I write this so I can be reminded of who I once was as a man and who I would later become. My name was once Angelo Rojo, but in this world, I am now known as Desert Bat.
It began like any other day In Summerville, South Carolina, I awoke one morning at my house. I had had another dream about a magical land which, at the time, seemed like an amazing fantasy world full of colorful, talking, happy ponies. These ponies in my dreams went on many different adventures and always seemed to focus on six main ponies - they were called Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
Throughout their adventures, many lessons were learned by these ponies; mostly about friendship, but at other times life lessons about moving forward even when mistakes had been made. The dreams always ended in some overly unrealistic happy ending, something I constantly wished and prayed for in my life of constant depression. I could still remember in this dream that a creature known as the Pony of Shadows was stopped and I could recall taking note that it was the one hundred sixty-ninth light dream I had. I had a few longer dreams where they went to a more colorful earth at times and an unrelated dream with an evil broken-horned unicorn, but they all came together in some way.
After reminiscing enough about my dreams, I got out of bed to begin my dull day off from work. When I lived here, I was just a warehouse worker trying to get by since I couldn't find a job with my mass communications degree I got in college. I had instant noodles for breakfast and sat down at the TV to watch the news, still in the clothes I slept in. The news was just as I expected - people my age complaining about how things were run and other mindless conformities they had come to rely upon and mistaken for giving them individuality. I turned off the TV and decided to get dressed and maybe go visit the shopping center.
On my way to the car, I began to think about Equestria again. I couldn't understand why I kept having these dreams and wondered how people would react if I told them of these. Would they have thought me to be merely a sad, hopeless individual trying to cling on to a happy place, fearing to face reality like an adult? No, I believed I could never tell anyone about this, not even to my best friend. I told myself I would take these memories to my grave. I shook my head for a moment to focus in on why I was outside. I was going to the mall. I got into my car and drove, with the radio off and in complete silence.
I walked around aimlessly at the kiosks to pass the time. I had no real intentions of buying anything, I just knew if I didn't get out now to get some fresh air I would be at home doing nothing but playing video games. Most of you would be asking why I didn't try hitting on some of the girls at least? Well despite being told I looked very handsome, I rarely saw anyone in a romantic way, nor cared enough to start.
The last few kiosks were coming up and then I noticed the second-to-last shop was new. After closer inspection, I noticed it was selling all sorts of interesting rocks: colorful crystals, smooth stones, some volcanic rocks, gemstones, and others made with designs in them. One that got my attention was a dark blue rock made into a pendant that was separated from the other merchandise and I didn't see a price either - it had a pearl-white stone shaped like an alicorn embedded into it as well.
"Like what you see, sir?" The saleslady asked, startling me out of my trance. "I have to tell you, of all the things here, that one is one of my favorites and I believe you were meant to have it. It's a charm meant to grant your heart's desire during a shooting star. So, would you like to own it?"
I gave her a very skeptical look - a look she noticed and came off as worried. "Let me guess. This pendant is worth hundreds or something, right?" I placed the pendant down a began to walk away. "No thanks, I'm good."
"Wait, don't go. Please!" The saleslady approached me and placed the pendant in my hand. " This reminded you of Equestria, didn't it?" That got my attention and I could see a smirk on her face at my expression. Did she know of Equestria too? Did she also have the dreams? " I'm going to close my kiosk and take my lunch break, please meet me at the food court" I nodded my head in compliance and went to our intended rendezvous point.
We kind of awkwardly sat at a small table for a few minutes in silence. I didn't notice at first, but the saleslady appeared to be close to my age and very pretty. She had slightly tanned skin, brunet hair, smelled like fresh lavender, and seemed to be in decent shape - probably always went to the gym - but what caught my attention the most was the pendant she wore on her neck. It was a pearl-white stone with a dark blue rock shaped like an alicorn embedded in it.
"I want you to be honest with me, so I know I'm not crazy," she finally addressed to me, " When you look at the pendant I gave you, who do you think of?"
Finally understanding what she wanted, I gave her the response I hoped we both wanted to hear. "Celestia, the pearl-white alicorn princess of Equestria with a flowing mane like an aurora borealis, and the princess that raises the sun."
She had a huge, adorable smile on her face, something I felt I shared at this moment. I finally met someone I could talk to about this. " Okay, and when you look at the pendant I'm wearing, who are you reminded of?"
"I'm reminded of Luna, the dark blue alicorn princess of Equestria with a flowing mane of stars, and the princess that raises the moon. Should I talk about any other pony for you?"
Something I didn't expect suddenly happened then. She got out of her seat and randomly embraced me. I noticed a few elderly women catching glimpses of this and gave an expression that told me they found this cute - they probably mistook us for a couple. My embracer probably realized this was weird and finally released me.
"Sorry," she said with embarrassment, " I didn't mean to make this weird. It's just... nice to actually talk to someone about these dreams I've been having for a while now without the fear of coming off as a sad loser. Oh, by the way, my name's Violet Lavender. I probably should have said that earlier. Sorry, sir."
"It's fine, ma'am, and you can call me Angelo, Angelo Rojo. So what's the deal with these alicorn pendants anyway? Did you make these?"
"Funny story, actually. I just graduated from college a few months ago in agricultural science and, for a graduation gift, my mother bought me these pendants and told me that each one could grant a wish from a shooting star. Just like you, the pendants reminded me of Celestia and Luna from my dreams and I felt compelled to put on the one you see me wearing now.
With a combination of depression from not being able to get a job with my agricultural degree and stress from the dreams I couldn't explain to my parents, I went outside and waited until I found a shooting star. After hours, I finally found one and made my wish. I wanted to find someone who could understand what I was going through.
I waited all night outside, but nobody ever came. My dad found me crying outside and took me back in. He did his best to help me through this and got me a job at this new kiosk in the mall - he hoped that working would help me relax. That's when you came walking by. Something in my head told me to put the other pendant I kept with me on display for you to see, and well... you know the rest. "
"So, I guess your wish came true after all, huh?" I could tell her face grew bright crimson after I said that. She was probably embarrassed and told me more than what she originally intended. The staring went on for a little longer until I thought it got awkward. " So... now wha..." I was interrupted. She spontaneous connected her lips with mine and instead of resisting, I embraced it. It felt as if it went on for a long time, but we eventually stopped. I had a look of surprise on me, no doubt, but I saw Violet's expression change from happy to upsetting.
"I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me all of a sudden. All these things happening at once and I kind of randomly did..."
I raised my hand up to signal her to stop for a moment, something that didn't seem to calm her in the slightest. "It's fine. You got excited and, to tell the truth, I enjoyed that. It would be amazing if we could hang out more and get to know each other, then maybe we can do something like that again in the future if you're okay with that?"
I suddenly found myself being hugged again. I could only guess she was as socially awkward as I was when it came to expressing my emotions, but I returned her hug, and for the first time, I didn't feel as isolated or different - I felt I finally had someone I could share things with. "By the way, that was my first kiss."
Upon hearing this, Violet's head sprang up a looked at me in surprise. "Really, you never had anyone kiss you before either? Wow. We really have more in common than I thought. So what do you say we get something to eat and start getting to know one another. I gave her a smile and began to hand her pendant back but she refused to accept it. "No. I want you to have this one, Angelo. Something told me I needed to give it to you. Plus, now you can always have a part of me with you." As corny as that line was, we both managed to chuckle about it. From that point on, we would only form a stronger bond.