//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: We Were Kids // by Carrier of Heartbreak //------------------------------// When I woke, I noticed a strange brightness around me. I hadn’t seen this level of sunlight in years! It was so bright that it was still blinding me through my eyelids. As I rubbed my weary eyes and yawned, the Ponies gathered around me in shock. I blinked up at them, the bright colors entering my peripheral vision, giving me a headache. What was going on? That seemed to be the only idea going through my head. But I barely had time to think as I was pounced on by a bright pink blur. “You’re here! You’re here!” Pinkie shouted over and over. I laughed a little, nervous about what she meant. “I’m here? What do you mean I’m here?” I asked in complete confusion. The other ponies looked around, Applejack whistling to herself, trying not to be singled out. I looked around and almost had a heart attack. “I’m in Equestria!” I thought to myself as I took in the cartoon-ish landscape and bright, blinding colors. I was sitting on a plane of bright green grass, overlooking Ponyville. The sight amazed me, but not because it was pretty. It was amazing more in the sense of “How the hell did I get here?” “Um...how is it possible that you’re here?” asked Fluttershy from behind me. I looked around at her and shrugged, no more sure than her. Around me, the ponies found of comfortable position. It seemed that no matter how impossible things were to them, comfort as still issue #1. I smiled, as this struck my humor cord. The one thing that was bothering me was that the ponies weren’t real in the first place. If they weren’t real, then how on Earth am I in their world? It almost felt like I was intruding on my own imagination. But...that couldn’t be the case. I was in, as I said, their world. It had to be real. There’s no way that I was the only real being in this world...maybe I was the one that... I didn’t have anymore time to think as I felt myself being tugged at. I looked down and saw a very small, young yellow pony with a large red mane pulling at my sleeve with her mouth. I blinked once again and stared at this oddly familiar pony. “Applebloom!” I heard Applejack yell. The yellow filly let go and turned around slowly to face Applejack. “What in the name hay are you doin’?” she scolded. I felt bad for the small pony, who was looking down and shuffling her hooves. “Ah just wanted to see what ‘e was...” the filly mumbled. My legs began hurting so I stood up, frightening Applebloom. I remembered who she was at that point, but didn’t was to interrupt Applejack to tell her so. This seemed like a sister thing that was beyond me. “Now dat don’t give you permission to go pullin’ on whomever you darn well want to,” Applejack continued. They continued to converse as I looked up, just noticing Rarity. She was laying down on the hill above us, observing what was going on. I got a chill of inferiority and felt as if she were looking down on us as a higher being. I shivered but walked to where she was. Smiling sweetly, I sat next to her. She smiled back at me before returning her gaze to the other ponies. I cleared my throat and spoke. “So, uh...how do you think I got here?” I asked calmly. She looked around at me and went silent for a moment. She then spoke very softly. “That hardly matters at this point, don’t you think? We both know that you shouldn’t be here and you can’t stay,” she said, here eyes remaining friendly and honest. I was stunned by her outright words, but I knew that she was right. Being here could throw the balance off of...wait a minute, how could I ruin the balance of something that didn’t exist? I was suddenly jumped on by Rarity as she grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. I made a small yelping noise in surprise. “Wake up! Wake up!” she screamed at me. I was so shocked that I couldn’t respond to her. I closed my eyes to blink but couldn’t open them again. The brightness around me faded and darkness flowed in around me. The warmth I had felt was also gone. I woke up in a cold sweat, Kayla sitting next to me.The first thing I noticed was that she was crying and looked terrified. I was immediately on alert, shooting up into a sitting position. “Kayla, what happened?” I demanded, looking around. Even though it was all just a dream, my eyes still had to adjust after being in such sunlight. She cried silently next to me, holding herself. Something was very wrong. “There’s...a man in the kitchen...” she choked. My eyes grew wide with fright. A man in the kitchen? Oh crap...that guy I saw staring at me yesterday! I threw the bedsheets off my lap and stood up silently. I could see light coming in from under my door and knew that had to be him. Silently, I crept to the door, Kayla remaining on the bed. Opening the door, I looked out and saw the shadow of a man in the kitchen, going through the cupboards. On the ground... I almost fell over in shock as I saw the unconscious body of Louis on the floor, a small pool of blood formed around his head. I choked as I took a breath. Sitting in a stunned silence, I began breathing quickly, my pulse rising. He made a small groaning sound, letting me know that he was still alive. I looked from Louis to the man, the fear in my heart changing to anger. How dare this man come into my house! Hurt my family! Steal my supplies! I stood up in a blind fury and rushed to the man, screaming like an insane animal. Kayla jumped up from the bed behind me and ran to the door, watching in horror. The man heard me and seemed genuinely surprised, but quickly composed himself and picked up his shovel. I was running so quickly that I couldn’t stop myself to avoid the shovel as it ran a collision course with my head, sending me sprawling backwards. The room was suddenly filled with light as an intense pain shot down from my head to my spine. I curled up and shouted in pain, the new gash on my head leaking. Blood dripped down my forehead and onto the floor, creating my own pool. The stars soon turned dark as I began to lose consciousness, but not before I saw the man moving towards Kayla. I tried desperately to stay awake, but the pain overtook me. The last thing I heard before the world went black was Kayla’s shrill scream ringing in my ears. -- This time, when I awoke, I was in a sitting position. I blinked slowly, a dull ache in my head still eating away at me. Trying to remember where I was last was hurting...but the wetness on my face and hands drew my attention away. I tried moving and felt that I was sitting on top of something squishy. Or in this case, someone. I looked down in horror at the body below me. It was the man! Or, what was left of him. His face was impacted, as if his skull had caved in. His blood was everywhere. On my face, on my hands...and on the shovel that was still clutched tightly in my left hand. I stared at the shovel and forced my hand to open. The shovel fell to the ground with a loud clang before going silent. My hand was white and tingly, not having been relaxed in a long time. I slid off of the man, trembling. What had I done to this man? But more importantly, why didn’t I remember any of it? I heard a soft whimper behind me and turned to look at the source. Kayla was huddled in the corner of the room, curled into a ball. Her face was hidden as she cried, her pink pajamas covered in the man’s blood. She was shaking, visibly, even in this light. I crawled towards her, my body sluggish to respond. As I reached for her shoulder, though, she squeaked and cowered from my touch. I caught a glimpse of her face and nearly started crying. Her cheeks were puffy and red from crying. Blood was smeared down her front, in an almost splatter-like pattern. Her eyes were small and terrified. She was traumatized. I backed away from her slowly, my heart sinking. What had I done? I heard a noise to my right and looked around to see Louis stagger to his feet, holding his blood-soaked head. He groaned and looked around slowly. “Where is that dick?” he asked, clenching his fists. “I had him...the coward used a freaking shovel...” I pointed to the bloody mess next to me, sniffing. His eyes caught sight of the body and he backed up against the wall. His eyes went wide as he examined my subconscious handiwork. He looked from me to the man and coughed once. “Um...yeah, uh...nice work you did there...” he said nervously, backing away from the body. I looked up at him, my face remaining locked in the same emotionless expression. “I don’t remember doing it, Louis,” I said quietly, my voice cracking. He looked at me, his eyes growing wider. “What?” “I DON’T REMEMBER KILLING HIM!” I screamed, throwing my fists in the air and bringing them down onto the hardwood floor. Another jet of pain washed up through me. This time, I ignored it. Louis looked at me for a second before he noticed Kayla sitting in the corner, crying harder. He moved to her as quickly as his unstable body could take him. “Kayla, are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked, taking the shaking girl into his arms. She didn’t reject him, which made it all the more heartbreaking for me. Despite this,I answered for her. “He grabbed her,” I spoke quietly, my fists still embedded int he floor. Louis looked down at me as he picked up the blood soaked Kayla. She hid her face in his neck, not looking at me at all. Was she so scared of what I did to protect her that she couldn’t even look at me? “I blacked out. I woke up with the shovel. The man was dead,” I continued on, not caring if my sentences made sense or not. Louis stood there, trying to form the image in his head. A quick sob from Kayla ushered him to take her to her room again. He walked away from me, taking the only witness to what horrors I might have and probably did to that man. I was left alone with the corpse of the man whose skull I had just crushed in with a shovel. In my head, I could hear his soul screaming at me. -- I spent the rest of the night awake in my room while Louis got Kayla washed off. I sat in my room and cried to myself, alone and broken. The state of my mind was now so bad that I could perform actions without my brain telling me to. I knew now how dangerous I truly was. I didn’t even know whether or not I should remain in the same house as Louis and Kayla. I didn’t want them to end up like Tiffany...I couldn’t deal with that...not again. I heard a small voice behind me which immediately caught my attention. “You did the right thing, darling,” Rarity’s voice spoke to me. I tried to see her, but could only make out a shadow formed from the outside moonlight. The other ponies weren’t around. That was actually fine with me. I wouldn’t be able to deal with Pinkie right now. Rarity understood me the most. I got up on my elbow and looked into what I assumed to be her eyes. “I killed a man, Rarity,” I argued, wiping my eyes. She reached up and placed her hoof on my shoulder. I could actually feel her warmth and smell her breathe. She smelled like flowers and fabric. “Dear, you saved Kayla. That man would have done HORRIBLE things to that poor darling. How is it that your actions aren’t justified?” she spoke so gently that I started to close my eyes. “I wasn’t even awake for it, Rarity...I’m talking you right now...hell, this morning I was in bloody Equestria. Am..I going insane...?” I asked nervously, looking at her. She rested her head against mine so that I could feel her slick purple mane against my mess of black hair. She was so warm and comforting... “Dear, you’re only as insane as you let yourself become,” were the last words I heard as I began to fall asleep. My cloths were still covered in blood, as was my face. My hair was soaked in the blood from the gash in my head. I lazily rolled over after Rarity had vanished and looked up just in time to see Louis staring at me. His eyes seemed disbelieving in the light that surrounded us. My eyes went wide again as I realized that he had seen me talking to thin air. I hadn’t used her name, right?-oh crap. “Who...were you talking to?” he asked, taking small step back. “And why did you say Rarity’s name?” I looked at him, trying to act as if I didn’t know what he was talking about. But his next words came as a shock. “You see the ponies too...?”