//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Loosened Screw // by RealityWarper //------------------------------// I have no idea how I got here either, but here I am. Sitting in the middle of nowhere, with a single ray of light from the void around me. It was actually like one of those interrogation scenes, you know. The lamp, the person in front of the victim, questioning them profusely. The whole shebang. Well, except for the fact my 'interrogator' was a pair of two strangely colored red irides and golden colored scleras. Those eyes watch me from the darkness with sadistic delight. I can't begin to explain how surreal this whole situation feels like, but it's absurd. It felt like I was doped up on acid or something similar, but I knew for a fact I wasn't. "Ah! So good to see you! I was wondering when you'd get here," The voice paused, "If you ever even got here, that is." "...Who are you? What exactly do you want?" It's not that I don't approve of the whole mystery thing, it's just I don't approve of this situation. You know, since I'm actually the one in it. This guy could be here for something nefarious after all. The eyes rolled themselves, which showed me the exact nature of this being, who might I add is likely some sort of super natural demon jester, or something of the sort. "I do hope I didn't get a serious soul," The voice muttered to itself, "That would be quite... Unfortunate." "Serious? I'm a little serious, when I need to be. But at the current moment, my life is probably on the line." Better not say sanity, offering out my life was much more than enough. The being actually manifested a pair of sharpened teeth that formed a malicious grin. "Perfect! For the both of us, you see... I require someone with a set of morals, as well as someone who can be serious when the time came." "But, who are you?" I inquire, once again. Gravely suspicious of who this weird creep is, being all mysterious and what not. "A poltergeist? Please don't haunt me, I swear I haven't done anything to you." "That's the spirit!" "No, you're the spirit." "A real kidder, aren't you!?" "I want to go home." I stress now, as I'm already tired of playing chicken and running around for every little thing that happens to me. "Are you feeling it?" I pause, my mouth stretching into a thin line of displeasure as I hear him completely duck my request, or demand depending on how you look at it. "That adrenaline you've been using? That's not adrenaline. You've been feeling magic. And now that you're here," Without making a motion, I can tell the voice wanted to make one. "a place where your magic cannot flourish, your own subconscious, you're starting to feel the effects of terror, from your displaced situation." I wanted to deny this creature's words, tell him to shut up, punch him in his stupid sharp pointy teeth and vanish back to where ever I came from. But I can't, I can't deny his very true words. Slowly creeping in was the fear I'd felt after escaping the hospital, and the same one I felt in the basement. The fear of the unknown. Here, I'm powerless. I don't have a house, not even an apartment to my name or even a single dollar. I don't have any friends, and nothing but possible enemies. I have no protection, no safety, and no one to teach me right or wrong. "But," The voice paused, "I can help you. I am your friend, and I am the closest one to helping you find your way home, if you'll even want to go home after awhile." Awhile? "...Awhile?" I carefully voice out hesitantly, not wanting any tricks. I know this thing is playing me, but I can't help but feel like I should trust it. It's the only one that knows my situation, somehow. But from his earlier words, wasn't he the one who brought me here? "Didn't you bring me here? Can't you send me back?" "Actually," The voice began, "While it was my spell that caught your nearby soul, it is not I who brought you from wherever you once came from. You see, my spell was designed to only capture the souls of the recently dead that were floating around in the aether of the other world. But the spirits in the aether come from different plains, so how you would have got there from a place supposedly with no magic... I do not know." Baffled, I could only stare at the strange sight of the two floating eyes and a mouth. My brain eventually caught up with what he'd said when I realized something. "Wait, you know about my world?" The voice grew silent for a moment, as if pondering something before eventually speaking. "No, I just know that it doesn't have any magic in it. Your soul was void of any magic, which every creature of Equestria should have. Even those not of Equestria have some small form of magic in their souls, but not you. No, your soul is COMPLETELY barren of any magic. Or, was I should say." I felt a cold pit of dread at the word "was". "Was?" I hesitantly voice out, half not wanting an answer but knowing I would need one. The voice did not disappoint. "Indeed, was. Your soul was an anomaly in itself. A creature with no magic cannot exist by magic law, it is simply impossible. It would be like an Earth Pony suddenly flying without wings or without the assistance of magic. It's that same impossibility that brought my attention to your undying soul." Undying soul? "You see, your soul began absorbing the magic of everything in the aether. Remember as I said, all souls have magic. The moment your soul suddenly came into existence, it began eating ALL the magic in the aether simultaneously. All the souls awaiting their time to move into the next life, to reincarnate or otherwise live in the aether. Wait, did that mean I became Shang Tsung briefly? Oh god I hope I didn't end souls, I couldn't live with that on my conscious. "Keep in mind, I said that you came into existence. Not teleported in. You suddenly arrived, as if you had always been there. Fearing the worst had yet to come, the guardians of the Aether tore open a hole into the world of the living and tossed you in so you couldn't absorb any of the souls. What they didn't predict, was that the world of the living wouldn't react very well to your soul either. The moment your soul existed within the reaches of the world of the living, you began to eat EVERY bit of magic in it. All the magic began to slowly be absorbed, and I believe you would have eaten all of the world's magic within but a year. That's quite a bit of magic, Equestria has far more magic than I've seen in any realm thus far. I could take hundreds, no thousands of realms and they still wouldn't have as much magic. With all that magic, you'd be unstoppable to any force... If you could use that magic, that is . Which I doubt you could have, as you are just a fledgling soul. You're not even older than the elements of harmony, younger actually. I did the only thing I could have possibly done to save our universe. I gave you a body." The intake of information was far too much for me. "Whoa, I... That's kind of a hard pill to swallow don't you think? There's no way I'm... But I did, I guess... How did this happen?" I sat down on the 'floor' that consisted of absolutely nothing. "Your guess is as good as mines, I suppose. There's much more to the story than that. However, I'll spare that information for another time. You need my help, and I need your help." Help? What could he possibly help me with? I'm pretty sure he can't get me home, from anything he's told me. "I will help you learn the secrets of magic, and you will acknowledge yourself as my child truly." What. "What?" I express vocally this time, my eyes widening some in disbelief. "Why? I don't think a pair of eyes and some teeth can replace my parents." Then it hit me. I had to get home, I didn't tell my parents goodbye, or my siblings, or my best friends. I just suddenly vanished, and supposedly I'm dead. Did they even discover my body? "Hello? Equestria to Screwball? I understand all this information is likely giving you an internal crises, but we need to sort this deal. Yes?" "Why? Why would you want to be my Father? Who ARE you? What the heck is going on right now?" I stomp my hoof on the floor for good measure to show my pending frustration. "Let's start with the, technically third question." A luminescent green swirl of magic suddenly shatters the illusion of the black void and illuminates the darkness. "Hello, I'm Discord. It's nice to meet you, my child."