//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: You 
// by Willow NightSong24 
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It’s my first day at work. My first full-time job as an actual adult mare and I couldn’t be more excited. I can’t be any more exuberant than I am now. I will finally earn my own income, I have my own loft apartment in the big, glorious city of Manehattan, the city for opportunities. My parents, who are furious at me for not living the life they planned out for me, made it clear that I was a foal for buying an apartment before I had a stable job, but in all honesty, it was the last apartment of my dreams available for rent and this job could have the potential to have amazing pay. 

Potential. That’s all my life has been for as long as I can remember. Full of potential opportunities that I foalishly pass up. Well, foalish is the word my parents, two prestigious and powerful unicorns, use, but it wasn’t foalish. I didn’t want to go to the School for Gifted Unicorns and be the top student like they were, hopefully becoming a royal mage for the Princess'. To live their failed dreams. To eventually marry one of my own, a unicorn, and have unicorn foals that I raise to live my failed dreams. No, I don't want any of that. I want to be a writer. A creative one. I want to live my own life. But, even though I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, that this is my destiny, I simply can’t shake the feeling that I’ve done something wrong. Something terrible. That I’ve made a catastrophic mistake. 

Mistakes. I’ve made a lifetime of mistakes. Not just in the eyes of my parents, but in the eyes of myself. I made mistakes and have a bundle load of regrets. I’ve misjudged the situations I’ve been put in and I’ve crashed and burned for it. I mean, I was a teenager once. I've made the mistakes all teenagers make when growing up with incredibly strict parents. But I can’t help but think that right now, at this very moment, my parents were right. This is a mistake. Perhaps this was ridiculous and foalish, thinking that I could make it here in this savage city and accomplish all my far-fetched dreams with a job I just acquired last week. 

Dreams. I have dreams. A lot of them. Maybe too many, at least that’s what my parents say. But really, I only have three dreams. Finding the love of my life. Being the best-selling author in Manehattan. And to make a difference in this sad and ugly world. But, as my parents would say, within every dream are a million little ones. A million little ones make up one big picture and every dream in the world, every wish, every lurking regret hanging in the shadows of our minds, just make one simple dream. A happy life. We all dream of a happy life, just in different ways. Just in a million different little ways. 

But as I trot into the office as a new publisher, that’s where I see you. You were just standing there levitating a stack of papers in your magic, talking with a coworker I barely even notice and for some reason, I can’t take my eyes off of you. Your lips. Your dirty blonde mane with light blue highlights. Your smile. Your light blue eyes. Everything about you makes me feel uneasy. Nervous. New. Awakened. But something more happens while I stare at you. Something different than just your looks catches my eye. The more I look at you, the more I know. It is the fact that now every single mistake I've ever made, every regret I have, every missed opportunity my parents claim, every doubt that I'm not meant to do this doesn’t even matter anymore, because as I look at you, it all dissipates into nothing like it never existed. And as I stare at you, I know I have just found my first dream, I just need it to come true. To do anything to accomplish the million little dreams it takes for this one dream to come true. To break down every wall, to eliminate any person or thing that threatens to keep us apart. Because the only thing I dream about now isn't to be a writer, `isn't t live in my ideal apartment, or live a life separate from my parents. It's to be with you.




I take a deep breath as I slowly continue to trot into the office, never able to take my eyes off of you. And then you turn around, and my heart stops. You glance up at me, and just like that, not only have I forgotten every mistake, every regret, every missed opportunity, every doubt, I’ve now forgotten every dream, every wish, and every desire, except for you. You smile up at me, and time stops running. I stop moving. I just stare into your eyes, and I feel I can just stand here for eternity, just staring into them. I feel as if I’m just a flimsy piece of metal, and I can’t seem to resist the pull of the magnet. You. And then you trot up to me and I can’t seem to stop the urge to kiss you, to hold you, to feel every expanse, every hill and valley of your broad chest. The desire in me is unbearable. The only thing keeping me from slamming into your big, firm, body and feeling your massive hooves around me is the fact that I still need this job. I still need to pay rent and eat. But even that’s barely enough.

You stop in front of me and when you speak to me, my entire mind goes silent. The chaotic storm of doubts and worries swirling through every part of me ceases to exist. It’s like you spoke and the waters, equestria, the Princesses themselves, stop to listen to your commands. To what you have to say. I know I do. 

You speak, but I can’t focus on what you’re saying. I just stare at your big massive lips, your honest blue eyes, and your big, broad, comforting hooves. Oh, how I long to feel them wrap around me, feel your warm heat engulf me like a blanket.

“Oh, you must be the new hire…oh, don’t tell me….” At this point, I don’t care if you don’t remember my name right now. I just hope you’ll know soon. “Willow Dreams!” You exclaim, pointing a hoof at me.

You seem so happy to remember my name, I almost don’t have the heart to correct you. But the longing to hear my name come through those amazing lips of yours eradicates any guilt for pointing out your mistakes. “I-it’s Winter B-Breeze, actually.” I stutter out nervously.

“Ohh, Winter Breeze, right,” Oh dear sweet Celestia, say it again, say it again, oh please say it again! I can feel myself withering inside as seconds pass without you saying my name. “I’m Sand Streak, nice to meet you.”