//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Coffee Swirl Joined Your Party // Story: Pony POV Spin-Off: Neo Stream BD (Before Death) // by JDEzekude //------------------------------// My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Reharmonization Pony POV Side-Story Fan-Fic Episode Title: "Neo Stream B.D. (Before Death) - Coffee Joined Your Party (Featuring Coffee Swirl)" Written By Jordan Dean "Mystery" Ezekude and Dragon-of-Twilght Inspired By Alex Warlorn Dear Princess Celestia, The following is a record of events taking place before the untimely deaths of Napoleon Eurabatres Stream, and his beloved mother, Florence Elizabeth, marking the end of the Stream family. These reports were written with the sole intention of uncovering the last moments of their lives as well as the truth behind their tragic deaths. It is all the more tragic that they were young. But, had they lived long, happy lives, they couldn't have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that week. Day XX/XX/XXXX ??? Hours Before Death Beautiful Day Café Ponyville I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't even want to think about it. But still, how many other ponies have homicidal dreams about becoming a Nightmare and brutally murdering everypony including their own loved ones? I was more than thankful that it was all just a dream. But I was still feeling uneasy and apprehensive; not only about my dream, but about myself too. Maybe it's time I...start seeking help...Real help. But first, I need to clear my head and take my mind off so many things. So, here I am, standing in the main queue of the Beautiful Day Café and shamefully staring at the floor. This is where I bought and drank my first ever coffee. It was a caffè latte. Ever since then, that's the only type of coffee I've been drinking. With a sigh, the coffee shop owner adjusted his glasses and passed off another order. "Next," the stripy-red pegasus called. "Hmm...Huh?" I uttered lifting my head. "Oh...Um..." I frowned to myself shamefully as I slid two bits onto the counter. "Caffè latte please..." Thus, the shop owner moved about the other side of the counter to fill my order. While he was making my caffè latte, he kept his eyes on me. He must've already noticed that I was unsettled. "Sit there," he indicated pointing at the closest table to the counter with a nod. "Then you can tell me what's up after the rush clears up." "Huh? Uh...Right..." I slowly sat down at the table instructed by the shop owner. I then gloomfully stared at his caffè latte letting it cool. Why does he want to know what's wrong with me? He doesn't know me. I'm just a stranger to him. Besides, everypony already knows what's wrong with me... ...I'm just insane... Thus, I took the first sip of my coffee, but this time, I didn't feel the slightest surge of energy. Several minutes passed as I slowly drank my coffee sip by sip. When the queue was gone, and things had calmed down, the shop owner turned to me. "So, what's your problem then?" he asked. "...What problem...?" I sighed. He rolled his eyes. "You're moping about, you haven't looked at anything other than the floor since you came in and you're sucking on the coffee like you don't even care what it is. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." "And why the hell would you care?" I sulked finally looking at him in the face before turning back to my empty cup. "Nopony else does..." "Yeah," he replied. "You really do need help." He paused to fill another order from a customer and glanced at the clock. "I'm guessing you've told a few ponies and they haven't really been all that sympathetic." I scoffed at his comment. Haven't been that sympathetic? That's an understatement. "Told them what?" I grimaced refusing to look at him. "Well, I don't know," he shrugged with his wings as he leaned against the counter. "You're pretty annoyed about something; and the 'Nopony cares' line pretty much tells me about what. So seriously, what's the problem?" I hesitated to speak. Not only was I reluctant to talk about it, but I was also worried that other ponies might be listening to our conversation. And I sure as hell didn't want to repeat what happened in Canterlot. "...I...can't tell you," I whispered. "Not here..." "Uh...yeah, you can," he deadpanned. "Nopony's listening. They've all got their own problems and conversations going on. That's why I told you to sit there. The only time ponies do care about what you're saying is when you're shouting it in their faces." "Hey!" I snapped defensively trying to keep my voice down. "You think I like shouting in their faces? You think I like it one damn bit?" I then rested my head on my right hoof as I stopped to keep myself under control. "...OK, look, I'm sorry," I apologized. "It's just I...I've had...been...having...the worst time of my life..." The shop owner barely flinched at my outburst. "Which is why I'm trying to get you to talk about it," he continued. "Despite how many colts love the whole 'I'm a stallion and I don't need anypony to solve my problems', the reality is that it doesn't work that way." "I know that," I sighed in irritation. "Anyway, it's not like that. I know that I need help...But the problem is...nopony cares about me anymore...They only care about Fluttershy now, not me...That's why..." I hesitated once again. Why am I telling him all of this? "...I'm considering moving out," I finally finished frowning with hopelessness and uncertainty. "Ah, Fluttershy," he sighed as well, then glancing toward the crowd around the shop. Like he said, everypony was minding their own business and not caring for the two of them. "Nice to meet another pony who isn't some nut-job conspiracy lover who doesn't think she's the greatest thing ever." "Wait, what?" I asked finally looking up to him in true surprise. Am I hearing things? This guy hates Fluttershy too!? I'm not the only one!? "Yeah," he confirmed almost as if he read my mind. "You're not hearing things...Not yet anyway." He then paused to make himself a cup of his own brew. "I still get sick of how much they praise their precious 'Princess Gaia'. When are they ever going to shut up about her?" "Don't...ever mention that name." I demanded. I never wanted to hear that name again. "...She tortured me...She tried to take my friends and family away from me, and I hated her for it...And now..." I was starting to tear up. I wanted to forget everything that Fluttershy put me through. I never wanted to talk about it ever again. "...Now," I sobbed. "I think she's succeeded...Everypony hates me now...Just because I was the only one who resisted her trance...Just because I had standards...I was being honest." "Honesty's a double-edged sword, kid," he deadpanned as he took a sip of his drink. "You can't just say 'This is who I am' and not expect ponies to get annoyed or angry." I began to frown with dismay at his insensitive comments. I already had a vague idea of where he was going with this. "More to the point, all that hate you've got in you, and I can tell that it's hate too, isn't going to get you anything in the end. Holding a grudge against Fluttershy isn't going to solve anything. Any thoughts you might be entertaining of getting back at her, even if you could lay so much as a hoof on her with all those ponies who love her, they won't give you any of the things you want. You need to stop with it." "All them?" he nodded at his costumers as they talked about several things among themselves. "Yeah, they're a bunch of idiots who want to go back to being stupid, little foals and don't understand why ponies like you and me find that idea horrifying. But that just makes them not worth the effort to hate. And Fluttershy? She wants ponies to hate her, so they'll punish her and torture her. Yeah, she's getting a lot better, but you can tell it's still there. My point is that you need to drop something as worthless as hate. It's not going to get you anything." "That's easy for you to say!" I ranted bitterly. "Because you're not me! You don't have the slightest idea of how I feel or what I've been through! You don't understand!" The shop owner rolled his eyes again as he took another drink from his beverage. "Time for a bit more honesty, kid. You ain't special. I know your parents have probably been going on about how great you are, but that's just the stuff they tell you so you feel better about yourself. I know you'd love to be some special snowflake that's only you and nopony else, but that's not how life works. The simple fact is that yes, I do know what you're going through because I've gone through a version of it. I know what it's like to be despised for not worshiping the ground Fluttershy walks on; what it's like to be viewed as less than mentally sound for doing anything other than loving her. I even know what it's like to hate her, because I did for a long time to the point that I actually was starting to go crazy because I was just letting it build up. But, hey, if you want to end up in the nuthouse, I'm sure you'll be well taken care of." "Oh yeah?" I snapped. "Well then, why aren't you in the nuthouse...!?" "I talked to somepony who helped my come to terms with the issues I have with the world and the things in it," the shop owner calmly responded. He didn't even raise his voice. His unbelievable composure was making me angrier. I was getting the impression that he doesn't care about me either. "It helped me let go of a lot of that hate so it wasn't driving me crazy. It's not nearly as hard as you're making it out to be. I'm not even asking you to forgive her, because I still haven't. I'm just asking you nicely to stop hating her and all the other ponies." "Why should I?" I continued ranting. "Even if I do, everypony will still hate me...And I'll continue to hate myself more than anything else in the world...Especially after my last dream." "Oh, for the love of Celestia," he sighed with clear annoyance. "Kid, here's the bitter truth. They hate you because you're being an arrogant self-centered ass about the whole thing." I started grinding my teeth listening to his insults. At this point, I didn't care how stressed he was talking to me and dealing with his customers at the same time. I was this close to lunging myself at him and beating him senseless. "This entire conversation has been you talking about yourself and how your problems are somehow more important than everypony else's. I've been trying to be a good pony and help you out, but with the way you've been carrying on, you sound as if you don't want any help; as if you want to be a lonely, miserable old horse disillusioned with the world and everypony in it. You are not the only pony in the world, nor are you the only one with problems. So stop acting like you're some outcast for having them. And don't say 'But I am!', because I can see that answer coming a mile away." "Don't you dare say that!" I warned leaning slightly closer to him. "I swear, if you say that again--" I quickly stopped before I went completely out of control. "Just what the hell makes you think you're so much better than me!?" I almost cried. "Go on! Tell me!!" "For one, I don't get overly emotional when people call me out on being a selfish jerk." He clearly had no sympathy for me. Thus, I slapped my left hoof on my head. I was truly agitated at this point. I couldn't take much more of this. "Seriously," he continued. "Do you want to borrow some of my anti-psychosis meds? You sound like you're a day away from a breakdown with the way your mood's been all over the place since we started talking." "And now, right after insulting me, you start offering me help?" I grimaced with my tone of voice lowered but still shaking. This wasn't the only pony I lashed out upon for confronting me. I was then left breathing heavily struggling to calm myself down. "...Fine," he sighed hopelessly. "Whatever you think works for me...I just hope I don't have another nightmare after my last one..." "I'm insulting you because you're being a jerk," he deadpanned again. "And, since you're going to keep bringing it up until I ask about it, what nightmare?" I tensed my hooves upon hearing him finally ask about it. I really didn't want to share it with anypony because I feared that they would think even less of me than they already do. "You sure you want to know?" I whispered with unease. "It's really disturbing..." "So is being turned into a pony-shaped pool of coffee that has to run away from everything trying to drink you up and being dragged off in the middle of the night by a bunch of foals to be turned back into one," he replied. I scoffed at his description. After a whole week of experiencing the unthinkable myself, nothing surprises me anymore. "Alright," I whispered almost submissively. "But only if you promise two things." "And what would that be?" he asked. I leaned slightly closer to him making sure that nopony was eavesdropping. "One," I whispered. "Obviously, you don't tell anypony else without my permission. And two, you don't belittle me after what I'm about to tell you right now. If you break either of these promises, I'll be packing my bags, leaving Ponyville forever and never coming back." "Fine, whatever." he replied as he took another sip. "But, if you're going to run away at the slightest comment I make, I'm not chasing after you. I'm not dealing with one stuck-up colt who thinks that running away will solve anything." He sounded like he wasn't afraid to break his promises, but I felt like I could trust him as long as he doesn't say anything too insensitive. "Alright," I whispered. "But remember, you promised." Thus, I leaned even closer and lifted my right hoof to whisper in his ear. I told him everything I remember doing in my dream; breaking into Princess Celestia's castle, releasing Discord, becoming a Nightmare and killing everypony including Fluttershy and my own mother. "I spent a whole hour trying to remember every detail," I whispered. "And then another two trying to forget that I ever dreamt it, because it made me realize how bucked up I really am..." Thus, I sat back finishing my long description of the most horrifying dream anypony could ever have. "Well," the shop owner replied. "You're right about one thing; you are bucked up." He finished off his drink with one final gulp. I was expecting him to freak out after sharing my disturbing dream with him. But he still remained calm throughout. "You really need to suck it up and go visit the shrinks that have been visiting ponies around town. And that doesn't count as belittling! It's a simple fact; you need professional help before you finally snap and do go crazy. That's what they're here for and why I still have the drugs they prescribed to me. I may have had some outside help, but they helped me get over a lot of my issues before that." "Yeah," I sighed with so much guilt and remorse. "And no, I wasn't offended by that one bit...I was just thinking about going this morning, but I wanted to clear my mind first..." "...I'm sorry...I'm sorry for treating you like this...This is exactly the reason why I hate myself so much. I can't do anything right...let alone talk to others. And I think that because I'm so hard on myself, I'm hard on others too..." "Doesn't help that you fish for sympathy." he interrupted with another glance at the clock. I ignored his comment. I didn't want to make things worse for myself. "So what have you got?" I asked. He shrugged with his wings again. "I've got about four different types of medication that I can't pronounce the names of, if that's what you mean." "Do they come with instructions?" "Well," he continued taking a moment to think. "One has to be taken three times a day, two are twice a day, I think one can be taken once a day if you get too tired of the side-effects." He shrugged again. "I wouldn't recommend using all those at once. That's an overdose, and was my plan to get away from it all." "I'll take the once-a-day prescription, please." "I don't have it with me," he told me. "I only carry the three-a-day one so I can take it about mid-day. Doctor said it was safe to start giving me smaller doses spread out through the day instead of one big one at the start. I'll have to bring it tomorrow or something." He glanced up at the clock again. Was he expecting somepony or something? "Alright," I sighed. "But...thank you...And...I'm sorry, sir..." "I thought that I was the only one who could never forgive Fluttershy for making everypony live an illusion. But that doesn't mean I don't trust her." "And thanks to you, I think I finally know what's important to me now; my friends...and my mother..." "I may never forgive Fluttershy for what she did to us, and others may never forgive me for what I did to Twilight, but as long as I still have friends and my mother, then I'm more than willing to forget about it. That's why I came here in the first place; to forget about it all." I finally got up and was willing to shake and make up. "Well, nice meeting you...My name's Neo Stream, by the way." "And mine's Coffee Swirl," the pegasus said simply. "I'll bring the stuff tomorrow; see you then." I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't shake his hoof, but then again, I guess it's the least I deserve. "Thank you!" I smiled as I turned around ready to leave. "I'll be there in the morning!" Little did I know that Fluttershy was standing right behind me in the queue. I accidentally gently bumped into her muzzle first. "Watch where you're going, punk," Fluttershy said in a surprisingly intimidating tone of voice. I was truly shocked. I rarely see Fluttershy acting like this. Before I could apologize to her, Coffee suddenly shoved a pill into my mouth and I almost choked on it. "Your coffee is on the counter," he said to Fluttershy. "Just leave your bits on the table and I'll get them." He then turned to me as Fluttershy walked up to the counter. "And you need to swallow, now; before you prove everypony who ever called you crazy or worse right." Without hesitation, I swallowed as instructed. "Uh, s-sure," I stammered in surprise and embarrassment. "U-um...sorry...bye..." Thus, I quietly left the Beautiful Day Café. Upon finally stepping outside the coffee shop, I felt a lot more relaxed than I was earlier. I didn't know why. Was it because I finally found somepony who almost felt the same way I did about Fluttershy? Or was it because I was relieved to finally stop talking to him? I wasn't sure. But I did know one thing; everything I said to Coffee about realizing what's important to me now, I meant every single word. And I was more than willing to move on. TURN OVER PAGE