2 months have passed since the day I died. 2 long grueling months of bad memories, pain, and long nights of crying myself to sleep. Not even Pinkie can cheer me up. Why am I crying, you may ask? It's a long story. It all happened about 3 months ago.
I had a long time hatred for the Princesses of Equestria and all of brony-kind, but it was what I had to endure. That is until they created a stable link to Equestria, my parents disappeared, and I lived for 16 long years in a foster home. They knew of my 'anti-brony'-ness. But they had accepted me as family. In many futile attempts to kill the Princesses and the mane 6, it ended in a strained allience.
When all was said and done, and I had helped the ponies kill off the majority of the Brony-rebels, the general, somehow surviving the entire thing, shot me in the stomach, giving me a long, painful demise and a very sad ending for that chapter of my life. But not all was lost, and the Princesses were saved from the rest of the brony-rebellion. Upon hearing of the sacrifice the ponies endured, Celestia attempted to bring me back, but they couldn't do it as a human. They instead created a husk of a pony, a lifeless body that needed nothing more than a soul to fill it.
Luckily for me, I was that soul. I awoke in Ponyville hospital about 2 weeks later, and was forced to relearn basic motor skills, like walking, using magic, and eating with hooves. The first few days were fine, then it spiraled downhill. I guess some ponies heard that this 'new pony' was really that fugitive who nearly killed the princesses and they tried to....do away with me.
Twilight and her friends defended me and told them that I was changed.
I was. But not for the better.
Ever since that day, I've been depressed. I can never take back what I've done. It will forever be something burned into the books of Equestrian history. Nothing I can say or do will right what I've done. I get traumatic flashbacks to the battle. People screaming as bullets tear through them, explosions, falling rocks and debris crushing anyone unlucky enough to be under it. Twilight says it's just PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But I know what it really is. It's guilt, slapping me in the face with everything it's got.
Fate has got dirt on me, and it's going to use it to it's fullest. So whatever happened to the brony who gave me everything I needed? The sweater....the glasses...the keychain...I wanted to know if he was okay.
He was, but even if I did see him, face to face, he wouldn't even recognize me. I'm only anonymous to the bronies. The ponies know me all too well.
So here I lay, in Twilight's bed, tears staining the fur on my cheeks. Twilight has made many attempts to cheer me up, all in vain. She just wants to help me. But she can't. Not now. I can't even trust myself anymore, knowing what's really inside this pony's body.
"Austin..."
"My name isn't Austin...It's Sketch."
"Oh right..."
I changed my name in an attempt to seem more 'pony-like'. It didn't work.
"Sketch, I know how you feel."
"Do you Twilight? Do you really?"
"Well....sort of..."
"Twilight I just want to fit in. But I can't. I'm like a puzzle piece trying to fit into a puzzle that I don't even belong in. I'm from a different puzzle Twilight."
"I know, but you'll get used to it! Ponies will forget eventually!"
"Oh don't give me that. The last time I stepped outside I got an egg thrown at me."
"But you were just outside 15 minutes ago..."
"Exactly."
"You don't have any egg on you."
"Check the downstairs window. It wasn't so lucky."
Twilight blinked, then walked over.
"Sketch, just try to cheer up....I can see if Celestia can give you a royal pardon or something. Maybe she can tell everypony. They'll listen to her!"
"Sometimes I think I'd be better off out of everypony's mane..."
"Don't say that..."
"Well it's true, Twi! Look at me! I'm not even supposed to be alive! I'm a empty husk filled with the soul of a human!"
"But you're pony outside."
"Yeah? And candy bars are plastic outside. That doesn't mean that there's plastic INSIDE..."
Twilight bit her lip, then sighed.
"Do you want anything while I'm out?"
"How about a pony who doesn't hate me?"
"Um....Well I'll be back soon..."
"Whatever..."
Twilight left without another word, and I laid there in the bed, hugging a pillow. To me, it was the only thing that wouldn't hurt me.
-------------------------------
"How is he?" Applejack asked Twilight, seeming worried.
"Not any better. I think he's actually gotten worse..."
"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked timidly.
"I don't think we can do anything that'll do any good. Not even Pinkie can cheer him up."
"Can we see him?"
"If you really want to. But I need some supplies...Just don't mess with him. He's not in any shape to be toyed with."
Twilight walked down the street, and Applejack walked into the library, with hopes of cheering him up. When she got there, she saw poor Sketch laying on his side, hugging a pillow and crying once again. She walked over and put a hoof on her shoulder, but he swatted it away and shimmied further away from her, out of her reach. Applejack sighed, then looked at Fluttershy, who came in with her.
"Fluttershy, Ah think you'd better put him to sleep. We're not going to be able to reason with him until he's well rested..."
Fluttershy nodded and sat near the bed, and started to sing her lullaby, 'Hush Now Quiet Now'.
Sketch's quiet sobbing slowly ceased until he was asleep without a sound, other than his gentle breathing. Fluttershy tucked him in, and left with Applejack. Sleep's gentle blanket slowly overtook Sketch, and he felt himself transfer into Dreamworld...
2 days later, this letter arrived at Canterlot Castle. Upon reading it, Celestia sent out the Mane 6 to look for Sketch/Austin....
Dear Princess Celestia,
This is the last you or anypony will ever hear of me. I am leaving Ponyville and am going to live in the Everfree Forest. Dangerous it may be, it's the only place I can feel safe from the all the abuse the other ponies have given me. I know you meant well in giving me this body, but sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. I'm sorry for everything I've done. Guilt has be tearing at me for days. Send Twilight and her friends my regards. I've left my belongings at her library. Please do NOT come after me. I'd rather be alone, even if it's for the rest of my days.
Your loyal subject and burden,
Sketch
====================================================================================================
"Why would he ever want to escape into the Everfree?! He knows the danger!" Twilight paced back and forth in her library, her friends all reading and re-reading the letter over and over. None of them could believe it. But Sketch had just left them, without a trace (no pun intended) other than his things, and that mysterious letter. Celestia told them immediately after reading it that they should try to find him. The ponies all lined up in front of Twilight.
"Well, we've hunted him before...I think we can do it again...but this time, the circumstances are not in our favour. The Everfree is unpredictable, and Sketch may not be aware of the danger he could be in! We need to find him NOW. Girls, go get everything you think you may need for the trip. It's going to be a long one...We'll regroup at Fluttershy's cottage." Twilight ordered.
The ponies nodded and split up, each going to their place of residence to prepare.
-------------
Meanwhile, deep in the trees of the Everfree, a dark grey pony was slowly trotting through the brush. A machete surrounded by his gold aura was chopping a few plants out of the way so he could continue.
"It was a mistake ever coming here..." Sketch murmured. "I should've just stayed in town, or at least nearby....But no...I needed seclusion, I needed alone-time. Now I'm lost somewhere in the Everfree Forest waiting to become manticore chow." The sun was slowly setting to make way for the moon.
"It's getting late...I'd better set up a camp...." He chopped a large assortment of leaves down and assembled them over a branch to make a improvised tent, then gathered twigs and branches to make a fire.
------------
Twilight and her friends all stood in Fluttershy's cottage, carrying saddlebags full of gear: bug spray, a tinderbox (matches and flint), food, shelters, plenty of water and much more. Twilight did one final run over of everypony's gear.
"Alright, that's it. And Pinkie, it was good thinking packing so many sweets. We may need the energy for the trip." Twilight smiled at her pink friend. Pinkie just grinned, making an adorable 'squee' noise. They then walked out and started off into the Everfree...
-----------
Sketch just sat there, staring at his fire, watching the bright orange and yellow flames dance gracefully in place. The tiny embers and sparks skipped and leapt though the air. He sighed heavily and looked at what meager supplies he brought. His machete, flint, water and a few apples. That wasn't going to last long, but it may just be enough to keep him going until he found more food. He pawed the ground quietly, unsure of what to do. It was important to keep the fire going, because it keeps most creatures of the night away from his camp. He lazily tossed another stick into the fire, making a small cloud of sparks leap from the ashes.
He finally started to quietly sing to himself.
"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known...
Don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone...
I walk this empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I walk alone...
I walk alone, I walk alone...
I walk alone, I walk a-...
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me!
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating!
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me!
'Till then I walk alooooone!
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ahhh. Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh..."
His voice slowly got a little louder without him realising it.
"I'm walkin' down the line, that divides me somewhere in my mind...
On the border line of the edge and where I walk alone.
Read between the lines, what's f***ed up and everything's alright.
Check my vital signs to know I'm still alive and I walk alone...
I walk alone, I walk alone.
I walk alone, I walk a-"
His voice was now near shouting as he continued to the chorus.
"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me!
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating!
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me!
'Till then I WALK ALOOOONE!"
---------------
Twilight and her friends were camping only a few hundred yards away, and heard him singing. Rarity put a hoof to her mouth in shock. Twilight and the other slowly crept up on his camp.
Sketch continued the singing.
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah...Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-
I walk alone, I walk a-"
Suddenly his horn glowed and music started pouring from nowhere has Sketch started to mock playing a guitar. His horn glowed brighter and a magical aura slowly appeared in his hooves. The aura was in the shape of an electric guitar and an amp. The ponies all stared in awe as he finished the solo and continued the rest of the song.
"I walk this empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams...
Where the city sleeps, and I walk a-
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me!
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating!
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me!
'Till then I WALK ALOOONE!"
He then finished playing on the magical guitar he conjured up and finished the song. He sighed heavily and the magical aura faded, then he threw another branch into the flames, and turned around. He saw the ponies all staring at him with mouths agape. Sketch's muzzle immediately turned pinker than the party mare's and he picked up his machete.
"B-b-b-back off! I said I didn't want people following me!" Sketch said nervously, his hoof shaking from fear.
Twilight was first to ask the obvious.
"How did you DO that?!"
"Do what?"
"That thing! You were playing some sort of instrument from nothing but magical energy!" Twilight's eyes lit up.
"oh...I...um...I dunno. I just got into the song I guess." He stabbed the blade of the machete in the ground and sat down near the fire. He knew well enough by now not to bother resisting capture with THESE ponies...Might as well just let them take him back. He was miserable out here anyway.
"But how? What was that thing you were playing?!" Twilight asked. She seemed determined to find out.
"It was just a guitar. It's an instrument from Earth." Sketch looked at her with a nonchalant expression, obviously not as impressed as she was. "I suppose you girls came to take me back to Ponyville..."
"Well....um..yes." Twilight looked at him quietly.
Sketch just rolled his eyes and poked at the fire with a stick. "I thought as much. Might as well stop resisting the inevitable."
"What do you mean?" Rarity looked puzzled.
"You girls always beat me. I'm always captured, I can never out-smart you..." Sketch sighed once again. "It's impossible to escape with you on my tail."
Pinkie stepped off Sketch's tail. "Whoopsie..."
"Thank you." Sketch said.
"Well, we only want what's best for you." Rainbow said, flying over and putting a hoof on his shoulder.
"What IS best for me, Dashie? Going back to a town that hates me, or living here with things that hate me?"
Rainbow didn't have an answer to that. She just hovered there trying to think of something.
"Exactly."
Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin in thought. Her eyes then lit up like a pinball machine.
"Wait! You said the town hates you right? Because you nearly caused the destruction of Equestria?"
"Yeah?" Sketch stared at her.
"What if you did something so heroic, they'd HAVE to love you?"
Sketch stared at her for a minute, then burst into laughter. They just stared at him for a while as he rolled around in the dirt.
"Come on, Twi. I'm not you! I don't have super magical pony powers. I'm not an Element of Harmony."
"You don't need to be." Twilight said.
"Yeah I do." Sketch said with a smile. "Twi, I think I'd have to do something that SAVES all of Equestria to counteract what I did to nearly DESTROY Equestria. And the only thing that I can do would be beat Nightmare Moon, Discord, or The Changelings. All of which I need the Elements for."
"But Sketch-"
"Forget it Twi...Look, let's just spend the night here, then head back to Ponyville....I'd be better off there than here."
-------------
Meanwhile, on Earth....
"So how many are left?"
"Under 1000. Most are just up and confessing. I think we've finally beat them..."
"Think again."
*BANG BANG*
"Austin may not of beaten you. But I sure as hell will...."
The stranger flipped a bit into the air, caught it, and flipped it again as he walked. He was a tall person, broad shouldered, heavily built. Certainly someone who would give the "Don't Mess With Me" look. He was bad to the bone, and damn proud of it. His black zip-up sweater hung loosely as he walked, his torn black jeans and worn sneakers showed that he clearly didn't care about his appearence. His long shaggy hair hung in front of his eyes like a dark brown curtain. Strapped to his belt was a leather holster, in it was a golden pistol, engraved with intials 'D.R.'. He chewed his toothpick before spitting it into a nearby trash bin.
He walked through an abandoned alley. This was HIS turf. Some say even the neighborhood gangs were scared of him. He kicked in the doors to an old house, where a computer genius and inside source to the ponies sat. He briskly walked over and slammed his hand down on the counter, making a loud bang. This caught the genius' attention.
"Hello..." he muttered nervously.
"I heard you were once Austin's inside source for anything pony related."
"That's right..." he replied as he pushed his glasses against his face.
"I need this." The stranger tossed him a blueprint for some sort of a cloak, lined with pockets of all sorts.
"I'm gonna need incentive first." The genius gave him a smug smile that quickly disappeared when the strange produced his golden pistol and held it to the genius' head.
"There's your incentive."
"You drive a hard bargain!" He grinned nervously and took the blueprint, then ran into the back room. "I'll be back in an hour!"
------------
Meanwhile, in a Top Secret Army Base...
"Alpha team, do you read? Alpha team! Come in! Damn it!"
"What do we do now, Sarge?"
"We inform the Princesses and world leaders. They need to know. Johnson, get Bravo team and search his house! I need to get the bird to the LZ stat!"
"Yes sir." Johnson quickly left the room.
"You there, private."
"Sir, yes sir?"
"Go get my gun. I'm finding this Anti if it's the last thing I do..."
-------------
And back with the stranger, one hour later...
"Here's your cloak, as well as that ammo you wanted..." The genius passed a cloak and a box of .22 pistol rounds.
"Thanks, goggle-boy...And next time...Don't keep me waiting..." He walked out the door with the cloak and ammo in his arms.
He continued to his house, but stopped when he saw a military helicopter flying away from it. He then gritted his teeth and pulled out his pistol, put on the cloak and pocketing the bullets. He ran towards his house and kicked the door in, shooting the first few officers repeatedly, then reloaded. He saw another one shoot in his direction, but the stranger shot him before he could land a hit. He continued into his house, then picked up a large meat cleaver and waited, then threw it at one of the next officers, hitting him square in the forehead.
He then walked over to the last officer, who dropped his gun and backed away.
"Just please! Let me go!"
"Can't risk it." The stranger shot him where he stood. He then picked up the dropped assault rifles and put them in his closet, then dumped the bodies outside. He sighed and looked in the mirror. He smiled at his reflection and combed his hair.
"Gotta look my best. I got a date with the Princess tonight...."
--------------
"Bravo team! BRAVO TEAM! COME IN!"
"We've already lost 2 drop squads, Sarge! How many more do we have to lose?!"
"We're not losing any more. We're going to wait until he comes to us."
"But Sarge, he's probably already on his way to Canterlot!"
"Damn it I know! But we can't risk it! We'll wait until he sets foot in Canterlot, then we'll have an assault team take him out."
"Should we get Equestria involved?"
"Yes. Tell Sierra Alpha to get his men on duty. They've got their magic, they can help too."
"Yes sir!"
"I'm going to be down there with them on the front line. I'm not letting this anti through our defence."
=======================
Twilight and her friends ran into the throne room, Sketch close behind.
"We came as soon as we heard!" Twilight said. "Who's trying now?"
"Another Anti. He's ruthless. He's already killed a military drop squad."
"What can we do?" Twilight asked, getting straight to the point.
"I want you to go provide magic and air support for the military. Try to find this anti."
"What's he look like?"
"He's a tall, dark male. His skin is a pinkish white, and he has long dark hair that covers his eyes. Wears black a lot."
"Wait...does he carry around a golden gun?" Sketch asked.
"Yes...how did you know?"
"I know that Anti...."
They all looked at Sketch, who seemed to be anxious.
"He's my brother."