My world changed just like that... Now I don't know if this is real or if it's all a dream. What I do know is...If it is a dream... I can't wake up
Rated T for descriptive injuries, course language, and minor violence.
Life was simple for me. I was a simple computer programmer, self made fresh out of college. I focused on logic and that was it. I knew reality it wasn't as complicated as you think. I knew my place was here, programming computers and their programs. Yeah I was into some weird stuff on the side but so are a lot of us.
Mine was...more on the strange side than most. You had your anime otakus, crime dramas, British show fanboys/fangirls and all that. Me? Well I'm a brony. I like the fantasy world of Equestria it is a great way to escape my normal life. Where I could sit down for a while and let my logical oriented mind go. I was into it...big time. Fan character, fan art, convention goer. All that stuff.
I knew it was all fake...But that's the strange thing...I could be wrong. I suddenly got pulled into it in my sleep like it was normal! Am I really crazy thinking this is real? Is it just a long dream that might become more of a nightmare? Or is reality not as simple as I thought. Well if it is fake then this is one long dream! I just need to accept it my reality, nay my whole life...has changed.
The sun was shining its way into my bedroom like it would on any regular June day around 6:00. The days were nice this time of year but I wasn't able to enjoy them. Recently I was contracted to help with engine code for some new game a guy was making. I am like a programmer version of a hired-gun. You need code written for something you hire me. If it’s a good job and pays fairly for what you need me to do, then I’ll take it. As long as it’s legal that is.
I graduated from college about 4 months ago. I studied computer programming at the Peter Kiewit Institute at UNO (University of Nebraska at Omaha) now I am a computer programmer who does various things. Game code, audio code, website code, security code. You name it I know something about it. Whether I can code it efficiently is another story. Like don’t try to get me to program Java for some petty mod of that popular Minecraft game. Sure Java code is easy but it’s a waste of time and work.
Anyway you might be wondering who I am by now. Well my name isn’t really important since soon you’ll be calling me something else entirely. But you should know that I am an average guy living in the middle of the United States of America. I am a computer prodigy of sorts. So my mind is the logical sorts. I have a firm grip on my life and who I am. Or so I have thought. I would summarize it but perhaps it’s better to give you the full story of how I found myself in a strange world I thought was mere fantasy.
As stated before the sun had just roused me from my sleep on this early June day. It was going to be another normal day, the last one I’d ever have here on Earth in fact. I didn’t know it at the time though. So I began my normal routine. Get showered, shave what little bit of facial hair decided to grow back since the last day, and eat. After I ate I logged on to my computer and added the finishing touches to a project I was hired for.
An MMO made by a small company I had never heard of. Pay was good though so I took the job. Today I was finishing the last six thousand lines. To put that in a simpler perspective; for what I am doing I can do about ten thousand lines in what would be a 9 to 5 time. So another day at the office you could say. I got it done and sent it to the boss.
By now it was around 6:00 at night. I gladly shut my computer down and went to the kitchen. For days when I wasn’t too hungry I kept packs of ramen. It was actually a habit I formed back in college that still kind of stuck with me. So I made a pack and sat down to watch the episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that had aired last Saturday and I missed.
Happy after enjoying my ramen and MLP episode I decided to go to sleep early. So I cleaned up, turned off the TV and walked up to my room. The sun still had not set and it cast a nice radiant glow across the skyline of downtown Omaha. I looked for a minute before closing my blinds and getting changed. As I laid in my bed I sighed from exhaustion. Today was a long and hard one. I had no idea that this new engine the guy was making for his game was so complex. It would be fair to say some of the big Triple-A guys would want their share of it.
After running some jokes through my mind about the big companies like Activision, SQUARE ENIX and others I found myself drifting off into sleep. My eyelids became heavy until I could no longer keep them open. My fan’s ‘whir’ sound faded and soon it was silent. Everything was quiet… Until the fateful moment came.
“Hey are you okay?” I heard a voice ask. That voice…it sounded familiar… “Come on wake up!” there it was again. I could have sworn it sounded like…nah that’s not possible. I opened my eyes and standing over me was a lavender alicorn…it was Twilight Sparkle? Okay what was in that ramen I had? Why was I dreaming this?
“huh?” I kind of just said as I look around. I look to my left then my right… I appeared to be in the Palace of Friendship?! I look up and see the tree stump light over the gathering table…thing… then I go to rub my head and a flat hoof responds to my arm’s motion. I look at it in shock before looking to Twilight again and shouting a little. This wasn’t real! It was a dream. I was dreaming about being with Twilight.
“Are you okay?” she asks again looking me in the eye.
“Uh... yeah what happened?” I asked confused as to what was going on.
“Well I kind of tried a spell to move two objects through dimensions… and well… you came here instead of the apple returning…” Twilight says tapping her front hooves together nervously. Was she for real? Was that the best I could dream about?! What is going on with me tonight? I swear that ramen had something in it!
“Is that so?” I ask unsure. “Am I dreaming?” I ask.
“Sadly no.” Twilight answers. “I am afraid not. At least I don't think you are?” She had to be joking. There was no way this was real. I’ll hit myself! Whenever I do that I snap back to the real world in an instant! I raised what would have been my right hand if I was still…human and hit myself with all the power I could. I close my eyes from a second and then open them again…Twilight was still there! This wasn’t true! I hit myself again…still there… and again…no good. Soon I gave up…what had happened to my reality?! I got to sleep and I wake up here because of some weird experiment by Twilight?
To be fair…it made some sense. I had done some research on the M-Theory and stuff but I never took much of it seriously. Well I should have… I should be in shock and emotional distress but I am not. “I can send you back!” Twilight exclaims.
“Don’t!” I reply “I am fine.” Truth is…. I was being honest. If this really is real and not a dream, then I need to stay here. Where I can start over…make a new life…new friends…But also I now question myself…what has happened to the reality I knew? Was it gone? Was it still there? So many questions about reality and what was real or not flooded my mind. Almost as quick as they came they left.
“What…is your name?” Twilight asks me. Name? Oh crud! I need a name. I can’t use my normal name it would sound stupid! Think…a name? I look up and into a foggy reflection of myself. Crimson unicorn, black mane, very messy and a short tail. Oh! I got it!
“My name is…Crimson Shade.” I reply. “Nice to meet you...” She offers a hoof to help me and I take it. As I do so I felt a sharp pain in my well what is now my back leg. I look and noticed blood seeping out of an open wound. How could that have happened? I wondered. There was a small gathering of blood on the floor from it. This was how Twilight was able to take notice. I guess being red like I am blood isn't easy to see.
"Oh dear what happened?" she asks.
"I honestly have no clue." i reply as she calls for Spike. Soon a purple dragon comes running in with what looked to be a first aid kit. She took out a most gauze like material using her magic and dabbed my leg. I inhaled a sharp hiss of breath. That stung...like well for lack of a better term hell. Twilight then took a tape and wrapped it around my leg making a bandage
"There." she says "All better."
"Thank you" I say grateful for her help. Well I could feel pain. There was no doubt now...this was real. I truly am in Equestria.
"So let me get this straight you come from a world where you walk on two legs and are referred to as a human?" Twilight asks. I nodded. After the little incident that brought me to this place I sat down with Twilight and she began asking question after question... Which now that I think about it makes complete sense. She would be the one to squeeze information out of me like a lemon. So I told her everything I knew. From our technology all the way to the questionable things. “Wait so humans will kill other humans over stupid things like that? Don’t they have someone like Princess Celestia?” Twilight questions after I mention some of the wars we have fought. Truth be told… most of the recent ones are kind of questionable.
“Well the groups of people live amongst themselves and formed their own government. As like a goddess, deity of something of that matter different people believe in different things.”
“Ooo please tell me more!” Twilight says.
“Well there is God for one group, Allah for another, Budda, A flying spaghetti monster… the list goes on and on.” I answered “I would love to sit here and talk about it but it would take hours if not days to cover everything.”
“This Earth sounds like an interesting place.” Twilight inquires. Interesting? Yeah she’s got that right our lovely little sphere in the cosmos is interesting alright. All the insane stuff we do we’re lucky there isn’t some intergalactic law system. If there is we are unaware of it. Besides I am pretty sure the stuff the human race has done is enough to ‘destroy all humans’ as they say.
“I guess.” I replied with a heavy sigh. Twilight looks at me with a confused face,
“Do you not like Earth?” she asks me. “Is there something wrong with it?” Why did she have to ask that question? It was the one question I wanted to avoid. Oh well… too late now.
“Not completely.” I sigh “A lot of people on Earth fight amongst each other to the point of war. Countries don’t get along. Religions and other ideals cause massive issues from war to just people killing other people for what they believe in. As much as I hate to say it, I hate living on Earth… it’s nice in some places but living and knowing that other people are suffering or not living as well as you isn’t easy.”
“Oh… I see.” Twilight nods. “So you don’t want to go back then?”
“I…don’t know to be honest.” I reply. Not go back? It sounds awesome but… Then again I would be staring over in Equestria. Besides how could I live like this and not be a problem? So many questions flooded my mind. I wanted to stay in Equestria but… could I really just leave Earth behind?
“Why don’t you go get some rest and think about it?” Twilight offers. Take a rest…. That is a good idea. If I can get some rest and clear my head, I can make my decision a lot easier. I nodded to show her that I agree and she leads me up to a guest bedroom. I thank her and she smiles before leaving me. Happy to be alone I get into the bed and lay down. Soon the grasp of sleep catches me and I fade off into sleep.
When I wake up I look at the ceiling above me. Wait…a whitish gray tone? This isn’t Twilight’s castle! I am… back in my own room. What is going on? I already know that I wasn’t dreaming but… then how did I end up back hear in my room? What could be happening? I am not going crazy am I? No! I can’t dwell on this. I stand up and get out of bed. I walked to the door of my small house and noticed there was mail sitting on the ground. I pick it up and look at it. A letter from the developer head of that company I helped… May as well see what it is. I open the letter and read it
‘Dear Joseph,
I cannot thank you enough for your work! Your code had worked flawlessly for the game and we have not found a single bug or glitch. I was right in hiring you for this. In fact I am so happy that I am giving you an extra $100 bonus. You should receive the money in your bank account shortly. I hope we have the pleasure of working again on another project. I know I for one will look for you again if I need help.
Sincerely, Ryan A. Lorman CEO Monosoft’
I smiled at the letter. I was happy that my work was so well done. I take pride knowing my work was exceptional. I close my eyes and smiles. That got my mind off of what had happened for a bit before a voice scared me.
“Are you okay? Crimson?” I turned and opened my eyes. I could not believe what had happened! Right in front of me was…Twilight?! How could she be here?! Okay I am going crazy now. There is no possible way that she is standing here right now! I have to be imagining it! I look around and notice…I was back in Twilight’s Castle? What happened? Did I go back somehow?
“Crimson?” she asks again and I look at her dead on.
“Oh sorry…I am fine Twilight.” I reply “Why do you ask?”
“Well you vanished in a puff of energy and I was worried. After I located you I brought you back.” Twilight says.
“I am fine…” I answer. Was she serious? Could it be that the spell she used that brought me here in the first place is responsible for that trip back to Earth? Wait… I think I might know what’s going on… better check first though. “Twilight…that spell you used can I ask you something about it?”
“Sure thing.” She answers looking puzzled.
“Is it possible that your spell didn’t work completely and that one of the objects could be caught in between something?” I ask.
“Well I guess it is possible for one of the objects to be caught between dimensions. But it’s unlikely. Why?” she asks me. I look at her for a second and sigh.
“Twilight just now I briefly returned to my home. I know it might sound crazy but I don’t think that whole spell of yours worked right.” I reply.
“Don’t be silly you probably just teleported back.” Twilight disagrees “There is no way that spell could have gone wrong.”
“I don’t-“ I stop as suddenly the room once again gives way and I am back in my house where I had read the letter. Then in nearly an instant I am back again. “-know how to teleport.” I finish with a groan.
“Oh this is bad…” Twilight says putting a hoof to her head thinking. “If you are stuck between dimensions until we can fix you in one or another permanently then it is likely you will keep hopping between the two at random. As long as you don’t appear anywhere…unsettling for anypony they will think you are just teleporting.”
“Meanwhile if I do it on Earth I will literally have the whole planet freaking out and going ballistic because there are people who see a man appear out of nowhere.” I sigh.
“Excuse me but ballistic?” Twilight asks “What do you mean by that? Is that a word from Earth?”
“Yeah, it means to go crazy or something similar to that.” I answer. Though truth be told it has other meanings but I think it would be best not to mention them since then I would have to explain to Twilight what a gun is and since they don’t have them here in Equestria I think it is better that I keep that kind of stuff away from them. “Anyways.” I say to get Twilight’s attention back since it was clear she had spaced off
“What do we do so that we can anch-“ I stop as I am flashed back to my world and then once again back to Equestria “anchor me in one of the two dimensions?” I finish.
“Well since you seem to remain here longer than your world. So it would be easier to anchor you here. If we do that you will be here in Equestria forever but the thing is…I don’t know a spell that can do that.” Twilight replies. I was afraid of that… So that means I am stuck randomly hopping between here and my own world until we fix all of this…great…
“So what do I do until then?” I ask, to be honest I was worried and my face showed. Twilight walks up and puts a hoof on me to reassure me. Suddenly we flash back to Earth. This time though she was with me. Not only that but we were somehow in the middle of a tropical rainforest now!
“Is this Earth?” Twilight asks.
“Y-yeah…” I reply. I try to get up but I fall back down. I was still a unicorn this time! This was getting weirder and weirder by the second! “We need to fix this soon.” I say as a growl causes Twilight to leap on top of me as a Puma prowls up to us. “Now we’re done for!” I shout in fear as it leaps. For whatever reason I guess luck was on our side as we were teleported right back to Twilight’s Castle.
“It’s not just you.” Twilight pants. “I think it will take whoever is in contact with you!” she starts to worry.
“You’re acting like that’s worse.” I say a little worried by her tone.
“It is worse!” Twilight screams. “It’s not like I thought where your body was the problem it’s the whole area around you! If that’s the case then any magical tracking pony or creature could use the special distortion to make their way here to Equestria! From any time or place!” She panics pacing around the room mumbling to herself.
“Twilight calm down. That just means we need to fix this before anything does use that as a doorway to get here.” I say calmly. Oh who am I kidding this is a whole lot worse! But then again…I am right too, right? Oh well that just means I am going to have to be really careful from now on. It’s going to be a long few days ahead isn’t it?