CHAPTER 21
"So... I'm assuming that voice in my head was Torrie, then." After we'd arrived back in Ponyville, the girls had broken off from our group, and headed to their respective homes. I insisted that I help Rarity fix up her store, but she said that I'd been through enough already. Sean and I just kept on walking, Sean being the one leading.
"Yeah. The same thing happened to me when I lost Hope. Don't worry man, none of us are mad at you. You just lost your way, is all." He gave me a big smile, but I still felt horrible.
"I know, but what I did was just wrong. I shouldn't have gone off on Rarity like that. I mean, I never really liked her, and sometimes she would act a bit stuck up, sure. But she didn't deserve what I did. I'm still questioning whether I deserve friends like you all or not..." I felt myself starting to choke up, and remembered what I had said about myself.
"I've caused so much pain... So much misery..."
"I'm just some crazy bastard who just happens to do some good shit every once in a while."
"I caused you so much pain..."
"Five years. Five long, insufferable years you spent, trying to find a way to bring me back..."
"I'm just a sick fuck who got lucky."
"Kyle, you OK?" I shook my head and snapped out of my trance. Sean had a concerned look on his face. "Dude, you're crying." I wiped my face, and sure enough, there were tears on my sleeve.
"I'm fine... What was it you were saying?"
"Well, come inside, I wanna show you something." Inside? I looked right in front of me. When did that house get there? "Oh, right. Sean wanted to show me something."
"Alright. What is it?"
"It's a surprise." He grinned like an idiot, and I cocked my eyebrow, but didn't press the matter. We stepped inside, and it was as I remembered it. He led me to a door that was under his stairs, and we went down a large, winding staircase, and at the bottom, there was a REALLY long hallway, with a small white square at the end. I felt a slight pain in my chest.
"Please don't tell me we have to walk that entire way..." I groaned, and he cocked his eyebrow.
"Dude. You've done some MUCH MORE exerting things than this walk. What's the big deal?" The pain in my chest got a little worse, and I gingerly put my hand on it. "What's wrong? The same thing happened to you at the party..."
"I have arrhythmia. You know, really bad heart condition, causes an irregular heartbeat. Too much physical activity or a hard enough blow to the chest'll make me have a heart attack."
"How come it hasn't acted up until now? What about all the physical stuff you've done up to this point?" He looked really worried now.
"Relax... I was first made aware of it when I was fifteen. I excersised a bit every day, and slowly made my heart stronger. Then I came here... And all the stuff I've done has made my heart even stronger. It'll still act up every once in a while, but nowhere near as much as it used to back when I was first diagnosed. Heck, this is only the second time it's popped up in a little over a year. It'll pass. Alright then... The surprise?"
"OK... Well, we just gotta take this walk, but are you sure you're up to it?" He still looked a bit concerned.
"I'm fine. Alright then." I started walking. "Onwards and upwards, ALLONS-Y!"
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"FINALLY! So... Tired..." I slumped down against the wall next to two GIANT white doors. They were around the size of aircraft hangar doors. The hangars that hold the passenger planes. Yeah. That big. I looked at Sean, who was looking up at the doors like he was ready to have a conversation with them.
"I am the Eternal Traveler of Good. May the stars in the skies watch over all, may the sun give us light, and may the moon give us beauty and mystery." Scratch that, he IS having a conversation with them. But before I can even call him crazy, a bunch of runes that were on the door moved around to take the shape of a long face with a beard that reminded me of my great, great grandfather, whom I've seen in pictures.
"What is your greatest physical fear?" The face spoke with a deep voice that echoed a lot.
"Bears..." He shuddered a bit.
"Indeed. What is the name of the hero that taught you some of your greatest lessons?"
"Mario!" I had to stifle a laugh.
"Very good. Would you sacrifice yourself to save any other person's life, no matter who they are?" Sean paused for a moment, and looked at me. He smiled broadly, and looked back at the doors.
"Yes."
The face simply nodded, and then fell apart. I heard a loud cracking noise as the doors opened, a blinding white light pouring out. I got up, and moved to Sean's side.
"So... This is your vault..." It was a clean, white color all over, and there were pedestals with all sorts of different things sitting in them sitting around the place, and various buildings. "Nice."
"Wait, that's it? No gasp? No shock? Nothing?" I shook my head, my nonchalant expression not changing at all. Sean just dropped his jaw. "How are you so chill about this?"
"Because I've seen this stuff in movies and video games. And I've spent time around Pinkie, dude. NOTHING shocks me anymore." He nodded in understanding, but I could see a glimmer of disbelief in his eyes.
"So, what do you wanna see first? We've got the library, the animal pens..."
"I wanna see the library first. I like reading. I actually used to write a bit back on Earth."
"Really? Hm. Well, come on then." When we reached the bookshelves, Sean snapped his fingers, and a large, flat, silver screen appeared, with a pixelated smiley face. "Hey, Ivy."
"Ivy... Lemme guess, she holds all of the archive data and stuff like that, and helps to keep the library organized."
"How do you know all of this stuff?"
"I'm good at guessing."
He shrugged, and looked back to Ivy. "Ivy, add Kyle Alexander Bucy, Human, to the list of things allowed to access the library."
"Added. Apply the usual restrictions?"
"You know it, Ivy." I took this as a sign that I was allowed to start looking at books, and skimmed the shelves. Nothing really piqued my interest though. I thought I even saw that crazy man-eating book from Harry Potter. As I skimmed through, I noticed one of those yellow envelopes that businesses use, and it was labled "DL-6." I realized what it was, and kept it with me, hoping that I'd be able to take it with me.
"Hey, do you have any suggestions, Sean?" I went back to skimming shelves, until Sean tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a book. "The complete guide to gaming. Sweet."
"I see you got the DL-6 case files. You can take those too, if you want." I smiled, and slipped the envelope into my jacket. I skimmed through the pages of the book a bit, and noted a few good looking spots in the it, and then slid it in my jacket. "So, what next?"
"You seem really chill about all of this. I mean, look around you! Look at all of these books! Aren't you amazed at the amount of books or something? And you found the DL-6 case files!" I shrugged, and put my left hand in my pocket.
"I'm just being really chill about all of this. This is all pretty darn cool though." I stepped out of the library, and looked around at everything, and my eyes landed on what looked like where he kept the animals. "Can I see the animals next?"
"Sure. They're not real animals though, I don't spend nearly enough time down here to take care of them all. No, I had a system of magical holograms set up by Slim to simulate any animal I've encountered."
"Slim? A cowboy?" Sean chuckled, and put his two index fingers in the corners of his mouth, and whistled.
"HEY! SLIM! COME HERE! I'VE GOT SOMEONE I WANT YOU TO MEET!" I heard some clanking metal, and then a thin looking robot with no face at all and a cowboy hat came up to me, and extended his hand, which I shook. "This is Slim. Slim, meet Kyle. Slim used to work on a radioactive dude ranch, until he got the wrong end of a bull's hooves. I found him on a scrap heap, and got some help in fixing him from the Lone Wanderer."
"THE Lone Wanderer? I LOVED Fallout 3! Of course, I'm a FO 1-2 man myself..." We both chuckled a bit. "So, what animals can you show me? Any animal at all?"
"Yep. Anything I've encountered, and that's a WHOLE LOT." I hooked my pointer finger on my chin, and looked off out of the corner of my eyes, and started tapping my foot. "What do I wanna see...?" Then, I snapped my fingers together, which made Sean jump a bit.
"I'd like to see a Windigo. But not an Equestria Windigo, a D&D Windigo." Suddenly I saw a Windigo circling above us. I stared at it, and it stared back at me, as if it were a real creature.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah..." Suddenly, it made a dive for me. "AH!" I threw myself to the ground, and slammed down hard on my chest. I felt a pain surge through my chest, and I rolled over on my back, and clutched at my heart.
"Woah, are you alright, man?" He helped me up, but I still had to lean on a wall for a second until the pain went away, and I was sure my heart was beating normally.
*Thump-Thump*
"Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. That was just a stupid idea on my part..." Suddenly, the pain returned, but it was much, much worse. As if someone had driven a red hot dagger right through my chest. I tried to make a sound, but nothing came out. I couldn't move, and if I tried, I felt intense pain in whatever I was trying to move.
*Thump Thump Thump Thump*
"Uh... Kyle?" Sean waved his hand in front of my face, and my vision began to shake. "Come on man, you're scaring me."
*Thump Thump Thump...* And then it stopped.
The intense beating in my chest was replaced with stillness, and my vision replaced with darkness.