I don't like my place.
My apartment is in such a bad shape, it might actually pass as a haunted place. The wallpapers are peeling itself out, the floorboards are creaking-- oh, and that awful smell that engulfs my entire place. Kinda like a mixture of sweaty old ladies and dead cats. I turned on the light -- a single light bulb in the middle -- which only gave the place a dim glow. Aaaannnnd it's flickering. Great.
I don't have a television, which is fine. I don't watch it often any way. I do have a portable radio, which is pointless, cause I don't use it at all. I also have a cupboard which no longer have its doors, so my clothes and unmentionables are all visible. Meh.
I grabbed a bottle of cider from my tiny fridge and sat down on my squeaky bed. The mattress has holes in it, and I have just the one pillow. No blankets. What a great way to go to sleep.
Still, despite living in such poor conditions, it is definitely much better than when I was staying with my uncle.
Oh wait, you don't know about that right? I was so busy complaining about work and other stuff, that I didn't even had the chance to properly tell you about myself fully. Whelp, now's as good a time as any.
Both my parents died when I was just a small boy. I was probably around 6 years old I think. I don't feel sad though. I can't seem to remember anything about them. No memory of taking walks together at the park, no memory of them smiling down at me. Nothing. They were just 'My Parents' but only in words.
I don't know how they died, nor was I ever told by anyone who did knew. All I know is that --after their passing-- I was immediately sent to stay with my uncle. My father's older brother. And boy, I hated him. He paid for my studies, and he put food on the table. But my uncle was a very abusive man.
When I was still studying in elementary school, I've always dreaded returning home after school. My entire body would tremble violently as I neared the door of his house. There was no family love, just beatings. My uncle would smack me in the face whenever I returned home, demanding loudly at me to do my chores. I was only allowed to eat after everything was done. Even during meals there was no break. He would always tell me to be grateful that he decided to take me in instead of leaving me on the streets to fend for myself. He mocked me, degraded me, and beat me whenever he felt like it.
I'll admit, I was terrified of him as a kid. But as the years went by, the fear slowly became courage. I started becoming rebellious, sometimes even having a shouting match with him. I was no longer afraid of his beatings. His words were also doing little to no effect on me. I was sick and tired of him, I wanted to leave, to run away, putting as much distance as I can between him and me.
I wanted to be free.
Now, under any normal circumstances most kids will be broken and left with a horrible trauma. Guess I was lucky I wasn't normal.
When I was nearing the end of my high school years, I came up with a plan. I would run away. Grab a ticket and hop on the earliest bus leaving for Canterlot. I would be free of my horrible life with my uncle. He wouldn't mind if I disappeared any way. He didn't care. He wouldn't.
There was one problem at the time though, I did not have a lot of cash on me. A bus ticket wasn't that expensive, but I would definitely need the extra money for other essentials. So I did odd jobs. A 17 year old, trying to earn some extra buck. I said nothing about the matter to my uncle though. He would've taken my hard earned cash for his own greedy needs.
But earning money through odd jobs wasn't exactly rewarding. The pay I usually got was enough for chicken feed. And I needed a lot. So, my plan to leave after graduating got delayed.
A year and a half had passed, when I finally got enough money to which I believed would help me survive living in Canterlot. I was very naive back then. I've read magazines and heard people talking away about the city of Canterlot. And-- to be honest --back then, it seemed like an ideal place to go. So, on one cold early tuesday morning. I grabbed my bags and left my uncle's house. I did not look back.
Aaaannnd that brings us back here, in my crappy apartment. Two years since I left that house. I do no regret leaving, but I kinda regret coming here. But then again, my life would still suck even if I continued to stay with my uncle.
I've always had a hard time looking at things positively. Let's say you're given a glass of water, but with the water only filled half-way. There are many people who would say that the glass is half-full, and others who might say that the glass is half-empty. Me? Forget the water, I just want cider.
BZZZZZZTTTTTTT
What the heck?
BZZZZZZZTTTTTT
It sounded like something vibrating. Loudly.
BZZZZZZZZTTTTT
It was coming from my bag. I lowered my empty bottle and unzipped my bag.
Man, talk about weird.
The book that I've picked up was vibrating violently in my bag, and it's glowing. Pink! I stared at it for a couple more seconds, as it continued to vibrate and glow.
Now, in ALL my experience, when it comes to dealing with books none of them, I repeat, NONE of them vibrates or glows. I mean, is this some sort of new technology that is being installed into books to remind students that they should be studying? No, wait. Is this book even a textbook?
I fished the book out with both my fingers pinching its cover, like I was afraid it might explode or worse.
BZZZZZZTTTT
The sudden vibration caught me by surprise. I let go of the book, like a girl would letting go of a worm. The book then landed on top of my bed, opened. I inched closer to the opened book, trying to take a peek into its contents. There was a lot of squiggly looking lines in its pages, some of them forming into strange markings which I have never seen before. I slowly flipped a page. More lines and markings. Were these supposed to be words?
Wait. A. Minute. Books like these can only mean one thing.
Holy crap, if this is indeed Sunset Shimmer's book, does that mean she is in some sort of cult? Is this some sort of secret language which only those in the cult know about? What kind of cult is it? And why is Sunset Shimmer in it? That symbol on the front cover must be their gang sign.
Oh no.
What if this book was not supposed to be seen by outsiders? What if the cult is very secretive, and protective of their secrets? They might get angry, and send their minions out to find whoever possesses it. What if Sunset Shimmer was actually the cult's leader? She might have to kill me if I returned this book back to her!
No, no, you're over thinking this man, Sunset Shimmer? A cult leader? No way. Not her.
Oh please not her.
Just to be sure, I continued to flip through the pages. The book had stopped vibrating, but one of it pages was still glowing. As I got closer and closer to the glowing page, the markings and lines were written less and less. In fact, soon the pages were actually written down with comprehensible words. English.
'Dear Princess Twilight, How are you? Everything is going well here in Canterlot High. The gang misses you a lot. If you ever have the time, please come and visit us! Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.'
'Dear Princess Twilight, Thank you for your last advice, It really helped me a lot. I wasn't sure if I could've overcome the problem. But thanks to you, I've learnt an important lesson...'
'Dear Princess Twilight, I've kept an eye out for the sirens as you requested, but it has been 5 months since the battle of the bands. Still no signs of them. Did they simply just vanished? I'm not sure...'
Dear Twilight, Pinkie Pie is going to have a party to celebrate Rainbow Dash's birthday! We really hope you can come and celebrate along with us. I hope you are not overwhelmed with princess duties. Remember, some times, you need to relax! Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.'
I skipped parts of some messages that I was reading. From what I could gather, this book seems to be something Sunset Shimmer uses to write to a close friend of hers. Princess Twilight? What? A princess? Really?
I know I shouldn't be reading someone else's messages, but man, theses messages are just off. Sirens? Ponies? Friendship Rainbow Kingdom? Was Sunset Shimmer and her friend high on something? The more I read these, the more freaked out I am by it. My image of Sunset Shimmer is slowly getting messed up.
I reached the page that was glowing. I wasn't expecting anything. But I sure wasn't expecting this
On the faintly glowing page were words that was slowly being written down. Except, there was no one was holding a pen writing on it. Not me at least.
An invisible hand!? Okay, something is really messed up here. I slowly and cautiously read the words that was being written down. As if expecting the words to suddenly come to life and bite me on the nose.
'Sunset? Are you there? I need your help! Twilight Sparkle.'