Disclaimer: I don't own MLP or any of the related media. This is just me having some fun and trying to get a story out of me. By the way, before you guys start reading, can you please go down to the bottom and read that author's note? You'll see why in a sec.
'So, this is what it's like to die? Damn, I thought it'd be quicker than this.' Thought Jarrad, 'Kinda funny if ya think about it.' He might have chuckled had he the ability.
Jarrad lay prone on the floor as the hole in his chest continued to bleed out. A gun shot wound made by a deranged psycho; a drugged up "crack-head" that didn't even need to be holding a gun. His life was ending because of some random act of the Universe. There was no cause for it, no reason for this death. It wasn't noble and it wasn't righteous. It was simply an act of "shit happening".
A man of about 50 leaned over him with tears running down his face, somehow trying to save his son. He was a doctor, though not a trauma surgeon, he was trying to do everything he could to save his son. He had covered the wound and was attempting to apply pressure, but in the back of his mind he knew there was nothing he could do; his son was as good as dead. The recent nick on his carteroid artery would make sure of that. The old man was holding Jarrad with his head on his lap, trying to keep him awake, to keep him there.
"Jarrad, no Jarrad, stay here!" the man shouted in despair, "Jarrad stay awake!"
Jarrad looked his dad straight in the eye before grabbing the back of his head with his hand. He had one last thing to say and he was going to say it whatever it took. He tried to swallow which was near impossible with all the blood pooling in his mouth. Luckily for him bleeding out didn't mean his throat didn't work.
"Dad…I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be a part of this world. Tell mom and Sally I'm sorry, I don't mean to hurt them." his wheezed out, "I love you Dad, and I'm sorry."
With that his head lolled to the side and his eyes became vacant.
"Jarrad? Jarrad….Jarrad?" asked the man. He couldn't believe it. He clutched his son's head to his chest and cried. Nothing seemed real to him. His mind couldn't process it; his only son dead. Even when the paramedics and police arrived on scene they almost had to pry this man from his son. He was beside himself in his despair, sinking to the ground and crying till there were no tears left in him. His girlfriend arrived to help take him home and try her best to console him, however futile it might have been.
However, where one story ends, another is able to take its place. And ladies and gentlemen, we have reached only the beginning of this story.
On another world in another dimension we find the Land of Equestria. It is a land of pony folk and mystical creatures. A place where magic roams free and the imagination can actually affect the outcome of the world. Where the inhabitants live in harmony with nature and the planet given to them by…well, quite frankly no-one knows. You have your gods and rulers, such as Celestia and, up until a thousand years ago, Luna. You even have just regular rulers, like those who reign over the Draconian and Griffon kingdoms. Of course, the ones who rule there are not central to this point in the story so we will come back to them at a later date. But let it be said that each of these rulers, god or no, is extremely powerful. However, they are not all powerful. Each one is still bound by rules and laws of the universe. Of course these laws are laws such as gravity and light, or even the law of conservation of mass and energy. Strictly speaking they are powerful but they cannot create. Hence, using Equestria as an example, it was not made by either Luna or Celestia, or even both.
Ah, my apologies, I did not mean to pontificate. Anyway, let us simply refer to this grand creator of reality, Equestria and Earth included, as the Source. It avoids confusion and a rather LONG argument which could drag on for ages; back to the story at hand.
So, what is a good name for the planet that is created here? Well, Equestria is the name of only a continent on that planet so let's refer to it as…Gaia. Yes, that name shall work just fine. It's the name of the mother earth, the spirit that protects and nurtures all her children; a personification of sorts of the Source and all its glory. On this planet of Gaia we have all kinds of creatures, some fantastic and some not so much. However, to reiterate, our focus for now is on the continent/land of Equestria. We'll come back to the others a bit later on.
Now to set the stage a bit there needs to be a small history lesson/review on more contemporary events, just to make sure we're all on the same page. We have Celestia as the ruler of Equestria. At least, she is the full ruler at this point. Really she should only be the co-ruler alongside her sister Luna. However after Celestia imprisoned Luna in the moon for a thousand years for attempting to bring about eternal night things got a bit out of sorts. Celestia had to take over as the full ruler of Equestria and raise both the sun and the moon on her own. This would not last forever as after a thousand years Nightmare Moon, or Luna's evil persona, returned to bring eternal night. Her plan was foiled by Celestia's most precious student Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony.
The Elements of Harmony are magical foci that allowed her to bring forth the pure magic of creation. They were used in order to end the horror of Nightmare Moon; returning Luna to her original form. However as a consequence she was drained of power and was forced to resume a form much smaller and weaker than her original. She now trains along with Celestia in secret to gain back her old power and eventually take up her position as the co-ruler of Equestria: Princess of the Night and raiser of the Moon.
Now that the history lesson is over we find may begin to talk about the present. You see some time after the "Nightmare Moon" incident Twilight Sparkle began to study in secret and ancient and long forgotten magics. Magics that had been lost for ages and presumably had not been used since Celestia and Luna's former time ruling together for one reason or another. Our story begins some time after attending the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot. Twilight has made her way home with a spell book from the personal library of Celestia. Now, if Celestia had forgotten that the book held this particular spell we are about to see or it was part of some "grand plan" that the good witch was concocting we simply don't know. However, the book Twilight had taken as a reward from Celestia held a "Door Spell". It was a spell designed long ago to summon creatures from other worlds. Well, creatures and objects to be specific, but that little translation quirk is actually the reason why we are in this predicament.
To begin Twilight first used a viewing spell*. She wanted to have some kind of a focused summon rather than a simple chanced summon. After all, who would want a giant mawed Xenomorph or a Weeping Angel coming after them for no reason? What she found in one particular world was terrifying. She saw a planet called earth with inhabitants that looked like hairless monkeys. Well, mostly hairless, but hairless by comparison.
She saw their massive towers of steel and iron, their chariots that didn't require something to pull them, she even saw the indoor plumbing. Just by seeing these things she could tell this was a highly advanced and intelligent species. But the more she looked the more disgusted and terrified she became. What she couldn't believe was that such an intelligent race would leave their planet in such as state. Even go as far as to kill others over silly and unintelligible things called "gods". It was revolting. She knew she didn't want to summon any of these creatures, so she settled for trying to summon an object. She allowed the spell to simply "float" for a bit trying to find something to summon. In a small restaurant in a no name town she saw someone on the ground in the arms of what she would assume was a parent and there was blood. A lot of blood. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; she was witnessing someone's death. It struck her with a morbid sense of intrigue for a moment before she shook it off and continued. Thinking quickly she knew exactly what she wanted to drag into this world: she was going to drag whatever was causing him harm and hopefully help him heal.
Disengaging from her view of Earth she rapidly began to draw runes on her library floor. She had sent Spike out to Canterlot on errand for something or other. In all honesty she was so focused on her work that she completely forgot exactly what it was she wanted. She didn't have the time to think about it right now, she was on a mission.
Once she had finished with the runes she began to picture the person in her mind and lit her horn. Her magic flowed through the room pulling directly from her, siphoning magic from her in order to make the spell work. It was an old spell and powerful and our young pony both underestimated its power requirement and her own abilities…sort of. You see, she had a great deal of power at her disposal, but she simply did not have the knowledge or experience to fully draw upon it and control it. So when she began to feel the raw power drained from her body she fought back. As any ranking mage will tell you; this is a horrible idea. It is quite the same as attempting to lift a heavy object or run farther and faster than you have ever before, without ever training up to that point. You are drained, weak, sore, and can quite frankly die from the sheer amount of strain it puts on the body. Not to mention exactly what can happen to one's magic. Twilight did not care about any of this; only getting away from this vacuum that she felt was trying to suck her whole body out through her horn. Before her pain became enough to cause her a loss of conscious a bright flash and shockwave flung her back into the wall, sending books crashing down onto her.
She was knocked unconscious for over an hour before she was alerted to movement in her library. She forced herself out from under the pile of books and attempted to readjust her vision. Her body hurt all over and she was having trouble thinking clearly. However, once her vision was clear, she wished she hadn't. She thought she had done something wrong when she felt so much power being drawn from her; but the proof of the act was far more terrifying. There, on the floor, was the very human who had been dying. She had drawn a…creature from that world into her own. She had taken something from a world of horror and death and brought it onto Equestria.
Under more normal circumstances she might have fought it, taken time to imprison it so Celestia could examine it, or even gone so far as to try and reverse the spell. But she was hurt and her mind wasn't fully functional so she did the only thing she could think of: she screamed as loud as her lungs would allow.
"AHHHHHHH!" she cried, "HELP! SOMEPONY HELP ME!"
There was no response. It was too late at night and the tree house was far too from another house to overcome that barrier. And unfortunately, whatever spell she had used had healed Jarrad from the bullet wound. He was formerly unconscious and now was being awoken by a very loud scream.
Jarrad jerked awake to see what was going on. He couldn't immediately make out exactly what was happening but he could see someone screaming. They didn't look human and that was all he needed. He was also operating on instinct alone and, given the fact he had just been shot in his world, his mind wasn't able to comprehend the "fight" part of the response. His will to "flight" took over. He bolted for the door and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of his mind, he realized a few very important things. He was taller by about 5 inches, had far more defined muscle and less fat, could run further without any kind of hindrance, and was even able to see better than when he had his glasses on. Hell, he could feel everything better, even his own body. However, that wasn't occurring in the conscious mind, it was only a matter of running as far and as fast as possible. Before he knew it he had run straight into Everfree Forest. Given that fact that he had awoken naked and didn't have any form of footwear his running directly into a forest without stopping to see what he was stepping on is quite an amazing thing, wouldn't you say? Of course, with all that adrenaline flowing through a new body it's only a matter of time until one does something stupid or completely runs out of gas.
Fortune decided to shine on him for once; he only ran out of gas. Gasping and weezing at least a good five miles from Ponyville Jarrad fell to his knees. He felt like he couldn't breathe. His whole body hurt and he just realized he had about three or four mild to serious cuts all over him, even a large one on his foot. His whole body felt foreign, almost like he was merely watching himself do these things from another perspective. It didn't take long before it all caught up with him and he began to fall to the ground. Before he passed out, however, he saw a cloaked figure walk tentatively towards him. He tried to fight to stay awake, but his mind was in shambles. The cloaked figure reached him a moment later. Taking a moment to examine him this figure made a noise of satisfaction in some unknown language and nodded its head. It hoisted Jarrad onto its back and moved it into a small shack inside a tree in the Everfree Forest.
This hut was covered in old African looking masks and other trinkets from a far off place. The figure moved with the body into the hut and deposited him on a bed before removing her cloak. It was a mohawked zebra wearing dangling earrings: Zecora. Zecora moved through the hut with purpose. She examined Jarrad for his injuries; adding salve and bandages to help the healing process. She began boiling a concoction to assist in his apparent fatigue as well as assisting his wounds on a more internal level, speeding the healing process. During her examination she came across a tattoo on his left shoulder. It struck her just exactly who this person was and why he was here. She knew this human was important, that he had to get back on his feet and in fighting condition. Even though the situation seemed dire she couldn't help but feel a sense of glee overtake her. He was finally here, and she had been waiting for his arrival for a very long time.
A few days had passed on Jarrad had yet to wake up. The whole ordeal had exhausted his body and his mind; leaving him in need of serious rest. After all, would not dying and bring forced back to life have that affect on anyone? Finally, on the third day, he began to rouse. He moved a bit as consciousness was returned to him. His mind woke first with a very odd thought.
'Why the hell do I feel like I'm on a bed?' it asked. This wasn't right, he should be dead. 'Wait…wasn't I just in a forest?' it was all confusing for him. He remembered the weird creatures and running into a forest, but if felt like a far off dream, still on the fringes of his mind.
Realizing his possible situation his eyes shot open. He took in the room in an instant and did not know what to think. It looked exactly like Zecora's hut from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Wait, that couldn't be right. His mind raced. On the one hand this could really be the great beyond and all of the fights that people had over what was after death were so utterly wrong. But the fact that it was My Little Pony, well, that was the most hilarious thing he could have thought of. The ultimate "fuck you" of the universe. Or it could be that this was heaven simply by his own design; but if that were the case why would it be My Little Pony?
"Was I really that much of a Brony?" he asked. He loved the show, he really did, it was awesome. But…did he really love it so much that heaven was literally forming into My Little Pony? If so then there was some stuff he really needed to worry about. However, realization hit him: he was dead. He was shot by some drugged up crack head and this didn't make any sense. Even though the idea had some level of plausibility…it was too random. Would the universe REALLY make the afterlife like one of his favorite cartoons, "Why the fuck would the universe make death look like a kids cartoon?"
"While I may not be this cartoon, seeing you up and well is certainly a boon." Said a distinctly feminine voice to his right. Jarrad's head swiveled over and saw someone standing in the door to the hut. His mind shut off for a moment in sheer shock. This really wasn't possible. Maybe it was all a dream and he was really alive. Yes, that had to be it, there was no way this could be real. He survived and this was all just some kind of wild nightmare. He was laying in a hospital bed after some extensive surgery? That had to be it, right?
"Zecora? What the fuck?" Jarrad asked. He figured he might as well go along with it for now.
She nodded, "Might I ask how you know of me?".
"….you're a fucking cartoon." Stated Jarrad, as if it should be obvious. I mean, this was his mind, why wouldn't they be aware of it?
" As I have made clear, I am of this "cartoon" you seem to hold dear." Answered Zecora.
"Alright, then can you answer exactly where I am?" asked Jarrad
"You are in the Everfree-"
" I know where I am on this world…but this world can't be real. Hell, I shouldn't even be here I should be-" before he could finish he was hit with a large amount of pain. It was intense and radiating from his right leg. He looked down to see it as well as a few other spots on him bandaged. It struck him instantly: he felt pain far too intense to be dreaming. It was different than phantom dream pain he sometimes got. This was the same pain he felt when he was awake, or aware of being awake, whatever ontological argument one might want to use. He finally realized: this was real…or at least as real as his own world. That scared him.
He stared at Zecora with fear in his eyes, a wild look of an injured animal before sliding back as if attempting to escape her. He hit the wall and tried to slide back even further. When he realized he could he attempted to get up and run before two hooves were placed onto his chest and he was thrown back on the bed. Before he could protest he felt a prick on his arm, then the world went apathetic. It reminded him of a drug he had taken during an out patient procedure years ago. It made him feel like nothing mattered. Even if a t-rex had jumped into the room and eaten his leg he wouldn't have cared.
"I'm sorry, but you need calm. Since you had to fight I had to use a special balm. Now, tell me everything, please?" she asked. He stared in her eyes for a moment and suddenly felt content. He couldn't describe it, but he suddenly felt safe with Zecora; whether this was good or bad remained to be seen.
Taking a few moments to catch his breath he tried to recall all he could. It wasn't a blur but remembering everything hurt; or at least he thought it would hurt if she didn't pump him full of something.
"How much do you know about planet earth? About the religions, cultures, and continents?" he asked.
Zecora stared at him for a moment before dropping her head and walking toward the door. She shut it was well as the windows sluggishly, dreading on letting this person know some of her darkest secrets.
"Of this planet earth I know, because the seeds of vision have been sown. As you can tell by my precense, I am one of a different essence. Not simply because I am a Zebra. But because I serve the great mother." She spoke.
"Who, Gaia?" Jarrad said somewhat jokingly. The look on Zecora's face told him it wasn't a joke at all.
"Your humor is misplaced, even if you have hit it on the face. Gaia, the great mother, is the spirit of the land we are over. She is the planet itself, and she is in dire need of help. She has shown me visions of different planets and their people connected by the source, the multi-verse, all for the one who would arrive here first." She explained.
"Wait…so it was expected that I would come here?" he asked.
"No, not you specifically. Look at the mark on your shoulder." She pointed out.
Jarrad took down the blanket to look at himself only to find an intricate tattoo had been draped across his left shoulder. At the time it only covered his shoulder but somehow, to him, it felt almost..alive.
'It feels like that tattoo thing…the brand, that's it. It feels like that growing brand thing from Final Fantasy 13.' He thought.
"That tattoo marks you as a very important part of Gaia." Said Zecora.
"Wait…what?" asked Jarrad dumbly, his mind began to race with possible scenarios, "What do you mean I'm 'part of Gaia'? Am I a servant like you?"
"No, you are far more important than a servant like me. Rare is there one who is as powerful and important as the. You are a Nexus*." She clarified. By this point Zecora had taken to sitting on the bed across from him, or as much sitting as an equine could do. Jarrad couldn't help but stare at her; her eyes held a somewhat mystic hold. Suddenly he remember Pinkie's song…and it made him laugh.
"Might I ask what you find so amusing, surely you can see it's my story you're abusing." Spoke Zecora, slightly offended.
Reaching a deep note, as deep as he could go, he began Fluttershy's version "She's an evil enchantress and she does evil dances. And if you look deep in her eyes she will put you in trances. And what will she do, she'll whip up an evil brew, and gobble you up in a big tasty stew, sooooooo watch out." Waving jazz hands at the end.
Zecora was struck dumb for a moment. She wanted to smack him for making light of the situation but another part of her found it amusing this person knew about Pinkie Pie's song. It was somewhat refreshing and helped bring a bit of humor on a serious moment.
"Sorry, sorry. I got caught in your stare for a second and I thought of the song." He apologized, Zecora looked like she was blushing for a moment, "Anyway, when you say "Nexus", you mean like a bunch of things coming together? A bunch of lines or something?"
Bringing herself back to the moment Zecora nodded, "You are the center of magic on Gaia."
"Wait…run that by me again. What do you mean I'm the center of magic on Gaia? Like all magic flows through me or something?" he asked.
Zecora nodded. "The shortest answers is yes, but I fear a much more in depth explanation is best. However before I begin to tell you of this, can you tell me what your story is?"
Jarrad was confused for a moment, "You mean, my life story or something?"
Receiving a nod in response he began his own tale. It was a little uncomfortable, but given the drug still working in his system he didn't feel the need to shun her request.
He told her of his family. He began with his mother and sister, detailing his problems with them. How his mother was a neurotic mess who, while she tried her best to take care of him, never seemed to have hear head in the right place. She was both a drinker and a smoker. Not so much that she needed help or harmed them in any way, not at all. But it make talking to her a pain. That and it always seemed to bring out this…cross that she carried around with her everywhere she went. He spoke in great detail on this, almost venting out years of frustration.
He spoke of how his sister was not much more than a lazy ingrate and a slob who didn't seem to have the ability to clean up after her own messes. She just didn't get the world and didn't get herself. It caused him pain to see her as such and for years he had tried to help; but nothing worked. He was fighting a losing battle and eventually, he just gave up. He told of how it caused a massive amount of strife with his family, how he tried and failed many times to help, but it wasn't the help they wanted.
He told of how his parent's divorced when he was only a child, of how his father moved farther away and he barely saw any of him. His father, on the other hand, took on a different tone. It was one of longing and…respect. His father was way for a great deal of time after the divorce so every moment he held with the man was precious to him. What he loved the most about his father was that his father never caused him strife. After so many years of dealing with the "drama" put on him by his mother and his sister spending time with his father was a safe haven of sorts. He didn't have to worry about any of the same stupid and inconsequential junk with his dad that he did with the rest of his family. With his dad he was always able to remember, nothing really matters.
However, his voice changed as he went on to describe in great detail some of the harder times he had with his father, the times that weren't filled with a kind of inner peace. Before he was able to really reconnect with his father a woman came into their lives: his step-mother. This woman had some serious problems and would never put in enough effort to fix them. For years Jarrad grew up thinking he was…wrong. He was never really cared for by this woman, never really shown love and affection; he was only badgered and belittled for things that should have been easy to fix. She may have been thinking she was helping him in some way, but her method was far more hurtful than it should have been. If he was acting weird or having a problem she would simply tell him to "man-up", to quit being stupid, things like that. Rather than sitting down and talking to him she simply attempted to almost force him to be different. It built some horrible habits in him that he still tried to work with and come to terms with.
He had even told Zecora of contemplating suicide a number of times for various reasons. Of course, each reason all was from the same idea: he was tired. He was only about 22 years old and he was completely tired of all the bullshit that he had to put up with. To him it started with is college years studying Philosophy. It had given him a perspective, both on an internal level and external. He began to see the world in a different way than he did years before. And quite frankly; it was exhausting.
It was exhausting and he just didn't want to deal with it anymore. Normally he would simply walk away from situations that gave him stress like that, but the only way to walk away from that situation was to kill himself. He never did it obviously, and he never did anything self-destructive, but damn did he want to sometimes. Every time he wanted to a thought struck the back of his mind: he wasn't thinking clearly. He suffered from depression, possibly as a side-effect of him being neurotic himself, he didn't know and had never been to a shrink to get it "diagnosed". To him he could tell, depending on the severity of the feeling of depression that he wasn't thinking clearly. In the logical part of his mind he knew that there wasn't any reason to kill himself and if he thought otherwise he rationalized it by saying that was simply the way his mind was working at the moment. He thought of it as processing information in such a way that the outcomes were not really his own but a by-product of his disease.
Of course in retrospect getting a psychiatrist to talk to would probably not have done much for him. All a psych is good for is subscribing meds…well, that's a generalization, but you get the point. They give you a pill that's supposed to make everything better, and it might help, but there are other steps that need to be taken. He saw what can happen with that first hand with his now ex-stepmother. Meds only work to change the physical mind and help the process but it's up to the person to actually make the changes within themselves on a mental and spiritual level.
He told her about himself and his own problems. How it was almost a constant struggle every day for him. They weren't major issues and he was mentally stable, comparative a great many people, but he was still ill in some sense. It was always a fight for him to constantly remain aware of himself and his feelings so he could avoid doing something he would regret or ending up in the looney bin somewhere. It was aggravating to see the same thing happen for anyone and everyone he cared about. They all had been so wrapped up in their own bullshit that they never bothered to get their priorities straightened out; and it sickened him. Once again, this was the main reason he wanted to commit suicide. He had gotten so tired of dealing with the same problems day in and day out without any sort of respite…and it drove him crazy. He couldn't stand it and didn't want to deal with it anymore.
By and large finally being able to die was, at the moment in his mind, a blessing to him. He was able to protect his family and wouldn't have to deal with the garbage anymore.
"I mean, what more could I have asked for?" he grew sad, "Now I find that I'm stuck alive once more because some random pony decided to bring me out from my world. Hell, I don't even know how it's possible she didn't drag a fucking body instead of a live person? Do you?"
"Yes, I do. When a Nexus is summoned the magic of Gaia is linked to them, it would not do to have them meet their end." spoke Zecora
"So, basically, I was healed when I was brought here? Or was I given a new body? 'Cause I'm just now seeing you and I don't have my glasses. Hell, I look at my arms and see muscles not there before….I don't even have those damn love-handles from before? 'The hell happened?" asked Jarrad further.
"From what I can guess, it would seem a new body answers best. Gaia knew a new Nexus was summoned by the spell, knew that this person was felled. So she made a new body for them, all that was left was for consciousness to be hemmed." Answered Zecora.
"So…my old body is now back in my world having whatever the hell happening, and my consciousness is now moved to this new body which is laying on this bed?" he began, "Jesus Christ, if I didn't feel every little thing right now I would think I was dreaming. Or at least if I'm dreaming now then I was dreaming the same type of dream I was before. Of course, we're all dreaming in some way, but still this feels too damn real to be a dream."
Zecora gave him a look.
"Sorry, didn't mean to go off like that. The point I'm trying to make is that this feels real, as real as my old world did to me at one point, so if we're all dreaming then I'm having the same type of dream, or this is real. Either way, this place feels just as real as the old one did…so that's the only explanation. I've been summoned into the world of My Little Pony. Fan-fucking-tastic…now what?" he sighed.
"That is up to you. You have seemed to have led a very rough life, and I would not blame you if you chose to end it with a knife. However you must understand, if you choose to die then the land will as well by your hand. No matter how much you do not want it to be true, you are linked to the magic of the world so blue. If you do not live from now and on, the world will not live to see another dawn. Magic will fracture and life shall be at an end, even the great Celestia cannot defend." Rhymed the zebra.
"So, basically, if I die then the whole world will eventually die with me? Can you please explain how all this nexus shit works in better detail? Why is my life so important?" asked Jarrad, his body now working its way through the drug, "I mean, give me the whole school lecture on this. What am I now?"
Zecora didn't say anything. She continued to stare at him, but more intently than before. Jarrad found himself getting lost in that gaze. Then the room melted away and there was just Zecora's eyes. IN a flash they were golden and bright; then it all made sense.
One cannot really "explain" what it means to be a Nexus. It's something one simply realizes. It all makes sense and clicks in their heads, as it were, and enlightenment one could say. Jarrad suddenly knew exactly what a Nexus was.
By design, first and foremost, the Nexus was a recurring incarnation. When one Nexus died, was "transferred", or simply passed on their status to another all the knowledge and experience was taken with them. In a way, the Nexus was the same person over and over again, yet a completely different person entirely; taking with them a new piece to add to the overall puzzle. Almost a spirit of the universe unto themselves similar to Gaia and even the Source. The same entity with a multitude of different manifestations.
Of course the main difference was that the current Nexi were not connected to one another, only past Nexi on the same planet. Knowledge could be passed from one to another, but only for that specific Nexus. Because they operated within the same rules as the source, as humans/ponies/physical beings their minds were simply unable to handle such an influx of information. This is why the knowledge of the Nexus cannot be explained, it must be lived. The more the Nexus lived and meditated upon the knowledge, the more he/she experimented, the more knowledge opened to them. They could literally "know" magic. By and large it would become an extension of themselves. This is why the Nexi were so important to each planet.
From time to time the natural magic of the planet sort of…loses focus. It is a living being with living habits and the more it "lives" the more it has to pay attention. Like any living consciousness, even semi-conscious, it can only go so long before it starts to get lazy. Now this isn't that kind of lazy where someone, or somepony, sits down and eats or doesn't exercise. This is more of a lack of magic. Things that were possible before become increasingly difficult to the point of impossibility. So, as mages of old could do, summoning fire from their mouths and hooves, controlling water and waves, moving earth, flying without wings, even launching attacks of sheer spiritual energy and magic became things of the past.
Now magic, like the universe, takes a long time to start showing side-effects. It's an old and powerful thing beyond normal comprehension, so it works at a very slow pace. It took time, tens of thousands of years, but eventually magic began to wear down. However there was still some hope left. Nexi themselves are not always necessity because sometimes magic got a kick in the pants or realized it was getting lazy and went in the right direction. The opposite can happen as well. And a thousand years ago, when the Goddesses of the Moon and Sun dueled it did. When Celestia imprisoned Luna in the moon for a thousand years she effectively cut off half the potential magic in the world, a Yang without Yin. Because of this magic deteriorated at an exponential rate, falling further than ever before. Even with Luna back she was not at full power for some reason or another. She wasn't ready to take up her former mantle. But, even then, the damage had been done. Magic was falling far and fast. And when it was gone it would be disastrous.
Here a Nexus is the most important person on the whole of the planet. Like meditation when magic has a focal point of some sort then it can begin to rebuild itself to former glory. With the Nexus here and able to pass onto the next generation without breaking the cycle magic could begin its rise back to its former power and glory. Here Jarrad knew one simple fact: he could not be allowed to die.
This all hit Jarrad in one moment. He knew Nexi, knew Gaia, he even knew magic. Over the coming years he knew he and magic would become closer and closer. In a way, the more he trained and the further he progressed, the better others would become. Quite literally, the whole of magic on Gaia was tied to him. If he did nothing magic would stay the same, if he died magic would fade and eventually so would Gaia. Magic kept everything alive, it was the energy that ran through all living things. But, if he trained, if he became a fully realized Nexi…the possibilities were limitless.
Of course when Jarrad finally understood the weight of his importance he did something unexpected. He laughed.
He chuckled at first, mirthlessly, and then began to guffaw. It chilled Zecora to her core. This wasn't a laugh like Pinkie Pie would make; this was one of sadness and despair. In a way it scared her because it was the laugh of a mad man.
"This is fucking hilarious!" shouted Jarrad, "I finally die the way I want to on my own world then I suddenly get dragged here to be this great fucking protector of this one. I'm the most important person on the fucking planet! My god, the powers that be must have a REALLY fucked up sense of humor!"
Zecora did not like that remark on bit. She hooved him, or she would have slapped him if she didn't have hooves. Jarrad reeled for a moment, unbelieving that he had been struck.
"I don't not know why you behave as such, but insult the Source once more and I will grind you into mush." She seethed, she wasn't about to allow this "child" in comparison to insult something so powerful.
"What the fuck do you know bitch?" he answered right back, "I was ready to finally die and be done with it…but fuck no. This "Source" decided that wasn't enough. That I had to be brought to a whole 'nother world and be put up as the most important fucker on the planet. Oh yeah, karma has one fucked up sense of humor. Hell, if he had it his way, I'd probably be immortal. That'd really be him fucking with me."
He had started to laugh again, harder than before. But Zecora noticed after a few moments that this laughter was something else. It wasn't malice or anger she was hearing now, it was just sadness. She could even see tears forming on his eyes. It was then that the laughter became choked sobs pained wracks of his body. In that moment Zecora felt empathy for this creature, this human. He shouldn't have been a Nexus, she thought, he should have been allowed to rest.
She leaned forward as much as she could and drew him into her, trying to bring as much comfort as possible. Surprisingly he didn't attempt to shun her, just accepted that she was there. Eventually his sobs become weaker and weaker, until she could only hear light and even breathing. He had worn himself back out with his sobs. She knew that this position would be uncomfortable to sleep in, so she laid herself down on the mattress and brought him with her. Keeping her forehooves around his shoulders she positioned him for comfortably and rested her head on top of his.
"I hope that your dreams are far more pleasant." She spoke softly. She knew this person; no, that Jarrad, had a long and heavy road ahead of him. But she knew that she would be there every step of the way to make sure he made it. In some ways she owed him that much. But she couldn't help but feel a connection to him. He was still, even as old as he was, a child.
A/N: Alright, so this is just a rough draft of a story I'm working on. If I get people talking about it on here then I'll start making a new edited chapter to put up…and it may change how the story progresses. So please, while reviewing, keep this in mind. Thanks guys. OmniaetNihlae.
8/8/11-Before you guys do the reviews I want to give everyone a heads up. I know that there are no quotation marks and lot of punctuation is missing. Something about FFN has messed up in the uploading. If anyone knows how to deal with this please let me know. I don't mind being told, but I don't want people to think it's something I missed in writing the story.
8/9/11-Okay, hopefull there are quotations now. I went back and did some editing with the uploaded document. If anyone knows how to avoid this in the future please let me know.
8/12/11-I've updated everything for the most part and added some more meat on here. Let me know how it's going and, well, let me know if you think it's ready to move onto the next chapter. Also, I just realized, I find myself in need of a beta. If you have any experience please let me know.
*-The idea of the viewing spell and the summoning I got from Drax99 who wrote the wonderful story "Angst Much?". I want to give him credit here and say if you haven't read it yet...go read it NOW! ;p
*-The actual concept of the Nexus was developed starting from "The Guardian of Equestria" by David-ism. Again another awesome story you guys should go read.