Unexpected Joy

In a matter of minutes, Braxton had stopped crying, not wanting to think about the memory, and was now walking down the aisles looking for milk. He grabbed a carton and headed for the counter. He plopped the carton on the counter and watched as the cashier scanned it. The bright red beam reminded him of the lights atop the cop’s cars that night. “No.” Braxton mumbled. The cashier looked at Braxton for a moment, a look of slight fear could be seen on the womans face. “Sorry.” Braxton said at almost a whisper. “Stop” Braxton said in his mind. Shoving the memory down into a bottomless pit inside, no matter how far it kept coming back. Braxton stood there eyes closed to stop tears.

Braxton managed to keep his cool for a minute and pay for his merchandise. The cashier had already put the carton of milk into a plastic bag and had put it on the counter. Braxton grabbed it and exited. He walked back home. He had just reopened a mental scar, a scar that he had been hiding for a long, long time. Keeping all that raw emotion contained was like a dam keeping water back, and that moment at the counter was the leak. Everything was beginning to spew out, he reached the door of his house and unlocked the door, he stepped inside then began walking to the kitchen, tears swelling up his face.

He saw the bowl of cereal he poured earlier, fully consumed in sadness and rage he grabbed the bowl and threw it across the room. He looked toward the mess he had made, after wiping his face he grabbed the back of a chair and slammed it into the ground. He looked at the wall next to the cabinets, already disgusting and dirty, he leaned his head up to the wall hands holding the top of his head, he pounded his hand into the wall. “Time to get a new poster” Braxton quietly said to himself.

Meanwhile...

All the way in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle was in the library, browsing through some books that she had found in the library. She finally found a book that caught her eye, the cover read: “Advanced Magic 101”. Twilight was engrossed in the book, various spells that she’d never even heard of were right in front of her. She was eager to try some of them out.

Suddenly, the door swung open and a pink mare bounded in.

“TwilightTwilightTwilightTwilightTwilightpleasehelpmeI“Pinkie Pie said in rapid succession

“Pinkie, calm down. What is it?”

Pinkie Pie calmed down and sat down, giving Twilight a calm look in the process.

“One of my friends wants to come here! To Ponyville!”

“So?”

“I already told him you would teleport him and he might not come if you don’t please Twi please!” Pinkie said without taking a breath, she inhales greatly and puffs it all out.

“Well have you ever met him before?” Inquired Twilight.

“Well umm, not in person.” Pinkie said as she was rubbing her shoulder and swinging her foot.

“Then how do we know he’s safe?”

“Well how do we know he’s not? C’mon Twi please please!” Pinkie exclaimed rattling the chair.

The temptation was too much for Twilight, she really wanted to try the new spells.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Twilight heaved hoping she wouldn't regret her decision.

“Woo! Thank you thank you thank you! Pinkie said hopping out of her seat to squeeze the life, and air, out of Twilight’s lungs.

“It may be awhile before I do it, this long range is new to me.” Said Twilight.

Two perfectly round, purple circles appeared above Twilight’s head.

Two perfectly round, purple circles appeared above Twilight’s head, glowing with an intense shine. They moved to the center of the room Twilight lowered her horn and prepared to fire, Pinkie bounded into a corner and watched, not daring to mess up a spell as urgent as this. Twilight let out one big breath and prepared herself.

“Here we go...”

Meanwhile...

Braxton was lounging in his ratty recliner, a beer bottle in his hand. He took a long sip and felt the cold, bitter liquid flow through his throat. He took another long sip and emptied the remaining contents. Braxton held the glass bottle up to his eye and gave it a little jiggle. The small portion of beer still inside swished about. He groaned and his arm went limp. Braxton stood up, the bottle still in his hand, as he made his way to the kitchen a police cruiser barrelled past, sirens blaring. Braxton turned around and threw the bottle out of frustration. No matter where he went, his past seemed to catch up to him.

The bottle flew out of Braxton’s hand and hit the window. The bottle shattered and so did the window pane. Braxton stared at the mess he made, he stumbled a bit but he kept his stance. His head lulled a bit as he stumbled a bit.

“I’m a wreck.” Braxton slurred

Suddenly, a flash of purple light appeared a few feet in front of Braxton. He stared at the purple light for a while before it disappeared. Braxton shook his head and gave himself a couple of light slaps to try and sober up a bit.

“Get yourself together Braxton. You’re seeing things.” He muttered

Shortly afterwards another one popped up, Braxton avoided it as he walked towards the kitchen. The purple light was slowly closing in on him, but Braxton was quick to assume that it was just his imagination. Being drunk would usually make consumers see wacky things. Braxton reached the fridge and found another bottle of alcohol. He grabbed it and turned around, using his leg to kick the fridge door. He was about to walk until a ball of purple light appeared right in front of him.

Braxton stared at it. He was drunk, he immediately assumed that the purple light was his past. Always catching up to him. He got mad and threw the bottle of Whisky to the floor, the liquid spilled on the floor along with the glass pieces. He shook with anger, he stared at the purple light. It wasn’t disappearing like the others. Braxton’s breathing slowly grew heavier and heavier as the fire inside him blazed.

“You think this is funny? Huh? You think I’m scared of you?”

Braxton reared back his fist and gave out a wild swing. He stumbled forward into the light. It seemed to wake him up because as soon as he entered the light his senses sharpened, everything seemed less blurry, Braxton turned from angry to alarmed as he suddenly felt incredibly drowsy. He tried to resist, but he suddenly felt his body go limp and he fell flat on the floor, rendering him unconscious.

Braxton woke up shortly afterwards. He wasn’t fully sober yet, neither was he fully drunk. Just a slight bit dizzy. Braxton shook his head and tried to gain his bearings. He seemed to be on the floor of a very peculiar building. He got up, his head lulled as he tried to stand. He took a quick glance. Braxton did a slow 360 degrees and on the end of that 360 degrees, he found the face of a pink mare staring right at him.

“Hellooooo and welcome to Ponyville!” The pink mare said with excitement.