"Just take me home Twilight..." I said, my mind made up. She wouldn't move or do anything but give me a look of complete discontent.
"Please, River... We can work this out, and you can stay here and be happy... That's what you want, isn't it?" she asked, visibly tearing up.
"It's what I used to want. Now that the one I love can't even bear to face me or talk to me, I see no other point in staying here. You said when I got here that you had a spell to send me back. Do that for me, please..." I said.
She tried to speak up, but stopped herself. She'd given up on me. I knew that now. But, then again, I'd given up on this world too.
"I need some preparation, so wait here." she said, coldly.
I sat in the front room of the library, wishing that I didn't have to do this. And I didn't, but I'd deluded myself that I did. I knew I could work this out, but I was too scared and weak to do anything about it. I was reverting to my normal self anyway, and this world couldn't handle my kind of person. This wasn't meant to be. I wasn't meant to stay here, to be happy. My mindset can't let me, it seems.
My waiting continued for an hour, until she finally came back.
"What took you so long?" I asked.
"I just had to make a few phone calls." she said. "I wanted to do this out in the open if that's alright with you." she said to me, still as cold as ever.
"No, just do it here, please. I won't go outside." I protested.
"River, I can concentrate bet-"
"No. Just do it here. I don't care how long it takes. My mind's made up. Don't try and delay it." I said solemnly.
She hesitated. Her gaze lowered. "Fine..." she said as her horn began to glow. "This'll take a while, so get comfortable." she said, any kind of feeling of friendship she had toward me was dead now. I could tell she hated what I'd become.Or, reverted back to, as it were.
I sat down in an armchair near Twi's reading podium. Her magic began to envelop me. It wasn't warm, like when she changed me. This time it was cold, bitter magic. I shivered. I think her emotions effected the magic's properties.
After about 20 minutes of the cold, I began to elevate. It was happening. I was about to leave. Twilight was concentrating very hard. Tears began to flow from her eyes. I could tell she was in pain. In more ways than one.
The moment of truth was upon me. I could feel her magic beginning to get stronger. I felt immense pressure all around me. I almost couldn't bear it. When I heard a knock at the door. A pause. Then the door swung open. There was Vinyl, standing there, mouth agape.
I looked away from her. My hooves turning to hands and feet, she started to cry out to me.
"River, tell Twilight to stop! Come down! Please, STOP!" she cried, tears running down her face. Papers and books were being blown all around the room, like a tornado had touched down.
I began to ascend into the ethereal state. I began to glow, and then dissipate.
"River!" Vinyl cried again. "I lo-"
Wait. Wait. No. What have I done? I thought.
My vision was complete darkness. I couldn't see a damn thing. Did it work?
My eyes finally began to open. Everything was bright. My vision was blurred and I was freezing. I began to regain feeling in my extremities, then my limbs, then I was finally able to move. I turned over, my face having been in the dirt before. I looked up. It was cloudy, raining, and the sun was nowhere to be found. I sat up, took a deep breath in, and realized I was back on earth. The river I had fallen in flowing swiftly beside me, my hair, clothes, and shoes caked with mud and sopping wet. I stood quickly, realizing that before I was teleported, Vinyl had said she loved me.
No. No. No no no no. I began to shout those words. I ran around, fuming at myself. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so fucking blind?? I screamed in rage, tears flowing down my cheeks. I then got an idea. I ran to the bridge.
"This has to work. It worked before, right?" I said to no one in particular. I stood up on the railing and looked down at the river. I was praying at this point. I finally closed my eyes and jumped in.
The cold water bit at my body like needles. This wasn't the sensation I remembered. I decided to stay under to see if it would eventually work. I lost my breath I'd held. I grasped for any kind of hand hold. I couldn't get my head above water because the river was moving too fast. I was almost about to pass out when I finally grabbed a hold of a large rock about two hundred feet from the bridge. I pulled myself up on the shore, coughing. I lay out on my back, staring at the sky.
As the water vacated my lungs, I prayed for the chance to return. To return to Equestria, to return to the life I had been so foolish to abandon. I realized I'd never been as happy as I was when I was in Equestria, when I was with Vinyl. I'd given up. My life would never be as good as it had been then. I can't do this anymore.
As I trudged back to my apartment, I thought about Vinyl, Vinyl, and Vinyl. Although I'd left her, she'd never leave me. I couldn't live with the fact that I hurt her the way I did. I got to my apartment, went to the fridge, and grabbed a beer. I sat on my couch and watched TV.
I finished the beer a few minutes later. It's time. I thought to myself.
I exited the apartment, locked the door, and ascended up the stairs to the roof. My apartment building was a large one. I was very high off the ground, and that made getting the means easier. I stood at the ledge, thinking. As people started to gather, I realized although I'd left Ponyville, they'd never leave me. I had that realization before, but this was in a new light. I realized that the lessons Ponyville taught me would never leave me. I was taught how to be a true friend by Twilight, that helping people is a good thing to do by Carrot Top and Cherilee, how important family is by Brawny Spirit, and how to look at the bright side of life by Pinkie Pie.
And, of course, how to truly love someone by Vinyl.
I knew I couldn't do this. I stepped down from the ledge, and walked back down the stairs to my flat. I grabbed a water from the fridge, picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hello, Dad? Do you maybe wanna go get some lunch?"
Epilogue
My life, as I know now, is a great one. Even though I left Equestria, the memories will always be in my heart. And those are the best things I could wish for.
After my view of the city from my ledge six months ago, I realized I had the power to change my life for the better. I was the only one who could make it better. And so I did.
My father and I made amends and are now as close as a father and son could hope to be. I began surfing dating sites, and found the girl I think I'm going to marry someday. Her name's Michelle. She's beautiful, smart, funny, and faithful. I'm sociable now, too. I go to parties, concerts, dinners out, and even sometimes visit my dad. I got a job as a computer technician at a Microsoft branch office in my town.
I turned my life around, and it's all thanks to Ponyville.
So, as I sit here writing this, trying not to wake Michelle up, I go back over my life. Sure, it wasn't good up until now, but I'm a better person for it. All the pain I've experienced has made me enjoy all the good moments that much more.
I still watch MLP, and so does Michelle. What a catch, right? Whenever I see Vinyl in the background, I can't help but feel like she's watching me, hoping I'm out there somewhere watching her, too. And I am, and always will be.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Thank you. Thank you for making me a better person, and thank you for teaching me the lessons I need to live the life I've craved for so long. Because without you, Ponyville wouldn't have changed my life like it did. I'm now the man I've always wanted to be, and without you and your beautiful kingdom of Equestria, I'd still be the hollow shell of a man I was six months ago. So again, thank you.
-Levi Borne