The week the internet went out, the world jolted her into a panic. The most concentrated cities fell into pure anarchy, looting and arson running rampant throughout them. World leaders were hopeless to restore order, their power slipping from under them as chaos became the only law. People from all over Earth, no matter color, class, or creed, all feared that life as it was once known was ending, the doomsday was before us.
…..Not me though.
I was just pissed that I wasn’t going to be able to see the new episode.
My family and I stayed bunkered down in our house throughout the destruction, but it hadn’t really mattered. Except for a bit of burnt brush and some wrecked cars, my neighborhood remained rather untouched from the insanity of the incident. Everything was boring there, everyone was boring there, so it makes sense that even when the apocalypse was nigh, my neighborhood would remain as boring as ever.
Irritated with the internet’s lack of existence, I forced myself to stand up from my lazed position on my couch. My head hurt a bit from annoyance, and my legs were a tad sore, but nothing too bad. I walked over to DVD case, lifting my legs over the clutter on the ground. That mess of binders and books has always been there, and no matter how many times I tell myself that I’ll clean it, I never did get around to it.
If there was one thing I had in order, it was my DVD collection, all neatly stocked on the shelf, all according to genre. I scanned the collection, looking for the perfect relief to this incessant boredom. Star Trek, Doctor Who, Cowboy Bebop, all of these options jumped out to me as possibilities, but I knew that none of them could sate what I needed right now. After a while, my eyes stopped on a single DVD, the side of its case reading Adventures in the Crystal Empire, and shortly under that My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. If I had to miss the new episode, I guess rewatching a few older episodes could at least make up for that. Besides, with all this end of the world madness, I need something to watch something fun, to make it all seem better. And ponies make everything better.
I watched the entire disc, which took about two hours. Something about this show was just satisfying, a feeling almost impossible to describe. The characters, the colors, the high spirits….It just made even the worst of times seems easier to get through. The final episode on the disc ended, and I just laid on my couch unsure what to do next. I could put in another DVD, I did have a few other MLP ones, but I didn’t feel like standing. Lazy, I know, but we all have times like that. Instead, I shut the TV off, and closed my eyes. A nap sounded like heaven right then, and I could only oblige this fact as my mind gave into exhaustion. As I slipped out of consciousness, I left one thought on my mind-“maybe things will be better when I wake up…”
I awoke to the sound of shouting, the wails being the combined disorganized ramblings of an older man and woman. Those were definitely from my parents. “What the hell is going on?...” I wondered, considering the possibility of going to see. I walked towards the staircase, but had a moment of hesitation. If whatever is up there is causing my parents this kind of discomfort, I could generally assume there was no way I was going to be able to stop it. My mother was certainly feisty, and my father could hold his own in any fight, so whatever was up there, if they were overpowered, I would be in very much the same position. As I considered this, my heart sank, and fear began to captivate my mind. I began to see the staircase not as the stable ramp that it truly was, but as a rickety bridge over a deep chasm, with each step I took on it possibly spelling my doom. The shouting of my parents grew fainter and fainter, obviously being taken outside the house. I took a long gulp and backed away from the staircase. From upstairs I began to hear footsteps walking towards the door to my basement. “Oh god..Oh god…” . I ran to a cupboard near the ground. My parents could no longer be my main concern-whatever took my parents was coming after me now, and I had no intent of being captured.
The cupboard on the ground had a sliding door, which I quickly slid open. I carefully brought myself inside it, cramped in the small space. The scent of old, dusty wood filled my nostrils, nearly forcing me to cough, an urge I resisted out of necessity of stealth. I closed the door to the cupboard, leaving only a small slit open. If I was going to hide from this threat, I’d have to at least know what it looks like.
The sound of walking came closer and closer to the door, the squeaking of the hinge playing loudly into the air. I remember think that whoever was walking down had some damn weird shoes on, the sounds of their steps sounding almost like the clopping of hooves against the ground. The steps descended further down the steps, at last reaching the bottom.
“The lights are on” one of the intruders said, his voice deep, stoic, and commanding. “There may be a human hiding down here. Find it” they all began to scatter into various sections of the basement, looking for any trace of my existence.
Before I could wonder what in god’s name the soldier meant by human, my answer came before my eyes. From the slit I had left in the cupboard, I saw 3 horselike creatures rummaging around my basement. But these weren’t normal horses. They were smaller than real ones, and their colors as solid as crayons, clearly being pure whites, grays, and browns, with their manes and tails were brighter colors, still as crayon solid as their coats though. They were in full on Knight like armor, helmets and all. It was then when I realized what was going on. These invaders were of the Canterlot Guard, the loyal servants of Princess Celestia, ruler of all of Equestria.
Cartoon characters were taking over the planet.
I forced myself to hold back a sigh, knowing it was the only true response to this realization, but knowing I’d be doomed if I made a noise quite so loud. Instead, I managed to get all of my confusion concentrated into one simple, concise thought-“….this is gonna be a weird couple of days….”
