//------------------------------// // Chapter 45 (No canon episode this time) // Story: Spike The Brony Dragon // by red4567 //------------------------------// Cough! Cough! COUGH! COUGH! I sat up from my bed and covered my mouth. I never felt my throat so dry before.  Man! I gotta drink some water! When I opened my eyes, I had the feeling I wasn’t in Equestria anymore. The room was empty and almost pitch-black. It was so dusty, I could see the particles floating around in the thin moon light. “Where am I?” The sudden voice change shocked me. I quickly checked my body and discovered the truth. I was a human again. “I’m back home? How and when did that happen?” I looked around the room, and I realized what room it was. It was my old apartment bedroom. The only problem was...there was nothing. My posters were missing, my carpet laid bare, and my desk and computer were gone. The only thing that remained in my room was my bed. I shook my head in denial. “What’s going on? Where did all my stuff go?” I hopped out of bed and ran to my closet. All my clothes have vanished as well, leaving me in my white tank top and plaid boxers. “Something must’ve happened.” I ran into the living room. Just like my bedroom, the place was entirely vacant. All of my furniture that I spent weeks purchasing had vanished without a trace. I put my hands on my head. “What happened here?” I knew that Spike and I didn’t switch bodies because I could regain his old memories, which meant he was still in Equestria with me. So, I knew he didn’t do anything to ruin my old life. However, it didn’t answer the many questions I had on my mind. Suddenly, a bunch of letters on the floor caught my eye. They looked like they’ve been there for a long time. I picked them up and tried to read through them. I didn’t have to open the envelopes to figure out what they were. The first one had a pink card inside. The rest had notices about evictions, with the most recent one saying “FINAL EVICTION NOTICE ” in big red letters. “How long was I gone?!” If I had to guess, I would have to say the letters were almost a year old. That meant that I had to have been gone for over a year! “I need to call someone!” I didn’t have my cell phone anymore, so I needed to find someone in person. I quickly opened my front door, tore off the yellow “do not cross” tape, and ran to a nearby door. That’s when I noticed the door was boarded up and had the same yellow tape stuck upon it. In fact, all the other doors I came across bore the same resemblance. I knew it couldn’t have been a coincidence. I hurried down the stairs hoping to find the landlord. As I went down each floor, I noticed the building had seen better days. The walls were covered in big cracks, the windows had tiny pieces of broken glass, and the floors creaked so much that it sounded like they were going to collapse under me. Eventually, I came to the landlord’s office.  I banged loudly on the door. “Mrs. Amy! Mrs. Amy! It’s me, David Smith! I need to talk to you!” There was nothing but silence. I suddenly noticed a sign by the office window that said, “Apartment building condemned”. “What? When did that happen? I gotta get out of here!” I hurried out of the building, knocking over some of the do not enter signs along the way. Once I got out to the streets, I noticed how significantly dark it was. It was nighttime, I’m sure, but it was still darker than usual. I ran down the sidewalk, hoping I could find somebody to help me. At this point, I hoped that a police officer would stop me and ask why I was running in my underwear. But I didn’t see anyone around. No citizens, no police, nobody. “Where is everyone? What time is it?” No matter the time in my town, there would still be at least a few people out and about, and yet there was not a soul. I was getting worried. I started to think leaving the building was a mistake. “I need to find out what happened. There’s gotta be a newspaper or TV somewhere.” Sure enough, a newspaper page flew in the wind. I quickly caught it. When I read the headline, my hands trembled in fear. Dimensional warp dooms humanity! Half of Earth’s population vanishes! Millions dead! “‘It had been discovered that traveling to alternate places was possible, but it came at a cost,’” I read. “‘For reasons beyond science, the first ever attempt resulted in catastrophic damages. People around the globe have been either vanishing or dropping dead without any particular reason. There’s no doubt that humanity would soon perish within the next few months. Hope has abandoned us all.’” I sat on the curb trying to drink it all in. I couldn’t believe what I just read. If the first ever dimension jump was my doing, did I really cause all of this? Was it because I temporarily became Spike in a different universe, I caused all of humanity to vanish? “Th-this can’t be true! There’s no way I destroyed mankind! It’s just not possible!” I didn’t know what to do. I pretty much ruined everything without knowing how. I never knew how I could travel to alternate dimensions; it was never my idea to begin with, but it was too late to figure it out. I slumped over with my hands covering my face. I did my best to control my breathing. Someone...anyone...help me out...tell me this is all a lie...tell me that none of this is true… That’s when I heard a voice. “I had a feeling you were not what you seemed to be.” I looked up from the curb to see a tall woman in a blue dress. She had blue hair and a black tiara on her head. At first, I was confused as to who she was, but then the realization struck me. “Princess Luna? Is...that you?” I asked. “Is this a dream?” The woman nodded and turned into an alicorn. “When I saw your previous dreams in the past, something was most certainly up with you. All it took was this dream to confirm it. Now, tell me. Who and what exactly are you? It is clear that you are not a dragon.” I sighed and stood up. “I guess I should tell you. My real name is David Smith. I am a male, adult human being. I came from a universe different to yours.” “But I recall that you’ve observed the events that played out in our universe. How is that possible?” “In my universe...” I bit my lip. I was afraid how well she would take it if I told the truth, but I knew I couldn’t lie at a time like this. “In my universe, you and everypony else...are a work of fiction.” Luna took a step back. “You mean, we do not exist in your world?” “No. We don’t even have unicorns, alicorns, pegasi, or flying dragons. We don’t even have ponies that can speak our language. You guys are part of a show called ‘My Little Pony’ in my world, created by humans.” “So when you mentioned that you have seen everything that’s happened in our universe, you mean that you have watched this ‘show’?” “Yes, that’s what I meant. When I told you I saw everything that happened, I didn’t want to reveal to you that I was a human being or that you were part of a show. Everything I told you at that wedding was still the truth.” “Such an interesting phenomenon. Not only are there alternate dimensions, there happens to be one where our lives are written by others. There is something that I don’t understand. Why are you doing all of this? What exactly happened that made you want to change everything in Equestria instead of going back to your own world?” “Well...” I looked away. “To be honest, my life in my old world wasn’t thrilling or exciting. I had a normal life. I worked a normal job. Everything was normal (except for a certain year). When I came to your world, I was excited I could live the life as a pony...or dragon in this case. I realized I went all the way back to when you escaped the moon, so I decided I could try to change certain events and prevent certain future disasters from happening.” “That would explain why you tried to help me fit into modern day Equestria and Celestia to practice her acting abilities. You witnessed what happened in your ‘show’ and wanted to make sure we didn’t cause any mishaps. But let me ask you something. Do you not have friends or family in your world? Do you ever miss them?” I took a deep breath. “Sometimes. Though, I rarely kept contact with my parents, and my friends and I weren’t that close. I don’t even know how to get back anyways, and who knows how much time has passed back in my world? I doubt that mirror portal would help.” “What mirror portal? Are you talking about…?” Luna realized what I meant. “So you are right. You have seen everything. Does anypony else know who you really are? Have you informed Twilight and her friends?” I shook my head. “No, I haven’t. I didn’t tell anyone else about who I was. Like I said, I want to wait until the time is right to tell them. There was one person who already knew about me, however.” “Who would that person be?” “Discord.” Luna raised her eyebrows. “How did he know about you?” “I don’t know. Somehow he figured out who I was. I don’t know if it was some sort of ‘Discord sense’ or he had something to do with bringing me here, but he seemed to know everything about me. Is Discord omnipotent?” “That I do not know. He is a strange creature. Whatever his wisdom and knowledge is, it would be something only he knows.” I sighed. “So, I guess now you know who I really am, and what a real human being looks like.” I looked down at my clothes. “Trust me, my outfits look better than this.” “I suppose I can take your word for it. Thank you for telling me. I would try to visit you in your dreams if I need further questioning, but...” Luna looked at me. “Why must you do this alone? Would you prefer it if I helped out?” I was hesitant with my answer. “I’m...not so sure. I want to keep most of this knowing-the-future stuff private. I know you can keep a secret, but if you helped me, Celestia might grow suspicious and question you. I will only ask for your assistance if I know for a fact nopony else would find out.” “I understand. If it’s not a secret, does this show of yours have an ending? Have you witnessed it? If so, what happens to Celestia and me?” “Well...let’s just say that you two would no longer rule Equestria.” Luna widened her eyes. “What dreadful disaster caused us to pass on?!” “It was the lack of one. You and Celestia would retire after entering an era of peace, and you would pass the leadership to Twilight. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t...pass away anytime soon.” Luna looked away. “I would not consider retiring so soon after coming back from the moon. When does this happen?” “Not very far into the future. I have no idea what the timeline is in your world, and the episodes in the show occur much differently than what I’ve observed.” “I do not understand why Celestia and I would consider retiring. It seemed like only yesterday I came back to Earth, and to relieve myself of my princess duties so soon seems so sudden. ” “Yeah, you weren’t the only one surprised. I had a feeling that Twilight would become a ruler someday, but I never knew she was going to rule all of Equestria.” “Should I oppose the idea when Celestia considers it?” “It does seem sudden if you two retire, but it would not seem right if she retires alone while you’re still in power. I would say just talk to Celestia about it when she brings it up, and decide for yourself whether you should retire or not.” “I shall try.” I sighed. “Thank you for talking to me, and for revealing this was just a dream.” “You are welcome, and I do hope we meet again. This has been the first time I’ve interacted with such a mythical creature. I give you my word, I will be sure that this information remains confidential.” And just like that, Luna vanished. I was still surprised I told someone my secret. At least she promised not to tell anypony else about it. Now I had somepony to talk to about my human life. Seeing how I was still dreaming, I thought I could try to lucid dream. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. Okay...think...think… Within an instant, the sound of chatter filled my eardrums. I looked around and suddenly noticed everyone was back. The hustle and bustle of my old town had returned. I sighed in relief. “Experts are still looking into the unusual celestial phenomenon that occurred over a year ago,” I heard a TV reporter say, “but it’s safe to say there is nothing to be concerned about.” Suddenly, I heard a loud honking sound. I turned around to see a gold painted Lamborghini approaching me. It halted right next to me and opened its roof, revealing my boss and a few of my coworkers. “Get in, David,” Mr. Johnson said. “We’re going to Las Vegas!” “Mr. Johnson, what’s all this?” I asked. “I didn’t know you owned a Lamborghini.” “Well, PaperTinc has become the world’s first ever quadrillion-dollar company, so I took the liberty of purchasing some high-top apartments in Las Vegas for all of my top-rated employees, including you. Now, come on. Don’t worry, we’ve got clothes in the trunk.” I quickly hopped into the front seat and buckled my seatbelt. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Isn’t Las Vegas pretty far from here?” “If you go by roads, yes.” Mr. Johnson pressed a button, and wings suddenly appeared on the sides of the car. “But the way we’re going, we don’t need roads.” The Lamborghini shot off into the night sky. It really was fun to lucid dream.