//------------------------------// // Through hardships and love, I stayed // Story: I'll Stay // by sejox //------------------------------// Do you know what is more powerful, more delightful and more beautiful than love? Corresponded love. It was something I craved to find in the wrong vessel. Countless nights of my youth were spent trying to make that precious creature, that adamant pony of azure eyes, that god like example of beauty by the name of Rarity feel the same love towards me that I did for her. But by the time I was considered old enough to be recognized as an adult, we couldn’t see in each other anything but the fondness that family bonds create. Our Friendship was the strongest link between us; a knotted link meant to not change or be enlarged to new extents… My fixation on the beauty of her features remained. My fondness to her lovely words remained. Our closeness stayed intact. Yet the spark was gone. The answer for my craving was in the hoofs and fangs of another creature. Someone that—like me—was misunderstood for the obscure nature of their kin. Someone that wanted a change of heart for herself and her people. Someone that not only shared the same likes that me, but also shared the same love that I offered to her. Our time together made me realize how much I had lost of my youth,, how much I didn’t knew about love, and most importantly, how much I didn’t even knew at the time about my own self. And Even when our time as one lasted less than a handful of years. Even with all the eons that had cursed through my mind. Even when my heart still pumps every time I think about my true significant other. “They say that you can forget your first love… I’ll make sure of it… my precious bat pony… ” She remains as one of the pillars in my memories. Her name is so important in fact that I won’t write it in this paper; her name is something only I can have horde now. As the dragon I am, I’ll keep it safe with the rest of my treasures; I’ll keep it under my greedy claws until the rest of my days. That is, if there is ever one… Or maybe these are the rest of my days; isolated in this infinite universe… Had you ever thought about why people fear to get older? Is not because the muscle pain, the sickness, or even the fear of death. Their true fear is to not be able to do what they use to. To be left alone in a world that doesn’t understand you anymore. A world in which the only way someone can live is through past memories. A past crowded with adventures, dangers and risks. One that meant the beginning of a new era for our world. And yet, it was at the same time, a past flooded by jokes, parties, friends… loss… A past filled with enough memories and emotions to hold a thousand lives and more… a past I would be happy to sacrifice for the sake of seeing life flourish once again. As I look to the distant rocks floating around this little planet, I can’t help but laugh at the cruelty of destiny… Time itself is friend of no one; even if it can’t hurt you physically, it’ll find another way to do so. Be it by giving your foes a moment to advance or time enough for them to rest till they move to their next plan. Or by consuming the last strength held by the one already tired... Even reminding when the awesome days had to end to give pass to the next ones was hurtful enough. Time was the most powerful of our enemies and yet we never even batted an eye at it. We kept our sight so focused in fighting the others, plotting against their bad doings, and following tracks of the next villain searching for world domination… Hearing the cheers from the crowds after a job well done. “Here goes the princess and his drake, Twilight and Spike had saved us once again!” they cheered. “I’m sure that as long as they’re together there is nothing we should be afraid of,” others said between the crowds. They always counted on us, not as mere heroes, saviors, or gods. But just as friends. And as the friends they were, they remained by our side in the hardest of battles, and yet, even when we loss at the end they kept with us and celebrated their last day, they cheered, danced, singed, laughed and loved like no other day. They- “We… come on S-spike you were doing just fine.” We celebrated, because at least we had a life, a good life to be taken away. “Well, that is all for this one… hmm, ahg, no I went to emotional with this one, am sure I can do it better.” Spike, the purple mountain of a dragon who remained in the vast and gray landscape of a dead planet said before moving his head to the center of the circle he had made with the length of his own body. A trail of green sparkling fire linked his mouth with an object inside the cave, a torch. Beside it laid a statue of a winged unicorn, a crown in her head, and a lance by it side. Piles of papers and books stood neatly around it. “Guess I’ll have to try again. What do you say, Twilight?” Spike asked before moving the book near the front of the statue and laying his head near it, eyes shimmering at the sight of the pristine statue. There he stood, dazzled at the memories held by the imposing statue. The arid ground in which it stood and in which Spike rested was the only deplorable thing around them. He couldn’t mind it, not in his current state. “I wish I could horde your name too, but it’s too late for me to do that… just as it was late for you at the time to be my first love,” He said before patting the head of the statue as slowly and as tenderly as he could. As he lovely played with the statue, a swift movement of the torch grabbed his attention. The fire dimmed slightly for a couple of seconds before returning to his initial state. “Guess my magic isn’t as infinite as I thought… well, if I am to die here then I chose to do it alongside you” He said before closing his eyes, “rest well, Twi… love ya,” he smiled and then let time do what it pleased with them again.