PONOSUBA -Friendship is a Blessing in this wonderful world!
Raising her head high, Nightmare Moon chuckled. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?
“Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about… Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty—” Pinkie pie tried to think of another name, only for the farm pony to shove a muffin in her mouth.
Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed.
“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?” Nightmare Moon inquired, swiveling her head at every pony in the room. The lavender unicorn stepped up.
“I did,” Confessed Twilight, “And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon — Nightmare Moon!”
Every-pony except Marcus gasped.
Well, Nightmare Moon thought, at least someone remembers me.
“Well well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here.”
“You're here to… to…” Twilight gulped, her words clogged down her throat.
“You’re here to defile us, aren’t you?!”
It was by those erotic words that left every-pony along with Marcus speechless. Everyone slowly turns their heads robotically towards the direction of the voice, but instantly recoils in shock and disgust to find a yellow buttered pegasus with her cheeks flourish in red and her chest rising and falling.
“You’re here to In-slave us. Having us bend into your will to do acts of erotic perversion and belly dancers, with the combination of unimaginable desires in ways no ponies ever done before.” Fluttershy shouts in a near squeak, wrapping her hooves around herself, moaning softly.
Nightmare Moon blinked, staring at the yellow pegasus wide-eyed. “Wh… What?”
Marcus slaps his palm to his forehead.
“Oh god…”
THREE HOURS EARLIER…
11:45 PM
In the past, Marcus used to always be the first to enter High School before any other student. But now a portion of his days are uneventful, after he had stopped going. For him now it's looping in the same routine: He wakes up, takes a walk, eats and drinks, walks back home, plays video games and maybe watches one of the new episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic until he falls asleep. Sporadically, he would sit at the hill of a mountain gazing at the stars in the clearest of nights, other times he'll stay at home reading light novels and Manga all day.
Every so often, something new and interesting happens: he got chased by an angry dog, and was later greeted by the neighbor's daughter, who he admitted was beautiful. It was nighttime and once again Marcus was walking down the sidewalk. When he reached his destination, he entered the store before the two double doors pulled to the side.
As he went in he studied the place: snacks and junk foods in different aisles, frozen yogurts behind cold fridges, and a man working in the cashier taking money from a young man whom Jason knew instantly by appearance. He had short black hair and chocolate-brown eyes. He had an expression of profound boredom on his face. Furthermore, he also wore a tracksuit with the letter 'M,' imprinted on the left side of his chest, with green skinny lines that stretched down to his long black sleeves along with his pants. Likewise, he knew him back at kindergarten, and he became his childhood friend.
“I knew I would find you here, Kaleb.” Kaleb, who happens to recognize the voice, looks up to see his friend smiling at him.
“Oh, hey Marcus,” Kaleb returned, exiting the store with his friend behind him. “So what brings you out here, of all places, you had another nightmare?”
Marcus sighs, ignoring the images of the last nightmare he had replaying in his head, “Yeah, I couldn't go back to sleep. So, I decided to take a walk, walking calms me down.”
“And what about your girlfriend, are you two still together?” He asked.
He felt as if someone had thrust a blade into his heart. With his head lowered, and his eyes cast down, he told him. “Um… she passed away two days ago; she died in a car accident, I was going to tell you, but I was too screwed up over her death.”
Kaleb frowned by hearing this. “Oh, damn… I'm so sorry, dude. I had no idea.” He said, and he meant it. Jason pulled out a light blue ribbon, he looked down on the ribbon, taking in the view: the light had never faded, almost as if it was brand new. He would always see her wearing it as her 'lucky ribbon,' as she would call it. Whenever they hung out together, he would go to her place when her parents weren't home; and would sit on her bed watching, listening to her singing. He would sit there the whole night, just watching his girl stand there and sing one of her written songs. When she finished, Jason would always cheer the loudest, clapping his hands together and yelling, causing Her to blush before embracing him with a hug. They would play around a little, talk about their dreams before they head on home.
Marcus hadn't even noticed the tears start to roll down his face as he looked back up. Seeing this, Kaleb reached under his pocket, grabbing a napkin he got from his mother. Taking the proffered napkin, Marcus dried his face as he tried to pull himself together. He set the used napkin in his pocket, finally looking up to meet Kaleb’s worried gaze.
“Thanks,” Marcus said, smiling warmly at his friend. Kaleb just nodded whilst clearing his throat.
“Hey, why don't you and I head back to my place? We can go back where we left off on that dragon quest, if you're down?” He suggested.
Marcus nodded. “Yeah, I liked that.”
“Alright let's go.” Said Kaleb, a little happy that he agreed to tag along. And so, they both were about to make their way towards the house. However, when Jason took the third step, he noticed to his right shoulder that Kaleb halted—looking at nothing but an empty parking space. He raised a brow at him, a bit bewildered.
“Kaleb?” When Kaleb didn't respond, he repeated himself a bit louder. When a response finally came, he looked straight whilst waving his hand at Jason and letting out an exhausting sigh.
“Don't worry I'm fine,” he told him rubbing his hands on his right eye, “I guess anyone would be tired after holding up in their room, gaming all day.”
“Yeah, I thought I made it clear you stop doing that, it’s unhealthy for you—” Marcus paused At that moment when he noticed a little kid with headphones on making his way across the street about a block away. Music blasted through his ears, failing to notice the crosswalk sign hadn't notified him to walk yet. Marcus wasn’t going to budge, since it was nighttime and the streets were practically empty. At least, that's what he thought. When he turned to his right, he went wide-eyed as he saw a pale-blue pickup truck going straight down the road at a fast rate.
What’s worse, was that it didn’t show any signs of slowing down as it barreled way down the street. When he turned back to the kid in the middle of the street, Marcus could see that he hadn't yet noticed any of it while it was speeding straight for him. Not giving it a second thought, He quickly ran over him, warning in a near shout to get his attention.
“Hey. Look out!” Marcus shouted at him, now making a full sprint towards him. He was only a good few feet away from them, trying to call out once again, hoping to make a sound to warn him. However, the boy still continued onward. Seconds were passing. The truck was drawing nearer and in Jason’s heart, he knew what he had to do.
Once he was close enough to him, he used all of his momentum to quickly shove the child forward, causing him to fall face-down on the sidewalk and out of danger. The boy pulled his headphones off, laying them around his nape before quickly turning around with a glare in his eyes. “What’s your problem du-” His expression changed to shock shortly afterward.
Marcus could see out of the corner of his eye the set of headlights, and for a moment, his world began to move slowly. He watched as the hood of the truck slowly collided to his side and into his left arm, causing his entire forearm to shatter and skin to ripple uselessly against the impact. Marcus’s body bounced across the pavement, skidding across the rough surface hard enough to burn off bits of his flesh from the friction. In those few seconds, He saw the boy and Kaleb’s faces, filled with horror from the position his head landed on the ground, before he felt his conscience leave him. When he reawakened, he was left with an unbearable feeling.
Pain.
That’s what he felt as his eyes slowly began to pried open. He tasted a coppery flavor in his mouth. Blood…is this my blood? He thought to himself. It was like knives were using his chest as a pincushion stabbing him all over, it hurt too great to breathe. Adding it up with several broken ribs, a guaranteed punctured lung for sure. And from both ears, a long, high-pitched whistle was all he could listen to. Marcus’s vision was blurry, fading in and out of focus, darkness encompassing his peripherals. Slowly it all merged into one focused image again. His vision focused long enough for him to barely see the kid he saved and his friend standing by him, kneeling in front of him, before his vision faded out once more. When it came back, he could see silhouettes of tall figures standing next to them, officers, he thought.
Marcus couldn't think too much about this, the pain in his body was too much for him to bear. Soon, it became harder to breathe, and his body was growing colder. 'Is this it? Am I really going to die?'As time passes, he could feel his body feeling numb?
Marcus couldn't hear or feel anything except the numbness slowly spreading through his body. His vision started to darken as his life seemed to be reaching the end of the road. In those final moments of being alive, he smiled whilst closing his eyes, thinking. “At least… I’ll get to be reunited with her again.”
The world was quiet. He could feel a weird sensation from his back. But at the same time, It seemed almost as if all his cares were far away…
“Where… am I…?”
Though silence was his only reply, he obviously knew the answer.
“Oh yeah, that’s right, I died.”
“—n. . .us. . .n. . .”
Snippets of syllables were all Marcus heard. He tried to move his arms, but only managed to move one. Suddenly, as if someone poured a bucket of cold water on his face, his sense of smell returned and his brain filled with all kinds of information. There was someone standing before him.
Wait. . . No.
Something’s not adding up. He should be dead. How is he hearing all of this?
“—good you’re awake.”
He flinched—his world of silence faded. He was bewildered. Who’s speaking to him? And why does it almost occur to him that he might have survived and probably lay on a hospital bed? As hopeful as that sounds, he was smart enough to know that wasn’t the case. He shouldn’t have because the fatal wounds he took were brutal. So, he should embrace the sad reality that he's dead. He cracked his eyes open to try to get a look at where he was, but he was immediately assaulted with a bright, warm light. He squinted his eyes harshly, letting them adjust slowly. Once they did, he found in his vision a blurry mess. All he could see were blobs of color and lightest lavender, mere outline and shape.
Come on.
He picked up more noises, sounds like singing belonging to hundreds from afar.
“Take your time, child. The effects are slowly wearing off.”
He forced his eyes open, seeing spots in his vision, and rolled over onto his hands and knees. He wobbled, clenching his hands in the loose dirt as he rebalanced himself. Furthermore, he tried to find his voice.
“Wha… where…?” He shook his head slightly. He leaned back, steadying on his himself. His head swam for a moment, but then it cleared. Colors and shapes all merged into one focused image again. He looked around. Through the fluffy clouds surrounding him, he saw a face—an illuminated face. Kind almond hazel eyes staring back at him and dolce skin. He saw colors, bright sparkles shrouded their whole body changing from different shades of color. They were staring at him, and they were quite tall. As the clouds cleared, he could see them more clearly. They wore a pure crimson cloak with a hood over their head that illuminated bright rainbow hued that flowed.
“I’ve been waiting for your arrival, Marcus Benjamin.”
