//------------------------------// // I- My Name is Nathan // Story: To Find Purpose // by The REAL Mister Pkmn //------------------------------// A Friday in April, 2011 Today started like any other. The alarm blared at 6 in the morning, and I groaned beneath my blanket. I did not want to get up, but I had school at 8. So I grabbed my glasses from their case and decided to grin and bear it. I took a shower, and changed into the clothes I was wearing that day; a pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt, white socks, and my favorite black tennis shoes. I looked at myself in the mirror so I could properly comb the mess that was my chocolate brown hair. Frankly, I was surprised it wasn’t looking black like my father’s, seeing as all of my older brothers had blacker hair by the age of 16. I guess I was somewhat lucky in that regard. My blue-green eyes were tired, but a slight splash of water was enough to fix that. I went back to my room and got my backpack ready with school supplies. Of course, there were non-school things I stuffed in there, as well. I could never bring myself to leave home without a few things to occupy myself during my downtime, especially my sketchbook. I wasn’t any good, sure, but I didn’t care. I then went downstairs to eat a bit of breakfast. I looked at the clock. If I was to make the bus, I’d have to leave at 6:30. I had ten minutes. So, I hurried to finish, and quickly brushed my teeth in the upstairs bathroom. After I finished, I raced to the door and opened it. My mother called after me as I left. “Have a good day at school, Nathan!” I just rolled my eyes and took off. Like I could ever have a good day at school. Ever since I got my glasses, it’s been pure torture. I didn’t pay much mind to the neighborhood, seeing as I knew it like the back of my hand. I made the bus stop, and I saw many faces that I didn’t really care for. I waited for the bus, tuning out whatever little insults they threw my way. I was so used to it by now that it was just white noise. The bus arrived, and I sat in the front seat behind the driver, as I tended to do. I just wanted to get this day over with, but as I was about to pull out my DS so I could tune out the world, a voice spoke up next to me. “Um, hi there.” I swivelled on the spot, about to rip a new one to the person who spoke, considering I had no interest in conversing right now. But when I saw who was talking to me, it died in my throat. Beautiful long blonde hair. Blue eyes as deep as the ocean, piercing behind her black glasses. Her outfit only made her look more stunning; a sky blue T-shirt with white stripes, a knee-length green skirt, purple socks, and even the white heels she had on. Two words managed to exit my mouth. “O-ophelia Jakson?” Shock splayed across her face. “You… know me?” I was in orbit. Ophelia Jakson is talking to me! She’s talking to me! This was the single best thing that had ever happened to me, so I had to not mess it up. I gathered myself, and tried to explain. “W-well, your younger brother mentioned you, so…” One of her eyebrows rose in confusion. “Victor? I suppose that makes some sense…” she processed that for a while, then asked another question. “So. What’s your name, then?” I gulped. She’d asked. Pressure. I liked her a lot, and had never talked to her before. This was more momentous than I ever thought it might be. I calmed myself as best I could to answer. “Nathan. Nathan Ethrol.” I extended a hand to her. “Nice to finally actually meet you.” Her hand met mine, and electricity ran through me. Her touch! It felt like clouds! The sensation! I tried to calm myself. After all, we’d just met in person for the first time. It was probably better to just be friends for now, but it was something I could live with. But I was caught off guard at what she said next. “That was… strange. Did you feel that electricity?” Eyes wide, I nodded without hesitation. “Yes, I did.” But then I bit my lip. Should I tell her what I’d heard about such things? No, that likely wasn’t a good call. Instead, I opted for something more… tame. “It usually only happens with people who will share some kind of great connection, or at least that’s what I’ve heard.” Ophelia smiled. “I kind of like that idea. So, friends?” We shook on it, a slightly sad smile on my face. “Friends.” The rest of the bus ride, we talked about our common experiences with how we were treated because of our glasses. I was on cloud nine. For the first time in my life, I could talk to somebody that understood what I’d gone through. It was a weight off my shoulders. Time flew, and we had to part ways when we got to school. We waved to each other, and for the first time in a long while, I thought: Today’s a good day. My classes breezed by, and I was on top of all my homework. When lunch rolled around, I tried to find Ophelia. However, she was not in either part of the cafeteria. So, I just decided to eat alone. It wasn’t that I minded; after all, I was used to it. I just thought I might get to talk to my new friend during lunch, but c’est la ville. Just as I was resigning myself to sit alone at lunch, Ophelia came over to the table I was at. “Hi, Nathan. Mind if I sit here?” I blinked. She hadn’t eaten already? That was interesting, to say the least. I smiled. “Go ahead. Nice to actually have some company for the first time in…” I shook my head. “Nevermind. So, how’s your day been?” She sighed heavily. “It’s been rough, but I powered through. I’ve been looking forward to talking to you again.” This caught me off guard. She’d been looking forward to talking to me again? I paused as I thought about my response. “It means a lot that you actually want to talk to me. Most don’t talk to me unless they have insults to sling. In fact, this has been the best day I’ve had in a long while. Compared to the crap I usually go through, this day was mild. Thanks for listening. For understanding where I’m coming from. You have no idea how much this means to me.” Ophelia smiled at me. “It’s alright, Nate. I get it. I too, haven’t had the best of days in the past. But what’s important is that we tough it out. Together, as friends.” There was that word again. Friends… I had to admit, it was rather foreign to consider that I had one again after what happened all those years ago. I pushed that thought away. That was the past, this was the now. For the first time in years, I felt good about myself. True, I want us to be more than friends, but that’s probably not in the cards at this time. It was good enough to know she cared and understood. I nodded. “Yeah. That’s what is important. No matter what, we stick together.” I reached out my hand again. “Promise?” She took it, and we shook on it. “Promise.” She then released my hand and did a few motions. “Cross my heart; hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” I’d never seen somebody use that promise in my entire life, not even… I pushed that thought away again. Ophelia was being serious about this, so… I decided to do the same. “Cross my heart; hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” I smiled. “There. Now we both know that we’ve got each other’s backs no matter what. It means a lot that you’re being this serious about it.” She nodded wordlessly, and we went back to our lunches. There were words unspoken, but we both understood now that we were inexorably linked. At that moment, everything felt right. When I finished my lunch, I waved to her. She waved back. I sighed as I made my way to my last class of the day. She’s way out of my league. I’m just her friend, and that’s all I’m likely to ever be. And that… is fine. I soon found my way to the art building, and entered the final class of the day, my favorite one. I sat down, and pulled out my sketchbook. I opened up my backpack and took out my pencils. My teacher for this class was rather chill, letting us draw whatever came to mind. So, I started to draw aimlessly. I shut out the sounds of the others in class, and just… lost myself in it. I didn’t have a direction, just an aimless want. I sketched all throughout the period, and never once looked back or took back a stroke. I was more sure of my choices on paper than I was elsewhere in life. Whenever my pencil hit paper to draw, I just… let go. When the bell rang, I showed my teacher the sketch at the door. He smiled. “This is really good, Nathan. Just as good as the rest of your work. You’ve got talent, Nathan. How is your work so good?” I shrugged. “Whenever I draw I just… let go. It just sorta comes together. I can’t really explain it.” My teacher slapped my back lightly, and chuckled. “No need to be modest, Nathan. You’re really good! Hey, the school is having a showcase soon, and…” “No.” My teacher blinked at my answer. “I’m sorry, what?” “I said no.” I looked away. “I’m just… not comfortable with others seeing it. I have to go.” I put away my sketchbook in my backpack, zipped it tight, and ran off to catch the bus home. I sat in the front, exhausted. I’d never thought I was any good, but today something had changed. What was it, and why? I didn’t understand. I looked out the window, lost. That changed when Ophelia sat next to me. “Hey, you alright?” Startled, I turned to Ophelia. “Don’t do that! Almost made me jump right out of my skin!” She giggled lightly, and I immediately forgave her. Her laugh… sounded like delicate wind chimes, if I had to put it into words. I sighed. “I’m just thinking on something my last teacher for the day said.” She looked at me, concerned. “What did they say?” I bit my lip. Nobody knew. Everyone in Art class just ignored me, and that was fine. Not even my family knew that I was taking an Art class. Should I tell her? What would she think of me if I did? I supposed that I’d never know if I didn’t try, so I caved. “Well, he… he said that my sketches were good enough to go in the showcase coming up, and-” Ophelia cut in. “Wait, you draw? I had no idea. Would you… show me your work?” I was shocked. She wanted to see my sketchbook? My nerves were on edge. Many thoughts ran through my head at the time. But, I decided to give in. I pulled my sketchbook out of my backpack. Before I handed it over, I spoke. “Promise that… you won’t laugh.” She nodded without hesitation. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Nate. I’m your friend, I’ll respect your hobbies and interests.” After hearing that, I hesitantly handed it over. She carefully studied each page, as if she were looking at something majestic. It took the majority of the bus ride for her to get through the sketchbook, and when she handed it back she had a smile on her face. “Your teacher was right, Nate. You’ve got a gift. But I won’t push you to do the showcase. If you’re uncomfortable with the whole school seeing it, that’s fine.” She handed it back, a smile still on her face. “But perhaps you should reconsider. A gift like yours need to be seen, Nate. Just… think on it.” I put the sketchbook back in my backpack as the bus reached our stop, and zipped it shut. We once again parted ways that day. I walked home, contemplating things. Maybe Ophelia was right. But… my parents would be informed of the showcase if I was to enter. If they knew… they would get on my case for “wasting my time with a non-profitable profession.” They wouldn’t understand, and insist that I drop out. Who knows what else they might do if they found out I drew so much. I walked on, thoughts storming in my head. But then, the ground shook. I steadied myself. An earthquake? Well, it’s not unheard of here in Utah, but still… I shook my head, and was about to proceed when the ground shook again. I stumbled, and the ground slightly cracked. It started to open, and it wasn’t looking good. I tried to back off, and in the distance I could hear somebody running towards me. The ground opened up and I yelled in fright as I started to fall. Is this the end? Is the world itself trying to get rid of me now that I’ve actually got something to look forward to? I was caught by somebody at the edge of the pit. “NATHAN!” I looked up, and saw Ophelia. She’d come to try and help me? I smiled. It seemed at the end, that there was light still. She tried to pull me up. “Don’t let go, Nate! I’ve got you!” I nodded, and grabbed onto the side of the pit with my free hand as I put the rest of my body in a position to climb the pit. Things were looking up as she tried to help me climb out. But then the pit widened, and both of us were now in freefall. We screamed out in terror, uncertain of what would happen now. Then, at the bottom, we saw light... Earlier that day, in Ponyville. Twilight rolled her eyes. “For the last time Pinkie, your ‘Pinkie Sense’ is just a bunch of coincidences!” Pinkie was wearing an umbrella hat, and looking to the sky. “But Twilight, my tail’s twitching! It’s been twitching non stop for a while! Something big is going to fall to Equestria! It’ll be a doozy, I swear!” A sigh escaped Twilight’s mouth. All day, she’d been trying to disprove Pinkie’s “Pinkie Sense”. None of it was making sense, and now Pinkie was insisting that the thing that would fall would “change everything”. Dealing with Pinkie could be a headache sometimes. It didn’t help that her other friends were all in belief of this nonsense. Nothing would stop her from- Something shook. The ponies of town were frightened, and Pinkie was hyperventilating. “It’s happening! They’re coming!” Twilight looked skeptical, but just as she was about to refute the claim, the shaking returned, and A CRACK APPEARED IN THE SKY. Twilight pointed at it, eye twitching. “But- But- That’s impossible!” Pinkie was running about, random parts of her twitching and contorting, yelling “They’re coming! They’re coming!” Rainbow looked at it, unsure what to think as Twilight continued to mutter about it being impossible. She sighed. “Well, I best get ready to fly, then.” she limbered up, and got ready to shoot off into the sky. The hole opened, and a voice could barely be heard through it. It seemed to be a yell of a masculine voice, but something stopped it. A feminine voice could barely be heard yelling out a word that none of the ponies could quite make out. The sky shook, and the hole expanded. Then, both voices yelled out in unison, terrified beyond belief. Twilight shook herself out of her musings. “Somepony’s falling through the hole! Rainbow!” She snorted out air. “On it!” She flew fast up to the hole, and got there just as the two figures fell through the sky hole. She caught both figures, but buckled a little. “Ooph! That’s heavy…” Rainbow was the first to hear them speak as she  flew back with them slowly. The male spoke first. “We’re alive? Hey, Ophelia, we’re alive!” The female, apparently named “Ophelia” spoke up. “B-but how? We were falling for some time… how are we not dead, Nathan?” Before “Nathan” could reply, Rainbow spoke up. “Heh, that’s thanks to me!” She turned to them and smiled. “Your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash!” But then she opened her eyes to see them. The look on their faces were ones of panic. “Nathan” spoke first, pointing at Rainbow. “A talking… pastel… pony? With wings?” He turned to “Ophelia”, and addressed her. “You see her too, right?” “Ophelia” nodded. “Yes. I do.” she grasped “Nathan” tightly. “I’m scared. Are we going crazy?” Rainbow had to process what they were for a second. She’d seen something like them before, but where…? She shook her head, and decided to get them to the ground safely. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you guys. Just sit tight until we land.” The two nodded, and decided to take in the scenery, as surreal as it was. The town was full of thatch roof houses, aside from a few different ones. There was a rather red barn, a house that looked to be made of gingerbread, a cottage that looked like a wildlife preserve, a carousel (which raised some eyebrows, to be certain), a place that looked rather like a town hall, and a giant tree with a door in it. They couldn’t see all of it before they landed. They got off of Rainbow’s back, and were greeted by Pinkie Pie. “Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie! I knew you’d fall from above! Welcome to Ponyville! You two look like you could use a party! How about it?” Silence fell, as the two of them looked between each other. They seemed to communicate silently, before “Nathan” spoke up. “Er, no thanks. We’ll pass. Just get us back home, and we’ll be out of your… manes.” Twilight shook off her shock, and walked up to them. “You’re humans! Mythical creatures! Oh, this is amazing! I-” “Ophelia” cut Twilight off. “Wait, what? Us, mythical? You’ve got it wrong. See, Pegasai and Unicorns are mythical, and-” “Nathan” held up a… hand, was it called? And spoke. “That’s back home on Earth, Ophelia. This place is… different. It functions on different rules, clearly. For all we know, magic might be real here. Also, anything that might be considered mythical back home likely exist here. We’re way out of our depth here. That’s why we need to get out of here as soon as possible.” At that, Pinkie pouted. “You’re leaving already? But we haven’t become the bestest of friends yet!” “Nathan” had anger in his eyes, burning brightly. The sight of it caused the ponies to back off slightly. Ophelia set a hand on his shoulder, calming him down. “Nathan. They’re trying to be nice. We don’t know how long it’ll take for us to get home, or if we even can. We’ll likely need their help for that, so please. They’re not like people back home. Give them a chance.” Nathan sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Ophelia is my only friend, and before her… Well, let’s just say I haven’t had the best experience with it.” He shook his head. “Don’t expect us to become friends, though. We can’t afford any sad goodbyes when we leave.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, since you’re stuck here for a while, at the very least let us exchange introductions!” She put a hoof on her chest. “I am Rarity Belle, owner of Carousel Boutique!” Rainbow flew up and smirked. “You remember me, right? Well, I kinda forgot to mention that I’m the fastest flier in Equestria! Just… not when weighed down too much.” Applejack strolled up. “Ya’ve already met Pinkie. Mah name’s Applejack. Ah live at Sweet Apple Acres, the place that practically built this town.” Attention turned to Fluttershy, who was quite nervous. But with a bit of support, she spoke up loud enough to be heard. “I-i’m Fluttershy. I work with the animals in my cottage…” Lastly, Twilight went up to them, abashed. “Ehe. I’m sorry about how… excited I got. It’s just, the very prospect of-!” She cleared her throat, and started over. “Anyway, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” The two humans turned to each other, then shrugged. Nathan spoke first. “You might’ve heard her mention it, but my name is Nathan. Nathan Ethrol.” He crossed his arms. Ophelia smiled. “I’m Ophelia Jakson. It’s a pleasure.” She extended a hand. The two humans were different in their approach to the ponies. Nathan was standoffish, and perhaps a bit judgemental. Ophelia was open and welcoming, if slightly hesitant. The girls looked between each other. It was clear that both of them needed some work, but Nathan would prove the bigger challenge. Twilight turned to them. “Well, I will send a letter to Princess Celestia. She might know something that can help you get home. No promises, though.” Nathan sighed. “Alright.” He turned to Ophelia. “Now, where to stay while this gets sorted out?” To Be Continued...