It felt like a dream. A warm and happy dream, that he thought, was impossible. Yet here he is, being loved and appreciated by everyone, but in a new world. Ponies, dragons, changelings and so on. It felt like, he was in heaven, feeling the embrace of guardian angels. During the party, everyone had fun and Johnny received gifts and sweets from nice ponies and non-ponies.
Dukey couldn't help but to feel happy. When he sees his friend being happy, he would feel sweet warmth inside of him. Back then, it was impossible to be happy. It always felt cold and empty. However, that was all in the past, as they found a new home and a new community of nice people, who will do anything to make him and his best friend smile. But at the same time, he had a feeling, that he and Johnny are not completely free from the shackles of the past yet and they need more help. Fortunately, Twilight, her friends and the princesses will be there for them. So, as long as they're here, everything will be finally okay.
Applejack went to him after finishing her talk with her friends and witnessed Johnny having a good time, while confetti was falling.
"Ah must say, we did a fine job." she was amazed by the results.
"Yep. Indeed" he agreed.
They watched, as Rainbow Dash flew with him in the skies. Sure, he had to play catch up with her, since he was slower than the prismatic mare, thanks to his sloppy experience.
"Geez. That surely looks sloppy." He commented about Johnny's flying skills.
"It will take time for him to improve. Trust me." Applejack assured him.
Meanwhile, Princess Celestia felt relieved, yet sceptical at the same time.
"At last, I was able to save someone...but is he completely free?" she thought to herself.
"Princess Celestia?"
She looked at Twilight, who was next to her.
"I have a question. Why did you decide to get everyone involved?" She asked.
The Princess of the Sun lowered her ears, as she explained her reasoning to that choice:
"It's because I have to make up for my biggest mistake. Back then, I wasn't able to save my little sister from her darkness. She felt alone and unloved...much like Johnny. However, she took it too far and transformed into Nightmare Moon. I couldn't reason with her, so I had no choice but to banish her to the moon with the Elements of Harmony. I felt guilty for doing it and even more for ignoring her cries for help. Had I've known about the issue earlier and took action immediately, then none of those terrible events would ever happen. And even though you and your friends helped my sister guiding to the light, I still felt the guilt inside of me. And when you brought up your friend being in a devastated state, I knew, that I had to do something fast...so I came up with that suggestion to gather everyone, so he would not fall in the darkness like Luna. And it worked. Even though I wasn't able to save Luna back then, I was able to save his life just the right time, before things would get worse..."
"Everyone did a good job, so we should be proud of that achievement!" Twilight smiled, however Celestia looked sceptical.
"However, there is still a long way to go. You can see them smiling, assuming that they were finally brought to the light. But we should not end our mission prematurely. There are still some scars from the past, that it'll be taken care of. We have to make sure, nopony will relapse themselves back to the dark again." She explained.
"I know. We will do our best." The princess of Friendship promised.
Celestia smiled, knowing that the Guardians of Harmony will not forget the task. After all, Operation: Healing Light is still ongoing and they will make sure, they won't rest, until the shackles of the past were broken.
Back to the party, everyone were playing some games and danced on the floor, as the sounds of cheerful music can be heard. And Johnny was the main star. He appreciated every single bit of this moment, turning a devastating moment of sorrow into an incredible and fun memory full of love. Even the fillies and colts were adoring him, since they see him as a special pegasus. Can't blame them. Being a pegasus with alicorn wings did have it's benefits.
During which, Dukey felt like something is on his head. It couldn't be the top hat, since it was a bit heavier. Sure enough, when he looked up, he saw a light pink Alicorn baby with purple mane, fading to pink and cyan streaks.
"Oh, hey there! What are you doing on my head?" He asked.
She teleported in front of him and then behind and so on. Obviously this confused him, but Cadence couldn't help, but giggle.
"I see. You have met my daughter, Flurry Heart." She responded, as Flurry teleported on her arms.
"Well for a baby, she is quite...mischievous." he scratched his head.
"She does have an adventurous personality." A voice can be heard and they saw a white unicorn with blue mane and blue hooves.
"Dada!" Flurry was happy to see her dad. Meanwhile, Twilight came to Princess Cadence and saw her niece flying around.
"Hey, uhm. Are you Flurry's dad?" The hybrid asked.
"Of course. My name is Shining Armor." He introduced himself.
Dukey couldn't help but to make a straight face. The name alone Is pretty much like the phrase "A knight in shining armour."
"Oh my god. As if this wasn't that obvious enough, he is with a princess. But I'm not gonna judge them, even though it does sound a bit cliched." He thought to himself.
His thought was interrupted, when Flurry Heart teleported right in front on his face and the hybrid jumped.
"It seems like, Flurry likes you." Cadence giggled.
"You can say that again." The hybrid smiled, despite the Alicorn foal pinching his cheeks.
As Twilight and later, her friends watched this unfold, they giggled. A few seconds later, the purple Alicorn discussed something with them in secret and came to the hybrid.
"Hey. How's the time with Flurry Heart?" Rainbow asked.
"As well, as you can expect." Flurry was still stretching his cheeks, like they were made of rubber.
Twilight used her magic to get the foal to her arms and played with her a bit.
"One more thing, can you get your friend, please? We have something to show it to you." Rarity asked.
"Okay then" the hybrid soon walked around and found his best friend, having fun.
"Hey, man!" He looked at his friend.
"Well, Rarity said, that I have to go with you because of another present or something." The pony/dog hybrid explained.
"What is it?" The black pegasus was curious.
"Come with me and they will show us." He replied.
The two stallions went to the spot, where Rarity was. However, they couldn't find her. Suddenly, they were blindfolded and before they could panic, they heard a familiar voice:
"Chill out, guys! It's me!"
It came from Rainbow Dash.
"What's the big idea!?" They asked her in unison.
They got pushed by Rainbow Dash and Applejack and it went on, until they arrived their destination: a house. Twilight soon quietly opened the doors and they were brought in by them.
"Alright, you can take these off." Said the blue pegasus mare.
They took their blindfolds off, only to see the inside of the house, decorated with gems, flowers, balloons and so on. There was also a shelf full of comics, a fridge full of tasty treats, carpet made with silky velvet and a lamp with black and yellow stripes.
"No way!" Johnny was stunned in awe.
"You actually made a home for us!?" Dukey was also in the same mood as his best friend.
"Yep! We just want you feel welcome at your new home!" Pinkie hopped around them
"We have decorated everything with all the beauty and passion. It needed some glamour and excitement of course." Said Rarity.
"And the awesomeness, it comes with!" Rainbow Dash smirked confidently.
While they look around their new house, Johnny was looking at the shelves. He took one of them out and looked at the cover. It contained a pegasus mare with mane similar to Rainbow's, but all grey and black and wearing an explorer's uniform. Her name: Daring Do.
"Who is Daring Do?" Johnny was confused.
Rainbow Dash froze and flew to him quickly. "You never heard of Daring Do!? The most awesome hero and explorer of Equestria?!" she yelled in shock.
"Uhm, I'm still new here and I don't know anything about this place." he replied.
"Well, her stories are completly action-packed and there are so many awesome moments! It's worth the time reading all of them!" she sounds excited.
"If you say so. Maybe tomorrow. Right now, I'm a bit exhausted from that day." he answered.
"We understand. It was quite a rush." Twilight understood.
The ponies left went outside, leaving the two stallions looking around their new house.
The ponies cheered, that the trauma is over, however the royal sisters and the Mane 7 knew better.
"We shouldn't celebrate prematurely. Even though we made him smile, the trauma is far from over. As far as we're concerned, scars from the past still remained. So we have to keep doing our mission, in order to finally guiding them to the light completely. It's a matter of time and patience, to reach our goal." Princess Celestia gave the residents a speech.
"And as long as we keep working together, the sooner it is to bring them to serenity and peace." Luna added.
The ponies agreed. They need to continue...for their sakes.
Meanwhile...
In the night of Porkbelly, everyone's asleep. However; there was one resident, who was still awake: A teenage boy with tanned skin and blond hair, walking around his room. He looked pissed, as if something had made him snap. As he kept walking, the more questions he had in his head, such as: Why did he disappear?
Then he punched the wall again with his frustration and grabbed a picture. It contained him in the skate park, alongside a kid with flame-like hair, making cool poses. He remembered the time, they hung out together in the skate park. It was quite an awesome time. But because of his friend's disappearance, it all came crashing down. The teenager began to sob with his tears dropping on the picture.
"Why, Johnny bro...why??" He cried out.
Much like everyone else, he heard about Johnny's disappearance from the news. It spread like wildfire and since then, a massive search group began a search effort in Porkbelly, assuming that he ran away somewhere to the other side, but to no avail. They even searched around the country, but there was no sign of him.
At the same time, he felt mad. Like he want to scream at the universe. However, he didn't know, why. He needs answers.
"Johnny would never vanish from his home...There is something odd and I need to find them!" His face changed into a serious look, as he hit his fist on his other hand. The teenager dressed himself in black clothes and a hat, like a spy or something, took some items and jumped out of the window, landing to the soft bushes. He looked around and walked to the house next door to his.
The teenager looked at the white house with blue roofs and went around the back of it. He noticed, that the window was open so the teen used a grappling hook to climb up to the open window. However, he had to be quiet, as the people inside of this house, were sleeping. If he woke them up, then it would be the end of the line. As he got inside, he saw the room filled with toys, posters and feathers. All of them made him clear, whose room belongs to. However he had no idea about the feathers.
"Why are they feathers in the room?" He looked closer, to see that the feathers came from the ripped pillow to the wall. However, he had a task to do.
"What the hell, I need to concentrate!" He slapped his cheeks and looked around the room quietly and stealthily, like a ninja. He looked under the bed, every single cupboard, the closet, everything. But he couldn't find anything to help him answer his question. When he turned around at the desk, he saw a computer, still on standby. The teen went closer and turned it back on. It showed the desktop in front of him, indicating that he forgot to log off and shut down the computer before his disappearance.
"I normally shouldn't look further into his computer.." he thought to himself, but his curiosity got the better of him and started to search the entire desktop. Nothing much out of the ordinary here: pictures from the past, videos, music and some computer games. So far, so good......that was, until he came across a video file, while searching through his computer. It was filed "Day_0.mp4".
"The hell does that mean?" He asked. Why is the video here?
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming upstairs.
"Shit!" He quietly whispered, pulled out a USB stick and transferred the video to it. Time was slowly running out, as the footsteps were closer. Eventually, the computer finished transferring the file to his USB stick and he closed all of the folders and got out of the room via the window. He also managed to get rid of any traces of him, before the door was opened.
As the door opened, two adults were looking around the room. The man sighed at the sight of the messy room.
"Ugh...I told him numerous times to clean up his room! But he wouldn't listen!" He shouted, as he began to clear the toys away.
The woman felt uneasy, as a few days ago, when she was looking for her son, she got into his room. But it was silent. Assuming, he hid somewhere, she looked at every single corner of his room, but without success. That was until she looked under the bed, in which the note was found. She recalled her reaction, when she read the note. Needless to say, she was hysterical.
Back in the present, she put her hand to her husband's shoulder and said: "Maybe he hid somewhere in the world. Tomorrow, we will try to find him."
"Alright. Maybe someday, he will come back to his senses and just accept our rules!" He replied and both exited the room. Meanwhile, the teenager managed to went back into his own room undetected and looked at the USB stick. Knowing, that he has a computer on his own, he booted it up and after logging in, plugged the stick on the port, went to the folder and started playing the video.
"Let's see, what Day 0 means." He looked at the video closely.
The video started with pitch black for 5 minutes until someone turned on the flashlight. That someone was Johnny, who was hiding under his blanket. However he noticed, that the kid had bags under his eyes, indicating that he didn't sleep well. And he noticed Johnny in a sad mood. He looked around, pulled out the blue diary and held it tightly. Soon, he whispered:
"Nobody understands me... I've been stuck in an endless hell of torture and hatred for as long as I can remember...I felt tortured, pressured, stabbed, betrayed, abused and hated by almost everyone. So much so, that I decided to write on this diary....It will contain my true inner thoughts and emotions and trust me....it will be not as awesome as they think....if they ever find out my dark side...but that doesn't matter, as they ALWAYS bring me down and ignore my cries for help."
He brought a pen and started writing on the first page of the blue diary. He showed the title to the camera: "My Endless Pain". After finishing to write on the diary, he put them aside. But this is where the teenager felt alarmed: Johnny was in tears and showed the camera a wound on his left shoulder, as well as a slap wound on his left cheek.
"I received those from those bastards in this house...."
Then he got emotional, as he uttered one more sentence: "I can't be saved by them....Nobody will..." After which, he cried for the remaining 15 minutes of the video, before ending the recording with a somber look.
"Oh my god.....What does it mean?" The teenager was speechless. He didn't know, that his friend had a damaged side. His sight faded in and put from this revelation. However since it's in the middle of the night, he can't scream.
"Okay. Maybe I should go to sleep." He laid down to his bed and after a few minutes, he fell asleep.
Somewhere in a dark void, the teenager looked around with an eerie feeling in his gut.
"Where am I?" He asked. Soon, he heard evil laughter and when the teen turned his head on the other way, he found Johnny, standing still.
"Johnny? Bro?" He looked at Johnny and walked closer, but then he was terrified, once he saw the flame-haired kid put a noose around his neck.
"Johnny, don't do it!!" He ran as fast he could to get his friend. However the distance became more farther and farther, even though he was running the fastest.
"Goodbye, Gil..." Johnny mumbled in a somber tone before stepping down the chair. Gil watched in horror, as the noose strangled him for a long and agonising time, until his body became limp and lifeless. As if that wasn't terrifying enough, the demons soon celebrated over Johnny's death. Some of them look strangely familiar.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
With a yell, Gil woke up from his nightmare, while sweating bullets. His body was shaking from the horror. Soon, the first hint came into his head. By "the bastards from his house", he soon realized, that his family was responsible. Thanks to the hint, he became extremely angry and screamed as loud as he could and went outside and to the neighbouring house.
His screams caused everyone to wake up and gather to the house. Everyone was confused as of why he screamed and why he went to the house, knocking the door very hard. Soon, the family living there, opened the door.
"Excuse me, what's with the screaming?" The man rubbed his eyes. His twin daughters went outside and as soon as they saw Gil, hearts form in their eyes. But Gil was in a dark mood and soon yelled back at them:
"Shut up!! I know, what you did...You hurt Johnny!!"
The family were confused at first. They didn't know, what he was talking about.
"Uhm, we don't understand, what you are saying. We didn't do anything to Johnny whatso-"
"LIAR!!!" Gil interrupted the dad. "Stop pretending so damn sweet, you monsters!!"
The others gasped. But they were unsure, if they would believe in him or not.
Meanwhile, a cop car was driving around the streets. In it, there were two officers, one black and one white with both wearing sunglasses. On the plates, the names "Mr. Black" and "Mr. White" can be seen wearing at them.
"Wow, it feels like a déjà vu here." Mr. Black reminded.
"Can't believe, we're in the same position again, just because of you blowing up Malaysia again!" Mr. White yelled at him.
"How am I supposed to know, what button is for, after they were rearranged?" Mr. Black replied, resulting in an annoyed grunt from his partner.
But before they can discuss further, they witness a commotion afar.
"What the hell is this? We better check this out." The dark-skinned man told to his partner to drive to the scene. As soon as they got out, they witnessed Gill yelling at the family.
"Wait a second, are those Susan and Mary being yelled by that neighbour dude? " he asked.
"You don't see that quite often..." Mr. Black scratched his head and the two went to the scene and separated Gil from them. He then asked: "Hey! Hey, what's going on??"
"Gil started yelling at us!" Susan explained.
"They caused Johnny's disappearance!!" Gil rebutted.
This caused an argument between the two sides about the weight of Gil's claim. Eventually, the two cops had enough and used a megaphone to silence the fight.
"Quiet! First of all, you need to calm down! And second, as for Gil, you need evidence to support your claim!" Mr. White told to the teenager. At this point, Gil's patience ran out and gave them his USB stick.
"Just watch the damn content within. And as for you, bastards! I'm done being nice!! I'm done with the chill attitude towards you! It's over!!!" The teenager snapped at the family with all of his anger in front.
He was about to leave, when suddenly, the sisters grabbed his legs in denial.
"Don't do this, Gil!!" They were in tears, but Gil tried his best to get free by moving his legs.
"Get off from me!!" He yelled, as he kicked them. However, they were persistent as they soon jumped on him, to make an escape impossible, because at this point, the sisters have lost their minds.
"This is bad..." Mr. White commented.
"We have to do something!!" Mr. Black told to his partner and soon, both sprung into action in order to stop the chaos. They tried to pull the sisters apart from them, in which they started kicking and screaming. Eventually, they used a technique, in which they pressed a pressure point behind the twins' necks. This alone made them soon pass out.
"Don't worry. They will be fine. The effect will soon wear off in a few hours. In the meantime..Sir, please get your daughters to their room. We will talk about this later." Mr. Black assured them and the two carried the sisters to their parents.
"Y-yes, sir." The mother replied.
"And as for you, come with us." Mr. White took Gil to the police car. And his partner soon told to the crowd: "This was only a minor inconvenience."
They drove off with Gil wondering, why he was taken to the car.
"Uhm, why did you pull me in and last time, I saw you, you were agents. Why are you working as cops?" He asked.
"I blew up Malaysia again." Mr. Black bluntly replied.
"Do you really have to tell him that?!?!" Mr. White annoyingly responded to his partner, but he managed to pull himself together, before a fight even occured. "Anyway, the reason why we brought you here is for safety. I mean, Susan and Mary were hysterical and uncontrollable at that point and we would fear that they would do it again."
"The best option, we have is to put you under witness protection." Mr. Black assured him. "And as for the USB stick, we will look further into this."
"Please do it..." Gil was very serious and dark. After all, the evidence changed him. The men looked worried and after arriving at the station, they took him to a secret room, where witnesses can be safe from any danger. They lock the doors tight.
"Don't worry. You'll be safe here. In the meantime, we will look at the content of the USB." Mr. White assured Gil, but they only met with silence and a mad look. They soon went to the computer and plugged the stick in. After boot up and login, they looked at the contents, when they stumbled across the video.
"What's this? A video?" Mr. Black was confused, yet curious.
Mr. White played the video, titled "Day_0.mp4" and they watched It fully. At first, they were confused about why Johnny looked sad and tired, as if he was suffering from abuse. However, after the video was finished, their expressions change to shock and confusion.
"What the fuck?..." Mr. Black was speechless.
"I've never seen this side of Johnny before...." Mr. White was equally speechless as his partner.
They checked at the information about the video. Where it was originally found and when it was made. They were stunned by the answers.
"It was originally found on Johnny's computer and was made....3 months ago....wait a minute.." Mr. White was connecting the pieces together.
"It was made 3 months before his disappearance!!" Mr. Black told to his partner. "What's going on with Johnny during the three months before he vanished!?"
"I have no idea...This is quite a mystery." The dark-skinned man sighed. "We have to find out."
Suddenly, mist started to surround the men and before they knew, they saw a hooded figure and upon closer inspection, the figure was all black with a helmet hiding the identity.
"Who the hell are you!??! Are you friend or foe??" They pull their guns out, but the figure just stood here.
"I'm not here to harm you...I know about your problem and I'm willing to help you and your friend about your crusade." The mysterious figure spoke in a distorted
voice. "Trust me, I come without weapons this time. And as for my identity, it's none of your goddamn business. Focus on the task, if you want closure."
"Uhm...like I said, who are you??" Mr. Black demanded an answer. But the figure waved its finger and said: "Call me.....'The Shadow'. And I will guide you to the answer."
The Shadow soon used another smoke bomb to engulf the room and when the smoke cleared, he was gone.
"This is....bizarre..." Both men were speechless. Who was "The Shadow"? Before they could answer, they heard a loud scream.
They immediately rushed down to the secret room, only to see Gil awake and full of sweat. He was breathing heavily with his eyes widened.
"What happened??" Mr. Black asked.
"Another nightmare..." Gil was struggling to complete his sentence. "And it's worse than before!!"
"Calm down! What did you see in your nightmare?" Mr. White asked to the teenager.
He explained, that he was in an unknown era and witnessed Johnny committing suicide in various ways. Hanging, self-harm, immolation, falling from big heights and finally with a gunshot to the head. And he was met with evil demons laughing and celebrating his death.
"Oh my god....Are you serious?" The Caucasian asked in horror.
"Y-yeah..." Gil was in tears.
"Man...this is gonna be a hard case to solve..." Mr. White sighed and both went inside to comfort Gil, who was a mess after the nightmare.
The next day in Equestria...
Twilight, Spike and Starlight brought two therapy couches to prepare for the upcoming therapy session. Later, Johnny and Dukey arrived inside. Both had bags under their eyes.
"Oh my goodness... " Starlight was worried.
Twilight put herself together. She had a mission to do. She smiled and said: "Welcome, guys! Please play down on the couches. We will soon begin the therapy session."
They both did so, what she said.
"You look like, you haven't slept well." Spike spoke to them.
"Ya think!??!" Johnny was agitated.
"The nightmares were persistent..." Dukey answered.
"Wow...Anyway, let's start with a simple exercise. Please close your eyes as hard, as you can." Twilight instructed the two stallions and they closed their eyes. She then asked: "What are you currently seeing?"
"I see...demonic monsters.." Johnny explained.
"Okay, what are they doing?" The purple mare asked, while writing down her observations.
"They're getting...closer and closer with their sharp claws and teeth...and scary eyes..." Dukey was starting to feel uneasy.
"Uhm...ok...What else?" Twilight continued to ask about what they were seeing. However, she witnessed Johnny feeling tense and scared with constant moving and sweating. Soon, his friend followed suit. She tried to calm them down, but to no avail.
"They're getting closer! No! No!! Stop it!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Johnny screamed and picked up a piano.
"Wait a minute, where did you get that-" She couldn't finish her question, as Johnny slammed the piano down on her. Miraculously, she managed to crawl out from it with only a few bruises.
"Ow...." Twilight moaned in pain.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought..." Starlight sighed.
"Yep..." Spike did the same.
To be continued....