-WARNING-

the following chapter contains minor graphic content of sexual nature. if you do not wish to see such things immediately pull a large black plastic bag over your head... if not continue.

-You Have Been Warned-

soon the darkness that had comfortably surrounded me subsided to reveal the great plains of purgatory. i looked around and it was a very familiar sight, though i could tell i wasn't in the same place as last time when i died. the scenery was a bit different. i looked around and hoped that by some odd chance as before i would find martukus to keep me company, but no luck. as i looked around it wasn't too long before i saw the mirror behind me. i looked into it and saw my friends circled around my body.

soon though my body started to glow brightly until it was merely a single bright light. so bright, in fact, that my friends had to cover their eyes and look off so they don't hurt their eyes. my corpse glowed brightly and soon it broke apart into little particles of light that were swept away in the wind and carried off to the sky. and soon my body was gone, just a large blood stain inside of a crater. they looked back and watched the light pieces fly away in the wind and they all smiled. it made me smile to knowing they have such high hopes for me. they soon started talking about something and left. i wish i could hear sound through this thing so i knew what they were saying. but since twilight has my crown i seemed to follow her.

"back again huh..." said a familiar voice which caused my ears to perk up. "that was fast... though it was an unfair fight." i turned to see martukus standing there with his arms crossed and he was smiling. his smile spread to me and i smiled as well. i noticed that he was almost completely covered in the light symbols on his body, meaning he would revive soon.

"thank god you're here... i would have gotten bored out of my mind." i said smiling.

"well unfortunately for you i won't be here for much longer." he said turning around and showing off his markings. "i've maybe got another few hours before i revive... but you might be here for a while."

"great... that'll be fun." i said groaning in frustration and drawing my eyes away. i let out a sigh and slowly relaxed. "well... i can't argue... at least i'm not dead."

"who knows... you are a god after all." said martukus. " you might find a way out of here for a while and go back sooner... it has been done before."

"you mean there's another way out?" i asked perking up in excitement at this news.

"i once knew a demi-god who wasn't confined to the planes of purgatory after death... he was able to walk out into the real world through his mirror and walk around as a spirit... he interacted with the other spirits trapped in the real world and when he was ready his new body came to him... it was rather convenient... i myself haven't been able to do it... but you might." he said smiling.

"you really think so huh..." i said looking over to my mirror. "so what are you going to do when you are revived." i asked.

"i'm going to finish what i started... then i'll do you a favor and watch over you're friends while you're gone." he said. i smiled at him.

"that would mean a lot to me, thank you." i said. before he could respond he started glowing brightly and viciously.

"looks like i'm going sooner than i thought..." he said as he became a solid beacon of glowing light now. "i'll see you-" was all he could say before there was a large blast and in an explosion of light he was gone from the realm of purgatory, leaving me here by myself. i just let out another deep sigh and looked back at my mirror.

"great..." i said to myself looking at the mirror. "he said something about getting through you..." i said to the mirror looking as my friends walked into town and headed for the train station. i could see they were talking but i couldn't hear them. so i guess while i'm here that should be my goal... trying to get out and into the world of the living... as a ghost, i guess. i'm not sure how to do this... but i'm sure i can figure something out. after all, i've got all the time in the world now to figure this out. and the marks on my body just recently showed up, as i've noticed.

a faint glow emanated from my chest and the same cross stitched itself across my upper abdomen towards my neck. unlike before where i could see the lines slowly creeping across my body inch by inch i couldn't see anything moving now. i just looked at the marks and sighed. i turned my attention to the world around me, the world of purgatory. i could see souls off in the distance walking around without purpose, some with blank faces, some were crying, and others were... well they looked like being alone in this place has made them turn crazy.

i hope i don't end up like them and go crazy from loneliness. i hope i can control my depression like celestia has learned to... i wish she was here right now. i wish i didn't even have to go on this fucking quest in the first place. i wish the world would just leave me alone for a while... just let me relax and be with my family. but i guess that is too much to ask for... because now i'm dead. this is the second time in a week that i've died... seriously. i don't just wish, but sometimes i wonder. sometimes i wonder what my life would be like if i chose a different path. what if i never became a marine, or if i never walked through the dream arch... or if i never even bought that cursed guitar from that vendor one day... if i had to choose a turning point of my life... it would be that. all of this is just more power... nothing has really changed.

thoughts kept running through my head rapidly but i made them stop with a few deep breaths as i clamored for concentration. and soon i found my peace of mind, for now. i looked at the mirror in front of me and concentrated. i backed up a few feet and the mirror seemed to stay put. i licked my lips in certainty as i could almost taste the fresh air. i started running. i quickly dashed over to the small oval shaped floating mirror and leaped up into the air diving right at it. i flew over and hit the mirror like an iron wall and broke my face on impact. i fell to the ground and clutched my face in pain as the mirror floated there mocking my crude attempt with it's silence and stillness.

"oh god dammit... how does that happen... i'm dead." i said wondering how i can feel pain and even break my face like that. "damn that hurt." i said writhing on the ground.

"it was a noble attempt." said a strange but oddly alluring male voice from behind me. i let my head lay back and i looked back at the upside down figure standing behind me. the being behind me was a large male human with red, orange and yellow robes and a fire staff. he also had fire like hair that flickered and sparked like fire itself. i know this person... this is the fire god. what the hell is he doing here.

"fire?..." i said not knowing his real name. "what are you doing here."

"first of all my name is pyrius." he said as i rolled over on my stomach to get an upright look at him. "and i'm here because me and water had another fight again... that smug bitch." he said in a conceding tone, as if water herself could hear him. i stood up and dusted myself off.

"so she kicked your ass." i said.

"not entirely..." he said talking with more pride in his tone of voice. "she's in here somewhere too." he said looking around as if he expected to see her. "anyway... i know what you were trying to do... escape to the realm of the living."

"do you know how?" i asked excitedly as i could maybe get some professional help.

"this is weird for me seeing as how you're easily a greater being than me... but you are new to this stuff after all... i can show you... and i'm sure this stuff will seep into you're head after a year or so..." he said. i smiled and my ears perked up in excitement.

"great... so how do i get out?" i asked.

" not sure why you would want to get out... not very different... but just look through the mirror and teleport to whatever is still binding you to the living world... shouldn't be too hard if you're as powerful as i would hope you are." i was thoroughly disappointed with the simplicity of this task.

"thats it... no catch or twist or something." i said looking at him.

"well if you don't stay completely concentrated you're soul will fragment and you'll lose a lot of you're memories between the two worlds... and while you're a ghost you can't use you're abilities as strongly as you can if at all, lets see. nobody can hear, see, or feel you... you're basically going to be a ghost haunting you're friends... you might be able to conjure up some kind of subtle influence here and there... but not much."

"alright... that sounds more challenging... i think i can do this." i said.

"alright then... glad i could help." he said. "now i gotta go find water and apologize to her before she decides to drown my whole kingdom when she's revived." he looked off into the distance for a second then back at me. "well bye." he said quickly before vanishing in a cylinder of flames and fire. he was gone now... and i was alone again. easy come easy go... one of the chapters of the book that is my fucking life. i let out another deep sigh. i turned over to the mirror and looked at it. i looked closely at my friends who were now on the train. it was night already, that was fast. i'm almost certain that time speeds up when i'm looking away from this mirror.

"alright crimson... concentrate... you can do this... don't fuck this up..." i said to myself. "you remember what happened last time you lost you're memory." i said causing memories to flash back into my head. the memories made me shiver but i pushed them away and concentrated on the train cart. the lights in the train cart were still on and a few of my friends were sitting at a table playing a game of cards. more specifically twilight, derek, nightflame, and ezekiel were playing cards. applejack was off in the corner packing up my gear, which i left behind. strangely black hoof and mystee were not in the cart. they must be getting food or something. i didn't let it bother me and concentrated.

i focused on the cart and i could feel energy welling up inside me. as i closed my eyes and concentrated i could feel a faint breeze and energy surround me. i started to sort of like glitch out, phasing rapidly in and out of the two worlds. i was aware of both worlds now. the lights in the train started to flicker and spark causing my friends to look over to them in curiosity, but they quickly ignored them. the mirror in purgatory began to crack, and carck, and soon enough... it shattered. it broke and i escaped from the plains of purgatory and soon i was on the train. the energy of me arriving there was enough to cause the lights to break overhead and the cart went black with darkness.

"what the hey..." said applejack. "what was that?"

"i don't know... electrical shortage or something." said derek. "here i can fix it." he said making his horn glow. the pieces of glass and plastic from the lights flew back up to the ceiling and fused back together. the wires recoiled around themselves and the lights flickered back to life. the room filled with light and i could see clearly now. i looked at my friends and they seemed to stare right at me. thinking that they could see me made me smile.

"much better." said applejack who was right behind me. they were staring at her and not me. they moved their attention from her and everypony looked away like i wasn't in the room... well technically i wasn't. i looked over to the table of friends playing cards and walked over and stood behind derek. two kings, a seven, an ace, and a jack... he never was good at cards. i walked over and stood behind twilight who was holding a royal flush... now how does that happen. i went to go rest my arm on derek's shoulder as a joke but i just seemed to pass right through him and i almost fell over. i looked at my hoof and back at him. now that i think of it... i could have some fun with this. i lifted my hoof up and took a swing at dereks head and my hoof just passed right through. this was going to be more fun than i though... and it was.

"FATALITY!" i yelled as i shoved my arm through nightflame's chest and pretended to rip his heart out and hold it in my hoof. i couldn't help but fall to the ground laughing. i spent the last hour or so fucking around while my friends played their card game. after a while applejack joined in too and started playing, but there was still no sign of black hoof and mystee. i crawled up off the floor and wiped a small laughter induced tear from my ey, at least this is more fun. getting curious now i decided to look around and find those two.

i walked away from the cart and decided to check the front of the train. i walked around and just passed through doors and ponies alike without anypony knowing i'm here. this ghost stuff is the shit... i'm definitely doing this every time i die. i smiled as i thought to myself and trotted down the train looking left and right for mystee and blackhoof. and eventually i got to the caboose of the train... well i guess they're in the back of the train. so i turned around and started trotting back. i walked through doors and ponies until i reached the cart with my friends in it. they were considerably far from the head of the train... at least six or seven carts away from the engine.

when i got back to the cart they were all done with the game and packing up the cards and winnings. they all crawled around to their own beds. the same kind of formation as the last time. though there was an air of emptiness which only my body could fill in the bed across from twilight. though mystee and black hoof were gone., they weren't far... i was long gone. or at least that's what they think... i am right here after all. i looked at twilight as she stared off at the empty bed across from her.

"i know this sounds silly... but i already miss him." she said. that made me smile.

"he did always have a comforting feeling around him." said applejack from a different bed.

"he freaking died for us..." said derek. "he's always been there for us and now we have to be strong for him... besides, we all know as well as he does that he'll be back."

"yeah... he's a tough bastard..." said nightflame. "we can be tough too... at least for him." they all smiled and twilight used her magic to turn off the lights in the cart. it was dark now. i couldn't help but stand there and wonder how i could have such great friends. i kept smiling and soon enough i let my curiosity get hold of me again and began to look for mystee and black hoof. i walked over to the back door and walked through them into the next cart. i walked in and it was just an empty bedroom cart just as dark as it was outside. i looked down and i could see light shining through the window to the next bedroom cart. it was faint but there was a small glow coming from the window of the door.

i slowly walked over and as i grew closer i could see there was something blocking the light from shining through the second door. somepony had hung something over it from the other cart. i walked closer and closer and i could see it was some kind of sheet hanging over the door. i walked through the first door and stopped at the bridge between the two carts. before i walked in i listened first. i could hear sighs, and grunts. i slowly walked in and as my head phased past the door i saw exactly what i though i would.

the room was a suite with a large bed at the back and nothing else around. in the bed... mystee and black hoof. mystee laid on her back with her legs spread wide open and black hoof towered above her with his hips between hers. they were deeply kissing each other while black hoof penetrated mystee over and over again with his large cock. i felt sick... but strangely attracted to it. i didn't know they were a couple. i don't think they talk about it, they don't even show it in public. maybe this is a secret affair or something? i couldn't help but keep watching as the two of them went at it. i felt disgusted with myself. it reminded me of the time when me and mystee, well... i hope black hoof treats her better than i did.

i slowly turned away and let them be, even though they were always alone, technically i wasn't there, but i know. i just walked down the empty room and back into the room my friends were in. i walked over and i floated up to the top of the cart. i was going to go and lay in what should have been my bed when i looked over at twilight. she laid there in her bed with the covers half thrown over her. the covers on this train seemed thinner than paper. i could see she was shaking in her sleep. i floated over and with plenty of energy i managed to actually grab hold of the covers around twilight and pull them up to her. i looked at what i had done and i smiled. i guess i have a bigger influence than i though. i even flew over and grabbed my own blankets off my bed and pulled them over and covered twilight in them. i know i don't need them.

she seemed to snuggle up with the blankets and smile in her sleep. i smiled back at her and flew over to my empty bed. i slowly floated down and rested on the bed. its wasn't comfortable... i couldn't really feel anything. but it felt good to lay down. i don't even need to sleep, i'm dead. in fact i'm finding it hard to sleep. i just laid there and thought for a while but after a few hours i eventually drifted off into a sleep like state. i hope that with me out of the way trouble won't go looking for twilight and the others. in fact i'm sure that since i'm not there to attract attention twilight and the others are safer now.

lets hope that my theories are correct...

-Authors Note: hey guys i'm posting this chapter early today because i'm finally going out to buy a new computer with my victory money. so i'll be gone for a while doing that and it'll probably take even longer transferring all my old data and downloads onto the new one so i'll be busy with that after i'm done actually setting it up. so yeah... hope you guys liked this chapter, i thought it was rather neat and stay tuned for the next installment of the story. until next time guys. stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-