//------------------------------// // Hope Is Rekindled (Edited) // Story: Geoverse Part Two: To Love Is Human // by GeodesicDragon //------------------------------// I sat with my back against the wall, my knees up to my chest, as I stared blankly at the pendant in my hand. John, who had been watching me, slowly came over to sit by my side. "Geo, you're scaring me," he said. "You've been looking at that thing for hours now. What's so special about it?" I looked him in the eyes, my own eyes puffy and red from the copious amounts of crying I had been doing. "Remember that story I told you?" I said quietly. "The one about the ponies?" John nodded slightly, turning away from my gaze. "And remember how I said I fell in love with one of them?" "Yeah, I do," John replied. "But what does that have to do—" "She gave me a pendant exactly like this one," I said blankly. John turned around, a shocked expression on his face, and prepared to speak when I cut him off. "I don't know how I could possibly have this pendant." I said. "You're the only person I've told, and even then I missed out the exact details of what it looked like. So that means... this isn't a prank." I stood up, clutching the pendant in my fist. "What I saw in Equestria was no dream. I was really there." I said, my voice raw with emotion. John stood up and put put a hand on my shoulder reassuringly. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked. "I'm going back," I said forcefully. "I don't care what I have to do to get there, but I am. Now that I know it wasn't a dream, you bet your arse that I will do whatever it takes to see Twilight again." John gasped. "Mate, you can't be serious!" "I have never been more serious of anything in my entire life!" I shouted, causing him to flinch. "One way or another, I am going to see my beloved mare again." "If that's what it takes for you to be happy, then I'll help you," John said, to which I smiled. "Who knows?" He said with a chuckle and a mile-wide grin. "Maybe I'll go to Equestria with you and find myself a good-looking mare to settle down with." "You sly bastard," I said as I punched him on the arm. We exchanged a few glancing blows as the smile on my face grew wider, but eventually John put his arms up. "Now that I think about it..." he said. "Do you have any idea how to get back?" My face fell. "No, I don't," I groaned. I threw myself on the couch and buried my head in my hands. Through the gaps in my fingers, I could see John standing in front of me with his arms folded. "That doesn't mean you can give up," he said sternly, holding out his hand. I took it and he pulled me off the couch into a hug. "I'm with you, mate." He said. "Let's get you home." "But I don't know where to begin," I said softly. "Then let's start with where it all began," John replied, looking into my eyes. "You know where I'm thinking of..." I gasped as realisation hit me. "The crossing where I was shot..." *** It was another day in Ponyville, and the town square was busy with ponies buying and selling their wares at the market stalls. All the shops were busy, and the general atmosphere was a happy one. The Ponyville Library, meanwhile, stood eerily quiet — leaving many of the townsponies worried. Despite their concerns, though, most of them were too afraid to approach the structure. But one group of mares was not afraid to walk up to the door and knock, the sounds of sobbing coming from the other side indicating signs of life. "Twilight?" Applejack said, her voice full of concern. "C'mon, sugarcube, open up and let us in." There was no reply. "Let me try," Rarity said, gently nudging Applejack aside. "Twilight, darling, it's your friends. Won't you please let us in?" Her plea fell on deaf ears. "T-Twilight? I-it's Fluttershy," the timid pegasus said. "We're very worried about you. We just want to come in and see if you're OK ... if that's all right with you." There was a pause before Twilight finally replied. "You're not going to leave until I let you in, are you?" her voice was broken, and carried a twinge of remorse. "You're our friend, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said proudly. "You bet your flank we're not gonna leave you like this!" "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "We love you, Twilight, and we just hate seeing you all sad and mopey like this!" There was a series of clicking noises as the door was unlocked. It opened wide enough to let all five mares in, then slammed shut with a resounding echo. "Uh, Twilight?" Applejack asked nervously. "It's a bit dark in here. Can ya turn the light on?" Another soft click sounded and the room lit up — only for the mares to gasp when they saw the figure in the middle of it. Twilight was lying on the sofa, her eyes red and puffy. She was wrapped up in several articles of clothing and was sniffling heavily. Her mane was unkempt, her fur was matted and the normally tidy library was a mess of books and empty food containers. "Oh, Twilight." Rarity cautiously approached the broken unicorn, wrapping a hoof around her and bringing her in for a hug. "You don't have to suffer alone." Twilight began crying much louder than before, and as the tears poured down her face her friends joined Rarity, wrapping the distraught mare in a group hug. "I can't bear it!" Twilight choked out between sobs. "I miss him, I miss him so much!" "We know ya do, sugarcube'." said Applejack. "But you gotta move on — Geo wouldn't want you ta live your life grievin' for him." "I can't move on!" Twilight screamed. "I just can't!" "As your friends, we'll help you get through this, Twilight," Pinkie Pie said solemnly. "We'll do whatever it takes!" Twilight sighed and pulled away from the hug, a small smile on her face. "I know you will, girls." she sniffled. "I know." The six of them sat in silence for a while before Rarity noticed something and spoke. "Twilight, darling?" she asked gently. "Where's Spike? Why isn't he here to comfort you?" "I sent him back to Canterlot," Twilight replied. "Because you didn't want him to see you like this?" Rarity queried. "No, for research," Twilight said. "Research?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Research on what?" "Remember when I went back in time to try and warn myself about the disaster that wasn't really a disaster?" Twilight asked, blushing at the memory, to which the others nodded. "Well, while I was in the Starswirl the Bearded wing, I found a scroll on how to talk to spirits." As she spoke, her smile grew. "Spirits?" Rainbow Dash checked. "As in, speaking to the dead?" "Exactly." Twilight nodded. "If Spike can find it again, I can use it to talk to Geo in the afterlife... and finally get some closure." She sighed. "But the spell requires six of us to cast." She looked pleadingly at the others, who exchanged cautious glances between them. "If that's what it'll take for you to be happy and start smiling again, then so be it," Pinkie Pie said. "I'll stand by you." "Me too." Rarity added. "And me." Applejack smiled. "You can count on me as well, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said, punching the air with a hoof. Fluttershy simply nodded. "Thank you, girls!" Twilight squealed, grabbing her friends in a group hug. "One way or another, I am going to see Geo again!" And thus, amidst the mess of the library, the unicorn found herself filled with a renewed sense of purpose.