//------------------------------// // Who Are You? // Story: Music: Life Essence // by Ghij of Prophecy //------------------------------// Over the next few weeks, things weren’t all that bad. I thought I would be treated like more of a prisoner than a guest, being that I’m a species they’ve never heard of, but I was treated like royalty. I had servers waiting on me at all hours of the day, asking me if I needed anything. In all honesty, it was really annoying. Most of the time I ended up locking the door and blasting my music to drown them out, and while this was pretty rude, it gained me some popularity with the inhabitants of the castle. While I was not present at dinner, I was the topic of many conversations. Most of them included what the princesses were going to do with me, while the others included if they could see me perform my “Musical Magic.” The answer was, of course, no. That didn’t stop a couple of brave little sneaks from listening through the door. It was obvious that they were out there. Every time I played something with foul language, LMFAO and music of the like, I could hear gasps and whispers slip under the door. I even heard one guy cuss me out with the same foul language he was hearing, saying that those words were unacceptable. Princess Celestia came and went whenever she chose. It was awkward because I was usually singing whenever she decided to use some teleportation spell and sneak up on me. The conversations were mostly passive, like she had just seen me at Wal-Mart or something and decided to stop and chat. It boggled my mind because, she’s a princess, for one, and I could have sworn she had the busiest schedule out of all three of the princesses. She would always stop for at least an hour to ask questions about my world, about my personality of all things, and what I can remember from the day I arrived here. Today was no different. “I don’t know. All I can remember is that I felt extremely dizzy, but that’s normal for me. I’ve been to the doctor’s to figure out why it keeps happening.” I took a seat on the bed while she sat in the chair across from it. “The dizziness?” She asked. “Yes. It all started after I hit my head on a metal bar when I was twelve. Ever since then, anytime I try to move I get extremely dizzy. If it’s really bad, I’ll just pass out.” I scratched the back of my head where the bar struck. “So, you believe it is a brain injury?” “I guess so. The doctor never told us anything. They did some tests and measured how sharp my reflexes are, told me to go home and wait for the information, but it never came. If it is a brain injury, it hasn’t affected my ability to think clearly. I can still add, subtract, multiply and divide with no problem. I play video games like a champ. I honestly have no idea what’s wrong with me.” “It may not be something to do with you at all.” She paused for a moment, “How loud do you usually listen to your music, Mister Logan?” “I never have it below full volume. Same with my headphones,” I stated. “Can you show me the music you usually listen to? As long as you don’t mind,” She asked. “Are you sure you have the time to listen to all of it? I have over eight-hundred songs on this thing.” I said while pointing to my iPod sitting on the bedside table. “That’s quite a number. Just show me your top five songs.” She smiled. “Alright, just give me a minute to put them in a playlist.” I picked up the iPod and unlocked it. I was on my way to searching for the songs when I noticed the battery had finally started going down. “Um, do you think you could levitate this thing first? It’s almost out of battery.” She wrapped the MP3 player in a golden light for a few seconds, levitating it a few inches above my hands, and dropped it back down. The battery sat still for few seconds before shooting back up to 100%. “Thanks,” I said while scrolling through my Music Library. It took a couple of minutes, but I found them and put them in this order: 1. AjumpsBshoots - Stone Tower Temple VIP 2. Alex S. – Maximizer 3. Beatdown (Strider Style) 4. Electro - Virtual Riot - Idols (EDM Mashup) 5. Energy Drink – Virtual Riot “I would have you listen through my headphones, but they’re a little small for your ears.” I said as I held them up. “Oh, it’s no problem. I can just use a spell.” She smiled and her horn lit up with the same magical aura as before. The magic snaked from her horn and wrapped around my iPod. “Are you ready?” I asked. She nodded and I made sure the volume was at half to prevent any damage to her ears. I hit play and her ears slowly started to rise with the airy beginning to the first song on the list. Everything was normal, until it hit the drop. Her face contorted into a mystified sort of expression, as if she didn’t know what was going on. The further it got into the song, her face changed to a relaxed smile, and her demeanor seemed to turn soft. ‘I guess she’s enjoying it?’ I thought. Her behavior was the same throughout every other song on the list, changing from uncertain to relaxed. I noticed while she was listening that the volume was changing at random. It was usually at full volume, which I thought was funny. ‘A princess in a world with little to no technology listening to Dubstep… what have I done?’ I asked myself with a smile plastered on my face. As the final song reached its last few seconds, the magical aura having retreated, Celestia sighed. “That was an amazing experience… what do you call that style of music?” She asked with the smile still lingering. “Well, I’m not too educated on the exact credentials that make up each type, so I usually call all that Dubstep whether or not it actually is Dubstep.” I said, putting the iPod in my jeans pocket. “Dubstep? What does it mean?” She tilted her head to the side. I shrugged my shoulders. “I have no clue, that’s just what everyone calls it. I was always too lazy to actually look up the reason.” “How does your species create this music?” “We use computers. They’re basically very powerful versions of my iPod.” I stretched and laid out on the bed, placing the pillow higher up on the wall to sit up. “While this is a very… different style of music, is there anything you listen to that is a tad… softer?” “Well… I probably have like, five or six songs that are basically piano and soft vocals. Why, do you want to hear more?” I smiled. “I would love to; unfortunately, my time is up. I must attend to my royal duties,” She stood from her chair and walked to the door, pausing as her magic enveloped the door knob. “Is there anything you need from me before I leave?” I thought on her question for a second, and then realized the smell. “Is there any chance I could take a shower somewhere? I’ve been in this room for weeks, and it gets a little hot in here.” I looked over the clothes I was wearing, and I was not happy with the results. My black T-Shirt with a blue Scorpio symbol painted on the front was covered in wrinkles and sweat stains. My Jeans were about the same except they were extremely loose and barely hanging on whenever I stood. My black and orange NES bracelet was… well, nothing was wrong with it. My red pair of Converse was old and stained, but that’s how they’re supposed to look. My hair was oily, matted, and just flat out nasty. I felt like I could crawl under a rock at the realization of my physical appearance and hygiene. Either Celestia didn’t care or she had a hell of a poker face. "Yes, come with me. I’ll have one of my royal guards escort you.” The door opened, and a flurry of different colored ponies bolted in opposite directions. The princess smiled and waved a hoof, signaling for me to follow her. I hopped off the bed, remembering to hang on to my pants on the landing, and followed Celestia out into the highly decorated hallway. Portraits engulfed the walls with a description and hoof-print underneath each one. The walls and carpeting were a rich pink with a golden flourish lining. Celestia shut the door with a soft click, and took a left down the hallway. The walk was a silent one. I found myself tapping a finger on my thigh to keep a beat out of boredom. As I did this, the beat turned into instruments. Those instruments played their notes. With these notes came lyrics… A few seconds later I caught myself humming the tune I was listening to when I woke up in this world. The feeling hit me with full force. My mind wandered, thinking every thought I’ve ever had at once, and what felt like every thought I would ever have. My head throbbed and, with every beat of my heart, my vision slowly drained, leaving a void of blacks, purples, and static. The void ebbed as a loud echo weaved itself through my thought deprived hearing. I could feel my body being lifted, the tingle of magic pressing against my skin, but it faded as the numbness overtook my senses. Time was nonexistent. Nothing was real or fake, and everything absurd made sense. I could feel the colors around me, and smell the rain falling as it turned to mist around me. My senses had no placement and neither did the surroundings I was now taking in. Familiar. The only thing that was visible, other than water, was the gargantuan tree stump I was now standing upon. All around me was water, which looked like it belonged to an ocean, considering that’s what it looked like. Looking around I saw tubes of water draining from the sky, but the source of the water could not be found. I’ve been here before. This is the Chamber of Giants from Majora’s Mask. I saw this during my first time passing out. Why am I here again? You’ve been here before? Yes, except last time it was as if I was watching myself on a screen rather than being here myself. After the episode, I went home and played the game. I had stopped just before the fight with Odolwa during my first playthrough, so I loaded my file and beat him. Then I learned the Oath to Order, which I learned in this area. Before you ever saw this? Yes. I had never been here before, and I had never seen this place. I was scared, and I told my brother. He told me I was being weird, so I thought nothing of it. It makes me wonder, why am I back? There must be some significance if you come here during a point where you can’t even think. Who are you? Oh, I have no idea. I didn't know if you knew… Wait… who am I? Which one of us am I? That’s a bit of a redundant question. Who is “I”? Don’t pull that tricky shit with me. Dude, just wake up already. I don’t know if “Wake up” is the right phrase, but do that too. I passed out, right? Sure? Who knows? You don’t. Neither do I. It’s kind of funny. No, no it’s not. Lighten up; you’re the one who did this to yourself in the first place. Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean? Did you remember to wait ten seconds after you got out of bed? … Shit. Yeah, your fault. Hey, shut up. I liked it better last time, when I didn’t have an annoying ass roommate to bug me. Well, you’re almost back in reality. How do you know? You've been talking to yourself while some doctors have been checking you. What? Oh, I was walking with Celestia. Still, how did you know that and I didn’t? I feel like I’m more self aware than you are. I can’t even see you. I don’t know. Of course you don’t… Try to remember what happened here? I don’t want to have to explain all this to you next time. Next time? We both know it’ll happen again. Yeah… well, bye. “Bye? Who’s he talking to?” ‘Ew, my head hurts…’ My senses slowly drained back in. “We don’t know, he’s been doing this for about ten minutes now. It started off as gibberish, but he started having a conversation with himself. Something about songs and masks.” ‘What happened?’ “Masks? What is that supposed to mean?” “I don’t know, your Majesty. He also said something about Magira or Majoca, something along those lines.” ‘It’s Majora, dump-ass.’ “Will he be alright?” It was Twilight. “He should be fine. It seems that he experienced some sort of seizure.” I opened my eyes and sat up on my elbows. “A seizure?!” I squealed.