A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 13: A much needed reboot.

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

The Roegadyn had just left the bed chambers that belonged to Princess Luna, along with the two mare royal guard ponies within. Brex had just told them his name, if that wasn’t enough, he had also mentioned to them his rank in the free company that he had created back in the game, which happened to have been that of Duke.

Now all that would have been fine, but out of a strange sense of trust that had been building from telling those mare’s something about himself for the first time. Brex, had also slipped that he had seen their Princess Celestia as an individual that he considered dangerous to him. Now that may have been a costly mistake. That’s when he had decided to go for a walk and started to make his way down the tower.

He was now scolding himself for such a thoughtless blunder, “Stupid, stupid, stupid. I’m such a moron. Why did I say so much? I told myself that I was going to keep what I say to the bare minimum, BUT NO!~ I had to let it slip out that I don’t trust their ruler. I just know that they are plotting something back in that room now. These ponies are all about their princess.”

Shaking his head, he continued with, “Saying anything bad about Celestia could be considered a suicidal act. One would see it to be on the same level as some crazy person, waltzing up to… I dunno… say, the largest church in the world filled on Christmas eve and yelling at the top of his lungs something offensive.”

He had reached the bottom of the steps for the tower. With a grunt of frustration, he struck the wall with his left, outstretched fist. The hit was strong enough to make a light indentation of his knuckles and a few cracks to form. Of course, Brex did feel this and brought his now aching hand back and rubbed over the injury with the other. Letting out a defeated sigh. He then walks towards the library.

Along the way, Brex thinks, “I need to start looking into those books. That may help in calming my anxiety somewhat if I can find some tips on defending myself from their magic. Unlike in the game where we have a set list that is keyed to our class, these ponies have thousands, upon thousands built up that they can use at any given time. Before I return to the tower, I need to at least learn how that telekinesis works just in case they try to use it on me. In the stories that was always the game changer.”

Shaking his head, he continued, “I remember that in a few of those, the main character would be trapped or dragged off against his or her will by some random unicorn or by either Twilight or Rarity. I don’t know why, but the idea of being under another’s control in such an underhanded way where I would have no say as twilight takes me some place just terrifies me to no end. Could I have been in such a situation in my past life as to make that image have the power to nearly make me want to hyper ventilate.”

Brex’s mind was going a hundred miles an hour with thoughts of how this was affecting him so much. His breathing had taken a sharp spike while his heart rate was nearly through the roof. At this point in time, the sun had already gone down and the shadows within the old Castle had taken hold of nearly every inch along the way that he had been traveling.

Just when he had reached his destination, Brex’s vision had started to get hazy. Unknown feelings flooded his body and mind. Things he could only have identified as, fear, anger, sorrow and resentment towards an unknown target. Bringing both hands closer to his face, the Roegadyn could see that his fingers were all twitching as if in the motion to grab something in the air. All the while, his breathing was quickening in rate.

He could just make out that he had his mouth hanging open and the mask was becoming damp from his drool. His eyes were becoming unfocused and shaky. Brex quickly deduced that he was in fact, having a panic attack. After all this time, fighting with beasts of the Everfree forest, the Giant Star Spider on the bridge and then there was the recent tomb keeper in the underground library.

Brex had not once had a legitimate panic attack. He didn’t count the effects from the spider because of the power it had been using during the fight. But right now, he was having one just from thinking on something like being contained or forced to do something, by… by…

This was when the Roegadyn came to a revelation. What he had been feeling, was caused by the idea of not only someone doing something like that to him, but it was mostly from the idea of a female being the one.

Brex then Thought, “Was… was I abused by some girl in my past life? Did something happen to me. I-I-I Gah! I can’t stop shaking… please… someone… anyone… I-I can’t… I’m scared. Please MAKE IT STOP!” The next set of words slipped into his thoughts from out of no ware. Then there was a small glass cracking sound that resounded from the back of his neck. “Please, don’t… please, don’t do it…” He was now crying so much that his mask was completely soaked through.

It was then that he could hear another voice. Brex almost didn’t hear it over his mind screaming and the convulsing that racked his form. He hadn’t noticed it, but he had been leaning his back to the wall just outside the door that led down to the underground area.

There was that voice again. It was getting louder with each passing second. But still, he couldn’t make it out. He had brought his hands up to his head. With his fingers, Brex was practically digging his gloved finger tips into the upper part of his face while using his palms to cover his eyes in a futile attempt to somehow cut off these feelings.

It was then that there was a booming cry from within his mind that said, “MASTER, MASTER!! SNAP OUT OF IT! CAN’T YOU HEAR ME!!?” Wrenching his hands away, Brex called out through his lips, “RORY! PLEASE, I NEED YOU!” His voice was loud but thankfully there was no one else around to hear it, but honestly even if there was another, Brex couldn’t have cared less. His crying of anguish, instantly turned to those of relief when he could hear Rory’s words.

However, when he had thought that everything would be fine, the Roegadyn’s world went black. The last thing that registered to Brex was the desperate cry of Rory’s voice as his senses cut out and he lost consciousness.

*Point of view: Rory Mercury*

Rory Mercury was in a state of panic as her master suddenly started to have some kind of attack. She was trying to call out to him repeatedly but it seemed as though her words couldn’t reach. Soon she saw him practically slumped onto the wall and sliding down, then his vision was covered by a pair of hands. This was when she had managed to get through to him and just as she was thinking that things would calm down. Her master’s consciousness slips.

Now, Rory is floating within the mind of her master while surrounded by what appeared to be a scene identical to that of the dream scape. But, after a glance around, Rory noticed that there was something off about the place.

Where there was an empty void that was home to a sea of moving stars before, was now filled with far fewer lights and now there were dark patches of clouds that hovered in place. She had moved closer to one of these clouds, when the distance was close to 8 meters between the girl and the strange object, a large boom came forth from it and Rory was suddenly hit with a heavy impact to her stomach that sent her flying back several dozens of meters. This caused her to let out a scream of pain from being suddenly attacked.

After taking a few seconds to recover, Rory let out a pained grunt as she looked to the spot that had gotten hit and saw that her clothes in that area had been burnt off and the skin was in the middle of rapidly regenerating. She had also taken a small amount of the attack to her right cheek, but that just left a small scratch. Within a few more seconds, the wound was completely healed and thanks to this being in the mind, she was able to have the clothing imitate the same affect that her healing powers had done for her body.

Now with a look of annoyance, she calls out to the cloud that had just assaulted her with a disgruntled tone, “I don’t know who or what you are BUSTER! But you certainly don’t belong here in… MY MASTER’S MIND! That was when she held out to the side her right arm and there was a serge of dark lightning that collected into her palm and this shot up and down. There was an intense flash and when the light died down. There was Rory the reapers signature weapon.

Now back to Rory herself, the girls pink lip stick color had shifted to a dark purple and her eyes had taken on a slight reddish glow. With very little effort, the large weapon was spun at such high speed that it was nearly impossible to trace its movements and when it stopped, there was a gust of wind as she held it leaning over her right shoulder.

Now with a murderous edge to her voice, Rory calls out, “You don’t belong here… He is under my protection. Normally I would give you a chance to explain yourself. But you have caused my master to suffer. My dear master… you… you caused him pain! For that, I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU, EVEN IF YOU BEG FOR YOUR LIFE.”

When finished with that declaration of retribution. Rory dashes towards the cloud with inhuman speed and when Rory had closed in to the point that she was less than a centimeter outside of the last attack range, she swung her weapon with such force that it sent a shock wave through the air. This not only cut the cloud in half, but scattered it so much that it disappeared into nothingness as if it had been in the path of a miniature tornado.

Within moments, the area that had the odd cloud, returned to its normal star filled state. After watching this, Rory thought, “I see, so I just need to clear all of these unwelcomed guests and master will be able to recover. However, I feel as if these didn’t just appear out of nowhere. If I find out that some one was responsible. They will pay dearly, not just to me but I will make sure that they pay for what they had done to my dear master in the most degrading, agonizing way possible.”

After that, Rory the Reaper, set out into Brex’s mind and attacked every one of the clouds. She even made sure to go around another time to make sure that each and every one of them was long gone. When Rory was content with her savage elimination of the pests to her master, she then made her way towards the location of the door that she had found the last time she was in the dream scape.

It hadn’t taken her much time at all now that she had its location memorized and as she drew closer, Rory was expecting to see the same egg white colored door as before. However, there was something off about it.

The white paint had dulled and, on some parts, the paint was showing cracks and chips that had fallen off the door. When she looked to the handle to grab it, she saw that it was no longer the shiny brass like before. Instead, it was rusted and seemed as though it would snap off on the slightest touch.

Being careful as to not cause any undue damage, Rory opens the door. When doing so, the mechanism creaked and she could hear the grinding of the small parts within it. The door opened with an eerily creepy moan as it slides across the floor. The hinges appeared to have been in desperate need of oil as they screamed.

Expecting to see an empty room just like the last time, the girl blinked a few times when she noticed that the room had undergone some renovations of its own. The floor was warped to the point that when walking, she could tell through her boots that parts were on the edge of breaking. There was also area’s that felt as if they could have been rotten, along with one that felt squishy in a way that would have one think that it had water damage.

The room had become darker. Last time, one could see while inside, however Rory had not noticed the light’s source. This time however, that light was acting like some one had just used a dimmer switch and turned it to the lowest point posable before it simply turned it off. This made it difficult for the girl to see beyond a few feet ahead.

Turning towards the place she had remembered her master’s bed to have been before, she makes her way over. Every step caused a loud echo to boom throughout the room. After a few moments, Rory thought, “Where is the bed? His room wasn’t this big, I should have come across it already.”

There was then the sound of glass cracking off to her left. Rory quickly turned that way and saw a little way off, an odd sight. With a confused look plastered on. She approached and stood a few feet away from what she could have only called an oddly shaped window that could have been used in an old stone building or even the castle that they had been inside of for the last few days.

The window was tinted blue. Looking through it, Rory couldn’t make out anything. At first, she had expected to see what was outside the room and see the star filled emptiness. But instead, all she got was a haze of dense fog. However, there was a hairline crack that was almost missed that ran from the bottom left and it went to the very top, near the center.

Rory thought to herself, “I know that I didn’t place this here. My master couldn’t have done this… did he?” It was then that there was yet another familiar resonating sound of multiple cracks and shattering that filled the room. Turning around to see what had caused it, Rory found herself to see that along all the walls and even in the middle of the door itself, was even more windows of various types and sizes. She then said out loud, “What’s going on here, why are there so many windows.

Remembering why she was there, she then calls out, “No, where is my master! Master, are you here? Call out if you’re here, please!” Feeling uneasy, she yells in an even louder volume. “Tell ME! Are you there!? I can’t find you. Are you hurt?”

She turned back and forth to try and see as much of the room as she could in order to find anything that would indicate just where her master could be. As it to answer her prayers, the lights within the room brightened a little bit when the window’s all gave their own from the outside. But it seemed that, the lights that came from those window’s appeared to be of different hues of color as they streamed out and onto the ground.

They all gave the impression of what ever was on the other side, could have been of varying places. But this was pushed aside as the girl saw the bed from before. Quickly getting closer, Rory’s stops a few feet away and finally see’s just what had happened to her master.

The mentally constructed bed from her last visit had changed so drastically. The legs had cracks and pieces falling off that make it seem as if, it could topple over at any moment. The covers had rips and faded patches of color in some spots. The whole thing was the picture of a bed that could have come out of an abandoned, haunted house.

Laying on the bed that now was nothing like before, Rory’s master was on his back and seemed to be fast asleep. Eye’s darting back and forth along his form, Rory was now panicking as she thought, “If he had been here the whole time, then why hasn’t he woken up when I called for him?” Reaching to touch his left arm, the girl lets a gasp escape her lips as her fingers pass through his flesh and brush’s up on the linin of the bed below.

Rory called out in a desperate tone, “No, No, NO! what’s happening? Master you need to wake up. Your just really sleepy right, he Hehe~ that’s right, you had a long day. That’s why you haven’t woken up, right? Also, the whole thing with this place must be some joke…” Rory had taken on a, not so convincing smile as she fought off tears as she attempted to drag up one explanation after another as her words became frantic.

She continued with a nervous chuckle, “Hah Hah… very funny master. This… this is your way for getting back at me for that joke about paying attention to your surroundings… right?” Gripping her weapon with trembling hands as she pulls it into her chest to hug the pole part of it. It was then, that she came to a realization. The words that she had just mentioned resonated with her.

She said out loud, “Pay attention to your surroundings… your… surroundings!” That last part was a shout as she turned back towards the first window and darted over to it. Rory then peered through the window and found it to show the same thing as last time. She then moved to the next, then the next. This continued until she had looked through each one and stood in the middle of the room where the bed currently was now.

Going over what she had witnessed she said, “Most of them I can see out side and they all had that thick fog that blocked anything from being seen. However, there was a few that I did manage to see something as I looked.”

Rory was referring to one slanted window that had the design where it could be pulled up to open it half way. There was a large crack that was on the upper glass. When she had looked outside with it. Rory could see what seemed like a type of sea port town with large pillars that had bridges crisscrossing above the water. This on its own was unusual, but what had gotten her attention among all that, is the image of her master sitting on a wooden crate and he was talking to someone that Rory couldn’t identify due to its body being obscured with black, but she did see what looked like a tail.

Going over what she had seen from her master’s mind, Rory quickly realized just where that window was looking too. She then said in an astonished tone, “Limsa Lominsa, that was Limsa Lominsa, the marine city-state of Eorzea in Final Fantasy 14. But… But how is that possible? Could it be, that was his past. But he didn’t have anything personal that he could remember. Wait! OH! How could I have been so dumb!”

She had given herself a facepalm, when she lowered her hand, there was a glowing red hand print that was left behind. She then winced at the pain before saying, “Note to self… demi-goddess strength hurts… A LOT!”

Regaining her train of thought, she then starts to think, “Ok so, if that window did have a past scene playing out, then these windows are meant to display his memories. But, nearly all of them have nothing at all.”

It was then, that Rory recalled the time when her master was having trouble with that star spider. The words from the Anti-virus came to the forefront of the girl’s mind. She then thought, “Master didn’t have much positive memories. But what if that only counted towards the life, he had from outside of the game world. It would make sense if I think on how he knows this much about it.”

Taking on a thoughtful expression, Rory bites her lower lip in concentration and she thinks further on, “There is nothing from being human, but he is having some sort of back lash from those times. He could be having a mental break down without a foundation to stabilize his mental condition. However, my master seems to have everything from the time he played that game. That would explain that memory within that window.”

Glancing over towards her master’s form on the bed, Rory shows a conflicted expression as she walks a little closer. She then asks to him while showing some hesitation in her voice, “Master… I know that you forbid me from looking anymore, but I believe this would count as an emergency. So, please don’t be too harsh in my punishment if you happen to be mad at me for doing this.” At the end of what she had just said, her face had taken on a heavy blush as she added in a whisper to herself, “Damit Rory, not right now…”

Holding her weapon in her right hand, she placed the lower tip onto the floor to stand it up. The left hand was outstretched over her master’s body and the girl had taken on a serious look as she said out in an authoritative tone, “Access main dat… NO access my master’s soul, NOW! Open direct link to his memories and display any and all that have anything to do with final fantasy.”

There was a moment of silence before a blinding light enveloped the room and when that had died down, Rory could see a large number of small computer screens floating in midair. On then, were images of her master in different places and doing activities that ranged from fighting, exploring, crafting and talking to other players while enjoying the life within the game.

But after watching the screens for a few minutes, Rory had noticed something that just didn’t fit for her. Thinking back to the window from before. These screens all showed events in a way that just screamed, video game. But when it came to that scene on the dock with her master talking to that girl. It felt like it was real life. The actions and body language were on the level of it being a real memory.

She then thought to herself, “Is it possible to make what I can see, to become something real? If I can just tweak these so they line up in a way that it could take the place of his past life. Perhaps that might stabilize my master. I could alter how the players and the non-player characters move and talk, that might do the trick. But… but… wouldn’t that count as me… brainwashing my master…” This made Rory pause and take on a terrified expression.

She thought, “If master finds out what I did. I have no doubt that he would hate me for it. To just go in and mess with his mind and turn it into something else. He might see that as a form of betrayal. He would never trust me again…” she had started to show signs of wanting to cry at the idea of her master, no longer trusting her.

She then continued with, “But if I don’t do anything, who knows what might happen. I was the assistance program, not the real anti-virus. I don’t know how to do everything. So, I can’t do a lot. Oh, master, if only you could tell me what to do. All I need is for you to let me know that what I have planned is ok to go ahead and try.”

That was the moment that she could feel the floor beneath her feet starting to shake. Rory then waved her hand towards one of the many screens and said, “Display the dream scape.”

The screen flickered and what she saw only caused Rory to gulp as it displayed what she considered to be another of those dark clouds from before. That wouldn’t have normally been the cause of the reaction she had just showed, but the cloud was many, many times bigger that all the rest that she had destroyed. This one was discharging lightning at random directions at a nearly nonstop rate. It also didn’t help with the fact that it was currently making a bee line right for both of them at that moment.

Now sweating like crazy, Rory quickly turned her head to look at the still unconscious state of her master. While doing this, she had noticed that his color was gradually fading and the sheets under his form, were being seen much more clearly. She thought, “Oh no! master, master is fading, does this mean that he might completely disappear if this continues?”

In a fit of frustration, Rory stabs her weapon into the floor with the handles end and with both free hands, she grabs her hair and screams, “WHAT DO I DO, THAT CLOUD IS ON IT’S WAY HERE AND MY MASTER IS FADING.” Looking towards the screen displaying the cloud, Rory yells, “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO HIM!?”

Closing her eyes tight, she starts to think, “If I don’t do this, then he will disappear in here. I don’t know what that might do to him outside, will he die, or just be an empty shell? That would be the same as becoming brain dead!”

Taking in a few deep breaths, Rory gets a steely look in her eyes. With both hands being raised to point towards the many screens, the girl then gives the next set of orders, “Ok, lets get started. I’m doing this to save him. If he hates me afterwards, then I’m fine with it and I’ll take any punishment he wants to give out. All I want is for him to live.”

Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Rory lets out a deep sigh. When she opens them again, the girl says, “Use the accessed memories and start the reprogramming, I want them to become his past. Extrapolate from them and reconstruct a new set. Also, integrate everything else he has, I want to make it so he can fall back on them. This means the information on all the Stories, movies, anime, books and games he had played. I mean everything! Also, make sure to put in there the knowledge that this is not his real past, but a temporary one that is needed for his survival. I’m not about to let him think I’m doing this in some sick way of changing him for my benefit.”

(Play this music here.)

The screens light up and there is a blinding flash, the sounds of computer texts being typed at incredible speeds could be heard as they all went into action. Rory couldn’t even keep her eyes open as the light was to much for her and this caused the girl to fall to the floor and onto her butt. This elicits a small annoyed grunt. She yells out, “Could have warned a lady!”

The screen that could not have been seen right then, started to display a series of lines. Almost as if they had been possessed, they acted on their own accord.

Access internal memory… Access granted….

Selecting files for analysis… Files selected…

Scanning selected files for re-programming…

Scanning files… Scanning… Scanning…

Analysis complete…

Attempting to integrate existing files with newly selected files…

Error… incompatible… reason… discrepancies exceed set parameters…

Attempting to alter new files… attempt… successful…

Compatibility rating… 50 percent…

Attempting to alter new files for higher compatibility…

Compatibility rating… 79 percent…

Attempting to alter new files for higher compatibility…

Compatibility rating… 90 percent…

Attempting to alter new files for higher compatibility…

Compatibility rating… 100 percent…

Re-attempting to integrate existing files with newly selected files…

Attempt… successful…

Analyzing newly integrated memory files…

Internal memory reconstruction… complete…

discrepancies … non-existent…

Commencing final scans…

Error… unknown program detected…

Scanning error…

Error file found… Identified under name… Y’shtola

Attempting to correct error… Denied…

Message found within error file… displaying…

“Tis not time, the story as only started…”

Error… system scanning records… re-written…

Scanning complete… no error’s detected…

Restarting Systems…

Displaying newly constructed memory core…

(Stop the Music here.)

This was when the blinding light from the screens died down and this allowed Rory to finally open her eyes. Getting up, she approaches them and they all began to display an event on each of them.

Rory quickly remembered the clouds and looked towards one of the screens and ordered it to display the dream scape once again. When it did so. Rory had let out a relieved sigh at the sight. What was shown, was a star filled void that she had grown accustomed too.

She then turned to the room itself and what she saw surprised the woman. What had once been the equivalent of an abandoned house, was now slowly morphing into something else.

The windows that lined the walls had started to show signs of them mending as Rory could see the glass repairing in a way that looked as if, time was going backwards. Even the sounds of breaking glass were being sung out, but that too was played in reverse.

The floor, that had shown varying states of decay, was now turning into a smooth, polished light brown color wood. The walls had also begun to take on a shade of white that had once been that of the door that led into the room on Rory’s first visit.

She looked closer into the windows from where she stood and found scenes being played out of her master talking to who she considered to be his friends. Some of them were cat like beings, while others looked to be normal humans, elves and even a human like race that had horns growing from the sides of their heads and what seemed to be dragon tails. Those must have been the Au ra, that her master had mentioned before when talking about the retainers.

Now speaking of her master, Rory turned back to the bed. That too had taken on its previous form from when she had constructed it. Right, there was her sleeping master. But now his color had returned. With a trembling hand, Rory reaches towards him with her left and before making contact, she stops. She then thinks, “Did it really work. This isn’t a trick, right?” she then continued and touched his form.

With a wide smile on her lips. Rory lost all composure, letting go of her connection to her weapon, it falls over, but before hitting anything, it fades away. The woman then jumps into the air and lands on top of her master. Sitting over his waste with her legs hung over either side, she leans forward and lays onto his chest. Grasping his clothing, she lets out a cry of relief as she brushes her cheeks into his chest while screaming in a tone that had a mix of joy and crying.

“Master, Master… I was so scared that I lost you. Please don’t do anything like that again! Also, I’m so sorry I looked into your mind again. I didn’t know what else to do, you started to have an attack and then you passed out. I looked for you and… and…”

She had stopped mid-sentence when she had felt something laying across her back. It was something big. Looking up, she saw the face of her master. From under the hood. She could see that the mask had been removed.

There, Rory could see her master… Giving her a gentle smile with closed eyes. He then opened them and said in a relaxed and tender tone. “Thanks again Rory. Not all too sure on what happened, but I think you saved me again.” She felt the object on her back giving a little pressure and that was when she realized that it was his hand giving her a hug. This caused the demi-goddess to blush hard and start to stutter out a line of incoherent words.

She then could hear her master asking a question in a jovial voice, “So, I know your glad and all, but do you mind explaining just why it is that you’re straddling me like some horny girl?” this was paired with him giving her a small grin along with a raised right eyebrow.

Rory was now overloaded with the situation and started to think in a panicked mind set, “HUH, wha... what did he just, did I hear right? What’s with that face he’s making. Did he just make a sex joke? But, but he never talked like this before. He is also holding me against himself. AM I BEING EMBRACED?!!! NO, NO, IM NOT READY FOR THIS, ITS TOO SUDDEN.”

Steam had gushed from Rory’s ears as every inch of her skin that was visible had started to turn into a shade of red as it traveled up her body, The woman’s heart was beating over a hundred miles an hour inside her chest. The girl’s eyes started to show swirls as her mind was melting and this led to her falling onto her master’s body as she passed out from the unexpected shock.

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

Brex was looking down from his laying position at the girl that was laying across his form. When he had woken up. He had noticed the weight on his body and quickly realized that with the smaller body that was dressed in the gothic style clothing, that this had to be Rory Mercury. Feeling ecstatic to finally meet the girl, Brex had reach and placed his hand onto her back and waited for her to notice that he was now awake.

While not fully comprehending just what was going on, Brex did recall a few things just before blacking out. But he had just known somehow, that she had saved his life again. After saying his thanks, the Roegadyn felt the urge to poke at her for a little fun and asked, why she was straddling him. This got him to nearly laugh as he watched the girl have the stereo type anime girl embarrassment meltdown.

When he saw her fainting, Brex had a toothy smile and mumbled under his breath, “Well, I can’t say I dislike having a girl using me as a bed, but I’m not sure this is the right time.” Being careful as to not disturb the girl, Brex some how manages to slip out from under Rory and lets her sleep on the bed.

He stands onto his feet and takes a glance at the room and says, “Hmmm, so, I’m thinking this is that dream scape Rory had mentioned this morning. I could have sworn that she mentioned it to be darker in here. Also, there are all these windows.” Walking over to one, he could see it to be one that resembled a fun house mirror with how its dimensions were all lopsided. He then said, “A lot of these window frames make me think of something that discord would have inside his house.”

Getting back to how he was in this state, Brex concentrated and noticed something odd. He could tell that he remembered things more clearly. however, there was this unknown knowledge that what he had in his memories where, in fact false and that Rory’s did this to save his life. After taking a few minutes to look over everything inside his head. Brex considered that that feeling was true.

He was a game character now, so it was strange to have vivid memories of him chatting to non-player characters and doing body motions that couldn’t normally be done in that game. He knows that in some way, he would have been furious and despising her for what she had done. But Brex couldn’t bring himself to do so. In a strange way, The Roegadyn felt, relieved, even happy in a way. The building anxiety that had been festering ever sense coming to Equestria had been calmed.

He thought to himself while looking over towards Rory, who was sleeping on the bed, “I think I was about to lose it with not having a past to hold onto. I know that its not real. But you made it real enough for me… thanks Rory. I’m still worried about what’s to come, however I believe that I can think more calmly about it now.”

Taking in a deep breath, the Roegadyn holds it in for a moment before letting it out. He then says, “Well, now how do I get out of here? I’m sleeping so all I need to do is wake up but, this is a lucid dream. Guess I’ll have some fun.” Giving it some thought, Brex snaps his fingers and the door to the room shifts a little. While retaining its previous form, it had now an addition to the wall right next to the handle. Walking to it, Brex takes hold of a nob on the center of a round pad that resembled a Simon says light up toy. It had the colors, Black, white, red and blue. with a twist, the whole thing rotates so the white color was now on the top and as that color lit up, so did the edges of the door.

With a small chuckle Brex looks towards the new item on the wall after seeing the door react and says under his breath, “Always did like ‘Howl's moving castle’. Just a small twist to the color wheel from the movie.”

Opening the door, he was exposed to a brilliant white light. Walking through it, Brex finds himself back in the real world after opening his eyes and looks around from his sitting position next to the door that led down into the library.

He thinks to himself, “Just how long was I out of it this time. Never got a time frame from Rory before she went and fainted. Hehe, now I know how it looks like from the outside for once. Oh wow… I feel so much more relaxed compared to before. Well, I won’t get anything done if I just lay on the ground. Time to track down some books to read.” Brex slowly rose to his feet and turned to the door that led into the darkness.

Before going in, he brings up his inventory and takes out one red shard and heads over to a near by torch and uses the stone to lite it up. After doing this the black clothed Roegadyn walks into the steps leading down under the Castle.

*Point of view: Swirl Sugar*
*Location: Luna’s bed chamber*
*Time: 8:15 at night*

Swirl sugar was waiting in a chair that she had found in the corner of the room and looking over her achievement that had taken close to four hours. Letting out a long sigh as she used her arm to wipe the sweat off her brow.

She then started to think back to earlier when the stallion had left the room, he had said he needed to think. Swirl was worried that he would just up and leave, but tossed the thought out of her mind when she recalled that he had saved them two times already. There was even the fact that he was willing to go through with getting the two of them food. She nearly laughed at how they needed to convince him to just have something to eat.

She began to think to herself, “Huh… so there is a male out there that treats us mare’s with respect, I was so used to how so many of them would flaunt their status. Most males inside Canterlot are either nobles or just close enough to be considered to be with them. Its true that outside of the capital, it’s another matter altogether. The males are treated as week and taken advantage at times. There have been cases where they had been assaulted during the times mare’s would go into heat.”

Swirl sugar continued, “I just wonder, what had been done to Brex… was he abducted from some far-off land by a mare within our nation’s capital? Had he been locked away in some dark place? How was he brought here without any pony noticing? Also, just how did he escape? From what I can see, the guy is really strong. Stronger than the captain, that’s for sure. Then there is his size. Only stallions I seen that can even come close are the earth ponies on some of the farmland nearby. Dam… those earth mare’s got the pick of the crop!”

But when it came to the thoughts on how he says that he is a Duke. Now that had tossed wood onto the figurative bonfire. She had thoughts on just how badly this would affect the image of Equestria, along with the Princess. A stallion of royal lineage, foal napped from another country and brought over to be a noble mare’s property. They would think that we condone slavery. That was outlawed nearly 300 years ago.

The world would think that we are nothing but monsters. Relations between kingdoms will weaken. Trade would also get hurt and who knows how badly that would cause export and imports between us and others to be handled.

She had mentioned to Shadow Lily that they need to do what ever they could to keep him safe. Also, to try and undo any damage that this unknown mare, may have caused. Of course, Shadow was not so ready for the implications, Swirl sure wasn’t ready either, but she did have experience in these things.

After the talk with shadow, er… well when the talk had been cut short thanks to her friend fainting… Swirl Sugar had started to use her magic on the room and started to clean the place up. Getting rid of the dirt and dust on practically every inch of this large room.

She was surprised when she had found some. *Cough* interesting items that happened to have been hidden away. At first, she had the thought that they belonged to the stallion. This caused two conflicting sides to form in her mind.

One was that he wasn’t really all that good natured. She had thought that he only saved them so he could do what he wanted. The other was with her fantasizing about him doing just that and this caused the mare to get slightly damp down in her private area.

After having some time to think it over more. Swirl had come to the conclusion that they had been here for some time. Therefore, they couldn’t have belonged to him. This both relieved Swirl, but somehow the disappointment of it not being the case devastated her far, far worse.

But after a while longer, Swirl Sugar had finally finished with her work. At some point after getting past the idea that the items belonged to the stallion or not, Swirl had started to enjoy the act of fixing up the room for the male. She had a strong sense of honor, well not too strong, after all, she did work in the red district for a year or two. But that was to earn the bits so she could make the bills. During that time, the guard’s recruitment rates just happen to be really low.

Swirl had realized that she didn’t mind it at all in this instance. She wasn’t some house mare. But when it came to the thoughts of a respectable male like Brex, she had felt some pride. This did confuse her somewhat. It was common that the females here had to take up the hard work so the males could be safe. After all, they are considered rare with the mare to stallion counts being so far off from one another.

Now she was just sitting in the room with a some what bored look on her face. Glancing back to the bed, she could see that Shadow was still passed out. She started to think, “Oh Shadow, just how long are you going to be like this. I just did the work of the princess’s maids for the last few hours and you managed to sleep through that.” When Swirl had finished that sentence. She had developed a wicked grin.

*Point of view: Brex Mith*
*Location: Underground library*

The Roegadyn was currently navigating the library in search for some worthwhile booty. *Cough* whoops, meant books. Right now, Brex was looking through some pirate story book that he had randomly come across and was nearly done with it.

He thought to himself, “I only wanted to see what a pony pirate story was like, but I’m hooked. With how fast I can read these, its like watching a movie in fast forward times 6. Now just need to finish this last chapter. OH, COME ON. The writer didn’t even finish writing the dang thing?! What is captain horn hook going to do so he can save Solar Flare.”

It had taken him a few moments after finishing the book and putting it back in place when he suddenly froze on the spot. He then thought, “Wait Solar Flare? The mare was white and her hair was pink, then there was the fact that she was a unicorn that had a dream of flying… oh Crap! How did I not notice? Dang it all. This was written by Sun Butt! Why didn’t I remember that Solar Flare was used as an alias for Princess Celestia in a number of stories!”

He continued with, “Well, now I know a little bit about the mare. It turns out that she has a wild side, just like her sister. Hehe he, I think I just might hold onto this as blackmail material for later on.” A wide grin was now under his mask.

Brex couldn't help but be in a better mood ever sense Rory had helped him out. However, there was still no word from her. He had figured that she was still out cold from him giving her that hug and teasing. He thought, “I had no idea that Rory would be so weak to some light teasing. After all, I happen to remember that I was a big fan of her character from before coming here. She was portrayed to be a teaser herself.”

Time went by as Brex walked through the shelves and picking up any book that had snatched his attention. It had only taken him a few minutes to read through even the largest of them all. Nearly two hours and 40 minutes had passed sense he left the mare’s by the clock on his display when Brex looked towards it. At that moment, he was sitting at some randomly placed table and had actually used all the books he had been reading through to build a book fort.

When he had realized just how long it had been, along with the building of books he had constructed. He thought this in astonishment, “Soooooo~ this is what its like to be Twilight sparkle? I feel bad for spike. If she is half as bad as I am now. The kid really needs to get paid more. No wonder he is always stuck at the tree library.”

This whole time, Brex had poured over nearly 150 books on subjects of, medical, science, history and of course magic. He was shocked with just how close these ponies are to humans. Brex was really ashamed to think it, but this whole time with those two, the Roegadyn had been ignoring them to the point that he didn’t notice their features.

Every conversation, Brex had only focused on their voices so he could remember them. Then there was the color of their hair and mane, on a side note, the pony’s hair was super short to the point one could just say its colored skin. As for the muzzles, they didn’t go out all that far. The eyes didn’t really seem over sized to himself at all.

If Brex had to think of the scales of these ponies on the anthromorphic line. Then with human being at the number one and my little pony cartoon being a seven, then the ones on this world would have to be considered the number two spot.

He had learned all he could with what was known on them during this time period. Of course, this was focused on mainly the unicorns. As it turned out, nearly every one of these tomes had been made by a unicorn. Seems that they did have a few from the other two tribes, but they seemed to be in bad condition. He had no idea if they had been treated badly or they just didn’t get the protection spell placed on them.

Moving onto the magic portion. Brex had learned quite a lot actually. From being able to tell just what type of magic is about to be cast when looking at the horn’s glow. How one can focus their mind and unravel some of the basic types which included that telekinesis that they all seem to do.

Now when it came to learning how to fight the whole mind reading, that was a flop. The same could have been said about the whole, fighting off Luna’s dream attacks plan. He had still wanted to talk to Rory about that. With the words, Anti-virus and Firewall, one would think they could do something.

When it came to the history, now that was a bit complicated. But in the end, Brex had gotten the most of it down. It would seem that in this world’s version of My little pony, it followed the same basic principle from the show. But there were some key changes that got Brex’s attention. In one book, there was a line about a Queen Umbra and the Crystal empire. But that was all that was written. Just like in the show, the princess had also erased it from history. He chucked a little at the idea that she had missed the one sentence within a book in her own library.

After letting himself have the chance to gather his thoughts and assimilate all the knowledge that was crammed inside his head. The Roegadyn stands to his full height and lets out a moan while stretching his limbs.

He then thought, “I know that I said that I shouldn’t go near that tree of harmony, but with how well my body has been able to trick those spells in place around the castle, I think I’ll be fine giving the girl a visit.” He then turns to a random direction and adds, “Yes I’m calling it she. Why? Because it’s always been a female in a lot of the stories, and I intend to keep the trend going.”

Now blinking and having a confused expression, Brex then says, “Ummmmm, why did I just do that? Eh, maybe I’m a little nutty now. Not like I got people reading about me like so many other displaced.”

He then froze and looked to his surroundings for a moment and then shrugs. He then thinks, “So what if I am, I’m here after all. Not much they can do, I guess. Not like there is some one writing this and they intend to place a Vote as to what item I’ll get… right?” Letting his eyes dart around, he finish’s with, “Oh please, if some one is writing about me, please please give me something useful.”

*Point of view: The Writer*

At a desk, a person looks to their lab top and exclaims, “Oh shit! He’s onto me! Rory, I think you made him too smart!” A new voice comes into the room and says, “Hay, that’s my stick, no one breaks the fourth wall but me. Ok there is also Deadpool too, but my point still stands!” The first voice calls out, “What do you think your doing? You’re not meant to be in the story right now. Its still early in the script.” There was a happy reply as the second voice said, “Okie dokie Loki! Brexy, I’ll save you a blueberry muffin!”

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

Letting out a happy moan while rubbing his tummy. Brex muttered under his breath, “Hmmmm, Blueberry muffin, me likes.” He then tilts his head and thinks, “Why do I have a craving for muffins now? Oh well.” He starts to hum a toon in his mind as he sings within his head, “Off to see the tree, the wonderful tree of harmony.”

It had taken some time, but Brex was now standing at the entrance to the cave that the tree of harmony was said to be residing. He starts to think, “if it’s a crystal tree, I wonder with it being magic and all, I might be able to use it in the way I’m hoping for.”

Entering the cave, Brex finds it to be darker than even back in the library. If it wasn’t for him tapping into Rory’s situational awareness ability, odds are that he would have tripped over at least a few of the rocks that littered the ground. This also counted towards the ones that hung from the roof of the cave.

He thought, “They didn’t show the ponies in the show hitting their heads on rocks in here. Well, with me being too tall. I guess low bridges and doorways may become a regular hazard. Oh, I’m really chipper right now. I wonder if its from the changes or could it be a side effect of coming closer to the physical embodiment of good for this world. Hmmm, so would that count as me walking into a form of radiation? Naw, this isn’t fallout. It would be if I was wearing power armor.”

It had taken nearly 10 minutes of slow walking within the cave before Brex could see a faint light being shown on the wall around a bend. Taking the turn, he came out of the tunnel and into a spacious circular room. In the middle was the Tree of Harmony.

Brex could feel a warmness being emitted from the crystalline tree that just rolled off in waves. Feeling that it was safe, he walked closer to it and just as he had gotten to maybe three meters away. There was a force that compelled him to want to reach out his right hand towards it.

With the Roegadyn’s hand fully outstretched, the Tree of harmony started to let out a crystal-like hum. A gentle stream of light was being given off and lighting up the whole room. Then the light started to focus and target Brex’s open hand. This became a solid beam that was surrounded by small particles. From underneath his mask, Brex had a look of amazement.

He thought within his mind, “Oh, By the twelve… is… is this how it feels to attune oneself to an aetheryte crystal? How can I even describe this sensation… it’s… like. I dunno, that feeling you get when you watch a movie for the first time and at the end there is that one scene where everything that is bad, some how changes into something incredible and the music becomes epic. It’s like that surge of positive emotions. If I had to name a movie scene… it would have to be the moment that Captain America catches Thor’s hammer for the first time when fighting Thanos. Or maybe when all the avengers come back and walk through all those portals.”

With a small mental pause, Brex then adds, “Ok, later on I’m so going to make a movie theater in my dream scape and having a movie night with Rory.” That was when the tether of light between Brex and the Tree of harmony faded and he noticed in the lower left of his vision a notification stating, attunement with Tree of Harmony successful. With that, Brex gave a fist pump of joy.

Grinning from ear to ear. Brex thinks, “Yes! I have a teleport point. With this I can use either the teleport or the return spell that every player can do. All I needed was to have at least one crystal that I have made contact with.”

Brex then stopped and started to have a worried face before adding, “I really hope that it works exactly like the game. Otherwise, things might get somewhat hairy.” Looking back to his clock. He had noticed that it was getting close to three and a half hours sense he had left the girls.

Shaking his head, He looks towards the tree and calls out to it in a friendly tone, “I know your not going to answer me. But thank you for letting me attune myself to you. I would do something about those Plunderseeds that discord planted but it’s needed in the timeline to help Twilight Sparkle. I doubt that its all going to be the same as in the show. But I want to try and keep whatever I can to be as close to it as possible.”

Turning away, Brex makes for the exit of the cave, but along the way, he could have sworn that he felt something within that made him think that the Tree of Harmony was ok with how things are and understood.

It was now, that Brex had finished with walking through the castle and was close to the bed chambers that the two mare’s had been staying inside during his little field trip around the grounds. Glancing to his mini map, he saw the two green dots and they were still inside the room. Preparing himself for some trouble, the Roegadyn approached the door and pushes it open slowly. Being weary for anything, he had gotten his mind ready to use any of his ninja skills at the first sight of something wrong.

Just as the door was halfway done with its swing, Brex could hear Rory stirring and hears her giving out a little yawn before asking, “So what did I miss?” At that moment Brex’s jaw drops and a cold sweat forms on his brow. Within His mind, Rory’s stands there and gives an intense blush while showing a mischievous grin thanks to the sight that they had both walked in on.

Author's Note

Ok so here it is. I'm starting the vote from the time this chapter is posted. You, the readers can add to the story by helping me decide just was extra item I will place among those that Brex Mith will get later on when he receives them.

Here are the rules.
1. Use the Comments and pick one.
2. You can give a small explanation for the vote if you wish.
3. You can also give me an idea as to what power this item might have in the story. I just might pick one of them. If I do use an idea, I'll post the name of the person I'm using the power from.
4. This vote will last from this point, until I load my next chapter.

Here are the picks.
1. The house Phone from the anime. Ah my Goddess.
2. A Trading card of the character, Yoko Kurama while holding his rose whip weapon. From the anime Yu Yu Hakasho.