//------------------------------// // The journey // Story: Fixing a Broken Man // by TheHardie-Boy //------------------------------// Okay, so a small spoiler, there’s a ret-con to Romantic Meetings in this chapter. Just know that I will edit that story instead of this one, since it makes more sense to this story I was taking my usual morning walk around the edges of Ponyville. I had my route completely memorized, always keeping just beyond the limits, out of reach of the Everfree Forest, and close enough to wave at any friendly faces. Sometimes Twilight would join me, but she’s been busy ever since she’s gotten her wings. Yeah, you heard me right. Not more than three weeks ago, Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn princess. Princess Celestia even came to Ponyville herself to present them to her. I couldn’t have been more proud of her, and while all of Ponyville held a celebration in her honor, she seemed a lot more intent to celebrate with just me afterward. It’d been a little less than two years since Twilight’d found me in the Everfree Forest. I’d done my best to keep my promise to Twilight, stopping by the library everyday to hang out with Twilight, and sometimes Spike too, but that’d come to a bit of halt ever since she became a princess. She’d had to go to Canterlot with Princess Celestia to make a formal announcement of her ascension, and she was still dealing with the paperwork. I’d been coming by less and less, usually to let her get what she needed to do done, and sometimes straight up forgetting. Anyhow, as I was taking my walk this morning, something felt...off. I felt a pair of eyes, watching me. I paid little to no heed to it, as it still wasn’t very uncommon for ponies to be astounded by my appearance. I got home and couldn’t even close the door before I heard a flash behind me. I simply shook my head, closed the door, and said, “Twilight, if you wanted to come see me-“ I stopped as I turned around. In front of me was not at all Twilight. It was like...a six way hybrid, if that’s what you wanna call it. It stood on two different types of legs, and loomed down at me with yellow eyes with red, snake-like pupils. Needless to say I was speechless. “What’s wrong?” it asked in a voice I swear I’ve heard before. “Still thought you were the strangest creature around?” “I...Wha-Who are you?” I stammered in disbelief. “Why, I’m Discord,” it answered, giving a fake wave of its...talon? “Perhaps you’ve heard of me. Does the term ‘God of Chaos’ ring a bell?” I shook my head. “No? How about ‘Spirit of Mischief’?” I shook my head again. “Why.” He snapped his fingers, and a handkerchief appeared in his hand. “I’d think one of our friends, especially Fluttershy, would at least mention the only creature in Equestria that was taller than you.” “What?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. “Oh please,” he said as he snapped his fingers, causing a tape measure to appear. He then stretched it along my back. “You’re simply six feet tall.” The tape measure then completely emptied itself onto the ground. “I on the other hand can be as tall as I want to be.” I was lost. “Wait...who are you exactly?” He gave a sigh. “I’m Discord, the spirit and embodiment of chaos. This is your home, the place where you dwell.” He pointed at me. “You are Jake Taylor, the human who’s life I so graciously saved. You’re welcome, by the way.” I blinked. “Wait, you what?” Discord snapped his fingers again, and we both appeared on the couch, much to my surprise. “Even Equestria gets boring from time to time, so I like to entertain myself by looking into alternate worlds and realities, searching for interesting lives and events. I must say, by the way, you’re a rather valid representative of your species, given all of the previous wars your people have fought and with all the present corrupt officials,” he explained. I groaned. “Just cut to the chase. What do you mean you saved my life?” “Oh well that’s simple,” he scoffed, making a pair of glasses appear on his face. “The most recent time I’ve looked into your world, I saw you. You were in what appeared to be hospital, on your death bed. I took pity on you and brought you here.” I took a deep breath. “You WHAT?!” “Oh please. You can’t possibly tell me that you’d rather be back there, with your sad, lonely life, rather than here with all of your friends, and Twilight,” he said in a sly tone, waggling his eyebrows at the end. “What is that supposed to mean?!” I yelled. Discord suddenly shot his head up. “I’ll just be going now, goodbye.” He snapped his fingers, and he was gone instantly. I paced around my house, thinking of all he’d just told me. I didn’t exactly like being dragged here like I was, even if this world was better than my own, and I had friends here who all cared about me, and...okay, so he had a point. Still though, I didn’t like the thought of being teleported around without permission like some sort of puppet. I knew I wouldn’t be able to figure this out on my own, so I went to the one place I always did when something like this had happened: Golden Oaks Library. It was only about a hundred feet from my house, so I got there in no time. I knocked on the door and waited for it to open. The door was quickly enveloped in a magenta glow and slowly swung open. Inside was Spike, holding a couple of books. “Hey, Jake. Long time no see,” he greeted. “Yeah, good to see you,” I replied, kneeling down to give him a good old fashioned fist bump. “You too,” Spike said as he dropped one of the books he was holding. I picked it up and looked at the cover. It read “Romance for Dummies”. “What’s this for?” I asked. “Twilight wanted to take a look at it for some reason. I was just bringing it to her when you knocked on the door,” Spike replied. I stood up, still looking at the cover. “I actually came here to see her about something. I could take this to her if you’d like.” Spike sighed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, that’d be great. She’s upstairs right now.” “No problem, bro,” I said, stepping inside. Spike and I spent nearly as much time together as Twilight and me, so we often referred to each other as brothers. I walked up the stairs slowly as to not alert Twilight. It’d been awhile since I just dropped by like this, and I didn’t want to catch her while she was busy. Upstairs, Twilight was lying on her bed, reading a book and taking notes on it, muttering incomprehensible words. I gave a small knock on the door frame to get her attention. Without looking away from the book, Twilight said, “Not now, Spike. I’m too far into this to stop now.” “What is it you’re working on?” I asked. Twilight blinked in surprise and looked at me, blushing as she did. “Jake! I didn’t know you were coming here,” she said, quickly getting rid of what she was doing. “What was that?” I asked. “I-I-It was nothing,” she stuttered. “What brings you here? It’s certainly been awhile hasn’t it?” I walked up to her bed as I replied, “Do I need a reason to come visit a good friend?” Twilight scooted over on her bed. “Not at all. Here, sit down, make yourself comfortable.” I obliged and sat down next to Twilight, giving her a little scratch behind the ear, eliciting a cute giggle from her. “I saw the reconstruction on your house is finished,” Twilight said. I chuckled. Not too long ago, a bunch of weird, black vines had reached in from the Everfree Forest, some of which had put a hole through my roof. “Yeah, since there wasn’t too much to fix, I was able to do most of it on my own,” I replied. We simply sat there, basking in the silence. It wasn’t awkward or anything; in fact, I kinda enjoyed it. Twilight and I just looked at each other and laughed a little, genuinely too. “Well, there is something I feel I should talk to you about.” Twilight tilted her head, moving it away from my hand. “What is it?” “Well,” I began, not sure how she was gonna react to this. “I just met Discord.” “Oh boy, did he give you any trouble? Because if he did-“ Twilight started. I held my hand up to stop her. “No, no, he just...told me something very...let’s say interesting.” “Yeah?” Twilight asked, intrigued. “It turns out that he has the power to look into alternate worlds and realities...including mine,” I explained. Twilight stayed silent. “And it turns out that he can reach into those alternate worlds and...take things from them,” I added. “Jake, are you saying...Discord...” she trailed off. I slowly nodded. Twilight got up and hopped off the bed. “That’s it. I’m getting him down here right now and giving him a-“ “Twilight, wait! I-It’s not like I’m really...upset at the whole thing,” I said, getting up as well. “Really?” Twilight asked, sitting down on her haunches. “Yeah,” I replied. “In fact, he kinda...saved my life.” “What do you mean?” I sat down next to Twilight. “Well, I didn’t tell you this before because I didn’t want you to feel any more bad for me than you already did, but...right before I came to this world, I was dying. If it weren’t for Discord, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have appeared in this world, you wouldn’t have found me in the forest, we never would’ve become friends.” Twilight sighed. “I...I guess that makes sense. Do you miss it though?” I looked at her. “Miss what?” “You know, your old world,” she answered. I shook my head and chuckled again. “No way. I wouldn’t give this up for anything, not even to see my parents again. There isn’t anything that would make me leave this world, leave all my friends...leave you.” Twilight’s face turned a dark red. “M-Me?” I pulled Twilight into a hug and continued to laugh. “Of course! You’re the greatest friend I’ve ever had!” Twilight chuckled as well. “I just wish we were something more than just friends.” I turned my head around to look at her. “What?” “N-Nothing! Umm...how do you feel, knowing Discord’s the one who brought you here?” Twilight quickly changed the subject. “Honestly, not very different,” I said, playing along with Twilight. “Though, he did get me thinking.” “About what?” “About this world,” I explained. “I’ve been here for almost two years, and the only other place I’ve seen outside of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest is Canterlot. I’ve just been thinking, what else could be out there?” Twilight stayed silent, which was surprising, given her love of research. “Wait a second, yeah!” I said, standing up, having a great idea. “What is it?” Twilight asked. “I have the bits, I can always buy some stuff if I need it,” I said to myself, pacing back and forth. “Jake, what are you talking about?” “A round-the-world trip! We could travel from city to city, taking in all sorts of scenery, maybe even discovering something incredible!” I told her. “Wait, what? What do you mean we?” she asked, clearly confused. “Well,” I explained. “I-I couldn’t even begin to imagine a trip like this without you. You’ve been here ever since I got here.” Twilight simply looked down. “What’s wrong? Haven’t you always been curious as to what’s out there that hasn’t been found yet? About all the creatures that haven’t been named yet?” I asked excitedly. “I-I...I really want to say yes. That sounds...amazing! But...I can’t just leave my friends like that? And what about Spike? He’d be all alone,” Twilight said. Twilight’s counterpoint made sense. I fell down against the wall behind me to sit down again. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It would be an incredible journey though, wouldn’t it?” Twilight Sparkle couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. Jake, the unknowing love of her life, had just asked her to go with him on the adventure of a lifetime, and she told him she couldn’t do it. She looked at him. He seemed so disappointed, and it was her fault. She was holding him back. “Well...who says you have to go alone?” she asked before she realized what she’s said. Jake looked back up at her, the excitement returning in his eyes. “What?” Twilight realized she couldn’t back out now, or else she would crush him. “I said, why can’t you go alone?” Jake looked down again, rubbing his chin again in thought. “Are you sure? I’d be gone for a really long time.” Not wanting to let Jake down, Twilight walked up to him and put her hoof on his chest, using her other hoof to raise his chin. “Jake, I just want you to be happy. I will miss you like crazy, but...I can get along fine, e-even if it’s without you.” Twilight felt the front of her mane being stroked. “Twi, the thought of making you upset just kills me. I won’t do this if you don’t want me to.” It took every bit of willpower Twilight had to not break down crying, to not yell at Jake everything she’d felt about him, and nod. “I-If you’re sure. The last thing I want to do is hurt you,” Jake added. Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Jake, if you want to do this, do this. This is your world as much as it is mine, and you have every right to see it. I just want you to be happy.” Jake nodded and stood up. “Alright. Alright! I’m going around the world!” With that, Jake dashed down the stairs and out of the library. Alone, Twilight sighed and hopped onto her bed, pulling the covers over her. “I just wish you would be happy with me,” she said, finally tearing up. It was finally time. I had my ticket, all my stuff, and my route planned out. The first place I was going was a city called Manehattan (because ponies). All I had to do now was wait for the train. I was at the train station, all my friends present with me. “Well, girls, looks like this is where we part for now,” I said, facing them. “Gonna miss havin’ ya around at the barn, Jake,” Applejack replied. “Yeah, man, never change,” Rainbow Dash added. “All of my animal friends are gonna miss you,” said Fluttershy. “Yeah, and it’ll be really weird to not see you around Sugarcube Corner anymore,” Pinkie Pie agreed. “I must say, it was rather interesting to be able to design your clothes,” Rarity said. Twilight didn’t say anything, to my surprise. In fact, she looked more sad than anything. “I’m gonna miss you, bro,” Spike said. With that, all of us joined in a group hug, even Twilight, though she still seemed a bit down. After the hug broke, all of my friends left, and I turned back toward the train, which had just arrived. “I’m really gonna miss you,” I heard a voice behind me. I looked back to see Twilight was still here. “I’m gonna miss you too, Twi.” I brought her into another hug, and he buried her face into my chest, tears falling form her eyes. “I almost wish you weren’t going,” she cried. I ran my hand up and down her mane. “I promise you that no matter what happens, you will always be my best friend, and I will come back to you, no matter what.” Twilight continued to cry. “It’s hard...I can hardly remember what it was like before I met you.” “Shh, shh, I know. But this is the best thing for me right now. I hate to make you upset, but this is really important to me,” I responded. Twilight backed away and nodded. “I understand. Have a safe trip.” I stood up and said, “I will. I’ll be back, I promise.” I waved to her once again before stepping onto the train. The door closed, and the train started moving, all the while, I never willed myself to look away from Twilight. She starting walking in the same direction as the train, but quickly stopped. A tear rolled down my face as I realized a new chapter of my life had started. I still wish Twilight had gone with me, but I knew she couldn’t. I simply sat down, looked out the window, and slowly started to weep. It had been a little over two months since Jake had left Ponyville, and it was still the first thing Twilight thought about all the time. But...she had come to terms with the fact he was gone. She was happy for him, she really was. Since then, however, a lot had changed for her as well. She’d gone to another world herself, she’d stopped a rampaging centaur, she even had a title now: the Princess of Friendship. She even lived in a castle, made of blue and purple crystals. A letter had come, and Twilight sat in her room with it, hesitating to read it. Eventually, she opened the envelop and read the letter. Dear Twilight, Sorry it’s been a while. I haven’t had the time to write lately with all the traveling I’ve been doing lately. It’s too bad I’m moving around so much; you could send me letters too if I wasn’t. It’s great to be able to send you this. My travels have been amazing so far, though I haven’t made any life-changing discoveries yet. I still wish you could’ve come with me, but I get it, princess stuff. I miss you more than anything though. I’ll be back when the time is right, don’t you worry. Your old friend, Jake Taylor Twilight smiled as she read it, a tear falling down her cheek. She’d contemplated sending Jake a letter to tell him how she feels, but she knew it’d never get to him. This, though...this was more than enough. To know he was okay, happy was all she needed to be happy as well. He could never return fast enough, but Twilight would wait. For the love of her life, Twilight Sparkle would do anything, including wait.