I have seen much throughout my life, changes that have had the most significant impact in all of mankind's history would just be one of the few I could name on the top of my head, though, despite all the insanity, I never imaged that my life would take this turn. You might be wondering what the crazy person in front of you is blabbering right now, so let me build the stage. In the year 2025, unexplainable abnormalities have started to pop up throughout the whole world; those ranged from the appearance of previously unknown elements that, by all means, shouldn't exist to people vanishing en masses. At first, the majority of the population gave it no second thought and simply stamped it under the case of a tragedy, but that changed quickly. Over the following year, the rate at which people vanished worldwide rose more than tenfold, and people began to ask questions.

What followed was the most significant scientific gathering of the greatest minds in the world to find answers, but the results were more than shocking the least. When people were vanishing, they were literally vanishing, as if holes in space and time would randomly open up and close within a matter of seconds. The population at first sunk into worry and fear of being the next victim of this cosmic event, but their fright was soon replaced with greed. At any location where people went missing, and only humans were affected by this phenomenon, the area began to change. Plant and animal life never before heard of started to pop out, herbs, and remedies that could cure any disease were discovered, and health was improved in a way never seen before. Hell, even strange ores and minerals were found that allowed dreams otherwise only seen in science fiction to come closer to our grasp by the day.

A golden age of mankind where all previous conflict about politics and religion was halted for the global goal to distribute the seemingly magical resources for the betterment of humanity... or rather for the economic hunger of companies and countries.

Sadly not everyone was a victor in this peaceful time. Countries that hadn't received any major universal incident were quickly left in the dust; nations like Greenland, for example, broke apart without anyone willing to trade with them and their natural resources anymore. Then there were the survivors of the phenomenon that stole away people. Those people lucky, or often, unlucky enough to just barely be graced by these events were alone, and society couldn't give two glances at those 'losers of the golden age.' A human life, despite everything that was done for the health improvements, was only worth more than a dime because of the need for the required labor to harvest the newfound elements, as well as the human rights that lost their importance more and more as humanity was spoiled rotten.

Now, where does my role come into play? Well, here goes nothing.

At the young age of twelve, at the beginning of the whole world-changing event chain, almost my entire family gathered in one location to celebrate my sister's eighth birthday. Everything seemed so innocent at the time that I could practically relive those memories while a little smile would grow across my face. We decided to celebrate at a camping location somewhere in the woods, I cannot remember the name though it was changed not long after to the Willowberg resort.

My young self watched in pure awe at the party, the biggest and last one I would ever partake. A large banner hung between two far spread apart trees, and the words 'Happy Birthday Amber' were written on the pink paper, a mountain of neatly wrapped presents in various colors and sizes standing on a dark oak wood table. Music of some movie- I forgot its name - played loudly to which the little birthday girl sang the lyrics happily.

My mother just finished the duet with my sister while smiling happily at the sight of her daughter grinning widely. Throughout the whole time, I knew this woman, she was always happy, despite everything, she was just overjoyed with every moment she spent with us. I wonder how she's doing...

"Is my little birthday girl ready for the big surprise?" She asked gleefully, Almost breaking into a giggle while her smile was just barely controlled, and the words were forced out, her voice nearly breaking in excitement. I don't know how we deserved her, but for some reason, we did, and never have I met someone overjoyed with the happiness of others like her, and it's unlikely that I ever will.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The girl repeatedly shouted, hopping up and down in her chair in excitement, her ponytail flopping in every direction possible.

My mother leaned forward, her face only a few inches away, barely holding back the excitement as, by the looks of it, she was vibrating. I am sad to say that I can't remember their faces anymore, or anything physical detail for that matter, only who they were as a person remained. I don't know if the event was linked with the loss of memory or if I could really just forget them, but it didn't matter in the end, did it?

"But only under one condition." My mother spoke while raising her index finger and tipping on her child's nose. "You'll have to close your eyes and not open them until I say so, ok, sweety?"

Amber hummed playfully as if she was considering an alternative, or perhaps she was just pretending to do so, a moment later, she gave her parent a confident nod.

"Great!" My mother half-shouted, before spinning around comedically and walking towards the car. Amber, like the good girl she was, closed her eyes and even hid them behind her small hands, but even with these concealments, her enthusiasm could not be hidden as the grin nearly split her face in half.

Despite the celebration not being about myself, I couldn't help but be carried along with the happy pull of the atmosphere. I watched with a smile as my relatives huddled up into one massive group, already anticipating to view my sister's joy, and I mentally prepared myself aswell. Not long after, the living wall split into two, and from the middle of it walked out my mother with a massive cake in her hands, the carrier looking almost as sweet as the dessert.

My mother's demeanor then slowly calmed down, and her expression was replaced with a soft, motherly look as she stopped a couple of feet in front of us and leaned forward. I watched as her mouth ever so slowly opened, the lips already twitching as if she was wordlessly repeating the sentence she was going to say before it happened and her eyes brimming vibrantly with joy.

And then...

The whole area in front of me began to blur, in a matter of seconds, reality twisted and turned, my family not even realizing as they were stolen away, still smiled as they began to fade from our world. The spectacle lasted only moments, as when the scenery violently snapped back into its natural form, the sound of glass shattering rang through the woods like a roar. My family was gone, just vanishing from one moment to another with no slow or natural interlude between the change of two children's lives.

With a mighty splat, the cake that was previously held by my mother collided with the floor, the sweet food spread across the grassy ground, the words 'Happy Birthday' could still be made out. A large chunk fo cake hit my sister on her cheek, causing her to jump slightly and opened her eyes, only to see nothing but a destroyed birthday cake. She was frozen still for a moment and could only stare, full of shock and with nearly all other emotions drained away, at the mess in front of her, and the lack of family.

"Mommy?" She asked while looking at the spot where they previously stood, and then her gaze went over to me and my blank expression. I felt nothing on that day, perhaps it was too much, or my young mind simply couldn't comprehend this supernatural event, but there was one thing I knew, everything would change, starting with our lives.

As this was one of the first events that happened, people didn't know about the world-changing events that would play out in the future, and as such, the information of missing people was still treated with shock and enthusiasm to find the missing ones, but with no luck. A nearby camper took notice of two lonely children in the woods and called for help. The police, firefighters, and the mountain rangers searched relentlessly, but in the end, after weeks of searching, they gave up on the operations as all hope of their survival was lost at this point.

My sister and I then went on to live with our aunt Rose. At the time she was carrying for her husband who had a nasty fever, it was also the reason why she was not present during the celebration. Although I don't want to enjoy the suffering of others, we were lucky to have, at the very least, one remaining person to take up the position of being our legal guardian.

Rose was a kind woman who sadly never had children on her own as she was physically unable to have them and, as such, jumped on the chance to raise my sister and me immediately. I cannot say that my childhood was anything unusual, I would even call it boring, so there is not much to mention there. As the years went on I slowly came to accept the loss of my parents and the rest of my family, although it did not mean I lost all emotions for them, I loved them, and I still do if they are alive somewhere, but I just couldn't live in the past.

Amber, on the other hand, never got over it. As the years went on, all previously known traits of her's simply vanished. The wide grin, the large ponytail, the joy and happiness we-I loved were gone as my little sister grew cold over time. Her childhood, along with all happiness, vanished on one day. She stopped visiting friends, and anything remotely close to a birthday soured her mood beyond belief; instead, she drowned her problems with work.

But... Despite everything, she was still my sister, and as such, I did not want to give up on her too. Since the faithful day happened, over twenty years have passed before my life would be changed yet again.

"What do you mean seventy bucks for a damn flower bouquet?!" I asked, nearly shouting while glaring at the small and chubby man in front of me. The flowers I was holding were discovered almost two decades ago and were as common a roses, so why did this half portion think he could sell it like for the price of gold? Did he think I wore the large hoodie and the sneakers because I was some rich rapper or something? The store I was in wasn't even anything fancy, just some little shop you'd visit once in a while when walked past.

"Oi, if you don't like the price, then put the blooms back and get your arse out of here, brat." The owner of the shop said while crossing his arms while gritting his teeth like a chihuahua with rabies.

I could see my own scowl in the neatly polished bald head of his, and by all means, it wasn't a happy expression. I had shopped for flowers every year, the same kind every time and not even once have I seen such a throat-cutting jerk, just because his once prize winning chrysanthemums couldn't compare to the newly discovered flowers didn't mean he could just jack up the price four-fold. Sadly, he actually could and did. No one was selling the old stuff anymore other than some old people clinging to 'the good old days.' I mean, why would you want a monotonous scrub of petals if you could have a living crystal rose or a bush that literally created glowing particles around it?

"Choke on it," I spat through my teeth as I grabbed my wallet from my pocket and threw a handful of crumpled dollar bills on the counter in front of him. He gave me an annoyed glare before he counted them slowly, so slow that that counting only seven bills took over five minutes, I spend glaring at the shop owner. I may not be the nicest person, I admit, but he started the conflict. Once he finished with the counting, a broad customer service smile spread across his face, revealing white and healthy teeth.

"Paper or plastic?" He asked with a giant smile and a joyful tone as he pulled out two bags.

"Paper," I answered shortly, my skepticism of the man in front of me at an all-time high. With a short nod, he dropped the flowers carelessly into the plastic bag and shoved it forward.

"In the name of Bob's Flower Emporium, please revisit us in the future," Bob said as he stood on his toes and leaned forward with a bright and joyful smile.

I stared at him for a few moments, unsure which one of us had gone insane, and quickly grabbed the items and left the store, only hearing the iconic doorbell and a quiet 'Works every time' from Bob, the weirdo.

I shook my head while sighting, my eyes locked onto the street as my thoughts began to wander. 'Damn that jerk, now I barely have enough for the rest of the month.' I grit my teeth while my scowl intensified.

I didn't have a very prestigious job, I was a simple courier working for a multibillion-dollar company called Minictah corporate at the time. This company specialized in the refining of newly discovered ores which processing was either troublesome or dangerous. You'd think that your life would be exciting as you are literally carrying around millions of dollars with you, but the truth couldn't be more different. They basically made some random person sign a contract before every delivery and told them to deliver a battered suitcase to a specific location as delivery trucks were too obvious and became too much of a risk to have their wares stolen. The payment was great if you weren't paying for insurance because then not much was left for anything other than necessities. Sadly, if you weren't planning to live on the street after one failed contract because your delivery exploded from being exposed to too much heat, it'd be best to pay the fee. There was also the fact that you had to reach a specific location in a time limit too short to get to on foot. In other words, you had even less by the end of the month. That put me in my current position where I can't afford a very healthy or luxurious lifestyle with my budget, the only reason I am not overweight is that I tend to walk some of the travel distance on foot. I also learned to stomach the nutrient and vitamin sludge.

Another minus for the job is the fact that you won't have any friends, it is literally a requirement in the contract. These companies want nobodies who got nowhere else to go to do the job as they are least likely to be robbed or to spill the beans that they are carrying around something worth more than what most people make in their whole life. Although stealing the stuff was rather unlikely as they would fine you with double the amount of the deliveries worth, and if it's taken from you? You get put in a cute little cell during the investigation while the thief gets... Well, people vanish all the time, and money sure is convincing...

I came to an abrupt stop when my eyes met with a puddle of clear water. A well-browned face greeted me, not the nice, smooth brown your average African-American had, but more of a dirty bronze tone, the result of walking several miles through the concrete jungle daily. What I also saw in the reflection was a pair of green eyes, fluffy, yet cut short brown hair and a petite goatee. Some may consider these detail beautiful, but if they took into account the complete lack of muscle mass as well as the little flesh on my bones, they'd probably turn around instantly upon sight.

I let out yet another sigh as my gaze looked upwards, a massive concrete block with dozens of windows and balconies. The living standards have drastically improved over time as companies with huge labor requirements couldn't risk an epidemic spreading across a majority of their workforce. As such, these firms implemented company-owned housing in which people had enough space and could not cause daily income crashes. No one lifts a finger anymore; if money isn't involved, I know that too well.

With a sigh I pulled out the flowers, Mystic Blooms, for a matter of fact, a kind of rose whose top was flat and purple while having the shape of a fan, these would actually open and close like the actual object during night or storms in one quick motion. I threw the plastic bag into a nearby bin before pressing a call button, not the one I wanted to visit, but a family friend who knew that I was coming, as well as understand my want to make this a surprise.

A shrill sound rang through the speaker, notifying me of the short window in which the door would be open. I let out a low sigh before entering the building and instantly being assaulted by a cold wave of air. The stairways of these buildings would always be around one-degree Celsius in both winter and summer, if you didn't want to freeze to death, you had to pay a fee for constant heating.

I let out a sigh, put on the hood, and pushed my hands into my pockets before I slowly made my way up the stairs. It would be a long walk as my destination was on the thirteenth level in a building without an elevator. My footsteps echoed in the large building while my only friend was my breath that I could see in the cold, why she chose this location to stay was beyond me. She worked as an architect in a construction firm and could've easily gotten a fancy two people apartment all for herself if she wanted to, but instead opted to go to live in the so-called 'Worker slums.' At the thought of how well the building matched her, I let out a snort, blinding me just a for a moment with the white air. Still, a frown quickly replaced the previous expression once the thought went through my head yet again.

I came to a sudden halt as stood in front of her door, a grey and black nametag glued to the large plastic door, while every other of those hundreds of entries was well decorated. I took a deep breath, slowly calming myself before I lifted my fist, but just as I was about to knock, the door was opened by its owner, who looked less than pleased.

"What do you want, John?" Amber sighed as she leaned against her doorframe with a large frown plastered across her face, her overall look could be described as bored and annoyed. Her long brown her was tied into a bun, perfectly complementing her pale skin, gray pullover, and glasses resting on her nose.

"It's that day again, you're coming this time?" I asked shyly while holding the flower bouquet forward. In those twenty years, she only visited our empty parent's graves four times, the last time being thirteen years ago.

Amber's eye slowly wandered towards the flowers, and upon sight, she let out a long and tired sigh. "John, just-can you just..." She tried to put her thoughts into words as she went to stand upright. She closed her eyes and mumbled, counting to ten, before looking at me with a sorrowful look. "John, we've been over this already, I moved on completely. Mom and dad and the rest are gone, I live my own life now, so do you, and although I am thankful for what they did-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, her eyes no longer able to look into mine and thus stared on the floor. "Her little girl has been gone for a long time now." She said as her eyes finally meet mine once again.

My jaw dropped while my fist clenched the flowers, nearly snapping the stems in half, there were no violent thoughts that went through my head or anything alike, but these words were hurtful as if someone declared my little sister as dead.

"Please stop coming if it isn't important." She said slowly, before walking back into her apartment and closing the door behind her silently, not even granting me a second glance.

I stood there, staring at the nameplate, stating that here lived my sister, but it seemed like even letters would lie these days. With an angry grunt, I threw the flowers in the trash pin, the petals separated from the rest of the flower instantly and scattered across the floor. I glared at the remains with mixed emotions. Anger, sadness, regret, and stinging pain went through my mind and body as I crush the remains on the ground with my shoes, before kicking the crumpled mass away. I didn't care, If I was fined to death for littering, the last person I cared for just told me in the straight in the face that she was dead, and since Rose was gone for over a year now, I had nothing, but what?! A crappy apartment, a dull day to day job, no, here's the answer, a distinct lack of future!

I breathed heavily while staring down at the mush, my eyes had watered slightly, think what you want, but I could give less shit about my tears at this point. I watched with a profoundly burning anger as the yellow juices of the flowers formed a puddle, almost perfectly replicating the form of the destroyed birthday cake, but perhaps this is what I got. These flowers originally sprouted there where they vanished, was it all my fault, did I drive her away, did I torment her with these plants that I thought would be fitting?!

A long and deep sigh left my lungs, polluting the air in a cloud of steam, with no other reason to stay, I turned around and was about to descend the stairs, go home and forget the annual graveyard visit as a whole and just move one, yeah, that was probably for the best. Yet, my wish was apparently unheard as I came to a halt when my eyes caught something rather unusual. I was met with a large, holographic advertisement board of some sort, this would be nothing strange if I were in the city or in an electronics store, but in a cheap housing complex?

You are one of the lucky individuals who fulfilled all requirements, and thus you were chosen to join "The Game: Aether and Mind." Do you have any important unfulfilled businesses left to do? Answering falsely will put a penalty upon you.

Yes/No?

"Advertisement sure has gotten aggressive lately..." I muttered under my breath while reading the note a second time. It was true that some companies had gotten really pissed when people gave false answers during surveys, so much so that sometimes these cases went to court, mostly because one party took one step too far and the other went a mile further. Still, you wouldn't ask some random guy these questions, or would you? I let out an annoyed sigh, I couldn't care less about the advertisement and just answer truthfully.

"No, I've got nothing to do in life anymore, when do I get my coupon?" I asked with a raised brow as the advertisement vanished without making any sound, which was unusual as any model would always make some sort of deactivation sound. That was the first sign that told me something was wrong; the other was that both of my feet were stuck on the floor, and the staircase railing was rising.

"What the Fuck!" I screamed out loud when my eyes met the ground, and I saw that it had suddenly morphed into a black, tar-like substance drawing me into it like quicksand. My eyes widened in shock, and I tried to pull my legs out, but the thick liquid was not budging, instead, it was pulling me deeper. My breath picked up as I could feel a pair of three-clawed hands dig into my calf and dragging me deeper into the liquid. No, I couldn't die this way, not by an anomaly! Please let me be in some coma after being hit by a bus or anything other than this! I let out a scream, crying for help, and everything from that was just a blur as I could all my feeling drained from the black liquid that up to this point had swallowed me everything below my waist.

The door opened and out walked an annoyed Amber, but just before she could ask what was happening, she watched in utter horror as I was sucked into a dark abyss. Amber ran forwards, the naked feet crushing the petals and nearly slipping as she dropped to her knees and grabbed my hands in an attempt to pull me out. Despite her efforts, she only managed to slow down the inevitable, but for the first time in many years, I could finally see some emotions in her, sadly I had no time to enjoy the moment.

I stared at Amber with high hopes and despair, but these daydreams of her saving me were crushed when I saw her slowly sinking into the black liquid too, but she didn't even realize it. I-I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes for just a moment.

"Amber?" I asked her, gained her attention as small tendrils slowly rose towards her torso. "I love you, don't you ever forget that," I said with a smile and teary eyes, before pushing her away. The look of shock and betrayal as she stumbled backward and out of the dark ground burned itself into my mind. Without anything holding me back, I sunk into the liquid in one go, absorbing me and stealing away my consciousness along with it, but at the very least, sparing me of the pain of drowning.

"JOHN!!!" was the last thing I heard before everything changed yet again.

Author's Note

The first five chapters are mostly about the main character's thoughts, as well as to build the base of the story. The crazy moments that you are most likely expecting will happen a little later

This story is a little experiment I wished to do for a while now, not exactly this way, but it goes in the general direction. I currently have two public stories that I update about twice or thrice a year, fanfictions that each are planned out, and for a while now have a lot of attention given to them. I also have about five fictions that I began but gave up upon after about fifteen thousand words or so.

So what is this story going to be then? It's simple, a more lighthearted story. Both Don't You Dare, at the very least the last five or so chapters, and A rewritten Past have a long list of plans and ideas that I woven into a plot, but I realized that I was perhaps putting too much thought into these stories. I found myself doubting my writing skills again and again, which now already lead to several discontinued fanfictions that all had, at least from what I've seen so far, all had original and unique stories.

In the end, and after trying out seeing this long list whenever I'm going to write, I decided to write this. A story about a man landing in Equestria with the unique power to control Aether and Mind. Perhaps this sounds weird, and those aware of what The Gamer is might believe that this is going to be an overpowered mc story, but this isn't.

In the future, there will be an exact explanation of how that is possible or why, and that gets me to the next point: What can you expect from the main character.

John is a nobody, and even with the GAME in his head, that still doesn't make him the attention catcher of the whole world. No race depends on him; no grand fate or evil creature wants to kill him either, and, although he is not a bad man, he doesn't care about anyone but his sister, and currently without her, only himself.

This story is precisely what I wanted. It doesn't matter if he/I make a mistake, there won't be a huge plot hole, a lack of explanation or even grand consequences, it will be as if he was just a normal Stallion, living a mundane life, in a world so much better than his old, while he searches for power. That may change in the future when the character has grown. But for now, there won't be any 'huge jumps' other than the beginning events.

I thank you for reading this short little message of mine. Also, please be put to ease when I say that I won't be throwing away this story after I had my fun. Still, I can't promise an 'update schedule' like my main stories have, and to those people reading Don't You Dare or A rewritten Past, don't worry, I won't be forgetting to publish those chapters either.