Chapter Twenty-nine:
Aftermath
Where am I? I can't see anything, there's only darkness. I feel weightless too, I can’t feel my body. So, is this the afterlife? Mm, could be limbo, this seems like something limbo would be.
So, this is my reward for saving Equestria? To remain in purgatory for the rest of time? I can't really complain I suppose, I did know what I was getting into, and that there would be consequences. I just didn't entirely know what the consequences would be. Still, I suppose it was worth it, we beat Discord. Equestria has returned to its former glory, and everything can go back to normal. Minus my own situation. So, what do I do now?
...
...
...
You know, I think I understand why Discord is so insane now. I've been here for maybe, three minutes and I'm already bored. I'll probably go mad myself soon enough. I mean seriously, it's so boring! I have no physical body, it's freaking quiet, there's no way of telling if I'm floating or falling, if I'm dead or alive, there's nothing to look at, it's noisy as hell, no one to talk to... ? Noisy as hell?
My hand automatically shot out and landed on a plastic box, silencing the repetitive beeping sound. I open my eyes to find myself in a bed. I slowly sit up and look around, why was I in a bed? Shouldn't I be trapped in stone? I find that it's not just a bed that I was sleeping in, it was my bed! I was in my room; I was home.
I appear to have been sleeping in the same clothes I wore when I met Discord and I went to Markus' place. And my bag that I packed was on the floor next to my bed, in the same condition it was in when I first packed it. I climbed out of my bed and rummaged through it to find that nothing was missing. I checked myself to from head to toe to find that I was in peak condition. The scars and bruises I received in Equestria have vanished.
I must have been missing for at least a month. So... why is it that nothing has changed? I look to digital clock next to my bed, to find that the date is just the day after I vanished. So, does that mean it was all a dream? But how could I have dreamt all that in one night? It was so vivid and real, not to mention long. My attention snaps back to the clock, it displayed something else that shocked me.
"Holy shit!" I yell, grabbing my already packed bag and rushing down stairs and out the door. "How do I sleep in 'till eleven-fucking-thirty?"
I start sprinting down my street, running as fast as I can like a bat out of hell. I’m just glad my school isn’t that far away from where I live. As I run down the street, occasionally stopping at a red light, it occurs to me. Why am I so concerned about being late? I've been late for school hundreds of times, sure, not this late, but late. And even when I am late I'm still a head of the class and get everything done. So what's with me, could it have been that dream?
After ten minutes of running, I eventually make it to school just in time for lunch to start.
"Now, aren't you late?" I turn around to see my friend Markus, giving me a mocking but friendly smile. Man, it's so nice to see him for some reason. "So what happened to you last night?"
"Um, that's a good question. Last I remember, I was on my way to your place." I answer, leaving out the part that I met 'Discord.'
"You were, but you never showed up. I phoned your place to see if you were still coming, your parents said that you had already left. We got worried and started looking for you. They later called me on my cell and said they found you sleeping next to an alley somewhere on the way to my place. They took you home and that was the last I heard. So, you want to start explaining?"
"Well, I think I met a drug dealer, or something. Shit, I think he made me take something because I'm pretty sure I hallucinated some stuff." I say sheepishly. He tries holding back laughter. 'Tries' being the key word here.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He says in between breaths. "That shouldn't be funny, I know. But I can't help myself."
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I got drugged and passed out. Ha-ha-ha." I say sarcastically. My stomach growls in hunger, breaking the awkwardness. I check my pockets for my wallet, but of course, it's not there. "Crap, I haven't had anything to eat all morning and I must have left my wallet at home."
"Are you sure it's not in your bag?" With the possibility of it actually being there, though however unlikely, I take off my backpack and sift through it. I just find my papers and books, but no wallet. As I soon give up and accept the fact that I forgot it, I find something unfamiliar in my last pocket. a medium sized box with a note on it, like it's a present..
Curious to know what it is or where I got it, I read the note to myself:
Well that was fun! You know kid, I should do something like that more often. Anywho, it's a me, Discord, world renowned plumber off to save my princess in hopes of cake. Or maybe that was the mustache guy. Just wrote you this note to make sure you know you aren't crazy, even though I'd love it if you went mad. Us: trapped in stone, permanently. That's right, you and me are on display for the whole world to see. And I don't see any way of me getting free again. Not even if Celestia thinks that I can be reformed and use my powers for good.
Equestria: as peacefully boring as it was before I made everything cool. Your friends: safe. That's including the overgrown lizard and mutt, they're still around. And everything is hunky dory for everyone. Wait a minute, no it isn't! I'm still in stone! But why aren't you, you ask? Simple, I just used the restricting amount of my powers to send you home. Call it sympathy or whatever you want, but I just did it because I could. And maybe because it could have actually been sympathy.
I know what it's like to be trapped in stone for centuries, trust me, by the end of the day, you would have lost your mind and went bonkers. So, I spared you the torment and sent you home just five minutes after you vanished. It did involve tearing the fabric of space and time a little, so you would arrive back without your items missing or with any of your injuries you sustained, but that's easily fixable... I think. Your universe and a few others may or may not meet one another now. Well, I suppose that's all I care about saying: You're home and safe, I'm in stone, and everything back in Equestria is fine. To their standards at least. Well, ta-ta for now, maybe I'll check up on you again some time, reminisce of the good ol' days over a cup of chocolate milk maybe.
And at the bottom was a familiar little signature. A backwards D. I'm speechless and absolutely shocked. I don't know what I should be feeling. Disbelief that it wasn't a dream, excitement that I got to go to Equestria, relief that I saved everyone, or caution that this could be another trick by Discord? Underneath his signature on the letter was a post script.
One other thing I left you two presents. The first is just so you'll never forget lil' ol' me. I made it myself. And the second one is for you, just a little something to remember who you are. It's not the real thing, a replica.
I open the box and find it surprising, yet totally predictable, as to what lay inside. I pull out a stuffy doll of Discord himself. Of course, what else would it have been?
"Dude, do you actually have a Discord plushie?" Markus asks. I'm not sure if he's mocking me for actually having one, or jealous that I have one and he doesn't. Inside the box was a small item wrapped in paper, I put the Discord plushie down and unwrap the mysterious gift. My hands freeze up as I unwrap the last bit, revealing the item.
"Thank you," I whisper. I feel a small amount of gratitude towards the same creature that sent me on one of the most hellish and exciting adventure of my life. I grab the golden chain that was wrapped inside lifting it up to reveal the entire gift. The chain connected to make a necklace, and a figure attached to it. It was made from stained glass of red, yellow, and orange, held together by more golden material, all formed to make a flame.
I put the necklace on, it felt perfect around me, like it belonged there.
"Hey, cool necklace." Markus compliments. But his comment goes unheard. I reflect on my adventures I had, the friends I made, the pain I suffered, the excitement I felt. And above all else, the challenges that was brought.
"You know, I wonder what Lauren Faust was thinking when she created Discord? Though an excellent villain he made, I wonder what possessed her to think up something so crazy." Markus comments, inspecting the Discord plushie. That's right! Lauren Faust went to Equestria, just like I did. But a less grandiose departure as mine. I'll have to meet her.
Ha, she chronicled her experience in Equestria, minus a few important factors like being the mother of a bunch of half-human creatures. And no one believed her because it was too preposterous to believe. Hmm, maybe I could do that. Write a story on my adventure to Equestria, let people know what it was like. What Equestria and Discord are like. Share the truth to the world, let hundreds of eyes see, tell them what I am. And you know something? No one will believe it.
No one will believe how true that story will be. No one will believe that I am the Element of Willpower; that Equestria is real; that those adventures actually happened.
No one will believe it...
