//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Life with Twilight // by Brony Chronicler //------------------------------// Well, I’ve done it - I’ve officially graduated college. I’ve completed one chapter of my life, and I’m ready to start another… with the girl that I love. That’s right, I’m going to ask Twilight to marry me. I mean she was pretty much the main reason I was able to pass Calculus and has always been there to provide moral support whenever I needed it. Plus, without her, I never would’ve been able to go to that dance… and wind up finding myself a whole group of friends. So I don’t think I even need to further explain it. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I’ve spent the last three months saving for a nice wedding ring. It may have required a bit of over time and few late nights, but it was worth it. Scott’s been helping me with rehearsal, and I’ve already made a reservation at her favorite restaurant. Everything is set to go. Twilight said she’d be getting home early today, so there’s no use stalling. As soon I walk in that door, it’ll be show time. I enter the house with a great sense of giddiness, the ring buried deep in my pocket. I see Twilight sitting at the table, with her head looking down. “Hey Twilight,” I say with utmost joy. “I’ve got a surprise for you; I booked us a dinner at…” Much to my surprise, she doesn’t look up. She only continues to stare downward at the table, with her Iphone in hand. “Honey, are you okay?” I ask. “Tai… the day we met... where did you come up with the name Twilight Sparkle?” She asks with a stern tone. I attempt to remember, but just can’t. I’ve just become so affiliated with calling her by that name, that the source had long been forgotten. “I-I don’t remember really, why do you ask?” I say to her. Twilight then holds up her Iphone, and I fall to my knees at what I see. “Oh my god, oh my god,” I say, covering my mouth. Displayed on her Iphone is a Youtube clip of a lavender colored pony that looks just like her. “I was going through some donated books today at work,” Twilight says. “And found a book called "Twilight Sparkle’s Magical Journey", which had this cartoon character on it. I looked her up on my Iphone during break. This is just one of many clips I found online…” I start trembling, a huge amount of guilt washing over me. “Tai… is there something you’re not telling me?” I sit there on my knees, trying to get a hold on myself. How could I have let this happen? I had actually forgotten about the show… and my intentions to tell her about it. Between my classes, work and spending time with Twilight, my room's only been used for sleeping. I haven’t used my computer in months, and my Ipod died a long time ago. All my emails and Internet browsing have been done using the school computer. I can’t even begin to explain the guilt I feel right now. “Well?” Twilight says, tears swelling up in her eyes. “Twilight… there’s something… I should’ve shown you a long time ago.” I then take her into my room, she hasn’t been in here since that day she read my schoolbooks. I sit her down at my computer and boot it up. I open the Itunes application and start up the first episode of the show. Twilight watches it midway through, before slumping her head. “So, this IS where the name came from?” Twilight asks. “Yes,” I say to her. “Now answer me this… why does that pony have my eyes, and my hair and even those marks on my hips?” Twilight asks, not lifting her head to look up at me. I get down on my knees, and put my hand on hers. I then take a deep breath before speaking. “The night you fell into my living room, there was a bright magenta light. It looked just like that.” I say, pointing out the cartoon Twilight’s glowing horn. “I-I’ve had this theory that you… that you may, in fact, be that pony. I’m not quite sure.” Twilight pulls her hand away from me and looks at me with teary eyes. “You’ve HAD a theory? For how long and why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t think I’d want to know?” She stares at me, waiting for a response; the very sight of her is enough to block my train of thought. So I turn away from her and lean against my bed, trying to come up with something to say. “I-I wanted to tell you. But I just… forgot.” “You just forgot? How do you forget something like that?” I look back at her face; her eyes have now changed from sad to scornful. “Yet you didn’t forget to name me Twilight Sparkle.” I turn away from her again, attempting to gather my thoughts. I admit that was a really stupid excuse. But I can’t help it; I’m not all that good at thinking under great pressure. “When was the last time you watched this series?” Twilight asks, cutting off my train of thought yet again. “Not since we started dating,” I respond. “And before that, did you watch the series even after we first met?” “Yes,” I hesitantly say. “I see. And to think all this time, I trusted you.” I then push myself from the bed and turn to see Twilight looking away from me, tears rolling down her eyes again. So I finally decide I have only one choice - explain the real reason why I didn’t tell her in the first place. It’s a risk, but at least I’ll be honest with her this time. If she truly did love me the way I think she does, she’ll understand… I hope. But I can’t do it here, not with the series plastered on my computer screen. I think it’s best we take this talk into the other room, away from all this. I walk up to Twilight, who's still refusing to look at me. I get down on my knees and look at her as I speak. “Okay, I admit, I didn’t tell you… I’ve been keeping this secret for too long. I lied to you and I’m really sorry. I don’t fully expect you to understand, but if you’ll just go into the living room I’ll explain…” Before I can continue, Twilight slaps me in the face. “You don’t have to explain… because I know you're crazy.” Twilight says angrily. I sit there, rubbing my sore cheek and trying to come to terms with what just happened. This is not at all what I expected. “Twilight, I -” She then gets up from the chair and slowly backs away from me. Her arms hang from her sides, as though she’s lost all feeling in them. She then starts trembling as tears continue to fall from her furious eyes. “You expect me to believe that I’m this fictional pony from a children’s cartoon, and that I appeared in your living room through some mystical light? How stupid do you think I am?!” That’s when my stomach starts tossing and turning. I forgot she’s a knowledge seeker and doesn’t believe anything that can’t be explained rationally. This made the situation even more complicated, forcing me to come up with yet another plan. As I sit there and think, I see something from the corner of my eye. The palms of her hands look as though they’re turning red, though it could just be the light in the room. “I’ll… I’ll bet I know the real reason you never told me. It’s because I’m your fantasy come true. I’ll bet back before we met, you were in love with that cartoon pony. I’ll bet you dreamed about her day and night until one day you woke up and realized she wasn’t real.” I can tell she’s having another one of her little meltdowns; she always does this in times of great stress. She’s clearly formed her own conclusion of what’s going on and is irrationally jumping to it. But I have to admit, this time it really packs a sting. This is my fault for lying to her. I then notice the redness on her palms have now spread to her fingers. What’s going on? “So you came up with this crazy scheme to make her real. You kidnapped me, somehow gave me amnesia, dyed my hair and put on this innocent act. So now you’ve got your fantasy pony living here with you, loving you, like your own twisted fantasies.” I see that the redness has now turned into what appears to be a strange magenta glow. “You hid the show because you knew if I ever found it, I’d catch onto your scheme. And now that I have, you’re desperately trying to come up with another excuse. That explains why all your stories are so ludicrous.” Small sparks start falling from her fingers. Now I know something’s going on with her hands, and it seems to be triggered by her emotions. I know she’s in state of shock, but I have to get her under control… now. “Listen Twilight. That’s not true. You have to believe me… “WHY SHOULD I BELIVE YOU?!!! After all, you just admitted you’ve been lying to me all this time!” She then closes her eyes and turns her head away. Her hands are now completely covered in a magenta light. “I trusted you Tai, I loved you. And all this time, I thought you felt the same way…” I get off the floor and start to make my way over to her. But before I can make it, she grabs the locket around her neck, causing me to freeze in place. “But now I see that all this time… it was just one big lie. You’re in love with a cartoon character, and I’m just your way of making her real. I was happy to be your girl Tai, but now… ” She then tears the locket from her neck and throws it in my face. “I don’t want to see you again.” The light around her hands then creates a powerful force that sends me flying across the room. Twilight opens her eyes and finally takes notice of what’s happening. She desperately attempts to gain control of it, but the power becomes too great and her whole body becomes engulfed in the aura. Her eyes glow white and she lifts off the ground. The aura then spreads to the other objects in the room, which start swirling around her. The walls and windows start to break as the objects start to slam into them with full force. I can’t believe it, but it’s true. There’s no other explanation… she IS the real Twilight Sparkle. She really is the pony from the cartoon in human form, magic and all. I manage to get back onto my feet and slowly work my way over to her. My bookcase comes at me, but I dodge it as it tears through the wall behind me. I then continue my way towards Twilight, dodging objects as they come at me “Twilight?! Can you hear me?!” I call. She gives no answer, just continues to float there. “Twilight you need to control-” Suddenly my folding closet door comes off its track and slams into me. It then pins me into a corner of what remains of the back wall, my shoulders pressing against the opposing sides. I attempt free myself, but the aura’s too strong. Then my computer comes at me, flying at full speed towards my face. “TWILIGHT!!!” I scream in desperation. Twilight’s head slowly turns towards me as though she actually heard my scream. She then gasps as she closes her eyes and thrusts her head back, causing a gigantic burst of energy through which the aura dissipates. She then flies back and slams her head into the wall behind her, tumbling to the ground. Finally able to fight back, I push the closet door off me just as the computer narrowly misses my head, shattering into a thousand pieces. I hit the ground hard as the pieces shower my back. I attempt push myself off the ground, but my left arm becomes enraptured in pain. I must’ve broken it when I hit the wall. I look over at Twilight and see that she’s still out cold. I slowly crawl over to her using my good arm and feel her neck. She still has a pulse, but her breathing is very labored and I get no response when I try to wake her. I fish around in her pocket and grab her phone, then dial the number. “Hello 911, I have an emergency.”