//------------------------------// // Chapter 43: Which is Reality, and Which is Fantasy? // Story: Vocaloid in Equestria: beta session // by DerpyStarlet //------------------------------// My eyes shot open, and I looked around wildly. Something felt off about where I was, and in an instant, that something revealed itself. Or rather, himself. A shadowy figure was a mere two meters away from me, and I tried to figure out who he was, but with no luck. The surrounding darkness was just to- wait. Darkness? "I shouldn't be here. Where am I?" I asked the figure. Wordlessly, it raised an arm, and pointed at my feet, the figure's voice raspy, sounding as old as time, if not older. "You are exactly where you need to be. A game of chess is much like war, is it not? There is the king, president, prime minister. Than, the queen, the vice president, the-" I swung my arm downwards, and an arc of electricity ran through me, and shot into the creep. "Enough! Tell me how to get back to Equestria!" I shouted, my fingers curled into fists. The arcs of electricity hid my hands, as I started to lose myself in my anger. "You never left, child. You are dreaming. You have been dreaming since you jumped off the tower." The figure stepped closer to me, and I recoiled instantly. The smell was so sudden, and so horrible, I couldn't help but reel back and choke up vomit. I doubled over, and spat, wiping my mouth with my gloves. "A dream. This is all a fucking dream?" I inquired. "Yes...Discord may be the puppet master of reality, but when you shut your eyes, and open your mind...I will bring you relief." I could see the hooded robe on the shadowy entity, and instantly, I said, "I don't know what that other crap means, but I'm going to go ahead and guess that you're some sort of minor god of dreams, like Morpheus?" I opened my fist slightly, and I felt the plastic casing of a taser begin to form in my hand. "In a way. But I am neither god, nor Titan. I am simply a piece of you, a piece of everyone." The hood fell back, and I recoiled again, seeing the skull. "Well, how about you tell me how I can change myself, without changing for the worst?" I said with a haughty tone. "You are most frightened of losing who you are, but how can one lose themselves, when they never really knew who they were to begin with?" The figure stated, and gestured towards the ground beneath me. The map from what was he was saying was my dream, was gripped tightly in my hands, but what I noticed was that I was lying on the ground, with absolutely no visible injuries. I looked down, thinking about what Fear had just said. Well, I decided to call him Fear, because it was kind of fitting. After all, he was one scary looking bastard, being a skeleton with blood stains and mold all over his skull. He was right, I didn't really understand what kind of person I was. Even to myself, I wasn't always an ass, but I could be very unpredictable. "Then tell me, which is the real life, and which is the fantasy? Because if that's the dream, I want to for certain, be the one who kicks Discord's draquoniac ass during the endgame." I paused, and added as a sidenote, "I should copyright that word, if no one has thought of it before." When I looked back over at Fear, he was gone, and the endless darkness around me rushed upwards, and I blacked out. My eyes shot open, and I groaned, pushing myself into an upright position. "Damn...Reality and dreamland being fucked up? Talk about a mindfucking concept..." I slowly stood up, after going from sitting, to kneeling on one knee, to finally the stance I wanted. Bending over, I picked up the map, turning it over to the backside. On the back of the condensed map, was several names, just like before. "Miku Hatsune, Rin and Len Kagamine, Megurine Luka, but Kaito and Kamui are both faint, almost like the map is having trouble finding them." Very briefly, I wondered if they might have died, or defected to Discord, but I decided to wait on it. Taking a look around, I shrugged, and walked back inside the castle, wondering what was in store. As it turned out, when I got back in, I got yelled at. "" Rin shouted. "" She was going to say more, but I cut her off by slapping Rin across the face. I brought the microphone to my mouth, and sighed, before giving the speech all over again(Or at least, that's how it , this time slightly different, because I didn't want to screw everything up. "Tell Luka and Len what I'm about to tell you. Got it?" When Rin nodded, looking like I had betrayed her, I continued. "I may seem like a nice person, but I'm not. I'm a snake, I'm manipulative, and I don't often hesitate to hurt others to get results. And I didn't come here under the same circumstances that you did; I came here intentionally. I wanted Discord to choose me. For a second chance, and for redemption. Well, not exactly redemption, but I have one ultimate goal right now: To find out why Discord is doing this, bring everyone back to Earth safely, and kick Discord's ass." I whipped around, and stalked away, stopping in the doorway. "There's another reason, but I won't say what that other reason is. Not just yet. I will in due time, however." I darted away, and the last thing I saw of Rin that day, was her jaw hanging slack in shock. After I had given my little 'speech' to Rin, so she could pass it on, I went back outside, my fingers curled tightly into a fist. I knew getting spotted and labeled a threat was very low on my priority list, but the blip that represented Kaito was faint, and growing fainter. "What could he be doing?" I asked myself, but all I got for an answer was something I had thought of a long time ago. "People try too hard to prove themselves. You need to accept and embrace who you are, no matter what. Even if it makes you a bad person, you can never change who you are at the heart. Do you understand, kiddo?" It was something my grandpa had told me, and I hadn't understood what he meant by it, and I still didn't understand. I looked over at the rows of trees that edged the forest, and slowly raised a hand in that direction. I closed my eyes, and imagined a massive electromagnetic pulse exploding from me, but nothing happened. I knew I had limits, but I also needed a way to determine which world was real and which was not. With the failed attempt at an EMP, I tried a different tactic. I focused again, imagining my energy as a highly concentrated beam of light, and I felt my hands begin to heat up, causing me to open them hastily. Just in time to, as the laser ripped from my palms and seared a path of destruction through the forest. I shrugged, and looked up, only to see an already too familiar purple alicorn gliding down to me. After Twilight landed, she glared at me. "" Twilight began to hyperventilate, her brain going into overdrive, as she thought of all the ways the situation could go wrong. I unclipped the microphone from my waist, and said, "Easy, Twilight. I just needed to check a few things. I was told to find the difference between dream and reality, and I think I know how to do that." The purple panicking pony calmed down slowly, and looked at me. "" Twilight cocked her head to the side, curious. "I need to find the ones who vanished." I turned around, and pointed in the general direction of northwest. "Starting with Kaito. I have a feeling he'll have a few answers for me." I started walking, but Twilight teleported in front of me. "" "It's better to have a small group, rather then a large group. Too many hunters can ruin the trail, after all. Or too many chefs spoil the soup. Whichever phrase you prefer." Without hesitation, I bolted away, jumping on top of a cart, and sequentially, a house rooftop. Jumping from house to house, one thought was running through my mind, as the music played in the back of my head. 'You've defected, haven't you Kaito? Which means...I'm coming to kick your ass.'