Chapter 1

“Wow, what a way to end it all…” I sigh in content.

Not sure why I should introduce myself but here goes. Name’s Dimitri Lockdrom, I moved to the UK after I graduated from college and I live alone. I had served in the army for about 8 years but had to be let go by honorable discharge since I got injured in my last tour. Now I’m 28, working a nice office job for the UK military and I can’t really complain about it since it’s a hell of a lot easier to deal with than getting shot at by terrorists.

During my discharge, I had one day gone to a convention with a couple of my non army friends who invited me. At the convention, one of them brought me to this Q&A thing about some show called “My Little Pony.” I remember what the show was since my little cousins used to watch it all the time whenever I used to babysit them. After the convention, my friends just went on and on about how the Q&A was the best part of the whole thing. The whole way home, one of my buddies kept pestering me to watch the show, despite it being specifically for little girls. I was highly reluctant at first, but a few weeks later of him ringing in my ear about how good the show was and how he wanted me to watch it I eventually gave in and gave it a watch.

I guess I can see why he was so passionate about it because honestly, this show was pretty damn good. Not in a way where I’d commit myself to being a full on brony where I’d collect merchandise and stuff, but just at the level of brony where I can just say I enjoyed the show for what it was and what it represented. The characters, the themes, the songs, the comedic jokes, each and every one of the episodes was as enjoyable as the last.

I’m now in my bed after just shotgunning through every season which took the entire weekend. I’m now exhausted and I’m starting to regret not taking breaks but it was well worth it all the way to the end. I look at the clock and see it’s just about 2 in the morning. I may be drop dead tired but for some reason I’m not tired enough to fall asleep. So with nothing better to do, I slowly pick myself up from my bed and throw whatever cloths within my reach on. I put on my jeans, socks, sneakers, black shirt, black long sleeve, and hooded leather jacket and grab my keys, wallet, ear buds, and phone while heading towards the door. I lock up the door and make sure it’s locked before leaving.

I live in a small town, just a simple place like any other. I sometimes like to walk around at night to clear my head whenever I remember how I injured myself during my last tour. I’m walking down the street towards the convenience store to grab a bottle of scotch to drink so I can fall asleep quicker. Not the most healthy method of falling asleep but hey, I fall asleep sooner with alcohol in me. I make it to the store and my eyes wince at the damn bright lights in the store, one of the lights flickers annoyingly making me groan in annoyance.

“Oi Phill, how many times do I gotta tell you to fix the damn light?” I ask the store clerk. Phill McHaggard was a pudgy man who I’ve gotten to know over the years since I’m a regular at the store. He and I became drinking buddies a few years after I moved here and we’ve been pals ever since. Phill walks out of the back room looking like he had just woken up and looks at me with a scowl.

“Why the bloody hell are you here so damn late, Lock? And why do I gotta fix the fockn’ thing when it’s just gonna be broke soon anyway?” He grumbles.

“Well maybe if you weren’t such a lazy shite, people would come here more often and not have to be bothered by the constant flickering in the corner of their eye,” I retort.

We both stare down at each other not blinking for a while until we both smirk and chuckle at each other.

“I’ll never understand why I can’t stay mad at you, bro,” Phill chuckles.

“It’s because I’ve got the Devil’s charm, Phill. You can’t help but not be mad at me,” I tease as I grab a bottle from the fridge.

“Careful Lock, keep saying stuff like that and the real Devil may come to collect your soul,” Phill warns me mockingly.

“Yeah, yeah, just ring me up for the bottle already,” I said rolling my eyes. Phill chortles and rings up my liquor and I thank him before heading out. Feeling the thirst for my booze hitting me I reach into my pocket and pull out my keychain since it has a bottle opener attached to it and uncapped the bottle. Just as I was about to take a swig, I hear footsteps behind me making me pause my hand making the bottle stop inches from my lips. I stop walking, as does the stranger behind me, and I sigh as I bring the bottle down.

“You got balls for thinking you can mug me at this time of the night buddy,” I growl. The stranger doesn’t say anything and I grip the bottle in my hand tightly getting ready to bash him over the head should he try anything.

“What?” I ask while turning to him, “got nothing to say assho-“

I’m cut off as I face the stranger and my eyes widen in confusion and a little fear at what I’m seeing. A hooded man, who’s face I couldn’t see even in the light of the street lamp was standing in front of me motionless. Though I couldn’t see his face, his eyes were glowing red under his hood and I thought I could see dark, shadow like vapors seeping from his hood. I was frozen in place, I wanted to say something but I couldn’t find the words. The man chuckles darkly making a jolt of fear run up and down my spine as I try to catch my breath.

“You seem to take joy into proclaiming yourself as me, boy,” the man says in a mocking tone.

It’s as if his very voice could make me piss myself so I thanked whatever gods were listening that I didn’t drink anything before what was happening here. The man steps towards me and I still can’t move due to the amount of confusion and fear coursing through my body.

“Dimitri Lockdrom, you should feel honored for you have caught my interest. I am here to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity. Would you like to hear it?” He asks me. I still say nothing but he chuckles as he circles me. How he knows my name is a mystery to me…

“There is somewhere I’d like to take you, somewhere I think you’d be interested in accompanying me too. Do not fret for it is nowhere dangerous, well as dangerous as I make it sound, but could use someone like you,” He said.

“Wh-Where…?” was all I was able to say. I couldn’t tell but I got the feeling he was smiling under the darkness of his hood.

“Oh, it is somewhere I believe you’ll take great joy in going to. Does the name Equestria, mean anything to you?” He asks.

Equestria? Like from the show? I wonder.

“Indeed, only the place I’m referring to is quite real instead of it being a mere children’s fantasy,” he answers shocking me.

The fuck? Did this guy read my mind or something?

“Indeed I did boy, now pay attention and be silent for I find repeating myself to be an annoyance of mine,” he warns making me shiver, “As I have said, the world known as Equestria is real, well real to me that is since I’ve been there myself. Recently, that world seems to be in a spot of trouble and there’s someone who has angered me by cheating me out of his soul. I would go and collect his soul myself but it is not my place to interact with the living in the mortal plain.” he explains.

“What-*gulp* what kind of trouble is E-Equestria in?” I ask hesitantly. The man looks to the sky and chuckles again.

“The kind of trouble you’d have to see for yourself to understand,” he answers vaguely. He looks back down to me and holds out his hand upwards making me flinch.

“All I can tell you now is it and it’s people are in need of someone to help prevent any further irrevocable damage to happen. So I offer you this, Dimitri Lockdrom, would you like to accompany me to Equestria and see for yourself for what’s become of it?” he asks.

I’m at a loss for words and I’m mentally punching myself in the gut to desperately wake myself up from this supposed nightmare. A strange man who makes me want to shit myself with glowing eyes comes out of nowhere and offers me to go to the one place I didn’t expect to be offered to go to. What’s more is he says Equestria is in trouble which is highly unlikely since the last episode showed that all the characters were all grown up and everything was peaceful and happy. I was about to flat out refuse him when a thought crossed my mind. If this guy, whoever or whatever he is, was telling the truth this could be a great opportunity. I’d be able to meet the characters of the show who I’ve come to admire and I’d get to experience what it’s like to live in a world so peaceful without any drama. I was a bit hesitant for a moment when I started to think about my family and friends but ever since I left for the army we had sort of lost touch over the years. They all came to visit me when I was discharged but that was over a year ago and I only call my family every so often so they can check in on me. Besides if, this was a huge if, this guy was telling the truth it also means Equestria is in danger from a new threat so I suppose if anyone was gonna help it might as well be me. But I had to play it safe and not jump right into it so I took a breath to calm myself before speaking clearly.

“You say that you want to bring me to Equestria, but what I want to know is if there’s a catch to all of this,” I ask. The man tilts his head and seems to arch a brow at my request.

“You say Equestria is in trouble and I’m willing to help but I need to know what I’m signing up for. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t trust you for a goddamn second. I don’t know who or what you are and you come out of seemingly nowhere and offer me something completely out of the blue. So if you want my help, you need to explain things a little more clearly,” I said while pointing at him. The man is silent for a moment but then starts to laugh loud making my body shake. How he hasn’t woken up the rest of the damn neighborhood with his laugh boggles me.

“You truly are an interesting individual, boy. I’m pleased you were the one that caught my eye. Very well, if you wish to know who I am then my condition is simple, take my hand and come with me. I promise I’ll explain everything to you once we’ve arrived.” he said.

“How do I know if you’re not lying?” I questioned.

“If you knew who I am now, you’d know I’d never tell a lie,” he counters. Again I was hesitant, but by the tone of his voice he strangely wasn’t lying.

“Also how’s this to, how you say, sweeten the deal? If you do not like what you see, I shall simply return you back here and erase your memory. It will be as if our encounter will never happen and Equestria will be doomed to its fate. Or you can just refuse right now and I’ll be on my way in search of someone else to assist me,” he offers in a conniving tone.

“If you’re gonna do something like that, why offer me something like this anyway?” I question.

“Why indeed?” he retorts, “So what do you say?”

I look at his hand and ponder for any other options, only to come up with none. If this was gonna happen, I’d have to make a decision now.

Fuck it, let’s see how this goes, I think.

“Ok, I’ll go with you,” I answer while reaching for his hand. He doesn’t waste any time and grabs my hand and a light begins to shine within our grasp making me panic a bit.

“Splendid! Brace yourself boy, for you’re about to become something that most would consider a necessary evil,” he proclaims as the light shines brighter.

I was about to say something but the light seemed to drown out my voice and soon it got so bright my vision was blinded and I started to lose consciousness and everything faded to black.