//------------------------------// // Everything I Can Never Be // Story: The Next in Line. // by gmoneywalker //------------------------------// The world around you is enshrouded in an oily black fog, playing at the edge of your vision; your body moves as if you’re knee deep in water, every command is muddled, every step unsure.  Where are you? “The only difference - the ONLY difference - between you and me is that YOU got lucky!” The voice - alien - though familiar - sounds distant and far away.  You stumble forward, hooves outstretched as you swipe at the shadows in your way, desperately trying to find the source. “You want to be my son?  What to make me ‘proud’ of you?  Then maybe you should step up and start acting like a damn adult!” Your stomach churns, as if someone had stuck you with a knife of guilt and given it a twist.  You can feel hot tears running down your cheeks.  You try, you really, really, do... wh-why can’t he see that? You shake your head, wiping a hoof against your eyes in an attempt to clear those thick rivulets of sadness away.  When the tears stop falling you look up, your jaw dropping when... He... steps forward.  Slinking out of the shadows like some kind of beast, a monster from a foal’s story book, a blinding white row of shining sharp teeth the only prominent feature you can see.  His lips curled upwards into a devilish grin as he relishes in your personal anguish. “That’s right!  Whore!  I know what she is!  I know what you are... And now... so do they.”   Anger.  Boiling hot, untapped rage, coursing through your veins, making you stronger, faster! You don’t care if he’s bigger than you! Don’t care if he’s a monster!  Don’t care if what he says is true!  The only thing you can think about is smashing in those Celestia-damned teeth! “SHUT UP!”  You throw your weight into him, knocking him to the ground, thick black wisps flying off of him as you do, as if you’d peeled away some of that evil blackness with the impact.  That grin disappears, if only for a moment, as you throw yourself on top of him, pressing him to the ground. He lets loose a cackle, deep and rumbly, his voice carrying a sort of  disturbing otherworldly tone, as if it was being conjured up from the depths of Tartarus.  “You see!?  We really are just like each other!” You angrily gnash your teeth, grinding the soft bones together as you pull back a leg.  “I SAID SHUT UP!”  You punctuate the statement by slamming your hoof into its sickening, twisted, smile.  Your hoof connects, accompanied by a sickening *thwap* sound that makes your stomach churn.  Again, oily black shadows leap off of the creature’s face, slithering away and disappearing into the darkness below, offering you the briefest of glimpses at the disgusting visage below. Brown eyes, it has brown eyes...  just like him... You reel back, your heart thumping against your chest and your entire body buzzing with adrenaline.  You look down at the creature, rage and anguish written into each curve and line of your expression.  You didn’t need to say anything, all emotions you felt at this very moment were laid bare, plain to see. “Yeah, that’s right!  Hit me!”  It lets loose another disgusting chortle.  “Prove him right!  Show me that despite all that SHIT you’ve been handed, the education, the money, the loving parents... despite all those things, that deep down?  Where it matters most? You’re still your father’s son.” You freeze for a moment, your dream world falls silent as you sit atop the creature, your mind reeling.   “F-father’s son...”  The words eek out of your mouth, barely audible, your lips quivering as they do.  You look down, staring down at your hoof, covered in a thick layer of the creature’s slippery black skin.  You can feel it, that rage... just beneath the surface. “That’s right.”  Again, the smirk.  “We’re the same, all three of us, in fact.” Tears pour down your face, your stomach twisting up with hate as you pull your leg back, slamming it into the monster’s sadistic smile. “Why!?”  You screech, striking again, your attacks powered with years of pent up aggression.  “WHY do you keep torturing me!?” *Thwack*  “Why won’t you just go away!?”  *Thwack*  “Why won’t you just let me ALONE!?” Again you pull your hoof back, the shaking limb throbing with a deep, dull ache.  Each impact shoots electric jolts of agony up and down your entire leg.  The pain seems like a minor inconvenience though, in the face of finally ending this torment.  You slow down, panting; your lungs burn, your head aches, your leg hurts... It still breathes... “Be-because...”  It manages to mumble, it’s voice hoarse, and it’s lips still curved upwards into a crooked smile.  “You’re everything I can never be!”