September 28th, 2025 - one week after the house explosion

I open my eyes to somepony shaking me so I look to my left to see a smiling Fluttershy, I smile back before giving her a peck on the lips and sitting up. I sit up and stretch out my forelegs before I kick my hind legs over the side of the bed and hop down onto all-fours. I go downstairs and sit on the couch but as soon as I sit down I hear a knock on the door so I stand back up and head over to the front door, I open it to see Rainbow Dash and Blazing Heart so I greet "Hey guys! Ready for the talent show?"

Rainbow Dash does a mini loop in the air before saying "You bet I am! We are going to win the prize and take home the gold!"

I chuckle as I say "Don't get your hopes up, anyone could sweep it away from beneath us"

Rainbow pauses for a second and lands on the ground softly as she asks "Where is Fluttershy?"

I listen closely behind me before hearing the faint noise of running water so I say "I think she's in the shower, should be down in a bit. Why don't you come in?" They both nod so I step to the side so they could enter, Rainbow sat on the sofa while Liam interacted with some of the animals that were roaming about.

I stare at the calendar to check for any upcoming events but my eyes immediately focus on October 7th and as I stare at the date on the calendar, my vision fades to black and fades back to the mushroom clouds that haunt me. I stare at the atomic mushroom for a few more seconds before I can't take it any longer and shake my head to rid the visions and thoughts that plagued it.

I sigh as I get a look of concern from Blazing, he slowly trots over to me as he asks "You doing okay? You kinda lost yourself for a second"

I nod as I answer "I'm fine, just in thought..."

He tilts his head to the side and was going to say something but we hear hoofsteps from the stairs so we both look to see Fluttershy descending the stairs with a hairbrush in her wing, brushing the knots out of her mane as she had a warm smile. Flutters noticed our two guests so she greets them "Oh, umm... Hi Rainbow, Blazing." Rainbow says hi back as Blazing gives a nod.

I look to Fluttershy and ask "You ready for the talent show?"

Fluttershy hides behind her mane as she says "I'm a little nervous..."

I nod before placing a hoof on her shoulder and saying "Don't worry, you do great in practice. Now to show the town what you're made of." My improvised speech somehow makes her a little more confident as she gives a little smile and comes out of her 'mane cave'. I smile back before checking the time, it was 11:32 am and the talent show started at 5:00 pm so we had plenty of time to do some errands before the performance.

I look back to Fluttershy and say "We have lots of time to pass, how about we feed the animals then prepare for the show itself."

Fluttershy nods as she looks at Blazing and Rainbow to ask "Would you two care to join us?" Rainbow Dash and Blazing Heart both nodded so I walk over to the front door and open it before I step aside to let everypony out first. After everypony left the cottage, I exit as well and close the door behind me with my magic before catching up to the others.

2 hours pass and we finished feeding all the animal's Fluttershy takes care of, I set down some bird seeds in the shed with my magic before sighing from relief. I look to the others who were chatting with each other, I smile at them talking but my attention is soon brought to a small ringing noise. I swivel my ears around to see the source of the weird ringing that was getting louder but it sounded like it was coming from every direction.

I look back to my friends to see that they've been replaced with three bandits and the scenery around them turned to a frozen wasteland with ruined building around us. I see one of them walk up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, he shakes me a bit while saying "ты в порядке? вы не выглядите слишком хорошо (Are you okay? you don't look too good.)" I blink to see myself looking into the eyes of Blazing Heart which had a glint of concern.

Rainbow who was behind him suddenly pointed to my snout and said: "Ray, you're bleeding!"

I touch my philtrum with my hoof and look at it to see a splotch of blood on my callus, I wipe my nose a few times to rid the rest of the blood before saying "I'm fine... I'm fine"

Fluttershy gains a sadden look on her face before asking "You had another episode... Didn't you?" I sigh and nod before Fluttershy came running over and hugged me, I feel my anxiety drip away as I return the hug.

I look to Blazing who was confused and Rainbow who had the look of sorrow on her face, Liam then asked "What episode, is there something I'm missing?"

Fluttershy releases me from the hug as Rainbow looks at me with a shocked face and exclaims "You didn't tell him?"

I shake my head no as Liam was looking between me and Rainbow Dash, He was more confused than ever at this point so I decide to get it over with and tell him "Well Liam... I may or may not have PTSD..."

He raised his eyes in shock before asking "Why didn't you tell me?"

I sigh and reply "I didn't want any more people worrying about me, I don't want people to feel bad for me but here we are... I have a flashback at a party and become friends with 6 mares which one of them in now my marefriend."

I smile at Fluttershy who smiles back but am distracted by Rainbow Dash "You should get some rest, just in case."

I nod and reply "Alright, just wake me when its almost time to go to the show" They all nod and say their goodbyes as I sluggishly walk back to the cottage, I open the door and lazily shut it with my magic before I lay onto the couch with a sigh. I hear the pitter patter of paws on the ground before I am greeted by a white rabbit at the foot of the couch.

Angel the bunny, the spoiled rabbit and number one pet of Fluttershy. I can tell the rabbit fears me more than anything, When I'm always at home, he is either hiding or watching me from a place I can't see. I chuckle as the rabbit stares at me with a scowl, I speak to the rabbit hoping to gain his trust "I know you don't like me and frankly, I couldn't care less but I really mean no harm even if you can smell the years of death that have been burned into my skin" Angels face surprisingly droops a bit as I continue "I know you love your mother very much, Hell I might just be your father since I'm with her but remember this, I will protect Fluttershy. You have my word"

Angels ears lay back as he nods and hops aways leaving me to fall asleep in peace.

I saw your freakout earlier...

Elijah slithered out of the darkness, he was a reflection of me but with black stripes in his mane instead of white and a Pentagram cutie mark

Yeah, I think the closer I get to October 7th, it will get worse

He puts a hoof to his chin

Hmm... You should tell them about it, make sure you don't shoot yourself all of a sudden.

You're right... I still worry that the griffons are planning something

And you're right to worry, the king is still alive and is most likely building his army back up

...

I could hear some creaking that seemed to come from all around

Shit, she's back

Who?

Princess Luna, she keeps on trying to enter our dreams whenever she can.

She can do that?

Apparently so...

Knocking was heard as a white door appeared from thin air. The door had multiple locks on it so anyone else wouldn't have a chance of getting in.

Well, what do you want to do?

Let her in...

But-

I said let her in!

Elijah sighs as he walks over to the door and unlocks every lock with his magic before opening it, showing a mildly frustrated blue alicorn waiting at the entrance

Finally, you let me... Am I seeing doubles?

She looks at me and then at Elijah before she shakes her head

Ummm... no?

Luna takes a few steps in and looks at the abyss that surrounded us

I expected your mind to be less... empty

Hehe... I like the silence but okay how about this.

The scenery changed from a void to a playground that looked brand new with houses surrounding the playground

Much better...

What is this place, if I may ask...

My home. Well what was my home anyways

And who is he?

Luna points to Elijah with her head tilted to the left

I'm Elijah, the voice that lives in his fucked up head

Yeeaaah fuck you too

Luna seemed to notice the lack of people around as she looked around at the houses that surrounded us

Where is everypony?

At school, you want to see?

Luna nodded with excitement as the scene changed to a large classroom with a bunch of human kids who ranged for 5-6 sitting on a carpet and a teacher drawing on a chalkboard.

This was my senior kindergarten class, I'm sitting over there...

I pointed to a kid with long brown hair which hung over his face and light skin, he was wearing light blue jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt which was being chewed on by the kid wearing it. I had the tendency to chew my clothes when I was nervous.

Why are you doing that, chewing on your shirt?

I did it when I was nervous, I lost the habit luckily.

a Bell rang and all the kids stood up and ran out a door which leads to a playground, we followed the scattering children till we reached a maple tree which one of the teachers from the school got from Canada and planted it here. You could see the human me sitting on one of the branches that hanged around 5 feet off the ground.

He was never really a social child from what I saw, only had 3 friends he talked to

Yeah, I never brought myself to talk to others. You could say I was shy

Luna looked around at the children playing before looking at my young self when the space around us began to darken, signaling that I was waking up

We will talk again soon, you should tell Twilight about the wedding her brother is having.

I tilt my head in confusion before everything was pitch black

I open my eyes to see Fluttershy opening the door to the cottage, I yawn which startles her but she composes herself and asks "How was your nap?"

I nod and say "It was fine, talked with Princess Luna for a bit."

Fluttershy smiles at me before saying we have to go now, we already moved all the instruments to the show so all we need to do is get there"

I get off the sofa and stretch out like a cat causing several pops to emit from my back, I walk over to Fluttershy and give a peck on the cheek before saying "let's not make them wait anymore" She nods in agreement before head off into town, we had to stop by Rarity's boutique to get outfits for our performance.

We arrive at the boutique and enter the building to see Rarity at a sewing machine, sewing cloth together (who would've known?) She turns her attention to Flutters and me before smiling, She sits up from the sewing machine and says "I guess you are here for costumes, darling?"

I nod and ask "Yup, you think you can make it to the show and see us perform?"

Rarity giggles as she uses her telekinesis to pull 4 sets of clothes and answers "Of course darling, I even heard that the Princesses are coming, wouldn't want to miss their reaction."

I widen my eyes as I grab the costumes and lay them across my back before shrugging and saying "Then they'll probably like the song we are doing"

Rarity lifts a brow before asking "How so?"

I chuckle and reply "You'll find out... Anyways we should get going, see you after our performance" I hand her a sack of bits before we say our goodbyes and exit the carousel boutique to begin another uneventful walk toward our destination which was the town hall.

We arrived at the event to see a huge but empty sitting area with a large stage standing proudly in front of it, I and Flutters enter the backstage area to see plenty of ponies going around to prepare for their turn to perform. I see Blazing Heart and Rainbow chatting in chairs right next to our instruments. I clear my throat as I step in front of them and hand them their costumes "Here you go, Hope they are alright."

Blazing and Rainbow Dash nod and begin to dress themselves up as I look to Fluttershy and hand her outfit to her. I wait a few minutes for everypony to finish putting their outfits on and finally get a good look at how they look, Fluttershy was wearing a hoodie which on the front read 'The Bird of Hermes shall eat my wings'. It wasn't much but our official outfits were still in progress. Rainbow was wearing a black tank top with spike bracelets on her front hooves and Blazing was wearing a T-shirt with a crow on the front of it.

With everyponies costume on and ready to go, I finally decide to put on my costume which was a sleeveless hoodie which had my cutie mark plastered on the front and a black luchador mask with 3 holes at the top, allowing my mane to spill through and my ears to poke out. I look into a mirror and see myself in the mirror, I blink and see myself in the mirror still but it was not a pony in the mirror. It was the human me staring back at me with a death glare. I blink again and everything was back to normal, the pony me staring back in the mirror.

I sigh quietly before putting on a smile and turning back around to the 3 band members to see their approval, Fluttershy and Rainbow smile while Blazing nods with raised eyebrows. I walk to the curtain and peak through to see plenty of ponies coming and sitting down in the chairs that were laid out, I sigh again before looking to Rainbow Dash and asking "When are we going on?"

Rainbow then handed me a piece of paper showing a list of ponies and the talent they're showcasing, I lift my brow as I see that we are the final performance. I take a seat in a chair that was next to Blazings, soon after Blazing Heart and Rainbow Dash sit in the seats they were in before but that left no seats for Fluttershy. I felt bad to let a girl stand so I go to stand but is immediately weighed down by Fluttershy who sits on my lap, I feel my face get hot as I look over to Rainbow and Blazing to see them stifling their laughs but they stop when I give them a glare.

Fluttershy leans against me and wraps a foreleg around my neck as she nuzzles into my neck so I return the gesture by petting her back softly. I look to my left to see Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity approaching us so I wave at them. They giggle at the sight of me and Flutters making me blush once more. Twilight is the first to stop giggling and say "Guess you guys have gotten super close since the last time we saw each other"

I roll my eyes before saying "Do you want to hear about our sex life as well or are you going to give us words of encouragement"

Twilight blushes as Applejack and Rainbow burst out laughing while Pinkie had an unreadable expression, Applejack says through giggles "Good luck on your performance sugarcube"

Applejack and Twilight leave but Rarity and Pinkie stay behind, Flutters hops off my lap and walks over to Rarity to talk about something as Pinkie leans towards me to whisper in my ear "You see them too?"

I tilt my head in confusion before asking "See what?"

Pinkie (who was still whispering for some reason) answers "The audience, the readers, the author. controlling our thoughts and actions through the press of key"

I lean away in discomfort as I say "No?"

Pinkie turns back to her normal self as she says "Oh okay, forget I said anything then." She hops off to where Twilight and Applejack were sitting, I sigh and shake my head as I walk over to the curtains that covered the stage and peak out to see the Princesses sitting at the back with Twilight.

I sit back down in my seat as the mayor goes onto a podium and announces the beginning of the talent show "I like to thank you for coming out to the town hall and watching ponies showcase their talents, our first performance is Sweetie Belle who is going to be singing"

I hear the singing but it's quickly drowned out by my thoughts as I retreat back into my head and think about how I'm going to tell the girls about the upcoming date... Well make that dates since my birthday is in November, November 30th to be exact. I sigh mentally as I play out multiple scenarios in my head on how their reaction could go down.

Having fun?

Be quiet, you aren't exactly making me feel better

I know how to make you feel worse, you're going to have to tell them about me as well.

I plant my face into my hooves and rub my eyes while I let out a dramatic sigh.

I'm going to have an aneurysm soon.

I can help guide you through it, I've been trying to find ways to split from you temporarily so like a 'copy of you always stuck 30 feet close to you' type deal. And maybe a permanent split because I bet you want privacy in your mind.

I don't really mind you being in my head but it would be neat to have it back, maybe you could learn to become a functioning member of society.

What? You don't trust me to make my own decisions?

You're a spirit with bloodlust problems.

Speaking of bloodlust, I kinda wish those birds would come back so I could quench my thirst for blood. By the way, it's almost time for you to go up.

Wait, what? Already?

It's just so the author can skip all the others performance because he is getting sick of writing this chapter.

NOT YOU TOO! You and Pinkie would be a great couple...

I am shaken out of my thoughts as I look up to see Rainbow who says "Yo, it's our time to go on."

I nod with and smile as I stand up from the chair before asking "This your first time performing live?"

She shook her head and answered "Nah, did a few gigs with some friends for some clubs before I moved to Ponyville" I nod before walking onto the stage which was dark, I see Rainbow Dash point to a raised platform on the stage while she says "That's your spot. Since there is going to be flashing lights and all that, you have a little safe spot in the back but there will be dim lights so the ponies can actually see you"

I smile before telling her "Just like we planned" I walk up some stairs that lead to the platform. On the platform was a microphone attached to a stand, the platform itself was around 5 ft high and had some walking space so I could move around.

I look to Fluttershy who was to the left of me, she looks back at me so I nod to her and mouth "You'll do great" She seemed to get the message as she smiles and nods back. I look to Rainbow Dash and Blazing who were to my right and nod at them, they nod back as they got ready to play.

Mayor Mare walked onto her podium and she announces "Again I thank you all for coming to this event and now for final performance. Rainbow Dash, Blazing Heart, Fluttershy, and Ray Joseph!"

The crowd gives an applause as the curtains open to the dark stage, I hear Blazing tap his drumsticks together 3 times before Rainbow begins to strum her guitar with her wings as an orange light shines upon her. 5 seconds later Blazing begins to play the drums in sync to the guitar before he cuts out as Rainbow strums the guitar strings for a few more beats before I grab the microphone stand and bring it close to me as I began to sing.

"Here from the king's mountain view
Here from a wild dream come true
Feast like a sultan I do
On treasures and flesh, never few."

Fluttershy was bathed in a blue light as she began to play the bass so I continued

"But I, I would wish it all away.
If I thought I'd lose you just one day."

Everything but the guitar cuts out as I sing a few notes before the instruments kick back in

"The devil and his had me down,
In love with the dark side, I'd found.
Dabblin' all the way down
Up to my neck soon to drown.

But you changed that all for me.
Lifted me up, turned me 'round.
So I...
I...
I...
I...
I would
I would
I would
Wish this all away"

I pull the mic off of the stand and continue to sing as dim blue light shined down upon me

"Prayed like a martyr dusk to dawn.
Begged like a hooker all night long.
Tempted the devil with my song.
And got what I wanted all along.

But I,
And I would,
If I could, And I would
Wish it away,
Wish it away,
Wish it all away,
Wanna wish it all away,
No prize that could hold sway,
Or justify my giving away my center."

I lean forward as I sing the next lyrics

"So if I could I'd wish it all away.
If I thought tomorrow would take you away.
You're my peace of mind, my home, my center.
I'm just trying to hold on,
One more day."

I pull my bottom eyelid down and look at the Blazing Heart as I sing

"Damn my eyes...
Damn my eyes...
Damn my eyes If they should compromise
Our fulcrum
Wants and needs divide me then I might as well be gone."

I let go my eyelid as I look to Fluttershy who was slowly swaying her mane side to side as she played with a bright yellow light shining down on her before I watch Rainbow approach a microphone I modified for this song, she began to sing into mic causing robotic melodies to sound out of the speakers it was hooked up to. I look to Princesses as the drums start again and I speak

"Shine on forever.
Shine on, benevolent sun.

Shine on upon the broken.
Shine until the two become one."

The guitar starts as a red light surrounded me, I began to sway around erratically and shout out

"Shine on forever,
Shine on, benevolent sun!

Shine on upon the severed!
Shine until the two become one!

Divided I'm withering away!

Divided I'm withering away!

Shine on upon the many, light our way
Benevolent sun!"

I look around the crowd I could see the amazement on their face, I sway my head side to side slowly as I begin to whisper

"Breathe in union.
Breathe in union.
Breathe in union.
Breathe in union.
Breathe in union.
So as one survive.
Another day and season.

Silence, legion, save your poison
Silence, legion, stay out of my way!"

I drag out the final word as the instruments stop and all the lights turn blood red for a few seconds before I stop shouting and look at the crowd who were now out of their seats and stomping their hooves. I give a small bow and step down the stairs and off the stage, I see the Princesses and the girls walking up to us.

Pinkie Pie was hopping out of her skin as she said: "That was the best live performance I've ever seen! Rainbow is the second best guitar player I've ever seen"

Rarity also piped in "That was quite the show. Fluttershy, you were so good, darling"

I look to the Princesses and smile but a figure behind them catches my eye so I focus on the figure to see a twitching human with a blurred out face looking right at me. The sight of the biped causes me to flinch, closing my eyes in the process and when I open them, the human was gone without a trace. I look back up to the Princesses who both had a look of concern, Princess Luna asks "Are you alright? You seem a little shaken"

I shake my head and say "I'm fine, I'll tell you about it later."

Princess Celestia furrows her brow as she says "You can tell us, my little pony"

I sigh before saying "I don't want to ruin the mood, We'll talk about it later. We should see who wins"

Everypony looks back up to the stage as the Mayor steps onto her podium and says "As amazing as all the talents were, only one performance can come out on top..." She pulls out an envelope with her teeth before continuing "Anyways, the results are in!" She tears open the letter before pulling out a slip of paper and announcing "The Talent show's winner is... Ray Joesph, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Blazing Heart!"

Rainbow Dash lifts up with her wings before doing a loop in the air as she shouted "WE WON! WOOHOO!"

Fluttershy extends her wings out before letting out a quiet but adorable "Yay"

I and Blazing just look at each other and chuckle before we give each other a hoof bump, I was hugged by Fluttershy who said "Thanks for believing in me."

I look down at Fluttershy with a small smile before giving her a peck on the forehead "It was nothing Flutters. If anything, you believed in yourself"

Pinkie Pie pops in with "This calls for a PARTY! Let's go celebrate!"

Everypony started to head toward the Sugarcube corner so I started to follow before I was hold backed by a white hoof which belonged to Celestia, we stare at each other as Celestia tried to pick her words carefully "What's going on, are you okay?"

I look between Luna and Celestia before answering "No... I'm not okay Princess Celestia, I've been getting hallucinations more and more, I think I know why..."

Celestia looked more worried "And that reason is?"

I sigh as I hesitate to say before I finally spill the beans "on October 7th, 2019., the world ended. It's the 7th anniversary"

I saw her royal stature crack at me saying that, Luna placed a hoof on my shoulder so I look up at her as she says "We are so sorry, we wish we could do something"

I look down in thought before saying "You can help me by keeping an eye on me, Just in case they become too much..."

Celestia was confused before she realizes what I mean causing her eyes to widen, after a few seconds her eyes soften "Of course... I wish you the best of luck"

Author's Note

When in a dream sequence, I'll add colored text if there are more than two characters talking in the dream.
Luna
Ray
Elijah

Stuff is going to turn dark, just a warning

Idk why but this took too long to make :/ sry