deep breaths. Like Tommy always said, don't let life's twists get to your head, keep a level head and thing's'll work out fine. Wait... The memories of what had happened came flooding back. "Tommy!" I yelled, looking around frantically. Where was he?! Was he okay?! I needed to find him! "Tommy?! TOMMY!" I slapped myself across the face. Not...not the time. Wherever he was, I could find him. If he was in this place too he'd be fine, he was always the survivor type. I was certain that if I could survive then he could.

Feeling calmer I took another look around to try and find a path. I didn't find one but I did find the controller I'd gotten from that prick that must've drugged me stuck in a bush. I pulled it out and looked it over. Well, it was intact, at least, finally a bit of good luck. I pushed a few buttons to make sure they worked, to my surprise they did, guess it wasn't a total fuck up. I absentmindedly flicked the strum bar whilst holding down a button and jumped out of my skin as a loud power cord echoed out through the trees, the controller falling to the ground.

As I calmed my heart I called out, "Hello?" With hopes that whoever was playing music would hear me. Nothing. Silence. I frowned, odd, why would someone randomly just play a single power cord and leave it at that? And from that close, I swear it was like they were right next...to me.

I looked down at the controller, "No fucking way." I muttered. Cautiously I picked the controller back up and held down a button before flicking the strum bar. A loud power cord rocked through the trees again, but this time I was prepared for it. I stared down at the controller in my hands in awe before using the first three buttons and strummed, playing a pretty sweet riff, if I do say so myself. I stopped playing and looked down at my guitar, grinning, "No fucking way!" I laughed.

I threw the guitar's straps around my neck and decided it was probably best to find my way out of this green jungle and back to my well known concrete one. I chose a direction and began walking. It only took me about ten minutes to find the last line of the trees. I sighed in relief that I was finally free of the place and back in...I blinked, where was the noise of cars? I broke out of through the last line of foliage and instead of finding a road there was just a dirt path leading to a village. But there were no roads, no phone lines, no sound of engines, nothing. I made my way down, thinking that maybe I could borrow someone's mobile phone, I mean, who didn't have a mobile these days?

As I walked I noticed there were a lot of small horses around, their fur weird, bright colours. Maybe a local way to tell which horse belongs to who? I couldn't think of any other reason. I mean, I guess they could be pets, and if people would dye a dog's fur pink then I doubt a horse would stop some of them. The sight of odd emblems on the horses...uh...butts only confirmed the eccentric pet owner theory. I stopped and took a look around the place, not a single person was around. Maybe they were all eating? I mean, it could be lunch for all I knew. The horses were just staring at me, I guess they weren't used to strangers or something.

"Uh...excuse me?" A voice said right next to me.

I jumped and almost fell over, having to spin my arms to regain my balance. Once I had both feet firmly planted on the ground I looked around for the source of the voice. No one in sight. Again. Just another horse. Wait...were their eyes always that large. And expressive? Selective breeding maybe? "Who's there?" I said loudly, wanting to get their attention, but no wanting to spook the horses.

"Um...I'm right here."

I turned to the source of the voice and looked at the purple horse stood next to me. "What?" Did...why did it have a horn?

"Hi!" It...spoke. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, what's yours?"

I looked around at the small horses surrounding me. They were talking. Talking! Where was Tommy?! Oh, god, where the fuck was I?! WHAT WAS GOING ON?!

My mouth finally caught up to what I was seeing and, quite appropriately, I squeaked, "What the fuck?"

Meeting An Ally, A Mysterious Force And A Hothead

I jumped away from the mutant horses, “Ah! Mutant horse! Mutant horse! Stay away from me!” I squeaked. “Don’t eat me! I taste all rubbery and like sprouts! You don’t want to taste sprouts, do you?!” I threw my arms in front of my face to protect myself.

The purple horse, er...unicorn, did it say it’s name was Twilight? It just stared at me, “Er...we don’t eat meat. And even if we did we wouldn’t eat a sapient being.”

I blinked, slowly lowering my arms, “...In other words I’m just making an idiot out of myself?”

“No, no, most humans are shocked and scared when they turn up. You’re fine.” She said, smiling reassuringly.

“What do you mean, most humans?” My eyes widened as I understood, “You kidnapped me didn’t you?! A-and I’m not the first am I?!” I screamed, leaping away from her.

“You need to calm down and think rationally!” She shouted as she waved the other mutant horses to back off. Yes, stay away from the cowardly...uh, dangerously heroic human!

“Rationality is for smart people!” I screamed. I blinked, “Wait…”

“Just...hold on.” She pulled a scroll out of a bag at her side. “Step 1: Greet human.” She looked up at me. “Check. Step 2: Give human room to flail and shout if they become violent or panicked.” She took a step back. “Check.”

“What...what are you doing?” I asked. Was she going through a checklist?

“Step 3: Once the human is sufficiently calm explain that, barring illegal summoning or natural dimensional rifts, that you, nor any other being in this realm is the cause of their…’displacement’.” She looked up at me and opened her mouth.

“I...I can hear you reading that, you know.” I said, raising an eyebrow.

She coughed and grinned sheepishly, “Oh...sorry. I just sort of got carried away.” She paused, “Do you want to read it yourself, or…?”

I shook my head and looked around cautiously, “No, you’re nice to listen to.”

She blushed slightly before pulling the scroll up to her face. “Check. Step 4: Offer to have the human examined to potentially discover a way to send them back to their home if they were not ‘displaced’.” She looked up, “Do you want to-“

“Yes!” I all but shouted. I felt guilty as she winced at the volume, “Uh, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Check. Step 5: Discover if they have any special abilities, changed forms or species, feel a pull to be more evil or good and if they still go by their original name or a new one.”

I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I...take it you’re the same as you were before you arrived here? Most humans end up turned into whatever costumes they were wearing if they arrive from a convention.”

“I...no, I’m the same as…” My eyes widened as I realised what that meant. “TOMMY! What about Tommy?! What’ll happen to him?!” I grabbed her and began shaking her, “What’s going to happen to him?!” He couldn’t become a mindless zombie! He...he couldn’t! He was the strong one! He was amazing! He couldn’t just be reduced to some mindless husk!

“Hey! Knock it off!” A new voice yelled. I looked up just in time to dive to the floor to avoid a blue blur. I pulled myself out of the dirt and looked at what had almost hit me. A blue mutant horse with rainbow hair hovered in the air, glaring at me. “I don’t know what your problem is but I’m not letting you hurt my friend!”

“Rainbow! Stop it!” Twilight shouted.

I started backing away from the raging horse mutant, “Leave me alone!” I shouted as she dive bombed me.

There was a flash above my head and a golden cross and chain fell into my hand and, as the blue mutant crashed into the ground next to me, words started being spoken inside my head.

"Hey, the name's Carlos, you need help from a Saint or, uh, just someone to talk shit out with, then just give me a call. But I won't be helping you go around killing innocents for no reason."

"Someone help me." I squeaked.

There was a small flash of gold and a guy was stood in front of me. My eyes widened as I realised he was human. He was wearing the same chain and cross that had dropped into my hand along with a purple beanie, white vest and purple pants. He looked...familiar somehow.

He flashed me a smile, “Eh, how’s it going?” He has a Latino accent. Of course, like this day wasn’t strange enough, the man who appeared out of thin air had a...I wish I was a heavy drinker.

“Help me…” I whimpered.

He glared at the crowd before reaching into the back of his pants and pulling out a handgun. My eyes widened as he yelled, "Back the fuck up!" When they scattered away he just raised an eyebrow, “Huh. You guys actually know what a gun is then? That’s new.”

That’s when it clicked. The voice in my head, his voice, had said his name was Carlos. That he was a Saint. And he had no problems waving a gun about. It was impossible but...he was… “You’re not real.”

He turned to me and raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“You’re a...you’re just a game character! You can’t be real!” I shot out in a panic.

“Oh. Right, that.” He looked over at the violent mutant, “You stay over there and I won’t put a bullet in your skull, got it?” He turned back to me, “Yeah, Carlos Mendoza is a game character. I was cosplaying him, bought some stuff from a merchant guy and woke up in my very own Equestria. Just like you.” He looked me up and down, “Though I don’t recognise what you’re meant to be.”

“I didn’t dress up, I mean, I bought a controller, I...I don’t…!” I felt faint.

He rested his hands on my shoulders, “Calm down, you won’t do anyone any favours if you faint.” He raised an eyebrow, "Look, how long have you been in this world? A few weeks? A few days?"

"About an hour...Wait, what do you mean 'this world'?!" I yelled, I couldn’t be in another...Well...it made sense and Twilight said as much, but...I had to be dreaming or...drugged or...something!

He raised an eyebrow, "You have talking ponies out there. You really think this is Earth?"

"M...Maybe I'm just dreaming? And...and that wackjob drugged me and this is some hallucination!"

"Do you think a hallucination would be this consistent? Would you be able to hold a conversation? No, sorry, man, but this is real."

"No! No, it can't...Please..." I whispered, "Let me go back!"

He sighed and rubbed my shoulder, "I...I'm sorry. It's what we all want. Home. But...we can't. I've never found a way, nor has one of my pals, and he's lived for over ten thousand years. Look, maybe you'll be the one to discover the secret but...just try and live for today. Make a new life. Just...keep your head up and try for a smile. Plans can come later, besides, you'll always have a friend in me."

I...had to keep hope. I had to find Tommy! One way or another!

“Besides with all the magic of this world and adjusting to the fact anything that happens naturally is deemed unnatural, you’llhave your hands full for now.”

A new world, new physics...magic... I heaved, "I...I need air!" I cried, running away, back into the forest.

I ran and ran, even as people shouted for me to stop, I had to get away! I needed to be alone! I needed Tommy! After a good few minutes I slowed to a walk and panted. I was so out of shape it wasn’t funny. I walked aimlessly for about ten minutes before I was spooked by a wolf howling that sent me off running towards an old decrepit castle.

As I sank to my knees, panting, in one of the ruined rooms I heard someone laughing. I looked up in time to see purple mist seep out of the floor and rise in front of me and gather until a form burst out of it. A tall mutant horse just taller than I was with a midnight black coat, both horn and wings, some really metal looking blueish eyes with catlike pupils and some kind of armour.

She continued laughing, showing a mouth full of fangs, “Another fool comes to these ruins. In seek of treasure, adventure or shelter? Who is to say? I certainly don’t care, but I don’t care what my food thinks!”

She...seemed to be trying too hard. I watched as she continued to snarl and try and scare me. "Are...you actually going to do anything else?" I asked.

"Go! Shoo! Run away, be scared, do something!" I just blinked. "Well, this is just great, stuck here with a...what are you anyway?" She grumbled, shaking her head.

"I am so confused right now." I muttered. "If you want me gone why aren't you pushing me out?"

"I am the dreaded Nightmare Moon!" She boomed, "Begone!"

"Hi, Nightmare, I'm Joel." I said absentmindedly.

She practically fell to the floor, "Why aren't you scared of me?!"

I shrugged, "I...uh, I'm kind of all out of panic right now." She seemed sort of put out by that. "Um, if you want we could try again later?"

"No, no. It won't have the same feel to it.”

"Sorry." I lowered my head. “Do...do you want me to pretend?” I asked, trying to make her feel better.

“No, it won’t have the same joy to it.”

I felt slightly guilty, “Sorry. So...um, why are you here?”

She raised an eyebrow, “You mean you don’t know the tale?” She flicked her mist like hair over her back, “Interesting.” She seemed much more mellow than when she first appeared, though that might have something to do with the fact I wasn’t scared by her.

“Uh, well, let’s just say I’m from...a long way away. And I don’t know if I can ever make it back.” I admitted.

“I see.” That was all she said for a while. I began to toy with my guitar, not really wanting to think of what might have happened to Tommy. "You...don't seem satisfied." She said suddenly.

"I...I need to find my cousin. He's missing. He's as close as a brother to me. I don't suppose you know what that's like? Losing a sibling to something you can't even fight against?"

She went silent.

I coughed, "Uh...sorry if I touched a nerve." Trying to break the silence I began playing the guitar again. I strummed a few cords before sighing, playing random bits of music was nice and all, but I wanted to play a proper song. Man, I would’ve loved to play something like Cherry Bomb or What Do I Get again.

Suddenly something black at the bottom of my sight popped up. I blinked and glanced down, there was a highway there, complete with a rock meter. As in from the games I’d played. It was semi-transparent and didn’t interfere with me seeing anything else, but I could clearly see it.

I just stared for a second before the first few notes started along. Out of instinct I hit down the first notes that came my way and I almost dropped the guitar in shock when music started to play around us, and not just guitar music, but a full band playing along with the song I was playing, including a singer.

When the song finished I looked up and saw Nightmare just staring at me.

“Er, sorry. I...didn’t expect that. Do you...I’ll stop.” I muttered, rubbing the back of my head.

“No! Play more! I want to hear another!” She all but shouted in a panic, her eyes filled with joy.

“Uh...okay. How...how about…” I thought of a song she might enjoy, “This?” I thought about wanting to play the song and the highway appeared in front of me again.

I pretty much aced the song. I hit most of the notes. I did well enough to hear the song properly. The notes were apparently about expert difficulty, and I had little experience with that, but it was passable.

As soon as I finished Nightmare was grinning and urged me to, “Play another!”

I shook my wrist, “Yeah, no problem! Just give a minute to rest my wrist.”

“That music, what do you call it?” She asked energetically.

“In general? Rock. And it is fucking glorious!” I paused as I thought I heard voices. “Do you hear that?”

“Someone’s coming. A group.” She frowned, looking like she was contemplating something. “You mustn’t mention me to any of them, it would endanger me.”

I nodded without hesitation, “Sure, okay.”

She stared at me, “Just like that? No questions, no demands, not even a moment to think it over?”

I shrugged, “Hey, you like rock music, you can’t be all bad.”

As the voices grew closer Nightmare let out a groan, "We'll continue this later." She said before she turned into a purple mist and flew into my mouth.

I started coughing and hacking, why did she fly into there?! I just about waved away mist remaining mist when Carlos walked in. When he saw me his eyes widened for a few seconds before shaking his head and muttering to himself. “He’s in here!” He shouted back to the doorway. He walked up to me and offered me a smile, “You calmed down now?”

“Y...yeah. I just freaked out. Sorry. It was...just too much.” I sighed, “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged, “Don’t worry, man. We all freak out, I remember what I first woke up. At least you didn’t throw a brick at Twilight.”

“What’s that about a brick?” Twilight asked as she and the violent, blue mutant entered the room.

I hid behind Carlos before she attacked me again. “Don’t let her hurt me!” I squeaked.

The blue mutant winced, “Uh, yeah, look about that...I didn’t know you were freaking out, I thought you were just another dangerous human.” She rubbed the back of her head, “So I’m sorry, alright?”

I hesitated before nodding, walking out and offering her my fist, “Alright. I...I get that. Let’s start fresh. I’m Joel.”

She bumped my fist, “Rainbow Dash.”

I scratched my head, “So, uh, how’d you guys find me?”

“There was music playing, we thought it might be coming from you.” Twilight explained. “But...there aren’t any instruments here, other than that plastic thing you have there.”

I just smirked, “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” I played a few notes. “I can play the music...so long as I can hit the notes.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Carlos shouted, “Are you telling me that you can play...like a solo guy could in the games?!”

“Hell yeah.” I laughed.

“Wait!” Twilight cut in. “You mean...you have abilities you didn’t before?”

Oh, yeah, that was part of her list wasn’t it? “I can play songs on this guitar controller. That’s...pretty much it.” I shrugged, “Pretty useless, except for fun.”

She sighed, “Well...at least you seem nice.” She flashed me a smile, “Come on, let’s get back to Ponyville.”

I stared at her, “Ponyville?”

“Yeah, that’s the name of the town. Pretty shit, huh?” Carlos grinned. “You two go on ahead, me and the kid need to talk, human to human.”

Twilight and Rainbow exchanges looks before nodding and leaving us alone. “So...what’s up?” I asked.

“You were coughing pretty bad when I got here.” He said with a frown.

"I'm fine." I said, waving him off, "Just a bit of dust in this place."

Carlos raised an eyebrow, "You do realise you had purple mist seeping out your eyes when I got here, right?"

I blinked, "Uh...um...I have a medical condition...?"

Carlos sighed, "You know what? Fuck it. Fine." He shook his head, “You’re just lucky that those two didn’t see it, they tend to be jumpy around that sort of stuff. If they’re like the other versions of them at least.”

I looked down at the floor, “Sorry.”

“Ah, forget it! So what was with the freak out? A friend of yours lost somewhere?”

“My cousin. He’s like a brother to me. He was dressed as a zombie when he bought something from that merchant and disappeared. I just...I don’t know if he’s here or if he even still has his mind!” I sobbed, burying my head in my hands

I felt Carlos rubbing my back, “Hey, relax. I have friends out there who were dressed as mindless beasts, even one who’s a Licker. You know, from Resident Evil? She still has her mind. It...makes it hard to communicate, but she’s still human where it counts, I’m sure your cousin’s the same, I’ve never come across a truly mindless Displaced, that’s what we’re calling ourselves.” He hesitated, “Well, there is that one guy, but he did it to himself on purpose. He’s a hell of a freak.”

“But...could he be here?” I asked hopefully.

“You said he disappeared before you, right?”

I nodded, “Yeah, why?”

He sighed, “In my experience, Displaced who turn up in the same world are transported there together.”

I dropped my head, “So...he’s really gone.”

"Well, he's probably out there somewhere. In one of the many versions of Equestria in the multiverse. You'll just need to find his token, or him yours, and you can summon each other. But...I wouldn't really bother. The chances are you'll never find him."

I looked up at him and smiled, "I'll find him."

"Kid, the chance is astronomically low!"

"I'll find him. No question about it." It was like I always said, you had to have hope.

He smirked, “Alright. You know my opinion on it. I do hope you’re right, though. I could do with hearing some happy endings about us guys.” He draped his arm around me, “Now, before I go, how about I teach you how to make a token?”

Author's Note

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to become a story flooded with crossovers, it will be open to crossovers after the next chapter, but I won’t be just throwing any together. Mostly it’ll be my own characters that I can use regularly, rather than throw away one time characters.

I’ve seen too many links broken in my time, so here’s the list of songs that appeared in this chapter. And I’m not going to do the whole ‘start song here and end here’ I find it annoying myself, so if during the story a song is stopped halfway in or is interrupted it’ll just say ‘part way into/halfway through/as I was getting into it’ then do an interruption.

All songs will be the uncensored versions. But if you prefer the censored versions then go ahead with them, it’s all about personal preference.

Songs in order

What Do I Get - Buzzcocks

No More Mr. Nice Guy - Alice Cooper

Meeting Royalty

I looked around the black landscape I found myself in, it was all shifting shadows and bubbling darkness. Slowly the shadows around me began morphing into Twilight’s library, but just the floor, the walls, shelves and ceiling were just more darkness.

I frowned and was about to move when Carlos emerged from the shadows with a smile. “So, kiddo, to make a token you first need something that you can say without a single doubt is yours.”

I nodded, “Okay…” I patted through my pockets before pulling out my keys and the bunch of keyrings I had on them, mostly band related stuff, but there were gaming things too. I thought for a second before pulling off a keyring with a guitar pick on in with a stylised ‘GH’ on it.

“Right. Now all you have to do is speak the words, the message you want to send out and it’ll go. Nothing else to it. Just when you’re done, think about how this is your token, no one else’s.”

I hesitated, “So...I can do that at any time?”

He smiled, “Yeah, getting cold feet, huh? I was the same. You don’t have to do it now, but you know how now.”

“Yeah, I...just want to settle first. Sorry.”

“Stop apologising for everything. It’s no problem, it’s probably a good idea.” He shrugged, anyway, I’m off, you need me again, just call. See you, kiddo!” With that he dissolved into shadows and disappeared.

I shook my head as Twilight’s library disappeared. That was last night. Twilight offered me a bed until I got my own place...I went to bed and...I was here. I frowned, “Am I still asleep?”

“Of course you are.” Nightmare’s voice came from nowhere a moment before she materialised in front of me. “And your mind is nothing compared to those I’ve seen before.”

I shrugged, “I’m nothing special.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Indeed? Then any of your species would just let a bodiless spirit inhabit them with absolutely no argument?”

“We-well...no. But I’m not unique or anything, there are better people than me out there!”

“Yet it was you who kept silent, even when we never agreed on this. Not them, but you.” She poked me in the chest.

“Yeah...well...I...I just happened to be there.” I said honestly.

She growled and threw her front hooves up, “Just take the compliment! You are annoyingly nice.”

I winced, “I’m...not nice. I just have more important things to worry about than how to piss people off.”

“Yes. Your brother.” I opened my mouth to correct her, but she cut back in before I could, “He may not be your brother by blood, human, but there are more important things than blood, are there not?”

I frowned, “That sounds familiar.”

She snorted, “As it should. Your father said it all the time.”

That was true, it was as close as he got to a catchphrase. I frowned, “Wait, how do you know that?”

She scoffed, “Pitiful. We’re inside your mind and you still can’t figure it out?”

“Hey! Why don’t you just tell me then?!” I yelled.

She glared at me, “Because if the answers are just given to you then you will never learn for yourself.”

“I thought I’d finished school.” I muttered glumly.

She sneered at me, “Life is a learning experience, either you learn fast or you die. And trust me, if you don’t learn fast you will die.”

“Wait, what?!” I yelped, “Why am I going to die?!”

She sighed and shook her head, “You’ll learn of it when you awake just ask about the other humans. Do not stop pressing.” The world around us shook and shimmered, light leaking in as cracks appeared in the darkness. “I’ll speak to you later.”

"Wake up!"

I opened an eye and saw Twilight giving me an annoyed look. "...Later." I yawned and pulled the covers over my head.

The covers suddenly flew off my face, "It's one in the afternoon!" She yelled.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes, "Listen...wake me at three." I pulled the covers back over my face and tried to get to sleep again. I smirked as I heard her let out a scream and walk off. Right as I was reaching that glorious edge of sleep I was suddenly soaking wet and freezing cold. I shot out of bed and saw Twilight with an empty bucket. I locked eyes with her, "Of course, you realise this means war."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, get over it. You're lucky I let you sleep in. I thought you'd need it after last night."

I blinked, "Sleep in? It's only one! You got me up early!"

She just stared at me. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

I gave a relaxed grin, “Nah, you got the lazy cousin, I’m afraid. You want the action seeking, healthy, amazing guy? Sorry, that’s Tommy, I’m just...lazy, music loving, Joel.”

“You put yourself down a lot, don’t you?”

“Go jerk off your lizard slave.” I shot back without thinking.

Her jaw dropped, “W...what?!”

My brain finally caught up with what I’d just said. “Uhhh...I non understando word good, yes?”

She gave me a deadpan glare, “You told me yesterday that it was strange we spoke the same language!”

I took a deep breath, realised I was naked, stood right in front of her, realised my groin was more or less eye level with her and grinned, “Hey, Twilight.”

“What?!” She snapped.

“Being yelled at is my fetish.”

Her eyes widened and she started looking down before bolting from the room. Dick move? Literally and yes. Did she deserve it? Probably not. Funny? Fuck yes!

As I giggled to myself I got dressed. “Now that was funny.”

‘Indeed. It was well worth all of this just to see that.’ A voice said from nowhere.

I looked around the room Twilight had let me borrow. There was just enough room for the bed and a wardrobe. There was nowhere anyone else could be. But...the voice was familiar. “Nightmare?”

‘So you can learn. Well done. Do you want a cookie for being such a good boy?’ She mocked.

“How are you…? Are you speaking into my mind? Or can anyone hear you?”

‘Finally. You’re asking questions. Yes, I’m speaking into your mind. Keep asking questions and you may yet survive.’

I sighed. “Right. So...you know what my dad used to say. Can you...I don’t know, go through my memories or something?”

She burst out laughing, ‘You figured it out! Granted, it wasn’t exactly difficult.’

I waited for another response but she went quiet. “Perfect.” I groaned, wandering out of the spare room and into the bathroom. After locking the door I eyed the small shower, but it wasn’t big enough to properly use. I raised an arm and sniffed my armpit, eh, I can go another day before I had to resort to a sink and a damp cloth.

I moved over to the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror that hung above the sink. I pulled my shirt off and looked myself over in the mirror before pinching the...reasonably small roll of fat around my gut.

'You're chubby.'

I let out a small yelp and flailed my arms about until my heart returned to its normal rhythm. "Don't do that!"

The purple mist phased out of my gut and transformed into Nightmare's real form, but she definitely wasn’t physical, she was mostly transparent and the bottoms of her legs were mist. "Get used to it." She grinned. "Why are you so fat? Are you from a rich family? A noble?"

I snorted, "Rich...uh...not really? I mean, it's all relative. But I guess we're rather well off, not too much though. And...noble? Hell no. I just...Okay, so I don't have the healthiest diet, but it's not like I'm obese!"

"Oh?" Her grin turned nasty, "I'm pretty sure you're toeing the line if your memories have anything to say about it."

"Hey!" I yelled, "Okay, it all goes to my gut! I get it! But it's not that obvious! It's not like I'm as bad as those kids you see on the news! I...I just never get around to exercising." I sighed, "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm too damn lazy to do anything!"

“Oh, shut up.” She snapped.

I blinked, “Huh?”

“If you’re that concerned about your weight then just do something about it!”

I scratched the back of my head, “Well...yeah...But it’s not exactly that easy!”

She rolled her eyes, “You are lazy. We’ll have to fix that. You’ll start exercising today, the least we can do is get that belly off you.”

“Hey!” I yelped, “You can’t just decide all this for me!”

She turned to me and snapped her fangs in my face, sending me leaping back with a squeak, “Seeing as you’re being too pathetic to keep yourself healthy then I can and am! I won’t let a host of mine be so out of shape!”

I stared at her, “Host? You mean...you’re some sort of...parasite?”

She glared at me, “Call me a parasite again and I will end you.” As I scampered backwards she just shook her head, “I am no parasite. If I still had a corporeal form I would have bonded with you, as it stands I am simply living inside you, taking your residual energy to heal.” She then added bitterly, “Not that I’ll ever have a physical body again.”

“Uh...I-” I started before she cut me off.

“Don’t even think of apologising!” She turned back to mist, “I’m too...tired to continue this now. We’ll talk later. Remember, ask questions.” She floated back into my body, thankfully not through the mouth this time.

I stood there for a moment before sighing and running a hand through my short hair, “Things are getting more and more strange.” I sighed and pulled my shirt on before heading downstairs to meet Twilight for some late lunch.

Twilight was waiting for me, wearing a frown on her face. “I hope you’re pleased with yourself.” She huffed.

I winced, feeling a little bad. “Er...Sorry. I just...get cranky when I first wake up.”

She shook her head, “Just...don’t do it again.”

I laughed, “I make no promises. I’ll probably insult you if you wake me tomorrow, just try to not take it personally, I don’t mean anything I say when I first wake up.”

“Fine. I won’t say I’m used to it, because that isn’t normal.”

I smirked, “Shows what you know about humans.” I remembered what Nightmare had told me and asked Twilight, “Speaking of, what did you mean yesterday about other humans?”

“Oh. That.” She gave a nervous smile, “I can’t really talk about it. Princess Celestia has forbidden anypony to speak newly arrived humans about it.”

“Who?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Princess Celestia. She raises the sun each day and lowers it each night. She’s been in charge of the country for over a thousand years!”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, You don’t need to sprout propaganda at me. No one raises the sun, haven’t you discovered science yet?”

“But she does! She raises the sun and Princess Luna, her sister, raises the moon!” She shook her head, “But I can’t talk about humans with you, I’m sorry.”

“Well...okay.” I gave her a smile.

‘No, not okay! What did I say?!’ Nightmare screamed.

I jolted upright in shock. Twilight gave me a look, “Are you alright?”

I laughed her off, “Yeah, I just bit my tongue a little.”

‘What did I tell you?! Do not stop pushing! Or are you just a pushover?’ Nightmare snapped.

She was right. At the very least I needed some answers. “Actually, Twilight, it’s not okay. I need answers here. How do you know of humans?”

Her eyes widened, “I told you. I can’t talk about it, Princess Celestia will let us know when she can talk.”

I stood up and stared her down, “I’m afraid that’s not good enough. I don’t want to push this after you’ve let me stay here, but I am not going to wait potentially weeks just for a straight answer! Now, either you give me some answers or I’ll go out and find someone that will tell me!”

“I…” She bit her lip nervously. “I can’t! I promised the princess!”

I closed my eyes and sighed, “I see. I...” I bit the inside of my cheek. I needed information, so sending her on a little guilt trip wouldn’t be...too bad, right? I sniffed and tears welled up in my eyes as I thought back to how I felt when I found my pet cat dead, “Why? Why won’t you help me?!” I sobbed, dropping to my knees, “I just want to know if Tommy’s okay! Why won’t you help me?! You don’t even care!”

“What?! No, no, no!” She panicked and wrapped her hooves around my shoulders. “I do care! Please, don’t cry. I…”

I buried my head into her side, “I just want to know what happened to him!” I bawled, “I just want to know if he’s okay! And you’re...I just want to know what happened!”

She was looking around frantically. “I...oh, how do I…? Okay. I...I’ll tell you a bit. Just...please stop crying.”

I lifted my head and kept my head low to hide the fact I hadn’t been crying as bad as I’d been letting on. I wiped my face and nodded, “O...okay.”

She picked up a book from her bags and opened it up and started reading to me, “Y...you see, it has been recorded that ever since the founding of Equestria, humans have appeared inside its borders approximately every hundred years. The majority of the time they’re alone, occasionally in pairs, and one time in a group of ten, every time they have had powers and abilities beyond understanding and we never know whether they seek to conquer us or to be our saviours. They have plunged us into darkness, released terrible monsters, saved us from certain annihilation and even at one point rescued us from one hundred years of darkness under the rule of the last human that had arrived. But until they show their character we never know what they are truly like, their appearances are deceiving, beautiful heroic looking humans have slaughtered innocents to sate their own bloodlust whilst monstrous looking humans have saved us from doom. But when the Invaders arrive, be they benevolent or cruel, their arrival always warns of coming dangers.”

I blinked, “Holy shit. And you didn’t come after me with flaming torches or pitchforks?”

She rolled her eyes, “We’re not that barbaric.”

I laughed, “Yeah...still, it sucks that you’ve had to deal with that shit.” I scratched my head, “So, uh, is this Celestia coming here? Or are we going to her? Or are we not bothering?”

Twilight frowned, “Princess Celestia. And she’s coming to us tomorrow. That should give us plenty of time to prepare.”

I sighed, “Okay.” It was then I noticed we were missing someone. Where’s Spike?”

“Oh, he’s with Rarity, one of my friends.” She chuckled, “He still thinks the crush he has on her isn’t obvious.”

I smirked, “I know the sort.” I felt like talking to Nightmare. “Anyway, I’m going to go think things through. If you hear me talking to myself, just ignore it.”

She gave me an odd look but didn’t say anything as I headed back upstairs to my borrowed bedroom. As soon as I sat on the bed Nightmare spoke up, ‘We need allies.’

I blinked in surprise, “What?”

‘That Carlos, he mentioned there were others like you out there. Why didn’t you create the token at that point?’

I was quiet for a while before responding, “I was scared. It was a new world, a new set of people...and what if I was summoned by someone who just wants to kill me?”

‘They would die before they swung their blade!’ She spat venomously.

“What?” I was surprised she would even care so much.

‘You are...you are mine! My host shall not be killed by some deranged lunatic! It would look bad on me.’ I couldn’t help but feel like that was an excuse. Who knows.

“So...you think I should?” I asked.

‘It would at least give us some allies, if I am discovered those are things we shall desperately need.’

I frowned, “Why? We could just explain what happened. Besides, it’s not like you’re hurting me.”

She hummed, ‘Remind me to get you a history book later. But they may try and rip me away from you.’

“And so we’d need friends to protect us.” I nodded. I pulled out my inactive token. “Alright, let’s do it.”

‘I thought you were scared?’ She asked curiously.

“I am, but I won’t let my fear lead to you getting hurt.” I said strongly.

‘Idiot.’

I held the token in my hand and tried to remember what Carlos had told me. I took a deep breath and spoke, “I am no warrior, spy or fighter. But music is my domain, rock is my power and all those who try to silence the joy of music are my enemies. Summon me, if you wish for music, to talk, or if you need desperate help. The God of Rock will answer.”

The moment I finished speaking the token was engulfed in darkness and disappeared from my hand. I guess that was it. ‘God of Rock?’ Nightmare questioned with enough mirth that I could hear her smirk.

I shrugged, “I don’t know. The words just...flowed out.”

We were interrupted by a knock on the door, “Joel?” Twilight called. “Princess Celestia’s here. Can you come down?”

I blinked, “Uh, sure. I’ll see you down there.” I thought Twilight said that Celestia was arriving tomorrow? Oh well, I won’t complain if she managed to arrive early.

As I stood up I look out the window and stared, the sun was definitely not where it was a minute ago. Somehow creating a token had taken, at least, three hours. ‘Well now, that’s interesting.’ Nightmare said.

“No shit.” I muttered.

Before I opened the door Nightmare piped up again, ‘I’m going to go into a slumber now. Hopefully that princess won’t sense me. Like I said before, don’t mention me.’

“I know the drill.” I smirked.

I reached the bottom of the stairs in time to hear Twilight confess that she had told me of the other humans. I blinked at the sight of what must have been Princess Celestia. As tall as Nightmare was with wings and a horn, flowing rainbow hair and tail and some tacky looking crown. And a fat arse.

“You should not have told him, Twilight.” She scolded gently.

As she shrunk away, I stepped forwards in front of Twilight and shrugged, “Hey, don’t blame her, Big White, after all,” I let my eyes fill with tears again, “who can ignore a c-c-crying, lost, boy?” I wiped the budding tears away, “You get me?”

The princess looked calm but Twilight...she was livid. “You tricked me?!” She yelled.

“Uh…” I hesitated, “Yes? I needed information, and bleeding heart types like you make getting information too easy.” I shrugged, “But, uh, sorry. I’ll...make it up to you?”

“You were faking all of it?!”

“Well, I am worried about my cousin, but yeah.”

“I believed you and you were just lying!”

I rolled my eyes, if she was just going to repeated the same thing over and over, I was going to have some fun with it. I gave her a sombre look and said grimly,“You got me, detective. Looks like I’m going to liar’s jail.”

Celestia giggled, distracting me from Twilight, “Who are you? Twilight’s letter said that you gained the ability to play songs from your world. Is that really all you received? Every other human in a costume gained more extreme abilities.”

“The name’s Joel.”I shrugged, “It might be because I wasn’t wearing a costume. Who knows?”

“I see.” She seemed to ponder something for a while. “Hmm. In any case, I shall have to ask that you don’t play any music from your world.”

“What?! What’s your problem with music?!” I yelled. If there’s one thing people could never take away from me, it would be my love of music!

She sighed, “I’ve heard more than enough songs from your world. They’re filled with profanity and terrible messages, such as: killing, taking drugs and degrading mares.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, no. That more like rap than rock. Sure, rock has the occasional swear in it, but it’s not like it’s in every line, hell, most of the songs don’t include profanity. Here, let me show you.” Hmm, she seemed like she’d like the more classic stuff, so which song from the games can I choose? I thought for a moment before thinking of a song. Ah, that should do it.

As I played, much better than before, I noticed Celestia nodding her head to the song and smiling, even Twilight seemed to stop being angry to enjoy the song.

After I had finished Celestia approached me with a genuine smile. “What were those clunks during the song? They didn’t sound right.” She asked.

I winced, “That was me messing up, I’m not used to how hard it is to play yet.”

She hesitated. Something was bothering her and it was bugging her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“There...is something else I have to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m sure Twilight explained that a human arrives every hundred years, correct?”

I nodded, “Yeah.”

“You see…” She hesitated, “The last human that arrived here wasn’t that long ago.” What? “It was only ten years ago.”

“Wait, wait, wait! So…they’re still here?!” I asked excitedly. “Can I...can I talk to them?”

She sighed, “That would be the problem. You see he’s constantly been attacking us, we’ve managed to beat him back, but he just recovers his armies and attacks again.”

The colour drained from my face. “Oh.” I mumbled. “I see.”

“I am sorry. I know it must be hard for you. If you ever need help with anything, just let me know, and I’ll do what I can. Within reason.”

A lightbulb went off in my head, “Actually, there is something.” Seeing as I had her attention I continued, “You can tell I’m kind of...pudgy. I don’t suppose you know someone who can help get me into shape?”

She looked surprised. Did she expect me to ask for a mansion or something? “I may have somepony who can help.” She gave a mischievous grin, “They should be here in a few days.” She gave a nod of her head, “Farewell, Joel. Twilight.” She then left in a flash of light.

‘Show off.’ Nightmare spat.

I hummed to myself, “She was...curious. No hard feeling, eh, Light?” She didn’t respond. “Er, Twilight?” I turned and saw her staring at me. “What?”

“What did you call me?”

“Oh, right. I like to give people I like nicknames. Yours is Light. Just don’t start proclaiming yourself a god and we’ll be good.” I chuckled.

She stared at me like I was insane, “What?” She shook her head and pouted, “I’m still mad at you.”

I grinned widely, “Hi, Still Mad At You. I’m Joel.”

Any semblance of humour disappeared from her face, “No! You are not doing that!”

I raised my hands in surrender, “Alright! Alright! You’re right anyway,” My grin returned, “I’m not Doing That, I’m Joel!” She looked about a second away from slapping me as I gave an impish giggle. “So, what should I be doing?” I scratched the back of my head.

She sighed, “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of my friends.”

I slung my guitar around my neck, “And I’ll show them the majesty of rock!”

Author's Note

Song for this chapter:

Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrn Skynyrd