Of New Worlds, High Times, and an Unexpected Journey

I knocked on the door and waited. A dog immediately exploded into barking and from far inside I could here a man yelling at him to shut up. A few moments later, my friend Bernie opened the door, wearing his usual home gown: PJ pants and an AC/DC t-shirt. His golden retriever greeted me happily at the door.

"Sup bro?" I said, tipping my head back in the 'sup' motion.

His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Holy shit, dude, I thought you got arrested!"

"Nah, crazier shit than that."

"Did you even get caught?"

"Nope. In fact I bet if I told you what all happened, you wouldn't believe me."

"Bullshit. Try me."

"Okay. When I ran out of the Party Playhouse as the cops were approaching, I ran into a tree in the woods because

I was drunk and high as shit."

He grimaced, but past his pained expression I saw a stifled giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He did just that. "So I ran into a tree, but that's not even the start of it."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Well, I knocked myself out when I hit the tree, but when I woke up, it was in a house. And there was a little yellow Pegasus who ha-"

"Woah, woah, what? A Pegasus? Dude, someone must've spiked your drink with something."

"Hey, hey, lemme finish." He folded his arms and looked at me with a waiting expression. "Anyways, there are no humans there and apparently this place is called Equestria. There are Unicorns, Pegasi, normal ponies, dragons, and magic and-" I stopped talking. Bernie was busting up laughing at my story.

"You are so full of shit!"

"See, I told you. I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"Well it's hard to believe a story like that. Ponies? Are you fucking kidding me? That's gay as hell."

"Actually, it's not what you'd expect. I got high as fuck with them and their princess." I swear I could see him gag when I said 'princess'. "Hey, I know it sounds dumb but they're actually really chill. Twilight, a Unicorn, healed my face and hangover completely." He was now looking at me like I had two heads. "All the aches and pains I've ever had we're gone without a trace. The little dragon, Spike, is a lot cooler though. There's also a dykish one, a Pegasus named Rainbow Dash. I swear she's a lesbian; she's got a real scratchy, tomboyish voice." I lost myself for a moment in muttering about Rainbow Dash and my suspicions for her being a lesbian.

He just shook his head and chuckled, "Dude, you're insane."

"I swear to fuck I'm not lying!"

"Okay, gimme some proof," He said, adjusting his stance.

"When I ran away from the house I was wearing my backpack. When I woke up there, I had my bag with me along with everything in it. When I got hit in the head again, I showed up back here next to that same tree, except my bag was nowhere to be found. Cops were already going through the house and I barely escaped them."

"Whatever. You can keep your magical ponies to yourself, I'm just glad you didn't get busted. C'mon inside, bro! Smoke a bowl, have a beer. Whether you're telling the truth or not it sounds like you've had a crazy past few days."

I liked that idea. I followed my good friend inside, letting my eyes adjust to his usually dark house. He walked to his fridge and grabbed a few beers and walked to join me on the couch. He handed me one and I cracked it open.

"So what happened at the party?" I asked, "How many unlucky bastards did they get?"

"About 23. It was bad. Cops arrived, followed by a fucking SWAT team."

"What?! That's ridiculous! The hell happened?"

"Yeah, apparently there was some macho drug dealing thing goin' on at that house and the pigs caught wind of it.

There was a firefight and a few people died."

"Holy shit, I'll bet that was all over the news."

"Are you kidding? It made national headlines." He grabbed a copy of the New York Times that was sitting on the coffee table. "Check this out, dude." He pointed at one of the stories on the front page. "'Major Drug Bust at College Party in Michigan, 4 Dead, 13 Injured'. See? Shit's been mad crazy around here."

I'll bet... "Damn... And all the while I've been stuck with magical flying ponies and dragons in a world that seems like it was carved out of pure happiness."

He just shook his head. "I think we should get you to a doctor," He said sarcastically, "But first, lets pack a bowl and chill, eh?" He took another swig of his beer and stood up to leave the room. I looked at the bottle in my hand. I hadn't even drank any at all. Maybe I am a little stressed....

Bernie came back with a jar of weed and bong in hand. "Got some Sour Diesel yesterday. Watch out, this shit'll knock you on your fucking ass."

"Shmexy. I wish I could match you but my backpack with everything in it is in my little imaginary pony world." I said that with a sharper edge, a bit more than intended. Bernie just shrugged and packed the bowl.

Bernie took a nice, milky hit and handed the bong to me. I followed, filling the bong with smoke and making it clear again. Ahh, it feels good to toke out of a nice bong. Percolators rock.

"So tell me more about this pony world of yours."

I dove into conversation, telling him the story from the time I left the party until the time that I arrived at his house. He listened intently, but I doubt he believed a word I said. When I was finished, he answered.

"I've gotta hand it to you, that was one of the best bullshit stories-" Called it. "-I've ever heard. It's perfectly believable, but it's totally not. Talking ponies? Magic? Dragons? I mean, how am I supposed to believe that?"

"How do you think my face was healed after running into a tree?! Where did my backpack go?"

"You know what, I'll bet I can explain both of those things. Let's say you never actually ran into that tree. I'm sure you were so drunk and high that you probably just passed out running in the woods. As for your backpack, you probably thought you grabbed it when you didn't. Considering how fucked up you were that's a perfectly viable option. Your drink could've been spiked and you could've hallucinated all of that pony shit."

I thought over what he said. He did have a valid point, but I was still fairly convinced that it had happened. The only problem: I was stuck back here and all the proof was there. So was my backpack. With all of my shit in it. Why the hell didn't I take any pictures? l'm a fucking idiot... Then again, that was even if my backpack was there. I might've actually forgot it at the house. Maybe all of that pony stuff really was a hallucination. I hate everything right now. Except this weed. This stuff is good.

"Whatever," I said, not really wanting to think hard right then, "lets just chill for awhile."

Bernie agreed and went to the kitchen and grabbed a 12 pack. "Hey, how's about we have a couple friends over? I can call Joe and Marty, and maybe a few others if you want."

"Sure, haven't seen 'em since the party. Why not?"

Bernie got his phone out of a pocket and called a few people. Soon enough there was about 5 of my good buddies at the house and we were all drinking and smoking to our hearts content. A few hours of chugging and toking found me upstairs for no reason whatsoever. I have the best luck, I'll tell ya. On my way down the stairs, I tripped and began a long trip down the steps.

"Gaahhh!!" I yelled as the lower steps approached my face at an alarming rate. Right before I hit the bottom, I thought to myself, Fuck everythi- *CRACK!* Everything went dark.

I woke up in the cold, damp grass curled up into a little ball, trying to conserve warmth. My body was stiff and my head hurt. I felt like shit, likely from the hangover, not to mention my unfortunate trip down the steps. The cold helped out with the nausea and headache but I still felt terrible. I sat up slowly, clutching my throbbing cranium. I looked around through the dark night, eventually identifying the landscape as Ponyville park. More specifically the exact same spot where I got hit in the head when I was with Lyra. Why didn't anyone move me? Did I disappear it something?

I looked around me for anything that could've hit me. Immediately I spotted a broken flowerpot on the ground, dirt and dead flower along with it. Where the hell did that come from? I looked up and saw empty sky. C'mon, that's impossible. Unless someone hit me on purpose....

I gradually got up, trying to ease my troubled stomach. It didn't help. I kneeled over and heaved up last night's beverages. I got back up and made my way, slowly, into town. I couldn't remember the way back to Fluttershy's cottage but I did remember that she said something about Twilight living in a big treehouse so I set out to find it. Exactly why Twilight lived in a treehouse was beyond me, but I needed someone reliable to ask what happened.

It wasn't long before I saw a majestic tree-turned-house at one end of the town. Not exactly the kind of treehouse I was expecting but it makes more sense nonetheless. The lights upstairs were still on, so I walked up to the door and knocked. I head the pattering of small, reptile-esque footsteps heading towards the door before the little purple dragon opened it and gasped.

"Hey, Spike."

"Xyrus! You're okay!"

Twilight poked her head down the staircase of what I now knew was a library and upon seeing me her eyes took on a certain vibrant glow as a smile split her face. She came quickly down the stairs and wrapped me in an unexpected hug.

"Uhh, hi. ...it's uhh, nice to see you too?"

Twilight quickly let me go, flustered. "Right.. Sorry."

I waved my hand, "Don't worry about it. I do have a very bad headache though, think you can help me out?"

"Of course!" Her horn began to glow and my aching body suddenly felt worlds better.

"Thank you much. I....partied a bit too hard last night."

"Speaking of which," Twilight started, "what happened to you? I heard something about you getting hit in the head with a falling flowerpot and then just disappearing into thin air."

"Now that's interesting. I'll have to ask Lyra about that; she was with me when it happened."

I told her what happened from the time I got hit to the time I woke up back in Ponyville park. She seemed intrigued when I mentioned the cop chase scene but for the most part I think she just brushed it off.

When I was through, she thought for a moment and said, "That's very interesting. Every time you've gotten hit in the head hard enough to knock you unconscious, you've switched worlds and ended up in the exact same spot when you previously were hit."

"So, what you're saying is that if I slam my head against that wall-" I pointed to the wall behind me, "-hard enough to knock me out, I'll end up back on Earth at the bottom of the staircase I fell down?"

"In theory, yes. However I don't want you to go slamming your head into things just to get back and forth. If you'll allow it, I'm going to put a surveillance spell on you so I can watch for any links between the worlds. That way, whenever you next get teleported, I can try to secure the break and utilize it. If this works, I may be able to make a solid connection between Earth and Equestria so you can travel back and forth. Plus, think of the technological advancements the humans have! From what Fluttershy told me they have technology that could put most magic here to shame!"

"Well, there is a downside to all of that. The human race in general is a very mean bunch of people, and mean also means violent. There are good people and there are bad people. I think they're mostly balanced but from what I've seen of this world, I doubt there is much strife. Am I correct?"

"While there is very little major conflict, we have had some trouble with certain characters like Discord, the Changelings, the Diamond Dogs, and a few others. There was the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco but that's over with. How bad could your world be?"

I made a mental note to ask her about those events later. "Well, if I tell you about it, you have to promise me that you won't look at me any different. A lot of human technology paints my race in a bad light. What you will have to understand is that I'm not like those people. Celestia checked my memory and confirmed that. Don't let your newfound knowledge change your point of view."

"I understand, and I promise I won't think of you any differently." She sounded sincere, so I figured I'd tell her.

I took a deep breath, "Firstly, a lot of human technology has to do with killing and destruction." Twilight paled slightly when I said that. I couldn't help but think I was making a mistake. "We have things called guns, which are weapons that accelerate small pieces of aerodynamically shaped metal at insane speeds. We have bombs and explosives, things that are launched, dropped, or even thrown at people that we don't like and are trying to kill us. They explode and can cause extremely severe damage. We have nuclear bombs, which are special bombs powered by literally splitting atoms in super dense metals." Twilight's ear twitched and she looked a bit more intrigued. "That kind of bomb can level a city with millions of inhabitants and have a destructive radius of hundreds and hundreds of miles. Radioactivity will stay in the ground for thousands of years, making the area uninhabitable." Now, Twilight looked horrified. Yep, I made a mistake.

Twilight replied shakily, "It seems like the human race has warfare down, but don't you guys have good technology? Like for healing and fun and happiness?"

"I was getting to that. Humans have unprecedented technology developed over hundreds and hundreds of years that to you may seem like magic. Years of improvement, redesign, newer materials, and a lot of hard thinking by some very smart people yielded things like this," I pulled out my iPhone 5 and showed it to Twilight, walking over to stand next to her.  I hit the home button, swiped, and put in my passcode. The homescreen appeared as Twilight looked on with nothing short of pure awe. I tapped an icon that led to a game. I tapped through a few menus and the slicing began. A variety of fruits began appearing at the bottom of the screen, flying up to an arch before falling back down. They were sliced up in lines and individually, spattering fruit juice all over the virtual backdrop.

"H-how is it....doing that..? There's no way that's not magic of some sort." Twilight sputtered in response.

"It's not. It's special silicon chips, metal, plastic, glass, different chemicals, and most importantly, electricity. Although I'm assuming you all have electricity given your light fixture," I pointed that the ceiling light.

"Actually, that's a magical light, like this," Twilight's horn took on a gentle, violet glow as a ball of bright, white light appeared a few feet in front of my face. I looked on with intrest, trying to fathom how it was possible. Although I have witnessed more impressive feats of magic, such as instant healing. That was pretty awesome. By the time I had stopped my mental rambling, the light was almost too bright to look at.

"Umm, Twilight?"

She didn't respond, but her horn glowed brighter and a circular wind began to pick up around her.

"Twilight! Can you hear me??"

She remained in her trance, seemingly completely unaware of her surroundings. The glowing ball of now very bright multi-colored magic began spinning, sending small, white sparks across the room. They were harmless, as when one hit me it just bounced off my skin in a shower of smaller sparks.

"TWILIGHT!! WAKE UP!!" I yelled as I cautiously walked over. I nudged her not so gently, causing her to wheel on me and open her eyes. Although I'm not sure if you could call them eyes. They were white and glowing very brightly. Her face shifted to one of rage, and she was looking like she was about to attack.

I looked over nervously to the multicolor ball of magic, which had now turned to a terrifying mix of black and red, shifting across a dark, bloody spectrum. It was moving slowly towards me and I glanced back at Twilight. Her eyes were empty of life, and behind I could see an ocean of swirling blood and pitch.

A voice that was not her own crept out of her mouth. It was a deep, growly voice; one that sent a horrified chill down my spine, "Hello, Xyrus. How interesting it is to see you here."

"Who are you? How do you know my name?!"

He raised his voice a little as Twilight's face stiffened, "I know all, boy. I also know that this planet is not your own. You do however belong here for my purposes. Oh Xyrus, how important you are. After all, without you my master plan could never work. You are the wildcard. You are the last piece of the puzzle. You, Xyrus, you are the missing link to it all. To everything. To-"

He was cut of by a deafening explosion as our surroundings instantly changed to that of a large dome made of bright, yellow magic. Celestia was suddenly at my side and her horn was exploding with magical sparks. The roaring of wind whipped around us, blocking out almost all other sounds.

Celestia focused hard and a beam of bright yellow light came out of her horn and hit Twilight's, making a link and causing the purple unicorn's body to lift slowly into the air. Her face went blank as her eyes slowly shifted back to normal. Celestia gently set her back down on the floor as the magical shield surrounding us dissipated. Twilight collapsed into a heap of exhaustion and Celestia's horn returned to its normal creamy shade of white.

The Princess rushed to Twilight's side as soon as she was on the floor, "Twilight! Can you hear me??" She nudged her gently with her hoof. Twilight groaned and curled up into a tighter ball. "Are you okay?" Celestia asked, "What hurts?"

Twilight moaned in agony and managed to force out, "E-every....everything... It burns..." She looked up at the ceiling,

"Help m-me.. What's wrong w-....with me?"

"Sshhhh, it's all okay. You'll be okay, my student," Celestia reassured her, ushering the paramedic ponies who had just arrived over to the scene. As Twilight was rushed to the hospital wing of the castle, Celestia turned to me and said,

"Xyrus, I need you to tell me exactly what happened, word for word. I think I know what this all means but I need more evidence."

I nodded and told her everything. When I was finished, her face was shrouded in a mix of horror, confusion, and intense thinking.

"So it's true... He is free once again."

"Who? Who is free??"

"The Infernal Element. He was commonly known as the 'Reaper'. It was four thousand years ago that I banished him eternally to Tartarus, but somehow he has broken the magical bonds which held him strong."

The deep, growly voice that previously came from Twilight made its presence in the room, coming from all places at once. "You are certainly correct, Celestia. I have returned. Such a pity that you banished me all those years ago. Tsk tsk tsk.. Doesn't look very good on your record..." He remarked with a bit of a sarcastic fling.

Celestia's face grew hard, "Show yourself, monster!"

Ignoring her response he continued, "However that was your choice and I can't punish you directly. Nonetheless I think I've got something...better in mind." With that, we didn't hear him again.

We stood in the silence for a moment until it was shattered by a shrill scream that seemed to echo forever.