Reality or Fantasy?

by Generalfoley

Rating: mature
Tags: Romance, Adventure, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 1337

An insomniac day dreamer finds himself torn between his dull reality and his dreams of Equestria.

Jack has always been a dreamer.

Of course, with his insomnia, he had to day dream in order to become the dreamer he was. He dreamed dreams so vivid, he was often hard pressed to find the difference between them and reality, and this line grew blurrier all the while as he spent days, then weeks, then even months awake, and just as long day dreaming.

Of course, soon he came across the land of Equestria, and, for once, he was happy.

But, the more time he spent in Equestria, the more time he spent awake and day dreaming, the more his mind started to fracture.

His sense of reality soon becomes nonexistent, and soon, he cannot tell if it is Equestria that is the dream, or his reality.

Will he succumb to the madness of his day dreams, or will he choose the correct reality?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-11 07:41:30 UTC

Living Dreams

Chapter One

Living Dreams

Jack let out a mighty battle cry as he charged into the fray, his friend Eldric the Barbarian to his right, and the wizard to his left, surrounded by the army they had amassed over the countless years of their struggle. They charged at the Bordorians, intent on finishing this war once and for all, and freeing the land from the tyranny of Boaron, the forger of the One Ring.

The two armies clashed with the sound of thunder and screeching steel as the final battle commenced.

Jack swung his sword to and fro, slaying the evil Boardorians that he had been fighting for years, nay, decades. He could hear Eldric roar and scream the chant of his people. "FOR LOHKAR!" He cried as he cleaved a Bordorian soldier in two with his mighty ax. Jack stared in awe for a moment before he returned to the battle. As many times as he had seen Eldric split an enemy in two, he never got used to it.

Jack thrust his blade forth, piercing yet another Boardorian soldier when an arrow was flung into his shoulder. The young warrior looked to the skies, but regretted it as he saw the countless arrows bounding down upon their forces.

"TAKE COV-" He tried to yell, but was cut off by yet another arrow piercing his body, this time in his arm. He picked up the shield of the slain Boardorian below him and took cover underneath it. He could hear the faint and repetitive 'thunk' of the arrows as they buried themselves into the shield's wooden face. Tossing the shield aside, he tore the arrows from his being and ventured forth, slaying Boardorians left and right, the pig men falling underneath the onslaught of of blade, of the blades of his allies, of the spells of Jakosik the Wizard and Eldric Stonecrusher, the Barbarian Warrior of Mount Lohkar.

Then there was a change in the battle. The pig men, then were retreating! Many of the men and women of the army they had gathered cheered in joy and victory, and ventured forth with battle cries of their homes. But Jack stood still. Boardorians did not retreat so easily.

And Jack soon saw why they did, indeed, flee the battle. There, standing upon the mighty wall of Boardor, stood Boaron, the self-proclaimed emperor of the lands of which they fought to set free. The Emperor of the Pig Men held his hand up into the air, before letting it fall. Jack's eyes widened when he went to grab a shield, only to be reintroduced to the familiar, yet agonizing pain of an arrow entering his flesh and tearing the muscle beneath.

He recoiled from the arrow impact in his arm, his blade dropping to his side as another arrow embedded itself into leg, and another into his shoulder, still freshly bleeding from the previous arrow.

Diving to the ground, he grabbed a fallen comrade's shield, and his blade, taking cover from the onslaught of arrows now raining down upon his men.

Yet again ripping the arrows from his body, a healer from Modra came to his aid and mended his wounds to the best of her ability before he ran off into the fray once more, much to the chagrin from the protesting healer.

Soon, he caught up with Jakosik and Eldric, having ran with his men through the now broken gates of Boardor. Together, they slayed the beasts left and right, and with one mighty bellowing warcry, they charged once more to the secondary wall.

But, alas, Jack's part in this fight was done, much to his... disappointment.

He slew a pig man before he looked upon the wall, the top teeming with various siege-defense weapons, but more importantly, ballistas.

Jack's eyes widened as gigantic arrows were fired upon his men, but returned his attention to the rest of the pig men surrounding him. They forced him back, not with skill, but with sheer numbers. He slew several more beast men before he felt himself flying through the air, his gut filled with an immense pain.

As his head smacked against the once legendary Primary Wall of Boardor, he looked down to see that a ballista's projectile had pinned him to the wall, the large arrow passing through his stomach and into the wall behind him. He saw his blood flow forth, his intestines spilling out, and felt... numbness. He looked up and saw Eldric and Jakosik slaying Boardorians to get to him, but Jack knew it was too late. He could feel the blood from his now compacted lungs enter his throat, and filling his mouth. He coughed, a heavy glob of the life-giving liquid splashing on the arrow now pinning him to the wall.

Eldric and Jakosik came to his side. Eldric was somber, but with a look of sadness and pride in his eye. For the Stonecrusher Tribe, dying in battle was the greatest honor for a great warrior. Funny. Jack didn't exactly feel honored. In fact, he felt like he was impaled by a giant arrow.

Jakosik, though, had a look of fear etched across his face, along with panic and sorrow. He attempted dire healing spells in order to stall the inevitable, but Jack shook his head.

"It is no use, Jakosik. It is my time. Not much you can do about a giant fucking arrow pinning you to the wall like this." Jakosik grinned, blood coating his teeth before he coughed once again, specks of blood splashing themselves onto their faces.

"No!" Jakosik yelled. "No No NO!" He shook Jack's shoulders as he slipped away. "Stay with me Jack! Stay with me!" But soon, Jakosik's voice was replaced by another voice, one eerily familiar. "Mr. Trade! Pay attention, Mr. Trade!" Jack was confused, managing a "what?", despite his weakened state.

"Mr. Trade! GET UP!"

Jack jumped, his muscles tensing out of reaction to his history professor calling his name.

"Glad to see you're back in the land of the living, Mr. Trade." Jack Trade sighed as he quickly blinked to get his eyes reacquainted with their usual moistness. "I wasn't aware that I was dead, Doctor Anderson."

Anderson chuckled as he returned to his lesson.

So no, Jack Trade wasn't a warrior. He wasn't a rebel leader leading the people of the Nations of Eld to victory against Boaron. He was just... Jack Trade, college student, average person, severe insomniac and day dreamer.

Though they could probably be counted as hallucinations, but calling it day dreaming kept one out of the loony bin.

Jack sighed as he typed in the notes Anderson was writing on the blackboard up in the front. As much as he liked ancient history, he liked his dreams better. More depth, more personalization.

More big breasted bar wenches willing to hear your stories of battle.

Jack took a sip of his water - ice cold, it was the only thing that helped him feel awake now-a-days - and stared at the board. So he died in Eld, eh?

Maybe it was time to come up with a new dream, he thought to himself as he continued throughout the history lecture. Thankfully, it was the last class of the day.

Alright, so this is my first MLP: FIM Fanfiction I've ever written, and this is probably the first thing in a long, long time that I've actually put up online.

I'd probably put more up if all the sites had layouts like this.

It's fantastic!

Why can't Fanfiction.Net have a story creation layout like this?!

I'd probably update more there if it was like this.

Deviant Art too, I suppose.

Anyway, for those of you reading this, please, leave a comment, tell me what you think of the first chapter, and don't worry, it will get to the ponies soon enough.

It's been a while, so don't rush me, alright?

Still, read, review, have fun.

Fighting for Peanut Butter Cookies

The General