Illusions
by Promiscuous Boy
First published
Celestia controls minds. Pony minds. A human mind, though, could be a bit of a challenge for her...
Christian Collins, a young police officer, finds his mind dragging him to another world. But he's not alone. Brendan Retmore, a drug dealer who has evaded capture more than a few times, also finds himself caught in the mess.
Now they're both in Equestria, trying to find their way back home while also trying their hardest to keep their minds independent of Celestia's magic. All the ponies are stuck in a trance, but maybe, just maybe, the two humans can do some good along the way.
Big shoutout to all those writers putting in hours of work to perfect their stuff. I appreciate you guys, and hope you appreciate this.
(Tags subject to change)
Prologue - Capture
Christian was running like hell.
His calves were on fire, his lungs were aching, and sweat dripped down his forehead.
He was chasing the man that OPD had been chasing all week. And he was starting to see why. He was fast, and even after twenty minutes of pursuit he still hadn't lost much energy.
Christian, meanwhile, had lost plenty. But he couldn't stop, even for a moment. This was probably his best chance.
The man he was chasing was named Brendan Retmore. He looked like your average white guy, clean-shaven, dressed decently. He worked as an accountant for a small bank downtown, but behind the scenes he sold crack and marijuana to boost his income. Christian had caught him attempting to make a sale, and while his partner, Shane, had collared the buyer, the seller had managed to run away.
It had started to rain, and puddles were beginning to form. In order to avoid slipping and falling on his face, he had to slow down. Brendan didn't. Christian looked at the sidewalk ahead of him and saw large puddles. Brendan was going to slip if he wasn't careful.
Christian was right. Brendan's right foot jerked sideways, and he lost balance. He fell down face-first onto the concrete sidewalk, extending his arms to break the fall.
Christian walked up behind him, panting and sweating, his uniform soaked through with rain and perspiration. He stood with his palms on his knees for a moment, catching his breath. Brendan began to push himself up, spitting and cursing.
Christian took out his cuffs and forced Brendan's wrists into them. He turned him over. His face was covered with blood from his shattered nose. The rain instantly began to wash the blood away.
"Congratulations, officer," he said, giving Brendan a small smile. "You got me."
"I wouldn't smile if I were you," Christian replied. "I don't know how much money you've made from your little side business, but it definitely won't be enough for a lawyer that can dispute charges of drug peddling. You got caught, and I'm sure your buyer will be more than willing to testify against you in court in exchange for freedom."
Brendan's smile faded. "I can wait, officer," he said. "I'm a patient man. I can wait ten years, twenty years, twenty-five. I know what jail is like. I can survive it."
Christian rolled his eyes. Lots of criminals have said they could survive it. And while survive it they did, the prison experience more than usually turned out to be different from what they had expected. A couple weeks, of work, beatings, and rape later, a lot of young men like Brendan were screaming to be free, out of insanity or agony. It was always the same.
Christian lifted the man up and walked him the distance back to the squad car. His partner wasn't there. He assumed that Shane had sent for another vehicle.
He pushed Brendan into the back of the car and read him his rights. Brendan remained silent. Once they were both in the car, Christian headed towards the precinct.
The rain had gotten much heavier, and given he was on two and a half hours' sleep, Christian found it far too relaxing. He willed himself not to doze off, but as time passed he felt himself slipping away further and further.
The car went over a pothole, and Christian jerked awake. His body was alert, but he struggled to move. His eyes continued to droop, even though he wasn't tired. He began to panic internally.
"Wwaaaassss.........hhaaaapppeeenniiinnnngggggg," he slurred, drifting out of consciousness.
His body was unconscious, but his mind was far from it. His mind was drifting away, not just from his body, but from his universe, drifting away from Earth, like a paper clip being pulled towards a magnet.
For Christian, everything was dark and hazy, but as his mind traveled farther, he loomed closer and closer to his next awakening...
Author's Notes:
Whew, I'm really tryin on this one
Please leave a comment, I could use some criticism.
Chapter 1 - Headspace
Christian drifted slowly into consciousness. He saw nothing but a grey mist.
He looked around. There was no one, nothing here. Just him and the mist.
Or so he thought.
"Welcome," said a warm, motherly-sounding voice. Christian still didn't see anyone. The voice was everywhere.
"What is this place?" he croaked, feeling the soreness in his throat. Why his throat was sore, he wasn't sure.
"This? This is nowhere. This is simply your headspace, as you might call it," the voice said. There was something about the voice that made Christian feel calm, safe. He felt relaxed listening to it.
"Where your full being is, however, is a different story," the voice said. "But before I tell you that, allow me to explain it first."
"Mmh," Christian responded. He was standing up, but felt like he was lying in a warm bed.
"Your world, or the universe in which your being last experienced complete consciousness, was flawed," said the voice. "There was hate. There was crime. There was murder. There was no peace."
"I have seen your world for a while. I have also seen that peopjle cared much more about themselves than anything else. I have created a solution for that. Here, no one will harm you. You will be completely safe. You will be granted anything you wish, upon your request. Your experience here is under your full control. Here, you shall achieve true happiness. Your heart's desires shall be fulfilled."
"So I'm gonna be happy?" Christian asked.
"To put it simply, yes, you will be happy," said the voice. "The only thing I require in return is that you stay. There is much more for you here than there ever was in the world you previously occupied."
"I don't have to work? I don't have to follow rules or anything?" asked Christian.
"My only requirement of you is that you stay here," the voice replied. "Aside from that, no. You will not be required to work. You will not be required to do anything that you do not wish to do. I do not believe in force."
"So this "headspace," is it like, my subconscious? Do I come here when I sleep?"
"Only if you do not wish to dream," the voice replied.
"So if I'm not dreaming, I'm here."
"Correct."
"What would I do here?"
"That is up to you."
Christian knew that what was being explained to him was simple, but he still felt like he didn't fully understand it. Regardless, he decided that it wasn't worth stressing about. "Can I wake up now?" he asked.
"Of course."
Just like that, Christian drifted into consciousness. He was lying in a comfortable bed, his head lying on a large pillow. He checked himself. No scratches, cuts, or bruises of any kind. Nothing hurt.
His bed wasn't like a hospital bed, but more like a bed you would find in a master bedroom, just smaller. But having spent several hours unconscious, Christian felt no desire to fall back asleep. He turned his head to the side and looked over at the bed next to him. There was someone else in it.
Relieved that he wasn't the only human in this new place, Christian sighed. He sat up and took a look at the person's face.
It was Brendan.
"What the hell?" Christian said to himself. Not only was he surprised to see Brendan here, but he also was baffled to see that his face was completely undamaged. His broken nose was gone. He looked completely normal.
Brendan's eyes were closed, which meant he was probably sleeping. I wonder if he's in his own headspace, Christian thought. He looked around the room. In the corner was a small chair and table with a plant sitting on it. There was also a bookshelf. In front of him was a door. Aside from the two beds, that was it.
Christian decided to wait until Brendan woke up. He got up and walked over to the bookshelf, expecting to see titles he was familiar with, given what the voice had told him so far. But when he studied the rows of spines, he noticed something off-putting.
All the books were about the mind and submission.
Christian had read about the mind before, in college. But the part that made him feel uneasy was the other topic on the shelf. Submission.
Why would whoever ran this place put that there? Were they expecting him to read it? Was he supposed to read it? Questions swam through his mind, but were quickly dispatched by the sounds of a voice behind him.
"Officer?"
Christian turned. Brendan was sitting up, looking at him with an expression somewhere between confusion and bewilderment.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"i could ask you the same thing."
"I thought I was supposed to like it here."
"You got a problem with me being here?"
"I'm a dealer. You're a cop. Of course I have a problem."
"That was Earth, Brendan. This is a new place. My cop title means nothing anymore." Christian reached for his badge to take it off, and it was in that moment that he realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform anymore. He was wearing a clean white T-shirt and blue jeans. "The hell?" he said.
Brendan looked at himself. He was wearing the exact same thing. "Must be standard uniform," he said, looking back up. "So what were you saying about your cop title?"
"That it means nothing. I'm not a cop anymore, and you're not a dealer anymore. Right now, we are the only familiar things to each other here. So the best option is for us to coexist. Or at least try to."
"So you cuff me and throw me in a car, and then we switch universes and now you wanna play peacemaker? Give me a break," Brendan scoffed.
"You know damn well I had no choice. It's my job to catch people like you." said Christian. "And you can be pissed all you want, but you have no idea what is on the other side of that door and you know it. So trust me when I tell you, throwing a hissy fit won't help you in the slightest."
Brendan sighed. "I suppose," he said, staring at the door.
Christian was relieved. At least he had one familiar person with him here, one that for now wasn't going to oppose him.
At that moment, the door opened. The being that entered was so far from what Christian had expected, he did a double take. Brendan just stood still.
"Hello, humans. I must say, you seem quite surprised to see me," it said.
Author's Notes:
Oh, right. author's note. forgot about that.
I'm not sure if i'm going the right way with this, but i like the feedback and i'll do my best.
peace