Chapter the Twenty Second, or “Epilogue”
I wake up suddenly from my bed, gasping for air. God, that was terrifying, I think to myself as I run my hands through my wet hair. Suddenly, a wave of confusion hit me. Wait a sec… what was?
I throw off the covers of my bed and get up, looking for my glasses. Finding them, I slip them on and try to collect my thoughts. Ok, so let’s recount today… I woke up with Applejack, went back in time with Sparkler, went back to this morning to have a foursome, talked to Mac about spells, went to Twilight’s, went to work, gave the lecture, saw Dr. Clark, got a refill on my prescription, went out to eat with Twi, came back home, went to sleep… What am I so scared of?!
Suddenly, I hear a small noise, making me jump. “What the hell?!” I yell.
“Sebastian?” says a sleepy voice from outside my room. “Are you ok?”
“Nothing, Shy!” I assure her, still looking around for the source of the noise. “Just hearing things!”
“Do you need your prescription?” she asked helpfully.
“No, I’ve got it here!” I reply. “Just go back to sleep!”
There’s a small pause before she speaks again. “Do you want me to help you relax?” she asks meekly.
“… What kind of relax?” I ask suspiciously.
I can almost picture her blush. “Well, Mackie wouldn’t mind if I went with you for the night and gave you a-“
“NO! No no no!” I cut her off frantically. “No, I don’t need that! But, uh, thanks for the offer!”
Another long pause ensues. “Do you need a hug?” she asks softly.
I think about it before sighing and picking up my clothes, which were next to the bed stand. “Just hold on a sec,” I call.
I pull on a t-shirt and some shorts before going over to the door and opening it. Almost immediately, a pink blur tackles me and hugs me tight. I just sigh and hug back reluctantly. “Thanks, Shy,” I murmur softly. “I needed this.”
She looks up with those beautiful blue eyes of hers. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asks quietly.
I shake my head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” I assure her. “I’ve gone through worse scares.”
She gently kisses my forehead and pulls away. “Goodnight, Sebastian,” she says with a small smile.
“Night, Shy,” I reply, lying back in bed.
She slowly closes the door, leaving me to my thoughts. What could have scared me so badly? I ask myself for the umpteenth time. I don’t remember my nightmare, but the feeling’s still there… the feeling of inescapable doom and horror…
Suddenly, I hear the noise again. Barely stopping myself from screaming, I stay perfectly still for a few minutes. Sure enough, the noise comes back, and I’m able to hear it clearly:
Ra ta ta ta.
It sounds like… drums?
I hear the noise again, this time a little more clearly. Ra ta ta ta.
I move out of my bed quietly, looking around for the source of the noise. Where is that coming from? I ask myself. Is it coming from outside?
Sure enough, the tiny beating got louder as I move closer to my door. I open it to find it get louder and louder as I move forward. I begin quicken my pace, finding myself first outside of my room, then my apartment, then walking up the stairs. I finally reach the top floor, and by this time the noise had multiplied in loudness. Ra Ta Ta Ta.
Where is it?! I think frantically, searching around me like a blind beggar. My eyes fix themselves on a room right next to the royal suite, drawing my curiosity. I’ve never seen that before…
As I approach it, the noise only gets louder. Ra Ta Ta TA. Ra Ta TA TA! RA TA TA TA!!! It completely consumes me, drowning out any thought as I approached that damn door. As I stood there, writhing in pain, I hear a voice cut through all the racket.
Open the door, nitwit, he commanded.
Unwittingly, I respond. Almost immediately, the noise stopped, and I was free to open my eyes. I find a small room, occupied by only two things: The first was a familiar blue-haired man, murmuring softly as he tossed and turned on the floor. The second was a grey statue, covered in a pink aura.
The statue was by far the most interesting piece in the room. It seemed to be meshed together by a four year old with a passion for animals. The most disturbing part about it, however, was the look of abject terror it held on its face as it shielded itself from an unknown force.
Discord, I thought to myself. I stood and marveled at the statue before the new voice spoke up.
Feel free to touch, it- or should I say, he- says playfully. Without question, I walk right through the aura and place my hand over the statue’s long, thin body.
Almost immediately, I’m pulled out of my body and flung across the universe. I feel a sudden jolt of power and electricity and rain, all mixed into one, all coursing through my veins. Suddenly, it all stops, and I’m left feeling a strange, hollow feeling. Not hollow in the bad way, hollow as in… detached… I’m surrounded by darkness, a darkness almost comforting yet slightly eerie at the same time… I wish there were some light…
As if to answer my wish, four lights come into view. The first one is an ice blue color, shining with a cold, bright light. The second one is a filthy yellow color, somehow seeming grimy. The third is a dim golden color, clean, but faltering. The last is a poisonous green color, bobbing in and out of sight.
Suddenly, the ice blue light speaks. “Honestly, I don’t see what they think they can accomplish by hiding in that dimension,” it drawled. It was the kind of voice that belonged to a guy you’d really like to punch in the face, the kind you find in smug coffee shops or hipster bars. “As if they can ever hope to run from my power!”
“Of course, sir,” the filthy yellow one said sweetly. This voice sent icy chills over my skin, like I’d just been bathed in cold water. “Nevertheless, we must be cautious. They may have made powerful allies in this new world, and these allies might prove to be a challenge.”
The blue light scoffed. “Please, I could simply erase their existence. I could erase them, rearrange them, make them extinct, rebirth them, then crush them all without even batting an eyelid!”
“Then why don’t you?” the gold light asked sardonically. Unlike the others, this voice sounded tortured and ragged. However, a bit of defiance shines through.
There’s a cold silence before the first light speaks up again. “Why don’t you take your friend back into the torture chamber and rough him up a bit? I’m sure Sombra would love some company there!”
“You know I’m right,” the golden one goes on with quiet pride. “You know you can’t, simply because you don’t have the guts to. What’ll you do with all the power in the world when you’re so worldly yourself? What’ll you do when-”
“SILENCE!!!!” the blue one bellows. The ice blue light suddenly flares, nearly blinding me. It takes a deep breath, dims itself back to its original state, and continues its speech calmly. “I’m sure you know the extent of my powers perfectly well,” he says with restrained rage. “And therefore, you know what will happen if I lose control.”
“Tsk, tsk, Doctor,” the voice from the greasy yellow light says reprovingly. “You know better than to mouth off to our ruler!”
“He’s not really YOUR ruler, is he, Master?” the third voice asks wearily. “You’re only playing the part of sidekick, waiting for the moment to strike.
The first voice chuckles. “Perhaps,” he admits quietly. “but you know me: always ready to play a game!”
The first voice sighs in vain disgust. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Just take that wretch to the dungeons, Time Lord, and do what you please with him.”
“As you wish, Emperor Blueblood,” the second voice says, once again using his oily voice. Both the yellow and the gold lights fade out, leaving only the blue and green lights in my line of sight.
The blue one sighs. “I nearly lost control again,” he mutters angrily.
“Don’t worry about it, my lord,” a seductive voice says comfortably. I realize that the voice is coming from the poisonous-green light. “With one with so much power, you handle it admirably. Sombra couldn’t last a few months without going mad and destroying his empire. Now we have him in the dungeons with that Doctor and that pathetic resistance movement. Everything’s under control!”
“Is it?” the blue light asked quietly, not sounding as pompous and sounding more scared. “I hardly feel like the same stallion I was when I put on this damned amulet, and even less so than when I first discovered this power I wield. Who’s to say that I’m not mad, and that I haven’t just somehow molded the world in my mad image?”
“Let’s not think about that,” purred the green voice. “Instead, let’s focus on crushing the former rulers and their followers. Surely, it can’t be so hard?”
“No…” the blue voice said unsurely, his light growing a bit less icy. “But why should we? We’ve got all that we could ever hope to have. Why waste time and effort searching for them?”
“Because they need to be punished!!” the green voice hissed, losing its former silkiness. “Punished for all they’ve done in the past!! Punished for their crimes against us!!”
There’s a deadly silence before the blue light speaks again. “Yes,” he growls, regaining the arrogant anger exhibited earlier. “They must be punished. But first they must be humiliated. They must know what it’s like to be a mouse in a trap. They must feel the pain that we have. They must feel our anger. And they shall know it in the cruelest way possible.”
“I love the way you talk, my lord,” the green light croons.
“Get away from me, Insect Queen,” the ice cold light said in disgust. “Remember that you are a member in my court, and not the other way around.”
“Yes, my lord,” the green light says reverently.
The icy blue light chuckled. “Perhaps we shall have a use for the two Time Lords after all…”
Suddenly, I feel a falling sensation, as if I were zooming down a hundred stories. My life flashes before my eyes as I brace for impact, and-
Whoa… what just happened?!
I find myself back in the room with Discord’s statue, my hand still on the twisted shape. I pull away quickly, as if the damned thing would burn me. I look around anxiously, listening for the sound of drums. Finding nothing but Shining Armor’s soft snoring, I sigh in relief and look back up to the mixed-up statue. “Did… Did you just help me?” I ask the statue in quiet amazement.
The statue doesn’t move, but I get the creeping sensation that it had somehow changed. It no longer looked as if it were protecting himself from anything. No, it seemed as if Discord was trying to restrain himself, and the look of horror on his face was replaced with a triumphant cackle.