Scarcely a day had passed since I last sat on that small dirty bed, and already I found myself wishing for the very chains and bars which had bound me this past year. Those same bars which I had longed to be freed from, I wished before me now; for this freedom, which I had desired so greatly, now seemed to drown me. I was not fit for this world. When I was young, in my ignorance, I thought I might have had a chance. But time, in its wisdom, revealed all. "I'm a failure, no use to society", I thought to myself. Perhaps to organize my thoughts better, as if that was of any help. I knew all too well the truth of that statement. This is the time men are at their best. No, not in the immature so-called "golden years" everyone speaks of. Its now, a few years later, still strong but with considerable more sense, having been exposed to the teeth and claws of the real world. But this did not describe me at all. My body was weak, from a year of mere sitting; crying alone in my cell. I knew not the world, seeing as I was rarely sober enough to experience it. Before my arrest, I had been unemployed more often than otherwise. When I did have a job though, it was the same old boring type of work designed for high school drop outs like me; simple and repetitive manual labor of some form. Crime had been necessary to get by. As a bonus, it provided a thrill of a certain type. Before that period of my life, which had sent me off the right path for good, I had barely been human. I did not deserve life, I felt, nor did I really want it. Is there any point to life when one wakes to beg without success, whether for money, a place to stay, or a job, then sleep again only to wake and repeat the cursed process once more? Walking along the many bridges in my area, without aim, lost in every way possible, I had often considered ending it all by hurling myself over and diving through the rocks or river below, returning at last to that sweet unknown kingdom from whence we all came. Crime had given meaning to my life. It was fun. But in a way, it was starting to become skill, something I grew more adept at through practice. And that was all that was needed for it to become addicting. Of course, sometimes, my alcoholism and criminal activity clashed. It was in such an instance, after stumbling through a house, finding nothing worth taking and doing my best to flee the police while drunk that I was finally caught.

That had all been over a year ago. Now, sitting back in my old home, sipping a cup of tap water (my filter was broken), I pondered my path to this moment. In certain ways, it almost felt a blessing. My original thoughts were that a year of my life had gone to waste. But before long, I realized that EVERY year of my life had gone to waste, and that I had almost certainly been more comfortable in that jail cell, with a roof over my head this past year than I would have been if I had been "free". One of the first footholds in adult life is a job. And a lack of such a thing had been the root of my downfall. Luckily, upon the end of my sentence, I had been set up to work with a program run by the US Department of Labor. In a few minutes, I would leave to be interviewed. Hopefully, whatever open job they choose would in fact be as suitable as they claimed. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity.

I needed to be at the building precisely at noon. I had an idea of where the place was. I still couldn't drive, but had been assured that the location was close enough to walk to. "Ten minutes before noon?" I asked myself, wondering when I should leave. "Nah, let's be safe and make it fifteen." I didn't want to get off to a bad start by being late to what might end up being the most important meeting in my life. Oh, shoot, it was already a quarter to noon. I set my bowl down, and swiftly walked out the door…

…or rather tried to. "Huh?" I thought to myself. Had all my years of suffering cause the cheese to totally slip off my cracker? Had my brief experiments with LSD use so many years ago damage my mind in ways that were only now becoming apparent? "No," I thought to myself. "My mind is simply having a hard time adjusting to the fact that I'm free. It's not used to me trying to lead an honest life." And with that, I simply attempted to walk by the dark monster before me. The ominous green glow of its horn soon stopped me again, and hesitantly, I retreated. This defied logic, yet I felt too awake and alert to be sleeping. The evil aura of the first creature pervaded the hall, growing stronger with each breath I took. With each moment that passed, the fear within me intensified, until I knew I would not go forward. Ignoring the hideous figure before me, the frightening sight of the two entities behind her added to my horror. One was both an animal and multiple animals simultaneously. No scientist or surgeon, I told myself, no matter how sick, twisted, and skilled, could make something like that. The creature to it's right was one I could identify, a dragon, with eyes fierce enough to fry what remains of my mind were left should I stare too long. I dared not even stand immobile. The evil emanating from the triple spectacle seemed almost physical; like a faint but constant pressure driving me back, hastening my retreat. Never before had I felt fear such as now, rarely again, and much more prepared, would I feel comparable feelings afterwards. But as one foot shifted behind another, I felt a warm, new sensation upon my back, halting me. Startled, I whipped myself around, in part, while keeping the murderous trio before me within eyesight. Beside me, its head barely up to my shoulder, stood a pony. Her mane was a glowing shade of pink, as brilliant as the nighttime sky. Her fur was a paler shade, like a rose, yet still thick and strong. Her warm eyes, red with life, gazed at me reassuringly. As I pondered the magnificent beauty beside me, my mind still dysfunctional from the impossible events of the past minute, my eyes glimpsed a figure upon her flank. Seven stars formed it and upon inspection I saw it was the Big Dipper. Actually, it might have been the Little Dipper for all I knew, or cared. Astronomy was too intellectual of a subject for me to understand. But hey, if you're going to get a tattoo of the one of those two, you might as well make it the Big Dipper right? I don't know. It wasn't a tattoo however. It couldn't be. Wait, I had seen something like this before. I knew I had. As crazy as it sounded to me, somewhere, I recognized that symbol. It was a cutie mark…

A what…?

Yep, all the stress that came with my change of surroundings was causing me to hallucinate about cartoons I had watched as a kid. But the feeling of her soft fur against me once again told me this was real. Hallucinations weren't this vivid. This was not that state of mind. I was too alive, too aware for this to be a mere figment of my imagination. "Galaxy!", I gasped as the name rose forth from the furthest portions of my memory. And then, seeing that I had recognized her at last, she spoke.

"It's been twenty years since I saw you last," she murmured, "what happened?" I couldn't quite comprehend her words at that instant. It was all too much. And what specifically did she mean by her question? The question had been a rhetorical one however, and she proceeded to turn her head forward. In the moment, I had forgotten about the hideous creatures before the door, blocking my exit. Upon remembering then, my heart grew uneasy once more. "These are the sources of your troubles," she explained. "They exist everywhere, in every human, and to an almost infinitely lesser extent, everypony as well. To succeed, you must first master them within yourself. Only then can you proceed to overcome their presence in your surroundings." She gestured toward the first with her head. "You may recognize Chrysalis", she continued, "She rules over the changelings, the demons of deceit and falsity. As a thief, you are greatly under her influence. Hence, she will be the most difficult for you to overthrow." She then gestured to the mishmash behind her. "This is Discord, the lord of chaos. Considering what a mess you have made of your life, he will be quite a battle for you too." Finally, she gestured to the last creature, the dragon. "This is the emperor of greed," she explained, "most thieves are dominated by his influence, however you stole mostly to survive, and thus his control over you is fairly limited. Nevertheless, you must bypass him."

I stood motionless. It was a lot of information to take in. Finally, I asked the obvious question; "And how exactly do I bypass them…?"

"Certainly not directly", she said, turning toward me once again, "We must go a longer route. Hopefully, you'll manage to stay with me. Oh, and along the way, I'll try to knock some sense into you! Should all go well, then by our journey's end you will have learnt enough to get by in this world successfully. Though you may suffer much during our journey, stay strong. Anyhow, grab my mane so we may begin." Taking my eyes off the creatures before me, I obeyed. As I felt my fist close around it, the floor beneath us gave way. A split second later, we were falling into pitch blackness.