Only Dust.

I didn't like people. Never really did. I've always been a lone wolf, when it came to how I lived my life. I suppose that comes from my days in elementary school. As soon as kindergarten ended, that's when I learned the reality of this world. You either joined a group of people you called friends, or got trampled by one because you had none. Believe me when I say I wanted friends, but nobody wanted me. I didn't understand why. I tried to be funny, like the other kids, but I wasn't very good at jokes. I was often called annoying for trying, so I attempted to get good at sports. I tried to play kickball and handball like the cool kids did, but I learned quickly that I was not a good athlete. Not good enough for them, at least.

The worst was the bullying. Some people think that in middle school, or high school, a person can get bullied the most. I find that debatable, since I was bullied the worst in elementary school. Being chased, and called names was the least of it. But how about getting hit in the head with kickballs, and basket balls? How about getting kicked in the back while trying to go down a slide, only to be the one getting punished by the school? Oh yeah, the schools. They did squat to help me. The schools are more concerned with getting their checks at the end of the week, than the safety of their students.

By the time middle school came, I was done with people. I had gotten far used to being alone, and that was how I liked it. Peace, quiet, and a good book was all I needed to keep myself occupied. The people in the books or on my favorite shows never wanted to hurt me, never wanted to insult me, and never made me feel less of a person. I wished that people were more like those in the books I read. The kinds of people I would want to be friends with. However, everyone else I saw was too extreme. Everyone was a jerk in one fashion or another. Even the people who were nice to me just seemed to...forced. I couldn't ever tell who was being nice to me, and who was faking it.

High school was the tamest, I would admit. Gone were the days of old-fashioned bullying. Now, people settled their differences straight up. People had gotten more mature, but that's not saying they were very mature at all. Around me, people I once knew as intelligent kids in middle school were making all sorts of bad decisions. And as the world seemed to almost crumble around me, I watched from the bench I sat on. When I needed to turn the page of my books, I would look up at the world I almost seemingly didn't exist in. When I went home, my mother showed obvious concern for me, and my mental health. She would often argue with my father, whom would claim that I was just "going through a phase." And while they argued, I was mesmerized by the wonderful, fictional world of television.

I found a love for cartoons, but my favorite one was a show called "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". While the world I lived in seemed gray, in Equestria, I saw a rainbow. A rainbow so strong, I swear, I was able to feel it through the screen I watched it through. My mother was glad that I had found something that made me happy, but my father...well, he was less than pleased. By then, I was 18, and had graduated High School with okay grades. My father wanted me to start attending church instead. Our family is supposed to be Christian, but faith was never really my style. Church to me, was just a person talking. I never felt enlightened, never felt happier, I just felt like I wasted a half an hour of my life. That is just my opinion. When church didn't work, my father grew more impatient. He said that I was going to have to either go to college, or get myself a job, or else I was being thrown out.

So, off to college I went. People always told me that college would be the first time since kindergarten that being educated would be fun. I didn't find it fun. Sure, I got to pick my subjects. However, I still had to talk to people. I wasn't a fan of that. In my classes, I had a few acquaintances that I spoke to a bit. Alex from Math, Brandon and Stacy from my Language Arts class, and Akio from my Art class. However, I really didn't consider them as friends. Alex was a huge nerd, and his liking for math as insufferable. Stacy and Brandon, while polite to me, were always all lovey dovey with each other. And after a while, that gets on a person's nerves. Akio liked the same kinds of TV shows I liked, but he was so openly obsessive about them. He would talk about one thing until it lost all meaning. I never wanted to hang out with them outside class, and I didn't really want to talk to them much.

All this time, I never thought I was depressed. I just thought there wasn't much to be happy about anymore. However, it became obvious when the power went out in my city for a few days. At this point, while I still loved books, the only thing that made me happy was the ponies of Equestria. Nothing would please me more than to be there. In that magnificent place of perfection. And now...they were gone. What was worse, the WIFI was out. Meaning, I couldn't use my phone to watch them. All of a sudden, nothing seemed fun anymore. Nothing seemed remotely pleasant. Food seemed tasteless. I just never seemed to get enough sleep. Time was too slow. Even the acquaintances I somewhat tolerated...I just couldn't tolerate them anymore.

I just wanted to go to sleep, and never wake up again. Every day was monotonous, and I just wanted the cycle to end. One night, a night seemingly like any other, I awoke to find myself in a dream. It looked like I was standing inside a cafeteria. The benches were all pushed to the walls, leaving lots of empty space within. And in this empty space, a portal had seemingly opened, and exiting from it, appeared to be none other than the Princess of the Night. She looked to me, and spoke to me in a tone soft, but firm.

"Hello, Jacob," she said.

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"I am your guardian, Jacob. I know a lot about you."

"Why guard me?"

"Everyone deserves to have someone watch over them. Now, you wish to come to Equestria. Why? Don't you have friends and family here?"

"Well...I wouldn't call them 'friends' exactly. They're just people I talk to."

"I see. Why haven't you pursued friendship with them?"

"They aren't really the kind of people I want to hang out with. Their personalities are just too different."

The Lunar Princess puts a hoof to her chin, and thinks. She then looks to me.

"I'll grant you your wish. When you next wake, you will awake in Equestria," she says.

"Really?!" I grow a bit excited, "Oh, thank you! You have no idea how long I've waited for this!"

Luna nods, almost as if something was upsetting her. The look she made was a little bit off-putting to me. But before I could think about it, I was waking up. Fast, too....

I woke up on a very rough surface. My back ached. I figured I was lying there for a decent chunk of time. I attempted to open my eyes, but they burned and stung. I instantly put my hands to my eyes and rubbed in an attempt to get them to stop watering. When the burning stopped, I looked at the ground. Very coarse, almost gray dirt was beneath me. I inhaled, and smelled the staleness in the air. It left a bad taste in my mouth as I breathed. Where the hell was I?!

So I stood up finally, and looked up. Wow...this place seemed like it went through a lot. Seemed familiar, though. A lot of ruined houses that looked like age had gotten to them. Tattered banners with random designs flowed in the wind. I just couldn't put my finger on where I was. I took my first step, and felt the dirt crunch below my bare foot. It almost hurt to stand on, the dirt was so dry. Needed to step on something smooth. I turned my attention to one of the houses. The roof was mostly intact. Looking at the roof, I also noticed the bleak sky. Gray. No sun, moon, or stars. I couldn't tell what the time was.

I finally reached the house, and got to the door. The door was pretty short, so I leaned down a little, and twisted the knob. When I pulled, the door fell into the house, making a loud crashing noise that echoed throughout the area. I stepped in, and felt relieved that I was standing on something other than coarse dirt. I looked around the house. All was quiet. I called out.

"Hello?! Anyone?!"

Silence.

I examined the home. Nothing seemed too unusual, other than the age. Everything was caked in dust. I found a picture frame, and brushed some of the dust off. Behind the glass was a picture of...Equestrians. As in...from MLP. My eyes widened a bit, but this wasn't glee I was feeling. No, this was far from it. What happened here..? I examined the family in the picture. I didn't recognize them as any characters I was familiar with. I set the frame down, and quickly ran outside.

I ran down the street, past the houses. All abandoned. All decrepit. Some looked worse than others. Some hardly had any roof left, and others had collapsed long ago. It was clicking in my head. I was starting to realize where I was. In the distance, I could see the crumbling bakery known as Sugarcube Corner. Once a colorful pastry shop, it had succumbed to age and neglect for an obviously long time. I entered the bakery, and looked about. There weren't even any cobwebs. There was nothing in there was was alive, or even dead. Dust blew in through the door, and got all over me. I paid no attention to that, though. I called out once more, only for nobody to respond. Why was I even doing this? If nobody heard me earlier, why would they hear me now? I searched everywhere in the home, but found nothing. No Pinkie Pie singing while baking cakes, no Mr. and Mrs. Cake to make sure she's not eating more than she's making, and no twins laughing or crying.

This was really messing with me. I'm used to seeing this place as bright, colorful, and full of life. And now...It's dark. Colorless. Lifeless. Something that felt very familiar to me. I decide to try one more place. Twilight's castle. Well, in this world...there was no castle. But there was the library, which out of all the places here, made me feel the most depressed to see. The tree was bare of leaves. The color had gone away, leaving the library as nothing more than a husk of its former self. I uselessly called out once more.

"Twilight?! Spike?! Hellooooo?!"

Nothing. Seriously, what did I expect?

I didn't even want to go in, but I felt obligated to. I had to see. So I did. I turned the knob, the door stayed intact when I opened it, and I entered. Despite color loss, the books seemed to still be in okay condition. As for the rest of the house, well...age definitely got to it as well. The wood was shriveled up and old. In fact, traversing the second floor felt unstable. The tree creaked, Almost like it was groaning. Like it was saying, "Please...just let me die here in peace.".

I had given up all hope of finding anyone here, or anyone else for that matter. When the very sky is neglected by both the Princesses and their subjects, you know that you have a 100% left behind kingdom. I didn't know what to think about this. So, I sat down in the middle of the not-so Golden Oak. I've wanted to go to Equestria, but...this isn't what I wanted. I continued to sit there. Mind blank. I couldn't think at all. I wanted to feel sad, but I felt too tired to be sad. I wanted to cry, but I lacked the energy for it. I looked at the shelves behind me, and at the books. I looked at some. After finding a few novels, I started to read.

I lost track of time. While I kept telling myself I was reading, I felt more like I was just scanning my eyes over pages of stories more colorful than my life. When the books started piling an unknown amount of time later, I set my novel down, and I realized something: This was no different than my life at home. All alone, nose stuck in a book to try and cope, and nobody there.

Wait. No.

Home. Home is where my mom is. Home is where my father is. He may not understand me, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love me. The bustling people at my college. Chatting.

Voices.

I missed voices. I even miss the long speeches that Alex gave to me about the "importance" of multiplication. The "boo boo bears" from Stacy and Brandon. The hyperactive nature of Akio. It's so quiet here, even seeing an insect would make me a little excited, but no...not even bugs here. Just dust. Only dust.

"I wanna go home. I miss home." I said.

Just the wind responded.

"Luna! I want to go home!"

My yelling echoed, but faintly. Like not even my own voice wanted to respond to me.

"Luna, please! I wanna go home! I miss my Mom and Dad! I miss my school! I...I miss my friends..."

I began to finally weep. I weeped harder than I ever had. Warm tears streamed from my eyes, and down my cheeks. I had friends all this time. I had a family who loved me. And...I threw it all away...I wanted it back. I wanted to go back just so I can hug my parents, and tell them I love them. So I could tell my friends that I think of them as such...

I cried for a long time as dust from the wind outside almost started to pile on my skin. My eyes stung from the dirt and tears. My face hurt, and my eyes were puffy. I curled up on the floor, and closed my eyes.

I don't know how long I lied there for, but when I opened my eyes...I was back in the cafeteria dream. I felt almost glad to see it, but felt even more relieved when I saw Luna again. Tears in her own eyes. At first, I was glad to see her. Her dark shade of blue, and sparkling hair was like an explosion of color to my deprived eyes. But then, my relief turned to anger.

"Why would you send me there?!" I said, angrily, "All alone in some gray hell!"

Luna sighed, and made eye contact with me. I glared at her, but saw something in her eyes, Pain.

"You wanted to go to Equestria," she said, "So...I sent you there. To the Equestria I once called home..."

My look softened. My anger turned to curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"After using the Elements of Harmony on me to transform me back from being Nightmare Moon, Twilight and the rest of her friends had gotten into an argument. It's been so long, I had forgotten what the argument was about."

She shook her head, and continued.

"A bad aura came over them, and spread to the rest of Equestria. Everyone started thinking that if someone was flawed, then you shouldn't be friends with them. This led to arguing about what was a flaw, and what was not. This led to my subjects attacking one-another for just having different opinions. A civil war pursued, leading to the death of all life here. My...sister. It was too much for her, so she conjured up all her powers...and ended her own life."

I put a hand to my mouth. I was shocked. Celestia. Luna's own sister. Gone, because her whole kingdom fell apart. I was no longer angry with Luna. I felt sorry for her...

"When I saw how depressed you were," Luna proceeded, "I did not want you to suffer the same fate as her. So...I showed you how lonely you would be without the people in your life."

"I took them for granted. All of them." I realized.

Luna nodded, "But it isn't too late for you, Jacob. You can still live a happy life. When you awake, you will be back in your world."

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you..."

I approached Luna, my Guardian Angel, and gave her a hug. She returned the hug, and I felt myself returning to reality...

"Wait...I think he's waking up!"

"He's twitching!"

"Jacob, it's Mom! Please wake up!"

Voices. Calling for me.

I open my eyes, and adjust to the brightness. Looking down at me, were my parents, and my four friends. A doctor stepped into view, and spoke to me.

"What a relief, Jacob. We were about to fear the worst," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You've been asleep for 3 days. We're still unsure how, or why. We've made attempts to wake you, but to no avail. You are a lucky man, Jacob."

I smiled a little, "I am. I am lucky, Doc. I'm lucky to have a family who loves me. I'm lucky to have friends that may be imperfect, but are awesome either way."

I look to them.

"I took you guys for granted. You've always been my friends. I'm sorry I never showed it." I said, smiling.

"Shucks," said Brandon.

"We knew ya had a soft side." Stacy added.

"I know you like talking about stuff with me, Jacob!" said Akio.

"Apology accepted," Alex joked.

It's been five years since I visited that abandoned Equestria. I still question to this day...was it really a dream? No, it couldn't have been. It felt too real. Maybe it was an out of body experience? Who knows...I'll probably never know. If I do know one thing for sure, however, it's that you should always treasure the people in your life. Because you never realize just how much you care about something or someone until they're gone.

Author's Note:

Hey, guys. Thanks for reading my lil story. It's been a long time since I've written, so I have decided to do another one for old time's sake. Hope you enjoyed. As always, have a great day.