Running from the Pastby EpicSurvivorChaptersPrologueChapter 1: I didn't deserve this...Chapter 2: What happened?Chapter 3: Questioning time!Chapter 4: WHAT??!?Chapter 5: It's party time!Chapter 6: A ghastly reminder...Chapter 7: ChangeChapter 8: RevelationsChapter 9: Fun timeChapter 10: Here again...Chapter 11: EscalationChapter 12: No....Chapter 13: Does it even matter?PrologueLloyd slowly opened his eyes as he realized his surroundings. His room, as it had been for the past 3 years. Once his mom and dad had died, he had moved into an apartment with his best friend, Phil. Lloyd checked the time, 6:00. "Damn, quite early." Lloyd muttered as he got up. He took a shower and then got dressed. He walked downstairs, and yawned. "Breakfast?" Phil asked. "Sure." Lloyd said. After they had finished breakfast, Lloyd realized it was a Saturday. Lloyd started watching some TV, "The Big Bang Theory" to be exact. It was 9:00. "Up for a walk into town?" asked Phil. "Alright." Lloyd said. "Guess its gonna rain today...." Phil said. Lloyd looked up, and sure enough, dark clouds were forming in the skies. It started to drizzle. "Good thing we brought our coats..." Lloyd said. "Eeyup." After walking around town a bit, Lloyd wanted to hang around the park for awhile. Phil decided to go home. "See ya at home, buddy!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Heh, yeah be seein' you." Phil said. As Lloyd was sitting on a bench, he saw three men robbing a young woman. "Give us your money! One of the thieves said. "Yeah, give it to us!" Another said. "No, get away from me!" said the woman. "So be it..." The tallest thief said. He pulled out a ten-inch switchblade, jet-black in color and was just about to stab her with it. Lloyd grabbed the weapon-wielding thief just as he was prepared to strike. "The lady wants to be left alone." The thief quickly shoved him off. "Looks like we got ourselves a big-shot here, boss!" said one of the thieves. "Yeah, let's get 'em!" another said. Quickly, the three hoodlums attacked. Lloyd swung a punch at the crminal nearest him and managed a good hit across the face. The thief rubbed his wound for a second, before getting angry and charging at Lloyd. Lloyd quickly sidestepped and gave him a quick punch across the back, knocking him down. Another one held Lloyd down just long enough for the other criminal that was knocked down to get up and hold Lloyd's other arm. Lloyd thrashed, as he wasn't the easiest individual to hold down. The lead thief walked up to him and raised the knife. "Any last words, hero?" He asked. Lloyd spit at him. Enraged, the thief quickly stabbed Lloyd in the stomach several times. Lloyd struggled, but fell to the ground as soon as the criminals dropped him. Lloyd was bleeding like a stuck pig from the belly. He realized the woman had managed to get away, but at the cost of his own life. His eyes quickly widened, his life flashing right before his eyes. His 7th birthday, him and his dad hunting in the woods at the age of 11, losing his parents when he was 13, moving in with Phil at 14, it was all there. The criminals quickly ran away, realizing that they had just killed someone. "At least I died knowing I defended someone..." Lloyd whispered as he spit blood on the ground. He slowly closed his eyes as a voice told him, "Sleep, rest, it's all over....." The voice sounded like a woman, one who was very caring and gentle with her words. Lloyd saw a light as he closed his eyes for the last time. Chapter 1: I didn't deserve this...(Lloyd's thoughts/brain surrounded by *) "Ughh...my head," said Lloyd. He slowly opened his eyes, realizing that he was somehow alive. He looked around, seeing that a large equine creature, with a horn and wings was walking up to him. "About time you woke up, I was getting worried." said Celestia. "Who are you, and why are you a talking horse?" asked Lloyd, shocked by the sudden change of setting. "Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, to answer your first question, and I'm a pony, for your information." Celesia replied. "Oh, ok, I'm......" "Lloyd, I know." Celestia said. "How do you-" Lloyd said before Princess Celestia interrupted, "Let's just say that I've been watching you for a little while." Lloyd spoke with Celestia for a few more minutes, before his memory slowly flooded back to him. "But wait, I died." Lloyd said. "Well, seeing how terrible your world was, I decided to bring you here, in hopes that you could start life anew." Celestia said. "There are a hell of a lot more people who deserve a second chance." Lloyd said. *Wait a sec, how the hell is that even possible?* "Like I said, I've only been watching you for a little while, Lloyd, and besides, I don't want to risk bringing in a bunch of aliens into our world without any of our people knowing." Celestia said. "Hmmph, well where am I going to live?" Lloyd asked. "You'll be meeting with my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." "Alrighty then." Suddenly, Luna burst into the room. "Sister, what happened?" Luna asked. "It's all ok Luna, I'm fine, but I can't say the same for our guest." She gestures to Lloyd. "Well at least the spell worked." stated Luna. "Are you okay, Lloyd?" "Besides being a bit shocked, I'm alright I guess." With that statement, the three of them walked further into the throne room. After basic introductions, Luna's curiosity was sated, but not Lloyd's. "Wait, where the hell am I?" Lloyd asked. "You are in Equestria, specifically Canterlot. Celestia said. "Wait, I died, I DIED! How the hell is it even possible that you brought me here?" Lloyd asked, gesturing to his surroundings. "I teleported you here, just in the nick of time." Celestia said. "Suprisingly, you came through without any of your injuries on your body." Luna said with curiosity. "WOAH WOAH WOAH, since when did magic exist?" Lloyd said suprisingly. "Well Lloyd, it seems that while magic may not exist in your universe, it does in ours. It is actually quite frequently used." "How on Earth can we even speak the same language?" Lloyd said, quickly realizing the irony of his statement. "I'm not exactly sure Lloyd, but it seems that we can, and I think we should leave it at that." Celestia said. "Okay, I guess I'll stop flipping out now." Lloyd said. He calmed down. "Are you ready to go meet Twilight, Lloyd?" Celestia asked. "Yep, I guess so." Quickly, Lloyd was teleported into the large library that also served as Twilight's home. A bright flash of light occupied Lloyd's eyes and he quickly found himself inside of the library. Twilight turned around and saw him infront of her. "Oh hello there, you must be the new arrival." "Yes, I was just teleported here." Lloyd said, quickly realizing that he had just been teleported, again. He started getting sick, not used to doing such a thing. "I guess I shouldn't be suprised, considering that I'm in a world filled with talking ponies, and magic, and whatever the hell else." Lloyd muttered under his breath. Lloyd was actually quite the scientific person, and was simply baffled by what just happened within the past hour. Lloyd quickly realized he had a backpack on, filled with all of his stuff. "Well, where do you want to start, Twilight Sparkle?" Lloyd asked. "Please, call me Twilight." Twilight said as she hopped up and down, akin to Pinkie Pie, due to how eager she was to question Lloyd. "Guess you want to ask me all of the questions in the world?" asked Lloyd. Twilight quickly nodded. "Please, take a seat." said Twilight. "Wait, I need to go gather my friends." said Twilight. "Can you stay here while I go get them?" Lloyd simply nodded. Within 20 minutes, Twilight was back, along with her other friends. "I guess introductions are in order..." Twilight smiled. "You could say that...." said Lloyd as he saw the ponies walk in. Suddenly, Pinkie jumped up to him, "Ohmygoshyoutotallyareanalienthisissocrazyohanywaysmynameispinkiepie,what'syours?" Lloyd fell out of his chair, suprised by the sudden craziness that is Pinkie Pie. "Calm down, Pinkie, you might scare him!" Twilight said. "Heh, it's fine, I find it to be cute." Lloyd said. He then ruffled up her mane. "Alright then, Lloyd, I'd like to introduce you to my friends, although I take it you have already been introduced to Pinkie." Twilight said. "Howdy there, partner, mah name is Applejack." Applejack quickly offered her hoof. "Nice to meet you." said Lloyd, while shaking Applejack's hand err- hoof. Quickly, Rainbow Dash walked up to Lloyd. "Hiya, I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria!" "Heh, I guess so, I'm Lloyd, nice to meet you Rainbow Dash." Lloyd said. "Hello there, dear, I'm Rarity." Lloyd walked up, kneeled and kissed Rarity's hoof, and said, "A pleasure to meet you, lady Rarity." in his best british impression. Quickly, she blushed. Fluttershy was sitting in the corner. She looked up to find a big, hairless ape looking at her, asking "Well, hello there, what would your name be?" She quickly released a small 'eep!' and hit behind her hands-err hooves. After a few seconds, she said "I'm Fluttershy..." "Well Fluttershy, my name is Lloyd, nice to meet you." Lloyd stood back up. "And don't forget me!" Lloyd quickly turned around and saw a purple, small, dragon-like creature looking at him. "Lloyd, this is Spike, he is my assistant." Twilight said. "Nice to meet you Spike." "Well everypony, I think its time that we left." Twilight said. "Awww, already?" Pinkie asked. "Yes, Pinkie, we should give him some alone time." "Okay..." Everypony except Lloyd and Twilight left. "Well Lloyd, are you hungry?" Twilight asked. "No, I'm-" Lloyd's stomach quickly growled. Twilight smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." They walked into town, but as Lloyd walked, many ponies gave him akward stares, or cocked their eyebrows and some even shared looks of disguist at the strange creature that was suddenly walking into their town. After walking for a few minutes, Twilight and Lloyd found a restaurant that they could eat at. After they had taken a seat on an outside table, a waiter walked up to both of them and asked Twilight, "What would you like today, miss?" "I would like a daisy sandwich, please." Twilight said. The waiter nodded, turned and said, "And what would-" He quickly realized he was serving a creature that he had never even seen before. The waiter stared at Lloyd for a few awkward seconds before Lloyd said, "I guess I'll have what she's having." The waiter slowly nodded and ran back into the restaurant. Within a few minutes, the waiter returned with the sandwiches and ran back in quickly. Clearly, he was afraid that Lloyd might hurt him. "Ookkaaayyyy then....." Lloyd said. "Sorry Lloyd, it's just that nopony has ever seen a creature like you before." "I understand, don't worry about it. As a matter of fact, our species acts very much the same way towards foreign things." Lloyd said. While they talked over lunch, Lloyd quickly noticed something, "No meat?" Twilight quickly looked at him in a shocked expression. "You......eat meat?" Twilight stuttered. "Yeah, but don't worry Twi, I'm omnivorous." Twilight quickly wiped the sweat from her head. After a few minutes, Twilight asked Lloyd a few questions. "I'm sorry, but I never asked you any questions." "Alright then, fire when ready Twilight." Lloyd said. "What are you?" Twilight asked. "I'm a human, or homo sapien as we are scientifically named." "Where do you live?" Twilight quickly shot out another question. This was gonna take a while. "I live on the planet Earth, in the United States of America, specifically Pennysylvania." The questioning went on for a few hours, Twilight taking notes down about various things in the world that Lloyd used to live in. "I guess we're finished then." Twilight said. "Heh, about time Twilight, I was about to fall asleep." Lloyd replied. Twilight laughed. "I guess we can go back to the library." After walking back to the library, Lloyd quickly guessed that it was about 3:00. "Twilight, could I go take a walk?" Lloyd asked. "Um, I'm afraid somepony is going to have to escort you, and I'm quite busy." "No problem, I'll just ask one of your friends." Lloyd said. "Alright then, but make sure you come back if you can't get someone, and don't get into trouble, Celestia's orders." Twilight said. "Yes, mum." Lloyd quickly laughed. Twilight then laughed with him. "Bye, Twi!" Lloyd said. "Goodbye!" Lloyd shut the door and quickly realized that he had no idea where the other ponies lived, only what they looked like. "I guess I'll make due." Lloyd muttered. Lloyd began walking through town. After walking around for about 10 minutes, the populace began getting used to seeing him. *I guess they're used to seeing odd creatures walk through town* He walked around town some more, until a flash of cyan and rainbow quickly flew into him, knocking him out cold. The last thing he saw was Rainbow Dash's beautiful magenta eys staring right at him. Chapter 2: What happened?Lloyd slowly opened his eyes to the room light. As his eyes readjusted to the sudden burst of light, he realized he was inside of the hospital. Upon further inspection, he realized he was on a hospital bed. He quickly got up and streched, thinking he must have been there for at least 4 hours. He heard someone coming, and the door came open. "Ah, hello, you must be Lloyd." A red-haired nurse said. "Yes, but how long have I been out?" Lloyd asked. "About 6 hours, you must've gotten hit pretty hard." "Yeah, anyways, what's your name?" Lloyd asked. "I'm Nurse Redheart." "Nice to meet you, Nurse Redheart." Quickly, the door burst open. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" A familiar cyan pegasus asked. "I'm fine, Rainbow." "Good, 'cause when they didn't let me see you, I was worried." Rainbow Dash said. "It's fine, Rainbow, really..." Lloyd said. "Thanks for taking care of him, Nurse Redheart!" Redheart simply nodded. Rainbow quickly left the hospital, Lloyd in tow. "Rainbow, what were you doing flying at practically five billion miles an hour in the middle of town?" Lloyd asked. "I mean, you must've been flying pretty fast if you knocked me out cold for 6 hours." "I was uh- practicing, yeah, practicing that's what I was doing." Rainbow blushed and quickly looked in the opposite direction. *That's odd.....* It was about 9:00, everypony was inside of their house, probably getting ready for bed. "Thanks for taking me to the hospital, Rainbow, I know it probably wasn't easy hauling around a person such as myself." Lloyd said. "It wasn't a problem Lloyd, we were close to the hospital anyways, so it only took about 7 minutes maximum." "Well anyways, thanks for looking after me, I appreciate it." Lloyd said. "That's what friends are for." Rainbow said. After walking for what seemed like 20 minutes, the two of them quickly reached the library. Just as Lloyd was about to go through the door, Rainbow asked him something. "Hey Lloyd?" "Yeah, Dash?" "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime?" Rainbow asked nervously. This wasn't the Rainbow Dash that Lloyd knew. Everyone, including Lloyd, thought that she was a brash daredevil, and was loyal to her friends, always. Sure, that was true, but Lloyd doubted that anyone had ever heard her ask something in a tone similiar to Fluttershy's. "Uh, sure Dash." Lloyd replied nonchilantly. "Great! I'll be waiting, just find me in town around 12:00!" Rainbow joyfully exclaimed. "Well, goodnight, Rainbow." Lloyd nervously replied. "Yeah, goodnight Lloyd!" Rainbow quickly flew away. Lloyd then shut the door, walking up to his room. Twilight walked out of bedroom, realizing that Lloyd had just come home. "Where were you, Lloyd?" She asked in an angry tone. "Relax, I was just in the hospital." "THE HOSPITAL?!?" Twilight yelled. "Yes Twilight, the hospital, you see, Rainbow knocked me out cold after she flew into while I was walking into town." "RAINBOW DASH?" Twilight was screaming now, you could hear her anger. "Twilight, calm down, it was a complete accident." *Sure seems like she cares about you, buddy.* "Shut up, brain." Lloyd muttered to himself. After Twilight calmed down, Lloyd told her he was going to go to bed. "Gonna hit the hay, Twilight!" "Alright then, Lloyd, goodnight!" "Night, Twi." Lloyd dropped onto the bed like a rock. It only took a few minutes for Lloyd to go to sleep. *Man, I'm beat bro, goodnight.* "Goodnight, brain." Lloyd whispered as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Lloyd was dirfting through Ponyville, although it was filled with snow. Nopony was outside, there were no lights either. He kept walking, and then saw something that struck him as odd. He saw another humanoid figure, although it was black. As he got closer, he realized that the...thing had tendrils coming out of the sides of its arms. It wore a hood to cover its features. "Hello?" Lloyd asked. Slowly, the creature turned around, and what Lloyd saw was quite twisted. The creature's face was very pale, with large, white eyes without iris or pupils. It then opened it's mouth, and had many large, needle-like teeth. The creature then let loose an ear-splitting scream, causing Lloyd to wake back up, sweating. "WTF WAS THAT?!" Lloyd yelled as he woke up. Luckily for him, Twilight was still asleep. Lloyd began trying to decypher the vision. *What could it mean? Am I going insane?* These were only a few of the thoughts racing through his head. He decided to worry about it in the morning, and decided to go back to bed. "Whatever, I'll ask someone about it tomorrow." He drifted off. Lloyd woke up at about 9:00. He had about two and a half hours to get ready before Rainbow Dash came. He quickly took a shower, and got dressed. He walked downstairs, to find Twilight making breakfast for herself. "Morning, Twi." "Good morning, Lloyd." Twilight replied. "You sleep well?" "Nah, I had some sort of nightmare." Lloyd replied in somewhat of a nervous tone. "Really? Tell me all about it!" *Damn, I knew telling Twilight so soon wasn't the best idea.* "Whatever, its fine Twilight, I'll tell you later." Twilight quickly frowned. "Alright, fine." After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lloyd asked, "Soooo, what's for breakfast, Twi?" "Salad, some apples too." Twilight replied with a sigh. "Listen Twilight, I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood to talk, the nightmare was a bit- unnerving, to say the least." "I understand, Lloyd." Twilight replied, with a hint of sadness in her voice. *Damn, Twilight must be quite eager to "study" me if she really wants to know about that dream so badly.* "Besides, you're gonna tell me later today, right?" "Of course, Twilight." Lloyd said with a bit of a chuckle. After finishing breakfast and thanking Twilight for it, he went to go read a book. "Hey Twilight, you mind if I read a book?" Lloyd asked. "Yeah, go ahead, just put it back when you're done." After reading a bit of the history of Equestria (It honestly didn't take very long) Lloyd put the book back. "You like books, Lloyd?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, I always found them to be some sort of escape from reality, to be in a land I really am not, you know?" Twilight nodded. "Yes, I feel very much the same way." After waiting around for about ten minutes or so, Lloyd thought it was about time to go outside. "Hey Twilight, I'm gonna go outside." "Wait, you don't-" Lloyd interrupted. "Oh yeah, Rainbow asked me if I wanted to hang out with her yesterday." "Alright fine, don't be gone too long." Twilight said in a cautious voice. "Once again, thanks mum." Lloyd said, laughing at his own joke as he left the house. He quickly found Rainbow waiting for him right outside of the house. "I was just about to knock." Rainbow Dash said. "Yeah well, I beat ya to it." "Let's go, this is gonna be fun." Lloyd and Dash then walked all around Ponyville, and visited many places. After visiting places like Sweet Apple Acres and the Town Hall, they went to Sugarcube Corner, where they found Pinkie Pie cooking some cupcakes. "Hey Pinkie, how are you doing?" Lloyd asked. Pinkie got up from behind the corner, along with a mouthful of cupcakes. "Mrrpph, mrrpph,mrrrrph." "I'm sorry Pinkie, I didn't quite catch that..." Lloyd replied, Dash giggling at his joke. Pinkie devoured the mouthful of cupcakes in one gulp and then let out a large burp. "Wow Pinkie, that must be a record!" Dash exclaimed. "Meh, I've seen better." Lloyd said. He was quickly met with a hoof to the arm. "Alright, alright, that was pretty good, Pinkie." "So, what do you two want?" Pinkie asked. "Actually, we were just-" Rainbow tryed to explain before Lloyd interrupted. "I wanted to try one of your cupcakes, Pinkie." "Alrighty then!" After waiting for only a few seconds, Pinkie pulled out a cupcake from under a counter, with pink frosting that matched her mane. "Looks delicous Pinkie, hang on...." Just as Lloyd was about to pull out the bits that Celestia had given him, Pinkie interrupted. "Free of charge, Lloyd." Pinkie quickly said in an upbeat tone. "Oh, okay, thanks a bunch, Pinkie!" Lloyd quickly smiled and took the cupcake. "Oh, and Lloyd?" "Yes, Pinkie?" Lloyd asked suspicously. "The welcome party is tomorrow night, I hope you come!" "Don't worry Pinkie, I'll be there." Lloyd replied nonchillantly. "Yay!" Pinkie quickly said. "Bye, Pinkie." "Goodbye Lloyd!" As they walked out of the door, Lloyd decided to take a bite out of the cupcake. Quickly, he stumbled, unprepared for the rush of sugar that so suddenly entered his blood stream. From his perspective, everything was in slow-motion. He quickly had a sugar crash a few seconds after, hitting the ground like a rock. "Helllloooo? Are you dead or somethin'? Rainbow Dash was right over his face, looking straight at him. *Little too close for comfort there, Rainbow...* "What, yeah, I'm fine." Lloyd replied as he got up. "What happened there?" Rainbow asked. "Humans aren't exactly used to having that much sugar come from a little bite of a cupcake." "Oh, ok....are you sure you're ok?" Rainbow asked nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine, no problem." Lloyd replied as he stumbled. Dash quickly held onto his arm. "Doesn't seem like it." Rainbow said cautiously. Lloyd then regained his balance and walked a few steps. "See, I'm fine...." Just as Lloyd spoke, he slammed right into a wall. Facefirst, poor guy. "Oh god, my face...." Lloyd said. He put both of his hands on his face and layed there on the ground, after he removed his hands, he saw Dash staring right into his eyes, a second time. *If anything, I should be the one staring, I mean, look at her magenta eyes!* "Uhhh, hello?" This time Lloyd was asking the question. After a few seconds, Rainbow quickly snapped out of her trance. "What, huh? Didn't quite catch ya..." "Rainbow, is it something with my eyes?" Lloyd asked. You see, Lloyd had a very odd eye color. The area closer to the pupils were brown, to green, to blue. Fortunately, people didnt really see this from a distance, but when people were within a few inches of his face, they would usually stare at him. It was kind of annoying, to say the least. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I think it's time I go home, Dash." "What, but it's only-" Rainbow quickly looked up, it looked like it was 4:30. "Awww, do ya really have to go? Let's hang out a little longer!" "Sorry Dash, I am just exhausted, I really am." Lloyd replied with a sigh. After a few seconds, Rainbow started to develop tears in her eyes. Just as Rainbow was about to cry, Lloyd quickly gripped her in a hug. "Wha-" Rainbow asked before she decided to just not talk. "Sshhh, don't cry, don't cry." Lloyd said in a caring voice. After about 5 seconds, Dash quickly broke the hug. "You okay, Dash?" "Yeah, I'm fine." Just as Rainbow was about to fly away, Lloyd quickly grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Dash, I really didn't mean to." "It's okay, Lloyd." Rainbow Dash replied quickly before flying away, but as she flew and Lloyd watched her, she smiled at him. Both of them then parted ways, going back to where either of them lived. *Time to go back home.* Chapter 3: Questioning time!Lloyd was again in a snowy, desolate Ponyville. He looked around and saw the same setting as before, but this time, something was different. Blood was spattered on the ground and the walls of many buildings were also covered with it. *Damn, not again.* Lloyd walked around the town even longer than he did last time he was here. He felt like he had been walking for so long. He kept walking into town, not seeing a single pony. He kept looking and eventually reached the town hall. The winds had gotten so fierce that a blizzard had developed, and Lloyd had to stay inside if he didn't want to freeze to death. Lloyd walked throughout the town hall, seeing many books and records that detailed various events. He eventually reached a room downstairs that was very dark. *There has got to be a torch or something around here.* He decided to backtrack a bit. Lloyd found a torch displayed on the stairs leading down into the room. As he was walking, Lloyd saw a trail of blood leading further down into the complex. He kept following it until he reached what seemed to be a small room. As soon as he came close to the room, his torch went out. *Damnit, did it just have to go out now?* Lloyd decided to keep walking. He only walked a few more steps however, before he saw the same thing he had last time. It was the same creature, except this time, it was crouched over a chair. The chair was in the very center of the room, and a lot of blood was on the ground around it. Lloyd tried his best not to vomit. He just swallowed it down. As he got closer, he saw the outline of a pony on the chair, but he couldn't tell who. Unfortunately, the creature noticed him. It turned around slowly, the same way it did last time. This time, blood stained its visage, aswell as its tendrils. The creature screamed again, and then leapt onto Lloyd. He held it by the neck, with limited success. The creature's tendrils then expanded. *Oh, shit.* The tendrils then dug themselves into Lloyd's chest, causing an insane amount of pain. Lloyd couldn't hold on any longer, and let go of the creature. He was on his knees, and looked up only to find that same, pale face staring right back at him. Lloyd couldn't do anything, even if he wanted to. He couldn't move. After staring into the remorseless eyes of it for a few more seconds, the creature quickly raised up its tendrils and consumed Lloyd. Lloyd woke up sweating and screaming, a lot worse than last time. Twilight heard him this time, and ran into his room. Twilight quickly calmed him down. "Lloyd, what happened?" "Another nightmare, worse than last time." Lloyd said. "Why don't we talk about it, I'm sure you'll feel better." Lloyd looked at her, and could tell that this time, she was not gonna take no as an answer. "Alright, don't blame me if you're disturbed by the end of this, though." Lloyd then filled her in on both dreams, the creature, Ponyville, everything. He made sure not to go all out and scar Twilight for life. After finishing his story, Lloyd sighed and laid back down. Twilight just stood there, completely shocked. "You okay, Twi?" Lloyd asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Um, I guess you on the other hand, need to get some sleep." "Happy to oblige, goodnight, Twilight." Lloyd said as he turned back around. "Um, goodnight, Lloyd." Lloyd then snoozed off. He woke up the next morning, relaxed. He streched his arms and legs, and then got up. He got dressed and then walked downstairs. Twilight seemed to still be in her room, sleeping. Lloyd didn't want to be rude and wake her up, so he made breakfast for himself and Twilight. After finishing his breakfast, he went to go wash the dishes. Twilight then came out of her room. She seemed to be tired. He felt bad, thinking that he had woken her up. Twilight sat down to find her breakfast made for her. She then took a look at Lloyd to see him smirking at her. "You didn't have to do that, Lloyd." "Twilight, I wanted to thank you for your hospitality. Honestly, this is the least I could do." Lloyd said with a smile. Twilight only smiled. She then ate her breakfast. After breakfast, Lloyd was eager to learn more about Equestria. "So Twilight, what is with the various kinds of ponies?" Lloyd asked. He had seen unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, and alicorns, but he wanted to know more about them. "What do you mean, Lloyd?" "Well, I'm just asking about the kinds of ponies, like, what are their charactristics?" "Alright, well there are 4 kinds of ponies. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and alicorns." "Alright." "Earth ponies are connected to the earth and nature, thus making them very good farmers. They typically have the most strength and stamina out of the different kinds of ponies. Pegasi are ponies with wings, and have the ability to fly and manipulate weather. They can walk on clouds as well. Unicorns are ponies with horns, and they can cast magic. See?" Twilight then lifted up a book with her magic. Lloyd nodded. "Lastly, there are alicorns. Alicorns are ponies like Princess Celestia and Luna, they have both wings and a horn." "I see, thanks for that Twilight." Lloyd said. The two of them talked for a while, Lloyd occasionally asking questions about Equestria. Spike walked in, with a letter in his hand. "Twilight, got a message from Prncess Celestia, she says she wants to see Lloyd, immediately." "Did she state why?" Twilight asked nervously. *Clearly, Twilight doesn't want to disapoint the princess.* "No, she just said that she wanted Lloyd to meet her in Canterlot. Carriage for Lloyd is right outside." "Guess I should be going, then." Lloyd said nonchalantly. Twilight just let him go. "Off to Canterlot I go!" Lloyd laughed as he walked out. Chapter 4: WHAT??!?Lloyd arrived in Canterlot, right at the entrance. *Wow, this place is magnificent.* Lloyd never got the chance to look at Canterlot, and could now see its full beauty. He gazed up at the various towers and buildings for a few seconds, before a guard walked up. "Come with me, the Princess wishes to see you." The guard said. Lloyd was barely paying attention to him, and quickly got nudged in the shoulder by the guard. Lloyd turned around and only nodded. Lloyd began walking, along with his guard escort. *I wonder who they think they're protecting, me or the populace.* After recieving more awkward stares and looks of disguist from the locals, Lloyd reached the castle. Three guards walked into the throne room along with him, one of them being a unicorn with a blue mane and blue eyes. Celestia was sitting on her thone, reading a letter. "Ahem, Princess, we have brought you the human." One of the guards said. Celestia looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Shining Armor." Celestia quickly got out of her seat and slowly walked towards Lloyd. The sunlight was shining right through the window, and made Celestia look like some sort of diety from the sun. "Let us talk somewhere a bit more private." Celestia said. "Lead the way, Princess." Lloyd and Celestia kept on walking until they reached a very tranquil garden filled with various plants. "So Lloyd, are you enjoying Equestria?" Celestia asked as they were walking through the center of the garden. "Yeah, everyone is pretty nice to me, and it's pretty peaceful." Lloyd said with a smile. Celestia only nodded. After a few more seconds, Celestia spoke up. "Lloyd, I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but you're not going to be able to go back to Earth." Lloyd looked down. He was silent for a few more seconds. "WHAT?!?" Lloyd screamed, shocking Celestia. "No more meat? What the hell, I liked dem shitz!" Lloyd laughed. Celestia gave him a look of confusion. "What?" She asked. "Celestia, I liked Earth, don't get me wrong, I'll miss it, but Equestria is loads better, even if I can't see any of my friends or family anymore, it's okay. It's not like I have anything in terms of family anyways." Lloyd said admittedly. "I understand Celestia, don't worry about it. I'm kinda used to being told what I can and can't have." Lloyd said. "Well then, that's one thing down. It turns out that I never introduced you to the town." *Oh god, please don't tell me.* "So that's why you're going to be introduced at the party tonight." Celestia said. *Thank god, I didn't feel like parading through town like some kind of freak on display.* Lloyd nodded. "Another thing, Lloyd." This time, Celestia sounded a bit more troubled. "Yes, Princess?" Celestia sighed and then said, "I know about the nightmares you've been having." "How?" Lloyd asked with suspicion. "I've been having somewhat similiar nightmares, although they involve the whole of Equestria, not just Ponyville. Oddly enough, I can also tell when you've had a nightmare." Celestia said in a darkened tone. "Hmmph, odd, but what do you think it means?" Lloyd asked. "I don't know Lloyd, but I can tell it's something that isn't good." Both of them were silent for a few more seconds, thinking about what such a thing could mean. Celestia then broke the silence. "That's it, Lloyd." Celestia said in a neutral tone. "Alright then, Princess, have a good day!" Lloyd said. As he was walking back outside alongside his guard escort he turned around and waved. Celestia waved back to him with a smile on her face. He walked back to the carriage and flew back to Ponyville. As he stepped out of the carriage, he looked up and saw the beatiful blue skies and the chirping birds. "Ahh, good ol' Ponyville." Lloyd started the walk back to the library. Chapter 5: It's party time!Lloyd was standing in his room, getting ready for the party. He dressed up in a casual outfit, no need for anything too fancy. After he came out of his room, he saw Twilight waiting by the door. "You ready, Lloyd?" Twilight asked. "More ready than I'll ever be, Twi." "Okay then, let's go." Both Twilight and Lloyd then left the library. After walking for about 15 minutes, the two of them reached Sweet Apple Acres, where the party was. They walked into the barn and found the party. Decorations were hung up everywhere, and it seemed that much of the town was present. "Wow, this is a cool par-" Lloyd said before getting shot with Pinkie Pie's party cannon. Ouch. "Hi Lloyd! You're just in time!" Pinkie said with anticipation. "Oww, that hurt like a bitch, Pinkie, why don't you warn me next time?" Lloyd groaned. Pinkie simply laughed. Lloyd got up slowly. He rubbed his head with a groan. "That was pretty good, Pinkie, what is that thing?" Lloyd asked. "It's my party cannon! See?" Pinkie said as she loaded the cannon. She then shot a wall, quickly decorating it with balloons, banners, and such. "That's pretty cool, Pinkie." Lloyd said with a look of approval. "Anyways, onto the party!" Pinkie said. Lloyd walked up to the snack table and got himself some punch. He drank it, this time he didn't have a complete sugar rush, but it still hyped him up. Within a few minutes, Lloyd was quickly driven insane by the music. He didn't like it, it didn't suit his style. He decided to do something about it. He quickly walked up to the DJ, realizing that he wasn't the least bit acquainted with her. Thinking about how he should introduce himself, the DJ quickly turned around to find Lloyd half a meter infront of her. She jumped a little, suprised by him. "Oh, hello there!" Lloyd quickly said. "Hey, you must be that guy everyone is talking about. I'm Vinyl Scratch." "Pleasure to meet you, Vinyl, I'm Lloyd." "Well, why did you come over here?" Vinyl asked with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. "If you don't mind, I was wondering if I could put on some of the music that we listen to back on Earth, see if the crowd likes it." Lloyd asked. "Yeah, sure." He quickly took out his iPod, plugged it in, selected some songs, and let it rip. Quickly the first song started playing. All of the ponies quickly looked up to where Vinyl was supposed to be and only found Lloyd, shrugging. He quickly smiled and pumped up the tunes. All of the ponies liked the music. Vinyl quickly went back to her battle stations, realizing that Lloyd had just set a playlist up. She looked over to Lloyd, only for him to see her and flash a devilish grin. Lloyd then remembered what Celestia had said. *Oh yeah, gotta introduce myself first.* He walked up to Vinyl and asked her if she could turn down the tunes for a second. Vinyl nodded, and did just that. Everypony looked towards Vinyl again, only for her to gesture to Lloyd. Everypony then stared at him. "Hello, everyone, I'm Lloyd, and I'm new in town. Just wanted you guys to know. That is all." He then gestured to Vinyl to pump up the tunes, and the music came back on. The night went on, Lloyd occasionally getting up and dancing to one of his many favorite songs. He then sat down, exhausted after dancing. Rainbow then sat down next to him. "Hey." Lloyd said. "Hi, Lloyd." Rainbow said with the slightest bit of nervousness. "Something wrong?" Lloyd asked. "Nah, just exhausted." "Same here." "Lloyd?" "Yeah?" "Do you miss your old home?" Rainbow asked. Lloyd sat there, silent for a few seconds, pondering. "Well Rainbow, I may miss Earth and all of my friends, but Equestria is my home now, and nothing is going to change that. Not to mention that I couldn't even go back home if I wanted to." Lloyd said. Both him and Rainbow then talked on for a while, just asking questions, getting to know each other. "Well, I guess it's time to go, see ya later, Dash!" Lloyd said with a smile. He quickly got up and started walking towards the exit. He then remembered that he had to go tell Twilight. Lloyd walked through the crowd, and eventually found Twilight sitting in a seat on the opposite side of the barn, reading a book. "Hey Twi." "Hi Lloyd, something wrong?" Twilight asked. "No, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going back to the library. I'm beat." "Oh, alright then, see you at home, Lloyd!" "Bye!" Lloyd then exit the building. He was exhausted, but happy. It was quite fun for him. He started the walk back home. It was quite dark out, and Lloyd couldn't see too well. As he was walking, he heard something. He turned around to see a bush rustle in the wind. *Heh, whatever. I need to stop being so paranoid.* He kept walking, and was still about ten minutes away from home. He felt like he was being watched by something, and was constantly looking around. *What the hell is watching me?* Lloyd was only about five minutes away from home, and his paranoia got worse. He thought he was hearing voices in his head, and thought he saw things staring at him. He looked behind him upon hearing what he thought was a footstep, and saw nothing in the immediate vicinity. He stared further down into the night, and saw a pair of white eyes, the exact same eyes he saw on the creature in his nightmares. Lloyd quickly turned around and started running. He sprinted towards home. He reached home, quickly entered, and shut the door with a slam. Lloyd was sweating now, and looked back outside. He didn't see a thing. He sighed a sigh of relief. He decided to go to bed. *No need to drive myself crazy, thinking about something that creepy.* He walked upstairs and and went into bed. It took him almost no time at all to go to bed. He went to sleep before Twilight even came home. Chapter 6: A ghastly reminder...Lloyd woke up the next morning, the sun shining into his face, brighter than usual. He slept a lot better than before. He didn't have any nightmares this time, and wanted it to stay that way. He got up, and found Twilight already making breakfast. "Morning, Twi." "Good morning, Lloyd." It seemed like Twilight had gotten some sleep too. *Good, don't want me keeping her up now, would I?* Twilight then put out some breakfast for the two of them. "Thanks Twilight, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Lloyd said, realizing he had just said something he definitely should not of. He quickly put his hands over his mouth. Twilight looked at him with a shocked expression. "What did you say?" Twilight asked in a cautious tone. "Nothing, nothing... just an old expression back home." Lloyd said nervously. "Oh don't worry about it, Lloyd, I understand." Lloyd wiped the sweat from his forehead. A few more seconds of awkward silence passed by. "Besides, I know you wouldn't eat a horse, right?" Twilight asked nervously. "No way, never." *Well.......maybe out of desperation if there was nothing else.* "Again, shut the hell up, brain..." Lloyd muttered to himself. Lloyd then washed the dishes when both of them were done, and looked around the library. He was just browsing the books. He found one labeled, "Creatures of Equestria." *Hmmph, maybe I can find something similiar to that thing in my nightmares.* He kept reading and reading, but found nothing. He tried reading several more books associated with local flora and fauna, but didn't find a single thing mentioning anything similiar to the creature in his dreams. He was walking back up to his room when Twilight stopped him. "Lloyd, I forgot to tell you something." "Yeah, Twi?" Lloyd said, as if it were nothing important. "Something was left for you on the doorstep, and oddly enough, the only way I could identify that it was for you because it had your name on a small note next to it." Lloyd then went outside, and found just what she was talking about. The item was a hood, a black one. *Wait a sec.... this looks familiar.* It quickly hit Lloyd like a ton of bricks. This was the very same hood that the creature in his nightmares was wearing. His eyes widened. *What the hell is going on? That....thing can't possibly exist, can it?* He picked it up, and saw that it was just a plain, dark hood, nothing special, although there was something about it that unnerved him, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Lloyd didn't exactly tell Twilight about the hood part. He decided not to tell her about the creepiness of this item, he didn't want to scare Twilight. He picked up the note, and it only said his name on the front of it in red letters. Lloyd took both items inside. He put both items right onto his bed, chosing to worry about it later. He walked back downstairs, and realized he didn't have anything to do. *Well, I guess I'll just help people in town.* "Hey Twilight?!" Lloyd called. "Yes?" "I'm gonna go into town, see ya later!" "Okay then, goodbye Lloyd!" Lloyd then walked out, shutting the door behind him. Within a few seconds, Lloyd realized something. *Wait a sec, don't I need a job?* "I'll worry about that later, I still got plenty of bits anyways..." Lloyd muttered. He began walking through town, seeing that it was quite busy. *Guess I'll go help Applejack with the orchard or something, whatever.* He started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres. Within 20 minutes, he was at the orchard. He saw Applejack harvesting some apples off of the trees, and walked up to her. "Howdy there, partner, what brings ya here?" Applejack asked. "Hey Applejack, I was wondering if you needed any help?" Applejack quickly nodded. She gestured to some of the apple trees. "Can ya gather some of those apples and bring 'em back here for me?" Lloyd looked to where she gestured and nodded. "Sure, seems easy enough." Lloyd said nonchilantly. He walked out to where the trees were, and started picking out all of the apples fit to eat. It took him about an hour and a half, and then he was finished. He walked over to where Applejack was gathering even more apples, along with a pony he didn't recognize. "Here you go, Applejack, all of the apples out there, and who would this be?" Lloyd gestured to the stallion at her side. "This is Big Macintosh, my older brother." Lloyd looked back at Big Mac, the stallion then offered his hoof. Lloyd gladly accepted his handshake. "Nice to meet you, Big Macintosh, I'm Lloyd." "Eeyup." "Well, I should be off now, see you guys later!" Lloyd said. "Goodbye!" Applejack waved back at him. *Alright, now who else needs help?* He quickly looked around town and saw nopony he recognized. So, he decided to just help anyone he could. It took him quite a while, but he managed to help the entire town. He looked up at the sun, and guessed that it must've been 4 o'clock. Lloyd decided to walk back home. He didn't walk too long however, before Vinyl waved him over from the entrance of her house. "Hey, Lloyd." "Hi, Vinyl." "Hey Lloyd, you never really showed me the other music you listened to on Earth." Vinyl said. "Why don't you come over and show me sometime?" "Um, yeah, I think I could manage that. I'll be over later, if not today, then tomorrow, definitely." Lloyd said. Vinyl instantly changed her expression to a look of glee. "Awesome, I can't wait!" Vinyl said with anticipation. "See ya later, Vinyl!" Lloyd said while waving back to her. Lloyd walked back home, and upon reaching the door, found a note. Lloyd read the note. Lloyd, I need your help for an experiment. I'm in the Everfree Forest, next to Fluttershy's cottage. Please come ASAP. -Twilight "Alright, I guess I know where to go next." Lloyd already knew where most of the mane six lived, with the exception of Rainbow, although he knew that she lived somwhere in the clouds. He began walking towards Fluttershy's place. It didn't take very long, and he quickly reached the edge of the experimental grounds. It was a large clearing, and it looked pretty peaceful. He didn't see Twilight, though. He looked around, before walking into the middle of the clearing. He heard a sizzling sound, and looked down to find a spell cast onto the ground, and he was standing on it. *How the hell did I not notice that?* He quickly realized that something was gonna go off, and only managed to take one step towards the right, before an explosion went off. Chapter 7: Change(Rainbow's thoughts = cyan *) Rainbow was walking around town. She decided to go and visit Fluttershy. Rainbow thought that she should go check on Flutters, it had been a while. Rainbow Dash reached Fluttershy's house, but couldn't find her anywhere. * Hmmph, that's odd.* She heard a moaning sound from the woods. * Who is that? I should go and check it out.* Rainbow went to investigate. Rainbow made sure she was ready incase it was something dangerous. She waited for a second, and then jumped out of the bushes. She saw something she didn't expect. Lloyd lying on the ground, groaning in pain. Dash quickly ran over. As she got closer, she realized just how bad Lloyd's condition was. He was bleeding from multiple places and in extreme pain. "Rai- Rainbow.....help...me." Lloyd said in a drained voice. He wasn't gonna be able to hang on much longer. Rainbow got straight into action, lifting him up. He was quite heavy, but she was ready. Rainbow flew off to the hospital. It took about ten minutes, give or take a few seconds. She flew into the entrance, with all of the haste that she could possibly muster. Rainbow quickly waved Nurse Redheart over. "Oh Celestia, what happened to him?" Redheart asked. "No time to explain, just get him in the emergency room!" Rainbow said, a glare in her eyes. Redheart and two other doctors quickly got him onto a strecher, and wheeled him off into the E.R. Lloyd was unconscious, but was in a stable state. He had been like this for the past few hours in the hospital. Nopony know what happened to him, but whatever happened, it seemed to be some kind of assassination attempt, or mishap. Rainbow Dash had found him in the Everfree Forest, laying on the ground in a clearing. During the few hours that Lloyd was unconscious, Rainbow informered the mane six and some others about his condition. The rest of the mane six, aswell as Vinyl and other ponies Lloyd recently introduced himself to, decided to visit and wait until he came out of that dreaded room. Lloyd opened his eyes slowly, and saw the very same hospital that he had been in quite recently. It took his eyes a little bit to readjust to the brightness of the room. He looked around, and saw a doctor running some tests with his back turned. Lloyd tried to get up from his layed down position, and quickly fell back into bed. The pain from trying to get up was too much for him. The doctor turned around and saw Lloyd wide awake. "Ah, Mister Lloyd, I see that you're awake. How did you sleep?" The doctor asked in a gleeful expression. "Well, let's just say that getting blown up doesn't exactly help you sleep any better, if you get my drift." Lloyd said. Lloyd looked around again, seeing various machines and medecines around him. "Wait a sec, where are my friends? I have to go and see them." Lloyd asked in a serious tone. He then tried to get up again, but failed a second time. the doctor walked over to him. "Sorry sir, you can't get up now, although you do have visitors." The doctor gestured over to the door and Lloyd saw many of the ponies he had met within the past few days. The mane six, Vinyl, Big Mac, and a few others. Lloyd smiled at them. "One at a time please, in an orderly fashion." The doctor said. The mane six were up first, many of them offering words of compassion and hopefulness. Pinkie Pie had even left a pink cupcake with white frosting letters that said, "Get better soon!" Rainbow was last of the mane six. She walked up to him, and he smiled. "Hi, Lloyd." Rainbow said in a nervous tone. "Hi, Dash." "Are you okay?" Rainbow asked. "Besides some cuts and bruises, I'm not too bad." Rainbow nodded. "Okay, goodbye, Lloyd." She began to walk out. "Hey Rainbow?" Lloyd asked. "...Yeah?" "Thanks for saving me, I would've died if it wasn't for you. Thank you." She ran over to him and gave him a hug that Lloyd didn't expect. They just hugged there for a few seconds, like no one else was there. Rainbow broke the hug, and walked out. Vinyl then walked up. She had a sad look on her face. "Hey Lloyd." Vinyl said in a sad tone. "Hi, Vinyl." Lloyd looked up at her, and smiled. "Are you going to be ok?" Vinyl asked. "Don't worry about it, doctors say that I'll be out later tonight, guaranteed. I'll still be able to show you some of that music sometime." Lloyd said with a smirk. Vinyl had the instinct to shove him, and instead just laughed. "I'll see ya later, Lloyd!" Vinyl said with a wave. "Alright, bye Vinyl!" Lloyd said happily. The rest of the ponies then said greetings and goodbyes, and the visits were finally over. About an hour later, Lloyd was determined by the doctors as healthy enough to go back home. He got out of his bed slowly, he didn't want to hurt himself anymore than he had already. All of the pain stopped, but he still had pains coming from his back for some odd reason. He walked back to Twilight's place. He opened door and shut it behind him. Lloyd saw Twilight sleeping on the couch, with no covers. *Heh, typical Twilight. Probably waited for me to come home.* He quickly picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Lloyd carried Twi back to her room and set her back onto her bed and put the blankets over her. He was suprised he didn't wake her up. He blew out any candles in her room. *Night, Twilight.* Lloyd quickly made himself a late dinner and looked around, realizing that he had never really stopped and looked up. He knew that the library was made of a giant tree, but it was quite big when you just took a second to admire it. Lloyd shrugged, and then finished off his dinner. He washed any dishes left over and went straight to bed. Lloyd woke up the next morning feeling.....different. *Meh, whatever.* He quickly got up and streched. He noticed a large pair of wings protruding from his back. *WOAH, what in the hell happened?* He had just as much feeling in the wings as he did with his limbs. He streched them out, and observed them closely. The wings were very pegasi-like, but bigger. They had a dark blue outline on the top and sides, with black in the middle of his wings, and white on the tips of the feathers. He tried flapping them, and quickly levitated off of the ground. *Heh, would ya look at that?* He opened the door to the main room of the library, and flew out. He flew around the library room, and felt awesome. After a few seconds of flying around, he sat down. He made himself breakfast and ate it quickly. He was super anxious to get outside and fly around. *I don't want to wake up anyone, but I'm really eager to take these things out for a test run.* Lloyd saw Twilight walk out of her room. She looked at Lloyd with a shocked expression, and rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. Lloyd looked up at her with a smirk. "Whaddaya think?" Lloyd said, streching his wings out to make them look as big as possible. Lloyd just stared at the wings with a dumbfounded expression, unsure of what to say. "How did this even happen?" Twilight asked. "Well, I guess I just woke up with them. Would probably explain the back pains yesterday." Twilight just looked at them, fascinated by the fact that Lloyd had just developed a pair of wings. "I have to take these for a test run! Off I go!" Lloyd said. Before Twilight could stop him, he was off. He flew all around town. Lloyd never felt so free in his entire life. It was a beautiful morning, and Lloyd was happy. "Wooooo!!! THISS IISSSS AWEEESOOMEE!" He screamed as he flew by the houses of various ponies. Many of them looked up out of their windows to see something that many of them were shocked by. Many of the ponies who were watching just stared. Some of them just shut their windows, not wanting any more commotion. Lloyd looked around, and determined that he should probably return back to Twilight's. He flew back down and was exhausted already. Lloyd went back to his room and took his laptop out of his bag. He turned it on and started playing some video games. Chapter 8: RevelationsLloyd was tired. He had just played video games for the past three hours, (It was mostly TF2 and XCOM Enemy Unknown) realizing how fast time went by. He then asked himself, *How did I even have a connection to the internet?* Lloyd shrugged and turned his laptop off. He walked around and streched out his wings. He had been laying on that bed for the past three hours, he needed to get up and go. He went outside, ready to fly. *I should go and visit Vinyl, she wanted that music.* He quickly flew over to Vinyl's house. Lloyd knocked on the door. He knocked again and waited a few more seconds. Nopony came to the door. He opened the door a little. Lloyd quickly heard shouting. *Here's....Johnny!* he thought as he opened the door. He looked around, and heard incredibly loud dubstep going off inside of the house. *Holy crap, that's loud.* Lloyd walked towards the source of the music, and ended up inside of a large room. He saw Vinyl standing next to two, extremely large speakers. The whole room was shaking due to the volume of the music. A mare with a gray mane and purple eyes was shouting at Vinyl. "Turn it off! Too much wub!" Octavia shouted over the ear-deafening music, covering her ears. "NEVER TOO MUCH WUB!!!" was what Lloyd heard from behind the speakers. He ran up to the speakers as fast as possible. Lloyd looked around and saw Vinyl immersed in the music. He walked up to the speakers and unplugged them, stopping the insane flow of music. Vinyl quickly turned around, and had the biggest frown on her face that Lloyd had ever seen. "What did you do that for?" Vinyl asked, with a sad look on her face. " Awww, come on! Turn that frown, upside down!" Lloyd said with a smile. He held out his iPod and had his laptop under his arm. "Woah, what are those?" Vinyl asked, her frown instantly dissapearing and replaced by a look of curiosity. "Stuff for the music, you'll see." Lloyd quickly turned on his iPod and put the laptop on the ground next to him. "Here, let me show you." Vinyl was eager to listen, Lloyd could tell by the look on her face. After showing her a bunch of different songs from different genres, Vinyl still wanted to listen to more of it. When Lloyd turned off the iPod and laptop, Vinyl looked dissapointed. "Come on, one more song!" Vinyl pleaded. "Alright, one more. Here. This is one of my favorite songs." Youtube Video "As much as I want to stay, Vinyl, I gotta get going." "Alright, fine. But you're going to have to show me more of that music later!" Vinyl said as she got up. "Sure Vinyl. Just remember, don't try to make other peoples ears explode by way of music, it isn't exactly...healthy." "Okay, bye Lloyd!" Vinyl said, waving as Lloyd got up to go outside. "See ya!" Lloyd said casually. He was walking towards the door, and looked to his left to see Octavia whispering, "Thank you." "Yeah, no problem, bye!" Lloyd said as he walked out of the door. *Where should I go next?* *Maybe I should go and visit Cloudsdale, never got the opportunity to go there.* Lloyd quickly decided to do just that. He started flying up towards Cloudsdale. He started gaining altitude quickly and wasn't paying attention. He crashed into a mailmare. They both got knocked to the ground. Lloyd rubbed his head, and got up. "Oh no, I'm sorry I ran into you." Lloyd said. He quickly saw that he was looking at a gray mare with crossed, yellow eyes and a cutie mark that had a bunch of rising bubbles. He stared for a second, before snapping out of his trance. "It's ok, I guess." The mare said, dusting herself off. Wait a sec, are you that new guy in town?" The mare asked. "Yes, I'm Lloyd, and you are?" Lloyd asked in a happy voice. "Derpy Hooves. I'm the mailmare." Derpy said with her signature crossed eyes and smile. "Here Derpy, let me help you with that." Lloyd said with a smile. *Seems like her smiles are contagious.* It only took Lloyd a few more seconds to get all of the mail up off of the ground and put it back into Derpy's mailbag. "Well Derpy, I guess I'll see you another time!" Lloyd said, waving to her while flying away. "M'kay, see you later, Lloyd!" Derpy waved as she flew in the opposite direction. Lloyd then reached Cloudsdale. *Holy crap, this place is awesome!* Cloudsdale was just that. It was filled with clouds, (obviously) but there were many cool, large buildings that looked quite epic. *Is that a....coliseum?* It was hard to tell, the sun was in Lloyd's face. He got closer to get a better look. *Heh, looks kinda like the Roman Colosseum.* Lloyd decided to fly right around Cloudsdale, see just how big it is. Rainbow Dash was just passing through the area, done with training for the morning. She was just walking by and heard someone screaming. *Where is that sound coming from?* She looked around and quickly saw Lloyd, except he had wings. Her jaw dropped. "Wooooooo! I'm not going down!" Lloyd said as he flew through the clouds. He was having quite the time. He just kept flying, with the wind behind him. He was also flying quite fast, for his fourth time. Quickly, A blurry flash of cyan left him in the dust. He looked to see Rainbow flying right by him. She looked back and blew a raspberry. "I'll take that as a challenge." Lloyd quickly picked up speed, and was right behind Dash in a few seconds. She was still ahead of him though, and he was trying desperately to get ahead. Lloyd couldn't tell, but Rainbow was trying quite hard to keep ahead. "I'm gonna get you, Rainbow!" Lloyd said, smiling. He quickly got ahead of her, looked back and smirked at her. He put both of his hands behind his back and did a barrel roll. Rainbow wasn't gonna give up, she just kept going. Dash flew by him, again. However, she was only a few inches ahead. Lloyd then caught up with her. They were neck and neck, neither of them gaining enough speed to go any further. Rainbow was slowly, inch by inch, getting ahead of Lloyd. She saw a cloud ahead and just went up and stood on the top of it. "I win!" Rainbow said with glee. She was cheering and hopping up and down. "Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right." Lloyd said with a bit of a smile. Rainbow shoved him. "You guess? I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria!" Rainbow said, doing a heroic pose. "Alright, you win. Good job. You beat a rookie at your own game." Lloyd laughed. She shoved him again. Lloyd looked out across Cloudsdale, and couldn't see where he started flying. "Lloyd, what's with the wings?" Rainbow asked, pointing right at them. "I just woke up with them this morning, strange, right?" Lloyd said, streching them out. Rainbow touched one of his wings and looked at it closely. *Again, a bit too close for comfort there, Rainbow.* "Yeah, they make you look about 20% cooler." Rainbow said. "Aw come on, only 20%?" "I have spoken!" Rainbow said in a judge-like voice. They both laughed. "Well Rainbow, be seeing ya!" Lloyd said. Just as he was about to fly off, Rainbow grabbed him. "Please don't leave! Let's hang out a little longer." Rainbow said in a pleading voice. *Just like last time. I don't want to hurt her feelings this time, but I want to be alone. Doesn't matter, friends first.* "Alright Rainbow, you can come, but we're going to go where I want." Lloyd said, pointing to himself. Rainbow nodded quickly. "Heh, the look on your face." Lloyd said with a laugh. Rainbow quickly shoved him. The two of them then flew back down to Ponyville, and grabbed some lunch. They sat down at a table at the same restaurant that Lloyd had gone to with Twilight a day or two earlier. The same waiter walked up to him. "Hello again, sir. What would you like today?" *Seems like he isn't gonna be fearful this time. "I'll have a daisy sandwich." "Alright, what would you like, miss?" Rainbow then ordered. They waiter walked back in to the kitchen. They waited a few minutes. Strangely enough, Rainbow just stared at Lloyd most of the time. Lloyd just twiddled his thumbs and whistled. *This is awkward.....where in the hell is that waiter?* After a few more seconds, the waiter walked out with the food and set it on their table, with haste. The two of them began eating. After finishing lunch, Lloyd left a tip and then they both left. They started walking, althrough where, Rainbow didn't know. *I wonder what happened over at that clearing.* They started walking towards the Everfree forest. Lloyd started talking to Rainbow. "Hey Rainbow?" "Yeah?" "Can I tell you something a bit personal?" "Um, sure, yeah. Go ahead." "Rainbow, promise me that you won't view me any differently than you already do after I tell you this. Promise?" "Yeah, I promise." Lloyd sighed, and began. "I've been having nightmares, for the past few days, and they're getting worse and worse by the day." "What were they about?" Rainbow asked. Lloyd told her exactly what he had told Twilight. Rainbow stood there, dumbfounded, just like Twilight before her. "Pretty nutty, right?" Lloyd said. Rainbow nodded, with a shocked look. "Wait a sec, what did I say about your promise?" Lloyd said after a few seconds of silence. Rainbow quickly snapped out of her trance. "Don't worry about it Lloyd. I promised, didn't I?" Rainbow said. "Yes, yes you did." Lloyd said with a chuckle. They soon reached the clearing. Lloyd got out of the bushes, and looked around. He wanted to make sure that he wasn't gonna be in the hospital again. He got up out of the bushes, slowly but surely. Lloyd looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, Rainbow was right behind him. He looked over to where the spell went off, in the middle of the clearing. Oddly enough, the ground was black, and it formed a circle with something inside of it. *Oh no....* Lloyd looked at the symbol, and realized it was the creature, again. Rainbow gasped. *How in the hell is this possible? I keep thinking to myself that it couldn't get any worse, and yet it does. How can something like this even happen?* He looked around some more to make sure he wasn't being followed. *Better safe than sorry.* After a few more minutes of looking around, Lloyd relaxed and let out a sigh. Chapter 9: Fun timeLloyd was constantly pacing, trying to decypher what the mark could mean. He gave up, eventually, because there simply was no single way to interpret these messages. Obviously, they weren't a good thing, but there could've all kinds of different meanings to them. *Whatever, I don't even want to have to deal with this. I should just relax, and hang out with Rainbow 'n' stuff. No problem.* Lloyd stopped pacing. "Let's go. I'm done here." Lloyd said seriously as he walked away. Rainbow followed right along. "You okay?" Rinbow asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, no reason to worry about that stuff." Lloyd said in a serious tone. He decided to lighten up. "Anyways Rainbow, what do you want to do now?" "I don't know, maybe prank someone....?" Rainbow asked with a massive grin starting to form on her face. "Sure, I can't remember the last time I did. Anyone in particular?" "No, but anyone would be fine I guess." "Alright, let's think a little." Lloyd said, a grin on his face aswell. They began walking towards Ponyville. eager to prank. "Let's prank Rarity and Pinkie at the same time!" Rainbow suggested, rubbing her hooves together in a maniacal way. "How are we going to do that?" Lloyd asked, kicking a rock. "I don't know, let's think some more." After a few seconds of just walking along a dirt road, a bright idea came into Lloyd's head. "I got it! Let's steal most of Pinkie's cupcake icing so she can't make proper cupcakes, and while Rarity is sleeping, we put the icing into her hands, tickle her nose with a feather, and BAM! Our work is done." "And just for extra points, lets put any leftover icing into Rarity's hair!" "Hells yeah! Let's get pranking!" Lloyd said, pumping his fist into the air. The two soon reached Sugarcube Corner. Lloyd slowly snuck in, making sure nopony saw him, followed by Dash. *This is gonna be fun.* "You know where the icing is, Dash?" Lloyd whispered, after making sure nopony was in the immediate vicinity. Rainbow appeared from behind one of the counters. She waved him over. "Got most of it right here, I think we're good." Dash said, pointing to the icing. Lloyd smiled. "Phase 1 of the plan is complete, phase 2 commencing." He said in a robotic voice. Rainbow giggled. He heard somepony coming from the back. "Hello? Somepony there?" Pinkie asked as she walked inside. *SHITSHITSHITNOTNOW* Lloyd and Rainbow quickly crouched and snuck out, right before Pinkie walked into the same room as them. The two of them then ran towards Rarity's house. "Whew, that was a close one, Dash." Lloyd said. "Don't need to tell me, at least we got the icing." Rainbow said with a smile. They kept on walking. "Sooo, did ya prank people when you were a kid, Lloyd?" "Often enough, I was pretty dang good at sneaking around and acting like some kind of assassin, so yeah." Lloyd said with a sigh. "Too bad that luxury was taken away." Lloyd muttered under his breath. "What?" "Nothing, nothing..." They soon reached Rarity's house. Just like Sugarcube Corner, the two were very quiet. *Be vewy, vewy, quiet. I'm hunting wabbits.* Lloyd quickly got the thought out of his head. Lloyd and Rainbow scanned the area. They didn't see anyone, until they reached Rarity's room. She was taking a nap in her bed. "Perfect, let's do this." Lloyd whispered as he walked in. He wanted to be as quiet as possible, and slowly walked to Rarity's bedside, making sure to not wake her. He was there. Rainbow was right at his side. "Get the icing out..." Lloyd whispered to Dash. She did just that. They both took a handful and gently put it on her hooves and hair. Lloyd could barely contain his laughter, nor could Rainbow. After about 15 seconds of getting more icing onto Rarity, Lloyd quickly realized that he didn't have a feather. *Damnit, what do I do?* Lloyd asked himself. He had an idea. He plucked a feather off of his wings. It kind of hurt, but he was fine with it. "You do the honors." Lloyd said, handing the feather straight to Rainbow. Rainbow nodded and tickled Rarity's face with the feather. Both of them were on the brink of cracking up. Rarity then put her hoof to her face, and smothered it with icing. She slowly woke up, licking the icing. She slowly opened her eyes, and just as she was about to scream, Lloyd and Rainbow were rolling on the floor, laughing. They were just rolling there, laughing their arses off. Rarity got up out of her bed and screamed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BEATIFUL MANE! WHAT AM I COVERED IN? IS THIS....ICING!?!!? "Eeyup." Lloyd said in his best Big Mac impression. Both Rarity and Rainbow looked at him suprisingly, noticing how spot-on of an impression he just did. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU TWO!" Rarity screamed as she ran at them. *Oh no, time to bounce!* Both Lloyd and Rainbow ran into the hall and outside, Rainbow giggling the whole way. They managed to get outside. Lloyd looked around and saw Pinkie standing within a few meters of the house, an enraged look on her face. *Oh god, not you....* Rainbow and Lloyd then booked it, flying up towards Cloudsdale. They started flying off, neither Rarity nor Pinkie could keep up. Rainbow and Lloyd soon lost sight of them as they dissapeared into the clouds. They slowed down, realizing that they had just lost their prankees. They reached Rainbow's house, and went inside. Both Rainbow and Lloyd were panting heavily, and laughing. "You think they'll still be mad at us by tomorrow?" Lloyd asked, after a few seconds of silence. "Nah, they'll forgive us by tomorrow morning, at most." "Good, don't want them too mad at us." Lloyd sighed. and looked up at the moon through a window. It was already getting a bit late. He honestly didn't care, he was having a fun time and he was sure as hell gonna enjoy it while it lasted. Lloyd sat down on a chair, relaxing. *That was pretty fun.* He drifted off to sleep inside of the chair. Lloyd was walking through the Everfree forest, looking around. He couldn't see very well bcause it was dark, and was wandering through the wilderness. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Lloyd shouted through the forest. No reply came, not even the movement of an animal was heard. As he was looking around, he saw a red light going off some distance ahead of him. Youtube Video (Play this while reading.) Lloyd started to walk towards it. He quickly realized the light was actually a wildfire. He heard screaming, and sprinted towards the rapidly spreading fire. It was a huge ring of fire, nothing could go in or out. Lloyd couldn't even see past the seemingly inexhaustable fire. He heard more screaming, and decided to risk his life. *Somebody needs my help.* He sprinted right in, burning himself in the process. What he saw horrified him. He saw several corpses of the ponies he knew, lying on the cold, hard ground. He looked and saw the creature standing over the corpse of Celestia. *How the hell?* He saw other corpses aswell. The mane six, Luna, Vinyl, Big Mac, and others. He broke, emotionally. "YOU BASTARD!!!" Lloyd screamed as he charged at the creature. The creature turned around slowly, and gave Lloyd a blank stare. Lloyd was still on fire, but he didn't feel the pain. This creature killed his friends, Lloyd was completely focused on avenging them. He looked at his wings as he charged, and noticed something. The tips of his wings were knives. He was gonna use them to his advantage. "TIME TO DIE!!" Lloyd shouted as he leapt and tried to stab the creature with his wings. The creature grabbed him by the neck with one hand and looked into Lloyd's eyes. The creature simply stared at him, as if he were an inferior creature. Lloyd shouted and stabbed his wings into the creature's abdoman. The creature merely twitched, and threw Lloyd to the ground. "THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEAD!!" Lloyd shouted as he got up and charged again. He wasn't gonna give up, no way. He leapt onto the creature, knocking it down. He got on top of it, and started to stab and punch the creature, not caring about anything else. The creature unleashed its tendrils, and stabbed Lloyd with them again and again, but the insane avenger was not gonna stop until one of them was dead. Blood was running down Lloyd's face, clouding his vision. It didn't matter to him whether or not it was his or the creature's. Lloyd kept on stabbing, like a madman. Eventually, the creature stopped struggling. Its limbs hit the ground with a THUMP! Lloyd kept on attacking the creature savagely as if it were alive, for a few more minutes. He stopped, and started to cry. He cried and cried, and was on his knees. He was bleeding out from his wounds, but he didn't care. Lloyd's mind went blank, he had nothing to say anymore. His body hit the ground, and he finally said goodbye to the world. Chapter 10: Here again...(Brain in this color.) ( Monster/Evil voice in this color. Try to imagine the evil voice sounding similiar to this) Lloyd woke up screaming and sweating, worse than last time. He looked around, and realized he had fallen asleep in Rainbow's house. He slowly got up, and streched. "Hello? Rainbow?" He looked around some more, and found a note by the door. Lloyd, I went into town. I decided to let you sleep, I thought you needed it. Find me on the edge of the Everfree Forest when you're ready, we need to talk. -Rainbow Lloyd walked around, and decided to go outside. *I'm gonna go flying.* He swanned dived down into Ponyville, being very careful to avoid anyone. He saw Ponyville in the distance, and picked up speed. It was dark out, and Lloyd couldn't see that well. He reached the ground without any accidents. *Well, time to go and find Rainbow.* Lloyd started to walk around, now seeing too many ponies outside. As he was walking, he saw Pinkie hopping up and down in the middle of town. *Oh no, don't want her to see me...* Lloyd thought as he hid behind a barrel. He slowly snuck past Pinkie, trying his best not to get detected. He finally got past her, and when he thought he was in the clear, he got back up and walked towards Everfree. Unfortunately, Lloyd was not in the clear, because as soon as he started to walk, he heard someone coming up from behind him. Just as he turned around, a pie was shoved into his face. *Damnit, I was that close to escaping.* He wiped the pie off of his face to see Pinkie and Rarity laughing. "Alright, you got me, good job. I admit defeat." Lloyd said, raising his hands into the air. Rarity and Pinkie were still stiffling giggles. "Hahahaha! We got you!" Pinkie giggled as she looked at Lloyd's face. "Atleast the pie tastes good. I'll pay for the icing later, Pinkie." "Okay then!" Pinkie said, hopping up and down. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you guys later!" Lloyd said, waving to them as he walked into the distance. *I should go check on Twilight. I haven't see her all day.* Lloyd made a slight detour, and walked into Twilight's house. Twilight heard him, and ran from her room. "You okay, Twilight?" Lloyd asked, suprised by just how shellshocked she looked. "I was worried, I thought you were in trouble or even hurt." "Twilight it's fine, don't worry about me. I can handle myself." Lloyd said. "But-" "Twi, you know me. I always put other people before me, but I can get myself out of a sticky situation." Lloyd said shrugging. "Okay....." Twilight said. She levitated a book and started to read it. Lloyd decided it was best to leave her alone. He walked outside. Lloyd then began walking towards Everfree again. *I wonder what Rainbow wants to see me for.* He walked on, into the dead of night. Eventually, Lloyd reached the edge of Everfree. He saw Rainbow, standing there. She was looking around. Lloyd slowly walked up to her. She quickly realized he was there. "Hi, Lloyd." Rainbow said nervously. "Hey, Rainbow." Lloyd said, smiling. Rainbow gestured for him to come with her, and he followed. As they were walking, Lloyd saw the incredible beauty around him. *Everything looks so beatiful under the moonlight, especially Rainbow.* Lloyd stopped himself. *What the hell am I thinking? She's a pony, and my friend.* Lloyd stopped thinking and just focused on walking with Rainbow. "So Dash...." "Yeah?" "Why'd you want to see me? And why right here?" Lloyd asked with curiosity. "You'll see, trust me." Rainbow said as she kept on walking. He shrugged, and just kept on walking. They eventually reached a lake, it looked quite pretty with the moonlight shining off of it. Rainbow sat down by the edge of the lake. Lloyd did the same thing, and sat next to her. Rainbow sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. They just sat there, relaxing, for a few minutes, by the moonlight. They looked on. After a few more minutes of silence, Rainbow Dash Lloyd something. "Hey Lloyd?" "Yeah, Dash?" "Did you have a-" Rainbow stopped herself. "What?" "No-nothing." Rainbow said, looking away. "You can tell me, Dash. Come on." Lloyd said. "Did you have a...special somepony back where you lived?" Lloyd sat there, thinking for a few seconds. *Huh? Why would she ask that?* "Um, no...not really....why?" Lloyd said. Before he could say anything more, Rainbow's lips were quickly pressed up against his. *HDFGFDHGDSWREHEGAH* After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually a few seconds, Rainbow broke the kiss. Lloyd sat there, completely dumbfounded. *Brain, wtf just happened?* *I dun know, some show of affection? I'm not experienced in this stuff! I'm FLIPPING OUT!* *Brain, calm the hell down.* *Okay....* "Um, uh......" Lloyd said. Rainbow blushed. "Rainbow, why did you just kiss me?" Lloyd asked, completely speechless. "I guess it may sound silly, but I guess I've had a crush on you since I first started talking to you." Rainbow said. "Hmmph, ok." Lloyd then mentally facepalmed. *How the hell didn't I notice? All of the blushing and stuff, of course she had a crush on me.* "Well Rainbow, I feel the same way about you." Lloyd said truthfully. Rainbow then smiled, and kissed him again. To Lloyd, it felt like heaven. This time, they didn't break the kiss for a while. *Wow, this feels......good.* Lloyd then broke the kiss, and smiled at Rainbow. They just sat there, silent for a few seconds. "I love you, Lloyd." "I love you too, Dash." Lloyd said as he gave her a hug. After a few seconds, Lloyd got back up. "I guess I'll see you later...Dash." "See you later, Lloyd." Lloyd then walked away, waving to her. He intended to walk back to Twilight's, but ended up by the clearing where he nearly lost his life. The symbol in the middle changed. The creature was still there, but there was a ring of fire surrounding it. The fire was painted blood red. *What the hell? Now my dreams affect the physical world? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.* He quickly fell to the ground, on his knees. He felt pain in his brain, as if something was invading his mind. He had no idea what was going on. *This is what you are...* For some reason, a song was quickly forced into Lloyd's head. Youtube Video (Listen to while reading.) More pain slowly seeped into Lloyd's brain. He couldn't stand it.* You are weak and pathetic...* He felt like his brain was gonna explode. He couldn't even scream. The song just kept playing in his head. He rapidly began thinking of everything in his life. His family, friends, Rainbow, his new life, everything..... It all surged through his head. He couldn't bear it anymore. It hurt too much. He couldn't even think. Lloyd just ran and ran. He ran towards Twilight's house, the song following him in his head the entire time. He finally arrived at Twilight's home. he ran as fast as he could into his room, and tried to go to sleep. As soon as the song ended, the pain in his brain slowly faded away to tolerable levels. He went to sleep quickly, not wanting to think about the night's events. He drifted off, thinking about Rainbow Dash. Chapter 11: EscalationIt was very early in the morning, but Lloyd wasn't tired. He didn't know why, he didn't know how, but he just wasn't. He wondered why wouldn't he be tired, after all that had happened last night. Everything seemed to fall into place for him within the course of the past few days or so. Lloyd always had a tendency to overthink things. He got up out of bed slowly, streching as the sun rose up into the sky. He took a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs, as he had for quite a few times now. "What to do for breakfast...." Lloyd muttered as he sifted through the various cabinets inside of Twilight's kitchen. He quickly picked something out, looked at it, and shrugged. Lloyd made his breakfast and eagerly started to eat it. While consuming his very delicous breakfast, Twilight walked out of her room. She didn't look too bad either, in terms of sleep. *Thank god, I really got to stop keeping Twilight up at night.* "Good morning, Lloyd..." Twilight yawned. "Morning, Twi." Lloyd casually replied as he looked back to his breakfast. After the two of them had breakfast, Lloyd got up and streched his wings slowly. He was happy, no doubt about it. He could tell that today was gonna be a good day. *What to do today..... Maybe I could talk to the Princess about what happened last night.* Lloyd recalled the events of last night again, and couldn't get the thought of Rainbow out of his head. He didn't want his....condition to jepordize their relationship in any way. He felt that if it did, he could never forgive himself. *Alright, Princess it is then.* "Hey Twi?" Lloyd asked, turning around. "Yes?" Twilight said, a look of concern on her face. "I'm gonna go see Celestia. Need to talk about what's going on." "Are you sure? We could just talk about it here..." Twilight said imploringly. "Need to go, I'll talk about it later, Twilight. See ya." Lloyd said, walking outside before Twilight could say anything more. He sighed and looked up at the beauty of the nearby landscape. It was nice out, a few clouds here and there with the sun shining ever so brightly. Lloyd started to fly towards Canterlot. Lloyd loved the view. He saw so much of the countryside on the way to Canterlot. *Welp, at least it's nice and warm out!* *Hello, Lloyd.* *Wassup, brain? How you doin'?* *I'm fine, thank you. Still trippin' balls over what happened last night.* *I know brain, I know.* Lloyd then flew faster and faster, gaining speed quickly. He reached Canterlot within fifteen minutes. He reached the gates, and was still amazed at the sight of a city built into a mountain. Lloyd quickly deviated his course towards the palace. *This is some Lord of the Rings shit right here, man.* *Hells yeah, brain. Right on.* Lloyd decided to challenge himself. He was constantly trying to pull moves off of Assassins Creed, or Mirror's Edge or something. He landed on the top of a store. He was gonna try something risky. He was gonna sneak through to the palace, no wings. He would have to free-run on the rooves of various buildings, and sneak through a side door or window, or maybe even the roof of the palace. *Whaddaya think, brain?* *Don't know, man. Your choice.* Lloyd sighed and started to run towards the palace. While running, a few guards spotted Lloyd. They were instantly suspicous of him, even though they knew that the Princess had introduced him to everypony. The crowd of guards started to chase after him. Lloyd quickly looked back to see at least three guards in pursuit. He turned back and bit his lip. *Damnit, guards have to ruin the fun...don't they?* *Who got their knickers in a bunch?* *You're talking to him, brain.* *Oh.....right.* Lloyd ran and ran, determined to get away from the guards. He decided against using his wings, they would bring more guards to his location. Even if he could go faster, there would be too many guards around for an escape. Lloyd eventually lost the slow guards. He was on the perch of a window, being careful to make sure he was as quiet and sneaky as possible. He took a quick glance inside to see Celestia sitting on her throne, reading a letter. Lloyd rubbed his hands together, and had a maniacal grin on his face. *Perfect...* Lloyd quickly climbed to the roof of the building, using the various ledges and windows to his advantage. He eventually reached the top, and looked down. Celestia was still doing her thing. *Good...good.* Lloyd tried to find a latch, or lock, something he could use to get the window undone. He quickly found a release mechanism and slowly flipped the window over. *Booyah* He smirked. He stopped himself. He wanted to double-check and make sure that nopony was following him. *Again, better safe than sorry.* He took a look around, and saw something on the ground. Lloyd had no idea how it got there, nor why it was there. It looked like a mask, although it was quite...odd. It was white, and had two sides to it. The left side and right side of the mask were dramatically different, it looked like something you would see in a horror film. The left side of the mask was cracked, with a very evil looking grin on it. (facing the mask) The cracks on it were actually cracks, Lloyd realized as he touched them. The other side was plain, in comparison. It had a blank expression, with what seemed to be a scar on it. There were three of what appeared to be scratch marks going through the eye. The scratches were even painted red. The detail was so intricate that it seemed like a real wound. *This is hella creepy.* Lloyd quickly formed an idea in his head. He smiled. Lloyd put on the mask. Ever so slowly lowering himself, Lloyd flew down to her, making sure not to be seen, while also being as quite as possible. Nopony could see him. Eventually, he was a few inches away from Celestia's head. He was just floating above her, poised to strike. He slowly raised his hand, tapping her on the shoulder. Celestia sat there for a few seconds, speechless. She slowly looked up to find an upside down, masked assailant staring back at her. Celestia screamed, absolutely trerrified of the unknown threat literally staring her in the face. Before she could do anything more, the figure dropped to the floor. It was in hysterics, clearly amused by just what happened. The look on Celestia's face was a mixture of curiosity, anger, and concern. Lloyd was laughing so hard. He was laughing his ass off so much that he was crying. He couldn't stop laughing, it was just too funny. The royal Princess, scared to death. Who would have thought? "HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The look on your face!" Lloyd said, rolling on the ground. "What?!" Celestia yelled, clearly not amused. Lloyd got up, wiping a tear from his eye. "I just pranked you. You got owned. Lloyd-1 Celestia-0." A smile quickly formed on Celestia's face. She tried to stiffle her laughing. She started to laugh. Lloyd was amused, and broke out into more laughter. The two of them laughed together. "Well played, Lloyd. well played." "Why thank you, milady." Lloyd said, bowing. Just as he finished his bow, multiple guards burst into the room. "THERE HE IS! SEIZE HIM!" One of the guards yelled, charging at Lloyd. The guards quickly realized that Celestia was okay, and that the situation wasn't what it appeared to be. Every guard shared a look of confusion on their faces. "Calm down, guards. Everything is fine." Celestia said, reassuringly. "Are you sure, Princess?" The head guard asked, still cautious. "Yes, leave us be. I have business to attend to." "Yes Princess." The guard bellowed, signalling for his fellows to walk on out. After the guards left, Celestia spoke up. "All else aside, why are you here, Lloyd? I wasn't expecting visitors." Celestia said, baffled. After a few seconds of silence, Lloyd sighed and began. "It's about the nightmares. I think they're really getting to me. They're affecting the physical world." After a few more seconds of grim silence, Celestia spoke up. "I see. I think they foretell something. It all has to mean something, no doubt." Celestia said, thinking to herself. "I don't know, Princess. The nightmares...they...they cause great pain. It hurts. The pain is almost unbearable." Lloyd then filled her in on the rest of the situation, including all that had happened last night. Well, except for him and Rainbow. "Do you need help? There has to be something we can do." "I don't know, I just don't know." After some time of silence, Celestia gestured to the mask that he hadn't yet taken off. "Where did you get that horrifying thing?" Celestia said, still the tiniest bit creeped out by it. "I found it on the roof. Come to think of it, it's quite strange that it is in the shape of a human's face aswell." Lloyd said, taking it off, and looking at it. "Hmm...do you think it has to do with your nightmares?" "I think so. After all, masks don't just pop up out of nowhere on rooftops." Lloyd said, turning it over. The two of them talked for a while longer, concerned with what was going on. Lloyd then decided to leave. "I'll be seeing you, Princess." "Goodbye, Lloyd." Lloyd heard as he walked outside. Just as he closed the door, Lloyd took a breath in. It was quite a bit to take in. Lloyd began his flight back to Ponyville. *That was fun.* Chapter 12: No....Lloyd was back in Ponyville. He touched down on a dirt road, and started to walk. He was whistling a tune. As he was walking, he saw a cyan streak fly through the air. Lloyd smirked. *I'm not gonna get beat so easily this time.* He flew up, and quickly flew up to Rainbow's side. She looked to her right to find a grinning Lloyd looking right back at her. "Finish line?" Rainbow asked. "That cloud." Lloyd said pointing towards a cloud in the distance. He quickly focused on his front, and flew faster. Rainbow caught up with him again within a few seconds. The same thing happened for the next 20 seconds. One of them would get ahead by inches, only to be caught up with by the other, all within the course of a few seconds. Lloyd inched ahead of Rainbow once again, although she was barely a few inches behind him. He quickly gained more speed and looked back. He smirked at Rainbow. It was short-lived, however, because she instantly flew at least 50% faster. She zoomed ahead of Lloyd. Lloyd grunted, and flew after her. Rainbow won. Once she got ahead, it was over for Lloyd. Rainbow landed on the cloud, and cheered. "Haha! I beat you again!" Ranibow said, opening her eyes. She quickly realized she was talking to nopony. She looked around, thinking that Lloyd must've fallen or something. *Uh oh...Where did he go? Oh Celestia, if he fell...* She looked up and down, and realized that he was probably on the ground somewhere. She flew down. She looked around again, but couldn't find him. He was nowhere to be found. *No, no, no! Where is he?!* Rainbow was very worried. The one person she really, really, loved was gone. She put her hooves to her face, and began to sob. "He's gone, and it's all my fault!" Rainbow said to no one in particular. Suddenly, Lloyd landed onto the ground infront of her. "Wha-" Rainbow said before she was quickly gripped by Lloyd. He pulled her close, and she instantly blushed. He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't think that would happen. Don't cry, please." Lloyd said in a hushed tone. He wrapped her in a hug, and it didn't seem like he was gonna let go. *Damnit! What the hell was I thinking?! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Don't cry, Dash, please.* They just stood there, hugging for a minute. Dash then broke the hug. "I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think you would react that way." Lloyd said. *Holy sh*t, she sure does care about me. Alright, I'm done with doing that.* "Where were you, Lloyd?! I was worried." Rainbow asked. "I don't know why, but my wings were starting to hurt. As a matter of fact, they hurt so bad that I had to land. I didn't think that you would cry. Please forgive me." Lloyd said imploringly. He walked behind her and wrapped his hands around her. He nuzzled her face with his nose gently. She turned around, and before he could say anything more, Rainbow kissed Lloyd on the lips. Lloyd was suprised, but decided to just go with it. He was enjoying it aswell. After a few more seconds, Rainbow broke the kiss. Lloyd stood there dumbfounded, just like the first time. Rainbow quickly blushed. "Uhm...erm....uh..... " Lloyd couldn't say anything. He honestly thought that it was the best feeling he had ever felt. Lloyd was honestly shy towards intimacy. He had never really had a serious relationship before. Sure, maybe he had a crush or two in middle and high school, but he had never really decided to reveal his feelings to anybody, even his best friend, Phil. Lloyd then regained his senses. "Uhm, let's get going, shall we?" Lloyd said jokingly, gesturing to the path ahead. The two walked to Ponyville. Something, or someone, was stalking them. The targets were both walking through a place that nopony usually went through. The perfect oppritunity. One of them whistled the two of them over. "What was that?" Lloyd asked, always the observant one. Lloyd began to walk towards what he believed to be the source of the sound. The only things that were there were trees and grass. It was utterly silent. "I don't know." Rainbow said. Lloyd shrugged. Just as he turned around, he saw somepony behind Rainbow. Lloyd raised his hand, but before he could say anything, the black-hooded culprit put a rag over her mouth. Lloyd's eyes went wide. Just before Rainbow went unconscious, she heard Lloyd shout. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" He screamed, charging directly at whatever was attacking. Lloyd saw that the criminal wasn't alone. There were at least 5 others alongside him. Lloyd ran at them. Just as he jumped infront of the head pony and raised a fist, something happened. He tried to move his hand, but couldn't. He pushed and pushed, trying to deliver the hardest punch he ever could directly to the bastard's face. His hand wouldn't even budge. He was paralyzed. The head pony walked up to him, looking directly at his face. Lloyd then began to feel woozy. His vision became very blurry, as if he were drunk. He dropped to the ground, unconscious. "Carry them. We need them alive." The head pony said, turning around to address his comrades. The foremost ponies nodded, and proceeded. Lloyd woke up to complete pitch darkness and a horrible smell. He looked around and tried to move, but his hands were binded to the back of a chair. The only sound he heard was water droplets falling to the ground from the ceilings. He just sat there, in grim, dark, silence for another minute or so. Suddenly, an old wooden door creaked open, letting in a slight bit of light. Lloyd's eyes readjusted quickly, and he looked to the entrance to see three hooded ponies walking towards him. Their faces were hidden, their expressions unseeable. *Good, let them hide their faces in shame.* Lloyd thought as he spit on the ground. As they got closer, Lloyd could see them in better detail. The foremost cultist wore what appeared to be a red robe, with odd runic markings on the outline of it. The other two cultists at his side wore completely black hoods, and had what appeared to be slight blood stains on their hoods. The three of them were very tall, especially for ponies. Lloyd found it unnerving and disturbing. They slowly walked up to him, although they looked like they hadn't moved a muscle. The foremost one spoke up. The other two walked to the sides of the room. "Do you know why you are here?" He bellowed, cleary a male due to his deep voice. "No, but I guess I'm about to find out..." Lloyd said in an annoyed tone. The cultist quickly lowered his face to Lloyd's. Lloyd still couldn't see the pony's face, and suspected it was magic at work. Lloyd then decided to do something brash. Lloyd quickly spit at the pony, although somehow he weaved to the side. *What the hell? How can he do that?* "Persistent, are we?" The pony said. Lloyd could tell he had a grin on his face. *I'll gladly wipe that grin off of your face, pal.* The cultist then tilted his head to the side a little bit. "Really? How? You're in a chair, with your hands binded." The cultist asked. *What the hell? He can read my thoughts?* "To answer your question, yes I can." The cultist said, walking towards what appeared to be a surgical table. *Oh shit...What does he have in his hand?* "Oh shit indeed. Oh, and this?" The cultist said, holding a bladed pole up. "This is my best friend, Mr.ripyourfaceinhalf." *That sounds pleasant.* "Charming..." Lloyd said, clearly not amused. He spoke up again. "You seem to have quite the talent for dark humor, asshole. Tell me, why is that so?" Lloyd asked, with a smug expression. "Well, I should the one be asking the questions, but I'll give you an answer, just this once. Years of experience in...dark situations can cause a trait like that to...develop." The cultist said, raising the blade up. He stood there for a few more seconds, before speaking up. "Before I dissect you, I presume you want to see your...beloved friend before you die?" The cultist asked, looking to his right. Lloyd instantly was on alert and jerked the chair forward due to his anger. "I swear, if you did anything to her, I will rip your throat out and feed it to a pack of dogs." "A threat, hm? Well, I'll take that as a yes." The cultist quickly gestured to some unseen thing, and another chamber suddenly appeared through the wall. The chamber contained Rainbow, aswell as two other cultists standing beside her. She didn't appear hurt, although Lloyd knew that such a thing was probably gonna change. "And before you die, I want you to see her die, right infront of you. Front row seats." The leader gestured to the two cultists in the chamber, and one of them quickly handed the other one a shorter version of the leader's torture tool. Clearly, inflicting pain with cruel instruments was their speciality. The cultist wielding the weapon raised his arm, and just as he was about to strike, Lloyd interrupted. "STOP!" The weapon-wielding cultist stopped, the weapon just centimeters from Rainbow's forehead. One more second, and the weapon would've made impact. The cultist gestured to the two cultists, and they stood still. He turned around. "Yes?" "I'll tell you everything, if you let her go. You can kill me or whatever, but as long as you let her go, I'll gladly do whatever you want." The cultist tilted his head to the side, and smirked behind his hood. "Ha, how noble. You're a fool. Okay. I accept." He gestured to the cultists, and they stood beside Rainbow. The head cultist brought up the blade again. "Are you sure about such a stupid bargain? She means nothing to anyone. But then again, I suspect you would do something stupid like this." Lloyd instantly struggled against his restraints, and would've gotten out, if it wasn't for the two cultists restraining him again. The lead cultist sighed. "What a shame, too. You really could've helped us remake this world in His image." The cultist filth lowered his face down to Lloyd's again. "Any last words, hero?" He asked. Lloyd's eyes instantly widened. He recalled the criminal scum that killed him in the park on Earth. A flood of emotions then went through Lloyd's brain, like water through a breached dam. Above all of them, rage was the strongest, and anger took over Lloyd's mind. Lloyd shouted, and broke out of his restraints with ease. He instantly gripped the black-hooded cultist to his right, and snapped his neck with a satisfying CRACK! He was the angriest he had ever been. He was gonna kill each and every one of them. No survivors. Instantly, the ground began to shake. It seemed the cave was going to collapse in on itself. The other pony to his left lost his footing and was on his knees. Lloyd walked up to him, and kicked him in the face, shattering his bone structure. The cultist fell over, unconscious and sure to die from blood loss. Lloyd looked to the entrance to see the red cultist escaping. Lloyd started to give chase, and then remembered Rainbow. He looked to the other chamber to see nopony inside. He realized that she was gone. More anger flooded into Lloyd's brain. He ran towards the red cultist. The two guards stood infront of Lloyd, spears at the ready. Lloyd quickly grabbed one by the shoulders, twirled him around and threw him into the other guard. With the two guards incapacitated, Lloyd ran towards the entrance. He saw the red cultist standing right at the entrance. He turned around, and had no hood on. What Lloyd saw was horrifying. It was the face of the creature in the nightmares, blood staining its visage. The creature smirked at him, and teleported outside with a whoosh of black smoke. Lloyd gave chase, and jumped outside just as the cave collapsed. Lloyd looked around, a flood of light invading his senses. He didn't see anypony for miles. He instantly crashed to the ground, chest heaving. He thought about a song he used to listen a lot. Lloyd didn't care if he heard it or not in his head. He let it be. Youtube Video (Listen to while reading, but read slowly. Adds effect.) Lloyd layed there, looking to the sky. He didn't give a care in the world anymore. He wanted to die. He just lost the one person he loved dearly, and that was enough to set him off. Lloyd just gazed up into the cloudless, blue sky. He could barely comprehend what had just happened within the course of the past few days. He was killed in one selfless act, brought to a new world he knew nothing of, made many friends, had nightmares, found the one person he could really love in his life, and was hurt in the extreme. It seemed like an entire lifetime had just went by his head. Lloyd laughed up at the sky, realizing how ridiculous his situation was. His laughing soon turned into crying. He couldn't stop weeping. The song just made his sobbing worse. Lloyd layed there. He cried for a few more minutes, thinking of how he had just let down Rainbow and all of her friends. Now these cultists are no doubt gonna hurt everypony else, and there was nothing Lloyd could do to stop it. His life was so insignificant, compared to everything else. What could one life mean? He felt as useless as a bird without wings, and he just wanted to erase all of the pain until it was gone. He thought of how many people would miss him, and laughed to himself. A few days ago, practically nobody would care whether he was alive or dead. Now, he had many friends, but did it matter anymore? They were all destined to die in some kind of coming attack by these cultist freaks. He eventually stopped crying, his eyes were red. Lloyd closed his eyes, not wanting to see anything more for the rest of his life. Chapter 13: Does it even matter?It had been a few hours. It started to get dark. Lloyd had spent the entire time looking for Rainbow, and any trace of the cultists. He looked out into the wilderness. Lloyd looked around the base of the cave entrance one more time, incase he missed anything. Just as he was about to turn around, he noticed something. A trail of water. *I bet it's a trail of tears...* *Music*(Add the song Outside, then Lion. Listen while reading.) Lloyd clenched his fists, thinking of Rainbow. He followed the trail, realizing it was his only lead. The trail led into a forest. *So be it...* Lloyd followed the trail, but made sure to stay inside of the brush so no one could see him. He followed the trail for about a minute or two more, until he reached a clearing. *Wait a sec, this looks familiar.* Lloyd realized that it was the exact same clearing that he almost lost his life in. He looked to the ground of the clearing, and saw the cultists. Each of them were partaking in some kind of ritual. He then spotted Rainbow in the center of a circle of cultists. She was contained in a cage. It took a lot of willpower not to run out and kill them all senselessly. The marking in the middle went from a creature to a few tears, colored blue, as the ritual went on. Lloyd then realized he had the mask in his back pocket. He quickly took it out, and looked it up and down. *It'll do.* Lloyd then flipped it over, and put it on slowly. His vision quickly changed. He felt much more powerful. Lloyd was quickly able to see that it changed what everyone looked like. Each of the cultist was outlined in black, with their major arteries and veins highlighted in red. He looked to Rainbow, and she had a cyan outline to her, and no arteries showing. *Huh, strange.* Lloyd then noticed another creature walking up to Rainbow's cage. It was the red cultist. His outline was radiating red, as if he were on fire, although it was a calm, low, flame that barely moved. His arteries and heart were in black. Lloyd was tempted to take action. The red cultist quickly walked up to the cage, and extended his finger. Just as he was about to do something to Rainbow, Lloyd decided to strike. Lloyd jumped up with his wings. He was up in the sky, the moon right behind him, giving him a diety-like appearence. The cultists looked up, and quickly tried to finish their ritual. Lloyd wouldn't let them. He dived down towards a part of the circle, being sure not to hit Rainbow. The impact caused the first few cultists to get knocked down. Lloyd slowly rose. The creature pointed to him. "KILL...HIM!!!" The creature shouted. The cultists got up, and charged him. The first cultist in Lloyd's sight was a few feet away from him. The cultist wielded an axe, and threw a clumsy swing at Lloyd. Lloyd weaved to the right, and backhanded him across the face. The cultist recoiled for a second, but took another swing. Lloyd ducked, and uppercut the cultist, sending him straight to the ground. He didn't get back up. Another cultist quickly charged. Lloyd quickly ducked, and threw the cultist up over his back. The cultist was on the ground, and before he could do anything, was stomped in the chest brutally, without mercy. He was still alive, but would probably bleed out in the next ten minutes. A third cultist walked into sight. He was a big one, wielding a large, two-handed mace. It was simple, but utterly brutal-looking. The cultist screamed as he charged, and raised his mace into the air. A smirk snuck its way onto Lloyd's face. Just as the cultist swung, Lloyd did a backflip over him, and kicked him in the back. The cultist fell to the ground. He got back up before Lloyd could do anything. The cultist raised his mace with both hands, and swung downwards. Lloyd took a sidestep back. Before the large cultist could do anything more, Lloyd delivered a swift, crippling kick to the back of the knee. The cultist fell down to his knees. He lifted his mace, but Lloyd punched it out of his grip. The cultist looked up. Lloyd put one hand onto his neck, and held him up. With his free hand, Lloyd lifted up his mask for a second, and gave a sadistic look. He put the mask back on, and threw him into a nearby tree, knocking him out cold. The cultist would have brain damage for the rest of his short life after that point. Lloyd quickly turned his attention to the creature infront of Rainbow. The creature smirked, and began to clap. His form then changed. He went from his pony form to the form of the creature in his nightmares. The body just shifted smoothly, as if the creature was experienced at such a thing. "Well done, you seemed to have killed my minions easily enough. Now let's see how you fare off against me." Lloyd nodded. The creature quickly turned his attention to Rainbow's cage. He was just about to touch Rainbow on the head, when Lloyd interrupted. Lloyd's eyes lit up. The eyehole on the left side of the mask had a fierce, red flame coming out of it. The eyehole on the right had a cool, blue flame coming out of it. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" Lloyd shouted, in a voice not at all sounding like his own. The voice sounded like a chorus of godlike voices, all combined as one. Lloyd charged at the creature, screaming. He slammed his fists into the creature's thorax rapidly, in a volley of extremely fast punches. The creature only recoiled a slight bit, staring down at Lloyd's defiance. The creature backhanded him with ease, sending him sprawling across the ground. Lloyd got up, wiping blood from his mouth. He looked up, and saw that the creature was just standing there, laughing. It was a maniacal laugh that could be heard for miles around. Lloyd ran at it again. Just as Lloyd reached it, the creature dissapeared in a veil of smoke. Lloyd's hands just clawed at thin air. He got down to his knees, and looked to his hands. His knuckles were bloody. Lloyd got up, and looked into the cage. Rainbow was okay, she was just unconscious. He let out a long, drawn out sigh of relief. Lloyd tried opening the door, and found that it was locked, and had a keyhole. *Figures...* Lloyd looked around the place for a pair of keys for a few minutes. Just as he was about to give up his search, he heard a murmur from the ground. Lloyd looked down to find an injured cultist. He picked him up. "Where are the keys?" Lloyd asked, shaking the cultist slightly. He could tell that he was on the verge of dieing. The cultist fiddled with his coat, his hooves twitching nervously as he did so. A pair of keys quickly appeared out of his hooves. Lloyd took them, and set the cultist down. He wasn't a merciless killer, even if his behaviour earlier had proven otherwise. He quickly inserted one of the keys into the keyhole, and to his suprise, it was the right one. The cage opened with a creak sound. Lloyd slowly opened it, and picked Rainbow up. He made sure to craddle her gently, he was focused on getting her to the hospital. Rainbow woke up on the way there. Her eyes slowly opened up, although she didn't move. She looked up to find Lloyd carrying her. She was also flying up in the air, in his arms. Lloyd quickly noticed that she was awake, and put his face close to her's. "Where...are we?" Rainbow asked in a very tired voice. "Shh, it's alright Rainbow. I'm taking you to the hospital." Lloyd then nuzzled her face. Her face quickly blushed a crimson shade of red. Lloyd quickly kissed her on the lips. Her face blushed an even brighter red, and she returned the kiss. Knowing that he didn't need to say anything more, Lloyd kept flying, to safety.
PrologueLloyd slowly opened his eyes as he realized his surroundings. His room, as it had been for the past 3 years. Once his mom and dad had died, he had moved into an apartment with his best friend, Phil. Lloyd checked the time, 6:00. "Damn, quite early." Lloyd muttered as he got up. He took a shower and then got dressed. He walked downstairs, and yawned. "Breakfast?" Phil asked. "Sure." Lloyd said. After they had finished breakfast, Lloyd realized it was a Saturday. Lloyd started watching some TV, "The Big Bang Theory" to be exact. It was 9:00. "Up for a walk into town?" asked Phil. "Alright." Lloyd said. "Guess its gonna rain today...." Phil said. Lloyd looked up, and sure enough, dark clouds were forming in the skies. It started to drizzle. "Good thing we brought our coats..." Lloyd said. "Eeyup." After walking around town a bit, Lloyd wanted to hang around the park for awhile. Phil decided to go home. "See ya at home, buddy!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Heh, yeah be seein' you." Phil said. As Lloyd was sitting on a bench, he saw three men robbing a young woman. "Give us your money! One of the thieves said. "Yeah, give it to us!" Another said. "No, get away from me!" said the woman. "So be it..." The tallest thief said. He pulled out a ten-inch switchblade, jet-black in color and was just about to stab her with it. Lloyd grabbed the weapon-wielding thief just as he was prepared to strike. "The lady wants to be left alone." The thief quickly shoved him off. "Looks like we got ourselves a big-shot here, boss!" said one of the thieves. "Yeah, let's get 'em!" another said. Quickly, the three hoodlums attacked. Lloyd swung a punch at the crminal nearest him and managed a good hit across the face. The thief rubbed his wound for a second, before getting angry and charging at Lloyd. Lloyd quickly sidestepped and gave him a quick punch across the back, knocking him down. Another one held Lloyd down just long enough for the other criminal that was knocked down to get up and hold Lloyd's other arm. Lloyd thrashed, as he wasn't the easiest individual to hold down. The lead thief walked up to him and raised the knife. "Any last words, hero?" He asked. Lloyd spit at him. Enraged, the thief quickly stabbed Lloyd in the stomach several times. Lloyd struggled, but fell to the ground as soon as the criminals dropped him. Lloyd was bleeding like a stuck pig from the belly. He realized the woman had managed to get away, but at the cost of his own life. His eyes quickly widened, his life flashing right before his eyes. His 7th birthday, him and his dad hunting in the woods at the age of 11, losing his parents when he was 13, moving in with Phil at 14, it was all there. The criminals quickly ran away, realizing that they had just killed someone. "At least I died knowing I defended someone..." Lloyd whispered as he spit blood on the ground. He slowly closed his eyes as a voice told him, "Sleep, rest, it's all over....." The voice sounded like a woman, one who was very caring and gentle with her words. Lloyd saw a light as he closed his eyes for the last time.
Chapter 1: I didn't deserve this...(Lloyd's thoughts/brain surrounded by *) "Ughh...my head," said Lloyd. He slowly opened his eyes, realizing that he was somehow alive. He looked around, seeing that a large equine creature, with a horn and wings was walking up to him. "About time you woke up, I was getting worried." said Celestia. "Who are you, and why are you a talking horse?" asked Lloyd, shocked by the sudden change of setting. "Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, to answer your first question, and I'm a pony, for your information." Celesia replied. "Oh, ok, I'm......" "Lloyd, I know." Celestia said. "How do you-" Lloyd said before Princess Celestia interrupted, "Let's just say that I've been watching you for a little while." Lloyd spoke with Celestia for a few more minutes, before his memory slowly flooded back to him. "But wait, I died." Lloyd said. "Well, seeing how terrible your world was, I decided to bring you here, in hopes that you could start life anew." Celestia said. "There are a hell of a lot more people who deserve a second chance." Lloyd said. *Wait a sec, how the hell is that even possible?* "Like I said, I've only been watching you for a little while, Lloyd, and besides, I don't want to risk bringing in a bunch of aliens into our world without any of our people knowing." Celestia said. "Hmmph, well where am I going to live?" Lloyd asked. "You'll be meeting with my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." "Alrighty then." Suddenly, Luna burst into the room. "Sister, what happened?" Luna asked. "It's all ok Luna, I'm fine, but I can't say the same for our guest." She gestures to Lloyd. "Well at least the spell worked." stated Luna. "Are you okay, Lloyd?" "Besides being a bit shocked, I'm alright I guess." With that statement, the three of them walked further into the throne room. After basic introductions, Luna's curiosity was sated, but not Lloyd's. "Wait, where the hell am I?" Lloyd asked. "You are in Equestria, specifically Canterlot. Celestia said. "Wait, I died, I DIED! How the hell is it even possible that you brought me here?" Lloyd asked, gesturing to his surroundings. "I teleported you here, just in the nick of time." Celestia said. "Suprisingly, you came through without any of your injuries on your body." Luna said with curiosity. "WOAH WOAH WOAH, since when did magic exist?" Lloyd said suprisingly. "Well Lloyd, it seems that while magic may not exist in your universe, it does in ours. It is actually quite frequently used." "How on Earth can we even speak the same language?" Lloyd said, quickly realizing the irony of his statement. "I'm not exactly sure Lloyd, but it seems that we can, and I think we should leave it at that." Celestia said. "Okay, I guess I'll stop flipping out now." Lloyd said. He calmed down. "Are you ready to go meet Twilight, Lloyd?" Celestia asked. "Yep, I guess so." Quickly, Lloyd was teleported into the large library that also served as Twilight's home. A bright flash of light occupied Lloyd's eyes and he quickly found himself inside of the library. Twilight turned around and saw him infront of her. "Oh hello there, you must be the new arrival." "Yes, I was just teleported here." Lloyd said, quickly realizing that he had just been teleported, again. He started getting sick, not used to doing such a thing. "I guess I shouldn't be suprised, considering that I'm in a world filled with talking ponies, and magic, and whatever the hell else." Lloyd muttered under his breath. Lloyd was actually quite the scientific person, and was simply baffled by what just happened within the past hour. Lloyd quickly realized he had a backpack on, filled with all of his stuff. "Well, where do you want to start, Twilight Sparkle?" Lloyd asked. "Please, call me Twilight." Twilight said as she hopped up and down, akin to Pinkie Pie, due to how eager she was to question Lloyd. "Guess you want to ask me all of the questions in the world?" asked Lloyd. Twilight quickly nodded. "Please, take a seat." said Twilight. "Wait, I need to go gather my friends." said Twilight. "Can you stay here while I go get them?" Lloyd simply nodded. Within 20 minutes, Twilight was back, along with her other friends. "I guess introductions are in order..." Twilight smiled. "You could say that...." said Lloyd as he saw the ponies walk in. Suddenly, Pinkie jumped up to him, "Ohmygoshyoutotallyareanalienthisissocrazyohanywaysmynameispinkiepie,what'syours?" Lloyd fell out of his chair, suprised by the sudden craziness that is Pinkie Pie. "Calm down, Pinkie, you might scare him!" Twilight said. "Heh, it's fine, I find it to be cute." Lloyd said. He then ruffled up her mane. "Alright then, Lloyd, I'd like to introduce you to my friends, although I take it you have already been introduced to Pinkie." Twilight said. "Howdy there, partner, mah name is Applejack." Applejack quickly offered her hoof. "Nice to meet you." said Lloyd, while shaking Applejack's hand err- hoof. Quickly, Rainbow Dash walked up to Lloyd. "Hiya, I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria!" "Heh, I guess so, I'm Lloyd, nice to meet you Rainbow Dash." Lloyd said. "Hello there, dear, I'm Rarity." Lloyd walked up, kneeled and kissed Rarity's hoof, and said, "A pleasure to meet you, lady Rarity." in his best british impression. Quickly, she blushed. Fluttershy was sitting in the corner. She looked up to find a big, hairless ape looking at her, asking "Well, hello there, what would your name be?" She quickly released a small 'eep!' and hit behind her hands-err hooves. After a few seconds, she said "I'm Fluttershy..." "Well Fluttershy, my name is Lloyd, nice to meet you." Lloyd stood back up. "And don't forget me!" Lloyd quickly turned around and saw a purple, small, dragon-like creature looking at him. "Lloyd, this is Spike, he is my assistant." Twilight said. "Nice to meet you Spike." "Well everypony, I think its time that we left." Twilight said. "Awww, already?" Pinkie asked. "Yes, Pinkie, we should give him some alone time." "Okay..." Everypony except Lloyd and Twilight left. "Well Lloyd, are you hungry?" Twilight asked. "No, I'm-" Lloyd's stomach quickly growled. Twilight smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." They walked into town, but as Lloyd walked, many ponies gave him akward stares, or cocked their eyebrows and some even shared looks of disguist at the strange creature that was suddenly walking into their town. After walking for a few minutes, Twilight and Lloyd found a restaurant that they could eat at. After they had taken a seat on an outside table, a waiter walked up to both of them and asked Twilight, "What would you like today, miss?" "I would like a daisy sandwich, please." Twilight said. The waiter nodded, turned and said, "And what would-" He quickly realized he was serving a creature that he had never even seen before. The waiter stared at Lloyd for a few awkward seconds before Lloyd said, "I guess I'll have what she's having." The waiter slowly nodded and ran back into the restaurant. Within a few minutes, the waiter returned with the sandwiches and ran back in quickly. Clearly, he was afraid that Lloyd might hurt him. "Ookkaaayyyy then....." Lloyd said. "Sorry Lloyd, it's just that nopony has ever seen a creature like you before." "I understand, don't worry about it. As a matter of fact, our species acts very much the same way towards foreign things." Lloyd said. While they talked over lunch, Lloyd quickly noticed something, "No meat?" Twilight quickly looked at him in a shocked expression. "You......eat meat?" Twilight stuttered. "Yeah, but don't worry Twi, I'm omnivorous." Twilight quickly wiped the sweat from her head. After a few minutes, Twilight asked Lloyd a few questions. "I'm sorry, but I never asked you any questions." "Alright then, fire when ready Twilight." Lloyd said. "What are you?" Twilight asked. "I'm a human, or homo sapien as we are scientifically named." "Where do you live?" Twilight quickly shot out another question. This was gonna take a while. "I live on the planet Earth, in the United States of America, specifically Pennysylvania." The questioning went on for a few hours, Twilight taking notes down about various things in the world that Lloyd used to live in. "I guess we're finished then." Twilight said. "Heh, about time Twilight, I was about to fall asleep." Lloyd replied. Twilight laughed. "I guess we can go back to the library." After walking back to the library, Lloyd quickly guessed that it was about 3:00. "Twilight, could I go take a walk?" Lloyd asked. "Um, I'm afraid somepony is going to have to escort you, and I'm quite busy." "No problem, I'll just ask one of your friends." Lloyd said. "Alright then, but make sure you come back if you can't get someone, and don't get into trouble, Celestia's orders." Twilight said. "Yes, mum." Lloyd quickly laughed. Twilight then laughed with him. "Bye, Twi!" Lloyd said. "Goodbye!" Lloyd shut the door and quickly realized that he had no idea where the other ponies lived, only what they looked like. "I guess I'll make due." Lloyd muttered. Lloyd began walking through town. After walking around for about 10 minutes, the populace began getting used to seeing him. *I guess they're used to seeing odd creatures walk through town* He walked around town some more, until a flash of cyan and rainbow quickly flew into him, knocking him out cold. The last thing he saw was Rainbow Dash's beautiful magenta eys staring right at him.
Chapter 2: What happened?Lloyd slowly opened his eyes to the room light. As his eyes readjusted to the sudden burst of light, he realized he was inside of the hospital. Upon further inspection, he realized he was on a hospital bed. He quickly got up and streched, thinking he must have been there for at least 4 hours. He heard someone coming, and the door came open. "Ah, hello, you must be Lloyd." A red-haired nurse said. "Yes, but how long have I been out?" Lloyd asked. "About 6 hours, you must've gotten hit pretty hard." "Yeah, anyways, what's your name?" Lloyd asked. "I'm Nurse Redheart." "Nice to meet you, Nurse Redheart." Quickly, the door burst open. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" A familiar cyan pegasus asked. "I'm fine, Rainbow." "Good, 'cause when they didn't let me see you, I was worried." Rainbow Dash said. "It's fine, Rainbow, really..." Lloyd said. "Thanks for taking care of him, Nurse Redheart!" Redheart simply nodded. Rainbow quickly left the hospital, Lloyd in tow. "Rainbow, what were you doing flying at practically five billion miles an hour in the middle of town?" Lloyd asked. "I mean, you must've been flying pretty fast if you knocked me out cold for 6 hours." "I was uh- practicing, yeah, practicing that's what I was doing." Rainbow blushed and quickly looked in the opposite direction. *That's odd.....* It was about 9:00, everypony was inside of their house, probably getting ready for bed. "Thanks for taking me to the hospital, Rainbow, I know it probably wasn't easy hauling around a person such as myself." Lloyd said. "It wasn't a problem Lloyd, we were close to the hospital anyways, so it only took about 7 minutes maximum." "Well anyways, thanks for looking after me, I appreciate it." Lloyd said. "That's what friends are for." Rainbow said. After walking for what seemed like 20 minutes, the two of them quickly reached the library. Just as Lloyd was about to go through the door, Rainbow asked him something. "Hey Lloyd?" "Yeah, Dash?" "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime?" Rainbow asked nervously. This wasn't the Rainbow Dash that Lloyd knew. Everyone, including Lloyd, thought that she was a brash daredevil, and was loyal to her friends, always. Sure, that was true, but Lloyd doubted that anyone had ever heard her ask something in a tone similiar to Fluttershy's. "Uh, sure Dash." Lloyd replied nonchilantly. "Great! I'll be waiting, just find me in town around 12:00!" Rainbow joyfully exclaimed. "Well, goodnight, Rainbow." Lloyd nervously replied. "Yeah, goodnight Lloyd!" Rainbow quickly flew away. Lloyd then shut the door, walking up to his room. Twilight walked out of bedroom, realizing that Lloyd had just come home. "Where were you, Lloyd?" She asked in an angry tone. "Relax, I was just in the hospital." "THE HOSPITAL?!?" Twilight yelled. "Yes Twilight, the hospital, you see, Rainbow knocked me out cold after she flew into while I was walking into town." "RAINBOW DASH?" Twilight was screaming now, you could hear her anger. "Twilight, calm down, it was a complete accident." *Sure seems like she cares about you, buddy.* "Shut up, brain." Lloyd muttered to himself. After Twilight calmed down, Lloyd told her he was going to go to bed. "Gonna hit the hay, Twilight!" "Alright then, Lloyd, goodnight!" "Night, Twi." Lloyd dropped onto the bed like a rock. It only took a few minutes for Lloyd to go to sleep. *Man, I'm beat bro, goodnight.* "Goodnight, brain." Lloyd whispered as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Lloyd was dirfting through Ponyville, although it was filled with snow. Nopony was outside, there were no lights either. He kept walking, and then saw something that struck him as odd. He saw another humanoid figure, although it was black. As he got closer, he realized that the...thing had tendrils coming out of the sides of its arms. It wore a hood to cover its features. "Hello?" Lloyd asked. Slowly, the creature turned around, and what Lloyd saw was quite twisted. The creature's face was very pale, with large, white eyes without iris or pupils. It then opened it's mouth, and had many large, needle-like teeth. The creature then let loose an ear-splitting scream, causing Lloyd to wake back up, sweating. "WTF WAS THAT?!" Lloyd yelled as he woke up. Luckily for him, Twilight was still asleep. Lloyd began trying to decypher the vision. *What could it mean? Am I going insane?* These were only a few of the thoughts racing through his head. He decided to worry about it in the morning, and decided to go back to bed. "Whatever, I'll ask someone about it tomorrow." He drifted off. Lloyd woke up at about 9:00. He had about two and a half hours to get ready before Rainbow Dash came. He quickly took a shower, and got dressed. He walked downstairs, to find Twilight making breakfast for herself. "Morning, Twi." "Good morning, Lloyd." Twilight replied. "You sleep well?" "Nah, I had some sort of nightmare." Lloyd replied in somewhat of a nervous tone. "Really? Tell me all about it!" *Damn, I knew telling Twilight so soon wasn't the best idea.* "Whatever, its fine Twilight, I'll tell you later." Twilight quickly frowned. "Alright, fine." After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lloyd asked, "Soooo, what's for breakfast, Twi?" "Salad, some apples too." Twilight replied with a sigh. "Listen Twilight, I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood to talk, the nightmare was a bit- unnerving, to say the least." "I understand, Lloyd." Twilight replied, with a hint of sadness in her voice. *Damn, Twilight must be quite eager to "study" me if she really wants to know about that dream so badly.* "Besides, you're gonna tell me later today, right?" "Of course, Twilight." Lloyd said with a bit of a chuckle. After finishing breakfast and thanking Twilight for it, he went to go read a book. "Hey Twilight, you mind if I read a book?" Lloyd asked. "Yeah, go ahead, just put it back when you're done." After reading a bit of the history of Equestria (It honestly didn't take very long) Lloyd put the book back. "You like books, Lloyd?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, I always found them to be some sort of escape from reality, to be in a land I really am not, you know?" Twilight nodded. "Yes, I feel very much the same way." After waiting around for about ten minutes or so, Lloyd thought it was about time to go outside. "Hey Twilight, I'm gonna go outside." "Wait, you don't-" Lloyd interrupted. "Oh yeah, Rainbow asked me if I wanted to hang out with her yesterday." "Alright fine, don't be gone too long." Twilight said in a cautious voice. "Once again, thanks mum." Lloyd said, laughing at his own joke as he left the house. He quickly found Rainbow waiting for him right outside of the house. "I was just about to knock." Rainbow Dash said. "Yeah well, I beat ya to it." "Let's go, this is gonna be fun." Lloyd and Dash then walked all around Ponyville, and visited many places. After visiting places like Sweet Apple Acres and the Town Hall, they went to Sugarcube Corner, where they found Pinkie Pie cooking some cupcakes. "Hey Pinkie, how are you doing?" Lloyd asked. Pinkie got up from behind the corner, along with a mouthful of cupcakes. "Mrrpph, mrrpph,mrrrrph." "I'm sorry Pinkie, I didn't quite catch that..." Lloyd replied, Dash giggling at his joke. Pinkie devoured the mouthful of cupcakes in one gulp and then let out a large burp. "Wow Pinkie, that must be a record!" Dash exclaimed. "Meh, I've seen better." Lloyd said. He was quickly met with a hoof to the arm. "Alright, alright, that was pretty good, Pinkie." "So, what do you two want?" Pinkie asked. "Actually, we were just-" Rainbow tryed to explain before Lloyd interrupted. "I wanted to try one of your cupcakes, Pinkie." "Alrighty then!" After waiting for only a few seconds, Pinkie pulled out a cupcake from under a counter, with pink frosting that matched her mane. "Looks delicous Pinkie, hang on...." Just as Lloyd was about to pull out the bits that Celestia had given him, Pinkie interrupted. "Free of charge, Lloyd." Pinkie quickly said in an upbeat tone. "Oh, okay, thanks a bunch, Pinkie!" Lloyd quickly smiled and took the cupcake. "Oh, and Lloyd?" "Yes, Pinkie?" Lloyd asked suspicously. "The welcome party is tomorrow night, I hope you come!" "Don't worry Pinkie, I'll be there." Lloyd replied nonchillantly. "Yay!" Pinkie quickly said. "Bye, Pinkie." "Goodbye Lloyd!" As they walked out of the door, Lloyd decided to take a bite out of the cupcake. Quickly, he stumbled, unprepared for the rush of sugar that so suddenly entered his blood stream. From his perspective, everything was in slow-motion. He quickly had a sugar crash a few seconds after, hitting the ground like a rock. "Helllloooo? Are you dead or somethin'? Rainbow Dash was right over his face, looking straight at him. *Little too close for comfort there, Rainbow...* "What, yeah, I'm fine." Lloyd replied as he got up. "What happened there?" Rainbow asked. "Humans aren't exactly used to having that much sugar come from a little bite of a cupcake." "Oh, ok....are you sure you're ok?" Rainbow asked nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine, no problem." Lloyd replied as he stumbled. Dash quickly held onto his arm. "Doesn't seem like it." Rainbow said cautiously. Lloyd then regained his balance and walked a few steps. "See, I'm fine...." Just as Lloyd spoke, he slammed right into a wall. Facefirst, poor guy. "Oh god, my face...." Lloyd said. He put both of his hands on his face and layed there on the ground, after he removed his hands, he saw Dash staring right into his eyes, a second time. *If anything, I should be the one staring, I mean, look at her magenta eyes!* "Uhhh, hello?" This time Lloyd was asking the question. After a few seconds, Rainbow quickly snapped out of her trance. "What, huh? Didn't quite catch ya..." "Rainbow, is it something with my eyes?" Lloyd asked. You see, Lloyd had a very odd eye color. The area closer to the pupils were brown, to green, to blue. Fortunately, people didnt really see this from a distance, but when people were within a few inches of his face, they would usually stare at him. It was kind of annoying, to say the least. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I think it's time I go home, Dash." "What, but it's only-" Rainbow quickly looked up, it looked like it was 4:30. "Awww, do ya really have to go? Let's hang out a little longer!" "Sorry Dash, I am just exhausted, I really am." Lloyd replied with a sigh. After a few seconds, Rainbow started to develop tears in her eyes. Just as Rainbow was about to cry, Lloyd quickly gripped her in a hug. "Wha-" Rainbow asked before she decided to just not talk. "Sshhh, don't cry, don't cry." Lloyd said in a caring voice. After about 5 seconds, Dash quickly broke the hug. "You okay, Dash?" "Yeah, I'm fine." Just as Rainbow was about to fly away, Lloyd quickly grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Dash, I really didn't mean to." "It's okay, Lloyd." Rainbow Dash replied quickly before flying away, but as she flew and Lloyd watched her, she smiled at him. Both of them then parted ways, going back to where either of them lived. *Time to go back home.*
Chapter 3: Questioning time!Lloyd was again in a snowy, desolate Ponyville. He looked around and saw the same setting as before, but this time, something was different. Blood was spattered on the ground and the walls of many buildings were also covered with it. *Damn, not again.* Lloyd walked around the town even longer than he did last time he was here. He felt like he had been walking for so long. He kept walking into town, not seeing a single pony. He kept looking and eventually reached the town hall. The winds had gotten so fierce that a blizzard had developed, and Lloyd had to stay inside if he didn't want to freeze to death. Lloyd walked throughout the town hall, seeing many books and records that detailed various events. He eventually reached a room downstairs that was very dark. *There has got to be a torch or something around here.* He decided to backtrack a bit. Lloyd found a torch displayed on the stairs leading down into the room. As he was walking, Lloyd saw a trail of blood leading further down into the complex. He kept following it until he reached what seemed to be a small room. As soon as he came close to the room, his torch went out. *Damnit, did it just have to go out now?* Lloyd decided to keep walking. He only walked a few more steps however, before he saw the same thing he had last time. It was the same creature, except this time, it was crouched over a chair. The chair was in the very center of the room, and a lot of blood was on the ground around it. Lloyd tried his best not to vomit. He just swallowed it down. As he got closer, he saw the outline of a pony on the chair, but he couldn't tell who. Unfortunately, the creature noticed him. It turned around slowly, the same way it did last time. This time, blood stained its visage, aswell as its tendrils. The creature screamed again, and then leapt onto Lloyd. He held it by the neck, with limited success. The creature's tendrils then expanded. *Oh, shit.* The tendrils then dug themselves into Lloyd's chest, causing an insane amount of pain. Lloyd couldn't hold on any longer, and let go of the creature. He was on his knees, and looked up only to find that same, pale face staring right back at him. Lloyd couldn't do anything, even if he wanted to. He couldn't move. After staring into the remorseless eyes of it for a few more seconds, the creature quickly raised up its tendrils and consumed Lloyd. Lloyd woke up sweating and screaming, a lot worse than last time. Twilight heard him this time, and ran into his room. Twilight quickly calmed him down. "Lloyd, what happened?" "Another nightmare, worse than last time." Lloyd said. "Why don't we talk about it, I'm sure you'll feel better." Lloyd looked at her, and could tell that this time, she was not gonna take no as an answer. "Alright, don't blame me if you're disturbed by the end of this, though." Lloyd then filled her in on both dreams, the creature, Ponyville, everything. He made sure not to go all out and scar Twilight for life. After finishing his story, Lloyd sighed and laid back down. Twilight just stood there, completely shocked. "You okay, Twi?" Lloyd asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Um, I guess you on the other hand, need to get some sleep." "Happy to oblige, goodnight, Twilight." Lloyd said as he turned back around. "Um, goodnight, Lloyd." Lloyd then snoozed off. He woke up the next morning, relaxed. He streched his arms and legs, and then got up. He got dressed and then walked downstairs. Twilight seemed to still be in her room, sleeping. Lloyd didn't want to be rude and wake her up, so he made breakfast for himself and Twilight. After finishing his breakfast, he went to go wash the dishes. Twilight then came out of her room. She seemed to be tired. He felt bad, thinking that he had woken her up. Twilight sat down to find her breakfast made for her. She then took a look at Lloyd to see him smirking at her. "You didn't have to do that, Lloyd." "Twilight, I wanted to thank you for your hospitality. Honestly, this is the least I could do." Lloyd said with a smile. Twilight only smiled. She then ate her breakfast. After breakfast, Lloyd was eager to learn more about Equestria. "So Twilight, what is with the various kinds of ponies?" Lloyd asked. He had seen unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, and alicorns, but he wanted to know more about them. "What do you mean, Lloyd?" "Well, I'm just asking about the kinds of ponies, like, what are their charactristics?" "Alright, well there are 4 kinds of ponies. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and alicorns." "Alright." "Earth ponies are connected to the earth and nature, thus making them very good farmers. They typically have the most strength and stamina out of the different kinds of ponies. Pegasi are ponies with wings, and have the ability to fly and manipulate weather. They can walk on clouds as well. Unicorns are ponies with horns, and they can cast magic. See?" Twilight then lifted up a book with her magic. Lloyd nodded. "Lastly, there are alicorns. Alicorns are ponies like Princess Celestia and Luna, they have both wings and a horn." "I see, thanks for that Twilight." Lloyd said. The two of them talked for a while, Lloyd occasionally asking questions about Equestria. Spike walked in, with a letter in his hand. "Twilight, got a message from Prncess Celestia, she says she wants to see Lloyd, immediately." "Did she state why?" Twilight asked nervously. *Clearly, Twilight doesn't want to disapoint the princess.* "No, she just said that she wanted Lloyd to meet her in Canterlot. Carriage for Lloyd is right outside." "Guess I should be going, then." Lloyd said nonchalantly. Twilight just let him go. "Off to Canterlot I go!" Lloyd laughed as he walked out.
Chapter 4: WHAT??!?Lloyd arrived in Canterlot, right at the entrance. *Wow, this place is magnificent.* Lloyd never got the chance to look at Canterlot, and could now see its full beauty. He gazed up at the various towers and buildings for a few seconds, before a guard walked up. "Come with me, the Princess wishes to see you." The guard said. Lloyd was barely paying attention to him, and quickly got nudged in the shoulder by the guard. Lloyd turned around and only nodded. Lloyd began walking, along with his guard escort. *I wonder who they think they're protecting, me or the populace.* After recieving more awkward stares and looks of disguist from the locals, Lloyd reached the castle. Three guards walked into the throne room along with him, one of them being a unicorn with a blue mane and blue eyes. Celestia was sitting on her thone, reading a letter. "Ahem, Princess, we have brought you the human." One of the guards said. Celestia looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Shining Armor." Celestia quickly got out of her seat and slowly walked towards Lloyd. The sunlight was shining right through the window, and made Celestia look like some sort of diety from the sun. "Let us talk somewhere a bit more private." Celestia said. "Lead the way, Princess." Lloyd and Celestia kept on walking until they reached a very tranquil garden filled with various plants. "So Lloyd, are you enjoying Equestria?" Celestia asked as they were walking through the center of the garden. "Yeah, everyone is pretty nice to me, and it's pretty peaceful." Lloyd said with a smile. Celestia only nodded. After a few more seconds, Celestia spoke up. "Lloyd, I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but you're not going to be able to go back to Earth." Lloyd looked down. He was silent for a few more seconds. "WHAT?!?" Lloyd screamed, shocking Celestia. "No more meat? What the hell, I liked dem shitz!" Lloyd laughed. Celestia gave him a look of confusion. "What?" She asked. "Celestia, I liked Earth, don't get me wrong, I'll miss it, but Equestria is loads better, even if I can't see any of my friends or family anymore, it's okay. It's not like I have anything in terms of family anyways." Lloyd said admittedly. "I understand Celestia, don't worry about it. I'm kinda used to being told what I can and can't have." Lloyd said. "Well then, that's one thing down. It turns out that I never introduced you to the town." *Oh god, please don't tell me.* "So that's why you're going to be introduced at the party tonight." Celestia said. *Thank god, I didn't feel like parading through town like some kind of freak on display.* Lloyd nodded. "Another thing, Lloyd." This time, Celestia sounded a bit more troubled. "Yes, Princess?" Celestia sighed and then said, "I know about the nightmares you've been having." "How?" Lloyd asked with suspicion. "I've been having somewhat similiar nightmares, although they involve the whole of Equestria, not just Ponyville. Oddly enough, I can also tell when you've had a nightmare." Celestia said in a darkened tone. "Hmmph, odd, but what do you think it means?" Lloyd asked. "I don't know Lloyd, but I can tell it's something that isn't good." Both of them were silent for a few more seconds, thinking about what such a thing could mean. Celestia then broke the silence. "That's it, Lloyd." Celestia said in a neutral tone. "Alright then, Princess, have a good day!" Lloyd said. As he was walking back outside alongside his guard escort he turned around and waved. Celestia waved back to him with a smile on her face. He walked back to the carriage and flew back to Ponyville. As he stepped out of the carriage, he looked up and saw the beatiful blue skies and the chirping birds. "Ahh, good ol' Ponyville." Lloyd started the walk back to the library.
Chapter 5: It's party time!Lloyd was standing in his room, getting ready for the party. He dressed up in a casual outfit, no need for anything too fancy. After he came out of his room, he saw Twilight waiting by the door. "You ready, Lloyd?" Twilight asked. "More ready than I'll ever be, Twi." "Okay then, let's go." Both Twilight and Lloyd then left the library. After walking for about 15 minutes, the two of them reached Sweet Apple Acres, where the party was. They walked into the barn and found the party. Decorations were hung up everywhere, and it seemed that much of the town was present. "Wow, this is a cool par-" Lloyd said before getting shot with Pinkie Pie's party cannon. Ouch. "Hi Lloyd! You're just in time!" Pinkie said with anticipation. "Oww, that hurt like a bitch, Pinkie, why don't you warn me next time?" Lloyd groaned. Pinkie simply laughed. Lloyd got up slowly. He rubbed his head with a groan. "That was pretty good, Pinkie, what is that thing?" Lloyd asked. "It's my party cannon! See?" Pinkie said as she loaded the cannon. She then shot a wall, quickly decorating it with balloons, banners, and such. "That's pretty cool, Pinkie." Lloyd said with a look of approval. "Anyways, onto the party!" Pinkie said. Lloyd walked up to the snack table and got himself some punch. He drank it, this time he didn't have a complete sugar rush, but it still hyped him up. Within a few minutes, Lloyd was quickly driven insane by the music. He didn't like it, it didn't suit his style. He decided to do something about it. He quickly walked up to the DJ, realizing that he wasn't the least bit acquainted with her. Thinking about how he should introduce himself, the DJ quickly turned around to find Lloyd half a meter infront of her. She jumped a little, suprised by him. "Oh, hello there!" Lloyd quickly said. "Hey, you must be that guy everyone is talking about. I'm Vinyl Scratch." "Pleasure to meet you, Vinyl, I'm Lloyd." "Well, why did you come over here?" Vinyl asked with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. "If you don't mind, I was wondering if I could put on some of the music that we listen to back on Earth, see if the crowd likes it." Lloyd asked. "Yeah, sure." He quickly took out his iPod, plugged it in, selected some songs, and let it rip. Quickly the first song started playing. All of the ponies quickly looked up to where Vinyl was supposed to be and only found Lloyd, shrugging. He quickly smiled and pumped up the tunes. All of the ponies liked the music. Vinyl quickly went back to her battle stations, realizing that Lloyd had just set a playlist up. She looked over to Lloyd, only for him to see her and flash a devilish grin. Lloyd then remembered what Celestia had said. *Oh yeah, gotta introduce myself first.* He walked up to Vinyl and asked her if she could turn down the tunes for a second. Vinyl nodded, and did just that. Everypony looked towards Vinyl again, only for her to gesture to Lloyd. Everypony then stared at him. "Hello, everyone, I'm Lloyd, and I'm new in town. Just wanted you guys to know. That is all." He then gestured to Vinyl to pump up the tunes, and the music came back on. The night went on, Lloyd occasionally getting up and dancing to one of his many favorite songs. He then sat down, exhausted after dancing. Rainbow then sat down next to him. "Hey." Lloyd said. "Hi, Lloyd." Rainbow said with the slightest bit of nervousness. "Something wrong?" Lloyd asked. "Nah, just exhausted." "Same here." "Lloyd?" "Yeah?" "Do you miss your old home?" Rainbow asked. Lloyd sat there, silent for a few seconds, pondering. "Well Rainbow, I may miss Earth and all of my friends, but Equestria is my home now, and nothing is going to change that. Not to mention that I couldn't even go back home if I wanted to." Lloyd said. Both him and Rainbow then talked on for a while, just asking questions, getting to know each other. "Well, I guess it's time to go, see ya later, Dash!" Lloyd said with a smile. He quickly got up and started walking towards the exit. He then remembered that he had to go tell Twilight. Lloyd walked through the crowd, and eventually found Twilight sitting in a seat on the opposite side of the barn, reading a book. "Hey Twi." "Hi Lloyd, something wrong?" Twilight asked. "No, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going back to the library. I'm beat." "Oh, alright then, see you at home, Lloyd!" "Bye!" Lloyd then exit the building. He was exhausted, but happy. It was quite fun for him. He started the walk back home. It was quite dark out, and Lloyd couldn't see too well. As he was walking, he heard something. He turned around to see a bush rustle in the wind. *Heh, whatever. I need to stop being so paranoid.* He kept walking, and was still about ten minutes away from home. He felt like he was being watched by something, and was constantly looking around. *What the hell is watching me?* Lloyd was only about five minutes away from home, and his paranoia got worse. He thought he was hearing voices in his head, and thought he saw things staring at him. He looked behind him upon hearing what he thought was a footstep, and saw nothing in the immediate vicinity. He stared further down into the night, and saw a pair of white eyes, the exact same eyes he saw on the creature in his nightmares. Lloyd quickly turned around and started running. He sprinted towards home. He reached home, quickly entered, and shut the door with a slam. Lloyd was sweating now, and looked back outside. He didn't see a thing. He sighed a sigh of relief. He decided to go to bed. *No need to drive myself crazy, thinking about something that creepy.* He walked upstairs and and went into bed. It took him almost no time at all to go to bed. He went to sleep before Twilight even came home.
Chapter 6: A ghastly reminder...Lloyd woke up the next morning, the sun shining into his face, brighter than usual. He slept a lot better than before. He didn't have any nightmares this time, and wanted it to stay that way. He got up, and found Twilight already making breakfast. "Morning, Twi." "Good morning, Lloyd." It seemed like Twilight had gotten some sleep too. *Good, don't want me keeping her up now, would I?* Twilight then put out some breakfast for the two of them. "Thanks Twilight, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Lloyd said, realizing he had just said something he definitely should not of. He quickly put his hands over his mouth. Twilight looked at him with a shocked expression. "What did you say?" Twilight asked in a cautious tone. "Nothing, nothing... just an old expression back home." Lloyd said nervously. "Oh don't worry about it, Lloyd, I understand." Lloyd wiped the sweat from his forehead. A few more seconds of awkward silence passed by. "Besides, I know you wouldn't eat a horse, right?" Twilight asked nervously. "No way, never." *Well.......maybe out of desperation if there was nothing else.* "Again, shut the hell up, brain..." Lloyd muttered to himself. Lloyd then washed the dishes when both of them were done, and looked around the library. He was just browsing the books. He found one labeled, "Creatures of Equestria." *Hmmph, maybe I can find something similiar to that thing in my nightmares.* He kept reading and reading, but found nothing. He tried reading several more books associated with local flora and fauna, but didn't find a single thing mentioning anything similiar to the creature in his dreams. He was walking back up to his room when Twilight stopped him. "Lloyd, I forgot to tell you something." "Yeah, Twi?" Lloyd said, as if it were nothing important. "Something was left for you on the doorstep, and oddly enough, the only way I could identify that it was for you because it had your name on a small note next to it." Lloyd then went outside, and found just what she was talking about. The item was a hood, a black one. *Wait a sec.... this looks familiar.* It quickly hit Lloyd like a ton of bricks. This was the very same hood that the creature in his nightmares was wearing. His eyes widened. *What the hell is going on? That....thing can't possibly exist, can it?* He picked it up, and saw that it was just a plain, dark hood, nothing special, although there was something about it that unnerved him, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Lloyd didn't exactly tell Twilight about the hood part. He decided not to tell her about the creepiness of this item, he didn't want to scare Twilight. He picked up the note, and it only said his name on the front of it in red letters. Lloyd took both items inside. He put both items right onto his bed, chosing to worry about it later. He walked back downstairs, and realized he didn't have anything to do. *Well, I guess I'll just help people in town.* "Hey Twilight?!" Lloyd called. "Yes?" "I'm gonna go into town, see ya later!" "Okay then, goodbye Lloyd!" Lloyd then walked out, shutting the door behind him. Within a few seconds, Lloyd realized something. *Wait a sec, don't I need a job?* "I'll worry about that later, I still got plenty of bits anyways..." Lloyd muttered. He began walking through town, seeing that it was quite busy. *Guess I'll go help Applejack with the orchard or something, whatever.* He started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres. Within 20 minutes, he was at the orchard. He saw Applejack harvesting some apples off of the trees, and walked up to her. "Howdy there, partner, what brings ya here?" Applejack asked. "Hey Applejack, I was wondering if you needed any help?" Applejack quickly nodded. She gestured to some of the apple trees. "Can ya gather some of those apples and bring 'em back here for me?" Lloyd looked to where she gestured and nodded. "Sure, seems easy enough." Lloyd said nonchilantly. He walked out to where the trees were, and started picking out all of the apples fit to eat. It took him about an hour and a half, and then he was finished. He walked over to where Applejack was gathering even more apples, along with a pony he didn't recognize. "Here you go, Applejack, all of the apples out there, and who would this be?" Lloyd gestured to the stallion at her side. "This is Big Macintosh, my older brother." Lloyd looked back at Big Mac, the stallion then offered his hoof. Lloyd gladly accepted his handshake. "Nice to meet you, Big Macintosh, I'm Lloyd." "Eeyup." "Well, I should be off now, see you guys later!" Lloyd said. "Goodbye!" Applejack waved back at him. *Alright, now who else needs help?* He quickly looked around town and saw nopony he recognized. So, he decided to just help anyone he could. It took him quite a while, but he managed to help the entire town. He looked up at the sun, and guessed that it must've been 4 o'clock. Lloyd decided to walk back home. He didn't walk too long however, before Vinyl waved him over from the entrance of her house. "Hey, Lloyd." "Hi, Vinyl." "Hey Lloyd, you never really showed me the other music you listened to on Earth." Vinyl said. "Why don't you come over and show me sometime?" "Um, yeah, I think I could manage that. I'll be over later, if not today, then tomorrow, definitely." Lloyd said. Vinyl instantly changed her expression to a look of glee. "Awesome, I can't wait!" Vinyl said with anticipation. "See ya later, Vinyl!" Lloyd said while waving back to her. Lloyd walked back home, and upon reaching the door, found a note. Lloyd read the note. Lloyd, I need your help for an experiment. I'm in the Everfree Forest, next to Fluttershy's cottage. Please come ASAP. -Twilight "Alright, I guess I know where to go next." Lloyd already knew where most of the mane six lived, with the exception of Rainbow, although he knew that she lived somwhere in the clouds. He began walking towards Fluttershy's place. It didn't take very long, and he quickly reached the edge of the experimental grounds. It was a large clearing, and it looked pretty peaceful. He didn't see Twilight, though. He looked around, before walking into the middle of the clearing. He heard a sizzling sound, and looked down to find a spell cast onto the ground, and he was standing on it. *How the hell did I not notice that?* He quickly realized that something was gonna go off, and only managed to take one step towards the right, before an explosion went off.
Chapter 7: Change(Rainbow's thoughts = cyan *) Rainbow was walking around town. She decided to go and visit Fluttershy. Rainbow thought that she should go check on Flutters, it had been a while. Rainbow Dash reached Fluttershy's house, but couldn't find her anywhere. * Hmmph, that's odd.* She heard a moaning sound from the woods. * Who is that? I should go and check it out.* Rainbow went to investigate. Rainbow made sure she was ready incase it was something dangerous. She waited for a second, and then jumped out of the bushes. She saw something she didn't expect. Lloyd lying on the ground, groaning in pain. Dash quickly ran over. As she got closer, she realized just how bad Lloyd's condition was. He was bleeding from multiple places and in extreme pain. "Rai- Rainbow.....help...me." Lloyd said in a drained voice. He wasn't gonna be able to hang on much longer. Rainbow got straight into action, lifting him up. He was quite heavy, but she was ready. Rainbow flew off to the hospital. It took about ten minutes, give or take a few seconds. She flew into the entrance, with all of the haste that she could possibly muster. Rainbow quickly waved Nurse Redheart over. "Oh Celestia, what happened to him?" Redheart asked. "No time to explain, just get him in the emergency room!" Rainbow said, a glare in her eyes. Redheart and two other doctors quickly got him onto a strecher, and wheeled him off into the E.R. Lloyd was unconscious, but was in a stable state. He had been like this for the past few hours in the hospital. Nopony know what happened to him, but whatever happened, it seemed to be some kind of assassination attempt, or mishap. Rainbow Dash had found him in the Everfree Forest, laying on the ground in a clearing. During the few hours that Lloyd was unconscious, Rainbow informered the mane six and some others about his condition. The rest of the mane six, aswell as Vinyl and other ponies Lloyd recently introduced himself to, decided to visit and wait until he came out of that dreaded room. Lloyd opened his eyes slowly, and saw the very same hospital that he had been in quite recently. It took his eyes a little bit to readjust to the brightness of the room. He looked around, and saw a doctor running some tests with his back turned. Lloyd tried to get up from his layed down position, and quickly fell back into bed. The pain from trying to get up was too much for him. The doctor turned around and saw Lloyd wide awake. "Ah, Mister Lloyd, I see that you're awake. How did you sleep?" The doctor asked in a gleeful expression. "Well, let's just say that getting blown up doesn't exactly help you sleep any better, if you get my drift." Lloyd said. Lloyd looked around again, seeing various machines and medecines around him. "Wait a sec, where are my friends? I have to go and see them." Lloyd asked in a serious tone. He then tried to get up again, but failed a second time. the doctor walked over to him. "Sorry sir, you can't get up now, although you do have visitors." The doctor gestured over to the door and Lloyd saw many of the ponies he had met within the past few days. The mane six, Vinyl, Big Mac, and a few others. Lloyd smiled at them. "One at a time please, in an orderly fashion." The doctor said. The mane six were up first, many of them offering words of compassion and hopefulness. Pinkie Pie had even left a pink cupcake with white frosting letters that said, "Get better soon!" Rainbow was last of the mane six. She walked up to him, and he smiled. "Hi, Lloyd." Rainbow said in a nervous tone. "Hi, Dash." "Are you okay?" Rainbow asked. "Besides some cuts and bruises, I'm not too bad." Rainbow nodded. "Okay, goodbye, Lloyd." She began to walk out. "Hey Rainbow?" Lloyd asked. "...Yeah?" "Thanks for saving me, I would've died if it wasn't for you. Thank you." She ran over to him and gave him a hug that Lloyd didn't expect. They just hugged there for a few seconds, like no one else was there. Rainbow broke the hug, and walked out. Vinyl then walked up. She had a sad look on her face. "Hey Lloyd." Vinyl said in a sad tone. "Hi, Vinyl." Lloyd looked up at her, and smiled. "Are you going to be ok?" Vinyl asked. "Don't worry about it, doctors say that I'll be out later tonight, guaranteed. I'll still be able to show you some of that music sometime." Lloyd said with a smirk. Vinyl had the instinct to shove him, and instead just laughed. "I'll see ya later, Lloyd!" Vinyl said with a wave. "Alright, bye Vinyl!" Lloyd said happily. The rest of the ponies then said greetings and goodbyes, and the visits were finally over. About an hour later, Lloyd was determined by the doctors as healthy enough to go back home. He got out of his bed slowly, he didn't want to hurt himself anymore than he had already. All of the pain stopped, but he still had pains coming from his back for some odd reason. He walked back to Twilight's place. He opened door and shut it behind him. Lloyd saw Twilight sleeping on the couch, with no covers. *Heh, typical Twilight. Probably waited for me to come home.* He quickly picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Lloyd carried Twi back to her room and set her back onto her bed and put the blankets over her. He was suprised he didn't wake her up. He blew out any candles in her room. *Night, Twilight.* Lloyd quickly made himself a late dinner and looked around, realizing that he had never really stopped and looked up. He knew that the library was made of a giant tree, but it was quite big when you just took a second to admire it. Lloyd shrugged, and then finished off his dinner. He washed any dishes left over and went straight to bed. Lloyd woke up the next morning feeling.....different. *Meh, whatever.* He quickly got up and streched. He noticed a large pair of wings protruding from his back. *WOAH, what in the hell happened?* He had just as much feeling in the wings as he did with his limbs. He streched them out, and observed them closely. The wings were very pegasi-like, but bigger. They had a dark blue outline on the top and sides, with black in the middle of his wings, and white on the tips of the feathers. He tried flapping them, and quickly levitated off of the ground. *Heh, would ya look at that?* He opened the door to the main room of the library, and flew out. He flew around the library room, and felt awesome. After a few seconds of flying around, he sat down. He made himself breakfast and ate it quickly. He was super anxious to get outside and fly around. *I don't want to wake up anyone, but I'm really eager to take these things out for a test run.* Lloyd saw Twilight walk out of her room. She looked at Lloyd with a shocked expression, and rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. Lloyd looked up at her with a smirk. "Whaddaya think?" Lloyd said, streching his wings out to make them look as big as possible. Lloyd just stared at the wings with a dumbfounded expression, unsure of what to say. "How did this even happen?" Twilight asked. "Well, I guess I just woke up with them. Would probably explain the back pains yesterday." Twilight just looked at them, fascinated by the fact that Lloyd had just developed a pair of wings. "I have to take these for a test run! Off I go!" Lloyd said. Before Twilight could stop him, he was off. He flew all around town. Lloyd never felt so free in his entire life. It was a beautiful morning, and Lloyd was happy. "Wooooo!!! THISS IISSSS AWEEESOOMEE!" He screamed as he flew by the houses of various ponies. Many of them looked up out of their windows to see something that many of them were shocked by. Many of the ponies who were watching just stared. Some of them just shut their windows, not wanting any more commotion. Lloyd looked around, and determined that he should probably return back to Twilight's. He flew back down and was exhausted already. Lloyd went back to his room and took his laptop out of his bag. He turned it on and started playing some video games.
Chapter 8: RevelationsLloyd was tired. He had just played video games for the past three hours, (It was mostly TF2 and XCOM Enemy Unknown) realizing how fast time went by. He then asked himself, *How did I even have a connection to the internet?* Lloyd shrugged and turned his laptop off. He walked around and streched out his wings. He had been laying on that bed for the past three hours, he needed to get up and go. He went outside, ready to fly. *I should go and visit Vinyl, she wanted that music.* He quickly flew over to Vinyl's house. Lloyd knocked on the door. He knocked again and waited a few more seconds. Nopony came to the door. He opened the door a little. Lloyd quickly heard shouting. *Here's....Johnny!* he thought as he opened the door. He looked around, and heard incredibly loud dubstep going off inside of the house. *Holy crap, that's loud.* Lloyd walked towards the source of the music, and ended up inside of a large room. He saw Vinyl standing next to two, extremely large speakers. The whole room was shaking due to the volume of the music. A mare with a gray mane and purple eyes was shouting at Vinyl. "Turn it off! Too much wub!" Octavia shouted over the ear-deafening music, covering her ears. "NEVER TOO MUCH WUB!!!" was what Lloyd heard from behind the speakers. He ran up to the speakers as fast as possible. Lloyd looked around and saw Vinyl immersed in the music. He walked up to the speakers and unplugged them, stopping the insane flow of music. Vinyl quickly turned around, and had the biggest frown on her face that Lloyd had ever seen. "What did you do that for?" Vinyl asked, with a sad look on her face. " Awww, come on! Turn that frown, upside down!" Lloyd said with a smile. He held out his iPod and had his laptop under his arm. "Woah, what are those?" Vinyl asked, her frown instantly dissapearing and replaced by a look of curiosity. "Stuff for the music, you'll see." Lloyd quickly turned on his iPod and put the laptop on the ground next to him. "Here, let me show you." Vinyl was eager to listen, Lloyd could tell by the look on her face. After showing her a bunch of different songs from different genres, Vinyl still wanted to listen to more of it. When Lloyd turned off the iPod and laptop, Vinyl looked dissapointed. "Come on, one more song!" Vinyl pleaded. "Alright, one more. Here. This is one of my favorite songs." Youtube Video "As much as I want to stay, Vinyl, I gotta get going." "Alright, fine. But you're going to have to show me more of that music later!" Vinyl said as she got up. "Sure Vinyl. Just remember, don't try to make other peoples ears explode by way of music, it isn't exactly...healthy." "Okay, bye Lloyd!" Vinyl said, waving as Lloyd got up to go outside. "See ya!" Lloyd said casually. He was walking towards the door, and looked to his left to see Octavia whispering, "Thank you." "Yeah, no problem, bye!" Lloyd said as he walked out of the door. *Where should I go next?* *Maybe I should go and visit Cloudsdale, never got the opportunity to go there.* Lloyd quickly decided to do just that. He started flying up towards Cloudsdale. He started gaining altitude quickly and wasn't paying attention. He crashed into a mailmare. They both got knocked to the ground. Lloyd rubbed his head, and got up. "Oh no, I'm sorry I ran into you." Lloyd said. He quickly saw that he was looking at a gray mare with crossed, yellow eyes and a cutie mark that had a bunch of rising bubbles. He stared for a second, before snapping out of his trance. "It's ok, I guess." The mare said, dusting herself off. Wait a sec, are you that new guy in town?" The mare asked. "Yes, I'm Lloyd, and you are?" Lloyd asked in a happy voice. "Derpy Hooves. I'm the mailmare." Derpy said with her signature crossed eyes and smile. "Here Derpy, let me help you with that." Lloyd said with a smile. *Seems like her smiles are contagious.* It only took Lloyd a few more seconds to get all of the mail up off of the ground and put it back into Derpy's mailbag. "Well Derpy, I guess I'll see you another time!" Lloyd said, waving to her while flying away. "M'kay, see you later, Lloyd!" Derpy waved as she flew in the opposite direction. Lloyd then reached Cloudsdale. *Holy crap, this place is awesome!* Cloudsdale was just that. It was filled with clouds, (obviously) but there were many cool, large buildings that looked quite epic. *Is that a....coliseum?* It was hard to tell, the sun was in Lloyd's face. He got closer to get a better look. *Heh, looks kinda like the Roman Colosseum.* Lloyd decided to fly right around Cloudsdale, see just how big it is. Rainbow Dash was just passing through the area, done with training for the morning. She was just walking by and heard someone screaming. *Where is that sound coming from?* She looked around and quickly saw Lloyd, except he had wings. Her jaw dropped. "Wooooooo! I'm not going down!" Lloyd said as he flew through the clouds. He was having quite the time. He just kept flying, with the wind behind him. He was also flying quite fast, for his fourth time. Quickly, A blurry flash of cyan left him in the dust. He looked to see Rainbow flying right by him. She looked back and blew a raspberry. "I'll take that as a challenge." Lloyd quickly picked up speed, and was right behind Dash in a few seconds. She was still ahead of him though, and he was trying desperately to get ahead. Lloyd couldn't tell, but Rainbow was trying quite hard to keep ahead. "I'm gonna get you, Rainbow!" Lloyd said, smiling. He quickly got ahead of her, looked back and smirked at her. He put both of his hands behind his back and did a barrel roll. Rainbow wasn't gonna give up, she just kept going. Dash flew by him, again. However, she was only a few inches ahead. Lloyd then caught up with her. They were neck and neck, neither of them gaining enough speed to go any further. Rainbow was slowly, inch by inch, getting ahead of Lloyd. She saw a cloud ahead and just went up and stood on the top of it. "I win!" Rainbow said with glee. She was cheering and hopping up and down. "Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right." Lloyd said with a bit of a smile. Rainbow shoved him. "You guess? I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria!" Rainbow said, doing a heroic pose. "Alright, you win. Good job. You beat a rookie at your own game." Lloyd laughed. She shoved him again. Lloyd looked out across Cloudsdale, and couldn't see where he started flying. "Lloyd, what's with the wings?" Rainbow asked, pointing right at them. "I just woke up with them this morning, strange, right?" Lloyd said, streching them out. Rainbow touched one of his wings and looked at it closely. *Again, a bit too close for comfort there, Rainbow.* "Yeah, they make you look about 20% cooler." Rainbow said. "Aw come on, only 20%?" "I have spoken!" Rainbow said in a judge-like voice. They both laughed. "Well Rainbow, be seeing ya!" Lloyd said. Just as he was about to fly off, Rainbow grabbed him. "Please don't leave! Let's hang out a little longer." Rainbow said in a pleading voice. *Just like last time. I don't want to hurt her feelings this time, but I want to be alone. Doesn't matter, friends first.* "Alright Rainbow, you can come, but we're going to go where I want." Lloyd said, pointing to himself. Rainbow nodded quickly. "Heh, the look on your face." Lloyd said with a laugh. Rainbow quickly shoved him. The two of them then flew back down to Ponyville, and grabbed some lunch. They sat down at a table at the same restaurant that Lloyd had gone to with Twilight a day or two earlier. The same waiter walked up to him. "Hello again, sir. What would you like today?" *Seems like he isn't gonna be fearful this time. "I'll have a daisy sandwich." "Alright, what would you like, miss?" Rainbow then ordered. They waiter walked back in to the kitchen. They waited a few minutes. Strangely enough, Rainbow just stared at Lloyd most of the time. Lloyd just twiddled his thumbs and whistled. *This is awkward.....where in the hell is that waiter?* After a few more seconds, the waiter walked out with the food and set it on their table, with haste. The two of them began eating. After finishing lunch, Lloyd left a tip and then they both left. They started walking, althrough where, Rainbow didn't know. *I wonder what happened over at that clearing.* They started walking towards the Everfree forest. Lloyd started talking to Rainbow. "Hey Rainbow?" "Yeah?" "Can I tell you something a bit personal?" "Um, sure, yeah. Go ahead." "Rainbow, promise me that you won't view me any differently than you already do after I tell you this. Promise?" "Yeah, I promise." Lloyd sighed, and began. "I've been having nightmares, for the past few days, and they're getting worse and worse by the day." "What were they about?" Rainbow asked. Lloyd told her exactly what he had told Twilight. Rainbow stood there, dumbfounded, just like Twilight before her. "Pretty nutty, right?" Lloyd said. Rainbow nodded, with a shocked look. "Wait a sec, what did I say about your promise?" Lloyd said after a few seconds of silence. Rainbow quickly snapped out of her trance. "Don't worry about it Lloyd. I promised, didn't I?" Rainbow said. "Yes, yes you did." Lloyd said with a chuckle. They soon reached the clearing. Lloyd got out of the bushes, and looked around. He wanted to make sure that he wasn't gonna be in the hospital again. He got up out of the bushes, slowly but surely. Lloyd looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, Rainbow was right behind him. He looked over to where the spell went off, in the middle of the clearing. Oddly enough, the ground was black, and it formed a circle with something inside of it. *Oh no....* Lloyd looked at the symbol, and realized it was the creature, again. Rainbow gasped. *How in the hell is this possible? I keep thinking to myself that it couldn't get any worse, and yet it does. How can something like this even happen?* He looked around some more to make sure he wasn't being followed. *Better safe than sorry.* After a few more minutes of looking around, Lloyd relaxed and let out a sigh.
Chapter 9: Fun timeLloyd was constantly pacing, trying to decypher what the mark could mean. He gave up, eventually, because there simply was no single way to interpret these messages. Obviously, they weren't a good thing, but there could've all kinds of different meanings to them. *Whatever, I don't even want to have to deal with this. I should just relax, and hang out with Rainbow 'n' stuff. No problem.* Lloyd stopped pacing. "Let's go. I'm done here." Lloyd said seriously as he walked away. Rainbow followed right along. "You okay?" Rinbow asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, no reason to worry about that stuff." Lloyd said in a serious tone. He decided to lighten up. "Anyways Rainbow, what do you want to do now?" "I don't know, maybe prank someone....?" Rainbow asked with a massive grin starting to form on her face. "Sure, I can't remember the last time I did. Anyone in particular?" "No, but anyone would be fine I guess." "Alright, let's think a little." Lloyd said, a grin on his face aswell. They began walking towards Ponyville. eager to prank. "Let's prank Rarity and Pinkie at the same time!" Rainbow suggested, rubbing her hooves together in a maniacal way. "How are we going to do that?" Lloyd asked, kicking a rock. "I don't know, let's think some more." After a few seconds of just walking along a dirt road, a bright idea came into Lloyd's head. "I got it! Let's steal most of Pinkie's cupcake icing so she can't make proper cupcakes, and while Rarity is sleeping, we put the icing into her hands, tickle her nose with a feather, and BAM! Our work is done." "And just for extra points, lets put any leftover icing into Rarity's hair!" "Hells yeah! Let's get pranking!" Lloyd said, pumping his fist into the air. The two soon reached Sugarcube Corner. Lloyd slowly snuck in, making sure nopony saw him, followed by Dash. *This is gonna be fun.* "You know where the icing is, Dash?" Lloyd whispered, after making sure nopony was in the immediate vicinity. Rainbow appeared from behind one of the counters. She waved him over. "Got most of it right here, I think we're good." Dash said, pointing to the icing. Lloyd smiled. "Phase 1 of the plan is complete, phase 2 commencing." He said in a robotic voice. Rainbow giggled. He heard somepony coming from the back. "Hello? Somepony there?" Pinkie asked as she walked inside. *SHITSHITSHITNOTNOW* Lloyd and Rainbow quickly crouched and snuck out, right before Pinkie walked into the same room as them. The two of them then ran towards Rarity's house. "Whew, that was a close one, Dash." Lloyd said. "Don't need to tell me, at least we got the icing." Rainbow said with a smile. They kept on walking. "Sooo, did ya prank people when you were a kid, Lloyd?" "Often enough, I was pretty dang good at sneaking around and acting like some kind of assassin, so yeah." Lloyd said with a sigh. "Too bad that luxury was taken away." Lloyd muttered under his breath. "What?" "Nothing, nothing..." They soon reached Rarity's house. Just like Sugarcube Corner, the two were very quiet. *Be vewy, vewy, quiet. I'm hunting wabbits.* Lloyd quickly got the thought out of his head. Lloyd and Rainbow scanned the area. They didn't see anyone, until they reached Rarity's room. She was taking a nap in her bed. "Perfect, let's do this." Lloyd whispered as he walked in. He wanted to be as quiet as possible, and slowly walked to Rarity's bedside, making sure to not wake her. He was there. Rainbow was right at his side. "Get the icing out..." Lloyd whispered to Dash. She did just that. They both took a handful and gently put it on her hooves and hair. Lloyd could barely contain his laughter, nor could Rainbow. After about 15 seconds of getting more icing onto Rarity, Lloyd quickly realized that he didn't have a feather. *Damnit, what do I do?* Lloyd asked himself. He had an idea. He plucked a feather off of his wings. It kind of hurt, but he was fine with it. "You do the honors." Lloyd said, handing the feather straight to Rainbow. Rainbow nodded and tickled Rarity's face with the feather. Both of them were on the brink of cracking up. Rarity then put her hoof to her face, and smothered it with icing. She slowly woke up, licking the icing. She slowly opened her eyes, and just as she was about to scream, Lloyd and Rainbow were rolling on the floor, laughing. They were just rolling there, laughing their arses off. Rarity got up out of her bed and screamed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BEATIFUL MANE! WHAT AM I COVERED IN? IS THIS....ICING!?!!? "Eeyup." Lloyd said in his best Big Mac impression. Both Rarity and Rainbow looked at him suprisingly, noticing how spot-on of an impression he just did. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU TWO!" Rarity screamed as she ran at them. *Oh no, time to bounce!* Both Lloyd and Rainbow ran into the hall and outside, Rainbow giggling the whole way. They managed to get outside. Lloyd looked around and saw Pinkie standing within a few meters of the house, an enraged look on her face. *Oh god, not you....* Rainbow and Lloyd then booked it, flying up towards Cloudsdale. They started flying off, neither Rarity nor Pinkie could keep up. Rainbow and Lloyd soon lost sight of them as they dissapeared into the clouds. They slowed down, realizing that they had just lost their prankees. They reached Rainbow's house, and went inside. Both Rainbow and Lloyd were panting heavily, and laughing. "You think they'll still be mad at us by tomorrow?" Lloyd asked, after a few seconds of silence. "Nah, they'll forgive us by tomorrow morning, at most." "Good, don't want them too mad at us." Lloyd sighed. and looked up at the moon through a window. It was already getting a bit late. He honestly didn't care, he was having a fun time and he was sure as hell gonna enjoy it while it lasted. Lloyd sat down on a chair, relaxing. *That was pretty fun.* He drifted off to sleep inside of the chair. Lloyd was walking through the Everfree forest, looking around. He couldn't see very well bcause it was dark, and was wandering through the wilderness. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Lloyd shouted through the forest. No reply came, not even the movement of an animal was heard. As he was looking around, he saw a red light going off some distance ahead of him. Youtube Video (Play this while reading.) Lloyd started to walk towards it. He quickly realized the light was actually a wildfire. He heard screaming, and sprinted towards the rapidly spreading fire. It was a huge ring of fire, nothing could go in or out. Lloyd couldn't even see past the seemingly inexhaustable fire. He heard more screaming, and decided to risk his life. *Somebody needs my help.* He sprinted right in, burning himself in the process. What he saw horrified him. He saw several corpses of the ponies he knew, lying on the cold, hard ground. He looked and saw the creature standing over the corpse of Celestia. *How the hell?* He saw other corpses aswell. The mane six, Luna, Vinyl, Big Mac, and others. He broke, emotionally. "YOU BASTARD!!!" Lloyd screamed as he charged at the creature. The creature turned around slowly, and gave Lloyd a blank stare. Lloyd was still on fire, but he didn't feel the pain. This creature killed his friends, Lloyd was completely focused on avenging them. He looked at his wings as he charged, and noticed something. The tips of his wings were knives. He was gonna use them to his advantage. "TIME TO DIE!!" Lloyd shouted as he leapt and tried to stab the creature with his wings. The creature grabbed him by the neck with one hand and looked into Lloyd's eyes. The creature simply stared at him, as if he were an inferior creature. Lloyd shouted and stabbed his wings into the creature's abdoman. The creature merely twitched, and threw Lloyd to the ground. "THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEAD!!" Lloyd shouted as he got up and charged again. He wasn't gonna give up, no way. He leapt onto the creature, knocking it down. He got on top of it, and started to stab and punch the creature, not caring about anything else. The creature unleashed its tendrils, and stabbed Lloyd with them again and again, but the insane avenger was not gonna stop until one of them was dead. Blood was running down Lloyd's face, clouding his vision. It didn't matter to him whether or not it was his or the creature's. Lloyd kept on stabbing, like a madman. Eventually, the creature stopped struggling. Its limbs hit the ground with a THUMP! Lloyd kept on attacking the creature savagely as if it were alive, for a few more minutes. He stopped, and started to cry. He cried and cried, and was on his knees. He was bleeding out from his wounds, but he didn't care. Lloyd's mind went blank, he had nothing to say anymore. His body hit the ground, and he finally said goodbye to the world.
Chapter 10: Here again...(Brain in this color.) ( Monster/Evil voice in this color. Try to imagine the evil voice sounding similiar to this) Lloyd woke up screaming and sweating, worse than last time. He looked around, and realized he had fallen asleep in Rainbow's house. He slowly got up, and streched. "Hello? Rainbow?" He looked around some more, and found a note by the door. Lloyd, I went into town. I decided to let you sleep, I thought you needed it. Find me on the edge of the Everfree Forest when you're ready, we need to talk. -Rainbow Lloyd walked around, and decided to go outside. *I'm gonna go flying.* He swanned dived down into Ponyville, being very careful to avoid anyone. He saw Ponyville in the distance, and picked up speed. It was dark out, and Lloyd couldn't see that well. He reached the ground without any accidents. *Well, time to go and find Rainbow.* Lloyd started to walk around, now seeing too many ponies outside. As he was walking, he saw Pinkie hopping up and down in the middle of town. *Oh no, don't want her to see me...* Lloyd thought as he hid behind a barrel. He slowly snuck past Pinkie, trying his best not to get detected. He finally got past her, and when he thought he was in the clear, he got back up and walked towards Everfree. Unfortunately, Lloyd was not in the clear, because as soon as he started to walk, he heard someone coming up from behind him. Just as he turned around, a pie was shoved into his face. *Damnit, I was that close to escaping.* He wiped the pie off of his face to see Pinkie and Rarity laughing. "Alright, you got me, good job. I admit defeat." Lloyd said, raising his hands into the air. Rarity and Pinkie were still stiffling giggles. "Hahahaha! We got you!" Pinkie giggled as she looked at Lloyd's face. "Atleast the pie tastes good. I'll pay for the icing later, Pinkie." "Okay then!" Pinkie said, hopping up and down. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you guys later!" Lloyd said, waving to them as he walked into the distance. *I should go check on Twilight. I haven't see her all day.* Lloyd made a slight detour, and walked into Twilight's house. Twilight heard him, and ran from her room. "You okay, Twilight?" Lloyd asked, suprised by just how shellshocked she looked. "I was worried, I thought you were in trouble or even hurt." "Twilight it's fine, don't worry about me. I can handle myself." Lloyd said. "But-" "Twi, you know me. I always put other people before me, but I can get myself out of a sticky situation." Lloyd said shrugging. "Okay....." Twilight said. She levitated a book and started to read it. Lloyd decided it was best to leave her alone. He walked outside. Lloyd then began walking towards Everfree again. *I wonder what Rainbow wants to see me for.* He walked on, into the dead of night. Eventually, Lloyd reached the edge of Everfree. He saw Rainbow, standing there. She was looking around. Lloyd slowly walked up to her. She quickly realized he was there. "Hi, Lloyd." Rainbow said nervously. "Hey, Rainbow." Lloyd said, smiling. Rainbow gestured for him to come with her, and he followed. As they were walking, Lloyd saw the incredible beauty around him. *Everything looks so beatiful under the moonlight, especially Rainbow.* Lloyd stopped himself. *What the hell am I thinking? She's a pony, and my friend.* Lloyd stopped thinking and just focused on walking with Rainbow. "So Dash...." "Yeah?" "Why'd you want to see me? And why right here?" Lloyd asked with curiosity. "You'll see, trust me." Rainbow said as she kept on walking. He shrugged, and just kept on walking. They eventually reached a lake, it looked quite pretty with the moonlight shining off of it. Rainbow sat down by the edge of the lake. Lloyd did the same thing, and sat next to her. Rainbow sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. They just sat there, relaxing, for a few minutes, by the moonlight. They looked on. After a few more minutes of silence, Rainbow Dash Lloyd something. "Hey Lloyd?" "Yeah, Dash?" "Did you have a-" Rainbow stopped herself. "What?" "No-nothing." Rainbow said, looking away. "You can tell me, Dash. Come on." Lloyd said. "Did you have a...special somepony back where you lived?" Lloyd sat there, thinking for a few seconds. *Huh? Why would she ask that?* "Um, no...not really....why?" Lloyd said. Before he could say anything more, Rainbow's lips were quickly pressed up against his. *HDFGFDHGDSWREHEGAH* After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually a few seconds, Rainbow broke the kiss. Lloyd sat there, completely dumbfounded. *Brain, wtf just happened?* *I dun know, some show of affection? I'm not experienced in this stuff! I'm FLIPPING OUT!* *Brain, calm the hell down.* *Okay....* "Um, uh......" Lloyd said. Rainbow blushed. "Rainbow, why did you just kiss me?" Lloyd asked, completely speechless. "I guess it may sound silly, but I guess I've had a crush on you since I first started talking to you." Rainbow said. "Hmmph, ok." Lloyd then mentally facepalmed. *How the hell didn't I notice? All of the blushing and stuff, of course she had a crush on me.* "Well Rainbow, I feel the same way about you." Lloyd said truthfully. Rainbow then smiled, and kissed him again. To Lloyd, it felt like heaven. This time, they didn't break the kiss for a while. *Wow, this feels......good.* Lloyd then broke the kiss, and smiled at Rainbow. They just sat there, silent for a few seconds. "I love you, Lloyd." "I love you too, Dash." Lloyd said as he gave her a hug. After a few seconds, Lloyd got back up. "I guess I'll see you later...Dash." "See you later, Lloyd." Lloyd then walked away, waving to her. He intended to walk back to Twilight's, but ended up by the clearing where he nearly lost his life. The symbol in the middle changed. The creature was still there, but there was a ring of fire surrounding it. The fire was painted blood red. *What the hell? Now my dreams affect the physical world? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.* He quickly fell to the ground, on his knees. He felt pain in his brain, as if something was invading his mind. He had no idea what was going on. *This is what you are...* For some reason, a song was quickly forced into Lloyd's head. Youtube Video (Listen to while reading.) More pain slowly seeped into Lloyd's brain. He couldn't stand it.* You are weak and pathetic...* He felt like his brain was gonna explode. He couldn't even scream. The song just kept playing in his head. He rapidly began thinking of everything in his life. His family, friends, Rainbow, his new life, everything..... It all surged through his head. He couldn't bear it anymore. It hurt too much. He couldn't even think. Lloyd just ran and ran. He ran towards Twilight's house, the song following him in his head the entire time. He finally arrived at Twilight's home. he ran as fast as he could into his room, and tried to go to sleep. As soon as the song ended, the pain in his brain slowly faded away to tolerable levels. He went to sleep quickly, not wanting to think about the night's events. He drifted off, thinking about Rainbow Dash.
Chapter 11: EscalationIt was very early in the morning, but Lloyd wasn't tired. He didn't know why, he didn't know how, but he just wasn't. He wondered why wouldn't he be tired, after all that had happened last night. Everything seemed to fall into place for him within the course of the past few days or so. Lloyd always had a tendency to overthink things. He got up out of bed slowly, streching as the sun rose up into the sky. He took a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs, as he had for quite a few times now. "What to do for breakfast...." Lloyd muttered as he sifted through the various cabinets inside of Twilight's kitchen. He quickly picked something out, looked at it, and shrugged. Lloyd made his breakfast and eagerly started to eat it. While consuming his very delicous breakfast, Twilight walked out of her room. She didn't look too bad either, in terms of sleep. *Thank god, I really got to stop keeping Twilight up at night.* "Good morning, Lloyd..." Twilight yawned. "Morning, Twi." Lloyd casually replied as he looked back to his breakfast. After the two of them had breakfast, Lloyd got up and streched his wings slowly. He was happy, no doubt about it. He could tell that today was gonna be a good day. *What to do today..... Maybe I could talk to the Princess about what happened last night.* Lloyd recalled the events of last night again, and couldn't get the thought of Rainbow out of his head. He didn't want his....condition to jepordize their relationship in any way. He felt that if it did, he could never forgive himself. *Alright, Princess it is then.* "Hey Twi?" Lloyd asked, turning around. "Yes?" Twilight said, a look of concern on her face. "I'm gonna go see Celestia. Need to talk about what's going on." "Are you sure? We could just talk about it here..." Twilight said imploringly. "Need to go, I'll talk about it later, Twilight. See ya." Lloyd said, walking outside before Twilight could say anything more. He sighed and looked up at the beauty of the nearby landscape. It was nice out, a few clouds here and there with the sun shining ever so brightly. Lloyd started to fly towards Canterlot. Lloyd loved the view. He saw so much of the countryside on the way to Canterlot. *Welp, at least it's nice and warm out!* *Hello, Lloyd.* *Wassup, brain? How you doin'?* *I'm fine, thank you. Still trippin' balls over what happened last night.* *I know brain, I know.* Lloyd then flew faster and faster, gaining speed quickly. He reached Canterlot within fifteen minutes. He reached the gates, and was still amazed at the sight of a city built into a mountain. Lloyd quickly deviated his course towards the palace. *This is some Lord of the Rings shit right here, man.* *Hells yeah, brain. Right on.* Lloyd decided to challenge himself. He was constantly trying to pull moves off of Assassins Creed, or Mirror's Edge or something. He landed on the top of a store. He was gonna try something risky. He was gonna sneak through to the palace, no wings. He would have to free-run on the rooves of various buildings, and sneak through a side door or window, or maybe even the roof of the palace. *Whaddaya think, brain?* *Don't know, man. Your choice.* Lloyd sighed and started to run towards the palace. While running, a few guards spotted Lloyd. They were instantly suspicous of him, even though they knew that the Princess had introduced him to everypony. The crowd of guards started to chase after him. Lloyd quickly looked back to see at least three guards in pursuit. He turned back and bit his lip. *Damnit, guards have to ruin the fun...don't they?* *Who got their knickers in a bunch?* *You're talking to him, brain.* *Oh.....right.* Lloyd ran and ran, determined to get away from the guards. He decided against using his wings, they would bring more guards to his location. Even if he could go faster, there would be too many guards around for an escape. Lloyd eventually lost the slow guards. He was on the perch of a window, being careful to make sure he was as quiet and sneaky as possible. He took a quick glance inside to see Celestia sitting on her throne, reading a letter. Lloyd rubbed his hands together, and had a maniacal grin on his face. *Perfect...* Lloyd quickly climbed to the roof of the building, using the various ledges and windows to his advantage. He eventually reached the top, and looked down. Celestia was still doing her thing. *Good...good.* Lloyd tried to find a latch, or lock, something he could use to get the window undone. He quickly found a release mechanism and slowly flipped the window over. *Booyah* He smirked. He stopped himself. He wanted to double-check and make sure that nopony was following him. *Again, better safe than sorry.* He took a look around, and saw something on the ground. Lloyd had no idea how it got there, nor why it was there. It looked like a mask, although it was quite...odd. It was white, and had two sides to it. The left side and right side of the mask were dramatically different, it looked like something you would see in a horror film. The left side of the mask was cracked, with a very evil looking grin on it. (facing the mask) The cracks on it were actually cracks, Lloyd realized as he touched them. The other side was plain, in comparison. It had a blank expression, with what seemed to be a scar on it. There were three of what appeared to be scratch marks going through the eye. The scratches were even painted red. The detail was so intricate that it seemed like a real wound. *This is hella creepy.* Lloyd quickly formed an idea in his head. He smiled. Lloyd put on the mask. Ever so slowly lowering himself, Lloyd flew down to her, making sure not to be seen, while also being as quite as possible. Nopony could see him. Eventually, he was a few inches away from Celestia's head. He was just floating above her, poised to strike. He slowly raised his hand, tapping her on the shoulder. Celestia sat there for a few seconds, speechless. She slowly looked up to find an upside down, masked assailant staring back at her. Celestia screamed, absolutely trerrified of the unknown threat literally staring her in the face. Before she could do anything more, the figure dropped to the floor. It was in hysterics, clearly amused by just what happened. The look on Celestia's face was a mixture of curiosity, anger, and concern. Lloyd was laughing so hard. He was laughing his ass off so much that he was crying. He couldn't stop laughing, it was just too funny. The royal Princess, scared to death. Who would have thought? "HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The look on your face!" Lloyd said, rolling on the ground. "What?!" Celestia yelled, clearly not amused. Lloyd got up, wiping a tear from his eye. "I just pranked you. You got owned. Lloyd-1 Celestia-0." A smile quickly formed on Celestia's face. She tried to stiffle her laughing. She started to laugh. Lloyd was amused, and broke out into more laughter. The two of them laughed together. "Well played, Lloyd. well played." "Why thank you, milady." Lloyd said, bowing. Just as he finished his bow, multiple guards burst into the room. "THERE HE IS! SEIZE HIM!" One of the guards yelled, charging at Lloyd. The guards quickly realized that Celestia was okay, and that the situation wasn't what it appeared to be. Every guard shared a look of confusion on their faces. "Calm down, guards. Everything is fine." Celestia said, reassuringly. "Are you sure, Princess?" The head guard asked, still cautious. "Yes, leave us be. I have business to attend to." "Yes Princess." The guard bellowed, signalling for his fellows to walk on out. After the guards left, Celestia spoke up. "All else aside, why are you here, Lloyd? I wasn't expecting visitors." Celestia said, baffled. After a few seconds of silence, Lloyd sighed and began. "It's about the nightmares. I think they're really getting to me. They're affecting the physical world." After a few more seconds of grim silence, Celestia spoke up. "I see. I think they foretell something. It all has to mean something, no doubt." Celestia said, thinking to herself. "I don't know, Princess. The nightmares...they...they cause great pain. It hurts. The pain is almost unbearable." Lloyd then filled her in on the rest of the situation, including all that had happened last night. Well, except for him and Rainbow. "Do you need help? There has to be something we can do." "I don't know, I just don't know." After some time of silence, Celestia gestured to the mask that he hadn't yet taken off. "Where did you get that horrifying thing?" Celestia said, still the tiniest bit creeped out by it. "I found it on the roof. Come to think of it, it's quite strange that it is in the shape of a human's face aswell." Lloyd said, taking it off, and looking at it. "Hmm...do you think it has to do with your nightmares?" "I think so. After all, masks don't just pop up out of nowhere on rooftops." Lloyd said, turning it over. The two of them talked for a while longer, concerned with what was going on. Lloyd then decided to leave. "I'll be seeing you, Princess." "Goodbye, Lloyd." Lloyd heard as he walked outside. Just as he closed the door, Lloyd took a breath in. It was quite a bit to take in. Lloyd began his flight back to Ponyville. *That was fun.*
Chapter 12: No....Lloyd was back in Ponyville. He touched down on a dirt road, and started to walk. He was whistling a tune. As he was walking, he saw a cyan streak fly through the air. Lloyd smirked. *I'm not gonna get beat so easily this time.* He flew up, and quickly flew up to Rainbow's side. She looked to her right to find a grinning Lloyd looking right back at her. "Finish line?" Rainbow asked. "That cloud." Lloyd said pointing towards a cloud in the distance. He quickly focused on his front, and flew faster. Rainbow caught up with him again within a few seconds. The same thing happened for the next 20 seconds. One of them would get ahead by inches, only to be caught up with by the other, all within the course of a few seconds. Lloyd inched ahead of Rainbow once again, although she was barely a few inches behind him. He quickly gained more speed and looked back. He smirked at Rainbow. It was short-lived, however, because she instantly flew at least 50% faster. She zoomed ahead of Lloyd. Lloyd grunted, and flew after her. Rainbow won. Once she got ahead, it was over for Lloyd. Rainbow landed on the cloud, and cheered. "Haha! I beat you again!" Ranibow said, opening her eyes. She quickly realized she was talking to nopony. She looked around, thinking that Lloyd must've fallen or something. *Uh oh...Where did he go? Oh Celestia, if he fell...* She looked up and down, and realized that he was probably on the ground somewhere. She flew down. She looked around again, but couldn't find him. He was nowhere to be found. *No, no, no! Where is he?!* Rainbow was very worried. The one person she really, really, loved was gone. She put her hooves to her face, and began to sob. "He's gone, and it's all my fault!" Rainbow said to no one in particular. Suddenly, Lloyd landed onto the ground infront of her. "Wha-" Rainbow said before she was quickly gripped by Lloyd. He pulled her close, and she instantly blushed. He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't think that would happen. Don't cry, please." Lloyd said in a hushed tone. He wrapped her in a hug, and it didn't seem like he was gonna let go. *Damnit! What the hell was I thinking?! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Don't cry, Dash, please.* They just stood there, hugging for a minute. Dash then broke the hug. "I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think you would react that way." Lloyd said. *Holy sh*t, she sure does care about me. Alright, I'm done with doing that.* "Where were you, Lloyd?! I was worried." Rainbow asked. "I don't know why, but my wings were starting to hurt. As a matter of fact, they hurt so bad that I had to land. I didn't think that you would cry. Please forgive me." Lloyd said imploringly. He walked behind her and wrapped his hands around her. He nuzzled her face with his nose gently. She turned around, and before he could say anything more, Rainbow kissed Lloyd on the lips. Lloyd was suprised, but decided to just go with it. He was enjoying it aswell. After a few more seconds, Rainbow broke the kiss. Lloyd stood there dumbfounded, just like the first time. Rainbow quickly blushed. "Uhm...erm....uh..... " Lloyd couldn't say anything. He honestly thought that it was the best feeling he had ever felt. Lloyd was honestly shy towards intimacy. He had never really had a serious relationship before. Sure, maybe he had a crush or two in middle and high school, but he had never really decided to reveal his feelings to anybody, even his best friend, Phil. Lloyd then regained his senses. "Uhm, let's get going, shall we?" Lloyd said jokingly, gesturing to the path ahead. The two walked to Ponyville. Something, or someone, was stalking them. The targets were both walking through a place that nopony usually went through. The perfect oppritunity. One of them whistled the two of them over. "What was that?" Lloyd asked, always the observant one. Lloyd began to walk towards what he believed to be the source of the sound. The only things that were there were trees and grass. It was utterly silent. "I don't know." Rainbow said. Lloyd shrugged. Just as he turned around, he saw somepony behind Rainbow. Lloyd raised his hand, but before he could say anything, the black-hooded culprit put a rag over her mouth. Lloyd's eyes went wide. Just before Rainbow went unconscious, she heard Lloyd shout. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" He screamed, charging directly at whatever was attacking. Lloyd saw that the criminal wasn't alone. There were at least 5 others alongside him. Lloyd ran at them. Just as he jumped infront of the head pony and raised a fist, something happened. He tried to move his hand, but couldn't. He pushed and pushed, trying to deliver the hardest punch he ever could directly to the bastard's face. His hand wouldn't even budge. He was paralyzed. The head pony walked up to him, looking directly at his face. Lloyd then began to feel woozy. His vision became very blurry, as if he were drunk. He dropped to the ground, unconscious. "Carry them. We need them alive." The head pony said, turning around to address his comrades. The foremost ponies nodded, and proceeded. Lloyd woke up to complete pitch darkness and a horrible smell. He looked around and tried to move, but his hands were binded to the back of a chair. The only sound he heard was water droplets falling to the ground from the ceilings. He just sat there, in grim, dark, silence for another minute or so. Suddenly, an old wooden door creaked open, letting in a slight bit of light. Lloyd's eyes readjusted quickly, and he looked to the entrance to see three hooded ponies walking towards him. Their faces were hidden, their expressions unseeable. *Good, let them hide their faces in shame.* Lloyd thought as he spit on the ground. As they got closer, Lloyd could see them in better detail. The foremost cultist wore what appeared to be a red robe, with odd runic markings on the outline of it. The other two cultists at his side wore completely black hoods, and had what appeared to be slight blood stains on their hoods. The three of them were very tall, especially for ponies. Lloyd found it unnerving and disturbing. They slowly walked up to him, although they looked like they hadn't moved a muscle. The foremost one spoke up. The other two walked to the sides of the room. "Do you know why you are here?" He bellowed, cleary a male due to his deep voice. "No, but I guess I'm about to find out..." Lloyd said in an annoyed tone. The cultist quickly lowered his face to Lloyd's. Lloyd still couldn't see the pony's face, and suspected it was magic at work. Lloyd then decided to do something brash. Lloyd quickly spit at the pony, although somehow he weaved to the side. *What the hell? How can he do that?* "Persistent, are we?" The pony said. Lloyd could tell he had a grin on his face. *I'll gladly wipe that grin off of your face, pal.* The cultist then tilted his head to the side a little bit. "Really? How? You're in a chair, with your hands binded." The cultist asked. *What the hell? He can read my thoughts?* "To answer your question, yes I can." The cultist said, walking towards what appeared to be a surgical table. *Oh shit...What does he have in his hand?* "Oh shit indeed. Oh, and this?" The cultist said, holding a bladed pole up. "This is my best friend, Mr.ripyourfaceinhalf." *That sounds pleasant.* "Charming..." Lloyd said, clearly not amused. He spoke up again. "You seem to have quite the talent for dark humor, asshole. Tell me, why is that so?" Lloyd asked, with a smug expression. "Well, I should the one be asking the questions, but I'll give you an answer, just this once. Years of experience in...dark situations can cause a trait like that to...develop." The cultist said, raising the blade up. He stood there for a few more seconds, before speaking up. "Before I dissect you, I presume you want to see your...beloved friend before you die?" The cultist asked, looking to his right. Lloyd instantly was on alert and jerked the chair forward due to his anger. "I swear, if you did anything to her, I will rip your throat out and feed it to a pack of dogs." "A threat, hm? Well, I'll take that as a yes." The cultist quickly gestured to some unseen thing, and another chamber suddenly appeared through the wall. The chamber contained Rainbow, aswell as two other cultists standing beside her. She didn't appear hurt, although Lloyd knew that such a thing was probably gonna change. "And before you die, I want you to see her die, right infront of you. Front row seats." The leader gestured to the two cultists in the chamber, and one of them quickly handed the other one a shorter version of the leader's torture tool. Clearly, inflicting pain with cruel instruments was their speciality. The cultist wielding the weapon raised his arm, and just as he was about to strike, Lloyd interrupted. "STOP!" The weapon-wielding cultist stopped, the weapon just centimeters from Rainbow's forehead. One more second, and the weapon would've made impact. The cultist gestured to the two cultists, and they stood still. He turned around. "Yes?" "I'll tell you everything, if you let her go. You can kill me or whatever, but as long as you let her go, I'll gladly do whatever you want." The cultist tilted his head to the side, and smirked behind his hood. "Ha, how noble. You're a fool. Okay. I accept." He gestured to the cultists, and they stood beside Rainbow. The head cultist brought up the blade again. "Are you sure about such a stupid bargain? She means nothing to anyone. But then again, I suspect you would do something stupid like this." Lloyd instantly struggled against his restraints, and would've gotten out, if it wasn't for the two cultists restraining him again. The lead cultist sighed. "What a shame, too. You really could've helped us remake this world in His image." The cultist filth lowered his face down to Lloyd's again. "Any last words, hero?" He asked. Lloyd's eyes instantly widened. He recalled the criminal scum that killed him in the park on Earth. A flood of emotions then went through Lloyd's brain, like water through a breached dam. Above all of them, rage was the strongest, and anger took over Lloyd's mind. Lloyd shouted, and broke out of his restraints with ease. He instantly gripped the black-hooded cultist to his right, and snapped his neck with a satisfying CRACK! He was the angriest he had ever been. He was gonna kill each and every one of them. No survivors. Instantly, the ground began to shake. It seemed the cave was going to collapse in on itself. The other pony to his left lost his footing and was on his knees. Lloyd walked up to him, and kicked him in the face, shattering his bone structure. The cultist fell over, unconscious and sure to die from blood loss. Lloyd looked to the entrance to see the red cultist escaping. Lloyd started to give chase, and then remembered Rainbow. He looked to the other chamber to see nopony inside. He realized that she was gone. More anger flooded into Lloyd's brain. He ran towards the red cultist. The two guards stood infront of Lloyd, spears at the ready. Lloyd quickly grabbed one by the shoulders, twirled him around and threw him into the other guard. With the two guards incapacitated, Lloyd ran towards the entrance. He saw the red cultist standing right at the entrance. He turned around, and had no hood on. What Lloyd saw was horrifying. It was the face of the creature in the nightmares, blood staining its visage. The creature smirked at him, and teleported outside with a whoosh of black smoke. Lloyd gave chase, and jumped outside just as the cave collapsed. Lloyd looked around, a flood of light invading his senses. He didn't see anypony for miles. He instantly crashed to the ground, chest heaving. He thought about a song he used to listen a lot. Lloyd didn't care if he heard it or not in his head. He let it be. Youtube Video (Listen to while reading, but read slowly. Adds effect.) Lloyd layed there, looking to the sky. He didn't give a care in the world anymore. He wanted to die. He just lost the one person he loved dearly, and that was enough to set him off. Lloyd just gazed up into the cloudless, blue sky. He could barely comprehend what had just happened within the course of the past few days. He was killed in one selfless act, brought to a new world he knew nothing of, made many friends, had nightmares, found the one person he could really love in his life, and was hurt in the extreme. It seemed like an entire lifetime had just went by his head. Lloyd laughed up at the sky, realizing how ridiculous his situation was. His laughing soon turned into crying. He couldn't stop weeping. The song just made his sobbing worse. Lloyd layed there. He cried for a few more minutes, thinking of how he had just let down Rainbow and all of her friends. Now these cultists are no doubt gonna hurt everypony else, and there was nothing Lloyd could do to stop it. His life was so insignificant, compared to everything else. What could one life mean? He felt as useless as a bird without wings, and he just wanted to erase all of the pain until it was gone. He thought of how many people would miss him, and laughed to himself. A few days ago, practically nobody would care whether he was alive or dead. Now, he had many friends, but did it matter anymore? They were all destined to die in some kind of coming attack by these cultist freaks. He eventually stopped crying, his eyes were red. Lloyd closed his eyes, not wanting to see anything more for the rest of his life.
Chapter 13: Does it even matter?It had been a few hours. It started to get dark. Lloyd had spent the entire time looking for Rainbow, and any trace of the cultists. He looked out into the wilderness. Lloyd looked around the base of the cave entrance one more time, incase he missed anything. Just as he was about to turn around, he noticed something. A trail of water. *I bet it's a trail of tears...* *Music*(Add the song Outside, then Lion. Listen while reading.) Lloyd clenched his fists, thinking of Rainbow. He followed the trail, realizing it was his only lead. The trail led into a forest. *So be it...* Lloyd followed the trail, but made sure to stay inside of the brush so no one could see him. He followed the trail for about a minute or two more, until he reached a clearing. *Wait a sec, this looks familiar.* Lloyd realized that it was the exact same clearing that he almost lost his life in. He looked to the ground of the clearing, and saw the cultists. Each of them were partaking in some kind of ritual. He then spotted Rainbow in the center of a circle of cultists. She was contained in a cage. It took a lot of willpower not to run out and kill them all senselessly. The marking in the middle went from a creature to a few tears, colored blue, as the ritual went on. Lloyd then realized he had the mask in his back pocket. He quickly took it out, and looked it up and down. *It'll do.* Lloyd then flipped it over, and put it on slowly. His vision quickly changed. He felt much more powerful. Lloyd was quickly able to see that it changed what everyone looked like. Each of the cultist was outlined in black, with their major arteries and veins highlighted in red. He looked to Rainbow, and she had a cyan outline to her, and no arteries showing. *Huh, strange.* Lloyd then noticed another creature walking up to Rainbow's cage. It was the red cultist. His outline was radiating red, as if he were on fire, although it was a calm, low, flame that barely moved. His arteries and heart were in black. Lloyd was tempted to take action. The red cultist quickly walked up to the cage, and extended his finger. Just as he was about to do something to Rainbow, Lloyd decided to strike. Lloyd jumped up with his wings. He was up in the sky, the moon right behind him, giving him a diety-like appearence. The cultists looked up, and quickly tried to finish their ritual. Lloyd wouldn't let them. He dived down towards a part of the circle, being sure not to hit Rainbow. The impact caused the first few cultists to get knocked down. Lloyd slowly rose. The creature pointed to him. "KILL...HIM!!!" The creature shouted. The cultists got up, and charged him. The first cultist in Lloyd's sight was a few feet away from him. The cultist wielded an axe, and threw a clumsy swing at Lloyd. Lloyd weaved to the right, and backhanded him across the face. The cultist recoiled for a second, but took another swing. Lloyd ducked, and uppercut the cultist, sending him straight to the ground. He didn't get back up. Another cultist quickly charged. Lloyd quickly ducked, and threw the cultist up over his back. The cultist was on the ground, and before he could do anything, was stomped in the chest brutally, without mercy. He was still alive, but would probably bleed out in the next ten minutes. A third cultist walked into sight. He was a big one, wielding a large, two-handed mace. It was simple, but utterly brutal-looking. The cultist screamed as he charged, and raised his mace into the air. A smirk snuck its way onto Lloyd's face. Just as the cultist swung, Lloyd did a backflip over him, and kicked him in the back. The cultist fell to the ground. He got back up before Lloyd could do anything. The cultist raised his mace with both hands, and swung downwards. Lloyd took a sidestep back. Before the large cultist could do anything more, Lloyd delivered a swift, crippling kick to the back of the knee. The cultist fell down to his knees. He lifted his mace, but Lloyd punched it out of his grip. The cultist looked up. Lloyd put one hand onto his neck, and held him up. With his free hand, Lloyd lifted up his mask for a second, and gave a sadistic look. He put the mask back on, and threw him into a nearby tree, knocking him out cold. The cultist would have brain damage for the rest of his short life after that point. Lloyd quickly turned his attention to the creature infront of Rainbow. The creature smirked, and began to clap. His form then changed. He went from his pony form to the form of the creature in his nightmares. The body just shifted smoothly, as if the creature was experienced at such a thing. "Well done, you seemed to have killed my minions easily enough. Now let's see how you fare off against me." Lloyd nodded. The creature quickly turned his attention to Rainbow's cage. He was just about to touch Rainbow on the head, when Lloyd interrupted. Lloyd's eyes lit up. The eyehole on the left side of the mask had a fierce, red flame coming out of it. The eyehole on the right had a cool, blue flame coming out of it. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" Lloyd shouted, in a voice not at all sounding like his own. The voice sounded like a chorus of godlike voices, all combined as one. Lloyd charged at the creature, screaming. He slammed his fists into the creature's thorax rapidly, in a volley of extremely fast punches. The creature only recoiled a slight bit, staring down at Lloyd's defiance. The creature backhanded him with ease, sending him sprawling across the ground. Lloyd got up, wiping blood from his mouth. He looked up, and saw that the creature was just standing there, laughing. It was a maniacal laugh that could be heard for miles around. Lloyd ran at it again. Just as Lloyd reached it, the creature dissapeared in a veil of smoke. Lloyd's hands just clawed at thin air. He got down to his knees, and looked to his hands. His knuckles were bloody. Lloyd got up, and looked into the cage. Rainbow was okay, she was just unconscious. He let out a long, drawn out sigh of relief. Lloyd tried opening the door, and found that it was locked, and had a keyhole. *Figures...* Lloyd looked around the place for a pair of keys for a few minutes. Just as he was about to give up his search, he heard a murmur from the ground. Lloyd looked down to find an injured cultist. He picked him up. "Where are the keys?" Lloyd asked, shaking the cultist slightly. He could tell that he was on the verge of dieing. The cultist fiddled with his coat, his hooves twitching nervously as he did so. A pair of keys quickly appeared out of his hooves. Lloyd took them, and set the cultist down. He wasn't a merciless killer, even if his behaviour earlier had proven otherwise. He quickly inserted one of the keys into the keyhole, and to his suprise, it was the right one. The cage opened with a creak sound. Lloyd slowly opened it, and picked Rainbow up. He made sure to craddle her gently, he was focused on getting her to the hospital. Rainbow woke up on the way there. Her eyes slowly opened up, although she didn't move. She looked up to find Lloyd carrying her. She was also flying up in the air, in his arms. Lloyd quickly noticed that she was awake, and put his face close to her's. "Where...are we?" Rainbow asked in a very tired voice. "Shh, it's alright Rainbow. I'm taking you to the hospital." Lloyd then nuzzled her face. Her face quickly blushed a crimson shade of red. Lloyd quickly kissed her on the lips. Her face blushed an even brighter red, and she returned the kiss. Knowing that he didn't need to say anything more, Lloyd kept flying, to safety.
