Tobias 1: Dark Carnival
Tobias’ POV
I was weightless. After getting pulled up by... whatever that was (It sure as hell wasn’t a ceiling), I was flung up higher than I thought possible. Or at least, it felt like that. That was....about half an hour ago. I had stopped going up by then and had been floating in place in this white void for a while now. I could see a couple black dots below me... but, I really hope that those are only about an inch across. Cause if not, I’m really freaking high right now. And not in the good way.
“Hmm... one would think that if I really am that high up, I would have run out of oxygen or something by now. What with how thin the air is and all.” I just kept floating and decided to act like a cartoon by pretending to swim in place. “Maybe if I fall I’ll turn into a pancake.” I laughed a little at the idea. “Yeah right, I’d just break my neck along with every other bone in my body. That and die.”
I heard a poof next to me and it was followed by a voice I recognized. “On your world, maybe, but you'll find that this one is much more forgiving. From the look of you I’d say you would be a triple decker, chocolate chip with extra chocolate syrup.”
I turned my head and froze for a moment. Discord, Master of Chaos and one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on television, was sitting in a recliner drinking an ice cream sundae. No, I mean he was tipping the glass bowl up like a cup and it poured the ice cream out like a soda. I decided to vocalize my thought processes about then while waving my arms like a ninny and doing a pose at the end that had an epic ninja face that mocked any old time kungfu movie. “HolyshitwhatthehellDiscordisrightnexttomeHwaaaOoooooo.....!”
He laughed at my reaction. ”Oh, you humans are funny with how you all jump when I get show up. Much more of a reaction than those silly ponies.”
I started to grin from ear to ear with glee, even as I felt the wind pick up from under me. “This. Is. AWESOME! I mean if you’re real that means Equestria is real! Oooooooooooo, I am going to have SO much fun rubbing this into Josh’s face! Take that Harvard science monkeys! Transdimensional travel was just proven possible by an eighteen year old idiot and a cartoon character! WOO! The fourth wall has been decimated into pebbles!”
Discord just looked at me and blinked. “Well, That’s a new one.” He snapped his fingers and I felt myself slow down to the sound of tires screeching. A quick glance down showed that I was now about an inch from the ground. I stared at it until it clicked in my head that the rushing wind from earlier was me falling to a possible doom. Needless to say, I paled in fear and nearly crapped my pants.
I was dropped onto the white road and straightened up my posture, brushing off dust that wasn’t on my shirt. “Um... thanks for um.... yeah.”
Discord waved a hand and shades formed on his face. “Anything for a fan~!” He laughed a little before standing in front of me. “And as much as I like games, we don’t actually have time for any at the moment. If this fiasco blows over then I’m sure we will, but onto more pressing matters.”
I was about to ask what he was talking about when I finally decided to focus my attention on everything other than Captain Awesome. “Um... Is this Ponyville? Cause if it is, why is everything all white and....neh?”
Discord put his claw on my shoulder. “Good eyes, by boy! Now before we begin, I need to check something.” His paw poked at my nose and all I could see was swirls of color. “Okay, you’re name is Tobias Landel, knows much about Equestria already (although there are some sides left untouched), has a rather strange personality, and judging from your reaction earlier,” the colors faded away and I was staring at Discord as he was reading papers that were coming out of a floating printer, “perfect for the job. You’re hired!” He through the papers into the air and had a small cheer as they showered down.
I grabbed one of the papers that had flown in front of me and looked at the chaos god. “Hired for what?” I looked at the paper and read the title. It said ‘Application for Dark Hero’ at the top. HA! Dark hero. I’m going to be freaking BATMAN! I almost laughed when I saw my photo on the paper. Somehow, he had managed to put groucho glasses, a rainbow afro, and a polka dot bowtie on me. “Well, don’t I look charming as always.”
Discord laughed a little before wiping a tear from his eye. “Oh, you are so much more fun than your brother was. Now onto your questions.” I raised a hand, but Discord cut me off. “First off, yes your brother is here in Equestria and he’s here for the same reason as you. Just with a different pony.” I lowered my hand and Discord nodded before continuing. “Secondly, It seems that things here in Equestria have been tossed for a loop and into a storage box, and for once it wasn’t me that did it. I can’t seem to get anything back into balance on my own so I brought you and a few friends over for assistance.”
He grabbed my shoulders and I was lifted up off the ground. We started flying between the whited out streets and I could recognise a few places. There was the Joke shop that Pinkie and Rainbow bought most of their pranks from, I could see what I assume was Town Hall and a whited out mare standing in the doorway staring at me, and I think I saw a building that had square candies on it.... it was strange. Fun to look at and picture silly things, but strange nonetheless.
We stopped in front a massive ball of wibbly, wobbly, Inkey, black, stuff. The chaotic, swirly mess resembled Doctor Who’s interpretation of how time works almost to a tee. I looked up at the space above me only to see that I was being held by a pair of arms, while Discord was standing next to me. “So, What’s with the big ball of nasty? Did someone put a booger magnet in there or what?”
Discord looked at me with an amused grin. “This is what happens when too much chaos is bunched into one spot. Ever since the imbalance started to spread, The elements of harmony started to draw in as much chaotic energy as they could.” Discord leaned onto the mass casually. “This has made it impossible for me go get near them. You humans however, seem to just walk right through it with ease. I need you to go in to there,” he pointed to the black mass, “and find the element that’s in there. And don’t think that you’ll be without help.”
I could feel... something creep up my spine. It was really hard not to start laughing right then as the feeling that continued to crawl up and around my chest felt like a dozen feathers grazing my skin. I almost didn’t notice the glowing that came from under my shirt. “There, that should suffice. Travels aren’t any fun without a partner. Don’t you agree?”
I looked down my shirt and at my chest and saw a five pointed swirl that was surrounded by squiggles and zigzags in a sun-like pattern tattooed on my skin. “So.... what does this doohickey do?”
Discord turned me to face the sphere again (I somehow turned around at some point, I DON’T KNOW! I’M WITH DISCORD FOR PETE’S SAKE!) and gave me a push. “That is for you to find out. It wouldn’t be fair to the others if I told just one of you now would it?” I fell onto the ground and laid there for a moment as echoing started to ring in my ears.
Laughing till the end of time,
This mare’s joy is simply divine,
But the laughter has changed,
and she has become deranged,
until someone answers her rhyme.
I shook my head as I got up again. The world spun for a moment until I got my bearings by staring at my shoes. “Well.... that happened.” Looking up I blinked a couple times at what I saw. I felt the blood drain from my face as I looked at where I was. “And....that’s much darker than what I pictured my first piece of Equestrian adventure would look like.”
I stood at the entrance of probably the most demonic and over all LARGE carnival I had ever seen. The sky was black and starless and the only light came from the lamps around the carnival. Off in the distance, I could see a large spinning statue of Pinkie Pie that was smiling as it was illuminated by spotlights. The eyes looked lifeless and dull as they panned over the carnival, as if they were watching your every move. The stalls and tents that were pitched up were barren of any fairgoers, and I could hear the echo of a laugh amidst the eerie wind.
I gulped as I felt a sweat drop run down the side of my face. “Oh boy....” I took a deep breath and started to walk into the carnival. On the way in, I noticed a few things. One: My attire had changed. My pants were still slacks like before, but now had hot pink lining on the sides, and my shirt was now a black t-shirt with a familiar trio of party balloons on the center. “Well that’s pretty cool. Better than that plain grey one I was wearing earlier by far.”
Two: The laughing I heard earlier was periodic. About every... five or six minutes I’d hear it again like someone was playing a broken record to a ghost movie. I really didn’t like hearing it all that much and tried to block it out both mentally and physically. To no avail, the laughing continued despite my hands blocking out the rest of the sounds.
Third, and creepiest of all, was that I could feel like there was something moving between the tents, watching me, sizing me up, wanting a nice Tobi snack right before dinner. I stopped moving and shook my head. “Where did that thought come from?” It was a little disturbing, but I shrugged it off. “It must be something with this place. It’s....” I couldn’t really find a word to describe the feeling I was getting. “...I’ll think of a word for it later.”
I kept moving into the carnival and stopped when I hit a dead end. Where there should have been some way to move forward was a large tent. I could see an exit on the other side but... I really really really reeeeeally didn’t want to go in there. “Hmm.... Head into creepy tent, or stand around doing nothing and feel disembodied eyes following you.” I sat in the road and tapped my chin. My face was scrunched in thought and I quickly came to an answer that had half of me screaming at me that It’s a trap! and the other half saying like I have any other options.
As I got inside the tent, I could hear something new for a change. There was a distant roll of thunder as it started to rain outside. It started as a trickle at first, but in seconds it was a downpour. “Good thing I got inside. I hate rain.” I turned back around and walked deeper into the tent.
It seems that the tent was a lot bigger on the inside than the exterior. There was a walkway that lead up to the center stage where you would see lion tamers, clowns, and other sorts of things you would see at a circus or state fair. The round podium that the ring master would stand on was crumpled in and the clown car that sat in the back was split in half by a fallen beam. The cages were empty of any lions, tigers, bears, or elephants, and the stands were bare of all but an occasional abandoned cotton candy, or popcorn.
There was a rattling noise as I got closer to the center and, in a mild case of panic and fear due to the overall atmosphere of the area resembling a slasher film, I ran to the underside of the stands and hid like a chicken with it's ass on fire. I took a peek around the side of the stands and saw something that I hated more than rain.
Puppets. So... many.... puppets. Wooden, life-sized marionettes of ponies I was unfamiliar with were walking around in the center of the tent. They varied from unicorns, to pegasi, and most were just regular ponies. The strings were cut and tangled around their bodies and limbs, but they still somehow walked around as if they were flesh and blood. The sound of them rattling as they moved about was constant as they moved into, around, and through the area of the tent.
I started to search around under the stands to see if I could find... well I didn’t really know what I was looking for, just something that could have the potential to be useful. And a useful something I found! There was a baseball bat that was left underneath the stands like some kid had dropped it while in the awe of a quadruple backflip somersault from an acrobat and then quickly forgot about it. It was.... a little small. Most baseball bats would be about the length of my arm at the least, but this one only got three fourths of the way to my elbow. “.... Eh, if anything I can use it as a club.”
I looked again and the puppets were leaving in the direction I had come from. When the last one exited the tent, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I slumped back and rested against one of the support beams to the stands and started to rub my head. “God, I hate puppets.”
I walked out from behind the stands and looked at the outside again. The rain had let up some, and I could see only about four stands away from myself. “Great. The weather is against me too. As if things weren’t already weird with the fact that I’m in some demented, off-balance, nightmare-or-nothing Equestria.” I walked over to the other exit and jumped a little before quickly diving off to the side. One of the puppets from earlier was standing in front of a stall and trying to climb over. The moment it’s hoof knocked over some of the cups that were placed there I could hear a little girl scream. Oh that is not flying.... no matter how...freaking...creepy.... SUCK IT UP TOBIAS! BE THE HERO!
I snuck closer to the puppet as it fumbled to get over the counter of the stall. In one quick motion I slammed the bat into the head of the puppet and quickly jumped back. I was posed to make another strike when it jumped at me and that creepy as fuck puppet was not going to best me!
At least... if my initial blow hadn’t made it poof into black smoke and vanish that is. I just managed to look stupider than usual by standing in the rain holding a tiny baseball bat like some cheesy samurai movie star. Oh.... well then. I SHOWED HIM! Yeah! Like some stinkin' puppet's gonna get the better of this piece of amazing. After mentally praising myself for being the awesome hero that I am, I walked over to the stall and whispered. “Hello? Is anyone there? The puppet’s gone.”
I could hear some stuff get knocked over and a very scared and trembling voice came out. “W-who’s th-there?”
I hopped over the counter and crouched down to the ground in case more puppets showed up. I also kept my voice to a whisper... did I mention that PUPPETS ARE FREAKY AS HELL AND SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED!?!? “My name’s Tobias. But you can call me Tobi!”
I could see some cups and other things piled over to the side and a bunch of cabinets that were built into the stall. I could hear the voice coming from the cabinets as the scared kid spoke again. “Y-y-your n-not gonna-a e-eat m-me.... are you?”
My face scrunched into the ‘Fry not-sure’ face. “Um... why would I do that? I don’t even know who you are... or what you are for that matter. Can you come out?” The stall was silent aside from the pitter patter of the rain. Eventually one of the cabinets started to open and... HOLY SHIST IT’S DINKY HOOVES! The moment she saw me Dinky eeped and slammed the cabinet closed. “Whoa whoa whoa whoa hey!.... It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Dinky poked her head out enough that she could see me. “Y-y-y-you’re not?”
I shook my head and smiled at the little filly. “Nope. From that little glance I got of you, I’d say that you’re too adorable to do that too.” She came out the rest of the way and I was shocked at her appearance. Her coat was messy with dirt and grime and her mane was completely disheveled. She also had a fair number of scratches and cuts on her body.
She looked up at me while shivering. “A-are those thingies gone?”
I peeked over the edge of the stall and couldn’t see a single puppet. I looked down at her with a gentle smile. “Yes. Now could you please tell me your name?” Score two for me! I managed not to look like a total creeper! Woo!
Dinky nodded. “M-my name’s Dinky.” She looked down before trotting up to me and giving my leg a hug. “Th-thank you for helping me Mr.Tobi.” HNNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!
I patted her head and tried desperately not to strangle her with loving hugs of adoration and fandomness. “No problem Dinky.” I looked over the edge of the stall again and still couldn’t see any puppets. “Hey Dinky? I’m a little new here. Could you tell me what’s going on?”
Dinky nodded. “W-well.... A couple days ago, mommy started to feel sick. Th-then almost everypony started to get really pale. a-a-and then when mommy took me to S-sugarcube corner, Pinkie just stopped and started to shiver really bad. I started to feel really dizzy... and when I woke up... I was in a stall down that way.” She pointed behind her and started to sniffle and shake. “I-I couldn’t find my mommy an-and... I got scared.... th-then the puppets found me and... and...” She started to cry into my leg. “I-I-I miss my mommy!”
To say I felt bad was such an understatement, it would make underdog hit himself in the face a good number of times. I scooped up the crying filly and hugged her to my chest. “Shhhhh, shhhh shhhh, It’s alright Dinky.... I promise you that we’ll find your mom.”
Dinky looked up at me in tears. “R-really?”
I nodded and smiled. “You betcha!” I started to feel rather drowsy and almost toppled over. ”But first, let’s find someplace to rest... I’m bushed.”
Dinky hopped out of my arms and trotted further into the stall. “I-I-I think I saw a b-b-bed in here when I was trying to hide e-earlier.” I nodded and followed her into the back. Certainly enough, there was a bed there. There was also a bookcase and dresser that I pushed in front of the doorway before laying down.
“There, now they can’t get in.” Dinky yawned before nearly falling on her face. I could only chuckle. “Looks like-” Interrupt the moment with a yawn, “-I’m not the only one tired.” I laid down on the bed and popped my back as Dinky hopped up next to me. I relaxed my arms and dropped one over the now sleeping Dinky as she curled up next to me like a cat.
I couldn’t help but feel worry now that I had found Dinky. Cause now not only was I supposed to help restore balance to Equestria itself... but I had to help keep this little innocent girl... er... filly safe while getting her back to her mom... who I assume is Derpy... the Derpy I will promptly fanboy at the sight of.... I closed my eyes with a sigh and let myself drift off to sleep. This just keeps getting better and better.... Well of course it got better, I’m cuddling freaking DINKY! HA! Take that fandom! I’m cuddling your adorable and you can’t stop me! I will find a way to weaponize it and take over th-
*Snore*
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This guy's reactions are the best. Can't wait for the next chapter starring him.
I'll vote for Michelle this time.
jeremy
3113599 I know! All I really did was base him off of my little sister when I give her 5hour energy, and now I have one of the most fun characters to write.
3113620 Short sweet and to the point. I like that.
Tobias :3 i want another tobi chapter
also DERANGED PINKIE :D
3115408 sorry buddy, but there will not be another Tobias OR Joshua chapter until all of the cast gets their beginnings.
3115557
Me: NOOOOOOOOO
Pinkie: NOOOOOOOOOO
Me *sigh* ok
Pinkie: WHAT? Gi you've never just said ok to something like this. You have to protest, tell the government, or or ...... OR SOMETHING
Me: *sigh* pinkie I'm not going to do that after what happened last time
Pinkie: that was pretty bad I guess I'll let it go this time
so many feelings...
3168883 thanks! Now would you kindly submit a vote on next chapter? The story won't continue until the tie is broken.