//------------------------------// // Seven Years Bad Luck // Story: Waking up as Rarity. // by TonydBrony //------------------------------// How do you describe that soothing rocking motion of a car as it hits those key little bumps on the road? It has always puzzled me, ever since I was a kid.  I could fall asleep in the middle of the day and sleep for hours, just because the open road would sing her lullabye. It's kinda trippy you know? I could close my eyes for a few seconds and hours would fly by. There I go again, going off track like I always do. I guess I just need to stop daydreaming and get my head in the game. Remember that road lullabye I was talking about just a few seconds ago? Yeah, it was sucking the alertness right out of me. The back of the van was warm--cozy even. The pile of sweaters I was laying on wasn’t helping. Don’t get me wrong, I could really use a nap right then, but I just wanted to keep my eyes open and concentrate on something. Then the sound of slow highway traffic resounded outside. By then, I knew I stood no chance at staying awake, so I went with what I was given. I closed my eyes and felt myself slip into a deep sleep. v^v^v^v The next moment I opened my eyes, I was staring into into my reflection. MY reflection. Not Rarity’s. My human face. My scruffy dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. I couldn’t help but smile. I knew I was asleep and it was all just a dream, but it didn’t stop me from pressing a finger to the small scar on my nose that I got from being too brave for my britches and playing with pit bulls as a kid. Everything was still intact. Even that tiny scar I had on my knuckle from punching out a window when I was five. “Hey Rarity?” I called out and looked over my shoulder. What I saw I almost couldn’t comprehend. Rarity was there alright. She was staring at two floating mirrors in front of her. One of them was her reflection, but it was cracked and looked like it was ready to fall apart. The other was... How do I explain this? It was me, but not the real me. I know it sounds weird, but I’m fairly sure I saw the pony that I drew and designed after myself in that mirror. “Just hold on a few more minutes, Rarity! I’m not losing you!” The pony-me yelled, trying to beat against the mirror he appeared to be trapped behind. Rarity’s reflection looked as though she was about to collapse. She was weakly pressing her hooves against the glass and struggling just to keep herself upright. “Just... Hold... On!” The pony-me yelled, as he fruitlessly slammed his shoulder against the mirror that held him back. “What the hell..?” I said aloud, but Rarity didn’t move. She was stiff and like a statue. Then I turned back around to the mirror that I had seen moments ago. There were two of them. Both floating just barely off the void-like ground beneath them. I blinked, then before I knew it, I was staring into the face of Rarity’s human version. I instinctively reached out for her, but my body soon fell weak and I fell to my knees. Even as I crawled towards her, I was stopped by something. I don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t go any farther. “Rarity!” I choked out, and slammed a fist against the obstacle with all of my might. It didn’t budge and Rarity just stared at me in an expression of pure terror. “It’s over, Anthonie.” She murmured as a solemn tear fell off her cheek. “We’ve ran out of time, dear.” She fell to her knees and placed her hand against the... Glass. “I’m so sorry, Anthonie...” She cried. Tears slipped down her face evenly as I pressed my palm against the glass where hers was. “Just... Hold... On!” I yelled, feeling a horrid chill roll down my spine and a tingle of deja vu. “It’s over, Tony. Soon there won’t be a me, or a you.” She was trying to smile. She was trying to mask the inevitable. “But we’ll always be here together, even if we don’t realize it.” “It can’t end like this, Rarity.” I murmured and looked her square in her gem-like eyes. I was losing myself in a war that was out of my league. Rarity was right and I should’ve just accepted my fate to be merged into a single being with her... But I was a stubborn ass as usual. “NOT LIKE THIS!” I suddenly screamed, and reared my fist back with every intent to shatter the blockade into a million pieces. My fist connected and the glass that separated us shattered into a tiny glistening crystals that seemed to dance around my figure. Rarity fell into my arms and I held her tightly. In those few seconds, I promised her I wouldn’t ever let go. I wouldn’t let the push-and-pull relationship we made together go to waste. “We’re out of time, Anthonie.” She sobbed into my shoulder. “It’s pointless to fight.” I closed my eyes and wanted to say something. Maybe a cliche line about love lasting eternity or something equally cheesy. “I only need a few borrowed seconds.” The words slipped off my lips but fell on deaf ears. Starting at my feet, my legs had begun to disintegrate and fall in line with the dancing shards of glass around us. Before I joined minds with Rarity, I held her in my arms and kissed her. Yeah, I guess that’s about it. I couldn’t think of anything else, so that’s what I did. If I had the chance, I would’ve planned out a big moonlit date with a romantic picnic overlooking a valley... Too bad I only had one chance. My legs, followed by my torso burned away into energy and my vision fell back like a final curtain call. Then what? Nothing. I ceased to exist... Nah, I’m just fucking with ya. v^v^v^v In The Depths of Merged Rarity and Tony’s Mind. I was taken by surprise when I opened my eyes again. I was still alive. I was still breathing... And someone was pressed against me gently. A furry someone. A furry someone I soon recognized as Rarity in her natural form. She was staring up at me with her shimmering blue eyes. Then the sudden realization hit me that I was holding her with golden hooves, rather than farmer’s tanned arms. I was a pony stuck in our merged minds, and I was okay with that. I felt at complete peace here. Nothing would ever hurt us again. v^v^v^v I woke up laying on my back in a twisted pile of sweaters of varied colors. As soon as my eyes felt the sunlight that pierced through the side windows of the van, memories flooded my vision and a skull-splitting headache shot through me within seconds. Who am I? Where am I? Where’s my sister?! I screamed in my head and staggered onto my hooves. Just walking in them felt so foreign. This certainly was my body. but something was missing. Something personal. Something that really defined who I was. “Well who the fuck am I?” I said aloud, and leaned on the side of the van. It had stopped and I was able to move around. Suddenly, the back door flung open and the scared face of a young man stared at me. I couldn’t stand the light. I couldn’t even understand why I was crying. It felt like I had lost someone... Somepony? What the fuck am I supposed to say? I tipped to my side and hit the floor with a thump as the onlooker grabbed something from his pocket. The rest of the world was lost to me and I lost the will keep my eyes open.