A Sparkle In the Dark

by PanzerAsp RD

Chapter One

My room slowly came into vision as I opened my eyes. I sat up in my bed and yawned.
“Another shitty day.” I muttered to myself as I stood up and walked down the hallway of my trailer. I walked into my laundry room, and there were clothes laying around on the floor and anywhere it could be.

I picked up a random shirt and pants and put them on. I sighed as I walked out and headed to my bathroom. I stared in the mirror at myself. I looked scruffy, I had black hair, I hadn't shaved in a week, so my face had grown the beginnings of a beard. I turned from the mirror and walked out of the bathroom.

I walked out of my trailer and started to head toward my job at a construction site. I was new at this job, because I got fired from my last one for fighting with co-workers. I walked down the sidewalk of the street. As I did, I looked around, I saw a house with a man sitting outside on his porch. He stared at me as I walked by him, another house I saw had a torn up chair with a futon cushion laying next to it on the front lawn. It had stains all over it, just another day in my little town of Arleton.

I finally reached the construction site, and as I walked to my place in this whole mess, my boss stopped me.

“You’re late, Matthews.” He said with his eyes scanning me.

“Sorry, boss. Won’t let it happen again.” I said as I looked past him. I saw all the workers at their places, a few of them were staring this way.

“Look, I’m worried about you, kid. You’ve only been working here for two days now, and you’ve been late both days. Not to mention that you looked and smelled like shit yesterday, just like you do today.” He said as I looked back at him. “Tomorrow, I want you to come in looking like the picture of health, with clean clothes on, and a positive attitude, alright?” I stared at his for several moments before I answered. Why does this guy even care?

“Yeah, sure.” I answered him, now looking away from his face and at his boots.

“Alright, kid, now get to work.” He smacked my back and I stumbled forward, now walking toward my place on the site. I started to lift rocks into the bucket of a big machine that would haul them off. I lifted rock after rock, my back aching with every lift. Once the bucket was full, a man walked over and climbed into the driver seat. He drove the machine away from the site and was back a couple minutes later with an empty bucket to be filled.

As I lifted a rock into the bucket, I noticed one of the other workers was walking my way, I put the rock I was holding into the bucket and then felt a hand on my back pushing me forward. I smacked my face into the rock I was putting down, and pushed myself back up. I turned around to see the worker walking away from me.

I walked after him and shoved him, he turned around quickly.

“What do you want?” He said sharply.

“Did you just push me?” I asked, as I felt rage swelling inside me.

“So, what if I did?” He answered with a sly grin on his face. I started gritting my teeth now. The man looked back at the group of workers watching us, and they were laughing. I pulled back my fist and was about to punch the man who was before me, when I felt a hand on my chest push me backward.

“What the hell is going on here!?” Our boss was standing between us looking very angry.

“This little shit-stain thinks he’s big and tough.” the grinning worker in front of me answered as he stared at me. Our boss looked at me then at the other worker.

“I want you both to stay the hell away from each other, and if I see you even sneeze in the other’s direction, you’re both fired. Got it?” He told us.

“Yes, sir.” We both replied and went back to our places.

Several hours later, the day was winding down and coming to an end. I lifted the last of my load into the bucket and walked to my boss.

“I’m heading home, Boss.” I told him. He looked at me and smiled.

“Remember what I told you, kid, and try not to get into any fights tomorrow. I’m a nice guy, but I’m not that nice.” He told me. I turned and walked off the site and headed toward my home. As I walked down the street, all I could think about was that man from today. What was his name? I’d heard it somewhere, but couldn’t remember it. I walked past the house with the torn up chair in front of it.

“Almost home, now…” I muttered to myself, I felt exhausted. I looked to my left and as soon as I did, I felt a force connect with my chin. I fell into a wall, and looked up at my attacker. It was the man from work, with two other people I didn’t recognize.

“Hey, shit-stain.” He said with the same grin as before on his face. I straightened up and got ready for a fight.

“You had to bring two friends with you?” I said looking very angry.

“I had to have someone see it other than you, didn’t I?” He said again, and his two friends backed up. He punched me in the gut and I felt all my breath leave my body. I felt him bring his fist down on the back of my head, and I fell to my knees. He kicked me in my gut and I rolled onto my back. I felt blood running down my head, and he kicked me in the face. My head flew to the side and he kicked me once again in the side this time. I heard his friends laughing at me, and I felt blackness taking over me.

I awoke in a daze, feeling sore all over my body. The sun was now setting. I was in an alley I didn’t recognize. I got to my knees and then pushed myself upward. I used the wall to lean against as I walked out of the alley. I realized where I was now. I was several blocks away from my trailer, and feeling ready to pass out again. I looked further down the alley and saw an odd looking body laying there. I approached it, thinking it was a stray dog that had taken refuge in the alley I’d been left in. I looked at this thing laying on the ground. It was definitely not a dog.

Dogs have paws, this thing had....hooves….and a horn, it was also purple. I studied it for several moments not knowing what I was staring at. I had reached a hand toward it when it moved one of its hooves, and I pulled my hand away. It opened it’s eyes and stared at me for a second.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you.” I said gently as I reached my hand out slowly. It stared at my hand as i got closer, and started petting it. I ran my hand along the back of it’s neck and felt the fur and hair on it. This was a pony...a unicorn...in the middle of Arleton.

“H-Hello…” I heard a female voice speak, but no one was around. I looked up and down the alley.

“Someone here?” I asked the darkness.

“M-Me…” I heard the voice again, it was coming from...the unicorn.

“You...You can talk..?” I asked feeling shocked.

“Of course I can…” She said sounding confused. I stood up and helped the pony to her feet. I saw a star design on her flank and was further confused.

“Thank you...mister.” She said to me. Reality was setting in, I was standing in front of a purple talking unicorn.

“My name is Donnie Matthews.” I told her.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She informed me.

“Well, it’s cold out here, Twilight, I think you should come back to my trailer and warm up.” I told her. She smiled at me.

“Thank you for being so kind to me, Donnie, it means a lot to me to see someone friendly in this confusing place. I have no idea where I am, this is not my home.” She told me looking scared. I walked out of the alley and motioned for her to follow me. We walked for a long time, and I was in shock most of the time. When we finally reached my home, I opened the door, and she stared at it.

“This is where you live?” She asked me. I looked down and scratched my head.

“I know it isn’t much to look at, but it’s warm and cheap.” I answered still looking down. She walked inside and I followed, shutting the door behind me. I looked at the clock, it was 3 AM already.

“Your fur is dirty, do you want to wash it?” I asked. She stared at me looking confused. I took her back to the bathroom and showed her the shower. I turned it on and let her examine it. She stepped inside and looked around, letting the water hit her fur. A bottle of shampoo started illuminating purple light and floated over to her, hovering in the air in front of her.

“What the hell!? That shampoo!!” I backed up. That bottle of shampoo was floating!

“You’ve never seen magic before?” She asked me with a smile on her face. “I use my horn as the source of my magic.”

“Holy shit…” I was completely shocked.

“What is inside this bottle?” She asked as she studied it.

“Soap for your body.” I answered. She lifted the bottle above her back and let shampoo fall onto her. I backed out of the room and shut the door. I walked to my couch and sat down. I stared at the clock.

“Three fifty eight…” I muttered to myself. My body was still sore all over. I stood up and went into the kitchen. I got a cloth, put it under the sink, and got it all wet. I wiped the blood off my face and rinsed it out of the cloth. I heard the bathroom door open and I looked at Twilight. I noticed her fur was looking clean as could be, and she smiled at me.

“I feel refreshed!” She exclaimed. “Tired too.” I put the cloth in the sink and walked over to her. I led her to the bedroom and showed her the bed. She climbed onto it and curled into a ball. I left the room and went to the couch to lay down. As I lay there, I thought about the crazy day I’d had. The pain in my body still feeling as strong as it did when it happened. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, welcoming the darkness that would hopefully help my pain go away.