//------------------------------// // The home // Story: Fixing a Broken Man // by TheHardie-Boy //------------------------------// It had been a few months since I’d announced my permanent stay here in Equestria. Since then, all of Twilight’s friends were being super nice to me, and I was trying my best to return the favor. It’d taken a while for all of Ponyville to trust me, but thanks to a few announcements from Twilight, they’d come to accept me as a new part of their lives. Or not, if they just wished to leave me alone. I was officially friends with everyone in town, and everyone seemed to be friends with me. Speaking of Twilight, I still can’t thank her enough for all she’s done for me. She’s welcomed me into her home, taught me how to have a friend, stood up to her own friends for me, and brought me out of my shell. I’d found a lot easier to socialize, have fun, and even just smile all thanks to her. I’d been living in Golden Oaks Library with her and Spike ever since, but had several times mentioned finding a home of my own. Rarity’s been helping supply clothes for me, and Applejack’s been letting me work with her and her family on their farm for bits and materials for a new house. They’ve even helped me start construction! It’s funny though; whenever I mention the house to Twilight, she’s always...less than enthusiastic about it. I’ve told her that the house would be just next to the library, several times even, but she’s still down about it. I was only moving next door to the library because while I would enjoy the independence, I still don’t want to go too far from Twilight. She’s also been acting a bit different around me than usual, which I find strange. Out of all my friends (I’ve accepted the term now), she’s the one I’ve spent the most time with, by far. I don’t know what it is about her, we just really enjoy each other’s company. Whether it be reading, playing board games, trying our hand/hoof at cooking, you name it, we probably do it together. Not to mention, she’s really cute she she smiles. This is a thought, however, that I’ve wisely decided to keep to myself. Nothing against ponies, but I’m not sure how they’d respond to being called cute, at least by a different species. Anyhow, Twilight and I were doing what enjoyed most, reading. We had two copies of the same book, and had planned to share each other’s thoughts when finished. In the middle of reading it, however, I couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes on me. I glanced at Twilight to see she was staring at me instead of her book. “You...okay there, Twilight?” I asked. She didn’t respond, just blushed and looked back to her book. I did the same, but felt her looking at me again. Instead of point it out, I simply smirked and pretended to ignore it. She was happy, so who was I to take that away from her? After a few more minutes of silence, Twilight cleared her throat. “You...enjoying your book, Jake?” I looked away from the book and up at her. “Yeah. It’s pretty good so far.” Unfortunately, when I looked down, I realized I had closed my book, and had taken my finger out of it to save my place. “Damn, I was pretty far in,” I said, mostly to myself. “Th-That’s alright, Jake. W-We can just...share!” Twilight stuttered. “Share?” I repeated, looking up at her. Her face was a dark shade of red, and she had a very embarrassed smile. “Y-Yeah, we can just...finish the book together. I-I’m pretty sure you were in a similar place I was.” “You sure? You’d have to levitate the book a bit further away. Either that, or I’d have to get pretty close to you,” I warned. “Yes please!” she quickly shouted. “What?” I asked, not sure I’d heard her correctly. “I-I-I mean...that’s okay with me,” she said, just barely above a whisper. “If you say so,” I replied as I sat next to her on the couch. She didn’t levitate the book any further, so I took the initiative and got a little closer to her. I felt her tense up as I put my arm over her to hold myself up. “You sure you’re okay with this?” Twilight said something, but I couldn’t understand it. “What was that?” “YES!!!” she shouted. “O-Okay then,” I said, settling in. We’ finally gotten to reading, and were very comfortable. The book was shaking in Twilight’s magical grasp for a while, but that had stopped pretty quickly. After about an hour, a knock on the door drew our attention, and drew my attention specifically to the position I was in. Twilight was right up against me, and I was leaning back on her with my arm fully wrapped around her. I felt my face heat up and quickly stood up. I rushed to the door and opened it to reveal Applejack. “Howdy there, Jake. Yer house’s nearly finished, so Ah thought you’d wanna come take a look,” Applejack offered. If my face was still red, Applejack didn’t seem to notice or pay any mind to it. “Th-That’d be fine. Oh and did Rarity get those paint colors in yet?” I asked. “She sure did. She may not be the fasted pony around, but when it comes ta anything fashion, Rarity’s the best pony ya could hope for,” Applejack replied. “That’s great,” I said, slipping on the brown silk jacket Rarity had made me. “You wanna come see, Twilight?” Twilight looked up at us. “Huh? Um, no thanks.” “Alright, be back in a few,” I said as I closed the door and followed Aj to the construction site. “Is she alright?” Applejack asked me on the way. “I’m not sure. She’s been acting weird for a few weeks now. I’m a little worried about her,” I replied. “I’d bet my last bit it’s just the perfectionist in her. She'll be fine,” she said. “I sure hope so,” I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. After Jake had left, Twilight lay her head down on the couch. She didn’t want him to leave, but didn’t know how to tell him. Then again, there were a lot of things she wanted to say to him but didn’t know how to. ’Why didn’t I listen to that stupid love advice Cadance gave me when I was a filly?’ Twilight looked back at the door again, hoping Jake would burst through and tell her that he didn’t want to move out after all. He was around so much, she could barely remember her daily life without him, and she didn’t want to go back to that. Sure, he’d be right next door, but waking up to see his handsome face, hear his wonderful voice, and be near his amazing figure had all become things she looked forward to. All of these emotions were new to Twilight. Whenever she was near Jake, her legs wobbled, her chest fluttered, her face became hot. It had all started when Jake said he didn’t want to leave Equestria, when he said he didn’t want to leave her. Twilight didn’t know how else to put other than...she was in love with Jake Taylor. Seeing him smile for what he said was the first time in years, becoming what he said was his very first and best friend, it all made her swell with emotion. She hadn’t dared go to her friends about this. She’d made it pretty clear love wasn’t her thing. Friendship, sure, but not romance. But now...now all that had changed. And the one she loved was leaving. Twilight rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. “I just want to tell you,”she said aloud. “I just want to tell you all the things you make me feel. I want you to stay here and be with me forever. I want you to know how much I love you a-and love me back.” Twilight let her eyes close as she fell asleep, hoping she wouldn’t dream of being with Jake so Princess Luna would see, but still wanting to dream of being alone with him, with all of her emotions out in the air and possibly even returned. I ran as fast as I could back to the library. I had great news to tell Twilight. It turns out that Applejack and her brother, Big Macintosh (because apples) had been working all day and night for the last two weeks on my new house and had finally finished today, meaning I could move in. The house was right next to Golden Oaks, so it didn’t take long to get there. I burst through the door and yelled, “Twilight! Great news!” Twilight was asleep on the couch near the door and ha awoken due to my shout. “W-What is it?” “Sorry to wake you, but Applejack says my new home is ready! I can move in today!” I said. Twilight simply sighed and sat up, not able to look at me. “Great. You’ll finally have your own home.” Twilight’s tone told me she wasn’t very happy for me. “What’s wrong, Twilight?” I asked, sitting next to her on the couch. “I thought you were fine with me getting my own place.” “I know, and I really want to,” she replied, seemingly on the verge of crying. “But...I’ll miss you. You’ve been here for a couple months now. Honestly, I’ve forgotten what it’s like here without you.” I scooted closer and wrapped my arm around her. “I’ll be right next door. You’ll still be able to see me anytime you want. You’re always welcome at my new place, and it’s not like I’ll never come by.” Twilight simply let out a sad moan. “If it makes you feel any better, Pinkie said she’d throw me a housewarming party that starts at about seven. Come by early, and we can do what we always do here at the library,” I enticed her. Twilight didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at me. “Come on, cheer up, Twi. I can’t stand to see you all sad like that,” I said, scratching behind her ear with my index and middle finger. I’ve done this with her a few times in the past, and she’s always enjoyed it. I could tell that Twilight was struggling to hold back a smile. “Let’s see that smile,” I giggled, adding my ring finger to the mix. “N-No, it...it just won’t be the sa-ha-hame without you,” she moaned. “You can come by and see me everyday if you let me see that smile of yours,” I teased. Twilight was falling apart like putty in my hands, but still wouldn’t smile. “Come on,” I said, poking her side. She gave a small *squeak* to that and bat my hand away with her hoof. I repeated the action a few times, getting the same result. Never had Twilight looked cuter. I kept poking her until she scooted off the couch and fell to the ground. I didn’t give her a second to recover as I leapt on top of her and dug my fingers into her sides. She was outright laughing now, and I couldn’t help but join in. “Okay, okay, okay! Fine, I’ll be there!” she shouted. I decided to give her a break and got off of her. She got up and said, “On one condition. You come by at least once a week so we can spend some time alone together like we always do.” “Deal,” I replied, wrapping Twilight in a deep hug, stroking her back in an up-and-down pattern. I reached over to a nearby table and grabbed a camera Twilight had given me a month ago for my birthday, held it out, and said, “Say cheese.” Twilight and I looked into the camera as I took the picture. It rolled out, and Twilight took it in her magic, levitating it to the room that held the rest I’d taken. Twilight and I simply stayed like that for a while, until it started getting dark out. “Wanna come check out my new house?” A few hours later, Twilight and all of her friends were at Jake’s housewarming party. Pinkie had brought the food, as per usual, and Applejack had brought her family’s best (and strongest, Twilight had noted) cider, on Rainbow Dash’s request. Jake had started drinking a lot of it, claiming he’d never gotten a good chance to really let loose. Twilight didn’t have the heart to tell Jake all the...side-effects Applejack’s cider could induce, and had volunteered to help clean up whatever would happen. It was a simple home. It was one story, had a large living room with plenty of furniture, two bedrooms, and two perfectly working bathrooms (Aj had hired a professional plumber). Everything was going pretty smoothly, Pinkie was spinning around on the floor with Rainbow Dash, Jake was profusely thanking Applejack and Rarity for their help, and Twilight was chatting with Fluttershy and Spike, trying her best to pay attention. Truth be told, her eyes were solely on Jake, and nothing else. Fluttershy was saying something about Angel Bunny acting up, but try as she might, Twilight couldn’t bring herself to fully listen. Luckily, Fluttershy seemed to be talking mostly to Spike, so she didn’t notice Twilight wasn’t paying attention. Twilight knew tonight would be perfect. Jake was in a good mood, and she felt like she’d found the words. “Twilight? You okay?” Spike suddenly asked, drawing her out of her thoughts. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Twilight stuttered, trying not to act surprised. “Are you sure? Because you’ve been looking at Jake for most of the night,” Fluttershy pointed out. Twilight blushed. Had she really been looking at Jake for that long? “I-I think I’m just gonna go talk to him,” Twilight replied, quickly walking over to Jake, who was also walking toward her. “There she is, my favorite lil’ pony,” Jake slurred. He had a bit of a stumble in his step, and his eyes were nearly closed. Twilight couldn’t help but blush at Jake’s drunken praise. “Th-Thanks, Jake. Umm, how much cider have you had?” Jake rolled his head back. “Oh, you know, a couple...few...lot of drinks.” Twilight looked around the room and saw a bit of concern from her friends. “He’s fine, just had a bit too much. Maybe we should go home and let him get some rest.” Twilight’s friends all nodded and agreed, leaving one by one after giving their goodbyes. “You coming, Twilight?” Spike asked before he left. “Uh, yeah, just...let me get him into bed, and I’ll see you back at the library,” Twilight replied. Spike saluted and walked out the door. “What *hick* why’d you send everyone home?” Jake asked, his words barely comprehensible. “It’s getting a little late, and they all have to get up early in the morning. Speaking of which, we should probably get you to bed,” Twilight replied, holding Jake’s hand in her magic and leading him toward the bedroom. “Yeah, you’re probably *hick* right,” Jake said. Twilight helped Jake out of his shoes and into the bed. As she left, however, she felt a tug at her shoulder. “Wait, I wanna tell you something,” Jake whined. Twilight didn’t see the sense in arguing with Jake while he was drunk, so she turned around. “Yeah?” “Thank you. You know, for bringing me into your home, treating me like a friend, all that good stuff. You...you’re the best friend ever,” Jake praised. “I-It was no problem really-“ Twilight started. “And you know what, I think you’re pretty too,” Jake added. If Twilight’s far was red before, it was on pure fire now. “W-What?” “I think you’re the prettiest pony in the world,” Jake repeated. Twilight felt her heart speed up and Jake’s words, but quickly remembered he was simply drunk. “You should get some rest, Jake. You’re gonna hate yourself in the morning.” “Yeah,” Jake responded, his eyes closing. “That’s a good ide-“ And just like that, Jake was sound alseep. Twilight wanted to stay here with Jake, to crawl under the covers with him, but knew Spike would be worried. She reluctantly turned toward the door, only looking back to whisper something, something she wished more than nothing Jake could hear. A tear rolled down her cheek, knowing he wouldn’t. “I love you.”