Escaping East St. Louis

Chapters

Escaping Death
First Contact in Equestria
A Discussion With Twilight
A Visit With Celestia

Escaping Death

It was 0200 when the sound of gunfire and sirens woke Marcus up from what was a decent sleep. This was one thing that Marcus absolutely despised, being woke up in the middle of the night by gunfire and sirens. This time it was worse though, bullets had shattered his bedroom window and he did not exactly have the resources to go out and buy some plywood to board it up nor did he have the money to have a new window put in.

Dawn arrived in East St. Louis, Illinois and Marcus was woke up by the morning sun. As he pulled himself out of bed he was still tired and less than thrilled with what had happened the night before. He looked at the broken window in disgust and thought to himself, "Great, just great, now I have to fix this damn thing."

After staring at the window in disgust for a couple of minutes, Marcus finally headed into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast. Like most everyone else in the hood, he had very little to eat and what he did have was outdated food from the local food pantry and just like most everyone else, he had to use powdered milk for his cereal since he could not afford milk from the store.

As he sat there eating his cereal, he sighed in disgust over his life situation. He thought back to a time when things were not quite as bad, times when his family was alive and his mother was working two jobs to try and save up enough money for them to move to a safer city and his elder brother was doing the same. He leaned down and sighed, "Why? Why? Why did everything have to turn out like this?"

Once he finished his breakfast he knew that he better go out and do something that he wished he didn't have to do. He knew that he would have to remove some plywood from one of the abandoned houses to use to cover the window that had been shot out the previous night.

Marcus grabbed a gun and put on his hoodie before heading out as it was a bit chillier than normal and it was not exactly safe for someone to walk around with their face visible. He walked down the street and noticed that over half of the houses in his neighborhood were abandoned and had been so for quite some time. For him though, that wasn't exactly a bad thing, it was an opportunity.

He found an abandoned house that had a window boarded up with a piece of plywood that was the exact size he needed. On many days, there were usually a couple people out ripping plywood off of windows or acquiring other things they needed from the abandoned houses but that day was different, no one else was outside and it was silent.

When he approached the house, he immediately began to rip the plywood off the window and given that the window had been boarded up for quite some time, the nails holding it in place had begun to rust so it was easy for him to remove it. Once he removed it though, he looked around to make sure no one was around since now he was a target. There were plenty of people out there who would have absolutely no problems taking him out for the plywood.

The journey home would not be so easy as the plywood was slowing him down considerably and it wouldn't be long until he heard voices. His very first though was that someone had seen him with the plywood and he would be proven correct as bullets began flying his way. He attempted to shield himself with the plywood but one bullet made it through and struck him in the leg, causing him to drop it.

He saw three men charging towards him, guys who were much bigger than him so the survival instincts the city had taught him kicked in. He pulled his gun on the three and opened fire. They continued to fire at him, striking him in one of his arms and once again in his leg but his accuracy was far better as he wound up getting head shots on all three of them.

Despite being in a hell of a lot of pain and suffering gunshot wounds, Marcus went to grab the plywood to get it home but would freeze when he heard sirens and a voice yell, "Hands up in the air, NOW!"

It was the people Marcus hated the most, the police. He was not about to comply with them given that it was one year ago to the day that he saw his brother put his hands up only to get shot by a crooked cop. Instead he ran as fast as he could into an abandoned house, hoping that the police would not find him.

He heard them rushing towards the house so he headed upstairs into a dingy bedroom with little in the way of light. He did notice that there was a closet so he rushed into it and closed the door, hoping that the cops would not find him.

Marcus became more paranoid as they rushed into the upstairs bedroom, walking around with their guns drawn. Just as it sounded like the police were going to leave, some dust stirred up Marcus's allergies and he sneezed. Almost immediately bullets began to fly through the door. Another struck him in the leg, causing him to not only scream loudly, but to fall back into a mirror.

Marcus knew the mirror was there but something didn't seem right, rather than simply falling to the floor, he found himself falling through a portal of swirling colors. He had no idea what was going on but the last thing he remembered was falling on the floor on the other side before he knocked himself unconscious.

First Contact in Equestria

A couple hours had passed and Marcus was finally coming to. He looked around and nothing looked familiar. He groaned, "Ugh, where am I?"

He tried to stand up but no sooner than he had got up, he found himself right back down on the ground. He could not figure out why he could not stand up but very soon he discovered the shock of his life. He looked down at where he thought his hands were but they were not there, he suddenly had hooves. He looked down in shock and asked, "Hooves? How in the world could I have hooves?"

He turned around and looked towards his backside and saw the same thing. He gasped, "What in the world has happened? It looks like I've turned into a horse!"

He realized that whatever was going on, that he would have to stand on all fours. Once he got up and looked into the mirror he had emerged from, he would be even more surprised when he took a look at himself. Not only was he gray with large brown eyes but he had a horn coming out of his forehead. He gasped, "What the hell, I've suddenly become a gray unicorn?"

As soon as he said this, he heard voices coming. He heard a female voice and what sounded like a juvenile male voice. His very first reaction was that it was the police so he tried to hide by the backside of the bed but fell in the process. When the door opened, a lavender Alicorn shrieked when she saw a gray unicorn in her bedroom.

He looked up and saw a look of disapproval coming from the pony that had discovered him, "Who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom?"

Marcus had already seen more crazy things in the past few minutes than he had in his whole life but this was beyond crazy to him, a talking unicorn with wings. He was speechless when the winged unicorn continued to glare at him and asked, "Well, who are you?"

He could tell that the pony meant business so he replied, "My name is Marcus Jackson and I came through that mirror."

Twilight took a look at the mirror and noticed that it was indeed open. One part of her was wanting to shove him back through but another part of her was telling her to let him stay and get answers from him. She allowed him to stand up and then he saw something even more odd than Twilight, a small dragon. He pointed his hoof at Spike and asked, "Is that a dragon?"

Before Twilight could say anything Spike replied, "Yeah, my name is Spike!"

Spike found something laying on the floor, something that he had never seen before. He picked it up, pointed it towards Marcus, he screamed, "Don't shoot, please don't shoot!"

Twilight levitated it out of Spike's hands and began to analyze it and asked, "So Marcus, what is this thing and what do you use this thing for?"

Marcus replied, "It is a gun and you use it to shoot people and kill them if they're trying to kill you."

The very moment Twilight heard the term people she couldn't help but laugh, "You're kidding me, right? Everypony knows that humans aren't real! Everypony knows they are just inventions of comic books!"

Marcus gasped, "But they are real! I was one on the other side of that mirror!"

Twilight replied, "You know, I have a very hard time believing that." She headed towards the mirror and continued, "I'm going through that thing to see for myself."

Before Marcus could warn her about what was on the other side, she went through and would be shocked by what she found. On the other side, it was fairly dark in the closet so she was just barely able to see anything. She looked down and gasped, "What are these things?"

Almost immediately, bullets began flying through the closet door, causing Twilight to go rushing right back through the mirror. She had seen what humans in comic books before and realized that the pony in her room was indeed telling the truth. When she returned she was in a state of shock. She gasped, "Marcus, while I was on the other side, things came flying through a door and one nearly hit me! What are those things?"

Marcus replied, "Well they are bullets, they are what come out of a gun."

Twilight pointed it towards the wall and fired it until she exhausted the ammunition. She took a look at her wall and saw how the bullets had chipped away part of her wall. She commented, "Well I'm glad none of those projectiles hit me, they could have killed me!"

Marcus replied, "Yes they could have."

Twilight headed to the mirror and deactivated it as she realized that something weird had happened and that it would be best if it was not open given what is on the other side. Twilight began to exit her bedroom and said, "Follow me, I want to know more about you, about that place you came from and why you came here."

Marcus figured that it would be best to follow the winged unicorn and tell her about his past but given that she was wanting information from him. Despite her seeming like somepony that was in charge, he decided that he was going to ask her some questions of his own.

A Discussion With Twilight

Author's Note

This chapter will be done primarily in a back and forth dialogue format.

A Discussion With Twilight

As Marcus followed Twilight to the cafe, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on and what kinds of questions Twilight was going to ask him. Once they got into the center of town, Twilight pointed towards the cafe and suggested, "Marcus, I don't know if you're hungry or not but I was thinking we could go to the cafe and talk further."

Marcus replied, "But I don't have any money on me."

Twilight said, "Don't worry about it, this will be on me."

Marcus nodded and they headed to the cafe. Once they got their menus Marcus would be shocked by what they had to offer. Most everything was either flowers and items made from hay. It was a couple of minutes until he found something in there that looked familiar, eggs and hash browns. After deciding what he wanted he asked, "So princess, what is my limit."

Twilight smiled and replied, "Marcus, I am a princess, don't worry about it, money is no problem."

Marcus nodded and realized that he was going to be able to eat something that he had not eaten in ages, not just the eggs and hash browns, but also oats and have real milk instead of the powdered stuff he had had for what seemed to be forever.

When the waiter arrived he immediately noticed Twilight. He bowed and said, "Princess Twilight, it is so good to see you!"

Twilight replied, "It is good to see you as well."

He got his notebook out and continued, "So Princess, what will you be having this morning?"

Twilight replied, "I would like a daffodil and daisy sandwich, some hash browns and a large cider."

He turned to Marcus and asked, "And you sir?"

Marcus replied, "Well I would like four eggs, hash browns, a bowl of oatmeal, a large cider and a large milk." He turned to Twilight and asked, "That isn't too much is it?"

Twilight replied, "Not at all. Like I said, money is no problem."

The waiter nodded and took their order back to the kitchen. Once he was gone Twilight said, "Now that we have placed our orders, let's get down to business, tell me a bit about yourself."

Marcus began, "Well in my world I lived in a city called East St. Louis, Illinois. The city I live in is full of poverty and violence, like the gun violence you experienced in that closet."

Twilight nodded, "Sounds like an unpleasant place, what else?"

Marcus continued, "When I crossed over I was living alone but at one time things were not like that. When I was growing up I had a loving mother who worked hard to provide what she could for my older brother and I. When I was young, things were not as bad in the hood as they are now."

Twilight asked, "Hood?"

Marcus knew that Twilight nor any of the other inhabitants of this strange world would know what a hood was. He replied, "It is short for neighborhood." Twilight nodded and he continued, "While my family was not well off when I was young, we were happy for the most part but several years ago mom got sick and we lost her to cancer."

Twilight replied, "I'm sorry about that. What about your father? I haven't heard you bring him up yet."

His father was one thing that Marcus did not really want to talk about but knew that it would likely be in his best interests to do so. He sighed, "When I was four, dad cheated on mom and ran off with this rich woman."

Twilight replied, "I'm sorry about that."

Marcus continued, "It just wasn't right. It wasn't right that he would leave ma like that, it wasn't right that he would put money ahead of his family."

Twilight could tell that talking about his father was really bothering Marcus so she wanted to change the topic. She asked, "You mentioned your brother. What about him?"

Marcus replied, "My brother always looked out for me. In school when I'd get bullied, he would stand up for me. Once he was old enough, he did things to help make sure we had food on the table and a roof over our heads. He was always there for me until a year ago today."

Twilight had a feeling that whatever had happened was likely not good but wanted to know as much as possible, "What happened a year ago?"

What his brother did was not exactly legal and he certainly did not want Twilight to know about it so he decided to be vague. He replied, "He was doing some business with someone who would help us get some money. The police thought he was doing something illegal so they shot and killed him. He was simply trying to make sure the two of us would have food to eat and they shot and killed him." He began to cry, "It just wasn't fair. He was trying to help us and the damn cops killed him for it!"

His cries brought out some sympathy from Twilight. She asked, "I'm sorry about that Marcus. I take it you are alone in your world now?"

Marcus replied, "Yes and because of how things are in that world, I have to do pretty much anything to keep a roof over my head and keep food on the table. Often times I have to get outdated food from the food pantry and I have to ration my food out so sometimes I go hungry."

Twilight asked, "Food pantry, as in the one in your home?"

Marcus replied, "No, it is what local charities put together. More well off people donate food for the poor and even if it is outdated, that is the only option for those of us who can't afford food at the store."

Twilight had not heard him mention what he had done for a living after losing his brother and wanted to find out what he did. She asked, "You mentioned how your brother and mother both worked hard to keep a roof over your head. What have you done since you lost your brother? How do you make a living?"

Marcus replied, "I pretty much take any job I can get. Sometimes those in the next town over, those who are well off, need someone to mow their lawn, they need someone to do basic repairs to their homes and pretty much anything else I know how to do, I jump on the opportunity."

Twilight asked, "So how good are you at doing those things?"

Marcus replied, "Well mowing a lawn doesn't take much but I am good at repairing people's houses. This might sound odd but sometimes I feel like it is something I'm supposed to do with my life."

When he brought up that he felt like fixing people's houses was what he was supposed to do with his life, the wheels in Twilight's head began to turn. She replied, "You may not be able to make that your purpose in your world but perhaps we could go to Canterlot and speak to Princess Celestia about seeing if you could stay here in Equestria and you could do what you think you should do."

Marcus asked, "You mean something like......."

Before he could finish his question the waiter arrived with their food, "Your Majesty, your food is here."

When the waiter sat the food down, Marcus was amazed by the amount of food that had been sat in front of him. He looked down and saw his silverware but then something crossed his mind, how in the world was he going to even pick it up, much less use it to eat his food. He noticed that Twilight was grabbing her sandwich with her magic and eating it. He asked, "Twilight, how are you doing that? How are you grabbing your food without touching it?"

The question caught Twilight by surprise at first but then she realized that he would have no clue on how to do so. She replied, "For somepony who has never used magic before, this may be tough but what you have to do is focus intently on the silverware, get an image of you using it to eat in your head and hopefully you'll be able to get your magic to work."

Marcus began to focus on the silverware and did as she suggested and much to his surprise, he was able to use his magic to grasp the silverware to eat. At first he dropped his spoon a few times but after a couple of minutes he was able to use his silverware effortlessly. For him, this was the best breakfast he could remember having and having real milk brought even more happiness to him. Once he was finished he had a look of happiness on his face, "Thank you your Majesty, this was delicious."

Twilight replied, "No need to thank me and you can just call me Twilight."

Once the two had finished their meals, Twilight suggested, "What do you say we go up to Celestia to see about you maybe being able to stay here in Equestria?"

Marcus's ears shot up, "Really, you mean that I might not have to return to my world?"

Twilight replied, "If it is ok with Princess Celestia, you won't have to. I was there for a brief moment and I certainly don't want you to have to go back."

Marcus said, "Thanks, I really appreciate this."

Twilight nodded and motioned for him to follow her to the train station. So many things were running through his mind, the thoughts of not having to return to his world seemed almost too good to be true. He just hoped that the princess that Twilight had been talking about would allow him to stay.

A Visit With Celestia

After eating breakfast, the two headed to the train station and just like she had with his meal, she bought him his ticket for the train ride to Canterlot. The ride up there was rather uncomfortable for them as the train was fuller than normal which caused them to remain rather quiet so that nopony would hear anything about Marcus's arrival in Equestria and where he had come from.

When they arrived in Canterlot the first place they headed was the palace to talk to Celestia. When they headed into the throne room, Celestia greeted Twilight in her usual cheerful tone and then turned to Marcus and asked, "Twilight, who is this? Who is this with you?"

Twilight replied, "He is a newcomer to Equestria."

She then nudged Marcus, letting him know to introduce himself. He approached Celestia, bowed and began, "Your Majesty, my name is Marcus Jackson and I came here through a mirror that is located in Princess Twilight's bedroom."

Celestia knew enough about what lies on the other side of the mirror and thought that name sounded kind of odd. She nodded and asked, "So where are you from? Where were you when you came through that mirror?"

Marcus replied, "I come from a city called East St. Louis, Illinois."

This shocked Celestia. She knew that a place that is somewhat similar to Equestria existed on the other side of the mirror and this didn't seem right. She motioned for him to come closer so she could make good eye contact with him. She asked, "Marcus, what is this East St. Louis place like."

Marcus replied, "It is a place that has a lot of crime and poverty. It is full of gun violence and if you are not careful, you could be shot and killed by either crooked cops or other people on the streets."

This did not sound like the world she knew existed on the other side of the mirror. While it seemed as though he was not lying, she wanted to know more about him and his life. She asked, "Marcus, what is your life like? What kind of family do you have and where do you go to school?"

Marcus began, "My life is one where I pretty much have to remain alert at all times if I don't want to fall victim to violence of some sort. For me it is pretty much a matter of taking any odd job I can get to keep a roof over my head and when it comes to food, I along with many in the hood have to rely on charities and often times the food is outdated."

Celestia asked, "Hood?"

Marcus continued, "It is what most of us call the neighborhood."

Celestia asked, "Alright but what about your fam.......?"

Twilight interrupted, "Princess Celestia, he has told me about his family and it is a very sad story, filled with sickness, death and betrayal."

Celestia replied, "I see." She turned to Marcus and continued, "Twilight said your family is filled with plenty of bad things? What is all that about?"

Marcus continued, "When I was a kid, my father left my mother for a rich woman and after that, we weren't very well off." Like he did when he told Twilight, he became more emotional, "Like I told Twilight, it wasn't fair of dad to just up and leave ma like that, it just wasn't right."

Celestia gave him a look of concern and asked, "What else?"

Marcus continued, "A few years ago things only got worse when I lost my mother to cancer and it was just one year ago today that my brother was shot and killed by police."

The term shot was something that was completely foreign to Celestia. She asked, "Shot? What does that mean?"

Marcus replied, "There are these things called bullets that are put in guns and when the trigger on the gun is pulled, it fires one and if it hits a man, it can either hurt or kill a man."

Celestia asked, "Gun?"

Twilight interjected, "A gun is the device that is used to fire these projectiles from. He came over with one and I have seen how it works when I discharged it to see how it works."

This caused Celestia's mood to change. She developed a scowl on her face and asked, "Marcus, were you going to use that thing to harm any ponies? Did you bring it over to kill anypony."

Marcus shied back from the angry Alicorn and replied, "No your Majesty. I was being hunted down by the police and I had it on me for self-defense. I had it on me when the cops opened fire upon me when I fell through a mirror and wound up here."

Twilight knew that if Celestia was going to believe him, that she would have to come to his defense, "Princess, I saw him when he first got here and believe me, he did not come here to hurt anypony." She still saw a bit of doubt coming from Celestia when she continued, "I'll tell you something, when he got here he was disoriented and had no clue how he got here so I doubt he had any ill intentions."

Celestia knew that Twilight would not lie to her about something like this. She turned to Marcus and asked, "You said something about falling into a mirror when the police opened fire on you. Could you elaborate on that?"

Marcus knew that telling Celestia about what led to him winding up in the situation he was in prior to arrival would not be in his best interests but figured that honesty would be the best policy. He again began, "Well one night one of my windows got shot out by the gun violence that was so normal and I had to go and get plywood to cover it up. Given the poverty where I live, there were many, many abandoned houses with windows already boarded up so I did what most people do where I live, I stole one to use to cover up my window."

He saw a slight look of disapproval coming from the princess as he continued, "Of course carrying that really slowed me down and made me a target so three men came after me, opened fire and hit me in the legs." He saw Celestia nod and continued, "It was at that moment that I knew it was either I take them out or I get taken out so I shot and killed the three men who were out to kill me."

The fact that Marcus had killed men in his realm did make Celestia kind of weary of him but also she was glad that he admitted to what he did instead of covering it up in hopes to make her more likely to allow him to stay. She again nodded and said, "Please continue."

Marcus continued, "After that the police showed up and chased me into a dingy house and in an upstairs closet, I wound up sneezing. They knew where I was and opened fire and that is when I fell through a mirror and wound up in Princess Twilight's bedroom."

Celestia asked, "So you came out of the mirror in Twilight's bedroom?"

Before he could say anything Twilight interrupted, "That is true. I went through that mirror, found myself in a dark, dirty closet and then bullets came firing through the door and then I fell through the same mirror and returned home."

This brought out a great amount of concern from Celestia as she knew that the mirror was no longer a portal to a parallel world but a world filled with violence. She turned to Twilight and ordered, "Twilight, when you get home I want you to deactivate that mirror. What lies on the other side is not safe."

Twilight replied, "I agree."

Celestia turned to Marcus and said, "Well given the nature of what lies on the other side, I don't think it would be safe to return to your world nor would I want you to."

Twilight added, "I feel the same way and that is why I brought him up here. I was going to ask you about allowing Marcus to stay in Equestria."

Celestia replied, "I can understand that." She again turned to Marcus and asked, "So what sort of things were you good at in your world? Were there any particular tasks you were good at or any jobs you had?"

Marcus replied, "When it came to jobs, I took any job I could get. I was good when it came to mowing lawns but anyone can do that but I did have a knack for doing basic home repairs, such as fixing gutters."

Celestia put her wing up to her face and sat there in thought. After a minute of silence she asked, "Marcus, you said you can do basic repairs but if you would be interested, I could get you enrolled in a school where you would be able to learn more advanced things."

Marcus asked, "Seriously, you'd help me with that?"

Celestia replied, "Of course. I figure that if you are going to stay in Equestria, which I strongly advise, that you should learn a trade and be able to earn a good living."

This was something that Marcus never imagined that he would have the chance to do, get an education so he could earn a good living. In his world, there seemed to be no hope, it seemed like he would always be doing odd jobs and being just one bad moment away from either being dead or homeless. He approached Celestia, bowed and asked, "I would love that your Majesty but where would I live and where would I go to school?"

Celestia replied, "There is a trade school here in Canterlot that has its own housing" she saw a concerned look developing on his face and knew what it likely was about, "and don't worry, given your situation I will make sure you don't have to worry about paying anything."

Marcus's ears perked up as she asked, "Really?"

Celestia replied, "Really!"

Marcus thanked Celestia, "You have no idea how grateful I am to both you and Twilight for allowing me to stay. When I got here, I was admittedly shocked about becoming a unicorn. Luckily though, Twilight told me about how magic works and I do hope I can eventually do more than simply levitate silverware to eat."

Celestia said, "Don't worry about that, I can also get you set up in a course that will assist you in magic that will benefit you the most depending on what trade you decide to learn."

Marcus replied, "Thank you so much your Majesty. I truly appreciate that."

Celestia said, "You're welcome and welcome to Equestria. May your life be much better than it was on the other side. May you prosper and find true happiness here." She then turned to Twilight and ordered, "Since we have this taken care of, I think it is necessary that you deactivate that mirror now since it leads to an unsafe world."

Twilight agreed, "Alright but given the new nature of it, I think that a seal needs to be placed on it so that it can no longer open."

Celestia continued, "Deactivate it, bring it up here so I can seal it and then lock it away where it will never be seen again."

Twilight nodded and headed back to Ponyville. The things they were talking about regarding the mirror were completely foreign to Marcus but he was glad that they were going to make sure that nothing bad, such as crooked cops, would be able to come through that mirror and do not so pleasant things in Equestria.

What made him the happiest though was that never again would he have to go through the struggles that involved daily life in his world, he was happy that he would never again have to see East St. Louis again.