Butterflies

Author's note: First HiE story, second fanfic. Please don't hold back on the criticisms, let me know where i can improve and where i excel. I write this story to show my love for a certain pony.

Marcus steadily typed on his computer, saying goodbye to his brony friends on Skype before taking a shower and heading to bed.

He quit Skype and smiled at his computer background. It was a picture of Fluttershy smiling with her eyes closed, her head tilted to the side with a soft blush across her face. Marcus hated turning his computer off, but it was time for bed and his family used the computer as well.

"Thank Celestia I put different accounts on this computer..." He smiled as he said this and clicked the shut down button before standing and walking down the hall to his room. He crawled into bed and looked onto his bedside table where a small plushie of Fluttershy was smiling at him. He smiled reflexively and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

The alarm on Marcus' phone started beeping loudly, bringing him back to reality from his paradise. Oh, what he wouldn't give to go to Equestria. He sighed and looked over to his Fluttershy plushie and smiled again. He reached up and hugged it tightly.

"Love you Fluttershy~"

Today was gonna be a good day, he could tell. He slipped out of bed, holding his plushie tight to his chest before going to his closet, looking for some clothes to wear to school today. He decided on a pair of jeans and a plain yellow shirt. He carried his clothes to the bathroom and took a quick shower and shaved shortly after.

He walked out his front door and walked down to the end of the street to catch his bus to school. It was such a shame, 17, a brony, and he still has to ride the bus to school.... Ah well, today is gonna be a good day anyways, why should he care?

The ride to school was uneventful. There was something being said around the bus, something about some guy talking about shooting someone the day before, Marcus wasn't listening, but for some reason he kept catching people stealing glances at him. He shrugged and turned his iPod up.

~~~~~~~~~~

The day was just like every other day, Marcus caught up with his brony buddy, Doug, they talked about fanfictions they had read the night before, talked about the show, then talked about some art they had seen. The bell for lunch rang and they both walked side by side down the stairs and met up with Marcus' best friend who moved with him. Ashley smiled and waved. She started talking to him about some gossip but he noticed a guy glaring at him.

"Hold up Ashely..."

"What's up?"

"That guy keeps staring at me..."

"Don't worry about it man, cmon, let's go eat." Doug knew how to solve every problem. Marcus and Ashley were both starving and only just realized it when Doug said something.

They got their trays of food and sat at their regular table. Marcus looked up and saw the guy that was staring at him earlier. He shrugged it off until he heard the loud report of a gunshot reverberated around the lunchroom.

Everyone jumped out of their seats and got on their knees, covering their heads with their hands, only the assailant was standing, staring intently at Marcus, a sleek, black pistol in his hand, aiming skyward.

"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuuck?!" Marcus was panicking, noticing the young man's icy glare. "Oh God, oh God, please don't kill me, please don't kill me!!"

The armed man walked over to their table and Marcus was trying to scramble away. He felt something cold and hard press against his neck. He slowly turned to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun, a hard faced young man behind it.

Marcus went pale as the young man pulled the hammer back on the weapon. He then motioned for Marcus to stand. He did, hoping doing so would keep him from dying.

"I'm gonna say this once, and only once. If there are any other bronies out there, take this as a warning: Keep it to yourselves."

He then raised the pistol to the side of Marcus' head and pulled the trigger. The sound deafened Marcus, but what shocked him the most was that he felt everything. He felt the fire come from the barrel of the gun and burn his face. He felt the white-hot bullet press against the side of his head and break through. He felt his skull shatter as the bullet entered his brain. He felt it exit the other side of his skull and the grey matter and blood leave with it. He stood there for less than a second then everything went black.

His lifeless body slumped to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus opened his eyes to a long, dark hallway with a single golden, intricately decorated door at the other side. He began walking towards the door, certain that he was dead and was about to be judged. He pushed open the extremely heavy golden door, beyond it, he saw.....a white nothingness.

"What the.... where am I?"

A gentle, yet firm voice that sounded suspiciously like Celestia began to resound from everywhere at once.

"You are in the afterlife. This is where you will be judged and sent to the appropriate plane."

"Oh lovely.... Guessing that all the crap I've done will land me a first class seat on the train to Hell."

"Fortunately for you, that is not the case."

"......beg pardon?"

"You are considered a Martyr, Marcus. I say this because you were killed for what you believe in and never once denounced it."

"Huh.... never knew you could be martyred for being a brony."

"Yes, well.... Times have changed."

"Ah well, so since I'm a martyr, that means i go straight to Heaven, correct?"

"Indeed."

"Okay, so where do I go? Is there some kind of gilded stairway that I'm supposed to walk up or something?"

"No, turn around and open the door behind you."

Marcus turned and was facing the same door he had just walked through.

"Okay, hold on one second. I just walked through that door, if I go back through it, wouldn't that put me back on earth?"

"Fear not, that door leads to where you are destined. And you, Marcus, are destined for Heaven. As I'm sure you know, Heaven is personalized and will give you what your heart desires most."

"Ah.... gotcha..... Oh! Before I go, can i ask a question?"

"Yes."

"Why do you sound like Princess Celestia?"

There was a soft laugh, it sounded beautiful.

"Marcus, you already know why. The one known as God is represented by what you imagine God to be. And I am assuming you imagine me to be Princess Celestia. Now go, enjoy your afterlife."

"Guess that makes sense.... Alright! see you later Celestia! Er.... I mean, God...."

There was another laugh.

"It is fine, call me what you wish."

At that, Marcus smiled and opened the door, behind it was nothing but blackness, still.

"Okay, what gives? There's nothing behind this door."

"Walk through it."

Marcus sighed and walked through, the door slammed behind him and vanished. He then felt himself being propelled in a random direction. The air blew by him and whipped his hair into his face. He then felt himself falling but his feet were planted firmly on some kind of surface. The surface soon gave way and he was free falling. The black was replaced by a dark sky, dotted with little specks of light. He looked down and saw a very menacing forest beneath him.

"Oh shit."

He was then sent flying through the branches, most of them snapping as he hit them. A mighty bough hit him hard in the chest, knocked the wind out of him and sent him face-first into the dirt beneath him. Unconsciousness overtook him as his face connected with hard ground.