A teen goes to Equestria, wielding the power of every video game he ever played.
My name is James. I'm your typical student: I sleep. I do my homework, all that jazz.
But, I mostly love to game. Gaming is my passion. I have played a wide variety of video games throughout my lifetime. Some, I hate. Some I love. Some I haven't even played yet.
So, when I'm offered to have a chance to become a person in some foreign world, wielding the power of every video game I've ever played, I jumped at the chance.
Twilight Sparkle let out a menacing cackle as she slowly ascended into the sky, wings spread wide, magical energy crackling around her like purple bolts of lightning. Celestia stood before her pupil, stunned, as she watched Twilight become more powerful than anypony had ever been in Equestria. Celestia shook off her dumbfounded expression and gritted her teeth, anger overwhelming her senses. "Twilight!" She bellowed, catching her students attention, "you have gone too far! This pursuit of power... this is all unnecessary!" Celestia began to sound more pleading than angered, as her expression shifted from one of rage to one of remorse in a split moment, "please, just come down. We can resolve this peacefully!"
Twilight's magical power stained the stone walls of the Canterlot Castle with a deep purple light, which only seemed to grow brighter as more and more energy built up within the young alicorn's body. She grinned intimidatingly at the remorseful Princess of the Sun. "Why?" She asked, ecstatically, in a voice that was not quite her own, "why must I stop? Nopony has ever TRIED to reach the heights I've achieved! My power can rival that of you AND Princess Luna! The fact you've never even tried to reach your potential..." she scoffed at her mentor, "it's pathetic!"
In that instant, Celestia lost any respect she held towards her pupil and steeled herself, bringing back the fury of the sun within her eyes. "If sacrificing the lives of innocent ponies is what it takes to unleash the true potential," she had to squint to see Twilight now, her brilliant aura almost as if a miniature sun had developed within the castle walls, "then I would rather die myself knowing I do not have to bear the weight of such sin on my back!"
Twilight's power, as if limitless, continued to escalate, causing the purple hues to turn into bright white. "The lives of only a few brought me here!" She exclaimed, excitement filling her voice, as if she were a foal in a candy shop, "imagine what the life of another princess could do! Princess Celestia, you have been alive for thousands of years, and yet you have never even BOTHERED to increase your potential! Were you really so satisfied with what you had? Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for the greater good!"
"The greater good...?" Celestia's confusion soon turned itself into an ever increasing fury, "if you believe that what you are doing is justifiable... just who do you think you are!?"
Twilight's grin got wider, "Princess Twilight Sparkle. Pupil of Princess Celestia. But you can call me..." her eyes shifted from their natural purple iris to a bright shade of white, "God."
That final sentence set Celestia off, and she charged at her pupil as white light finally encased the whole of the room, piercing through the many windows of the castle. In the back of her mind, however, she began thinking rationally, 'Twilight... my pupil... and all ponies... please understand... what I am about to do...' she admitted, there was one hint of truth in Twilight's words, and they spun like a wheel within Celestia's mind as the fight between pupil and mentor began.
James sat down on the hot metal bench of the bleachers, contorting his face into one of discomfort as he attempted to properly adjust himself to the scalding hot seat, and stared out onto the large football field as people slowly began to prepare themselves for the oncoming game. A whistle blast was heard from the other side of the field. A loud *THUMP* was heard as the football was kicked high into the air to the opposing team. James watched, lazily, as the ball soared through the air before landing into the arms of the enemy team. People got up and started cheering loudly as the game soon began. James, on the other hand, leaned back, resting his arms on the bench directly behind him, and sighed.
James had never been one for sports: in fact, he hated them. The concepts of sports just didn't seem to sit well with him. He mainly thought of it as a bunch of sweaty guys or girls fighting over a ball, or a puck or some other dominant factor that lead to victory, which was rather short lived until the next game took place. It was a boring 'rinse and repeat' cycle that was nothing more to him than a colossal waste of time.
Someone was tackled at the halfway point, and the whistle was blown. People began calling things out to the ref; as if it were a bad call or something that let their team gain an unfair advantage. The ref's call, however, was final and the game went on with no further interruption from the crowd. James shook his head. Why can't the players on the field think things through for themselves? In the end, they were all simply idiots following a veteran, who thought of cunning strategies to get his soldiers through the enemy lines.
James raised an eyebrow and made a small smile. He never really thought of football that way before. He made a mental note to himself that the sport could actually be some variation of war tactics.
The boy beside him, a large, stocky being with brown hair that had been bleached blonde, slapped James on his skinny shoulder. James cast his attention away from the war zone tactics simulation and back to the boy who had hit him. The boy smiled at James warmly. "You enjoyin' the game James?" He asked heartily, a deep, bass-like voice that still held onto a cheery sounding octave, "you barely smile at any sort of sport, dude!"
James turned his attention back to the game. "I was just thinking about some stuff," James admitted, "the thought made me smile. Not the game, Bernard."
Bernard shook his head, his smile still present on his face as he sat down. "I'll never understand you, bud. How can you not like sports? It's always just 'video games, video games, video games' with you!" He turned his attention back to James, "you, my friend, need a new hobby!"
James leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and lacing his fingers together in front of his mouth. "if you want to find me a hobby, Bernard," James began, his voice holding a slight edge, "why did we have to start with my least favorite thing? At least video games make more sense."
Bernard, confused at his friends frustration, raised his hands and defense. "Hey; first off, I'm entitled to my own opinions. Even if they're about you. Secondly, this game isn't about finding your potential interest; you CHOSE to come down here with me. You bought the ticket with me, remember?"
James' hand got to meet the warm surface of his forehead. “And I immediately regret it."
Bernard smiled, wrapping an arm around his friend. "Smart ass comments aside, I'm grateful you came down with me. It means a lot to me, really." He roughly patted his friend on the back, causing James to lean forward a little at each impact.
James raised his head from his hand and smiled back in response. "Ah, it's nothing. You're a friend, and I know this means a lot to you. Besides, I kind of owe you one after you came with me to that gaming tournament."
Bernard chuckled loudly. "You mean the one where you whooped my ass in every match we played? Dude, I didn't even KNOW you could play Melee that quickly! I always saw it as a party game!"
James sighed and shook his head at his friends comment, however his smile persisted on his face. "Well, now you know. Better prepare yourself because 20XX is coming soon."
Puzzled, Bernard cocked his head to the side. "20XX?"
James' smile vanished off of his face in an instant, and he turned his attention back to the players on the field. "It's a Smash Brothers thing. Don't worry about it. Just enjoy the game."
Bernard smiled apologetically at his friend before returning his attention back to the game. "Well, that's something I can do."
Suddenly, a touchdown was made by the home team, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers, applause and some boo's. James turned his attention away from the crowd and glanced back at the highschool behind him. He began pondering if he had forgotten anything: it was nearly summertime and he was in the eleventh grade, and he would rather not risk having his mark unexpectedly drop due to some measly paper he forgot to hand in. It could impact the courses he could choose for next year, and the thought shook him a little. However, he managed to shrug it off and return focus to the football game where two players started becoming a bit unsatisfied with each other and the threat of a fight loomed. James closed his eyes for a moment; his talk with Bernard had started making him think about Smash Brothers, and his mind began cycling through the list of technical information that he had memorized, from Wave Dashes to L Cancels. His hands slowly began to mimic the button patterns as if he held an invisible controller within his hands.
His mind decided to stop on the subject of Multi Shines, and he grinned as the familiar sounds of the game began to play through his head. It was one consecutive noise repeated over and over, yet the thought and sight of it was incredible to behold. He opened his eyes and found the cheerleader team had already taken to the field and performing a routine, causing the crowd to whoop and holler as their spirits raised dauntingly high. Even Bernard was standing and cheering, beads of sweat apparent on his face, due to the broiling sun and the constant movement.
Once the cheer squad had finished their routine, one of them, a young, attractive brown haired girl broke away from her team and made her way into the stands towards James. James stiffened as the girl approached, and he bit his lip; he knew exactly who the girl was, and began panicking. Quickly turning his attention to Bernard, he tapped on his shoulder to get his attention and signaled to the approaching girl.
Bernard grinned as James, refusing to speak, made hand signals as quickly as possible. "Oh, dude... just play it cool! You'll be fine."
James gritted his teeth, infuriated at his friends useless advice. "Bernard, please... I can't-"
"Oh, yes you can!" Bernard interrupted loudly, signalling for the brunette to come closer. She smiled in response to Bernard's gesture and moved through the sea of people. Bernard leaned in close to James and whispered excitedly, "I told you; you needed a new hobby. Now's your chance!"
James, clearly not in the mood, began grinding his teeth out of frustration and nerves. "No, now is NOT my chance," he whispered aggressively, "I had chances the other few times, and did they end well Bernard? No. No they did not end well at all. You remember; I can't talk to girls," he turned his attention back to the approaching girl, sweat began to drip down his face, "there isn't going to be some great exception today and shit is just going to magically change. It's going to stay constant until the day I die, Bernard. I’ll be single until the day I die.”
Bernard shook his head. "Look dude; I get it. You have a crush on her. You don't know how she feels about you though. But you're never gonna actually KNOW until the day you TRY."
"You say that as if I HAVEN'T tried, imbecile."
"Who the hell, says that word anymore? Look; doesn't matter. She's on her way here now; you have a chance: work with it!"
The girl finally approached and smiled, bright teeth flashing in the sunlight, "Hi James!" She said happily, "hi Bernard," she acknowledged politely, and Bernard politely raised his hand and dipped his head in greeting. "Heya Em," he said lazily. James, on the other hand, simply raised a hand in hello. The football game was suddenly looking a LOT more fascinating to him.
Emily sat down beside James. "I'm, uh... not interrupting anything between you two, am I?" She asked curiously, "because you both seemed to be in a rather deep whispering argument."
James laughed, maybe a bit too loudly. "Nope, nothing like that! It was just about, umm..." James scrambled for an excuse, analyzing Emily's outfit before spawning a smart idea, "the cheerleading team! Yeah, they looked awesome this year!" James smiled to back up his statement, while Bernard nodded in agreement.
Emily cocked her head in confusion. "I saw you with your eyes closed for half of it, James..." her soprano voice announcing the contradiction in James' lie.
James' mind stumbled for a moment, temporarily stunned by Emily's observation, before putting an arm up to his head and running his hand through his short, black hair, sweeping it to the side, something he commonly did when he was stressed, nervous or, in this case, both, and letting out a small laugh. "Yeah, but I saw the REST of it! I didn't miss ALL of it!" He continued to laugh, hoping his new theory would hold its weight.
Emily, somehow, cocked her head further, bringing a finger up to her chin in thought. If you liked it so much, then why didn't you get up like everyone else?" She asked curiously.
James, once again, reeled at her response, he glanced at Emily, her brown bangs covering her left, emerald green eye, a curious, innocent look on her smooth face. 'Why does she always have to look so cute?' James thought silently to himself, a small blush apparent on his face, "Umm... well, y'see..."
Bernard grinned. "Yeah, James, tell us WHY you weren't so excited for the cheering squad!" He said smugly, causing James, now completely red in the face, to shoot him a death glare. Bernard laughed in response to his reaction.
James thought as quickly as possible and wiped his forehead of sweat. His mind clung to the thought of sweat and, suddenly, the idea sprung into his head; "it's because it's so freakin' hot out!" He replied finally, after a tense moment, "yeah, I didn't want to get up because it's SO hot out!" He began fanning himself with his hand, "you know how it is. Hot air rises and stuff."
Emily began laughing aloud along with Bernard. James, gave them both confused looks before turning back to Emily, who had seemed to calm down a bit faster than Bernard. She smiled her million-dollar smile. "Oh, James we're just teasing!" She rested a hand on James' leg and he nearly jumped out of his skin, "still, I'm glad to hear you liked it though! It took a lot of time and training to pull it off!" She beamed.
James slowly brought himself back to reality. "Yeah, well, where's your excuse? You claimed you saw me from the beginning of the performance with my eyes closed!" His smile managed to make itself back onto his face, "you mean to tell me you were watching me the whole time?"
Now, it was Emily's turn to react, as her face turned crimson in response. "Well... umm... during a performance, people say to focus on one point and never change your focus. I chose you since you were... in the middle of the crowd and... you were a familiar face?" She smiled at the end of her explanation, hoping James would buy it.
James decided to shrug it off and let it slide. "Alright, alright. I'll let you off easy." He calmly admitted. Emily giggled at his response but the blush on her face from James’ observation still persisted, though less prominent.
Bernard leaned towards James, a smug grin on his face. "Yo, look at you go! And you said you couldn't redeem yourself for your past attempts!"
James swatted him away. "Yeah, yeah, I get it," he muttered under his breath before turning his attention back to Emily.
Emily looked at James quizzically. "So... why did you really not get up AND have your eyes closed, James? You're making me curious." She leaned forward and looked him in the eye.
James' fear gripped him again like an iron gauntlet as Emily's green eyes seemed to pierce deep into his soul and steal it like a Darkwraith. ‘A very cute, attractive, unarmed Darkwraith. Who’s also a cheerleader.’ "Do you want the truth, or do you want me to lie and sound cool?"
Emily smiled playfully. "You don't have to lie to sound cool when you already ARE cool," she said smoothly. She seemed slightly nervous as she said it, hoping it wouldn’t sound awkward.
James blushed deeply and let out a small laugh and rubbed the back of his head, 'I was just called cool… from my crush… no pressure...' "Umm... well, I was thinking about Multi Shines."
Emily suddenly seemed truly confused for once instead of the mock confusion she displayed beforehand. "Multi...Shine? What is that?"
"Um... well, it's a bit of technical stuff from Super Smash Brothers Melee and-" "Oh." Her expression seemed to darken slightly at the sound of his answer, "I see. Nevermind then."
She turned her attention back to the football game while James gave her a disappointed, confused look. "You... didn't even let me finish," he said sadly. Having a lengthy discussion on a good game was one of his favorite ways of passing the time with other people, but Emily hardly seemed to care at all, "or start for that matter..."
Emily sighed, exasperated and turned his attention back to James. "Look, I'm sorry, but I just don't like video games. That's just how I am. I'm into..." she gestured to the football field, the crowd and everything else, "this. I want to be outside and being..." she looked for the right word, "productive. That's the word; productive with my life. I'm not into the thought of wasting away in my parents basement surviving off of junk food and soda, staring at a bright screen for hours on end with a chance of getting Carpal Tunnel-"
"Enough." James cut off Emily before she could continue any further on her rant, his expression grim, "I get it, thanks."
Moments after, Emily finally realized she struck a nerve with James, and looked at him apologetically, her mind scrambling for a way to make it up to him. "W-well, I guess not all gamers are like that... I mean, you're here! So, that means you like sports, right?"
James cast her an irritated look, as if the conversation had finished running its course. "I hate sports," he said bluntly, shutting Emily's hopes of redeeming herself down.
Emily continued in her race for an idea that would hopefully be able to fix her mistake, when suddenly, James rose from his seat. "I think I'm gonna head out now. See you later Bernard, Emily," his voice was low and quiet, his expression still dark as he turned and left the bleachers through the sea of people, towards the direction of the school; he had to pick up some of his stuff before he could head home anyways.
Bernard sighed deeply. "Ah, dammit, dude..." he muttered to himself as he got up from his spot.
Emily, who was now on the verge of crying, looked up at the stocky boy. "Where are you going?" She asked, sadness embedded in her voice.
Bernard shook his head. "Where else? I'm going after him. You should come along too. Apologize to him."
"I doubt he would-"
"I think NOT apologizing is the second worst thing you can do to James," Bernard stated honestly, "besides offending him like that."
Emily looked down at her feet, "did I really hurt him that badly?"
"Let's just say," Bernard began moving through the large crowd of people, "everyone MAY be entitled to their own opinion, but they should still be aware of who they're vocalizing it to, and how they say it. That's the big problem with freedom of speech," he turned back to Emily, "you coming, or are you just gonna sit there and feel sorry for yourself?"
Emily slowly got up with a sigh, "okay," she said, taking on a quiet tone herself, "I guess I can try."
He shook his head as he continued his march back to the school. He felt like a fool; being attracted to a girl who liked sports, of course she was going to end up hating video games. In a way, he felt like he had brought this upon himself, and he was beginning to consider apologizing to Emily for his harshness. But, he quickly shouldered those feelings aside; no. What she had said was inconsiderate of what he believed in, and she should be the one apologizing to him.
He sighed as his mind slowly began to unfog itself; in the heat of the moment, he had completely forgotten he and Emily lived in two entirely different worlds; as if all of those small, unimportant things became meaningless to him in that very moment. It was stupid of him, really; Emily was someone who was so distant from him in every factor: looks, personality, popularity... she had those things. James didn't. He was hitting so far out of his league, it was as if he had joined the NBA without knowing how to play basketball, which would have been true; he hardly knew how to play basketball.
His mind continued wailing on; Bernard may have actually been right about the whole 'finding a new hobby' thing. If simply talking about video games around Emily ended up like this, then imagine how their relationship would be if James only talked about it. He nearly shivered at the thought.
James glanced up for a moment and found himself facing the back doorway into the school. Still lost in his thoughts, he subconsciously opened the door and walked inside the large, brick building.
As they were running and saw James enter the school building, Emily paused, turned and gave Bernard a confused look. "That's odd..."
Bernard, not having been one for physical activity, in spite of finding entertainment out of watching people play sports, came huffing along and caught his breath beside Emily, whose physical prowess, after many years of cheerleading, allowed her to not even break a sweat on the run to the school. "W-what's *pant* odd?" He asked between gasps of breath.
Emily walked the rest of the way up to the school, and the exhausted Bernard followed alongside her. "Those doors... they're always locked when there's a game," she said, confusion in her voice.
Bernard raised an eyebrow. "So what? Maybe... maybe they forgot to lock 'em." he said, still panting like a dog.
Emily shook her head and walked up to the doors. "No, the coaches lock them. It's almost ritual at this point; the players exit, the coaches follow, the players wait and the coaches ALWAYS lock the door," she tried the door, her confusion yet growing more as she found the door resisting to open, "but... it IS locked... how did James even get inside?" She gave the door another experimental tug, but the large steel door refused to budge.
Bernard shook his head, his curiosity beginning to grow itself. "Maybe the coaches DIDN'T lock it, and James locked it when he came in?" He asked casually, "that's awfully considerate of him."
Emily brought her hand up to her face and began thinking. "Also impossible. Only teachers have the keys to lock the doors. Unless James stole a pair of keys from a teacher and WASN'T caught OR expelled for it..."
Bernard shrugged. "That doesn't sound like something James would do," he commented, "he's a good guy; wouldn't steal anything from anyone."
Emily, still pondering with her hand on her face, continued wondering, while Bernard let out a small chuckle. "You and James have almost the EXACT same thinking pose."
This comment stirred Emily from her thoughts. "R-really?" She inquired, a small shade of red on her face, she shook her head, and glanced back at the doors, seeing the small rectangular window on the door. She moved up to it and peeped into the window, hoping to see James.
And she did; she saw him slowly sulking along through the long hallway. Seeing him in this state hurt Emily that much more, and she decided to try and get his attention; she bashed on the door, and cried out to him, hoping he would hear her. James, however, didn't look back at her, and he kept walking through the hallway.
Emily blinked tears away from her eyes, emotions stirring inside her again, when suddenly, she blinked once more...
She stood there. Her confusion soon reached its peak and, along with her saddened state, it only made things worse when she said;
"he's... gone."
Bernard stretched, reaching high up to the sky. "Well, we tried. Maybe he's just going home now and we can talk with him tomorrow.”
Emily shook her head, she was shaking now. "N-no, Bernard; he's literally gone... I just blinked and... he didn't turn around a corner or anything... he just, vanished."
Bernard looked at her funnily; Emily still bore the same, confused and shocked expression on her face, and it refused to waver. Maybe she WAS telling the truth. He sighed and moved her out of the way to look through the window himself. He had seen James upset in the past; he did not walk very quickly when he was burdened by negative thoughts. In short, he was probably at the end of the hallway by now.
But, much like Emily had said, James was nowhere to be seen within the confines of the long hallway. He stood there, puzzled. "Maybe he sprinted around the corner at the last second? I mean; nobody just disappears in a long hallway in the blink of an eye," he turned his attention back to Emily, "that's impossible."
Emily was shaking a lot at this point, and she sat down, propping her back against the building. "But it's what I saw!" She exclaimed loudly, tears in her eyes, "James was walking down the hallway and he just... he just..." she began to sob uncontrollably, her emotions overwhelming her mind.
Bernard sighed. He pitied the girl that sat before her: all she wanted was to just try and apologize, and now here she was; an emotional wreck. It hurt Bernard, to be honest, to see Emily like this, however comforting people was not his forte; she would just have to cry it out, and try to deal with it on her own.
Bernard glanced back through the window of the door into the deserted hallway. "Dammit James," he muttered, "where the hell did you go off to?"
James, lost in thought, continued on his lonely march down the hallway. He had not noticed the difference in the hallways aesthetic until he noticed he had been walking forward for a VERY long time. He suddenly looked up from his thoughts and then glanced around in awe; the hallway had turned into a long, black tunnel. Fear struck his heart as he looked around rapidly. He turned around fully; the door was no longer behind him. He couldn't hear Emily vigorously attacking it in order to get his attention anymore. In fact, he couldn't hear much of anything. His heart rate quickened as he looked around fearfully; where was he? What had happened to him?
He looked back at the direction he had been walking in. He assumed that it was, at least; he recalled turning around fully, so this had to be the proper way, and decided to keep moving forward in hopes of reaching a possible end. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his white shorts and began walking slowly in the direction he had been walking before.
His slow walk soon got faster and faster until he was sprinting along through the darkness, keeping his head up, hoping he would eventually find some light at the end of the tunnel; at least something to end this vast sea of darkness. His thoughts suddenly began moving at the same speed as him; what if this was the abyss? Or the void? The endless black tunnel where nothing existed and people became powerful, corrupted shells of their former selves, twisted beyond insanity? He recalled his time playing Dark Souls, and remembered the sight of Knight Artorias, and shivered; he prayed he would not meet the same fate.
Suddenly, something caught his eye; a light, shimmering in the distance, far off. He ran faster, using the last of his strength to at least get closer. The light itself got brighter and brighter until James had to squint in order to even tell if he was going the right way. Suddenly, the light enveloped him, and...
James collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting after sprinting for so long; he was not used to running for such long periods, however, he did manage to pull himself together and arose to his feet, exhausted.
James noticed the darkness was no longer behind him; instead, he seemed to have entered an entirely different room, except this one was a bright white. He had to admit; it was a much nicer change to that of the dark hallway. He took a step forward, wobbled, and collapsed once more. He was still exhausted from his run, and came to the decision that he would simply lie still until his strength came back to him.
Suddenly, up from above, he heard a soft noise. He raised his head and looked around, still refusing to get up. The noise got louder and louder until James finally realized: 'it's... laughter.' He thought to himself.
He looked around as the sound of laughter continued to swell around him until he felt as if it were right before him. He continued looking around for the source of the laugh, when all of a sudden. "Aww, are you all tuckered out?"
James looked ahead of him at the source of the sound and jumped back to his feet as he saw a brilliant white horse before him. He took a step back in confusion at the creature. It had large wings on its sides and a horn sticking out of the top of its head. Its mane seemed to shimmer with the colors of the rainbow and continuously ripple as if there were a breeze travelling through the room. James observed that the air seemed to be stagnant, and yet her mane continued to flow, and her tail, with the exact same color scheme, followed suit. She had bright, purple eyes, that seemed full of happiness and affection. James also noticed a marking of the sun upon her rump and raised a questioning eyebrow at the sight of it. However, he decided to hold the questions off for a better time; he had bigger fish to fry.
"Did you just..." James couldn't believe he was about to ask a horse this kind of question, but he had to know, "...talk?"
The pale horse let out another laugh and raised a hoof up to its muzzle, making James cock his head questioningly. 'Laws of physics be damned. How is every bone in its leg not broken?'
The horse stopped laughing and smiled warmly. "Why, yes," she, James assumed it was a girl by the sound of her voice, responded politely, "I did just speak to you."
James' eyes widened and he took another step back in shock. "Umm... heh," he began nervously, "well... are you, uh... real? Have I been drugged? Is this a dream? Or...?"
The horse seemed to find James rather entertaining as she continued to laugh at his confusion, almost as if to mock him for not understanding that talking horses were always a thing, and he was just uncultured in the ways of the world. "I understand your confusion, young one," she said in a motherly tone, "however, if I am not mistaken, pinching yourself should answer that question for yourself."
James, in spite of the immense distrust he held for this talking horse, decided to test her theory and pinched himself on the arm as hard as he could; he felt a familiar sting upon his arm and winced at the feeling. He nodded, "alright, not a dream. Meaning you're real, and I'm real."
The horse smiled at him patiently, "correct."
"Is now a good time to start freaking out?"
"And why would you do that, young one?"
James held his left arm in his hand. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact I was just walking from a football game after the girl of my dreams just insulted me, and I walk through the doors to my school and suddenly end up in the freaking void, and ran as fast as I could until I reached a bright white room with a white horse who can talk," James shrugged, "it's a pretty unusual and kind of terrifying circumstance, y'know? Not exactly something you expect on a day to day basis."
The horse giggled. "I see," she responded calmly. Suddenly, a bright flash of white flourished around her, and James covered his eyes with his arm. The flash stopped and gasped as the horse before him had suddenly turned into a tall, gorgeous human woman with the same long, flowing mane as her hair now. She wore a long, white dress that covered her from head to toe, only revealing her smooth looking arms and matronly looking face. She smiled back at him, "is this more to your liking?"
James stood there, flabbergasted. He took a breath, "that... that honestly depends," he stammered out, "i-is that your real form, or is t-the horse your real form?"
The lady smiled. "I prefer the term 'pony', if you please," she said sweetly, "but, yes; the pony is my real form. I can maintain this form, however, if it means you'll be a bit more comfortable."
James sighed. "At the moment, yeah it's a lot more comforting," he admitted, "overall, it only makes the story a lot more unusual, but, at this point... it's almost worth not thinking about it."
The lady maintained her smile. "Perfect. However, there is a reason you are here, and I request that you listen to me, if you'd please."
James pondered her request for a moment before looking around the large, white room. "I guess I don't have much say in this... I don't even know how to get back home in the first place," James took a seat on the ground before the woman, "I guess I'll hear you out."
The woman's smile increased tenfold, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth. "Excellent! Thank you very much," she cleared her throat and began speaking, "my name is Princess Celestia," she began slowly, "I come from a different world than this one. One called Equestria."
James gave her a quizzical look. "So... in this Equestria... is everyone a talking hor- I mean, pony?"
Celestia already illuminated with a smile, grinned even wider. "Very good! You seem to understand."
"And you're the princess of that world?"
"Yes. I'm glad you seem to be comprehending all of this."
"So... is there a king and a queen? Or just you?"
Celestia shook her head. "No, it is just me and my sister; Princess Luna. We rule the kingdom together."
James nodded in understanding and signaled for her to keep talking, and she did. "In Equestria, there are three main pony tribes; Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi. They all live amongst each other in harmony. There has not been any sort of war in many years. Of course, that does not mean that EVERYTHING has been exactly perfect..." a forlorn expression soon donned her features, "rampant chaos gods and terrifying creatures, such as hydras are only the start of some of our problems,"
James decided to cut her off, "are these ongoing problems or.. have they been solved?" Celestia smiled patiently, "I was just getting to that. "James raised his hands in apology, "sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. Please," he gestured for her to continue, "you have my attention." Celestia nodded. "All of these problems that we've had have been resolved by a group of six ponies: they bear ancient artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony. These elements all bear one quality of friendship, such as loyalty, trust, and generosity. Each pony represents one of the six elements," Celestia turned her attention back to James, "do you understand what I'm saying thus far?"
James nodded. "Elements of Harmony, six elements that represent friendship, six ponies that represent those individual traits. That's about it?" Celestia nodded. "There's just, one thing I'm failing to grasp here; how can friendship beat a hydra?" He asked, a quizzical look on his face.
Celestia smiled, something she seemed to be doing a lot of. "My dear human, friendship can overcome ANY trial. But, if you must know the truth, when the six come together, their power escalates immensely and this magical power can be used to purify, to repair and mend... it is deep, powerful magics."
James leaned forward, now thoroughly interested, "magic, you say?"
Celestia nodded, something about the statement seemed to pain her slightly. "Yes, magic. Ponies in Equestria, ideally Unicorns, are capable of casting spells and performing magics." She explained. James nodded quietly. Celestia continued, "One of the Elements of Harmony, the Element of Magic, is my pupil. Her name is Twilight Sparkle. She is a powerful Unicorn with an incredible talent for magic and academically gifted: she is a brilliant young mare," Celestia said, as if reminiscing on a memory, "but then... something happened. I'm not sure what it was though... something went wrong and... Twilight died. It was a dark day for all of Equestria," she brought her attention back to James, "this is where you fall in James."
James was taken aback by the statement. "First off, how do you know my name? Second off, WHAT!?"
Celestia dipped her head, almost as if in guilt. "I have been watching you, James. Observing your movements, your actions. You have a great gift, and even greater potential. You also have a good heart." She brought her eyes back up to James, "I need you to be the one to intervene with Twilight. Something happened to her that not even her friends could prevent. If you can intervene with her and somehow prevent her death from happening..." Celestia smiled, "then things can go back to the way they once were. And I will be forever in your debt."
James protested again, "but... I don't have any powers! I don't know any magic, I'm not some wizard or something!"
Celestia smiled, "I can turn you into a Unicorn so you could fit right in with everypony else. You need not worry."
James jumped, holding his hands up and shaking his head vigorously. "How about no! I'm a human, and I'd prefer to stay that way. No walking on four legs or horn on my head, please and thank you."
Celestia nodded in understanding. "Then I can grant you some power of your own. And you use it to protect Twilight from her demise. Please, James... the fate of another beings life rests on your shoulders!"
That statement really got to James. The thought of a being dying because of his ignorance was... disgusting. He wouldn't be able to live with himself, knowing he literally turned down the idea of saving another beings life. Even if they were another species from him, he still felt he should at least TRY to save her.
But... then again, this was a talking horse speaking here. She had been watching him for God knows how long, and suddenly appears and requests for her to save her pupil from death. They weren't even the same species for goodness sake! But... it was life or death here. Most humans would see another human living on the street, someone of the exact same species as themselves, and simply turn a blind eye to their existence. Why should James turn a blind eye to a being in need? They need his help; he was specifically asked from the Princess of the world herself to do this.
James sighed and rubbed his temples. He hated guilt trips, and this princess seemed to be the best at them. Celestia eagerly awaited his answer. "Okay," he finally said, breaking the silence, "I accept. I'll see what I can do to help this Twilight Sparkle of yours."
Celestia truly smiled at his words, a smile so brilliant and radiant, it looked like the sun itself. "This is great news!" She said gratefully, "very well. I will grant you a power. However! Be warned; this power is only used to protect Twilight and ONLY to protect Twilight with. You are not to use it for personal gain. Is that understood?"
James nodded solemnly. He couldn't believe he was about to do this...
"Now, James," she asked, "what power would you like?"
James' mind began to reel. This was almost like one of those quizzes that you see online, asking you what you would want the most out of a long set of things. Except... this was very real. His mind began racing of different powers, and his thoughts went to the likes of classic superheroes, such as Spiderman and Batman. He considered every power they wielded and came to a realization; those powers were tailored to the heroes themselves. If he had to choose a power, it would have to be something that fit him, something creative that he could work with.He sat back down and continued thinking, causing Celestia to laugh at him once more. "It is a tough decision once it's been presented to you, isn't it?"
James sighed. "Tell me about it... I just need to think of something that works for me."
Celestia knelt down beside him. "A word of advice, from a long time magic-user: pick something you truly understand. Something you can learn the in's and out's of with ease."
James brought his hands up to his face. "The in's and out's huh...?" His mind slowly began to drift about, no longer thinking of powers, but thinking of potential ideas, until it made his brain start to hurt. His brain then drifted to Smash Brothers once more, a familiar topic to him, and he began thinking about wave dashes.
Then suddenly, an idea struck him, 'in's and out's... like, inputs and outputs... why not a power from a video game?'
His mind started racing through potential ideas of games, through the immense library of games he had played in the past: Dark Souls, TF2, Street Fighter...
James' mind cut him off once more, with a thought that made him grin for ear to ear.
'Why not all of the above?'
Celestia seemed to notice his large smile. "Well? Have you come up with an idea, James?" She asked patiently.
James' grin persisted as he turned back to the human Celestia. "Celestia, have you ever played a video game before?" He asked, excitement clear in his voice.
Celestia shook her head. "I can't say that I have, no." "Then you may want a pen, paper and a chair. We're gonna be here for a while..."
Emily sat down on the couch, exasperated. Loud party music and the sound of people talking thumped within her skull, but bothered her even less now that she had some alcohol in her system.
The home football team had won the game earlier that afternoon, and were throwing a massive party as a result, and all members of the team, and anybody who happened to cross by, were there and celebrating the sweet taste of victory with a live DJ, plenty of booze, drugs and women. The party had been going on for a while; Emily had to estimate that it was around midnight by now, but everyone still seemed to be enjoying every aspect of the party and held no intent of stopping until the brink of dawn and beyond.
Emily, however, was still in a slump. After her argument with James, she really didn't feel like partying: she just wanted to apologize to him when she could. Hence why she bothered showing instead of going home; Bernard would somehow find a way to convince James to come along, given the opportunity, however, in hindsight, James always seemed much more quiet in nature in comparison to Emily's lifestyle, and the thought of him even bothering to show up to a party was slightly humorous, even to her. Bernard, speaking of him, while not a party animal, did enjoy the occasional get together, but didn't bother showing up to this one.
She set down the red cup she had been holding at her feet in front of her and rested her chin in her hands, and remembered James' mysterious disappearing act in the hallway. She thought through the scenario over and over, and it was all she could think about on her way to the party: how did James suddenly... vanish? In all, logical sense, James couldn't have walked around a corner: the hallway was long and had no other place for him to disappear to. Which left only the impossible: he completely disappeared.
She kept the thought to herself, knowing not a soul here would believe her. She picked up her cup and took a swig of her beer; maybe the alcohol would help her forget a little. She analyzed the scene of the party: she saw people doing keg stands in the backyard of the house, with a crowd of onlookers cheering him on as he drank. Her eyes continued to scan along the scene until they stopped for a moment at a group of guys sitting before a television: they were watching a game of soccer, yet the different quality and the controllers in their hands spoke of a different scene.
Emily scoffed at the group as they continued to play, then suddenly remembered James and nearly broke down as a result. She decided to head out, when, at the doorway, a familiar face approached her.
It was Bernard, of all people in the world. It was near impossible to forget the blonde hair with brown roots and his stocky build. He seemed to be having some trouble dealing with the guy at the front door, who was acting as if he were security of the party, in spite of how they allowed random strangers to enter the place without as much of an invitation.
Emily approached Bernard in the doorway as the argument escalated even further. Bernard eventually saw Emily and began waving at her. "Hey! Em! Give me a hand with this ass hat over here, eh?"
Emily shook her head and made her way out of the house. "It's alright," she admitted, trying to maintain a calm, collected appearance, "I was just about to leave this place anyway," she looked back at the supposed-guard of the place, who was obviously looking her up, his eyes lingering on certain aspects of her that she would much rather him not stare at. She threw her cup at him, which splashed him with the remnants of her beer, startling him. "Watch where your looking," she said dangerously, "my eyes are way up here."
Quickly, she grabbed Bernard and began walking away from the house and onto the sidewalk, powerful strides leading the way.
She finally stopped and let Bernard go when they were a safe distance from the house. Her expression changed suddenly; to the one of soft innocence as opposed to her casual, typical mentality. "What's wrong Bernard? I haven't seen you this stressed since..." she began thinking of a possible time, "...never."
Bernard was visibly fearful, began talking rapidly. "It's bad, Em," he began, making even Emily share a similar sense of dread he did, "it's about James: he didn't come home tonight. At all. His parents hadn't seen him."
Emily's eyes widened. "He... didn't go home...? At all?"
Bernard was now in full panic mode. "No! The last time they saw him was when he left in the morning for school!" He paced about in a circle, clearly worried about his best friend, "it's why I came to the party; I thought that, even though the chances were low, he would have come to apologize to you-"
Emily raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean that the 'chances were low'? You think he wouldn't have come to apologize?"
Bernard face palmed. "No! It's the party; James has a thing against parties. He's not exactly what most people would call 'social'. I have no doubt in my mind he would have come searching for you to apologize." "Well, as nice as the thought is, he didn't show up to the party..."
Bernard's face became even more gloomy. "I... I see," he turned around and stuffed his hands back into his pockets, "sorry for disturbing you. You can go back to your party."
The sight of Bernard in this state hurt Emily; she seemed to be prone to hurting people's feelings today, and the fact she was tipsy didn't make matters much better.
One thing did matter to her though: James was missing, and it may have even been her fault. If she and Bernard were the last people to see him, then that meant it was up to them to find him in the first place.
As Bernard began to leave, Emily yanked him back by his arm. "I already told you," she said, a determined expression on her face, "I was already going to leave the party. I have no intentions of returning. I'm going to help you look for James."
This caused Bernard to smile. "Thank you," he said, wholeheartedly, "this means the world to me."
"So... where should we start looking? Have you checked every place he visits regularly?"
"That and then some. Even the places he doesn't visit regularly. I even contacted his tournament buddies to see if they knew if he was in some tournament somewhere," he shook his head, "no luck there."
Emily began thinking hard, remembering James suddenly disappearing within the school without rhyme or reason. "What about the school?" She inquired, "did you check there?"
Bernard shrugged. "Scouted the entire perimeter. Place is locked up tighter than Alcatraz though. There's no way we're getting inside."
Emily suddenly grinned, an idea popped into her head. "At least, no way LEGALLY."
Now it was Bernard's turn to be confused and slightly concerned. "I know I'm gonna regret asking, but what is your great idea?"
Emily sighed. "Look; I'm serious about trying to find him. If you're not, then you don't have to come."
"Oh HELL no! James is my friend, and I want him back just as badly as you do! If your plan ends up working, then I'm all for it."
Emily looked up at the sky. "Do you know what time it is, Bernard?"
Bernard pulled out his phone and checked. "Just past 1:00. Why do you ask?"
"Then yeah, I think they'll be drunk enough for it..."
"Emily, just what ARE you thinking about?"
Emily's grin was back in full force. "Ever heard about the time the football players broke in and vandalized every classroom in the school?"
Bernard recalled the event. "Toilet paper, glue and spray paint. Put it together, and you get one day off from school," he said with a chuckle, "never really knew how they got in the school in the first place though..."
"One of the football players, Jimmy. His fathers a locksmith. He built the locks for the school; he knows them like the back of his hand," she turned back to the party house, where things seemed to be getting a little bit more rambunctious, "he's here tonight. If we can somehow lure them and convince him to do it again, then we can check the school for ourselves and maybe find where James went off to!"
Bernard was a bit sheepish to the idea. "I'm not too sure, Em... what if we're caught?"
Emily scoffed at the stocky boy. "We won't be! We'll just look around for James, and if things start going south we can slip away through the commotion! Loud, drunk teenage boys are the BEST ways to cover yourself."
Bernard folded his arms. "I really hope you're not speaking from experience here..."
The athletic teen let out a sheepish giggle and began twiddling her thumbs. "Umm... well..." she blushed, "I-I don't have to confess to anything you accuse me of!"
"Yet you don't DENY it, do you?"
Her blush deepend. "Okay, I MAY have been the reason as to why school was cancelled last time they broke in..."
"You mean they broke in before?"
"And I may have pointed out his father was a locksmith..."
"...I think it may just be better if you confessed to the lot of it."
Emily, who's face was now as red as a tomato, didn't look Bernard in the eye. "Okay, I wanted to do something a little crazy the night before and I heard a rumor that Jimmy's father was a locksmith who built the school locks, and... well, I convinced him to break open the doors and convinced the rest of the team to help make as big of a mess as possible in the rest of the school, but we only had glue, spray paint and toilet paper... it did work out in the end, though!"
Bernard shook his head. "Two things: one, when you say it worked out in the end, do you mean for you or yourself? Secondly, just how did you convince the son of a locksmith to break the very things his father built?"
Emily waved her hand. "Unimportant details that we REALLY should not be overthinking!" She exclaimed it with a nervous laugh. She quickly grabbed Bernard's arm and began running, causing him to stumble along behind her, "let's go!" She yelled enthusiastically.
Bernard smiled, his first smile in the past couple of hours, as he ran along with Emily back toward the thunderous sound of music and drunken cheers.
Emily, Bernard and the rest of the football team stood outside the school, hooting and hollering loudly as poor Jimmy began breaking open the lock for the second time. The team soon began chanting Jimmy's name as he worked faster and faster, until a loud click was heard and the door was hauled open. The team hollered loudly and ran inside, eager for another round of mayhem after a long down period.
Emily grinned. "S-see?" She said, slight slur in her voice showing she was on the verge of passing from tipsy to drunk at any moment, "I told ya: all guys want to do is eat, fight, sleep and f-fuck." She took another step forward, stumbled slightly and caught herself on Bernard.
Bernard sighed and supported her as she straightened herself up. "I'll admit; you do know how to work a crowd, but maybe chugging another beer was a bit excessive; you can hardly walk."
Emily hiccuped. "It was *hic* totally necessary, Bernard. If I wanted to be taken seriously by those guys, I-I had to show them I meant *hic* business."
Bernard looked back inside the dark building. "Well, in the end, it seems your idea worked out for the better. Come on; let's see if we can find James."
Bernard took a step forward, and Emily tried to follow suit, wobbled a little before grabbing back onto Bernard for support. She let out another sheepish giggle, and Bernard rolled his eyes: he really didn't have time for this. There was no telling when people would notice the group of teens breaking into the school, and there was no time to lose. Bernard quickly picked up Emily, who let out a confused squeal as she was quickly moved onto Bernard's back, who then carried her along through the dark hallways of the school.
Emily began protesting. "Hey! I-I can walk just f-fine on my own! I've RAN while more drunk than this!"
"Yeah? And how did that end up for you?"
She giggled, "broken *hic* nose."
Bernard could hear the sound of the foot ball team yelling to each other in drunken commands as they each began to trash the interior of the cafeteria. Bernard was thankful the school's layout was so easy to memorize. 'Turn left, take another left at the corner, head right...'
As Bernard began walking through the school, Emily stopped protesting and quietly rested her head on his broad shoulder. She sighed. "Why are you so determined to save *hic* James? I-I mean sure; breaking into the s-school is good 'nd all, but," she brought a finger to her chin in mock thought, "I feel there's s-something more to it than that."
Bernard stopped momentarily. "James is my best friend," he admitted after a pregnant silence, "if something happened to him then I want to know what and if there's anything I CAN do to help. If that means I have to bend or break some rules, then," he began walking again, hoisting Emily back onto his back, "so be it. Why do you care so much about James? I mean, sure that you two fall into the category of 'friends' but you still both live in separate worlds!"
Emily laughed loudly at that. "S-separate worlds? R-really Bernard? You know that's-"
"he likes video games, staying quiet and on his own without attracting too much attention to himself and absolutely despises sports."
"Y-yeah? So-"
"You're the exact polar opposite; you hate video games and, based on how you acted at that party, you love attracting attention to yourself. And you love anything sports related," he cast his glance behind him, "forgive me for saying this, but I can't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, you would follow that traditional cliche of how you would be attracted to the quarterback of the football team and openly make out with him on the field during an important game or something."
Emily balled her hands into fists. "Everyone MAY be entitled to their own opinion, but they should still be aware of who they're vocalizing it to, and how they say it. That's the big problem with freedom of speech," she grinned smugly, her voice holding an unreasonably sharp edge, "quote: Bernard."
"I asked for your forgiveness right from the get go."
"That doesn't mean you got it!"
"Well then, how about you prove me wrong and tell me just how you don't fall into this cliche then?"
She raised her head up. "I *hic* actually DID date the quarterback of the football team-"
"this isn't helping your case..."
"y-you didn't even let me finish! I broke up with him after our first two dates!"
Bernard raised a curious eyebrow. "And how long was that?"
"It-it was about... two weeks?"
"Why'd you break up with him? You hardly gave him a chance."
"He was an asshole. Plain and simple."
Bernard couldn't help but laugh. "I get that all the time. People still consider me a good guy."
"No. Not like an asshole like you..." Emily trailed off after that, looking down.
Bernard stopped for a moment, noticing he may have crossed a line. "If you don't want to talk about it, you really don't have to."
Emily shook her head. "N-no. I've been w-wanting to get this off my chest for a wile. I just... don't have the right people to t-talk to."
"If you say so. I'm not going to tell anyone."
"There's the difference."
Bernard gave a confused look. "What difference?"
"Between you being an asshole and him being an asshole. Y-you can at least manage yourself and s-sense the mood. A-and control yourself."
Bernard's confused expression turned into one of understanding. "He was a constant asshole?"
"And more. I thought he was a nice guy s-starting out, but..."
"But what?"
Emily sighed, "once our relationship g-got off, he just... kept bragging. I-I mean, sure; it was nice. He always talked a-about me and the attention w-was nice, but... he t-took it too *hic* far. He w-would brag to all of his friends about things... that should just be p-private, y'know?"
"Did you two... y'know... do it?"
Emily reeled back,a blush on her face. "No! O-of course not! I-I believe sex should stay between m-married people. I was mainly *hic* talking about things like making out and stuff. He- he just... kept talking and-and talking... e-eventually, I heard a rumor f-from one of my friends. About how h-he was going to try and... and..." tears now stained her face, "make a move. I-I didn't want to be a p-part of that so... I left him. B-but... he just. Kept. Talking. H-he m-made up an entire story a-about how we actually DID d-do it and everyone fell for it." She buried her face into Bernard's back, "it was s-so difficult to t-try and repair my reputation. E-even my friends who I thought w-were always on my side... they started looking at me differently. L-like I hurt them and they didn't f-forgive me."
Bernard nodded in understanding as Emily began to sob. "I see..." he murmured to himself.
Emily glanced back up. "T-that's why I can't f-forgive him. H-he hurt me that day and... and..." she broke off into uncontrollable sobs that made soft echoes throughout the dark school.
Bernard decided to sit her down against the wall and let her sadness run its course. There wasn't much he could do at the moment, so he let her cry. He let out a sigh; this girl had too many emotions bottled up. He slowly sat down beside her and began to rub her back in hopes of soothing her slightly.
"That's why I like James."
Bernard glanced up at her in confusion. "Pardon?"
"B-because he's quiet... a-and honest... he was one p-person who I c-could talk to who... didn't judge me."
Bernard laughed a little. "That's because you both live in separate worlds." Emily looked at him in confusion as he continued talking, "James doesn't involve himself too often with people other than his friends. He may not have even known about the story in the first place," he gave her a pleasant smile, "but I honestly doubt he would have judged you for it, even if he did know."
Emily let out a small laugh herself, wiping tears from her eyes. "N-now I see what you mean by that... I-I guess it's for the b-better though. That he didn't know a-about that."
Bernard stayed quiet for a bit before asking his question. "So... you like James?"
Emily blushed. "I-if we find him, please don't tell..."
"Why not? I think it's a brilliant idea."
"Bernard, please... if he found out-"
"He would be delighted."
"... y-you think?"
Bernard sighed. "He's had a thing for you as well. Good lord, how are you two so oblivious? Even during the football game, he was giving you looks. You're one of the few people he actually smiles at when he's having a conversation with, and I can count on one hand how many people he truly seems happy to talk to," he shook his head, "the both of you. Too unconfident to voice how you feel, yet both of you share the same feeling. It's sad, really: in my opinion, you two could have been a thing a long time ago if one of you just tried."
Emily looked up at Bernard, a smile across her face, and her blush still present, though not as bright. "J-James... he liked me all along?" Her expression, one of awe, persisted, "but... d-do you know why he didn't try?"
Bernard closed his eyes and hummed to himself. "It's like I said; different worlds. He saw you as someone who was completely out of reach to him. Like a star in the sky. It's true, he wanted to reach the heights and expectations that you set as your standards, but my best guess is he just felt that he wouldn't get there."
Emily went silent after that, a flurry of emotions hitting her all at once as she finally began to understand James as a whole. Bernard got up after a long while in their shared silence, only the sound of the drunk football players heard between them. "Come on," he said, offering his hand out to her, "we still have to find James before anybody finds out about the rest of the drunken idiots in the place and calls the police."
Emily looked up at his hand, and smiled before taking it and rising to her feet, wobbling slightly. Bernard frowned. "Can you walk on your own, or do you need me to carry you still?" "I-I can try..." she took a couple small steps and managed to maintain he balance, "I can walk." "Perfect. Let's get going."
Albeit with a little difficulty, Emily and Bernard continued down through the school at a slow pace, Bernard keeping a close eye on Emily in case she fell. Emily, who seemed to have become an entirely different person after learning the truth, bore a happy expression on her face as they continued their trek.
Bernard and Emily turned one more corner and both stopped dead at the sight of the familiar hallway. Emily's smiling face soon disappeared and was replaced with one of sorrow as she remembered James' disappearance earlier in the day. She cast a glance to Bernard who was visibly clenching his teeth as he stared to the end of the hallway.
Bernard slowly began walking forward. "You know, I never understood why we didn't just enter through the doors leading into the hallway in the first place."
Emily shook her head, walking the same pace as Bernard. "It's for respect. *hic* it's part of their tradition to - to lock the doors, remember? If they break that lock, and they p-play game, they believe they'll have *hic* bad luck," she turned her gaze back to the hallway before her, "it's stupid, I know, but it's just what they do; they'd rather not t-take the risk."
Bernard shrugged. "Understandable. But, if what you said was true and James really did just 'disappear', then I get the feeling we might not be able to recreate that same effect without walking through that door first."
Emily shook her head. "It's worth a shot though."
They were both quiet as Bernard continued walking forward. Emily gripped tightly onto Bernard's arm to steady herself, staring about wide eyed.
Bernard hadn't felt anything unusual. In fact, he felt the exact opposite; he felt pretty normal, but something just felt... peculiar about the scenario. Emily finally vocalized the elephant in the room. "Is it just me, or did the hallway get REALLY dark all of a sudden..."
Bernard looked around worriedly, shocked to see that the familiar walls of the school were replaced by pitch black darkness. Bernard felt Emily's grip tighten around his arm as they stared into the darkness. "What should we do?"
Bernard looked beside him to see a panicked Emily, iris' the size of pinpricks, glancing about frantically. Bernard sighed, attempting to calm himself from the sudden change of scenery. "We should move forward," he said, taking a step, "this may be where James went. It would explain his," he paused momentarily, "disappearance."
Bernard suddenly felt Emily's grip on his arm slack. He turned his attention back to her and saw she was about to collapse. He quickly caught her, making sure she didn't fall and hurt herself.
Emily was clutching her head, a mix of pain and relief entering her system at the same time. She felt her vision clearing somewhat and her muddled thoughts returning to her once more.
"Em, you okay?"
Emily turned her attention back to Bernard, concern was clear in his eyes and she smiled, "yeah... I feel..."
She suddenly felt... clean. Sober.
She stood up from Bernard's grip and took a wary step froward and found she was walking in a clear line. "I'm... not drunk anymore..."
Bernard stared at her, facinated. "Really? That's odd..."
Emily shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm glad I can think straight but..." her expression was slightly forlorn, "it's a little unusual."
Bernard smiled, then turned his attention back to the long hallway before them. "Well, at least you can walk on your own now. Come on; let's find James."
Emily nodded silently, but kept a death grip on Bernard's arm as they continued to walk through the darkness. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"And that just about summarizes everything."
James stood before the human form of Celestia, smiling broadly; in spite of the unusual circumstance he found himself in, talking had seemed to help his uneasiness, and with the promise of power presented to James by the Princess, he had a LOT to speak about.
Celestia listened to every word the human spoke of, weaving tales of ancient heroes and powerful creatures and unusual technology she had not heard of in her life. The concept fascinated the princess of the sun, and she hung on to every word James spoke of as he gave his lengthy explanation, never once growing bored as he jumped between idea and idea.
James had to admit; he was rather happy about how eager the Princess was to listen to him. Normally, he restrained himself to only speaking in tolerable amounts to not lose people, but Celestia seemed to understand his explanations, so he went all out; explaining consoles, lore, characters, the development of games themselves, controllers... there wasn't anything he left out, his excitement only increasing as he passionately spoke onward.
However, his long speech came to an end, and he smiled in satisfaction. Celestia, having sat down during the explanation, arose to her feet. "That sounds quite interesting!" She said excitedly, "however, I fail to see how this can possibly become any possible power for you. Can you elaborate for me, please?"
James smile increased, "isn't it obvious? I want the power of every game I know."
Celestia put on a thoughtful expression. "That's an incredible amount of power," she admitted, "it is something I can do, however I first need to analyze which games you have played in your life, though..." her expression turned to one of concern, "I'm not sure if you'd be able to control such power. Even simply speaking the incorrect words can cause an incredible amount of damage, maybe even to yourself. I'd suggest a possible way to regulate your power to prevent any unnecessary risk."
James shrugged. "Maybe... but, I have some ideas for things I want, and I don't want them ruined by limitations."
"James, limitations can be a life saver-"
"But what if I want to use several powers at once?"
"You can still use multiple powers; just not all at once. James, please consider this; my sister and I also use regulations to keep a rain check on our powers, and with what you want to use, I'd strongly recommend it."
James pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Fine, fine, I'll give it some thought," he looked back up at the sun Princess, "but, what should I make it? Does it have to be an actual object or can it be something... nonexistent?"
Celestia smiled. "It can be anything you want it to be, James. However, I'd suggest you use a physical object; that way you'll be able to keep track of just how powerful you are."
James raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I can keep track of my power? What does that even mean?"
"In Equestria, all magic spells use a certain amount of power from the user. It all depends on the amount of power the user wields; higher power means even greater spells can be used, or a greater quantity of spells can be used in succession," she explained, "most ponies are capable of finding out the... statistics, if you will, of how great their power is and can compare them to see if they can cast a particular spell. Recently, some breakthroughs have been made in magic recently; one of them being able to keep track of your power, how much power you've used," Celestia rotated her hand in a lazy circle, "et cetera. It is quite useful for a pony who casts magic quite frequently."
James nodded in understanding. "So, if you don't have enough power to cast a spell, you can't cast it. Got i-"
"Well... there are some exceptions."
James glanced up at her, arms folded, "you just contradicted yourself then."
"Well, some spells can be channeled instead of immediately cast; the channeling itself causing the user to continuously build up power until they are able to use the ability, though it is a lot more," she thought about the next word for a moment, "stressful. And time consuming. However, another recent breakthrough was found; there is a way to speed up the process of a channel, if used correctly."
James leaned forward, interested. "Go on...?"
"Usually, a channeling requires immense amounts of concentration, however if the user is energized by something: not energized as in electricity, energized as in excited," Celestia shook her head, "hence the HOPEFULLY temporary name for it, called 'hype', it is, in essence, the caster becoming energized by something around them and it allows them to channel the spell at a much faster rate."
James cocked his head. "So, if the user is hyped up by something, like music, then they channel spells a lot faster?"
Celestia laughed. "It was actually discovered through the use of music, surprisingly enough. Though I didn't approve of his methods, he did advance the field of magic by quite a bit using his technique. He always did have a very... unique taste in music."
"He...?"
Celestia let out a small gasp and quickly turned her head, flowing rainbow hair masking most of her face, "umm... that's a topic I would rather not get in to. I already spoke too much as is."
James shrugged it off. "Alright. I won't pry. But, you think maybe we could get along with this? I'm not sure how long we've been sitting here for, but I think we've wasted enough time just waiting around and discussing things."
Celestia nodded, "yes, of course! All we have to do is analyze your mind for the games you have played and then we can get you into Equestria."
"Okay. Just make it fast."
Celestia paused for a brief moment. "Also, in order to use my magic, I have to return to my original form. Do you mind?"
"Your original...?" James suddenly recalled Celestia was not actually a human, "oh, right! You're a pony. Forgot for a moment." He laughed sheepishly.
"But do you mind it?"
James shook his head, "not at all. I mean; if Equestria is full of ponies like you, then I guess I'll have to get accustomed to it sooner rather than later."
Celestia smiled for a brief moment, "very good. Please be pa-" she paused and cast a wary glance around.
James cocked his head. "Umm... Celestia? You okay there?"
"Somebody else is here..."
James took a quick glance around; nothing but a white room filled his vision. "There's... nobody here..."
"In the hallway..." Celestia's hands balled up into fists, "one of them was drunk."
"Hallw-", James stopped as he recalled the dark hallway before entering the white room, "actually, I kind of wanted to ask about that..."
Celestia now seemed a lot more anxious. She quickly put on her best smile, "I can explain it all later," she said rather quickly, "but, for now, I have to go and deal with this... nuisance."
She walked past James, who turned around to watch her go, "should I just... stay here then?"
"Yes," Celestia responded in an instant, "if you please."
James sighed, "alright."
As James turned back around, Celestia's face contorted to one of frustration. She made her way to the back of the white room and disappeared into the dark hallway.
Celestia let out a small sigh as she entered; the hallway was fairly ominous, even by her standards. She made a mental note to change the color to something a little more welcoming in hopes of preventing possible panic.
she shook the thought out of her mind; she had business to take care of. She quickly began casting her transformation spell and quickly shifted back into her typical pony form. She stretched out her wings and gave her brilliant white coat a once over. Her mane and tail both seemed well maintained, and she smiled as she acknowledged her proper appearance. She began walking down the dark hall.
She was mentally kicking herself. While James was explaining video games to her, she had forgotten to close the transition into the hallway and someone else- she cast a quick detection spell and double checked all if more people entered the area. She sighed with relief when she found only two signatures- multiple someones happened to find the transition and walk on in.
She also sensed alcohol on one of them; actually, it was what triggered her mental alarm. The hallway utilized a special spell that ensured all people who entered the hallway would react properly to any and all events. Meaning, they had to be clean. The spell itself directly removed any and all substances from the blood stream and refreshed the mind, allowing for a more proper meeting as opposed to Celestia being forced to wait for the person of interest to sober up; it saved her time, and she was a very busy pony.
She stopped momentarily as an idea popped into her head; instead of a direct interception with these two people, why not simply frighten them away? She nodded in approval of her idea and began preparing her magic; first, transition the hallway to white.
Second, direct telepathic communication with the two invaders.
Bernard continued walking forward, with nowhere else to go, he was left with very little choice. Emily still had a death grip on his arm as they moved onward in the dark hall.
Bernard's mind began drifting as he walked onward. Why was this hallway here in the first place? He had walked down that particular hallway at the school many times over, and this was something that had never happened. He gave his brain a little kick; of course this never happened. What was happening here was borderline supernatural. Pitch black hallways don't just appear when they feel like it, especially throughout the school. He felt a little bit more on edge; this may have been done by another force altogether. If that was the case, then they may be hostile. He balled his hands into fists; if they were hostile, then James may be injured by now. Or worse.
Bernard subtly increased his walking speed and Emily kept pace. She had been awfully quiet ever since they entered the hallway and was incredibly fearful. She still held a tight grip to Bernard as they both walked down the hallway. Bernard was actually concerned that his arm would be permanently imprinted with Emily's hand prints, like a stamp, if she gripped any tighter.
Emily, after several minutes of unwavering silence, decided to try and make some small talk. "So, uhh... how long have you known James for?" She asked sheepishly.
Bernard's response was almost automatic. "About 7 years."
"That's a pretty long time. That means you met back in grade 6?"
"Yeah. At the beginning of the year."
"How did you meet him?"
He had to think for a moment on the answer, "it was the first day of school, if I recall it correctly. He was sitting alone on his computer. He was playing a weird kind of game. Something about a tiny skeleton and genocide. It had a catchy song though, and that was enough appeal for me to come over. I started watching and he didn't really appreciate it too much," he laughed a little, "I guess not many people appreciate random strangers watching them play video games over their shoulder. Anyway, I introduced myself, he did as well. He was a lot more patient while introducing himself, which was a nice change of pace."
"Anyways, I saw what he was trying to do and asked if I could give it a shot myself. He was pretty hesitant about it, but he said yes," he sighed and shook his head, "it was the hardest damn thing I ever tried. I couldn't even get past his first attack! I tried it a couple more times, and no luck. I was silently hoping he didn't have to watch me fail consecutively at the first attack of an enemy, but..." he shrugged, "he didn't. If anything, he was simply watching me try. Not in a mocking way, but observant. After about five failed attempts, he decided to step in and explain some tricks. I listened, tried it again and got through the very first attack." He shook his head again, "it sounds pretty pathetic when I say it, getting through the first attack of an enemy. Anyway, he tried got back on and played and holy shit; his reaction time was fast. He knew every attack almost. Practically beat it on the first try. That moment on, he had my admiration, and we continued hanging out together and became fast friends. That's pretty much it."
Emily pondered it for a moment. "I thought you weren't a fan of video games..."
Bernard cast a curious glance back to Emily. "I never said that."
"Well, I've never seen you playing any games. Let alone with James."
"You only ever see James or me at school. You think I bring video game consoles with me just so I can play with James? I like it, sure, but I'm not obsessed."
Emily sighed at the stocky boy's sarcasm. "Are all of James' friends video game fanatics?"
Bernard chuckled. "Practically. He met a lot of people through tournaments that he played in and made a lot of friends as crazy about games as he is."
"You mentioned those tournaments. Does James ever do well?"
"James usually places top five in those tournaments. He does incredibly well."
"What game is it?"
"Super Smash Brothers Melee. That's what it is most of the time. He plays Falco and Marth.
Emily cocked her head in confusion. "Who?"
Bernards eyes flashed with recollection. "That's right. You know practically nothing about video games..."
Emily looked down at the ground, slightly ashamed. "W-well... I just can't picture myself liking them..."
"Ever tried one?"
"Yeah... I tried one back when I was younger."
"And...?"
"Well-"
She was quickly cut off as bright, white light flooded through the hallway. The quick contrast in lighting forced the two of them to shield their eyes from the radiance of light. Since their eyes were still adapted to the dark, the light was borderline blinding. Bernard quickly tried to glance back at into the hallway. Though his eyes strained, he managed to see the rest of the hallway and saw near the end of the hallway farther ahead of them... he squinted a little harder at it.
It was something pale white, almost the identical shade of the hallway, so telling apart what was wall and what was the thing was almost impossible. The only way Bernard could tell that something was even there was through two small, rippling rainbows that seemed to portrude from the thing and a pair of deep, purple iris' seen on the things face. He also faintly saw smallshades of gold near it's feet. Before he could process what he saw further, a voice echoed within his head.
'The two of you! Please return the way you came! There is nothing here for you!'
Bernard looked around, thinking the voice he heard was actually some sort of speaker, or maybe the thing at the end of the hall was capable of projecting their voice incredibly well. He quickly came to the conclusion that it was in his head. Though, it wasn't a thought. He never had a thought that was quite so loud and demanding, let alone something in this particular voice. He narrowed it down a little further and reached a roadblock of what was physically possible and what was impossible. He gritted his teeth; maybe this was the supernatural force he had been worrying about.
He quickly looked at the thing, and assessed it further. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it's warning; on one hand, it may be hostile, and this was it's territory. It may attack them at a moment's notice and could possibly kill them. On the other hand, the announcement it gave, while clear and demanding, was not, by any means, threatening. He took a wary step forward and felt a sharp tug on his arm. He quickly whipped his head around and saw Emily clinging to Bernard in fright, eyes clenched shut. The only thing that was keeping her together was her tight grip on Bernards arm. He sighed as he quickly realized he wouldn't be able to take another step until Emily has calmed down, at least a little.
He turned his attention back to the thing and took a gamble; it had communicated to them telepathically, which meant there was a chance it understood what he would say. "We apologize for this..." he thought for the right word momentarily, "inconvenience. We're just here for our friend and then we'll go." He called out loudly, ensuring that the thing would hear him.
It took a moment before it responded through telepathy once more. 'I apologize, however I do not believe your friend is in our custody. You must be mistaken.'
Bernard huffed, "we can't be mistaken!" He shouted back in response, "he has to be here! I think you're mistaken! Or..." he gritted his teeth, "lying."
The thing seemed to be losing a little bit of mental ground on this back and forth, 'I can assure you; we do not have your friend here. I request you leave immediately.'
Bernard tensed as she finished speaking. He turned his gaze back to Emily, who seemed to calm down somewhat. "James is here."
Emily's eyes widened. "But it just said-"
"I don't care what it said; it's obviously lying. We need to find a way past it."
"I think we should leave... maybe James went home?"
Bernard shook his head. He didn't believe it. He refused to believe it. "James is here," He said firmly, turning back to the thing before them, "I'll show you. I'll make first move. When it's distracted by me, you go around and run as fast as you can. James must be at the end of this hall."
"But-"
Bernard turned his head to Emily, clear frustration on his face, "Emily, dammit just trust me on this one. Do you want James back or not?"
Emily quickly found herself again as Bernard said that. She let go of Bernard. "I want James back," She said, some of her confidence coming back to her, "okay. I'm trusting you, Bernard."
Bernard smiled as she said it. "Okay. On the count of three, we run at it, okay?"
Emily nodded. She tensed herself and got ready to sprint.
"One... two..." Bernard cast a confident glance to Emily, who nodded in response, "THREE!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Celestia was not happy with this outcome.
Hoping to solve this dispute with simple diplomacy and a white lie didn't seem to cut it. Some humans were rather intelligent creatures and, these ones were a good example, could see through lies as easily as she could give them. She made a quick few observations as they ran towards her. The fat one was slow, lagging behind the female, who, Celestia's eyes widened as she watched her speed ahead, was incredibly fast. Not as fast as a pony at full speed, but certainly an impressive feat for a being only using two legs instead of four.
She mentally shook herself. She didn't want to hurt these humans; they weren't important to her, but more than one was already big news to them. Clearly, talking didn't seem to work.
She sighed; actions always did speak much louder than words.
She quickly spread her wide wings in display. She knew a thing or two about humans; size always played a factor in a fight. A smaller foe meant an easier fight to them and, as beings incapable of magic or personal flight, this was understandable and relatable between Earth ponies and humans.
As she spread her wings out, the humans did take notice of her large wing span and stopped in their tracks. She internally grinned; it worked every time.
Now that they were closer, Celestia could get a closer look at them, and they could get a closer look at her. She noted that the male was a larger specimen, however his size did not cover up the fact he had some muscle on him, meaning he could do some damage if he so chose. He had blonde hair, obviously not natural due to the brown still protruding from his roots.He was also, quite obviously, very stubborn.
The female, was almost opposite; thin, lithe and muscular. Smaller and shorter than the boy, but obviously a person who preferred to stay fit rather than laze around. Celestia was more concerned about her than the boy, as she had something he didn't; speed. Which, if she played it right, could be dangerous.
They both were staring up at her. She didn't exactly tower over them, the male nearly being able to make eye contact with her, but she was just tall enough for them to have to look up at her in order to see her face.
She decided to give them as little time as possible; she had to make sure these people didn't reach James and wanted to do so as quickly as possible. Her horn began glowing a golden color as she began channeling her magic.
The fat one reacted to her channeling, noticing it and eyes growing wide. Celestia flinched; she failed to assess if he was even remotely intelligent. It seems, however, he was aware of the imminent threat. Even though humans are incapable of magic, they still were good at playing the guessing game. He quickly made a move and leapt straight for Celestia. "Run Em!"
Celestia was a second too late with her cast, and the boy tackled her in the neck. They both tumbled down quickly and Celestia gritted her teeth at the assault. She attempted to turn her head and see where the smaller female had gone, and found her still in the same spot, unmoving, possibly out of shock.
Celestia sighed; at least she wasn't-
She was hit again, this time on her head, as the boys fist connected with her skull. She quickly lost concentration and her magic immediately fizzeled out. They male had strong punches; her skull was throbbing from the hit. She wasn't expecting such a hard hit. "Dammit Em, move it!"
'Em' finally seemed to process the request and began running at top speed to the other side of the hallway.
Now, Celestia was mad.
She mustered as much of her strength as she could and flung the boy off of her, slamming him against the wall. A loud 'THUD' was heard as he made contact and he coughed up blood a second later. Celestia nearly panicked; she had no intention of harming him, yet she had to do something. She quickly assessed him and found a possibility of a broken rib and injuries marring his back from the impact. Otherwise however, he was okay. A little bit of healing magic would make him feel better.
She forgot about the girl.
Celestia whipped her head around to see the girl had not stopped running. She cast her gaze back and saw her friend slammed into the wall, but kept on running. Celestia was mildly surprised; humans were usually the type that craved some form of revenge when an ally falls in combat, and yet this girl, smarter than the average being, kept on running.
Celestia was okay with it. She needed a second to channel her magic, and one simple levitation spell will stop her in her tracks.
However, Celestia failed to assess the distance that 'Em' had made between her and the gate into the chamber with James. With one more quick step, she burst into the chamber, narrowly escaping Celestia's magic.
Celestia let out a huff of disapproval as the girl made it into the chamber. Had she not hesitated, she could have easily caught both her AND the boy and forced them out without the hassle.
But now, here she was; the girl made it into the chamber with James and the boy an injured mess on the wall, like a piece of modern art. She turned her attention back to the boy, who seemed to have lost consciousness due to the hit, and channeled her magic. She quickly began healing his wounds and, once she was sure he had fully recovered, levitated him on to her back and began walking back to the main chamber.
She now had to explain this to James, his friends and about what this was all about...
That thought, plus the punch to her head, was giving her a headache like no other.
