//------------------------------// // III. Kansas? Definetly not // Story: In Lumine Lunae // by ParaNomaly //------------------------------// Voices. As John regained consciousness, the first thing that he took notice of was the numerous voices that seemed to be gathered around him. He couldn't make any of them out, as they all sounded distorted to him. He didn't pay much attention to them, however, as he tried to get his bearings back in check. This was the second time he had been knocked out and had woken up in pain. Hopefully, it didn't become commonplace. ”Ugh… Again? This is ridiculous.” He grimaced and laid still as he tried to focus on what the voices were saying. Could it be the cops? He doubted it. The last thing John remembered was opening the door, then… nothing. Wait, maybe he's in a hospital! That would mean that everything that had gone down had all been a really fucked up dream caused by him hitting his head too hard. Bill must have come over to investigate and had found him out cold on the floor. “-s wrong with her? Why is she unconscious!?” he heard a female voice shout from somewhere to his left. It didn't sound familiar, why was she… “Look, I did my part and brought her back. I have no idea what Tirek did exactly, but that's none of my concern,” A second voice retorted, this one sounded deeper and had a nonchalant tone. “Not your concern?! If you hadn't allied with Tirek, none of this would have happened!” A third female voice added. What the hell were these people talking about? Were they talking about him? And who the fuck's Tirek? 'Okay, this is even more ridiculous. Can't they let a guy rest in peace?” John thought as he decided to finally make a move. Thankfully, the pain had subsided to the point that it had mostly faded away, allowing him to get a better feel for his environment. Upon opening his eyes, one thing stood out as clear as daylight. This was not a hospital room. In fact, whatever he was laying on didn't feel like a hospital bed either. It was too… comfortable and soft, it almost felt like he was laying on clouds. His heart rate spiked as he came to a realization. It hadn't been a dream. He still felt the way his wings brushed against his sides, and how his fur hugged his form like a big winter jacket. Feelings he couldn't have imagined as a human put themselves forth, and yet deep down, they still felt… natural. As if he had known them for his entire life. His eyes opened fully as they took in the scene unfolding in front of him. Three beings stood in what looked like the middle of a very luxurious room. Two of them shared a resemblance to whatever species he currently was. One of which was entirely pink with streaks of rose, violet, and gold running along her (he assumed) mane. She wore a tiara on her head and was currently giving one of the other two what he could best describe as a death glare. The thing she was looking at really stood out the most. It looked like something a kid could make for art class. More than a dozen different animal parts seemed to make up a tall, serpent-like creature. He could spot lion, lizard, and even goat parts. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure how it could even be alive, biologically speaking. The last one was a lot easier on the eyes than the previous one, albeit a bit too bright. She had a white coat covering her entire body and had a sparkling rainbow mane, similar to his current one, outside of the rainbow colouring. She was also a lot taller than the other horse, but barely reached the serpent’s midsection. What looked like a chest plate and a golden crown also made themselves present on her form after a second glance. Panic began to set in as the three continued to argue, oblivious to the fact that John had just woken up. For him, the situation had gone from bad to worse. Now he had been kidnapped by fucking aliens of all things. What was he supposed to do now? Of course, he did what any sane person would do in his situation. He began to breathe erratically and visibly panic. Unfortunately, it didn't work out very well for John, as his erratic breathing caught the attention of his kidnappers. He half expected them to knock him out again and do all sorts of unspeakable things while he was out, but he certainly didn't expect the white one to come rushing to his side and embrace him. John didn't take the seemingly affectionate action very well. He had just been transformed against his will into a completely different species, kidnapped from his home, and now he was being smothered by what could very well be one of the culprits behind it all. Naturally, he didn't receive the gesture with open arms. “Gah! Get away from me! Fucking cunts, the lot of you!” he spat as he began to struggle in an attempt to get out of the white horse’s grasp. Surprisingly, she let go almost immediately after he began struggling and took a step back with what John assumed was a hurt look on her face. He scrambled to the side of the bed farthest away from her as his head snapped from side to side, looking for a weapon to defend himself with. He found none, but like hell, he wasn't going to improvise. Another quick survey yielded a plentiful supply of wild, untamed pillows. He grabbed as many as he could and surrounded himself with them. From an outsider's perspective, it may have looked downright silly, but hey, it was the best he had. Give him a break. “Oh, right. I forgot to tell you, she has total amnesia. The only memories she has right now are the ones from the world she was sent to, I think.” the chimaera affirmed as it tapped his chin for a second before crossing its arms. A semi-bored, yet insufferably smug, expression forming on its face. The white horse opened her mouth to respond, but John was quick to the punch. “Who the hell are you people, and what do you want from me?!” he shouted in their general direction as he pressed his back harder against the wall. “My my, she's gotten a bit more feisty since the last time I saw her. I'm liking the personality change!” it gave him two thumbs up, to which John replied with a snarl. “Discord, shut up and let yourself out.” The ice-cold tone of the white mare was enough to make almost everyone in the room shudder as she cast a sideways glance at the one apparently named Discord, who proceeded to throw his arms into the air in defeat. Quite literally, actually. Both of his arms detached themselves from his body and flew into the air, phasing through the roof as if they weren’t even real. “Alright, fine. But don't come crying to me when you need someone of my calibre to provide assistance,” Discord responded. John expected him to actually use the door, but what he did next baffled him even further. He began to literally melt through the floor until he was completely out of sight, giving John a wink just before his head faded from view. What was even more confusing for him was the fact that the other two didn't seem phased by what had just happened at all. What kind of hell did he get sent to? His attention was diverted away from the slightly unnerving scene by the white mare, who took a step towards him. “Luna… what is the last thing you remember before waking up?” she began, her previous tone being abandoned and replaced with a warm and caring one. John didn't respond for a few seconds as he processed the question. Why was she calling him Luna? The question was definitely directed at him, seeing as how she was looking directly at him. Maybe they have the wrong person? “Uh… being knocked out by some gas? Look, I think you have the wrong person here. My name's never been Luna. It's John,” he tried to explain. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get out of this place before someone found out he was missing back home. Varying degrees of emotions passed across her face as she seemed to take in his response. Not that he could tell what any of them meant. Not that he was bad at reading people, but these were talking horses. “Auntie, I think Discord’s right... She doesn't remember anything.” The pink one finally spoke up as she took a place next to the other one, who responded with a sigh. “That's what I feared…” she mumbled before looking back at John. “I understand that you're confused as to what is going on. If you allow us, we can explain it to you.” John had half a mind to tell her to fuck off, but he quickly realized that it wouldn't get him anywhere if he just cursed at them. There was time for that later, now he just wanted to find out what the fuck was going on. Following a few more seconds of silence, John finally responded with a slow nod. “Please do, because I'm on the verge of questioning my sanity at this point.” He wasn't lying either. He was about sixty-nine per cent sure he was still on the floor of his house, suffering from some major head trauma. She let herself show a small smile as she nodded towards the pink one, who replied with a nod of her horn and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing John. The taller one remained standing. They went on to explain a lot of things. Some that he couldn't quite wrap his head around. From being a Princess of a Nation to controlling the moon and the night sky. They went on about how a 'centaur’ named Tirek escaped from their version of hell and went about stealing 'magic’ from 'ponies’, and in order to keep their own magic away from him, they had given it to another princess, Twilight Sparkle. Apparently, when Tirek confronted the three of them, he sent Luna to a different location than the other two, Celestia and Cadance, who he had to ask the names of to prevent himself from calling them by their colours. He had sent them to hell, apparently. And if it was anything like they described it back home, he was partially glad he was supposedly sent to Earth. He found the whole thing a bit hard to believe, honestly. “-e spent months searching for where you were sent off to, even going as far as questioning Tirek, who had been sent back to Tartarus.” Celestia sighed. She had a few tear marks on her cheeks she had gained as she told the story. Apparently, he was her sister. He doubted that, but he couldn't help but feel bad for her. Now that he was getting a better look at them, ponies actually looked kind of cute. “Discord was the one who finally found you a day or two ago, we gathered as quickly as we could to receive you, but we didn't know you had amnesia.” Cadance sounded apologetic as she continued. John couldn't begin to fully comprehend what he had just been told. It was all just… too much. Hell, half an hour ago he was playing Overwatch back in his home, now there was one pony telling him he's her sister, and the other telling him he's a bloody princess named Luna. He wasn't sure what to do by that point. Sure, assuming this was all real, one one hand he could demand that they send him back to Earth. He couldn't just leave so much behind, but on the other… if what he had just been told was true, he held many more memories of Equestria, thousands of years worth of memories. He just couldn't remember any. That part was especially hard to believe. Thousands of years? Was he supposed immortal or something? He glanced down at the bed, thinking of what to say. The look on their faces spoke a lot of words on their own. They clearly looked upset, and it didn't look like they were faking it either. ”This is all just a big clusterfuck, isn't it?” He sighed inwardly as his gaze returned to the two ponies in front of him. “Can I just… be alone for a bit? I need to think.” He spoke softly, too bothered with internal conflicts to raise his voice. They both looked at each other for a moment before nodding slowly towards him, accepting his request. Cadance silently stood up and cast a last glance at the two of them before giving him his requested space and exiting the room. “As you wish. There are guards outside of the door if you need anything. Feel free to ask them to fetch me, I'll be available whenever you need me.” She smiled lightly at him, as she took a few steps back and towards the door. John couldn't find the right words to say, thus he responded with a nod and returned the smile. She kept her smile as she followed Cadance's hoof steps and made her way towards the door, stopping just shy of it and glancing back at John. “For what it's worth, I'm… I'm glad you're back,” she near whispered before her horn glowed yellow and the door opened, allowing her to exit the room and close the door behind her. John was finally alone in the room. Letting out a heavy sigh, he allowed his back to slide down the wall. His eyes wandered up until they were staring at the ceiling. “...Isn't this one great big clusterfuck?” he asked himself. He had no idea what to do. He just hoped that everything was going well back on Earth. He didn't know for how long he had been out cold, but hopefully not too long. Now, what the hell was he gonna do?