Chapters I walked slowly up the front steps of my house.I breathed sadly before I turned the doorknob.I quickly rushed to my room before my parents noticed me.It had been a hard day of school today,and all I wished to do right now was sleep.I plopped my bookbag in a corner of the room.I slumped into my bed(I was too lazy to take the clothes I went to school in off),and went into dreamland.
A loud crash abruptly stole my sleep away.I heaved my body out of bed,and walked from my room into the living room.My mother was hurling a lamp at my father.He ducked before the object connected with his head.
Although most people would be shocked by my mother's violent act,I just stood there emotionless.My father shouted,"You're crazy,woman!"My mother screamed,"If I am,then you made me that way!"
Fights like this were the norm in my house for a year.If I were asked why my parents fought daily,I couldn't answer absolutely.A number of reasons came to mind:my dad was working late a lot of the time,my mother would only do chores around the house when my father and I were at home to help,and I didn't have the best grades in school.
I shut out the noisy war between my parents as much as I could,walked in the kitchen,and glanced at the stove.It seems my mother was preparing soup before she got into an argument with my dad.I didn't care that the food wasn't prepared because my parents couldn't do anything together without a fight breaking out between them(not even eat dinner).
I was extremely thirsty though.I reached into the refrigerator for a water bottle.I drank every last drop of water.I threw the plastic container into the garbage.
I tried to make myself as unnoticable as possible as I retreated to my bedroom.I didn't reach my goal in time.Dad yelled to me,"Lucas!"I turned at the sound of my name."Yes dad?",I asked.My dad commanded,"Tell your mother what your grades are."I hesitantly told my mother,"All my grades are below passing."My father blamed at my mother,"See what you did to our son!"My mother was shocked."What I did!",she said astounded.My father accusingly said,"Yes you!I work my fingers to the bone at the office.You sit around all day doing nothing when you could be helping our son get his grades up!"
I walked back to my room before I was apart of their conversation again.I turned on my television.I decided to watch a comedy about four friends pranking each other.Once the episode ended,I went to my door,and listened for my parents' voices.
I still heard my mom and dad trading arguments.It amazed me they never grew tired from arguing with each other.Some nights they would go on for hours.I suddenly felt extremely woozy.I tried to make it to my bed,but only made it three steps before I fell face-first on the carpet.My eyes closed shut.
I awoke in a room that wasn't my own.I may not be a large guy,but the bed I found myself in is meant for the size of a small child.The blank walls I was supposed to have had apparently been replaced by walls covered in pictures drawn by a five-year old.
I took a glimpse at my body to realize I was now an orange unicorn colt.At this point I guess I should have been freaking out,but I didn't.I can't explain why I acted so calm.
All of a sudden,the door flew open.A green unicorn mare went into the room.She got straight up to me,and asked nicely,"How is my little guy doing today?"I replied in a high-pitched voice,"Good mommy!"I apparently have no control over what I say.
The mare put me onto her back,and brought me to a dining table.As she sat me down into a chair,she called out,"Tom!Breakfast is ready!"An adult male voice said,"Coming Honey!"A blue unicorn joined me at the table.
The green mare hauled muffins,pancakes,and toast onto the plates set down on the table.The stallion said,"Beth,you are just a spectacular cook."The mare was flattered.The stallion earned a kiss on the cheek for his compliment.
Beth sat herself down to eat.The stallion asked me,"Lucas,what does my growning boy want to eat?"I said,"The blueberry muffins please."He served me my desired dish.I ate with extreme speed.Beth took notice at the pace of my food consumption,and said,"Son you eat like your meal will run away.Take slower bites."
I nodded my headed up and down.The stallion finished his meal,and hugged the mare and me.The stallion said sadly,"I wish I could go with you two for little Lucas's first day of school,but the construction company needs somepony to manage those knuckleheads at work."Beth said,"It's okay hubby.Lucas will have tons of fun at school."She said to me,"Right Lucas."I said,"I'll try."
My human and unicorn parents have the same first names apparently.The stallion looked at his watch,saw it was time to leave,and left whistling happily to work.The mare said to me,"Let me eat first,then we will go to your new school sweetie."She was done with her meal in five minutes.She collected all the dirty dishes on the table,and put them in the sink for future cleaning.
I was told to wait at the door.She went into a closet near the door,and retrieved a bookbag.She put the pack on my back as she said,"I have everything you need in this bag for the school year like pencils,paper,and crayons,so don't lose it.Now,let's leave."
She and I walked for several minutes until we saw a large school building.A huge amount of colts and fillies were hurrying to get inside the building.Beth looked down at me lovingly.She said,"I will be in this exact spot after school okay."I said,"Okay mommy."She walked away with tears in her eyes.I thought of why she looked so sad leaving me at school.I didn't get much time to think when a bell rang loudly.
I made my way into the school with the other children.I was confused as to how I was going to tell which classroom I belonged to.I tapped a colt in front of me.The colt turned to see what I wanted.The colt said,"What?"I asked,"How can someone tell what class they have?"The colt said,"Look at the sheets with names on the classroom doors."I checked six of the sheets with no luck.The seventh showed my first name,and it showed the last name I had.It was the same last name as I had when I was human:Spell.
I walked through the door,and peered at the chalkboard.The teacher wrote on the board to sit anywhere.I seated myself in the desk closest to the teacher.
The stallion Earth pony teacher had brown fur.The educator wanted for us to play a game where we would say something about ourselves when he pointed to one of us.The first said how he had every Daring Do book there was.The second student said that she had a flower collection that had over one hundred types of plants. The third said how his favorite pastries are doughnuts.I am the fourth picked.All I said was my name.The teacher looked disappointed at me.He said,"Come on.You can do better than that,can't you?"I shook my head no.He shrugged,and went on to another child.
After everyone got through sharing details on themselves,the teacher let the children draw until naptime.The kids started drawing as soon as they got the okay from the teacher(I included).A mental picture of my pony parents is what my hooves tried to duplicate onto the paper.Once done with the art,I found I drew like the age I currently am.The teacher looked at his watch,and stood up to inform us to go to sleep.We complied.I was out like a light as soon as my head touched the soft pillow.
I came out of my slumber to see I was back in my room.My room and I had returned back to our original states.I stood unsteadily onto my feet.I searched myself for injuries,and thankfully found none.
I blamed my fainting on not eating enough.That was a very weird dream I just had.I guess everyone has abnormal dreams every now and again.
I wondered how long I had been asleep.I checked the time on my alarm clock.The time is 6:04 A.M.
I should get ready for school.I made my way to my closet to put on clean clothes.I was just about to grab my selected pants and shirt but stopped.Maybe I could stay home after telling my parents that I had fainted.I immediately thought against it.My incident would only cause my parents to accuse the other on who was the cause of it.
I undressed,redressed in my fresh attire,retrieved my bookbag,and went into the living room.The living room was devastated by my parents' battle last night.My father was snoring on the couch since he couldn't stand sleeping in a bed with his own wife.I sneaked as quietly as possible to the door so my dad didn't wake up.It was time for me to go to school.Unfortunately.
I went to the bus stop as the last kid to arrive for pick up.The bus arrived in a few minutes.Everyone went aboard the vehicle.
I sat in the first seat on the right side of the bus.The bus stopped at every other location of kids needing a ride to school.Arriving at school,I had only five minutes before the alarm sounded for my first class.
I hurried to a vending machine for something to fill my stomach until lunch.I pressed a few buttons,put in two dollars,collected my change,and grabbed my package of donuts.While stuffing my mouth with the tasty food,I walked around the schoolyard to pass the time.
I stopped when I heard a voice calling my name.I felt a hand on my shoulder.I was turned around to see Francis,the school bully.He smiled at my with a sinister smile.Francis said,"Hey buddy,you got something you want to share with me?"I lied,"Francis,I was looking for you to give you my money."Francis said,"Just give the money,idiot."I did as he said,and pulled out the rest of my cash.He roughly took it from my hand,and punched me in the stomach with his free fist.
Francis left while I was kneeling on the ground gasping for air.Once I recovered my breath,I threw my food away since my stomach couldn't take it at the moment.The alarm made every student stampede to class.
I took my regular seat in the front of the classroom.My teacher asked how everyone was doing this morning.The class answered with their usual sarcasm.
The teacher started reading to us about literature.An hour passed of the boring lesson until a paper ball made impact with the back of my head.I heard laughter from the other kids.
My teacher was at the moment writing notes on the chalkboard until she heard the class disruption.She turned to see a paper ball on the ground while everyone was laughing at me.She connected what had happened within a few seconds.
My teacher said,"Who threw that ball of paper at Mr.Lucas's head?"I turned my head to see Francis trying to contain his chuckles.The teacher noticed Francis's behavior as well.The teacher said,"Mr.Francis,go to the principal's office."Francis said angrily,"What did I do,Mrs.Dalton?!"Mrs.Dalton replied,"I saw you throw the ball at Mr.Lucas's head."Francis said,"But you were turned around at the chalkboard when that ball hit the loser's head!"The teacher sarcastically said,"Mr.Francis,didn't you know I have eyes in the back of my head?"The teacher then said,"Now,leave for the principal's office this instant."
Francis frustratingly left for the principal's office,but not before smacking me in the back of the head when the teacher turned to begin writing notes for us again.Mrs.Dalton's class ended after thirty more minutes.I was the first to reach Mrs.Susan's science class.
I sat in my seat waiting for my lab partner.Jessica Billings came to sit in the chair next to mine.Jessica joyfully said,"Ready to work teammate!"I said coldly,"No."She said irritatingly,"You better because I will not accept any grade below an A!"I said without any emotion,"Too bad.I don't care."She looked like she was going to strangle me.She took a deep breath.She calmly said,"Fine.I will do all the work,but don't you dare think to take credit when I'm finished."I just shrugged.
Mrs.Susan told us to start our projects.I watched Jessica read the project checklist,and doing as it instructed.She started writing down facts about the germs found in houses,made very detailed drawings of them,and took a quiz about the organisms that she didn't answer one question wrong on.
While she did all this work,she would glare at me for a few seconds every once in a while.Every time she did this,I would roll my eyes at her.With five minutes left to spare before lunch after all that hard schoolwork,Jessica decided to get to know me.She said casually,"Sssssoooooo...why are you so indifferent?"I said,"That's none of your business".She assumed,"Is it because you don't have any friends?"I lied,"No!I have plenty of friends!"She said,"Liar."I gritted my teeth.I said,"Fine,so I don't have any friends!Why do you care?!"The girl said,"Maybe...I could be your friend."I gained an annoyed stare at her.I said,"I don't need friends,but what I do need is for you to shut up!"
The bell rang.I left the room in a terrible mood.I hurried to the cafeteria.As I went into the line that served soup,I thought about what Jessica said to me.
Why would she want to be my friend?!I never showed any signs of being a friendly person to her.Every kid in front of me had got their food while I stood there thinking.A kid behind me told me to grab my food tray or get out of line.I grabbed some vegetable soup,and paid the cashier.
I was walking with my food when a foot tripped me.I fell down to the ground to crush my soup.I felt my shirt become extremely wet by the spilled contents of the soup.
I looked up to see Francis standing over me with a hate-filled face.Francis's two friends,Bruce and Mike,were standing right next to him.Bruce is the tallest of them all but not very athletic.Mike is shorter than them both but the strongest from being a star player on the wrestling team.
Francis commanded to me,"Follow me or else."Dreading what the "else" was,I walked with them to the parking lot.Francis said,"You shouldn't have gotten me in trouble.It is because of you not telling the teacher a lie that I am suspended for a week after today!"Francis put on his usual evil grin.Francis shouted,"So before I leave,I got to make up for all the time I will lose beating you up.Get him,guys!"
Francis threw a punch that knocked me to the ground.All three of them stomped on me.Francis grabbed me by the shirt,and punched me as hard as he could until his knuckles were too sore to continue.
Bruce held my arms behind my back while Mike caused serious pain to my stomach with his powerful fists.Bruce let me free.I dropped to the ground,and started gulping down air.Once I had enough oxygen again,I saw Bruce and Mike staring down at me menacingly.
I thought Francis had left to not be spotted attacking me.I was so wrong.Francis was searching in the back of his truck for something.Once he found it,he came back to me.Francis said to me,"Nighty night,loser!"
He brought the object up over his head.I saw it was a metal pipe.Francis swung the weapon down on my face.I fell to the earth unconscious.
My eyelids opened to show me I was on a playground.I was glad to not be dead once I realized I was back in another of those weird dreams.My unicorn body had grown to be the age of ten since my last dream apparently.
A purple Earth pony trotted up to me.The colt asked,"Lucas,are you alright?!"I said confused,"What?"The colt responded,"You fell off the swingset,and got a nasty bump!"I felt my throbbing head to find I had a gigantic bump an inch from my horn.
The colt said helpfully,"Let your friend Francis help you out."Francis helped me to my hooves.Why on earth was I not the least bit frightened of Francis?I was super calm with him being next to me.I said,"Thanks."Francis said happily,"We should get back to the others."
Francis and I walked side-by-side to three other young ponies.A pink unicorn sat on a bench reading a book suspended by her magic.A tall light blue pegasus was playing tag with a short yellow earth pony.Francis called out,"Lucas is fine everypony!"
All the other ponies stopped their activities to stare at Lucas's bump.The pink unicorn pointed out,"That bump on his head doesn't look fine."Francis said,"It will go down after awhile,Jessica."The light blue pegasus and short yellow earth pony rolled their eyes at the same time.Francis looked at them with fake anger as they did it.Francis shouted happily,"I saw that,Bruce and Mike!"I guess every human I disliked in real life is a pony friend in my dreams.
Francis suddenly poked me with a hoove,and then shouted,"Tag your it!"I couldn't stop myself from playing the childish game.I ran towards Jessica since she was the closest pony.
She watched me with an amused smile as I charged her.Just before my hoove landed on Jessica,her horn glowed pink.When the pink light was gone so was she.I heard laughter from behind me.I turned around to see Jessica laughing at me.I decided on a new target to get tagged it since Jessica would just teleport away when I got close to her.
I chose Bruce.Bruce was hiding behind some bushes.I knew this because Bruce's tail was showing through them.
I sneaked behind the bushes,and was about to grab the tail of my objective until I caused a loud noise by accidentally snapping a stick under one of my hooves.
Bruce sped out of his hiding place with me hot on his hooves.Bruce started flying as the distance between me and him began closing.Bruce suddenly flew straight up to avoid a collision with a tree.I went out cold as soon as I slammed hard into the large plant.
I found myself in the real world.I was no longer lying on the hard pavement but in a fluffy hospital bed.
I had a breathing mask attached to a machine near my bed.A doctor entered my room.The doctor pleasantly said,"Hello,young man.Glad to see your awake.My name is Dr.Douglas."
I was about to speak with him as to how I came to be in a hospital but was shushed.Dr.Douglas explained,"You were found in an injured heap by a teacher.Sadly,your attackers were no where to be seen,but investigators are on the case to apprehend the culprits.Your parents rushed over here,and stayed with you all night until they had to work."At least my parents stopped fighting for once to see me.
Dr.Douglas got me out of my thoughts when he exclaimed,"But your teacher Mrs.Dalton is here to check up on you!"The doc strode to the door,and pulled it open revealing Mrs.Dalton with her beautiful smile.Mrs.Dalton zipped to my bed.She greeted to me,"Hello Lucas!"I said weakly,"Hi Mrs.Dalton."
The doctor excused himself for another patient's room.Mrs.Dalton suddenly looked sadly down at me.Mrs.Dalton asked,"What happened to land you in here?!"I replied in pain,"Francis didn't like getting suspended,so he took his rage out on me.All of it.He and his two friends punched and stomped on me as much as they could before Francis knocked me out with a metal pipe."
Mrs.Dalton asked,"You would think that you would have been covered in blood from everything you just told me,right?"I thought that was odd too.All that damage to my body to have no blood come out.It didn't make sense.
I responded,"You have a point there teacher."She then asked,"Have any weird dreams lately,Lucas?"I said,"Yeah.Wait...why do you care,Mrs.Dalton?"She replied,"I heard strange dreams occur when someone has been hit in the head."
She then asked,"What are they about?"I explained,"Humans I know are ponies that act completely different than in real life is the basic summary of my dreams."Mrs.Dalton said,"Those aren't dreams,Lucas."I asked confused,"What?"
All of a sudden,I felt an agonizing headache that made me scream the loudest I ever have.I clutched my head,and closed my eyes.I shouted through the pain,"Mrs.Dalton call a doctor,please!"She said full of sadness,"Sorry,but...I won't."
I opened my eyes to see Mrs.Dalton.She was there one second,and was then replaced by a dark blue alicorn.Then the alicorn was swapped for Mrs.Dalton.This cycle of switching between my teacher and the pony every second seemed endless.
For a brief moment,I fought through the agony to realize something:I wasn't in a dream right now.My teacher and the pony took a step each towards the machine that gave me oxygen.Once at their destination,they went for the plug.They pulled the machine's power source out.I choked without anyway to breath.My heartbeat slowed down.With my final breath,I asked my teacher and the pony,"Why?"I never got an answer.
Princess Luna was sitting in her room crying softly.A sudden knock on the door made her dry her tears away.Luna called out,"What do you want?"A guard poked his head through the door to say,"There are two ponies to see you,princess."She nodded,and followed the gaurd to her office.The guard opened the door for Luna,and closed it once she was in her seat.
The princess looked at her guests.Princess Luna said,"Hello Mr. and Mrs.Spell."Beth and Tom asked,"What has happened to our son?!"Princess Luna said sadly,"He is...he is...dead."
Beth and Tom stared at each other in shock for a few moments,then broke down crying.This went on for about an hour.When Beth stopped crying,she shouted at Luna furiously,"You were supposed to make sure he was safe!You should be sent straight back to the moon!But this time forever and ever!"Tom said to his wife,"Why get angry at Princess Luna?It's not like she killed our son."Luna said,"Actually...I did.But it was so he wouldn't suffer anymore."Beth asked sounding like she would start crying again,"He was suffering?"Luna nodded her head up and down sadly.
Luna explained,"Yes,he was.Greatly.About a year ago,my student and I were conducting experiments.One experiment dealing with living out one's fantasy went horribly wrong.I had left the room for a second,and Lucas decided he knew which vials of chemicals to use.Lucas drank the potion he had made before I returned,and soon he went to sleep.I expected him to wake up soon,but that...never happened.Instead of having his fantasy,he would get his worst nightmare.Another problem that arose was I couldn't figure out when he would wake up.I tried everything I could to save my student."
Luna had tears in her eyes,but she wiped them away before saying the rest of the sad story.Luna continued,"I entered his dream,and found out about what world he was living in.You two would fight every night.His friends hated him.Everyone including him was the mythical monster from storybooks that parents told young colts and fillies at bedtime:human.He didn't even remember anything before his nightmare.I used my magic to show him his childhood memories in the hopes that he would realize the world he lived in was fake,but it didn't work."
Luna took a deep breath before the last part of her tale.Luna said,"I took control of a teacher called Mrs.Dalton.I thought that I could make his life in there more pleasant as her.I only made things worse.He ended up getting put into a hospital because of me,so I decided one last time to show him his dream wasn't reality when I visited him there.I failed.I couldn't do anything more for him except one thing.Before I put him out of his misery,I wanted him to see the true me one last time.I focused a large amount of my magic to only change images between the teacher and me every few seconds.He died when I pulled the plug of his life-giving machine.The last thing he said to me was why before his heart stopped."
Luna looked down at the floor before saying,"If you want me to suffer a punishment for taking your son's life,I won't refuse.You two can tell my sister when she returns in a few days."Tom said,"You tried your hardest to save our son,we couldn't have asked anything more of you."
Beth and Tom got up,and went home to plan out a funeral for Lucas.After a week,Luna attended the funeral.As she looked down at her dead student's body in his casket,she heard a voice in her mind that sounded like Lucas's say,"I will return."