//------------------------------// // Broken Reality // Story: Life and Future // by AshuraZXexianGlitch //------------------------------// Section 4 Broken Reality Twilight: I couldn't breathe, it felt like something was around my neck. I thrashed about trying to get whatever it was that was choking me. I was restrained; all I saw was black. I still couldn't breathe; I was sure I was going to die. But then I heard something in my ear. It was like a faint whisper. "I'm here, its okay." "What?" I asked feeling myself calm. I looked around and saw only darkness. "I'm here, its okay." The whisper said again. It seemed to echo around me. It was a soothing hard voice, one that was familiar. It was my father's voice; when I was young my father would say that to me. It was hard for me, the life I was given. A hard challenged life, always moving, never stopping. My father would tell me that he was there for me and it was all going to be okay. 'I'm here, its okay Twilight. I won't let anything hurt you.' "I'm here, its okay Twilight. I won't let anything hurt you." The whisper said, it wasn't my father. I realized it was Ashura, he was whispering in my ear. I looked around and saw a bright spot of light. I felt what was restraining me, lift from my body. The light soon engulfed my eyes. A picture started to appear, the darkness was fading and so was the bright light. The next thing I knew, I was looking at a bandaged mare and a worried sick stallion. "I'm here, its okay." "Ash?" I asked feeling light headed. "Hold it, don't move." Ash said stopping me from moving. "What happened?" I asked looking at him; it was good to see him. I felt safer now than I ever did my whole life; my father was the only one to make me feel like this. Well I guess he was the only one to make me feel like this. "To put it bluntly, you died." He said looking at Synith, who looked unsure of the situation. "I remember Atom, he—he killed us." I said feeling sick. I couldn't hold back the bile that forced itself into my throat. Ashura had grabbed a nearby trash can, and held it to me. As I threw up into the can, Ash was rubbing my back. "Atom didn't kill us. That's the power of a powerful Sider." He said taking the trash can away. I looked at him with disbelief. "Who are you Ashura?" I asked, he wasn't wearing his fedora. His mane was a mess, like he was rubbing through it nervously. His eyes looked so old. He was looking at me, looking ashamed of himself. "Like I said, I'm an artist and a writer." I gasped when his eyes flashed blue. He rubbed his mane, making it less of a mess. Ash couldn't look me in the eye. But, I still could see them, his eyes were still blue. Just like Atom's eyes were, same shade and everything. "Do you wear contacts or something?" Synith asked confused. He looked at her, his eyes were red again. When he blinked, they were green. "A tortured soul, holding secrets. The first day we met." He blinked again, and his eyes were black. Pupils white, black irises. "I created a world. It wasn't on purpose, but I was real." "You made the Siders?" I asked looking at Synith; whom looked at me with confusion. "In a way, yes. Words are powerful, creating reality on paper." His eyes returned to normal. That dark crimson, eyes that held so much. "So, you're saying our reality is a storybook, for someone to read. That we live on paper, words telling our lives. That's how we live, someone has to read it, to make it reality." Synith asked looking so confused. It was clear she was starting to get a headache. She probably was uneasy from not resting at the hospital. I saw that her wound was bleeding. "Not exactly, everything is a story being told. Your life is a book that is being told. No matter how you look at it, everything is and has a story. A book or story is an extension of reality. Reality is thin; imagination is the key to make reality. To see the words that weave reality together; it is a blessing within a curse." He said messing up his mane again. He looked so tired, not tired as in needed sleep. Tired as in old, he looked so old. "How come you never rest Ash, you let yourself do this to yourself, why not rest for once. Take a break from it all, let someone else take the burden for a while. It would be good for you.” I said trying to cheerful. He looked at me like I was insane. I recoiled back, wasn’t really expecting him to look at me like that. “You’re kidding right? I couldn’t do that to someone. How could I do that to someone? It is my burden to bear. I cannot do that to someone, I couldn’t do that to anyone.” He said with all seriousness. I felt bad, I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t take that burden off of him, he wouldn’t let anyone have it, even for a little. “Then let me help you.” I said looking at him. He looked at me shocked. I bet he never expected to hear that from someone. I saw tears in his eyes. I was confused, why would he be crying. “That’s why I can’t remember my best friend. He helped me, and now he is gone.” He said closing his eyes. The tears burned his eyes as they fell to the ground. He rubbed them off and on, he soon left the room in a quick huff. “Ash?” Synith asked, she was just as confused as we were left in the room together. “What just happened?” “I’m not quite sure what just happened. I was only trying to help.” I said trying to get out of bed. Synith pushed me back down on the bed. “You need to rest, we don’t need any more harm to come to anyone. It’s finally peaceful, let’s catch our breath, so we can handle what will happen next. Because at this point, I’m scared Twilight, I really am.” Synith looked at me worried. She certainly has changed hasn’t she? “Alright, but you have to rest too. I don’t want to sit in bed alone.” I said giving Synith a small smile. She smiled at me and called into bed with me. “Not what I meant, but okay.” “Ash’s humor, I bet if you said that to him, he would have done the exact same thing.” Synith had lain down, resting her head on my pillow. I set myself and turned on my side, mirroring her. It was peaceful, it really was for once. We looked into each other’s eyes for a bit, then Synith let out a light sigh. “Just get comfortable?” I asked with a chuckle. She probably felt awkward. Ashura and I were her first friends. How could someone go without friends? Although, how could I even say that. For a good majority of my life, I had no friends. I isolated myself from everyone, except for Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, Mom and Dad. Those four where the only ones that were close to me for the first part of my life. Now I can’t even imagine being without my friends. “It’s hard, everything is so hard Twilight. Why does it have to be so hard?” Tears were starting to well up in her eyes. They soon made their way down her face, soon soaking into my sheets. I pulled her close to me and hugged her. “If life was simple, what would be the point in living? We would get bored with our lives, we really would. We all need something to cling too. To make a drive on and push through it all. But this, this is overwhelming. How can Ashura even stand it?” I asked hugging her tighter. The act was mirrored by her. It felt reassuring that she was here for me, and that I was here for her. I just wish I could help Ash. Ashura: I was kicking myself right now. I let my emotions get to me, how I could I do that. Dammit, I came here to get away, but I brought it with me. All the troubles will never go away, why I can’t just escape what I have been given. My eyes burned as the tears continued to rise. I rubbed them, it really hurt to cry. “You alright?” I heard Twilight ask me. The tears were starting to stop, until I saw her. I turned away from her, feeling ashamed for her seeing me. I just wanted to do my job, protect Twilight and then get the hell out. I wasn’t expecting this, why did this happen? “No, I’m not alright Twilight. I just wanted out; I’m so stupid for it too. There is no getting out of it, I’m stuck in this forsaken problem.” I said rubbing my head. My mane was a complete mess, my eyes were red from the crying and me rubbing them raw. She came up to me and tried to comfort me. But the best thing she could think of was hugging me. It was enough to calm myself down. I hugged her close, tight and close. I felt safe with her. “I think it’ll be okay Ash. Everything will be fine, trust me. I promise you, everything will be alright.” She said looking into my eyes. Her brilliant violet eyes sparkled with life. I couldn’t help but lean in, we killed softly. Made me feel much better, with her; I just felt complete. “You sound like me.” I said with a chuckle. She pushed me a little, giving off a small laugh herself. The tears had vanished from my eyes completely. I finally had a smile on his face. “Where is Synith?” “She fell asleep in my bed. I left her be, she needs to rest.” She said with a sigh. Everything was still for once. Everything was going to be fine. “Well isn’t that nice. But I’m not done yet!” We heard Atoms voice. Simultaneously turning in his direction. His green eyes burned into me. “No, that isn’t possible. How did you manifest?” I asked shocked. This didn’t make sense; he wasn’t "able to become real, unless I died in the torture. He had a large grin on his face. I ran at him, the only thing I could think of was to kill him. I tackled him and pinned him to the wall. “You can thanks Rose for that.” He said with a grunt after he was smashed into the wall. He pushed at me, but I wasn’t going to give in so easily. If it was possible I’d end it here and now. But that wasn’t really do-able unless I had another arm to use. He was trying to trip me up on my back hooves. “Who is Rose?” I asked head butting him. Everything went fuzzy for a little bit. When my head cleared I head-butted him again. I should have just stuck with the first one, because the second one sent me in a wild spin inside my head. Atom had a free chance to trip me up, and he took it gladly. I was slammed on the ground; getting the breath knocked out of me. “Son of a…” “Only one head-butt you’re supposed to use Ash.” Atom said with a laugh. He kicked me in the side, making my stomach turn. I couldn’t help but cough. I was helpless, and it was my own damn fault. “Stop!” I heard Twilight scream. The next thing I saw was her tackling Atom. Atom was taken surprise, but when he realized what happened; he reacted quickly. He punched Twilight across the face with his hoof. She fell to ground, but she was strong; she forced herself to her hooves. By this time, I had gotten my breath and mind back. Atom was focused on Twilight, which was a huge mistake. I tackled him again and forced him into a bookshelf. The books shook madly and gravity took its course. The bookshelf and books came crashing down on him. Atom let out a scream before he was crushed under the weight of the many books. “What the hell is going on?” I heard Synith ask as she walked into the room. She winced in pain from her stitching breaking. She must have gotten out of bed to fast. She looked at us and then at the pile of books. “Study session?” “Not exactly, but kind of.” Twilight said laughing. I went to her and kissed where she had been punched from Atom. “I’m not done yet!” Atom yelled at the top of his lungs as he burst out of the book pile. I ran over to him and forced him to the ground. I couldn’t hold him, for some reason he was much stronger than he was moments before. “Dammit.” I said as I was bucked away from him. I pushed myself up and looked at him. His eyes, they were not green or even Sider black. They were pitch black, and they were bleeding blood. No, this couldn’t be happening. “This reality is mine!” A gust of black energy burst out of him. I couldn’t get myself to move, I was stunned; I just couldn’t believe this happened, that this was actually happening. The next thing I saw was Twilight running into the darkness. At that moment I was able to get to my hooves. I was too late, I watched helplessly as Twilight disappeared in the darkness. “Nonononononon. No!” I screamed pounding into the ground as hard as I could. This can’t be happening. “Twilight!” “What just happened?” Synith asked walking up to me. I didn’t hear her, this wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this was possible, but it happened. How could this happen? “Ashura, what the fuck happened?” “She…Twilight…she’s…she’s dead.”