I can't believe I'm registering here. I mean, my last attempt to write a book was a flop through and through. The views I got were from the system were the same as the number of chapters. And the one good rating I had was from a friend that didn't even read the story. The internet is full of people that simply hate on things for fun. Not even they popped in to criticize it.

I hope that I don't trigger anyone with whatever piece ends up out here.

Clicking the button labeled "Register," I waited for the new page to load and reveal my profile.

Fimfiction, a website dedicated to a specific fandom on the internet for a show that I accidentally stumbled upon due to, ironically enough, fan-works. My Little Pony, a series of toys that had been made for girls and small children. My sister owned a few old toys from that show. As I came to learn, both those toys and the bootleg movie we had somewhere back home were both from a previous generation of that show. Based on descriptions alone, I concluded they were from the third generation.

I stumbled on that show when a certain animated video popped up on my "recommended" list on Youtube. I had seen the thumbnail a few times. But never clicked on it due to the My Little Pony on the title. Initially, I thought that the animation was just some cringy song about putting a princess to sleep. I don't know what came over me one day, but I simply clicked on the video, "Lullaby for a Princess," that was the name.

And that was it, that decision dragged me into a spiral of questions that forced me to research what the hell was going on in the video. I had to know who was the white pony with the multicolored mane. I needed to understand what had happened to the blue pony that turned into a black mare and suddenly had her face plastered on the moon. Then came the other animations, theories, comic pieces, and tributes to characters I had no idea who they were. I even stumbled on a parody of Soul Eater using the characters from the show. None of those things made any sense to me as I collected data without a timeline or knowing how things related to each other.

One day I suddenly caved in and watched the first episode. Except, it wasn't the first episode. It was an episode from much further down the line, it had to do with a thing called Tantabus attacking dreams. I thought it was a show without continuity and most of those left me lost. Confused and disappointed, I dropped the series until I decided to give it another go months later. With a bit more detailed research, I managed to find the first episode. And everything made sense.

The opening scene made me remember the old movies about fairy tales I loved as a kid. And that was it, I watched all of the show available at the time, up to season 5. I got my favorite villain from the show, Queen Chrysalis, and understood why there were moments where she looked like the rest of the characters, and suddenly she didn't. I got my most what the hell moment from the show, still think it was BS with the second fight against Starlight Glimmer (unless the director meant for Twilight to be untrained on her alicorn powers, therefore, unable to go all out, that would be, understandable).

Around that time, I started looking for something to fill the time until the next season came up. That was when I stumbled upon a reading of a story from the fandom. That was when I learned about the website dedicated to the publishing and discussion of things related to the show.

Without logging in, I read a bunch of different stories. And thus, the dreams of being in there, being in the show, started to come around. Whenever I loved something, I would memorize the story as best as I could. Imagining myself in the story, I would think of myself helping the characters, interacting, and so forth. How to save a character I liked, how to turn them into the good guys. The character I would punish. That sort of thing might sound silly, but it was something that I genuinely enjoyed doing.

And given my recent failure at the book thing, I thought to myself, "If I can't handle creating a world and story from scratch, maybe it would be better to try and make things in a world that already exists? That way, I just need to follow their rules and make something up my way."

After creating a separate email account, I registered and there I was, back to the present. Three years, that's how long it took me to get to that point. Creating my first story following the format I was used to, I labeled it "Blank Page, A new Story a New Beginning."

The story starred a character from my book that I wanted to see in action. After filling in the minimum requirements in word count, I send it to the moderators. Only to have it cordially rejected over my editing. After replacing the editing with the proper format, I sent it to moderation once more. And it got approved.

Now, as I expected with my low self-esteem, I got hit by multiple dislikes. But, it wasn't as bad as I expected. People helped me with my grammar, how to use the website and more. Until the situation turned around, several chapters later, I had managed to get more likes than dislikes. And that was when I had the idea for another story. I called it "Eyes to the Heart," and although simpler than my first one in terms of beginnings, it was a massive success when compared to the first one. I couldn't be happier as I saw people commenting and supporting me.

But that was my life when I was in front of the computer with free time. Most of my day was occupied with medical school and research. Therefore, I fit the writing when I was available and managed to stay awake at night to squeeze some words out of my brain. I even met a user that helped me brainstorm ideas for the story. They went by the name of Metordragon. They even set me up with an app I didn't know about, Discord. And as the story evolved, I ended up meeting another user by the name of Kobolum, albeit a bit direct with their comments, they were kind enough to become my editor for the Eyes to the Heart, plus they were pretty cool when it came to telling me what to correct or rewrite.

With all those moving parts, the story grew and the format got easier to read. A year passed by with those stories popping up. But in that year, a dream had been repeating itself every single night. I would be at the university during class, and out of nowhere, someone would come bursting through the front door calling out my name.

I answered their call, and then the person would grab me by the wrist and drag me away. A bunch of hazy stuff would happen, and the next thing I knew, I was in Equestria. Somehow I would jump from episode to episode until we reached the point of Tirek attacking, and I would end up waking up as the confrontation between him and Twilight would begin.

However, that wasn't the weirdest part of it. One day things started to take a turn to the weird, while I took notes on the slide presentation our teacher was lecturing us about. I drifted into a deep sleep. The dream repeated itself, and just as before, I woke up before the fight. But not naturally this time around.

"Hey, Robyn? Are you ok?" My friend Michael asked while grabbing my shoulder. "You don't usually sleep during classes, are you ok?"

Shaking my head to toss away the drowsiness, I nodded before realizing that the teacher had already powered off the projector.

"Damn it, I didn't get to take notes," I mumbled while staring at my notebook. "Wait, but, when did I write these?" I inquired as soon as I realized that there were more notes on my notebook than I remembered.

"Man, you're not ok. Your eyes were half-open and you kept on writing like you were a zombie the entire class," Michael said while pointing at my notebook.

"Ah, I'm probably tired. I've been writing a lot recently," I replied sheepishly trying to dismiss the zoning out.

"Oh, yeah. How's the second volume of your novel coming up?" Michael inquired while I looked away in shame.

I had dropped my book entirely by that point. I had been too engrossed with the creation of my stories on the website to think about how to fix the first volume. It was too much fun for me to write those when compared to whatever wannabe mary sue I had come up for my main character. My original story was a convoluted mess, with a LOT of time skips and Deus-Ex Machina moments. It was more like a badly written dream than an actual novel.

"Alright, class, I'll be dismissing all of you now. I just have one question, Robyn, Michael, pay attention, please," The teacher said while I mentally thanked him for ending the subject so abruptly. "Does anybody know what an "Azvameth" is?"

Absentmindedly, I raised my hand to answer. I had researched the name for one of my characters in the original story I had written. "It is a name, sir. It means "He who is Strong to Death," why do you ask?" I answered while tilting my head.

"Just curious. I heard some of the other teachers mentioning that word during lunch. I found the word weird, and my research on it as a Mesh term didn't work. So, I got curious. At any rate, you're all dismissed," The teacher replied while we gathered our stuff.

Michael and I went back to the cafeteria to grab lunch before our afternoon classes. After getting our food we picked a table and sat there for our meal.

"So, how did you come up with that name by the way?" Michael asked while I took a bite of my food. As always, the rice was covered in grease, therefore, a bit hard to swallow since it made my stomach twist a bit. I could take it, mind you, just not very enjoyable. "That's the name of the protagonist, right?"

And my pen name. Azvameth Rose isn't a name you'll get a lot of users using.

"Yep, at least in one of his lives, that is. I typed "male names that mean death" on Google. Then, I found a website with a bunch of names. I liked the sound of the name and picked it. The character was supposed to be someone that kept reincarnating because of a setup created by the villain," I answered while making my food dance on the plate with the fork.

Suddenly, our phones rang at the same time. Opening up the messaging app, we saw that the group created to send alerts and other news for us medical students had a new message.

DOES ANYBODY KNOW SOMEONE NAMED AZVAMETH ROSE? It said in capital letters. That was how the alert format worked, the main theme on capital letters and then the subject's details. The news was in bold letters followed by the subject. And the stuff regarding the administration went with italic for the title. Clicking on the message, I read it out loud.

"Be on the lookout for a strange person wandering in College grounds. This person has been asking around for a student by that name. They've been very persistent and refuse to reveal themselves. The subject has also been able to evade security quite easily. Avoid walking alone, and if you see anything strange, report it to security immediately. This message has been sent to all students of all subjects. Stay safe."

"Now we know why the teachers were talking about it," Michael commented with his mouth full.

"Yep. Not that it matters though," I mumbled back while poking a french fry with my fork. "Remember the guy with the camera?"

"The one taking pictures of the classrooms?"

"It turned out to be a photographer for a graduating class that was testing different settings to make the most of the pictures," I replied while munching on the fry. "Maybe it's some journalist trying to get an interview with some problem student. I mean, one of the girls from our senior class was arrested last month for selling drugs. Maybe they are looking for someone that helped with the selling part?" I suggested after swallowing.

"Oh, that's right!" Michael exclaimed before drinking his soda. "Remember when she accidentally sent the "menu" of items in the Med Group?"

"How did she even get admin privileges?" I replied while remembering the incident.

"How would I know? You're the smart one."

"Says the guy with the highest score in our class," I provoked.

"Welp, I am pretty amazing," Michael said while pretending to polish his nails on his shirt.

Got you.

"But you're also the guy that fell for the Alt+F4 command. So, I can't expect too much from you. Your face when the computer went bonkers was amazing," I said with a smirk as Michael choked on his drink.

The rest of the day went on without a hitch. Classes continued, and no more pop-ups appeared at the Med Group. By five o'clock in the afternoon, I was back home. Since I had managed to get my duties in order, I got to open up the site again.

Let's see here, I've been away for a couple of weeks now. Let's check the feed. Over sixty notifications? Things have been busy here, huh? Before checking on that, let's take a peek at the story. Yes! A lot more people marked it on the favorite list! I'll check the comments in a bit. My editor sent me the fixed version of the chapter. And, what's this? A message from the site's administration from last week? Did I do something wrong?

Clicking on the private message, I opened up the mail.

ATTENTION ALL USERS!

The website was hacked. The staff is running a full check on things, however, we ask that all users verify their information and stories. If there is anything off please notify us through this message.

This email was sent to your registered email account as well.

"That's a problem. But, nothing is off here. The chapters are in order and no new blogs in my account," I mumbled while tapping on my desk. "Well, maybe this is the result of the hack? Someone messing around and sending messages to everyone to cause a panic."

Opening the Discord app, I typed in my password and opened the conversation with my brainstormer.

Hey there, Metor.

Hey.

Listen, do you know anything about the website being hacked?

Yeah. Apparently, someone breached the site and started to mess around with the user's information. But, they only targeted, like, four or five people. And, they didn't even do much. Just scrambled some letters on the names.

Suddenly, I noticed a notification in my message tab.

Um, you can't send messages to anyone unless they accepted your friend request, right?

That's how it usually works. Unless you're on a server. Then they can message you all they want.

I think I might have been hacked then. Because there is a new conversation here. There is a user here I don't know who it is.

Is anything missing in your account? Or is there a link on the message? Don't click any link. I did as they said and checked my account and settings.

I'll look at the message. But, as far as I can see here, nothing is out of place. Brb.

Opening the other message, I noticed something strange. Discord told you how many messages someone had sent you through a red number beneath the user's avatar. The avatar of the mystery person was just yellow and their name was B0B. The number of messages beneath their avatar was one. However, as soon as I opened it, I saw multiple messages.

Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
Hello.
Hello.
H3ll0.
Want to know a secret?
I know a secret.
Hey.
Answer.
Answer.
I'm looking for you.
Hello.
Look at me.

This isn't creepy at all. I concluded while returning to the previous conversation.

It's just a bunch of random phrases. Pretty creepy, but, nothing linked to them.

Are you sure?

Yep.

Well, delete that user from your friend list and then report the problem.

On it.

However, as soon as I went to click on the user to remove them, a new message appeared. That caught me by surprise and I miss clicked opening up their tab.

Found you.

I felt a chill run down my spine. Quickly deleting the user, I closed the app. I rushed to the website and I clicked to open my profile and log out. However, there was a new email on my account. Hovering my mouse over the mail icon, I saw a preview of the message that had arrived.

Closing the tab as fast as I could after logging out, I shut down the computer and went to check the locks in the house. I ended up spending, the rest of the night waking up at the slightest noise. Call me impressionable, but, I wasn't about to leave something creepy like that to chance.

"You're looking like shit," Michael said while I rubbed my eyes. My response was an annoyed groan. "Seriously, go back home. You haven't been absent once this semester. I'll send you the subjects covered in class. Just go home, man," He pressed on while I nodded with half-open eyes.

After getting a cab back home, I locked the place and went to my room. Thanks to my ingrained routine, I powered on the computer and logged into Discord. I had three messages from the brainstormer. One was a link to a story, the other looked like a music video entitled "Discord," and the third was a picture of a necklace with a dragon eye in it. It had blue and green iris taking all of the pendants.

Oh, right. I mentioned I wanted to add some changes to the eye. This touch of green looks nice.

Absentmindedly clicking on the story, I found myself blinded by a bright light. Blinking a few times, my eyes adjusted to the light and I stared at a strange thing that had a silhouette of a human, but it was made of numbers.

"Oh, I've fallen asleep on my computer, that's neat," I mumbled while staring at the mess of numbers in front of me.

"Sorry, but you're wide awake," The figure said while crossing its legs.

"I am not. I can't even dream of a decent plot for fantasy transportation," I groaned while leaning backward.

"I dragged you here once you clicked the link. The police should be looking for your body now. Although, it will look as if you disappeared out of thin air," The figure said while I rolled my eyes at the statement.

"Right. Next, you're going to pull some random reasoning for me to run after some random world with some random cheat skill. Goddamn it. Hey, Lazy head! Stop using other plots to make your own stories," I mumbled while planting my face on my hands.

"You are wrong in multiple instances there. But it matters not. I tried several times to drag others here, but they weren't idiotic enough to fall for the traps I set. No cheat skill for you, sir. That is about it. Keep your mouth shut and go on do your stupidity thing. I've been meaning to test this to send people to other places. Even if just your soul makes through, I'll know the transportation works. Try not to get beaten by Exodia when you land on the other side. I mean, that spirit got erased by Yami-Yugi's attack in a split second. And I need enough time to see how much of you ended up on the other side."

"Now you're not making any sense. Even by my standards. I'm not that big of a fan of Yu-gi-oh," I mumbled while getting up. I could hear something winding up in the distance. But since I had assumed that to be a dream, I thought I could walk away and end up in a different scenario.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" The voice called out before everything went white again.

And that is pretty much how things started.

Author's Note

Right, this is a special project for me.

I hope it ends up being enjoyable. And it is something I liked writing. Thank you so much for your time!