Prologue - An Offer of a Lifetime
Author's Note
Hello everyone! Welcome to the first chapter of A Sign of Things to Come. Before the chapter starts, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to 0-Blazing Sun-0 and their story "A Second Chance" on Fanfiction for inspiring this story. Without it, this story probably wouldn't exist. I would highly suggest you go read it if you haven't already.
This is my first My Little Pony Fanfiction, so don't be surprised if characters from the show are a little out of character. This is my first time really making a story not completely based off the source material, so go easy on me.
Also, if there is anyone out there who can and likes to draw, I would really like a piece of cover art made for this story if at all possible. If you fit this description and wouldn't mind taking time out of your day to help me make one, PM me, or contact me at mitchinator9000@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Anyway, on to the chapter!
Prologue - An Offer of a Lifetime
Darren
Walker Residence
Wednesday, 17th July – 7:15AM
My eyes shot open, returning me to the real world from a deep sleep, hot sweat dripping down my face and neck and on the verge of hyperventilating. I sat up rigidly on my hands, staring into the darkness surrounding my bedroom, but only seeing blurry shapes without my glasses. I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart down to a normal rate.
My name is Darren Walker. I'm a 33-year-old man and I live a fairly normal life with a beautiful and loving wife and two amazing kids. I also have a well-paying and fun job as a landscape gardener and a house just perfect for the four of us. Life couldn't be better for our little family. There was just one problem with it though.
Most nights when I went to sleep, I would have these really weird dreams. But ‘dreams’ wasn’t the right word persay, these were visions of what would happen in the near future. I’ve taken to calling them "visions" rather than dreams because of this. I haven't had a proper dream in 15 years. These visions have helped me change the natural course of events for the better, but sometimes worse, but mostly better. Tonight, was no different.
I was sitting at home watching a TV show with my kids. They eventually went upstairs to play after it was over. I was about to change the channel to watch something I would enjoy, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small purple light. As I turned to get a better look at it, it suddenly lit up, blinding me. After the room wasn't a purple blur anymore, I looked back at where the light had been, only to see something completely impossible.
Standing before me was a small purple horse with a horn protruding from its head, and wings extending out from its back. It had a purple mane and tail, darker than its fur, with two streaks of pink and a slightly lighter shade of purple going down their middle, and large purple eyes. It also had this weird star-shaped symbol on both sides of its lower back, almost like a tattoo of sorts.
It then started talking! It tried to explain why it was here, but I had officially declared myself insane. The horse tried to calm me down, but I was completely unresponsive, saying I must have hit my head and was hallucinating this while I paced around the room. It tried to convince me that I wasn't seeing things and wrapped its hooves around my legs to stop me from moving, but that didn't deter me in the slightest; I shook it off with ease.
I stopped pacing and slumped into one of the sofas, looking at the horse briefly before putting my head in my hands with a moan, having hoped that it had disappeared. The equine, for its part, was trying to get an answer out of me all the while.
"Fine. I didn't want to have to do this, but you've left me no choice. You've forced my hoof. We're going to have to do this the hard way," I didn't pay the comment any more thought than everything else it had said. A minute or so later, I looked at where the horse was sitting, only to see that it had its eyes closed and its horn lit up. I was confused about what it was doing until the room around me was covered in the same bright light that blinded me only moments ago. It kept becoming brighter until it was the only thing I could see. I then suddenly blacked out.
The next thing I knew, I felt myself slowly waking up, and without any energy. I couldn't even open my eyes. I could, however, hear voices around me, but in my weakened state, they sounded like they were miles away. I felt I was also laying on a soft surface, so soft in fact that I could just curl up and fall asleep. As my energy started to return to me, I started to be able to make out the voices as being two females and a male.
I groaned as I opened my eyes, blinking rapidly as the harsh light assaulted my retinas. My vision started to clear, and what I saw caused me to; yell out in surprise, sit upright, and shuffle back against the wall behind me. Right in front of my face had been the same horse from before, accompanied by another horse, this one a unicorn with a pink coat, a purple mane with a light teal stripe down the middle that hung slightly over its left eye and flowed down its neck, and large purple eyes. It also had a weird tattoo on its lower back like the other horse, but it was a small purple and white star with two light blue streams instead.
The third thing that stood in front of me was probably what surprised me the most. It was a purple reptile with large green eyes and green spines running from its head down to its arrowhead tipped tail. I looked around the room I had ended up in, finding it to be a fully furnished bedroom with crystal walls that had a purple tint to them, which would explain the soft surface I was sitting on. It was really nothing more than your average bedroom, well, aside from the crystal walls. There was a window to my left that overlooked a quaint little town that seemed to be filled with other equines, which scared me even more.
I was just about to ask what the actual hell was going on, when I suddenly woke up in the state I was in now.
Despite how comfortable I had gotten with my visions over the years,they had never been this... absurd. Could this really be another one of my visions, or did I finally have my first dream in years? No, that wouldn't make any sense. This had to be a vision! I quickly grabbed my thin-rimmed oval glasses from off my bedside table and slipped them on my nose so I could fully see my surroundings.
As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, I could just about see the outlines of the furniture in the darkness of our bedroom. The blackout curtains were drawn, blocking most of the early morning light from entering our room. The king size bed's duvet wriggled as my wife tossed and turned in her sleep.
"What just happened?" I whispered to myself, wiping the sweat from my brow as I sat up in bed and recalled the vision.
Suddenly, the body beside me stretched and yawned. "What was that, love?" My wife, Dani, asked drowsily.
"I-It's nothing, hun... No need to worry..." I replied, looking at her through the darkness.
"Are you sure? You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Did you have another one of your visions?" Her concern was evident in her tone. I had told her about my visions near the beginning of our relationship, seeing as there was no way I was going to be able to keep that a secret, especially if I was going to be spending the rest of my life with her.
"Yes, I did, but it's fine. Really," I reassured her, stroking her cheek lightly, feeling her shiver faintly at the touch. There was no way I was going to tell her about this though; she would never believe me.
"If you say so," she said doubtfully, lifting the covers off of her body, getting out of bed, and drawing back the curtains. I groaned as the light of the morning sun shone sharply into my eyes, causing me to shield them from the onslaught. "I better get ready for another day of crunching numbers, and you better get ready to take the kids to school."
I glanced over at the ticking clock. 7:15AM. 15 minutes before our children, Harrison and Scarlet, were supposed to be up and getting ready for school. It was my day off today, meaning I was in charge of the kids and the house while my wife went to work at her accounting firm. I looked back at my 35-year-old wife; I could now see her gorgeous face, her sparkling blue eyes, her luscious blonde hair, and her slender figure that was lightly covered by her nightgown. I considered myself lucky to have been married to her for 8 years now.
"Aww, do I have to? I was hoping I could get a lie-in for once in my adult life," I moaned with a pout.
"Well, you should have thought of that before you said yes to the idea of having kids," she said cheekily, a smirk plastered on her face. I audibly groaned and pulled the duvet over my head playfully, trying to block out as much light as possible.
"Come on, mister. You can't live under there forever," I could hear her footsteps move over to my side of the bed before feeling a tugging of the covers as she tried to pull it off of my body.
"You can't make me! You'll never take me alive!" I jokingly shouted, hugging the blanket tightly to my chest so she couldn't pull it out from under me.
As we wrestled for control of the duvet, a smile grew on my face as I conjured up a wicked idea. As she tried to rip the covers away from me, I strongly yanked on them, hearing her gasp as I saw a shadow flip over me and onto the other side of the bed with a loud thump. With the momentum of the motion, I rolled on top of my wife, making sure my legs were on either side of her as to not hurt her, taking the duvet with me.
The covers slipped off of my body and onto the floor, revealing what I thought would be quite the sight to any unknowing onlookers. Dani was now on her back on the mattress, head on the pillow, hair matted, out of breath with a stunned expression on her face. I was on top of her, in only my blue boxers, lightly holding her down, smile engraved on my lips, and breathing heavily. We started laughing at the situation we had ended up in.
After a couple of minutes of chuckling to ourselves, I couldn't help but kiss her passionately on the lips in the heat of the moment. She stared at me for a second before melting into my arms, hastily kissing me back with as much ferocity. We were lip-locked for almost a minute, moaning quietly and just enjoying each other's embrace. We eventually broke the kiss, even more out of breath than we were before.
"That... was..." She started saying between breaths.
"...Intense?" I finished with a laugh, out of breath myself.
"Yeah... That's a good... description..." She agreed with a nod. We laid there in silence for a minute, subconsciously tightening our grip around each other as we caught our breath.
"As much as I would love to stay in bed with you today, I really have to start getting ready for work. I can't be late today," my wife broke the silence as she softly stroking my cheek.
"Ok, fine. I'll let you go. As long as you promise me that we'll continue this later," I said, giving her a look and a wink that told her my intentions. I could feel her shiver slightly at the implication.
"Of course! I promise," she replied, giving me another small kiss on my lips before I rolled back onto my side of the bed as she stood and headed for the door. "You better start getting up too. Those kids won't get themselves up you know," she added with a smile, before opening the door and exiting the bedroom, heading for the bathroom.
Now that she had left, I slowly sprawled myself back out on the bed, thinking about what just happened. It went from playfully to sensual really fast, and she was ok with it. I really do have the best wife a man could ask for, and I wouldn't exchange her for the world. That really took my mind off the vision.
Speaking of which, my mind quickly thought back to that strange vision. It made no sense, a magical talking horse coming out from some bright light and supposedly taking me to its world full of other talking equines. I would probably be sent to an insane asylum if anyone found out about it. It would be more so something that would happen in a normal dream. But that didn't make sense either, I hadn't had a normal dream in years. Why would I have one now, of all times?
"I need to wake my kids up," I said to myself, looking at the clock to see it was 7:30AM. I quickly swung my hairy legs off the side of the bed and got up, going around to Dani's side to swiftly pick up the duvet that had fallen on the floor in our tussle. I opened the wardrobe and slipped into my dressing gown. I heard the shower turn on and the water hit the bathtub, signaling that Dani was beginning her morning routine. I exited the bedroom, trying to keep the thought of the vision from plaguing my mind.
I gently opened the door to my children’s bedroom from the landing, letting the light spill in and destroy the darkness that lingered. It was a small room with everything a child could ever want. Toys, games, and piles of clothes littered the floor while a TV stand with their TV and games consoles was sat by the farthest wall from me.
I should really get them to clean their room when they get back from school today. I inched my way inside, doing my best to avoid the hazards on the floor. In front of me was a large bunk bed with the two sleeping kids I was looking for, their chests rising and falling calmly.
They look so innocent when they are asleep. I kind of wish I didn't have to wake them. Both for their benefit and my own. I reached down towards Harrison in the bottom bunk.
"Harry. It's time to wake up," I said softly, shaking him lightly, disturbing his peaceful sleep.
"Ugh... Five more minutes, Dad..." he groaned, turning away from me.
"Sorry buddy. You have to get ready for school," I said, ruffling his messy curls of blonde hair. The 7-year-old groaned once again and lifted his pillow over his head in frustration. I chuckled lightly at the action, knowing that no matter what I did he wouldn't get out of bed, so I quickly moved on to waking up Scarlet. I stepped a rung or two up the ladder and smiled at her sleeping form.
"Scarlet. It's time to wake up," I whispered again, doing the same action as I did for Harry. Instead of moaning as he had, she slowly opened her eyes and yawned.
"Morning, Daddy," she groggily said in her squeaky voice, looking at me sweetly with her shining brown eyes. Even though she was 6 years old, she still couldn't help but call me Daddy. It was quite endearing, but I do hope she will grow out of it in the next couple of years.
"Good morning, sweetheart. It's time to get ready for school."
"I know, Daddy," she quietly said, stretching as she sat up.
"Well, start getting yourself ready," I told her. Then I looked down at her brother, who looked to be falling back asleep. "I'm having a hard time waking your brother up... again. If he isn't up in the next 5 minutes or so, you know what to do." I pulled a knowing smile as she nodded vigorously.
"You can count on me," she said with a mock salute.
"That's my girl! I need to go get ready for the day. I'll see you soon," I finished, stroking her head full of long brown hair before stepping off the ladder and heading for the doorway, seeing her follow me down wearing her little pink nightgown and started running around to get ready.
Knowing she could handle herself and her brother, I exited their room, leaving them to it. I could hear that the shower had stopped but the door was still closed, meaning that Dani was still there. Knowing this, I hastily made my way back into my bedroom and grabbed some clean clothes.
As I left, I passed Dani on her way to our room from the bathroom. Knowing that Dani was done in the bathroom, for now, I immediately entered and closed the door, breathing heavily as the hot, moist air smacked me in the face, steaming up my glasses slightly.
I took off my dressing gown and boxers, the former being hung up on a hanger on the door and the latter being put in the washing basket in the corner of the room. I turned on the shower, put my glasses in their case so they don't get steamy, and carefully stepped into the bathtub, letting the warm water soak me thoroughly.
As I washed, I still couldn't get my mind off the vision. It just keeps tormented me, like it was the most important thing in the world. There is no way that could possibly happen, right? The visions have never lied to me before, so why would they start now?
I need to stop worrying about it and just wait and see if it comes true. I reasoned in my head as I finished washing my body and hair, turning the shower off and stepping out of the bath.
Grabbing a towel off the rack, I dried myself off, making sure to get every nook and cranny. I threw the towel in the washing basket too, just barely missing because of how bad my eyesight was without my glasses, and started dressing. My clothes consisted of navy-blue jeans, white summer socks, my favourite green t-shirt with a Trowel and Hand Fork crossing over in the middle printed on it and my favourite black leather jacket.
After being properly suited up and putting my glasses back on, I had a quick look at myself in the mirror. Wiping away the condensation that had collected there, I admired the way I look for a second. My twinkling blue eyes stared back at me, looking at my medium length curly brown hair sticking out at all angles. I rubbed my chin, feeling the brown stubble that was slowly growing there. I never liked having a big, bushy beard, but I didn't like not having a beard either, so did my wife. She would kill me if the beard disappeared. This was a happy medium.
I saw my muscles being defined by my shirt in my reflection and I couldn't help but flex them slightly. After having been a landscape gardener for the last 7 years of my life, I had started to gain quite a bit of strength from lifting bags of cement for walls, and large planks of wood for fences. Realising that I was being a bit arrogant and my appearance was nice and tidy, I exited the bathroom and started heading downstairs.
As I was going down the stairs, I heard a grunt and a shout of "Ok, Scarlet! I'm up! I'm up!" I glanced into the kid's bedroom to see Scarlet sitting on top of Harry in his bed, him groaning in obvious pain.
She takes so much after her father. She's such a good girl. I thought with a mischievous grin as I went downstairs, each step creaking as I made my way down.
I moved through the hallway, taking in every little detail to try to get my mind off of recent events. I stopped at the end of the corridor, where the back door to the garden was, and looked into the room on my right to see the living room. It was quite spacious, with a TV, two sofas, and a large coffee table in the centre of the room. There was also that bloody vase in the corner of the room. It was such an eye-sore, but I tolerated it because Dani insisted that we kept it as it was a gift from her mother.
Instead, I turned left and went into the kitchen. It was also quite roomy, not as big as the living room but still quite large. It was fully equipped with all of the essential kitchen appliances and a dining table in the centre that was only used for special occasions and holidays such as Christmas.
I instantly started making breakfast. I could cook just fine, but there is never enough time in the mornings to make something like a Full English Breakfast, so I usually just stick to making a plate full of toast and crumpets. I brought out the four-slice toaster, the bread, crumpets, and butter, placing two pieces of bread in one side and two crumpets in the other and started toasting.
After putting breakfast on the plates, I heard the creaking of someone coming down the stairs. Turns out it was two someones, as Harry and Scarlet came racing into the kitchen dressed in their school uniforms.
"Ha! I beat you!" Harry shouted triumphantly, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"No fair! You had a head start! Cheater!" Scarlet yelled back, just as tired as he was. They are both very competitive. They definitely get that from their mother: I don't have a competitive bone in my body.
He crossed his arms defensively "Liar, liar, pants on fire! You're just a sore loser!" This comment definitely struck a chord with Scarlet.
"You take that back!" She screeched, looking ready to claw his eyes out, anger clearly etched on her face.
I think it's about time I stepped between the two before Scarlet decides to choke her brother to death.
"Hey! You two behave, or do you want to go without breakfast today?" I asked sternly, going into strict parent mode. They instantly calmed down and looked at me with sad expressions.
"No, dad."
“No, daddy."
They both told me this, their heads hanging low.
"Now, what do you say to each other?"
"I'm sorry," they both said, giving each other apologetic looks.
"Good. Now that that's over with, let's eat some breakfast," I declared, grabbing the two plates from off the countertop and turning towards the two rowdy kids. They immediately brightened up at the prospect of food, quickly grabbing a piece of toast and a crumpet each.
"Looks like someone's been busy," a voice abruptly said from the hallway. I instantly recognised the melodic voice of my wife, I had somehow not heard her coming down the stairs. She entered the room, now wearing her business attire consisting of a black suit jacket, a light blue skin-tight dress showing off her feminine curves, and black high heels. Her hair was now one big braid and she carried a small black handbag that she put on the unused dining table.
"Well, someone has to keep them in line," I replied with a grin.
"And I don't?" she retorted, putting her hands on her hips and giving me a look that said 'You better watch what you say next.' That look always sent fear running up and down my spine.
Trust me, you do not want to get on Dani's bad side. I had learnt that the hard way. "W-What I mean... is... s-someone has to keep them in line... w-when you aren't here..." I stuttered, watching my words carefully as to not say something I would regret later. Her expression immediately softened.
"Ha ha ha, you're so adorable when you're scared of me," my wife chuckled at my behaviour, walking over to me and kissing me on the nose softly. "I've got to go, alright? I'll see you later."
"...But what about breakfast? I made enough for all of us," I questioned, gesturing with the plates in my hands.
"Because of the fun we had earlier, I'm running a little late. Don't worry, I'll get something on my way. Besides, it means more for you three," she answered, giving me a smile as she ruffled Harry and Scarlet's hair. "I really need to go. I love you!" she gave me a quick kiss on the lips before leaving the room, me saying I love you back as I heard the front door close behind her.
"Bye Mum!" Harrison shouted after her as I took the plates into the living room with Scarlet and Harry following behind me. We still had 15 minutes before we needed to leave, so I usually plonked them in front of the TV while I worked on my laptop.
When the 15 minutes were up, and the plates were emptied, I told them to go get their bags. They went upstairs, with a little bit of hesitation and moaning, while I waited by the front door. Once they were back downstairs, I grabbed my house and car keys and we left, making sure to lock the door on our way out. We hastily got into my red Ford Focus and drove off to their school.
The drive was quite uneventful; we had taken this route so many times by now that I could probably name every street we went down without even looking. Harrison and Scarlet were silent for the most part, talking about random topics every now and then. Once we were at the school, they shuffled out of the car, Scarlet giving me a kiss on the cheek, and walked into the school building.
Once I had gotten home, I locked the door and opened up my laptop to continue my work. Filing invoices, making orders; even on my day off I still have to work in one form or another. I would say the saying 'No rest for the wicked' is a very appropriate description of my life nowadays, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.
After finishing all of my little work tasks, I decided to switch the TV on and watch some shows for a while. The TV flickered to life before the previous channel, which was the kid's program Harry and Scarlet were watching before school, blared in my ears. With a grimace, I quickly changed the channel and sat back and relaxed.
I had been watching TV for the past hour or so now, and the thoughts of the vision were slowly coming back to the forefront of my mind. I knew I had to just wait for the dreaded moment to happen and not let the thought rule me, but I needed to do something productive, otherwise I'm going to go insane from the wait. I hastily turned the TV off, went out into the hallway, and put on my steel toe boots.
When we bought this house 6 years ago when we realised that we were going to be having kids; we couldn't live in a dinky little flat anymore, I made sure that we had a big garden for us to enjoy and for me to work on. The last owners must not have cared about the garden very much because when we moved in it was in complete disarray. Overgrown grass, weeds everywhere, broken down shed, it was in real need of some love and care.
And that's exactly what I gave it. Over the course of our first year living here, I weeded, strimmed, mowed, planted, and built to make the garden the best it could possibly be. The end result was nothing short of incredible.
The garden had been given a complete makeover, a nicely trimmed lawn that the kids could play on, finely turned flowerbed to plant all of my flowers, fruits and vegetables, a well-built shed to store all of my gardening equipment when not in use and greenhouse to store my indoor plants, trees and shrubs planted in specific places around the garden to make it look aesthetically pleasing, freshly built fences and walls, a nicely laid patio with outdoor furniture for me and my wife to chill on. That love and care had really made all the difference.
I decided now would be a good time to work in the garden, to keep my mind off things. I stepped out onto the lawn and shuffled over to the shed to collect my tools. As I opened the wooden door, I noticed the absolute disaster that was the interior. While the outside may look tidy, the inside certainly was not. It looked like a bomb had gone off in there. I guess Harry and Scarlet got their messiness from me. I definitely needed to organise this at some point soon, but I was thinking of doing other things right now.
I sighed to myself as I got to searching through the crime scene for the equipment I needed. I managed to free my mower from the shed's grasp without too much trouble, but I still needed one more thing: my secateurs. I usually keep my three-inch long pruning knife on me at all times, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it. I knew that they were at the bottom of the pile of tools that I had gotten most of the others from.
"Ugh! This is going to be a nightmare. Why can't it just appear at my feet," I audibly groaned, looking up at the ceiling with my hands sliding down my face before hanging loosely by my side.
As I stared up at the ceiling, I could feel my right-hand tense up slightly, but I just chalked that up to my body instinctively limbering up for the chore ahead of me and being frustrated. I could also swear I saw a faint green light at the bottom of my eye line, but I thought I was just seeing things. I quietly sighed and closed my eyes. I was just about to look down and start my search when I suddenly felt something hit my foot.
I abruptly opened my eyes in surprise and confusion and slowly looked down to see, to my utter shock, the secateurs I was looking for at my feet. Those definitely had not been there before. I shakily knelt down to pick up the suddenly appearing pruning tool and examine it. I turned it in my hand, looking to see if there were any strings attached to the handle or something of that nature; unfortunately, not finding anything.
"The hell? How on earth did this end up by my feet? It couldn't have moved on its own," I questioned out loud, scratching my head in bewilderment. My head was starting to hurt from trying to think of an explanation, so I decided to leave the questions up in the air for now. I'm sure the answers will come in due time, but for now, I wasn't going to question it and get on with my work.
So, for the next few hours, I worked out in the garden, mowing the lawn before it got too tall, planting outdoor and indoor plants for the next growing season, and doing general maintenance of the whole garden; including the pruning of each tree and shrub. You would be surprised how much of the lawn gets torn up after two hyperactive children have played on it for a couple of weeks.
After making sure that the irrigation systems were working properly so I didn't have to keep watering the plants every day, I looked at my watch to see it was almost time for me to pick up the kids from school. I dusted myself off, having gotten used to getting my clothes dirty from all of my years of working in gardens, and made my way back through the house, grabbed my keys, and left.
Harrison and Scarlet's School
3:10PM
Soon enough, I drove up to the school and parked in front of the gates, not intending on staying for very long. It was 2:55PM when I arrived, they would be leaving in 5 minutes, so I waited... and waited... and waited... I watched all of the other kids coming out of school to greet their parents, but there was still no sign of either of mine after 15 minutes. Wondering what was taking them so long, I quickly parked in a proper parking space and got out of the car.
Harrison and Scarlet's school was a huge modern looking building with large glass windows all along the front where you could usually see all of the children being taught by their teachers. To get into the school, you had to go through the playground. I was just about to head into the school building, thinking that I would've noticed them if they were outside, when I heard a sudden scream, sounding distinctly like a little girl's.
I crept up beside a wall and peeked around it quietly, what I saw made hatred boil in my body. I saw Harry and Scarlet backed up against the wall, infuriation inscribed on their faces. In front of them was a boy that I recognised as Walter Martinez, a Spanish 11-year-old boy in Year 6. He's a spoiled little brat that gets whatever he wants; his parents are really wealthy and they pretty much built and own most of the buildings in our city, including our house, unfortunately.
"LEAVE US ALONE, WALTER!" Harry shouted in his face.
"Well, that's no way to treat a friend, is it?" Walter replied condescendingly in his posh accent. I saw him glance at the piece of paper that Scarlet had clutched in her hands. "What have you got there?"
"Nothing..." she whimpered, shying away from him.
"It can't be nothing if you're holding it as if your life depended on it. Give it here!" he reasoned, snatching the paper off her to examine it. I could just about see that it seemed to be a picture of our family. I smiled at the sweet sentiment but immediately clenched my fists, realising who had it in their grubby little hands at this moment.
"Hey! Give it back!" Harry yelled, trying to lunge for the picture but Walter yanked it away before he could reach.
"Is this your family?" Walter asked, ignoring the last comment. Scarlet nodded slowly and Walter seemed to look interested for a second. "This is so bad! Why would you draw something like this, and think that anyone would like it? Your precious 'Daddy' would never cherish this! This filth should be ripped up!"
At that, he took the top of the drawing by two hands and started to slowly tear it down the middle, revelling in the torture he was inflicting on them. "NO! STOP! PLEASE!" Scarlet screamed, tears rolling down her face; she probably spent ages drawing and now it was being destroyed right in front of her!
"HEY! What do you think you're doing?" It was my turn to step in now. I stepped out from my hiding place and strode towards them. Walter stopped ripping the top of the paper, his face instantly turning from horrid glee to utter shock and dismay.
"Um... Mr Walker! Fancy seeing you here...! I was just admiring the artwork that you daughter drew for you..." Walter lied, laughing nervously.
"By ripping it up?" I said quizzically, raising an eyebrow.
"Y-You saw that?" he asked, a little fearfully, hastily throwing the page at Scarlet's feet.
"Yes, I did. What makes you think you have ANY right to torment my kids like that?!" I said, raising my voice as I looked down on him.
"...Do you NOT know who I am?! I am Walter Martinez, son of Diego Martinez, head of the City Council, who owns most of the buildings all around here, even yours!" he replied as if he had been insulted, returning to his normal attitude.
"Yeah, I'm well aware of who you and your father are, and that he owns my house. That doesn't mean you can go pushing people about like you're above everyone else."
"Yes, it does! It means I have authority! If I don't like someone, I can get them evicted from their homes with a snap of my fingers!" he snapped his fingers to prove his point, trying to seem older than he actually was with his "eloquent" vocabulary. This kid didn't scare me in the slightest.
"Well, to me, you're just a spoiled little brat who doesn't know anything about the world he lives in! Relying on your dad for everything isn't going to get you anywhere. It's just going to make people hate you. But I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?!" This child has no right to talk to ANYONE like this! He needs to be put in his place.
"Excuse me?! You dare insult my family name! I was just trying to give some honest critique but that just seemed to blow up in my face!"
"You call that honest critique?! You dismissed it almost immediately and started ripping it up! She's six! You're just a bully who doesn't care about anyone but himself! I saw your face when you were ripping the paper up in front of them. You were loving it!"
"That art was a piece of rubbish! It was a waste of paper, just like they are a waste of space that shouldn't even exist!" He stared daggers at my two kids, then back at me. I saw them both tear up at the comment.
That was the last straw. I had had enough of this selfish brat. My fury had reached its peak. With steam firing out of my nostrils, I lurched towards him, gripping the front of his jumper and hoisted him up into the air. He was shocked, to say the least, and tried to struggle out of my grasp, but I held firm.
"YOU DO NOT SAY THAT ABOUT MY KIDS! I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOUR! I have half a mind to smack you right here and now, but I won't; I have morals, unlike you! Now, I suggest you get out of my sight before I RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!" I roared, spitting in his face, frightening the life out of him.
At that statement, I dropped him from the height I was holding him at, which wasn't high enough to hurt him, unfortunately. He landed ungracefully on his butt but quickly got up and dusted himself off. He looked furious, but I could see there was quite a bit of fear in his eyes. I had done my job.
"HOW DARE YOU! No one speaks to the Martinez family like that and gets away with it. I will be letting my father know about this encounter and then you will be sorry. You haven't heard the last of me, Darren Walker!" with that, he stomped away, ice cold stare on all three of us.
"Yeah, you go do that! See if I care!" I finished watching the disgraced boy go, tail between his legs. "Are you two alright?"
"W-We're fine, Daddy," Scarlet sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
"That... was... Awesome!" Harrison cheered. "You sure showed him, Dad! You even used a bad word on him. So cool!"
"No, not cool. I let my anger get to me again. What I did was very wrong, especially to someone like Walter. He may act mature, but he's still a kid like you. I'll probably pay the price for it later. Don't ever do what I just did, got it?" I interrupted, giving them a stern look.
"But he won't bother us again, right?" Scarlet asked, hope in her eyes.
"I don't think so, sweetie. He sounded pretty angry. But I will protect you from him, at all costs, alright?" I promised, getting on one knee and stroking her cheek softly.
"Ok, Daddy," she said sweetly, melting into my hand. I looked down to see the drawing that had started this ordeal. I picked it up and examined it.
All of the people that were drawn were stick figures drawn in various different colours. In the background was a drawing of our house, with a bright yellow sun and luminous green grass. It was very endearing. The tear in the top was only a quarter of the way down the page and could be easily fixed with sticky tape.
"...Do you like it?" She questioned, looking up at me with pleading eyes.
"I love it. As soon as we get home and we fix it, I'm putting it straight on the fridge," I complimented. I could see her light up immensely at the comment. It always seemed like putting their accomplishments on the fridge was the highest form of reward for kids.
"Hey, how about we forget this ever happened and head out?" They nodded at the suggestion and we started heading for the exit. "But we need to head to the supermarket first to get some dinner," they nodded again in understanding as we got into the car and skirted out of the school premises.
City Centre
3:32PM
It only took us ten minutes to get from school to the supermarket. Once we got there, it didn't take us long to find a parking spot in the marginally busy car park in front of the building. I stopped the car and started to grab my wallet.
"Ok, kids. Let's go get some f-" I started to say as I opened the driver side car door, but I was stopped as something incredibly strange happened. My body froze and my vision started to cloud up. I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't see my natural surroundings anymore and it was starting to freak me out. For a moment, I thought I had somehow gone blind, but suddenly, my vision started coming back. The fog was still there, but I could see something, and I wasn't inside my car.
I was outside of my car; more specifically, behind the boot, and it was open. I was placing the shopping inside and the kids were just about to get back into their car seats when I suddenly heard a scream.
"HELP! THAT MAN STOLE MY BAG!" a feminine voice shrieked as I saw a man who I think was in his mid 20's, wearing all black clothes, carrying a red handbag and running towards me at light speed. I looked behind him to see the woman in a red designer dress with long blonde hair trying to chase after him in her high heels.
I didn't have any time to react so he sprinted past me, nearly bowling me over. I knew I had to go after him, but I hesitated because I didn't want to leave Harry and Scarlet alone.
"Stay here. Don't move until I get back," I quickly said to them before turning back to the day-light robber. "HEY! STOP!" I shouted as I started to run off after him. He sped up his run at my shout, me following suit, thankful that I had a job that required good leg strength and stamina.
The thief turned a corner down another street with me following hot on his heels. Unfortunately for me, he seemed to have back-up, as he got into a car that was parked by the pavement before it skidded away, leaving me in the dust.
"Crap!" I shouted, hands on my knees out of breath. There was no catching up to them now. So, I started walking back to the car park defeated.
"-ad. Dad. DAD!" I heard a voice shouting to me as I came back to reality. Looking behind me, I could see Harrison shaking my shoulder, concern lacing his eyes. I was in a shocked daze; did I really just have a vision during the day? That had never happened to me before, ever. Why was all of this weird stuff happening today? First the pony vision, then the suddenly appearing secateurs, now this!
"Dad, are you okay? You spaced out there for a second," Harrison asked, a worried look on his face.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. J-Just lost in thought, that's all," I lied, trying to put on my best smile for him. I didn't want to scare them.
"OK..." he replied, not looking convinced but not questioning it. All the while, Scarlet looked oblivious to the world around her. "Are we going shopping or what?"
"Yes, let's go," I finished, watching them get out of their seats and exiting the car, me following suit.
We walked up to the car park towards the supermarket, thinking about what had just happened. "How can I have two visions in one day? This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. It's starting to scare me," I said to myself, guiding my children into the shop to buy all of the items we needed.
Ten minutes later, we had found all of the products and had paid for them at the till trying to put the second vision out of my mind. As I was starting to put the shopping in the boot of the car, I realised something. This is the exact same place I was in the vision!
"HELP! THAT MAN STOLE MY BAG!" a feminine voice shrieked suddenly. I didn't need to turn around to know what was going on, I had already lived through this. I knew I had to change this somehow. I had to stop this guy! I didn't want to have to get my pruning knife out of my pocket if I could help it, especially in public.
As soon as I knew he was going to pass me, I quickly spun around and put my foot in front of his path. He had no time to react and tripped, sending him sprawling to the ground in pain, handbag flying a few feet away from him. He started crawling towards the bag, dragging his toes along the ground. He was very determined to get away with this bag apparently, so I swiftly shuffled over and scooped it up out of his reach.
He looked up at me with a growl, appearing like he was about to lunge at me, so I booted him in the face for good measure, knocking him unconscious. I pulled out my phone and called 999, telling them about the situation. They got here five minutes later to arrest the man. I also hinted at the fact that this guy had some accomplices parked up around the corner waiting for him to show up. I handed the bag back to the woman, who thanked me profusely and gave me a grateful hug before we got back into our car and drove home.
Walker Residence
4:06PM
The drive home was full of praise and amazement from my kids, saying how cool I looked stopping the robbery. I tried not to have a huge grin on my face as I thought about how I changed the outcome of the situation for the better. Once we got home, I quickly got to work on fixing the picture that Scarlet had made. Putting it on the fridge really brightened her spirits.
We all tried to relax after the majorly long day we all had. The three of us play board games like Monopoly, and card games like Uno, for the next hour. Unsurprisingly, the kids won most of the games seeing how competitive they were, but it's always so much fun to play with them. I love these two rascals so much.
Deciding that we needed to get away from the games after a particularly rough game of tag out in the garden, I switched on the TV and let them pick what they wanted to watch. They decided on a cartoon, as expected, and we sat down on one of the sofas together and watched it. It was a very basic show, but Harry and Scarlet seemed to enjoy it, so I wasn't complaining.
Half an hour later, the show was over and the kids were bored again. They quickly thanked me for spending time with them and rushed upstairs to find something to do. I smiled at their child-like innocence. I kinda wish they didn't have to grow up.
I went to change the channel so I could relax for a little while before Dani got home, when I noticed the show that had started while I was talking to my kids. It looked to be a brightly coloured cartoon starring pastel-coloured... horses. I believe it's called My Little Pony if I remember correctly. I had heard about it before, mainly that it was tailored to little girls around Scarlet's age but that young men that were my age were enjoying the show as well. I didn't really see the appeal myself, but I won't judge their opinions.
This usually wouldn't be cause for concern; this show would usually come on after my kids watched TV and I would change the channel, but today, in my now tired state, I looked at the show more closely. There were currently two characters on the screen, one was a small light pink horse, possibly a filly, with a light blue curly mane wearing a sash and saddlebags, the other was a... purple horse with wings and a horn with a star tattoo in its lower back.
She, I deduced from the sound of her voice, was getting panicked that she was late for a class field trip, getting some saddlebags out of a cupboard while hopping back and forth on her hooves. The filly calms her down and tells her not to worry. I gasped as I realised something.
"That's the same horse from my vision!" I said to myself in astonishment. Speaking of which, I also realised that I was now in the same position I was in my vision too.
"Crap! This is actually happening," I said to myself again. I looked over to the corner of the room to see, unsurprisingly, the same bright purple light from the vision.
Knowing what was coming, I covered my eyes with my arm to make sure that I wasn't blinded. Once the light was gone, I uncovered them to see the thing I had been waiting for all day. Standing before me was the same purple horse that was just on TV. She was giving me a radiant smile, but I could see a small expression of worry in her eyes.
"Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle," The purple equine introduced herself, extending a hoof out in what I could only assume was a handshake. I very hesitantly accepted the shake, not wanting to be rude.
"H-Hi. I'm D-Darren Walker." I stuttered, still bewildered by the fact that I was talking to a purple pony from a little girl's TV show. I'm so glad that I know what's going on.
"Oh, I already know! I also know that you are a family man, living with your wife, Dani, and two kids, Harrison and Scarlet," she stated, making me even more baffled now.
"How did you-" I started to ask but she beat me to it.
"How did I know that? I've been watching you for a little while now, Darren. Studying you and your kind, learning what makes you tick," she replied, sitting on her haunches.
"So, you were basically stalking me?!" I asked, not truly believing what I was hearing.
"No, no, no, no, no! Nothing like that! Think of it more like a scientist observing a test subject. It was really fascinating to see how you talked and interacted with others. How different your kind is to mine is amazing," This was getting a little weird now, not that we weren't already living in Strangeville. This pony had been watching my every move, probably taking down notes like some weirdo, while I was none the wiser.
"O... kay. I'm just going to forget the fact that that's a little creepy. For now. You seem to know so much about me, but I don't know anything about you, apart from the fact that you're a magical talking pony who has been watching me for God knows how long."
"Oh, of course. As I said, I am Twilight Sparkle. I am the Princess of Friendship, one of the ruling Princesses presiding over the Kingdom of Equestria."
"Equestria? I've never heard of it before?"
"That's because it doesn't exist here. It's in a parallel universe where ponies replace humans."
"Ok, I guess that makes sense. Wait, you said you were ONE of the Princesses?"
"Yes, along with Princess Celestia, the Princess of The Sun, Princess Luna, the Princess of The Moon, who rule from the capital city of Canterlot, and Princess Cadence, the Princess of Love, who mainly governs over The Crystal Empire."
It took me a moment to process this information. "...What about you? Where do you 'rule' from?"
"Oh, I live in the small town of Ponyville, with my friends," Equestria? Canterlot? Ponyville? Way to be completely obvious with these names. I noticed that she seemed to have a more sombre tone of voice at the mention of her friends.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I decided to kneel down and get more on her level.
"Nothing... It's just that..." She seemed to have a hard time getting the words out, she couldn't even look me in the eye. "I miss my friends. I've been stuck in your world for a week now... They must be really worried about me."
"A week? Why can't you get back? As a matter of fact, how did you get here in the first place?"
"I used my magic. Magic is a major part of my world. It took a lot of energy to cast the spell to get here. I've only just gotten all of my magical ability back; I can go back home now whenever I want to."
"Why haven't you then?"
"Because I wanted to make contact with you first," she gave me a small smile, beaming at me with those huge eyes of hers that just couldn't help but make me smile at just how cute she looked.
"But out of the 7 BILLION people on earth, you chose to 'observe' me? You chose to make contact with me? Why?"
"Darren, from the moment I saw you, I knew you were somepony- someone... special. After observing you, I've seen how much of a nice person you can be. I saw you protecting your kids earlier, and how you stopped that mean thief too. I may not completely approve of your methods, but you were doing it for the right reasons."
"It was nothing, really. I was just doing right by my kids and that woman. Anyone would have done it," I blushed at the compliment.
"But you're not just 'anyone,' I said you were special and I mean it. I think it's obvious why I picked you." What does she mean by 'special?' Whatever she found so obvious wasn't to me.
"How so? I'm no one that special. I'm just Darren."
"Wait, you don't know? You're more special than any of the other humans I've seen. Your visions! Haven't you ever wondered why you have them? Where they come from?"
"My visions? No, I haven't. I've had them almost all my life. I never questioned them, until today... How are these relevant?" Now I was more confused than ever. How do my visions have anything to do with this?
"You really don't know. How can you not know!?"
"Know what!? What are you going on about?! Get to the point already!" I was starting to get angry that this pony was beating around the bush like this.
"Ok, Ok!" She sighed, clearly having a hard time getting the words out. “You might find this hard to believe. Darren... you have magic!"
…
…
…
"Ha ha ha ha ha! That's funny...! 'I have magic.' Please..." I laughed. That was complete rubbish. There is no way I have magic. I looked at Twilight's face to see her expression hadn't changed. If anything, it looked even more serious than before.
"...Wait, you're not joking? That's not possible! Magic doesn't exist!" I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as magic or ghosts. They make no sense in my mind and I don't know why people believe that nonsense whole-heartedly.
"But what about what happened earlier today, with your pruning tool? It just appeared at your feet out of nowhere."
"It was probably just at my feet all along and I didn't notice it straight away. That doesn't mean I have magic."
"No, it wasn't. You used Equestrian magic, more specifically levitation, to pull the tool from the pile. I saw you do it. I know you wield Equestrian magic. I'm the Element of Magic for Celestia's sake! I know magic when I see it!" she stomped her hoof to assert her point.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but we're not in your world, are we? Magic is non-existent here. There is no way for it to exist. You should know that if you 'observed' me for so long."
"I got here by using my magic, didn't I?! What if somepony, or something, used magic to get to this world. I've seen it happen before." She stood back up and stepped towards me almost aggressively.
"Again, I don't know what you're talking about, but you're wrong about me! There is no such thing as magic in this world, and there is no way you are changing my mind!”
"I'm not wrong about this! I know, with absolute certainty, that you have magic!" I had had enough of this craziness for one day.
"Just stop! This is ridiculous! I suggest you go. Go back to your world. You're wasting your time," I turned away from her with my arms crossed, adamant on my opinions and viewpoints, hoping that she would just leave.
"But... Darren..." she tried to continue, but I was done. I was at my boiling point with this... pony.
"I SAID GO!" I yelled, suddenly spinning around and putting my right hand out in front of me. I don't know what I was planning to do but I never managed to do it; suddenly I felt a buzz of energy in my head and a luminous light green aura type bubble came out of my hand and was sent flying across the room, straight past Twilight, hitting Dani’s vase. The vase was covered in the aura and sent soaring off its podium and onto the floor a few feet away, luckily not broken on the soft carpet.
Dani would have my head if that thing broke. I stood there in pure shock, processing what had just happened. My mind was blown. Twilight was right. I had magic. I gasped as I suddenly remembered something.
I could also swear I saw a faint green light at the bottom of my eye line, but I thought I was just seeing things. I quietly sighed and closed my eyes. I was just about to look down and start my search when I suddenly felt something hit my foot.
Twilight looked shocked at first, looking at the vase that had been forced to the ground, but then she looked back at me with a massive smirk on her face. "HA! See, I told you! But you didn't want to believe me!" she gloated. I was flabbergasted. I had managed to shoot an otherworldly aura from my hand and send a vase flying to the floor, all without touching it.
"What was that?!" I asked in utter disbelief, looking down at my hands with a little fear of the unknown.
"I would say that was a small but powerful burst of a levitation spell. It's one of the simplest spells for a normal unicorn back in my world to master. Seeing as you didn't know how to control it, it was sent out in a burst of energy that sent the vase across the room instead of taking hold of it so you could move it," she explained matter-of-factly. As if to show her point, I saw her horn lit up with the same sort of aura that was just released from my hand, except it was purple instead of green. That aura surrounded the vase and it was levitated off the floor and back onto its podium.
"I did that!?" I said, more so to myself than Twilight. I was scared now. "What about with the secateurs?"
"That was a more concentrated levitation spell. You actually took hold of the tool and moved it yourself, as opposed to pushing it away with a burst of energy."
"But I didn't even know I could do that yet!"
"You did wish for it to appear at your feet. You must have done it subconsciously, without even thinking."
All of this new information, about alternate dimensions and magic was giving me a headache. I needed to sit down, so I slumped down on the sofa in a sort of numb daze. "H-How do I control it?"
"You would have to train yourself to master your magic. I can help you with that."
"You would do that? After only just meeting me?" I gave her a sceptical look.
"Of course. I wouldn't still be here if I didn't want to help you," she gave me a smile, probably recognising the fear in my eyes. "Besides, I've watched you for long enough now that I can consider you a good person."
"…That's still a little bit creepy... And you've only been watching me for a week. I don't think that's enough time to fully trust someone, and I only just met you! I'm not sure I can trust you," Twilight's face fell at that comment with an almost hurt expression. This caused me to pause. She seemed to have good intentions, even if her methods are... unorthodox at best. "...But... I have no idea how to control this... magic. I guess I have no choice. Let's get started!" I rubbed my hands together, ready to get this done.
Her face lit up again for a second, before becoming serious again. "Great, but I don't know whether it's a good idea to do it here..."
"Why not? The kids are busy doing whatever upstairs, Dani won't be home for at least half an hour, we're alone. I don't see a problem."
"It could be dangerous. You could hurt somepony- someone... in an environment like this, and I don't really want to be spotted either. I would feel a lot better about this if you... came to my world?" I was surprised that she would make this suggestion.
"You can do that?"
"Yes, if I can come here, I don't see why I can't take you back with me," I was definitely uncertain about this, especially with what I had seen from the vision this morning.
"...How long would I be there for?"
"That's the thing. I don't know how long it'll be before I can transport you back. It will take even more energy to get both of us there, so it could be a lot longer than a week. It's nowhere near permanent, but it could still be a while," this had me severely worried. What about my wife, my kids? They would be lost without me.
"Wait, I can't just leave my normal life for god knows how long. What about my family. Dani, Harry, Scarlet. How do you think they would feel if I just suddenly disappeared?"
"I know how you feel, but this is the only way this will work out. I've been here long enough as it is."
"T-There has to be another way! Can't they come with me?"
"That's not a good idea. I don't think I would have enough magical power to send four people and myself to Equestria all at once. It was hard enough to get myself here as it was."
"...Then I'm not going. I'm not leaving my family alone! You’re just going to have to stay here." I stood back up, adamant in my decision.
"But, Darren, you have no idea how to use your magic properly. If you don't come with me, then literally anything could happen. You're getting stronger, Darren. I don't want you hurting anypony!" She stepped towards me aggressively again, forgetting to correct herself. “And I can’t stay here! I’ve been here long enough as it is! I have duties back in Equestria that I can’t leave behind, and they’re important, as am I. What if Equestia is attacked and I’m-”
"I don't care! I'm not going and that's final! If you’re not going to stay, then I can figure it out on my own. I work better alone anyway. I'm sure I can figure it out somehow... Now would be a good time for you to leave. You've done enough," I interrupted, turning away from her once again stubbornly, hoping she would actually leave this time.
I had never really been one for "teamwork." I've worked alone all my life, apart from my family. They are the only people I trust. I only considered going with this pony because I was scared of whatever this magic was. Where did it come from? Why did I have it? All of these answered I would have to find out on my own. The room was silent for a moment. I almost thought she had left.
"...Fine. I get it. You can't bear to leave and let your family be alone without knowing where you are..." I smiled to myself, knowing I was finally getting through to her. "But I can't just sit on the sidelines and watch you possibly hurt somepony you care about with magic you don't understand. So, you've left me no choice. You've forced my hoof."
I realised that those words sounded all too familiar. She had said that in my vision. I knew exactly what that meant. I turned back to Twilight to see her eyes were closed and her horn was shrouded in her aura again. She was concentrating on the spell would take her home and, based on the vision and what she just said, she was taking me with her whether I liked it or not.
"Twilight... You don't want to do this..." I warned her.
"I'm sorry Darren, but I'm doing this for your own good," she replied with her eyes still closed. I could see her horn glowing brighter and brighter, getting closer to the apex of the spell. I can't let her do this! I wasn't going to be trapped in her world as the vision had said. I was going to change this outcome if it was the last thing I do! I did the first thing I could think of.
"Oh no, you don't! I'm not going with you!" I shouted as I sprinted across the room and tackled her to the ground, grabbing her by the horn. She yelped as we collided with the hard floor, taking away her concentration from the spell. Unfortunate for me, I was too late as the spell was cast before she completely lost her focus. We were suddenly shrouded in the same white light that had appeared when Twilight had shown up. Before I could do anything else to stop this process, the spell took full effect and I blacked out.
Act 1:2 - An Audience with Princess Celestia
Darren
Location: ???
Date and Time: ???
I slowly woke up once again to aches and pains throughout my body, groaning lightly as I tried to get comfortable on the soft surface I was laying on. “...Ugh, I need to stop getting myself in these types of situations... It's going to be the death of me one of these days.” I groaned to myself.
Wait, shouldn’t I be dead. Last time I checked I was freefalling down a cliff after trying to save someone from dying. I opened my eyes to see where I had ended up. Luckily, I wasn’t blinded this time; it was quite dark, but I could see that I was in what looked like a prison cell with stone walls, floor, and ceiling.
I was lying on a thin bed that was far too small for me, attached to the wall by two thick chains. There was a white sheet over me that only just covered my whole body. There was a toilet and sink to my left and a heavy steel door with a barred window in the top for the guards to look through. I did sneak into the royal castle, but come on, I saved one of the guards from dying. I could hear the beep of a heart rate monitor next to me. At least these ponies had the decency to try and keep me alive.
On a table to my left, I could see what looked like a pile of clothes, but what surprised me was that the shirt on top of the pile had the same trowel and fork logo on it as the shirt I was currently wearing. I then noticed that I could feel the sheet against my skin.
By shifting around, I discovered that I could still move my arms, so I quickly flung the sheet off of me to check if my suspicions were correct. To my horror, they were. I was completely naked under the sheet, my hairy body exposed for all the world to see, meaning that whoever took care of me removed my clothes and repaired them. What I found surprising was that, apart from a few scars on my arms, legs, chest, and probably my back as well, I was completely fine. How was that even possible? I fell thousands of feet down a mountain onto sharp rocks. I should be DEAD right now.
Suddenly, the multiple locks on the door, and by multiple I mean an excessive amount, started unlocking, and it slowly inched open to reveal a small rose red furred, black maned unicorn wearing a nurse's uniform, a stethoscope, and glasses. I quickly covered myself back up with the sheet, trying to not blush.
She gasped when she noticed I was looking at her. “Oh, you startled me sir. Glad to see that you are awake. I'm Nurse Freeheart and I've been looking after you while you have been asleep,” the nurse told me as she trotted over to the side of my bed and lifted a clipboard that I hadn’t noticed before off of the end of the bed with her magic. I'll never get over the fact that magic exists in this world.
“How long was I out for?” I asked her, sitting myself up, making sure to keep myself covered.
"Three days. You took quite the fall, didn't you?" Nurse Freeheart replied, chuckling lightly.
"You could say that," I said with a small smile, trying to make light of the situation. "Speaking of which, how am I not... you know... dead?"
"From what I've heard, you shouldn't have survived that fall. You had a broken spine, fractured tibias and humeri, multiple cracked ribs and various deep cuts that definitely would've caused blood loss. Not to mention having first degree burns all over your body. You were just lucky that the Princess got to you when she did and healed you with her magic. She doesn't just do that for anypony, you know," she answered, glancing down at the clipboard.
Princess Luna saved my life? Why would she do that? Last time I checked, she was hell bent on capturing me. She was obviously successful, seeing as I was in a cell right now, but I crept around the castle and woke her from her sleep for reasons that she doesn't know about yet. She could have easily left me for dead. Why didn’t she?
"We also found some trances of magic where you landed. Do you happen to know anything about this?" the nurse continued.
"...Yeah. I might have an idea," I answered vaguely. That caught me off guard. So that's what that weird warmth around me was. It must have been me subconsciously using my magic again. I really need to figure out how to control that.
Speaking of which,"Is that stallion ok?" I asked urgently, hoping that he wasn't hurt too badly from crashing through that window.
"You mean Rookie? He's fine, thanks to you. None of the cuts he had were fatal, even if some of them were quite deep, before the princess healed him that is. He's been through a lot worse though. But you saved his life. You should be happy!" she replied with a look of admiration. How could he have gone through worse. He almost died because of me! What could be worse than that? Also, why does everyone keep calling him Rookie? That’s all I hear him being called. Is that some kind of sick nickname?
"Yeah, well, the only reason he was in danger in the first place was because of me. All because I had to sneak into the castle to try and talk to the Princess. I'm such an idiot." I put my head in my hands in shame and groaned audibly.
"You snuck into the castle?! I was wondering why the Princess insisted on you being put in here. I would have liked it if you were in a hospital bed instead, but I can't really argue with the Princess of the night."
"It was probably the dumbest idea I've ever had. I ended up being corner in a room full of stained glass windows..." So I briefly recounted the events of that day, trying to stick to the most relevant information.
"Wow, you're so brave. I don't think I would be able to do something like that." She paused and gave me a long look up and down my body. "You seem like a good enough... creature. I'm sure you had your reasons for breaking into the castle." I gave her a look of confusion back. Why are these ponies so trusting? I literally BROKE into the ROYAL castle, FOUGHT one of the royal guards, and almost got him KILLED, and she pushed that aside because I seem like a good guy for saving him, saying I had my reasons for breaking in! This world is so backwards.
"I'm not sure how the Princesses are going to interpret it though. They're probably getting mixed signals from me. I snuck into the castle, caused harm to one of the royal guards, broke a window that looked quite important, and almost killed a living being. But I also saved that being's life by putting myself in danger to do so. I haven't been here long and I'm already making enemies. I wouldn't be surprised if I get put away for life." Nurse Freeheart put her hoof on my shoulder reassuringly.
"The princesses can be quite reasonable. I'm sure you'll be fine." She gave me another small smile, which helped calm my nerves slightly.
I saw the clothes out of the corner of my eye and I had to ask. "By the way, did you repair my clothes?"
"Oh yes, I did. I was thinking that you wouldn't want your clothes to be ripped and burned to shreds, so I took the liberty of sewing them back together."
"Thank goodness you did. They are the only clothes I have at the moment, but you didn't have to do that you know. You don’t even know me."
"It's the least I could do for you after you saved Rookie's life. He's been going through a lot lately, and he can be quite reckless at times. I'm hoping this will be the wakeup call he needs to start looking after himself more."
Suddenly, the cell door opened once again. I glanced behind the nurse to see a royal guardpony standing there, stern look on her face. She had brown fur and purple eyes. Unlike the other guards I had seen, she was wearing gold trimmed grey armour with a sword in the stone symbol in the centre on her chest.
"Looks like it's time for you to see the princesses. Let me detach you for the heart rate monitor.” She quickly unhooked the tubes and wires from the machines around me before she turned and started to walk away. “I'll leave you be now. It was nice meeting you."
"Hey, Nurse Freeheart." I called out to her quickly. She looked at me and hummed in acknowledgement. "I just thought you should know, my name is Darren Walker."
"Well, I hope to see you soon Mr Walker." She gave me one more small smile.
"I would hope not." She gave me a confused look at that comment. I guess that sounded a little mean. "I'm not planning on getting hurt anytime soon."
She realised her mistake, giggling lightly. "Let's hope not. Goodbye, Mr Walker." With that, she left the room, hoofsteps slowly fading away, leaving me alone with the guard.
"Ok, creature, let's go. The princesses are waiting for our arrival," the guard ordered, her voice gravelly, intense eyes glaring daggers at me. I winced at her harsh words.
"Um, can you leave the room so I can get dressed please?" I asked, hoping that she wouldn‘t get angry at me.
She growled, shaking her head lightly. "...Ok, be quick! We can't keep the princesses waiting," she relented, slowly leaving the room. I hurriedly got out of the bed, feeling no pain whatsoever except for my aching bones, grabbed my newly stitched and apparently clean clothes, and slipped them on.
I noticed that everything was here except for my leather jacket. They must have confiscated it after I took it off before my fight with Rookie. I should ask for it back when I confront the Princesses, especially seeing as I keep my pruning knife in one of the inside pockets.
Once I was dressed, I left the cell to see the guard waiting patiently for me. "Done? Good, now move! We haven't got all day." She yelled, nudging me harshly in the direction of some stairs with his head, poking me in the back with her horn.
"Ok, ok, I'm going. Jeez," I said, quickly following the direction she was pushing me.
After going up an almost infinite number of stairs, I was back in the maze of hallways, except this time I was being escorted by a guard, about to be judged by the Princesses of this land that I don't belong in. I looked out of the window as we walked to see that the sun was high in the sky, maybe around noon time. Guards patrolled the corridors, giving me glances as we passed. Castle staff stalked around, doing their assorted jobs.
To say that I screwed up would be an understatement, and now I was about to pay the price for it. I didn't know what they would do with me, but I couldn't help but hang my head low as I took the walk of shame.
It's funny; just a few days ago I was waking up with my wife in my arms, my kids sleeping next door, just enjoying my life. Now I'm waking up in a world full of magical talking ponies and being prosecuted for crimes that I have committed in said world. I almost laughed out loud at the thought.
As we walked the halls, it looked like we passed Princess Luna's room, the very same room that I got caught in. It was very ornately decorated, painted dark blue and littered with star patterns. The handle in the middle of the door had a bright moon on it that split when the door was opened. How I didn't notice and realise the significance before was beyond me.
Suddenly, after turning another corner, my vision started to fog up again. I started to internally panic but I eventually calmed down when I realised that I was having another one of my visions...
The fog cleared to reveal I was in a grand hall, the ceiling a mile high. In front of me, two thrones sat on an elevated platform with intricate patterns around them, one was empty, the other sat Princess Luna, her majestic mane waving furiously in the non-existent wind, dark blue body sitting proudly. To my right, looking out one of the stained glass windows that looked like a sun high in the sky, stood another pony in the same sort of attire as Luna, but with white fur. That must be Princess Celestia.
I looked up at Princess Luna and she gave me a strained look. "About that..." She started. Princess Celestia turned around sharply and gave her sister a slight shake of her head and I could have sworn I saw her mouth "no" under her breath. "He needs to know, Tia."
She sighed, a resigned look on her face. "You're right. I shouldn't be hiding anything from you. Not something that would be this important to you. That incident I just mentioned, was the main reason why we locked the scroll away. It was because..." Suddenly, out of nowhere, a beam of what I could only assume was magic shot from my right and hit Celestia in the head and partially on the horn, knocking her back a few feet.
"PRINCESS!" I shouted, quickly rushing over to her lifeless form and checking for a pulse. She was still alive, but unconscious. I'm was pretty sure if we didn't get her to a hospital soon, she wouldn't be in good condition any time soon. I looked to where the beam came from, the main throne room door, and I saw a figure move away from the door like a blur. Before I could do anything, however, the fog started rolling back in, obscuring my vision of the scene.
"HEY! CREATURE!" a loud voice shouted out, nearly bursting my ear drums as I came back to reality. Looks like we had still been walking while I was having my vision, and now we were standing before a giant set of double doors, with two guards standing either side with eyes staring straight ahead.
"What...? Sorry, must have spaced out there for a second." I half lied.
She gave me another stern look. "Well, pay more attention! As I was saying, you are about to have an audience with the Princesses. You will give them your utmost respect and do as they say. Don't try anything, otherwise we will have no choice but to incapacitate you. Do I make myself perfectly clear!" She continued, her voice raising as she talked.
"Completely. You won't have any more problems from me." I answered, giving her the most serious look I could muster.
"Good. We shouldn’t have anything to worry about then," she finished before turning to the guards posted at the doors and giving them a quick nod, letting them know to open the doors, which they did at once with a salute.
What awaited me beyond those doors was the giant throne room, similar in style to the stained-glass hallway. On either side of the room, more stained-glass windows were present, but not as intricately designed as the others. A red carpet lined the floor, leading up to the two thrones from my vision, except with Princess Celestia sitting in it proudly, her blue, green, purple and pink mane flowing just like her sisters. Sitting on her right was Princess Luna, who was still glaring daggers at me, but not as intensely as before. A large circle stained glass window hung above the thrones. This room only seemed to make me even more nervous.
Several guards were standing in a line down the carpet and around the throne, looking as stern as the British royal guards do when patrolling Buckingham Palace. I wonder if they get the same grief from the general public as they do. They did however give me some strange looks, mostly neutral, but some of them angry, as I walked past, only serving to make me feel more nervous. Standing up near the throne, to my surprise, was the stallion I saved, Rookie. He wasn’t wearing his helmet, showing off his azure blue mane with alternating lighter blue streaks that hung down in front of his eyes. When he noticed me, he looked absolutely ecstatic to see that I was alive and well.
As we approached, Celestia regarded me with gentle eyes that somehow seemed to be searching my soul, almost like she was looking through all of my darkest secrets and working out what makes me tick. I couldn't help but rub the back of my neck from nervousness.
The guardpony who brought me here bowed low before the princesses, before addressing them. "Princess, I have brought you the creature that snuck into the castle."
"Thank you, Captain. You may return to your duties." Princess Celestia commanded politely. Captain? Why would she have the captain come and get me? Doesn't she have other more important jobs she could be doing? She bowed once more before turning around and marching out of the room, leaving me with the Princesses. "So, you’re the one my sister has been telling me so much about."
"Yep, that's me... The guy who always seems to have trouble follow him wherever he goes," I laughed anxiously, rubbing my neck so much that I felt it would start smoking. "My name is Darren Walker and I'm a human."
"I'm Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna, and we rule over this fair land," she introduced herself and her sister, even though I already know who they are, in a calming voice, making me relax a little. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, we would like to know why you broke into the castle and what you were planning on doing?"
"And what you were doing in my living quarters?!" Princess Luna added, a lot louder than Celestia, making me tense up once again.
"It was never my intention to sneak into the castle. I just wanted to talk to you. I felt like I had no choice." I started to explain. Luna looked at me with confusion evident on her face, while Celestia remained emotionless, listening to my explanation. "I needed to see you as soon as possible and I didn't know you had to make an 'appointment'. I couldn't wait and I didn't know what else to do, so I hid in a food delivery cart and snuck in."
“We should start checking the contents of the carts that enter the palace from now on,” Celestia muttered to herself.
"I only ended up in Princess Luna's room because I needed a place to hide and that was the closest room available. I didn't know I was entering your room while you were sleeping, it was just a coincidence," I continued. Luna still didn't seem to happy that her private bedroom was infiltrated, but she seemed to accept my answer.
Celestia nodded in understanding. "Ahh, I see. So you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." I nodded my head in agreeance. "That clears that up. Now, about the events that took place in the great hall. Rookie here told us that you got into a fight-"
I winced audibly. "Ok, I know what you're going to say, and I know it seems bad, but I wasn't actually planning on doing anything bad. My anger got the better of me, and before I knew what was happening, he was crashing through the window. And it ended with me 'dead' at the bottom of the mountain. I guess I got what I wanted, but in the worst way possible, and for that, I am sorry. Do whatever you wish with me. I deserve to be locked up for what happened to Rookie," I held my head low in guilt.
There was a long pause as everyone in the room digested what I just said. I could hear the guards whispering amongst themselves. Rookie gave me a sad smile. Princess Luna seemed to have calmed down significantly and Princess Celestia looked to be thinking.
"Now why would I do that?" she finally replied, shocking me. That seemed to surprise Luna too.
"Wait what? You're not going to arrest me? Even after I snuck into your castle and intentionally harmed and almost killed one of your royal guards?" I questioned, looking at her like she had gone insane.
"Of course not. You may have tried to harm one of my guards, but you made amends by saving his life, and I can't thank you enough for saving one of my little ponies." She smiled down at me brightly.
"Well, I can't just sit back and watch as someone gets hurt, especially if I'm the one that caused it. I had to do something and I would do it again in a heartbeat." I saw Rookie grin widely at that and I could swear I saw him start to tear up.
"But sister, shouldn't he be punished in SOME way for his actions?" Luna inquired.
"I actually agree," I admit, surprising Luna. "I shouldn't just get off scot-free for sneaking into the royal castle, especially seeing as one of those stained-glass windows was smashed. I'm guessing that window commemorated something important, right?"
"Yes, it was important. It was to commemorate The Elements of Harmony and the defeat of Nightmare Moon," Celestia answered. The Elements of Harmony? Nightmare Moon? What is she talking about? I'll have to ask later. Now's not the time for small talk. She sighed, looking between me and Luna. "If you both think that it is necessary, then you could do some community service."
"Sister, don't the work ponies need help renovating the royal garden," Luna suggested.
"That's perfect. I'm a landscape gardener back where I come from, so I know everything there is to know about that sort of thing."
"It's settled then. You can help with the work in the royal garden for the next few days until it is completed," Celestia declared. She got up from her throne and started to descend down the red carpet towards me, her pristine white fur reflecting the light of the sun off of her body. The guards seemed to be prepared just in case I attacked. "Now that leads me onto my next question. You just said 'back where I come from,' but where do you come from exactly, and how did you get here?"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. You could say that I'm not from around here. I'm actually from another world," I answered, Celestia standing right in front of me now, small smile on her face. She was the same height as me and was actually quite intimidating up close. I couldn't help but step back a little as she approached.
"And you want to know how I got here. Well, you should ask your fourth princess. You know her as Twilight Sparkle?" I said, a smirk on my lips and a twinkle in my eye. Luna looks stunned by this news, but Celestia looked unfazed, expression unchanged.
"I figured as much, but I didn't expect Twilight to be responsible. It would explain why she left Canterlot so abruptly."
"But sister, didn't we lock that spell away for everypony’s safety? How could Twilight Sparkle possibly have found it?" Luna questioned, much to my confusion.
"Wait. What are you two talking about? Twilight did say something about a spell, but what exactly is this spell?" I asked. They hesitated for a second, glancing back at each other before addressing me.
"I don't see the harm in telling you," Celestia started, walking around me until she's standing on my right looking out of the window. "The spell in question was created by Starswirl the Bearded, a powerful unicorn and mine and my sister's personal teacher, over 1000 years ago. It allows the caster to transport themselves and others through dimensions. We locked it away so that it couldn't be used by evil beings that would use it for their own selfish reasons."
"Apparently you didn't hide it well enough, if Twilight was able to find it so easily," I said, more thoughts running through my mind. A thousand years ago?! Wait, are the princess's immortal? This land is in safe hands- uhh hooves, with all of the knowledge they must have.
"I guess you’re right. Sometimes Twilight can be too curious and smart for her own good," she agreed, shaking her head in exasperation, smile on her face nonetheless. "Anyway, after a certain incident, we were all sworn to never learn or use it again. Something could go wrong, and It would be way too dangerous in the wrong hooves. They could do terrible things to creatures in the many multitude of worlds out there."
"And that event was...?" I asked, waving my hand in a circle as a gesture for her to elaborate.
"It... isn't all that important," she replied with a hint of hesitation. Luna gave her a puzzled look, like she was asking ‘What are you doing?’
"O... k. Anyway, I need to get to Twilight so that she can send me home, seeing as she brought me here against my will!" I stated, my voice rising in anger, scrunching up my hands into fists. I quickly breathed out heavily to calm myself down. "I have a family that are probably really worried about me."
They both seemed surprised by my sudden anger. “That’s unlike her to do something so brash. What reason would she have to do such a thing?” Celestia asked.
Should I tell them? Can I really trust them with this kind of information? I’ve only just met them. They may be the rulers of this land, but that doesn’t mean that I can trust them as far as I can throw them.
“...That’s not important right now. All that matters is getting to her as soon as possible so that she can fix this mess she’s created.” I answered vaguely, Celestia giving me a pensive look, almost like she was trying to get an answer out of me just by looking at my eyes and body language.
Luna gave me a strained look. "About that..." She started. Princess Celestia turned her head sharply and gave her sister a slight shake of her head and I could have sworn I saw her mouth "no" under her breath. "He needs to know, Tia."
"Wait a minute..." I whisper to myself under my breath, getting a sense of déjà vu. Celestia started talking, but I already knew what she was going to say. I didn't even need to look around to know what was going on. There was absolutely no way I was going to let this happen, not on my watch.
"PRINCESS, LOOK OUT!" I instinctively sprinted toward Celestia and tackled her out of the way just at the beam fired, skimming my hair ever so slightly. We ended up in a heap on the throne room floor, with me on top of the solar diarch. She, and all of the other ponies around us, looked at me in utter shock. I had just saved one of the rulers of Equestria from what could be considered as an assassination attempt.
"Are you alright?" I asked, hoping to god that I didn't hurt her as I tackled her to the hard floor.
"I'm... fine," she said, shock still evident on her face. I gasped, quickly realising that the assailant was still here, and looked at the double doors to see a glowing horn hastily power down and slink away, then a dark figure swiftly galloping out of sight.
"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled, hurriedly lifting myself to my feet and sprinting towards the doors. I felt the same major headache overcome me again and I could have sworn I saw a tint of green flowing below me, but I paid it no mind. All that mattered was that this pony was captured and brought to justice.
I swung the doors up, almost breaking them off of their hinges, and made my way out into the maze of hallways. I could see that the two guards that were posted on either side of the doors were slumped down onto the floor. Luckily, they were still breathing, but unconscious. I surveyed the branching corridors, looking for any sign of the 'assassin,' until I suddenly saw a dark purple tail flick down the far corner straight ahead of me. I sped after them without hesitation, seeing the guards from the throne room gallop out behind me, but quickly being left behind.
Thanks to Luna healing me, I was back to full health, and quickly gaining on the criminal, who appeared to be wearing a brown tattered hooded clock. I could just about reach out and grab their tail, but before I could, they turned their head to me and fired a beam of magic at my feet, hitting the ground and missing me by mere inches. This made me stumble and lose a few feet of distance, but I was able to keep my balance and continue the chase.
This continued for a few more minutes, with me slowly catching up to the fleeing pony and them firing magical beams at me, which pushed me back. I even started to be able to dodge their attacks and kept my speed, but they always seemed to predict my every move and keep me at bay, swerving left and right at the right moments and taking corners when I least expected it.
We eventually made it down to the main hall, but unlike when the guards were chasing me, there was no one here, not a single pony. So, when you’re chasing someone who isn’t that big of a threat, there are guards absolutely everywhere, but when there is someone who is an actual threat to society, there’s no one around. Now, how is that fair? I descended down the stairs three at a time.
The criminal rushed through the hall, making a beeline for the front door, but before they even had a chance to open it, it burst open to reveal hundreds of guards on the other side, all armed with spears. The assailant skidded to a halt, turned on their hooves and galloped towards the door on their right, which unfortunately for them also swung opened to reveal more guards. They turned around once more and headed towards the left door, and what would you know, more guards there too. They were trapped on all sides. And I instantly take back my thoughts.
“We got you now, bitch! You’re trapped. There is nowhere for you to run, no way for you to escape.” I declared as I got to the bottom of the stairs, seeing the guards from the throne room trotting up behind me, most of them clearly out of breath from trying to keep up with us. I couldn’t see the culprit's face under the matted hood they had up, but I could just about see their blue muzzle. The strangest part about this was that they didn’t look defeated. They were actually smiling.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” The pony rebutted, calm feminine voice echoing around the room. “A storm is coming, and no pony is prepared for it.” Under the hood, I could see a faint blue light. I knew immediately what it could be.
There was no way she was getting away. I sped towards her, hoping to stop her before she could use a spell to get away. Unfortunately, she suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue light before I could grab her. I did, however, manage to grab her hood as she teleported away, meaning that it hadn’t teleported with her and I now held it in my hands.
So, here I was, standing in the middle of the main hall of a royal castle surrounded by guardponies, who were all after another pony who had just tried to assassinate one of the reigning pony diarchies who I had just saved. Let's just say that my day so far had been... interesting.
“We need to find her. Now! We’ll split up and search Canterlot. She was rushed, so she can’t have teleported far.” I ordered the guards, who gave me confused looks.
“Umm, you can’t order us around.” One of the guards from the throne room stated.
“Do you want to find her or not?!” I shouted, causing some of the guards to flinch back. I quickly got responses of ‘yes’ and ‘of course.’ “That’s what I thought.”
The ring of guards disbanded, forming groups varies sizes and heading out into Canterlot. I quickly saw a pony I would probably have ingrained into mind for the rest of my life. “Rookie!” He looked at me with green eyes full of surprise. “You’re with me.” I usually work alone, but we needed to find this pony, and two pairs of eyes are better than one. He looked even more shocked, if that was even possible, before being filled with sheer joy and bounding towards me like a dog after not seeing his master for years. I gave him a look of pure confusion. Why was he so happy to be with me?
“Yes sir. We’ll find this fiend if it’s the last thing we do.” He said enthusiastically, rushing out of the door at top speed.
“Hey, wait for me.” I called out, stumbling over my own feet trying to keep up with him. We needed to find this pony before she does anything else bad. This is not only for Equestria’s benefit, but mine as well.
I still need to atone for my mistakes.
