My Little Heartbreak: Heartbroken

by Jet_Black1980

First published 3rd of April, 2012

Anthony didn't have it easy in love. Now he's a pony named HeartBreak. Find out how she'll cope.

When it came to matters of the heart, Anthony just couldn't win. In his path, a rainbow coloured trail of broken hearts were left. With the final relationship he had, his strange exes decided they had enough. Now crashing through the universe and robbed of everything that makes him who he is: Anthony has been abandoned, branded and renamed by his exes. Find out how a pony named HeartBreak has to learn -her- place in this new world.

Loose Change

Chapter One

Loose Change.

The past year had been a rather unpleasant one. Change is always unpleasant. I had finally moved out of the house I was staying in and into an apartment. Paying rent and being alone weren't the things that were causing my heart to pain me though.

No, the thought of abandoning the ones I had grown to love was. I didn't really abandon them however. My girlfriend had finally told me that she had enough and that she couldn't take it any more. The stress, the trash, the kids, everything was getting to her. She finally broke down and checked herself in for a month into a hospital. We said we would see each other after she got better. But in that time, Dave, her husband, had decided that enough was enough. He told me that I had a week to find an apartment, or legal action would be pressured.

The first night of that week I was gravely ill from all the stress. The second night, I started looking. The third night was like the Sword of Damocles over my head; Dave glared at me while I was on the computer desperately looking for anything I could get my hands on. The only benefit here was that my fingers fluttered faster over the keyboard. The fourth night I found a place and signed a lease. When I told him, he told me that all my stuff was to be out at the end of the week. Or else.

I wanted to tell her about the new apartment, but he told me that if I contacted her while she was in the hospital, his actions would be swift, harsh, and devastating. The fifth day, I gathered most of my stuff. The important things. The sixth day, another load. The less important items and any clothing. The seventh day, I went back to gather anything I missed. There was a smoldering pile in the front yard near where the trash cans would normally be placed. I recognized the charred remains of a few of my possessions. Nothing important, just stuff that I had left.

I could see him out of the corner of my eye, gazing out the window, watching my every move, his cold, unblinking eyes staring out of the darkness. Hand ready on the phone, making it clear what would happen next if I even touched a blade of grass on the lawn. I pretended not to see him and walked forward, acting as if I were some stranger who had gotten lost in the wrong neighborhood. As I turned, I could see him setting down the phone and nodding as if to say "That's right, keep walking..."

That night in my new apartment I tried to feel numb about everything that had happened. I tried to deny the feelings. But in the last hour, I just broke down crying. The pain was too much, it was too heavy. I think I was still crying as I fell into a dreamless sleep...

The month passed and she came out of the hospital better from it. Or so I heard. Then she contacted me and we agreed to meet in the food court of the mall. A nice public area. We talked and then she asked me why I hadn't visited her or anything and why I was living on my own now. I tried being as honest as I could be about the situation. And I was about to be.

That’s when I spotted him in the crowd standing near the elevator on the opposite side of the court. He was staring at me with eyes...strange eyes that seemed deeper into their sockets than normal. He was sipping on a drink in a methodical manner...

"I-I just found a place. I thought it would be good to give Dave and the kids some space." I lied. She told me that that was a funny way to do so, but if I felt that way, then that was the way I felt. After a still more awkward meal I turned to leave, telling her that I had work tonight and this meeting was cutting into my sleep time. She grabbed my cuff and pulled me into a hug.

"You didn't think you were just going to leave without a hug and a kiss did you?"

She tightened her hug and gave me a passionate kiss. It was like running under a waterfall after traveling through the desert. It was like pure bliss. It was magic. I opened my eyes and smiled a goofy grin.

I was about to say something but then noticed him standing in the crowd. His cup looked like it had the life wrung out of it. His eyes were smoldering coals of searing hate. I put on my best face and pretended not to see anything.

"I'll see you soon m'dear." I said. She nodded and let me on my way.

That was a week ago. The clock on my wall ticks overshadowing most of the other noises in this small apartment. The only other sound I can hear is the sound of my breathing as I lay on my back. I am trying to comprehend everything that has happened. I give up and turn to my side. I wait for my mind to settle, however it doesn't. It continues to bubble with possibilities of what could or should have happened. What might have been done to make things better. But even there it all ends the same.

I sniff hard. "Why does everything I do end in heartbreak?" I ask out loud, trying to helping to break the silence around me. I don't expect an answer.

"When it involves you... That it does..." said a thin reedy voice from behind me.

I quickly sit up in my bed only to find a clammy hand with a tissue covering my face. There is a strong horrible chemical smell and my hand goes up to remove the obstruction in front of my face. But within a few moments of struggle and a few breaths, I feel a darkness overpower me. I attempt to fight but it's no use. The world goes black and then ceases to exist.

I am awoken by bright light and sound. It is the booming sound of an old TV being turned on, the faint almost not-quite-there humming that one hears when walking into the room. This is then followed by the flickering of florescent lights.

“Ugh..." I groan attempting to lift my hand in an effort to shield my eyes from their harshness, but quickly find out that I'm strapped down. Looking down, my eyes adjust to the light. I am in a tube of sorts, long white metal rings surround me and there is a slow strobe.

My eyes are straining by looking down. But I can make out a circle of darkness at the end of this tube.

"He's awake," says a female voice.

A young rough female British voice speaks. "Good, I have been dying to tell him off."

"I don't see why you all wouldn't just let me gut him. Get it over with." My eyes are having trouble identifying anything outside that circle of darkness, but two reflected circles of greenish light suddenly can be made out from whomever is now speaking. So many voices. Why do I feel like I know them?

"This way is better," replies a male voice.

A shape drifts past the portal to the outside of this chamber or pod. I can make out a female shape, but it sparkles and luminescences in a way that just isn't natural...

"Yes...This way is...Better..." She says as a head of some kind pops up in front of the dark circle below me. She puts her hand on the top of the head as if petting it...the light of the pod is just enough that I can make out details. It looks almost like a...puppy dog’s face?

"This way is more...beneficial to all parties here." She continues. "More Merciful."

"Why the hell should we show him any mercy, Tatiania?" hisses a southern sounding voice. There is a pause from a drama I can't see being played out. But whose presence is so strong that I could swear it filled the very air...

"Queen Tatiania. My Apologies Queen Tatiania." She says.

"Because, we have all loved him. And we all know that we can't outright end his life," she says.

"Says you," comes a growl.

"Wisp'o'Willow, Your temper is great, and your people are known for it. However, look into your heart. Could you outright kill him?" Her voice is like nothing I have ever heard...and yet...hearing all of these voices. I recognize them and it’s grating at me that I can't place them. Where do I know them from?!

There is a low growl...and then a sigh. "Maybe not outright..." she replies.

"Exactly, and you're not the only one who has had feelings for this one. Every Party here wishes for something to be done about him. Banishment is a far better solution than mere death." Banishment? What is going on out there in the dark? Who are these people, what is going on? I try to speak but I find myself unable to.

The dog’s face pops right over my feet. Even with my eyes straining, I can see it isn't actually a dog. There is a mop of shoulder-length hair flopped on this...girls'? On her head. From which protrude a pair of floppy doggy ears. She has bright somewhat big shining brown eyes. And while she doesn't look like she has a muzzle, she has an almost blackened dog nose. A dog tongue lolls out of her mouth drooping to the side. Yet despite all these traits, there is something I can't put my finger on. Like I know her. Her smile definitely tells me that she knows me...

"Hear that, Mr. Lonely Hearts-Smashing-Club-guy?!" her voice is loud and brash. Yet the moment she speaks I know her voice. Kylie. That's Kylie's voice. That's the voice of my girlfrien-...ex-girlfriend’s daughter. "Baaaanishment. You're going to love it!" Her eyes go wide and she's yanked back her little hands grasp on the collar around her neck.

"Stay out of there." Hisses a quiet almost inaudible voice. The same voice I heard just before the world blacked out. Now with a bit of context, I recognize it. Dave. That was Dave's voice, if he was whispering, that is.

I blink. And then a cold shiver threatens to overtake me. I realize I do know the other voices. They're all people whom I have been in relationships with. My exes. I try talking again. This time a faint squeak comes out, but nothing more.

"Huh." Says the soft male voice. Douglas. That’s Doug..."He looks like he's trying to talk." A small camera eye dislodges itself from a ring in front of me and snakes its way towards my face.

I hear Doug's voice over the speaker. "An Experiment." He says. "You remember that right? That's what you called our relationship. I didn't forget that, Anthony. Well then. Now it is my turn to have an Experiment. I hope you like it."

"If the name-breaker can berate him than so can I, Your Highness!"

Sandy. Her name was Sandy...I don't remember her being called Wisp'o'Willow...

I hear angry stomping and then Sandy's face protrudes into the chamber at my feet. Her face is...all wrong though...Her features are exaggerated and her hair is longer, but her teeth...oh my what big sharp teeth she has..."All that time on-line! You! Teasing me! Flirting with me! Leading me On! And then we meet! It could have been Perfect! And what do you do?! You say that I look old!" She snaps at me. The small confines, combined with the ringing in my head make for the perfect combination of drilling pain. There is a fear response starting to overwhelm me. I want to scream in fright, I want to run and hide. But I can't.

"Wisp'o'Willow. Remove your head from there. He has all hurt us in ways that are different." She pauses. "And yet are the same."

A neutral voice speaks. "I don't know why you all need me then. I barely knew him. Our paths only crossed but once. And after a brief span, diverged." She speaks in a way that doesn't stand out. Perhaps that's why it stands out among all these different voices. My mind reaches for the name. Sara. The call center. The way she wanted me and then I turned her down. Told her that I was celibate. Shortly afterwards I was fired from the call center. It didn't deal with her, but still...

"Yet you bare the sting of his style of romance Wind-Runner. Your stories are marked with sorrow and sadness to this day. You need Closure in this matter." Tatiania replies, her voice transitions over to the speakers. "And closure we shall all have, Anthony." She say and I realize who she is. The one I had crossed half the country for. She had met me at a bus station wearing horns and dancing. She was the one I first really confessed undying love to.

"Rho-..." I managed to gasp out, only to be cut short.

I felt two cold steel needles at my throat.

“I...” The needles pick into my neck slightly.

"You. Dare?" She asked, her voice pained. There was a quiet pause. Something told me if I spoke any more that I wouldn't speak again...now or ever.

"You. Anthony. Paul. Troglia. Smith. have committed crimes against Noble and Commoner, against Seelie and Unseelie. You have broken your oaths of love three fold three. You have attacked our allies and we will stand for it no longer. Such actions would normally warrant death...However I, Tatiania High Queen of the Fae, House Gydian, Holder of the Circlet, Current Servant to Excalibur and one of your former lovers...Have chosen a path of Mercy. Upon this day, the day before the Samhain Celebration, We, The Counsel of Nine have tried you for crimes against the Heart. Your sentence is Banishment from this World."

I didn't know what to make of this. It sounded like something from a storybook. It sounded long winded and overly wordy. Yet serious as sin.

"So shall it be." She finished.

"So shall it be." Joined Doug.

"So Shall it be." Whispered Dave.

Another voice joined in. Then another, and another until finally came the last cheerful and all together too happy voice of Kylie.

"So Shall It Be."

And that's when my world falls apart.

Chapter Two

As the World Falls Down.

It's funny to think that one's world can fall apart with the mere utterance of a voice. A few choice words. A phrase. A look, a glance or a gesture. There are people who wouldn't think that it could happen that way. People who think like that have never been in love.

The four petty words of "We need to talk" can and do send grown men quaking and crying. "It's not you, it's me." Can bring whole lives crashing down. "You need to leave", "I just don't love you anymore", "We've grown apart." Horrible earth shattering phrases that we humans inflict upon each other. Yet, the world keeps turning, reality is still there when we stop crying and our eyes open.

Right now, that's not what is happening.

Moments ago, the High Queen of the Fae just handed me an eviction notice from the world. That didn't make any sense at all. None what-so-ever. My mind just didn't comprehend it. And then it was made crystal clear.

The door at my feet closed shut and the lights in the chamber started to strobe faster and faster. I feel a sound coming from my throat, a scream, but it’s almost snuffed out like a candle in a the wind. The chamber melted away around me. White light was replaced by black in a way that was not unlike melting wax...I still couldn't move. And suddenly there was a jarring and the feeling of acceleration. Around me there was what looked like the outer reaches of space. But it couldn't be. How was I breathing?

And yet there it was.

The stars were streaks of near ultra-violet light ahead of me, and crimson light behind me. I was going faster and faster, leaving a cluster of stars, and then the very galaxy. Before long, I could see rapidly growing arms of filament collecting behind me. This transitioned into a fog of sorts. Looking back ahead I was greeted by a fuzzy, hot and painful haze.

The pain grew, and grew and grew until I couldn't feel it anymore. My mind refused to process it. That's when I got logical.

"You're passing through the echo of the Big Bang." It said.

"That's not possible." I replied.

"And yet, Here you are. Look, we are approaching the Wall." It said.

"The Wall? What is the Wall?" I asked.

"I don't know. A barrier? A brane? The thing that separates universes? How would I know.? I'm You." It replied.

The wall seemed to become whiter and whiter and whiter as I zoomed towards it.

"We're not slowing down." I told my mind. There was no response.

"We're. Not. Slowing. Down." I shouted at my mind.

Still nothing.

"WE'RE NOT SLOWING DOWN!" Was the last thing I thought before plunging into the sea of pure white.

I expected pain. I expected suffering. I expected...something.

I got none of these.

Instead I was greeted by a Void. By a Nothing. Or at least that is what my mind would call it. The human mind isn't equipped to understand nothing. To us, there is always Something. Even the concept of Zero isn't a nothing, Zero is a place holder for something. A number, a concept, it is by definition Something.

Perhaps that's the problem with nothing. We've defined it. By defining it, we've made it into something. And in doing so we've destroyed the nothing. But even looking at this...this expanse of emptiness of...well nothing...I couldn't understand it. I felt my confines melting away... I could move again.

Moving my hand in front of me, I realized that I could see a negative image of myself. It was like everything was inverted almost...As I accelerated, the Void gave way to...something. At first it was a small pin of a light. It was joined by more, and more and more. They didn't appear to be at any judge-able distance, like if someone had draped a cloth over my face.

Then there was a burst of light right in my face and a voice.

"First...we take your clothes." It said.

My clothing ripped away from my body. Falling into the nothing. Falling into the void.

"Now your face." It said.

"Wha..." But before I could really respond I could feel a burning on my nose. And then my cheeks and then my whole face felt on fire. All I could see was light drifting off it and then...nothing. I couldn't see anything.

"Now your voice." It toned.

I tried to grasp at my throat as if I could hold onto what they were claiming they were taking. But even in my blind state, the hums from my throat died and silence was left behind.

"Now your Form." It chimed.

The burning returned and suddenly I couldn't feel...myself. I could feel me, but I couldn't feel anything that was me. It was like sensation was there, and yet it didn't have a defined extension to what was 'me'.

"And now...we take your Identity..." It sang.

A cold prickle ran through me. There were many ways one could have their identity stolen. Was this one of them? I couldn't even tell.

"You are now ready."

I could feel heat coming towards me. I didn't know precisely where it was, or what it was but it was getting closer, and closer and closer... Slowly as I approached this heat source, I could feel things again. I could hear things again. My eyes...reformed...I couldn’t see things yet but I could tell the boundaries of what was ‘me’ were again at least...

But everything felt wrong. My eyes actually opened and I saw a shimmering in front of me, the shimmering formed a pool of sorts, it rippled with all the colours of the rainbow, it had a soft glow to it. And I was fast approaching it.

A voice cried out, and I tried futilely to stop myself from crashing into it. I tried to grasp something below me but there wasn't anything to grasp. The last thing I remember was wondering if crashing into this pond thing would hurt any...

I found out really quickly that it did.

What is it like to actually crash into a rainbow?

The rational part of my mind knows that rainbows aren't physical objects, they are projections of light bent through a transparent medium. I know that's a rather dull explanation. But when you have been ejected from reality as you know it, your mind tries to latch onto the first thing that seems reasonable. Rainbows shouldn't hurt. They're nothing but generally light and mist.

I think that the source of my pain is the fact that a splattering of colour is saturating everyone of my senses. My eyes, skin, nose, tongue and even ears are burning and screaming in nothing but pain. I am smelling purple, tasting indigo, feeling blue, hearing orange and of course seeing pure white. And before I can even process these things, it's done and over with.

The burning is replaced with a cooling feeling, the screaming of orange is replaced with the splashing of a...liquid? I cough and gag on something that is foul tasting. My vision clears and I see that I am being ejected out of some kind of vat and towards the floor.

"Well." I think to myself, judging the distance from floor to where I was spat out. "This could possibly hurt."

Fear grips me when it turns out that the floor isn't solid. There is a foop sound as I hit it and fear turns to panic as I fall right through the floor.

"Clouds?" But that doesn't make any sense. What is holding up the vat?

That question becomes very, very unimportant as I see what the floor gives way to. The world down below me, a world that is Very high up. In the night sky the moon looming big and bright, I can see the small houses from below. Some of their lights lit. For some reason this place triggers a memory of a place I know...But I can't put a finger on where I know this place.

My panic stricken mind no longer cares about those things as I grasp the realization of how high I am, how fast I am going and at what angle I am going.

"This could hurt a lot more." I squeak out.

Right before me there is a circular window that seems rather far in the distance. That changes within the span of time it takes to process how far it is.

The pain of glass, wood and sound splinter my vision. You're going to die. Right, final thought. Make it a good one.

"I like turtles."

Fuck.

Crash and Burn

Chapter Three

Crash And Burn

Rainbow Dash sat rather bored in front of blipping screens. As leader of the Weather Team and general all around awesome pony, this was not her idea of a good time.

"Security detail. Bucking Security detail." She unwrapped a stick of chewing gum and popped it in her mouth. At least she could bring a book.

The whole job bugged her on a very uncool level. The maintenance pony explained what all the buttons, knobs and other deals did. The only thing that she had understood in all that was she was to mark down any unidentified bogies flying too close to Cloudsdale, and what colours they would be. All incoming targets would start at the edge of the screen and a line would track their movement. Green lights were other pegasi that had authorization. Blue lights were passer-by who were friendly. Yellow lights meant caution and Red lights were hostile bogies. With everything that followed, she had given him a blank and rather unhappy look.

He rolled his eyes in return and said that if the big red button was flashing to give him a call. Then he'd come and look at the problem. That was three and a half hours ago. She chewed on the peppermint gum.

"Right Dash. It's just for a week, four days are down, three more to go, it's extra bits, and you Want that Daring Do collectible." She said looking at her well worn copy of “Daring Do And the Infernal Machine”. She had read this book four times over, more times than any book she had ever read. "Who am I kidding? If this wasn't mandatory I wouldn't be here..."

She opened the book. It was still an awesome book, the characters were still grabbing her attention. But this job was just so boring!

"Gaaaaah!" She shouted five minutes into reading. She pushed the book away. "I'm sorry Daring. It's not you, it's me. Nothing happens on this shift!" She looked frustrated at the blipping screen.

"I got plenty of blue and green dots already! Would it hurt to have some red or even a yellow dot appear?!" She said glaring in an almost joking quasi-serious manner. She grumped and turned slightly rolling her eyes.

"Like I expected anything to.." The screen blipped brightly with a Yellow light that just suddenly appeared in the upper right beta quadrant. "Gremlin didn't say anything about that..." She slowly picked up the phone next to her and tapped one of the buttons.

"Uhm, Hello!" Came the rather spazzed voice on the other end.

"Gremlin. This is RD, I know what all the colours mean, and that they are sposta travel in lines right?" She looked at the screen. Already the yellow dot was diminishing in brightness.

"Yeah.." Gremlin replied snorting.

"What does it mean when a Yellow dot just suddenly appears without a...path behind it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Um.. Well. Either the machine is malfunctioning, somepony got past Cloudsdale Security, or that somehow, some unicorn got it up into their heads to teleport all the way up here. Seeing that the last two are -ehm- near Impoooosible, It looks like I am going to actually go down there and take a look at your security system." He replied in a rather eggheaded manner.

Dash grumped. The yellow dot was now traveling in a straight line downward if she was reading this thing right.

"What if it was one of the other two Gremlin?" She asked in a slightly worried tone.

"Um...well...Erf!" Gremlin replied with the sounds of tools being lugged in the background. "In the Extremely Uuuunlikely event that it Was indeed one of those two...I would guess...That if they didn't have anything to hold them on the clouds that they would be in some really Big trouble. I mean Cloudsdale is pretty high up -ehm-..."

"Then it would be worth my time to dash down there and check it out right?" Rainbow said in an abrupt and quick manner.

"I could just send down a security detail, RD.." Gremlin replied. There was a pause as he waited for her response. "Um RD? Hello? I'm coming down there now...RD?"

However he was only greeted with the squeaking sound of a swiveling chair. Rainbow Dash had left ten seconds before he could even ask his question.

The shadowed rainbow contrail was the only thing that most of the security ponies saw as Rainbow sped by them. Part of her was in it for the speed, part of her was in it to see if Gremlin was wrong, part of her was in it for the thought of playing hero and saving some feather brained unicorn who had the nerve to pop up to Cloudsdale without any protection. But really she just wanted to get away from those blipping screens.

It didn't take long to get to where she needed to be. The door was clearly marked as Beta-41A.

"Wait a tick," She said coming to a sudden halt. "This is the Rainbow Room...Of all places, they had to pop up here?!"

That set up a whole new set of problems. While she wasn't sure about the inner workings of that machine back there, rainbows were her thing. Some of the things that were in rainbows were kinda painful if they got into the wrong places. She chuckled a bit remembering the time Pinkie Pie tried tasting one. She shook a giggle off and put on her serious face. No time for reminiscing, the situation needs to addressed.

She nearly charged through the door. And nothing...On first glance the room looked completely untouched.

"Ah horse feathers.." She grumped assessing that nothing had happened. "Great, now I am sure Gremlin is going to get all upset with Me-eeeee!" Her left front hoof stepped on a place where there should have been floor. Instead she caught herself about to fall through a pony sized hole in the clouds.

"Whoa...Um that's not good..." There wasn't any detail in the hole to make out anything about the pony of course. However there was a splatter of liquid rainbow that lead back to one of the bigger tanks. The door opened again.

"Halt! Who Goes There?" Asked a commanding voice.

Rainbow Dash put her hoof up to cover her eyes from the bright light that was now blinding her.

"Whoa! Hold it!" She picked up her security badge. "I am just checking out what happened here. Something showed up on the security screens!"

"So that's where you ran off too." The security pony said. "Gremlin thought he told you that a security detail was coming this way. However when he arrived-"

"And it's a good thing that you got here too!" Rainbow interrupted pointing at the pony sized hole in the floor."It looks like some pony just teleported here, jumped out of the rainbow tank there, and fell through the floor over here!" The security pony looked at her blinking.

"Right.. So what you are saying is that there was a breach of security.. " He looked at her. "...On your watch."

Rainbow looked panicked. "What?! No! I am just the one that was watching the screen back in Central Monitoring."

"Funny, this tag says that you are also part of Security." He blinked. ”And I would love to investigate this more, but my shift is almost up.”

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked confused like.

"See, the Security Pony who gets to the scene of what has happened first, takes care of the investigation into any Breeches." He smirked. "Along with any paperwork that comes with it..."

Rainbow now was totally confused.

"And until the paperwork is done, Cloudsdale Security Detail can't clock out." He explained.

"Can't Clock Out?" She asked worriedly.

"Nope. What's worse is that it eats into your work time." He started to walk back to the door. "You better get to investigating who, how and why this breech happened. Or all that work might be for nothing." He said.

Dash slapped her face and rolled her eyes before diving into the hole in the floor.

The security pony chuckled and rolled his eyes. "That's one less thing I have to do. New Foals. They are so easy to mess with..."

Shattered Glass

Chapter Four

Shattered Glass

Right now I am remembering things. Memories of rainbows, of clouds, of sleepy little houses below me, and finally of glass windows. Particularly the glass window. The memories of it shattering run through me, along with the sound of it breaking are standing out. And then, landing in something soft. I moan and put my hand to my head. Or my knuckles...I can't tell, my head is pounding and the world is still kinda spinning..

Despite that all I try to look around. There is something...soft under me. I tap it. It's cloth or pillow like. I can't really tell. It's dark in here. That's when I hear the sound of footsteps coming up some stairs.

"What in the name of Celestia was that?!" Says a female voice.

Panic strikes me as I hear a door from behind me open.

"Hello? Anypony in there?" she asks.

I am not sure how to answer and try to move forward.

"Ah!" Comes from my throat as I realize that there is a cold sensation trickling down my arm, and a sharp stabbing from the glass embedded within. I hear her enter the room.

"There is somepony here! Oh my gosh! When I heard the crash I was worried!"

I desperately want to run. I hear her getting really close to me and turn rather quickly. Apparently I am not good at judging distances, because our heads smack right into one another with a rather unpleasant cracking sound. There is a crackling sound that accompanies this collision. Like an electrical crackle..

"Ooooow..." I say in a low tone. But something is wrong with my voice. Even in a low tone it shouldn't sound so.. high.

"Ugh..Oh Geeze! Ouch, that hurt. Are you ok?" She asks.

"I...don't..." I try to clear my throat. There must have been something in that liquid that I was pushed through. I attempt to clear any liquid from my throat. "I'm -ehm- I'm -eeeeehm!- Alive?"

"That's always good, right?" She asks. Her voice. I know her voice. Where do I know her voice from? The shadow of someone...? lurks amongst the doorway. I hear a voice come from them.

"Hey, Twi', whatever hit us knocked out some of the power, I flipped the breaker..." He says, just before he flips a switch.

The light goes on and now I am shocked at what I am looking at. There is a dusty purple-ish unicorn. She has a dark blue mane and tail that has a few streaks of pink and purple.

"So then. Oh my you're.." She starts out.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!” Comes a terrified scream from my throat.

She jumps back and looks at me questioningly.

"Are you sure you're alright...?" She asks.

"Y-y-you're Talking." I reply.

"Yes. Um...maybe we should start this over." She clears her throat. "My name is-"

"Twilight Sparkle." I interrupt in an abrupt manner.

I can now see the being that is standing in the doorway. It is a purple dragon with green frills and rather large green eyes. He looks at me and then at Twilight.

"You know this pony, Twilight?" He asks.

"Uhm, no I don't." She begins.

"Oh, Hi!" He says in an almost casual and pleasant manner. "Were you the pony who crashed into our window? My name is-"

"SPIKE." I interject once again.

Twilight looks at the little green dragon.

"Um...You know her?" She asks.

"Twilight, if you don't know her, most likely I don't know her. So, no. I haven't seen her before in my life." He explains.

Twilight turns her attention back to me. She blinks as if she just remembered something and her face twists up again.

"Right. You're bleeding. Spike get me a bit of cloth to wrap this injury." She looks at me and her horn starts glowing. “Alright...this is going to most likely hurt. I've never had a chance test my medical skills...Spike be ready with that cloth wrap." He salutes her and has the cloth ready. Within moments, I feel something free itself from my arm. Then there is a pressure as the wrapping goes on.

"There! Easy as pie." She exclaims.

The shock of a talking unicorn and dragon is wearing off. I lift a hand to feel the wrapping.

"Um, thank yoooou-AAAH!"

"You shouldn't touch a fresh wound!" Twilight exclaims.

The scream isn't from touching the wound. I don't even get to do that. It's from the fact that I have just looked down at myself. I don't see hands, I see hooves. I don't see an arm but a leg. A horse's leg.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god..." I start jibbering.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

My mind blinks for a moment at the question.

"Mirror! I need a mirror!" I exclaim in that annoying high girly voice.

"Um...Ok...But really, despite a couple of scrapes and the glass, you look fine. I'd say that you're a very lucky pony.." She says her horn glowing and pulling a standing mirror from a bookshelf out in front of me.

I feel ill as I see an image staring back at me that shouldn't be there. A pony. A pony with a curly dark brown mane, a tannish coat and striking ice blue eyes.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no,no,no!" I say. It suddenly strikes me as to why my voice is all high and wrong.

"That's not right, that's...Not...Right..." The reflection in the mirror rears back, trying to stand on its back legs, only to be forced back down.

As...she...is forced to do so, I can hear the clattering of hooves on the floor below me and the sensation of vibrations going through my ..legs..

"That's not my voice! Oh geeeze what did they do!? Fff.." I try to spit out what is a well known swear to me, but for some reason my mouth isn't forming the word. "Ffff! Ffff! Fe-e-e-etlocks!" I finally exclaim.

Twilight looks in the mirror at me confused.

"What's wrong? For how you fell through my window, you look like you took minimal damage.." She says as if to calm my nerves.

"No! Everything is wrong!" I exclaim. I look down to my hooves. "These are wrong! This face is wrong! This Voice is Wrong!"

"How?" Twilight asks."You sound perfectly normal for a mare to me."

My brain glitches over that statement "perfectly normal for a mare".

"Uh...Twilight. You think she hit her head a bit too hard?" Spike asked.

"This is too much, too much, tooo much...." I can hear the clattering of my hooves on the ground as I try to comprehend what is going on. It's too fantastic, too weird, too much like a dream. Wait. Too much like a dream.

"That's it!" A rather large smile flashes on my face.

"What's it?" Twilight asks in a concerned manner.

"I'm dreaming! Ha! That makes sense! They kidnapped me and drugged me up! That! Explains! Everything! Yes!" I reply. It does after all make sense. Being in a world that was based off a tv show that had a good five years running that I watched on an almost constant basis? Of course!

"But why just kidnap me and drug me...?" I ask myself. "Unless that was part of the drugging as well!"

The two of them look at each other questioningly.

"Twilight...you think we should get her to a hospital?" Spike asks.

"Maybe...we sh-" Twilight begins.

A sudden gust of wind is felt coming from the broken window.

"Ah-Ha! I knew if I followed that rainbow trail long enough I'd find the culprit!"

There in the window is a sky blue winged horse with a rainbow mane and tale. Her brilliant wine coloured eyes glare at me with a determination that I recognize all too well.

"HA! Oh Wow! Best Dream slash Hallucination Ever!" I exclaim stepping forward. "Rainbow Dash!"

The three of them are now looking at me in a rather strange manner.

"Um, Rainbow Dash...Do you know her?" Twilight asks.

"Um. No..." She gives me a strange and perturbed look. "Wait a second...You're not a unicorn..."

For some reason, it's the funniest thing I have ever heard.

"Pffft-Ha! Darn it. Why couldn't I ever have these kind of dreams years ago?" I ask out loud. I stomp my hoof down. "Oh! What would make this even better is if Pinkie Pie just showed up out of nowhere!"

"Twilight...Who is this pony and how does she know our names?" Rainbow Dash asks.

"That's...what I'm trying to figure out." She said looking at me in the face.

Just then there was a knocking at the front door of the library. "Twilight! Twilight!" Shouted rather sophisticated female voice. "Are you alright up there?! I heard a crash and some shouting!"

I rolled my eyes. "I was hoping for Pinkie Pie..." Damn, seemed that I don't have much control over what happens in this dream. That's most likely for the best.

The sound of hooves clip-clops up the stairs and a white unicorn with a purple mane pokes her head around the door. "Twilight, what is going on up here?" She asks in a concerned manner, her sparkly blue eyes looking concerned and slightly horrified at the mess.

"I guess Rarity will do..." Sure there were lots of fans of Rarity, but she was always so serious, and work obsessed.

She blinks at me. "Twilight, who is that?" She asks me. "And what exactly will I do for?"

"Um Twilight...This is getting kinda creepy..."Spike comments. "I mean ponies falling from the sky is one thing. Ponies falling from the sky that know your names and the names of your friends?"

Twilight sighs while I giggle at this whole situation. If they only knew that they were nothing but products of my drug-addled mind. I bet it would blow their socks off...if they were wearing any that is...

"I haven't a clue who she is Rarity, just that she crashed into my window, then freaked out over something that I'm not sure about and Rainbow Dash has been looking for her.." She explained pointing at an ever growing impatient Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, because I won't be able to clock out until I find out why in Equestria or even how she teleported into one of the rainbow vats up in Cloudsdale!" She says clopping a hoof.

"My word!" She looks at me in a concerned manner. "Is she alright?"

"Aside from a shard of broken glass, scrapes, bruises and various cuts? Yes." Twilight looks thoughtful. "Which is exceptionally lucky for a pony falling from Cloudsdale."

Rarity shudders a bit. "I would say it is."

"You would have first ha-haa-hoooph!" I try to force the word out of my mouth. It comes out all warped instead. My lips smack together. It must be part of the dream.. Why else wouldn’t I be able to say ‘hand’? "Experience with that, right ,Rarity?"

She blinks and looks at Twilight questioningly.

I blink and look at the two of them.
"Oh come on!" My eyes roll and I use my hooves to express the best exaggerated expression I can. "Don't you remember? It was the day that Rainbow Dash took you guys up to Cloudsdale for the best flyer competition. Rarity got herself a pair of butterfly wings and a b-b-buu-pfffflank load of attention causing Rainbow Dash to spazz out and nearly lose it. All while she was trying to do her job too." I rub a hoof on my head trying to remember what else happened.." Oh Right, So then the competition starts up. Rarity is in the back putting her face on, while Rainbow Dash is getting worse and more spazzy by the minute. So much so that she just starts trading numbers with other ponies just to avoid her spot in line. After all the tension, the fear of failing in front of every b-b-bpppf...One is just too great, too racking, too much. All of you are starting to wonder where she and Rarity are. Cause it's getting close to the end of this whole thing. And Rarity comes out. I swear it looked like she had at least half a pound of makeup on. Everything was over done Over the top, bigger and fancier than anything she had done before." I pause for a breath. "Then the both of you are told that you have to go out together cause well there just isn't any time! So Rarity goes out all confident and starts flapping up really high. Rainbow Dash starts to do her routine and is kinda messing up here and there. Rarity gets up as high as she can and lets the light from the sun shine through her wings. She feels wonderful and beautiful and well...um loved...Until the moment that her wings combust and she starts falling. By this time Rainbow Dash is in her last leg of her routine and about to attempt a Sonic Rainboom!"

The four of them are just staring at me. Heh, telling stories like this is kinda fun..

"That's when she hears the screaming from down below! The Wonderbolts then go diving after Rarity, but in her panic she knocks each of them out! Dash looks down and doesn't think. She's Rainbow Dash! She reacts! She dives down as hard and as fast as she can, Nopony can watch what will happen! Will she make it? The ground is pretty far down and nopony wants to think what will happen if she fails now! Tears streaming in her eyes Dash pushes through where she failed once before and through sheer willpower and absolute hope the air starts to crackle around her hooves! All ponies who looked away now are looking in wonder and hope! Will she do it?"

I pause again.. The room is rather quiet.

"And then BOooOM! A Circle of Light and Colour and Sound Shatters the silence and she catches the three Wonderbolts and Rarity just in time before they even hit the ground! Whoooosh! A contrail rainbow trails behind her as she arcs back up to Cloudsdale, just happy in the moment that she had saved not only her heroes but her friend! That's when the roar of the crowd and cheering can be heard! Even normally quiet Fluttershy is cheering at the top of her lungs! And to top it all off she wins her crown and a day with the Wonderbolts!" The four of them are blinking at my antics and stunned into silence.

I look at them, suddenly I am filled with a feeling of dread. "Um...that's.. how.. it.. happened right? I know I kinda skipped over some things..."

Twilight shakes her head as if a spell had been cast on her. "No.. in fact that was very, very accurate..." She finally replies.

"A little too accurate if you ask me..."Rarity comments.

"I thought it was pretty awesome..." Rainbow's face looks like one of mixed emotions. "But...How.. Do.. you know all that?"

I can't help but laugh. "Why wouldn't I know it? I mean this is my dream, and in dreams anything is possible. Particularly seeing that I watched the whole thing." I chuckle. "I'm glad to see that I got most of the details right. I thought I would leave the part out were Rarity was being a clutz in the weather factory and distracting all the workers." I snirk. "Particularly the Male workers. She did after all have the -snirk- biggest...wingspan?" I give Rarity a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge. Rarity blinks at me and looks a little offended.

"And what do you mean by that?" She asks.

"I just mean that you were a bit...Showy with those wings.." I try to explain.

"Showy?" She quips.

"Well yeah. I mean wings must be an attractive feature for pegasi right? The filly or colt with the biggest wings Must have an advantage over the rest.."

Rarity glares at me "And you think that I was flaunting them about in a manner suited to your average street pony?!"

"I didn't say tha-" I begin.

"You didn't have to say it!" She exclaims.

I find myself fighting a laugh, but it starts out as a snirk, then a chuckle and finally it can't be contained anymore.
Rarity's face is burning with a bit of a blush.

"You think this is funny?" She says getting up and close to my face.

I calm down my laughter. "Um..." I start looking around. "Actually...yes?" I chuckle nervously. "I mean, I've never been berated by a marshmallow before."

Rarity's eyes go blank for a moment. As if she doesn't know how to process this information. And then I can nearly pinpoint the moment that I can see something snap in her eyes.

"MarSHMallow?" She mouths. I almost nervously nod, but haven't the time as she glowers over me. "MARSHMALLOW?! Miss...Who-ever-you are- You listen here! I have been woken up in the middle of the night to find my friend Twilights library window smashed to bits..."

I back away from Rarity only to find that she keeps hovering above in a threatening manner. Her hoof points up at my chin. If she had fingers she would have been using her pointer finger at me.

"Woken up from my beauty sleep mind you! I have been filling orders All Week, And I will be sooner thrown into a garbage heap, than be berated by some strange pony calling me a ...Marshmallow!" And as to drive the point home, she jabs her hoof right into my right shoulder.

The shoulder that had apparently taken the brunt of my fall. The sore aching-ness of a mere bruise turns into a screaming puddle of pain which forces me down to the ground.

"AAAAGH!" I involuntarily grasp at the sore spot.

"Rarity!" Twilight says racing to if I am alright.

"What? I barely touched her..." She says frowning.

"Yes and she just survived a skydive from Cloudsdale, through a glass window and into a rather unpleasant crash with what is most likely a wall!" She exclaims.

"But she..." Rarity begins.

"Yes she called you a marshmallow. And she's also not in her right mind. She might not know what she's saying." Twilight explains.

I am twitching in pain. It does fade, however a strong realization hits me and with it a chill runs through my body. "That...hurt..." I say quietly.

Rarity smirks but then is greeted by Twilights' disapproving look. She rolls her eyes. "I am sorry, but you provoked me." She cranes her neck down. "Are you going to be alright...?"

I can feel a bit of sweat hitting my brow as the panic starts to kick in again. This time the calming idea that this is a hallucination or dream isn't doing the trick...

"No! That. Hurt!" I exclaim.

"Look I said I was sorry ..I don't see what more I can do." She says.

"No! Don't you see?!" I push myself up.

"Uh no, Darling...I just told you.."

"I know what you told me! Oh No, no, no, no, no,no,no,no.." My hooves are rubbing against my face again. I look at them horrified. They really are a part of me.

"Twilight.." Rarity says looking at her rolling her eyes, she sighs.

"Then what's wrong...?" Twilight asks.

I blink, I am almost hesitant to tell them. Telling them would only confirm my fears. "You don't feel pain like that in dreams..." I explain cold sweat starting to drip on my forehead.. I'm starting to pace.. "If it hurt like that...Then I'm not dreaming...and.. this..this.. oh, no, no,no,no....” I cough and nearly choke on my words.”This. Is. Real."

Author's Notes:

New Chapter Art for _old_ chapter Right Here.

Despite All My Rage

Chapter Five

Despite All My Rage.

I am trying my best to hold on, but now my sanity is slipping away. I can hear the ponies around me talking but their words are coming out as gibberish at this point. I think Spike wants to take me to the hospital and Rarity is kinda siding with him about this. Rainbow Dash is saying something about needing to take me back to Cloudsdale so she can fill out her paper work and be done with all this. While Twilight is looking more and more unnerved at me. I am just looking at the ground trying to comprehend all this.

How could they do it?

That question poses not one but two riddles in my mind. One is the means by which I was transported here, and the other is...how could they do it? The first question is boggling my mind. I know that Rhonda claimed herself to be High Queen of the Fae...but I don’t know even enough about the mythology of such creatures to think about whether or not they could fling someone across a universe!

The next version of this same question is stabbing at my heart. I did hurt them. Our relationships ended horribly, with me being too neglectful, too emotionally unavailable. All except the last one. I gave a great deal of myself to her. However, she was already married.. This was a sort of strange open ended relationship, but Dave never really liked me. Never approved of me. That was made all together too clear...

I feel something drip onto the floor next to my hoof. I realize that I am crying. That’s not abnormal, what is however is how easily it is coming. The flood of memories and emotions dealing with these matters is too much. Normally there would be a dulled sense to all these things. Like a dam that holds them in check, a wall of separation between emotions and logic. But it isn’t there. Or if it is, it is failing dramatically. I don’t know what to do now. My head goes down and cross my front legs over my face. I need to block … this...world out.

“By Celestia! Everypony Stop Talking!” Twilight shouts. The room goes quiet. “Right then.” She begins. “Clearly there is something wrong here. I want to find out what it is. Rainbow Dash wants to find out what it is.”

She turns looking at Spike and Rarity.

“Taking her to the hospital on the surface seems like a good idea. She has been through a great deal of trauma from falling that high. However, there is something else...” She pauses.. “Something I can’t place my hoof on.. However right now in her current state. I don’t think we should take her there.”

I blink, that’s not the Twilight Sparkle I know from the shows. Then again.. what do I know?

“But Twilight...” Spike begins.

“No Spike. There is something else going on. You said it yourself. It’s one thing to have strange ponies falling out of the sky. It’s another to have them fall out of the sky and know your name, let alone your friends names,” She looks back at me. “And a rather detailed recollection of an event in our lives...”

She walks up to me. I am shaking, I am feeling all sorts of things and they are all happening at once. Control yourself damn it. Stop shuddering. What is wrong with you?! Man up!

“Right then. Who ever you are, I know you’re confused. You’re kinda lost and it’s apparent to everypony here that you’re afraid.” She says quietly. “But we are all going to need an explanation and you’re the only pony that can help with that...can you do that for us?”

I shake my head in a no response.

“No...?” She looks confused as if she had prepared a speech in her head, one that was perfect only to find that it failed at it’s intended purpose. “Why not?”

I am fighting to find the words. Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me?

“I-I...Don’t Belong here...” I begin.

“Well...We all agree on that.” Twilight states in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

It kinda strikes a nerve the way she says it.

“No. I mean I don’t belong here.” I say using my hooves to point down at the ground.

“Um...in the library?” Rainbow Dash asks.

I push myself up off the floor. Ugh. I am not making myself clear enough.

“No. Here!” I say waving my front legs around.

“Ponyville?” Spike asks.

“No! I mean Here!” Now this is starting to annoy me. More so than it should actually..

“In Equestria?” Rarity asks.

“No! Here Here!” I exclaim. I don’t know what’s annoying me more, they aren’t getting it or that I am letting them not getting it get to me. The four of them are just giving me a blank look.

“I don’t belong in this World.” I explain. “I don’t belong in this Universe!”

They are still looking at me strange as if I have lost my mind. I push a hoof up into my mane...I look at the hoof. It’s unsettling. It’s not right...I try to wiggle my fingers, but my fingers aren’t there. My head drops.

“I just want to go home...” I finally squeak out hugging myself.

There is a lull of silence that comes over the room.

“I think we should still take her to the hospital.” Spike says.

“Spike!” Twilight replies glaring at him.

“What? I’m just saying...” He kicks his feet on the ground.

Twilight rolls her eyes. “Rainbow Dash. What do you think?”

Dash sighs a bit. “Why do I have to say anything?”

“Cause right now you are the closest thing to an authority we got here. You’re Cloudsdale security.” Twilight explains.

Dash opens her mouth and then looks at me. She takes a serious stance. “Right. The way I see it, Somehow our mystery pony got through security. However, she’s not a unicorn. So she couldn’t have done it by herself...” She replies tapping her chin with her hoof. “So. Even if she is all confused, it wouldn’t be her fault that she landed up in Cloudsdale. After all, Somepony else had to have sent her there.”

Twilight smiles. “Right. Somepony with rather powerful magic.” She looks at me. “And such magic will lead a trail behind. A trail that we can follow back to its source.”

“And how do you propose that we find this source, Twilight darling?” Rarity asks.

“Um.. That’s rather easy enough Rarity. I’m the one who is the expert in magic here, I’ll go back to Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash, explain the situation.. and investigate the actual cause of all this.” She says in a matter of fact sort of way.

“Which will save me the trouble of filling out paperwork.. And I won’t lose any time on my time card! Score! Daring Do figure number 25 here I come!” She exclaimed. “Um... I mean..." she looked around and rubbed the back of her head. "I got nothing.”

“And…what do we do about her?” Rarity asked, shooting a glare at me.

“You two can watch her back here, right?” Twilight asks.

“Oh...no,no,no..” Rarity replied. “I need my beauty sleep, I have several more orders to fill tomorrow...”

Spike almost right away protests before Twilight can say anything. “Leave me here alone with little miss fruit loops over there? Not happening, Twilight..”

A voice comes yelling from downstairs. “Hey Twilight! Rarity! Rainbow Dash! Are you having a party up there without me?!”

Twilight looks at Spike. “Huh? Really? Do you think that is a good idea Twilight?” He asks already seeing what she is plotting.

“We have no other choice here, Spike. Not unless Rainbow Dash wants to go fetch Fluttershy.” She responds.

“I could do that...” Dash says in an absent minded manner.

“Actually that might be a good idea, Rainbow Dash. It’ll give me time to prepare the spell.” She looks at me. “You’ve been awful quiet in all this...are you alright?”

I blink at the question. “Yes.. no.. maybe...I don’t know...Ugh!” I stomp my hoof on the ground. “How could they have done this!?”

Twilight backs away. “Spike, I am going to trust you to keep an eye on her, alright?” Her horn glows and she picks up a quill and paper. “I have an important task for you, I need you to find and read this book while I’m gone ok?” She says letting the paper float down to him.

“Um Twilight this book is about-”

Twilight covers his mouth. “Something very important.”

Just then a pink tuft of mane bounces into the door frame.

“Who’s Ready To Party?!” She Exclaims before blowing on a party favor. “Whoa! Twilight! What happened in here? Why is there broken glass everywhere? We can’t have a party where there is broken glass, somepony could get...” She pauses for a moment. “Hurt.. Whoa...” That’s when she notices me and zips past the others before they can even talk. “Oh Wow! You look like you got hurt pretty badly! Are you ok? My name is-”

“Pinkie Pie.” I say without much emotion in my voice.

“Uh.. Yeah! Do you know me? Cause I don’t know you, and I know everypony in Ponyville! And that’s cause they’re all my friends! Course the first step in becoming another ponies friend is learning their name! And seeing that you already know my name, I’m half way to having a new friend!” She claps her hooves together.

The sound grates on my eardrums in a harsh manner.

“So! What’s your name?!” She asks me.
I blink and stare at the floor. “I...I don’t know anymore...” I reply in a detached manner.

“What? That’s silly, everypony knows their own name.” Pinkie replies.

I glare at her angrily.

Rarity intercedes before anything can happen. “You know what? Those orders can kind of wait a bit...I’ll stay here with Pinkie, Spike and…her. Just to make sure that nothing terrible happens..Just at least until Fluttershy arrives.”

Twilight smiles. “Excellent.” She says trotting off. Rainbow Dash is already gone.

I look up and see a flash of smiling pink at me again.

“Darn it, Pinkie...” I begin. “Why couldn’t you have shown up when I thought this was some sort of amazingly strange dream?”

She blinks. “Uuuuuuh...Huh...Don’t know!” She says trying to lean against me.

I move away in an irritated manner.

Are You a Secret Spy?

Chapter Six

Are You a Secret Spy?

Right now, this whole situation made sense only in the light that the High Queen of the Fae sent me here.
Fairy tales to most people are light hearted sugary things, with the fae being these lovely sugary-hearted creatures that can’t do any wrong, have tiny wings, perfect bodies and are the protectors of nature. They’ll sing songs, live off morning dew and fart rainbows.

I grind my hoof down irritatedly.

Everyone seems to focus on those happy things and not the fact that they are the protectors of nature part. They talk about the happy stories about how happy the Fae Queen and her Prince Charming are, not about how the prince is actually only married to her because she has his real princess locked away in a crystal close to her heart. They tell you about the enchanted forests filled with so many wonders. But they neglect to mention that there have been people who have walked there and never came back.

When people think fairy, they think Tinker Belle, not Red Cap, Troll, or Slaugh. They think little cottages out in the middle of the German country side. Not the modern dark corners of their own homes. This kind of punishment is exactly something that the fae would come up with.

Here I am. In a universe that if you asked me if I wanted to visit a year ago, I would have snapped it up in a second. In a form that not too long ago I might have taken just for the hell of it. With a pony that on more than one occasion, brightened up my day with her smiles, songs and over all cheer. But like fruit on a tree I can't reach, I feel helpless.

In fact I am seconds away from seething in rage over what has happened to me. I should like this. This should be a dream come true. But it’s not.

It’s like many a time, where, based on the circumstances of a situation, I had to leave a place of residence. I would have left if I had found another place, gotten a better job, done a little more. If it was up to me, if it was based on my terms. But instead of leaving on my own terms or even terms that were agreed to, I was forced out. Threatened and told that it was up to me to find a place right then and there.

There is still a bubble of bright pink right in front of my face.

I looked out of the shattered window into the night sky. Twilight and Rainbow Dash had already left, and apparently Fluttershy was making her way here.

“Sooooo! She-who-shall-not-be-named!” Pinkie said “You want to have a party?!”

I blinked and gave her a look of sorts. Like I said. A year ago I would have jumped at a chance to party with Pinkie Pie.

“Like...right now?” I asked.

“Yeah!” She says grinning at me. Ack, I think my eyes are burning from the light off her smile and I’ve contracted a diabetic condition from her happiness.

“No, Pinkie Pie. I am not in the mood to party.” I reply.

Her face is classic Pinkie Pie. “Not in the mood to party!? How can you not be in the mood to party!? I’m always in the mood to party!” She exclaims.

“Yes, I know you are...” I say about to turn away from her. However, not even before I can take half a step in the other direction, there she is in front of me again.

“You seem to know a lot about us! At least that’s what Twilight told me before she left. How much do you know about us? I mean you seemed to know our names even before we told you them! Not even I could do that! And I know everypony in Ponyville! That would be a really neat trick to learn, can you teach me it? I mean if I could know a pony’s name before I met them I could totally find out more about them and then I could throw them a super secret special surprise party for them!” She is now up in my face about this and I am not sure what to do or tell her.

“Um.. You mind Backing Up Please, Pinkie?” I ask with as much self restraint as I can. She blinks and walks back just a little bit. I take a deep breath.

“Now will you tell me how you do that super-nifty neat trick of knowing Ponies names before you’ve even met them?” She asks.

A wave of annoyance rolls over me. Gods I knew she was like this from the show but …

“Seriously, Pinkie...I think I just want to be alone right now.. If all goes well, Twilight and Rainbow Dash will find a way for me to get home...” I say gritting my teeth.

“But you just got here and we haven’t had a party yet!” She looks thoughtful. “And you haven’t told me how you know all our names! Oh! Is it that you can’t tell me about this super special talent?!”

“Pinkie...” I begin.

“Oh! Oh! Is it one of those talents that if you could tell me about but then you would have to silence me...For-Ever?” She once again gets up in my face.

“Pink-ie...” I say half worried and half growling.

“Ooo! Ooo! Are you a super secret secret spy pony!? The kind that works for the Princesses under cover doing jobs that other ponies won’t do, living a life of danger, and using your wits, smarts and ...Charms to get the upper hoof on evil Ponies that want to take over Equestria for One Billion Bits?!” She says without taking a single breath. “Oh no! I’ve blown your cover haven’t I? Don’t worry, I won’t tell any other pony ever! Pinkie Promise!”

“PINKIE.” I shout at the top of my lungs.

“Um...Yes?” She asks looking at me intently.

“Would You Please Stop Talking And Leave Me Alone!” I finally spit out. “Look. I don’t know what to think or what’s happening or anything like that. But. I do know that once this is all over and done with, that I am not going to feel like partying. I might not ever feel like Partying, OK?”

She looks at me kinda hurt.

“I was just asking a few questions...Geeze no reason to be a little-miss-she-who-shall-not-be-named-cranky pants...” She says bitterly.

“Oooooh Piiiiinkie...” Rarity’s musical voice sings. “Could you come here darling I need you for something....”

Pinkie looks at me sadly, but this is quickly squished by a face of determination. She crosses her heart, flaps both her hooves and covers an eye. She turns to meet up with Rarity, but before going, she shoots me a look of sorts. Had it been an Internet meme I swear it would be “Challenge Accepted.” Out of habit my hoof hits my head for a face palm. In a way that was harder than I expected.

“Ouch!” I shout.

Pinkie is about to turn and ask me a question, but Rarity is at the door giving her the 'Come Here Now Pinkie' head jerk. She bounds away with a look of determination on her face...

I roll my eyes and look at the floor.

“Well..buck.” I give into the explicate substitute. I haven’t a clue why a mere word would trip me up so badly. “Now four of the mane six and Spike must think I am a spazoid.”

I slam my hoof on the ground, sighing irritatedly. I can hear Rarity and Pinkie talking just outside the door. I don’t know what they are talking about, but knowing that they could be talking about me is making me burn.

“Damn It. Keep yourself together. Flying off the handle is what they Want you to do, totally isolating yourself is what they Want you to do. Just keep calm.” My hoof clops down on the ground again and again after each word. “Just. Keep. Calm.” That’s when I hear gentle hoofs walking on the floor behind me. Crap.

“Um .. Hello...” Says a voice from behind me. “Um.. Rainbow Dash sent me here help watch over you while her and Twilight go to Cloudsdale...Rarity wanted me to come in here to see if you were alright...My name is-” I turn my head at her. I am sure there is a rather unpleasant expression on my face because of how startled she is.

“Fluttershy.” I say ending her sentence. “Yes. Great. Leave it to Rarity to send in the Big Guns!”

“I-” She begins.

“No, Please don’t start. I am not in a good mood. If you start, bad things will happen.” Right now I am fighting off whatever feeling is rearing its head from deep inside of me.

“But-”

“No! Just turn around and join Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. That is the Right thing to do.” I say gritting my teeth.
She looks at me almost about ready to squeak. I turn my face away from her.

“If you keep standing there, I am going to say or do ..Something that I will very much regret, Alright!?” I almost shout. “Because-” I turn my head and she has already flown out of the room. “B-because.. I don’t...” My head droops. “I don’t want to make you cry...” I mutter.

The door closes behind me.

“Great. Just Great!” I hit the wall. “Now all but one of them thinks I am the pony equivalent of Gilda! Just. Bucking Great!” I hit the wall again and again. It does loosen some of the tension in my being. But not by much.

“AAAARGH! Well I hope you are all happy!” I shout at the air. “If this is your idea of a punishment, Kudos! Congrats! It’s One Swell Punishment all right!” I turn my back to the wall and in true pony fashion kick with my hind legs, shouting all the while.

The lights flicker and then abruptly cut out.

There is a hum. The faint high pitched sound like a cathode tube enters my ears.
A group of squares suddenly appear floating in mid-air. They are very much like old tv screens. There are nine of them arranged in a three by three grid. For a moment there is nothing but static on them. And then set of faces blinks on each of them.

“Well...We aim to please.” One of them says.

Gilded Cage

Chapter 7

Gilded Cage

I am really getting sick of being startled and confused. I should be expecting these things by now. Shouldn’t I?
The faces of my exes fill each one the squares before me. There is a moment of silence where I just can’t think of what to say.

“How are you enjoying your new cage Anthony?” Tatiania finally asks. “Are you comfortable? We hope that the trip there wasn’t terribly...unpleasant. But by the looks of it, you are lucky to have survived..” She looks over her folded hands. I can see her clearly now, she is dressed in delicate finery that is decorated with polished metals. Most likely silver, bronze, and gold. Iron is poison to the fae..

Kylie speaks up. “Awww! She looks so adorable! I just want to take her out of the box and play with her.” Her eyes light up. “Oh wait! I can!” She ducks off screen and pulls out a pony figurine that looks all too creepily like myself right now.

A few others on the screen haven’t said anything but they are barely holding back their laughter. I can’t take it any more.

“Y-YOU!” I shout at all of them.

“That’s all you can say then?” Doug asks. “I send you clear across inter-dimensional voids bending the very fabric of the universe and all you can say is “Y-YOU”? I would be insulted if not for the fact that you’re an anthropomorphic miniature horse.”

A girl with bright red hair and a sharp toothed grin speaks. I recognize her sweet southern accent as that of Amber’s. A girl who I proposed to...the one who actually took my virginity. In her spiked black leather biker jacket, I don’t even recognize her.. But her voice...
“A Filly at that Warp-Warp. How’s that treating ya sweetie? Looks like ya’ve been through a tenderizer.” She licks her lips. “If it weren’t for the fact that ya’re a universe away, ah could go for some horse meat right about now...”
I feel sickened as her eyes roam over me. I back away and turn only to find that the screens follow me.
“Awww what’s the matter? Ah’d just take a nibble. Ya used to love it when ah did that..” The screen zipped up close to me and Amber licked the other side. “Ah know Ah loved it when ya did it to Me...”

“Gah! Get away from me!” I shout turning again, only to be met by another glowing square. The figure on this one
is truly terrifying. A horrifying red wolf beast whose teeth look as if they are going to come out and strike me down.
The screen nearly flies at me and then stops just before reaching the end of my muzzle.

“Boo!” She says in a playful teasing manner. I jump back and fall on my butt while screaming. I sound like a little girl.

A gaggle of the screens burst into laughter. I can’t take this any more. I charge the nearest screen.

“You think this is Funny!?” I shout at them only to find that the screens just can zip out of my reach. “You Find This Funny?!” I kick, I punch, I scream, I shout, and finally I cry out exhausted.

They start to hover around me.

“How...” I begin.

“How what?” Tatiania asks.

“How could you do this to me?” I ask looking up at the...eight screens? Then I spot number nine off in the corner away from the rest.

“As easy as it was for you to lose interest in us.” She replies smiling a large smile. She then looks miffed for a moment. Her screen turns to the corner where the lone screen hides.

“Spiderfly! Thy Queen Commands that you join us for what is to come. The Final Preparations are still to be Had.”

The screen floats slowly but surely to join the others. Her face is so sad, her long black hair. Then I see the goggles. This does nothing to soften the blow of who this is.

“Yes my Queen.” She replies.

“S-Sabrina?” I quiver. My mind is light headed. We were best friends through out high school. She hung around me all the time, I never knew why until graduation. Then she told me that she had a strange crush on me. My only words that I could think to say was “Why me?” The weight of all this hurts.

“Now the time has come!” Tatiania commands. “Now we bring the Final Resolution to a close.”

I snap back to attention. I am feeling so many mixed emotions. I glare angrily at all of them.

“What more...” I begin. “What more do you want?! I’m already a Universe away, that-that Voice in the nothing stripped me of everything! What more could you possibly take!?”

I realize only too late the stupidity of my statement. I’m dealing with the Fae. The Fair Folk, the people from under the hills. There is always more that they can take. They are all silent.

And then Dave speaks. “While it is true that the void stripped you of a many great things. It could not take one thing...Your way back.” He said.

My heart jumped into my throat, there is a way back.

“There’s a way back?” I ask.

“Right now there is.. But that will change.. You see, I rather like you out of the picture. The Void took your Identity, and with it everything of you that was in this world. And I mean," His screen flies up at me. "Everything. My wife is now my own again. And she remembers you Not. It is as if you were long held in death's embrace, or at the very least, never were to begin with...not only to her, but to the world...”

“Come on...” I begin. “Dave...just let me come back. I’ll leave you and your family alone, I’ll move cross country! I’ll go to Canada!”

He glowers at me.
“If I did that then the memories of you and the feelings that she feels for you would return. Never. Again. My wife might prefer having more than one partner, but I find you repugnant, repulsive and deserving of the fate that you have garnered for yourself!” He holds up what looks like a black razor and holds it against his wrist. “And As such, I cut the cord that binds us. I cast you out!”

I can’t tell if the blade cuts him or not, but there is a squelching noise and then his screen blips out.
As it does so, I feel a cold shiver cross my spine.

Wisp’O’Willow dives at me next. She looks human again, her blood red finger nails still seem almost claw like.
“You wasted my time! Played with my Emotions. My Feelings, My passions! I cut friendships because of you! Missed Opportunities because of you! And then you called me Old.” Her screen moves in close upon me. I can almost feel her heated breath. “My Rage still burns from that Anthony...If Ever I see you again, You will not even live to hear another call you ‘old’...” She grows claws and slashes across her wrist. And her screen too blips away.

Sara...WindRunner...revolves around me.
“I neither felt too much loss or remorse when you left, when you were fired, I was disappointed to be sure. How I wanted you. The fact that you were so shy only made me want you the more. But then when you rejected me, I was hurt and pained. In time I moved on, or so I thought. I started gathering tales. And when I came across your name again and again the hurt came back.” She sighs. “I hold no ill will to you now, However my fellow court members are right. Let this be a lesson to you and the fragile nature of hearts..” Before I could say anything, as quick as the wind she has brandished a curved blade from her orange sash and already made the cut across her wrist. Seconds later her screen flickers off.

Titania screen expands and she dwarfs the other five screens. With every slice of the wrist, I can feel something growing colder inside of me. Like something is actually growing distant.

“What’s the matter?” She asks. “Winter chill in your bones? You feel the sharp tang of fear encroaching upon you?”
I look at her frightened. The glint of her crown, the yellow silk in her dress which is offset by black so black you’d swear that it was plucked from the night. Two small two-inch horns curl in her hair. For a being of great beauty, everything about her is now menacing..

“Don’t even try to bargain with me as you did Neckros. I am the Queen of the Fae. I know every trick in the book because I wrote nearly all of them.” She smirks. “You crossed half a country for me...You spoke of undying love and of many wondrous things. You promised the moon and stars, and then when the time came to give them, you gave me nothing.” Her eyes flicker in the direction of Doug’s screen. “He told you about my little plot, my little coup to get you to leave our game that you attended didn’t he? I tried to warn him of the dangers that you posed and what you could do to him. But he did not heed my warnings. Now look at you. A pathetic little mewling pony from a cartoon show meant for little girls.” She smiled a cruel smile in that. It hurt. Not because of the words she had said, but how she had said them. She lifted up a dagger. “May we not ever meet again as you are now. Or Else.” The dagger came down quickly and swift. Her screen dissipated away and my eyes adjusted back to the darkness.

Dougs’ screen replaced Titania's’...He wasn’t the nice, quiet boy that I had casually flirted with, or the one that I had a passionately made out with. He looked like a cross between a mad scientist and some insane wizard. His eyes were covered by small black goggles. He is wearing a leather lab coat that has a green trim. His hair frazzles in random directions.

“Experiment number 8472 successful. Test subject has been mostly transported cross dimensionally, all that needed is to sever the connecting cosmic filaments that keep “her” entangled with the Council of Nine.” He said. His words were cold and methodical.

“What...what happened to you Doug?” I asked. Part of me was genuinely concerned, the other part of me was trying to delay whatever it was they were doing.

“Test Subject appears to be attempting-”

“Please Doug! I didn’t mean what I said.” Gods. That sounded like a horrible line from some terrible teen drama. So overly emotional. Then again it might be from the fact that I sound like a twenty something college girl. “I...” The words are there why the hell can’t I bring myself to say them? “I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

His brow furrows and I swear his hair crackles.
“You Weren’t Thinking Clearly?” He begins, his hand is shaking, he too apparently is having trouble saying what is really on his mind. He takes a deep breath. And then the look on his face regains composure. “Test Subject is attempting to distract me, experimentation would continue but it appears that conditioning is no longer having any affect. Termination of the Experiment is in order.” He says as his hand picks up a scalpel. “This Will be rather messy. But it must be done.” The scalpel cuts into his wrist and there is a splattering of blood before the screen turns off.

The girl with the red hair and sharp teeth replaces it. She smiles a sharp sharp toothed smile.

“Feeling a bit down there ..ma precious?” She says looking at me with glittering yellowish eyes. Her southern accent is thicker and kinda reminds me of horror stories that are passed around the Appalachians.

“Ah would be if ah where were ya are. Ponies are herbivores.. and ah,” She picks something out of her teeth. “Ah likes ma meat. Ah hope ya can go without...”

She looks at me in a faux display of sympathy.
“Don’t let those others get ya down ma Precious...Ah’m sure that our love story wasn’t that tragic. Ah’m sure it was for the best.” She looks at her sharp claw like fingernails. “It’s not like ya left me for some married Tart.”

“A-a-mber..” I start out. I get the idea of where this is going. They are going to ditch me here. They are going to leave me here. Why am I analyzing this so? Why am I thinking about these things in such a cold detached manner? Am I really that horrible of a person? The sight of each of these people once brought a bubble of different emotions, now I am feeling horrified at the thought of just being abandoned here and am resorting to bargaining. “I just...I just want to go home...” I say pressing a hoof against the wall. Looking at it once again just reminds me. It’s always reminding me that I am no longer human and it’s putting me on the verge of tears, so again I look away.

“Awwww, Shhhh, don’t cry Ma Precious...See...Unlike all those others, Ah could take ya home. Just like that.” She snaps her fingers and then holds up her hand to show me a small thin blue cord tethered to her wrist. “See this? All Ah have to do is yank on this, and ya wake up from Oz, Dorothy. Then Ah can take ya home, hide ya away and no..pony would be, ta wizer.”

I blink, is she messing with me? The horrible face on the screen looks like it would be the kind of being that would do that. But she looks rather serious.

“Y-you would do that?” I ask half hoping.

“Ya bet yar sweet little pony ass ah would Ma Precious.” She says smiling sweetly. She really would, this isn’t some fae nightmare I am talking to. It’s Amber. Amber loved me, Amber.. still loves me.. I wait a little with bated breath.

“Ah Would, But Ah’m not guna. Ya done and gone and hurt me Ma Precious. An we ain’t gunna have any of that.” She says, her expression does not change a hair as she quickly bites down on her wrist.

The last thing I see before my hopes are shattered is blood and the thin blue cord being severed. The screen goes blank.

My face twitches involuntarily. She dangled the hope of being back home right in front of my eyes and bit its face off. But now I know how I could possibly get back home. There are three screens left. I still have a chance. Right, Ignore that feeling of just to bursting into tears and running off crying into a dark corner. Steel yourself Anthony. You can do this..

But then I see her face. She is as beautiful as I remember her in high school, even if she looks different. Perhaps this reflection adds a bit more beauty to her seeming. Her hair is raven black and a bit long, her face is pale and white like a flower, with rosy cheeks, there are little black streams of mascara marring her face and she seems to be dressed in some vintage Victorian dress that looks dark blue. Wait.. maybe not blue but another colour like blue...not quite purple.. indigo. Indigo velvet. But it’s her eyes that are hurting me the most. I can see the pain in them. Did I hurt her that badly that she would push vengeance on a high school grudge after this long?

“S-s-Sabrina...” I choke out. “Please...Y-y-you don’t have to do this!”

There is a moment of silence before she speaks. Like Dave, I can hardly hear her.
“Yes I do. I am oath bound to my queen. I have no choice.” She holds up what appears to be an envelope opener. She apparently just wants to get it out of the way.

“B-But you! You of all p-p-p-poooonii! I-I mean…but...you?” Damn it! What the hell? I am not stuttering because of my crying. I am stuttering because I am trying to use a word and something isn’t letting me. Why can’t I say something as simple as ‘people’?! “I thought you said that you put it behind you. We were just teenagers and I was emotionally immature!” I sigh and rub my face.

She pauses. She doesn’t look at me but for the moment she isn’t going to cut the cord.
“They needed nine for their council. I am connected to you but I am bound by My Queen as I have taken an oath to her. If I do not follow through it will mean my death and her wrath Anthony.” She finally looks at me. “However. You are clever. If there is a way to adapt to this world you are in now, a place where you can belong, or even away back to this world. You will find it. You can over come the challenges you will face with ingenuity and compassion. You are after all, an inkwell of creativity.”

After abusive jabs being thrown my way, I am left speechless at her words of encouragement.

“Good bye Anthony.” She says, her gaze and letter opener coming down.

“SABRINA!” I pound on the wall.. Two screens remain.

“For a Slaugh, she was quite the talker wasn’t she my sweet.” Chimes a musical voice.

A thin face takes her turn on the screen. I don’t recognize her thin face, her deep hazel eyes that lay behind wire frame glasses, her golden hair from which two pointed elfin ears peek out from. But her voice. I remember that voice trickling into my ears for months. I bought phone card after phone card just to talk with her. She looks at me casually.

“Hello Love.” She says. “You know, if you had just been able to get your arse over the pond, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I am looking down. I don’t know what to say. After Sabrina cut me off, I feel numb. Not that I could say anything to Bethany.

“What? No pleasant chat? No promises to see me ‘one of these days’? No trying to pull at my heart strings?”

I don’t reply. I know what is coming. I can’t stop her from doing anything, she’s over there and I am over here.

“Fine Then.” She picks up a knife. “I thought we could have a fling or at least a nice conversation one last time. But that’s not happening. Just like everything else you promised.”

“Bethany wa-” But everything is cut short as her screen turns black.

There is one screen left. On it is a twelve year old puppy dog girl. And right now I haven’t been more frightened of young girls or puppies. She is playing with that little pony figure still. She looks up and smiles at me.

“Oh hi! Sooooo how are you doing?” She asks.

“How do you think I’m doing Kylie?” I ask bitterly.

“I don’t know, let’s ask and see.” She has the little figure walk to the middle of the screen. “So A-N-T-H-O-N-Y, how are you doing?”

“Oh I’m just terrible Kylie! I can’t have any stable relationships, my love Life is ka-put, I got transported to an alternate universe where I am now not only a pony but a girl pony!” says the toy pony. “And I might be stuck here forever too! But what’s this!?”

Kylie has the pony pick up a silvery white cord that is attached to her wrist.

“Oh Kylie! All you have to do is pull it and I can go home! Will you do that even if I am an undeserving wretch of a human being?”

“Kylie...Please stop that...” I ask her trying to assert myself.

“Hmmm No, I will not stop that A-N-T-H-O-N.” She says.

“Come on K-Y-L-I-E, it’s not very nice to throw salt in pon-...in others wounds...” I say sadly.

“Kinda how it’s not nice to tell others what to do A-N-T-H-O?” She asks.

“I was an adult Kylie. I might not have been your father, but I was trying to help you out...really I was..” I try to explain, It doesn’t sound too genuine due to the fact that I am still sniffling.

“An Adult...and you solved your problems in an adult manner too, A-N-T-H, I should follow your example and run away from things.” She says a wide smile on her face. She proceeds to take out a candle and sets it upright.

“I didn’t run from your mother! I tried to help her!”

“Yes, our couch needed a lot of laying on. And our dishes needed a lot of not doing, and I think that my dad’s social anxiety skills and my mom’s stressing skills had room for improvement too, A-N-T..” She then takes out what looks like a metal stamp of some kind. I blink..something is wrong but I can’t place what it is.

“Kylie, didn’t we have fun?” I ask, the desperation apparent in my voice. “I taught you things! Fun things! What the planets were, what the stars were, even some math! I bought you lots of different snacks and even a computer!”
The puppy dog girl looks up twiddling the little metal stamp in her hands.

“Oh yes, we did have fun. A-N, like when you would push me around..”

“I never Pushed you around!” I protest.

“Or when you told me what to do...”

“It was for your own good! You had to do your homework and things like eat! How was it my fault you wouldn’t wake up when I got food for all of us?!” I shouted slamming my hooves on the ground in frustration.

“Or how you nearly destroyed my family. My mom going to the hospital, that was really helping, A?” She asks me.
I feel a wash of panic hit me. I’m not sure why but now I am more scared than I was a few seconds ago.

“P-p-please. Kylie...Just pull the string and send me home. I promise never to bother you, or push you around. I’ll do like I told your father Dave. I’ll go to Canada! You’ll never see me again.” I beg.

She looks up at me while lighting the candle.

“Tell you what...” She starts. “I’ll pull you back...If...”

“If?” I look at her hopefully.

She sticks the metal stamp in the candle flame. “If you can tell me your name.” She says. I look at her taken aghast.

“That’s all?” I ask. “I tell you my name and I can go home?”

She smiles a large puppy dog smile, smoke curls above the candle flame.
“Yup Yup!” She replies. “I mean come on, is this the face of a pooka that would lie to you?”

I take a deep breath. All will be well, I’ll go back home, and in a few moments I’ll have my hands and my gender back. Yes. All I have to do is tell her my name.

“Right.” I take a deep breath. “My name is …” I blink. I’m drawing a blank. “Um...My name is...”

She looks at me holding the red hot stamp. “Yes....?”

"That was j-j-just a practice..." I push myself and close my eyes. "My name is...

"What? Who?" Kylie says in a bemused manner.

“MY. NAME. IS....” What the hell...I should know my own name It wasn’t told to me but a few moments ago! Something is wrong!

“I’m waaaaaiting...” She says. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks.

“...Why were you dropping letters in my name?” I ask.

She puts the stamp under the flame again. “Oh, that little thing? You are just catching on to that little thing? Oh that was nothing, it’s not like I was stealing your name or anything...” I feel a hard panic grip me.

“Y-you stole my name?” I squeak. “You Stole My Name?!”

“Oh you wouldn’t have missed it any way...” She says pondering the candle flame. I charge at the screen, but it only zips away from me.

“ You Stole My Name! Give it back!” My name was the only thing left they could really take from me. Plus there is what a fae being could do with ones’ name. Legends tell that if you have a fairies name, you could command it to do three favors, but if the fairy has your name...You’re screwed. They could warp you to their will. They could enslave you for fifty years, dance like a puppet or even worse..

“Give what back?” She asks innocently, the screen retreating against a wall.

“The Name! MY Name!” I shout lividly.

“Pffffffft. You’re a pony without a name?” She giggles at my frustration.

“Give Me The Name!” I scream, pounding my hooves on the wall.

She looks amused..That is never a good sign. I cover my mouth. That is the worst possible thing ever. I said something wrong in that. Something that she can use. She picks up the little pony figurine.

“We can’t have a pony walking around the great land of Equestria without a name. Even the background ponies have names...” She starts.

“Wait...what are you...” I start to ask putting my hoof up in a failing attempt to stop whatever she is about to do.

“We better give you a name then..” She picks up the red hot metal stamp.

“That’s really hot, Kylie...somep-p-ony could hurt themselves...”

“And I got just the one too. Describes you perfectly, I’ll spell it out for you so that you will never forget it. H-E-A-R-T-B-R-E-A-K. Heartbreak. And don’t worry...Heart-Break. I’m not going to feel a thing..” And with that she presses it to the flank of the little pony.

I dive at the wall and at the screen. I don’t know what she is doing but quickly I find out. As the little bit of pony shaped plastic burns, I can feel a searing pain forming in the same place on my flank.

“AAAAAAAH!” Looking back I see twin curls of smoke rising off either side of my butt. And on the near center of my flank a symbol is forming. It starts as a darkened patch of fur, but quickly grows into a stylized heart shape with a large menacing crack down the middle.

“Please! Stop! It burns!” I plead. She plucks the brand away from the little figurine.

“All done Heartbreak.” She says giggling. I am breathing heavily, I feel like I have cried so much that I can’t cry any more, instead a steady stream of hiccups follows.

“M-my n-n-name isn’t H-h-heartbreak!” I say insistently.

“Of course your name isn’t H-h-heartbreak.” She picks up what looks like a bone white makeshift knife. “It’s Heartbreak.”

“My Name Isn’t Heartbreak.” I say quietly.

She runs the knife along the silvery white thread. “What’s that?” I push myself up, my anger is starting to rekindle itself.

“M-my. Name. I-it Isn’t Heartbreak.” I say trying to reaffirm what I said.

“I’m sorry Heartbreak. But dad says it’s time to put away my toys. Toys like my little ponies named Heartbreak.” She lifts the thread up with the knife and then has it follow back down the path to where it ties to her wrist. “So, I’m sorry Heartbreak, but it looks like I won’t be able to play with you anymore.” I pound my hoofs at the screen only to find that they pass harmlessly through it.

“MY Name Isn’t Heartbreak!” I scream as my vision clouds red.

“Bye Heartbreak. Have a nice life...” She grins widely and then flicks her knife against her wrist, cutting it and the white cord. “Heartbreak.”

“NO! My Name Isn’t Heartbreak!” I keep pounding on the wall. “MY Name Isn’t Heartbreak!” But the screen has dissipated away. “No! My Name isn’t Heartbreak!”

The lights flicker back on and suddenly the door behind me bursts open. A quartet of ponies are standing there.
“Ah hope that Twi’ can forgive me for wrecking her door...” Says an orange pony with blonde hair and green eyes.

Rarity enters the room. “So, Heartbreak is it? Well now that we have a name,we’ll have no more of this fuss Heartbreak!” Every mention of that name just stokes my anger, my frustration, the burning pain of the brand on my ass.

“AAAAARGH!” I bellow out rearing up, my nostrils flaring. “MY NAME ISN’T HEARTBREAK!” I charge at Rarity.
“Eeek!” She reacts and using her magic grabs a thin blanket. Quicker than I can react, she wraps me up in said blanket. I struggle and kick trying to free myself. She regains her composure.

“Right then Heartbreak. Please do calm down. I’ve promised Twilight that I wouldn’t take you to the hospital. Please don’t make me regret or break that promise.” She walks up to me. “Do you understand Heartbreak?”
I am infuriated. And she is close enough for me to headbutt. So I take a chance and do so. There is a light pain that happens when our heads make contact. But that’s alright, it’s enough to knock her off her concentration.

“MY. NAME. IS. NOT. HEARTBREAK!” I shout ripping and breaking out of the loosened confines. I rear up, I am seeing nothing but red right now.. They are about to come down on Rarity when I feel them bound back together.
“WhaaaAAA!?” There is a lasso binding my two front hooves together. I can’t break free, and before I can even try, I feel tugged down to my right side. I scream as bumps and bruises are re-awoken. There is a flash of orange and then I find myself fully hogtied. I can’t do anything now, well anything but scream.

“AAAAH! AHHHHHH!”

“Well Golly! She can raise quite the fuss there then now, can’t she?” Applejack looks back at Rarity. “Rarity hun are you alright?”

“Yes...thank you for taking care of that...Brute Heartbreak for me..” She replies.

“AAAH! My Name Isn’t Heartbreak!” I insist.

AJ looks back at Rarity.

“What?” She asks.

“If ya can’t tell, Ah don’t think she likes to be called that sugarcube.” Applejack explains while I struggle and scream. She walks over to me.

“Now, if you’re a good little filly, ah just might untie ya and we can git this whole mess sorted out, alright?” She asks me.

I try to bellow out once more, but all that comes out is a low groan. Then something happens. I realize that I am incredibly tired. Did I hit my head so hard on Rarity’s that I gave myself a concussion? No...there isn’t ...pain.. but I feel just...so sleepy.

“Apple...jack...” I start out. “My...n-n-name.. isn’t…isn’t...Heartbreak...” Darkness sweeps over me and I pass out.

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Applejack looked at the strange pony that she had just tied down.

“Oh my, Applejack did you knock her out?” Fluttershy asked.

“She isn’t...”Rarity saw the rise and fall of Heartbreaks’ rib cage. “Oh good. I was afraid that she was dead.”

“No...She just passed out like that. Doesn’t that beat all..” She looked at her friends adjusting her hat..

“So Applejack, do you know her? Cause if you do I can start planning the party for her arrival in Ponyville!” Pinkie said bouncing.

“What? Ah haven’t seen this pony in ma life.” She replied.

“Then how did she know your name?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ah figured that one of ya’ll made mention of me.” Applejack said. The three others shook their heads.

“However, you’re not the only pony whom she has recognized as soon as they walked into the door. Apparently she knew all our names, and even recalled the time Rainbow Dash won the Best Flyer competition. In startling Detail.” Rarity explained.

“Weird. And then she gone an passed out faster Rainbow Dash in Cider Season.” She said. “So … All our names?”

“Yeah! Even mine!” Spike said coming in from out of the hall.

“That there’s spooky..” Applejack said inspecting Heartbreaks head. “She don’t look like she got any bruises on her head. My guess is that she was just plum tired.”

“Hopefully when she wakes up she’ll be out of the Anger stage and into Bargaining.” Spike commented looking over the book Twilight had given him.

“Say what?” Applejack asked.

“Twilight believes that some traumatic event happened to our little .. Heartbreak here.” Rarity explained.

“And now she has to go through the five states of grief.” Fluttershy said.

Applejack looked confused. “Five stages?”

“Pleeeease, there are Six stages of grief!” Pinkie Pie beamed. “First there’s Denial, ‘This can’t possibly be happening!’ .” She raised a hoof, “Then Anger, ‘Grrrr! I am Really Mad that This is happening!” She raised another hoof. “Then Bargaining, ‘Somepony please stop this from happening!’” Another hoof went up. “Then Depression, ‘I’m sad that this happening....’” Another hoof went up. “And finally Acceptance! ‘Well...I guess I’m ok with this happening..’ But if you ask me they are forgetting the very last stage!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Right, and what would that be Pinkie Darling?”

Pinkie put all her hooves down. “Why a Party of Course!” She said throwing some colourful confetti and blowing on a party favor.

“Pinkie..” Fluttershy started. “Maybe we should be a bit quieter. If Heartbreak is angry, she might be even angrier if she’s woken up by a loud noise..”

Applejack sighed. She had chores to do, but when Fluttershy had zipped over to Sweet Apple Acres needing help busting down a door, she had no idea about all of this...

“Right.. So we know what her name Possibly is..” Applejack started.

“No, We know what her name is. Heartbreak.” Rarity corrected.

“Now Sugar, we don’t know that for sure. After all she did raise a fuss and fight when you started calling her that.” Applejack said glowering at Rarity.

“Hmph, I told you that was hearing voices from the other side of the door before you kicked it in Applejack. One of them clearly said that her name was Heartbreak.” Rarity insisted.

Applejack sided. “Right, ok, still, Her name for what we know now is Heartbreak. But no pony here knows her, where’s she’s from or anything about her?” The others shook their heads.

“The only thing that Twilight and I know is that she crashed through our window after falling from Cloudsdale.” Spike said looking up from the book.

“Now how in tarnation did she get all the way up there? Better yet, how in the name of Celestia did she even survive that fall?” Applejack asked.

Spike shrugged. “That’s what Twilight and Rainbow Dash are trying to find out right now...”