//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Power of Emotions // by awdawfddsgse //------------------------------// It was just one more minute until you had officially been awake for seventy two hours. Your twenty one year old brother (who was also your roommate) had made a bet with you a few days ago, stating that if you could stay awake for three days straight, he would pay you twenty dollars. It was easy money, how could you refuse? You put your phone down and took a second to look at yourself in the mirror. You had blue, very bloodshot eyes and light brown, almost blond hair. You really liked your hair, the bangs came down a little past your eyebrows, which you though looked cool. Your sister had always called you blond, but it was clearly a light brown with a subtle hint of gold. You then saw the knife in your hand. "The hell? Why do I have a knife? Wait a second." You said, to no one in particular. After having been awake for so long, you weren't sure if you were talking or thinking any more. Suddenly you remembered, sleep deprivation was just getting the better of you. You had been borrowing your brothers butterfly knife, and were flipping it open and closed, because it was something that required just enough concentration to keep you awake. You continued flipping it, and checked your phone timer. 72:00:04 You smiled to yourself. "Easy money." You stopped the timer on your phone, latched the knife closed, put both in your pocket, and trudged back to your room, feeling like you were ready to fall with every step you took. With the last bit of your energy, you stumbled towards your bed through all the clothes that lay on your floor, trying to keep your eyelids up, you noticed your hard plastic guitar case, laptop, amp, microphone, and backpack with the rest of your recording equipment in it, all sitting on or near your desk. You tripped over your bed frame, and started to fall onto your bed. You were asleep before your head hit the pillow. You were conscious, you could feel that you were laying on something fairly soft, with your right arm dangling off into space. Your eyes were closed tight. You tried and tried to open them, but they refused to budge. It was like they were being held shut. You knew this wasn't a dream, you could feel everything, and you could hear voices, from... somewhere. "Whaddaya think it is, Twi?" Said a voice that came from somewhere to your left. "I'm not not sure, Applejack. I haven't seen anything like it in any of my books. Rarity, Spike! Where did you two find this thing?" Said a different voice from your right. They had to be talking about you. Judging by how close their voices were, you could only guess that they were standing directly over you, while you lay on this unknown, yet comfortable object. Wait did she say thing? Ouch. "Why, we were just searching for a special type of gem in the Everfree Forest, for a new dress of mine, when we found it laying on the ground, surrounded by some...strange contraptions that I have never seen before in my life." This voice sounded British, and it sounded like it came from in between the other two voices. Wait a second, now I'm "it"? Double ouch. "Then we went straight away to get Applejack. When we got back, she and my little Spikey Wikey wheeled it here in a wagon." "Anything for you, Rarity!" A fourth voice said. This voice definitely sounded more masculine then the others, though it was still high pitched, like a boy before puberty. He said what he did in an odd way, like he was in love with this "Rarity" figure. "Oh Spike, thank you. You're such a great friend!" A moment of silence for our brother in the friend zone. "The Everfree Forest? Well that most likely has something to do with it." "Golly! jus' lookit the size of it, its gotta be at least twice as tall as any of us." You were confused. You were only six foot one, how could you be double their size? That seemed illogical. "And I absolutely adore its mane! Just look at how white it is, just like my coat!" Whats a "mane"? You thought it was that part of a lion that looked like hair. You tried to think of some part of you that was white and looked like a lion's mane. She couldn't have been talking about your clothes... you remembered that you were wearing a mostly black Three Days Grace shirt and faded jeans before you passed out. Did she mean your skin? While your skin was considered white, it was technically more of an off-tan color. You then felt a soft object touch your head and pet your hair. Did she mean your hair? Your hair was light brown, not white... "Don't touch it Rarity, it could wake up any second!" So apparently, they thought you were asleep. Well better not keep them waiting. You thought to yourself. If... whatever they were got violent, you still had your brother's knife in your pocket, so you felt a bit more secure. Now then, it was time to "wake up". You tried again to open your eyes, and they finally slid open, feeling dry and crusty. You immediately regretted trying to wake up. For a split second you could make out three oddly colored heads looking down at you, though your vision was still blurred. They screamed at you without any hesitation, which startled you, and made you scream as you rubbed your eyes. Your viewpoint suddenly changed, and your vision was tinted blue. You could see yourself, about ten feet away laying on a couch staring back at you. It was a cold, wide-eyed, dead stare. You broke eye contact to observe the rest of yourself. You now had white hair, and you were surrounded by three, small, multicolored... things, and one even smaller thing. You then saw yourself burst into a cloud of white smoke before your vision lost its blue tint. You had a moment to survey what was happening. These were... Horses? Surely enough, there were three horses screaming at the spot where you had been. One of them was orange, with blonde hair; the other was white, with purple hair. The other "thing" you had seen appeared to be some kind of reptile, and it was standing very close to the white horse. The third horse was purple, with slightly darker purple hair. It had stopped screaming, but the other three saw that you were now just behind the purple one, and screamed even louder. "What? What happened? Where did it go? Why are you all still screaming?" The purple one managed to get out. "Twilight, behind you!" The reptile called out while pointing what looked like a finger or possibly a claw at you. The purple horse who had been called "Twilight" turned around with a look of shock on her face. Wait did those horses just talk? You barely managed to sputter, "What the-?" Before a purple glow surrounded you and lifted you into the air. "Wait, did it just talk?" Said the reptile. You tried to move your arms, but to no avail. You had always been uncomfortable with being restricted. It was the opposite of who you were, and it was one of your greatest fears. Nevertheless, you couldn't move the slightest bit, and this genuinely scared the hell out of you. You began screaming again. Once again, your vision tinted blue, and your perspective changed. You were now about fifteen feet behind the white and orange horses; your former self giving you the same lifeless stare. You broke eye contact once more and now noticed that the white one had a horn, as did the purple one. You made eye contact with yourself for a split second before the other you burst into another cloud of pure white smoke and disappeared, like before. Your vision was no longer tinted blue, and you could move again. This resulted in more screaming before the one they had called "Twilight" noticed you, and spoke up, surprisingly calmly. "Girls! Calm down, I think we're scaring it. We need to go get Fluttershy, and see if she can communicate with it." "Wait, I heard it say something earlier!" Exclaimed the reptile. This was all too much for you. You had no idea where you were, you were surrounded by talking horses that looked like they'd taken a bath in a rainbow, and not only could they talk, they were intelligent. Your vision glowed purple again, and you found yourself getting very tired. "Where...My...You..." You mumbled, as you passed out again. You awoke in a different room, with both your arms tied to a wall with coarse rope. You tried to reach to rub your arm, and maybe loosen the rope, but you discovered that your arms were too far away from each other to untie yourself. You looked around at the rather empty room. There was a desk with some scattered papers on it, a couple bookcases, and a staircase leading up. You could hear muffled voices coming from upstairs, and you managed to make out a few words. You recognized this voice as the purple horse, Twilight. "...Apple...tied...wall...shy...it...careful..." She said. You stopped trying. You had been struggling against your bindings for about a minute and that was long enough for you to start getting really uncomfortable. You tried pulled at the ropes one more time. Nothing happened. "No. I can't take this! I can't move, I can't move..." You mumbled to yourself, as you began to panic. You could feel the fear and rage boiling up inside of you, as you kept pulling at the ropes. You turned around so that your legs were up against the wall, pushing with all of your strength to break the ropes. With a grunt, a groan, and a muffled yell, you managed to break free. You sighed with relief, as you fell to your knees. You turned around, and saw your face in a mirror across the room that you hadn't noticed before. Your hair was now jet black. My hair changed color again? What is going on? You thought to yourself. Just then you heard a door burst open from the top of the stairs, and Twilight's voice echoed through the room. "Fluttershy, its probably upset about the ropes, go calm it down!" You sat and stared at the staircase, waiting for the one Twilight had called Fluttershy to appear. "Oh... Oh my." She mumbled, as she got to the bottom of the stairs. She looked over you with an air of fear, as she noted the torn rope that was still tied to your arms. This one was yellow with pink hair, and it had wings. You had given up being surprised at this point. Her voice wasn't much louder than a whisper. "I don't like being tied up." You said, flatly. Fluttershy gasped, quietly. "You can talk!?" She said, much louder this time, but still quiet. "It can talk!?" You heard the southern voice say from upstairs. They must have been listening. Twilight, the reptile, and the other two horses that you had seen before ran down the stairs and stared at you. "Yeah, and I really don't like being restrained. Now as I was saying before I passed out, Where am I, who are you, what are you, and what is going on?!" Twilight Stared dumbly at you, before stuttering into speech. "I-I'm Twilight Sparkle, we are currently in my basement, in Ponyville, and I... am a pony. Well, a unicorn to be more exact." That explained the horn. She was obviously nervous. Wait, wait, wait. I'm talking... to a unicorn. I have most definitely gone completely and totally insane. You thought to yourself. Your thoughts were portrayed on your face, and the only word that could describe your expression was "confusion". Twilight began stumbling with her words again. "Th-This is Applejack," she motioned toward the orange pony, who nodded, cautiously. "R-R-Rarity," she stammered, as she motioned toward the white pony, who just stared. "Fluttershy," she motioned toward the yellow pony who was the first to come down the stairs, who tried to hide behind her hair, obscuring her face from view. She seemed to be calming down. "And, last but not least, my baby dragon assistant, Spike. Now allow me to ask you the same questions. Who are you, and what in Equestria are you?" "I'm Mark, and I'm a human. Now, where is... uh... Ponyville, and how did I get here?" You stated, your voice remaining surprisingly calm for how startled and confused you still were. "Well Ponyville is a town in Equestria, and we're not quite sure how you got here, either. My friends found you in a forest off the edge of town." "Equestria? Where would this 'Equestria' be?" You asked, mind completely blank. "Equestria, is the country we live in. We've never had humans here before, so can I ask you some more questions?" "Go ahead," you say, cautiously. Suddenly, a purple flash brightens the area around you slightly, and then you see a piece of what appears to be medieval parchment, as well as a quill and ink levitating in front of her. She prepares to write. "Well, firstly-" Twilight began, before being interrupted by the other unicorn, named Rarity. "Dear I absolutely have to know, how do you do that with your mane?" "My... mane?" You replied, still unsure of what she meant. "Yes your mane." She pointed a hoof at your head. Okay, mane definitely means hair... You thought to yourself. "When we found you, it was light brown, But when we brought you to the library and started talking, it turned white. Then, when we first came down here it was black, and it just turned white again!" She said, sounding incredibly excited. You glanced back at the mirror. Your hair was gray, but definitely leaning more towards the white side. "I'm not sure. It just started happening when I woke up, apparently. All of this is completely new to me," You mumble, rather sad that you don't know, yourself. "That's strange, but it doesn't change the fact that I need to ask you some questions." Said Twilight. "Right, go ahead." You said, feeling better now that you realized they weren't going to hurt you. "When we were upstairs, before I, uh, knocked you out and brought you down here, sorry... you were teleporting, but you don't have a horn to use magic, so... how were you doing that?" "I don't know how a horn relates to magic. Magic doesn't even-" You begin to say, and then you realize where you are. Surrounded by colored, talking horses, one of which appeared to be using magic to levitate her writing utensils. "I was just kinda startled, and it started happening. I honestly don't know. Anyway, what did you mean by 'horn'?" You replied, changing your tone for fear of offending these ponies. "Oh, well there are three races of ponies. There are Earth Ponies, who are incredibly strong, Unicorns, who have horns and can use magic, and Pegasi, who have wings and can walk on clouds." "Wait, Earth ponies? I'm from Earth." You say, surprised and hopeful from hearing the name of your home. "What do you mean?" Twilight asks, clearly confused. "Earth. You know? The planet? Inside the Milky Way galaxy? Andromeda and all that?" "Not sure what or where Earth or the Milky Way are. But anyway, how did you break the rope? Asked Twilight. You looked down. You weren't even in the same GALAXY any more. What happened? You fought back tears as you contemplated the fact that you might never see home again. "Yeah, ain't nopony that strong." said Applejack. Still holding back sadness, you replied shakily. "Once again, I-I'm not sure. I just got scared, and angry, and somehow, I broke it." "Interesting, I'll have to write to Princess Celestia about this." Said Twilight, thankfully ignoring your bitterness as you began to tremble slightly. "P-Princess Celestia?" "Yeah, she and her sister Luna rule Equestria together. Since you're still completely foreign to this place, how about I tell you about some of its history, so you don't have to feel so left out?" You jump on the prospect of something to distract you from your current situation, and nod rapidly. "Well... it all started when..."